WILD HUNTING COMPANIONS 157 



mere savagery to that which held within it the 

 germ of civiHzation. 



Two or three of the ranches at which we 

 stopped were provided with elaborate and even 

 handsome ranch-houses and other buildings. 

 One of them was owned by a wealthy and cul- 

 tivated native proprietor. It was fitted with 

 much stately luxury, and some comfort. Two 

 others were owned by foreign corporations. 

 Among the higher employees were men from 

 Europe and the United States, and also '' ori- 

 entals," as the men of Uruguay are always 

 called — Uruguay being the "banda oriental," 

 or eastern shore, of the Plate. These orientals 

 were as pure white as the Europeans and North 

 Americans, and were of a high grade. The 

 ordinary cow-hands on these two ranches were 

 mostly Paraguayans, men of almost pure In- 

 dian blood, speaking the Guarani tongue, which 

 is the real home language of the peculiar and 

 interesting little republic which takes its 

 name from the great river. These particular 

 ranches were on the borders of the Bolivian 

 country, and along this frontier the condi- 

 tions as regards order and international law are 

 much what they were on the border between 

 England and Scotland in the sixteenth century. 

 The man who cannot protect his own life by 



