1835. 



^BOROANOS' TUBUL RIVER. 



465 



lenger's people, for the sake of plunder as well as because they 

 had been on friendly terms with Colipi. 



This hostile tribe, whose visit he was anticipating, was that 

 called ' Boroanos,' by the Chilians (' Boroa-che,' by the In- 

 dians). I have before said that in Boroa there are fair Indians ; 

 and that I saw, when at Valdivia, one of the natives of that 

 district. The Indian girl, whom I mentioned just now as a 

 captive, agreed exactly in what she stated of them, with the 

 account I had previously heard. She and the ' Boroana ' at Val- 

 divia both said, that " their fathers had told them that the 

 ' rubios' (meaning red and white, or red-haired people) were 

 children of the women whom their ancestors took prisoners 

 when they destroyed the seven cities.^' Many of these ' rubios' 

 had blue eyes, with rather fair complexions ; and some few had 

 red hair. If this is the true story, they must be gradually 

 losing such striking peculiarities ; and the assertion made a 

 century ago that there were white Indians in Araucania, might 

 well be thought erroneous now. Both of the ' Boroanos' 

 whom I saw had dark blue or grey eyes, and a lighter com- 

 plexion than other Indians; but their features were similar 

 to those of their countrywomen, and they had long black 

 hair. 



In our way to A rauco this morning, we passed by Tubul, a 

 place admirably adapted for a large town, but now occupied 

 only by a few poor families living in huts. Hills surround a 

 fine plain, through which the river Tubul winds to the sea : 

 lying in that river, I saw the remains of a whaler (the Her- 

 silia) captured by Benavides, when at anchor near the island 

 of Santa Maria.* She was brought into the Tubul, plun- 

 dered, and partly burned. 



Some years ago, ships of two hundred tons could enter 

 the mouth of this river, and pass up nearly a mile ; but the 

 late earthquake had raised the land so much, that only very 

 small vessels could enter at this time. May not changes of 

 relative level, similar to this, have occurred at the rivers 



* Captain Hall's Journal, vol. i. p. 312-13, 

 VOL. II. 2 H 



