THE CAMP
"To govern is to populate" is the maxim which has guided the policy of
the Argentine Government ever since the first days of political
emancipation. The immense wealth of the fertile plains must remain
unappropriated just as long as there is insufficient labour to sow and
reap, to tend, to feed, and shear.
As a result of this policy the immigration organisation of Argentina may
now be regarded as the finest in the world. Everything that could
possibly be done to bring a large number of useful emigrants to the
country has been done, with the result that while in 1858 the number of
immigrants was only 4,658 it increased until in 1913 it reached 300,000.
The increase has been steady except in 1888 and the two following years,
when the figures were 130,271, 218,744, and 77,815 respectively. These
were years in which an experiment was made with assisted passages, and
the result was that the supply of immigrants jumped up and soon exceeded
the demand. The misery and poverty which followed the arrival of the too
numerous thousands caused a reaction. Assisted passages were abandoned,
and in 1891 the number fell to 28,266. But since that date it has risen
steadily to its present height.
The reason for the great preponderance of Italians is that the climate
is more suitable to them than to those of any more northern nationality.
Labour is what is needed, and for hard manual work in an almost tropical
climate, quite unsuited to Englishmen, Italians are not only fitted but
expect considerably less wages and a lower standard of comfort. The best
chances come to those who can speak Spanish, and this the Italians learn
somewhat more quickly than the other immigrants.
Argentina is not a country for the casual Englishman whose motives for
leaving home are poverty or a longing for adventure. He cannot work as a
labourer. Other positions where money can be earned are few and
difficult to obtain except by personal influence. The Italians, too, are
quiet and frugal in their living--qualities which are not typical of the
English immigrant, and it is often remarked that an Italian will thrive
where an Englishman would starve.
Clerks and shop assistants, and those who can only do office work, are
not wanted at all. Farm labourers, dairymen, and stockmen of practical
experience are welcomed, and there is a fair demand for mechanics.
Engine-drivers can get work if they can speak Spanish, and Englishmen
have been found useful as butchers at the freezing works--but that is
not an occupation which will absorb an unlimited number.
[Illustration:
_Photograph by A. W. Boote, Buenos Aires._
GENERAL VIEW OF AN ESTANCIA.]
A considerable number of overseers are required on _estancias_, but for
these posts personal introduction and previous practical experience are
necessary. Disappointment and chagrin await the young man who arrives in
the country with nothing except a large amount of physical energy and
high spirits, and wishes at once to obtain a big salary on a ranch. If
these ignorant adventurers feel they must go to that part of "abroad"
their best way is to go on a ranch as apprentice for some years at a
nominal salary. They will find the work hard, but the life is not
without its pleasures, and at the end of the time they will probably be
better qualified to take up good positions. If such a one, in disgust at
the hardness and the monotony of the work, should give up and should
succeed in obtaining a place in a bank or railway office, he will find
himself better off in money, but somewhat poorer in prospects than he
would be at home.
There is little chance of the immigrant securing a small holding and
forming a home. Even on established farms good openings are not
abundant. The colonists are often short of capital, and not long ago
farming operations throughout an entire district were almost stopped
because the colonists were unable to buy seed. The position was only
saved by the railway company providing the seed on easy terms and
without any security.
Among the more prosperous farmers are the small Welsh colony founded at
Chubut in 1865. There are 400 of them, who are mostly doing very well,
and maintain in habits, language, and religion the customs of their own
country. In the Andes, about 400 miles from Port Madryn, there is
another colony of about 500 Welsh people. One hears there on a Sunday
the sound of Welsh hymns from the chapel.
When the immigrant, after his long train journey, arrives at some
station on the plains he finds that the centre of life is the camp town.
Whether he comes from Italy or Spain, Syria or Bulgaria, he will
probably consider the camp towns are the ugliest he has ever seen,
unless he arrives at sunset, when the glow and colour turn everything to
beauty. The roads are about as bad as roads can be. There is no stone
anywhere, and if holes are filled up it is with earth which brings mud
to mud and dust to dust. When it is wet they are almost impassable
through depth of mud, and when it is dry the dust is even worse--one can
see the cloud of dust above a town sometimes a dozen miles away.
The inhabitants of the camp town--as distinct from those in the
cities--seem never to have developed the idea of making it beautiful or
even pleasant. Extra buildings are run up just where and how the owner
likes. The prospect is marred everywhere by the crude lines of
galvanised iron roofs. The houses are built along the uneven street in
an irregularity which has no charm. Refuse and dead dogs are left lying
about until someone specially affected, or possibly the policeman,
removes them a little farther off. The houses are all one-storied, and
have the street frontage built up to look twice as high as the house
really is. In these small towns the inns--generally at the corner of the
street--are one-storied also. The bar is a restaurant for the peons,
who in the evenings gather there to drink and gamble. Inside is a more
private eating-room, and beyond this the yard round which are the
bedrooms. The sanitary arrangements leave much to be desired, and there
is everywhere the strong odour of garlic.
