TRAVELS OP THE MISSIONARIES. 



435 



dufted him to house of the chief, where, far from meeting witli the customary 

 ornaments among these savages, the trophies of death, there was merely a kind 

 of canopy, formed of the most valuable coverings, beneath which the new 

 guest was seated. Prostrate at his feet, they surveyed him attentively, and ex- 

 erted all their faculties to discover, by his demonstrations, and through the 

 medium of the interpreter, the wishes of a man whom they regarded as an 

 oracle sent from heaven. 



Here our feelings are wrought to an extreme degree of compassion. How are 

 the descriptions of the miserable Pano, in which he is represented as sanguinary 

 and barbarous, to be reconciled with these traits of sincerity and humanity ? 

 And why, these Indians being the relatives and ancient allies of the Omaguas and 

 Cocamas, converted to Christianity — why, being absolutely dependent on them 

 for the implements of agriculture, without which they find it extremely difficult 

 to subsist*; — why, we ask, now that so many years have elapsed since the Maynas 

 nations were reduced, with so favourable a disposition on the part of the Panos, 

 and with the advantageous means presented by the commerce f to which they are 

 urged by their very mode of subsistence ; far from having been united, so as to 

 form a commonalty or republic, they have been driven, on the other hand, to the 

 hard necessity of labouring under apprehensions for their personal safety, and 

 regarding themselves as enemies ? A simple shepherd who penetrated into the 



* The whole of the mountainous territory is occupied by trees of an uncommon magnitude, which 

 the Indians are under the necessity of feliing, to be enabled to plant their producSlions. As their hatchets, 

 whatever may be the industry they employ in sharpening them, do nothing more than mangle and lace- 

 rate the trunks, two lunar months are spent in feUing a tree ; — an operation which might be performed 

 in the space of a few hours with a hatchet of iron. Th.ey have thus to undergo an infinite toll, in cul- 

 tivating a small space of ground. 



f " If, therefore we view, with the strictest impartiality, the fine countries in which the sciences and 

 the arts flourish, and which were in remote times occupied by barbarism, we may demand of our- 

 selves : how have these canals been opened ? — How have these morasses been drained ? — How have 

 these cities been founded ? — And the reply, to vi'hich every sensible man will give his assent, will 

 be — l/y the means of commerce. In reality, th enations by which others have been civilized, have been 

 constantly commercial." — Hhtor. Politic, de las establec. vltram. t. i. p. 3. 



In the account of the peregrination of father Sobreviela, the president of the Maynas missions, Don 

 Pedro Valverde, and the governor of the province, Don Francisco Requena, received the tribute of 

 praise due to their laudable exertions on this head. We have now to add, that the former has broken 

 down the barrier which separated the christian from the infidel, and forced them to remain friends ; 

 while the latter only waits the sanftion of the supreme authority, to open and facihtate a commerce be- 

 tween the Indian nations reciprocally. 



3 K 2 interior 



