128 ST. FE’. [omar. vil. 
From this point to St. Fé the road is not very safe. The western 
side of the Parana northward, ceases to be inhabited ; and hence 
the Indians sometimes come down thus far, and waylay travellers. 
The nature of the country also favours this, for instead of a grassy 
plain, there is an open woodland, composed of low prickly 
mimosas. We passed some houses that had been ransacked and 
since deserted ; we saw also a spectacle, which my guides viewed 
with high satisfaction ; it was the skeleton of an Indian with the 
dried skin hanging on the bones, suspended to the branch of a 
tree. 
In the morning we arrived at St. Fé. I was surprised to 
observe how great a change of climate a difference of only three 
degrees of latitude between this place and Buenos Ayres had 
caused. This was evident from the dress and complexion of the 
men—from the increased size of the ombu-trees—the number of 
new cacti and other plants—and especially from the birds. In 
the course of an hour I remarked half-a-dozen birds, which I had 
never seen at Buenos Ayres. Considering that there is no natural 
boundary between the two places, and that the character of the 
country is nearly similar, the difference was much greater than I . 
should have expected. 
October 8rd and 4th.—I was confined for these two days to 
my bed bya headach. A good-natured 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 headach the day before yesterday.” Many 
of the remedies used by the people of the country are ludicrously 
strange, but too disgusting to be mentioned. One of the least 
nasty is to kill and cut open two puppies and bind them on each 
side of a broken limb. Little hairless dogs are in great request 
to sleep at the feet of invalids. 
St. Fé is a quiet little town, and is kept clean and in gooa 
order. The governor, Lopez, was a common soldier at the time 
of the revolution; but has now been seventeen years in power, 