[Illustration:
_Photograph by A. W. Boote & Co., Buenos Aires._
A GAUCHO AND HIS FAMILY.]
The most characteristic figure of the camp town is the gaucho. He is the
native of the plains, and is usually of mixed blood. The idle,
independent, nomad gauchos are almost an extinct class. In the early
days they refused to settle anywhere, or do any regular work. They were
horsemen and hunters, and roamed over the plains, staying here and there
in ramshackle huts till restlessness, or the owner of the land, moved
them on. They were the gipsies of the Argentine. Whenever there was a
war or a revolution the gaucho would be found in the vanguard, and in
times of peace he would enliven the dullness with private feuds which
did not end with words.
But civilisation has been too strong for him, and the modern gaucho is a
more law-abiding and useful person. He still wears his old, picturesque
costume, the broad sombrero, the shirt, and wide Turkish trousers, which
may be of any colour in the spectrum, tucked into his boots. In cold
weather he wears over his shoulders the poncho, a blanket which has as
many varieties of hue as his trousers. His saddle is ornamented with
silver, and he has fancy stirrups and jingling spurs. But the chief part
of his equipment is the big knife--often a foot long, and usually of
fancy pattern--stuck in his belt. This is used freely for defensive
purposes, or to avenge some real or imaginary insult; it also serves
when eating his lunch.
In spite of his rough appearance and manner, the gaucho is often
kind-hearted. He is, however, quarrelsome in his cups, and has all the
native capacity for fancying an insult and much tenacity in revenge.
Much of his spare time is spent in gambling, and any money he does not
lose in this way he spends in drink or extravagant and useless
purchases.
At the heart of the camp town stands the camp store, and the gauchos
will always be found near it. It is the post office, the exchange, the
rendezvous. Under its roof are formed and discussed the ideas that
count in local self-government. Business is transacted with a delightful
absence of hustle. All the slowness of Spanish courtesy is added to the
deliberation of the dweller in wide solitudes. The result is an
unhurrying way of buying and selling which would make a Smithfield
salesman white with despair.
The gauchos are responsible for the chief amusement of the camp
town--other than drinking and gambling--for it is they who organise the
horse-races. These primitive meetings are not quite so frequent as they
used to be, but they still take place on many Sundays and holidays, and
for them the gaucho makes preparations such as he cannot be stirred to
at any other time. He gets a new suit of clothes, cleans and polishes
the saddle and bridle of his horse, puts round his neck a silk scarf of
gorgeous design, and has an unwonted show of silver both on his horse
and himself. Only on horseback is the gaucho thoroughly at home, and on
these days he looks his best. There is no finesse about the racing; it
is a test of sheer endurance of man and animal, and when the race is
over both are exhausted. The handicapping has none of the careful
science of Newmarket. When the best horse is in full course, running as
fast as it can be urged, the handicapper catches one of his hind feet in
a lasso and gives a quick jerk so that horse and rider are flung heavily
to the ground. This, as may be imagined, gives the second horse a very
fair chance of equalising a disadvantage in pace or staying power.
Although the riders are perfect horsemen, there is little attraction for
the European spectator in such a wild ordeal to man and animal. The
prizes are usually a saddle, a bridle, a suit of clothes, or even a
piece of beef of ample size and unusual quality. The gaucho, it may be
mentioned, is very fond of beef, which he roasts with the hide on.
The duties of the gaucho are to look after the stock on the ranch,
chiefly in connection with the "rodeo," or mustering of the cattle.
Mounted on horseback, the gaucho drives the animals to the
meeting-place. The herds are never allowed to stand still, but even at
the end of their journey are kept moving in a sort of rough circle so
that the chance of panic and stampede is minimised. The cattle are
counted by driving them in ones or twos through a narrow line, a task
requiring considerable activity--especially when the herd, after being
counted, has to be divided into two or three lots--if a stampede is to
be prevented.
Perhaps the only fear in the gaucho's life is that he may take anthrax
from the cattle, for should he do so, and the wound be not cut or burnt
out by the third day, his chance of recovery is slight.
With the changes that have come over the _estancias_ during the last
twenty-five years--fenced fields of alfalfa appearing where formerly
there was nothing but the open plain--the days of unrestricted gallop
over the prairie are over. The rider now passes through an endless
series of enclosures, through gate after gate. The law of trespass,
formerly unknown, may even prevent him from approaching the lagunas.
Barbed wire, too, has been introduced; but though injuries sometimes
occur, the cattle seem to have learned to keep clear of it.
In the house itself the change is as remarkable. The old cramped
quarters and ugly furniture have given place to more rooms, better
furnished, and pictures, pianos, and books are not at all uncommon.
