THE ARGENTINE FRONTIER 361 



shocked the good people on numerous occasions by having 

 a swim at eveiy possible opportunity, even if the month 

 was not in keeping with local traditions. 



Peras Pampa is an immense estate on both sides of the 

 Cachimayo, and but an hour's trip by motor from Sucre. 

 We spent a delightful ten days amid pleasant surroundings, 

 living in a comfortable bungalow, and passing the evenings 

 at the casa grande where the elite of Sucre's society gathered 

 for music, games, and dancing. 



The grounds were a succession of orchards, fields, and 

 vineyards. Scores of Indians lived and worked on the place, 

 cultivating the ground, building stone fences, and taking 

 care of the stock. At night they met and played very well 

 on reed flutes of various sizes, each musician taking a sepa- 

 rate part, so that the combined effort was somewhat like 

 that produced by a well-organized band. Their favorite 

 piece was "Red-Wing" — apparently learned from a phono- 

 graph record. 



The evening parties were always enjoyable affairs. They 

 began with a sumptuous dinner — including several kinds 

 of wine; then a series of eight or ten well-chosen courses, 

 followed by liqueurs and smoking. The women did not 

 smoke. 



After that there were charades, story-telling, music, sing- 

 ing, dancing, and perhaps a walk en masse in the moonlit 

 grounds, through arbors of honeysuckle and other flower- 

 ing vines and over paths bordered with hedges of roses. 

 There were always more refreshments just before the party 

 broke up at midnight. All the Bolivians we met at Peras 

 Pampa were charming, and we heartily regretted that our 

 time for combined work and play was not unlimited. 



The majority of the people who formed the gay evening 

 crowd lived in separate cottages on the estate — the guests 

 of the owner. Each day they repaired faithfully to the 

 river for a dip, although the water was usually very muddy, 

 and there was about an even chance whether one would 

 emerge without yesterday's coat of grime or with an ad- 



