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UAL LETTERS

7- FROM

I DUTH AMERICA

HISPANIC

Presented to the

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO
LIBRARY

by the

ONTARIO LEGISLATIVE
LIBRARY

1980

HISPANIC SOCIETY

AMERICAN SERIES

OF AMERICA

HISPANIC

NOTES & MONOGRAPHS

ESSAYS, STUDIES, AND BRIEF
BIOGRAPHIES ISSUED BY THE
HISPANIC SOCIETY OF AMERICA

VII

Frontispiece.}

The Temple of the Sun, Cuzco

48164
CASUAL LETTERS

FROM

SOUTH AMERICA

WILLIAM BELMONT PARKER

Corresponding Member of the Hispanic Society of A inerica,

Author of " Life of Edward Rowland Sill" etc. ,
Editor of "Cubans of To-day" ''''Argentines of To-day,'' etc., etc.

48164

THE HISPANIC SOCIETY OF AMERICA

LONDON : NEW YORK

1921

PRINTED IN GREAT P.RITAIN BY RICHARD CLAY & SONS, LIMITED,

BUNGAY, SUFFOLK.

To ARCHER M. HUNTINGTON

WITH WHOM TO WORK IS NOT ONLY
A PLEASURE BUT AN EDUCATION THIS
BOOK IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED

FOREWORD

vii

FOREWORD

•

THESE letters were written at odd times

during a journey which occupied the year

and a half between the middle of 1919

and the end of 1920., and which included

in its range some of the most interesting

countries in the world : Peru, Bolivia,

Chile, Argentina, Paraguay, and Uruguay.

The mission which took me to South

America was a difficult but interesting

task confided to me by the Hispanic

Society of America, whose labours in the

field of Hispanic Art and Literature are

well known : namely, to write brief bio-

graphies of the leading men of each of

the republics. These casual notes and

jottings were in a sense by-products inci-

dental to that mission. They were cast

in the form of letters to a friend, to

amuse him with accounts of my daily life,

HISPANIC NOTES

VII

Vlll

CASUAL LETTERS

and to remind him of scenes many of
which he had himself in the past visited.
Not intended originally for publication,
they were rather in the nature of a record
of day to day meetings, sights, impressions,
and tribulations tempered by many de-
lightful experiences. They were jotted
down in chance half-hours, in the hotel,
on the train, in railway stations, whenever j
the occasion served, and partake inevitably
of the transient and ephemeral character
of such casual impressions, while whatever
value they have rises, in some part at
least, from the same causes. Like the
photographs that accompany them, which
were for the most part taken by members
of the family or friends in the party,
they are direct transcripts of experience,
written on the spot, and set down before
the image could fade from the retina or
the impression grow dim in the mind. And
while, no doubt, one might here and there
correct the perspective and eliminate much
that is purely momentary in the record,
it would be at the cost of whatever
spontaneity and immediacy it contains.

VII

HISPANIC NOTES

FOREWORD

The same might be said of the judgments
herein expressed. They might be softened,
moulded into a form more cautious,
perhaps more just, but again it would be
at the cost of their spontaneity and
directness. If therefore the reader finds
a note of haste or a tone of censoriousness
in these letters he will not be surprised ; he
will not expect them to be studied essays.

On so long a journey through several
countries I have accumulated so great a
burden of obligations that the mere
acknowledgment of them would be
tedious, but I should be very sorry to
leave unrecorded my grateful thanks for
| hospitality and friendship to President
Leguia of Peru, Dr. Javier Prado, Rector
of the University, and Senor Juan Paz-
Soldan of Lima; Dr. Giesecke of Cuzco,
Don Eduardo Diez de Medina and Senor
Rosquellas Jauregui of La Paz ; Don Jose
Toribio Medina and his charming wife, the
Rev. Mr. McLean and Senor Luis Ignacio
Silva of Santiago de Chile; Professors
Outes, Rojas, Quesada, and Debenedetti;
Dr. Fleming, Mr. H. H. Clayton, Paul

AND MONOGRAPHS

VII

CASUAL LETTERS

Groussac and Senor Binayan of Buenos

Aires; Senores Juan Silvano Godoi and

Juan Francisco Perez of Asuncion; and

Don Zorrilla de San Martin of Montevideo.

When I think of the friendships I formed

and the happy hours I spent in joint labour

and delightful discussion in every country

I visited, I am fain to pluck out every

opinion, every phrase, every adjective, that

could possibly offend any one of those

comrades across the sea. But they would

be the last to counsel such evisceration;

they would insist that the friendliest and

frankest thing is to leave the thing as it

was set down, and would be prone to say

that which the angel of the Revelation

said to St. John : " What thou seest write

in a book." That at least I have tried

to do.

W. B. P.

London,

June 22, 1921.

VII

HISPANIC NOTES

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xi

This list of illustrations, arranged as it is
under countries and places in the order visited,
serves the additional purpose of a detailed table
of contents.

PERU

Lima. Facing page

The Temple of the Sun, Cuzco Frontispiece

Map showing the author's route xi

Callao Harbour 2

A typical street in Lima .... 3

Lima Cathedral ..... 4

The famous bones of the old wolf Pizarro . 5

Revolution, crowds gathering in the Plaza 6
The Hotel Maury, which looks out on the

Plaza 7

Beggar on duty at the Cathedral . . 8

Beggar off duty, a siesta .... 9

The University corner, Church of San Carlos 20

Memorial tablets at the University . . 21

" The desolate mass of San Cristobal Hill " 22

Indians in the Plaza de Armas ... 23
" One of the sad diversions " is the religious

procession . . . . .28

Church door ...... 29

xii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Facing page

Troops parading before the Club de la Union 34
The big door of the Cathedral ... 35
On the way to San Cristobal . . . 38
A family party, on the way to San Cristobal 39
A wayside shrine ..... 40
" The town is flat . . . uninspired . . . un-
enterprising " . . . . .41
Loungers at the market .... 44
Loaded burros coming to market . . 45
National holiday, crowd outside Cathedral . 46
The Plaza in holiday dress . . - 47
" The toreadors made a dignified entrance " 50
The matador salutes . . . 51

Cajamaquillo, the dead city ^ . .58
" There were ranges of truncated, dust-
brown houses " . . . -59

Chorillos.

" Pavilions run along the deep shore " . 62
The Virgin of Chorillos .... 62
" Where bay and ocean meet " . .63

" The broken craggy shore " . .63

Chosica.

" Very like a village in Utah " . .72

" Beside the bridge ... a train of loaded

burros " ..... 73

" Muleteers . . . good-naturedly posing for

their pictures " . . . .74

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xiii

Facing page
" The village . . . running among the bare

brown hills " . . . . 75

Lima.

The choir, San Francisco Church . . 76
The cloisters, San Francisco Church . . 77
An Indian hut . . . . .78

Indians marketing 79

Lima from San Cristobal .... 84
Another view of Lima from San Crist6bal . 85
Within the University, a patio . . .92
The outer patio of the University . . 93
The Palace walls . . . . .98
Choir of the Cathedral .... 99
The Torre Tagle Palace « . . .100
Drawing of the lottery . . , . 101
President Leguia . . . . .104
Indians in the Plaza . . . .105
" Rimmed by the barren hills " , .no

A suburb of Lima . . . . .in

Cavalry patrolling the street . . ,122
Artillery in the Plaza, . . . ,123
The Comercio building after the fight . 126

Miro Quesada's house burnt . . .127
Fighting the fire at La Prensa building . 127
An inner patio at the University . .142
A funeral passing along the Paseo Colon 142

Another patio at the University . .143
Sunday market . . . . .162

xiv LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Facing page
Snake charmer in the market . . ,162

An imp . 163

Ricardo Palma in 1870 . . . .164

Death mask and last signature of Ricardo

Palma ...... 165

Two aspects of the cemetery . . .168
Interior of the Cathedral . . . .169

Lurin.

LaCalle Colon . . . . .176
Cross in the churchyard . . .176

Typical house in the village . . .177
View of Lurin . . . . .178

Courtyard 179

Our guide . . . . . .179

A Peruvian conception of President Wilson 180
Characteristic pose of President Legufa . 181
The Bolognesi Monument — " the saddest

monument in the world" . . .186
The lions of the Paseo Colon . . .187

En route to Arequipa.

The sea shore at Mollendo * ,190

Sand-crescent dunes e . „ .191

A requipa.

View of Arequipa . . . . .192
" The Cathedral, lofty . . . serene . . . noble " 193
The Church of San Agustin . . .194
A beautiful Colonial entrance . . .195
Where we stayed in Arequipa, the patio . 196

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xv

Facing page
Looking down the street . . . .197

View from our window . . . .198

" Along ways hardly wider than the

machine " . . . . . . 199

On the way to the Observatory . . 200

Misti from the Observatory . . .201
An Indian house, exterior . . . 202

A ramshackle interior .... 203

Misti ....... 204

Llamas grazing ..... 205

" Llamas . . . regard us scornfully as we pass " 205

Cuzco.

Cuzco from the top of Sachsahuaman . . 208
A plaza in Cuzco ..... 209
The Church of San Domingo . . .210
Stalls in the choir of San Domingo . .211
Patio in the University . . . .212
An old house with balcony . . .213
Curving wall of the Temple of the Sun . 214
Wall showing Inca, Colonial, and modern

construction . . . . .215
" An ancient narrow street " . . .216
The battlements of Sachsahuaman . .217
The " Devil's Slide " ... a diversion for

the tourist 218

Indians in Cuzco . . . . .219
The Cathedral, Cuzco . . . 220

xvi LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Facing page

Indian market in Cuzco . . . .221
The Alcalde of the market with staff of office 222
Portrait of a llama ..... 223
Sicuani market ..... 224
' Little Church round the corner,' Sicuani . 225
Views of Lake Titicaca .... 228
Bolsa on Lake Titicaca . . . .229

BOLIVIA

La Paz.

View of La Paz, Sorate in the distance . 230

Sorate seen from the edge of the town . 231

President's Palace and Hall of Congress . 234
A typical street in La Paz . . -235
" One still finds some Colonial houses in all

their simple old-world dignity " . . 236
A Colonial front with coat of arms . .237

Professor Posnansky .... 238

A room in Professor Posnansky's " palace " 239

Street market, La Paz .... 244

An avenue in La Paz .... 245

View from our window, La Paz . . 248
' ' Water has carved the surface into infinite

forms " . . . . . . 249

CHILE

Valparaiso.

The harbour, Valparaiso .... 254
A business street, Valparaiso . . . 255

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xvii

Santiago. Facing page

General view of Santiago . . . * .256
A street in Santiago . . . 257

Santiago from Santa Lucia Hill . . 266

Statue in the Parque Forestal . . . 267
The wide doors of the Palace . . . 268
A patio ....... 269

A patio doorway ..... 269

A village scene ..... 272

A plazuela ...... 273

A tram ...... 273

Watering horses ..... 278

" The wheat harvest is now on ' . . 279
Entrance to Santa Lucia . . . 284

Statue of Pedro Valdivia . . .284

Statue of Caupolican on Santa Lucia . . 285
Two views of the National Museum . . 290
A Colonial fountain . . . .291

Statue at foot of Santa Lucia , . .291
The University, Santiago . . . 292

Fountain and street .... 293

The Cathedral, Santiago .... 294

Interior of the Cathedral .... 295

Slums in Santiago ..... 304

The Plaza, Santiago .... 305

Constitution.

Ox team and cart . . . . . 312
" Constitucion is a decayed seaport " . 313

xviii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Facing page

The dustman's cart . . . . .314
Ox-drawn omnibus . . . . .314
" Sehor Mclver, whom everybody calls ' Don

Enrique ' " 315

" We were fortunate in our company, Seiior

Medina and his wife " . . . 320
Tiny mule-drawn tram . . , .321
An ox team . . . . . .321

Santiago.

The Parque Cousifto .... 332
The Quinta Normal . . . -333
Crescente Errazuriz, Archbishop of Santiago 334
The Alameda, Santiago ..... 335
Chilean cartoon, a jibe at Peru . . .338
Typical street off main thoroughfares . 339
Santa Lucia, the Caupolican . . . 340
" San Crist6bal, usually bare and for-
bidding " 341

Statue of the Virgin, which crowns San

Cristobal 341

Chilean belles . . . . . - 354

Statue of General O'Higgins . . . 355
Eucarpio Espinosa, after a portrait by

himself 360

Onofre Jarpa in his studio . . .361

" Gabriela Mistral " .... 374
Senor Alessandri, whose nomination to the

Presidency we saw .... 375

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xix

Facing page
The House of Deputies .... 376

The General Post Office . . . -377
The Moneda . . . . . . 378

Caupolican, the famous Indian Chief . 379

A Colonial fountain in the Moneda . . 380
The Alameda, entrance to Santa Lucia . 381
An old building in Santiago . . . 392

Crossing the Andes.

A Chilean cowboy . . . -393

" There are stretches of gloom in the

valley bottoms " . . . 394

" We pass through a series of tunnels " . 395
" Facing us runs a fine mountain road,

winding back and forth " . . 396
The Lake of the Inca .... 397

ARGENTINA

" We met a brawling stream, now we

accompany one " . . . . 398
The Christ of the Andes . . .399

Mendoza.

A Boulevard ...... 400

" The rural guard . . . posed for their

photographs " . . . . .401
The Alameda, Mendoza .... 402
Monument to the Army of the War of

Independence 403

xx LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

Facing page
" We woke to find ourselves moving across

a vast plain " ..... 404

Buenos Aires.

" We are in the city " . , . 405

A business street ..... 408
The Hall of Congress .... 409
" The Cathedral is ... faintly reminiscent

of the Madeleine " . . . 410

The University . . . . .411
" The President has an intense aversion to

being photographed " . . .416
One of the big modern hotels . . .417
The Coliseo, on the Plaza Libertad . .424
Lake in the Zoological Gardens . . 425

Avenida Alvear, the " show avenue " of

Buenos Aires ..... 430
A Church where we sought repose . .431
Driving round the Zoological Gardens . 440
Calle Florida in holiday dress . . .441
The author and his secretary, Sr. Binayan, in

their room at the National Library . 448
The Art Museum . . . . . 449
Casa Rosada, the Government Palace . 460
View from our window, a big store a-building 461

Montevideo. URUGUAY

The water front ..... 464
On the principal street .... 465

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xxi
PARAGUAY

Concordia. Facing page

A street in Concordia . . . . 478

Parana River on which Concordia lies . 479

The Plaza, Concordia .... 480
Statue of San Martin . . . .481

Villarica, a country market . . . 484

Asuncion.

The Harbour 485

Patio of an hotel ..... 486
Scene in the revolution of 1904, from an

old picture ..... 487
" President Gondra appeared bareheaded

at the head of the procession " . 488

Leaving the Church after the Inauguration 489

Calle 14 de Mayo ..... 490

The Market 491

" We went to the review " — Portrait of the

O.C. troops 494

Avenida Columbia ..... 495
Country market near Asuncion . . 498
Paraguayan Indians .... 499
The Cathedral . . . . . 506
Interior of the Cathedral .... 507
The Image of Our Lady carried in pro-
cession from the Cathedral . . 508
Another view of the procession . . 509
An old Church ..... 516
The Recoleta 517

xxiiLIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

URUGUAY

Montevideo. Facing page

The Prado, Montevideo .... 528

Dr. Juan Zorrilla de San Martin . . 529

Dr. Baltasar Brum, Presid'ent of Uruguay . 532

Dr. J . A. Buero, Secretary for Foreign Affairs 533

ARGENTINA

Buenos Aires.

A street ...... 542

Scenes on an estancia near Buenos Aires . 543

The beautiful Parque de Palermo . . 570
Palermo, another view . . . .571

The great onbu tree in the Plaza San Martin 572

Statue of San Martin .... 573

Plaza San Martin, another view . . 573
Entrance to the Art Museum . . .574

A palace on the Plaza San Martin » . 575

Statue of Belgrano .... 575

Two views of Palermo .... 588

One of the few remaining Colonial houses . 589

The rose gardens at Palermo . . . 590
Other views of the rose gardens . .591
" Cattle is the first and last word in

Argentina " 592

A prize bull ... . 593

Homeward bound.

The Harbour — Buenos Aires . . . 606
The outstanding memory : ' ' the cyclopean

Inca fortress " . . . . 607

UTH AMERICA.

Sea* of [*•!** M.It

KX> SO 80

LonaVTSOofGr 40 30 20

Map showing the author's route

CASUAL LETTERS

LIMA, PERU,

July 3, 1919-

TO-DAY, that part of Peru which is
visible, and Lima in especial, forms a
picture in dull monochrome. It is drab,
shabby, ill-kempt, neglected, leaden-hued,
and sad.

The first glimpse of it at close quarters
in Callao harbour was surprising because
of the lack of interest and stimulus. It

fulfilled none of one's expectations. There
was no stir of surprise, no spur to the
fancy or imagination, no appeal to the
active mind. The harbour itself was

wide, but all in low tones, flat, and without
sharp colour or outline — a monotone in
grey. There were hills thinly veiled in
something between cloud and mist, there
were ships which all seemed like fixtures
in the scene. They were nearly all old
poor relics of things marine— mere objects

HISPANIC NOTES

VII

CASUAL LETTERS

When we entered the launch, one of a
score that were crowded round the gang-
way, we moved away over the grey water
and found ourselves soon among hulks,
row boats and scows surmounted by house-
tops that seemed like the clutter of a
Chinese river. The shore was lined by
tawdry, ramshackle, wooden houses, like
a row of wrecks and gimcrack shacks.
Finally we came to the wharf, set high
above a great row of steps, twenty or more,
which ran along its front for a hundred
feet, and were covered by a crowd of boat-
men, custom-house porters, beggars and
freight-handlers who looked like a congre-
gation of nondescripts in drab. There
was hardly a dash of colour to relieve the
scene. There they stood, almost silent,
stolid, grey, and sombre. We spent several
hours in their midst trying to hasten the
passage of our effects through the Customs ;
but nothing hurries here.

At last, our patience nearly lost, we
set off for Lima, five miles distant, on the
electric car, passing through streets, at
first merely down at the heels, then, as

VII

HISPANIC NOTES

Callao Harbour

A typical street in Lima

FROM PERU

we reached the outskirts of Callao, reduced
to mere tracks running here and there in
the waste of dirt and stones that stretched
between the sidewalks along what was
evidently planned for a magnificent ave-
nue, now magnificent in distances only.
The roads grew worse : there were deep
furrows, like gulleys, where the tall wheels
of the two-wheeled carts swung and
wobbled in the ditch. Now we came to
pastures, fenced with mud wUlls, adobe
made with alternate layers of field stone
and field mud, laid up wet and left to
harden in the sun, when there is any sun,
which seems to be infrequently. The
great carts, with their loads of flour,
furniture, grain, water, drawn by poor,
undersized, underfed mules and tiny
horses, toiled beside us, and we went on
leisurely, past haciendas, seeing glimpses
of the grim, desolate Peruvian mountains,
where never a leaf or spear of grass grows
to lessen the desolation, until the out-
skirts of Lima appeared, repeating briefly
the effect of the outskirts of Callao,
mean, hungry, mangy dogs, undersized,

AND MONOGRAPHS

VII

CASUAL LETTERS

dark-skinned,, vagrant children,, and lengths
of adobe dwelling divided into cubicles of
habitation.

Quite suddenly,, on turning a corner,
we found ourselves on a paved street, and
a minute or two later saw church towers
and were in a business street, recalling the
streets of Havana and Mexico, less the
colour and life. A good many people
moved about, but there was no bustle or
sense of life, all was lack-lustre and hum-
drum, like an old story. There were the
same shops as in San Francisco in Mexico,
or Obispo in Havana, but there was
neither energy nor tropic languor — just a
lukewarm, jog-trot, Laodicean air of

let be " and " who cares ? "

This impression of lukewarmness and
drabness followed us all day, and was only
broken for a while when we went to the
Palais Concert for tea, and observed a
number of young Limefios looking with
eyes alert and a little fierce upon a group
in which three Americans sat beside two
vivacious sefioritas. We went in the
afternoon to the Cathedral, and were

VII

HISPANIC NOTES

The famous bones of the old wolf Pizarro

FROM PERU

shown the famous bones of the old wolf

Pizarro, beside the silver altar, surmounted

by its golden frame and cornice, the spoils

of his conquest ; and there his skeleton lies

with the holes of the murderous bayonet

and bullet which he so richly merited.

" Sic transit, etc.," seems rather too easy

a comment.

One of the strangest impressions that

I have ever gained came this evening as

we came home shivering from a half-

deserted picture-show along the principal

street. All the shutters of the shops were

tight closed so as to be practically level

with the walls to which they fitted, and we

seemed to be walking between sections of

a tall fence.

LIMA, July 4, 1919.

THIS morning Lima woke up to find

another revolution in full swing, if not an

accomplished fact. Those in the Hotel

Maury, whose rooms look on the Plaza de

Armas, awoke at three o'clock to hear

rifle shots, and a little later a few cannon

AND MONOGRAPHS

VII

CASUAL LETTERS

shots, and to notice great activity about
the Palace. They observed that the streets
leading to the Plaza were closed,, that only
a few automobiles and persons on foot
were allowed to pass, that the guards were
much increased, and that soldiers appeared
on the roof of the Palace. When the city
awoke it learned that President Pardo was
in prison, that President-elect Leguia was
in possession of the Palace, that the army
had gone over to the new President, and
that all had been done practically without
the loss of a single life. The streets about
the Palace were soon filled with a noisy
mob, cheering and celebrating the event.
Great numbers crowded into the street
cars and upon trucks and perambulated
the city shouting "vivas," and generally
making all the noise they could. There was
no disorder. The fact was accepted with
resignation, if not with cheerfulness.
Nobody seemed to regret the President of
yesterday; all acclaimed the President
of to-day. " Le Roi est mort ! Vive le
Roi ! " Since it was a holiday, and all the
stores were closed, there was ample oppor-

VII

HISPANIC NOTES

FROM PERU

tunity to discuss the matter, but as the day

wore on no new factors showed themselves.

The change was accepted without dispute.

It seems amiable; whether it is consti-

tutional, representative government is

another question.

LIMA, July 5, 1919.

THE impression of dreariness, of depres-

sion, or at least of low or subdued vitality,

is deepened as time goes by. Under these

leaden skies, which drip moisture like a

thin Scotch mist, keeping the streets

muddy and one's clothing damp, the life

of Lima goes on as if lived in a cave.

There is no active pessimism visible, no

violent expression of gloom, but all is

deadened, a kind of passive resistance or

mean-spirited acquiescence. Laughter is

rare, and smiles are polite. Merriment, I

think, is foreign to the place. In company

with shipmate acquaintances I have

visited places of amusement, to find them

two-thirds empty, and rather sad than

diverting. We cannot yet understand how

AND MONOGRAPHS

VII

CASUAL LETTERS

the Limefios pass their leisure hours.

From all accounts their houses are fireless

and damp, the streets are untenable, and

the theatres are largely unoccupied. This

line of inquiry reminds one that there is

a suspicion entertained that the population

of Peru is dwindling, and that the Indians

in the interior are dying out, not merely

of discomfort and malnutrition, but even

more, of despair. At any rate, up to this

time, Lima has, for me, the aspect of a

city in a back-water, with a vitality lowered

by isolation and climatic depression. It

is like a small provincial coast town of

northern England or southern Scotland,

whence the energetic people have departed

to seek brighter skies.

LIMA, July 6, 1919.

BELLS and beggars and churches form a

sort of circle from which one cannot escape

here. Bells in a chorus of clamour wake

one in the morning and sound the hours

all day long; beggars are at one's elbow

at every turn, displaying their rags, their

VII

HISPANIC NOTES

Beggar on duty at the Cathedral

FROM PERU

nfirmities, their sores, proclaiming their
wretchedness,, which is certainly great
enough, though whether as great as the
advertisement may be doubted. What
Lima and Peru will do with their churches
is a problem. Certainly the day grows
near when the church must be unhorsed
or the steed must die: The burden is
crushing. It presses down upon Lima
until the city groans. They tell me there
are fifty-six convents here, and one would
say that the churches were innumerable,
for they fill every eligible site and thrust
themselves forward at every turn. One
wonders, as he does in Rome, how many
can be so much as manned, let alone filled
or even attended. Perhaps they are the
explanation for the neglect of amusements,
the rows of empty seats in the theatres, and
the lack of merriment among the people.
What will happen, I wonder, when the
weary people baulks and refuses to carry
its long-robed burden any further? Will
there be a battle and bloodshed, or will
the ecclesiastic get down and walk, as he
has had to do in other countries? The

AND MONOGRAPHS

VII

CASUAL LETTERS

mild little revolution which was enacted
so peaceably the day before yesterday
makes one wonder about this bigger one
which is so plainly in prospect.

That was a neat and orderly coup
d'etat, almost a model of its kind. The
President elect, Leguia, modestly says that
the importunities' of his friends became so
urgent that he could no longer resist, and
he reluctantly assented, in order to prevent
the will of the people being defeated, to
accept the charge of Government at this
time, instead of waiting until the constitu-
tional period had elapsed. To be sure,
the actual President, Dr. Pardo, was
understood to be making preparation to
retain power and prevent Leguia's suc-
cession. So at three o'clock on Friday
morning one group of soldiers, technically
rebels, but actually, of course, patriots,
inspired solely by love of country, entered
the Palace by one door, while another
group, actuated by the same high consider-
ation, entered by another. The one
penetrated the President's office and took
possessicn of the papers and documents,

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HISPANIC NOTES

FROM PERU

seals and means of power; the other

penetrated his private room, and, rifle in

hand, demanded his surrender. He

reached for his revolver, but, when they

levelled their rifles at his breast, thought

better of it, and with the ironic remark,

" I thought there were soldiers in Peru!"

yielded to arrest. A little later, his

prudence fully restored, he drew the

revolver from his pocket, presented it to

the officer who had arrested him as a token

of remembrance for having saved his life,

and took his way quietly to prison. Two

hours later, all being in order and a new

Cabinet having been agreed upon, the

President-elect, Leguia, came to the Palace,

was greeted with vociferous cheers, and

accepted charge of the Government as

Provisional President.

LIMA, July 7, 1919.

THE late revolution continues to be the

favourite topic of conversation in the town :

in fact is more freely discussed now than

on the day it happened. They now tell

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parts of the " inside story." I was in
company with a man to-day who told of
Leguia's behaviour during the episode.
At a quarter to two, the Provisional
President was unconcernedly washing his
hands,, and remarked, "It is about time

for flip ("'nnrtpl nf tn art" " T^pforp

he had stopped speaking the telephone
rang and the message came : " The
Cuartel has swung over, and the troops
are starting for the Palace." Similarly,
at intervals of ten or fifteen minutes,
Leguia called off events as they became
due, and they befell, almost to the minute.
It is said to be the most perfectly organized
piece of Government or private business
in the history of Peru.
Another man in the party told of going
to interview Leguia on the morning after
the coup and asking him why he had done
it. "I had no choice," replied he; "I
learned on Thursday evening that a counter-
feit, so-called revolution had occurred at

I was informed that on the following day
charges would be preferred against me as

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HISPANIC NOTES

FROM PERU

the instigator of revolutionary movements.

I had to act at once ; if I had not I should

have been in jail on Friday night."

A curious light on Palace intrigue was

.1 i -f'^IA V» !•» /I r»

tnrown uy my irienu j\ , wno nau an

interview with the President this afternoon.

He says he was passed along from room to

room by four different officers, every one

of whom shook hands with him twice, at

meeting and parting, and apparently all

studied him and his clothing for possible

weapons. As he passed from the general

Government rooms into the Presidential

apartments he says he was conducted

through a steel door, thick and strong,

like that of a bank or safety deposit vault.

I wonder whether the general lack of

spirit, the dull acquiescence, resignation, or

apathy of the Peruvians, so well illustrated

in this new episode, is by chance the effect

still persisting of the Chilean War. Is it

possible that the spirit of the people,

broken in that struggle, never recovered ?

The hypothesis attracts me as the most

adequate which has yet come to my mind.

The Peruvians were terribly crushed in

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the war. The flower of their youth was
destroyed, their homes and churches were
despoiled, their capital was held by the

enemy.
In the constant harping on the old woes,
on the horrors, the slaughter, the rapine,
the looting and desecration, I am reminded
of my first visit to the Southern States,
where I heard in Richmond the same

bitter laments over the Civil War which

had ended forty years before. It is the
loser who remembers and repines.

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FROM PERU

LIMA, July g, 1919.

TO-DAY completes the first week of my
stay in Lima, and I am beginning to get
an idea of the social structure of the town,
an idea which has been delayed by the
confusion of the Revolution.

In the first place, Lima is not so large
as is often supposed; they tell me the
population is about 250,000, which is pro-
bably an over-estimate ; a closer approxi-
mation would, I think, be 150,000.
However, any figure given can be only a
guess, for it has no basis in a regular
census and includes an indefinite number

of Indians who might almost as well be
subtracted from the population. One
recognizes at once the really important
division between the old Spanish stock and
the Mestizo which forms the mass of the

people. The old families, some of whom

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are rich., maintain a very restricted social
life, consisting of formal visits, long, dull
dinners, and occasional parties in the
country, essentially similar to the social
ways in the days of the Viceroys. But for
the increase in land values and in the
prices of sugar and cotton, this group
would be broken, but it continues, and
holds its place of prestige.

Beside or below this restricted group
of perhaps forty families goes on a
busy, unorganized, and, as it seems to
me, aimless social activity in which the
bright spots are given by the foreign
colonies, particularly the British, French,
Americans, and Italians. Within these
groups there is a fairly regular organized
movement of conventional hospitality with
occasional gaiety. One cannot escape the
impression that the life of the city itself
is narrow, limited, and flat, moving in old,
set courses like the narrow streets, with
rather low vitality and little speed.
Longer acquaintance will, perhaps, change
my opinion, but at present I see Lima
as a small provincial town, holding

HISPANIC NOTES

FROM PERU

desperately to a few ancient customs and
formalities,, ratjier decorative than useful,
and striving peevishly to ignore the rising
tide of more fresh and vital customs that
is gaining on her from day to day.

In company with my friend, Mr. L ,

I have made three interesting visits : to
the old poet and writer of Tradidones, Dr.
Ricardo Palma; to Dr. de la Riva Aguera,
and to Dr. Javier Prado y Ugarteche,
Rector of the University of San Marcos,
the oldest institution of learning on the
continent.

We found Dr. Palma at his home in
Miraflores, the favourite suburb of Lima.
The old man was dressed in a rough grey
overcoat and cap, and seated in a straight-
backed chair set against the wall of his
library. He greeted us in a deep voice
that gave an impression of strength, but
it soon appeared that there was " vox et
prseterea nihil." He was able to catch
only a few sentences of the conversation,
which was directed by his daughter
Anjelica in a fine spirit of filial devotion.
She sat there watchful, now and then

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repeating something to him in a high
voice, and giving all the effect of keeping
him in the circle. But it was in vain. He
pointed with pride to the diploma of the
Hispanic Society which hung on the wall
above his head, and said a few words
about the publications of the Society and
his pride in it, and then lapsed into silence.
The room was a student's room, such as
one might find anywhere in the world,
ringed with bookshelves, and photographs
and diplomas on the wall. We sat and
chatted with la Sefiorita Anjelica, a
slender dark woman, with fine, deep eyes,
until lights came, and then set off to
return to the city. That was a curious
journey. We took the electric car, which
was so dimly lighted that, passing through
the dark streets, we had the sensation of
running in a tunnel, and were unable to
form the least idea of where we were.

Our call on Dr. de la Riva Aguera was
made in the early afternoon. We found
him awaiting us at the head of the wide
entrance stairs in the first fine house I
have entered in Lima. It is like all

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FROM PERU

Spanish-Moorish houses, but we found the
great reception room a surprise. It was
all in red and faded gold, with fine old
furniture toned to the walls, and with the
most satisfactory collection of pictures I
have yet seen in an Hispanic house.

Dr. Aguera explained to us that they
were all copies obtained by his grand-
father when he visited Paris at the Exposi-
tion of 1890, and taken from favourite
pictures in the Louvre and the Luxem-
bourg. They made with their setting a
really charming room.

We chatted of the Hispanic Society, in
which Dr. Aguera is a corresponding
member, of American politics, 'of Peru
and her future, of literature. He is an
intellectual, a Continental, a Parisian,
with the Latin love of precision and
formula, and the Latin lack of allowance
for the imponderable and the unformulated,
but withal a real mind, active, alert and
competent, the first modern man I have
met here. I enjoyed meeting him im-
mensely, and look forward to seeing a
good deal of him while I am here.

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LIMA, July 10, 1919.

I CALLED Dr. Aguera the first modern

man I had met in Peru, but Dr. Prado,

the Rector of the University, is no less

modern, and possibly more effective.

We met him this morning in his reception

room at the University, where he was

surrounded by signs of his various interests

— rubbings on linen of Inca inscriptions,

life-size portraits of his predecessors,

books old and new, and the routine forms

and reports of the University.

He showed a lively interest in the task

I have in hand, as well as an active desire

to be of assistance in it. We talked of

books, including Senor Paz-Soldan's Dic-

cionario Biogrdfico of Peru, and Dr. Prado

promised to introduce me to the writer

with an idea of getting his assistance in

my task.

LIMA, July n, 1919.

EVERY day presents new aspects of

the life here, and I shall just set them

down as they occur to me, without trying

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HISPANIC NOTES

The University corner, Church of San Carlos

ircr

FROM PERU

to organize my impressions, and without
anxiety over any lack of consistency.

This morning, as I stood at the station
behind the Palace, I was strongly reminded
of an out-of-the-way corner of Rome.
The church towers rising over the low,
flat roofs, the pink, yellow, and multi-
chrome walls of the houses, the occasional
soldiers, looking very much like the slouchy,
shoulderless Italian infantryman of 1903,
the women passing to and from the
churches with black mantillas over their
heads, and the ubiquitous priests with
shiny flat hats and an air of resentful
authority, all fitted the scene. It might
have been a corner behind the Cafe Roma.

As I went down to the train level,
passing through a fine, clean, well-ordered
station, I caught a fresh glimpse of the
town. Just before me was a wide flower-
bed stretching some distance along the
tracks; beyond was the Rimac river,
with two-thirds of its wide bed dry, then
a long line of low buildings in low tones,
a soft faded pink predominating ; and over
it rose threatening, and all but black, the

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desolate mass of San Cristobal Hill.
Colour and atmosphere were both fascinat-
ing. Equally picturesque was another
view on the way to Callao. It was a great
mass of purple and pink wistaria and
rambler roses, I fancy, rising into two
domes over a broad, low ranch house of
a dull yellow, which lies flat in a green
plain, and hemmed in to left and right by
mountain-like ridges, that to the left
black and desolate, that to the right
golden brown, in a rare passing shaft of
sunshine.

Callao itself is as near devoid of poetry
or the picturesque as can be imagined,
though I should like to explore the old
fort, now being used as the Customs
House. I had lunch in a tavern, de-
scribed as "the best restaurant in town,"
where there is half an inch of sawdust
on the floor, and where the waiters bringing
the dishes halted on their way to scratch
vigorously, reminding one disagreeably
that this coast from Alaska to the Straits
is the habitat of the Red man and the flea.

In view of the current computation

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Indians in the Plaza de Armas

FROM PERU

that sets the Indian population in Peru

at ninety-five per cent, of the whole, it

is notable that the Indian physiognomy is

not markedly conspicuous in Lima. In

Callao this afternoon in a singular mixture

of types, amongst Chinese, Negroes,

Italians, Japs, and bastard cross-breeds

of every race and clime, I saw an ancient

crone who could have sat for the portrait

of a Sioux chieftainess. Her thick, black

hair was streaked with grey; her face

was lined and wrinkled like a crumpled

map ; her profile was like a surly eagle, and

her pose was the immemorial pose of the

Red man, dumbly resigned and infinitely

apathetic.

LIMA, July 12, 1919.

THE event of my stay here so far was

the visit which I paid this afternoon to

the house of Dr. Javier Prado y Ugarteche.

As is the ruk with Hispanic houses,

there is no indication outside of the wealth

within. One enters through high and

ponderous doors into a wide paved patio;

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or court-yard,, and is ushered into a recep-
tion room which leads into the larger
rooms. These are arranged, of course, in
the Roman manner, about the three sides
of the patio. They are arranged also so
as to give an historical sequence to their
contents. Beginning at the archaeological
end of the line, one may pass through four
rooms devoted to the Inca and pre-Inca
collections, quite marvellous and full of
surprises, such as would consume an ar-
chaelogical museum director with virulent
envy. I think they contain about two
thousand examples of stone-work and
pottery, many pieces of the latter being
graceful in form, very thin and light, and
quite brilliant in colour. This brilliance
of colour is also marked and striking in
the examples of ancient fabrics, taken as
a rule from the tombs, believed to be two
thousand years old, and yet retaining
undimmed their fine pristine colouring,
reds and blues and yellows in many tones
and in combinations often very subtle and
giving surprisingly effective harmonies
and contrasts. There are also here a

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HISPANIC NOTES

FROM PERU

number of mummies, some stripped of
cerements and forbidding in their two-
bid nakedness, others as they came from
the tombs, wrapped about with the
ceremonial vestments, which in the case
of those of royal or noble rank are very
numerous and give the figure a great
tub-like bulk.

Turning away from these collections,
which I am not archaeologist enough to
appreciate, one enters the rooms devoted
to the Colonial Period, among which is a
bed-chamber quite exquisitely done, all
Peruvian workmanship, but from
Spanish models. The bed, of dark wood,
has high posts, and is carved with infinite
laboriousness. Beside it is a great
crucifix. On the walls are pictures oi
sacred or biblical subjects, some in gilt
and some in silver frames; the floors are
covered with rugs made of skins, and the
hangings are of brocaded silk.

A later stage of the Colonial Period is
illustrated by a salon filled with pictures
by Peruvian artists, many of them —
forty or more, I think — being the work of

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Francisco Lazo, for whom Dr. Prado has
a great admiration. Two or three of his
portraits show unusual power and a
certain humour which is very pleasant.
There are two other salons presenting
different styles of furnishing, one all in
gilt after the Louis Quinze style, the other
rather dark and heavy, but interesting
for the quite remarkable wood carving.
Finally, passing over entrances, ante-
rooms and other such incidentals, there is
the library, a great oblong room shelved
from floor to ceiling and rich with various
bindings. There are said to be twenty-
five thousand books here, including many
" rarissima " and books in manuscript.

I shall probably not succeed in con-
veying to you any notion of this house,
which is one of the eyes of Lima and wears
an air of dignity, amplitude, cultivation,
and scholarship such as restores one's
fading confidence in the former glories of
this ancient City of the Kings. It is
worth a volume, and you might commission
some one jointly with the Haigh Museum
to do it, in full colour and in ample page !

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FROM PERU

LIMA, July 13, 1919.
IT is six o'clock of a drizzly, murky
Sunday evening. I have just come in from
a walk to the Plazuela Santa Ana, passing
through streets just wet and muddy enough
to convey discomfort, and now, in the
gathering darkness, chilly and untenable.
Fortunately it is not really cold here, but
the poor, who are many, must suffer from
the long-continued, penetrating damp and
chill. Whether it affects their spirits no
one can tell ; for the Indian is never merry,
and the stolid, taciturn apathy of their
faces may be permanent and racial rather
than the effect of present conditions.
Given such a race, however, I think the
course of the Church in emphasizing the
tragical, sad, and painful aspects of the
Christian faith has been immensely injuri-
ous and cruelly wrong. Everywhere here
in the churches, which are legion, one is
revolted not merely by the " cult of
sorrow," for which I suppose a case can be
made in the history of Christ, but for the
cult of horror. Every circumstance of
pain is lifted into the utmost prominence :

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no church is without its realistic crucifixes,
with the blood and wounds in exaggerated
relief. In one small chapel I have counted
four effigies of Christ,, some of them literally
horrible, the face drawn, the naked form
emaciated, scarred, with gaping wounds
and contorted limbs.

One of the sad diversions provided by the
Church as a means apparently of increasing
its income, is the religicms procession. I
met such a one in the midst of a thin drizzle
on my walk this afternoon. It came on
headed by three acolytes, small boys in
robes which doubtless once were white, but
now greatly in need of a washing, bearing
aloft the tawdry symbols. They were fol-
lowed by a rather casual group of men
who carried banners, shambling along with
conscious eyes on their friends in the
crowd. Then came a flock of tiny girls in
faded, dirty blue costumes like long pina-
fores, among whom were borne several
constructions, one containing a toy lamb,
another a toy cradle. They were fol-
lowed by one pushing a wheelbarrow, from
which flowers and leaves were thrown on the

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HISPANIC NOTES

Church door

FROM PERU

street, symbolic of the flower-strewn way,
but not very convincing, for the poor, thin,
faded things were lost in the muddy street.
Soon came the main part of the procession,
with a blaring band: first, a number of
girls and women bearing banners and
emblems ; a large, black-clad negress carry-
ing the incense-burner; several acolytes
with lamps, and now, stretching tapes to
keep the way, came the bearers of a
tawdry canopy, under which marched the
priest, with his eyes on his missal, and his
assistants : a faint, far-off reflection of the
days of golden canopies borne by city
officials ! The drums beat, the trumpets
| sounded ; the crowd elbowed along the
narrow sidewalks to keep pace; the rain
drizzled gently on all our bare heads; a
final group passed, men, women and girls,
some of them ostentatiously gazing at
their prayer-books, and everybody with
apparent relief put on his hat and went
about his business.

This morning I attended a really impres-
sive and interesting service in the fine old
church of the Merced on the principal street,

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Calle Union, where official services are
usually held. When I went in the church
was well filled, with many men standing in
the aisles and crowded round the altar,
where I soon saw there were a number of
officials seated in a wide semi-circle facing
the chancel. Gradually I perceived that
these were the members of the present
Government and that President Leguia
was the central figure flanked by his
Ministers and former high officials, includ-
ing the picturesque, venerable ex-President
Ca ceres. Fronting this array was a more
compact body of Churchmen, who stood in
the chancel grouped about a central figure
in splendid ecclesiastical robes of white and
gold. As I entered he was in full career of
exhortation, invoking, with frequent ges-
ture and the abundant metaphor of the
Spanish tongue, the powers of Heaven, the
spirit of Patriotism, and the shades of noble
Peruvians of the past for the guidance and
inspiration of the new Government. In
impassioned, even if somewhat inconse-
quential rhetoric, he united in a burst of
coruscating phrases the first great Deluge,

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HISPANIC NOTES

FROM PERU

the recent deluge of blood in Europe, and

the innocuous revolution of the week past,

finding a parallel in the regenerating

influence of the great disaster and a

promise of immeasurable benefits to Peru

now about to be witnessed.

The scene and the setting was impressive

and satisfying. The people were evidently

sympathetic and seemed thoroughly at

ease, passing about, nodding, and signalling

to friends here and there, and quite com-

placent under the glow of the high altar

and in the presence of the great dignitaries

of Church and State. When the address

was over and trie communion had been

administered to the Presidential party, all

rose and stood while Mr. Leguia, a small,

thin man with a long nose and keen eyes,

almost insignificant amidst his official array,

passed out, entered his automobile, and

drove away.

LIMA, July 16, igig.

So that we might not lose any of the

sensations proper to the place, we have

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duly experienced the " temblor." One or
two little shakes which rattled the windows,
much as if a very heavy wagon were being
driven through the streets, seemed only
amusing ; but on Monday morning we had
a visitation of quite another sort. It
came at twenty minutes to seven, and woke
us from a fairly sound sleep with an un-
mistakable surge and swell and slide and
shake such as an impatient man might
make in an ill-fitting coat. My room-mate,
who is from San Francisco, called across
to me to reassure me. " That's a quake,"
he remarked; "it'll soon pass." 'But it
didn't. It kept on shaking, rattling win-
dows and doors and giving the beds a very
disconcerting sea motion. One thought of
all the counsel given for the occasion : to
get up and stand in the arch of the door ;
to keep still and let it pass ; to stand at a
window ready. . . . But apart from the
wisdom of the act, I was too nearly para-
lysed to do anything but lie still. I think
I have never felt more helpless. The worst
of it was the shifting and sliding and
settling continued, so that the commode

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HISPANIC NOTES

FROM PERU

slid across and struck the bed, and the bed
turned as if on a pivot, and one recalled the
structure of the building and reasoned that
being of adobe it was as safe as could be ;
but surely the roof might fall at any minute!
Gradually the shudder passed and left me
feeling very tired, as if I had gone through
great exertions.

At the French breakfast later in the day,
held to celebrate the Peace and the
French Fete day, the Fourteenth, there
were many amusing narratives, but I was
relieved to hear Eggleston, a Harvard
athlete, admit that he was too frightened
to stir.

The breakfast itself was like other such
affairs in a foreign country. Each nation-
ality flocked by itself; Americans at the
American table, British at their table,
Italians at theirs, French at theirs. It was
slow and stupid at first, warmed up slowly,
came to its climax with the singing of the
" Marseillaise," and kept its level for a time
with fervent speeches. The American
Minister, a nice old boy from Kentucky,
made a speech that would have been

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appropriate any time these fifty years past

anywhere south of Mason and Dixon's

line, with many references to the Almighty

and many " Ah saays, GenTmen ! "

There was also the usual sorrowful attempt

at singing the ifational hymn, for which,

of course, we are reduced to the " Star-

spangled Banner," which nobody knows,

because the British have " God Save the

King."

CLUB DE LA UNION, LIMA,

July 20, 1919.

I AM writing this in the Union Club, an

old and dignified social club which has a

fairly good library and a well-appointed

reading-room. The windows open to the

ceiling, giving on a balcony such as adorns

nearly all the older houses of Lima, and

allows one to see all that passes in the

street below. From this balcony one can

see the great Plaza and the front of the

Cathedral, so that perhaps from this very

spot one might have watched the passing

of the Viceroys in their pomp of banners

and pearls and gold on their gorgeous entry

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HISPANIC NOTES

Troops parading before the Club de la Union

The big door of the Cathedral

FROM PERU

to the Palace and their ceremonial visits to
the Cathedral. One turns instinctively to
the past here; for Lima's glory is all of
earlier times and exists only in monuments,
traditions, legends, and memories. It is
possible, standing in the Plaza, or under
the beautiful carved ceiling of the National
Library, or in the patio of the Tagle Palace,
to evoke visions of splendour and wealth
when Lima lived in the glory of Viceregal
pomp and the seemingly inexhaustible
gifts of her silver mines ; but the wings of
fancy are often hampered by the sordid
realities too plainly visible, the mean
streets, the unkempt pavements, the un-
mended windows and doors, the decrepit
coaches, and the unwashed mob. This last,
I suppose, was never lacking, but belongs
to the race as much as to the place.

I find it very hard to keep my illusions.
There is a good deal of solid wealth here,
inconspicuous, as a rule; there is a good
deal of solid worth, too, in people of
character, attainments, and just pride of
ancestry. Yet one cannot easily escape
the impression that it is a remnant, and

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that the civilization as a whole is a thin
and feeble thing. It is a kind of veneer,
just as it was in the days of the Viceroys.
They might lay a pavement of ingots of
silver for the Viceroy to pass over, but it
was laid in mud, and on either side stretched
quagmires of perilous extent. Spain, we
are often told, imposed with unparalleled
success her civilization on the lands she
conquered, and my respect for the preci-
sion and permanence of the impression is
sincere ; it remains, however, an impression
stamped from without, or, if you like, from
above. It never partook of the nature of
a change from within. And so you have
everywhere in Hispanic America the forms
of civilization, though you often miss the
substance. Order, regularity, conformity,
dignity, politeness, outward respect for
constituted authority, yes; but an inner
sense of justice, any love of fair play,
genuine regard for the public welfare,
these are far to seek. There is a parable
in the remark of the Limeno on leaving the
doors of the church, " I have drunk my
Jesus ; now to the bull-fight ! "

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FROM PERU

There is more beauty here than is

promised at the first glance. It was not

until I climbed the San Cristobal Hill that

I had any idea of the picturesque effect of

the city lying under the shadow of the

sierra, and coloured, with unconscious and

unpremeditated art, in yellows and browns,

and soft pinks, splashes of grey and green

and deep reds, which are softened into a

fine composition by two hundred feet of

altitude and a mile of distance. Yester-

day, from the University, I had a glimpse

of the sierra in sunshine, rising over a long

low range of flat blue building, the serrated

outline of the hills softened and warmed by

a film of sun-lit cloud.

This afternoon Mr. and Mrs. L and

I set off to climb the hill a second time.

It was dull, cloudy, and a little cold when

we started; but we found, as they say is

usual here, that as we went up it grew

warmer, and we passed above the damp and

cloudy air which seemed to be only a thin

stratum lying close to the ground, into a

more bracing atmosphere, and soon struck

the sunshine, which was actually strong

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and gave me the first sensation of summer
warmth that we have had here. The road
winds entirely around the hill, and gives a
constantly changing view of "Lima and its
environs. At one point, with the peak
rising steeply behind us, we were actual'y
surrounded with the steep mountain-like
hills, which, although not very high, gave
an impression of altitude because of their
unrelieved severity of aspect ; for they are
as barren as so many aggregations of
granite, or vast heaps of slag. The valleys
among these sierras are extraordinarily flat,
as if they had been ironed out, and are so
neatly divided into little rectangular fields,
all irrigated, as I suspect, by the Inca
ditches, that they make the cleanest-cut
checker-board patterns that I can remem-
ber. Low-lying bodies of white cloud,
that drifted here and there, gave effects
proper to much higher altitudes, and such
as one finds among tall mountains. They
lay in the folds of the hills, filling them as if
with white lakes and rose to the tops,
leaving just the dark peaks isolated against
the sky, and flung themselves like scarves

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HISPANIC NOTES

•mMHBI

o
9

in
3

c3
A

£?

FROM PERU

over the whole face of the mountain.,
draping it with a thin, transparent veil.

We came down, the church towers rising
to meet us from all over the town, and the
tones of the bells, which seem to be never
silent, growing clearer as we advanced. I
was struck on entering the streets, as I
have often been before, with the exasper-
ating sense that nobody had ever given me
any idea of the physiognomy or flavour of
the city. We passed through the wide,
desert-like streets of the outskirts, half
paved with cobble-stones, and framed with
their low, single-storey, windowless houses,
but populated with dogs and a line of
hildren and adults crowding the doorways ;
and as I looked down the vista and caught
the unsavoury smells of food cooking at the
open doors and the low circumspect glances
that followed us at every turn, I felt myself
rather in a Moorish than an American
town. The sense of the foreignness, the
Africanness, so to speak, of the city, is
more marked in these wide, neglected
streets of the outskirts, but I am not sure
that it is not equally present in the narrow,

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close-built streets in the heart of the town.

with their fortress-like doors and windows

barred as if for a siege.

LIMA, July 23, 1919.

LET me add another impression of Lima.

The city is very flat, being set on one of

the smooth level places made by the river

in its wide divagations from side to side of

the sierra. It is, moreover, so set among

the spurs of the ridges as to lie in a pocket

where the air hangs heavy and motionless,

giving, they tell me, a very dull, damp

atmosphere, which reduces the vitality and

contributes to the listless, spiritless char-

acter of the people. As to this I cannot

say, but certainly nobody can help remark-

ing the contrast with Havana, with its

ebullience and fever and care-free, tropi-

cal disposition. Lima recalls Puebla,

Mexico's " City of Churches," with its con-

stant bells and priests and innumerable

black mantillas and air of forced sedateness

and propriety.

Lima is too sedate. I think it is under-

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HISPANIC NOTES

A wayside shrine

The town is flat . . . uninspired . . . unenterprising '

FROM PERU

vitalized, and my friend, Senor Paz-
Soldan, says it is underfed. He goes so far
as to say that all Peru is underfed; that
the great landowners, who have kept alive
the old encomienda system as far as
possible, holding their Indian retainers in
a form of peonage, have never half fed
their people. He adds that they don't
know how to feed themselves, and have no
idea of food values. As to which I fancy
he is at least half right. ^Vt any rate, a
well-built, full-grown man is an unusual
sight. The women of the better classes
seem well enough fed, too well fed, in
fact, fat arid shapeless at thirty-five, but
not often tall, and hardly ever graceful or
athletic.

The town is flat, flat in tone, flat in
interests, unventurous, uninspired, un-
inspiring, and unenterprising. It seems at
moments curiously provincial, like an
Italian town off the beaten track, self-
conscious, old and timid. Its newspapers,
its theatres, its sports, even its revolutions,
are tame. And it has a curiously shut-in
air. Even the'central Plaza seems enclosed

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because its two sides on which people
congregate — nobody wants to t stand in
front of the Palace or the Cathedral — are
still enclosed by the low-arched porticoes
that the Spaniards built two hundred years
ago. Perhaps it is only imagination on my
part that the nature of the buildings con-
tributes to the dead, unresilient atmosphere
of the place,, but I fancy that the adobe,
of which most of the houses are built, is
permeated with moisture and dead with
indefinitely repeated use. I never watch
an old building being torn down and see
the lumps of dried mud, into which it so
readily disintegrates, breaking under the
blows of the workman's shovel, without
thinking of Omar's adjuration of the clay
to the potter — " Gently, brother, gently
pray ! " I wonder how many houses these
lumps have formed part of, how many
generations have contributed of their dust
to form them, and look across the valley
to the remains of prehistoric dwellings, of
the like substance, and in my mind's eye
see the process indefinitely repeating itself
into the future.

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HISPANIC NOTES

FROM PERU

LIMA, PERU,

July 26, 1919.

I HAVE been here now three weeks, and

the first period, of novelty and strange-

ness, of wariness and eager, watchful

interest, the impressionable period, is

past. I recognize the symptoms, and I

note their disappearance. From now on

there will be no strain of attention; on

the other hand, there will be little or no

surprise, and most of the habitual life of

the place will become customary and

natural. No doubt there is some gain in

the change. It means that the nervous

system and the digestive tract has adjusted

itself to the new conditions, and ordinary

existence becomes more comfortable. But

it means also some loss, for it means that

observation is already dulled by familiarity

and the nerves have lost the quickened

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responsiveness produced by the strange
environment.

Already I find myself taking for granted
the tall two-wheeled carts with their teams
of three little mules abreast and the heavy,
ever-active whips. The Indian women
sitting at the street corners selling papers
or tomalies seem matters of course, just as
the policemen standing in the middle of
the streets and blowing their whistles to
mark the hours at night, or the slow-moving
street cars or the white-robed Brothers in
sandals and rope girdles. We are all dyers'
hands, soon subdued to what we work in,
and I can easily believe that in course of
time I should cease to fret and fume at
the snail's pace of work, at the amiable
slackness about business, or at the equally
amiable pliability of morals which makes
verybody chiefly anxious to find out what
you want said so that he can say it rather
than to find out exactly what is so, and
settle the matter. Nobody wants to settle
the matter ; nobody wants to get down to
Ded-rock; nobody wants to clean away
accumulations of rubbish or error or mis-

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HISPANIC NOTES

tuO

FROM PERU

understanding. Everybody wants to let

the creaking gate hang as long as possible,

to let the moribund institution survive if

it can, to let the ancient humbug stay on

its feet, and the ramshackle building wobble

on its unstable foundation as long as it

may. Nobody wants to get to the root of

the matter. Why not let the tinsel and

varnish alone ?

By which you will see that the adjust-

ment of my moral system is not so complete

as I think that of my nervous system is.

July 29, 1919.

YESTERDAY morning dawned damp and

misty, the great national holiday of Peru.

It had been awaited with absorbing inter-

est. For two weeks the papers had printed

announcements reminding tradesmen that

they were under obligations to display the

national colours ; for days the streets had

been obstructed by ladders on which hung

the most casual and heterogeneous collec-

tion of house painters ever entrusted with

a paint-pot; for two nights the sound of

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hammering on the scaffolds and decora-
tions had not ceased. At last the day had
come. Before it was dawn trumpets were
blaring, making fine play in the narrow
streets, and the bells soon took up the tale
with a surge and clamour that made their
everyday efforts seem like silence. By
ten o'clock the great Plaza was thronged
with people and lined with soldiers. The
sun came up and made the scene blithe
and almost merry. Seldom does the social
thermometer rise to the level of merriment
here. There were ten thousand people in
the Plaza, but there was no hilarity. They
stood passive, silent, patient — tame. When
I remarked to my neighbour in the crowd
on the silence of the people, he replied,
"Yes; they are very peaceable" — muy
pacificos — " they are always so. They are
good people, very good people." They
seem and are believed to be the easiest
people to rule in the world; but I have
some mental reservations on the whole
subject.

It was half-past twelve, when some of
the crowd had been standing in place for

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HISPANIC NOTES

The Plaza in holiday dress

FROM PERU

two hours and a half, before the President
and other dignitaries emerged from the
church. It was a long and glittering array.
I should never have believed that Peru
contained so many gold-braided uniforms,
and as little could I have imagined so many
men of the pre-eminent distinction indi-
cated by the splendid insignia. Then came
the march past. On the whole it was
dignified and effective, though somewhat
provincial. The army seemed to be well
kept, well clothed, and well equipped, if
not particularly well drilled. A curious,
barbaric effect was produced by the rather
gorgeous head-dress of the Palace Guard,
tall, nickelled helmets, with high gilt crests
and horse-tail plumes, when the brass
chin-strap came over the negro face, which
appeared to be frequent in the guard.
More interesting, however, was the effect
of the lines of Inca profiles that went by
when the main body of infantry came in
view. They were so surprisingly like the
Inca idols as to startle one. The enlarged
noses set woodenly on expressionless faces,
the dark, monotonously coloured masks,

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the even, regular set of their heads; all

helped the illusion of rows of idols charmed

into life and put into uniform.

I think nearly everybody who can muster

a decent coat has been parading the main

street, the Calle Mercaderes, or the Plaza,

sauntering monotonously round the course

from the Plaza to the Zoological Gardens

or lounging elaborately in front of the

Palais Concert to ogle the senoritas, most

of the past two days. There seems literally

nothing else to do. The scene is not with-

out beauty. Last night I walked round

the Plaza where the palm trees are joined

by arches of electric lights and the central

fountain is festooned and crowned with

clusters of lights, and found it very pretty,

while beyond loomed the mass of the

Cathedral, apart and a bit remote, like a

huge reliquary of old ivory glowing softly

with the reflected lights as if illuminated

from far within.

LIMA, July 30, 1919.

I HAVE been to see a bull-fight and a

cock-fight. I am not quite sure whether

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HISPANIC NOTES

FROM PERU

this is to be regarded in the light of a
confession which calls for a defence, a
recital of extenuating circumstances and
an appeal to clemency ; but I am willing to
concede this much to prejudice and the
nonconformist conscience, that I had
already seen a second-rate bull-fight in
Mexico and had no desire to see another,
and that though I had never seen a cock-
fight, I was not aware of any wish to see
one; but that, of course, I was led away
by impulsive and curious friends who repre-
sented that my knowledge of Spanish
would be advantageous, and that in com-
pany we should be better off, that one
ought not to leave Lima without getting an
idea of the popular amusements.

The bull-fight was held, of course, on
Sunday afternoon in the great Plaza de
Toros of Lima, about which we had heard
much : of its size, appointments, con-
venience and the numbers it would hold,
a point on which popular estimate was
apparently as vague as on the population
of Lima : some said 30,000, one said 56,000,
others 20,000. W% arrived early and were

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able to settle this point. The enclosure is
fairly extensive,, over 200 feet in diameter,
and the seats would hold not many more
than 6000. The greater part were un-
occupied that day.

We had begun to be doubtful whether
there would be any performance, but a
postponement on account of the small
attendance, when the trumpets sounded,
the great doors were thrown open and the
procession of toreadors advanced with slow
and measured step into the ring. They
made a dignified entrance; for their
costumes were, though tarnished, still
splendid, evidently, like so much else here,
a heritage of more prosperous times. The
capes were of the most delicate shades of
old rose, crushed strawberry, dimmed gold,
and faded salmon, relieved by the caps
and tunics of black velvet and a few new
capes, which gave splashes of scarlet to
the scene. A little later there was another
fanfare of trumpets, another set of doors
opened and out rushed a young and very
much surprised bull. Then a red cape
flashed and he rushed at it, another crossed

VII

HISPANIC NOTES

••a

The matador salutes

FROM PERU

his path and he turned, rather too quickly
for the toreador, whom he sent spinning in
the dust.

That was the first clear evidence of
the amateurism of the team; many more
came later, and one of the party, who is a
baseball enthusiast, kept score for the bulls
and credited them with fifteen " knock-
downs," fortunately none of them really
serious, for the bulls were not savage. The
trumpets blew and the bandilleros ad-
vanced into the ring. One planted his
barbs with great skill and passed the bull ;
the second grew irritated at his failure to
provoke the bull to charge, ran in and was
bowled over. More trumpets and the
matador, sword in hand, marched forward,
but the fates were not with him. The bull
saw through the device of his red capelet,
charged him and ran over him. Dazed and
angry he ran towards the bull, made an
unskilful thrust, and left his sword sticking
out of the bull's side, while the crowd
hooted and stamped. They brought him
another sword, and after two ineffectual
attempts he succeeded in planting the blade

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alongside the spinal cord, and the bull fell.
The second episode was similar, save that
in this chapter the matador was twice
knocked down and escaped by a miracle.
This bull; too, ran about the ring with two
swords sticking in his shoulders. The third
corrida was less lugubrious because the
matador had a lot of spirit and daring.
He, too, was struck by the bull's horns and
fell, but immediately lay flat and still, so
that the bull passed him by. Then he rose
and delivered a fairly well-aimed thrust
which was fatal.

It was a travesty on a famous sport, and
was crowned by the final act, in which a
bull came out that would not face anybody,
but ran looking for a way of escape. Then
the crowd began to leap down from their
seats into the ring, took off their coats and
baited the poor bull till he turned tail and
ran about helplessly, one joker valiantly
hanging on behind !

We left the ridiculous scene.

As to the cock-fight, I will not repeat
my " extenuating circumstances." The
same trio, the Professor, the ex-baseball

VII

HISPANIC NOTES

FROM PERU

player, and I, went, this time to the Coliseo
de Gallos, driving through a mean section
of the town, with its low, solid buildings of
faded blue and pink and green adobe,
which always make me think of Pompeii,
into a cul-de-sac where a long, low, blank
wall was painted in great red letters
" Coliseo Pompilla," and we entered
through a low arch into a dark passage,
where a man behind a little grated open-
ing was selling tickets, and game-cocks in
cages were crowing and rustling against
the bars.

The Coliseo was very like a miniature
Plaza del Toros, an amphitheatre on a
small scale. There was the same air oJ
decrepitude and of better days long past.
There was the same air of something — shall
I say not quite respectable? To be sure,
the crowd — and in this case the little build-
ing was well filled — showed no slightest
apprehension of being engaged in anything
to be ashamed of, but then it was a crowd
to which the sensations of delicacy were
evidently not familiar. There were two or
three women of the lower classes, but

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neatly dressed and self-respecting in
manner, quite absorbed in the sport and
utterly free from self -consciousness ; the
rest were of two kinds, a more or less well-
to-do group — " patrons of the pit " — and
the mass of Indian and Mestizo teamsters,
clerks, labouring men, and rough customers.
It was not conspicuously a bad crowd, but
certainly not a good one.

After a period of waiting, marked by
growing and audible impatience on the
part of the spectators, an Indian, with
long, shiny hair plastered down over his
ears, entered, bearing with an air of pride
a richly embroidered silken robe, which we
soon perceived covered a fighting cock.
He took his stand on one side of the ring
marked " Derecho," and in a few minutes
from the other side entered a second man
bearing a similar burden. Immediately the
two cocks were displayed, allowed to run
a few steps, and to take a driving peck at
one another, each tearing away a feather.
Meantime the ring filled with betting com-
missioners, and while the spurs, wicked-
looking, razor-like knives, were adjusted

VII

HISPANIC NOTES

FROM PERU

to the right legs of the cocks, a very lively
business was done in various forms of
betting " paper."

The bell rang, the trainers placed the
two cocks in the middle of the ring facing
one another, and drew back. There wa's a
moment of suspense while the contestants,
with alert and wary eye, took each other's
measure, giving, as it seemed, the impres-
sion of utter unconcern ; then, like a flash,
their beaks were together; they were in
the air, one passed over the other with a
gleam of his deadly spur. Missed ! Again,
with feathers ruffled into a collar, they
eyed one another, scarcely an inch apart.
Again they leaped and clashed, and again
they fronted one another, beak to beak,
when suddenly one quivered, shuddered,
toppled over, disclosing a great wound in
his breast, and was dead. I do not think
any one had seen the stroke.

Another pair was brought in. The pre-
liminaries were repeated. The betting was
more lively. The bell clashed, the two
birds flew into action. There were three,
four buffeting exchanges, feathers flew,

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and suddenly one bird wavered, spun round
and dropped. " How long is this going to
last? " asked one of the party. " I don't
see much ' sport ' about this ; " and after
two more " bouts/' one of which showed
sortie of the disagreeable aspects of the pit,
we climbed over the barrier, strode across
the tiny, ten-foot arena, and got out into
the open air.

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HISPANIC NOTES

FROM PERU

LIMA, PERU,

August i, 1919.

WE passed the second day of the triple

national holiday in an excursion to the

ruined Inca city of Cajamaquillo, which

lies about twenty miles north of Lima in

the same valley of the Rimac. We set out

in the usual morning murk under the guid-

ance of Dr. Julio C. Tello, the archaeolo-

gist, who has a degree from Harvard, where

he spent a year or more, and is credited

not only with a first-rate formal knowledge

of Indian manners and customs, but with

a sympathetic understanding, which springs

from his Indian blood, said to be quite un-

mixed. We went out by train and had

the experience, always surprising no matter

how often repeated, of moving into a

lighter and brighter air as soon as we got

away from the city. Soon the sun was

shining and we found ourselves in the

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midst of pastures and wide cultivated
fields of cotton and sugar. The hills rose
about us, brown and bare, but no longer
with the grisly and forbidding air they wore
in Lima. We left the train, found a
miniature car drawn by a little mule on a
two-foot track, and were off, going merrily
along with the mule on a lope, and almost
frisky, in cheerful contrast to his discon-
solate brethren of the Lima streets.
Evidently we were on a sugar car-line
belonging to a big hacienda, the property,
as we learned, of a Chinaman, who lives up
to the racial reputation for competent
management.

After more than half-an-hour's really
diverting travel in the tiny car, we halted
at a cross-road, and descended in a wide,
dusty way flanked by old and solid adobe
walls, along the top of which we walked,
looking over fields of sugar-cane on either
side. Our way led straight ahead for half-
a-mile, then another half-mile to the left,
along a similar causeway, inches deep in
dust. We crossed a swift stream, passed a
group of wretched dwellings of thin adobe

VII

HISPANIC NOTES

FROM PERU

laid on a kind of basket-woven wall, climbed
an easy rise; and emerged on a wide terrace
running across the valley from side to side.
And now we saw the dead city, marvel-
lously like all the pictures of desert city
excavations from Arizona to Mesopotamia.
There were ranges of truncated dust-brown
houses, for the most part cut off at about
the height of a man, but occasionally rising
to twelve or fifteen feet. Doubtless the
present state is the result of centuries of
slow waste and the gradual wear of wind
and " quake," but one has the impression
as of a gigantic horizontal slicing operation,
as if a hundred-foot sword had been
brandished about by a careless child of the
Titans. The sun shone on the golden-
brown walls where nothing moved but a
flickering lizard or a stray owl, who might
have been a visitant from the Libyan
desert; great buzzards floated far up in
the air; the softest of winds stirred the
rare leaf of the occasional vine trailing
inconsequently over the crumbling blocks
of adobe, and the twin spirits of time and
fate seemed to settle over the scene.

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We climbed to what an unscientific
romanticist has called the Temple,, and got
a clearer view of the city. It is extensive,
about half-a-mile square, and its streets
or ways are still fairly clear, the outlines
of its houses quite plain, and the walls of
the plazas or meeting-places or markets,
or whatever they may be, as well as of the
greater buildings, whether temples or con-
vents or store-houses or palaces, unmistak-
able, because more massive than the others.
The individual storage wells, for grain or
water, built like great jars underground
and constructed of blocks of adobe fitted
and curved with nice precision, are, in
scores of cases, still intact and apparently
as good as ever.

