The valley from this point gradually opened, and the hills became mere water-worn hillocks compared to the giants behind; it then expanded into a gently sloping plain of shingle, covered with low trees and bushes.
This talus, although appearing narrow, must be nearly ten miles wide before it blends into the apparently dead level Pampas.

We passed the only house in this neighbourhood, the Estancia of Chaquaio: and at sunset we pulled up in the first snug corner, and there bivouacked.
MARCH 25, 1835.
I was reminded of the Pampas of Buenos Ayres, by seeing the disk of the rising sun intersected by an horizon level as that of the ocean.

During the night a heavy dew fell, a circumstance which we did not experience within the Cordillera.

The road proceeded for some distance due east across a low swamp; then meeting the dry plain, it turned to the north towards Mendoza.

The distance is two very long days' journey.