AGRICULTURE. 99 



exaggerate when he affirms, that if any one 

 among them can be made to comprehend that 

 twice two make four, he may pass, in compa 

 rison with his countrymen, for a Descartes or a 

 Newton. To most of them, this important 

 arithmetical proposition would certainly be 

 perfectly incomprehensible. 



In their wild state, all these Indians lead a 

 wandering life. It is only recently that they 

 have begun to build huts of underwood, which 

 they burn whenever they remove from the spot. 

 The chase is their sole occupation and means of 

 subsistence. Hence their skill in shooting with 

 arrows has cost many Spanish lives. They lie 

 in wait at night, in the forests and mountains, 

 watching for game. 



Agriculture, as I have before observed, is 

 the copious source of revenue to the monks, 

 and they farm on an extensive scale. The 

 yearly crop of wheat at Santa Clara alone, pro 

 duces three thousand fanegos, about six hun 

 dred and twenty English quarters, or three 

 thousand four hundred Berlin bushels; and 

 from the extraordinary fertility of the soil, the 

 harvest, on an average, is forty-fold, notwith- 

 F 2 



