THE GUARANIS AND THEIR DESCENDANTS. 697 



and hunted birds, monkeys, and other animals, and caught 

 fish with their bows and an'ows. They had also canoes ; 

 and had a better established system of government than 

 their neighbours. Yet they were among the first to bow 

 their necks to the yoke of their invaders ; while other tribes, 

 who, though less numerous, fiercely opposed the Spaniards, 

 were swept away from the face of the earth. 



The descendants of the Guaranis exist — some in a semi- 

 civilized condition, others as barbarous as of yore — in several 

 parts of the continent ; but a large portion became amalga- 

 mated with the invaders, and their language is still spoken 

 throughout Paraguay and the neighbouring provinces by the 

 mixed race who have descended from them. The Charruas 

 — the first tribe with whom the Spaniards came in contact — 

 were barbarous in the extreme. Their arms were lances and 

 arrows, and they were noted for their expertness in tracking 

 their enemies. They could bear an almost incredible amount 

 of fatigue, and could subsist for several days without food or 

 water. They wore their hair long, — the women allowing 

 theirs to flow down the back, while the young men gathered 

 up their locks in bunches, and ornamented them with white 

 feathers. They ate every description of food, even to snakes 

 and insects, and were especially fond of the parasites of the 

 human body. They tattooed theu' faces and limbs ; and soon 

 after a boy was born a hole was made in his lower lip, when 

 a piece of wood was introduced like a nail, the head being in 

 his mouth, while another stick was fastened to it outside. 



They lived in tree-formed huts, which they entered on all- 

 fours ; and wore no clothes, except in cold weather, when they 

 covered the chest with a piece of skin. They never washed, 

 huddling together in their dirty toldas or huts. They sub- 



