POVERTY OF THE INDIANA. 15 



worth anything, but their eagerness for tobacco 

 was something quite extraordinary. After tobac- 

 co, indigo came next in value ; then capsicum, old 

 clothes, and gunpowder. The latter article was 

 required for a very innocent purpose : each parish 

 has a public musket, and the gunpowder was 

 wanted for making a noise on their saint or feast 

 days. 



The people here live chiefly on shell-fish and 

 potatoes. At certain seasons they catch also, in 

 " corrales," or hedges under water, many fish which 

 are left on the mud-banks as the tide falls. They 

 occasionally possess fowls, sheep, goats, pigs, horses, 

 and cattle ; the order in which they are here men- 

 tioned expressing their respective numbers. I 

 never saw anything more obliging and humble 

 than the manners of these people. They gener- 

 ally began with stating that they were poor natives 

 of the place, and not Spaniards, and that they wex-e 

 in sad want of tobacco and other comforts. At 

 Caylen, the most southern island, the sailors bought 

 with a stick of tobacco, of the value of three half- 

 pence, two fowls, one of which, the Indian stated, 

 had skin between its toes, and turned out to be a 

 fine duck ; and with some cotton handkerchiefs, 

 worth three shillings, three sheep and a large bunch 

 of onions were procured. The yawl at this place 

 was anchored some way from the shore, and we 

 had fears for her safety from robbers during the 

 night. Our pilot, Mr. Douglas, accordingly told 

 the constable of the district that we always placed 

 sentinels with loaded arms ; and not understanding 

 Spanish, if we saw any person in the dark, we 

 should assuredly shoot him. The constable, with 

 much humility, agreed to the perfect propriety of 

 this arrangement, and promised us that no one 

 should stir out of his house during that night. 



