CHAPTER X

URUGUAYAN MANNERS AND CUSTOMS 128

The temperament of the Oriental--Some merits of the race--The Spanish Main as treated in fiction-- Distinctions between the villains in print and in actual life--Civility as a national trait--Courtesy of officials--The Uruguayan as a sturdy democrat--A land of equality--Some local mannerisms--Banquets and general hospitality--Some practical methods of enjoying life--Simplicity _versus_ ostentation--Some consequences of prosperity--The cost of living-- Questions of ways and means--European education and its results--Some evidences of national pride--The physique of the Oriental--Sports and games--Football-- The science of bull-fighting--Eloquence and the oratorical art--Uruguayan ladies--Local charm of the sex--South American institutions--Methods by which they have been improved--The advantages of experiments-- The Uruguayan army and navy--Some characteristics of the police--Honesty of the nation--Politics and temperament.