ii6 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 inconvenient for me to remain like the rustic, 
 waiting for it to flow past. I determined if 
 possible to get over at once. The only way 
 to cross it was by means of a frail temporary 
 raft, upon which I embarked under the guid- 
 ance of an Italian sailor, with the result that it 
 sank beneath the two of us in mid-stream, and 
 left us floundering in the torrent. Fortunately 
 I succeeded in grasping a wire that was stretched 
 between the banks, and with its aid I pulled 
 myself along until I got to calm water, and 
 found a submerged branch of a tree upon which 
 to rest my feet. The pilot, who was an expert 
 swimmer, and not overweighted with heavy 
 clothes as I was, recovered the raft, and towed 
 it into the "back-water," from which he reached 
 me with ease, and brought me to the land. A 
 young engineer upon the bank awaiting his turn 
 to be ferried over threw off his coat and boots 
 when the accident occurred, and prepared to 
 plunge into the water to come to my assistance. 
 It was with difficulty, too, that he could be per- 
 suaded to desist from the attempt, although it 
 would have been utterly useless to try to swim 
 across a current of such velocity. 
 
PERILS BY LAND AND WATER 117 
 
 On another occasion I was travelling in a 
 wagonette drawn by three horses harnessed 
 abreast, when we came to the ford of a river 
 that looked rather swollen. Every care was 
 taken to examine it, and the general opinion 
 was that we might safely drive across it. It 
 was, however, desirable to lighten the load as 
 much as possible, so we descended from the 
 vehicle and rode over on horseback, leaving the 
 driver alone to guide it across. 
 
 Matters proceeded satisfactorily till he had 
 reached the middle of the stream, where some 
 confusion took place, and the horses became 
 restive and began to plunge wildly, when all at 
 once they moved a little to one side and got 
 out of their depths. The wheels of the wagon- 
 ette had become entangled in the branches 
 of a fallen tree lying in the bed of the river, 
 and could not be moved one way or the other. 
 The pole-straps kept the horses' heads down, so 
 that they made furious struggles to try to free 
 themselves. 
 
 Three men that accompanied me did every- 
 thing in their power to release the struggling 
 animals, but it was no easy task to perform. 
 

 REESE LIBRARY 
 
 or Tin. 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 s No. 
 
 Accession No. /> 
 
BY THE SAME AUTHOR. 
 
 ACROSS THE PAMPAS AND THE ANDES. 
 
 "The book is charming throughout. . . ." Nottingham Daily 
 Guardian. 
 
 " The engineer-in-chief of the expedition . . . has here collected 
 together, in a delightful book, the experiences which he and his 
 brother explorers met with. . . ."Bristol Mercury. 
 
 "The naturalist, as well as the engineer and the physicist, will 
 see that the author is an observer of more than usual scientific 
 exactness, and all interested in well-told accounts of travel will 
 feel themselves carried from page to page with sustained interest. 
 
 "Mr. Crawford has a story to tell, and in 'Across the Pampas and 
 the Andes ' he tells it modestly and pleasantly. . . ."Scotsman. 
 
 "Very agreeably told. . . ."North British Daily Mail. 
 
 "Gives a very interesting description of the country through 
 which he passed. . . ."Glasgow Herald. 
 
 "When the Andes are reached, a fine idea of these stupendous 
 mountains is given. . . . Mr. Crawford narrates pleasantly and 
 forcibly all that befell his party. ... He describes the scenery as 
 one who appreciates the beauty of the world around him. ... It 
 is impossible with our space to give a proper idea of the varied and 
 interesting contents of this volume. . . ." Dundee Courier. 
 
 " Delightful and instructive reading. . . ." Dublin Evening Mail. 
 
 " A most engrossing book of travel. . . ." Irish Times. 
 
 "A record of British pluck and resolution. . . ." Dublin Daily 
 Express. 
 
 " The descriptions ... are as delightful as they are instructive. 
 . . ." Montreal Gazette. 
 
 "A most interesting book of travel and adventure. . . ." Quebec 
 Morning Chronicle. 
 
 " His explorations of wild Indian country were more perilous and 
 uncomfortable than most modern travels, even in Africa. . . ." 
 Harper's New Monthly Magazine. 
 
 "Interesting, independently of its descriptions of scenery and 
 events. . . ." Australasian. 
 
 "An exceedingly cheerful companion to accompany in his travels. 
 . . ." New Zealand Herald. 
 
 " His narrative, in the midst of prospects the most gloomy, remains 
 always attractive, lively, impressed with that cheerful humour which 
 triumphs over every obstacle. . . ." Translated from the Revue de 
 Geographic, Paris. 
 
 "Crawford's book is an entertaining description of the journey, 
 with its daily pains and pleasures. . . ."Translated from the 
 Globus, Brunswick. 
 
 LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO. 
 
 LONDON, NEW YORK, AND BOMBAY. 
 
BY THE SAME AUTHOR. 
 
 REMINISCENCES OF FOREIGN TRAVEL. 
 
 "Mr. Crawford, well and favourably known as the author of 
 'Across the Pampas and the Andes,' writes neatly, thinks clearly, 
 . . . and has really a great deal to say of a great number of ' foreign 
 parts." . . ." Saturday Review. 
 
 "A second book of travel, which is a worthy successor to its 
 successful companion. . . . Mr. Crawford has the happy knack of 
 telling his anecdotes with point and zest, and he never overdoes a 
 subject. He throws a well-balanced variety into his work, as the 
 artist arranges the harmony of his colouring. . . ."Morning Post. 
 
 " Surely no apology is needed from such an entertaining writer 
 as the author of ' Across the Pampas and the Andes.' The new book 
 is not less interesting than its predecessor. . . ." Manchester 
 Examiner. 
 
 "The author . . . has the art of making the record of his travels 
 as exciting as a novel. ... In short, Mr. Crawford is a born narrator 
 of travel and adventure. . . ." Newcastle Courant. 
 
 ' ' A brighter, pleasanter, and yet a less pretentious book ... it 
 has not been our fortune to meet with for some time. . . ."Notting- 
 ham Daily Guardian. 
 
 " Every page is interesting. . . ."Yorkshire Post. 
 
 "No one who opens the book . . . will close it without confessing 
 to himself that he has much profited by its perusal. . . ." Liverpool 
 Daily Post. 
 
 "The book contains a number of capital stories which glide grace- 
 fully into the narrative and entrap the reader's interest. . . ."Leeds 
 Mercury. 
 
 "Mr. Crawford writes as freshly and as pleasantly as ever. . . . 
 His bright, cheery style, and the good sense of his observations make 
 the book unusually pleasant to read. . . ." Scotsman. 
 
 "Seldom do we come across such a vivacious and indefatigable 
 traveller . . . or such a thoroughly enjoyable book. . . ."Dtwdee 
 Advertiser. 
 
 " The present volume will maintain his reputation. . . ."Nature. 
 
 "There are many bits of good reading and realistic description 
 like this in the book. . . ."United Service Gazette. 
 
 " Fully maintains his character as a writer. . . ." Field. 
 
 "Mr. Crawford is a bright companionable guide. . . ."Graphic. 
 
 " Pleasantly written papers. . . ."Literary World. 
 
 "The reading of them has been an enjoyment. . . ." St. James's 
 Gazette. 
 
 " Austria, Egypt, the River Plate, and Algeria, are subsequently 
 visited and pleasantly treated. . . ."Pall Mall Gazette. 
 
 " This picturesque and entertaining record. . . ." Engineering. 
 
 LONGMANS, GKEEN, AND CO. 
 
 LONDON, NEW YORK, AND BOMBAY. 
 
SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
BY THE SAME AUTHOR. 
 
 ACROSS THE PAMPAS AND THE ANDES. 
 
 " Almost as exciting as a novelette by Jules Verne." Daily News. 
 
 "It is quite a treat to read a book like this. Written by a man 
 who has something to say, and who says it well. . . . Compiled with 
 great skill. . . . The reader's interest never flags. . . . Mr. Crawford 
 always writes with great simplicity and freshness and vigour." 
 Guardian. 
 
 "A capital volume of description and travel." Globe. 
 
 "His experiences were often exciting and dangerous, and his story 
 never flags. . . . The book is a valuable contribution to the literature 
 of the subject." Contemporary Review. 
 
 "Lion -hunting in Algeria is no doubt a very fine, manly sport; 
 crossing the Atlantic in a five-ton yacht is an agreeable and adven- 
 turous mode of spending a short holiday ; but for a delightful com- 
 bination of the utile with the dulce, not unmixed with the enjoyable 
 zest derived from an occasional dash of mortal danger, we recommend 
 strongly to aspiring youth a turn at civil engineering in South 
 America. . . . Mr. Crawford's interesting pages. "Pall Mall Gazet te. 
 
 ' ' There are some capital stories here . . . whole pages of descrip- 
 tion and incident that would not disgrace the pen of Mayne Reid." 
 Daily Telegraph. 
 
 "Probably he was helped to follow the path of virtue by the fact 
 that he had a most interesting subject." Saturday Review. 
 
 "Mr. Crawford has a sensitive eye for the beauties of Nature." 
 Academy. 
 
 " Mr. Crawford tells his story pleasantly." Athenaeum. 
 
 " It is always pleasant and profitable to make acquaintance with 
 such a book." Illustrated London News. 
 
 "This valuable work." Graphic. 
 
 " A most interesting account of this formidable journey." Literary 
 World. 
 
 " Mr. Crawford's excellent book." Land and Water. 
 
 "All through the narrative the reader's interest is sustained." 
 Nature. 
 
 1 ' An excellent map, and illustrations admirably executed by Mr. 
 Whymper, add to the interest of the volume." Times. 
 
 "Gives a lively account of everything in animate and inanimate 
 Nature that attracted his attention." Spectator. 
 
 "Will be read by all sportsmen and lovers of Nature with great 
 interest." Tablet. 
 
 "His notes are exceedingly valuable and entertaining. . . ." 
 Birmingham Daily Gazette. 
 
 "He relates in a very agreeable manner several of his adventures. 
 . . ." Liverpool Mercury. 
 
 LONGMANS, GKEEN, AND CO. 
 
 LONDON, NEW YORK, AND BOMBAY. 
 
SOUTH AMERICAN 
 SKETCHES 
 
 BY 
 
 ROBERT CRAWFORD, M.A. 
 
 HONORARY MASTER HS T ENGINEERING, DUBLIN UNIVERSITY 
 
 MEMBER OF THE INSTITUTION OF CIVIL ENGINEERS 
 
 MEMBER OF THE ROYAL IRISH ACADEMY 
 
 ETC. ETC. 
 
 Author of "Across the Pampas and the Andes" 
 "Reminiscences of Foreign Travel," etc. 
 
 LONGMANS, GREEN, AND CO, 
 
 39 PATERNOSTER ROW, LONDON 
 
 NEW YORK AND BOMBAY 
 
 1898 
 
 All rights reserved 
 
PRESERVATION ' *9?lL . 
 
 COP Y ADDED 
 ORIGINAL TO BE 
 
 RET AINEO 
 
 Printed by BALLANTYNE, HANSON &-' Co. 
 At the Ballantyne Press 
 
PREFACE 
 
 ALTHOUGH this volume had its origin in a visit 
 to South America, resulting in a residence in 
 Uruguay for three and a half years, ending in 
 1892, the incidents related in it, and the infor- 
 mation it conveys, are not confined to that period. 
 Of those narratives that do not recount the 
 writer's personal experience some occurred be- 
 fore the time in question, others since then. 
 
 As regards the railways of Uruguay, the infor- 
 mation concerning them is brought down to the 
 present date ; and the same may be said of the 
 part of the contents which relates to the general 
 condition of that country. 
 
 Uruguay has suffered much of late from a 
 revolution, which seriously retarded its progress ; 
 but as peace has been concluded, it is to be hoped 
 that good government and wise reforms may 
 ensue, and the country be left undisturbed in the 
 
viii PREFA CE 
 
 future to attain to the prosperity for which it 
 is so eminently suited by position, soil, and 
 climate. 
 
 Although the headquarters of the reader's 
 thoughts during the perusal of this volume will 
 be in Uruguay, his attention will not be exclu- 
 sively confined within the limits of that republic. 
 Many of the narratives contained in the following 
 pages refer to occurrences in other places. This 
 explanation seems necessary in consequence of the 
 strong family likeness existing in the incidents 
 of public and political life all throughout South 
 America, which might easily cause the history of 
 current events in one part of that continent to 
 be mistaken for that belonging to another. 
 
 ROBERT CRAWFORD. 
 
 STONEWOLD, BALLYSHANNON, 
 March 1898. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 PAGE 
 
 It is always the unexpected that happens Wisdom in epi- 
 grammatic form We don't possess the gift of prophecy 
 Unanticipated events occur with sufficient frequency 
 My own experience A railway in Uruguay A country 
 with opposite characteristics Altering the position of 
 the moral Advantages of civility A civil letter- writer 
 Eesults Indirect certificate of character for urbanity 
 Suaviter in modo not always successful Fortiter in re 
 sometimes necessary 1-8 
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 "A LIFE ON THE OCEAN WAVE " 
 
 The voyage begins Carril and Vigo Embarking emigrants 
 Spanish officials Lisbon More emigrants Off to St. 
 Vincent Across the Atlantic Fellow-passengers A 
 caterer for the general amusement The centre of attrac- 
 tion Disadvantages of the best position Professor 
 
 M 's "Principles of the Art of Conversation" 
 
 Wasted moments Unavailing regrets Eeach the 
 South American coast Pernambuco The surf break- 
 ing there A hot residence Catamarans Proceeding 
 southwards Maceio Flowers and scenery Absence 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 of bird-life Flying-fish numerous Fight between a 
 whale and a swordfish Rio de Janeiro Santos Hot- 
 bed of yellow fever Everything in the wrong place 
 Sailor's philosophy Quarantine station Visit of health 
 officer Good-bye Land at Montevideo Kind recep- 
 tion by old friends ....... 9-21 
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 URUGUAY 
 
 Republic of Uruguay, or Band a Oriental del Uruguay 
 Smallest South American Republic Area Population 
 Compared with British, Dutch, and French Guiana 
 Geographical position Greatest length and width 
 Boundaries Face of the country The Rio de la Plata 
 little affected by tides Salto Grande rapids Rivers 
 Great floods Geological features Minerals Monte- 
 video The bay Proposed harbour and docks . 22-32 
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 
 EL PASO DB LOS TOROS 
 
 Northern terminus of the Central Uruguay Railway Exten- 
 sion to Brazilian frontier Multiplicity of names Hard 
 on patron saints Picturesque spots on the Rio Negro 
 Resemblance to the Erne My native river Fish and 
 birds "Come back to Erin" Crimson-flowering acacias 
 Cina-cina Variety of water-fowl Not long since 
 beasts of prey roamed about here A comfortable hotel 
 Watch-dog Soothing him with the bagpipes Afraid 
 of a fox Character for courage lost Procuring fowl 
 for table " Aunt Sally " Frequenters of the place 
 Bloodshed viewed with little concern Object-lesson 
 of hardening effects upon children Get into trouble 
 driving bullocks " Pulperias " A festive magistrate 
 In the "lock-up" 33~45 
 
CONTENTS xi 
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 EXAMINING THE COUNTRY 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Began surveying operations An uncomfortable night 
 Hard camping ground Bed and bedding left behind 
 Tarantulas and scorpions Campo Santo Ostriches 
 and deer A polite host Had to leave Pressing busi- 
 ness Two ways of looking at the crime of murder 
 The upas-tree Other superstitions Cures Dangerous 
 to ride a grey horse in a thunderstorm The river 
 Tacuarembd Chico Beautiful trees and flowers Wild 
 birds Horses in the river Tres Cruces Tres Cerros 
 Curiously shaped hills Crossed the Tacuarembo Grande 
 Gold mines of Cunapiru and Corrales Lack of enthu- 
 siasm Unpleasant reminiscences of a gold mine Early 
 visitors A town of many " first officials " . . 46-63 
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 THE HAUNT OF THE OUTLAW 
 
 The Tambores valley A steep ascent Cactus plants- 
 Parley with an attacking party Explanations Man 
 robbed of his wife Bereaved husband Paasifig" 
 through the valley A doubtful military protection 
 Where ignorance is bliss Resting peacefully among 
 the cut- throats A lovely spot Ruthless navvies The 
 soldiers we saw in the valley Anticipate events 
 Special police force Not much use Outlaws trouble- 
 some Matters get worse The navvies solve the pro- 
 blem in their own way They have a Sunday's shooting 
 in the woods Somewhat reticent about the bag they 
 made Dead men tell tales Tambores afterwards less 
 popular with outlaws They migrate Cattle farmer's 
 escape Second migration Night attack upon a 
 farmer's house Robber killed by his companions A 
 victor on the field of bloodless battle Nearly shooting 
 
xii CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 by mistake The workmen had their own little differ- 
 ences Too many graves "Valley of Eden" The 
 " Robber's Kest " 64-81 
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 WATCHMEN 
 
 Watchman, what of the night? Discrepancies in informa- 
 tionA citizen's perplexities The people of El Paso 
 de los Toros Reputation of the place Accidental dis- 
 charge of firearms Walls of houses bullet-marked A 
 tragic occurrence The knife did its work silently 
 The public uneasy Watchmen appointed Men of ex- 
 cellent character Paraded and reviewed Their first 
 night on duty A personal confession Rumours that 
 the watchmen slept on their posts The chief of police 
 tests the matter Capture of lanterns Explanations 
 Death-blow to the force Our private watchmen A 
 New Year's visit Shooting at a police-sergeant Cul- 
 prit caught and flogged Private differences Burglar 
 fired at, but escaped 82-93 
 
 CHAPTER 
 
 POLICE 
 
 Objections to police Burglars dislike bulldogs Personal 
 experience of police Effective assistance rendered by 
 them Timely information Headquarters Our office 
 Obliged to be careful Gangs of robbers A projected 
 attack thwarted The chief of police Another attempt 
 at burglary Bringing money from the bank Paying 
 along the line A friendly publican Pay trains 
 Attempt to wreck a train . . . . . 94-105 
 
CONTENTS xiii 
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 PERILS BY LAND AND WATER 
 
 PAGE 
 
 A tour of inspection Coach upset Floundering in the mud 
 Rescued and washed down A night at a wayside inn 
 Aggressive cats Upsets not uncommon Four falls 
 in one day A broken nose Surgical skill Professional 
 jealousy The rustic waits for the river to flow past 
 Horace and Tennyson not acquainted with South 
 American rivers A daily experience Sudden floods 
 and equally rapid subsidence Flood in the Tacuarembo 
 Chico Search for a lost child Floods in the Rio Negro 
 Many houses submerged Upset in a flooded river 
 Rescued Another disaster Horse drowned Many 
 accidents crossing rivers Two of them had fatal 
 endings 106-119 
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 LANDOWNERS, WORKMEN, ETC. 
 
 Landowners Local information Natural aptitude for 
 selecting railway mies Resemblance to hen lapwings 
 Different characters A fierce landlord A cold re- 
 ception A warning to trespassers A sharp look-out 
 The wheel of fortune An enemy converted into a friend 
 A generous offer Unable to accept it Difficulty of 
 establishing a menagerie at a country house in Ireland 
 Another angry landlord Surveyors' troubles Saint 
 Patrick's day A special train asked for A night 
 attack A general engagement Killed, wounded, and 
 prisoners Disputed boundaries Another class of land- 
 owners Workmen Italians Austrians Bavarians- 
 Basques Natives of Uruguay Occasional troubles- 
 Strikes Outbreak of smallpox .... 120-133 
 
xiv CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 LITEBA SCRIPTA MANET 
 
 PAGE 
 
 A general assertion nearly as often wrong as right A maxim 
 dear to members of the legal profession Like Meso- 
 potamia to the good old lady The one safe anchorage 
 upon the lawyer's chart On a par with the arithmetical 
 dogma that 2 and 2 make 4 The written letter flies 
 away Wafted up to the heavens The reader's sym- 
 pathy is sought Unanswered letters Letters found in 
 a river Stolen correspondence A stolen despatch-box 
 recovered Missing title-deeds Title-deeds rescued 
 from being sold for waste paper Pages cut out of 
 manuscript records Gravestones injured Love-letters 
 alone survive After all, the maxim may have a different 
 meaning I34-H3 
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 SAN FRUCTUOSO 
 
 San Fructuoso or Tacuarembo Approach to it Houses and 
 gardens Public square Australian trees Promenades 
 on summer evenings A peculiar custom The theatre 
 Enterprising inhabitants Bobbers in the suburbs 
 A row upon the river Foliage, flowers, and birds 
 "The Fern Grotto" Tree-ferns Soothing effect A 
 lovely spot Nature's pictures .... 144-154 
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 IN THE GARDEN 
 
 Enjoyable half -hours The sunflower Mistake of the poets 
 Professors of aesthetic art Blind leaders of the blind 
 Lily of the Nile A less thirsty flower The Scar- 
 
CONTENTS xv 
 
 PAGE 
 
 borough lily Beautiful flowers Black ants Their red 
 relations Warfare Ant-hills on bedroom floor Hard 
 to appease Humming-birds Oven-birds Their nests 
 Peculiar strut Advantage of the form of nest An 
 unwelcome visitor "Not at home" New tenants 
 The South American swallow The garden in the night- 
 time Frogs of various kinds Their concerts and 
 oratory The clepsydra The brown stork Its dreadful 
 voice Mystery explained 155-167 
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 THE FOUR-LEAFED SHAMROCK 
 
 The minstrel's song The magic plant How I found it 
 Awaiting extra good fortune In a state of perpetual 
 suspense, like Sidney Smith's young clergyman Other 
 trefoils The midwinter primrose Winter The heart- 
 marked trefoil Better emblem for Ireland A pity 
 Saint Patrick was in such a hurry Irishmen, whether 
 saints or sinners, are inclined to be impulsive Saint 
 Patrick's nationality Particulars of his early life and 
 history Claims of the Scots and Gauls A case of non 
 sequitur A fly in amber Intercourse between Ireland 
 and Gaul A county Wexford man became Eoman 
 emperor Soldiers of fortune Did Saint Patrick banish 
 snakes and toads from Scotland and Gaul, as he did 
 from Ireland? 168-174 
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 THE SNAKE IN THE GRASS 
 
 Latet anguis in herbd Good serpentine society They don't 
 appear to wish for concealment One meets with them 
 in the most unexpected places Visit from a snake and 
 toad while in my bath An Irishman to the rescue 
 Catches the toad with a lasso The lasso used for all 
 
xvi CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 purposes Snakes eat toads Dog and snake story 
 Snakes in numbers Flooded out Snakes on the rail- 
 way Lost no man from snake bites, and but one from 
 the bite of a toad " A frog bit him " . . . 175-180 
 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 
 LAW AND LAWYERS 
 
 Why bandage the eyes of Justice? Legal "blind man's 
 buff" A wide field for investigation Too great a 
 growth of lawyers Personal experience Peculiar people 
 Many excellent men Legal troubles with contractor 
 A part greater than the whole! Euclid at fault 
 Judge taxed with corruption Contempt of court not in 
 force Overtures for a settlement What came of them 
 Lawyer and client Attempt to rob a farmer An 
 attorney-general shot Newspaper comments on the 
 occurrence Land arbitration extraordinary Legal par- 
 tition of property leaving out the heirs Coffee with 
 the chief Something up Half a loaf better than no 
 bread Sleeping Justice suddenly awakes Eviction on 
 a wholesale scale A judge in gaol . . . 181-191 
 
 CHAPTER XVII 
 
 AMATEUR DIPLOMACY 
 
 One never knows what he can do till he tries Unskilled in 
 the ways of the " foreign office" A diplomatic difficulty 
 Home-made measures Immense dissatisfaction 
 Overtures of peace Conditions accepted and acted 
 upon Another diplomatic difficulty A Christmas 
 dinner The loan of a band International etiquette 
 The toasts Her Majesty's health Preliminary pro- 
 test Objections overcome in the end "God save the 
 Queen" Great enthusiasm The President's health 
 Good feeling restored All's well that ends well A 
 diplomatist's doubts 192-201 
 
CONTENTS xvii 
 
 CHAPTEK XVIII 
 
 PEN VERSUS SWORD 
 
 PAGE 
 
 The pen is mightier than the sword "The editor who got 
 309 lashes" There's luck in odd numbers " The stout 
 editor in trouble Inmgdio tutissimus ibis Adding insult 
 to injury A rare job for the tailor A worse fate A 
 fierce colonel Twelve thousand lashes ! Uncere- 
 monious burial" The Bold Soldier Boy "Mickey Free 
 The South American " Tommy Atkins " The colonel 
 under a cloud His explanation Much force in it 
 Recruiting from the gaols Something to be said on 
 the other side Leniency towards criminals Keeping 
 their hands in practice The editor flushed with vic- 
 tory Sufficiently outspoken Meets an opponent 
 Contest of smallarms No one hurt except a stray dog 
 Editor leaves, finding the place unhealthy A govern- 
 ment official attacked and severely wounded One of 
 his antagonists caught Nothing comes of it . 202-210 
 
 CHAPTER XIX 
 
 RIVERA AND SANTA ANA 
 
 A town of many" first officials " Twin towns Neutral zone 
 High hills Source of the river Cufiapiru Population 
 Toll-keeper and his wife Mr. Weller's theory only partly 
 borne out Most hospitable people Cherry-brandy un- 
 suited to a warm climate Escape from a dilemma 
 Chief trade Shooting contrabandists "Under the 
 poncho " An attractive spot A young jaguar Santa 
 Ana Wants a custom-house Accident to an engineer 
 A Brazilian surgeon An unpleasant suggestion A 
 consultation Narrow escape from suffocation Fancy 
 method for getting clear of mosquitoes Life upon the 
 frontier Exponents of " free trade "Reports of fire- 
 arms in the night-time Double supply of amusement 
 
xviii CONTENTS 
 
 PAGE 
 
 A feu dc joie Excess of zeal Neutral zone again The 
 troubles of a photographer Blackmail levied on hotel- 
 keepers Brazilian doctor has to fly . . . 211-221 
 
 CHAPTER XX 
 
 IN REVOLUTIONARY TIMES 
 
 Prevalence of revolutions Like "whirlwinds" First ex- 
 perience of the kind Pure patriotism Out of office 
 and in office Political "beggar my neighbour" A 
 perennial subject of discussion Safety of the state- 
 Officially communicated Invitation to witness a battle 
 Explanations The battle Terrific firing No one 
 hurt Capitulation Sacrifice of self -interest Laying 
 down arms An open secret A traitor in the camp 
 Convinces all but one The plot thickens A banquet 
 in barracks Guests arrive Betrayed Bloodshed in 
 the banqueting-hall Arresting political opponents 
 Honourable conduct of a government official A train 
 captured by insurgents Soldiers put to death Living 
 on the enemy A military receipt Opportunities for 
 revenge A nice discrimination between methods of 
 killing Man with his hands cut off His end Evils 
 arising from the revolutionary spirit Injury to credit 
 and prosperity 222-237 
 
 CHAPTER XXI 
 
 NATURAL HISTORY NOTES 
 
 Larger wild animals disappearing Wild-cats and foxes still 
 numerous Deer of two kinds Armadilloes Ant- 
 eater Carpinchoes Nutrias Otters Freshwater 
 seals Eagles of three kinds : blue, brown, and black- 
 Hawks Vultures Falcons Game-birds Pavo del 
 Monte Man shot by a bird Partridges of two kinds- 
 Snaring partridges Shooting snipe over a bull-terrier 
 
CONTENTS xix 
 
 A sporting pig The giant stork Ordinary storks 
 A pet stork A strange bird The brown stork My 
 aviary Other pets A coati Tame tortoise One of 
 Nature's gentlemen . . 238-254 
 
 CHAPTER XXII 
 
 CLIMATE OF URUGUAY 
 
 Hot in summer, but climate good and healthy Mr. Mul- 
 hall's Handbook, and statistics as to heat and cold, &c. 
 Our register of same The seasons Dust storms 
 Curious experiences Dust storms followed by heavy 
 rain Lightning Large hailstones Locusts Stop- 
 ping trains Difficulty of keeping cool in summer- 
 Various suggestions A new plan to prevent one's 
 " head swelling" The Dead March in Saul, with varia- 
 tionsImproving upon orders A good shaking up 
 Meteorites 255-265 
 
 CHAPTER XXIII 
 
 RAILWAYS OF URUGUAY 
 
 Railways essential to the progress of the country No public 
 roads worthy of the name Former means of communi- 
 cation Wire fencing Road allowances Advantages 
 of carriage by rail Railways begun in 1867 Durazno 
 line the first one started Its subsequent progress 
 Central Uruguay Railway The Pando Railway Fre- 
 quent change of name The Central Uruguay Eastern 
 Extension The Central Uruguay Northern Extension 
 Uruguay Great Eastern Midland Railway North- 
 Western Railway Northern Railway Projected 
 Western Railway Railway from Montevideo to the 
 slaughter yards Best policy with regard to railways 
 Railway mania in Argentina Growth and present 
 extent of railways in Uruguay .... 266-276 
 
xx CONTENTS 
 
 CHAPTER XXIV 
 
 CONCLUSION 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Role of candid friend Skeletons in cupboards You can't 
 hide them They should be banished The persons 
 reflected upon do not represent society generally Their 
 misdeeds are condemned The wants of South American 
 States Strong and just governments Requires no great 
 sacrifice or self-denial The people of the River Plate- 
 Kindly feeling Willing testimony regarding them A 
 bright and prosperous region if only the demon of 
 political revolution were exorcised and banished . 277-280 
 
SOUTH AMERICAN 
 SKETCHES 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 INTRODUCTION 
 
 WE are frequently told by people with a didactic 
 turn of mind, that it is always the unexpected 
 that happens. They appear to think that by 
 conveying their wisdom in epigrammatic form, 
 just as chemists encase the nauseous ingredients 
 of their pills in a coating of some less disagree- 
 able substance, the mental palate may be deceived 
 into accepting the proffered instruction without 
 remonstrance. 
 
 Critics may suggest that it is only another 
 way of saying we don't possess the gift of pro- 
 phecy; but that if we were more careful to 
 note what is going on around us, we should 
 
 find events turning out in accordance with our 
 
 A 
 
2 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 anticipations much oftener than they now appear 
 to do. 
 
 However this may be, I think most people 
 will agree with me in assuming that unan- 
 ticipated events do occur with sufficient fre- 
 quency to give the assertion a popular currency, 
 even though such coincidences may fail to 
 establish a fixed law in the matter; just as a 
 light sovereign may remain in general circula- 
 tion, and be accepted as if retaining its full 
 weight and value, when deficient in both. 
 
 For my own part, the unexpected has so 
 frequently occurred to me, that scarcely any- 
 thing would surprise me now. I will mention 
 one instance of the kind, which I think should 
 suffice to convince those sceptical about the 
 matter. 
 
 Towards the close of the year 1888 I went 
 to London, and upon arriving there I was 
 handed a telegram that had reached my home 
 in Ireland after my departure from thence, and 
 had been sent on to me. It contained a request 
 that I should come over to have an interview 
 with some gentlemen in the city upon a subject 
 about which they wished to speak with me. 
 
INTRODUCTION 3 
 
 When I had breakfasted I called upon the 
 sender of the telegram, who expressed much 
 surprise at the rapidity with which I made 
 my appearance in response to his communica- 
 tion. My explanations, however, corrected the 
 somewhat too hasty conclusion at which he had 
 arrived as to the speed attainable by the modern 
 appliances of travel in these islands, and we pro- 
 ceeded to business. 
 
 It related to a project for the construction 
 of a railway in Uruguay, which the gentlemen 
 interested in it were anxious I should carry out, 
 and after some negotiation I agreed to do so. 
 
 I think this may be accepted as a fair example 
 of the unexpected happening, for when I left 
 home I had no more intention of going to the 
 River Plate again, than I had of embarking on a 
 voyage of discovery to the North Pole. 
 
 In the following pages we are about to visit a 
 country upon the other side of the globe, where 
 everything presents opposite characteristics to 
 what we are accustomed to observe in their 
 equivalents at home. The inhabitants stand with 
 their heads pointing downwards, and their feet 
 directed upwards towards ours; the sun is in 
 
4 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 the north at noon ; and midsummer occurs at 
 Christinastide. These, and many other interest- 
 ing peculiarities, combine to impress upon the 
 traveller in Uruguay the feeling that he is in a 
 strange land of curious phenomena, if not quite 
 in such an enchanted region as that so charm- 
 ingly described in " Through the Looking-Glass." 
 
 Under inverted circumstances of the kind, it 
 may well be permitted to one who essays to 
 sketch some of the peculiar features of the coun- 
 try and of its people, to depart from the time- 
 honoured custom of placing the moral to be 
 conveyed at the end of the narrative, and to 
 establish a new precedent by opening with it, as 
 a fit introduction to what is to follow. 
 
 There is a manifest advantage in this treat- 
 ment of the subject, for the unwary reader is 
 thus ensnared in the meshes of the moral, to his 
 own great benefit, before he is aware of the fact. 
 Whereas, when the moral comes at the end, the 
 majority of readers having by that time had 
 their curiosity satiated, pass over it unread, and 
 cast the book aside, just as a schoolboy, when he 
 has sucked an orange dry, throws away the rind, 
 as unworthy of his further attention. 
 
INTRODUCTION 5 
 
 To prevent any such mishap in the present 
 instance, I will state, without further circumlocu- 
 tion, that the lesson I wish to convey at the start 
 is the desirability of cultivating a habit of civility 
 and politeness in our intercourse with our fellow- 
 men. In order to impress this the more forcibly 
 upon the minds of my readers, I shall proceed to 
 illustrate the benefits arising from a strict adherence 
 to the principles of the maxim I have laid down. 
 
 While engaged in making preparations for 
 my departure to South America, I had frequent 
 interviews with the officials of the steamship 
 company by whose line we proposed to make the 
 voyage, and found them to be most reasonable 
 and obliging ; and in consequence of the manner 
 in which suggestions of mine had been met by 
 the directors, I wrote to thank them for it. Some 
 days afterwards, having occasion to visit the office 
 again, their representative said he wanted to in- 
 troduce me to the directors, who were then sitting 
 at a board meeting. " I don't mind telling you," 
 he added, " that you are the first person who ever 
 wrote them a civil letter, and they are anxious to 
 make the acquaintance of one who has afforded 
 them such an unusual experience/' 
 
6 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 Thus it happened that I was introduced in the 
 character of the civil letter writer. 
 
 I was not a little amused by the incident, and 
 thought the matter had ended there ; but this 
 was by no means the case. Just before sailing 
 I received a letter from the secretary of the com- 
 pany, enclosing an introduction to the captain of 
 the ship in which our passages were taken. It 
 was unsolicited on my part, and unexpected ; and 
 was, moreover, an official document, written by 
 order of the directors, to request that every 
 attention should be paid to me, and to the staff 
 of engineers accompanying me, so as to make the 
 voyage as agreeable as possible for us. 
 
 Upon 22nd November 1888, the day of our 
 departure, we went on board, and seeing that the 
 captain was much occupied at first with the 
 affairs of the ship, I postponed presenting my 
 letter of introduction until a more favourable 
 opportunity. This I found later in the evening, 
 after we had dropped the pilot, and when the 
 captain was enjoying a cigar, as he paced the 
 quarter-deck. He read the secretary's letter with 
 an amused expression on his face, and then, 
 laughingly, asked me how I had managed to 
 
INTRODUCTION 7 
 
 make the directors take such a special interest in 
 me. He had himself, he said, received a strongly 
 worded private letter from the secretary to much 
 the same effect as the official one I gave him ; 
 in addition to which, about an hour before sailing, 
 a telegraphic reminder, of similar import, had 
 reached him. I told him the story of the civil 
 letter, which he heartily enjoyed. 
 
 Here I may state that he fully carried out his 
 instructions with regard to us, and moreover, 
 that he was a most agreeable and well-read man, 
 whose information was not bounded by a nautical 
 horizon, but extended far beyond it into a wide 
 expanse of general knowledge. 
 
 This incident of the civil letter and its results 
 go far to prove the correctness of my contention 
 on the subject of politeness, and to remove the 
 erroneous impression so widely current, that 
 directors of companies are impervious to ordinary 
 civility, or indeed to everything but abuse. 
 
 Some of the less charitably-minded of my 
 acquaintances may, possibly, fancy that I have 
 another, and personal, motive for being so com- 
 municative about this trivial matter, and that I 
 am actuated by a desire to obtain for myself an 
 
8 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 indirect certificate of character for urbanity in 
 the capacity of a letter writer, a quality they may 
 think not always characteristic of my style. 
 
 To such I would reply that they are illogical 
 in their deductions, arguing from a particular to 
 a general case, when they infer from some rare 
 specimen of my correspondence what the general 
 law is that regulates it. 
 
 In one's dealings with the world it is not 
 always possible to set everything right by the 
 simple remedy of suaviter in modo, as if it were 
 one of those patent medicines which are warranted 
 to cure all complaints. Obstinate cases, showing 
 a tendency to assume a chronic character, are 
 sometimes to bs met with, to combat which it 
 becomes necessary to have recourse to the stronger 
 expedient of fortiter in re. Under these circum- 
 stances, it will be readily understood that the 
 hand of even a much more skilful compounder 
 than I can claim to be may occasionally shake a 
 little when making up the recipe, and add, per- 
 haps, a drop too much of the stronger ingredient 
 to the mixture, giving it a more bitter taste than 
 it was intended it should have. 
 
CHAPTER II 
 
 "A LIFE ON THE OCEAN WAVE" 
 
 THE voyage began pleasantly enough. Every- 
 thing was in our favour ; the weather and the 
 sea were alike propitious as we ran down the 
 Channel and across the Bay of Biscay. On the 
 third day out we called at Carril and Vigo, ports, 
 or rather indentations, of the western coast of 
 Spain, about thirty miles apart. The towns 
 themselves are picturesquely situated on sloping 
 hill sides, shut in by a background of mountains. 
 At each of them we embarked about i 5 o Basque 
 emigrants for the River Plate. As far as the male 
 portion of these was concerned, the Spanish officials 
 examined their passports and certificates of military 
 service with great care and minuteness, to prevent 
 any one escaping from the country without having 
 fulfilled his duty in this respect. 
 
 The officials themselves seemed very proud of 
 a singularly long finger-nail on each of their 
 
io SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 hands, as bearing evidence that their grade in 
 the social scale was above that employed in 
 manual labour. To such an extent does the 
 custom pervade Spanish society, that it is no 
 uncommon thing to see men very little raised 
 above the labouring classes assiduously cultivat- 
 ing a distinctive peculiarity of the kind. 
 
 From Vigo we made for Lisbon, where we 
 added to the number of people on board a good 
 many steerage passengers of Portuguese nation- 
 ality, bound for Brazil. Proceeding next to Saint 
 Vincent we took in a supply of coal there, and 
 then steered across the Atlantic. 
 
 Here we may pause for a while, to pay some 
 attention to those on board, among whom were 
 an old acquaintance of mine and his wife, going 
 out for a trip to the River Plate, and their agree- 
 able society added greatly to the pleasantness of 
 the voyage. 
 
 We were singularly fortunate in our fellow- 
 passengers, many of whom proved to be inter- 
 esting companions, while some of them were 
 conspicuous in contributing to what I may term 
 the social success of our life at sea. 
 
