VIII CONVERSATION OF THE INHABITANTS 157 



their station, their conversation was rather amusing. They 

 expressed, as was usual, unbounded astonishment at the globe 

 being round, and could scarcely credit that a hole would, if 

 deep enough, come out on the other side. They had, however, 

 heard of a country where there were six months light and six 

 of darkness, and where the inhabitants were very tall and thin ! 

 They were curious about the price and condition of horses and 

 cattle in England. Upon finding out we did not catch our 

 animals with the lazo, they cried out, " Ah, then, you use 

 nothing but the bolas : " the idea of an enclosed country was 

 quite new to them. The captain at last said, he had one 

 question to ask me, which he should be very much obliged if 

 I would answer with all truth. I trembled to think how 

 deeply scientific it would be : it was, " Whether the ladies of 

 Buenos Ayres were not the handsomest in the world." I 

 replied, like a renegade, " Charmingly so." He added, " I 

 have one other question : Do ladies in any other part of the 

 world wear such large combs ? " I solemnly assured him that 

 they did not. They were absolutely delighted. The captain 

 exclaimed, " Look there ! a man who has seen half the world 

 says it is the case ; we always thought so, but now we know 

 it." My excellent judgment in combs and beauty procured 

 me a most hospitable reception ; the captain forced me to take 

 his bed, and he would sleep on his recado. 



2\st. — Started at sunrise, and rode slowly during the 

 whole day. The geological nature of this part of the province 

 was different from the rest, and closely resembled that of the 

 Pampas. In consequence, there were immense beds of the 

 thistle, as well as of the cardoon : the whole country, indeed, 

 may be called one great bed of these plants. The two sorts 

 grow separate, each plant in company with its own kind. The 

 cardoon is as high as a horse's back, but the Pampas thistle is 

 often higher than the crown of the rider's head. To leave the 

 road for a yard is out of the question ; and the road itself is 

 partly, and in some cases entirely, closed. Pasture, of course, 

 there is none ; if cattle or horses once enter the bed, they are 

 for the time completely lost. Hence it is very hazardous to 

 attempt to drive cattle at this season of the year ; for when 

 jaded enough to face the thistles, they rush among them, and 

 are seen no more. In these districts there are very few 



