FOOTNOTES:

FOOTNOTES:[19]In a subsequent report of Viedma's, he says that, when the first accounts of San Joseph's were brought to Monte Video, a merchant of that place, Don Francisco de Medina, fitted out a vessel to go a whaling there, the crew of which, in the first month, harpooned no less than fifty fish within the port.[20]Their day's journey is usually about four leagues when on a long march.[21]Captain FitzRoy followed it for nearly 200 miles, and found it a very considerable river the whole way,—never fordable, according to the accounts he received. He must have been very near the lake when he found himself obliged to turn back.[22]In 1670 Sir John Narborough passed six months at San Julian's; he also visited Port Desire, and took possession of it, with all due form, for his master, Charles II.—Anson was also at both places in 1741, and the account of his voyage contains views of that part of the coast, and of the harbour of San Julian's.Narborough, who is very precise in his description of the country, gives an account of a geological fact, which is of some interest now-a-days. He says, "Going on shore on the north-west side of the harbour of San Julian's with thirty men, I travelled seven or eight miles over the hills, &c. On the tops of the hills and in the ground are very large oyster-shells; they lie in veins in the earth and in the firm rocks, and on the sides of the hills in the country; they are the biggest oyster-shells that ever I saw, some six, some seven inches broad, yet not one oyster is to be found in the harbour."[23]The Choleechel is not now a single island, but is divided into two or three, by branches of the river which intersect it. These channels may have been formed since Vallarino's voyage.[24]Fort Villariño in the map.[25]The river was probably unusually low even for the season; for Villariño observes in this part of his journal, that it was nearly five months since they had had a rainy day.[26]Nahuel-huapi signifies the Island of Tigers according to Falkner.

[19]In a subsequent report of Viedma's, he says that, when the first accounts of San Joseph's were brought to Monte Video, a merchant of that place, Don Francisco de Medina, fitted out a vessel to go a whaling there, the crew of which, in the first month, harpooned no less than fifty fish within the port.

[20]Their day's journey is usually about four leagues when on a long march.

[21]Captain FitzRoy followed it for nearly 200 miles, and found it a very considerable river the whole way,—never fordable, according to the accounts he received. He must have been very near the lake when he found himself obliged to turn back.

[22]In 1670 Sir John Narborough passed six months at San Julian's; he also visited Port Desire, and took possession of it, with all due form, for his master, Charles II.—Anson was also at both places in 1741, and the account of his voyage contains views of that part of the coast, and of the harbour of San Julian's.Narborough, who is very precise in his description of the country, gives an account of a geological fact, which is of some interest now-a-days. He says, "Going on shore on the north-west side of the harbour of San Julian's with thirty men, I travelled seven or eight miles over the hills, &c. On the tops of the hills and in the ground are very large oyster-shells; they lie in veins in the earth and in the firm rocks, and on the sides of the hills in the country; they are the biggest oyster-shells that ever I saw, some six, some seven inches broad, yet not one oyster is to be found in the harbour."

Narborough, who is very precise in his description of the country, gives an account of a geological fact, which is of some interest now-a-days. He says, "Going on shore on the north-west side of the harbour of San Julian's with thirty men, I travelled seven or eight miles over the hills, &c. On the tops of the hills and in the ground are very large oyster-shells; they lie in veins in the earth and in the firm rocks, and on the sides of the hills in the country; they are the biggest oyster-shells that ever I saw, some six, some seven inches broad, yet not one oyster is to be found in the harbour."

[23]The Choleechel is not now a single island, but is divided into two or three, by branches of the river which intersect it. These channels may have been formed since Vallarino's voyage.

[24]Fort Villariño in the map.

[25]The river was probably unusually low even for the season; for Villariño observes in this part of his journal, that it was nearly five months since they had had a rainy day.

[26]Nahuel-huapi signifies the Island of Tigers according to Falkner.

Malaspina Surveys the Shores of the Rio de la Plata in 1789. Bauza maps the Road to Mendoza: De Souillac that to Cordova. Azara, and other Officers, in 1796, fix the positions of all the Forts and Towns in the Province of Buenos Ayres. Don Luis de la Cruz crosses the Pampas, from the frontiers of Conception in Chile to Buenos Ayres, in 1806. Attempt at a new delineation of the Rivers of the Pampas from his Journal. His account of the Volcanic appearances along the Eastern Andes. Sulphur, Coal, and Salt found there, also Fossil Marine Remains. The Indians of Araucanian origin: Habits and customs of the Pehuenches.

Piedra's orders confined him to the east coast of Patagonia, as has been shown in the preceding chapter; but in 1789 Spain sent forth an expedition of much more importance, especially in a scientific point of view.[27]

The ships employed were theAtrevidaandDescubierta, under the command of the well-known Malaspina, who not only revised Piedra's and Viedma's surveys of Patagonia, but, rounding Cape Horn, explored the greater part of the coast of the Pacific, from its southern extreme to the Russiansettlements in the north-west. Malaspina, upon his return, was thrown into a dungeon and deprived of his papers,—why, has never transpired; nor was it till several years afterwards that those admirable charts, the results of his labours, were published by order of Langara, the Spanish Minister of Marine, which have since been so useful to modern navigators in the South American Seas, and will long be an honour to the Spanish navy. Malaspina's name, however, was not permitted to be affixed to them, neither has the journal of his voyage ever been published.

It is only very recently that the details have been discovered at Buenos Ayres of the first portion of his work, viz., the survey, in 1789, of the whole of the northern and southern shores of the Plate, as high up as the Paranã, in which nearly 150 points were fixed by him. In the Appendix all those of any importance will be found, in a tabular form, together with other positions, determined on good authority.

It was this survey, with the soundings afterwards taken by Oyarvide (who lost his life in completing them), that furnished the materials for the chart of the river Plate, officially published at Madrid in 1810: nor was this all that Buenos Ayres owed to Malaspina: upon his return to Valparaiso from the north-west coast, he detached two of his most intelligent officers, Don José Espinosa, and Don Felipe Bauza, well known in this country, to map the roadacross the pampas; and by them the true positions of Santiago in Chile, of Mendoza, San Luis, the post of Gutierres on the river Tercero, and other points along the line, were, for the first time, determined. Their map, so far as it extends, is the best, and the only one of that line of country, I believe, ever drawn by any one capable of taking an observation.[28]

Whilst they were thus engaged in fixing one part of the geography of the interior, the Viceroy turned to account the temporary sojourn at Buenos Ayres of some of the officers attached to the commission for laying down the boundaries under the treaty of 1777 with Portugal, and employed them in mapping other portions of the territory under his immediate jurisdiction.

In 1794 M. Sourreyere de Souillac, the astronomer of the third division of that commission, laid down the line of road from Buenos Ayres to Cordova, and fixed the latitude of that city in 31° 26´ 14".

In 1796 Azara, with Cerviño and other officers employed on the same service, made a detailed survey of the frontiers of the province of Buenos Ayres, in the course of which they fixed the positions of all the towns and forts of any importance betweenMelinqué, its north-western extremity, and the most southern bend of the river Salado, beyond Chascomus. That river they found to have its origin in a lake in latitude 34° 4´ 45", longitude from Buenos Ayres 3° 36´ 32"; it is an insignificant stream, of trivial importance till joined by the Flores.

