 |
Alfred A. Benitz | Page last modified: |
(Courtesy of J.D. Horner)
|
Alfred A. Benitz | Page last modified: |
(Courtesy of J.D. Horner)
Alfred's biography, written in 1952, was based upon these Chronicles. Lilian Marsh-Simpson compiled the chronicles in 1938, shortly after Alfred's death. She researched and recorded family anecdotes, old letters, estancia “La California” day-books, and Alfred’s diaries. We have decided to make the Chronicles available because they contain quotes from sources (diaries mostly) that are not available to us today. We know some estancia day-books were destroyed by mice and several of Alfred’s diaries have disappeared or had pages torn out (e.g. December 1876 and January-May 1877).
May 1st 1938.
PREFATORY NOTE.
"Las Trés Lagunas"
Las Rosas.
F.C.C.A.
The original M.S.S. of these chronicles covers many hundreds of closely written pages in a diary commenced in the year 1873, when my husband was thirteen years of age. This was his last year in California before leaving for the Argentine Republic. It includes letters, scraps and cuttings, also his father's letters to relations in Germany, between the years 1852 and 1863.
Olga Blanche Benitz.
May 1st, 1938.
I L L U S T R A T I O N S
Frontispiece. Page
[ To go to a PART or CHAPTER, click on its number. ]
| C O N T E N T S. | ||
| Prefatory note by Mrs Alfred Benitz. | ||
| PART ONE. California. 1852 – 1867. |
||
| CHAPTER | I | Birth and Parentage, Fort Ross, California. |
| " | II | The Miners. |
| " | III | Fort Ross. Political Difficulties. |
| " | IV | Fort Ross. Relatives. |
| " | V | California in 1862 – 1867. |
| PART TWO Oakland. California. 1873 – 1874. |
||
| " | VI | School. |
| " | VII | I begin my Diary. |
| " | VIII | School Days and Holidays. |
| " | IX | January – July. 1874. |
| PART THREE. The voyage to the Argentine Republic. 1874. |
||
| " | X | As far as Panama Bay. |
| " | XI | Before Aspinwall. |
| " | XII | At Hoboken. New Jersey. |
| " | XIII | The voyage to Southampton. England. |
| " | XIV | England to Buenos Aires. |
| PART FOUR. | ||
| " | XV | The Founding of Buenos Aires. 1515 – 1810. |
| " | XVI | The Argentine Republic. 1816 – 1874. |
| PART FIVE. | ||
| " | XVII | Buenos Aires in October 1874. |
| " | XVIII | Rosario. Santa Fe. |
| " | XVIIII | Argentine Territory. 1875. |
| " | XX | La California. |
| " | XXI | Gauchos. |
| " | XXII | Frank's Diary. 1876. |
| " | XXIII | Alfred Resumes his Diary. 1876. |
| " | XXIV | La California. 1877. |
| PART SIX | ||
| " | XXV | Indians. |
| " | XXVI | La California. 1878 – 1879. |
| " | XXVII | Argentine Commerce. 1880. |
| " | XXVIII | La California. 1880 – 1881. |
| " | XXIX | Hunting Expedition. Pampas District. |
| " | XXX | La California. 1882 – 1883. |
| PART SEVEN | ||
| " | XXXI | Laguna Yacaré, near Espin River. Chaco. 1884. |
| " | XXXII | Daily Log Book. 1885. |
| " | XXXIII | General Progress in the Argentine. 1885 – 1900. |
| " | XXXIV | La California. 1886 – 1887. |
| " | XXXV | Laguna Yacaré. 1887. |
| PART EIGHT | ||
| " | XXXVI | The Benitz Estancias. 1892. |
| " | XXXVII | Expedition Against the Indians. 1895. |
| " | XXXVIII | The Benitz Properties in 1897 – 1898. |
| " | XXXIX | The Argentine Republic in 1931 – 1914. |
| PART NINE. | ||
| " | XL | Travel. 1904. |
| " | XLI | Hunting expedition in Alaska. 1908. |
| " | XLII | On Safari in British East Africa. 1910. |
| " | XLIII | Marriage. 1915. |
| " | XLIV | Disaster. Cordoba. 1916. |
| " | XLV | Travels. 1916 – 1918. |
| " | XLVI | Europe. 1920. |
| " | XLVII | Pulmari and Chile. 1922. |
| " | XLIII | England and Scotland. 1925. |
| " | XLIX | Iguazú Falls. Misiones. 1929. |
| " | L | Finis. 1937. |
| REFERENCE BOOKS. | ||
I was born in Upper California, at our home "Fort Ross", Mendocino County, on June 15th, 1859, being the eighth of the ten children born to my parents. Their first three died in early infancy.
My father, William Otto Benitz, was born on February 9th, 1815, and was one of a numerous German family living at Endingen-in-Bresgau, Duchy of Baden. He left home when seventeen years of age, shipping as a sailor in a merchant brig bound for North America. They were wrecked off the coast of Mexico, however, and my father, who was among the few survivors, remained in that country for several years before making his way north to California.
He and my mother were married in the year 1846, when she was sixteen years old. She was named Josephine and was the elder daughter of Michael Kolmer and Josephine Wagner, also from Endingen, and was taken by her parents to North America in the year 1833, at the age of three. They lived at St Louis, Missouri, until she was nearly sixteen, when they crossed the plains in a covered wagon drawn by oxen, en route for California, a distance of about one thousand miles, and were among the first to make this terrible journey from which so few survived.
On March 14th, 1852, my father wrote to his brother Anthony who was living in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, saying that he had been in California since 1843, had written twice to his family but had received no answer, and after many years of struggles and hardships, had made his fortune. This letter was forwarded to his family in Germany, who had not heard from him for twelve years.
My parents had now been settled at Fort Ross for the past nine years. Their first child had died at birth. The second, a girl, was abducted by the Indians while playing in the garden. My mother hearing the child’s screams, jumped on to a horse and dashing into the Indian encampment snatched up her baby and made off. The savages were so surprised at her courage that they did not molest her, but she was too late, the child had already been scalped of her golden curls and died a few days later. Their third infant was equally unfortunate as he was smothered by his Indian nurse who tried to stifle his crying which kept her awake.
My eldest surviving brother Franz Josef (Frank) was now two years old, and my sister Josephine was born in October of this year (1852). The Kolmers were living, together with their son, John, and a younger daughter, Caroline, on a farm about two miles distant.
Fort Ross was situated on the sea-coast, and lay seventy miles north of San Francisco. Built in the year 1812, it was originally an old Russian property, protected by a wooden fort, when my father and his German partner, Meyer, bought it and transformed it into a farm. These forts were originally built by fur traders as a protection against the raids of robbers and Indians, as formerly large fortunes were made by hunting the Southern sea-otter, which was an important fur-bearer of California in the early nineteenth century, when from five to ten thousand of these animals were caught in a single year by the Russian fur-traders. Consequently, it was rapidly reduced in numbers until it was considered to be extinct.
Father and Meyer between them owned six square leagues of land, ten thousand head of cattle, and two hundred mares and horses. They planted grain and potatoes, and the resulting crops were sent by a schooner to Sonoma (about eighteen hours journey distant) to be sold, as quite big boats could drop anchor at one hundred fathoms close to our own stretch of coast and ship cargo. During the year 1852 they sold four thousand pounds of potatoes at five cents a pound.
Ever a generous and kindly man, my father was much distressed to hear from his brother, Thadeus, of their ill-fortune in Germany, and sent them money as regularly as he could; about five hundred dollars a month. He discouraged my uncle's idea of bringing his family to America, however, by saying:- "such a journey with a family would be very risky on account of the danger and sickness at Panama, and although some people have made their fortunes, thousands go astray and fail in these inhospitable countries. No one would envy me if I told them what I went through in all parts of America, on water and on land, and of the many things I have done (but nothing that an honest man would reject) and how many unfortunate fellow countrymen I have met."
Actually there were several members of my father's family living in different parts of North America. His brother, Anthony, had established a prosperous business in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, his married sister (the Mahrers) was living in Ohio; two cousins, Louis and Adolfus Benitz, who led the varied and uncertain lives of gold-prospectors, were in Mexico, while his youngest and favourite brother Franz Xavier (Uncle Frank) had thrown in his lot with ours and was for many years of affectionate memory, our guide, counsellor and friend.
From the year 1822, when allegiance was alienated from Spain, California had belonged to Mexico up to the year 1847. The people of Texas held that their State extended south-west as far as the Rio Grande, but the Mexican Government refused to admit that it extended further than the Nueces River.
The American Government after vainly trying to negotiate with Mexico, the outcome was the American-Mexican War of 1847-1848, after which California became an American possession. The coast had been explored by many nationalities, but for several years there were no settlements.
On January 24th, 1848, just before the Treaty of Peace with Mexico was signed, gold was discovered at John A Sutter's farm on the South Fork of the American River. A workman, James Marshall, while digging in a mill-race, observed that the soil was full of particles of gold, and soon realized that gold abounded there. (His monument now occupies the spot.) Although Sutter tried to keep it a secret, the news spread rapidly and the little towns in the west were deserted while the inhabitants dug for ore, and even with their jack-knives gouged chunks of the precious metal from hillside seams. Seven Americans were said to have taken out two hundred and seventy-five pounds of gold in a little more than six weeks while in one week two men obtained $17,000 worth from a trench a few feet wide.
When the news reached the Eastern States, thousands of farmers clerks, mechanics and professional men of all nationalities went to seek their fortunes. Some made the long journey in sailing vessels round Cape Horn, others crossed the disease-infected forests of the Isthmus of Panama and then made their way north; while many took the long and dangerous journey across the plains, which soon became strewn with the bones of animals who had died of hunger, thirst and exhaustion. One "forty-niner" wrote in his diary "on one fifteen-mile stretch of desert trail I counted 750 dead horses, oxen and mules; and in the last ten miles 362 wagons, besides quantities of leather trunks, clothing and other things, thrown away to lighten the load". Yet in spite of these hardships, to which were added the murderous attacks of the Indians, in the year 1849 nearly one hundred thousand people poured into California in search of gold. Unfortunately, there also came thieves, crooks and killers.
In the year 1845 my father was working with the aforesaid John Sutter who for many years was a constant visitor to our home. He used to bring sweets to us children and take us for rides on his magnificent white horse. He had a fine imposing figure and invariably wore a big black frock-coat, checked trousers (which my Mother once mended for him) and a huge broad-brimmed felt hat. In his right hand he generally carried his General's baton of which he was very proud. He was born in Kandern, Grand Duchy of Baden in 1803 and was one of the most prominent foreigners in the interior of North America. He held a grant of eleven square leagues of land around the present site of Sacramento, originally called "Sutter's Fort" whereon he built a trading-post and a fort, in the year 1839. Although Sutter himself was a Swiss, his position as a Mexican official, and the location of his fortified post station on the border, made him of great importance in the years proceeding and immediately following American occupation. Into Sutter's Fort in 1841 drove the first immigrant wagon to cross the plains. Eventually the lawless hordes following the gold stampede robbed and ruined Sutter and when he died in 1880 he was a poor man.
The year 1853 brought my father still greater prosperity, and he and his partner increased their activities. Between them they now owned two ranches, one of 20,000 acres, and another of 11,000 acres. They sold the latter for $26,500, and kept the more valuable one, which was Fort Ross. Father himself had invested $36,000, which brought him an income of $500 a month. He also owned privately a property up the Sacramento River which he called "New Bresgau", and as such it was inserted in the Government Map. This land was a grant from the Mexican Government in the year 1845 while he was with John Sutter.
In the year 1853 a spell of homesickness seems to have come over my father, as in a letter to Uncle Thadeus he expressed a longing to return to his native land, invest money there, and perhaps purchase a property; he even went as far as asking his brother to look out for a nice estate for him to buy. This idea never materialized, however, although he repeatedly broached the subject in after years. He was always delighted to hear that his former friends and comrades in Germany still thought of and enquired about him, in spite of his having lost touch with them for so long.
On September 22nd 1854 another little son was born to my parents. This was William Otto. They were a healthy happy little family, and, according to my father, he had changed from a slender youth to a corpulent man.
The following year gave a superabundance of potatoes. My father had stored over 200,000 hundredweights, which included last year’s crop of which he had unfortunately not been able to sell more than one cartload of a thousand. Consequently, they were mostly allowed to rot and many had to be thrown away. The country was overstocked with products of all kinds which grew in abundance. Times were not so good. In the month of February the banks in which he and his partner had invested $14,400, suspended payments, and there was a doubt whether they would ever recover their money; added to which he was losing money on account of the scarcity of business and the American Government had confiscated his property "New Bresgau". This he appealed against, and was eventually allowed to retain only 7,500 acres. Under the Mexican regime grants of land were generous and common, but the complicated formalities necessary for making them valid were often neglected. Instead of confirming all existing claims when the county passed to the United States and thus simplifying matters, the Government formed a land commission and contested all claims in the courts so that a large part of those dating from the last years of Mexican dominion was rejected.
My father decided to devote another year to agriculture, and if it still did not pay to turn his energies to cattle-breeding on a large scale. He already owned five hundred head of cattle, three hundred horses, and two hundred pigs. This stock he determined to increase by a few good bulls and stallions, as well as a thousand sheep, the latter being priced at between eight to twelve dollars apiece. He had bought his partner's half of the ranch, but still owed him $22,500 which was due to be paid on the 1st of May.
Fort Ross now extended ten miles south as far as the Russian River, which was the boundary of the property. He put a few hundred cattle on the riverside, with some herdsmen to watch them, and bought a boat to take travellers across the river to the ranch on the opposite bank. This belonged to Captain S. Smith who owned eight leagues. Smith's house was twenty-four miles away and was the nearest post-office, where my father sent every week for letters. This cost him fifty dollars a year.
He kept six permanent employees, namely a hunter, a surveyor, a head herdsman, a carpenter, a blacksmith, and a nurse for his children. These were mostly Americans whose salaries varied from thirty to sixty dollars a month. Besides these there were more or less six cowboys, two of whom helped in the kitchen, while the others milked the cows and tamed young horses. As California was a "free" state (anti-slavery) most of the field work, such as ploughing and planting, was done by Indians from the Reservation, which was just outside the Fort Ross property, and where there were about 150 Indians. These were obliged by the Government to work for eight dollars a month.
Last year's crop of potatoes had not been a very big one, about four thousand bags of one hundred and twenty-five pounds each. These sold at only two cents a pound. He also sold a comparatively small quantity of barley, oats, and corn. In the spring he received $2,500 for his steers, and an apple yield of 20,000 lbs. he sold for twenty-five cents a pound.
Louis Benitz, who lived in Sonora, a town situated near the mines in Tuolumne County, came to California for a while, and after making about ten thousand dollars he returned to Mexico, as he said he did not like living with the Americans, about whose treatment of foreigners my father always complained very bitterly, as they tried to oppress them and formed secret societies to contest the privileges of strangers, who were denied the right to vote, and could only become American citizens after a twenty years' residence in the country. They held the same status as the "free negro". One of these secret societies was called the "Know-Nothing Party" and it was formed for the purpose of opposing the easy naturalization of foreigners, as the immigration figures had become alarmingly great. Its nominations, made in secret meetings, must be voted for by all the members of the society, under a penality of expulsion. Only the members of the higher degrees knew the secrets of the convention, novices knew nothing about them, hence it was called the "Know-Nothing Society." It afterwards developed into, and formed the nucleus of the American Party, which was important enough in 1855 to carry nine state elections. As my father said:-"Why don't the German people emigrate to countries where Germans are better looked at? If I could sell out today or tomorrow, I would go immediately to another country, possibly back to Germany. I would rather go to Russia than to the dirty States (Verunreinigte Staaten). One hears everywhere of the ill-treatment of the Catholics and the burning of their Churches. That is freedom! Another American has just run off with $100,000. This sort of thing is not unusual here now, as last year twenty functionaries escaped with official money, and during the last few years the city of San Francisco has been robbed of at least a million dollars."
Country roads had become very unsafe on account of the highwaymen who abounded, and everyone went well armed. Father had a very narrow escape on one occasion he was shot at on the road to Sonoma. He was riding full gallop at the time, and the bullet grazed his nose and right eye. He always kept a collection of the best rifles and several six-chambered Colt revolvers handy, with which he taught all his household to shoot.
During the year 1856, conditions became more orderly. Land litigation was cleared up and everyone felt more hopeful of a better future. In spite of considerable monetary losses, my father was not discouraged. He had lost twelve thousand dollars in cash, and 14,000 acres of land at "New Bresgau". He had been unable to economise as he found it necessary to replace many of the old Russian cottages at Fort Ross, and likewise rebuild his mill which had been working for twelve years. However, he was doing better than most farmers, many of whom made debts in the bad times and went bankrupt, while he had built up a great deal in spite of the crisis. Fort Ross, and all it contained, was now his entirely, and he was free from all debts. He owned 17,000 acres of land, 900 head of cattle, 200 horses, and 900 sheep. He had reduced his agricultural outlay considerably, and now contemplated buying 500 young cows, as he could easily keep 2,500 head of cattle on his pastures. He had sold two hundred mares and horses but found them more difficult to breed than cattle. His next plan was to build six dairy farms, stocking them with two hundred cows on each. During the winter he constructed a twelve mile road across his camp.
Since the map of California had been changed, our address instead of being situated in Mendocino County, was now in Sonoma County. The postal service was still very unsatisfactory in spite of the many changes in postal regulations, and the great efforts made to improve letter transport. At present a letter to Germany cost thirty cents, and under existing circumstances there was always considerable doubt as to whether it would arrive at its destination. The Government had made heroic efforts to establish routes for communication through the plains and mountains of the Far West, and after an unsuccessful experiment with imported camels, the Post-Master General in 1857 awarded to John Butterfield of the Overland Mail Company, a contract for a semi-weekly mail service between the Mississippi and the Pacific Coast, and during the following year regular stage-coach and mail services, which covered the distance in twenty-five days or less, were established over the Northern and Southern routes to California. In 1860 the transport company of Russell, Majors and Waffell, inaugurated the famous pony-express, which carried mail swiftly by horseback from St. Joseph, Mo. to Sacramento, at a cost of $5.00 a letter. The animals used were, of course, not ponies but fleet American horses. These were stationed at "stages" from ten to fifteen miles apart, and each rider rode three animals successively, covering not less than thirty-three miles before he passed his pouch to his successor. The fastest trip made was in seven days and seventeen hours, but the regular schedule was ten days, about twenty-four days faster than the schedule of Butterfield's Overland Stage. The maintenance of this time-table, in all kinds of weather and in the face of Indian dangers and other hazards, won for the service a fame for all time, and although the pony-express venture demonstrated the efficiency of the service, it was a losing game, however, and its brief existence of sixteen months came to an end when the Union Telegraph Company completed the construction of its trans-continental wires in October 1861.
It was now suggested that Uncle Thadeus’s two children, Xavier and Barbara, should come to live at Fort Ross, where they would be made very welcome. Father proposed to make Xavier an administrator of one of his dairy-farms, with the idea that eventually he could manage one of his own. But he was advised to first learn a profession, as there were no opportunities for so doing in California.
Barbara, who was fourteen, would be under the protection of her brother, but my father promised to pay her thirty dollars a month for helping my mother in the dairy, and he would also provide for her future. She would have every opportunity of learning English, and would be sure to get on admirably, as Father said:- "diligent girls could earn just as high wages as men, besides they usually made good marriages".
On July 2nd, 1856, Mother presented Father with another son whom they named Charles. They now had four children. Frank was just six, Josephine four, and William two. They had been married for ten years, and my mother was twenty-six years of age. She was an ideal helpmeet for my pioneer father, who was devoted to her and valued her advice on all matters of importance, as he said:- "she also works very hard, and is an excellent housewife". Their chief entertainment in the evening was reading. They had a small library of about one hundred and fifty books, they also had an organ, or musical box, which played thirty different tunes. They discussed the Crimean War, saying "people in general sympathise with the Russians, loving to see the English arrogance humbled".
This year political differences became more settled. The country had been badly governed by corrupt political leaders, and robbery and murder occurred every day. At last the honest citizens rose up in protest, and taking the law into their own hands, caught the criminals themselves, and sent them out of the country or hanged them. Then there was peace. This was how the Vigilance Committee was formed. On the whole the agricultural districts were fairly safe, but the mining districts were always dangerous on account of the robber gangs which infested them.
In September 1858, my father, who had been ill for three months, went to stay with an old friend, Dr Zeile, who lived in San Francisco. The previous year my maternal grandfather, Michael Kolmer, died of a stroke. He had been drinking steadily for several years, a habit which eventually ruined his health and his finances. He had always been badly off, and even the camp he owned was a gift from my father. He never fully forgave his daughter Caroline for her hasty marriage to William Howard, which came about in this way:- As clergymen did not live in California in those days, it was an important social event when a parson made the long journey from the East in order to legalize the several unions, which for lack of opportunity, had not received the blessing of the church or the sanction of the law. This collective ceremony took place in the most accessible town hall, and usually ended up with feasting and dancing. Such an occasion duly presented itself at Sonoma, and of course everybody for miles around went to see the fun, including my father and mother, who took Caroline with them. At the end of the evening the parson made a speech, and after thanking everyone for their very kind hospitality, he offered, as they had been so generous in the matter of wedding fees, to marry, free of charge, any other young couple who cared to come forward. At this young Bill Howard approached the blushing Caroline Kolmer and murmured, "Will you marry me, Caroline?" and Caroline said, "Yes", so they were married then and there with a ring taken from one of the curtains. When Caroline's father heard the news, he flew into a passion of rage, and rushing upstairs to her room, threw all her furniture and clothes into the back yard and made a bonfire of them, vowing he would never see or speak to her again. He kept his vow for several years but eventually relented.
At Fort Ross all were well and happy, Frank, who was now eight and a half, had his own horse and saddle and a small rifle. Father had engaged a teacher for his children, and both Frank and Josephine could already read and write, and were learning arithmetic.
Every year agriculture was proving less profitable, and my father decided to gradually abandon it. Potatoes now only fetched one cent per pound; barley one cent; oats one cent and a half, and wheat two cents and a half. Wages were high, from thirty to forty dollars a month. He paid his cook forty dollars, which was equal to one hundred guilden.
Live stock breeding proved to be the best paying business and he increased his number of animals to 12,000 head of cattle, 1,500 sheep and 150 horses. He had also taken up fruit farming, and owned an orchard of four hundred and fifty apple trees, and one hundred and fifty of other kinds of fruit. This orchard was to be extended, by sixty or more acres, to 6,000 trees, while another piece of land had been fenced off in readiness for the further planting of 1,800 apple trees during the coming winter. All these trees bore fruit in their second year. Between these two orchards there remained fifteen acres of land, and this was the spot my father selected as a site for his new house. The old home was too near the coast, and consequently was exposed to the strong northwesterly winds which became violent at times. The new house would be completely sheltered, have the best water, and the nicest outlook, and although a mere child when we left Fort Ross, I shall always remember how, situated as it was between the two orchards, in the springtime it stood amidst a veritable paradise of scented blossoms.
In July 1859, Adolf Benitz returned from the mines in Columbia. At the same time his brother Louis arrived from Mazatlan in Mexico, and together they went up to the Frazer River in New Caledonia, where gold was said to be so abundant that when the river was low it yielded from twenty to one hundred dollars worth a day. These mines were doing a good deal of harm to the Californian farmers, as in the year 1859 no less than thirty thousand people went from San Francisco. This created a scarcity of money, especially as many returned penniless, on account of the mines being flooded by storms.
With regard to the future, my father in a letter to Uncle Thadeus said: "If I had intended to remain here, I would have advised you to come long ago, but I cannot sell out so soon. I want $100,000 for Fort Ross as it stands. It now consists of 17,500 acres, and my new ranch "New Bresgau" of 6,750 acres. In my opinion these places will be worth double in three years time, also my live-stock will have doubled itself by then. You need not stamp your letters as I get them just the same and will gladly pay the postage.
"P.S. Break the seal of this letter and you will find a gold coin underneath."
For the next five years, up to the year 1867, the correspondence between my father and his brothers appears to have been interrupted, although my father continued to write to them at least once a year. The letters were probably lost on the overland journey as mail transport had again become very uncertain on account of the North and South War which had been waging for the past two years. As we were outside the fighting zone, with the exception of a very heavy war-tax and an increase in the cost of living, it did not trouble us very much. Nevertheless, California (Union) was prepared for emergence to the extent of one thousand men under arms, while at San Francisco there were fortifications, iron-clad ships, monitors, and several of the latest 400 lb. guns. The history of these iron-clad ships and monitors is interesting and noteworthy and is as follows:- In March 1862, the Confederates (South) seized the navy-yard at Norfolk, Virginia, and there found the United States frigate the "Merrimac". They transformed her into an iron-clad with sloping sides and an iron beak. On March 6th, the "Merrimac" attacked the five wooden warships belonging to the United States, which were lying in the Hampton Roads, and destroyed them. The following day Captain John Ericsson, the inventor of the screw-propellor, produced a warship which he had just completed, called the "Monitor". She was a small craft presenting very little surface for the enemy's cannon balls to strike. Amidships there was an iron turret, made to revolve by machinery, and which carried two enormous guns capable of throwing much heavier balls than had ever before been seen in naval warfare. The result was an encounter between the "Merrimac" and the "Monitor" the latter sending her formidable cannon-balls thundering against the sides of the "Merrimac" and then as the turret swung round, so battering her that she was forced to retire. This event completely revolutionized naval warfare, and all great nations replaced their wooden warships with ironclads and "monitors".
California was also prepared to contribute to the extent of 25,000 men, if necessary, towards helping to drive the French out of Mexico, as the Emperor Napoleon III of France, making the unjust treatment of foreigners in Mexico an excuse, in the year 1862 declared war and forced an Emperor of his own choosing, the Archduke Maximilian of Austria, on the country. In the end, however, after strong protest from the United States, Napoleon withdrew his troops, the unfortunate Maximilian was dethroned and deserted, and sometime afterwards was shot by the Republican Party.
In the meantime, I had appeared on the scene, also brother John. I was now three and a half years old, and Johnnie was aged seventeen months. Herman, the youngest and last, arrived on April 22nd, 1863.
Uncle Frank, Father's youngest brother, had been living with us for the past two years. His wife and their son, William, refused to come to California, as they preferred living in Cleveland, Ohio, with their two married daughters and their children, but Uncle was anxious for them all to join him in California, as he liked the climate, which he considered to be ideal, not too hot in summer, nor too cold in winter. The Californian climate is unique, the seasons as known in other countries do not exist. There is a season of somewhat greater heat and no rainfall, when even irrigated lands look brown and parched. That is summer. Again there is a season with delightful warm days followed by chilly nights and rainfalls, which transforms the country into one vast carpet of flowers and green vegetation, and the highest mountains are covered with snow. That is winter. There are giant geraniums, one mass of bloom, roses everywhere filling the air with their perfume, and fragrant violets appear in numbers almost beyond belief. There are groves of graceful palms and dark pepper trees with their bright red berries, while long avenues of the stately eucalyptus adjoin green fields of growing grain. The whole is bathed in an atmosphere of extraordinary mellowness and brilliance.
In addition to the hundreds of gold mines that had been worked since the year 1849, no less than two thousand silver and copper mines had been discovered in California during the last twenty months; consequently, the excitement was intense, and, as usual, many farmers left their homes to try and make their fortunes quicker that way. My father considered that too many were going, and contented himself with buying shares in six different mines. Unfortunately, it cost a great deal of money before good ore could be extracted from the average mine, and many years might elapse before they were in proper working order on account of the scarcity of capital and experienced workmen. However, steam pump-engines had been procured, and when finally in good running order, the output in ore was expected to reach to the value of $?000,000,000. a year.
So far only a few mercury pits, the output of which did not pay for the outlay, had been discovered in Sonoma County, but this year copper was found, the investigation of which led to the further discovery of still one hundred more veins of mostly copper, but also of gold and silver. In the adjoining counties of Marin, Napa, and Mendocino, research was still going on and new veins were continually being opened up. Copper had been found as near as four miles from Fort Ross.
Many changes had taken place in California during the last few years. Wages were still very high owing to the scarcity of workmen, many preferring to go prospecting in the mountains to working for a wage of two and a half to three dollars a day. Prices were down, as there was a super-production in everything. The State was rich in cereals of every kind, also in wine and tobacco, and meat cost from one to two cents a pound. The harvest being usually very productive and a crop failure almost unknown, the result was that the sheds were packed with products for which there was little or no demand, in spite of the fact that large quantities were being shipped abroad.
Threshing was now done in the open by new machines which had lately come into the market, a good one threshing 1,400 bushels per day and cleaning the product at the same time. Father had purchased a small one which threshed 2000 bushels in a fortnight.
The cattle-breeding had been so successful that my father found it necessary to reduce his stock on account of overcrowding his camp. He had sold 400 head of cattle to butchers in San Francisco, 300 he exchanged for horses, and a hundred cows and calves he sold for the low price of four dollars apiece. Besides this he killed four head per week, which usually gave five hundred pounds of meat, worth four cents a pound.
The previous winter had been unusually cold and wet, and the flat parts of the country so flooded that numerous houses were washed away and the animals drowned. We lost two hundred head of cattle and thirty horses through hunger and cold, but many farmers were completely ruined and became bankrupt. However, if the mines turned out well, my father anticipated being able to sell his products at better prices, and people in general believed in a golden future.
The year 1873 found us in Oakland, where we had been living for the past six years. Father had finally made up his mind to sell his farms and move to town where he could put his children to good schools. In the meantime he made enquiries and considered as to which country he would go next. He was weary of the policy of the United States Government, whose unfair treatment of foreigners had harassed and humiliated him for so long; and latterly the depredations of the gold-seekers, with their overbearing and selfish methods of seeking for gold in any way or where they chose. They employed hydraulic hoses or "gushers" which tore away the hillsides, causing powerful streams of water to create a combination of mud, sand, and stones, called "slickens" which poured over fertile pastures and crops, fouled drinking water, and left wholesale ruin in its wake. For years open conflict raged between the farmers and miners, battles were fought and many killed, till finally, when the dispute reached a point of warfare that it alarmed the nation, a Federal Court declared in favour of the agriculturists, and the hydraulic miners were obliged to cease their operations.
Our home in Oakland was situated just outside the town. It was a comfortable two-story house built in the Colonial style with a verandah in front from which some steps led down to a garden where all kinds of flowers grew in profusion. At the back of the house there was a larger garden with shady walks and a croquet lawn. A row of cypress trees shut off a kitchen garden and a chicken yard. Beyond these came some hothouses, the stables, and a barn.
In these days, children at a very early age were expected to do their share of the house and farm work, and we were no exception to this rule. My duties consisted of daily errands to the post-office and shops, and in cleaning and watering the gardens, mowing the lawns etc. I was also always called upon to do any job requiring extra brawn and muscle being remarkably strong and tall for my age. Charlie was supposed to take it in turn with me to do the watering, but as he was not very strong, he often bribed me into taking on the whole, and although Mother and Josephine sometimes helped with the watering of the vegetables and flowers it generally meant my rising at a very early hour and getting some of it done before breakfast.
Johnny, Herman and I attended the "Lincoln Grammar School for Boys and Girls" which was situated a few blocks away from home. It was divided into three "Schools" namely Lower, Junior and Senior; with five Grades to each School, and about fifty pupils to each Grade. The Head of my School (Lower) was a Mr Craven, who with Mrs Craven and about four other teachers, taught us the usual English subjects. I took also lessons in German and later on in book-keeping. Once a week we had music and singing, the latter I disliked intensely, especially when we were required to sing alone, which as a matter of fact, finally I flatly refused to do, as my voice was at the breaking stage and therefore not always under my control, much to the amusement of my companions and to my furious embarrassment.
School opened at eight o'clock in the morning, and we worked until eleven, when we had fifteen minutes recess. We came out at noon, and returned in the afternoon from one o'clock until three, after which, with the exception of the usual homework, we were free for the rest of the day. Any time I had for recreation I usually spent in playing football, and also did quite a lot of reading. I had joined the Public Library in Oakland, for which I paid a monthly subscription of fifty cents out of my pocket-money allowance of fifty cents a week. I also subscribed to a periodical called "Frank Leslie's Boys and Girls" which appeared every Friday and cost ten cents.
On Thursday May 8th, 1873, when I was thirteen years of age I commenced my diary. I wrote the first few entries in a pocket-book, and on the 18th inst., when my brother Frank encouraged me by making me a present of a handsome leather-bound volume, I resolved to write it up regularly, a purpose which I am glad to say I have adhered to through the many years since then.
Thursday 8th.
I went to school today as usual, and had grammar and analysis most all day. Uncle Howard came this morning and said that Johnny and I can come up to his farm for the vacations. He is going to stay overnight. I watered the garden after school, and after supper I went to the library and paid for this month. (fifty cents) This afternoon Mother took Charlie to San Francisco to see Dr Zeile.
Wednesday 14th.
I was watering the garden this evening after supper, when a man came to our house asking for help. He said he had been in all the Indian wars, Mexican war, and in the Rebellion. He was wounded in the right knee, and could not see out of his left eye. Then he began to talk in Indian. He said that in the Indian wars he had acted as guide, expressman, and interpreter.
Charlie said this morning that if I will water the garden always, he will give me his nice mother-of-pearl-handled knife, and help me with my other work.
The previous month I had been to San Francisco to have my photograph taken, and when I came home on Thursday evening, Frank had them on the parlour table. I gave one each to Father, Frank and Josephine. Frank then brought out some old photographs. There was a large one of our house at Fort Ross, one of Father taken about twenty years ago, and one of Mother taken about fifteen years ago, also one of Frank in the year 1861, and one of Josephine at the age of three.
The following Saturday when I went to the grocery store for Mother, I took the opportunity of weighing myself, and found that I was now 135 lbs. I didn't think I weighed as much as that.
The next day Charlie, Johnny and I went to Church in the morning as it was a pleasant Sunday. In the afternoon we went by boat to China Point, and then to a dredging machine on the other side of the creek, where we saw numberless little fish swimming about and which we tried to catch with our hands. I succeeded in catching a long thin fish like an eel, which I gave to Johnny. When we got home I went along to Frank's room, and he asked me what kind of book I had for my diary, and I told him it was a small pocket-book. He then gave me a beautiful red leather book, and said that if I kept it properly he would give me a present for Christmas. After supper Father, Mother and Josephine went to call on Captain and Mrs Fleming, and I spent the evening in copying from my old diary into the new one. On Monday Father gave me fifty cents in payment for some work I had done for him. I spent it on letter paper and envelopes. I saw in the newspaper "The Call" that there might be a training ship in the Bay, and asked Mother if I might go to school on her if there was one and she said "Yes". We had some Limburger cheese for supper that evening, and it smelled so that we had to hold our noses while eating it, and Wrota, our serving maid, refused to wash the dish it was on. After supper, when I was returning from the store, where I had been to buy some calico for Mother, I saw an old Sioux Indian, called Emperor Norton; he had an eagle's feather about a foot long in his cap. A man asked him why he did not beat the Modocs, and he answered "I would like to send that scalp of yours to them".
This month we were extra busy at school with the end of the term examinations, as the summer vacations commenced on June 1st. I always took great interest in my lessons, and on the whole did well in the examinations. This term I achieved an average of eighty per cent. The German paper I found especially easy, and as I said afterwards "I think I was perfect".
Thursday 22nd.
This was Frank's twenty-third birthday. I did not give him anything, but I wish I had been able to. After school I went into town and on the way I stopped to listen to a man lecturing about the "lightening reckoning". He was trying to sell some books about it.
The next morning Mr Craven handed me the programme of our School Entertainment, which was to take place that afternoon, and told me to make a copy of it. This took me some time, and when I had finished it I went home and picked some flowers and vines. These I took to the school and helped to decorate the room where the entertainment was to be held. At three o'clock precisely, we all took our places in the schoolroom, which was already half filled with the parents and relations of the pupils, but a great many people arrived late while the scholars were reciting. Great amusement was afforded by a dialogue given by six of the 1st Grade pupils, which was very clever. The entertainment closed with some remarks by a minister from Chicago.
Thursday 29th.
The last day of school. I hardly slept the night before on account of the strong gale which blew all night long. In the morning I had a written examination, and afterwards I went to the Exhibition of the 4th and 5th Grades, but their room was so crowded I couldn't get in, so I went along to the library and returned my book, as I was not going to belong the next month. On the way back I called in at the grocery store and measured my height. I found that I was now five feet seven inches tall, only one inch shorter than Father, and the same height as Charlie, who is three years older. Josephine is five feet five inches.
I saw the first Postal Card this morning, it was for Mother, and had an advertisement on the blank side.
The following morning I watered the garden, and then raked the whole of the stable-yard, which kept me busy till noon. As I wore no stockings, I got a large blister on the side of my foot, which was so painful I could hardly walk. After dinner Mother and I packed Johnny's and my trunks for our visit to the Howards next day.
I rose at six o'clock the next morning, and watered the chicken-yard and the garden. At ten o'clock I bathed and dressed myself in readiness to go to the country. Father gave me a dollar. We took the train to San Francisco, where we got a drayman to take our luggage to the steamer "Antelope", which started at 3.30, and arrived at Donahue at 5.30 p.m. From here we took the train for Petaluma, and from there on to Santa Rosa, which we reached at seven in the evening. Here we were met by Mr Harding and his son Theodore, who was coming with us. We then took the stage-coach for Sebastopol (I had to go on top) where we arrived at 10 p.m. and had to put up for the night at Wilson's Hotel. The following morning we breakfasted at half-past six, and then left by the stage-coach bound for Freestone, which we reached a couple of hours later. Uncle Bill Howard was waiting for us, and drove us the four miles to his house, where Aunt Caroline, and my cousins Charlie, Lizzie, Clara and Amelia, were very glad to see us, and to get the presents we took them.
After dinner Charlie, Theodore, Willie Morgan (also there on a visit) Johnny and I went after water-snakes. We succeeded in catching one large water-snake and three smaller ones. After supper Charlie and I went hunting with a musket, and Charlie shot a rabbit. I shot at a robin, but missed it. When we returned home we all played parlour games.
The next morning Charlie and I got up at half-past five and went after a horse that had got loose, but we couldn't catch him, coming home I shot a woodpecker. After breakfast we went to have another try at catching the horse. I caught him and rode him home, but his back bone was so sharp I could hardly walk afterwards, and I got a headache through being jogged so much. Uncle then took us to his big field and showed us how to use his new plough, and we ploughed the cornfield, Charlie driving the horse while I held the cultivator. While we were busy a crazy man came along and fell into the creek; he scrambled out and then got on to the fence and fell off that; then seeing my coat hanging on the fence, he tried it on, hollering and talking the whole time. We were on the other side of the fence then, but we ploughed on until we got to him. Just then Uncle Howard came along and the crazy man walked off, leaving my coat and hat in the creek. Poor man, he was afterwards sent to the asylum at Stockton.
The rest of our visit was spent in rambling over the countryside in search of blackberries and nuts, and helping with the ploughing and haymaking. When it was very hot, we paddled in the creek. In the evening after supper, we played games, or wrote letters. One morning Charlie, Johnnie, and I went to see the Chinamen at Olmstead, where there were three hundred of them. On the way back we stopped at Gifford's Mill to sail Charlie's boat and afterwards went in for a swim, and ugh! wasn't the water cold. I had a bad headache all day, which had been too hot for comfort.
Sunday June 15th.
This was my fourteenth birthday. I rose at 5.30 a.m. and went hunting behind the house for rabbits. I shot at a hare but missed it. Charlie and I intended riding to the Russian River after breakfast, but Uncle wanted the horses, so we could not go. We then thought we would go to Freestone, but this didn't come off either, so we went along to Mr Meeker's mill to see the remains of his house which had lately been burned down. We picked up some tools and things which were lying about, but when we got home Uncle made us return them, he said Mr Meeker was a "mean" man.
After dinner Mr Helmke, a friend of Father's, arrived and said that Father had made up his mind to go to South America.
Friday 20th.
In the morning I helped Aunt Caroline to make the butter, and then dressed myself in my Sunday clothes, in preparation for going to meet Mother and Herman, who were expected by the stage-coach arriving that afternoon. Charlie and Johnny went in the covered-wagon, while I was on horseback. We reached Freestone about a quarter of an hour before the stage came in with Mother and Herman inside. Herman said he weighed eighty-one lbs.
I got up very early next morning and picked some gooseberries to take to Josephine. After dinner we bid everyone good-bye and started for Freestone. I rode, and the others went in the covered-wagon. We had to wait some time before the stage-coach came along, and when it finally arrived it was so full that I had to go on top with the driver. We reached Sebastopol at half-past five, where we had supper, and then went to bed at eight o'clock. The next morning after breakfast, we took the stage and arrived at Santa Rosa at 8.30 a.m. which was half an hour's journey in the cars (tram) from Petaluma. Here we took a cab to the Washington Hotel. We usually stayed at the American Hotel but found that it had been burned down two days before. After lunching with some friends, Johnny, Herman and I went for a walk round the town, while Mother bought some goods. We had dinner at the hotel. As William (who is working with Mr Burdell) did not come to fetch us, we hired a coach to take us to the farm. We soon arrived there and the Burdells were very glad to see us. It is a fine ranch of 6.336 acres, and has five dairies on it. We stayed there four days. The night we arrived Willie received a letter from Josephine saying that Charlie was sick in bed with rheumatic fever.
The following day was Sunday, and I got up very early and gathered lots of hazel-nuts and manzanitas, which are small apples, rather like crab-apples. I afterwards showed Johnny where to look for them. I was late for breakfast.
After bidding everyone good-bye, William drove us to Haystack, where we took the steamer for San Francisco, arriving at 12.30 p.m. Frank met us at the landing-place and stayed behind to look after the luggage, while we went on board the Oakland boat. We arrived home in due course and everyone was very glad to see us. I gave Charlie my bag of hazel-nuts.
The next morning I went along to the stables to see the new cow that Father had bought, and which was to be my special care, to water, feed, and milk twice a day. I then went to the grocery store and measured myself. I found that I had grown another three-quarters of an inch while I was in the country. That evening Father told us that he was going to South America in October.
The Wells, Fargo stage coaches mentioned in my diary were also armed road-agents who operated during the years 1850 - 1880, when fatal fights with Indians and highwaymen were all part of the daily business routine for this pioneer organization. Its bank, the first on the Pacific coast, bought gold-dust, paying the miners with drafts on New York. In the height of the gold-rush, the bank often bought and shipped East $1,000,000 in gold in a day. For many years the Overland Stage Line, carrying passengers, bullion and mail, crossed the continent on a regular time-table the only reliable means of transportation between scattered mining towns and the main routes. In one year, over Johnson Pass to Washoe Valley, Wells Fargo hauled more than £200,000 worth of silver bullion.
On Thursday July 3rd, I went to the town in the afternoon and bought some gunpowder and fireworks for thirty-five cents, which left me with fifty cents over. After dinner Mother gave me a packet of crackers, and Father gave Johnny, Herman and me fifty cents each. I went to Hardy's store and bought five rockets, one volcano, and a cracker that shoots six times; all for twenty-five cents. The next evening after supper, we took all our fireworks into the big field behind our house, and shot them all off. It was fine. We then went over to Hardy's where there was a grand display. There were rockets, flower-pots, pin-wheels, flying-wheels, bombs, roman-candles, and all kinds of coloured lights.
On Monday 7th, Johnny and I went back to school. We were both very glad to see that we had been promoted to the 1st Grade. After school I sat with Charlie and read to him out of "The Boy's Own Paper" until he was tired. I then went and played "Tally hie ho" with the children.
On Saturday morning there was some disturbance at school about some acacia beans that were brought into the school-room, but it passed off all right. In the evening Frank returned from a hunting visit to the Burdell's farm, and I had to go to the depot with a wheelbarrow to fetch a bag of hares which he had shot.
The next day being Sunday, in the morning I went to Church with Josephine, and spent the afternoon reading and sitting with Charlie. As I was going up to bed, I caught a large black June bug in the hall upstairs.
The following Thursday I went shopping with Father. Mother had given me a new brown coat of Charlie's, which I wore to school, and now Father bought me a pair of pants to go with it; and I bought myself a cravat, which cost twenty-five cents. After supper I took a parcel to the Wells, Fargo Express Office, and sent it to William. When I came home I went to bed early as I had a bad headache. The day had been rather warmer than I liked it.
On Sunday 20th, Charlie got up for the first time, but remained in his room. In the afternoon my god-father, Mr Rossiter, came with his two daughters to see us. He said that if I was confirmed in the Catholic Church, he would give me a present. William arrived home in the evening, and brought me a new hat.
The next day we were all very excited as Uncle Frank, Xavier, Father's brother, arrived from South America, where he had been living for the past seven years. I spent the whole of the afternoon listening to what he said about the place. He said that in the Argentine Republic when anyone sows any seeds, someone has to keep the parrots from eating them, and also that you can get one hundred oranges for a "real" (worth about 12 cents).
That day I decided that I would rather be a sailor than anything else, and Frank said that he was going to the Argentine Republic in October or November. Before supper, I went to the butchers after a beef-steak, but I forgot, and got mutton-chop instead. On the way back I found a thimble which I sold to Josephine for ten cents.
Mr Brodt, my teacher in Grade 1. said that I do not hold my pen right when I write, so I am learning a new way of holding it. We had to stay in after school today, and Mr Brodt gave us a talking to.
Saturday 26th, was the most delightful day of the year. It was rather hot, so I spent the afternoon reading and sleeping in the barn. In the evening Johnny, Herman, Eugene Howell and I went for a swim in Lake Merrit. When we came back I again listened to Uncle talking about South America.
The weather had now become much cooler, especially in the early morning and evening, and Mother had a fire lighted in the parlour. William came over for one week-end and brought us a big box of huge peaches, also two young coons for Johnny's museum. The same evening Father brought out his electricity machine, and we all had to stand in a row and catch hold of one another's hands, while those at either end grasped the machine. Together we only felt very little electricity, but afterwards, when we were electrified separately, I could only feel it in my arms, but I felt it hard enough. I had to tell them to stop as it seemed as though my arms were swelling, and the flesh was being pulled from my bones.
Sunday 10th. Uncle, Johnny, Herman and I took the train to San Francisco. We walked about for a while looking at the town, and then took the horse-car for Woodward's Gardens. First we went to see the bears and the birds on the hill, and then went to the museum where the stuffed animals were kept. We next visited the tropical gardens, the picture gallery, and the sea-lions. We afterwards went into the beautiful aquarium where we saw the "infant wonder" which was a six months old baby, who weighed only three lbs. After looking at the beavers, alligators, birds, and vampires; the menagerie and the skating-rink, we went along to the theatre and saw the Brinsley family act a play called "The Pantomime Doctor" which was very laughable. After partaking of some chocolate and sandwiches, we started for home, and got back about six o'clock.
The next morning at school, Mr Brodt occupied a great deal of time telling us about the bad effects of smoking and drinking. In the afternoon, we had to talk about something, and as I couldn't think of anything else, I talked about how I came very near to being drowned at Fort Ross. In the evening Charlie came down to supper for the first time, and afterwards, while Father made the musical-box play tunes, I read a book called "Jack Harkaway Among the Brigands".
Saturday 16th. Mother and Charlie left for the Parker's ranch at Cloverdale, Sonoma County where Charlie was going to stay for a while to get strong. I went to the depot to see them off, and carried Mother's valise.
The next day being Sunday, I was putting on my best shirt preparatory to going to Church, when the button came off at the neck. I made Josephine sew it on, but when she had gone downstairs, it came off again, so I had to sew it on myself. Our seat in Church was occupied, when I finally arrived, so I came home and spent the day reading and listening what Uncle was saying about South America.
Sunday 24th was Johnny's twelfth birthday, and I gave him a penholder. In the evening Mother returned from Cloverdale, leaving Charlie there.
The next day I bought a blank book from Frank. It had two hundred and fifty pages in it, and cost fifty cents. I called it my "fact book", or "the value of money" and kept my accounts in it. That evening I had a bad cold, so Mother gave me some medicine, and made me chew "yerba santa". Before going to bed, I listened to Uncle and Father talking about the lizards, crocodiles and snakes in South America, there seemed to be some mighty big ones. Father said he would go there as soon as he could sell some property, and take some of us boys with him, and buy land there.
Saturday 30th. A friend of Josephine's, Bella Williams, came to spend the day. In the afternoon I played croquet and "hide and go seek" with them, and after supper Josephine and I took Bella home. We went past our school and on the 12th Street, where we met Mr Williams. We walked on until about three blocks past the bridge, Bella and I going on way ahead. We listened to the band playing in the park for a while, and then Josephine and I came home. On the way back we met Mr Hesse, who invents water-wheels, and he walked back with us. Mother and the children (Johnny and Herman) went buggy-riding that afternoon, and later Uncle took them to the San Francisco Theatre to see the "decapitation act".
On Tuesday 9th. Father, Mother and Josephine went to the "Pioneers Picnic" at Badger's Park. The same evening we had a supper-party at home. The guests were Mr and Mrs Burdell, Mr and Mrs Flatt, Netty Verhave and Mr Hesse.
I got up at six the next morningf and milked the cow, and watered the garden, before breakfast. The cow gave me a good deal of trouble as she was feeling very wild, and wouldn't eat her hay while I milked her. She ended by stepping into the milk-bucket, half full of milk, which had to be thrown away. Mother was a bit scoldish about it. My nose bled several times during the day, and in the evening I had to take Seidlitz powders ana senna tea, and bad stuff it was too.
On Friday 19th, we started our Michaelmas vacation, which was a very short one, only until October 6th.
The following Sunday when I went to Church with Josephine and Bella, my nose bled during the service, and that night I had to take more powders and more tea.
On Wednesday 1st. Uncle went to Cloverdale to bring Charlie home. That afternoon I measured off a piece of ground, about five feet by ten feet. I then watered it well and afterwards made a low brick wall round it. Mother gave me about twenty plants, lilies, fuschias, and roses, and we planted them before dinner. The same day Josephine gave me a dozen packets of different kinds of seeds, which I sowed in a box, to be planted out later, in my garden. The next-day we, that is Mother, Bella, Johnny and Herman and I, went buggy-riding in the afternoon. First we went to the Piedmont Springs, and I drank a little of the sulphur water, but I did not like it very much. We then drove towards Summit House. I had taken a little gun, but could not get near enough to the ground-squirrels to shoot them. That evening I planted a few more plants in my garden. Among them was a "century plant" which, according to the dictionary is "a Mexican fleshy-leaved species of agave commonly cultivated as a house plant, formerly believed not to blossom until a hundred years old".
On Monday 6th, school reopened, and in the afternoon Charlie arrived home, bringing Ira Parker with him. We wanted to go swimming in Malpitas Lake, but Mother would not give us leave.
The following Sunday, Uncle, Charlie, Ira and Josephine went to Woodwards Gardens in San Francisco, while I stayed at home all day reading and playing with our two dogs, Pompey and Caesar. It was a delightfully warm day, being 80 f.h. at 2 p.m. After supper we all played croquet, and when it got dark, we placed stumps of candles by the arches.
The next day Uncle and I swept all the garden walks, the yard, front garden, and chicken-house, all before breakfast. I wanted to go boating with Ira after school, but Mother would not permit it, so we went for a walk round the town. In the evening I had to study my lessons as well as I could, because Ira stayed in my room all the time.
Sunday 19th. I read "Boys and Girls" most of the forenoon, and after dinner Ira, Charlie, Uncle and I went to Faskin's Gardens in Alameda. We went to the depot and there got on to a train, but had to jump off while it was in motion, as we found it was the wrong train. We waited for a while and then got on to a crowded car; we then got off at the wrong station in Alameda, and had to walk a long distance to reach the Park. We at length arrived, and went to see the German man-o-war "Nymph" which was in the harbour. There was a dance on board, and after watching the people dancing, we walked about the gardens, and then went home.
Friday 24th. Mr Brodt said that my paper on "analysis" was the best written of all the scholars. That afternoon we had to write a composition on "Astronomical Clocks in Washington", and some of us had to stay in after school, while Mr Brodt talked to us about some noise we made while he was out of the room. During history class he said that the United States would never be severed, and that Mexico and Canada would some day be part of the United States, and told us to "see if they wouldn't some time". Ira Parker went back to Cloverdale after dinner.
The next Saturday Mother and the children went fishing at China Point, and caught fifty fish. Charlie, Tom Rodolph and I went sailing on Lake Merritt. We sailed to Adams Point and back, and then the same thing over again.
On Tuesday 11th Frank returned from Burdell's farm where he had been on a hunting expedition. The buttons of my suspenders came off while I was at school, and I had to take care that my pants didn't fall down. Also I had to stay in three-quarters of an hour after school, because I wouldn't sing alone at singing class. I played football before school, at recess, noon, and after school, when we went to an empty lot on 12th Street and played for an hour. It was splendid fun. I gave Charlie $1.25. for a half share in a five-barreled pistol, and as my mother had given me 25 cents for wiping the dishes while our maid Wrota was away on a holiday and for helping her to wash our two dogs, I now had 30 cents over.
Saturday 22nd. Frank went up the coast on business for Father, where he was going to stay until he goes to South America.
Thursday 27th was Thanksgiving Day and we had a very good dinner, turkies, chickens, cakes etc. Mr and Mrs Hesse, and Mr and Mrs James Burdell dined with us. I think I eat too much at dinner. I read most of the afternoon and evening while they talked of South America. Although it rained all night long, a barn was burned down on 1st Street, and I watched the flames for a long time from my window. I gave Charlie another $1 for his share in the pistol, leaving me five cents over. School adjourned till Monday.
Wednesday 17th. The weather had become very unsettled. At the beginning of the month we had more than a week of continual rain, which had been pretty general all over California, and Uncle Frank and Johnny, who arrived back from a visit to Burdell's Farm on the 5th, said that on the previous Wednesday it had snowed over a quarter of a foot deep in Sonoma County. On the 10th, it cleared up for a few days and turned much colder, with heavy frosts in the early morning.
The following day School closed for the Christmas vacation. Also we received our School Reports for October, when I was pleased to see that I was second in my Class.
On Saturday 10th. Willie, who had come home for Christmas, Uncle and I went to the other side of Webster Street, to shoot with the former's rifle, which he had used in South America. There was a very high tide and when I went out to set up the target, I slipped and fell in the river and was very nearly carried away by the current. I managed to get to shore however and ran all the way home to keep from getting a chill.
Monday 22nd. After doing my chores, I put on my Sunday clothes and Josephine, Bella, William and I went to the city. We barely caught the train from Oakland, and arrived in San Francisco about 5 o'clock. We walked to Swain's Restaurant where we had coffee and cakes. We then strolled up and down Montgomery Street, Kearney Street, and Market Street for about two hours, looking at the sights. At half past seven, we made our way to the California Theatre and procured seats in the dress-circle. They gave a play called "William Tell" and Madame Bishop sang. I thought the singing was most superb, and was very well satisfied with the acting. Unfortunately, we were obliged to leave during the last act so as to catch the last train for Oakland. After paying all expenses we each had 75 cents over. It was a delightful day.
On Christmas Eve. Father gave me $5.00 in silver, making me $5.75. I then went to the grocery store and got a sack full of things for the poor, and took it to the poor-house in Webster Street. The store-keeper gave me a nice little pipe which I gave to Uncle Frank. After supper we all gathered round our Christmas Tree. I got a smelling-bag from Bella, and Josephine gave me a bottle of red ink. I scared Herman by putting on a false face and a sheet. I met him on the landing as he was going to bed and succeeded in frightening him pretty well.
On Christmas Day we had a very good dinner at one o'clock, after which Charlie and I took a walk down to the Washington Street wharf and looked at the tugs and schooners, and also at the engine in the gas works. In the evening I read "The Headless Horseman" by Mayne Reid, till bedtime. The next morning I woke up with a feeling of dizziness on account of having eaten some painted candy. I also had a headache and a pain in my inside. I read most of the day, and in the evening Father operated on us with the electricity machine.
