LIFE ON THE PAMPAS--CONTINUED.
The night passed drearily away, and glad enough was I when day dawned,
and the caravan was prepared to start.
Before we began to move, I retired to my cart, and changed my clothes,
appearing before my companions in the unconfined and comfortable garb
of a sailor.
The moment the peons, who were clustered around the fire, beheld me,
they shouted to each other “_Montenero!_” a word which at that time
I did not comprehend, but which, as I learned some months later, was
the name of a particular class of bandits, who, about 1817, under the
leadership of Artizas, filled the republic with consternation. Probably
my sailor’s dress resembled that of the robbers.
As the heavy mist rolled off the pampas, we discerned two shepherds
driving their flocks to another pasture; and, as there was no hut
in sight, they had probably passed the night sleeping upon their
saddles, a common custom of the herdsmen. As a specimen of his skill,
the younger of the two spurred his horse after a ram, the patriarch
of the flock, and, as he drew near it, swung the lasso a few times
around his head, and the fatal noose fell over the neck of the animal.
Dismounting from his horse, the gaucho jumped upon the ram, which began
to run for dear life. As they scampered over the plain, I could plainly
see pieces of wool flying from the animal’s fleecy sides, as the rider
plied his sharp, heavy spurs.
But rams were evidently not created for saddle-beasts, for the animal
stumbled in his flight, upsetting, in a most ludicrous manner, his
rider, who sprawled upon the turf.
Our caravan was now in motion. As we proceeded on our course, the
pampa gradually became more undulating, and was covered with a coarser
herbage, shooting up in clumps to the height of a foot or more.
Soon after sunrise we met a party of eight horsemen from Mendoza, one
of whom was armed with a spear, which was ornamented with a flag. About
ten o’clock we passed a miserable _estancia_ house, built of burnt
bricks; we halted near it for the purpose of greasing the wheels of the
carts. This was attended to by the _capataz_. He first cut into thin
slices a pound of white native soap, and, after pouring hot water upon
it, added a little salt, when he beat the whole together with a bunch
of reeds drawn from the sides of the cart. While stirring this mixture,
he would not permit me to look into the pail, but, turning his back on
me, leaned over the mixture, muttering to himself, and making crosses
over it, acting as if afraid that I would discover the recipe for the
wheel-grease.
Before noon the caravan was again in motion. Three half-starved dogs
that accompanied us gave chase to several deer that appeared in
sight, but they were unable to approach them. These deer (_Cervus
campestris_) are very common on the pampas. They have one habit which
is common to the antelopes of North American prairies. When a person
approaches them, they seem anxious to make his acquaintance, drawing
near, and scrutinizing him with much curiosity. They are a small
species, are of a yellowish-brown color on the upper parts, and white
beneath the body. They are hunted by the gauchos in parties, who pursue
and capture them with the _boliadores_.
A species of parrot (_Psittacus patagonus_) was observed flying in
large flocks northward. At another time, I observed one or two very
small species, of a green color, with grayish-white breasts. I have
seen the same species in the Banda Oriental, flying in flocks of
considerable size.
The clearness of the atmosphere gave great effect to the mirages that
we constantly behold around us. Twice we seemed to see large lakes far
in advance of our caravan, but they vanished utterly upon our moving
nearer them.
On our right, in the distance, the mirage so much resembled the ocean,
that our carpenter, who had been in Buenos Ayres, pointed to it,
exclaiming, “_El mar!_” (the sea).
Since leaving Rosario, we had met, along the road, flocks of small
white gulls, feeding on carrion; but they, during this day’s march,
became more scarce, and soon disappeared entirely, and we saw no more
of them on the pampas. The little ponds of water before noticed were
now rarely encountered, and it became necessary, therefore, to lay in a
stock before going farther. Each cart was supplied with a long earthen
jar, lashed on behind, which held five or six gallons; these jars were
filled; and these, with one or two demijohns stowed inside, comprised
our water supply,--enough to last several days.
