_Acalianes_.
_Cacas_ or _Cacanas_.
_Calchaquis_.
_Catamarcas_.
_Diagitas_ or _Drachitas_.
_Quilmes_.
_Tamanos_.
The learned Barcena also prepared a grammar of the Natixana or Mogana
language, spoken by the _Naticas_, whom we find mentioned by later
authorities as neighbors of the Calchaquis in the government of Santa
Fé.[526] They apparently belonged among the Chaco tribes. Barcena adds
that nine different tongues were spoken in the district of Cordova, among
which were the Sanavirona and Indama, which had not been learned by the
missionaries.[527]
_2. The Pampeans and Araucanians._
South of the Gran Chaco, say from south latitude 35°, begins the true
Pampas formation. This, according to the geologist Burmeister, is not a
marine deposit, but the result of fluvial overflows and dust storms. It
is diluvial and quaternary, and overlies the Patagonian formation, which
is marine and early Pleistocene. The pampas are in parts wide grassy
plains, like the prairies of the upper Mississippi valley; in parts they
are salt deserts, in parts more or less wooded. With little variety, this
scenery reaches from the Chaco to the Rio Negro, S. lat. 40°. Nearly the
whole of this territory was occupied by one linguistic stock. It is the
same which is found in Chili, where its most prominent members are the
Araucanians.
Which was the course of migration, whether from the Pacific coast to
the Pampean plains or the reverse, is not positively decided, but I am
inclined to believe it was the latter. The ancestors of the Araucanians
would not willingly have crossed the barren wastes of the desert of
Atacama; there are evidences of a different people inhabiting Chili
before they possessed it, and we have traces that they had not obtained
full possession of that country at its discovery. This view does not
deny subsequent migrations of the Araucanians into the Pampas under the
pressure of the Spanish invasion.[528] In such moving they were simply
returning to the traditional homes of their ancestors. As the name of
the whole stock, I adopt the word Aucanian, from the Araucanian verb
_aucani_, to be wild, indomitable, from which are derived the tribal
names Aucanos and Aucas, occurring on both sides of the Andes.[529]
The Pampeans are principally nomadic hordes wandering from pasture
to pasture with their horses, cattle and sheep. Their transitory
encampments, called _tolderias_, are pitched by the side of some pond
or stream. There their low tents made of dried horse skins are grouped
confusedly, one to each family. Their food is chiefly horse flesh
and mutton, often eaten raw. They raise no vegetables, and dislike
agriculture. They carry on, however, many small industries, tan and dye
leather, which they work up into boots and horse furniture, and forge
with skill iron heads for their long lances, and knives for the chase,
while the women trim the ostrich skins into rugs, and weave wool into
blankets and ponchos, highly prized for their serviceable qualities.[530]
These products are bought up by the merchants in the cities, and thus the
tribe is supplied with what it most prizes from European markets.
These roving hordes have no particular names. They are referred to as the
northern, eastern or western peoples by the Aucanian terms having these
significations, Puelches, Moluches, Huiliches. Besides these, there are
the Ranqueles on the Rio Quinto, directly west of Buenos Ayres, who are
said to have immigrated from Chili,[531] and the Querandies, now probably
extinct, who once dwelt near that city.
Those living on the eastern slopes of the Andes, about the city of
Mendoza, and in the ancient province of Cuyo, are described as taller
and stronger than the Araucanians of Chili, and as claiming descent from
the Pampean tribes.[532] They were locally known as Guarpes, and spoke
dialects called the Allentiac and the Milcocayac, not distant from the
Pampean proper, concerning which some grammatical description has been
preserved.[533]
Few of the Pampean tribes have been induced to accept civilization or
Christianity. They still believe in their good spirit, _Chachoa_, and
in one of evil or misfortune, _Gualicho_; they continue to obey their
priests or medicine men; and the resting places of the dead are regarded
with superstitious awe. Marriage among them, while it has the appearance
of violence, is really carried out with the consent of the girl and her
parents, for a sum agreed upon.
The Molu-Che or Manzaneros are said to be the best of the Pampeans.
They are sedentary and have extensive orchards of apples and flocks of
sheep to the north of the Rio Limay. They have well-cut features, fresh
light complexion, black fine hair, and their women are considered really
handsome.[534]
The Araucanians of Chili, known as singularly bold warriors who defied
successfully the Incas, and gave the Spaniards the greatest trouble,
occupy the Pacific coast from south latitude 25° to about 43°, and
number about 20,000. In physical appearance they resemble the Pampeans,
and present marked differences from both the Kechuas of Peru and the
Tapuyas of Brazil, having high, brachycephalic skulls,[535] and a clear
copper color of skin. They are of moderate stature, but muscular, with
black hair, round faces, small eyes, and small feet and hands. They
are divided locally into northern and southern tribes, but there is
little difference in dialects. Their tongue, the _Chilidungu_, has
been extravagantly lauded by some who have studied it, and one worthy
missionary was so enamored with it that he published a grammar and
dictionary of it in Europe, that it might be introduced as the learned
language there, to supersede the Latin:[536] it certainly is harmonious
and flexible.
The Araucanians did not at any time rise in culture above the level of
the Iroquois and Algonquins in the northern continent. It is true that in
the tombs in their country we discover fine specimens of pottery, some
good work in bronze, gold, copper and silver, and beautiful specimens of
polished stone implements.[537] But if one examines closely the art-forms
of these relics, he can not fail to recognize in them the potent
inspiration of the Inca civilization; and we may be sure that if they
were not directly booty from that nation, they were the products of its
trained workmen, and are not to be put to the credit of Aucanian industry.