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society among them weakens those ties which naturally attach men 

 to the soil on which they are accustomed to subsist. The Peons, 

 brought from Paraguay in their infancy, grow up to the age of man* 

 hood in a state of servitude, uncheered by domestic comfort ; at 

 that period they generally wander in search of employment toward 

 the coast, where money is in greater plenty. They are for the most 

 part an honest and harmless race, though equally as liable, from the 

 circumstances of their condition, to acquire habits of gambling and 

 intoxication*, as the higher classes of the people, numbers of whom 

 fall victims to those seductive vices. The various evils hence result- 

 ing are multiplied by the lax administration of the laws ; even in case 

 of murder the criminal has little to fear if he can escape to a distance 

 of twenty or thirty leagues; he there lives in obscurity, probably for 



* Such is their excessive propensity to gambling, that they frequently carry cards in their 

 pocket, and, when an opportunity occurs, form parties, and retire to a convenient place, 

 where one of them spreads his pancho or mantle on the ground, in lieu of a table. When 

 the loser has parted with his money, he will stake his clothes, so that the game generally 

 continues until one of them goes away almost naked. This bad practice often leads to 

 serious consequences. I once observed a party playing in the neighbourhood of a chapel 

 after mass had been said, when the clergyman came and kicked away the cards in order to 

 put an end to the game. On this one of the Peons rose up, and retiring a few paces, thus 

 accosted the intruder : " Father, I will obey you as a priest ; but" (drawing his knife) 

 ** you must beware how you molest our diversion." The <;lergyman knew the desperate 

 character of these men too well to remonstrate, and retired very hastily not a little 

 chagrined. , 



On another occasion a party of Peons were gambling with a Spanish corporal in the 

 prison-yard, when a dispute arising, the latter drew his sword on his unarmed antagonist, 

 and wounded him so severely in the arm, that he was obliged to undergo amputation the 

 day following. 



It is usual for a Peon who has been fortunate at play, to go to Monte Video and clothe 

 himself anew in the shop of a slop-seller. "While the man is looking out the articles he 

 calls for, he deliberately places his dollars on the counter, in separate piles, assigning each 

 to its destined purpose. He then retires to a corner, and attires himself ; an unfortunate 

 comrade invariably attends him, who examines his cast clothes, and, if better than his own, 

 puts them on. After passing a few days in idleness, he sets out on his return home, where 

 he appears in his new dress. 



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