PEDIGREE CATTLE.
OVEN BIRD'S NEST.
To face p. 320.
Broadly speaking, it may be said that the Colorado party is made up of the dwellers in the towns and more populous centres, while the Blancos are represented to a large extent by the dwellers in the Campo and the clerical party. Of course, no hard-and-fast rule can be laid down on the subject: there are Blancos in plenty to be met with in the towns, and numbers of the opposing section to be found in the country; but in the main the distinction applies.
The districts in which the Blancos are most strongly represented of all are those of the northern provinces of Tacuarembó and Rivera, more especially the latter, since it offers in case of need the refuge of the Brazilian frontier. Party feeling at all times runs high, and in these districts that are almost altogether given over to the Blanco cause a certain amount of caution is necessary should a revolution actually be in progress. Much stress, for instance, is laid on the insignia that—in the absence of regular military uniforms—distinguish the adherents of one side from those of the other. In a Blanco district, when trouble is seething, it may be laid down as a hard-and-fast maxim that the traveller should wear no trace of red about his person. The precaution may seem grotesque, yet many ludicrous mistakes have occurred through a failure to observe it.
One of the numerous instances of the kind was provided me by a mining engineer, who had himself undergone the experience. Appointed as manager to a goldmine in the far north of the Republic, he happened to arrive, a stranger to the country, during the period of unrest in 1904. Nearing his destination, he had left the railway-line, and was completing the last few leagues of his journey by coach, when he stopped for refreshment at a small pulperia, or rural inn.
The place was fairly well filled with peones, and with the various types of the local labourer, and no sooner had he entered the doors than it became obvious to the traveller that his advent had caused a deep sensation amongst these folk. The landlord served him with reluctance and a visible show of embarrassment, while the black looks of the rest grew deeper, until the demeanour of a certain number became actually threatening. The mining engineer turned in amazement to the pulpero, who in mute accusation pointed a finger at the tie he wore. It was a vivid red! The traveller had learned sufficient of the country's situation to enable him to understand something of the situation. The group of Blancos were fully under the impression that one of their hated political enemies had defiantly come to beard them in their very midst. Explanations produced only a minor result, since these hardy dwellers in the back-blocks were wont to judge by deeds rather than by words. So, perceiving that no other remedy remained, the wearer of the hated badge hurried out to his coach, unstrapped one of his bags, and entered the pulperia once more, bearing beneath his collar a standard of neutrality and peace in the shape of a black tie! On this the local patrons of the inn expressed their entire satisfaction, and profound peace reigned in the pulperia.
It would be possible to mention a number of similar episodes. There have even been cases when the colouring of surveyor's poles has given an unpleasantly political significance to instruments that were never more misjudged. But even such ludicrous side-issues serve to show the amount of bitterness that exists amongst the humblest members of either cause. Such determined struggles, it is true, are not a little eloquent of the virility and energy of a nation. Nevertheless, it will be a bright day for Uruguay when the country can look upon its revolutions as past history. As I have said elsewhere, these minor wars have not succeeded in arresting the forward march of the Republic. Yet their cessation could not fail to produce an even greater acceleration in the present rate of progress. Since every thoughtful Uruguayan admits this to the full, and openly deplores these periodical outbursts of unrest, it is to be hoped that the days of internal peace will not be much longer delayed.