THE URUGUAYAN CAMPO
Formation of the land--A survey of the country--Features of the
soil--Types of wild flowers--A land of hill, valley, and
stream--The glamour of the distance--"The purple land"--Breezes
of the Campo--An exhilarating country--The dearth of
homesteads--The Uruguayan Gaucho--His physique--The product of
the blowy uplands--Matters of temperament--His comparative
joviality--The Gaucho as worker, player, and fighter--The
manipulation of feuds--A comparison between Argentina and
Uruguay--Warrior ancestors of the Gaucho--His sense of dignity
and honour--Conservative habits and customs--Costume and horse
gear--Strenuous _bailes_--Some homeric feats of dancing--Stirring
revelry--The Uruguayan land-owner--Foreign elements in the
land--Negro inhabitants of the Banda Oriental--The numerical
status of the Africans in the north and in the south--Absence of
a racial question--The slavery of former days--The employment of
black troops in war--Lenient treatment of negro slaves--Harsh
measures applied to aboriginal Indians--A lesson in human
economy--Testimony of a contemporary writer--Immigrant colonies.
The Uruguayan Campo is not to be described without a certain amount of
hesitation. It would be simple enough for one who had caught only a
distant passing glimpse of the land of the pastures to put down the
country without further ado as rolling grass upland watered by many
streams. That such is the foundation of the Campo is undeniable.
Nevertheless to begin and end with such a phrase would be equivalent
to a description of the peacock as a bird who wears coloured feathers.
The subtle charms of the Uruguayan Campo are not to be discerned
through the medium of the bioscope-like glimpses that so many
travellers obtain of it. Very rightly, it refuses to reveal itself
fully until a certain amount of familiarity has justified a nearer
acquaintance. From an æsthetic point of view it certainly holds far
more than might be expected from a country of such comparatively
limited attributes.
If you desire to watch the moods of this rural Banda Oriental, ride
out to mount one of the higher shoulders of the downland, and wait
there, either in the saddle or out of it. You will obtain little
sympathy in the task. Eccentric to the mind of the estancieros,
frankly mad in the eagle eyes of the Gaucho--a calm survey of the
Campo is worth all such merely human depreciation!
The aspect of the country in the immediate neighbourhood of where the
observer has taken his stand will be green in the main, although the
unbroken verdure by no means obtains throughout. Here and there the
ground is strongly marked by the occasional heaps of stones that come
jostling to the surface, and that recline in the fashion of small
bleak islands in the midst of the green waves. But, should the time be
spring, these latter are themselves flecked frequently almost to the
extinction of their own colouring. The great purple bands and patches
of the _flor morala_ lie thickly upon the land. These, however, stand
apart, since where they glow the serried ranks of blossom permit no
others to raise their heads.
[Illustration: A PASTORAL SCENE.
To face p. 238.]
But these, though the boldest of their kind, are by no means the sole
occupants of the landscape. Indeed, one of the chief characteristics
of the Banda Oriental Campo is the wealth of beautiful and
comparatively lowly plants that grow amidst the grasses. They are of
the type of English blossoms, peering out shyly from between the
green blades, blowing purely and sweetly in their innocence of the
heavy sickliness of the tropics. It is where the ground is chiefly
dotted with these fresh flowers that the smile of the Campo is most
brilliant.
So much for the immediate surroundings up to the point where the more
intricate markings become merged in the broader tints of the
landscape. Down in the hollows are bands of dark, close green formed
by the trees that shade the streams. With scarcely a break in the
narrow walls of verdure they run from valley to valley, accurately
defining the banks of the small rivers whose waters they conceal.
Within these leafy lanes lurk the only spots upon the Campo, save for
the rare woodland, that do not stare frankly upwards, exposing all
their earthly soul to the blue sky.
Away in the far distance there is a magic glamour. There the lands are
no longer green to the eye. The soft waves, as they rise and dip in an
accumulation of folds towards the final horizon line, are bathed in
warm purple. The Banda Oriental has been called "the purple land" by
one who knew it well, and never was a name better applied. Without the
foreground--that is itself strongly purpled by the banks of the _flor
morula_--all is purple and mystic. The land has its ordinary mirages
as well; but here is one that at all times confronts the
traveller--that wonderful land of the horizon that, unattainable, dies
farther away as it is approached.
Yet, notwithstanding its soft romance, the place is essentially alive.