We went to the burial-ground, now ran-
sacked and pitted with innumerable, dis-
orderly holes, about which the skulls lie
dishonoured and discreditable, and saw the
broken shards and scattered pieces of
cerements to witness the pious care with
which the dead were laid away here at a
period certainly very remote, but which
comes shockingly near as one's foot catches

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HISPANIC NOTES

FROM PERU

in the length of winding sheet half covered

by the sand, or sends an unnoticed skull

rolling down the slope of one of these

vandals' pits.

The sun shone, warm and unashamed;

the breeze wandered over the grass, and

the golden-brown walls, where the lizards

glanced and hid; the mountains changed

from yellow to brown, and brown to maroon,

as the afternoon wore on. Later they

turned to rose-pink and purple and grey,

just as they had done when those who built

the walls turned to watch them at evening ;

and we went back to the new city of the

conquerors, itself already becoming a fable,

its only literature legends and traditions.

LIMA, August 3, 1919.

TO-DAY I have seen the sea-shore aspect

of Lima and, like everything out of town,

it is a brighter page than the city itself.

My secretary, Sefior B , took me to

see Chorrillos, the farthest and best of the

shore suburbs. It is only half-an-hour away

by street-car, but it seems an age, for the

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electric line is perhaps the worst in the
world. At last we left the dim, dingy, un-
savoury, under-manned, crowded, creeping
apology for a car and stepped down into
a broad and quiet street.

Though it is all new, for in 1880, when
the Chileans took this pleasant little town
which had always been a favourite summer
home for the prosperous Limefios, they
left not a single building standing, but
gutted and burned the houses they had
sacked, yet it does not show a garish
newness. The houses are quiet, substan-
tial, and of modest appearance. One walks
down streets so still as to recall Sunday
afternoons in a New England village.
Suddenly round the corner the sea stands
up, wide and quiet, rimmed by the bay
islands, and step by step the curving bay
rounds away to the right past Barranco
and Magdalena, down to Callao. We came
out on the Parade, a wide, tiled promenade
under the shadow of the long hill and high
over the bay, where boat-houses and bath-
ing pavilions run along the steep shore.
In the bight of the bay the water is still,

VII

HISPANIC NOTE

Pavilions run along the deep shore

The Virgin of Chorillos

Where bay and ocean meet

" The broken craggy shore."

FROM PERU

but further to the left, past the protecting
point of cliff, it roughens and soon big-
bodied, crested breakers come in view,
and the low voice of the waves gives one a
refreshing sense of the stir and power of
the sea. Here, where bay and ocean meet,
where the protecting wings of coast and
island are drawn apart, there stands in a
little cove of the hill beside the promenade
a bust of Olaya, the Indian hero of the
War for Independence. It is said to be a
good likeness; at least it is a noble head,
firmly featured, calm, and strong. Behind
it stretches the long, brown, barren hill,
rising some hundreds of feet and as grisly
as a cinder heap, its dolorous surface
dotted with white " stations," each with
its statuette, bordering a winding path that
leads to the summit, where, in glaring white
against the utter barrenness, a great statue
of the Virgin of Chorrillos crowns the apex,
repellent and crude, like the statues and
crucifixes of the churches, its head sur-
rounded with a nimbus of electric lights.
The barrenness of the hill is repeated in
the equal aridity of the shore. The name

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Chorrillos is derived from the many little

spouting springs all along the sea front,

yet for miles there is hardly a green blade,

all for lack of a little labour or ingenuity to

apply the water which runs to waste in

the concrete channels and which would

make this long symmetrical curve of the

bay into a lovely cup of green. For all its

crass rawness and absence of verdure,

there is present the unfailing majesty of

the sea and a really fine, broken, craggy

shore, with a cave or two, and black,

basaltic, isolated rocks that meet the

breakers and smash them into spray.

LIMA, August 7, 1919.

This morning, as we passed by the house

of President Leguia, a single-storey,

modest, but substantial drab house,

B — - remarked on some holes in the

concrete. " They are the marks of the

bullets," he said, and on looking more

closely I saw a neat, round perforation in

one of the windows. It seems that when

Billinghurst was President he became

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suspicious of Leguia's political activities
and stirred up a mob to attack the house.
Leguia had been warned, and when the
crowd came they found him ready, with
four or five friends, all armed with rifles
or revolvers, some on the roof, the others
behind the heavily barred windows. At
the first fusillade from the mob the Leguia
party began to fire, with such effect that
several in the crowd were killed and the
rest fled.

Which reminded B of other ex-
periences of Presidents and politicians.
In the last campaign, there were three
important candidates — Aspillaga the
Government man, Leguia the people's
candidate, and Pierola, who threatened
to draw off Government votes. As the
canvass progressed Pierola seemed to be
making headway and aroused the fears
of the administration group. To dis-
courage him, and intimidate his followers,
a mob was organized and sent against his
house, which they stoned, using not only
ordinary-sized missiles, but paving-stones,
which they hurled into the house, smashing

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the windows and breaking the furniture.
Although it was in broad daylight, at
half-past four in the afternoon, and the
uproar was audible to the whole town,
no police appeared until ten o'clock at
night. Then, the story says, the Com-
missary of Police came to Pierola's house
to inquire about the disturbance. " He
had just heard of it." • Pierola took out
his watch. " You have a watch, Sefior
Commissary? " " Yes," was the answer.
" What time is it by your watch ? "
" Three minutes past ten," said the
Commissary. " That seems to be pre-
cisely right," said Pierola; " yet evidently
your watch has gained more than five
hours, for the mob which wrecked my house
arrived here at half-past four, and every-
body in Lima heard the din." " What
do you wish me to do? " asked the Com-
missary. " Allow yourself to be suc-
ceeded by some one who has a better
watch or better ears," replied Pierola.

They tell a story of the lately deposed
President Pardo. He visited the Peni-
tentiary some months ago on a tour of

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FROM PERU

inspection and was shown the cell in
which his predecessors, Leguia and Billing-
hurst, had both been confined. " It
doesn't seem very cheerful ! " he re-
marked. " No/' said the jailor, and
added, "when President Billinghurst had
Leguia imprisoned here it was quite dark,
which made it gloomy and depressing to
the spirits. Some time later, when the roles
were changed and Billinghurst was put
into the same cell he protested violently.
The protest was carried to the President.
' Was not that the cell in which he im-
prisoned his predecessor, Leguia? ' he
asked. ' Yes, Senor President.' ' Well, it
seems appropriate for him to experience
the same.' "

Pardo is said to have given the cell a
long and careful scrutiny. " It might be
well," he remarked to his companion, " to
take note of it; for one might have to
live in it some day." Prophetic words :
for on the night of July 4 he was brought
to the same prison and rumour says was
placed in the same cell.

I think that these and similar stories

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of Peruvian politics may help to account
for the pessimism which is so general and
so prof ound, at least so far as it applies to
politics. It is a mood which regards
nominations, elections, legislation, ap-
pointments, and the whole round of
governmental action and inaction as a
kind of lottery managed by a malicious
fate. Nobody seems to believe in the
efficacy of effort, but relies on some more
or less occult form of incantation or
device. Just as the Church embodies
one vast system of Magic, so Politics,
Business, Social Affairs, each have their
own scheme of big or little Devils or
Djinns to be propitiated or enslaved by
some fortunate trick or password. In
plain, straightforward work, or adequate,
reasoned effort rightly proportioned to the
end aimed at, there is no faith.

This I suspect to be both symptom and
cause of the pessimism of which every
thoughtful Peruvian seems to be a victim.
I say seems, for it may be partly a pose
and partly a survival from the days when
the shadow of Chile lowered visibly before

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their eyes. That shadow is not now so
black, but the pessimism persists and is
defended with eloquence. They ought,
you are told, to be pessimistic about the
nation because it is feeble and dwindling.
Its numbers grow less from day to day;
eighty per cent, of the children born in
parts of Lima die in infancy; among the
shore Indians the babies are fed on raw
fish and quickly perish or grow into puny
worthless people. On the plateau the
Indians are oppressed, robbed, underfed,
and abused by the land-owners, plundered
by shark lawyers, and deprived of all
chance of education, so that they resort
to drugs — aguardiente and coca — and
perish miserably. Meantime the so-called
white stocks, continues the Jeremiad, cling
to every luxury they can attain, avoid
exercise, seek out new vices, practise
sexual indulgence from childhood, and
grow increasingly incapable of severe or
sustained effort either physical or mental.
Out of all this, they say, grows a literature
effete, exotic and poisoned, enamoured of
the artificial, the voluptuous, and the

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sacrilegious, and without appetite or
understanding for anything sound, or
sincere. In short, you have, they com-
plain, a people —

. . . feeble of heart,
For they know not the Lords of Olympus,
Neither broad-browed Zeus, nor Pallas
Athene,
Given of wisdom to heroes, Bestower of might
in the battle.

As to all which—" Quien sabe ? " It
is too soon for me to have an opinion; I
content myself with recording the pessi-
mism itself as a fact.

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HISPANIC NOTES

FROM PERU

LIMA, PERU,

August n, 1919.

I SHALL never get over wondering at

the singular perversity or mischance that

put Lima into this extraordinarily ill-

suited place for a city. Its whole history

has been attended by a chorus of objur-

gations of its climate. Residents say that

one cannot move a mile in any direction

without bettering himself, and meteor-

ologists say that the atmosphere has a

lower oxygen content than any other spot

in the region. Certain it is that one is no

sooner out of the city than he begins to

experience a feeling of greater or less relief,

if not positive exhilaration. Yesterday

we spent a pleasant Sunday in one of the

most cheerful places of escape, Chosica,

which is about thirty miles distant and

nearly four thousand feet above Lima.

The railway follows the course of the

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Rimac, which runs in a steep, rocky
channel and falls so rapidly that the
stream is often grey, sometimes foamy,
never silent, and as one sits by the open
window makes a cheerful rippling and
gurgling or rustling accompaniment to
the noise of the train. The valley widens
and narrows, running flat green tongues
among the bare brown hills which are
like nothing but heaps of rubble or ashes
or slag. The scene is completely arid,
save where there is a stream, but at every
touch of water it breaks into instant
verdure as if painted, often drawing lines
sharp and clear like a draughtsman's con-
tours. We passed occasional haciendas
and sugar plantations, each with its little,
narrow-gauge, mule-power car line, and ran
through frequent cane brakes, which still
supply, as they have done for countless
generations, the slender framework on
which the mud walls of the dwellings can
be laid.

Chosica came into view gradually, for
it straggles down the stream, a collection
of pretty little Spanish villas, of one

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HISPANIC NOTES

<1>
bo

FROM PERU

storey for the most part, each with its
little garden ; for there is plenty of water,
and it runs gurgling down concrete chan-
nels in every street, making a veritable
oasis, very like a village in Utah. We
soon finished our explorations. There
was nothing else but the little villas where
the wise, or fortunate, Limenos come for
Sundays and the more energetic Gringos
come every night, making the long journey
twice a day for the sake of the bright sky
and tonic air.

In a hollow beside the bridge we found
a train of loaded burros, some of them
sleeping peacefully on their sides with
their packs still bound firmly on with
tough rawhide thongs, and beside them
in the sun the listless Indian muleteers,
men and women together, but curiously
enough no children; whereat one of our
friends remarked that the Indian women
often brought in babies, but seldom
seemed to possess older children, the
infants usually dying early. We scat-
tered some coins among them, for which
they scrambled like football players,

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earnestly enough, but good-naturedly,

showing their teeth and gladly posing for

their pictures. Then we strolled back to

the hotel, basked in the sun, ate our lunch

in a flower-decked arbour, watched a game

of tennis in another leafy retreat, and

reluctantly climbed to our seats in the

crowded train for Lima. The delights of

Chosica are not for those who are as busy

as we.

LIMA, PERU,

August 12, 1919.

THE churches of Lima are inexhaustible.

They say that there are over eighty, and

I have seen two more building. Nobody,

I venture to say, has seen the inside of all

of them; certainly I have no expectation

of doing so, but I drop in whenever I have

an opportunity to see a new one, with the

hope of finding something of interest.

For the most part they are poor things,

with little to recommend them but the

architecture, which often dates back to

the period when the Romanesque tradition

was clear. They have good domes, wide

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FROM PERU

and lofty naves and great columns, which
give dignity whenever the effect is not
spoilt by the puerile, cheap and tawdry
decoration. The poverty of decoration is
said to date from the War of 1879-1883,
when the Chileans stripped altars, walls,
chapels, and pulpits of practically all that
was precious and portable. They seem to
have spared the Pizarro chapel and the
choir stalls of the Cathedral, but are said
to have taken all the gold and jewels from
the high altar, the chapels, and the columns
which, according to report, had bands and
plaques of gold. They carried off also
most of the paintings, as they did also
from private houses. They seem, in fact,
to have done a very Teutonic job of
looting.

What is left in the other churches
appears to have been overlooked. For
example, in the Encarnacion there is a
grill of carved wood, mahogany, I fancy,
in nine panels, about three feet by four
and a half, very dignified and well pro-
portioned; in the University Church,
built in 1766, there is a heavy carved

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wood altar-piece, like a Michael Angelo
tomb, the figures very well conceived and
the effect, in spite of sombreness, de-
cidedly imposing; here, too, there are
several oil-paintings of the eighteenth
century not without merit. These are
rare notes of relief in a desert of chromo
and tinsel.

Yesterday morning I stepped into a
church a block away from the University
and found the vaulted ceiling painted a
robin's-egg blue and spangled with
bright gilt stars, apparently glued on.
But the altar marked the last word in
bathos; in front of several ill-carved
figures beside the altar had been placed,
just by the transept, two papier-mache
angels of heroic size, for all the world like
gigantic paper dolls.

As a kind of offset, by good fortune I
found myself at nightfall .in the neighbour-
hood of San Francisco, and went in, to
find a number of worshippers in little
groups in the chapels and scattered singly
about the great nave. It is spacious, with
a fine vaulted roof; the high altar of

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HISPANIC NOTES

•••Mini'

The cloisters, San Francisco Church

FROM PERU

excellent proportions, but all the decora-

tion new, theatrical, and thick with tinsel.

The church is peculiar for the number of

votive offerings. One wretched, naked

figure of Christ is encircled by a wide band

of cloth, like an exaggerated girdle,

covered thick with little medals and plaques

of silver giving a bizarre and rather un-

pleasant effect against the distorted, blood-

stained figure. The dim lights flickered

in the gloom; the worshippers mumbled

and whispered their prayers, and there

broke in from time to time the deep tones

of the monks chanting Evensong behind

the screen.

LIMA, August 14, 1919.

MORE and more it is clear to me that

the problem of Peru is the problem of the

Indian, and that in his salvation lies the

salvation of the country. The white man

is a mere fraction of the population, the

thinnest of thin veneers on the surface of

the social block; the mestizo is an un-

stable factor, a shifting element which, to

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become useful, must be bred back, into
the white if he can, but more probably
into the red from which he came; the
solid basis is the Indian, and he is the
only industrial member. Every one who
has observed the Indian of Peru is warm
in his praise. In spite of incredible
cruelties, oppressions, neglect, disease,
drink, and drugs, he is a dependable
worker and responsive to good treatment.
Few workmen in the world can compete
with him for docility, teachability and
steadiness. He is the hope of Peru. But
nothing has been done for him. The
Spaniard thought of him only as a beast
of burden, a thing to be used and used-up,
raw material of which there was an
inexhaustible supply, the only material
which cost nothing. The Peruvian has
been equally blind, only substituting
heedlessness and folly for the Spaniards'
calculated cupidity. The Indian sank
into alcoholism and cocaism which offered
in paralysis the only escape from his
tortures.
Hardly a beginning has yet been made

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FROM PERU

in salvaging the race. Up near Puno an
intelligent Protestant mission has suc-
ceeded by medical education and hygiene
in bringing some of them back to life and
arousing a racial sense, so that there is
said to be a community in which a certain
amount of self-respect and resistance to
oppression is visible; in Ayacucho a
Chinese local administrator has produced
a community that washes and is in con-
sequence clean and alive again; and in
Trujillo a great hacienda has been operated
on humane and decent principles. Here
there are 1500 Indians who are fed
properly, clothed, receive medical atten-
tion, and are taught, in day and evening
schools, chiefly manual training and
handicrafts. The chief owner, a culti-
vated, thoughtful man, tells me that they
have three hundred children in the day
schools and two hundred adults and youths
in the night school. He has given me the
regimen and dwelt particularly on the
food problem. They do not permit any
one to be underfed. Every man before
he goes to work in the morning is given

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an abundant breakfast, including a bowl
of hot soup containing a ration of meat
(twenty-five grammes) and, besides, an
allowance of beans or other legumbre.
Again, at noon, all the workers receive a
second meal, two bowls of soup, with
meat, bread, and vegetables. Besides,
they receive an allowance of uncooked
food for the family housekeeping. In
consequence, there is no anaemia, very
little use of alcohol, and a diminishing use
of coca.

LIMA, August 17, 1919.
I GOT an unexpected glimpse of Peru-
vian education this morning. As I passed
along the street called Buenamuerte, I saw

I had seen frequently in the biographical
records which have been coming into my
hands. Although it was Sunday the
doors were open, and I stepped into the
patio, where some small boys were playing
marbles in a corner and an older boy was
looking on. He came forward and took

VII

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FROM PERU

me to the Director, a young man whom
we found reading the morning paper in a
dingy office. He was, as is almost inva-
riable here, gracefully polite, and gladly
showed me the Colegio.

I cannot do better than set down what
I saw. In the Director's room and that
adjoining it there were five or six small
cases, with glass doors, one of which had a
few books in it, but not for the students
to read; the others contained Natural
History, Chemistry and other specimens,
and some small and simple devices for
experiments in Mechanics and Physics.
The chemistry specimens were in bottles,
many of which were the worse for age and
wear; they were covered with dust, and
the glass in the door was broken and dirty.
The appliances were antiquated, poor and
trivial : one model of a pump, one bell for
demonstrating a vacuum, a small model of
a steam-engine, a magic-lantern, and one
or two other simple things, but all of an
early type and evidently neglected. The
whole place looked indescribably out at
elbows.

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As we passed out I inquired how many
students there were, and learned that
the Colegio has about seventy pupils
from seven to sixteen years old, and that
about twenty are boarders, some of these
being maintained at State expense,
because they are refugees from the
Peruvian families driven out of Tacna and
Arica by the Chileans.

We made the round of the rooms ; first
a kindergarten room, with little desks
in ill repair and walls covered with coloured
pictures of animals such as were in our
picture-books forty years ago; then a
secondary room, with wall maps none too
recent and somewhat the worse for wear;
then a poorly lighted room, with history
charts; next a space with skylight where
there were two stands for resting and
aiming rifles and a number of government
carbines stacked against the wall. Here,
I learned, the boys from twelve years up
are taught to shoot, one thing which
Peru seems to take seriously. We passed
two doors, apparently of store-rooms,
fastened with padlocks, and at the end of

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HISPANIC NOTES

FROM PERU

the passage, next to the toilet arrange-
ments, found the kitchen. It was not a
prepossessing place, for it was dirty and
grimy, the floor littered with cooking
utensils, bits of uncooked food and great
pieces of wood, and the room half-full of
smoke from long pieces of wood sticking
out a yard or more from the antique stove.
The presiding genius, an unwashed Indian,
stood and gazed at us, silent and listless,
until we withdrew. The dining-room next
door had a number of great bare tables,
two of which seemed to be in use, for they
had covers of a sort, shockingly in need of
washing.

I expressed an interest in the sleeping
quarters, and we climbed to the upper
storey which covers the front part of the
house, mounting a narrow, sloppy stair-
way, which lacked one or two steps and
came to the wide, low dormitory where
there were about twenty narrow cot beds,
with coverlets and blankets. It was
bare, except for the beds and the boys'
clothes-chests which stood beside them,
and it needed sweeping, but had the

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virtue of abundant ventilation, the wide

windows being confirmed in their intention

by some large gaps in the glass.

We came down, exchanging greetings

with the boys, who were as polite as

courtiers, and I came away, realizing again

that the presence of dirt, or absence of

cleanliness, is evidently not equally dis-

tressing in Massachusetts and Peru. As

to the education that can be gained in

Colegios of this order one may be dubi-

ous; it is undeniably different from the

Massachusetts type.

LIMA, August 17, 1919.

THERE is a strong fascination about the

hill of San Cristobal which overlooks

Lima, the valley and the harbour. One

climbs it with something more than

relief; it is the sense of escape, and, as

one rises above the streets and sees the

houses, the churches and the whole town

receding below him, he has some of the

satisfaction of a school-boy getting out of

the grounds. The peak, to be sure, shows

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HISPANIC NOTES

Another view of Lima from San Cristobal

FROM PERU

him new mountain barriers and reminds
him that the isolation and imprisonment
of Lima by the great Cordillera is per-
manent. But he is now free of the coast ;
he can project himself north and south
and see in his mind's eye the long strip
of level and valley which runs far enough
to dispel for the time the feeling of repres-
sion and restraint which often lies heavy
on the spirit. Not until railways run to
the Amazon and even to the Atlantic will
the wall of distance be effectually broken ;
but meantime North and South are open
to the mental vision and a measure of
freedom is won.

Then there is the immediate diversion.
The city lies below, many-coloured and
various, sending its bell music up from
many towers above its subdued and
modulated murmur. Directly in front
lies the bull-ring, where even now a thin
and scattered company is watching the
poor excuse of a winter bull-fight. The
band blares the toreador chorus, and
from this height, though we are a mile
away, we can see the toreros flaunting

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their capes and the bull dashing now at

one and now at another. Then the

unmistakable red of the matador's capilla

flashes against the sand; the bull charges

him, is checked, charges again, and a

moment after we see him lying black

against the ground. The great doors

open and the mules come on the run to

drag his carcase out.

As we go down, the hills are reverberat-

ing to rifle shots from half-a-dozen ranges,

for Sunday afternoon is the great oppor-

tunity for target practice which Peru,

forever preoccupied with thoughts of

Chile, is resolved never to neglect again.

LIMA, August 18, 1919.

THERE are moments here when I can

share to the full the pessimism of the

Peruvian " Intellectual." It sometimes

seems as if there was nothing in the

country worth saving but the Indian, and

he was past saving. For the Peruvian

mestizo I have no respect. He is like

his Cuban and Mexican brother, but

feebler. The Cuban has at least a jovial

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HISPANIC NOTES

FROM PERU

animal vitality, negroid and gross, but it
is life. The Peruvian mestizo often seems
like a bloodless, degenerate remnant,
diseased, foul, maimed and devitalized to
the point of tottering debility. The only
symbol for the civilization, if it can be
called such, is the ponderous, two-wheeled
cart and its team of puny, wretched
burros covered with sores and cringing
under the lash. If it required any ampli-
fication it might be found in the muleteer
who gives the only evidence of zeal or
energy in the country when he is lashing
with the lust of cruelty at his helpless,
pitiable victims. What generations of
cynic and bloody brutality have gone into
the alembic to distil this !

No wonder that some among them are
without real hope, except from the outside.
I have heard intelligent, cool people who
were here when the Chileans came in 1880
say it marked a great improvement. The
Chileans put things in order, and, add
these pessimists, they will never be in
order till Chile or another nation comes
in again.

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LIMA, PERU,

August 1 8, 1919.

IT occurs to me that it might amuse

you to have a record of one of my days.

This is the tale of yesterday. We got up

(I have told you I have a room-mate) a

little after eight, having had our chocolate

and a square of toast in bed — for it is so

dismal and chilly of mornings that the

wise have warned us not to go out without

taking something to eat beforehand — and

were dressing when my co-worker was

announced. I went out through the lofty,

barren apartment, with tall mirrors, glass

doors, red silk furniture, a carpet which I

suspect of harbouring a colony of fleas,

and the two writing tables drawn together

into the middle of the room under the

electric light which makes writing at night

possible, upon the wide, tiled passage,

past two walls that look into the chilly,

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VII

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tiled dining-rooms below, and found Sefior
Juan Pedro Paz-Soldan armed with walk-
ing-stick and overcoat, waiting.

We set off, down marble steps into the
drizzly, narrow street lined with the box-
like buildings, across the famous but
anything but impressive Plaza de Armas,
to send off last night's letters, first going,
as one must, to the stamp shop where the
usual comedy of getting the right change
occurred and when, after three demands,
I got my Sol, which the sullen clerk hoped
to retain for my foreign accent, then to
the Post Office, only to learn that the boat,
advertised for two weeks to sail at eleven
to-day, would not go " until further
notice."

Then we recrossed the dreary Plaza
under the shadow of the Cathedral and

came to the house of Sefior X , who

had made urgent requests that I call to
see a famous gold medal. We entered the
patio through the usual great and pon-
derous doors, were admitted through an
iron gate, passed up a flight of white stone
steps into a gallery, and so into Sefior

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HISPANIC NOTES

FROM PERU

X 's apartments, very Hispanic, tiled,

with French furniture, a picture in oil of
bull-fighters, two or three bits of bric-a-
brac, two glass-fronted bookcases, and
two heavily laden, desks. The proud
owner produced the gold medal, com-
memorating the opening of the Cortes in
1812, and we duly admired it. He nar-
rated its history, desired me to inform the
Hispanic Society about it, and then took
us to see his other treasures, two pictures
by Peruvian artists and two rather fine
examples of early glazed porcelain. At
parting he presented me with a book
printed in Lima in 1760 : Pom-pa Funeral,
Exequias, Reales, etc.

We left as soon as we decently could,
because our day's work was before us,
descended to the narrow, crowded streets,
damp and chilly with the half-mist that
never comes to rain, and went on briskly
past the churches and the stolid, almost
funereal houses and the little shops,
stepping from time to time into the gutter
to let people pass, and so came to the
University, a great expanse of one-storey

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blind yellow wall, broken by two great
entrances, over one of which is painted
" Universidad," crossed two patios and
came to our working-room in the Library.
It is the Administrator's room, a cube,
lighted from the top, and containing a
safe, a huge desk with chairs on both
sides, two shelves of books, and a little
typewriter stand. There we sat us down
and fell to on the work we had left the
night before, to finish, if possible, our
daily stint. Five biographies a day is our
tarea, and we often fall below it. After
half-an-hour's scratching of pens, in comes

our junior, B , and gets a volley of

satiric greeting : "we have been dis-
puting whether you had not yet got up, or,
being a poet and a man of fashion, were
just going to bed." He takes it with some
discomfort and adds the tap of the type-
writer to the sounds of action.

We are under full headway and really
making progress when the doorman
comes to lock up for the noon halt; for
from about half-past twelve to about
half-past two every day the University

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HISPANIC NOTES

Within the University, a patio

The outer patio of the University

FROM PERU

locks its doors, and goes away to eat and
sleep. Which is a nuisance. We start
away together, with jests at the " poets/'
and chat about our subjects, cross great
bare spaces where the city has razed blocks
of buildings to make a wide avenue, part
as each comes to his proper turning, and
I get back to the hotel for " breakfast "
about one o'clock. About two I get to
the printers', where I have been discussing
for two or three weeks in the leisurely way
of the country, the possibility of printing
the book. Like many places of business,
it is in an old house, with iron-barred
windows, great doors armed with knob-
like iron bolt-heads, a patio and office
beside it. We make the inch or so of
progress that is possible for the day, agree
to resume to-morrow, and I continue on
my way to the Library. The guardian
of the reading-rooms has not yet returned,
but while Paz-Soldan and I are still objur-
gating him he comes and waves us cheer-
fully in.

Again the pens begin to scratch; we
stop to ask an occasional question, settle

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a date or an accent, ridicule the junior,
who is a little late as usual, and soon the
light grows dim, the half-dozen readers in
the outer room move off, and we set out
for the office of the Minister of Foreign
Relations, who has promised to see us at
five o'clock or thereabouts.

Foreign Relations is fortunate in having
a modern building, with marble and
tile and brass fittings and business-like
looking attendants. We are ushered into
a lofty salon, with mirrors and marble
statuettes in the corners, with the furniture
in linen covers, and with some fine French
engravings flanking a really excellent
portrait of General Castilla, President of
Peru in 1870. The Minister comes in, a
man of fifty, with aquiline, clean-shaven
face — what is sometimes called "the
actor's face " — and a cool, quiet manner.
He sits down, addresses me a few words
in English, which he speaks with evident
difficulty, and responds with relief to a
suggestion from Paz-Soldan that I would
gladly try to speak in Spanish. We get
on, not fluently on my part, but under-

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FROM PERU

standingly, and manage to exchange views
as well as compliments. He is the Con-
tinental man, detached, clever, critical, a
competent diplomatist, as his record shows.
His secretary makes two or three urgent
signals from the door, and, remarking that
there are evidently persons out there who
would like to have us shot for detaining
him, I rise to go. He continues suave and
cool, assures me that the Foreign Office is
my house and all is at my disposal, an£
wishes me good-afternoon. We all shake
hands and part.

Out on the avenue again the air seems
chilly. Now for a cup of tea ! We chat
about our visit, remark on the fact that
one's Spanish is very variable, one day
good and one day hopeless, and run into
the tea-time throng in the Calle Mer-
caderes, the principal street of Lima.
Tea in the Palais Concert is a mild social
function. Young people evidently find it
a convenient place to exchange looks and
greetings, and their elders a good place for
gossip and tea.

At six o'clock there is still time for a

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brisk walk, a look in at the club to see
whether any new American papers have
come in — the newest are over a month

old — and a call for a book before dinner.

This is by no means a serious affair for us.
We go down to the main dining-room, a
wide, rather low room, overloaded with
cut-glass chandeliers of an earlier epoch
and numerous mirrors which reflect the

]

rather dim electric lights of Lima. The
*ame bill of fare that we have faced these

forty evenings appears again unchanged
in any detail, and we pick the two or three
things we know will do, take our diluted
coffee and retire. There are no tempta-
tions outside, unless it be to put on one's
overcoat and stir about a bit to feel

warmer, so we settle down to work, and
I manage, with occasional raids on the
ever-present, ravenous flea, to get two
more biographies ready for the copyist,
and so to bed.

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FROM PERU

LIMA, PERU,

August 21, 1919.

I HAVE been looking at the Palace for

six weeks with intermittent curiosity, and

now that I have been inside it I can

understand more of what I have heard

here and elsewhere of Palace intrigue.

It is a huge, yellow, flat box of a place,

rather an enclosure than a building,

which looks like a one-storey warehouse

and covers a whole block. Battles have

often been fought in that wilderness of

patios and passages, and I believe three

companies of infantry could be lost in it.

I went yesterday afternoon to make

arrangements, in company with Tello, who

is a candidate for the House of Deputies

and therefore knows some of the windings

of the maze. We entered under a heavy

arch, passing between two sentries with

bayonets fixed, turned into a low, wide

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corridor, tiled and bare, past two more
descendants of the Incas, looking like idols
with bayonets, then through a waiting-
room where there were four antique life-
size portraits, on into a narrow passage
where two in uniform guarded a door.
This was the private entrance to the
President's suite. We got our message
from the secretary and returned, passing
out another way, over the spot where
Pizarro fell, slain by his fellow wolves,
and through three patios to the chill,
neglected, unkempt part of the palace,
where the police functionaries have their
appropriate quarters. Here we mounted
a splendid old stairway of massive wood,
mahogany I suppose, shiny with age and
use and surmounted by two lovely carved
figures of cavaliers in the same handsome
stuff. I have not yet learned to take for
granted the cheerful lack of cleanliness so
characteristic of Peru, and kept wondering
whether the corners of the rooms and
stairs had been scrubbed since Pizarro's
time.

It was probably the sight of the spot

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where he is supposed to have been killed
that reminded Tello that he had never been
to see the old Conqueror's bones in the
Cathedral. Although it was late, we
found the sacristan, and listened to his
patter about the veritable holes in the
skeleton made by the assassins' knives,
etc. Tello did not conceal his scepticism,
for there is a well-told story here in Lima
of the way in which Pizarro's bones were
carried off and others, said to be those of
a negro, substituted. My own scepticism
was reserved for two huge canvases in
the right aisle which we were assured were
among the finest works of Murillo. We
passed on to the crypt, were shown the
veritable tomb of Pizarro among the
sarcophagi of the bishops and arch-
bishops, and, pushing our researches into
the remoter corners, seldom visited, I
am sure, by tourists, we saw, in the
dimmest corner of all, a sack full of skulls.
They were those of the displaced digni-
taries, bishops and archbishops, who, after
a certain space, are despoiled of their
tombs to make way for later comers.

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We came gladly back to the choir,
about which there can be neither scep-
ticism nor cavilling. It is among the
noble and dignified spots of Lima; like
the Torre Tagle Palace, the Javier Prado
house and the Senate Chamber. Its
lovely carved stalls form a continuous line
all round the choir and give an atmo-
sphere of dignity and age like that of
Chester or of Gloucester. Here the
sacristan found for us the great Seven-
teenth-Century Score Books, nearly three
feet tall, twenty of them, all on stout
parchment, three hundred pages each —
a rich load of loot. How the Chileans were
ever kept out of this fat corner is a miracle,
but it remains, with its silver candle-
sticks and gilt taper holders and carved
mahogany reading desks, a place of re-
pose and charm.

As we came out we saw a crowd about
the Lottery Stand and stopped a minute
to watch the drawing. It is a ceremony.
Under a canopy are officials at desks, and
in front, facing the crowd, another set of
eight, two by each of the four urns which

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IOI

look like small churns on stands. At a

signal the four who have the handles spin

the urns, and when they stop, their

seconds, who wear a special uniform,

supposed to prevent sleight-of-hand per-

formances, step forward, hold up their

right hands to show they are empty, and

then plunge them into the urn and draw

out a disk, which they display, showing

the number to the crowd. The An-

nouncer shouts the combined number; it

is posted on the bulletin board, and the

urn is whirled again.

LIMA, August 22, 1919.

I RETURNED to the Palace this morning

to keep my appointment with the Presi-

dent, passing the sentries, whose bayonets

seem a little theatrical, and crossing the

pavement where the blotch of Pizarro's

blood used to be pointed out. Another

sentry stood at the swinging door which

opens on the gallery of the Patio of the

Viceroys, a beautiful little spot over-

crowded with palms and roses and gera-

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niums and keeping in a corner a tree, of a
species unknown to me, gnarled and crook-
ed as an ancient olive tree, which they
say was growing here in the time of the
Conquistadores. At the end of the gallery
were a few gentlemen suitors waiting their
turn to see the President, and within the
wide waiting-room were several others
resting in the comfortable chairs. Half-an-
hour passed, and then a young officer in
a handsome uniform, with festoons of gold
cord hanging on his chest, beckoned me,
and I advanced into the President's room.
Mr. Legufa is a small, spare man, with
sharp eyes set close together ; he has thin
hair touched with grey, a face that tells
little and a manner quite unaffected and
as business-like as a long experience in
the insurance business might produce.
He has no false dignity and seems entirely
free from consciousness of self or of office.
He came forward saying, " Good-morning,
Mr. Parker, I am glad to see you ! " and
pointed me to a seat. We talked rapidly,
of the Hispanic Society, of Mr. Hunting-
ton, of the United States, of Mexico, and

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103

so came to Peru and her problems. He
spoke of the Indian, of the need to house
and care for him, particularly to educate
him, so as to make him a good citizen fit
to populate the country and build a
nation; he spoke also of himself and re-
ferred very frankly to the Revolution. " I
did not want that," he said; " I was very
unwilling to have any political disorder,
but I was obliged to do it ; there was no
other way. It was quite clear that
President Pardo intended to prevent me
from taking the office to which I was
elected. If I had not acted then, I should
not have been able in the future to secure
what was mine, what I had won."

This corresponded very closely with
what I had heard from other sources, and
was spoken with so much simplicity and
with such entire freedom from emotion
of any sort that it carried conviction.

I handed him the brief biography 1 that
I had prepared of him, and he read it at
once, indicated a verbal error, and returned
it. When he came to the passage de-
1 See Peruvians of To-day, p. 3.

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scribing the Revolution of 1909 in which
the Palace was attacked and he himself
carried off prisoner by the armed mob,
he remarked : " That was very serious.
It was not like the recent revolution.
Many were killed. In fact, when I got
on my feet after the shooting there were
forty lying dead near me and eighty
wounded."
Later in the day, as we were out walking,

B and I followed the course of the

mob as they went from the Palace with
Leguia in their midst up to the Plaza of
the Inquisition and to the statue of
Bolivar, which, with the native instinct for
dramatic effects, they had chosen for the
scene of the President's abdication. There
at the foot of the statue of the Liberator
they produced the form of resignation,
and, pointing revolvers at his head,
demanded Leguia's signature. He did
not flinch. They grew more and more
impassioned, hustled him, took out
watches and counted off the minutes, but
Leguia remained firm. Soon soldiers
appeared and prepared to charge the mob

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President Leguia

Indians in the Plaza

FROM PERU

105

and rescue their prisoner. Then the

shooting began, the Revolutionists firing

first and the soldiers replying with deadly

effect. Leguia either fell or was knocked

down, and, as he said, when he recovered

his feet, the dead and wounded were

lying all about him. Naturally enough

it made him a popular hero.

I came out along the gallery of the

•

patio, which I was now told was the scene

of the crisis on the morning of July 4,

when President Pardo attempted to call

some of the officers to his support, but the

younger officers were too numerous and

frustrated the attempt. " He had the

Jefes on his side," said my informant,

" but he had forgotten that there are

sub-Jefes, equally efficient and more

numerous."

LIMA, August 24, 1919.

THERE are constant glimpses of beauty

to be caught here. Hardly a street lacks

its ancient patios set with palms, paved

with coloured tile, and edged with iron

grills as delicate as lace. As one passes

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the great, arched entrance where the pon-
derous carved doors swing on gigantic
storied hinges,, a bare-footed Indian may
step silently out with a basket of many-
coloured fruit on his head, or a senora with
black mantilla and prayer book and high-
heeled shoes pass demurely on her way
to church. I am glad that some of the
famous old houses are being preserved.
Last night I went to listen to music in the
Torre Tagle Palace, which the Government
has set aside for an Academy of Music.
There were only seven 'of us: the leading
painter of Peru, two visiting Spanish
sculptors, and two young poets of Lima.
The musician sat at a grand piano under
a bust of Beethoven, and facing a great
portrait in the modern Spanish style.
Overhead were the carved beams, and
around us the heavy carved shutters of
the seventeenth century. The ample
space, the perfect proportions, and the
deep embrasures gave a setting of leisure
and dignity very soothing and suitable
to the Inca melodies and Grieg and
Beethoven to which we listened.

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107

This afternoon we paid a visit to the
old Convent of the Recogidas lately
assigned to the School of Fine Arts. It
is a substantial, dignified pile, solid as a
fort, with two patios, and fine, low, spacious
rooms. The Sisters left it unwillingly
after many protests, and at the last, finding
all their resistance unavailing, took a truly
feminine revenge by removing all that
was portable and destroying the rest.
They worked like furies the last night of
their stay, so that when the new occupants
arrived they found not a door nor window
nor floor, nor even a growing thing in the
gardens. Everything had been torn away
and carried off until there remained
absolutely nothing but the walls and the
roof. The Director showed me one of
the great rooms awaiting renovation,
and it was mere earth and roof ; not a door
nor door-jamb, not a window nor a window-
casing; not a floor-board nor even a
floor-beam, but bare ground scored with
the marks of the old beams. Here was
the furia Espanola in a new form.

But already the chambers of discipline

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and meditation are filled with groups

of young men and women drawing from

models whose exhibition of naked flesh

would certainly fulfil the gloomiest antici-

pations of the ascetic former occupants.

As we came back we passed the fine old

Senate House, once occupied by the

Inquisition — so surely are the old monu-

ments being turned to modern uses —

and stopped to look at the exquisite

carved ceiling which reminded me of the

Council Room of the Doges in Venice, and

has probably no equal on this Continent.

The wood is a rich brown, shiny with

age, and the carving is wonderfully varied

and deep. Here is a space of sixty feet

by twenty-five, one rich expanse of hand-

wrought wood, full of the piety and patience

and craft of the seventeenth century,

a witness in extenuation on behalf of the

Spanish oppressors,

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109

LIMA, PERU,

August 25, 1919.

THERE are plenty of surprises in

Lima and its environs. To-day, within

three miles of the Plaza de Armas, we

found a scene as pastoral and primitive

as the highlands of Bolivia could afford.

To our appeals for a fresh, out-of-town

excursion one of our friends suggested

Las Amancaes, where the yellow flowers

of this name bloom in the early spring.

We set forth in a casual curricle drawn

by two little horses; and, under the

protests of the driver at having to go

" so far from the city over such terrible

roads," etc., felt like adventurers.

We crossed the river Rimac, passed

near the church and convent of the

Barefoot Friars (Descalzos), and left paved

streets behind us. In two hundred yards

we had entered the orchard district, and

soon were jolting over a much neglected

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way between lofty adobe walls punctuated
by occasional great doorways marked
" Huerta Alvilla," " HuertaBuenamuerte,"
and the like. The driver and his horses
seemed to feel themselves far from home,
the pace slackened, and at a little rise
of ground we stopped. A strap broke,
and we thought the driver grasped eagerly
at the pretext for halting. He was like
the average City cabby; off the pave-
ments he was lost. We got out and paid
him, discovering to our surprise and
his stupefaction that we were only sixteen
minutes' rather slow driving from the
Plaza. We went on merrily afoot, came
to the end of the walled road and emerged
upon a little plain, flat, bare, and sandy
as a parade ground, and rimmed by the
barren hills. Across the level to the right
was a little blue church, backed up against
the brown hill ; but to the left the ridges
were green, and broke into a valley verdant
on both sides. Evidently this was a mist-
trap that caught the daily clouds and con-
densed them, for there was not the least
trickle of a stream anywhere to be seen.

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FROM PERU

With a glance at the blue church that
seemed like a waif left here alone, far from
the city, we turned towards the valley
and saw a number of cattle grazing on
the slopes. Soon little shelters, like the
booths of Oriental herdsmen, came in view,
and beside them Indian family groups at
the noon meal in the customary confusion,
men, women, babies, dogs and chickens,
all in a careless, tolerant, dirty mess. One
wonders sometimes whether the Indian
is ever surprised into spontaneous and
free expression. He seems from his baby-
hood to be either preternaturally sup-
pressed or sunk in apathy. In answer
to our questions they told us they had
lately arrived here, bringing the cattle
to this valley for the spring herbage;
that there were five separate groups of
cattle and herders; that they would stay
about three months and then return to
the haciendas on the other side of Lima.
Each group had its own stone-walled
corral that bore such signs of age as indi-
cated that this annual change of pasture
was a custom of many generations standing.

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There is no water here, but the daily

condensation of mist gives the cattle

moisture enough in the herbage.

We climbed higher up the valley, getting

fine views of Lima and the neighbouring

hills, and gathering many flowers, wild

hyacinth and speedwell, and several

quite lovely flowers native to this region.

LIMA, August 29, 1919.

IT is about half-past eleven, and I have

just returned from the Palace where I

was the President's guest at an informal

dinner. It was so informal that it might

be called casual. There was a great

diversity of attire. I was alone in wearing

full dress, the President and my neighbour

at my right wore dinner jackets, the others

a varying collection of informal suits. I

do not now know the names of my dinner

companions, except two whose names I

asked after we had chatted together for a

time. We were ushered into the salon

as we arrived, and it was taken for granted

that we all knew one another. I am getting

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acquainted with this room now; it is
about fifty feet long and perhaps twenty
wide, and has a number of excellent
portraits of generals, besides a picture of
the death of Pizarro and another of
Columbus at the Court of Ferdinand. We
looked at the pictures and scraped acquaint-
ance for half-an-hour, then were mar-
shalled into another salon, a pretty little
room with satin upholstered furniture.
In due course the President appeared;
we all stood up and shook hands with
him, then little glasses of a native liqueur
containing orange juice and quinine were
served and dinner was announced.

I was not prepared for the commonplace
aspect of the dining-room, evidently the
regular place for ordinary occasions, for
there must be a more imposing salon for
banquets and special days. Though the
room was large and of good proportions
it was unmistakably commonplace, as
was the furniture, the cutlery and the
table-ware. No one can charge th
President with undue luxury or display
at table. The meal was ample and wel

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served, but in no respect distinguished,
hardly better, in fact, than the usual
dinner at the Hotel Maury. The President,
who sat half-way down the table, set
me opposite him, and as we sat down
addressed me pleasantly in English, asking
me how I liked my stay here, to which
I replied in Spanish. Then my neighbour
on my right expressed his pleasure, and
in a moment I turned to make an inquiry
of my neighbour on my left, who repeated
to the President my remark that he must
be a good Peruvian, Peruano puro, if he
had never been out of his own country.
The conversation was brisk but easy, and
in a pleasant key. It soon turned to the
country, its extent, resources, population,
irrigation, history, antiquities, rivers, and
railroads; it floated about, touching the
Indian music, the Quechua and Ayamara
languages, the Spanish cruelties, the rela-
tive merits of the Axtec and Inca civiliza-
tions, the advisability of a newspaper
printed partly in Quechua and partly in
Spanish, and so on round the gamut.
The guests displayed a good deal of

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knowledge of the country; two or three
of them spoke Quechua and praised it
highly; they talked with enthusiasm
of Cuzco and its buildings and impressive
ruins; urging me vehemently on no account
to leave the country without seeing this
old centre of the Inca power. There was
the inevitable talk about Chile, and I
noticed a quick response in an almost
tense alertness at the first mention of
the enemy's name. One of the guests
propounded the theory that Chile was
decadent, another referred to the superi-
ority of Peru in population, resources,
and culture; the man at my left quietly
remarked that undoubtedly the quality
of Peru's culture was higher, but Chile had
a greater proportion of her people educated.
At a reference to the power of Chile the
President's nostril dilated and his eye
flashed. He intends to make Peru more
than a match for her.

It was nearly eleven when we left the
table, but no one had taken more than a
lass and a half of wine. Few took coffee,
and only three smoked even a cigarette.

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Considering the number there were, it
was the most moderate and sensible dinner
party, with the best accompaniment of
conversation, that I have attended in
recent times. When we returned to the
salon, the military part of the company
left us and the talk became general on
railways and ports, the imperfect com-
munication between the different parts
of the country and the comparative iso-
lation of Lima and the coast from the
interior. " We are always fighting/' said
the President, " against the dorsal spine
of the continent which separates us from
the rest of the country " (" Somos siempre
luchando contra la espina dorsal del
continente ") : the discussion summing
itself up in the need of a great trunk
railway from the coast to the Amazon,
a favourite topic here.

We prepared to separate. The Presi-
dent inquired whether I wanted to go.
I assured him that I didn't, the Palace
seemed much preferable to the Hotel
Maury, but I feared there were no extra
apartments ; to which he replied, " Si,

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117

yo tengo; pero parece dudoso que scan
tan seguro como el Hotel " (" Yes, I have
rooms, but it is doubtful whether they
would be as safe as the hotel "), at which
there was a hearty laugh, for everybody
remembered that both he and his imme-
diate predecessor have found the Presi-
dent's apartments anything but safe.

No one in the company was likely to
forget that on the 2Qth of May, 1909, in
Leguia's earlier presidency, in full daylight,
at about half-past two in the afternoon,
de Pierola, a prominent public man here,
and Leguia's opponent at the last election,
rushed the Palace with only twenty-eight
men, brushed the guard aside, tore along
the corridors, broke into the President's
apartments, seized him, and literally
carried him away bodily at full speed, in
spite of the resistance of the Palace troops,
who by this time were partly aroused.
Still less was anybody at that dinner likely
to forget how almost exactly the scene
repeated itself on the morning of the 4th
of July, when Leguia's friends, though in
much larger numbers, captured the Palace

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at three o'clock in the morning and carried

away President Pardo prisoner from the

very rooms we were in.

LIMA, September 5, 1919.

ONE is amused at the different impres-

sions that people get of Lima and Peru.

One of my friends, a florid, well-fed youth

from the Back Bay district of Boston,

finds the people " adorable," and " loves

every stone of Lima," which does not

prevent him from going on to draw an

indictment against them for filth, graft,

incapacity, ignorance, and sloth, which

makes the words of a cool critic seem colour-

less and vain. " Adorable " is also the

word of a New York spinster, a college

woman who has been here for three weeks

on an academic mission, and who has

pretty much exhausted the subject. It

reminds me vividly of the attitude of

generations of American spinsters towards

the young devils who posed so pictur-

esquely at the foot of the Spanish steps

in Rome. Indubitably they were of the

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119

pit, but the spinsters only found them
adorable. Of course, the Academic person
from New York never got into any real
contact with any but academic people.
She found the most un-Peruvian boarding-
house in Lima filled with English and
American gentlefolk, where nobody spoke
Spanish and where everybody spoke of
" these people " and she took a Spanish
lesson every afternoon. Lima was to her
an elaborate and extended slumming
expedition, with artistic and academic
persons in the background. She is an
admirable person and will be an authority
on Peru for the rest of her days.

Another recent visitor, a Chicago busi-
ness man and a man of great practical
ability and high character, declares that
he hasn't yet seen a Peruvian good enough
to wipe his feet on.

On the whole I prefer the attitude of
my Boston friend, for, though he is still
living in an unreal world, trailing clouds of
undergraduate sentimentalism about him,
his is not a case of mere crass ignorance.
As to what is the reality of the matter,

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I am not qualified to say. Certain it is
that to the sober sight the population
of Lima in particular, and Peru in general,
leave much to be desired. To be careful
and confine myself to simple things :
they are unsatisfactory in race, in habits,
and in character. They are of a racial
mixture not fortunate. The Indo-
Spanish cross is not the most satisfactory,
and when to these ingredients there are
added Negro, Chinese, Japanese and Lascar
elements, the result is the nondescript
human patchwork that occurs along this
coast.

Then they are unmistakably dirty.
No less frank term will do. The hotels
do not have baths. Those that do are
exceptions, and I have met the gentleman
to whose insistence it is due that the leading
hotel in Lima put in the four baths it
boasts, of which only those on the lower
floor have hot water before noon. Private
houses sometimes have baths — for occa-
sional use. In one of the handsomest
houses in Lima, where there are three
automobiles and many other evidences

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121

of wealth and taste, the bath-tub is used
for the nightly shelter of the pet turkey,
which spends its days on the roof, but
when evening falls is brought down and
tethered to the faucet. The lack of
Facilities is balanced by the lack of use;
bathing is not practised. One hears many
stories such as that of the son of a well-
known family who came to school day
after day so conspicuously unwashed that
the director protested and was confronted
by an angry mother who said, " But Jose
has a cold ! " So that it is easy to be-
lieve the sober assertion that in Cuzco
there is an annual bathing day followed
usually by an epidemic of colds with per-
haps some cases of pneumonia resulting
from the exposure.

To use a New England expression, they
are shiftless. Everybody lets everything
slide. Nothing is kept up. Repairs are
neglected. It appears to be the rule
to let everything go until it is ruined, anc
then replace it. Fundamentally, this
means a lack of confidence that anything
is worth while, a disbelief in the value

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of effort, a basic lack of convictions. It

is Oriental, an affair of Kismet, of African

fatalism; for nobody can long forget

here that the Spanish stock was largely

Moorish and very Oriental in temper.

This has not been off-set by the contact

with the Indian whether or not accom-

panied by mixture of blood. So I do

not see any ground for the opinion that

this is a high or fine civilization. It has

high and fine elements in it; it contains

gentlemen of the fine type of Mediaeval

Spain, and it has touches of courtliness,

flashes of dignity and nobility ; but these

do not give its prevailing colour ; they are

touches and flashes, bits of ribbon and

fustian and gilding, not the body of the

article.

LIMA, September n, 1919.

As I write I can hear the cavalry on

patrol, passing and re-passing in the street

below, as they have been doing all the

evening, for we are in the midst of another

political crisis. This morning's papers

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123

announced in glaring headlines the dis-
covery of a plot to assassinate the President
and the arrest of a considerable number
of prominent persons implicated. All
day rumours have floated about of others
who were being taken, and this afternoon
there were great demonstrations of denun-
ciation of the plotters. We went to take
our usual cup of tea at the Palais Concert
on the Calle Union, the principal street —
and found half the shutters up, as was the
case with nearly all the other business
places; and while we sat there we heard
the shouting and the feet of a crowd which
poured along the street growing more
noisy every moment. In a jiffy the clerks
and waiters had run to the windows and
were pulling down the rest of the shutters.
It had a curiously mediaeval effect, and
reminded us sharply that Lima has not
yet reached entirely modern ways.

A little later we went up to the Plaza
where the mob had preceded us, and was
now gathered, two or three thousand
strong, in front of the Palace. We climbed
to the Colonial Gallery of the Municipal

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Hall, diagonally across from the Palace,

and got a place just at an angle from the

balcony where the President soon appeared

to address the crowd. Straight in front

of us was the open street that runs beside

the Palace, behind which towered the dark

mass of San Cristobal, which, while we

looked, disappeared in the gathering night.

The lights came on, the crowd murmured

and rumbled and broke into shouts and

stilled again to listen. Leguia spoke very

well, in a clear voice that carried far across

the Plaza, calmly, without passion, but

with evident mastery of his audience,

and when he touched the familiar notes

of " Patria," " Pueblo," " Valor," " Ban-

dera," the mob crackled into applause

that ran through the mass and broke into

full roars. When, as he went on, he came

to the " assassins," there was something

like a growl, and, at the significant reference

to other enemies of the country who had

lately been deported, there was a mingling

of delighted laughter and triumphant

shouting, very intelligible. It was not

a clean or a nice mob. I do not remember

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ever being so close to so many obviously
unwashed fellow-beings. They seemed very
pliable, very dangerous in the wrong hands ;
and there, at the corner of the Palace
where many Viceroys, and more Presidents
— for Presidents change rapidly — have
cajoled and threatened and humoured
and played with the mob, one could hardly
help reflecting that this is still a very
ticklish job of government with a fickle,
childish multitude and a scattering of
intellectuals — mostly unconvinced of the
use or sense of democracy.

LIMA, September n, 1919.
ON my way home from the Plaza yester-

a long line of police stretched in front of
the Prensa newspaper offices, and further
on, before the Penitentiary, a troop of
mounted police armed with carbines, which,
just as I passed, was called to attention,
numbered off by fours, and trotted away
towards the centre of the town. I was
reminded of B 's remark on the street

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a little earlier : " The air smells powder."
There' was a strong feeling of tension,
and the atmosphere was thunder.

This morning the Prensa is missing
and the Comer do is under evident restraint ;
the Tiempo, the Government paper, prints
a large account of the " demonstrations "
of yesterday, and, finally, the Crbnica,
the picture paper, prints various photo-
graphs of the crowds in the Plaza, and
all denounce the events of last night.

The storm broke early. B says that

after leaving me he had started home
about seven o'clock, when the mob came
roaring down the street, directly from the
Palace, where we had left them a few
minutes earlier, and rushed into the
Prensa building, apparently unopposed by
the police, and in a minute it was ablaze.
Some one had brought kerosene and poured
it over the bales of paper, which flared
like torches. Not liking the looks of

things, B set off on a side street

only to find himself carried along in a crowd
that brought up before the Comercio
building, which was burning in one or two

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bfl

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spots but which was evidently regarded

as dangerous, for the mob kept at a modest

distance. Soon the main tide set off

again, in the direction of the houses of

Miro Quesada, owner of the Comercio,

and Aspillaga, one of the leaders of the

Aristocratic party. From a safe distance

B saw Miro Quesada's house burning,

and a fire in front where his goods were

being destroyed, and near Aspillaga's

house a fire for his belongings which were

dragged out and burned. There was no

effective interference by the police.

LIMA, September 12, 1919.

ALL day the talk about the disorders

of the night before last has gone on, and

it is not favourable to the Government.

In fact, the more it is studied the more

sinister the episode appears. One can

hardly retain the hypothesis of a spon-

taneous or accidental outbreak of violence

against the authors or abettors of the plot

against the President. It looks rather

as if the plot had been made the excuse

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for a more or less carefully organized
attack on the leaders of the opposition.
It wears a bad look. Of course, the case
is not clear; such cases never are. But
many things are said: for example, my

friend A from New York repeats the

statement of a friend who was at the Palace
yesterday morning at eleven o'clock and
heard an officer remark that the Prensa
and the Comer do had better be burned.
Another friend who lives here, and is
not opposed to the Government, says that
he saw an automobile with a number of
cans of kerosene leave the Palace yard.
Then there are various scraps of testimony,
one of an observer in the Grace building
which is diagonally across from the
Comercio, who says that when the mob
arrived the police withdrew without a
word of protest, and that the Governor
of Lima sat in his automobile and observed
part of the proceedings. There is the
testimony of two girls, nieces of one
of the victims, that they called up the
Police Department and begged for police
protection, for the mob was attacking the

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Comercio building, and got for answer
that the mob must amuse itself somehow.
They then called up the Palace and asked
for the President's Secretary, were told
that he was at the 'phone, but when they
made their appeal the receiver at the other
end was hung up without a word. Finally,
there is the testimony of Senor D. y L.
that he was at the Palace about eight
o'clock and found a group of Ministers
with the President; that he told them
what was going on and that they seemed
genuinely surprised, and that the President
instructed one of the officers present to
take adequate forces and stop this at once,
but in fact that the officer went alone or
accompanied by only one or two.

Meantime what happened at the Comer-
cio ? The owner, Antonio Miro Quesada,
was there, and, having been warned, had
taken precautions. There were about
twenty rifles which were distributed among
the employees, who were placed suitably
for defence. When the mob came, and
the police stole away, Miro Quesada
went up to the roof to take his bearings.

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While there he saw a mounted officer
of police, whom he knew, accompanied
by two patrolmen, going by in the street
below. The mob were beginning to rush
the doors, and Mir6 Quesada, in great
bitterness and contempt, shouted to the
officer, called him a coward, and advised
him to take off his epaulets. The officer
turned angrily and gave an order to his
men, who immediately aimed their carbines
at Miro Quesada and fired ; but he dropped
behind the parapet and was unhurt.
Then he went down and the main action
began. It was now dark. The mob
rushed the main entrance and broke into
the patio and immediately Miro Quesada,
having placed his men, turned off all the
lights but one, which showed the mob,
and awaited events. The mob charged;
rifles cracked ; the first group of invaders
fell; more came in, and, on the second
discharge, another lot tumbled. The rush
was checked and the attacking party
drew off, taking their wounded, said to be
over thirty, and two dead.
Then the editor gathered his staff

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together and set to work to repair the

damage and to get out the next day's

paper, which appeared as usual.

This morning the Cronica prints photo-

graphs showing the damage done and a

vigorous denunciation of the whole affair.

The entire episode is obscure, but does

not reflect credit on the Government and

indicates a certain moral obliquity in

many quarters.

September 21, 1919.

• THERE is something provocative about

this country. There are always explana-

tions and behind these other explana-

tions., and so ad ihfinitum. For example :

the city of Lima is undoubtedly gloomy;

at first one is inclined to think this is

merely temporary, due to a passing stage

of weather, but it does not pass ; then one

thinks it is merely local, confined to Lima

and produced by the singular arrangement

of the enclosing hills, and at first this view

seems to be confirmed, for outside of Lima

there is much more sunshine; but the

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sunshine is not attended by gaiety. In
the country, too, there is sombreness.
The gloom is more widespread than Lima ;
in fact, my friends tell me it is universal
in Peru, and that it is much more profound
in the back country among and beyond
the mountains. Abelardo Gamarra, him-
self an Indian author of unmixed race, has
made a telling phrase, " Peru is the land
of hush, hush ! " (" El Peru es el pais de
sotto voce I ") This hush, this mood of de-
pression, is said to be racial and historical.
Some say that the Peruvian Indian was
always sad, in the days of the Incas and
long before, that the Spanish conquest
and domination had no appreciable effect,
and still less the comparatively brief (and
mild) rule under the Republic.

Some truth, of course, there is in this ;
it may even be the basic truth, but I see
also a disposition to cover and excuse the
recent and present attitude towards the
native stock. The fact is that the Indian
is still being abused, exploited, trampled
upon, and ill-treated as he always has been,
and there are few whom one can meet

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who are not directly or indirectly profiting
from the exploitation. The Indian of
Peru, broadly speaking, is still in a state
of veiled slavery; he has no chance
for education, for self-development, self-
expression, or freedom of action. On the
great haciendas his condition remains
that of the serf : he may be able to leave
at will — one hears that he can — but he
doesn't. Nearly always he is prevented
by innocent-appearing legal requirements
and silky regulations which tie him to the
land as effectually as if he were a chattel.
The consequence is depression, a profound
resentment, hidden and silent, as is the
way with the Indian, sometimes, I am
told, breaking his heart, more often
smouldering in a patient hatred which
my friend the Indian Deputy in Congress
tells me supplies the motive of those
who think — a long hope for ultimate
retribution !

It is not an agreeable aspect of Peru,
this racial hostility. Most people here
make light of it or deny it altogether;
others tell you that in the last two strikes

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the cry of the mob was " Down with the
whites ! " (" Abaja los blancos ! ") Some
echo of this I recall both in Mexico and in
Cuba, but with less cause; for in both of
those " Republics " the more numerous race
has had a share of glory and of power :
Mateo, a Negro, is the hero of Cuba, and
in Mexico, Juarez, the founder of the
Republic, Diaz and Huerta, three Presi-
dents, as well as many other leaders and
standard bearers, have been of Indian
stock. Here, however, except for Olaya,
who was a mere instrument and had a
tragic fate, there has been scarcely an
Indian name written in capitals, and there
seems to be as little disposition as ever
to give him a chance. One cannot help
recalling Kirkpatrick's contrast (in the
Cambridge Modern History) between
Mexico and Peru, the land of Cortez and
that of Pizarro, Cortez, the soldier and
adventurer, Pizarro the freebooter and cut-
throat. The motto of Mexico, he says,
was, " Live and let live; " that of Peru
was, " Eat and let eat." I fancy the
distinction still holds good. I saw many

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sights in Mexico that wrung my heart,
but I do not remember so callous an insen-
sibility to the sufferings of animals or
of the inferior human being as I see here.
The pack burros that carry the loads to
market and the horses in the public
carriages are often shocking sights, and
nobody ever seems to give their condition
a thought.

Another form of indifference is hardly
less shocking, that to dirt and fleas. It
is no answer to say that they are used to
them. A live, vigorous, sensitive civiliza-
tion couldn't be " used to them." It
is to say that the civilization, if it deserves
the name, is a civilization that either does
not feel fleas and dirt, or that thinks it
can shut them out of its own house and —
the devil take the other man's ! a view
that spells benighted ignorance or criminal
carelessness.

Finally, there is sex. Nobody would
charge the Peruvian with indifference on
this matter. He is only indifferent to its
nobler side. Continence is little regarded,
and it is universal testimony that chastity —

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among men at least — is unknown. A cer-
tain gentleman here has become the butt
of jests among his friends, and notorious
outside his circle, by a reputation for
chastity, and it is soberly given as the
explanation for his lack of greater promi-
nence and success. Our hostess remarks
that the young men can only think of the
senoritas; the grocery man remarks
contemptuously that the young gentlemen
cannot play games because of their absorp-
tion with the muchachas; my secretary
jokes about the entire output of the poems
being on eyes and lips; the director of a
University Department, talking about
learning English, makes a ribald jest about
the number of ladies in Lima who speak
English, and even the grave and taciturn
author remarks on spending one's holidays
as if they could have only one destination
and that an amorous one. Now, Heaven
knows, jokes on the subject are common
enough among us, but a pre-occupation of
this intensity is another matter and spells
pathology.
There is a custom of selling children;

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it is called by another name, but the essen-
tial requirement is payment of four, five, or
six pounds for the child, who then becomes
practically your slave. In many houses
here you may see tiny children, Indian
or mainly so, doing all manner of hard
work, and my friends tell me of many
cases of little boys and girls from six
years up who are kept at work from early
morning till late at night. Under my own
eyes here is a boy of about eight who is
fetching and carrying, scrubbing and
cleaning, washing dishes and running
errands at all hours, and three times I
have had to hear him crying pitifully
under the beatings that they give him.
As I heard the blows I felt a hot desire
for retribution, and had to remind myself
that a stranger must step softly in a country
like Peru. He cannot move these moun-
tains of cruelty, ignorance and greed.
At such moments I can appreciate the
invective of a friend who says this is a
land of fleas and lies, disease and dirt,
a nation conceived in treachery, born in
crime, and perpetuated in cruelty and

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graft. The true symbol of Peru, he says,

is the wretched burro, covered with bruises,

bending under a filthy, flea-ridden driver

who beats him at every step.

Nevertheless and notwithstanding, the

people one meets are almost invariably

polite and frequently amiable. Thanks to

the church schools, they have cultivated

their manners, if not their minds; they

like to please their friends and acquaint-

ances and visitors. If they abuse the

orders below them, that is the custom

of the country; the burro and the Indian

were made to bear burdens and be beaten.

LIMA, September 25, 1919.

THE book — Peruvians of To-day — is

approaching completion; four hundred

pages are in page-proof and I am to deliver

the last biography to the printer to-

morrow. And because nobody who reads

these dull and arid pages — if indeed

anybody ever does read them — will have

the slightest idea of the labour and strain

they have cost me, I am going to put down

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139

a note of it. I have not only written in
my own hand practically every one of the
two hundred and forty odd lives, condens-
ing clouds of Peruvian rhetoric into a few
sentences of plain English, and often, of
course, writing a second or third draft,
but I have corrected the typewritten copy
and read proof. This is a heavy task,
because the compositor knows only an
occasional word of English and there is no
proof-reader. Consequently I have read
from five to ten, and even twelve proofs
of the book. This does not mean that it
is free from errors, I know of two, but
it means that I have paid the price of
reasonable accuracy. It means also that
since the middle of July I have worked
days, nights, and Sundays, haunting the
printing shop, which is infested with fleas
that exact a heavy toll for my invasion of
their bailiwick, and keeping my assistants
and the printing staff up to a level of
activity unknown there before.

Of the book I have nothing to say :
there is no need. If it is good, it won't
need my praise, and if it is bad excuses

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won't mend it. I .will send you the first

copy as soon as it comes from the binder.

LIMA, September 27, 1919.

ONE has to remind oneself frequently that

Lima is not Peru. Lima is old, degenerate,

a relic of the past that is dead — " dead in

trespasses and sins." Its spirit is that of

the Spanish Viceroys, the spirit of the

daughters of the horse-leech; it is a

confirmed parasite, and, securely seated

here at the principal port of entry and

receipt of customs, it sucks the sustenance

regardless of the welfare of its victim.

If Peru were Lima there would be no hope

for the future, since here there is the

spirit of the vulture over the carcase. But

every time one gets outside of Lima or

meets a man from the provinces one feels

a change of air. Planters, miners, sur-

veyors and explorers from the wide spaces

of the interior give a fresh and bracing

aspect to the land. They talk of the

future whereas Lima talks and thinks of

the past.

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What kind of a future can Peru expect ?
It is a question of population. The pre-
sent population in its present condition
can give no promise for the future. Either
the Indian must be washed, fed, taught
and regenerated, so that he can be a man,
or the land must be replenished by other
people*

It is a new picture of Peru that the
explorer and surveyor paints, a country
of vast grassy prairies, of great expanses
of forest, of mountain and fertile valley,
wide, free, unpeopled, awaiting the railway
and the plough. A Scotch firm here
began some time ago to raise sheep, and
now has great flocks on distant hills tended
by a score of Scotch shepherds. Another
firm is planning a great cattle range where
millions of Texas steers could find room and
to spare. And at every turn one hears
of railway projects, especially of the
famous Transcontinental, to run from the
Pacific to the River Amazon, and so
connect the oceans. It is an old plan
often discussed, forever about to be. It
will come in time and perhaps will bring

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the much desired American or European

immigration which is to swamp the Indian

and make Peru a " white man's country."

Quien sabe ? I have many doubts. Above

all I doubt whether the long-enduring

Indian of Peru will be swamped by white

immigration for many long years to come.

LIMA, September 29, 1919.

I HAVE been working, as you know, in

the University Library and have enjoyed

a post of great advantage for observing

this ancient seat of learning in full activity

— or inactivity; for surely there could

hardly be a nearer approach to complete

rest and absence of activity than is

exhibited here in the halls of San Marcos.

