ACCOUNT OF BOOKS. 



1037 



the Spanish settlements, excepf the 

 peculiar slaves of the state and ot in- 

 ctividuals. They live at a considcra- 

 bledistance Iroiii (lie tow ii8,aiul studi- 

 ously avoid holding any correspon- 

 dence witlifthcir tyrants, save during 

 I the tiniejffiej' come (o exchange their 

 conimodJnis for those of Europe. 

 Some of these trading Indians como 

 from an immense distance — many 

 between six and seven hnndred miles, 

 bringing with them the Hnnual tri- 

 bute, and large quantities of thehcrb 

 Paraguay, which is thionghout in 

 the greatest request, and used alike 



I by the Spaniards and natives, being 

 drank as tea, and is indeed ihe com- 

 mon beverage ol the country ; the 

 want ol wine in the province,muchii - 

 Creasinii its consumption : — Mr. ])a- 

 Tieadds, " 1 IVequentiy drink of it, 

 and taste imi very little difference be- 

 tween that and tea. They are both 

 astringent--, l;ut with opijosito pro- 

 perties : for as the iatler relaxes and 

 weakens the stomach, so tiie former 

 strengMiens, braces, and invigorates, 

 the whole nervous system." 



ilte individual wealth of the Spa- 

 nish inhabitants of Buenos Ayres 

 must be great indeed, to sup[)ort 

 the style :n which even the middling 

 classes of people here live : — whe- 

 ther holding othccs under govern- 

 ment, merchan'.s, trading to foreign 

 countries, or Creoles, who carry on 

 the interior eoniiiuTce with the Indi- 

 ans : — ai! apjjear to live as though 

 the only business of their lives was 

 pleasure, and l3ucnos Ayres the 

 emporium of the world. Thisobser- 

 vafion, however, does not extend to 

 the mongrel race, sprung from the 

 native Indians and the meanest of 

 the Spaniards, who are in a state of 

 the utmost filth and poverty. Some 

 of tke latter have voluntarily put 



themselves under the protection of 

 their conquerors ; others are attach- 

 ed with the lands to the officers of 

 state and superior grandees, and pass 

 like the boors in Russia from one 

 master to another, at the caprice 

 and pleasure of the crown or the go- 

 vernor of the province, who in those 

 countries exercises an unlimited 

 power of life and death over the mi- 

 serable natives, whose situation, in 

 many rgspects. is far inferior to that 

 of the African slave in the British 

 We>t Indies. 



1 he condition of the native Indi- 

 ans under the Spanish government of 

 South America is still farther eluci- 

 dated in Mr. Davie's I5th letter, still 

 dated from the convent of St. Domi- 

 nic, at l>nenos Ayres : and which it 

 would be an injustice to our readers 

 to curtail — He thus proceeds : 



" I cannot help regretting that 

 such immense tracts of fertile land 

 between La Plata and 'Brazil should 

 lie in a state of uncultivated nature, 

 without contributing in the least to 

 the comfort of any individual. Cer- 

 tain I am tliat great and unmanly 

 tyranny must have been exercised 

 by the Spaniards over the natives, to 

 caiive such asi universal indolence 

 and imbecility; nor, if J may judge 

 from appearances, is this tyranny in 

 the lea^t abated. 



" Last Friday. I went again to Don 

 Jlanuel ilobh'dos'. After dinner 

 we walked in his gardens, which are 

 very spacious and beautiful, reach- 

 ing down to the water's edge. iVcxt 

 adjoining to these were the pleasurc- 

 grounils of the lieutenant-governor, 

 in which I saw three Indians at 

 work, apparently sinking under the 

 fatigue of a task to which their 

 strength M'as inadequate; while a 

 Spanish superintcndaut, who watch- 

 ed 



