the nortliern boundary of the great valley, in which the Rio
Negro flows. On the way we passed the ruins of some fine
“ estancias,” which a few years since were destroyed by the
Indians. They withstood several attacks. A man present
at one gave me a very lively description of what took place.
The inhabitants had sufficient notice to drive all the cattle
and horses into the “ corral” * which surrounded the house,
and likewise to mount some small cannon. The Indians were
Araucanians from the south of Chile; several hundreds in
number, and highly disciplined. They first appeared in two
bodies on a neighbouring hiU; having there dismounted,
and taken off their fur mantles, they advanced naked to the
charge. The only weapon of an Indian is a very long
bamboo or chuzo, ornamented with ostrich feathers, and
pointed by a sharp spear head. My informer seemed to
remember with the greatest horror the quivering of these
chuzos as they approached near. When close, the cacique
Pincheira hailed the besieged to give up their arms, or he
would cut all their throats. As this would probably have
been the result of their entrance under any circumstances,
the answer was given by a voUey of musketry. The Indians,
with great steadiness, came to the very fence of the corral:
but to their surprise they found the posts fastened together
by iron nails instead of leather thongs, and, of course, in vain
attempted to cut them with their knives. This saved the
lives of the Christians : many of the wounded Indians were
carried away by their companions; and at last one of the
under caciques being wounded, the bugle sounded a retreat.
They retired to their horses, and seemed to hold a council of
war. This was an awful pause for the Spaniards, as all their
ammunition, with the exception of a few cartridges, was expended.
In an instant the Indians mounted their horses,
and galloped out of sight. Another attack was still more
quickly repulsed. A cool Frenchman managed the gun; he
* T h e c o rra l is a n e n c lo su re m a d e o f t a ll a n d s tro n g s ta k e s . E v e ry
e s ta n c ia , o r farm in g e s ta te , h a s o n e a tta c h e d to it.
stopped till the Indians approached close, and then raked
their line with grape-shot: he thus laid thirty-nine of them
on the ground; and, of course, such a blow immediately
routed the whole party.
The town is indifferently called FI Carmen or Patagones.
It is built on the face of a cliff which fronts the river, and
many of the houses are excavated even in the sandstone.
The river is about two or three hundred yards wide, and is
deep and rapid. The many islands, with their wiUow-trees,
and the fiat headlands, seen one behind the other on the
northern boundary of the broad green valley, forms, Iry the
aid of a bright sun, a view almost picturesque. The number
of inhabitants does not exceed a few hundreds. These Spanish
colonies do not, like our British ones, carry within
themselves the elements of growth. Many Indians of pure
blood reside he r e : the tribe of the Cacique Lucanee constantly
have their Toldos * on the outskirts of the town. The
local government partly supplies them with provisions, by
giving them all the old, worn out horses, and they earn a
little by making horse-rugs and other articles of riding gear.
These Indians are considered civilized; but what their
character may have gained by a lesser degree of ferocity, is
almost counterbalanced by their entire immorality. Some of
the younger men are, however, improving; they are willing
to labour, and a short time since a party went on a
sealing voyage, and behaved very well. They were now
enjoying the fruits of their labour, by being dressed in very
gay, clean clothes, and by being very idle. The taste they
showed in their dress was admirable; if you could have
turned one of these young Indians into a statue of bronze,
his drapery would have been perfectly graceful.
One day I rode to a large salt lake, or Salina, which is
distant fifteen miles from the town. During the winter it
consists of a shallow lake of brine, which in summer is converted
into a field of snow-white salt. The layer near the
* T lie h o v e ls o f t h e In d ia n s a r e th u s c a lled .