Most of the past three months, to be sure,

the classes have been halted by a strike

of the students, who demand more modern

instruction and better instructors, but

there is not much difference to be seen

between the University in action and in

repose. At the height of the strike there

were many noisy meetings and the hall

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143

of meeting next door to us, a hall which
resembles very closely some of the early
New England meeting-houses, fairly
rocked with the storms of eloquence and
applause and counterblast. Nobody can
deny the gift of oratory here ; one sees it
exhibited every day on the street, and here
in the cloisters on which our door opens.
The students in fact seem to give their
time principally to declaiming and expound-
ing something or other to whatever audience
they can find ; but for its full glory there
is nothing finer than the impassioned
student facing several hundred of his
fellows and fired with a sense of wrong.
The sight was an interesting one. The
speaker had the stage above the mass, who
sat in the body of the narrow hall, but
almost level with the galleries, jammed,
as the body of the house was, with eager
partisans, many of whom had speeches
ill-restrained in their chests. At every
telling phrase there was a roar of approval
or dissent, and at times the storm drowned
the speaker for several minutes at a time.
It seemed to be a kind of orgy of speech-

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making : sometimes a dozen were speak-
ing at once, but ultimately, without more
result than discharge of fireworks, the
meeting broke up into little groups who
harangued one another, worked toward the
gates, and scattered.

Ordinarily the place is still ; one or two
groups gather in the pleasant patios, walk
up and down posturing and speechifying,
and go away. The library, which in a
live University is the centre of action, is
hardly visited. The reading-room, where
all books are delivered, is often empty
and seldom has more than five readers.
One of the most regular visitors is a young
woman about whom we have joked, saying
that the fair sex has a twenty per cent,
representation in the University, for she
is one of the five who read.

The great building deserves better of
the time, for it is a charming shell of a
University. Truly it has no advantage
of situation, but is ill-placed in the flat,
dull middle of the town, and has no out-
look, none of the stimulating sweep of
landscape of Williams or Dartmouth or

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Wisconsin, nor the magnificent view of

Havana, but, once within its dull outer

walls, there are patios with fountains and

flowers and seats convenient for reading;

there are echoing cloisters and an upper

gallery with a long series of portraits of

Rectors and Professors such as probably

no other University on the Continent can

boast. But all is wasted ; the shell is

uninhabited. These so-called students are

mere casual visitants, and the spirit of

learning has no part in them.

LIMA, September 30, 1919.

WE have been having some amusement

over the drinking water supplied here.

Being of a cautious disposition, I formed

a habit, after leaving Panama, of drinking

bottled water only, and have continued

this custom, notwithstanding the gibes

of some of my friends and many assur-

ances that the drinking water of Lima

was thoroughly filtered, quite pure, and

could be drunk with confidence. Never-

theless, I persisted in my cautious course.

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A day or two ago, however, one of the
leading American authorities on hygiene
and tropical medicine turned up at the
hotel, and gave us a very convincing account
of the admirable methods followed at the
Lima Municipal Water Works, which he
told us were under the charge of a com-
petent American engineer. He described
the sound scientific method by which the
water was treated, first with alum to
clarify it, and later with chlorine to purify
it, presenting so cogent an argument as
to shake us both in our scepticism and
incline us to drink the water and take our
chances. Before quite yielding, however,
with some painful recollections of the
difference that could occur in Peru between
theory and practice, I prevailed upon one

of our friends, Professor A , to go up

to the water- works and see these excellent
purifying processes in operation. The
Professor went, and on his return, much
to our amusement, sent away the water
carafe from the table and ordered bottled
water. ".I went," he said, "to the
waterworks and found all the machinery

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as described, excellent devices and con-

trivances, and apparatus of the latest

model, and I found the man whose duty

it was to put the alum and the chlorine

into the water in specified amounts and

at a specified hour. The hour had just

passed when I arrived, and I inquired

whether the drugs had been applied as

specified. ' No/ was the answer, ' the

jefe was away and I was very busy, so I

omitted it.' Dropping the subject for a

time I returned to it somewhat later and

inquired casually whether interruptions

in the application of chlorine were frequent,

and discovered, as I might have surmised,

that from time to time when the man was

busy he just let it go." It is needless to

add that we are all now drinking bottled

water.

Apropos of water, a friend who was

here before the baths were installed at

the Maury, describes the ceremony of

getting a bath in those mediaeval but

recent days. There was then a large tub

mounted upon low-wheeled trucks which

could be drawn from room to room when

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required. One gave orders for his bath
as long as possible in advance, usually a
day ahead, and within an hour or two
of the time appointed the procession
moved solemnly across the patio. A man
in front pulled, a man behind pushed, one
on either side steadied the tub and bore
towels, and the rear was brought up by
one or more carrying buckets of hot and
cold water. The truck could be man-
oeuvred so as to pass through the doors
of nearly all the rooms. The procession
once safely ensconced inside, the doors
were closed. Most of the attendants, how-
ver, showing a persistent desire to be
Dresent at the ceremony, remained within,
and my friend declares that it sometimes
took a lot of persuasion and occupied no
ittle time finally to clear the room of the
entire curious group, and one or more of
them was almost certain to be found later
with his eye to the key-hole or whatever
>oint of vantage might be found. Baths,
ou see, were no trivial matter !

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149

LIMA, PERU,

October I, 1919.

PERU is variously described as primitive,

mediaeval, and capitalist. It is all three.

It is primitive, not only because by far

the greater part of its people is Indian

and possibly half of them, not even

speaking Spanish, retain their Indian

language, but also because it has many

primitive ways. It uses donkey-back,

human-back, and llama-back largely for

transportation, and clings to many crude

and ancient customs chiefly because they

are old. It is mediaeval in its religiosity

— Lima fairly clangs with church bells —

in its education, still largely in the hands

of the Catholic clergy, and in its lack of

hygiene. It is capitalist, for it has no

middle class, but consists of the magnate

and the serf. Its upper classes are, as a

rule, great landowners, who have on their

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ancestral estates entire communities of
Indians and other low-class labourers who
are essentially in a state of serfdom. There
are a few very rich men who have con-
siderable sums of liquid capital, e. g.
Fernandini, who is said to be worth
$15,000,000, Victor Larco, who probably
has half as much, and a score of others,
whose fortunes are believed to range about
$5,000,000 each.

The time seems to be propitious for the
entrance of new men and methods, for,
although Peru is capitalist, it is unex-
ploited and very responsive. For example,
until about three years ago, cotton and
sugar, which are the principal exports of
Peru, were almost entirely in the hands
of three old firms, W. R. Grace & Co.,
Duncan Fox & Co., and Graham, Rowe &
Co. When the new firms entered the
field they were welcomed, and to-day there
are the beginnings of a lively competition.
I am told that the same is true of the
banking business. Certain it is that the
Mercantile Bank of the Americas has had
a very active and prosperous career so far,

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FROM PERU

and I never pass its doors without seeing
a crowd before its counters. There is a
good deal of simple banking here, for the
use of cheques is growing, and there is a
good loan business not only with business
men, but also with planters and rich land-
owners, whose wealth is often in land
alone. Prices and wages are high.

The Peruvian is not a good business
man. Business standards are low, and
most- of the commercial business is in the
hands of foreigners. Fifty per cent, of the
larger business is said to be in the hands
of Italians, and a large part of the little
retail business in the hands of Chinese and
Japanese.

Meantime there are many signs of
development. One hears of new railway,
telephone, cable, and irrigation projects,
which are about to be put into effect, and
there are possibilities of a new era of
expansion. Cattle ranching, sheep ranch-
ing, new cotton and sugar plantations
seem likely to succeed. The great obstacle
may prove to be labour, for there is no
surplus, in fact a shortage of labour, and

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there is some doubt whether the popula-

tion of the country is not actually de-

creasing. That may not be serious from

the point of view of actual business and

profit making, for the reformation of the

country on modern business lines is afoot

and likely to go on, but for the long

future there must be either such an im-

provement in the living conditions of the

Indian as to let him increase and replenish

the earth, or there must be a great new

immigration. This is what the projectors

of railroads confidently expect and predict.

Meantime there are undoubtedly many

opportunities and favourable conditions for

business and for large scale investments.

LIMA, October 2, 1919.

ALL the world says that the Peruvians

are polite, and all the world cannot be

wrong. Some of my friends are inclined

to analyze the politeness of Lima, and to

reduce it to mere manners, but why look

a gift-horse in the mouth? Pleasant

manners, even if they be superficial, are

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153

welcome anywhere, and I should be grate-
ful for them even if I were sure that they
did not go very deep. In point of fact
I suspect that the politeness of Peru goes
as deep as any quality of the national
character, for I take it to be an inheritance
from the Middle Ages, a residuum of
chivalry. As little now as then is it a
guarantee of amiability, of gentleness, or
placability of character; rather, like the
sense of honour which sometimes accom-
panies it, is it an end in itself. Nowhere
are men more polite than on the duelling
ground, and I have heard men soberly
defend duelling as the ultimate guarantee
of politeness. Well, duelling continues
here as well as politeness, but behind both
there is a certain ruthlessness.

If one may believe what one is told,
there have been dark doings in Lima
notwithstanding its politeness. The recent
President, Jose Pardo, was very polite
and had a high sense of his personal
dignity, but when the mob rose last May
and his rule was in danger, he called out
the machine guns, and it is currently

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believed — in fact my secretary tells me
that the official records show — that over
six hundred people were killed. The
formal records state that three hundred
others were arrested and confined in the
Penitentiary on Fronton Island in the
harbour. What the story goes on to tell
is that of these three hundred the major
part were taken out of the prison at night
and forced over the cliff into the sea.
Perhaps the story is not true, but it is
widely repeated and believed among many
of the most polite people of this polite
capital.

The recent revolution, of the fourth
of July, and its sequelae afford other
examples. On the night of the revolution
a number of partisans of the new President
entered the principal opposition newspaper
building and threw bombs as near the
presses as they could get. They were not
successful in destroying the presses, but
did a lot of damage. No disavowal came
from any responsible source, although the
leader of the band was a well-known
supporter of the new Government. During

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155

the assault of September 10, on the same

newspaper, which I described to you in

a former letter, the police were with-

drawn and the Governor of the district

sat in an automobile observing the pro-

ceedings. When, on the following day,

a friend called on the President and

inquired whether the Government pro-

posed to disavow and denounce the attack

on the newspaper offices, the head of the

Government replied : " Why should I,

after all they have done to me ? " On

further reflection, two days later, he gave

out a statement to the effect that the mob

of 25,000 was a genuine uprising of the

nation, etc., etc., but it is certain that it

consisted of only a few hundred men of

the very lowest order, and it is said that

the Government provided three trains to

bring many of these to the city from

Callao, where rough characters abound.

LIMA, October 5, 1919.

So as to be in fashion, we are having

strikes here, and they are attributed as

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usual to all manner of causes, personal,
political, national, and international. One
hears much of conspiracies, Bolshevism,
Chilean agents, agitators deported from
America, and all the other furniture of the
street-corner authority who is as numerous
here as anywhere. Meantime the course
of the strike is more or less amusing. Last
night and to-day we have been without
light and water because of the electricians'
strike. At seven o'clock the house was in
complete darkness. Of course our hosts
knew the strike was coming, but the
mingling of heedlessness, improvidence,
petty parsimony, and fatalism common to
Peruvians, kept them from doing anything
until the blow fell. Then they scurried
around, found three or four candles, for
a house of twenty rooms and fifteen
guests, and sent the slavey out to buy
more, but of course it was too late and the
shops were closed. Having a fair idea
of the prospects I had bought a package
and was able to lend lights to three of my
fellow-sufferers. In regard to water the
same thing happened; the warning was

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157

disregarded, little or no water was saved,
and one or two were left without water to
wash in or to drink.

The head of the electric lighting com-
pany had acted in the same way ; although
he had received warning two days ago
that, failing an adjustment, a strike would
be called, he disregarded the notice,
treating it with the contempt that his
sense of dignity demanded, and the strike
found him wholly unprepared. In con-
sequence the entire city is in darkness
and more or less at the mercy of its criminal
classes.

It is the recurrence of episodes like this
which causes one misgivings about the
character of the Peruvian and the future
of his country. It seems to be almost
universal testimony that the Peruvian
does not improve on acquaintance. The
old resident, as a rule, is tolerant. If he
had not learned a certain philosophy he
could not have stayed ; but he has achieved
very often a tolerance tinged with con-
tempt. A business man remarked to me
to-day that the inferiority of the Peruvian

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was evident in the fact that practically
all the foreigners, Italians, French, British,
and American alike, succeed here and
make money, whereas many of them are
not especially able or intelligent. The
extraordinary success of the new American
bank, which has invaded the field of the
older banks here and carried off much of
the business, is laid to the Peruvian
management of the older institutions.

At every turn one hears the old com-
plaint that the Peruvian has no public
spirit, that his one idea is to exploit the
immediate opportunity and to provide
for his family. He makes no sacrifices
for the public, he doesn't believe the
public has any claim on him, but he has
the general attitude of a man at a lottery.
Life is to him a lottery, and having no faith
in justice, or " the square deal," of course
he makes no effort to establish them. His
world consists of exploiters and exploited,
and his ruling motive is to get in or to
stay in the first class.

Some of the consequences of this are
serious ; among them I suppose must be

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159

placed the gradual depopulation of the

country. It seems to be agreed that

when the Spaniards came Peru contained

probably three times as many people as

it has to-day. Under normal conditions

of increase of population it should now be

at least three times as great; in other

words, there are one-ninth as many people

as in the ordinary course of events there

should have been. But the decrease of

population continues. The engancheros

who go up into the interior to get labourers

for the great haciendas of the coast region

report an increasing difficulty in finding

men. The mine managers give the same

testimony and confess that they have been

driven to care for the health of their

employees by the growing scarcity of the

supply. From this in time much good

may come, for the present it is evidence

for the prosecution.

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161

LIMA, PERU,

October 6, 1919.

IT is Sunday night,, the second night

of candle-light (our own candles, too !),

for the strike, reported settled this morning,

is still on. This morning I walked up to

the Sunday out-door market which is

held on the wide Avenida Grau. It is

an old-fashioned affair, mingling, I am

told, with the native Indian customs some

Spanish. The booths are set up in two

long double rows along the avenue; on

one side the bulky things, coal, charcoal,

meat, bones, the larger vegetables; on

the other, small goods and miscellanies,

from foods and clothes, household fixtures

and hardware to books and corn-plasters.

The crowd which was dense and very

leisurely was dark of colour, largely

Indian , Negro, and Chinese, Indian pre-

dominating, and apparently quite aimless

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in its wanderings. I watched an Indian
boy buying a book, Pickwick in Spanish.
He approached the booth in an insinuating,
sidling fashion and inquired the price :
" Un sol," said the booth-keeper, non-
chalantly. The boy made a strategic
retreat. In a minute he was there again,
very like a fish at a baited hook. He asked
the price of another book, then casually
touching Pickwick, asked, " Se quiere
noventa centavos ? " The shop-keeper
shook his head. The boy took up two or
three other books and asked the price,
but without conviction and got answers
equally lack-lustre. He disappeared again,
but I waited for the end of the drama. He
came back. " Se quiere noventa-cinco ? "
" Un sol," was the uncompromising reply.
Then, rather heavily, he drew a sol from
his pocket, laid it down, took up Pickwick
with an air of ownership and went off. I
hope he will find it a good bargain.

I wound my way among the booths and
the slow-moving people, who seemed to
transact their business absent-mindedly,
as if it were incidental to some real business

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Sunday market

Snake-charmer in the market

An imp

FROM PERU

163

they might have somewhere else, watched
the many kinds of food, cooked and
uncooked — and heaven knows there are
manifold messes offered in the native pots
that nothing would tempt me to venture —
observed the children and dogs floundering
together beside the booths and the dark-
faced stream of rather unpromising mate-
rial for a nation, till church time.

It was a pleasant contrast, the deep-
coloured, sober English church, with the
three-panelled window behind the altar,
the Virgin Mother, flanked by David and
Dorcas, and the familiar symbols, the
dove and the lamb, the Alpha and Omega,
and in the chancel two other friendly
figures, St. Cecilia and the Good Shepherd,
in fine deep crimsons and soft blues. The
pews were of dark wood, the carpet was
red; these and the roof beams gave the
air of an English village church, infinitely
restful. And when, in a sing-song voice,
dimly reminiscent of chants in a Cathedral
close, the clergyman read the familiar
collects, and the choir led the old " The
Church's one foundation is Jesus Christ

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her Lord/' it needed little more than to

shut one's eyes to be transported far,, far

away from Peru and all her problems.

LIMA, October 8, 1919.

I HAVE to-day had the longest immersion

of my life in a funeral atmosphere ; I have

attended a state funeral in Peru. The

pomp and circumstance were appropriate,

if ever they could be so, for it was the

funeral of Ricardo Palma, whom his

panegyrists are comparing with Cervantes

and Shakespeare and Dante, but who,

without any question, was the most

considerable man of letters produced in

Peru, and has had few, if any, equals in

South America.

We heard of his death the day before

yesterday, last night his body lay in

state in the Merced, which is a sort of

State Church where the funeral services

proper were held to-day. The obsequies

were announced to begin at nine o'clock,

but at that hour the church was a black

cave in which the dim lights barely showed

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Ricardo Palma in 1870

Death mask and last signature of Ricardo Palma

FROM PERU

165

a white-clad priest and, at the far end by
the altar, the sentinel standing at attention
beside the catafalque. Twenty minutes
later the military had begun to take their
place and many people were in their
seats. As a representative of the Hispanic
Society, I was given a modest place where
I could see,, through the side door, part
of the cavalry escort. The church was
effectively set as a stage ; for it was hung
in black, not only the entire length of the
nave, but also the whole apse, making an
almost complete black chamber, picked
ou; with crosses and funeral wreaths in
silver. Against the black screen that shut
off the altar was placed a tabernacle,
white like a Greek temple, which covered
the casket, and before it was a bank of
palms and flowers. As always here, I was
surprised at the number of silk hats, of
uniforms, and at the amount of gold lace
in Lima. Certainly no small part of the
national income must go for the support
of the army and its resplendent officers.

The distinguished guests were still en-
tering when suddenly the strong chanting

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of men's voices came from the gallery
overhead. It was impressive music from
one of the old masses, and had some of
the quality of a Gregorian chant, deep,
reverberating, full of low, chest tones.
The accompaniment, too, of violins and
bass viols was appropriate and sadly
harmonious.

The service unfolded, with responses and
orchestral interludes, the people coming
and going as they do in these churches,
and the solemn Mass marching on with
dignity and leisure.

The solemnity was broken in a manner
entirely natural to the place, by the
entrance of several of the Indian porters
of the church, collarless, unwashed, and
unkempt, bearing four huge candles,
taller than themselves, which they set
up in their proper places and essayed to
light. Again and again they attacked
the mountains of wax with their flambeaux,
but in vain, meantime absorbing the
interest and attention of the congregation,
and at last the most unkempt of the lot
fetched a ladder, placed it in front of the

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•

Two aspects of the cemetery

Interior of the Cathedral

FROM PERU

167

main aisle and mounted it. There he
operated, far more conspicuous than the
officiating clergy, the ineffaceable Indian,
dominant factor in Peru.

The music and the chanting resumed
their sway, we knelt and rose, sat and
knelt again, we heard the military bands
outside repeating the great strains in time
with the orchestra in the gallery, and at
the high moments I caught through the
open door the picture of the cavalrymen
rising in their stirrups and flashing their
sabres in the salute to the dead. At last
it closed; we reached the door, under the
guidance of my friend Tello, who is an
Indian and also a Deputy, and therefore
knows his way about, in time to see the
procession pass out, the white and brown-
clad monks, book in hand, still chanting,
the black-clad pall-bearers and members
of the family, and then the blaze of gold-
laced uniform when the army and navy
men came into the sunlight.

We caught one of the numerous carriages
provided by the Government and entered
the long line that trailed away to the

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VII

cemetery, through streets crowded as I
have not seen them crowded before on any
occasion. The people stood on the side-
walks, were thick at the corners and
blackened the doors and windows. I hope
much of this meant respect for the dead
author, who deserved all this and more,
but doubtless part of it was curiosity, the
wish to see the gilded state coaches, the
statesmen and all the gold-laced, silk-
hatted throng.

At the cemetery there was more military
display, more music, and then a flood of
oratory over the bier. No fewer than
five distinguished men made funeral
orations, full of eloquence, of flowers of
speech, of rising periods, of mournful
tropes ; but, as one remarked to me, with
hardly a concrete fact about the man or
his career or his work. Probably, as was
explained, the speakers did not know the
facts, and in Peruvian oratory they arc
superfluous, anyway !

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169

LIMA, October 12, 1919.
I HAVE asked myself why it is that
nearly all the books that have been
written about Peru have been so encomi-
astic, although everybody I meet here is
so out of conceit with the country. I
suppose nearly all of those who have
written came here under selected condi-
tions, at the right time of year ; they were
received on their arrival, they were
"personally conducted" to the Cathedral,
the Palace, the University, and the best
houses; they met only the " best people,"
and they did not stay long. I think it
also likely that when most of these books
were written it was easier to ignore or
remain in ignorance of the lower classes
than it is now. The war has made a
difference, and to-day it is difficult to forget
the dirt and wretchedness of the mass of
the people. Moreover, the upper classes
themselves are more presentable on parade
than in their e very-day attire and manners.
No doubt one of the things that cause our
discontent is that we cannot easily adopt

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the attitude of superior to inferior, which
is almost inevitable, whether one deals
with the upper or the lower classes. The
air and manners of our Peruvian acquaint-
ances at the top call for treatment as
equals, to say the least; they call for the
treatment of adult to adult; but in fact
we find that often they are not adults,
but children, petulant, irresponsible, way-
ward, inconsequential, often charming, to
be sure, yet certainly not grown-up persons.
The Peruvian's stock of information is
often mere hearsay; he seldom verifies
anything, rather prefers the fiction that
is exciting to the fact that is dull ; he does
not read books, most of the serious books
published here are given away. As I
may have mentioned before, I am told that
of Professor Ross's book, South of Panama,
only ten copies were sold here ; an author
tells me that of his book, a work highly
praised, he sold only twenty-five copies;
of many books published here only two
hundred copies are printed. There is a
branch public library and reading-room
here which I have visited; in its book-

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171

cases there are a few cheap reprints and
thirty or more old volumes, more or less
tattered, all covered with dust, and on the
tables a miscellaneous collection of anti-
quated periodicals, likewise dusty and
disorderly. The floor is unswept, and the
room has the air of a forgotten lumber-
room, yet I have seen youths wander in,
sit down, turn over the ancient, dusty
periodicals and give it up apparently with
regret. As a rule there is not so much
enterprise, and apathy reigns undisturbed.
Books are looked at only by the few, and
then to make a showing in public.

Of the lower classes there need be no
argument : it may be gravely doubted
whether the Peruvians in general are
sufficiently grown-up to believe in the
modern world. They seem to be still
pre-Baconians ; they probably accept the
doctrine that the world is round, but
certainly reject modern science in general,
with its ideas of hygiene and cleanliness
and popular education, none of which
has much footing here. They regard
nearly all the propositions of physicians,

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scientists, and teachers with a Chinese
superiority as the vagaries of impertinent
people,, interrupting for a moment the
settled course of things, but soon to be
forgotten. Their real world is one of
traditions,, charms,, amulets, holy water,
sacraments, and fate. In the hospitals
here there are English and American
nurses, but their authority is limited by
the Madres of the religious order whose
rule is absolute over a great part of the
menage, and they are not permitted to be
present in the men's wards at night because
it would be immoral. Wherefore many
patients die. This, however, doesn't
matter if they have received the final
sacraments; in fact, their end is often
hastened by covering them tightly with
sheets, and even blankets, so that the
other patients — the wards are ail open —
shall not be distressed by knowing of their
death.

How is one to arrive at a modus vivendi
with a civilization like this? The older
method was to confine one's relations to
the few who were distinguished, polished

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173

citizens of the world; but this method,

though convenient for the traveller, would

hardly serve for a resident or for anybody

who had business to do. He must accept

the philosophy of those who live in countries

where there is an inferior race. India,

Egypt, South Africa, the Southern States,

Cuba, Mexico, and South America all

demand the same philosophy, and a sense

of humour. If one can smile, all may go

well, if he can't much may go ill and his

contentment will certainly be lost. One

must say to oneself : " Stop trying to

apply your Northern or Anglo-Saxon

standards to another stock; stop trying

to explain their actions by your mental

processes, theirs are different, they start

from other premises and run to other

conclusions. You might as well try to

add four o'clock and four pounds of butter

as to assimilate your mental processes to

those of your Latin-American brother ; the

two are incommensurable."

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i75

LIMA, PERU,

October 13, 1919.

ONE of the most amusing of our Sunday

excursions was that to Lurin, the station

nearest to the famous Inca ruins of

Pachacamac, which lie about thirty-five

miles south of Lima on the coast. Dr. and

Mrs. Leavitt and I had the good fortune

to go on the same train with a party made

up of the editors and contributors to the

Mer curio Peruano, the one serious literary

magazine of Peru. They had a private

car and invited us to share it, thus saving

us from an unsavoury experience ; for few

things are less pleasant than a journey in

a crowded Peruvian car with no air, much

invisible company, and many smells. Our

literary friends were a silent company at

irst, for good cause, as we soon learned,

for when we were half-an-hour out an

attendant appeared with cakes and coffee

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and sandwiches and pisco, a native
liqueur. It appeared they had set off
without breakfast, and now, after a bite
and a dram and a cigarette, an air of
gaiety came over the company. The sun
appeared and the sea came in sight : we
were running between sea and mountain
with glimpses of verdure in the hollows.
Our young editors grew increasingly
vivacious as we got farther from Lima.
It was soon clear that most of them had
never been so far in this direction before.
At every fresh glimpse of mountain and
sea their interest was delightful to see.
We came in sight of cattle, and at the
gambols of the calves our friends gave
naive and boyish expression to their glee.
" Mire ! " " Mire ! " " Vamos a ver ! "
" Que curiosa ! " " Mire ! " they called
one to another, and ran off into voluble
and rhapsodical utterance. The train
circled and twisted round a low mountain,
and every curve called forth fresh exclama-
tions and wordy expositions.

We were sorry to part from them, but
we were going to see the church and take

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HISPANIC NOTES

La Calle Colon

JK 'te^^fll

•

Cross in the churchyard

Typical house in the village

FROM PERU

177

lunch on the beach, both of which things
we accomplished, not without difficulty.
The church was sadly out of repair and
had no other interest than its decrepitude,
but at its door there stood one of the most
tawdry and puerile crosses I have seen
even here. It was cheaply made and
had the effect of a small boy's attempt.
Nothing was lacking, from the cock on the
top to the cross-bones at the bottom.
There was the ladder and the spear, the
pole by which the vinegar was passed,
the scales, the garments, the thorns, the
hammer, and every implement used in the
tragedy, all of the cheapest material and
of the poorest possible construction.

We passed along the ways of the little
town — though old and long used and
named vain-gloriously Calle Colon and
Calle Bolognesi, they could hardly be
called streets — and saw with interest the
houses of the place and all the simple
house-keeping open and visible, with
chickens and dogs, pigs and donkeys and
children all sharing democratically in the
comforts of home. Nothing is simpler;

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the entire equipment of some of the houses
is a brazier,, a table, a few pots and a
sleeping-bench. We were soon in the
open, walking between walls of adobe
over which cotton bolls wavered in the
soft wind; on and on we went, with the
sound of the sea in our ears as if close at
hand, but seeing only the distant water,
until suddenly we topped a little rise and
found a wide sandy beach at our very feet.
It was no longer Peru, but the universal
sand and sea. Soon we began to notice
great clouds of birds that swept and
circled in the heavens, settled on the
beaches at a distance and fairly blackened
the broad yellow strand. These were
Peru, no other country boasts such
multitudes of sea-fowl. There we had
our lunch on the sand, looking across
to the islands. We might almost have
been alone in the world, so still it was.

We had picked up a guide by the way,
a peon who had discreetly withdrawn
when we began our lunch and now reap-
peared from behind a dune to show us the
way back. He was a tatterdemalion, but

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Courtyard

Our guide

FROM PERU

179

full of language of the loftiest, except when

it failed him. Then, like Mark Twain's

guide, he lapsed into inarticulate uhs and

huhs,, as, for example, when he tried

to tell us of his master's wealth — " Land :

many hectares, uh ! — mil ; diez mil ;

muchos — uh ! " and tractors? "si, el

tiene; muchos, muchos; dos — diez —

veinte — muchos — uh, huh ! "

We wandered back to the dusty road,

re-visited Lurin, wondering as one can

never cease doing, at the air of infinite

apathetic acceptance of the dirt and dis-

comfort of the ordinary life, discomfort

which a few days of energetic work would

remove, and came back to the train. Here

a little later we were joined by our editorial

party, who, though accompanied by two

literary archaeologists., one from Boston,

had not succeeded in finding the famous

ruins which cover nearly a square mile.

LIMA, October 14, 1919.

As I am my own " advance agent " and

publicity staff, I have of course cultivated

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the acquaintance of the newspaper men

here. They are like their kind the world

over; keener,, quicker, more alert and

mercurial than their fellow-countrymen

and responsive to the passwords of the

guild. We have made common cause

over the difficulties of the game, have

become confidential over old stories of

circulation, advertising, " scoops," and

special editions, and there are proof-

strewn editors' dens in which I feel much

at home. One of them is occupied by the

son of Peru's greatest writer, no wielder

himself of the bow of Ulysses, but a weaver

of quaint tales with a taste for old books

not too saintly. There is another with

whom I can claim no intimacy but whose

story if I could tell it would make my

fortune : a solid, suave, well-barbered,

well-tailored figure, the model business

man, who yet is believed to be at the

bottom of every revolution on the coast

and whose adventures in getting clear of

his own machinations would make an

Arabian Nights story. A third editor

and manager belongs to the class of wary

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A Peruvian conception of President Wilson

Non Facciamo Confuzione
— i Y con que objcto hace
ustcd poner ese ro'tulo, don
Mariano, en el local del
proximo Congreso ?

-1'or nada casi. . . . Es
para que el pais se vaya
fljando y no incurra e
lamentable confusion con
la pr6xima Sociedad Pro-
tectora de Animales.

Characteristic pose of President Leguia

FROM PERU

181

administrators; old to the ways of news-

paperdom, whose eyes are on the balance

sheet and whose attention never leaves

the cash account. Not one of them has a

first-rate equipment, but like some old-

fashioned cooks they manage to turn out

surprisingly good dishes of news and

comment with very inferior materials and

appliances. In fact the best expression of

the Peruvian genius I have met thus far

is in its journalism and in the cartoons

which brighten both the newspapers and

the magazines and of which I have pre-

served two examples — a characteristic

pose of President Leguia and a Peruvian

conception of President Wilson.

LIMA, October 16, 1919.

LET me send you a few general conclu-

sions about Peru as seen from Lima. As

Franck in his book on Mexico, etc., calls

Honduras the land of " No Hay"— (" There

isn't any ") — so one might call Peru the

land of " Mas 6 Menos" ("more or less ';).

Nothing here is exact. No information is

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quite correct. If you ask six people when
a boat sails or a train leaves, you will get
six answers, and if there be three in a com-
pany no one of them will think of making
sure, but all will set to arguing why it is
as each thinks. In a bank when a question
arises as to an account there will be a
forum, but nobody will go to the books
and look it up until he is ordered to do so.
Men in high position when asked for a
specific fact will sit, as the Librarian of the
University Library did yesterday, close to
the book which contains the information
required, and expound their view of it
and consume half-an-hour in futile specula-
tions. (This was about the number of
books required to be deposited here to
secure copyright. I have asked six or
seven persons of intelligence and have as
many opinions, but nobody looks at the
law, which I have to search for myself.)

There are practically no fixed prices, so
that you may pay three times as much for
the same article within two blocks, and,
whatever price you pay, you have always
the uncomfortable feeling that you are

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HISPANIC NOTES

FROM PERU

being cheated. This on the lower levels;
on the higher, when defalcations occur, as
they do not infrequently, it is practically
impossible to secure either redress or
punishment of the offender, because every-
body makes it a family affair. " Of course
it was bad, but he was a man of good ante-
cedents and always bore himself well — and
it might have been worse." Offenders are
frequently arrested with a great air of
severity, but in a day or two have disap-
peared from jail and are far away.

Peru has no foreign debt, a fact of which
some of her public men make much in
their speeches, but a friend tells me that
the Government loans outstanding in banks
and corporations total nearly four million
pounds, about $20,000,000, which would
be a fair-sized debt for a small country
even at five per cent., but at the eight or
ten, which it pays, is large. My informant
thought it typical and characteristic that
the part of this loan which pays the
highest interest, ten per cent., is in the
German bank here.

The President in his recent inaugural

183

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address says he has contracted for the
long-talked of Paita-Amazonas railway.
I believe he has a project of a concession
and has discussed and initialled it, but I
do not understand that the other party has
any capital,, and I know that only a third
of the route has been surveyed. The state-
ment is well intentioned and "mas 6
menos " correct.

The general testimony is that the mass
of the people are fairly honest. One of
my friends who has been here thirty years
tells me that in the interior the general
opinion is favourable to the Indian's
honesty. Whereas everybody here believes
that if a Chilean gets a chance at goods or
money he will take the lot, it is under-
stood that you may leave money in sight
of the Indian of Peru and he will only take
two or three soles, a tax, so to speak. He
is honest, mas 6 menos.

The laundries here are ludicrous. The
best require twelve days to wash your
clothes, and charge from one and a half
to five times American prices. If you want
your clothes in a week, it can be done, but

VII

HISPANIC NOTES

FROM PERU

185

at double prices, that is to say, twenty cents

for a collar, etc., more than my collars

used to cost me in New York. When they

come back they are frequently clean — mas

6 menos — though I have often seen them

returned less clean than when they went.

LIMA, October 17, 1919.

I MAY have told you that since I found

the hotel intolerable I have been living in

the Paseo Colon, which is the principal

avenue of Lima, a very broad continental

show street with a park-way in the middle,

where there are palms and urns and shrubs

and statues, " all along in a row," and

drives on the sides, and showy houses with

broad sidewalks, the only broad side-walks

in Lima, before them. At one end of the

half-mile avenue are the Exposition Palace

and the Zoological Gardens, fronted by two

marble lions, where you may dine on a

verandah and hear the live lions roar. At

the other end, set in a circle, not unlike

the Dupont Circle in Washington, is the

Bolognesi Monument, which one of my

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friends says is the saddest monument in
the world, for every figure is dead, dying,
or weeping. He goes on to say that it is
the spirit of Peru in sculpture, for Peru is
still immersed in her great defeat at the
hands of Chile when Bolognesi fell.

LIMA, October 24, 1919.

MY wife and the boys have arrived ; the
book is finished and all the formalities of

publication and copyright are fulfilled;
we have said our farewells and to-morrow

we set sail. Interesting as the visit to
Lima has been, if half that is told us of
the strangeness and glamour of Cuzco is
true, yet more interesting experiences lie
before us.

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HISPANIC NOTES

The Bolognesi Monument — " the saddest monument in
the world"

The Lions of the Paseo Colon

FROM PERU

187

Near MOLLENDO, PERU,

October 27, 1919.

WE left Caliao on Friday evening and

have been steaming ever since along the

most inhospitable and desolate coast on the

globe. It can only be compared to its

counterpart that runs north of Caliao to

Guayaquil, making a stretch of 1700 miles

of utter waste. It is sand and rock, un-

relieved by dwelling, tree, or shrub; a

thousand miles contains not a single blade

of grass, island and promontory are alike

arid, grim, and forbidding, the only life

that of the sea-fish and the fishing birds that

make the sole wealth of the islands of the

guano deposits.

Midway of our course we stopped at

Chala, one of the ports, hardly more than

an open roadstead. There are desert

settlements, I am told, in Turkestan which

are comparable to this, a disorderly

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collection of wooden and adobe buildings
straggling along the sandy slope, grey and
brown, with no blade of grass. From this
dreary settlement emerged a dozen boats,
large and small, manned by barefoot oars-
men and handled with surprising skill,
which soon swarmed about the ship to take
off the cargo and passengers. They had
nothing to bring us, for this is a cattle port.
There ensued a babel of noise. Cattle
handling seems always to be attended by
clamour, and the Chalaons evidently had
the custom of vociferation. At one time
there were five boats in a knot at the gang-
way, every boat with three or more dis-
hevelled, barefoot, shrill-voiced raga-
muffins, all giving orders, yelling warnings,
objurgations, curses and maledictions in
fluent and apparently comprehensible
Castillian. Their skill and watermanship
deserved all praise; their boats bobbed
about like corks, colliding and rebounding,
rubbing and grinding, while they continued
to catch trunks and bags and boxes and
huge bundles from the ship, moving them,
with a thousand instructions, from boat to

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HISPANIC NOTES

FROM PERU

189

boat with almost incredible skill. They
left us at last, perched toppily on piles of
baggage and freight that brought their
gunwales perilously near the water's edge,
and we weighed anchor and left the dismal
shore.

I think we might have sailed past Mol-
lendo without the passengers knowing it;
yet it is a town of about eight thousand
people. 1 here is neither tree nor shrub,
nor any notable elevation, and the town
lies so close to the desert, and has so little
change of colour, that it appears from a
distance to be merely a darker patch in
the vast shelving stretch of browns and
yellows and grey. On closer view it shows
the sordidness of aspect common to the
region. With the customary clamour,, but
with a suddenness and rush almost discon-
certing, the fleteros were upon us, battling
for our trunks. We were soon aboard one
of the little launches, brought up along-
side a tall stone wall, and were hauled up to
the top in a swinging chair, which caused
the ladies no little alarm. There followed
some anxious moments while we gazed

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across at the boat coming with our bag-
gage,, and the time for the departure of
the train grew closer and closer. But the
fleteros proved equal to the crisis; soon
half a dozen Indians appeared, each with
a trunk on his shoulders; the Customs
agent kindly passed all without examina-
tion on the strength of my literary mission ;
with a final rush we captured the train,
and settled down in the very last seat of
the last car, where we found a calm and
restful coign of vantage for the marvellous
journey we were beginning up to Arequipa.
Any one who has taken the journey by
rail from Vera Cruz to Mexico City has
experienced the rise from level to level and
the circling and winding, the doubling on
the course, and the recurring sight of the
high mountains. All is repeated here
under another sky, in a desert atmosphere,
with all the heights and levels barren and
bare as a sand-box. We climbed and
doubled with many glimpses of the sea, and
twice saw fertile valleys, green and yellow,
divided like checker-boards, and full of
sugar-cane; after three thousand feet we

VII

HISPANIC NOTES

•i

The sea-shore at Mollendo

FROM PERU

191

came out on the pampa " La Joya," a level
like the plains of Afghanistan, desolate,
barren, dreary, and dotted with singular
formations of bluish sand-crescent dunes,
exquisite in outline, carried all this dis-
tance from the coast and smoothed by the
wind into forms of exact and perfect pro-
portion. Past hundreds of these bluish
decorations we crawled across the yellow
plain, seeing beside us the giant forms of
Misti and Chinchu, towering ever higher as
we approached. The plain ceased ; we came
to a region of deep canons, broken into all
manner of forms, opening profound deeps
under our feet, with dizzy heights and gaps
and levels all in the yellow brown, un-
relieved by a blade of green, except in the
valley of the Chile, beside which we
travelled much of our journey. Part of
the time it was like a journey along the rim
of a gigantic contour map done in clay, but
as we continued the valley widened from
limpse to glimpse : first a tiny ribbon of
reen, soon it grew to a broad band beside
the river, and then swelled to fields and
pastures, emerald green, cultivated, and

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well-ordered at the bottom of the steep

slopes.

AREQUIPA, October 28, 1919.

THE city of Arequipa is a contrast at all

points to Lima. We entered it at sunset

last night with all the banners of the sky

ablaze across the breasts of the snow- topped

mountains and felt in the tonic,, bracing air

a new climate. All day we have been

feeling the impression deepened. The

Cathedral, lofty, white, serene, chaste, and

noble, calls to mind the clutter of most of

the Lima churches, and even the Cathedral,

to make them seem lower and quite inferior.

The people, quick and eager, the children

playful and happy, the burros, less beaten

and depressed, the shops, modest and

clean, all belong to another type of life.

All testify to the influence of mountain air

and water and the ever-present sublimity

of the white peaks that tower over the city

in the dazzling sunshine.

Arequipa has an air of dignity that

extends to its clubs and shops. We are

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HISPANIC NOTES

FROM PERU

193

continually remarking on the contrast with
Lima in the greater cheerfulness of the
people, men, women, and children alike;
on the greater humanity to horses, burros,
and dogs, and on the fact that the boys
and men can be heard whistling in the
streets. The people of the better class
conduct themselves with a manner of quiet
dignity which is pleasant to see, and the
churches have the atmosphere of solidity
and affluence. Here, in fact, one touches
a vital matter. Arequipa has been, and is
still, a stronghold, some say the chief
stronghold, of the Church in Peru. It is
full of churches, monasteries, and nun-
neries : its streets are often black with
priestly robes, which in olden times were
regarded with reverence not unmixed with
fear. That day has passed. The prevail-
ing disregard for Church authority has
spread even to these remote places.
Whereas even a dozen years ago the sound
of the procession bell announcing the
passage of the Host through the streets
was enough to bring every one, passer-
by in the streets, and clerk in the stores,

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to his knees, and all knelt when the Bishop
passed along the Plaza, now both events
are regarded with indifference. Whereas
the priest could count on a clear path when-
ever he chose to walk abroad, to-day he has
an even chance and no more on the side-
walk. The clergy retain their influence
over the women, but with the men their
day is past. The mayor-domo at the
Observatory declines to attend on the holy
fathers when they come a-visiting : " Let
Juan," the Indian helper, " do it, I
have no patience." There is little in their
lives to inspire especial respect. Stories are
numberless of their easy virtue, their self-
indulgence, their profanity. As to the
lack of austerity among them, their ruddy
faces and corpulent forms are adequate

testimony. My friend, Mr. M , has been

telling me of three typical priests, one the
village priest of Caillima, who blessed the
tombs in a stertorous voice to the accom-
paniment of a band, six flutes and a drum,
all drunk, ending, " Pax vobiscum : Ahora
pasamos al otro," receiving his two soles and
hurrying on to the next, and then invited

VII

HISPANIC NOTES

The Church of San Agustin

A beautiful Colonial entrance

FROM PERU

Mr. M to lunch, setting before him

wine, beer, whisky, cognac and pisco. He

told also of the well-known Father X of

Arequipa, whose profanity and obscenity
exceed all records and make him notorious
far and wide, and of the genial canon of
the Cathedral, who sympathized with him
in the affliction of a bad cold and proposed
that they take a big drunk together on
the quiet.

There are a good many well-to-do
families here and a few that are rich, but
there is little spirit of enterprise. The
general disposition is to hoard, and many
still bury their money under the floors of
their houses. It is an old custom, and
from time to time earlier hoards, tapados,
are unearthed. Many search for them,
and they lead to crime. A grim tale was
told me of an old woman and a son who
took a room in an old house where a
tapado was believed to exist. After some
time there were rumours about the tapado,
and one day the room was deserted. The
woman was found dead in the irrigation
ditch at the foot of the garden, and

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under the bed was a hole from which it

appeared the hoard had been abstracted.
The son was gone, and has never been
heard of since.

The hoarding habit is a symptom of the
suspicion, timidity, and ignorance of the
community. It indulges in no enterprise,

ventures no money in projects, turns a
jealous eye on the plans of foreigners, and
when they succeed seeks only to hamper or
to seize the enterprise it did not dare to
enter on. Which makes the path of the
foreign investor thorny and perilous. In
fact the American or Englishman who
comes here must be reconciled to leave his

own century and revert to medievalism in
many of the affairs of life. Habits of mind
and customs of action which our world has

forgotten these three centuries are still
the rule here.

AREQUIPA, October 29, 1919.

AREQUIPA provided us an unexpected
adventure in hotel hunting. We had tele-
graphed ahead to reserve accommodation,

VII

HISPANIC NOTES

Looking down the street

FROM PERU

197

but when we arrived we found that the
hotel-keeper had forgotten his promises
and there was no room in the inn, nor, it
appeared, in any other inn. Night had
fallen when we came to a pension, to
which we had been directed as the last
chance. As I entered the courtyard it
came home to me that we must stay here
at all hazards, and with this resolve I
attempted my explanations to the family
that kept the pension, seated round the
table at their evening meal. It was in
vain that they assured me with the most
persistent and reiterated asseverations that
there was not a room to be had ; with the
picture in my mind of the family wander-
ing about the streets of an unknown
town, I felt myself bound to be persuasive.
I pointed to the large sitting-room, at that
moment unoccupied, inquired whether that
was not a sofa that I saw before me, and
asked whether it would not be possible to
put another beside it and lay rugs on the
floor for a shakedown for the boys. Little
by little their resolution wavered and
amusement succeeded to the first mood

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of opposition. As they explained to my

wife a little later, they could not help

laughing at the audacity of a stranger who

came into their house and told them he

was determined to stay, and proceeded to

upset all their arrangements to make it

possible. They surrendered, made up for

us some improvised beds, and on the

morrow two of their guests departed and

we spent a few days very pleasantly in

what turned out to be the most comfort-

able inn in the long line of our travels.

It is, moreover, a quaint house with de-

lightful corners, and, as you will gather

from the photographs which I am sending

you, the views from our windows were

superb. We are quite sorry to leave.

AREQUIPA, November i, 1919.

WE shall remember this mountain city

with pleasure. The mountains themselves

which are always visible in this air, sharp

and dominant in the morning light, calmly

impressive in the afternoon, solemnly beau-

tiful at sunset, and towering in shadowy

VII

HI SP ANIC NOTES

bo
O

FROM PERU

199

benediction at night, give an air of peren-
nial dignity to the place. Air and sky and
the brown masses recall El Paso, bits of
northern Mexico and parts of Colorado.
The ripple and gurgle of the water down the
streets and in every garden one visits give
constant reminder that this is a desert
district saved from desolation by water.
The ever-present burros are another sign
of the desert. Few things are carried by
wagon, but morning, noon and night the
feet of the burros click and thud over the
cobble-stones.

One is waked before dawn by the burros
bringing every manner of produce to
market, the unshod feet making a steady
shuffle to the accompaniment of the Mula
Mula, and the long-drawn S — S — S — S of
the Indian arreiros, like a sustained exhaust
of steam. More than once I have got up
in the early hours of the morning and
looked down from the balcony into the dim
street rilled with the grey forms of burros
laden with sacks, bundles, sides of beef, and
carcases of sheep. Even more striking is
the great quantity of dried carcases of

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sheep offered for sale in the market and
piled up like cord wood in the warehouses.
A scene in the market the other day, when
three women sat around a charcoal brazier
on which was a pile of singe'd sheep's
heads, had all the flavour of Asiatic desert
life.

One is constantly baffled by the mixture
of Spanish, Moorish, and Indian elements in
the town. The ride by automobile from
the Plaza in Arequipa to the Harvard
Observatory is one of the most surprising
and unexpected little journeys imaginable.
Setting off past the Cathedral and through
the streets, which seem to be filled with
churches and solemn little shops, we
crossed a stone bridge of the Roman fashion
and turned along the main course of the
irrigating stream into a street so narrow
that the automobile scarcely passed be-
tween the houses and the water, which was
rimmed on the other side by a long, low
wall pierced with squat doors, each
evidently the entrance to a habitation,
like a series of caves. A bit farther we
swung around a corner, grazing both sides

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HISPANIC NOTES

FROM PERU

2OI

of the narrow way, an ancient street not
unlike those of Pompeii and certain ancient
parts of Naples, the doors the only open-
ings, and the interiors darkly mysterious.
At every turn we wondered at the skill of
the driver, who steered his automobile
around corners apparently impossible,
along ways hardly wider than the machine.
We advanced to the accompaniment of a
tremendous fanfare of horn and bell, mak-
ing a vast din in the tiny streets, which
were cleared on our approach, babies and
burros and dogs being hustled into door-
ways, to let us pass. Half-a-mile of door-
ways, a village of stone shacks and sandy
streets, and we emerged on a country road
with mountains around us, and in the fore-
ground terraces rising level by level to
the water supply and all green with fertile
growths. So we came to the Observatory,
a bit of Cambridge transplanted here, and
had tea in a spotless room looking out
on a veranda, beyond which rose the mass
of Misti, 20,000 feet up and eight miles
away.

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AREQUIPA, November 2, 1919.

PERUVIAN medicine, like Peruvian reli-

gion, especially in the provinces, is still

to a large measure in the period of magic

and incantation. One of our friends has

been describing to us the treatment given

to a horse, ill of what the local " vet "

called typhoid. The prescription is por-

tentous ; it is : —

3 quarts of milk.

i quart of vinegar (to curdle the milk).

3 tuna leaves.

3 eggs.

Coarse brown sugar to taste.

3 quarts of olive brine.

3 pints of sweet oil.

i melon.

Leaf lard, from the shoulder of the pig.

Alcohol ad lib.

To be ground into a mixture and poured

into the horse's nose, one quart at a time,

three treatments at brief intervals. Mean-

time sweet oil, mixed with one quart of

turpentine, is to be rubbed with one finger,

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HISPANIC NOTES

FROM PERU

203

to the accompaniment of appropriate in-

cantations, over the body. Incredible as

it sounds, my informant, the head of the

Harvard Observatory, tells me that the

remedy was actually applied, and I believe

the horse survived. This is only one of

many such remedies of which one hears :

another being the favourite treatment for

the swelling caused by colic, which is to

place a large quantity of ashes on the

back of the horse or cow and over this

pour water.

En route to Cuzco,

November 2, 1919.

WE are at the highest point of railroad

of this region, Crucero Alto, 14,600 feet

high, and in the midst of the first thunder-

storm, in fact the first real rain we have

seen since we left New York. About us

stretches the vast plateau, brown and

yellow and grey. Yonder a band of

llamas huddles together for common pro-

tection against the storm, and jagged light-

ning flashes among the clouds. The ride up

from Arequipa, which we left this morning

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at half-past seven, has been a satisfying
experience of distances and towering
mountains. Everywhere vast stretches of
desert-brown and yellow and grey, grey
and yellow and brown, and, until the train
reached the top, blue sky over the treeless
desolate wastes. Now we are among the
clouds, for on this side the moist winds
from the Atlantic reach the summits. The
aspect of the landscape changes. Here
there is some herbage and some of it is
actually green; here the outlines of the
mountains are less rugged and the land-
scape is less grim. Our speed has more
than doubled; we are sliding down the
slope with brakes set. In the valley below
us runs a streamlet, and yonder,- between
two hills, a lake, the first we have seen in
Peru. In the hollows among the hills
little bands of llamas and alpacas are
grazing, lifting their delicate camel-like
heads to regard us scornfully as we pass.
Here and there on the slopes are round
corrals of stone, like relics of an older
civilization. We are swinging round
curves, doubling and coursing and weaving

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Llamas grazing

Llamas . . . regard us scornfully as we pass "

FROM PERU

205

figures among the heights, while endless

valleys and numberless hills unfold their

pictures, satisfying the soul with their

majestic distances and titanic proportions.

Beyond us the clouds lift and reveal a

mountain lake backed by a jagged moun-

tain wall, purplish and black and grey

over the gloomy water. Now the soil

changes and the rocks, which have been

grey, turn to reds and yellows with great

lumps of what looks like volcanic tufa.

The note of green grows stronger in the

vegetation, and we slide down into a valley

where the soil is cultivated in neat, orderly

fields and there are houses of stone and

adobe with thatched roofs, which look

well from a distance, but on closer view

present the usual appearance of wretched-

ness and provoke the usual exasperated

comment on the three and a half centuries

of government by Spain and the Church.

En route to Cuzco,

November 3, 1919.

WE passed the first unpleasant night of

our travels at the Gran Hotel Ratti of

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Juliaca. There were no vermin, and the
beds were clean, but every hour was un-
comfortable. The rain, which had begun
in the afternoon, increased and fell in
streams and gusts nearly all night. The
hotel is an irregular hollow square, enclos-
ing a big courtyard paved with cobble-
stones and none too clean. The dining-
room, which, like all the other rooms of
the place, opens on the yard, is dim,
draughty, and barren. White men, Indians
and dogs continually pass to and fro and
nobody ever closes the door. Our room,
a great square enclosure with a bed in each
corner, was chilly and inclement, being,
in fact, no more than so much cubic space,
and evidently so regarded ; for the servants,
ill-kempt, dirty, slouching Indian boys,
entered on whatever errand without knock-
ing or other ceremony. They wear their
hats and use no trays, but carry things,
one by one, in their hands, crossing the
courtyard with a cup of coffee open to
the cold and rain, putting it down and
withdrawing to fetch another in the same
manner, all in a prehistoric silence. And

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so we had our tepid coffee in our draughty
chamber, separated from the room above
by a single thickness of board, where
every sound is audible, and we had lain
awake until nearly four in the morning,
listening, perforce, to a group of roysterers
upstairs.

The sun is setting among the mountains
as we approach Cuzco. All day we have
journeyed in altitudes from 13,000 to
14,000 feet up to the high point at Santa
Rosa and down on the eastern slope. In
the morning we passed over great moors,
sometimes swampy, edged with the deso-
late brown mountain slopes we have grown
familiar with. On the levels we saw a
number of circular, shallow ponds, which
looked as if they had been made with in-
struments of precision, and had the appear-
ance of enormous dinner-plates. Every-
where we saw herds of sheep and llamas
and cattle watched by Indian women, who
were often spinning at their work ; and at
every station we saw groups of morose
descendants of the Incas, clad in rainbow-
hued ponchos, and regarding us with lack-

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lustre eyes. After passing the apex we
noticed many differences. This eastern
slope was in ancient times more immediately
under the direction of the Incas and irriga-
tion was developed to a high degree. Here
we found water used with skill and con-
sequently crops, houses, clothing and every
corollary of living on a higher level. As
we descended we saw occasional trees;
the houses began to show tile roofs; we
thought the women showed more spirit and
self-respect.

The moors ceased and disappeared ; we
came into a long valley, that of the river
Villcanota, which belongs to the Amazon
system, and entered among canons with
snow-capped mountains wreathed in mist
and great buttresses projecting into the
valleys. At several stations we saw groups
of Indians dressed as if for a holiday, and
at Sicuani we saw several hundred who had
apparently been interrupted by the rain in
the midst of a religious procession, for many
were grouped at the church door and others
were in shelter all along the street, with
their symbolic standards leaning against

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209

walls and doors. Below Sicuani the valley

grows finer and is at points really beautiful.

One of the villages seems a model of order

anil neatness. The road descends rapidly,

giving a magnificent series of mountain

vistas, chasms, canons, far-sweeping views

oi range over range, and winding narrow

corridors beside the river along which the

train swings and sways. The range of

colour is surprising after the dull skies of

this morning, deep reds and silvers,

copper and emerald and russet-brown,

pink and lavender and black shadows follow

in an endless race until one's eyes tire.

Cuzco, November 4, 1919.

WE came into Cuzco as night was set-

tling over the city, found our friend Dr.

Giesecke waiting for us, and rode in the

ubiquitous Ford up the rough, sloping

streets to the old Hotel Colon, low and

broad and squat, that faces its Plaza and

looks like the central building of a mediaeval

Italian hill town. We had dinner in a

room where there were dining also the

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members of the newly established Regional
Congress, and after a long, leisurely meal,
sallied out for a look at the Cathedral by
evening. The Doctor guided us past the
dusky towers of the Cathedral to a building
on the opposite corner, where great blocks
of masonry showed dark against the white
paint. These were the remnants of an
Inca building, and still as solid after all the
vicissitudes of history as if they had been
laid in their courses yesterday. We passed
our hands over their smooth surfaces and
their faultless points with a sensation akin
to reverence. I have seen much masonry
from Rome to Mexico City, but none like
this which has continued to impress me
as I have seen it more.

Yesterday and to-day I have felt some
discomfort from the altitude, but have
visited the famous churches of Cuzco,
which embody nearly all of the history of
the city save for the Inca remains, and have
made shift to incorporate into their walls
no small part of the splendid stone work
of the former civilization. First, the
Cathedral, a great, brown stone mass with

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211

an immense landing, leading down by
broad steps to the level of the Plaza,
and two square towers filled with bells.
Within there is a dull, subdued glow of
gold from the heavy gilt picture frames,
and the gilded gratings and altars of the
chapels that run down the side aisles to
the main altar. The interior is arranged
as that of the Cathedral of Mexico, the
central aisle, which includes the choir,
being enclosed toward the doors and open
toward the great altar. Thus the worship
of the chapter can be conducted without
regard to the ministrations or frivolities
of the public in the outer shell, and the
clergy from their beautifully carved stalls,
facing the noble altar, a mass of silver,
can rise to heights of secure contemplation.
Whether they do, one may doubt, for the
stories current in Cuzco are not calculated
to increase one's reverence for the padres.
A closer examination of the Cathedral,
the choir, the chapels, and the sacristy dis-
closed many signs of poverty and decay;
altars, stalls, vestments, all bore evidence
of departed glory and present neglect.

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They showed us the Van Dyke Christ on
the Cross, the one art treasure of the
church, now kept behind an iron grating
because it has been stolen once, and called
our attention to the frames of the other
paintings, much in need of re-gilding. We
soon perceived that this was the prevailing
tone of all the church life of Cuzco. Every-
where the same song of regret, of the glory
departed. We visited the churches and
monasteries of the Jesuits, San Francisco,
the Merced, and San Domingo ; we saw acres
of mural painting, paced miles of arched
cloisters, saw many ample patios and well-
designed gardens, wondered at the exqui-
site carving of choir stalls and the noble
array of aisle and chantry, of stairway, of
refectory, and library, and marvelled at the
amplitude of these great foundations, at the
energy of their designers and the wealth
of which in their prime they must have
disposed; but the paved ways, broken
and lacking stones, the long lines of mural
paintings, lacking portions of the story,
with mere fragments of their once splendid,
gilded frames, now hanging disordered and

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Patio in the University

An old house with balcony

FROM PERU

213

discoloured, the choir stalls with gaps like

those of missing teeth, the effigies of saints

ill-clad and in disrepair, all told the same

story. Here is the worn and dishonoured

garment from which the living owner has

departed. The age of the builder has

gone, the age of the believers has passed,

the age of those who wondered and admired

has passed too ; there remains only the age

of the sordid custodian, profiting where

possible by the alms or the fees of the

gullible.

Cuzco, November 6, 1919.

Cuzco lies in a valley with hills rising

nearly a thousand feet behind it. In the

rainy season, which is just beginning, clouds

circle round it and showers fall suddenly.

Most notable of the hills is that of the for-

tress of Sachsahuaman, the tremendous

construction of the Incas, which completely

dominates the town. It occupies the crest

and terminus of a ridge 700 feet high, and

so encircles the points of approach with

three levels of defence as to make an

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assault by foot soliders practically impos-
sible. In its time it must have been
unequalled, and even now compels the
admiration of every student, not so much
for the extent and massiveness of the work
as for the exquisite detail of the stonework ,
which very probably has no equal in the
works of man.

On a smaller scale, but no whit less
impressive, are the remains of the Temple
of the Sun, situated in the heart of the
town and almost entirely obscured by
the great church and convent of San
Bias, which is built over, and of the
original materials of, the Temple, in a
way to remind one of the Cathedral of
Mexico built of the materials of the Aztec
Teocalli, of the Pantheon turned to the
uses of a Christian temple, and of the
Mamertine Prison enclosed by a church.
What is left of the Inca temple is a curving
wall to delight the heart of a stone worker,
about twenty feet high and perhaps fifty
feet on the base line, with a combina-
tion of curves involving calculations of
the utmost delicacy, and probably im-

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HISPANIC NOTES

Curving wall of the_Temple of the^Sun

Wall showing Inca, Colonial, and modern construction

FROM PERU

215

possible without the use of geometric

instruments as well as long practice and

skill. Probably the world contains no

example of stone-cutting and fitting com-

parable to this, and as one passes his hand

over the surfaces and the exquisite joint-

ing, and then turns his eyes up to the

Spanish stonework which covers and

encloses it, the contrast is like that between

a Roman bridge and a flimsy, modern iron

structure. Neither in the plan nor in any

detail is the comparison anything but

unfortunate for the later work.

We went out in the evening in spite of

a cold, drizzling rain, to take another look

at the Inca stonework in the Prefect's

building in the Plaza. It seems to me to

be explicable only on the theory of guild-

work, an achievement of close organiza-

tion, jealous preservation of trade secrets,

and long, severe apprenticeship.

Cuzco, November 7, 1919.

THE most impressive experience that

Peru has had for me is the visit to the

famous Inca ruins of Sachsahuaman. They

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are stupendous in their extent,, in their
splendid situation, forming a triple row on
the brow of a hill which completely domin-
ates the modern city, as it must have done
the ancient Inca capital, and also in the
vast size and imposing workmanship of
the individual units of stone.

On a sunny morning it is a notable and
exhilarating climb to the top; first, the
ancient, narrow streets of Cuzco, past
churches and convents and along straight,
stony ways where burros and llamas crowd
and shoulder one another, then along a
wide path between stone walls and beside
a tiny, rippling stream bordered with grass
and flowers, like a mountain streamlet,
shining in the sun. Gradually the path
grew steeper and more broken; soon the
battlements of Sachsahuaman came into
view, solid as parts of the mountain, and
apparently as immovable. We mounted
rapidly, passing rank on rank of these
gigantic monumental stones which defy any
competition from masons of any other age,
vast, ponderous, adamantine, immovable,
yet carved with the nicety and precision of

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HISPANIC NOTES

FROM PERU

217

diamond-cutters' work. It is difficult to
convey the sense of satisfaction which one
derives from these mountainous rows of
blocks, so vast in mass and weight and yet
so delicate and precise in their adjustment.
Reclining at the top among the cyclopean
rocks, with the bloom of yellow flowers
growing in the interstices, under a sky of
lovely blue with fleecy clouds, and sur-
rounded by the buzzing of bees and the
chirping of birds, I recalled a day at
Paestum among the Greek temple ruins
and a friend's description of Agrigentum
and Syracuse. The semi-tropical sun,
the sense of antiquity, the great and
mysterious works of the past, the sky
and the warm, caressing air, make an
experience unapproachable on this side of
the continent.

One feels the influence of the old rulers
and builders all about him. Across the
narrow cleft of valley lies another mass
of stone surmounted by what is called
the Throne of the Inca, a rock carved
into seats not unlike those of the top
row in the little Roman amphitheatre at

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Fiesole, and near by is a smooth slide
worn in the stone and named the Devil's
Slide, used it may be by the Inca sentinel,
but now become merely a means of diver-
sion for the tourist. Of course these ruins
are rich in tales and legends. There are
a dozen stories of underground passages
leading to treasure hoards — for the Incas
surely had vast accumulations of gold
which escaped the rapacious hands of
the Spaniards — which are still being
sought for and of which fragments are
occasionally said to be found.

Our second visit to the famous Temple
of the Sun has been quite amusing. Dr.
Giesecke, who has devoted himself with
infinite kindness to our instruction and
entertainment, had arranged with the
clergy at the monastery church to per-
mit us a special view this morning.

It is a sight jealously guarded and, being
within the monastic enclosure, straitly for-
bidden to women. But my wife, pos-
sessed of the full spirit of curiosity of the
daughters of Eve, desired to enter; so we
devised a plot. Leaving her in the church

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FROM PERU

219

above we went and viewed the sight, and
as we returned, seeing the coast clear, we
gave her the signal agreed upon; passing
quickly across the threshold into the for-
bidden territory of the monastery, she
gained the inner door and came down
beside the temple wall, no one preventing.
We returned unmolested and, tempting
our good fortune, were about to pass into
the cloisters, but this was more than even
our good angels could permit. At this
moment an acolyte in the distance, catch-
ing sight of a woman in the monastic
precincts, rushed towards us as if horror-
stricken, waving his arms, crying, " No
se permite las mujeres. No se permite ! "
With the blandest look of surprise that
we could muster we expressed our regrets
and withdrew within the common level
of the church. But the adventure had
been successful, and my wife is still glow-
ing with satisfaction at being the second
woman, in recent times at least, who has
crossed these well-guarded thresholds, Mrs.
Bryce being the only other who had
preceded her.

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Many other impressions of Cuzco will

stay fixed in our memories, of the

churches, of the Temple of the Sun, of

the Cloisters of San Francisco, of the

University, of plazas and patios, of the

charming visit to the country house of

Dr. Giesecke, of the shops and the markets

and the Indians, but over all will persist

the dominant influence of the dead Incas,

with their unconquerable patience and

uncanny skill, of which Sachsahuaman

towering above the city, is the final and

enduring symbol.

Cuzco, November 8, 1919.

IN closing a memorable visit to the

historic seat of Inca civilization, one has

to record again an experience at variance

with the current reports and predictions.

Just as in Lima, we found the reports

unduly roseate and spent four months in

comparative discomfort where the glamour

of past glory had nearly faded away, and

where the veneer of modern civilization

was conspicuously thin, so here in Cuzco

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221

we found the reports of a city of filth and

stench quite exaggerated. The absence

of sewers and the use of the unpaved streets

for all purposes is open, unashamed, and

shocking, as it is in Arequipa ; but so long

as the water flows in the channels the con-

dition is far from hopeless, and we were

less offended by sights and smells in Cuzco

than we had been in Lima. We had heard

much superior, smart, and satirical com-

ment in Lima about " dirty Cuzco : what

could you expect from an Indian town? "

etc. We had been led to expect a condition

of primitive disorder. We found a city of

20,000, with streets, plazas, churches, shops,

and houses that compare favourably with

any other Peruvian town, with a noble

cathedral, a dignified university, fairly

comfortable hotels, and customs of life and

business no whit inferior to those of

Arequipa and Lima,

Between Cuzco and SICUANI,

November 8, 1919.

THE ride up from Cuzco to Sicuani,

where we are to sleep, is through a valley

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inhabited by Indians of the Quichua stock,
descendants of the Incas and preservers
of many of the Inca ways ' and habits.
The effect is one of great distances, the
valley stretching far away on both sides
with many little valleys debouching into
it and all cultivated or grazed, a land-
scape dotted with Indians* farming or
herding and wearing the inevitable poncho,
often red, usually brightly coloured, and
the round peaked woven caps with ear
tips, the women with wide skirts, mantas
containing babies or bundles over their
shoulders, and flat, pancake hats. They
are an industrious people who, with a
little instruction in science, hygiene, and
cleanliness during the past three hundred
years, would have made themselves a well-
to-do and prosperous people long ere now.
But that has never been Spain's way.
Among the impressions I am carrying
away from this her latest colony of South
America, is that of short-sighted, purblind,
infinitely stupid exploitation. It is the
impression of a band of adventurers
coming upon a people weak but indus-

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HISPANIC NOTES

The Alcalde of the market with staff of office

Portrait of a llama

FROM PERU

223

trious, loyal and over-organized ; subduing
them by guile and force, treachery and
cruelty, and, by incredible fortune, retain-
ing their position as conquerors with
their feet on the neck of a prostrate,
patient, laborious race of slaves. As time
passed the adventurers formed a close
corporation to monopolize their exploita-
tion, excluding others as far as they could,
and gradually mixing their blood with
that of the subject race until there re-
main few of the original stock who are
not part Indian.

The numbers of the Spaniards both in
Peru and in Mexico have always been
exaggerated. They were never more than
a handful among their slaves, the thin-
nest of thin veneers on the surface of the
Indian mass, which increases the wonder
that the exploiting conqueror was never
overthrown.

Yet meantime they have kept alive
the spirit of the insolent, haughty, and
unscrupulous invader. No consideration
for the inferior race enters their calcula-
tions, but the one policy steadfastly pursued

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is that of subjection and exploitation,,

keeping the Indian helpless and squeezing

the last drop of profit from his toil. Every-

where, in monastic halls, in newspaper

offices, at dinner-tables, in clubs, and in

academic circles I have heard the same :

with rare exceptions, such as the Larco-

Herreras and the British Sugar Company,

the exploitation of the Indian continues

relentless and greedy as ever.

Near SICUANI,

November 8, 1919.

THE life of the market-place must have

played a large part in the civilization

of the Inca and of all the earlier people

of the continent, for it is most conspicuous

and flourishing in the oldest seats of the

native stocks. At Cuzco and at Sicuani

we have found markets crowded with the

Indians in their ancestral attire, buying

and selling and bartering ; but, as it seemed

to us, chiefly passing the time, finding

the market an end in itself. I have been

told of many cases in which the native

merchant, selling oranges or toys or

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HISPANIC NOTES

Little Church round the Corner/ Sicuani

FROM PERU

225

potatoes, has refused to sell the whole
of her stock in hand, responding, " But
then I should have nothing to do."

