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 THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 LOS ANGELES
 
 LETTERS 
 
 FROM 
 
 PARAGUAY. 
 
 Printed by T. DAVISON, Wnltefrlars. 
 
 s *
 
 X
 
 LETTERS 
 
 FROM 
 
 PARAGUAY: 
 
 DtSCRiBING 
 
 THE SETTLEMENTS OF 
 
 MONTE VIDEO and BUENOS AYRES ; 
 
 THE PRESIDENCIES OF 
 
 RIOJA MINOR, NOMBRE DE DIOS, ST. MARY 
 and ST. JOHN, &c. &c. 
 
 WITH 
 
 THE MANNERS, CUSTOMS, RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES, &c, 
 OF THE INHABITANTS. 
 
 Written during a Residence, ^ seoen teen Months in that 
 
 Country. 
 
 By JOHN CONSTANSE DAME, Esq. 
 
 LONDON: 
 PRINTED FOR C. ROBINSON, PATERNOSTER-ROW, 
 
 1805. 

 
 X^lt 
 
 ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 THE writer of the following letters, a gen- 
 tleman of liberal education and considerable 
 property, having been disappointed in his 
 hopes of happiness with a beloved female, to 
 relieve the distress of his mind, resolved to 
 travel ; and leaving this country for New 
 York, on his arrival commenced a corre- 
 spondence with his most intimate friend 
 
 Yorke, esq. of Taunton-Dean, in the 
 
 county of Somerset, his half-brother. After 
 remaining at New York a short time, he sud- 
 denly formed the resolution of embarking on 
 a trading voyage to Botany Bay — with which 
 these letters begin. 
 
 Soon after they had sailed, a tremendous 
 storm obliged the captain to alter his course,
 
 VJ ADVERTISEMENT. 
 
 and make for the river Plata. They safely 
 reached Monte Video, and afterwards went up 
 to Buenos Ayres, to repair the vessel ; where 
 Mr. Davie was seized with a dangerous dis- 
 order, which usually attacks Europeans upon 
 their firft landing in that country ; and the 
 captain, having repaired his damages and 
 completed his stock of provisions, was under 
 the disagreeable necessity of leaving him in 
 the care of the fathers of the convent of St. 
 Dominic, by whose unremitted attention he 
 recovered in about three months. 
 
 The jealousy of the Spanish government 
 causing him, upon his recovery, to be con- 
 fined to the limits of the convent, he, to ob- 
 tain more liberty, took the dress of a novi- 
 ciate ; and, in consequence, after a short time 
 was permitted to visit in the town, and soon 
 after to attend father Hernandez on a visit to 
 some of the presidencies in the interior of the 
 province of Paraguay, which were under- 
 stood to be in an unsettled state : this enabled
 
 ADVERTISEMENT. tii 
 
 him to make many observations, which he 
 took every opportunity of communicating to 
 his friend in this country, through his agent 
 at New York, by means of the American 
 captains trading to South America. 
 
 After his return to Buenos Ayres, it is cer- 
 tain that he went to Conception, in Chili ; as 
 he was last heard of from that place, in the 
 year 1 803 : but whether he lost his life in 
 any insurrection of the natives, or was im- 
 prisoned by the government in consequence 
 of his correspondence being detected, is un- 
 known. 
 
 >
 
 LETTERS 
 
 FROM 
 
 PARAGUAY 
 
 LETTER I. 
 
 New York, Nov. 1796. 
 MY DEAR FRIEND, 
 
 You have known me too long as 
 a whimsical wanderer to feel much surprise at a 
 strange caprice which I have adopted since my 
 last letter : I was then about to return to Phila- 
 delphia ; but I have given up that idea, and am 
 now actually employed in preparing for a voyage 
 to Botany Bay. ' Botany Bay !' methinks I hear 
 your wife exclaim ; ' why, what an unaccountable 
 vagary is this !' Very possibly it may be so ; I am 
 not at all disposed to dispute that point : but 
 what then ? I have been an unaccountable mortal 
 from my cradle, therefore no absurdity I am 
 
 B
 
 2 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 guilty of should be wondered at. I am resolved, 
 God willing, to take a trip to New South Wales,. 
 on purpose to view a place of which I have heard 
 and read so much not only in Old England but 
 in New. 
 