 There was a little Brazilian gentleman, who 
 
"A LIFE ON THE OCEAN WAVE" u 
 
 bestirred himself to the utmost to provide amuse- 
 ment of various kinds for all his fellow-passengers, 
 whose entertainment he took under his own special 
 care. In fact, he appeared almost offended if any 
 one was discovered comfortably ensconced in some 
 quiet spot on deck, reading an interesting book, 
 and enjoying in peace and quietness the delicious 
 sea-breeze. It was a slight to his powers as a 
 caterer for the general amusement that any one 
 should prefer an occupation other than that which 
 he had provided, knowing it to be most suitable 
 and best for the occasion. He was full of ex- 
 pedients for killing time. He was even a sort of 
 variety show in himself, and would have made an 
 excellent actor on the theatrical stage, for Nature 
 had given him a face as mobile as his character. 
 In a moment he could change the expression of 
 his features from a realistic representation of the 
 depths of misery, into which he had been plunged 
 by his remorseless and only enemy, sea-sickness, 
 to a facial arrangement suggestive of the most 
 perfect concentration of light-hearted and mis- 
 chievous fun. He knew something of all the 
 modern languages of Europe, though his know- 
 ledge of them was not profound, and his applica- 
 
12 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 tion of it occasionally suggested the inference that 
 his education in foreign tongues had been ac- 
 quired rather in the byways than the highways 
 of learning. 
 
 It was most amusing to hear him explaining 
 to some unimpressionable person the fascinations 
 and allurements of a game at "poker," or of a 
 sweepstake on the ship's daily run. One could 
 almost fancy that, to him, life, without some 
 such excitement, would suggest an imperfect, 
 colourless, and unenjoyable existence. 
 
 There were many others among the passengers 
 well deserving of a favourable notice, but to 
 describe them all is quite impossible. 
 
 There was one, however, upon whom not to 
 bestow a word or two of appreciative recognition 
 would stamp me as being devoid of all aesthetic 
 perceptions. This was a lady, beside whom it 
 was my good fortune to be placed at table. The 
 advantageous position thus acquired was not of 
 my own seeking. It was the steward who put 
 me there, and thus brought down upon me the 
 envious feelings of several young gentlemen, who 
 scarcely concealed how much they desired to 
 change places with me. 
 
"A LIFE ON THE OCEAN WAVE" 13 
 
 The lady I refer to possessed among other 
 attractions a great mass of beautiful golden hair ; 
 none of those artificial productions, the creation 
 of " auricomus fluid," but the real genuine 
 growth, that Nature alone could supply in such 
 burnished brilliancy. It made a glowing halo 
 around the head it decked, like that of some 
 mediaeval saint, suggestive of a shrine, at which, 
 as already hinted, it was easy to see there were 
 several of the passengers prepared to worship. 
 
 But here I must check my too erratic pen, 
 which, having got upon this subject, seems well 
 disposed to ramble on, forgetful of the fact that 
 feminine beauty and attractions must be reserved 
 for poets to describe, the cold and harsh reality 
 of prose being wholly unfitted for the purpose. 
 Besides, the subject is an exceedingly delicate 
 one to deal with. Who can tell whether the 
 violet would not much rather be left to exhale its 
 fragrance unperceived beneath the shade of its 
 protecting leaves, than to be brought forth from 
 its seclusion into the glare of public notice and 
 admiration ? 
 
 As I sat beside the centre of attraction I could 
 not be ignorant of the fact that, however great 
 
14 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 might be the advantages of my position, it was 
 not without its drawbacks ; just as philosophers 
 tell us there is no cup of happiness, however full, 
 that does not contain some bitter ingredient. 
 There were my rivals, all attention, with ears 
 strained to catch even fragmentary portions of 
 my feeble attempts to be agreeable to my fasci- 
 nating neighbour ; while adverse criticism of the 
 performance was stereotyped upon their faces 
 beforehand, and shone from unfriendly eyes with 
 the green light of jealousy. 
 
 No one shall ever know, if I can help it, the 
 mental torture I endured while passing through 
 that trying ordeal ; or how deeply I regretted my 
 former folly in neglecting to master the details 
 of that useful volume, " Principles of the Art of 
 
 Conversation," by my friend Professor M , 
 
 a competent knowledge of which is in itself a 
 liberal education. Had I but assimilated even a 
 small portion of its wisdom, I could not have gone 
 astray. But under the trying circumstances of 
 my position, the knowledge intended to be con- 
 veyed in the professor's pages deserted me com- 
 pletely. I remembered, it is true, that it forbids, 
 under heavy penalties, any reference to the weather, 
 
"A LIFE ON THE OCEAN WAVE" 15 
 
 or other common topic, when addressing a new 
 acquaintance; and suggests the most prudent 
 course to pursue in order to ingratiate yourself 
 with an elderly lady afflicted with numerous 
 children, or a young one blessed with none. But 
 not a single hint, or even word, could I recall to 
 guide me how to act in the absence of any definite 
 information as to these family matters, when con- 
 versing with an attractive lady possessing a wealth 
 of golden hair. 
 
 It is useless, however, wasting time in vain 
 regrets over what might have been, and in 
 lamenting lost opportunities ; so we had better 
 proceed upon the voyage, about which there is 
 little to report. 
 
 Upon December 7th we reached the South 
 American coast at Pernambuco, where the sea was 
 breaking over a ledge of rocks in front of the 
 town with sufficient fury to strike terror into the 
 hearts of sailors as well as of landsmen. Behind 
 the ledge, however, there was a bay of smooth 
 water, in which small coasting craft could lie 
 securely, if their navigators knew the entrance 
 to it. A castaway captain with whom I once 
 travelled told me that his ship was burnt at sea, 
 
16 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 and he and his crew had to take to an open boat, 
 in which they reached Pernambuco after sailing 
 400 miles. But so frightened were his men 
 when they saw the surf breaking on the shore, 
 that they wanted him to put about and make 
 for some other port, notwithstanding that they 
 were in a most wretched condition. 
 
 Pernambuco is an extremely hot residence in 
 summer, and the red-tiled roofs of the houses 
 intensify the effect of the heat, as far as appearance 
 goes. The land lies low along the coast, except 
 at the point called Lindah, an early Portuguese 
 settlement, where it is hilly. 
 
 It is on the higher background that the 
 houses of the principal merchants are built, among 
 mango groves, bananas, and palm-trees, sur- 
 rounded on all sides by luxuriant tropical vegeta- 
 tion, including orchids innumerable. 
 
 The fishing catamarans that passed our ship 
 as she lay at anchor formed a curious feature in 
 the scene before us. They are generally con- 
 structed of six pieces of rounded timber, placed 
 longitudinally parallel to each other, and close 
 together, a couple of cross-pieces, to which they 
 are bound, keeping them in their proper position. 
 
"A LIFE ON THE OCEAN WAVE" 17 
 
 The raft thus formed is furnished with a rough 
 board seat, placed aft for the convenience of the 
 helmsman, who is also captain, cook, and crew ; 
 and on this he sits in a fairly dry position as 
 regards his body, while the water rushes up be- 
 tween the timbers of the raft and washes his feet. 
 The sail with which a catamaran is usually fur- 
 nished has the appearance of a triangle with 
 curved sides. The mast is bent like a fishing- 
 rod when playing a fish, and a " sprit," projecting 
 from it at right angles, takes the place of a boom, 
 keeping the lower part of the sail stretched. 
 Such sails appeared to be only used for running 
 before the wind, so that if this is the case, the 
 raft must be propelled by oars when it is desired 
 to go to windward. 
 
 When the passengers and cargo for Pernam- 
 buco had been landed, our ship weighed anchor 
 and proceeded southward, at a distance of some 
 three or four miles from the coast. This for the 
 most part presented the appearance of low sand- 
 hills, with a fringe of palm-trees at their base. 
 
 On the following day we touched at Maceio, 
 where the foreshore was low, and consisted of a 
 white sandy beach, palm-trees growing every- 
 
i8 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 where, almost down to the seaside. The land 
 rose to a considerably higher level at no great 
 distance from the shore, while the water in the 
 bay was beautifully clear, and of a bright green 
 colour. Some of the passengers who went on 
 shore brought back lovely flowers and large 
 bunches of the gaudy- coloured bougainvillea. 
 
 From Maceio we made for Bahia, the character 
 of the coast-line remaining much the same as 
 on our course the previous day. The weather 
 was glorious, with a cloudless sky overhead, while 
 the water beneath for many miles was of a deep 
 shade of ultramarine, the whole forming a 
 perfect picture of tropical coast-scenery. One 
 peculiarity I remarked about it, and that not for 
 the first time, was the strange absence of bird life 
 at this particular part of our voyage, although 
 there were plenty of flying fish to furnish food 
 for them. 
 
 At this same place, upon another trip, I wit- 
 nessed a fight between a whale and a swordfish, 
 which lasted for a considerable time. During the 
 encounter the whale kept part of its body above 
 water, the surface of which it lashed into spray 
 with the furious beating of its tail. We did not 
 
"A LIFE ON THE OCEAN WAVE" 19 
 
 see the ending of the duel, but the captain told 
 us a fight of the kind usually terminates in favour 
 of the swordfish. 
 
 The remaining ports that we called at were 
 Bahia, Rio de Janeiro, and Santos, from which 
 latter place we were glad to get away, owing to 
 the evil reputation it bears, in a sanitary point 
 of view, as a "hot-bed" for propagating yellow 
 fever. Nor can one wonder at this, for the ill- 
 snielling ooze and slime along the foreshore are 
 just of the class to fester into noxious gases under 
 a scorching sun. 
 
 There was nothing to note about the rest of 
 our voyage; in fact, from first to last, the only 
 remarkable thing about it was that, as regards 
 the sea itself, we had everything in the wrong 
 place. In northern latitudes, where we looked 
 for rough water, we found it calm and smooth, 
 whereas, when we steamed southwards into a 
 region where the ocean is generally tranquil and 
 at rest, it was nearly all the time disturbed and 
 "choppy," although no corresponding wind existed 
 to account for its roughness. The only explana- 
 tion of this which was given us by those on board, 
 who were learned in the habits and customs of 
 
20 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 the sea, was that it must have been blowing hard 
 somewhere else. I thought this philosophy had 
 much to recommend its general adoption in 
 matters unexplainable, and I hoped to comfort 
 myself thereafter by a similar process of reason- 
 ing about many things I do not understand. It 
 is so pleasant to think, with the honest, simple- 
 minded mariner, that every effect must have had 
 a cause of some kind to produce it, and it is 
 useless to go on puzzling our brains further about V 
 the matter. 
 
 After a run of twenty-six days, ending a week 
 before Christmas, we reached Flores Island, the 
 quarantine station for Uruguay. It was a miser- 
 able place, and its buildings and appointments 
 gave it a most depressing aspect. When the 
 health officers came alongside and received the 
 report of the surgeon of the ship, there was a 
 long consultation as to whether we should be 
 allowed to land at Montevideo, which was our 
 destination, or be compelled to spend a proba- 
 tionary time in quarantine, as some of the ports 
 our ship had touched at were declared to be 
 infected. 
 
 In the end, after considerable deliberation, the 
 
"^ LIFE ON THE OCEAN WAVE" 21 
 
 authorities, to our great satisfaction, decided upon 
 adopting the former course. So, when we had 
 said good-bye to those on board, we passed down 
 the gangway to a little steamer full of old friends, 
 who had come out to meet me, and from whom 
 the kindly greetings I received on all sides were 
 of the warmest and most flattering kind. Then 
 with three loud cheers from us for those we were 
 leaving, responded to energetically from the ship, 
 we cast off and made for the shore, where a re- 
 ception no less warm and kindly from other 
 friends awaited me. 
 
CHAPTER III 
 
 URUGUAY 
 
 BEFOKE proceeding further it is desirable that 
 the general reader should be made acquainted 
 with the main features of the country to which 
 he has been brought, and where it is proposed 
 to detain him during his stay in South America. 
 
 But though Uruguay may be his temporary 
 home, he will be taken, in thought, from time 
 to time to witness occurrences in other portions 
 of that great continent. 
 
 The Republic of Uruguay, or the "Banda 
 Oriental del Uruguay" as it is formally styled, 
 and still shorter, colloquially, as the "Baiida 
 Oriental," is the smallest of South American 
 Republics, of which there are ten, besides three 
 colonies, the latter belonging respectively to 
 England, France, and Holland. 
 
 It has an area of 73,000 square miles, or rather 
 more than four-fifths of that of Great Britain. 
 
URUGUAY 23 
 
 Uruguay occupies about one per cent, of the 
 surface of South America, and has about two per 
 cent, of its population, or say, 750,000 persons. 
 
 It is about two-thirds of the size of British 
 Guiana, one-half larger than Dutch Guiana, and 
 three times the size of French Guiana. 
 
 Uruguay lies on the north-eastern or left bank 
 of the Rio de la Plata, between the parallels of 
 30 5' and 35 south latitude, and 53 and 
 58 20' west longitude. 
 
 Its greatest length is about 360 miles, measured 
 in a straight line north-west by north, from Mal- 
 donado on its southern or Atlantic coast, to the 
 river Cuareim. 
 
 The maximum width is about 310 miles, from 
 Palmeira, on the river Uruguay, to the Laguna 
 Mirim, a little to the east of Artigas, which 
 direction cuts the line of greatest length at 
 nearly right angles, at a distance of some ninety 
 miles from the sea coast. 
 
 Boundaries. Uruguay is bounded on the north 
 and north-east by Brazil, from which it is separated 
 in part by the rivers Cuareim and Jaguaron, fall- 
 ing respectively into the river Uruguay and the 
 Laguna Mirim, the remaining portion of the 
 
24 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 northern boundary being a frontier land line join- 
 ing the waters of the two rivers above mentioned. 
 
 The rest of the eastern boundary is formed 
 by the Laguna Mirim and the Atlantic Ocean ; 
 which latter, and the Rio de la Plata, constitute 
 the southern boundary. On the west, Uruguay 
 is bounded by the river of the same name, which 
 separates it from the Argentine Confederation. 
 
 Face of the Country. The surface of Uruguay 
 differs altogether from the very level character 
 of the Pampas formation in Buenos Ayres, on 
 the Argentine, or southern side of the Rio de 
 la Plata. 
 
 A special feature of the land is the number of 
 main ridges or water-sheds running in different 
 directions and sending out lateral spurs, so that 
 the general character of the country, especially 
 towards the north, is a combination of hills, 
 valleys, and rolling plains. 
 
 Uruguay, although generally inferior to 
 Argentina as regards the quality of its soil 
 for agricultural purposes, and unable to support 
 an equal head of cattle for the same area, has 
 many advantages of its own. The tortuous 
 sequence of hills and valleys affords shelter to 
 
URUGUAY 25 
 
 cattle and sheep, no matter from what point 
 of the compass a gale may blow ; while the 
 permanent rivers, with which the country is 
 so well watered, relieve the farmers from the 
 great anxiety and labour that fall to the lot of 
 their southern neighbours, in consequence of the 
 shrinking of the streams during droughts. 
 
 Eivers. The first and most important of these 
 the Rio de la Plata is, strictly speaking, not 
 a single river, but the channel through which 
 the waters of a collection of rivers the Parana, 
 Uruguay, Paraguay, and their tributaries are 
 conveyed to and discharged into the sea. It 
 is assumed to begin at the junction of the 
 rivers Parana and Uruguay, and has a course 
 of 150 miles from that point to the Atlantic, 
 if we take the configuration of the coast-line as 
 determining its extent. Seafaring men, however, 
 consider it to flow for some distance farther into 
 the ocean, in consequence of the prevailing fresh- 
 ness of the water in the locality. 
 
 Though so comparatively short, it should be 
 remembered that the Rio de la Plata is in 
 reality the name given to what is only the 
 lower reach of a river system, the central artery 
 
26 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 of which has a continuous course of not far 
 short of 2500 miles. 
 
 It is to be observed that the Kio de la Plata 
 is little affected by ordinary tides ; but being 
 about 60 miles wide at its mouth, and less 
 than half that width 120 miles higher up its 
 course, it presents what may be termed & 
 funnel-shaped estuary, in which the water is 
 frequently banked up to a considerable height 
 by strong winds blowing up the channel. 
 
 The next river in importance is the Uruguay, 
 which gives its name to the country we are 
 dealing with, and forms, as we have seen, a 
 portion of its boundary. 
 
 After an independent courae of about 1000 
 miles it joins the Parana and loses its identity. 
 
 Although a majestic river, it is only navigable 
 by moderate sized ocean-going steamers for the 
 lower forty miles of its course or thereabouts. 
 Smaller craft, drawing from six to eight feet, 
 can, however, ascend it for 200 miles, to the 
 rapids known as the Salto Grande (or Great 
 Leap), situated about twelve miles above the 
 town of Salto, an important centre of population 
 on the left bank of the river. 
 
URUGUAY 27 
 
 A specially constructed steamer, drawing very 
 little water, used at one time to be poled and 
 warped past this obstruction up a narrow channel 
 in the rapids, along their right or Argentine 
 bank. Once above this point the river, though 
 shallow in many places, is navigable for small 
 vessels up to and beyond the frontier of Brazil. 
 
 Some years ago, while engaged in making the 
 survey for a canal to overcome these rapids, 
 which it .was contemplated at the time to con- 
 struct as a Government work, I ascended the 
 river as far as the town of Uruguayana, in Brazil, 
 taking soundings all the way, and finding it to 
 be as I have described ; but the project was not 
 carried out. 
 
 The foregoing remarks as to the available 
 depth of water in the river Uruguay apply to 
 its normal state only, as it is subject to great 
 floods, completely altering the aspect of the 
 navigation. 
 
 There is another class of rivers to be dealt 
 with, consisting of those which intersect the 
 country. Of these by far the most important is 
 the Rio Negro, which takes its rise in Brazil, and 
 after running in a south-westerly direction through 
 
28 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 the heart of Uruguay for a distance of more than 
 300 miles, joins the river Uruguay at about lati- 
 tude 33 20' south. Like the river into which 
 it flows, it is also subject to great floods. The 
 Rio Negro divides the country into two parts of 
 unequal size, the northern portion being consi- 
 derably smaller, less fertile, and more broken, 
 rugged, and thinly populated than that lying 
 to the south of it. The scanty nature of the 
 population may be partially accounted for by the 
 absence of roads and the want of bridges ; but 
 these are disadvantages which railways will gra- 
 dually neutralise. 
 
 The river Yi is an important affluent of the 
 Rio Negro, into which also flow the waters of the 
 Cunapiru, the Tacuarembo Grande and Chico, 
 the Rubio Chico, and Tres Cruces. The Cuareim, 
 as already mentioned, forms part of the northern 
 frontier with Brazil, and empties itself into the 
 Uruguay, as do also the Arapey, Dayman, and 
 Queguay. The Santa Lucia falls into the Rio 
 de la Plata a little to the west of Montevideo, 
 while the Cebollati discharges itself into the 
 Laguna Mirim, which forms part of the eastern 
 boundary of the country. 
 
URUGUAY 29 
 
 These are the chief rivers of Uruguay, and 
 they are all subject to considerable floods during 
 heavy rains. 
 
 Geological Features. Rock of a granitic descrip- 
 tion prevails in the neighbourhood of Montevideo 
 and in the south generally, affording excellent 
 paving materials. Limestone is found to the 
 south-east and in some parts of the interior. 
 
 Going northwards, a friable rock is met with, 
 having the appearance of being formed from 
 indurated clay, and exhibiting a peculiar curved 
 fracture when broken up. This formation ex- 
 tends to some distance north of the Rio Negro, 
 and then gives place to sandstone, the beds of 
 which latter deposit furnish very fine building 
 material. 
 
 To the north-east and north, near the Brazilian 
 frontier, quartz occasionally appears, and in the 
 former direction there are gold mines, but the 
 working of them has not as yet been very profit- 
 able or encouraging. 
 
 Considerable deposits of gravel, containing 
 agates, carnelian, and other pebbles, are not un- 
 common, and I have heard of one instance in 
 which two diamonds were found among the 
 
30 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 gravel ballast used for the railway ; but they 
 were of no great intrinsic value. 
 
 By far the most interesting mineralogical 
 specimens in Uruguay are, in my estimation, 
 the so-called water-stones. 
 
 They are small, white, and transparent ; hollow 
 in the interior, and partially filled with water, so 
 that a bubble of air moves about upon its sur- 
 face, according to the position in which the object 
 is held. 
 
 These stones consist of pure silex, their sur- 
 face presenting the appearance of a series of little 
 curves and nodules, all rounded and smoothed 
 off, as if the material had once been in a viscous 
 state, while the interior of the broken stones 
 that I have seen exhibits a mass of crystalline 
 structure principally made up of hexagonal prisms 
 terminating in similar pyramids. 
 
 How have these stones been formed ? That is 
 a question about which geologists may differ, but 
 I think that one stage of their production is 
 easy enough to understand. 
 
 Water, impregnated with a considerable amount 
 of silex, dripping through the crevices of a rock 
 into a small cavity in it, would deposit crystals of 
 
URUGUAY 31 
 
 silex upon the top, bottom, and sides of the 
 cavity, the crystals all pointing inwards. This 
 operation being continued through long periods 
 might gradually form a complete external casing, 
 and eventually close any aperture in it, leaving 
 therein the water and air that it happened to 
 contain at the time. 
 
 But how are we to account for the external 
 appearance of these geological curiosities ? Can 
 the material of which the matrix consisted have 
 had anything to say to it ? These, and other 
 questions that will suggest themselves to the 
 inquirer, are interesting subjects for consideration, 
 which had better, perhaps, be left to the treatment 
 of experts. 
 
 Montevideo. This is the capital of the Re- 
 public, its only city and principal port. It is 
 well situated, about the middle point of the 
 southern coast, at what may be roughly called 
 the mouth of the Rio de la Plata, though, as has 
 been already said, the water continues fresh for 
 many miles farther out to sea. 
 
 Montevideo, including its suburbs, has about 
 250,000 inhabitants, that is to say, speaking ap- 
 proximately, it absorbs one- third of tire entire 
 
32 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 population of the Republic. It is a well-built 
 city, and some of the suburban houses, surrounded 
 by gardens and pleasure grounds, are very attrac- 
 tive. 
 
 It is situated upon a promontory forming one 
 side of a bay, the depth of water in which is, 
 unfortunately, insufficient for shipping purposes, 
 and this condition of affairs is aggravated by the 
 fact that the bay is said to be silting up. Ocean- 
 going steamers have to lie out at anchor in the 
 open roadstead. Many proposals for establishing 
 a properly constructed port, with docks, at Monte- 
 video have been made from time to time for the 
 last quarter of a century, but without practical 
 effect. Recently, however, the matter seemed to 
 have assumed a new and more promising phase ; 
 but the outbreak of a revolution pushed this very 
 necessary work into the background, from which 
 it is to be hoped it will be brought forward before 
 long. 
 
 None of the other centres of population in 
 Uruguay call for any special notice in a general 
 description of the country, being merely places 
 for supplying the wants of the surrounding 
 districts. 
 
CHAPTER IV 
 EL PASO DE LOS TOROS 
 
 THE work we were about to undertake was practi- 
 cally an extension of the Central Uruguay Railway, 
 from its then northern terminus on the right bank 
 of the Rio Negro, distant 1 70 miles from Monte- 
 video, to the town of Rivera, at the frontier of 
 Brazil, a farther length of about 182 miles. 
 
 Our starting-point possessed a multiplicity of 
 names. It is generally known as the Paso de los 
 Toros, but the railway people give it the shorter 
 designation of Rio Negro, after the river flowing 
 past it, while its legal name is, I believe, Santa 
 Isabel. 
 
 A residence of some time there impressed rne 
 with the conviction that there are at least occa- 
 sional mistakes made in assigning certain places 
 to patron saints, for I feel sure that none such, if 
 their wishes could be consulted, would accept the 
 charge of the locality in question. 
 
 33 
 
34 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 It would almost seem as if the manner of 
 appointment of a patron saint was somewhat 
 similar to that of the high sheriff of a county 
 with us; the victim has no choice or option in 
 the matter, and must act if appointed. 
 
 Call it by whatever name we may, it is nfct a 
 place of much interest. It owes its origin to the 
 existence of a ford in the river at that point, 
 which is passable, however, only when the water 
 is low, so that in former times, before the intro- 
 duction of ferry-boats, which preceded railways, 
 passengers arriving there in any other condition 
 of the river were obliged to await upon its bank a 
 more favourable opportunity for crossing over. 
 
 Although the Paso de los Toros is not in itself 
 calculated to excite much admiration, there are 
 many parts of the Rio Negro near it that are very 
 picturesque. There is a lovely reach of it about 
 a league below the town, that reminded me of a 
 scene on my native river the Erne at a place 
 called Mois Rhua, which Saxon anglers who fre- 
 quent our shores have corrupted into the more 
 easily pronounced but less poetic name of " Moss 
 How." 
 
 I have called it my native river, and I think I 
 
EL PASO DB LOS TOROS 35 
 
 am entitled to do so, for I was born on its bank, 
 and got dipped in its waters, both purposely and 
 accidentally, many times in my youth. Possibly 
 it may be due to this early aqueous experience that 
 the Erne has always been for me the standard of 
 beauty with which to compare the scenery upon 
 other rivers. 
 
 To return to the Rio Negro ; when I first saw 
 the part of it to which I have referred, large fish 
 were jumping in it, making rings upon its surface, 
 just as salmon would do of a summer's day with 
 us at home, A solitary cormorant was swimming 
 about as unconcernedly as if it were in the Erne, 
 while kingfishers followed their usual calling, and 
 rasped out an unmusical chuckle from time to 
 time, when they succeeded in capturing something 
 particularly choice. 
 
 Such were the general surroundings, which 
 were of a nature to make me feel, if prone to 
 indulge in day-dreams, that I had accepted the 
 invitation in the song to " Come back to Erin," 
 and had been wafted unconsciously to her shores 
 by some magic process. But there were other 
 matters to attract attention and correct all such 
 erroneous impressions. Black-necked swans floated 
 
36 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 lazily about, while rose-coloured spoon-bills waded 
 in the shallow water along the river's edge, stirring 
 up the silt in search of food, and brown storks 
 flitted awkwardly from tree to tree. These animated 
 objects broke the spell woven by the similarity of 
 the landscape to a familiar scene at home. * 
 
 In another locality the blossoms of a number 
 of crimson-flowering acacias clustering together 
 made a fine display of colour against a back- 
 ground of evergreen shrubs. The cina-cina, too, 
 a tree of the Mimosa family, presented an oppo- 
 sition show of creamy-white flowers yielding a 
 fragra t perfume. 
 
 In the vicinity there was a lake, the favourite 
 haunt of a wonderful variety of wildfowl, some 
 of them with brilliant plumage. 
 
 Not many years ago beasts of prey roamed 
 about where the Paso de los Toros now stands. 
 Within the memory of the present owner of the 
 adjoining lands two jaguars were shot there in 
 one day. Wild dogs were frequently to be met 
 with, sometimes in formidable packs ; but such 
 conditions have become altogether matters of the 
 past. 
 
 Those wild animals, that are dangerous to flocks 
 
EL PASO DE LOS TOROS 37 
 
 and herds, are fast disappearing before the in- 
 crease of the latter, every expedient being resorted 
 to by the settlers to extirpate them. Only very 
 rarely are specimens of the kind still to be met 
 with in Uruguay, and that in the most un- 
 frequented and secluded places. 
 
 Upon our arrival at the Paso de los Toros we 
 took up our temporary residence, until permanent 
 arrangements could be made, at a comfortable 
 hotel which the Central Uruguay Railway Com- 
 pany had built for the convenience of travellers. 
 One thing about it which struck me as peculiar 
 was the great precaution that was taken to pre- 
 sent burglars entering by the back of the house, 
 while the front was left to take care of itself. 
 
 The back of the building opened upon a terrace, 
 to which access from the yard below was obtained 
 by a flight of stone steps. Parallel, and close to 
 the outer edge of this terrace, and stretching the 
 whole length of it, was an overhead wire rope, 
 upon which worked a running ring, with a long 
 chain and dog-collar attached to it, so fitted as to 
 give the canine guardian of the position perfect 
 command not only of the flight of steps, but also 
 of the base of the terrace from end to end. 
 
38 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 The animal for whose convenience these elabo- 
 rate arrangements had been made was one of the 
 ugliest and most savage-looking bulldogs I ever 
 saw. He barked furiously, and strained at his 
 chain as if he would tear its links asunder to get 
 at us whenever we looked down upon him from 
 the railings above. 
 
 One of our party, a Scotchman, who prided 
 himself not a little on his musical accomplish- 
 ments, and especially on his proficiency as a 
 performer on the bagpipes, determined to try the 
 soothing effects which a lively air on that instru- 
 ment would have upon the irritable dog. With 
 this intention he opened the campaign from the 
 terrace. The result was marvellous. The savage 
 brute became dumb at first with terror and 
 amazement, and then uttering his protest against 
 the proceeding in a fit of the most piteous howl- 
 ing, betook himself to the privacy of his kennel, 
 from which no inducement could subsequently 
 dislodge him. 
 
 On another occasion, while we were observing 
 the bulldog, a young fox that had been tied up 
 in the yard, broke loose, and came along dragging 
 a piece of rope behind him, which got entangled 
 
EL PASO DE LOS TOROS 39 
 
 in a fence post, where he was well within reach 
 of the ferocious bulldog. The latter, seeing the 
 position of affairs, and counting upon an easy 
 victory over such a juvenile and weak antagonist, 
 rushed frantically at the intruder. 
 
 Finding escape by flight impossible, the fox 
 made the best of his unfortunate position, and 
 bared his teeth to prepare for the onslaught. 
 The bulldog, however, suddenly changed his mind, 
 and pulled up a couple of yards short of biting 
 distance, where he contented himself by barking 
 angrily, while refusing to come to closer quarters. 
 In the end the fox managed to disentangle him- 
 self, and retired without further molestation, 
 leaving the dog's reputation for courage gone for 
 ever. What is still stranger, is that the animal 
 himself seemed quite aware of this, for subse- 
 quently, during one of his paroxysms of rage at 
 us, a member of the party, without any weapon 
 in his hand, walked boldly down to confront him, 
 with the result that the dog did not await the 
 interview, but skulked off to his kennel. 
 
 Another curious thing at the same hotel was 
 the manner in which the fowl required for table 
 were procured. When they were needed the 
 
40 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 cook issued forth with an armful of short sticks, 
 about the size of the rungs of a ladder, and so 
 provided, he looked exactly like the proprietor 
 of that popular target known as "Aunt Sally." 
 With serious strides he marched towards the 
 garden, where the rank vegetation afforded 'excel- 
 lent cover for fowl during the heat of the day. 
 He was always attended by a boy, to start the 
 game and 'retrieve the birds that were knocked 
 over, besides collecting the expended missiles for 
 another discharge. According as each frightened 
 chicken was driven across the path, the cook's 
 trained eye took in at once whether it was fit for 
 culinary purposes, and if it was he despatched a 
 wooden weapon after it, that seldom failed to 
 take effect. In this way he generally returned 
 in a very short time, his attendant following him 
 loaded with a full bag of chickens. Occasionally 
 the bulldog I referred to got loose and joined the 
 chase, but he generally came quickly back again, 
 howling loudly, having apparently got in the way 
 of the sticks thrown at the fowl. 
 
 The people whose occupation lies at the Paso 
 de los Tor os are for the most part a primitive 
 race, engaged in connection with cattle farming 
 
EL PASO DE LOS TOROS 41 
 
 and kindred pursuits, together with the trades- 
 men who supply their wants. 
 
 Arising out of these conditions are the in- 
 dustries known as " saladeros," where cattle are 
 slaughtered and their carcasses converted into 
 "jerked beef," for consumption in Brazil and 
 the West Indies. The constant occupation 
 among such scenes hardens men to the sight 
 of bloodshed, so that the taking away of human 
 life is frequently regarded with but little con- 
 cern, and sometimes even as an act to feel 
 proud of. This is one of the first things that 
 attracts the attention of a stranger upon his 
 arrival in the country. A native talking about 
 a fellow-countryman of his, remarked, " He is 
 a very steady fellow, but not half so good a 
 man as his younger brother. That lad had 
 killed his two men, in fair fight, before he was 
 eighteen years of age." 
 
 I had an object-lesson as to the hardening 
 effect produced upon children by being brought 
 up in close proximity to slaughter-houses. As 
 I was walking along one lovely morning, when 
 everything seemed peaceful and quiet, I noticed 
 two boys at no great distance below me. The 
 
42 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 elder of them was about eight years of age, and 
 the younger one was scarcely four. The larger 
 boy held a little dog in one arm, while with his 
 disengaged hand he sharpened a knife, which, 
 when it had attained a condition to his satis- 
 faction, he drew across the throat of the poor 
 little dog. The blood gushed out, smearing the 
 clothing of the urchins, who laughed with delight 
 over the writhings of their victim. The elder 
 little ruffian could not understand my scolding 
 him for the act, which he considered perfectly 
 justifiable, as he explained to me, in surprise, 
 that the dog was his own. 
 
 The drivers of bullock-carts bringing produce 
 and merchandise to and from the railway formed 
 no inconsiderable portion of the floating popu- 
 lation. 
 
 Vehicles of the kind are not easily guided by 
 beginners at the art, as I know from experience. 
 While riding out one evening I overtook a boy 
 on horseback managing two such carts, each 
 drawn by eight oxen. The owners of the teams 
 were no doubt refreshing themselves at some 
 convenient grog-shop, while they entrusted their 
 carts to the lad to take them to their camping- 
 
EL PASO DE LOS TOROS 43 
 
 ground for the night. I readily complied with 
 the youngster's request to take charge of one 
 of the carts while he steered the other through 
 the gateway of a paddock they were about to 
 enter. Irishman-like, I thought the best way 
 to drive was to make the animals stand still 
 until the boy should get the first vehicle through 
 the gate, so that he might come back and take 
 charge of the second one himself. 
 
 I had observed his tactics, and followed them 
 closely. Riding up in front of the bullocks I 
 flourished my whip in their faces, and adjured 
 them, as they valued their comfort, to stand still. 
 The stupid oxen, instead of obeying me, made a 
 frantic dash to get past; but I headed them, 
 whereupon, by a rapid flank movement, they 
 completely turned my position, and got away. 
 My instructor roared out his directions to me at 
 the top of his voice, but they proved ineffectual, 
 and he came back to my cart, leaving his own 
 stationary, as he thought. In this he was mis- 
 taken, for immediately afterwards we heard a 
 crash, occasioned by the carrying away of the 
 gate-post, against which the leading team had 
 pulled their load in their desire to enter the field 
 
44 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 they were bound for. Then followed a volley of 
 abuse, couched hi language so emphatic, that I 
 understood at once how it was the bullocks had 
 disregarded my feeble admonition. It was not 
 what they were accustomed to, or suited to their 
 comprehension. In their ears it sounded like 
 childish weakness, which they might disregard 
 with impunity. It requires an amount of moral 
 courage, to which I do not lay claim, to remain 
 silent under undeserved obloquy, and to listen 
 unmoved to the enumeration of a long list of 
 supposititious defects of character which, honestly, 
 I do not think I can be fairly charged with. So 
 I rode away, leaving the boy still in angry mood. 
 Upon reflection I decided to be guided by his 
 advice, and to avoid making a fool of myself again 
 by attempting to drive bullocks, at all events 
 until I should have reinforced my command of 
 Spanish expletives up to the necessary standard. 
 
 These same grog-shops (pulperias), at one of 
 which the owners of the bullocks that got me into 
 trouble were no doubt carousing at the time, 
 have a very evil influence on the habits of the 
 people, who are by nature not at all addicted to 
 strong drink. Houses of the kind are practically 
 
EL PASO DE LOS TOROS 45 
 
 the clubs or meeting-places for neighbours and 
 acquaintances, who are led to treat each other, too 
 frequently with the result that drunken loungers, 
 in a quarrelsome mood, are often to be met with 
 in such places. One frequenter of these resorts, 
 with whom business brought me into contact 
 pretty often, was a festive little magistrate, who 
 greatly enjoyed the company and atmosphere to 
 be met with there. Nor was he always fortunate 
 in his visits to these houses of entertainment. 
 On one occasion he entered a refreshment room 
 where some rough men were drinking, whose ire 
 he managed to excite. Thereupon they carried 
 him out by the legs and arms, and ducked him in 
 a pool of mud. While undergoing the unpleasant 
 process the police came up and rescued the un- 
 fortunate man, who was in such a condition that 
 he failed to recognise his deliverers, and drew his 
 knife upon the officer in charge. A struggle 
 ensued, in which he was disarmed, and eventually 
 he spent the night in the " lock up " at the police 
 station. 
 
CHAPTER V 
 
 EXAMINING THE COUNTRY 
 
 WE began surveying operations at the Paso de los 
 Toros upon the last day of the year 1888, and 
 when they were fairly started I left the rest of 
 the party and went ahead upon a tour of inspec- 
 tion of the route by which it was proposed to 
 take the line. 
 
 Our first night out on this separate expedition 
 was one of considerable discomfort. We reached 
 the camping-place after dark, and the only suit- 
 able spot that could be found upon which to pitch 
 our tent was very rough and stony. My bed and 
 bedding was left behind by mistake, so that as I 
 had to lie down upon the bare ground, I got but 
 little sleep or rest. But bad as was my plight, 
 I should have been still more uncomfortable had 
 I known at the time, as I did afterwards, that the 
 locality abounded in scorpions and tarantulas. Of 
 fourteen stones that I subsequently turned over 
 
EXAMINING THE COUNTRY 47 
 
 by daylight in that vicinity, no less than twelve 
 disclosed the habitation of one kind or of the 
 other of these objectionable acquaintances. 
 
 Next morning we made an early start, and 
 although at first somewhat stiff and sore after the 
 night's experiences, I soon forgot all about them. 
 Before I had ridden far we came to a small rect- 
 angular yard, surrounded by a low brick wall. 
 The enclosure was what is locally known as a 
 Campo Santo, or holy ground, where the remains 
 of the dead are temporarily deposited, awaiting 
 the time when they can be more readily trans- 
 ferred to some graveyard in the vicinity of a 
 town. No attempt at burial appeared to have 
 been made in any case, as coffins in every stage of 
 decay lay exposed upon the surface, while portions 
 of human skeletons were scattered about on all 
 sides. I subsequently saw many other similar 
 temporary receptacles for the dead, some of which, 
 however, were not quite so desolate as the one I 
 have described. A few of them contained rough 
 attempts at what appeared to be provisional vaults. 
 A possible explanation of the apparent neglect to 
 which I have referred might be, that the relatives 
 of those whose remains were lying about may have 
 
48 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 been killed in some of the numerous revolutions 
 which lay waste the country from time to time, 
 or they may have fled to other lands from some 
 pressing and sufficient cause. 
 
 As we went along we met with numbers of 
 ostriches and deer grazing peacefully on the un- 
 dulating grass lands over which we passed, adding 
 greatly to the picturesque effect of the scene. The 
 ostriches are protected by law, there being a heavy 
 fine for killing one. On the other hand, they are 
 hunted, caught, and plucked of their finer feathers 
 at the season when they are in best plumage, and 
 then set free again to grow another crop for the 
 following year. 
 
