THE INDIAN IN LITERATURE — TEN KATE. 525 



Humboldt's journey in South America also indirectly inspired 

 Adelbert von Chamisso, who wrote the poem, Der Stein der Mutter 

 odor der Guahiba-Indianerin. It dates from 1828, and is based upon a 

 historical tragedy narrated in Humboldt's Voyage aux regions equi- 

 noxiales. It relates the persecution and martyrdom of an Indian 

 mother and her two children at the hands of fanatical Spanish 

 priests : 



Am Atabapo's Ufer ragt einpor 

 Ein Stein, der Stein der Mutter, wohlbekannt 

 Dem Schiffer, der dein Ort zur Rast erkor. 

 Etc., etc. 



During his travels in the Orinoco region, Alfred Russel Wallace 

 spent in 1851 considerable time at Javita, among the Baniva, or 

 Maniva Indians, an Arawakan tribe. It is the same Javita which 

 is mentioned in Der Stein der Mutter. By way of pastime during 

 lonely evenings, Wallace wrote in blank verse a truthful and pretty 

 description of this place and its dusky inhabitants. This poetic 

 sketch appears in extenso in chapter IX of his Travels on the Ama- 

 zon and Rio Negro (London, 1853). 



The following selections are characteristic: 



There is an Indian village ; all around, 

 The dark, eternal, boundless forest spreads 

 Its varied foliage. 



• •••••••• 



They pass a peaceful and contented life, 



These black-haired, red-skinned, handsome, half-wild men. 



And after a comparison between the so-called civilized, ever-toil- 

 ing whites and the easy-going Indians of Javita, Wallace concludes : 



Rather than live a man like one of these, 



I'd be an Indian here, and live content 



To fish, and hunt, and paddle my canoe, 



And see my children grow, like young wild fawns, 



In health of body and in peace of mind, 



Rich without wealth, and happy without gold ! 



With regard to the South ximerican books of Aimard and Ger- 

 staecker, it is best to pass them over in silence. Among the publica- 

 tions of the well-known Argentine politician and writer, Dr. Estan- 

 islao Zeballos, Paine y la dinastia de los Zorros deserves our special 

 attention. It was published in Buenos Aires and has been often re- 

 printed. For the following synopsis the edition of 1889 was used. 

 Paine Guor (Sky-blue Fox) was a mighty and much feared chief of 

 the Ranqueles, an eastern Araucanian tribe which for scores of years 

 terrorized the province of Buenos Aires. Paine ruled from 1835 to 

 1847, being at the same time the foremost member of the military 



