74 



WOMEN OF THE PAMPAS. 



you can give them^ for they will not brook it ; 

 and why should they ? Living as free and inde- 

 pendent as the wind, they cannot and will not 

 acknowledge superiority in any fellow-mortal. 

 They are fond of asking questions, but it will 

 be done with all the air and manners of a cour- 

 tier, fearing to give offence ; nevertheless, they 

 will expect to be answered with equal civility. 

 Their ideas are all equality : the humble peon, 

 and my lord, would be addressed equally alike 

 by the simple Gaucho with the title of Senor." 

 Strange withal, they should be so dirty and in- 

 dolent : the women in particular, as I have before 

 stated, are disgustingly so. Comfort they have 

 no idea of : as long as they can poke about in 

 the mud and dirt, sitting almost suffocated round 

 the fire in the middle of their filthy huts, with a 

 cigar in their mouths, they are happy. Should 

 they be required to do any thing for the pas- 

 sengers, they will get up, and shaking the ver- 

 min off their clothes, scratch themselves for a 

 while, and set about it with all the ill will of a 



