The following pages contain the writer's personal experiences in the"Republic of Uruguay" during a revolution in what are now known as the"Old Days."
If they enable the reader to understand what life in that country reallymeant at that time, the object of this book will then be attained.
W. C. T.
The Close, Wavendon,
Woburn Sands,
Bucks.
July, 1919.
| PAGE | ||
| Part I. | Las Sierras de Mal Abrigo | 9 |
| Part II. | El Cerro del Pichinango | 68 |
| Part III. | La Estancia Esperanza | 169 |
The clock of the "Cathedral de la Matrix" was striking ten on a lovelymorning in October, when our signal gun was fired, and the anchor of thes.s. "Copernicus" let go to find bottom in the muddy waters ofLa Plata.
On the right the town of Monte Video, with its whitewashed "azotea," orflat-roofed houses, glistened in the bright sunshine; to the left thebroad estuary stretched away towards the open sea; while in front of usthe famous Cerro, a gently sloping hill, looked green and fresh andpleasant after our long sea voyage. The tug which brought off theMedical Officer of Health did not delay long before coming alongside,when permission was given to the passengers to land, and I soon foundmyself standing with my baggage on the Custom House wharf, and havingduly passed it, made my way to the "Hotel Oriental."
Here I enquired when a diligence would leave for the interior, whichwould take me within reasonable distance of my friend's estancia, whom Ihad come out to visit, which I believed to be situate about thirty-threeleagues, or one hundred miles, up country. I was informed that it was toleave the next morning, but that, as it started from a "fonda," or inn,outside the town at 5 a.m., it would be necessary to sleep there,otherwise I should certainly miss it. [Pg 10]At this time the diligence wasthe only public conveyance traversing the country, a railway being asyet unthought of. So I ordered some dinner at t