spectacle; I had no idea how well the two animals suited each other.
The tail of a horse is a very useful appendage; I have passed a river
in a boat with four people in it, which was ferried across in the same
way as the Gaucho. If a man and horse have to cross a broad river, the
best plan is for the man to catch hold of the pommel or mane, and help
himself with the other arm.
We slept and stayed the following day at the post of Cufre. In the
evening the postman or letter-carrier arrived. He was a day after his
time, owing to the Rio Rozario being flooded. It would not, however,
be of much consequence; for, although he had passed through some of the
principal towns in Banda Oriental, his luggage consisted of two
letters! The view from the house was pleasing; an undulating green
surface, with distant glimpses of the Plata. I find that I look at
this province with very different eyes from what I did upon my first
arrival. I recollect I then thought it singularly level; but now,
after galloping over the Pampas, my only surprise is, what could have
induced me ever to call it level. The country is a series of
undulations, in themselves perhaps not absolutely great, but, as
compared to the plains of St. Fe, real mountains. From these
inequalities there is an abundance of small rivulets, and the turf is
green and luxuriant.
November 17th.--We crossed the Rozario, which was deep and rapid, and
passing the village of Colla, arrived at midday at Colonia del
Sacramiento. The distance is twenty leagues, through a country covered
with fine grass, but poorly stocked with cattle or inhabitants. I was
invited to sleep at Colonia, and to accompany on the following day a
gentleman to his estancia, where there were some limestone rocks. The
town is built on a stony promontory something in the same manner as at
Monte Video. It is strongly fortified, but both fortifications and
town suffered much in the Brazilian war. It is very ancient; and the
irregularity of the streets, and the surrounding groves of old orange
and peach trees, gave it a pretty appearance. The church is a curious
ruin; it was used as a powder-magazine, and was struck by lightning in
one of the ten thousand thunderstorms of the Rio Plata. Two-thirds of
the building were blown away to the very foundation; and the rest
stands a shattered and curious monument of the united powers of
lightning and gunpowder. In the evening I wandered about the
half-demolished walls of the town. It was the chief seat of the
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