THE PAMPAS. 



S39 



neck to avoid the branches of the trees. The car- 

 riage road is a space cleared of large trees, but 

 it is often covered with bushes, which bend under 

 the carriage in a most extraordinary manner. 



I arrived at the post some hours before the car- 

 riage, and had supper ready by the time it arrived. 

 This post is only one stage from St. Luis ; the 

 postmaster is the brother of the governor of the 

 province, and he was at St. Luis when I arrived, 

 but his capataz asked me, with great seriousness of 

 countenance, whether I was the person who had 

 galloped after the judge at the Desaguadero, in 

 order to shoot him. He told me that the said J uez 

 had just passed, and had taken a fresh horse to get 

 to St. Luis before I arrived there. We slept that 

 night at the post, or rather on the ground before it ; 

 and it was curious, in the morning, to see the dif- 

 ferent groups of people, who had also slept there, 

 dressing themselves ; — men, women, and children, 

 were all sitting up as if just risen from the grave — ► 

 some were scratching themselves, some were rubbing 

 their eyes, some putting on their hide sandals; — 

 the hens were pecking about them, particularly 

 round the table at which we had supped. The 