Thus materials were collected for laying down a considerable portion of country upon the very best authorities; but, like the surveys of the coast, many years were suffered to elapse ere they were made available to the public. Bauza's map was not published till 1810, and it was only in 1822 that the positions fixed by Azara in 1796 appeared for the first time as his in the "Statistical Register," published that year at Buenos Ayres. De Souillac's might have remained unknown for ever, had not Señor de Angelis lately brought them to light; as well as Malaspina's "Fixed Points on the Shores of the River Plate."

But, after all, however valuable were these data in perfecting a knowledge of the country already occupied, they led to no new discoveries, and by far the greater part of the interior of the continent, to the south of the Plate, remained unexplored, till Spain becoming involved in the general war carried on between the great powers in Europe, her colonial subjects on the shores of the Pacific began to experience more or less inconvenience from the stoppage of their ordinary trade. They found that the ships which used to visit them direct from Europefor the most part ran into the river Plate, rather than encounter the increased risk of capture in the longer voyage round Cape Horn; and it became therefore to them an object of considerable importance to shorten, if possible, the over-land journey from thence to the opposite side of the continent, and particularly to the southern parts of Chile.

This led to explorations being set on foot by the public authorities, in the years 1803, 1804, and 1805, the result of which was, the discovery of several new passes over the Cordillera, south of Mendoza, one of which, the pass de las Damas, was examined by the same M. de Souillac, already spoken of, who reported that at a very small expense it might be made practicable for the passage of wheel-carriages. It only remained to be shown whether or not it was possible to travel in a direct line across the pampas from any of those passes to Buenos Ayres.

In this state of things, Don Luis de la Cruz, an enterprising officer who had seen much of the Indians, offered to start from Antuco, in the province of Conception, the most southern of the passes yet known, to endeavour to reach Buenos Ayres by a straight course across the pampas. This proposal was accepted by the Governor of Chile, and in order to secure as far as possible the co-operation of the native tribes, which indeed was absolutely necessary to the success of the undertaking, the Caciques of the Pehuenches, who inhabited the country on the eastern slopes of the Cordillera, were summoned tohold a grand parlamento, or parley, to consider it. There had been long a friendly intercourse between them and the Spaniards, who, moreover, had at times afforded them protection from the attacks of their enemies; they therefore did not hesitate on this occasion to intimate to them that they expected in return all the good offices and aid which they could give to Cruz and his party.

They attended at the time appointed, and after a grave discussion after their fashion, which lasted several days, they agreed to take the expedition under their particular protection, and see it safe to Buenos Ayres; Cruz, on his part, engaging that the Indians who accompanied him should be presented to the Viceroy, rewarded with suitable presents, and sent back in safety to their friends at the conclusion of the service. This pact was ratified with much formality; the hand of Cruz being solemnly placed in that of the most ancient of the Caciques, to signify that thenceforward he was under his special care.

Whist the expedition was preparing, Cruz spent a couple of days in an unsuccessful attempt to get to the summit of the volcano in the vicinity of Antuco, which he describes as being then in continual action, and at times burning so strongly as to be visible from a very considerable distance: but he was stopped, and obliged to turn back, by a heavy fall of rain and snow, considered by the Indians as an interposition of the Deity to prevent the examinationof a region which they held it to be forbidden to mortals to approach.

On the 7th of April (1806), all being ready, the party left the fort of Ballenar, near Antuco, to commence their journey. It consisted of twenty persons, viz., Cruz and four officers, a surveyor to measure the daily distances, and fifteen attendants, besides their Indian escort; having with them carts and horses and all things they might want on the way. Striking across the pampas in as direct a course for Buenos Ayres as the nature of the country would permit, in forty-seven days they arrived at Melinqué,[29]the north-western frontier fort of that province, having travelled, according to their measured daily journeys, rather more than 166 leagues;—adding 68 more for the distance between Melinqué and Buenos Ayres, made the total distance from Antuco to that city, by this route, 234 leagues;—being 75 less than the ordinary post-road from Buenos Ayres to Mendoza.

The narrative which Cruz subsequently drew up of this expedition is extremely diffuse, and would be tiresome to most readers from the extreme minuteness with which he has thought it necessary to detail the daily discussions and parleys which, upon every trivial occurrence, took place with the Indians.

In a geographical point of view, the most interesting part of it is that in which he describes the riverswhich he crossed after descending the Cordillera; from which I have attempted in the map to give an idea of them, differing, as will be seen, from that hitherto adopted. In this I have been also much guided by the observations, in my possession, of the late Dr. Gillies, my correspondent for many years at Mendoza, who had himself been as far south as the river Diamante, and had taken great pains to collect information respecting the geography of that part of the country.

The old notion was, that nearly all the rivers south of Mendoza uniting in one wide stream, to which the Diamante, as one of the principal affluents, gave its name, ran direct south into the Rio Negro; and this, as I have mentioned in the preceding chapter, was Villariño's idea, and led him, without hesitation, to believe that the great river, whose mouth he explored, and which, he says, he does not doubt would have led him to Mendoza, was the Diamante.

From a careful examination of Cruz's journal, and other data in my possession, I am satisfied this will be found to be an error, and that the great river which flows into the Negro is the Neuquen, which Cruz crossed on the sixth day after he left Antuco, at the place called Butacura, and about eighteen leagues on his journey. The Neuquen[30]is formed by many streams from that part of the Cordillera, all which Cruz names, and the principal of whichappear to be the Rinqui-leubú, which descends from the mountain of Pichachen, and further north the Cudi-leubú, the drain of many small rivers. No one, he says, doubts that the Neuquen, from the junction of the Cudi-leubú, is navigable as far as the Rio Negro, and thence to the ocean.

Proceeding in a north-easterly direction, Cruz fell in with another, considerable river, as large, he says, as the Neuquen, called by the Indians the Cobu-leubú,[31]whose sources they reported to be in the Cordillera of Curriliquin, over-against the province of Maule, in Chile; and they spoke of seven rivers which fell into it in its course from the north to the place where the expedition crossed it. Cruz says distinctlyit does not fall into the Neuquen, but, changing its southerly course about where they passed it, it ran eastward, in which direction the travellers kept it in view, at times coasting it, for several days, till at a place called Puelec it again turned towards the south, taking thence, as the Indians affirmed, its course to the sea. This river, there can be no doubt whatever, is the Colorado, which falls into the sea a little to the north of the Rio Negro.

The hilly ranges of the Cordillera were found toextend about ten leagues beyond the pass of the Cobu-leubú, above spoken of, after which the pampas commence, which continue unbroken to Buenos Ayres.

Two days after passing Puelec, whence the river Cobu-leubú takes a southerly course, and having gone about seventy-four leagues by their daily computation from Antuco, the travellers reached the river called by the IndiansChadi-leubú, or theSaltRiver (probably a continuation of the Atuel), which, uniting with the Desaguadero, or Drain of the Diamante, about five leagues below where they crossed it, discharges itself into a vast lake about ten leagues further south, called by the Indians the Urré-lauquen, or the bitter lake.

