THE PAMPAS. 



205 



jogging along upon the jaded animal, half-asleep 

 with the heat, I suddenly perceived some horse- 

 men rising up on one side of me, from over the 

 summit of one of those slight elevations by 

 which the plain was now occasionally varied. 

 One followed another at a quick pace ; and the 

 sun was so much in my eyes that I could not 

 distinguish their dresses. " So I" thought I, 

 iS here are the Indians at last !" It was utterly 

 impossible to escape, if they really were the 

 enemy ; so I had no resource but to sell my life 

 at the price of a couple of pistol shots. I can- 

 not say I was resigned to a fate that I certainly 

 considered as inevitable. Presently, however, 

 to my inexpressible satisfaction, 1 found, as the 

 riders came near me, that they were very 

 friendly- disposed gauchos, who were riding 

 together to visit their herds on the plain. 



This point being so happily settled, I re- 



