The traffic which the Spaniards carry on with the unsubclued Indians is very considerable, and consists principally in the exchange of European commodities for the different productions of the country. From the tribes that dwell on the confines of the provinces of Pa raguay and 'Buenos Ayres, they derive Paraguay tea, and line furs. Some gold of a very superior quality, which is supposed to be collected among the mountains, and upland springs on the banks of the Uraguay, hes lately been brought to the Buenos Ayres by those In dians, who contrive to barter it in a contraband way with the .Americans or other foreign merchants. From the Pampas Indians and Puelches they buy horses and cat tle, furs, guanaco skins, and sometimes their children for slaves. These purchases, however, are generally made in the interior by Spanish adventurers, or converted In dians, who carry thither the articles of barter, and ne gotiate with the chiefs for the value of their commodi ties. The good faith and integrity of these tribes has been particularly remarked by travellers, who have vi sited this country ; and we extract for the information of our readers, the following account of the mode in which mercantile transactions are carried on with the Puelchcs, from Wilcocke's History of Buenos ?lyres. "The ad venturer who engages in this traffic, on his arrival in the tribe, repairs to the cacique, and presents himself before him without saying a word : the casique begins by saying, So you are come.' The Spaniard answers, ' Yes, I am come.' Then the cacique says, What have you brought me ?' The answer is, ' A present of wine,' of clothing, or some other article. The cacique then bids the stranger welcome, and provides him with a lodging near his own residence, where all his wives and children then go to bid him also welcome, expecting each a present, which however trifling, must be given them. In the mean time the cacique causes a horn to be sounded, to advertise his dispersed subjects of the arrival of a merchant, with whom they may trade ; they flock around at that signal. and examine the goods which are brought, and which consist of knives, hatchets, combs, needles, thread, looking-glasses, ribbons, &c. When the barter is agreed on, the Indians take away their goods without paying, and the merchant thus de livers all his goods without knowing any one of his debt ors, and without seeing many of them, as those who come to his tent buy not only for themselves, but also for their neighbours. After a reasonable time, the Spaniard wishing to return, the cacique causes his horn to be again sounded, which is a signal for payment to be made. Each then brings in faithfully what has been agreed upon ; and the cattle, in which the purchases principally consist, are driven by Indians, sent for the purpose, as far as the frontiers of the Spanish territory." The inhabitants of this extensive viceroyalty may be divided into four classes. I. The European Spaniards, or those born in Old Spain, and the Creoles, or Spa niards born in America. 2. The mulattos and mestizos, or people of colour. 3. Negroes, or Africans ; and 4. Indians, or the original inhabitants of the country. Of these, the European Spaniards hold the first rank, and generally fill all the offices of trust and profit in the co lonies They also constitute the most industrious and wealthy part of the population ; and the principal trade of the country, both with the interior provinces and with Spain, may be said to be in their hands. Many of the Creoles arc descended from the conquerors of the new world, and inherit extensive and valuable paternal es tates. Possessed of ample fortunes, and applying them selves neither to the pursuits of literature, or the avoca tions• of commerce, they waste their lives in luxurious case and sensual indulgence. The strictest equality reigns among this class. They acknowledge no invi dious distinctions of rank. They have neither titles, entails, nor feudal tenures ; and the only difference that exists is purely personal, and arises from the fortune or reputation of the individual. No white would conde scend to serve the richest noble of his nation ; and the viceroy himself must be contented with the service of negroes, men of colour, and Indians. In manners, how ever, the citizens differ considerably from the inhabi tants of the country. Buenos Ayres, Montevideo, Mal donado, Assumption, Corrientes, and Santa Fe, present the same scenes of indolence, vice, voluptuousness, and dissipation, as prevail in the capital of the mother coun try, but carried perhaps to a greater excess. To sleep, to walk, to ride, and to smoke segars, is their constant occupation ; and the facility which this country affords to the lowest of its inhabitants, of obtaining a livelihood with out any toil, and the many opportunities which it offers of even acquiring a fortune, encourage them in their na tive listlessness and idleness. Little cordiality, however, exists between the European and American Spaniard. The jealousy of the Spanish court for the security of her American possessions, which induces her to entrust the government of her colonies entirely to Europeans, to the utter exclusion of the Spanish Americans, has given rise to a deep rooted hatred and suspicion between those two classes of her subjects. While the Europe ans look down upon the Creoles as beings of a different order, they return it with equal contempt, and also with sentiments of the most decided aversion, which they even extend to the laws and government of the parent state. " Such is this aversion," says Azara, " that it exists often between a lather and his children, a husband and wife, if the one be European and the other Ameri can." He, however, adds, that it is strongest among advocates and bankrupts, and all those who are noted for their indolence, incapacity, and vices. The few who have visited the mother country, and have beheld the various gradations of rank, the insolence of office, and the oppressions and exactions attendant upon an abso lute monarchy, return to America, well pleased with the liberty and equal rights