156 



CHARLES DARWIN 



I intended to proceed to Colonia del Sacramiento, situated 

 on the northern bank of the Plata and opposite to Buenos 

 Ayres, and thence, following up the Uruguay, to the village 

 of Mercedes on the Rio Negro (one of the many rivers of 

 this name in South America), and from this point to return 

 direct to Monte Video. We slept at the house of my guide 

 at Canelones. In the morning we rose early, in the hopes 

 of being able to ride a good distance; but it was a vain at- 

 tempt, for all the rivers were flooded. We passed in boats 

 the streams of Canelones, St. Lucia, and San Jose, and thus 

 lost much time. On a former excursion I crossed the Lucia 

 near its mouth, and I was surprised to observe how easily 

 our horses, although not used to swim, passed over a width 

 of at least six hundred yards. On mentioning this at Monte 

 Video, I was told that a vessel containing some mounte- 

 banks and their horses, being wrecked in the Plata, one horse 

 swam seven miles to the shore. In the course of the day I 

 was amused by the dexterity with which a Gaucho forced 

 a restive horse to swim a river. He stripped off his clothes, 

 and jumping on its back, rode into the water till it was out 

 of its depth; then slipping off over the crupper, he caught 

 hold of the tail, and as often as the horse turned round, 

 the man frightened it back by splashing water in its face. 

 As soon as the horse touched the bottom on the other side, 

 the man pulled himself on, and was firmly seated, bridle 

 in hand, before the horse gained the bank. A naked man 

 on a naked horse is a fine spectacle ; I had no idea how well 

 the two animals suited each other. The tail of a horse is a 

 very useful appendage ; I have passed a river in a boat with 

 four people in it, which was ferried across in the same way 

 as the Gaucho. If a man and horse have to cross a broad 

 river, the best plan is for the man to catch hold of the pom- 

 mel or mane, and help himself with the other arm. 



We slept and stayed the following day at the post of 

 Cufre. In the evening the postman or letter-carrier arrived. 

 He was a day after his time, owing to the Rio Rozario bein^ 

 flooded. It would not, however, be of much consequence, 

 for, although he had passed through some of the principal 

 towns in Banda Oriental, his luggage consisted of two let- 

 ters ! The view from the house was pleasing ; an undulating 



