Gaucho, Quien sabe, Portena. Camote, Pisco, Canjica, Feojao, Compadre (1825)

[Bapopik at AOL.COM]

   Actually, I'm not going to all of South America.  Just Guyana, French
Guiana, Suriname, and then Trinidad.
   Two important books.

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TRAVELS IN SOUTH AMERICA,
DURING THE YEARS 1819-20-21;
CONTAINING AN ACCOUINT OF THE PRESENT STATE OF
BRAZIL, BUENOS AYRES, AND CHILE
by Alexander Caldcleugh
in two volumes
London: John Murray
1825

   OED has ten citations from this book.  We'll look at it in the rare chance
that something was missed.


VOLUME ONE
Pg. 51:  The flour prepared from this root, termed _farinha de pao_. is left
untoucvhed by every description of insect, in itself no small recommendation,
and forms the food of the lower classes.
(OED has 1726, then 1863 for "farinha"--ed.)

Pg. 131:  From 1810, when Velasco was deposed, until 1816, the yerba, or tea
tree, came down in the...(Pg. 132 not copied--ed.)
(OED has 1818, then 1839 for "yerba"--ed.)

Pg. 140:  The houses are generally covered with a flat roof, called _azotea_,
and have no upper stories.
(OED has 1824, then 1844 for "azotea"--ed.)

Pg. 144:  It must be understood that these remarks are confined to the city
and its immediate neighbourhood; for at a short distance, the _Gauchos_, or
country people, seem perfectly free from disease of any kind.
(OED has 1825 for "Gaucho," citing a journal of 1824.  This is 1825, from
1819-1821--ed.)

Pg. 164:  ...tity of the leaves into a gourd, or cup, in which is placed a
reed, or silver tube, called bombilla; hot water is then poured on it, and the
infusion is sucked through the tube.
(OED has 1866 for "bombilla"--ed.)

Pg. 164:  All the yerba now used in the provinces and in Chile, is the
_palo_, or Portuguese, which, being half made up of stalks, yileds no flavour
whatever.
(FWIW.   OED has 1838 for "palo blanco" and 1854 for "palo verde"--ed.)

Og, 170:  The female part of the family is alone seen, or sometimes the
gentleman of the house, but generally both the fathers and brothers are either
forming part of another _tertulia_, or talking politics in the coffee-house.
(OED has 1785, then 1828 for "tertulia"--ed.)

Pg. 172:  The mode of _lassooing_ horses with a long (Pg. 173--ed.) thong and
noose has been often described; it is performed with surprising dexterity.
(OED has 1807 for "lasso" and 1838 for "lassooing"--ed.)

Pg. 238:  The alforges, (Pg. 239--ed.) or saddle bags, were fitted with an
abundance of yerba, Chinese tea, a little sugar, and some biscuits.  A very
large parcel of segars was put in for the demands of the guide, Chiclana, and the
postboys.  A pair of _chifles_, or large horns, full of brandy, which my guide
soon informed me were excessively leaky, were added to the rest.
(OED has "alforge" from 1611.  OED does not have "chifles," which is also the
name of s chips company--ed.)

Pg. 248:  ...fortunately, we obtained some milk for breakfast, and afterwards
a little boiled beef (asado) and broth.

Pg. 249:  Every one is fond of answering in this country, _Quien sabe_,
pleading ignorance to the simplest questions.
(OED has 1836 for "Quien sabe"--ed.)

Pg. 260:  Man particularly civil:--sat down at able with him and his family
and ate some caldo and asado.

Pg. 273:  The Spanish _refran_ came continually to my recollection, _largo
rezo, poca comida_, and I dreaded the appearance of a solitary dish.  I most
fortunately was mistaken; for there was an excellent supper of broiled beef,
broth and boiled maize, called _omita_.

Pg. 286:  The public walk, or _alameda_, is well laid out, and commands a
majestic view of the mountains.
(OED has 1797, 1807, 1843, and 1845 for "alameda"--ed.)

Pg. 249:  The grape has been always cultivated with success, but the wine is
generally of indifferent quality.  That kind which is made near Conception,
and called _vino de penco_, is considered the best;--it approaches more nearly
to Malaga than to any other wine known in Europe.  The fig and the olive are of
superior flavor and most abundant; peaches, melons, water-melons, and
strawberries, are among the variety of fruits which abound.  From a large palm a kind
of honey is produced be boring to the heart of the tree called _miel de
palma_; it is dark coloured, and resembles molasses and water.

Pg. 361:  They mix with it pumpkins and Indian corn, with large quantities of
_aji_, or Chilian pepper, together with some of the _mani_ (arachis
hypogaea), which is considered highly stimulating.
(OED has "mani" from 1604.  "Aji"?--ed.)

