The troops were now encamped on the banks of the Colorado; a river lying about eighty miles northward of the Rio Negro.

When General Rosas left Buenos Ayres he struck in a direct line across the unexplored plains: and as the country was thus pretty well cleared of Indians, he left behind him, at wide intervals, a small party of soldiers with a troop of horses (a posta), so as to be enabled to keep up a communication with the capital.

As the "Beagle" intended to call at Bahia Blanca, I determined to proceed there by land; and ultimately I extended my plan to travel the whole way by the postas to Buenos Ayres.
AUGUST 11, 1833.
Mr.Harris, an Englishman residing at Patagones, a guide, and five Gauchos who were proceeding to the army on business, were my companions on the journey.

The Colorado, as I have already said, is nearly eighty miles distant: and as we travelled slowly, we were two days and a half on the road.

The whole line of country deserves scarcely a better name than that of a desert.