31-i POilTILLO PASS. [CHAP. xv. 



country ; but I now feel sure, that it would only have been follow- 

 ing the plains of Patagonia up a mountainous ascent. 



March 24/7*. Early in the morning I climbed up a mountain on 

 one side of the valley, and enjoyed a far extended view over the 

 Pampas. This was a spectacle to which I had always looked forward 

 with interest, but I was disappointed : at the first glance it much 

 resembled a distant view of the ocean, but in the northern parts 

 many irregularities were soon distinguishable. The most striking 

 feature consisted in the rivers, which, facing the rising sun, glittered 

 like silver threads, till lost in the immensity of the distance. At 

 midday we descended the valley, and reached a hovel, where an 

 officer and three soldiers were posted to examine passports. One 

 of these men was a thoroughbred Pampas Indian : he was kept 

 much for the same purpose as a bloodhound, to track out any 

 person who might pass by secretly, either on foot or horseback. 

 Some years ago, a passenger endeavoured to escape detection, by 

 making a long circuit over a neighbouring mountain ; but this 

 Indian, having by chance crossed his track, followed it for the 

 whole day over dry and very stony hills, till at last he came on his 

 prey hidden in a gully. We here heard that the silvery clouds, 

 which we had admired from the bright region above, had poured 

 down torrents of fain. The valley from this point gradually opened, 

 and the hills became mere water-worn hillocks compared to the 

 giants behind : it then expanded into a gently sloping plain of 

 shingle, covered with low trees and bushes. This talus, although 

 appearing narrow, must be nearly ten miles wide before it blends 

 into the apparently dead level Pampas. We passed the only house 

 in this neighbourhood, the Estancia of Chaquaio ; and at sunset we 

 pulled up in the first snug corner, and there bivouacked. 



March *25th. I was reminded of the Pampas of Buenos Ayres, by 

 seeing the disk of the rising sun, intersected by an horizon, level as 

 that of the ocean. During the night a heavy dew fell, a circumstance 

 which we did not experience within the Cordillera. The road pro- 

 ceeded for some distance due east across a low swamp; then 

 meeting the dry plain, it turned to the north towards Mendoza, 

 The distance is two very long days' journey. Our first day's journey 

 was called fourteen leagues to Estacado, and the second seventeen 

 to Luxan, near Mendoza. The whole distance is over a level desert 

 plain, with not more than two or three houses. The sun was ex- 

 ceedingly powerful, and the ride devoid of all interest. There is 



