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of violent disputes between the ecclesiastic and 

 secular authorities. The prefect of the Capu- 

 chins, thinking it too sumptuous for a missionary, 

 endeavoured to force the Indians to demolish it. 

 The governor had strenuously withstood this 

 demolition ; and his counsel prevailed against 

 the monks. I mention these facts, though of 

 little importance in themselves, because they 

 make us acquainted with the interior spirit of 

 the Missions : which is not always so peaceable, 

 as is supposed in Europe. 



At the Mission of Catuaro we met the Corre- 

 gidor * of the district, an amiable man, and of 

 a cultivated mind. He gave us three Indians, 

 who, armed with their machetes, were to pre- 

 cede us, and cut a way through the forest. 

 In this country so little frequented, the power 

 of vegetation is such at the period of the great 

 rains, that a man on horseback passes with 

 difficulty through narrow paths, covered with 

 lianas, and intertwining branches. To our great 

 regret, the missionary of Catuaro would abso- 

 lutely conduct us to Cariaco. We could not 

 refuse ; he tormented us no longer with his re- 

 veries on the souls of animals, and the freewill 

 of man ; he had now to entertain us on a sub- 

 ject far more perplexing. The movement to- 

 ward independence, which had nearly broken 



' * Don Alexandre Mexia. 



