Spaniards on their territory. Some of them, on a certain occasion,
having sent out men into the forest to gather _maté_, or Paraguay tea,
by some misfortune their hut caught fire, and eighteen of them perished
in the flames. The Indians beheld the conflagration at a distance;
finally, one of them, armed with arrows and a club, stole into the only
remaining Spanish hut, where a single man had taken refuge. “So,” said
the savage, with a stern aspect, “you have dared to enter these woods
which were never yours. Know you not this is our soil, left us by our
fathers? Are you not content with having usurped immense tracts and
innumerable woods, in spite of the opposition of our fathers? Should
any one of _us_ invade _your_ domains, would he return alive? No; and
we will imitate your example. If, then, you are wise, if life is
dear to you, haste away, and advise your countrymen carefully to shun
our woods, unless they would be the cause of their own death.” The
Spaniard, to save his life, offered knives, axes, garments, and other
trifles; pacified by these gifts, the savage returned to his comrades.
The former, deeming any further stay perilous, ran off, leaving many
thousand pounds of the _maté_ which had been gathered.
The Guaycuras or Albayas were very expert horsemen, and were in
the highest degree hostile to the Spaniards; they were brave, and
exceedingly skilful in the use of their arms. The Calchaquis,
also, were formerly famous for their military ferocity, and their
irreconcilable enmity to the Europeans. A branch of the Guaranies were
said to wander over the remote forests, on the banks of one of the
rivers of the interior, and leap from tree to tree like monkeys, in
search of honey and little birds. The Guaranies were noted for their
voracity. After fasting a few hours, it is said that one of them would
devour a young calf. These Indians were accustomed, before they lay
down to sleep, to place a piece of meat before the fire, that it might
be ready for them to eat immediately upon waking.
The havoc made by the Europeans among this tribe, as well as other
Indians, especially those near Brazil, is almost incredible. It
is supposed, that, in 130 years, 2,000,000 Indians were slain, or
carried into captivity; and it is stated, that, in five years, 300,000
Paraguayans were carried off to Brazil; and that more than 1,000
leagues of country, extending as far as the River Amazon, were stripped
of their inhabitants. In the years 1628-1630, 600,000 Indians were
sold as slaves at Rio Janeiro. Upwards of 400 Indian towns were utterly
destroyed, and such was the devastation, that King Joseph was obliged
to make a decree, on the 6th of July, 1755, forbidding further ravages.
This, however, is but a small part of the evils which the Spaniards and
Portuguese inflicted on those unhappy regions.
Among the equestrian tribes, the horse was the great dependence of the
Indians for various comforts. He supplied them with food, clothes,
lodging, bed, arms, medicine, and thread. Of the hides they made
their couch, clothing, boots, tents, saddles, and thongs which served
for bridle and weapons. The sinews they used for thread. They drank
melted horse-fat, washed their heads with the blood, and afterwards
with water, to strengthen them; and twisted the hair into ropes. They
were almost constantly on horseback, and their highest delight was to
display their peculiar ability to manage the most spirited animals.
The Abipones, especially, were an extraordinary people, and almost
realized in themselves the fabulous centaurs,--so completely did they
seem identified with the horses they bestrode. No account of them is
given in history before they settled in the province of Chaco in the
sixteenth century. In the year 1641, they possessed horses, and had
become formidable to the Spaniards, with whom they carried on long and
bloody wars. They first obtained horses, it is said, by stealing them
from Santa Fe, and in the space of fifty years they carried off 100,000
of these animals from the estates of the Spaniards. Sometimes not
less than 4,000 were taken in a single assault. They settled on the
territory formerly possessed by the Calchaquis, who had fallen victims
to the small-pox. Here they formed alliances with other equestrian
nations, especially the Mocobios and Tobos, savage tribes, formidable
on account of their numbers and bravery. The confederates harassed the
province of Asuncion for a long time, and also the colonies of St. Jago
del Estero and Cordoba. Various expeditions were planned against them
with various results; but still they continued their incursions for
plunder or revenge. Many battles and heroic actions are narrated by
Dobrizhoffer, who describes some of their caciques as men of uncommon
bravery, and as having manifested great ability in leading their people
to war.