 For some time after they have undergone this 
 unpleasant treatment they are shy of making 
 casual acquaintances among the human race, and 
 take themselves off into the distant perspective 
 when a man on horseback comes in sight. But 
 gradually, as time wears on, they appear to forget 
 their painful experience about the feathers, and 
 allow one to approach them more closely. Even 
 then there is a limit to their friendliness or in- 
 difference, whichever it may be, and when that is 
 past, off go the birds at a trot, pitching themselves 
 
EXAMINING THE COUNTRY 49 
 
 from side to side occasionally in a most comical 
 manner, as if mimicking the staggering of drunken 
 men. 
 
 It is apparently a game they play, or perhaps the 
 ostrich equivalent for a dance, as each member of 
 the party seems to take it up in turn, and then all 
 of them join in it together, wheeling and doubling, 
 with their wings rapidly thrown out to help the 
 movement, and though perpetually changing places, 
 they never appear to jostle each other. 
 
 For the next few days there was nothing of 
 interest to note, until one evening towards night- 
 fall, when we reached a house, from the owner of 
 which I asked permission to encamp upon his 
 land. This he not only granted, but most hos- 
 pitably insisted upon my dining with him and 
 some friends of his, who happened, he said, to be 
 stopping in his house at the time. 
 
 Nothing could be kinder or more courteous 
 than my reception by the entire party, and we 
 spent a very pleasant evening. My host was an 
 agreeable, soft-spoken, mild-looking man, with 
 most affable manners. Next morning he was 
 profuse in expressions of regret that he could not 
 
 remain to show me more attention, and to point 
 
 D 
 
50 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 out the best route for the railway in that neigh- 
 bourhood. But the Government wished for his 
 presence in Montevideo, and had sent up for 
 him, so he was obliged to go; official business 
 could not be put off. I would understand this, 
 he said, and excuse him. Of course I did. I 
 could not be so unreasonable as to do anything 
 else. Later on in the day, when I learned fuller 
 particulars of the cause of his hasty departure, I 
 was confirmed hi the opinion that he could not 
 have acted otherwise than he did. 
 
 It appeared there had been a double murder 
 in the neighbourhood, and the authorities got it 
 into their heads that my host of the previous 
 night could throw some light upon the circum- 
 stance, and had gone through the formality of 
 making him a prisoner, until they heard the 
 explanations he could give of his share in the 
 transaction. That he found the means of satis- 
 fying the powers that be was certain, for he was 
 let off and allowed to return to his home. His 
 personal friends made light of the whole affair as 
 far as he was concerned, and blamed the Govern- 
 ment greatly for their interference in it. They 
 argued that the two men who had been murdered 
 
EXAMINING THE COUNTRY 51 
 
 were ruffians of the deepest dye, and that the doing 
 away with them was a beneficial act, for which 
 the perpetrator of it deserved public gratitude. 
 
 It was evident that there were two ways of 
 looking at the matter, though most people might 
 retain a prejudice in favour of due legal for- 
 malities being adhered to when capital punish- 
 ment was in question. 
 
 On this same journey, while I was riding at 
 a walking pace over very rough : ground, I was 
 approaching a solitary tree growing among rocks, 
 when the man in attendance upon me, who had 
 been loitering behind, unobservant of my move- 
 ments, suddenly called out to me, in a frightened 
 voice, to stop and wait for him. I did so, and 
 when he came up he caught me by the arm to 
 pull me away from the tree I had got close to, 
 as, if I passed under the shadow of it, it would 
 certainly, he said, be fatal to me. This would 
 seem to indicate the existence in South America 
 of a similar belief to that of the upas-tree. 
 
 Other superstitions they have of many kinds. 
 The natives have cures (remedios they call them) 
 for every possible complaint of man and beast, 
 some of which are of a curious nature. 
 
52 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 There is a skin disease not uncommon in the 
 country, due to severe chills, or sleeping in wet 
 clothes. The eruption follows the course of the 
 nerves, and the people universally believe that 
 if it completely encircles the body, the death 
 of the patient must ensue. This is a belief 
 which I understand prevails in some other 
 countries too ; but the cause to which it is attri- 
 buted, and the cure suggested for it, both struck 
 me as peculiar. 
 
 The eruption is said to be produced by the 
 slime of a snake passing over the afflicted 
 person's shirt when spread out on the ground 
 to dry after having been washed. The remedy 
 suggested, which is held by the people generally 
 to be infallible, is to catch a toad and kill it, and 
 then rub the eruption with its dead body. 
 
 I was astonished to find a very intelligent and 
 educated Englishman who was a firm believer in 
 the efficacy of this cure. 
 
 Perhaps it is the natural antipathy existing 
 between snakes and toads that suggests the 
 idea of the one being the antidote for the 
 other, for undoubtedly snakes are partial to a 
 diet of toads when they get the chance. 
 
EXAMINING THE COUNTRY 53 
 
 Another curious remedio was once tried for a 
 horse that I was riding, which had gone lame. 
 The man who was accompanying me told me 
 to dismount, and he would make all right in 
 a moment. I obeyed, as I thought he had 
 detected what had caused the lameness. But 
 instead of proceeding to examine the horse's 
 foot he merely plucked a hair from the fet- 
 lock and another from the opposite leg, and 
 placing the hairs in the animal's ear, he mut- 
 tered something in the nature of a charm or 
 spell, and then told me to re-mount and I should 
 find the lameness gone. I did as I was told to 
 do; but I must confess that I gave way to in- 
 credulous laughter, which the operator told me 
 had spoiled the whole effect of the cure. Cer- 
 tainly something had marred its healing influence, 
 for the horse stepped off as lame as before. 
 
 Another belief which exists wherever I have 
 been in South America is, that it is particularly 
 dangerous to ride upon a grey horse during a 
 thunderstorm. 
 
 One can readily understand that on the plains 
 a man on horseback is a conspicuous object, and 
 may act like a lightning conductor when a thunder- 
 
54 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 cloud is rolling along close to the surface of the 
 ground. But why the grey colour should be more 
 attractive to the lightning than any other bay, 
 for example I must leave for electricians who 
 have studied the subject to explain. 
 
 Proceeding upon our journey, the route we 
 took was by the high land along a spur from 
 the main ridge, and when we came to the end 
 of it the drop down into the valley below was 
 a difficult undertaking, over exceedingly rough 
 ground. Having accomplished it, not without 
 some mishaps, though none of them were of a 
 serious nature, we approached and crossed the 
 river Tacuareinbo Chico, and encamped upon its 
 farther bank. 
 
 Its course was fringed with beautiful trees, 
 mostly evergreens. In one place the Passion- 
 flower, in rich blossom, had climbed over and 
 almost covered the branches of a thorn -tree. 
 In another there was a beautiful scarlet-flowering 
 creeper, somewhat resembling laburnum in the 
 formation of its blossoms, which had used the 
 support of the widespreading branches of a tall 
 forest tree to display its attractions to advantage. 
 
 Our arrival disturbed a number of birds with 
 
EXAMINING THE COUNTRY 55 
 
 / 
 showy plumage, and shrieking their complaints at 
 
 our intrusion, they sought a sanctuary elsewhere. 
 
 Another day's march took us to the river Tres 
 Cruces, on the south bank of which we encamped 
 for the night, as darkness had already set in when 
 we reached it. 
 
 In the morning we crossed over on a raft 
 made of planks, supported by air-tight barrels, 
 our horses being made to swim. Nor was this 
 latter part of the arrangement so simple to carry 
 out as it sounds to describe it, for they became 
 frightened, and made for the shore among the 
 tangled branches and roots of trees growing by 
 the water's edge. It seemed as if they would 
 get drowned in the wild plunging and confusion 
 that ensued ; but the man in charge boldly 
 swam out among them, and with great dexterity 
 managed to get them back into the clear water, 
 from whence they easily made their way to shore. 
 
 Soon after crossing the river we passed rough 
 hilly, ground, where the soil was barren and the 
 rock showed out on all sides. Away to the east, 
 in the distance, lay the three remarkable hills 
 known as the " Tres Cerros." They are isolated 
 from each other, and rise abruptly from the plain, 
 
56 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 attaining to a considerable height. Their form 
 in each case is that of a truncated pyramid or 
 cone, surmounted by a vertical castellated wall 
 of natural rock resembling a fortification. This 
 is a peculiarity common to many hills in the 
 north of Uruguay. 
 
 Towards evening we reached the river 
 Tacuarembo Grande, which we crossed, and 
 encamped a couple of miles beyond it. 
 
 On the following day, when we had risen to 
 the higher ridge, the mining district of Cufia- 
 piru lay spread out before us like a panorama, 
 at a distance of about a league to the right of 
 the course we were travelling ; while a couple 
 of leagues farther off in the same direction were 
 the mines of Corrales. 
 
 Here our guide became very voluble in 
 describing the untold wealth contained in the 
 district; but do what he could, he was unable 
 to stir up my enthusiasm on the subject to a 
 height corresponding to that of his own, and 
 this puzzled him not a little. The secret was 
 this, but I did not think it necessary to impart 
 it to him: I once had an interest in a gold mine, 
 and my experience thus acquired was not of a 
 
EXAMINING THE COUNTRY 57 
 
 nature to occasion me rapturous delight upon 
 visiting a neighbourhood of the kind again. The 
 gold it produced was good and pure, but in 
 quantity insufficient to pay for working. It was 
 then tried for silver, which it also yielded, with 
 a similar result. Copper was next discovered in 
 it, and promised to yield better returns than the 
 more precious metals did. 
 
 Here, it was hoped, the downward tendency 
 of our luck might be arrested, but it was not so. 
 When once you have stepped upon the ladder of 
 misfortune and begin to descend it the intervals 
 between the rungs diminish with progressive and 
 wonderful rapidity. The copper, after keeping 
 up for a short time the spurt with which it first 
 led off, gradually followed the example set it 
 by the other ores and ceased to pay. Then 
 plumbago was brought to the surface. It also 
 was good of its kind, but the fatal defect of too 
 great cost of working rendered it practically 
 worthless. 
 
 Such was my experience of mining enterprise, 
 and ever since I have looked askance upon pos- 
 sessions of the kind. 
 
 After all, that mine was really a wonderful 
 
58- SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 one. I believe it would have gone on yielding 
 one ore after another until it had got through 
 the list usually treated of in class - books on 
 mineralogy. It would have been most lucra- 
 tive as a curiosity, if only it could have been 
 exhibited after the manner of a conjurer's in- 
 exhaustible bottle. But there was the difficulty. 
 In the nature of things a mine as a whole is 
 not a portable article, that you can take about 
 with you from place to place as if it were a 
 travelling theatre or circus. And to " run " it 
 as a stationary exhibition would have been a 
 hopeless venture in a country where unsuccessful 
 mines with a choice variety of ores are at a 
 discount, in consequence of the supply being 
 far in excess of the demand. 
 
 Old reminiscences of this sore subject rose up 
 before me as I looked upon the land of hidden 
 treasure, so that it was not so very strange after 
 all that it failed to excite any great amount of 
 enthusiasm in me. 
 
 Towards the end of our journey we reached 
 the vicinity of Rivera, on the frontier. I thought 
 it expedient to encamp some little distance from 
 the town as a precaution against early visitors, of 
 
EXAMINING THE COUNTRY ' 59 
 
 whom I stood in a certain amount of awe, from 
 previous experience of the kind. We arrived at 
 our camping ground too late for comfort, and, as 
 a consequence, had not had a good night of it. 
 Under the circumstances I was not, I fear, in the 
 best of tempers upon being called up shortly 
 after daylight to speak with a gentleman, who 
 announced himself as the " First Official " from 
 the neighbouring town, and wished to see me 
 at once on urgent business. He would not be 
 denied, so I had to get up and hear what he 
 wanted to say to me. I should perhaps explain 
 that the " First Official " is a very important 
 personage, and only second to the Gefe Politico 
 himself, who represents the Government, and oc- 
 cupies a position somewhat similar to that of the 
 governor of a province. 
 
 The topic of conversation began very wide 
 of the mark of any specially urgent business. 
 My visitor informed me that he was an ardent 
 admirer of, and deeply attached to, England and 
 her people. Then he expatiated upon the merits 
 of his own country and race, in which I could 
 not do less than concur, after his complimentary 
 beginning. Next we wandered off into a dis- 
 
60 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 cursive chat about railways and their civilising 
 influence upon mankind, while all the time I was 
 longing to get to his urgent business, and to bed 
 again. Seeing that I was conversing with the 
 chief official of the town we were about to enter 
 I suppressed any signs of weariness,, and waited 
 patiently for the momentous announcement as 
 to the nature of his special business ; but he 
 hesitated to make it. 
 
 At last, after a considerable time, he got up to 
 leave, and looking at me with rather a pitying 
 glance I thought, " I observe," he said, " that the 
 senor does not use a razor; but some of his 
 party may do so," adding, " I am a barber, and 
 shall be happy to shave them." Then, as if a 
 bright thought occurred to him, he went on to 
 say, " I cut hair also," glancing at my head as 
 he said so ; but the momentary illumination of 
 his countenance faded rapidly away, for I was as 
 closely cropped as a " ticket-of-leave " man upon 
 getting out of gaol. 
 
 I shall not trouble the reader with a descrip- 
 tion of my feelings upon learning the nature of 
 the urgent business for which I had been called 
 up from my sleep at about four o'clock in the 
 
EXAMINING THE COUNTRY 61 
 
 morning, after only two or three hours rest ; but 
 I fancy the Spartan youth of old, who had to 
 smile and look pleasant while a fox was gnawing 
 away at his vitals all the time, must have felt 
 much as I did upon that occasion. 
 
 Before turning in again I thought I should 
 like a cup of coffee, which the cook had very 
 thoughtfully prepared, and while I was drinking 
 it up rode another man, and almost took my 
 breath away, causing me to choke with a mouth- 
 ful of the hot liquid, too rapidly swallowed, by 
 saying that he was the " first official " of the town 
 hard by. 
 
 As soon as I recovered from the choking fit 
 and the shock of this announcement, I stopped 
 our voluble visitor's flow of language by telling 
 him that he must be labouring under some 
 strange hallucination about his position, for there 
 could not be two " first officials " of the town, 
 except they were bracketed equal, like two 
 " senior wranglers," who had got similar marks 
 for their answering. I drew his attention to the 
 fact that we had just received a visit from a 
 gentleman claiming to hold that honourable post, 
 whom he must have met returning on the road. 
 
62 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 " Oh ! that man," said he, bursting into a fit of 
 uncontrollable laughter, in which I was far too 
 much annoyed to join, "he is only the barber," 
 he pleasantly remarked, seeming to enjoy the 
 whole affair as a capital joke. I was not in the 
 humour to be " done " a second time, so this 
 other claimant for high office was not encouraged 
 to stop. Before going, however, he informed me 
 that he had a well-fenced paddock, in which he 
 would be willing to keep our horses for us at 
 a moderate charge while we remained in the 
 vicinity. 
 
 Later on the same morning another horseman 
 appeared in sight coming our way, whereupon I 
 at once retired, expressing my conviction that he 
 was another of the same kind as those who had 
 preceded him. But, even so, I refused to be 
 interviewed again, and lay down to rest. 
 
 It may seem incredible, but my prophecy 
 proved to be correct : the new arrival, like those 
 who had put in an earlier appearance, claimed to 
 be a " first official " also. He was vastly amused 
 with the recital of what had taken place, and 
 explained that our second visitor was a messenger 
 of his, whom he sent on errands. This of 
 
EXAMINING THE COUNTRY 63 
 
 course I did not hear till afterwards, at second 
 hand, as I was not present at the interview. I 
 forget what particular offer he had to make us ; 
 but I may despatch him after the other two with 
 the remark, that neither he nor they had any real 
 claim to the office from which they sought to 
 borrow reflected glory. I subsequently got to 
 know the genuine possessor of the post, and a 
 very different type of man he was. 
 
 After inspecting the neighbourhood, we left 
 the town of many " first officials," a description 
 of which I will leave for a later chapter, when we 
 shall have had time to forget the unfavourable 
 first impression conveyed by the redundancy of 
 its officials. 
 
CHAPTER VI 
 
 THE HAUNT OF THE OUTLAW 
 
 As the surface of the country to be traversed was 
 rough, numerous trial surveys had to be made 
 in order to ascertain the best route to adopt for 
 the railway. One of these took us through a 
 valley, which I have called " the Haunt of the 
 Outlaw," for reasons that shall presently appear, 
 but the name by which it is locally known is the 
 Tambores. 
 
 In descending to it from the high land, a 
 rill of trickling water marks the gradual depres- 
 sion in the ground, and it grows by progressive 
 development into a brook, and then a river of 
 importance, bearing along the surface water dis- 
 charged into it by numerous lateral feeders from 
 a widespread drainage area. Corresponding to 
 the increase in the volume of water are the depth 
 and width to which the valley has been worn out. 
 In the first couple of miles of its course it attains 
 
THE HAUNT OF THE OUTLAW 65 
 
 a width of between fifty and one hundred yards, 
 with a depth beginning almost at nothing and 
 reaching to fifty feet, while two or three miles 
 lower down it is some three hundred yards across, 
 and continues widening and deepening as it goes 
 along. At some places vertical rock cliffs, four 
 hundred feet in height, act as its boundaries, and 
 at others it is shut in by rounded or sloping hills. 
 At one part of the valley I followed a footpath 
 leading up the face of the cliff in order to ascend 
 to the high land, where I hoped to get an exten- 
 sive view of the country ahead of us. But before 
 I reached the top the path became so steep, that 
 I had to hold on by the mane of the horse I was 
 riding, and lie out upon his neck as far as possible. 
 Even then he stopped short, as if unable to go on, 
 and the man who was following behind called to 
 me to dismount, which I did at once. Nor was 
 the change made one moment too soon, for it was 
 only with great exertion, even when relieved from 
 the extra weight of his rider, that the horse was 
 able to reach the top. Had I remained in the 
 saddle, there was every probability that both he 
 and I might have fallen over the precipice in his 
 struggles to ascend. 
 
66 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 Early in its course the water of the stream 
 
 collects in a deep and placid pool, the surface of 
 
 which reflects the overhanging crags. This basin 
 
 !acts as a sort of service reservoir, regulating the 
 
 flow to the river. 
 
 On the hill-sides cactus plants of various kinds, 
 with white and yellow flowers, flourish, and the 
 valley below is densely wooded with a growth 
 of timber, chiefly composed of evergreens, the 
 branches of which are matted together by in- 
 numerable climbing plants, the whole forming an 
 almost impenetrable mass of tangled vegetation 
 dear to the hearts of outlaws, who can there lie 
 safely concealed from the intrusive eye of in- 
 quisitive police. When our surveying party first 
 entered the valley, one of the engineers, standing 
 alone upon an eminence while he sketched the 
 topography of the locality, was surprised to see 
 five or six men on horseback approaching him at 
 a gallop. Not liking the appearance of matters 
 he drew his revolver and called to his comrades, 
 who went to his assistance. They and the at- 
 tacking party arrived upon the scene at the same 
 moment, and a parley ensued, in which explana- 
 tions were duly made on both sides. It appeared 
 
THE HAUNT OF THE OUTLA W 67 
 
 that the wife of one of the mounted men had 
 gone to the stream the previous day to wash 
 clothes, and that she was captured and carried 
 off by an outlaw hidden in the valley. The 
 bereaved husband had collected some friends to 
 help him in his search for the captive, and seeing 
 the engineer on foot near the spot where the 
 abduction took place, assumed him to be the 
 culprit, a charge of which my friend easily proved 
 himself guiltless. This incident, coupled with 
 some unfavourable rumours I had heard of the 
 Tambores, made me rather suspicious of its char- 
 acter, so when I had to go through it to select 
 the line by which the railway should be taken, 
 I adopted the precaution of having a man to 
 accompany me. As we rode along I made notes 
 of the ground, which, when we had got two or 
 three miles ahead of the party, I wished to send 
 back for their guidance, but did not quite like 
 the idea of being left alone in a place of such 
 bad repute. While considering what was best 
 to be done under the circumstances, I descried 
 a couple of soldiers lying under a tree not far 
 distant from me, and evidently shunning obser- 
 vation. I at once jumped to the conclusion that 
 
68 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 these were men sent out by the authorities to 
 watch the valley on our account, and keep it 
 clear of objectionable characters; so, taking ad- 
 vantage of the protection their presence afforded, 
 I sent back my attendant to the surveying party 
 with the notes I had made, and lay down in the 
 shade to await his return. 
 
 I could scarcely have chosen a more lovely 
 spot to rest in. Near me was a pond, the surface 
 of which was decked with blue water-lilies, while 
 around its margin grew a fringe of evergreens, 
 blossoms of the Passion-flower hanging in frequent 
 clusters from the branches around which the 
 climber had entwined itself. 
 
 The moss-covered rocky couch on which I lay 
 was in the deepest shade of a grotto, every nook 
 and cranny of which was clothed with borrowed 
 verdure, maiden-hair and other ferns peeping 
 out from every crevice. In the foreground of 
 the landscape a solitary palm-tree raised its head 
 aloft, while opposite it stood a cactus plant, covered 
 with yellow blossoms, brightening the effect of 
 the picture. 
 
 Amid such surroundings I waited in no im- 
 patient mood for the return of my messenger, 
 
THE HAUNT OF THE OUTLAW 69 
 
 and upon his arrival we proceeded down the 
 valley through other interesting scenes, though 
 not perhaps of equal beauty to that I have 
 described. 
 
 Alas! that I should have to confess it, but 
 the truth must come out sooner or later, our 
 railway, when it came to be constructed, passed 
 through the very place where I had rested while 
 waiting for the messenger's return, and grotto, 
 palm-tree, cactus, all are gone, swept away by the 
 ruthless action of the navvy's pick and shovel. 
 
 A day or two after our passage through the 
 Tainbores Valley the colonel of a regiment lying 
 at San Fructuoso, not far distant from it, hearing 
 where the surveying party was, advised us to be 
 very cautious, as the place, he said, was full of 
 matreros (murderers). Upon its being remarked 
 that there could be no great fear of them so long 
 as the authorities sent military patrols through 
 the valley, he seemed puzzled, and asked for an 
 explanation. When told of the soldiers we had 
 seen there he only smiled and replied, " There 
 have been no patrols ; the men you saw were pro- 
 bably deserters from my regiment, as twenty of 
 the worst characters in it went off in a body a 
 
70 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 few nights ago, taking their arms and ammunition 
 with them, and I rather suspected they had gone 
 to the Tambores." This was a new idea for me. 
 Had I known the real character of my supposed 
 protectors at the time when I lay in the grotto 
 enjoying the beauties of Nature spread so lavishly 
 around me, I scarcely think I should have rested 
 as tranquilly as I did. 
 
 The fact that the soldiers I saw did not attack 
 me while I was alone and unprotected may have 
 been due to various causes. We were generally 
 assumed to go about well armed, and had the 
 reputation of being good shots. Possibly the 
 departure of the messenger had not been noticed. 
 Besides, although they could only have seen the 
 two of us, they may have supposed that our com- 
 rades were close at hand, for I have no doubt 
 they identified us as members of the survey- 
 ing party. Or they may not have been aware 
 that they were observed in their place of conceal- 
 ment, and thought it just as well not to draw too 
 much attention to their whereabouts. 
 
 In order to make matters clearer it becomes 
 necessary that I should anticipate events, and 
 refer now to subsequent incidents that, if traced 
 
THE HAUNT OF THE OUTLAW 71 
 
 in strict historical sequence, would give a some- 
 what disjointed effect to the narrative. 
 
 For some time after the construction of the 
 railway works began the presence of our men in 
 the valley did not seem to greatly disturb the 
 outlaws in the woods, who carried on their depre- 
 dations by night as usual ; we were, therefore, 
 obliged to establish a police force of our own, 
 with the sanction of, and appointed by, the 
 Government authorities, to patrol this section of 
 the line. Nor was this measure altogether suc- 
 cessful, for we found that the attention of these 
 special police was directed rather to discovering 
 small delinquencies on the part of our own work- 
 men, than to keeping the professional robbers in 
 check. For this reason, after a sufficient period 
 had elapsed to give the working of the plan a fair 
 trial, the arrangement was abandoned. By this 
 time the number of Italians on the works in the 
 locality had greatly increased, and some of them 
 had suffered seriously at the hands of the outlaws, 
 whom they occasionally met on their nightly visits 
 to the drinking shops, which sprang up, mushroom 
 like, on the lands adjoining the railway, notwith- 
 standing all our endeavours to suppress them. 
 
72 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 One of these criminals, being very expert with 
 the use of his knife, had at various times stabbed 
 workmen when he caught them alone, so that at 
 last the body generally became enraged at the 
 matter, and determined to take the law into their 
 own hands, with a view to putting down the 
 objectionable custom. For this purpose they 
 met together one Sunday morning in large num- 
 bers, well armed with guns and revolvers, and 
 organised a regular battue, beating the woods in 
 the valley from end to end. Those sportsmen 
 never boasted much about the bag they made 
 that day, but a couple of dead bodies were found 
 soon afterwards along the route they had taken, 
 suggesting the nature of the game they were in 
 pursuit of. Both of the bodies were recognised as 
 those of notorious murderers, one of whom was 
 the man who had given the Italians special cause 
 of complaint. He was hanging by a rope round 
 the neck attached to the branch of a tree, his 
 body being actually riddled with bullets. That 
 it was a case of suicide was improbable, seeing 
 that if the man shot himself so frequently, in the 
 first instance, he could scarcely have had strength 
 to complete the hanging operation ; while, on the 
 
THE HAUNT OF THE OUTLAW 73 
 
 other hand, if he began with the latter, he must 
 have had immense vitality, and some one loading 
 for him, and handing him the weapons wherewith 
 to perforate himself in such a wholesale manner. 
 The probability is that the Italian sporting party 
 could have given a more satisfactory explanation 
 of the matter had they felt disposed to do so. 
 One thing is certain, that the neighbourhood was 
 a less popular resort of the outlaws for some time 
 after the occurrence. Many of them fled no 
 doubt from a place that had become too hot to 
 be comfortable or healthy for them, and sought 
 refuge in inferior asylums, just as pheasants take 
 to the hedgerows for a while after the plantations 
 have been shot. 
 
 The new locality to which some of them 
 migrated was also upon our line of railway, and 
 a cattle farmer passing through it had a narrow 
 escape from a gang of them. 
 
 He had just sold and delivered a herd of fat 
 cattle, and was returning home with the price of 
 them in his pocket, when he rode straight into 
 the middle of a party lying in wait for travellers. 
 
 His presence of mind did not desert him ; but 
 feigning to think they were policemen in dis- 
 
74 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 guise, he remarked, " I suppose you are on some 
 special duty, as I see you are not in uniform ? " 
 and then he asked where the officer in charge 
 of the party was. 
 
 They replied that he had gone away, but 
 would be back presently, and requested him to 
 dismount and await their chiefs return. 
 
 " No," said he ; " but when your officer comes 
 back, tell him I want him to come up and dine 
 with me," pointing, as he said so, to his house, 
 which was plainly in sight, "and to bring you 
 all with him. I can put the whole party up 
 for the night," he added, " as I am living alone 
 just now. I will hurry on and get ready, and I 
 can go round by the public-house and get some- 
 thing for you to drink as well as eat." So saying, 
 he put spurs to his horse, and rode off without 
 any attempt being made to stop him. No doubt 
 the confederates thought that it would be a still 
 better game to rob the man and his house at 
 their leisure after partaking of his hospitality. 
 
 Once out of sight, the farmer made his way 
 to some neighbours' houses, where he got three 
 or four friends to accompany him home to help 
 him to receive his guests. The latter turned up 
 
THE HAUNT OF THE OUTLAW 75 
 
 soon after nightfall, and were met by a volley 
 of shots fired at them. They knew at once the 
 trap they had fallen into, and made off. 
 
 Next day every hiding-place in the neigh- 
 bourhood was searched for them, but they 
 had anticipated this movement, and changed 
 their quarters to another district during the 
 night. 
 
 I heard several other stories relating to these 
 interesting people, the outlaws ; but there was 
 generally such a sameness about the character 
 of their proceedings, that the narration of them 
 would, I fear, prove to be tedious reading. I 
 shall, therefore, restrict myself to a brief refer- 
 ence to a couple of them, that appear to present 
 peculiar features, which remove them from the 
 commonplace category of ordinary events of the 
 kind. 
 
 The first of these related to a night attack 
 upon a farmer's house, the proprietor of which 
 was aroused by hearing unusual and stealthy 
 noises about the place. He got out of bed 
 quietly, and after listening attentively, discovered 
 that some people outside were cutting a hole 
 through the door, close to the bolt by which it 
 
76 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 was kept shut. It did not require any great 
 amount of detective talent to guess the object 
 of the operation, and the best way to foil it was 
 suggested to him by a thong of raw hide with a 
 loop on it that hung from a hook on the inside 
 of the door. Noiselessly removing the thong, he 
 slipped the end of it through the loop, and there 
 he stood, armed with an impromptu lasso, ready 
 for action. A bright moon shone in the sky, 
 diffusing sufficient light within the house to 
 facilitate the preparations for receiving the in- 
 tending visitors. 
 
 It was a very anxious time for the man inside, 
 watching the hole in the door grow larger and 
 larger, until at last it was of sufficient size to 
 effect the purpose for which it was made. There 
 he stood intently observing the opening, as a cat 
 does a mouse-hole, till the supreme moment 
 arrived, and a hand was stealthily inserted not 
 only through the hole, but also through the loop 
 of the little lasso which hung skilfully around it. 
 With a sudden jerk the loop was tightened round 
 the wrist and the hand dragged in as far as the 
 aperture would admit of, while the thong was 
 securely fastened to the hook on the back of the 
 
THE HAUNT OF THE OUTLAW 77 
 
 door. In this position the intending robber was 
 perfectly helpless. His companions came to his 
 aid, and having ineffectually dragged at the im- 
 prisoned arm till they were tired, gave up the 
 struggle, and prepared to depart. 
 
 But they were prudent men, and it occurred 
 to them that to save himself their comrade might 
 betray them. Dead men, they thought, tell no 
 tales, so they cut his throat, and then retired from 
 the scene. 
 
 The other iricident to which I have referred 
 occurred to a friend of mine. He was riding a 
 young, half-broken horse, when suddenly he ob- 
 served three mounted men coming towards him 
 in a very suspicious manner. He had incautiously 
 got into a position from which he could not ex- 
 tricate himself without giving an immense advan- 
 tage to those approaching him, if it became a 
 race for life, in which event he also doubted the 
 staying powers and temper of his untried horse. 
 He had but little time for deliberation, and chose 
 the alternative, to take his stand in a place where 
 his rear was protected by rocks, so that he could 
 only be attacked in front. There he dismounted, 
 and with the horse broadside on, in front, stood 
 
78 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 behind him, affecting to draw and examine his 
 revolver, for unfortunately he was unarmed at 
 the time. The men galloped down upon him, 
 but as he appeared to be taking steady aim over 
 his saddle, they swerved off to one side or the 
 other when they got within about thirty yards 
 of him. These tactics they repeated several 
 times, their object evidently being to draw his 
 fire on them at a distance where revolver practice 
 would be uncertain, so that they might be able to 
 ride in on him afterwards, before he had time to 
 reload, and finish the matter to their satisfaction. 
 On the other hand, he wished to impress them 
 with the idea that his intention was to reserve 
 his fire- until they came to sufficiently close 
 quarters to insure that every shot should be 
 effective. After continuing these manoeuvres for 
 some time his assailants held a consultation and 
 then rode away, leaving my friend in possession 
 of the field, from which he too retired im- 
 mediately upon seeing that the enemy was 
 far enough off to admit of his reaching home 
 without further molestation. 
 
 I got a fright myself from falling in with men 
 whom I supposed to belong to the class of out- 
 
THE HAUNT OF THE OUTLAW 79 
 
 laws, but fortunately, discovered my mistake in 
 time. 
 
 While riding home one evening in company 
 with a young engineer, we passed by a grog-shop, 
 in a lonely spot, keeping at a respectful distance 
 off, as the place had a bad name. A number of 
 noisy men congregated in front of it shouted 
 and signalled to us as we passed by, but we 
 took no notice of them. Two of the party then 
 jumped upon their horses, and galloped down to 
 us in what we took to be a threatening attitude. 
 One pulled aside, but the other came on till he 
 quite got abreast of my companion, so that their 
 horses were almost touching each other. In this 
 position he placed his hand behind his back, 
 under his poncho, for the purpose, as I thought, 
 of drawing his knife to stab my friend. I there- 
 fore covered him with my revolver, and prepared 
 to pull the trigger the moment I should see the 
 knife appear. To my great relief, however, it was 
 nothing so deadly that he produced, but only a 
 matchbox, as he wanted to light a cigarette. 
 
 It turned out that he had been employed upon 
 our surveys, though we did not recognise him at 
 first, and his intentions were altogether hospitable, 
 
8o SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 not hostile. He wanted us to have a drink with 
 him at the public-house close by, where to all 
 appearance he had already imbibed too much 
 himself. We thanked him, but declined the 
 kindly meant offer, and proceeded homewards, 
 while he went back to the attractions of the 
 grog-shop. 
 
 To return to the valley of the Tambores. Even 
 after the professional outlaws were expelled from 
 its precincts, all was not quite so peaceful in that 
 happy region as one could have desired. The 
 workmen occasionally had their own little differ- 
 ences between themselves, which were settled in 
 the usual way, by the arbitration of the knife. 
 The results appear in the grass-covered graves, 
 surmounted by wooden crosses, that are to be 
 seen, all too frequently, along the line of rail- 
 way, and in one instance that I recall, in a 
 triple row. 
 
 The railway company have established a station 
 in the Tambores, which they call by the rather 
 fanciful name of the "Valley of Eden." The 
 only connecting link between the place and the 
 name that I can think of is the presence of the 
 serpent, which is well represented in the Tarn- 
 
THE HAUNT OF THE OUTLA W 81 
 
 bores. Perhaps I am a little sore upon this 
 subject, as the railway authorities rejected with 
 a touch of scorn a suggestion of mine, that they 
 should give their station the appropriate title of 
 " The Robbers Rest." 
 
CHAPTER VII 
 
 WA TCHMEN 
 
 WATCHMAN, what of the night ? is a reasonable 
 question to ask if one is anxious for information 
 on the subject ; but there is this drawback to 
 the value of the knowledge thus acquired, that 
 its accuracy is frequently open to considerable 
 doubt. It is a pity that such should be the 
 case, but it is to be feared that uncertainty of the 
 kind will continue to prevail until the guardians 
 of the night adopt more careful means to make 
 the news which they proclaim aloud agree ap- 
 proximately with actual facts than has hitherto 
 been the custom with them. It tends to shake 
 one's confidence in the correctness and precision 
 of a force, the members of which* frequently dis- 
 agree about such a plain and uncontroversial 
 matter as the hour of the night. 
 
 For example, take such a case as occasionally 
 
 occurs. A watchman arriving round the corner 
 
 82 
 
WATCHMEN 83 
 
 of a street publicly announces in a sing-song 
 voice, intended to be musical, that it is just two 
 o'clock, when another, whose slumbers he has 
 probably disturbed, takes up the information in- 
 correctly, and proclaims the hour as twelve, both 
 the numbers sounding somewhat alike in Spanish. 
 
 A citizen whom their noise awakens strikes 
 a match in order to look at his watch, and see 
 which of the two is right, and finds that both are 
 very far astray, the true time being say half-past 
 four o'clock. Is it likely, when that person turns 
 over in his bed for another sleep, that his mind 
 will be in the peaceful condition conducive to 
 repose ? I fear not. He is far more likely to 
 let his angry passions rise, while he calls down 
 all sorts of imprecations upon the heads of the 
 erring officials, whose blundering has marred 
 his rest. 
 
 But these observations are only of a specu- 
 lative nature, and I do not think that the people 
 of El Paso de los Toros had given their minds to 
 any contemplation of the kind when first the 
 subject of these remarks came into prominence 
 among them, whatever may have been their 
 opinion about it later on. 
 
84 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 The place had a character which people un- 
 friendly to the district professed to think might 
 easily have been better. In fact, life there was 
 not, upon the whole, so quiet and monotonous as 
 one might expect from the isolated position of 
 the town. 
 
 Some of the inhabitants were of a lively and 
 enterprising disposition, and kept up a certain 
 amount of excitement by sundry acts, that those 
 in authority viewed with disfavour. 
 
 A curious circumstance connected with the 
 case was the frequency with which the accidental 
 discharge of firearms took place, and, stranger 
 still, it was not in single shots at a time that 
 this usually occurred. When the weapon was a 
 revolver, there was generally a series of five or 
 six discharges on such occasions, according to the 
 number of chambers it had. If its owner was 
 asked to account for the circumstance, he invari- 
 ably was quite unable to do so. That the revolver 
 went off of its own accord, without any provoca- 
 tion from him, was all he could say about it. 
 Generally the bystanders were more frightened than 
 hurt on these occasions, but the result was not al- 
 ways equally innocuous. In one instance the bullet 
 
WATCHMEN 85 
 
 went through an inoffensive spectator and lodged 
 in an equally innocent passer-by, while in other 
 cases wounds of a more or less dangerous nature 
 were inflicted. There were several houses in the 
 place, the walls of which bore bullet marks, both 
 inside and outside, giving evidence of their having 
 " stood fire." Querulous people there were who 
 suggested that where events of the kind were so 
 numerous they could not possibly have been all 
 accidental, and there appears to be some force in 
 this view of the case. But, for my own part, I 
 have had so jtnany narrow escapes myself from 
 the accidental discharge of firearms, and I have 
 known other persons with similar experiences to 
 mine, that I am not disposed to press doubts of 
 the kind too far, or to be too dogmatic on the 
 question of design or accident in such matters. 
 
 There was a very deplorable and tragic occur- 
 rence at El Paso de los Toros while we were 
 there. A most respectable and steady young 
 man, while fiddling with a rifle, which he did 
 not know was loaded, shot his mother and his 
 sister, to both of whom he was deeply attached. 
 The one died immediately, and the other in a 
 few hours after the accident. But this is a 
 
86 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 digression indulged in for the purpose of showing 
 that some of the discharges of firearms that dis- 
 turbed the public nerves may have been purely acci- 
 dental. That there were others the design of which 
 did not admit of any doubt, is but too certain. 
 
 Nor was the chance of being shot the only 
 danger of which the peaceful inhabitants com- 
 plained. The knife was a weapon that did its work 
 silently, and far too frequently to be agreeable. 
 
 In this condition of affairs the public mind 
 became alive to the necessity of adopting mea- 
 sures to stop unnecessary killing, and attempts at 
 it, and even robbery; or, at all events, to reduce 
 these occupations to more moderate figures in the 
 crime statistics of the district. The outcome of 
 all the deliberations on the subject was a general 
 agreement that the best plan to accomplish the 
 desired reform was to supplement the exertions of 
 the ordinary preservers of the peace by establish- 
 ing a strong and efficient body of night watchmen, 
 under the control of the police authorities. 
 
 This decision was hailed with public approba- 
 tion, and law-abiding people willingly subscribed 
 towards the cost of carrying it into effect, in the 
 hope of reducing crime to a minimum. 
 
