Richard Francis Burton

“ General Argolo is a Liberal in politics; and Liberals are apt to look after their own. In appearance he is of the bird of rapine type : short, thin, and small, with high nose and hawk^s eyes ; a tall, broad forehead, straight hair and beard waxing grey ; he may already have turned the half- century. Cool in the extreme under fire, he is deliberate in act and slow in speech : his drawling tones give you des crispations. He is loved as a father by his men, but he is by no means a favourite with the Argentines. ”

“ During this period all the world of men dressed in faded black is dead and gone. Here the siesta is the universal custom, to the severe injury of picnics. At the mystic hour you see every eye waxing smaller and smaller, till closed by a doze with a suspicion of nasal music. ”

“ The Brazilians are the hottest players, pushing on far into the small hours. Politely admitting the fact that we, thereabouts lodged, may be asleep, or may wish to sleep, they open conversation in a half whisper. ”

“ Instead of holding along the stream a succession of outposts, which were all lost by direct attack or by evacuation, they should have concentrated themselves at fewer places, and should have rendered them doubly and trebly strong. To defend only a few points, and to defend them well, is the recognised general principle in these days of short sharp wars.
The Brazilian attack was necessarily as monotonous as the Paraguayan defence. The assailants, after occupying the enemy's front in force, also ensconced themselves behind lines of earthwork. ”

“ The stout-hearted fugitives at once threw up hasty earth- works on dry land between the waters. But their position was hopeless. North-east lay the Allied redoubt, Andai, backed by two ironclads ; to the south-west were also two ironclads, whose shot crushed through the thin wood, and crossing with the fire of the Andai, cut off their retreat to the west ; and finally, on the south-east stood the Chaco fort held by the Brazilians. The Allied force numbered some 12,000 men, of whom 2000 were Argentines. ”

“ The bank is low, and the vegetation, after thinning out, becomes more luxuriant, large trees looming in the distance. The palm-groves of the Gran Chaco are now bare of mon- keys, its oldest inhabitants.
Three hours' steaming from Corrientes placed us off the historical site of Ciu'uzii — the Cross. It is a new outpost of Humaita, a short trench, whose right rested upon the Paraguay, and its left upon a water which communicates with the great Laguna Chichi. The river-bank is here broken, and four to five feet high. ”

“ As a rule the Brazilian cavalry has not seen much ser- vice in this war of earthworks. Their principal use has been in raids, reconnaissances, and attacks of outposts. "With few exceptions they have behaved remarkably well, and have been ably and gallantly handled by their officers, who acted upon the well-known axiom, that cavalry should never surrender. They are now somewhat in the position of the Crimean cavalry after the Charge of Balaklava. The Argentines, as a rule, were poorly mounted, and being mostly foreigners, were inferior riders. ”

“ One ironclad, however, had already been suc- cessfully torpedoed, and in the Brazil, as elsewhere, even disciplined men feel a natural horror of, and are easily de- moralized by, hidden mysterious dangers so swiftly and com- pletely destructive. At last, on February 18, 1868, when an unusual flood of nine feet quite submerged the chain, the ironclad squadron took heart of grace, ran, without suffering material damage, the gauntlet of the Humaita and Timbo guns, and anchored off Tayi up stream. ”

“ From afar appears the white church- tower which suggests the earliest stage of the Malakoff. We lumbered through a fleet of merchant steamers and sailing craft ; here and there lay an ironclad, and every- where the steam-launches, lately introduced amongst us, flew buzzing about like flies. In the heart of South America all is modern and civilized. Who shall say that war is not one of the great improvers of mankind ? Farewell.
LETTEE XV.
HUMAITA.
My dear Z-
Hamaita, August 24, 1868. ”

“ At the junction, ships prefer to fill with the Parana, and higher up the crews drink of the springs and fountains. The free navigation of the Paraguay is a political necessity for the Brazilian Empire, which has had a line of steamers upon it since 1857. In six weeks they make Matto Grosso, some 2000 to 2200 miles from Buenos Aires; and in case of necessity they can easily efi'ect the passage in twelve days and nights, at the rate of eight miles an hour. For sailing craft at least six months must be allowed, and some have occupied seven in reaching Humaita ”

