JOURNEY ACROSS THE PAMPAS. 177 CHAPTER XI. JOURNEY ACROSS THE PAMPAS, CONTINUED. Improved travelling-Biscachas and owls-A supper on the Pampas-Maté-Paroquets, ostriches, and deer— The Indians-Military expedition against them—A waggon train-A solitary shopkeeper-A foray of the Indians-Female wonder-Mosquitoes-Quick travelling-Wire spectacles-Rivers of the plain-Algaroba -Guenbé-Bread not a necessary of life. WE had capital horses from this post, and rode at a hand gallop, without any order, till it became quite dark, when we were obliged to follow each other in a line,-the postilion and baggage-horses leading the way, along so dusty a road that we were scarcely able to open our mouths or eyes. The biscachas, which burrow like rabbits, though they resemble badgers in appearance, had dug their holes in the very middle of our path; and my horse fell three times into them, on his nose, but recovered himself with singular felicity, without giving me a tumble. In the daytime we should have been reminded of the vicinity of these traps, by the owls, which generally stand sentinel over the holes which have ceased to be inhabited by these animals. These birds seldom move from the spot, and, if the traveller rides close to them, they make no other movement than to raise themselves as high as they can upon their feet, and stare at him with their goggle eyes, in a very curious and comical way. We saw a great many of the horned plovers as we rode to-day. They are called by the natives the tira-tira bird; and I recollect, on our expedition to Navarro, we found them very disagreeable. Their nests being near our path, they frequently flew almost into our faces, with rage at our supposed invasion of their possessions, and accompanied this manœuvre with a screeching that was most tormenting and grating to the ear. We reached the post-house by eleven at night, after a journey of ninety-three miles: and glad enough we were of food and repose. For the former we had to wait a long time, as nobody was awake when we arrived. M'Lean and I made our beds on the two hide catres in the hut. Don Joachim Rodriguez (for that is the name of our military friend) and the servant, preferred the piazza outside, and had begun already to sleep on their recados, when a woman appeared with a dish of mutton broth, mixed with maize and pumkin; after which came an assado or roasted lump of beef on a stick, which we all charged with our knives. Hungry as I was, I could hardly help being sickened at the sight of a number of hands, begrimed with dirt, all helping themselves from the same piece of meat; and all eating soup out of the same dish. This last arrangement I could not stomach, so I restricted myself to a large slice of the beef, with which, like a sulky dog over his bone, I retired into a corner-washing it down afterwards with some of my own tea. We have brought a good deal of the famous yerba or maté with us, and I begin almost to prefer it to tea, when made by the natives, who seem alone perfectly to understand the mode of mixing this beverage. The leaf of the maté (Ilex paraguensis) is of the holly tribe. It grows wild in all the woods near the rivers and streams of Paraguay. It is an evergreen, with elliptical leaves, and the stem will grow to the size of a man's thigh. To bring this Paraguay tea into use, the leaves are slightly scorched by drawing the branch itself through the fire. Then the leaves are roasted, broken up, and pressed for packing. The Spaniards derived the custom of taking this tea from the Indians. A calabash serves for a teacup, into which, after a pinch of the leaves is put, boiling water is poured, and the infusion is then sucked into the mouth through a hollow silver, tin, or cane tube, which is called a bombillio. The common joke of the country is, to induce a stranger to apply the metal instrument to his mouth unthinkingly; for if the operation is not cautiously managed, the novice is sure to repent his rashness. Not only is the |