In old times, according to Dr. Gillies, the Diamante, which he says rises from the eastern base of Cauquenes Peak in the Cordillera, fell into the Atuel a little below Fort San Rafael, where it will be seen on reference to the map that the two rivers very nearly approximate; but about twenty-five years ago it took another course, forming for itself a separate channel, by which it discharges itself into the Desaguadero, which carries to the south the waters of the rivers Tunuyan and Mendoza, and is finally lost with the Chadi-leubú in the great salt lake above mentioned.[32]

The Chadi-leubú, according to Cruz, was one of the most considerable of the rivers he had yet passed. The people and houses crossed it swimming, and the baggage was carried over in a balsa, a sort of hide-raft. It formed the boundary of the lands of the Pehuenches, and many were the debates which ensued amongst Cruz's Indian companions as to the probable view which the tribes in the pampas beyond would take of the expedition.

One day it was the dream of some old woman, another, the augury of a soothsayer, that excited their doubts and alarms, and made them hesitate as to the propriety or not of going on with the Spaniards. In their embarrassment, however, they made a notable discovery, which was no other than that Cruz held constant communication with a spirit which directed him in all his proceedings:—he was observed continually to refer to it, and the spirit, which was his watch, was heard to give out certain mysterious sounds whenever consulted. Cruz had no desire to deceive them, but the impression was not to be got rid of, and it was so far of use that it inspired them with fresh courage to go on.

It was determined, after much consultation, to send forward an embassy to the Caciques of the Ranqueles tribes, who lived in the pampas beyond, and especially to Carripilum, the most influential amongst them, to announce the approach of the expedition, and its peaceable objects, and to endeavour to propitiate them beforehand in its favour.Fortunately, Carripilum was in good humour, and, in the belief that he should get presents in proportion to the importance of the expedition, not only received them with honour, but resolved to accompany them himself to Buenos Ayres, where Cruz assured him the Viceroy would welcome his arrival, and be glad to enter into treaties with him for opening a new road through his territories for the Spaniards trading between Buenos Ayres and Chile.

In twenty-nine days after passing the Chadi-leubú, and in forty-seven after their departure from Antuco, the travellers arrived at the fort of Melinqué, on the north-west frontier of the province of Buenos Ayres; where, whilst halting to refresh themselves, and to allow the Indians to celebrate their safe, arrival, according to their custom, in beastly drunkenness, some straggling soldiers, flying from the rout, brought in the disastrous intelligence of the landing of the British troops under General Beresford, and the fall of Buenos Ayres.

The dismay of poor Cruz at this unexpected intelligence may be easily imagined. Encumbered with a numerous party of Indians who had accompanied him across the continent, far from their homes, in the expectation of the rich presents they were to have upon their arrival at Buenos Ayres, and relying upon promises which it was now totally out of his power to fulfil, he was in the greatest embarrassment.

To proceed was out of the question; and as to going to Cordova, whither it was reported the Viceroy had fled, it was evident that at such a time matters of much more pressing importance would prevent his attending to the objects of the expedition. His resources too were utterly exhausted. The Indians, however, who soon heard reports of what had happened, evinced a degree of good feeling which could hardly have been expected from them under the sore disappointment of their own expectations. Having heard from Cruz a confirmation of the bad news, they at once expressed themselves satisfied that it was impossible for him to fulfil his engagements towards them, and announced their resolution to relieve him from any difficulty on their account by returning whence they came. All they desired was, that he would duly report to the Viceroy that they had faithfully, and as far as they could, fulfilled their engagements, so that they might claim their due reward in better times. The Pehuenches did not part without much lamentation from their Christian friends, and they repeated again and again their readiness to obey any orders the Viceroy might be pleased to send them. Carripilum made the same protestations, and left one of his relations to proceed with Cruz in search of the Viceroy, expressly to make an offer of any aid which the Spaniards might desire from the Indians against the common enemy.

Cruz found the Viceroy at Cordova, who receivedhim with kindness, and paid every attention to the Cacique who accompanied him. He was equipped in a new suit of Spanish clothes, and after a time dismissed with presents and every demonstration of the high estimation in which the Viceroy held the services of Carripilum and his companions.

Don Luis himself, upon the recovery of Buenos Ayres, repaired thither, and drew up the diary of his interesting journey, which, like those of Villariño and Viedma, and many other interesting papers of the same sort, was thenceforward consigned to oblivion in the secret archivo.[33]The various important political events which shortly afterwards began and rapidly succeeded each other were, however, perhaps some excuse for its remaining unnoticed.

In describing the eastern parts of the Cordillera, Cruz says that, at the time he was there, only the volcanoes of Antuco and Villarica were in activity,[34]though the traces of others extinct might be seen in every direction:—the evidences of their ancient eruptions, he says, might be followed for thirty leagues continuously:—he speaks, amongst other volcanic appearances, of hot springs resorted to by the Indians for their medicinal qualities, and says so abundant is the sulphur in all those partsthat several rivers are strongly impregnated with it; vast quantities also of bituminous substances are everywhere to be seen, and beyond the Neuquen, he says, there is an abundance of coal.[35]Nor is there good ground for doubting his assertion, since on the opposite side of the Cordillera, in about the same latitude, coal has long been known to exist, and has been occasionally used by the foreign vessels trading with that part of Chile. Near the sources of the Neuquen are mines of rock-salt: in the level lands, also, between that river and the Chadi-leubú, salt may at all times be collected from the surface of the ground, and the intermediate streams are all more or less brackish from its influence.

Fossil marine remains appear to abound amongst the lower ranges of the Cordillera which Cruz passed, not only strewed over the surface at considerable elevations, but deeply imbedded in the soil, as might be seen wherever sections were formed by the courses of the mountain-torrents.

In addition to his description of their country, Cruz has added to his journal some account of themanners and customs of the Pehuenches;[36]those Indians who take their name from the abundance of pine-trees in the lands they occupy, derive their origin from the Araucanian race inhabiting the southern parts of Chile; as indeed do all the wandering tribes found in the pampas from the frontiers of Mendoza and Cordova to the Rio Negro in the south:—they all speak a common language, and, if their customs in any degree vary, it will only be found to arise from the greater or less distance they are removed from their original stock, or as they are brought into occasional contact with their Christian neighbours. Divided and subdivided into innumerable petty tribes, or rather family groups, they wander from place to place in quest of pasturage for the sheep and cattle which constitute their sole possessions; continually quarrelling and fighting with each other, and rarely united by any common object save to make some occasional plundering expedition against the defenceless properties of the Spaniards on the frontiers. Such at least are the habits of those generally known as the Pampas, and Ranqueles, tribes; but of them I shall speak more particularly in the next chapter.

The Pehuenches, whose customs Cruz describes, appear to be a somewhat better race. They are not so far removed from their original stock in Araucania; and their vicinity to the Spaniardsof Chile, and friendly intercourse with them, has had a manifest influence in modifying their original habits.