 About three weeks since I chanced to meet at 
 doctor Jones's an old schoolmaster of ours. You 
 may remember William H , of N — - — , ne- 
 phew to the celebrated H — — of the congress. 
 This young man left his native country about five 
 years ago to settle here, under the protection of 
 his uncle, who is an austere methodical kind of 
 man, and very much attached to money. William 
 had no sooner arrived at New York, than the old 
 gentleman proposed sending him as supercargo 
 on board one of his vessels to Fort Jackson, be- 
 tween which place and this country there is now 
 a constant communication by the merchants here 
 sending thither every kind of article the colony 
 may be supposed to stand in need of. When the 
 cargo is disposed of, they proceed to the East In- 
 dies, and freight back with Asiatic produce. All 
 this turns to a good account in the sum total, and 
 is therefore extremely well adapted to the multi- 
 plying geniuses of the Americans, whose souls- 
 seem sensible of nothing but the pursuit of gain. 
 
 Young II r has been three voyages to Port 
 
 Jackson, the prorus of which have more than an-
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 3 
 
 swered his uncle's expectations. He represents 
 this settlement of ours in so peculiar a point of 
 view, that I cannot resist the temptation I feel of 
 going thither with him to examine into the state 
 of affairs personally. I shall therefore take my 
 passage in the brig Ann and Sarah, bound from 
 hence to Sydney Cove, where I intend to remain 
 until my thirst for novelty is gratified ; whither I 
 shall then direct my wandering steps Heaven only 
 knows. 
 
 H goes this voyage as captain ; so that, in 
 
 him, I may rely upon having a valuable and in- 
 telligent companion. 
 
 You shall hear from me again before I quit the 
 bold and majestic scenery of these northern re- 
 gions, where every thing is gigantic save the ideas 
 of the men and women, whose contracted in- 
 tellects have more than once excited my indigna- 
 tion if not contempt. It seems to me, as if Na- 
 ture, when forming this nether world, had ex- 
 hausted all her treasures upon the inanimate part 
 of the creation, and consequently had been obliged 
 to cobble up the inhabitants out of what shreds 
 she had remaining ; but, perhaps, when the states 
 are once established, rich and powerful, the ideas 
 of the Columbians may expand. Then philoso- 
 phers, astronomers, metaphysicians, and all the vo- 
 taries of art and science, may spring up with in- 
 
 b2
 
 4 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 tellects as capacious and profound as this over- 
 grown country seems to demand, that all the 
 component parts may be in unison. This is 
 
 ' A consummation devoutly to be wished,' 
 
 By, yours, &c. &c.
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 New Turk, Nov. 1796'. 
 I verily believe that in the mind of an 
 American the love of gain supersedes every other 
 consideration ; they estimate the loss of time by the 
 same ratio that a Jew merchant counts grains and 
 carats when valuing the finest diamonds. How 
 far this may be commendable I know not, but 
 certain I am that their ideas and mine differ most 
 surprisingly : not that I am by any means an ad- 
 vocate for a waste of time ; I regard it in as pre- 
 cious a light as the New Yorkist, but for a very 
 opposite purpose. I cannot possibly conceive how 
 any man, possessing the divine light of reason, can 
 rise with the dawn, apply himself instantly to 
 work, and continue unremittingly at it until the 
 day closes, except during the short intervals dedi- 
 cated to breakfast, dinner, and supper, which are 
 here hurried over as though each individual's eter- 
 nal welfare depended on his dispatching his meals 
 with more expedition than his neighbour ; and, 
 in all the common concerns of life, in every differ- 
 ent class of people, the same economy is observed. 
 No luxuries, either in eating or clothing, are here
 
 I 
 
 6 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 introduced, even in the houses of the most opu- 
 lent : the food is all plain, but wholesome; and, to 
 speak in Jack Barker's phrase, ' No belly-cheating 
 kickshaws are introduced to tantalise the appetite ;" 
 these honest members of the commonwealth, ever 
 emersed in business, require something more sub- 
 stantial. Neither is their attire more splendid 
 than their diet. The females here are all of that 
 delectable class distinguished in England by the 
 name of good housewives. The domestic concerns 
 of the house are not, as with us in most families 
 of fortune, committed to the management of serv- 
 ants, to regulate their masters' or mistresses 5 pro- 
 perty as shall best suit their own convenience ; every 
 woman of American education personally inspects 
 her own habitation (sometimes perhaps her ac- 
 quaintances' also), and attends to the cooking, 
 washing, and other important matters of the like 
 description. No one is ashamed, however exalted 
 her station, of being seen in a plain morning cap, 
 with a coarse apron before her, instructing an 
 ignorant servant in her duty ; and these directions 
 are given with such promptitude and exactness, 
 that few if any errors can arise, but from a wilful 
 misapprehension : thus every thing is executed 
 with a neatness and dispatch that would astonish 
 a modern servant on your side the water. I have 
 often during my frequent visits to M noticed
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 7 
 
