88 



BAHIA BLANCA. 



Aug. 1833. 



Having ridden about twenty-five miles^ we came to a broad 

 belt of sand-dunes^ which stretchy as far as the eye can 

 reach, to the east and west. The sand -hillocks resting 

 on the clay, allow small pools of water to collect, and thus 

 afford, in this dry country, an invaluable supply of fresh 

 water. The great advantage arising from depressions and 

 elevations of the soil, is not often brought home to the 

 mind. The two miserable springs in the long passage be- 

 tween the Rio Negro and Colorado were caused by trifling 

 inequalities in the plani ; without them not a drop of water 

 would have been found. The belt of sand-dunes is about 

 eight miles wide ; at some former period, it probably formed 

 the margin of a grand estuary, where the Colorado now 

 flows. In this district, where absolute proofs of the recent 

 elevation of the land occur, such speculations can hardly be 

 neglected by any one, although merely considering the phy- 

 sical geography of the country. Having crossed the sandy 

 tract, we arrived in the evening at one of the post-houses ; 

 and, as the fresh horses were grazing at a distance, we de- 

 termined to pass the night there. 



The house was situated at the base of a ridge, between 

 one and two hundred feet high — a most remarkable feature 

 in this country. This posta was commanded by a negro 

 lieutenant, born in Africa : to his credit be it said, there was 

 not a rancho between the Colorado and Buenos Ayres in 

 nearly such neat order as his. He had a little room for 

 strangers, and a small corral for the horses, all made of sticks 

 and reeds ; he had also dug a ditch round his house, as a de- 

 fence in case of being attacked. This would, however, have 

 been of little avail, if the Indians had come ; but his chief 

 comfort seemed to rest in the thought of selling his life 

 dearly. A short time before, a body of Indians had travelled 

 past in the night ; if they had been aware of the posta, our 

 black friend and his four soldiers, would assuredly have 

 been slaughtered. I did not any where meet a more civil 

 and obliging man, than this negro ; it was therefore the more 

 painful to see that he would not sit down and eat with us. 



