VIII BANDA ORIENTAL 153 



horse is a fine spectacle ; I had no idea how well the two 

 animals suited each other. The tail of a horse is a very useful 

 appendage ; I have passed a river in a boat with four people in 

 it, which was ferried across in the same way as the Gaucho. If 

 a man and horse have to cross a broad river, the best plan is 

 for the man to catch hold of the pommel or mane, and help 

 himself with the other arm. 



We slept and stayed the following day at the post of 

 Cufre. In the evening the postman or letter-carrier arrived. 

 He was a day after his time, owing to the Rio Rozario being 

 flooded. It would not, however, be of much consequence ; for, 

 although he had passed through some of the principal towns 

 in Banda Oriental, his luggage consisted of two letters ! The 

 view from the house was pleasing ; an undulating green surface, 

 with distant glimpses of the Plata. I find that I look at this 

 province with very different eyes from what I did upon my 

 first arrival. I recollect I then thought it singularly level ; 

 but now, after galloping over the Pampas, my only surprise is, 

 what could have induced me ever to have called it level. The 

 country is a series of undulations, in themselves perhaps not 

 absolutely great, but, as compared to the plains of St. Fe, real 

 mountains. From these inequalities there is an abundance of 

 small rivulets, and the turf is green and luxuriant. 



November ijth. — We crossed the Rozario, which was deep 

 and rapid, and passing the village of Colla, arrived at mid-day 

 at Colonia del Sacramiento. The distance is twenty leagues, 

 through a country covered with fine grass, but poorly stocked 

 with cattle or inhabitants. I was invited to sleep at Colonia, 

 and to accompany on the following day a gentleman to his 

 estancia, where there were some limestone rocks. The town 

 is built on a stony promontory something in the same manner 

 as at Monte Video. It is strongly fortified, but both fortifica- 

 tions and town suffered much in the Brazilian war. It is 

 very ancient ; and the irregularity of the streets, and the sur- 

 rounding groves of old orange and peach trees, gave it a pretty 

 appearance. The church is a curious ruin ; it was used as a 

 powder-magazine, and was struck by lightning in one of the 

 ten thousand thunderstorms of the Rio Plata. Two-thirds of 

 the building were blown away to the very foundation ; and 

 the rest stands a shattered and curious monument of the 



