URUGUAYAN MANNERS AND CUSTOMS
The temperament of the Oriental--Some merits of the race--The
Spanish Main as treated in fiction--Distinction between the
villains in print and in actual life--Civility as a national
trait--Courtesy of officials--The Uruguayan as a sturdy
democrat--A land of equality--Some local mannerisms--Banquets and
general hospitality--Some practical methods of enjoying
life--Simplicity versus ostentation--Some consequences of
prosperity--The cost of living--Questions of ways and
means--European education and its results--Some evidences of
national pride--The physique of the Oriental--Sports and
games--Football--The science of bull-fighting--Eloquence and the
oratorical art--Uruguayan ladies--Local charm of the sex--South
American institutions--Methods by which they have been
improved--The advantages of experiments--The Uruguayan army and
navy--Some characteristics of the police--Honesty of the
nation--Politics and temperament.
Life in Uruguay is perhaps best described by the German word
_gemüthlich_, an untranslatable adjective that savours in its
birthplace just a little of light beer, easy-chairs, cigar smoke,
steaming coffee, and an atmosphere of _camaraderie_. After which it is
necessary to come to an abrupt halt in this task of translation, since
the danger of dragging in a foreign word becomes evident when it is
necessary to introduce another in order to explain it. In any case,
this good-fellowship of the Uruguayan is of a far lighter order than
the Teutonic, and is only remotely concerned with the material matters
of life. Like the majority of the races of Iberian descent, the
Oriental is essentially sober in his tastes, and frequently of an
ascetic temperament. Such traits are inborn and natural, and by no
means the result of a campaign of schooling and self-repression. He
has not, for instance, found it necessary to undergo an outward
treatment of badges and blue ribbons nor to devote himself to a
special era of self-protection from the like of which the chastened
Anglo-Saxon is only just emerging.
For generations the Spanish Main has afforded a lucrative field to the
writers of pure sensationalism--if the word be allowed. Their choice
has undoubtedly been a wise one, and a judicious compound of fair
creoles, satanic dons, swashbuckling pirates, and heroes of the
tenderest age has proved an almost inexhaustible gold-mine of really
lurid fiction. Yet it cannot be said that this fervid literature has
led to a complete understanding of the South American character by the
British youth. As to the popular and stirring villainies, I will not
attempt to deny that in the past deeds have been enacted that were as
terrible as those which have shuddered in print between gaudy paper
covers. There were many beyond, infinitely worse, and altogether
unthinkable. But the perpetrators of these were seldom enough of the
stereotyped temperament as portrayed by the blood-and-thunder authors.
Alas for the double-dyed deceit that lurked between the terrific
drunken orgies! The real chief organisers of such colossal outrages as
have obtained went about their business with a directness that was
worthy of a better cause, and reddened the pages of history with a
strictly methodical and painstaking industry. Moreover, they were as
sober as an infant of eight at a Band of Hope festival.
But all this has very little to do with the present-day dwellers in
Uruguay, and their habits and customs. The atmosphere of the country
is essentially one of civility. If you would learn the temperament of
a nation, mark the behaviour of its humbler public functionaries! In
fact, one of the first steps that a student of national character
should take is merely to ask a policeman the first question that
enters the mind. In order to apply the severest test the query should
be a crassly foolish one. In France may be expected vivacious
expostulation, in Germany an explosion of imperative military sounds,
in Holland a placid non-comprehension, in Portugal a pathetic
eagerness to satisfy at all costs--I have tried all these, and more
beyond than would stand inclusion here without the risk of wearying.
The Uruguayan policeman, in his uniform of British pattern, is
essentially courteous, while the manners of the tram conductors,
railway guards, and those other genii of transit in whose hands the
fate of the traveller lies are equally to be commended.
[Illustration: THE PRINCIPAL PLAZA: MONTEVIDEO.]
[Illustration: THE HARBOUR: MONTEVIDEO.
To face p. 130.]
The absence of sycophancy that is characteristic of nearly all South
American Republics is especially marked in Uruguay. A sturdy democracy
is evident here even amongst those whose menial service is of the
nature to evoke professional obsequiousness in other parts of the
world. The waiter, for instance, will serve with brisk attention, but
at the end of the repast he will as often as not pocket the customary
tip as a matter of course that is unworthy of comment, to say nothing
of thanksgiving. At the same time, it is certain that he would bear no
grudge against a well-acquainted patron who had omitted the ceremony
altogether. At a genuine Uruguayan hotel the returning guest who has
been fortunate enough to win the esteem of the hall porter will find
his hand cordially grasped in greeting by that official. The Banda
Oriental is a country of discrimination and individuality where
personality counts and where popularity is a very material asset.
Such a land as this is undoubtedly a home of opportunity.
