Page:Letters from the Battle-fields of Paraguay (1870).djvu/287



VROM ROZARIO TO CORRIENTES. 257

a ranclieria of wild ^^ Indians." Colonel Arenales, afterwards to be alluded to^ wrote a dull^ but circumstantial book about it in 1833. Part of the luxuriant waste was visited by Dr. Weddell, the companion of the Count de Castelnau, and it was skirted by Messrs. Mansfield and Hutchinson. It still awaits a serious exploration, which ought not in these days to present any great difficulties. Externally, the mysterious land at which travellers gaze with wonder and curiosity as the yet empty cradle of a mighty people, is a low and thickety jungle, with here and there a swelling " lomaria" or ridge, bulging above the dark fringe of impenetrable forest. The general aspect of the interior as far as visited, is said to be that of western Texas, except that it has more rivers and lakes, and that its Selvas (forests) are far richer and fairer. It is spoken of as an Eden flowing with mUk and wild honey, where people fatten upon game and popped corn, toasted and spread. But I have ever found milk among pastoral tribes rare during the greater part of the year, as is fresh fish on board ship. The Chaco is politically claimed by the Argentines to nearly 22Â° south latitude, above which Bolivia asserts her rights. The eastern and riverine part is bespoken for Paraguay, and in a short time, but for the present war, the grand proportions of the Great Wild Chase would have been sadly curtailed.

On the morning of August 20 we were off Santa Elena Point, where is the white estancia^ of D. Mariano Cabal,

grazing ground. The tenement, the sheds (galpones), and all the ofl&ces are called poblacion. The hacienda (in Bolivia hata, and in the Brazil fazenda) is an estate for cattle breeding and grazing exclusively, unless otherwise specified, as hacienda detrigo (wheat), de mineral or de bemficio (mining). The quinta is a suburban villa, a small farm, or a country house. The chacra is a grain or vegetable-growing farm. The puesto is a shepherd's (puestero's) hut, generally with its rodeo (from rodear, to round up stock), a bare piece of ground for mustering cattle.
 * The estancia is a planter's (estanciero's) farmhouse, farm, and cattle

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