From Bage to Rio Grande do Sul 
By F. B. GORDON 
M ONTEVIDEO, the capital of the Repub- 
lica Oriental, as Uruguay is called, had 
not lost any of its charms when we 
arrived there last November, expecting to catch 
a steamer for Rio Grande do Sul. In this we 
were disappointed, as steamers were not touch¬ 
ing at that port on account of low water at the 
bar, so we decided our quickest way was over¬ 
land. 
W e took the 8:45 train for Rivera, on the 
border of Uruguay, a run of about four hun¬ 
dred miles through the middle of the republic 
from south to north. The sleeper was very 
comfortable, more roomy than our Pullmans, 
but not so luxurious. The country is one vast 
undulating plain, full of cattle, sheep and horses. 
Near Montevideo the stock was of good breed, 
but in the interior full bred cattle had entirely 
disappeared. Wheat is also raised in the south¬ 
ern part of the republic. Few gardens are seen. 
The people live chiefly on beef and mutton, ft 
is amusing to see the cowboys or gauchos, as 
they are called, take a piece of meat between 
their teeth and cut off a mouthful with a large 
knife that they always carry in their belts, the 
knife sometimes coming dangerously near their 
noses. 
The gauchos dress in large Turkish style 
trousers, coat, vest, large shawl with fringe and 
a hole in 'the center through which they put 
their heads; riding boots, broad-brimmed hats 
and bright colored silk handkerchiefs tied 
around their necks. The colors of their shawls 
represent the different political parties to which 
they belong. The most important part of their 
attire is a leather belt to which is attached a 
large six-shooter and a big knife. They ride 
fine horses, use Mexican style saddles, elaborate 
bridles, with trappings sometimes of solid 
silver. 
We saw many quail in passing. They did not 
stop feeding nor did they seem to pay any atten¬ 
tion to the train. They are not as pretty as 
our quail, but are larger and have long necks 
and legs. They look awkward, but are good 
shooting, and they make a whistling sound when 
they rise. We also saw a great number of 
South American ostriches. At one place eleven 
were together. They are half domesticated, are 
small, gray in color, and produce inferior 
plumes. Their feathers are used for making 
rugs, etc. 
There are no fine residences. The villages 
are composed of one-story plastered houses, 
while in the country the people live in mud 
huts. All the wealthy landowners reside in 
Montevideo. 
Although the trip was most interesting there 
was no variation in the scenery, and it grew 
monotonous, so we were glad to arrive at our 
destination, late in the afternoon. Rivera. 
Uruguay, although a dirty little town, is some¬ 
what relieved of its plainness by the rows of 
sycamore trees that border its streets, thus form¬ 
ing a great contrast to the treeless plains through 
which we had traveled. 
Words cannot describe the hotel. I never saw 
a dirtier place in all my travels. Our windows 
opened on the streets and had solid shutters 
without any ventilation, this being the kind of 
shutter used here and all through Brazil. We 
were compelled to close them, so you can 
imagine how we suffered from the intense heat. 
The natives seem to be afraid of fresh air, and 
always sleep with windows closed. 
The national beverage here and in southern 
Brazil is yerba matte, called matte (Brazilian 
tea). It is drunk from a small gourd, called a 
cuya, through a silver tube or a wooden one 
with a small strainer on the end; this is called 
bombilla. The natives carry these in their 
pockets, and by adding a little hot water can 
have a delicious drink at any time. While shop¬ 
ping, the proprietor of one of the stores offered 
us a drink from his cuya, which is the custom 
here. We could not refuse, as it would have 
been considered an insult. All drink through 
the same bombilla, and only one cuya is passed 
around. 
As we were to go to Bage, Brazil, two hun¬ 
dred miles distant, we were anxious to see our 
stage coach or diligencia. It was a Buffalo Bill 
affair, drawn sometimes by twelve horses, hitched 
six abreast, with rawhide ropes. These were led 
by a man on horseback with a rope attached to 
his saddle. These leaders were the most splen¬ 
did riders I ever saw. 
At 3 o’clock we were awakened by the owner 
of the coach, rapping on our window. We had 
tea, bread and butter, which is considered break¬ 
fast here, and started at five. Our fellow pas¬ 
sengers were two women, one so large she could 
hardly get into the coach, and two cowboys who 
promptly put their six-shooters and knives under 
the cushions of .the seats. As the day grew 
warmer one took off his chinellas or slippers and 
made himself comfortable. After about an 
hour’s time we met what seemed to be a drove 
of horses—the roads were not fenced in—driven 
by a man who looked like an Arab. We stopped 
and changed horses and leaders, the tired horses 
were turned loose to feed on the plains, and we 
continued our journey to the next relay. We 
changed horses fifteen times and made about 
one hundred miles per day, going at full gallop 
all the time. The company owning these coaches 
has about six hundred horses; they are not shod. 
At 11 A. M. we sat down in a mud hut to 
lunch, fifty miles from Rivera, but as they had 
only badly cooked meat we ate the roast chicken 
and hard boiled eggs we had brought with us. 
All day we saw millions of large grasshoppers, 
although there were not enough to do much 
damage. In some years there are so many the 
whole country is left bare. Some time ago, while 
on a steamer near Rio Grande, I saw the ocean 
covered for miles with dead grasshoppers. I 
could not account for this, but suppose a storm 
had blown them out to sea. 
This is indeed a fine agricultural country and 
anything can be produced on these immense 
plains, but only cattle, horses and sheep are seen, 
the former by thousands. My wife counted only 
six gardens in the two hundred miles and only 
four places where chickens were raised. The 
life is so easy that the people are too lazy to 
work and are satisfied to live on meat. Where 
we took lunch we saw two men roasting a leg 
of mutton over the coals. The foot was sticking 
in the ground, and it was propped up with a 
stick. 
We saw many quail on the way. They do 
not go in flocks. We flushed one from her nest 
where we changed horses. She had seven blue- 
black eggs, a little smaller than a guinea fowl’s 
egg. During the rainy season, when lakes form 
all over these plains, immense flocks of ducks 
are seen, but we saw only a few on this trip, as 
it was the breeding season. 
We spent the night in a house built of blocks 
of sod, cut in the shape of a brick, about 8 by 18 
inches, the roots of the grass holding the earth 
together. When new these houses look green 
with the grass growing between the joints. They 
are usually covered with a kind of dry grass, 
but sometimes with corrugated iron; the floors 
are earth. It is so far from the railroad that 
lumber cannot be transported without enormous 
cost. Strange to say, our rooms were clean and 
the beds soft and comfortable. The people are 
honest. The mails remained on top of the coach 
during the night. 
We arose at 3 o’clock next morning to con¬ 
tinue our journey. There was a heavy mist. It 
was cold and looked as if it would rain, but hr 
10 o’clock it was clear and warm. We saw along 
the way immense carts drawn by six or eight 
oxen which were covered with straw or corru¬ 
gated iron, and loaded with merchandise for the 
country stores, or returning to the railroad 
stations with hides. In many places at noon the 
men were asleep under these carts while the 
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