OF THE PAMPAS. 



17 



abode is so filled with fleas and binchucas, (which 

 are bugs as large as black beetles,) that the whole 

 family sleep on the ground in front of their dwell- 

 ing ; and when the traveller arrives at night, and 

 after unsaddling his horse walks among this sleep- 

 ing community, he may place the saddle or recado 

 on which he is to sleep close to the companion most 

 suited to his fancy : — an admirer of innocence may lie 

 down by the side of a sleeping infant ; a melancholy 

 man may slumber near an old black woman ; and 

 one who admires the fairer beauties of creation, 

 may very demurely lay his head on his saddle, 

 within a few inches of the idol he adores. How- 

 ever, there is nothing to assist the judgment but 

 the bare feet and ancles of all the slumbering group, 

 for their heads and bodies are covered and dis- 

 guised by the skin and poncho which cover them. 



In winter the people sleep in the hut, and the 

 scene is a very singular one. As soon as the tra- 

 veller's supper is ready, the great iron spit on which 

 the beef has been roasted is brought into the hut, 

 and the point is struck into the ground: the Gaucho 

 then offers his guest the skeleton of a horse^s head, 

 and he and several of the family, on similar seats, 



