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DESCRIPTIVE OUTLINE 



and he will often be received with a natural dignity 

 of manner which is very remarkable, and which he 

 scarcely expects to meet with in such a miserable- 

 looking hovel. On entering the hut, the Gaucho 

 has constantly risen to offer me his seat, which I 

 have declined, and many compliments and bows 

 have passed, until I have accepted his offer, which 

 is the skeleton of a horse^s head. It is curious to 

 see them invariably take off their hats to each other 

 as they enter into a room which has no window, a 

 bullock's hide for a door, and but little roof. 



The habits of the women are very curious : they 

 have literally nothing to do ; the great plains 

 which surround them offer them, no motive to walk, 

 they seldom ride, and their lives certainly are very 

 indolent and inactive. They have all, however, 

 families, whether married or not ; and once when I 

 inquired of a young woman employed in nursing 

 a very pretty child, who was the father of the 

 " creatura,'' she replied, Quien sabe? 



The religion which is professed throughout the 

 provinces of the Rio de la Plata is the Roman 

 Catholic, but it is very different in different places. 

 During the reign of the Spaniards, the monks and 