In person they are described as fine men, stouter and taller than the inhabitants of the plains, but, like all the Indians of the same stock, in the habit of disgustingly bedaubing and disfiguring their faces with paint. They wear a sort of cloak over the neck and shoulders, with another square cloth fastened round the loins, and those who can get them, little conical hats bought from the Spaniards, and the same sort of boots as are made by the gauchos of Buenos Ayres from the dried skin of a horse's leg fitted to the foot. The bridles of their horses are beautifully plaited, and often ornamented with silver: spurs of the same material are in great request amongst them, and are eagerly purchased of the Spaniards.

The women as well as the men paint themselves:theirchief ornaments consist of as many gold or silver rings as they can collect upon the fingers, and large ear-rings, resembling both in size and shape a common English brass padlock.

Their habitations consist of tents made of hides sewn together, which are easily set up and moved from place to place. Their principal food is the flesh of mares and colts, which they prefer to any other; if they add anything in the shape of cakes or bread, it is made from maize and corn obtained from the Spaniards in exchange for salt and cattle, andblankets, of the manufacture of their women, for it is rarely they remain long enough in the same place to sow and reap themselves.

Their Caciques or Ulmenes, as they call them, are generally chosen either for their superior valour or wisdom in speech—occasionally, but not always, the honour descends from father to son: they have but little authority in the tribe, except in time of war, when all submit implicitly to their direction.

They are not, however, entirely without laws and punishments for certain crimes, such as murder, adultery, theft, and witchcraft. Thus he who kills another is condemned to be put to death by the relations of the deceased, or to pay them a suitable compensation. The woman taken in adultery is also punishable with death by her husband, unless her relations can otherwise satisfy him. The thief is obliged to pay for what he is convicted of stealing; and, if he has not the means, his relations must pay for him. As to those accused of witchcraft, they are burnt alive with very little ceremony; and such executions are of frequent occurrence, inasmuch as a man rarely dies a natural death but it is ascribed to the machinations of some one in communication with the evil spirit. The relatives of the deceased, in their lamentations, generally denounce some personal enemy as having brought about his end, and little more is necessary to ensure his condemnation by the whole tribe: sometimes in his agony the unhappy victim names others as his accomplices, and, if the dead man be of any importance amongst them, they too are often sacrificed to his manes in the same barbarous manner.

As to their religion, they believe in a God, the creator and ruler of all things, though they have no form of worship: they also believe in the influence of an evil spirit, to whom they attribute any ill that befalls them. They consider that God has sent them into the world to do right or wrong as they please; that, when the body perishes, the soul becomes immortal, and flies to a place beyond the seas, where there is an abundance of all things, and where husbands and wives meet, and live happily together again.

On the occasion of their funerals, that they may want for nothing in the other world to which they have been used in this, their clothing and accoutrements, and arms, are buried with them; sometimes a stock of provisions is added; and when a Cacique is buried his horses are also slain and stuffed with straw, and set upright over his grave. The internment is conducted with more or less ceremony, according to the rank of the deceased:—if he be a man of weight amongst them, not only his relations, but all the principal persons of the tribe, assemble and hold a great drinking-bout over his grave, at which the more drink, the more honour.

They have great faith in dreams, especially in those of their ancients and Caciques, to whom they believe they are sent as revelations for the guidance of thetribe on important occasions; and they seldom undertake any affair, either of personal or general importance, without much consultation with their diviners and old women as to the omens which may have been observed.

Marriage is an expensive ceremony to the bridegroom, who if obliged to make rich presents, sometimes all he is worth, to the parents of his love, before he obtains their consent. Thus daughters are a source of sure wealth to their parents, whilst those who have only sons are often ruined by the assistance which is required from them on these occasions. Such as can afford it take more wives than one, but the first has always precedence in the household arrangements, and so on in succession.

When a child is born it is taken with the mother immediately to the nearest stream, in which after both are bathed, the mother returns to her household duties, and takes part in preparing for the feast that follows.

In almost all these habits, the Pehuenches appear to fellow the Araucanians, of whose manners and customs Molina has given a full account in his History of Chile.

The mother of one of my servants lived seven years amongst these savages, and confirmed Cruz's account on all the points I have here stated. In general, she said, she was as kindly treated by them as was possible under the circumstances:—she had been taken by the Pampas Indians, and by themsold to the Pehuenches, that she might have less chance of escaping and ever reaching her own home again. Men, women, and children, she said, lived much more on horseback than on foot.

A knowledge of their language might assist much to make us better acquainted with their country, for their nomenclature of places, as well as of persons, is rarely insignificant. I have already stated that the Pehuenches derive their name from pehuen, the pine-tree, which abounds on the slopes of the Cordillera where they dwell. The Ranqueles are so called from ranquel, the thistle, which covers the plains which they inhabit. The Picunches take their name from picun, thenorth. The Puelches signify the people to the east, and the Huilliches those to the south:chemeans people.

The following will serve as examples of some of the appellations of their Caciques:—Culucalquin, the Eagle; Maripil, the Viper; Ancapichui, the Partridge; Quilquil, the Little Bird; Guayquiante, the Sun; Cari-mangue, the Condor; Antu-mangue, the Ostrich; Pichi-mangue, the Vulture; Paine-mangue, the Old Condor.

FOOTNOTES:[27]The only authentic notice which I believe has as yet appeared of this important voyage is the very brief one attached to the "Collection of Astronomical Observations by Spanish Navigators," published by Don José Espinosa, chief of the Hydrographical Department of Madrid, in 1809.[28]Carta esferica de la parte interior de la America Meridional para manifestar el camino que conduce desde Valparaiso à Buenos Ayres construida por las observaciones astronomicas que hicieron en estas partes en 1794 Don José de Espinosa y Don Felipe Bauza, Oficiales de la Real Armada—en la direccion hidrografica, año 1810.[29]Position of Melinqué fixed by Azara, lat. 33° 42´ 24", long. from Buenos Ayres 3° 30´ 38".[30]NeuquenorNehuensignifies the rapid river, according to Angelis.[31]Although in the copy of Crux's MS. in my possession, as well as in Señor de Angelis's collection, the name of this river is writtenCobu-leubú; I suspect it to be an erroneous writing forColu-leubú, which signifies the great river. I believe this the more, as I find that people who have journeyed south from Mendoza speak of it (at least of what I suppose to be the upper part of the same river) as theRio Grande.[32]The track laid down on the map from Fort San Rafael along the northern bank of the Diamante, to its junction with the Desaguadero, and thence southward into the Indian territory, was fixed by compass, and given me by Dr. Gillies.[33]An estimate, annexed to his journal, of the expenses which he calculated would be requisite to make the road he had passed practicable for carriages the whole way from Antuco to Buenos Ayres, made them amount to no more than 46,000 Spanish dollars.[34]Captain Fitzroy says that no less than four volcanoes, now in activity, may be seen from Chile.[35]If coal really exist at the sources of the Neuquen, which he says is navigable to the sea, it is impossible to calculate on the extent of its future influence upon the prosperity of the neighbouring provinces whenever the people shall open their eyes to the power of steam-navigation. As yet, it would appear as if the people of Mendoza and San Luis had as little idea of the use even of a canoe as the Indians themselves, otherwise it seems hardly credible that the Spaniards should never have made the slightest attempt to send a boat down any one of these rivers.[36]Pehuen signifies a pine-tree.

