72 



BUENOS AYRES. 



drive before him, with wonderful skill, a whole 

 regiment of half-broken horses at a gallop, 

 without losing a single deserter from the 

 ranks. 



The inner roadstead separated from the outer 

 by a sandbank is occupied by craft of less 

 tonnage. On calm days goods and passengers 

 are conveyed in carts, driven at an alarming 

 pace through the water to these vessels. The 

 horses all pull from the girth, to which is at- 

 tached a rope a foot long, fastened at the other 

 end to the pole. The gaucho stops the cart by 

 pushing back the pole with his foot, when he 

 checks his horses. There is no quay or har- 

 bour. The outer roads are not deep, and a 

 large frigate would be frequently aground when 

 at anchor ; but as the bottom is very soft and 

 muddy, hardly any injury is ever sustained 

 from touching it. 



