outrages. From this moment the Aldaos labored secretly for the attainment of their own ends, the field being open to all unprincipled ambitions. They received an order to raise a regiment for the army a Brazil, and accepted it, with the intention of using the men for their own purpose.
Their ambition, however, met with an obstacle in the person of a Creole negro. This slave, who early showed the talent not unfrequent in descendants of the African race, had been carefully educated by his owners, and was in condition to make use of his natural endowments when occasion required. He began his career as his master's assistant, and was rapidly promoted, until he became commander of a battalion, which brought him in contact with the chief politicians of the time. Barcala was not only one of the most distinguished characters of the revolution, but his reputation was untarnished, and this could be said of very few in those lawless days. He was a man of refined manners, tastes, and ideas, and his success was owing to his own merit. He never forgot his color and origin. He acquired his fame in history through his rare talent for organization, and the gift which he possessed, in a high degree of conveying ideas to the masses; the lower classes were transformed by the magic of his power; and the officers and soldiers of his training were remarkable for their good behavior, decent dress, intelligence, and love of liberty. It was long before the impression made by Barcala in Mendoza was effaced; and in the revolution of 1840, against Rosas, a large battalion of infantry in Cordova still bore his name upon their banner, and resisted Rosas to the last.