Saturday 27th. I did not sleep very well during the night. After breakfast I helped Uncle and Willie sweep and clean the garden and croquet lawn, and then I beat out some carpets for my mother. In the afternoon I went with Johnnie and Herman to the Bank. I put in six dollars, Father lending me fifty cents, which made me about nine dollars in the bank altogether.
The next day I woke with a bad headache and a pain in my throat. I got up early, milked the cow, and then went back to bed again, where I stayed until eleven o'clock. I then got up and went to Church with Willie. We heard Mr Hamilton preach about "Love your Enemies".
It was a lonesome disagreeable day, and I spent the rest of my time reading about Brazil.
Wednesday 31st. The weather had become unsettled again. I was still not feeling well, had a sore throat, a cough and a sore eye, so after doing the milking, I lay down most of the day and read about ostriches. Today was the last day of the year. I wondered how I should spend the close of the next year.
Thursday 1st. I did not sleep very well during the night. I still had the sore throat and my eye was still bad, also I felt very hot and uncomfortable, besides there was a lot of shooting going on at twelve o'clock letting in the New Year. As it rained continually all day long I stayed indoors and read, until supper. In the evening we all played "horse race" and the game of "alphabets". When I went up to bed I sewed up a hole in my pants.
Monday 5th. was the first day of school. I played football at recess and at noon. It wasn't much fun though as I merely stood around. In the afternoon I kept house and read. Several real estate agents came to the house who wanted to sell Father's property for him.
Tuesday 6th. was Mother's forty-fourth birthday.
On Thursday 29th. I went alone to the Brayton Hall Theatre in Oakland, and sat with some boys I knew. The acts were very comical and there were also some very good speeches. It began at 7.30 and was over at 9.45. It was very good. As it was such a beautiful moonlight night I walked home.
On Saturday 31st. Johnny, Herman and I went down town with Father, and he bought us all some boots and shoes. We got them at Alexander's and mine cost $8.00. I left my old ones to be re-soled. In the evening a nice little boy, Harry Schmidt, who is about nine years of age, came from San Francisco to stay with us for a while for his health, and Mr Parker, who had been on a visit to us for a few days, left for Cloverdale.
Sunday 1st. Uncle, Willie, and I went to Woodward's Gardens for the day. This time we visited the Tropical Gardens, and the picture gallery. We also saw a small house with all kinds of the most beautiful little birds in it. After seeing the sea-lions fed, we went to the Theatre and saw the Brinsley Family perform on trapeses and ladders. After that there was a comic pantomime. We saw the sea-lions fed again, and then came home in time for supper. We had no dinner. I paid my expenses which amounted to sixty-five cents.
Monday 9th. was Father's sixtieth birthday. Frank started back to Oregon in the morning by water. Valentines for the children began to arrive.
Saturday 14th. was St Valentine's Day. I received two comical valentines before breakfast, they were found under the doors. After Breakfast I bought a valentine at Hardy's with 25 cents borrowed from Josephine, and sent it to Bella Williams in East Oakland.
Monday 16th. I had to wipe the dishes after breakfast, as the Chinese New Year began today and our Chinaman servant went to San Francisco to enjoy himself.
Saturday 21st. was the day before Washington's birthday, so there was no school. As I was returning from the library where I had been to change my book, I heard the firebell ringing, and saw a large light in Washington Street. I ran to see what it was, and it was the fire-engine house on fire. The building was completely burned down before the engines began squirting water. Louis, our Chinaman returned in the evening and brought us a quantity of fire-crackers to celebrate Washington's Birthday.
The weather was now very cold, and I was suffering from badly chapped hands.
Sunday 8th. Josephine, Bella and I went to Church (Independent Presbyterian) and heard Mr Eyejamb preach. After dinner Charlie and I went down 1st street and Broadway to see Mr Hesse's new water-wheel engine. The following day I had a quarrel with a boy at school. He threw some dirt at me, so I threw some in his face; I wasn't afraid of him as he was smaller than I was.
On Friday 20th school closed for a week's vacation and we had the usual Exhibition in the afternoon, but only a small one. There was singing and speeches, but Mr Brodt did not call upon me to speak, greatly to my relief. Towards the close a little girl about three years old sang a song very well.
The next day a man came to the house and said that he wanted to buy all our property in Oakland.
Saturday 28th. Willie and I took Ada and Annie Ogilsby, who were staying in our house, for a row on Lake Merrit. We rowed for about two hours, and it was hard work. That afternoon Charlie left for another long visit to Cloverdale. I was now studying the Spanish alphabet.
Wednesday 1st. (April Fool's Day) was very cold and foggy, so after milking the cow, I got into bed again. I received a letter from Cousin Lizzie, and we were all very glad to hear that Mr Burdell had won his law-suit over the Black Mill property, and was therefore the richer by $250,000.
Sunday 5th. was Easter Sunday and we celebrated it by eating plenty of coloured eggs, and a good dinner. Uncle John Wagner and his two daughters came in the morning and stayed over dinner. I remained at home reading most of the afternoon, and in the evening Harvey Burdell and Willie took Mother and Josephine to Church. I had already been to the morning service so did not go again.
Tuesday 7th. I started lessons in book-keeping. There was trouble at school that day as after school the night before, two boys had a fight and one boy hit another over the head with a bat, and he was in a critical situation.
The following Saturday, Bella, Johnny, Herman and I went fishing at the long wharf (Market Street) in San Francisco. Bella and I bought five cents of bait and borrowed rods from the bait men. We fished until two o'clock without getting anything, all except Herman who caught a starfish. After looking at several large ships we returned home. Josephine and Willie left that afternoon on a visit to Uncle Bill Howard and Aunt Caroline.
The next day Father said that we would all go to South America in June. He has the rheumatism pretty badly nowadays.
On Friday 17th. I took Mother and Bella to an evening Concert in aid of the Independent Presbyterian Church, which was held at Braytons Hall in Oakland. The programme consisted of singing and piano solos, and was very well done. We got home about ten o'clock after having had hard work squeezing ourselves through the crowd.
The next day Arthur Matthews, Leonard Fisher, and I walked to the hills and took our lunch with us. We started down Broadway Street, and then went in the direction of the Deaf and Dumb Asylum. We had some very hard climbing to do, but at last we reached the top of the highest peak and I went down the other side for water. We stayed up there, rolling rocks down the hill, and playing around until 3 p.m. when Leonard Fisher started a severe headache. As Arthur did not want to leave him, I started for home alone, getting a lift on a wagon, and arriving very tired about six p.m. I had a headache in the evening. The sun had been very hot all day.
Tuesday 21st. I had to get up a five in the morning to see Father off at the depot. He was going to Napa Springs for a week for his rheumatism.
There was no school on the 1st as it was May Day. In the afternoon Mother, Bella, Herman and I went to the Masonic Picnic in Almeda. We saw some men running and jumping. One man jumped, standing still, ten feet and two inches, and another jumped while running sixteen feet eleven inches. We also saw some people dancing, and a hairless horse.
The following Sunday we went to Church and saw two young ladies baptized. Father gave me twenty-five cents to put in the collection-plate, but as there wasn't one, my finances increased to $3.60. As it was a very warm day, I stayed at home during the afternoon and played with Caesar and Pompey, and then wrote to Cousin Lizzie and Frank.
On Friday 8th. I started going to a dancing school, After supper I dressed myself in my Sunday clothes and went to a Music Hall on Sixth Street, where I paid $2.00 for a Month's tuition in dancing. Mr Lundt showed us the steps, and those who could find partners danced the waltz schottische, quadrilles, and lancers. I could not get a partner so I had to look on. I came home at 9 p.m.
The following Friday Bella and I went to the dancing class accompanied by Mother and Josephine. We went through all the steps, but I did not dance the waltz or the schottische, only the lancers with Bella. We weren't going again for a month as the Hall had been engaged by another party.
On Friday 22nd Harry Burdell took Josephine to a calico ball, and the next day took her out buggy-riding. Nuts on her I think. During the afternoon Mother said I could go to Uncle Howard's again for vacations, but Father said we should probably go to South America in July.
Friday 29th. After supper Charlie and I went to the Temperance Meeting which was held in a tent. There were several speeches, and at half past nine the meeting adjourned to the plaza in 4th Street, where there were more speeches lasting for about an hour. Great enthusiasm prevailed. The next day the elections took place, and in the morning I went to the City Hall to see how they were going.
In the afternoon Charlie and I went for an hour's sail on Lake Merrit and I took a swim from the boat. In the evening I gave Josephine five cents in payment of a bet I had with her that we should be gone from Oakland by May 1st.
The next day we received the news that the "Against Licence Party" had won the Temperance elections, and that night there was a great ringing of bells.
Monday 1st. Charlie and I had fixed up a trapeze in the garden and I overtired myself exercising on it, and strained my heart so that for some days I could hardly run or take a large breath. I also tried to hang by my heels and fell down rather hard.
Friday 5th. was the last day of school, so I put on my best clothes and took some flowers to decorate the rooms. In the afternoon we had our Exhibition and afterwards Mr Brodt read out the promotions. I was promoted to the Senior Class. After the performance was over I said good-bye to Mr Brodt. In the evening Bella and I went to the dancing class again, and I danced the lancers and the quadrille. I also waltzed with a boy. When we got home we found a drunk lady taking a nap under our hedge. When we aroused her she took out a pipe and smoked it. She was at last induced to move away.
On Wednesday 11th. at ten minutes past eight at night, we felt a slight shock of earthquake, but only enough to scare us a little.
The next day I went shopping in the town and bought a powder flask for Cousin Charlie, a two-bladed knife for myself, and a large one-bladed knife for Theodore. In the evening Bella, Hela Fleming and I went to the dancing class.
The following day I started on my Journey to Uncle Howard's Farm. Before I left Father gave me $2.50 making me 14.60. After dinner Willie took me as far as the Petaluma boat. The rest of the journey I took alone. I bought a copy of "Boys of America" to read on the boat, and two oranges and some peanuts. When I arrived at Wilson's Hotel, Sebastopol, I had a good supper before going to bed. The next morning I got up at half-past four, thinking that the stage-coach was about to start, but it did not go until after breakfast, at nearly seven o'clock. I had to wait nearly two hours at Freestone until Cousin Charlie arrived with the wagon, and we drove to the farm, where they were all very glad to see me again.
Monday 15th. was my fifteenth birthday.
I spent a very happy time on my uncle's Farm, which was mostly woodland, and therefore only a small portion of it could be cultivated. Behind the house there was a small hill with an empty ruin on it. This property was known as "Stanford's Old Place" and was a favourite haunt of ours, and where we hunted rabbits, snakes, and butterflies, and sometimes went swimming in the mill-pond. We also took long rides to Colmar Valley and Smith's Mill.
Sunday 28th. I received a letter from Josephine saying that Father had sold his Oakland property for $100,000. Hurrah! Off to South America in July.
On Wednesday 1st. Cousin Charlie and I determined to go deer hunting; Unfortunately, I got up at midnight thinking it was about 3 p.m. and I aroused Charlie, but he was so mad, that I went to bed again and did not wake up until daylight. The next day Uncle killed a rattlesnake, and I got eight rattles from it.
Monday 6th. I left for home. I spent the night at the Grand Hotel at Santa Rosa, and continued my journey next day, arriving home about noon. They were all very glad to see me, and said that I had grown a great deal while in the country. Mother paid all my expenses. That evening Frank gave me a cavalry sword, but it wasn't very sharp. The next day Father, Mother, Willie and I went shopping in San Francisco. We went to Hasting's Clothes Store, and Father bought me a suit of black summer clothes ($18) a greyish coat ($5.00) and a linen coat (2.50). He then bought me a pair of gaiters ($6.) and a pair of good slippers for $2.50. We then went to a trunk factory and bought several trunks and a valise. We afterwards went to a saloon where we had a very good dinner. After buying me a black straw hat, we walked around a little while, and then returned to Oakland.
Thursday 9th. I took my money out of the bank ($14) which I gave Father to keep for me, leaving myself 20 cents.
The next day Mother, Josephine and I went to San Francisco and had our photographs taken. Mine in the small size. We then went again to Hasting's Store and bought underclothes and shirts, and after a good dinner returned home.
On Saturday morning Father went to San Francisco and bought eight saddles and in the afternoon we were very busy packing swords and books and the saddles. Father said that we would probably start for South America on the 20th.
Thursday 16th. We sent our slow freight in advance. In the afternoon Mother took the children to San Francisco to buy them clothes. There was an article about us in "The Tribune" of the 28th. That day I rose early and helped to pack the pictures and send them to the buyers. The piano ($225) and the carpenters stool ($20) were also sold and taken away.
The following day I had to go round the house with the auctioneers, who were pricing the beds, furniture etc. Afterwards Father sold everything that was left very cheaply for $475.
On Thursday I walked with a brass band to the Central Hotel to attend a serenade in honour of Senator Page, who made a speech.
The next day Father went to San Francisco and engaged berths for us on the steamer "Arizona" bound for New York via Panama, which sails on Wednesday 29th. The berths cost $100 each.
On Saturday 25th. Johnny, Herman and I went with some friends to the theatre in San Francisco and saw a play called "The Royal Marionettes". It consisted of stuffed people acting little plays such as "Red Riding Hood" etc. Although we had balcony seats we could not see much of it as all the children stood up. When we got home I went to see my best friend Eugene Howell, and he walked home with me. He promised to write to me if I write to him, and as we shall not see each other again, I bid him good-bye.
Tuesday 28th. was our last day in California. In the morning we carried all the trunks downstairs. In the afternoon I had my hair cut and went with Father to get our tickets for the steamer to New York. Last night Josephine's boy friends came and serenaded her so that I did not get to sleep till late for the noise they made. Today there were a good many visitors who came to say good-bye to us. Charlie went over to the Williams in the afternoon, and Bella sent me her photograph. The steamer goes tomorrow. Hurrah! Hurrah!
Wednesday. July 29th. Off the coast of California on "S.S. Arizona"
Today we commenced our trip to South America. I got up at five o'clock in the morning, put on my Sunday clothes, and helped to carry the trunks to the sidewalk, in readiness for their removal by the express-wagon.
I then wrote a short note to Uncle Howard and took it to the post-office. Willie rode on the express-wagon, while we all walked to the depot, where we took the train, and afterwards met Willie with the luggage in San Francisco. From here Frank and I walked to the steamer "Arizona", and the rest of the family went in a hack. After we had been on board for about an hour a great many friends arrived who had come to see us off. Dr Cole, who was also sailing, was surrounded by a crowd of people and had a brass band playing. At twenty minutes past twelve the ship cast loose from the wharf, a cannon was fired from on board, and we steamed slowly out of the harbour. "Good-bye Oakland and friends, never expect to see you again".
We passed Fort Point at ten minutes past one, Pasadero at about three o'clock, and an hour later were still in sight of land.
Dinner is at 2 p.m. and supper at six. There are a good many nice things to eat, and so far I have felt no signs of sea-sickness.
After supper Josephine and I walked arm in arm about the deck and watched a school of porpoises which followed the ship for nearly an hour. They were very graceful as they jumped out of the water, and generally go two by two. Their colour is brown on top and white underneath. We also saw in the distance, two whales spouting. Towards night time the sea became rougher, and at 10.30, after waiting a while for a lantern, I went to my room. Frank, Herman and I sleep in one room, No. 5. I am in the top bed Frank in the middle, and Herman underneath. It was a very pleasant day, and they all said that "it could not have been better for the beginning of a voyage".
Thursday 30th. I slept pretty well last night, and when I woke this morning we were out of sight of land. Before breakfast Charlie and I walked about the deck. Afterwards I read a book I got from a book-case in the parlour. It was called "Wild Oats". I thought it was going to be a book on farming, but it wasn't. After dinner I walked over to the steerage and looked at the engine. I then held some worsted for Josephine to wind, and after that walked around with Charlie. We then went into the parlour and listened to a man play the piano. At four o'clock precisely there was a false alarm of fire, so as to train the Chinese sailors what to do in case of real fire. They all rushed to the boats and buckets and squirted water from a hose into the sea. I could not help wondering if they would do it so well if the ship was really on fire. We received our eating tickets today. All the passengers sit together for meals at one long table. It is now getting much warmer, although the sun hardly appeared all day. I went to bed at half past six.
Friday 31st. Off the Southern Coast of California. After a restless night I got up at 6.30 a.m. and walked around the deck with Charlie. We saw a flying fish skimming above the water for a distance of about fifty feet. It had four wings, or fins, two above its tail, and two at its shoulders, and was about eight inches long. This forenoon I watched Captain Seabury take the observations. At midday we had run 261 miles in twenty-four hours. The Arizona burns forty tons of coal per day. I read Harper's Magazine all the afternoon until supper, which was at five o'clock, and which consisted of clam soup, deep-sea bass, roast-beef, tea and cakes, and mush melon. After supper I walked around the upper deck until I went to bed. At ten o'clock that night we were opposite the boundary line between Mexico and California, and were out of sight of land.
Saturday 1st. Off the coast of Lower California. Fourth day at Sea.
When I got up this morning I eat an orange. At 8.30. we had breakfast. I had beefsteak, sausages, fried rice, and coffee. In the afternoon we saw some more flying-fish. They have no wings, only fins, and jump out of the water, when the wind blows them along like a kite. They can stay out of the water as long as their fins are wet, and have anything but a happy time really, as in the sea they are preyed upon by dolphins and tunnies, and when they try to escape by flying in the air, gulls swoop down upon them. This afternoon passed very lonesomely. This thing is getting very monotonous, nothing in sight but water and sky or fog.
Sunday 2nd. Latitude 24° 07., and Longitude 112°. 1017 miles from San Francisco. I got up at eight o'clock this morning, after another restless night, and walked around the ship before breakfast. At ten o'olock there was Divine Service, but I did not attend. Today an awning was stretched over the upper deck, and it is pleasant to sit there and read. In the evening the wake of the steamer was covered with phosphorescence. It was very pretty and looked as though the stars had fallen into the sea. After supper I went to the bows of the boat and listened to the foreign emigrants, Russians I think, singing some sad but beautiful songs. It was a very hot day, and in the evening a hot wind started to blow. I bought two apples at the barber's shop for ten cents, leaving me sixty-five cents.
Monday 3rd. In the Gulf of California. We are in the Tropic Zone today. It was dreadfully hot last night and I did not sleep much. This morning, as it was still very warm, I put on my linen coat and lounged about the deck. I felt a bit seasick this afternoon, and after trying, unsuccessfully to sleep on my bed, I went on deck and fell asleep in a chair. It was very hot all day.
Tuesday 4th. Off the coast of Mexico. 7th day at sea.
I got up at seven this morning and eat an apple before breakfast. This forenoon, as I felt seasickish, I lay on a bench on deck. I eat very little all day, only beefsteak at breakfast, soup for dinner and roast-beef at supper. I lay on my bunk the whole of the afternoon and tried to read. After supper we met the steamer "Montana" from Panama, bound for San Francisco. We stopped and a boat was lowered to deliver the mail. Today we saw a good many more porpoises around the steamer.
Wednesday 5th. Latitude 17° 05. Longitude 100° 46. 1781 miles from San Francisco. Last night I slept on top of the cover as it was so hot, and this morning put on very little clothing, only thin pants, shirt, linen coat, stockings and slippers. We had been in sight of land since yesterday, and today could see the woody hills very plainly. In the evening we arrived at Acapulco. We entered the harbour, which is guarded by a lighthouse, at five o'clock, and came to anchor about half a mile from the shore. As soon as the steamer stopped, the harbour officials came on board, and we were soon surrounded by passenger boats and fruit canoes. These canoes are hollowed out logs which the Mexicans and Indians propel with paddles. Permission being obtained from the Captain, Josephine, Frank, Willie and I hired a boat and went on shore. We had to pay fifty cents each for the passage there and back, which left me with 65 cents over, as Mother gave me a dollar before we started. We walked up to the town and strolled around it followed by a great many half-clad boys and girls who wanted to sell flowers, shells, small parrots, squirrels and fruit. I bought a string of shells for ten cents which I gave to Johnny; a basketful of larger shells for twenty-five cents and ten cents worth of guavas. We saw the ruins of two old churches which had been destroyed by earthquakes, also several little naked Indian boys with very white even teeth. The streets are very narrow, from ten to twenty feet wide, and the roofs of the long, low houses were mostly covered with either tiles or thatching. The town is guarded by a large low fort, in front of which grow several oak trees, and some very tall trees with cocoanuts on them. Everything looked very green, quite different to California. We remained on shore for about three quarters of an hour, and when the cannon sounded from the "Arizona" we got into the boat and were rowed back to the ship. I bought twenty oranges and a couple of bananas from the Indians in the canoes. At about 7 p.m. we steamed out of the harbour en route for Panama. Acapulco Bay is practically land-locked by the hills so much so that when we were inside it we could not see where the entrance was.
Thursday 6th. Off the Coast of Southern Mexico. It rained a good deal last night. This forenoon I listened to the others talking about religion while I eat oranges and bananas, and drank lemonade. At noon we ran into a very heavy rain which lasted for about an hour. After supper I stayed on deck for about a couple of hours. I have not eaten much these last two or three days for my health.
Friday 7th. Latitude 13° 38. Longitude 95° 39. 2243 miles from San Francisco. At noon we were off the Isthmus of Tehautepec, and during the afternoon we saw several whales. The rain started again about eleven o'clock so I went down to my cabin and lay in my bunk and read a paper called "Jolly Joker" which I had borrowed. After supper I went on deck and listened to some people discussing war. Nearly all the waiters and workmen on this ship are Chinamen.
Saturday 8th. Off the coast of Central America. 10th Day at sea. Frank's bunk broke down last night, and he had to sleep in the dining room. When I woke this morning we were going through an awful thunderstorm. It lightened very near the ship, and thundered very loudly for about an hour. In the afternoon I went to the upper deck to read and study Spanish. It turned out a pleasant day after the storm, not to hot or too cold.
Sunday 9th. Latitude 10. Longitude 87° 19. 11th day at sea.
I awoke this morning with a fearful headache, and from it was seasick all forenoon. I attended Divine Service at 10.30 however. The surgeon only read some chapters out of the Bible. The whole of the afternoon I lay in my bunk and tried to learn the Spanish numerals. I know them nearly all now. At supper I made a good meal of oxtail soup, roast pork, ice-cream pudding, cream pie, cakes etc., and afterwards walked about the deck laughing and talking with some of the boys and girls on board.
Monday 10th. Latitude 80° 09. Longitude 83° 34. 3123 miles from San Francisco. I arose this morning about seven o'clock, and eat a couple of oranges before breakfast. We were in sight of land all day, and expect to be at Panama by tomorrow night. This afternoon Mother gave me 15 cents for taking her blanket and pillow on deck, so now I have fifty cents. At eight o'clock in the evening we met the steamer "China" which sent up a rocket and fired two blue lights, but did not stop. We replied by showing a blue light. There is an amateur minstrel troupe on board, and this evening they sang and recited, winding up at 11.30 by singing "Auld Lang Syne".
Tuesday 4th. In Panama Bay. 13th day at sea. It rained hard all forenoon and thundered and lightened, but we stayed on the upper deck under the awning. Just before dinner we saw several large whales and porpoises quite near the ship. All day we had kept in sight of land, and at four o'clock we commenced to see the many islands in front of Panama. Very soon we could see the Pacific Mail Steamship Company's workshops, and at six o'clock we dropped anchor three miles outside Panama, which is surrounded by the most charming scenery. Behind us there is a large green island, which seems to be less than a hundred yards away, while on our left there are several smaller islands with houses on them. The United States man-o-war "Richmond" was anchored not far off, and as we came in her band began to play "Mollie Darling" which sounded very well over the water. After supper six of the officers from the "Richmond" came on board.
Wednesday 12th. Panama Harbour. At four o'clock this morning I could see the native boats already hanging round the ship. I watched a large flat boat come alongside, and an engine on a boat next to that, which was unloading the "Arizona" of wine-casks and hides. Later on all the family except Charlie and I, went ashore at Panama, some in rowing boats and the rest in little steamers. When they came back in the afternoon they gave a very discouraging report of the town, its uncleanliness, and high prices for everything. At about eleven o'clock Charlie and I hired a native to row us, and two girls from on board, to one of the larger islands where we walked along the shore and picked up some shells. We then went for a walk through the cool thick woods to another part of the beach. The butterflies and flowers in the wood were beautiful, and the trees so low and close together that it was impossible to get through where no path had been cut. We then walked back to the boat, and the native rowed us back to the ship, for which I paid him a dollar. We missed our dinner through going to the island, but I made it even by eating a very hearty supper. After supper I fished from the side of the steamer, and was rewarded by catching a very large catfish about a foot long, which I gave to a Chinaman. It rained a little in the evening after a very warm day.
Thursday 13th. Panama Harbour. This morning I watched them unloading the ship, and after breakfast hired a boat to take Johnny and Herman to the nearest island. We took off our shoes and stockings and waded along the beach looking for shells until we came to some large rocks. Here we found several little pools which were full of starfish, sea-eggs, and live shells. When we got back Willie and Mr Hamerstede, who plays the piano very well, were just starting off to row to another island, and as they invited me to go with them I did so, and helped them to row across. We walked along the beach, and then round the island, which is much smaller than the others. When we got back, I climbed up on to the ship by a rope. We were just in time for dinner. In the afternoon I did nothing in particular, as there were too many rumours afloat respecting our departure. Some say we are leaving tomorrow at 11 a.m., others say Saturday at 5 a.m. or perhaps Monday. Mother went to Panama in a tug boat this afternoon and arrived back in time for supper. It was a very hot day, and rained a good deal in the afternoon.
Friday 14th. Panama Harbour I wanted to hire a boat again this afternoon, but could not find one, so I stayed on the upper deck and watched the others playing games. This evening the officers from the "Richmond" brought their brass band over to the ship to play dance music, and everyone danced. Then our minstrel troupe gave an entertainment of songs and recitations, which lasted until midnight, when we went to bed. We are crossing the Isthmus of Panama tomorrow morning.
Saturday 15th. On board "S.S. Acapulco". Before Aspinwall. The gong sounded at half past four this morning for us to get up, and at five we had breakfast. We then left in a little steamer which took us to Panama and landed us at the shipping company's warehouses, which was also the depot for the Panama railroad. The way from the boat to the depot was lined with soldiers to prevent our smuggling anything in.
After about half an hours delay, the cars started, and we were whirled to Aspinwall, a distance of forty-seven miles, which we made in two hours and forty-five minutes. I stood on the observation platform for most of the journey, looking at the changing scenery. The railroad runs through forests, swamps, and luxuriant vegetation. We passed a few groups of houses here and there, some with tiled roofs, but most of them were covered with large leaves. At a quarter past ten we arrived at Aspinwall, where the S.S. "Acapulco" was waiting alongside the wharf, which was about a hundred yards from the depot. As soon as the train stopped a great many niggers, who were very bold, crowded into the cars to carry our baggage to the steamer. She is a magnificent iron ship of 3000 tons, with screw propeller, and is about a year old. She is a great deal prettier than the "Arizona" and has white sailors and black waiters on board.
Before dinner Father, Willie and I went into the town to buy oranges and limes. It is a very miserable and stinking place, and all the inhabitants are niggers, and very impudent. We walked about the town for a bit, and then went into a saloon and drank iced lemonade.
There is only one two-storied building of about three hundred feet long, and most of the shops are either fruit stores or saloons.
We bought fifty oranges and a hundred limes, and then returned to the steamer for dinner. Mother gave me 40 cents, making me 90 cents. After dinner Johnnie and I went ashore and walked round the town buying cakes and candy. Meanwhile it had begun to rain very hard, so that we were obliged to wait in a shop for about an hour before we could get on board again. We afterwards heard that it had rained eight inches, but it was a very hot steamy day in spite of the rain. The rest of the afternoon we watched the ship being loaded with bananas and canned salmon.
After supper we left for New York, and are once more at sea.
Sunday 16th. S.S. "Acapulco". In the Carribean Sea. Seasick. Lost my breakfast. Missed dinner and supper. We were out of sight of land all day.
Monday 17th. Latitude 15° 40. Longitude 76° 31. 431 miles from Aspinwall. I got up this morning at six o'clock and eat an orange before breakfast. I still did not feel very well, so I lay around on deck most of the afternoon. After some supper I went on deck again and fell asleep on one of the benches. When I awoke my hat had disappeared and I supposed it had fallen into the sea, as there was a strong head wind which had been blowing all day, and which kept the ship back a great deal. Charlie and I are in the same cabin.
Tuesday 18th. Third day at sea, and 679 miles from Aspinwall. I woke very early this morning after a good sleep, which made me feel much better. I had some breakfast, and then went up on deck. I wore one of Charlie's straw hats as I had no more left. In the afternoon a sailor, who fortunately found my hat on the deck, returned it to me. Early this morning we sighted San Domingo, and in the afternoon we passed Cuba. The sea was quite rough this evening, and the steamer rolled a good deal.
A "booby" alighted on one of the masts and a sailor climbed up after it and caught it. I read in a book afterwards that "the "booby" is a sea-bird belonging to the Gannet, or Solan Goose family, but smaller. The American species traverses the ocean from the shores of Greenland to the Gulf of Mexico. Their plumage is white, tinged on the head and neck with light brown, while the outer edge of the principal quills is black. There are bare spaces round the eyes, and the legs are red. Known to sailors as "Boobies" on account of the extraordinary stupidity they display in allowing themselves to be easily caught."
After supper I stayed on deck for a while, and then went down to the parlour to watch the minstrel troupe perform. The sails are up all the time now.
Wednesday 19th. Off the coast of Southern Florida. When I woke this morning the sea was quiet, but after breakfast it became very rough and the steamer rolled ever so much. I stayed on deck all the morning to keep from getting sick, but when I went downstairs to wash for dinner, I vomited right off. We sighted some islands today, and at noon had run 273 miles in the last twenty-four hours, and were 952 miles from Aspinwall. It rained several times during the afternoon and evening, but I stayed on deck.
Thursday 20th. Off the coast of Georgia. It was not so rough today, so I went in to the parlour and watched them play cards. In the afternoon I lay on the deck and tried to get some sleep. After supper, which by the way consisted of, green turtle soup, turkey, pudding, cakes, ice-cream and nuts, I walked up and down the deck afterwards and listened to the ladies singing in the parlour. It was a pleasant day.
Friday 21st. Off the coast of South Carolina. I did not sleep very well last night, probably the result of eating too much supper, so I felt very tired today, and did nothing in particular except lie on deck and try to sleep. In the evening I sat with the rest of the family. The sea was very smooth, like glass, and the weather was delightful, though pretty hot.
August 22nd. Off the coast of New Jersey. Last night we were off Cape Hatteras, and the sea was rough again, but as I was in bed I did not feel it much. I got up late this morning, but was in plenty of time for breakfast. We saw a great many sailing vessels in the distance during the day. At noon we had gone 296 miles in the last 24 hours (pretty good run) and expect to be in New York tonight. The weather had turned very windy and rainy this evening, but we stayed on deck and saw several lighthouses, a sign that we are nearing New York.
Sunday 23rd. Busch's Hotel. Hoboken, New Jersey, near New York.
After the pilot had come on board at 2 a.m., Charlie and I could not sleep so at 4 o'clock we got up and went on deck to look at the land and houses we were passing. At five o'clock we went by Sandy Hook, which is about twenty miles from New York, and at six a.m. we saw some forts. Half an hour later we were still waiting for the health officer to come on board, and after he arrived we still had to wait in front of the dock for a steamer to get out of the way. Finally at 7.30 a.m. we fastened to the wharf. We then waited for an hour for Uncle Frank, but as he did not appear we carried our baggage ashore, and I helped to check it. Father got an express wagon to take our things to Hoboken, also two hacks to drive us to the steamer which took us across the Hudson River (about 1 half mile) to Hoboken, where we drove to Busch's Hotel.
Last night I had my pants hanging up in my state-room by the window, and in them my purse which contained 80 cents. This morning before leaving the "Acapulco" I looked in my purse and all the money was gone, so I suppose one of the negro waiters stole it, and I have no more money left. This forenoon Charlie and I took a walk up and down the streets. Hoboken is a very pretty little city of 20,000 inhabitants, and lies right across the Hudson River from New York. After dinner Frank, Charlie and I walked way up the main street and back by the North River. It was a splendid walk, through groves of trees. The rest of the afternoon we stayed in the hotel. Mr Busch, the proprietor, is an immense man weighing 420 pounds. Johnny and I are sharing a bed in one room, while Charlie and Herman are in another. Nearly everyone in Hoboken is German, and today a large number arrived from New York.
Monday 24th. Last night a burglar tried to get into our room with a pair of nippers, but the key would not turn for him, and also the door was bolted, so he left. This morning we could see the marks on the key made by the nippers.
This morning Father gave Charlie and me 75 cents each, so we crossed over to New York. We went first on board the steamer "Idaho" to see if one of Charlie's friends was on board, and afterwards strolled around the town looking at the cutlery and gun shops. Afterwards we walked to the Fulton Ferry and back. We then took the ferry to Hoboken, arriving at the Hotel in good time for dinner. It was very tiring walking on the hard streets and sidewalks.
My expenses today were:
Lent Charlie 25 cents for him to buy a compass.
1 cent for an apple.
6 cents for the ferry, which came to 32 cents, leaving me 43 cents.
We had our money in green backs and nickels.
In the afternoon Charlie and I walked about the business part of Hoboken and I bought three "Boys and Girl's Weekly's". After supper we all took a walk along the river, and came back by the principal street. I forgot to say that Uncle Frank and Mr and Mrs Mahrer came to the hotel today to see us, they arrived last Thursday, and are staying in New York. Mr Mahrer and wife, who is Father's sister, are also going with us to South America.
Tuesday 25th. Hoboken. There are a lot of street musicians in Hoboken. A brass band went past last night after I had gone to bed, and woke me up so that I could not get to sleep again for some time. When I at last went off, the band came back again. This morning Father gave me $l.50 making me $1.75 so Frank, Willie and I went over to New York by the Barclay Street ferry, which landed us away on the Southern part of the city. From there we went to see the "Acapulco", and then on to the offices of the Brazilian Steamship Line in Bowling Green, where on enquiry, we found that the fare to Rio de Janeiro is $200. After walking up to the end of Broadway and stopping at Remington's Store to price guns, we took a horse-car for Central Park, where we strolled along the delightful walks, made of asphaltum, to the menagerie, looked at the animals, walked round the lake, and saw the boars. We then went to the Casino, a beautiful eating-house, where we ordered cups of chocolate, sandwiches and doughnuts. After visiting the "Deep Dark Cave" and the "Stone Castle", we sat down for a while in one of the many pretty summer-houses, and watched the wonderful fountains playing. We then took the horse-cars to the ferry, then the ferry for Hoboken, and arrived at the hotel just in time for supper.
Wednesday 26. Hoboken. This afternoon everybody went to New York, but I stayed at home and wrote a six page letter to Mrs Howard. After dinner Charlie and I went to New York to visit the Castle Gardens. We then went to Fuller's Ferry, returning to the hotel for supper, after which we went down town where I bought eighty-four feet of strong fishing line for sixty cents. We then walked around the town for a bit to pass away the time. Charlie paid me back my 25 cents today.
Thursday 27th. As there is no steamer going direct from here to the Argentine, and no sailing vessel will take us, we are leaving on Saturday next by the S.S. "Wesser" for Southampton, England, and on from there by another ship to Buenos Aires.
This morning Charlie and I went down to Hoboken harbour to see the "Wesser". She is nearly as nice as the "Acapulco". After dinner we went with Father down town and carried back a new trunk for Josephine.
Friday 28th. This forenoon Father, Frank, Willie, Charlie, and I went to New York. We walked to a gun store on Broadway, where Father bought four Winchester rifles, and I bought some hooks for my fish line. We then went to a banking house, and Father had his money fixed, after which he took us to a saloon and bought us iced sodas. The three youngest then came home in time for dinner. Mother and the children went over to Central Park in the afternoon, and had a good time.
Saturday August 29th. Off Sandy Hook in S.S. "Wesser". Bound for Southampton. Today we left for Southampton. This morning I stayed around the hotel and helped to fix the baggage, and later went with Father to buy a barrel of apples, a checker board, magazines and papers. After dinner we went down to the wharf and aboard the "Wesser" which was crowded with people, but most of them went ashore before she left at 3 o'clock. We are a party of twelve, including nine of our family, Uncle Frank, and Uncle and Aunt Mahrer.
The "Wesser" is a North German Lloyd Steamer of 3,000 tons burden and 700 horse power, with iron screw propeller. The second class cabins, where we sleep, are down below, and cost $60 for each person. Frank and I and another man are going to sleep in one cabin, which is very large and has four bunks. We have breakfast at 7.30 p.m., dinner at midday, coffee at 3 p.m. and supper at seven. There is a brass band composed of the waiters, which plays daily at 11 a.m. but it is not a crack band.
Sunday 30th. In Atlantic Ocean. It was a cold and wet day, so I stayed inside and read magazines all day. The steamer smokes a great deal and drops much soot, which dirties everything. After supper I walked up and down the deck with Josephine until bedtime. We are out of sight of land, and have run 227 miles in the last eighteen hours.
Monday 31st. Latitude 41° 92. Longitude 62° 47. I lay on the sofa in my cabin most of the day and read, as although the weather was fine, there was an unpleasant ground swell, and I did not care to walk about. The seasick ones are Mother, Mrs Mahrer, and Herman.
Tuesday 1st. On Atlantic Ocean. S.S. "Messer". This morning we passed a number of fishing smacks which were catching codfish. They were like small schooners, and were accompanied, at some distance away, by a lot of little boats. We also saw several porpoises, and later in the afternoon a great many stormy petrels followed the ship. They are sometimes called Mother Carey's Chickens and generally appear when a gale is blowing and is a harbinger of storms. When the storm is over it disappears. They are small pretty birds, rather like swallows.
There was a thick fog during the early part of the day, and the captain had to keep on blowing the whistle to avoid collisions. It cleared away however during the course of the afternoon, but in the evening the weather turned miserably cold and rainy, with a furious wind blowing. After supper I sat with Father and my uncles in the smoking-room listening to them talking about California, in the year 1848. I afterwards went to the saloon to hear the fiddlers play. Before going to bed, I thought I would go on deck for a while, but the wind was so strong I could not stand.
Wednesday 2nd. 1091 miles from New York. Lat. 44° 56. Long. 50° 27. I spent most of the day in the smoking-room reading, and in the evening sat in the saloon listening to the music. It was a miserable day and the sea was very rough.
Thursday 3rd. In the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. S.S. "Wesser". Pretty much like yesterday. The weather was wretched, and the waves were very high. At noon we had run 295 miles in the last twenty-four hours, and were 1386 miles from New York.
Friday 4th. Latitude 48° 32. Longitude 30° 25. After a sleepless night I got up this morning just in time for breakfast. I spent the morning on deck reading, and in the afternoon went to sleep on the couch in my room. There was a very pretty sunset this evening. The clouds were all colours, and very nicely arranged. No ships in sight all day. The weather was a little better than yesterday, and so were the waves.
Saturday 5th. Seventh day at sea. This morning, after a slight breakfast, I went on deck and saw several whales in the distance. Two appeared to be fighting, as the water was dashing about all round them. Father has given me the Steamship Company's Guide Book, which is a neat little blue pocket book, with descriptions of London and Paris. It has advertisements and a memorandum, and also a track map, showing the course of the steamer.
Sunday 6th. Lat. 49° 54 N. Long. 21° 52 W. At noon we had run 308 miles in the last twenty-four hours and were 3293 miles from New York. After spending most of the day in the saloon reading and listening to the music, I went to the smoking-room and sat with the fellows of the stateroom opposite to ours, who were cracking jokes etc., some times they were quite funny. It was a miserably disagreeable day, raining and foggy.
Monday 7th. S.S. "Wesser". Nearing the English Channel. There were a great many more porpoises today, swimming quite close to and almost touching the ship. They have long noses, and a hole on the top of their heads. We passed two ships, but they were a long way off. In the evening the waiters made a collection for the music, father gave them $20.
Tuesday 8th. Off the South-west coast of England. 10th day at sea. We expect to be in Southampton some time tonight. At 9 a.m. we could see the island of Scilly, near to Land's End, which we passed two hours later. We were in sight of land all day. After dinner we passed quite close to Cape Lizard, which is high hills, and has on it the largest lighthouse I have ever seen. There are many small villages in the sheltered part of the hills, which most of the way are divided up into little fields, and look like beautiful gardens full of scarlet and blue flowers (poppies and cornflowers). It was a very pleasant and sunny day. At three o'clock I had some coffee, and eat five coffee cakes, after which I went to my room and slept until five o'clock. After supper I stayed in the saloon and played a game of checkers with a woman. After listening to the music for a while I went to bed. At noon we had run 312 miles in the last twenty-four hours, and were 166 miles from the Needles.
Wednesday 9th. S.S. "Boyne". In the English Channel. Last night I got up at 11.30 to see the pilot come aboard, and then went back to bed again. When I awoke this morning (5.30) we were opposite the great hospital on the Island of Wight. This is Netley hospital, an immense building, the largest hospital in the world, and is built of rock. We also saw a castle which is Osborne House and is Queen Victoria's summer residence. It overlooks the channel of Spithead. We arrived at Southampton about 6.30 a.m. and after breakfast went ashore to the Customs House. Mother had some loose luggage, and she was not allowed to take it on shore at first, but an officer made it all right. Father also had some difficulty in satisfying the custom-house officer's demands, but £6.00 did it.
At about 9 a.m. Father and I went in to the city of Southampton. I tried to buy a knife, but could not find what I wanted, and Father bought our tickets for the voyage to Buenos Aires, which cost $146.00 apiece. At 11 o'clock we took a little steamer which took us out to the South American ship the S.S. "Boyne". She is a magnificent steamer of 3318 tons, has an iron screw-propeller, and, although three years old, everything looks so nice and new. A lovely yacht sailed round us several times, she was a wonderful affair.
We left Southampton at 3 o'clock, an hour later were going regularly. When we passed the Needles at five o'clock, the pilot took his leave. The sea is pretty rough, and the ship rolls a great deal, also the rudder makes a lot of noise.
We had some difficulty in getting seats for supper as there are a great many passengers, but finally managed to get a table to ourselves. There are two bunks in each room, and this time Frank and I are sharing a room.
Thursday 10th. In the Bay of Biscay. Off the coast of France. The sea was very rough today, and the ship rolled a great deal. Nearly everybody on board was seasick, and although I was pretty ill myself I could not help laughing at some of the men on deck, who were looking into the water and feeding the fishes. I lay on the deck all the morning, and when the steamer rolled, I would slide to one side of the ship and then back again. I eat very little all day, only a biscuit and a piece of bread, and they soon appeared again. In the afternoon I still lay on the deck, but managed to hold on to some ironwork so as not to slide away. In the evening it was so rough that the plates hopped out of the partitions (fiddles) on the dining-room table, and a great many were broken. It was very cold all day.
Friday 11th. Bay of Biscay. 2nd day at sea. I had some breakfast this morning, after which I went on deck and spent most of the day lying on some sort of woodwork at the back part of the ship, and tried to sleep or read. The sea was not quite so rough, though still pretty bad, and the temperature was a little higher.
Saturday 12th. Off the coast of Portugal. As today was warm and sunny, and the sea had become calmer, nearly all the passengers came up on deck. We expect to be in Lisbon tomorrow morning.
Sunday 13th. Off Lisbon. When I got up at six this morning, we were in sight of land, and after passing a few lighthouses, ruins, and old houses we entered the harbour at 9 a.m. and were anchored to a buoy, about a mile from the city. The ship was immediately surrounded by passenger boats, coal barges, and boats full of fruit etc. Father, Uncle, Mr Mahrer, Willie and Frank went on shore. When they returned they told us that Lisbon is all built of stone. The houses are tall and well built, and the straight long streets beautifully paved. There are four large public squares, the finest of which is the Praca de Comercio. It is open on one side of the river, and on the other three sides is surrounded by Government buildings. This square is beautifully paved with coloured tiles arranged in a wavy design. Lisbon was once destroyed by a terrible earthquake and most of the old city lies under the water. It is a very hot day.
Mother bought a big basket of very good white grapes, and Father paid $2.50 for a basket chair. A great many passengers got off here, but a still greater number came on board. We left again at 5 o'clock and were soon out of sight of land. Frank and I have our room changed to one under the stairs.
Wednesday 16th. On the high seas. Lat 278° N. Long. 17° 8 W. I spent the last two days doing nothing much but sit on deck reading an interesting novel called "Under Two Flags". When I woke this morning we were opposite the peak of Teneriffe, which is one of the Canary Islands. We could only see the outlines of the mountain through the clouds in the distance, and the patches of snow on the summit, which towered above the clouds. The weather is now delightful, and all the passengers look pleased. I find there is so little to do and get lonesome.
The rest of the voyage was pretty much the same every day, and nothing unusual occurred during the following three or four weeks.
On September 19th. we were at St Vincent, one of the Cape Verde Islands, where the natives came alongside in boats, and dived for money thrown to them by the passengers, bringing the coins to the surface before they could reach the bottom of the sea. It was curious to see them sham fighting in the very clear water.
On September 25th. we arrived at Pernambuco, entering the harbour through a very narrow passage, close by a fort built on a reef. The hill on the right is called Olmida, and is covered with houses and convents. On the left there is an island thickly planted with tall cocoanut trees. There are two forts on the isthmus between Olmida and Pernambuco, and a lighthouse midway to help the pilot. The town itself is very dirty, the streets look as though they were never cleaned, and all the rubbish seems to be thrown from the houses. The buildings are high, and while some are newly whitewashed, others are stained and mouldy. All have dark and gloomy balconies with bars to them, like a dairy window. The port is full of ships, and close by the shore stands what is called the Palace of the Captain-General of Pernambuco. This was once a Jesuit College, and was built by the Fathers, but several years ago, the governor drove them out of the country. The surroundings of the city are very pretty. You can see several country houses and sugar plantations. There are lots of palm trees, cocoanut trees, and orange and lemon groves. At Olinda there is a Botanical Gardens, but it is very poorly kept. Willie and I went ashore, but the others said it was too rough, and they watched us getting ducked by the waves coming over the staircase as we tried to get back on the ship.
Two days later we were in Bahia, where we all went ashore in a row boat. We were taken up in an elevator about 300 feet, and then walked to a park where we obtained a splendid view of the harbour. We had dinner at the Hotel de Mulem, which cost Father $26.00.
On September 30th. we arrived at Rio de Janeiro, and stayed here two days. It is a most beautiful harbour surrounded by green hills and mountains, one of which rises in a peak with a rounded top and is called the Pan de Azucar (the Sugar Loaf). The town is built in terraces and there are lots of brightly painted houses of all colours built on the hills, which look very pretty among the trees in the bright sunshine. We all went ashore and took a train to the Botanical Gardens, where we saw a splendid array of palms. The tallest and thinnest of these is said to be the Mother palm of all the palm-trees in South America, and is over a hundred years old. There were also some very large water-lilies in a pool, with huge leaves, about four feet across. The trees were crowded with little brown squirrels, some of them so tame that we fed them with nuts.
After leaving Rio we ran into a heavy fog in the Catalinas Bay, which lasted nearly all the way to Montevideo. It took us 50 hours to make the last 170 miles. We remained in Montevideo all day on the 7th October but we did not go ashore. It is not much of a place, and has a small mountain in front of the harbour with a fort and guns on top. All round the coast there are some very pretty bays with sandy beach. We left here a 7 p.m. On October 8th, and the following morning at 5 a.m. came to anchor 11 miles from the city of Buenos Aires.
The Rio de La Plata was first discovered in the year 1515, by a party of Spanish Explorers, who were searching for a south-west passage to the East Indies. Their leader, a celebrated sea-captain named Juan Diaz de Solis, anchored off the north coast, between the present cities of Montevideo and Maldonado. Uruguay at that time was peopled with several savage tribes, namely the Querandis, Timbus, and Charrua Indians, which had settled on the banks of the river. As Solis brought his ships to anchor, a small band of men, women and children, naked except for brilliant feather headresses, and a profusion of silver ornaments, ran down to the beach and made friendly signs of welcome. Solis was at first distrustful, but on the Indians showing that they were completely unarmed, he was induced by a few of his companions to land, and they accompanied him in a small boat to the shore. The Indians immediately ran back into a belt of trees, and before the Spaniards could regain their boat, they were surrounded by hordes of savages, armed with spears and arrows, who seemed to literally rise out of the ground. In a few seconds Solis and his eight friends were annihilated. Their bodies were then dragged into the bush, from whence in a few moments smoke was seen to arise. Within full view of the horror-stricken party on board the vessels, Solis and his companions were cooked and eaten by the savages, who then rushed down to the water's edge to destroy and sink the boat in which their victims had landed. This does not necessarily mean that they were habitual cannibals, as it was the custom among certain tribes when they had killed an enemy of exceptional merit, with the idea of thus acquiring his courage and superiority and thereby adding to their own. The survivors of this ill-fated expedition, however, abandoned the country and returned to Spain, reporting the discovery of a fresh-water sea. In the year 1519, Magalhaes, while in the service of the King of Portugal, entered this "mar dulce", but finding no outlet to the west, he departed without landing, and from there achieved his famous voyage to the East Indies, passing through the Straits which bear his name, in the year 1520. In 1527, the celebrated navigator Sebastian Cabot, in the service of Carlos I of Spain, sailed in command of an expedition fitted out for the purpose of colonising the discoveries of Magalhaes in the East Indies. Instead, however, he entered the Rio de la Plata, and anchored off the present site of Buenos Aires. He then ascended the Parana, where he established a settlement, which he named San Espiritu, among the Timbu Indians in Santa Fé, and succeeded in bringing them to apparently friendly terms with his colony. After penetrating still further up the Parana as far as the Falls of Iguazu in Misiones, he explored the River Paraguay, from whence he entered the Rio Bermejo. Here a savage fight ensued with the Paraguá and Agaces Indians. The quantities of silver ornaments worn by the several tribes he encountered, led him to give the name of Rio de La Plata, or the Silver River, to the splendid stream he had explored. Returning to the fort at San Espiritu, he found that an attempt on the part of the chief of the Timbus to abduct one of the Spanish ladies in the settlement, had led to the treacherous massacre of the garrison. Disheartened he returned to Spain.
In August 1534, Don Pedro de Mendoza, a Basque nobleman, left Cadiz for the Rio de la Plata, at the head of two thousand men and the largest and wealthiest expedition that had ever left Europe for the New World. In January 1535 he entered the Rio de la Plata, and following the northern shore to San Gabriel (Colonia) he crossed the river and landed in the pampas. The name of Buenos Aires was given to the country by Del Campo, the first of the party to step ashore, and where, on February 2nd, the settlement of Santa Maria de Buenos Aires was founded. This attempt was doomed to failure, however, as the Indians surrounding Buenos Aires were implacable in their hatred of the invaders, and in the year 1537, while Mendoza was in Spain, it was reduced to the last extremity by the Querandis. The few surviving inhabitants therefore abandoned it and fled to Asuncion. Here a fort had been built two years previously by a lieutenant of Mendoza's, Don Juan de Ayolas, who ascended the Parana to Paraguay, and founded the city, naming it after the day (August 15th, 1536) on which he fought and defeated the Guarani Indians on the spot where the fort was erected. This city was then the chief of the Spanish possessions in South America.
In the year 1539, Buenos Aires was utterly destroyed by the Charruas, rehabilitated three years later, and again destroyed on February 3rd, 1543, when Cabeza de Vaca arrived with another expedition from Spain, just in time to save the inhabitants from extinction by the Charruas, who were the most savage and hostile of the southern tribes. Of the three thousand Europeans who had settled on the banks of the Rio de La Plata, only six hundred now remained at Asuncion. The rest had fallen victims to the climate, the savage attacks of the Indians and wild animals (jaguars and pumas) and the continual hardships to which they had been exposed.
On his way up the Parana, Aloyas had also built and garrisoned a fort, which he named Corpus Cristi, among the Timbu Indians in Santa Fe, and near the now deserted settlement of San Espiritu. This ultimately shared the fate of its neighbour, through a wanton attack by the Caracara tribe who slaughtered the men, and took the women captive.
Aloyas succeeded Mendoza as governor of Asuncion, but he was eventually together with two hundred of his party, by the Paraguas in the Chaco, while returning from an expedition laden with plunder.
In 1538, Domingo Irala was elected Captain-General of Asuncion, but was soon deprived of his authority by the arrival of Don Juan de Alvarez, with a commision from Spain. In 1544, Irala made a counter-attack on Alvarez and defeating him, sent him back to Spain. Until his death thirteen years later, Irala was the dominating personality of the colony. The population was composed of mostly Guarani Indians, whose dialect has since remained the prevalent language of Paraguay. Irala treated the Indians with consideration and justice, and they revered him as their benefactor. After his death, Gonzalez de Mendoza was appointed Lieutenant-General and Commander, which post he held until his demise a few years later, which was followed by a long period of civil dissension and unrest.
In 1560, the Guaranis of Paraguay were definitely crushed in the battle of Acari, but it was not until the year 1573 that the Spaniards from Asuncion succeeded in founding a city south of the River Parana and the Paraguay. Santa Fé was the first permanent Spanish settlement of the Rio de la Plata and it was founded in the year 1572 by a Basque named Juan de Garay. In the year 1580 he sent overland from Santa Fé two hundred families of the more peaceable Guarani Indians. They were accompanied by a thousand horses, two hundred cows, and fifty sheep, besides the mares, oxen, carts and other necessities. Boats also carried down from Santa Fe arms, munitions, seed and grain, and were harboured in a nearby creek, which he named the Riachuelo. Garay himself went by land with forty soldiers, and notwithstanding the determined hostility of the Querandis, he succeeded in planting the Spanish flag on the old site of Buenos Aires, and under the name of "Ciudad de Santissima Trinidad, Puerto Santa Maria de Buenos Aires", the city was rebuilt for the third time. Four years later Garay, while on an exploring expedition, was treacherously ambushed by the Indians, and stabbed while he slept. The settlement prospered, however, and gradually grew into an important town, while the cattle and horses brought from Europe by the Spaniards, multiplied in great numbers, many of them spreading over the pampas to the south, and to the eastern sides of Uruguay, and eventually becoming wild. Previous to the Spanish conquest there were no dogs, sheep, goats, cows or horses in the country. The indigenous animals, the llamas, vicuñas, alpacasr and guanacos, hunted for their beautiful, soft, furry skins, are now practically extinct. A species of ostrich called the ñandu still exists, while in the more remote parts may still be found jaguars, pumas, wolves, wild-cats, tapir, carpinchos, ant-bears, venados and yacaretes. Of the smaller animals the foxes, skunks, hares, nutrias, cuatis, viscachas, armadillos and otters are still plentiful, also a large lizard or iguana which sometimes measures over three feet long. In the rivers there are still seals, sea wolves, alligators and turtles.
The founding of Buenos Aires was confirmed by Royal Decree on February 1, 1594 and Francisco de Zarate, the governor, began to construct fortifications on the banks of the river. By the year 1620 it had grown into a province of over three thousand people, and was definitely established. In 1586 the Jesuit missionaries first made their appearance in Paraguay, and in 1601 Father Torres, their principal, made many Indian converts and formed townships. During the next twenty years a great many Indians were educated and trained in habits of industry by the labours of the Jesuits, though some of the tribes of the Chaco, even before the advent of the Spaniards, supported themselves to some extent by agriculture, and were not so nomadic as the hunting tribes of the south.
