FIGHTS WITH THE INDIANS 27 



on the further side of the Sierras de la Lumbrera and 

 Santa Barbara, had been dismantled at the beginning 

 of the nineteenth century, as the tribes in this part 

 of the Chaco were not hostile. 'f 



The memory of the fights with the Indians is so 

 completely blotted out to-day, and the menace of 

 invasion by the tribes has been so rapidly extinguished, 

 that it is difficult to realize fully the profound influence 

 they once had on colonization. The line of forts 

 was a frail barrier that was constantly broken through. 

 The Indians of the Pampa stole cattle from the ranches 

 of Buenos Aires, and sold them in Chile. Colonel 

 Garcia calculates in 1816 that about 40,000 animals 

 were stolen every year.^ Colonel Roca gives the same 

 figure in 1876. The Pampa put no natural difficulties 

 in the way of the movements of the Indians, no points 

 which might serve as bases for the frontier. D. 

 Pedro Pablo Pabon points out that the proximity of 

 the Sierra, instead of giving protection to outposts 

 in the Tandil region, would be an additional source 

 of insecurity, as it increased the difiiculty of keeping 

 watch. In the north the Indian incursions followed 

 the clearings in the scrub, avoiding the dense and 

 impenetrable parts. The lagoon of Mar Chiquita, to 

 the west of Santa Fe, was a valuable rampart, in the 

 shelter of which a fairly large population had estab- 

 lished itself round Concepcion del Tio. 



The enlargements of the frontier were sometimes 

 due to expansive movements of colonization, the 

 breeders occupying new land beyond the line of forts 

 and demanding protection, and sometimes to the arbi- 

 trary action of a Government which was eager to 

 extend its territory, though it was still without the 

 means of exploiting it. Roca has well shown the 



' See Geronimo de la Serna, " Expedicion militar al Chaco," Bol. I, 

 Geog. Argentina, xv. 1894, pp. 115-79. 



Nuevo plan de fronteras de la provincia de la Republica Argentina 

 (Coll. de Angelis, vol. vi). 