Pg. 371:  The _portenas_ (ladies of Buenos Ayres) living in St. Jago, mix
little with those of Chile, and even in a ball-room stand together and eye the
others distainfully.
(OED has 1884 for "Porteno"--ed.)

VOLUME TWO
Pg. 62:  The ladies, when concealed in this dress, are termed _tapadas_, and
the appearance of so many in the streets is not a little extraordinary.
("Tapada" is not in the OED--ed.)

Pg. 74:  The mixture of whites and Indians has now become less common, and
the progeny of the negro and Indian, called _chino_, is seldom met with.
("Chino" is not in the OED?--ed.)

Pg. 82:  The _camotes_, or sweet potatoes, grow as large as in Rio de
Janeiro, and seemed to be held in great estimation in Chile;...
(OED has 1842 for "camote"--ed.)

Pg. 83:  ...but one fruit, the _chirimoya_, is of such admirable taste that
it deserves a more particular description.  The term is qquichua (sic), and is
derived from _chiri_ cold, and _muhu_ seed, or cold seeded, an epithet to
which it is fully entitled.
(OED has 1760-1772, then 1858 for "cherimoya"--ed.)

Pg. 91:  At Pisco, famous for its brandy manufacture;...
(OED has 1849 for "pisco"--ed.)

Pg. 103:  My guide was now occupied in keeping the people together and
collecting more provisions for the journey,--chicha, charque or dried meat, fowls,
pork and bread, in sufficiency for fourteen days, travellers often being shut
up for that time in a casucha; but above all the guide was careful to provide a
(Pg. 104--ed.) large quantity of _aji_* or Chile pepper, put into small
bottle gourds, after being reduced to powder between two stones, and onions and
garlick in profusion.  The lower class in Chile are very partial to all these
vegetables, and to _mani_ (the flour of the underground bean, arachis hypogea),
which they consider to be of a stimulating nature, as I have mentioned before.
*This word is considered in the West Indies of Haytian origin.
(OED has 1760-1772, then 1845 for "charqui."  OED does not have
"casucha"--ed.)

Pg, 126:  The favourite dish, _carne con cuero_, was on the table.  This
roast beef is so expensive, on account of a part of the hide being enveloped round
it while dressing, that it is only met with at the first tables.

Pg. 138:  The maize, which was of two sorts, yellow and white, was just
housed.  it forms the chief article of subsistence all over the province of
Cordova, which i Had now entered.  They make from it a dish called _maizamora_,* by
simply bruising it with a little water, by which it is deprived of the husks,
and then by long continued boiling.
*The canjica of the Bazilians.
("Canjica" is not in the OED.  There are 7,160 Google hits--ed.)

Pg. 142:  The algoraba, which is, I believe, an acacia, is a tree of great
value, particularly the _algaroba blanca_.  The pods are made by fermentation
into a kind of chicha or drink, and it serves as well to feed cattle when the
maize crop is deficient.
(OED has 1845 for "algarroba"--ed.)

Pg. 184:  ..._fazenda, or farm...
(A first citation in OED.  Yes, they actually got one--ed.)

Pg. 185:  The variety called the Canjam* is mostly in use for making sugar,
which is almost entirely clayed.  The clay is obtained by washing the
decomposed granite which every where abounds.  The other variety, called _criolho_, is
mostly used for making spirits; it is more juicy and less sweet than the
former.
*Cayenne.
(OED does not have either "Canjam: or "criolho"--ed.)

Pg. 190:  ...and the _plica_ of vegetation on each side was such, that it was
impossible to turn aside.
(OED has 1866 for this meaning of "plica"--ed.)

Pg. 191:  It consisted of two or three cakes of coarse brown sugar, called
rapadoeira, and a little _cachasse_, or common spirit.
(OED has 1846 for "rapadura."  OED does not have "cachasse"--ed.)

Pg. 199:  In fact, there is little or nothing to be got in these villages;
the mule drivers live on feijoes or beans and pork, which they carry with them,
(Pg. 200--ed.) and the inhabitants have little more than is sufficient for
their own consumption.
(OED has 1857 for "feijao"--ed.)

Pg. 200:  Their huts are formed or mud, with a covering of broad leaves; the
better description have a ceiling formed of split canes, called _taquarra_.
("Taquarra" is not in the OED--ed.)

Pg. 239:  It consisted of meat, (_charqueado_, jerked,) fried with greens; a
large dish of _ungu_ (boiled Indian corn flour); a dish of salted pork
(_lombo_) broiled; a plate of rice; _canjica_ (boiled Indian corn without the husk);
and a dish called fuba, which is Indian corn (Pg. 240--ed.) flour stirred up
with hot water.  Marmalade and Figueras wine completed the repast.
("Lombo," "canjica," "fuba," and "figueras" are all not in the OED--ed.)