 his lady, in the midst of seven or eight servants, 
 giving orders how such a room should be white- 
 washed, or such a batch of bread should be baked, 
 and even in what manner a sick horse should be 
 physiced. I came in one day and found her 
 making a mop, to shew a girl she had from Bos- 
 ton how it ought to be done, observing at the 
 same time to me that she could not imagine 
 how any person could exist so intolerably stupid 
 as not to know how to make so simple an article. 
 I took shame to myself at her remark; and, by the 
 change of my countenance, she should plainly 
 perceive I was equally ignorant and surprised at 
 this elegant female accomplishment, for in fact it 
 was a piece of frugality T really had no conception 
 of; but we are never too wise to learn, and I 
 could not help calling to mind the story of the 
 basket-maker. Such is the force of habit formed 
 by an American education. 
 
 From saving of money to getting it is but an 
 
 easy gradation : M is rapidly acquiring an 
 
 immense fortune by sending out several small 
 vessels laden with European goods to the East In- 
 dies, where he finds a certain and quick return. 
 
 I am told by H , that he can greatly undersell 
 
 the British merchants trading thither, even at their 
 own settlements, for a special reason : — he builds 
 his own vessels, victuals them, and mans them at
 
 5 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 one-third of the expence incurred by our people, 
 every necessary article for naval architecture being 
 contained within the limits of this enterprising 
 country : but the principal advantage of this traf- 
 fic arises from its not being clogged in India with 
 any civil or military establishments, to maintain 
 which must of necessity take from the British 
 traders an immense revenue. 
 
 This American speculation appears to be daily 
 increasing in a manner that must in a very short 
 time create a considerable degree of jealousy and 
 alarm in our British merchants, who cannot be too 
 much on their guard against the dangerous conse- 
 quences of such proceedings : not the mo cf trivial 
 advantage is here lost for want of foresight in the 
 state or exertion in individuals, which is, I must 
 own, most truly commendable ; and the more I 
 consider the actions of these people, the more I 
 admire and wonder at their industry and perse- 
 verance, which is now indeed become habitual, I 
 had almost said involuntary. 
 
 Surely there must be something singularly pa- 
 triotic in the minds of those men who can, for the 
 sake of securing the prospect of riches and splen- 
 dour to their successors, dedicate the whole of 
 their own lives to toil and trouble ; only antici- 
 pating the period when, in the hands of their po- 
 sterity, their country shall arrive at such a height
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 9 
 
 of eminence and glory as shall enable "her to hold 
 the rod of power over surrounding nations, and 
 dictate laws in every quarter of the globe, as Eng- 
 land — envied England — does at present. 
 
 But why does gain narrow up and trammel the 
 genial effusions of the soul, which in itself is free 
 and liberal ? This is a question I have frequently 
 a.ked myself, but never yet could frame a satis- 
 factory answer. c It will be time enough,' says an 
 American, ' to be profuse' — for with them there is 
 no distinction between liberality and profusion— 
 * when our state is rich, and our children affluent : 
 a pound turned in trade, becomes two ; when spent 
 in pleasure, is annihilated.' 
 
 I hear this, and am abashed. Their impressive 
 manner of silencing a cavilist is laconically con- 
 vincing ; there is no room for reply when every 
 thing around bears testimony to the truth of the 
 assertion. Adieu.
 
 10 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 LETTER III. 
 
 New York, Nov. 1796. 
 
 I dined yesterday with Mr. II , at 
 
 whose house I was introduced to three emigrants 
 from the North of Ireland ; two of them were well- 
 informed intelligent men, the other a mere matter- 
 of-fact man, who, with his family, chose to leave 
 his native country because his friends did so, and 
 he had heard besides that a prudent man could do 
 no otherwise than well in America. They all 
 hope to find on the banks of the Ohio more 
 happiness and wealth than they have ever expe- 
 rienced or could ever expect at home. How these 
 expectations will be realised time must shew ; for 
 mine own part I think the British government 
 highly to blame in suffering so many useful mem- 
 bers of society to leave their mother country, 
 where, if properly encouraged, they might render 
 most essential service to the community at large. 
 Here they meet with a ready welcome, and pur* 
 chase ground at a cheap rate, but then it is with 
 all its incumbrances of wood, bog, and quagmire, 
 the whole of which they are compelled by the 
 nature of things to clear before they can hope to
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 11 
 
