expert horfemen, and were they as fkilful in the ufe of fire-arms as they;
u— «--- ' are in the management of the fword and the lance, they would not be
inferior to any troops of this defcription in Europe. I was given to
underftand, that in. cafe of an attack upon Valparaifo, the principal fea-
port of the kingdom, an army of eight thoufand men, confining of cavalry
and militia, could there be affembled for its defence in twenty-four
hours-.
The country, to the fouthward of the river Biobio, in the province
of Conception, is inhabited by a nation of very fierce Indians, who for-,
merly committed great depredations on the frontiers under the Spanilh
authority, and lived in a continual ftate of hoftility with their civilized
neighbours; but, in confequence of the humane,- judicious, and political
arrangements which have been made, from time to time,, fiy Don Am-
brofio Higgins, the number o f the turbulent fpirits has been much.re-y
duced, and the natives now ceafe to be regarded with any apprehenfion
by the Spaniards. In the diftri£t which they occupy, I was given, to underftand,
there were ten thoufand warriors, a robuft and hardy race of
men; but fo far had the wife adminiftration of the prefent Captain-
General fucceeded, in fubduing the natural ferocity of thefe Indians, and
in bringing them over to fupport the authority and interefts of the
crown o f Spain ; that Don Ambrofio did not entertain the leaft doubt
of their co-operatirvg with the forces o f His Catholic Majefty, fhould
it be neceflary to call them forth again!! the i-nvafton of a foreign,
enemy.
Independently of the warfare which thefe people had, for many years,
carried on again!! the Spaniards, they were fubjeft to continual infur-
refiions and internal commotions among!! themfelyes. During the time
that Don Ambrofio had the chief military command on this frontier,
he happily fucceeded in terminating the feuds which had fo long prevailed
among!! the feveral tribes compofing this great nation, and had introduced
among!! the ferocious inhabitants of this country, a fpirit of
induftry, and a defire to excel each other in the cultivation of the.
ground, the breeding of cattle, and other peaceful arts ; but upon his being
promoted to the elevated fituation which he now fills, with fo much
honor
honor to himfelf, and benefit to the country, he was under the necelfity 1795-
of leaving the guardianftiip of thefe children of nature, and of repairing . 1 ? - ' .
to the capital. Soon after his departure from the frontiers, frelft animo-
fities, and new 'caufes for jealoufy, arofe among!! the different tribes,
which ended in a war, that was furioufly carried on by all parties. Their
peaceful and domeftic occupations no longer engaged their attention,
and their agriculture and breeding of cattle, which had become the fources
from whence they were enabled to derive many comforts, were abandoned
and totally neglected. Don Ambrofio, with the fame warmth of
heart and intereft for the happinefs and profperity of the Indians, which,
during his refidence among!! them, had produced fo valuable an effecl
on their tempers and difpofitions, represented to the Court of Madrid
the commotions that continued to exift among!! the Auraucan and other
tribes on that frontier; and, at the fame time, propofed fuch meafures'
as, in his opinion, were moll likely , to reconcile the differences, and to
eftablilh a permanently good underftanding between the contending chiefs
o f the four Butalmapus, which are the four diftrifls into which this nation
of Indians is divided.
In confequence of this reprefentation, and the meafures recommended
by the Captain-General, he was direfted by the Spanilh court
to repair to the camp of Negrete, and there to hold a convocation,'
for the purpofe o f hearing and redrefling thofe grievances which were
ftated by the feveral chiefs to be the caufes of all their difcontents
and, as the preliminary fpeech of the Prefident, on this occafion, tends
greatly to exhibit the natural charafter and general difpofition of thefe
people, I have been tempted to infert a tranllation of it from the Indian
language; under the impreflion that, to thofe of my readers who may
be. curious in tracing the gradations of the human character, from a £a-
yage up to a civilized ftate, it may not be unacceptable.
The.-