WATCHMEN 87 
 
 The matter was undertaken with becoming 
 spirit and determination, and no time was lost 
 in completing the necessary arrangements. Men 
 congratulated each other when they met, and 
 " stood treat " on the strength of the happy era 
 about to be inaugurated. 
 
 At last the eventful day arrived, the night of 
 which was to usher in the new order of affairs. 
 Men of unblemished character, sleepless vigilance, 
 and innumerable other good qualities had been 
 selected to form the force of watchmen. They 
 were duly paraded, reviewed, and addressed, amid 
 the acclamations of the populace, who were 
 greatly pleased to hear that the safety of their 
 persons and properties were to be entrusted to 
 such a band of heroes. There was not a man in 
 that force that did not leave the parade-ground 
 with the highest opinion of his own merits, and 
 the assured belief that he had done more for the 
 salvation of his country a form of expression 
 that is very popular, and does not seem to mean 
 much than if his personal valour and strong 
 right arm had gained many decisive victories 
 for her. 
 
 When the proper hour came round the watch- 
 
88 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 men went on duty. " Nox erat ; et lifores intrabat 
 luna fenestras " ; and the reason " the moon entered 
 at the windows with their double shutters" was 
 because people took no trouble to close their 
 shutters that night. Why should they, when 
 their houses were protected by such vigilance 
 and valour ? 
 
 In the discharge of his duty upon that occa- 
 sion one of the new guardians of the peace was 
 proclaiming to the inhabitants, whose entire confi- 
 dence he possessed, the hour of the night, the 
 state of the weather, and that everything was 
 everywhere tranquil, when his statement was 
 rudely cut short, and his unfinished assertion 
 contradicted, by a loud report in his immediate 
 neighbourhood. It was the usual thing a 
 revolver shot, and the man who fired it was 
 arrested, but could not account for the trick 
 the mischievous weapon had played him. He 
 had only taken it out of his pocket to make 
 sure that he had it on his person, when it went 
 off of its own accord in the most absurd way. 
 
 The circumstance was passed over without 
 much comment, and matters settled down quietly 
 into daily, or rather nightly routine. 
 
WATCHMEN 89 
 
 Like children with a new toy, we were greatly 
 interested in the watchmen at first, but before 
 long we got tired of listening to their monotonous 
 information. 
 
 For my own part, I confess that I was guilty of 
 an attempt to corrupt those members of the force 
 who were stationed in our immediate neighbour- 
 hood to the extent of requesting them to give 
 as little public information as possible during 
 the small hours of the night ; or, if the conscien- 
 tious discharge of their duty in this respect was 
 not to be tampered with, that they would make 
 their public statement from time to time regard- 
 ing the hour, the weather, and the peaceful con- 
 dition of the town in a colloquial tone of voice, 
 instead of resorting to the high-pitched key that 
 awoke the soundest sleepers. 
 
 I hope I shall not be considered by purists in 
 such matters to have been guilty of any gross 
 bribery in arranging to supply the two watchmen 
 whose "beat" was nearest to us with a cup of 
 hot coffee each night at eleven o'clock. The 
 result I found conducive to my own sleep and, 
 a cynical friend added, to that of the watchmen 
 also. 
 
90 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 After a time people began to complain that 
 there was no perceptible reduction in the amount 
 of nightly crime that was committed, and public 
 attention was directed to the matter by two or 
 three exceptionally bad cases which occurred just 
 then. There were the amateur detectives too 
 young men addicted to keeping late hours who 
 boldly asserted that the watchmen slept peace- 
 fully in quiet nooks and corners all through the 
 night. 
 
 These charges caused the chief of police to 
 investigate the matter for himself, in order to see 
 if they had any foundation in fact. With this 
 intention he went the rounds unexpectedly one 
 dark night and found the public guardians 
 slumbering peacefully at their respective posts. 
 He therefore captured and removed their 
 lanterns, but did not disturb the sleepers. 
 
 Next morning, at the hour for the watchmen 
 to give in the night's report, the different ways 
 in which the loss of the lanterns was accounted 
 for would lead one to suppose that an extra- 
 ordinary epidemic, with varied symptoms, had 
 broken out among those useful articles. When 
 the watchmen's powers of invention were ex- 
 
WATCHMEN 91 
 
 hausted they were shown into a room, in which 
 the missing lanterns stood all arranged in proper 
 order ; nor was their pleasure at discovering their 
 lost property half so great as might have been 
 expected. That episode was a deathblow to 
 the force. It gradually faded and withered, and 
 before long ceased to disturb the nightly slumber 
 of the citizens. 
 
 For our own purposes we had, however, to 
 employ night-watchmen to look after a large 
 quantity of railway sleepers and other materials 
 liable to be stolen or to be set on fire. Nor were 
 we always successful in securing the most suitable 
 men for the service. 
 
 One New Year's morning the chief of police 
 called upon me at an early hour, and after we 
 had exchanged the friendly greetings of the 
 season, he drew a revolver from his pocket and 
 handed it to me, saying it was mine. I replied 
 No ; that my revolver was in my bedroom. " I 
 don't mean the one you carry yourself," he said, 
 " but that it belongs to your company," and then 
 he went on to explain that during the previous 
 night his sergeant had been twice fired at, and 
 the second time they caught the culprit, and 
 
92 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 found him to be our night-watchman, who had 
 some outstanding grievance against the sergeant. 
 The chief disarmed the man, and had a sound 
 flogging administered to him. He then gave him 
 back his knife, but retained the revolver, telling 
 him to continue on duty as watchman for us, 
 and that if he did not find him at his post the 
 next time he went the rounds, he should get 
 another taste of the lash. 
 
 I thanked the officer for his thoughtful con- 
 sideration of our interests, and of course dis- 
 missed from our service one who was so anxious 
 to distinguish himself in the role of murderer, as 
 our watchman appeared to be. 
 
 Another night our two watchmen had a differ- 
 ence between themselves, which they fought out 
 for their own amusement, one of them overcoming 
 and disarming his adversary. He generously ab- 
 stained, however, from following up the usual rule 
 of vce metis ! In fact, neither suffered much, only 
 receiving a few scratches, but they lost their 
 situations. 
 
 While sitting up late one night a shot was 
 fired close to my door; when I went out to see 
 what was the matter I heard the sound of the 
 
WATCHMEN 93 
 
 retreating footsteps of some one running away, 
 and then followed the report of two more shots. 
 I waited for a while to listen if anything par- 
 ticular was going on, but as I heard no further 
 noise, I set the matter down to the fault of some- 
 body's revolver going off of its own accord as 
 usual. 
 
 Another night I was aroused from my sleep by 
 four or five shots fired in quick succession quite 
 close at hand. There seemed to be a general 
 engagement going on in the yard behind the 
 house. I seized my revolver, a weapon which, in 
 that country, is always kept, like the candle and 
 matchbox, within easy reach, in case of being 
 needed in a hurry, and opened the back door, 
 where I found our watchman standing outside in 
 a very excited state. 
 
 His account of the matter was that he had 
 come upon a man in the act of getting in through 
 my bedroom window, and had promptly fired at 
 him, not once only, but four or five times, and 
 although he was quite satisfied some of the shots 
 had taken effect, the intending burglar had man- 
 aged to make good his escape in the darkness of 
 the night." 
 
CHAPTER VIII 
 
 POLICE 
 
 THERE exists in the minds of some persons a 
 strong antipathy to police, as a body, both at 
 home and abroad. Perhaps the feeling may be 
 due to unreasoning prejudice, or partake of the 
 nature of the constitutional objection which bur- 
 glars are understood to entertain to the presence 
 of bulldogs about a house, the interior of which 
 they desire to inspect. 
 
 For my own part, like most people who have 
 travelled a good deal, and penetrated into strange 
 places, I have made acquaintance with the police 
 of many lands, and not always in the most 
 friendly way. Indeed, there have been occasions 
 when I considered myself badly treated by them. 
 Still, on the whole, I have no great fault to find 
 with police, as an institution, and until the world 
 at large becomes a triHe better behaved than it has 
 hitherto been, it is somewhat premature to expect, 
 
 94 
 
or even hope for, the dissolution of the recognised 
 guardians of the public peace. 
 
 In Uruguay I was not, I fear, always in the 
 best of tempers with every member of the " force," 
 as, for example, when I met a policeman, as I 
 did more than once, mounted upon a horse of 
 mine, that he had ridden almost to death, besides 
 giving him a sore back, that rendered the animal 
 useless for weeks together. The ready excuse on 
 such occasions was, that his own horse had broken 
 down, and meeting with a stray animal on the 
 way, which turned out to be mine, he had pressed 
 him into the service, as he was bound to do. That 
 was the official version. The real one was that, 
 having been sent on a long journey, the police- 
 man went to our paddock, where he knew the 
 horses were well-fed and in good condition, and 
 took a temporary loan of one of ours, without 
 going through the formality of asking permission. 
 After a while, however, we managed to get a stop 
 put to this class of annoyance. 
 
 Most of the police officers with whom we were 
 brought into almost daily contact, in consequence 
 of the large number of labourers employed upon 
 the railway works, were pleasant and satisfactory 
 
96 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 to deal with, and of some of them I must speak 
 in the highest terms, in consequence of the ex- 
 cellent manner hi which they discharged their 
 duties. In many cases of emergency too, they 
 rendered me most energetic and effective assistance. 
 
 There were other persons in authority also, to 
 whom I was frequently indebted for timely and 
 important information, that enabled me to frus- 
 trate designs which had been made against us. 
 
 Our headquarters, as previously mentioned, 
 were at first at Paso de los Toros, which has been 
 already described. Our office consisted of a 
 corrugated iron hut, including rooms for myself 
 and a servant, and we were obliged to be very 
 watchful on the nights when large sums of money 
 had to be kept in the safe to meet the require- 
 ments of the monthly pay-days. 
 
 On several such occasions I received information 
 that different gangs of robbers were ambitious 
 to relieve us from the responsibility of keeping 
 the cash which caused so much anxiety. I did 
 not enter into particulars about such matters 
 with my servant, though he was entirely trust- 
 \vorthy, as I wished to keep them as private as 
 possible. I merely warned him to be very careful 
 
POLICE 97 
 
 about keeping the doors and windows shut at night 
 when we had much money in the house, no matter 
 how hot the weather might be at the time, and 
 also to be particularly on his guard not to get 
 into conversation with strangers, or to mention 
 anything about our habits or affairs to outsiders. 
 One evening, after nightfall, upon returning to 
 the stables to leave my horse there, I received 
 private information that a strong gang of well- 
 known robbers had left Montevideo and come up 
 country with a view, it was thought, of visiting 
 us that night, as it was one of those occasions 
 on which we had to be careful. While pondering 
 on this serious news I came suddenly round the 
 corner of the office, and found my servant deep 
 in conversation at the yard gate with some one 
 whom I did not know. I took a sharp look at him, 
 however, before he moved away, and when he 
 had gone I asked my man who he was. " Some 
 stranger," was the reply. " What was he saying to 
 you ? " I continued. " He only wanted to know 
 who lived in the house, and what rooms we slept 
 in," he made answer. I thought this incident, 
 following so closely upon the warning I had 
 received, was very suspicious, so sought at once 
 
 G 
 
98 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 an interview with the chief of police, to whom 
 I told all I had heard, giving him at the same 
 time as good a description as I could of the 
 stranger I had seen at the gate. "I'll go," 
 he said, " and see if I can make anything out 
 of it, and let you know the result." In the 
 meanwhile I got my dinner, and inspected our 
 arms and ammunition, to see that all was 
 in order, and ready to hand in case of being 
 required. 
 
 About an hour afterwards the chief of police 
 returned and reported that all was right, as he 
 put it. " I have found the men," he said ; " they 
 are a pretty strong gang, too, and the man you 
 saw at the gate is one of them. They have en- 
 gaged rooms for the night at the inn opposite, 
 and are playing billiards there now. I am going 
 over to have a talk with them, and I shall see 
 you later on." With this he went off, but re- 
 turned towards midnight, when the information 
 he had to give me took somewhat this shape. 
 Upon leaving me, earlier in the evening he had 
 posted men on the look-out near each of the 
 public-houses in the town, to watch for the gang 
 in case of their changing their quarters, and to 
 
POLICE 99 
 
 report their movements to him. This done, he 
 went back to the billiard-room where he had 
 already seen them, and finding matters going on 
 as before, he managed to get into conversation 
 with the strangers, asking many questions. While 
 so engaged an acquaintance of his came in, and 
 addressed him by the title of his office, where- 
 upon he saw a look of intelligence pass between 
 the men he was watching. Presently they left 
 the room, and soon afterwards word was brought 
 him that they had gone to another inn, where he 
 also went, and discovered they had taken lodgings 
 for the night there too. He then visited the 
 billiard-room, and expressed surprise at meeting 
 them again; but they soon moved on elsewhere, 
 and he followed them, questioning them closely 
 about their movements. This time they resented 
 his pursuing them in so marked a manner. In 
 reply, he explained it was part of the duty of 
 the police, of which body he had charge, to 
 observe the movements of all strangers, and to 
 prevent their getting into any unpleasantness or 
 trouble, especially when notice of their coming 
 had been announced by telegram. 
 
 He then told them openly that the authorities 
 
ioo SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 had sent warning to be on the watch for them, 
 that their plans had been made known, and a 
 particularly warm reception was prepared for 
 them. His men, he explained, had been watching 
 them all the evening, and would not lose sight 
 of them that night, no matter where they went, 
 if they remained in the neighbourhood. 
 
 This settled the matter; they saw their game 
 was up, and they quietly left the town, passing 
 over the railway bridge, which was the only way, 
 except by the ferry-boat, of returning again. At 
 both places he left a couple of policemen on guard 
 with rifles, and then came to tell me of the steps 
 he had taken, as I have narrated them. " I 
 thought it better," he said, " not to wait for a 
 shooting-match in the night-time, when all sorts 
 of accidents and mischances might happen, and 
 perhaps the wrong people get shot. You can go 
 to bed now," he added, " and sleep comfortably, 
 for they will not come back again when they 
 know that we were advised of their movements 
 beforehand." 
 
 He was right about their not returning, though 
 I was not able to follow his advice altogether. 
 
 Sleep won't always come exactly when one 
 
POLICE 101 
 
 wishes for it ; besides, I felt I had better keep 
 in a state of preparedness during the night, and 
 postpone my sleep till after daylight. I never 
 told iny servant what a near thing it was that 
 night, nor the character of the man he had 
 been talking to at the gate, and I feel sure he 
 thought I had allowed myself to be absurdly 
 concerned about trifles on that occasion. 
 
 This incident, taken in connection with one 
 mentioned in the preceding chapter, where our 
 night-watchman fired at a man trying to get in 
 through my bedroom window, and the private 
 warnings I so frequently received, besides meet- 
 ing with suspicious persons lurking about the 
 place at night on different occasions, made me 
 very watchful during that anxious time. But 
 my position would have been much worse had 
 it not been for the efficient assistance so readily 
 given me by the chief of police. 
 
 Another night burglars made an attempt to break 
 into one of our huts at the Paso de los Toros, 
 but were discovered in time, and their scheme 
 frustrated. I think they must have belonged to 
 a different gang of robbers, and probably mistook 
 the house they attacked for the cash office. 
 
102 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 We had other causes of anxiety also, by reason 
 of the fact that the money for our monthly pay- 
 ments had to be brought up from Montevideo 
 by a night train, as the day train did not suit 
 bank hours. 
 
 Our accountant conveyed it, always travelling 
 with a companion, both well armed. Then there 
 was the further process of transmitting it up 
 country to pay the various sub-contractors, which 
 had at first to be done by an armed party travelling 
 on horseback. According as the rails were laid 
 use of course was made of them for this purpose, 
 and a monthly pay train, well armed, was sent 
 over the line. 
 
 While this system was in full working order 
 an intimation was once given me by the pro- 
 prietor of a public -house in a lonely neigh- 
 bourhood to be specially careful, as he felt sure 
 an attack upon the pay train was contemplated. 
 His suspicions were aroused by the conduct of 
 a man from a verj- bad locality, who had been 
 spending a couple of days at his house without 
 any visible business. Our informant observed 
 that this stranger made many inquiries about the 
 means we adopted for sending the money over 
 
POLICE 103 
 
 the line to pay the workmen, asking all sorts 
 of particulars about our pay train and its 
 movements. Nor was it only from the public- 
 house people that this information was sought. 
 Whenever any workmen from the railway came 
 in the stranger plied them with similar questions. 
 Thus forewarned, we took extra precautions. The 
 pay train was well manned and armed, and drove 
 very carefully past all suspicious places. No attack 
 was made upon it ; but I was not the less obliged 
 to the friendly publican who had given us warn- 
 ing ; for I thought it by no means improbable 
 that some plot of the kind had been in con- 
 templation, though it was not carried out. 
 
 On one occasion a determined and elaborate 
 attempt was made to wreck a train of ours under 
 circumstances that looked as if the object was 
 robbery. The police authorities felt sure that 
 such was the intention, and that the people who 
 made the attempt mistook the special train, for 
 which the plot was laid, for a pay train. 
 
 A tour of inspection of the works, by some 
 officials, had been arranged, to begin about fifty 
 miles up the line, and to extend onwards from 
 that point. As there was a long day's work 
 
104 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 bofore us, it was decided to start a couple of 
 hours before daylight, so as to begin inspecting as 
 soon as we could see to do so. We had also to 
 avoid getting in the way of the material train, 
 which went out to the front every morning with 
 rails and sleepers. It was therefore settled that it 
 should follow, and pass our " special " at the place 
 where we were to begin operations. These ar- 
 rangements were duly notified up the line the 
 previous day, so that everything should be off the 
 rails, and the way clear for our special an hour 
 earlier than the usual time for the passage of the 
 material train. 
 
 Some delay occurred in starting, so we had to 
 alter our plan and let the material train precede 
 ours. We followed it in due course, and when 
 we arrived at the station where we were to begin 
 inspecting, we found the material train waiting 
 upon the siding there, getting some repairs done 
 to the engine. It appeared that shortly before 
 daylight it struck against a pile of sleepers which 
 had been placed upon the rails, and packed care- 
 fully into an open culvert. The material train 
 was a very heavy one, and running at a high 
 speed at the time, there being a stiff gradient to 
 
POLICE 105 
 
 surmount just in front of it, so that it knocked 
 the obstruction off the rails, but kept to them 
 itself. Had our light " special " been the one to 
 meet with it, the result might have been very 
 different. 
 
CHAPTER IX 
 
 PERILS BY LAND AND WATER 
 
 IN the course of our proceedings we met with, or 
 witnessed, many adventures, the recital of some 
 of which may not be uninteresting. The first of 
 these that I will mention occurred in the following 
 manner : 
 
 The Chairman and the Managing Director of 
 the Central Uruguay Railway having come out 
 from England to the River Plate, it was arranged 
 that they should drive through the district to be 
 traversed by our line, so as to obtain a better and 
 more intimate knowledge of the country with 
 which we were dealing. Several other gentlemen 
 connected with the undertaking joined the party, 
 and I accompanied them. 
 
 Our means of conveyance consisted of a heavy, 
 lumbering coach, called a diligencia, drawn by ten 
 horses. The chairman and I sat in an open seat 
 in front, as he wished to get a good view of the 
 
 106 
 
PERILS BY LAND AND WATER 107 
 
 country through which we were to pass, while the 
 other gentlemen occupied the interior of the 
 vehicle. In this way we started upon our jour- 
 ney, and soon found that our horses, which seemed 
 so unnecessarily numerous at first, were not too 
 many, as the roads were heavy, and^we had some 
 difficulty in getting over the bad places. Towards 
 nightfall we came to a spot where there was a 
 depth of about three feet of thick inud. The 
 horses entered it willingly enough, and did their 
 best to take the vehicle through it, but the wheels 
 only sank deeper and deeper in the mire. After 
 they had struggled in this way for some time the 
 iron pin connecting the body of the coach with 
 the front axle broke off short, and away went 
 horses, pole, axle, and driver, whose hands were 
 entangled in the reins, all together, while we 
 were turned over into the mud. 
 
 I got a kick on the head in the fall, which 
 stunned me for the moment, but a man of mine, 
 who was travelling with us, rescued me, and 
 brought me to more solid ground. As soon as I 
 recovered sufficiently he took me to a pool of 
 water and washed the dirt off me, just as if I had 
 been a horse that floundered into it. 
 
io8 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 The chairman got off very safely, nor were the 
 inside passengers much the worse for the upset. 
 The driver was an energetic man, and soon had 
 the breakage repaired, and was ready to go on 
 again, so that the results of the disaster were not 
 very serious after all. 
 
 The remainder of our drive that day was not 
 far, and we stopped for the night at a small 
 wayside inn, of very limited accommodation. It 
 had but one room for strangers, into which we 
 put the chairman and the managing director; 
 another member of the party slept on the kitchen- 
 table, while the rest of us took shelter in an out- 
 house. There we snatched such sleep as we 
 could during the intervals of peace conceded to 
 us by a most aggressive family of cats, that 
 looked upon our arrival on the scene as an un- 
 justifiable invasion of their territory. 
 
 I may here observe that the upsetting or 
 breaking down of public conveyances is by no 
 means an unusual experience in Uruguay. Seve- 
 ral people connected with the railway met with 
 accidents of the kind from time to time, and our 
 material trains frequently rescued belated tra- 
 vellers who were victims of mishaps of the kind. 
 
PERILS BY LAND AND WATER 109 
 
 Nor was it only from the overturning of 
 vehicles that inconvenience arose. There were 
 other accidents of various kinds perpetually hap- 
 pening. Four times in one day did horses fall 
 under me. Two of these incidents were trivial 
 affairs, but the other two were rather serious. I 
 will only refer more particularly to one of them, 
 the results of which were painful enough for a 
 time. I was riding back to our encampment one 
 night after dark, when my horse stumbled over 
 something, and fell with a crash. In trying to get 
 upon his legs again he threw back his head, which 
 struck me full in the face with the force of a 
 sledge-hammer. One of my assistants, who was 
 riding with me, sprang to the ground and helped 
 me to get down, and supported me until I was 
 sufficiently recovered to stand alone. As soon as 
 I was able I remounted and rode on to our tent. 
 When we arrived there my nose was found to be 
 broken, and almost flattened to my face, and one' 
 of my fingers was much crushed. 
 
 The latter was soon bandaged, ,and then I 
 directed my attention to the injured nose, which 
 I worked into as good a shape as I could, and 
 bound it up, with the aid of my friend, who was 
 
no SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 as handy and attentive as a trained nurse would 
 have been, and ' did everything in his power to 
 relieve my suffering. 
 
 In the morning I was in the saddle and at 
 work again soon after daybreak, with my face so 
 closely wrapped up, that there was nothing visible 
 of it but the eyes. Gradually my wounds healed, 
 and I was able to discard the protection for my 
 nose, of which a doctor friend of mine told me 
 I had made a very fair job. It is true that at 
 the same time he took somewhat from my pride 
 about the surgical skill I had displayed in the 
 matter, as well as from my personal vanity, by 
 asking me the suggestive question, " Was your 
 nose always crooked ? " I tried to lessen the 
 sting implied in his remark by persuading myself 
 that it was due to professional jealousy. 
 
 I will now turn to that part of the subject 
 which relates to perils by water. The Latin poet 
 tells us that the rustic waits for the river to flow 
 past. He evidently thought that the rustic was 
 an example of imbecility, for he adds, " but it 
 flows on, and will continue to flow, through 
 every revolving age." Our own late poet-laureate 
 probably had these lines in his mind when 
 
PERILS BY LAND AND WATER in 
 
 he made the brook to say, "but I go on for 
 ever." 
 
 It is quite clear that both authorities were 
 thinking only of streams, the habits of which 
 were regular and above reproach, and not of such 
 as display their force and progress with inter- 
 mittent energy, changing from dried-up water- 
 courses to foaming torrents, and vice versd, within 
 the space of a few short hours. 
 
 Had Horace or Tennyson visited the River 
 Plate, and travelled much in the interior of that 
 country, he would, no doubt, have discovered from 
 his own experience that the rustic was not such 
 a fool as many people might suppose him to have 
 been. 
 
 In rainy weather, waiting for the river to flow 
 past is one of the commonest occupations of daily 
 life in Uruguay. A man rides up to a ford, and 
 finding it too deep and rapid, after recent rains, 
 to attempt to cross with safety, quietly dismounts, 
 unsaddles his horse, and ties him to some tree or 
 peg. He then sits down to smoke a cigarette, 
 and at nightfall rolls himself up in his poncho, 
 and turns over to sleep upon the leather bed 
 provided by the trappings of his cumbrous saddle, 
 
ii2 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 patiently awaiting the morning's light and the 
 hoped-for subsidence of the river. What else can 
 he do in a country where there are no bridges 
 except those upon the railways ? 
 
 I have known a little stream that I have 
 repeatedly jumped across on foot spread out to 
 a width of more than a hundred yards, with a 
 depth of from ten to fifteen feet, in five or six 
 hours, and fall again as rapidly. 
 
 Nor was it the smaller rivulets and brooks 
 alone that changed their character so completely 
 according to the rain that fell. The larger rivers, 
 too, felt the influences of alterations in the weather 
 equally, though not, perhaps, with quite so great 
 rapidity. 
 
 One of these, the Tacuarembo Chico, is a 
 good example of the kind. In its normal state 
 everything suggested peace and tranquillity ; but 
 I have also looked upon its waters in a very 
 different mood. 
 
 Rain had fallen in torrents, and a destructive 
 flood arose, converting the usually placid stream 
 into an angry rushing torrent thirty feet deep, 
 and in some places half a mile in width. 
 
 As I gazed in wonder on the scene, a solitary 
 
PERILS BY LAND AND WATER 113 
 
 boat with two men in it came drifting along among 
 the tree-tops, where the current was least. They 
 seemed looking for something which the flood had 
 carried away, and in reply to my inquiries told 
 me that the object of their search was the son of 
 one of them. The hapless child had strayed into 
 the woods to gather wild flowers, and his return 
 was cut off by the sudden rising of the water. 
 The body of the victim was never found, but lay 
 no doubt amidst the general desolation, as did 
 also the carcasses of numerous cattle that had 
 been similarly surrounded, and unable to find 
 their way back to dry land. 
 
 While residing at the Paso de los Toros I saw 
 a most impressive, I might almost call it a ter- 
 rible, flood in the Rio Negro. During one rainy 
 season it overflowed its banks, but at first no one 
 thought much about it, or expected it to rise to 
 any dangerous height. As time wore on matters 
 looked more serious. The poorer huts along the 
 margin were the first invaded, and one after 
 another had to be abandoned. The more solidly 
 built houses, that stood on higher ground, were 
 reached in due succession, while hour by hour 
 
 the water stole up the side walls, silently 
 
 H 
 
ii4 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 but surely blocking first the entrance doors, then 
 the windows, and lastly submerging the roof of 
 each luckless building. Those who lived in them 
 fled towards higher land, some in boats, others on 
 rafts hurriedly extemporised from the doors of 
 their deserted houses, and cowered in a wet and 
 miserable plight till the flood, after rising to a 
 height of sixty feet and more, began to subside 
 again. But bad as was this inundation, it was not 
 so formidable as one that occurred in the same 
 locality not many years before. 
 
 I did not witness this previous visitation, but I 
 saw photographs of it, and heard descriptive par- 
 ticulars of its rise and fall from several persons 
 whose business required them to examine closely 
 at the time into the question of its magnitude 
 and the effects produced by it. It rose much 
 higher than that which I have already described, 
 and reached to about three feet above the surface 
 of the rails upon the Rio Negro bridge, the under 
 side of the superstructure of which is more than 
 sixty feet above the ordinary height of water in 
 the river. 
 
 All traffic upon the line was impossible, and I 
 was assured by the general manager and by the 
 
PERILS BY LAND AND WATER 115 
 
 resident engineer, that large snakes and curious 
 wild animals, which had been carried down upon 
 floating trees from Brazil, were found resting upon 
 the girders of the bridge. 
 
 This inundation completely destroyed a great 
 portion of the old town, and huts had to be 
 erected on a high promontory to accommodate 
 the houseless sufferers. 
 
 Nor was my knowledge of such terrible floods 
 derived solely from beholding them as a spectator 
 standing on dry land, at a safe distance from 
 the destructive scene enacted by the rushing 
 waters, or from hearing the graphic descriptions 
 of them from those who had witnessed their 
 effects. 
 
 I had myself personal experience of the horrors 
 of immersion in the maelstrom of a torrent of the 
 kind, and of the exciting struggle against its re- 
 lentless fury. 
 
 I came one day to a river that was swollen 
 till the water flowed through the tops of the 
 trees growing upon its banks. Thinking that, 
 perhaps, Horace was right after all, and that the 
 river might go on flowing deeply, if not for ever, 
 at all events for a sufficient period to be very 
 
ii6 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 inconvenient for me to remain like the rustic, 
 waiting for it to flow past. I determined if 
 possible to get over at once. The only way 
 to cross it was by means of a frail temporary 
 raft, upon which I embarked under the guid- 
 ance of an Italian sailor, with the result that it 
 sank beneath the two of us in mid-stream, and 
 left us floundering in the torrent. Fortunately 
 I succeeded in grasping a wire that was stretched 
 between the banks, and with its aid I pulled 
 myself along until I got to calm water, and 
 found a submerged branch of a tree upon which 
 to rest my feet. The pilot, who was an expert 
 swimmer, and not overweighted with heavy 
 clothes as I was, recovered the raft, and towed 
 it into the "back-water," from which he reached 
 me with ease, and brought me to the land. A 
 young engineer upon the bank awaiting his turn 
 to be ferried over threw off his coat and boots 
 when the accident occurred, and prepared to 
 plunge into the water to come to my assistance. 
 It was with difficulty, too, that he could be per- 
 suaded to desist from the attempt, although it 
 would have been utterly useless to try to swim 
 across a current of such velocity. 
 
PERILS BY LAND AND WATER 117 
 
 On another occasion I was travelling in a 
 wagonette drawn by three horses harnessed 
 abreast, when we came to the ford of a river 
 that looked rather swollen. Every care was 
 taken to examine it, and the general opinion 
 was that we might safely drive across it. It 
 was, however, desirable to lighten the load as 
 much as possible, so we descended from the 
 vehicle and rode over on horseback, leaving the 
 driver alone to guide it across. 
 
 Matters proceeded satisfactorily till he had 
 reached the middle of the stream, where some 
 confusion took place, and the horses became 
 restive and began to plunge wildly, when all at 
 once they moved a little to one side and got 
 out of their depths. The wheels of the wagon- 
 ette had become entangled in the branches 
 of a fallen tree lying in the bed of the river, 
 and could not be moved one way or the other. 
 The pole-straps kept the horses' heads down, so 
 that they made furious struggles to try to free 
 themselves. 
 
 Three men that accompanied me did every- 
 thing in their power to release the struggling 
 animals, but it was no easy task to perform. 
 
n8 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 At last it was accomplished, but not till more 
 than an hour had been spent in the endeavour. 
 One of the horses was so much exhausted that 
 he had to be towed to the river bank, where 
 his head was supported, and he was left to re- 
 cover strength, but he succumbed and died in 
 a few minutes. A second horse had strength 
 enough remaining to swim to shore ; while the 
 third, known by the name of " the Tiger," from 
 his vicious disposition, when freed from the 
 trammels of the harness, turned round, and, -in- 
 stead of swimming for the shore, clambered into 
 the wagonette he had previously helped to draw ; 
 nor could he be dislodged from his position as an 
 inside passenger until he had rested for some time 
 and regained a portion of his strength. Both the 
 surviving horses had suffered so much, that it was 
 some months before either of them was sufficiently 
 recovered to do ordinary work again. 
 
 The crossing of flooded streams was a perpetual 
 source of trouble and accident to us. Many a 
 time has a horse fallen under me while fording a 
 river, and sent me head foremost into the water. 
 I don't suppose there was an engineer connected 
 with the work who did not frequently experience 
 

 PERILS BY LAND AND WATER 119 
 
 the sensation of taking an involuntary bath of 
 the kind. But it was not always a fit subject for 
 mirth or amusement, as twice during the pro- 
 gress of the works such accidents had fatal 
 endings. 
 
CHAPTER X 
 
 LANDOWNERS, WORKMEN, ETC. 
 
 AFTER the difficulties which the want of regular 
 roads and bridges occasioned us, I think I might 
 place the obstacles arising from our dealings with 
 landowners. In saying so, I am bound in fair- 
 ness to admit that many of them showed great 
 favour to the railway, some even giving their 
 land for it gratuitously, while others aided us in 
 different ways. 
 
 It is, however, with the majority, not with the 
 exceptions, that I am now dealing. 
 
 One curious phase of the matter was the 
 immense amount of local information voluntarily 
 supplied to us by the people living in the dis- 
 tricts through which we passed when making the 
 preliminary surveys. It was often of a most 
 contradictory nature, necessitating much care and 
 trouble to sift it so as to separate the grain from 
 the chaff. 
 
LANDOWNERS, WORKMEN, ETC. 121 
 
 If we could credit them, it would almost ap- 
 pear as if the inhabitants of Uruguay were born 
 with a natural aptitude for selecting lines of rail- 
 way. They always knew, or at least said they 
 did, the best possible route to follow, irrespective 
 of its length or such minor considerations as 
 curves and gradients, viaducts or tunnels. * 
 
 After a varied experience of their ways I have 
 come to the conclusion that they are as full of 
 expedients for diverting railway surveyors from 
 their own lands to those of their neighbours, or 
 vice versd, according to what they consider to be 
 most conducive to their private interests, as a 
 hen-lapwing is in her endeavours to lure away 
 unwelcome intruders from the vicinity of her 
 nest. Like her, too, they occasionally become 
 very angry if their little stratagems are unsuc- 
 cessful, and swoop down upon one with denuncia- 
 tions almost as shrill as hers. 
 
 Some of them content themselves with uttering 
 dark threats of vengeance on the part of the 
 powers that be, who, by a strange coincidence, 
 always seemed to be nearly related to, or on terms 
 of great intimacy with, these slighted landowners. 
 
 Others, of a more fiery nature, place greater 
 
122 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 trust in their own right hands than in official 
 partizanship, and publicly proclaim their prefer- 
 ence for bloodshed, with a determination to resort 
 to it upon the first favourable opportunity that 
 presents itself. 
 
 There was wonderful unanimity in the nature 
 of the advice given to us by all persons of the 
 former class with whom we had dealings, though 
 it frequently bore very different meanings. 
 
 Each one of them was confident that we were 
 giving ourselves unnecessary trouble in making 
 any further surveys, or in searching for any other 
 line for the railway than that which he recom- 
 mended. Besides, we were told we might rest 
 assured that it would certainly be the only one 
 sanctioned by the Government. 
 
 This was perplexing, for the lines suggested 
 possessed varieties of position and direction that 
 were perfectly irreconcilable. 
 
 Conspicuous among the fiercer landowners was 
 one with whom our relations were anything but 
 friendly at first. He hated the railway and 
 railway people. 
 
 One wet and stormy night I reached his house, 
 and finding that I could not get any farther, 
 
LANDOWNERS, WORKMEN, ETC. 123 
 
 and that there was no other place for miles 
 around where I could get shelter, I asked for 
 it from him, but was unceremoniously refused. 
 I was told that I might sleep outside in an 
 open shed if I chose. This was a most unusual 
 piece of discourtesy in South America, where 
 the people pride themselves, and justly so, on 
 their universal hospitality. 
 
 The owner was kind enough to give me 
 warning that if he ever saw me upon his land 
 anywhere away from the line of railway, he 
 would " shoot at sight." As he bore the re- 
 putation of being as good, or as bad, as his 
 word, I did not spend much of my time tres- 
 passing upon his property. I had to ride across 
 it frequently, however, and once I had to pull 
 down part of his fence to get a bullock-cart 
 through it ; but on such occasions I kept a 
 good look-out for the enemy, and was always 
 careful to see that there were no empty cartridge 
 cases in my revolver. 
 
 The wheel of fortune in its revolutions 
 brought about a state of affairs when it was 
 in my power to do this man a material service, 
 and I did it. At first he could scarcely believe 
 
124 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 the fact, but when he grasped its reality, he be- 
 came one of my warmest supporters, and remained 
 so till the end. 
 
 As a mark of special friendship I may 
 mention the fact, though it is anticipating 
 events when I was leaving the Eiver Plate 
 he was anxious to bestow upon me a lively 
 collection of wild animals, in which specimens 
 of the carnivora were well represented. 
 
 The intention was kind, but I could not see 
 my way to accept the proffered gift ; it is so 
 difficult to arrange satisfactorily and comfort- 
 ably for the establishment of a menagerie about 
 a country house in Ireland. If you keep the 
 beasts locked up they will howl and roar at 
 night, making sleep precarious, if not impossible, 
 for wakeful people. Or if you try the alter- 
 native plan, and let them loose, the neighbours, 
 especially those who keep cattle, sheep, or even 
 children, might not like it ; and it is always 
 unpleasant to be on unfriendly terms with one's 
 neighbours. For these reasons I had to dis- 
 appoint my generous friend, and deny myself 
 the pleasure of possessing an interesting collec- 
 tion of the kind. 
 
LANDOWNERS, WORKMEN, ETC. 125 
 
 There was another landowner very similar in 
 many respects to the one I have just described. 
 He also hated the railway and all belonging to 
 it, and was equally explicit as to his intention 
 to shoot any of us he caught trespassing upon 
 his property. 
 
 On one occasion, while on a tour of inspection, 
 I was stopped by a flooded river, and found that 
 I must either cross the land in question or make 
 a deviation of several miles. In this dilemma I 
 rode straight to the owner's house, explained the 
 matter to him, and asked his permission to con- 
 tinue my journey over his property, which he 
 gave me without any hesitation. 
 
 Nor are railway engineers the only people who 
 get mixed up unpleasantly with land questions 
 in Uruguay. Surveyors engaged in defining the 
 limits between properties frequently meet with 
 difficulties in the discharge of their duties. 
 
 One St. Patrick's Day I received a telegram 
 from the authorities asking me to send an engine 
 with some trucks to one of the stations on the 
 railway, to bring back wounded men and prisoners. 
 The request sounded quite natural and home-like, 
 and I concluded that some enthusiastic people 
 
126 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 had been celebrating the day a little too well, 
 and had got into trouble. But iny conjecture was 
 altogether wrong. No Irishman was mixed up 
 in the quarrel ; nor had St. Patrick's Day anything 
 to do with it, except the accidental circumstance 
 that the fighting took place on the eve of that 
 festival. 
 
 I heard all about it afterwards from some of 
 the persons who took part in the affray. 
 