“ On the 3rd of September General Porto Alegre^ having landed 8300 men amongst the corn-fields about three-fourths of a mile below, gallantly stormed it by rounding, through four feet of water exposed to enfilade fire, the flank that rested upon the lagoon. The losses were about equal on both sides. Un- happily the victor did not follow up his advantage ; after a short pursuit he returned to his lines ; whereas all are agreed in believing that a single rush would have carried Curupaity and even Humaita. ”

“ The men carried, besides ammunition, arms, and accoutrements, poles to support their mats and skins, raw beef, chairs, tables, and round shot to make hearths. They were followed by women on horse and foot, the hideous lees of civilization, and by carts whose wheel-spokes were bound with hide, and which bore huge heaps of household " loot.'^ Being badly paid, and often not paid at all, the men must plunder to live. As might be expected from a force of the kind, there is no ardour for the cause, and esprit de corps is utterly unknown. ”

“ The rock makes good building material, which cuts well and hardens readily.
Presently we were shown the site of that failure of failures, the French colony of S. Juan, and the spot where the Siete Corrientes gave a name to the city. Though the day was before fine, rain and lightning put in an appearance — it is said that here they are rarely absent. Six leagues, traversed in two hours, placed us at the glorious confluence of the Parana and Paraguay, which here equal, says Azara, a hun- dred of the biggest rivers of Europe, and yet are 250 leagues from the mouth. ”

“ Over his uniform he wore a weathered poncho of vicuna or guanaco wool, here costing some three gold ounces, not the usual cheap, tawdry imitations made in England; and the long riding-boots gave him the aspect of a man of action. He was then doomed to temporary idleness, his left wrist having been pierced by a ball during the disastrous attack of Curupaity.
The right flank of the Andai rested upon the river, and the left upon the Laguna Vera; whilst its front and rear were sufficiently protected from a coup de main either of cavalry or of infantry. ”

“ The works, running nearly north and south, were much stronger and better made than any that we had yet seen. Unfortunately for the defenders it could be shelled by the ironclads, which were only thirty feet below it. The works were composed of glacis, fosse, and parapets of adobe revetted with sods. Inside was a ditch three or four feet broad, with a wall of about the same height, which acted covered-way and drained the terre-plein. The position is the plateau of Humaita : a tree-clad bank rising some twenty feet above the ponds and swamps which front it. ”

“ Can these poor barbettes, this en- trenched camp sans citadel — which the Brazilian papers had reported to have been blown up — be the same that resisted 40,000 men, not to speak of ironclads and gunboats, and that endured a siege of two years and a half? I came to the conclusion that Humaita was a monstrous hum, and that, with the rest of the public, I had been led into be- lieving the weakest point of the Paraguayan campaign to be the strongest. ”

“ At this place the Brazilians raised heavy batteries to bombard Fort Itapiru. Under the tall barranca, or falaise, we descry a few ranchos, and a little flotilla embarking cattle. The pueblo, or village, is hidden from sight. On the northern bank, about two miles higher up, was the Paraguayan chapel- village — Paso la Patria — some five hours' steam from Cor- rientes, and seventy leagues, or eight days' journey from Asuncion. Here Marshal-President Lopez had thrown up a fine work, with redans and curtains, resting on two lagoons and impassable carrisal, and mounting thirty field guns. ”

“ Captain Page here found the Admiral of the Navy of the Republic of Paraguay, and a squadron of five small vessels.
We run rapidly past ground whose every mile cost a month of fighting. To our right is the Laguna Piris, flow- ing from the north-east. The river-like lagoon is not re- markable, and there are many similar on the eastern bank, treacherously lurking under papyrus and water-lilies. It proved, however, most useful to the Allies by admitting their gunboats and stores. ”

