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Show 86 RIO COLORADO. Aug. 1833. Such actions as these delighted the Gau~ho.s, who all possess high notions of their own equality and digmty. . General Rosas is also a perfect horseman-an acomphsh-ment of no small consequence in a country wh~re an ~ssembled army elected its general by . the ~ollowmg tnal : A troop of unbroken horses being dn~en mto a corral, ~e~e let out through a gateway, above whiCh was a cross-bar. 1t was agreed, whoever should drop from the bar on one of these wild animals, as it rushed out, and should he able without saddle or bridle, not only to ride it, but also ~o bring it back to the door of the corral, sho_uld be theu general. The person who succeeded was accordmgly electe~; and doubtless made a fit general for such an army· Th1s extraordinary feat has also been performed by Rosas. By these means, and by conforming to the dress and habits of the Gauchos, he has obtained an unboun~ed popularity in the country, and in consequence a despotic power. I was assured by an English merchant, that a man who had murdered another, when arrested and questioned concerning his motive, answered, " He spoke disrespectfully of General Rosas, so I killed him." At the end of a week the murderer was at liberty. This doubtless was the act of the general's party, and not of the general himself. In conversation he is enthusiastic, sensible, and very grave. His gravity is carried· to a high pitch : I heard one of his mad buffoons (for he keeps two, like the barons of old) relate the following anecdote : " I wanted very much to hear a certain piece of music, so I went to the general two or three times to ask him ; he said to me, ' Go about your business, for I am engaged.' I went a second time ; he said, ' If you come again I will punish you.' A third time I asked, and he laughed. I rushed out of the tent, but it was too late; he ordered two soldiers to catch and stake me. I begged by all the Saints in heaven, he would let me off; but it would not do ;-when the general laughs he spares neither mad man or sound." The poor flighty gentleman looked quite dolorous, at the very recollection of the staking. This Aug. 1833. ASPECT OF COU N1'RY. S7 is a very severe punishment; four posts are driven into the gro~nd, and the man is extended by his arms and legs honzontally, and there left to stretch for sev 1 h Th 'd · · era ours. e 1 ea 1s evidently taken from the usual method f d · h'd M . . o rymg 1 es. y mterv1ew passed away without a s 'l d I b' d nn~m o tame a pa~sport and order for the government post-horses, and th1s he gave me in the most obligino- and read mMM~ 0 Y In th~ morning we started for Bahia Blanca, which we reached m two days. Leaving the regular encampment we passed by the toldos of the Indians. These are round 'like oven~, and covered with hides ; by the mouth of each a tapermg chuzo was stuck in the ground. The told d' ·d d · os were 1v1 e mto separate groups, which belonged to the d' f-fer t · ' 'b 1 . en caciques tn es, and the groups were again divided mto smaller ones, according to the relationship of the owners. For several miles we travelled along the valle of ~he Colo~a~o. The alluvial plains on the side appeare~ fertile, and It IS supposed that they are well adapted to the growth of corn. Turning northward from the river, we soon entered on a ~ountry, differing from those plains that extend sout? of the river. The land still continued dry and sterile; but It supported many different kinds of plants, and the grass, though brown and withered, was more abundant, as the thorny b~shes were less so. Th~se latter in a short space entirely disappeared, and the plams were left without a thicket to cover their nakedness. This change in the vegetation marks the. com~encement of the grand calcareo-argillaceous deposit, wluch I have already noticed as forming the wide extent of ~he Pampas, and as covering the granitic rocks of Banda ~nental. From the Strait of Magellan to the Colorado, a ~1stance of about eight hundred miles, the face of the co~ntry IS every where composed of shingle: the pebbles are chiefly of porphyry, and probably qwe their origin to the ro~ks of the Cordillera. North of the Colorado the bed thms out, and the pebbles become exceedingly small d here the ch arac t en·s tw· vegetation of Patagonia ceases. ' an |