[104] baquiano, also spelled baqueano. This adjective is derived from the verb vaquear, which in Argentina means to round up cattle. In the course of their work, the baquianos, or cattlemen, acquired an intimate knowledge of the country, and it was only natural, therefore, that the pathfinders, the sense in which the word is used here, should come from their midst. To-day it is also used to denote a person who is an expert in anything.
[105] Imaginaos. The final d of the second person plural imperative is dropped in reflexive verbs.
[106] el camino que lleva, the road he is following.
[107] si no los hay, if there aren’t any.
[108] el camino ha de ir al Sur, the road must be to the south.
[109] lago o arroyo de agua salada o dulce. Salt streams and lakes are common in Argentina, particularly in the central provinces. “One day I rode to a large salt lake, or salina, which is distant fifteen miles from the town. During the winter it consists of a shallow lake of brine, which in summer is converted into a field of snow-white salt.... One of these brilliantly white and level expanses, in the midst of the brown and desolate plain, offers an extraordinary spectacle.”—Darwin, The Voyage of the Beagle.
[110] El general Rosas. V. Introduction.
[111] lo. Cf. 29, 2.
[112] Cuando se aproxima. The subject is el enemigo.
[113] observa los polvos, observes the clouds of dust.