ACCOUNT ©F BOOKS. 



1049 



fertile, abounding in all the blessings 

 of nature, in the most comprehen- 

 sire sense: a place which holds out 

 the most inviting picture to any na- 

 tion possessing souls indued with the 

 spirit of enterprise, industry to im- 

 prove, and humanity to govern ; for 

 the one without the other is like a 

 king without a country." 



That the Indians are an ingenious 

 people naturally, the following ex- 

 tract will shew : — 



" The depredating parrots arc 

 likewise caught in traps, but the 

 gardeners are careful not to injure 

 their plumage. As soon as taken, 

 their necks are twisted, and the fea- 

 thers curiously preserved. These 

 the Indians have a method of pre- 

 paring in a manner equally singular 

 and beautiful, by blending the colours 

 agreeably to the strictest rules of 

 art. Of these, intermixed with the 

 feathers of the birds taken on the 

 banks of the Paraguay,* they make 

 cloaks, ornaioents for the head, and 

 pictnre-fraines ; which last are truly 

 ingenious, and have a most striking 

 and agreeable effect. A plain frame 

 of wood is first made, the size of the 

 picture, the edges turned M'ith a 

 sharp curve ; over this is spread the 

 picture, whether on canvas, paper, 

 or other materials : that done, an- 

 other frame is added, made entirely 

 of feathers, and those such as bear an 

 analogy to the subject, and by their 

 different tints reflect a shade the best 

 calculated to display the merits of 

 the painter to advantage. How this 

 is contrived 1 am as yet ignorant ; 

 but certain I am that it produces an 

 effect the splendour and beauty of 



which none but those that behold it 

 can form a competent idea. 



" In the church of thcFranciscans 

 I am informed tiiey have a picture 

 of the Last Supper, painted bv an 

 Indian residing at one of the pre- 

 sidencies on the Uraguay, a very ca- 

 pital performance ; tjie frame of 

 which is composed entirely of fea- 

 thers of a bright gold cohjur, and so 

 artfully contrived as to appear to 

 the nicest observer some of the most 

 correct carving and gilding ; nor can 

 the diifercnce be discovered until it 

 is touched by the hand. This pic- 

 ture was a present to the Franciscan 

 father from the Jesuits, not many 

 years before their expulsion." 



About this period, Mr. Davie 

 was fortunate enough to procure 

 permission to accompany one of 

 the fathers of the convent to the 

 remote presidency of Roija Minor, 

 upon the river Uraguay, which 

 empties itself into the Paraguay, 

 many leagues above Buenos Ayres, 

 and distant thence between 6 and 

 700 miles. It would, we d»ubt not, 

 aiiord much amusement to our rea- 

 ders, to give extracts of Mil Davie's 

 adventures, which abound in inci- 

 dent, as his accounts of a country, 

 never before perhaps trodden by an 

 Englishmen, are curious and attrac- 

 tive. Our limits, however, will not 

 admit of our being as copious as we 

 could otherwise have wished. — We 

 must therefore, in general terms, re- 

 fer to the book itself for the follow- 

 ing heads, namely, the navigation of 

 the Plata, the manner of hunting the 

 black cattle, the manners and cus- 

 toms of the friendly Indians, the 



dangers 



• The name of this province is derived from the quantity of beautiful birds and 

 flowers with which it abouuds: the word parajuay signiljing, in the language of 

 ikc natives, variety of colmirs. 