The market at Sicuani this morning
recalled vividly that at Zumpango, Mexico,
which I saw in April, 1914. Both towns
were seats of the older civilization, and
both are chiefly notable for their markets.
Sicuani has the advantage in colour, for
the Indians of this part of Peru are addicted
to bright raiment: the men to rainbow-
coloured ponchos and woven woollen caps
of many hues, the women to bodices of
blue or green, sometimes adorned with
gilt or silver buttons with bright mantas
besides, and flat circular hats divided
into segments and ornamented with colours
and gilt braids. In both markets alike
the vendors squat in rows with their
little stocks of goods spread before them
on a cloth or blanket on the ground, heaps
of potatoes, beans, fruits, sacks of wheat,
little bundles of herbs, bits of woven goods,
bundles of bark, spoons, knives, beads,
odds and ends. Along the rows of offerings
pass the buyers, testing, bargaining,

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chaffering, but all in quiet tones and with
restrained, sober manner. Never have
I heard loud voices or turbulent action
in a market, but the habitual stolidity and
taciturnity of the Indian prevails.

Yesterday evening we had an amusing
time bargaining with an Indian girl for
a silver brooch which she wore in her
manta and offered us. She invoked the
aid of her companions and we had an
animated exchange of question, offer,
rejection, protestation, argument, smile,
depreciation, re-offer, feint of withdrawal,
ultimate offer, and final agreement, all
with a wealth of good humour and banter
such as we have seldom met with in Peru.

For an hour and a half we have climbed
the valley of the River Villcanota with
great brown heights rising on either side
of us and giving occasional glimpses of
snow-covered peaks in the distance. As
we have withdrawn from Cuzco the trees
and houses have grown fewer, the patch-
work patterns of cultivated land running
up the hill-sides have grown less frequent,
and on the high slopes have been replaced

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227

by stretches of brown moor and yellow

hill-side dotted with llamas and sheep.

LAKE TITICACA,

November u, 1919.

I AM repeating the familiar experience

of finding the famous and long-anticipated

scene far from startling or exciting. Lake

Titicaca has little of the exotic about it,

hardly seems strange, in fact, but might

be an old acquaintance. To be sure the

mountains yonder are the Sorate, Illampu,

and Illampi, and the masses of ice and

snow that look so natural that they almost

miss being impressive are the gigantic

peaks twenty thousand feet in height

about which some writers have grown

hectic. But what is interesting to me

is the exceeding naturalness of the scene.

The sunlit waters of the lake, stirred by

a fugitive breeze, the sloping shores

scantily wooded and often bare, the farm

lands, rather cold and reluctant to bear

crops, the tonic, sub-acid air, and, beyond,

the towering crags and stupendous moun-

tain masses deep in eternal snow, might

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be a scene from the Canadian North-West
or even our own New Hampshire Lake
Winnepesaukee, as I have seen it in spring
or fall, only vastly magnified.

There are, of course, other aspects of the
scene : the queer reed rafts or boats
never had a counterpart in any New
England craft; the villages, with their
rough stone houses, the haciendas, tiny
principalities in themselves, the " An-
denes," cultivated terraces of soil trans-
ported by hand and tilled with infinite
pains, that ridge and line the rounded
hills, some of them almost as old as the
mountains themselves, some of them new
as the Indian ponchos, the Indians them-
selves in rainbow-coloured ponchos, loung-
ng on the wooden wharves at the landing-
places and gazing with impassive faces
Dut rounded eyes at our little steamer
and the Yankees : these are remote enough
"rom New England.

The records show that there can be
storms and tempests on these waters, but
t is hard to realize it under the mild sun-
shine, and on the smooth waters of to-day.

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HISPANIC NOTES

•I

Views of Lake Titicaca

FROM BOLIVIA

229

LA PAZ, BOLIVIA,

November 16, 1919.

LA PAZ can have few, if any, rivals in

picturesqueness either of surroundings

or of contents. It is set in a valley among

towering mountains on some of which

gleams perennial snow, and within its

streets moves a throng of bronze-faced

Indians wrapped in the many-hued pon-

chos of the Aymara. This morning we went

down the steep streets to the Sunday

market and found a thousand Indians,

men and women, squatting on the side-

walks behind their wares, fruits, vege-

tables, coffee, cocoa, shoes, caps, belts,

all manner of odds and ends, and flowers

of which there was an abundance and

variety to delight the eye. It reminded

me of the flower market of Mexico City

on Easter Sunday, and added another to

the impressions of community between the

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Indians north and south of the Equator.
The race is one and the same : the varia-
tions are superficial.

In the afternoon we looked in at the
Cathedral, a somewhat bare, white, place
with the air of a conventicle rather than
a Roman church, the only note of affluence
given by a few massive candlesticks of
silver and the brocaded altar seats. There
was a service in progress and the voices
rose and fell monotonous as a fountain.
Indians knelt or squatted in the aisles,
a few of the gente decente occupied seats,
and the solemn mummery droned its
dreary course along. A little later we
spent a few minutes in San Juan de Dios,
an old church also dull and poor in its
furnishings, but elaborately adorned for a
festival with tinsel and flowers, and a
wealth of incongruous electric lights.
The streets were infinitely more interesting.
There the stream of Indians in chrome
and purple and ox-blood red passed,
varied by the burro pack-trains, the
German-trained soldiers, the upper class
people in black cloth and silk and high-

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HISPANIC NOTES

FROM BOLIVIA

231

heeled shoes. They passed and repassed

over the cobble-stones and the narrow

sidewalks, between houses of pink and

blue and yellow with red-tiled roofs that

dipped steeply on the sudden slopes of

the mountain streets.

LA PAZ, November 27, 1919.

FEW and meagre are the intellectual

interests of this town. There is little to

satisfy the love of art or letters, and, in

fact, there are few outlets for any active

curiosity, except in the bald material

things ; 'though the newspapers contrive

to fill their columns, much of the matter

they print is derived and paraphrased from

other journals, much of it is of a false or

trivial interest; there is not a single

magazine in the whole Republic. We are,

in fact, witnessing at this time an attempt

to found one called Atldntida, the first

number of which I have seen in proof.

So it is not surprising that archaeology and

collecting play a large part in the lives of

people who have leisure. I have been told

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of the collections in the National Museum
and in Professor Posnansky's " palace/'
which I expect to visit, and I have now
been to see two other good private col-
lections. The first is that of Dr. de Rada,
the Secretary of the House of Represen-
tatives, who lives in a modest house on
a side street which was occupied, I be-
lieve, by his father before him and his
grandfather, who began the collection
which has been continued and added to
by his descendants, so that now de Rada's
collection is fairly representative of the
colonial and later silver work, of the
Indian wood carving, leather work, weav-
ing and weapons. We have passed several
hours among these objects, finding our
curiosity aroused over the relics of the
Indians and especially over their idols,
the tiny replicas of which appear to have
been carried by everybody and found in
everybody's grave, but sharper even than
the curiosity one feels is the poignant
sense of regret that people who could do
things as good as these should have been
swept away. For while one need not take

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FROM BOLIVIA

233

too seriously the great claims of men like
Posnansky who compare Tiahuanaca with
Mycene and Troy, there was a touch of
grandeur about their works and an in-
stinct for form and beauty in their handi-
craft; but both architecture and handi-
crafts appear utterly to have disappeared
from the world of their present day
descendants.

In the house of Colonel Federico de
Medina we found another quite charming
little collection, occupying two or three
rooms which the owner had arranged in
excellent taste. Here, again, were idols
and weapons, feather work and wood
carving, and weaving of remarkable wealth
and colour, reminding us of the display of
burial cerements in the house of Dr.
Prado y Ugarteche at Lima. It is a
fascinating sort of collecting to do, and
Colonel Medina was fortunate in that his
military duties in the remoter parts of
the country gave him extraordinary oppor-
tunities. He told us that he picked up
most of his best specimens through Indian
messengers and workmen, and sometimes

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from the old Indian market-women.

Within fifteen or twenty years he has

thus been able to assemble a collection

which gives a representative idea of the

arts and crafts both of the pre-colonial

and of the colonial periods.

LA PAZ, November 28, 1919.

I HAD the opportunity to-day to see

the House of Representatives of Bolivia

in session, and found it a curious spectacle.

It is the first deliberative assembly I have

seen in which the members speak sitting

down and smoke as they talk. This

exceedingly casual and free-and-easy pro-

ceeding is all the more disconcerting

because the Chamber is as formal, dig-

nified, and conventional as any other.

It is an oval theatre lighted by a sky-

light of coloured glass, with a pit where

part of the members sit, a slightly raised

dais all around it, about the level of the

speaking desk where sit the rest of the

members, and two public galleries above }

nearly if not quite encircling the theatre.

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A typical street in La Paz

FROM BOLIVIA

235

The skylight is large, covering the whole
centre or pit of the chamber, and the
effect is unusually good.

When we entered, a well-known journalist
and politician, Senor Ituralde, was speak-
ing, leaning slightly forward in a lounging
attitude in his chair and pausing from time
to time to puff at his cigarette. The
members, others of whom were smoking,
appeared to listen politely but with faint
interest, and the few persons in the gallery
gazed about with curiosity at the various
members present. Despite the apparent
lack of dignity and absence of strict
decorum, the atmosphere of the House,
and of the Senate of which I have had one
or two glimpses, has no savour of disorder,
but is rather homely and easy-going, like
that of a country house.

In general La Paz is rural and frugal,
without evidence of extreme poverty or
ostentatious wealth, and with many of
the ways and manners of a well-to-do,
old-fashioned village, retaining probably,
as Lima, Arequipa, and Cuzco seem to have
done, some of the restricted fashions

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and antique ways of the Colonial Period.
Of course, it has yielded to the universal
fashion of modernity, and strives to look
like a little Paris or New York. Its archi-
tecture is fortunately not nearly so modern
as appears, for most of the buildings are
old, and even those that have modern faces
still retain within their gates the spacious
flower-decked patios with old stone stair-
ways and galleries that give a definite
charm to most of the streets.

One still finds some colonial houses in
all their simple, old-world dignity, and
one is constantly catching glimpses through
open doorways of little rain-washed patios
and carved stone facades, some of which
have a noble air. This evening we turned
to look through one of the great entrances
with its ponderous wooden doors, designed
as if to resist a siege, and saw the loveliest
bit of decorative stone carving that I can
remember anywhere. It was a low colonial
front with a wide, curving staircase of
stone on which the carving ran from the
balustrade to the top of the arch, where
it was crowned with a coat of arms so

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.§>

A Colonial front with coat of arms

FROM BOLIVIA

237

exquisitely done that one could not only

read the coat, but the spirited motto itself

in its old Spanish, QUEBRARA MAS MI FE E

NO FARTARA.1 I made some enquiries but

was not fortunate enough to come upon

the historian or antiquarian who knew the

story of the house, but we shall remem-

ber with delight this glimpse of the possi-

bilities of colonial life in old Bolivia.

.
LA PAZ, November 29, 1919.

I HAVE had several interviews with

President Gutierrez Guerra and find him

a very likeable person. He is a large,

loosely-built, brown man, with brown hair,

bushy brown beard, and brown English

tweed clothes, with kindly twinkling eyes

behind old-fashioned glasses, and a cigar-

ette which he smokes with the manner of

yesterday. He might pass for an English

country gentleman of the last generation,

and I fancy has more or less unconsciously

modelled himself on the English statesman

1 " I will break before my faith and I will

not yield."

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of an earlier day, for he spent several

years in English schools, and has in his

veins some of the blood of Lord Palmerston.

He receives his guests in the Hall of

the Diplomats, which is the conventional

solemn chamber, hung in crimson, with

heavy damask curtains at the windows.

red velvet carpet on the floor, and red-

upholstered gilt furniture ranged along

the walls. He enters in the easiest, most

unaffected manner, greeting one with a

smile as he approaches and beginning

to talk as he takes his seat. He speaks

English with the hesitation and slight

stiffness which go with lack of practice

and with the careful correctness of the

foreigner, and yet, nevertheless, with an

unmistakable English accent. We chatted

of Bolivia, of my errand, of the United

States, and of England, and I left with

the feeling that I had formed a friendship.

LA PAZ, November 30, 1919.

WE have had lunch to-day with " Pro-

fessor " Posnansky, one of the most

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-X S,

Professor Posnanskv

FROM BOLIVIA

239

remarkable men of Bolivia, in his " Palace
of Tiahuanaco," a great stone structure
which he has built to serve as a museum
and also as a reconstruction of the fam-
ous Palace of the pre-Inca civilization on
the shores of Lake Titicaca.

To begin with, the Professor is not a
Bolivian but a German Pole, whose father
was with Maximilian in Mexico, and who
apparently inherited the spirit of adven-
ture. After some strenuous experiences
on the Amazon where he became involved
in the fighting between Bolivia and Brazil,
he came to La Paz, and was granted rights
of citizenship. Meantime he became
interested in the archaeology of Lake
Titicaca and Tiahuanaca on which he has
become an authority, all of which is nar-
rated in Bolivians of To-day.

The " Palace " is a stone building of
two storeys and a basement, not yet
finished, but already housing the National
Museum and the Government meteoro-
logical service, both of which I believe
are yielding a return. Posnansky has
presented a considerable part of the

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collection to the nation, and retains in the
same building his private collection.

We had lunch, Dr. and Mrs. Leavitt,
Dr. de Rada, Senor Jaiiregui, Mrs. Parker
and I, in what would probably be called
the Directors' Room, a long chamber,
lined with cabinets topped with idols
and skulls, and with a very fine mounted
skeleton near the head of the table where
we sat. At the other end of the long table
were Posnansky's three sons, tow-headed
young Prussians of seven, nine, and eleven,
whose pranks diverted us, and who were
described by their father, with due anthro-
pological data for the classification, as
the "Scientist," the "Priest," and the
" Business Man." Mrs. Posnansky was
vaguely referred to, but was not present,
nor did any of us meet her while we were
in La Paz.

The lunch was Bolivian, of Bolivian
dishes, served by Bolivian Indians, and
conducted with some Bolivian absence
of ceremony; for example, the dumb-
waiter to the kitchen below being un-
finished, the dishes were passed up by

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HISPANIC NOTES

FROM BOLIVIA

241

hand, and one of the ladies declares she
was startled by seeing a dark hand appear-
ing through the floor and waving in the air.
When our host wanted to hasten the
service he bent down from his chair and
tapped vigorously with his fork on the
floor. The dishes were Bolivian : soup of
meat and vegetables, including half
potatoes and sections of green corn, cob
and all, fricasseed hare, ground corn
mixed with egg and flavouring, and baked
in the folded husk, roast chicken, stewed
fruit, and red Bolivian wine.

The conversation turned on archaeology,
on the differences between the Aymara
and the Quichua Indians, on the use of
gold by the pre-Inca people, and on the
decorations of the Palace of Tiahuanaca
which were reproduced on the walls around
us. Posnansky was disposed to claim
very high rank for his pre-Inca friends,
putting them into the same class with the
builders of Troy and Mycenae, but we
were not quite ready to follow him so far.

After lunch we passed through a highly
decorated " Tiahuanaca " door into the

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music-room, where Sefior Jauregui played

for us on the piano some of the plaintive

and rather monotonous Aymara music,

which is based on the pentatonic scale.

LA PAZ, December i, 1919.

THE difference between Bolivia and

Peru has not ceased to impress us. Peru

seemed old and weary, Bolivia is young

and hopeful. Peru was dirty, Bolivia is

comparatively clean, La Paz, the one

thoroughly clean town we have seen.

No doubt this is largely due to rain and

the tilt of the streets, but it is clean. So,

speaking generally, are the people. Most

of all the Indians of Bolivia have a bearing

of self-respect very different from the

Peruvian Indian, who wears generally

the abject and despondent air of a beaten

hound. Of course, there were exceptions

to this also; we saw some Indians with

a manner of dignity near Sicuani, but as

a rule the Indian of Peru is a downcast,

miserable thing, which the Indian of

Bolivia is not. The Peruvian is likely

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HISPANIC NOTES

FROM BOLIVIA

243

to tell you, with an air of satisfaction,
jthat the Indians of Peru were more
thoroughly subjugated in the Conquest,
which has kept them from being trou-
blesome since. It is a poor basis for
complacency. To-day the Indians of
Peru, nine-tenths of the population,
are wretched, dispirited, feeble creatures,
inferior in peace and in war, gradually
dying off in disease and misery for want
of the essentials that make life interesting
and worth living.

In Bolivia, too, one hears that the
Indians are diminishing in numbers, but
facts are lacking and appearances are
against the opinion. The women and
children one sees in La Paz and all along
the railroad look cleaner, fresher, better-
fed, and happier than those of any part
of Peru we have visited. The Indian in
Peru seems to accept his lot with the
hopeless fatalism of the low caste of India,
but in Bolivia he seems often to flaunt
his race in the face of the white man. He
wears his gorgeous orange, red, or purple
poncho with a flourish, and often fairly

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struts in his brilliant plumage. The

women have developed a costume, now

more or less Cho!o (half-breed), but essen-

tially Indian in origin, which is distinctive,

striking, and worn with pride by many

who are well-to-do. The tall straw hat,

the coloured shawl, the short skirt, often

brilliant as a rainbow, worn with or without

shoes and stockings, is a costume that has

no note of inferiority, but occasionally

suggests a pride of race very reassuring

for the future.

LA PAZ, December 3, 1919.

LA PAZ awakens many reflections. Its

situation is so strange, its history so notable,

its climate so unusual that one is tempted

to treat it as a city wholly exceptional.

But it must take its place in the world;

it engages in commerce, in government, in

social life, and in a mild sense in litera-

ture. Plainly its position and history were

determined by the presence of mines and

of a moderate amount of tillable soil.

Now it has become the capital of a country

VII

HISPANIC NOTES

Street Market, La Paz

An avenue m La Paz

FROM BOLIVIA

245

of vast extent, of vaguely known resources,
and surrounded by neighbours who have
shown themselves ready to take advantage
of her weakness.

La Paz itself is a reflection of the
national history. It is practically a
wheel-less city : it has street cars, a number
of automobiles and a still smaller number
of carriages, but nearly all the traffic is
borne on the backs of burros, llamas, or
Indians; side by side with the street
car trudges or trots the Indian, carrying
piano or scales or bedstead, or equally,
a perfumed note or a new bonnet. The
other day an American auto-truck passed
along the main street with a load of
Indian mummies and idols that bobbed
and jolted as they passed.

Church life is the life of the country
in miniature. The service is mediaeval,
showy and almost meaningless. The nave
is largely occupied by women, Spanish
and mestizo in the seats, Indians kneeling
or squatting on the floor; the aisles and
the space about the door are filled by men,
the white stock standing or leaning against

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wall or column, the Indian kneeling on

the floor. The older order is represented

by the duefia who enters with a rustle

attended by a little Indian boy or girl

carrying handkerchief or prayer-book.

the present-day survival of the seventeenth

century slave, for virtual slavery persists

in spite of laws; the new order is repre-

sented by youths and girls in ready-made

American clothes, who flirt and giggle

and exchange glances quite in the most

approved modern manner.

LA PAZ, December 4, 1919.

WE have finished the short visit in

Bolivia, during which many of our previous

impressions have been discarded. We

expected to find a country remote, back-

ward, benighted, and unenterprising. We

found a country sufficiently remote in all

conscience, but vigorous, energetic, am-

bitious, and ready for progress, moved

by a spirit strikingly different from the

apathetic, backward-looking disposition

which offended us so often in Peru.

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HISPANIC NOTES

FROM BOLIVIA

247

Bolivia, to be sure, is an Indian country,
probably ninety-five per cent. Indian; it
is unexplored, unenlightened, weak, the
victim of the greed of its stronger neigh-
bours. Nobody knows its boundaries,
and the best authorities make estimates
of its extent 100,000 square miles apart.
Of its population, said to be two and a half
million, probably not more than a fifth
speak Spanish, still fewer read it, and the
qualified voters are frequently estimated
at 50,000. Its annual income, given out
as 30,000,000 bolivianos, about $10,000,000,
is actually less (Chilean critics say about
21,000,000, i.e. $7,000,000), of which
about two-fifths goes for the army, leaving
little enough for public service, railroads,
education, and all else.

Of the future of Bolivia it is difficult
to speak : the horoscope is clouded. With
abundant capital and large immigration
of a good type there would be good pros-
pect of forming a nation able to sustain
itself, but these are large assumptions, and
not at present in sight.

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LA PAZ, December 4, 1919.

OF the Bolivian character it is difficult
and perilous to speak on so short acquaint-
ance, but some things may be said with
confidence : it is more rugged and ener-
getic than the Peruvian, more enterprising
and hopeful at the same time that it is
less ingratiating and polite. The Peruvian
attaches great importance to the manner
of doing whatever he has in hand, the
Bolivian to getting it done ; so the Bolivian
is often brusque, which the Peruvian
seldom or never is. The difference is
partly a matter of climate, partly of race,
history, and mere remoteness.

The Bolivian is farther removed from
contact with the world than any other
South American, his capital, Sucre,
more inaccessible, and his country unex-
plored to a greater extent than any other
on the continent. So he is a rustic person.
On the other hand, he is self-reliant,
energetic, and vigorous. Racially he is
Indian, probably 95 per cent, of the blood
of Bolivia is Indian; more than that,

VII

HISPANIC NOTES

FROM BOLIVIA

249

his blood is of two very different Indian

strains. Whereas the Peruvian native

stock is almost wholly Quichua, a mild,

teachable race amenable to discipline.

a considerable part of the Indian stock

in the settled part of Bolivia is Aymara,

a race implacable, stubborn, hostile, and

unrelenting in its opposition to the white

man. It is a significant phrase that one

hears so frequently in La Paz, " El es muy

Indio." Suspicion flourishes here and

dissimulation, but it is a strong and capable

stock, industrious and frugal.

En route near LA PAZ,

December 4, 1919.

WE have climbed up from the cleft

in which La Paz lies, rising mile by mile

along canons and across chasms, seeing

the manifold operations of water which

has carved the surface into infinite forms,

castle, cathedral, pinnacle, and tower,

and the multitudinous range of colour,

from grey to pink and silver. And all

the way along we have been sentinelled

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by the white mass of Illimanni which seems
to have lifted its head higher as we have
mounted, until now, where we are running
along on the level mesa, it shows vastly
greater than we have ever seen it before-
Other mountains also with their heads and
shoulders covered with snow have risen
into view, so that we march forward in a
wide corridor with giant snowy peaks on
either side. The plain is treeless and
seems barren, but is everywhere dotted
with earth-coloured dwellings and Indians,
with bright ponchos, watching their flocks.
Patches of cultivated land show that there
are crops, too, but of what nature one
cannot guess. After the panoramic effect
of colour and form on the way up from
the valley this seems tame, but to one who
loves the prairie it is very agreeable.
The level plain, rimmed by rounded hills,
and in the farther distance the tremendous
mountains, make an outlook very restful
and satisfying.

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HISPANIC NOTES

FROM BOLIVIA

251

En route to ARICA,

December 5, 1919.

AFTER sliding down the mountain slope
all night, we are still in sight of snow-
covered peaks. We went to bed early in
a comfortable compartment where our
windows gave us a good moonlight view
of the landscape. It was then silvery
grey, a treeless waste broken at times by
rounded hills or irregular masses of broken
rock; this morning at dawn it was a
gloomy plain overshadowed by black
masses of mountains tipped with snow.
As the light deepened the desert showed
yellow-brown with tufts of darker brown
like dried sea-weed — an enormous plain
stretching far away, and rising in a long
curve to the snowy peaks that lent a touch
of sublimity and grandeur to the desolate
scene.

We crossed the plain in a gradual descent
and came to the canons again. All vege-
tation ceased, and the sandstone base of
the continent here was broken into craggy
hills and chasms. League upon league

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stretched the grey-brown, barren wastes,
unrelieved by leaf or blade, a solitude in
which the eye vainly sought the least sign
of life — a masterpiece of desolation. Across
the face of these bare slopes and over
their very crests zigzagged thin trails of
Indian, llama, or burro, but, look as closely
as we would, we could not see a sign of
life. There was something incongruous in
a modern train equipped with sleeping
cars and dining cars moving amidst this
outrageous nihilism of nature.

It was nearly noon before the spell of
the desert was broken. Then suddenly
over the edge of the chasm, flowing like a
wide river, appeared a green valley crossing
from wall to wall of the brown slopes and
meandering on a leisurely course to the
sea. The explanation was soon apparent :
a stream of water coursing down the middle
of the valley and conducted by many
channels to the margin where the last
ditch cut the edge like a knife. Up to the
edge of the sand went the green line of
verdure, and stopped as if drawn by
instruments of precision. There was some-

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HISPANIC NOTES

FROM BOLIVIA

253

thing fantastic about this broad band of

green,, exquisitely ordered, divided into

neat, rectangular patches, for all the

world like a piece of green silk fitted into

the coarse brown weave of the sandy

waste.

ANTOFAGASTA, December 7, 1919.

WE took ship again at Arica, a desert

town like a dozen others along the coast,

but lifted out of commonplaceness by the

great rock, like a miniature Gibraltar, that

rises sheer from the sea and marks the

scene of the tragic end of Bolognesi and

1700 Peruvians in the War of the Pacific

(1877-82), the hopeless struggle in which

Peru was crushed by Chile. The anni-

hilation of Bolognesi is an epitome of the

war. In spite of an apparently impreg-

nable position the Peruvians allowed them-

selves to be outflanked, their citadel

stormed, and themselves killed to a man,

many of them leaping from the summit

into the sea to avoid capture by the enemy.

This is the event so appropriately com-

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memorated in the Bolgnesi Statue — " the

apotheosis of despair " — in Lima.

On leaving Arica we resumed our course

along the same desolate coast that runs

most of the length of South America — a

treeless waste, brown and yellow and grey,

unrelieved by any sign of life, animal or

vegetable.

Here at Antofogasta we feel again the

pulse of modern life and commerce. The

morning papers contain cables which are

intelligible and are full of market reports

and quotations. We are already fifty

years in advance of La Paz, and, para-

doxical as it seems, nearer New York than

we were in Lima.

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FROM CHILE

255

SANTIAGO, CHILE,

December 21, 1919.

THE most singular impression I derived

from Valparaiso, and one which has not

yet been dispelled, but seems to belong

also to Santiago, was that of having ended

with the strange, of having arrived again

at the customary, usual, and ordinary

thing, of having nothing to write about.

We came into Valparaiso harbour in

the evening and saw a town stretched for

miles along the steep slope that curved

in a half-moon about the bay. Ashore

we stepped into paved streets that might

belong to Providence or Naples or Boston.

One of the party declared he was " back

on Atlantic Avenue in Boston," but the

resemblance was closest to Naples. Behind

a narrow strip of business streets the hill

rose steeply, crowned with parks and

houses, some of them very pleasant to

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see. The shops were full of English and

American goods, and everywhere one heard

English phrases and English tones. The

mediaeval, the bizarre, the strange and

marvellous, the Inca and the Aymara,

the llamas and the laden burro, the bare-

foot peon and the sullen wearer of the

rainbow poncho, all were gone and we

were back again in the paved streets

and among the ordered ways of the every-

day twentieth century. There was no

longer anything to note; we might have

been in Providence or Boston.

SANTIAGO, December 22, 1919.

IT is an exceptionally solid, orderly,

substantial, and self-satisfied city that has

grown up here under the shadow of the

mountains, and become rich with the mines

and nitrate that the Spaniards discovered

half-way through the sixteenth century.

It would be worth doing if one could lay

bare the many factors of race, climate,

position, soil, minerals, and chance, which

have produced the difference between

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HISPANIC NOTES

FROM CHILE

257

Lima and Santiago. Lima seems always

to have had her eyes on Europe ; her wealth

was too exportable and her people were

too easily exploited. She was, I think,

always a colony at heart, and I am not

sure that she is not so to-day. Santiago

is no colony, nor has been these two

centuries at least, no matter what date

you may write her independence, but a

city extraordinarily well content with

herself and absorbed in the pursuit of

her interests. She seems never to have

feared the invader, and cares little for

any foreign affairs.

SANTIAGO, January i, 1920.

THE idea of .Chile which is emerging

from the mass of first impressions, is

that the country and the people are not

so different as might appear from the

Latin-America we already know. Day

by day the familiar lineaments appear

more distinctly : procrastination, inac-

curacy, instability, incapacity to carry

things through, and the disposition to

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say what the hearer will like to hear; in
these features the Chilean betrays the
family likeness, in others he is different.
He lacks the kindly politeness of the
Peruvian and the courtly manners of the
Mexican, in fact he is often insolent and
defiant. He is of a harder temper than
his northern neighbours, doubtless as a
result both of climate and of race. Having
less of the Indian blood which predomi-
nates so overwhelmingly in the northern
republics, he lacks the inertia and also
the mildness which, except for the Aymara !
strain, characterizes the basic stock from!
Bolivia to Mexico. The Chilean lacks
the Indian kindness to beast and child.
He may not be actively cruel, but he is
indifferent, if not callous. Our windows
open on one of the principal streets of
the city, and the chief objection to the
place is that neither day nor night can
we escape the sound of the whips crack-
ing round the wretched horses. Not that
they are either so miserable, so ill-fed,
so bruised, or generally ill-used as in Lima,
but the whips play incessantly.

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259

In business there is no denying the
brisk and energetic manner that marks
so great a contrast with the Peruvian,
and undoubtedly there is a higher level

| of general activity and enterprise here.

IBut the apparent energy is not real, and

I the difference is not so great as appears.
For example,, the tea-room, frequented
by ladies and gentlemen of the best
families here, has an air of much care and
propriety, but one notices that the spoons
are none too clean; and I have seen a
patron, after three attempts to get what
he ordered, go himself to the counter.

I 1 have been labouring for nearly three
weeks with the leading importing and ex-
porting house here, which after thirty-five
years has become thoroughly acclimatized,
to get my trunks which have been in
their charge in Valparaiso since Novem-
ber ii. The story is one of blunder, con-
fusion, error on error, and mistake on
mistake, and Latin -American incapacity
to carry things through. I have been
trying to get printing done; a little task
which would have taken a day in New York

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and three days in Lima has already con-

sumed two weeks; on an estimate which

should have been made up in two days

at most we have already spent two weeks

without completing it.

The Chilean, I conclude, has the

machinery of modern civilization, and

knows how to use some of it, he has

the overweening pride of the victorious

aggressor in the war with Peru, and he

has the vanity of the superior nation;

but the net result is that he often falls

far below his Peruvian and Bolivian

neighbours in the actual execution of

plain, every-day work.

SANTIAGO, January 2, 1920.

IT is astonishing what a strong family

likeness prevails among the capitals of

the West Coast. Most of them seem to

have been placed in the craters of extinct

volcanoes or on the floors of mountain-

rimmed valleys; Mexico City, Guatemala

City, Quito, Cuzco, La Paz, and Santiago,

seem all to be placed under the immediate

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HISPANIC NOTES

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261

guardianship of mountains that stand
sentinel over them. Even Lima lies under
the shadow of hills that might be called
mountains.

I doubt, however, whether any of them
has a situation more admirable than
Santiago. It- is less bizarre than that of
Quito or La Paz, and less romantic than
that of Mexico, but more comfortable
than any of them, its mountains forming
a circle within which it rests like a jewel
in a setting. If it has a fault it is the
regularity and symmetry of its geography ;
the mountains are so regular and so
unfailing that there is lacking the element
of surprise. But to see it as we saw it
at sunset this evening, one half aglow
with the sinking sun and the other half
silvered with the light of the full moon, is
to see a thing hard to be surpassed for
beauty.

The same fault, if fault it be, of sym-
metry, can be found with the city itself.
It is almost a model of the classic Spanish
Colonial Villa. From the Plaza the
streets run with regularity to the four

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quarters of the compass and, except
for the Alameda, which winds gently
across the quadrangle of the town, follow-
ing the course of a branch of the river
which the Spaniards dammed and made
into a parkway, all the streets seem to
run at right angles. The buildings, too,
are symmetrical and regular, almost like
measured blocks of concrete ; level and flat,
in one -storey heights in the outer parts
and rising to three or four, seldom to five,
storeys at the centre.

Conditions determined very largely the
form and dimensions of the city. It
was planted, probably, on the site of an
older settlement in the middle of the flat
valley floor where the River Mapocho,
descending from the mountains, afforded
a means of easy irrigation for a broad band
of cultivable soil. And so the lines
were drawn, fixed by the great irrigation
ditches which draw so rigorous a line
between the desert and the town, so that
to-day you may drive along two sides
of the city beside what seem to be the old
city walls of adobe, just inside the outer

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263

irrigation ditch, and see beyond it the

primeval, unproductive waste. Within

are gardens and lawns, for the waters

of the outer ditch are broken into many

little streams, and wherever the water

goes there is a little copy of Eden, so

absolutely does the land depend upon the

water.

SANTIAGO, January 3, 1920.

ONE grows more impressed from day

to day with the political stability of this

country. In Peru there was always more

or less electricity in the air; one felt

that a revolution was at least possible

at any moment, and that the government

was more or less precarious. To be sure,

there was also a fairly comfortable assur-

ance that a revolution would not matter

very much even if it did come, but it

was like the earthquake, a permanent

possibility. I wonder, by the way, whether

it is not more than a coincidence that

earthquakes and revolutions occur in the

same localities. Indubitably the atmo-

sphere of Chile is different; although the

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people strike one as being less amenable
to discipline and civilization, less amiable,,
kindly, and docile than the Peruvians,,
the idea of revolt on a large or small
scale does not occur to one. On the con-
trary, the political ground seems as steady
as that of New England. To this con-
dition of stability I suspect that national
pride has contributed not a* little. After
her victory over Peru and Bolivia in 1880,
Chile seems to have become enormously
impressed with her own importance,
and determined to take a place among
the Great Powers. She aspired longingly
to be regarded as one of the foremost
civilised nations and saw the value of ap-
pearances for this role. So she has directed
her policy in the hope of being accepted
by the world at her own valuation, and
plays the part with absorbing earnest-
ness. Climate and race have helped
enormously. She had a large infusion
of British blood and followed the lead of
the English and Scotch in business and
finance. Valparaiso is almost an English
city; the manager of a great bank told

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265

me that ninety per cent, of the business

they do in Valparaiso is transacted in

English, and it seems as if English is more

spoken on the streets than Spanish.

Of course, this is not the case in Santiago,

and in any case it is only a symptom, yet,

I think, an important one, and reminds

one that the financial basis of Chile is

English, that the official monetary stan-

dard is the Pound Sterling, that Chilean

companies are incorporated with capital

in pounds, and that their capital is sub-

scribed in English money. Perhaps this

also is a factor in stabilizing both finance

and politics.

SANTIAGO, January 4, 1920.

OF the Chilean character it is too early

for me to speak, but I am venturing to

set down one or two impressions. The

Chilean seems to be intensely self-conscious :

for example, I have had more inquiries

for my opinion of Chile than I remember

in the same length of time in any other

country, and the experience is a common

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one here. He appears to be exceedingly
jealous of all that touches .the national
honour, insatiable for prestige, ready to
take offence and not infrequently truculent
in his attitude on matters that touch

national pride or reputation. So he is
almost preternaturally sensitive on the
subject of race : he would have Chile
regarded as a " white man's country/'
and would ignore entirely the Indian
infusion, which is of course considerable.

SANTIAGO, January 8, 1920.

THE beauty of Santiago is undispu table.
Every morning the sun rises clear in a
cloudless sky against which the mountains,
on one side brown, on the other snowy,
stand sharp and plain. The lines, written,
I believe, about Callao but more appro-
priate far to this mountain city —

Day long, the diamond weather,
The sky's unaltered blue,
The smell of goats and heather
And the mule bells tinkling through,

leap to the mind in this lovely place.

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HISPANIC NOTES

Santiago from Santa Lucia Hill

Statue in the Parque Forestal

FROM CHILE

267

As the hours pass the sun grows more

dazzling, the air a little thinner and hotter,

so that at times it almost burns one's

face, but seldom seems oppressive. Then,

as afternoon draws on, the heat lessens,

the glare fades out of the sunshine, the

mountains catch a little haze and the

streets fill again with people.

At evening we go out to ride or walk,

and find ourselves always in an enchanted

world. From many points one can see

the entire circle of mountains, and in the

sunset afterglow the church towers and the

tall poplar trees are glorified in a setting

of pure gold, like the pictures of the early

Italian painters before they had quite

decided whether they were painters or

goldsmiths.

SANTIAGO, January 10, 1920.

I HAVE just returned from an interview

with the President, Juan Luis Sanfuentes,

whom I found very affable, easy, and

informal. We entered by the wide doors

of the Palace, which were guarded by four

sentinels who required me to leave my

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satchel, in which I was carrying two or
three books as gifts, so I was fain to take
my votive offerings in my hands and pass
on across the great patio which was an
unmitigated blaze of sunshine. We hurried
under an arch into the lesser patio which
lies in the older part of the Palace, pass-
ing a charming Colonial stone fountain,
and went up a flight of broad sandstone
steps with balustrades which belong to the
Colonial Period, and are among the few
old pieces of architecture in Santiago. At
the top we stepped at once into a waiting-
room, pretty well filled with the traditional
expectant, thence into another larger
room, fairly crowded with suitors and their
friends, and on into an inner ante-room
reserved for the privileged, and darkened
to that tone of solemnity proper to
churches, monasteries, funeral chambers,
and ante-chambers. The functionary, who,
like nearly all officials of whatever type
here, wore a semi-military uniform and a
wholly military manner, shook hands,
took our cards and soon informed us that
we might enter. I took my books, the

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HISPANIC NOTES

The wide doors of the Palace

•q

c
'-P

FROM CHILE

269

Candonera General and The Cubans, under

my arm, we crossed a second ante-room

and saw the President sitting behind a desk

at the far end of a room which looked

like a bank-president's reception room.

He rose as we came forward and stretched

out his hand across the desk. He is tall,

and large, with the manner of a successful

retired business man. He has white hair

and moustache, a ruddy face, a well-fed

air, and wears a black cutaway coat with

dark worsted trousers. He maintained a

sympathetic silence, smiling and nodding,

while I explained the purpose of the

Society and my errand here. He seemed

much pleased with my gift of books and

at the end of my remarks assured me in the

regular Latin-American style that he was

entirely at my orders and that anything

I might wish he would do.

SANTIAGO, January 15, 1920.

WE are growing familiar with the aspect

of Santiago and beginning to analyse rts

charm. The mountains, the sunshine, and

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the bright air form the chief elements in
its attraction; the mountains save it
from being merely a flat, desert town.
They save it from commonplaceness, and
as the source of its water-supply,, make
its very life possible. The water is so
abundant, and generally speaking so well
distributed — there are so many trees and
well-kept gardens all over the city — that
one has to remind oneself, or venture into
a neglected section, to be aware that this
is a desert city, set in a desert valley where
no rain falls for eight months of the year,
and where not a tree or a blade of grass can
grow except by water artificially directed
and actually conveyed to the tree itself.
When it is properly conveyed and carefully
distributed, the results are marvellous.
Nowhere in the world, I think, can you
find foliage so dense or so intensely green
as we see in some of the gardens in Nunoa
looking over the long, adobe, tile-topped
walls. There are fields of alfalfa which
would make the directors of model farms
in- Iowa or California jealous, and there are
trees like walls of verdure. Everywhere

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271

through the city one finds gardens, tiny

patches in patios; or wide, rambling, half-

wild preserves around big houses a little

out of the town. They are usually formal,

tidy, well-kept affairs on the model of the

English formal garden, with neatly trimmed

walks, beds of flowers edged with box,

roses in rows and geraniums in blocks,

all in excellent order, very surprising when

one first sees them through open doors or

between iron railings, and very restful.

The gardens save the town, for the

houses with hardly an exception are ugly.

There is something about Chile rather like

the mood of the United States after the

Civil War, something wantonly perverse,

that shows itself in architecture, irregular,

wayward, and unsymmetrical. As one of

my friends used to say, " as unlovely as

the late U.S. Grant period of Architecture."

Here the gardens save the day.

SANTIAGO, January 18, 1920.

WE have just returned from a ride into

the country, coming back in the sunset

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and the dusk, through a world half glory

and half gloom. On one side stretched

a level plain, all gold, where the poplars,

singly or in rows, were like Corot's tenderest

and most ethereal pictures, and the

eucalyptus trees were like bits of old gold

worn with age, and the low, flat fields

stretching away to the mountains were

banked deep in a golden and purplish

mist. The mountains were nearly lost

in a rich, murky air, wine-colour and purple

and amethyst, so that we moved through

a world of dreams, dusty, to be sure, and

at moments not all agreeable, but worth

the price for the lavish wealth of colour

and the riot of gold.

On the other side lay another world,

cold, grey, forbidding, where the moun-

tains, in a light strained of the sunset,

stood up in harsh outline, revealing their

grim, unverdured slopes and rugged

crags, sharp and rough, unmitigated by a

single tree, and all their severity accen-

tuated by the snow that lay white and

arctic along their upper edges.

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A village scene

FROM CHILE

273

SANTIAGO, January 21, 1920.
WE have been seeing the city from the
upper decks of the street cars, which is
the nearest approach Santiago affords to
the top of the London 'bus. Rather
illogically as it seems to us — for one can
hardly imagine oneself riding in the
cramped interior when he can sit up aloft
under a canopy and put his feet on the
rail in the lordly manner that used to be
the fashion in the front windows of pro-
vincial hotels from Albany to New Orleans
— here, at any rate, it is second-class.
You ride up there for half fare, five
centavos, equal to a little more than one
cent, and view the city from a good point
of vantage. To be sure you are viewed
yourself with some little disapproval,
for I fancy it is not in the very best form
for the elite to ride up there in the second-
class seats, and you are stared at with all
the settled, earnest devouring and consum-
ing energy of curiosity which is the
Chilean's birthright. There is a deal of
curiosity in all Latin-American towns ; we
have grown accustomed to it elsewhere,

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but here the stare of the people is like a
blast, so absorbing, intense, and half trucu-
lent it is. We have sometimes found it
troublesome, and one sympathizes with
women and children who are disconcerted
and almost brought to tears by finding
themselves the object of the concentrated,
open-eyed, persistent searching stare of the
whole company in hotel, street-car, or any
public place.

Notwithstanding the Chilean stare, we
went on our voyage of discovery, finding
the Plaza and familiar squares quite
novel looked at from twenty feet in the air.
The streets are often mere blind stretches
of concrete canon, broken by door and
window openings; again they are series
of scenes from Oriental picture-books, as
when we pass a line of shops in a poor
quarter, and bits of mediaeval Spain when
we pass long, tile-topped walls, and look
down into enclosed gardens where roses
and geraniums bloom and paths wind
under peach and plum and orange trees.
We rode far into the outskirts and turned
to find the mountains, which are the

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HISPANIC NOTES

FROM CHILE

275

unfailing resource of the landscape, great

masses of shadow on our right. So we

came back, through streets where the

open shops were lighted by flaring benzine

lamps and working men sat resting in rows

beside the railings of churches and on the

steps of open houses, and all the little

houses, nothing but cubicles in the long

stretch of one-storey, concrete monotony,

were open to the street. Many of them

seemed home-like, with red-covered tables

and a lighted lamp and a chromo of the

Virgin on the wall.

SANTIAGO, January 24, 1920.

I HAVE wondered much about the Chilean

character and am far from ready to put

down any conclusions, but my day to

day experience would be illuminating if

I could record it in detail and clearly.

For example, I have been treating for a

month with a printer, said to be the best

book printer here. He is not amiable,

but always polite, and at first the delays

which I encountered were only the usual

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thing in Latin-America. At last I got an j
estimate ; then as time drew on to begin j
work, I learned that the type shown in the
sample could not be had. A new page was
drawn up, very inferior because all the
proportions were lost in the changes ofj
size of type. I explained this and asked
for another page ; I got the same one back
again. I repeated the request and, with
evident reluctance, the same page was
produced again, but with a slight modifica-
tion, wholly inadequate. I laboured with
the printer, begging him to give it his
attention and make me a page of the right
proportions , and drew a line to show how
one change could be made. I got the
original page back with my line followed
exactly and all the original errors,
thirteen, unchanged. We have now been
struggling with this problem of a page for
a week, with the copy on the printer's
desk most of that time, and we are still
battling over the same discreditable and
slip-shod page of printing that would be
a disgrace to an ordinary job printer in
Boston. I had repeated my requests, my

HISPANIC NOTES

FROM CHILE

277

pleas, my demands, a score of times,
always getting the same half-pained,
polite reply, " We are just doing that."
Of course at last my patience broke down
and I got savage. Then the proprietor
told me that they had not understood me
because they never had problems of pro-
portion and adjustment here : they took
an existing book as a model and came as
near to it as they could, and they had
never made a book with border lines. It
was quite clear that he had been playing
the Chilean game of passive resistance,
quite convinced that the foreigner would
get tired and take what he could get.

Yesterday I went to a photographer's
to have a photograph taken for urgent
need, and after the ceremony he promised
me a proof to-day before noon. When I
appeared he came to meet me, smiling, to
explain that the proof was not there, but
I might see it this afternoon or to-morrow.
That he had made an explicit promise,
bound with all sorts of protestations of
fidelity mattered nothing to him; some-
thing else had occurred to him as equally

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good and he had lightly forgotten his

engagement.

During the past ten days three different

persons have promised to bring me certain

books which they have for sale and which

I need in my work. Two have sent

excuses and probably will turn up some

day when they have nothing special to

do; the other has forgotten it.

That is the most serious gap in the

character of the coast, an incapacity for

sustained attention, consecutive thought,

or continuity of purpose. All their mental

activities are momentary, impulsive,

fugitive, and unreliable. I think they are

congenitally incapable of such attention as

results in close or effective reasoning.

•
•

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279

SANTIAGO, CHILE,

January 25, 1920.

WE made our first excursion into the

country to-day, to visit Sefior Jose Toribio

Medina at his summer home,, about forty

miles from the city up the valley of the

Angostura. The landscape recalled that

of the valley of Mexico which it much

resembles, except that it is lower and more

" civilized." Where there is water for

irrigation it is a fat land, level, well-

wooded, well-fenced with American wire

fences or adobe walls, with cattle and

horses in the fields. The wheat harvest

is now on, and we saw them carrying the

grain to the stacks in great ox-carts of

enormous width and weight and frequently

using three teams of oxen.

In the better farms one sees a good deal

of English or French influence in the formal

planted woods, which are numerous and

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extensive, the paved barnyards,, the sturdy
horses and heavy-bodied cattle, as well
as in the way of harvesting the wheat,
which is not at all American.

We crossed a river as muddy as the
Missouri and more rapid, split into many
separate channels in its wide gravelly
bed, and passed great vineyards with
well-trimmed vines running in mile-long
rows, and fields of corn interspersed with
pastures.

Near the city the little houses of the
farm hands are of concrete, more sub-
stantial and solid than the jacals of Mexico
or the huts of Cuba or Peru, though not
much more comfortable, for they have no
windows and few have other than dirt
floors. Farther out the dwellings become
meaner and slighter; some are of adobe,
some of brush, and finally one finds the
counterpart of the flimsy stick-and-mud
shack of rural Peru.

As we went on the mountains closed in
about us, the river beside which we went
ran faster, and we came to the Pass of
Angostura, where the river and the railroad

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HISPANIC NOTES

FROM CHILE

281

elbow each other for passage between the
hills. This is said to be the narrowest
pass in the mountains, and the strategic
point in attack or defence of Santiago and
the Central Valley.

Sefior Medina met us at the station and
led us to La Cartucha, as he calls his
country place, which is only a stone's-
throw away. It is an interesting little
farm of perhaps ten acres, forming a
peninsula in a deep bend of the river, and
here fifteen years ago Senor Medina planted
8000 trees, which at the rapid rate of
growth common to this region had formed
a magnificent grove, lofty and leafy like a
succession of cathedral naves. But last
year a cyclone passed that way and mowed
the great trees down like a field of grain.
We went out to see the desolation and found
the splendid trunks and shafts broken
splintered, twisted, and strewn about in
utter disorder.

We turned away to wander in the old-
fashioned formal garden, now much over-
grown for lack of help — scarce here as
everywhere else — where the box borders

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had grown waist high and filled the
narrower paths, but where one could
wander under palm and fruit trees in a
friendly wilderness. There were great
avenues, too, pleasant to walk in, with!
cedars of Lebanon and towering eucalyptus
spared by the storm.

The house itself, a wide rambling old
place, with great echoing rooms, broad
stairways, and airy chambers, suits the
summer-time. Beside the front door
under a little porch are comfortable
chairs where we sat and chatted of many
things : books and writing, travel and
politics, and the American influence in
South America.

We strolled and walked and talked,
had two delightful meals at which were
served wine and fruit and vegetables of
the farm with some special breads of the
neighbourhood.

We came back in the afternoon light,
under which the mountains, which are
partly wooded, took on a lovely aspect,
with a purple background flecked and
patterned in sun and shade. We drew near

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283

the city, running through the broad, flat

valley under the evening light, with wide

fields of mown grass and pasture stretching

across to the mountains, which stood up

in purple masses against the rose-tinted

sky in an atmosphere calm and peaceful

and wholly sabbath-like.

SANTIAGO, January 27, 1920.

FEW things are more curious to us, and

I am sure nothing is more characteristic

of the people of this coast than the Plaza

habit. Here every evening at six or

seven, and as late as eight, the people

resort in numbers to the Plaza, the elders

to sit on the benches, the young folks to

pace round and round the place, to the

music of the band if there is one, if not,

to their own time, the girls moving in one

direction in twos and threes and sometimes

lines of five or more; the young men in

similar phalanx moving in the opposite

direction, so that there is opportunity to

admire, to salute, and to gaze repeatedly

upon one another. It is a rural practice, but

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practically universal. I am told that from

the Rio Grande to Puenta Arenas, every

town has its " Plaza parade " if not every

evening at least on Sundays, and that the

convention, seldom broken, provides that

the sexes gyrate in opposite directions,

under the eyes, of course, of the elders.

SANTIAGO, January 27, 1920.

THIS evening, after the sunset, we

climbed to the top of Santa Lucia Hill,

which is the one striking feature in the

map of Santiago. It rises, an isolated

rock, in the very heart of the city and

dominates it completely. Lima has her

San Cristobal Hill, but it is a mile distant

from the Plaza; here Santa Lucia is a

stone's throw from the Plaza and the city

flows round it. Historically it is the heart

of the place, for it was the citadel and

centre. Here the Spaniards made their

first victorious onslaught, and here they

made the desperate defence against

the concentrated counter-attacks of the

Indians. It was their Acropolis and

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Entrance to Santa Lucia

Statue of Pedro Valdivia

Statue of Caupolican on Santa Lucia

FROM CHILE

285

Tarpeian Rock, and remains to this day a
shrine and rallying point. From it every
part of the city is visible, and it is visible
likewise from all parts of the city. They
have done well, therefore, to buttress and
adorn it, making it the chief beauty spot
of the town and a pleasure resort for the
people. The side that had an easy ap-
proach they have still further smoothed
and levelled, so that now a softly rising
path winds up the slope, giving a pleasant
ascent up to the steeper portion of the
hill, and the cliff side they have beautified
with wide stone steps and balustrades and
esplanades so that it presents an ample
and dignified welcoming facade. We
climbed in the soft evening light, stopping
from stage to stage to see the city ever
widening below us, spreading to its great
extent and stretching its long straight
streets far away to the outskirts until it
seemed to fill the whole valley. The
buildings are so low, by far the greater
part being only one storey, that the tov n
covers a great expanse of ground. And so
it spread before us in ever-widening extent

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as we climbed,, and we saw the mountains

a dull red under the glow of the sunken

sun, and the moon came out and silvered

the roofs and towers, and the lights

sprang up, revealing canons and bright

paths in the wilderness of darkening

buildings, and the trees below us turned

black in the shadow. So we came down,

half reluctant to leave the quiet, and lose

the sense of aloof and lofty observation,

to the familiar streets.

SANTIAGO, January 30, 1920.

IF I were to venture upon a single

generalization about our neighbours on

this coast, Peruvians, Chileans, Bolivians.

and others alike, I should say that they

lack moral earnestness. They have not

lacked in the past, nor do they lack to-day,

poets, enthusiasts, devotees, fanatics,

martyrs, or saints ; but ordinary plain men

who have an inner glow of conviction

about righteousness, to whom the ultimate

good is to do the will of God and who

pursue it as an end in itself, praying and

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287

yearning for it silently, secretly,, these I

doubt whether Latin-America has yet

produced. These friends and neighbours

of ours are capable of fine and lofty ac-

tions, of graceful and dignified and noble

behaviour; but for inconspicuous, patient,

humble devotion to an inner compulsion

where there is no audience, no applause,

no public recognition, where it must be

done without gesture or flourish or a single

rewarding glance, this, I doubt they are

capable of, or even of aspiring to.

SANTIAGO, January 31, 1920.

THE factors in the general moral

condition hereabouts are many, of course,

and among them are our old friends, race,

climate, history, and education. That the

racial constituents of the Chilean give

him a certain callousness cannot be denied.

The Conquistador was not a tender-

hearted person and the Araucanian even

less so. His history, too, with its two

centuries of isolation and struggle, did

nothing to soften or ameliorate his nature,

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but quite the contrary. His education

likewise, particularly on the religious

side, has not been of the sort to develop

a deep or reverent inner life. In fact,

some of my friends who have observed the

workings of the Church here incline to the

belief that it tends to " harden all within,"

that its emphasis on mere observance

of form and ritual, without regard to any

inner adjustment of conscience or conduct,

with none of the change or growth which

the Protestant means by conversion,

itself contributes to a certain callousness

and hinders any deepening or softening

of the moral nature.

SANTIAGO, February i, 1920.

WE have been for a long ride on the

top of a " double-decker " street-car,

traversing much of that part of the city

which is so ill-paved and generally undesir-

able that it is not visited in pleasure

carriages and automobiles. We found it

lighly instructive and particularly for

this, that it took us behind the screen of

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289

Europeanism or twentieth centurism, which
is the pose of Santiago, and showed us the
actual Latin-Americanism of the town

in unmistakable colours.

At one time I could almost have believed

myself in Juares, Mexico, so like, in the
pink, blue and yellow one-storey, dilapi-
dated adobe shacks was it to the pictur-
esque town across the river from El Paso.
There were blocks and blocks of long,
low, flat dwellings, of one storey, without
windows, and running together behind
the street front into various confusion.

There were sections that might have been
Lima, or Havana, or Vera Cruz, or Puebla,
Mexico, or Arequipa, or any town between
here and Texas.

We saw the Sunday afternoon crowds
also, and perceived the unmistakable
mestizo character of great masses of the
people, reminding ourselves of the remark
of those who arrive from Buenos Aires,
that Chile seems " muy Indio."

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SANTIAGO, February 5, 1920.

WE have been to the National Museum,
particularly to see the Chilean paintings ,
which are disappointing. There is no
catalogue of the gallery, but we found a
grey-haired attendant who scented in
the extranjero a possible tip and showed
us amiable attention,, telling us the names
of many of the pictures and of their
painters. The most notable of the recent
works are by Correa, who has done one
or two admirable landscapes, and there
are half a dozen very creditable portraits
of Chileans. Most of the canvases, how-
ever, are of foreign scenes, done on foreign
soil, and wholly devoid of national char-
acter or atmosphere.

Yesterday I was taken by a young
Mexican to see a collection of water-
colours said to be finely illustrative of
Chilean landscape customs and people.
I found a charming collection of water-
colours, with market scenes, aspects of
ranch life, horse-racing, cattle-herding,
ox-carts on the highway, and a whole
line devoted to the mountains and especi-

HISPANIC NOTES

Two views of the National Museum

FROM CHILE

291

ally to sunset in the high Cordilleras. The

colour in some of these was exquisite,

rose-pink • and purple and the softest of

lavender mist,, as we have seen them in

Bolivia. But their painter is a Frenchman,

and although there are 'good pictures by

Alfredo Helsby and Valenzuela, and much

is said of a national school of artists, and

I have seen a number of canvases in minor

exhibitions, there is no evidence yet that

there is any real national artistic con-

sciousness or any realization of the national

resources as a field for art.

SANTIAGO, February 8, 1920.

As I have written you before, the

Chilean is fond of emphasizing the differ-

ences between himself and other South

Americans. On every opportunity he

dwells upon the Chilean type of character,

sometimes in a tone of more or less

sincere apology for its faults, as, for

example, that the Chilean is of a strong,

militant, and aggressive nature, intensely

patriotic; and so, he explains, when

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Roosevelt came here a few years ago, the
intense patriotism of the students un-
fortunately boiled over, and they attacked
him as an exponent of " North American-
ism/' mobbed him, stoned his carriage
and his hotel, and greeted him whenever
he appeared with noisy demonstrations
of hostility. The same aggressive patriot-
ism, carried too far, accounted for the
tone of the addresses made on the occasion
of his reception at the University, all of
which were couched in militant terms,
emphasizing and reiterating the Chilean's
war-like character and his readiness to
fight whatsoever enemy might appear.
Sometimes one's Chilean friends express
a kind of regret over the phlegmatic
national temperament, telling of dramatic
oratorical and musical notabilities who
have created great enthusiasm in other
cities, but here in Santiago have been
greeted with cool, appraising criticism. It
is fairly obvious that the self-depreciation
is not very sincere, and that the occa-
sion is simply being used to insinuate
Chilean superiority.

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Fountain and street

FROM CHILE

293

As to the aggressive, not to say truculent,
character of the people, one is not left in
doubt. From Government officials down
to mozos, the general tone is one of rather
surly independence and indifference.. The
first and natural response of the Chilean
to any approach is negative. The sales-
men or clerks in the stores appear as a
rule utterly indifferent to the customer.
If he wants anything, and wants it badly
enough, he will be patient; the clerk
doesn't need to. One often hears of
refusals to sell goods because they are
on high shelves and it is troublesome to
take them down. Again and again I have
bought articles after the clerk had denied
having them, although they were in plain
sight all the time, and I had given the name
with which they were marked. Then
there is a surly acquiescence, the purchase
is made and the clerk hands you your
change in silence. Frequently one makes
purchases without exchange of a word.
" Tiene Usted archivedores ? " The reply
is to hand you one in silence. You say,
" Cinco pesos, no ? " He nods, you pay

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and withdraw. He is not offended, only

you have not broken through his habitual

and customary mood of settled and phleg-

matic apathy.

SANTIAGO, February 14, 1920.

WE have been to see the Cathedral,

and in spite of its rather disappointing

exterior, a square, solid, brown-stone

effect, such as would be appropriate in

Baltimore or in Genoa, we found it really

impressive. The nave is lofty, and so

long as to give the effect, so often striven

after and so seldom attained in modern

churches, of an arched vista. The side

aisles are ample and the whole effect is

spacious, noble, and imposing with a note

of solemnity very satisfying to the devout

mind. There are good windows of glass

that recall the French Cathedrals, and

there are many statues — a series, for

example, of the Apostles ranged aloft,

one beside each of the great columns —

without exception dignified, sober, and

appropriate. Here, too, for the first time

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HISPANIC NOTES

The Cathedral, Santiago

Interior of the Cathedral

FROM CHILE

295

in South America we found a series of

memorial chapels, all of them inoffensive,

and several of them in taste that is severe

and elevated. The paintings are copies

of famous works, and the figures on the

tombs recall the classic types. So that,

though it lacks the appeal to the historic

sense that is so strong in the Cathedral

of Lima, and has not a trace of the aroma

of antiquity or the sentiment of age, it

is a noble and impressive church.

SANTIAGO, February 18, 1920.

I DO not think it would be well for

Americans to count too much on the friend-

ship of South America for the United

States. Neither for the Government nor

for the people do I find any affection;

on the contrary I think the sentiment

is one of indifference if not of antipathy.

Peru wants American support in its contest

with Chile, and Bolivia wants American

capital with an ulterior hope of getting

political support against the encroach-

ments of her powerful neighbours.

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Chile, on the other hand, has until
lately had a rather poor opinion of
American policy, and something very like
contempt for American military or naval
power. At present she is converted on
the second point, but not, I think, on the
first. For a time the idealists and academic
persons were dazzled with the magnificent
phrases of President Wilson, but begin
to doubt now whether they should be
taken seriously; the practical men never
were much influenced by them. Mean-
time the old causes of friction : the
incident of the U.S.S. " Baltimore ", the
Mexican War, the Panama Canal episode,
and the inveterate jealousy of the stronger
power, have reasserted themselves and the
mood of antagonism has been resuscitated.

I find also another cause of irritation,
small in itself but effective in combination,,
s the sum of petty annoyances over
business and social intercourse. One hears
at every turn that American business
men and business methods are not liked.
The demand for payment in advance
for goods which when received are not

HISPANIC NOTES

FROM CHILE

297

always up to sample, the disposition to
regard every transaction with South
America as if it were a passing chance
at a profit not likely to recur, and the
indifference alike to the convenience and
the susceptibilities of the customer leave
many wounds. There are unpleasant
stories told, for example, of the leading
American shipping firm on the coast, which
induced the American Ambassador to
request for them the mail-carrying contract
as a token of appreciation of their putting
fast steamers on the route, and then
charged ten times the old price for the
service, and of various contracts for
materials grossly mishandled. A trifling
but annoying matter is the habit which
seems to be general in the United States,
of sending letters here with insufficient
postage, so that everybody is kept paying
the little fines of ten, twenty, thirty
centavos on his American letters. The
manager of Grace & Co. tells me that after
twenty years they are still sending constant
requests to American firms, corporations^
insurance companies and others to put

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on adequate postage, but

apparently

n vain !

The general impression

is that the

American is a person entirely self-satisfied,

impervious to ideas or information, and

rather contemptuous of this

part of the

world, an attitude which

meets with

equal contempt and hostility

in response.

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OTES

FROM CHILE

299

SANTIAGO, CHILE,

February 20, 1920.

I HAVE just paid a visit to Senor Salvador

Izquierdo, one of the aristocratic rich

men of Chile. The house is very large

but unpretentious and out of fashion.

Inside it seems to need painting; it is

all so dark and apparently dingy. I was

led along echoing halls to the study, and

the owner, a large, well-appearing man,

with a beard and a black suit, came in

to ask me to excuse him while he finished

his lunch. (He had made the appointment,

but, of course, didn't expect me to keep

it.) So I sat in the study, a lofty rec-

tangular room filled with furniture old

enough to be out of fashion, but not old

enough to be interesting.

My seat was a ponderous sofa that filled

the greater part of one end of the room.

At the opposite end was a fireplace, used,

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apparently,, for a gas log, and over the
mantelpiece were hung five paintings,
a large one in the centre flanked by pairs
of little ones, two of which were apparently
good work by Spanish artists. In the
most prominent place in the room, directly
in front of the first window was a tall
glass cabinet not unlike a show-case,
filled with stuffed birds, sea-shells and
bric-a-brac. Nearly opposite it was the
great desk, of a dark wood like walnut,
heavy and serviceable, covered with papers
and periodicals. Behind it on the wall
were the usual portraits, and at one side
was a large safe set into the wall and sur-
mounted by a roller map, which when let
down would cover it entirely. The corners
and the space between the windows were
occupied by tall, heavy, dull-looking
book-cases in which were many reports,
files, and technical books, an unappetizing
array. It had something of the aspect
of a workshop, but more of a place
occupied casually by a man so absorbed
in his affairs as to be only dimly aware of
his surroundings.

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FROM CHILE

301

In due course, Sefior Izquierdo reap-
peared, a substantial man, strongly
built, with easy, quiet manners and a
certain gravity which goes well with his
attainments, which are genuine and solid.
He told with a certain naivete of the

honours given him by foreign societies,
including the Massachusetts Agricultural
Society, and, once launched on his pet
subject of arboriculture., showed more fire
and interest than I had expected. There
is no doubt of the value of his work to

the country, and there seems to be some
basis for his dream of making Chile one
of the chief sources of fruit for the United

States.

SANTIAGO, February 22, 1920.

UP to this time our impressions of the
beauty of Chilean women, and for that
matter of Peruvian and Bolivian women

as well, have fallen far below our expecta-
tions. In general the women of the upper
classes mature too early, eat too much,
exercise too little, have no interests except

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the purely domestic ones, and show the

effects in expressionless faces and shapeless

forms. The interesting faces belong as

a rule to the lower classes, the working

women. Sometimes one sees a woman

selling flowers or newspapers who would

make a Rembrandt, and often one sees

among them a face that bears testimony

to trials bravely borne and victories won.

There are, of course, exceptions to the

rule, for the human plant, wherever its

roots are set, will produce a certain

number of rare blossoms ; so one occasion-

ally sees a charming face or a pair of

dark eyes full of expression. This morn-

ing we met three girls of perhaps four-

teen, young enough to retain a certain

freshness of expression and artlessness,

one of whom had the face of a Madonna,

oval, dark, with large, liquid eyes, and

a look of such sweet serenity as would

delight a painter's soul.

SANTIAGO, February 24, 1920.

WE have been on a sunset excursion

across the River Mapocho into the older

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FROM CHILE

303

part of the city, hunting silver thimbles
in the pawn-shops. As we crossed the
bridge the mountains were veiled in
diaphanous lavender mist, and the Parque
Forestal was filled with young people
pacing with decorous step back and forth
on the well-kept paths under the eyes of
their elders on the seats ranged alongside.
We had not gone a hundred yards before
we felt the contact with antiquity; the
paving all but disappeared, and when at
our request the driver took us along one
of the side streets the carriage rocked like
a boat in a rough sea. The houses were
now all adobe, one-storey, unglazed, and,
as was plain enough to nose and eye,
none too clean. The patios within were
often picturesque but eminently unattrac-
tive, with children and dogs, washing
on the lines, and rubbish in the corners.
So we rode on, the object of earnest and
concentrated attention from doors and
windows. We passed buildings that
seemed much older than any we have seen
in Santiago proper. The familiar patch-
work of colour, and the frequent imposing

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church, which, with the unkempt houses,

the unwashed people, and the unpaved

streets that seem characteristic of the West

Coast town, reappeared as soon as we left

the main streets. The half-dozen principal

business streets of Santiago are well paved

and well kept, washed every day, one

or two of them twice a day, and might

serve as models, but the other two or three

hundred are in another category. Appar-

ently the whole of the older part of the

city across the river is beyond the pale;

here no paving, no washing of streets,

no movement of carriages or automobiles,

merely a survival of things as they have

always been.

SANTIAGO, February 25, 1920.

HOWEVER chary one may be of general-

izations, he cannot avoid one or two con-

clusions about the Chileans and their

neighbours. Everywhere one is struck

by the absence of the sense of fair play.

I think it is more conspicuous in little

things than in greater ones ; for example,

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HISPANIC NOTES

Slums in Santiago

FROM CHILE

305

nobody has any respect for the rights
of the first comer. At the theatre, the
post office, or the bank alike, men will
break in without ceremony or apology,
thrust their arms over your shoulder or
across the counter, interrupt your business
and demand prior attention, and, what is
more irritating, obtain it, at your expense
and that of all those who were waiting
there. It is a somewhat exasperating
illustration of the text, " The last shall
be first."

Equally amusing when one is in the
proper mood, is the practice of using the
side-walks for reception rooms. There
are hours when the principal streets of
Santiago are practically blocked by groups
of twos and threes, who stand serenely
in the middle of the side-walk and conduct
leisurely conversations. The man with an
errand may take to the street. It was
the same in Lima, where I have often seen
the principal street jammed at six o'clock
in the evening by apparently respectable
people, conducting their afternoon recep-
tion and so fearful of failing to see or be

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seen that they clung to the side-walk where
no one could miss them. One worked
one's way through very much as he does
at an afternoon tea " crush."

There is also a general disposition to
construe obligations in a free and easy
sense. Specific performance as to time
or other conditions seldom occurs. Eight
o'clock in the morning means for your
secretary : I have in mind one notable
exception: half-past eight or a quarter
to nine with lapses now and then to half-
past nine, occasions for splendid demon-
strations in the art of apology. Momentito,
of course, means anywhere from five
minutes to three-quarters of an hour.
The printer, the bookbinder, the engraver,
the carpenter, makes whatever promise
seems to please you and brings the result,
wofully and incredibly unlike the article
promised, and from a day to a month
behind time, smilingly protesting that,
though not igual (the same) it is muy
parecido (very like) and mas 6 menos —
this is his ultimate reliance — more or less,
what you ordered.

