14 



DESCRIPTIVE OUTLINE 



bouring one with jealousy, and as I have travelled 

 through the country, 1 have invariably found that 

 mala gente is the general appellation which the 

 people give to those of the adjoining province, and 

 that they, as well as the inhabitants of the towns, 

 are all jealous of the power and influence of the 

 town of Buenos Aires; and when it is explained, 

 that the policy of Buenos Aires is to break the 

 power of the monks and priests, and that these 

 people have still very great influence in most of 

 the distant provinces, and that the maritime in- 

 terest of Buenos Aires is necessarily often at va- 

 riance with that of the inland provinces, it will be 

 perceived how forcibly this jealousy is likely to act. 



The situation of the Gaucho is naturally inde- 

 pendent of the political troubles which engross the 

 attention of the inhabitants of the towns. The 

 population or number of these Gauchos is very 

 small, and at great distances from each other: 

 they are scattered here and there over the face of 

 the country. Many of these people are descended 

 from the best families in Spain ; they possess good- 

 manners, and often very noble sentiments: the life 

 they lead is very interesting — they generally in- 



