60 



BUENOS AYRES. 



Mode of 

 trading 

 with the 

 Puelches. 



Inhabi- 

 tants. 



and Puelches they buy horses and cattle, furs, gua- 

 naco skins, and sometimes their children for slaves. 

 These purchases, however, are generally made in the 

 interior by Spanish adventurers, or converted Indians, 

 who carry thither the articles of barter; and nego- 

 tiate with the chiefs for the value of their commodi- 

 ties. The good faith and integrity of these tribes 

 has been particularly remarked by travellers, who 

 have visited this country ; and we extract, for the in- 

 formation of our readers, the following account of 

 the mode in which mercantile transactions are carried 

 on with the Puelches, from Wilcocke's History of 

 Buenos Ayres. " The adventurer who engages in 

 this traffic, on his arrival in the tribe, repairs to the 

 cacique, and presents himself before him without 

 saying a word : the cacique begins by saying, ' So 

 you are come.' The Spaniard answers, * Yes, I am 

 come.' Then the cacique says, * What have you 

 brought me ?' The answer is, ' A present of wine,' 

 of clothing, or some other article. The cacique then 

 bids the stranger welcome, and provides him with a 

 lodging near his own residence, where all his wives 

 and children then go to bid him also welcome, ex- 

 pecting each a present, which, however trifling, must 

 be given them. In the mean time the cacique causes 

 a horn to be sounded, to advertise his dispersed sub- 

 jects of the arrival of a merchant, with whom they 

 may trade; they flock around at that signal, and ex- 

 amine the goods which are brought, and which con- 

 sist of knives, hatchets, combs, needles, thread, look- 

 ing-glasses, ribbons, &c. When the barter is agreed 

 on, the Indians take away their goods without pay- 

 ing, and the merchant thus delivers all his goods 

 without knowing any one of his debtors, and with- 

 out seeing many of them, as those who come to his 

 tent buy not only for themselves, but also for their 

 neighbours. After a reasonable time, the Spaniard 

 wishing to return, the cacique causes his horn to be 

 again sounded, which is a signal for payment to be 

 made. Each then brings in faithfully what has been 

 agreed upcn ; and the cattle, in which the purchases 

 principally consist, are driven by Indians, sent for the 

 purpose, as far as the frontiers of the Spanish ter- 

 ritory." 



The inhabitants of this extensive viceroyalty may 

 be divided into four classes, 1. The European Spa- 

 niards, or those born in Old Spain, and the Creoles, 

 or Spaniards born in America. 2. The mulattos and 

 mestizos, or people of colour. 3. Negroes, or Afri- 

 cans ; and 4. Indians, or the original inhabitants of 

 the country. Of these, the European Spaniards hold 

 the first rank, and generally fill all the offices of 

 trust and profit in the colonies. They also consti- 

 tute the most industrious and wealthy part of the po- 

 pulation ; and the principal trade of the country, both 

 with the interior provinces and with Spain, may be 

 said to be in their hands. Many of the Creoles are 

 descended from the. conquerors of the new world, and 

 inherit extensive and valuable paternal estates. Pos- 

 sessed of ample fortunes, and applying themselves 

 neither.to the pursuits of literature, or the avocations 

 of commerce, they waste their lives in luxurious ease 

 and sensual indulgence. The strictest equality reigns 

 among this class. They acknowledge no invidious, 

 distinctions of rank. They have neither titles, en- 



tails, nor feudal tenures ; and the only difference that Buenoe 

 exists is purely personal, and arises from the fortune 

 or reputation of the individual. No white would ~ ~V~* 

 condescend to serve the richest noble of his nation ; 

 and the viceroy himself must be contented with the 

 service of negroes, men of colour, and Indians. In Manners of 

 manners, however, the citizens differ considerably the citi- 

 from the inhabitants of the country. Buenos Ayres, zen$t 

 Montevideo, Maldonado, Assumption, Corrientes, 

 and, Santa Fe, present the same scenes of indolence, 

 vice, voluptuousness, and dissipation, as prevail in 

 the capital of the mother country, but carried per- 

 haps to a greater excess. To sleep, to walk, to ride, 

 and to smoke segars, is their constant occupation ; 

 and the facility, which this country affords to the 

 lowest of its inhabitants, of obtaining a livelihood 

 without any toil, and the many opportunities which 

 it offers of even acquiring a fortune, encourage them 

 in their native listlessness and idleness. Little cor- 

 diality, however, exists between the European and 

 American Spaniard. The jealousy of the Spanish court 

 for the security of her American possessions, which 

 induces her to entrust the government of her colonies 

 entirely to Europeans, to the utter exclusion of the 

 Spanish Americans, has given rise to a deep rooted j ea i OU5 ; e - 

 hatred and suspicion between those two classes of between 

 her subjects. While the Europeans look down upon the Euro- 

 the Creoles as beings of a different order, they re- P ea and 

 turn it with equal contempt, and also with senti- ^ me f c * n 

 ments of the most decided aversion, which they even ' 

 extend to the laws and government of the parent 

 state. " Such is this aversion," says Azara, " that 

 it exists often between a father and his children, a 

 husband arid wife, if the one be European and the 

 other American." He, however, adds, that it is 

 strongest among advocates and bankrupts, and all 

 those who are noted for their indolence, incapacity, 

 and vices. The few who have visited the mother 

 country, and have beheld the various gradations of 

 rank, the insolence of office, and the oppressions and 

 exactions attendant upon an absolute monarchy, re- 

 turn to America, well pleased with the liberty and 

 equal rights which they enjoy in their own country, 

 and cursing the distinctions and tyranny of Europe. 

 This evil arises chiefly from the native indolence of Indolence 

 the Spanish American, and the repugnance to all [ l ' ie ^ rc " 

 kinds of labour, which is the strongest feature in his es ' 

 character. In his infancy, he imbibes high ideas of 

 his own importance, and is led to believe that worth 

 and greatness consists in having nothing to do. 

 Every species of labour is consequently despised, 

 and even the children of the simple sailor disdain to 

 follow the profession of their father. Monks, priests, 

 advocates, and merchants, are the employments to 

 which the lowest aspire. Even the latter of these 

 is often rejected as being too laborious ; and many 

 of the inhabitants spend their existence in listless a- 

 pathy, low debauchery, or the practice of supersti- 

 tious ceremonies; and owe their means of subsistence 

 entirely to the facility of procuring them in this rich 

 and fertile country. Yet these Creoles possess very who are 

 quick parts, and were they not debased by their edu- 'V*'^' 6 

 cation, might be capable of the highest attainments att e ai '*> e! 

 both in science and the arts ; but the germs of every ments in 

 good quality and of every virtuous principle are al- science. 



