Don Francisco de Meneses, a Portuguese by birth, had the glory to terminate this new war in 1665 by a peace, which proved more permanent than that concluded by Baydes. After freeing himself from the Araucanians, he had the misfortune of being involved in a contest with the members of the royal audience, who opposed his marriage with the daughter of the Marquis de la Pica, as contrary to the royal regulations. This difference proceeded to such a length, that the Marquis de Navamorquende was sent out from Spain to Chili with full powers to arrange matters; who, after due inquiry, sent Meneses to Peru and assumed the government himself. After Navamorquende, the government of Chili was administered successively to the end of the seventeenth century, by Don Miguel de Silva, Don Jose de Carrera, and Don Thomas Marin de Proveda, by all of whom a good understanding appears to have been kept up with the Araucanians: But in 1686, war had nearly been again occasioned with that nation, in consequence of removing the inhabitants of the island of Mocho to the north shore of the Biobio, in order to prevent any intercourse with foreign ships.

The commencement of the eighteenth century was remarkable in Chili by three events: The deposition of the governor Don Francisco Ibanez, the rebellion of the inhabitants of Chiloe, and the establishment of trade with the French. Ibanez was accused of having espoused the Austrian party in the succession war, and was banished to Peru; and after him, the government was successively administered until the year 1720, by Don Juan Henriquez, Don Andres Uztariz, and Don Martin Concha. The rebellion of the islanders of Chiloe was soon suppressed, and the inhabitants reduced to obedience, by the prudent management of Don Pedro Molina, the quarter-master-general of Chili, who was sent against them with a considerable body of troops, but who succeeded in restoring them to good order more by mild and conciliatory measures than by useless victories. In consequence of the succession war, by which a prince of the house of Bourbon was placed on the throne of Spain, the French acquired for a time the whole external commerce of Chili. From 1707 to 1717, the ports of that kingdom were filled with French ships, which carried from thence incredible sums in gold and silver; and many Frenchmen settled at this time in the country, who have left numerous descendants. During this period the learned Feuille resided three years in Chili, and made his well known botanical researches and many profound metereological observations.

For some time the Araucanians had been much dissatisfied with several articles in the peace, under colour of which the Spaniards availed themselves of forming establishments in their country. They also were exceedingly impatient of the insolent behaviour of certain persons, called captains of the friends, who had been introduced under the pretence of protecting the missionaries, and now arrogated a considerable degree of authority over the natives which they submitted to with extreme reluctance. Stimulated by resentment for these grievances, the Araucanians resolved in 1722 to have recourse to arms, and in this view they proceeded to the election of a toqui or military dictator. On this occasion they chose a person named Vilumilla, a man of low rank, but who had acquired a high character with his countrymen for judgment, courage, and extensive views, entertaining no less an object than the entire expulsion of the Spaniards from Chili. To succeed in this arduous undertaking, he deemed it necessary to obtain the support and assistance of all the native Chilese, from the confines of Peru to the Biobio, and vast as was the extent of his plan, he conceived it might be easily executed. Having slain three or four Spaniards in a skirmish, among whom was one of the captains of friends, as they were called, he dispatched messengers with the symbolical arrows, each of whom carried a finger of the slain Spaniards, to the various Chilese tribes in the Spanish provinces, inviting them to take up arms on the exhibition of a signal, to be given by kindling fires on the tops of the highest mountains all over the country. Accordingly, on the 9th of March 1723, the day previously fixed upon for the commencement of hostilities, fires were lighted up on the mountains of Copaipo, Coquimbo, Quillota, Rancagua, Maule, and Itata. But either owing to the smallness of their number, their apprehension of the issue of the war, or their long habitude of submission, the native Chilese in the Spanish provinces remained quiet, and this vast project of the toqui was entirely disconcerted.

Having declared war against the Spaniards, Vilumilla set out immediately at the head of an army to attack the Spanish settlements: Yet before commencing hostilities, he requested the missionaries to quit the country, that they might not be injured by his detached parties. Vilumilla signalized the commencement of this new war by taking the fort of Tucapel by storm. Being apprehensive of a similar fate, the garrison of Arauco abandoned that place. After destroying these two forts, Villumilla directed his march for Puren, of which he expected to gain possession without resistance. But the commander made so vigorous a defence that he was under the necessity of besieging it in form. In a short time the garrison was reduced to extreme distress, both from scarcity of provisions and want of water, the aqueduct which brought water to the fort being destroyed by the enemy. During a sally made by the commander to obtain supplies, he and all his followers were slain. In this critical situation, Don Gabriel Cano, who had succeeded Concha in the government, arrived with an army of five thousand men. As Vilumilla expected an immediate attack, he chose a strong position for his army which he drew up in order of battle behind the deep bed of a torrent: But, though repeatedly challenged to battle by the enemy, Cano thought it more prudent to abandon the place, and accordingly withdrew the remainder of the garrison. The war was afterwards reduced to skirmishes of small importance, and was soon terminated by a peace concluded at Negrete, a place situated at the confluence of the Biobio and the Laxa, by which the provisions of the treaty of Quillan were renewed, and the odious title of captains of the friends abolished.

After a mild and harmonious government of fifteen years, Don Gabriel Cano died at St Jago, and was succeeded by his nephew Don Manuel de Salamanca, who was appointed by the viceroy of Peru, and who conducted the government in conformity with the excellent maxims of his uncle. Don Joseph Manso, who was sent from Spain as his successor, brought orders to collect the Spanish inhabitants who were dispersed over the country into cities. For this purpose, in 1742, the new governor founded the cities of Copaipo, Aconcagua, Melipilla, Rancagua, San Fernando, Curico, Talca, Tutaben, and Angeles. In reward for this service, he was promoted to the high dignity of viceroy of Peru. His successors continued to form new establishments, and in 1753, Santa Rosa, Guasco-alto, Casablanca, Bellaisla, Florida, Coulemu, and Quirigua were founded by Don Domingo Rosas; but these have never flourished like the former. This governor likewise sent a colony to occupy the larger island of Juan Fernandez, or Isola de Tierra, which had remained uninhabited till that time, to the great injury of commerce, as the pirates found there a secure retreat whence they could easily annoy the trade of Peru and Chili. In 1759, Don Manuel Amat, who was afterwards Viceroy of Peru, founded the cities of Santa Barbara, Talcamavida, and Gualqui on the Araucanian frontier.

Tranquillity was again disturbed about the year 1770, under the government of Don Antonio Gil Gonzago, who absurdly endeavoured to compel the Araucanians to live in cities. Many councils were held to devise the most suitable means for carrying this chimerical scheme into execution, which was much ridiculed by those who were best acquainted with the dispositions of the Araucanians, while others sided with the governor in supposing it practicable. The Araucanians were informed of these intentions of the governor by their spies; and being apprehensive of danger to their liberties from the proposed innovation, their chiefs met secretly to deliberate upon the best measures for eluding the designs of the governor without having recourse to arms. On this occasion the following resolutions were entered into by the Butacoyog, or national assembly of the ulmens. 1st, To delay the business as long as possible, by equivocal replies and delusive promises. 2d, When pressed to commence building, to require tools and other necessary aids from the Spaniards. 3d, To have recourse to war, when they found themselves no longer able to elude the demands of the governor; but that only the provinces that were compelled to build should declare war, while the others remained neutral on purpose to mediate a peace. 4th, When the mediation of these should be refused, the whole confederacy to join in the war. 5th, To allow the missionaries to depart in safety, as they had nothing to accuse them of but being Spaniards. 6th, To elect a supreme toqui, who should have the charge of executing these resolutions, and was to have every thing in readiness for taking the field when necessary.—Accordingly Antivilu, apo-ulmen of Maquegua, was unanimously elected toqui; but as his province was one of those which were to remain neutral, he declined to accept the office, and Curignancu, brother to the ulmen of Encol was elected in his stead.

At the first conference, the governor proposed his plan to the Araucanians under every aspect that he thought might render it acceptable and agreeable. In pursuance of their previous agreement, the Araucanians objected, equivocated, and at length appeared to consent, but ended by requesting the necessary assistance for beginning the work. Accordingly, having pointed out the situations which he thought most eligible for the new cities, the governor sent them a great quantity of wrought iron, together with provisions for the labourers, and cattle for transporting the timber. As the work made no progress, the quarter-master Cabrito repaired to the frontiers with several companies of soldiers, to stimulate the tardy operations, and placed for this purpose superintendents in different quarters. The serjeant-major Rivera, was entrusted with the building of Nininco, and Captain Bargoa with that of another city on the banks of the Biobio, while Cabrito directed all the operations from his head-quarters at Angol.

Finding all their acts of equivocation and delay ineffectual, the Araucanians flew to arms, and having united to the number of five hundred men under the toqui Curignancu, they proceeded to besiege Cabrito in his camp. Burgoa, who had been made prisoner and very roughly treated, was set at liberty in consequence of being represented as inimical to the quarter-master. Rivera crossed the Biobio in sight of the enemy who were seeking to slay him, but he got away in safety under the protection of a missionary, and afterwards returned with four hundred men to relieve Cabrito. Another missionary requested the Araucanian officer who escorted him, to forgive a Spaniard by whom he had been grievously offended: The Araucanian answered that he had nothing to fear while in company with the missionary; and that it was now no time to think of revenging private injuries. Such was the attention paid to the sanctity of the missionaries, that not a single Spaniard was slain who had the good fortune of getting under their protection.

