Auff. 1833. RIO COLORADO. 85 



"a 



Several of the men and women had their faces painted red, 

 but I never saw the horizontal bands which are so common 

 among the Fuegians. Their chief pride consists in having 

 every thing made of silver ; I have seen a cacique with his 

 spurs, stirrups, handle of his knife, and bridle made of this 

 metal : the head - stall and reins being of wire, were not 

 thicker than whipcord ; and to see a fiery steed, wheeling 

 about under the command of so light a chain, gave to the 

 horsemanship a remarkable character of elegance. 



General Rosas intimated a wish to see me; a circumstance 

 which I was afterwards very glad of. He is a man of an ex- 

 traordinary character, and has a most predominant influence 

 in the country, which it seems probable he will use to its 

 prosperity and advancement. He is said to be the owner of 

 seventy-four square leagues of land, and to have about three 

 hundred thousand head of cattle. His estates are admirably 

 managed, and are far more productive of corn than any 

 others. He first gained his celebrity by his laws for his 

 own estancias, and by disciphning several hundred men, so 

 as to resist with success the attacks of the Indians. There 

 are many stories current about the rigid manner in which 

 his laws were enforced. One of these was, that no man, 

 on penalty of being put into the stocks, should carry his 

 knife on a Sunday: this day being the principal one for 

 gambling and drinking, many quarrels arose, which from the 

 general manner of fighting with the knife often proved fatal. 

 One Sunday the Governor came in great form to pay the 

 Estancia a visit, and General Rosas, in his hurry, walked out 

 to receive him with his knife, as usual, stuck in his belt. 

 The steward touched his arm, and reminded him of the law ; 

 upon which turning to the Governor, he said he was ex- 

 tremely sorry, but that he must go into the stocks, and that 

 till let out, he possessed no power even in his own house. 

 After a little time the steward was persuaded to open the 

 stocks, and to let him out, but no sooner was this done, 

 than he turned to the steward and said, "You now have 

 broken the laws, so you must take my place in the stocks." 



