84 CHARLES DARWIN 



being of wire, were not thicker than whipcord ; and to sde a 

 fiery steed wheeling about under the command of so light 

 a chain, gave to the horsemanship a remarkable character of 

 elegance. J 



General Rosas intimated a wish to see me ; a circumstance 

 which I was afterwards very glad of. He is a man pf an 

 extraordinary character, and has a most predominant influ- 

 ence in the country, which it seems he will use to its pros- 

 perity and advancement. 6 He is said to be the owner of 

 seventy-four square leagues of land, and to have about three 

 hundred thousand head of cattle. His estates are admirably 

 managed, and are far more productive of corn than those of 

 others. He first gained his celebrity by his laws for his own 

 estancias, and by disciplining several hundred men, so as to 

 resist with success the attacks of the Indians. There are 

 many stories current about the rigid manner in which his 

 laws were enforced. One of these was, that no man, on 

 penalty of being put into the stocks, should carry his knife 

 on a Sunday: this being the principal day for gambling and 

 drinking, many quarrels arose, which from the general man- 

 ner of fighting with the knife often proved fatal. One 

 Sunday the Governor came in great form to pay the estancia 

 a visit, and General Rosas, in his hurry, walked out to receive 

 him with his knife, as usual, stuck in his belt. The steward 

 touched his arm, and reminded him of the law ; upon which, 

 turning to the Governor, he said he was extremely sorry, but 

 that he must go into the stocks, and that till let out, he pos- 

 sessed no power even in his own house. After a little time 

 the steward was persuaded to open the stocks, and to let 

 him out, but no sooner was this done, than he turned to the 

 steward and said, " You now have broken the laws, so you 

 must take my place in the stocks." Such actions as these 

 delighted the Gauchos, who all possess high notions of their 

 own equality and dignity. 



General Rosas is also a perfect horseman — an accomplish- 

 ment of no small consequence fn a country where an assem- 

 bled army elected its general by the folowing trial: A troop 

 of unbroken horses being driven into a corral, were let out 

 through a gateway, above which was a cross-bar: it was 



9 This prophecy has turned out entirely and miserably wrong. 1845. 



