CHAPTER XIV.

_South America continued.--Recapitulations.--Indians of the Pampas.--Manner of living.--Employment, war.-- Weapons.-- Manner of fighting.--What effect the use of fire-arms would produce.--Reflections.--Abipones.--Manners.--Occupation, and exercises.--Employments of the females.--Polygamy, and its effects.--Missionaries.--Intemperance of the Indians.--Number of Indians in South America.--Reflections._

I have, in the preceding chapters, given a sketch of the history, manners, &c., of the chief Indian nations in South America, which have been subjected to European power. The influence of the invaders has operated on all the tribes, even on those who still retain their wild liberty and savage customs; but in the interior of that vast country, and amid its rocky fastnesses the red man is yet uncontrolled, and seems uncontrollable.

The most marked and extraordinary difference of character and customs among these wild tribes is exhibited by the Indians of the Pampas, or great plain east of the Cordillera, and the tribe of Abipones, residing in Paraguay. These Indians always appear on horseback, and their habits being influenced by this Cossack mode of life, are worth a separate description.

The Pampas[5] Indians are a handsome race, but wild and fierce as mountain eagles. They may be said to pass their lives on horseback. They wear no clothing, not even a covering on the head, either in the freezing winter or hot summer.

They live together in tribes, each of which is governed by a cacique, but they have no fixed place of residence. Where the pasture is good, there they are to be found, until it is consumed by their horses, and then they instantly remove to a verdant spot. They have neither bread, fruit, nor vegetables, but they subsist entirely on the flesh of their mares, which they never ride; and the only luxury in which they indulge, is that of washing their hair in mare’s blood.

Their whole occupation is war; this they consider the natural and most noble employment of men; and they declare that the proudest attitude of the human figure is when, bending over his horse, a man is riding at his enemy.

Their principal weapon is the spear. It is about eighteen feet long, and they use it with great dexterity. When they assemble, either to attack their enemies or to invade the country of the Christians, they collect large troops of horses and mares, and then, uttering the wild shriek of war, they start at a gallop. As soon as the horses they ride are tired, they vault upon the bare backs of fresh ones, keeping the best until they see their enemies. The whole country affords pasture for their horses, and they kill the mares for their own provisions. The ground is their bed, and to that only have they been accustomed, so that they find no inconvenience in their long marches of thousands of miles. These Indians, with their red lances, at present are but little heeded; but, to quote Captain Head, “as soon as fire-arms shall be put into the hands of these brave, naked men, they will be elevated in the political scale as suddenly as though they had fallen from the moon.” It may not suit the politics of the whites to calculate upon such an event as the union of the Araucanian and the Pampas Indians--but who can venture to say that the hour may not be decreed, when these men, mounted upon the descendants of the very horses which were brought over the Atlantic to oppress their forefathers, shall rush with irresistible fury on their invaders, till the descendants of the Europeans are, in their turn, trampled under foot, and in agony and torture, in vain are asking mercy from the savage Indians?

It was the rude, wild and despised tribes of the old world, that, rushing from their mountains and forests, broke in pieces the mighty fabric of Roman power, and overturned and destroyed all their systems of civilized policy, and the refinements of luxurious taste.

It is only by the introduction of true Christianity, that any permanent improvement in the character of these Indians can be hoped; and the Araucanians are the nation which, if rightly instructed in the truths of the Bible, seem most likely to become the missionaries and teachers of the red race.

The Abipones,[6] resident in Paraguay, are also a nation of horsemen, but in many habits, are more like the Araucanians than the Pampas Indians. They wear clothing, and are very industrious in manufacturing cloth, and utensils of various kinds.

They are a very healthy race, and long-lived. They are temperate in eating, and the women never drink intoxicating liquors of any kind. They are also very modest in their behavior: the girls spend all their time with their mothers in domestic employments, and the young men, engrossed with the exercise of arms and horses, never attempt any acts of gallantry, though they are cheerful and fond of conversation.

Riding, hunting, and swimming are their daily employments. They climb trees to gather honey, make spears, bows and arrows, weave ropes of leather, dress saddles, practise everything, in short, fatiguing to the hands or feet. In the intermission of these employments, they race their horses for a sword, which is given to him who reaches the goal first.

The women, debarred from the sports and equestrian contests of the men, are occupied day and night with the management of domestic affairs. They are however very active on horseback. They must needs be, as all their journeyings are made in this manner. They carry all their household utensils, goods and chattels packed on the horses they ride, and frequently stow their little children in bags of skins, among the pots and pans; and there they ride very easily.

The Abipones, like most of the American savages, practised polygamy. But here, and also among the Araucanians, it is chiefly confined to the richest men among the tribe, the others not being able to support more than one wife. But the Abipones were guilty of another horrid crime, which was never practised in Araucania,--the mothers frequently destroyed their new-born infants. This awful sin was in consequence of polygamy being allowed: the mother was fearful that, if she devoted herself to taking care of her infant, her husband would marry another wife in the meantime. Here we see how wickedness increases itself, and thus causes sin to abound more and more.