 It arose in this way. A party of surveyors 
 was employed to mark out the boundary line 
 between two properties, and as they proceeded, 
 the man who employed them, and at whose house 
 they were stopping, was well satisfied with the 
 manner in which they were performing their 
 work. Not so, however, his neighbour, who 
 thought that some of his land was being .-taken 
 from him, and he determined to make a struggle 
 to maintain his rights. His plan of action was 
 prompt, but not of a nature to recommend its 
 general adoption in questions of disputed boun- 
 daries. He decided to make a night attack, with 
 the aid of his friends, upon the surveying party, 
 and for this purpose entered into negotiations 
 with one of the latter's workmen to betray his 
 
LANDOWNERS, WORKMEN, ETC. 127 
 
 employers, and open the door of the house for 
 the attacking party. They would thus be able 
 to surprise the inmates in their beds, and make 
 short work of them. Everything was arranged, 
 and when the conspirators reached the yard gate, 
 in the night time, their confederate duly opened 
 it and admitted them to the enclosure. There 
 he left them while he stealthily entered the house 
 by one of the windows, so that he might open the 
 door for them. He did so without delay, and 
 the next moment they were received with a volley 
 fired from within the house. The workman had 
 told his employers of the plot against them, and 
 the assistance of a party of police had been ob- 
 tained to repel the attack. A general fight 
 ensued, in which one man was killed on each side 
 and several wounded; in the end the aggressors 
 being beaten, and many of them made prisoners. 
 It was for the purpose of bringing in them and 
 the wounded that we were asked to send out a 
 train. 
 
 The question of disputed boundaries often gave 
 us much trouble, but I have said enough to show 
 how serious it may become at times. 
 
 As I already explained, all the landowners 
 
128 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 were not unfriendly to us ; but besides those I 
 have mentioned, there was a third or intermediate 
 class, who for a long time remained very reserved 
 and distrustful in their dealings with us. In several 
 cases much trouble had been taken to prejudice 
 them against us. 
 
 One man in particular comes back to my 
 memory, to whom we had been painted in any- 
 thing but pleasing colours. Great exertions were 
 made to induce him to take legal proceedings 
 against the railway company for imaginary injuries 
 of various sorts, but he withstood all the alluring 
 offers that he received in respect of assistance in 
 matters of the kind. For some time after I 
 made his acquaintance he evidently looked upon 
 me with great suspicion, and was very cautious 
 and reserved in his dealings with me. Gradually, 
 however, I gained his confidence, and the re- 
 serve was changed to feelings of mutual respect 
 and friendship, which continued unbroken till we 
 said good-bye and parted at the close of the 
 works. 
 
 Here I must say something of the workmen 
 by whose labour and toil the railway was con- 
 structed. The great majority of those that we 
 
LANDOWNERS, WORKMEN, ETC. 129 
 
 employed were Italians, who came principally 
 from the northern and mountainous districts of 
 their native country. As a rule, they were hard- 
 working, cheerful, well conducted, and not difficult 
 to manage. A reference to them in the chapter 
 upon the " Haunt of the Outlaw " shows, however, 
 that at times they could take the law into their 
 own hands, though it should be remembered that 
 in the case referred to they had received great 
 provocation. 
 
 Like other rough men, they had their quarrels, 
 and did occasionally resort to the evil practice of 
 using their knives to settle such disputes; but 
 even so, and when actually engaged in fighting, 
 they were comparatively easy to control. As an 
 example of this, I may quote an instance that 
 came under my personal observation. 
 
 Upon one occasion, as I turned an abrupt 
 corner, I found myself among an excited crowd 
 of spectators, looking on at two Italians fighting 
 fiercely with their knives. The combatants at 
 once obeyed my order to stop and give me their 
 weapons, apologising for their conduct as they 
 handed them to me. I scarcely think that two 
 of my own countrymen could have been so 
 
130 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 easily separated if engaged in a serious encounter 
 of the kind. 
 
 We had a good many Austrians and Bavarians 
 from the Tyrol, who were mostly masons or 
 quarrymen, and particularly satisfactory and plea- 
 sant to deal with. 
 
 There were but few Spaniards upon the works, 
 and they were chiefly Basques, a hard-working, 
 strong, and thrifty race. 
 
 Of the workmen who were natives of Uruguay 
 I ought to have a kindly word to say, as they 
 mostly served me well. They are not adepts 
 with the pick and shovel, but they are very 
 intelligent and handy men, and at their own 
 particular occupation of looking after horses or 
 horned cattle they have few equals. 
 
 Of course I do not mean to say that all our 
 workmen were perfect, and that they never gave 
 us trouble. On the contrary, there were some 
 of them whom I should have to describe quite 
 differently if I went into particulars. We had 
 the usual strikes and threats to deal with, but, 
 thanks to the energy of the G-efe Politico of the 
 district and the assistance he gave us, we got 
 fairly well out of our troubles of that description. 
 
LANDOWNERS, WORKMEN, ETC. 131 
 
 One great difficulty we had to contend against 
 during the progress of the works was a serious 
 outbreak of smallpox. 
 
 It began at the Paso de los Toros, and soon 
 developed into a very formidable epidemic. The 
 police bestirred themselves well to meet the 
 emergency, and erected a wooden hospital, for 
 which we helped to provide the materials. 
 
 When I went to look at the result of their 
 labours, I was somewhat shocked to see that they 
 had placed the building exactly opposite the gate 
 of the public cemetery. I remonstrated with 
 them about this, and said it would have a very 
 depressing effect upon the inmates of the hos- 
 pital, to which the police sergeant, who was in 
 charge of the party, replied, " But then, sefior, it 
 is so very convenient for the burials." I remem- 
 ber a precisely similar arrangement of hospital 
 and cemetery in the case of a continental town, 
 that always seemed to me to have been a most 
 unwise selection. 
 
 The Government sent up a medical inspector 
 to report upon the outbreak. When he came to 
 the Paso de los Toros he found the temperature 
 in the hospital there too high, and ordered the 
 
132 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 windows and doors to be all opened wide. The 
 weather was piercingly cold at the time, and it 
 was said, with what truth I know not, that six 
 deaths followed immediately upon the sudden 
 change of temperature. It was further stated 
 that two of the patients, who had witnessed this 
 result, were so frightened, that they took the first 
 opportunity to get out of their beds and made 
 their escape, nor were they heard of afterwards. 
 
 The epidemic spread rapidly, extending to San 
 Fructuoso and Rivera, which places it visited 
 with considerable severity. Nor was this surpris- 
 ing, for the general inhabitants took little pre- 
 caution against it; and as vaccination did not 
 appear to have been in common practice, people 
 lacking that protection, when they came in the 
 way of contagion, ran all the greater risk of 
 catching the disease. 
 
 I have seen a beautiful little girl, of about 
 twelve years of age, carrying in her arms a baby 
 in the worst stage of smallpox, and as it was 
 highly improbable that she had been vaccinated, 
 one could not but shudder at the thought of the 
 danger she was incurring. 
 
 But if the public generally did not do much 
 
LANDOWNERS, WORKMEN, ETC. 133 
 
 to counteract the ravages of the disease, societies 
 of charitable ladies were formed in the various 
 centres of population, who did their best to 
 fight against it, and to relieve the accompanying 
 distress. 
 
CHAPTER XI 
 
 LITER A SCRIPT A MANET 
 
 THE headline of this chapter is one of those 
 general assertions which are nearly as often wrong 
 as right, and yet I have some hesitation in 
 attacking it, for it is a maxim dear to the 
 members of the legal professions, among which 
 bodies I have many valued friends. It seems 
 to yield them a somewhat similar consolation to 
 that which, we are told, the sonorous word Meso- 
 potamia afforded the good old lady when learned 
 discourses became too abstruse for her simple 
 understanding. 
 
 It is the one spot on the lawyer's chart where 
 he thinks he may anchor with safety during the 
 fogs of uncertainty or squally weather, so pre- 
 valent in legal navigation ; but outsiders like 
 myself may be pardoned for entertaining some 
 doubt about the matter, notwithstanding that the 
 information is conveyed in a dead language to 
 give it greater force. 
 
 134 
 
LITER A SCRIPT A MANET 135 
 
 At one period of my life I looked upon the 
 truth of the maxim as unassailable, and on a par 
 with the arithmetical dogma that " two and two 
 make four " ; but the experience of years has 
 weakened rather than strengthened my con- 
 fidence in this respect. 
 
 It is useless to tell me now, either in English 
 or Latin, that " the written letter remains," when 
 I know to my cost that it sometimes flies away, 
 like a bird, on the wings of the wind. 
 
 In support of my present incredulity I will 
 mention a few cases, from many, that are de- 
 cided exceptions to the asserted rule. 
 
 The weather was exceedingly hot, the ther- 
 mometer marking over 100 Fahrenheit in the 
 shade, as I sat down one morning in my hut 
 at El Paso de los Toros to read the letters that 
 had just come in from the post-office. The 
 windows in the room were wide open, and not 
 a breath of air was stirring. The first operation 
 was to sort the correspondence, and distinguish 
 between what apparently related to the works 
 and that which was private, " business first and 
 pleasure afterwards." I had exhausted the first 
 category, and opened a fat-looking letter of the 
 
136 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 second, that seemed to promise an abundant yield 
 of information. It began well, and I turned over 
 to read the name of my correspondent, as I did 
 not recognise the handwriting. 
 
 Just then a noise behind me attracted my 
 attention, and I looked to see what caused it. A 
 " whirlwind " was passing by, and occasioned the 
 rustling sound I had heard. Having ascertained 
 this, I turned back again to go on with the read- 
 ing of my letter, but observed to my surprise and 
 dismay that it was passing through the open 
 window and circling upwards out of reach. I 
 rushed after it hastily, and sent one of our men 
 in pursuit of the flying letter, telling him to 
 watch carefully where it might fall, and bring 
 it back to me. 
 
 After the lapse of a considerable time the 
 messenger returned, looking hot and crestfallen, 
 for he was obliged to confess that he had been 
 unsuccessful. 
 
 " Senor," said he, " I followed that letter of 
 yours all the way to the Rio Negro, and I do 
 believe it contained the prayers of some good 
 person, for there it was wafted up to heaven out 
 of my sight." After such an experience, is it not 
 
LITERA SCRIPTA MANET 137 
 
 mockery to tell me that " the written letter 
 remains " ? 
 
 I wonder if the reader can sympathise with 
 me in my disappointment at the loss I sustained. 
 One as a rule gets so few nice letters, and this 
 was a charming one, as far as I had glanced at it. 
 It is so disappointing to think that I never knew 
 who wrote it, and that it has remained un- 
 answered to this day. I only hope the writer 
 of it may read these pages, and see in them the 
 explanation of my long silence and apparent 
 rudeness. I appeal to every person who ever 
 wrote me a letter to which no reply was returned 
 to recognise in that lost document the one so left 
 unanswered, and to accept this public explana- 
 tion and apology for my compulsory share in the 
 transaction. 
 
 I met with another case where several written 
 letters did not remain. We were crossing a river, 
 in which there lay floating about Avhat looked like 
 a number of envelopes. Upon closer inspection 
 they proved to be unopened letters, which we 
 collected, dried, and then forwarded to the post ; 
 and it is to be hoped they eventually reached 
 their respective destinations. 
 
138 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 The mischance in this case was probably due 
 to the upsetting of a diligencia in the river, no 
 uncommon experience, and the falling out of 
 some of the correspondence from an open letter- 
 bag into the water. Perhaps it may be argued 
 that this example rather goes to support the legal 
 view of the case, because the written letters did 
 remain in the river till we fished them out of it. 
 My contention, however, is that they did not 
 remain in the mail-bag, which was their proper 
 place till sorted for delivery in the post-office in 
 the regular way. 
 
 Another case where the written letters did not 
 remain occurred to a friend of mine at the Paso 
 de los Toros. He had arrived by train, and after 
 placing his portmanteau and a bag containing a 
 voluminous correspondence in his bedroom on the 
 ground floor, threw open the windows and went 
 out to enjoy a cigarette under the shade of the 
 veranda. While so occupied he observed a man, 
 bag in hand, coming out of his room ; but this 
 did not surprise him, as he thought it was some 
 one who was retreating upon finding thatjie had 
 opened the wrong door by mistake. The man, 
 as he passed by, made some polite apology for 
 
L1TERA SCRIPTA MANET 139 
 
 mistaking the room, and my friend thought no 
 more of the matter till some time afterwards, 
 when, wishing to look at his letters, he went 
 for his bag and found it had been stolen. Here, 
 surely, the written letters did not remain. 
 
 A somewhat similar trick was tried upon me, 
 but not in the same place. I had a despatch- 
 box full of business documents and correspond- 
 ence with me in a tramway- carriage, and when 
 I reached the terminus I got out, leaving it 
 behind me on the seat while I helped some 
 lady passengers to descend. Having done so I 
 went for my despatch- box, but it was nowhere 
 to be seen. At that moment I observed a 
 man with what looked like my missing property 
 hurrying away rapidly, and I followed at once 
 in pursuit. When I overtook him I claimed 
 the box he was carrying off as mine, but he 
 boldly asserted it was his own. I explained 
 that my name was engraved upon a brass plate 
 on the lid of my box, and insisted upon the 
 cover being unstrapped, to prove to whom the 
 property rightfully belonged. When this was 
 done the justice of my claim was apparent, and 
 the man, with profuse apologies for what he 
 
140 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 called his stupid mistake, returned towards the 
 tramway-office to search for his own despatch- 
 box. On his way to it he suddenly disappeared 
 round the corner of a street in the most un- 
 accountable manner, and, strange to say, no 
 article of the kind was claimed or found by the 
 tramway people on that occasion. 
 
 In this instance, again, the written letters did 
 not remain, though it is true they were recovered 
 and brought back. 
 
 Perhaps objection to my views may be raised 
 on the ground that the maxim in question only 
 applies to legal or public documents, and not 
 to general correspondence. Even so, I am pre- 
 pared to show that in that sense too it is fre- 
 quently falsified. 
 
 Proceedings in the Landed Estates Court have 
 shown that the title-deeds of numerous properties 
 in Ireland have been lost, and cannot be recovered. 
 
 I know of an instance, too, where the sale of 
 a branch railway to a main line cannot be, or, 
 at all events, is not, perfected because the title- 
 deeds for the land it occupies are not forthcoming. 
 
 Nor is it in Ireland alone that documents of 
 the kind go astray. I had personal knowledge 
 
LITERA SCR1PTA MANET 141 
 
 of a number of valuable title-deeds having been 
 rescued from the ignominious fate of being sold 
 to a retail grocer as waste-paper in which to 
 wrap up his wares. And this occurred in London, 
 where one would expect them to be guarded with 
 especial care. 
 
 Once when searching through the manuscript 
 records of an important public body I came 
 upon a blank of several years, caused by the 
 cutting out of the pages relating to them. 
 
 Who has not heard of erasures in baptismal 
 registries when they disclose inconvenient facts ? 
 One constantly meets with passages similarly 
 treated when examining old manuscripts. Grave- 
 stones have even been known to be mutilated to 
 prevent the legend on them being produced as 
 evidence in legal proceedings. Sometimes cases 
 of the kind arise from carelessness or vandalism. 
 I possess a photograph showing an example of 
 the latter. It is of a grave-stone, on which are 
 carved the arms of a very ancient family long 
 since extinct and forgotten in the district -ex- 
 cept by antiquaries, while under the arms is 
 boldly cut into the stone an inscription of only 
 a few years ago, in memory of a man of the 
 
142 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 labouring or small farmer class, of a totally 
 different name and family to that to which the 
 arms belonged, and evidently without any in- 
 tention of establishing any connection between 
 them. It would appear that the stone in ques- 
 tion was a fallen one which belonged to an 
 unknown grave, and that it was dug up in the 
 process of preparing the ground for a new burial. 
 As the inscription on it was almost obliterated, it 
 was thought to be of no value, except as a head- 
 stone for the new grave, for which it came in 
 handy. It seems a great pity that some one 
 should not have interfered to prevent the act; 
 but probably it was not discovered till too late. 
 
 I know of no class of document but one that 
 seems to have any claim to such permanence as 
 suggested by the maxim I am dealing with. It 
 is that which comprises the department of corre- 
 spondence commonly described by the term, 
 " love-letters." 
 
 Their tenacity of existence is beyond dispute 
 when one reflects upon the certainty with which 
 they are forthcoming, in profusion, in all cases 
 of breach of promise of marriage tried in court, 
 to the utter discomfiture of the faithless swain, 
 
LITER A SCRIPT A MANET 143 
 
 and the enjoyment of a virtuous public, that 
 rejoices in the triumph of right over wrong. 
 
 After all, I may perhaps be told that the 
 meaning of the maxim is not that which I have 
 given to it, but that it is simply equivalent to 
 saying it is safer to put the terms or conditions 
 of an agreement in writing, than to trust to the 
 retentiveness of the memory to reproduce them 
 when necessary. If so, why not have said as 
 much in language that did not admit of any 
 doubt ? 
 
CHAPTER XII 
 
 SAN FRUCTUOSO 
 
 SAN FRUCTUOSO, or Tacuarembo, as it is also 
 called, is the only intermediate town upon the 
 extension of the railway with which we were 
 engaged. It is situated 1 1 o miles from the 
 starting-point, or about 280 miles north of 
 Montevideo, and some 72 miles from the 
 Brazilian frontier. It has a population of about 
 3000, and lies in the valley of the Tacuarembo 
 Chico, on the right bank of that river, upon low 
 land, the soil of which is a sandy loam. 
 
 The town is approached from the south by 
 a road, along the sides of which grow aloe 
 hedges, that appear to be impenetrable, by 
 reason of the formidable spikes with which 
 Nature supplies that plant as a protection 
 against all foes. The aloe is the porcupine of 
 the vegetable kingdom. 
 
 These hedges extend for some distance within 
 
SAN FRUCTUOSO 145 
 
 the limits of the town, till they give place to 
 wire fences with timber posts, and these again to 
 walls of brick, less picturesque, but more suitable 
 and convenient for enclosing human habitations. 
 
 The houses are all one storey high, and most 
 of them have flat roofs, although a shed or 
 sloping roof is occasionally to be seen. The 
 dwellings of the poorer classes have a very bare 
 and unfinished look, but possibly those that 
 attracted my attention on this account may 
 only recently have been developed from the 
 primitive mud ranches of the original settlers. 
 
 Some houses, on the other hand, exhibit 
 every sign of comfort and prosperity, being 
 surrounded by gardens and enclosures full of 
 flowers, shrubs, and climbing plants, Wistaria 
 being conspicuous among the latter. 
 
 In one place I saw a tall hedge of roses, with 
 a small pink flower about the size of the Banksia 
 kind; in another, a fence composed of quince- 
 trees, with their delicately- tinted blossoms like 
 those of an apple-tree. 
 
 The principal public square is planted with 
 Eucalyptus and other Australian trees, which 
 seem to flourish well in Uruguay. 
 
 K 
 
146 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 The inhabitants of the town congregate in this 
 square on fine summer evenings to listen to the 
 music of a military band, while breathing the 
 cooler air that comes with the approach of night, 
 and is rendered all the more enjoyable after the 
 scorching heat of the mid-day sun. 
 
 A peculiarity about the promenading upon 
 these occasions is that ladies and gentlemen 
 keep strictly apart, and one seldom sees them 
 intermingle. 
 
 Another source of amusement, though of an 
 intermittent kind, which the people of San Fruc- 
 tuoso possess, consists of a small but well- 
 appointed theatre, where sometimes travelling 
 actors make their appearance. 
 
 San Fructuoso, like other towns of its kind, 
 was not without its fair share of enterprising, 
 though unpleasant inhabitants. I refer to the 
 class the members of which prefer to make other 
 people support them, to working honestly them- 
 selves. Their calling was usually followed by 
 night, and in the unfrequented suburbs. 
 
 One of our men was attacked in a lonely spot, 
 but managed in the struggle that ensued to dis- 
 arm his antagonist, and carried., off a huge knife, 
 
SAN FRUCTUOSO 147 
 
 which he took from him, as a trophy of victory. 
 On another occasion an attempt was made to rob 
 and murder an Italian, who was on his way to his 
 duty at night as cleaner of an engine. He, too, was 
 expert with his knife, and gave his assailant some 
 ugly gashes, only receiving scratches himself. 
 The aggressor finding that he was getting the 
 worst of the encounter blew a whistle, and imme- 
 diately a couple of policemen came running up 
 from a house close by. The robber with great 
 presence of mind gave our man in charge for an 
 attempt to murder him. He had managed to get 
 clear of his knife, and the only weapon to be 
 found was that in our man's hand, so that he was 
 arrested, and before he could get out had to pay 
 a fine of fourteen dollars for a murderous and 
 unprovoked attack upon a peaceful citizen who 
 was going about his business. At least that was 
 the view the authorities took of the case. 
 
 Another time a member of the staff, walking 
 along the road on the outskirts of the town after 
 dark, saw a man suddenly appear before him 
 going in the same direction. When he reached 
 a lonely spot the man in front stopped and turned 
 round. My friend immediately stepped out into 
 
148 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 the middle of the road to proceed by it, such 
 being a very usual precaution to take in that 
 country. The man on the pathway also walked 
 out and barred his passage. Upon being remon- 
 strated with he replied that the road was a public 
 one, to the use of which all people were equally 
 entitled. " Good ! " said my friend, " you shall 
 have your choice; take either the main road or 
 the pathway, whichever you wish, and I will go 
 by the other ; but if you attempt to stop me, or 
 approach me, I will shoot you without further 
 notice," and suiting his action to the word he 
 covered the man with his revolver. After a 
 moment for reflection his opponent gave way 
 and allowed him to pass on unmolested, only 
 muttering some disparaging allusions as he 
 did so. 
 
 There is nothing in San Fructuoso calling for 
 special notice, but some of its surroundings have 
 considerable interest for those to whom Nature 
 in all her varied phases presents never-ending 
 attractions. 
 
 Upon the river Tacuarembo Chico, which flows 
 past it, one gets many glimpses of tranquil beauty 
 from a boat floating down the current in its 
 
SAN FRUCTUOSO 149 
 
 normal summer condition. The width of the 
 stream then averages from forty to fifty yards, 
 with a depth of nine or ten feet, though in places 
 it is only two or three feet deep, affording good 
 crossing for those on horseback. 
 
 Here and there a double channel surrounds an 
 island, where wild fowl live a life of retirement 
 for the most part undisturbed. Then, again, the 
 surface of the water spreads out in a picturesque 
 bay, along the margin of which aquatic plants, 
 with flowers of various colours, form an indeter- 
 minate boundary. Both banks of the river are 
 for the most part thickly wooded. Willows with 
 a delicate yet luxuriant foliage, unknown in 
 colder climates, dip the points of their weeping 
 branches into the stream as it ripples past. 
 Forest trees make their appearance here and 
 there, while evergreens in endless variety, among 
 them a very fragrant one of the myrtle family 
 in full blossom, occupy the intervening space. 
 The crimson-flowering Mimosa, with its brush- 
 like blossoms, is to be seen on all sides ; nor are 
 climbing plants unrepresented in the general dis- 
 play. Bright yellow and delicate mauve-coloured 
 bignonias hang from the branches of the trees 
 
150 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 around which they have entwined themselves, 
 contributing their full share to the brilliancy of 
 the scene. When the sun is not too high the 
 light and shade cast upon the varied foliage 
 intensifies the general effect; but, if the heated 
 glare wearies the beholder's eye, a soothing 
 change is easily obtainable by looking at the 
 mimic representation of the scene mirrored in 
 water as smooth as glass. 
 
 Animal life adds interest to these surroundings. 
 An occasional water-hog (carpincho) plunges into 
 the river from the bank on which he lay basking 
 lazily in the sun, uttering a bark-like grunt as he 
 disappears. The giant kingfisher drops from some 
 overhanging bough upon his finny prey, or betakes 
 himself to a more distant post, protesting, with 
 discordant chatter, against the disturbance of his 
 retreat. Two lesser relatives of his there are that 
 occasionally follow his example and contribute to 
 swell the volume of complaint. 
 
 While rowing in these placid waters one often 
 sees the dwarf-heron, the smallest of its tribe, 
 standing scarcely six inches high. It is a beauti- 
 ful little bird, with slate - coloured body and 
 yellow legs, a black crest and dark beak, also 
 
SAN FRUCTUOSO 151 
 
 dark covering feathers to the wings, and a brown 
 stripe down the breast. White herons and others 
 of ordinary slate colour, exactly like our own at 
 home, from time to time fly up from some seques- 
 tered nook as we row along, and seek retirement 
 elsewhere. In the thicket the calandria sings 
 to his mate upon her nest, while from the 
 glades beyond the fringe of trees the plaintive 
 whistle of the larger partridge (martinetta) gives 
 warning of the approaching close of day. As 
 we turn a sudden bend in the river's course, a 
 flock of doves with a couple of hawks, frightened 
 into strange companionship by the approach of 
 a common enemy, fly off and leave us to pursue 
 our course till darkness falls upon us, and the 
 night-herons come out to follow their calling in 
 company with the vampire bats. 
 
 Near where I lived there was a placid lake, 
 on which the willows growing on its margin 
 were so clearly represented, that it was difficult 
 to say where the tree itself ended and its re- 
 flected image in the water began. Gay-coloured 
 blossoms of various aquatic plants decked the 
 surface of this lake in summer, their leaves 
 matted together forming floating islands, upon 
 
152 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 and among which a numerous young family of 
 water-hens were wont to disport themselves. 
 
 They were most gaudy birds of the kind, 
 possessing red bodies and golden-coloured wings. 
 Such is a correct description of them when 
 flying, but when on the ground or in the 
 water, they appeared to be altogether red. It 
 must, therefore, have been the under side of the 
 wings only that was yellow. 
 
 Here, too, might frequently be seen a pair of 
 white herons standing patiently upon the bank, 
 awaiting a fitting opportunity when some foolish 
 young frog or other edible delicacy ventured 
 within reach of their long, sharp bills, to show 
 with what unerring swiftness and dexterity they 
 can strike their prey. 
 
 Any description of San Fructuoso and its sur- 
 roundings that did not embrace some notice of 
 the " fern grotto," not far distant from it, 
 would give but an imperfect impression of the 
 locality. Thither I will now ask my readers to 
 accompany me, and to rest for a while beneath 
 its grateful shade, while I endeavour to reproduce, 
 though in dim perspective, some of its leading 
 features. It lies hidden away among the hills, 
 
SAN FRUCTUOSO 153 
 
 and one comes upon it unexpectedly, if unaccom- 
 panied by a guide. It is a perfect little gem of 
 almost tropical scenery, wholly unlike the character 
 of the surrounding country. It would look as if 
 it had been transferred from its natural position 
 by some magic power to a more southern latitude, 
 where men might view its beauties under more 
 comfortable conditions than are attainable in the 
 torrid zone. 
 
 The name, however, is somewhat misleading, as 
 there is no cave or grotto to be seen, but only a glen 
 flanked by steep rocky cliffs of most picturesque 
 appearance. Through it runs a rippling brook, 
 the banks of which are clothed with a rich growth 
 of ferns in great variety, among them being two 
 flowering kinds I had not seen before. Large 
 trees, with branches covered with mosses and 
 orchids, afford both shade and shelter to tree-ferns 
 varying in height from fifteen to nineteen feet. 
 The fronds of these latter are of immense size, 
 and delicately formed, shooting from a stem 
 almost worthy of a palm-tree, and hanging down 
 in graceful drooping curves. Here and there 
 beautiful flowers interpose between the ferns, 
 upon those favoured spots where sunlight falls 
 
154 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 with unimpeded brightness, making up patches of 
 colouring that would charm an artist's eye. 
 
 The whole effect is lovely and soothing, and 
 it makes an impression upon the memory that 
 is very pleasant to recall. The power of Nature 
 is displayed in a manner so lavish, that were one 
 to try to copy it on canvas, the fault of over- 
 crowding could scarcely be avoided ; yet looking 
 around on all sides, I defy the most critical 
 observer to suggest a single alteration that would 
 improve the general effect. 
 
 You would, perhaps, remove that fallen tree or 
 those withered fern fronds, and leave nothing but 
 what was fresh and young and beautiful to be 
 seen ? My friend ! you would paint your land- 
 scape without lights and shades upon it. It 
 should present no hint of death or of decay. A 
 pleasant composition truly ! but only suited to 
 hang upon the walls of Paradise, and not well 
 calculated to appeal to beings such as we are, 
 with the force of Nature's own treatment of the 
 subject. 
 
CHAPTER XIII 
 IN THE GARDEN 
 
 THERE are few places where a busy man can 
 spend a more enjoyable half -hour, when he 
 happens to have the rare good luck to be able 
 to indulge in an extravagance of the kind, than 
 in his garden. When so engaged his surround- 
 ings exert a soothing influence on his mind, and 
 tend to smooth the asperities only too often in- 
 cident to the occupations of an active life. 
 
 There is much to learn from observation on 
 occasions of the kind, if one enters the enclosure 
 with a mind prepared to receive instruction from 
 the best of all teachers, Nature herself, and to 
 carefully preserve the impressions thus derived 
 in the storehouse of his memory. 
 
 I hope it was in some such spirit as this that 
 I strolled into the garden one bright sunny day, 
 repeating to myself, while I walked along 
 
 " As the sunflower turns on her god when he sets, 
 
 The same look which she turn'd when he rose," 
 
 155 
 
156 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 for a number of these golden blossoms attracted 
 my attention. But my poetical quotation was 
 cut short before I got more than half through 
 the verse, for the flowers themselves, of which 
 the poet sang, were flatly contradicting his state- 
 ment regarding their habits. There was the sun 
 high up in the sky, and not one of his floral 
 worshippers had turned to look at him. On the 
 contrary, they were mostly looking at each other, 
 or on the ground ; but none of them ventured to 
 stare up straight overhead, perhaps from the fear 
 of getting a sun-stroke. 
 
 Surely the poets (for many, both ancient and 
 modern, have written on the subject) cannot 
 have meant that the regard of the sunflower for 
 the luminary of the day was of an intermittent 
 nature, restricted to a look turned towards him 
 twice in the twenty-four hours, when he rose in 
 the morning and set at night. Moore, at least, 
 cannot have intended to convey an impression of 
 this kind, for the lines which follow those I have 
 quoted clearly indicate that the gaze of the sun- 
 flower towards her god was of a continuous nature, 
 following his diurnal track in the heavens. One 
 can't help feeling just a little sorry for the sun- 
 
IN THE GARDEN 157 
 
 flower, and unwilling to mention anything that 
 would tend to lower its status. This is especially 
 the case when we reflect that not so long ago 
 it was brought before us by the professors of 
 aesthetic art as being the most lovely and high- 
 class flower of the garden, " a thing of beauty 
 and a joy for ever." It was to form the model 
 by which those people who set up for culture 
 should regulate their lives. 
 
 Alas that it should be so ! but it is sadly to 
 be feared that these professors were themselves 
 blind leaders of the blind, for as the sunflower 
 faded, the lily blossomed forth in all its purity, 
 and a new aesthetic prophet told us to worship 
 and live up to it. 
 
 Philosophers of this cult are lavish in their 
 praises of its superiority to anything of the kind 
 that had hitherto appeared. This may be so, 
 but, for my part, I should not consider the life it 
 necessitated as altogether one of self-denial. 
 
 As to the purity of the lily, that is indisput- 
 able, and it furnishes a high example in this 
 respect; but the plant possesses other charac- 
 teristics that may not be generally considered so 
 worthy of imitation. For example, it leads a 
 
158 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 proverbially sluggish and idle life, and has an 
 amazing power of absorbing liquids, qualities to 
 which man is sufficiently prone, especially in hot 
 climates, without the necessity for any extra en- 
 couragement to cultivate such habits. 
 
 Perhaps these little difficulties might be over- 
 come by substituting as the exemplar a less 
 thirsty flower for that popular favourite, the lily 
 of the Nile. 
 
 Close beside the sunflowers in the garden stood 
 one that I could recommend, a white trumpet- 
 lily. It is true that its petals had a delicate, 
 crimson - coloured, feathery marking which took 
 somewhat from the purity of their whiteness; 
 but then the flower was abstemious enough in 
 the matter of drinking to satisfy the most rigid 
 teetotaler, though I can't say whether it is less 
 lazy than its Egyptian relative. 
 
 There is a gorgeous flower of the same family, 
 somewhat like our Scarborough lily, but I sup- 
 pose that would shock aesthetic tastes ; and, after 
 all, to live up to a scarlet flower is more than can 
 be reasonably expected from ordinary mortals. 
 
 Leaving worshippers of the higher art to settle 
 all such questions relating to the objects of their 
 
IN THE GARDEN 159 
 
 adoration, we, with humbler pretensions, may occupy 
 our leisure moments in a survey of the pleasant 
 scene before us. Beautiful flowers grow luxu- 
 riantly on all sides, so that the eye rests with 
 satiated pleasure on its surroundings. 
 
 Nor is it inanimate Nature alone that supplies 
 objects of interest to the observer. While gazing 
 at the flowers I almost trod unawares upon an 
 army of black ants that were endeavouring to 
 force a passage through the territory of their 
 red relations. The latter are of much smaller 
 size, but they make up for any deficiency in 
 this respect by an extra venomous and fiery 
 disposition. It is wonderful how quickly one 
 of them can dispose of an antagonist so much 
 larger than himself,* as the black ant is. His 
 usual plan of action is to begin by biting off 
 his foe's legs, and when he has finished this 
 part of the operation he quietly hoists the 
 mutilated trunk on to his back, and walks away 
 with his load, to hide it in a place of safety as 
 an article of food for future use, just as a dog 
 secretes a bone when he is not hungry, or has 
 not sufficient time to devote to the consideration 
 of it at the moment. 
 
160 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 With the red ants it is not easy to get on 
 friendly terms, they are so prone to treat all 
 overtures of the kind with distrust, and to meet 
 them with hostile demonstrations. With the 
 black ones it is less difficult to arrive at a 
 modus videndi, especially out of doors. As an 
 engineer I am naturally interested in all in- 
 dustrial proceedings, and bound to watch with 
 pleasure the work of these busiest of creatures. 
 But when it comes to the building of ant-hills, 
 about the size of small haycocks, on one's bed- 
 room floor, the annoyance and inconvenience far 
 outweigh other considerations, and it becomes 
 necessary to protest against a trespass of the 
 kind. 
 
 The worst of it is, that they look upon all such 
 remonstrances as unreasonable, and this produces 
 strained relations, which frequently end in open 
 war. My experience is, that if once you begin 
 to fight with ants, whatever may be their colour, 
 there is no peace to be had till every one of 
 them is driven out of the locality or otherwise 
 accounted for. 
 
 There were other inhabitants of the place, or 
 rather migratory visitors to it, that spent much 
 
IN THE GARDEN 161 
 
 of their time in the garden. They were the 
 humming-birds, the most charming little creatures 
 in existence. As they darted about from flower 
 to flower, with the sunshine reflected from their 
 feathers, they looked as if they were animated 
 gems emeralds and rubies. At times when 
 they rested, perched upon a telegraph wire, and 
 twittered their experiences to each other, one 
 could almost fancy they were part of a fairy 
 creation. 
 
 Very friendly feathered acquaintances in the 
 garden were the oven-birds. They seek the 
 dwellings of men, and build their nests in their 
 vicinity, apparently for safety and companionship. 
 The bird is not quite so large as a thrush, of 
 a brown colour, and has an unmusical song of 
 its own, of which it is quite as proud in its way 
 as the nightingale might be of its unmatched 
 performance. The name is derived from the 
 character of the bird's nest, which is a round, 
 dome-shaped structure, built of mud, and bear- 
 ing some resemblance to the primitive baking 
 ovens one occasionally meets with in the country. 
 It is divided internally by a partition into two 
 compartments communicating with each other, 
 
162 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 that next the door doing duty for an entrance 
 hall, and the one inside being the dwelling-room, 
 or nest proper. 
 
 At first I thought the two rooms suggested a 
 rather conceited sort of bird, that fancied itself 
 higher in the social scale than most others of the 
 feathered tribe, which are content with one apart- 
 ment. The nest being roofed in I did not mind 
 so much, for many other birds also adopt that 
 wise arrangement. A peculiar strut in the oven- 
 bird's walk seemed to corroborate the idea as to 
 its having an exaggerated opinion of its own 
 importance. 
 
 In this estimate of its character I was wrong, 
 and I now publicly retract it, and apologise for 
 having attributed such unworthy motives as pride 
 or conceit to the oven-bird. 
 
 I had an opportunity of seeing the great prac- 
 tical advantage of its style of domestic architec- 
 ture. A pair of birds of this description built 
 their nest on the cornice of the house in which 
 I lived, and their young family were brought up 
 in it, and almost fledged and ready for flight, 
 when a stranger called to visit them one day 
 while their parents were absent. It was by no 
 
IN THE GARDEN 163 
 
 means the sort of acquaintance that the old birds 
 would have chosen for their children, for the 
 visitor was no other than a kestrel. It alighted 
 at the nest, the door of which was too small to 
 admit of its entering, but it stretched in first one 
 of its claws and then the other, and made several 
 attempts to seize and drag out some of the young 
 inmates. At this point I came to their rescue, 
 and the kestrel flew to a tree close by, where it 
 watched my movements, coming back to the 
 nest when I went away, and renewing its at- 
 tempts to get at the young birds, but unsuccess- 
 fully. Had there been only one room in that 
 home, it is scarcely probable that the attack of 
 the hawk would have ended fruitlessly as it did. 
 
 There was a further interest for me attaching 
 to this particular nest, for when the oven-birds 
 were- done with it, and their young ones had 
 grown up and gone out into the world, two 
 swallows took possession of the nest, attracted 
 to it, possibly, by the recommendation of its 
 burglar - proof qualities, and brought up their 
 family in it also. 
 
 I may here mention that the swallow proper 
 of South America is not the same bird as the 
 
164 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 European one, being larger and clumsier, and 
 having a less sharply forked tail than the latter. 
 But as regards house-martins, after repeated and 
 close observations of them, they seemed to me to 
 be the same in both countries. 
 
 It was not only in the daytime that the garden 
 proved an agreeable retreat. Frequently in the 
 evenings I used to sit there, breathing the cool 
 refreshing air after a day of more than usual heat 
 in summer, and gazing at the Southern Cross, 
 which I would have willingly exchanged for the 
 Ursa Major of the northern hemisphere. 
 
 It must be confessed, however, that the voices 
 of the night, breaking the surrounding stillness 
 from time to time, were sometimes neither musical 
 nor attractive. There is an extraordinary race 
 of frogs inhabiting the neighbourhood of a lake 
 close by the garden I have been describing, 
 that " mew " like a cat. Their vocal performances 
 are evidently controlled by a single conductor 
 or bandmaster. In the midst of the most pro- 
 found silence, one may be startled to hear what 
 seems at first to be the mewing of a cat. The 
 spell is broken, and a thousand other throats 
 take up the cry, repeating it with monotonous 
 
IN THE GARDEN 165 
 
 iteration, until at some preconcerted signal all 
 stop together as suddenly as they began. Then 
 the large frog of discontented mind and grumbling 
 habits, never tired of airing his own grievances 
 in a note of deepest bass, addresses the assembled 
 multitude, receiving croaks of approbation from 
 time to time when he makes a point of more 
 than usual force. I feel certain that the subject 
 of his discourse, whenever I have listened to him, 
 was always the same a strong denunciation of 
 the railway people, who had drained his native 
 swamp to some extent, thus lessening his " marshy 
 joys." In fact, his estimate of the progress of his 
 country was that it was going from bad to worse 
 with the speed of an express train and the ease 
 with which the Latin poet tells us the descent 
 to Avernus can be made, a sentiment in which 
 the others of his kind appeared to concur 
 unanimously. 
 
