FROM SAN LUIS TO ROSARIO. 35 



and passed it round, first to me; and then from one to another, until it was finished. They 

 declined to drink more, on the ground that they had been very drunk the night previous. 



This cacique made the interpreter take oif his poncho and present it to Don Pancho ; who, I 

 was surprised to see, bitterly regretted the necessity of accepting it. On inquiry, I learned that, 

 in consequence of that present, the whole party would consider themselves entitled to the hos- 

 pitality of the house ; and, in all probability, would drink enough liquor to pay for the poncho 

 three or four times over. 



Their style of dress did not differ much from that of the gauchos ; and nearly everything 

 they had for sale was carried on their persons. Although they come on their trading expe- 

 ditions well equipped' with ponchos, &c., they manage to leave with a very limited wardrobe. 



In the vicinity of the town Indian corn is cultivated in small quantities ; and also figs, grapes, 

 peaches, plums^ apricots, &c. Of the latter, the figs were just ripening at the time we passed, 

 although we had had them ripe in Meudoza. 



At the time of our arrival in la Villa de la Concepcion the tops of the trees were entirely bare 

 of leaves and twigs, from the effects of a heavy hail-storm, which had passed over a few days 

 before. The frequency of these storms in summer is one of the three principal bars to agricul- 

 ture on the pampa. The first are locusts, which are very destructive; the second the biscachas; 

 and the third, as I have said, the hail-storms. 



Christmas day would have passed away without our knowledge, but for the serenade of a 

 military band composed entirely of negroes. They were all drunk, and made such an infernal 

 noise, that we paid them pretty roundly to stop their music; indeed, they threatened to play 

 until we did pay them. It is their custom, like that of our negroes in some parts of the south, 

 to go round on this occasion, and either play or dance in front of a house until they receive a 

 present. 



December 26. — At 5 o'clock A. M. left the town; and after coasting the west bank of Bio 

 Cuarto for four miles, forded it at a part where it was about fifty yards wide and two feet deep, 

 with sand-flats and marshes in it. Thence our road lay over pampa, and along the north 

 bank of the river. At noon we stopped for the siesta under the shade of a small algarroba. 



We passed two or three ranches, and a small field of corn without a fence or wall, a man on 

 horseback serving for this purpose. This is common on the pampa, where wood is so scarce as 

 to render it impossible, in many places, to obtain a sufiicient quantity for fencing. 



Although the river was near the road, it was only distinguishable by a dark line on the 

 pampa, and by the tops of a few willows and reeds appearing above its banks. Half a mile 

 from where we stopped there was a hut, which the arriero insisted was uninhabited, and there- 

 fore refused to go further; but it afterwards proved to be occupied; and as there was easy- 

 access to the river at that point, we might have got plenty of water, and had a bath. As it 

 was, we passed the siesta very uncomfortably, annoyed by flies and mosquitos; and, through 

 the stupidity of the arriero, we were obliged to send the mules back, about three miles, for water, 

 as the river bank near us was a high cliff. 



The hut of which I have spoken is similar to nearly all on the pampa occupied by herds- 

 men, the principal part of it being like a wagon-top in form, and well thatched to keep out 

 rain ; while the front is merely a flat, thatched awning, for protection from the sun. In the 

 interior of this one the clothes and other perishable articles belonging to the occupants were 

 stowed, and outside them were two or three stools, a small table, and a very few pieces of 

 wooden-ware, as substitutes for crockery. Both inside and outside there were a number of 

 dogs. These huts, however, are distinct in their construction from the adobe ranches, which 

 are the head-quarters of the estancia or estate. 



The arriero left his spare horse here, which had become so jaded and galled as to be useless. 



At 4 p. M. set out again, and travelled till 10, when we stopped for the night. At a distance 

 of about twenty-five miles from the Villa del Kio Cuarto we passed the small village of "La 

 Eeduccion," and from there turned off' from the river and followed a path leading more directly 