One of the most prominent names in the early history of Buenos Aires, is that of Hernandarias de Saavedra, who was governor of the city in 1601. Of distinguished ancestry, and pure Spanish blood, he was born in 1561 at Asuncion, where he was educated at the monastery of the Franciscan Fathers. Here he lived until he was fifteen years of age, when he formed an expedition against the Indians in the Andes, and later joined Juan de Garay in his expeditions in the south. In 1588 he distinguished himself in the defence of Corrientes against the Indians of the Chaco, and by the time he was thirty, he was the leading creole in the vast region which lay between the Upper Paraguay and Buenos Aires. When the Spanish Lieutenant-General of Asuncion was deposed, Saavedra was called upon to fill the vacancy, and eleven years later was unanimously elected Governor of Buenos Aires. Although severe with the Indians when the occasion demanded, he was nevertheless kind and just, and protected them against the tyranny of his fellow-countrymen, who for many years had forced them into slavery. At the end of his term of office as governor, he was named "official protector of the aborigines" and when in 1610 the Spanish government promulgated laws forbidding the further enslavement of the Indians, Saavedra did his utmost to secure its enforcement. In spite of this law however, captive Indians still continued to be sold as slaves, and after the battle of Quilmes (a village in the Andean mountains) where the Calchaquis made their last brave stand, forty thousand of them were reduced to slavery. The town of Rosario was composed almost entirely of the families of this tribe, while eleven thousand of them were exiled to each of the cities of Santiago del Estero, Santa Fe and Buenos Aires.
In 1630 the Jesuit colonies were attacked by the Portuguese settlers (Paulistas) and during the following two years of continual persecution, sixty thousand Indians were either destroyed or carried off. In order to defend their settlements, the Jesuits, who had heretofore taught the Indians to renounce violence of any kind, were obliged to appeal for authority from Spain to imbody and arm their converts in the manner of the Europeans. In the year 1668 they rebuilt the city of Santa Fe, and the following year five hundred Jesuits worked on the fortifications of Buenos Aires and on the building of the Cathedral. The increasing prosperity of the Jesuits eventually began to excite prejudice and jealousy, and various accusations were brought against them, which were afterwards proved to be groundless, and although their rights were upheld and confirmed by a Royal Decree of 1745, their prosperity and power soon began to decline, and the expulsion of their order from Spain in 1767 was soon followed by the subversion of their dominion in South America. Their possessions when subsequently annexed by the government of Paraguay, amounted to 769,358 horned cattle, 94,983 horses, and 221,537 sheep.
A series of wars and treaties extending over nearly a century and a quarter, now waged between Portugal and Spain for the possession of Uruguay. In 1860, an expedition sent by the Portuguese governor of Rio de Janeiro, landed opposite the city of Buenos Aires and built a fort, calling it Colonia. This was the first permanent European occupation of Uruguayan soil, either by Portugal or Spain. The latter never lost their dominion over the lands in the interior, however, and formed several cities on the shores of the Atlantic and Rio de La Plata. The foremost of these was Montevideo. When these disputes were finally settled, the Spaniards held all the land between the southern limits of Misiones, the sources of the Rio Negro and Lake Mirim, and the coasts of the Atlantic and Rio de La Plata. The bounderies of Montevideo, as conceded to it by General Brunio Mauricio de Zabala, (governor of Buenos Aires) and approved by Spain in 1726, were as follows:- "On the south, as far as the Rio de la Plata; on the west, the River Cufre; on the north, the Cuchilla Grande; and on the east bv the mountain Pan de Azucar".
The country had now become more populated, and as civilization among the Indians increased, many of them intermarried with the Europeans. In 1629, a Royal Decree united into a single vice-royalty, the hitherto separate governments of Buenos Aires and Asuncion, and the provinces of Charcas, Potosi and Cochabamba. Until the eighteenth century there was but one viceroyalty in South America, that of Peru, which extended from the western to the eastern shores, but on account of the inconveniences of so large a territory, four new vice-royalties were created in 1776, namely in New Spain (all Spanish possessions in North America, including Mexico), Peru, New Granada, (afterwards Colombia) and Buenos Aires; and Captain-Generalcies in Chile, Venezuela, and Guatemala. These seven governments were independent of each other and were sub-divided into provinces, each with its own Governor or "corregedor") and also intendents under the jurisdiction of an officer called an "intendente". This latter division was principally for that part of the government relating to the Indians. These provinces were again divided into departments, each of which was presided over by a delegate ("delegado") with the likewise subordinate magistrates called "alcaldes", and appointed by the municipality or "cabildo".
The appointing of a viceroy at Buenos Aires led to the establishing of the government at the city in 1778. From this period its trade and prosperity increased rapidly. The following year it was promoted by a Royal Ordinance, which permitted the exporting of salted meat, tallow, and horsehair, to Spain and other colonies free of duty. It rose steadily in rank and importance, as, the viceroys maintained all the pomp and dignity, and the luxury of the court at Madrid. Their term of office lasted five years, with a salary of $30,000. This, however, was but a small part of their income, as, by manipulating certain branches of commerce, disposing of lucrative posts, by presents, and innumerable frauds and abuses of power, they usually, when their term of office expired, retired to Spain with a princely fortune. It is asserted that one viceroy, at a festival given in honour of his birthday anniversary received $50,000 in presents. These viceroys as well as the captain-generals, governors, and intendents, also all archbishops and bishops, were appointed by the King of Spain, and were almost entirely Spaniards. Up to the year 1810, out of the one hundred and sixty viceroys and six hundred other officials appointed, eighteen alone were natives of the country, and these only obtained their appointments through having received their education in Spain. Ten viceroys in succession occupied the post in Buenos Aires from 1777 to 1806, and the Marquis de Sobremonte was the King of Spain's representative at the time of the British invasion, and during the disputes between Spain and England.
On June 27th, 1806, General Beresford landed a few miles below the city at Quilmes, with a body of 1500 troops from a British fleet, under the command of Sir Home Popham, and took possession of Buenos Aires. The viceroy fled to Cordoba. The Governor of Montevideo, Ruis Huidobro, made efforts to reconquer the city, but while the expedition was in preparation Santiago de Liniers, the French captain of a vessel in the employ of Spain, arrived at Montevideo with the same purpose, and assembled an army in Cordoba collected from all parts of the country, and on August 12th retook the city. Beresford surrendered and was taken prisoner. For the following eight months he was detained as a political guest, in the historic municipal building at Lujan. This building or "cabildo" was built in the early 18th century. It is built and decorated in the early picturesque Spanish style, and is now used as a museum, which includes several mementoes of the English officers who were also prisoners there, amongst them being a gilt ormulu clock presented to Liniers by his prisoner General Beresford. Other prisoners of interest in later times were General Manuel Belgrano, General Paz, and Bartolomé Mitre. The Royal Tobacco Revenue building, erected in 1780 stands nearby, and was also used for political prisoners, amongst them being the Viceroy Sobremonte after his fall from power.
After his desertion of Buenos Aires, Sobremonte was forced to_ appoint Liniers to the military command of the city, and delegate his own powers to the Cabildo, after which he retired to Montevideo.
In February 1807, Sir Samuel Auchmuty stormed and took Montevideo and on July 5th, reinforcements arrived from England under the command of General Whitlock, who with an army of 8,000 men endeavoured to regain possession of Buenos Aires. Liniers, assisted by the inhabitants, had meanwhile made great preparations for resistance. Every avenue to the city was obstructed by barricades, fifteen to twenty feet deep, made of hides. Small pieces of artillery were fixed at the corners of the streets and on the low roofs of the houses, which at that time were built with their windows projecting over the street, and were protected with strong railings like prison bars, so that each house with its flat roof, was a fortress in itself.
As the British troops advanced, the canons planted in the trenches poured a destructive fire of grape shot on their column, while an incessant shower of stones, bricks, boiling water, and musketry fire was rained from the windows and the roofs of the houses. The British unable to retaliate on their hidden enemies, dropped in hundreds. For two days the conflict raged, and finally the column under General Auchmuty took refuge in a building where bull-fights were held in the then Plaza de los Toros,(now known as Plaza San Martin. This bull-ring occupied the site where the statue of San Martin stands today, and was demolished in the years 1807-1818. Tradition has it that on one occasion the Plaza changed ownership for the price of a white horse and a guitar.) while the column under General Crawford, after losing half its number, retired to take shelter in the Santo Domingo Church, in Calle Defensa, and were finally obliged to surrender. The following day an armistice was declared and the British agreed to evacuate the Rio de la Plata within two months.
The Spanish Government then appointed Liniers as viceroy, and he was still in office when the news arrived of the crowning of Joseph Bonaparte as King of Spain. The people of Buenos Aires refused to acknowledge this dynasty however, and demanded the deposition of Liniers. On July 19th, 1809, Cisneros became viceroy in the name of Ferdinand VII of Spain, who in compliance with the urgent appeals of the people, opened the trade of the country to foreign nations.
Revolutionary movements now began to agitate Buenos Aires, which met with decided response from the towns in the interior. The idea of independence had taken possession of the populace, and the first step in this direction was the forming of a Council, under the title of "The Provisional Government of the Provinces of the Rio de la Plata". Of this Council, Mariano Molino, the secretary, was the most prominent member. An attempt on the part of Spain, supported by the Spanish troops quartered in the city, to make Cisneros President of the Council, put a match to the already smouldering embers of revolt, which resulted in the patriotic forces raised by Artigas in Montevideo, Vicente Lopez in Santa Fe, Ibarra from Santiago del Estero, and Facundo Quiroga from the Llanos (this latter territory was situated between the Orinoco River in Terra Firma, Colombia, and the Rio de la Plata, and was a hilly oasis or "traviesa" on the slopes of the Andes. In the dry season it resembled a desert, but in the wet months it was covered with lush grass and vegetation. It was peopled with shepherds and butchers, who, like the gauchos of the pampas, led a hard, frugal and nomadic life. As soldiers armed with their pikes, they were a formidable and bloodthirsty body of men) securing a complete triumph with the most famous revolution in the history of the Argentine, that of the 25th May 1810, when they declared themselves an independent nation, namely "La Republica Argentina", with Cornelius Assvedra as its first President.
The following year they prepared to spread the fire of revolution to the Banda Oriental, and entrusted the command of the Uruguayan army to General Artigas. The people of the rural districts rose in a body, and after nearly three years conflict, Spanish power was forever banished from the Rio de la Plata, by the taking of Montevideo by Alvear in 1814.
On the 9th July 1816 the separation from Spain was formally declared, with Buenos Aires as the seat of the Governing Body.
On March 1st, 1822 the organization of social matters in accordance with the new ideas with which the country had become impregnated, was initiated in the presence of the representatives of all the liberated states, and a general amnesty was declared. The Spanish Government acknowledged the independence of the country in 1824, and on January 23rd, 1825, a national constitution for the federal states was decreed. The same year the Prime Minister of Great Britain, Mr George Canning, signed a commercial treaty, by which the British government recognized the new Republic.
Being now tolerably secure from external interference through the acceptance of its status by Great Britain, and the United States of North America, the young nation devoted itself to the task of organizing and consolidating its internal affairs. The difficulties of the situation soon became apparent during the presidency of Bernado Rivadavia, who was elected in 1826. Hitherto Gervasio Posadas (1813) Coronel Pueyrredon (1816), General Las Heras (1823), in turn had been laying the foundations of a free government. Amnesty laws, individual security, respect for property, and public education, were being established, and everything was in a peaceful course of construction. Rivadavia returned from a visit to Europe and continued the work of Las Heras, but on a much larger scale, now necessary for the demands of a growing Republic. He brought over from Europe, men of learning for the press and the schools. Ships for the rivers were purchased, and he founded a national bank to encourage trade. Freedom for all creeds was established, and he introduced the social theories of the day for the formation of his government. In fact he sought to accomplish in ten years what in other countries had required centuries of development, and this without the shedding of blood or destroying of property. His policy was to establish a strong central government, and he invited the provinces to unite in a Congress and assume the form of a general government, under a president, independent of the government of Buenos Aires, but the seat of the provinces and the general government, was to be in Buenos Aires. This idea which eventually proved so disastrous for himself and his country, was everywhere favourably received, and he became the head of a party known as the "Unitarios" in contra-distinction to their opponents, who were called the "Federalistas". The Unitarios were those who advocated a consolidated central government, and formed a distinct class of men, recognizable by their ceremonious politeness and refinement of manner and speech. The federalists on the other hand were those who held to a confederation of the old provinces, or union of States, and represented the more uncouth, barbarous, and arbitrary south American community. This party, or power, was scattered throughout the Republic, in the provinces and Indian territories. Rivadavia introduced the complete system of a Republic, with legislative revenues etc. modelled on that of the United States, and advised the other provinces to do likewise, each for itself. The foundations for the Federal system were thus unconsciously laid by the Unitarians themselves, though at the time they were opposed to Federation.
Under the government of Rivadavia, the Argentine Republic became involved almost single-handed in a War with Brazil. This was in defence of the Banda Oriental, which on July 18th, 1821, had been seized by the forces of the Brazilian Emperor, and was now known as the Cisplatine State. A few natives of Uruguay, political refugees living in Buenos Aires, formed a plan to invade the Cisplatine State for the purpose of freeing it from Brazil and restoring it to the United Provinces. They called themselves "The Band of the Thirty Three" and soon won many others to the cause. On April 19th, 1825 they entered their native land under the command of Juan Antonio Lavallega, and equipped with a few carbines, pistols, and swords; a few horses and a few ounces of gold to pay preliminary expenses. This expedition is worthy of mark as one of the most daring and praiseworthy on account of the great courage and confidence it reveals, in spite of its pathetic lack of resources, and the sublime indifference to the heavy odds against them in facing the numerous troops on the boundary line defending the Brazilian posts, which were under the command of the redoubtable General Rivero, famous for his ability in guerilla warfare. Amazing result awarded their heroism, however, for within ten days they had captured Rivero by strategy, who promptly deserted and joined them. They besieged the fortress of Montevideo, and within two months, the first revolutionary movement was established in Florida. Six months later Uruguay gained a splendid victory on the fields of Sarandi, and obtained from the Argentine Congress recognition of the incorporation of the Banda Oriental with the United Provinces of Rio de la Plata. Brazil now lost no time in declaring war on the Argentine, which, with an army under the command of General Carlos Alvear, a vanguard of Uruguayans under Lavallega; and a fleet equipped in Buenos Aires and under the orders of Admiral William Brown, invaded Brazil in 1826. A series of hand to hand battles followed, one after another, for eighteen months, terminating in the utter defeat of the Brazilians by the forces under General Juan de Lavalle, at Ituzango in 1827, which established the independence of Uruguay.
Rivadavia's term of office was also remarkable for the Constitution of the 24th, December 1826, passed by the Constituent Congress of all the provinces, and by which the bonds uniting the confederate states of the Argentine Republic were strengthened. This project met with much opposition, both at Buenos Aires, and in the provinces, and the following year the opposition in the Congress was in the majority. Rivadavia resigned and Vicente Lopez, a federalist, was elected. He, however, was soon supplanted by Manuel Dorrego, another representative of the same party. Dorrego was driven out of office by a revolution, at the head of which was Juan de Lavalle, the hero of Ituzango, who pursued Dorrego into the country and after capturing him, had him shot on December 9th, 1828. Lavalle in turn was overcome by Vicente Lopez, Governor of Santa Fe, who assisted by a Federalist leader, Juan Manuel Rosas, defeated Lavalle under the walls of the city. Dr José Viamonte was the next President, but he only remained in office for barely a year.
In 1830 he was replaced by the aforesaid Federalist leader Juan Manuel Rosas, one of the most remarkable men of his time. The scion of a wealthy Buenos Aires family, Rosas from his childhood had lived on the vast family estates in the Southern pampas, where he became the model and idol of the "gauchos". By the time he was twenty-five he was the acknowledged king of the Southern plains, with a thousand hard-riding, half savage horsemen at his command. When he was declared Governor of Buenos Aires he was crowned by the women, the city was illuminated, bands of music paraded the streets, and everyone rejoiced with cries of "Viva the Restorer of Law" and "Death to the Unitarios". But their hopes were sadly disappointed. For more than twenty years he held them in abject terror by his tyranny and despotic rule. The Unitarios were relentlessly hunted down, and innumerable atrocities committed in the name of patriotism. Rosas gradually concentrated all power into his own hands, and in 1835, with the title of Governor and Captain-General, he acquired dictatorial powers, which made him the nominal head of the whole of the Argentine. The offices in the provinces were filled by his partisans, and he formed a band of desperados and cut-throats whom he called the "Mazorca" who swore to do his bidding, even though it meant murdering their own relatives. These men wore a uniform of scarlet tunics and pointed caps, and carried long staffs to which were attached long scarlet pennants, on which were inscribed "Viva las Federalistas" and "Muerte a los Unitarios". The blue and white of the National Flag was replaced everywhere by the red of the Rosas faction, and any wearing of a scrap of blue was considered a proof of treason punishable by death, with one of the hideous knives patronized by the Mazorca. This colour scheme even extended to the colouring of the houses, which the inhabitants were obliged to paint pink or red as an outward sign of loyalty. Many ancient buildings still bear traces of this colour, and Government House has ever since that time been painted a dull pink shade and is known as the Casa Rosada.
A formidable revolt finally took place in 1839 under General Lavalle who had returned to the country accompanied by a number of banished Unitarians, who had taken refuge in Uruguay. In 1840 Lavalle invaded the districts of Buenos Aires at the head of troops raised chiefly in the province of Entre Rios, but he was defeated by Rosas and shot the following year. Foremost of the partisans of Rosas were General Ignacio Oribe, and the notorious Facundo Quiroga, who endeavoured to exterminate the Unitarians, throughout the provinces.
Juan Facundo Quiroga represented the Federal party in Cuyo, and gathered his swarms of fierce "gauchos" from the Llanos (see page 42). A son of Prudencio Quiroga (a man much beloved by the inhabitants of the Llanos where he lived) Facundo was born in the province of Rioja, where he received a limited schooling, learning to read and write indifferently. From the age of eleven he became notorious for his excesses and brutalities, and although of respectable family, he preferred to live a wandering life, sometimes working as a common labourer, and always to be found in low taverns and gambling dens, stabbing and killing any who opposed him. He went to Chile, but returned to Buenos Aires in 1810, when he joined the army from which he soon deserted. After further criminal exploits, he was arrested and imprisoned in San Luis prison. One day a party of political prisoners rose in revolt, and overcoming the warders, opened the cells of the criminal prisoners to help them in a general escape. Quiroga, using the iron bar of his fetters, killed the man who was helping him, and aided by the soldiers and prisoners, whom his example encouraged, suceeded in surpressing the insurrection. He returned to Buenos Aires, covered with glory and fortified with a pardon and recommendation from the Government. In 1820 Ocampo the governor, gave him the title of Sergeant-Major of the Llanos, and his public career started from this moment. In 1835 Rosas appointed him Governor-General of Buenos Aires, but within a few months he was shot by a gaucho-outlaw named Santos Perez, near the post-station of Ojo del Agua, while on his way back from quelling difficulties which had arisen in the northern part of the Republic.
The scene of slaughter was now extended to the Banda Oriental by the attempt of Oribe, supported by Rosas and Justo José Urquiza (Governor of Entre Rios) to establish himself as President of the Uruguayan Republic, whose existing government was hostile to Rosas and was sheltering all political refugees from the Argentine. Montevideo resisted bravely, and maintained a siege for nearly ten years. This was the longest and most stubborn war ever fought on Uruguayan soil. Montevideo seemed doomed to surrender, when an opportune interruption by France and England upset the plans of Rosas, who had quarrelled with the French Government concerning the domicile and obligations of foreign merchants and residents in Buenos Aires. The French fleet, assisted by Great Britain, blockaded Buenos Aires and drove Argentine vessels from the Rio de la Plata. Rosas defied them however, and eventually France and England were obliged to raise the blockade.
About this time Justo José Urquiza, who for many years had been one of Rosas' strongest supporters, came into open conflict with his chief. The first breach between the two men occurred in 1846, and early in 1851. Urquiza obtained an alliance with Brazil and Uruguay. An allied army of twenty-four thousand men assembled at Montevideo, and on January 8th, 1852 crossed the Parana. Here Rosas met them with a body of troops fully equal in number to their own, but was routed at Monte Caseros, about ten miles from the city on February 3rd, when it is said that many of Rosas' army deserted him and joined Urquiza. The Dictator fled from the battlefield in disguise and sought refuge at the house of the British Charge d’Affaires, from whence he was conveyed on board H.M.S. "Locust", which carried him and his daughter Manuelita into exile at Southampton, England, from where he never returned. It was revealed later that he had already taken the precaution of sending his money secretly to England hidden in bags of grain exported by an English firm of corn-chandlers in Buenos Aires.
Rosas literally applied the knife of the gaucho to the culture of Buenos Aires, thus destroying the work of centuries of civilization, law, and liberty, and died the most bitterly hated man in Argentine history.
A provisional government was next formed under Urquiza, and the Brazilian and Uruguayan troops withdrew. All the provincial governors met at San Nicolas (in the province of Buenos Aires) and a new Constitution was proclamed with Urquiza as provisional director of the country. A constituent assembly was duly elected, in which each province had equal representation, and in order that Buenos Aires should not receive undue prominence, Santa Fe was chosen as the place of session. This however did not suit the "porteños" (people of Buenos Aires) and they refused to take part in the congressional proceedings. Urguiza would not use force, and when Congress appointed him President of the Confederation, he established the seat of government at Parana. The province of Buenos Aires was recognized as an independent, and under the enlightened administration of Dr Obligado made rapid strides in commercial prosperity.
The first passenger mole was erected at the harbour and opened in the year 1855, and 1863 saw the commencement of the first railway, the Central Argentine which ran from the Central Station, near Government House, to the Tigre, and was constructed by British firms with British capital. The following year also saw the commencement of the Buenos Aires Southern Railway, likewise capitalized and constructed by Great Britain, as foreign capital was very welcome and invited. All rivers and harbours were carefully surveyed, and Rosario, in Santa Fe, was made a port of entry, and began a growth that has made it second only to Buenos Aires.
The separate governments continued to operate until 1859, when the long drawn out tension snapped and led to the outbreak of hostilities. The army of "porteños", under Colonel Bartolomé Mitre, was defeated at Cepeda by the Confederate forces under Urquiza, and on November 11th, Buenos Aires agreed to re-enter the confederation.
Urquiza at this juncture resigned the Presidency, and Dr Santiago Darqué was elected President of the fourteen provinces, while Urquiza once more became Governor of Entre Rios, and Bartolomé Mitre was appointed Governor of Buenos Aires. The struggle for supremacy between the two provinces had to be fought out however, and in 1861 the armies of Generals Mitre and Urquiza met at Pavon in Santa Fe. The ensuing battle ended in the disastrous defeat of the provincial forces. General Mitre used his victory in a spirit of moderation and sincere patriotism, and later was elected President of the Argentine Confederation.
In 1863 circumstances forced Bartolomé Mitre into war with Paraguay. Lopez, the President of Paraguay, seized the Brazilian province of Matto Grosso, which lay along the River Paraguay, and demanded free passage for his troops across Argentine territory. Mitre’s refusal was followed by a Paraguayan invasion, which the Argentine was obliged to resent, and joined in an alliance with Brazil and Uruguay. In the two years of fighting, both the Brazilian and Argentine armies suffered tremendous losses both in the field and cholera hospitals. Eventually Mitre resigned the command of the troops into the hands of the Brazilian General Caxias, and the last two years of the war were carried on principally by the Brazilian troops. In 1870 peace was proclaimed.
When the presidental term of General Mitre came to an end in 1868, Dr Faustino Sarmiento, a native of San Juan, was elected. This election is said to have been the most peaceful and popular that up to that time had been known in the Republic. His conduct of affairs, was broadminded and upright, and particularly outstanding for his earnest and successful efforts to promote education in the form of National Schools, and to develop the natural resources of the country.
Immigration began to pour in at the rate of twenty thousand people per annum, and in 1869 the city of Buenos Aires alone had a population of one hundred and eighty thousand. The world has not seen a more rapid rise to wealth than that which took place between the years 1870 and 1890. Within forty years, more than two million immigrants of all nationalities made their homes in Argentina.
Sarmiento's period of office was marked also by an expansion of trade that was unfortunately accompanied by financial extravagance. The year 1870 brought an insurrection in Entre Rios headed by the last of the "caudillos" namely Lopez Jordan. Urquiza who was still governor of the province, was captured by the rebels, and although an old man, was assassinated, and the province was terrorized into proclaiming Jordan as Governor. The Federal government refused to acknowledge him however, and troops were despatched by Sarmiento to Entre Rios. The contest lasted for more than a year, but finally Jordan was defeated and driven into exile.
The presidential election of 1874 resolved itself into a struggle between the provincials and the porteños. The candidate for the former Dr Nicolas Avellaneda triumphed over General Mitre, and the unsuccessful party appealed to arms. Julio Roca, then a young Colonel, defeated them at Santa Rosa, and the new President was installed in office on October 12th, 1874.
Friday October 9th. Hotel del Norte. Buenos Aires. We said good-bye to the S.S. "Boyne" this morning about 9 a.m. and went part of the way in a little steamer, and then the rest of the way in a rowboat to the mole, which is a kind of long wooden bridge jutting out of the water. We walked along this to the Custom House, where our trunks were examined. We then took two "coches", (which is a kind of open carriage drawn by two miserable half-starved horses) and drove to the Hotel del Norte, which is situated in the principal street, Calle 9 de Julio, and near to the river. The hotel is roomy and has a large courtyard paved with red tiles, and ornamented with rows of tubs in which are planted small lemon trees and flowering shrubs of several kinds.
The next day, and likewise Sunday, it poured with rain all day. There was an alarm of fire in the hotel on Sunday night. Frank came thumping at my door at 2 a.m. and shouting "Fire". The lightening outside made me think it was the flames, so I quickly put on my pants, shoes and coat. Then the door would not open, although I hammered against it. When at last I managed to open it, I found that the fire, which had started in the top story, had been put out by Mother and Josephine.
The weather cleared up on Tuesday, so Charlie and I went for a walk around the city. The streets, which are very straight and narrow, are paved with round boulder stones, about the size of a football. The pavements, made of brick or stones, are so narrow that only two people can walk abreast. Along the edges of the pavements, on each side of the streets, there are rows of posts placed at a distance of about ten yards apart. These once held ropes made of hide, which were stretched along the side of the pavements to protect foot-passengers from runaway horses and wild cattle, driven by the "gauchos" or cowboys, from the plains. The streets in some places are full of holes, and big carts without any springs, bump over the stones and make a fearful noise as they clatter past.
For the next fifteen days of our stay in Buenos Aires, Charlie and I spent most of our time wandering around the city and looking at the sights. Sometimes I went by myself to the water-front and watched the big ships in the distance, and the numerous small steamers that come from them with cargoes of merchandise, which they unload into carts these going out from two to three hundred yards from the shore to meet them, and standing in the shallow water. There are also the water-carts hundreds of them continually going to and from the river. As there is no proper supply of water to the houses, the watermen take the muddy water from door to door and sell it by the bucket. The Rio de la Plata is like the sea, with no land visible beyond, and is also tidal. Sometimes on a clear day, with the sun shining on it, it really looks like silver, but usually it is a muddy red. I also often went to watch the washerwoman or "lavanderas" under the cliffs just behind Government House. It is the place where all the washerwomen of Buenos Aires are allowed to do their washing. All over the ground the women (mostly negresses) kneel beside the pools among the rocks, scrubbing and thumping away at their work, and like most niggers, gabbling and shrieking all the while. The clean linen is then spread on the broad beach under the cliffs, covering the ground for yards around, hanging from long lines, and covering the rocks and patches of green grass above the beach. You have to be mighty careful not to go too near them, as they shriek and swear at you if you go too close. This is because some of the young fellows like to amuse themselves by pretending not to see the clothes, and walk over them so as to make the lavanderas mad.
We also visited the Central Produce Market, which is some way from the central part of the city, and situated on the banks of the Riachuelo, which is a small stream full of a crowd of brightly painted boats at anchor there. The Market is a huge red brick building containing three floors. The ground floor is for hides, while in the upper floors, wool and grain are stored. The railway goes inside the building itself, and there are holes in the upper floors at which the trains halt, when the roofs are removed from the cars and their contents hauled by cranes to which ever floor is required. The produce comes from all over the country.
One Sunday afternoon Uncle Frank and I visited the National Museum which contains stuffed birds, and skeletons of extinct animals. It was not very interesting. On our way there we crossed the principal square, the Plaza 25 de Mayo, which is in front of Government House, and went past the Cathedral, where there was a great festival, and we stopped for a while and watched the people as they came in and out of the Church. The ladies were beautifully dressed, and the gentlemen with them wore silk hats, and were dressed entirely in black except for beautiful coloured waistcoats. At the door of the church the gentlemen bowed and then went and stood in front of the building, so that there was quite a large crowd of men waiting for service to end, when they would take the ladies home again. The men, mostly young, waved their arms and hands about while they talked in small groups. At the end of the service, the church bells began to ring very loudly and the crowd of ladies came out. In a short while everyone had disappeared.
On October 22nd. Father, Uncle Frank and Mr and Mrs Mahrer, went by train and steamer to Rosario for a few days, to see some camp. My room at the hotel has been changed and I now slept with Herman in a room near the roof. I did not mind this as I did not hear the night-watchmen or "serenos". These are a poor looking lot of men, mostly old, who wear big cloaks and carry long staffs and heavy lanterns with a light inside. I used to lie awake at first listening to them calling the hours from the stroke of eleven p.m. when they give a long wailing call of "Las once han dado y sereno" which means "eleven has struck and all is serene". If the night is foggy the end of the sentence is "nublado" and so on according to the weather. The young fellows of the city often start battles with them, and take away their lanterns and staffs as trophies. The policemen are dressed in dark blue uniforms with brass buttons on their coats. They wear white spats, and small square hats with a peak, like French soldiers, and long swords at their sides. They are mostly very short and have big moustaches.
On Wednesday 28th. Father returned from Rosario, and reported that the prospects of getting a good farm are splendid, and that he will take us all there on Sunday next. In the afternoon Father, Frank, Bill and I went into the town and Father bought me a knife. He also bought a map of Santa Fe, and a tool-chest. I bought a pair of green goggles which cost $7.00, and 264 feet of fish-line. Afterwards we went for a walk round the town. The beggars here are dreadful. They sit on the sidewalks and are the worst looking men I have ever seen. Most of them are old soldiers who have been condemned to serve in the army for sometimes as long as twenty years, according to the kind of crime they have committed, and when set free, live on what they can pick up in the streets. They ring at the door continually asking for alms in the name of God, and you cannot walk along for five minutes in the streets without being stopped and even clawed at by one of these people. Unless you give them something or say "perdon por Dios" they will keep following you, cursing and using the most awful language.
The milkmen are very curious and interesting. They are dressed in a kind of black shawl for pants, and have white cotton stockings, and canvas shoes with rope soles, called "alpargatas" on their feet. They wear a white embroidered shirt and a beautiful wide leather belt covered with countless silver coins, which fastens in front with large silver clasps. On their heads is a small round black cap without any brim. The milk is brought in from the villages outside the city in two long tin cans which are strapped on either side of the horse. The milkman sits in between them on a very wide and high sheepskin saddle called a "ricado". The butter is made by the horse trotting, which seems to be its usual pace, and the butter, together with the milk is taken from door to door and sold straight from the cans. As a rule their horses are very fine looking animals, well groomed and cared for, and with their very long tails nearly touching the ground. Sometimes a man comes to the door driving two or three cows with their calves, and the milk is sold straight from the cow.
On Sunday November 1st, we left Buenos Aires for Rosario. We took the 9.50 train from the Central Station, which arrived at the Tigre Terminus at noon. From here we walked a short distance across to a small steamer carrying our hand baggage. After showing a pass, we were allowed to go on board. The steamer left at 1 p.m. when we had breakfast. Most of the afternoon the steamer went through sloughs, and had to be pushed off with a pole, and at four o'clock we entered the Parana River. It was not as wide as I expected, and I could not see the other side as there were so many islands. At six o'clock we had supper, when there were a good many nice things to eat. Afterwards Charlie and I went to sleep in a room with two other men. It was a warm day.
Monday 2nd. I did not sleep very well during the night, as it turned cold. At 11 o'clock this morning we stopped at San Nicolas for about half an hour. After breakfast I went and sat alone near the end of the boat as it was getting rather rough. I was nearly seasick, and many of the others really were. At 2 p.m. we arrived at Rosario, and after our luggage had been examined at the Customs, we drove to the Globe Hotel, where we are going to stay for a few days. The rooms are good, but the eating is bad.
A week later we moved into a house Father had rented for us, No 159, Calle Rioja. We slept in folding beds called "catres". A few days later Father ans Frank left for Cordoba to take a look at the country round there. That afternoon Uncle Frank, Mr Mahrer, Willie, Charlie and I went for a walk along the river for about a league. We saw a soldiers camp of about 3,000 men, and also a huge black spider called a "tarantula" sitting near a "piscatchie" (viscacha) hole. We also saw some owls, drunken soldiers, and a lizard about three feet long. The next day we went fishing among the wharfs, where we saw a little boy fall into the water and nearly drown. Some oxen also fell down between a chain and the wharf, and their necks were almost broken, but they were saved allright. We fished for a long while, but without success, and when we got home Mother was cross.
Father and Frank returned from Cordoba on the 18th, and a week later Father, Willie and Mr Mahrer left for Parana. As the weather had become very hot I went swimming a great deal in the river below the city (the River Parana). When Father returned from Parana on the 6th December, he said that the country round Entre Rios was very good, but that they had been troubled a great deal by the "bicho colorado", which is a tiny red insect that crawls under your skin and dies, and itches like anything.
The next day Father and Mother went by steamer to Buenos Aires, and the rest of us went for a walk outside the city to see the murderer of an Englishman and his daughter, get shot. The military formed three sides of a large square, with a brick wall on the fourth side. The murderer was made to sit down near the wall, and was then shot at thirteen times by the soldiers, and killed.
Tuesday December 13th. was a feast day, so we went to see the military exercise in the Plaza. That afternoon we were astonished to hear Mr Mahrer say that he was going by the brig "Blitz" to Rio Janeiro, and from there back to the United States. As the "Blitz" was leaving the following morning early, he had to be on board that night. After supper we all went down to the wharf to see him off. At half-past ten they left in a small boat, and were rowed out to the ship. "Good-bye Mr Mahrer and Aunt."
The following Monday, Father and Mother returned from Buenos Aires bringing a good many kitchen utensils etc. with them. We spent most of our time swimming and fishing in the river, and one day came home with twenty-two minnows. Another time we went hunting after the big lizard, but couldn't see him, but we caught another large tarantula which we drowned.
December 17th. was another feast day to celebrate the advent of peace with Paraguay. At ten o'clock we went to the Plaza to see the soldiers. After walking around for a little while, Frank and I took our stand underneath the porch of the Church, and watched the soldiers exercise. They shot off their rifles and fired the cannons. The latter were so loud that the windows of the houses were broken.
The Argentine Territory may be divided into four categories, namely, mountains, rivers, forests and plains. The most important of the mountain chains is the Cordillera of the Andes, which extends along the entire length of the continent of South America in the west, and constitutes the boundary line between Argentina and Chile.
Next in importance are the Cordoba Mountains which form three distinct chains; the first in magnitude being the "Sierra de Cordoba" which lies thirty miles west of the city of Cordoba, and extends 200 miles, from Cruz del Eje in the north, to Chaján in the South, and covers an area of 4,500 square miles. The second in importance, the "Sierra de Pocho" lies ten miles west of the preceeding range, with which it runs parallel in its northern section, for 100 miles, its total extent being about 1,200 square miles. The third is the "Sierra de Ischelin" which lies north of the City of Cordoba, and forms a straight line due north as far as the Salinas desert, and covers an area of 2,300 square miles. Numerous streams descend from these Sierra and irrigate the surrounding country, but the rivers find their source in the Sierra de Cordoba.
The Rio Primero rises above the town of Saldun, flows through Cordoba, and after a course of 100 miles in length, is lost in Mar Chiquita, a vast lagoon in the Gran Chaco in the Santa Fe region.
The Rio Segundo rises near Malagueño, flows parallel with the Primero, and is likewise lost in the Mar Chiquita. This river which is mostly wide and somewhat shallow, is crossed by the Central Argentine Railway at a point about twenty-five miles south-east of Cordoba. It may be mentioned that prior to the year 1863 there were no facilities for communication in the way of railways or telegraph posts. A journey by cart or by horse might take weeks to accomplish, and the caravans of slowly moving bullock-carts which conveyed merchandise would sometimes take months to cover a few leagues. In the year 1863, William Wheelwright obtained a concession and through him a British Company constructed a railway from Rosario to Cordoba. This concession included the grant of a strip of land six miles wide along the 280 miles of railroad, for colonization purposes. The completion of this line in the year 1870 was a historic event in the annals of the Argentine, as it was the first of the greater railways which brought distant cities in touch with one another.
The Rio Tercero has a course of some 300 miles long, and after flowing through the towns of Villa Nueva, Frayle Muerto and Cañada de Gomez, it joins the River Parana at San Lorenzo. On entering the province of Santa Fe at Cruz Alta, it changes its name and from there onward becomes known as the Carcarañal. It measures ordinarily from 100 to 120 feet in width, with a current running at approximately two miles an hour.
The Rio Cuarto has its source near Santa Catalina, and after losing itself in the swamps, it reappears some miles further east as the "Saladillo" and eventually joins the Tercero before reaching Cruz Alta.
The Mar Chiquita Lagoon lies in the N.E. corner of the province of Cordoba, it receives many streams but has no outlet. The great salt lake "Lago de Porongos" lies some miles further north near Santiago del Estero.
The great forests cover about one half of the Gran Chaco, and extend over an area of about 60,000 square miles, with occasional open spaces. There are also the forests of "Montiel" in Entre Rios, Pay Ubre in Corrientes, and "Chañar" in Cordoba. The trees indigenous to the country are the "Ñandubuy", quebracho, espinillo, algorrobo, lepacho, cedar and urunday. Of these the quebracho is mostly in demand for railway sleepers as it is of a very hard quality; an extract of tannin is also obtained from it. European species, and most of the fruit trees, were primarily introduced into the country by the Jesuits, and in the year 1852 the Australian eucalyptus, or gum-tree, was brought over by Mr Thomas Tomkinson, and has since then formed the favourite avenue of approach to many "estancias".
The plains are the vast spaces covered with a coarse grass, over which one may ride for days without seeming to advance any further on this apparently limitless sea of waving grass, bounded only by the horizon in all directions. These plains extend from the River Salado in the North, to the Rio Colorado in the South, and are only broken by the ranges of hills in the south of the province of Buenos Aires, called the "Sierras de Curumalan". Westward they extend to the Cordoba range. Further south the "pampa" becomes wider and eventually reaches to the foot of the Andes mountains. Generally stoneless and with few trees, on nearing Cordoba it becomes sparsely covered with low scrubby woods. Northwards it extends along the valley of the Rio Parana and its tributaries, where it becomes diversified by forests, swamps and watercourses lakes and islets, and so on northwards to the Chaco, where it ends in this region of tropical forests, stagnant swamps and sluggish rivers, a region which harbours many wild creatures and savage tribes of Indians.
Curious blank area
(Filled in from biography.)
On February 19th, my father purchased four leagues of camp from Señor Carlos Vernet. It was a property of excellent virgin pasture land, situated about thirty-five leagues from the ancient city of Santa Fe, five leagues above the mail-road, north-west of the town of Cañada de Gomez, and seven leagues from Cañada de Gomez itself. For these four leagues, or 10,808 hectareas, my ——— equivalent to $37,563.r ——— ty is worth about $500 m/ A "peso fuert ——— and a quarter or 35. gramme ——— ales", viz.twenty "reale ——— being called "peso fuerte" ——— "peso" worth only eight si ——— ammes). The "peso fuerte" ——— in the colonial days
Three ...Father, Uncle, Frank, Willie, Charlie and I left to start work on the new property, which Father had decided to name "La California".
After leaving Rosario, the railway gradually rose to a higher level, which at Cañada de Gomez reached a difference in altitude of more than 160 feet. At Carcaraña, the station before our destination, we crossed a fine iron bridge which spans the Rio Carcaraña. When we arrived at Cañada de Gomez at 9.38 o’clock, we were met by a son of Mr Vernet. Four bullock wagons were drawn up outside the station. Father, Uncle and Mr. Vernet started off in the first wagon; Frank, Willie, Charlie and I were in the second ; and the other two, piled high with our belongings of tents, impliments food, etc brought up the rear. These wagons were different in shape and size to those that we used in the United States. They were built very high on either side, roofed over with canvas or skins, and had two immense wheels instead of the four small ones. They were drawn by, from four to sixteen oxen, depending on the load, and the men in charge of them either walked or rode alongside or else perched themselves on a board, or yoke tied on the heads of the animals with thongs of hide called "cojundas" which were made from a long strip about two inches wide, which is started in the center of the hide and cut round and round to its whole length for about three meters.
They also had a bamboo pole with a nail in the end called a "picana" with which they sometimes jabbed the poor animals, yelling and cursing at them most of the time. These oxen go at a very slow crawl of about two miles an hour. The rest of the journey took us until just before sunset to accomplish, and a most uncomfortable experience it was too, not only on account of the jolting of the wagon, as immediately after leaving Cañada de Gomez the road became very rough, but also because of our smarting eyes, inflamed by the cold strong wind which blew most of the day, and the clouds of dust kicked up by the oxen, who with their tails against the swarms of flies which pestered them. When we at last cut across open country the going was better. At midday we stopped for a meal consisting of a whole sheep roasted on an iron stake before a fire (asado) which was excellent. There was also bread and cheese and fruit. The men in charge of the wagons also ate the meat and a kind of very hard, dry biscuit called "galleta". Afterwards we all drank "mate", which is [a kind ??] of tea from Paraguay, which was made with boiling water in a dried gourd called a "Mate" and is sucked up through a silver tube with a perforated bulb at one end, called a "bombilla". I thought I liked it pretty well, but the others said it looked and smelled like cow-dung. It is said to be very sustaining and everyone drinks it. After an hours siesta we started off again across the wide flat open country, now covered with a shortcoarse grass, which stretched away before us like a vast green sea, as far as the horizon. Occasionally we came across patches of little scarlet flowers rather like verbena. We saw several "biscachas" who darted into their burrows at our approach, and once a skunk moved slowly across our trail. Fortunately it did not squirt its perfume on our wheels, as the smell w ould have stuck to them for weeks afterwards. There were lots of little grey and brown owls which followed us for a time with angry cries trying to chase us away from their holes in the ground in which they build their nests. They have short curved beaks, wide flat faces and round black eyes. There is always one sitting on each post along the railway fence, and they follow the train with their eyes, screwing their heads almost right round in the most amusing way. Uncle said that in Cordoba they say that if you want to kill one you just walk round it and it twists its own neck.
We arrived at our destination just before sunset. The boundary of the property was marked by posts about a foot high called "mojones", otherwise there was nothing to be seen except a well, which had recently been opened, covered by a piece of corrugated iron and marked by a pile of stones. After the animals had been watered, they were allowed to roam around and crop at the grass. The wagons were drawn up in a circle, in case of an attack from the Indians, and a fire made of dried bones and dead grass was built in the centre. After supper we sat around the fire for a while listening to one of the men twanging a guitar and singing a sort of moaning song something about "mi madre, me muero, mi amor". Mr Vernet was telling us about the Indians and he said that a colony was first founded at Cañada Gomez in 1860, which was constantly raided by the Indians up to the year 1864. The villagers used to take refuge at an estancia near belonging to an Englishman called Major St John, who had a trench and a stockade. At Armstrong, eleven miles further along the railway line, the workmen constructing the permanent way were so bothered by the Indians that they were obliged to keep an engine continually under steam, and on one occasion the savages tried to "lasso" the engine. We then rolled ourselves in our rugs and blankets and slept in the wagons. Frank, Willie and I took it in turns to keep watch during the night. I took the first watch and occupied myself by looking at the stars, which seemed to be so much nearer and brighter than I had ever seen them before. I think it must have been the complete flatness of the country that gave me this impression.
The wind had dropped at sunset, and the night had become very cold and frosty, so I was glad of the fire. At 10:30 I built up the fire, wakened Frank and turned in.
The next morning we were roused by the "boyero" which is a small black bird which follows the cattle and feeds on the vermin in their fur. It has a piercing cry rather like a cuckoo, and is always the first bird to awake just before the dawn. This was the sign for the rounding up of the animals. After breakfast two of the wagons started back to Cañada de Gomez. They subsequently made many journeys backwards and forwards, bringing out the building materials etc. required for our new "estancia house", as everything had to be sent out from Buenos Aires. I helped to unload the two other wagons, put up the tents for us to sleep in, and store away our belongings. At 10 a.m. the architect, accompanied by a surveyor and a carpenter, arrived in a square carriage covered over with a hood and curtains made of American cloth. It was drawn by three horses driven abreast. We then drove over the camp revising it, and finally chose the site for the house. Father stuck a two-pronged fork into the ground to mark the place. It was decided to build a house not only suitable for our own wants, but one in which we could entertain our friends, and to which passers-by could be welcomed. Father also thought that it would be better to build with regard to our future requirements, so the result was that a two-story building sufficient to accomodate twenty-five people was planned, the north-west wing to be completed first. Early that afternoon a wagon loaded with wood arrived with several men on horseback, who with the carpenter started to put up a large "galpon" (shed). The following day being a Sunday, no work was done by the men. For breakfast I made flapjacks for everybody, which were much appreciated. I must have made over forty in all, and we had a great feast. In the afternoon we drove over the camp again to a "puesto" which is a smell plot of ground, marked out by a fence or shallow ditch, on which is built an "adobe" (unbaked mud bricks) hut thatched with straw. These are the homes of the "gaucho" and generally have a well of brackish water, a shed for the horse and cow, and an "ombu" tree which provides a certain amount of shade. A few chickens, a turkey or two, and several odd looking dogs of the yellow greyhound breed seem to be everywhere, together with crowds of children of all ages.
On Monday morning, after watching the men mark out the foundations of the house, Uncle and I drove into Cañada de Gomez in the "volanta" which is a sort of high coach, which took us four hours. We approached the town through a rough dusty road, past white-washed mud houses with flat roofs, which lined the principal streets, and before whose doors stood hobbled horses waiting patiently in the sun. There were several women sitting on benches or stools on the mud sidewalk. The "store" or "pulperia" had a number of horses tied to wooden posts ("palenques") outside. It was a long mud house, surrounded by a shallow ditch nearly full with rubbish of all kinds. Uncle and I went in and sat down at a dirty table. Uncle ordered steak and onions with fried eggs on them which is called "bife a caballo", ("steak on horseback") bread and "mate" for both of us. Meanwhile I looked around. Here one could buy cheese, long loaves of bread, sardines, dried figs, raisins and soap. Behind a counter was the bar, with a lot of bottles of "vino seco" (a native dry wine), rum, gin, and a cheap native wine called "caña" which is made from the sugar cane and tasted like methylated spirits to me. The bar was protected by a strong iron grating reaching to the ceiling, behind which the proprietor stood with his revolver handy. In one corner there was a huge heap of stinking sheepskins, and piled on shelves on the walls were stacks of "ponchos", saddlecloths, alpargatas, and cheap underclothing, also bundles of cotton materials; while from the ceiling hung strings of onions and garlic, held together with plaited straw. It seemed to be the custom of the country for anyone entering and seeing us eating to say "Buen provecho" which means "may you benefit by what you are eating". While Uncle was making some purchases I looked at the man lounging at the counter drinking. He was dressed in a heavy black "chiripa", like the milkmen in Buenos Aires wore, beneath which showed long, lace-trimmed drawers. The tops of his high paten-leather boots were embroidered in scarlet and blue thread, while his wide leather belt was covered with silver coins and fastened with huge silver buckles in front. Into this belt was stuck a long thin silver-handled knife, while hanging over one arm was an expensive looking fringed shawl called a "poncho", which is a native hand-woven shawl made from the wool of the "vicuña". It has a slit down the centre through which the wearer passes his head so that it falls over the shoulders forming a warm and comfortable cloak. His forehead was bound with a scarlet silk handkerchief, the ends falling over one shoulder, while on his head he wore a soft round black felt hat tied under the chin with two long strings. He had a wonderful pair of great silver spurs and a silver-mounted "rebenque" (whip), and I was completely fascinated by his splendid black horse, with long flowing mane and tail and glossy coat, which was tied to a post outside, and had silver-mounted reins and bridle, white "coquinillo" (sheepskin rug) under the black leather "ricado" with its enormous silver stirrups.
There were several other gauchos with iron spurs tied to their naked feet with thongs of raw hide, who wore long black sashes wound several times round the waist, which served to hold up their coarse woolen "chiripa" and also held the long wicked-looking butchers knife, which they use for everything and are never without. Several women dressed in cotton frocks with black shawls on their heads came in to buy things and the men made jokes with them.
On the way back we drove past the station to see if there were any letters. There were one or two for Father and Mother, but none for me. We went back by a different road and passed by a large white estancia house in the middle of some eucalyptus trees. Several dogs ran out and barked as we went by and three or four men came out of some huts and called out "buenas tardes". Further along we met some gauchos. They had very wide saddles, their bare toes only just gripping the small openings in their long stirrups. Each man had his coiled "lasso" fastened to his saddle and his "boleadores" slung round his waist.
The west wing of the house was finished towards the end of the year 1875, when Mother with the rest of the family joined us and we moved in for Christmas.
In the early part of the new year we commended to stock our camp on a large scale. In February, just before Carnival, Father bought five hundred head of cattle from Señor Mansilla at $9.50. We spent two days "marcando" (branding) them with our mark.
The following April further purchases were made of 800 head from Mr Tregarthen also at $9.50, and 300 from Señor Pereira at S7.00. We had five milch cows, which I milked every morning before coffee, assisted by one or other of the two servant girls, Mauree and Elisa.
The house-staff consisted of the wife of the "capataz" as cook; a washerwoman called Dona Rosa; and Father's favourite attendant an Indian named Isidro, who also waited at table, dressed in a white suit and worked a "punkah" while we were at meals. The two girls, Mauree and Elisa helped in the house as housemaids, and also with the milking and in the garden. There was also a German "peon" named Braun who worked about the house and garden. I had started to grow a vegetable garden, which I stocked plentifully with beans and potatoes.
Father had been ailing for some time past. His heart was weak and worn out with the strenuous life he had led since a lad. He hardly ever went to bed, as he was unable to lie down; but used to sit up in a chair to sleep at night. On the night of Tuesday June 27th, he had been sitting up before the fire. Mother left him for a few moments to go and prepare his bed in case he felt like lying down. When she returned he was poking the fire. He lay back and said "I am getting dizzy" and died.
The dogs howled all night, and when Mother went out with a candle to try and quiet them, as she passed through the door the candle suddenly went out, although there was not a breath of wind.
The "gaucho" or Argentine cowboy was originally a mixture of Spanish and Indian blood reared on the pampas. He made his living by herding cattle on the big estates, or by driving animals several leagues to other estancias, or to market. He sometimes managed to save enough money to buy a plot of ground on which to build a mud hut. His food was mainly beef and "mate" while, in less fortunate circumstances, he lived on horseflesh and slept on his sheepskin saddle. He could endure all sorts of privations with remarkable fortitude and was daring, courageous and proud. Relentless in his pursuit of an enemy, he was faithful, kind and hospitable when his confidence was secure.
When he was ill he took his chances of recovery through the ministrations of a "curandera", a woman doctor who cured most ills by simple methods and herbs. In many cases pronounced hopeless by doctors a "curandera" has been called in as a last resource, and has cured the patient. These women are generally descendents of Indians whose secrets have been handed down for many generations, and probably originated with the witch-doctors. The gaucho more often than not, met with a sudden end at the point of a knife in a quarrel, from an Indian arrow or through a fall from his horse in a stampede of cattle.
In the camp when a child dies it becomes an "angelito" (little angel). This means that a "velorio" (wake) will take place, which includes a dance, and is usually held at the nearest "pulperia" (tavern) where in a long low room lit by candles, are gathered perhaps a hundred guests, mostly gauchos and peons with their families, who have probably come from leagues away. Along the walls are placed rows of benches where the women and girls sit waiting for the men to ask them to dance. The dead child is dressed in its best clothes and is seated in a chair placed upon a table, while the mother sits at its foot. Above its head are a picture of the Madonna and Child, and others of saints and angels and when passing the little corpse the women cross themselves. A gaucho with a guitar provides the music for the younger people to dance the "tango", "cielito", "el gato" etc., which are the camp dances, and include much play of the hips and eyes, the stamping of feet and the jingle of spurs, above which may also be heard singing in high falsetto voices. The older men stand in groups discussing camp affairs and drinking, while the matrons sit in a circle and talk gossip and scandal. The atmosphere reeks of smoking grease candles, cheap tobacco and scent, common wine and perspiring humanity. Owners of pulperias have even been known to hire or buy an "angelito", using it as an excuse for a dance, and so attract custom to their store.
The Argentine gaucho uses a "lasso" about the thickness of a man's little finger. It is made of raw cowhide from which the hair has been stripped, and is cut into long lengths and softened by hammering and running it closely through a ring. Constant applications of raw mutton fat are necessary to keep it pliable, and with care it will last for many years. It is plaited into four firm strands until within eight feet from the end, when the strips are increased to eight strands. This rope terminates in an iron ring which is spliced with hide so as to make it stiff and make it stand well away from the rope. The end which is kept in the hand, or is attached to the saddle, ends in a plaited loop. The usual length of the lasso is about sixty feet. Before throwing the lasso a noose is made which measures from about two and a half to four yards in circumference at the end of the ring end of the rope. The remainder is then coiled, two or three coils being taken in the right hand together with the noose, while the rest of the coils remain in the left hand. If too much slack is allowed between the coils in the left and right hands, there is a danger of it becoming entangled and causing trouble especially if on horseback. The lasso is then swung as many times round the head as is required to give it the necessary impetus, when great care must be taken that the noose flies open with an upward trend. When the hand is above the head on the right side, the rope is let go and flies through the air uncoiling as it goes. The moment the rope tightens on the animal the man throws himself back on the rope, as though in a tug-of-war, and digging his heels in the ground bears heavily with the rope with his left hand. A horse may be caught in a "corral" (cattle enclosure) at a distance of ten yards, either by the feet or round the neck. If caught by the neck, the rope throttles him if force is used. A strong colt is quite capable of dragging two or three men round the "corral", whereas an experienced lad can easily overcome the same animal. To be an expert, one should really begin in childhood, practising with a piece of string on dogs and cats, but the _____ man can learn to catch a tame horse in a few months. To lasso on horseback is infinitely more difficult and full of risks, often resulting in bad accidents. It is more effective than on foot however, and an animal may be caught, while going at full speed, at a distance of nearly twenty yards. Care must be taken not to entangle the coils of the slack with the reins or legs of the rider's horse, or even touch him in any way. For this reason it must be swung almost level with the head before being released. The end of the lasso, retained by the thrower, is buttoned into a strong ring and strapped firmly to the large ring which forms part of the Argentine saddle or "ricardo". When an animal has been caught round the neck or horns, it must not be allowed, especially if wild, to cross either in front of or behind the rider's horse, as there is a danger of a half-turn being taken round the man's arm or leg, or even a whole turn round the body. Another possible danger is that of being charged by the enraged cow or bull, and to avoid this, immediately the noose settles round the beast's horns, the horseman turns quickly to the near side, or away from his quarry, keeping the rope taut between them. It is really the horse that holds the captive, the rider only throws the rope. Some horses are so cleverly trained that they can keep the rope taught themselves, allowing the rider to slip off and despatch the victim.
