Chilean Ranches and Rodeos, c. 1880
"We had the pleasure of witnessing an impromptu rodeo, arranged by our host, in order to give us some idea of the reality..."
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From Chili: Sketches of Chili and the Chilians During the War 1879-1880 by Robert Nelson Boyd, 1881.
Visit to a New Farm — A Rodeo — Scanty Population — Agriculture in the South of Chili — A Racecourse — The Plain of Canete — Journey to Libu — Valparaiso— Santiago.
Our host was good enough to come up to the town with horses to take us to his farm, and in his company we proceeded on our ride over the rich plain of Canete. This would have been very enjoyable had the weather not been so unpropitious; but it rained incessantly, and the rivers on the way were all swollen and almost impassable. We passed through a country only partly cultivated, and as we neared our destination the ground became more rough, and covered with brushwood and high coarse grass. Here and there we passed small lakes or lagunes, the banks of which were prettily wooded, and alive with numbers of wild swan, duck, and other water-fowl.
We found the habitation of the farmer to consist of a primitive log-hut, roughly put together, and containing two rooms with openings, closed by wooden shutters, in lieu of windows, and neither plaster nor paper used to fill up, or cover the chinks in the walls and roof. After a long and wet ride our supper of “charqui” and “valdiviano” was very welcome. Charqui is simply jerked or sun-dried beef, and is the general, and I may add the favourite food of the Chileno huaso or cattle herd. It is very useful on long journeys, as it is easily carried. On the march it is eaten without further preparation, but when possible it is, after being cut into small pieces, boiled with onions and potatoes, and made into soup called “valdiviano.” In this form it is very tasty and invigorating.
Our repast was washed down with a plentiful supply of good Conception wine, and several bowls of matte. This latter beverage is peculiar to South America, and more so to the eastern than the western slope of the Andes. It is a decoction of the leaves of a plant called “yerba,” which grows in great abundance in Paraguay. The matte tea is put into a bowl, which in the richer houses is made of silver, and some sugar, and boiling water is poured over it. It is then sucked up through a silver, or other metal, tube having a perforated bowl at the end. The neophyte is in great danger of burning his mouth by drawing too soon, but he quickly finds it a most refreshing beverage. When we retired to rest our host advised us to take his favourite little terrier to our room on account of the rats, which he said might otherwise trouble our repose. It is impossible to say what the rats would have done had we been without the dog, but the experience of the night was that of an incessant rat hunt.
Under and over the beds, and all round the room, the chase continued until the light of day began to pierce through the numerous chinks of the timber walls and roof. On subsequent nights we contented ourselves with the society of the rats alone, giving them free option to perambulate the room, while we slept soundly beneath our ponchos.
Our rides over this district were very enjoyable, owing to the great diversity in the character of the country. On the mountain range we had the advantage of long shady rides under the fine old trees; while, at the foot of the hilly ground waving fields of ripening corn extended all around and along the seashore, and we rode over sands and downs covered with short grass. Close to the shore were patches of low wood, with here and there a lake or lagoon so prettily bordered with shrubs and flowers that the view more resembled that of a carefully tended park, than an almost untrodden wilderness.
In places where the plough had already passed, the beauty of the wilderness was replaced by the tamer, but still charming effects of cultivation. The swamps were drained, the brushwood removed, cattle were browsing on the rich herbage, and, where forests quite recently stood, fields of waving corn now gladdened the eye of the cultivator. The process of revolutionizing the aspect of nature is in full operation in Southern Chili, and the land where now the silver fox trots out in broad daylight, jaunty and fearless, where flocks of wild swan and ducks are at home, like farm-yard poultry, and the green parrots are screeching among the woods, will soon be cleared and cut into fields. The denizens of the wilderness will move away to more secluded haunts, and the land they occupy will be turned into pastures where cattle will browse to fatness.