It is a blowy haunt of clean fresh airs that sweep the slopes and open
valleys to billow the grass tops and to refresh mankind. It is amidst
such surroundings that the Oriental of the country dwells. His type is
not very numerous, it is true, and--although the dearth of houses
suits the landscape itself most admirably--the scarcity of habitation
is a little lamentable in so wealthy and pleasant a land. It is
practically certain, as a matter of fact, that the pastures will bear
more roots in the near future than they have ever known in the past;
but in the meanwhile it is necessary to take them as they are, and
their inhabitants as well.
Of these inhabitants the true _paisano_, the Gaucho, decidedly claims
the chief share of attention. The Gaucho of the Banda Oriental is not
to be confused with his brethren of the neighbouring countries. In
appearance he presents perhaps the finest specimen amongst the various
kindred families of his race. He is taller in stature, and, if
possible, even more athletic in his lithe frame than his neighbour.
His complexion, moreover, though frequently dusky and invariably
tanned, is peculiarly wholesome and fresh. It was inevitable that the
blowy downlands should have produced a fitting and appropriate breed
of amazingly healthy, hardy, and fearless men to whom the art of
horsemanship has become second nature, while the occasional enforced
spells of pedestrianism have degenerated into a mere unwelcome
accident of life.
The temperament of the Uruguayan Gaucho shows corresponding
distinction from that of the rest. It goes without saying that he is
strongly imbued with the grim dignity of the race. Silent austerity
here, however, is modified by lighter traits. In the same way as the
higher social member of his country, he is more easily moved to
laughter than his neighbours, and indulges from time to time in frank
outbursts of joviality.
For practical purposes it is necessary to regard this child of the
Campo from three standpoints--from that of the worker, the player, and
the fighter. It is rare enough that one of them is not called upon to
fill all these three rôles on a good many occasions during his
lifetime. As stock-rider, he has proved his courage, fidelity, and
honesty of purpose to the full; his moments of recreation are taken up
by equestrian sports, guitar-playing, and chance affairs of the heart,
whilst in warfare he has had only too many opportunities of displaying
his reckless brilliancy--frequently, it must be admitted, at the cost
of discipline and order.
In his private quarrels the Argentine Gaucho will bottle up his wrath
until his overflowing passion culminates without warning in the rapid
knife thrust or revolver shot. The conclusion of a serious dispute
between his Uruguayan brethren will almost certainly be the same; but
the tragic climax will be approached in quite another fashion. The
atmospheric effervescence of the Banda Oriental will enter into the
case. There will be shouting, vociferation, and not a little abuse.
Not until a fair exchange of all this has been bandied to and fro will
come the flash of steel or flame--and the red stain upon the grasses
of the Campo.
That these dwellers upon the downlands should prove themselves born
fighters is no matter for surprise. For the dusky side of their
ancestry they claim the Charrúa Indians, the fiercest and most warlike
of all the tribes in the neighbouring provinces. With this strain
added to the blood of the old Spaniards, and the mixture fostered and
nourished by the breezy hills, the result has been a being whose keen
sense of dignity and honour were ever in the very active custody of
knife or lance.
As is perhaps natural enough in a land whose interests--as compared
with the agricultural development of the neighbouring countries--are
almost purely pastoral, the habits and customs of the Oriental have
remained unusually conservative. His poncho is a veritable poncho,
often of a bizarre and daring hue; his spurs are weapons that glitter
in huge circles at his heels, while his horse furniture is frequently
silvered to the very last degree.
When the Gaucho undertakes a dance--a _baile_--moreover, he enters
into the performance with a zest that puts to shame the human products
of a later civilisation. In order to witness one of the most homeric
of these exhibitions it is necessary to suppose the revellers in the
peculiarly reckless and irresponsible mood that from time to time
falls to their lot. On such an occasion their wonted strict sobriety
is abruptly melted beneath the flow of the native spirit, caña, and
perhaps that of wine, and of beer. Then upon the open sward of the
Campo they will dance their _tangos_, stepping it manfully for hour
after hour.
Indeed, strengthened by the intervals of rest, refreshment, and sleep,
it is not unusual for them to continue these tremendous terpsichorean
feats for two or three days on end. At the conclusion of which, having
danced themselves out and drunk themselves in, these astonishing
mortals are perfectly ready for their strenuous work in the saddle!
