General Rosas intimated a wish to see me; a circumstance which I
was afterwards very glad of. He is a man of an extraordinary
character, and has a most predominant influence in the country,
which it seems probable he will use to its prosperity and
advancement. (4/6. This prophecy has turned out entirely and
miserably wrong. 1845.) He is said to be the owner of seventy-four
square leagues of land, and to have about three hundred thousand
head of cattle. His estates are admirably managed, and are far more
productive of corn than those of others. He first gained his
celebrity by his laws for his own estancias, and by disciplining
several hundred men, so as to resist with success the attacks of
the Indians. There are many stories current about the rigid manner
in which his laws were enforced. One of these was, that no man, on
penalty of being put into the stocks, should carry his knife on a
Sunday: this being the principal day for gambling and drinking,
many quarrels arose, which from the general manner of fighting with
the knife often proved fatal.

One Sunday the Governor came in great form to pay the estancia a
visit, and General Rosas, in his hurry, walked out to receive him
with his knife, as usual, stuck in his belt. The steward touched
his arm, and reminded him of the law; upon which turning to the
Governor, he said he was extremely sorry, but that he must go into
the stocks, and that till let out, he possessed no power even in
his own house. After a little time the steward was persuaded to
open the stocks, and to let him out, but no sooner was this done,
than he turned to the steward and said, "You now have broken the
laws, so you must take my place in the stocks." Such actions as
these delighted the Gauchos, who all possess high notions of their
own equality and dignity.

General Rosas is also a perfect horseman--an accomplishment of no
small consequence in a country where an assembled army elected its
general by the following trial: A troop of unbroken horses being
driven into a corral, were let out through a gateway, above which
was a cross-bar: it was agreed whoever should drop from the bar on
one of these wild animals, as it rushed out, and should be able,
without saddle or bridle, not only to ride it, but also to bring it
back to the door of the corral, should be their general. The person
who succeeded was accordingly elected; and doubtless made a fit
general for such an army. This extraordinary feat has