The following day, July the 5th, we pursued our journey, intending to
breakfast at a village very pleasantly situated, called Vinará, six
leagues from the river of Santiago, and remarkable for the appearance
of industry which it presented. No one here seemed to live in idleness;
the women, even while gazing at our carriage, were spinning away at
the same time. I observed too, that here the cochineal plant spread
a broader leaf, and flourished with greater luxuriance in the gardens
and hedge-rows of the cottages around, than at any place I had before
visited. "Industry is the first step to improvement, and education
follows hard upon it," thought I, as on foot, attracted by a busy hum
of voices, we made our way through an intervening copse towards the
spot whence it seemed to come. A fig-tree, the superincumbent branches
of which shaded a wide circuit of ground, arrested our progress; and
looking through an opening among the large green leaves, we espied
the village pedagogue, elevated on his authoritative seat, which was
attached to the trunk of the tree. He was reading a lecture on the heads
of his scholars--a phrenological dissertation, if one might judge from
its effects, with a wand long enough to bump the _caput_ of the
most remote offender. I began to think myself in some European district,
certainly not from the late samples I had seen of the country, in the
heart of the Columbian continent. There, however, I was in reality, and
in the fine province of Tucuman, with nearly half the globe's surface
between Europe and myself. The picture was a very striking one occurring
with these reflections. The beautiful vegetable-roofed school-room,
too, struck my fancy. What a delightful natural study!--the cool broad
leaves overarching it, and heightening the interest of the scene. The
striplings were seated, without regular order, on the grass, under a
rotunda of this magnificent foliage. Some were cross-legged, bawling Ba,
Be, Bi; others, with their knees for a table, seemed engraving rather
than writing, upon a wooden tablet, the size of a common slate. One or
two, who appeared to be more advanced in their studies, were furnished
with a copy-book, an expensive article in that place. Some were busy at
arithmetic, while, every moment, whack went the rod upon the crown of
the idler or yawner.
To us the sight was curious; we had seen none lately but what were the
reverse of carefully educated beings. But we had little time to think,
for a laugh burst forth at their perceiving us, which naturally
attracted the notice of the pedagogue, who took up his crutch to go and
examine the cause, for he was a cripple. We immediately came forward to
the only opening among the rich verdure, and meeting him, announced
ourselves as the intruders. He was as much surprised as his pupils had
been. His magisterial brow, for he was alcade as well as schoolmaster,
relaxed into a civil smile. He invited us to walk in, and we accepted
his invitation, and entertained ourselves with examining the progress
made by his boys in their studies, and in replies to his numerous
questions put respecting the battle of Ayacucho, the death of Olaneta,
and the termination of the war in Peru. He asked if it was true, that
the English were coming to settle in the country, with many similar
questions. In answer to our inquiries about himself, he said he was born
on the spot, lame as he was, and had never quitted it; he had given his
mind to study, but his profession was (as it is everywhere else) "muy
pobre;" that the price of a school education there, was from two to four
rials a month, according to what the pupil was taught. Just at that
moment a boy came up with a pen to be mended. To my surprise, he drew
from his old pair of Spanish blues (open at the knees, with a silver
buckle appended), what we denominate a Flemish or gardener's knife,
and proceeded, with the help of a pair of cracked spectacles, to nib
the pen.
"What," said I, "Viejo (old boy), have you no better instrument than
that to work with?"
"Nada mas Senor, yo soy muy pobre Senor." (Nothing more, sir, I am very
poor.)
"Well," I replied, "I think I can help you to something better than
that for the convenience of your calling," and I gave him an old
four-bladed English knife, which I happened to have in my pocket at
the time. On looking at it, he exclaimed in astonishment, "Que quatro
cuchillos en uno!" (what, four blades in one knife!) Ha had never beheld
such a machine in his life. I told him it was of English manufacture.
"Caramba!" he replied, "los Ingleses son hombres muy habiles;" (the
English are very clever.) I told him it was at his service. "Por nada,"
(for nothing) I answered. He immediately crossed himself, exclaiming
"Gracias a Dios," (thank God). He could not have shown more satisfaction
had it been a ton of gold or a lottery-ticket of twenty thousand
sterling. His urchins crowded around him to see his treasure, and to get
a holiday from him on the strength of his satisfaction, which we made
him half promise, and left him.--_Andrews' Journal from Buenos Ayres_.
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