1830.] [ 153 ] 



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THE EVE OF SAINT SIMON, IN COLOMBIA. 



THE town of Achaquas, situate on the banks of .the river Apure, 

 derives some importance from the fact, that it has ever been the habitual 

 and favourite residence of " El Gefe de los Llaneros." Here the ferocious 

 Paez has erected a house, which, by the bare-legged natives, may be 

 deemed a specimen of architectural magnificence, as compared with the 

 mud-built hovels that compose the residue of the town ; with the excep- 

 tion, however, of the church and " Caza del Cura," which entirely occupy 

 one side of a large though irregular square. " La Grande Plaza," as it 

 is called, was, during the revolutionary struggle, the theatre of many 

 sanguinary scenes. Hither were the prisoners made by Paez and his 

 followers led, and, under the scowling brow of the chief, inhumanly mas- 

 sacred; and though in just retaliation, perhaps, of Spanish cruelty, yet 

 the refined barbarity with which these reprisals were conducted baffles 

 description, and would indeed .be deemed apocryphal by all save those 

 who had the misfortune to witness them. Here, too, would Paez occa- 

 sionally indulge his faithful adherents with the gratifying spectacle of a 

 bull-fight, and the exhibition of his own wonderful prowess. On these 

 occasions the chieftain would appear dressed in his native garb. The 

 large white " cal^onzillos," or drawers, loose at the knee, and not ex- 

 tending below it a check shirt, open at the neck, and confined at the 

 waist with a red or blue scarf, worn like our military sashes, and which 

 supported the " cuchillo," or large knife, the never-failing appendage of 

 a " Llahero" the fc sombrero de pallo," or immense-rimmed straw hat, 

 with a white feather, the party emblem and the massive silver spurs, 

 attached to the naked heel by thongs cut from a bullock's hide complete 

 this singular but picturesque costume. * Thus accoutred, and mounted 

 on one of his best-trained horses, would Paez seek an encounter with the 

 fiercest bull that could be procured, his surprising agility and consum- 

 mate skill in horsemanship enabling him to avoid the incessant attacks 

 of the furious animal, whom he goads into unbounded rage, by turns 

 pursuing and pursued, till at length, tired of the sport, he seizes the 

 beast by the tail, and, with Herculean strength, throws it upon its back ; 

 then leaping from his saddle (amid the cheering acclamations of the 

 spectators), with his fc cuchillo" puts a speedy termination to its suffer- 

 ings and life together. This and cock-fighting, a sport of which Paez 

 is an enthusiastic admirer (having an immense number of these birds in 

 constant training), are the principal amusements, and tend to feed the 

 blood-thirsty propensities of this lawless militia during the temporary 

 suspension of their predatory warfare. I here apply the term u militia," 

 such being, correctly speaking, the collective appellation, and attributes, 

 of those more immediately under Paez's command. A body of three 

 hundred men, half of whom have the rank of officers, and form a sepa- 

 rate corps, bearing the denomination of u Los bravos de la guardia 

 de honore,"t are in constant attendance on the person of the chief; and the 



* On duty, or on the march, a blanket of different colours (red or blue being, however, 

 the most prevalent), with a hole cut in the centre to admit the head, is usually worn, and 

 forms a striking and not ungraceful upper garment. 



f u El Gefe de los Llaneros," Chief of the inhabitants of the Plains. " Caza del cura," 

 Curate's house. * La Grande Plaza," Great square. *' Cal^onzillos," Short, loose 

 drawers. " Cuchillo," Large knife. " Llanero," Man of the plains. " Sombrero de 

 pallo," Straw hat. " Los bravos de la guardia de honore," The " bravos" of the guard 

 of honour. 



M.M. New Series. VOL. X. No. 5G. U 



