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Appearance of a green level land Cardoon and giant thistles Villages of the Vizcacha, a large burrowing rodent Groves and plantations seen like islands on the wide level plains Trees planted by the early colonists Decline of the colonists from an agricultural to a pastoral people Houses as part of the landscape Flesh diet of the gauchos Summer change in the aspect of the plain The water-like mirage The giant thistle and a "thistle year" Fear of fires An incident at a fire The pampero, or south-west wind, and the fall of the thistles Thistle-down and thistle-seed as food for animals A great pampero storm Big hailstones Damage caused by hail Zango, an old horse, killed Zango and his master.
He was a well-shaped dark brown animal, with long mane and tail, but, as I knew him, always lean and old- looking, and the chief use he was put to was for the children to take their first riding-lessons on his back. My parents had already experienced one great sadness on account of Zango before his strange death.
Three of our heifers were dead, and one horse an old loved riding-horse with a history, old Zango the whole house was in grief at his death! He belonged originally to a cavalry officer who had an extraordinary affection for him a rare thing in a land where horseflesh was too cheap, and men as a rule careless of their animals and even cruel.
The officer had spent years in the Banda Oriental, in guerilla warfare, and had ridden Zango in every fight in which he had been engaged. Coming back to Buenos Ayres he brought the old horse home with him. Two or three years later he came to my father, whom he had come to know very well, and said he had been ordered to the upper provinces and was in great trouble about his horse.
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