west, traversing the country for two hundred miles, and in connection with them a number of «diligencias,» which renders travelling easy and expeditious. Goods and produce are transported by troops of ten or a dozen bullock-carts, which are ugly, cumbersome, vehicles, built on ponderous wheels; they travel about 20 miles a day; the bullock-drivers urge on the oxen with long goads; these men have a life of extreme hardship, living always in the open air, without other home or shelter than the shadow of their rude waggons.

The Province of Buenos Ayres was an independent Republic from the fall of Rosas, in 1852, till the reconstruction of the Argentine Confederation in 1861; it is now one of the fourteen united provinces, having its own Governor, Legislature, and local authorities, and being represented in the National Congress by two Senators and twelve Deputies. The Governor is elected for three years, and has two Ministers of State, for the Home and Finance Departments. The Senators and Deputies for the Provincial Legislature are elected by the various districts, in the rate of a Senator for every 12,000, and a Deputy for every 6,000 inhabitants: the first sit for three years, the second for two. The judicial authorities comprise a High Court of Justice (from which there is appeal to the Federal Tribunal), the Tribunal of Commerce, District Courts at Mercedes, San Nicolas and Dolores, Justices of Primera Instancia, and the ordinary Justices of Peace for the respective partidos. The administration of the laws is necessarily imperfect, owing to the difficulty of organizing a proper police force in so extended a country, and the want of respect towards the public magistrates: the Justice of the Peace, in the camp districts, is usually a grocer or sheep-farmer, and the Alcaldes and Tenientes often belong to the humblest class of «paisanos.» Each partido has also its municipal board, to which foreigners are eligible. The ecclesiastical division of the province coincides with the judicial, and each partido has its Cura, with one or two assistant clergymen, who are often Italian priests. Public instruction meets with every possible favor from Government, and the various camp-towns boast handsome state-schools; meantime the education. of the rural population offers great difficulties, partly owing to the distances intervening between the scattered towns, and still more to the habits and character of the gauchos. The total number of children attending state-schools in the camp is returned at 5,903, in a population of 320,000 souls. The number of National Guards amounts to 32,320, and from these are drawn contingents for the Indian frontier: all foreigners are exempt from this laborious and unpleasant service.

THE business of horned cattle is almost entirely in the hands of natives, and it formed for nearly three centuries the sole occupation of the Spanish settlers. It seems incredible, and yet it is no less true, that horses and cows were unknown before the time of Alvaro Nuñez, otherwise called Cabeza de Vaca (cow's head), who brought out the first cattle from Spain, A.D. 1541, since which time they have increased so prodigiously as to number several millions, notwithstanding the enormous slaughter, during so many years, of millions of cows and mares, merely for their hides. The rearing of cattle is still extensively carried on, for the saladeros, where the hides, bones, and flesh are turned to account, the trade in jerked beef being very considerable, for the markets of Cuba and Brazil.

Estancias for horned cattle usually vary from one to ten square leagues in extent, while those on the frontier are even much larger; they abound in «pasto fuerte« or coarse grass, which stands the dry seasons better than the meadow grass or trefoil on which sheep are pastured: the former must be entirely eaten down before the fine grasses spring up. The estanciero takes care to select a piece of land bordered by a river, or having permanent lagoons, and as free as possible from thistles, hemlock and burr. In building his house he is guided by his taste or means; a mud rancho costs about £40 to £60, a house of adobes or sun-dried bricks about double the above amount; and sometimes we find luxurious residences that cost over a thousand pounds sterling. The «corrales» are large folds for enclosing the cattle, whenever this is found necessary; they are made of upright posts 7 feet high, of a hard wood called ñandubay, fastened together by means of cross bars and hide thongs, the «<corrales>> are round in form, and strongly made, so as to hold a large number of cattle;

the gate consists of two or three transverse bars. The «corral» is always near the estancia house. The «monte» or «quinta,» surrounding the house, comprises an extensive peach-orchard, visible several leagues off. In three years peach-trees arrive at maturity, and they serve the double purpose of fruit and fuel, besides making fences. One third of the plantation is cut down at intervals, and planted afresh, and in this manner the supply of fruit and timber is constant and abundant. The staff of an estancia usually consists of a Majordomo, who represents the master, an expert capataz to oversee the peons, and half-a-dozen to twenty peons or servants, according to the size of the estancia; these last earn $250 to $350 (£2 to £3) a month; they also get their food-an unlimited supply of beef and some «yerba.»>

The stock of an estancia often numbers ten thousand head, divided into herds of two or three thousand each, which two men can easily care. Each herd is gathered up every night to its «rodeo,» an open space, where each animal regularly chooses its own place to lie down; they remain there till after sunrise, when they set off again to graze. Cows calve once a year, heifers as early as two years; they live to about 15 or 20 years of age, and their milk is rich and of excellent flavor. The legs and horns are longer than in English breeds. The stock of horned cattle in the province is set down at 6,000,000 head, and the annual slaughter in the saladeros exceeds half-a-million, independent of the consumption for the city markets. The oxen broken for the plough or bullock-cart are remarkably gentle, and of symmetrical proportions. Formerly there were large quantities of calzada» or wild cattle, but the Indians have left but few on the frontiers. In seasons of drought cattle sometimes stray hundreds of miles in quest of water, but unless they calve on their new pastures they invariably return to their «querencia» after the drought. Sometimes the cattle are watered by means of a «balde sin fondo,» which raises water from a well, and is worked by a man on horseback; it can water 2,000 head of cattle in a day. Cattle-farming until recently was not considered so lucrative, but, when properly attended to it gives very fair results, say 20 to 30 per cent. on the capital invested. Herds of cattle, from 1,000 upwards, may be purchased at $60 or $80 m (say 10 to 13 shillings) a head. Land is so dear in the sheep-farming districts that the estanciero has to choose an estancia in the southern partidos of Pila, Vecino, Monsalvo, or Loberia, but he must beware of the western frontier, which is much exposed to Indians. As a rule the business of horned cattle, does not at all suit foreign settlers, although some have in a measure combined it with the care of sheep.