It takes two years to clear the unbroken ground, after which the land, without any preparation, will bear a crop of wheat for three years in succession. It is then generally allowed to remain fallow for one or two years. During this time the roots of the old trees spring up into life, and the ground becomes covered with low brushwood, which in its turn is burnt to fertilize the land afresh. This process is an exhaustive one, and cannot go on for many years. Hitherto, no other crop but wheat has been raised in quantity, although almost anything will grow on the rich soil and under the genial climate. Wheat is, however, the best crop for the farmer here, as he finds a ready sale for it for export. On the farm we visited it was the only crop grown by the owners, but on the land they allotted to their labourers, beans, potatoes, peas, Indian corn, and every kind of vegetable are produced in smaller or larger quantities. All these plants grow in a most luxuriant manner, and the wheat rises to a height of five or six feet.
The valley of Canete extends from that town towards the south as far as Tirhua Point, a distance of about fifty miles, and its width from the slopes of the “Cordillera de la Nahuelhuta ” to the sea-coast — which is about sixty miles at Canete — comes to a point at Tirhua, where the mountain range runs into the sea. The best wheat-growing land is on the slopes of the Cordillera, and at the foot of the hills. The plain near the sea is rather marshy, and better suited for stock-farming.
The farm of our host comprised land of both qualities; and while the higher parts were being cleared and brought under cultivation, the lower plain was stocked with cattle, horses, and a number of mares bred and kept for threshing during the autumn.
The system of threshing the corn in Chili consists in forming a circle of 100 to 200 yards diameter, on which the ripe corn is thrown, and over which a number of mares are made to gallop. As the corn becomes threshed the straw is piled up in the centre, and the corn gathered up and stored. The mares are urged on by men on horseback who gallop behind the troop, and are exposed to great danger, for a fall in the circle means death, or at least severe injury. Nevertheless, it is a favourite performance of the daring Chili huaso, who delights in equestrian feats. The cattle on the stock-farms run almost wild, and during the year certain losses through accidents, natural deaths, or theft, are inevitable.
In order to keep count of the animals on the farm, they are driven in to an enclosure once, or several times, during the year, and there counted, sorted, and marked. This is called a rodeo, and is looked on as a festival by the farm-labourers and the surrounding inhabitants. Whenever a rodeo is held at a farm, men come from miles around on horseback to assist in driving the cattle in — an occupation not quite devoid of danger, as some of the animals are wild and savage, or what the Chilians call “brav.”
When a beast refuses to enter the enclosure, or in case it has to be separated for sale or fattening, it is caught with the lasso, in the throwing of which the Chileno is an expert. He will lasso a bull by the horns, or by one leg, or even by the tail. Sometimes it takes two lassos to secure a strong and very wild animal. The dogs of the huaso are trained to play an important part at a rodeo. They not only help to drive in the cattle, but, when they are lassoed, they lay hold of their tails and drag them down; sometimes they even spitefully worry the poor beasts and have to be driven off. But they are in so far useful that they exhaust the animal’s power of resistance, and render it submissive. This accomplishment of the Chili dogs may be very useful at a rodeo, but their fashion of hanging on to the tails of animals is very unpleasant when exercised on the horse of the peaceful traveller. In riding through the country in Chili it is absolutely necessary to carry either a whip with a long lash, or a thong at the end of the bridle, to scare away these dogs.
We had the pleasure of witnessing an impromptu rodeo, arranged by our host, in order to give us some idea of the reality; and although only a few hundred tame animals, then quietly browsing in the vicinity of the farmstead, were driven in, it quite enabled us to form a picture of the excitement and sport connected with the real thing. More than a score of men, mounted on eager little horses, were galloping about in every direction, yelling and shouting as loudly as their lungs would allow them, and whirling the lasso about in readiness to drop on any animal; the dogs meantime yelping and barking like hounds.