The "boleadoras" or "bolas" belong entirely to South America and is of Indian origen dating from before the Spanish Conquest. It was created for the purpose of catching deer, guanacos, and ñandus (ostriches) which if only slightly wounded by arrows and spears, escaped to the plains. These "bolas" are made with two stones about the size of billiard balls, with a third, the hand ball, about half the size and shaped like an egg. All three are moulded into bags of hide. Each ball is attached to a thin rope of twisted hide about three feet long, the three are then fastened together in the middle so that the length from the hand-ball to the two larger balls does not exceed six feet, and the whole weight is not more than a pound. For the capturing of horses, wooden balls are used, while to catch ostriches smaller balls about the size of a pigeon's egg are attached to strings of rather greater length. To throw the "bolas" they are whirled round the head so that they circle through the air with the two heavy balls beside one another, which when flung into the air whirl round on their own axis in their flight. When the strings hit the legs of the animal, the motion of the balls being arrested, they wind themselves several times round the limbs and completely hobble the victim. A third type of "bolas" which is used for tigers, jaguars, vicuñas and other wild animals, is called the "bolas perdidas" and has a single heavy ball which either stuns or kills the animal. The heavier type may be thrown from a distance of up to seventy yards, the ostrich bolas from nearly a hundred yards, and the single "bolas perdidas" can be effective at a hundred and twenty yards, according to the power of the performer, and the speed at which it is thrown. The "bolas" are extremely difficult to avoid, the only resort being to run towards the thrower and fling oneself flat on the ground.
From here there is a gap in the diary up to September 1876, which has been filled with an extract from the diary of Alfred's brother Frank, which deals with events immediately before and after their father's death.
Saturday July 1st. The peons finished twisting wire on the potrero fence at 10 a.m. and in the evening the cattle were enclosed in it. The last time that I saw Father at the "corrals" was on Saturday June 17th when Mr Marule from "Las Tortoras" was here to see him at 1:30 p.m. I accompanied Father and Mr Marule to the "corrals" which Mr Marule praised saying that they were arranged splendidly. This pleased Father very much, and he said to me a few days before he died "Thr konna froh sein wender potrero fertig est" meaning that the "potrero" would come in very handy after a heavy rain. This forenoon I sent four peons out gathering "leña de vaca" (cow-dung) and in the afternoon they went out with an ox-wagon and brought back a load. Other peons were planting young poplar trees among the peach trees, and two were ploughing in the back field and harrowing. A very strong and piercingly cold wind blew during the day.
Sunday 2nd. This morning on arising I saw the constellation "Orion" for the first time in the East. At 10 a.m. the whole family assembled in Mother's room and examined the contents of one of Father's trunks. We found his Mexican naturalization paper dated June 15th, 1844, Mendocino, California. It was signed by the Governor, Manuel Micheltorena. At 4 p.m. Mr Tregarthen came, he was on his way home from Rosario and brought us two letters of condolence, one from Mr Schreiber dated June 31st and one from Mrs A. Glimman of July 1st. Today is Charlie's birthday.
Monday 3rd. William left early in the morning for Cañada de Gomez on horseback, he will go to "Las Tortoras" and get two horses that broke away from the wagons while we were going into the town. I wrote two letters to the "Buenos Aires Herald" and the "La Plata Zeitung" asking them to publish a notice announcing Father's death. I asked the latter paper to send the same notice to the "Argentine Deutsche Wockenblatt". I also wrote to Schreiber requesting him to have a notice published in the "Capital de Rosario" and wrote a letter to Mr Alexander Schmederer at the "Colonia California" informing him of the news.
I had more paraiso trees planted south of the house. William returned from Cañada de Gomez in the evening, he succeeded in getting his grey horse, but the other he could not find. He brought some newspapers, among them being the "Weekly Alta California" dated April 22nd and 29th, and May 6th, all in one package. At 4 p.m. Mr John Watt and family called, also Mr McGregor. They remained till 4:45 p.m. taking a cup of tea.
Tuesday 4th. Today is the 100 anniversary of the Independence of the United States of America. It had been our intention to celebrate, but the sad event of last Tuesday evening makes this a day of mourning instead of a gay one. The day passes very quietly, no distinction made between this and any other ordinary day. I had some more paraiso trees planted south of the house, and also staked out positions for trees in the backyard, a few by the meat and chicken houses, and some along the side of the house. The ground is very dry and I had four men carrying water to the trees all the afternoon. We have at present, ten Argentine and five German peons working on foot; while on horseback we have a "capataz" (head man) John Faria, and two peons, also a man working the chain-pump at the well. Today Mother presented me with a little gold dust, that Father had. It is some of the first gold-dust discovered in California and found at Sutter's Mill. She also gave me a piece of quartz from Fraser River, a nd another piece that Father found personally in the mines. She also presented me with two Japanese coins, and the others with various things.
Wednesday 5th. In the forenoon I had some more trees planted south of the house. They finished planting the paraiso trees today. I also had some planted in the back-yard along the outhouse and the main building. In the afternoon I had a dozen paraiso trees planted at the back of the peon's house, and then all the trees were watered. I then took the men down to the brickyard and set them to work cleaning out the "pisadero" which is an enclosure where the mud and straw etc. is mixed by animals treading it previous to making it into bricks. The bricks are then piled up into four walls and a fire is built inside; a top is then put on and the bricks are baked and fall apart when hard.
William and the German peon ploughed in the western field on its northern side. At 1 p.m. we sent a peon with a wagon to Cañada de Gomez for the purpose of taking in our cook and wife; she got to be very obnoxious finding fault with everything, refusing to work, and was saucy, so we despatched them. We are very unfortunate with cooks, changing so often. Mother moved into Father's room today, William will move into Mother's room.
Thursday 6th. In the morning early the peons finished cleaning out the pisadero and partially fixed the other two. They then planted willow trees around the three pisaderos. In the afternoon I had water taken from the pisadero well and all the trees watered. I placed 350 slips from the willow and poplar trees into a pisadero. I then put a German peon on to digging a sewer. William and a German peon were ploughing again today in the western field, between the house and the potrero.
Friday 7th. I had poplar and willow trees planted alternately in the low place on both sides of the brickmakers well, and planted two more willow slips in the pisadero. Today Mrs Tregarthen sent Mother two geese which came by a wagon on its way to Cañada de Gomez. They brought extra oxen along and borrowed a wagon from us. After supper I went to my room and wrote to F. Randolph, informing him of Father's death, and requesting him to send a copy or the enclosed notice to the following papers:- "Alta Californian Bulletin", "Call", "Post", "Petaluma Argos", "Santa Rosa Daily", "Russian River Flag", and all the Oakland papers. I also requested him to send it to all the German newspapers in California and to send me copies of them. I also asked him to gather oak and locust-tree seeds. Very heavy fog all day.
Saturday 8th. The dogs made a great noise at 11 o'clock last night. I arose and heard the wagon coming in which brought the mail. I received a letter from Schreiber letting me know that he had received the notice of Father's death and had it put in the papers in the Capital. The notice was misprinted, calling Father "Benitez" and instead of "Endingen" it read "Eudingen". Mr Schreiber afterwards had these mistakes corrected, but the notice had the wrong date of death, having it the 28th, instead of the 27th June. The notice appeared in "La Capital" of July 5, 6, and 7th. Schreiber also sent me a copy of his new lithographic birds-eye view of Rosario. The men finished planting and watering the poplar and willow trees at the low place at the brickmakers well. I then set them to work planting forty pear and seven pomgranite trees in the eastern field below the avenue. I also had seventeen quince trees planted, also grape vines placed at every post along the fence adjoining the front yard between the avenue and north fence. This concluded the work of planting trees. The peon also finished the sewer.
I wrote a letter to John Roff, Timber Cove, California, telling him of Father's death. I requested him to gather me twenty-five or thirty pounds of seeds such as acorns, laurel, manzanita, buck-eye, and pine. I especially requested him to gather acorns of the various kinds of oak, namely, mountain, white, etc. He is to send then to Higgins and Collins addressed to F.B. Rodolph, Oakland for F. Benitz. He is to let J. Rodolph know when he sends the parcel, so that he can call and get it from Higgins & Collins.
Our peon with the wagon succeeded in getting the horse that broke away from William last time he went to Cañada de Gomez with the wagon.
Sunday 9th. The trees being nearly all planted, today we discharged a number of men, three Germans, six natives, and one of the horseback peons, ten men in all. We have retained two Germans and four Argentines for work on foot, and a "capataz" Juan Feria. Also a peon for the cattle and another for the pumps. Nine men in all. A lot of our cattle had strayed away in the fog of the day before yesterday, and the capataz brought a band of fifty of them from "Las Rosas", but as there were still many more there he asked for a "rodeo" (round up) so William and Alfred went over this morning to part.
Our carpenter, Kinkelin, and the girl Elisa went to Roldan yesterday, when Kinkelin took my letters to F. Rodolph and J. Ruff along. William and the others brought fifty-two head of cattle over from "Las Rosas". Very cloudy in the afternoon when the thermometer fell to 16° at 3 p.m. In the afternoon an immense cloud of locusts passed us some leagues farther south, they were going to the north-west.
Monday 10th. We commenced to make the sewer today. As the horse we had in the cart refused to pull, we were obliged to haul bricks by hand. In the afternoon grasshoppers passed over the place, coming from the south-west. William, Alfred and two peons went over to "Las Lomas" and parted out a cow and two calves that had strayed away. There was no ploughing done today as there was not enough harrowing done, so one of the peons started harrowing. The morning was very cloudy and it looked as if it would rain, but at 10 a.m. it was clear and warm.
Tuesday 11th. We finished the sewer at 10 a.m. At 12 noon, I left on horseback for Cañada de Gomez, and Rosario. Weather clear, light north-westerly winds blowing. At 11 a.m. I got ready for going to Rosario. Immediately after dinner I mounted my horse and started for Cañada de Gomez going in by the new road. I arrived there at 3.30 p.m. when I was told that a change had been made in the time-table, and that the train for Rosario would not leave until 6.20 p.m. I went to the post-office and there found a letter from "The Standard" and one from J. Aleman, also one from Mr Lattman. I went to Rosario where I arrived at 9.10 p.m. I entered a horse-car and rode up to the restaurant Hamburgo. Everything was closed, but on knocking at the door the porter opened it and told me that Mr Glimman was very sick. He showed me up to a room and I retired at 9.30 p.m. without any supper. Evening very cold.
Wednesday 12th. After rising, I went to a hat-store and had some crape put around my hat, and then I went to a barber and had my hair and beard cut. I then called on Mr Schreiber. I afterwards went to the Almacen Nuevo where I purchased 2 lbs of sugar, and one of "yerba mate". At the market I bought 375 oranges at 87 and a half cents, per hundred, and had them sent to the Almacen Nuevo. I then called at Messrs. Davias and Blythe where I found that the turning-lathe for Charlie had arrived. Mr Blythe will send it out to Cañada de Gomez. I also purchased some seeds at a store on the corner of Calle Libertad and Santa Fe, for $3.00.
At 9.30 a.m. I had breakfast and then called upon Messrs. Tietjen and Co, whom I paid $70.00 for Father's coffin. I called there again at 1 p.m. and attended an auction of trees and plants from Montevideo. I purchased quite a number of trees such as eucalyptus, cypress, pines, acacias, and peach; also Santa Ritas, magnolias, and jasmines. I had supper at 6 p.m. and Mr Schreiber and Mr Amelong came to see me at the Restaurant Hamburgo, where they remained till 10.30 p.m. I retired at 11 p.m. Some passengers who came from Cordoba soon after, also went to their rooms. One of them played on a zither, the first that I had heard played since leaving Oakland. This one was an excellent instrument and he played very well. Among other pieces he played "The Alpine Horn".
Thursday 13th. I arose at 5.15 a.m. and went immediately to the corner of Calle Puerto and Cordoba, where I took a horse-car for the railroad depot. The train left Rosario at 6 a.m. At Carcaraña Station, while walking up and down in front of the station, I was surprised to see our carpenter Mr Kinkelin. He was on his way out to the estancia. I entered the car with him (2nd Class) and there found Elisa our servant girl, also on her way out with Mr Kinkelin. We arrived at Cañada de Gomez at 9.38. We were delayed on the way as something broke on one of the freight cars. We eat our breakfast with Mr Hansen at 10.30, when Mr Daniel Tietjin and Mr Meyer coming in I remained talking with them till after 1 p.m. after which Kinkelin, Elisa and I mounted our horses and started for home. At Suarez's we took the new road, arriving home at 4.20 p.m.
The "Deutsche La Plata Zeitung" of July 9th contains an article headed "Dem Andenken eines mackern mannes" (Souvenirs of a Brave Man) with an obituary notice about Father, written by Mr Aleman. The "Standard" of July 7th also contains a notice of Father's death.
Friday 14th. A very foggy day. Alfred and the two peons worked down at the well, filling in earth against the water-troughs. I sowed a large quantity of tree seeds in six boxes. Charlie and Johnny went up to Tregarthen's and brought back some slips from willow-trees. In the evening I wrote a letter to the "Society of Californian Pioneers" informing them of Father's death.
Saturday 15th. A very windy day. William left early in the morning for Cañada de Gomez taking my letter along. He returned in the evening bringing the "Weekly Alta California" of May 13th, but no letters. I painted my bookcase.
Sunday 16th. I promised to visit Daniel Tietjen today, but as it looked so much like rain I did not go. Josephine and Charlie went over to Mr Watts at the "Tres Lagunas" and had breakfast with them, returning in the afternoon. At 4 p.m. it commenced to rain a little and a few hailstones fell, they were as large as pigeon's eggs. It was also thundering and lightening, with heavy clouds moving about the heavens. In the evening it thundered and lightened. At 4.30 p.m. our wagon arrived from Cañada de Gomez bringing trees etc., also a harrow and a roller.
Monday 17th. Today I had the corner between the main house and side house filled in as it was much lower than elsewhere. Several peons were ploughing and harrowing.
Tuesday 18th. After the yard along the front of the house was filled up I set the men on to hauling pieces of brick on to the earth to make a path, and also commenced to make the road leading to the front gate. Charlie went over to "Las Tres Lagunas" and brought back two dozen chickens and six turkeys at $1.00 each.
Wednesday 19th. A foggy morning, and then a very windy day and evening. One of the peons commenced to sow barley yesterday morning in the western field. There were two peons ploughing and two harrowing, and two others were hauling pieces of brick for the road leading to the front gate. I unpacked my two boxes today, and placed my books in the bookcase which I painted and repainted last Saturday, Sunday and Monday. William is taming a lot of "novillos" (young steers) and breaking them in to work. Several days ago he tied up three more. I sowed some more tree seeds today, in the boxes viz. pines, manzanita, and pepper-trees. The latter were gathered from the trees in our garden in Oakland. I also sowed the Pinus Negra (2.00) and pepper-trees from Schaffer, and another that cost $2.00. The evening was warm with a strong N.west wind blowing.
Thursday 20th. Strong north wind blowing all night, which continued all day. A peon belonging to one of the estancias up north, brought out our mail. I received two letters from Frank Rodolph with the Oakland postmark of April 10th and May 30th. I also received one from Mr Janus Smith of Grey's Music Store, with the San Francisco postmark. Today I planted some creeping plants along the posts of the verandah, and at the four posts of the main house. There were four Santa Rita's (Nerium Roseum) and one Jazmin de los Azores, two Bignonia Caponsis, and three Melalanca Avalifolia. The peons worked on the road in front of the house. Ploughed as usual.
Friday 21st. Morning cloudy. It commenced to rain a little at 7.30 a.m. but stopped immediately, not raining enough to lay the dust. Weather during the day very sultry. I worked in the front yard, while the others were ploughing and harrowing.
Saturday 22nd. Morning foggy. Three peons still at work on the roads and front yard, the others ploughing etc. The acacia seeds that I sowed on the 10th June are up.
Sunday 23rd. At 9.30 a.m. Charlie and I drove in the spring-wagon drawn by the "mestizo" (half-breed) and the "bayo" (bay horse) over to the Colonia Hansa to see Mr Daniel Tietjens. We arrived there a little after 12 noon. Mr Tietjen was not at home, but in Cañada Gomez on a blow out. Mr Aurelio Suarez also turned up. A native woman in charge of the house placed a dinner before us however, and about an hour after Mr Suarez left we also left for home about 2.40 p.m. arriving at 5 p.m. Our object in going to Tietjens was to get some trees that he had promised to Father. One of the peons who had been to Cañada de Gomez brought us the mail, some papers and also letters from Mr Howard to William. A windy day.
Monday 24th. Strong south wind blowing all day and all last night. As our oxen were not here the men did not plough, but worked in the front yard, digging holes for trees. This evening I planted the "Pinus Cariense".
Tuesday 25th. Today I commenced to plant the trees in our front yard.
Wednesday 26th. As many of our cattle have the hoof and mouth disease, I made a mixture of vinegar, salt and alum, and with some peons went to the corral where the capataz and Valentine caught the animals. I washed their mouths and between the hoofs with the mixture. We washed twelve head, but still there are many more sick. Today I concluded planting trees. It looks very much as if it would rain. The peons are still ploughing, and one is sowing barley.
Thursday 27th. It commenced to rain about 4 a.m. and continued quite hard till 6 a.m. The rain was accompanied by heavy thunder and lightening. As short as the rain was it did a good deal of good, as the ground was perfectly dry. In the afternoon it turned out beautifully warm. Today the peons worked on the pathway in the front yard, and I marked out the beds there.
Friday 28th. Mother and I planted some shrubs in the four beds of the front yard, and I moved my seed boxes from the front yard back to the little garden behind the side building. A very strong wind commenced to blow about 3 a.m. It resembled very much a "pampero" (a strong stormy south gale) only lacking thunder and lightening, and rain. A cold south wind blew all day. This evening I wrote a four page letter on my mourning paper to Frank Rudolph reminding him that it is now two years since I bid him good-bye. I gave him a short sketch of our daily life.
Saturday 29th. Today it is two years since we steamed out of the Golden Gate for South America. I commenced a letter to Hans Ewald. There was a light frost this morning. Today we washed ten more animals that are sick from the hoof and mouth disease. This evening Mother and some of the others, for the first time, counted the money in Father's trunks. They did not think it worth while to let me know they were going to count. A camp fire is raging over at Watts.
Sunday 30th. A heavy frost this morning. Weather clear.
On September 10th. After coffee Mauree and I milked four cows. I then bathed myself and afterwards drove up the oxen and horses. I rode the big white trotter horse. The capataz parted out the big "overa mocha" (light brown piebald) which he was going to take.
The following week I was mostly occupied in planting lettuces, beans, potatoes, cucumbers, onions and citrons. There were lots of grasshoppers which flew over very thickly, and the camp was full of them.
On Wednesday the wagon brought the iron fence for around Father's grave, and after it had been fixed up I hoed a bed for flowers around it, from the road to the fence.
Willie "domared" (tamed) the capataz's "potro" (colt), but it was almost tame and did not buck much. Friday morning was very wet. It rained very heavily the previous night so everything was very muddy, and I did my milking in the pouring rain. It cleared up a little in the afternoon, so I planted a row of "paraiso" seeds near the road. In the evening when I rode my "alazan" (chestnut) to bring up the horses from the camp, he tumbled with me and I turned a somersault over his head. The next morning Uncle and I filled the pig-pen with brick pieces and stamped them down. In the afternoon Elisa and I planted melons, peas, and more lettuces. As Willie and Brown were planning to sow "alfalfa" seed, Lariana was harrowing.
In the evening when I drove up the horses, I rode the red horse Frank always rode as he (Frank) was away in Rosario. It was a very pleasant warm day.
Sunday 17th. After I had milked, I took a bath in the tub. In the afternoon I took the two girls, Mauree and Elisa down to the cattle and around. We lifted up a cow and had fun. I rode the little yellow horse. I found that some of the cattle were missing, about twelve of them. Charlie was going to Cañada de Gomez on Monday, but he had such a side ache that he could not go, so I went in his place. I rode a little white horse, and led Charlie's big horse as far as Suarez's where I left the white horse and I rode the other to Cañada de Gomez, arriving at 10 o'clock. After eating at Hansen's I got the papers, Willie's shoes, etc, and started back at 1.30 p.m. I got 1.00 for going, and gave two "reales" to Suarez's peon for caring for the horse. I now had $24.70 reales.
Towards the end of the month the weather became more unsettled, and the days were damp and disagreeable. I spent most of my time in planting all kinds of vegetables, and in chasing the grasshoppers from the young plants.
On one occasion Mother helped me with the "sandias" and melons. Several people came to visit Mother, among them being Mrs Dickenson from "Las Lomas" and Mrs Smythe.
Sunday October 1st. In the evening Josephine, Johnny, Elisa, Mauree and I went down to the cattle. Elisa rode the big "mestizo" but as she could not manage him I gave her my "alazan", she then traded with Johnny, because mine had a hard trot, and she fell off that. The cattle are calving now.
It was a very hot windy day, but the wind dropped in the evening, so we all went out and jumped rope in the moonlight.
The next morning after coffee, I went to Cañada de Gomez. I rode the "zaino" (dark chestnut) as far as Suarez's, where I left him, and continued on the little lazy white horse to Cañada de Gomez, where I arrived at 11 o'clock.
I eat at the station for a dollar, and then went to the shoemakers to get my boots which were nearly finished, so I waited until 3.30, when I started back, and on my way through the town I got the "freno" (bit) for Lariana, but was unable to get any bird-seed. I picked up the mail at the station.
On the way home when I got to our first "cañada" (gully) it was very dark. Suddenly I heard a dog bark, I looked back and saw a man on horseback right behind me, but he galloped off quickly when he saw that I had seen him. It looked very suspicious, so I rode on very slowly and got home about 7 p.m.
I got $1.00 for going, making me $25 and 7 reales. That night there was a strong "pampero" blowing with some hail. Frank wrote to say that he was obliged to stay in Rosario for another week. This month Willie, Braun and I ploughed and sowed maize in the big field where we kept three ploughs at work. The grasshoppers were very thick and gave us a lot of trouble, as we had to continually chase them out of the barley field, where they had done a great deal of damage. We also tamed several milch-cows, one of them had a very wild calf which would not suck, so we kept him locked up all day. A big red cow we tamed by cutting off the ends of her horns and tying a rope to the stumps. She had a big black two months-old calf which was very fat. We had taken on a new peon, a young German named Heinrich, to look after the milch-cows.
On October 9th. the black "yegua" (mare) in the "tropilla" (troop) got a colt. The following day the "tordilla" (grey mare) was missing, with several horses, so Willie and I and the capataz went after them, but could not find them. We searched for two days without success, and on the 13th inst. a native brought them from the Chavarri Colony, several leagues away, and we had to give him $6.00 for his trouble.
The weather was very windy, dry and cold, and I had had a bad toothache for several days.
On Monday 16th. Willie, Johnny, the "capataz" and I went to a "rodeo" over at "Las Rosas" to part our cattle. We got up at 5 a.m., had coffee and left immediately afterwards. We only found three of our animals. There were a good many natives there parting out cattle, "caparing" (gelding) bulls etc. We got home at 10 a.m. The rest of the afternoon I spaded a piece of ground in the garden for Mother to sow some flower seeds. Kinkelin and Kuns came over at noon on a visit, and stayed two days to put up some fences.
The next day Braun and I hauled two loads of bricks down to the grave, as Kuns had fixed the fence around it. In the evening we had great fun parting out some "ajeno" (cattle that did not belong to us) cattle. My little horse was very "wappo" ("guapo" or clever). When we returned I was trying to trim his hoofs when he reared up and kicked me on the nose a terrible "lick" which made it bleed and swell up. It was very sore for several days.
The next morning we found that several horses and a grey mare were missing, also three "novillos" (young bulls) so Willie and I and the "capataz" went to "Las Amelias" to look for them, but we could not find them, but we parted out four cows of ours from another "rodeo" at a native's place. In the afternoon Josephine and Charlie went to Cañada de Gomez to meet Frank who was returning from Rosario next morning. They stayed there for the night, and all arrived together the next afternoon. Everything was now settled about the amount of money we had; there was about $23,000 left.
The next day Frank went to Tucuman to see what the land was like.
I had been suffering from a sore throat for several days which now turned into a bad cold, so I stayed indoors all day and cleaned my pistol.
On Thursday October 26th. Willie took a party to a "monte" (forest or belt of trees) some miles away. Willie and a "vaquero" (cowboy) were on horseback, while Braun, Lariana and Vicente drove the wagons.
They had a lot of trouble yoking up the oxen and young bullocks. Oxen are such queer creatures, as sometimes if they are accustomed to a squeak in one of the axles, they will refuse to move if it is not there and one puts sand in the axle to make it squeak. In the evening, when I was driving some horses back from the "puesto" (small farm) a sudden "pampero" storm came up with very hard rain, and although I hurried as fast as I could, I arrived home soaking wet, and with my boots full of water. It rained a good deal that night, which was badly wanted. There was now plenty of water in the "canales" (ditches) and "lagunas" (lakes or swamps) and the plants and trees were beginning to grow, especially as afterwards the weather became delightfully warm and sunny.
Mr Tregarthen came over the next day from Cañada de Gomez, as his wagon had broken down just outside the town.
On the last day of the month, Uncle, Hendrich and I planted osage-orange seeds nearly all day. We put them from the horse-corral all along the fence around the potrero, and also beside the ditch. It was hard work. November was also a month for planting, and we put in lots of potatoes and spinach nearly every day. Willie came back on the 4th from the "monte", the wagons returning next day. They had very bad weather, and rotten luck, as one of the oxen broke his neck while crossing a river.
One evening when I was riding Josephine’s yellow horse, I nearly came off. I broke my stirrups, and in trying to recover my balance, I lost a rein. The horse started to buck and run away, however I managed to pull myself into the saddle again. I gave Willie 4 reales for a "rebenque" (whip) leaving me with $27.7 and a half. I also exchanged with him, my hair cinch for a broad leather one.
On November 8th. It started to rain again, and the corral was pretty muddy for milking. We discovered that the horse-beans were full of black beetles, so Uncle and I cleaned the beans and killed the beetles. Frank sent a telegram to say that he would be arriving from Tucuman on the 15th. The weather improved after a few days, and became warmer, so in the evenings I took the girls out riding with me when I went to collect the horses from the camp. Lots of our animals were continually straying away into other estancias, and we had great difficulty in finding them again. Our property was not fenced in any more than the other estancias so that we were obliged to go to "rodeos" almost every day to part out our animals. Most of them went to "Las Tres Lagunas" belonging to Mr Watt, and to Las Rosas, belonging to Captain Kemmis. One day I went over to "Las Lomas" belonging to Mr Dickenson, and when we had parted out about forty of our animals Mr Dickenson would not let us part out any more.
On Saturday 16th. Frank returned from Tucuman. He spoke very well of the place, and brought some sugar-cane along with him. Sugar is the chief product, and large quantities are exported abroad yearly.
On Wednesday 22nd. Uncle and I started to trim the peach trees, which were growing quite tall. We afterwards pulled mustard and weeds out of the young "alfalfa" and barley. In the afternoon Keild came over and had coffee with us. It was a very hot, but beautiful, day. In the evening Frank and Charlie had a row, I don't know what about. Our milch-cows were now doing very well indeed, and gave us plenty of milk nearly every day.
On November 23rd. I got four buckets full of milk, and the following day five. Towards the end of the month we were busy in the vegetable garden hoeing the plants and digging up new potatoes. We sent to Cañada de Gomez for scythes to cut the barley. I pulled up water every evening, as we were using lots of water, the weather having turned very hot and dry. The black bugs had come again.
On December 12th. Frank got his share of what Father left us, and left "La California" to start on his own place.
Last Monday was New Year's Day. It was very hot during the afternoon, but fresh in the early morning and evening. In the forenoon I helped to clear out the wood from a room in the woodhouse, to make room for the potatoes. We were now digging the small kidney potatoes, and in two days got about thirteen sacks full. As we had to countermark our hides, Willie went over to Scharf's to get the necessary papers to sign, and the next day Lariana took our hides to Cañada de Gomez. There were 156 of them. On Wednesday Willie and Uncle took them to Rosario in the wagon to sell them. They brought back boards for making troughs etc. and a new chain for the well, as the old one was continually breaking, which meant that someone, generally me, had to go down the well, stand up to their neck in water, and fix it from below.
On Thursday 4th. When I was mounting the white horse Father used to ride, he bucked and threw me off laming me pretty badly. I had such a bad headache afterwards in the afternoon, that I was obliged to lie down. The next day I started to dig up the larger potatoes, which were very big indeed, and we also gathered cucumbers and melons.
Saturday 6th. Uncle, Willie and Mauree came back from Rosario, where they had sold the hides for $6 reales each, making a total of $618.00. They brought back a new small wagon. In the afternoon we hauled back home 25 sacks of potatoes, and tasted our first "sandias" (long green water-melon with pink flesh and black seeds). We also sold quite a number of them. The weather had become very hot and dry, with a north wind blowing all day.
The following Monday Martin Pereira came in the morning to sell cattle, so I went down to the "potrero" to call Willie. We then went over to "Las Larguias" with Pereira and agreed to buy 600 head of cattle next month at $7.00 a head. The "sandias" were now very plentiful, lots of them every day.
On Tuesday 9th, in the evening I caught a young skunk, but let it go again. We had finished digging the large white potatoes, of which there were 52 sacks full, and had also started on the small red ones, which were very small, but we got about two wheelbarrow loads. The weather for the last day or two had been very hot and windy and looked "tormentoish". The next day was intensely hot, 102 in the shade. We had been obliged to discharge one of the "peons" for running "gamas" (female stags) so we were left with only the "capataz" (Faria), Lariana and Braun, on foot.
On Friday 12th. Faria's daughter, Rosaria, was very sick with whooping-cough. In the evening I went to drive the horses home and caught a long-legged black bird near to the corral. Its feathers came to a point at the back of its head, and it had a kind of spur on the side of one of its wings. It is called a "tero" (plover). It was another very hot day, 106 Farenheit in the shade.
Tuesday 16th. Lariana went away because he did not want to drive the horses to camp in the morning. In the evening when I brought the horses back from the camp, I was riding the little "zaino" when he fell on his head, and turned a somersault, so that I came down with such force, and hurt my left shoulder so much, that I could hardly move my arm. I put cold water on it, but it still hurt exceedingly. It hurt so much during the night that I could hardly sleep for the pain. The "curandera" (doctor woman) came next day and said it was only a bruise, and put "caña" (spirit obtained from the sugar-cane) and salt on it. As I could hardly move my arm, I stayed indoors all day.
Faria's daughter was dying, so Uncle made her a coffin. She died that night, and the next morning Faria and a peon took her body to Tortoras to get buried, where the natives danced her into heaven all night. Lariana came back to us on Thursday and consented to work for us again for $10.00 a month. Willie had taken on a new peon named Daniel, a tall fat fellow.
I was obliged to leave my diary until Thursday 25th as I could not write because the fourth finger of my right hand became very swollen and sore with a sort of "felon" caused, I believe, by the fall from my horse. It was very painful, as the finger swelled up dreadfully white, so that I could not sleep for three nights. It was open at last, however, and was getting better, after I had put a poultice on it made of hot milk and bread and ground flax-seed. I was still lame in my shoulder however.
On Sunday 29th. We sold 150 sandias for $90.00. In the evening the grasshoppers came again very thickly, and they eat everything straight off; trees, maize, potatoes, sandias, brown corn etc. etc. We tried to keep them off the trees, but could do nothing. We may have some maize left however. Charlie went to Rosario in the morning, and came back next day. He went to see the doctor, and also brought out a new chain for the well. We had finished digging all the potatoes, of which there were six hundred "arrobas" (weight of 1 arroba equal to about 25 lbs) in all.
The following day our new little wagon arrived. Smythe's wagon brought it to the cañada, and then Willie and Johnny brought it home. Mr Schreiber came back with Charlie to stay a few days. He was a great friend of Father's, who met him while on a visit to Rosario. He is a nice fellow and we all like him very much, he seems to be getting sweet on Josephine.
Thursday February 8th. We bought a "mañada of yeguas" (troop of mares) from "Las Lomas" at $34.00. Neild and Thompson and a peon came over to help mark them, and they broke one filly's leg so that she had to be shot. I had to take care of all the cattle for the forenoon, while Willie and the capataz were at "Las Lomas" and "Las Rosas". The weather was very windy and cold.
The next day after dinner, it began to rain which continued most of the afternoon, a cold drizzly rain. The cows were not giving us much milk now, I only got half a bucketful from seven cows, but the calves were all nice and fat.
On Saturday afternoon Braun took Mauree, one of our servant girls, into Cañada de Gomez. She was on her way to Rosario to attend her brother's wedding. In the evening I went for a ride on my new "redomon". He went first rate, and was very easy in the mouth. Afterwards I combed and washed his tail.
The next morning we went to the "rodeo" at "Las Castañas" (Tregarthens).
It was a very pleasant and sunny day.
February 13th. Tuesday. After I had milked, I had a shower-bath, and after coffee, helped Uncle to hoe down the corn in the little field, which had been eaten by the grasshoppers. Afterwards I went to help Lariana who was "domaring" another yegua. It bucked hard, and I helped him to turn it around. Johnny and I pulled up water at the well after dinner, and again later. I took a siesta in the afternoon. We then threw water over Elisa as it was Carnival. The weather was still very hot, dry and windy, and we wanted rain badly. They said it was the biggest "seca" (drought) for many a year. When some "Santiagueños" (natives of Santiago del Estero) went past our estancia with a lot of mares, I had to go down to the well to see that they did not water the horses, as our well had nearly given out, and we needed every drop ourselves. Faria's baby, (born yesterday) was christened in the forenoon, and I went to see it done. It was called Benenino. All the relations were there, chattering like a lot of monkeys. When I got back I found that Braun had brought Mauree back again. They would have come last night, but they lost their way and rode all night long. A lot of Mauree's things were stolen in Rosario.
The next morning I milked nine cows; two of Uncle's, four of Bauer's, a little black one and two brown ones. I left them their calves and allowed them to have plenty of milk. The rest of the afternoon I helped Uncle to pile up the maize-stalks and then pulled up water. After dinner Willie, Uncle, Braun, Vicente and I went to dig the channel deeper between the two wells. In the afternoon a strong "pampero" started to blow, but it did not rain until towards evening, and then it was not very much.
The next day, in the afternoon, Willie went to Cañada de Gomez to fetch Schreiber, who was going to take a photograph of the back of the house. As the capataz was not well, his backbone hurt him so much that he could hardly ride, I drove up the horses from the other hill between here and "Las Rosas". There were three missing.
The next day Willie came back from Cañada de Gomez with Schreiber, who had made some drawings of our house, which were very good. Herman was a little sick in the afternoon and had to lie down, and Lariana got bucked off a small wild "potranca" (filly) he was taming, so that the capataz had to go after it, and "bolear it". Schreiber is certainly courting Josephine.
Tuesday 20th. Neild and Mr Greenwood of Cañada de Gomez, came at noon and had dinner with us, and Mr Coombs and Mr Tregarthen stopped on their way to "Las Rosas". In the evening Schreiber and Josephine announced their engagement. Herman was still sick, and in bed all day. Gave him castor-oil. It was an exceedingly hot day.
Thursday 22nd. Mr Kretzman came after coffee in the morning, and said that a teacher was coming out from Buenos Aires to teach Johnny and Herman. Herman was feeling a little better. It had rained a little, and the temperature had changed. It had turned coldish, and was very cloudy with a south wind blowing.
Sunday 25th. Mother, Willie and Josephine went to "Las Rosas" to hear Mr Coombs preach. They brought him back with them, and at 5 o'clock he held a service in our dining-room. Watt, Dickenson, and Mr and Mrs Constable from "La Britanica" were present, and all our family. We liked Mr Coombs very much, he was so sociable. He stayed the night with us, and the next day Charlie took him back to Cañada de Gomez. On the way back Charlie found a "poncho" on the road, and several "Las Lomas" cattle on our camp, which Johnny and I chased out later.
I had progressed very well with my Spanish, and on March 2nd, started to write my diary in that language for practice. Naturally there were many mistakes, as I spelled the words as I heard them pronounced by the peons, which was anything but pure Spanish. Camp people were in the habit of clipping the ends of their words, with the result that a "ricardo" would be a "ricao" and "Vamos por alla" (let us go over there) would sound like "bamo pa ya", besides other pronunciations peculiar to the camp.
We finished cutting down all the maize stalks, and now made a big bonfire with them. The locusts had left us a little maize, as some of it was very young when they came. I collected some from the "chacra" (farm) and from the paraiso trees, and altogether we had about four cartloads in the "galpon" (big shed). The weather had turned very hot again, and there was a north wind blowing.
Sunday March 4th. We went out into the camp in our new "volanta" (carriage) to look for a suitable place to make a new "puesto". We found a spot towards the east side of the estancia, and the next morning Willie and two of the peons went over and started to dig a well there. The same afternoon Dickenson came over with some "novillos" and put them in our corral for the night, as he was taking them to Cañada de Gomez station next morning. I went to Cañada on Tuesday to fetch Elisa, who had been on a visit to her parents. I started at 7.30 a.m., and arrived in time for lunch at 11 o'clock. We left at 1.30 p.m. and arrived at about six o'clock.
Wednesday 7th. In the morning, Johnny, Herman and I took the bricks out of the brick-oven to start making the house at the "puesto". I afterwards took some food to the men who were digging the well, which was finished the next day. It was four "varas" (1 vara is about 2 feet 8 inches) and had seven feet of water in it, but the water was rather salty. We now had plenty of water for the animals, apart from the well at the house, which was nearly empty. The weather was still very hot and dry, and the camp badly in need of rain. It had looked like rain several times during the last few days, but the "tormentos" (storms) always passed over us without a spot of rain falling.
On Friday, however, when we were loading bricks into the cart, the wind suddenly changed and a strong south wind started to blow so hard that we were obliged to give up work. It again looked like rain, but nothing came of it.
Sunday 11th. Charlie, who had gone to Cañada the night before, arrived back at three o'clock in the afternoon, accompanied by Mr Schreiber and his partner Mr Bolt. Schreiber gave Josephine a gold bracelet, pin, and pendant, set with pearls and emeralds. He is very sweet on Josephine. In the evening we all went for a ride. It was a little cooler after a very hot day. Faria's new baby had died in the early morning and the next night the peons had the usual dance because the "angelito" had gone to Dios. Faria took the little body to Tortugas the next morning, and I looked after the farm for him, while Charlie took Schreiber and Mr Bolt to the station. I put a new ring on my "lasso" and then cut maize stalks for making "besoms" (garden brooms). That afternoon we bought Bruno's horse for $12.00, and a mule for $20.00. The weather was still very hot with no likelihood of rain.
Thursday 15th. Our milk was getting very scarce now owing to the continual drought, and I only obtained a bucket and a half from eight cows. William went to Rosario taking Mauree with him, who was not coming back to us. He was also going to buy posts, wire etc. for the new "puesto". It was a frightfully hot day, the hottest of the year, and the cattle were getting very short of water as there was very little left in our wells. That evening several "sundowners" came and passed the night with the peons.
The following morning I bought a splendid "coquinillo" from one of them for $10.00 and an "encimero" (leather rug or cover) for $3.50. Don Boosey came over in the afternoon and bought two "arrobas" of potatoes from us, and we sold 177 arrobas to "Las Rosas" at 20 cts.
Monday March 19th. Don Juan Scharf advised us that they were having a rodeo at "Los Esteros" early next morning, so Faria, Angel, Roka and I arrived there before the sun was up to find that Don Juan had let the cattle go. He said that as it had rained a little the night before he thought that no one would turn up.
William returned from Rosario bringing Kuntz, who was going to mend our roof which had been leaking, and also build the house at the puesto. He also brought with him a new housemaid, a fat Swiss girl. The storm last night was a very mild one and there was little rain, but it looked like more rain, and was still very hot.
The following day William and I had to look after the camp all day as a soldier came over from Alvarez saying that all the peons had to go there to report. We sent some in next morning, and the rest went that evening. Faria and Lariana were able to return the same day as they had their papers in order, but most of the estancias were left without any peons at all.
On Wednesday 21st. We had only just got thirty-five bags of maize into the galpon at the "chacra" when the rain came down in torrents with large hailstones; and on the 25th, a Sunday, there was a terrific storm, when the lightening struck and killed two cows and a calf in a field about a league away. We went out afterwards and skinned them. The rain stopped the next day and the sun came out. One could almost see the grass growing. It had been so parched after three months without rain. In the evening when I was collecting the horses, my horse slipped in the mud at the gully, threw me and bolted. I lost my "ricardo" while Lariana caught my horse. I found my "ricardo" though one of the stirrups was missing. This horse had bucked a good deal all day.
We had now eight peons in all, and they were kept very busy all day. We had bought a new troop of ten horses, including a mare, from Faria at $15.00 and they had all been marked without throwing them. Towards the end of the month it started to rain again, and on the day April 1st it poured all night and the next day. The corrals were consequently very muddy and the horses were slipping and falling about a good deal, and we all came off several times. Schreiber came out on a visit, and rode all the way from the station, mostly at the gallop, and was very tired. He could hardly move next day he was so stiff and sore. The tutor for Herman and Johnny had arrived. He was very thin, a Swiss, and we paid him $30.00 a month. William took Schreiber to the station when he left two days later. He was going to Buenos Aires to look for a job.
Sunday 8th. Mother and Charlie went to Rosario in the afternoon to see the doctor, as Charlie had a very bad swollen foot. I took a siesta. The weather had turned much cooler, and there was a strong wind blowing. I had bought myself a new waistcoat.
The next day we went over to "Las Chilcas" (Mr Daniels) and to "Las Chupinas" (Martinez de Hoz) to help at the "rodeos". The new "puesto" was finished, the roof was on, and there were three peons living there, working on making a new corral. I was trying to find a nice horse for Herman to ride, but so far had not been able to find one suitable. I had been making a new flower bed in front of the house, and had sown a lot of ossage-orange seeds there. In the evening I missed my red horse and I looked for him this side of "Las Lomas" and all over the camp, but I could not find him.
Wednesday 11th. I went to do some shopping in Cañada de Gomez. I left very early and arrived there about 9 a.m. I bought sixty posts of "ñandubuy" wood and had them loaded into a cart. Another cart was filled with two hundred "arrobas" of sand, and a third with 137 arrobas of lime. It was all very hard work, and Bruno was obliged to hire a peon to help him. I had lunch with Don Augusto. The carts left at about four o'clock in the afternoon, and so did I, but when I arrived at the estancia after dark, they had not arrived and turned up at about 10 o'clock that night.
Thursday 12th. After milking in the morning, I did not do very much. At about two o'clock in the afternoon an English peon from "Las Lomas" brought a letter from Mother, who was at Cañada de Gomez station. She said that Frank and Charlie were there, and that Charlie was very ill. She wanted William to go at once. He returned at 11 p.m. that night and said that poor Charlie had died there. He had tried to lift a heavy part of a new pump into the carriage, and it was too heavy for him, and they had carried him to the station-master's bed, and two hours later he was dead. Poor Charlie, he had been always ill since he was seven years old, and had gradually got worse. Mr Woods is coming out with them all tomorrow to bury Charlie. I slept with William that night. It was such a lovely day.
The next day at about 12 o'clock, Frank and Mr Woods arrived in the carriage bringing Charlie in his coffin. Mother, Mrs Woods, and Watt and Suarez came in the latter's "volanta". We buried Charlie at 2 o'clock. Scharfe, Smithers, and Thompson were present, and Mr Woods said a few words over Charlie's grave. He is buried next to Father. Poor Charlie, he died on the 12th April and was 20 years, nine months and ten days old. He had been ill since August in 1870.
In May 1866 a group of twelve Californian farmers, who came on an exploring expedition to the Argentine, founded the second colony in the Chaco, on the site of which now stands the Station called Espin, situated on the banks of the Parana, and about forty-five leagues from Santa Fé. They spent some weeks exploring the country, and were accompanied by four peons belonging to the Government Surveying Department. There was one capataz, and two men to drive and look after the carts, two of which were drawn by oxen and the third by horses. They applied for forty leagues of territory and on it founded a colony of sixty-two souls, which they named the Californian Colony. This colony was, however being continually raided by the Indians, principally the Moscovis and Abipones tribes, so that the farmers were compelled to put up a strong place of refuge. They dug a ditch of about ten feet wide and five feet deep, on the inside of which was built a strong stockade of tall hard wooden posts, all bound together with strips of hide. The Indians were unable to cross the ditch as they would not leave their horses on any account, and attacked the houses inside the stockade by riding round them and shooting lighted arrows on to the thatched roofs, so as to smoke out the inhabitants, when they killed the men and carried off the women and cattle. At the alarm of "Los Indios" the tame horses were driven into the stockade, and everybody grabbed their guns. The Californian colony had only a small stock of Kentucky rifles, and a small brass cannon to defend themselves with.
On one occasion, when riding through the camp near Melincue, a farmer came across some still smouldering ruins, before which lay the dead bodies of their owners. It was dangerous to approach too near to a stockade without first clapping one's hands and calling out "Ave Maria". If the owner came out and answered "Sin pecado concebido" (conceived without sin) it was safe to go in, otherwise one ran the risk of being shot on sight.
The Indians rode on sheepskins and carried lances, sometimes twenty feet long, which ended in a sharp point made of hard wood, or iron, and below which was tied a tuft of horsehair, or sometimes a tress of human hair. Each Indian carried his "bolas" slung round his middle, and generally led another horse. They lived in "toldos" or wigwams, which were composed of the skins of animals and branches of trees.
A sure sign that the Indians were not far off was when the cattle made a sudden move in the opposite direction, as they could scent from a long way off the strong-smelling ostrich-grease with which the savages smeared their bodies. All animals are terrified of the "ñandus" (ostriches) because of their fleetness of foot and their powerful kicks and an otherwise tame horse will become frantic with fear, at the mere sight of one.
When on the war path the Indians had a horrible war-cry which sounded like a long drawn-out wail of "Ahu-a, ahu-a, ahu-a-a-ah."
The larger towns and estancias had a watch tower with a huge bell in it which was rung furiously at the approach of the Indians. The entrance to this tower was up a narrow spiral staircase, only admitting one person at a time. It was kept well-supplied with rifles, amunition and provisions, and generally had a small cannon on the roof. These towers were called "miradores" and consisted of one large room capable of holding over a hundred people.
For many years the government made great efforts to stem the tide of Indians whose encroachments and depredations were yearly becoming more devastating. In 1833 General Manuel Rosas, afterwards Dictator, made his great expedition against the Indians, and succeeded in annexing 5,000 square leagues from them, thus making the territory of Buenos Aires five times the extent it had been. After his fall in 1854, the Indians recovered most of this country, reducing the area to 3,000 square leagues. In the year 1877 Colonel Adolfo Alsina, the Minister of War, commenced a vigorous and relentless war against the savages and recovered a further 2,200 square leagues of land. While in the midst of this campaign, however, Alsina was attacked by a fatal illness and he returned home to die. His successor as Minister of War, General Julio Roca, took over the command, and forced the Indians back to the regions beyond the Rio Negro, thus winning for the white settlements, the vast lands to the south of that river. The Indian chiefs were sent as captives to Buenos Aires, and in 1878-79, when the Indians were finally overcome, nearly five hundred Christian captives were restored to their homes. Unfortunately this reclaiming of territory resulted in wild speculation in buying and selling unknown tracts of land, desert, and imaginary camps. Eventually the Province of Buenos Aires received a large portion of the newly-acquired territory, and the rest became a Federal territory entitled "Gobernacion de la Pampa Central".
The daily log-book of Estancia La California, which was written up by the several members of the family, now provides the only information available for several years, as apparently Alfred allowed his diary to lapse on account of the many journeys he made to the Gran Chaco, where he carried out a plan which had been in his mind since his first trip there on a hunting expedition, namely of buying horses and cattle in poor condition, and taking them to the Chaco to rest and feed on the lush grass that he had found there; afterwards selling them at a considerable profit. He lived alone in a tent for months at a time, returning with the animals in excellent condition.
The activities at "La California" increased steadily with time and change, and the estancia was rapidly becoming one of the most important properties in the district. The brothers worked harmoniously together, and with their mother, whose strong personality always remained the dominating factor in their lives up to the day of her death. The only exception was the eldest son Frank, who after the death of his Father, took his share of the inheritance, and left home. That he was not very successful in his business ventures is made evident by the several bills for large amounts that Mrs Benitz was obliged to meet on his account, and which eventually resulted in their being obliged to sell some of their most valuable property.
The following are the most important events taken from the said log-book, and covering a period of about ten years.
June 10th, 1878.
Johnny and I went to the station tonight and bought a mule from Doña Maria for $12.00. In the afternoon we helped to mark 519 calves. The following day we sheared the mares, from which we got four kilos of hair. We then marked the "potros". The weather had been very foggy, but it had now become clear and frosty, and July 6th was the coldest day of the season. During July we finished walling in the new well, and also the "pileta" and fenced them round. We sold the horsehair for $l4.00. Frank came for one day, and left the same night, and the next night Mother and Alfred went to Rosario where they stayed until the 20th.
A very strong gale blew almost continuously throughout August, which towards the end of the month brought rain, and then the weather became warmer. We transplanted osage-orange trees, sauces (willow) and paraiso trees, and also cleaned a field for alfalfa. Mr Elliot came on the 31st and leased a league of camp from us for $50.00 a year.
September 5th. The first Race Meeting took place at "Las Lomas". Everyone from all the surrounding estancias came, and it was a great day. We had a big luncheon spread out on a long table, and fortunate it was fine weather. We were all very busy this month sowing maize and alfalfa seed, which we finished early in October.
On November 12th Josephine was married to Mr Schreiber at "La California". The ceremony was held in the big room on the right of the main corredor. Several people came from Rosario for the party including Mr Wood, Mr Flade and Miss Brandt, the two latter remaining on for a few days visit. The happy pair left the same day for Buenos Aires, under a scorching sun. The weather was fearfully hot, the wells were all dry, and Willie was in a bad humour.
On the 18th there was a terrific storm, when one of our cows was struck by lightening and killed. It rained all day.
January 1879.
The month of January was very hot. We had some good sales of our cattle in Rosario as Willie had sold 227 novillos for $3,064 silver. It continued very hot until the end of the month. Everything was very dry and the boy had to pull up a lot of water every day. Towards the end of the month we had a great storm, with hail and a great deal of rain. The hail knocked half the peaches down, and broke some windows.
July 4th. We celebrated as usual; hoisted the American flag, fired off the little cannon, and had shooting with our rifles. We also had a good breakfast. In the afternoon Mr Walker and Mr Donkin came over and stopped until 9 p.m. We made a big bonfire, and played leap-frog around it. It was a very pleasant day.
The following morning Kemmis sent us a set of sixteen new books for our library. Alfred was very upset as he had lost his horse "Blue Legs" and had looked everywhere for him without success.
July 15th. Mother signed another note of Frank's, for three months for $2,500. She received a letter from him last Sunday. Johnnie came back from a hunting expedition, with thirteen ducks and one deer.
On August 2nd. We received a telegram from Schreiber saying that Josephine had got a baby girl in the morning, (Bertha Josephine), and that Mother should come right off, so she left for Rosario at midnight, and we saw her off to Buenos Aires.
Sunday August 21st. I went to a Church meeting at Las Rosas, as the Bishop of the Falkland Islands was staying there. He came on the 19th accompanied by Mr Nield and Mr Lett, and preached on Sunday morning.
Saturday 5th September. Mother returned from Buenos Aires after an absence of over a month.
On Wednesday 16th a large "manga" of locusts passed over the estancia going southwards. Willie's ostrich laid its first egg.
Tuesday October 20th. We started putting a new fence at Molione near the "Tres Lagunas" (Watt) estancia, working southwards. Willie had been to Rosario to buy 800 ñandubuy posts, 100 rolls of wire, and 200 "tourniquetas" (swivel screws).
The ostrich had now laid nine eggs, and had begun sitting. Two days later 210 more posts arrived, and we were now working hard at the fence. We were obliged to stop work for two days on account of the rain, but on November 8th we finished the first league. Josephine had come with her baby from Buenos Aires, to stay for a while.
November 13th. We resumed fencing on the south side of the camp, from Suarez, and all worked very hard every day, in spite of the great heat. We had a "baile" (dance) on the 22nd, which was great fun as several neighbours came over. We danced in the back patio.
On November 27th. Mother and William went to Rosario to stay for a few days, as Mother was going to make her will. She also wanted to get some notes back of Frank's.
The next day the first young ostrich was hatched out, and the day after that two more appeared. We were now setting the posts for the fencing near to Cañada de Gomez, but were obliged to give up as the post holes were full of water from the rain, and also we found that the measuring line on one of the hills did not correspond with the fence.
The beginning of December saw us at work on the last league of our fencing. Mr and Mrs Roberts arrived in the forenoon of the 13th and stayed with us for the night, as they had been stuck in the Cañada de Leones all night. We lent them horses to pull them out.
December 15th. Willie went to the station to fetch Miss Coolidge and Miss Gregory who were going to stay a couple of days on a visit.
We finished the fencing on the 20th inst at noon, five squares in all, which we had completed in exactly two months. There were eleven of us working at it, and at noon we celebrated by having a "vaquillon con cuero" at the fence. Mother, Mrs Gregory and the servant-girls came down too, and we had a splendid picnic with a demi-john of wine, cakes, pies, lemonade, etc. It was a very warm day.
The next day we settled up with the peons and sent them off. The cost of the three leagues of fencing in peons wages was $250.00.
Alfred had not yet found Blue Legs, and as he heard that the horse was at Larguia's he went to look for him, but he was not there. Willie and Miss Coolidge went to "Las Rosas" in the afternoon, and the next day our visitors went back to Rosario.
The year 1880 marked an epoch as it was the beginning of a new political and economic era in the Argentine. Three years previously the first cargo of frozen meat was exported, and the extension of the railway to Tucuman, which penetrated the sugar regions, drew the north-west within reach of the capital city. A branch line, owned by the State, had already been linked up by a half-way station called Villa Maria, on the Cordoba-Rosario Railway, which ran through the province of Cordoba to Villa Mercedes and San Luis, thus connecting all the west. Several lines were then extended from the capital city through the province of Buenos Aires. Wherever the railway went it meant development. Settlements grew, and more modern methods of stock-raising and agriculture were made possible, and the first attempts were made at exporting grain. The principal exports however were still wool and hides; but the radical change had arrived, which was to transform camp life for the next twenty years.
General Julio Roca, now President of the Republic, was a man of vigorous resolutions, tactful and conciliatory, and with a personal knowledge of all parts of the Republic. He encouraged immigration and railway construction, the latter supported mainly by British capital and Italian labour. His right hand man was Carlos Pellegrini, one of the most notable men of his time. Pellegrini was the son of a Frenchman and an Englishwoman; he was educated at Harrow, but nevertheless was a thorough Argentine. Roca's presidency (1880 - 1886) was a time of unprecedented peace and increase in the nation's wealth. British capital poured into the country, and improved steamships brought Europe nearer. Year by year the export of grain increased, and great numbers of Basque and Italian peasants travelled 6,000 miles to reap the Argentine harvest, many ultimately saving money, buying land in the Argentine and founding fortunes. Unfortunately this rapidly rising tide of prosperity which enriched landowners through railway development, produced an outbreak of wild speculation, so much so that towards the end of his term of office, Roca found himself forced to declare the notes issued by certain banks, to be inconvertable into gold. This wave of speculation reached its zenith under Roca's successor Juarez Zelman (1886 - 1890) and the growing prosperity of the country was severely shaken by wasteful extravagance, reckless inflation of the falling paper currency, scandals in public finance, and by excessive borrowing; while huge sums were spent recklessly on public works, and in the improvement and embellishment of the capital.
At last this financial orgy provoked universal indignation and protest, and in the year 1890 ten thousand people gathered in the Tennis Club of Buenos Aires, and the resignation of the President was demanded.
A revolutionary committee under Alem was formed, and a revolt organized. They won over the navy, and part of the garrison seized the artillery arsenal and seemed likely to capture Government House and the city, when the ammunition gave out. After two days of fighting, over 1100 men were killed or wounded, and Alem and his companions were forced to capitulate. Juarez Zelman resigned and the vice-president Carlos Pellegrini took his place. Pellegrini now strove with all his might to retrieve disaster. He stopped the construction of public works, made drastic economies wherever possible, and sent an emissary, Victorino de la Plaza (who became president twenty-three years later) to London to make terms with British financiers. The founding of the Banco de la Nacion did much to restore credit, but it took the country more than ten years to recover from the financial crisis of 1899 - 91. The president however had two great factors to help him in his work, namely the railways and the plough; and in spite of the temporary depression, the years between 1878 and 1908 proved themselves to be an outstanding period of economic growth and steady agricultural advancement.