HISPANIC NOTES

FROM CHILE

307

One gradually comes to see that he

has to deal with a civilization and a temper

of mind which is not based on moral

or even legal obligation, but rests upon

privilege and personal relations. If you

could look into the heart of your servant,

your clerk, your secretary, your tradesman,

you would find that no one of them regards

himself as fulfilling this or that obligation

because he has promised to do it or is

under bond to do it or has accepted pay-

ment to do it, all these are incidental,

but because he is your loyal adherent, a

member of your gang, one of your brother-

hood, or because he, as a knightly gentle-

man, chooses to honour himself by doing

this gracious act of homage.

SANTIAGO, February 29, 1920.

THE question, What kind of a civiliza-

tion is this of Chile? is a natural one for

the visitor from abroad. He could hardly

avoid it, but even if he would, he may not;

for the Chilean is so sensitive on the sub-

ject that he asks it himself, repeatedly.

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The newspapers reprint with evident
satisfaction the remark of Blasco Ibanez
that the two foremost countries of South
America are Argentina and Chile,, and that
they bear favourable comparison with
Europe. One's friends comment on it
and add the well-worn saying of Mr.
Bryce that Chile has the most homogeneous
population to be found in any of the
Hispanic-American republics, and offers
the most promising material for making
a nation.

Blasco Ibanez was quite right in urging
upon an American audience the propriety
of regarding Latin-America with respect,
and his assertion of Chilean equality with
Europe was well meant. It all depends
on what is meant by Europe. Without
doubt the best people of Santiago will bear
comparison with the better class people
of Spain, Italy, or France; it may even
be said that the best people of Santiago
might meet on terms of equality the best
of Italy or Spain, or France. But that
would be a matter of social grace and cour-
tesy on both sides. It can hardly be

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HISPANIC NOTES

FROM CHILE

309

maintained that the poets,, painters,
musicians, scholars of Chile, hold equal
rank with those of Europe. Nor would
anybody say that the mass of the Chilean
population would bear comparison with
that of France or Spain or Italy. No
one has much idea hitherto about the
sentiments or the ideas of the great body
of Chileans, for they are illiterate and take
no part in their Government. Figures
are hard to find and harder to interpret,
but it appears that, according .to different
estimates, between sixty-five and eighty
per cent, of the Chilean people neither
read nor write, and more than half of the
population is illegitimate.

Chile has benefited — at least in the
view she is able to present to the world —
from the fact that for three generations
her Government has been aristocratic
and oligarchical, she has been in the
hands of " the best people," who have
imposed order, discipline, and restraint.
To be sure, one finds among the ardent
young Chileans those who deny the
oligarchy. To their exaggerated patriotism

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whatever is Chilean is excellent, and they

make it a point of honour, as the young

in all countries are prone to do, to claim

for their fatherland all the virtues and a

superiority, if not a monopoly, in all the

graces a nation can possess.

But this is mere school-boy boasting;

among the mature and clear-eyed there

is no denial of oligarchy, but a plain

admission that without it Chile would be

no pleasant place for the foreigner.

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HISPANIC NOTES

FROM CHILE

En route to CONSTITUCTON,

March 8, 1920.

WE set out on a beautiful morning,

in cool, tonic air, under a sky that promised

heat, and followed the same route that

we took on our visit to the Medina's, the

only other railway journey we have made

from Santiago. We passed along the

valley, rich and cultivated and pleasant

to look at, with mountains always in sight

on both sides, and came to Angostura,

•

which impressed me more at second view.

It would be easy to hold and hard to take.

The barren mountains and rough hills

reminded me of descriptions of the land-

scape of South Africa, and recalled the

stories of the fighting during the South

African War under conditions which I

think must have been very similar to these.

Beyond Angostura the valley continues,

but the mountains grow taller on the east

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and lower on the west. There are great
fields in which ox-teams are ploughing,
three pairs to the plough,, with the owner
or manager on horseback supervising
the work. There are fields of alfalfa,
emerald green and neat as a billiard table,
bordered with tall lines of poplars, and
over them brown mountain masses tipped,
farther back, with snowy peaks.

As the day wore on we came into a wider
place; the mountains drew apart, those
on the west dwindling into rounded hills
and the space between became veldt, with
sparse grass and thorn bushes and widely
scattered cattle.

All of this region, and indeed agricul-
tural Chile in general, is a land of great
haciendas. The small proprietor is un-
known and the population consists, like
that of Imperial Rome and Mediaeval
Europe, of two classes : the senators or
barons, and the serfs. The extent of some
of the great estates is truly baronial. Not a
few stretch the whole width of the country,
from the sea to the mountains, and contain
a number of villages within their limits.

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HISPANIC NOTES

Constitucion is a decayed seaport "

FROM CHILE

3i3

They are often inheritances from the days

of the Conquest, which, notwithstanding

the Chilean law for distributing estates,

have remained in one family, and they

repeat with local modifications, the story

of Mexico, Peru, and Bolivia. For the

most part they are vast dormant posses-

sions, ill-cultivated because of the ignor-

ance and lack of ready capital of their

owners.

CONSTITUCION, March g, 1920.

CoNSTiTUCidN is a decayed seaport, like

many of those along the New England

coast, its former activities of fishing and

shipbuilding now lost, and its chief in-

dustries those of a summer sea-side resort.

It consists of an old town lying between the

river and the sea, and various flimsy new

buildings along the beach to accommodate

the summer visitors.

A rounded grassy hill curves steeply

upward two or three hundred feet from the

beach, and affords wide views both on the

sea and on the land side. To the right one

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looks across the little town and the river

to the wooded slopes beyond it ; to the left
the sea sweeps to the far horizon., and
nearer lie the craggy shore and the long
black beach for the rocks here are basaltic

and the sand, though spotlessly clean, is
as black as coal. Here on the wind-swept
hill we have been basking in the sun and
the breeze, watching the children far below
running on the beach, and the amusing
ox-drawn omnibus which comes down

from the baths at the far end to meet the

equally curious, tiny, mule-drawn tram-
car. This visit to Constitution has been

our first South American holiday and we
shall remember it, not only for our good
fortune in having the Medinas for company,
but also for finding here ponies to ride.
The boys and I have been out on horseback
together for the first time, and begin to
think ourselves accomplished horsemen.

CONSTITUCION, March g, 1920.

SENOR MEDINA accompanied me on a
visit to Senor Mclver, whom everybody

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HISPANIC NOTES

The dustman's cart

Ox-drawn omnibus

Senor Mclver, whom everybody calls ' Don Enrique

FROM CHILE

calls " Don Enrique." We had an enjoy-
able hour. He is the leading citizen of
Constitution and has a place in the
political life of Chile comparable to that
of Archbishop Errazuriz in the church.
Both are over eighty and are honoured
by friend and foe. Sefior Mclver's house,
which was built by his father three-
quarters of a century ago,, and still has
on the brass door-plate, Henry Mclver,
is an extensive one-storey dwelling which,
with its additions and appurtenances,
patios and gardens, covers a city block.
It had need to, for it houses not only the
Mclvers, but the families of the sons-in-law
in one generous, patriarchal household.

An exceptionally neat and competent-
looking maid admitted us into a hall
that had the air of the entrance hall of
an old-fashioned English house. The
grandfather's clock, the hat-tree, and the
portraits on the walls seemed like friends
from far away. We passed on into a
great, roomy sitting-room, where we found
Senor Mclver in an overcoat, for inside
the house was cool and the blood of eighty-

! —

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three is not ardent. We sat on a solid
old sofa and chatted of politics, and then
he led us across the hall to see the parlour,
of which Senor Medina had a boyish
memory. It was very little changed,
Don Enrique told us, from what it was
seventy years ago. It is a spacious room
between thirty and forty feet square.
The carpet was red and pale yellow in a
huge pattern, and the walls were a deep,
metallic green, in what I believe is now
called a self-pattern of leaves a foot long.
The host pointed out many places where
it had been repaired, but it was the same
paper that he could remember as a boy.
The portraits, too, were old friends, solid,
substantial British men of the last century
or its predecessor, and ladies in stiff black
silk and white lace.

We returned to chat again of politics,
for Don Enrique is the head of the Radical
Party, is talked of for the Presidency,
and if he were ten years younger might
run and be sure of election, for he has
everybody's respect.

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FROM CHILE

CONSTITUCION, March 10, 1920.
EVERYWHERE one hears laments of
the lack of population. I grew used to
them in Peru and was not surprised at
them in Bolivia,, where the unused terri-
tory is so extensive. But I had not
expected them here. Especially strange
it seemed to hear laments over the lack
of increase and fears of the positive
diminution of the population. It seems,
however,, that the entire coast from the
Isthmus to the Straits is unfriendly to the
white man, and that he can flourish here
only by giving special attention to his
food and his house. This, hitherto, no
community on the coast has done. No-
where is there any knowledge of hygiene,
and the infant mortality is shocking.
A thousand infants die every month in
Santiago, and in addition to these every
day's paper, in its list of the dead, contains
the names of from five to ten children who
have reached sufficient age to be baptized
The causes are ignorance of the elements
of nursing, improper food, overcrowding

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filth, and vermin. Efforts are being made

to provide proper houses,, or at least houses

less deadly than the ancient, malodorous

adobe shacks that house so many of the

poor,, but there is much inertia and a spirit

of comfortable,, religious resignation,, very

difficult to combat. So long as the belief

prevails that the infant blessed by the

priest goes straight to Heaven, and, more-

over, so long as this death is the occasion

of a celebration very like an Irish wake,

it will probably be difficult to get active

co-operation in hygienic reform.

En route to TALCA,

March n, 1920.

WE have spent three days in what is

by general consent the most beautiful

seaside resort in Chile, and, if the opinions

of the Chileans are accepted, the most

beautiful in the world. The Moule River,

at the mouth of which this picturesque

little town is situated, was a navigable

stream until the bar at its mouth became

impassable. Now only small craft enter,

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319

and of its former manifold seafaring
activities there remain only the building
of lighters. This, they say,, furnishes
employment for nearly a thousand men
and boys — I thought the number exagger-
ated— and the rest of the population lives
by fishing and by the summer visitor who
has become the mainstay of the place.

One can hardly avoid comparison with
places on the New England coast, such as
Buzzard's Bay, Newburyport, Gloucester,
or St. Andrews, New Brunswick. It is
possible that in the matter of climate
Constitucion has an advantage over all
of these, for there is no rain on this coast
for three months of the year. In the
matter of scenery also it would be possible
to claim first place for Constitucion, for
it has river and mountain, broad beaches,
and a wealth of craggy coast with hills
and winding trails in the background. It
would not, however, quite equal St.Andrews
in scenery, and with that the comparison
stops. In every element of comfort, of
the graces of life, of charm and dignity,
no comparison is possible.

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The accommodation of the best hotel

in the town is hardly on a par with the

poorest boarding house of Buzzard's Bay,

and,, of course, cleanliness, as it is practised

in New England, is a foreign language

here as elsewhere on this coast. Never1

theless, in spite of unswept floors, doubt-

fully washed dishes, an occasional flea

in the daytime and many mosquitoes at

night, we greatly benefited from our visit

and enjoyed it.

We were fortunate in our company,

Senor Jose Toribio Medina and his wife,

whose knowledge of things Chilean as

well as all other things Hispanic is past

finding out. Like ourselves they were

on a vacation, to rest and play. We had

walked and ridden together, paid visits,

and enjoyed one another's company at the

hotel table without a single dull moment.

En route to SANTIAGO,

March 13, 1920.

WE spent the night in Talca, the fourth

city of Chile, a solid, compact town

without notable feature, which lies in a

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HISPANIC NOTES

We were fortunate in our company, Senor Medina
and his wife "

FROM CHILE

hollow surrounded by low hills. The
pride and glory of Talca is its Plaza,
which Talcans consider superior to that
of Santiago and probably the finest in
the world, for the vanity of Talca is
proverbial. They say that the people of
Talca arrange the cities of the world in
the following order : Talca, Paris, London,
and perhaps New York. It is said also
that the legend is generally accepted which
declares that the bones of Don Quixote
are buried in the Plaza. They are quite
right in taking pride in their Plaza, it
is ample, filling an entire block like that
of Santiago, well planted and well kept,
with a broad walk nearly as wide as a
street running round it, set in tiles to rival
the tiled walk of the Plaza in the capital.
On one of the four sides there are
substantial buildings, but on the other
three ordinary dwellings and places of
business. Apart from this square there
seems to be nothing in Talca but a succes-
sion of ill-paved streets, rows on rows
of the usual one storey, adobe, cement-
covered houses, shops, and markets.

321

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The train stopped for ten minutes at
Rancagua, where there was much bustle
and activity. The long platform presented
a study of Chilean life more than usually
varied. A long line of women with baskets
of peaches, plums, grapes, green figs,
cakes, and sweetmeats of all kinds, squatted
close to the train, beating away the flies
and calling their wares. The first-class
passengers crowded around them or edged
their way along and a close procession
of second and third-class passengers
struggled along with their multitudinous
luggage.

There were ranchers with ponchos of
red and blue, black and white, and faded
browns; there were servants with their
black mantillas over their heads, and village
people going avisiting, carrying chickens,
turkeys, pet dogs, and kids wrapped in
sacks under their arms. It is, I imagine,
in the third-class carriages that the great
bottom strata of Chile can be best observed.
Here, on long benches that face one another,
are soldiers, rotos, railroad hands, an occa-
sional priest, shepherds, and their various

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323

women folk, in a fairly democratic intimacy.
It is a closed world to the traveller, but
gives me impressions very like those I
get from Kipling's pictures of Indian
railways. There are no castes here,
but with the close grip of the senatorial
class on the land it is no easy task for the
low-class man to change his status.

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SANTIAGO, CHILE,

March 18, 1920.

THE foreigner gets light on the actual

Chile very gradually, for Chileans are no-

toriously uncommunicative. Senor Medina

prides himself on being informative,, but

I think the average Chilean is as inex-

pansive and unexpressive as any sort of

man in the world. He is not merely

silent, but morosely mute. He not only

does not talk, he does not sing. Even

the Peruvian and the Bolivian sings, sad

songs, it is true, uttering the melancholy

of the race, but the Chilean seems to feel

no need to unburden his heart in speech

or in song. One has to provoke a discus-

sion and stir up controversy in order to

get any expression of opinion even among

one's friends.

A young man who has lived under the

same roof with me for some weeks and

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gradually grown communicative tells me

that he is going to run for Congress, and is

sure to be elected, because he has the

support of one of the great landowners

who can dispose absolutely of the votes of

several thousand peasants who live on his

land. " Why, of course," says my secre-

tary, " he controls their food ; they don't

dare offend him. If they didn't vote as

he told them he would find it out, and

they would suffer. The hand of the land-

owner lies heavy on the peon. In the city,

naturally, there is no such control, but in

the country (and Chile is an agricultural

nation) the landlords are supreme. So the

Senate is filled with great landowners who

really form an oligarchy and in the last

analysis control the Government."

SANTIAGO, March 21, 1920.

ONE does not need to travel far to

discover that the Government of Chile is

heavy-handed and far from the demo-

cratic, responsive, sympathetic instrument

that some of one's Chilean friends consider

VII

HISPANIC NOTES

FROM CHILE

327

it. There is something to be said for their
contention in so far as the parliamentary
side of government is concerned. The
Cabinet is responsive, or can readily be
made so ; for a single Deputy, apparently,
has power such as one time was common
to a Senator in Washington, by exercising
his right to unlimited speech, to block
progress and compel the resignation of the
Cabinet. In consequence, the life of a
Cabinet is short and the office of Minister
not highly valued. As Senor Huidobro, the
Minister of Foreign Affairs, remarked to
me the other day, "It is rather a sign of
eminence here not to be a Minister than
to be one."

The frequent fall of Ministries, with the
attendant reverberations, gives a false
sense of executive weakness and of power
on the outside. In fact, however, the
actual mechanism of government as it
touches the public is rigid, Prussian,
and repressive, and is not much affected
by changes of party or personnel; all
apparently agreeing that a " strong
government " is necessary for Chile, for,

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whatever their party, all alike are subject
to the autocratic control of the Senatorial
oligarchy.

Two evenings ago, as we were driving
down the Alameda at dusk, we , saw a
considerable group of men and boys with
banners, holding a strikers' meeting at
the base of a famous statue to the heroes
of Chile. The meeting appeared to be
orderly, yet at the next cross street we
saw a squadron of mounted police, and
the next morning we read that several of
the leaders in the demonstration had been
arrested. This morning there are signs
posted calling for a meeting of protest,
but the public seems unresponsive; it
expects and takes for granted an amount
of police supervision which would hardly
be tolerated elsewhere. We saw many
processions of all sorts in Lima and seldom
noted the police ; here in every procession
we have seen there seem to be two mounted
policemen to every four or five marchers,
and the demonstrations are as decorous
as the afternoon constitutional of the
Sisters' school.

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HISPANIC NOTES

FROM CHILE

329

SANTIAGO, March 21, 1920.

OUR boys have begun to go to school,
and we are getting some insight into
Chilean education. They are attending
the National Institute, by common consent
the best school in Chile, and find many
things surprising. Every pupil not only
buys his own books, and his own pencils,
rulers, and paper, but also his own pen
and ink, and carries the whole cumbrous
outfit to and fro to every session, so that
one sees small boys toiling sadly along
with baggage enough for a long journey
looking like walking stationery shops.
We are assured that under the law of
Chile corporal punishment is forbidden in
schools, but the boys say there is a whip
kept in the office, and for the slightest
infraction of discipline the offender is sent
to be whipped. In other respects the
morale is antiquated : windows are not
opened, the teachers bullyrag the scholars,
occasionally handling them roughly, and
there is the usual imperfect regard for
cleanliness.

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The boys report a large proportidfli of
foreign names among the scholars, espe-
cially German,, Italian, and English, which
falls in with the testimony of one of the
leading authorities, who tells me that in
the High Schools and Universities about
fifty per cent, of the students are foreign.
Evidently the Chilean has no over-
mastering ambition for learning. It
appears also that the school facilities only
provide for twenty-two per cent, of the
children of school age and that no more
than sixteen per cent, attend. That this
is not by reason of want of room appears
from the figures at the Braden mine,
where, although abundant facilities are
provided, the percentage of attendance is
the same as elsewhere. It is not sur-
prising, therefore, that illiteracy is the
rule rather than the exception; but it is
disconcerting to discover, after the hall-
boy, who is very intelligent, has been
handling your letters for three weeks, that
he can't tell Parker from McPherson, and
that your maid cannot count beyond
three. In Peru and Bolivia, where the

HISPANIC NOTES

FROM CHILE

33i

servants were usually Indians, one took

illiteracy more or less for granted, it went

with the colour.; but when it goes with a

fairly white face and a neat person it

seems incongruous.

SANTIAGO, March 24, 1920.

ENOUGH time has now elapsed to make

possible a comparison of Santiago and

Lima. The contrast is not so sharp as

one might expect. The differences are,

to be sure, not small ; of these the absence

here of the Indian and the presence of

the mountains make the greatest. As is

constantly forced on one's attention, here

and everywhere in South America, race

and climate are the chief factors in the

life of a nation. In both Santiago, which

is to say Chile, is the more fortunate.

With her greater distance from the

Equator, her altitude, and her position

among the mountains, she has an immense

advantage. The air is more bracing and

the people are more energetic. The

absence of the Indian, on the other hand,

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removes the bottom stratum, and leaves
Chile better off for the lack of another
weak, dispirited, and exploitable element ;
for, of course, there is no absolute absence
of the ignorant 'and exploitable here, any
more than there is of the Indian blood.
The visible Indian, with his poncho and
sandals, is missing, but his blood is every-
where. One of the most intelligent
Chilean women I have met tells me that
she doubts whether there are Chileans
without Indian blood, and for her part
she is proud to have it. Of course, this
is heresy, if not treason, but the truth of
it is visible in every Chilean face, and the
mass of the lower level of society, illiterate
and hopelessly impoverished, are obviously
Indian in their essential character and
condition.

Of the outward and visible differences
between Lima and Santiago the hotels and
the paved streets are the most important.
The Maury in Lima is but a poor thing;
the Savoy here is a modern, clean, and
pleasant hostelry. In Lima there are
only three or four streets on which you

VII

HISPANIC NOTES

FROM CHILE

333

may drive without discomfort ; here there

are a dozen. Each city relies chiefly on

its main avenue,, the Paseo Colon in Lima,,

the Alameda here; but Santiago has,

besides,, two delightful parks in which one

may drive with comfort and enjoyment,

while Lima has only the sea-front drive,

very fine at its best, but not well kept,

and only in spots equal to the fine and

comfortable roads of the Parque Cousino

or the Quinta Normal.

SANTIAGO, March 26, 1920.

I HAVE just paid a visit to His Grace

Crescente Errazuriz, Archbishop of San-

tiago, and found it thoroughly enjoyable.

I was fortunate in having as my guide

Don Jose Toribio Medina, who is an old

and intimate friend of the Archbishop,

so the call was an informal one. We

found him at his house, an unpretentious

dwelling on a quiet street, which, legend

says, is on the site of the house of Pedro

Valdivia, the conqueror and founder of

Santiago. We were admitted into a tiny

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courtyard, thence into a narrow, porch-
like ante-room, and ushered into the Arch-
bishop's sitting-room, which opened into
an equally tiny, walled garden hung with
creepers. There was a minute before the
Archbishop entered to glance at the room,
a scholar's apartment, simply and
plainly furnished, its severity relieved by
cushions in the long sofa, above which
hung three charming little oil paintings
of religious subjects, done in flat tones,
but of unmistakable age and excellence,
and framed in antique frames of glazed
wood and gold. Higher on the walls were '<
large steel engravings, and there were]
small tables, with books and papers and |
fruit and a cigar-box, which gave another !
friendly touch to the room.

The Archbishop entered, a tall, im-
posing figure, who moved in his robes j
with some of the stateliness of office!
united to an appealing air of age and!
impending infirmity. He approached his '
old friend, took his hand arid held it, with
a long benignant smile, while he asked '
the usual questions about the health of|

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HISPANIC NOTES

Crescente Errazuriz, Archbishop of Santiago

FROM CHILE

335

the family. He turned then to me, and,,
shaking hands with a simple, kindly man-
ner, murmured " Muchisimo gusto ! " We
sat down, chatted of the Hispanic Society
and my task here, I made my little
presentation of the Romances Historicas
Sacadas, etc., a copy of The Cubans and
of the Catalogue, and the conversation
turned to politics, the mismanagement of
the railways, and crops. The old man's
interest in politics was keen, and his know-
ledge of men and affairs evidently first
rate, derived, too, as it seemed to me,
from first-hand conversation, which, here
especially, is immeasurably surer than
the printed medium.

I had asked him for his autograph, and
we all passed into his study while he
wrote it in a firm hand and with a flourish
a little old-fashioned, giving the simple
act an air of ceremony. This room also
was plainly furnished, without a hint of
luxury, but also without severity. He
seems too much of a man to pose and too
much of a scholar and a gentleman for
mere asceticism. Yet they say he rises

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at four, works till eleven or twelve, and
after breakfast allows himself only an
hour's siesta before the afternoon's work.

As he rose from his desk, a plain,
modern roll-top affair, on which rested
the two archiepiscopal caps, one red, the
other purple, I noted again how tall he
is, and he reminded us that he is eighty-
one. I recalled an interview some years
ago with Cardinal Gibbons, and felt the
comparison all in favour of the Chilean
Churchman. His lofty and noble figure,
his clean linen, his simple, benignant
scholar's face, his thick grey eyebrows
that draw down like a veritable screen
before his eyes, his fine strong hands and
his manner of entire sincerity and freedom
from self-consciousness, all told the story
of a gentleman, a scholar and a kindly
man.

We left with regret on our part and the
friendliest expressions on the part of our
host, who shook hands with us at the
door, and, following us to the gate, shook
hands again, with a smile that was a
benediction.

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HISPANIC NOTES

FROM CHILE

337

SANTIAGO, March 28, 1920.

FOR a week now the morning papers
have been filled with diatribes on the
" Peru-Bolivia incident/' an echo of
the interminable Tacna-Arica question,
which is the South American analogue to
Alsace-Lorraine.

Nearly all the references to the topic,
by individuals as well as the Press, are
marked by animosity, and some by extreme
bitterness and hate. The outburst has
been very interesting to us, because for
two months previously we were con-
stantly being assured that Chile was
utterly indifferent to Peru and all things
Peruvian, regarding her poor, inferior,
defeated enemy of old, with complacent
unconcern touched with commiseration.
Whenever one referred to Peru he was
told that Peru, of course, felt an intense
and hostile interest in Chile, but Chile
was not the least concerned about Peru,
one never heard the word in the clubs,
etc., etc. To all this there was an answer.
The Peruvian Chancellor's telegram to

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Bolivia protesting against her project of
acquiring the port of Arica, which is in
the " lost provinces," produced an ex-
plosion. Everywhere the lofty indifference
as to the poor Peruvian gave place to
savage denunciation. The Peruvians were
Indians, negroes, cowards, traitors. In
short, the vials of wrath were uncorked
and have been dripping ever since. Some
of the paragraphs and cartoons were
savage ; for example, the illustration on
the front cover of Sucesos, a popular
weekly magazine, which portrays Peru
as a naked negress, with nose-ring, armlets,
and ankle-rings, and the central caricature,
representing Uncle Sam with Peru and
Bolivia, two naked piccaninnies, clutching
his legs, while Bolivia explains that with
one hand he could beat that coward.

The episode sufficed to dispel the
illusion of Olympian indifference and
lofty unconcern. One learns now that
Chile maintains a constant propaganda
abroad, and has within a year or two
sought the services of the head of an
American bank here to make the propa-

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HISPANIC NOTES

Chilean cartoon : a jibe at Peru

Typical street off main thoroughfares

FROM CHILE

339

ganda more efficient. It appears also
that the representation of Peru as negro
is no chance stroke of the cartoonist,, but
belongs to the propaganda. The boys
report that at school the Peruvians are
constantly referred to as largely negro,
and since it was learned that they had
been in Peru both teachers and scholars
repeatedly inquire whether the Peruvians
are not mostly negroes, with evident dis-
appointment at the reply that there were
very few negroes there. I have had
professors and librarians, theoretically
the most intelligent of men, seriously
inquire whether the Peruvians were not
at least thirty per cent, negro.

Not all the wrath was directed against
Peru; the United States came in for a
share also, showing how sore was the
nerve that was touched. The cable from
Washington directed to all three Govern-
ments alike, Peru, Bolivia, and Chile,
was bitterly resented. One's friends and
acquaintances, almost without exception,
demand reasons; my neighbour the
banker tells me that at least fifty Chileans

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have demanded reasons, meaning apolo-

gies, from him. The newspapers have

printed editorials recalling all the old

grievances against the United States, and

the United States Chamber of Commerce in

Valparaiso has been badly enough fright-

ened to pass resolutions which amount to a

public apology, a thing which only adds to

the Chilean's sense of his own importance

and of the justice of his complaint.

SANTIAGO, March 28, 1920.

WE have paid another visit to the chief

beauty spot of Santiago, Santa Lucia

Hill. It is a remarkable place, both by

nature and by art, and the city owes a

debt of gratitude to the memory of

Vicuna Mackenna, who conceived the

plan and the excellent landscape archi-

tecture of it. A winding road, beautifully

shaded, turns in a spiral half-way to the

top, which is reached by steps skilfully

placed and often hidden in the natural

rock. From the summit the view over

the city and to the mountains on either

side is magnificent. Even from the

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HISPANIC NOTES

Santa Lucia, the Caupolican

FROM CHILE

restaurant, which is at the end of the
automobile road, there is a noteworthy
outlook. There are, I imagine, few places
in the world where one may sit on a tree-
fringed balcony, sip his tea, and look out
over church-towers and across to moun-
tains to right and left. It is easily the
most charming spot in the city, and the
wonder is that so few Santiguenians
appreciate it. A good many come, to be
sure, and stroll about, but time after time
we have gone and found the balcony
empty. To-day, as we crossed the tiled
lower balcony, with its carved stone
railings and the inevitable fountain, and
passed under the Spanish arch, sur-
mounted by the Arms of Charles III, the
mountains were immersed in the golden
light of sunset. On our left there were
the ranks of the lower mountains, with
every line gilded and painted with the
sinking sun, and on our right the taller
snow-capped peaks lighted and warmed
with the reflected rays ; even San Cristobal ,
usually bare and forbidding, was all
aglow. It was an effect of a few moments,

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but sweet and fine and as consoling as a

religious experience.

SANTIAGO, March 31, 1920.

TO-DAY was a perfect sample of the

autumn climate of Santiago, a sunshine

rich and mellow, air soft and still, a hint

of drowsiness and luxury and the smell of

gathered fruits. This afternoon Fortune

favoured me by obliging me to make

several little journeys along the Alameda,

which was like a basking-place for the

autumn spirit. As if by an instinct, the

labour-unionists had lighted on this par-

ticular afternoon for a great demonstration

of " Solidarity," whatever that may mean,

and all the cars were still, the cabs were

gone, shops were closed, and everywhere

people lounged or strolled. The vast

breadth of the Alameda, which is like

two avenues, with a parkway in the middle,

was steeped in sun, and redolent with the

odours of fruit and autumn leaves. The

very air seemed interfused with indolence

and the poppy breath of sloth. And

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HISPANIC NOTES

FROM CHILE

343

then down one of the broad avenues came

a red banner, leading a straggling host of

the workers. First, the girls and women,

strolling rather than marching, arm in arm

in threes or fives or singly, and from time

to time, as it seemed, quite spontaneously,

lifting a cheerful " Viva ! Viva ! " which

shrilled across the Alameda and was

taken up by the solider ranks of men and

boys behind, who gave it back often

half-heartedly, but occasionally with a

full-throated shout that had depth and

plenty of volume. So they went marching

in their casual, undisciplined formation

down the great avenue to where I saw at

a distance a great assembly of red banners

round a statue and heard a deeper murmur.

Strains of the Marseillaise floated back to

me, and some along the way shook their

heads, but it was hard to believe anything

serious could happen on a day so filled

with the warmth and perfume of the lotus.

SANTIAGO, April 2, 1920.

I HAVE alluded before to the high

death-rate in Chile, and to the misgiving

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among well-informed people as to the
future. There are fears of a gradual
depopulation. To-day's paper points the
moral afresh in an article showing an
excess of 159 deaths over births since the
first of the year in Santiago alone, and in
the month of March a total of 1265 deaths,
of which 736 were of infants less than a
year old. This in Santiago, which is
believed to have the finest climate, and
the best hygienic conditions to be found
in the country. To add to the serious-
ness of the matter, one notes that the
official in charge of these statistics de-
clares that the infant mortality is increas-
ing, and that the evidence points to a
growing debility in the race. He quotes
the totals of deaths for three years, 1917,
5095; 1918, 5204; 1919, 6885, and for
1920 prognosticates a much higher total.
These figures and the gloomy views
of competent physicians reawaken one's
doubts about the West Coast as an habitat
for the white race, or for the mestizo,
which the Chilean is. One's dubiety is
not diminished by a study of the Chilean

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345

vital statistics. To be sure they show a

gross increase in population, but the

figures are looked at askance; not with-

out reason. For example, one's eye falls

on the causes of death : " Convulsiones de

los ninos " is given as the cause of death of

373 children in 1909; of 710 in 1910; of

4194 in 1911; of 6097 in 1912. This was

going pretty fast, and evidently struck

some one as too rapid, so in 1913 it appeared

as the cause of only 1613 deaths, and in

1914 of only 1485. " Other causes " took

its place, rising from 1902 in the year

1911 to 2152 in 1912, 5644 in 1913, and

6894 in 1915.

The statistics, it is plain, will not bear

examination. Everybody agrees that the

last census was a humbug, and one is left

with a disposition to believe the worst.

What I am inclined to suspect is that the

dust of ages, which on much of the coast

is never laid by rain, continues to bear

the germs of Inca and pre-Inca diseases,

which, with all their successors, are not

only carried by the wind, but also by the

flies which likewise go unmitigated, for

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there

is neither frost nor snow to give a

good

clearance of them or their eggs.

Flies by the million and the infinite dis-

orders

of the past civilizations carried in

dust across the plains, retained in the

adobe

walls, constantly given off in the

crumbling and disintegration of daily use,

afford

an abundant variety of ills unknown

to other parts of the world and uncom-

bated

by adequate precautions or decent

conditions of life.

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FROM CHILE

347

SANTIAGO, CHILE,

Good Friday, April 2, 1920.

JUST at dusk this evening we went into

the Cathedral, to find the service over and

the church nearly empty. While we stood

looking down the long nave, the clergy

gathered at the altar, formed a group

about the Archbishop, as if to receive his

Benediction, and then in a procession

moved down the central aisle, the Arch-

bishop supported on either side by one

of the higher clergy. The pace was very

slow and the effect quite solemn, for, long

before one could see his face, it was plain

that the old man was worn out with the

vigil and toil of Passion Week. He drew

on with feeble and heavy steps, his face

lined, his eyes leaden, his chin set, his

shoulder sunken, every sign proclaiming

his exhaustion.

As he approached, the remnants of the

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congregation bent their knees and rose

to crowd about him, with every mark of

respect and affection. He was a reverend

figure as he passed us, with his head,

crowned with his four-cornered purple cap

of office, held stiffly up against the weight

of years and weariness, and his black

surtout, against which hung in its heavy

golden chain a splendid cross, framed in

the folds of the purple robe that he

carried draped over his arm.

The congregation closed in about him

as he moved to his automobile, and stood

bareheaded while he entered and drove

away.

SANTIAGO, April 8, 1920.

I HAVE been visiting the four leading

newspapers of Santiago — El Mercuric, La

Nation, Diario Ilustrado and La Union.

They are fairly representative of the city

and I think of the country also. I shall

trouble you with only one of them. El

Mer curio is nearly a hundred years old,

strong, prosperous, and well-managed.

Its home, which is nearly opposite the

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HISPANIC NOTES

FROM CHILE

349

Hall of Congress,, is a huge, red building,
an old palace that retains in its lofty and
spacious entrance hall, its immense stair-
way, and its heavily barred windows,
many of the marks of the colonial archi-
tecture.

Within one finds a vigorous life : the
staff of El Mercurio is admittedly the
strongest group of journalists in Chile,
and though it has many critics and some
enemies, it has no very close rival. Its
editors include Carlos Silva Vildosola, who
was the most ardent Chilean supporter of
the Allies in the recent war; Armando
Donoso, who wields the most brilliant and
productive pen in Chile ; Emilio Va'isse, the
foremost literary critic, and half-a-dozen
others less notable.

The editors' offices open on the gallery
^hat runs all round the central entrance
i hall. Here is the focus of the paper, and
I one at least of the centres of the life of the
city, for everybody comes here, to tell or
learn the news. A governor of a remote
province with his story of Peruvian agres-
sions, a politician with news of a fresh

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parliamentary combination, a promoter

with a new nitrate mine,, a poet with a new

volume of verses — I have met them all and

been delighted with the sense of life, the

zest, the eager give and take of conversa-

tion. At the other newspaper offices I

have found competent journalists, well-

equipped plants, evidences of energy as

well as intelligence, but nowhere else the

same feeling of a centre of political and

intellectual life as in the Mercurio.

SANTIAGO, April n, 1920.

THIS morning we were awakened bV

trumpets and drums in the street below,

and went to the window to see a procession

that might have been witnessed a thousand

years ago on the Via Sacra, when the

Roman Pontifex Maximus made his visits

of inspection.

The Bishop of Santiago was setting

forth on a visitation to one of the churches,

and went in a chariot drawn and propelled

by bareheaded acolytes in faded yellow

lace coats, preceded by a crucifero and

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HISPANIC NOTES

FROM CHILE

attended by Roman flameros, except that
these carried candles. He sat within the
closed carriage, with attendant cruciferos
on either side and followed by an array
of the higher and lower clergy in robes of
ceremony.

Behind in a long line came the trum-
peters,, but here one lost touch with Rome.
Instead of the long, straight, silver trum-
pets were modern brass instruments, and
instead of the Roman cloak the players
wore khaki uniforms. But it was a
splendid glimpse that united us for an
instant to the past.

The next episode of the day seemed like
passing from the Via Sacra to the Cata-
combs. An hour later my friend the
Presbyterian missionary, who has been
working for more than thirty years to
spread the Gospel here, working perforce
among the poor, because the rich and
cultivated are inaccessible, came and
took me to the slums to attend his Sunday
School. We went by tram a consider-
able distance and penetrated to streets
I had not seen, full of conventillos,

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alleys that lead to rows of one-room
habitations opening upon narrow courts
or tiny patios, where all the families do
their cooking and washing in the same
communal open-air style as was common
in the mean streets of the Rome of the
Caesars.

We entered the modest building, and the
company assembled, men, women, and chil-
dren, to the number of 130. Many of
them greatly needed washing, some of
the children were barefoot and some wore
shoes that hardly deserved the name, but
they joined in the responsive reading, and
sang with enthusiasm. It was interesting
to hear the old hymn, " Holy, Holy,
Holy ! Lord God Almighty ! " as " Santo,
Santo, Santo ! Senor Omnipotente ! "

In spite of one's sympathy with the
spirit and zeal of the missionary, the
insistent doubt returns : Is it worth
while? One of my friends tells me that
missions, Congregational or Presbyterian,
have been maintained in Talca for sixty
years without making any notable im-
pression. At the end of more than half-a-

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HISPANIC NOTES

FROM CHILE

353

century -of labour with many devoted
men and women and at great expense of
money, Chile remains Romanist or infidel.
There are said to be only about thirteen
thousand professing Protestants in the
country, and, as everybody knows, many
of these are Christians in profession only.
One wonders how many would remain in
that faith if the missionaries went home.
When one talks with the men who are
labouring here far from home to accomplish
this tremendous task of changing the faith
and morals of a whole people, he feels
baffled at their lack of comprehension of
the nature of the task or of the means to
the end. There is a good deal of honest
uncomprehending, oxlike, plodding in-
dustry, but often an utter blindness to the
profound racial and historical differences
that separate the American from the
Hispanic peoples and make the super-
imposition of one culture upon the other
a practical impossibility. The point of
view of the American missionary and
teacher here is very similar to that of the
Yankee business man, who regards his own

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civilization, government, education, and

religion as the perfect model which the

rest of the world is bound sooner or later

to adopt, and only delays in adopting

because of its ignorance or sloth. That

other peoples may be equally convinced

of the superiority of their own culture

seems never to occur to him, and that, in

fact, each people has its own nature and

type, distinct as the types of trees, and as

impossible to standardize and make uni-

form, would, I think, be a revolutionary

idea to him. He would not dream of

turning a palm tree into a pine, but he

lightly essays the infinitely more difficult

task of transforming a Chilean into an

Anglo-Saxon.

SANTIAGO, April n, 1920.

So much has been written about the

beauty and fascination of South American

women that I have been alert to appre-

ciate their charm. I think it has been

exaggerated. I am inclined to think that

we have here a tradition which dates from

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HISPANIC NOTES

Chilean belles

FROM CHILE

355

the time when strangers arrived on this
coast after a long and dreary voyage
unrelieved by any social intercourse, and
came ashore in a highly impressionable
state, to find a society equally avid of
novelty and eager to greet a stranger
bringing news and perhaps personal attrac-
tions besides. So the well-connected or
well-introduced visitor found his hosts
charming, the country and the climate
entrancing, and the ladies lovely.

It would be grossly unjust to say that
the charms were imaginary. From day
to day on the streets one sees faces that
would arrest the artist's eye; there are
girls whose youth and vivacity are as
fascinating here as in New Orleans or
New York, and there are women who have
faces and forms of undeniable attractions.
That is only to say what must be true
anywhere where a quarter of a million
people are gathered together. But what of
the special and local type of beauty? I
think one may say here, as in Peru, that
the mingling of Spanish and Indian blood
has produced a good many interesting

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examples ; as to a definite type I am in
doubt. Occasionally one sees a face that
is compelling for its depth of colour and
its conquering aquilinity of line, " more
terrible than an army with banners/'
and at rare intervals one sees a matron
with an air of subdued but pervading
dignity, like an emanation that affects
the air she breathes and the streets she
walks on. Two such as this I have seen,
and a number of merely smart women,
faithful and wholly satisfied reflections of
the Fifth Avenue fashion plates. I have
doubts as to the type of beauty, but I
have no doubts as to the mantilla, which is
the chief aid and equipment of the local
belles. As worn by young women, it
affords not merely an article of dress, but
a stage property. Whatever may have
been its origin, probably in the peasant
costume of mediaeval Spain, its almost
universal use here is due to the prescription
of the Church which until to-day has for-
bidden hats to be worn in the churches.
The early form of the mantilla seems to
have been designed like a Moorish veil to

VII

HISPANIC NOTES

FROM CHILE

357

cover the head and face, but the craft of
women long since turned the repressive
decrees of the clergy to its uses, and trans-
formed a mortifying restriction to another
weapon of attack. It can be draped in a
thousand forms to convey anything from
complete sanctity and holy abnegation to
the most frivolous coquetry. It is to the
mantilla in the costume and the Indian
strain in the blood that we may look for
the Chilean " type " of beauty, if there
is one.

When one reflects upon the deeper
qualities of womanhood, one is aware of
I more misgivings about Chilean women.
I do not say that they are lax in morals,
but I do think that the finer moral sense
is wanting in them. It seems impossible to
me that young women of delicate instincts
could endure to parade by the hour even-
ing after evening round and round the
Plaza before the eyes of close-packed lines
of young men, almost touching as they
pass, and encountering at this close
range the unblushing and unrestrained
gaze of the average young Santiguenian.

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One can hardly imagine five hundred

young women of good family in any

American city voluntarily seeking and

basking in this sort of appraisal, inspection,

ogling, and familiarity by the male popu-

lation of the town. There is something

lacking here, and the daily recurrence of

this parade disposes finally of the claim of

superior refinement and delicacy some-

times set up for the Latin-American

young woman.

SANTIAGO, April 12, 1920.

I HAVE paid a visit to the new Minister of

Foreign Affairs, Senor Antonio Huneeus,

who, after one of the frequent cabinet

crises to which Chile is subject, has taken

the place of Sefior Alamiro Huidobro.

The interview was long delayed, because

the Papal Nuncio arrived just as we were

about to enter, and, as he takes precedence

by courtesy over every one here, we waited

nearly an hour. Then he made his exit

in due state, a picturesque figure in

crimson robe and biretta, flanked by

VII

HISPANIC tfOTES

FROM CHILE

359

black-robed secretaries and accompanied
by the assistant-secretary, who showed
him, with all deference, to the door, and
remained bowing while he went away.

We found the Minister sitting in the
same place where we had greeted his
predecessor a few days ago, in the far
corner of the great apartment of State,
and looking rather small and insignificant.
He is a neat little figure, like a Boston
law professor, with thin, well-brushed grey
hair and beard, a neat, spare person in a
pepper-and-salt suit, rather correct and
prim in appearance. We sat on a sofa,
and he listened to my brief remarks about
the Society, then in measured terms
proceeded to express his sense of the
value and importance of the task the
Society has in hand. He spoke of Chile's
position in the world, her desire for amity
and good understanding, which, he added,
she maintains with all her neighbours,
except Peru, where special circumstances
and past events operate to make cordial
relations impossible at present, etc., etc.
It seemed a little like a well-conned

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lesson. Later the conversation became

lighter, and he managed to smile at some

of my attempts at levity. We made our

modest presentations and withdrew, with

the feeling that the room and the task

was too large for our host to animate.

SANTIAGO, April 15, 1920.

THE art treasures of Santiago seem to

be very limited, and the production of

works of art very slight. This is partly

accounted for by the fact that up to this

time Chile has not developed any native

resources. There are Chilean painters,

of whom some, e.g. Jarpa, Espinosa;

Correa, Valenzuela, Helsby, and Rebolledo,

are competent craftsmen, but their work,

excepting only the last, is plainly derivative

and their inspiration obviously foreign.

Their eyes are still on Paris, where they

had their training, and where much of

their best work was done. Lately all six

of those I have mentioned have shown

signs of finding a field in the Chilean land-

scape, but it is said that their pictures are

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HISPANIC NOTES

Eucarpio Espinosa, after a portrait by himself

Onofre Jarpa in his studio

FROM CHILE

361

either sold abroad or have to be shown and
praised there before they can find a
market here. It is the hall-mark of Paris
or New York which gives them value.

I have already referred to the very
small number of Chilean subjects that are
to be found in the Chilean section of the
National Museum, and I have yet to find
a good collection of Chilean subjects
painted by Chilean artists anywhere else.
The best presentation of Chile in pictures
that I have yet seen is an extensive series
of water-colours by a French artist,
Bonnencontre, who seems to have got
stranded here, is teaching in the School of
Architecture, and accumulating a stock
of pictures with which some day he is
going to take Paris by storm. I have no
doubt he will make an impression when he
has his exhibition there, for the views of
the Cordillera, the ranches, the roads, the
valleys, rwers, and plateaus are very
striking, full of gorgeous colour and
sublime effects of landscape. Whether
they will capture the public that cares
for pictures and buys them is another

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question, for these magnificent transcripts
of mountain peaks and rainbow-hued
haunts of the guanache have none of the
homely, human quality that makes pic-
tures pleasant to live with.

I have found only one other lot of
pictures. These are in the hands of
what appears to be the only picture dealer
worthy the name in Santiago, a Sefior,
a man of some wealth, who has a great
house filled with all manner of collec-
tanea: ivories, carved chests, mounted
and unmounted stones, old silver, vest-
ments, furniture, and pictures. Of these
he has a rather heterogeneous collection,
running from a so-called Ribera, a huge,
forbidding canvas of the Prophet Elias in
the Desert, to pretty little things of the
modern French school. Among them is
a picture of St. James the Apostle, which
is said to have come from the Senate
Chamber in Lima, and is the first notable
example of the spoils of the War of the
Pacific that I have seen. It suggests the
possibility, however, that many more of
the treasures of the house may have had a

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HISPANIC NOTES

FROM CHILE

363

similar origin. I enclose a priced list of

sixteen just as he wrote it for me; it

gives a fairly adequate idea of the lot.

D61ares.

i. Prof eta Elias en el Desierta.

Atribuido a Ribera. En per-

fecto estado. 145 X 97 cent. 2000

2. San Santiago Apostal. Sin

autor, escuela espanola, muy

antiguo. 85 X 62 cent. 550

3. Virgin con el nifio. Atribuido

a Ribalta. 58 X 22 cent. 800

4. Cabeza de Viejo — Escuela Itali-

ano, sin autor, en muy buenas

condiciones. 40 X 30 cent. 600

5. Paisaje con figuras. 22 X 17

cent. 300

6. Paisaje antiguo de F. Post.

40 X 33 cent. En madera 450

7. Flamenco " Mercado " en ma-

dera; muy antiguo y de gran

merito artistico; sin autor.

60 X 50 cent. 1800

8. Jota Espanola. Atribuido a

Goya. 34 X 26 cent. 1400

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9. Interior con figuras. Atribuido

D61ares.

a Kerel de Moor. 32 X 24 cent.

400

10. Leccion de Canto de Bouison.

En madera. 35 X 22 cent.

45°

ii. Marinade Albonge 1868. 46 X

26 cent.

1200

12. Paisaja de Koek Koek. En

madera. 45 X 30 cent.

I2OO

13. Puesta de Sol. Paisaje con

figuras y caballos, de Ber-

geret. 45 X 37 cent.

650

14. Paisaje con animales. Atri-

buido a Salvator Rosa. Pre-

cioso cuadro. 40 X 30 cent.

1300

15. Una Taberna conmuchas figuras.

Esplendid cuadro antiguo de

A. Brauwer. 64 X 38 cent.

200O

16. San Jeronimo con el Leon.

Gran retable tallado; muy

antiguo, del Siglo XV. al XVI.

104 x 74 cent.

600

You will not fail to observe the

recur-

rence of the blessed word "atribuido."

Where it is omitted there is still consider-

able doubt as to the authorship.

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HISPANIC NOTE

FROM CHILE

365

SANTIAGO, CHILE,

April 1 8, 1920.

THE Chilean is a fascinating study, for he

is different from his neighbours. He has

more pride, greater hardihood, and more

ruthlessness than Peruvian, Bolivian, or Ar-

gentine. He is proud of his blood and makes

absurd claims for his Spanish ancestry,

ignoring the plain facts of the small number

of Spaniards, and the exceedingly small

number of Spanish women, who arrived

here during the entire Colonial Period.

A recent book by Sefior Luis Thayer

Ojeda, a descendant of the Thayers of

Braintree, Mass., panders to the Chilean's

pride of race by a large array of figures,

obtained Heaven knows how, to demon-

strate the Castilian purity of blood found

here. He publishes a column of figures

to show that 569,276 Chileans are 100

per cent. Spanish stock, 300,000 93! per

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cent, pure, and so on down* to a trivial
20,000 who have only 8| per cent, of the
Spanish fluid in their veins. It is enough to
look at the page to see its artificial and
mechanical composition; the whole book
is clearly an elaborate piece of flattery,
yet this is said to be the best work avail-
able on the Chilean population.

Perhaps such publications are effectual
in sustaining national pride, but they
are unnecessary, for neither element
in the racial composition ever lacked
pride of blood. It was as strong in the
Indian as in the Spaniard; both were
capable of arrogance and hauteur such
as is strange to the Anglo-Saxon and I
have seen women pass along the streets
of Santiago who were nearly perfect
embodiments of insolent and vaunting
arrogance. One can find it elsewhere,
but here I fancy it is cultivated assiduously
and blooms like a flaunting poppy.

The Chilean's hardihood and ruthless-
ness are well known. They belong to
his double inheritance. It was the hardiest
of Pizarro's grim and insensible freebooters

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HISPANIC NOTES

FROM CHILE

367

who made the forbidding adventure across
mountains and deserts to this valley, and
encountered here the most warlike and
indomitable of South American Indians.
Two hundred years of savage war did not
tend to dimmish the grimmer elements of
character in either, and their descendants
have inherited full store. An example
of what bitter things the present-day
Chilean can do in cold blood is found in
the story of the suppression of the strikers
and the mutiny in Iquique a few years
ago. The story was told us as we lay
in the harbour on the way down from
Arica, and the Plaza was pointed out where
the thing was done. Strikers to the num-
ber of several hundred had gathered in
the Plaza in defiance of the orders of the
Military Governor, whereupon he ordered
out the troops, who mutinied, refusing to
fire on their own kind. He then called
on the warship in the harbour and got
a force of marines with machine-guns,,
The strikers were given five minutes to
disperse and then the machine-guns began
to sweep back and forth. Soon most of

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the strikers were down, but a few offered

resistance, and one who served there as

captain tells of leading his men in a charge

against them, passing at double-quick

over the slippery bodies, his gorge rising

at every step. It is said that five hundred

were killed that day.

On a petty scale the same insensibility

rises to greet one in the incessant hiss

and slash of the driver's whip that rises

in these streets from morning till night

like a curse.

SANTIAGO, April 20, 1920.

THIS afternoon we paid a visit to Senor

Rebolledo, who is often spoken of as the

most typical of Chilean artists. We found

him living in a very poor district, remote

from the centre of the town, in a neighbour-

hood not much removed from the slums.

A wretched, unkempt, flowerless patch

of ground separated the iron fence from

the house ; the inside of the house seemed

equally neglected, and the artist, in shirt

sleeves and without a collar, admitted

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HISPANIC NOTES

FROM CHILE

369

us into his studio which was also his bed-
room.

Rebolledo is undoubtedly a remarkable
man. He is emphatically Indian in type :
short, broad,, with bull-neck and bull-head,
he radiates a sort of elemental energy.
He talks little except in reply to questions,
but admits that he has learned his painting
by himself. Indeed, it appears that he is
entirely self-taught, knows nothing even
of the local Art School, and appears never
to have had a single hour's instruction
from any master. One can imagine a
hostile critic describing him as " a glorified
sign-painter," and his methods are, in
fact, of utter simplicity. Yet he is no
sign-painter. He is, on the contrary, a
man of vision and execution. He has
" the devouring eye and the portraying
hand." He transfers to his canvas visibly
the force and energy of his visual impres-
sion, so that his figures, cattle, and moun-
tains start from the background.

He showed us a number of pictures of
mountain, seaside, and valley, and one
or two ideal compositions. Among the

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last was a huge canvas, fifteen feet long,

of Christ with little children, Chilean

children of a marked Indian type, upon a

Chilean beach where Christ sat holding

out his arms to them. The figures were

natural, that of Christ was dignified and

sympathetic, and the detail of the

children's bodies was excellent, but the

picture lacked constructive imagination.

There was another of Potiphar's wife,

a splendid, heroic-size, fleshly creature

that fairly surged from the canvas;

but the things that showed him at his

best, though he was loth to hear it, were

three or four scenes of cattle in a mountain

valley. One of these, a white cow moving

toward a mountain brook, with the valley

rising to the cleft in the hills and topped

by a bit of cloud-flecked sky, is I imagine

his masterpiece. There is an energy in the

line and colour that is quite Sorallaesque.

SANTIAGO, April 23, 1920.

ONE hears so much about early hours,

of one's friends having their coffee at six

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HISPANIC NOTES

FROM CHILE

371

o'clock in the morning and of some persons
rising at five, that one does not at first
realize how slow and late life is here.
In fact, however, one can hardly buy
anything in the stores before nine — some
stores open later — and at half-past eleven
they begin to close, many of them remain-
ing closed until two o'clock. I remember
my difficulty in getting anything done at
the Anglo South American Bank in Lima
because it opened at 9.30, closed at n.o,
resumed at 1.30 or 2.0, and closed again
at 4.0. Here they begin again to close
their doors at 5 o'clock ; they put up their
big wooden shutters, or draw down their
corrugated iron doors, which come down
with a harsh, resounding clangour that
fills the street, so that when a dozen of
them come down in a row there is a roar
like the concentrated noise of riveting
on a New York sky-scraper.

All these are hints of the mediaevalism
that lies just below the surface here. It
is an archaic, sessile existence. My friend

Mr. McL tells me that in San Fernando,

where he lived for a time, people locked

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their heavy doors at eight o'clock in the

evening, and many of them stayed in bed

in the winter until noon, and my secretary,

Senor Silva, assures me there are many

people here in Santiago who stir out only

in the middle of the day, and adds that

he could make a long list of those who have

not been out of their houses for years.

Many of the houses are still Moorish :

large walled -in spaces, where the master

and mistress loll in almost complete

inactivity, and the numerous dependents

and peons, nearly always two or three

times as many as are needed for the tasks,

work in a kind of patriarchal slavery.

SANTIAGO, April 24, 1920.

YESTERDAY, in company with my

secretary, Senor Silva, I paid a visit to

Lucila Godoy, " Gabriela Mistral," who

is generally regarded as the foremost

poetess of Chile if not of South America.

We found her in a modest little blue-

tinted one-storey house on a side street

where she is visiting, and where she received

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373

us in a typical Latin-American parlour
of the plain people, rather overloaded
with modern furniture and bric-a-brac,
and with rather too many pictures and
decorations on the walls.

Gabriela Mistral is tall and of a noble
figure. She might easily be imposing or
majestic if she were not so evidently retir-
ing and diffident. She drew her chair
into the corner as if to be as inconspicuous
as possible, and throughout the visit re-
tained a slightly deprecatory mood, which
only disappeared when she grew animated
over poetry and the landscape of Southern
Chile, where she has been living.

She is dark, of course, with a full brow,
a lustrous eye, fine teeth, and a kindly
but abstracted expression. She wore
a blue serge coat and skirt, and neither
in her hair or anywhere did she have the
slightest ornament. I could not help
studying her expression, which baffled me :
it was not happy, nor quite contented,
neither was it morose. Inscrutable, .1
think, is the adjective usually applied to
countenances which are not immediately

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legible. Well, Gabriela Mistral's expres-
sion might be inscrutable. It seemed to
me to have a permanent cast of half-
melancholy detachment, such as tempted
one to interpretations and imaginings.
One fancied that she had seen too much
too young, that the zest of life and its
bloom had left her early; her eyes had
the look of one who had gazed on despair,
there was something in them so sadly wise.
She smiled, and her eyes smiled ever so
mildly, as if she could be tolerant of the
world's folly, and perhaps of its cruelty too,
because she knew it was so ignorant.

She told us more or less about her poems :
she writes them to express her moods,
but she does not regard them seriously.
She has never collected them, though
publishers have pestered her to do so,
and she has no idea how many there are,
for she considers them as mere incidents
in her life as a teacher. She thinks her
poems of childhood are the best.

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HISPANIC NOTES

Senor Alessandri, whose nomination to the Presidency
we saw

FROM CHILE

375

SANTIAGO, April 25, 1920.

I HAVE been to a Convention and seen
a candidate nominated for the Presidency
of Chile. It was held in the Hall of
Congress, and, of course, on Sunday
afternoon, so that everybody appeared
in his best attire and the affair had the
aspect of a fiesta. The delegates, to the
number of twelve hundred and fifty, sat
or stood, for the chairs were insufficient,
on the floor which was specially arranged
for the purpose with lines of ballot-boxes
from the Speaker's desk to the doors,
| and the public jammed itself by hundreds
into the galleries, out of which they
leaned and stretched, craning their necks
round the supporting columns, and over
one another's shoulders, until they looked
like the baskets of live turkeys that the
country people bring in on horseback.

While we were waiting for the proceed-
ings to begin the crowd amused itself
with singling out its favourites on the
floor, and giving them a cheer or shouting
their first names, and waving greetings

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in a cheerfully familiar style. The Hall
is large and fairly well proportioned, except
for being a little too high. It has dignity
and less adornment than is usual in Latin-
American public buildings. The walls are
old ivory, which would be flat but for the
colour given by a huge mural painting
over the Speaker's desk showing Pedro
Valdivia choosing the site for the city,
and a great skylight of stained glass that
practically fills the ceiling.

The convention gradually settled down
and proceeded with a promptness that
surprised me to the business of voting.
The first ballot showed the " favourite "
Alessandri, well in the lead, and his fol-
lowers who were the most vociferous
and the best organized, celebrated the
fact with a tremendous din. Still I was
hardly prepared for the sequel. I remem-
bered that when Alessandri and his oppo-
nent had their opera-bouffe duel two
months ago up yonder beside the Christ
of the Andes, many people here said it
was all a piece of advertising to further
his campaign for the Presidency. The

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377

thing seemed so ridiculous and undignified

that I thought, instead of furthering his

ambition it would kill it. I misjudged

the people. The notoriety served its end,

and enabled him, I am told, to obtain

70,000 pesos, which he boldly wagered

by buying a full page in the leading paper

to be used every day until the election

with his propaganda.

Well, the second ballot was counted

and Alessandri was announced the victor

by a wide margin. The crowd shouted

and leaped, tossed its hats, waved its

arms, filled the air with loose papers, and

made a fair pretence at rivalling an

American convention on the announcement

of the winner.

They were still shouting for the candidate

to come and show himself when I stole

away.

SANTIAGO, April 29, 1920.

YESTERDAY we paid our formal visits

to the President, the Minister of Foreign

Affairs, and other members of the Cabinet,

to present copies of Chileans of To-day

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and to say our farewells. They were all
very courteous, said many flattering things
about the book, and I think found it better
than they had expected.

An envoy from abroad slipped in before
us to see the President and caused us one
of the familiar spells of waiting in the ante-
chamber, with time enough to observe
our surroundings and our fellow-sufferers.
The building that houses the President's
offices and those of his principal Ministers
is the one fine old public building of Santi-
ago. It is the Moneda, the mint, a dig-
nified solid, two-storey structure of adobe
with walls four feet thick, ample patios
and galleries and series of salons, all in
the best style of Colonial architecture. It
is the only example of its kind, just as
the Toro Palace is the only example of
the private house of the Colonial Period.
It is said, moreover, that it was by a
species of accident that so substantial
and costly a building was erected in Chile.
The story goes that plans were drawn at
the same time, about the year 1784, in
Seville for two great Government buildings,

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HISPANIC NOTES

Caupolican, the famous Indian Chief

FROM CHILE

one to be built in Mexico, the other in
Santiago, the Mexican being, of course,
the more important. In the transmission
the two sets of plans were exchanged, and
Santiago got the building meant for
Mexico, very much larger and more
valuable than her importance at that time
warranted.

In the various salons assigned to the
different Ministers there are many por-
traits and not a few landscapes and other
works of art by Chilean artists. In the
ante-chamber where we waited there are,
in particular, two statuettes apparently in
bronze, reproductions of the two best-
known statues by Chilean sculptors, the
Caupolican by Plaza, which crowns the hill
of Santa Lucia, and the Roto Chileno
by Arias. We had time to observe them
carefully, and to note the expressions
of the faces, anything but agreeable, alike
in the Indian, which is full of hate, and
in the Chilean, which is set in contemptuous
defiance. While we sat studying the
statuettes one of our fellow-sufferers in
the ante-chamber, a very tall young man,

379

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of a preternaturally sombre cast of coun-
tenance; stalked solemnly back and forth,
up and down before us, pursing his lips
and apparently conning the lesson he
was about to repeat to the President. His
stride was long, and so slow that his foot
descended impressively with a gradual
bend of the knee, and he must have pos-
sessed a marvellous set of nerves to con-
tinue in apparent unconsciousness this
stork-like performance under the eyes of
the impatient audience.

There was no great novelty in our inter-
view with the President. We found him
standing to greet us behind the barricade
of his desk; he shook hands, said the
usual " Mucho gusto a saludar le a usted,"
and waited in silence for our remarks.
We presented the volume of the Chileans
of To-day, which had been very handsomely
bound, and made our remarks of presen-
tation. The President looked at the book,
expressed his admiration, which appeared
to be sincere, and his surprise that so fine
a piece of book-making had been done here,
spoke of the Society in terms of admiration,

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A Colonial fountain in the Moneda

FROM CHILE

38i

and we parted with mutual expressions

of regard.

As we passed along the gallery and

descended the steps to the ancient patio,

we encountered on the stairs one of the

officers of the Palace Guard, a resplendent

figure. He wore the grey and silver

uniform of the corps, his great, red

leather boots came up to his thighs, his

sword swung shining at his side, across

his breast he had a baldric of silver and

grey, with threads of red, and there rose

from his head, like the plumed helmet

of a mediaeval knight, the tall and glitter-

ing helmet of the Guard, rimmed and

plated and topped with shining nickel

and surmounted by the Condor with

outstretched wings which is the special

mark of the corps.

SANTIAGO, May i, 1920.

TO-DAY is May Day, which here, as

everywhere else, is an occasion for Labour

demonstrations. All business is at a

standstill in the city, and on the Alameda

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great crowds of labourers are assembled

about the favourite statues where they

have grouped their banners — a very red

collection — and stand listening to noisy

orations. I passed along the great dusty

avenue, rather desolate now that the leaves

are. few and brown; but the sun shone,

and I stopped to listen to one and another

of the speakers. All were vociferous, and

all had, I thought, a fluency and an ease

of style such as few of our Labour orators

could equal. I saw among the banners

quite conspicuously displayed a huge

flag of the I.W.W., which seemed like an

ill-omened standard and promised trouble.

Trouble is not easily started here,

for the hand of the law is too heavy. I

saw a number of mounted patrols, and

down one of the side streets came a long

column of lancers four abreast, an array

calculated to check any rash impulses.

SANTIAGO, May i, 1920.

SANTIAGO, like all her sister cities, has

different faces for different people. " Isn't

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HISPANIC NOTES

FROM CHILE

383

it a dear city ? " says the charming lady
correspondent of a great London paper.
Yes, it is,, and if her visit is not protracted,
and if she continues to be surrounded by
thoughtful friends, who keep her from all
unpleasant contacts, she may retain this
roseate view until she leaves. I do not
think any old resident of the town thinks
of it in these terms. A few days ago I
went to see the Argentine Consul, who has
been here more than thirty years. As
we came out of his wide, rambling house
on a side street remote from the Plaza
and the Savoy Hotel, and started along
the dusty, ill-kempt street where sporadic
cobblestones dotted the sandy waste,
picking our way along what had been a
side-walk, the old man looked at the
miserable dogs in the highway, waved
his hand towards the neglected children
and the slatternly dwellings and said :
" Constantinople ! Except for six blocks
near the Plaza, this is Constantinople,"

My friend the missionary, who has also
been here thirty years, and has sent his
daughter to the United States because

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he found it impossible to provide sufficient
safeguards for her against the constant
vulgar and insulting attentions of the men
in the streets and on the cars, finds Santi-
ago anything but " a dear city." There is
too little morality for that description
to fit. He remarked on the general
disregard of marriage — half of the people
are born out of wedlock — and the really
shocking things that keep occurring. Two
of the attendants on mission services who
had been living together for years and had
several children, came not long ago and
asked to be married. In making the
necessary inquiries preliminary to the
service (neither had any idea of his or her
parentage), it was discovered that they
were brother and sister !

I have met several people who prefer
Santiago to Buenos Aires, and I have
been fortunate enough to see some of the
pleasant neighbourhood groups who enjoy

really delightful social life under the
shadow of the mountains, content with
their own protected course of existence,
and hardly aware of the conditions sur-

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HISPANIC NOTES

FROM CHILE

385

rounding them. It is possible to be very

comfortable in Santiago, but I am not

sure that it is " a dear city " ! There are,

in fact, stories that give it another com-

plexion. There is the tale of a young

Englishman, who, after dining too well,

found his way to the Plaza and was dis-

covered late at night sitting harmlessly

on a bench which he declined to leave

at the bidding of a Santiago policeman,

who thereupon drew his sabre and struck

the visitor on the head, so that he died.

Nor was it possible to obtain any redress.

There is, too, the tale, told me a day or

so ago, of an American accountant with

a taste for adventure, who went out

at night and wandered along Calle San

Pablo, a street where adventures may

be expected. As he passed along a soft

voice called to him out of the dark, inviting

him to come upstairs. He entered,

stumbled up the black staircase, and was

welcomed by a young woman who bade

him come and sit beside her to watch

the lights "in the street and the passers-by.

So the two sat there, smoking cigarettes

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and talking in the singular, desultory

manner of strangers who know nothing

of each other by race or native tongue,

common country, or education, when

suddenly they heard the shuffling sound

of bare feet running and pursued by

sandalled feet. The chase stopped at the

door, where a woman tried to enter,

but too late. There was a scuffle, a cry,

a hacking blow, a fall and silence. When

the two at the window had waited until

there was no prospect of further violence

they went down and opened the door.

The dead body of a girl, which had been

propped against the door, fell into the hall,

her skull split by a heavy Chilean knife.

SANTIAGO, May 2, 1920.

NATURALLY enough I have heard much

literary gossip while I have been here,

and have had my suspicions confirmed

that Chile, no more and possibly less than

Peru, is a book-reading or book-buying

community. The regular edition for a

book is 500, and of many serious books

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HISPANIC NOTES

FROM CHILE

387

not more than 200 are issued. Even these

are not sold. As a rule the author gives

away the larger part of his edition. They

disappear rapidly, being used for wrapping

small wares and other base purposes, so

that after a year or so it is very difficult

to find a copy except in the libraries.

Several stories have been told me of the

total disappearance of important books

within four years of their publication.

Of course, the author's existence is

difficult. Even a well-to-do man finds it

a drain to issue and give away his books,

and for the poorer writers it means a

sacrifice often made in the hope of obtain-

ing compensation in Government office or

preferment.

Yet they tell me that the very poorest

authors, the writers and reciters of ballads,

often earn a modest livelihood by print-

ing their ballads on single sheets and hawk-

ing them about the streets and in the

trains.

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SANTIAGO, May 3, 1920.

WE have spent what is probably our
last Sunday in Santiago in a very con-
ventional New England fashion. This
morning we went to church, met friends,
came home to lunch, did some packing;
at five o'clock had tea in our apartment
with guests, Miss L. E. Elliot, of the
London Times, and Mr. Sargent, the British
Consul; at seven o'clock we took a walk
across the crowded Plaza and along quiet
streets to the Palace, the Moneda, and
back for dinner.

It is surprising when one reflects how
easily one can re-establish his customary
habits and ways of life in a community
that is at heart so far removed and so
radically different. The reflection helps
one to understand how it is that foreigners,
English and Americans among them,
can live here for a lifetime and actually
know nothing of the inner life, the con-
cerns, the tastes, and the prejudices of
the people.

