Memphis daily appeal. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1847-1886, 1868-10-25

IF the Argentine Republic is ever
be great nation, it will possess com
mensurate physical greatness. Higl
mountains bound it on the west, a vas
river separates it from Brazil on th
east, and its entire extent is a vas
plain. a-es' %
Immensity is tn! universal charac
teristie of the eountfy the plains, tn
woods, the rivers, are all immense anC
the horizon is always underlined, alway
lost in haze and delicate vapors whicI
forbid the eye to mark the point in th,
distant perspective, where the land end
and the sky begins.
"On the south and on the north ar,
savages ever on the watch, who take ad
vantage of the moonlight nights to fal
like packs of hyenas upon the herds il
their pasture, and upon the defenceles'
settlements. When the solitary caravan
of wagons, as it sluggishly traverses the
pampas, halts, for short period of rest
the men in charge of it, grouped around
their scanty fire, turn their eyes mechan-
ically toward the South upon the faint
est whisper of the wind among the dry
grass, and gaze into the deep darkness
of the night in search of the sinister
visages of the savage horde, which, at
any moment approaching unperceived,
may surprise them. If no sound
reaches their ears, if their sight fails
to pierce the gloomy veil which covers
the silent wilderness, they direct their
eyes, before entirely disinissing their
to the ears of any horse
standing within the freight, to see if
they are pricked up or turned carelessly
ba0kwards. Then they resume their in
terrupted conversation, or put into their
mouths the half-scorched pieces of dried
beef on which they sqbsist When not
fearful of the approach of the savage, the
plainsman has equal cause to dread the
keen eyes of the tiger or the viper be-
meath his feet"
One general character of fat, un-
broken country predominates the
mountain groups in the center, and
some projecting spurs of the Andes to-
ward the north, scarcely interrupting
the monotony. Sometimes, as in the
north, immense forests spread for days
and days of travel sometimes the plain
is covered only with stinted bushes,
changing into belts of trees by the
river courses, and again smooth velvet
like surface stretches, as if illimitable,
toward the south. The country may be
by heavy wagons, scarcely an
obstacle for hundreds of leagues, and
this case of conveyance is duplicated by
the brood system of nayigable rivers
which come together in the east from all
parts of the horizon, to form the Plata,
towing into the sea past the cities of
Buenos Ayres and Montevideo. 1t is
this river system that seems to hold the
latent greatness of the country. Broad
streams, flowing, through richest plains,
that have borne along floating trunks of
trees and idle boughs, must surely one
day bear great navies. Cities are wash
ID by their waters, and yet the inhab-
tants turn away from the great ave-
nues, and, mounting their horses, ride
slowly over the broad, trackless plains
Neither the Spaniard who found the
country, nor the natives who roam over
he plains had any sailor instincts. The
plains we're the country, the rivers only
to be crossed when neces-
'ary, by plunging in and riding the
horse from island to island,
until the other side was reached.
Men roam over the plains as unham-
Dered by social and logical restraints,
Is their cattle are unchecked by fences
md Enclosures. They lead a nomad life,
more nearly approaching that of the
Arabs than any other of the American
indian races and the characteristics of
Arab society are here reproduced, for
lere as there the simplest relations OBJ
ains-that of chief and followers.
The education of the gaucho, as the
Argentine plainsman with Spanish Ian
yuage is called, is what grows from the
ussel of man and brute. Isolated al
most from his fellows, he spends his time
lmong bulls and the beasts of the pam
las. He acquires an eye quick to see,
hand quick TO move, and an ear able to
ietect the faintest rustic of his enemy
n the bush.
All the gauchos Of tho interior are
lastreadores. In such extensive plains,
There paths and lines of travel cross
ach other in all directions, and where
he pastures in which the herds feed are
it is necessary often to follow |
he tracks of an animal, and to distin- |
uish them among a thousand others,
nd to know whether it was going at
nv easy or rapid pace, at liberty or |
ID, laden or carrying no weight.
The Rastreador proper is a grave, cir.
parsonage, whose declarations
70 considered conclusive evidence in
be inferior courts Consciousness of
le knowledge he possesses gives him
srtain reserved and mysterious dignity
very one treats him with respect; the
oor man because he fears to offend one
ho might injure him by slander or an
and the proprietor because
the possible value of his testimony.
. theft has been committed during the
ight; no one knows anything of it
le victims of it hasten to look for one
T the robbers footprints, and on find
x it, they coverit with something to
eep the wind from disturbing it, They
len send for the Rastreador, who de-
,cts the track and follows it, only oc-
lsionally looking at the ground as if
is eyes saw in full relief the footsteps
visible to others. He follows the
purse Of the streets, crosses gardens,
nters a house, and pointing to a man
HON he finds there, says, coldly,
That is he !" The crime is proved, and
he criminal seldom denies the charge. |
n his estimation, even more than in that |
the judge, the Rastreador's de-
ositiop is positive demonstration; i'll