About three o’clock in the afternoon a long, dark cloud of dust
appeared above the horizon in advance of our troop, and the _patron_,
beside whose horse I was walking, informed me that it was “_una
tropa de Mendoza_.” In the course of the next half hour it made its
appearance in the road before us.
The troop presented a picturesque appearance as it slowly toiled
along in divisions of ten carts each. The procession was headed by
four or five asses, with pack-saddles and loads, and by a number of
mules without luggage, driven by gauchos. After these followed the
two divisions of carts, filled to such a degree with hides that their
drivers were entirely hidden by them. This troop carried, as usual, a
stock of firewood, consisting of heavy branches and gnarled stumps,
which were lashed to the roofs of the carts. The relays consisted of
thirty oxen and a few old cows, which were also under the guidance
of a crew of almost savage gauchos. At sunset we passed a little
knoll, conspicuous in the midst of the vast plain, surmounted by a
small dwelling; beyond it lay an extensive _pantana_ (swamp), that
we were obliged to traverse, although the labor it cost us was not
inconsiderable. Several yokes of oxen were detached from the after
carts, and connected with those of the leading ones, when, with a vast
amount of uproar and merciless goading, each cart was drawn, in turn,
through the mire.
We encamped beyond the _pantana_, and supped upon sliced pumpkins,
boiled with bits of meat, and seasoned with salt. I would remark here
that the gauchos never use salt with roasted meat, but frequently
sprinkle it into a stew, if the heterogeneous messes which they
compound and boil in iron pots are worthy of that title.
Our meal was served in genuine pampa fashion; one iron spoon and two
cow’s horns, split in halves, were passed around the group, the members
of which squatted upon their haunches, and freely helped themselves
from the kettle.
Even in this most uncivilized form of satisfying hunger there is a
peculiar etiquette, which the most lowly peon invariably observes.
Each member of the company in turn dips his spoon, or horn, into the
centre of the stew, and draws it in a direct line _towards_ him, never
allowing it to deviate to the right or the left.
By observing this rule, each person eats without interfering with his
neighbor. Being ignorant of this custom, I dipped my horn into the
mess at random, and fished about in it for some of the nice bits. My
companions regarded this horrid breach of politeness with scowls of
impatience; they declared, with some warmth, to the _capataz_ that
gringos did not know how to eat, and, “as they lived upon dogs in their
own distant country, they come to the great Argentine Republic to get
food and grow fat on the gauchos.” I apologized as well as I could,
and endeavored, during the remainder of the meal, to eat according to
gaucho etiquette.
As night came on, a brilliant scene was developed before us. As
far as the eye could reach, we beheld the ruddy glow of a distant
conflagration of the pampa herbage. Fortunately it did not approach
us, but after giving us a view of one of the most sublime and
magnificent sights in nature, it faded at last away into the south.
During the night I suffered much from the cold.
I was awakened on the following morning (Sunday) by my peon, who
gave me to understand, by gestures, that the _asado_ was prepared.
As I joined the company at the fire, the _patron_ approached us with
a poncho filled with watermelons, which he had purchased at the
_estancia_ house on the mound; of these we ate heartily, and they were
delicious.
As the pieces of rind fell to the ground, they were eagerly devoured
by the dogs, and by two little children that accompanied the troop. I
often pitied these little neglected creatures, and shared with them
my fare. I gave them a portion of my share of the melons, and their
gratitude was warm and demonstrative: they were going to Mendoza with
their mother, the wife of one of the drivers.
This was the first Sunday spent on the road; and as there was a plenty
of thistles for our fire, and good grass for the cattle, the day was
passed without leaving camp, the gauchos amusing themselves with a pack
of cards.
I had with me an illustrated Testament. The peons, after gazing
intently upon a picture of the crucifixion, declared that I was a
_Cristiano_, and invited me to play cards with them.
During the next day we saw a plenty of wire-grass, and at least thirty
deer grazed within a mile of the wagons. No cattle were to be seen. The
wind, which blew from the north-east, was very warm. Our course was
west.
In a halt which we made during the day’s travel, I turned my blanket
into a poncho, by cutting a hole in the middle, and thrusting my head
through the aperture. When the gauchos saw my new garment, they shouted
in admiration; and one or two, who could speak a little Spanish,
exclaimed, “Gaucho, Bostron!”
