Sunday afternoons here in camp there are horse races, bone game,
monte, drinking, etc. At the pulperias, at a race today, two brothers
quarrelled. One stands, knife in hand, talking to friends; the other
twenty feet away, is held back by men all around him, who getting
tired of persuasion begin to hammer him with their short whip stocks
made of wood or iron covered with hide or silver, with a long flat
rawhide thong. These rattle on his head like hail but he seems to feel
nothing and see nothing but his brother till suddenly he drops stunned.
[Illustration: "Children, You Should Never Let Your Angry Passions
Rise."]
Fighting here, a man wraps his poncho round the left forearm to catch
the other man's knife, holding his own knife below in the right hand
and watching the antagonist's knife instead of his eye. Sometimes they
face each other a long while but are as quick as cats when they move;
there is not much interference usually. Once a man on horseback rode
in and grasping one of the fighters by his long black hair pushed him
away backwards. Unless it is serious they do not fight to kill so much
as to slash faces; but they don't seem to care for their lives much.
A peon of mine was brought home an awful object. Santa (his woman)
wept and said he was killed but he got well, I asked the other fellows
afterward what they wanted to kill my fellow for and they laughed and
said a man did not matter; pity to kill a woman, as they are scarce;
but Santa could soon have got another man. The last is true enough.
One day a big domador started back to G's house, where we sat on the
porch and could see across the slope; he rode over. He had won money
or his silver harness, or for some other reason three fellows followed
him; he had a good little mare and rode till the one following who
had the best mount was ahead of the others. Then Jose jumped off and
waited, getting his knife (it was mine by the by), and the other man
rode up jumped off and ran at him, Jose made one thrust and jumping
on his mare rode in with his hand and knife all blood. Don't know who
the other man was but this time soldiers came after Jose who hid for
three weeks in the maize; his woman took him food. Then he appeared
again with three small black cats which he had found in the corn and
of which made pets.
[Illustration: The Guanaco Episode.]