January 6th was Mother's birthday, and we had several visitors. Mr and Mrs Dickenson and their son Alfred, Miss Allyn and Mr Melville.
On the 22nd we worked all day, putting up the gate in the new road. We had started fencing again, and were going to put fencing around the whole of the estancia. During this month we sold 184 of our novillos for $3,000 silver, and 16 hides at 55 cents each, which made a total of $74. 6 cents.
February 11th. A Mr Goodacre, who had just arrived from England, came over with Mr Merrick of "La Caledonia", and Messrs Krell, Myers, and Stiefel came to breakfast on their way out to their new estancia "Los Tigrecitos". Mother signed another note of Frank's for the sum of $4,123.60 cts, effectivo.
March 10th. We commenced the fence around the north of the "quinta" and the peons quarters, and also began building a new barn, pulling down an old house to make the mud for the bricks.
We had several visitors this month; Mr and Mrs Dickenson, and Alfredo, Trail, Smithers, Boosey and Moncton.
The following month we put up a swing fence on two squares of the "chacra" to the east of the house. On the 19th we had another "baile" and among our new visitors was a Mr William Hope. Josephine and her baby came to stay for a while, as things were very unsettled in Buenos Aires and Rosario, and a revolution was threatened. In the afternoon Willie, Donkin, Alfredo Dickenson, Faria and Angel chased deer down towards Sosa, and caught one buck.
On April 21st the first postman started between Villa Suarez and "Los Castaños", us and Cañada de Gomez. This was to be a regular postal service.
The next day Mrs Dickenson and Mrs Melville drove up to say that Mr Roberts was stuck in the mud with Miss Berry; a servant girl, and a steward for Las Rosas, so we all went and pulled the four of them out, and they stayed with us overnight.
June 26th. Alfred came back at noon from Cañada de Gomez with Miss Brandt. He had been to look for a servant girl, but could not find one. He said that there was great excitement in the town, as it seems there had been quite a fight in Buenos Aires with 3,000 of the Provenciales (colorados) killed or wounded.
July 3rd. We put up a gate in the corner towards the "Tres Lagunas".
The next day Walker came over from "Las Turbias" to spend the "Fourth" with us. He brought a cartload of ducks and geese along. We spent the "Glorious Fourth" in good style, shooting off our pistols, rifles and the brass cannon, and burning logs all day. We also hoisted the American flag as usual. We had several visitors, Mr McGregor, Mr Walker Donkin, and Thomas (junior); Miss Brandt, Sosa, John Watt, and Mr Tippinge.
The next day the dogs chased and killed one of our big ostriches, and the day after, a young one, so we were obliged to shoot the black dog Leon.
On the 17th Johnny brought a servant girl from Cañada de Gomez, also the mail, the first letters we had received since the revolution in Buenos Aires had started. We were now planting more trees; about thirty "sauces" (willows) and peach trees, in the back yard.
August 7th. Mr and Mrs Smithers paid us a visit. Mr Smithers was going to buy Frank's league of camp from us for $4,000, so that we could settle up Frank's business.
On the 17th Josephine, Schreiber and baby returned to Buenos Aires, and Willie left for the Gran Chaco, to look after Frank's affairs for a bit. Sofia, the new servant girl, also left. She had stayed just one month and two days.
On the 23rd a large manga of locusts passed over going south.
September 1st. There was a camp fire around the "chacra" near to the road, but Johnny and I, with the peons, and the peons from Las Rosas, managed to put it out after a lot of hard work. That day Comandante Perez, with five soldiers, stopped the night on their way out to the "Diez Puntos"; they wanted to borrow horses from us. Two of our peons hid as they did not want to be taken away for soldiers.
The next morning we lent the Comandante six horses, which he returned when they came back from the arroyo. The horses did not look so bad.
On the 8th William arrived back from the Gran Chaco, and spoke very highly of the place. Alfred decided to go up there for a few days to help Frank with his colony. We had to pay Frank's note on Lloyds, due September 23rd, for $4,247, and Frank signed a paper for $6,888 silver, payable to us in six month's time. William also went to "La Independencia" to see Smithers about selling him the camp down there. Goodacre stayed here for breakfast on his way back to England, also a Mr Von de Beche, who arrived early, and wished to go with Alfred to the Gran Chaco on the 17th. Uncle is very sick with a boil on his neck and a very high fever.
The 24th of the month was a very fine day, and Willie and I went to the Race Meeting at Las Lomas. There were a great many people there, but it was very dull. I bet on Alfred's (Dickenson) horse against Mrs Dickenson's horse, and won $5.00.
The next day Uncle was worse, so we sent Adolf to Cañada de Gomez after the doctor, who came that evening and found Uncle very sick. We had to send a peon to Cañada de Gomez during the night for the medicine. Uncle was a little better next day, but his neck pained him very much.
October 2nd. He became much worse, and could not be left alone. The doctor came again five days later and said that Uncle might get better. He brought a lot of medicine with him. Uncle died at 5 o'clock in the morning on the 14th, aged sixty-four years, less two days. We sent word to all the neighbours, and a great many people attended the funeral, which took place on the 15th at 2 o'clock. We received a letter from Alfred saying that he liked it very much up there in the Chaco.
November 5th. The locusts arrived in the evening, and while we spent a long time trying to chase them out of the "quinta" a large "manga" came over and laid their eggs in the fields. The gardener, Don José, tried to work in the garden against the locusts, while his mother, her son, and another dark lady, sheared sixty-six sheep during the afternoon. The weather was very hot and sultry.
November 23rd. Two photographers came and took a view of the house and of us all. Von de Beche arrived in the evening and stayed overnight. He said that he had had a very good time up in the Gran Chaco, and that Alfred was well, and had killed five Indians in a fight.
The month of December was very hot, and we were all very occupied in killing locusts.
January 3rd, 1881.
A very fine day. Sent the cart to the station with hides, and Johnny went to Scharf's for a certificate of sale.
We were killing locusts with all hands and even the cook. Mr Stormont, Watts and "Lord" Donkin came to breakfast. Donkin "the brave" had taken to playing an accordion which he had bought from a peon at the station. Our visitors were Mr and Mrs Woods, Miss Allyn and Miss Cook who stayed for a week.
February 16th. Alfred arrived back from the Gran Chaco in the afternoon. Mr Donkin plagued the life out of us with his accordion. He saved the life of a child yesterday, she had fallen into the well.
On the 21st Mr Watt brought over four Englishmen to breakfast. They had come out from England on a yacht or a tour round the world; a Mr Jardine, Gordon, Knight, and another fellow. A camp fire started again on the south corner of the camp.
February 26th being Carnival, we played with water in the afternoon and had a dance at night.
On the 28th We sold the last league of camp to Smithers for $4,000 equal to $5,452.16 bolivianos, and as he had taken up Frank's debt to Lloyds of $4,592.16 he paid Willie the balance of $860 silver which Willie took to the States. He also took the money from Mr Hope of $174.00. John Watt came at noon and we played Carnival again, and had another baile in the evening. It was a warm and pleasant day.
March 2nd. Willie went off to the States of North America to get married to Miss Clara Allyn, a charming girl from Corsicana, Texas. He fell in love with her when she came to the Argentine on a visit to her sister. As she was only seventeen, her sister thought her too young to be married, but although she went back to the States, Willie corresponded with her, and used to ride to Cañada de Gomez to post his letters to her. They became engaged after a few months.
He took $2,000 silver with him. Johnny and Donkin went as far as Rosario with him to see him off. Johnny obtained a note from him of what money he took along, and Donkin got the money from the Bank.
Donkin, Herman and Alfred had been treating the animals with a solution composed of starch, vinegar, salt and water. We afterwards cured about twenty in all. The "peste" is very bad, don't know whether it is "tristeza" or "la mancha" (scab) but there are several animals dying. Alfred had a bad fall from his horse and hurt his shoulder. We had several visitors this week. Mrs Wood, Miss Cross, Captain Hemingway, and Mr Bartlett, and we had another "baile" on Saturday evening.
Johnny and Captain Irwin went hunting nearly every day, in the early morning, and killed a lot of game.
April 21st. Donkin "the brave" signed the pledge. The mason came and broke open the wall between the last two rooms on the patio and put a door there for William's suite, as they are going to live here after they are married.
William Benitz and Clara Allyn were married at Corsicana, Texas, U.S.A. at 5 p.m. on April 25th, 1881.
The following is an account of a hunting expedition into the Pampas District.
May 23rd. We passed the arroyo Mistolar, and camped on the banks of the River Calchaqui at noon. Picked up a tame horse on the way. We had just finished breakfast when Juan sang out "tigre". We all rushed to our rifles, and Don Alfredo got in the first shot, hitting the animal in the mouth. Juan and I both fired and missed. Alfred also fired again and hit him. Robson shot once more, and the tiger just managed to scramble up the bank when Juan got another shot into him but quite unnecessarily. Marched to the banks of the Saladillo, and camped for the night. Supper of roast tiger very good. Found caña bottle empty. Bag; 1 tiger (9 feet) 1 horse.
Thursday May 24th. Queen Victoria's Birthday. Passed the Saladillo on foot carrying our things over. Horses driven across. Marched to Monte Aguaras. Robson got an "aguaras" (species of Argentine wolf) just outside the monte. Wolf for breakfast not appreciated. In the afternoon we all went out, except Ignacio and Bagual, and shot two deer. My horse fell and cleared out, and I lost my companions, and after missing my way all over the shop, camped out for the night. Heard a rifle shot, replied, but "monte" was too thick to find a way through. Bag; 2 "guinchos" (seagulls).
Friday 25th. Got up before sunrise, and just afterwards met Johnny who guided me to their camp, where I found my horse. We made a good breakfast of roast and boiled venison, and then moved camp to the other side of the "Monte Aguaras". In the afternoon all hands went out except myself. They came back with two "gainsos" (wild geese) 1 lion, and a young lion alive. Mula my horse cleared out. Bag; 2 gainsos, 1 lioness measuring six feet from head to tail, and 1 "leoncito" captive.
Saturday 26th. Staking out skins, mending gear etc. Alfred brought in a "guasubirá" (antelope) at noon. Lion steaks very good. 1 p.m. all hands revisando the camp. Saw a splendid lagura about half a league wide. I killed a small "javali" (wild boar). Bag; 1 antelope, 1 javali. Antelope for supper very good.
Sunday 27th. Had a Sunday wash in lake. Waited till tigers and lioness skins were dry. Shifted camp about 1 league to the westward. Shot a gama for the pot. Saw a large troop of baguales.
Monday 28th. Went out after baguales. Unsuccessful. In the afternoon went out again. Alfred brought back a large ñandu. Robson had a bad rodada and hurt his knee.
Tuesday 29th. Went out after baguales. Alfred shot one and brought some meat in. In the afternoon some Indians brought us a lot of honey. Great feast of wild horse "carne con cuero" and wild honey. Game very scarce. In the middle of the feast the dogs began a fight and one horse cleared out and all the rest followed, except three, which the Indian peones mounted and went after the runaways. Brought back all except four.
Wednesday 30th. Two of the horses came back of their own accord during the night, and the other two were found close by. Marched till noon, and then rested two hours. Had "fiambre" (cold meats) "con cuero" very good. Marched all the "tarde" (afternoon) through swamps "Tajarino", "Cortadera" and "Espartillar", till we came to the Laguna del Cura, which is surrounded with palm trees. The Indians caught a bagual. Water in the laguna salt and bitter. Found sweet water in the "estero" (swamp).
Thursday 31st. Marched through belts of palms, sunchales, chiquitas, and esteros. Robson wounded a ciervo and we tracked it up. I got a shot and hit it in the body. It jumped up and cleared out into an estero where John tracked it, and Robson finally despatched it, and it was dragged out in triumph by José, Johnny and Robson. Marched through very thick monte, crossed the Calchaqui and went on till 2 o'clock when we halted and eat some ciervo venison. Very good. Marched on again till after sundown, when we camped on the banks of the Arroyo de Los Perros.
Friday June 1st. Marched at sunrise through very thick fog, for about a league, where we crossed the Arroyo, and then went on across open camp with scattered "montes". I saw a "yacare's" head (crocodile). Camped at an estero before entering the thick wood. Alfred shot a stork for breakfast at the Laguna del Carrancho. Marched all the afternoon till we came across a "colmena" (wild honey comb) of which we eat as much as possible of, and took some along with us. Went on to the Laguna de las Nutrias, where we camped for the night.
Saturday June 2nd. In the morning we marched in a Scotch mist, and passed the fence at Espin and the arroyo, and arrived home at 11.30 a.m.
June 15th at "La California". Today was Alfred's birthday. Of age now. Mr Smithers came in the morning and paid us the rent due up to the time of the sale of the league of camp to him, up to May 20th, 1881, and also his share in the contribution "contribución directa" from May 20th, 1881, up to December 31st, 1881, amounting altogether to $256.25 silver. He paid by cheque.
The following day a letter arrived from Josephine to say that Frank had got married on June 1st to Elisa Burchell.
Although we worked very hard all day, we often had "bailes" in the evening, generally on Saturday night. On the occasion of Herman's birthday we had a "baile", which was attended by several friends, who arrived on the 27th, instead of the 28th, when they were invited, and we danced until daybreak. The guests then went home, and returned the next night for another "baile", when still more people came over in the evening, and we danced until 3 a.m.
The next day we were all more or less done up, and all the dancers left for home.
On July 23rd. Alfred bought a "sisnaria" (about one league and a half) of camp with his "pagaré". It was situated near the Espin River and the Laguna Yacaré.
July 29th. Johnny, Herman and Von der Beche, started for a trip to Espin on horseback. They met Scott at "Las Rosas", and he went along too. Herman took his "picado" and the white horse, and Johnny his "tostado" and Willie's "malacara", also the "mancha" as a pack-mule. It began to rain in the forenoon, and continued nearly all day.
October 19th. We received news from Johnny of Frank's death by drowning in the Toba River at Espin.
On February 14th Johnny and Herman returned from the Chaco. They were on the road seven days, with five horses and a pack-mule. They said that Frank had gone across the river and had asked them to be on the river-bank at 6.30 with the boat to meet him. They went out hunting and forgot the time, and so arrived late. They waited some time, but he did not come, so they started to look around, and they found his rifle, clothes, saddle, etc on the bank of the river. They could only think that he had tried to swim the river and had been drowned. Alfred went to Cañada de Gomez on the 17th to meet Frank's widow and her little sister, who came to stay with us for a few days.
Lots of the animals were ill, and many had died of the "peste" during the month of February, but in March they began to improve, and what with medicines and injections got a good deal better. The big thoroughbred bull "Prince Consort" was taken ill on the 14th, and in spite of all our care he died two days later. That meant $600 silver gone up the flume.
Josephine and her children had come up from Buenos Aires to stay with us for two months. She had now two girls, Bertha and Clara.
April 9th. The first copy of "The Standard" the first English newspaper in Buenos Aires, arrived.
The 27th was the first anniversary of Willie's wedding-day, and on May 15th a little girl was born to Willie and Clara (Hattie). Willie had taken Clara to Rosario on the 2nd, and Mother had gone on the 12th. Mother stayed for a week with Clara, and they all came back with the baby on June 9th.
One afternoon Alfred took Clara and the baby for a drive in the new little trap. The horse stumbled and fell, breaking the shafts, and by a miracle did not kill the baby.
June 27th. We received notice by cable from the States of North America, of the death of Mrs Howard, Mother's sister Caroline.
April 1st 1883.
Alfred, Johnny and Edwards left for the Chaco.
May 5th was a great day, as Baby Hattie cut her first tooth. The fifteenth of the month was her first birthday, and she had a large party. All our neighbour's children came, ten in all.
The 22nd was Willie's birthday. Herman killed a large eagle on the top of the house.
July 4th. We celebrated as usual. We blasted a log, put up the flag and a lantern, and at night sat round under a tree and had mate. One of the peons, Hosabia, played his guitar and sang for us.
July 9th. We had a great dance, and all our neighbours were invited. They all came and enjoyed themselves very much. There was Mrs Fay, Mrs Dickenson, Miss Duffield, and Melville, Wish, and Bell. Pini remained on and danced every evening with Miss Gunn. Johnny was learning to dance.
On the 14th we had a deer chase. Mrs Dickenson and Mrs Fay, Mr Gunn and Clara, Willie and Johnnie took the dinner with them, and we all enjoyed ourselves very much. It was a fine day for hunting.
On the 17th we received a letter from Alfred from the Chaco. There was great excitement here about a railroad to be built by Hume's brother. It was to go from Cañada de Gomez to La Yuba.
July 27th. Willie and Clara went to Las Lomas to another deer-hunt, where they had a champagne supper and a ball, and they arrived home at one o'clock in the morning.
August 22nd was Johnny's birthday, and we had a big dinner and a dance afterwards.
On the 28th the surveyors for the new railway came. They camped on our colony. There were four of them, Kregg, Crabtree, Price and Chapman. They worked all the morning, and came to breakfast with us. The line was to go right through our new colony, where there would very likely be a station. It was finally decided, however, to make a station on our new land, so the surveyors came to the house and took measurements of the house, garden, potreros, etc. so as to make a map. The peons got drunk.
September 6th. Clara and her children and Ellen, the nursemaid, came from "La Costa" and next day there was a big dance at "Las Rosas" to which Johnny and Clara went. There were nineteen ladies present, and a lot of gentlemen, a splendid dance indeed. Danced till morning.
September 12th. Sunday. It was a lovely day and we played polo at Las Rosas. Very good game.
On October 25th Willie and Clara and the children left in the morning for La Costa. They went in the big carriage.
November 1st We received a letter from Josephine, saying that another little girl had been born to them on the 28th of last month. She has four little girls now.
On Christmas Day Alfred came back from the Gran Chaco with two mules.
The following diary is taken from the daily log-book when Alfred, Johnny, Fredericks, and Walker, with several peons drove a number of cattle and horses up to the Laguna Yacaré, near to the Espin River in the Gran Chaco, thus carrying out a plan, on a large scale, which had interested Alfred for some time. As will be noted they lived in tents for nearly three months, while they built their mud and cane house.
March 30th. Put cattle from Faria's side on "rodeo" and parted out what we thought sufficient cattle, with a few novillos and old cows. We also parted out twenty bulls from Tamberas and five milch cows. Locked them in for the night at Porteños. Took 23 horses along too, 11 of black tropilla, 2 lobinas, 1 blanco, 1 rosillo, 2 alazans, 1 colorado, 2 machos, and 1 mula and 2 bayos.
April 1st. Marched up to Ventura Suarez, and locked animals in corral. Willie came to see us in Porteños camp, and we counted the cattle; 786 in all without the 8 oxen, among them the eight "orechano" calves. The peons are Heraldo Gomez (capataz), José Cerdo, Zalome Sosa Juan Mercedes, Basto Ibarra, Eduardo Rio. They earn $2.00 per day and $1.00 each half night for "Rondearing" (patrolling). The cart-man (Dionisio) gets six reales (about sixty cents) per day. Hugo and Miguel go as far as Suarez with us, and then go back.
April 2nd. We marched to Moyas puesto and locked in. A very dark and drizzly night, it had rained most all day. Butchered a guacho calf. We have five young greyhounds with us, three big ones, two small pointers and four large ones. Mr Walker has one fox terrier.
April 3rd. Marched from Moyas puesto to the edge of San Martin Colony, four leagues. As it was too late to pass through the colony, we rounded up for the night in a corner of the fence. The next day the cattle ran away, but we got them together again all right. We hired a "vaquero" (cowboy) Manuel Mansilla, at $2.00 per day, to go up to the Salado River. Passed through San Martin, and stopped for the night up against Quiñones Estancia fence. Butchered an old fat cow. Lost the map of Province.
April 5th. Marched from Quiñones fence up to the Zarate camp, and camped for the night by some lagunas. The dogs caught their first deer.
Sunday 6th. We marched up to the edge of Pilar Colony where the colonists wanted to buy horses. Fredericks got sleepy on the "ronda" (patrol) so did the peons, consequently "disparada" (flight) of cattle; they were found next morning two leagues away. The next day we marched up to the "Torino Nuevo Colony". Cattle went splendidly, rode through excited colonists.
Tuesday 8th. Marched up to north of Colonia Felicia, on Orcheta camp near Arroyo Prusiana. Cold night with full moon. Cattle went very badly.
Wednesday 9th. Marched up to the edge of Colonia Progreso through fine open camp. Cattle very "mañero" (difficult) to drive. Dogs killed a "gama" (doe). Cold weather.
Thursday 10th. Marched up between Cululú and Salado Rivers, on Crespo Estancia. Had no trouble to cross Cululú. Bought sugar and yerba ($5.62) in Progreso. Fine camp where we stopped at night. Fine weather.
Friday 11th. Passed Salado. Had some trouble with the cattle and cart at Amelia. Cart crossed river with cargo. Crossed river in canoe ($3.00). Hired seven or eight men with guide to help get cattle over river. Spent $16.75 in getting them over. Camped on edge of Salado River. The next day we went as far as "Las Delicias" where we discharged the "vaquero" and paid him 11 nacionales. Lots of trouble with cattle.
Sunday 15th. We got to San Justo and stopped near the town. Wrote letters home.
Monday 14th. Marched as far as one of the gates of the Santa Rosa Estancia, third from entrance. Locked in inside the gate-potrero overnight. Walker and Alfred had breakfast at the Estancia Santa Rosa and saw Cram. Drizzly weather. Comandantes Jobson and Virasora passed down in the afternoon.
Tuesday 15th. Counted the cattle in the morning, 30 short. Don't know when they got away, must have been in the "disparada" (run away) near Pilar Colony. Marched as far as Crespo's "Alambrada" (wire fence). Rainy weather.
Wednesday 16th. Marched as far as "Las Obejitas", where we locked in the cattle in a corral. Milch cow died.
Thursday 17th. Marched as far as San Pedro Grande. Camped on south edge of "arroyo" (stream). Butchered a calf. People glad to see us.
Thursday 18th. Marched as far as Robona. Put four yoke oxen in the cart as it was hard to go up the hill. Raining very hard. Gave Don Benito a greyhound "chorriado" (striped) as he helped us, with his men to drive our cattle.
Friday 19th. Rained a lot during the night. Marched up between Espin River and Población. Cart stuck in the Jacaracita at night. Raining hard all day.
Saturday 20th. Horses cleared out last night, 37 in all, nearly all of ours, and some of the peon's horses. Eduardo went after them and found them along the fence of the "Rabon" estancia. Reached our destination at last. Got cart out of the river Jacarecita all right after unloading, and breaking lassos and thongs. Locked cattle and horses in the wired-in garden and horse-corral. Johnny, Fredericks, Walker and Alfred taking turns to keep guard outside the corral. The peons stop on until the corral is made, and mark the calves. Have to get posts from old colonists corral.
Tuesday 23rd. While the men were with us, we made the corral, which took four days. Heraldo and José put the posts in while Dionisio carted the posts from the old colonists house, towards the east, and from the pile around the house. One of the men "pastorered" (put out to grass) his horses with ours for six days at $1.50 per day. The day we finished the corral the "tropero" (trooper of cattle) of Santa Rosa locked a "tropa" of novillos in our horse-corral on their way to Reconquista.
On Saturday 27th we marked our calves, as Don Benito came the day before with some soldiers, and also their cart with a couple of more soldiers. We marked all the calves, 205 of them. Heraldo and José on horseback, and the rest on foot. Don Benito and the men went back to San Pedro in the afternoon as it was too hot to hunt with the dogs.
Next day we counted the cattle in the corral, there were 751, with the eight oxen. We had butchered nine on the road up here, so we are just twenty-four short. All the peons left today. Heraldo searched for the lost cattle towards the Freira camp near Zarate, where we had a "disparada". Walker, Fredericks, Johnny and Alfred were quite alone for seven days until Perico Pareira and Anastasio Rose came from Reconquista to work for us; Perico to take care of the cattle at $15 a month (at the rate of 80 nacionales to the Bolivian dollar) and Anastasio to help build etc. at $18.00 a month.
On Saturday May 4th Perico began work, and Anastasio the following day when we began hauling timbers from a deserted colonists "tapera" (old hut) in the "Rinconada" (bend) of the Espin River. The "tapera" was in a good state of preservation and the timbers were long enough for our house. Alfred and Johnny took it in turns to go over there every day, taking the man with whom we had made a contract to cut "paja" (rushes) for us, which he found in the pass on the Espin River. We paid him $3.00 the hundred bundles. The first day he cut six hundred bundles, and we hauled the first load of two hundred bundles to the house. We had on hand the "tijeras" (an iron impliment in the form of an X) "cumbreros" (beams) "cañas" (bamboo canes) and about half enough posts for the sides of the house. We had not butchered since we marked the calves, as we lived on "gama" meat which the dogs caught, or Walker, Johnnie, or Fredericks, shot. We already had over 40 gama skins, 40 aguras, 2 pig and a guasuncho. We put up the tent that was over Castillo's cart and put our goods under shelter. We had a good deal of wet weather at first and the corral took some time to dry again. Fredericks or Walker generally did the cooking, which was mostly "puchero" (stew composed of vegetables and meat) "guisado" (stew) "asado" (meat roasted over a fire) cheese, rice etc. All were enjoying good health and wishing the house was finished so that we could get under shelter as the tents in the carts were rather leaky. The Cattle were doing first rate and seemed to get fat almost at once. The black ox died soon after we arrived, also two very fat "vaquillones" (young heifers). Guess the black ox was sick before we left home. We collected the fat from the two vaquillones.
About every five days two "chasquis" (postboys) in a cart passed, going from Reconquista to San Pedro and back, with letters and parcels.
On Thursday 16th Alfred, Johnny and a peon went to the pass and got 200 bundles of "paja". The greyhounds caught a deer and an ostrich, while Johnny killed two foxes, and Fredericks a deer. There was a south wind blowing which was nice and cool.
Sunday May 18th. Johnny, and Perico, our camp peon, went out shooting and killed an awful fat "bagual" (wild horse) also a live one which we left tied up to a tree until next day, he was wounded. We brought all the fat and meat from the dead one home. Alfred took the dogs out for a run and they caught two ostriches and three gamas.
Monday 19th. Alfred, Fredericks, Walker and Perico took our tropilla of horses and went to where we left the "bagual" tied up, as a wild horse will often follow the tame horses. We found him dead from his wound.
We brought the fat home in a demijohn, but could not bring all of it as we had nothing to put it into. The weather was nice and cool still, and the cattle looked better every day. They now scattered out better in the night time. The horses were also in good condition, but the oxen had become rather wild.
Tuesday 20th. The two chasquis and some colonists (Setut) passed and had breakfast with us. They were on their way to Reconquista. Alfred went with Anastasio and got another load of posts for the house, and in the next morning Johnny went with the cart and got another load of timber. He took his shot gun with him and brought back some "martinetas" (a species of pheasant) and a ciervo. We laid out the plans of the house, it was to have two rooms, each five yards by six, and a verandah three yards broad, in front.
Saturday 24th. Alfred brought the last load of timber in the cart. We set fire to the land so as to begin to plow, and also set fire to the cañada on the other side of the "laguna" (lake) to see if any "bichos" (bichos are generally insects but in this case he means vermin, such as snakes rats etc) came out. We put up the two big posts for the house. The following day Alfred and Anastasio went out for a run with the dogs and caught three gama. Gipsy, the bitch, overtaxed herself and died; a great shame as we would rather have lost two of our best horses.
The colonists came back from Reconquista and brought us two arrobas of cornmeal, at 6 reales the arroba. He also brought us some "mercurio" to cure the animals. Fredericks and Johnny left at noon to go to the Espin "arroyo", they camped out all night.
Tuesday 27th. We put the "tijeras" up on the house. One of the beams broke, and we had to make another; a bad job as the axe was all broken, and the adze was not worth a damn. We cleaned up around the place and mended up the "troncas" (door or gate bars) and made them lockable, and put posts with iron bars in the gap in the corral. The two Moores and an English boy, called Jack Heart, arrived. They were much surprised to see the place occupied. They stayed with us for a day or two, and had some hunting with Alfred. Johnny and a peon worked all one day tieing canes on the roof. The men who cut the "paja" came back from San Martin and brought us six arrobas of flour, some onions, soft corn, and "zapallos" (pumpkins). It was a very foggy day, so we had to have a man looking after the horses all the time.
Thursday 29th. Walker, Anastasio and Alfred began thatching the house with the reeds. The following day the Moores left for "Pajaro Blanco", as the men they had expected to meet did not turn up. We gave Anastasio permission and $10.00 to go with the chasquis to Reconquista. We also gave him $2.00 to buy a new axe, which by the way we never got. Alfred and Walker were still thatching. Fredericks went out shooting all day but did not get anything. Very nice weather, cool soft wind.
Saturday 31st. Alfred, Perico and Walker were still thatching. Johnnie went out before sunrise with "Tigre" one of our greyhounds, and caught two gama. Afterwards he went to the Espin Pass and received two hundred bundles of paja, and ordered four hundred more bundles. Paid $11.30 for them. Mr Harmen, Mr Ricketts, and two other Englishmen (Cotherington and Stevens) arrived in the evening with a carriage, two horse wagons, and three tents, and all were armed to the teeth. They were going to see the Murietta camps, and were also going to try and find a pass to the Parana to build a railroad through. They stopped several days. Sat up with them until nearly midnight, singing to the banjo and drinking Scotch whiskey.
Sunday June 1st. Gave Perico permission to go hunting, and he killed an aguara. Went over and had supper with the English fellows, sat up till midnight, and had a bully time. Alfred caught two gama with the dogs. The next day Alfred went out on horseback and brought some more canes for thatching, while Johnny took care of the cattle and horses. The chasquis returned from Reconquista, but our peon Anastasio did not turn up. The weather was very cloudy and sultry.
Thursday 5th. We sold a novillo to the Englishmen for 12 nacionales "cuero vuelto" (without the skin). Alfred had been to Pajaro Blanco, and returned bringing Brown, Richard Morgan, Joe Moore, and Jack Heart, along. Luciano Leiva, and another gentleman stopped all night on their way to Reconquista. The next day all the people left for Malabrigo.
Saturday 7th. The bulls killed a little white milch-cow, broke its leg. Only one milch cow left now. The next morning it began raining, and rained hard all the afternoon. Thought the strong south wind would blow the house down. Very cold in the night. Walker was very lame as his horse Madrina jumped on his toe.
Tuesday 10th. Alfred went down to the Pass and received and paid for four hundred bundles of canes $7.75. Johnny and Perico had started putting up the door frames and walls. Benito Ramagan and family called at noon on their way to Reconquista. Anastasio came back and brought his wife along, so we hired her to wash, cook, and act as maid-of-all work for us at $5.00 a month wages.
Three days later Walker, Johnny, and Perico went bagual hunting, but came back with a big gama and an ant-bear. Tigre, one of the dogs, caught an ostrich. Alfred and Anastasio thatched all day until there was no more dry paja. The weather was cold and disagreeable.
Friday 13th. Alfred and one of the peons went out and brought three hundred bundles of paja and some canes, and the next morning we thatched and got the mud ready for the building, and also got the walls ready for tying the sticks and canes across. Paid Perico off. $14.00.
The next day Fredericks took care of the cattle and horses, while all hands were working on the house. We finished half of the south wall. Frost in the early morning.
On Thursday 19th, we finished the other half of the south wall, and the following day Johnny and Walker began building the fire-place in the east room, against the middle wall. Anastasio was busy thatching, and Alfred caught and brought home four "gamas". Fredericks was sick with a bad cold. The mornings were still very cold, but the days were nice and warm. Don Benito came back from Reconquista and brought us 1 arroba of corn-flour, three empty kerosene tins, some small cigars, and a lot of letter paper.
Thursday 26th. We finished the thatching, and Walker and Johnny finished the fireplace. It was an awful cold, black frosty day.
Four days later the "chasquis" came by bringing a letter from home, recalling one of us home immediately as Herman was sick. They also brought some newspapers.
Tuesday July 1st. We found a small dead calf in the cañada, been dead a long time. We dug up the "pisadero" and watered and prepared it for the animals to tread, and then "embarared" (mud plastered) the east wall of the house. Four days later we had finished the west side and the front, so we raised the flag.
Sunday 6th. Johnny and Anastasio came back from a hunt at 9 o'clcok. They had been to the other side of the Espin and brought back most of the meat, and all of the bagual they had killed, also a very fat ostrich, and two tremendous pig skins, one of eight "cuartas" (about 25 centimetres to a "cuarta") long. They reported a tremendous lot of baguales on the other side of the Espin.
The next morning Fredericks left for down south, by way of Alexandra Colony; back in a month or so. He took the two horses Moore lost while he was here, and which turned up after he left. On one of them he put the skins he was taking with him. There were four "aguaras", one ant-bear, and one guasuncho. Walker and Alfred saw him as far as the Saladillo Pass, where he got a good ducking going over, and everything got wet. The weather was very damp and misty. Cook women very busy letting out fat of bagual. We got one and a half kerosene can full. Cattle cleared out of corral at night into the camp, but did not go far.
Two days later Johnnie started for "La California", taking the two mules as we had heard that Herman was ill, and one of us was wanted at home. He took the Commandante at San Pedro a present of a "galgo" (greyhound). Walker went as far as San Pedro with him, and Alfred and Anastasio were left alone. The weather was beautifully cool.
Wednesday 9th. A troop of about 450 novillos, going from Las Rosas to Reconquista, passed in the morning. They gave us about an arroba of fat from an animal they had killed, which made four dozen candles. Johnny and Walker came back in the afternoon, as they had found a letter from home, at San Pedro, saying that Herman was much better. The weather looked rainy, and the cattle would not stop in the corral any more.
Monday 14th. We began to make the partition between the two rooms of the house, as the walls were now dry, and we had finished plastering the whole of the house.
Don Benito came next day, with his two Indian boys, and stayed the night. In the afternoon we tried to get near a big macho (male) ñandu, on the other side of the lake, but unsuccessfully. Johnny shot several martinetas, and eight ducks.
Two days later we began fixing up the house, and eat off plates for the first time for three months.
Friday 18th. Alfred and Anastasio went over to the other side and brought back a load of firewood. They left the cart stuck in the cañada. Later they also yanked out half the side of the corral, with a yoke of oxen. Cotherington, on the Murietta expedition, came back from Reconquista on the way to Ñanducitas, with a carriage and two carts. Stopped here all night. Had supper with us, and afterwards we had music on the accordion, banjo, and a bottle and spoon.
The next day Johnny went out hunting and killed a large pig. We got the cart out of the cañada at last and mended the corral. Anastasio was sick for the rest of the day.
A few days later Alfred killed four "carpinchos", and the same evening Anastasio, who was hunting in the cañada, saw some strangers hunting in the distance. It was a very hot day, with a north wind blowing, which continued all next day, and pretty well prevented all work. Anastasio skinned the "carpinchos" in the morning, and in the afternoon we caught the first fish in the lagoon, five "bagre" and some "dientudos".
On Tuesday 22nd Alfred and Anastasio went to the other side, to Lichter's and got a load of 25 posts, and again left the cart stuck in the cañada. The dogs caught 3 gamas, and one "mulita" (small armadillo) and Johnnie got some martinetas.
Thursday 24th. Alfred went westward after some bulls which were missing, but could not find them. Guess they had gone to San Pedro.
Two days later Johnny went after them on the other side of the Espin, but there was no sign of them. Alfred had tried to catch a wild "alazan" horse, but he broke his lasso, and nearly put his eye out, which laid him (Alfred) up for several days, and was very painful. The lost bulls came back by themselves a few days later, after water. They had been in the strip of monte, twixt here and Espin.
Friday August 1st. During the next month, Anastasio pulled down the old adobe walls at the back of the house, so as to make room for a garden, where we planted lots of seeds; onion, lettuice, cabbage, and tomato. Alfred's eye was still very painful and was very bad. In spite of this he went with Anastasio hunting near the Toba river, and they brought back a very big wild stag, a ciervo, and a carpincho, also a water-snake about three yards long. We were also very busy this month making more corrales. Alfred and Anastasio went to the "monte" and cut down some thin "quebracho" stakes for the "troncas" for the corral gates. The weather was very foggy and hot in the early part of the month, and everything was very dry. Rain wanted badly. We went hunting nearly every day, and also fished in the lagoon, where we got lots of "bagre", also a fish with large uneven teeth, which we called "dientudo".
On Tuesday 19th Walker left us to go to Cañada de Gomez for a month or so, and Alfred went to Alexandra Colony in the ox-cart, returning on the 23rd, with two boards, a shelf arrangement, a small canoe (a present from Ruiz), 2 arrobas of rice, 8 arrobas of maiz, 4 of flour, a bag of lime, an empty barrel, five chickens and plenty of reading material. He spent $47.00, and had also sold 8 hides for $21.20. He could not sell the gama skins, so he brought them back again. He also brought an Italian Correntino boy with him, named Manuel. On the way back he found a nest of twenty-six ostrich eggs. Anastasio and his wife left on the 24th. We paid him $36.00 and lent him the zaino mare. Manuel now did the cooking.
Johnny and Manuel went hunting on the 27th, and found three horses in the monte towards northward. One was a big "zaino", another a "tordilla" and a third a "coloradita". One was wearing a "basal" (headstall) and a small rein. The cart from San Pedro came in the afternoon and brought the new big canoe we had bought, they left it in the Espin for us.
On Saturday 30th Jobson and Augustin came for the night, also Ramayon with twelve men, who had come to "bolear". They stopped the night, so as to start "caparing" our bulls next day. We tried to lock the cattle into the horse-corral, but they would not go in so we had to work on them on "rodeo", and managed to do about twenty. We mounted about fourteen men. They left after breakfast and Ramayon and his men went "boleando" in the Rinconada and slept on the other side of the Espin. Alfred accompanied them as far as the "arroyo". In the evening Comandante Rivas of Belgrano, came with three soldiers and stopped the night. They left a cart stuck in the arroyo Espin. The weather was still very hot, and there had been no rain.
Monday September 1st. We had a tormenta in the night, and it rained very hard. The cattle cleared out north during the storm, and we found them next day near Marianne. We lent Comandante Rivas four oxen to pull his cart out of the river, as he only had novillos. He stopped the night again, and left the following day for Reconquista. We lent him the four oxen to go as far as Paso Mariano, and also gave him a shoulder of beef. Cacique Mariano, José Dominguez and another Indian passed during the afternoon, going towards San Martin. They were on their way back from reducing (?) Indians near Vermejo. It was beautiful weather, and the grass was growing very fast.
Wednesday 3rd. Johnny and the boy Manuel went hunting up in the bagual monte, where they killed an ant-bear and caught its young ones alive. Alfred meanwhile went up towards the Mariano Pass and found 17 ostrich eggs. A storm passed over during the afternoon but it did not rain. Johnnie was now making wire-netting doors for the house, as there were lots of mosquitoes.
Tuesday 16th. The surveyors Bayonne, with two carts, a dozen men and forty-five horses, turned up in the evening, and stopped the night. They were on their way to survey Galvez and Aruffos camp, which they attempted some time ago, but failed on account of the wet weather. It rained nearly every day until the 8th, when it cleared up, and the weather was beautiful. The cattle had gone a long way off, and one evening as Johnnie was about to lock the horses in the corral, they cleared out, and it was too dark to follow them up.
The next day we found part of Walker's tropilla (six of them), but the rest of them (thirty-one) cleared out over to Espin Pass. Alfred went after them as far as San Pedro, and returned next day with the whole lot. He found them in Jobson's rinconada, and had to bring an Indian boy from Ramajon along, to help him drive the horses. Dick Morgan and young Moore came in the evening, and stopped the night. They brought a galgo bitch, called Whiskey, along to get lined.
The next day they left leaving the bitch with us. In the afternoon Bayonne and his men returned from surveying, and passed on to San Pedro. Also two San Martin Indians came through; they were cutting 2500 bundles of paja for the Comandante and Virasoro, at the Espin. Alfred went to the "Cañaveral" (cane or reed field) where the Indians were encamped, and then went round the monte. There were about a dozen Indians, seven or eight women, and lots of children.
A few days later, Alfred and Manuel went after the "carpinchos" on the Toba River in the canoe, but did not get any; but Johnny went to the same place, also in the canoe, by himself, next day and caught a carpincho.
Saturday 20th. Alfred went to Larguia’s place to look for a peon, and the bitch Whiskey, who followed him, nearly died of the heat. In the afternoon the Cacique Valentin, and eight Indians paid us a visit. They liked the caña we gave them, and presented Walter with a "pointer dog". It was a very hot day, with a strong wind blowing.
Saturday 27th. Alfred went hunting near the Toba River and killed three carpinchos. In the afternoon the soldiers came from San Pedro in search of two of the Cacique Indians, but could not find them.
The next day was Sunday, and was very wet and drizzly. The Indians had moved their camp from Espin Pass to the Caraguatay. The Cacique came in the afternoon and presented us with an earthenware jug of their own manufacture.
The next morning Alfred and the boy went to the monte and brought back a load of firewood in the "carreta" (little cart). They overloaded it so much at the back that it lifted the bullocks in the air.
Monday October 6th. Herman and Walker arrived back with Pepe Virasoro, and his "gente" (family) from Reconquista. They were on their way to Virasoro's place called "La Sin Nombre" (Nameless). Walker and Herman came by way of Goya from Rosario. Two Indians came from their camp on the Caraguayty and brought us four dozen "nutria" (beaver) skins at $12.00 the dozen. Ramayon brought old Bernados, who came with his family. They were going to work for us for twenty Bolivianos a month. His wife to cook, wash and milk for us. We had hauled several loads of eucalyptus posts from the "tapera" for fencing-in the garden at the back of the house and also for the corral. The camp had been getting very dry again, and on the 17th, we had a much-needed storm.
Johnnie left for the estancia "La California" on the 19th. He was to come back in the fall with more cattle. Alfred, Herman, Manuel and Benavides and his family remained. Johnny rode on the mules which were pig fat; all our animals are looking very well now, and are getting fat very fast.
On Monday 20th Herman and Juan, the peon, began plowing, which took them two days to finish. The weather was splendid.
Saturday 25th. The carts left at daybreak for Reconquista, and Alfred and Walker left later on horseback to lay in a stock of provisions, and to bring down Herman and Walker's things which they had left there. During the last few days we had planted posts around the garden, and bored the holes in them to put the wire through them for a fence.
Thursday 30th. Three carts from Larguias came to take away the bricks to make a well, but we told him to wait until Alfred came back, which he did next day, bringing a very long list of goods, borrowing 30 "nacionales" from Walker, to help to pay for them. He bought four rolls of No. 7 wire for $21.40 on credit from Palacios; and sold four hides at $3.70 "la pesada" for $11.33. He also bought kerosene $1.70, vinegar 60 cts., aceite (oil) 50 cts., maize $2.14, alpargatas (rope soled shoes) for $2.00, cigars $1.35, caña $1.70, flour $5.00, sugar $5.00, rice $4.80, and coffee $1.80. The barber, cigars and drinks cost 60 cents, two brooms 60 cents, a certificate for hides 40 cents, boots mended $1.70. Hotel bill $6.80.
Saturday November 1st. We unpacked the carts in the morning and arranged the articles in the house. In the afternoon two men passed going from Reconquista to San Martin. We gave them food and a rest. They were afterwards found to be deserters from the Army.
The next day Herman and Juan cut canes to put around the garden fence. In the afternoon Herman shot a "venado" (stag) and killed a wild-cat in the monte. It was very windy weather, and the camp was beginning to look very dry.
Monday 3rd. Juan went to look for the ox Manuel had lost at the arroyo Malabrigo. We got another load of canes, and prepared them for the garden fence. The dogs caught three gamas, and a ñandu.
On Thursday 6th Alfred, Manuel and Pedrito went to Valentino's "tolderia" (Indian encampment) near the big laguna on the Caraguatá, and were shown a "paso" (pathway) to Pajaro Blanco, at the northern point Ceibos. They were given three young "lobos" (wolves) by the San Javier Indians, also encamped by the big laguna, and an "aguaras" (species of Argentine wolf) from the beaver hunters who were living there. Juan was very busy tying the canes on the garden fence. The weather was very hot. A storm came up in the evening, but it rained very little. The following morning it rained again very little, and in the afternoon a strong wind came up. A troop of 200 novillos from Santa Rosa came in late in the afternoon and locked up in our corral for the night. The men told us that Jobson had lost thirty horses, which had been stolen from him by the Indians. That day we planted an arroba of potatoes in the little garden, which afterwards dried up with the heat. An Indian and his wife came from the interior in the afternoon. They were very hungry and tired.
Monday 10th. We sent Benavides to the "nutreros" camp to see if he could find a peon to help Walker "poblar" (settle down). Walker had arrived the day before bringing letters and papers from home. That evening just after sundown two Indians on baguals scared the cattle, and came close to the other side of the cañada. Walker, Herman and Alfred immediately saddled up to see what they were doing, but it got too dark to see anything. The next morning Walker and Alfred went to the edge of the monte towards the east, to see if they could find out what had disturbed the cattle the previous evening, but could see no signs.
Wednesday 12th. Herman and Benavides had begun plowing two days previously. They finished on the 13th having plowed a piece of land one and a half squares long, by 130 yards broad. We sowed pop-corn in the garden at the back of the house. Three days later the "nutreros" came over to go bagual running. A cart also came from San Martin bringing "negocio" (trade) for the "paisanos" who were doing a very good business in nutria skins.
Sunday 16th. It began to rain in the early morning, and continued nearly all forenoon, a very nice, good, warm rain, very badly needed. We caught four gamas with the dogs, two of which we gave to the Indian Gaspar Duran came and stopped the night. He came for three horses of his which Johnnie found in the monte on August 27th. One of our cows died so we gave the meat to the Indians.
Tuesday 18th. We started on our bagual-running. Alfred, Manuel, and Gaspar Duran on horseback, and all the Indians, twenty-five of them, including five or six women. They came back nine days later with four baguals, and one horse with Jobson's mark, besides what they had eaten, namely one mare and four potrillos (foals). They went as far as the Calchaqui River. Herman was alarmed at Alfred's long absence, so he took three of the "paisanos" (natives) and went to look for him. Luckily he found him next day.
Wednesday 26th. Teniente Benavides came with three soldiers, on their way to San Pedro. Yesterday 250 Indians from San Javier arrived here giving Walker a good scare, as he thought they were wild Indians. They said they were going to leave in a day or two, to go out to hunt beavers at Monte Aguaras. We butchered a novillo and gave them half, as we did not want to have them running wild in our camp. An Indian woman made me a "quillape" (rug) of sixteen nutria skins. I gave her 31 lbs. of yerba and 3 lbs. of sugar for curing the skins, and sewing them together. We had some very heavy rains during the last eight days, and both the Espin and Toba Rivers were very swollen, which lasted a long time.
At the end of the month the Indians were still here, and on December 1st left us at last. They said they were going to San Martin by the outside way, hunting down the river. Sent Napier with them to get rid of them.
When hunting gamas next day, Alfred's alazan fell and then cleared out dropping the ricado, stirrups, etc. and then took to the monte eastwards. Alfred and Juan looked for him all day, but could find no trace of him. It was a very hot day, and "Fly" one of our dogs, dropped dead in the patio from the heat.
The next day Alfred was still looking for his horse in the monte, but in vain. He was obliged to make new saddle gear.
We were making a new corral, and Herman and Juan were bringing posts from the "tapera" on the other side of the river. There was a terrific storm on the morning of the 6th and it rained a good deal all day. Four novillos came into our camp from southwards, they were very thin and two had Virasoro's mark, while two had a boor mark. We believed they were from Laguna Blanca, and had escaped in the storm.
Walker went hunting with the pack-horse up in the monte, but got nothing but a wetting. Some San Javier Indians passed on their way in from outside. We gave them a shoulder of meat, and they told Alfred that there was a nice pair of ciervo horns on the bank of the Espin. In the afternoon he went and got them. The weather was now becoming warm again, and two days later was as hot as ever.
On Wednesday 17th a surveyor, named Mr Wiggin, came from their camp on the other side of the Espin and stopped the night. He was going to survey the Murietts lands. He had one horse, two carts, and twelve men. He left us on the 22nd, going westwards, and left 20 oxen, four horses, two carts, and a lot of stores, until he came back again.
Thursday, Christmas Day. Didn't know it was Christmas Day until the afternoon. Wrote a letter to Johnnie. Herman and Juan went to the monte and chopped timber for making a peon's house. The weather was awfully hot, and on the 29th we had a dust storm.
Walker came back from Pajaro Blanco, where he had had a "gran baile" (a grand dance) but he did not find the peon he went to fetch.
Tuesday 30th. Alfred went to San Pedro to visit Jobson and Ramayon. Three of Wiggin's peons came back from Wampita, Calchaqui, with a horse and cart. They could not go on with the cart as the Indians had stolen five of their horses.
The next day it rained all the night before, and all day, very hard.
January 1st. The year opened with very dry weather, and a strong north wind blowing. The cattle were getting very short of water, and we were obliged to deepen the wells. Willie and Hugo rode to Cañada de Gomez to a banquet given in honour of Dr. Oronio who was to be the Jefe Politico of the District.
January 15th. Willie and Clara moved to La Costa to live there. They took our horse and cart, and there were three horses loaded with their luggage, also horses to change on the road. For three days it rained hard all night, and then became beautifully cool. The rain was a godsend as all our wells were completely dried out, and we only managed to get a little water at night from the wells we had made deeper. We had rain off and on for the rest of the month.
On the 29th Alfred started early in the morning for the Chaco, with two hundred horses and sixteen mares "al corte" (they were all the worst of our mares). He also took two stallions, and one potro and six horses of the "Rincon" mark. He hired Pedro Charra to help him drive them, for $2.00 per day. He also took a gunman, who went for nothing as he wanted to learn the business. He took a pack-mule, and butchered a novillo for meat. Johnnie and Frankie accompanied Alfred as far as "Los Castaños" estancia. Alfred was going north to find out if there was a good road to the Chaco so as to take larger numbers of cattle there later on.
At Laguna Yacaré. Espin River Chaco.
January 2nd. Alfred came back from San Pedro in the afternoon, and found that he had to swim both the San Pedro and Espin rivers. He drew $50.00 on account from Jobson, and sold 164 skins for $41.00 to Benjamin the "pulpero", where he bought sugar, three pairs of "bombachas" (long baggy trousers) a bag of bread, and paid a peon 37 cents for bringing his saddle over the San Pedro in a boat.
Whiskey got seven young ones in the night, and we killed two of them, which were females.
On the 5th. There was a terrific storm, and it rained an awful lot, so that the Espin and Laguna Yacaré, also the arroyo were very flooded. Walker had started to make another corral, and was very busy getting posts for it.
On the 10th. There was another awful storm and again with very heavy rain. The little stream the "Yacarecita" had become a regular river, and the "chasquis" reported that the River Toba was very high, and outside everything was under water. Afterwards the weather turned very hot and sultry again.
January 17th. We sent the three carts over to the "tapera" for eucalyptus trees and they brought back ninety posts. Alfred went to the Espin paso in the afternoon, and found the river still very swollen. We had all our skins out, and found that our stick was: 90 gama skins, of which 14 were Walker's. Wiggins and the peon came in very late that night from outside, leaving the rest of the peons to come on next day. They left the Wampita in the afternoon at 2 o'clock, and were all pretty well starved out.
The next day was Sunday, and Herman came back at noon with the rest of Wiggin's men. They had been obliged to kill a mule for food, and reported the country full of water. Walker left us on the 19th to go down south overland. He took the horses and cows, and is coming back with his cattle in about two month's time. Alfred went with him as far as the pass, which is still very "crecido" (swollen). In the forenoon we brought two loads of posts over from the other side, and in the afternoon, with Wiggin's aid, laid out the plan for the peon's quarters. Wiggins and party left again on
Thursday 23rd for their survey to the north-west. They went three leagues west of Espin, and then three leagues northward, then to the Wampita, and then back again eastward to the "mojon" (landmark) and then northwards beyond Reconquista. Alfred went with Wiggin as far as the Espin which was still very high.
Friday 24th. Valentin said that an Indian tried to drive off the horses that were left outside the corral the previous night (don't believe him). In the afternoon Gregorio, the peon who was fencing Levy's camp came over. He wanted to butcher "on halves". We let him have the meat of a small novillo for six nacionales.
Sunday 26th. Alfred shot a venado during the morning. The Sargento from San Pedro stopped the night on his way to Reconquista; he said that the "diligencia" of Safor came as far as the Espin River, and finding it too high to cross, was obliged to turn back again. The "paso" is still swimming with water. We had brought over 90 posts to finish the "chacra" with, and now began cutting "paja" to roof it with.
Monday February 3rd. Alfred was alone, as Herman was down at San Pedro. The men were still cutting the reeds, but it went very slowly, as there was so much dry paja mixes with it.
The following day the men went with the carts, and brought reeds from the other side of the arroyo, also some canes that Alfred and José Maria had cut. It was a pleasant day, but the following morning a strong tormento came up and it rained a great deal. Juan came back in the ox-cart bringing fruit and vegetables that Jobson had offered us; zapallos, sandias, melones, choclos, cabbages, onions, and potatoes.
The novillo we were trying to break-in got stuck in the swamp and was drowned.
Herman was still away, but he returned on the 9th, after an absence of twelve days. He brought back the two horses I had lent to Wiggin's peones and they were in a very bad state. The cart from Reconquista brought us soap, caña, and "galletitas" (biscuits). Herman paid $5.00 at Setut for potatoes, and we still owed them 10 reales bolivianos. In the afternoon we put canes on the roof of the peon's house.
Tuesday 11th. The men began thatching, but a heavy tormento interrupted them. It rained an awful lot, and the next day it was too wet to do any work, but the ground was nice and soft to run with the dogs.
Sunday 15th was Carnival. It was a misty drizzly day, and the sun, which we had not seen for three days, only appeared for a few minutes. Ran with the dogs again in the morning, and caught four gamas and a fox. The Espin is still very high. We have a lot of people to feed; there is Alfred and Herman, Benavides and family, Valentin and family, and José Maria and family; a great deal too many as it is hard to feed them all, but they work very hard, thatching and plastering the house, doing the fencing and planting vegetables.
A milch-cow died in the corral during the night, guess it was from eating some poisonous weed, or perhaps snake-bite, as Leon, one of the dogs, died two days later with a very swollen neck. Don't know whether they eat the dead cow's meat, as some of the other dogs also had swollen necks. There are a good many snakes about here with all this water and floods. Herman while hunting ducks in the laguna, killed a rattle-snake with fourteen rattles.
We were now plowing and planting potatoes. The thatching of the peon's House was finished, and the peons had begun to mud-plaster it. They did the south-east, south, and some of the west walls.
Wednesday 25th. Wallace sent the chasquis from Pajaro Blanco for Fredericks rifle, also for "Whiskey" and one of her pups, but "Whiskey" would not follow him. Alfred went to Ramayon's to get the mail on the 29th, and came back with Benito and Domingo Ramayon, who stopped the night. The latter had been lost in the camp going from Chilcas to San Pedro, and had been without food for four and a half days.
Friday 27th. A lot of Correntinos and their families came during the night, on their way to the "San Antonio" estancia. Someone stole Alfred's new "rebenque" (horse whip) guess it was one of the Correntino peons. Alfred went on a bagual hunt with a party of four men, one woman, (Valentino's wife) and two children. They stopped out until Sunday, leaving Herman all alone with the women. Nothing going on.
Sunday March 1st. Alfred and party came back at noon from running baguales. Juan only caught a little "potrillo" (baby foal). Reported having seen four "cuadrillos" (herds) of wild cattle roaming about.