We took our place near the entrance to the inclosure, and here also were stationed the best huasos, who, at the bidding of their employer, caught the animals as they passed, by legs, or horn, or tail, with never-failing certainty, throwing the lasso with remarkable ease, even at a considerable distance. In one case we assumed a quiet young bull to be an “animal brav,” and had him caught by two lassos, one on each horn. The poor brute, thus suddenly stopped in his career, stumbled to the ground, where the dogs set at him, and nearly made him “brav” in earnest with fear and astonishment. In fact, the men, the dogs — nay, even the horses, entered so thoroughly into the spirit of the sport that they seemed to forget it was only a sham to satisfy the curiosity of a few strangers.
It was getting so very near the reality that the owner, fearing that all the cattle from the distant parts of the farm might be driven in, had to give the signal to stop.
The best performance we witnessed was catching a bull by the tail. The huaso threw his lasso with a very wide noose over the head of the animal, and allowed its body to pass through, pulling the lasso up and tightening it just at the tail, and holding the roaring plunging brute fast.
At a large Chilian hacienda or farm every one, from the owner down to the lowest servant, is on horseback every day, and generally all day long. The farm-servants, more especially the huasos or cattle herds, live on horseback; and even when they get a holiday they spend it in the saddle, or what they are pleased to use as such, smoking cigarettes and drinking wine.
I may here mention that the Chilian saddle, or “montura," as it is called in Spanish, consists of a wooden frame laid on the horse’s back over a folded rug, or some sheepskins, and covered with a number of other skins, either lamb, sheep, deer, guanaco, or even llama. I have known as many as eighteen skins used on such a saddle. They are kept in position by a belt passing round the belly of the horse, and, when taken off, they form the bed and covering of the huaso at night. To those not accustomed to a montura, the position is as painful as performing the “splits” would be to an amateur acrobat. But the Chilian begins to ride as soon as he can walk, and is used to the montura from his boyhood. As we left the scene of the rodeo we met a number of men riding up to the place. They had come from some distance, having heard of the chance of sport.
In more thickly inhabited parts of the country a rodeo is an extremely merry affair, as crowds come to the meet. But in the newly-populated regions comparatively few can be mustered. In fact, the question of a working population is a very serious one in new and distant-lying farms like the one I visited. The land is purchased either from the Government or from the original owners — a cacique and his tribe. It is bought cheap, and only requires to be cultivated to yield large profits. But there are no hands on the soil. The population is sparse, and the few Indians that remain on the ground are not of much use as workmen to reclaim and cultivate the soil. In order to attract settlers to such a district they are tempted with free houses, grants of small plots of land free of rent, as long as they remain and give their services when needed, and good pay for the time they are employed on the farm.
But, even with such favourable terms, it is difficult to secure labour in new districts in Chili, and its development is much retarded in consequence. Emigration to Chili has not been great at any time from Europe, yet the south presents very fair prospects to the agriculturist, either as capitalist or labourer. Living is cheap and good; the climate healthy and mild, the soil wonderfully productive ; and, with attention and work, a careful man ought to prosper. Nevertheless, emigrants to South America do not, as a rule, remain in the country as settlers on the soil, but only spend a short space of time in the hope of acquiring a fortune.
Unfortunately, the royal road to wealth is not more easy to find in South America than elsewhere; many there are that seek, but few that find it. A new country like this, with so many advantages, presents a thoroughly good field for the industrious and sober man, who may be pressed at home by the competition resulting from over-population. Life on a hacienda in Chili has many attractions, such as good climate, beautiful scenery, plenty of game, and a free, camp-like existence. The Chilian landowner is, as a rule, a jovial, pleasant fellow, always glad to see a friend and give a welcome to a stranger. In the outlying districts the haciendas are the inns on the road, and the wayfarer rides up to the door of the house, and asks for hospitality with the certainty of a hearty welcome.
This is, in fact, a custom arising from necessity in a country so sparsely inhabited. Of course every journey here is performed on horseback; the traveller must needs ask for shelter at the houses on his way, but the civility is in time returned, and the host of to-day becomes the guest of to-morrow.
Boyd, Robert Nelson. Chili: Sketches of Chili and the Chilians During the War 1879-1880. W.H. Allen, 1881.
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