148 ST. FE. Oct. 1833. 



half-a-dozen of the latter, which I had never seen at Buenos 

 Ayres. Considering that there is no natural boundary be- 

 tween the two places, and that the character of the country 

 is nearly similar, the diiFerence was much greater than I 

 should have expected. 



October 3d and 4th. — I was confined to my bed by 

 a headach for these two days. A goodnatured old woman, 

 who attended me, wished me to try many odd remedies. A 

 common practice is, to bind an orange-leaf, or a bit of black 

 plaster, to each temple; and a still more general plan is, 

 to split a bean into halves, moisten them, and place one on 

 each temple, where they ■will easily adhere. It is not 

 thought proper ever to remove the beans or plaster, but 

 to allow them to drop off; and sometimes, if a man, with 

 patches on his head, is asked, what is the matter ? he will 

 answer, " I had a headache the day before yesterday." 



St. Fe is a quiet httle town, and is kept clean, and in good 

 order. The governor, Lopez, was a common soldier at the 

 time of the revolution ; but has now been seventeen years in 

 power. This stability of government is owing to his tyran- 

 nical habits ; for tyranny seems as yet better adapted to these 

 countries, than republicanism. The governor's favourite 

 occupation is hunting Indians : a short time since he slaugh- 

 tered forty-eight, and sold the children at the rate of three 

 or four pounds apiece. 



October 5th. — We crossed the Parana to St. Fe Bajada, 

 a town on the opposite shore. The passage took some 

 hours, as the river here consisted of a labyrinth of smaU 

 streams, separated by low wooded islands. I had a letter of 

 introduction to an old Catalonian Spaniard, who treated me 

 with the most uncommon hospitahty. The Bajada is the 

 capital of Entre Rios. In 1825 the to-mi contained 6000 

 inhabitants, and the proAance 30,000 ; yet, few as they are, 

 none have suffered more from bloody and desperate revolu- 

 tions. They boast here of representatives, ministers, a stand- 

 ing army, and governors : so it is no wonder that they have 



