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Show 88 BAHIA BLANCA. Aug. 183.3. fi iles we came to a broad Having ridden about twenty- ve m 'f as the eye can h · h tretch as ar belt of sand-dunes, w lC s Th sand- hillocks resting reach, to the east and wes~. f w:ter to collect, and thus on the clay, allow small poo s o. 1 ble supply of fresh . d try an mva ua afford, in th1s ry coun ' . . from depressions and water. 'rhe great advantage ansmg b ht home to the . h '1 is not often roug elevatiOns of t e sOl ' . · the long passage be-mind. The ~wo miserable ~~~::~ol:·ere caused by trifling tween the Rw Negro . and . h t them not a drop of water inequalities in the plam; ';~eo~elt of sand-dunes is about would have been found. . d it probably formed eight miles wide ; at some former pe~w ' the Colorado now the margin of ~ g~and estuar~ ~u::e proofs of the recent flows. In this distnct, where a hs culations can hardly be elevation of the land occur, s~c m:;~ considering the phyneglected by any one, althoug Ha~ng crossed the sandy sica} geogra~hy o~ the coun~ry. t one of the post-houses; tract, we arnved m the evemng a . t a distance we de-an d, as the fresh horses were grazmg a ' termined to pass the night there. b f ri'dge between The house was SI' tua t ed at the ase o a k b' le feature one and two hund re d £e e t h'I g h-a most remd adr ba a negro in this country. This posta was comma~ e . y as lieutenant born in Africa : to his credit be It said, tAhere win ' the Colorado and Buenos yres not a rancho between h' He had a little room for nearly such neat orldler asl foisr. the horses all made of sticks d a sma corra ' · strangers, .a~e had also dug a ditch round his house, as a de-and r~eds' of being attacked. This would, however, have fence m case . b t h · hief been of little avail, if the Indians had come ; lli~ ~· c life d t rest in the thought of se ng IS ~om~ort ::~:rt ti:e before, a body of Indians had travelled :: J~ the night; if they had been aware of the pasta, a: ~lack friend and his four soldiers, would assuredly h~ '] b 1 htered I did not any where meet a more CIVI een s aug · . f th ore d obliging man, than this negro; :Lt was there ore . em ;:inful to see that he would not sit down and eat With us. Aug. 1833. DAlilA BLA:\TCA. 89 In the morning we sent for the horses very early, and started for another exhilarating gallop. We passed the Cabeza del Buey, an old name given to the head of a large marsh, which extends from Bahia Blanca. Here we changed horses, and passed through some leagues of swamps and saltpetre marshes. Changing horses for the last time, we again began wading through the mud. My animal fell, and I was well soused in black mire-a very disagreeable accident, when one does not possess a change of clothes. Some miles from the fort we met a man, who told us that a great gun had been fired, which is a signal that Indians are near. We immediately left the road, and followed the edge of a marsh, which when chased offers the best mode of escape. We were glad to arrive within the walls, when we found all the alarm was about nothing, for the Indians turned out to be friendly ones, who wished to join General Rosas. Bahia Blanca scarcely deserves the name of a village. A few houses and the barracks for the troops are enclosed by a deep ditch and fortified wall. The settlement is only of recent standing (since 1828); and its growth has been one of trouble. The government of Buenos Ayres did not follow the wise example of the Spanish viceroys in purchasing the land from the Indians, as they did with the Rio Negro, but unjustly occupied it by force. Hence the need of the fortifications ; hence the few houses and little cultivated land without the limits of the walls : even the cattle are not safe from the attacks of the Indians beyond the boundaries of the plain, on which the fortress stands. The part of the harbour where the Beagle intended to anchor being distant twenty-five miles, I obtained from the Commandant a guide and horses, to take me to see whether she had arrived. Leaving the plain of green turf, which followed the course of the little brook, we soon entered on a wide 1evel waste, consisting either of sand, saline marshes, or bare mud. Some parts were clothed by low thickets, and others with those succulent plants, which luxuriate only |