order to follow a division of troops into the interior. A
more ludicrous spectacle I never beheld than the hundreds
and hundreds of heads, all directed one way, with pointed
ears and distended snorting nostrils, appearing just above
the water like a great shoal of some amphibious animal.
Mare's flesh is the only food which the soldiers have when
on an expedition. This gives them a great facility of movement;
for the distance to which horses can be driven over
these plains is quite surprising: I have been assured that an
unloaded horse can travel a hundred miles a day for many
days successively.

The encampment of General Rosas was close to the river.
It consisted of a square formed by waggons, artillery, straw
huts, etc. The soldiers were nearly all cavalry; and I should
think such a villainous, banditti-like army was never before
collected together. The greater number of men were of a
mixed breed, between Negro, Indian, and Spaniard. I know
not the reason, but men of such origin seldom have a good
expression of countenance. I called on the Secretary to show
my passport. He began to cross-question me in the most
dignified and mysterious manner. By good luck I had a
letter of recommendation from the government of Buenos
Ayres [5] to the commandant of Patagones. This was taken
to General Rosas, who sent me a very obliging message; and
the Secretary returned all smiles and graciousness. We took
up our residence in the _rancho_, or hovel, of a curious old
Spaniard, who had served with Napoleon in the expedition
against Russia.