Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.

One of the most popular and controversial Chinese history books ever written, China under the Empress Dowager is also one of the best. Authors Bland and Backhouse take you inside the Forbidden City during the reign of Empress Dowager Cixi (1861-1908), a world of power-thirsty eunuchs, concubines and Mandarins, intrigue, bitter antagonism and ruthless reprisals. The book was unique for its time in its reliance on Chinese source materials, some of which may have been fabricated. As entertaining as it is enlightening, the book that presaged the fall of the Qing dynasty is as readable today as it ever was.

This scarce antiquarian book is included in our special Legacy Reprint Series. In the interest of creating a more extensive selection of rare historical book reprints, we have chosen to reproduce this title even though it may possibly have occasional imperfections such as missing and blurred pages, missing text, poor pictures, markings, dark backgrounds and other reproduction issues beyond our control. Because this work is culturally important, we have made it available as a part of our commitment to protecting, preserving and promoting the world's literature.

This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishing's Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone

This scarce antiquarian book is included in our special Legacy Reprint Series. In the interest of creating a more extensive selection of rare historical book reprints, we have chosen to reproduce this title even though it may possibly have occasional imperfections such as missing and blurred pages, missing text, poor pictures, markings, dark backgrounds and other reproduction issues beyond our control. Because this work is culturally important, we have made it available as a part of our commitment to protecting, preserving and promoting the world's literature.

This scarce antiquarian book is a selection from Kessinger Publishing's Legacy Reprint Series. Due to its age, it may contain imperfections such as marks, notations, marginalia and flawed pages. Because we believe this work is culturally important, we have made it available as part of our commitment to protecting, preserving, and promoting the world's literature. Kessinger Publishing is the place to find hundreds of thousands of rare and hard-to-find books with something of interest for everyone

This scarce antiquarian book is included in our special Legacy Reprint Series. In the interest of creating a more extensive selection of rare historical book reprints, we have chosen to reproduce this title even though it may possibly have occasional imperfections such as missing and blurred pages, missing text, poor pictures, markings, dark backgrounds and other reproduction issues beyond our control. Because this work is culturally important, we have made it available as a part of our commitment to protecting, preserving and promoting the world's literature.

Men, in South America BY J. O. P. BLAND ILLUSTRATED JLONDON WILLIAM HEINEMANW IN THE SHADE OF THE BIG PARALSO Frontispiece. CONTENTS CHAP - PAGE I. INTRODUCTORY ...., . x II. OUTWARD BOUND, . ., . .13 III. RIO AND PETROPOLIS -...., 41 IV. POLITICS EN PASSANT ...... 60 V, IN AND ABOUT SAO PAULO ..... 68 VI. BUENOS AIRES ....... 93 vii. UP THE PARANA A GLIMPSE OF THE CHACO AUSTRAL 117 VIII. THE DELECTABLE CITY OF ASUN9ION . . .141 IX. ASUNCION TO MONTEVIDEO OVERLAND . . 166 x. URUGUAY SOME REFLECTIONS ON THE ART OF GOVERNMENT . . . . . .185 XI. CHIEFLY ABOUT WOMAN ..... 2O2 XII. MONTEVIDEO . . . . . .217 XIII. ESTANCIA LIFE IN URUGUAY .... 234 XIV. THE SON OF THE SOIL ..... 258 XV. TRIBES ON OUR FRONTIERS 285 INDEX . . . - . . . . 3IZ LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Facin IN THE SHADE OF THE BIG PARAISO . Frontispiece SUNSET OVER RIO BAY ...... 40 IN RIO HARBOUR ....... 48 A TURCO PEDLAR ....... 64 A HAWKER OF BRUSHES AND BROOMS, RIO ... 64 RUFFO, THE SHEEP-SHEARER ...... 64 A PEDLAR OF TIN AND IRON WARE . . . .64 A PICNIC IN THE WOODS . - . - .76 THE PLAZA CONGRESS, BUENOS AIRES .... 96 A CARNE CON CUERRO ARGENTINA . 1 1 6 CORRIENTES ARGENTINA SEEN FROM THE RIVER . . 126 THE WHARF AT ASUNCION, PARAGUAY . . . .142 THE CIO Y HALL, ASUNCION ...... I4 2 CROSSING A, RIVER IN THE DRY SEASON, URUGUAY . . 1 66 VIEW NEAR COLONIA, URUGUAY ..... l86 A MODEL EStlANCIA HORSES AT PASTURE, c CANTA FIERO 212 A MODEL ESTANCIA A RIVERSIDE POTRERO, CANTA FIERO 212 A MODEL ESTANCIA HEREFORD CATTLE AT CANTA FIERO 234 THE ESTANCIA UP-TO-DATE I f LOS CORALES, RAFAELO, SANTA FE, ARGENTINA . 2 34 A LAGUNA OF THE MACIEL 2 4 viii LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Facing page LOADING THE WOOL CLIP ...... 244 THE CAPATAZ . . . . . . ..250 BENITA ......... 250 LUNCHEON TIME AT THE BRETE . 260 PLOUGHING UP ESPARTILLO 5 CAMP . 260 A LAGUNA ON THE SAN SALVADOR . 266 GAUCHOS AT DRABBLE STATION, CENTRAL URUGUAY . 280 PANTALEON A PEON ...... 280 -..., 288 CHAPTER I INTRODUCTORY HAVING regard to the present parlous price of paper and to the patience of much-suffering readers, the perpetration of yet another book on South America might appear at the outset to call for some explanation, if not for apology. The list of books published under this heading in recent years is indeed so formidable that the world may well be weary of it. From the library catalogue point of view, the subject might well seem to have been exhausted, every part of the continent having been ransacked and described, all its words and works recorded. Yet, how few there be amongst all these works as some of us know to our cost that properly and worthily inculcate the profitable exercise of travel, or that appeal to and justify the wandering instinct of rational man Say what you will, the great majority of them are so dreadfully infected with stodgy commercialism, so monumentally useful, that their general effect upon the mind unless it be the mind of a bagman can only be compared to a surfeit of suet pudding. Here and there only, rari nantes, amidst all these dreary volumes, will you find the sort of company for which the Lord of Montaigne looked alas, how oft in vain in all his journeyings that rare chance and seld-seene fortune, but of exceeding solace and inestimable worth to wit, an honest man, of singular experience, of a sound judgment and of manners conformable to yours, which company a man must seek with discretion and with great heed obtaine, before he wander from home ay, even in B 2 MEN, MANNERS AND MORALS the spirit...