 Next came the little green tree-frog, that ad- 
 dressed the audience in a musical voice, with a 
 metallic ring in it. This family take a much 
 less depressing view of things in general than 
 that entertained by the preceding orator. They 
 sing in chorus a more lively refrain, that seems 
 
1 66 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 to indicate a belief in the approach of better 
 times. 
 
 Lastly, there was a frog in that neighbour- 
 hood with a voice like the note of a policeman's 
 whistle, which he often sounded when he thought 
 that the others had been discoursing or occupy- 
 ing public attention too long. This frog seems 
 to discharge a somewhat similar function among 
 batrachians to that for which the clepsydra, or 
 water-clock, was used by the ancient Greeks to 
 regulate the period allotted to speakers. 
 
 As regards its peculiar note, several times 
 have I been startled by it, thinking that a 
 policeman was calling for assistance. 
 
 But by far the most weird of the voices of 
 the night was the cry of the brown stork. The 
 first time I heard it I was going into the garden, 
 when dreadful shrieks, that seemed to be uttered 
 by some one in great agony, reached my ear. 
 I felt sure a murder was being committed quite 
 close to me, -^07 revolver in hand, I rushed to 
 the spot from whence the sounds seemed to 
 come, but could find nothing to account for 
 them. I feared that I had come upon the scene 
 too late to be of any use, that the crime had 
 
IN THE GARDEN 167 
 
 been already accomplished, and the victim's voice 
 silenced in death, while darkness favoured the 
 murderer's escape. 
 
 In pursuing my search I disturbed a stork of 
 the kind to which I have alluded, and it flew 
 away, repeating as it went off a series of dreadful 
 shrieks similar to those that had at first startled 
 me, thus affording an explanation of the mystery 
 of the moment. 
 
CHAPTER XIV 
 THE FOUR-LEAFED SHAMROCK 
 
 " I'LL seek a four-leafed shamrock " sang the 
 minstrel, and, if I remember rightly, in the event 
 of his search being successful he expected to 
 become surpassingly fortunate and happy for the 
 remainder of his life. 
 
 Well, the bard's romantic wish, for the ac- 
 complishment of which he was prepared to travel 
 over the entire surface of the globe, was realised 
 in my case, at least so far as obtaining a specimen 
 of the magic plant is concerned. Nor was I 
 looking for it at the time. On the contrary, 
 I was merely gathering wild flowers when I came 
 upon and secured a specimen of the four-leafed 
 shamrock itself. _~ 
 
 Ever since that auspicious moment I have 
 been awaiting the advent of the extra happiness 
 and good fortune that my precious possession 
 is to bring me. In fact I am living in a state 
 
 1 68 
 
THE FOUR-LEAFED SHAMROCK 169 
 
 of perpetual suspense, like Sidney Smith's de- 
 scription of a " young clergyman distantly related 
 to a bishop." Of course I know that the good 
 luck must come sooner or later, but occasional 
 doubts will arise, suggesting that it is stopping 
 over long upon the way. In the meanwhile I 
 may occupy myself by describing other kindred 
 plants in Uruguay. 
 
 There are many trefoils to be met with, all of 
 them closely allied to each other, and to the 
 shamrock from which I plucked my treasure, 
 though differing from it in some essential re- 
 spects. The most common, and at the same 
 time the brightest and most showy, of them I 
 will call the mid- winter primrose, from the time 
 of the year at which its blossoms make their 
 appearance, and their strong resemblance to our 
 own favourite spring flower. They are, however, 
 less delicate in shade, being more of a bright 
 sulphur-yellow. 
 
 Here I may mention that, in Uruguay, winter 
 lacks much of the conventional character of 
 desolation with which we, in northern latitudes, 
 are accustomed to associate it. It is true that 
 there the clouds occasionally open their sluice- 
 
i;o SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 gates and pour down torrents of rain upon the 
 thirsty earth, which has grown brown and parched 
 by summer droughts, until the rivers flood the 
 districts through which they flow, so that the 
 eye grows weary of the waste of waters stretched 
 out before it. But when the floods subside, the 
 desolate scene is replaced with marvellous rapidity 
 by a rich green growth of grass sprinkled every- 
 where with flowers peculiar to the season. 
 
 In addition to the mid-winter primrose, two 
 other trefoils then blossom forth with similarly- 
 shaped flowers, but differing in colour, one of 
 them being white and the other pink. 
 
 The normal number of petals of all three, as 
 in the case of our own primrose, is five, but in 
 this respect both they and it present many ex- 
 amples with great variety of numbers. 
 
 There is another little trefoil common enough 
 in Uruguay, the blossom of which is yellow in 
 colour, and very minute, but differently shaped, 
 being somewhat -like that of the ordinary clover. 
 
 I sometimes think that it was a pity Saint 
 Patrick did not meet with it, and select it as an 
 emblem for his beloved country. Upon each of 
 its leaves is impressed a small but perfectly- 
 
THE FOUR-LEAFED SHAMROCK 171 
 
 shaped heart in a rich chocolate-colour, on a deep 
 green ground. It would perhaps be more ex- 
 plicit were I to adopt the phraseology of the 
 kennel to express my meaning, and describe it as 
 a liver-coloured heart ; but the association of ideas 
 suggested by the composite term is rather too 
 anatomical for my purpose. 
 
 It appears to me that the trefoil in question 
 would represent Hibernian peculiarities more 
 suitably and neatly than the ordinary shamrock 
 does. Its softer and brighter green corresponds 
 more closely with the verdant appearance of the 
 isle itself, while the shrinking nature of the plant 
 would convey a delicate intimation of the modest 
 and retiring side of the Irish character, too often 
 overlooked by those who criticise us. Then, I 
 may add, what better emblem could possibly be 
 found for a land where hearts are always trumps, 
 than that which bears upon its leaves the effigy 
 of a human heart, an organ conventionally ac- 
 cepted as being the source of man's warmest and 
 most susceptible qualities ? 
 
 It is now too late, I fear, to suggest a change 
 of emblems, with any hope of its being generally 
 adopted. If Saint Patrick had not been in such 
 
172 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 a hurry, all might yet be satisfactorily arranged 
 in this respect ; but Irishmen, whether saints or 
 sinners, are always too much inclined to be 
 impetuous. 
 
 Of course I cannot but be aware that in treating 
 Saint Patrick as being unquestionably an Irishman 
 by birth, I am falling foul of the fond aspirations 
 of those enthusiastic Scots who would like to 
 claim him as a countryman of their own, and of 
 the historians who assert that he was born in 
 Gaul, and brought over captive to Ireland by that 
 celebrated warrior, " Mall of the Nine Hostages," 
 who sold the future saint into slavery in Armagh 
 for the price of a yearling calf. As regards the 
 claim of the Scotchmen, I don't blame them in 
 the least degree for striving to associate Saint 
 Patrick with Saint Andrew in the responsibilities 
 of the position of patron saint and representative 
 of their country. I grant them, too, that the Irish 
 were first called Scots, and whatever advantage 
 they can derive from that they are justly entitled 
 to ; but with every wish to oblige our neighbours 
 in all reasonable matters, I cannot bring myself 
 to willingly resign to them our national saint. 
 
 Looking next to the pretensions set up on 
 
THE FOUR-LEAFED SHAMROCK 173 
 
 behalf of Gaul, they rest in my opinion upon an 
 unphilosophical treatment of the historical element 
 in the question. The contention appears to be 
 that because the youth, who afterwards became 
 the saint, was found in Gaul, he must, therefore, 
 have been born there. This is a clear case of 
 non sequitur. If you find that curiosity " a fly in 
 amber," it by no means follows that the insect 
 was born in the interior of the solid in which 
 it has been discovered imbedded. 
 
 The fact is worthy of consideration, that there 
 was a considerable amount of intercourse between 
 Ireland and Gaul, and many other parts of the 
 continent of Europe, at and before the period to 
 which our speculations relate. Did not the 
 celebrated Irish warrior, Carausius, a County 
 Wexford man, become Roman Emperor ? And 
 if we read the history of our country carefully, 
 we shall find that Irish monarchs and soldiers of 
 fortune of those times were perpetually leading 
 military expeditions into Gaul and elsewhere. It 
 may, therefore, well be the case that the future 
 Saint Patrick, when a boy, accompanied one 
 of them as page, or in some other honourable 
 capacity, and that he was captured and left 
 
174 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 behind, to be subsequently recaptured and brought 
 back to Ireland by " Niall of the Nine Hostages," 
 who, with that aptitude for business transactions 
 for which he was celebrated, turned him at once 
 into ready money. 
 
 I will only refer to one other circumstance 
 which seems to me to point strongly to Ireland 
 as the place of Saint Patrick's birth. It is but 
 natural that any man, and especially a saint, 
 should love his native country above all others. 
 Did not Saint Patrick, I would ask, show extra 
 affection for Ireland in banishing from her shores 
 both snakes and toads for ever, while he pro- 
 nounced no similar interdict, as far as history 
 records, against them either in Gaul or Caledonia ? 
 
 
CHAPTER XV 
 THE SNAKE IN THE GRASS 
 
 Latet anguis in herbd, so runs the Latin proverb ; 
 and perhaps a well-bred snake that knows what 
 is expected of it, and acts up to its responsi- 
 bilities, does usually lie concealed in the grass. 
 Nor have I any great personal objection to the 
 habit, provided I happen to be wearing long boots 
 when I come across one. But if the classical 
 authority is correct in this matter, then all I 
 can say is, that I must have mixed in anything 
 but good serpentine society, for those I have 
 met, and their name is legion, were by no 
 means always hidden away in the grass. They 
 frequently appeared to wish for no concealment 
 whatever, but, on the contrary, were inclined to 
 make their presence both known and felt, and 
 that, too, in awkward places, and at the most 
 inconvenient times. If I were called upon to 
 express an opinion in the matter, it would be to 
 
176 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 the effect that no\vhere are you so likely to meet 
 with them as where you least expect to do so. 
 
 For example, who would think a biscuit-box 
 or a teapot a probable place in which to find 
 a living specimen of the kind ? And yet they 
 have been known to try a temporary residence 
 in both these places. I would appeal to any 
 qualified judge in the matter to say whether 
 it is " good form " for a snake to insist upon 
 making a morning call hi your bedroom, just 
 at the critical moment when you are in your 
 bath, and wholly unprepared for the reception 
 of strangers. I have an unpleasant recollection 
 of a visit of the kind. What made matters 
 more uncomfortable was that the unbidden 
 guest did not come alone, but in company 
 with a great, lumbering, ill-visaged toad, with 
 which it affected to be having a game of romps, 
 though I am inclined to think that it meant 
 the sport to end in breakfast. I confess the 
 reception I gave that snake was not of a nature 
 to encourage the cultivation of any closer in- 
 timacy between us, or characterised by any high 
 appreciation of the duties of hospitality, and it 
 left in a hurry. 
 
THE SNAKE IN THE GRASS 177 
 
 When I turned round to attend to the toad, 
 which had been momentarily overlooked in the 
 more animated interview with the snake, it 
 flopped clumsily into the bath, just as if it 
 did not know where it was going. Here was 
 an aggravation to my annoyance, and I called 
 my servant to aid me. He was an Irishman, 
 long resident in South America, yet still re- 
 tained a fresh and fervent hatred of snakes and 
 toads that would have done credit to Saint Patrick 
 himself in olden times. The expression he made 
 use of, however, when he took in the position 
 of affairs was anything but saintly. He was a 
 man of resources, and after the first outburst 
 he said, " Wait, sir, till I lasso him." In a very 
 short time he returned with a piece of fine cord 
 and a loop at the end of it, with which he 
 dexterously entangled the toad, and carried it 
 off in triumph. 
 
 It is a wonderful country for the use of the 
 lasso ; nearly everything is done there by its 
 aid. I almost believe that if a dentist in South 
 America had to extract a tooth, he would begin 
 the operation by lassoing the patient. 
 
 That snakes eat toads I have had frequent 
 
 M 
 
1 78 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 opportunities of learning from niy own observa- 
 tion, having often witnessed the pursuit, the 
 capture, and the repast. Once I came across 
 the dead body of a snake which had been cut 
 in two upon the railway by a passing train, and 
 in its mouth, still held fast, was a toad, also dead. 
 One of our engineers had an experience con- 
 nected with a bath and a snake which I may 
 narrate here, though it throws my own story 
 that I have given above somewhat into the 
 shade, inasmuch as it includes the additional 
 fact that the intelligence of a dog is strikingly 
 exhibited by it. The engineer in question was 
 returning from taking a bath, and walking along 
 a pathway on which his dog was lying down. 
 When my friend got close to the spot, instead 
 of the affectionate reception he was accustomed 
 to, he was met by a savage growl, followed by a 
 sharp, angry bark, indicating the determination 
 of the dog to bar the passage. Looking about 
 him in surprise for some explanation of this 
 extraordinary conduct on the part of an animal 
 whose usual manners were perfect of their kind, 
 he discovered a large snake lying in the path, just 
 before him. Thereupon he retreated cautiously, 
 
THE SNAKE IN THE GRASS 179 
 
 and having procured a stick, returned to settle 
 the disputed " right of way " with the snake, which 
 he killed. When this was accomplished, but not 
 till then, the dog's demeanour changed, and he 
 gave vent to his natural feelings, explaining as 
 well as he could the cause of his previous strange 
 behaviour, and exhibiting in an unmistakable 
 manner his delight at the escape of his master 
 from a danger so imminent. 
 
 As a general rule, one only makes the ac- 
 quaintance of individual snakes at a time, though 
 we do read of their being met with occasionally 
 in the Western States of North America coiled 
 up together in great numbers, in the form of a 
 pyramid. Exceptional circumstances, however, 
 gave me the opportunity of seeing a great many 
 of them in one locality in Uruguay. A valley, 
 in which there was much thick brushwood and 
 coarse grass, and known to be a favourite haunt 
 of snakes, was suddenly flooded, so that they had 
 to swim to dry land in search of new quarters. 
 While thus engaged I saw numbers of them in 
 the water, apparently well able to take care of 
 themselves, and swimming strongly. 
 
 The result of this migration of the snakes was 
 
i8o SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 that the rock embankments of the railway and 
 its broken stone ballast in that locality became 
 thickly inhabited by a colony of them, which 
 made one careful how he picked his steps when 
 walking along the line, as at least two kinds of 
 the snakes to be met with there were venomous. 
 If so, it is only fair to them to state that we lost 
 no men from snake bites, and only one man on 
 the railway works died from the bite of a toad. 
 When my Irish servant told me of his death I 
 inquired the cause of the fatality, and received 
 the characteristic reply, " A frog bit him." 
 
CHAPTER XVI 
 
 LAW AND LAWYERS 
 
 MANY people find occupation in wondering how 
 it happens that legal proceedings, which are 
 designed to keep matters working in a straight 
 and even groove, where injustice should find no 
 place, so frequently produce results exactly the 
 reverse of what they are. intended to accomplish. 
 
 The explanation of this appears plain enough, 
 if one will only take the trouble to look for it 
 in the right place. 
 
 Why start by tying a bandage over the eyes 
 of Justice, and then expect her to see all the 
 more clearly for it, just as if she were a "thought- 
 reader" intent upon finding a pin hidden away 
 in some very unusual cushion ? How can she 
 possibly know when some weight has been put 
 into one of the .scales she holds so fairly balanced 
 in her hand, in order to bring it down unduly ? 
 Depend upon it, many of the miscarriages of 
 
 181 
 
1 82 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 justice, and the wrongs committed by her repre- 
 sentatives, in her name, are due to her bandaged 
 eyes in the game of legal " blind man's buff." 
 
 South America presents a wide field for in- 
 vestigating the curious problems that so often 
 arise out of legal proceedings. The growth of 
 lawyers there somewhat resembles the ordinary 
 vegetation of the country in its tropical profusion, 
 and the similitude extends to the rank legal 
 weeds sometimes to be met with. These tend 
 at times to choke and conceal the purer and 
 more wholesome vegetation. 
 
 It is a pity that such should be the case, as I 
 have met with many excellent men connected 
 with the law in South America who would re- 
 flect credit upon any country. It must not be 
 forgotten that it is not about such as they are, 
 but about exceptional members of the legal pro- 
 fession, that I am now writing. My personal ex- 
 perience of this latter class is scarcely of sufficient 
 importance to be recalled, except as exhibiting a 
 phase of the matter that is not without interest. 
 
 Some of these peculiar people to whom I have 
 referred endeavoured to organise opposition to 
 the railway on the part of the landowners, that 
 
LA W AND LA WYERS 183 
 
 gave us a good deal of trouble. Others went 
 about among our workmen and sub-contractors, 
 inquiring whether they had any complaints to 
 make of us, and generously offering, if they had, 
 to take legal proceedings against us on their be- 
 half, free of cost to the claimant. 
 
 One sub-contractor, who was doing his work so 
 badly that we were obliged to take it out of his 
 hands and finish it ourselves, listened to the per- 
 suasion of a philanthropic lawyer of the kind I 
 have described, and made large demands upon us 
 for damages. The strange part of the business 
 was, that the contractor's excuse for the manner 
 in which his work was done had previously been 
 that his prices were too low, and consequently 
 he could not afford to do any better, as he was 
 losing heavily by his contract. 
 
 But when the lawsuit began it changed the 
 whole aspect of affairs, for it then appeared that 
 his anticipated profits, which he had been pre- 
 vented realising, amounted to even more than the 
 total estimated cost of the works he had under- 
 taken to complete. This was a curious circum- 
 stance, which I thought would of itself be 
 sufficient to dispose of the matter. 
 
184 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 But in this I was mistaken, as the judge did 
 not appear to think it strange that a part should be 
 greater than the whole, notwithstanding Euclid's 
 opinion to the contrary. The lawsuit dragged its 
 slow length along from month to month, and we 
 were threatened with all manner of pains and 
 penalties, the least of which was an application 
 for an injunction to prevent the railway being 
 opened for traffic until the case was settled. 
 Matters looked very gloomy, and while still in this 
 condition the judge before whom the case was 
 proceeding required further proof on some point 
 from our opponent. 
 
 This gave great offence. His lawyer rushed 
 into print, and published a violent letter in the 
 local newspaper, taxing the judge with corruption, 
 and boldly asserting that he had been bribed 
 (contempt of court does not appear to have 
 reached that region yet). Our lawyer was de- 
 lighted ; he rubbed his hands with glee, and said 
 the case was as good as won for us. Nor was he 
 far wrong in his opinion, for shortly afterwards 
 overtures for a settlement were made by the 
 opposite side, which resulted in their accepting, 
 as payment in full, the amount we had been 
 
LA W AND LA WYERS 185 
 
 prepared to lodge in court at the opening of the 
 trial, ^as the balance due to the contractor on 
 account of the works executed by him up to 
 the time when they had been taken out of his 
 hands. 
 
 I subsequently heard that this settlement gave 
 rise to a new complication between the lawyer 
 and his client, as the former not only absorbed 
 the whole of the money we paid, but demanded 
 more, what he had received being, he said, insuf- 
 ficient to pay his costs. 
 
 But it is necessary to go beyond the confines 
 of Uruguay to other parts of South America if we 
 desire to study the subject of law and lawyers on 
 a larger and higher scale. 
 
 An extraordinary and suggestive case occurred 
 in a neighbouring republic in the year 1892. 
 
 A farmer, in a lonely situation, with no one but 
 his wife living in the house with him, sold some 
 cattle one evening to a dealer who was passing 
 by. That night there was a knock at his door, 
 and when it was opened two men with blackened 
 faces rushed in, and demanded the money re- 
 ceived for the cattle. The farmer was a plucky 
 fellow, and gave a flat refusal to the request, 
 
i86 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 whereupon the robbers tied him up and threatened 
 to kill him. His frightened wife pleaded for her 
 husband, and offered to show where the money 
 was hidden if only they would spare his life. 
 This proposition being agreed to, one man 
 mounted guard over his prisoner, while the other 
 accompanied the woman into the bedroom to 
 get the money. There she placed the candle on 
 a table, and opened a chest containing clothes to 
 look for the object of her search. 
 
 It proved, however, to be of a very different 
 kind to what the robbers expected. 
 
 She laid hold of a loaded revolver, with which 
 she shot the man who had accompanied her to 
 the room, and when his companion, hearing the 
 noise, rushed to the door and saw what had hap- 
 pened, and that the woman had got him carefully 
 covered with the weapon she had shown herself 
 so expert in using, he fled from the house in dis- 
 may. The courageous wife then set free her 
 husband, and they prepared to resist another 
 attack, expecting that the man who escaped 
 would return with a stronger party during the 
 night-time. But they were not further molested, 
 and when the neighbours and police visited the 
 
LAW AND LA WYBRS 187 
 
 scene next morning, it was discovered that the 
 dead body lying in the house was that of the 
 attorney-general of the district. 
 
 One of the newspapers headed its comments 
 on the affair with the title of "A nice thing in 
 Attorney-Generals," while another publicly ex- 
 pressed the opinion that the robber who had 
 escaped was most probably a judge of the 
 criminal court. 
 
 This was certainly a strange development, for 
 in the present day one does not expect to find 
 prominent officers of justice emulating the his- 
 toric exploits of Dick Turpin and his brotherhood 
 of the road. 
 
 More recently a curious case, also unconnected 
 with Uruguay, arose out of ordinary law pro- 
 ceedings ; not amateur acting like the example 
 previously cited, but a regular performance upon 
 the ordinary legal stage. I am obliged to admit, 
 however, that one of the actors in it belonged to 
 my own profession. 
 
 It was the case of a railway which crossed 
 some swampy iand in a remote district, taking a 
 portion of it that was valued by experts in the 
 usual way. But the price they put upon it did 
 
i88 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 not satisfy the owner, and the matter went to 
 legal arbitration. 
 
 The company's representative was willing to 
 give double the valuation in order to settle the 
 question out of court, but the landowner's arbi- 
 trator stood out for between two and three 
 hundred times the valuation. An engineer was 
 called in to act as umpire, and he fixed the price 
 at about one hundred times the value placed 
 upon the land by the original experts. 
 
 Against this decision the railway company 
 appealed to the court, but the judge confirmed 
 it. The peculiarities of the transaction were 
 stated by a newspaper commenting upon it to 
 be, that the nominal proprietor and his arbi- 
 trator were subsequently discovered to be partners 
 in the ownership of the land, while the judge 
 who decided the case was a third partner, and 
 the paper added that the umpire laboured under 
 strong public suspicion of being a fourth. 
 
 I knew of a railway which at one part of its 
 length passed through an extensive property that, 
 at the time I mention, was before* the court for 
 the purpose of having the succession to it formally 
 declared. There were so many heirs who laid 
 
LA W AND LA WYERS 189 
 
 claim to an interest in it, that the difficulty of 
 deciding between them, or apportioning the rela- 
 tive shares in which they were entitled to in- 
 herit it, appears to have quite surpassed the 
 judge's arithmetical powers, so he was said to 
 have hit upon the simpler expedient of throwing 
 over the claimants altogether, and divided the 
 property between himself and an individual high 
 in power. 
 
 Another curious case came to my knowledge 
 incidentally. I was sitting reading in my room 
 in a hotel in a remote district one night, when 
 I heard a knock at the door, which was then 
 opened, and in walked an officer, who gave me a 
 polite message from the governor of an adjoining 
 province in a neighbouring republic, who also 
 happened to be there at the time, and, hearing 
 of my presence, politely sent to ask me to come 
 hi and have coffee with him. Upon entering his 
 room I found a number of gentlemen collected 
 there. The conversation was of a general char- 
 acter, but it was easy to see it was no ordinary 
 social gathering, and that the object of their 
 meeting must relate to some business of im- 
 portance. I therefore remained but a short time 
 
190 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 with the assembled company, and then took my 
 departure, leaving them to proceed with the work 
 they had in hand, of which I subsequently dis- 
 covered the nature. 
 
 A claim to establish a right to a very large tract 
 of land had been before the court for years, with- 
 out any prospect of a settlement being arrived at. 
 In fact, the lawsuit was said to have been an 
 heirloom in the family of the claimant, handed 
 down from father to son, until it came to the 
 representative in the present generation. He was 
 one of those philosophical people believing in the 
 maxim that " half a loaf is better than no bread," 
 and it was said he endeavoured to convert some 
 influential persons to his views in this respect. 
 
 There are people who seem to be able to 
 command success, and he was one of them. 
 Justice, that had been sleeping soundly for many 
 previous generations, suddenly awoke, and de- 
 cided the lawsuit in his favour, and the gentle- 
 men whom I had seen at the hotel were met 
 together to arrange the necessary proceedings for 
 giving effect to the decree of court. The result 
 was the wholesale eviction of a district as large 
 as an Irish county. 
 
LA W AND LA WYERS 191 
 
 Indulging in peculiar legal practice, however, 
 occasionally gets one into trouble, and sometimes 
 into something else. I remember hearing of a 
 judge who tried the game once too often, and as 
 a consequence, became himself the inmate of a 
 prison, to which he had in his time consigned 
 many a delinquent. 
 
CHAPTER XVII 
 
 AMATEUR DIPLOMACY 
 
 " ONE never knows what he can do till he tries " 
 is a trite but true saying. His capabilities may 
 lie hidden and undiscovered by casual observers, 
 and even unsuspected by himself, until the divin- 
 ing rod of necessity upon being applied indicates 
 their existence and nature. I have not served in 
 the "foreign office," nor studied in the school 
 that teaches the chief use of words is to conceal 
 one's thoughts, and yet, when brought face to face 
 with a diplomatic difficulty and I have had to 
 enter the lists without being encased in the usual 
 educational armour for protection in an encounter 
 of the kind I think I may, without undue boast- 
 ing, claim to have been fairly successful. 
 
 One day a man of ours went into the town of 
 Santa Ana do Libramento, in Brazil, with a couple 
 of saddled horses for the use of engineers who 
 were stopping at the hotel there. After he had 
 
AMATEUR DIPLOMACY 193 
 
 passed the police barracks he heard a whistle, and 
 upon looking round saw a policeman, who said he 
 wanted to speak to him. Our man replied he 
 would come back in a moment, when he had left 
 the horses at the hotel, to which he pointed, a few 
 yards farther on in the street. This he did, but 
 on his way back, instead of going straight to the 
 police office he most improperly stopped at a 
 shop to buy a packet of cigarettes. While so 
 engaged the policeman entered and demanded 
 why he had not stopped at once when first 
 accosted. An angry altercation ensued, and the 
 policeman drew his sword, which our man wrested 
 from him and threw away. The representative 
 of law and order next produced his revolver, but 
 was speedily disarmed of this weapon also, and it 
 shared the fate of the sword. 
 
 At this stage of the proceedings some other 
 policemen came running up, and separated the 
 combatants. They then arrested our man and 
 took him to the barracks, where he was brought 
 up at once before the officer in charge. The first 
 thing done was to search him, when, fortunately, 
 he was found to have no weapon of any kind 
 about him. The officer then demanded what he 
 
 N 
 
194 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 meant by trying to murder the policeman, and 
 drawing his sword, gave the prisoner a severe cut 
 with it across the head and arm, following up the 
 attack by a thrust which the intended victim 
 avoided by springing hastily aside. 
 
 In the meanwhile his master, who was the 
 engineer in charge of the adjoining district of the 
 railway, and resided close by, called at the police 
 office, saw the officer, and expressed his regret 
 for any misconduct his servant had been guilty 
 of, and offered at the same time to give satis- 
 factory bail for his appearance when called upon, 
 if they would let him out in order that his 
 wounds might be dressed. This request was 
 rudely refused, and our engineer was turned out 
 of the office ; but later in the day the man was 
 set free, and no subsequent proceedings were 
 taken against him. 
 
 I laid the case before her Majesty's minister 
 at Montevideo, a most accomplished and obliging 
 gentleman, who at once undertook to have the 
 matter properly represented to the Brazilian 
 Government at Rio de Janeiro. For this purpose 
 he required the sworn depositions of the Brazilian 
 people who had been spectators of the scene. 
 
AMATEUR DIPLOMACY 195 
 
 These latter, although strong in their denunciation 
 of the action of the police at the time, were afraid 
 to put their testimony in writing, saying they 
 should be marked down for subsequent injury if 
 they did so. Lacking these necessary documents, 
 regular diplomacy could not be put in motion, 
 so that we were thrown back upon our own 
 resources. We had a large intercourse with 
 Brazil at the time, and were in the habit of buy- 
 ing a considerable quantity of timber and other 
 materials for the construction of the railway there, 
 and I feared if we allowed the matter to drop 
 the police would consider themselves privileged to 
 treat our people with scant consideration, which 
 might place us in a very awkward position at 
 times. I therefore adopted the course I thought 
 most likely to bring them to a more rational frame 
 of mind. I issued orders that no person em- 
 ployed upon our railway works in Uruguay should 
 cross the frontier of Brazil, and that no further 
 purchases of material should be made there. 
 This, as I anticipated it would, produced immense 
 dissatisfaction. Several merchants and others 
 begged me to withdraw the order ; but I was 
 obdurate, and refused to do so. I made it clear 
 
196 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 to them that we were obliged to protect ourselves 
 against a recurrence of such treatment as we had 
 already received at the hands of the police. 
 
 Different people volunteered to negotiate an 
 arrangement of the difficulty between us and 
 Brazil, but I declined the offer of their good 
 offices, and refused to enter into any negotiations 
 until I had received a written apology from the 
 authorities. 
 
 When this unsatisfactory position of affairs had 
 lasted for some time, there carne to me one day 
 an officer with whom I was well acquainted, and 
 told me he was closely related to the general 
 commanding upon the southern frontier of Brazil. 
 He explained that his relative was very much 
 annoyed at what had happened, and most anxious 
 to put an end to the unfriendly feeling existing 
 at the time. For this purpose he desired to know 
 what would satisfy me, so as to withdraw my 
 prohibition, and allow matters to resume the 
 original condition which they occupied before 
 the dispute arose. 
 
 My demand required a written apology, ex- 
 pressing regret for the occurrence, and an under- 
 taking that nothing of the kind should happen 
 
AMATEUR DIPLOMACY 197 
 
 again; the public reprimand and punishment of 
 the officer who had attacked and wounded an 
 unarmed prisoner, also of the policeman with 
 whom the quarrel originated ; and lastly, the 
 issuing of explicit orders that all persons em- 
 ployed upon the railway were to be treated with 
 due regard to what is customary in similar cases 
 among civilised nations. 
 
 These terms were at once agreed to, and I ain 
 bound to say were carried out in no grudging or 
 slipshod manner. Even more than I had asked 
 for was conceded : the policemen of the station 
 were all removed to the interior and replaced by 
 new men, and matters upon the frontier, so far as 
 concerned us, worked well and smoothly for the 
 remainder of the time occupied in the construc- 
 tion of the railway. 
 
 On another occasion 1 had a somewhat per- 
 plexing experience in overcoming a diplomatic 
 difficulty. The engineers and other members of 
 the staff had been working very willingly and 
 hard, early and late, and I thought in recognition 
 of this satisfactory condition of affairs I would 
 give them a dinner at Christmas time in the 
 hotel. My intention was to restrict the guests 
 
198 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 to those who were employed upon the railway, 
 but this was frustrated by the civility of a friend. 
 He was the colonel of a cavalry regiment quar- 
 tered in the town where we were to dine, and, 
 upon hearing of our intended festivity, he begged 
 to be allowed to send his band, which was a very 
 good one, to play for us on the occasion. His 
 kindly proposal could not well be declined without 
 the danger of giving offence, which it was particu- 
 larly desirable to avoid. Having accepted the 
 offer, I had, of course, to ask the colonel himself 
 to make one of the party, explaining at the same 
 time the strictly private nature of the entertain- 
 ment, to which, had it been a public one, we 
 would have extended the invitations to his 
 officers also. 
 
 It then became necessary to ask the chief 
 civilian of the place, the Gefe Politico, for fear 
 of creating jealousy. 
 
 Upon the day of our festivities we met at the 
 hotel, a party of about twenty-four. Everything 
 went well until we came to that critical stage of 
 the proceedings, the introduction of the toasts. 
 At this point I explained to my neighbours on 
 the right and left of me, who represented the 
 
AMATEUR DIPLOMACY 199 
 
 civil and military powers, that our universal cus- 
 tom on occasions of the kind was to propose the 
 health of her Majesty Queen Victoria as the first 
 item on the programme of our festive oratory. 
 
 This suggestion they took very seriously, and 
 after a brief consultation, they informed me they 
 should have to leave the table if the health of 
 the President of the Republic was not the first 
 toast proposed. I appealed ineffectually to their 
 feelings upon the principle of place aiuc dames. 
 I next urged the fact that it was practically a 
 British gathering, and the room, having been 
 hired for the evening, might be considered to Le 
 British territory for the moment ; but their views 
 on international law would not take them so far 
 as to admit the correctness of my contention. 
 
 The reader may, perhaps, fancy that the solu- 
 tion of the difficulty was as obvious as it was 
 simple, and entirely in my own hands. All that 
 was necessary was to have no speeches of any 
 kind that evening. Such a course would have 
 been wholly inapplicable ; for one might as well 
 have a dinner of the kind without eatables or 
 wine, as without toasts when the Spanish ele- 
 ment was present. 
 
200 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 As a last resource I explained to our official 
 guests that I thought they were just a little 
 too careful of the dignity of the ruler of the 
 Republic, in forbidding a custom that I had 
 been allowed to follow on similar occasions in 
 foreign countries on the continent of Europe. 
 This softened their hearts, and they withdrew 
 all further opposition to the course I proposed 
 adopting. They drank her Majesty's health 
 enthusiastically, cheered lustily, and joined us in 
 singing "God save the Queen." Immediately 
 following this display of loyalty I proposed the 
 health of the President of the Republic, who, I 
 felt assured, had he been one of the party on 
 that occasion, would have been the first to stand 
 aside and make way for her Majesty. It is just 
 possible that, in gratitude for having been allowed 
 to carry my point, I described the character of the 
 first magistrate of the State rather as it should 
 have been than as it actually was ; for, upon re- 
 flection, I could not help thinking that I struck 
 a key somewhat too high for the general " concert 
 pitch" of South American rulers. Be this as it 
 may, good feeling was perfectly restored, and I 
 believe my own health was proposed at least 
 
AMATEUR DIPLOMACY 201 
 
 half-a-dozen times that evening. On each of 
 these occasions I was found to possess some new 
 and excellent quality previously undiscovered by 
 my most intimate acquaintances. 
 
 "All's well that ends well" we are told, and 
 we may apply the remark to our festivities on 
 that evening. 
 
 It is true my satisfaction with the result has 
 been somewhat modified by the assurance I have 
 since received from an experienced diplomatist, 
 that I was altogether wrong, and guilty of a 
 breach of international etiquette in insisting 
 upon the Queen's health being proposed first 
 in a foreign country. It may be so. As I 
 explained at the beginning of this chapter, I 
 had not been brought up in the devious ways 
 of diplomacy, but, all the same, whether right 
 or wrong, under similar circumstances, I think 
 I would act again as I did before. 
 
CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 PEN VERSUS SWORD 
 
 " THE pen is mightier than the sword " says the 
 enthusiastic journalist, giving publicity to a 
 popular proverb that is a product of the 
 northern hemisphere, not, for so far, as well 
 acclimatised in South America as the friends 
 of that continent could desire. 
 
 For example, what would the unfortunate 
 newspaper editor have to say about it, while 
 smarting from the 309 lashes administered to 
 him by order of an irate colonel whose conduct he 
 had been rash enough to- criticise in his paper ? 
 
 It is true the military gentleman, when asked 
 by the civil power for an explanation of the 
 circumstance, excused himself on the plea that 
 it was all a mistake of orders on the part of the 
 sergeant to whom he had issued them. Whether 
 the poor editor found the explanation entirely 
 satisfactory does not appear, but I think he must 
 
PEN VERSUS SWORD 203 
 
 have acknowledged to himself that in his case 
 at all events the proverb did not hold good. 
 
 There is something curious in the number of 
 the lashes too ; why the extra nine ? Perhaps 
 the colonel had some superstitious belief in the 
 luck that lurks in odd numbers, following the 
 example of our old friend Rory O'More in the 
 song. 
 
 The editorial experience, however, did not 
 happen in Uruguay, but much farther north, 
 where the temperature, the temper, politics, and 
 things generally are much warmer than in the 
 River Plate. 
 
 It is not so very long ago, if report be true, 
 that other curious methods were adopted in South 
 America for dealing with refractory editors. One 
 of this class having given offence to those in power 
 by the freedom of his criticisms, was arrested and 
 confined in a narrow passage between the cages 
 of two jaguars, notorious for their bad tempers, 
 coupled with an intense dislike to the society 
 of men. 
 
 The intervening space was so regulated that 
 neither of the ferocious animals could get its 
 paws quite so far as the middle line between 
 
204 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 the cages, so that a spare, active person, if very 
 careful to follow the classical advice, in medio 
 tutissimus ibis, might manage to pass without re- 
 ceiving any injury, though the achievement would 
 be both exciting and dangerous. But what 
 made the matter still more cruel in this par- 
 ticular case was that the unfortunate editor 
 happened to be very stout, and therefore the 
 more easily reached by the occupants of the 
 cages. Adding insult to injury, he was handed 
 a chair on which to sit, and furnished at the 
 same time with a copy of his own paper, that 
 had brought him into trouble, in order that he 
 might read and meditate upon its contents during 
 his exciting imprisonment. People, jesting about 
 the matter afterwards, which seemed very heart- 
 less, said that the tailor had a rare job repairing 
 the editor's torn clothes when he got out. 
 
 It is probable that this is one of the stories 
 that require to be seasoned with many grains 
 of salt, although an old soldier assured me that, 
 when on guard where the wild animals were kept, 
 he had frequently seen opponents of the Govern- 
 ment of the day meet with a worse fate than that 
 which befell the stout editor. 
 
PEN VERSUS SWORD 205 
 
 There was a trial of strength between the pen 
 and sword, which I remember, that caused con- 
 siderable excitement at the time in the locality 
 where it occurred. A series of fierce attacks was 
 made in a newspaper upon the colonel of a 
 certain regiment, charging him with gross cruelty 
 to those under his command, besides numerous 
 other crimes of a varied and sensational character. 
 That which appeared to be the most startling was 
 that he had occasionally sentenced men to as 
 many as twelve thousand lashes ! If .the culprits 
 possessed the proverbial nine lives of the animal 
 which gives its name to the instrument of torture 
 from the lashes of which they were condemned 
 to suffer, they would have lost them all long 
 before the full sentence had been carried out. 
 
 An additional complaint made against the 
 colonel was, that when his victims had been 
 flogged to death he would not allow them to 
 be buried in consecrated ground, but had their 
 bodies cast into holes dug in the river's bank 
 to receive them, with as little ceremony as would 
 be used in burying the carcass of a dog or cat. 
 
 What a commentary is this upon the stirring 
 ballad of " The Bold Soldier Boy," in which that 
 
206 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 illustrious warrior, Mickey Free, sang the praises 
 of a military life ! One thing is quite certain, 
 that the lot of the South American " Tommy 
 Atkins" is far less happy than that depicted in 
 the verses alluded to. 
 
 For a long time the colonel treated the news- 
 paper attacks with contempt ; but in the end 
 the scandal became so public, that an investiga- 
 tion was ordered, which resulted in his being 
 relieved of his command and relegated to private 
 life in supposed disgrace. I use the qualifying 
 expression, as many people boldly, and persistently, 
 asserted that confidential relations between him 
 and the Government continued to exist. 
 