At dark we camped near a corral, or cattle-yard, formed of the _tunas_,
a species of wild cactus. At supper we ate our last morsel of meat
brought from Rosario; the bones were heated upon the fire, then broken,
and the marrow greedily eaten by the men.
Throughout the night the mosquitos and flies tormented me, until I was
obliged to roll my head in a blanket.
At dawn the troop set out, in the midst of a heavy shower, without
eating, and kept on until Don José commanded a halt, in order to kill
an old cow which had been purchased at an _estancia_ the day before.
We camped near a collection of mud-huts, surrounded by a gigantic
growth of cactus, and called _Guardia de la Esquina_. It was the first
place we had met that approached the dignity of a village; but its
qualifications for that title were extremely limited.
Half a mile south of the _Esquina_ a low brick structure, resembling
in form two sugar-boxes,--one set on its side, and the other placed
perpendicularly against it,--stood alone on the plain. A melancholy
story is connected with this structure.
Don B, a rich _estanciero_, owned many miles of the surrounding
country; and the report that he had much money buried in the earth
about his brick _casa_ excited the cupidity of the Indians. They came
from the south in a large party, ransacked the place, and carried away
the hoarded treasure, after cutting the throats of the don, his child,
and sixteen peons, all of whom were afterwards buried in a common grave.
While several of the men were slaughtering the cow, the carpenter,
with two or three others of the troop, guided by a man sent from the
_Esquina_, visited the hole in which the bodies lay. The earth had
fallen in as the bodies had undergone decomposition, for they had been
buried in the usual manner of the pampas, without any other covering
than the clothes worn at the time of death. On reaching the spot,
the gaucho from the town conversed at length with our men; but the
substance of his conversation was unintelligible to me. The carpenter
threw off his poncho, and commenced digging in good earnest, with a
heavy hoe, which he had brought from the carts.
Two little crosses marked the spot where father and child were laid.
As his implement sank deep into the earth, a dull, crushing sound
announced that it had buried itself in the skull of a man, and the
digger drew forth the tool with a human head, greatly decomposed, upon
it. The hoe had entered between the jaws. At the sight a sickening
sensation came over me; but the _Santiagueños_, who had left their
work, and were grouped around the grave, laughed at my sensations, and
scraped away the matted hair from the ghastly head, which was still red
with blood, with their knives, which they returned to their sheaths
without cleaning. It was a disgusting picture--the natives, with their
bare legs and breasts besmeared with the blood of the animal they had
just butchered, passing the head from hand to hand, and joking at a
calamity that should have excited their pity and commiseration.
The head of the child was also exhumed, and the two were placed in a
bag to be taken to Mendoza, where the priests could pray over them;
for so long as they remained uninterred in the _panteon_ (consecrated
burying-ground), the souls that once animated them would be kept from
the land of bliss.
The attack by the Indians had occurred only a short time before our
visit, and the prints of their horses’ hoofs were not obliterated from
the spot where the butchery was done.
Our caravan continued its course until nine o’clock, and passed Cabeza
del Tigre, a place well known as having been the scene of a transaction
equally lamentable with the one just recorded. The facts were related
to me by a gentleman in whose word I placed great confidence.
Three English merchants who had made large fortunes in California were
returning to England, and, having their treasures with them, would not
risk a passage around Cape Horn, but landing at Valparaiso, crossed the
Cordillera to Mendoza, and there, in as private a manner as possible,
engaged for the passage of their property in a large troop of carts
bound to Rosario.
Far better would it have been, as it proved, had they trusted to the
ocean, rather than to have attempted crossing, with their treasures,
a country inhabited by a treacherous and lawless people. Despite all
their efforts to keep the matter secret, it became known that a party
of “gringos” from the land of gold were about to cross the pampas. The
English character is proverbially daring; the three merchants pursued
their course, regardless of the reports of the natives and the advice
of friends. The great travesia was crossed, and they passed through
the provinces of San Luis and Cordova in safety; but when they reached
the vicinity of Cabeza del Tigre, several hundred Indians, mounted on
horseback, and armed with spears, met them on the road and offered
battle.