[27]The only authentic notice which I believe has as yet appeared of this important voyage is the very brief one attached to the "Collection of Astronomical Observations by Spanish Navigators," published by Don José Espinosa, chief of the Hydrographical Department of Madrid, in 1809.

[28]Carta esferica de la parte interior de la America Meridional para manifestar el camino que conduce desde Valparaiso à Buenos Ayres construida por las observaciones astronomicas que hicieron en estas partes en 1794 Don José de Espinosa y Don Felipe Bauza, Oficiales de la Real Armada—en la direccion hidrografica, año 1810.

[29]Position of Melinqué fixed by Azara, lat. 33° 42´ 24", long. from Buenos Ayres 3° 30´ 38".

[30]NeuquenorNehuensignifies the rapid river, according to Angelis.

[31]Although in the copy of Crux's MS. in my possession, as well as in Señor de Angelis's collection, the name of this river is writtenCobu-leubú; I suspect it to be an erroneous writing forColu-leubú, which signifies the great river. I believe this the more, as I find that people who have journeyed south from Mendoza speak of it (at least of what I suppose to be the upper part of the same river) as theRio Grande.

[32]The track laid down on the map from Fort San Rafael along the northern bank of the Diamante, to its junction with the Desaguadero, and thence southward into the Indian territory, was fixed by compass, and given me by Dr. Gillies.

[33]An estimate, annexed to his journal, of the expenses which he calculated would be requisite to make the road he had passed practicable for carriages the whole way from Antuco to Buenos Ayres, made them amount to no more than 46,000 Spanish dollars.

[34]Captain Fitzroy says that no less than four volcanoes, now in activity, may be seen from Chile.

[35]If coal really exist at the sources of the Neuquen, which he says is navigable to the sea, it is impossible to calculate on the extent of its future influence upon the prosperity of the neighbouring provinces whenever the people shall open their eyes to the power of steam-navigation. As yet, it would appear as if the people of Mendoza and San Luis had as little idea of the use even of a canoe as the Indians themselves, otherwise it seems hardly credible that the Spaniards should never have made the slightest attempt to send a boat down any one of these rivers.

[36]Pehuen signifies a pine-tree.

Ignorance of the Buenos Ayreans respecting the lands south of the Salado previously in their Independence. Colonel Garcia's expedition to the Salt Lakes in 1810. The Government of Buenos Ayres endeavours to bring about an arrangement with the Indians for a new boundary. Their warlike demonstrations render futile this attempt. March of an army to the Tandil, and erection of a Fort there. Some account of that part of the country. The coast as far as Bahia Blanca examined, and extension of the frontier-line as far as that point. The hostility of the Indians makes it necessary to carry the war into the heart of their Territories. General Rosas rescues from them 1500 Christian captives. Detachments of his army occupy the Choleechel, and follow the courses of the River Negro and of the Colorado till in sight of the Cordillera.

Having given some account of the explorations of the Old Spaniards beyond Buenos Ayres, I shall now proceed to state what has been done by their successors since their independence. It is inconceivable the ignorance which, up to a very recent period, existed amongst even the higher classes of the people of Buenos Ayres respecting the Indian territories which immediately bounded their ownlands to the southward. It is indeed only by a laborious investigation of the history of their frontiers, and of the steps taken from time to time to advance them, that we can even now obtain any tolerable notion of the physical features of that part of the continent. This, however, is worth the trouble, as it will furnish materials for laying down a considerable portion of country hitherto most imperfectly and erroneously described in all existing maps.

One of the first attempts made by the Independents to acquire accurate data respecting the country to the south of the Salado appears to have been in 1810, on the occasion of one of the periodical expeditions to the great salt lakes in the south. Those expeditions formed a singular exception to the ordinary supineness and indisposition of the Spaniards to cross their own frontiers. They consisted of large convoys of waggons dispatched under direction of the municipal authorities to collect salt for the yearly supply of the city, escorted by a military force to protect them from the Indians. Of their apparent importance some idea may be formed from one, of which an account has been preserved, and which took place during the time of the Viceroy Vertiz, in 1778, composed of 600 waggons, with 12,000 bullocks, and 2600 horses, and nearly 1000 men to load them, besides an escort of 400 soldiers. The Indians, on these occasions, were propitiated by suitable presents, and, as the caravans never deviated from their object, they became habituated to them, and, instead of regarding them with jealousy, in general rather looked forward with eagerness for the annual tribute in the shape of presents which the Spaniards were ready to pay them for an unmolested passage across their territories. They even lent the people their assistance at the salt-lakes to load their waggons in exchange for beads and baubles from Buenos Ayres.

The Viceroy occasionally attached some pieces of artillery to the troops, and generally availed himself of the opportunity to make a salutary display amongst the savages of the military discipline and power of the Spanish soldiers, which no doubt had its due effect; but no one thought of turning these expeditions to any further account:—they never departed from the same direct and beaten track across the pampas, and not the slightest pains were taken to collect any further information respecting the country beyond, at least in the time of the Old Spanish rule.

The members of the National Government, set up in 1810, were animated by a different spirit: they foresaw with the dawn of their new destinies the prospect of their becoming a commercial people, and the consequent necessity of giving such encouragement to the extension of their pastoral establishments as would tend to the multiplication of thestaple commodities of the country. The extension of their frontiers, and their due protection by military posts were consequently among the first objects of their attention; and when the annual expedition to the Salinas was about to set out, they took care to select an officer for the command of it qualified to reconnoitre the country and to collect such information as might assist them in determining upon their future plans for an extension of their territorial jurisdiction.

Colonel Garcia, the officer in question, had previously seen much of the Indians on the coast of Patagonia. He was of a conciliatory disposition, and was on many other accounts eminently qualified for the task committed to him. From the diary of his expedition, which is in my possession, it appears that the caravan or convoy placed under his charge, on this occasion, consisted of 234 waggons, with 2927 bullocks, and 520 horses attached to them. His attendants, including soldiers, were 407: they had also two field-pieces with them. Nor was this considered a large party, compared with former expeditions with the same object; indeed Garcia soon found to his cost that his force was hardly sufficient to secure him common respect from some of the many Indian Caciques, who, from the time of his leaving the frontier fort of Cruz de Guerra to his arrival at the Salinas, successively besieged him with their importunities for presents,especially of tobacco and spirits, and kept him in continual alarm lest they should attempt to carry off by force what they could not obtain by other means. Each who presented himself called himself master of the lands they were passing through, and expected corresponding presents to purchase his permission to pass forward. Nor was this the worst: it appeared that something had given rise amongst the Indians to a suspicion of the ulterior objects of the Buenos Ayreans; and, under an impression that they projected a forcible settlement in their lands, the Ranqueles tribes from the plains south of San Luis and Mendoza, under their principal Cacique Carripilum (the same spoken of in the foregoing chapter), had collected their forces with the secret determination to endeavour to cut off the whole party. Fortunately the fidelity of some of the Puelches, or Eastern tribes, who hate and are continually at variance with the Ranqueles, enabled Garcia to discover and disconcert their hostile plans, and finally, though with considerable difficulty and danger, to accomplish his object, and return with his convoy of salt-carts in safety to Buenos Ayres.

