Argentina from a British Point of View, and Notes on Argentine Life
History
Argentina from a British Point of View, and Notes on Argentine Life
Argentina -- Description and travel; Argentina -- Economic conditions; Argentina -- Social life and customs
SIXTH: _The Chaperon_--has his uses. It will be his business to see that
we are housed, clothed, and fed. The horses and peons will also be under
his care, and if anyone wants to grumble about anything The Chaperon is
the person to abuse. Tent-erecting is what he considers himself to be
very good at; but rumour has it that his best accomplishment is
hairdressing (ladies or gentlemen, English or foreign styles). His
resources know no bounds; he has been seen to fasten up a pair of
leggings with bits of stick. His powers of annexation, both mentally and
materially, are indeed marvellous. He prefers to make his bed on the
bricks or the cold, hard ground, and then enlarges on the comfort
thereof; he generally takes his food standing up, and is always on the
spot ready for any emergency when required.
SEVENTH: _The Saint_--is a lady who will give away anything in her
possession, save chicken or eggs. Just now she is making donations of
pipes, tobacco, handkerchiefs (her own or The Instigator's), and good
advice on matrimony. She is a person of importance, and is very keen on
collecting knowledge which she is always ready to impart to others;
unfortunately, some of her efforts to improve humanity have not been
absolutely successful, but she is never discouraged, and takes up the
next case on the list with equal enthusiasm. Most of us have to thank
her for some good thing or other. She will do her best to keep every
member of the party up to the mark, physically and mentally. Her
accomplishments are numerous.
EIGHTH: _My Lady_--is a general favourite; she will look after the lot
of us in her own gracious fashion. Everyone goes to her for advice,
sympathy, or help, which she is always ready to give. Even without her
tea-basket she would be an absolute necessity for the social success of
the trip, for, as the advertisements say of patent sweepers and the
Encyclopaedia Britannica, "no party is complete without" her, so every
one was glad to hear that she had agreed to accompany the northern
pioneers. Those favoured ones who have seen her "on the boards," whisper
that her histrionic genius is marvellous; we, who are not among the
fortunate number, can only say that if her acting equals her talent for
giving (when required) a really concise, lucid description of anything,
it must indeed be wonderful. Her quotations, too, are so ready and apt,
though occasionally they remind us, by their vagueness, of her namesake
and favourite book.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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