The Abipones were divided into three classes, the Rickahes, who
inhabited extensive plains, the Nakaigetergehes, who were fond of the
lurking-places in the woods, and the Yaaucanigas, who were formerly a
distinct nation, and used a separate language. The Spaniards almost
destroyed them, and the few who survived fled to the Abipones, with
whom they became incorporated. The Abipones, as also the other
equestrian tribes of Chaco, boast themselves to be grandsons of the
evil spirit. Their language and that of the Tobos and Mocobios,
likewise equestrian Indians, is said to have a similarity that betrays
a common origin; the same appears to be the case with that of the
Guaranies and Chiriguanas, though 500 miles apart from each other.
Many fruitless efforts were for a long time made by the Jesuits to
reduce the Abipones to submission to the king of Spain, and to convert
them to the Catholic religion. But they prized their independence,
and their own wild way of living, too much to be willing to renounce
them for the benefits which were promised in agricultural pursuits. At
last, however, a colony was founded for the Mocobios, the allies of the
Abipones; finally, the latter were induced to follow their example, and
colonies were likewise established among them. The first of these was
founded for the Abipones Rickahes. All the tribes, however, did not
readily come into the project. A portion of them preferred to remain as
they were. This brought on long and bloody contests among them. Those
who remained wild in the woods often attacked the colonies, and carried
off their cattle and other plunder. The Jesuits were also exposed to
no little danger in some of these invasions. The Spaniards joined the
Abipones, and finally subdued the Charruas, a fierce equestrian nation,
whom they instructed and converted. The Jesuits carried on their labors
for a long time among the colonies, whither they had induced the
Abipones to remove, and many instances of strong attachment towards
them were exhibited by the caciques or chiefs, whom they had instructed
and baptized. Their efforts, however, were terminated by the breaking
out of a war between the Spaniards and the Guaranies, in which the
Abipones finally became engaged. The result of this was to disperse
them again from their settlements, and many of them relapsed from their
more civilized habits into those of savage life.
It is a remarkable fact in the history of the Abipones, that they
should have first learned the use of the horse from the Europeans,
and afterwards have become so dexterous in its management. They
still exist, it is said, in South America, but whether they are a
distinct people, and addicted as before to their wild forest-life, or
whether they have mingled with the nations which have sprung up from
the Spanish settlements, and bear a Christian name, we have no means
of determining. Some curious practices among them will be related
hereafter, in describing the manners, customs, and antiquities of the
Indian tribes of this part of South America.
A remarkable incident, respecting an Indian chief of a powerful tribe
near Buenos Ayres, is related to have occurred in the year 1745.
Orellana, as he is named in the account, with ten of his followers,
having been taken captive by the Spaniards, was placed on board a
Spanish ship of 66 guns and 500 men, and there treated with great
cruelty. Finding means to communicate his plan to his men, they watched
their time, and when a favorable opportunity occurred, they suddenly
rose, armed with thongs of leather loaded with double-headed shot,
prepared beforehand, and drove the Spaniards below. They then killed
forty of them, and kept possession of the ship for two hours, in spite
of all the efforts of the Spaniards to regain it; but Orellana being
at last wounded by a random shot through the cabin doors, and seeing
the Spaniards on the point of success, he, with his brave men, leaped
overboard, and they were all drowned.
Of the several Indian tribes that inhabit that large tract of territory
known by the name of Patagonia, and which terminates in the cold and
desolate regions of Terra del Fuego, we can give no history. They are
now, as when first discovered, mere savages, and have continued to
occupy the soil with little disturbance from Europeans. Their country
is too poor and repulsive to tempt the cupidity of civilized man, hence
it has remained in the possession of its original masters. As they have
no history worthy of remembrance, so they have no means of preserving
the memory of events; and thus, like the leaves of the forest, they
live, pass away, and then slumber in oblivion for ever. Their manners
and customs alone are worthy of record, and these will be given in
their proper place.
[Illustration]
FOOTNOTE:
[3] For an account of the operations of the missionaries in Paraguay,
see “Lights and Shadows of American History.”
INDIANS OF BRAZIL.
