BUEXOS AIRES AXD ITS RIVER OF SILVER 



429 



[plicated series of advances and re- 

 ts, while the other dancers clapped 

 ir hands in a syncopated time. 



All the dancers of both sexes were 

 arefooted. The women were dressed in 

 lapeless cotton gowns, high-necked and 

 usually dark-colored. All wore mam- 

 strings of beads and had their high-piled 

 hair fastened with great, clumsy combs. 

 Most of them were smoking the short, 

 fat Paraguayan cigars. 



The men were more gaudily decked 

 out, with extremely tight-fitting and high- 

 waisted white trousers ornamented with 

 big pearl buttons ; horn-handled knives 

 and long-barreled revolvers stuck through 

 their broad belts ; and bright-colored shirts 

 and neckerchiefs. 



While others danced, some of the 

 guests were refreshing themselves with 

 mate, coffee, caiia (Paraguayan rum), 

 native wine, biscuits, and cheese, all of 

 which were spread out in abundance. 

 The dance had started the night before 

 and (we heard later) did not break up 

 until the following morning. 



West of this gaucho village the country 

 changed for the better. We had passed 

 the swampy zone, and while the forests 

 and palm-dotted prairies still alternated. 

 the open areas were larger. Soon the 

 country became gently rolling, with beau- 

 tiful pasture lands, where the grass 

 brushed our stirrups. Occasionally we 

 passed a small pond black with clucks, 

 and twice forded small streams. I have 

 seldom seen a more attractive country. 



A PARAGUAYAN RANCH-HOUSE 



As the sun sank, it became pleasantly 

 cool, and I was almost sorry when, about 

 dark, we reached the ranch which was 

 our destination. 



This ranch was the last outpost of 

 civilization, and withal a comfortable and 

 pleasant place. Two separate houses, 

 built of palm, with a vine-covered patio 

 between, and several employees' huts lay 

 close to the sturdy palm-trunk fence of 

 the corral. The rooms of the ranch- 

 house were dark and cool, with hard dirt 

 floors. 



I was given a cot protected from mos- 

 quitoes by a thin cloth mosquito net. At 

 daybreak a peon would come shuffling in 

 with a gourd of hot mate and would bring 

 several more while I dressed. It was 



always comfortably cool in the early 

 mornings. 



For a couple of days I hunted the big 

 Paraguayan deer with Antonio, an old 

 Indian, for a guide. He had been chief 

 of a tribe, but had retired in favor of his 

 son, and now lived in a brush shelter near 

 the ranch-house. A few weeks before, 

 there had been an uprising in his tribe, 

 which lived somewhere in the unexplored 

 country to the west, and Antonio had 

 been compelled to go on the warpath. On 

 his return he reported that he had caught 

 the ringleader, tied him to a tree, and 

 broken both his jaws with a club, as a 

 hint to keep the peace thereafter. 



Around the ranch Antonio wore a semi- 

 civilized garb, but at home he wore only 

 a sack, as did his two wives. His chil- 

 dren wore the same costume — minus the 

 sack. 



A PARADISE POR CATTLE 



The great round-up was to be held 

 thirty miles farther west, on Christmas 

 eve ; so by daylight Knutson and I had 

 our coffee and biscuits and were on our 

 way. It was a glorious morning, our 

 animals were feeling fit, and I have sel- 

 dom enjoyed a more splendid ride, loping 

 across the wild plains, now skirting 

 marshes, now crossing rolling hillocks. 

 The tall grass on either side stretched 

 to the horizon, except where low, dark 

 belts of forests intervened. We twice 

 forded a fair-sized stream, to whose 

 source, so I was told, no white man had 

 ever penetrated. 



On our way we met a small band of 

 Indians on the march, the chief in the 

 lead, the other men, armed with long 

 bows and arrows, following him in single 

 file, while the heavily burdened squaws 

 and several small papooses brought up the 

 rear. 



Knutson told me these Indians are 

 nomads, moving their camp every few 

 days. Little is known of their life and 

 customs. It is believed that they worship 

 the moon and ghosts and spirits. They 

 will never camp where an Indian has 

 died and they avoid many spots which 

 would appear to be suitable camping sites, 

 but which for some reason are taboo. 



These Indians live chiefly on meat, 

 wild roots, and fruits. They make an 

 intoxicating drink from the fruit of the 



