A short time before, a body of Indians had travelled past in the night; if they had been aware of the posta, our black friend and his four soldiers would assuredly have been slaughtered.

I did not anywhere meet a more civil and obliging man than this negro; it was therefore the more painful to see that he would not sit down and eat with us.
In the morning we sent for the horses very early, and started for another exhilarating gallop.

We passed the Cabeza del Buey, an old name given to the head of a large marsh, which extends from Bahia Blanca.

Here we changed horses, and passed through some leagues of swamps and saline marshes.

Changing horses for the last time, we again began wading through the mud.