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

Rough Istfe IN the Desert 70 Whtcn TheY
'' cnne-PanthcrS and O-tr,ches supply
Variety 20 Their Diet OF Meat.
we would rather hear the bird sing than the
mouse squeak" is n common saying Of that most
Interesting class Of men In South America
known 10 the world as gauchos, and IL Is the
saying which, better than all others originating
with them. gives an insight into their character
as a class. TO this may he added the book def
milton OF their name. Gaucho, in the Spanish
English lexicon, IL q term in architecture ZAP
piled TO uneven euperflcies." The gaucho Is the
cowboy, the shepherd. and the plainsman Of
che prairies and deserts that extend from the
Rio Grande do Sui in Brazil to the Andes and
from the Grand Chaco forests of the Argentine
% the Strait Of Magellan. He is an out-of-doors
citizen OF somewhat uneven superhcies."
My first view Of q gaucho was had on Flores
Island, the quarantine station of Uruguay, q
place where nearly all the passengers bound on
Che English steamers for the River Plate during
the yellow fever season are Obliged TO stop for
sdisinfection and observation. We had been on
the island q little over a day when a steer was
butchered TO renew the fresh meat supply.
Nearly all the passengers went to see the beast
suffer. among the rest a Brazilian naval on GER
en- route to a station on the Missiones. After a
little time he came to my room. asked why / had
not been at the killing. and added:
at Is now the best time to go. The killing
was nothing-a gaucho put his knife into its
throat and 1t bled to death-but now the gauchos
will have an asddo. Did you see an dsddo ever
in your life2 1t Is the finest of meat. They will
roast the ribs of the COW by the fire."
Near the buildings set aside for the use of the
third class passengers from Brazil we found q
number OF gauchos preparing to roast the ribs of
beef over n small open fire-a fire so small that
che Goals and ashes occupied no more space on
the ground than the ribs would have covered.
III. III ,to,. ,,a tlsaaJal 49, g. -. a..
elender but stiff bar of steel five feet long. The
bar was thrust into the ground so that the beef
was inclined like a shelter tent above the blazing
fire. and there IL remained for about two hours,
being turned occasionally by the gauchos.
e.. Although this was the first time l had seen
beef roasted In just that fashion, I was much
more Interested in the gauchos and certain
other things they did than in their roast of beef.
Had the officer not told me tho men were gau-
chos l should very likely have mistaken them for
sailors. The Nantucket whaler fresh from a
three years cruise in. the Pacific never showed
esweeter roll in his gait than did these South
American cowboys as they fetched to alongside
the fire or veered off in search of fuel to keep It
burning. Nor was the resemblance In the gait
alone, for every man of them wore a belt with a
knife. the handle of which was just where the
mans hand would lind 1t In the shortest time.
Then. too, the hats Of the gauchos were Of
the nondescript sort. and all worn easily on
what a sailor would call the northwest corner
or some other corner OF the head. The leg gear,
however. was by no means nautical. Jack al
ways loved flowing trousers. but not flowing as
these were. At first glance the gauchos seemed
to have brown zouave trousers, with white leg
gines at the ankles. but a closer inspection
shove ed that they wore rather close-ftting cot
ton drawers In place of trousers. and that In ad-
dition their legs were clothed from the ankles
up with n l~ength-say three yards-of wide
brown cotton goods. One end of this piece OF
goods was tucked up through the belt and spread
out across the small Of the back. Then the
other end was brought up between the legs,
tucked up under the belt and spread out across
the belly until its edges touched the edges of
the rear end. That Is all there was of
It. The stuff bagged down between the
legs in a fashion that made the wearer the most
ridiculous looking man. in my Judgment, on the
continent. The nearest approach to IL In North
America can be found in the trousers with flaps
in front which the good farm wife used to mako
for her husband in the old days. 1t is true that
the Yuma Indian of the Colorado desert wears a
short length OF cloth in something after the
same fashion, but he draws the ends through
the belt until they hang down before and be-
hind, leaving the middle to fit close to the body,
In which fashion he appears TO be wearing Q
short skirt.
What do they wear that cloth bagging be-
- NFS y - VI ouAa 4 " tHo Eli
You owe to remember he replied, "the
gaucho lives on the plains where no tailors find
themselves in order to make clothes d Ia mode,
Ell? And the gaucho cannot himself to make
trousers and he cannot himself to put what you
call them-the patches over the holes in the
trousers where he sits in the saddle. But he
can to buy cloth and TO wear one end between
him and the saddle to-day and the other end to-
morrow and another part to-~morrow-past to-
morrow. Caramba! The cloth never can to
wear out In much time, but IL can to cover the
holes behind in his trousers. Is it not trueH"
Caramba Is a Spanish word, meaning In the
American language gosh. IL is In common use
use among South Americans of all classes, a
fact worth mentioning perhaps, for the reason
that the gauchOs have no more forcible word for
use even under circumstances that would lead
an American cowboy into tho most sulphurous 4
depths of profanity. {
Ridiculous as the gaucho appeared when seen I
on Flores Island surrounded by houses and I
dressed suitably for a summer stroll on !
he seemed a very different being {
when I came 10 meet him in Patagonia. A hawk I
on a smooth walnut perch in a city q
museum does pot seem quite the same bird that /
IL does when 1t snatches a partridge from under
the jaws Of a snarling fox on the edge Of a '
thicket in the Adirondack wilderness. To see I
the gaucho at his best, that is. where he will /
be found most interesting. one must go where {
be lives utterly free from all restraint, even the /
of association. Such a place Is Pata- h
Eonia- This great southern desert gives perfect :
to its rowing sons. 1t is a wondrous h
One rides away from the valley OF the b
stream In which he has left his ship, until the o
srest of a hill shuts out the view OF the water. a
and then finds himself alone utterly. Pebbles 8
red and brown, that have been rounded by the I
waves. with the gray and yellowish sand of C
are under his feet. On every side are u
clumps Of stin. gaunt gray bushes. b
Further way the land rises in knobs and b
'fdges. sssktnR FOR a change tH the LANDSCAPES, 1
me rides 10 the top OF the highest crest in view, n
TO find that the ridges he saw be- e
have apparently moved on. At any a
before him stand ridges and knolls y
q precisely the shape he had looked u