AN KSCAPfi FROM TH( GUILLOTINE, 311 



degree of civilization attained by the Peruvians, compared with that 

 of the rest of the inhabitants of that continent ; they were enchained 

 in their vallies by the mountain barrier of the Andes, and thus instead 

 of hunters became agriculturists. But the Brazilian Indian was not 

 so confined, and he continues to this day to wander through the 

 boundless forests, over the vast pampas of his country, and to defy 

 the inroads of civilization. Such is his love for this life of savage in- 

 dependence that many of those who have been taken, and instructed 

 by the Portuguese in all the arts of civilized life, have after a time 

 escaped, and resumed their former state of savage independence. On 

 the past history of these Indians there hangs a mystery that appears 

 to be for ever closed against human investigation. Like every other 

 people on the globe they are said to have some tradition of an uni- 

 versal deluge. But not the slightest land marks exists to guide us in 

 our researches, for the only monuments of these children of nature 

 are their simple huts, so slight and perishable in materials that at the 

 expiration of five or six months not a trace is left that the spot he once 

 occupied was the habitation of man *. 



AN ESCAPE FROM THE GUILLOTINE. 



" ANOTHER victim !" I uttered involuntarily, as looking through 

 a window which commanded a view of the principal entrance to the 

 prison, I observed a crowd who, with the shouts of " pain ou sang," 

 were dragging some unfortunate man to confinement, preparatory to 

 his final debut on the scaffold. 



I saw a man cross the street, of whose purpose my heart misgave 

 me. This was an individual named Canve, for whom my brother 

 and me had interested ourselves. He had received numberless 

 favours from us ; we had, therefore, every reason to dread his 

 enmity. 



It was as I conjectured ; a few minutes after I remarked his ap- 

 proach in our direction, we were startled by a loud battering at 

 the door. 



" Open your door !" thundered the ruffian ; " Je te donnerai les 

 raisons ensuite" I, of course, refused. 



" Ah ! ah !" he shouted, with a demoniac laugh, " you shall see 

 me return shortly, and then " He did not wait to conclude the 

 sentence, but hurried away, evidently with the intention of seeking 

 assistance. When he had departed I turned towards my sister, who, 

 pale with surprise and fear, stood by me, and requested her to see to 

 the immediate collection of our plate, jewels, and money. This done, 

 we took the boxes in which we had packed them, and carrying them 



* Some years ago the Captain-general of Maranham sent a young Indian of 

 the Geico tribe to'lasbon, where 'he was educated at the Collegia des Nobres ; 

 but on his return to Brazil he shortly after disappeared, and tied once more 

 back to the scenes of his childhood. 