 sow, build, or establish manufactories ; and if so 
 many individuals must have recourse to the culture 
 of land as the means of independence, why are 
 they not employed on the now useless acres of 
 Old England and her sister kingdom ? There are 
 hundreds of enterprising spirits, who, with a little 
 encouragement, would gladly transform the ne- 
 glected wilds of Ireland into proper cultivated 
 farms, and be content to wait with patience the 
 reward of their industry. Why do not those who 
 hold the reins of power in Britain exert themselves 
 jn the most effectual manner to check the danger- 
 ous increase of emigration ? It surely must be 
 more for the interest of every well-organised and 
 wealthy monarchy to keep as many of its subjects 
 at home as possible ; and that not by merely de- 
 priving them of the power of quitting their coun- 
 try, but by furnishing them with the means of 
 continuing in it as good subjects ought : a trifling 
 assistance to an active intelligent mind will be 
 received with gratitude, and improved with ala- 
 crity. The peasant who labours with hope for 
 his companion lies down at night on a hard bed 
 with pleasure ; his sleep is sweetly refreshing, and 
 he rises at the dawn to renew his daily toil with 
 equal vigour and application, joyfully anticipating 
 the moment when he shall receive the well-earned 
 reward of his exertions. This hypothesis you
 
 *S LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 have seen realised on your own estate in Devon- 
 shire; and what advantages do you not now derive 
 from the improvements on the once barren farms 
 let to your father's old tenants! — it is true they were 
 content to grovel on in the same dull unimproving 
 routine pursued by their predecessors, and because 
 large tracts of land had remained for ages waste, 
 it was necessary that they should remain so still — 
 * no good could possibly arise from speculating 
 innovations.' I cannot keep my temper when 1 
 reflect on such despicable meanness of intellect : 
 but for speculation, this immense continent from 
 which { am now writing might never have been 
 discovered ; and but for innovation, whence would 
 have arisen that happy code of laws on which the 
 heart of every Englishman dwells with enthusiastic 
 pride? The same mode of reasoning, my friend, will 
 hold good with respect to small matters ; and I was 
 happy to see you adopt a more enlightened plan : 
 by letting your estates at low rents, upon con- 
 dition the whole of the waste land was improved 
 and cultivated, you have the pleasure of seeing 
 from the windows of your library acres hereto- 
 fore a mere green desert now yearly crowned 
 with the blessings of a plentiful harvest, and daily 
 improving both in look and value. Now I am of 
 opinion, that were the nobility of Ireland, and 
 others of large landed, property, to follow your
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 13 
 
 tsxample, there would be few or no emigrations 
 thence, nor would rebellion raise so often its 
 dreadful and destructive head. No man likes to 
 sow where he is not certain he shall reap in safety; 
 nor can the miserable starving cottager emerge 
 from his poverty unless he first receive assistance 
 from those above him : neither should this assist- 
 ance be considered as a gift, since the benefactor 
 himself ultimately enjoys the benefits arising from 
 such a mode of conduct ; for, at the expiration of 
 a few years, he finds his estates return to him, not 
 in a barren unproductive state as when he let 
 them, but exhibiting in every different form the 
 beneficial effects of agricultural improvement; and 
 every succeeding proprietor feels the blessing in a 
 more extensive degree. His grace of Bridgewater's 
 canal is a most surprising proof of the essential 
 service that may be rendered to the community at 
 large, and ages yet unborn, by a temporary sacri- 
 fice on the part of a liberal-minded enterprising 
 individual. But it is useless for a person of 
 moderate fortune to attempt this universal reform- 
 ation ; for if a man has not property sufficient to 
 complete his improvements when begun, the whole 
 scheme had better at first be abandoned. I ha 
 therefore made it an invariable rule never to pro- 
 ject any plan or assist any object unless J could do 
 k altogether effectually.
 
 3 4 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 But to return to the Irish emigrants, from whom 
 I have made a long digression, if indeed it deserves 
 that name. — These gentlemen make but a very 
 unfavourable report of the present state of Ireland \ 
 it seems to me a devoted country, doomed to be 
 a scene of anarchy and bloodshed : the inhabitants 
 appear to be composed of none but restless and 
 ungovernable spirits, whom nothing (while in their 
 present state) but coercive measures can restrain. 
 If those in whose hands the wealth of Ireland is 
 disposed still persist in the erring line of conduct 
 they have hitherto adopted towards their poor 
 dependants, it would be much better I think for 
 the government of England to interfere, and send 
 thither a large colony of enterprising Englishmen 
 under the protection of a strong armed force, and 
 bring away in their stead a much larger number 
 of the wild Irish, and transplant them to some of 
 our settlements abroad, there to make them a free 
 people with leave to act as they please, but give 
 them at the same, time the means of acting well, and 
 improving their desperate fortunes by the cultiva- 
 tion of the place they are taken to. Why not, as 
 we are on such friendly terms with the Turks, 
 obtain the consent of the Ottoman Porte to plant 
 a colony on the fruitful but neglected isle of Can- 
 dia, where, without derogating in the least from 
 their native pride, they might with very moderate
 
