320 
VALDIVIA 
CHAP. 
is with this plant that the Indians make their chuzos, or long 
tapering spears. Our resting-house was so dirty that I preferred 
sleeping outside : on these journeys the first night is generally 
very uncomfortable, because one is not accustomed to the 
tickling and biting of the fleas. I am sure, in the morning, 
there was not a space on my legs of the size of a shilling, 
which had not its little red mark where the flea had feasted. 
i 2th .—We continued to ride through the uncleared forest ; 
only occasionally meeting an Indian on horseback, or a troop 
of fine mules bringing alerce-planks and corn from the southern 
plains. In the afternoon one of the horses knocked up ; we 
were then on a brow of a hill, which commanded a fine view 
of the Llanos. The view of these open plains was very 
refreshing, after being hemmed in and buried in the wilderness 
of trees. The uniformity of a forest soon becomes very 
wearisome. This west coast makes me remember with pleasure 
the free unbounded plains of Patagonia ; yet, with the true spirit 
of contradiction, I cannot forget how sublime is the silence of the 
forest. The Llanos are the most fertile and thickly peopled 
parts of the country ; as they possess the immense advantage 
of being nearly free from trees. Before leaving the forest we 
crossed some flat little lawns, around which single trees stood, 
as in an English park : I have often noticed with surprise, in 
wooded undulatory districts, that the quite level parts have 
been destitute of trees. On account of the tired horse, I 
determined to stop at the Mission of Cudico, to the friar of 
which I had a letter of introduction. Cudico is an intermediate 
district between the forest and the Llanos. There are a good 
many cottages, with patches of corn and potatoes, nearly all 
belonging to Indians. The tribes dependent on Valdivia are 
“ reducidos y cristianos.” The Indians farther northward, about 
Arauco and Imperial, are still very wild, and not converted ; 
but they have all much intercourse with the Spaniards. The 
padre said that the Christian Indians did not much like coming 
to mass, but that otherwise they showed respect for religion. 
The greatest difficulty is in making them observe the ceremonies 
of marriage. The wild Indians take as many wives as they 
can support, and a cacique will sometimes have more than ten : 
on entering his house, the number may be told by that of the 
separate fires. Each wife lives a week in turn with the cacique ; 
