1821 .} Notes written during a late 
plaster of Paris, of a good quality, and 
in some parts vast beds of shells which 
are burnt info lime. Neither on the 
surface of the vast plain from Buenos 
Ayres to Mendoza , nor in digging wells 
of any depth, is a stone of the smallest 
size to be found. 
The ground is scratched over with a 
rude plough, and tile , seed sown and 
harrowed in. None of the land is fen¬ 
ced, except gardens and peach grounds. 
Wheat, to which the soil is very fa¬ 
vourable, produces about thirty-six 
bushels per acre; barley about the 
same, then the land is left to rest. 
There is no succession of crops. The 
quantity of seed is surprisingly small; 
two or three pecks an acre, according 
as it is sown early or late, are sufficient. 
With all these advantages the farmers 
are poor. They pay first-fruits and 
tithes ; labour is high, and the market 
narrow and precarious. 
Barley generally sells at from 2s. fid. 
to 3s. sterling per bushel, and wheat at 
from 3s. to 3s. fid. Yet the bread, 
which is very good, and made with 
leaven, is generally about 3fd. the 
pound. This arises from the high price 
of labour and firing, and the taxes on 
bakehouses. 
There are no barns, grain is trodden 
out in the open air by horses, and then 
ill dressed in the wind. The bakers 
buy the wheat and grind it with mules, 
which work in a small circle unshod. 
The mill-stones are badly cut, and un¬ 
covered. There are no wind-mills in 
Buenos Ayres. 
Grain is sometimes entirely destroy¬ 
ed by weevils, which in this mild cli¬ 
mate multiply astonishingly. 
Though they have plenty of wool 
from their sheep, neither the farmers 
nor their wives ever think of spinning 
it, but go to the town to buy their few 
miserable garments, whilst their dirty, 
lazy children run about half naked. 
Estancias occupy a large portion of 
these immense plains, where not a tree 
is to be seen. These are covered with 
luxuriant grass, which at times, in 
summer, is burnt to dust. Beyond 
them are found only roving Indians, 
ostriches, cattle, and horses—which 
have no master. 
These estancias raise vast quantities 
of black cattle, horses, and mules, 
some of which are driven to market for 
sale, and some slain for their hides and 
tallow. Many who live on those farms 
possess several thousand head of cattle, 
Residence at Buenos Ayres. 31 
and are content to exist, from year to 
year, in a mud cottage, never tasting 
bread, nor lying down on any thing bet¬ 
ter than an ox hide. They can hardly be 
called civilized beings, as they can do 
nothing but Tide on horseback, throw 
the laso and balls, and kill and flay 
oxen. Tables they have none, and use 
in the place of chairs, the heads of 
horses and oxen. 
Their famous nooses or slings consist 
of three balls, tied by three thongs, of 
hides, each eighteen inches long, which 
meet in the middle. They are used on 
horseback, one of these balls is taken 
in the hand and the other two swung 
over the head for a few moments, and 
then thrown at the object with great 
force. They will hurl them with an 
unerring aim, and entangle and tie to¬ 
gether the legs of a horse or ox, at a 
distance of thirty or forty yards. The 
laso , which is of hide rope, very long, 
is a noose running in an iron ring. 
This they will throw with astonishing 
dexterity, so as to catch the head or 
feet of any animal, though running, 
and they riding full gallop after it. 
There are numerous brick-grounds 
in the vicinity of the towns. Firing 
being scarce they are compelled to use 
straw, weeds, &c. and the bones and 
carcases of oxen, horses, and sheep. 
The heads and feet of the cattle killed 
for the town, are piled upon- the kill¬ 
ing grounds for sale, as a regular ar¬ 
ticle for firing. Two or three hundred 
carcases of horses may be sometimes 
seen near a brick kiln. The same fuel 
is used for burning lime, and for this 
purpose sheep are sometimes slaugh¬ 
tered at the door of the kiln, and im¬ 
mediately thrown in to burn. 
The bakers burn chiefly a kind of 
thistle, which covers some parts of the 
country, and are its only forests. The 
rest of the inhabitants burn wood 
brought from the north side of the 
river, and the Parana , &c. and some 
peach-wood grown near the town. 
Smiths, &e. use coals from England, 
the demand for which appears to in¬ 
crease, and our merchants take good 
care to supply it. 
Very good hats are made in the 
town, by a Frenchman, yet, though 
furs are cheap, the manufactory would 
not answer, were it not that imported 
hats pay fifty per cent. duty. 
There are one large, and some small 
distilleries in the town. A cannon 
foundery and a manufactory of small 
arms 