“ Some watch the night upon the poop ; others converse or mope alone; others play and sing, or listen to music. By far the favourite amusement, however, is hearty, thorough, whole-souled gambling, which makes the fore saloon a standing hell. ”

“ FROM CORRIENTES TO HUMAITA. 303
tree denotes the spot where the Brazilian batteries stood. This site, the first solid ground seen after the Confluence, smells of death ; here lie some 10,000 men, victims of cholera and small-pox, fever, and Crimean diarrhoea. Here- abouts were fought the battles of Yataity-Cora and Potreiro- Sauce, with the great actions, or rather surprises, of July 10-18, 1866, and of November 3, 1867.
Nearly opposite, but a little above the Piris opening, is the Atajo River — in fact, the eastern arm of the Paraguay. ”

“ The guns were all en barbette^ an obsolete system, showing the usual wilful recklessness of human life. Re- doubts and redans, glacis and covered ways, caponnieres and traverses, gorge works and epaulements, citadel and en- trenchment, were equally unknown, whilst embrasures were rare, although sods for the cheeks might have been cut within a few yards. Where the ramosia or abatis was used, the branches were thrown loosely upon the ground, and no one dreamed of wooden pickets. Though the stockade was employed, the palisade at the bottom of the cunette or ditch was ignored. ”

“ Further north there is a still weaker point, and as a rule the entrenchments opposite the swampy grounds were quite neglected. It had been reported that boats full of armed men were crossing from Humaita to the Gran Chaco, and orders were at once issued to bombard the stronghold, whilst Osorio, with a vanguard of 10,000 men, was directed to make a reconnaissance in force. Compelled by the " wolves^ mouths "'â– ' to dismount his ca- valry, the General crossed the ditch and climbed the parapet, despite the frantic efforts of the few besieged. ”

“ On this parallel, the further we go westward, and the more backward becomes the land, the longer will last the siesta; the cause being simply that the population, having nothing to do, very wisely allows its arteries to contract. ”

“ Meat lay all about, and the half-wild dogs were plump as the horses. Poorly azotised, uncastrated, and killed after two or two and a half years, the flesh is here spongy, but still far more nutritious than in the Brazil. ”

“ The first at once took my eye ; they were mostly Brazilians, Rio Grandenses, not liberated negroes. These Provincials, riders from their babyhood, are reputed as the best cavaliers throughout the Empire, where the " man on horseback^' is universal. Some were lancers ; their heavy wooden weapons, not nearly so handy as the bamboo of Hindostan, were deco- rated with white stars on red pennons; they carried regulation sabres and coarse horse-pistols, and the European trappings made them look much more soldier-like than the infantry. ”

“ Par parenthese, the Argentines have only to adopt their national colours, silver and light blue, for an
326 humaitA.
army uniform, which would be neat and handsome as that worn by the cavalry of the defunct East-Indian Company.
The Argentines move easily : they have little commis- sariat, and foul hides take the place of the neat Brazilian pal-tents. A change of camp is periodically necessary, the ground soon becoming impure in the extreme. ”

“ Many of the horses start and buck, and few are so easily managed as in Buenos Aires, where the lightest hand is required, and where the pressure of the reins upon the neck turns the animal.
Still bending south-east, I enjoyed for the first time in the southern hemisphere a long hand-gallop over the cool, soft, springy turf. It was scattered with the Solanum called Cepa de Cavallo, and with a pink-lined mushroom which the people term " toad^s meat." In places were dwarf
THE humaitA "quadrilateral." ”

“ At home, people regularly
294 FROM CORRIENTES TO HUMAITA.
" turn in ;'^ and if you have a visit to pay or a favour to ask, do not interrupt the day-night. Strangers soon fall into the habit, and it is evidently required by those climates in which men sit up late and rise early. I have found it an excellent plan in hot countries when hard mental labour was required, and, as every policeman knows, it is a mere matter of habit. In the Brazil the siesta is not the rule, but the Brazilians rarely begin the day at Bengal hours. ”