To leave the road for a yard is out of the question; and the road itself is partly, and in some cases entirely, closed.

Pasture, of course, there is none; if cattle or horses once enter the bed, they are for the time completely lost.

Hence it is very hazardous to attempt to drive cattle at this season of the year; for when jaded enough to face the thistles, they rush among them, and are seen no more.

In these districts there are very few estancias, and these few are situated in the neighbourhood of damp valleys, where fortunately neither of these overwhelming plants can exist.

As night came on before we arrived at our journey's end, we slept at a miserable little hovel inhabited by the poorest people.