Poncho

“ APPROACH TO THE BLACK CAÑON.
In this sheltered nook lies the picturesque village of Poncho Springs, and hither do the invalids and tourists flock during the warm half of the year to drink the medicinal waters and to bathe in the healing springs. I strolled through the main street of the town, along which are built substantial frame shops and hotels, and observed evidences of stability upon every side. Poncho Springs is not the result of a temporary craze, nor is it a railway terminus town to be torn down and shipped forward as the road advances. ”

“ But that any sensible person should encumber himself with such an appendage in walking—for daily street wear—is matter for surprise. They have by no means the merit for this purpose of the South American poncho, which is simply a large square shawl of thick woollen cloth, with an opening in the centre for passing it over the head, thus securing it in place, and giving the wearer the free use of his arms and hands, a desideratum quite overlooked in the usual arrangement, or rather non-arrangement of these dangling "M'cGregors." ”

“ A hole in the centre admits the head, and the shawl hangs gracefully over the shoulders of its wearer; it is more convenient than a jacket, or any other riding-garment, as it leaves the arms perfectly free to move in any direction, and there are no buttons to get loose.
"The colors of the poncho are as varied as the tastes of the owners. Sometimes they are pure white, without any ornamentation, but much oftener they are richly embroidered, or made in varieties of stripes, embracing all the colors of the rainbow. ”

“ Finally, close to my right and pushing slowly to the front, in a long-strided walk, came a gray horse with a hatted rider,—an india-rubber poncho covering his uniform. I ordered him back; the adjutant, eager for the enforcement of the order, remonstrated at the man’s disobedience; I ordered again, but without result; the adjutant ejaculated, “Damn him, cut him down!” I drew my sabre and laid its flat in one long, stinging welt across that black poncho: “——! who are you hitting?” ”

“ A rich proprietor in the cordilleras is often seen with such a poncho, and the quality of the garment, the length of time it will turn rain, etcetera, are favourite subjects of conversation with the wearers of them. Of course everybody in those parts possesses one, as everybody in England or the United States must have a great coat; but the ponchos of the poorer classes of Peruvians—the Indian labourers, shepherds, and miners—are usually manufactured out of the coarse wool of the llama. Only the ‘ricos’ can afford the beautiful fabric of the vicuña’s fleece. ”

“ Now one day when the children were well grown, there came to the house in which they lived a man in a torn poncho who said that he had walked hundreds of miles, from the land of the Noseless People where it is always cold. He was tired and hungry and torn with thorn-bushes, and his feet were cut with stones. ”

“ Gold lace adorned the hatbands and decorated the ponchos of the men, while gold spurs clicked at their heels. Silk and satin embellished señoritas beautiful and señoras handsome. Peons and peonas, jigging after their masters on horses clean-limbed and swift, were bravely attired as for a fiesta.
The Picos rode in from the South, with retinue as splendid as that of their Sonoma rivals, their Gallic heritage showing in the harmony and luxuriousness of color in poncho and gowning. ”

“ She rode like an Indian woman, astride, wearing a broad-rimmed man's hat and a dark poncho. Afterwards, in the day of their greatest prosperity, this poncho was embroidered in gold, and she wore then, also, the sword of poor Don Antonio de Leyva. This veteran Chilian officer, having the misfortune to be surrounded with his small force, and running short of ammunition, found his death at the hands of the Arauco Indians, the allies and auxiliaries of Gaspar Ruiz. ”

“ It also serves as a protection from the scorching rays of the sun, experience having taught its wearer that a thick woollen covering keeps the body moist and cool by day, and warm by night. The poncho used in Venezuela is made double, by sewing together two different blankets, the outside one being dark blue and the inner one bright red, which colors, as is well known, are differently acted upon by light and heat. ”

