ere reigned
havoc and confusion, the whole place looked an old ruin, brick-bats,
tiles, broken branches, loose sheets of corrugated iron lying all
around; three roofs had been blown away, several windmills knocked down
and carried 100 yards away, and lovely old trees had been completely
uprooted.

The natives, frightened of remaining in their own quarters, had, in
their terror, deserted them and taken refuge, with their wives and
children, in the open camp, where they fondly imagined they were safer.
Out in the camp the roofs of most of the "puestos," or huts, had been
also carried away, leaving the occupants exposed to the cold rains and
winds which followed.

A peculiar feature of this storm was that it was not at all general; at
the neighbouring "estancias" it was not felt at all, and some of the
"peons," who were riding in the camp at the time, said they could see
this whirlwind coming a long way off at a tremendous rate and that it
looked like a column of red smoke; they could not feel the effects of
the wind either, although they were not more than half a mile away.

This storm was followed by very heavy rains which lasted for about ten
days, during which our house was flooded, as the wind had lifted the
tiles and the rain was driven in through every possible place.

Another time, when driving home from the town of Vernado Tuerto, we were
caught in a very bad dust storm. Things became so black that we could
not see where we were going, so we had to halt. The wind was so strong
that the men had to get out of the carriage, which was a heavy
covered-in waggonette, and hold the wheels down to prevent it from being
overturned. We all looked like seaside niggers, as the dust and rain
falling at once came down like mud on us all. One gets quite hardened to
these severe storms. On one occasion a very rough wind began to blow,
but, as it was a steady gale, no one took particular notice of it. It
was after dinner, and everybody was busy playing cards. The wind made
such a deafening noise that you could hardly hear yourself speak;
presently some of the occupants of the house thought they would have a
look outside to see if things were all right; when they were surprised
to see an outer building, used for stores and machinery, roofless, and
the roof nowhere to be seen; it was discovered afterwards on the top of
their own house, and they had never heard it happen.

The climate in the Argentine is very variable; we have gr