THE MOJOS INDIANS. 
173 
established Ecduccion were sent with presents to the tribe to be 
“reduced,” and tlie decoy birds w^ere instructed to tell their wild 
brothers that a noble white man in the neighbourhood, who loved them 
dearly, greatly desired to come and live with them ; that he would bring 
them gifts even more yaluable than those presented; that they then 
would alwaj^s have plenty of cattle, iron utensils, and wearing apparel ; 
and that he woidd build houses for them, cure their sick, and altogether 
be of the greatest service to the whole tribe. The messengers, of eour.se, 
were chosen trom the best-looking and most intelligent of the Indians of 
the nearest Mission ; their eontentedness was in itself a strong induce- 
ment ; and the promises of the white man usually sounded so prettily in 
the ears of the hearers, that they willingly consented to the visit of the 
Great Unknown who, naturally losing no time, made his triumphal entry 
in the malocea, accompanied by a considerable number of his former 
pujnis, carrying presents, and driving a small herd of cattle before them. 
In a higldy elevated state of mind, generated amid festive dances 
and revels, the materials for which the Padre supplied with unsparing 
hand, the new' village is jdanued, streets are measured out, a chapel 
and solid houses of pise are built (of course, by the Indians of 
the older Mission, w'hom I can fancy laughing quietly in their 
sleeves), in place of the light open sheds; and, above everything, the 
surrounding country is planted with mandioca, corn, and cotton. The 
magnificent climate riptms the erop.s ; new' herds are brought over from 
the old Mission ; and, when the season of harv'ost arrives, the delighted 
savage finds liimself in the possession of an unw'onted abundance, and 
in a shoi't time gets so used to the new' order of things that he does 
not think of retm-uing to his old habits. Without much trouble, he 
now has plenty of everything ; whereas formerly, especially in the rainy 
season, w'heii the swollen rivers spread their thick Hoods far and wide 
over the plains, and the fishes, finding worms and insects to their heart’s 
content, despised his baits — more than once hunger had stared him in 
the face, in spite of his exertions. The ague, Avhieh long had tormentcid 
Inm, has vanished before the powerful bitter medicine of the wiiite man ; 
the ugly wound, wiiich had defied even the conjuring of his mighty Paje, 
has closed with the balm supplied by the holy man. In short, the son 
ot the tbrost has never before felt so rich and so happy.* 
* deferring to the hearty appetite of the Indians and the eonrse pursued hy the 
