696 THE GUARANIS AND THEIR DESCENDANTS. 



was attacked, and every inhabitant slaughtered ; while the 

 hosts of those in the town killed more than three hundred of 

 their helpless guests. 



The invaders were creating a fearful heritage for their 

 descendants by intermarrying with the native women. From 

 these marriages have sprung the race which now occupies, in 

 vast numbers, a large portion of that magnificent territory, 

 and who, by their low moral condition, their ignorance, and 

 instability of character, have been the chief cause of the 

 melancholy wars which have so long saturated its plains 

 with blood. The Jesuits, by the missions they formed in 

 various parts of the country, introduced a superficial civiliza- 

 tion among some of the tribes ; but their system failing, as it 

 ever has done, to raise the moral character of the people, and 

 fit them for independent thought and self-government, has left 

 them as ignorant and superstitious, and scarcely less savage, 

 than before. Thus they have become the facile tools of every 

 leader who, by greater audacity, craft, or determination, has 

 risen to authority among them. 



THE GUARANIS AND THEIR DESCENDANTS. 



The Guaranis were the principal nation dwelling on the 

 eastern portion of South America. They were probably the 

 same race as the Quichuas, who inhabited the western shores, 

 and a large portion of the Andes, under the rule of the Incas. 

 The two languages are still spoken in various parts of the 

 country. The Guaranis were superior in civilization to 

 numerous other intervening and more isolated tribes, who had 

 sunk by degi^ees into gi'eater barbarism. Like the Quichuas, 

 they were agriculturalists — cultivating mandioca, maize, cala- 

 bashes, and potatoes. They fed on honey and wild fruit ; 