The hospitality of the higher classes is proverbial. Indeed, reputable
conviviality of all kinds is at a premium. In Montevideo the occasions
for the giving of banquets are numberless. Thus if a man has achieved
something in particular it is necessary that a banquet should mark the
event, if he has expressed his intention of achieving anything in
particular, a banquet forms the appropriate prelude to the work, and
if he has failed to do anything in particular, there is nothing like
one of these selfsame banquets to console him for the disappointment.
It is, in fact, much to the Uruguayan's credit that he contrives to
extract a vast deal of enjoyment from life in a comparatively homely
and unostentatious manner. The race meetings here, for instance, are
most pleasant functions, although the horses are not burdened with the
responsibility of those tremendous stakes that prevail in some other
parts. The theatres, too, although they obtain the services of
excellent companies, are moderate in their charges--moderate
considering the usual scale that prevails in South America, that is to
say.
The advent of a prosperity, however, that now seems more definite than
ever before has produced a similar effect upon household expenditure
as in the neighbouring countries. The cost of living has risen by
leaps and bounds during the past two or three years--a fact that
salaried foreigners resident in the country have found out to their
somewhat acute inconvenience. In the Campo, naturally enough, this
phenomenon of ways and means has not occurred. When live stock and
acres are numbered only by the thousand such annoying matters as
house-rent and the butcher's bill fail to carry any significance.
Nevertheless, in Montevideo the former has practically doubled itself
within the last half-dozen years, and all similar items have followed
suit as a matter of course. But the rise in the price of land
signifies prosperity, and is at all events welcome enough to those
directly interested in the soil.
South America, taken as a whole, is a continent whose inhabitants are
not a little addicted to ostentation. The phase is natural enough in
view of the conditions that obtain in so many of the Republics. In the
case of the pastoral countries, even in quite modern times the broad
lands had lain comparatively valueless until the introduction of the
freezing process for meat and the opening up of the great wheat and
maize areas sent up the price of the soil by leaps and bounds. Yet
even prior to this era a certain amount of prosperity had prevailed,
and young South Americans had become accustomed up to a certain point
to wend their way for educational purposes to France and to England,
and thus to assimilate European ideas with those that prevailed at the
time in the republics of the south.
The sudden advent of overflowing wealth thus found them to a great
extent prepared to introduce the most high-flown of modern ideas into
the life of their own country. No doubt the very consciousness of
these riches that, head for head, undoubtedly far surpass that of the
dwellers in the old continent, caused the South Americans to fling
aside the last vestige of pastoral simplicity and to make the roots of
this great wealth of theirs bud out into residential palaces and
entertainments of a rather fabulous order. Since they had shown
clearly enough that their material gains had surpassed those of
Europe, what more natural than that they should endeavour to prove
with equal conclusiveness their ability to outshine the continent of
their ancestors in the ornamentation and luxuries that follow
automatically in the footsteps of fortune! Surely the trait is nothing
beyond the proof of a healthy rivalry.
The Uruguayan is curiously free from all evidence of this ostentation.
The life he leads is well supplied with comforts, but its tendency is
simple. Thus, although a very fair number of well-turned-out carriages
and motor-cars exist in Montevideo, they are seldom to be seen
parading to and fro in imposing processions along an avenue or street
specially adapted for the purpose, as is the case in many other
cities. Rather less rigorous tenets, moreover, obtain in the case of
the costume of the male city dwellers, and the whole atmosphere of the
country, in fact, is one of plain comfort that has little concern with
outward display. Uruguay, for the present, at all events, has retained
its democracy. Whether it will continue to do so when the national
wealth has become more consolidated is another matter.
The physique of the Uruguayan men is of a distinctly high order.
Well-set-up and fresh-complexioned, they represent a favourable
testimonial to the climate of the country. In all equestrian exercises
they are, as may be imagined, past masters, and they have proved
themselves apt pupils at sports and games of all kinds. As is general
throughout almost the length and breadth of South America, football is
much in vogue here, although, owing merely to the scarcity of the
population, the ubiquitous game is less played in the country
districts than is the case in Argentina.
The art of bull-fighting still obtains in Uruguay, notably at Colonia,
on the banks of the river, where a large new edifice has been erected
for the benefit of this, I think, regrettable sport. _Espadas_ from
Spain frequently come out to perform here; but with the exception of
Colonia, that attracts the tourist class from abroad, the haunts of
bull-fighting lead only a precarious existence in the Republic.
The Oriental is undoubtedly a man of deeds; but in his case the
tendency to action is not effected at the expense of speech. He is,
indeed, a born orator, and on the slightest provocation will burst
forth into a stream of eloquence that can be quite indefinitely
continued. In any case, it is pleasant enough to listen to the
resounding periods in which the customary lofty sentiments are
couched, but it is as well to bear in mind that the oratorical effort
may mean very much--or very little.
