BLANCO Y COLORADO

Blanco y Colorado

OLD DAYS AMONG THE
GAŨCHOS OF URUGUAY

BY

WILLIAM C. TETLEY

F. R. HOCKLIFFE
86 & 88, High Street, Bedford

LONDON: SIMPKIN, MARSHALL,
HAMILTON, KENT & CO., LTD.
1921

PREFACE

The following pages contain the writer's personal experiences in the "Republic of Uruguay" during a revolution in what are now known as the "Old Days."

If they enable the reader to understand what life in that country really meant at that time, the object of this book will then be attained.

W. C. T.

The Close, Wavendon,
Woburn Sands,
Bucks.
July, 1919.

CONTENTS

BLANCO Y COLORADO.

PART I.

Las Sierras de Mal Abrigo.

The clock of the "Cathedral de la Matrix" was striking ten on a lovely morning in October, when our signal gun was fired, and the anchor of the s.s. "Copernicus" let go to find bottom in the muddy waters of La Plata.

On the right the town of Monte Video, with its whitewashed "azotea," or flat-roofed houses, glistened in the bright sunshine; to the left the broad estuary stretched away towards the open sea; while in front of us the famous Cerro, a gently sloping hill, looked green and fresh and pleasant after our long sea voyage. The tug which brought off the Medical Officer of Health did not delay long before coming alongside, when permission was given to the passengers to land, and I soon found myself standing with my baggage on the Custom House wharf, and having duly passed it, made my way to the "Hotel Oriental."

Here I enquired when a diligence would leave for the interior, which would take me within reasonable distance of my friend's estancia, whom I had come out to visit, which I believed to be situate about thirty-three leagues, or one hundred miles, up country. I was informed that it was to leave the next morning, but that, as it started from a "fonda," or inn, outside the town at 5 a.m., it would be necessary to sleep there, otherwise I should certainly miss it. At this time the diligence was the only public conveyance traversing the country, a railway being as yet unthought of. So I ordered some dinner at the "Hotel Oriental," and occupied the interval by having a look round the city. I was much pleased with the straight, wide streets, running at right angles, by the size and importance of the public buildings, and by many of the private houses, often opening on to a "plaza," or square, prettily planted with trees and flowering shrubs. But I was most impressed by the variety and beauty of the excellent shops, which I could hardly have expected to find in a South American town at that time, so remote from Europe. I also saw more than one of the famous "quintas," or villas, with large grounds, where semi-tropical flowers can be seen in all their beauty, and palms and magnolias everywhere flourish.

I arrived at the inn whence the diligence started at 9 p.m. The proprietor received me with courtesy, and shewed me my bedroom, which was small and not very clean; but it had a window opening on the street, so I could get plenty of air. Some natives were making a noise in the bar below, where they had doubtless been drinking, and seemed inclined to quarrel. I gave instructions to be called, and the last thing I heard as I dropped off to sleep was the cry of the "sereno," or night-watchman, whose business it was, during the night, to call the time and state of the weather every half hour. A loud rapping at my door awoke me in time to look up my baggage and drink some hot coffee, before a start was made. Dawn was fast breaking in the East as five horses and three mules were being harnessed up, four abreast, to the old wooden diligence, which carried the mails and baggage piled on its top, the passengers sitting facing each other on hard wooden seats inside. In front, beneath a wooden shelter, sat the driver, with room for one passenger beside him. The diligence was heavily built, with large broad wooden wheels, and there were no springs. In front rode a native on horseback, with his lasso made fast to the leading horses, so that he was able to guide the course of the diligence. His was an office of importance, and he was called the "quartia dor." The team was evidently well accustomed to the streets, so we rumbled heavily along, passed suburb and quinta, until houses became less frequent, and by the end of the first stage had ceased to appear; and we then saw before us the rolling plains of Uruguay. A word as to my fellow-passengers. Four were apparently business men, probably buyers of produce, one of whom spoke French, and kindly gave me information as we went along. The fifth was an officer, in a lieutenant's uniform. Reaching the end of our first stage, we found another team shut up in a yard, waiting. This time they were all horses, diverse in colour, wilder, and more spirited than the others. But they were soon harnessed up, and we quickly got under weigh, the driver now increasing our speed. As we descended a decline we went mostly at full gallop, to get across the mud in the stream at the bottom, and so have a good impetus for the rise on the other side, the old diligence, which had seen much service, swaying and rolling like a ship in a sea-way. By eleven o'clock we reached Santa Lucia, then only a village, with one so-called hotel, and a straggling street of native huts. Here we waited for an hour for breakfast: meat, boiled and roast, with vegetables; bread, cheese, and coffee, which we much appreciated. Then, with four new passengers and a fresh team of horses, we made a start for the town of San José, where we were to stop for the night. As we proceeded, the country opened out before us on every side, the rolling plain, with here and there a clump of trees to mark some native estancia, where a flock of sheep, and also cattle, could be seen feeding in absolute freedom, for there were no fences or divisions of any kind, neither was there anything in the way of cultivation. Occasionally a native came into view, galloping after a troop of horses, his poncho fluttering in the wind, and then, as he passed over a