 While the colonel in question was under the 
 cloud of public disapprobation, and smarting from 
 the loss of his regiment, a friend of mine, who 
 knew him intimately, heard his version of the 
 story, which was narrated to me afterwards, 
 " I did flog the man to death," he said, referring 
 to one particular case, " but what else could I 
 do ? He had committed several murders before 
 he came to me, and he was beginning at his old 
 tricks again. I knew it was useless to hand him 
 over to the civil arm for punishment, as he would 
 
PEN VERSUS SWORD 207 
 
 only be sent back to me for promotion after a 
 while. I had to settle the matter myself, and 
 the twelve thousand lashes did it." In truth 
 there is much force in what the colonel said 
 when put in another form. It is impossible to 
 keep up the discipline of a regiment when its 
 ranks are largely recruited from among the 
 criminal inmates of the gaols, a practice all too 
 common in South America. 
 
 And yet there is something to be said upon 
 the other side to account for its adoption. The 
 life of a murderer, when he has been convicted, 
 seems to be held as particularly precious in that 
 long-suffering land. It shocks the public moral 
 sense to think that a bloodthirsty criminal, whom 
 nothing can reclaim, should be executed, while 
 the cruel fate of his victims arouses but a passing 
 sympathy. 
 
 This forbearing attitude towards the law- 
 breaking classes would naturally produce the 
 undesirable result of gaols full to overflowing, 
 and very costly to maintain, but for the expedient 
 which is frequently resorted to of allowing the 
 inmates to volunteer to serve as soldiers. Such 
 undesirable recruits join their regiments with the 
 
208 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 intention of deserting upon the first favourable 
 opportunity, as shown by a case of the kind 
 conducted upon a wholesale scale, which was 
 mentioned in the chapter on the " Haunt of the 
 Outlaw." In the meantime, while serving with 
 the colours, they are always ready and willing to 
 keep their hands in practice at their original 
 trade, when a chance of doing so presents itself. 
 Under such circumstances, one can easily under- 
 stand how difficult it is for an officer in command 
 of a corps so recruited to keep his men in 
 order. 
 
 The pen having conquered the sword in the 
 contest I have narrated, its wielder, while flushed 
 with victory, laid about him on every side with 
 immense energy. He attacked many persons, 
 holding them up to public odium, one of them 
 being an important government official, who also in 
 the end was superseded ; but whether or not this 
 was due to the newspaper attacks. I cannot say. 
 
 Here again the editor was certainly sufficiently 
 outspoken to satisfy the strongest advocate of 
 candour in the treatment of public men, and the 
 discussion of their actions; but before long an 
 attempt was made to check his reforming ardour 
 
PEN VERSUS SWORD 209 
 
 By this time the enterprising censor of public 
 officials and of others had stirred up a consider- 
 able amount of enmity. He was pretty much 
 in the position of an intruding bluebottle in a 
 hornets' nest, when it has disturbed all the in- 
 mates by its buzzing, and will not let them rest. 
 One night as he left the cafe which he was in 
 the habit of frequenting he was met at the door 
 by a man, who fired at him point-blank with a 
 revolver, to which the editor replied in similar 
 style, whereupon a contest of small-arms ensued, 
 and continued until all the ammunition on both 
 sides was expended, with the curious result that 
 although some dozen shots had been fired, neither 
 of the combatants was anything the worse for the 
 encounter. The only sufferer was a poor stray 
 dog that happened to be passing by at the time, 
 and had the misfortune to get in the way of one 
 of the ill-directed bullets. The aggressor on this 
 occasion, when arrested, proved to have influential 
 friends, and very little was done to him for the 
 double crime of shooting the dog and firing at 
 the editor. 
 
 After this incident the newspaper attacks be- 
 came still more bitter, as was not at all sur- 
 
 o 
 
210 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 prising ; but before long the editor announced his 
 intention of moving from the locality, as he did 
 not find it healthy. 
 
 Here we may take leave of him, but a sub- 
 sequent occurrence in the same town reminds 
 one of him incidentally, as it refers to an episode 
 very similar to his impromptu duel. 
 
 There had been a change made in the whole 
 staff of government officials in the district, and 
 the new second in command, not long after his 
 appointment, was attacked one night in the public 
 street by two men wearing disguises. He de- 
 fended himself pluckily, but received some very 
 severe knife wounds, from which, however, he 
 recovered. One of his assailants was identified, 
 and proved to be related to some one of import- 
 ance, as happened in the similar case previously 
 quoted; but I do not remember to have heard 
 that any punishment was meted out to him 
 either. 
 
CHAPTER XIX 
 
 RIVERA AND SANTA ANA 
 
 IN a previous chapter, near the beginning of this 
 volume, we paid a hurried visit to Rivera, the 
 town of many " first officials," and I now propose 
 to take my readers there once more, in order that 
 they may become better acquainted with it, as 
 well as with its Brazilian neighbour, Santa Ana 
 do Librarnento. 
 
 These twin towns lie upon the frontier between 
 the two republics, and are separated only by a 
 neutral zone or belt 1 1 o yards wide, on which 
 no buildings are erected. 
 
 In this " no man's land " there stands a high 
 hill, from the top of which an extensive view of 
 the surrounding district can be obtained. Be- 
 sides being useful as a post of observation for 
 both countries as to what their neighbours are 
 about, it has interesting geological features, being 
 traversed by a huge trap-dyke. 
 
212 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 At its base there is a bountiful spring of good 
 drinking water, and at no great distance to the 
 west is the source of the river Cunapiru, which, in 
 the lower part of its course, before joining the 
 Tacuareinbo Grande, of which it is a tributary, 
 flows through the goldfields of Uruguay. 
 
 Rivera, which has a population of about 1400, 
 is situated 352 miles to the north of Montevideo, 
 measured along the line of railway that now con- 
 nects them. The road into it from the south 
 crosses the above-mentioned Cunapiru by a small 
 bridge, at which there is a toll-bar. The collector 
 who levied payment at it, and his wife, cor- 
 responded, in one respect, to the theory of that 
 close observer of human nature, Mr. Weller, senior, 
 as regards the class of people who take to keep- 
 ing toll-bars, or pikes, as he called them. They 
 had met with serious disappointments in life; in 
 fact, their history was a very sad and pathetic one, 
 and it was that which caused them to adopt the 
 calling in which I made their acquaintance. So 
 far Mr. Weller was perfectly right, but his further 
 proposition, that it was because people became 
 misanthropical that they took to keeping toll- 
 bars, in order to revenge themselves upon man- 
 
RIVERA AND SANTA ANA 213 
 
 kind, was utterly wrong in this instance, for a 
 kinder or more hospitable couple than those I 
 am writing of it would not be easy to meet with. 
 When our surveying party first reached Rivera 
 these good people insisted upon our dismounting 
 and entering their house, where they regaled us 
 with cherry-brandy. Nor was it on this occasion 
 only that they did so ; each time we passed the 
 toll-bar the hospitality was repeated. 
 
 Now, however popular cherry-brandy may be 
 upon the sideboard, at a hunting breakfast, in our 
 cold northern climate on a damp winter's morn- 
 ing, it is not the most suitable or cooling of 
 drinks on the frontier of Brazil, with the ther- 
 mometer at 1 00 Fahr. in the shade. For this 
 reason, and not wishing to offend these kind and 
 hospitable people, some of us, in order to escape 
 from the dilemma thus arising, frequently risked 
 a ducking by riding across the river at another 
 place where the ford was uncertain. Nor can 
 our enemies assert that by so doing we saved 
 paying toll, for by that time we had contracted 
 with the toll-keeper for a monthly payment to 
 cover all our horses and people. 
 
 The chief trade of Rivera is said to have been of 
 
214 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 a contraband nature ; but this industry received a 
 serious check from the shooting of two of its most 
 vigorous adherents by the police in skirmishes 
 on the frontier, when we were there. One fre- 
 quently hears allusions on both sides of the 
 boundary line to the fact of some article having 
 been brought in " under the poncho," which is the 
 local metaphor to intimate that it was smuggled 
 in. I have even heard the expression used with 
 reference to a piano, an instrument altogether too 
 large and cumbrous to be concealed beneath a 
 poncho, in the literal sense. 
 
 The most attractive spot about Rivera was an 
 old garden full of magnificent orange-trees ; but 
 it is otherwise bare and uninteresting, although 
 both soil and climate are suitable to the growth 
 of many rare plants. 
 
 In a garden at Rivera, while walking one day 
 with the owner, I was startled to hear a savage 
 growl from some wild animal quite close to me. 
 Upon asking for an explanation I was taken to 
 an iron cage, which had been concealed from our 
 view by the thick foliage that intervened. In it 
 was the finest specimen of a young jaguar that 
 I had ever seen. Though not full grown, his coat 
 
RIVERA AND SANTA ANA 215 
 
 was beautifully marked. But the manner in 
 which he received all overtures of friendship 
 from strangers was not calculated to encourage 
 one to persist in the attempt to gain his good 
 will. No doubt he may have inherited infir- 
 mities of temper that were not improved by 
 imprisonment. 
 
 The Brazilian town of Santa Ana do Libramento, 
 which lies to the north of Kivera, is an old estab- 
 lished settlement, with about 1700 inhabitants. 
 One meets everywhere evidence of its age in the 
 fine orange-trees with which its gardens abound. 
 
 It, too, has only a small legitimate trade, but 
 all that is necessary to make both towns pros- 
 perous and important places is the establishment 
 of a well- organised custom-house at the frontier. 
 If this were done, and the corresponding regula- 
 tions framed upon a wise and liberal basis, it 
 would greatly foster the growth of international 
 commerce at this point. 
 
 It is understood that the Governments of both 
 countries recognise the importance of the matter, 
 so that it is to be hoped a favourable solution of 
 the question may ere long be arrived at. 
 
 One of the engineers engaged upon the con- 
 
2i6 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 struction of the railway met with a serious acci- 
 dent at Rivera. He was in the act of dismounting 
 from his horse when his revolver fell to the 
 ground and a cartridge went off, the bullet pass- 
 ing through his leg and imbedding itself in the 
 door-frame of the house he was about to enter. 
 
 A Brazilian surgeon from Santa Ana was called 
 in, who examined and bandaged up the wounded 
 limb. Everything went on well from day to day, 
 and the patient was rapidly regaining his usual 
 health, the wound being almost healed, Avhen the 
 surgeon in attendance said it would be necessary 
 to have an operation, and cut down to the bone 
 to see if it had sustained any injury. My friend 
 asked for an explanation of this extraordinary 
 proposal, as he was not suffering any pain, nor 
 was there any symptom from the first to indicate 
 that the bone had been touched by the bullet. 
 The surgeon admitted these facts, but stuck to 
 his point that the operation was necessary, as it 
 would clear away any possible doubt about the 
 matter. Besides, in performing it he could then 
 get the assistance of another eminent surgeon, 
 which might not be obtained so easily at another 
 time. Thereupon the wounded man said quietly, 
 
RIVERA AND SANTA ANA 217 
 
 " If an operation must be performed, I shall go 
 to Montevideo and have it done in the British 
 hospital there." This was quite another way of 
 looking at the matter, and the doctor agreed to 
 have a consultation the next day about it. He 
 did so, and the conclusion arrived at was that an 
 operation was unnecessary after all, an opinion 
 the correctness of which subsequent experience 
 corroborated. 
 
 At the hotel in Santa Ana I had a narrow 
 escape on one occasion of being asphyxiated. 
 Mosquitoes were very bad at the time, and a 
 waiter gave me a pastille, which he told me to 
 burn when I went to bed, and that it would drive 
 them all away. I followed his directions, with 
 unexpected results. 
 
 Not long after I had gone to sleep I awoke 
 suffocating, and to my horror found myself un- 
 able to get up, or call for help. I could move 
 my arms, however, so I got hold of the candle- 
 stick and struck with it against the door of the 
 next room, which was fortunately within reach of 
 my bed. 
 
 This awoke two friends of mine, who came in 
 to see what was wrong, and when they had 
 
218 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 thrown open door and windows, I soon recovered 
 the power of speech and the use of my limbs. 
 Since then I have been very careful not to try 
 fancy methods for getting rid of mosquitoes. 
 
 Life upon the frontier has its own little excite- 
 ments, as, for example, the shooting of contra- 
 bandists, to which allusion has been already made. 
 Nor are these exponents of " free trade " always 
 the only people to suffer in encounters of the 
 kind ; they frequently retaliate with considerable 
 effect. It is no rare occurrence when near the 
 frontier to have one's rest disturbed by the report 
 of firearms discharged in the preventive service. 
 
 But it is during political commotions that the 
 fun becomes both fast and furious. At such 
 times dwellers near the boundary line have the 
 doubtful advantage of a double supply of excite- 
 ment of the kind, that furnished by the inhabi- 
 tants of both countries. Practically it makes 
 little difference whether it is Uruguayan or Bra- 
 zilian bullets that are flying about. 
 
 When fighting takes place between Government 
 troops and insurgents near the frontier, if the 
 revolutionists are the beaten side they invariably 
 seek refuge on foreign soil. On such occasions 
 
RIVERA AND SANTA ANA 219 
 
 their opponents seldom fail to favour them with 
 a parting feu de joie of ball cartridge, continuing 
 the salute until those in retreat have penetrated 
 farther into the asylum of a friendly territory 
 than a rifle bullet will carry. 
 
 Sticklers for the rights of neutrality may look 
 upon this as a breach of the code which should 
 regulate such matters, but in South America an 
 act of the kind is seldom regarded as much worse 
 than an excess of zeal. 
 
 At such times the neutral belt of ground 
 separating Rivera from Santa Ana becomes a 
 happy hunting-ground for both parties, where 
 " pot-shots " at individuals escaping from either 
 side to the other are held to be legitimate sport. 
 
 The disadvantages of such a condition of affairs 
 were very clearly impressed upon my mind by the 
 remarks of a resident photographer on the subject. 
 Being asked why he kept the shutters up on his 
 shop windows, as we could not see his wares to 
 advantage inside the house, and had to take them 
 out into the street to inspect them : " Well, you 
 see," he replied, " no one can tell when they may 
 begin to shoot, and the bullets destroy so many 
 photographs, and break the ' negatives ' if the 
 
220 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 shutters are off, that I think it better to keep 
 them up." It was impossible not to see the force 
 of his reasoning, and one could not help sym- 
 pathising with the artist. There was nothing 
 querulous about his remark ; he seemed to accept 
 the ruling condition of affairs as natural, and no 
 complaint escaped his lips as to the danger to 
 himself or the members of his family from the 
 action of the "patriots" and their opponents. 
 His plaintive remarks applied solely to the damage 
 to his stock in trade. 
 
 I had an opportunity of judging of other effects 
 of a successful revolution which took place in 
 Brazil while we were engaged upon the construction 
 of the railway to Rivera. I was standing in a 
 Brazilian hotel upon the frontier one night talking 
 to the proprietor, when a policeman of the new 
 regime came in. He was in plain clothes, the 
 only indication of his calling being a rosette in 
 his hat. He walked up to the bar and drank off 
 some refreshment: then, turning towards the 
 door, he made a sign to a party of his companions 
 waiting there, who at once joined him, and all had 
 drinks, which the policeman ordered. I noticed 
 that when leaving he merely nodded to the 
 
RIVERA AND SANTA ANA 221 
 
 bar-keeper, but made no payment. I asked the 
 hotel owner if he allowed people to run up 
 accounts on credit in such an indiscriminate 
 manner, and he replied, " We have to give the 
 new policemen and their friends drinks for nothing, 
 otherwise they might revenge themselves upon 
 us in some way." 
 
 That same revolution provided us with many 
 object-lessons, of which I will only mention one 
 other. 
 
 The Brazilian doctor who attended the engineer 
 with the wounded leg had to fly the country. 
 He had made the political mistake of favouring 
 the losing side, which set many of his fellow- 
 countrymen athirst to take his life. Fortunately 
 he managed to escape in the darkness of the night- 
 time, and arrived at one of our encampments, 
 where he found shelter. From thence he got to 
 the railway, by which he reached Montevideo, 
 and embarked upon a steamer bound for Europe, 
 there to await the return of more peaceful times in 
 Brazil. 
 
CHAPTER XX 
 
 IN REVOLUTIONARY TIMES 
 
 HAVING in the preceding chapter alluded to some 
 of the discomforts that dwellers on the frontiers 
 suffer during periods of political disturbance, it 
 may be well before leaving the subject to consider 
 other phases of it as applying to a more extended 
 area. 
 
 It is curious how prevalent revolutions are in 
 South America: they seem to spring up in the 
 most unlikely places, when least expected, like 
 those spiral columns of the air in motion which' 
 one frequently observes moving about upon the 
 plains there, when all around them the atmos- 
 phere is absolutely still. Like them, too, some 
 of the political disturbances do little more than 
 stir up an immense amount of dust, while others 
 overturn everything and create general confusion 
 everywhere within the circular limits of their 
 sphere of action, desolation marking their onward 
 course. 
 
IN REVOLUTIONARY TIMES 223 
 
 It is many years since first I had an oppor- 
 tunity of witnessing a revolution in operation. I 
 had but recently landed in South America, and 
 was new to its peculiar ways, when a gentleman 
 came to me one morning, in the office where I 
 was at work, and told me that if I Avished to see 
 a revolution going on I could do so by merely 
 looking out of one of the front windows of the 
 house. I had heard the noise of what I took to 
 be rockets going off, but paid no attention to it, 
 knowing that the people enjoyed fireworks by 
 daylight, and I thought they were amusing them- 
 selves with some harmless display of the kind. 
 
 I followed my friend's suggestion, and there I 
 saw men fighting in the public street. It was 
 my first experience of a revolution, and it proved 
 to be only a trivial affair, more formidable looking 
 than sanguinary, involving no very great loss of 
 life after all, and it was soon ended. 
 
 Since then I have seen other similar political 
 movements of various degrees of importance, 
 but in one respect, they all seemed to me to 
 bear a wonderful family likeness to each other. 
 In each the patriots appeared to be burning with 
 a pure and holy zeal to turn the Government 
 
224 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 of the day out of office for their misdeeds. But 
 when the revolution was successful, and its leaders 
 assumed the reins of power, they generally forgot 
 those necessary reforms for which they had fought 
 so manfully, and followed a very similar course to 
 that they had so strongly denounced when pur- 
 sued by their predecessors in office. Generally 
 speaking, the only difference that is perceptible 
 to lookers on at this game of political "beggar 
 my neighbour," lies in the fact that the recipients 
 of Government favours are different persons from 
 those who previously enjoyed advantages of the 
 kind. 
 
 It is a somewhat illogical proceeding, but no 
 one seems to think it very irregular, and these 
 movements have the advantage of furnishing the 
 newspapers with a perennial subject for discus- 
 sion, so long as they don't disapprove too strongly 
 of the measures adopted by the Government for 
 dealing with their opponents. If they venture 
 upon adverse criticism it must be of the mildest 
 type, otherwise the papers in which it appears are 
 sure to be suppressed as dangerous to the safety 
 of the State. 
 
 When matters arrive at this pass all further 
 
IN REVOLUTIONARY TIMES 225 
 
 speculation as to the progress of events is useless ; 
 there is nothing for it but to await patiently the 
 development of affairs. One can, of course, follow 
 the information given in the journals that have 
 not been suppressed ; but as this is invariably a 
 version prepared and put forward by the party in 
 power, its purport can usually be foretold without 
 the trouble of wading through a " communi- 
 cated " report, that deceives no one, for no one 
 trusts it. 
 
 Strange things often take place in connec- 
 tion with insurrectionary movements in South 
 America. 
 
 A friend of mine who had long been resident 
 in that country was asked on one occasion by a 
 general, just as if he was inviting him to a pic- 
 nic, to accompany him and his staff the following 
 day, in order to be present at a battle which was 
 about to be fought with a party of insurgents. 
 My friend not unnaturally asked to be excused, 
 on the plea that he was not a soldier, and had no 
 particular desire to witness scenes of bloodshed. 
 At this the general laughed, and explained that 
 there would be nothing of the kind, as the whole 
 matter had been pre-arranged with the leader of 
 
226 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 the rebels, who would submit after some firing of 
 blank cartridge. 
 
 Next morning the Government troops marched 
 forward, and opened a brisk fire upon the enemy 
 from a great distance, giving them several tre- 
 mendous volleys, whereupon the patriots prudently 
 retired beyond the crest of the hill upon which 
 they were posted. 
 
 Their leader then addressed them, explaining 
 that he had been watching through his glass the 
 effects of the firing of the soldiers, and that it was 
 terrific. Fortunately they had not as yet got 
 the right range, but when this was accurately 
 ascertained, he feared it would soon be all up with 
 his poor followers, facing such a diabolical weapon 
 as the new "repeater." He could not bear the 
 thought of his brave men, so badly armed as 
 they were, being mowed down like grass, while 
 unable to reply effectively at such a distance. 
 He would risk his own life to save them, and 
 would at once ride forward with a flag of truce to 
 make the best terms that he could on their behalf 
 with the enemy. If he was but successful in this 
 respect, he cared not what happened to himself. 
 
 With these brave words upon his lips he rode 
 
IN REVOLUTIONARY TIMES 227 
 
 boldly forward towards the enemy, being accom- 
 panied by a volunteer, who held aloft a lance 
 from which a white flag floated. 
 
 When they reached the lines of the Govern- 
 ment troops they were met by an officer of the 
 staff, who conducted the insurgent chief to the 
 general's tent, where the two great men were left 
 alone for half-an-hour. At the end of that time 
 they both came forth, and ceremoniously saluting 
 each other, the visitor rode away, escorted in like 
 manner as upon his arrival. 
 
 It soon became known among the soldiers that 
 the terms for . the capitulation of the rebels had 
 been arranged, while in the ranks of the latter 
 there was much excitement and speculation about 
 the result of the mission as they awaited the 
 return of their chief. 
 
 When he arrived he explained that he had 
 been entirely successful, even beyond his utmost 
 hopes, so far as they were concerned. No punish- 
 ment would be inflicted upon any of them, and 
 they should be free to return at once to their 
 respective homes as soon as they had laid down 
 their arms and delivered them over to the 
 soldiers. Moreover, all the reforms for which 
 
228 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 they had been fighting were to be conceded by 
 the Government, and carried out. 
 
 These very favourable terms of capitulation he 
 had only been able to secure for them by the 
 sacrifice of his own interests, and by surrendering 
 as a prisoner himself, unconditionally. He added 
 that they needed not to grieve for him, for what- 
 ever might be his fate, his patriotic heart beat 
 proudly in his bosom at the thought that, by his 
 act of renunciation, he had gained for his com- 
 panions-in-arms their lives and liberty. In the 
 confusion of the moment he quite forgot to 
 mention another item of gain that he had secured 
 by the transaction, in the form of a substantial 
 draft upon the Treasury of the Republic, which 
 he had in his breast-pocket. 
 
 His audience seemed saddened for a moment 
 by the personal misfortune and pathetic speech 
 of their chief, but they had wonderfully elastic 
 spirits. By the time they reached the soldiers, 
 and had laid down their arms, they were quite 
 cheerful again, and as friendly as possible with 
 their enemies of an hour before, and willing to 
 drink as many " treats " as they could get their 
 conquerors to stand them. 
 
IN REVOLUTIONARY TIMES 229 
 
 It is said that in revolutionary times a good 
 deal of such negotiating as I have been describing 
 frequently goes on which is not made public, nor is 
 good faith always kept between the parties to it. 
 
 An example of this kind occurred the last time 
 I was out in South America, which made some 
 little stir in the papers for a while, but it was 
 soon forgotten. 
 
 It was an open secret to all who studied the 
 signs of the times that revolutionary schemes 
 were going on, though that, of course, was nothing 
 very unusual. Prominent among the plotters was 
 an ex-officer of the army ; but the good faith of 
 his adherence to the cause was doubted by 
 another of the conspirators, who plainly told 
 him so. " What ! " said the angry soldier, " do 
 you doubt my honour ? but even if you do, can 
 you not see that I have every reason in the world 
 to be heart and soul with you in this matter ? " 
 With words like these he removed the doubts of 
 all the men who were banded together, except 
 those of him with whom they first arose. The 
 latter stood aside, severing his connection with 
 the movement ; but matters went on in the 
 revolutionary grooves, and the plot thickened. 
 
230 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 The plan of action suggested by the ex-officer 
 was that he, taking advantage of his acquaintance 
 with his old colleagues in the army, should sound 
 those in the chief garrison to see if they would be 
 willing, and on what terms, to join the movement. 
 
 Negotiations with them went on satisfactorily, 
 according to the reports of progress made from 
 time to time. All was alleged to have been 
 arranged for the troops in garrison to make 
 common cause with the insurrectionary party 
 when matters were ripe for doing so. 
 
 The occasion upon which the formal ratifica- 
 tion of the compact was to take place was a 
 banquet to be given by the military in their 
 barracks. To this the leaders of the movement 
 were invited, and when they had all assembled, 
 they were surprised by the entrance of an armed 
 body of soldiers, who proceeded at once to arrest 
 the guests. The latter, when they found they 
 had been betrayed, drew their revolvers, and de- 
 fended themselves with desperation ; but in the 
 end, the survivors of them were overcome and 
 secured, while several dead and dying men lay 
 upon the bloodstained floor of the banqueting 
 hall. 
 
IN REVOLUTIONARY TIMES 231 
 
 During this same attempt at revolution an 
 official appeared in a country town, armed with 
 full power from the Government to arrest all 
 their opponents whom he thought it desirable 
 to imprison. Of the authority so delegated to 
 him he made a very free and full use during 
 the absence of the principal Government official, 
 who found the gaol full to overflowing upon his 
 return home. 
 
 The special official requested permission to 
 examine the prisoners, but this the chief refused. 
 " I know what your interrogation means," he said, 
 and he drew his hand suggestively across his 
 throat. " Go back," he added, " and tell the 
 Government they may dismiss me if they like ; 
 but so long as I hold the position I do, no 
 man in the district under my charge shall suffer, 
 except by the regular process of the law." 
 
 This ended the matter, the authorities being 
 afraid to accept the challenge, and the imprisoned 
 persons were released without further molestation. 
 
 During a revolution which occurred some years 
 ago, a friend of mine was travelling in a railway 
 train which was captured by insurgents. Some 
 of the passengers being soldiers were put to 
 
232 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 death in presence of my friend, who had the 
 good fortune to be let off when they discovered 
 that he was an Englishman. 
 
 Another acquaintance of mine happened to be 
 the manager of a large cattle farm, the owner of 
 which was suspected of sympathising secretly 
 with the party in revolt at the time. A large 
 body of troops was sent out to quell the rising, 
 and they encamped upon the property referred 
 to. There they remained for a considerable time, 
 killing the fattest cattle and the most highly 
 bred, imported sheep for their daily food. When 
 they moved on to other quarters, the manager 
 politely asked the chief of the commissariat de- 
 partment to give him a written acknowledgment 
 of the cattle and sheep they had taken for the 
 troops, for future settlement. 
 
 But this officer explained that a document of 
 the kind should be signed by the general in 
 command, so the two men rode forward to see 
 him about it. 
 
 When he heard the case stated, his reply to 
 the manager was short and explicit, to this effect : 
 " The only receipt I shall give you will be 
 through the medium of a file of soldiers, at ten 
 
IN REVOLUTIONARY TIMES 233 
 
 yards' distance, with loaded rifles. If you want 
 that, you can have it at once." 
 
 I need scarcely add that the applicant did not 
 wait for an acknowledgment of the kind, but 
 mounted his horse without delay and rode off. 
 
 Another very unpleasant phase of the matter 
 is, that during periods when the public peace is 
 disturbed, or even threatened, by political move- 
 ments, no rare occurrence, much power falls into 
 the hands of irresponsible soldiers at times, and 
 it is often used by them with cruel ingenuity to 
 wreak their vengeance upon persons against whom 
 they entertain some private cause of enmity. I 
 have heard many harrowing tales from men who 
 had been troopers, of crimes of the kind to which 
 they have been eye-witnesses; but I will not 
 repeat any of them, as they may have been 
 exaggerated. I will mention a case bearing upon 
 the same subject which a friend of mine heard 
 from the principal actor in it. It struck me as 
 exhibiting a curious way of looking at deeds of 
 bloodshed, and a nice discrimination between 
 methods of killing. 
 
 Revolutionary troubles were going on, and the 
 narrator of the story was a soldier on the Govern- 
 
234 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 ment side. The fatigues of campaigning he bore 
 with willingness, buoyed up by the hope that he 
 would one day meet and square accounts with 
 a deadly enemy of his whom he well knew took 
 an active part upon the other side. Time rolled 
 on, but his hoped-for chance seemed distant as 
 ever, until one day, to his great delight, he 
 recognised a straggler of the enemy, who was 
 retreating after a skirmish, as the long-sought 
 object of his hatred. 
 
 He gave immediate pursuit, and as he rode 
 along he saw by the unsteady seat of the in- 
 tended victim and the gait of his horse that 
 both had been wounded in the fray. " I was 
 delighted," he said, " for my horse was fresh, 
 and there was a long stretch of marshy land 
 before us, and I knew I should overtake my 
 enemy when we got to it. I gained on him 
 at every stride," he went on, " and he had 
 scarcely got a hundred yards into the rough 
 ground when his horse floundered through a 
 soft place and fell. I was up with them in a 
 moment, and there lay my enemy helplessly upon 
 his back, too weak from the loss of blood to rise 
 to his feet. I got my knee upon his chest, and 
 
IN REVOLUTIONARY TIMES 235 
 
 grasped him by the hair in my left hand, while T 
 drew my knife to cut his throat, but he looked up 
 so pitifully at me, that I could not bear to do it." 
 
 Here my friend interrupted him, saying he had 
 acted quite properly, as one should always spare 
 an enemy when powerless and at his mercy. 
 
 " No, senor ! " was the indignant reply ; and 
 when asked to explain what he had done, he 
 continued, " I turned my face away and drove 
 the knife into his heart." 
 
 On another occasion a man whom I knew was 
 stopping at a small country inn when a party of 
 soldiers arrived with a prisoner, both of whose 
 hands had been cut off as a punishment for 
 his having taken part in a revolution. The 
 unfortunate captive in his agony begged to be 
 put to death, and the officer in charge sanctioned 
 his request, simply telling his men to take him 
 outside and cut his throat. 
 
 The recent revolution in Uruguay, which was 
 only brought to a close in the autumn of last 
 year (1897), if indeed it is a real peace, not a 
 temporary truce, that has been effected, offers 
 many subjects for reflection that deserve careful 
 consideration. 
 
236 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 Perhaps no better example could be found 
 of the utterly untrustworthy nature of the 
 official statements published during such poli- 
 tical upheavals. In relation to it we were re- 
 peatedly told, on the authority of the Government, 
 and in the most circumstantial manner, that it 
 was suppressed and at an end, after a decisive 
 victory over the insurgents, who were nearly all 
 slain and the survivors dispersed. 
 
 Yet these conquered and scattered remnants 
 of a revolutionary party had the awkward knack 
 of turning up again after each such suppression in 
 stronger force than previously, and closer to the 
 seat of government, till in the end the latter 
 appeared to be at their mercy, and peace was 
 made with them. It is only fair to add that, 
 in the case of the revolution of which I am 
 writing, its object seemed to have been, as well 
 as one can judge of the matter from the pub- 
 lished reports, to bring about much needed 
 reforms, and to suppress abuses that were ruin- 
 ing the State. 
 
 During the disturbance referred to there was 
 a tragic episode, the assassination of the President 
 of the Republic, who was shot on the steps of the 
 
IN REVOLUTIONARY TIMES 237 
 
 cathedral in Montevideo by a soldier. The foul 
 deed was thought at first to have been inspired 
 by political motives, but it proved to be due to 
 private revenge. 
 
 This is but one example of the many evils 
 arising from the revolutionary spirit which too 
 frequently pervades society, deadening the moral 
 perceptions of its members, and inculcating a 
 disregard for law and order. 
 
 It is easy to understand how, from such con- 
 ditions, a feverish and unwholesome state of 
 existence should ensue, highly detrimental to the 
 progress and prosperity of the country. 
 
 Its credit is injured in the foreign markets, and 
 the difficulty of raising capital, so necessary for 
 the development of its resources, is correspond- 
 ingly increased. Immigration, which it should 
 be the especial care of a prudent Government to 
 foster by every legitimate means, is paralysed and 
 discouraged. The insecurity of life and property 
 that prevails during political commotions tends 
 to deter those in search of a new country from 
 settling there, and induces them to seek elsewhere 
 more peaceful homes. The injury thus inflicted 
 upon the country is incalculable 
 
CHAPTER XXI 
 NATURAL HISTORY NOTES 
 
 DUKING the whole of the time occupied by the 
 construction of the railway I was far too busy to 
 have much opportunity for shooting, or personally 
 collecting information relating to sporting matters 
 or the habits of beasts and birds. There are 
 some brief references to the latter part of the 
 subject in other chapters, which I shall now 
 endeavour to supplement by a few further 
 observations on kindred matters. 
 
 It has already been mentioned that the larger 
 and more dangerous wild animals are fast dis- 
 appearing from Uruguay before the increase of 
 flocks and herds, but wild-cats and foxes are still 
 much more numerous there than the inhabitants 
 of the country like. An enormous specimen of 
 the former was shot in the valley of the Tambores 
 by one of the workmen on the railway. I had 
 
 seen many others, both alive and dead, but none 
 
 238 
 
NATURAL HISTORY NOTES 239 
 
 before approaching that one in size, or of such 
 formidable appearance. 
 
 Deer of the species Cervus campestris are fre- 
 quently to be met with in the open country, as 
 already mentioned in these pages, but the larger 
 deer, with more massive antlers, which keep to 
 the woods or their immediate vicinity, are being 
 rapidly exterminated. 
 
 I met with but one specimen of them alive, 
 among thick brushwood in a river valley, though 
 I have frequently seen their skins exposed for 
 sale in shops. 
 
 Armadilloes of various kinds are very common, 
 and one occasionally meets with the great ant- 
 eater. 
 
 Upon the bank of the river Tres Cruces I saw 
 a beautiful black marten, about the size of a 
 domestic cat, but shaped like a stoat. 
 
 It is somewhat remarkable that biscachoes, 
 which are so common in Buenos Ayres, are not 
 to be found in Uruguay. 
 
 Carpinchoes, or water-hogs, are numerous, as 
 are also nutrias, an animal like a huge water-rat, 
 the size of a cat. 
 
 In the little river Guayavos I once saw an 
 
240 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 ordinary otter, under circumstances that could 
 not admit of my being mistaken about its identity. 
 In the Rio Negro, as also in the Tacuarembo 
 Grande, I repeatedly saw huge fresh-water seals. 
 I have heard it stated by people living near these 
 rivers that such animals will attack a dog in the 
 water and drown him. 
 
 As to birds, I must naturally give first place 
 to eagles, of which there are three different kinds 
 to be met with in Uruguay, distinguished by the 
 colours black, brown, and blue. The last men- 
 tioned is the largest of them, the other two being 
 about equal in size, and all three considerably 
 smaller than their European relations. 
 
 When seen in the sunlight at a particular 
 angle the brown eagle appears to be golden- 
 coloured. Both it and the blue species fly rather 
 heavily, but the flight of the black eagle is perfect 
 in every respect. Nothing can be more easy and 
 graceful than it is. They rise high into the air 
 or skim along the surface of the ground with 
 equal ease and motionless wings, whether with or 
 against the wind. 
 
 They are very destructive to partridge. Two 
 dead birds of the kind were found in a nest from 
 
NATURAL HISTORY NOTES 241 
 
 which we took a young eagle, almost fully grown, 
 but yet unable to fly. That they occasionally 
 vary the nature of their food I had an opportunity 
 of learning when hidden one day in the thick 
 woods of the Tambores valley. My attention was 
 attracted by the noisy contentions of birds of 
 prey in my immediate neighbourhood, that seemed 
 to be disputing for the possession of some choice 
 dainty they had discovered. After a while the 
 turbulent assembly broke up and flew away. 
 
 In their flight they passed close to where I 
 lay concealed, and I was able to ascertain the 
 cause of all their quarrelling. An eagle, with a 
 writhing snake in its talons, led the procession, 
 followed closely by a number of very angry hawks, 
 that loudly demanded to share the spoil; while 
 some hungry vultures, at a more respectful dis- 
 tance, openly proclaimed their disapprobation of 
 the whole affair. 
 
 A curious flock of birds of prey, like falcons, 
 were frequently to be seen in the valley of the 
 Tacuarenibo Chico, hunting together on the wing, 
 to the number of twelve or fourteen, just as a 
 pack of beagles would do on the ground. 
 
 Turning now to game-birds, the best of these 
 
 Q 
 
242 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 in Uruguay is the bronze -coloured pheasant, 
 locally known as the Pavo del Monte, or wood- 
 turkey. It is somewhat larger than an ordinary 
 pheasant, and the prevailing colour of the plumage 
 is a dark-bronzed green, almost approaching black. 
 On the neck, breast, and shoulder the feathers 
 are slightly tipped with white, as are also some of 
 the covering feathers of the wing at its point. 
 The back of the bird from the shoulder down 
 is of a dark brownish-green. The throat and 
 sides of the neck adjoining it are bare for a length 
 of nearly two inches, and of a red colour. The 
 first two of the primary feathers .in each wing 
 are very curiously formed. Number one has only 
 the same narrow width of feathering, for two inches 
 from the point, on the concave side of the cen- 
 tral quill rib that it has on its convex side, and 
 then it widens out like the feathers of an ordinary 
 bird to three or four times that width. In the 
 case of the second primary feather the same 
 peculiarity exists, but only for a length of one 
 inch and a half; while the third and succeeding 
 feathers are of the ordinary shape all the way 
 from the point. The extreme length of the bird 
 from the bill to the end of the tail is two feet 
 
NATURAL HISTORY NOTES 243 
 
 six inches. The tail itself, in which there are 
 eleven feathers, is eleven and a half inches long, 
 and it is broad at the end, not pointed like that 
 of an ordinary pheasant. Lastly the length of 
 the leg is ten inches. 
 
 The Pavo del Monte flies well and strongly, 
 but it is unwilling to take to the wing, and keeps 
 much to the thick foliage among the top branches 
 of high trees. Its call or cry is somewhat like 
 that of a turkey, to which the name it has re- 
 ceived in Spanish is probably due, as in most 
 other respects it is very unlike a turkey. In 
 Uruguay it is held in much esteem as a table 
 delicacy. I cannot say that my own taste corro- 
 borates this opinion, as those which I shot I 
 found to be rather coarse in flavour, but this 
 may perhaps have been caused by the cooking 
 of them. 
 
 I heard a curious tale of a Pavo del Monte 
 shooting a man, which was positively asserted to 
 be true. The bird in question had been wounded, 
 but only winged, and ran away when it fell to 
 the ground. The man who fired at it laid down 
 his gun hurriedly and gave chase, when a game 
 of " hide and seek " took place among the brush- 
 
244 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 wood. In one of its doublings and turnings the 
 pavo passed over the gun, which was lying on the 
 ground, and its toes happened to strike against 
 the trigger of the undischarged barrel, the hammer 
 of which in the hurry of the moment had been 
 left at full cock, with the result that the charge 
 went off and wounded the sportsman. 
 