Brazil was discovered in 1500. The first Spaniard who ventured to cross
the equator was Vincent Pinzon. He landed at a point on the coast of
Brazil, about twenty miles south of Pernambuco. A fleet was soon after
sent out from Portugal, in which sailed that fortunate adventurer,
Americus Vespucius, who has given his name to the New World.
The Indians of Brazil were real savages, perfidious, cruel, and
cannibals, and appear to have had scarcely a single noble or generous
trait in their characters. The dreadful depravity of these tribes seems
to have infused the spirit of furies into the hearts of the females;
and when the women of a people are rendered ferocious, there is
little, if any, chance, that the nation will ever, by its own efforts,
become civilized. The following account of the first interview between
the Portuguese and the Brazilian Indians is sufficient to show the
character of the latter.
When the ships arrived on the coast, in Lat. 5° S., a party of natives
was discovered on a hill near the seaside. Two sailors volunteered to
go ashore, and several days passed without their return. At length the
Portuguese landed, sent a young man to meet the savages, and returned
to their boats. Some _women_ came forward to meet him, apparently as
negotiators. They surrounded him, and seemed to be examining him with
curiosity and wonder. Presently another woman came down from the hill,
having a stake in her hand, with which she got behind him, and dealt
him a blow that brought him to the ground. Immediately the others
seized him by the feet, and dragged him away, and then the Indian men,
rushing to the shore, discharged their arrows at the boats.
The sailors finally escaped, but they had to witness the horrid
spectacle of their poor comrade destroyed by the ruthless savages.
The women cut the body in pieces, and held up the mutilated limbs
in mockery; then, broiling them over a huge fire, which had been
prepared, as it seemed, for that purpose, they devoured them, with loud
rejoicings, in presence of the Portuguese. The Indians also made signs
that they had eaten the other two sailors!
It will be neither pleasant nor useful to give any more minute accounts
of the practice of cannibalism. It is sufficient to say, that the
tribes inhabiting the eastern part of South America appear to have been
sunk in the grossest ignorance and most deplorable state of vice and
misery to which human beings can be reduced. They were more like tigers
and serpents than men; for they used poisoned arrows, deadly as the
“serpent’s tooth,” in battle; and they tore and devoured their enemies
with the voracity of beasts of prey.
The Europeans, who first settled in Brazil, had to gain all their
possessions by the sword; and few would go voluntarily to such a place;
the Portuguese settlers being mostly convicts, banished for their
crimes. As might be expected, this class of men, rendered desperate by
their situation, and often hardened in crime, were not very merciful to
the natives, who, in turn, showed them no mercy. The bloody conflicts
and the atrocities on both sides were awful; yet we can hardly feel the
same sympathy for the cannibal Indian as for the gentle Peruvian, when
his country is laid waste by the invader.
It was about fifty years from the time of the first landing of the
Portuguese, before a regular administration was established and a
governor appointed by the king of Portugal. The Jesuits then settled in
Brazil, and began their labor of Christianizing the savages. Several
tribes had entered into alliance with the colonists, and these Indians
were forbidden, by the governor, to eat human flesh. To conquer this
propensity was the great aim of the Jesuits; but finding that they
could not reclaim those who had grown old in this vice, they set
themselves to instructing the children.
One gentle propensity these Brazilian savages showed, which seems
hardly compatible with their cruel and vindictive characters,--they
were passionately fond of music,--so fond, that one Jesuit thought
he could succeed in Christianizing them by means of songs. He taught
the children to sing; and when he went on his preaching excursions,
he usually took a number of these little choristers with him, and on
approaching an inhabited place, one child carried the crucifix before
them, and the others followed, singing the litany. The savages, like
serpents, were won by the voice of the charmer, and received the Jesuit
joyfully. He set the catechism, creed, and ordinary prayers, to _sol
fa_; and the pleasure of learning to sing was such a temptation, that
the children frequently ran away from their parents to put themselves
under the care of the Jesuits.
These priests labored with devoted zeal to convert the natives. Their
exertions were productive of great effect; a change has been gradually
wrought, and the cannibal propensities, among those tribes that still
remain independent, are no longer indulged.