Having concluded with the Gaucho, it soon becomes evident that the
main features of individuality that distinguish the Uruguayan from his
neighbours are very nearly finished with as well. The landowner, it is
true, still clings in parts to ancient customs and the remnants of
national costume rather more closely than elsewhere in the Southern
republics. But the distinctions here are less marked, and in the case
of the townsmen have disappeared altogether. An important factor in
the population is now provided by the large foreign element that has
settled itself permanently in the country. By far the most numerous
communities of these are those of the Italians and Spaniards; but in
addition there is scarcely a European country that is not more or less
strongly represented by its emigrants.
The negro race, although its presence is more marked than in the
republics to the West, is quite insignificant numerically in the South
of Uruguay. Towards the north, however, the numbers of the Africans
are much increased, and as the Brazilian frontier is closely
approached, the black people tend rather to predominate over the
white. It is only in these remote districts that the possibility of a
racial question could be involved. As a matter of fact, such an
eventuality is quite undreamed of, and nowhere in the world is it less
likely to occur. In the absence of any drawn distinction the negro
appears to exist in more or less complete peace, and only meddles with
the affairs of the country during troublous times when instructed by
the true lords of the soil, whose actual superiority would seem all
the greater for the fact of its being unexpressed.
Considering the number of slaves that were imported directly into
Uruguay as well as those that filtered southwards through Brazil, it
is perhaps somewhat a matter for astonishment that these blacks are
not numerically stronger than is the case. The explanation lies
largely in the numerous wars by which the country has been harassed in
the past, and in the policy that prevailed under the old Spanish
regime. Black troops were freely employed then, and it must be
admitted that they met with far less consideration than the rest. If a
desperate situation arose, they were wont to be sent out in search of
a glory that was very remote and of a death that was very near, not
necessarily because the Spaniards feared for themselves in the
attempt, but rather on account of the science of racial economy, and
on the principle of sacrificing the pawns before the more
aristocratic chessmen. And it is to these wholesale gaps in the black
ranks that the existing scarcity of the negro population in the South
is largely due.
Not that it must be inferred from this that the general treatment of
the African slaves by the Spaniards was severe. Their fate has always
been entirely distinct from that of the unfortunate native Indians.
The blood of these latter, slain by the first generation of
adventurous _conquistadores_, flowed in red rivers almost the length
and breadth of South America, while tens of thousands more sank and
died beneath the superhuman tasks imposed upon them.
Nevertheless they were not sacrificed from mere wanton love of
slaughter. Held as soulless instruments from whom the last possible
ounce of labour was to be extracted, these fearful slaughterings were
instigated as acts of discipline that should make more pliant and
serviceable material of the general body, while the cowed met their
slower, toilful death in order that their masters should obtain wealth
ere the advent from Europe of further competitors who might desire to
share their wealth with them.
After a while the limitations both of the continent and of the labour
capacities of its natives became evident, and the first spasms of the
remorseless and feverish lust moderated. It was then that the
introduction of the negro occurred. With the maturing of the continent
came a milder and more settled form of civilisation, of which the
dusky imported labourers obtained the full benefit. That they were
well cared for in times of peace is testified to not only by the
native historians but by perfectly unbiassed English travellers. One
of these, who visited Uruguay during the last years of the Spanish
dominion, is particularly emphatic on the point.
"There is one trait," he writes, "in the South American Spaniards
much in their favour. I mean the mild, humane, and gentle treatment
which their slaves receive. This one would scarcely expect from the
cruelty they manifest to animals. The condition of the Africans here
is without doubt happier than in any other part of the world where
they are held in slavery, and I will even venture to say, more so than
in their native country. A severe punishment is seldom inflicted; the
tasks imposed on them are light, and such as they can easily execute.
Indeed, they scarcely seem to be slaves."
If any palliation for enforced human labour were possible it might be
looked for in evidence such as this. Nevertheless, since nothing of
the kind is admissible, it is well to remember that the slave era in
the River Plate countries is now a matter of comparatively remote
history. Moreover, as though in compensation for a former servitude,
however light, the lot of the African here is now undoubtedly happier
than almost anywhere else in the world.
In addition to the ordinary foreign landowners and residents in
Uruguay are a few of the regular immigrant colonies the establishment
of which has now become so popular throughout the Southern republics.
Of these the most important is the Swiss Colony in the neighbourhood
of Colonia, to which reference has already been made.