“ The men of Chili wore a short poncho, mainly covering the wearer’s hips. The Argentinos’ poncho is of the longest kind—longer than those of the people of any other South American republic. The Chilian’s lasso hangs in coils from the saddle behind the rider; the gaucho’s is carefully coiled up, and rests on the horse’s croup.
The farms now became more frequent as we travelled along; the buildings were neatly roofed with red tiles, and furnished a striking contrast, to those of Mendoza and San Juan, which were generally of canes and mud. ”

“ The peons, or servants of the arrieros, are likewise of the native race, and accustomed all their lives to hardship and toil. Their wants are few, as they live on food that can be easily transported; their general outfit for the road is a cotton shirt and trousers, a straw hat, and a poncho, or blanket with a hole in the centre, through which the head is thrust. This poncho is striped with gay colors, and is very often quite attractive to the eye. ”

“ Every man had his poncho—a sort of native blanket, used either as a cloak or for sleeping in at will—rolled up before him on his saddle. It would have been difficult to find a more serviceable-looking set of men ”

“ Hughes, one of the Gauchos, rode an untamed mare and gave a good exhibition of horsemanship. Among the sheep and the hills an Indian rode down from the high ground; he wore a poncho of red and black, tinted like autumn trees. His camp consisted of a little fire of three or four sticks, by which squatted his china. ”

“ The natives, as a rule, wear a second poncho, generally of a different colour, tucked into the waistband of their long full linen drawers (calzoncillos) , so as to make a pair of short baggy over-trousers. A poor man is content with a shirt, drawers, and two ponchos. A rich man has many rows of fringe and frills of lace at the bottom of his calzoncillos, and wears a short coat, with silver buttons, and a gorgeous silver belt, covered with dollars. ”

“ Before we left Orocué, at the suggestion of the prefect of the place, we had telegraphed to Villavicencio for a couple of bayetones—a special kind of poncho—and these our vaqueano had delivered to us at Barrigón.
To the inhabitants, especially the Indians of South America, and more particularly those living in the Cordilleras, the poncho is what a mantle was to an Irishman in the days of the poet Spenser. “When it rayneth it is his pent howse; when it blowes it is his tent; when it freezeth, it is his tabernacle. In sommer he can weare it loose, in winter he can weare it close ”

“ A vicuña poncho is as soft as velvet, and as durable as steel. You can find plenty of them in the Argentine Republic and in Chili that have been, like grandfather’s clock, in the old families for two centuries or more, and have been handed{578} down with the family jewels as heirlooms. They never wear out, and, like lace, improve with age. But genuine vicuña ponchos are hard to get, and very expensive, costing often as much as a camel’s-hair shawl, as the animal is becoming scarce. The color is a delicate fawn, and will not change when wet, which is a sure test of its genuineness. ”

“ On the ground you spread your poncho, rubber side downward. On it you lay your shelter-half and fold it till it too is an oblong, smaller than the poncho. Next you fold one blanket thrice and lay it with its stripe lengthwise of the poncho. Lay on it your tent-pegs, rope, bacon box and condiment can, a change of underclothes, your soap and razor, tooth-brush and towel. Lap over it the edges of the poncho and the shelter-half. Now roll this from the blanket end, packing tightly; and when you approach the end of the poncho, fold eight inches of it toward you, and into this pocket work the roll. ”

“ The tropero was grandly dressed in full native costume, a beautiful summer poncho, bombachos of very fine black merino, tucked inside long boots, the latter adorned with large silver spurs, and I noticed he was fully armed. He was an agreeable man, evidently well educated, and he told me he had two other men and a tropilla of horses in the neighbourhood who had gone to look at some bullocks at a small native estancia. Breakfast over, I left him to finish his coffee and smoke, while I went out to tell Justiniano to catch me up another horse. ”

“ Aside from the fear I had of the sloop’s yawing and possibly turning turtle, and so imprisoning me in the cabin with no hope of escape therefrom, I felt that I should be more on the alert to seize any opportunity for escape were I at the tiller. So I carried a Mexican poncho which I wound to the stern, draped it about me over the oilskins, and with the sou’wester tied under my chin I could defy the rain, nor did the keen wind search my vitals. ”