In order to attack the Araucanians in several places at once, the governor formed an alliance with the Pehuenches, who inhabit the western slopes of the Andes between the latitudes of 33 deg. 30' and 36 deg. S. and between the heads of the rivers Maypo and Chillan. They accordingly sent an army through the defiles of the mountains to invade Araucania: But Curignancu, being informed of their approach, fell upon them by surprise while descending from the Andes and completely routed them, taking their general Coligura and his son, both of whom he put to death. Though this event might have been supposed calculated to occasion eternal enmity between the Pehuenches and Araucanians, it yet so effectually reconciled them, that the Pehuenches have been ever since faithful allies to the Araucanians, and implacable enemies to the Spaniards. Even in this war, Curignancu availed himself of the assistance of these mountaineers to harass the Spanish possessions in the neighbourhood of St Jago. Since that time, the Pehuenches frequently attack the Spanish caravans between Buenos Ayres and Chili, and almost every year furnishes some melancholy events of that kind.

The mortification of seeing his grand project completely overthrown preyed on the mind of Gonzago, already afflicted by a severe chronic illness, which was so much aggravated by this disappointment as to cut him off in the second year of the war; and Don Francisco Xavier de Morales was appointed his successor by the viceroy of Peru. As formerly concerted, the neutral provinces of Araucania now declared in favour of those who had first begun hostilities, and the war was prosecuted with vigour by the whole confederacy. Curignancu and his brave vice-toqui Leviantu, kept the Spanish troops in constant motion and alarm, though reinforced by several divisions from Spain. Having no materials for giving an account of the events of this war, it can only be mentioned that a bloody battle was fought in the beginning of the, year 1773, by which period the expences of the war had exceeded 1,700,000 dollars. In the same year an accommodation was agreed upon, and Curignancu was invested by the Butacayog with full powers to settle the articles of peace. He required as a preliminary, that the conferences should be held in the city of St Jago, which was conceded by the Spanish governor though contrary to the usual custom. During the negociations in that city, he made another demand still more extraordinary, "That his nation should be allowed to keep a resident agent in the capital of Chili." This was warmly opposed by the Spanish officers; but the governor thought proper to grant this likewise, as an excellent expedient for readily adjusting any differences that might arise between the two nations. The other articles of the peace were adjusted with all manner of facility, as the treaties of Quillan and Negrete were revived by mutual consent.

On the death of Gonzago being known in Spain, Don Augustino Jauregui was sent out to assume the government of Chili, who has since filled the important office of viceroy of Peru with universal approbation. He was succeeded by Don Ambrosio Benarides, who rendered the country happy by his wise and beneficent administration. "On the 21st of November 1787, Don Ambrosio Higgins a native of Ireland, formerly brigadier-general of the cavalry in Chili, was appointed president, governor, and captain-general of the kingdom, a gentleman of an enlightened mind and excellent disposition, who has gained the love and esteem of all the inhabitants. In 1792 he continued to discharge the duties of his high station with all the vigilance and fidelity which belong to his estimable character, and which are required in so important, a situation. On his first accession to the government, he visited all the northern provinces, for the purpose of dispensing justice, encouraging agriculture, opening the mines, and improving the commerce and fisheries of the kingdom. He has also established schools, repaired the roads throughout the country, and has built several new cities[101]."

[Footnote 101: This last passage within inverted commas, is an addition to the text of Molina by the original translator.—E.]

SECTION XII.

State of Chili towards the end of the Eighteenth Century[102].

[Footnote 102: The information of Molina appears to have closed about 1787; but in some notes by the translator, interwoven here into the text, a few short notices to the year 1792 occur.—E.]

From the short deduction of the occurrences in Chili since its discovery, which has been attempted in the foregoing pages, it will be seen that the acquisition and maintenance of that interesting and important colony has cost more expenditure of blood and treasure to Spain than all the rest of her American possessions. The Araucanians, though only occupying a small extent of territory, and with far inferior arms, have not only been able to resist the military power of Spain, till then reckoned invincible, but have endangered the loss of her best established possessions. Though most of the Spanish officers employed in the early period of the Araucanian war had been bred in the low countries, that excellent school of military knowledge, and her soldiers were armed with those destructive weapons before which the most extensive empires of America had so early fallen, and were considered as the best disciplined and bravest troops in the world; yet has this brave people been able to resist their utmost efforts, and still maintain their independence unimpaired. This will appear wonderful, especially when we consider the decided superiority which European military discipline and skill have given to its troops in all parts of the world. The rapidity of the Spanish conquests in America excited universal astonishment; and a small number of Portuguese gained with almost incredible facility an extensive territory in the east, even although the natives were extremely numerous and accustomed to the use of fire-arms. Yet, in spite of every effort of force and skill, the Araucanians have valiantly defended their country, evincing that a free people, however inconsiderable in point of numbers, can perform wonders.

Since losing their possessions in Arancania, the Spaniards have prudently confined their views to the preservation and improvement of that part of Chili which lies between the southern confines of Peru and the river Biobio, extending between the latitudes of 24 deg. and 36 deg. 30' S. As formerly mentioned this kingdom is divided into thirteen provinces. Of late years two other provinces have been formed by the disjunction of Maule, and the provinces of Cauquenes and Cunco are nominally added to the former number, but without any addition of territory. Besides these, they possess the fortress and port of Valdivia in the country of the Cunches, the archipelago of Chiloe, and the island of Juan Fernandez. This colony or kingdom of Chili is governed by an officer, who combines the titles and functions of civil governor, president of the court of audience, and captain-general, and usually holds the rank of lieutenant-general in the Spanish army. He resides in the city of St Jago, and is solely dependent upon the king, except that in time of war he is subject in some points to receive orders from the viceroy of Peru. In quality of captain-general, he is commander-in-chief of the army, having under his immediate orders the three principal military officers of the kingdom, the quarter-master-general, the serjeant-major, and the commissary-general, besides the four commandants of Chiloe, Valdivia, Valparaiso, and Juan Fernandez. As president and governor, he has the supreme administration of justice, and presides in the superior tribunals established in the capital, whose jurisdiction extends over all the provinces and dependencies of Chili. The chief of these is the royal audience, whose decisions are final in all causes both civil and criminal, and which is divided into two chambers, one for civil and the other for criminal causes. Both are composed of several respectable oydors or judges, a regent, fiscal, royal procurator, and protector of the Indians, all of which officers have high salaries from the crown. In civil causes where the sum at issue exceeds the value of 10,000 dollars, an appeal lies from their sentence to the supreme council of the Indies. The other supreme courts are those of Finance, of the Cruzada, of Vacant lands, and the Consulate or tribunal of commerce.

The provinces of Chili are governed by officers who were formerly called corregidors, but are now known by the title of sub-delegates, which ought to be nominated by the crown, but are generally appointed by the governor, owing to the distance from Spain. These, as lieutenants of the governor, have jurisdiction both in civil and military affairs, and as their emoluments are entirely derived from fees, their amount is by no means regular. In each capital of a province, there is or ought to be a municipal magistracy denominated the Cabildo, composed of several regidors appointed for life, of a standard-bearer, a procurator, a forensic judge called the provincial alcalde, a high sheriff called, alguazil-mayor, and two alcaldes. These latter officers are nominated annually by the cabildo from the most respectable inhabitants, and have jurisdiction both in civil and criminal causes in the first instance.

All the inhabitants able to carry arms are divided into regiments, which are bound to march to the sea-coast or the frontiers in case of war. In 1792, the militia amounted to 15,856 men, in the two bishoprics of St Jago and Conception; 10,218 in the former, and 5,638 in the latter. This force which was established in 1777, during the government of Don Augustino Jaregui, is only called out on great occasions, and is seldom obliged to perform the duty of centinels and patroles; but is obliged to hold itself always in readiness for war, and frequently to exercise in the use of arms. Besides this regular militia, there are a great number of city corps, who are commanded by officers named commissaries instead of Colonels. These are divided into several companies, according to the extent and population of their respective districts; and the companies have no fixed numbers, sometimes exceeding a hundred men, and at other times falling short of that number. This city militia supplies guards for the prisons and for the escort of prisoners, and performs the duties required by the police, without being exempted from military service when occasion requires; and from these companies recruits are drawn to supply vacancies in the regular militia. Every one capable of bearing arms is thus enrolled either in these companies or in the regular militia, except such as are indispensably necessary for cultivating the land and taking care of the cattle. Besides this militia, the crown maintains a regular force of veteran troops part at St Jago and part at Conception for the protection of the Araucanian frontier. In 1792, all the veteran troops in Chili amounted to 1976 men, divided into two companies of artillery, nine troops of horse, including a regiment of dragoons at St Jago, and the rest infantry. The cavalry is commanded by a brigadier-general, who is quarter-master-general of the kingdom, and intendant of Conception. The infantry and artillery are under the command of two lieutenant-colonels. Besides these royal troops, the city of St Jago keeps several troops of dragoons in constant pay for its particular protection.

