The daily morning journal and courier., 1897-07-06
THE COWBOY OF THE PAMPAs.
How the South American Gaucho Diff fers From Our Own Cow Punch

fers From Our Own Cow Punch
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 The gaucho, or South American cow boy, is in many respects duplicate of the rapidly disappearing cowboy of our western plains. differing only from him in habits and customs that climate and surroundings are responsible for, and possessing many good qualities that are scarcely noticeable to casual strangers who happen to meet him for a few hours at the stations and small towns At such times he is usually drunk, una miable, slouchy and unattractive. He is out of his element. and a judgment based upon such observations is unjust. In his home on the plains his pietur- esque appearance and his really fine ac- complishments are set off to better ad- vantages.
 The cowboy, the shepherd and the plainsman are all classed as gauchos, but the first Is more typical of what the word means. His life is spent on horseback, riding over the endless stretches of plains, corraling his cattle and branding them, and occasionally hunting the wild partners. ostriches or guanacos. His saddle is the most un IdUiC SCdl III tllC WOlio, Dol llC strides it with the ease and grace of an Indian. The wild mustangs of the gauchos are fully as ungovernable as any on our western plains and they shy right and left, rear on their hind legs and even roll on the ground to shake their riders. But once in his saddle, the cowboy Is not to be dislodged by any trick of man or beast. He will remain f.z A s- 1I I1 crN, lao keao of lo1 ta the going down of the sun, stopping only icng enough to eat and drink
 The diet of the gaucho is not noted for its variety, but of its kind it is good The morning meal Is character istic of the Spanish-American people-a cup of mate, the tea herb of Paraguay and a fair substitute for coffee, piece of cold meat, and a pipe of tobacco. With this slim repast over, the cowboy is ready for a ride of several hours in the keen morning air. The midday meal is not much more elegant, either in variety or quantity; but when night comes he is ravenously hungry, and a course dinner will be prepared. This consists of some good fresh meat-the flesh of a panther. rabbit, partridge or steer-a cup of the inevitable mate, the WILL OtlIlcS Ol tllc clllu possibly an ostrich egg. 1n the course of the day the gaucho is very apt to startle up a mother ostrich from its nest, and af- ter killing the bird he will return and look for the nest.
 One egg holds enough meat to make a big omelet, and when properly cooked 1t has a peculiar and delicious flavor One end of the shell is broken, and then r4 se,y +I, hot tn cook. In a few minutes the egg is ready for eating, and the cowboy digs out the meat with his knife and gulps it down greedily. The mother ostrich is meanwhile skinned. and the feathers are carefully preserved until some time when the gaucho goes to some settle ment There he receives fifty cents 0 pound for them, which enables him to buy few trinkets for his squaw wife and a good stock of rum.
 Tine western cowboy Is said to be helpless without his revolver, but this does not apply to the South American gaucho. He rarely if ever has such an instrument, and not even rife is car- ried with him. His indispensable weap- ons arc the lasso, of horse-hair rope the bolas and the knife. The latter is his weapon of defense when fighting with human enemies, and the first two are his weapons for offense when chas- ing the wild horses, steers, guanacos. ostriches, panthers and even birds. With his knife he can perform won ders. using it for all emergencies at close quarters, from sitting the throat of an animal to the carving up of an other human being. A man who st,onid ,,so Q rnyoIyer fin a. fight with a South American cowboy would be de-