Blanco

Antonio Guzmán Blanco came to power in Venezuela in 1870.

In the whole world there can be no more dreary view than that from the northern slope of the Sierra Blanco.

It has been said there is nothing appertaining to life upon the broad plain. That is hardly true. Looking down from the Sierra Blanco, one sees a pathway traced out across the desert, which winds away and is lost in the extreme distance. It is rutted with wheels and trodden down by the feet of many adventurers. Here and there there are scattered white objects which glisten in the sun, and stand out against the dull deposit of alkali. Approach and examine them! They are bones: some large and coarse, others smaller and more delicate. The former have belonged to oxen, and the latter to men. For fifteen hundred miles one may trace this ghastly caravan route by these scattered remains of those who had fallen by the wayside.

The Independence celebrations were coming, contingents of police had to be drilled and blancoed and starched before proceeding to Kuala Lumpur to represent the state.

2012, Pat Coppard, In Spite of Everything ......: A Life-Story of Fear, Heartbreak, Love, Trickery and Triumph Eddie went back to his sea cadets, leading the band on Sunday mornings. He always looked very smart. He used to spend most of Saturday evening blancoing his kit and pressing his blue uniform.