Amongst the results of this expedition was the determination by observation of seventeen points along the line of road from the Guardia de Luxan, in lat. 34° 39´, long. west of Buenos Ayres 1° 2´, to the Great Salt Lake in lat. 37° 13´, long. west ofBuenos Ayres 4° 51´;[37]the whole distance travelled being 97 leagues, or, adding 24 for that from Luxan to the capital, 121 from Buenos Ayres. The journey out occupied 23 days, and the return 25; altogether the party was absent just two months, viz., from the 21st of October to the 21st of December.

The only features which seem worthy of remark along the road are the numerous lakes, which appear to be the collections of the streams from the western ramifications of the Sierra Ventana; the most considerable of which is the Laguna del Monte, in lat. 36° 53´, long. from Buenos Ayres 3° 57´; its name, the Lake of the Wood, is taken from a large island upon it covered with fine timber; it is formed by the river Guamini, and other streams from the mountain group so called; its width was estimated to be three or four leagues, and in the rainy season it forms one with the lakes of Paraguayos, extending more than seven leagues to the south-west.

Although, the Laguna del Monte was salt, it was observed that the waters of some of the smaller lakes in its immediate vicinity were perfectly sweet. The same observation was made at the Salinas; thesweetest water was abundant in the immediate vicinity of the Great Salt Lake.

Shortly before reaching the lake of Paraguayos, the Sierra de la Ventana and its ramification, the Guamini, were seen and particularly observed: the Sierra Guamini bore south 15° east, and the Ventana south-east a quarter east. There they were met by several of the best-disposed of the Caciques and their followers, who supplied them with cattle in exchange for the articles they had with them. They accompanied them to the Salinas, which they reached two days afterwards; and to them they owed their protection from the hostile Renqueles and Carripilum, whose treachery they discovered and exposed.

Speaking of the character of these Indians, Garcia says they are remarkable alike for their cowardice as for their ferocity: their warfare is a system of continual deceit and treachery, and their stolen victories are always signalized by savage cruelties. Nothing could exceed their submissive obsequiousness to the Spaniards from the moment they knew they had an intimation of their hostile intentions, and were upon their guard against them. The prevailing vice amongst them all, even the best of them, is drunkenness,—the Caciques set the example upon every occasion; and it is seldom that their orgies end without the loss of lives, for in their cups they are always quarrelsome:—then the slightest offence is remembered,and they draw their knives, wounding and killing one another, and falling upon all, even their nearest relations, who would attempt to restrain them. Of all the Indians the Ranqueles are the worst:—they may be called the bush-rangers of the pampas:—if they cannot rob the Spaniards they will make war upon the other tribes, to carry off their horses and cattle. The Puelches, on the contrary, or eastern people, at that time settled about the Salinas and the mountains towards the coast, were found to be more peaceably disposed: they were the possessors of large herds and flocks of their own, and the manufacturers of many articles in demand amongst the Spaniards, such as ponchos, skin-cloaks, bridles, and feather-brooms, which they used to sell to them at Buenos Ayres and on the frontiers.

The extent of the Great Salt Lake is not given, and Garcia says it was impossible to ride round it from the thick woods which lined its banks; but, from an eminence a little to the south, he got a general view of it, as well as of the country for a considerable distance. Looking towards the south, as far as he could see, was one immense level plain, covered with pasturage: to the eastward, in the distance, some woods were visible, which, he was told, extended to the hilly ranges of Guamini and La Ventana. On the opposite side, to the westward of the lake, was a vast forest of chañar, algaroba, and an infinite variety of other trees, which the Indians told him extended with little interruption for three days'journey in that direction; and they added the singular circumstance that, about a day and a half off in the midst of it, upon a hilly range of some extent, were to be seen the ruins of the brick buildings of some former inhabitants (antigua poblacion), though, as to who they might have been, or when they ceased to exist, they had not the smallest notion, neither had they any tradition which could throw light upon it. The fruit-trees, they said, which, had been planted there, had multiplied exceedingly, so that it was a great resort of the Indians in their journeys across the pampas, to gather figs, peaches, walnuts, and apples, and other fruits, of which there was an abundance for all that went there. Wild cattle also, they said, were in the surrounding forest, but they were not so accessible, and were difficult to follow up through the woods. Colonel Garcia hazards no conjecture as to who could have been the settlers in this secluded and remote spot, nor has any one else obtained since any further account of them. The age of the trees might perhaps throw some light upon the date of the buildings, and I imagine that the names alone of those I have mentioned are sufficient to indicate that they must have been of European introduction, and consequently that those who planted them must have done so subsequently to the discovery of that part of the world by the Spaniards. Nothing, I was told, existed at Buenos Ayres which could throw any light whatever upon the subject.

Had the practice continued of carrying on these expeditions, it is probable that the Buenos Ayreans would have become better acquainted with the southern part of the pampas; but, upon the opening of an unrestricted trade, the importation of salt from the Cape de Verd Islands and other countries rendered it unnecessary for the government to put itself to any expense about them; and, as individuals without the protection of the troops would not run the risk of encountering the Indians, the Salinas ceased to be resorted to, and the people of Buenos Ayres became reconciled to purchasing of foreigners an article of which they have an inexhaustible supply within their own territory.

Garcia proposed to the government to form a military settlement at the Salinas, to be the central point of a line of frontier to be drawn from the river Colorado across the pampas to Fort San-Rafael on the river Diamante, south of Mendoza. This he conceived would effectually check the depredations of the Ranqueles and their thievish associates, whilst the friendly and well-disposed Puelches Indians to the south, he was tolerably assured, would at that period have been glad to have been brought under the immediate protection of the government of Buenos Ayres. The principal Caciques of the latter were three brothers, from the vicinity of Valdivia, where in their early life they had learned to respect the Spaniards, and to appreciate the benefits of keeping up a friendly and well-regulated intercourse withthem. Nowhere had the king's officers taken such pains to conciliate the native tribes as in Chile, and so well had that system of treating them answered, that, in the present case, these brothers declared there was nothing they desired more than the permanent establishment of a more intimate connexion between them and the people of Buenos Ayres, and that they would gladly place themselves and their followers under the immediate protection of the government.

But Garcia's plan embraced more than could be done at once by the rulers of Buenos Ayres; and partly, perhaps, on that account, and partly because all their disposable forces and means were shortly afterwards required to carry on the struggle for their independence, it was, with many other projects laid aside, and many years elapsed ere any further step was taken.

