282 HISTORY AND ETHNOLOGY. 



perceptible in the population, which includes a large number of civilized 

 Indians. Many French and English, especially artisans of the latter 

 nation, reside there also. The streets are constantly occupied by Gauchos 

 on horseback, who with their grotesque appearance, their dusky sunburnt 

 countenances, their straw hats, ponchos fluttering in the breeze, Patagonian 

 boots, and rude horse trappings, make a singular impression on foreigners. 

 {PI. SO, Jig. 18, a Gaucho in Buenos Ayres.) 



We close this subject with a few remarks concerning the journey across 

 the Cordilleras. The passes of these mountains, which cannot lay claim to 

 the name of roads, are impracticable for six months at a time. Only from 

 November until the end of May can the perilous journey to Chili be ven- 

 tured upon, and then only on mules. These animals are justly preferred 

 to horses in these mountain tracts. The traveller's best course is to 

 resign himself to the unerring instinct of his mule. It is his business, on 

 the other hand, to retain his self-command, and not to allow himself to be 

 overcome by fear when the animal he is riding stands still over dizzy gulfs 

 in order to breathe and look for firm orround. P^ood and other necessarv 

 requisites are carried by the muleteers and peons {pi. 30, Jig. 14), who 

 accompany the traveller. The nearer he comes to the summit of the Cor- 

 dilleras the more oppressive is that painful sensation designated in Chili 

 by the name of puna, which is caused by the rarefaction of the atmo- 

 sphere and upward motion. Arrived at the top, he casts a last glance 

 upon the plains of the Hio de la Plata, which spread themselves out to 

 view in the far distance. The desert with its dazzling snow and perpetual 

 silence, opens before him; it must be traversed. Silently he bridles his 

 mule and follows his guide. Like the latter, he bows before the wooden 

 crosses past which the road leads, and which mark the sites of former 

 casualties. If a tempest bursts forth, the caravan flies, if possible, to one of 

 the miserable huts erected at certain points by the guides. Here the party 

 are obliged to await the end of the storm, frequently abiding several days, 

 their provisions, their strength, and their courage, being wasted in the mean- 

 time. The pass of Uspallata, the one usually chosen by merchants, extends 

 from 800 miles west of the confines of Chili to Villa Vicencio in the Pro- 

 vince of Mendoga. The journey through it is made in seven to eight days. 

 The house in which travellers abide a few days is 1987 toises above the 

 level of the sea. 



We cannot leave the subject of the people of America without advert- 

 ing to the African race, who form part of the population both in North 

 and South America, mostly in a state of bondage, and who are employed in 

 the warmer temperate and in the torrid zones as tillers of the soil which is 

 owned by their masters, and as domestic servants. They are bought and 

 sold like other property; and forming a very considerable portion of the 

 wealth of their owners, will probably for generations to come remain slaves, 

 until finally some wise man contrives a way of emancipating them without 

 ruining at the same time the very existence of the districts in which, in the 

 present condition of things, their labor cannot be dispensed with, however 

 violently abstract philanthropy may argue to the contrary. Setting aside 

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