Since the instruction of the missionaries, however, there has been a great change in the conduct of the Abipones. They have been taught that there was a divine law against this cruelty, though their nation did not punish it, and they now seldom put their infants to death. And it was wonderful to see the change wrought in the course of a few years, after polygamy, divorce, and infanticide had been, by Christian discipline, abolished. The nation seemed filled with happy little children; for religion makes earth, as well as heaven, a place where innocence may live in peace. But there is still a great reformation needed in this tribe. The men are intemperate; even those who profess to be Christians, and have been baptized, will join in their drunken frolics. True, neither the women nor the youth drink any intoxicating draught and the missionary,[7] from whose works we select, says, that if they did, the whole Abipone nation would soon come to destruction.

Their chief liquor is a kind of mead, made from honey and the _alforba_, a berry which abounds in the woods during four months of the year, from December to April. During these months a married man of the nation used seldom to be sober; but there is a change for the better. Yet, the missionary says that it is easier to eradicate any other vice from the minds of the Indians, than this of intemperance. They will sooner live content with one wife, abstain from slaughter and rapine, give up their ancient superstitions, or employ themselves in agriculture and other labors, notwithstanding their indolence. But it must be done; and if white Christians, or those who bear the name, would all practise temperance, as well as teach it, the red men might be made temperate.

There are, according to Humboldt, nearly six millions of Indians in South America. We think there is reason to believe that they have, on the whole, decreased in that country since its discovery by Europeans. In the south they have mingled with the European settlers, which in North America has never been found practicable. The religious orders have also founded missions, which, though doubtless encroaching on the liberties of the natives, have generally been favorable to the increase of population. As the preachers advance into the interior, the planters invade their territory; the whites and the castes of mixed breed, settle among the Indians; the missions become Spanish villages, and finally the old inhabitants lose their original manners and language. In this way, civilization advances from the coasts towards the centre of the continent.[8]

Such was the aspect of affairs while these provinces were under the Spanish government; since they became independent, the Indians, in most of the states, are allowed the full benefit of the free institutions established. As education becomes more diffused, and religion, divested of its superstitions, becomes more pure and peaceful; we may confidently hope, that the red man will partake of the blessings of civilization and Christianity, and, in South America at least, enjoy those moral and intellectual advantages which shall elevate him to an equality with his white brethren.

[5] See Head’s Journey over the Pampas and the Andes.

[6] See a history of this people, by Martin Dobrizhoffer,-- eighteen years a missionary in the country.

[7] Martin Dobrizhoffer.

[8] Humboldt.

ABSENCE OF MIND.--Sir Isaac Newton, one evening in winter, feeling it extremely cold, drew his chair very close to the grate, in which a fire had been recently kindled. By degrees, the fire being completely kindled, Sir Isaac felt the heat intolerably intense, and rung his bell with unusual violence. John was not at hand; he at last made his appearance, by the time Sir Isaac was almost literally roasted. “Remove the grate, you lazy rascal!” exclaimed Sir Isaac, in a tone of irritation very uncommon with that amiable and placid philosopher, “remove the grate, before I am burned to death.” “Please your honor, might you not rather _draw back your chair_?” said John, a little waggishly. “Upon my word,” said Sir Isaac, smiling, “I never thought of that.”

The Wisdom of God.

The wisdom of the Creator is shown by the relation which the structure of animals bears to their mode of life.

The instances of this kind are numerous. There is a curious resemblance between the stomach of a hen and a corn-mill; the crop answering to the hopper, and the gizzard to the stones which crush the corn. But the most interesting point of resemblance is this: to prevent too much corn from going into the stones at once, a receiver is placed between them and the hopper, so that it may be dribbled out just as fast as is required. The same process takes place in the hen, for though the crop may be filled, its food only enters the gizzard gradually, and as fast as that is able to digest it.

Another instance of obvious fitness and adaptation of one part to another, is furnished in birds of prey. Owls, hawks, eagles, &c., by their talons and beaks, are qualified to seize and devour other birds and quadrupeds; and accordingly the gastric juice in the stomach of these birds will act upon or digest flesh, but it will not digest seeds or grasses, or vegetables of any kind. On the other hand, the mouth of the ox and sheep is suited to the cropping of herbage; and accordingly we find the gastric juices of their stomachs will digest vegetable food, and not flesh!

There is another instance of fitness in a provision of nature, which marks the intelligence of the Creator, and that is, that the eyes of all animals are placed in front, in the direction in which the legs move, and the hands work; and therefore where they are most useful. How awkward would it be for us if our eyes were in the back of the head! How comparatively useless would the eyes of quadrupeds be, if placed behind!

