I have surprised these little animals (for they are
only of rabbit size) with their young playing around them, and have
seen the mother gather them into her pouch and scamper away.
DRINKING WATER, SAINTS AND THE VIRGIN.
In Uruguay it is the custom for all, on approaching a house, to call
out, "Holy Mary the Pure!" and until the inmate answers: "Conceived
without sin!" not a step farther must be made by the visitor. At a
hut where I called there was a baby hanging from the wattle roof in a
cow's hide, and flies covered the little one's eyes. On going to the
well for a drink I saw that there was a cat and a rat in the water,
but the people were drinking it! When smallpox breaks out because of
such unsanitary conditions, I have known them to carry around the
image of St. Sebastian, that its divine presence might chase away the
sickness. The dress of the Virgin is often borrowed from the church,
and worn by the women, that they may profit by its healing virtues. A
crucifix hung in the house keeps away evil spirits.
The people were very religious, and no rain having fallen for five
months, had concluded to carry around a large image of the Virgin
they had, and show her the dry crops. I rode on, but did not get wet!
NO NEED OF THE DOCTOR OR VET.
"A poor girl got very severely burnt, and the remedy applied was a
poultice of mashed ears of viscacha. The burn did not heal, and so
a poultice of pig's dung was put on. When we went to visit the girl,
the people said it was because they had come to our meetings that the
girl did not get better. A liberal cleansing, followed by the use of
boracic acid, has healed the wound. Another case came under our
notice of a woman who suffered from a gathering in the ear, and the
remedy applied was a negro's curl fried in fat."
To cure animals of disease there are many ways. Mrs. Nieve boasted
that, by just saying a few cabalistic words over a sick cow, she
could heal it. A charm put on the top of the enclosure where the
animals are herded will keep away sickness. To cure a bucking horse
all that is necessary is to pull out its eyebrows and spit in its
face. Let a lame horse step on a sheepskin, cut out the piece, and
carry it in your pocket; if this can't be done, make a cross with
tufts of grass, and the leg will heal.