Thursday 5th. We had a row with Juan's wife, and they leave tomorrow. She is too "mantenido" (flighty) by half, so the next day we paid him off $9.35 cash, and a vale for $30.00 on Jobson. They left in the forenoon, also Valentin and Jose Maria with their families, leaving Herman and Alfred alone. The last four nights we have been troubled with mosquitoes. The weather was very hot.
Sunday 8th. It began raining again in the morning, and continued to drizzle most all day.
A week later Alfred and our new peon Valdina, started on a hunt in the morning, but they had to come back on account of the mosquitoes. Also it began to drizzle, and in the afternoon rained quite a lot. George Moore and the two boys of Estevan's, also a native boy came during the afternoon looking for work. We could not fix anything up with the boy on account of the difficulty of getting here, but we took on Valdina at 18 and a half "bolivianos" per month. We had been bringing wood from the nearest tapera and were planting posts for the "chacra" fence. Valdino had been plowing and raking the ground for planting seed.
On Thursday 19th. When the Indian boy brought us our mail, he told us that some one was "poblaring" (starting a colony) on the other side of the Espin River. The next morning Valdino "rastreared" (raked) over the plowed ground with a big "rama" (branch of a tree, often used to smooth over ploughed ground) drawn by two oxen. We were going to plant "alfalfa".
Wednesday 25th. We finished the fence around the field, and Herman plowed all day. Three men came past from Ramayon's on their way to Reconquista, with oxen. They brought the mail, also Herman's "gateado" horse, which had been sent down from home with Jobson. They reported that Jobson had got hurt by one of his fine bulls, and had been taken down to Santa Fe. Alfred went to see the reported "poblacion" on the other side of the Espin but could not find them.
We cured several animals that were suffering from "impacho" (stomach trouble).
Friday 27th. Two carts belonging to Ovido of San Martin came in the afternoon with maize for sale. We bought eleven "fanegas" (fanega equal to about 1.60 bushel) of yellow, and one "fanega" of soft white, at $2.88 and $4.50 in the cob. Rather dear, but we had no time to send the cart to Reconquista to buy it. The weather was very windy and cool.
The next day Alfred went out again to look for the new "poblada" and found them on the other side of the Rinconada.
On Monday 30th. A troop of 300 novillos stopped on their way to Reconquista, also three men on their way to Pepe Virasoro's stopped the night. Alfred and Herman had gone out hunting every day, but without much success. Alfred was sowing "alfalfa" seed. He sowed about two and a half arrobas in a piece of ground about 100 yards by 150.
Friday April 3rd. Was Good Friday, so we did no work all day, and the next day worked only in the garden. No one came. The weather was very dull and cloudy, with a strong south wind blowing all day.
Sunday 5th. The weather cleared and the sun came out nicely. Alfred had gone to Malabrigo, and was expected back in the morning, but he did not come. Herman was expecting him, and put the lantern outside in the corridor so that Alfred could see his way to find the house. He came back the following night about midnight. He received $25.50 for nine hides he sent some time ago to Malabrigo. He also went to Pajaro Blanco where he made some purchases. Spent 20 cents at the "Fonda" (store) where he also bought some "bombachas" at $5.00 etc. etc. Total $21.20. Cash on hand $21.00. We cured some more animals with "impacho" in the morning, and then cleaned out the garden. Herman was away on a hunt. A troop of 300 novillos from Las Rosas came back from Reconquista. Ramayon would not receive them as they were too thin.
The next morning we butchered a novillo. He was very fat, and was just getting lame (a sickness among the cattle just then) so we butchered him and gave away the meat. It was a stormy looking day and a strong south wind had sprung up. Nothing much going on.
Thursday 9th. Herman went to San Pedro to fetch the mail, and also to get some yerba and sugar. We had built a sort of fireplace in the galpon, something to prevent the dogs from lying in the ashes and getting mange. It was a very hot day.
Two days later Herman returned bringing a letter from Johnny saying that the cattle had left the California on the 1st of April, on their way up here. Cleaned up the place in the morning. It was a splendid cool day, but we had an awful tormenta the night before.
Sunday 12th was cold, cloudy and disagreeable all day. Did not see the sun at all. Nothing going on.
Three days later Alfred went down to San Pedro to meet the cattle on their way up, and arrived back on the 21st in the afternoon. He met our cattle this side of the Quebracho River, and they camped at the arroyo that night, arriving here about 11 o'clock next morning, when we counted them. There were 1179. Left home with 1193. Butchered eight on the road, and the rest were small calves, also a cow was left near Paraiso. The peons helped to take care of the animals for the rest of the day, and they were locked in the corral that night, which was rather small.
Thursday 23rd. One of the "vaquillones" died of snake-bite. He was very fat. Valdino bought a horse from the "capataz" Palvacin, for 16 nacionales, and gave the "vale" to Herman. The cattle peones left next....
It was very warm and a storm was threatened.
The next day we sent by the peons going home, 3 aguaras skins, 1 lion and one young ant-bear skin. Weather drizzly and misty.
During the rest of the month we were mostly occupied in watching the cattle. We lost several animals, don't know whether from "tristeza" (melancholy) or what, but several of them were sick, especially among the old cattle.
Tuesday May 5th. We had another Indian alarm during the night. Valdino who was "rondearing" (patrolman) the horses and cattle, saw some barefoot tracks down by the "laguna". We got up and searched around, but did not see anyone.
The following morning we boiled out the sleeping room, so as to kill all the fleas and other "bichos". It was a pleasant day.
Monday 11th. Walker with a troop of cattle left early in the morning in a thick fog. Later Don Benito sent word that Racino's people had seen about eleven of our cattle in the Rinconada, so Herman went to look for them, but could not find them. In the evening it got dark before we could round up the horses, so they stopped out all night, as it was impossible to find them.
Thursday 21st. We were feeling rather anxious about Walker, as we had received no news of him and the troop of cattle. Our animals had been giving us less trouble, although we had lost one or two; one which had been ill for some time, and the other was drowned in the laguna. One of our pups got lost in the camp, and Alfred went to look for him for about two hours. He came back by himself, very tired and hungry. The weather had been very hot, but about the middle of the month, we had a big storm, and it became very rainy and unsettled, which continued till, more or less towards the end of the month, when it became colder, with slight frost in the early morning. The river Espin was very high, and also the laguna.
Sunday 24th. Walker and Jobson arrived from down south with Walker's cattle and two carts. They locked in our corral for the night. His two troops of mares and horses were obliged to remain on the other side of the river, as it was too high for them to come across in the dusk. Walker stayed a few days to skin his cattle which had died on the way down. He skinned about 35 in all. He had intended doing his marking with us, but as it rained most of the time, he was obliged to leave for his own place on the 29th, without marking. Our cattle had been giving us a lot of trouble, as they wandered a lot.
The following day we heard from Domingo Ramayon, that a troop of cattle were coming for us. It was another beastly, misty, drizzly day. We left our horses out at nights, as the nights were very dark.
Our cattle arrived on the 30th of the month in the morning. José Molino, with eleven peones, brought them. We counted 1,009 of them, which included 44 of Larguia's. Four had died on the road, and seven of ours were butchered, one was left at Poso Espin, and I believe four small ones were left or died on the road. They had left home with 1,002 animals altogether, and three horses. Afterwards we counted the old cattle on the other side of the cañada, and there were 1,203. Later we counted the other lot of cattle, there were 845, which altogether with the milch cows and one bull, made 3,025 which came quite close to my calculations. The weather cleared up at last in the afternoon, after about eight days of mist and drizzle.
The beginning of June was very rainy again, and we could not put the animals in the corral as the mud was awful, so we were obliged to leave them out all night.
Friday June 5th. The weather cleared up at last and it was now pleasant and sunny. Valdino stopped here on the following Monday, and said he had seen a cow killed by a tiger at the pass, but we could find no traces of one. Guess it was a lie. We mixed some of our thin cattle with the old ones on the other side of the cañada, and locked the middle lot of cattle in the corral for the night, as they walked too much at nights, and gave a lot of trouble. Next morning three of last year's calves were found dead in the corral, squashed. We were having a lot of trouble with the new cattle, as they had got into the habit of going into the monte. We were trying to accustom them to go northwards, and not walk so much, as it kept them thin.
Monday 15th was Alfred's birthday. He went to Pajaro Blanco on the 25th, on some business connected with giving title deeds to F. Smithers for a league of camp. Herman was left alone with the two peons, Flores and Evaldino. Alfred returned on the 27th. The weather had been very cold and frosty in the mornings, but had turned warm at the end of the month and we were now tormented by plenty of mosquitoes.
Monday July 13th. In the morning before daybreak, we found that the Indians had stolen all our horses, having cut the stallion loose. The only horses left were the old "alazan" and the "tordilla". Alfred and Evaldino immediately went over to Walker's on the two horses, and got Walker and Jobson to help follow the Indians on some of Walker's horses. Alfred and Pedro Lecover remained to look after Walker's cattle, while Walker went to catch the eight horses to lend to Alfred.
Alfred and Evaldino came back next day after dinner, with some of the horses they had recovered from the Indians. They reported having overtaken the Indians yesterday before sundown, and by a quick dash, took the horses from them but without killing any Indians. They brought back (from near the Guampa) three of Walker's and fourteen of ours, one was left "cansado" (tired) on the other side of the Espin. There were also two strange mules, and several strange horses and mares. We found that two had died from lance thrusts and two had been wounded by arrows. The horses still missing were, two of Walker's and ten of ours. But we will get even with the redskins yet. I guess some more of the horses had been lanced.
The weather was now cold and windy. The Espin was still swimming with water, and all the montes outside full of water.
Wednesday 15th. We found some more of our horses on the edge of the monte, near the pass, which we had thought stolen, so that now we could account for all except four.
The next night, the Indians tried to force open the gate at the back of the corral, and managed to get out two of the eight bars in the gate, before we saw them. Evaldino found another horse which the Indians had left near the "quebrachal". The little "picaso rubio" horse which they had lanced, died, also another horse, a zaino, which we found in the "quebrachal" (quebracho forest).
Late the next evening, which was foggy, Evaldino, while looking for horses, saw an Indian galloping in our camp. He gave chase, but the Indian escaped, a sign that they were still about. We counted our cattle and found two dead. We locked our horses in the corral, and only let loose those that had been ridden in the afternoon, and would be ridden next morning.
Tuesday 21st. Alfred badly wounded a tiger at the Laguna Caraguátá, which got away, and they could not find him until four days later, when Alfred and Valdino went out again to look for him, and finding him, killed him.
Monday 27th. Had not been able to write in the day-book for several days, as we had been very busy marking the cattle. Walker came over and gave us a hand. We marked 765 calves, but there were still a great many left. A great number of animals got damaged in the marking, and we skinned about twenty in the last week.
Towards the end of the month the weather was cold and pleasant. We laid in a stock of firewood from the monte, and had big fires going to keep warm, as the nights were very cold.
During the early part of the next month, the weather became warmer, and towards the 20th, it rained in regular spring showers, with the sun shining in between. We had started to do our planting and had sown some sweet corn, melons and maté. Evaldino had dug out some fig and peach trees he found at the "tapera" on the other side of the river, and planted them in our garden.
Monday August 24th. Teniente Bartolomé Fracio, with nine soldiers, arrived and stayed the night. They came to take away the horses we took from the Indians, but which we had already sent to Pajaro Blanco. They left the next morning for Las Chilcas via Lake Wampita. We gave them about half of our meat, and some yerba. We had been burning our camp for the plowing, and had started plowing for maize. Herman started plowing in the morning, but could not find the oxen in the afternoon. We had planted about 30 fig trees.
Sunday 30th was Santa Rosa Feast Day. There was a strong north wind blowing all day.
Tuesday September 1st. It began raining again, and poured hard all day. The whole country is now under water.
On Friday 4th. We had another Indian alarm. Some horses that were loose, cleared out into the camp. We went after them, but could find nothing, and the next morning found the horses in the monte. The camp was looking like a green carpet.
Monday 7th. We thought today was Sunday. Don Gregorio and young Torres came in the afternoon, they were making post holes for the fence on the railway line.
Wednesday 9th. We put the cattle from the east side on rodeo for the first time, and they were looking much better. In the evening we went to look for tiger, and Alfred and Valdino went beyond the Espin to look for an ox that had been missing for fifteen days. It was a stormy-looking day, but it did not rain, except for a few drops. In the evening a cyclone came up, and on the 14th when Alfred was hunting for cattle in the monte he saw where the cyclone had made a road through the monte.
Sunday 20th. Walker arrived in the middle of the night looking for his mares; guess the mosquitoes had driven them off. Mosquitoes awful torments now. The weather was damp and hot. The cattle were giving us very little trouble, and we were able to do more work in the garden, and to do plowing and sowing. We had sold 118 hides at $4.50 which gave us $278.34.
Wednesday 23rd. Some surveyors, with twelve men, came to survey Torres camp. They went west of Espin. Torres was here himself, and we sold him a novillo for $18.00 and helped him to take it up to his place.
The surveyor (Martinac) was still here surveying the line at Espin north. Alfred and Rhodes built a bake-oven, but it fell together again. One of our milch-cows died, bitten by a snake. The Sargento of San Pedro with his Indian family, arrived and stopped the night.
Saturday October 3rd. Herman, Rhodes, and Alfred cut alfalfa all day. The next day was Sunday and Walker came over, and we all rode up to Caraguatá, and fished and hunted. We caught a "carpincho". It was a warm day.
During the next two months our daily life was pretty much the same every day. We had a splendid crop of alfalfa, which we were anxious to finish cutting before the rain came again.
Wednesday November 18th. We had another Indian raid. Gaspar came in the evening at sundown, in a great hurry with the news that fourteen Indians chased him outside Levy's fence. Alfred, with two horses and a peon, immediately went to follow them up. He came back next day, saying that he overtook the thirteen Indians somewhere near the Laguna Rusa, and took their horses (13) and everything else away from them, including nine lances. Alfred picked out a mare for his share. The three Durans, Pedro Tigre (our dog) Santos, Celadonio, and Alfred were in the party.
Sunday 22nd. The surveyors finished their work. They stayed the night with us, and left the next day for Santa Fé. We had a man here who made us a proper brick-oven, which stayed up all right. We also cleaned up the place a bit.
Sunday December 13th. Rhodes left us to seek his fortune northwards.
Friday December 25th. Was Christmas Day, so we had a "carne con cuero". Jobson, Don Gregorio Torres and his men, and Santos came over for dinner. Don Gregorio put a barrel of wine on the table. It was a very warm and close day.
Sunday 27th was a lovely day, and Herman went hunting along the river, and took the dogs with him and lost them, except for Tigre and Petal. As they did not return, he went to look for them, and two days later found only Speak, dead in a wood. She had died of a snake-bite on her side.
The immigration to the Argentine had increased considerably within the last twenty-five years. The census taken in the year 1895 showed a total of 4,044,000 inhabitants, as against 1,835,000 in 1871. French, English and Basques were the principal immigrants, but eventually the government sanctioned the immigration of Spaniards and Italians. Then came the Russians, Germans, Swiss and Turks. These different nations became fused with the original inhabitants, thus forming a new race.
The first railway line was constructed in 1860. It operated from Buenos Aires on a track of 40 kilometres in length, and terminated in the small town of Moron. The first engine was called "The Paisano" (which today may be seen in the Historical Museum at Lujan). In the year 1890 the railways operated on a distance of ten thousand kilometres radiating from Buenos Aires, thus linking up the capital city with the provinces. British capital played a very important part in the construction of these railways, as also in the building of the new port works, in the establishing of big industrial firms, and in providing money for national funds and loans. An improved spirit of law and order and new organization was established. That this was largely due to British influence was evidently recognized and appreciated by the Argentines themselves, as, an Argentine historian in one of his many books on his country's history says:–
"Perhaps it is to be lamented that England did not keep the country a little longer as a colony. In the hands of a nation orderly, energetic, well-governed and administrated, how many unfortunate calamities might have been avoided. Great industrial public works and progress would have evolved almost at once, and our civilization and prosperity established fifty years sooner."
Naturally it is absurd to suppose that England could have governed the Argentine without the full consent of the latter. The mentality, sentiments, religions, tastes, customs and language were too dissimilar for them to live in harmony and understanding, besides, the fierce patriotism, courage and pride of the Argentines would never have tolerated foreign rule, fully demonstrated by their heroic determination to establish a democratic country of their own.
From the year 1880 Argentina showed that she was becoming one of the more important of the younger nations. She assimilated with avidity and great rapidity the successive periods of foreign progress with regard to innovations and inventions; and in the year 1890 great radical changes had been made. Buenos Aires had put an end to political disputes for the time being, under the administration of the new President Carlos Pellegrini (1890 - 1894). The conquest of the pampas had enriched many families as properties became more productive and valuable. The following article which appeared in "The Standard" about that time, shows the developments that were taking place in agricultural matters:–
"Within the last year or so great inpetus had been given to Rosario business since the farmers and colonists, who have large tracts of growing crops, are buying more agricultural machines, with the apprehension that farm-hands will be scarcer than ever this harvest. What with the vast increase this year of ploughed lands, and the addition of some 38 new colonies, and best of all, a most favourable season, it will be a difficult job for the farmers to get their wheat and "lino" harvested in time. We have no figures to give our readers of the probable amount this year of wheat and "lino" crops, but contracts are being made right and left for the young "lino" which threatens to beat the wheat crop, both in quantity and value. Maize is neglected and very little sown, and there is still a large quantity of old maize on sale. The shipments, we understand, haven given poor results, as, until the maize is kiln-dried before shipment, the export trade of this article is uncertain. Mr Topping we hear, has just received some splendid machines for drying maize, etc. etc.."
This enriching of the people led to a more ostentatious and enlightened mode of life. Clothing, toilet articles, and house furniture now all come from Europe, instead of copies being made locally. The old-fashioned low brick-and-mud houses were gradually being replaced by tall houses and the palaces of the very rich. The first trams appeared on the streets. These slow-going vehicles, drawn by two horses, were very popular. They announced their presence by means of a shrill cow-horn, which hooted at odd intervals. They stopped at any time and place, and would wait to pick up a fare, however distant, drop passengers or conductor in an "almacen" to change money, have a drink or to exchange back-chat with a friend; the male passengers and the conductor enlivening the journey by indulging in loud and outspoken appreciation of the charms of a fair passer-by.
In a few years the horses disappeared, and electric trams were running. The rocky, uneven passage of the streets was improved by being paved with stones, shortly to be replaced by the more silent wood-paving. Oil lamps, which had replaced the candles in the streets, were in their turn, supplemented by gas.
Municipal regulations relegated the droves of cows to dairies, and markets took a great number of itinerent sellers of meat and vegetables off the streets.
The night-watchman disappeared, and a permanent police-force kept order. Waterworks were built and the water-carrier forbidden. Open coaches and broughams, both private and public, became more numerous, and traffic increased considerably. The pavements came, while public parks were laid out and embellished with flowers and trees. Drives out to the principal park at Palermo and down Calle Florida were the fashion and where the aristocracy and youth and beauty of Buenos Aires took the air, saw and were seen.
The year 1886 was not remarkable for any outstanding incidents at "La California", which is barely mentioned in the diary, so that there is not very much information with regard to its development except the increasing cattle sales and purchases, and a steady increase in its activities in general.
September 20th, 1886.
The weather had become very wet and cold, with a strong south wind blowing. In the afternoon it snowed very heavily, great big flakes, and was bitterly cold. The poor animals were all running towards the north.
The next day the sun came out, and we went into the camp and found it covered with dead frozen cattle. Counted over thirty dead in one potrero. Our cows were not thin, and those that had died were young strong animals. We heard from our neighbours that they had lost sixteen oxen, and a man at Cañada de Gomez hired ninety peons to skin his dead cattle. Thousands have died. It must be awful in Buenos Aires.
On October 2nd. Willie arrived from "La Costa" and said he had lost 800 cattle in the last storm and 1600 head since he had been there. He is going to leave La Costa.
October 5th. Johnny and Willie made a "poder" before an "escribano publico" (public notary) in favour of "La madre" and Mother made a "poder" (power of attorney) in favour of another person, to enable them to look up the papers in the archives, and to make out titles and wills, under Munoz's supervision.
October 17th. Clara and the children arrived in the big carriage. Two days later Johnny went all round the Armstrong Colony, and on the
October 22nd Willie arrived from La Costa for good.
December 18th. Bernice and Mr Richard Agar arrived in the morning, also Josephine and her children. Bernice and Mr Agar were married next day at 12 o'clock. Mr Adams of the English Church in Rosario, married them. Mr and Mrs Hope and Miss Haren came from "El Rincon" on Saturday, with several others. It rained all day and all night, and part of next morning, but the sun came out bright and warm, while the ceremony was being performed. As soon as the wedding-breakfast was over, the bride and groom left for Buenos Aires.
February 24th, 1887. Willie had left the previous day to go to Entre Rios. He is going to take charge of Bunge's estancia in Gualeguaychu. From our 520 squares of camp in the Tijera league we received 10 per cent of the crop. We had been selling horses to the colonists, and expected to do a big business through Willie, as horses were cheap in Entre Rios.
March 18th. We had news that Clara had a son, born in Buenos Aires.
On the 23rd. Johnny came down from the Chaco to go and see Landa about buying horses, and on the last day of the month Alfred and Johnny went to Cañada de Gomez, the latter on his way to Gualeguaychu.
May 4th. We started a troop of cattle to the Chaco, with a capataz and eight peones. Four men went as far as the "Argentina" and two as far as Ventura Suarez. We had a big sale of wheat this month.
May 24th. We had great news that the Railway was going to be built at last. The diligence arrived bringing Mr Hope and Katie on a visit. We received the first publication of a newspaper edited in Cañada de Gomez.
June 3rd. Johnny came back from Armstrong, and we despatched a cart with 120 posts. One of the Chaco peons came back, only having got as far as the Ñanducitos, also a Mr Webster arrived from Las Toscas.
June 31st. Johnny played polo at Las Lomas. There was polo nearly every Sunday now, Johnny was very keen and played whenever he could.
August 31st. Johnny bought two stallions from Mr Nash in Carcaraña. One an "alazan" out of Irish Beauty (a racing mare) for $500.00, and the other a zaino Clydesdale for $300.00.
Sunday September 11th. All the peons at the "pulperia" for the Race Meeting. In the afternoon the troop of cattle arrived from the Chaco. Avelino the "capataz", a boy and three Correntino peons, came with them. They brought 195 novillos having lost three on the road. It cost $387.50 to bring them down, namely $1.99 apiece.
In October Alfred came back from the Chaco on horseback, with two horses. Herman came back with him from San Andres. We now had a diligence running once a day from Cañada de Gomez. Alfred did very good business in buying twenty bags of maize, and twenty arrobas of potatoes from the colonists. The potatoes were 19 cts the arroba.
On October 31st. Alfred and Mr Walker left in the diligence. Alfred on a visit to Willie in Entre Rios.
November 3rd. The first game of polo started today at Las Chilcas. Johnny attended it. There was a big crowd, and it was a beautiful day.
The following Sunday Mr Robson, Johnny and Herman played at Las Lomas, and the week after Herman who had gone up to San Andres with Mr Robson, returned with him. Robson had his arm in a sling, he had got tangled up while lassoing. Alfred went back on the 26th of this month, and on the 29th we had all hands stacking the "alfalfa", the men at 80 cents per day.
December 9th. Johnny rode round "Las Troncas" (southern colony) looking after machines. All hands still stacking "alfalfa". Beautiful day.
Sunday 11th. Alfred and Johnny went through all the "colonies". The wheat looked fine and the colonists were busy cutting it. We sent meat to them every day. Up to date we had killed 21 cows for them, and sold $312.70 worth of meat; the animals averaging $14.89 cents apiece.
The 22nd was a beautiful day. The camp was looking splendid, and the potreros of alfalfa had never been so good before.
December 24th. Mr Robson and Hugo Wagner arrived to spend Christmas with us, and two boxes of good things arrived from Buenos Aires by the diligence.
On Christmas Day we had turkey and Christmas Pudding. It rained nearly all day, but cleared up two days later. The camp looking splendid.
December 31st. All is well that ends well. J.B.
The railways were making great strides into the interior, and opening the country to a remarkable degree, and even in the wilds of the Chaco, lines were being laid down. The settlers came in great numbers, and it will be noted that instead of the great wilderness that Alfred first found, the "Laguna Yacaré" was rapidly becoming surrounded by other estancias, though actually many leagues apart. The Indians still appeared to be their greatest problem, and the following extract from some loose pages of a diary, gives an account of a chase after the savages, who had made a raid on the estancia. This account loses a great deal of detail in the diary, as actually their situation was far worse. The Indians made huge fires and rode at them through the smoke, so that it was difficult to see when they were being attacked. There was also a terrible hot north wind blowing at the time, and the party suffered tortures from the heat, dust, smoke and thirst. One man nearly died of thirst before they found water, and Alfred was obliged to stand guard and only allow the men to drink small quantities of water until they gradually revived.
Wednesday September 4th. Left at 8.30 in the morning to follow up the Indians who last Sunday had stolen 23 horses from Felix's puesto. The party consisted of Alfred, Evaldino and Gay, from our place, and about ten men from Torres estancia. The missing horses were, thirteen of Evaldino's and five or six of ours, also a large number of cattle. It seems the Indians had cut the fences and gone north-west. Evaldino and Juan, who followed up about three leagues north of the "isleta" said that there were about seventeen Indians. We took twenty-eight horses with us, including Charlie Gay's, and reached Torres estancia at noon... At night we reached a point north of monte which lay south of Cueva del Tigre, where we slept. Weather-N.E. wind, cloudy and very threatening, but cool.
Thursday 5th September. Left camp at 6.15 a.m. and at noon reached Isleta Largo. Morell saw us camped there, and thought at first we were Indians. He complained a great deal of "peste" among the cattle etc. but treated us first rate. Weather cloudy and misty at times, but fine day on the whole.
Friday 6th. Camped all day at Chilcas. Drizzly forenoon. Cleaned arms and rested horses. Morell treated us very well. Butchered etc.
Saturday 7th. Drizzly morning. Left Chilcas at 9 a.m. for Charrua. Arrived 1.30 p.m. where we camped. Found two mules and one horse tracks going southwards, about two leagues west of Chilcas. Elias and Evaldino looked for tracks and found where Indians had camped and slept, namely about two leagues west, at an "estero" (inlet). Also found a horse (colorado) which had been lanced. Shot it.
Sunday 8th. Left camp at Charrua at 6.30 p.m. and marched in north-westerly direction for about three leagues, where we struck the Indian trail, and from there went north for about three leagues more. Unsaddled but found no water for us or for horses. Lost my watch near Charrua. Camp at Charrua very good going for about one and a half leagues, then tremendously high "tucurusal" (an enormously tall ant heap made of earth, some reaching to nearly three metres in height).
Monday 9th. Marched about half a league from isleta towards the north, and in a "cañada" found a place where Indians had camped for a day or two with animals. Water in "charcos" (puddles) also large "paso" (track). Camped until 1.30 p.m. and marched until dark. About four and a half leagues from camping place saw "rastrillo" (tracks) of twenty or thirty cows going eastward. Tracks were about ten days old. A league further on, found a cow and seven calves, all tired and thin. Also found tracks of cattle taken by Indians. No water for night.
Tuesday 10th. Marched through very bad camp for about four and a half leagues until 11 a.m., when we passed a stretch of poor "algorobo" monte, where we found a rotten water-hole, from which we pulled out an ostrich and a fox. Gave water to horses and tried to clean out water-hole which was full of mud. North and south side of monte, open camp. Lots of cattle tracks here, old and fresh. Course north. Left again about 4.30 p.m. and marched about three leagues until dark. Tracks suddenly went almost west from camping place at noon. Lots of tracks about 1 p.m. of cattle going N.E. and others going almost west. No water for night. Camp got better in afternoon. Slight frost.
Wednesday 11th. About ten minutes walk from our camp we found an "estero" with splendid water, beside which were two tired horses and a mare, with our mark. We found also twenty-four "toldos" (wigwams) and further on a cow and three calves. We butchered a calf. Camp was made up of strips of monte and open camp. Rather good. Marched during afternoon through monte northwards, and then out west, but only went about three quarters of a league, when we camped for the night at an estero in the corner of a monte, where we found some more toldos that had been deserted about a week ago, I stood guard that night.
Thursday 12th. Got on to track of Indians, and marched N.N.E. through monte. Found tremendous "tolderia" on east side of camp, evidently deserted only the day before. Went hot on track until noon, and marched about four leagues. More open country now. We found that the Indians had butchered twenty cows in the last four days. No water at noon for horses. Coarse but pretty good camp yesterday and today. Found our grey mare killed on the road. Left camp again at about 3 p.m. and marched N.E. through forest of "quebracho" until dark. No water again, and horses getting very thin. Found where the Indians had encamped at a water-hole in cañada about two nights ago, but they had dried all the water up. Saw a cow there, and also a tired horse in the monte. Marched about three leagues to the east. Hot day.
Friday 13th. Found deserted Indian camping place about half a league from where we slept, also a fine laguna of water. Indians had left previous morning. Cow bones about. Camped here till about 3.30, and Elia and Evaldina went ahead about an hour. They soon came back and reported "toldera" about a league and a half leagues to east, so waited until dark in a corner of the monte and then marched to about half a league from the "tolderia". At about two o'clock left to have a go at the Indians, leaving the spare horses hobbled, and the pack-mule loaded.
Saturday 14th. We were going behind the toldos in the long monte, when we saw an Indian on horseback among the horses, knocking about there, so we chased after him and killed him, and then galloped down towards the "toldos" to get the horses. We found nineteen horses and mares, and there were about fifty cattle right in front of the "toldos". When the Indians saw us they yelled, and shot about ten shots at us. We collected the horses with ours, and then four of us went back to fetch the cattle, but they had come along by themselves. We were driving the animals away when the Indians shot at us, so we went towards the "aguada" water-hole in the corner, that we had passed the previous day, but the Indians chased after us, and almost surrounded us, so we made southwards to the open camp. Sixteen Indians came after us, and began firing and yelling at us. We got off our horses and took shelter behind them, and fired back at the Indians, but had to march on, on account of the shooters on foot who would creep up close and bang away at us shooting Elias horse "Manchasito" in the leg, and also Rosadas horse Sanagris. The Indians then stopped and waited, and we came at them suddenly. About twenty-five of them came at us full slick, but we managed to hit one (one was hit before) and then suddenly turned and fled giving us a volley of "alaridas" (yells) "ah-hu-u-u-u-uah". We marched south about four leagues and then turned east, and passed through south point of "palmar" (palm grove). Hot day and no water. Marched until about 9 o'clock and then dug small well and found salt water, but drank it as we were nearly mad with thirst. We then kept marching slowly eastwards all night, all sick with diarrohea.
Sunday 15th. Fearful march all night and next norning until 7.30 a.m. when we reached "Monte Bajo" where there was a big surveyors corral. Here we found a beautiful "estero" with splendid water. Didn't we drink as we had nearly all died of thirst. Juan and Elia had got separated from us the previous night, so we sent Evaldino and Eustacio to look for them. Elias horse turned up about noon, and Elias himself arrived about 3 o'clock on foot, having lain down in a monte, overcome by sleep and thirst. Great rejoicing... Juan still missing, and it is a very hot day. Anxious. We searched monte near here which is not very large, shot a buck and caught some "mulitas", but saw no signs of Juan. We had a wonderful pack-horse which had carried the pack for twenty-eight hours. Evaldino seemed afraid of the Indians following us up. Calculated that we had marched about eleven leagues from the "tolderia". Five leagues to south and six to east.
On September 25th we came upon a "toldera" way up on the Golondrina River, beyond the Palo Pelado which we sacked. Took sixty horses and mares away, but could kill no Indians. We burnt and broke up everything.
The Benitz family were now important estancieros on a large scale. Besides "La California" they owned property near Gualeguachu in Entre Rios, and also near the Espin River, in the northern part of Santa Fé. Two other estancias, namely "Mistolar" and "Las Palmares" were on land rented from the "Santa Fe Land Company" (afterwards incorporated in "La Forestal") with the head office in London. They were part of the vast property of San Cristobal, which was situated along the banks of the Calchaqui River in the Gran Chaco.
Johnny was manager at "La California", William was in Entre Rios, and Alfred in the Gran Chaco. Alfred also spent his time supervising the different properties, on business trips to Buenos Aires, Rosario, Santa Fe, and Cordoba, and on periodical big game hunts and expeditions after the Indians.
An interesting article on the Benitz family appeared in the "River Plate Sport and Pastime Journal" of May 4th, 1892, and is as follows:-
THE RIVER PLATE SPORT AND PASTIME
(From Our Own Correspondent)"LA CALIFORNIA"
April 22nd 1892.
"When Mr Benitz Senior, with his family came to this country in 1875 from California, he found it in a very different state to what it is at present. No railway to his destination and no roads of any worth, the difficulty of moving his goods and chattels was great, but that being overcome, Mr Benitz arrived on the ground which he had chosen and bought. Three leagues of land, between what are now called Elisa and Las Rosas, were retained out of the four leagues bought, and to this the "lares and penates" of the family were carted with considerable difficulty. It was decided to build a house not only suitable to the immediate wants of the family, but one in which could be entertained the numerous friends and passers-by, whom all estanciers receive with a welcome known only in camp life. In addition Mr Benitz was of the opinion that when building it would be better to build with regard to possible future requirements, so the result was a house of much larger extent than most of those I have seen, "replete with every comfort" (this is the auctioneers phrase, and I believe copyright) an "altos" house with sufficient rooms to accomodate twenty-five visitors, and though so many may not often be seen there at one time, it is certain that they would be received, should they arrive, as though they had been expected for a week.
The number of skins disposed about the rooms is simply astonishing to one not knowing the sporting proclivities of the brothers; the astonishment when one knows them is that they have not been fallen upon and smitten by the way. Lion, jaguar, wild boar, guanaco, serpent, and indeed every class and kind of skin indigenous to this country, is to be found at "La California" and some of the most beautiful specimens.
To describe the park in front of the house, and the trees and gardens around, is difficult. The appearance of the grounds when one comes from the dining room, is most imposing, and guardian, the giant puma, prowling from end to end of its tether, makes it more imposing still. All the trees are grown from seed brought into the country by Mr Benitz, not one being on the place previous to his arrival, and the result is simply marvellous. The blue-gums, of which very few exist in Santa Fé, are here the finest to be seen. Pepper-trees, silver and golden wattle, pines from the States, and many other varieties are to be found in profusion. In the Garden behind the house are pears, apples, quince, figs, cherries peaches, raspberries, strawberries, of both European and alpine varieties, and all kinds of fruit and vegetables; Mrs Benitz taking almost as much interest in her garden as in her dairy.
Most sadly, twelve months after the building of the house Mr Benitz died, and left his widow and sons to carry on the estancia business.
To arrive at La California, you take the train to Las Rosas and return towards Elisa, then at an angle almost acute, turn to the left and with your destination unmistakably in front of you, carry yourself on another half league. La California, Las Lomas and Las Rosas are all in touch with one another and more or less equidistant.
Mr John Benitz, so well known to your readers that it is needless to mention the many sports in which he excells, is the actual head of the establishment, and it was he who gave me the information for these notes and who showed me all over the place. What was seen was nearly the whole estancia, but much was related, and I think it as well to combine the two in one narrative.
To commence with the horses:- The breeding of horses for harness purposes is the aim of Mr Benitz, and many were being handled and broken-in during my visit. There are four "mañadas" of mares each containing forty, and this year great luck has happily been their lot. The stallions, four in number, were selected from the stud of Mr John Nash of Carcaraña and "El Refango", and do not retract from the reputation of that gentleman as a breeder of high-class animals. They are Clydesdale, Cleveland, and one Irish hunter of great power and form, and their stock are just of the class required in this country for carriage and draught purposes. One pair of chestnuts, rising five, are almost perfection, and a great horse or foal which galloped past me, struck me as being the very animal for carrying weight, and beautiful in every point. All cannot be noticed, but all are good. Mention must however be made of a pair of pure white "criollo" ponies which are now being broken into harness. They are as handsome as any driven in the "Row" and should turn out as valuable. The "potros", of which there are now seventy-five, rising three, and some fifty or more, rising two, and the fillies to the same amount, are kept in separate "potreros", and they look as well as any to be seen around. The mares are mostly "Suffolk Punch" and are descended from that great old horse "Nelson" which belonged to Mr Paul Krell.
Two thoroughbred bulls, and one hundred breeding cows of at least 15/16ths, are in the home cattle. But this does not represent all the stock. In the three leagues of camp, now almost entirely laid down in "alfalfa" one must expect a few more. Of late there have not been so many on account of Mr Benitz having ploughed and put in this alfalfa, but in a few days (they are now on their way) he will have some 4000 head of cattle for fattening. That the cattle were removed from La California was due to the fact that the "pasto fuerte" was found not to have the nutritive powers hoped for, and so they were sent to the Gran Chaco, where Messrs. Benitz rent some sixteen leagues of camp, and where they have over 8000 head, which are of the best and fattest. Every year "tropas" are brought down to "invernar" and other cattle are taken up for the same purpose. To the markets of Buenos Aires, Rosario, Cordoba, and Santa Fé there are continual consignments sent both from here and from the Chaco.
The sheep consist of 3000 "Black face", from the flocks of Mr Kemmis, and Messrs Dickenson, with thirty imported rams. The "capones" and "boregas" are all in separate paddocks, only the breeding ewes being together. The sheep-dip is some six feet deep and some fifty yards long, and is built with its approaches, on principles of the soundest.
Three hundred pigs from "famed Berkshire" complete the stock, but still there are many working bullocks employed in ploughing the last 1000 squares, which are to take in "alfalfa" in July, and for home purposes.
There are now 3800 squares of alfalfa divided into potreros and fenced to perfection. No wheat is grown except by the colonists on the land, who this year, from 1000 squares, averaged sixteen quintals of excellent grain.
The dairy cool and grotto-like, is a great hobby of Mrs Benitz, who delights in superintending the making of the cheese and butter. The excellence of these is well-known, not only all over the province, but at much greater distances. Hides and wool are sold on the place and not exported direct. Direct exportation of horses is however in contemplation for the early future.
The ostrich, about which Mr Benitz wrote you last week, and which had supposedly ceased to lay, has now beaten her record, as on the day of my visit, the 21st inst. she deposited ninety-eight eggs, and still looks as though she could eat another packet of tin-tacks, or a cold chisel, for which she seems to have a penchant. There are thirteen of these birds in the small paddock adjoining the house, and very charming they make the view, but this is only the domestic one.
The Gran Chaco, which I have never visited, is I hear, though wild and rough, specially adapted for breeding cattle on a large scale, and is the home of all wild game. Mr Alfred Benitz is in charge there and has had many a brush with the Indians, for whom he generally accounts. Mr Herman Benitz spends his time doing the hard work - he likes it - either here or at the Chaco, or on the estancia at Entre Rios, where another brother, William, is manager and part proprietor. Herman was in the expedition against the Indians some three years ago which was commanded by the Comandantes Agremonova and Separa, in which 120 men took part. He was away for three months, and has many tales to tell of his sufferings and experiences, and of the scalps that fell (I mean came off) to him.
The success of the polo in this province owes much to Mr John Benitz. He and Mr Alfred Dickenson, enthusiasts of the game, whip up from every available spot those who can play, and those who are likely to make good players, and encourage the "young idea", not by swearing at him when he makes a bad stroke or breaks some rule, and so unnerving him, but by applauding any mark he makes on the field, and telling him afterwards of his mistake. These are the class of men who make the game popular and bring in new blood."
C.W.E.
On January 31st of the following year, Herman died. He was staying at Mar del Plata at the time for his health, as he had been ill and depressed for some time. His body was brought back to La California and laid in the family churchyard in the grounds, the consecrated enclosure built by Mr Benitz in the year 1876, a veritable "garden of sleep" shaded by tall trees, and where simple flowers grow on the graves of many members of the Benitz family who lie there today.
One of the most important and exciting expeditions against the Indians in the Chaco took place in September of 1895, when after a wholesale looting of animals by the savages, Alfred gathered together a large party of long-suffering owners and their peons, and started after them.
The party left on the 4th, and ten days later came upon the Indian encampment. They waited until night fall, when two peons went out to spy out the land........
September 14th. Ellis and Gualdino went on foot last night to spy out the "tolderia". There were no fires, but we could hear the Indians talking and laughing, and their dogs barking from our encampment near by. About three o'clock in the morning we saddled up, leaving our spare horses manacled and the pack horse loaded. We worked our way round to the "tolderia" to gather up the stolen cattle. The moon had just got up. We got past the "tolderia" all right and I was able to see the horses. Suddenly an Indian appeared amongst them. He asked Gualdino who we were and not receiving an answer jumped on to a horse's back, giving three hoots. We immediately chased after him and shot him as he was getting into the "monte"; then we hurriedly gathered all the horses we could see and charged down towards the tolderia at full speed. Right in front of the "toldos" there was a "rodeo" of about fifty head of cattle, which we drove out together with the horses. When we got in front of the toldos, the Indians fired about ten shots at us. This was just before daybreak. We left the cows when we got some distance away, and hurried the horses (nineteen of them) towards ours and "juntared" them all right. Elia, Alfred, Casimiro and Juan, then went back to the toldos to see whether there were any cattle left, but there were none. The Indians had already come out of the monte and were marching southwards in the open camp. One Indian we could see, was driving a band of about fifteen horses towards the toldos. When they saw us they fired at us and yelled, so we turned back, and made our way to a water-hole, about a league to the west of the monte, to get water in our bags, and to water the horses before proceeding any further. Just as we got to the water-hole, the Indians came upon us and nearly surrounded us, so we retreated southwards to open camp, where when we got to about a thousand metres away from a "monte" of "tacuará" they came at us full lick with piercing yells, and firing at us, and again they nearly succeeded in surrounding us. Six or eight of them would get off into the "tacuará" (a kind of bamboo) and rush up at us within a couple of yards and fire at us. Seemed very good shots, but fortunately all missed us. One of the first lot of shots wounded two horses however, one a tordillo Elia was riding. When they got too close we would retreat. One of the Indians who was wounded at the beginning was taken off by two of his companions. When Elia's horse was shot they all got together, and after a bit, about twenty-eight of them came at us at full lick again, as though to have a hand to hand fight. When they were about a square away, one who came on ahead was shot, which considerably cooled the ardour of the rest. Their cartridges also seemed to have run short, as they had shot at least two hundred shots. These Indians seemed to have clothes and hats like the "cristianos" and (were probably the Dalguitas or Calchaqui tribes, who came from the north-east mountaneous regions and wore clothing) were of thick-set build, dark-skinned and had very broad flat faces. All their shouting was done in their usual language.
We marched on and the Indians remained behind. The question now was water, as the only water to be found was in the "monte" where the Indians were, and it was out of the question to go back. We continued our march in a southerly direction, until we got to about four leagues away from the "tolderia" and then doubled to the east, crossing the southern part of the Palmar. The day was very hot with a very strong north wind blowing. In the afternoon two horses were left behind, tired. Evening came on and we were all suffering considerably from thirst, but we marched slowly on. About 9 o'clock we struck a low-lying place and dug with our knives, and at a depth of about four feet struck water, but it was very salt. However it revived us considerably. We filled the water-bag and on we marched, bearing east a little by north. Juan Gomez left us here to try and find water, and did not turn up again. Elia also got separated from us and did not turn up again.
Sunday 15th. Fearful march all last night. The salt water we drank gave us fearful diarrohea and did not quench our thirst, and every few minutes we had to have a drink out of the water bag. Towards morning the bag gave out and our thirst was worse than ever. About sun-up we sighted a "montecito" ahead of us, but it looked a very dry sort of place. To help quench our thirst we eat cactus plants, but later, thank goodness, we found an "esterito" of beautiful water, by the side of an old tree in the "monte". Didn't we drink though! I really thought we would all die of thirst, as Gualdino thought the River Golondrinas was still a long way off. At noon Elias horse turned up, so we went to look for Elias. He turned up about three o'clock, very bad indeed with thirst. We had unsaddled on the edge of the "montecito" so we turned his horse loose.
We had been in the saddle now for about twenty-eight hours and were considerably tired. There were some fires to be seen in the distance, and Gualdino seemed much afraid that the Indians would follow us up. Shot a venado and caught some "mulitas" and a "peludo" (larger species of armadilla). The palmares that we passed were swarming with them. Juan turned up early on the morning of the 16th. At first we were greatly alarmed as we thought he was an Indian. Thank goodness we are all alive anyhow.
Great alarm later on in the day on account of a fire seen in our tracks, so we immediately saddled up, and after filling our water-bags, we marched about a league east in open camp to a small wood, where we saw an "algarroba" tree that had a mark A.O. written on it in nails. We then saw a fire to the north-east, so we went on. We rested all day on the 19th and shot game. The horses were very tired.
We arrived at Las Chilcas on the 24th, at 9 a.m. and found that Morrell had also left on a chase after Indians, who had stolen about 260 head of cattle. Morrell and his party of nine, hoped to catch up with us. We had a good feed and rested all day.
Left on the 25th, and reached home on the 27th, to find that the Indians had been in the camp several times during our absence. We brought back 42 horses, having left with 28. Four of our horses we were obliged to leave behind us in the Chaco, tired, and two had been shot. Distributed Indian horses among companions. Glad to get home again.
In the year 1897 important changes were made in the distribution of the Benitz properties.
On March 3rd the following entry appears in the daily-log-book:- Alfred arrived last night about midnight, from down south, and the following morning we took the train for Rosario, where we arrived too late to go on to Las Rosas that day, as the train had gone off the track in the night. Mother, Johnnie, William and wife, had come to Rosario on the night of the 4th, also Mr and Mrs Schreiber (Josephine).
On Monday 5th they made out papers which were signed by Mother and Josephine, renouncing all rights to all our properties, except those in North America at Fort Ross. Afterwards Johnny, William and myself (Alfred) signed partnership for five years.
In April of this year John Todd, a celebrated explorer and big-game hunter, arrived from England and came to visit Alfred at the Chaco, and a big-game hunting expedition was arranged in his honour. The party of fourteen included, Todd, Alfred, King, Watt and Wedderburn. They took fifty-four horses and mules, and started up the east coast of the Golondrina River. They returned a month later with a bag of fifty animals, which included 3 lions, 9 ant-hears, 6 carpinchos, etc. There were also six rattlesnakes and nine ostriches.
On March 19th Mrs Josephine accompanied by her son William (who had been dangerously ill with typhoid fever) and his family, left by the R.M.S. "Magdalena" for a trip to England and the United States. Alfred went to see them off and arriving back at his place in the Chaco found that a party of "ingleses", namely, J. Anderson, Waddington, King and Collins, had arrived on a four days visit:-
"Mounted them and took them up to "Las Palmares" for a hunting expedition. The next night there was a "baile" and general spree among the peons. When I returned on April 3rd, kicked black cook out. No good. In the last two months have killed 15 lions and tigers."
In the year 1898, when General Julio Roca assumed his second term as President of the Republic, conditions in the state finances were much improved, and the construction of many necessary public works was carried out, such as the improvement of the drainage and water-works in the city. Military Service became obligatory, and large tracts of land were acquired for army manoeuvres and for the building of Army Schools and camps. This was named Campo de Mayo.
The question of the Chilian Border had again become a diplomatic question, and Dr Roca decided to arrange this in an amicable manner with the Chilian President. The Peace Convention was signed in May 1902, and was called the May Pact, which put an end to the border disputes once and for all. The Treaty was approved and signed by both parties and the King of England (Edward VII) decided on the frontier line which was in the mountains, and on which an immense statue of Jesus Christ was erected, to commemorate the occasion and to mark the dividing line between the two countries.
In October 1904 Dr Manuel Quintana became President, and a peaceful period ensued which was devoted to improvements in army and navy conditions. Nevertheless in the following year the country was surprised by a strong, revolutionary movement, instigated by the head of the Radical Party, the ever intriguing Dr. Hipolito Irrigoyen. The revolution spread even to the provinces, and the Vice-President, who happened to be in Cordoba at the time, was taken prisoner. Dr. Quintana however was strong enough to promptly and firmly put an end to the trouble.
The following year Dr. Quintana died, and was replaced by the Vice-President, Dr Figueroa Alcorta. Irrigoyen still continued to agitate the working class, and fighting took place in the streets, but it was soon suppressed. It was in this year (1906) that the famous Argentine General Bartolomé Mitre died at the age of eighty-five, a fine old soldier and statesman, who has earned the devotion and admiration of the Argentine people for evermore, for the history he has made for his country.
The country was now progressing by leaps and bounds. Petroleum oil-wells had been discovered at Comodoro Rivadavia, and were adding an important revenue to the country's finances. Laws had been passed for the promoting of scientific, literary, cultural and artistic centres.
In 1909 Argentina was asked to arbitrate with regard to the territory limits between Peru and Bolivia; but Bolivia showed herself hostile to the Argentine, and diplomatic relations were broken off. At the same time trouble arose with Uruguay with regard to the jurisdiction of the waters of the River Plate, but this was eventually settled to the satisfaction of both parties. The country was still in an unsettled state however, and this terminated in a minor revolution which culminated in an attempt on the life of the President, and the assassination of the Chief of Police Department, Colonel Falcon, by a bomb which was thrown from the "gods" in the Colon Opera House during a "gala performance". The revolution was energetically surpressed and the criminals punished.
In 1910 Dr Roque Saenz Peña became President, and it was during this year that the third Census was taken, showing that there was now a total population of 7,885,237. Of these, 5,527,285 were Argentines, and 2,357,952 foreigners.
In 1914 Dr Roque Saenz Peña died, and the Vice-President Victorino de la Plaza took office at a most difficult phase in the world's history, namely the European War. The Argentine decided to remain neutral, and sold grain and meat to the Allies, allowing their gun-boats to remain indefinitely in port for fuelling and repairs. That the majority of the people were on the side of the Allies was proved by the gift of a magnificent sword, together with a handsome volume containing the signatures of thousands of Argentines, which was sent specially to France and presented to General Foch as a token of their sympathy and esteem.
In 1922 Marcelo Alvear became President. He was a man of high social standing in Europe as well as in the Argentine, and although perhaps not a great statesman, he was a fine diplomat and a charming polished well-bred man. It was during his term of office that the Prince of Wales, and later on the Crown Prince of Italy, visited the Argentine on diplomatic missions. These events brought important and cultured people to the Argentine which added to its importance, both socially and diplomatically.
In 1928 a totally different type of man became President for the second time. This was the former agitator Hipolito Irigoyen, whose still over-democratic policy and administration resulted in a pitched battle at Plaza Congreso, which lasted for nearly a week and resulted in over two thousand casualties. Irigoyen was forced to appeal to the army and navy for help, and was obliged to resign his post to General José F. Uriburu, whose office terminated in 1932, when another army officer, General Augustin Justo, became President.
It was during his term of office that this fine, energetic soldier did so much for the future expansion of his country. He spent money, but he spent it well, opening excellent arterial roads all over the country, and thus opening the way for the motor traffic, which was increasing yearly, and connecting the outlying provinces with the city. He opened aerodromes in each of the principal provinces, and even himself descended in a parachute from an aeroplane, landing in a remote part of the country, when after many hours of walking, he was picked up by a motor car. He made friends with Brazil, and President Vargas paid a most successful visit to Buenos Aires.
In October 1934 the First Eucharistic Congress to take place in Latin America, met in Buenos Aires. More than 50,000 pilgrims came from all parts of the Continent. It was a magnificent and impressive sight.
For some years past the "coches" with their poor brutally-treated half-starved horses, had been superseded by motor-cars and lorries. Taxies appeared on the streets, to be augmented later by the bus and the "colectivo". The latter is a small bus capable of seating twenty persons and about ten standing. This vehicle originated with an astute taxi-driver who started taking odd fares at fifty cents each, picking up people as he went, and taking a definite route. These "collectivos" go at a terrific pace, worm their way in and out of the traffic in a most nerve-racking manner, and are overcrowded to almost bursting point. There are thousands of them on the streets and they are very popular.
The traffic question had become a serious problem in Buenos Aires on account of the old narrow streets and the daily increasing number of conveyances and in the population. Attempts had been made to relieve the congestion by opening up new avenues, and pulling down old houses so as to widen the streets. The Avenida Roque Saenz Peña, running between and parallel to Calles Mitre and Cangallo, and the Avenida 9 de Julio, running horizontally between Calles Libertad and Carlos Pelligrini were the first, while Corrientes, Santa Fe and Cordoba, streets have been considerably widened, and have become fine avenues.
Electric lighting had taken the place of the old gas lamps, and the tram service was now run by electricity. Added to this there are two underground services of electric trains, one from Retiro to Constitucion (most luxuriously fitted up) and another which connects them with the suburbs at Estacion Chacarita.
The Central Argentine Railway, running to Tigre Station and beyond, had been electrified in the year 1913, and the Pacific and Southern railways were extended and the services improved.
Buenos Aires had become one of the most up to date cities, with spacious luxurious hotels; great numbers of modern flats, big and small, place of the huge old mansions of the old days. There are fashionable shops of the highest category, fine cinemas showing the latest films, beautifully kept gardens and parks (the Rose Garden at Palermo Park is said to even surpass in quality and size, the famous Versailles Garden from which it was originally copied) to say nothing of the one sea-side resort of Mar del Plata, with its Casino, fine residences and rapidly growing numbers of hotels, trying almost in vain to cope with the yearly increasing influx of summer visitors, who crowd its beaches in enjoyment of the splendid, bracing air and the sea-bathing. One may easily say that the Argentine has become one of the most beautiful and opulent countries of the modern world.
In the year 1904 Alfred made a trip to Europe and the United States. This was his first voyage since his arrival in the Argentine with his Father and family in the year 1875.
On June 25th he left "Las Palmares" the estancia in the Chaco, for Rosario, where he booked his passage to Southampton on the R.M.S. "Danube". He also visited an "escribano publico" and made out a "power of attorney" in William's favour, "in case anything happens to me", and then travelled down to Buenos Aires. He left Buenos Aires on June 30th.
June 30th. The Schreibers came to see me off. Had a very uneventful passage. Had berth right in front, and was alone in the cabin until we got to Pernambuco, when a young Swiss chap came in the cabin with me. Went on shore at Santos, Rio, Bahia, Madeira and Lisbon. Had a great spree at Santos as it was the Fourth of July. Made friends with Walters (grain man) and also school teacher from Rosario, and also played chess a good deal.
On arrival in England went to the Metropole Hotel in London. Had clothes and shirts measured and made by Higgs and Lords. Stopped three nights in London, and then went up to Carlisle (300 miles, took 6 hours) where was met by Todd; we then went on to Cromfield, where his pony-trap met us. Mr Rumboll was also on the train. Stopped at "Mereside" with the Todds for eight nights, during which time went out most every day in his motor-car. Got acquainted with Todd's sisters Mrs Hill and Mrs Barclay, also his mother and aunt, and some other guests and neighbours namely, Maggie Stone, Cissie Wilson, Askew (of coal mine), Mr Strong a neighbour, and Goldly, former manager of Kimberley diamond mine.
One day went over to golf links at Silloth, and another day left in the morning before five o'clock, and went through all the Lake District, visiting Windermere, Ullswater, etc. A most beautiful trip, and I had some swimming and rowing.
The last day of my visit to "Mereside" Todd gave a croquet-party and a lot of his friends were present, and we had a very pleasant day. Another day we went down the Gral coal mine which was a great experience, but I did not like it very much as we went down the mine much too fast.
August 3rd. I left "Mereside" and went to Glasgow with Rumboll. Nice looking hilly country. We stopped overnight, and next day took a round trip to Loch Lomond, Loch Katrine, and the Trossachs, getting back to Glasgow the same night. We got soaked going through the Trossachs. Next day called at Mr Tom Agar's, and in the evening went with him to Helensburgh, where he has a most beautiful place. Went back to Glasgow the following morning, and then took the train for Carlisle where I was met again by Todd. Went to Wigton where we visited Todd's relations, and then drove back to Mereside.