In regard to ecclesiastical polity, Chili is divided into two extensive bishoprics, those of St Jago and of Conception, the bishops of these dioceses being suffragans to the archbishop of Lima. The bishopric of St Jago extends from the confines of Peru to the river Maule, and includes the province of Cujo on the east side of the Andes. The bishopric of Conception comprises all the rest of Chili and the islands; but the greater part of this extent is inhabited by pagans, being the confederacy of Araucania and its auxiliaries. The two cathedrals have a competent number of canons or prebendaries, whose revenues as well as those of the bishops depend upon the tythes. The holy tribunal of the inquisition at Lima, has a commissary and several subaltern officers or familiars resident at St Jago. Upon his first coming into Chili, Valdivia brought with him several monks of the order of Mercy. About the year 1553, the Dominicans and Franciscans were established in the country, the Augustins in 1593, and the Hospitallers of St John of God in 1615. These orders all have a number of convents, and the three first form distinct jurisdictions under their respective provincials. The brothers of St John have the charge of the hospitals, under the direction of a commissary, dependent on the provincial of their order in Peru. The Jesuits came likewise into Chili in 1593, along with Don Martin Loyola, nephew to their founder, and formed a separate province, but were afterwards suppressed along with the rest of their order in all parts of christendom. Other orders have several times attempted to form establishments in Chili, but have always been resisted by the inhabitants. There are several convents of nuns in the cities of St Jago and Conception, but none are contained in the other cities of the kingdom.

Though the cities are in general built in the most fertile districts of the kingdom, many of them might have been more conveniently situated for trade upon the banks of the navigable rivers; as is more particularly the case with those of recent erection. The streets in all the cities are laid out in straight lines, intersecting each other at right angles, and are generally about forty feet wide. The houses are mostly of one storey, yet are very commodious, are all whitewashed on the outside, and handsomely painted within, each being accommodated with a pleasant garden, irrigated by means of an aqueduct or canal, which likewise furnishes water for the use of the family. Those houses which belong to the wealthier classes, particularly the nobility, are splendidly and tastefully furnished. Noticing that old buildings of two stories had resisted the most violent earthquakes, many of the inhabitants have of late years ventured to construct their houses in the European manner, and to reside in upper rooms; employing bricks and stone in the construction of their new buildings, instead of clay hardened in the sun which was formerly supposed less liable to injury. By this change the cities have a much handsomer appearance than formerly. Cellars, sewers, and wells, were of old much more common than now; and the want of these may have contributed to render the buildings more secure from the effects of earthquakes.

The churches in Chili are in general more remarkable for their wealth than their architecture; but the cathedral and the church of the Dominicans in St Jago are both built of stone and in a handsome style. The cathedral was recently constructed at the royal expence, under the direction of the bishop Don Manuel Alday. The plan was drawn by two English architects, who superintended the work. It is built in a masterly style, and extends 384 French feet in length. When about half finished, the architects refused to proceed unless their wages were augmented; but two Indians who had worked under the Englishmen had privately made themselves acquainted with every branch of the art, and offered to complete the fabric, which they did with as much skill as their masters. The following edifices in the capital are also deserving of notice. The barracks for the dragoons; the mint, lately built by a Roman architect; and the hospital for orphans, founded by the Marquis of Monte-pio, and endowed by the crown.

In consequence of the free trade lately granted to Chili, it is increasing in population with a rapidity proportional to the salubrity of its climate and the fertility of its soil. The Europeans mostly consist of emigrants from the southern provinces of Spain, with a few French, English, and Italians. The Creoles, or descendents of European settlers are still more numerous. The character of that race, with some slight differences owing to climate and government, is similar to that of other American Creoles descended from Europeans. "The Creoles are generally well made, and are rarely found with those deformities which are so common in other countries. Their courage has frequently signalized itself in war, by a series of brilliant exploits, nor would there be better soldiers in the world if less averse from submission to discipline. Their history furnishes no examples of that cowardice, treachery, and baseness which dishonour the annals of all nations, and scarcely can an instance be adduced of a Creole having committed a disgraceful action. Untainted by the mean vices of dissimulation, artifice, and suspicion, they possess great frankness and vivacity of character, joined to a high opinion of themselves, and their intercourse with the world is not stained by that mysterious reserve so common in Europe, which obscures the most amiable characters, depresses the social spirit, and chills sensibility of disposition. Possessed of an ardent imagination and impatient of restraint, they are prone to independence yet inconstant in their inclinations and pursuits. By the warmth of their temperature, they are impelled to the pursuit of pleasure with an eagerness to which they sacrifice their fortunes and often their lives. They possess keen penetration, and a remarkable facility of conceiving and expressing their ideas with force and clearness, together with a happy talent of observation, combined with all those qualities of mind and character, which render men capable of conceiving and executing the greatest enterprises, especially when stimulated by oppression[103]."

[Footnote 103: This character of the Creoles is inserted by the original translator, in a note, from the Abbe Raynal.—E.]

Whatever intelligent and unprejudiced travellers have observed respecting the characters of the French and English Creoles, will perfectly apply to those of Chili. The same modes of thinking and the same moral qualities are discernible in them all. They generally have respectable talents, and succeed in all the arts to which they apply. Had they the same motives to stimulate them as are found in Europe, they would make as great progress in the useful sciences as they have already made in metaphysics. They do not readily imbibe prejudices, and are not tenacious in retaining them. As however, scientific books and philosophical instruments are very scarce and difficultly attainable in Chili, their talents have no opportunity of being developed, and are mostly employed in trifling pursuits; and as the expence of printing is enormous, they are discouraged from literary exertion, so that few among them aspire to the reputation of becoming authors. The knowledge of the civil and canon law is held in high estimation, so that many of the youth of Chili, after completing their academical education in their own country, proceed to Lima to study law. The fine arts are in a low state in Chili, and even the mechanical arts are far from perfection. The arts of carpentry, of working in iron, and in the precious metals, are however to be excepted, in which they have made considerable progress, in consequence of the information and example of some German artists, who were introduced into Chili by that worthy ecclesiastic Father Carlos, a native of Hainhausen in Bavaria. The important changes which the beneficence of an enlightened administration in Spain have lately introduced into the American colonies, by directing the attention of the subjects to useful improvements, have extended their influence even to Chili. Arts and sciences, formerly unknown or but very imperfectly, now engage the attention of the inhabitants, and there is reason to hope that the country will soon assume a better aspect.

The peasantry of Spanish Chili, though for much the greater part of Spanish descent, dress after the manner of the Araucanians. Thinly dispersed over an extensive country, and unincumbered by restraint, they enjoy complete liberty, and lead a tranquil and happy life, amidst the enjoyment of abundance, in a delightful climate and fertile soil. The principal part of these healthy and vigorous men live dispersedly upon their respective possessions, and cultivate with their own hands a greater or less extent of ground. They are naturally gay, and fond of all kinds of diversion. They have likewise a strong taste for music, and even compose verses, which, though rude and inelegant, possess much pleasing native simplicity, often more interesting than the laboured compositions of cultivated poets. Extemporary rhymers are common among them, like the improvisatori of Italy, and are called Palladores, who are held in great estimation, and devote themselves entirely to that occupation. In the Spanish provinces of Chili, no other language than Spanish is spoken, except upon the frontiers, where the peasants speak both Araucanian and Spanish. The men dress in the fashion of Spain, and the women in that of Peru; only that the women in Chili wear their garments longer than is usual in Peru. Lima prescribes the fashions for Chili, as is done by Paris for the rest of Europe; and the inhabitants of Chili and Peru are equally luxurious, as in both countries the wealthy make a splendid display in their dress, titles, coaches, and servants. Chili enjoys alone of all the American colonies, the high honour of having two of its citizens exalted to the dignity of grandees of Spain: Don Fernando Irrazabel, Marquis of Valparaiso, born in St Jago, who was viceroy of Navarre, and generalissimo of the Spanish army in the reign of Philip IV. and Don Fermin Caravajal, Duke of San Carlos, a native of Conception, who resides at present[104] at the court of Madrid. Don Juan de Covarrubias, a native of St Jago, who went into the service of France in the beginning of the eighteenth century, was rewarded with the title of marquis, the order of the Holy Ghost, and the rank of Marshal in the French army.

[Footnote 104: This refers to 1787, when Molina published his work.—E.]

The salubrity of the climate, and the constant exercise on horseback to which the natives of Chili are accustomed from their infancy, render them strong and active, and preserve them from many diseases. The small-pox is not so common as in Europe, but makes terrible ravages when it appears[105]. In the year 1766, it was first introduced into the province of Maule, where it proved exceedingly fatal. At this time, a countryman who had recovered from this loathsome disease, conceived the idea of curing those unhappy persons who were deemed in a desperate situation, by means of cows milk, which he gave to his patients to drink, or administered in clysters. By this simple remedy, he cured all whom he attended; while the physicians saved very few by their complicated prescriptions. I mention this circumstance, as it strongly confirms the practice of M. Lassone, physician to the queen of France, published in the Medical Transactions of Paris for 1779, who was successful in curing the small-pox with cows milk, mixed with a decoction of parsley roots. From these instances it would appear, that, milk has the power of lessening the virulence of this terrible disease.

[Footnote 105: Several years ago, before that terrible French eruption which now desolates Spain, the Spanish government communicated to all her colonies, however distant, the inestimable benefit of vaccination. It may be here mentioned that it has been long known among the illiterate cow-herds in the mountains of Peru, all either native Peruvians or Negroes, that a disease of the hands which they are liable to be infected with on handling diseased cow udders, the cow-pox, effectually arms all who have been subjected to it against the infection of the small-pox.—E.]

