was one of those lion-hearted men who rely on their own pluck and independence to carry them through everything, and thus generally succeed in defiance of all obstacles. He came out to be a sheep-farmer, so he invested his capital in a flock of sheep, and a piece of land for them to live on. That was all he wanted to begin with; other things might come in due time. His sole companion was a peon of very unprepossessing appearance, but staunch fidelity, who having distinguished himself in frequent quarrels by generally killing his man, now determined to devote all his energy and talent to the service of his gallant young master. They began by sleeping on the open ground, resting on their recados, and wrapped up in their ponchos; but in a few days prepared, with sticks and bundles of paja, a kind of wigwam, the furniture of which consisted of little more than what is common enough on the Pampas, a bullock's skull for a chair, with a spare horn for a friend. A stock of more convenient things was left at the estancia where I was staying, pending the construction of a better house in the regular style of wattles and clay, the side walls only of which were completed when the invalid visitor arrived from England. It was already late in the evening; the sun had disappeared for the day, and the sky was cloudy; but Mr. Anderson at once determined to take his friend over to Mr. Smith's estancia, where he was sure of shelter and hospitality. A short hour was enough for the ride in daylight, but darkness M it was came on so fast that before they had gone half way very difficult to see anything. Mr. Anderson thought he was sure of going right, and only increased the pace; a daring and accomplished rider himself, he could not half sympathise with the sufferings of his friend, who, at the end of a hard day's work to which he was wholly unaccustomed, now found himself urged along.in a mad gallop over uneven ground, in total darkness, and expecting every moment to be his last. At length he felt he could hold out no longer. Mr. Anderson admitted that he could not find the estanciahouse, but was not yet prepared to give up the search. He told his friend to sit still on his horse, while he himself rode round and round in increasing circles, in hopes of finding the house. The hoofs were heard thundering round the plain, and the two men kept up communications by shouting till Mr. Anderson returned in despair, saying he had no notion of where they were. It was now, of course, as impossible to find one place as another, and had they both been novices they must have spent the night where they were; but the young Scotchman was ready with a piece of craft worthy to be noticed, for the benefit of those who may not have heard of it. He girthed up both horses with all his strength, and as soon as the benighted friends remounted, their steeds, by a marvellous instinct, made keener by the unpleasant pressure of the girth, started of their own accord at full speed, and finding the way home for themselves, never stopped till they arrived once more at the wigwam from which they started. The night was passed as comfortably as circumstances admitted of, and next morning they presented themselves at the estancia, where we found Mr. Roberts on our arrival. CHAPTER VIII. LIFE IN THE BANDA ORIENTAL. A RIDE TO THE PUESTOS OSTRICHES AND DEER-IMITATING AGREEABLE LETTERS RETURN TO BUENOS AYRES. A FEW days afterwards our host took us for a ride to the eastern or inland side of the estancia, where we visited some of his puestos. In several we found the shepherd at home, sometimes seated with a halfIndian wife, while a few tawny bright-eyed balls of humanity were playing at the door of the hut. Some of the best and certainly the handsomest of these men are Basque emigrants, who, as a general rule, are one of the most valuable classes of the population. French Basques and Spanish Basques arrive in great numbers in the River Plate, and are a remarkably handsome and hard-working race. The women have frequently very VISITING THE PUESTEROS. 165 good features, but their general physique is not in proportion to that of the men. On these occasions of visits from the master of the establishment to his puesteros, the greetings are rather stately, and nothing but the excuse of haste would prevent a feeling of disappointment if the whole party did not dismount and sit down for half an hour's gossip. The woman, wife or otherwise, is called señora, and she asks, with much calm dignity, after the health of the patron and his family; she then retires into the background, and my instinct informs me that she has gone to prepare the matè, which I detest, and with which I shall presently be obliged to burn my mouth, for fear of seeming rude to the señora in declining it. Meanwhile the puestero himself, who is resting after a hard gallop in the morning, answers questions about the sheep in the usual cool and lazy way of his countrymen, and invites us to dismount. This we decline, saying we have far to go, and knowing by experience that if once we get fairly seated in a puestero's house we are not likely to get away in a hurry. Presently the dark lady emerges, and pushing out of the way the small imitations of herself, bears the matè to the patron, who rather likes it than otherwise--so does his brother, and then comes my turn. I have to bend in the saddle and take the matèpot with every appearance of gratification; but, as I have never liked this national beverage enough to get |