The _patron_ ordered the carts to be formed into a square, and the
peons got within its protection. The three white men and the _patron_
and _capataz_ fought desperately. The Englishmen were armed with
double-barrelled guns, and for a time kept the enemy at bay; one of
them shot a _cacique_ (chief), and this for a time kept the tide of
battle in their favor.
At that period, Cabeza del Tigre was a military fort; the report of the
guns aroused the soldiers, but for a time they were undecided how to
act, through fear of the savages. At a moment when a vigorous attack
by all the peons would have decided the battle, and some soldiers were
even seen in the distance, galloping towards the spot, the Indians,
with a desperate effort, succeeded in despatching the Englishmen,
secured their treasure, and, before the small military force arrived,
hurried away beyond their reach.
The amount of money carried off by the Indians was reported to have
been many thousand doubloons. Though this sum seems large, the amount
taken must have been considerable, for my informant said that, for
several weeks after the event had transpired, Rio Quarto and El Moro
were visited by parties of Indians, who were readily admitted as
peaceful visitors, their purpose being to exchange gold onzas for
silver, as they obtained more in _bulk_ of the latter metal by the
transaction. The silver coin was manufactured into rings and other
trinkets. Those intended for the ears were several inches in diameter,
and so heavy that they required to be supported by fastenings to the
hair of the head.
However lightly the peons regarded Indian murders at the _Esquina_,
their faces assumed a very different expression from that of mirth,
when, during the next day, a troop of mules from the interior passed
us, and the _patron_ informed our company that the savages had cut the
throats of eleven soldiers not far from the very road that we were on.
Their boisterous mirth was over; and during the several succeeding
days I do not remember of having heard a single song, or a light word,
in the company. They all looked dubious enough; one or two tried to
amuse themselves by drawing their knives across their throats in a
significant manner before me, but their efforts only made me smile, and
provoked the other members of the party.
During the next day we passed over a country destitute of pasturage;
but the road ran along the River Quarto for an eighth of a mile, and we
had, therefore, some muddy water to drink.
At this place the river trended to the west; the right bank was about
twenty-five feet in height, and as steep us a wall; the left side was
sloping and covered with vines, thorn-bushes, and gigantic cacti,
which in one place formed a natural enclosure, in which I passed
fully an hour, in watching the movements of a bird resembling our
turtle-dove. The river was about twenty feet wide, and had a sluggish
current.
We passed at dusk the hamlet of Saladillo, but could not catch a
glimpse of it, though Don Manuel wished me to visit it with him;
for, said he, “_Hay mucho pan, mucho queso, e muchas muchuchas
tambien_”--“There is a plenty of bread and cheese, and also a great
many young ladies.”
Upon the pampas, winds from opposite quarters frequently meet and form
little whirlwinds, that sometimes take up a large cloud of dust, which
helps to relieve the monotony of the journey; but these clouds of dust
not only settle upon the weary travellers, covering them with the fine
powder, but render them exceedingly thirsty. Such was my condition,
when, wayworn and weary, the orders were spoken to halt and prepare
to camp. We had arrived at the borders of a salt lagoon, which was
filled with wild fowl. The confused sounds that came from hundreds of
ducks, teals, loons, white cranes, sand-pipers, and plovers, made it a
second Babel. Around the borders of the lake the soil was white with
saline matter, and covered with the footprints of the _bizcacha_, and I
observed that the grass was trodden down into little paths leading from
their burrows to the water.
Our last cow had been eaten, and we had already fasted twenty-four
hours, when we prepared to camp, and I was only too glad when the
directions were given to slaughter an ox; and, judging by the alacrity
with which the men set about executing their orders, they were as glad
as myself of the prospect of breaking their fast.
