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Show MALDONADO· 1832-3. 46 b' t possess beauty. Some limited to a small space, m~n! o JeC s l d . and the bright of the smaller birds are br~a~tly t~~ :~::le: is ornamented green sward, browsed shor . y 1 okin like the by dwarf flowers, among whiCh lad pfl~ntd o Wh:t would a · 1 · d the place of an o nen · daisy, c aime th' ckly covered by the Ye1·bena florist say to whole tracts so I f the most O'audy melindres, as, even at a distance, to appear o o scarlet ?. k t Maldonado m· whl•C h ti·m e a nearl y I staid ten wee s a ' . erfect collection of the animals, birds, and rep~Iles, was p d Before making any observations respectmg them, Pro·c ure· . t f little excursi.O n 1 rna d e as f ar as the 1 will giVe an accoun o a . . . h n.v er p o1 a nc o, whi'ch is about seventy miles distant, hm a nort - erly direction. I may mention, as a proof how c eap every thing is in this country, that I paid only ~wo dollars a day' or eight shillings, for two men, together .with a troop of about a d ozen n. d'm g-horses · My compamons were well armed with pistols and sabres ; a precaution which I thought rather unnecessary ; but tlle first piece of news we heard was, thatd, the day before, a traveller from Monte Vide? had been foun 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 posse~sed 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 ~ap, to point out the direction of various places. It exc1ted the liveliest admiration that I, a perfect stranger, should know the road (for direction and road are synonymous in this open country) to places where I had never been. At one house a young woman, who was ill in bed, sent to entreat me to come and show her the compass. If their surprise was great, mine was greater, to find such ignorance among people who possessed their thousands of cattle, and "estanci~s" of great extent. It can only be accounted for by the cucumstance that this retired part of the country is seldom visited by 1832-3. MALDONADO. 47 foreigners. I was asked whether the earth or sun moved. whether it was hotter or colder to the north; where Spai~ was, and many other such questions. The greater number of the inhabitants had an indistinct idea that England, London, and North America, were different names for the same place ; but the better informed well knew that London and North America were separate countries close together, and that England was a large town in London! I carried with me some promethean matches, which I ignited by biting ; it was thought so wonderful that a man should strike fire with ~is teeth, that it was usual to collect the whole family to see It : I was. once offere~ a dollar for a single one. Washing my face m the mormng, caused much speculation at the villag~ of Las Minas ; a superior tradesman closely crossquestiOned me about so singular a practice ; and likewise why on board we wore our beards ; for he had heard from my guide that we did so. He eyed me with much suspicion; perhaps he had heard of ablutions in the Mahomedan religion, and knowing me to be a heretick, probably he came to the conclusion that all hereticks · were Turks. It is the general custom in ~his country to ask for a night's lodging at the first convement house. The astonishment at the compass, and my other feats in jugglery, was to a certain de?ree advantageous, a~ with that, and the long stories my gmdes told of my breaking stones, knowing venemous from harmless snakes, collecting insects, &c., I repaid them for ~heir ?ospitality. I am writing as if I had been among the mhab1tants of central Africa: Banda Oriental would not be flattered by the comparison; but such were my feelings at the time. The next day we rode to the village of Las Minas. The country was rather more hilly, but otherwise continued the same; an inhabitant of the Pampas no doubt would have ~onsi~ered it as truly Alpine. The country is so thinly mhab1ted, that during the whole day we scarcely met a single person. Las Minas is much smaller even than Maldonado. It is seated on a little plain, and is surrounded by low rocky |