174 A VOYAGE TO Book VÍÍ. 



government of Tucjiman, have felt the effects of t})eir 

 I'arina; iiu'iirsions. Tlie other nations between, tliese 

 and the Chi(.]iiiios, and the lake of Xaraycs, are Utile 

 known. Not many years since some Jesuit mission- 

 aries veniuied to visit their emuiiry u]) the river Pil- 

 comayOj wiiich runs from Potosi to Assumpiion; but 

 their territories being; very ]arp;e, and living a vagTant 

 sort of lives, without fixed habitations, the zeal of the 

 good fathers was frustrated ; as it has indeed on many 

 oirher occasions^ even afler repeated trials. 



The idoratrous Indians, who inhabit the country 

 from tlic citv of Assumption northward, are bat very 

 few. The missionaries have been so fortunate to meet 

 with some of /these in their journeys after them, and 

 prevailed on them to accoiYipany them to the Christian 

 towns, where, \^iilu)ut much reluctancy, thej liavc 

 embraced Chrislianily. The Chiriguanos;, already 

 mentioned, also reside in tliesc parts ; but are so infar 

 iuated wiÜi tiie pleasiu'es of a savage lifcj that they 

 will not hear of living- under laws. 



From what has been said, it will easily be con- 

 ceived that the country occupied by the Paraguay 

 missiojis, must he cf a very i»:ieat extent. Tlie air in 

 «i^-eneral is moist and temperate ; though in some parts it 

 is rather cold ^\ The temperate parts abound vvitii all 

 kinds of provisions. Cott-on contributes considerably 

 to their riches, growing here in such quantities, that 

 every little tillage gathers of.it annually above two 

 thousand arobas ; and the industiious are very inge- 

 •nious in weavirig; it into stui-s for exportation. A gieat 

 deal of tobacco is also {.daulcd here. But tliese aiti- 

 (cies are far less advantageous to the inhabitants than 

 the herb called Paraguay, which alone would be suf- 

 ficient to form a flourishing commerce in this |)ro- 



* White frosts r.rc very rommon here in July 'i-'^d August, 

 icnietuiit's tlicy bavc ice aboLiA the thickness ot ¡lalt a crown. Tha 

 former phanf.inenon has been bccii as far to tlic iiorthwaitl as Ixio 

 ¿e j-j-zclio. A. 



viuce. 



