THE GAUCHO OF THE SOUTH AMERICAN PAMPAS.

Cromwell Argus, Volume XXX, Issue 1521, 5 July 1898, Page 2

THE GAUCHO OF THE SOUTH AMERICAN PAMPAS.

The endurance of these hardy horsemen is nowhere more forcibly display ed than in their love of auiuesmeat ; their 'devotion to pleasure is really extraordinary. Alter riding 30 leagues in the day, or branding savage, unruly c*ttle from sunrise to sunset, without baring taken '• mouthful of food, the yeung Gaucho will array himself in all bis bravery and ride off to s-o:ue distant, lonely pulperia, or wine-shop, wh»ie he will make merry with his friends. Here music and dancing are always on the programme, the one instrument being the guitar, upon which a few bars, coastat-tty repeated, may ba strummed for hours with scarcely the slightest variation" The wipes ara almost always in praise of tha lovely sr-noritas, who, however, as obdurate as are our Kaglish maidens, require much serenading before their charms can be subdued.

The dancing consists principally of slow 1 polkas or waltzes, to some tune of only two or three bars repeated without intermission. Tl.ere are frequent simultaneous brief pauses, then tke purtaers will sot to each other, the men accurately keeping time by*snapping their fingers, and the whole company perform a figure, after which tho dreamy exercise is resumed with a change of partners. Both men and women dance with ease and grace, gliding smoothly through'the figure* ; the slow time giving opportunity for those graceful movements of body an J limb which constitute the principal charm of the Terpsichorean art. Now and again a rr-gular rhythmip stamping with the feet, heard abnve the tinklit gaf the guitar, helps to express the feelings of those who are taking part in the cujoyabie exercise.

Occasionally at these gatherings two male songsters desirous to shine before the black tyes of tbeir respective senorit*s will engage in an impmvisatorial contest to the strains o| the everlasting guitar. The crowd expecting fuo, and possibly mischief, cluster round by the wall, and the rivals commence. Passage succeeds passage alternately from the tiro, the spectators vigorously applauding every hit, especially if at all humorous < or sarcastic. Both men are supplied with csna, and as tha spirit mounts into the head additional words are huddled into a line, until, at length, one swept along by his feelings and rendered reckless by applause exceeds the bounds of politeness in bis utterances.

This provokes angry retort, and BBlly follows sally, and taunt treads upon the hi-els "of tsunt, amid laughter and mockery, until knivo* are drawn ; and soon a dead " man, the only son of his mother, it may be, is carried out ; and a horse is led across t,he Pampas, under the midnight eky. bearing a corpse dressed in blood-stained embroidered garments. Then they bury him, nc man inquiring why.

The love of bloodshed seems inherent, for even boys will draw the facon upon the slightest provocation ; and, as the throat and abdomen are the parts whioh are generally'aimed at, the wounds are usually mortal. Murders and houncides cause little or no emotion.

The man who respectfully salutes the stranger is more likely than not a hero who has cut many throats. It is believed that up-| wards ef one third of the youag Gauchos die • violent death.

The recklessness which this engenders be< oo nes such a second nature that ho grows .cruel for a shier lave of inflicting pain, or callousness to the sight of suffering. From his infancy he has used the lasso and bolus, has. drngged tbe agonised animal at a gallop from the terrified herd, laughing as he hamstrung it, and mocking as the ' coup de grace " was given. His later indifference to the value of ttumsn life has been but a step in advance froai these. Even his horse fails,to kindle one spark of affection in his tinsel covered breast, while his dogs, though of value for driving cattle, are only tolerated as watch dogs aud scavengeis. The lot of a Constantinople parish dog is enviable compared with that owned by the Gauglio. As a natural result of the neglect of lndirf.rence with which they are treated, tboy become dangerous to strangers, srhile their combats among themselves are so desperate that many are laft bleeding or d-od cpon th«s ground.

A DEADLY TOOL Cuba has a. terrible national weapon. It is the deadly macbete. Ono of the horrible features Df a battle-field when machetes have been, used Is the number of partly beheaded and fearfully mutilated bodies which are found, and which, present a ghastly sight even to the sturdy soldiers who Lave survived the conflict. The machete has played no smell part in Iho history of ail uprisings in the Sv-auhh-rpeaKing prorinc.es, but in Cuba it has done such execu? tion that if the island should win its freedom the macbete ought to be included in the coat of! arms of Cuba libra. It is the tool of Ibe Cuban; working man. With it he earns his living cult-, ing thesugar cane ; with it be cuts the wo.od forj bis fire. Indeed, it is hatchet and knife com-j bined for him. Every man in Cuba possesses a, machete, no matter what else he does not own.j It is really an implement for the fields, and a. useful instrument of husbandry in all sugar? growing countries, but so deadly is it in warfare that Spain has declared t-hpm contraband weapons. Since the insurrection in Cuba they Br*?, of course, not sent directly to that cc-untryj by the manufacturers, but, like much else that is forbidden, they still find their way into thq insurgents' hands.

The machete is made of the finest tempered steel,'and much skill is required for its manu-j facture. Its blade is long, and broadens towards the end. It is exceedingly sharp, ajid the hatt is very short. Thus the machete is a murder-j ous weapon, despite the agricultural purposes, to which it is applied. Every country has a sword of its own, but Cuba is, perhaps, tb«i only count*>y whose sword is at the same timej its reaping hook. The stroke is aimed at the abdomen of thei person attacked, with the intent of wounding the body below the wsist. Then, with thei weapon raised to the full length of the righti, arm, the wrist is simply turned over end thei machete makes a stroke, back to the li ft, so as' to slash the victim's neck, and, if possible, par-j tially beh< ad him. With one more turn of the' wrist tbe edge of the machete strikes downward, cleaving the body again. In tho hands of, the iusurgents, habituated to the uso of the! machete, at d who aie very strong, these blows' are fearfully effective, and a machete wound is usually fatal. The Battle of Bail a, in which eo many C-paniarrls were decapitated, whh won by machetes against the best modem rifli s. When the Cuban husbandman receives his tnacbtte it is not at ali sharp, but ho whets and sharpens it until it cuts ITke a razor. Tbe great exi cution of the machete; lies iu his wonderful skill iu handling it. It is doubtful whether aji army of the most skilful swordsmen in England could stand up before an equal number oi Cuban cane cutters.

A PREDICAMENT. Borne years ago, a ten of the mart daring sohoelboys in Peters-ton, ns-ar Can:iff, were particularly proud of one feat. '1 he playground was bauuded by a railway. Between the sleepers in some places «ere hollow.«, owing to the Hjgvenaess of the ground, and the boys woiihWie down in these aod let tho train pas* over them. As no accidents occurred, this practice became more common. But one mornia-:, as the locomotive passed abavc a lad, a large red-hot cinder fell on the back of feis neck. He was lying fa.ee downward, and bis situation can be better imagined than described. If he moved his head it would be mangled by the traia. The terrible pais of the red-hot ciade.r slowly burning his flesh, together with the hopelessness of relief as the train slowly—very slowly, it seemed to him—pissed OTer him, made bisn suffer torture that itemed to last for hour?. With an awful shriek that was heard above the anise of tbe train, ho swooned away. He was soon restore! to cob. sciousness, but he did not recover from tbe horrible fright for many mantbs, while tba smb fwvfcjaaacfc reataiua to titi» day.