which they enjoy in their own country, and cursing the distinctions and tyranny of Europe. This evil arises chiefly from the native in dolence of the Spanish American, and the repugnance to all kinds of labour, which is the strongest feature in his character. In his infancy, he imbibes high ideas of his own importance, and is led to believe that worth and greatness consist in haviug nothing to do. Every species of labour is consequently despised, and even the children of the simple sailor disdain to follow the pro fession of their father. Monks, priests, advocates, and merchants, are the employments to which the lowest aspire. Even the latter of these is often rejected as being too laborious ; and many of the inhabitants spend their existence in listless apathy, low debauchery, or the practice of superstitious ceremonies ; and owe their means of subsistence entirely to the facility of procuring them in this rich and fertile country. Yet these Creoles possess very quick parts, and were they not debased by their education, might be capable of the highest attain ments both in science and the arts ; but the germs of every good quality and of every virtuous principle arc allowed to perish for want of cultivation, or are smo thered by dissipation and indulgence. Latin grammar, the peripatetic philosophy, the theology of the Thomists, and a little common law, constitute the studies of their most eminent scholars. The arts and trades are 'e duced to those which arc indispensibly necessary, and they are exercised only by some poor Spaniards from Europe, or by people of colour. The Creolian ladies arc reckoned much handsomer than the Spanish ; the jetty blackness of their hair and eyes contrasting admi rably with the brilliant whiteness of their skin. They arc all, however, equally indolent in disposition with their husbands, arc fond of show, and greatly resemble in manners and in dress the ladies of Old Spain, but less reserved, and more gaudy in their ornaments. But with all their external magnificence and costliness of dress and furniture, the Spaniards, within doors, in this quarter of the world, are described as filthy in the ex treme. " Ablution of any kind is never, or very ne
gligently performed. Flies, and various kinds of ver min, are abundant plagues in every house ; and the ravages of the ants are only equalled by those of the mice and rats. In their cookery, the bountiful provi sion of nature is spoiled by the perverted taste of man ; and both meat and fish are disguised, and their flavour indiscernible by the accumulation of spice, eggs, oil, onions, and garlic, with which they arc dished up." The Spaniards who inhabit the country, may be divid ed into the agriculturists and the shepherds. Of the former, however, the number is very inconsiderable, the labour of the employment deterring many from em bracing it ; and it is in general only followed by those who have not the means of becoming merchants, or of acquiring a sufficient quantity of land for pasture. The shepherds, on the contrary, are numerous, and constitute a considerable proportion of the Creolian inhabitants in this viceroyalty. Their numerous domestic herds, which wander over the plains of Paraguay and Buenos Ayres, are computed by Azara at twelve million of cat tle, three million of horses, and a considerable number of sheep, divided among a great many estancias, or farms, each possessed by a single proprietor. An ordi nary estancia consists of five or six square leagues, and is under the charge of a canataz, or master shepherd, and a servant for every thousand cattle, who is either a young Creole, a negroe slave, a man of colour, or a con verted Indian who has deserted from some of the colo nies. These shepherds, however, never accompany their flocks into the field, as in Europe, but content themselves with merely collecting them once a week, in order to prevent them from wandering beyond the bounds of the estancia. The rest of their time is spent in breaking their horses, but chiefly in the most de graded idleness. Addicted to the grossest vices, and sunk in ignorance and superstition, this race of men seem to have completely forgotten the origin from whence they sprung, and, in point of civilization, are little inferior to the wildest savages of the desert. Their habitations, which are generally situated near the centre of the estancia, are nothing but miserable huts, whose furniture consists chiefly of a cask for holding water, a horn to drink with, a wooden spit, and a small copper vessel in which they infuse the herb of Paraguay. Some, however, have a chair or wooden bench, and kind of bed ; but the greatest number sit upon their heels, or the skulls of their cattle, and sleep upon skins spread on the ground. Their only food is roasted meat, which they eat without salt, but at no stated hours ; pulse and vegetables they consider as no better than grass, and fit only for horses. The offals and bones, which they scatter around their huts, engender an infinite num ber of flies and noxious insects, and collect a multitude of ravenous birds, which deafen them with their con stant cries. Their dress corresponds with the filthiness and meanness of their habitations. Few of the herds men have a shirt. A poncho, or cloak, which consists of a piece of coarse woollen or cotton stuff, manufactur ed in the province of Tucuman, about three feet long and two broad, with a hole in the centre for the head to pass through, a hat, a pair of drawers, and half boots formed of the skins which they strip from the legs of their cattle, constitute the whole of their clothing. Be sides these, however, the master shepherd, or proprie tor, has a doublet, a vest, breeches, and shoes. The dress of the women consists merely of a shirt without sleeves, which is bound round the middle with a girdle ; and as they have seldom more than one at a time, when it requires washing, they carry it to the nearest brook to perform that operation, and wait until it is dry. In Paraguay, however, the shepherds are both better lodg ed, and more decent and cleanly in their apparel than those of Buenos Ayres.
