culture over cattle-growing. While at Copiapo it was his habit to entertain the miners by drawings of birds and animals, and he taught French to others, for those who knew less than himself were always objects of interest to him.
In 1836, he returned to San Juan, ill with a cerebral attack, destitute of resources, scarcely known to any one, for few old friends had yet returned from exile. A complicated operation in arithmetic, which the incompetent government needed, brought him again into notice, and after suffering many privations, he gradually took his place again with Cortinez, Aberastain, Quiroga Rosas, and Rodriguez, men of mark and education, worthy to figure in any part of South America. Together they founded a college for young ladies, in aid of which project he had written a forcible appeal for the education of women, and of which he was made director—and another for men, which was not allowed to succeed. The college for ladies lasted but two years, but left its mark upon the society of San Juan. A dramatic society and many public amusements that tended to cultivate and improve manners, were among the improvements made by these young men, stimulated by the undying zeal and executive ability of Sarmiento. Here, in the library of Quiroga Rosas, he found Villemain, and Schlegel; in literature, Jouffroi, Lermennier, Guizot, Cousin; in philosophy, Tocqueville, and Pedro Leroux; the "Encyclopedic Review," as synthesis of all opinions, Charles Didier, and a hundred other authors, whom he devoured with avidity. For two years these books furnished material for impassioned discussions between the friends, and in this
