304 



CONCLUSION. 



miners, who were selected in Cornwall for their 

 good behaviour, and who arrived in the Provinces 

 with every inclination to maintain their character. 

 They saw the degraded state of the English settlers 

 at Buenos Aires, and of their own accord they kept 

 clear of them ; but the cheapness of the spirits, 

 and the heat of the climate, were inducements to 

 them to drink, which they found it very difficult to 

 resist. As soon as the heat set in, the men were 

 exhausted, and complained of a " feebleness''' that 

 they had never felt before ; and this was so great, 

 that many of the strongest of them preferred going 



milkmaids; however, private arrangements had been made, 

 and they, therefore, had milk before it was generally known 

 that they had got cows. But the difficulties which they expe- 

 rienced were very great : instead of leaning their heads against 

 patient domestic animals, they were introduced to a set of law- 

 less wild creatures, who looked so fierce that no young woman 

 who ever sat upon a three-legged stool could dare to approach, 

 much less to milk them ! — But the Gauchos attacked the cows, 

 tied their legs with strips of hide, and as soon as they became 

 quiet, the shops of Buenos Aires were literally full of butter. 

 But now for the sad moral of the story : — after the difficulties 

 had been all conquered, it was discovered, first, that the butter 

 would not keep I — and secondly, that somehow or other the 



Gauchos and natives of Buenos Aires liked oil 



better!! 