Nevertheless the results of their new political condition developed themselves, as was anticipated, and the increase of their trade led to the extension of their pastoral establishments. Although the government took no measures for their protection, the people of the country began to occupy the lands to the south of the Salado, which soon brought them into contact and collision with the Indians, who, on their part, looked with a very natural jealousy upon settlements planted without their concurrence on lands which from time immemorial they had beenaccustomed to consider as exclusively their own. The more peaceable tribes retired to the fastnesses in the mountains to the south, but the Ranqueles and other migratory hordes retaliated by carrying off the cattle and plundering those who had thus intruded themselves within their territories. In these marauding expeditions they were often joined by some of the vagabond gauchos, deserters from the army, and such wretches flying from the pursuit of justice as, in times of civil commotion especially, are to be found in all countries. By those unprincipled associates they were soon taught to look with less dread upon the fire-arms of the Buenos Ayrean militia, and even to use them, whenever, either by the murder or robbery of some defenceless estanciero, they fell into their hands. Nor was this the worst. During the unhappy civil dissensions which broke out between Buenos Ayres and the provinces, some of the unprincipled leaders of the reckless factions which divided the Republic sought alliances with the Indians,[38]the fatal consequences of which they only too late discovered. Like bloodhounds it was impossible to restrain them. When once the weakest points were shown them, they burst inupon the frontier villages, murdering in cold blood the defenceless and unprepared inhabitants, and carrying off the women and children into a slavery of the most horrible description.

It was manifest that the impunity with which these outrages were committed arose mainly from the total absence of any protection on the part of the government for those settlers who had advanced their estancias beyond the old forts within the line of the Salado, and the public voice called loudly for some prompt remedies for the evil, the most efficacious of which appeared to be the adoption of some one of the many plans from time to time proposed for a new line of military posts to cover the rural population south of that river; the hilly ranges of the Vuulcan, especially, seemed to present a natural frontier which it appeared only necessary to occupy to secure the object; but the information respecting all that part of the country was still exceedingly imperfect; and it was determined, therefore, in the first instance, to send out an exploratory expedition to examine them. This led to Colonel Garcia being again called upon to proceed to the south, with the double object of endeavouring to induce the Indians to enter into an arrangement with the government of Buenos Ayres for a new boundary as the basis of a general pacification, and of acquiring precise information as to the most eligible positions for the establishment of military posts in the hilly ranges in that direction.

The communications he had had twelve years before with the leading Caciques of the tribes inhabiting the country eastward of the Salinas led him vainly to hope that those tribes at least might be brought to acquiesce peaceably in the views of the government, and, provided they were left in possession of the lands they occupied in the vicinity of the Sierra Ventana, that they would not oppose the occupation by the Buenos Ayreans of the more northern line of the Vuulcan and Taudil; but Garcia was not aware of the great change which had taken place in the feelings and policy of the Indians, from a variety of circumstances, since his journey to the Salinas in 1810.

The messengers, however, sent forward to announce his mission were well received, and a respectable deputation, headed by Antiguan, one of their principal chiefs, was sent forward to meet and to conduct the ambassador and his suite to their toldos at the foot of the Sierra Ventana, where the Caciques of the Puelches proposed the negociations should be opened, promising to invite thither at the same time representatives from all the tribes of the Pampas, not excepting the Ranqueles, and the Huilliches or People of the South, inhabiting the lands as far as the rivers Colorado and Negro.

Under this escort, and accompanied by Colonel Reyes, an engineer officer, and about thirty persons, soldiers and peons, Colonel Garcia set out from Lobos for the Indian territory on the 10th of April,1822. On the 12th they crossed the Salado at a place where its depth allowed of the safe passage of carts, and where its width was not above thirty or forty feet; this was some way above the junction of the Flores, after which it becomes a river of more consequence, its breadth extending to 300 yards in the winter season, when it is impassable except in canoes. The next day they crossed the Saladillo at the pass of Las Toscas; this stream falls into the Salado a little above the river Flores, towards which they proceeded through a country much intersected by swamps, which obliged them to deviate continually from their direct course. When near the Lake de las Polvaderas, Colonel Reyes, being desirous to take an observation, produced his sextant, which led to an unexpected but serious manifestation of alarm and suspicion on the part of the Indians. Some foolish person, it appeared, when they were setting out had told them that the commissioners had with them instruments through which they could see all the world at once, and nothing would satisfy them, when they saw them brought out, that the Spaniards were not in direct consultation with the gualichù, or devil himself. It was impossible to do away with this notion of theirs, which led to the inconvenience of obliging the officers afterwards to take their observations by the stars at night instead of by the sun in the day-time.

About two leagues beyond where they crossed the Flores they verified its junction with the Tapalquen in a vast marsh. The Flores is in fact but the drain of the waters of that river; it was found to be more brackish than even the Salado. In the thick jungles along its banks many tigers were seen, which, however, excited little apprehension compared with the horseflies and mosquitos, from whose venomous attacks there was no escape. They followed the Tapalquen till they came in sight of the Sierra, distant ten or twelve leagues, the Amarilla Hills bearing south-south-east, and those of Curaco south-south-west; between these two groups runs one of the passes frequented by the Indians in their journeys to the Ventana, where the travellers halted, and in the night, whist their Indian guides were asleep, by an observation of Mars, determined the latitude to be 36° 45´ 10"; the longitude they fixed at 54° 13´ from Cadiz; variation 17° 10´.

The following morning, making a pretext for lagging behind out of sight of their Indian friends, they reconnoitred the pass, and determined with a theodolite the height of some of the hills in its immediate vicinity; the highest point of the Amarilla, or Tinta group, called Lima-huida, south-east of the pass, was 200 feet, and the two peaks of Curaco, which they had seen at a distance the day before, measured, the one 270, and the other about 200 feet. A small guard-house or fort would effectually close this pass against the Indians.

To the south of this part of the chain, the country is a succession of hills and dales, watered by many streams from the Sierra, and apparently well adapted for an agricultural settlement. Taking a course about south-south-west, on the third day after leaving the pass of Curaco they came in sight of the second range of mountains, called the Sierra de la Ventana, and arrived at the toldos of Antiguan their conductor, whose people, apprized of their approach, came out in great numbers, men, women, and children, to receive them. Antiguan lost no time in despatching messengers in every direction to summon the general meeting of the Caciques, whilst Colonel Garcia encamped with his little party on the borders of a lake, where it was determined that the grand parlamento, or parley, was to be held. Thither they were attended by a friendly old cacique, Lincon, whom Garcia had known and made a friend of on his former expedition, and to whose advice and assistance they were in the sequel very essentially indebted. From him they learnt that the chiefs of the Ranqueles were far from peaceably disposed, or inclined to take part in any treaties with the government of Buenos Ayres for their lands; and that there existed generally amongst the Indians much jealousy and distrust of the Spaniards, in consequence of the measures they had of late been taking with respect to them. He warned them, also, not to be surprisedat any warlike display which might be made at the approaching meeting, as it was probable that the Caciques would avail themselves of the opportunity to show the number of fighting men they could command.

It was fortunate they had some such notice of what they were to expect; for when, in two or three days afterwards, the Indians assembled, they certainly made an appearance much more like a general gathering of armed forces for war than of negociators for peace.

On the day appointed for the general conference, a body of about 200 men made their appearance at an early hoar, formed in battle array, and slowly advancing towards the commissioners' tents to the sound of horns (cornetas). On arriving within a short distance, they broke into small parties, uttering loud shouts, and charging over the plain, making cuts and thrusts in the air right and left with their swords and lances, and then wheeling about and riding round and round their leader, who apparently directed these manœuvrings. The principal object of all this, the commissioners were told, was to drive away the gualichù, or evil spirit, whose secret pretence they apprehended might otherwise maliciously influence the approaching negociations.