I have now met a number of the members

HISPANIC NOTES

FROM CHILE

389

of the English-speaking colony, and find
it rather depressing to notice how few of
them have discovered any intellectual
interest in the country, the people, the
art, literature, or products of the place.
On the contrary they seem to live an
insulated life here, fulfilling the specific
duties assigned to them and passing their
lives with as few contacts as possible
with the nation that surrounds them.

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39i

En route for ARGENTINA,

May 4, 1920.

I HAD not expected to be moved with

regret at leaving Chile, but to-day, when

our train was standing in the station, our

boxes stowed away, our luggage piled up

in the racks, and all ready for departure,,

we could not say good-bye to our friends

without genuine emotion. They had

gradually become our dear friends. The

clergyman to whom we had listened Sunday

after Sunday and turned to so often for

practical counsel on worldly affairs, the

ladies who had made their homes havens

of rest, the secretaries with whom I had

laboured for strenuous months, the jour-

nalists who had shown so generous a spirit

of freemasony, there they were, and their

friendly presence quite melted me. We

said a thousand farewells, and with their

flowers in our hands waved the last

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greetings with dimming eyes as the train

"hioved off toward Argentina.

I have done a heavy stint of work. In

the four and a half months here I have

finished and published two volumes and

brought my task well on toward the middle

of the way. When I cross the mountains

and begin the descent towards the Argen-

tine plain I shall feel that my feet are on

the second half of my course, but I may

well doubt whether ever again I shall get

through more or better work in the same

length of time than I have done on this

much-abused West Coast, or whether I

shall ever find more loyal and steadfast

co-labourers in any land than in this.

The conditions of climate, surroundings,

hours and co-operation have been good,

and it has been positively satisfying to

one's soul to feel that he was putting

forth his strength upon his appointed task.

Los ANDES, May 5, 1920.

WE were awakened half-an-hour later

than the time set, to find ourselves in a

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HISPANIC NOTES

FROM CHILE

393

crisp, cold, eager air, in which every object
stood out sharp and clear. The stars
were still bright when we came out and
the mountain crests were sharp as saw-
teeth. Below us in the courtyard were
little piles of baggage where the early
risers in overcoats and mufflers paced
back and forth beside their belongings.

There were many Germans : in fact,
they seemed to preponderate, inviting
comment and leading our neighbour to
remark that Chile was very Prussian,
a thing one hears everywhere, and had
sent 300,000 young men to Germany for
their education. I suppose 3000 is an
ample estimate, but these exaggerations
are common and to be taken for granted.

When we came to take our seats we
found that none had been assigned to us.
The conductor had no list and was sure
it wasn't his fault; of course it was
nobody's fault, but a reflection of the
general hit-or-miss, mas 6 menos method
of railroad operation; for railroad travel
here is still something of an adventure,
and the most uncomfortable, crowded

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and disagreeable that we have encountered
in South America. The Chilean is very
imitative, and has caught the superficial
ways and manners of modern civilization.
At heart, however, he is of another race
and epoch, and one often feels that while
he imitates and adopts he does not accept
and is never really converted to modernism.

The morning light on the broken moun-
tain masses gives lovely views. There
are ravines and valleys filled with gloom,
hills and mountain sides shining in the
full blaze of the sun, and the river valley
along which we are climbing winds in
interesting curves enclosing the brawling
river below us. The cultivable territory,
here as in all but the south of Chile is very
limited, often a mere strip beside the river,
or a series of patches laid down by the
stream in the divagations of its course
during the centuries past. One cannot
escape the reminders that this, like the
whole of the west coast to the north almost
to the Isthmus is desert.

We are rising steadily, following the
river towards its source and passing

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FROM CHILE

395

through glens, gorges, little valleys, and
occasional levels which tempt one to
forget the steepness of the climb only to
lead in another turn of the road into a
cleft where the rocky sides run sheer
perpendicular for five hundred feet. There
are stretches of gloom in the valley bottom
where the sun seldom strikes, and open
spaces that shine in the sun and smile
with verdure because of the ribbon of
water in the irrigation ditch above the
river.

At Rio Blanco we saw a large, new,
wooden hotel, like the cheaper varieties
of Swiss hostelries, set in picturesque sur-
roundings, the white river foaming in
front, grey peaks in the near distance,
and beyond masses rising to great heights
against a cloudless, delicate blue sky.

Mile by mile as we creep along the valleys
deepen, the sides grow more precipitous,
vegetation disappears, and the patches
of snow occur more frequently and at
closer view. Wherever there is a level
half-acre there is a little shining ribbon
of water along the upper border, and grass

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or grain growing. These irrigation ditches
and the mountain trails represent much
skill and labour, in surprising contrast
to the houses, which are poor things, often
mere hovels of wattle-work and mud.

Gradually as we rise all vegetation
disappears, the river has shrunk to a white
thread on the face of the grey slope, and
the only variation from the dusty brown
masses is afforded by patches of snow,
to which we approach constantly closer.

We pass through a series of tunnels,
climbing so rapidly and with so much effort
that we can feel the pulsations of the engine.
Across the valley, here profound and some-
what gloomy, rises a section of the old
plateau, perfectly dissected and disclosing
a long series of strata. Facing us, there
runs a fine mountain road, winding back
and forth in the conventional spiral that
is always surprising to me. For a few
minutes we were in line with the crest
of the summit, thin and jagged like a
row of shark's teeth, and we have drawn
level with the snow patches which lie
on both sides of our course.

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Facing us runs a fine mountain road, winding
back and forth "

FROM CHILE

397

The one break in the succession of grey-
brown slopes, peaks,, detritus heaps, and
grey valleys, is the Lake of the Inca, which
lies at an altitude of 10,000 feet, a smooth,
wine-coloured piece of water, almost
magical, alike in colour and placidity, in
these heights. But this as well as the
mountains was bare of life. For unnum-
bered miles the desert mountains have
given us no single glimpse of living thing.
Not a wing has stirred the air, not a foot
has moved the dust of trail or slope or
crag. Neither in Peru nor in Bolivia
have we seen more utter desolation;
there at least one saw llamas, alpacas, or
vicunas, here not a creature moves amid
the solitudes.

We reached and passed the summit
in the dark of a long tunnel, where we
heard the fact announced with an Argen-
tine cheer, and emerged into the sunshine
on Argentine soil. There the Chilean
conductor and minor officials left us —
without regret on our part; for, say what
one will, the Chilean is not an ingratiating
person.

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In the afternoon we are reversing the
process of the morning. Then we climbed,
now we slide; then we met a brawling
stream; now we accompany one; then as
now we rode along valleys and beside
towering mountain walls. But whereas
we saw them there rising from stage to
stage ever nearer the sky and narrowing
our view, now we see them diminishing,
and we pass to wider and ever wider vistas.

There is a difference between Argentina
and Chile perceptible from the first
moment. We had scarcely emerged from
the tunnel on the Argentine side before
we saw a bird, the first winged thing
for many hours, and felt a breeze which is
with us still. Here immediately we were
conscious of an ampler air, the air of
wider spaces and a greater country. The
men are taller and have a free, swinging
stride and the level gaze of men used
to great spaces.

The nature and the form of the rocks
and soil are strikingly different on this
side of the mountains. There the pre-
vailing rock was granite, here it is sand-

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HISPANIC NOTES

FROM ARGENTINA

399

stone; there the colour was grey, here it

is red. In the warm afternoon sun the

mountain slopes opposite us are a splendid

study in colour. They rise from the base

of red soil and change by gradations

into a purple that turns to dark brown

at the tips. Mountain and desert and

brawling river continue to form our land-

scape. There are " purple patches/' great

pieces of " painted " mountain,, like parts

of the Grand Canon, or the Garden of the

Gods, and there are stretches of desert

covered with low, grey-green bushes, like

the sage-bush of Texas, but it is a tree-

less, rainless region.

As the sun sinks and the sunset colours

come out there is the same lovely, tender

evening light like purity and chastity

itself that seems to be the special property

of the desert, as if to compensate for its

barrenness and aridity.

MENDOZA, ARGENTINA,

May 6, 1920.

MENDOZA is the Salt Lake City of Ar-

gentina, it is a desert city with wide clean

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streets, bordered with one-storey houses,
shaded with rows of trees that run beside
the irrigating streamlets on both sides
of the streets. We are still noticing
differences with Chile, for example, fewer
priests and less noise of whips. Though
the streets are full of horses and carriages
we have passed hours without hearing
the slash or hiss of a whip, and we have
yet to see a priest's cassock in the street.

I think the symptoms are genuine and
characteristic : the general air seems free
alike from truculence and fanaticism,
rather it seems tolerant, easy-going,
materialistic, and pleasure-loving.

Mendoza is a large, sprawling town of
60,000 people on the edge of the flat
plain at the end of the long spur of the
Cordillera, from which it draws the
water which is its life-blood, and distri-
buting it over the plain, cultivates vast
vineyards which make it the chief wine-
producing district of Argentina.

This afternoon we went to visit one of
the largest bodegas here, a great ware-
house and winery where they make six

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FROM ARGENTINA

401

million gallons of wine a year. The
entrance into the cave of the wine-tuns
which lifted their huge bulk high above
us and stretched in long lines into the
distance, recalled descriptions of famous
old-world wineries of Champagne and
Riidesheimer. We followed the process
from the receipt of the grapes to the delivery
of the wine, when it is drawn by electric
pumps from the huge French oak tuns
and passed through modern filters into
new barrels of American oak, made in
Pekin, Illinois, finding it surprisingly scien-
tific and " up-to-date " at every stage.

An hour later we set out to see the two
notable sights of Mendoza, its Park and
the Cerro de la Gloria, the hill of the
monument to San Martin and his fellow
heroes of the War of Independence.
As we passed through the park, which is
really fine if somewhat formal, the rural
guard good-humouredly posed for their
photographs. The hill, which is about
1300 feet high, is surmounted by a great
mass of stone and bronze, from which the
monument proper seems about to launch

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itself into the air. This pictures a close-
packed squadron of horsemen at full gallop
in the abandon of battle ; Victory, with a
billowing banner that serves for wings,
leads the host and seems to lift them into
the air, where she flies at their head. It is
grandiose, overstrained, aiming at more
than bronze and stone can achieve, but
undeniably interesting and impressive.

From the top of the hill the view is
wide, and in the late afternoon light ex-
traordinarily clear. For nearly three-
quarters of the circle the horizon is of
mountains; the rest is plain,, but all,
except in the immediate neighbourhood
of Mendoza, is treeless. The surface is
not utterly bare, as is the case as a rule
on the western slope, but is sparsely
covered with something like sage-bush
and cactus.

We came back by roads that were good
examples of engineering, and as we de-
scended the sun went down, the sky broke
into colours, and the mountains slowly
took on the exquisite clear outline which
is the gift of the desert air. It was a

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Monument to the Army of the War of Independence

FROM ARGENTINA

403

beautiful calm evening, with no breath

of air, and the delicate banners of the

sunset spread over the tips of the mountain

in tints as fine as filaments of mother-

of-pearl. We rode into Mendoza, with a

memory of an evening of flawless beauty.

En route to BUENOS AIRES,

May 7, 1920.

ON leaving Mendoza, we entered on the

great plain, much of which is desert,

that stretches far : north, south, and east.

At first there are patches, large and small,

of cultivation, chiefly vineyards, but these

fade into a great monotony of grey-green

level, of sandy, alkaline soil covered with

low bushes. The settlements are merely

stations for storing and forwarding the

produce of the region; so that the wine

bodegas give place to cattle-sheds, and in

some there are only piles of the poor,

gnarled, twisted wood, the sole merchant-

able stuff yielded by the plains and the

occasional water-courses.

The general aspect of the country

recalls the southern border of Texas along

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the Mexican boundary. The houses are

miserable enough, mere huts of adobe,

but the people, though wretched are

largely white, or at least not Indian,

the racial mixture here being Spanish,

Italian, and Indian, with the Latin blood

and habit predominating.

To-morrow we arrive in Buenos Aires,

and shall have started on the last stretch

of our long pilgrimage.

En route to BUENOS AIRES,

May 8, 1920.

WE woke up to find ourselves moving

across a vast flat plain full of cornfields

and pastures which might be a neglected

section of Iowa or Illinois. Pasture

succeeds pasture in an unbroken series;

miles of barbed wire fence enclose great

level squares in which cattle feed, and

here and there clumps of trees and houses

break the dull monotony.

Hour after hour continues the steady

progress over level pasture and cultivated

land, past many stations that seem

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" We are in the city "

FROM ARGENTINA

405

made from the same pattern, but gradually

the houses become more pretentious, the

roads better kept, adobe gives place to

brick and the farm-lands lead into the

outskirts of Buenos Aires.

We are in the city. Electric cars, trim

and neat, run along new streets of concrete

beside new houses, and beyond stretches

an enormous extent of streets, houses,

churches on the level plain. Parks, play-

grounds, bridges of steel and brick

pass before us; on our left the bay

dotted with sails, and on our right

buildings of three or more storeys give

a new aspect to the scene. Here is a

sky-scraper and there a tall chimney;

yonder is a decorative building with tur-

rets, and beyond are towers of churches

and modern temples of commerce.

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407

BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA,

May 8, 1920.

Now that Chile is behind us we can see

it in perspective and form some general

ideas about it.

The country has advantages of climate

and race over its neighbours to the north.

The lower temperature, with a touch of

vigour in the winter, makes for greater

physical energy and more sustained effort :

everybody speaks with admiration of the

Chilean Roto as a workman. The practical

absence of the Indian is clear gain also from

the economic point of view. There seems

to be little doubt that the Indian race as a

separate element has, except in the south,

ceased to exist in Chile, but the Indian

blood makes itself everywhere felt, so that

travellers who enter Chile without a

previous sojourn in Peru or Bolivia find

the people " muy Indio." Moreover, the

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original Spanish element was anything
but admirable. During two hundred
years it received very little modification
from without; through all that period
the intermixture with the Indian stock,
originally very numerous, went on in
the intervals of fighting with them, and
the result is a racial compound, warlike,
tenacious, enduring, but almost devoid
of social or other graces. The Chilean
is never merry or ingratiating or gay.
His general attitude toward the world
is one of resistance; he shows the
effect of two centuries of sleeping on his
arms. The general opinion of travellers
and visitors is favourable to Chile. I think
there is much ground for optimism, but
my own forecast is tempered by sober
reflections as to the blood, the history, and
the present political conditions of the
country. The nation is still largely
illiterate, illegitimate, and disfranchised.
Education advances slowly, for lack of
any real enthusiasm or conviction about
it. Marriage is still unpopular because
the Church refuses to accept the civil

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HISPANIC NOTES

FROM ARGENTINA

409

marriage and the State rejects the Church

ceremony. The political control still rests

where it has been from time immemorial.

in the hands of the landowners, who now

form the Senatorial class. There are

signs of a break in the oligarchical rule and

the outlook is dubious. Chile may yet

see bloodshed before she arrives at genuine

representative government.

BUENOS AIRES, May 14, 1920.

THIS morning, in company with Dr.

Leavitt, I paid a visit to the Library of

Congress. It proved to be a larger task

than I anticipated. As is the custom here,

the House does not open until the after-

noon, but we found a side entrance and

went in. There were many halls and

corridors, all of which seemed empty, and

we wrandered a long distance along the

echoing tiled floors before we found any

one to guide us. With the best intentions

he sent us astray and we wandered further,

along other interminable corridors, past

luxurious waiting-rooms and decorated

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ante-chambers, until at last we found the
librarian at work in his shirt sleeves,
among a mass of U.S. Government publica-
tions with which our country is now
inundating foreign libraries. He was very
polite, offered to place a room at my
disposal, and showed every disposition
to aid me in my task.

On our return we crossed the broad
and handsome Plaza de Mayo and turned
in for a glimpse of the Cathedral, almost
the only building of the Colonial Period
that remains intact. It is a low, solid,
dark grey building of the Greek type,
faintly reminiscent of the Madeleine, but
more squat and heavy. Inside we found
it still heavier, with huge buttress pillars
which seem to fill up the space, and low-
toned walls which scarcely reveal their
design in the dim light. As one grew
accustomed to the half-gloom, one saw
that the decoration was in good, though
conventional taste, that the mural paint-
ings on the ceiling were well executed, and
that pulpit and altar were dignified. The
lack of light was particularly disappointing

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The University

FROM ARGENTINA

411

in the Chapel of San Martin, where there

is an imposing sarcophagus and monument

set in a circular, domed chapel lighted

from the top, but so ill lighted that one

can scarcely make out the outline of the

monument and cannot read the inscription.

BUENOS AIRES, May 14, 1920.

AMONG the impressions of a personal

nature nothing has surprised me more

than the deprecatory mood of Argentina.

When we were in Mendoza I made repeated

inquiries for the names of the leading

men, the men of national importance,

and invariably received the same reply,

" No hay " (" There aren't any "). Here

I am having a similar experience. Twice

to-day I have been assured with all serious-

ness by men of excellent ability that

Argentina contains not a single great

man, not one of the first order.

When I have spoken of writing five

hundred biographies all with one accord

have said, " You can't find them." Well,

I have heard that sort of thing before.

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BUENOS AIRES, May 15, 1920.

I FIND it difficult to single out of the
rush of impressions and the rapid succession
of persons, the things and faces that are
most worth recording. For example, I
have spent a crowded afternoon. At two
o'clock a young man came to see me whom
I engaged as secretary; at three I went
to the Library of Congress, where I met
various officials and had very amiable
conversations with the Secretaries of the
Senate and the House of Representatives.
With them it was arranged that a room
in the Library should be assigned to me
for my work.

At five o'clock I went to the University
to meet Dr. Debenedetti, the archaeologist,
whom I found in a murky, subterranean
corner, approached through dim alleys
among casts of Egyptian gods and slabs
from various tombs. There he was work-
ing on some recent discoveries in Argentine
archaeology, but laid his task aside to help
me form the list of Argentine professors
for the book. Others came in and we
had a cheerful interchange of banter.

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FROM ARGENTINA

I left the archaeologist to seek my new
secretary in the History Section, and there
fell in with one of the most interesting
groups I have met anywhere since my old
teaching days at Harvard. There were
seven in the group, of whom five, I think,
were University teachers; but the central
figure was Molinari, the Under-Secretary
for Foreign Affairs, who is credited with
having much to do with the present
Government. They were chatting about
their work in Argentine history, talking
of maps, of books, of recent articles ; and
apparently the talk had some of the
character of a report of progress of each
to the others. They told me that they had
no organization, but met informally every
afternoon to chat, report, discuss recent
and plan future publications, and were
good enough to invite me to join them
whenever I was able to do so. Here was
the first rising politician I had met in
South America who found his diversion in
academic society and gave his spare
time to historical research. Molinari is
an interesting person; he illustrates the

413

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•

unpredictable quality of Argentine politics

and the ferment of ideas which has made

the recent political history of the country

so baffling to observers.

BUENOS AIRES, May 22, 1920.

ONE hears much here about the Presi-

dent. He is more talked about than any

President we have met so far in South

America. His enemies attack him furi-

ously and his partisans give him fanatical

support. On the one side one hears that

he is a mere gaucho, ignorant, crafty,

unscrupulous, secretive, unsuited to polite

society, and averse to presenting himself

in public. One hears that he was never

married until he became President,

although he had grown-up children, and

that after his election he went to a Registry

Office and had the ceremony performed

to legitimize his position. One hears

that he was pro-German, because he had

married an Austrian who took extreme

courses to aid the .German cause. One

hears that he has been openly charged

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HISPANIC NOTES

FROM ARGENTINA

with dishonesty, selling cattle and sub-
stituting inferior animals, and forced at
the pistol's point to give back the money.
His enemies say he is a politician who
has subverted the Constitution to his own
ends, displacing by doubtful means the
governors of all the states but one, to put
his own agents in their places, and mak-
ing himself a dictator, repeating the pro-
gramme of Cabrera in Guatemala and
Carranza in Mexico. On the other hand
one hears from his friends that he is a
simple patriot, severely frugal, devoted
chiefly to reducing public expenditure,
donating his salary to charity although
he is comparatively poor, and making
enemies only because he places the public
good before private interest. He is often
referred to as mysterious and inscrutable ;
certain it is that he is of a very retiring
disposition, for he lives in a poor dwelling
in an apartment over a row of shops in an
unfashionable street. He has an intense
aversion to being photographed, a trait
variously interpreted as modesty, fear, or
conscious guilt, and naturally his prejudice

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against the camera has stimulated the

press photographers to redoubled efforts,

and snap-shots of him appear in every

magazine. Caras y Caretas published a

whole page of them the other day. I am

enclosing this page.

BUENOS AIRES, May 23, 1920.

ONE begins here to get general ideas

about the future of South America.

Clearly Argentina, Uruguay, and Chile

form a separate group. In these States,

set in the temperate zone, there is no racial

problem such as clamours for attention

in the republics to the north. There the

question remains unsettled whether the

basic population, usually Indian, will

survive or be replaced. Here the popula-

tion is so predominantly white that its

replacement as a whole need not be con-

sidered. If Peru, Bolivia, and their neigh-

bours are to replace their population they

have a long and terrible problem before

them, yet it is not clear hitherto whether

the Indian can survive and compete.

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HISPANIC NOTES

The President has an intense aversion to being photo-
graphed "

One of the big modern hotels

FROM ARGENTINA

4i7

The general ethnological opinion is against

him. Therefore in these countries there

remains this greatest of all doubts —

whether their peoples are permanent.

In Argentina, as in Uruguay and Chile,

there is the secondary problem of forming

a nation with the capacity and habit of

self-government. How long a road this

is few can tell, but plainly there is a great

distance still to travel.

BUENOS AIRES, May 23, 1920.

BUENOS AIRES is a city of enormous

extent, covering miles on miles of street

and avenue on which one may ride in taxi-

cab, carriage, or street-car along what

seem to be interminable rows of concrete

and brick. There are many palaces,

ponderous and imposing blocks of grey

stone, with great gates of glass and iron,

and neat little parterres within of geraniums

and shrubs.

The immediate aspect of the city is so

European and modern as to lull one's

observation to sleep with the sense of

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familiarity. But gradually as one sees
more of the by-ways, and the vast extent
of ordinary streets that house the mass of
the people, one recognizes that the chief
part of the city which has not been recon-
structed on European or North American
models is made of the same elements
with which the other towns from Mexico
to Chile have made one familiar. The
typical house is in fact the old Moorish-
Roman affair, a front of dead wall
broken for door and windows and extending
beyond to form enclosing walls for patio
and gardens. Within it is Moorish-
Roman still, a patio, or series of patios,
and opening from it a chain of rooms that
draw light and air from the central well.
It is an arrangement good for defence,
secure against attack or invasion and
equally safe against the escape of its
inmates.

As soon as one leaves the newer or
reconstructed parts of the city he finds
himself in the presence of houses like this,
rows on rows, miles of them, reproducing
with slight differences the physiognomy of

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HISPANIC NOTES

FROM ARGENTINA

419

the side streets of Santiago, Lima, Havana,

Puebla, and Mexico,

BUENOS AIRES, May 26, 1920.

I HAVE been to see the Municipal Pawn-

shop, which is a great institution called

the Banco de la Municipalidad, and

reminded me of the famous Monte de

Piedad of Mexico. Being a piece of

governmental machinery it is more rigid

and less human than the Mexican institu-

tion, but seems to be very much frequented,

especially by the poor. To-day, being the

day after a great holiday, the place was

crowded, and the two waiting-rooms, one

on each side of the entrance hall, contained

a varied assortment of anxious loan-seekers.

There were young men in tailor-made

clothes and walking-sticks, eager-eyed

Germans who looked like inventors, young

women with fur coats, which doubtless

had served their purpose on the avenues

yesterday, a worried-looking man with an

Underwood typewriter, and a swollen-

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faced woman who had apparently cele-
brated not wisely but too well.

Each was given a little metal tag with
a number and when his turn came was
directed to one of a long row of cubby-
holes like telephone booths. He entered
the swinging doors and found a chair
before a narrow counter. There he laid
the article or articles he came to pawn, the
clerk carried the plunder away to appraise
it, and, returning, announced what they
considered it worth. On this appraised
value the pawn-shop will lend about
twenty-five per cent, at interest ranging
from one and a half per cent, a month on
articles of gold to four per cent, on clothing.

There was a cold, official air about the
place, but I was told that its dealings were
just and that poor people were more
fairly treated there than in the ordinary
private pawn-shop. If one were to judge
by the crowd, it had the public confidence,
and to-night much of the finery that
yesterday appeared on the Avenida de
Mayo is reposing on the shelves of the
Banco de la Municipalidad.

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HISPANIC NOTES

FROM ARGENTINA

421

BUENOS AIRES, May 28, 1920.
THERE is a sensible lack of solidarity
here, which I think amounts to a lack of
patriotism and is probably accounted for
by the decidedly cosmopolitan character
of the population. Buenos Aires is the
sort of community that Roosevelt described
as a " polyglot boarding-house." All
languages are heard here and all peoples
seem to be received more or less on an
equality. In a given group you may hear
Spanish, French, Italian, German, and
English spoken, and one's associates in
ordinary conversation turn with apparent
ease from one to the other. The result is
a lack of concentrated feeling for language,
country, or flag, and instead a loose toler-
ance which often slides off into slack
commercialism. It is perhaps not surpris-
ing that foreigners coming here very largely
retain their old bonds of citizenship. One
is constantly meeting and hearing of men
who have spent a lifetime here without
becoming citizens. Sr. Paul Groussac the
librarian of the National Library, is still
French after forty years, though he is the

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leading mind among the literary men of
Argentina. Dr. Fleming, also after forty
years, remains Scotch and is probably
more Scotch than when he came, for one
of the results of the slack spirit of the
country is to deepen the contrast with the
severer mode of thought and make men
more conscious of the austere and strenuous
ideals to which they were bred. Perhaps
it is not surprising, then, to encounter a
spirit of aloofness more marked than I have
noted elsewhere. " Come ye out and be
ye separate," seems to be the motto of
some excellent people here. They feel
that Argentina represents an inferior, a
mongrel civilization, and they prefer to
hold aloof from it. " I am among them,

me when we talked of it; and the view
of an old resident here after more than
forty years' association with the place, is
that one may earn a living here in some
kinds of business, such as shipping, rail-
roads, banking, etc., but cannot enter the
law or medicine or many kinds of industry
without grave risk to his integrity.

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HISPANIC NOTES

FROM ARGENTINA

423

BUENOS AIRES, May 31, 1920.

IN Chile we were always getting an

impression of churlishness, of hostility.

of the spirit of opposition and causeless

resentment. " Truculent " was the word

that kept recurring to the mind. Here

the prevailing impression is one of slack-

ness. The Argentine doesn't care. If

things only go along fairly well, without

interfering unduly with his comfort and

his profits,, he is indifferent. Public and

private affairs alike are allowed to slide

along in the easiest way, and abuses that

are really serious are met with a smile or

a shrug.

That, I think, is the explanation in large

part of the present political situation,

which is much deplored by the thoughtful,

and of the state of the schools and colleges,

which is described in lurid terms. The

funds of teachers' salaries have been

diverted in many places to political uses,

and in one province it is said that the

school parade on Independence Day (May

25) was omitted, because, the teachers'

salaries being four months in arrears, they

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had neither clothes nor shoes fit for public
observation. In many schools and espe-
cially in the Colegios and Universities,
where many of the students are actual or
prospective voters, the entire control has
passed into the hands of the students, who
decide what subjects, and when and by
whom they shall be taught, holding strikes
and driving out the teachers at will.

A similar state of affairs is said to exist
here in the University of Buenos Aires,
where the governing body was suspended
by an autocratic and doubtfully legal
decree of the President, two years or more
ago, the faculty reorganized with little or
no authority, and the power left in the hands
of the students. Since then, I am told,
the students attend classes when and if
they are inclined, expel such professors as
displease them, and generally conduct
themselves like a lot of unruly children,
demanding and receiving their diplomas
and degrees solely on the ground of this
very casual attendance, and with practically
no regard to the results of examinations
or other tests of proficiency.

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HISPANIC NOTES

The Coliseo, on the Plaza Libertad

FROM ARGENTINA

425

In Santiago we were told with pride that

during thirty years of co-education in the

Pedagogical Department of the University,

not a breath of scandal had arisen. Here,

it is plainly said, no such boast could be

made.

BUENOS AIRES, June 3, 1920.

THIS is Corpus Christi, and, as my sec-

retary remarked yesterday, although the

Argentine generally, and the Porteno, as

the inhabitant of Buenos Aires is called,

particularly, is an utter Atheist, believing

neither in God, the Church, nor the Sacra-

ments, he allows no mortal to exceed him

in his observance of the Festivals of the

Church. Nevertheless we got special

permission to enter the Library of Con-

gress, where we worked as usual this

morning, and this afternoon went to see

the celebration, for on this day the Host

is borne in solemn processon from the

Cathedral round a given course and back,

making a great show and demonstration

of the zeal of the faithful.

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Last week we saw the celebration of
the National Holiday, Independence Day,
and we were interested in the chance to
compare a great religious with a great
secular festival. Last week we remarked
on the good-natured,, moderate,, not to
say lukewarm, tone of the people. The
streets were crowded and never had we
seen a greater display of bunting and
banners, nor a more lavish illumination.
The Plaza de Mayo at night reminded me of
the Court of Honour at the World's Fair.
From the top of the statue in the middle
of the Plaza stretched festoons of lights,
like the ribbons of a gigantic maypole;
and when to this diamond centre was
added the multitudinous illumination of
Government buildings, clubs, and tall
business houses, where cornice and door
and window were all picked out in lines of
blazing white, it made the centre of the
city bright as noonday. Nevertheless, the
effect was of a costly and pleasing enter-
tainment presented to a public which was
at best tolerant and appreciative, never
really enthusiastic.

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HISPANIC NOTES

FROM ARGENTINA

427

Something of the same we felt to-day.

The public attended in considerable

numbers to see the famous sight of the

Host borne in solemn procession by the

assembled clergy in their sacerdotal robes

of ceremony, and there were in the crowds

many women who seemed moved by

religious fervour; we saw some falling

on their knees as the procession passed;

the men almost invariably took off their

hats, and when one, standing in the front

line, almost touching the tabernacle as it

passed, neglected this act of respect, a

member of the procession reached out and

pulled it off his head.

In general it was a mild, curious, well-

disposed crowd, much smaller than that

of a week ago, eager to see the sights, but

without a sign of fanaticism and scarcely

an evidence of fervour.

The sight itself was interesting in

several respects. We stood in the Plaza,

facing the Cathedral door, and watched the

long procession emerge, which it did in

a comfortable, easy-going — shall I say,

Argentine? — way, with many a halt and

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check, and no sign of firm and competent
direction. We were astonished at the
number of priests and clergy higher and
lower; as a rule an unprepossessing
throng, low-browed, heavy- jowled, gross
fellows, they came in what, seemed an
endless stream until one wondered that
the Cathedral could hold them all, and one
was reminded that the assembly contained
clergy from all parts of the city. The
array of ecclesiastical equipment, robes
and crosses and standards and censers,
was also stupendous, and evidently also
represented the united resources of the
churches of the city.

When at last, after a long, trickling
stream of clergy and officials had emerged,
there was a sight of the Tabernacle swaying
and bobbing its doubtful way down the
steps, the band stationed before the doors
broke into triumphant tones with brass
and drums all going, the last hats came off,
and one saw a group of the higher clergy
in white and gold, bareheaded and
venerable, walking beside the canopy
beneath which paced the dignitaries, one

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HISPANIC NOTES

FROM ARGENTINA

429

of whom bore aloft the symbol, a blazing

ornament of gold and jewels arranged in a

cross about the shrine, like a great locket.

It passed slowly on its way,, the music

of the band subsided, the bareheaded

choristers and monks and priests lifted an

ancient chant and the crowd gradually

melted away.

BUENOS AIRES, June 6, 1920.

WE have passed an interesting Sunday

abroad. This morning we visited the

English " Cathedral/' a solid stone struc-

ture behind an iron grating, somewhat

stolid in aspect, with a stolid, self-satisfied

congregation within, listening to a clergy-

man who conducted the service in a faith-

ful, laborious manner. It was a numerous,

well-dressed, and doubtless an important

churchful of good people, but one longed

for a flash, a sparkle, or even a twinkle of

interest.

We enjoyed a good English dinner in

our English hotel, excellent food, well

prepared and well served ; took our Sunday

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rest and set forth to call on the Ambassador,
who lives far out on the show Avenue, the
Avenida Alvear. We found the house, a
comparatively unpreten^us, nicely pro-
portioned building of grey stone or con-
crete,, in which the U.S. Ambassador
occupies apparently one floor, where he
and Mrs. Stimson have contrived to give a
modified reproduction of a Boston apart-
ment, which is very delightful. Nowhere on
the continent have we found a more pleas-
ing atmosphere of easy, unstudied charm.
The arrangement of chairs and rugs and
cushions, apparently so casual and merely
accidental, was very restful, and the manner
of the Ambassador and his wife easy and
genial, was comforting, like a dip into the
old familiar atmosphere of Cambridge.
The conversation was lively and, glancing
here and there, touched on Walter Page
and Lowell, the inadequate salaries of
Diplomatic servants, etc. Others dropped
in, among them Captain Boyd, the Naval
Attache, and his wife, and Mr. Wiley,
the Ambassador's secretary. Captain
Boyd talked politics with an apology,

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43i

for the Navy has no interest in politics !
He told of General Wood's game leg, which
he said was the result of a strange acci-
dent : General Wood was sitting at a table
under an electric light bulb, and rising
suddenly, struck the top of his head
against the sharp point of the bulb, which
evidently reached a nerve, for he fell as
if he had been shot. He was soon on his
feet, and was apparently none the worse,
except that he has never had complete
control of his left leg, which he drags a
little. We had tea, which was served in a
wholly informal manner, the chat became
general, and we scattered home.

On the way back we had other glimpses
of life in Buenos Aires ; the wide Avenue
was filled from side to side with a noisy
stream* of pleasure-seekers returning in
every conceivable kind of vehicle, horse
and motor, from the races. Such a variety
of automobiles could, I fancy, scarcely be
mustered elsewhere in the world. As a con-
trast, stepping into a great church during
Benediction, we found the nave crowded,
every scat filled, and throngs standing.

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At the far end of the church, which was
more brightly lighted than any church we
have seen in South America, in a very
blaze of illumination,, stood the great altar :
a construction in white and gold, like the
fa9ade of a palace. It rose in terraces
which were surmounted by an arch, within
which was set the Host in a rich, flam-
boyant setting of golden rays. On either
side of the altar in the choir sat a group
of white-robed priests, and half-way down
the nave the preacher leanecl from the
pulpit and held the silent, close attention
of the congregation.

It was an eloquent sermon, with exposi-
tion, homily, and appeal. There was too
much emphasis on the painful and pathetic
to suit a western mind; he must have
referred fifty times at least to the lagrimas
santas of Christ, and dwelt largely upon
His sufferings, yet the power and the grace
of the oratory were undeniable. He rang
the changes on sin, its consequences, suffer-
ing, absolution, and communion; he ex-
horted his audience, in tones of lofty
eloquence, with every art of moving

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HISPANIC NOTE

FROM ARGENTINA

433

cadence, breaking voice, and appealing

gesture, to leave their sins at the altar and

reconcile themselves with God, so that we

came away into the dusk of Sabbath

evening with the sense of having attended

a genuine and devout religious service.

BUENOS AIRES, June 8, 1920.

PEOPLE seem to suffer a great deal from

the cold here, as they do in all so-called

warm countries. It does not get cold

enough to make heating systems impera-

tive, and most of the houses have no heat

at all; in consequence the people shiver

through the winter. When I make my

early start in the morning, while most of

the respectable world is asleep, I go out

into a shivering world. To be sure, it is

not very cold, some degrees above freez-

ing-point; but the boys on their way to

school run along with faces pinched and

fingers blue, the market women have purple

hands, and the ill-clad clerks, who are

sweeping out the stores, look half-frozen.

Everywhere one hears coughing, hawking

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and spitting, for they say that eighty

per cent, of the population have colds, and

no -small percentage have tuberculosis. It

is a devilish winter climate, with the air

saturated with moisture from the river, and

the sun hidden much of the time by clouds

and mist almost thick enough to be fog.

Yet people endure it, take it for granted,

in fact, and argue against artificial heat as

likely to soften and weaken the system.

They have never known any other way

than to " grin and bear it " ; so they sit and

shiver in their overcoats as my secretaries

and I do in the Library of Congress, or

stand kicking their feet and beating their

hands to keep warm, waiting philosophic-

ally for the sun to come out, which, fortun-

ately, it does most days, and then they

draw up on the sunny side of the street and

bask contentedly while it lasts.

BUENOS AIRES, June 12, 1920.

ONE cannot help speculating on the

underlying causes for the separation of the

British and Americans from their Latin-

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HISPANIC NOTES

FROM ARGENTINA

435

American hosts and neighbours, which is

perhaps more apparent here than else-

where. I have almost become convinced

that the aloofness,, the consciousness of

incompatibility,, is more apparent precisely

because the numbers are greater and the

social structure is more fully organized

here than anywhere else in South America.

There has been a greater amount of intelli-

gence at work here for a longer period of

time than elsewhere, and I am gradually

coming to feel that the finer and keener

minds are those that recognize with the

greater finality the essential difference

between the races. Superficial persons,

diplomats, officials, and those who spend

only a brief period here, are those most

likely to minimize the differences, for

reasons readily apparent. They come with

a strong predisposition to find points of

contact and grounds for friendship; they

are always basing their judgments on

special cases, on their friends and their

friends' friends, on the families they have

known in New York or Paris, and such-like

individual and special instances.

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But those who live here with eyes open
twenty, thirty, or forty years, are seldom
very eager or optimistic about intimacies
between the races. These recognize or feel
that there is a deep gulf fixed between the
two ; they feel that the differences are so
profound, so interwoven in the warp and
woof, in the very fibre and blood and nerve
of the two stocks, that it is better not to
think too much of any kind of amalgama-
tion, but rather to let each race go its own
way to the fulfilment of its proper destiny.
The closest and most protracted associa-
tion tends, I am convinced, to make only
the clearer the inherent unassimilability of
the stocks. One race is Northern, Saxon,
loving liberty and independence and
believing absolutely in the freedom of the
will and the efficacy of action : the other is
a Southern, more or less Oriental, race,
with a heritage of dubiety, a profound
scepticism both as to the freedom of the
will and as to the efficacy of action. It is
satisfied often to make the proper gesture,
to hold the proper pose, to say the proper
words. To it the posture is all, it has no

VII

HISPANIC NOTES

FROM ARGENTINA

437

ultimate sense of responsibility for the

deed and the outcome.

The man of Northern blood feels it in-

cumbent upon him to get the thing done, to

achieve, to bring it to pass. No such

burden weighs upon the soul of the Spanish

or Spanish-American : there always lies

at the bottom of his soul an inherent doubt

whether any act is worth while. He is

never convinced that it is finally well and

good to do or strive : perhaps all effort is

vain, perhaps it is all fated and settled

beforehand in the inscrutable designs of

Fate. Kismet is still for him the last word.

From which there springs a difference that

may well divide the two peoples for all

time.

BUENOS AIRES, June 15, 1920.

THIS afternoon I had the pleasure of

attending a University lecture by Professor

Rojas, one of the most popular teachers

here, on Argentine Literature. It came,

as a great part of the classes do here, at

half-past six in the evening, and was

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sparsely attended by a class , most of whom
were young women.

Dr. Rojas appeared nearly a quarter of
an hour late, laid his books on the desk,
and after a long histrionic pause began to
speak. He struck an easy, flowing rhe-
torical style, reminiscent of the " popular "
professor of literature in other parts, and
ran lightly over great stretches of time
and territory. He dealt with the Colonial
Period, dwelling on the causes for the lack
of a national literature which he found in
the repression produced by the union or
confusion of Church and State working
through the Holy Office, which effectually
nipped any budding inclinations to poetry
or philosophy. He adduced some interest-
ing examples from the old Court Records,
which he declared give the best reflection
of the life of the times.

He then propounded the general pro-
position that Argentina has no literature
because she has no national consciousness.
She can have no great poet, philosopher,
or romancer until she has a settled national
life.

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FROM ARGENTI N A

439

He illustrated the characteristics of such

literary production as there was, its echo

of the classics and its fondness for the

Picaresque, all in a style hardly short of a

well-played part, which was heightened by

the extreme pallor of his face, contrasting

with his long, raven-black hair, the abun-

dant and picturesque gestures which

unfolded as if they were an unbroken

series, the clearness of his enunciation, and

the excellent management of his voice.

BUENOS AIRES, June 22, 1920.

WE have seen Buenos Aires in many

aspects, and find the city at its best on

parade. On festivals and solemn occasions,

" high days and holidays," the city

not only exhibits that profound instinct

and love for communal pomp and public

appearance which runs in the Latin blood,

and lies near the heart of every civilization

derived from Rome, but it seems to have

a special gift and aptitude for gala occasions

and festivities. The long lines of electric

lights that rim the windows, balconies, and

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cornices are part of the construction not
only of public buildings, but of many
private establishments as well. So are
the standards for banners and the iron
arms for holding emblems and bunting. I
Thus the city is always ready for fete, and
can put on its holiday attire almost at a
moment's notice.

It seems equally ready in spirit. Holi-
days never come amiss to the Bonaerense.
He seems to have an inexhaustible, child-
like delight in shows. Not that he exhibits
any great enthusiasm, but he never seems
to tire of them. We have now seen the
streets jammed three times within a month
by silent, eager throngs, who have stood in
close-packed thousands by the hour in and
around the Plaza de Mayo to see the proces-
sion of the Veintocinco de Mayo, of Corpus
Christi, and of Belgrano's Anniversary.
Perhaps a similar outpouring of people
could be achieved in New York three times
a month, but it is hardly likely. I think
it requires an inherited interest in that sort
of civic and formal pageant, for, as a
matter of fact, the processions seem to me

VII

HISPANIC NOTES

FROM ARGENTINA

441

very dull and not very well done. The
illuminations, on the other hand, are
gorgeous and one not merely understands
but sympathizes with the ready impulse to
leave the chill, damp, fireless, cheerless
interiors of the ordinary dwellings for the
brilliance and warmth of the streets, for
the electric lights are so numerous that in
Florida one can actually feel the warmth
as he passes such spots as the Gath and
Chaves corner and the Jockey Club.

Last night we rode in an open carriage
up Florida, which is the Fifth Avenue of
Buenos Aires, to Rivadavia and along to
the Cathedral, where we had an excellent
view of the Plaza, a dark lake of people
bathed in the glow of a hundred thousand
electric lamps. Every step of our way was
along a lane thickly crowded with men,
women, and children, making decorous
holiday. They were jammed and crowded
together, so that we were often stopped
and unable to proceed for periods of five
minutes or more, but there were no loud
voices and hardly a sign of anything more
than vivacious interest and the wish to

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ETT

ERS

get to the Plaza. Once there

they stood

looking at

the lights. It

was said there was

a procession, but I vow

few of

them could

testify of

it. They stood and gazed,

straggled

along the Avenida,

gazed and

pushed, 'and stood, and

gazed, and pushed,

and went

home, properly tired

and sleepy

and, let

us hope, content

with their

evening's

enjoyment.

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HISPANIC

TES

FROM ARGENTINA

443

BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA,

June 26, 1920.

IT is interesting to note how,, with

increasing familiarity, the racial char-

acteristics of Latin-America come out

here in Argentina, and the differences,

special qualities, and local variations tend

to diminish and disappear, just as in a

landscape the great typical underlying

structure gradually makes itself felt in

spite of overgrowths and local variations

of vegetation.

One's friends begin to repeat the familiar

refrain of procrastination, ready promise,

and slow performance, amiable acquies-

cence in word with no corresponding action,

infinite and innumerable postponements

and deferments that make the heart sick.

Argentines and their friends make the

same sort of claims of superiority over

their neighbours that the Chileans make

when they compare themselves with the

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Peruvians, but I find actual performance

leaves little to choose except in the pos-

session of superior machinery and equip-

ment. I was greatly exasperated in Lima,

at a delay of nearly a month in getting my

printing started, and hearing so many

brave words about Chilean superiority

looked confidently for great improvements ;

but, in fact, it took almost to a day the

same time to get under way. Now every-

body knows the legend of Argentine

superiority : the printing here is " equal to

the best done in Europe," etc. Well, the

facts are that it is five weeks since I

placed a complete model, the same that I

have used everywhere, in the hands of

the best printer by common consent in

Buenos Aires, and to-day, after infinite

requests, delays, errors, new starts, and

explanations, I have received the page

which I can approve and begin work on.

BUENOS AIRES, June 29, 1920.

YESTERDAY I saw the first distinguished

house that I have had the pleasure of

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HISPANIC NOTES

FROM ARGENTINA

445

visiting on this side of the mountains. It

was the house of Dr. Larreta, one time

Minister of Argentina in Madrid and later

in Paris, a gentleman not unknown,, I

believe, to you. His house, which is

situated in Belgrano, the most favoured of

the suburbs of Buenos Aires, is a thoroughly

Hispanic dwelling, a place in which are

found elements Roman, Visigothic, Moor-

ish, and Modern Spanish. The great double

doors open directly upon the street, and

admit one into a narrow, dimly-lighted

ante-chamber of stone, not unlike the

porter's gate-rooms of some old castles,

and furnished with a touch of mediaeval-

ism. A halberd stands in the corner, an

ancient oil painting of saint or soldier hangs

on the wall, a solid, oaken table occupies

the centre of the narrow space. Across

the stone floor a heavy, dark-coloured door

leads to the main hall, and here one feels

the immediate sense of space and dignity.

This, which is the main room of the house,

is like a Roman atrium, or the hall of a

castle. It is dimly lighted, and in the

half-gloom one has a sense of spaciousness.

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The light falls from above, where, in the
centre of the hall, the ceiling rises from
great stone columns to a clerestory sur-
rounded by windows, and beyond this up-
raised central portion the hall continues a
space and ends in a huge fireplace, where
smouldering logs give out a red glow.
Between the supporting columns on either
side of the fire runs an iron rail that sup-
ports a tapestry, and against it leans a
long divan, heaped with cushions, making
a rich resting-place in the fire-lit space.
Over the wide mantelpiece is a magnifi-
cent retablo, with gilt columns encrusted
with rococo figures, framing a bas-relief
of the Christ after the descent from the
Cross, supported in the arms of the Virgin.
The stone walls stretch in a square, and
are set with doors that lead to the other
rooms, with great pictures and with ancient
carved chests. To the right a door opens
into the chapel, where, above the altar,
rises a famous retablo of the seventeenth
century, reminiscent of Italian Renais-
sance with touches of Flemish — a thing of
gold and colour in a series of panels in three

VII

HISPANIC NOTES

FROM ARGENTINA

447

rows, and framing a dozen separate pic-
tures of saints and angels in the delicate
style of the early Venetian Art. A portrait
of Santa Theresa hangs on one wall, and
at the rear in a gilt reliquary is a sandal
of the saint.

Across the hall opposite a door leads
into the dining-room, where above the
carved oak rises a portrait of the Emperor
Carlos III, facing a really charming portrait
of his queen, and over the doors are con-
temporary paintings of Lepanto and other
battles of the time. Beyond there is a
library full of lovely carved chests and illu-
minated manuscripts and piles of the
vellum-bound books of the Colonial Period.

Thence we passed into the gardens,
formal, with wide paths and marble seats,
overhung by orange trees laden with
golden fruit, and narrower paths that run
by evergreens and lead to a tennis court.

As we returned we stopped to look into
a narrow room, where, under well-adjusted
electric lights, we saw an heroic size por-
trait of the master of the house by Zulo-
aga, a scene representing Seiior Larreta

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reclining upon an eminence and looking

down upon a city.

BUENOS AIRES, July 13, 1920.

THIS has been, in some respects, an

unusual day, so I give you a chronicle

of it.

When I woke up at the seven o'clock call

and looked out, I saw a red sun just on the

horizon shining with a lurid glow through

a sky full of whirling snow, which chilled

my enthusiasm, so that it was nearly an

hour later before I got dressed, descended

to the cold dining-room, still almost

deserted, got my cup of coffee, and went

out into the weather. The snow had

turned to sleet, which a nasty wind drove

into one's face and ankles.

There was .not much life in the streets :

most of the shops were still closed, and the

few persons who were out scuttled along

to get to sheltered spots or aboard the

street cars, which seemed crowded to a

degree of density that would make a New

Yorker feel quite at home.

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HISPANIC NOTES

FROM ARGENTINA

449

Along sloppy streets, I got to the
National Library, whither, to work the
better, we moved some time ago from the
Halls of Congress, and found two of my
assistants already at work in the draughty
little salon assigned to us, which our tiny
electric stove usually makes tolerable.
This morning it was chilly and dank as
a tomb, but I took off my outer coat and
settled down to my daily stint of five
Argentine biographies. A printer's boy
arrived with proofs, another came to ask
for new copy, the third assistant came
shivering in with unnecessary excuses for
tardiness, the typewriter clicked, the pens
scratched, from time to time one or another
got up to warm his hands at the little
stove, and the morning wore away.

I had a passport errand at the Embassy,
and we went out together at a few minutes
past twelve, leaving a fair lot of work
done, and ran into a drive of cold rain that
would have done justice to Boston in
March. We struggled along, looking for
a taxi, only to find that naturally enough
they were all ocupado, and were getting

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thoroughly wet and uncomfortable by the
time we reached the Avenida de Mayo,
and finally caught a Jehu without a fare.
At the Embassy they were polite, as they
always are, and in a few minutes I had got
back to the hotel and lunch. By two
o'clock I was off again for the Library,
intending to get my passport photographs
taken by the way, a task that proved
rather more difficult than I anticipated,
because one of the chief sources of electric
light had broken down and photographers
wanted to put off work till to-morrow. I
found a man in time, made the usual bar-
gain, got the process over and hurried
along to the afternoon's work at the
Library. I attacked my next biography in
the chill place, worked over a pile of proofs
with the usual desultory discussion with
my assistants over names, dates, and titles
of books. Before five we set out to the
Palace to seek the proofs, promised, this
time, " without fail," of the President's
biography, and to pick up on the way
yesterday's work copied for the printer,
and to-day's mail.

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HISPANIC NOTES

FROM ARGENTINA

45i

We found most of the shops and offices
in darkness, for the break in the electric
light cables had apparently grown, and
when we arrived at the Palace, groped our
way through ante-rooms completely dark
to the offices of the Assistant-Secretary of
State, which were in a thick murk made
visible by faint red points of light in the
electric bulbs. He came in, saw us or
guessed our presence, and left the various
groups that hung about the corners and
in the embrasures of the windows to come
over and explain to us that he was in the
act of reading the proof to the President,
and had barely reached the second page
when " pafl " went the electric lights, but
" To-morrow, without a shadow of doubt,

I-" * iTiH WP ^tpprpH mir Hnnhtfnl wiv

out again through the dark passage into
the rain.
The hotel, too, was all in darkness except
for candles and two or three lamps, about
which little groups clustered drinking tea.
We found our group, had our tea, and set
off again by streets dark and sloppy to the
University to deliver a promised gift of

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books to a Professor. It was a journey
such as one seldom makes in a modern
city, except perhaps in London during a
fog. All lights were out save on the
automobiles, street-cars had disappeared,
and people passed as if they were dark
objects which emerged like more solid
blocks of darkness, and disappeared into
the gloom again.

In the University, which the doorkeeper
allowed us to enter under protest, declar-
ing there was nobody there, we found a
few candles burning in the corridors, and
in the offices above discovered the Vice-
Rector and his assistants working by the
light of two candles apiece. Nevertheless
I had a pleasant chat with the Vice-Rector,
Dr. Gonnet, who seems to be an unusually
competent, courteous, and well-informed
man of affairs. The University itself
always reminds me of the City College of
New York, when it was in its old building
on Twenty-third Street. The atmosphere,
half commercial, half social, and anything
but scholarly, with just a hint of that South
European, Oriental flavour which those

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HISPANIC NOTES

FROM ARGENTINA

453

who knew the old City College will recall,
suggests an easy discipline and a large
measure of politics. It would be interest-
ing to compare it with San Marcos at Lima,,
full of leisure, almost somnolent, heavy
with tradition, where students pace along
the cloistered patios to the accompaniment
of tinkling fountains; to the new, raw
University of Havana, incomparable in the
beauty of its surroundings, but weak and
all but flabby on the intellectual side; to
the thin, sparse life of the University of
La Paz, a starved High School, aspiring to
University things; to the semi-Teuton
University of Santiago, orderly, energetic,
harsh, ambitious, intensely self-conscious
and jealous of prestige, where every student
regards himself as a possible head or leader
or authority in one or other walk of life.
But time is lacking for all that. Enough
that we have here an easy-going, unstrenu-
ous, inquisitive, eager, intellectual life,
rather superficial and possessing more taste
than energy.

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BUENOS. AIRES, July 13, 1920.
I AM interested in the local sense of
superiority to the rest of the world. It is
a sentiment one finds everywhere, and I
suppose there is no race or tribe or nation-
ality on the globe that does not think itself
the best and all others inferior. " What,"
I ask myself, " is the basis for the Argen-
tine's sense of superiority ? " It seems to
lie simply and purely in nationality — in
being born Argentine, as if the greatness,
the promise, and the prosperity of the
country were reflected in each of its sons,
and no other evidence of importance or
glory were required than to have been born
on its soil. There are, of course, other
reasons, which, however, seem to be merely
supplementary or incidental. For example,
superiority to the United States rests
upon greater purity of race — Argentina
has no negroes; on superior suffrage
laws — Argentina has a law providing for
a suffrage Free, Universal, Secret, and
Obligatory; on greater freedom from
prejudice — nobody asks what your religion
is, as they are likely to do in New York,

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HISPANIC NOTES

FROM ARGENTI N A

455

and finally, on greater scholarly and crea-

tive capacity — Argentine writers, in spite

of lack of libraries and other facilities,

produce numerous and excellent books

and discover many and great errors in

American books !

One need not examine too closely the

reasons : it is enough to recognize their

existence and the sentiment or conviction

which they serve to buttress. That senti-

ment would exist anyway, and lacking

these reasons would find others.

BUENOS AIRES, July 14,; 1920.

IT would be difficult to believe the power

of procrastination here if one did not

experience it. Five or six weeks ago, after

a formal request, and two or three informal

approaches to the President for the data

with which to prepare his biography that

should occupy the first pages of Argen-

tines of To-day, we thought it best to

prepare the " life," and send it for his

approval or revision. We did so, and got

a reply through a confidential channel that

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he would go over it and send it back. After
three weeks of waiting, and numerous
promises, it seemed best to put the bio-
graphy in English and send the President a
proof. This we did, and received for reply
that he would send us a few corrections
" the day after to-morrow." Since then
we have gone to the Palace once every day
and on some days twice. Yesterday at
one we were asked to return at four and it
would certainly be ready. The break-
down of the electric light was ample excuse,
but to-day, at one-thirty, we should abso-
lutely have the proof. To-day at two —
unfortunately the President had been inter-
rupted, but assuredly to-morrow — manana,
blessed, cursed word ! — to-morrow at two-
thirty — inevitably !

Who knows? All the world smiles,
telling us that it is the usual thing for the
President's desk to be cluttered up with
business months overdue, and likely to
become ancient history.

I am reminded of similar experiences in
Havana, Lima, La Paz and Santiago, and
recognize the family likeness, exaggerated.

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FROM ARGENTINA

457

BUENOS AIRES, July 17, 1920.

IF one were to draw an indictment
against Buenos Aires he would base it on
hygiene : the flies, the spitting, and the
drains would supply the three chief counts.
For half a century the flies of the city
have been a notorious scourge, and, though
they are less scandalous than they once
were, they are still a pest and a nuisance
which nobody seems to do much to abate.
Hotels, restaurants, butcher's shops, and
grocery stores are infested with them, and
I am told that when the famous Dr. Mayo
of Rochester, Minn., was the guest of the
surgeons here, and was asked his opinion of
the hospitals of which Buenos Aires is
proud, he said the appliances were very
fine, but " there were too many flies."

Spitting in public places is a general, dis-
gusting, and dangerous habit that persists
in spite of ordinances and innumerable
public warnings and monitions. The street-
cars are filled with signs prohibiting spit-
ting, but they are frequently so filthy that
one has to look for a clean place on which to

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put his feet. This morning we were about

to step into a taxi when we found the floor so

dirty that we withdrew and sent it away.

The drainage of the city is a serious

topic : it is said that at least a third of the

city, some even say two-thirds, is without

sewers, and still uses the ancient cesspool ;

and this, at least, is sure, that when the

foundations were being laid for the new

building now being constructed across the

street from us, no fewer than seven cess-

pools were found in that very limited

space.

BUENOS AIRES, July 18, 1920.

THIS afternoon I have been to a meeting

of the History and Numismatics Club held

in the Mitre Museum. There were about

fifteen persons present, including four or

five University Professors and several

writers, among whom was Pastor Obligado,

the author of ten volumes of Argentine

Traditions, modelled upon the famous

Peruvian Traditions, of Ricardo Palma.

He was very courteous, and promised to

VII

HISPANIC NOTES

FROM ARGENTINA

459

send me the tenth volume of his narrative
which is just being printed.

The meeting was quite informal; the
President, Dr. Leguizamon, sat at the head
of a long table, around which the members
gathered, and after the usual secretary's
report opened the proceedings with a brief
paper to prove that the official records were
in error both as to the date of birth and
the correct form of the name of General
Carlos Maria Alvear, one of the founders of
the Argentine Republic. He then called
upon a young German-Argentine, who
read a paper on one of the folk stories of
Argentina, the story of the shrewish
woman who was changed by a spell, first
into a man and then into a demon. He
traced the story back to the Middle Ages,
and found its counterparts in Italy, France,
Spain, and Eastern Europe. The President
told of a version he had heard as a boy,
and the members rose and gradually went
home.

It was all very quiet, rather trivial, but
dignified and well conducted, essentially
Teutonic, and somewhat dull.

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BUENOS AIRES, July 22, 1920.

A WEEK ago to-night I enclosed some
jottings on the President's procrastination,
with a fervent hope that the next day I
should have his biography in my hands.
Incredible as it seems,, the delays and post-
ponements repeated themselves, for all the
world like a story from the Far East.

The next day the President sent word
that special pressure of business had
prevented him. On Saturday, at the sug-
gestion of our courteous intermediary, the
sub-secretary for Foreign Affairs, we
brought a new proof on large paper, on
which I wrote in ink, " Se espera imprimir
en el lunes." On Saturday evening we
received word that the President had not
been able to give attention to the matter,
but, with absolute certainty, would read it
on Sunday immediately after breakfast;
thus, on Monday, with expectation freshly
agog, we went to the rendezvous, only to
be met with new and all but tearful excuses
that next day all would be made good. Hope
burned low, but on Tuesday again we made

VII

HISPANIC NOTES

FROM ARGENTINA

461

our visits to the Palace, now grown weari-
somely familiar, the first too soon, the
second equally ill-timed, for a meeting of
diplomats had intervened to prevent the
President carrying out his purpose. " Ma-
riana sera otro dia." (" To-morrow will be
another day," i. e. a different one !) Again
with heavy feet and doubtful mind we trod
the tiled paths to the sub-secretary's ante-
room, bringing this time a new copy (the
third) of the proof, to stimulate the Presi-
dent's interest. Ah, unfortunate day !
The great man had been attacked with a
headache and had not read a line all day ;
he sent word, however, that if we could
postpone printing until morning we should
have the proof with whatever comment,
revision, or correction he had to make.

The printer had by now become nearly
frantic, and heard with ill-concealed scorn
the new proposals for delay, but it was one
day only — certainly the last ! To-day at
four we retraced the familiar course to the
Red House, as the Government House is
called, and gazed again at the familiar desks
and chairs and chandeliers while the usual

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half-hour passed. At last the friendly

Secretary appeared, with downcast face.

The President had escaped him, dodged

him, it would appear, and one or two per-

sons of importance, very old friends, with

whom also he had appointments. Well,

he was an extraordinary man — unac-

countable; and as for us, why, we were

quite free to go on and publish. The

biography was correct, harmless, no objec-

tion could be made to it, and nobody could

suggest more delays, etc., etc., etc. Thus

ends the chapter.

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HISPANIC NOTES

FROM URUGUAY

463

MONTEVIDEO, URUGUAY,

August i, 1920.

OUR impressions of Montevideo are not
very numerous nor very striking, for we
have made the visit under grey skies and
in chill inclement weather. This city,
which is ambitious to be the Athens of

South America and is often called the

Boston of the Continent, has to-day the
aspect of Portland, Maine, on a chilly day
in April or October. The journey from
Buenos Aires is like that from New York

to Boston except that it is entirely in
sheltered waters. The boats are inferior

to the Sound steamers, but comfortable,
and when we looked out this morning on
the docks of Montevideo, solid grey-stone
bulwarks, we might have been facing the
wharves of any New England port. There
was" no passport inquiry and the Customs
examination was a courteous formality.

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The automobile took us through narrow
streets lined with solid buildings,, many of
them in grey stone,, and we came to a hotel
— the Oriental — which was a compromise
between a South- American and an English
hostelry : the central patio was covered
with glass and at the left was a thoroughly
British hotel writing-room, with the
inevitable commercial indexes and ancient
magazines on the table and two huge,
leather-covered chairs drawn up before
a diminutive fire-place.

We went out, for the town was still
asleep, and entered a great church on the
corner, where, under the bare, forbidding
arches of the nave, a little group were
mumbling the words of the service, looking
very cold and remote and sounding quite
forlorn.

In the afternoon we made a journey out
to the edge of the town to visit Senor
Arturo Scarone, whom we found living with
his family in the National Institution for
Deaf Mutes, of which the Senora is the
Principal. It was an interesting and
quite encouraging experience; for the

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The water front

FROM URUGUAY

465

children all looked well and strong and
gave plenty of evidence of enthusiasm in
learning the use of ears and tongue.

There we had tea and were waited on
by some of the children of the home, who
were already learning to speak some words
of Spanish and could make themselves
fairly well understood. As we were leav-
ing, the boys, who were playing in the
yard, gathered about us, and Senora
Scarone called up one after another to
make him show his attainments in hear-
ing and in speaking. It was interesting
to see the successive stages from that
of almost complete dumbness to that of
comparative freedom of utterance. We
found the demonstration not merely in-
teresting but in every respect encouraging
and inspiring.

Another visit that we made on the same
afternoon carried us across the city past
a great number of streets which seemed as
if they had been made on a pattern, past
endless rows of one-storey concrete build-
ings and at last to a quiet street on which
the grass was growing among the cobble

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stones, to a quiet house where through
half-open gates we saw the usual little
patio with shrubs and flowers. The trim
neatness of the place deepened the im-
pression we had been forming of Monte-
video, that it is strictly well ordered. Its
streets are all at right angles, its houses
are all built under rigorous requirements
of law, its pavements are as a rule well
kept, there are rows upon rows of houses
that seem all to have been made on an
identical plan. In fact, it seems to be a
stereotyped city in which, so far as we
can gather, there is little acute poverty,
but there is a very large proportion of
the population living on narrow means
by rule and formula.

We are having a rainy Sunday in a
strange town which knows little of heat
and nothing of comfort : no wonder the
great majority of deaths are traced to
tuberculosis and kindred ills ! We went
to the Cathedral at noon, and found it
surprisingly well filled and many of the
congregation men. It is a spacious build-
ing, lofty, simple, and dignified. The walls

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HISPANIC NOTES

FROM URUGUAY

467

and the buttress-like columns are covered

with white marble decorated with gilt

lines and a Greek Cross design ; seen from

the long nave, the high altar under the

shadow of its gilded half-dome gleams

restfully in the dim vague distance like a

precious stone in an old gold setting;

the priest, moving about in the service

under the soft light of three candles

and in the white and gold of his office,

fitted perfectly into the scene, and com-

pleted a picture of dim antique religious

mysticism.

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469

BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA,

August 7, 1920.

WE have now been in Buenos Aires two

months. The novelty has worn off: we

have ceased to remark on the two-wheeled

carts like those of English towns or the

great three-horse wains that bring in the

produce from the estancias, or the high,

stilt-like heels of the women's shoes or

the list slippers of the working-men. These

and a score of other details have grown

customary. On the other hand the social

and inner life of the city still engages and

provokes our interest. It is a cosmopoli-

tan, pleasure-loving, lustful, mercenary

town. On a Sunday afternoon there is a

stream of automobiles, carriages, traps,

and gigs returning from the races that can

hardly be rivalled except by the crowd

returning from a great football game or

the Derby in England. The last peso is

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cheerfully spent on an auto to the races,

or back; and that is a true index to

the first characteristic of the Bonaerense.

Ostentation is his foible. If one goes a

bit deeper he comes upon self-indulgence

and an Oriental view of women, qualities

which are closely linked.

Intellectually Buenos Aires is super-

ficial : its books are thin and showy, its

art is imitation and highly coloured, its

scholarship is slight and insincere. Perhaps

these are all signs of youth and will all

disappear with greater maturity and wider

experience : I am not enough of an

ethnologist to tell. It seems to me to

depend on whether the racial elements

found here are really immature or not.

BUENOS AIRES, August 8, 1920.

THIS morning we went to two Cathe-

drals, the Anglican and the Catholic, and

felt the contrast strongly. The first was

a comfortable English church not unlike

St. Paul's in Boston, quite free from any

atmosphere of elevation, sanctity, or

VII

HISPANIC NOTES

FROM ARGENTINA

dignity, historic or other — a large, well-
kept parish church with indifferent music
and such preaching as might be heard from
the curate of the average Anglican church
in the average Anglican community in
any provincial town. The service closed
in time to permit us to reach the Cathedral
in the Plaza de Mayo during the sermon.
We found the nave half-filled and solid
masses of men bulging out into the aisles
between the columns nearest the pulpit.

From the Anglican pulpit we heard the
usual homily on, " Here they were first
called Christians/' ancient platitudes,
mixed with colloquial commonplace about
how easy it is to call names, how much
easier to label the bottle than take the
medicine and the like. From the high
gilt swallow's-nest pulpit of the Roman
church we heard other things. A thin
dark man with a high voice was proclaiming
his doctrine with an almost fierce intensity,
and as we drew near stopped to mop his
face and neck. He began again, with an
apology for the length of his sermon, but
his audience, leaning forward to catch his

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words, showed no sign of weariness. He

was preaching on " our daily bread/' and

dramatized the struggle of to-day, putting

the world into rival choirs, of the rich

and the poor, who clamoured for possession

of the world's goods, both reiterating their

rights : " It is our bread; it belongs to us,"

and both forgetting the other half of the

prayer, " Our Father . . . give us . . ."

In tense and strident tones he repeated

in a dozen turns of phrase the only solu-

tion : God alone must give, and what any-

body got without the Divine approval

would do him no good.

Then, at the top of his exhortation he

stopped, turned, opened the little door of

the pulpit and descended, leaving his

audience still leaning expectantly forward.

BUENOS AIRES, August 9, 1920.

THE character of President Hipolito

Yrigoyen presents a study unusually inter-

esting. He is more written and talked

about than any other public man in South

America, and arouses the most violent

VII

HISPANIC NOTES

FROM ARGENTINA

473

loyalties and antipathies : hated and vilified
by his opponents, among his supporters
he is regarded as a demi-god and be-
lieved to be above all criticism. Impartial
observers consider him a shrewd political
boss of the old Tammany Hall type,
absorbed in the organization and hardly
able to see beyond the immediate pro-
ject for making sure of a district.
The most serious charge brought against
him by men of this type is that he is
gradually lowering the efficiency of the
Government, which was at one time fairly
high in some departments, by filling every
vacancy which occurs with a political
henchman. So absorbed is he in this, that
it is said a vacancy with a salary of $600
cannot be filled without his consent.
Meantime he has given a great appearance
of business method and efficiency by
introducing into the public offices a bell
which rings at the hour of opening, usually
twelve o'clock, noon, when every one is
required to be present and sign a book
provided, and again at the hour of closing,
usually five or six o'clock, when again all

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must sign. But, so far as the President's
appointees are concerned, it is understood
that no obligation rests on them to be
present in the interval : they may sign and
leave, returning to sign again at the end
of the day. This, by the way, is one of
the various means which facilitate the
custom of holding a number of jobs, or
positions at the same time.