Many missions, as they are called, that is, villages, where a priest
resides and instructs the Indians in agriculture and the most
essential arts of civilized life, as well as in their Catholic duties,
were established by the Jesuits, and are still continued. One very
unfortunate circumstance has done much to alienate the independent
tribes from their white neighbours. It was thought best to make slaves
of the savages, in order to civilize them. Walsh thus describes the
decree and its effect.
“The Indians were, as late as 1798, the occupants of the woods,
and were generally found resident on the banks of the rivers and
streams which intersected the country. An elderly gentleman, who was
secretary to the undertaking, informed me that it was necessary for
the commissioners and workmen to go constantly armed, to be protected
against their hostility. The Puvis lay on the River Parahiba, and
others on the streams which fall into it.
“By a mistaken humanity, however, permission was afterwards given to
the Brazilians to convert their neighbours to Christianity; and for
this laudable object, they were allowed to retain them in a state of
bondage for ten years, and then dismiss them free, when instructed
in the arts of civilized life, and the more important knowledge of
Christianity. This permission, as was to be expected, produced the very
opposite effects.
“A decree for the purpose was issued so late as the year 1808, by Don
John, and it was one of the measures which he thought best to reclaim
the aborigines, who had just before committed some ravages. He directed
that the Indians, who were conquered, should be distributed among the
agriculturists, who should support, clothe, civilize, and instruct
them in the principles of our holy religion, but should be allowed to
use the services of the same Indians for a certain number of years, in
compensation for the expense of their instruction and management.
“This unfortunate permission at once destroyed all intercourse between
the natives and the Brazilians. The Indians were everywhere hunted down
for the sake of their salvation; wars were excited among the tribes,
for the laudable purpose of bringing in each other as captives, to be
converted to Christianity; and the most sacred objects were prostituted
to the base cupidity of man, by even this humane and limited permission
of reducing his fellow-creatures to slavery.
“In the distant provinces, particularly on the banks of the Maranhāo,
it is still practised, and white men set out for the woods to seek
their fortunes; that is, to hunt Indians and return with slaves. The
consequence was, that all who could escape retired to the remotest
forests; and there is not one to be now found in a state of nature in
all the wooded region.
“It frequently happened, as we passed along, that dark wreaths of what
appeared like smoke arose from among distant trees on the sides of
the mountains, and they seemed to us to be decisive marks of Indian
wigwams; but we found them to be nothing more than misty exhalations,
which shot up in thin, circumscribed columns, exactly resembling smoke
issuing from the aperture of a chimney.
“We met, however, one, in the woods, with a copper-colored face,
high cheek-bones, small dark eyes approaching each other, a vacant,
stupid cast of countenance, and long, lank, black hair hanging on his
shoulders. He had on him some approximation to a Portuguese dress,
and belonged to one of the _aldêas_ formed in this region; but he had
probably once wandered about these woods in a state of nature, where he
was now going peaceably along on a European road.
“We had passed, in going through Valença, one of these aldêas of the
Indians of the valley of Parahiba, Christianized and instructed in the
arts of civilized life. Another, called the Aldêa da Pedra, is situated
on the river, nearer to its mouth, where the people still retain their
erratic habits, though apparently conforming to our usages.
“They live in huts, thatched with palm-leaves; and when not engaged
in hunting and fishing, which is their chief and favorite employment,
they gather ipecacuanha, and fell timber. They are docile and pacific,
having no cruel propensities, but are disposed to be hospitable to
strangers. Their family attachments are not very strong, either for
their wives or children, as they readily dispose of both to a traveller
for a small compensation.”
One of the most ferocious tribes of Brazil was the Botocudos, thought
to be the remains of a powerful and most cruel race, which the early
settlers called Aymores. This tribe disfigured themselves by making
a large hole in the under-lip, and wearing therein a piece of white
wood, or some ornament. They also cut large holes in their ears, and
stuck feathers in the aperture for ornaments. They used to go entirely
naked, and, brown as the beasts of the forest, were frightful objects
to behold.
“The Brazilian government,” says Mr. Walsh, “deserves credit for the
manner in which it has managed these Indians. They lived on the Rio
Doce, and laid waste every settlement attempted in that beautiful and
fertile region. In 1809, a party of Europeans were sent up the river,
and they found one hundred and fifty farms in ruins, whose proprietors
had either perished or fled. Detachments were accordingly ordered in
all directions, to restrain the inroads of the savages, and to punish
their aggressions; and every encouragement was held out, to establish
new settlements and civilize them.
