GAUCHOS. 



271 



are found separated from each other by a 

 whole day^s journey. Under these circum- 

 stances, what can the lonely gaucho know of 

 the great world in which he passes his dreary 

 life, cut off from all communication with the 

 haunts of civilized man ? Often the man who 

 acted as our postilion, seemed puzzled to find 

 his way to the next station ; and when ques- 

 tioning many of these gauchos, their knowledge 

 of places was limited to the mere neigh- 

 bourhood of the dwellings, where they had 

 passed their lives. However, when they hunt 

 ostriches, or are obliged to fly from the Indians, 

 they make journeys of a length almost incre- 

 dible. They will try to climb up a colt of three 

 years old by the tail, when they are not older 

 themselves, and are accustomed to the exer- 

 cise of throwing the lasso from the time they 

 can scramble out from the door of their hut — 



