CHAPTER XVIII. VOYAGE DOWN THE RIVER FROM GUALEGUAY. DEPARTURE FROM THE ESTANCIA-GUALEGUAY-VISIT TO DON SNAKES IN THE HOUSE GREAT HEAT IN THE EVENING - AND RETURN TO HOT CHRISTMAS-SAIL FOR ENGLAND. HERE had been no change in the weather since we THERE entered the province: day after day, the same bright sunshine added another shade to our complexions; and on one of the hottest afternoons in the middle of December we said good-bye to our friends at Las Cabezas, and, with much regret, set forward to Gualeguay. Our host drove me over in his dog-cart, his son and Mr. Boyd accompanying us on horseback. A carriage of this description, built very strongly, and with wheels wide apart, is exceedingly useful in the camp: a friend of mine, Mr. Brittain, who was, I believe, the first to introduce one in that part of the world, used to travel immense distances in it, taking with him a couple of peons and a good tropilla of horses to relieve one another in turn. The seven leagues were got over in little more than two hours; and we arrived at the town of Gualeguay in time to enjoy dinner at a fonda kept by an obliging but preternaturally fat landlord. It appeared, upon enquiry, that the schooner would not be ready to sail till the next evening; so we had the greater part of a day for making an exploration of the town. It appeared to be about the same size as Nogoyà, with no great signs of activity, though it is an important outlet for one part of the province. Our passports for permission to leave Entre Rios had to be obtained, and with this object we entered a large courtyard surrounded by a colonnade, with the public offices on one side, and a barrack for soldiers on the other. The officials were very polite, and soon provided us with the necessary documents. The offices, however, were abominably untidy, and very little like the same class of rooms in most parts of Europe. It was, however, adorned by a huge picture of Urquiza, in full uniform, painted in the worst possible taste and style, which covered one of the walls, and seemed to threaten grim vengeance upon delinquent clerks. We then paid a visit to Don Juan, who was still in bed with his broken leg, though he was mending rapidly. He was delighted to see us again, and over flowed with gratitude for the service which we had been enabled to render him. We walked about for some time during the middle of the day; but as every man, woman, and child were sleeping the siesta, we found it rather dull, and returned to the inn, where we followed their example. About four o'clock we dined together, and paid a short visit to the club, which consisted of a tolerably large room, with billiard-tables and other amusements, and was well filled with men who seemed enjoying themselves to their hearts' content. All was at length reported ready, and we started for the port of Gualeguay, which is about three leagues from the town. The road was chiefly carried through a wooded region tenanted by large numbers of the red-headed cardinal-birds, and would have been very dangerous in the dark from the quantity of stumps still left standing to the height of several inches above the ground. We reached the port a little before sunset, but, as there was no wind, the heat was very great, and I certainly had qualms of anxiety as to what would become of us in such weather, cooped up in the little vessel which I now beheld. She was a neat schooner of about a hundred tons, but with very little draught of water, on account of the shallowness of the upper river. Her cargo was piled on the deck, which it entirely occupied, with the exception of about ten feet at each end of the ship. The wool was covered with hides, and rose up like a haystack, completely cutting off all communication, except by a difficult climb up one end, and a similar descent at the other. The cabin was approached by a descent like that into a Thames barge; but, as the ship was new, everything was fortunately very clean. It contained four very small berths, in a double row, upon each side, and one at the end, with a table about three feet square in the middle, and nothing to sit upon except the lockers at the foot of the berths. Our own party consisted of three; and when, to my horror, I found we were to have two gentlemen of Gualeguay as additional passengers in that small den, with the thermometer at upwards of 90°, I must own that I wished myself anywhere else, while my thoughts reverted dismally to the Black Hole of Calcutta. Before starting, we went over a saladero close to the bank of the river, with the proprietor of which Mr. Black was negotiating for the sale of three or four thousand of his cattle. Then we had a conversation with the captain of the port, who made himself very agreeable, and told us several interesting stories about the country, describing particularly the effects of crescientes, or the periodical floods of the river-system. A remarkable feature of them is the alarm and flight of animals living on the marshy banks and islands; and he said that, three years previously, the lower parts of his house had been filled with snakes which had been driven by the rising waters from their accustomed haunts. D D Late in the evening, we went on board the Maria Luisa' in a small boat; the anchor was weighed, and we began to float down the river, at the sluggish pace of the stream, towed by four men in the boat. Our two fellow-passengers also came on board, and we soon saw that one of them was very ill. He had had a touch of sun-stroke in his journey to the port from Gualeguay, and suffered intensely. I was beginning to contemplate the probability of his death, and the consequent alternative of either burying him in the river or carrying his body down to Buenos Ayres, which might be an affair of three days or as many weeks, according to the humours of wind and weather; but a severe fit of sickness relieved him greatly, and on going to bed he slept profoundly. We made tea, and climbed into our berths as the vessel slowly crawled down the river. I found that to get into my bed required a feat of skill, for the entrance was not much larger than a rabbit-hole; but repose was sweet, and I lay quietly for a few hours: the heat then became intolerable, and I rushed upon deck in my shirt, about midnight, just as a fresh breeze sprang up right ahead and compelled us to anchor. then returned to my burrow and slept till morning. I About dawn the captain started again, and began the tedious process of beating down the river against contrary winds. We passed a schooner which had sailed before us, but had been unlucky enough to take the ground, where she stuck fast till they got her off by |