No stages are fixed upon the route to Chili, as it is impossible in parts of it which are covered with sands to preserve a regular tract, and it is also infested with the predatory incursions of the surrounding Indians, the method of travelling is therefore in covered carts, made as commodious as possible, drawn by oxen, and accompanied with horses and mules to carry the baggage and goods; merchants and others performing this journey, set out in companies, and generally in the evening two hours before sun-set, travelling all night till an hour after sun-rise in the morning, after which they rest during the heat of the day, to partake of the provisions they bring with them, or the game they procure on the journey. In this course their whole dependence is on the compass, which guides them across the vast steppe, and the travelers are exposed to the dangers of being murdered by the Indians, of sinking under the scorching noon-day heat, or of dying for want of water, of which none is to be had, but by mere chance, besides what they carry with them in skins. The rains which fall in this plain are of short continuance but in great quantity, and when these happen, the conductors never fail to replenish their water bags; but from these rains the caravan becomes drenched through, and not unfrequently the goods and property of the passengers are spoilt. The westerly winds or pamperos are another source of inquietude to the persons undertaking this fatiguing journey; they sometimes blow with such violence that it becomes utterly impossible to proceed, as the carriages would inevitably be overturned. In this government the mountainous parts are chiefly those situated to the north-west of the river Uruguay, and which border on the Portuguese frontiers; they are little known, and are inhabited only by tribes of savage and warlike Indians, who set the missionaries at defiance. The rivers of Buenos Ayres are the great _La Plata_ already described, the _Parana_, the _Uruguay_, and many others of less note, but generally very large.