Pg. 269:  He plants mandioca, rice and feijoes (beans).  He has tried wheat,
but found that it was always destroyed by ferrugem (smut).

Pg. 280:  There were only two decent looking houses in the place, one of them
of course belonged to the _vigario_, and I was confirmed in the idea by
seeing some white ladies in the balconies, nieces or comadres,* it is to be
presumed.
   *The term _comadre_ is applied to the female by those who stand sponsois
with her; she is _madrinha_ or godmother to the infant, and _comadre_ to them.
Ever after great intimacy exists between the _compadres_ and _comadres_; they
become related in the eye of the church, and a marriage could not be
solemnized between them without much difficulty.
(The revised OED has 1971 for "madrina"?  OED has 1834 for "compadre."  OED
has no entry for "comadre"--ed.)

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NOTES ON COLUMBIA,
TAKEN IN THE YEARS 1822-3,
WITH AN ITNERARY OF THE ROUTE FROM CARACAS TO BOTOTA
By An Officer of the United States' Army (Richard Bache--ed.)
Philadelphia: H. C. Carey & I. Lea
1827

Pg. 80:  Some taste and much ingenuity are discoverable in the pavements,
particularly in those before the entrances of public buildings, and along the
passages leading to the _patios_, or court yards, of some private houses.
(OED has 1828 for "patio"--ed.)

Pg. 86:  ...a fruit called by the English sour-sop, haddocks, pomegranates,
alligator-pears, the delicious _chilimoyas_, grapes, figs, apples, peaches,
plums, apricots, &c., water and musk-melons, tamarinds, guavas, pineapples, and
many others.  The vegetables are, the potatoe, good, but small, beets,
parsnips, carrots, cabbages, fine cauliflowers, lettuce, squashes, yams, artichokes,
turnips, the sweet potatoe, and a yellow root called _apio_.  The top of the
apio is precisely, in appearance, taste, and smell, like our celery, but the
root, which is eaten boiled, is very different, having the appearance of a sweet
potatoe.
("Apio" is not in the OED?--ed.)

Pg. 86:  You find, also, fresh beef and pork, separated from the bone and cut
into chunks; _carne seca_, (Pg. 87--ed.) (dried beef,) cut in long strips;
this is sometimes prepared with a little salt, or is slightly smoked; and is by
no means inviting.  The mutton, though small, is excellent; some fish, but no
veal, is brought to market.  Hog's lard, called _manteca_, wrapped in plantain
leaves, is sold in great abundance, and, as well as garlic and onions, is
used excessively in cooking.
(OED does not have "carne seca."  OED has "manteca" from 1622--ed.)

Pg. 87:  You also find a mixture of mucilage and molasses,  called _papelon_,
which is much relished by the lower classes of people, and eaten by them like
cheese; fermented with water, it yields the intoxicating drink _guarapo_.
Bread, made of maize, is called _arepa_; while that formed into large disks,
eighteen inches in diameter and about a fourth of an inch thick, made from the
_manioe_ root, is called _casava_.  This is as little relished by a North
American, as the _arepa_, or corn bread, is by a European.
("Papelon" and "arepa" are not in the OED?--ed.)

Pg. 88:  coarse cottons, mats, straw hats, strings of beads, baskets, coffee
bags, &c., ropes, twines, pouches, harness for bat mules, and a kind of shoes
or sandals called _paragaters_, made of the fibre of the leaf of the Agave
Americana, or flowering aloe.
("Paragater" is not in the OED--ed.)

Pg. 162:  The maize prepared in this manner is called _boyo_.  Many seem
contented with a small cake in its raw state, washed down with a glass of water,
for a breakfast.  It is, however, more frequently made into flat cakes and
fried in the favourite _manteca_, or simply baked before the fire, like our
hoe-cake.
(OED does not have "boyo"--ed.)

Pg. 187:  This consisted of a chunk of _carne seca_, (dried beef,) and bread,
washed down with a little _aguardiente_.

Pg. 215:  We heard that the President was hourly expected to arrive at
Bogota, and being desirous to witness his _entre_, we hurried on, notwithstanding
the pressing invitations of our kind hosts, to witness the _fiesta_, and arrived
at Paypa--twenty miles, at 5 P. M.--thirty-two miles.
(OED has 1844 for "fiesta"--ed.)

Pg. 258:  The plantain is the substitute for bread, it may be eaten either
raw or boiled, or fried in lard; with chocolate it forms an excellent meal.  A
vegetable called _yuca_ is also extremely cheap and nutritive; fifty pounds
cost but six and a fourth cents.  It is excellent in soup.