298 AMONG THE INDIANS. [chap. xiv. 



brow of a hill, which commanded a fine view of the Llanos. 

 The view of these open plains was very refreshing, after 

 being hemmed in and buried in the wilderness of trees. 

 The uniformity of a forest soon becomes very wearisome. 

 This west coast makes me remember with pleasure the free, 

 unbounded plains of Patagonia ; yet, with the true spirit of 

 contradiction, I cannot forget how sublime is the silence 

 of the forest. The Llanos are the most fertile and thickly 

 peopled parts of the country ; as they possess the immense 

 advantage of being nearly free from trees. Before leaving 

 the forest we crossed some flat little lawns, around which 

 single trees stood, as in an English park : I have often 

 noticed with surprise, in wooded undulatory districts, that 

 the quite level parts have been destitute of trees. On 

 account of the tired horse, I determined to stop at the 

 Mission of Cudico, to the friar of which I had a letter 

 of introduction. Cudico is an intermediate district between 

 the forest and the Llanos. There are a good many cottages, 

 with patches of corn and potatoes, nearly all belonging 

 to Indians. The tribes dependent on Valdivia are " re- 

 ducidos y cristianos." The Indians farther northward, 

 about Arauco and Imperial, are still very wild, and not 

 converted ; but they have all much intercourse with the 

 Spaniards. The padre said that the Christian Indians 

 did not much like coming to mass, but that other- 

 wise they showed respect for religion. The greatest 

 difficulty is in making them observe the ceremonies of 

 marriage. The wild Indians take as many wives as they 

 can support, and a cacique will sometimes take more 

 than ten : on entering his house, the number may be 

 told by that of the separate fires. Each wife lives a week 

 in turn with the cacique ; but all are employed in weaving 

 ponchos, etc., for his profit. To be the wife of a cacique 

 is an honour much sought after by the Indian woman. 



The men of all these tribes wear a coarse woollen poncho : 

 those south of Valdivia wear short trousers, and those 

 north of it a petticoat, like the chilipa of the Gauchos. 

 All have their long hair bound by a scarlet fillet, but with 

 no other covering on their heads. These Indians are 

 good-sized men ; their cheek-bones are prominent, and 

 in general appearance they resemble the great American 

 family to which they belong ; but their physiognomy 

 seemed to me to be slightly diff'erent from that of any other 

 tribe which I had before seen. Their expression is 