“Every village consisting of twelve huts of Indians and ten of
whites was to be considered a villa, with all its benefits and
privileges; and _sesmarios_, or grants of land, were made to such as
would become cultivators, giving all the privileges and advantages
of original _donotorios_. New roads were then opened to form a more
easy communication, and considerable effect was produced on these
intractable natives. The Puvis, a neighbouring tribe, to the number of
one thousand, were located in villages, called aldêas; and the arts
and industry of civilized life made more progress among them, in a few
years from this period, than they had before done in so many centuries.”
[Illustration]
THE INDIANS OF FLORIDA.
The peninsula of Florida was discovered and named by a Spanish
adventurer, called Ponce de Leon, who, on his second voyage, was
mortally wounded in a conflict with the natives. A few years after
this, a small vessel was driven on the coast by severe weather, and
a traffic commenced with the natives for silver and gold. Other
adventurers began to turn their attention to this supposed land of
wealth, and Lucas Vasquez de Ayllon fitted out two vessels to cruise
among the islands, and kidnap the Indians for laborers in the mines.
The ships were driven to the shore, near a cape, which was named
St. Helena. When the natives of the country, which bore the name
of Chicorea, first saw the vessels, they fancied them to be huge
sea-monsters; but when they saw white, bearded men, clad in armor,
come forth from them, they were so terrified that they ran away. Their
fears, however, were soon dispelled, and a trade was begun, in which
they received trinkets in exchange for pearls, skins, gold, and silver.
When, at length, the Spaniards were ready for sailing, the Indians
were invited on board of the ships; and while many of them crowded
the vessels, gazing in wonder at all they saw, the adventurers
treacherously closed the hatches on those who were below, and set sail
for St. Domingo. The natives, thus entrapped, remained sullen and
gloomy, and refused to partake of food, so that most of them perished
on their voyage.
Ayllon now determined to make an expedition to Florida in person, and
fitted out three large vessels, taking with him a former adventurer
as a guide. The latter, however, was unable to find the place sought
for, and they finally landed near Chicorea, where they were so well
received that the chief allowed two hundred of the men to visit his
principal village, three leagues in the interior. The natives feasted
them for three days, and having thus thrown them off their guard, rose
upon them by night, and massacred the whole. After this, they repaired,
early in the morning, to the harbour, where they surprised Ayllon and
his guards. The few who survived speedily got on board the vessel, and
hastened back to St. Domingo.
In 1628, Panfilo Narvaez reached the coast of Florida with a squadron
of four barks and a brigantine. He landed four hundred men and fifty
horses, and took possession of the country in the name of the king of
Spain, unopposed by the natives. On penetrating into the interior, in
search of gold, he and his men found the principal village deserted;
and not only were they disappointed of finding the chief object of
their wishes, but the warlike natives harassed them on their march
through swamps filled with decayed trees, where they had often to
wade in the water up to their breasts. The Indians seemed of giant
height; they had enormous bows, and discharged their arrows with
such prodigious force as to penetrate steel armor at the distance of
two hundred yards. After a most disastrous march, the greater part of
the Spaniards finally reached the shore, and embarked, but they were
lost at sea. Five of the party, who had set out in another direction,
crossed Northern Florida, the Mississippi, the desert and mountains
beyond, and, after some years, succeeded in reaching the Spanish
settlements in Mexico.
But the most important exploration of Florida, and the territory north
and west, was made at an early period by Hernando de Soto and his band.
He left Cuba on the 12th of May, 1539, with a squadron of eight large
vessels, a caravel, and two brigantines; his armament, besides the
ships’ crews, consisting of not less than one thousand men and three
hundred and fifty horses. On the thirteenth day, he arrived in the bay
which he called Espiritu Santo. The natives, alarmed at the sight of
such an invading force, immediately kindled fires all along the coast,
to summon their warriors. The troops, on landing, the last day of the
month, did not encounter a single Indian, and they remained all night
on shore in a state of careless security.