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220 no intention of becoming a mere citizen; the labor and patience of many years were about to bring their reward. During his legal term of service he learned all the entrances to the ckadel, and all the ill-fortified points; and if he then left the government, it was only to take it by assault from the outside, without any constitutional restrictions, without being fettered by responsibility to any one. He laid down the truncheon to take up first the sword, and afterward the battle-axe. Not long before he resigned the government, a great expedition, led by himself, was prepared to extend and protect the southern boundaries of the province which were exposed to frequent invasions of the savages. Everything was arranged on a large scale: an army composed of three divisions was to form a line of four hundred leagues, from Buenos Ayres to Mendoza. Quiroga was to command the forces of the interior, while Rosas, with his division, followed the Atlantifc coast. The magnificence and utility of the enterprise concealed from the eyes of the people the political manoeuvre hidden under this plausible pretext. For what could be more desirable than to secure the southern frontier by making a large river the boundary between it and the Indians, and protecting it with a line of forts; a very practicable design, which had already been clearly marked out in the voyage of Cruz from the city of Conception, in Chili.

But Rosas had no idea of engaging in any enterprise which tended only toward the good of the Republic. His troops marched as far as Rio Colorado, moving slowly, and making observations on the soil, climate, and other Circumstances of the country through which