To larger questions and matters of
public policy the President gives little
attention, it being his method to leave
everything of this sort until to-morrow,
and to escape going on record in any way
if it can be avoided. Thus, in the famous
Von Luxburg case, of the German
Ambassador who made himself notorious
during the war and whose expulsion was
decreed by Congress, the President took
no action and the case remains unsettled
until to-day. My own experience is a
case in point on a trivial scale. He has an
aversion to keeping appointments, takes
no action that can be put off, commits
himself to nothing that can be evaded.
And, of course, large numbers of questions

VII

HISPANIC NOTES

FROM ARGENTINA

475

settle themselves. Some do not : the
Mortgage and Loan Bank lost its directors
a year ago, their successors, who should
be appointed by the President, are not
yet named and the bank is crippled; the
Annual Budget for 1919 has not yet
appeared and the Budget for 1920 is still
being discussed. Meantime important
business is held up, and Government
officials must either stop their work or go
ahead with the risk of having the neces-
sary authorization for their expenditures,
which are of course illegal, refused.

It is pleasant to be able to add at least
one word on the other side, and my friend
Yrurtia the sculptor has given me a
pleasant offset to the somewhat harsh
judgment which I have so frequently
heard about President Yrigoyen. Senor
Yrurtia tells me that he has spent many
pleasant hours discussing his own work
as a sculptor and larger public questions
with the President. It appears that both
are of Basque origin, which doubtless
accounts in part at least for their intimacy,
and he maintains that behind his rather

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forbidding usual manner the President

conceals a great wealth of sentiment and

imagination. Yrurtia, at any rate, credits

him with far-reaching dreams and projects

for the good of the people, and maintains

also, quite contrary to the general judg-

ment, that Yrigoyen is, in fact, a very

facile and communicative talker. He says

that if those who charge the President

with being secretive, silent, and morose

were to hear him expounding his views

on the future of the race, on the possi-

bilities of Argentina, and on the develop-

ments of which the common people might

be capable if brought under the semi-

socialistic form of Government which he

believes in, they would recant.

VII

HISPANIC NOTES

FROM PARAGUAY

477

•

En route to ASUNCION,

August 10, 1920.

WE set out for Paraguay, my excellent

secretary, Senor Binayan, and I, at about

two o'clock, with scant time to catch the

train, which we took reluctantly because

the steamers up the river have for many

a month been stopped by the strike. I

have left all impedimenta behind : by which

you will understand that Mrs. Parker and

the boys are not with us.

On our way to the Station we had already

passed through miles of the flat streets of

Buenos Aires, the latter half of them

beyond the range of sewers, where foul

water lay in the gutters on either side

and gave promise of disease when summer

comes.

We went on, past what seemed an

interminable further stretch of streets

lined with the regulation one-storey houses

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of concrete which belong to Latin-America,
until they began to be invaded by little
pasture fields fenced with barb-wire and
finally were lost in the estancias, on which
the city rests and which run for 600 miles
north, south, and west — a flat, unvarying
succession of barb-wire enclosures for
pasture.

We ran on over the plain until suddenly
there came in sight a great church tower,
big enough for a cathedral, then another
church tower and then the houses of the
town of Capilla, which rises out of the
pasture lands just as the Moorish, white-
walled casas grandes of the haciendas rise
from the brown, grey, and green back-
grounds of Mexican landscapes.

Toward night we came to a great river
which we were to cross. It looked like
the Missouri at Missouri Valley, but proved
to be vastly greater, for it was in reality
not the river but the delta, a desert of
water and shoal, islands and mud-banks,
over which, in an intricate course, we
steered for four hours to the opposite
shore. Twice we thought we saw towns,

VII

HISPANIC NOTES

FROM PARAGUAY

479

but learned they were only " frigorificos,"
huge beef-packing plants.

This morning we woke in the midst of a
sea of pasture, level and treeless as far as
the eye could reach. Gradually, since, the
landscape has changed; we have passed
rolling stretches like the prairies of
Nebraska and lately a lot of trees planted
as if by accident in the plain.

In the middle of the morning we came
to Concordia, an old, solid town on the
Parana river, and walked part way up
town to see its streets, like all the others
of inland towns, single-storey, of concrete
and brick, with eucalyptus trees in the
open spaces and orange trees overlooking
the patio walls. Time did not permit
going as far as the Plaza or the river which
here is very wide and serviceable for
traffic, and soon we were off again, passing
jtwo or three orange groves near the city
before we resumed the march across the
endless plain.

It is monotonous, but never uninterest-
ing to me, for it recalls many days of
contentment passed on the prairies of

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Nebraska, which it resembles very closely.

The most surprising thing to the casual

observer is the absence of living things :

except for the cattle, which are not very

numerous, and the sheep which are less

so, we have seen no living thing but a

few birds.

En route to ASUNCION,

August 11, 1920.

WE arrived early at the frontier city

of Posadas, had our baggage examined on

the platform, presumably by Paraguayan

officials, although we were still in Argentina.

It would not have made any difference, I

think, who did it, for it was purely per-

functory. Then we went out to encounter

the horde of "cabbies," like the Nea-

politan " cochero " of old times, with horses

as ill-kept and carriages as rickety as

I remember them in Naples in 1903. We

picked one of the crew whose horses seemed

less like scarecrows than the others, and

who promised to go like lightning, and set

out to see the Plaza, described as " muy

lejos " (" far away "). It proved to be about

VII

HISPANIC NOTES

FROM PARAGUAY

481

half a mile, and the route led us past a
collection of huts and shacks such as one
finds on the outskirts of towns here, some
of old boxes and galvanized iron, some of
adobe, and some of boards and thatch.
Then we came to buildings of adobe and
concrete, with sidewalks of tile, and,
turning a corner, found ourselves in the
Plaza. The central square was filled with
grass and shrubs; there were tiled paths
and in the middle rose the inevitable monu-
ment to Independence. On one side was
the large, one-storey, white Government
building, for Posadas is the capital of the
" Misiones " territory; on the other was
the Cathedral, an ugly, unfinished brick
structure with two truncated towers
topped with scaffold-steeples which appar-
ently had been there a long time.

We came back to find that we might
have spent an hour in the town, for time
is of little value here, but, after many
preliminaries, we set out across the river.
The operation was well conducted; the
train was carried by wire cables upon a
powerful ferry, and with plenty of power

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we put out into the stream, which at this

point resembles the Lower Mississippi, a

wide, placid river with low, scrub-covered

shores, more like a lagoon than a river,

over which we steamed for half an hour,

under a lovely sky and in air as balmy as

a May morning.

Our first impressions of Paraguay, at

the station of Encarnacion, are pleasant.

The landscape is varied, with river, undu-

lating shore, and many trees ; the general

effect is like that of Mexico in the Orizaba

district and the people are not unlike the

Mexicans ; they seem to be darker of skin

and rather more alert and responsive than

the groups we have seen at the stations

along the way.

Afternoon.

As we go on the aspect of the country

changes, growing more tropical : there are

women sitting by the streams washing

their clothes, and at the stations the two-

piece, drill suit and bare feet familiar in

Cuba, Mexico and Peru re-appear; the

children run about almost naked. The

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HISPANIC NOTES

FROM PARAGUAY

483

houses are of wattle covered with mud,
some of them very diminutive. I have
seen them eight feet by six or seven,
showing that life is lived out of doors.
The cattle are thin and have long wide
horns like the inferior Mexican stock.

We have left the treeless plain : at
nearly all the stations there are heaps of
logs, many of them large, two feet by
two, and twenty to thirty feet long,
squared by the axe. Plainly enough
some one works here, in spite of the
tradition of Paraguayan sloth. The clear-
ings show the same thing; some of them
look very well, like grassy glades among the
thick woods, and I have seen one in the
making with the whole space covered as
it seemed with chips from the axe, and the
house and fence rawly new.

The sun set again like a great globe of
fire over the wide plain where the cattle
browsed in a still air, making a picture of
peace. And now we saw at a distance
prairie fires creeping over the dead grass
like a line of skirmishers with very little
blaze, but apparently irresistible.

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Night was settling down when we stopped
at a little Paraguayan town, and almost
immediately were greeted with a blare
of martial music. The local band of
fifteen or more,, dressed in white, were
drawn up directly opposite our seats and
gave us a fine serenade, probably intended
for unseen dignitaries on the train, in
what one of the party unkindly said was
the worst music he had ever heard. At all
the stations there were crowds, for the
" International " train is evidently a por-
tent not to be missed, and we began to see
the poncho again, worn in the Bolivian
fashion. I do not know anything human
more swagger than a tall, swarthy fellow
stalking along in the dusk with the folds
of a great blanket wrapped about him.
We saw several of these comic opera
villains moving across the stage of the
local stations evidently conscious of the
impression they might make, but notwith-
standing these and many gross sensual
men, I am inclined at first glance to think
the Paraguayan one of the most likeable
Hispanic Americans I have seen.

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HISPANIC NOTES

FROM PARAGUAY

485

ASUNCION, PARAGUAY,

August 12, 1920.

WE arrived about four o'clock this

morning,, seven hours late, and, at nine

o'clock, after we had got settled in our

hotel and had our breakfast, the telegram

we had sent from Buenos Aires nearly three

days ago was brought in, suggesting the

possibility that it had been conveyed on

the same train.

In spite of all that we have heard of

its backwardness, ignorance, and sloth,

our first impressions of Asuncion are

not unfavourable : the air is delicious, the

streets are clean, the houses are neat, the

people look like a more amiable race of

Mexicans, the effect is of a mingling of

Orizaba and Matanzas, with improvements

on both.

The hotel is called " The Park," and has

claims to the title, for there is a garden

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space in front with palms and shrubs and

a fair plot of ground behind ; all the rooms

seem to have outside windows, and,, with

clean, white walls running up to the tile

and timber roof, seem cool and airy. We

had coffee at a tiny table on the palm-

shaded veranda, and set off early on our

•

first excursion to the National Library,

where we had two surprises : the first

was at being informed that it was the

National Library chiefly in name, for

nearly all the books of importance were

the property of Sefior Juansilvano Godoi,

and the second was at the extent and value

of the collection when, on the arrival of

Sefior Godoi's son, we were permitted to

see it.

ASUNCION, August 14, 1920.

THE town is in holiday dress, flags are

up and the public buildings illuminated

for the Inauguration of President Gondra

to-morrow, but one feels as if it is being

taken calmly. Changes of Government

are no new thing for Paraguay, where a

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HISPANIC NOTES

ill

FROM PARAGUAY

487

few years ago the people were likely to

wake up any morning to find a revolution

had occurred over-night. In fact, Paraguay

could fairly claim the record among South

American republics for the number and

frequency of her revolutions. My friend

Seiior Paz-Soldan has compiled a partial

list of Peruvian revolutions, but nobody

has ventured on the task for Paraguay. I

should think it hopeless, for they once had

three within twenty-four hours.

ASUNCION, August 15, 1920.

THIS morning as I lay half-awake in

my white-walled chamber with the sun

coming through a circular window and

listened to the song of a hen in the patio,

I was transported to the little room in the

farmhouse in Cheshire, England, where I

have been awakened many a morning in

my childhood by the same cheerful,

business-like monologue. The domestic

fowl seems to have the least variable of

all bird songs, and binds the remotest

parts of the world together.

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We had our morning tea and set off to
see the inaugural procession. In the wide
space between the Cathedral and the
barracks we found the main body of the
Paraguayan army, about 1500 men,
drawn up in two bodies facing the avenue
that leads to the Hall of Congress, and
others lining the way to the Cathedral.

Soon the bands broke into music, the
infantry presented arms, the Cathedral
bells rang, hats began to come off and the
new President, Don Manuel Gondra.
appeared bareheaded at the head of the
procession of diplomats and officials,
resplendent in gold lace and colours.
They passed into the church and in a
surprisingly short time reappeared, passing,
this time, within a few feet of us. The
President, a tall, well-built man of middle
age, seemed likely to fulfil a good part of
the high hopes that are entertained of him,
of which the papers are full. He has the
look of disillusion and a shade of the world-
weariness common to South Americans
who have passed their youth, but he walks
well, advancing among the plaudits of the

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•g

FROM PARAGUAY

489

crowd and the salutes of the military with
an even step and an air of unaffected sim-
plicity,, bowing slightly to right and left.
After him came the envoy of the Holy See,
a fat, rather gross person, in purple and
lace and a great gold chain, the diplomats,
high officials, lesser clergy and others, in
alternating groups of shining uniforms and
sombre black dress suits. It made a long
procession, not very well arranged and
not exactly impressive, but full of evidence
as to the friendly disposition of other
nations.

Meantime we had a chance to observe
the military : there were somewhere
between 1500 and 2000 in line, including
the naval force of forty-six boys, four
officers, and two instructors with three
small field-guns. The infantry were well
clothed and had rifles with bayonets, but
most of them were very young and some
seemed mere infants of not more than
eleven or twelve years old. The artillery
and machine-gun sections were negligible,
but the cavalry, what there was of it, was
creditable.

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ASUNCION, August 15, 1920.

IT is a fine,, calm Sunday evening, and I
have walked up to one of the high spots of
the city where there is a little esplanade
which gives a wide view over the fringe
of the town and the river bottom, miles
and miles of low plain and lagoon stretching
to the horizon. Behind me is the checker
board of the city, a long series of ill-
paved streets, for, like all South American
towns, Asuncion covers a great space of
ground, more than most in fact, because
it was laid out before the great war in an
ambitious mood and has more streets than
it can care' for, like a boy that is obliged
to wear his father's clothes.

The general effect of Asuncion is sober
and slightly sad. The generation that is
passing off the stage saw terrible things
and the new generation has grown up
under the shadow of the tragic memories
with which the very houses are steeped.
The inheritance of defeat has bred a mood
of impotence and killed enterprise. When
the telephone system was interrupted by a

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HISPANIC NOTES

•

Calle 14 de Mayo

FROM PARAGUAY

491

fire some time ago they let it remain so,
and to-day one passes rows of telephone
poles with wires all in place but not a
wire in use. The city is without sewers ;
but when a foreign company proposes to
install a system, the spirit of pessimism and
distrust sees in the project only a chance
to exact fees and graft,, and kills the plan.
The University occupies, together with
the Colegio Nacional (the High School),
nearly a whole block, but it is practically
unoccupied. The other day when we
entered we found in the main hall among
dust and dirt a lot of street urchins playing
pitch-penny. It is only open in the
morning, and very few students appear;
in fact the total enrolment is only about
seventy. The National Archives, which
contain a great number of valuable papers,
manuscripts running back to 1567, and
many books which great libraries would
cherish, is in the condition of a deserted
house. When we called we found the
three custodians engaged in what my
secretary says is the principal occupation
of Paraguay — talking politics. They

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explained that they were not well versed
in the archives and could give us little
information because they were so new,
having only been there two years. But
they showed us a manuscript volume of
the sixteenth century in wretched condi-
tion, partly eaten by insects and gradually
falling to pieces. Later they opened a
closet and disclosed a heap of old books in
parchment bindings, among which Sefior
Binaydn said there were valuable things
which had been almost totally destroyed.
The books on the shelves were in drunken
rows and the place was disgracefully dirty,
with the dust of months and the cigar
stubs of perhaps an equal period on the
floor. There were only three employes
and they had only been there two years !

The municipal market is an extensive
affair, covering a solid block, and in the
mornings is crowded with buyers and
sellers. The country folk come in with
their produce, anything from a handful
of vegetables or a bit of lace to a donkey-
train of stuff, and sit beside their wares
while the purchasers pass by. It is a

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HISPANIC NOTES

FROM PARAGUAY

493

quiet crowd, but primitive in its ways,

pushing and crowding and dodging past

one another like a lot of animals or ill-bred

children, and dirty with the dirt of the

season, so that one cannot avoid an

involuntary shrinking from the all too

friendly contact.

AsuNCi6N, August 1 6, 1920.

BY the kindness of Sefior Godoi, who

devoted most of the morning to helping

us, we were permitted to use the National

Library although it was a holiday, and so

made progress. About twelve o'clock he

took us to the Spanish Club, a big, wide,

casual sort of meeting and loafing place

on the principal street. It has a good

building and, in a sort of free-for-all,

easy-going, open-door air, reflects the mood

of the younger and more active Para-

guayans. There is an absence of ceremony,

but one finds the leading magazines in

French, Spanish, and Italian and a con-

siderable movement of life.

In the afternoon we went to the Military

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Review, organized to celebrate the
Inauguration. It was held in a great
Quinta, or country place, a mile or more out
of the city, and we went on foot in company
with a great crowd that plodded along,
the shod and the barefoot together, in
the dust and the sun, gathering more
recruits as it went, until it poured like
a river into the mass already assembled.
At the place we found two or three little
grand stands with a capacity of a hundred
or more, and beyond this no preparations
for the crowd which, to the number of
20,000, surrounded the field, mostly on
foot, some in automobiles and carts and
some in the trees, where they stirred
uncomfortably, shaking down leaves and
twigs.

The crowd was more interesting than
the show, which consisted in the march-
ing and counter-marching of 2000 men,
not very well trained and many of them
very immature. As usual south of the
Rio Grande there was a marked superfluity
of officers on horseback who were vastly
pleased with themselves and missed no

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HISPANIC NOTES

"We went to the review " — Portrait of the O.C. troops

FROM PARAGUAY

495

chance to show off. The waste of gold

lace in Latin-American republics is a

vulgarity. There was plenty of display

and some extravagance in the exhibition;

how much it cost I don't know, but I

couldn't get out of my mind the account

given me just as we were setting off, of

the misery at San Antonio, an hour and a

half down the river, where several thousand

miserable people, at one time employed

in the packing plant there, are literally

starving, living under the trees without

shelter or clothes, kept alive by charity

and such food, even roots or herbs, as

they can find.

One did not need to go so far afield :

there was plenty of evidence of misery at

our elbows. The crowd was an ill-fed,

undersized, unwashed, neglected company,

many of whom showed signs of disease;

for everybody talks of Anquilostomiasis

(hook-worm) — with which they say 80 per

cent, of the people are infected. In the

street-cars are posted large signs — the

traces of the work of the Rockefeller Foun-

dation, beginning : " Ignorance is the cause

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of the misery in which our people live/'
and imploring those who 'can read to
instruct the others how to avoid contagion,
but since the very great majority neither
read nor speak Spanish, the outlook is
not bright. I send you a copy of the
instructive poster to which I refer.

For causa de la ignorancia niiestro pueblo sufre
y vive en la miseria _===

Vd. que sabe leer, expuque a sus

conocidos las terribles consecuencias de la AN-
QUILOSTOMIASIS. Recomiendeles estas medidas
jDreventivas:

No beber agua de pozos sin brocales;

No comer legumbres crudas;

TMo andar descalzos; «

Bafiarse diariamente y lavarse con frecuencia las
manos;

Usar escusados higi6nicos,si esposible de material.

neeomiericl© a los enfermoa que ae ovir-en. E!n la Zourt
Sanitar-ia (Gen?o Cora 53O) o en lea Zones de Gaa
ViUax-r-ioa, la cxxra y loa noedieamentos aon Gt^ATX

COIHIT6 EJECDTIVO BE S&NXDAD

[The following is a translation of this
significant appeal : " By reason of their
ignorance our people suffer and live in
misery. You who know how to read,

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HISPANIC NOTES

FROM PARAGUAY

497

explain to your acquaintances the terrible

consequences of HOOK-WORM. Recom-

mend to them these preventive measures :

Do not drink water from wells without

curbs; Do not eat raw vegetables; Do

not go barefoot ; Bathe daily and wash

your hands frequently ; Use hygienic

latrines, if possible those closed in.

Recommend to the sick that they get

treated. In the dispensary at 530 Cerro

Cora or in those of Caacupe and Villarrica

treatment and medicine are FREE."]

ASUNCION, August 18, 1920.

THIS is another lovely morning, and

again we are having tea on the tiled

veranda under the shade of the palms,

while the casual, leisurely life of the hotel

and the town goes on its quiet way about

us. It is quiet because nearly all the

people are barefoot and Indian, silent of

movement and of tongue. I have seen a

train of three electric cars start from

before the gates of the hotel with surprise,

noting that all the cars were crowded and

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CASUAL LETTERS

that I had not heard a sound during the

operation.

ASUNCION, August 19, 1920.

I SUPPOSE this climate is no more

curious than others, but it is surprising.

Last night it was so cold that after dinner

we gathered in the room of the one couple,

the banker and his wife, who have an

electric heater, and this morning people

are wearing overcoats and furs, yet the

sun is so hot that I had to move my foot

out of the direct rays while I sat on the

veranda taking my morning cup of tea.

We are much impressed with the

general poverty of the country, its basic

poverty in men, in animals, in intelli-

gence, as well as in capital. This, of

course, is notable : many men here have

large holdings of lands, but there is very

little real money to be found and a usual

rate of interest is twenty-four per cent.,

the old two per cent, a month rate of the

west. A banker complains that he can-

not get his friends to invest in banking

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HISPANIC NOTES

FROM PARAGUAY

•

499

or milling, because bank stock only pays

eleven or twelve per cent., and they can

get twenty-four per cent, on real estate

loans without risk. In fact, there is no

enterprise on the part of the Paraguayan.

Little as there is elsewhere in Latin-

America, here there is less. Foreigners

may take chances if they like, the natives,

except for the lottery, never risk a dollar.

Both history and race contribute to

the result. One cannot avoid seeing

the terrible effects of the war, which

left Paraguay a country of women,

children, and cripples; as little can he

escape the racial factor, the Indian looks

at him from every pair of eyes in the

street. And it was a very inferior Indian,

timid, pusillanimous, without art, history,

science, architecture, agriculture, or even

handicraft, except for weapons. Their

descendants remain a spiritless, wretched

race.

ASUNCION, August 19, 1920.

WE paid a visit this morning to a

distinguished man of letters, one of the

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•

LETTERS

" intellectuals " of Asunci6n; to whom we
had a letter of introduction, and whom
we had heard described as " the Anatole
France of Paraguay."

We found him sitting beside the open
door, which opens directly upon one of the
principal streets, chatting with a young
priest, and he soon began to show a lively
interest in our task, warning us with
quite unnecessary emphasis that we
should find it impossible to secure the
necessary data, because of the deep
racial antipathy to any form of publicity.
Things like this could be done in other
countries, but in Paraguay, among people
of Indian stock, never !

He went on to urge us to write a general
account of the country and make the
biographical part incidental, or at least
eke out the scanty material by an extensive
introduction, which he generously offered
to write, on the special claims of Paraguay
to the consideration of the world, par-
ticularly as a place of residence. He
offered to demonstrate — by statistics —
that Paraguay is five times more healthy

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HISPANIC NOTES

FROM PARAGUAY

5oi

than England, France, or the United States,

that it has not more than ten per cent.

of the idiocy and crime of these countries,

mistakenly supposed to be superior.

Inasmuch as the statistics of all South

America are notoriously uncertain and

the statistics of Paraguay are lacking,

this did not sound like a good offer. He

continued, in the full flight of patriotic

fervour, to assure us that in respect to its

population Paraguay was vastly superior

to all its neighbours : they had, as a rule,

ten Indians to one white man, but Para-

guay had twenty-five white men, of the

best blood of Spain, to every Indian.

He was in full career and had forgotten

his advice about the difficulties imposed

upon us by the Indian suspicion of the

race.

ASUNCION, August 20, 1920.

LAST night we paid a second visit to

our man of letters, who was in fine form :

evidently taking us as an exceptional

audience, he gave us an exhibition of his

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powers as an actor and impromptu
speaker. Most of the time he was on his
feet, posturing,, gesturing, and declaiming,
at one time trying on us a part of the
address he proposes to give in Buenos
Aires, which is to be a landmark in his
career and in which, apparently, he
intends to give a rhapsody on Paraguay,
her incomparable climate, her atmo-
sphere more favourable than any other in
the world to lofty thought and heroic
action, illustrating this by the great war
of 1865-1870, in which the peerless
commander, Marshal Lopez, with only
30,000 men, held half a continent at bay
for five years and fought a final battle
with only three hundred survivors.

At moments I thought I was listening
to a Cuban, so fervid and tropical was
his rhetoric, but he referred to himself as
largely Indian, the natural son of a noted
Paraguayan, and grew solemn over the
danger from the Japanese and the " yellow
peril " in general.

It was an interesting experience; not
for the florid rhodomontade, which one

VII

HISPANIC NOTES

FROM PARAGUAY

503

may hear in the cafes at any time, but for

the fact, of which I had to keep reminding

myself, that this was one of the leading

men of Paraguay, a former Vice-President

of the Republic, one time Minister of

Finance and former Rector of the Uni-

versity.

It was a commentary and an illustration

of the remoteness, rusticity, and intellectual

poverty of the country. Both the country

and its capital appeal powerfully to one's

sympathies. They are still under the

shadow of the war, weak, debilitated, with

little energy and less enterprise : all the

public service corporations, steamship

lines, railways, and tramways, nearly all

the banks and principal businesses are

foreign, and meantime the total consump-

tion of the entire country does not equal

an American city of 50,000 people.

Asuncion is, in fact, a big village, with

the rustic ways and primitive manners of

a colonial town. At eleven o'clock the

banks and most of the business places

lock their doors, the shopkeepers pull

down their shutters, and at twelve o'clock

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the streets are as empty as those of a city
of the dead. About two the town wakes
again, but at seven in the evening the
process is repeated, and by eight o'clock,
except for a few bright spots, such as the
cinema shows, a hotel, or a club, it is again
transformed into a deserted place. I
know few more depressing things than a
walk along the streets of Asuncion in
the evening, one's footsteps resounding on
the pavements and echoing against the
rows of blank buildings, from which no
gleam of light or any sign of life emerges.
The money of Paraguay is subject to
great fluctuations, for it is entirely paper,
without any reserve or conversion fund
behind it. Its value is uncertain : the
peso, often called dollar, has varied during
the past three years from three and a
quarter cents, its present value, to one
and a half cents, which it was worth
about two years ago. There is great
speculation in money, recalling that in
Chile, but less orderly and competent.
We are still amused at prices : a street-
car fare is a dollar and a half (four and a

VII

HISPANIC NOTES

FROM PARAGUAY

505

quarter cents), a cigar is five dollars, a

shine is a dollar, and a hat 197 dollars !

ASUNCION, August 21, 1920.

THE great church of Asuncion is the

Encarnacion, not so old, but larger and

finer than the Cathedral, which is about

eighty years old. The approach to the

Encarnacion is like that to a fortress.

On either side of the enormously wide

staircase are low bastions, and at the turn

other masses of masonry. Within, the

basilica is lofty, bare, and cool, of colour

nearly white, which accentuates the

absence of decoration and the poverty of

the appointments which are, in fact,

pitiful.

Nevertheless the church has dignity :

the great columns which support the

barrel vault of the nave are not far from

fifty feet high and the side aisles not much

lower. It is paved in red brick, much

worn and soft in places, the original tile

covering having disappeared, if it was

ever put on, and it has a strip of carpet

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running a hundred feet from the doors

toward the altar.

ASUNCION, August 22, 1920.

WE have been to the Cathedral again to

attend the service in honour of Bishop

Bogarin on the completion of his twenty-

five years' service in the episcopate. We

found a considerable group of people in

the Plaza before the Cathedral, and many

more standing outside the doors, but had

no difficulty in entering the church, which

was not crowded. The altar was illu-

minated with electric lights arranged in

ecclesiastical patterns, and there was

another display over the effigy of Mary,

which almost irresistibly made one think

of a wooden doll of heroic size, surrounded

with artificial flowers and holding a smaller

doll, Jesus. In the choir there was an

array of clergy, including the bishop in

scarlet robe and biretta and fifteen priests.

At the western end men and boys sang,

the tenor, in particular, singing remarkably

well, but, apart from this, the service was

VII

HISPANIC NOTES

FROM PARAGUAY

507

commonplace and would have been dull
but for the audience, which was quite
naive, and I think representative of the
city. There were rich and poor, ladies in
silks, and many barefoot, men, boys, girls,
and children in arms. The racial mixture
is curious, more varied than I had
supposed, running all the way from white
to black : there were many that seemed
pure Indian. I noticed about a dozen
negro faces, and there was a greater
evidence in others of negro blood than any
of the records would lead one to expect.

The marked preponderance of women
everywhere reminds one continually of
the war, and many things make one recall
that for some time after its close the usual
forms of marriage were generally omitted :
one distinguished patriot, General Cabal-
lero, setting an example by owning to
thirty-five children by a considerable num-
ber of partners.

The church is not ill to look at : though
low, it is fairly well proportioned, and the
tawdriness of its appointment does not
quite give the shock that would occur in a

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cathedral more severely or artistically
decorated. It is, in fact, painted, the
flat wooden ceiling in stripes of blue and
white, and the rest of the nave in a con-
ventional pattern of faded reds, but the
chapels are done independently, each in a
different design and a different colour
scheme, which produces a confusing effect
on the eye.

The service closed, one or two of the
clergy bustled about among the audience
arranging the procession, eight men lifted
the great platform on which the effigy of
the Virgin rested, and the affair got in
motion. First came a censer bearer, then
about thirty seminarists, then twenty
clergy with the bishop and the Virgin.
They passed slowly down the aisle, and
at the door found a great crowd waiting,
with a long line of girls in white and two
companies of infantry with two bands,
and down the street they went in great
pomp.

In the afternoon I went out to the
Zoological Gardens, which is hardly more

VII

HISPANIC NOTES

FROM PARAGUAY

509

than a project. It lies some miles out

of town, a short trip by train,, a longer

one by street-car and mule-car,, but neither

by one route nor the other much visited

by the public. One can't blame them, for

the entire menagerie consists of one

African lion and a few Paraguayan

animals, the most notable of which is a

tapir, described to me by the enthusiastic

youth who took me about as " a kind of

elephant."

There is a museum, too, a poor thing

and cause of lamentations on the part of

the director, a Dane named Jorgensen,

who is evidently very ill-paid and utterly

without funds for his work. He says the

income is all used in keeping the roads

and paths in order.

ASUNCION, August 24, 1920.

YESTERDAY afternoon at three we called

on President Gondra in his house, a wide,

faded yellow building, with a colonnade of

columns before it on a quiet street in an

unfashionable part of the town. A white-

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clad man-servant announced us, and two
or three minutes later the President
opened a door in the corridor and beckoned
us into what proved to be the library, a
room about forty feet long, with book-
shelves running nearly all round it and
containing what is said to be the second
library of the country. My first impres-
sion, we had no chance to examine it, is
that it consists too largely of Government
publications and reports to be interesting.

The President received us very gravely,
as if conscious of his official dignity, and
deepened the impression I got when I first
saw him of a man more or less burned out.
He was dry, wary, and taciturn, said the
formal things, and listened like one who
was not going to make any mistakes.
After a few remarks about his visit, I
addressed him in English, which he is said
to speak very well, but he answered in
Spanish, and generally conducted himself
like a man whose position weighs on him.

In the evening my friend, Senor Perez,
came a.nd took me to see the School of
Commerce, where over six hundred young

VII

HISPANIC NOTES

FROM PARAGUAY

5ii

people who are employed in shops and

elsewhere take courses in arithmetic,

accounting, English, etc., at night. We

found one class which had overflowed into

the corridor and another which filled the

class-room. The teachers told us that

the attendance was increasing and the

students worked well in the classes.

ASUNCION, August 26, 1920.

THE climate of Asuncion is hot, damp,

and enervating, as is inevitable, for the

city lies in a low river valley in the middle

of the great central plain of South America.

Its situation has much in common with

the Lower Mississippi Valley, but is flatter.

This position, in a kind of channel in the

continental plain, along which the winds

sweep unobstructed from Patagonia to

the Amazon, is the chief factor in the

climate, which has only two seasons,

winter and .summer, and by some is

denied the first. An Englishman remarks,

after twenty years of it, that there are

only two estaciones (seasons) here, summer

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and the estacion ferrocarril (the railway
station), and my friend Perez, a Paragua-
yan, says there is only one season, but there
are two winds, the north and the south;
when the north wind blows it is hot, and
when the south wind blows it is cold, no
matter what the time of year is.

Everybody admits the climate is ener-
vating, and old residents say it entirely
unfits men for work under more strenuous
skies, so that after a few years here
people become rather timid about ven-
turing into the more competitive life.
There is a good deal of tuberculosis here,
in addition to the almost universal hook-
worm, and debility seems usual.

Asuncion reminds me of Lima. It is
perhaps better situated on account of the
river, but has the same general atmosphere
of inertia and lack of moral energy.

Both cities have had the same ex-
perience of defeat : both have been sacked
and held by enemy troops, with all the
attendant circumstances of degradation
and despair ; their goods have been taken,
their women spoiled, their homes defiled,

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FROM PARAGUAY

5i3

and their churches desecrated. The negro

troops of Brazil were here for six years

and have left undeniable marks upon the

complexion of the people. Like Lima,

Asuncion has a dispirited air; it has lost

its best blood and nearly all its courage.

There is no audacity here, no life, no stir.

Naturally enough the history of Asun-

cion begins with the war : if it had an

intellectual life, which some doubt, it was

snuffed out in the struggle, and what one

sees now is very weak and puerile.

Asuncion recalls Lima in the number of

burros in the streets, singly, as pack animals

and in wagons, most of them wretched

creatures and ill-used. Had I the power

of the Calif, I should be tempted to

practise a capricious justice and have a

dozen of these brutal carters beaten

through the streets every morning with

their own whips.

ASUNCION, August 27, 1920.

I AM scribbling this in the Palace, wait-

ing for the interview with the President,

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which I am assured by no less a dignitary
than the Secretary of State is hopeless
to expect, but which nevertheless I still
trust to get.

Waiting in the Palace is becoming a
familiar occupation to me, but does not
grow more agreeable; rather it tends to
check the incipient respect which I am
always hoping to possess for the given
functionary. There are several explana-
tions for these delays. Apparently there
is no official of Hispanic stock who can
emerge from the Oriental desire to show
his power by putting some one else to loss,
inconvenience, or discomfort. About the
only way an official here can satisfy his
sense of importance as regards us is to
keep us waiting. Secondly, there is the
difficulty of bringing any conference or
conversation between Latin- Americans to
a conclusion : it is held as a mark of
consideration to prolong the matter
indefinitely.

There is a great deal of." resting " done
here. In fact, at times one is inclined to
the opinion that the two chief occupations

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5i5

of the male part of the population are

resting and talking, no opportunity for

either seems to be neglected.

Of the backwardness of Paraguay there

are many signs. Yesterday the news-

papers printed the announcement that the

salaries for July were now to be paid;

but to-day's paper states that when Presi-

dent Gondra came into office he found no

money in the treasury, recalling the

experience of General Mitre in Argentina

in 1870, who found in the treasury at

Buenos Aires one piece of money, and

that counterfeit ! When we went to the

Office of Statistics to secure the current

statistical summary we found that the

statistical reports for 1917 were not

printed yet : we got the summary for

1916, but no others were obtainable;

they had all been sent out and, as our

friend remarked, mostly wasted.

ASUNCION, August 27, 1920.

IT is ten o'clock at the end of a long day,

our last day in Asuncion, and we are

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putting our things together to set off for
the train.

I have a little feeling of regret at leaving :
it has been an interesting stay, and there
is a mildly pathetic appeal about this
capital and the country which I cannot
deny. This afternoon, as I took my last
walk along its streets, which seem a little
too large for the people, and this evening,
as I returned by moonlight from my last
talk with the President and passed the
walled gardens and the wide doors that
opened vistas into patios, and heard the
chatter of girls, I felt some of the tropical,
somnolent charm of the place. It is
listless and at times exasperating in its
lack of spirit, energy, enterprise, and
vitality; it is weak with the weakness of
an inferior and conquered people, but it
has a kind of fragrance and an antique,
unmodern attractiveness.

After all I did get an interview, in
fact, two ! with President Gondra, and
found him more accessible and commu-
nicative each time. In the morning I
found him at the Government House, or

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HISPANIC NOTES

An old Church

FROM P AR AG U A Y

Palace, where the Minister for Foreign
Affairs, not without difficulty, arranged
an interview, after the President had an-
nounced that he could not see any-
body. He came forward to meet me in
the audience room and shook hands with
entire simplicity. He seems to have no
" side," but both in dress and manner is
unaffected and simple, with a little the
manner of a schoolmaster. We talked of
people whom he had met in New York,
of the possibility of developing petroleum
in Paraguay, of the eternal boundary
question with Bolivia, and of the work
I had been doing. I do not envy him.
His task is difficult and thankless ; he can-
not help recalling his earlier Presidency,
which lasted but fifty-two days, and
already doubt is whispered as to the length
of his present term. There are few whom
he can trust, for the lust of office is terribly
strong, because it offers almost the only
outlet for energy and ambition, and the
sense of political honour is practically
non-existent. They tell shocking stories of
treachery, such as of U , who visited

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the house of President Gondra during his
earlier term, with the ostensible purpose
of wooing the President's sister, and, thus
gaining the confidence of the household,
betrayed the President to his enemies,
who made a so-called Revolution and put
him out of power. Similar is the story of

conspired with the " outs," and made a
Revolution with the idea of making
himself President, but was very properly
disappointed, and has been a political
adventurer ever since.

En route for BUENOS AIRES,
August 28, 1920.

WE have in the dining-car, which is also
the social hall, a collection of the hardest-
looking characters I have seen together.
It is to be hoped their looks belie them,
for, if not, nobody's life would be safe
should opportunity for robbery offer.
We have been running along for miles
beside a beautiful wooded ridge two or
three hundred feet high, in which the

VII

HISPANIC NOTES

FROM ARGENTINA

5i9

varied greens are lighted up by what

look like great almond trees in full bloom,

tall sprays of pink that make lovely

spots of colour in the mass of foliage. For

the rest, it is level plain, dotted with

palms : fine cattle country.

IN ARGENTINA en route to BUENOS AIRES,

August 29, 1920.

ALTHOUGH it is a familiar observation,

I am always surprised afresh at the im-

mediacy and sharpness of the effect in

crossing a frontier. Last night we crossed

from Paraguay into Argentina and felt

the change in a moment. A new dining-

car was put on, manned by Argentines,

and with several Argentine cattlemen

sitting drinking and smoking in it. They

were of a larger and more modern world.

The group in the Paraguayan car were

uncouth, piratical, and villainous in their

appearance and plainly rustic in all their

ways. When a pretty girl entered they

fixed their eyes on her as if she had been

a visitant from another world, and gazed

with such eager and hungry looks that

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she went away. She came into the car
last night without causing attention.

It is Sunday afternoon, and we are
still passing over the wide Argentine plain
that we have traversed since last night.
For the most part it is level to flatness :
this morning about four o'clock I looked
out and saw across the even, treeless plain
the far horizon banded with a wide rim
of rose pink that varied into pale yellow
and purple : to the west it was black
and flat, as I have often seen the prairie
of Iowa and Nebraska.

Off to our left and moving fast in this
direction is a prairie fire; above and a
little ahead is a wide banner of cloud
under which the van of flame two feet
high runs bravely like the cavalry of an
attack. Last night, a little later than this,
we ran alongside a similar fire, which at
one time scorched our paint and in a
clump of tall grass flashed up against the
windows in our very faces.

The sun is setting, and there are birds
like the yellow-breasted meadow-lark of the
prairies sitting on the fence posts, as their

VII

HISPANIC NOTES

FROM ARGENTINA

52i

Nebraska cousins do, to sing their evening

song, all very peaceful and calm and

prosperous looking.

The vast plain darkens and the world of

cattle, grass, and barbed wire slips by us

into the night.

En route to BUENOS AIRES,

August 30, 1920.

WE crossed the Parana River this

morning, spending five hours and a half

in the process, which consists in voyaging

around the angles of the confluence a

distance of probably thirty miles. It is

like the Missouri, but with less current,

a sullen, sluggish stream, in places nearly

half a mile wide, wandering through vast

fields of mud. For the most part the

shores are uninteresting, but in the tender

light of early morning there are fine

glimpses : willows bending over the still

water, with a heron standing on the bank,

lines of poplars, a great white house on a

slight eminence, with clumps of tall

eucalyptus on either side; these relieve

the monotony. A trained painter, with

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patience, would find plenty of oppor-
tunities here, but no Argentine seems to
have done it so far, and in practice he
finds it difficult, owing to the mere vast-
ness of the scene. These two hundred
miles of river produce the same paralysis
of selection as the thousand miles of
Cordillera : the result, as I have seen it
in the exhibitions, is a series of sections
chopped out of the line.

BUENOS AIRES, September i, 1920.
ANOTHER light on Paraguay was thrown
by two of our fellow-travellers to Asuncion
whom I have just met on their return
here. These young Anglo- Argentines
of Scotch descent were going to look
for a great tract of land which they owned
up in the north of Paraguay, but which
they had never seen.- The journey proved
a dull one : they first went by river steamer
to Conception, then by narrow-gauge
railway, largely in the forest, and, finally
by mule four days into the open. The
journey proved uneventful and, except

VII

HISPANIC NOTES

FROM ARGENTINA

523

for the heat, not especially difficult.
They saw two jaguars, and got a shot at
one, some snakes and deer and many
insects, but for the most part they
travelled along over rolling prairie, cut
by great, sluggish rivers, and found their
little empire of about a hundred and eighty
square miles of river and plain looking very
peaceful and picturesque. It is still too
remote for practical development, however,
and so they came back to let it wait
another decade or two.

Another fellow-traveller on the return
journey from Asuncion was the repre-
sentative of a moving picture company
who had been taking pictures from the
air and the ground for an educational
film on Paraguay. He found it dull. He
had scoured town and country for exciting
materials, but found none; in fact, was
so put to it to find anything with the
least " action " in it, that he had to
" fake " an armadillo hunt and an Indian
camp. He showed me a great sheaf of
bows and arrows, some of them admirably
made, but the best were from Brazil;

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Paraguay yielded little that was dramatic

and nothing really dangerous— even its

Indians he found stupidly inoffensive and

tame.

BUENOS AIRES, Sept. 23, 1920.

CURIOUSLY enough it was in Asuncion,

of all places ! that I discovered books out

of the common. Of course Binayan and

I had scoured the bookshops., old and new,

and poor things they were, without a

single " find," but at last, in an old house,

among the effects of a man of letters who

had recently died, we came upon several

things not quite commonplace — Torque-

mada in three volumes, Herrera and the

Recopilaciones. We tried to buy them,

but should have given it up in despair —

for such a matter would easily fill up a

month or two of leisure — if we had not

been able to leave the matter in the hands

of a brother bibliophile who kindly pur-

sued the tedious course of bargaining, and

at last they are here.

VII

HISPANIC NOTES

FROM URUGUAY

525

•

MONTEVIDEO, URUGUAY,

September 24, 1920.

I WAS awakened by the rolling of the

ship this morning, and saw out of the

window a rough grey sea covered with

white caps. Here in the harbour the

wind is strong, but the sun has come up

and the grey aspect of the scene is already

disappearing. Nevertheless it is a sombre

city, for it is built of concrete, and there

is not a single patch of the cheerful pinks,

blues, saffrons, and salmon colours that

give a touch of gaiety to nearly all Latin

towns.

The streets are clean and have a strong,

solid aspect; the people are energetic and

seem more composed than those of Buenos

Aires. There is less stir and excitement

and a sense of greater stability than I

have felt there, or for that matter in any

other South American city. There are no

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i
Indians here, and scarcely a negro : it

is like a north Italian city.

One of the notable things is the abun-

dance of bookshops and the surprising

variety of books to be found in them :

here are French, English, Italian, and

German books in good stock, and I have

found in one place a fairly good selection

of the Tauchnitz editions, printed, of

course, before the war.

MONTEVIDEO, September 25, 1920.

WE have been to the University, an

ample building that occupies an entire

block on the Avenida 18 de Julio. It has

the usual air of cleanliness and order,

but much less vitality than I hoped

to find.

One cannot avoid the reflection here,

as everywhere else in Hispanic America,

that higher education is a mere ornament

on which money is spent when other

things permit. The students, however,

make a favourable impression, seeming to

me rather more robust, straightforward,

VII

HISPANIC NOTES

FROM URUGUAY

527

and boyish, less like premature lawyers,

politicians, and men-about-town than those

I have been seeing in Buenos Aires.

The National Library is, very appro-

priately and conveniently, within the

University and is admirably clean and

orderly. They tell me that it is also well

used by students, which I should like to

believe, for students at Latin-American

Universities appear, generally speaking, to

be students in name only. In fact, libraries

are not much nor intelligently used : the

reading habit is confined to a few, and

the young men content themselves with

reading a little in the books or articles of

the prophet of the day, such as Lugones

or Ingenieros, of whom they profess

themselves disciples. The result is a very

little reading and a vast amount of talk.

MONTEVIDEO, September 26, 1920.

IN the National Library here, in the

Institute of Asuncion in Paraguay, as

well as in Santiago and Lima, I have

discovered the Carnegie model libraries,

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about 2000 volumes of American books.

The selection seems to me well made,

and, where there is room and disposition

to display them, they make a fine show.

But they are not read. In two of these

libraries the catalogue which accompanies

the books had been mislaid, never having

been used, and it was clear in all parts

that, were one of these books called for,

it could hardly be found, because of the

different way of arranging names in

English and Spanish. It may be assumed,

with fair security, that not a single book

in any of these model libraries has ever

been read, and one may very fairly doubt

the wisdom of burdening these ill-equipped

and under-manned establishments with

collections which are bound to become

white elephants on their hands.

MONTEVIDEO, September 27, 1920.

THIS morning I went again to the

Cathedral, walking along streets that might

have been those of a provincial New

England town, filled as they were with

VII

HISPANIC NOTES

FROM URUGUAY

529

orderly, well-dressed people. My former

impression of the Cathedral was confirmed :

it is a building full of dignity, and I have

not seen anywhere pulpits and altar of

finer proportions, more delicate detail, or

more exquisite old-gold colouring.

In the afternoon the Cuban Minister,

Senor Jose M. Solano, called and took me

to his house to show me his collection

of paintings. He had assured me that

it would surprise me, that it had no equal

in South America, and the show fulfilled

his predictions. He has more than fifty

canvases, most of them Spanish, ranging

from Murillo to Sorolla, though they

include a few remarkable English and

Italian paintings.

MONTEVIDEO, September 28, 1920.

YESTERDAY morning Senor Scarone

came and took us to see Dr. Zorrilla de

San Martin, the most famous Uruguayan

author of the day. We found the man

of letters properly enough at the top of

a house, to which we climbed up stone

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stairways. He was working over the
galley-proofs of a book which is to appear
soon with the title La Profecia de Ezequiel,
a study of the recent war. On the walls
were paintings and engravings, a great
oil painting illustrating his epic poem
Tabare, which has been very popular and
is being presented in a moving picture
show,, a smaller painting showing his sum-
mer cottage, and engravings of the heroes
of his books. Dr. Zorrilla is a little man,
with a thick mop of grey hair over small
features lighted by a pair of keen, bright
eyes. He sat there during our visit,
while we chatted of the United States,
his books, the Catholic Church, and the
literature of Uruguay, and took his mate
(Paraguayan tea), sucking it up through
the bombilla and refilling the mate cup
with the zeal of an old-fashioned tea-
drinker. In response to our looks of
inquiry, he gave us a dissertation on the
merits of mate, assuring us that it had
been a veritable preservative of the health
of the people of this region, who for a
long period lived almost wholly on meat,

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HISPANIC NOTES

FROM URUGUAY

53i

and found the only vegetable antidote

in the mate. He admitted, to be sure,

that it was much abused, that many

people in Uruguay, Paraguay, and neigh-

bouring countries took mate at all hours

and for all manner of causes.

I found it a little amusing to see the

chief literary light of the country sitting

sucking at the mate pipe and giving us

this somewhat laboured defence of the

habit.

MONTEVIDEO, September 29, 1920.

THIS morning we climbed the steps again

to the apartments of Dr. Zorrilla and found

him as before, working over his proofs

and taking his mate. He talked of his

books and of his enthusiasm for uniting

the Anglo-Spanish peoples, on which he

has developed .a theory and a new word.

He would consider them all one race,

to be called Romanic. Basing his pro-

position on the premise of a basic unity

of language and of blood, rather naively

supported by etymological arguments

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of which the good doctor is not quite

a master, he finds that in English the

customary and familiar words for objects

of affection and interest are Saxon, but

the secondary terms are often Latin,

which suffices. Finding a synonym of

Latin origin in religion, the affections,

and affairs, he thinks the ground strong

enough to support the theory of Latin

race for the English-speaking peoples,

and thus he arrives at the Romanic World

of the future !

Nevertheless and notwithstanding his

weak etymology and weaker ethnology,

Dr. Zorrilla is a man of letters, the fore-

most now extant in Uruguay, and an

agreeable man. He has travelled much,

held high diplomatic posts, is the friend

of bishops and archbishops, and a figure

in his country.

MONTEVIDEO, September 29, 1920.

YESTERDAY afternoon we made our

call on the President. We arrived at

the Palace about half-past four, passed

through the armed guards in their fine

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HISPANIC NOTES

Dr. Baltasar Brum, President of Uruguay

J - CL

Secretary for Foreign Affairs

FROM URUGUAY

533

red and blue uniform of colonial pat-
tern, and mounted the marble steps to
the waiting-room. Almost immediately
a military attache came and conducted
us to the Salon of Ambassadors, where we
had time to admire a huge canvas repre-
senting Artigas, the national hero, on horse-
back, upon a cliff, gazing pensively out
to sea. After a few minutes a door opened
near us, the military man advanced, and
we were ushered into a small, handsomely
furnished room, like a prosperous banker's
office, where the President was standing
to greet us.

I had heard so much of Dr. Brum,
the youngest President in any American
Republic ; he had been so much celebrated
as a rising statesman and the exponent of
advanced international ideas; his visit to
Washington at the special invitation of
President Wilson to confer on Latin-
American policies was still so fresh in
mind, that I had formed large expecta-
tions of the meeting.

Looking back on the interview, which
I found very disappointing, I can recall

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VII

that he never looked us in the eye and that
he was so lifeless, taciturn, and unrespon-
sive as to make me uncomfortable. My
secretary, whose knowledge of customs
hereabouts is wider than mine, accounts
for the President's heaviness by conviviality
the night before. I cannot say. At any
rate we talked, or rather I did, for Dr.
Brum answered in monosyllables, of the
Society, its books, its plans, and our mission
in Uruguay. In reply to questions he
said that he had visited the Museum in
New York, and that he knew of the Society
and its work, yet asked a little later how
much the subjects of the biographies had
to pay to be included. He read the brief
biography in English, which I handed
him, and returned it with a few changes,
but neither in this nor any other mat-
ter did he volunteer a word of com-
ment : he accepted the books we presented,
the Catalogue of Fernando Columbus's
Library, and the volumes on the Cubans,
Peruvians, Bolivians, and Chileans in
silence, and listened, in equal silence and
with lack-lustre eye, when I proposed to

HISPANIC NOTES

FROM URUGUAY

535

forward his nomination as an Honorary

Associate of the Society. All was in an

almost sulky silence, which I should have

thought suspicious if it had not seemed

morose.

MONTEVIDEO, September 29, 1920.

MONTEVIDEO is a utilitarian city, in

politics, education, literature, and art.

Its politics are nicely balanced to give

the voters, who are well organized, " all

the traffic will bear," offices are multiplied

to make the largest number of jobs

possible, salaries are small, duties light,

responsibility well divided. Schools and

University have fine buildings and mag-

nificent programmes, but the teaching

is inferior and about 45 per cent, of the

population is illiterate.

MONTEVIDEO, September 30, 1920.

OUR second visit to the Palace yesterday

afternoon was enjoyable. We found Senor

Buero, the Secretary for Foreign Affairs,

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VII

brisk, energetic, and well-informed : he
had visited the United States several
times, and seems to have brought back
livelier impressions than did the President.
Dr. Buero is very young, younger even
than the President, who is his brother-
in-law, so that he is believed to have
assumed his post before reaching the age
prescribed by law. It is told of him that j
during the first fifteen months of his
incumbency of his present post he was
continuously absent on missions to other
countries, an excellent method of pre-
paration, but one not open to the Secretary
of State of most Governments. In the
youth and energy of the Secretary we
got our first contact with force in the
Government; to use the slang of New
York, he was the first " live wire " which
we had touched. In the despatches on
his desk, in the number of persons waiting
to see him, and in the bearing of his assist- 1
ants, there were signs that in his office
business is transacted.

I have made a call at the American
Legation here, have met the Minister,

HISPANIC NOTES

FROM URUGUAY

537

and have had several brief conversations

with the First Secretary. Both are nice

men, but they have confirmed my general

unfavourable impression of American

diplomatists in South America. The

Minister has been here some years, but

does not speak Spanish, and, incidentally,

had never heard of the Hispanic Society.

He showed great ignorance about the

country and its people, but that is usual;

what surprised me was that he and the

Secretary expressed a keen desire to get

information about the prominent men of

Uruguay, complaining that they could

not secure it from official or other sources,

yet neither of them had ever heard of

Scarone's Uruguayos Contemporaneos, a

well-known book published two years

ago, that contains brief biographies of

1000 Uruguayans. But, to be sure, it

is in Spanish.

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539

BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA,
October 5, 1920.

Two things have occurred here within
a few days which would be very enlighten-
ing if one could interpret them. The first
was a fire which consumed enormous ware-

houses stored with food supplies and especi-
ally sugar to the value of several million
dollars. The fire occurred at the climax

of a flagrant speculation in sugar in which
a number of Deputies and other members
of the Government were believed to be

involved. A public inquiry was on foot,
and the fire broke out at four o'clock on

the morning of the day when the Deputies
involved were to be called upon for
explanations. The conflagration was fierce
and rapid, but not rapid enough to prevent
the discovery that it started simultaneously
at, at least, six points. It came out within
a few hours that twelve of the fourteen

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watchmen in the burned buildings had
been granted leave of absence for the night.
It is now stated by insurance experts that
the stock of sugar in the building was not
more than 4000 sacks instead of the 26000
on which insurance is being claimed.

The second episode is the fiasco of a
duel between Dr. Honorio Pueyrredon,
Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Dr.
Villanueva, President of the Senate.
The causes are obscure. It appears
that Villanueve in his place in the Senate
aspersed the veracity of the Minister, who
then sent his resignation to the President
and a challenge to the Senator. In a
moment there was great excitement;
the journalists wrote columns of tributes
to the valour, determination, sacred
honour, and lofty characters of the two
desperate men. The man in the street
scoffed, and the betting was ten to one
that no weapon more deadly than words
would be used. Meantime the seconds
laboured over the details. The weapons
proved, in fact, the obstacle : the Minister
wanted sabres, the Senator demanded

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HISPANIC NOTES

FROM ARGENTINA

54i

pistols. Arbitration was proposed; an

eminent Dr. K — - was named, who

very acutely opined that since the objec-

tionable criticism was directed against

a public officer in his official capacity,

it did not affect his private honour. In

all exactness, no cause for a duel existed !

BUENOS AIRES, October n, 1920.

THERE is a wide-spread impression

that South America is a country full of

opportunity, teeming with attractions

for settlement, residence, colonization,

investment, and trade for the Anglo-Saxon.

Is that impression correct?

I have now seen that part of South

America which is most suitable for settle-

ment or colonization by white men, name-

ly, that south of Lima on the west coast

and of Asuncion on the east. North

of this line there is very little room for

white men on account of the heat. That

part of the continent therefore we may

dismiss. The country to the south I have

seen, as a traveller can see it, and have

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taken pains to inquire about it. My
opinion in a word is that it is not a country
for Americans or English to settle in. In
fact, I should count every one of these
stocks who emigrates to South America
as lost to his civilization.

The main reason is that it is a land of
Indo-Hispanic race and civilization, on
which Anglo-Saxons in small numbers
can make little or no impression. That
they should come in numbers sufficient
to take the civilization over and change
it is inconceivable ; their coming, there-
fore, means their absorption and practical
disappearance. The existing race and
civilization, Indian in tenacity and resist-
ance, is Hispanic in ideas and ideals,
which means that it thinks of government
as a privilege to exploit the governed,
including the foreigner within the gates,
and of business as a form of pawnbroking.
It will do no real development of the
country or its resources, but will wait,
as it has always done, for the foreigner's
energy and capital to do it and then seize
as much of the returns as possible.

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A street

Scenes on an estancia near Buenos Aires

FROM ARGENTINA

543

The foreigner finds himself, like the
dyer's hand,, subdued to what he works
in. If he puts down roots, he grows and
produces for them and theirs, not for him-
self and his. Here is Argentina, for
example, a country half as big as the
United States, but whereas in the United
States there are 6,000,000 farmers, here
there are 85,000. The vast territory is
in the hands of one per cent, of the popu-
lation; it is in huge estates, many of
them undeveloped and prevented from
development by the poverty, ignorance,
and greed of the owners. The foreigner
who comes in must be a capitalist or a
servant; in any case it will go hard if he
be not exploited. For the man of moderate
means Western Arkansas offers better
opportunities than I have seen or heard
of in any part of South America.

If we dismiss settlement and coloniza-
tion, what of the opportunities for invest-
ment and trade? For trade there are
opportunities everywhere; for investment
in many places, but always with great
caution and discrimination. For it must

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be remembered that sudden changes

of Government, attended by more or less

violence and loss of life, to which every

Spanish- American Republic without excep-

tion is always subject, are dangerous

to capital. On the whole it seems to me

that the best opportunities are to be found

in the more backward countries — in Peru,

Bolivia, and Paraguay — where the need

for capital is acute, and where he who

provides capital will be regarded with

the more favour. But in any case, the

returns need to be much higher than in

countries more suitable for residence,

and of greater political stability.

BUENOS AIRES, October 12, 1920.

Two things are always difficult to speak

of with justice : one is the religion and

the other is the manners of another nation,

but to-day — El dia de la Raza — it is per-

haps appropriate to make the venture.

Of the religion here and in other parts

of South America, I think it would not

be unfair to say that it has ceased to have

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any intellectual appeal whatsoever; it
persists and has a tenacious hold upon
the sentiment of the people, but it is
the hold of tradition and of custom;
I have never yet heard a South American
speak seriously of religion. The Church
and the Sacraments possess for many a
sentimental interest associated with in-
fancy, with their mothers, with memories
of Confirmation, etc., but this interest
is as near empty as possible of other than
sentimental validity. When men speak
of the Church it is with indulgent or con-
temptuous tolerance. The idea of religion
as an active, constant factor in daily life,
as a conscious discipline, an effort and
aspiration toward communion and rela-
tionship with God, and the attainment
of character on which such a relation
might rest, is, I believe, an idea utterly
foreign to these climates. Religion has
two aspects here : one is white magic,
the notion that the priest has the open
sesame and can summon occult powers
to his aid ; the other is consolation. Useless
as religion may be for the man in health

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and vigour, and for the woman who
prospers in her love, it is probably well
for the burned-out or the broken-hearted.
The general idea is that of Kipling's line,
" Which I 'ope it won't 'appen to me."
" Religion/' says the Argentine, " is a
poor consolation; if all goes well I shall
never need it, but for the women, poor
things, it may be all right."

Manners are still more difficult, because
they are inevitable; everybody has them
and they are continually in evidence.
The general idea is that here, as in all Latin
countries, the manners are of a superior
quality. I am not sure that this is the case.
I think there are better manners in Mexico
than in Arkansas, and I have been im-
pressed by touches of gallantry and grace
in peons in all these countries, just as I
have by unexpected courtliness in the
street gamins in Rome : but to return to
Argentina, I doubt whether manners
in general are better than they are in
New York or Boston, and I am sure I
would rather trust myself to the mercies
of a mob in any town from Maine to Texas

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547

than to an ordinary street crowd in Buenos
Aires. Moreover, I would rather trust
a young woman in the worst streets of
any American city than in the best of this
South American metropolis.

There are fine strains in the manners
of South Americans; there are echoes
of Hidalguia and its knightly origin;
there are evident aspirations toward the
" Gran " Seigneur that many of them would
like to be, but the Gran Seigneur always
left something to be desired ; he kept his
distinction and generosity and gentility
for others of his class, it was not for his
inferiors. And here to-day one notices
constantly the anxious desire to learn
just how important, rich, powerful, in-
fluential the other is, so as to be sure to
1 proportion to each exactly his deserts.
They are centuries behind Hamlet :
" Use every man after his desert, and
who should 'scape whipping? Use them
I after your own honour and dignity ! " and
far behind the Western ideal of courtesy
based on self -reverence and the protection
of the weak.

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Lest this should seem mere hearsay
and echo of baseless prejudice, let me
specify : it is so general a custom to spit
in public places, street-cars, and offices,
that one often has to choose the place to
set his foot; it is quite usual for men
to block the side-walks and force passers-
by, especially women, to take to the street ;
it is a habit of men to stare at women.,
so that, as my secretary, a Chilean,
remarked as we sat in a restaurant the
other day, you can tell when a woman
enters because conversation is checked,
while every man turns his eyes toward
the door; the eyes are rather dreadful,
and the looks they turn on women are an
insult and a profanation. Yesterday after-
noon, as my secretary and I were walking
along Peru, one of the principal streets,
we saw, about twenty feet ahead of us,
a nicely-dressed girl walking sedately
along, followed as usual by the eyes of
all the men in the vicinity. There was a
clear space in the sidewalk, and in this
open place two young men came toward
her, stopped in front of her, spoke to her

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FROM ARGENTINA

549

and barred her way. She made no reply
and tried to pass, but they opposed her
and obliged her to step into the street to
get away. It is general testimony that
a woman cannot appear on the street
without receiving this sort of chivalrous
attention. Another example from the
same day : later in the afternoon my wife
land I went to the University to hear the
closing lecture of the series given by Pro-
fessor Umphrey of Washington University.
The audience was regrettably small, con-
sisting of young men and women students,
officers and teachers of the University,
and a few visitors. I will not say that the
lecture was of the first order, nor that
it was well presented. The material was
superficial and the Spanish was of the
beginner's class, a dozen rehearsals before
a competent critic would have saved it;
but from the first minute there arose the
sound of whispering, which continued and
grew until the speaker could hardly con-
tinue; two young men behind us became
so animated that we moved away so as
to be able to hear; meantime the Dean

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of the Faculty, sitting in a special seat
in full sight of speaker and audience,
yawned so conspicuously as to attract
general attention,, to the amusement of
the students and the discomfiture of the
speaker.

So much for public manners, which
are vulgar. Of private manners, especially
among the upper classes, one may expect
better things. But let us see. My friend

M presented letters and made the

acquaintance of a person well connected
here, was invited to the house and had
pleasant conversations. After a few visits,
the Argentine invited him to the theatre
and would not take No for an answer. The
time was set and at the hour M

appeared at the house only to be told that
his friend was not at home. In response
to a message of excuse and apology he
went again, and again was told that the
distinguished Argentine was not at home,
but this time he had a glimpse of him
through the window.

Among my privileges has been that of
presenting rare and valuable books to

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FROM ARGENTINA

55i

distinguished people here. Some time
ago I presented to the head of a great
newspaper here, copies of the Peruvians
of To-day and Chileans of To-day in
special, fine bindings. On my next visit
to the office I found the bindings cast
aside, empty, the leaves torn out for con-
venience in office use, and was asked for
a second copy ! Still later I carried in
my hand a handsome volume of Mozarabic
Initials with a dedication to the great
man who, among other public services,
founded the paper. Imagine my surprise
to hear his successor ask me with a cunning
look whether the printed dedication page
had been put into this single copy which
was presented to him ! What is more,
1 1 am not at all sure that he does not now
believe that he made a shrewd guess.
More recently I paid a formal visit to

Dr. J. A. G , University professor,

scholar, and author, to propose his nomi-
nation as a Corresponding Member of
the Hispanic Society, and, incidentally,
to present him a copy of The Cid and
of a special edition of the Virgin Madre

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de Dios, etc., of 1612. He was over-

whelmed with honour and inarticulate in

his thanks. Three days later he conveyed

to my secretary the request for more

books — but of a more interesting nature !

BUENOS AIRES, October 13, 1920.

YESTERDAY was Columbus Day, or as

it is called here, " The Day of the Race."

There were the usual holiday performances ;

the flags and bunting which we have seen

so often were produced again, the familiar

electric signs and transparencies were

exhibited, the shops put the flags and

emblems back into their windows, and

everybody wore his best clothes and

appeared on Florida or the Avenida.

There was the usual parade, though

a very inferior one, in the afternoon.

It was a kind of " free-for-all " affair in

which apparently all were welcome and

none were subjected to much discipline.

In consequence it began nobly with a

squadron of mounted police and a mounted

police band, and then almost immediately

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FROM ARGENTINA

553

deteriorated into a respectable mob with
scattering banners and occasional bands
and floats.

After dinner in the evening we walked
along the show avenue, the Avenida
de Mayo, and down Calle Florida, both
of which were a blaze of light. The
Avenida was closed to vehicles and turned
into a great promenade, on which the
crowds paced decorously along, as is the
manner of Latin-American crowds, up
one side and down the other, gazing, with
what always strikes us as undue pre-
occupation, at every woman who passed.
We strolled along under the many-coloured
lights, noting the endless succession of
faces, most of them olive-hued, with some
that spoke of negro and more of Indian
blood, and remarked to one another on
how rare it was to see a " trustable "
face, or one with marked vigour of char-
acter. For the most part they reflect
a certain instability, probably traceable
to the racial admixture, and a kind of
juvenility which is not quite youthful —
as of grown-up children. The men's

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faces are full of appetite, the women's

are mostly empty, a mile or two of them

suggests national problems !

BUENOS AIRES, October 17, 1920.

I HAVE alluded to an under-current of

anti-foreign feeling here, which sometimes

expresses itself in denunciation of foreign

capitalists and sometimes in elbowing the

Yankee off the sidewalk. This afternoon

an incident occurred, trivial in itself and

over in half an hour, which gave me a

sharper illustration of the popular temper.

It reminded me comically of what happened

in Mexico in April 1914 at the time of

the so-called " Vera Cruz episode," when

American troops occupied the port, when

there was a good deal of ferment, and a

Mexican mob rushed the train I was

travelling in, smashed the windows, and

gave us a bad quarter of an hour. This

afternoon's experience was only an im-

promptu street affair, of a decidedly opera-

bouffe flavour, but nevertheless significant

of the temper of the populace.

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HISPANIC NOTES

FROM ARGENTINA

555

The thing was, of course, wholly unfore-
seen and accidental. The fault was all
mine; I was to blame for allowing myself
to get into a hurry and to forget that I
was in Latin-America. It happened in
this way: I was rushing for an appoint-
ment, and, finding no automobile con-
venient, took an electric car, which, after
running four or five blocks, stopped in a
jam. Along with several other passengers
I got out, found an automobile beside the
car, and without looking to see whether
the coast was clear, stepped in. Noticing
in half a minute that its course was blocked
too, I got out without observing that the
chauffeur had set his taximeter for the
fare. I swung along the street and had
gone nearly a block when I felt an arm on
my sleeve. It was the chauffeur, pulling
at me to go back. I didn't want to go
back. He pursued me, and I, absorbed
with the desire to get to my appointment,
brushed him off and hurried along. Think-
ing he had gone back to his machine, I
got into another electric car and went on;
but he had persisted, had got hold of a

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policeman, and now appeared at the
window of the moving car. Then I did
what I should have done before,, offered
him what he wanted. He hesitated a mo-
ment and then began to enter the car,, which
was gathering speed. The policeman tried
to jump on, slipped, and cut his trousers
against the car steps. Then the fun began.
The policeman was angry over his mis-step
and his torn trousers, the chauffeur was wor-
ried, and there was a crowd in a minute. I
got out and offered the chauffeur payment,
meantime explaining as I had done half
a dozen times that, having received no
service, I did not owe him anything. He
took the money and was ready to leave,
but the policeman, in a spluttering rage,
refused to let him, and announced that all
must go to the Commissary. We were
now in the middle of a little mob that
filled the street and grew by seconds.
All were sure a crime had been committed :
I found myself being pointed at, and the
policeman's torn trousers were shockingly
visible. They became the centre of attrac-
tion and he had to account for them. He

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FROM ARGENTINA

557

charged me with the deed, whatever it
was, and the mob rose to the occasion.
Here was a foreigner, a North-American,
and the smouldering hatred for all North-
Americans leaped up. The policeman had
his book out to make his case for the
police station, and in a moment the orators
were explaining with angry gestures at me
that I had attacked the policeman, thrown
him down, torn his uniform : " See there
how it is destroyed ! "

One huge, pot-valiant Argentine ad-
vanced through the crowd with his arm
lifted to avenge the injury to an Argentine
official, and there was plenty of rage and
hate — all in a moment. Then they began
to swear and put their names in the book.
One having declared that he had seen me
hit the policeman and knock him down,
a dozen more clamored for the privilege
of being witnesses — all in spite of the
fact that he was about twice my size and
that I was still carrying my overcoat over
my arm without sign or mark of any
conflict. The mob pressed closer, gesticu-
lating widely, shouted uncomplimentary

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things and proclaimed their superiority
to all Gringos. I didn't like the looks of
things; for half a minute they were
certainly uncomfortable, but at their
worst I couldn't help seeing the comic-
opera aspect of the thing. It would have
staged so nicely ! Here were two hundred
men stirred up to a picturesque state
of rage, all in a minute or two and without
a single fact to go on !

