ng and butter-churning. Even the very beggars ride about
on horseback. I have seen a photograph of one, with a police
certificate of mendicancy hanging round his neck, taken from life for
Sir Woodbine Parish. Every domestic servant has his or her own horse,
as a matter of course; and the maids are all provided with habits, in
which they ride about on Sundays, from one estancia to another, to pay
visits. In fishing, the horse is ridden into the water as far as he
can go, and the net or rod is then made use of by his rider. At Buenos
Ayres I have seen the poor animals all but swimming to the shore, with
heavy carts and loads, from the ships anchored in the inner roads; for
the water is so shallow that only very small boats can go alongside
the vessels, and the cargo is therefore transferred directly to the
carts to save the trouble and expense of transshipment. In
out-of-the-way places, on the Pampas, where no churns exist, butter is
made by putting milk into a goat-skin bag, attached by a long lasso to
the saddle of a peon, who is then set to gallop a certain number of
miles, with the bag bumping and jumping along the ground after him.

About four o'clock the horses--much larger and better bred animals
than those we have been riding lately--were brought round from the
corral. Mine was a beauty; easy, gentle, and fast. We first took a
canter round the cultivated ground, about 300 acres in extent, and in
capital condition. Lucerne grows here splendidly, and can be cut seven
times a year. As we left the yard, Mr. Nield's man asked if he would
take the dogs. He replied in the negative; but I suppose he must have
referred to the greyhounds only, for we were certainly accompanied on
the present occasion by _eleven_ dogs of various sorts and sizes,
those left behind being shut up and kept without food, in anticipation
of the stag-hunt to-morrow. We rode over the race-course, where the
horses are trained, and on to the partridge ground. The larger kind of
these birds are extremely stupid, and are easily ridden down by a
horseman, or caught in a noose. They rise three times, and after the
third flight they are so exhausted and terrified that it is easy to
dismount and catch them with the hand, as they lie panting on the long
grass. Partridge-hunting is considered good sport. It is necessary to
keep your eye constantly fixed upon the bird, and to watch where he
settles, and then to gallop to the spot as hard as possible, leaving
y