To the eastward of this curved line
lies the basin of the comparatively damp and green plains of Buenos
Ayres. The sterile plains of Mendoza and Patagonia consist of a bed
of shingle, worn smooth and accumulated by the waves of the sea;
while the Pampas, covered by thistles, clover, and grass, have been
formed by the ancient estuary mud of the Plata.
After our two days' tedious journey, it was refreshing to see in
the distance the rows of poplars and willows growing round the
village and river of Luxan. Shortly before we arrived at this place
we observed to the south a ragged cloud of a dark reddish-brown
colour. At first we thought that it was smoke from some great fire
on the plains; but we soon found that it was a swarm of locusts.
They were flying northward; and with the aid of a light breeze,
they overtook us at a rate of ten or fifteen miles an hour. The
main body filled the air from a height of twenty feet to that, as
it appeared, of two or three thousand above the ground; "and the
sound of their wings was as the sound of chariots of many horses
running to battle:" or rather, I should say, like a strong breeze
passing through the rigging of a ship.
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