The Creole inhabitants of Chili are in general generous and benevolent. Contented with a comfortable subsistence, so easily acquired in that country, they are rarely infected with the vice of avarice, and even scarcely know what parsimony is. Their houses are universally open to all travellers, whom they entertain with much hospitality, without any idea of being paid; and this virtue is even exercised in the cities. Hence, they have not hitherto attended to the erection of inns and public lodging-houses, or hotels, which will become necessary when the commerce of the interior becomes more active. The inhabitants of Chili are very dexterous in using the laqui, which they constantly carry with them on their excursions. It consists of a strap of leather several fathoms in length, twisted like a cord, one end of which is fastened to the girth under the horses belly, and the other end terminates in a strong noose, which they throw over any animal they wish to catch with so much dexterity as hardly ever to miss their aim[106]. It is used likewise on foot, in which case one end is fixed to the girdle. The peasants of Chili employed this singular weapon with success against certain English pirates who landed on their coast. Herodotus makes mention of the employment of a similar noose in battle by the Sagartii, a nation of Persian descent, who used no offensive weapons except daggers, depending principally upon cords of twisted leather, with a noose at one extremity, with which they used in battle to entangle their enemies, and then easily put them to death with their daggers. The inhabitants of Chili are likewise very expert in the management of horses; and, in the opinion of travellers who have seen and admired their dexterity and courage on horseback, they might soon be formed into the best body of cavalry in the world. From their attachment to horses, they are particularly fond of horse-races, which they conduct in the English manner.

[Footnote 106: The laqui in use to the east of the Andes, at least so far as employed in war, has either a ball or stone at one or both ends.—E.]

The negroes, who have been introduced into Chili by contraband means, are subjected to a much more tolerable servitude than in other parts of America, where the interested motives of the planters have stifled every sentiment of humanity. As the cultivation of sugar and other West Indian produce has not been introduced into Chili, the negro slaves are employed only in domestic services, where by attention and diligence they acquire the favour of their masters. Those most esteemed are either born in the country, or mulattoes, as they become attached to the families to which they belong. By the humanity of government, excellent regulations have been introduced in favour of this unfortunate race. Such as have been able by their industry to save a sum of money sufficient to purchase a slave, are entitled to ransom themselves by paying it to their masters, who are obliged to receive it and grant them their liberty; by which means many of them have obtained their freedom. Those who are ill treated by their masters, can demand a letter of sale, which entitles them to seek for a purchaser; and if the master refuses, they apply to the judge of the town or district, who examines into their complaint, and grants the required permission, if well founded. Such instances are however rare, as the masters are careful not to reduce their slaves to this necessity on account of their own reputation, and because the slaves are generally so much attached to their masters, that the greatest punishment which could be inflicted on them were to sell them to others. It even frequently happens that those who have received their freedom in reward of good conduct, do not avail themselves of it, that they may not lose the protection of the family they belong to, from which they are always sure of subsistence. Masters however have the right to correct their slaves, and the kind and degree of punishment is left with them, except in capital crimes.

The internal commerce of Chili has hitherto been of small importance, notwithstanding the many advantages possessed by this fertile country. Its principal source, industry, or necessity rather, is still wanting. An extensive commerce requires a large population, and in proportion as the one increases, the other will necessarily advance. A communication by water, which greatly facilitates the progress of commerce, has already been opened. In several of the Chilese ports, barks are now employed in the transportation of merchandise, which had formerly to be carried by land on the backs of mules, with great trouble and expence; and this beneficial alteration will probably be followed with others of greater importance. Several large ships have been already built in the harbour of Conception, and at the mouth of the river Maule, in the port of Huachapure; by which the external commerce of the kingdom is carried on with Peru and Spain. In the trade with Peru, twenty-three or twenty-four ships are employed, of five or six hundred tons each, part of which belong to Chili and part to Peru. These usually make three voyages yearly, and carry from Chili wheat, wine, pulse, almonds, nuts, cocoa-nuts, conserves, dried meat, tallow, lard, cheese, bend-leather, timber for building, copper, and a variety of other articles; and bring back return cargoes of silver, sugar, rice, and cotton. The ships which trade directly from Spain to Chili, receive gold, silver, copper, Vicugna wool, and hides, in exchange for European commodities. A permission to trade to the East Indies would be very profitable to the Chilese, as their most valuable articles are either scarce or not produced in these wealthy regions of Asia, and the passage across the Pacific Ocean would be easy and expeditious, in consequence of the prevalence of southerly winds. The only money current in Chili is of gold and silver, which is considerably embarrassing to internal commerce, as the smallest silver coin is the sixteenth of a dollar, or 4-1/4d. The weights and measures are the same with those of Madrid.

"Of the two great sources of commerce, agriculture and manufacturing industry, the former alone hitherto animates the internal trade of Chili, or even the commercial intercourse between that country and Peru[107]. The working of mines also occupies the attention of many of the colonists, especially in the provinces of Copaipo, Coquimbo, and Quillota. Manufacturing industry is hitherto so trifling as not to deserve notice. Notwithstanding the abundance of raw materials for this purpose, such as flax, wool, hemp, skins, and metals, which might give employment to a flourishing manufacturing industry, it is still in a languid condition. The inhabitants however manufacture ponchos, stockings, carpets, blankets, skin-coats, saddles, hats, and other small articles, chiefly for the use of the poorer people, as those used by the middle and higher ranks are from the manufactures of Europe. These enumerated articles, with the sale of hides and leather, grain and wine, form the whole internal commerce of Chili. The external commerce is principally with the ports of Peru, and particulary with that of Callao, the port of Lima. To the amount of about 700,000 dollars is yearly sent to Peru in the productions of Chili, serving not only to counterbalance the importations from that country, but leaving an annual balance of 200,000 dollars in favour of Chili. The trade between Chili and Buenos Ayres is on the contrary in favour of the latter, as Chili has to pay about 300,000 dollars yearly in cash for the herb Paraguay alone. The other articles received from Buenos Ayres are probably paid for by those which are sent to that place. In the trade with Spain, the productions of Chili go but a short way in payment of the European goods which are annually imported to the value of more than a million of dollars. Gold, silver, and copper, form the whole of the articles sent from Chili to Spain, as the hides and Vicugna wool are of too little importance to be considered."

[Footnote 107: These observations on the trade of Chili, distinguished by inverted commas, are inserted into the text from a long note in this part of the work of Molina—E.]

"Gold to the extent of 5200 marks[108], and as the amounts which are coined and shipped are nearly equal, there does not appear to be any clandestine extraction. But a considerable quantity is expended in bullion, in works of use or ornament. The silver extracted from the mines of Chili is estimated at 30,000 marks yearly[109]. Of this about 25,000 marks are coined annually, and the residue is employed in the fabrication of plate. Yet a considerably larger amount is shipped every year, arising from the coined silver, which is transmitted from Lima. The remittances of gold and silver from Chili to Spain passes usually through Buenos Ayres. The gold, being less bulky, is carried by land, by the monthly packets, in sums of two or three thousand ounces. The silver is sent by two ships every summer, which likewise carry a part of the gold. The remittances of gold amount annually to 656,000 dollars[110], the silver to 244,000[111]; and the copper annually extracted from the mines of Chili is estimated at from eight to ten thousand quintals[112]. From these data it will not be difficult to form a general estimate of the value of yearly produce from Chili[113]."

[Footnote 108: The mark being eight ounces may be valued at L.4; hence the yearly production of gold in Chili is equal to about L.166,400 sterling.—E.]

[Footnote 109: At eight ounces the mark, and 6s. per ounce, this amounts only to the yearly value of L.72,000 sterling.—E.]

[Footnote 110: At 4s. 6d. the dollar, equal to L.147,600 sterling.—E.]

[Footnote 111: Or L.54,900 sterling.—E.]

[Footnote 112: The quintal of 100 pounds, at 1s. 6d. a pound, gives an average value of L.67,500 sterling for the yearly produce of copper.—E.]

[Footnote 113: The entire value of the three enumerated articles amounts to L.270,000 sterling; but the other articles of export from Chili, formerly enumerated, are not here included.—E.]

SECTION XIII.

Account of the Archipelago of Chiloe [114].

[Footnote 114: This is appended to the English translation of Molina, and is said to be chiefly extracted from a work on that subject by Pedro Gonzalis de Agueros, published at Madrid in 1791.—E.]

The Archipelago of Chiloe, extends from Cape Capitanes to Quillan, from lat. 41 deg. 50' to 44 deg. S. long. 302 deg. to 303 deg. 25' E, from the meridian of Teneriffe[115]. On the north it is bounded by the continent, where the Juncos and Rancos [116], two independent and unconverted nations, possess the country from thence to Valdivia: on the east by the Andes, which separate it from Patagonia; on the south by the archipelago of Guaitecas; and on the west by the Pacific Ocean. The islands of this archipelago amount to about eighty, and appear to have been produced by earthquakes, owing to the great number of volcanoes, with which that country formerly abounded. Every part of them exhibits the most unquestionable marks of the operation of volcanic fire. Several mountains in the great island of Chiloe, which gives name to the archipelago, are composed of basaltic columns, which have been certainly produced by volcanic fire, whatever may be alleged to the contrary. The inhabited part of this province, extends from Maullin to Huilad, comprising forty leagues from north to south, and eighteen or twenty from east to west, and comprises twenty-five islands. There are Isla Grande, Ancud, or Chiloe Proper; Achao, Lemui, Quegui, Chelin, Tanqui, Linlin, Llignua, Quenai, Meulin, Caguach, Alau, Apeau, Chaulinec, Vuta-Chauquis, Anigue, Chegniau, Caucague, Calbuco, Llaicha, Quenu, Tabon, Abtau, Chiduapi, and Kaur.—Chiloe Ancud, or Isla Grande, being the largest island as its name imports, is the most populous, and the seat of government. Its capital, Castro, which is the only city in the province, was founded in 1566 by Don Martin Ruiz de Gamboa, during the viceroyalty of Lope Garcia de Castro in Peru, and was honoured with the name of his family.

