ur day, surpasses that
of the gaucho. Fancy a troop of horses, apparently riderless, galloping
at full speed, yet each of these animals is managed by a man who, with
one arm over the neck of his brute, and with his other hand guiding a
bridle as well as grasping a lance, supports the whole weight of his
body by the back of the feet near the toes, clinging on the horse's
spine above his loins,--the rider's body being thus extended, under
cover of the steed's side. As quick as thought he is up and standing on
the horse's back with a war-cry of defiance,--although, according to
Captain Page, U.S.N., never flinging away his javelin, for with him it
must be a hand-to-hand fight,--whilst with equal rapidity he is down
again, so as to be protected by the body of the horse, which is all the
time in full gallop.

Mr. Coghlan, C.E., and now attached to the Buenos Ayres government,
writes of those whom he saw when exploring the Salado del Norte: "The
riding of the Indians is wonderful. The gauchos even give their horses
some preliminary training; but the Indian catches him (of course with
the lasso), throws him down, forces a wooden bit into his mouth, with a
piece of hide binds it fast to the lower jaw, and rides him. I have seen
a man at the full gallop of his horse put his hand on the mane and jump
forward on his feet, letting the animal go on without a check, merely to
put his hand to something."

VALPARAISO AND ITS VICINITY.

CHARLES DARWIN.

[It is doubtful if there exists a more interesting work of
scientific travel than Darwin's "Journal of Researches into the
Natural History and Geology of the Countries visited during the
Voyage Round the World, of H. M. S. Beagle." Nothing of
scientific interest and value seems to have missed the eyes of
the indefatigable explorer, and he has described what he saw in
so lucid and agreeable a style as to make his work a veritable
classic of travel and research. We give here his description of
Valparaiso and the adjoining country.]

_July 23._--The "Beagle" anchored late at night in the bay of
Valparaiso, the chief seaport of Chile. When morning came everything
appeared delightful. After Tierra del Fuego the climate felt quite
delicious,--the atmosphere so dry, and the heavens so clear and blue
with the sun shining brightly, that all nature seemed sparkling with
life. The view from the anchorage is very pretty. The town is built at