The animal was thrown down and butchered; its blood was allowed to
run into a hole dug for the purpose, and suffered to clot, when it
was placed in a bladder, and suspended from the roof of a cart, to be
kept for the purpose of coloring the handles of the small goads--the
_picanos chicos_--of the drivers. While a portion of the men were
attending to this work, others were engaged in caring for their cattle,
and others were lighting a fire, which, as other fuel was not to be
had, was made of the argols of cattle. Soon huge pieces of the meat
were steaming and crackling before the heat, and before darkness had
completely enveloped us, we were luxuriating on fresh beef and some
_matés_.
Supper over, we took refuge in the carts, and although the noise of the
wild fowl on the lake was continued, which to my ears was a very sweet
music, I confess I was soon asleep.
On the next morning, bright and early, we again took up our march, and
through that day and the next pushed on over the plains.
From the hamlet of Saladillo, sixty miles westward, we met but two
or three huts and a few salt lagoons. Near one of the latter, six
black-necked swans flew over my head, and I noticed many other fowls
that are common in North America, such as the stilt, green-winged teal,
pin-tailed duck, and the great blue heron. The road was everywhere
covered with saline matter, and the reflection of the sun’s rays upon
it was painful to the sight.
As we passed a mud hut near one of the lagoons, a woman came out to
sell melons and pumpkins. I visited the hut, but, although it was far
neater than the majority of ranchos on the pampas, it was a miserable
place to live in, for the fleas and _chinchas_ were far too numerous
for comfort. The hut was twelve feet long and seven feet high; it was
a mere framework of sticks lashed together with strips of hide, and
covered with cornstalks, reeds, and mud. It contained two beds propped
against the wall; three or four bottles, a couple of spoons, and an
iron kettle with the _maté_, were the contents of one corner, and the
only furniture the cabin contained. I noticed long strings of sliced
pumpkins drying in the sun; these vegetables keep many poor peons from
starving during the winter time. They are very generally grown, and are
used throughout the country.
The woman appeared to be frugal and industrious, for she had cultivated
a large patch of melons, and raised numerous families of hens, turkeys,
and muscovy ducks. And I would remark, in passing, that this woman was
not an exception, as regards general fitness for the duties of life,
to her sex throughout the republic; indeed, they seem better fitted to
act in any responsible position, or attend to any duty, than the men;
for of the large class called _chinos_ (pronounced cheenows), produced
by intermarriage of the Spanish and Indians, that cover the pampas, and
compose the lower classes in the more civilized towns, the women are
the most energetic and faithful.
Our march for several days was monotonous and eventless. Late in the
afternoon of Tuesday, April 10, we camped on the open plain, one mile
distant from the little town of Punta del Sauce (Willow Point), so
called from the scattered willows around it. It contains between two
and three hundred inhabitants, as Don José informed me. The people must
have been sharp-sighted, for we had hardly come in sight of the place
before we saw the townsfolk approaching us.
Among the many visitors was one that very particularly attracted my
attention, and for some minutes puzzled me to decide as to which sex
it belonged. It was astride a one-eared donkey, which it halted before
our party, without dismounting. While this person conversed with the
_patron_ in gutturals, I had a fair opportunity to survey its ugly
features and shapeless form. The head was enormous, and the hair stuck
out in every direction in wiry curls. The swarthy face, huge lips,
and large bright eyes showed that the negro blood prevailed over the
Indian. What added still more to its ferocious expression was the
long, projecting incisors, which, when the creature spoke, caused it
to resemble a wild beast more than a human being. It wore a calico
tunic, unbuttoned behind, from the skirts of which protruded a thick
pair of round legs, that drummed the sides of the jackass, in lieu of
whip or spur. When Don José informed me that it was _una señorita_ (a
woman), I uttered an exclamation of surprise. But I had not seen all
the beauties, for during the remainder of our journey we fell in with
several others, counterparts of this woman, and, if possible, still
more ugly and disagreeable. During our stay at Punta del Sauce, several
young women (half Indian) brought a poor quality of salt to sell,
together with cheese and melons. I gave an old Indian, who was one of
our drivers, and who had on several occasions shown me a kindness, a
pound of the best salt that I could procure. After tasting it, he put
it carefully aside, perhaps with the intention of selling it, as he
did not use any on the road. While the _patron’s_ back was turned, Don
Facundo, my cook and attendant, sold my meat to a woman of the village
for a few ears of corn; but, as I did not understand his Quichua
language, it was useless for me to remonstrate. The don, with his
messmates, feasted upon their new dish without extending an invitation
to its should-be rightful owner, who was obliged to fast for the next
thirty-six hours. The rascals told Don José some lie to account for the
loss of my meat, and that was the last of it.