This people are most dexterous horsemen. Indeed, they scarcely know what it is to walk, as they never go any distance on foot. From their infancy, riding is their only instruction and amusement ; and they become so habituated to the exercise, that they will keep their seat upon the most furious animal. The principal opera tions of the estancia are performed on horseback. The weekly gathering of the herds is made at full gallop ; but, from the extent of some of the pastures, the cattle are nearly in a wild state, and are hunted and killed in the same manner as the wild oxen in the plains of the Pampas. The common method, however, of slaying their cattle, is to drive a certain number into an inclo sure, where the shepherds assemble on horseback, armed with spears in the form of a crescent, a knife, and catch ropes ; as many beasts are then turned out as there are men in waiting, when each pursues his prey at full speed. if the bullock be swifter than the horse, the peasant with wonderful dexterity throws his catch-rope round his neck, or entangles one or two of his legs, by which means he easily secures him ; but he generally hamstrings him with his spear, and then dispatches him with his knife. This employment is continued every day, until all the cattle appointed for the year's slaugh ter are killed. They fish on horseback ; carry the water from the well on horseback ; and even attend mass on horseback, remaining at the church door, which is left open on purpose that they may hear the service. " In short," says Azara, " every thing they do is done on horseback." These shepherds, who are bred in the desert, and hold no intercourse with society, excel t with the individuals of their own estaucia, arc little superior in knowledge to the brutes with which they are surrounded. Without education, and under no law or restraint, they give full scope to the indulgence of their desires. Every boundary of modesty is overstepped ; and their huts present the most shameless scenes of in decency and debauchery. Accustomed from their in fancy to the slaughtering of cattle, which is their chief occupation, and even amusement, they become so habi tuated to blood, that they often kill one another upon the slightest provocation, and sometimes, indeed, without any particular motive. They are bound by no ties of friendship for one another, nor of gratitude to their mas ters, however well they may have been treated. They feel themselves free and independent, always ready to follow their own inclinations, and to maintain their own rights. They leave the estancia whenever they please ; and when they have once taken the resolution, no intrea tie s or promises can induce them to remain. They are, however, very hospitable, and when a stranger happens to come among them, they lodge and entertain him with great civility, without even asking who he is, or where he is going. From the great distance of one estancia from another, some of them being from ten to thirty leagues, there are very few churches in these plains, and the shepherds consequently go very seldom to mass ; but they have all a violent desire to be buried in holy ground, which the friends of the deceased sel dom fail to fulfil. Those who are very far from the church, allow the dead body to putrify in the fields, after having covered it with branches of trees, or stones, to protect it from ravenous animals ; and when there re mains nothing but the bones, they carry them to the priest, who gives them sepulture within the precinct of the church. Others cut up the body, and after carefully separating and cleaning all the bones, and throwing away or burying the flesh, they carry them to the priest. But if the distance does not exceed twenty leagues, the deceased is dressed in his best clothes, and placed on horseback, with his feet in the stirrups, and supported with two pieces of wood fastened together in the form of a St Andrew's cross, is carried in procession to the place of burial. Though we have represented these shepherds as consisting generally of Creoles, or Span ish Americans, yet we may observe, that there is among them a considerable intermixture of the other classes; and that even some of the proprietors are free blacks, or men of colour.