The trappings of some of the horses of these warriors were curiously ornamented with beads, and hung, about with little bells. Several of them woresort of helmet, and a buff coating of hide, so well prepared as to be perfectly soft and flexible, though several times double; the helmets made of it are so tough as to resist the cut of a sword, and sometimes are bullet-proof.

This was but the advanced-guard of a numerous host which afterwards came in view, covering the horizon, and making really a very imposing appearance. Altogether there might be something more than 3000 fighting men regularly marshalled under their respective Caciques in nine divisions. Though these Indians belonged to thesoi-disantfriendly tribes, the commissioners could not fail to be struck at once with the quantity of arms and accoutrements amongst them, which were manifestly the spoils of war and of their own countrymen murdered on the frontiers. Their whole demeanour, too, was insolent and arrogant in the extreme, partaking infinitely more of defiance than any real desire for a permanent peace, which caused many misgivings to Garcia and his officers as to the result of their mission.

After a variety of martial manœuvrings, on a given signal a great circle was formed, in the midst of which the Ulmenes or principal Caciques, taking their places, commenced the parlamento by a preliminary discussion amongst themselves as to whether or not they should enter into any negociations whatever with the government of Buenos Ayres without the Ranqueles. On this point therewere great differences of opinion, the most sagacious of the speakers shrewdly prognosticating, that, unless the peace was to be a general one, it was useless to enter into it, inasmuch as, if hostilities continued between the Spaniards and any of the tribes, the rest could hardly fail, sooner or later, to be involved in them. The majority, however, only anxious to share at once the presents which they understood the Spaniards to have brought with them, and of which they probably feared that any co-operation of the Ranqueles tribes would deprive them of a portion, called aloud for an immediate treaty, and the commissioners were conducted, almost by force, to the place of deliberation, where a scene of great confusion took place, every one desirous to speak at once, and calling for the presents. The circle was broken, and, the Indians rushing in upon them, the officers with difficulty extricated themselves from the press.

After a time the authority of the Caciques was restored, and the conference resumed; the sole result of which was, that the majority present insisted upon treating at once with the Buenos Ayreans on their own account, after which they said the commissioners might proceed to negociate, as they could, separately with the Huilliches, or southern tribes, and with the Ranqueles. All this was rather a dictation, on the part of the Indians, than any mutual agreement; but it was evident there was to be no alternative, and the commissioners, puttingthe best face upon it, proceeded to distribute the greater part of the presents they had brought for the occasion,—the possession of which, it was perfectly clear, was the main, if not the sole object of the savages in entering at all into discussions with them. These Indians all called themselvesPampasand Aucases. The latter term, which signifieswarriors, seems to be assumed by many of the tribes of Araucanian origin.[39]In the course of their parleys with them, so far from finding them disposed, as Garcia had flattered himself, to treat for a new and more advanced boundary-line, they vehemently complained of the encroachments already made by the Buenos Ayreans, and insisted upon their withdrawing the establishments already formed to the south of the Salado. Garcia found it useless to argue with them; and, as his personal safety would probably have been endangered by a positive refusal, he thought it better to temporize, and to promise to lay their representations before the government of Buenos Ayres on his return, contenting himself to stipulate that there should be peace in the mean time.

Having obtained all they could get, the Caciques took their leave, leading off their followers to their respective toldos. The next day they were succeeded by another and distinct party of theHuilliches or southern people, who, though summoned to the general conference, had not been able to arrive in time to take part in it. This tribe presented even a more martial appearance than the others, and Colonel Garcia, describing them, says, no regiment of cavalry could have made a more regular or better figure than these strikingly fine men. They were naked from the waist upwards, and wore a sort of helmet surmounted by feathers (a distinguishing feature in the dress of this tribe), which added to their extraordinary stature. Their Cacique Llampilco, or theblack, was upwards of seven feet high, and many others were equal to him, and even taller. Most of them were armed with very long lances, and, like the pampas tribes, had their faces bedaubed with red and black paint; but their language was different, and, Garcia says, identical with that of the people from the southern part of Patagonia, from whom he imagines them to have sprung, and to the old accounts of whose height he refers.[40]He speaks of them as a superior and finer race of men in every respect than the others; admirable horsemen, and brave in war, without the cruelty of the pampas tribes, sparingtheir prisoners, and treating strangers with kindness and hospitality. They had come from the lands south of the Ventana, about the rivers Colorado and Negro, where they had located themselves, according to their own account, to avoid collision with the Spaniards, with whom they professed their great desire to establish a solid peace. They spoke with contempt and detestation of the marauding habits of the pampas tribes and of the Ranqueles, and offered at any time to assist in chastising them. This party consisted of 420 fighting men. They conducted themselves very differently from the others, and with great propriety, receiving thankfully what was given to them.

After their departure, the commissioners removed to the lake where the Cacique Lincon's people were located, and which bore his name. Its situation was about five leagues from the mountain-range beyond, something more than three to the west of that on which the conferences had been held, and about five and a half from one named after Pichiloncoy, another friendly Cacique, of whom more hereafter. From this place, looking to the north-west, one boundless plain presented itself to the eye. The Ventana mountain bore south-west, extending its lesser ramifications to the west-south-west, as far as the Curumualà, a small group of hills which may be seen running west to the more elevated range of Guamini; an extensive plainrunning between them. The highest part of the Guamini bore west 10° north, and was lost in the boundless pampas beyond.

A stay here for a few days gave them a tolerable insight into the manners and customs of the natives. Nothing could exceed the laziness and brutality, in general, of the men, who, looking upon the women as inferior beings, treated them as the most abject slaves. Not only were they obliged to attend to all the ordinary duties of the family, but upon them also, devolved the care of their husbands' horses, and even the tending of the sheep and cattle. Polygamy was permitted, and, according to his means, it appeared that a man kept more or less wives, which, so far from causing jealousy, seemed generally a source of satisfaction to the ladies themselves, inasmuch as it led to the lightening by subdivision of their domestic labours. Unless engaged in some predatory excursion, or in hunting deer and guanacoes, and other smaller animals, for their skins, the men seemed to pass their whole time in sleeping, drinking, and gambling, the habitual vices of all the tribes:—they are passionately fond of cards, which they obtain from the Spaniards, and will play for ever at dice, which they make themselves ingeniously enough, and, like gamesters in other parts of the world, will stake their all upon a throw, reckless of reducing their families to utter destitution.

In each toldo, or tent, which is made of hides stretched upon canes, and easily removeable from one place to another, five or six families, barely separated from each other, perhaps twenty or thirty persons in all, were closely huddled together in the most horrible state of filth imaginable; indeed, in many respects, they were but little removed in their habits from the brute creation. If fuel was scarce, as was often the case in the pampas, they cared not to cook their meat, but ate it raw, and always drank the warm blood of every animal they killed:—like beasts of prey, there was no part, even to the contents of the stomach and intestines, which they would not greedily devour.

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