Again we took up our line of march. On the next day we came again to
the river, and I noticed that its banks were in some places perforated
with the burrows or holes of parrots. In this place the water was
clear, and I did not notice any saline deposit upon its banks.
The woman in our caravan, of whom I have spoken before, on this day
fell and drove a splinter into her foot; and, as she could not extract
it, I offered my services as _medico_. As I was successful, she seemed
overwhelmed with gratitude, and from that time she was almost the only
friend that I had among the people of the troop.
During our journey on this day, as they were riding along, the _patron_
and _capataz_ entered upon a geographical discussion, and as their
opinions differed widely, they called upon me to decide between them;
but as Don José had the reputation of a great scholar among his men, I
did not dare to give him any opinion of my own, and they went on in the
same tone as before.
“Where _is_ Bostron?” asked the _capataz_.
“Bostron is in France, to be sure,” replied the other.
“That cannot be, because France is a great way off, and has not got any
moon; and the gringo told me, the other night, that there is a moon in
Bostron, and North America is in the same place.”
“Fool!” exclaimed the scholar, “North America is in England, the
country where the gringos live that tried to take Buenos Ayres.”
Each was confident that he was right, and, believing that
“Where ignorance is bliss, ’tis folly to be wise,”
I left them to themselves.
The caravan dragged on its weary pace; at length, as darkness came on,
the peons, looking out of their wagons, shouted, as they pointed ahead
of us, “La Reduccion!” “Reduccion!”
Soon we drew near the town, which lay surrounded with fields of corn.
As we approached the place, old women and young people came out to meet
us, bringing soft cheese, salt, and unripe melons for sale. When we
reached the outskirts, Don José wheeled his mule and dismounted; each
peon cried “Sh-u-u-ah!” to his oxen, and the tired caravan halted for
the night. On the next morning we again took up the march, and made
considerable progress before sunrise; but the wind from the north soon
came laden with a most horrid heat, and we were obliged to come to a
pause, luckily close beside a river, the valley of which was filled
with tall flags and willows. The water was very clear, and ran over a
bed of sand, filled with scales of mica and quartz.
At dusk we prepared to cross the stream (the Rio Quarto) at Paso
Durazno (Peach Pass). At this ford the river, which was very wide and
shallow, has a swift current and a stony bed. We intended to spend the
night on the opposite side, so that we could have a fair start next
day. The men stripped themselves, and stood in a line from one bank to
the other. As each cart was drawn slowly past by the oxen, the cruel
fellows goaded them until the blood trickled from the punctures, at the
same time yelling loud enough to be heard a mile at least. Beyond the
river was a hill covered with bushes, and called by the natives San
Bernardo, and to the right of the road a small collection of ranchos
surrounded by patches of corn.
From the summit of San Bernardo I caught sight of the distant tops of
the Cerro Moro, resembling a silver cloud in the clear heavens. During
the evening we occupied ourselves in drawing trunks of trees from the
river valley, and lashing them to the outside of the carts, and in
filling the jars behind the carts with water, preparatory to a dry
march.
While we were at supper, three pampa Indian women passed the camp. Two
were very masculine in appearance, the third young and handsome. They
were dressed in loose gowns. As they passed they smiled, apparently
at the consternation their appearance produced among the peons, who
seemed ready to sink into the ground with fear at the presence of
supposed spies. The women were from the pampas, and were on their way
to the village of Rio Quarto. The excitement which their advent created
among our people was a long time in being lulled, and even when I
sought my bed in the cart I heard the eager and animated voices of the
peons, who were busily engaged in preparing for an onslaught from the
dreaded savages.