THE PAMPAS. 



during the storm ; he said, Oh, no ! that he had 

 ridden a number of leagues the day before, and had 

 slept so sound, that he had not heard it, and had 

 only just been informed of it. 



On account of the party's clothes being so wet, 

 we lost a great deal of time, and it was seven 

 o'clock before we started. The two carriages went 

 by the road, but the post-master told a little 

 Gaucho to take me by a nearer cut. I followed 

 this little child, who was not more than eight years 

 old, for many leagues. He rode like the wind, and 

 amused me extremely by a number of very enter- 

 taining stories which he told me. At last it began 

 to rain, and the little boy said, " Quien sabe^' if 

 ever he should find out the post, for that he had 

 never before come that way. It was no use stop- 

 ping, and as I galloped along, I made the child 

 tell me the directions which the post-master had 

 given to him, but I could make nothing at all of 

 them. One would have thought by the child's de- 

 scription, that it was a mountainous country we 

 were crossing, for he talked of hills and valleys 

 which I could not see ; but the Gauchos do divide 

 their plains into ups and downs, which no one can 