 Birds, we know, are sometimes taught to fire 
 off pistols in those exhibitions known as " Happy 
 Families," as well as to perform other unusual 
 feats ; but it is not often that a wild bird in the 
 woods shoots a man with his own gun, as this one 
 did in Uruguay. 
 
 Partridges of two kinds, small and large (No- 
 thura maculosa and RJiyncotus rufescens), were for- 
 merly very plentiful in Uruguay, but they are 
 becoming scarcer year by year. Eagles and 
 sportsmen with firearms are not their only 
 enemies. The natives of the country are very 
 expert in snaring them. A boy of ours who 
 was employed looking after the horses while 
 grazing, was very smart at taking partridges by 
 means of a loop made with an ostrich feather 
 attached to the end of a long bamboo cane. 
 
 I saw another boy catching the smaller par- 
 
NATURAL HISTORY NOTES 245 
 
 tridge in a most ingenious way. He rode along 
 until he saw a partridge, and then dismounting, 
 set about his plan of attack. The surface of 
 the ground was rough at the place where I 
 watched him at work, and he selected an opening 
 five or six inches wide, between two rocks, in 
 which he laid a wire snare, just as if he were 
 setting it for a rabbit. This done, he proceeded 
 to look up the partridge, which had been hiding 
 during the operation, and having disturbed it 
 once more, drove it gradually, in the most skilful 
 manner, into his trap, and then walked up and 
 took his fluttering prize. 
 
 Of course this plan would only suit with birds 
 that are great runners, and unwilling to take to 
 the wing. 
 
 In winter one meets with many wild duck of 
 different kinds, though they are not nearly as 
 numerous as in the Argentine province of Buenos 
 Ayres. This latter remark will also apply to 
 snipe, which I had the curious experience of 
 shooting over a bull-terrier, that was exceedingly 
 well trained to point them. 
 
 While in Uruguay I saw another example of 
 misdirected energies, in the case of a sporting 
 
246 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 pig. It had been reared along with some dogs, 
 and became very much attached to them. At 
 a later period, when they were brought out to 
 search for game, the pig always accompanied 
 its canine friends and ranged about with them. 
 Whenever it met with an obstacle in its path 
 that it could not leap over, its cries at being 
 left behind were piteous to hear. The dogs, its 
 companions, would frequently on such occasions 
 return to assist and encourage it to renewed 
 exertions to scramble over the difficulty. 
 
 I missed this curious pointer on one of my 
 visits to the district, and from the laughing reply 
 that I got to my inquiries about it, I fear poor 
 piggie, notwithstanding its unusual sporting pro- 
 pensities, had gone the way that so many others 
 of its race had travelled before it. 
 
 I once met with a giant stork that was a 
 perfect grenadier beside its companions of the 
 ordinary kind. These latter were common 
 enough, and I have seen them in great flocks 
 flying high up in the air during their periodical 
 migrations. 
 
 One that was made a pet of by the engineers 
 at a hut upon the works became very tame, and 
 
NATURAL HISTORY NOTES 247 
 
 was a great favourite, performing a number of 
 tricks when told to do so, and remained with 
 them all the year round. 
 
 There was a bird closely allied to the storks 
 of which I made the acquaintance in Uruguay. 
 Taking advantage of the cover afforded by a 
 thick growth of shrubs and brushwood, I managed 
 to get close to it, and was able to observe its 
 movements carefully through a field-glass, with- 
 out being seen myself. When in search of food 
 it walked into the water where there was a 
 current, and instead of striking at its prey, as 
 the storks and herons do, it placed its bill in 
 the water in such a position as it would occupy 
 if the bird was engaged in examining its own 
 legs. The mandibles were kept apart in an 
 inverted position. By this means the water 
 flowed between them, and from time to time 
 they were brought together and closed with a 
 snap upon some small fish or insect that was 
 passing through. If what had been seized 
 proved upon reflection to be edible, the bird 
 raised its head and swallowed the morsel, and 
 then resumed its former attitude ; but if the 
 object seemed uninviting, the mandibles were 
 
248 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 merely opened again, and the prisoner was 
 allowed to escape. As I subsequently obtained 
 one of these birds, I am enabled to give a more 
 accurate description of it. 
 
 The body is white; but the primary and 
 secondary wing feathers are of a beautiful dark 
 green, with metallic lustre, resembling the tail 
 feathers of a magpie. There are twelve similar 
 green feathers in the tail, the last one on each 
 side having a tendency to white on its inside or 
 covered edge. 
 
 The neck is rather shorter, in proportion to 
 the size of the body, than that of an ordinary 
 stork, and it is of a brownish colour. The fore- 
 head is quite bald, and the upper part of the bill, 
 which is yellow, is very coarse and large where it 
 is set on to the head ; but it tapers much to- 
 wards the point, where it is slightly curved and 
 rounded, being intended for the purpose of pre- 
 venting food escaping from the bill, not for strik- 
 ing at it. The legs are slate -coloured, and are 
 bare to a height of 5 inches above the joint, to 
 allow for deep wading. The eyes are dark- 
 coloured. This bird when standing in a natural 
 and erect position is about 3 i inches high. The 
 
NATURAL HISTORY NOTES 249 
 
 length of the body is 9 inches, that of the neck 
 8 inches, that of the bill 7| inches. The upper 
 joint of the leg is 10 inches, and the lower one 
 7 inches. 
 
 Here I may also give some particulars of a 
 bird to which reference has been already made 
 more than once in these pages, and which, for 
 want of a better name, I have called the brown 
 stork. 
 
 In some respects it differs considerably from 
 the storks, much more closely resembling the 
 ibis family in appearance. It lacks, however, the 
 regular curved bill common to the latter, as the 
 one it possesses is straight almost down to the 
 end, where it is only slightly curved. 
 
 The ordinary height of the bird when stand- 
 ing in a natural position is about 2 feet. Its 
 extreme length stretched out is 3 feet ij inch. 
 The length of leg is 1 4 inches ; the toes are very 
 long, the central one being 4^ inches. The bill 
 is 4f inches, the lower mandible ending in a 
 very fine point, which fits into a hollow in the 
 upper one prepared to receive it. 
 
 The colour of the bird appears to be black 
 when seen at a distance, but when examined 
 
250 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 closely it is a dark olive-brown. The primary 
 wing-feathers are almost black. There are small 
 white markings on the feathers of the back of 
 the neck, from the head down to the shoulders, 
 and on the angles of the wings. The eyes are 
 brown, and the legs slate-coloured. 
 
 Its dreadful cry was referred to elsewhere. 
 
 While in Uruguay I had an aviary, in which I 
 kept a number of birds that various people sent 
 me. Among them were a pair of beautiful buff 
 egrets, a large partridge, and many small birds 
 of various kinds, all of which lived on friendly 
 terms together, with the exception of one Cardinal 
 bird, that displayed the most ill-bred manners I 
 ever saw in any member of the feathered tribe. 
 Its constant habit was to hop up to other birds, 
 especially if new arrivals, and look them full in 
 the face, first with its head on one side then on 
 the other, and finally toss it up in the air as if 
 implying, " I don't think much of you." One 
 bird only in the whole collection knew how to 
 deal properly with this pert Cardinal. It was of 
 small size, but possessed a sharp bill and a 
 wonderfully capacious throat, which it opened 
 wide whenever the Cardinal approached it. This 
 
NATURAL HISTORY NOTES 251 
 
 form of reception gradually taught the objection- 
 able intruder better manners. Among the col- 
 lection there were Calandrias, the best singing 
 birds of South America, and other specimens, 
 some with showy plumage, others clothed in 
 sombre colours. 
 
 An interesting and pleasing incident connected 
 with my aviary was the escape and return of one 
 of its inmates. A bird got out and flew away so 
 far, that it was lost to sight in the distance. This 
 occurred in the morning, and the same evening, 
 towards nightfall, the truant came back, and 
 alighted upon the roof of the aviary, waiting to 
 be let in again. When the door was opened 
 it flew down to the ground and walked in as if 
 it had only been out for the day on leave. 
 
 Then there were the uncaged and casual pets 
 which we had from time to time. Among them 
 may be mentioned an eagle, and two owls of 
 different kinds, and the most charming of all, 
 a young ostrich, which was captured and 
 taken with us when making the surveys for the 
 line of railway. In a couple of days it became 
 quite tame, and never attempted to escape. To- 
 wards nightfall it would come and ask, in the 
 
252 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 most doleful little whistle, to be put to bed, 
 where it was quite happy. In the mornings it 
 always accompanied the men when they went to 
 catch the horses, in which operation it seemed to 
 take great delight. Wherever the confusion was 
 greatest there it was always to be found rushing 
 wildly in and out among the men and horses, and 
 getting into every person's way. It was irre- 
 sistibly comical, and reminded one of the officious 
 clown at the circus, who persists in appearing to 
 help every one else, while in reality he is giving 
 them no assistance whatever, but rather retarding 
 their operations. 
 
 Besides the birds I had other pets; among 
 them should be mentioned a coati (Nasua narica). 
 It was a native of Brazil, somewhat larger than a 
 raccoon, an animal to which it bore some resem- 
 blance in general appearance; but it possessed a 
 much larger head, with a longer and more pig-like 
 snout. It was very tame and harmless. 
 
 Another creature I possessed was a large 
 tortoise, about which there was nothing very re- 
 markable except the late hours it kept. During 
 the daytime it seemed to sleep quietly at home 
 in a barrel of water, but when darkness set in it 
 
NATURAL HISTORY NOTES 253 
 
 used to climb out of the barrel and descend by 
 the primitive method of dropping on to the 
 ground on its back, the shell of which protected 
 the body from injury from the concussion of the 
 fall, and then it went off to visit its friends or 
 examine the locality. 
 
 What to do with my pets when the time 
 should come round for me to leave South 
 America often occasioned me some anxious 
 thoughts. The tortoise settled the matter as 
 far as it was concerned, by going off on its 
 own account. The two owls followed its ex- 
 ample. The coati I gave back to the person 
 from whom I originally got it. Another kind 
 friend took the whole of the inmates of the 
 aviary, and would no doubt tend them with 
 even more care than I bestowed on them myself. 
 
 While residing at San Fructuoso I became 
 acquainted with an old French sportsman, who 
 made his living by fishing and shooting. 
 
 He was one of Nature's gentlemen, whom it 
 is a pleasure to meet. When a young man he 
 had been a cavalry soldier in France, and on 
 one occasion a vicious horse caught him up in 
 his teeth, and shook him as a dog would a rat, 
 
254 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 fearfully injuring the bone of his left arm. The 
 army surgeon was for immediate amputation, but 
 the man begged so hard against the operation 
 that the surgeon desisted, and left him to his 
 own devices. His comrades bandaged up the 
 injured limb in their own rough way, and in 
 time it healed; but their job was not a neat 
 one from a professional point of view, as the 
 setting of the bone was very crooked. It was 
 better to have a crooked arm, however, than 
 none at all, as he was able to make consider- 
 able, though awkward, use of it. He used to 
 bring me fish and game in their respective 
 seasons, and I often got rare specimens of birds 
 from him, which I was glad to add to my 
 collection. He was also able occasionally to 
 supply information regarding them that I could 
 not otherwise have obtained. 
 
CHAPTER XXII 
 
 CLIMATE OF URUGUAY 
 
 ALTHOUGH Uruguay is very hot in summer, the 
 climate of the country is good and healthy. Mr. 
 M. G. Mulhall, in his excellent " Handbook of 
 the River Plate," gives the highest temperature at 
 Montevideo for the years 1884, 1885, and 1886 
 as 101, 96, and 100 Fahrenheit in the shade, 
 and the lowest reading of the thermometer for 
 the same years, in the same place, as 35, 34, 
 and 35 Fahrenheit respectively. 
 
 During the years 1890 and 1891 I kept a 
 careful register of the temperature at the Paso 
 de los Toros, which was about 2 20' north of 
 Montevideo. As might be expected, it was per- 
 ceptibly warmer there in summer, being so 
 much closer to the tropics ; but on the other 
 hand, it was considerably colder in winter. This 
 no doubt was due to the proximity to the sea 
 
 at Montevideo, which would have a moderating 
 
 255 
 
256 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 influence upon the cold as well as upon the 
 heat. 
 
 Summer may be assumed to last from the 
 beginning of November till the end of February. 
 Of the 1 20 days comprised within these four 
 summer months, we found that two-thirds of 
 them had a maximum temperature of 80 
 Fahrenheit and upwards in the shade, made 
 up thus: 
 
 30 days, with a maximum temperature of 8o- 90 
 34 i, i) . 9o-ioo 
 
 16 ioo-uo 
 
 Total 80 days, with a temperature from 80 to 110 
 Fahrenheit in the shade. 
 
 Whenever three or four excessively warm 
 days came together they were generally fol- 
 lowed by a very cool one. 
 
 As regards the coldest night in winter for 
 the three years that Mr. Mulhall deals with, 
 3, 2, and 3 Fahrenheit above freezing-point 
 were, as already stated, the lowest temperatures 
 registered, whereas we frequently had it much 
 lower, and more than once it touched 24 Fahren- 
 heit with us, or 8 of frost. Ice was frequently 
 
CLIMATE OF URUGUAY 257 
 
 to be seen on the water in the side ditches of 
 the railway. 
 
 Comparing the annual rainfall for the same 
 period, Mr. Mulhall gives it as 38, 37, and 36 
 inches respectively. We found these figures to 
 correspond approximately with our observations 
 for the year 1890; but it was worthy of remark 
 that on the 6th March of that year 6.30 inches 
 fell, or one-sixth of total. 
 
 1891 was unusually wet, it having rained on 
 ninety days of that season, making up a total 
 rainfall of 60 inches, or nearly double the average 
 one. 
 
 The two heaviest days' rain during that period 
 were respectively six inches and 5.70 inches in 
 the twenty-four hours. These figures, however, 
 afford no adequate idea of how heavy the rain is 
 at times. On one occasion half an inch fell in 
 five minutes, on another eight-tenths of an inch 
 in fifteen minutes, and one inch in half-an-hour. 
 Twice the rainfall was between four-tenths and 
 half an inch in twenty minutes; one and one- 
 tenth inch fell in an hour, and two inches fell in 
 two hours. These facts suggest how tropical the 
 rain can be in Uruguay at times. 
 
258 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 For a month before the regular summer season 
 begins and for a like period after it ends, that is, 
 for the months of October and March, the weather 
 is generally delightful. Throughout the winter 
 too there are frequently many very fine days. 
 
 During dry, hot summers dust storms are very 
 prevalent. At the approach of a visitation of the 
 kind, though the sun may have been shining 
 brightly in the sky at noonday, its light is soon 
 obscured by the dust clouds as they advance, 
 until an almost Egyptian darkness prevails. The 
 atmosphere becomes most suffocating, and one 
 finds difficulty in breathing it in consequence of 
 the quantity of impalpable dust floating suspended 
 in it. 
 
 I have had many unpleasant experiences of 
 travelling under such circumstances, one of which 
 presented a rather unusual incident. 
 
 I was riding accompanied by one of our men, 
 when a storm of the kind burst upon us. So 
 great was the difficulty of breathing, that I took 
 out my pocket-handkerchief and held it over my 
 mouth to act as a respirator, and intercept some 
 of the dust with which the air was laden. While 
 proceeding in this manner at a walking pace along 
 
CLIMATE OF URUGUAY 259 
 
 the road a sudden gust of wind blew the hand- 
 kerchief away, and rny companion jumped off his 
 horse and ran after it into the darkness. 
 
 He soon returned and handed me what we 
 both took to be my lost property which he had 
 recovered, but on examination it proved to be 
 a totally different pocket-handkerchief that he 
 brought back. Of course the ready explanation 
 that will occur to the reader is, that I had been 
 making use of a pocket-handkerchief that was 
 not my own, which had been sent back to me 
 from the wash by mistake, and only discovered 
 the fact upon its loss and recovery, as described 
 above. But this could not have been the case, 
 for the handkerchief blown out of my hand had 
 a mourning border on it, which the one returned 
 to me had not. 
 
 The suggestion I would make is, that a similar 
 mishap occurred in the case of some other 
 traveller who had passed along the road before us, 
 and that he had failed to recover his handker- 
 chief, which the man riding with me found when 
 looking for mine. 
 
 Such storms as I have been describing are 
 nearly always followed by heavy rain, which lays 
 
260 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 the dust and clears the air. This is generally 
 accompanied by thunderstorms, which are very 
 frequent and severe in Uruguay during the sum- 
 mer. I remember one of them that lasted for 
 nearly twelve hours with scarcely any intermission. 
 On two occasions a house quite close to me was 
 struck by lightning and damaged, but in neither 
 case were the inmates injured. Men, houses, cattle 
 and sheep are frequently struck by lightning 
 and killed. 
 
 Sometimes very heavy hailstones fall during 
 or immediately after a thunderstorm, doing great 
 damage to crops and sheep. One such hailstone 
 that we measured was 3j inches long by two 
 inches broad and two inches thick, or larger than 
 a goose egg, and there were several others lying 
 on the ground that did not seem much smaller. 
 
 There are summer visitors which occasionally 
 arrive in these countries that are not always 
 welcomed. I allude to the flights of locusts, 
 which come in clouds so thick, that neither 
 spurs nor whip will force a horse to face them 
 at times; and when they alight, they stay until 
 they have eaten up every green thing that is 
 within their reach and capable of consumption. 
 
CLIMATE OF URUGUAY 261 
 
 The poor people whose gardens they attack 
 rush out beating tin pans, kettles, and fire-irons, 
 somewhat like the practice in the case of swarm- 
 ing bees at home, only the object is different in 
 the two cases, the intention being to attract the 
 bees, but to drive off the locusts. 
 
 American stories about railway trains having 
 been stopped by a flight of locusts appear to some 
 people to be gross exaggerations, but they are the 
 simple truth. When locusts alight upon the rails 
 in such great numbers that their crushed bodies 
 yield a lubricating substance causing the wheels 
 of the engine to slip, its power of traction is lost, 
 with the natural result that the train is brought 
 to a stand-still upon the first incline it meets 
 where the locusts are in force. 
 
 There are few things more difficult of accom- 
 plishment than to keep one's self cool and com- 
 fortable during intensely hot weather. That hero 
 of our school-days, Achilles, was, we know, vulner- 
 able only in the heel, but it is at the other end, 
 the head, that ordinary mortals are most liable 
 to suffer injury from excessive heat. Under 
 such circumstances it is not surprising that 
 various attempts should have been made from 
 
262 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 time to time in different lands to provide an 
 artificial protection for this sensitive extremity. 
 
 Turbans, pith-helmets, air-chambered hats, and 
 a pugaree have their respective advocates, and no 
 doubt much could be said hi favour of each of 
 them ; but by far the most extraordinary means 
 for keeping one's head cool in hot weather was 
 a plan adopted by a young office-boy, of Irish 
 nationality, that we had in Uruguay. It had, 
 however, two serious defects, which would, no 
 doubt, militate against its general adoption. 
 One of these was, that it was not of a portable 
 nature, so that it could not be worn while walk- 
 ing about; the other was, that it interfered 
 considerably with the sense of hearing of the 
 person protected by it. 
 
 I discovered the boy's invention in this way. 
 The weather was very hot, and I called out, 
 " Tom, bring me a glass of water from the re- 
 frigerator," but received no reply. I then raised 
 my voice and called him, repeating the operation 
 several times, but with a like ineffectual result. 
 So I thought I should go and fetch the water 
 myself, as Tom had apparently given himself 
 leave of absence and gone off duty. Upon 
 
CLIMATE OF URUGUAY 263 
 
 reaching the refrigerator I found the missing 
 Tom with his head down in it, and discovered 
 to my surprise that this was his usual way of 
 cooling himself when his head began to " swell 
 with the heat," as he expressed it. 
 
 It is perhaps unnecessary to add that I pre- 
 scribed a change of treatment to effect his 
 purpose for subsequent attacks of the kind. 
 
 Here I may make a few remarks about him, 
 though they are not of a meteorological nature. 
 
 Tom was not a bad boy in his way, but he 
 had peculiarities that he would have been better 
 without. He was born and brought up near a 
 large military station in Ireland, on the road 
 between the barracks and the cemetery, and 
 had acquired a great admiration for the "Dead 
 March," which he used to hear played at 
 soldiers' funerals. 
 
 Unfortunately he had a quick musical ear, and 
 as he was never tired of whistling the melancholy 
 dirge with variations of his own, introduced ap- 
 parently for the purpose of imparting a more 
 lively spirit to it, the result was most lugubrious. 
 
 Another failing of his was an innate persuasion 
 that he could improve on all orders given him. 
 
264 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 One evening he was told to lead a saddle-horse, 
 which was not very easy to manage, from my hut 
 to the stable-yard. Tom, however, thought riding 
 preferable to walking, so he mounted, and pro- 
 ceeded in this manner until some difference of 
 opinion arose between him and the horse. The 
 latter, not approving of the turn affairs had taken, 
 cantered off, increasing his pace to a gallop as he 
 went along. When they reached the yard gate 
 it was shut, which brought the horse to a stand- 
 still, but not so his rider, who was thrown over 
 it. The unfortunate boy came back to me in 
 a sad plight, denouncing the horse's vicious- 
 ness, and proclaiming that all his own ribs and 
 one of his arms were broken. It was not quite 
 so bad as this, as he had only received a 
 severe shaking, and was very sore all over from 
 the fall. 
 
 Among the curious atmospheric phenomena 
 that I observed on several occasions were meteor- 
 ites shooting upwards like the discharge of rockets. 
 They generally occurred in the south. 
 
 Once while walking along the railway, a couple 
 of hours after nightfall, the moon being well up 
 in the sky, not far from full, and shining brightly 
 
CLIMATE OF URUGUAY 265 
 
 at the time, my attention was suddenly attracted 
 by the appearance of a magnificent meteor in the 
 north, which travelled slowly eastwards towards 
 the moon in an almost horizontal course for some 
 seconds and then disappeared. It seemed to be 
 about one-fourth of the size of the moon. 
 
CHAPTER XXIII 
 
 RAILWAYS OF URUGUAY 
 
 AT the present day it will scarcely be disputed 
 that facilities for travelling and for the transport 
 of goods are essential to the progress and pros- 
 perity of a nation. 
 
 It is in the ability to deliver articles of barter 
 at a market where their sale can be effected that 
 lies their practical value. The gem or mineral at 
 the mine, if irremovable, has no realisable worth 
 beyond that possessed by the coarser rock sur- 
 rounding it ; and the excess of farm produce over 
 that which can be consumed upon the spot is 
 similarly valueless under like conditions. 
 
 I have seen many acres of fine wheat, ripe for 
 the sickle, set fire to and burnt, in order to get 
 clear of it, the cost of transporting it to market 
 being greater than the price it would fetch there. 
 
 Bearing these principles in mind, and applying 
 
 them to the case of Uruguay, we find in it an 
 
 266 
 
RAILWAYS OF URUGUAY 267 
 
 example of a country pre-eminently depending for 
 the development of its resources, and the conse- 
 quent prosperity of its people, upon the facilities 
 afforded for the transport of its produce and 
 articles of consumption. 
 
 Of public roads worthy of the name there are 
 none throughout the length and breadth of the 
 land, except and such exceptions are rare in 
 the vicinity of towns. 
 
 The means of communication in times gone by 
 were merely rights of way across the various pro- 
 perties that intervened between the traveller and 
 his destination, and when the track became im- 
 passable from rain and traffic, one had only to go 
 to either side of it in search of better ground on 
 which to continue his journey. Lately, however, 
 these circumstances have altered greatly. 
 
 Wire fencing has been introduced and largely 
 adopted in the country. So-called roads, which, 
 more correctly speaking, are mere sites or allow- 
 ances for roads, have been fenced off and separated 
 from the adjoining properties, so that traffic is 
 concentrated within narrower limits than formerly, 
 with the result that the hollows where rain collects 
 become so worked into mud, as frequently to be 
 
268 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 impassable for wheels in wet weather. This makes 
 the conveyance of produce or merchandise by 
 bullock carts, which are the ordinary means of 
 transport of the country, both tedious and costly, 
 not to mention the chance of injury to the goods 
 from exposure to the weather on the journey. 
 
 These conditions tend to break down competi- 
 tion from such a source, and to demonstrate more 
 clearly the advantages of carriage by rail. 
 
 It was not until the year 1867 that the vis 
 inertite of public opinion in Uruguay upon the 
 subject of the necessity for improved means of 
 communication between the capital and the in- 
 terior was finally overcome. In that year a 
 railway was begun near Montevideo by a local 
 company, with the intention of pushing it north- 
 wards to the central town of Durazno, a distance 
 of 127^ miles. The project was, however, far too 
 great for the means available for its execution, and 
 only 6 miles of the line were then constructed. 
 
 In the year 1871 the enterprise was taken 
 seriously in hand by a new company that had 
 been formed in London, and the section to Santa 
 Lucia, 37 miles from Montevideo, was opened the 
 following year. 
 
RAILWAYS OF URUGUAY 269 
 
 In 1874 it was extended for another 90 J miles 
 to Durazno, a portion of this length having been 
 previously opened for traffic. The following year 
 a branch of 20 miles was completed from about 
 the fortieth mile on the main line to the town of 
 San Jose, being a part of what was then called 
 the Central Uruguay and Higueritas Railway. 
 
 In this condition matters remained till 1880, 
 when a couple of miles, from Durazno to the 
 north side of the river Yi, were added to the 
 main line. 
 
 In 1886 an extension of 38 miles, to a little 
 south of the Rio Negro, was opened, and the 
 large and important bridge across that river 
 was finished in January 1887, making the total 
 length of the line then brought into traffic 190 
 miles. 
 
 This constitutes the whole of the original 
 Central Uruguay line ; but as the system now 
 comprises other undertakings, it may be well to 
 give the details of the latter here. The first of 
 these was a line of some twenty miles in length, 
 extending from Montevideo, in an eastwardly 
 direction, to the small town of Pando, that gave 
 its name to the undertaking which was then 
 
270 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 known as the Pando Railway. Its infancy was 
 not of a robust character ; in fact, it was quite 
 the reverse, and it was re- christened more than 
 once, apparently with the hope of obtaining for it 
 some benefit by the process. 
 
 The modesty of its original designation having 
 failed to attract the attention it merited, it was 
 changed to the alliterative and more pretentious 
 title of the Montevideo, Minas, and Maldonado 
 Railway, but without any perceptible increase of 
 luck. 
 
 It had struggled from 1875 till 1880 for 
 a feeble existence, and various concessions, or 
 modifications of concessions, were then and subse- 
 quently obtained for the purpose of strengthening 
 its constitution. But it was not till 1888 that 
 it was strong enough to stand alone ; and it 
 was opened hi that year, from Montevideo to 
 Minas, 76 miles, under the name of the North- 
 Eastern of Uruguay Railway. 
 
 Its success was at once assured, as it was seen 
 that the district it served could yield a fair 
 traffic; but it did not long retain its separate 
 and independent character, for in 1889 it was 
 leased and taken over by the Central Uruguay 
 
RAILWAYS OF URUGUAY 271 
 
 Railway Company. Out of this grew another 
 branch, or more correctly, a completely new 
 " shoot," as it was a distinct and separate, although 
 allied, undertaking the Central Uruguay Eastern 
 Extension Railway from Toledo Station, on the 
 North-Eastern line, to Nico-Perez, a length of 1 28 
 miles, part of which was opened in 1890 and 
 the remainder in 1891. 
 
 In the preceding year a junction line 5 miles 
 long was made near Montevideo, to connect the 
 eastern section more perfectly with the Central 
 Railway by which it was leased. 
 
 In the year 1888 another friendly project had 
 been set on foot, under the title of the Central 
 Uruguay Northern Extension Railway, to continue 
 the main line northwards from the Rio Negro 
 to the Brazilian frontier, a distance which proved 
 to be i82j miles. It was for the construction 
 of this railway that the writer went out to South 
 America for the third time, and remained there 
 more than three years. The works were begun 
 in 1889, 41 miles were opened in 1890, 68 more 
 in 1891, and the remaining 73 J miles in 1892. 
 
 From the foregoing it will be seen that the 
 Central Uruguay Railway system consists of a 
 
2/2 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 main or trunk line of 352^ miles from Monte- 
 video to the Brazilian frontier at Rivera, with 
 branches or allied lines to the extent of 229 
 miles, making a total of 5 8 1 J miles. 
 
 It also draws traffic from lines that form junc- 
 tions with its systems, but with the management 
 of which it has no concern. 
 
 One of these is styled the Uruguay Great 
 Eastern Railway, of which, however, only 3 1 
 miles, that were made five or six years ago, are 
 as yet in traffic. It branches off from the North- 
 Eastern Railway at Olmos Junction, close to 
 Pando, and extends to La Sierra, in the direction 
 of Maldonado. 
 
 Another and much more important line of this 
 description is the Midland Railway. It has a 
 junction with the Central Uruguay at Rio 
 Negro, 170 miles north of Montevideo, and is 
 196^ miles long, rather more than half of the 
 distance being the section between Rio Negro 
 and Paysandu, on the river Uruguay, which town 
 lies in the direction of north-west by west from 
 Rio Negro. The second section runs northwards, 
 approximately parallel to the course of the Uru- 
 guay, as far as the town of Salto, where it joins 
 
RAILWAYS OF URUGUAY 273 
 
 the North- Western Railway. It was constructed 
 some nine years ago. 
 
 The North-Western Railway, to which allusion 
 has just been made, was begun and partly finished 
 more than twenty years ago. It extends from 
 Salto, for in miles, in a northerly direction to 
 the Brazilian frontier at Santa Rosa. 
 
 At a station called Isla de Cabellos, on the 
 North-Western Railway, 72 miles north of Salto, 
 a line called the Northern Railway branches off 
 in a north-eastwardly direction for San Eugenio, 
 on the Brazilian frontier, a distance of 70 miles. 
 
 There was a projected line, called the Uruguay 
 Western Railway. The scheme contemplated the 
 making of a line from Montevideo to Colonia, on 
 the Rio de la Plata. Part of the idea was to 
 purchase and utilise the line of rails 14^ miles 
 long, from Montevideo to the slaughter yards for 
 cattle, as a means of getting into the city. 
 
 The affair collapsed at the time, but several 
 attempts have since been made to resuscitate it. 
 
 Such being the actual state of the railways of 
 Uruguay, to judiciously extend the existing sys- 
 tem by the construction of the necessary branch 
 lines to reach the various districts, according as 
 
274 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 the increase of population and the progress of the 
 country require them, should be the true progres- 
 sive policy to follow. 
 
 It is to be hoped that the lesson taught by the 
 railway mania of eight or nine years ago in the 
 Argentine Kepublic will long be remembered in 
 Uruguay. 
 
 During that craze, in a few months, new lines 
 were proposed in Argentina to the extent of 
 twenty-three thousand miles, or more than four 
 times the total length then open for traffic the 
 growth of the previous thirty years. In the 
 case of some of these projects, the promoters 
 made no stipulation as to receiving any financial 
 assistance ; but the majority of applicants for 
 concessions asked the government to guarantee 
 the payment of a fixed rate of interest upon 
 capital to the immense aggregate amount of 
 about sixty-six millions sterling, for projects that 
 were, for the most part, absolutely worthless. 
 
 To those who knew the country and its re- 
 sources, it was evident that such so-called pro- 
 gress was not due to increased strength in the 
 beat of life-blood in the national pulse, but to a 
 fevered temperature produced by a mania, having 
 
RAILWAYS OF URUGUAY 275 
 
 its outcome in the scramble for railway con- 
 cessions. 
 
 Injudicious railway expenditure of the kind 
 tends only to embarrass the country by adding 
 to its indebtedness, without in any way assisting 
 to develop its resources. Nor does the evil stop 
 there ; for worthless undertakings cast discredit 
 upon others that are sound and good enough, and 
 thus retard the carrying out of works that might 
 be of great public utility and value. 
 
 The following tabular statement will serve to 
 show at a glance the growth of railways in Uru- 
 guay, as well as their present position : 
 
w 
 
 O 
 
 PH 
 P 
 
 
 1 
 
 10 
 
 CO <0 ?0 
 
 rH t CM (N t>-OO 
 
 00 CO O tH t>- rH 
 
 O iH i 1 
 
 s 
 
 
 
 "8 
 
 
 
 
 ** 
 
 
 
 9 
 
 
 
 $ HIM- H- 
 
 ^ O O O O O 1C 
 
 S 1 : ^cW 
 
 f 
 
 
 
 
 
 rH 
 
 b- W CO t- 
 
 CO r-i rH 
 
 
 
 
 * 
 
 3 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 H 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 o 
 
 ^^ 
 
 ^w 
 
 
 02 
 
 
 
 S 
 
 H 
 
 2 
 
 00 
 
 
 o : :CN ; : 
 
 <M 
 
 rH 
 
 S 
 
 M 
 
 rH 
 
 s CO^I <N 
 
 T 1 
 
 (N 
 
 S 
 
 H 
 
 3 
 
 
 . 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 Q 
 
 g 
 
 ys open 
 
 8 
 
 S 
 
 ^ 00 -0 
 
 co N :<M : : 
 
 | : IS : ! 
 
 i 
 
 O 
 
 o 
 
 CO 
 
 1 
 
 i 
 
 | 1 8 : : i i 
 
 f ; : ; i 
 
 rH 
 
 OB 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 o 
 
 "3 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 PH 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 fe 
 
 PH 
 
 to 
 
 o 
 
 <u 
 
 
 
 ^H 
 
 EH 
 
 ,3 
 
 rH 
 
 g * 
 
 
 
 S 
 
 W 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 c-j 
 
 w 
 
 
 
 HW 
 
 
 
 * 
 
 H 
 
 So 
 
 - r 
 
 CC 
 
 
 
 
 
 525 
 
 c 
 
 o 
 
 >.s 
 
 *> -ti 
 
 
 
 f 
 
 ^ 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 O 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 ^3 
 
 W 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 CO 
 
 
 
 
 . . 
 
 * 
 
 .S 
 
 1 
 
 
 
 r ' 
 
 S 
 
 
 .S 
 o 
 
 <r" 
 
 
 >5 
 
 o 
 
 y 
 
 
 a 
 
 TABULAR ST, 
 
 p 
 
 
 
 6 
 
 i 
 
 3 
 
 B 
 
 i 
 
 5 
 
 Central Uruguay Railway 
 Main Line (Montevideo to R 
 Branch to San Jose" . 
 Eastern Extension 
 North-Eastern of Uruguay 
 Northern Extension . 
 Pefiarol Junction 
 
 Total Central Sy 
 Uruguay Great Eastern Railway 
 Midland Uruguay Railway 
 North-Western of Uruguay . 
 Uruguay Northern 
 ,, Western . 
 
 "o 
 H 
 
 * There has beer 
 
CHAPTER XXIV 
 CONCLUSION 
 
 PERHAPS it may be thought that in the preced- 
 ing pages I have assumed too much of the role 
 of " candid friend," exposing so many skeletons in 
 South American cupboards. 
 
 Why, it may be asked, drag them into the 
 light of publicity ? Why write of the little fail- 
 ings of military men, of lawyers, and others in 
 various callings ? Why draw dismal pictures of 
 the insecurity of life, of revolutionary times, and 
 of the mean developments of political intrigues ? 
 Why not ignore such unpleasant subjects alto- 
 gether, and foster the belief that they have no 
 existence, save in the imaginative brains of 
 journalists in need of sensational " copy " ? 
 
 To such suggestions my reply would be that 
 you may wrap the poncho of pretended igno- 
 rance around the bony shoulders of the skeletons, 
 and strive by that means to hide their hideous 
 
278 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 deformity ; but they will continue to look down 
 upon you, and meet the public gaze with ghastly 
 and familiar leers, as clearly as they would under 
 the prying search of the " Rontgen rays." 
 
 Ignoring the facts will not cure the disease. 
 It is but postponing the evil day when it must 
 be dealt with; for if the country is to advance 
 with the times, the skeletons must be ruthlessly 
 laid bare and banished, never to return. They 
 should be relegated without delay to the glass 
 cases of the national museums as curious speci- 
 mens from bygone days. Professors of political 
 anatomy would there be able to examine them 
 at their leisure, and draw from that source a 
 wholesome warning wherewith to caution future 
 generations. 
 
 Not one word that I have given expression to 
 has been written in an unfriendly spirit. It is 
 true that some of the incidents herein narrated 
 may reflect upon "all sorts and conditions of 
 men," but it must not be assumed that society 
 generally approves of or is fairly represented by 
 the more objectionable ot them. On the con- 
 trary, their misdeeds are repudiated and con- 
 demned by the wholesome and robust portion 
 
CONCLUSION 279 
 
 of public opinion in the countries where they 
 occur. The local press deals with them in scath- 
 ing denunciations, couched in language compared 
 with which the strongest of my remarks are mild 
 to the verge of feebleness. 
 
 My firm conviction is, that the great wants of 
 South American States are rest and freedom from 
 political upheaval and disturbance, and a strict 
 adherence not only to the letter, but also to the 
 spirit of all their engagements ; a state of things 
 which peace would tend to foster. 
 
 Such a condition of affairs can only exist under 
 just and strong governments, careful to make the 
 laws respected, and to afford efficient protection 
 to all who reside in or have dealings with the 
 countries under their control. To accomplish 
 these objects local politicians should devote all 
 their best energies. 
 
 It would not seem to demand any great sacrifice 
 or special exercise of self-denial on the part of the 
 members of society in general to further such 
 endeavours by adopting a political creed of the 
 kind. 
 
 No nation that is not prepared to accept and 
 act up to such principles of government can 
 
280 SOUTH AMERICAN SKETCHES 
 
 hope to make progress in material prosperity, 
 importance, and civilisation. 
 
 I will close this volume by stating that to- 
 wards the people of the River Plate as a whole, 
 with many of whom I have been brought into 
 frequent contact, and among whom I have 
 several highly valued friends, I am actuated by 
 nothing but kindly feelings. 
 
 I also willingly bear testimony to the fact that 
 those countries can boast of numerous members 
 of the bench and bar, of the military service, 
 and of civilians in every walk of life, able and 
 upright men of the highest type, respected by 
 every one who knows them. 
 
 Theirs might be one of the bright and pros- 
 perous regions of the earth if only the demon 
 of political revolution and discord were exorcised 
 and banished from their lands for ever. 
 
 OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY 
 THE END 
 
 Printed by BALLANTYNE, HANSON &* Co. 
 Edinburgh & London 
 

THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE 
 STAMPED BELOW 
 
 AN INITIAL FINE OF 25 CENTS 
 
 WILL BE ASSESSED FOR FAILURE TO RETURN 
 THIS BOOK ON THE DATE DUE. THE PENALTY 
 WILL INCREASE TO SO CENTS ON THE FOURTH 
 DAY AND TO $1.OO ON THE SEVENTH DAY 
 OVERDUE. 
 
 ?F$ O 1 
 
 
 0V 13 136758 
 
 LD 21-100m-12, '43 (8796s) 
 
 
via. 19.1 35 
 
 U,C. BERKELEY LIBRARIES 
 
 CQ3SSDfl7Mb