THE GUACHOS OF THE PAMPAS. 109 



Mr. Barrill secured lodgings, at a tolerable inn, about 

 equal in entertainment to the lower class of hotels in St. 

 Louis. His first object was to secure information in re- 

 gard to the dangers of the Pampas, so as to be prepared 

 for them. The next was to obtain the service of a njative 

 acquainted with the country. He first applied to the 

 landlord, but that personage either had not the requisite 

 intelligence, or was unable to communicate it satisfacto- 

 rily; so my patron visited the British consul, who gave 

 ample answers to all the inquiries of his countrymen, and 

 recommended a trustworthy Gaucho, who had been in his 

 service, named Joaquin Bunoz. 



The reader may very naturally inquire who are the 

 people called Gauchos. They inhabit the wide surface of 

 the Pampas, and appropriate the herds that roam over 

 them. Some travellers have designated them as downright 

 savages. But they are often of respectable birth, and ren- 

 dered estimable by their courage, intelligence and integrity. 

 The Gaucho is at once the most active and the most in- 

 dolent of mortals. He will scour the country whole days 

 at full gallop, breaking wild horses, or chasing the jaguar 

 or ostrich ; but once alighted and seated on the skeleton 

 of a horse's head, nothing can induce him to move. He 

 considers it a degradation to set his foot to the ground ; 

 so that, notwithstanding a general vigor almost preterna- 

 tural, the lower limbs are weak and bowed, and he is 



10 



