BUENOS AYRES. 



Buenos 



Ayres. 



The Char, 

 ruas and 

 Muinanes. 



Method of 

 attacking 

 their ene- 



They have 

 no distinc- 

 tion of 



rank. 



with abundance ; and display considerable ingenuity 

 both in the fabrication of their dress and their instru- 

 ments of war. Some have been represented as stu- 

 pid, cowardly, treacherous, and cruel ; while others 

 have been found to possess considerable penetration 

 and judgment, to be sincere, industrious, and brave. 

 Many of the independent nations which inhabit the 

 eastern borders of the Paraguay and Parana, though 

 formerly numerous and formidable, are now reduced 

 to inconsiderable tribes, who, with little power of 

 annoyance, still bear an invincible enmity to the Spa- 

 niards. Among these, the most powerful were 

 the Chnrntas and Minnanes, who long withstood, 

 witli the most determined resistance, the subjugation 

 of their country. Though now driven from their 

 ancient residence on the banks of the La Plata, and 

 reduced to a few hundred warriors, they still carry 

 on incessant hostilities with the Europeans, either in 

 Brasil or Buenos Ayres. They live in a state of con- 

 tinual watchfulness. At evening the heads of fami- 

 lies assemble to appoint the sentinels for the night ; 

 and such is their foresight, that this precaution is ne- 

 ver forgotten. At this assembly they arrange their 

 plans of attack and defence, and all projects for the 

 public safety and welfare are here communicated and 

 discussed, and, if approved of, immediately put in 

 execution. When a military expedition is resolved 

 upon, they conceal their families in the woods, and 

 send out their spies, well mounted, to discover the 

 situation and strength of the enemy. If they find him 

 weak or unprepared, so that he may be attacked with 

 any prospect of advantage, they dispose their forces 

 in such a manner as to assail him at several points at 

 once ; and then, advancing slowly and in silence, pre- 

 cipitate themselves with such sudden fury upon their 

 opponents, that time is scarcely left for resistance. Eve- 

 ry male above twelve years of age is massacred, and 

 the women and children are carried off as prisoners, 

 who, however, enjoy among them the most perfect 

 liberty, and soon become so habituated to their man- 

 ner of life, that they seldom wish to return to their 

 former companions. They are also most dextrous in 

 laying ambuscades, and in making false attacks ; but 

 generally content themselves with a single victory, and 

 never follow up their advantages. If repulsed, they 

 easily escape by the superior swiftness of their horses, 

 which they manage with great address. Their war- 

 like accoutrements consist merely in a long spear, 

 pointed with iron, which metal they buy from the Por- 

 tuguese; and a quiver full of short arrows slung over 

 their shoulders. They go entirely naked, except 

 when they can obtain a poncho, or hat, which they 

 wear in cold weather ; and their women cover them- 

 selves with a cloak, or cotton shirt, which their fa- 

 thers or husbands may have taken from the enemy. 

 They are altogether unacquainted with agriculture, 

 and live entirely upon the flesh of the wild oxen, with 

 which their country abounds. They have neither 

 chiefs nor laws. All are equal ; and every one re- 

 tains the booty which he has personally taken in war. 

 But though few in number, they are actuated by 

 such a spirit of unanimity and determined hostili- 

 ty against their oppressors, that their reduction has 

 cost the Spaniards more blood than even the conquest 

 of Mexico and Peru. 



The same unconquerable inveteracy against Euro- 

 peansprevailsamongthe numerous independent nations 

 which rove over the plains of Chaco. They are in gene- 

 ral of a robust and lofty stature, are immoderately ad- 

 dicttd to ckica, and often terminate their carousings 

 by sanguinary quarrels. War and pillage is their only 

 occupation. Trn>y are excellent horsemen, and their 

 principal weapon is a wooden javelin with a barbed 

 point made of deer's horn, which they use with great 

 strength and dexterity. They take off the scalps 

 from their enemies, and display them at their enter- 

 tainments, as memorials of their victory. North of 

 Chaco are the Chiquitos, who are by far the most ci- 

 vilized and industrious nation of independent Indians. 

 They sow maize and rice, and plant sugar canes, to- 

 bacco, and cotton. The dress both of men and wo- 

 men, consists simply of a kind of cotton shirt, and 

 both wear the hair long, by way of ornament. They 

 are brave, and dextrous in war, and treat their pri- 

 soners with great humanity, adopting them into their 

 families, and giving them their daughters in marriage. 

 Drunkenness, however, is their ruling passion, to 

 which they are habituated from their infancy ; and 

 from the great heat and humidity of the climate, 

 they are subject to several dangerous diseases, which 

 often appear among them like a pestilence. 



The Moxos are a numerous nation, extending to- 

 wards the north west. They imbue the points of 

 their arrows with the most active vegetable poisons, 

 and sell their prisoners taken in war for slaves. A 

 barbarous practice prevails among them, of interring 

 young children with their dead mother, as no other 

 woman can be found to take charge of them ; and 

 when twins are born, one of them is always destroy- 

 ed. They are more jealous of the honour of their 

 wives, than any of the other American nations ; and 

 with them adultery is often punished with death. 

 Among the Manoa tribes, the same custom prevails 

 of poisoning their weapons ; and when a male child 

 is born with distorted limbs, or any other remark- 

 able defect, he is instantly deprived of life. They 

 cultivate a kind of root called yuca, of which they 

 make their principal beverage, as they seldom taste 

 water ; which, in consequence, of the heat, and of 

 the innumerable morasses, is of a noxious quality. 

 They also raise cotton for the manufacture ol their 

 garments. Their towns are generally built against 

 the side of a hill, in the form of a half moon, and 

 are fortified with considerable art. 



The unsubdued Indians who dwell along the 

 frontiers of Tucuman and Chili, and south of the 

 provinces of Cuyo and Buenos Ayres, go under 

 the general denomination of Moluches and Puel- 

 ches. These, however, are divided into a va- 

 riety of independent tribes, concerning which our 

 information is yet very defective. The Pampas are 

 the most powerful, and best known to Europeans. 

 They inhabit the immense plains which stretch be- 

 tween the Rio de la Plata, and the Chilian Cordil- 

 lera, and long disputed, with admirable constancy 

 and valour, the first establishment of a colony at 

 Buenos Ayres. They compelled the Spaniards to 

 abandon, for a time, their intended settlement ; and 

 though this was afterwards accomplished, and many 

 fierce and bloody wars were the consequence of it, 

 4 



Buenos 

 Ayres. 



Indians of 

 Chaco. 



Chiquitos. 



Moxos. 



Manoa 



tribes. 



Moluches 

 and Pud- 

 dies. 



Pampas. 



