156 DELAYS AND DISASTERS. 



the sun, waiting for us. We could only reach 

 the next post to sleep, for we met with many 

 delays and embarrassments on the road. On 

 one occasion a baggage-horse fell into a pan- 

 tano, and before he could extricate himself, it 

 was necessary to take off all his load. On re- 

 placing it, we found that he was too weak to 

 carry it, and we were obliged to shift the port- 

 manteaus on to our peon^s horse. But neither 

 party gained much by the exchange ; for the 

 poor brute that was not able to carry the bag- 

 gage, could only be prevented by constant 

 spurring from falling with the giant gaucho 

 who took its place. 



Luckily we had dined ; for it was too late to 

 get any thing to eat from the sleepy postmas- 

 ter. No sooner, therefore, had we arrived, than 

 we spread out our blankets and rugs, in a better 

 kind of hut than the last, and made as much 



