OVALLE*S HISTORICAL RELATION OF CHtL£» 



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roots, which grow wild : they are alfo very dexterous archers, and often kill with 

 their arrows the game they fee. 



I fhall not omit a particular favour beftowed on thefe Indians by God Almighty, 

 which is a fnigular inftinft of tracing and following any loft thing. Of which I fhall 

 give two examples which happened in the city of St. Jago. 



Our college had a cart belonging to it, which ftood at the gate of a garden, to 

 which our Seminarifts did ufe to go to refrefh themfelves *, it was ftole one night, and 

 being miifed in the morning by one of our lay-brothers, he immediately went to find 

 out a Guarpe (for this is the name they give thofe finding Indians) ; he prefently 

 fell upon the fcent or pifte, and followed it, taking with him the lay-brother, till he 

 came to a river, where it failed him : but he loft not the hopes of finding it ; he 

 crofted the river, and recrofled it again, once and twice, by fo many different fords, 

 (the man that ftole it, as he fince confeffed, had crofted fo many times to break the 

 pifte to the follower.) After this he went four leagues outright, and there he found 

 it, when the man that had it, believed himfelf moft fafe from being difcovered. 



Another time, a certain perfon having loft a parcel of oranges, he employed a 

 Guarpe, who having led him through many ftreets and turnings, brought him at laft 

 to a houfe ; where finding the door fliut, he bid him knock, and go in, For there, 

 faid he, are thy oranges. He did fo, and found them. There are every day experi- 

 ments of this kind made by them to admiration : they are likewife ftout workers, very 

 ftrong and lafting in labour. 



Next to thefe Indians of Cuyo, are the Indians Pampas, called fo becaufe they 

 inhabit thofe vaft plains, which are extended for about four hundred leagues to the 

 eaft, and reach to the North-Sea. Thofe of the point of Los Venados are the neareft 

 the kingdom of Chile, and are much of the fame kind. Thefe Pampas have no 

 houfes, in which they differ from all mankind ; for the firft thing men generally do, 

 is to cover themfelves from the inclemency of the air : and this is the thing which thefe 

 Pampas do the leaft care for ; perhaps they are of opinion, that it is an injury to the 

 to the Author of mankind, to look for more ftielter than he afforded men at firft, 

 which is the earth, with the heavens for vault or cover ; and that to defend themfelves 

 from rain, it was enough to make any little cover, which might be eafily taken away, 

 and fet up in another place. 



This they obferve ; and look upon it as a fort of prifon or captivity, to be tied to 

 one place : for this reafon they will neither have houfe, nor gardens, nor plantations, 

 orpoffeffions, which are like chains to hinder their removal to other places j for they 

 judge that the greateft of all earthly felicities is to have the abfolute, entire, and 

 independent ufe of their own free will ; to live to-day in one place, to-morrow in 

 another. Sometimes, fay they, I have a mind to enjoy the freftmefs of the river-fide, 

 and being weary of that I pafs to another. Otherwhile I have a mind to live in woods 

 and folitudes ; and when I am weary of their ftiades, I go to the open air of plains and 

 meadows. In one place I hunt, in another I fifti ; here I enjoy the fruits of one terri- 

 tory ; and when they fail, I feek out another, where they are beginning to ripen. 

 In fhort, I go where I will, without leaving behind me any thing I regret or defire, 

 which ufes to be the torment of thofe who are fixed. I fear no ill news, for I forfake 

 nothing I can lofe ; and with the company of my wife and children, which I always 

 have, I want for nothing. 



This is the account that thefe people give of themfelves ; and thus they pafs a life 

 without cares ; here to-day, to-morrow in another place ; making in an inftant, with 

 four little pofts, a hut covered with boughs, or fome hide of a beaft. Their incomes 



are 



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