[Footnote 115: Or from long. 75 deg. to 74 deg. 20'W. from Greenwich.—E.]

[Footnote 116: Called Cunches and Huilliches by Molina. Several circumstances in this account are interwoven from the text of Molina, Vol. II. Book iv. ch. ii. This circumstance will account for occasional repetitions, and perhaps some apparent contradictions, which may appear.—E.]

The inhabitants of these islands are descended from the continental aborigines of Chili, as is evident from their manners, appearance, and language; yet are they very different in character, being of a pacific and rather timid disposition. They accordingly made no opposition against the handful of Spaniards who were sent to subjugate them under Gamboa, though their population is said to have then exceeded seventy thousand. Neither have they ever attempted to shake off the yoke, except once at the beginning of last century, when a very unimportant insurrection was speedily quelled. The number of inhabitants at present amounts to upwards of eleven thousand, which are distributed into seventy-six districts, each of which is governed by a native ulmen. The greatest part of this population is subject to the Spanish commanders, and are obliged to give personal service fifty days in every year, pursuant to the feudal laws, which are rigorously enforced in this province, though they have been long abolished in the rest of the kingdom of Chili.

These islanders in general possess great quickness of capacity, and readily learn any thing that is taught them. They have an apt genius for all mechanical arts, and excel in carpentry, cabinet-making, turnery, and the like, and are very expert in the construction of wooden-houses, as indeed all the habitations and even the churches are of timber. They are likewise good manufacturers in linen and woollen, of which last mixed with the feathers of sea-birds they make very beautiful bed-coverings. They also manufacture ponchos or cloaks of various kinds, many of which are striped, or embroidered with coloured silk or worsted.

These islands abound in wood, of which they supply large quantities yearly. As it rains almost incessantly, the cultivated lands are commonly wet the whole year. Though they have abundance of cattle, these are not employed for ploughing the ground, which is tilled, or cultivated in the following singular manner. About three months before seed-time, their sheep are turned upon the lands intended for a crop, changing their situation every three or four nights, in the manner called folding in Europe, by which the land is sufficiently manured. The field is then strewed over with the seed corn, and a strong man scratches or slightly turns over the soil to cover the seed, by means of a rude implement composed of two crooked sticks of hard wood fastened together and made sharp, which he forces into the ground with his breast. Notwithstanding this very imperfect tillage, the subsequent crop of wheat generally yields ten or twelve for one. They likewise grow large quantities of barley, beans, peas, guinoa, which is a species of chenopodium used in making a pleasant species of drink, and the largest and best potatoes that are to be found in all Chili. Owing to the moisture of the climate, the grape never comes to sufficient maturity for making wine; but its want is supplied by various kinds of cyder, made from apples and other wild fruits which abound in the country.

Owing to their habitude of frequently going from one island to another, where the sea is far from being pacific, the Chilotans are all excellent sailors, and being active, docile, and industrious, they are very much employed in navigating the shipping of the South Sea. Their native barks or piraguas are formed of from three to five planks, sewed together, and caulked with a species of moss which grows on a particular shrub. There are vast numbers of these barks all through the archipelago, which they manage very dexterously both with sails and oars, and the natives often venture as far as Conception in these frail vessels. They are much addicted to fishing, and procure vast quantities and many kinds of excellent fish on the sea around their shores. Of these they dry large quantities, which they export to Chili and Peru, and the other countries on the Pacific Ocean. They likewise cure considerable quantities of testaceous fishes, such as conchs, clams, and piures, in the following manner. These shell fish are laid in a long trench, covered over with the large leaves of the panke tinctoria, over which a layer of stones is laid, on which a hot fire is kindled and kept up for several hours. The roasted fish are then taken out of the shells, strung upon lines, and hung up for some time in the smoke of wood fires. Cured in this manner they keep well for a considerable time, and are carried for sale to Cujo and other inland districts.

The Christian religion was very readily embraced by the Chilotans after their subjugation, and they have ever since continued stedfast in its observance. Their spiritual concerns are under the direction of the bishop of Conception. Formerly the government was administered by a lieutenant-governor appointed by the governor of Chili, but that officer is now nominated by the viceroy of Peru. The whole external trade of these islands is carried on by three or four ships which come there annually from Peru and Chili, by which they receive wine, brandy, tobacco, sugar, herb of Paraguay, salt, and European goods, for which they give in exchange red cedar boards, timber of different kinds, ponchos of various qualities, hams, pilchards, dried shell-fish, white-cedar boxes, embroidered girdles, and a small quantity of ambergris which is found on their shores.

The navigation in this archipelago is difficult and even dangerous owing to the strength and number of the currents, and nothing can appear worse adapted for so perilous a sea than the piraguas or boats which are used by the islanders. They are without keel or deck, and the planks of which they are composed are sewed or laced together by means of strong withies, the seams being caulked or stuffed with a kind of moss, or with pounded cane leaves, over which the withies are passed. The cross timbers or thwarts are fixed by means of pegs or tree-nails. In these frail barks, which are very easily overset, the Chilotans venture with a fearlessness proceeding entirely from being accustomed to danger, not from skill in avoiding it. Their main source of food is from the sea, which is general most bountiful in those parts of the world where the earth is least so. Their mode of fishing is singular and ingenious. At low water, they inclose a large extent of the flat shore with stakes interwoven with boughs of trees, forming a kind of basket-work; which pens or corrales are covered by every flood and left dry by the ebb tide, at which time they generally find abundance of fish. They likewise employ as food a species of sea-weed, called luche, which they form into a kind of loaves or cakes which are greatly esteemed even by the wealthy inhabitants of Lima. Seals are more numerous in the archipelagos of Guaitecas and Guayneco, still farther to the south, where they are eaten by the natives, who are said to acquire so rank an odour from the use of this food that it is necessary to keep them to leeward. Whales sometimes run aground among these islands but are greatly more numerous farther to the south. They have probably retired from this part of the coast in consequence of being persecuted, as ambergris was formerly found in great abundance on these shores, but is now very rare.

All the islands are very mountainous and craggy, so that only a few vallies among the hills and the flat grounds near the shore are susceptible of cultivation. On this scanty cultivable ground, there are forty-one settlements, called pueblas or townships, in the isla grande, or large island of Chiloe. There is one road indeed across the mountains, but the whole interior of the island is uninhabited. The isle of Quinchau has six pueblas; Lemui and Llaicha each four, Calbuco three, all the other inhabited islands only one each, and there are three on the continent, in all eighty-one. In these pueblas or townships, the houses are much scattered, each being placed upon its attached property. The church stands near the beach, having a few huts erected in the neighbourhood, which serve to accommodate the parishioners when they come to church on Sundays or any festival to attend mass. In the whole archipelago there are but four places where the houses are placed so near together as to assume the appearance of a town or village. These are the city of Castro as it is called, Chacao, Calbuco, and the port of San Carlos. This last is the largest and most flourishing. In 1774 it contained sixty houses, with 462 inhabitants. In 1791, it had increased to two hundred houses and eleven hundred inhabitants; but its prosperity arose on the ruin of Chacao, which was the only port in the whole archipelago till 1768. The harbour of Chacao is rendered very dangerous by reason of many rocks and shoals, and is much exposed to winds from the north and north-east; on which account Don Carlos de Berenger, when governor, recommended that a town should be built at Gacui del Ingles, or English harbour, which was accordingly ordered by the court of Spain in 1767. The bay was then named Bahia del Rey; or Kings Bay, and the town and harbour San Carlos. It is in lat. 41 deg. 57' S. and long. 73 deg. 58' W. The port is good, but ships are often wrecked at the entrance, in consequence of tremendous hurricanes which come on suddenly, at which time the land cannot be seen. Since the erection of this town, the seat of government has been removed to it from Castro.

