The elite of the "pueblo" drive
round in the procession; ladies, some in the very latest creations, and
some in beautiful fancy dresses, parade round in flower and ribbon
bedecked carriages. A prize is generally given to the best decorated
conveyance, and to the best fancy costume, which causes a lot of
competition and jealousy amongst the fair sex.
On an estancia, carnival is celebrated in a much more drastic fashion.
On one place, the giddy members of the household have a very rowdy time
of it, and make things very lively for the unwary. On one occasion, they
determined to give the mayor-domo his share of the general drenching
which he had missed; so when he rode in at midday, after a long and busy
morning's work in the camp, he was welcomed with a volley of buckets of
water, which were emptied over him from the top of the house, where the
delinquents had taken up their advantageous position.
Another time a certain young damsel, a guest in the same house, saw from
the window her hostess entertaining one of the boys, a fresh arrival
from England, who had ridden over from a neighbouring estancia. Prompted
by her daring friends she was induced to take up a jug of water, and
stealing up behind his chair, emptied the contents of the vessel over
the visitor's head, and then bolted; the injured party, after recovering
his self-possession, rose to the occasion and gave chase, and after a
desperate struggle, and in spite of penitent apologies, she was borne
off by her captor and deposited in the first tub he happened to see,
which turned out to be a freshly painted rubbish barrel.
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