However, the policeman filled his book
with the witnesses to the crime and the
whole mob set forth, in a close-jammed
mass, for the police station.

At the station there was at least quiet.
There was a great deal of writing in books
and some rhetorical language, but I waited
until the preliminaries were over, gave the
chauffeur a peso, with which he departed
content, and then asked them to send in
my card to the Comisario. Ten minutes
passed and I was politely requested to sign
a statement that there had been a claim
for taxi fare and that it had been paid.
I had meantime seen enough of an Argen-
tine police-station not to want to see

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HISPANIC NOTES

FROM ARGENTINA

559

more, and went away, amused, rather

humiliated, somewhat relieved, very late

for my appointment, but much enlightened

about Argentine manners.

BUENOS AIRES, October 22, 1920.

I HAVE had in my room at the National

Library another illustration of the familiar

truth that the head inspires the body.

I have been sitting here day after day,

working beside a wide-open door that gives

on the patio where within tall Pompeian

columns there is the neatest of tiny

gardens with three or four palms, some

shrubs, and rose-bushes now in bud. The

birds twitter and little gusts of wind

passing over the roofs toss the palm

branches till the rustling almost drowns

the voices of the birds.

It would be difficult to find a spot in

New York or any other American city

more suitable or inviting to study or

write in. The library proper, to be sure,

is closed until noon, and when open leaves

much to be desired for contents, but it

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is the best-administered institution,, public

or private, that I have seen in Argentina.

It is the only building, public or private,

that I have been in where the locks on

all the doors are in order, where floors

are swept, desks and chairs dusted, and

cleanliness is actually practised. Little

by little I have come to realize that this

atmosphere of order, and the quiet which

is so rare, descends -from the study of

the chief, that clear and laborious intelli-

gence, undoubtedly the first intellectual

force in Argentina, Paul Groussac, the

Librarian, of whom I have already written

to you.

BUENOS AIRES, October 23, 1920.

HERE, as in all Latin cities, newspapers

play a very large part in everyday life.

When I first came I was constantly being

reminded of Havana where a newspaper

was being cried every hour of the day —

and of the night too, for that matter. The

two leading papers, the Prensa and the

Nadon, are commonly referred to as the

VII

HISPANIC NOTES

FROM ARGENTINA

56i

greatest papers in South America, and

one is allowed to infer, the greatest papers

in the world. Each of them occupies a

great building, employs a numerous staff

and issues a huge blanket morning paper

not unlike the old-time editions of the New

York World or Herald. There are half

a dozen afternoon papers whose rapidly

succeeding editions recall those of the

New York Journal and in all one perceives

a high degree of cleverness with probably

greater superficiality and certainly no

greater regard for accuracy than marks

the average American evening paper. It

is not quite clear how much influence they

have. Both the great morning papers

are opposed to President Yrigoyen and

his party, both criticise him in his person

and his politics with the utmost freedom,

and both have a large circulation ; yet the

President was elected by a great majority.

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563

BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA,

October 24, 1920.

I HAD often heard of the difficulty of

getting packages or letters which were

sent here from the United States by

registered post, and my friends had

advised me to leave any such package

in the post office rather than suffer the

annoyances incidental to recovering it.

All these warnings came home to me

when I began my efforts to secure a package

of which I was informed three days ago.

The notification was blind, containing

no indication of the source or the sender,

but stated that the package had arrived

on October 6. The notice was dated

October 18; it had not been sent

with undue haste ! Promptly the next

morning I went to see the package :

after the usual delays I arrived before the

window and presented the notice, at which

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the lordly official glanced and swept it
back. " Go get the stamps/' he said.
"What stamps?" I inquired. "Two
pesos/' he answered with the same inso-
lent manner. " Where shall I get them ? "
I asked. " Round the corner/' he snapped,
and I went. It was some distance, but
I paid the two pesos for the stamp, which
was affixed by a clerk and returned. Again
I offered the notice to the haughty indivi-
dual, but it appeared that the stamp
was not well affixed and had become loose,
so he refused to accept it. That was all
I could endure that day and I withdrew.

Two days later I went again, taking
my secretary this time. I got a clerk to
affix the stamp, and for the third time
offered the paper to the functionary at
the window. This embodiment of the
dignity of Argentina glanced at the docu-
ment and threw it down, " Get more
stamps," he blustered. " How many ? "
I asked. " Sixty-nine centavos." That
made a total of two pesos and sixty-nine
centavos.

We turned away to find where the

VII

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FROM ARGENTINA

565

stamps were sold; but we were far too
headlong and informal for this institution
of a great Republic. The stamp-seller
waved us away. Before we could buy
stamps there we must bring him the seal
of the Jefe, the chief of the division.
Him then we set out to seek, and after
many inquiries, answered as a rule with
scant courtesy, we found him at the remote
end of another part of the building, sitting
among his associates who were smoking
and chatting. As we drew near a func-
tionary approached us and admonished
us to remove our hats, which we did.
although there were hats enough being
worn within a. few yards. Evidently
we were coming into the presence of
Greatness. We reached his desk and
offered the document. With a gesture
and without stirring from his comfortable
position of ease, he indicated a place on
the desk and we put it down. Then with
a gesture more imperious and an air that
a grand vizier or Moroccan chief might
have envied, he signed to the slave, a
lesser functionary, to stamp the paper,

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which done he waved to us again, with
infinite condescension, permission to take
the paper and withdraw. We went with
ill-suppressed mirth.

Now we were allowed on our return
to buy the stamps; we had them affixed
and returned for the fourth time to the
haughty functionary. This time, after
demanding passports and other evidence
of identity, he deigned to accept the
document, and I took the opportunity
to ask him whether there was an established
policy to impede and prevent this kind
of communication and interchange with
the United States, as otherwise I could
not understand the proceeding. No, he
said, there was no such policy : whatever
trouble there is was made by the United
States when it forced Argentina to accept
the postal convention.

So ignorant and grossly innocent was I
that I supposed we should now receive
the package. I was undeceived. Pack-
ages were not handled by this lofty person,
but were delivered in another department.
We were passed on to still another section,

VII

HISPANIC NOTES

FROM ARGENTINA

567

and after we had waited for a time were
permitted to inquire. More delay ensued
and several repetitions of the information
required before the package appeared, but
before we were allowed to see it there were
records to be made in huge ledgers —
all done with the leisure and dignity
appropriate to an affair of State. Next
we were directed to another section,
that of examination. Here, after more
delay, a functionary approached, pointed
to the package, and directed a workman
to open it, which he did with slashes of
a long knife. There were then revealed
— o ridiculus mus — twelve copies of an
unimportant booklet !

Evidently a package of books presented
an unusual problem : it was passed from
hand to hand, referred and re-referred,
discussed and considered, while we were
directed first here and then there to await
the decision. At last our patience was
exhausted; it was after one o'clock
and we gave it up. Had I known from
the first the contents of the package I
should never have tried to get it,

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knowing that the game was not worth the

candle.

Nevertheless, for the sake of bringing

the matter to a conclusion, and making

the record complete, two days later I

sent an assistant for the package, which he

was able to secure after only a brief delay.

BUENOS AIRES, October 26, 1920.

WE had almost missed seeing the Opera

House, for during the season the pressure

of work was too great to allow so consider-

able an interruption, but a belated series

of symphony concerts, directed by Richard

Strauss, gave us the opportunity. It is a

notable playhouse, whether the boast of

the Argentines that this is the finest in the

world be true or not. I think it is as large

as the Metropolitan in New York, and it

is well appointed. Round the great central

hall, shaped like an elongated horseshoe,

rise a series of galleries, five in all, cor-

responding to the five tiers of boxes that

flank the stage, and all is done in old rose

and gold, a dignified and pleasing arrange-

VII

HISPANIC NOTES

FROM ARGENTINA

569

ment of colour. Under the full glare of

lights, when the boxes and the galleries

are emblazoned with the magnificent

costumes of the Argentine dames and

damsels, it is a gorgeous scene.

The orchestra was good, and of course

Strauss conducted well. The audience

were noisily enthusiastic over Till Eulen-

spiegel and a dance from Salome, but as

you know I don't care much for Strauss.

To the audience one cannot deny a meed

of praise for taste in its dress, and no

little appreciation of music; but after

observing them over the period of the

concert we found them rather unsym-

pathetic, rather Semitic and Oriental.

One saw scarcely a face that inspired

interest or the higher curiosity.

BUENOS AIRES, October 29, 1920.

THE differences between the Argentine

and the Yankee are constantly cropping

up and as constantly disappearing, so that

a scrupulous person must often take himself

to task over his judgments and revise them

with a fresh effort to be fair.

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Part of the confusion of judgment arises
from the outward similarity they bear to
us : wearing the same clothes, collars, hats,
shoes, ties, and often surpassing us in
details of style and material. If the South
American wore the flowing robe and turban
of the East, or the doublet and hose of
seventeenth-century Spain, we should halt
on the brink of forming opinions and
examine our premises. But because he so
often looks like a citizen of St. Louis, New
Orleans, or even of New York, we are led,
by the easiest of all paths, into error, the
argument from analogy.

Looking like a fellow-citizen, he is
credited at once with the qualities and the
training which, in our experience, go with
the dress. But beneath the clothes there
is a different kind of man : at his best an
hidalgo, with a high sense of personal
dignity and a desire to bear himself as a
grand seigneur : at his worst a combination
of the worst qualities of the Spaniard and
the Indian, cruel, treacherous, lustful, and
indolent. The great difficulty is to find a
basis for generalization that shall not be

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FROM ARGENTINA

57i

at once unjust and unenlightening. I

think the basic difference lies in the will.

The Anglo-Saxon is a man of active resolu-

tion; he believes in the validity of effort

and faces the world with an unshakable

faith in his power to change it. The South

American has moods of grim determina-

tion and moments of fierce activity, but his

general attitude toward the world is ex-

pressed in Kismet. He has no confidence in

his power to change the world, but expects

to let things take their course and profit

by the changes that occur. The symbol of

the Anglo-Saxons is the motor., that of the

South Americans is the lottery. Theirs

throughout is a civilization of sentiment

and passive thought — not of active

volition.

BUENOS AIRES, November 2, 1920.

BUENOS AIRES is entirely flat, and

although it lies beside a great river, no

advantage has been taken of this, which

serves merely for transportation; so that

the adornment of the city consists in parks.

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Some of these are handsome, especially
that of Palermo, which reminds one of
Central Park, and is very popular. Another
little park, not much larger than Gramercy
Park in New York, is the Plaza San Martin,
which is near at hand, and has become our
favourite walk. It covers about two city
squares, and is rimmed round with palaces
and hotels : on one side is the enormous
house of the Paz family, the owners of
La Prensa, on another is the palace of the
Anchorenas, further along is the Art
Museum, and beyond that the Plaza Hotel.
The little park itself is delightful. At
its front, looking along the Avenida Alvear,
is an equestrian statue of San Martin,
which seen through the arching trees looks
finely spirited : in the very heart of the
place is a great onbu tree, which spreads
its far-reaching horizontal branches to a
circumference of nearly a hundred feet,
and shelters innumerable birds; around
and about are flower beds and shrubs and
modest trees that cover marble fauns and
woodland figures.

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HISPANIC NOTES

Statue of San Martin

Plaza San Martin: another view

FROM ARGENTINA

573

November 3, 1920.

ONE seldom hears anything good of the
Argentine Government : it is blamed for
inefficiency, slackness, favouritism, arro-
gance, and downright corruption, for all of
which numerous examples are given and
cases cited ; so that it is a grateful task to
say anything favourable one can about it.
One of the best things I have heard of the
present and earlier administrations is their
attitude toward the Meteorological Service.
This was founded many years ago by
an American scientist who succeeded in
stamping his character upon it and giving
it an organization, so that to-day many
intelligent people believe that the Argen-
tine weather service is the best in the
world. Its excellence is largely due to the
labours of two first-rate men of science :
Professor Bigelow from Concord, Mass., a
graduate of Harvard in 1873, a mathe-
matician of no mean attainments, and
Mr. H. H. Clayton, whose work in the
Weather Bureau at Washington and at
the Blue Hill Observatory is well known
to meteorologists everywhere.

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Both of these men tell me that their work
here has been far less hampered by govern-
mental restrictions, red-tape officialism,
and jealousy than was the case in Washing-
ton. They say that the Government here
has imposed no petty or unreasonable
restrictions, but has made it possible to
conduct genuine research, a thing almost
impossible in Washington during recent
years ; and that in consequence they have
accomplished many times as much as they
could have attained at home.

BUENOS AIRES, November 8, 1920.
ADMITTING the differences between the
Argentines and their English-speaking
brethren, how are the two to get on ? First,
by not trying to get on too far : intimate
or informal social relations are usually
impossible and almost invariably undesir-
able. Intermarriage, for example, seems
to me a mistake, the few cases in which it
results well make a very inadequate com-
pensation for the great number in which
it brings misery. The Englishman or

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HISPANIC NOTES

Entrance io the Art Museum

A palace on the Plaza San Martin

Statue of Belgrano

FROM ARGENTINA

575

American who marries a South American

wife can often bring her into his circle and

separate her from her own people; but

the American or English woman who

marries a South American husband, unless

she is an exceptionally strong character,

will be drawn into the other civilization

and absorbed. The two societies live side

by side, each taking an occasional member

from the other, and meantime maintaining

slight formal relations, but never arriving

at real social interchange or thorough

mutual understanding.

When I came here I was told by the heads

of the American colony that the society of

Buenos Aires was highly aristocratic, and

I heard a good deal about old families and

people of distinction. That is a mistake

based on the usual ignorance of the out-

sider, for, of course, 4;he American, even

of the diplomatic circle, never gets far

inside any Hispanic society. My infor-

mants had been entertained at dinner and

luncheon in less than a dozen great houses,

had met representatives of five or six

families who have some claims to lineage,

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and had drawn conclusions much larger
than were warranted by the facts.

In reality the society of Buenos Aires
is of necessity plutocratic, for it lacks the
elements for a society either of blood or
talents. There are a few families, like the
Alvears, the Dorregos, the Escaladas, the
Lezicas,the Anchorenas, and the Basualdos,
which have endured for a century or more
and retained their place in society, but
they are not sufficient to leaven the lump.

Wealth there is here and luxury and
ostentation, reflecting the real desire of
Buenos Aires to be the Paris of South
America and to rival New York in its
motor-cars and banquets. So far as dis-
play is concerned it has succeeded : the
most costly and extravagant banquets of
New York have not much exceeded some
of the entertainments of the Jockey Club,
and an article could be written on the
motor-cars of Buenos Aires, which are a
constant surprise. Here are all the well-
known makes of automobiles of France,
Italy, Germany, England, and the United
States, running in a long descending scale

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HISPANIC NOTES

FROM ARGENTINA

577

from the Rolls-Royce to the Ford, of which

there are literally thousands.

BUENOS AIRES, November 9, 1920.

THOUGH dimmed by familiarity the im-

pression of Florida Street (Calle Florida)

can never be dull. It is like O'Reilly in

Havana, San Francisco in Mexico, Huer-

fanos in Santiago, or Fifth Avenue below

5oth Street in New York — the favourite

shopping and strolling place of the city.

Florida is interesting at whatever hour,

but it reaches its climax in the late after-

noon. Then, from five to seven, it is closed

to wheeled traffic and becomes a promenade

of the better class Bonaerenses. The crowd

that flows along the street is not strikingly

different from a similar crowd in New

Orleans or St. Louis, except that there are

fewer negroes. Gradually one notices the

flimsy, spool-heeled shoes, the low-necked,

short-sleeved dresses, the picture hats,

which apparently represent the current

idea of what should be worn on the street.

It is said that rather less face powder is

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worn here than on the West Coast, but

that is only a mild alleviation ; a dealer in

talcum tells me that he would ask nothing

more than a monopoly of the talcum-

powder business of the city.

November 10, 1920.

I HAVE had another brief conversation

with the librarian , for whose intellectual

capacity I have,, as you know, great admira-

tion. I went to see him yesterday after-

noon, carrying with me the two volumes

of Argentines of To-day in special binding.

He turned the leaves, glanced at some of

the portraits, and, lifting up his hands in

mock admiration, said, " Great men !

How many are there ? " and when I replied,

" Four hundred and forty-eight," he once

more saluted and said, " What a country to

produce so many eminent sons ! "

We turned aside from the book then to

chat of my stay, my work, and my impres-

sions. " What," he asked, " do you think

of them?" (the Argentines). I replied

that they were amiable, but seemed to lack

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HISPANIC NOTES

FROM ARGENTINA

579

a sense of justice and fair play which
seemed to me fundamental. " Truth/' he
broke in, in English, " they lack truth,
and they lack the habit of study and the
power to work. They are polite, affable,
amiable even : they are intelligent, quick,
clever, but incurably superficial and fickle.
Having no basis in conviction and study
| and work, they shift and turn and change.
And the condition is incurable, because it
is in the blood : they have the cursed
inheritance of the Spanish blood that has
brought Spain to the wretched state it is
! in to-day, at the bottom of the list of
! civilized countries."

We talked of the other republics, of Chile
and Uruguay, and of the presidents of the
republics. Of the Presidents, both of
Uruguay and of Argentina, he expressed
no great regard. " They are no presi-
dents," he said; and when, in reply to a
question, I said I did not know President
Yrigoyen, for although many appoint-
ments had been made by his direction,
he had kept none of them, he remarked,
" It is no loss : nobody knows him. This

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Government has no part in the social or
intellectual life of the country."

As these scanty jottings will indicate,
the interview was marked by great frank-
ness and was to me unusually interesting.
This little, spare, white-haired man, with
his keen, penetrating eye, is a French
intellectual astray in South America. He
is a brother of all the French critics, with
a drop of Voltaire's blood in his veins and
the Gallic gift for investigation and expres-
sion. His small, black-clad figure made
me think of Henry Adams, who was of the
same intellectual descent and almost his
twin in size, form, and temper.

Such a man might have been happy in
France where the art of criticism is canon-
ized and a man with a style is honoured,
but here he has been alone and has grown
more conscious of his isolation with the
passage of time. As he repeated yester-
day the phrase he used at our first meeting
six months ago, referring to the Argen-
tines, " Among them, but not of them,"
I thought it came with a tone of deepened
bitterness.

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HISPANIC NOTES

FROM ARGENTINA

58i

BUENOS AIRES, ARGENTINA,

November n, 1920.

THERE is a good deal of disquiet felt

here about the financial outlook for Argen-

tina. The fall in the value of the peso, to

what is said to be the lowest quotation in

history, is, of course, disturbing, and the

causes leading up to it — the stoppage of

exports, curtailment of loans, fall in prices,

accumulation of raw material for which

there is no market — are all still in opera-

tion. It is said that there are shiploads

of hides, wool, and meats piled up in ware-

houses which cannot be shipped for lack

of a market, and, on the other hand, there

are reported to be 37,000,000 dollars'

worth of goods likewise accumulated in the

Customs Houses, left there by the con-

signees because they cannot sell them in

this country. On both accounts there

are great loans in the banks which have

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advanced funds on security of the goods and

now grow uneasy as they see the value of

the stocks diminishing from day to day.

BUENOS AIRES, November 12, 1920.

THE future of Argentina is difficult to

forecast. Though a century has passed

since the Spanish rule was broken and

the Creole population asserted its right to

dominate here, it would be unsafe to say

that a nation has been established. The

racial mixture, with the bad Spanish infu-

sion, is unfavourable : there is a lack of

public spirit and energy, the ruling ideas

are those of privilege and bribery, the

prevailing disposition is one of slackness

and inefficiency. The consequence is that

no Government has yet arisen capable of

administering the country. It remains a

question whether the dominant race or

faction can populate, administer, govern,

or develop its territory. We must, there-

fore, admit the possibility of a complete

rearrangement here in Argentina as well as

in other Latin- American countries.

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HISPANIC NOTES

FROM ARGENTINA

583

The soberest opinions are frankly un-
favourable to the regimes of to-day here
as well as in the neighbouring republics.
The business man complains because of
the absence of business integrity, and the
incurable itch for exploiting every source of
capital, making teal development onerous
and slow.

It is the opinion of one of the wisest men
I have met here, an opinion based on
nearly forty years' acquaintance with the
country, during which he has seen many
of his friends try their luck in land, cattle,
banking, and other kinds of business, that
a fortune costs more here than in the
United States. That is to say, that with
the same amount of energy, intelligence,
skill, and patience, a fortune can be
acquired more quickly in the United States,
and without the incalculable sacrifices,
risks, and inconveniences due to the remote-
ness, isolation, and strangeness of race and
! language.

Among the inconveniences common to
all are banking restrictions and the high
rate of interest, usually twelve per cent, or

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more, which frequently throttles a promis-
ing enterprise at its critical stage. An
American,, for example, who had bought a
tract of land and was developing it needed
a small sum, $1500, to complete planting
his crop, but although he had land worth
many times the amount, the banks refused
the loan: they had lately decided to do
no more in that line ! Another American
landowner, after a very successful career
which has made him a fairly rich man, has
begun to develop a great tract of land in
the west, where a railroad is projected.
He proposed to further the project and
came down to Buenos Aires with plans
and proposals, only to meet with the usual
down-dropped eye-lid, the simulated
interest and the hint of expenses. The
bribery necessary for any public work is
said to be enormous and practically inter-
minable, so that such plans as that of
B. W., to provide for a railway across
the desert, based upon careful studies
showing the presence and depth of the
requisite water supply, are smothered
because no baksheesh is provided.

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HISPANIC NOTES

FROM ARGENTINA

585

The absence of public spirit, which is

universal, was illustrated afresh when the

manager of the street railway company

of Cordoba, having with great difficulty

obtained from his directors in England the

right to offer to the citizens of Cordoba

7000 shares of stock in the company, put

them out and obtained not a single sub-

scription even for one share.

The Cordovenses conceived of a street

railway only as a thing to be exploited.

BUENOS AIRES, November 13, 1920.

I HAVE lately paid visits to two interest-

ing men here. The first was to Senor Roge-

lio Yrurtia, the sculptor, who lives in the

suburb of Belgrano. I started in a cold,

heavy, driving rain, and we rode for what

seemed miles along Santa Fe, a wide avenue

of the second class, like a South American

Seventh Avenue, watching the low, grey

buildings, and the cabs, automobiles, and

pedestrians scurrying through the rain,

until we came to the open spaces where

houses had gardens. There we drew up

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before the traditional iron gates and were
admitted. I had arrived exactly on time,
to the evident surprise of my host, for
I suppose such a thing is unheard of here
and was quite outside his experience.

Sefior Yrurtia is a small, neat figure,
with a pleasant smile and the easy, quiet
manners of a man of means and culture
who has seen a good deal of the world.
Like many South American artists, he has
spent most of his life in Paris, where prac-
tically all of his work has been done.
Before I left he showed me photographs
of his house in Paris, and the great studio,
more than sixty feet long, where he pro-
duced his imposing group called " The
Song of Labour " of eleven heroic-size
figures, which the Argentine Government
commissioned him to make.

We chatted of Argentina, its artistic and
literary possibilities, its resources and its
future, and soon Sefiora Yrurtia joined us,
the tea-tray was brought in, Mr. Haider,
a portrait painter from New York arrived,
and we had some interesting discussion
of Argentina as a field for art. I came to

VII

HISPANIC NOTES

FROM ARGENTINA

587

the conclusion that it affords an excellent
market to the artist with a European or
foreign reputation.

After tea we passed on to a little salon
adjoining, where we found a number of
Sefior Yrurtia's studies and portrait heads
in bronze. Several of them were surpris-
ing for their resemblance to the classic
types, and transported me to the Baths of
Caracalla in Rome ; a portrait head of an
Argentine man of affairs had every sign of
reality, and there was a charming head of a
girl, but for the most part they seemed to
me derivative, not only in type and style,
but even in expression; the emotions or
character expressed seemed not to be
taken from the model but recalled as a
reminiscence of another work.

The other visit to which I referred was
that to Don Enrique Pefia, a well-known
bibliophile, who is believed to have the best
collection to be found here of early Argen-
tine and River Plate books.

We found him living in one of the busi-
ness streets, his house set in, as is so often
the case here, between two shops, and he

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came out into the hall to greet us, a large,
grey man, looking more like a Scotch
banker than a native of Argentina, for he
was dressed in tweeds, wore a neatly
trimmed grey beard and had the keen,
twinkling eye which so often lights the
faces of North Britons, and is so rare a
thing here.

We sat down in his sitting-room library,
a French Professor of Spanish dropped in,
and we fell to on books, Argentine and
other. Senor Pena showed us the rare
" Misiones " books produced two centuries
ago in the Jesuit Missions of Paraguay, and
some unpublished records of early colonial
times here, of which he is very proud.

BUENOS AIRES, November 14, 1920.
THERE are few picturesque spots in
Buenos Aires, for it is a new, machine-
made town, set on the level bank of the
river, like a cube on a plate. Of the old
buildings of the Colonial Period, which by
their aspects or associations might have
lent interest to the streets, very, very few

VII

HISPANIC NOTES

Two views of Palermo

FROM ARGENTINA

589

survive. There is one of these rare relics
now used as a grocery store,, at the corner
of Deferisa and Moreno ; there is a portion
of the old Cabildo, or town-hall; the
Cathedral has some associations, and of
course there are a few more, but they are
so few and far between as to exert no
influence. The picturesque in Buenos
Aires is accidental, slight, and easily over-
looked. I have seen it chiefly in glimpses
through open doors into patios, and these
more often in the mean streets than on the
avenues. Passing along Cordoba, I have
looked through the gates of old houses,
and caught glimpses of a palm and a vine
trained along a wall that made a picture :
on Bolivar, near the British Arcade,
there is an old house used, I believe, as a
tenement, with a patio seen through an
arched entrance that would be a godsend to
a painter ; and at the corner of Chacabuco
and Alsina stands a dilapidated house with
an irregular, red-tiled roof and faded yellow
walls starred with giant blue advertising
signs. It has a wide door on the corner
opening diagonally to the street and hung

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about with great wicker cages of canaries
and parrots.

There are several convents which retain
a dash of the picturesque, and it was one
of these,, at the corner of San Martin and
Viamonte, which afforded me the only
touch of romance that I have seen in
Buenos Aires. The wall of the convent
runs high and blank, as solid and dead as a
prison, pierced only by three iron-barred
windows in the second storey, which face
the arch of an unfinished building opposite.
Here, as I came by, one rainy evening, I saw
a cavalier, a handsome man in the dress
of a gentleman, standing half in the shadow
of the arch, with his hat in his hand, the
light falling on his well-brushed hair and
a red rose which ,he wore in his button-
hole. There he stood, gazing intently at
the barred window opposite, which opens
into the apartments of the nuns, who are !
sometimes seen from the upper windows of
the hotel pacing to and fro in the garden
at the back. They are a small and dwin-
dling company, for convent life does not
appeal to the young women of the day in

HISPANIC NOTES

Other views of the rose gardens

FROM ARGENTINA

Buenos Aires, and it is said that the
authorities at Rome have approved the
dissolution of the Order. On this perhaps
hopes may be based and it may account
for the homage of my cavalier.

A spot which never fails to rest and
refresh me as I pass it is the flower-market
on Maipii and Rivadavia : it is a small,
bare place, nothing more, in fact, than a
roofless enclosure of high walls, but the
wide gates open on a gay lot of flowers, and
beyond the roses, violets, forget-me-nots,
and poppies are wooden garden-seats that
look always restful and inviting. I have
never sat in them, but I have bought
lovely white roses there for forty cents a
dozen, and got smiles and friendly words
into the bargain.

Some distance off, but also in the older
part of the town, there is another garden
that I should like to enter : it lies on
Libertad, not far from Viamonte, and 1
think must be an old palace garden. The
palace, if such it were, is now let out for
business offices, but the great garden behind
is still attractive to look at through the

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gateway and the bars. It runs half a

block along Libertad and is visible through

a series of great openings like wide

cathedral windows, fifteen feet tall and six

feet broad, that are fitted with strong iron

gratings, while above them at the top of

the wall runs a pathway with an iron rail-

ing, along which I suppose the owners

used to walk to view the garden. It must

have been pleasant in the morning when

the sun was mild, and in the moonlight,

when the marble statues that one can catch

glimpses of, shone among the shrubbery.

BUENOS AIRES, November 15, 1920.

CATTLE is the first and last word in

Argentina. Cattle is the basis of her

wealth, the foundation of her fortunes, the

exponent of her civilization. One sees

repeated here the phenomena of the cattle-

ranch and cattle-rearing which have

characterized at various stages the great

states in the West. For one who has grown

up on the edge of the cattle-country and

seen the great herds of Western Nebraska,

VII

HISPANIC NOTES

FROM ARGENTINA

593

Kansas, and later of Texas, there is
something familiar and natural in meet-
ing the same conditions in Argentina.
Never, I think, has the raising of cattle
been pursued with more enthusiasm than
here ; Buenos Aires is at this moment filled
with cattle-men — one is tempted to say
cattle-kings — and their families, who are
attending the annual Cattle Show, a thing
which has no equal at present on the earth.
There are prize bulls by the hundred, and
the papers are filled with accounts of their
portentous weight, their vast size, the
prizes they are winning, and the enormous
prices which are being paid for them. One
cannot sit down in the remotest part of the
hotel without hearing the voices of the
cattle-men disputing about the merits of
the different entries. The boasts of rival
estancias about the size of their herds and
the weight of their champions surpass all
that I can remember in any Western cattle
town, and there is much to be said for their
claims. One of my friends here has given
me a typical photograph showing ' ' a grand
group of 1780 prime fat Hereford steers

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bred and fed on the San Juan General

Pinto F. C. Oeste (Western Railway), the

property of Senor B. L. Dugan, which

yielded 838 Ib. each, cold dead weight " !

BUENOS AIRES, November 20, 1920.

I HAVE been to my first Argentine play,

The World of Snobs, by Juan Agustin

Garcia. It was a " first night " ; there

was the most intelligent-looking audience

I have seen here, and the play was inter-

esting and well presented.

It is a domestic comedy, ironical in

spirit, rising at times to the keenly satirical,

and of course it turns on the matter of sex

or marriage. The hero, a young artist,

finding that his fiancee is accepting gifts

and attentions from a member of one of

the richest families of the town, withdraws,

and some time later marries his rival's

sister. There are now two misfit matches :

both pairs are broken. Meantime the

author exhibits the life of the rich family,

a nest of snobs, which consists in osten-

tation, luxury, parsimony, and greed. At

VII

HISPANIC NOTES

FROM ARGENTINA

595

the end the son of the family falls into

difficulties, and to save him from bank-

ruptcy, the father, instead of providing

the money himself, goes to his daughter-

in-law, and begs her to give back the jewels

which had been given her as engagement

and wedding gifts. In the middle of the

scene, in which the wretched millionaire

father-in-law presents an odious figure by

making love to his son's wife, the son him-

self arrives, having come on a similar

errand. The denouement is the reunion

of the original lovers.

The play lacks stage-craft, and the paral-

lelism in the plot is unduly mechanical,

but it has ideas, and is generally praised

as a picture of Buenos Aires life. The

parsimony and vulgarity of the rich are

said to be justly portrayed, the Church is

treated with contempt, and marriage is

not taken very seriously.

BUENOS AIRES, November 21, 1920.

As one gets nearer to the heart of things

here, one hears a good deal about the lack

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of justice in the courts. An employe of
the Bar Association,, who is acquainted
with many of the judges, says it is
generally understood that decisions are
given by recomendacion of influential
persons — the President,, senators, rich
men ; it is not apparently expected that a
decision will be given on the merits of the
case. The matter is put with clearness
and restraint by Matienzo in the best work
I have seen on the Government of Argen-
tina : he laments the weakness of the
bench, saying that strong and capable men
seldom retain their positions as judges,
but resign to practise law or go into busi-
ness. The general dissatisfaction with the
decisions is not, he remarks, due to pecu-
niary corruption, but to the habit of
obsequiousness to persons of influence
within and without the Government.

In fact the situation is so bad that wise
people do not resort to the courts, which
are often regarded as the allies of evil-
doers.

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HISPANIC NOTES

FROM ARGENTINA

597

BUENOS AIRES, November 24, 1920.

I HAVE not fallen in love with Buenos
Aires. I shall leave it without a qualm or a
single wistful, backward glance. It is a
big town, cosmopolitan, showy, and self-
satisfied; but so far it has no character,
other than that of a market, and one's
heart does not go out to marts of trade.

On the other hand, I do not hate it, as I
have heard many say they do, but I can
imagine a Jonah prophesying against it,
for it is a town in which surely many
thousands cannot discern between their
right hands and their left, and for such
there are chasms that yawn.

On the whole Buenos Aires seems to be
extraordinarily content with its ignorance,
its superficial culture, its machine-made
art, its student-bossed colleges, its gilded
palaces, and noisome slums. It is, in fact,
a " cow-town," the market and place of
diversion of cowmen, the most gorgeous
cow-town on the globe ; for all Argentina is
a ranch and all the money passes this way.

The thing which really prevents one from

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caring for Buenos Aires is its raw com-

mercialism and its unconscious but pene-

trating vulgarity. There is, I suppose, no

city in South America where it is safe for

a young woman to go about unattended ;

but here the pursuit of unprotected women

is open, unashamed, usual, and one is

tempted to say, universal. As Professor

Ross remarked when he was here some

years ago, the difference between this and

some of our cities is that there a woman

could always confidently appeal to the

passer-by, but here she could not. The cur-

rent attitude toward women is to regard

them as objects of chase. I hear it said

that the women have themselves to blame,

for they make the customs. That, of

course, is not true of the foreigners, and I

consider it a crime to send unprotected

young women from the United States to

work in this place.

BUENOS AIRES, November 27, 1920.

WE are having the first torrid period of

the summer, and in spite of the thousand

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HISPANIC NOTES

FROM ARGENTINA

599

last things which I am trying to finish off
before sailing, I cannot help noticing that
hot weather " brings out" Buenos Aires.
She is a sub-tropical capital, and under the
high temperatures she expands and smiles.
I paid a farewell visit this afternoon to
Dr. Ernesto Quesada, and sat for a time
very contented in the little salon where
he keeps his superb collection of carved
wooden figures. For a few minutes it was
still. The heat pulsed from door to window ;
the noise of the city was hushed ; the house
seemed asleep; from the great library
came the least murmur of voices; down
in the patio below a solitary hen sang her
monotonous solo, and the air of tropical
places at ease flowed about us. Soon the
maid appeared with tea, the Doctor came
back with medals of the recent Urquiza
Commemoration, and his latest pamphlet,
we turned to criticism of books, and so
drove away the mood of repose, but I recall
those few minutes as one of the best notes
of life in Buenos Aires,

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BUENOS AIRES, November 28, 1920.

ON this hot Sunday afternoon I have been
spending nearly three hours in the Presi-
dent's ante-chamber at the Palace, reclin-
ing among black cushions, fighting flies,
and waiting for His Excellency to keep
an appointment. Of course he did not
keep it : I had very little hope that he
would, for it was the twenty-third time
that I had responded to similar intima-
tions, none of which had borne fruit. The
statesman has been proposing to see me
since last May, and has not succeeded in
getting himself in tow yet.

At the end of the period we were received
by the Assistant Secretary of State,
Molinari, who appeared with a mass of
papers, and declared that the President
and he had been at work over cables and
despatches for three hours, and His Excel-
lency had gone home tired. But — to-
morrow ! 0 blessed word of all Latin-
America ! — manana ! at one o'clock exactly
he would be glad to see me.

Well, I smiled and said I would try to

VII

HISPANIC NOTES

FROM ARGENTINA

60 1

come, for I had long since resolved to

play out this game to the ultimate moment.

We joked about the momentous affairs of
State which kept President and Minister

at work on Sunday and Molinari remarked

that they were " arranging the League of

Nations." It appears that they keep in

constant communication by cable with

Dr. Pueyrredon, the Minister who is at

Geneva,, and who is evidently a mere

mouthpiece, and I cannot help a little

bitter amusement at the thought of world

affairs being directed — or muddled — by an

uncultured Argentine cattle-man and his

smart young Assistant Secretary of State,

neither of whom has the slightest com-

prehension of the issues involved. If this

is what the League of Nations is going to

lead to, the sooner it is forgotten the

better.

BUENOS AIRES, November 29, 1920.

IN spite of the pessimism of the family

and my secretary, Senor Binayan, who had

grown discouraged with more than twenty

AND MONOGRAPHS

VII

602

CASUAL LETTERS

fruitless visits,, and was prepared to wager
great sums that this would be like the
others, and with anything but a hopeful
spirit, but firmly resolved to follow the
thing up persistently to the bitter end, I
went to the Palace to keep the President's
latest appointment at one o'clock.

For a time it looked as dubious as ever :
we were ushered into the same ante-
chamber where we had spent nearly three
wearisome hours yesterday, and watched
the precious minutes ticking themselves
away, and the hour when we must be on
board — our ship sailed at three — drawing
nearer ; I had taken out a card to wjite a
farewell line to Molinari, when the door
opened, and the doorman, with a new air of
importance, said, " You will go up." We
followed him into corridors we had not seen
before, and came unexpectedly upon a
small elevator in charge of one of the most
competent-looking men I have seen in
Argentina. He would not have been out
of place in the U.S. Secret Service — tall,
with tremendous shoulders, a hard-lined
face relieved by twinkling eyes, he looked

VII

HISPANIC NOTES

FROM ARGENTINA

603

like a real man. In his charge we rose to

the upper floor,, where we were met by

Molinari, who smiled brightly, motioned

us to chairs, and disappeared. We were

now evidently " warm " ; messengers and

members of the Cabinet passed before us,

for this salon was in reality a passage to

the President's office, and was hung with

really handsome pictures, most noticeable

of all being that of the Infanta of Spain,

a creditable portrait of heroic size painted

to celebrate her visit here in 1910.

After five or six minutes a secretary came

seeking us and led us a stage nearer. We

were now in the immediate vicinity; two

officials sat impatiently with their eyes on

the inner door : French windows opened

upon an upper veranda looking over the

Plaza de Mayo, where a distinguished-

looking group sipped coffee and smoked

cigarettes.

We had hardly time to notice our sur-

roundings before the inner door opened and

Molinari's face, with a sunny smile, beamed

on us.

" Mr. Parker," he said, and we passed

AND MONOGRAPHS

VII

604

CASUAL LETTERS

through the door. Immediately facing us.
about three steps away, was the President,
a solid, rather commonplace, peasant-like
figure, dressed in a dark brown business
suit, and giving hardly any other impres-
sion than that of somewhat stolid gravity.
His face is colourless, mask-like, a mottled
grey; his eyes are long and narrow, and
his chin rather sharp, which reminded me
that he is said to have a little Turkish
blood. He shook hands quite simply, and
leading the way towards his desk, invited
me and Sefior Binayan to sit down.

I placed in his hands the two volumes of
Argentines of To-day, specially bound and
stamped in gold with his name, a gift
with which he seemed pleased. In a few
formal words he expressed his warm
approval. It would be utilisimo, etc.,
etc. We spoke of the Society and its
work, and when I placed in his hands the
Tirant lo Blanc, which Binayan had
carried, he was visibly impressed. " This
was too much," he said; "it was alto-
gether too much"; but I referred to it
lightly, as one of the works produced by

VII

HISPANIC NOTES

FROM ARGENTINA

605

the Society for its members and a few

distinguished friends. He shook hands

again, and when he repeated his desire to

serve me I replied that I had only one favour

to ask — that he show himself friendly to

our book the Argentines, which, of course,

he said he would do.

We passed out escorted by Molinari, who

seemed both pleased and relieved at hav-

ing this long-deferred visit at last over,

and went down the steps, passing the tall

guard on sentinel duty with his colonial

uniform and his modern bayonet; took a

farewell look at the handsome Plaza, and

got back to the hotel in bare time to

catch my boat.

AT SEA, December 3, 1920.

Now that the strain is over and I have

left behind the wear and tear of printers

and Presidents, I can look back at leisure

over the long course that I have followed

through the six republics from Peru to

Uruguay.

While I have no present desire to retrace

my steps and nowhere on my course have

AND MONOGRAPHS

VII

6o6

CASUAL LETTERS

eaten of the lotus,, I can well appreciate
that others may have been more favoured
than I, and found the fortunate isles
which I have missed. Yet as my letters
have borne witness, kindness and friend-
ship have followed me all the way. What-
ever differences may be found among the
republics, their people have this in com-
mon,, the love and practice of a formal
courtesy. Though Peruvians, Chileans and
Bolivians may be at daggers drawn,
though Argentines may be ready to fight
Chileans over Tierra del Fuego and Brazi-
lians over Paraguay, and Uruguayans are
themselves worried lest they be gobbled
up by their more powerful neighbours,
every one of them cherishes the rites of
politeness, and worships, at least from
afar, the ideal of Hidalguia.

None of them has yet achieved a repub-
lic except in name, but with the same
constitution, modelled upon that of the
United States, have emerged into des-
potism, oligarchy, autocracy, or boss rule ;
still they have failed quite as often from
sentimentalism as from baseness. The

VII

HISPANIC NOTES

FROM ARGENTINA

607

sturdy , impersonal sense of justice, the
readiness to give or receive unfavourable
judgments, does not occur, and in this
intensely personal approach to life in all
its aspects lies the root of another weak-
ness that undermines the character: a
love of praise and a shrinking from blame.
You would have been amused to hear,
as I have done in every country we have
visited, my secretaries explaining to the
" biografiados " that this was a very
extraordinary kind of book that we were
making, for it excluded words of praise.
The apology was needed to prevent trouble,
because none of our friends could under-
stand an account of himself, unless written
by an avowed enemy, that was not couched
in terms of lavish adulation.

The laborious task I came to do is done :
I have finished the six books, producing,
printing and publishing them all in a year
and a half — a stint of work that I shall
never try to repeat. In the retrospect
many memories crowd to the mind; the
disagreeables, the worries, the vexations
and annoyances disappear, giving place

AND MONOGRAPHS

VII

6o8

CASUAL LETTERS

to pleasurable images and recollections of
happy hours : the tea-time parties on
Santa Lucia Hill in Santiago, the un-
forgettable visits to the cyclopean Inca
fortress that towers over Cuzco, and hours
in hospitable homes. There spring to the
memory the book-filled study of Ricardo
Palma in Lima; a vine-hung porch in
Arequipa looking across to the mountains ;
a low stone farm-house beyond Cuzco ; a
cosy, domestic house on a steep street in
La Paz ; Sefior Medina's comfortable home,,
with its treasures of books and medals
and coins, in Santiago ; and in Buenos
Aires, besides the houses of friends, the
den where Professor Debenedetti dispenses
coffee and archaeology in the basement of
the University, and certain cafes, con-
secrated by innumerable discussions of all
things in earth and sky. Under these
roofs I have eaten the bread of friendship,
and I remember them as a pilgrim might
remember the shrines along his way.

FINIS

VII

HISPANIC NOTES

INDEX

AGUERA, DR. DE LA RIVA, 17, 18

Alessandri, Sefior, nominated for
President of Chile, 376

Alvear, General Carlos Maria, one
of the founders of the Argentine
Republic, 459

American business men and
methods, 296

American colony in Lima, 16

" Anatole France of Paraguay,
the," visit to, 500

Angostura, Chile, Pass of, 280;
second impressions of, 311

Antofagasta, 254

Arequipa, Peru, compared with
Lima, 192 ; Cathedral at, ibid. ;
churches, monasteries and nun-
neries of, 193 ; laxity of clergy
in, 194 ; hoarding habits at,
195; mountains of, 198; Har-
vard Observatory at, 200

Argentina, compared with Chile,
398, 407; slackness in, 423;
University of, Buenos Aires,
452; no negroes in, 454; pro-
crastination in, 455, 460; hy-
giene in, 457; lack of drainage
in, 458; overdue Budgets of,
475 ; " duel " between two
statesmen in, 540; disquiet at
financial outlook, 581 ; future
of, difficult to forecast, 582;
banking restrictions and high
rate of interest in, 583 ; bribery
and public work in, 584;
cattle in, 592 ; cattle-raising in,
593 ; the drama in, 594 ; lack of
justice in law courts of, 596;
last visit to the President of,
601

Argentine, the, and Yankee,
differences between, 569

Arica, 253, 254

Aspillaga, Sefior, candidate for
Presidency of Peru, 65

Asuncion, Paraguay, arrival at,
485 ; favourable impressions
of, ibid. ; general effect of, 490 ;
University, neglected condition
of, 491, 493 ; municipal market
at, 492 ; Spanish Club at, visit
to, 493; military review at,
494; surprising climate of,
489, 511; business methods of,
503; church of the Encarna-
cion at, 505; Zoological Gar-
dens at, 508; museum at, 509;
compared with Lima, 512;
Brazilian negro troops at, 513

Ayacucho, Peru, the Indians at,
79

Aymara Indians, an implacable
race, 249

BIGELOW, PROFESSOR, of Concord,
Mass., and the Argentine
Meteorological Service, 573

Billinghurst, Senor, President of
Peru, incites mob against
Legufa, 64

Binayan, Senor, author's secre-
tary, 477, 492, 524, 601, 604

Bogarfn, Bishop, episcopal jubilee
celebration at Asuncion Cathe-
dral, Paraguay, 506

Bolivia, House of Representa-
tives at, a free-and-easy As-
sembly, 234; compared with
Peru, 242 ; extent, population,
language and income of, 247;
its future prospects, ibid.

Bolivian lunch, a, 240 ; character,
compared with Peruvian, 248

Bonnencontre, M., a French
painter in Chile, 361

Books, ruthless treatment of, in
Argentina, 551

Boyd, Captain, U.S. Naval At-
tache at Argentina, 430

609

6io

INDEX

British colony in Lima, 16

Drum, Dr., President of Uruguay,
533 ; disappointing interview
with, 534

Bryce, Mr., and the people of
Chile, 308

Bryce, Mrs.,*penetrates the Tem-
ple of the Sun, Cuzco, Peru,
219

Buenos Aires, Argentina, arrival
at, 405 ; visit to the Library
of Congress, 409, 412; Cathe-
dral at, 410; an extensive
city, 417; modernity of, ibid.;
Municipal Pawnshop at, 419;
feast of Corpus Christi in, 425 ;
English " cathedral " at, 429 ;
visit to U.S. Ambassador at,
430; an eloquent sermon at,
431; climatic conditions of,
433 I holidays and processions
in, 439; History and Numis-
matics Club in, 458 ; a pleasure-
loving city, 469; its Anglican
and Catholic Cathedrals com-
pared, 470; speculation in
sugar and a fire at, 539 ; Colum-
bus Day in, 552 ; anti-foreign
feeling in, 554 ; National Library
in, a well-ordered institution,
559; newspapers in, 560;
registered postal packets, diffi-
culty of obtaining, 563 ; Opera
House, symphony concerts at,
568 ; pleasant parks in, 572 ;
plutocratic society of, 576;
wealth and ostentation in,
ibid. ; disquietude of, about
financial outlook, 581 ; few
picturesque spots in, 588; a
single touch of romance in, 590 ;
flower market in, 591 ; cattle
show at, 593; a characterless
city, 597

Buero, Senor, Uruguayan Secre-
tary for Foreign Affairs, 535 ;
a "live wire," 536

Bull-fights at Lima, 48, 85

CABALLERO, General Paraguayan
Army, his numerous progeny,
507

Caceres, General, ex-President of
Peru, 30

Cajamaquillo, a ruined Inca city,
57; burial grounds at, 60

Callao, the Customs House, 22;
mixture of races in, 23 ; quota
tion on, 266

Callao harbour a disappointing
prospect, i

Capilla, Argentina, 478

Carnegie model libraries in South
America, 527; books in, never
read, 528

Cerro de la Gloria, Argentina, 401

Chala, Peru, a dreary cattle port,
187

Chile, political stability of, 263 ;
infusion of British blood in,
264 ; opinion of American
policy in, 296; sidewalks as
reception-rooms in, 305 ; pro-
mise and performance in, 306;
Government of, 326; frequent
fall of Ministries in, 327; a
strike meeting in, 328; educa-
tion in, 329 ; illiteracy in, 330 ;
its foreign propaganda, 338 ;
death-rate in, 317, 343; futile
missionary efforts in, 352 ;
business hours in, 371 ; Con-
vention at, 375 ; visit to
Ministers of, 377 ; May Day in
381

Chileans, temperament of, 258;
cruelty to animals of, ibid. ;
aptitude for business of, 259;
pride and vanity of, 260;
character of, 265 ; penetrating
stare of, 274; unreliability of,
277; racial constituents of,
287; lack of artistic conscious-
ness of, 291 ; aggressive nature
of, 292 ; unobliging store-
keepers, 293; their opinion of
Americans, 298 ; womenkind
of, 301 ; their lack of manners,
304; un communicativeness of,
325 ; a fascinating study, 365 ;
hardihood and ruthlessness of,
3.66

Chinese retailers in Peru, 151

Chorrillos, a suburb of Lima, 61

Chosica, a Peruvian oasis, 71

Churches in Lima, dignified archi-
tecture and tawdry decoration
of, 74 ; stripped by Chileans,
75

INDEX

611

Clayton, Mr. H. H., of Weather
Bureau at Washington, and
the Argentine Meteorological
Service, 573

Cock-fight at Lima, 52

Colleges in Peru, untidiness of, 81

Concordia, Argentina, 479

Constitucion, a decayed seaport,
313; lack of population in,
317; climatal conditions and
scenery of, 319 ; poor accom-
modation of, 320

Convent of the Recogidas, Lima,
despoiled by the Sisters, 107

Correa, Senor, Chilean painter,
360

Crucero Alto, Peru, highest point
oa railway, 203

Cuzco, Peru, arrival at, 209;
Cathedral at, 210; Temple of
the Sun at, 214, 218

DEBENEDETTI, DR., Argentine

archaeologist, 412, 608
Donoso, Armando, a brilliant

Chilean writer, 349

Gibbons, Cardinal, compared with
Archbishop Errazuriz, 336

Giesecke, Dr., 209, 218, 220

Godoi, Senor Juansilvano, and
the National Library, Asun-
cion, 486, 493

Godoy, Lucila, " Gabriela Mis-
tral," Chilean poetess, visit to,
372 ; retiring disposition of,
373

Gold lace in Latin-American re-
publics, waste of, 495

Gondra, Seiior Don Manuel,
President of Paraguay, 486;
inauguration of, 488; visit to,
509; taciturnity of, 510;
further interviews with, 516;
unenviable position of, 517

Gonnet, Dr., Vice Rector of
Buenos Aires University, 452

Groussac, Senor Paul, librarian
of National Library, Buenos
Aires, 421, 560

Guerra, Gutierrez, President of
Bolivia, 237; a descendant of
Lord Palnierston, 238; inter-
view with, ibid.

ELLIOT, Miss L. E., of the London
Times, in Santiago, 388

ElMercurio, a century -old Chilean
newspaper, 348; its editors,
349

English-speaking colony of Sant-
iago, insulated life of, 389

Errazuriz, His Grace Crescente,
Archbishop of Santiago, 315 ;
visit to, 333 ; compared with
Cardinal Gibbons, 336

FERNANDIXI, SENOR, a rich Peru-
vian capitalist, 150

Fleming, Dr., of the National
Library, Buenos Aires, 422

French colony in Lima, 16

" GABRIELA MISTRAL," see Godoy,

Lucila.
Gamarra, Abelardo, Indian

author, 132
Garcia, Senor Juan Augustin,

Argentine playwright, 594

HAIDER, MR., New York portrait

painter, 586
Helsby, Alfredo, Chilean painter,

291, 360
Huidobro, Sefior, Chilean Minister

of Foreign Affairs, quoted, 327
Huneeus, Senor Antonio, Chilean

Minister of Foreign Affairs,

visit to, 358

IEANEZ, BLASCO, and latin-
America, 308

Illimanni mountain, Bolivia, 250
Impressions of Peru, different,

118
Incas, the, magnificent temples

and stonework of, at Cuzco,

Peru, 213
Indian girl, bargaining with an,

226
Indians of Peru, dependability

of, 78 ; honesty of, 184
Indians, ill-treatment of, in Peru,

69, 132 ; veiled slavery of, 133 ;

beautiful work of, 232, 233;

6l2

INDEX

of Peru and Bolivia compared,

242
Intermarriage between Argentines

and Anglo-Saxons, mistake of.

574
Jquique, story of the strike in

367

Italian colony in Lima, 16
Italians, Peruvian business in

hands of, 151

Ituralde, Sefior, Bolivian journal-
ist and politician, 235
Izquierdo, Sefior Salvador, a

Chilean aristocrat, visit to,

299

JAPANESE retailers in Peru, 151

Jauregui, Sefior, 240, 242

Jorgerisen, Senor, Director of the
Asuncion museum, 509

Juarez, Benito, founder of Re-
public of Mexico, 134

Juliaca, Peru, uncomfortable
quarters at, 206

KIRKPATRICK, F. A., his contrast
between Mexico and Peru, 134

LAKE OF THE INCA, Chile, the,

desolation of, 397
La Paz, Bolivia, picturesqueness

of, 229 ; Cathedral of, 230 ; lack

of intellectual interests in, 231 ;

architecture of, 236; Church

life in, 245
Larco, Victor, a rich Peruvian

capitalist, 150
Larreta, Dr., ex-Minister of

Argentina, visit to, 445
Las Amancaes, Peru, a primitive

spot, 109
Latin-America, Blasco Ibaiiez and

308
Latin -American republics, waste

of gold lace in, 495
Latin-American and North Ameri

can women compared, 358
Latin-Americans, 435, 443
Lazo, Francisco, Peruvian painter

Leavitt, Dr., 175, 240, 409
Legufa, Sefior A. B. ,Pre^ident of

Peru, and the Peruvian Revo-
lution, 6, 10, ii ; efficient
organisation of, 12; personal
appearance, 31 ; modest resi-
dence of, 64 ; interview with,
102 ; on the Revolution of 1909,
104; bravery of, ibid. ; taken
prisoner by Sefior Pierola in
1909, 117; reported plot to
assassinate, 123

Leguizamon, Dr., President of
the History and Numismatics
Club, Buenos Aires, 459

Lima, i ; compared with Havana
and Mexico, 4; its Cathedral,
ibid.; Pizarro's tomb in, 99;
Seventeenth-Century Score
Books in, 100 ; Revolution in, 5,
10 ; dreariness of, 7 ; its bells,
beggars, and churches, 8; the
Church's crushing burden, 9;
convents numerous in, ibid. ;
Palace intrigue at, 13; popu-
lation of, 15 ; foreign colonies
in, 16; religious processions
in, 28; church of the Merced
impressive service in, 29 ; earth-
quake in, 32 ; a Peace breakfast
in, 33; ancient glories of, 35;
a national holiday in, 45 ; bull-
fight at, 48 ; cock-fight at, 52 ;
candidates for the Presidency
of, 65; politics and pessimism
in, 68 ; low oxygen content of,
71 ; numerous churches of, and
their dignified architecture and
tawdry decoration, 74; educa
tion in, 80; a day's itinerary
in, 89; Ministry of Foreign
Relations in, 94 ; Government
Palace, 97; lottery drawings
in, ibid.; Academy of Music
in, 106; School of Fine Arts
in, 107; the Senate House;
beautiful carving of, 108 ; an
informal Presidential dinner
112; different impressions of,
118 ; newspaper offices wrecked
by mob, 126; police passivity
in political crises, 128; cruelty
to animals in, 135 ; bartering of
children in, 136; a relic of the
past, 140; students' strike in,
142 ; Municipal Water Works at,
146; lax care of, 147; work-

INDEX

613

men's strikes in, 155 ; funeral
of Ricardo Paltna, 164

Los Andes, 392

Lurfn, Peru, 175

Luxburg, von, German Ambas-
sador to Argentina, 474

Cathedral at, 466, 528; Uni-
versity and National Library
at, 527; a utilitarian city, 535
Moule River, Chosica, Chile,
navigable only by small craft,

MclvER, SENOR, a leading Chilean
citizen, visit to, 315

Mackenna Vicuna, designer and
architect of Santa Lucia Hill,
Santiago, 340

Manners in South America, 546;
comparison between Mexico
and Arkansas, and Argentina
and New York or Boston,
ibid.

Mapocho River, Chile, a sunset
excursion across, 302

Mateo, the Negro hero of Cuba,
J34

Matienzo, Senor, Argentine author,
on laxity of Government of
Argentina, 596

Mayo, Dr., American surgeon,
and Buenos Aires, 457

Medina, Colonel Federico de,
collection of works of art of,
at La Paz, Bolivia, 233

Medina, Senor Jose Toribio, a
learned Chilean, visit to, 279,
311, 314, 316, 320, 333, 608

Mendoza, Argentina, 399 ; popu-
lation of, 400; centre of vini-
culture, ibid.- sights of, 401

Mercantile Bank of the Americas,
Peru, prosperous career of,
150

Merced, church of the, Lima, an
impressive service in, 29

Miro Quesada, Antonio, Peruvian
newspaper proprietor, 127; his
house burnt by the mob, ibid. ;
attacked by mob, 129; police
fire on, 130; intrepidity of,
ibid.

Mitre, General, and the Argentine
treasury, 515

Molinari, Senor, Argentine Under-
secretary for Foreign Affairs,
413, 600, 601, 602

Mollendo, Peru, 189

Montevideo, arrival at, 463; a
well-ordered city, 466, 525;

NEWSPAPER offices set fire to in

Peru, 126
Nunoa, Chile, luxurious gardens

of, 270

OBLIGADO PASTOR, author of
Argentine Traditions, 458

Ojeda, Senor Luis Thayer, Chilean
author, and the Chilean pride
of race, 365

PACIFIC, War of the, 253

Palace intrigue in Lima, 13

Palma, Dr. Ricardo, author of

Tradiciones, 17; his daughter

Anjelica, ibid., 18; death and

State funeral of, 164 ; 458, 608

Paraguay, first impressions of,

482 ; frequent revolutions in,

487; military of, 489; general

poverty of, 498; its paper

money, uncertain value of, 504 ;

Sices of commodities in, ibid. ;
thedral at, 507; backward-
ness of, 515; belated statistical
reports of, ibid.

Parana River, crossing the, 521

Pardo, Jose, President of Peru,
and the Revolution, 6, 10;
imprisonment of, n, 67, 103,
™5, 153

Paz-Soldan, Senor Juan Pedro,
author of the Diccionario Bio-
greiffco, of Peru, 20, 41, 90, 93,
94, 487

Pena, Don Enrique, Argentine
bibliophile, visit to, 587

Perez, Senor, and the School of
Commerce, Asunci6n, 510; on
the climate of Paraguay, 512

Peru, revolution in, 5, 10 ; the
problem of, 77 ; education
in, 80; a day's itinerary in,
89; the Academy of Music,
Lima, 106; Senate House at

614

INDEX

Lima, exquisite carving of,
108; different impressions of,
118; general dirtiness of popu-
lation of, 120 ; the " land of
' hush, hush ! ' ", 132 ; ill-
treatment of Indians in, ibid.;
racial hostility in, 133 ; Kirk-
patrick's contrast between
Mexico and, 134; cruelty to
animals in, 135; indifference
to dirt and fleas in, ibid. ; sex
relationships in, ibid.; selling
children in, 136; primitive,
mediaeval, and capitalist, 149;
rich capitalists of, 150; busi-
ness competition in, ibid. ;
signs of development in, 151;
prospects for business men and
investors, 152; general con-
clusions about, 181 ; no foreign
debt, 183; laundries of, 184;
compared with Bolivia, 242 ;
and Bolivian character com-
pared, 248 ; War of the Pacific
(1877-82), 253

Peruvian mountains, desolation
of, 3; journalists, 180; medi-
cine, 202

Peruvians of To-day, an arduous
undertaking, 138

Peruvians, general dirtiness and
apathy of, 13, 119; their
shiftlessness, 121; not good
business men, 151; politeness
of, 153

Pessimism, Peruvian politics and,
68, 86

Pierola, Senoi de, candidate for
Presidency of Peru, 65; his
house wrecked by an organised
mob, 66; rushes Lima Palace
and carries off President Legufa,
117

Pizarro, tomb of, 5, 99, 101

Posadas, Argentina, 480

Posnansky, Prof., 232; his
" Palace of Tiahuanaca," 239

Postal difficulties in Argentina,563

Prado y Ugarteche, Dr. Javier,
Rector of the University of
San Marcos, Lima, visits to,
20, 23 ; his interesting scien-
tific collection, 24, 233

Puebla, Mexico, and Lima, com-
pared, 40

Pueyrredon, Dr. Honorio, Argen-
tine Minister of Foreign Affairs,
540, 601

Puno, Peru, Protestant mission
at, 79

QUESADA, DR. ERNESTO, 599
Quichua Indians, a mild, teach-
able race, 249

RADA, DR. DE, Secretary of the
House of Representatives,
Bolivia, his collection of Indian
craftsmanship, 232, 240

Rancagua, Chile, bustling railway
station at, 322

Rebolledo, Seiior, Chilean painter,
360 ; visit to, 368

Recogidas Convent, Lima, de-
spoiled by the Sisters, 107

Religion in South America, 545

Rimac River, Peru, the, 21

Rio Blanco, 395

Rivadavia, Argentina, and its
Cathedral, 441

Rockefeller Foundation, the, in
Asunci6n Paraguay, 495

Rojas, Professor, lecture on
Argentine Literature by, at
Buenos Aires, 437

Roosevelt, Theodore, mobbed by
Chilean students, 292

Ross, Professor, on the difference
between South American and
U.S. cities, 598

SACHSAHOAMAN fortress, Cuzco,

Peru, 213; ruins of, 215, 608
San Antonio, Paraguay, starving

people of, 495
San Cristobal Hill, 22, 37;

fascination of, 84, 341
Sanfuentes, Juan Luis, President

of Chile, interview with, 267
San Marcos University, Lima,

students' strike at, 142 ; its

seldom visited Library, 144
San Martin, Dr. Zorrilla de,

Uruguayan author, visit to,

529
Santa Lucia Hill, Santiago, Chile,

rallying point of the Spaniards,

INDEX

284 ; the beauty spot of Sant-
iago, 340

Santiago, Chile, 256; its admir-
able situation, 261; sym-
metrical buildings of, 262 ;
beauty of, 266; President's
Palace in, 268; the Plaza
habit, 283 ; National Museum
at, disappointing paintings in,
290 ; Cathedral at, 294 ; clean
and unclean streets of, 304 ;
people of, compared with those
of Europe, 308; infant mor
tality in, 317, 344; compared
with Lima, 331 ; climate of,
342 ; " Solidarity " demonstra-
tion in, ibid. ; three years' death
totals in, 344 ; fears of depopu-
lation of, ibid.; Good Friday
at the Cathedral at, 347; visit
to newspaper offices of, 348;
Hall of Congress at, 349 ; the
Bishop's Visitation procession
at, 350 ; visit to slums of, with
Presbyterian missionary, 351 ;
futility of missionary work in,
352 ; few art treasures of, 360 ;
not a book-buying comir> unity,
386

Sargent, Mr., British Consul at
Santiago, 388

Scarone, Senor Arturo, 464, 529

Senora Scarone, principal of
Montevideo Institution for Deaf
Mutes, visit to, 464, 465

Seventeenth-century Score Books,
100

Sicuane, Peru, 224; markets of,
225

Silva, Senor, secretary to the
author, 372

Solano, Senor Jose M., Cuban
Minister to Uruguay, visit to,
529

South America, race and climate
chief factors in national life,
331 ; unsuitable for American
or English settlers, 542; in-
vestment and trade in, 543;
religion in, 544

South Americans, lack of moral
earnestness in, 286

South American women, 354 ;
lacking in fine moral sense,
357

Stimson, Mr., U.S. Ambassador

to Argentina, visit to, 430
Strauss, Richard, conductor of

symphony concerts at Buenos

Aires, 568
Sucre, Bolivia, an inaccessible

capital, 248

TACNA-ARICA. the South Ameri-
can Alsace-Lorraine, question
of, 337

Talca, Chile, a featureless town,
320; vanity of, 321; mis-
sionary work in, 352

Tello, Dr. Julio C., Peruvian
archaeologist, 57, 97, 99, 167

Temple of the Sun, Cuzco,
Peru, impressive remains of.
214, 218

Torre Tagle Palace, the Peruvian
Academy of Music, 106

Trujillo, Peru, Indian training at,
79

UMPHREY, PROFESSOR, of Wash-
ington University, lecture by,
in the University, Buenos Aires,
549

United States and Chile, and in-
sufficient postage, 297

VAISSE, EMILIO, Chilean literary
critic, 349

Valenzuela, Chilean painter, 291
360

Valparaiso, a twentieth-century
city, 255 ; English business,
language, and monetary stand-
ard predominant in, 265

Vargas, Senor Nicolds Lois y, a
Chilean picture dealer, 362 ;
his heterogeneous collection,
ibid. ; price list of, 363

Vildosola, Carlos Silva, editor of
the Santiago El Mercurio, 349

Villanueva, Dr., President of the
Argentine Senate, 540

Villcanota River, Peru, 226

WILEY, MR., secretary to U.S.
Ambassador at Argentina, 433

6i6

INDEX

Wilson; President, and Chile, 296
Women in South America, con-
duct toward, 548
Wood, General, 'and his game leg
431

YRIGOYEN, Hip6LiTO, Presidcntof
the Argentine Republic, estima-

tion of his character 414, 472;
business methods of, 473;
Seiior Yrurtia on, 475: news-
papers opposed to, 561

Yrurtia, Setiora, 586

Yrurtia, Seiior Rogelio, Argentine
sculptor, and the President,
475; visit to, 585

UNIFORM WITH THIS VOLUME there
have been published by The Hispanic Society
a series of books of biographies designed to
make better known to English-speaking people
the representative living men of Hispanic
America, and so to strengthen the bonds of
mutual understanding and friendship. The
countries so far covered are Argentina, Bolivia,
Chile, Cuba, Paraguay, Peru, Uruguay. The
books aim at being generally representative,
and at introducing a sufficiently numerous
group of the leaders in various fields of activity
to give readers a just impression of the civilisa-
tion and achievements of the Hispanic American
Republics. The subjects of these biographies
are therefore drawn from all parts of the country
and from every important department of ac-
tivity. They include artists, authors, states-
men, priests, farmers, soldiers, engineers, poets,
merchants, sailors, teachers, as well as men of
affairs and public officials, and their lives reflect
the dominant currents of the national life in

their countries and the nature and quality of
their political organisations.

The books were edited by Mr. William Bel-
mont Parker, author of Casual Letters from South
America. The list follows : —

Argentines of To- Day, 2 Vols. 1,096 pages, 448

biographies, 184 portraits . . . 305-.
Bolivians of To-Day, i Vol. 334 pages, 121

biographies, 62 portraits . . 12*. 6d.
Chileans of To-Day, i Vol. 654 pages, 276

biographies, 95 portraits . . .155.
Cubans of To-Day, i Vol. 702 pages, 220

biographies, 89 portraits . . .155.
Paraguayans of To-Day, i Vol. 330 pages,

123 biographies, 52 portraits . 125. 6d.
Peruvians of To-Day, i Vol. 632 pages, 256

biographies, 95 portraits . . .15^.
Uruguayans of To-Day, i Vol. 450 pages,

200 biographies, 88 portraits . „ 15$.

IN PREPARATION

Colombians of To-Day.
Venezuelans oj To-Day.
Brazilians of To-Day.

THE HISPANIC SOCIETY OF AMERICA,

67, GREAT RUSSELL STREET,
LONDON, W.C. i.

HISPANIC

HISPANIC SOCIETY

PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE
CARDS OR SLIPS FROM THIS POCKET

UNIVERSITY OF TORONTO LIBRARY

F Parker, William Belmont
2223 Casual letters from South
P27 America

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