THE PAMPAS. 



107 



bably work a miracle within her ; however, she 

 was so ill that, upon reflection, I did not feel au- 

 thorised to give it to her, and besides I thought 

 that if she died I should have to answer for it when 

 I returned, so, partly from conscience and partly 

 from prudence, I left her. 



I may observe that this old woman was the only 

 sick person I ever saw in South America. The 

 temperate lives the people lead apparently give 

 them an uninterrupted enjoyment of health, and 

 the Hst of disorders with which the old world is 

 afflicted is altogether unknown. The beef on which 

 they almost entirely subsist is so lean and tough, 

 that few are tempted to eat more than is necessary, 

 and if a hungry Gaucho has swallowed too much 

 of a wild cow, the cure which nature has to per- 

 form is very simple. She has only by fever to de- 

 prive him of his appetite for a day or two, and he 

 is well again. 



I have often remarked that the Gaucho has no 

 remedy for any small flesh wound, and does not 

 even keep the dirt from it, for his habit of body is 

 so healthy that the cure is positively going on as 

 he gallops along the plain. 



