The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1894-11-25

. uutll nb keJa tnen COnIuben. Wnen ne uhSnesl IN
/, and strikes ONE down with a blow Of his lasso.
Out Of the days captures he will keep the
skins Of the ostrich. for the feathers are worth
90 cents gold q pound In the settlements. and he
sells them that he may buy more mate, some
more silver for decorating his saddle, and some
! ribbons and candy TO carry to a more or less at
%tractivo squaw. The money left after the pur-
chase of these necessaries Of life Is used In buy
ing q jag OF the largest size obtainable with the
resources at That is to say the
gaucho gets drunk whenever he goes to n settle
ment. Getting drunk Is the one civilized habit
to which he clinps to the end Of life. In all other
respects the Patagonia eaucho Is q picturesque
savage, the Arab of the Southern desert, who
passes his days in wandering from oasis to oasis.
These gauchos of Patagonia are only ono
species of a class. There are gauchos. as has
been intimated, on the cattle and sheep ranches.
They are much more frequently seen by
travellers than are the PataHonians, because
they gather Mt the pampa railroad stations. and
may even be found In certain quarters OF Buenos
Ayres. They wear their distinguishing dress
everywhere, and SO may be recognized readily.
As seen from n railroad train they look like
slouching ~loafcrs. but every traveller who has
seen them thus has recorded that, no matter
how drunk they were, they could ride
their horses when once lifted to the sad
die, and that the effect of the ride was
to clear away the fumes Of their favorite
drink-rum. The ordinary travellers sees the
gaucho at his worst. In fact. the gaucho has
seemed to be such a worthless dog to so many
travellers, and so many travellers have written
and printed their impressions of the gaucho that
he has In these later years learned that all for
eigners regard him as a pretty hard citizen.
Now, the gaucho is above all things a man of
pride, and even Of. vanity. He wants to appear
well, especially before strangers. and 80 IL has
come to pass that to call a gaucho a gaucho is to
insult him.
Strangers should always avoid insulting q
gauoho until after they have got tho drop on
him with right good guns. The gaucho Is the
handiest man with a knife in the world, and
his estimate OF the value of human life is as low
asthat held by any class of men in the world.
What does 1t NATTER Many beautiful
horses die" he will say when he hears of the
death Of n friend.
II was in a gaucho saloon up the river one day
last summer" said n Buenos Ayres man to me.
when a Frenchman looking for n ranch to buy
came in. He wanted to smoke and had cigar
cites. but no matches. And what was very much
worse for him. he did not know the etiquette of
the occasion. With cigarettes in hand, he placed
one in his mouth and then in politest terms
asked the favor OF a light from a gaucho who was
putting a cigarette stub, possibly a little moro
than a quarter inch long. So far he had done
well. The gaucho said, with pleasure and
WV cOOA uhahs ho
Then he made a wcll-nigh fatal error. Instead
OF returning the worthless stub with thanks lie
dropped II on the floor. intending, as he said
afterwards, to ask the gaucho to do him the favor
of taking n fresh one. But he didn't have time
enough to even open his mouth. Dropping the
stub was an insult. 1t implied that the gaucho
had been smoking n too short stub. Caramba!
That Frenchman was impaled on a twelve-inch
blade before he know what was to happen"
Not only Is the CauchO written down as n
desperate; he Is called the LATEST Of men, and
In proof of this charge is cited the fact that he
will saddle n horse and ride half a mile rather
than walk forty rods, But tho truth Is that in
his peculiar field he will work down any other
kind Of man. Give him horses and set him to
branding cattle. He will begin his days work
by saddling the horse before the peep of the
longest day OF the year and then will drink a cup
ofcoTee. mount, and go to work. For seven hours
he will gallon about the excited herd, whirling
and throwing the heavy rope. downing the cat.
tie with marvellous precision, and then out OF
the exuberance of his spirits gallop against the
stronger bulls as they flee from the hands OF the
marker to send them rolling over and over In a
cloud OF dust. At the end of seven hours or so he
will want what he calls break fast-a few pounds
OF boiled and roasted meat will suffice, and II he
have a couple OF bullet-like loaves of bread tho
size OF his fist, known there as Odlletds. he counts I
II a feast. This eaten, and a cigarette rolled. he q
mounts and continues the work for seven hours
more. And that Is not an extraordinary day, '
either. A ride Of 100 miles in a day is not a
great by a gaucho. while seventy-fve l
miles q day for a week. during which three {
camps will be made without food or water, is a I
matter Of frequent occurrence. In short, the
does any work that anybody can do on 7
a horse. and he does IL In n quantity and with a O
good humor that are astonishing. Attending to =
cattle Is not hard work in the sense that ditch
digging is hard, but a cowboys life is not one of
ease In either North or South America.
1t is an interesting fact that the imitation OF
currency which reduced the value of
4 paper dollar to 80 cents gold did not increase
he number OF dollars paid per month TO the
gaucho. In other words, tho gaucho now gets
he SAM number OF dollars go to 5O) per month
hat he used to get, but when he goes to the
'tore TO buy fancy saddle gear. silver-handled
Snives, and bright goods for his sweetheart, he
inds the prices Just four times as high as they
lsed TO be. So In these days the gaucho thinks
he world has gone wrong, and he longs for a
and new legislators who will pass
avs to make money more plentiful.
The home life OF the gaucho OF the pampas
an be duplicated on the plains of New Mexico.
The walls of his house are almost invariably
blocks of mud and the roof Is a fiat
aver of mud over brush, supported on the
rocked trunks of willow trees usually found In :
he valleys OF streams. For the roof. a thatch Il
4 the long pappa grass is common. This is dl
much better, because 1t is tight until it rots. al
The mud roof leaks in time OF rain so badly that 81
he family moves out of doors. Fact! The floor In
5 the earth as the builder found IL. There may Ok
two or three rooms, but one usually ~sufices. in
iere the gaucho and his family. and his mother ST
= his wife's mother, and a sister or two pass III
heir lives. A few skins OF cattle and panthers tn
nd deer will serve for a bed when a blanket hi
as been thrown over them. A brazier may th
be found. and on this water Is boiled ps
D make mate. The food-meat of various kinds ar
nly-will he boiled and roasted over the open SC
re built without or under a simple shelter In ac
he wet season. There is often no table. and tn
hairs are scarce. The food, II served on a table, DIR
simply heaped up on a platter or dish OF some tn