42 
MALDONADO 
CHAP. 
open slightly-undulating country, covered by one uniform layer 
of fine green turf, on which countless herds of cattle, sheep, and 
horses graze. There is very little land cultivated even close to 
the town. A few hedges made of cacti and agave mark out 
where some wheat or Indian corn has been planted. The 
features of the country are very similar along the whole 
northern bank of the Plata. The only difference is, that here 
the granitic hills are a little bolder. The scenery is very 
uninteresting ; there is scarcely a house, an enclosed piece of 
ground, or even a tree, to give it an air of cheerfulness. Yet, 
after being imprisoned for some time in a ship, there is a charm 
in the unconfined feeling of walking over boundless plains of 
turf. Moreover, if your view is limited to a small space, many 
objects possess beauty. Some of the smaller birds are brilliantly 
coloured ; and the bright green sward, browsed short by the 
cattle, is ornamented by dwarf flowers, among which a plant, 
looking like the daisy, claimed the place of an old friend. 
What would a florist say to whole tracts so thickly covered by 
the Verbena melindres, as, even at a distance, to appear of the 
most gaudy scarlet ? 
I stayed ten weeks at Maldonado, in which time a nearly 
perfect collection of the animals, birds, and reptiles, was pro¬ 
cured. Before making any observations respecting them, I will 
give an account of a little excursion I made as far as the river 
Polanco, which is about seventy miles distant, in a northerly 
direction. I may mention, as a proof how cheap everything is 
in this country, that I paid only two dollars a day or eight 
shillings, for two men, together with a troop of about a 
dozen riding-horses. My companions were well armed 
with pistols and sabres ; a precaution which I thought 
rather unnecessary ; but the first piece of news we heard 
was, that, the day before, a traveller from Monte Video 
had been found dead on the road, with his throat cut. 
This happened close to a cross, the record of a former 
murder. 
On the first night we slept at a retired little country-house ; 
and there I soon found out that I possessed two or three 
articles, especially a pocket compass, which created unbounded 
astonishment. In every house I was asked to show the compass, 
and by its aid, together with a map, to point out the direction 