It is difficult to understand what motives could have induced the Spaniards to settle in this miserable country, when the whole extent of this western side of South America was open to them. Where gold and silver are to be found, or where wealth is to be acquired by commerce, men will readily settle, however barren and unfavourable the country, or however pestilential the climate. But Chiloe offers no incitements to avarice, and only a bare and comfortless subsistence to perpetual industry. Perhaps the principal part of the original settlers were people who escaped from the fury of the Araucanians, unable to remove to Peru, or to subsist if they got there, and who were therefore glad of getting any place of rest and security. There is perhaps no other colony in the world to which Europeans have carried so few of their arts and comforts, or where they have attempted to colonize under so many natural disadvantages. Two instances indeed may be excepted; the project of Philip II. to fortify the Straits of Magellan, and the unaccountable settlements of the Norwegians in Greenland. In Chiloe it often rains for a whole month without intermission, and these rains are frequently accompanied by such tremendous hurricanes that the largest trees are torn up by the roots, and the inhabitants do not feel safe in their houses. Even in January, their mid-summer, they have often long-continued heavy rain. If during the height of a storm the smallest opening be perceived in the clouds towards the south, fine weather soon succeeds; but first the wind changes suddenly to the south, with even greater violence than it blew before from the opposite quarter, and comes on with a crash as loud and sudden as the discharge of a cannon. The storm then passes away with a rapidity proportional to its violence, and the weather clears up. But at this critical change of the wind, vessels are exposed to the utmost danger. Thunder and lightning are rare, but earthquakes are frequent. In 1737 these islands suffered severely by an earthquake; a few days after which a cloud or exhalation of fire, coming from the north, passed over the whole archipelago, and, as is said, set fire to the woods in many of the islands in the group of the Guaitecas. It is said also that these islands were then covered over with ashes, and that vegetation did not again appear upon them till 1750, thirteen years afterwards.

Though excessively rainy, the climate is not unhealthy; but no people on earth ever had more cause to believe that the ground was cursed to bring forth thorns and thistles, and that man is condemned to eat bread with the sweat of his brow, as there are none who labour so hard and procure so little. They are so poor as to have no iron, or so very little that a family which has an axe guards it like a treasure. Their substitute for a plough has been already described as made of two crooked branches of a tree, with a sharp point at one end and a round ball at the other, which they force into the ground by means of their breast, protected by a sheeps skin during this rude operation of tillage. Laborious as this mode must be even in a free soil, it is rendered still more so in Chiloe by the myrtle roots which everywhere infest their cultivated land. The little corn they raise can never be left to ripen in the field, on account of the heavy and frequent rains. It must be cut before it ripens, and its sheaves hung up to dry in the sun-shine, if the sun happens then to shine; and otherwise it has to be dried within doors[117]. Bread is consequently a luxury which is reserved for great occasions; and the want of which is supplied by means of excellent potatoes, far better than any that are produced in Peru or Chili.

[Footnote 117: In many parts of Norway, the peasants have to win, or dry, their corn sheaves spitted on wooden spars set upon stakes in the open air; and a nobleman in the western Scots Highlands, has shades in which to dry his corn and hay, where the sheaves are hung upon pegs like herrings in a curing house. Yet bad as is the climate of Chiloe, Iceland and Kamtshatka can grow no corn at all.—E.]

Apples and strawberries are their only fruit, both of which are good and plentiful. The woods produce a plant called quilineja, much resembling the esparto or broom of Spain, from which they manufacture their cables; and they make smaller ropes from several leafless parasitical plants which twine round the larger trees like vines or bindwood. A species of wild cane or reed serves to roof their houses, and its leaves serve as hay or fodder for the few horses which are kept in this inhospitable country. In that part of the continent which belongs to this province, there is a tree, called alerse by the Spaniards and lahual by the Indians, which supplies the principal part of their exports, as from 50,000 to 60,000 planks of its wood are sent yearly to Lima. It grows to a large size, and has so even and regular a grain as to admit of being cleft by wedges into boards or planks of any desired thickness, even smoother than could be done by a saw. Neither Agueros nor Falkner had ever seen the tree; but the latter supposed it of the fir tribe from description, and supposes it might thrive in England if its seeds could be brought over, as the country in which it grows is as cold as Britain, and it is reckoned the most valuable timber of that country both for beauty and duration. The bark of this tree makes excellent oakum for that part of ships which is under water, but does not answer when exposed to the sun and air. They export also the wood of a tree named luma, for axle-trees and the poles of carriages; of a particular kind of hazle for ship-building, which answers excellently for oars; they likewise make chests and boxes of a species of cypress, and of a tree named ciruelillo.

Hams are a principle article among their exports, as hogs are the most numerous animals in Chiloe, where they find their own food in the woods. Few sheep are kept, yet there are sufficient to furnish wool to give employment to the women. From this they manufacture ponchos, two of which, give sufficient work to a woman for a whole year, as they work without a loom. The warp is stretched between a set of pegs, and they weave in the woof with their fingers, yet make the work remarkably fine, strong, and beautiful. They make also a smaller kind, called bordillos, which are the ordinary dress of the negroes at Lima. Besides these, they manufacture blankets and rugs, or coverlets for beds, and linen cloth; which last is woven in looms.

In summer, when the vessels arrive from Callao, San Carlos is like a fair, as this is the only opportunity enjoyed by the Chilotans to get supplied with any thing which is not the produce of their own country, or to dispose of any portion of their surplus produce. As they have no money or circulating medium of commerce, the whole trade is carried on by means of barter, which would leave the islanders at the mercy of the merchants from Lima, but for the interference of the government. On the arrival of the first ship of the season, the cabildo or municipal magistracy of San Carlos, fixes a money price at which every thing is to be rated on both sides; which means of regulating the market seems absolutely necessary, as otherwise the Chilotans in buying would be obliged to give any price demanded by the seller, and in selling would have to take any price offered. Still it would be much for their advantage to export their own commodities; but the whole archipelago does not contain a single vessel large enough to make a voyage to Peru or even to Chili. Formerly the soldiers who were in garrison in this province used to receive their pay in clothes and other articles of which they might be in want; but they were ordered by a late regulation to be paid in specie; and if this be continued it must occasion an important change in the commercial situation of Chiloe, by introducing a circulating medium. In San Carlos there is a garrison of regular troops, consisting of 33 artillerymen, 58 dragoons, and 53 infantry. The militia of the archipelago consists of 1569 men, including officers; which have to do garrison duty, but receive no pay or rations, having to serve entirely at their own expence.

The inhabitants of Chiloe consists only of two classes of people, Spaniards and Indians, there being no negroes and no mixed breed or mestees. The want of negroes is easily explained by the poverty of the islanders; but we are not told how it happens that the other two races have not intermixed[118]. This is the more remarkable, as a most extraordinary change has taken place in the language of these islands during the latter half of the eighteenth century; insomuch that the language of the Indian inhabitants consists entirely of Spanish words, but all the inflexions, the syntax, and the idiomatic manner of expression are Chilese, that is to say exactly corresponding to the Moluchese dialect of the Chilidugu.

[Footnote 118: Probably the gradations have not been attended to, because the nice discrimination of ranks has not been deemed worth while in so poor a country. Perhaps the mestees and their gradations are all elevated to the rank of Spaniards, or all depressed to that of vassal Chilotans.—E.]

Both men and women of the Spanish population in Chiloe go barefooted, except a few of the principal families who sacrifice convenience to pride; as in a country so continually wet it is safer to go about with naked feet than to have them in wet coverings. The men universally wear the poncho. The houses, or hovels rather, are all built of wood, and the crevices are stopped with sheep-skin or rags. The roofs are all thatched; and the climate is so rainy that this soon rots and must be frequently renewed. These dwellings consist of a single room, in which the family, the cattle, and the poultry, are all accommodated. A few of the inhabitants who can afford superior accommodation, have houses divided into several apartments, wainscoted within, and roofed with deal. Being all of wood, fires are frequent occurrences; but as the houses are scattered, the mischief does not extend. Owing to the inclemency of the weather, and the miserable state of the roads, a family in the scattered and solitary situation in which the houses are placed, is often weeks, and sometimes months without any communication with their neighbours. There is neither hospital, physician, nor surgeon in the whole province. A sick person is laid in a bed or a heap of skins near a large fire, and remains there till recovery or death supervene. The missionaries who visited these islands could find no books from which to teach the children to read, and when they wished them to write there was no paper. Necessity produced a substitute, and they used wooden boards or tablets, on which they wrote with a substance which could be washed out. Such is the miserable situation of the Spanish inhabitants of the archipelago of Chiloe: yet they dare not leave their wretched birth-place in the hope of bettering their fortunes. The small-pox is hitherto unknown among them, and those, who have attempted to go elsewhere have been cut off by that loathsome disease. In 1783, the entire population of this dreary province amounted to 23,477, of whom 11,985 were of Spanish descent, and 11,492 Indians.

SECTION XIV.

Account of the Native Tribes inhabiting the southern extremity of South America [119].

[Footnote 119: This supplementary section or appendix is added to the second volume of Molina, apparently by the English translator, and is said to be chiefly extracted from the description of Patagonia by Falkner. As the subject is new and interesting, we have been induced to extend somewhat beyond the rigid letter of a collection of voyages and travels. The picture of man in varied circumstances of savage life, is one of the most important pieces of information to be derived from a collection such as that we have undertaken and where direct means of communicating that intelligence are unattainable, it is surely better to employ such as on be procured than none.—E.]

The poet Ercilla has made the name of the Araucanians so famous that it were improper now to change the appellation. But that denomination properly belongs only to these tribes of the Picunches who inhabit the country of Aranco[120]. The nations or tribes who inhabit the southern extremity of South America are known among themselves by the general names of Moluches and Puelches; the former signifying the warlike people, and the latter the eastern people.

[Footnote 120: It will easily be seen in the immediate sequel, that Falkner very improperly uses Picunches as a generic term, as it signifies in a limited manner the northern people. Molina most properly denominates the whole aborigines of Chili on both sides of the Andes, Chilese, as speaking one language, the Chili-dugu; names the tribes of Arauco and those in the same republican confederacy Araucanians; and gives distinct names like Falkner to the allied tribes: the Puelches, Cunchese, Huilliches, Pehuenches, and others. Falkner appears to have chosen to denominate the whole from the tribe whose dialect he first became acquainted with; and some others seem to select the Moluches as the parent tribe.—E.]