Nature is full of such instances as these, all setting forth the intelligence and wisdom of the Creator; and not only displaying the marks of a designing and intelligent Mind, but intelligence in contriving and power in executing, which know no bounds. No obstacle seems to be presented that is not surmounted, and no contrivance to accomplish an object seems to be adopted, that is not, all things considered, the best that could be devised.

Another fertile and interesting source of evidence of the wisdom of God is found in the contrivances resorted to by the Creator to compensate his creatures for certain defects in their organization. Thus the short neck of the elephant is compensated by the admirable device of a proboscis, one of the most complicated and ingenious, but successful expedients of nature.

The bat has a clumsy foot and leg, but to compensate for this, he is supplied with a hook on his wing, by which he suspends himself to a beam, or to the sides of rocks, and in this way he usually obtains his sleep. The crane, the heron, the bittern are destined to live upon fish, yet they cannot swim. To make up for this deficiency they are provided with long legs for wading, or long bills for groping, and sometimes with both.

The common parrot would have an inconvenience in the very hooked shape of its upper jaw, or mandible, if like that of other birds it was stationary, for in this case it could hardly open its mouth to take its food. But this hook being wanted by the parrot to climb and suspend itself with, to remedy the evil above mentioned, this upper mandible is capable of being elevated or depressed at pleasure.

There is a grub called the glowworm, that gives out a phosphoric light in the darkness. Why is this? That her mate may find her; for while she is a worm he is a fly; while she is on the earth he is in the air. They would not be likely to meet therefore, if some extraordinary means of uniting them was not resorted to; but this, Nature has foreseen and provided for.

The spider’s web is a compensating contrivance, of a very ingenious character. This creature is made to feed on flies; yet how was it to catch them, for it had no wings? This might seem to be a case of difficulty, but the web is a net, and the spider is not only taught how to weave it, but his body furnishes the thread! How ingenious, how wonderful, how multiplied, are the resources of the God of Nature!

In many species of insects, the eye is fixed, and cannot be turned in its socket. To supply this great defect, the eye is a multiplying glass, with a lens looking in every direction, and showing every object that may be near. Thus, what seemed at first a privation, by this curious and interesting expedient is made to be an advantage, as an eye thus constructed, seems better adapted to the wants of these creatures than any other. The common fly is said to have four thousand lenses in each eye, and the butterfly thirty thousand!

The neck of the chameleon is stiff, and cannot be turned; how then is he to look about himself? It would puzzle most of us to contrive a remedy for this difficulty; but Nature seems never at a loss. The eye-ball stands out so far that more than half of it projects from the head; and the muscles operate so curiously that the pupil can be turned in any direction. Thus the chameleon, who cannot bend his neck, can do with facility what is difficult for most other animals--he can look backwards even without turning his body!

The Canary Bird.

A small girl, named Caroline, had a most lovely canary bird. The little creature sung from morning till night, and was very beautiful. Its color was yellow, with a black head. And Caroline gave him seed and cabbage to eat, and occasionally a small piece of sugar, and every day fresh, clean water to drink.

But suddenly the bird began to be mournful, and one morning, when Caroline brought him his water, he lay dead in the cage.

And she raised a loud lamentation over the favorite animal, and wept bitterly. But the mother of the girl went and purchased another, which was more beautiful than the first in color, and just as lovely in its song, and put it in the cage.

But the child wept louder than ever when she saw the new bird.

And the mother was greatly astonished, and said, “My dear child, why are you still weeping and sorrowful? Your tears will not call the dead bird into life; and here you have one which is not inferior to the other!”

Then the child said, “O, dear mother, I treated my bird unkindly, and did not do all for it that I could and should have done.”

“Dear Lina, you have always taken care of it diligently!”

“O, no,” replied the child, “a short time before its death, the bird being very sick, you gave me a piece of sugar as medicine for it; but I did not give to him the piece of sugar, but ate it myself.” Thus spake the girl, with a sorrowful heart.

The mother did not smile at this complaint, for she understood and revered the holy voice of conscience in the heart of the child.

[Illustration]

The Paper Nautilus.

This little animal is to be found, chiefly, in the Mediterranean sea. Its shell is very thin and brittle, from which circumstance it is called the paper nautilus. It is mentioned by Pliny and some other ancient writers, and it is supposed that the art of navigation owed its origin to the expert management of this little sailor. Eight arms it raises for sails, while six hang over the side of the shell, and are used for oars. While sailing upon the water this animal has the appearance of a little vessel. On the approach of danger, which it is quick to perceive, the little mariner absorbs a quantity of water, and sinks into the depths of the sea. It is seldom taken when sailing.

There is another species of nautilus, which has a thick shell, in which there are several chambers.

Merry’s Adventures.