LEVEL PLAIN. 



171 



plain, here cut up into roads and horse-tracks. 

 It was entirely covered with white linen, and 

 we could see nobody inside. A number of 

 horses for changing, were driven near the car- 

 riage, by a gaucho who had no sinecure on so 

 hot a day, in driving so many together without 

 assistance. 



We had now proceeded beyond the region 

 of thistles, and beheld around us, during the 

 whole of the day's ride, the same level plain of 

 grass. This was a good deal burnt up with the 

 sun, and often cut up into dusty paths by 

 the frequent traffic across it ; but occasionally, 

 to save a distance, or avoid some swampy part, 

 we deviated from the beaten track, and found 

 ourselves galloping over a boundless plain, 

 without any perceivable mark to direct our 

 course, and as if guided by the mere instinct 

 of the gaucho. Presently a black dot in the 



VOL. I. I 2 