“ The well known Mexican serape, or poncho,—an oblong garment, pierced in the centre to allow the passage of the head, and which falls in graceful folds from the shoulders of a horseman over his person—is one of the most generally demanded fabrics from native looms. ”

“ In an instant he jumps off his horse, wraps his poncho, or cloak, round the captive's head, forces a bit into its mouth, and straps a saddle upon its back. He then removes the poncho, and the animal starts on its feet. With equal quickness the hunter leaps into the saddle; and, in spite of the contortions and kickings of his captive, keeps [14] his seat, till, having wearied itself out with its vain efforts, it submits to the discipline of its captor, who seldom fails to reduce it to complete obedience."
"That is very dexterous indeed, Uncle Thomas ”

“ The Poncho is a true American dress known from Mexico to Chili, hardly known out of America except Polynesia.4
Women wore long pagnes or gowns. They made cloths of lama wool in Peru; of cotton, hemp, nettles, grass, feathers &c. there and elsewhere; either twisted, plaited or woven. The Peruvians and Chilians had a peculiar loom and plough. Cotton looms were used in Florida, Mexico, and all over South America, even by the Caribs to make hamacs or hanging beds. Among some nations women had the most labor to perform; yet even the men assumed hunting, making canoes, huts, weapons, &c. ”

“ The men of all these tribes wear a coarse woolen poncho: those south of Valdivia wear short trousers, and those north of it a petticoat, like the chilipa of the Gauchos. All have their long hair bound by a scarlet fillet, but with no other covering on their heads. These Indians are good-sized men; their cheek-bones are prominent, and in general appearance they resemble the great American family to which they belong; but their physiognomy seemed to me to be slightly different from that of any other tribe which I had before seen. ”

“ Here common trousers are protected by black and green worsted leggings. The poncho, however, is common to both. The chief pride of the guaso lies in his spurs, which are absurdly large. I measured one which was six inches in the diameter of the rowel, and the rowel itself contained upward of thirty points. The stirrups are on the same scale, each consisting of a square carved block of wood, hollowed out, yet weighing three or four pounds. The guaso is perhaps more expert with the lazo than the gaucho, but, from the nature of the country, he does not know the use of the bolas. ”

“ The dress of men in the lower orders, consists of a pair of trowsers, and a shirt, over which is thrown the all-concealing poncho. The women are as slightly clad; but instead of a poncho, they wear a rebozo, or shawl, which, however, is very often dispensed with, and their persons are left too much exposed.
These lower classes, or Indians, as they, with much reason, are termed, are scarcely superior to the uncivilized savages of the southern coasts ”

“ I had this day my first experience of the value of a genuine poncho woven by the Indian women from the wool of the guanaco. Throughout South America the cheap articles in common use, manufactured in England and Germany, have almost replaced the native garment. They are comparatively heavy and inconveniently warm, while not at all efficient in keeping out rain. ”

“ Both men and women of the Spanish population in Chiloé go barefooted, except a few of the principal families who sacrifice convenience to pride; as in a country so continually wet it is safer to go about with naked feet than to have them in wet coverings. The men universally wear the poncho. ”

“ Men rose, and, taking off their spurs, walked gravely to the corner of the room where sat the women huddled together as if they sought protection from each other, and with a compliment led them out upon the floor. The flowing poncho and the loose chiripá, which served as trousers, swung about just as the tartans of a Highlander swing as he dances, giving an air of ease to all the movements of p. 94the Gauchos as they revolved, their partners’ heads peeping above their shoulders, and their hips moving to and fro. ”

“ Some of these ponchos are of so fine a texture and richly ornamented as to sell for 100 or even 150 dollars. Their only head-dress is a fillet or bandage of embroidered wool, which they ornament in time of war with a number of beautiful feathers. Round the waist they wear a long sash or girdle of woollen, handsomely wrought; and persons of rank have leather sandals, and woollen boots, but the common people are always bare-footed. ”