The Moluches or warlike people, are divided into the Picunches, or people of the north, the Pehuenches or people of the fine country, and Huilliches or people of the south. The Picunches inhabit the mountains from Coquimbo to somewhat below St Jago in Spanish Chili. The Pehuenches border on these to the north, and extend to the parallel of Valdivia. Both of these are included in history under the name of Araucanians[121]. Their long and obstinate wars with the Spaniards, with the Puelches and with each other, have greatly diminished their numbers; but they have been still more diminished by the havoc which has been made among them by brandy, that curse of the American Indians, for which they have often been known to sell their wives and children, and to engage in savage scenes of civil bloodshed, entailing wide and endless deadly feuds. The small-pox has nearly completed the work of war and drunkenness, and when Falkner left the country they could hardly muster four thousand men among them all.

[Footnote 121: This account differs essentially from the history we have just given from the writings of Molina, an intelligent native of Chili, which cannot be repeated in the short compass of a note.—E.]

The Huilliches possess the country from Valdivia to the Straits of Magellan. They are divided into four tribes, who are improperly classed together as one nation, since three of them are evidently of a different race from the fourth. That branch which reaches to the sea of Chiloe and beyond the lake of Nahuelhuaupi speaks the general language of Chili, differing only from the Pehuenches and Picunches in pronunciation. The others speak a mixed language, composed of the Moluche and Tehuel tongue, which latter is the Patagon; and these tribes, from their great stature, are evidently of Patagonian origin. Collectively these three tribes are called the Vuta-Huilliches, or great southern-people; separately they are named Chonos, Poy-yes, and Key-yes. The Chonos inhabit the archipelago of Chili, and the adjoining shores of the continent. The Poy-yes or Peyes possess the coast from lat. 48 deg. to something more than 51 deg. S. The Key-yes or Keyes extend from thence to the Straits of Magellan. The Moluches maintain some flocks of sheep, principally for the sake of their wool, and cultivate a small quantity of corn.

The Puelches or eastern people, which name they receive from the natives of Chili, are bounded on the west by the Moluches, on the south by the Straits of Magellan, on the east by the sea, and on the north by the Spaniards. They are subdivided into four tribes, the Taluhets, Diuihets, Chechehets, and Tehuelhets. The first of these or Taluhets, are a wandering race who prowl over the country, from the eastern side of the first desaguadero as far as the lakes of Guanacache in the jurisdiction of San Juan and San Luiz de la Punta. Some of them are also to be found in the jurisdiction of Cordova, on the rivers Segundo Terzo and Quarto. When the Jesuits were expelled from the missions, this tribe could scarcely raise two hundred fighting men, and even in conjunction with all their allies not above five hundred. The second of these tribes, called the Diuihets, is, also a wandering race, which borders westwardly on the Pehuenches, between the latitudes of 35 deg. and 38 deg. S. They extend along the rivers Sanguel Colorado and Hueyque, and nearly to the Casuhati on the east. This nation and that of the Taluhets are collectively called Pampas by the Spaniards, whose settlements in Tacuman and on the southern shore of the La Plata they have always infested, and sometimes even endangered. The third tribe of the Puelches is named the Chechehets, or eastern-people. The country which they chiefly frequent is situated between the rivers Hueyque and the first desaguadero or Rio Colorado, and from thence to the second desaguadero or Rio Negro. They are a tall and stout wandering race resembling the Patagonians, but speak a quite different language. Their dispositions are friendly and inoffensive, but they are a bold and active enemy when provoked. They are now reduced to a small number by the ravages of the small-pox. The fourth race, called the Tehuelhets, or in their own language the Tehuel-kunnees or southern-men, are the real Patagonians. These are again subdivided into many tribes, all of which and the Chechehets also are called Serranos or mountaineers by the Spaniards. The Leuvuches, who seem to be the head tribe of all the Serranos, live on the Rio Negro. They speak the same language with the Chechehets, but with a small mixture of the Tehuel. This tribe used to keep on good terms with the Spaniards, that they might hunt in security in the pampas or immense plains of Buenos Ayres. About the year 1740, however, they were provoked to war by a most wanton and treacherous attack, and Buenos Ayres would in all probability have been destroyed, had not these injured people been appeased by the Jesuit missionaries. The Tehuelhets are more numerous than all the other tribes of these parts together, and are the perpetual enemies of the Moluches who are so terrible to the Spaniards, whom they would have long since destroyed if they had been equally well supplied with horses.

To the south of these are the Chulilau-Kunnees, and the Sehuan-Kunnees, who are the most southerly of the equestrian tribes. The country beyond them, all the way to the Straits of Magellan, is possessed by the last of the Tehuel tribes, called Yacana-Kunnees or foot-people, as they have no horses. These are an inoffensive race, who are very swift runners, and subsist mostly on fish. The other Tehuelhets and the Huilliches sometimes attack this tribe for the purpose of making slaves of the prisoners. The ordinary stature of all the Tehuel tribes is from six to seven feet. None of the Puelches either keep sheep or cultivate the ground, but depend altogether on hunting, for which purpose they keep a great number of dogs.

The belief in an infinite number of spirits, good and evil, is common to all the native tribes south of the Rio Plata. From the north of that river to the Orinoco a different language prevails, accompanied by a different form of superstition The Puelches do not appear to acknowledge any of those numerous spirits as supreme over the rest. The Taluhets and Diuihets call a good spirit Soychu, or he who presides in the land of strong drink. The Tehuelhets call an evil spirit Atskanna Kanatz, the other Puelches denominate the same being Valichu. Huecuvu must be another name for the evil spirit; as the Chechehets give the name of Huecuvu-mapu or the devils-country to a great sandy desert, into which they never venture lest they should be overwhelmed.

Among the northern Indians, each cast or small tribe is distinguished by the name of some animal; as the tribe of the tyger, the lion, the guanaco, the ostrich, and the like. They believe that each tribe had its own particular creator, who resided in some huge cavern under a lake or bill, to which all of that tribe will go after death, to enjoy the felicity of eternal inebriation. These good creative spirits, according to their opinion, having first created the world, made the different races of men and animals, each in their respective cave. To the Indians, they gave the spear, the bow and arrow, and the lague or ball and thong: to the Spaniards fire arms. Animals they allege were likewise created in these subterranean abodes of the spirits, such as were nimblest coming first out. When bulls and cows were coming out last of all, the Indians were frightened at the sight of their horns, and stopped up the mouth of their cavern; but the Spaniards were wiser and let them out. Thus they explain the reason why they had no cattle till after the coming of the Spaniards. In. their opinion, all the animals who have been created in these hidden caverns have not yet emerged. They attribute all the misfortunes or diseases which happen to men or animals to the agency of the evil spirits, who are continually wandering about the world in search of mischief. Their priests or jugglers rather, are each supposed to be attended by two familiar evil spirits, to whom the souls of these jugglers are associated after death, and with whom they go about to do mischief. The jugglers are of both sexes; but it seems as if it were thought an occupation beneath the dignity of a man, as the male wizards are compelled to dress like women and are not permitted to marry. The female jugglers are under no such restriction. They are generally chosen while children to be initiated in the mysteries of this profession, from among those who are most effeminate, and such as happen to be subject to epilepsy or St Vitus' dance are considered as especially marked out for the service of the jugglers. It is a very dangerous profession, as these jugglers are frequently put to death when any calamity happens to befal either the chiefs or the people.

No ceremonies are performed in honour of the good spirits. That which is addressed to the evil ones is performed in the following manner. The assistants assemble in the hut or tent of the wizard, who is concealed in a corner of the tent, where he has a drum, one or two round calabashes with a few small sea shells in them to make a noise, like the maraca or rattle of the Brazilian sorcerers, and some square bags of painted hide in which he keeps his spells. He begins the ceremony by making a strange noise with his drum and rattle, after which he feigns to fall into a fit, which is supposed to be occasioned by a struggle with the evil spirit who then enters into him. During this fit, he keeps his eye-lids lifted up, distorts his features, foams at the mouth, seems to dislocate his joints, and after many violent and unnatural motions remains stiff and motionless, like a person in a fit of epilepsy. After some time he comes to himself, as if having gained the victory over the evil spirit. He next causes a faint shrill mournful voice to be heard within his tabernacle, as of the evil spirit, who is supposed to acknowledge himself vanquished; after which the wizard, from a kind of tripod, answers all questions that are put to him. It is of little consequence whether these answers turn out true or false, as on all sinister events the fault is laid on the spirit. On these conjuring occasions, the juggler is well paid by those who consult the destinies.