Uruguay, more especially its capital, is well-found in the matter of
femininity. Indeed, ever since it became a full-blown city Montevideo
has been celebrated for its pretty women. This fortunate state of
affairs has now become a well-recognised fact, in which the masculine
portion of the community takes an even greater pride than does the sex
more directly involved. Should a patriotic Montevidean be engaged in
conversation with an interested foreigner, the chances are that it
will not be long ere the confident question is asked: "And our
señoritas, what is your opinion of them?"
In such a case there can be only one opinion--or expression of
opinion. Conscience may be salved by the reflection that it is as
difficult to find a woman without some stray claim to beauty as it is
to light upon a dame of sixty without a grey hair. In both cases the
feature may be hard to see. If so, it must be taken for granted. In
the case of the Montevidean señorita no such feat of the imagination
is necessary. To the far-famed graces of her sisters throughout South
America she adds the freshness of complexion and the liveliness of
temperament that are characteristic of the land.
Indeed, to conceive these lighter virtues, added to the natural
Spanish stateliness, is to picture a very bewitching feminine
consummation. Much has been written concerning the señoritas of
Uruguay, and yet not a line too much. Their own kith and kin have sung
their praises with all the tremendous hyperbole of which the Spanish
tongue is capable. White hands, bright eyes, raven hair, and a
corresponding remainder of features that resemble all pleasant things
from a dove to the moon--the collection of local prose and verse on
the subject is justifiably enormous.
The Montevidean lady has now, of course, become essentially modern.
She rides in a motor-car, plays the piano instead of the guitar, and
has exchanged the old order in general for the new. Yet the same
vivacity, courage, and good looks remain--which is an excellent and
beneficial thing for Montevideo and its inhabitants. Indeed, the beach
of Poçitos or the sands of Ramirez shorn of their female adornment
would be too terrible a disaster to contemplate even on the part of
the most hardened Oriental. And at this point it is advisable to
forsake for the present the more intimate affairs of the people,
leaving the last word to the ladies, as, indeed, is only fitting--and
frequently inevitable.
The majority of South American Republics--or rather of those in the
lower half of the continent--are keenly alive to the benefits of many
of the European methods and institutions. Although each of these
countries possesses a strong individuality of its own, the generality
of these younger nations have almost invariably shown themselves eager
to graft to their system foreign methods of organisation that have
stood the test of time and that have not been found wanting.
Indeed, in matters of practical progress the citizen of the more
enlightened South American Republics is blessed with an unusually open
mind. This condition has naturally borne fruit in experiments, and it
is this very tendency to receptiveness that has frequently laid these
States open to accusations of irresponsibility. Often enough the
charge has proved entirely unjust, since it was based on nothing
beyond a too fervent outbreak into an experimental region from which
it was hoped to extract remedies and innovations that should tend to
the betterment of the Republic.
The direction of the public services affords striking instances of the
kind. The navy, army, and police of the more progressive of the
republics are usually modelled on European patterns. The navy is
usually conducted on the English system, the army follows German
methods, and the police copies as closely as possible the
time-honoured principles of what is undoubtedly the finest force in
the world, the English constabulary. Uruguay follows this procedure
only in part. The kit of the troops here is of the French, rather than
the German, pattern; and although the naval uniforms throughout the
civilised world are all more or less alike, that of the Uruguayan does
not resemble the British as closely as do some others, notably that of
the Chilian. The costume of the Oriental police, however, helmet and
all, is almost exactly the counterpart of the British, although it
boasts the additional adornment of a sword and of spats.
The work of the Uruguayan police, moreover, is to be commended for a
lack of officiousness and fussy methods. They are little concerned
with larceny, and with the similar forms of petty dishonesty, for the
nation, as a whole, is endowed with a strict sense of the sacredness
of property. The trait is to a large extent inherent in all the
nations of the River Plate; but in this instance it may well be that
it has become even more accentuated by the drastic methods of General
Artigas at the beginning of the nineteenth century, whose abhorrence
of theft and whose exemplary castigation of the crime may well have
left an impression that has endured for almost a century.
I have already referred to the sobriety of the Uruguayan. Perhaps for
the reason that he is of a more openly jovial temperament he is
slightly more addicted to looking upon his native wine when it is red
than is the Argentine or Paraguayan. But the cases where this occurs
are isolated enough. Indeed, in the matter of sobriety the Uruguayan
can easily allow points to almost every European nation. The majority
of crimes that occur to the east of the River Plate are neither those
brought about by dishonesty nor drink. They are far more frequently
the result of differences of opinion and of old-standing feuds that
are avenged by the knife and revolver, for the Uruguayan, though
courteous to a degree, is quick to resent offence, more especially
when the umbrage given is brought about in the course of a political
discussion.