August 8th. Todd and I went down to London, and again stopped at the Metropole. He stayed with me three nights. I got my clothes at last from the tailors, and then on the 14th went over to the Continent.
Took a Cook's Ticket to Cologne via Ostend (£1.15/ - ). Had a quick trip to Ostend where I caught the Berlin express, and reached Cologne about 10 p.m.
The next day went to Bonn to take the Rhine steamer. Enquired of the coachman whether he knew Sinn, and we found his brother and family. He telephoned to his brother Herbert who lives in a town not far away. Well, I took the steamer to Coblentz where I met Anton Sinn, also his brother again, and we had a great time going about listening to the bands, and drinking beer and Rhine wine. His brother left us in the evening, and the next day Anton and I went back to Bonn, where we visited his brother who was having a birthday-party, and where I met some more of his relations.
In the afternoon we climbed up to the old ruins Drachenfels on the Rhine, and had supper on the shores of the Rhine River. We then crossed over and took the train to Coblentz, where Anton left me. I stopped the night at Coblentz, and the next day took the train to Bingen. Very picturesque with all the old castles; also passed the Lorelei. At Bingen I stopped a few hours, and drank some fine cheap Rudesheimer. In the afternoon I took the train to Offenburgh, passing through Baden-Baden, and then took the railroad and got to Endingen, where Father's and Mother's folks came from. An old-fashioned place. Stopped at an inn and next day went up to the town-hall, where I enquired for any Benitz people. First found Mr and Mrs Hildebrand who seemed to be second cousins of Father's; and then went with him to the house of Barbara Benitz Werg, an old lady, who is the daughter of Thadeus Benitz, Father's brother. She has a son called Franz, also a daughter (ugly). Theodore Lederlie is the son of Anna Benitz Lederlie (dead) who was the daughter of Thady (Thadeus) Benitz. Theodore is a fine chap, and is married with two children. He has lots of letters written by Father, about the year 1854.
Stopped two nights in Endingen, and went up to the old Church on the hill, St Catherines, with Hildebrand. It is a fine country with forests on the hills, and vineyards in the valleys, which seem to be very rich and well cultivated; the people all living in the villages, and going out during the day with their cow and ox teams.
Left Endingen on August 21st, and went back to Offenburgh. Then went through the Black Forest on to Friburg, and then to Basle, where I stopped the night. I forgot to say that when I left Bingen I went to Heidelburg, where I stopped on the 18th and next day visited the Castle, and then went way up the hill. The night I arrived there, I went to a students place where they have music and drink beer. Afterwards I visited the Park where there was more music. The following morning I left for Endingen. On the morning of August 21st I left Basle, which I thought a very fine place, and very interesting. I got to Paris in the evening, where I stopped at the Grand Hotel. I hired a guide at 15 francs a day, and that night we went to the Moulin Rouge where I saw "Heaven and Hell", and then went round the town and had a good time. Next day we went around and saw the graveyard of Pere Lechaise, the Cathedral Notre Dame, and the Morgue, and then had breakfast at the famous Pleyol. In the afternoon went through the "Invalides" and saw Napoleon's Tomb, which I thought a very fine place.
Next day we went through Versailles, and in the evening to the Grand Opera to hear "Lohengrin".
The next day, the 25th, I went back to London via Havre and Dover. I remained two nights in London, and then went down to Southampton on August 27th, and embarked on the "Philadelphia" for New York.
September 3rd. I arrived in New York after a very fine voyage. The ship was crowded, and there were three passengers in my cabin.
I went to the Gilsey Hotel, where I stayed until the night of the 6th inst. Went over to Coney Island (Dreamland) and out to Harlem River, and saw a great deal of the town. I saw Mr Legler and also Mr Gordon the banker. Left my big trunk and other luggage in New York, only taking my suitcase and valise with me. Went to Buffalo, and had a drive round the town, and then went on to St Louis, where I arrived on the morning of the 8th, travelling by the Big Four Route (Cleveland-Indianapolis).
Went to the Monticello Hotel, where Hattie and Katie (William's eldest daughters) were staying with Mrs Stewart. Mr and Mrs Charles Allyn, Mrs Lang, and Mrs Hamilton were also staying there. Hattie and Katie were there for about a week, and then left for Washington and New York with Mrs Stewart. I gave Hattie a present of $200. The Allyns left a few days later. I went nearly every day to the fair (Cattle Exhibition) and met quite a lot of young Argentines. I also went a good deal to the Pabellon Argentino, there I met Mrs Bischoff several times, and paid her a visit at her sister's house. The cattle show was very interesting and I met Mr J.H. Miller and a lot of the professors, and heard Mr Gosling lecture on "Cattle Judging". I paid $3.00 for some Catalpa seed, which an old man in charge or the Catalpa Exhibits, was to send out to me in South America (fresh seed).
On September 27th. As the hotel was very full and also dear ($5.00 per room) I moved about two and a half blocks to a private house, Mrs Young, 496 Park View Place, where I sent my luggage. In the evening when I came back from the Exhibition, I found that someone had walked off with my fine suitcase packed full of things. I went down to Mr Brechts and got an introduction to the Chief of Detectives, but we never found the thieves, who I suspect were in combination with the bell-boys of the Montecello Hotel. I bought a new outfit and new suitcases at Barrs. The clothes fitted more or less. The most annoying part was that the letters of introduction I had from Secretary Wilson to Dr Conowoy of Missouri Experiment Station, and to Dr Francis of the Texas Experiment Station were also stolen.
Well, on the 11th of October, I left for Texas, travelling in the day time so as to see the country. That night I arrived at Parsons, Kansas, where I stopped the night, and the next day went on to Dallas. Passed through some fine country. Muskogee seems to be a very thriving town, with plenty of gas and oil. At Dallas they were just having the State Fair and Carnival, so all the hotels were full. I managed to get a room at the Windsor Hotel for two nights, and then took the trolley-car to Fort Worth where Dingler's Circus had arrived. I went out to see the stock-yards, and also went through Swift's packing-house. Cattle did not seem to be up to much. Met Dr. Klein, the Government Veterinary Surgeon, who was very kind in explaining the "Texas Fever" in cattle, and also in showing me how they cured it here.
That night I went to see the circus, which was a very great affair, but I had to walk back to the hotel. Next morning I went back to Dallas, and then took the train to Corsicana, where I was very kindly received by Mr Allyn and family. The next day being Sunday, we only went for a drive, but the following day we visited the cotton-gin, oil-mill, well-drill, and ice factories. In the evening we went out to the Fish-Pond and had a jolly supper, but no fish.
October 18th. I left in the morning for College Station, where I was very kindly received by Dr Marshall, Dr Francis the "boss vet" being away. I had mess with the teachers. The following day Dr Rizin innoculated a calf against Texas Fever, to show me how it is done, and also gave me a pamphlet explaining everything. I left before noon and went back to the station Bryan, where they were having a Country Fair, and there I saw a roping contest. I then went on to Austin, where I stopped two nights. I went through the State Capital Building, and also through the records to see if Father's name was there, but could not find it. They told me there had been a fire there about the year 1855, which had burned a lot of old records. I then went to see a lawyer, a Mr Morrow, who promised to write to me if he could find out anything.
October 21st. I went on to San Antonio, which is a very lively place. From there I telegraphed to Meacham, who said he would be at home. The State Fair was in progress, and there was quite a good show of cattle, and also an interesting pumping apparatus. Here I met Mr Miller again, who introduced me to quite a lot of cattle-men. Meecham came to see me, and stayed two nights.
I left on the 24th, and stopped the night at Houston, and next day went on to New Orleans, passing through great fields of rice and sugar-cane. At New Orleans I went to the Grinewald Hotel, where I found my luggage from New York waiting for me. I took a passage for Colon ($50.00) on the "Bradford" a small steamer of 2000 tons, and we sailed on the 28th. Had a good time in New Orleans, and saw the town pretty well.
On November 2nd I arrived at Colon in the early morning, and after being visited by the health officer, we got alongside the dock, where we had to wait for the train to Panama. At 2.45 p.m. we arrived at Saco town, which is the entrance to the Panama Canal. Saw the De Lessups buildings and the statue of Cristobal Colon. I got through the customs-house all right without having to open my luggage. Was sorry to leave Captain Brun and Mr Gissler of Cocos Island, who were my fellow-passengers. I arrived at Panama at 6.15 p.m. and went to the Grand Hotel, where I was told that the steamer had left, but later the nigger-porter said that the steamer was delayed, so I hurried and tried to get aboard. I saw the agent and the harbour-master, and got permission from the police. I got a row boat and went to the Boca, where I found the steamer "Loa". I gave the nigger $2.50 to get me aboard. It took an hour and a half in the row-boat, and we reached the "Loa" at 10.30 p.m. She is a boat of about 2000 tons, with the cabins on deck. The cabins are large and comfortable, and I have one to myself. There are lots of Germans on board.
November 10th. Pacasmayo. Had fine cool weather since we left Panama on the 3rd, with south westerley breezes. The "Loa" is a slow boat and we did not get to Guayaquil (Ecuador) until the evening of the 6th. Fine vegetation along the river. Went ashore on the 7th and had breakfast at the Hotel Paris. Panama hats were for sale on the boat and ashore; bought two for $5.00 and two more on board for $4.00. We stayed at Guayaquil until the afternoon of the 8th, and next day arrived at Payta. On the 10th we touched at Eten, and in the evening arrived at Pacasmayo. Here the coast is poor and dry, with hills and no vegetation. We took on board bales of tobacco, rice, coffee, sugar etc. bound for Callao.
November 11th. We stopped for a while at Salaberry, which is the same as all Peruvian ports, namely high hills, mole running out short distance, and small lighters for cargo. The usual health inspections.
On the 12th we got to Callao Harbour, and I immediately went on shore, and took the electric tram (half an hour) to Lima, where I put up at the Hotel Maury and which had good rooms at four "soles" per day. Lima is a very quaint town with narrow streets, and many churches. The women wear "mantillas" and are mostly dressed in black.
I went to see the resting place of Pizarro at the Cathedral, which is of immense size and was built in the year 1625. There are lots of curio shops selling ancient pottery and Inca silver. Went to the Bank (Peru y Londres) where there seemed to be plenty of business going on.
November 15th. Went by train to Oroya; this is the highest railway in the world, the tunnel by Monte Meigo is 15,722 feet high, and Monte Meigo itself is 17,374 feet in height. Fine scenery; the glaciers, snow, precipices etc. were grand. Quaint and ruddy-faced people with droves of "burritos".
We stopped the night at a crowded hotel. I suffered from a headache, the effects of the "soroche" (altitude sickness), but I believe I was better than most of the passengers. The Austrian "haciendero" (farmer) was very bad. There are a good many English and Americans on board and about. I went a day's journey by train to see the famous Cerro del Pasco mines, returning to Lima next evening at five o'clock. I then took a coach, and then an electric tram which took me to Callao, where I got on board the "Loa" again, which sailed at 9 p.m. Most of the other passengers had sailed south on another steamer, but a great number of fresh passengers had come aboard.
November 19th. Nice trip from Callao to Mollendo, which we left at 7.30 p.m. this morning. Here most of the passengers got off, and now there are only a few on board. We have been in sight of land most of the time, and the sea is quite smooth. There are some pretty high mountains in sight. Moore, a fellow passenger, also got off today, as he goes to the mines in Bolivia. Very slow trip, and no excitement. Looks like a very "triste" country, but they say that back in the Table Mountains there are some good sheep ranges.
The day after leaving Callao, we passed Cerro Azul and Pisco, and then Lomas, only stopping a few hours at these ports.
On the 20th Sunday, we stopped a few hours at Arica and Pisagua, but the following day stopped at Iquique until nightfall. This is a thriving town of about 40,000 inhabitants. There is a lot of shipping in the port, which take away the nitrate. I went on shore and took a tramway ride to Cavancho, where I had a very good breakfast.
The houses are all made of wood, and there is no vegetation except in the small "plaza". Here we took on a great many passengers, but I am the only one left from Panama.
On the 22nd November we stopped for a bit at Antofogasta, to take on cargo etc., and on the following day we arrived at Taltal and Chañaral. Went on shore at Taltal. All these coast cities are dry and arid, and only kept lively by the nitrates and minerals, of which there is quite a lot of shipping at most of the ports.
On the 24th we stopped for a while at Caldera and the next day reached Coquimbo, which is quite an important port. Went on shore and drove over to Guayacan to the smelting works, where the steamer picked us up. Both at Caldera and Coquimbo lots of women came on board selling fruits, prawns, cheese etc. etc. Lots of passengers on board, and we hope to reach Valparaiso early tomorrow morning.
November 26th. Arrived at Valparaiso at 9 a.m. Nice smooth sea and fine view coming in. "Via Transportes Unidos" took charge of my luggage and I passed through the customs all right. Went to hotel Royal. There is no chance of getting across the Andes till next Wednesday 30th. I went to the bank and drew £30.- or $450 Chilian. The next day I went out and had a bathe in the ocean at the Playa de los Ingleses, and in the afternoon went to Viña del Mar, which is about half an hour's train journey from here.
I had another bathe next day, and then spent the afternoon studying. I also saw about my ticket to Rosario.
On the 29th I left for Santiago by railway, passing through some very nice irrigated country. At the stations lots of women selling fruit, cakes, horns, etc. etc. pestered one to buy. When I arrived at Santiago I took lodging at the Hotel Imperial, near to the Station. After going to the bank, I took a coach and drove through Consiño and Florestal Parks. Not a bad place Santiago. Bought some silver spurs.
November 30th. Left Santiago at 8 a.m. for Los Andes via Lao-Lao. Had breakfast at Los Andes, a nice little town, and then went on the construction-train to Rio Blanco (3 hours late) and at 6 p.m. left in coaches for Juncal. It had started to rain very hard, and after a two hours drive through the mountains arrived at Juncal. It was a bad night for travelling.
December 1st. Did not go with the rest of the party over the mountains as I had made arrangements with Mr Sassus, of the Peruvuan Legation, to go together later on; so the others left at 3 a.m. We left at 7 a.m. with the "arriero" (muleteer) and a pack-mule carrying our small luggage. We passed through a tremendous lot of snow, it was five or six metres thick in places; and we also went through a severe snow storm with a strong wind blowing. However we arrived all right at Los Cocos at 12 o'clock, where Mr Sassus had to take to his bed on account of on attack of "puna" (mountain sickness) so we stopped there for the night. It was snowing hard all the time, and luckily we were the only people staying there with the exception of a priest.
The following morning a cattle-train loaded with animals, came along early, so we boarded her and went to Inca, where there is a good hotel (Lloyd and Thompson). It snowed very heavily all forenoon. I had a sulphur bath, which was below the bridge, in the afternoon (Venus and Champagne). Nice scenery. People mostly stop indoors and play dominoes and billiards. At Las Cuevas our heavy luggage had passed the customs all right, and had been sent on. Pinnell passed through on his way to Chile.
December 3rd. Took another bath. At about 11.30 the cargo train came in from Las Cuevas, so we left for Mendoza, where we arrived at 6.25 p.m. just in time to catch the train for Villa Mercedes. Mendoza looks very nice with all her splendid vineyards.
In June of 1908 Alfred bought the estancia "Las Tres Lagunas" which was situated an easy distance from "La California" and whose land it adjoined. He added much beauty to the already lovely garden and park by planting many flowering bushes and fine trees. It was his home for many years as is very evident by the "big game" trophies which almost entirely cover the walls of the hall and library in this well-built and comfortable house.
Still unmarried, Alfred Benitz had a passion for travelling, and was always on the move, either journeying up to the Chaco to visit the several Benitz estancias, or perhaps staying a few days in town for the "Shows" and theatres. He took up golf, and thoroughly enjoyed the game, although swimming was always his favourite exercise.
In July of this year, Alfred received an invitation from his friend Mr John Todd, asking him to join a party going on a hunting trip in Alaska. He left Buenos Aires on May 10th via the United States, and he commences his diary from their starting point at White Horse, Yukon.
July 22nd. Left White Horse at 2 p.m. in this order:- 1st Canoe, Todd, Kyle, and Gibson; 2nd Canoe, Macbeth, Kenway and myself. I guess each canoe weighed about 1500 lbs. Rowed and paddled down to La Barge, where we camped about 6 p.m.
July 23rd. Rained a bit last night, but this morning was fine with a south wind blowing. We left camp at 8 a.m., and rowed about twelve miles to where the lake becomes narrower; we camped at noon. In the afternoon we put up a bigger sail and left at 1.30 p.m. and got to the end of the lake at 5.30 p.m. where we camped close to the telegraph office building where Mr Hope lives. Got some fish and two loaves of bread for $1.50. Raining terrifically.
July 24th. It rained nearly all night, so we stopped in camp. Hope had dinner with us, also supper, and we slept at his house as the mosquitoes were pretty bad. Went for several walks, seems to be a very quiet lonely place as only Hope and two of his fishermen live here. The "Selkirk" steam-boat passed in the early morning.
July 25th. We left camp at 8.30 a.m. It was a fine sunny day, and we rowed and paddled down to the Hootalunga River, where we arrived midday. The "Bonanza King" and another steamer passed us. From this point we had to use poles, so Todd and I walked, while the others poled for about four miles. We landed at Montracho Camp, this side of a mud-slide. Raining again in the afternoon.
The next day was Sunday. The mosquitoes were pretty bad during the night. We left camp at 7.45 and poled until noon. Todd and I walked through a beautiful path in a marvellous pine forest. We walked about two miles too far, and had to retrace our steps to find the boats. We had breakfast, and then poled for about two miles, when we were obliged to stop on account of heavy rain. Looks like a rainy time. Saw some moose and bear tracks about.
Monday 27th. Sultry morning, warm afternoon. Marched from 8 a.m. till 1 p.m. and then went on for three miles to Mason's Landing, where we arrived at 3.30 p.m. Bought some mosquito-netting and some socks from the store, and got an Indian to sew up the mosquitoe-netting for me. The little steamer "Frontiersman" came up from Hootalunga in the evening with stores and supplies. The captain came up to see us, and told us that it was a hundred and ten miles from here to Lake Teslin, and also gave us an account of the kind of game we should find there.
Tuesday 28th. We left camp at 7.45 a.m. and made about seven miles in about four hours. It was pretty hard walking, as there is no trail anywhere. Lots of pretty islands to be seen. The weather cloudy and cool in the afternoon we marched another five miles. There were lots of mosquitoes.
We left early next morning, and had to cross the river several times. We passed Jim Bosses's camp, and a miner on the other side came over and told us that we were about 23 miles from Mason's Landing. Found two dead horses and a harness by the side of a small lake. It seems that the winter trail to Livingstone passes here. We marched from midday to about 4.30, about five miles, and had some pretty difficult poling. Camped on a corner above an old wrecked steamer, the "Sybil". A chap on a raft passed us to join his companion, who was the man we saw at John Bosses camp. The evening was cooler. Everyone making preparations for the mosquitoes. Indian Grave Camp.
Thursday July 30th. On Hootalunga River.
We left camp at 7.30 and marched in stages, for about
eight miles, during the day. It was pretty hard going. Passed some prospecting holes on an island. Camped on a gravel
bank on account of the mosquitoes. Clear weather again. Had a fine swim. Camp Gravel Bar.
The next day, the 31st, we got an early start, and walked among some islands. Here we struck an Indian (Charlie) and his family, who had just killed a moose. We bought some of the meat for 50 cents, and I also bought a pair of moccasins for $1.25. We rested at 11 a.m. and resumed our march about an hour and a half later, when we came across some very stiff rapids, which gave us some hard work. Shortly afterwards we passed a stream running from east side. That day we made about eight miles. Warmer weather. We saw some moose tracks, lots of them. Had a good swim. Saw a moose swimming in the river, together with its calf. Sunlight Camp.
Saturday August 1st. About a mile and a half after leaving our camp, we passed the Beswell River on our left, and came across some very stiff rapids. We killed a porcupine. After going about five miles, we came in among the snow-tipped mountains. In the afternoon we marched for about three hours, when it began to look like rain. The river was very crooked today, hard work. Camp Cut Bend.
The next day was Sunday, and we travelled over quite different, smooth, water, so we guessed that the worst of the Hootalunga River was passed. We camped all afternoon as it was raining again, and I baked some bread. There is a big snow mountain on our right. Called it Rainy Camp.
Monday August 3rd. We left camp at 8.15 a.m. and poled until about 11 o'clock, and again in the afternoon until four. We met some gold washers who said it was eight miles yet to quiet waters, and nineteen to a Landing, and forty-four miles to Lake. Caught five grayling fish. Drizzly at noon, but fine weather in the afternoon. At last we have left the snow-peaks behind. Grayling Camp.
After lifting camp early next morning, we went on till noon, and then put up a sail, which increased our speed considerably. Had hard rain at noon. Water now quite sluggish. Todd shot four wild geese. Passed a house with two boats tied up near it, at noon. Lot of snow mountains about. Wild Goose Camp.
Wednesday 5th. Rowed and paddled from 8.35 a.m. till 11.30. Good going. In the afternoon we tried to sail a bit, but afterwards found some stiff water and had to pole again. Passed a lot of Indians who were camped on right side. During the morning we passed two shacks on each side of the river. Camp tonight at an old deserted Indian camp. Indian Camp.
Thursday August 6th. Last night a big cow-moose came to the opposite bank, about 400 yards off. It was a fine sight to see her eating grass out of the water. We left this morning at 7.30 a.m. and after going for about a mile and a half, got into Lake Teslin water, which is about 215 miles from White Horse. It was rather rough, so at 10.30 we found a place where we could land, which was about a mile on the north side of an Indian settlement. Good for drying clothes, and having a rest. Calculate this is about nine days from White Horse. Put up tent in the afternoon, as we intend to stop here, on account of the rain. First Lake Camp.
Friday 7th. On account of a strong south wind, did not leave camp until 1.45 p.m. and then went on until about 4 p.m. It calmed down later, so we went on until nearly nine o'clock. Guess we did about fifteen miles today. In the afternoon we stopped close to a small stream, and on the left there were a lot of log-cabins, guess they belonged to the miners of the olden cays. Camp Long Point as it seemed a long way off. Lake is about a mile and a half broad from here.
Saturday 8th. Left camp at 9.30 a.m. and rowed until 11.20 and in the afternoon for about an hour, when we reached Nasutlin Bay. Went to Taylor and Dour's store. Here we got news that the best hunting ground was at Lake Wolf, at the head of Wolf River, but that the river was very bad going for our canoes. So we traded with two men, Wilson and Thompson for a punt for the sum of $15.00. We saw the chief Joe Squam, and asked him about the shooting. Also engaged an Indian to help us up the river (John Jackson) and back. They told us it is 100 miles to Wolf Lake. Seems a good store here. Camped on north side of Bay, and will very likely stop over tomorrow. Starry cold night.
Sunday August 9th. Camped all day. Bought boat from Wilson and Thompson so as to leave ours here. Went over to the store to get some canvas to fix our tent. I also bought a pair of fancy moccasins for $3.00 and will leave them here until we get back, also bought a caribou skin shirt for $11.50. A fine day. Photographed some Indians. Wrote to Mother.
Monday August 10th. Three months today since I left Buenos Aires. Went over to the store with the two canoes which we put in a shady place near the store, and covered with bushes. We collected the 34 feet boat we had bought, and said good-bye to everyone. We owe $36.60 at the store, which we pay at White Horse, as we made an arrangement to pay all our debts there. Nice interesting scenery round this Nasutlin Bay. The Indian we had hired began at noon. We left at 12.30 and went on till 5 p.m. for twelve miles, when we reached Wolf River. Rowed in Bay for seven miles and poled and sailed about five miles up Nasutlin River. Camp Junction Red River.
Tuesday August 11th. Left Camp at 7.30 a.m. after putting some pitch and oakum on the bottom ends of boat. We travelled until midday. The Red River is very shallow and gave us a lot of hard work. Stopped at noon opposite to a cabin. I guess we had done about five miles. In the afternoon we travelled only about three miles, as the river was getting worse. Camped at a sand bar near to a timber point. Many moose tracks.
Wednesday 12th. Left at 7 a.m., travelling until 11 a.m. All hands towing and tugging, as it is nearly all rapids. Went on from noon to 2 p.m. where the two mile "postage" begins, which is about twelve miles from Red River and Nasutlin Junction, and twenty-eight miles from the store. All hands wet to the waist, as also yesterday afternoon.
Thursday 13th August. Red River. Today made the two miles of bad water in cañon. At about a mile and a half further on we struck the first waterfall. We unloaded and drew the boat over the fall, and then backed her to the rock, where we had put the cargo. About 300 yards further we unloaded again, and about half a mile further on when we got to the last waterfall, we unloaded again. Got finished about 3 p.m. Very hard work today; we were nearly swamped out at the first waterfall and lost two pans and a bucket there. Anyhow we saved at least half a day by not making for the two mile postage. Murky day.
Friday August 14th. Passed about three miles of very difficult water, the boat stranding several times. All hands were towing, but it became better afterwards. I saw lots of tracks, moose and big bear. Camped about a mile beyond English Creek. Lots of moose tracks here. Rained hard last night. Murky day. We camped on a high place on the left hand side, where the river makes a turn. Killed a porcupine and six ducks.
The following day we made about twelve miles in spite of some very hard going. There were lots of tracks, and I saw a huge horned moose, which gave me a fright, as I had no gun with me. Camped on left hand of river, on the beach as it was swampy inside. Killed 10 ducks.
Sunday August 16th. Left camp at 7.30 a.m. and stopped again as usual at 11.30. Ordinary going. I went on ahead with rifles, but saw nothing. In the afternoon had good going for four hours. Killed seven geese, and five willow-grouse. Camp called Grouse Camp. Grouse very good to eat.
Monday 17th. Marched from 7 to 11, and then from 12.15 to 5 p.m. Passed Trout Creek at 8 a.m. Bag 3 geese. Coldish morning, with a slight rain in the evening. Todd came in to camp very late, about 7 p.m. He found a shovel. Guess we made about twelve miles today. Camped on bar, left hand side.
Tuesday 18th. Left camp at 7 a.m. and after our usual rest at 11 a.m. started off again at 3.45, entering Wolf Creek at 2 p.m. Bad going, simply tugging boat along by main force. Camped about one mile from junction of river on a nice place where jack-pines grow. I saw two moose at the junction of the river. Cool day.
Wednesday 19th. Left next morning at 7 a.m. and for the first hour all hands were dragging along boat, as the river was very shallow. Bagged two ducks. In the afternoon, all but me in boat, as I went on ahead to see if I could not get a shot in grass. Made about eight miles today. Camp Rock Pines. Second day in Wolf Creek.
Thursday August 20th. Frost this morning. Bad going. I went on ahead in the morning, and Todd took my place in the afternoon. Bag 1 duck. The hill alongside is all jack-pines and very dry, but poor for game. Camp on right side of stream, but poor spongy place and uneven. Fine day.
Friday 21st. Left camp at 7.45, had bad going. Macbeth caught 15 grayling at noon. Rained some last night. Bagged three ducks. I went on ahead and reached Wolf Lake at 11 a.m. The boat arrived at the lake at 3.30 p.m. We are eleven and a half days from Nasutlin Bay. We camped about half a mile from river.
Saturday 22nd. Wolf Lake. This morning early Todd killed a bear which was fishing at the mouth of Wolf River. Left camp at 9.30 a.m. and rowed across and down the lake. In the afternoon sailed to S.E. corner of lake where we camped close to mountains. Fine day but rained in the evening. Bag 3 widgeon and 1 bear.
Sunday 23rd. Went today to have a look at the hunting grounds. Got on the Indian trail to the mountains. Picked a place to camp, about two hours from here, south-west of a lake in a little hollow. Then we went up the mountain on the south side of the lake, and went round to east side of valley towards lake. Todd and Jackson went on further, but Gibson and I came back through the Moose Lake Valley. Saw about 13 moose and 1 caribou. Looks a likely place in the valley for moose. Lots of ice and snow on the mountain. I got very tired today. It was misty and drizzly weather.
Monday 24th. Wolf Lake. General day of rest. Baking, washing and preparing to pack for the mountains. Raining in the morning, but fine evening. Have come altogether 384 miles in canoes and old flat bottomed boat.
Tuesday 25th. Today all hands packed to go to our mountain camp Timber line S.W. of Moose Lake. We left at 8 a.m. and arrived there at 11 a.m. Burwash carried my bed, and I carried the rest of my goods. The men afterwards went back to fetch more things here tomorrow. Todd went out mostly northwards and saw some sheep, about a dozen. I saw a large caribou on east side of lake and shot him. He had 41 points, with slight velvet on horn. Fine fat animal. Men saw one at noon and I guess he is the same one. Fine day with slight drizzle later. Todd and I alone in camp.
August 26th. Wednesday. Moose Lake Camp. Todd and I went and got the head and some of the meat of the caribou I shot yesterday, and I spent the rest of the day cleaning the head and cape. In the afternoon Todd shot another caribou at the same place. It had 31 points. The men made another trip with the stores, and went back to sleep. Now we have half the shelter up. It rained in the evening, after a fine day.
Thursday 27th. It rained a greater part of last night and today. The men came up with more stores and "cached" the rest of the things in Wilson's "cache" on his island. I went for a hunt in the valley towards the north, but found nothing. Todd with two men brought up some more caribou meat. We are all together again.
Friday 28th. It rained again the greater part of the day, and when it cleared a little I went for a hunt up the valley, but again found nothing. It was too wet. I built an oven and baked some bread.
The next day it rained nearly all day. Todd and the Indian went up to Caribou Valley to see whether it is any better for game. Todd killed a cow caribou and brought home the head and scalp. I went south in the gulleys but saw nothing.
The following day I went south to the other valleys, but only saw fox. Burwash went down to the cache on the island, and brought up a few necessaries. Fine day.
Monday August 31st. Took along all the men except Burwash, and moved my shelter and stores up to Caribou Valley. The three men then went back to the camp at Moose Lake. It looks to be a better place for game here. It rained a good deal in the afternoon. Saw two sheep up on a mountain, and late in the evening a moose cow came quite close to my camp.
Tuesday September 1st. The Indian and I went off at 6 a.m. and got some meat off the caribou Todd shot three days ago. Got back here at 8 o'clock and a little later left for a day's hunting, going southward. I saw a moose bull which escaped. It had a small head. Afterwards I saw a cow caribou with its calf. Todd went eastward, and got a caribou with 21 points, and saw three more. Fine day, but in the evening it started raining again. Tired out tonight.
September 2nd. It rained all last night, and all day today with some sleet. Mountains covered with snow. None of us went out to shoot. Two of the men from Moose Lake Camp came, bringing us some stores. (Burwash and Billy).
Thursday 3rd. It rained again all last night, but cleared up a little late this morning. Went out for a hunt in the afternoon. Went S.E. around a mountain, and saw three caribou running at a distance. Todd with an Indian, went northwards and saw ten caribou. Todd shot a young male with 15 points; he only took the scalp.
Friday 4th. Rained all last night. Snow, sleet, hail, nearly all day. Went out in the afternoon and saw about a dozen sheep. Fired at them from five to six hundred yards. Finer weather.
Saturday 5th. Snowed nearly all last night, and today sleet and snow nearly all day. Todd with the Indian went further down the valley, but they also saw nothing.
Sunday 6th. Snowed a lot last night, and this morning early. Sun came out later, so dried clothes and bedding. Nice to see the sun at last. J. Jackson went down to headquarters (Moose Lake Camp) and brought up Billy and a few necessaries, as tomorrow we move camp. Todd went out in the afternoon but saw nothing. Looks as though it would freeze tonight. Hope the weather lasts.
Monday 7th. Snowed last night, and a great deal got into the tent. Billy and Jackson took most of the stores to Caribou Mountain, so as to form a new camp. They left at 8 a.m. and got back at 4.30 p.m. Todd started in the early morning for the Moose Lake Camp to get bacon etc. but had to turn back on account of the snow, which was too deep on the side of the mountain for him to pass. There was sleet and snow in the morning, but in the afternoon the sun came out for about half an hour. About midnight last night, there was a loud noise like a thunder clap.
Tuesday 8th was a fine day, so we packed our things and went over to Caribou Mountain, and got there at noon, more or less. Left our tent and a few other things here, until on our way back. Made shelter of boughs. Camped near an old Indian Encampment. Todd went out and saw eight caribou; I did not see anything except a porcupine.
Wednesday September 9th. A fine sunny day with S.E. wind, but looks like snow for tonight. Lots of snow about, the ground is practically covered with it. I was out all day and saw a moose and fourteen caribous in a group, there was one bull among them. The sun and wind were bad, as they scented me and I could not get near them. Todd and Jackson were also out all day, they went south, but saw nothing. Billy went to meet the other two boys bringing in stores from last camp, and brought Gibson along to help here.
Thursday 10th. Had a heavy fall of snow during the night, which got on to my bed. Did not go out till about 10.30 a.m. and did not see anything not even a track. Todd and Jackson went out together and killed a moose, 10 points, with small head 73 inches high. One escaped. Bit of sun in the evening, so hope it will clear up.
Friday 11th. Moved back to Caribou Valley Camp. Gibson, Billy and Jackson carried things up. I went round the mountain to eastward, and saw a caribou cow and calf, with a bull, which evidently heard our party as they cleared out very fast. Snow and sleet again in the afternoon. Men went back to sleep at camp, and bring rest of things tomorrow.
Saturday 12th. Snow storm last night, and it snowed very hard all this morning. Gibson, Billy and Jackson came with the rest of the loads from last camp, and Gibson and Billy went on to sleep at Moose Valley Camp. Went out in the afternoon northward with Jackson, but saw nothing. Bear made a "cache" of Todd's last caribou. No sugar or bacon left in camp.
Sunday 13th. Todd and Jackson went out early in the morning to look for grizzly bear at "cache", but another one had come and carried away head. The four men came from Moose Valley at 11 a.m. and made a move with everything back to that place. Snowed hard most of the way, and snow was very deep in places. Got to Moose Valley Camp at 5 p.m. Glad to get out of the mountains, where most of the time it was snowing, with hail, sleet and rain, and with very little game.
Monday 14th. Moved down to Wolf Lake. Made two trips with stores. Fine day. Set up tents in old mossy place which feels rather damp and cold. Hard frost this morning, everything frozen until noon.
Tuesday 15th. Very cold day. Hard frost. Four men packed rest of things from Moose Valley Camp, and Burwash cut a lot of poles for boat. Left camp in boat at noon and sailed up river and reached Wolf River at 3.30 p.m. and then went on for another mile. River an inch higher than when we came up. Camped at some old shacks.
Wednesday 16th. Poled down Wolf River to a little below its junction with the Red River. Todd and I walked part of the way. The river is still troublesome, and the men had to rest frequently, pushing and lifting the boat over the stones and gravel. About a mile up, Macbeth shot a two year old moose, which was on an island. Camped at old encampment. Cloudy day with cold wind blowing. Moose tracks about here. I had a long tiring walk to camp, both in the morning and evening.
Thursday 17th. Emptied the boat, and went back about a mile to fetch up the moose meat and scalp of the moose Macbeth had shot. Left camp at 9.45 a.m. going down stream. At about noon we saw a grizzly standing on his hind legs looking at us, when Todd shot him. An old fellow, white about the shoulders. Got to an old Indian fishing place where we stopped the night. Fine day.
Friday 18th. I went with the Indian Jackson, to the hills back here, to pick out a place to camp, about two hours march away. John saw a moose, so I gave him my rifle and he shot him. He was 13 points and six feet nine inches high. Got back by 3.15. Todd busy with his skins and scalps. Saw a cow moose on the hills. Windy, cold day.
Saturday 19th. This morning I skinned the scalp off the moose, while all the men made a trip to the hills with our beds etc. I left camp at noon, and reached the new camp at 2.45. Found that Todd was out with the Indian. Saw a cow moose and calf. Only John with us tonight. Fine day with a little hail.
Sunday 20th. I went out early at 6.15 a.m. but did not see anything as it snowed hard from about 10 o'clock. Got back at 1.30 p.m. Todd and the Indian John were out and killed a fine moose 82 inches high, 16 points and 49 inches spread. Looks like a regular snow storm.
Monday 21st. The Indian and I went out from 6.20 a.m. until five o'clock in the evening, but only saw a cow moose. Lots of tracks in the snow. It snowed hard from twelve o'clock onwards. Todd saw a cow moose. Billy and Gibson came up from camp to help here. Too bad snowing so much as one can see nothing.
Tuesday 22nd. Went out northwards from eight in the morning to four in the afternoon, but did not see anything. It snowed for about two hours without ceasing, so I had to come back. Todd and John were out and killed a small moose, head 76 inches high, and also a bear cub. They saw three more moose. Gibson and Billy took the other head down to camp, and came back again.
Wednesday 23rd. Went out with the Indian up the valley, into the mountains and across the stream, but only saw a cow moose all day. It was murky weather, and bitterly cold. Todd fixed his scalp and sent it down to camp.
Thursday 24th. Todd and the men went down to the boat, while John and I went up the valley again. We saw a few tracks, and at 5 p.m. came across a moose-bull and killed him with four shots. Not large, but with a nice broad little head. Snowed a lot in the afternoon, and very heavily at night. Only John and I in camp. Cold and cheerless.
Friday 25th. The four men appeared at about 7.15 a.m. and packed everything up to take down to camp. Got down in fifty-five minutes. Loaded up boat, and after lunch left at 10.30 a.m. We had tea at 2 p.m. and then went on until 5 p.m. It snowed hard all day, and was intensely cold, but it was good going, and no one had to get wet. We almost got to where we camped on August 15th.
Saturday 26th. It cleared up today, but the forenoon was very cold. Lots of snow on ground. Afternoon was better. Very bad going today, and the men were in the water most of the time, tugging at the boat. Camped where we had midday meal on 14th August. River seemed lower now.
Sunday 27th. Left camp at 7.15 a.m. and got to our August 13th Camp, at head of cañon of Red River, at about 10.45, and as it was snowing hard, camped for the rest of the day. Todd and I walked and passed the boat over the falls. Looks like winter is here again in ernest.
Monday 28th. Started about 8 a.m. and the men got the boat through the cañon by unloading her twice. Broke some of her ribs on some rocks. She was very nearly full of snow in the morning. Very hard work for the men. Todd and I walked to where we camped on August 13th, the head of postage track, where we arrived at 1 p.m. Left at two o'clock and came to Redman's cabin at about 5 p.m. We passed here before on August 11th. The boat was now making a lot of water, so we unloaded her. Not so cold today, but no sun. Slept in cabin.
Tuesday 29th. Fixed boat this morning. Made fires and dried scalps etc., as everything was pretty damp from the boat leaking, and the snow. Left camp at 11.10 a.m. and reached the junction with Nesutlin River at 12.30. Reached the post at Nesutlin Bay at about 4 p.m. Found Doury there and a missionary (Bethel) with Pat Murray, a prospector. All the Indians had left on hunting trips. Very cold in boat and lots of snow about and floating in the river. This evening we saw the Northern Lights. Raining.
Wednesday 30th. Rained all night and forenoon. Slept in cabin with Doury and Parsons, but the rain came in badly. Paid John Jackson off yesterday $267.50. Camp here all day. Sold old boat to Doury for $30.00. Got a few stores for continuing the march to the Post. Found the canoes were all right.
Thursday October 1st. Rained again last night. Got everything ready and left the post at 9.10 a.m. We took the Post Mail with us. There was a strong head wind, and we went on until about noon to the third point. In the afternoon we went on from 1.15 to 4.45 p.m. Calm going. We camped close to where we were on the evening of August 7th. Rowed for about six and a half hours, and I guess we made 20 miles.
Friday 2nd. Had a little rain last night, and this morning there is a strong wind, south. Left Lake Camp at 8.30 a.m. and sailed down River Hootalunga for about three miles. In the afternoon rowed and paddled to nearly where we camped at noon on August 4th. We camped on right side of river, at the same old camp. Four Indians in a raft passed down with moose meat, in the evening. Fine afternoon. Bag, two ducks, mallards. Lots of snow at this camp.
Saturday 3rd. Left camp at 7.15 a.m. and soon passed an Indian camp. Had lunch at 4.30 p.m. below Rainy Camp of August 2nd. In the afternoon went on as far as where we had luncheon on 31st July. Good camp on left side, high and dry, and no snow on ground here. Passed the rapids all right. Passed a lot of Indians camping.
Sunday October 4th. Left camp at 6.45 and stopped at 10.45 a.m. Very fast going. Very hard frost last night, which did not thaw until about ten o'clock. Left again at noon, reaching Mason's Landing at 1.45 p.m. Passed and camped below noon camp of August 26th. Made very good going all day. Gave Brown of Mason's Landing, a lot of moose meat. There was no snow here, but heard that the other day it was about a foot deep. Saw two moose in the afternoon.
Monday 5th. Left camp at 7.15 a.m. and in about an hour reached Hootalunga. As the "Selkirk" was expected, Todd and I decided to go on her and to send the men with the canoes to White Horse. Had breakfast at the Telegraph Station, and when the steamer came in, Todd and I left on her at 2.45 p.m. Took all our own luggage along, horns etc. Paid $10 for fare and dinner ticket, but have to bunk-down anywhere as the steamer is full up with 250 passengers on board. Sent a telegram to Dawson. Hard frost in the morning. Fine day, but looks snowy and chilly this evening.
October 6th. Slept in my bag in Ladies Saloon last night. Reached White Horse at 6.30 in morning. Went to White Pass Hotel. Found a telegram from Marty (via Agar) re "Los Palmares".
In September of this year Alfred Benitz left Buenos Aires en route for British East Africa, bent on another big-game hunt with his friend John Todd. The party also included Messrs. J. Vestumer and Banbury, with fifty-two bearers.
The following extract from one of the "guide books" which Alfred brought back with him, though somewhat elaborate in style, nevertheless gives one an idea of the kind of country to be met with in British East Africa.
"On Safari in the British East African Highlands.
To those who have the rare pleasure of visiting British East Africa, the word "Safari" will have no strange meaning; but for those less fortunate, it is only fair to enlighten them.
According to an extensive traveller, the word "safari" is derived from the Arabic, and seems to have a close alliance to the word "m'safara" (a caravan) and also to "m'safiri" (a traveller) and has evidently been corrupted through a Swahili medium to its present form. Anyway "Safari" has now become an English word.
A party coming to British East Africa, would on leaving England, take the International Sleeping Car Company's Train de Luxe, to a Mediterranean port. Then follows a pleasant voyage through the Mediterranean, the Suez Canal, and the Red Sea. Disembarking at the old slave stronghold Mombasa, the railway is taken on to Nairobi (which is 5,550 feet above sea-level) the capital, and the most convenient centre from which to outfit.
The start is made with capable guides and every convenience consistent with camp life, to whatever point is decided on. Civilization is left behind, and one emerges into a country still garbed in its primeval simplicity, from which the natives are not excepted. Many are the attractions which meet the eyes, odours which fascinate, the song of the birds, the chattering of monkeys, the buzz of insects, and the magnificence of the butterflies. Then the pleasant warmth of the sun and the bracing air, make living a pleasure. A suitable spot is chosen for a camp, by a brook or a grove of trees. Those on slaughter bent will find that they have sufficient choice, from the lion, the leopard, the buffalo and rhinocerous, to the hartebeeste or the smaller gazelles. In the evening after the fires are lit and guards set, to prevent any prowling lion or leopard to come too close, the cool air invites sweet repose to the weary hunter."
Alfred took few notes on this trip, but judging by the long list of trophies (included at the end of this chapter) it must have been most enjoyable and successful.
October 7th. Left Nairobi in a coach drawn by six mules, in which we went as far as Blue Post on the Theika River, which is about 30 miles from Nairobi. At noon we stopped at Scotstown, near the power station. The following day we left Blue Post and arrived at Vestumer's place at Kilmangobo. I killed a hartebeeste at 250 yards, which Banbury finished with a revolver. Todd afterwards got two "wildebeeste", two water-hogs, one tourmiel, and four sternbok does. We camped at Vestumer's house, where we stayed for a few days.
October 10th. Todd got two "hartebeest", 1 impala, one water-bok, one zebra. Afterwards we went south-east and I got two impala. We saw lots of game, including baboons. Gave Vestumer 1 rupee for finding an impala that I had wounded.
October 11th. Went with Bunbury up the hill south of his house, and scared up a big "rhino" which Todd afterwards got. Found a buffalo in papyrus reeds, which I got. A wounded rhino escaped and led us a long and unsuccessful chase.
October 12th. Tired out in forenoon. In the afternoon went out and got a warthog and an impala.
October 13th. Moved camp to Bunbury's dam. Camp all burned. Todd got a crocodile, a reed buck and an impala, also a guinea-fowl. I saw two giraffes.
October 14th. Sent ten loads of heads, etc. to Nairobi. Moved camp higher up on "barranca" (hill) as there were a few mosquitoes last night. My mule escaped during the morning, and spoilt my forenoon. In the afternoon tried for wildebeeste on the other side of the hill, but unsuccessfully.
October 15th. Walked up to Brian White's house, and photographed a group of giraffes. Men brought my mule back.
October 16th. We crossed the river and I shot a wildebeeste, three water-hogs and eleven water-buck. Saw hundreds of animals.
October 17th. Went towards hill and started up a fine "rhino" with big "toto" (horn) and shot him close to our tent. Horn measurement 22 & half inches. In the afternoon shot a hartebeeste, but did not get the scalp.
October 18th. Our bearers arrived back from Nairobi with five extra men, bringing champagne, whiskey, sacks and cartridges. Went on the other side of the hill and got a small warthog, but did not take the head.
The following is the list of heads sent to Rowland Ward, "The Jungle", 167 Picadilly, London, for preserving and mounting. There were besides these lots of lion, zebra and gazelle skins, which were made into rugs.
| 2. | Dik-dik. | 1. | Defassa. |
| 1. | Chambers Reed-buck | 1. | Hartebeeste |
| 1. | Wards Reed-buck | 2. | Wildebeeste |
| 1. | Thomsons Gazelle | 1. | Zebra. |
| 2. | Busbuck | 4. | Wartehog |
| 1. | Roberts Gazelle | 1. | Buffalo. |
| 2. | Lesser Kudu. | 2. | Rhinocerous |
| 2. | Impala | 1. | Cokes Hartbeeste. |
| 1. | Grants Gazelle | 4. | Coloby Monkey |
| 1. | Baboon. | 1. | Cheetah. |
| 6. | Topi | 2. | Lions. |
| 1. | Waterbuck. |
Early in the year Alfred Benitz became engaged to Miss Olga Blanche Horner, and they were married in Buenos Aires in September of the same year. For their honeymoon they travelled to the United States, where they toured through California until February of the following year; visiting the old home of Fort Ross, where they drove in the Stage Coach, and stayed in the village for two days.
Mrs Olga Blanche Horner Benitz is a member of one of the oldest county families in England, her father Edward Horner being cousin to Sir John Horner, K.C.V.O of Mells Park, Frome, Somerset, where the earliest family records date from the year 1248.
In a biography written by Mrs Francis Horner in 1933, called "Time Remembered" she says:-
"Mells village was extraordinarily feudal............. The Horners were a very clannish family. They had everything in common and lived in an almost feudal way. They were supreme, and no one had begun to doubt the power of the landlord or the divine right of the gentry, and Mells was more feudal than most villages. The people had to consult the Horners as to what names there children were called by."
The story goes that at the time of the dissolution of Monasteries the Abbot of Glastonbury, who owned the Manor of Mells, attempted to forestall Thomas Cromwell by surrendering the title deeds of all the Abbey's manors into the King's own hand. In order to ensure their safety the deeds were concealed in a pie, and Jack Horner, who was at that time Steward to the Abbot, was entrusted with their delivery. During the journey he was reputed to have "put in his thumb and pulled out a plum" - to wit, the title deed of the Manor of Mells - and kept it for himself. Hence the "lampoon" which has been handed down and has since become a favourite "Nursery Rhyme".
The original Mells Park house was replaced in the 18th century, by a Georgian mansion which was destroyed by fire in 1917, and rebuilt under the direction and guidance of Sir Edwin Lutyens.
Mells Church, where there is a board showing the names of the rectors dating from the year 1226, was first rebuilt
in the 15th century, and restored in 1860 - 1876. Here and in the Horner Chapel, are many gifts, tablets and memorials
to the Horner family, including a fine equestrian statue in bronze, designed and made by A. Munnings, which was erected
to the memory of Edward Horner, the last direct male heir to the Horner Estate, who fell at Cambrai during the European
War in 1917.
"Nitor in Adversis"
The Benitz brothers had not been slow to appreciate the charm and beauty of the Cordoba hills and each had bought land at Cruz Chica, near La Cumbre, where they had built comfortable summer residences, with delightful well-stocked gardens and orchards, and where they spent the summer months with their families and relatives, and kept open house for their many friends.
William had built "Greystones", which was a spacious house made of grey stone, which overlooked a valley and the golf course. Alfred's house "El Rincon" was built half way up one of three high green hills. He had blasted away part of the rock to build his house and to make a long uphill drive as an approach to the house. The gardens descend in a series of terraces terminating in a wall of about ten feet high, at the foot of which runs a little trickling stream, bordered by huge rocks and stones, and rippling over tiny seashells and sand, sometimes disappearing into the sand only to emerge a little further on and to continue its placid way round a bend, and continue its route underground eventually finding an outlet into one of the many lakes round Cordoba.
On the opposite side of the stream, and some way down the valley is "La Josefina" which belonged to Mrs Josephine Benitz, and it was at the bend in this stream that John built his house. He surrounded it by a four foot wall which he considered adequate protection against the occasional rise in the level of the stream, which generally occurred after a rainstorm. As a matter of actual fact, the architect when the house was being built, pointed out its possibly dangerous position if an unusually large volume of water should collect in the hills and rush down the valley. Unfortunately John scouted the idea saying that a really big "crescente" had not been known in the last sixty years and was very unlikely, although actually the stream often rose considerably topping the four foot wall and overflowing on to the tennis-court. It was on March 20th that the tragedy occurred which resulted in the death of Johnny Benitz, his daughter Margery, and three of their guests also their chauffeur, who made a heroic effort to save them all. On March 21st the following account of the tragedy appeared in the newspapers shocking the whole of the Argentine with its apalling suddeness:
"Terrible Happening in Cordoba Sierras"
Benitz Property Destroyed.
Five Lives Lost."One of the favourite resorts of the Cordoba Hills in the stretch from Los Cocos to Cruz Chica, and somewhere about half way down between the two, Mr John Benitz had his summer residence, known as Cruz Grande, and familiar to all English visitors. It was a most delightful spot snuggled into the "quebrada" and what nature had left undone Mr Benitz had added to make it a paradise.
"And this is the scene of a terrible tragedy. Flowing by the house, such a small trickle in ordinary times, that it seems hardly credible that it could cause such havoc, a little mountain brooklet or rill swelled up to the proportions of a torrent, and wrecked the whole property, so suddenly apparently, that there was neither time nor opportunity to escape. The following telegrams we received yesterday tell the dread tale in all its fearful completeness.
"Los Cocos March 20th. This morning caused by heavy rains, the river at Cruz Grande overflowed and completely destroyed the summer residence of the John Benitz family and resulting in the death of seven persons. Only the eldest daughter Josephine was saved. The bodies of Mr John Benitz and the chauffeur have been found.
"March 20th 11.30 p.m. Supplementing my previous telegram. I regret having to report the deaths of Mr John Benitz, his daughter Margery, Miss Dawnay, Mrs Withington and her daughter Helen. Mrs Benitz her daughters Elsie and Josephine, and her sister Miss Macdonald escaped in a most providential manner. The strong current carried the house completely away. Miss Josephine Benitz was injured. We understand that Dr John Halahan has been summoned to render professional aid to the victims".
The Standard March 21st 1916.
"Mr John Benitz was an "estanciero" in a large way in the province of Santa Fe, very advanced in his ideas enterprising and intelligent. The family originally came from California, and was the first to introduce into this country the production of "alfalfa", much to the surprise of the natives who could not understand what was to be gained by growing "pasto". At about the time the English Company which first owned the Sierras Railway Line (Cordoba and North Western) began to get to the end of the hills, Mr John Benitz made a trip up and was struck no doubt by the beautiful scenery and the unrivalled climate, Los Cocos was then a wilderness. His first impression was to build at Capilla del Monte, on the site now occupied by Mr Mallet's Hotel Britanica but as he offered a price per "hectaria", and the owner wanted to sell by the metre, there was no deal and Mr Benitz bought land, built his house and settled at Cruz Grande. He was the life and moving power of the district. Previous to his advent there were no roads, and after forming a committee, mainly composed of one, he soon had the best roads in the whole country, and what is more, kept them up. In many other ways he was a remarkable man. Well-read and versed in the world's affairs, and with statistics at his finger ends. His hospitality was unbounded. Such a terrible happening will find a wide and sad repercussion, not only in the nooks of the Cordoba Hills, but in English and Argentine circles where the Benitz family were so well-known. It is feared that the disaster has affected the residence of the Dunn family on the opposite margin of the stream, also other residences along its course and in the valley generally. Communications by rail are interrupted from La Cumbre Station, owing to the storm and inordinate rainfall. The disturbance was still active at a late hour last night and it is feared that there is a serious loss of life and property in the district."
It was owing to the determined and indefatigable efforts of Dr John Halahan that Josephine Benitz (now Mrs Howard Webster) who risked her life in her valiant efforts to save her father, eventually recovered.
In July of 1916, Alfred bought the estancia "El Vermejo" which was situated near the town of Resistencia in the Chaco, and made a trip up by boat to revise his new property. Two years later, and this time accompanied by Mrs Benitz, he made another trip by train.
May 19th 1918. Olga and I left "Las Tres Lagunas" by car at 10 a.m. and arrived at Cañada de Gomez at 11.10 where we took the train for Rosario, arriving at 11.10. We then took the train for Buenos Aires arriving at 1.30 p.m., Olga leaving her riding-hat in the train. Went to the Savoy Hotel for lunch and then visited the British Red Cross Kermesse where I spent about $13.00. Left by train at 5.45 for Resistencia on which we were able to get beds. Damp weather, rained slightly during the night.
May 20th. We arrived at Calchaqui about 5 a.m. next morning where we were met by Mr Fraire and his two daughters. They went on the train with us as far as Vera. I gave him a letter to J. Macdonald asking him to come and buy cattle. Rained a bit nearly all day. We arrived at Resistencia at 7 p.m. and went to the Hotel Pizzoloti. Lots of mud about.
May 21st. The morning was fine and clear with balmy air. Went to Banco de La Nacion and presented recommendations from manager of Las Rosas Bank. Ordered half a dozen saddles and afterwards went to call on Antonio Lions, who was not at home. Nice place Resistencia, with broad streets and pavements. Guess the people are a bit lazy as I find the vegetables come from Rosario. Olga bought a boy-scout hat in place of the one she lost in the train from Rosario. Wrote to the station-master in Rosario about the lost hat. At 2 p.m. took the "trencito" (little train) to Barranquero, where we took the steamer for Corrientes arriving at 3 p.m. Went to the Hotel Buenos Aires, quite a swell place, and after tea went for a walk about the town. The steamer "Washington" is here.
May 22nd. Got up at 4 a.m. and went down to steamer "Washington" which did not leave until 7.45 a.m. One of the chief officers, or pilot called Thompson is a cousin of Boardman's. The steamer is the best on the line and makes two trips a month. Cold overcast day. Arrived at Puesto Las Palmares at noon, and went up in a closed truck to Mr Young's place. They were very kind and kept us for the night. Made arrangements to be sent on tomorrow. Rained off and on steadily most of the afternoon. Got on board after breakfast at 7 a.m. next morning, going by the auto on rails to Kilometer 44. (Las Selvas). Left our bags and overcoats at Mrs Young's. At Las Selvas we got into a small trolley or platform car, drawn by a mare, and arrived at Kil. 62 at 11.30 a.m. just as the mare got tired out. A cape-cart of Donkin's met us there. There was lots of water on roads. Arrived at estancia at 4 p.m. Donkin meeting us at the estancia gate. Beautiful day. Orange trees seem to have grown a good deal in the last two years. Orr had been here about twenty days ago.