J.O.P. Bland, the Times of London correspondent in Shanghai 100 years ago, published this delightful series of musings on the meaning of life and nature of the Chinaman from the perspective of the absolute confidence of the Anglo-Saxon in the days before the Great War. He promises a "record of Idleness," of duck and snipe and leisurely cruises through the backwaters of the Chinese countryside. The book delivers that plus colorful insights into the East-meets-West riddle of the Chinese Empire's last days.

This scarce antiquarian book is included in our special Legacy Reprint Series. In the interest of creating a more extensive selection of rare historical book reprints, we have chosen to reproduce this title even though it may possibly have occasional imperfections such as missing and blurred pages, missing text, poor pictures, markings, dark backgrounds and other reproduction issues beyond our control. Because this work is culturally important, we have made it available as a part of our commitment to protecting, preserving and promoting the world's literature.

This scarce antiquarian book is included in our special Legacy Reprint Series. In the interest of creating a more extensive selection of rare historical book reprints, we have chosen to reproduce this title even though it may possibly have occasional imperfections such as missing and blurred pages, missing text, poor pictures, markings, dark backgrounds and other reproduction issues beyond our control. Because this work is culturally important, we have made it available as a part of our commitment to protecting, preserving and promoting the world's literature.

This scarce antiquarian book is included in our special Legacy Reprint Series. In the interest of creating a more extensive selection of rare historical book reprints, we have chosen to reproduce this title even though it may possibly have occasional imperfections such as missing and blurred pages, missing text, poor pictures, markings, dark backgrounds and other reproduction issues beyond our control. Because this work is culturally important, we have made it available as a part of our commitment to protecting, preserving and promoting the world's literature.

A serious and valuable account of the Chinese court, covering the Ming and Manchu dynasties with such chapter titles as: A Chinese Haroun Al RaschidAn Infamous EunuchLi Tzu-Ch'eng's Rebellion and the Fall of PekingWu San-KueiThe Manchu Dynasty EstablishedThe Mings at NankingThe Sack of Yang Chou-FuThe Last of The MingsEmperor Shun ChihK'ang Hsi as a FatherTribulations of Yung ChengYung Cheng Dispenses JusticeHis Majesty Chi'ien LungDownfall of Ho ShenChia Ch'ing: The Beginning of The EndTao Kukang. The Impact of the WestHsien Feng and T'ung Chih: The Facile DescentSorrows of His Majesty Kuang HsuMemoirs of the Boxer Year (1900)Concerning the Old BuddhaThe Court Under the Last RegencyConclusionIndex