54 



CHAPTER IV. 



Carriage Upset — Dexterity of the Peons — Cross a River^ 

 Storm on the Pampas — Indian Chief and Two Captives 

 arrive — Pampas Music — Arrive at San Luis — Rio Desa- 

 guadero — Night Scene — First Sight of the Andes — Arrive 

 at Mendoza — Description of the Natives of the Pampas — 

 Travelling Companions — Ball at Mendoza — Mendoza La- 

 dies — Alameda or Public Walk — Preparations for entering 

 the Andes. 



Tuesday^ *^\st. Started at eighty with a relay 

 of horses for Santa Barbara^ nine leagues^ and 

 bad road^ I rode this stage on an excellent horse, 

 and arrived tAvo hours before my companions, 

 from whom I learnt that they had been upset, 

 and could not proceed faster than a walk, owing 

 to the badness of the road. We took five horses 



