Montevideo--Beggars--Antonina for maté--Antonina to Buenos
Aires--The _bombelia_.
Montevideo, sister city to Buenos Aires, is the fairer of the two to
look upon from the sea, having a loftier situation, and, like Buenos
Aires, boasts of many fine mansions, comely women, liberal schools, and
a cemetery of great splendour.
It is at Montevideo that the "beggar a-horse-back" becomes a verity
(horses are cheap); galloping up to you the whining beggar will implore
you, saying: "For the love of Christ, friend, give me a coin to buy
bread with."
From "the Mont" we went to Antonina, in Brazil, for a cargo of maté, a
sort of tea, which, prepared as a drink, is wholesome and refreshing. It
is partaken of by the natives in a highly sociable manner, through a
tube which is thrust into the steaming beverage in a silver urn or a
calabash, whichever may happen to be at hand when "drouthy neebors
neebors meet"; then all sip and sip in bliss from the same tube, which
is passed from mouth to mouth. No matter how many mouths there may be,
the _bombelia_, as it is called, must reach them all. It may have to be
replenished to make the drink go around, and several times, too, when
the company is large. This is done with but little loss of time. By
thrusting into the urn or gourd a spoonful of the herb, and two
spoonfuls of sugar to a pint of water, which is poured, boiling, over
it, the drink is made. But to give it some fancied extra flavour, a live
coal (_carbo vegetable_) is plunged into the potion to the bottom. Then
it is again passed around, beginning where it left off. Happy is he, if
a stranger, who gets the first sip at the tube, but the initiated have
no prejudices. While in that country I frequently joined in the social
rounds at maté, and finally rejoiced in a _bombelia_ of my own.
The people at Antonina (in fact all the people we saw in Brazil) were
kind, extremely hospitable, and polite; living in thrift generally,
their wants were but few beyond their resources. The mountain scenery,
viewed from the harbour of Antonina, is something to gloat over; I have
seen no place in the world more truly grand and pleasing. The climate,
too, is perfect and healthy. The only doctor of the place, when we were
there, wore a coat out at the elbows, for lack of patronage. A desirable
port is Antonina.
We had musical entertainments on board, at this place. To see the
display of beautiful white teeth by these Brazilian sweet singers was
good to the soul of a sea-tossed mariner. One nymph sang for the
writer's benefit a song at which they all laughed very much. Being in
native dialect, I did not understand it, but of course laughed with the
rest, at which they were convulsed; from this, I supposed it to be at my
expense. I enjoyed that, too, as much, or more, than I would have
relished _areytos_ in my favour.
With maté we came to Buenos Aires, where the process of discharging the
cargo was the same as at Montevideo--into lighters. But at Buenos Aires,
we lay four times the distance from the shore, about four miles.
The herb, or _herva maté_, is packed into barrels, boxes, and into
bullock-hide sacks, which are sewed up with stout hide thongs. The
contents, pressed in tightly when the hide is green and elastic, becomes
as hard as a cannon-ball by the contraction which follows when it dries.
The first load of the _soroes_, so-called, that came off to the bark at
the port of loading, was espied on the way by little Garfield. Piled in
the boat, high above the gunwales, the hairy side out, they did look
odd. "Oh, papa," said he, "here comes a load of cows! Stand by, all
hands, and take them in."