A DAY AT MONTE VIDEO.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIV, Issue 13497, 25 May 1907, Page 1 (Supplement)

A DAY AT MONTE VIDEO.

BY ZEJXA.

Thb.ee dark and stormy weeks bad passed since leaving the bright shores of New Zealand. Not a whale, not an iceberg (perhaps, fortunately) had blest our vision ; nothing but a waste of sea and a murky sky, until we passed the > Falkland Islands, off the coast of Patagonia, Many times we had been assured, "'lt will be better when we have passed the " Horn," until that promontory assumed in our minds the awful proportions of some horrible monster, with j murderous horn and lashing tail, the demon lof those god-forsaken seas, and the cause of all our miseries.

But now it was all over, we were steam ing up the wide estuary of the La Plata River, in bright sunshine, and the muddiness of tne waters, and pieces of floating seaweed, told us that land was near. At eleven o'clock that night the ship was in darkness, but who could sleep! Oh! bliss! the engines suddenly cease their relentless •thud, thud, and vibration, which night and day have tortured every nerve in the body. Splash goes the anchor, and probably mine is not the only head thrust out of a porthole with the exclamation, "I see a hillj which, I afterwards learn, was the remark on * the lips of Christopher Columbus, whence the name of the place, Monte Video. I lay my head upon the pillow, and think thankfully of the morrow, when we shall, for one brief day, be liberated from our floating prison. '.' Our New Zealand coal has brought us so far on our journey, but a fresh supply is needed, whence our visit to tins ancient town, where also we are to take on a number of passengers for England. Early next day we - are attacked by four huge black barges, with their swarthy, jabbering crews, and we are as glad to make our escape on J the tenders as.the officers and stewards are to see us go; for the dust of Welsh coal is very; penetrating, and every door, porthole, and hatchway on the ship must be closed to exclude it. We are soon landed at a small wharf, and paradoxical as it may sound,' we seem to walk on air as we feel once more terra firma beneath our feet. ■ * J-. -~.,■.'/ ' . - ■ ■_■'

Surely we have dropped into the midst of Spain! How strange to us colonials is this city of narrow, cobbled streets, thronged with dark-eyed people; the queer little trams and other vehicles drawn by mules; the black-robed priests ; the ladies with lace mantillas; the negro policemen, the glimpses of marble staircases, and green courtyards. . Our way lies through the mar-ket-place, which was formerly the citadel, where among strange fruits and vegetables the familiar pungent onion hangs in num- , berless festoons. But what is this crawling mass in a box apart? "Periwinkles!" / I exclaim, but our guide is not offended; by the burst of laughter with which we recognise our old friends (or, perhaps, enemies, if Our tastes are horticultural), of the com- , nion garden variety. The leader of our party having exchanged our money, ' and having previously mastered the coinage, wo board a tram and soon arrive at the fa- .' mows and beautiful cemetery, where, after gaining admission from the priest at the portal, we pass< through , an arched avenue to the mortuary chapel', with its.much/or- . namented ' niches,, windows, and altar. Next we : stroll • among the many striking ] and handsome monuments /and statues. We notice particularly those to the.memory of heroes' of the various insurrections', which seem , to be the fashion of the country. All round a pedestal upon which stands a- martial .figure, is a battle miniature, wonderfully executed— guns, • horses, all in/ bronze. Below /a bust of a philanthropist /is a touching figure of -a mirier, who has fainted across ■ his wheelbarrow. Here an angel- bears /a palmbranch, there ■ a- 'mourning husband leans over an effigy of his wife ; but these works of art are too numerous to.mention. ■ We leave the shady, /paved walks, ' and turn our attention to the walls ■■. which surround the cemetery. ! These are of /great- height and of '; sufficient / thickness to ; admit the. ashes of many hundreds of the departed, ; which are placed in recesses or shelves, and hidden by marble slabs; we are told that these recesses »are-- often rented for a few years, at. the end of which time the ashes are turned/out to make room for others. Returning townward we find our way to the Hotel Grand, when, : seating ourselves at/a/ table, we are confronted by a menu of considerable length,'with a hopelessly foreign.. look. > Instead of adopting a suggestion select from it ■■■ a dish with our i eyes/shut/ we take a safer plan and choose those dishes whose names have an English look,- beginning with mock turtle soup. Extremely good we / find it too, in spite of haunting memories of the / snails in the market-place, arid an ill-timed quotation: i.■ .:. ,-.I ; had some mutton pics,' ; ■-"'- i.r,, ; And in. them I did recognise, J ; The flavour o?: my. poor dog; Tray. •»'■ j After several courses our waiter seemed to jbe suggesting - ices, and we order five. j Those ices are very long in coming, but we I are entertained " by watching the spruce, j ! black-garbed and black-haired gentlemen, ! who are gesticulating over their dejeuner. j (At, last' our attendant appears, armed 'with five little round dishes, each containling a smoking-lict 'fried egg, reposing on | a piece of bacon. Amid much laughter the i gentlemen of the party tackle these addi- j jtions to our fea'st, arid the waiter is no ; j doubt confirmed in his idea that the Eng-j lishman thinks no meal complete without | I this homely dish; while the ices still re-j main a,vision. ": | We must take a peep at the fine cathed- j ral which we see opposite. The interior/ is imposing, with its marble pillars arid stony | arches. The colouring is light, and there j are several side altars, with much coloured j statuary and ornamentation. Black-veiled j women are kneeling with tall lighted can-j dies and prie-dienx, and in a side chapel at priest, is presenting the Bambins to a few devout worshippers. At the door a fash-ionably-dressed lady enters, crosses herself j ' with holy water, and goes out again. , We follow her, and then cross a square to a building whose door is guarded by soldiers, j and which excites our curiosity. We are! given permission to mount the wide marble i staircase, and find ourselves in a large furnished room; -there a polite official turns a key and we are shown into a hall where the Congress of Uruguay holds its consul-j' tations. There seem to be two degrees, or committees, as is shown by the different colours in the upholstering of the massive carved chairs. The Avails are hung with portraits, and on a dais is the President's throne, in which each of us slyly seats i himself or herself in turn, and we wish, ' for the sake of the present President, that} • its solidity were typical of the durability ■'■ of his office; for the barred windows of! dwellings in the town, the soldiers' monu- : nients, the relics and pictures . hi the Mu- . seum and. Art Gallery, which, we afterwards : visit, the magnificent statue of Liberty in .' the square, and the many times that word < " Liberty" meets our eye in the course" of : the day, all testifying "to the frequency of the struggles which have taken place in i the country. For it is always to be ob- ' served that those peoples who enjoy least ; freedom have most- to say about it. * / ' Connected with the Parliament House is / '» prison, and in a courtyard we/see boys].

