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
Theirs not to reason why,
Theirs not to moan or sigh,
E'en though their throats were dry,
Noble "Tacuruers"!
True, the comforting thought that they still had a bottle and a-half of
the precious drink with them may have helped them to keep their spirits
up with the hope of pouring spirits down, but a bottle and a-half is
not much amongst so many thirsty souls for three days, and, we repeat,
that great courage and bravery was shown by the equanimity with which
the party bore the news of their loss.
A minor loss was that the dinner napkins were not forthcoming, but that
surprised no one, for they were in the charge of The Kid, and, of
course, she had forgotten them at Lucero. We believe she said something
about their being "left to be washed" there, but no one listened to her,
and we used glass cloths instead.
At our first camp evening meal everyone did justice to the goods that
The Chaperon provided. Coffee was not forgotten, and, after their
dinner, the more musical members of the band tried to sing--it kept the
mosquitoes off--and when "a catch" was attempted even the bicho colorado
was cowed into silence. We had looked forward to hearing the guitar
played by one of the peons here. He had brought his instrument with him,
but, unfortunately, had dropped a large packing case upon it, which did
not improve its tone, and this accident prevented our hearing the
national dances played on a guitar in the open camp as we had hoped to
do.
Weary with the exertions of the day the party turned their thoughts and
steps early towards those tents where rows of little bedsteads, each
with its mosquito net above, looked so attractively inviting, and before
long lights were out and peace reigned as far as possible.
"Thus done the Vales to bed they creep,
By whispering winds soon lulled asleep."
Guards were set and they, with Monte, were left to protect the horses
and camp through the night.
CORRESPONDENCE.
_March 31st, 1910._
SIR,
I feel that, as I am in a measure responsible for the presence of
the two people to whom your correspondents of yesterday object, I
should like to apologise, through the medium of your paper, for the
inconvenience these two people have caused, and to assure your
correspondents that steps shall be taken to prevent a repetition of
the annoyance. The fact is, that both of them are so rarely out of
Bedlam at the same time that I had not realised the necessity for
keeping them apart, nor the danger of their amalgamation, but they
shall be kept in separate coaches in future, and I can only express
my sincere regret for the mischief and trouble they have caused.
I am,
Yours, etc.,
THE INSTIGATOR.
* * * * *
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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