CHAPTER VI.
LIFE ON THE PAMPAS.
_There's tempest in yon horned moon,_
_And lightning in yon cloud;_
_But hark the music, mariners!_
_The wind is piping loud._
_Saturday, September 16th_.--Waking at half-past five, we busied
ourselves until nine o'clock, when we again started in a special train
for Carcarana. After a short stop at Roldan, it was reached two hours
later, and breakfast was followed by a long ride through the Land
Company's colony, and from thence to Candelaria, a purely Spanish
settlement.
I freely confess that I had hardly believed all the stories they told
me last night about the terrible doings of the locusts, and thought
they must have been slightly exaggerated. It all seemed too dreadful
to be true--as if one of the plagues of Egypt had been revived by the
wand of an evil magician. In this somewhat incredulous mood I rashly
said that, although I was very sorry to hear of the visit of these
destructive creatures, as they _were_ unfortunately here, I should
like to see them. My wish was shortly to be gratified; for, in the
course of our ride, we saw in the distant sky what looked very much
like a heavy purple thunder-cloud, but which the experienced
pronounced to be a swarm of locusts. It seemed impossible; but as we
proceeded they met us, first singly, and then in gradually increasing
numbers, until each step became positively painful, owing to the smart
blows we received from them on our heads, faces, and hands.
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