74 ESTANCIAS ATTACKED BY INDIANS, [chap. iv. 



surrounded the house, and likewise to mount some small 

 cannon. The Indians were Araucanians from the south 

 of Chile ; several hundreds in number, and highly dis- 

 ciplined. They first appeared in two bodies on a neighbour- 

 ing hill ; having there dismounted, and taken off their fur 

 mantles, they advanced naked to the charge. The only 

 weapon of an Indian is a very long bamboo or chuzo, 

 ornamented with ostrich feathers, and pointed by a sharp 

 spear-head. My informer seemed to remember with the 

 greatest horror the quivering of these chuzos as they 

 approached near. When close, the cacique Pincheira 

 hailed the besieged to give up their arms, or he would 

 cut all their throats. As this would probably have been 

 the result of their entrance under any circumstances, the 

 answer was given by a volley of musketry. The Indians, 

 with great steadiness, came to the very fence of the corral ; 

 but to their surprise they found the posts fastened together 

 by iron nails instead of leather thongs, and, of course, in 

 vain attempted to cut them with their knives. This saved 

 the lives of the Christians : many of the wounded Indians 

 were carried away by their companions ; and at last one 

 of the under caciques being wounded, the bugle sounded 

 a retreat. They retired to their horses, and seemed to 

 hold a council of war. This was an awful pause for the 

 Spaniards, as all their ammunition, with the exception of 

 a few cartridges, was expended. In an instant the Indians 

 mounted their horses, and galloped out of sight. Another 

 attack was still more quickly repulsed. A cool Frenchman 

 managed the gun ; he stopped till the Indians approached 

 close, and then raked their line with grape-shot ; he thus 

 laid thirty-nine of them on the ground ; and, of course, 

 such a blow immediately routed the whole party. 



The town is indifferently called El Carmen or Patagones. 

 It is built on the face of a cliff which fronts the river, and 

 many of the houses are excavated even in the sandstone. 

 The river is about two or three hundred yards wide, and is 

 deep and rapid. The many islands, with their willow-trees, 

 and the flat headlands, seen one behind the other on the 

 northern boundary of the broad green valley, form, by the 

 aid of a bright sun, a view almost picturesque. The 

 number of inhabitants does not exceed a few hundreds. 

 These Spanish colonies do not, like our British ones, carry 

 within themselves the elements of growth. Many Indians 

 of pure blood reside here : the tribe of the Cacique Lucanee 