These southern nations make skeletons of their dead, as is done likewise by the native tribes on the Orinoco; but it is singular that this practice does not prevail among the intermediate tribes, that inhabit between the Maranon and Rio Plata. On such occasions, one of the most distinguished women of the tribe performs the ceremony of dissection. The entrails are burnt, and the bones, after the flesh has been cut off as clean as possible, are buried till the remaining fibres decay. This is the custom of the Molnuches and Pampas, but the Serranos place the bones on a high frame-work of canes or twigs to bleach in the sun and rain. While the dissector is at work on the skeleton, the Indians walk incessantly round the tent, having their faces blackened with soot, dressed in long skin mantles, singing in a mournful voice, and striking the ground with their long spears, to drive away the evil spirits. Some go to condole with the widow and relations of the dead, if these are wealthy enough to reward them for their mourning with bells, beads, and other trinkets; as their customary condolence is not of a nature to be offered gratuitously, for they prick their arms and legs with thorns, and feel pain at least if not sorrow. The horses belonging to the deceased are slain, that he may ride upon them in the alhue-mapu, or country of the dead; but a few of these are reserved to carry his bones to the place of sepulchre, which is done in grand ceremony within a year after his death. They are then packed up in a hide, and laid on the favourite horse of the deceased, which is adorned with mantles, feathers, and other ornaments and trinkets. In this manner the cavalcade moves to the family burial-place, often three hundred leagues from the place of death, so wide and distant are their wanderings in the boundless plains to the south of the Rio Plata.

The Moluches and Pampas bury in large square pits about six feet deep, the bones being first accurately put into their proper places and tied together, clothed in the best robes of the deceased, and ornamented with beads and feathers, all of which are cleaned or changed once a-year. These skeletons are placed in a sitting posture in a row, with all the weapons and other valuables belong to each laid beside him. The pit is then covered over with beams or twigs, on which the earth is spread. An old matron of each tribe is appointed to the care of these sepulchres, who has to open them once a-year, to clean and new clothe the skeletons, for which service she is held in great estimation. The bodies of the slain horses are placed round the sepulchre, raised on their feet and supported by stakes. These sepulchres are generally at a small distance from the ordinary habitations of the tribe. Every year they pour upon them some bowls of their first made chica, or fermented liquor, and drink to the happiness of the dead. The Tehuelhets and other southern tribes carry their dead to a great distance from their ordinary dwellings, into the desert near the sea-coast, where they arrange them above ground surrounded by their horses. It is probable that only those Indians who carry their dead to considerable distances reduce them to skeletons, from the following circumstance. In the voyage of discovery made in 1746 in the St Antonio from Buenos Ayres to the Straits of Magellan, the Jesuits who accompanied the expedition found one of these tents or houses of the dead. On one side six banners of cloth of various colours, each about half a yard square, were set up on high poles fixed in the ground; and on the other side five dead horses stuffed with straw and supported, on stakes. Within the house, there were two ponchos extended, on which lay the bodies of two men and a woman, having the flesh and hair still remaining. On the top of the house was another poncho, rolled up and tied with a coloured woolen band, in which a pole was fixed, from which eight tassels of wool were suspended.

Widows are obliged to observe a long and rigorous mourning. During a whole year after the death of their husbands, they must keep themselves secluded in the tents, never going out except on the most necessary avocations, and having no communication with any one. In all this time, they must abstain from eating the flesh of horses, cows, ostriches, or guanacos, must never wash their faces which are constantly smeared with soot, and any breach of chastity during this year of mourning is punished with the death of both parties by the relations of the husband.

The office of ya, or chief, is hereditary, and all the sons of a ya may be chiefs likewise if they can procure followers; but the dignity is of so little consequence that nobody almost covets the office. To him belongs the office of protecting his followers, of composing differences, and of delivering up any offender who is to be capitally punished; in all which, cases his will is the sole law. These petty despots are prone to bribery, and will readily sacrifice their vassals and even their kindred for a good bribe. They are esteemed in proportion to their eloquence, and any chief who is not himself eloquent employs an orator to harangue the tribe in his place. When two or more tribes form an alliance against a common enemy, they elect an apo, or commander-in-chief, from the ablest or most celebrated of the yas, or hereditary chiefs. But this office, though nominally elective, has been long hereditary among the southern tribes in the family of Cangapol. The hereditary chiefs, named yas, elmens, or ulmens, have no power to take any thing from their vassals, neither can they oblige them to perform any work without payment. On the contrary they must treat them kindly and relieve their wants, or their vassals will put themselves under the protection of a more generous chief. Many of them therefore wave the privilege of their birth, and decline having any vassals, because they are expensive appendages, which yield little profit. But every-one must attach themselves to some chief, or they would undoubtedly be put to death or reduced to slavery.

Every man buys his wife from her relations, with or without her consent, and then takes possession of her as his property. But if the woman happens to have fixed her affections on another, she contrives to wear out the patience of her purchaser, who either turns her away or sells her to the man of her choice, but seldom uses her ill. Widows, and orphan girls are at their own disposal. The yas or ulmens have generally two or three wives; and even the common people may have as many as they please, but wives are dear and they are generally contented with one. The lives of the women are one continued series of labour. They fetch wood and water; dress the victuals; make, mend, and clean the tents; cure the skins; make them into mantles; spin and manufacture ponchos; pack up every thing for a journey, even the tent poles; load, unload, and arrange the baggage; straiten the girths of the horses; carry the lance before their husbands; and at the end of the journey set up the tents. Sickness or even the most advanced pregnancy give no relief from these labours, and it would be reckoned ignominious in the husbands to give them any assistance. The women of noble families may have slaves to relieve them of these labours; but when in want of these, must undergo the same fatigues as the rest. Yet the tribes of the southern extremity of America are not brutal to their women like those in the north, and the marriages only endure during pleasure, though those who have children seldom separate. The husband invariably protects his wife, even when in the wrong; and if detected in any criminal intercourse, all his anger falls upon the paramour, who is cruelly beaten, unless he can atone for the injury by payment. Their jugglers sometimes persuade them to send their wives into the woods, to prostitute themselves to the first person they meet, which is obviously a device for consoling themselves from the celibacy to which they are condemned. The husbands readily obey these directions; but there are women in whom native modesty overpowers superstition, who refuse obedience to their husbands on such occasions, and bid defiance to the wizard.

The dresses of all these tribes are formed of skins; but all except the serranos or mountaineers, weave mantles or ponchos of woollen yarn, beautifully died of various colours, which when wrapped round the body reach from the neck to the calf of the legs. A similar mantle is tied round the waist and reaches to the ankles. Besides these they have a three-cornered piece of dressed hide, of which two of the corners are tied round the waist, and the third, being passed between the legs is fastened behind. The hair is tied up from behind with the points upwards, by means of a woollen band bound many times round the head; but they are fond of wearing hats when they can get them from the Spaniards. They paint their faces red or black, and wear necklaces and bracelets of sky-blue beads. When on horseback they wear a particular kind of cloaks, having a slit in the middle through which they put their heads, and the skirts hang down to the knees or even sometimes to the feet. Their stockings or boots consist of the skin of a horses thigh and leg, flayed off whole, dried and softened with grease, and rendered supple by wringing. The women wear straw hats in shape like those used by the Chinese. Their defensive armour consists of a helmet of double bulls hide shaped like a broad-brimmed hat; a tunic or bodice of hardened skin three or four fold, which is very heavy, but effectually resists the arrow and spear, and is even said to be musquet proof. When on foot, they have likewise a large unwieldy shield of bulls hide. The Tehuelhets and Huilliches sometimes poison their arrows. Their spears are of cane, four or five yards long, and are pointed with iron; and they use swords when they can procure them from the Spaniards. They use the laqui both in war and hunting; but that used in war has a ball, or weight fastened to one or both ends of the leathern thong instead of a noose. The ball weighs about a pound. When used single, or with only one ball, it is aimed at the head of the enemy, to knock out his brains. With the double laqui, having a ball at each end, they can fasten a man to his horse, and effectually entangle both man and beast.

END OF THE HISTORY OF CHILI.

* * * * *



CHAPTER X.

DISCOVERY OF FLORIDA, AND ACCOUNT OF SEVERAL INEFFECTUAL ATTEMPTS TO CONQUER AND SETTLE THAT COUNTRY BY THE SPANIARDS.

INTRODUCTION.

In the preceding Chapters of this Second Book, we have given an extended account of the Discovery of AMERICA by COLUMBUS, and of the establishment of the principal Spanish Colonies in the New World, from authentic Original authors, a large portion of which never appeared before in any Collection of Voyages and Travels, and some important parts are now given for the first time in the English language. It is not the object of this work to attempt giving a regular series of the History of America, by inserting the establishments of all the European colonies which have been settled in that quarter of the world, which would occupy more room than can be conveniently allowed in our Collection, and for which we do not possess original documents of sufficient interest. In the present chapter it is only meant to give a relation of the Discovery of Florida by Juan Ponce de Leon in 1512; of the disastrous attempt of Panfilo de Narvaez to conquer that country in 1528; and of the romantic exploratory expedition of Ferdinand de Soto in the years 1539-1543: All of which is taken from the General History of America by Herrera, which may be considered as an original and almost contemporary authority.

Antonio de Herrera, who was historiographer to the king of Spain, appears to have composed his work only a short time after the middle of the sixteenth century, as he continues the series of events no farther than 1554; though he incidentally alludes to one transaction which happened in 1572. The authenticity of his work is unquestionable, as the author assures us that it was composed by royal command, from all the best and most authentic sources of information which the crown could furnish, both in print and manuscript; and that he had carefully consulted and followed the original papers preserved in the royal archives, and the books, registers, relations, and other papers of the supreme council of the Indies, together with all the best authors on the subject then extant. As a literary curiosity of its kind, we subjoin his list of what were then considered the best writers on the affairs of the New World—Those in Italics have been already inserted into this work.