OF THE PAMPAS. 



15 



habit the hut in which they were born, and in 

 which their fathers and grandfathers hved before 

 them, although it appears to a stranger to possess 

 few of the allurements of dulce domum. The 

 huts are built in the same simple form; for al- 

 though luxury has ten thousand plans and eleva- 

 tions for the frail abode of its more frail tenant, 

 yet the hut in all countries is the same, and there- 

 fore there is no difference between that of the South 

 American Gaucho, and the Highlander of Scot- 

 land, excepting that the former is built of mud, 

 and covered with long yellow grass, while the 

 other is formed of stones, and thatched with 

 heather. The materials of both are the immediate 

 produce of the soil, and both are so blended in 

 colour with the face of the country, that it is often 

 difficult to distinguish them ; and as the pace at 

 which one gallops in South America is rapid, and 

 the country flat, one scarcely discovers the dwelling 

 before one is at the door. The corral is about fifty 

 or one hundred yards from the hut, and is a circle 

 of about thirty yards in diameter, enclosed by a 

 number of strong rough posts, the ends of which 

 are struck into the ground. Upon these posts are 