Fruit and flower gardens have been laid out. Sometimes on a large ranch
a dairy is found; there is a blacksmith's and carpenter's shop, and
gardeners and book-keepers are kept. Better accommodation is also
provided for the peons. Still, generally speaking, these are the
exceptions.
Around the ranches of Britishers there are many signs of national
individuality--a tennis court, cricket grounds, even a golf course.
Pheasants and rabbits are sometimes reared so that the exile may not be
without a chance of shooting such as he would enjoy at home.
The houses themselves are not costly structures. Some are of the soft,
dark red Argentine brick, which mellows rapidly, and in a few years
looks as picturesque and soft-toned as English brick does after a
century or so.
The houses of the colonists are mostly built of mud. The new colonist,
when given his unprepared land, does not trouble to build anything but
the simplest of dwellings. Boards are built up so as to leave a narrow
oblong space of the same shape as the outer walls of the house are to
be, and in this is placed mud mixed with straw. When this has dried the
boards are removed, and the four walls of the required height are left
standing. Spaces for windows and doors are then cut out, a thatched roof
is put on, and, without much further elaboration, the tenants put in the
furniture and begin life in their new home. Sometimes the walls are made
of mud bricks.
A curious feature of the camp are the large carts, with wheels 8 feet
high, on which the wheat is taken from the camp to the railway station.
They are drawn by oxen, ten or twelve being required for each cart,
which will carry several tons. As the axles are never greased the noise
made by these carts is frightful.
Labour, especially at harvest time, is scarce, for owing to the lack of
granaries and elevators the grain must be gathered and threshed quickly,
and though the latest reaping machines are, of course, used, the best of
them require much auxiliary labour. Even in the busy harvest time,
however, the midday siesta for everyone in the camp is not omitted, as
the sun is extremely hot for two or three hours about noon.
The huge flocks of sheep, varying in size from 12,000 to 80,000, are
mostly owned by New Zealand ranchers who have settled in Argentina in
recent years. They are shepherded on the open pampas by gauchos on
horseback, whose chief duty is to keep the flocks apart, and so prevent
confusion of ownership or the spread of contagious diseases. Formerly
the mutton was burnt as fuel, only the wool, tallow, and skins being
sold; but since the advent of cold storage it has been exported. The
wool is not washed before sale, and therefore fetches a low price. The
shearing, which used to be done by hand, is now nearly all done by
machinery. Travelling from ranch to ranch each shearer deals, on the
average, with about a hundred sheep a day.
There is one farm where a flock of about 13,000 Lincoln ewes are milked
in dairies, and a considerable profit made. The milk is made into
cheese, which finds a ready sale. It is only in exceptionally rich
pastures that this is done, and the utmost care is taken that the lamb
does not suffer from the deprivation.
One of the most important changes of recent years has been the
introduction of windmills for pumping water. In the absence of rivers
and lakes a well worked by hand was used in the old days to draw water
for the house, while the cattle would drink at the shallow lagunas in
the hollows of the plain. But as the best land is higher up wells and
troughs had to be made. First there was the "jaguel," worked by a horse
and rider. Next came an arrangement of buckets on an endless chain,
which brought up water and emptied it into the troughs or reservoirs.
This was the "noria," and was worked by a horse or mule. But when the
water level began to fall--some say through the introduction of
alfalfa--and the lagunas to dry up, it was found necessary to dig deeper
wells, and to adopt the use of semi-artesian wells. The water, which
often is saline, is specially so when drawn from these semi-artesian
wells.
The great scourge which the camp has to fight, as already shown, is the
swarms of locusts which have come down annually from the north since
1905. Previous to that there had been freedom from this pest for five
years. The invasion usually begins in October, when a few flying locusts
may be seen. In a day or two they are arriving in millions, and at the
worst are so numerous that they form a cloud over the face of the sun,
and make a shadow beneath them. The principal damage is done by what is
left behind by the locusts--for millions upon millions of eggs are
deposited in the ground. In about six weeks the young are hatched. They
cannot fly, but jump like grasshoppers, which, indeed, they very much
resemble, except for their bright colouring--red and yellow, black and
green. They move in swarms from stem to stem, and every fragment of
green leaf disappears before their devouring energy. After they have
visited a cornfield nothing is left but naked stalks. Six weeks later
they develop wings, and swarms of them begin to fly across the sky like
clouds or smoke from some great conflagration. They will alight in such
heaps on a railway track that they sometimes stop a train.
Reference has already been made to the way in which the Government
assists the landowners to fight this plague. Under penalty of a fine
every landowner must maintain men to fight the locusts. But even if it
were possible to exterminate all those on one estate, they might arrive
in equal numbers from adjoining land, and a million are not missed from
a thousand million. Unanimous action alone would be effective, and this
the Government are trying to bring about. Meanwhile, a commission has
been appointed to deal with the subject. It is probable that if the
northern source from which they come could be found the country could
rid itself of the trouble within a few years.
[Illustration: LA RAMBLA, MAR DEL PLATA.]