ne or other of her bairns, as she termed us
generically. And useful weather-defiant articles of hosiery they were too.
When our legs were encased in these, our feet protected by a pair of
double-soled boots, and our ankles further fortified by leather gaiters,
there were few snakes even we were afraid to tackle.

The very word 'snake,' or 'serpent,' makes some people shudder, and it is
as well to say a word or two about these ophidians here, and have done
with them. I have, then, no very wild adventures to record concerning
those we encountered on our _estancias_. Nor were either my brothers or
myself much afraid of them, for a snake--this is my firm belief--will
never strike a human being except in self-defence; and, of all the
thousands killed annually in India itself by ophidians, most of the
victims have been tramping about with naked feet, or naked legs at least.

* * * * *

Independent of the pure, wholesome, bracing air, there appeared to us to
be another peculiarity in the climate which is worthy of note. It is
_calmative_. There is more in that simple sentence than might at first be
imagined, and the effect upon settlers might be best explained by giving
an example: A young man, then, comes to this glorious country fresh from
all the excitement and fever of Europe, where people are, as a rule,
overcrowded and elbowing each other for a share of the bread that is not
sufficient to feed all; he settles down, either to steady work under a
master, or to till his own farm and mind his own flocks. In either case,
while feeling labour to be not only a pleasure, but actually a luxury,
there is no heat of blood and brain; there is no occasion to either chase
or hurry. Life now is not like a game of football on Rugby lines--all
scurry, push, and perspiration. The new-comer's prospects are everything
that could be desired, and--mark this--_he does not live for the future
any more than the present_. There is enough of everything around him
_now_, so that his happiness does not consist in building upon the far-off
_then_, which strugglers in this Britain of ours think so much about. The
settler then, I say, be he young or old, can afford to enjoy himself
to-day, certain in his own mind that to-morrow will provide for itself.

But this calmness of mind, which really is a symptom of glorious health,
never merges into the dreamy laziness and ignoble activity exhibited by
Brazilians i