who-are trying to; amuse themselves in various ways; while through ,the "bars of cells can be seen sullen-looking girls, • for this seems to be the children's quarter. The purchase of a. few tri2es causes us much amusement, . for the ; Spaniards seem quite unacquainted with English, though we find a few words of French very.useful, especially when helped out with demonstrations; but everything is, we notice, very expensive, so our shopping does not extend! very far, and we continue our explorations.! After a glance at the splendid theatre, which has a stage as large as the floor of the auditorium, we regale ourselves with tea and fruit, and reluctantly make our way back to the water. One of our number, whose knickerbockers and rough stockings had arrested the gaze of many had been the quarry of little shoeblacks the whole day long* his boots being encrusted with salt from the sea water. He was almost fain to take refuge in one of numerous blacking-rooms which we observed, ' where, with his feet upon a rest before him and himself reclining in an easy-chair, with ' newspaper before him, he might have had . the operation comfortably performed, and ! have been freed from his small persecutors. *

Back again, on our little tender a kindly admiring and wondering crowd watchesthe strange English people depart, and in a little while we climb the dust-begrimed gangway, and find entertainment for the rest of the evening in recounting to each other all the experiences of the day, arid in watching the coal-heavers, now black from head to foot, finishing their work" and bringing out strange-looking bottles, cans, | sausages, eggs, roll*, etc.. with which they irefresh themselves, jabbering all the while in their strange jargon. At last they go, and we wonder whether baths are considered a necessary or a luxury with them, for a trio of gentlemen passengers have been relating to us their experience, ashore. Hiving to their joy come across some public baths, and having had three weeks of salttub, they make eagerly for the fresh water.; But the persistence 'with which the attendant offered his services with the towel seemed to show that a cold bath was not the.simple affair that it is generally considered by us. . We have still half our voyage before us, and when we weigh anchor and think of the tropics which lie between us and England, and, of many possible miseries, we have one consolation—that in a few days we are to have the great privilege of visiting that far-famed beauty spot, Rio Janicro.■'., So, wonderfully refreshed and invigorated by our.most "delightful day on. land, we bid farewell to the strange, foreign town, and look our last on its cone-shaped fortified mount and sparkling lights.