May 24th. Estancia "El Vermejo" Had breakfast about 7.30 a.m. Very cold night and overcast day, but cleared up a little in the afternoon. Rode up into my camp where some people have cattle in "pastaje" at 10 cents per month. Went to revise rest of camp and animals.
May 25th. "El Vermejo" Fine afternoon, after morning a bit overcast. Olga, Donkin and I went to Rio Oro where the drain is and Olga gathered nine different kinds of ferns. A "tolderia" of Indians was near the "sanjon" (large drain), they looked poor and with hardly any native work to sell. Wife got full of "garapatas" (species of leech).
Sunday May 26th. Fine forenoon but overcast in the afternoon and coldish. Olga and I went up to the Rio Vermejo near the house, on the other side, and had an "asado" and mate. Camp wants burning very badly. What cattle we saw in camp were in very good condition.
Monday May 27th. "El Vermejo" Overcast in forenoon, but afternoon was fine and sunny, but with a cold south wind blowing. Went on horseback with Olga and Donkin to Rio Oro to near the house where the trees are being barked, where we gathered ferns. Later news came that the steamer to Puerto Vermejo wont go down until Friday. I have a bad cold. Proposition of Donkin's to take cattle on my camp on thirds.
Tuesday May 28th. "El Vermejo" Fine day. Rode out with wife and Donkin to "tajamar" (cutwater or groin) on the east side, and then walked along "sanjon" which was a beautiful walk. Saw "carpinchos" tracks. I still have a bad cold. In the afternoon we walked to where they are breaking up camp and where we saw tracks of lions. Hear that it is impossible to get to Las Palmares.
Wednesday May 29th. "El Vermejo" Went with Olga and Donkin and we had a picnic at Laguna Lobo, which is the place where little Alfred Benitz (Johnny's son) shot off his hand when his gun exploded. Saw some men loading some Urunday logs, of which I took some photos. We are going to Kil. 62 to see if we can get down that way. Camp on the other side of Rio Oro, near Laguna Lobo, is getting more refined through draining and stocking. Saw some toucans and "uracas" and another beautiful woodpecker with a red head and red crest, also some "Pavo del monte".
Thursday May 30th. Left "El Vermejo" estancia at 6.45 a.m. for Kil. 62. Donkin driving us as far as the big "estero" in Lowndes camp. We arrived at Kil. 62 at noon where the mules were awaiting us. After a snack of "fiambre" and oranges, we went to Kil. 43, where we had to wait at Selvas for about an hour, as we wanted to change mules. We got on to the auto on rails, and arrived at Young's place at about 4.30 p.m. where we had tea and dinner, leaving for Puerto Las Palmas at 8.30 p.m. and where we stayed the night at Mr Young's private rooms. It was a fine warm day. Talked with Young about the business of "poblaring" Cecil Winter's camp with cattle. He has a man called Supervielle who could look after the business on thirds. Las Palmas begin their sugar harvest tomorrow.
May 31st. Thursday. Were awakened at 3 a.m. and went on board the "Berna" which left at about 5 a.m. after loading a lot of extract of "quebrecho". Our cabin has a double bed and is on the saloon deck. We arrived at Corrientes at 7 a.m. and left again about 8 p.m. Sky very overcast and looks like rain, but quite warm wind, seems N.E. Quite a good steamer, and there are about between 40 to 50 passengers on board. It is loaded up with oranges and mandarins. We passed Bella Vista about 3.30 p.m. and then Puerto Ocampo.
Friday June 1st. Weather still misty. We passed Santa Helena about 7 a.m., Parana at about 1 p.m. arriving at Rosario at eight in the evening where we went to the Savoy Hotel.
This year Alfred made a trip to Europe to bring out Mrs Benitz who was in England visiting her parents.
July 28th. Left on the S.S. "Avon" and arrived at Southampton on
August 21st at 2.45 p.m. Olga was waiting on the wharf, and we left on the special boat-train for London, which
took about two hours. Olga had engaged a room at the Regent's Palace Hotel. Seemed to be a very crowded place and no
one dressed for dinner etc. Weather very cold for summer. Snow fell in Wales.
Sunday August 22nd. After a late breakfast we called on Dolly King who was staying at the Langham Hotel. Then we motored to Kew Gardens where we lunched and spent the afternoon. Fine day.
Monday August 23rd. Went to the shirtmakers and tailor, and ordered shirts and three suits. Bought a Burberry, and also ordered two suits from them. Had dinner with Dolly King and Charles Horner at the Langham Hotel and afterwards went to the Drury Lane Theatre to see "The Garden of Allah".
Tuesday August 24th. Fine day. Went to Bank and afterwards called on Emilio Casares to enquire about a stallion. Tried on my suits at Kilgour's. After a siesta we went to tea at Monico's. In the evening went to see "Chu Chin Chow" at His Majesty's Theatre.
Wednesday August 25th. Went to Convent Garden Market and bought some fruit. A rather disappointing place. Took the train at Liverpool Street Station for Bures, where we were met by Charles Horner and driven by car to Mill House, Pebmarsh, arriving about 4.30. Nice old place with fine garden. Weather was fine but no sun.
Next morning went for a walk with Mr Horner and Olga to "armchair oak" and also round the moat. Weather good for harvesting. Lots of grain, peas etc. being cut and stocked. Land we saw seemed rather dirty with weeds, thistles etc.
The next day was fine. Lumsden came down at noon. It appears he wanted to sell the estancia "San Geronimo" for old Fea. Asked $120,000 including Tapia, and Fea taking $10,000 in Golf Links. Told him I would buy at $100,000, and if Golf Club take it over, it would be for them half cash, which would include Tapia.
Had a walk to old farmhouse on the hill, where we bought some butter. Mrs H.B. Dickenson called and asked us to tea on Monday or Tuesday.
On Saturday 28th we motored to Halstead, about four miles away, and called on Mr Raymond, but he was not at home. Interesting place is Halstead, where there is a silk-mill (Courtald's). They make silk out of wood-pulp. Had another walk to the lake and moat, which looks in a very dangerous condition on account of rotten dam, and might overflow into valley in a heavy "freshet". Very fine day.
Sunday August 29th. At Mill House. Stayed in garden all the forenoon, and in the afternoon went for a walk with Olga towards Halstead, where we met Raymond who came back with us for tea. Mr Horner says this place can be bought for £1,000 when son of Courtald comes of age in about two and a half years.
We left the following afternoon for London, arriving at 5 p.m. Went to Regent's Park Hotel, collected our things and got a room at the Langham Hotel. In the evening went to see "The Blue Lagoon" which was very good. The next evening, we went to the Gaiety Theatre and saw "The Show-Girl". Very amusing. The next day we left by train for Wigton where John Todd met us and took us down to his place Mereside. Good day for travelling.
Thursday September 2nd. Mereside. A party of us went in Todd's Vauxhall car to Windemere and Keswick Lakes. Had lunch at the Old England Hotel at Winderemere Lake. Bought bowls for Annie Todd and for Olga. Came back to Keswick where we had tea and then home. Fine trip which we enjoyed very much. Telegraphed to Lumsden "Price too high".
On Saturday 4th we motored to Inverness where we lunched, then to Silloth, Allenby, and Marybone, returning home at about 4 p.m. Very strong wind blowing, and sea very rough and cold, nevertheless some people were swimming. Received telegram from Lumsden saying that Fea had accepted offer of $110.00 for San Geronimo and Tapie. The next Sunday was damp and cold in the forenoon. In the afternoon Todd and I walked three miles to post letters at Brayton Station, and came back by Goldie's Old Place. Wrote the agreement to buy Fea's place at San Geronimo. Have copy of letter. Coldish afternoon.
Monday 6th September. Mereside. Todd, Olga and I went by car to Wigton where we took the train to Carlisle. We visited the museum, and Todd showed us some of his trophies there. We then said goodbye to Todd and took the train to London, arriving at 7 p.m. We tried to get rooms at the Langham Hotel but it was full, so we went to the Great Central Hotel. On the journey down we passed through Leeds, Sheffield, Nottingham etc; very smoky districts.
Tuesday was a fine day, and after a visit to the tailors we went to lunch at Prince's and afterwards to a matinee at the "Apollo" Theatre to see "Cherry" which was quite good. Had tea afterwards at the Argentine Club, where James Agar had put me up as a member. Went to Agar's office where I met Dick Agar with his two nephews the Fergusons.
Wednesday 8th. Great Central Hotel. Went down town in the morning to Selfridge's to shop. Took Olga to dentist. In the afternoon went to tea at Fullers and then went at night to Daly's Theatre and saw "The Southern Maid". Very fine day.
The next day went to the French Consul to fix up passports for going to France, and later went to Royal Mail Office to book passages on R.M.S. "Arlanza" sailing for Buenos Aires on the 24th inst. Lunched at the Trocadero with Willie and Uranga. We then went to Cooks to book tickets for Paris via Boulogne, and reserved seats in Pullman for following day. Then went to Negretti and Zambra and ordered a sundial. Fine day. Had good dinner at Frascati's.
Friday 10th. Normandy Hotel. Paris. This morning at 8 a.m. met Willie and Uranga at Victoria Station, and we all left for Paris via Folkstone. Olga left today for Pebmarsh. Had a good trip over the Channel and arrive in Paris at 4.30 p.m. Went to the Normandy Hotel which seems a poor sort of place. Had dinner at a good restaurant which had been recomended to us by a waiter at the Grand Hotel where we had a drink. Tried to get rooms at the Grand Hotel, but were unsuccessful. Fine nice weather.
Saturday 11th. Normandy Hotel. Paris. Fine warm day, the best we have had in Europe. Willie, Uranga and I took the 7 a.m. train to Nogent Le Breton, where we arrived at 9.45 a.m. We were met at the station by Mr Avelini who showed us his two places and also his "percheron" stallions. I bought a three year old grey called "Rata" for 50,000 francs, to be put on board for South America. He won first prize at the Show here. He has a white blaize on his forehead and what looks like a small scar up in front of his right hind leg. Very fine horse. Avelini says he thinks he could win championships at Chicago next year. He is going to brand A.B. on his foreleg hoof.
Had lunch at La Touche with Avelini and his family. Very nice place. Left Nogent Le Breton for Paris at 5.30 p.m. arriving at 8.40. Had a very scant dinner as it was too late for dinner at the Normandy.
Sunday 12th. Normandy Hotel, Paris. Did not see Uranga today. Willie and I had a walk through the Tuillieries Gardens, then took a cab through the Bois de Boulogne, and to the Eiffel Tower, where we went on top and had a fine view, but it took about two hours with all the different elevators. Had lunch at the Cafe de la Paix, and afterwards went to the Race Course at Longchamps where we saw some interesting racing and fashions. Had dinner at Café Paris. Very good dinner, good company and high prices. A guide took us to see some dancing, but we soon cleared out and went to bed. Most beautiful weather.
Monday 13th. Great Central Hotel. London. Got a ticket to London on the Handley Page aeroplane and bought a necklace for Olga, also went to London and River Plate Bank with Willie. We left in auto from Paris, with four other passengers, at about 11.30 a.m. to go to a place just outside where the flying-ships were, and left on the plane about 12.30 p.m. arriving at Cricklewood aerodrome about 4 p.m. After the usual customs and passport formalities were gone through, they dropped me at the Great Central Hotel. It was a very fine trip, beautifully sunny in France, but here cloudy and overcast. Met Dolly King and her brother, with two other ladies and had tea with them. Sent telegram to Olga and Willie and also wrote to Olga.
Tuesday September 14th. Mill House Pebmarsh. Cloudy day. In the morning went to the Bank, then called on Thomas Agar. They promised to send me a cask of whiskey. Had lunch at the Argentine Club, where I met Hale and Greenshields. Left by 4.50 train for Bures, where I was met by Olga in the Ford car. Fea had written a letter agreeing to my letter of the 5th inst re purchase of "San Geronimo" property.
Wednesday 15th._Mill House. Pebmarsh. Rained slightly several times during the day. Went in car with Olga and Mrs Horner to Chisthurst, where we had tea with two old maids, Miss Lucas and Miss Salmon, who had a very pretty garden and a lovely old-fashioned house. Also visited the old church where Olga was christened, then to Bury Green where the Horners lived for about twenty-five years until fourteen years ago. A fine property but a bit neglected. Called on Dr Priest and family at Waltham Abbey, and then home by Bagor, Halstead and Epping Forest.
Thursday 16th. Mill House, Pebmarsh. Rained greater part of forenoon. Went in the car to "Brookwoods" Heddingham, to lunch with Colonel Sparrow who has a very fine collection of trophies, big game from India, South Africa, West Africa, British East Africa, and Somaliland. Beautiful place with fine garden and trees. Went to the local pub in the evening and bought half a dozen of port as a present to Mr Horner. Bought packing cases to despatch china etc. to the steamer.
September 17th. Friday. Mill House, Pebmarsh. Went in the Ford car to Colchester and lunched at the "Red Lion". Eat three dozen oysters. Afterwards went over the old castle dating from about 1060. Lively town and nice looking country. Blackberried in the evening.
September 19th. Sunday. Mill House, Pebmarsh. Yesterday despatched four cases to Southampton. Cases containing dresses, clothes and china. This morning motored over to Claxton-on-Sea, where we had lunch at the Grand Hotel, and then went for a walk on the shore and pier, where we listened to very good music at the glass pavilion. Came back by St Osyth where there is an old priory. Fine sunny day.
Monday September 20th. Mill House, Pebmarsh. Fine and warm. Mr Horner and I motored to Earls Colne and went through the Hunt's factory, where they make all kinds of grinding and chaff-cutting machinery. In the afternoon Mrs Horner, Olga and I went to have tea with Mrs Henry Dickenson. Fine trees in beautiful park.
Tuesday 21st. Mill House, Pebmarsh. Rained all forenoon. In the afternoon after tea, went for a long walk around the park to Halstead, about eight miles. Getting ready to leave tomorrow.
Wednesday September 22nd. Great Central Hotel, London. Left with all our luggage by the 10 o'clock train from Bures, and arrived in London at 12 o'clock. Sent luggage on to hotel, and after visiting bank, Lloyds, etc. went to lunch at Princes. We dined with Dolly King, Malcolm King and a Mr & Mrs Smith, and then went on to Wyndham's Theatre where we saw "The Prude". Very good.
Next morning I called on Colonel Fenwick at 36 Conduit Street, where I met Mr Gillyat. They insured my "percheron", and will cable to the vet. at Nogent Le Breton to see if the horse is sound, and if so will insure him for one year. If not they will return me the cheque to the Argentine. Sent two bottles of whiskey, and a large tin of tobacco to Mr Horner as a present. Paid Fortum and Mason for a barrel of 30 gallons of whiskey. Olga gave a luncheon party at Princes to me, her Uncle Charlie, Mr & Mrs Priest, and Winnie Hayward. In the afternoon went to Negretti and Zambra to see about the sundial, and took it to the hotel. Afterwards went to the oculist, as my glasses were too strong. Packing to leave tomorrow.
Friday September 24th. S.S. "Arlanza". Steamer very full. Saw Weigall and wife, and also Tetley and wife at Waterloo Station. Passengers at our table are, Bower and wife, Ferguson, Schiele and Foy, T. Hartwick, Skelton, Greenshields, Macdonald, Emerson and Taylor. Very pleasant voyage.
October 6th. Grand Hotel, Buenos Aires. We arrived in Buenos Aires this morning after a most enjoyable voyage in good company. After visiting the customs and passing everything all right without paying any duty, had our luggage despatched straight through to Las Rosas. Higham lunched with us, and after tea we went to Palermo Park to see the Rose Garden, which was a most beautiful sight. We took the night train to Las Rosas, where we arrived next day at 10 a.m.
HORNER OF MELLS SERVICE
Courtesy T. Leonard Crow of Tewkesbury
HORNER OF MELLS SERVICE
Made for Sir John Horner of Mells Manor Somerset by Dr Wall Worcester, circa 1765. The plates of this service are enamelled in two shades of green with a bold design of fruit and flower sprays, including roses, apples, plums, pears and peas. There is a specimen of this service in the Victoria and Albert Museum.
Facing page 132.
Two years later Mr and Mrs Alfred Benitz decided to make a trip to Pulmari and Chile.
Sunday November 12th. Left everything very well at "Las Tres Lagunas" as we had a big rain last week. Left Las Rosas Station at 4 p.m. arriving in Buenos Aires at 7 a.m. next morning. Went to the Grand Hotel for the day. Mrs and Miss Land and Alfredito Benitz had lunch with us. About 3 o'clock a robber was found in our bedroom, but was captured before he had a chance to steal anything. Had to go to the "comisaria" in Calle Tucuman to sign a declaration. Afterwards made some purchases, and took three tickets on the train, so as to be able to get a four-berth compartment.
Tuesday November 14th, was a fine day, and it had rained some, which was lucky as the dust was getting bad after leaving Mendoza. Train got to Bahia Blanca at about 8.30 a.m. and the same "dormitorio" (sleeping-compartment) left with train, going to Zapiola or Neuquen, about 15 minutes later. The country round Pringles seems quite nice, also around Sierra de la Ventana. Lots of trees, and fine fields of wheat and oats. After leaving Bahia Blanca, we got into an arid country which extends to Zapala and Pulmari. Seemed to be quite a lot of irrigation around Medanos. Did not see much of the Rio Colorado, as the railroad does not skirt it. Arrived at Neuquen about 11.30 p.m. Lucky in having a good day for travelling, as there was not much dust, and the train service was quite good.
Wednesday 15th November. Fine day. Left Bahia Blanca at 6 a.m. after rushing over to hotel for a cup of coffee, also had coffee on train. Saw a lot of derricks, where they were boring for oil, and also a refinery for making nafta etc. South of the line a German Company went down 1500 metres, but had not yet found any oil.
Arrived at Zapala at 11.30 a.m. and went to Hotel Zapala, where we had lunch and stopped the night. Zapala is quite a town, with perhaps eight or ten "boliches". The dining room at our hotel seems to be quite full. Seems to be a dusty town, as one could see on account of all the sand piled up. Pity water was not laid on and trees planted. Tamarisk hedges seem to be the favourite all the way from Bahia Blanca. One could see the Cholel mountains to the west, all covered with snow.
Thursday 16th. Tried to get an early start, but the peons did not turn up with the horses until 6.30 a.m. Each had two horses and three jack-mules. Went north for about one and a half leagues, and then in a westerly direction. Passed the Lake Miranda, where there were a lot of boats, about 10 a.m., and then went about three and a half leagues further on to a stream, where we stayed for luncheon. The first stream we had met with. In the afternoon, from about 1 p.m. to 7 p.m., we passed over Sainico Pass which is 780 metres higher than Zapala (1000 metres). Lots of snow about, but it was not very cold. After crossing the Pass, where there is a house with a very sloping roof, and over to a deep hollow with lots of trees, we went on about a league further, and stopped at a slope by a small stream, as the guide said it was better feed for the horses. He said we had come fifteen leagues that day. Olga was very tired, and our faces were pretty well tanned. Lots of dust going behind the horses. Fine day.
Friday 17th. Another fine day. Had to go a long distance around to get to Pulmari, as the River Almerini was very swollen, and we had to go over by the "balsa" (30 cents each horse) (ferry). It is a lovely blue lake surrounded on two sides by snow mountains. Fine scenery. We stopped for lunch at about a league from the ferry, and I was unfortunate enough to leave my false teeth there. Left camp at 1.45 p.m. Up-and-down road, and rather difficult for bullock carts. We went to see Babs and his wife and found them at home, and later Chumps and Humphrey turned up. They are busy shearing now. Very comfortable house, and the most fertile spot we have seen. Brought some wedding-presents for Babs. We are not very tired considering the journey. This place is forty metres higher than Zapala, or 1040 metres above sea level. There is a small garden, and I am sure that with proper irrigation things could be grown very profitably. Frosts in summer.
Saturday 18th. Pulmari. Had a rest all day, cleaned up etc. Fine day.
Sunday 19th. Olga and I, and Humphrey and Chumps went for a picnic to Monte Tarvera, Polechini where there is a fine forest of "auracana" and other trees. The "auracanas" are enormous trees, we measured one which was five metres in circumferance. The rough grass here "coiron" is supposed to be very fattening for animals, when in seed. Highest point going was 500 metres over the houses. Fine day.
Monday 20th. Cold windy day. Went with Babs to a "rodeo" across the Pulmari River, where they were parting "dry" cows to lighten the potrero. We went across in a "chata" (flat wagon), but crossed on horseback on our return. In the afternoon I walked to a place downstream where they had dug for gold.
Tuesday 21st. Pulmari. Frosty morning, six and a half degrees. Olga and I and Land rode down to a store on the Rucacharoi, about three and a half leagues from the house. Quite a nice place with poplar trees and fruit trees in the garden. They had a machine for making cider. Had a fine trout for lunch, and came back by the apple-tree forests on the Alumini. Hundreds of big and small apple-trees, but they seemed to me as if diseased with the "langerira".
Wednesday 22nd. Pulmari. Four and a half degrees of frost. Babs and wife, Olga, Humphrey and I went for a long ride of about four leagues, to Humphrey's summer place at the Maipo. Passed the Polcahue Lake, and had an asado at the head of Lake Margarita, at a place called Lonca Urula. We got back to the house at about 6.30 p.m. Fine day. We rested all the next day, and made preparations for our trip to Chile tomorrow.
Friday 24th. Fine day although a bit cloudy, but cool and fresh. Left Pulmari at 6 a.m. with the two Pinchura brothers, for Curacatin, taking two horses each and two "cargeros". Humphrey went with us as far as Whitworth's, (about six leagues) which is alongside the lake, and a very nice place, where they gave us a very good lunch. Fine view of Llana Volcano, which was sending out a little smoke. We left again at 1 p.m. and got to Quintana's Almacen at Pehuencó at about 6 p.m., where we stopped for the night. We did fourteen leagues today, and reached the River Bio Bio whose tributaries we passed at Liacura and Pehuelca. It is bleak country up to the frontier, but fine scenery and plenty of snow. Lots of Indian huts to be seen on our way down.
Saturday 25th. Got an early start at 6 a.m. and went seven leagues, arriving at Longingay at 11 a.m. We stopped for a moment at Ewaittgero's a big store, with water power half a league away. Lots of fields of "alfalfa" on the way. Stopped at a poor restaurant for lunch and a rest until 1.45 p.m. where I changed $100 Argentine for $300 Chilian. Went over the mountains until we got to Manzanares, where we arrived at 7.20 p.m. tired out and wet, as it had rained for the last hour. At Malacahuello a Comisario stopped us and wanted to see our guia for the horses, so one of the men had to go back to Loningay, which meant that he left us at 6 p.m. and did not join us again until the next morning at 9.30, but he had the "guias" all right. Very climby all the afternoon, three hours up and then down. Wonderful forests of oak, coigue, etc. Quite a nice hotel at Manzanares, where there are hot springs. There are two other guests besides ourselves, a rheumatic German and a Chilian cattleman. The hotel is surrounded by the highest mountains we have seen yet. It rained a lot in the evening.
November 26th. Sunday. Curu Cuatin. Had baths in the morning at Manzanares. Supposed to be good for rheumatism. This is quite a nice hotel, very well kept by a Frenchman with a Swiss-French wife. We left there about 3 p.m. and arrived at the Hotel Terina, Curu Cuatin at 5.30 p.m. after a very nice ride through very pretty country. This is where the railroad begins. Election Day, so the town was pretty lively, with chaps on horseback dashing about. There seems to be a good class of horses here. Saw several saw-mills on the road, and lots of sawn timber about. Began raining again in the evening.
Monday 27th, was warm and fine and no dust. Left Curu Cuatin at 9 a.m. in the morning, and arrived at Victoria at about noon, and went to the Hotel Royal, where we had lunch and a siesta. We left the guides behind at Curu Cuatin and despatched our Argentine baggage, which had to be addressed in paint before being accepted. Rather poor railroad coach as far as Victoria. Left Victoria again at 5 p.m. and arrived at Concepción at about 11 p.m., where we went to Hotel Franscani, which is the best in the town. Quite an interesting journey through very pretty country. Beautiful cherries and strawberries. Train gave us 30 minutes for dinner at San Rosenda. It went very fast from Victoria to Concepción.
Tuesday November 28th. Concepción, Chile. Hotel Francais. This is quite a good hotel. In the morning we went to a very interesting market with lots of vegetables, fruit, baskets of all sorts and pottery. I sent my bag to be patched and mended, as it had suffered a great deal on the journey by pack-mule. In the afternoon it rained a great deal, so we took a coach down to Bio Bio, where there are many lovely residences with beautiful gardens. Went to the Cinema afterwards as it was raining most of the day.
Wednesday 29th. In the morning we took the train to Talcahuano, and then on to San Vicente, to see if we could get a fish lunch, but we had to go back to the Hotel Royal at Talcahuano, where we had a very good lunch for $7.00 Argentine, including cocktails, good wine etc. Owner an enterprising Russian. Interesting market at Talcahuano, but not as good as at Concepción. Arrived back at 3 p.m. Fine day and cool.
Thursday 30th. At 7.45 a.m. we left Concepción on the express train for Santiago, where we arrived at 7 in the evening after a most interesting journey. Parts of the country were very fine. Lots of artificial woods, and vineyards, wheat etc, with women selling baskets of cherries and strawberries, and fancy baskets at the stations. Had lunch in twenty minutes at Chillian, where we went to see the famous "hot springs". At Santiago we went to the Savoy Hotel, which is quite swagger. We had baths and a very good lunch. (lobster) It was a very fine day for travelling.
Friday December 1st. Savoy Hotel, Santiago. Went to Villalonga and took tickets for Buenos Aires, and had our "cedulas" revised. Two tickets cost $485 Argentine. Afterwards went to sale of horses and cows. Very poor "mancarrones" (poor bred) sold at high Argentine prices. Went up to Cerro Santa Lucia in a coach, and also visited a Fine Art Gallery. At night we went to the Cinema and saw a dancer (not much good). There is an American Admiral and several officers staying here, from an American man-o-war in Valparaiso port.
Saturday December 2nd. Santiago, Chile. Fine day. We went to the market in the morning and bought fruit and baskets, and than despatched our luggage to Buenos Aires. We then took the train from Los Andes, where we arrived at 8 a.m. and went to the Hotel Sudamericana, for dinner, and where they gave us quite a good front bedroom. Olga had quite a violent stomach upset. Probably "chuchu" due to the height.
Tuesday 3rd. We left Los Andes at about 7 a.m. and arrived at Mendoza at 6.30 in the evening, after a very nice day's journey, train not too packed. The only person we spoke to was an English girl who was going from Valparaiso to England. Had dinner on the train, and arrived in Buenos Aires next day at 7 a.m. Luckily it rained during the night, so there was no dust, and it was quite cool. The camp looks very well. When we arrived in Buenos Aires we went to the Grand Hotel, and went to bed early.
Thursday 5th was a very warm day. We got the bags, and luggage out of the customs without any trouble. Jim Bell and Alfredito Benitz had lunch with us. Did some shopping, and left on the night train for Rosario.
Friday December 6th. Arrived at Las Rosas about 10 a.m. Found that there had been 47 mil. of rain last night, which is not doing the harvest much good. There was a regular hurricane about ten days ago, which broke off a lot of trees. Locusts just coming out, and men are scared on account of the harvest. Very warm and muggy.
Three years later Mr and Mrs Benitz made another trip to England, also visiting the Lake District and Scotland. They left Buenos Aires on May 12th by the R.M.S. "Andes" and arrived at Southampton on June 2nd and stayed in London at the Langham Hotel prior to going down for a visit to Pebmarsh. They returned to London on Tuesday 9th and this time stayed at the Victoria Hotel until June 18th.
"Thursday June 4th, Langham Hotel, London. In the afternoon went to Kew Gardens. It was a lovely day, and everything was at its best. Sykes had dinner with us, and then we went to the Pavilion to see "On With the Dance". Good acting, but very low."
They also went to the Opera, and went racing at Ascot, and spent a very pleasant time visiting and entertaining their many friends and relatives.
On the 19th they went down to Bournemouth by car, where they stayed at the Canford Cliff Hotel. They toured the surrounding country, visiting Lyndhurst and the New Forest.
"Had a swim before breakfast, and another before dinner. Another very fine warm day."
They returned to London on the 22nd and went to Wimbledon to see the tennis, Hurlingham to see the polo, and also went to the Flower Show at the Horticultural Hall. "Fine roses, was told where to get the seeds."
After visiting the Horse Show at Olympia and the Industrial Exhibition at Wembley, they left on the 27th "although it was not a nice day, raw and damp" in a Vauxhall car which Mr Benitz had bought, for Pebmarsh where they stayed until July 3rd, meeting their friends in the neighbourhood, and attending tennis parties, tea parties and playing bridge. They also went to Colchester to Cant & Sons, the rose experts, and gave them an order for "twenty different kinds of roses, two of each, to be sent out to the Argentine in October".
Sunday July 5th. Lillingstone Lovel Manor. Fine warm afternoon. We left the Swan Hotel at Bedford about 10 a.m. and motored to Peter Bell's place which was about 35 miles. He has a beautiful place with a fine park of fourteen acres, whole place is about 380 acres. Lots of rabbits.
Tuesday 7th. Swan Hotel Whitchurch. Olga went to London to Lords Cricket Ground with Isabel King. I came here by Daventry, Coventry, on the outskirts of Birmingham, it is about twenty-two miles from Chester. It was impossible to get rooms in Chester on account of the Royal Cattle Show. Visited the Show with Bell. Ten shillings entrance. I saw the judging of the shorthorns and shires. Not so many in each class as in the Argentine. Met Porteous, Whigham, and McNeil there. Very good show in every way. Left the Lord Jim Hotel, where we stayed last night, to come here which is a bit superior. Everywhere is crowded and the manager tells me that they had been obliged to turn away more than 200 people today. We visited the show again next day, when they were selling the shorthorns I thought at very low prices. Saw the jumping competition, horses very good. Bought spraying machine. Weather threatening in morning, but fine in afternoon.
Returned to Lillingston Lovel Manor on the following Friday, going by Kidderminster, Worcester, Eyesham to Stratford on Avon, where we lunched at The Raven Head Hotel. I saw Shakespeare's old house. We arrived back about 4.30. Very good roads, lovely scenery and wooded country. Car goes very well.
Saturday 11th. Arrived back at Pebmarsh at 12.30 (90 miles) going through Stony Stratford, Dunstable, St Albans, Hatfield, Hertford, Bishops Stortford and Braintree. Mr Horner says he is worse with rheumatism, his hands are rather swollen. Olga came back from Felixtowe this afternoon where she had been staying with some friends, so as to see the tennis matches; seems she had a very good time.
The next day Mr and Mrs Horner, Olga and I motored to Paington-on-Sea and had tea at the Queen's Hotel, and I had a swim in the sea. Lots of people there. As the next day was fine and warm, in the afternoon we all went to Engleman's Carnation Nurseries at Saffron Walden (30 miles). They had several tremendous glass houses.
The following day we motored to Brentwood, as there was an important tennis tournament taking place there, and on Thursday we went back to London via Epping Forest, and went to the Victoria Hotel. In the evening we went to the Court Theatre to see "The Farmer's Wife".
Mr Horner is still quite ill, I'm afraid he won't live long.
Friday June 17th. Hotel Victoria. I did some shopping in the morning and went to the dentist. My cold is still troublesome. Olga went back to Pebmarsh by car in the evening. I went to the Alhambra. (Music-hall)
Sunday 19th. Hotel Victoria. Beautiful day. Went to Westminster Cathedral, and then to see the parks. Long walk. In the afternoon went to "Treetops" St Margarets, to visit Mrs Fea and her daughter Mrs Brooks. Nice surroundings and fine trees.
The next day went to Golf School and arranged to have some lessons. Then had a Turkish Bath. Lunched at Terrys in Shaftesbury Avenue, and at night went to the Drury Lane Theatre and saw "Rose Marie". Quite good.
On Friday 24th. Went down to Pebmarsh by train. Olga met me at the station with the car. Old Horner looks worse, guess it is heart and dropsy. In the afternoon we all went for a drive to Sudbury.
The next day was hot and muggy. In the morning I helped to take things to Pebmarsh Hall for the Flower Show in the evening. Mrs Horner presented the prizes and received three 1st herself. There was a tug-of-war afterwards. The doctor has ordered Mr Horner to go to bed.
On Sunday 26th. We motored to Felixtowe, where we stopped a few days. It was about two hours drive away. Lots of people everywhere, especially on the beach. Lots of tennis-courts.
Monday 26th. Felix Hotel. Felixtowe. It rained a good deal all day. We went to the golf-links in the morning for a game, but could only play about seven holes on account of the rain, so gave up and went for a walk round the town. Had planned to play some "bridge", but it did not come off. It rained a good deal all day. Dancing at night in the Hotel.
The next day was warm and sunny, a lovely day, so played golf in the morning and in the afternoon Olga and I went over to Pebmarsh to see how the old man was. When we returned I had a swim in the sea.
Wednesday July 29th. Hotel Victoria, London. We left Felixtowe at 9 o'clock in the morning, and arrived in town in time for lunch, coming by Angar and Epping Forest, about 90 miles. Olga and I went for tea to the Argentine Club, where we saw John Traill, Brown, and Bradbury. In the evening we went to His Majesty's Theatre and saw "Punch Bowl". Did not care for it very much, and was very sleepy.
Thursday July 30th. Lillingston Lovel Manor. In the morning went with Olga to buy a dog for Mary Bell. We went to Harrod's and Selfridges, but eventually found what we wanted at the Stafford Kennels in Bond Street. Had a good lunch at Scotts, and then left in the car to visit the Bells again. Had tea at St Albans and arrived at Bells about 7.30 p.m. It rained quite a lot during the afternoon.
The next day was fine, so in the morning I practised golf in front of the house, and in the afternoon went to the Golf Club, Buckingham, with Bill. Played very badly and lost one ball. Bridge at night.
Sunday August 2nd. Lillington Lovel Manor. Yesterday afternoon Bill and I motored over to Northampton to see the Weekly Fair. Quite a big affair, but it rained so much that we came away. Bought a pair of shoes in a factory store as they were made locally. This morning I practised golf on the lawn and in the afternoon Olga and I motored over to the Richard Agar's at Congrove Hall, where we met the Shearers, Lockwoods, Miss Anna Cowan and Miss Ferguson. They have a nice place.
Monday August 3rd was a Bank Holiday. It was a fine day, bar a few small drizzles. Practised golf practically all day, taking it quietly. Swimming bath was being cleaned out, and we were waiting for the water to run in.
Tuesday 4th. We all motored over to Newport Pagnell and rumaged about in antique shops. In the afternoon we went over to the McLarens place at Alynhoe, where we had tea, and stayed on for dinner and bridge. We also visited Cartwright's place. A beautiful park with fine trees and a lime tree avenue. There were also some very nice red-wood trees.
The following morning Bell and I motored to Major Morrisons place, Basildon Park, where there was an auction of stock. I bought five rams. There were some very fine "polled angus" cows, and two especially magnificent steers. Next day we went to the Weekly Fair at Banbury, which is a quite lively and nice town.
Friday was a fine day, the first time it has not rained for a long time. I practised golf and had a swim in the tank. In the evening Olga went to Cirencester and bought an antique corner-cupboard for £17 to be packed.
We returned to Pebmarsh next day, leaving the Bells at 10 a.m. and arriving at Cambridge at 12.30 where we lunched at the Bull Hotel. Poked around the place, as it was Fair Day. We passed through Stony Stratford, Bedford, Cambridge and Halstead. Lots of vegetable gardens this side of Bedford. Wheat being cut as also oats. When we arrived found Mr Horner much better but still in bed.
For the next two days we motored round the country visiting Ingbury, Melford, and Lavenham, at the latter place there is a very fine church. We also went to Colchester to do some shopping. Still raining.
August 11th. White Hart Hotel, Salisbury. It rained hard all the morning, but was fine in the afternoon. Left at 9.30 a.m. and arrived in London in time for lunch at Prince's Grill Room. Afterwards went to Royal Mail Offices and arranged for my passage on the "Arlanza" leaving on September 4th and for Olga's leaving on the "Andes" which sails on October 16th. She is afraid to leave just now as Mr Horner is still so ill. We left London again about 3 p.m. going by Basingstoke, where we had tea, and then went on to Salisbury, which seems to be a busy thriving place.
Wednesday August 12th. Dr Traill's House at Ottery St. Mary. It rained practically all day and was very windy. In the morning went to a sheep sale. Then went to Stonehenge, but did not stop long as it was too windy and raining. Drove over the downs in the rain, and had lunch at a small place at More, arriving at this place about 4.30 in time for tea. Bridge at night (made 11/6). Bob Traill, Mr and Mrs Sidebottom, Joe Traill, staying here, also Andy and Joan Parry.
The next morning was fine and sunny, so we walked down town. Olga, Bob and I, and called on the Sidebottom's, and then motored to Mrs Edmund Traill for lunch, and going on to Exmouth for tea. Our chauffeur, Flood parked the car at the wrong place and was summoned, but got off by seeing the inspector who said "Yes, but don't do it again". Bridge last night. Lost 8/-
Friday 14th. In the morning early, Olga and I went to Chagford, which is on the edge of Exmoor. Had lunch at the Three Crowns Hotel, while Flood visited his mother and sister whom he had not seen for seventeen years. We then motored through to Teignmouth by way of small side-roads to Manston, Bovey Tracy, Manton Abbott, Teignmouth and Dawlish, and Exeter. The moors looked fine with the gorse and heather in bloom. Teignmouth was very crowded and gay.
Saturday 15th. Traill House. A lovely day. We went for a picnic to Cheddar Gorge. We were a large party, Olga and I, Bob Traill, in our car; Mrs Traill, Gertie, Tony, Miss Lace, and Miss Lawson in the Traill car, and Mrs Sidebottom in her own little car. We met another car with two gents and two ladies, connections of hers. We made a fire and cooked sausages, and had our picnic near the Gorge. We passed through Chard, Selmouth, Longport, Glastonbury, and Wells. At Glastonbury there was a fine old Abbey which we visited. On the way back we saw the beautiful Gorge and Caves, and went through Axbridge, Highbridge, Bridgenorth, Taunton and Honiton. There were lots of sightseers at the Caves. Had bridge and poker at night.
August 16th. Poultney Hotel. Bath. Very fine day. We left the Traill's after lunch, and motored through Illminster and Shipton. Very pretty country. We arrived at Bath in time for tea, and afterwards walked about to see the old place. The next day we visited the old Roman Baths, and then left about 11 a.m. for Reading, where we lunched at the Caversham Bridge Hotel. We stopped to see Windsor Castle on our way back to London, and arrived at the Victoria Hotel in time for tea. Had a Turkish Bath afterwards.
Thursday August 20th. The previous day we made a flying visit to Pebmarsh to see Mr Horner whom we found much better, so we left early in the morning for Scotland, and lunched at Newark. We passed through the Black Country via Bradford. Very dark and smoky, and raining, or trying to, at the same time. Lots of motor cars about.
The next day we passed through Grange Bank, Wigton, Windemere, Ambleside, and had lunch at the Keswick Hotel which was a very nice hotel. We looked around the town which was very crowded, and came on by Bothel, arriving at Todd's place at 3.30. It rained a good deal, and we had to use our umbrellas in the car.
Saturday August 22nd. It rained some in the forenoon and afternoon. We left Todd's place at 1.30 and stopped for a moment in Carlisle to look at antiques. Todd and Annie came in their car with us as far as Carlisle, and we all had tea at a small place near. There were tremendous crowds of workers from right into Glasgow. Streets very crowded. Arriving at Glasgow, went to St. Enoch's Hotel for the night. Good hotel. Had to have hood up all the way from Carlisle on account of the rain.
Sunday August 23rd. Athol Place Hotel, Pitlochery, Scotland. It rained quite a lot all day. We left Glasgow about 10 a.m. in the morning and motored up by Loch Lomond, Glen Falloch, Glen Dochard, and Loch Tay to Pitlochery. We had lunch at Killin, which is at the head of Loch Tay. Most beautiful country with fine trees. Rain spoilt it a lot, as we had to have the hood up, and when we took it down, it rained again. This is a fine hotel. At night there was a concert given by the guests.
Monday August 24th. Royal Hotel. Edinburgh. It rained all day without stopping. We left Pitlochery at 10 a.m. and lunched at Stirling at the Lion Hotel (very poor) arriving at Edinburgh at 3.30 p.m. Fine looking shops, everything very wet.
Tuesday August 25th. Today was a fine day. We took a taxi and called for Mrs Macdonald, who was not at home. We went to see the Castle, where we were shown around, and then went to Holyrood, where we saw Queen Mary driving up. In the afternoon we went to Dicksons Seed Nurseries, where the head of the firm showed us round. Ordered a lot of seeds, for which I paid £10.00 and he promised I should have them in the Argentine by April. At night went to the Cinema alongside hotel, which was very laughable.
The next day we went to Doncaster where we arrived at 7 p.m. We travelled by Dunbar, Berwick-on-Tweed, Alnwick, Morpeth, (where we lunched) Newcastle, Durham, Darlington, Northallerton, York and Selby. We tried to get a room at York, but as the racing was on all the hotels were full. Only just got last room at this hotel. Had tea at York at a place in front of the Cathedral. We arrived back at Pebmarsh in the evening, coming via Nottingham, where we lunched at the Old Bridge Hotel (very good hotel) and came on by Cambridge. It rained a good deal in the forenoon. Found Mr Horner about the same, but looking better.
We returned to London on Monday 31st, and I left the car at the Vauxhall Company to be shipped to the Argentine, as I had decided to keep it. After tea we went to the Argentine Club, where we met Tetley. Sykes had dinner with us and we went to a Music Hall, the Victoria Palace, which was quite good. I heard that the sailors of the "Arlanza" are on strike, and that we may not sail on time.
September 1st. Hotel Victoria, London. Settled up with the chauffeur Flood and gave him a bonus of £5.- and then went with Olga to the Royal Mail Office. I found that there was no single berth cabin left, so had to take the double one that I had engaged for both of us. Olga is not sailing yet on account of her father not being well. From there we went to the Argentine consul in Gower Street. We found a difficulty here on account of our not having brought from the Argentine a certificate of "good conduct". The consul told us to cable to Buenos Aires for one. After cabling Buenos Aires, we went back to the Consul, who then told us that if we brought a letter from Agar Cross & Co. and the London Bank, he would see that it would be all right. Dirty dog, for making me cable in the first place. At night we went to the Drury Lane Theatre to see "Rose Marie" (very good).
The next day I went to see Agar Cross for the Argentine Consul, and then did some shopping. In the evening Olga and I went to Wembley, where we dined, and saw the Military Tattoo, which was very fine.
The following morning I went to the London Bank and got the letter of recommendation for the Argentine Consul, which in the end was not necessary, as a cable had been sent to the Consul telling him to issue the passport immediately. He excused himself for not having done it before when we first went. Llobet I think his name was.
We afterwards went to the Argentine Club where we met Bradbury and Tetley. In the afternoon we packed, and then went to a tea-dance at Princes Restaurant.
Friday September 4th. S.S."Arlanza" Left this morning by the boattrain from Waterloo. Olga saw me off at the station, where we met Mrs Green and John Peard, Mrs Neild and family, and Tommy Lindsell and family. Know lots of people on board.
Arrived in Buenos Aires on September 25th, after a most pleasant but uneventful voyage. I called to see Mrs Peard, and gave her a package from John Peard. It seems Johnny Benitz (John's son) and Aphra Peard got engaged yesterday.
I went to see about my five rams, which arrived yesterday by the S.S. "Vasari", and then left for Rosario, where I stayed at the Rosario Palace Hotel. I arrived at 10 p.m. and went straight to bed.
In the month of July, after a visit to his estancia "El Vermejo" situated near Corrientes in the Chaco, Alfred decided to take the opportunity of seeing the famous Falls in company with his friend Sykes.
Thursday July 25th. On train to Posadas. I telegraphed to Posadas for them to reserve berths on the steamer which leaves for Iguazu on Saturday, and then went to see Wenceslado Ward who was very attentive, and helped us in reserving berths on the train tonight. After a siesta we went to the Corrientes Tennis Club for tea, where there was quite a large social gathering. Afterwards we had cocktails with King-Spark and Taylor, and dined with Ward. At 10 p.m. we took the train to Posadas, going via Monte Caseros.
Friday 26th. On train to Posadas. Rained all last night, and today. We arrived at Monte Caseros at about 10 a.m. and left by the main line for Posadas about 4 p.m. Had lunch at a hotel and had a look at the Uruguay River. Sat in Taylor's private coach on train until we got to Caseros. Camp very sodden with water, pity as rather a nice country to look at. There seems to be a rather large English element in these parts who are growing "yerba mate" and fruit trees.
Saturday July 27th. It rained a good deal last night, nearly all night, but was fine next morning and rest of day. We arrived at Posadas about 4 a.m. and went to the Mihanovich Office, then on board the "Corumba" en route for Iguazu. I got a cabin with two others, as the steamer is very full. Lots of Americans on board, tourists I think. We all sat at the same table for meals. Had some bridge at night. Quite a good steamer, but food not extra good. I am told that the river is from thirty to thirty-five miles deep. Good "dorado" fishing, but best in September.
Sunday July 28th. Iguazu Falls. It rained in the early morning, but turned out to be a fine day. We reached Punta Aguirre at 2 p.m., and as there were about eighty of us, we had trouble in getting to the Falls, which was about 60 minutes journey in a car. We found we had got some rooms outside the hotel, in an annexe, which were rather poor. I arrived in the last car at 8 p.m. Great crowd here and in good spirits.
Monday July 29th. Iguazu Falls. A warm, damp day, muggy and looks like more rain. Our party of eight went in a car for about a league, and then we got in a canoe for the Garganta del Diablo, the biggest fall of all, and where the rivers of Uruguay, Brazil, and the Argentine all meet in one huge fall. Very fine sight. In the afternoon I walked with a big party to see the river and falls nearest here, which is called Los Tres Mosqueteros. There are also "Las Tres Hermanas" and the San Martin Falls, all very beautiful and with plenty of water. There are about eighty-two guests in the hotel altogether. Very crowded. Our room in the annexe is No 4 and has only two beds and one chair, and we have to go over to the hotel for a wash etc.
Tuesday July 30th. Iguazu Falls. A damp and muggy day. We started at 9 a.m. with a big party on foot to see the Falls from below, the San Martin. It was very slippery going and there was lots of climbing to do. Did not go out in the afternoon as it rained. Had some bridge and bought some postcards.
Wednesday July 31st. Iguazu Falls. A cold and overcast day, very bleak and disagreeable. The large party left by the "Corimba" for Posadas, and there are only eight of us left, also four others who arrived last night. Had a walk in the "picada" (jungle) called the "Barrera".
August 1st. Thursday. Iguazu Falls. Very cold last night. Lovely sunny morning when lots of beautiful butterflies came out, brilliant blue, red, and yellow and of great size. It was overcast again in the afternoon. In the morning we went over to the Brazilian side where the ruined hotel is that was destroyed by fire. We went in a motor car, and returned in a canoe. The best view of the Falls, is certainly from the Brazilian side. In the afternoon went for a short walk.
Friday August 2nd. Punta Aguirre. Left the Falls at 9 a.m. arriving here an hour later. As the steamer, which is to take us to Mendez and which should have been here early this morning, had not arrived, we were obliged to stop the night. However the hotel is quite good and clean, but of course we are losing time. Guess something must have happened to the steamer.
Saturday August 3rd. Hotel Iguazu. Punta Aguirre. Beautiful day, but cold in the morning, and very cold last night. Guess it must have been freezing. Hear by radio today that our steamer "Ituzango" had run against something and was obliged to return to Eldorado, and that the "Corumba" was on her way up here. Don't know when we will be able to get to Puerto Mendez. I strolled about in the morning, and in the afternoon went in a canoe to the Brazilian side opposite, but had to come back in canoe as walking in the forest was too difficult. Was offered a tiger skin for $55.00.
The next day, after another very cold night, was fine and sunny. We took a row boat and went to Paz, which took us about two hours, and we went to see some rapids there which were very fine. Went to Hotel International, where we had quite a good lunch. Met Mr Wainright, the American Consul, who was on his way from San Paolo to Guayaquil, via Buenos Aires. We took a "camion" and went for a short drive to see a yerba plantation. Came back in an hour and a half. Wainright came with us. The "Corumba" is expected tonight. Did not come.
Sunday August 5th. Puerto Aguirre. The steamer arrived about 11 a.m. and leaves again on Wednesday. She brought about forty passengers who are going to the Falls. Brought newspapers of 23rd to 30th July, which we borrowed. Not much doing today.
Tuesday August 6th. Puerto Aguirre. Yesterday it poured all day, so remained indoors, but today is another fine day and warm. Sykes, Wainright and I hired a canoe and boatman, and with three naval cadets, went down the river Parana to a port called Puerto Gimenez, where there was a beautiful plantation of all sorts of trees and fruit trees, also some yerba a regular park. We saw them picking the yerba, and each of us got about a kilo, but it was unground of course. From there we walked about two kilometres to Beroni's place. Also quite interesting, with a beautiful forest. It took us an hour to go, and three to come back. Mrs Beroni said that they have about 200 classes of citrus plants. The trip was well worth while. We had some trouble getting back over the rapids.
Wednesday August 7th. Vapor "Corumba". We went on board after lunch, and then waited for the tourists from the Falls to arrive, leaving eventually at 2 p.m. We tied up at Eldorado for the night, as the Captain wanted to be careful after the accident to the "Ituzango" last week. Very nice river. We are stopping at a great many places for food, passengers, etc.
Thursday August 8th. Hotel Palacio. Posadas. Very fine day after fog in the morning. We arrived here about 5 a.m. Quite a large hotel. Had dinner with Wainright, and then saw him off on the train to Buenos Aires. Went to a cinema afterwards and saw "Yo soy el Cupable".
Friday 9th. Hotel Palacios, Posadas. Got a car to take us to see the ruins at San Ignacio. It took us two and a half hours to get there. The ruins were originally a church built by the Jesuits. Very interesting. Met Mr and Miss Clark there. Had lunch at the Station fonda, and came back in less than two hours.
Saturday August 10th. Grand Hotel, Villa Rica. Got up at 4 a.m. and took the train for Asuncion, arriving at Villa Rica at 3 p.m. There were about thirty of the tourists who were at Iguazu on the train. Good deal of open country with seemingly hard grass for cattle, which were very poor looking. An Englishmen on the train said that good camp was worth about $2.00 per league. Leagues here at about 4,000 metres. We called on Solano Gonzalez who took us to the Club for cocktails, and we met him after dinner, and went to the cinema. He is a brother in law of Mrs Miles. The vegetation here is quite luxuriant, but the country seems very poor, a good deal on account of wars scare with Bolivia. Money worth $18.70 to the Argentine peso.
Sunday August 11th. Hotel Hispano-Americano, Asuncion. Hot day, guess about 30 degrees. In the morning we took Sr. Solano Gonzalez in a car to a sugar-factory near by, owned by a family of Hungarians. Quite interesting but the sugar cane does not seem as thick or as long as in Las Palmas. They work about 50 tons of cane per day. After a siesta we took the 2.30 train to Asuncion, arriving at 5.30 p.m. We tried several hotels, but as there were no rooms, we came here. Bare and not very good rooms, but place seems crowded. Very pretty country around here, and nicely coloured dressed girls on view at stations.
August 12th. Asuncion. Very hot last night, and the mosquitoes too bad for sleeping. In the morning we took tickets for the steamer "Guarani", which sails on Wednesday for Rosario. Afterwards went shopping, and bought some skins, Indian curios, Nanduty lace, and cigars. In the afternoon we visited the Botanical Gardens, which seemed rather neglected. Went to Cinema at night.
Tuesday August 13th. Asuncion. Very hot muggy day again. Went shopping in the morning, and then got a ticket to go on to the Aviation Field. Went in a car on quite a rood road, but when we got there, found that the man in charge was not there. In the afternoon I went to the shops again and bought a silver cup and plate for $18.00 Paraguayan. Then called on Mr and Miss Bird at the Legation. In the evening went to Cinema.
Wednesday August 14th. Steamer "Guarani" On our way to Rosario. Left in the morning at 8 a.m. Pestered by women selling Nanduty lace. Bought a silver "mate" and "bombilla" for $100.00 Argentine and some Paraguayan rugs. Have a cabin on the sunny side of deck, but the purser promised us another if passengers don't come on. Luckily the Iguazu steamer wont make the connection at Corrientes. Shaw, who is working on the railway line from Formosa to Encarnacion, came on board at Formosa. A young man, named Campbell, who got off at Formosa, gave us quite a lot of useful information.
On Friday 16th we arrived at Rosario about 11.30 a.m. Had no trouble getting through customs, although Sykes had a demijuan of Paraguayan caña, and thousands of cigars.
Arrived at "Tres Lagunas" next day.
For the last eight years, Mr and Mrs Alfred Benitz had divided their time between their estancia "Las Tres Lagunas" near Rosario, and their lovely summer residence "El Rincon" in the Cordoba Hills.
They visited their neighbours, relatives, and hosts of friends, always keeping open house themselves, and making everyone very welcome. In the winter they made occasional trips to town, where they generally stayed for a week or so, to visit the theatres, opera, and attended cattle-shows etc.
Alfred was now seventy-eight years of age, and the last remaining member of the original Benitz family, who came to the Argentine in the late 19th century. His brother William had died of heart trouble at the age of fifty-six, while on a visit to the United States, in the year 1910. His mother, Mrs Josephine Benitz, had died peacefully at her home "La Josefina" in Cordoba, in the year 1912, at the ripe old age of eighty-two. She was a grand old lady who set a fine example to everybody by her fine indomitable character, which made history in the pioneer days and influenced the success of her family. She was also laid to rest in the family Cemetry at "La California", where she lies with her husband and sons.
The last entry made in Alfred's diary was made on September 16th, 1937 two days before he died at "El Rincon" [Correction: “Las Tres Lagunas”].
On Sunday 12th he writes:- Fine day. The bulls I bought from Drabble's on the 7th arrived this morning looking quite well. After tea Willie and Eileen, Gifford, Williams, Topham, Jim Traill and young Sympson came for bowls and tea.
On Tuesday 14th. Warm day, strong north wind, barometer low. Clearing up my office and desk. In the afternoon Mr and Mrs Haden arrived from Buenos Aires to stop a few days. Had a long walk with them and Olga through monte.
Wednesday 15th. Hot strong north wind which in evening turned south, with a few drops of rain at 6 p.m. Mr and Mrs Haden had a ride in the forenoon. Nothing done in afternoon on account of heat. Bertolozzi coming next Monday to see about renovating old bath-room. Also Boiso came to see about "alcantarilla" in the "paraiso monte".
Thursday 16th. Cleared up during the night, with strong south wind. Had rained eight and a half mm. Looks as if the "seca" is not ended up. In the morning went to "Las Tijeras" 26-28. Vaccinating calves from No. 14. Mrs Haden had telephone message from Buenos Aires, so that they left in afternoon train. Letters from Doherty re "percheron" that wont serve, also from "Dr Emiliana" wanting to buy a stallion.
Girdo and Phyllus a new baby (John).......................
The Times Book on Argentina.
The South American Handbook.
Anual de Gran Bretaña.
Whitaker's Almanack.
A History of English Law.
Reports of State Trials.
The Constitutional Law of the British Dominions.
The Geographical Magazine.
Rodeo. by A.E. Tschiffley.
The Encyolopedea Britanica.
"Times Remembered" by Francis Horner.
© Peter Benitz (Benitz Family)