HABITS OF THE «PAISANOS.>>

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The great season of amusement in camp life is the Yerra or markingtime. All the peons of the estancia, and others from the neighborhood, drive the cattle into the «corrals: » each animal is caught with a lasso by a man on horseback, then tied down, and a red hot iron with the owner's monogram or mark is planted on the poor brute's flank, while a blue smoke curls upward from the smoking flesh: the mark so made is indelible, and this is the way that estancieros distinguish their property, there being no fences or bounds to the various estancias. The Yerra always winds up with a feast of «carne-con-cuero,» or meat cooked in the hide, than which nothing can be more savory; neither coals nor wood must be employed in cooking it, but only bones, and it eats best cold. Horses are marked in the same manner as horned cattle, and when sold must receive the counter-mark of the first owner as well as the brand of the purchaser, which custom sadly disfigures many fine animals. The Gauchos are very clever in breaking-in horses, following a method very akin to that of Rarey; they tie one of the horse's legs, and put him through a tiresome ordeal, then mount him, ride him about a mile, tie him up for a day without food, and before a week the animal is quite tame and broken-in.

Nothing is so wonderful as the dexterity of the natives in throwing the lasso; their aim is almost unerring; they will single out a horse or cow in the middle of a herd and bring him down with unfailing precision. They will also pursue an animal in full chase across the plains, and, when they get sufficiently near, the lasso is swung twice or thrice around their head, then let go, and the moment it touches the runaway cow the horse of the rider stands still, to receive the shock, and down goes the cow headlong on the ground. Another way of catching horses is with the «bolas: »> these are three round stones or iron balls, about the size of an egg, covered with raw hide, and fastened to a strip of hide about five feet long. They are thrown much like the lasso, at a distance of sixty or seventy yards, with unerring aim, and, entangling the feet of the pursued animal, bring him to the ground with a violent shock. The Gauchos are also very clever in plaiting bridles of untanned hide thongs, and their great ambition is to caparison their horses with elaborate silver trappings, often worth a £100 sterling. Their own dress is, moreover, tasteful and fantastic: instead of pantaloons they wear a «chiripá» of striped woollen stuff, fitting loosely about the thighs, and exceedingly convenient on horseback; this is fastened by a leathern «tirador» ornamented with silver buttons, and in this, at their back, they stick a knife with silver or leathern scabbard. Under the «chiripa» they wear white cotton drawers with a fringe twelve inches deep the boots were formerly «botas de potro» formed of the untanned

skin of a colt's legs, leaving the wearer's toes quite bare, and the big toe exactly fitted the little wooden stirrup which they used; but now they are beginning very generally to wear the ordinary boots. Besides the «<tirador» they wear a long «faja» or sash of red silk, tied around the waist. The «poncho» completes the dress it is like a table cover, with a slit in the middle to admit the head, and varying in value from a few shillings to £50; the finest are those made of vicuña wool, woven by the natives of the upper provinces.

The rich estancieros usually live in the city, in great fashion and luxury, leaving their establishments in charge cf a «mayordomo,» and going out once or twice a year to see how things go on; they are men of polished manners, good education, and often members of learned professions. Their great fault is an absolute neglect to improve the condition and manners of the «paisanos» on their estates. The «gauchos» live in wretched «ranchos,» of which the rafters and frame-work are stalks of the aloe or canes, the sides are plastered with mud, and the roof is of «paja» or reeds that grow in the lagoons. The furniture consists of a wooden stool or bench, a few horses' or cows' heads that are used for seats, and a cowhide stretched on stakes, which serves as the family bed. The cooking is done in the open air with an «asador» or spit that is stuck into the ground, and a large three-legged pot: sometimes a little oven is built near the «rancho.» The most important piece of furniture, however, is the «recado» or native saddle, which is very complicated and consists of hide-trappings and cloths that as often serve the «gaucho» for his bed; the «recado is a very comfortable saddle for a long journey, but tires the horse more than the ordinary saddle. The ordinary price of a «recado,» complete, is about £5, and the best street in the city to buy it in, is Calle Buen Orden. The business of cattle-farming will receive a great impulse and prove much more lucrative if Mr. Bailey's project succeeds, of importing live cattle from the River Plate into England. Hitherto all efforts in Buenos Ayres to export cured beef for the English markets have failed to create a staple trade. Meantime the exportation of dry and salted hides has kept up a very active business: according to Lennuyeux's tables we find 2,054,824 cow hides exported in the year ending September 12, 1868; this, however, shews a decline of 10 per cent. on the previous year. The export of horse-hides amounted to 104,053, being also less than in 1867. The tallow trade has, however, increased notably we find 77,188 pipes and 29,233 boxes for 1868, an increase of more than 50 per cent. If the National Government would take the export duties off produce the farming business would be as remunerative as ever.