 LETTERS- FROM PARAGUAY. 15> 
 
 exertions grow independent, and in my opinion, 
 happy. This political proceeding would 1 am 
 persuaded in a few years tend to the mutual ad- 
 vantage of both nations. The French at some 
 not very distant period wilj need a powerful check 
 in the Levant, if the rumours here circulated are to 
 be regarded. They are indeed a nation capable of 
 attempting any atrocity, in violation of every law 
 divine and human. They certainly mean to wrest 
 if possible Ireland from England, but I trust they 
 will meet in all their attempts with the disappoint- 
 ment they so well deserve. And should they even 
 succeed in their intentions to assist the rebels, I 
 doubt the poor infatuated Irish would but too 
 soon find they had pnly exchanged an indifferent 
 master for the worst the modern world affords. 
 Rapine and plunder have hitherto been the cha- 
 racteristics of the French revolutionary armies, 
 nor do their generals strive to check the disgrace- 
 ful impulse : bad indeed must that body of men 
 be, who know no right but that given by the 
 sword, and acknowledge no laws but what them- 
 selves impose. If they do not speedily meet with 
 a repulse from Fngland, I doubt if any other na- 
 tion will be competent to make head against them ; 
 and woe to the states of the world should the 
 balance of power ever remain with France, whose
 
 T(j LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 smile is like the eye of a serpent, and whose 
 friendship is the tear of the hyena. 
 
 But you will perhaps ask if I have not seen any 
 Scotch emigrants as well as Irish : indeed I have 
 not, though I have heard of many. I do not won- 
 der at their leaving their native place, for few I 
 believe that could help themselves would stay to 
 till the ground in Scotland, where nothing among 
 the Highlands appears but barren unimprov- 
 able rocks that mock the toil of the labourer. 
 Their poverty arises from the niggardliness of 
 nature in withholding from them a sufficient share 
 of those blessings which their indefatigable in- 
 dustry would speedily augment. But I must con- 
 fess that of all people in the world the Scotch are 
 best calculated to thrive in America ; — the same 
 love of gain, economy in expence, horror of every 
 species of liberal charity or amusement, and ardent 
 anxiety for the future welfare of the state and 
 their posterity, are qualities of which they may 
 boast an equal portion with the already-established 
 colonists. But I will still persist in saying, that 
 the greater part of the families that come hither 
 might be better employed at home in our different 
 manufactures, which are, as you observed in your 
 last, daily and hourly extending the vast increase 
 of commerce which our country has acquired
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 1? 
 
 during this war, must of course require an im- 
 mense number of additional hands ; and I must 
 subscribe to the general and almost hackneyed 
 opinion, that were the fisheries of Scotland more 
 liberally encouraged not a man of them would 
 leave his native country, but stay and enjoy the 
 fruits of his labour at home : and where can there 
 be a finer field for this kind of speculation than in 
 Scotland, where what has been denied them in 
 fertility of/ land has been trebly repaid by the fe- 
 cundity of the sea? and if government did but 
 reflect on the many advantages it might derive 
 from a large body of hardy fishermen well or- 
 ganised and well supported, I do not think our 
 ministers would hesitate long to establish upon a 
 royal foundation this extensive branch of com- 
 merce, instead of letting it remain, as it now does, 
 in the hands of a few mercerrary individuals, who 
 naturally enough prefer private emolument to 
 public good. Were a royal fishery to be instituted, 
 what a noble body of seamen would our sovereign 
 have to depend upon in all cases of emergency! 
 — seamen trained and competent to traverse any 
 ocean : for certain I am the mariner who has 
 for any length of time navigated the northern seas 
 of Britain is sufficiently skilled to encounter the 
 most hazardous maritime expedition. 
 
 I am encouraged in these sentiments by a long 
 
 c
 
 18 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 conversation I have had this morning with a cap- 
 tain Woollett, of Newcastle upon Tyne : he is 
 commander of the brig Nancy of that port, and 
 arrived here about ten days since. He laments 
 equally with me the progress and probable effects 
 of the dangerous spirit of emigration. Does war, 
 my dear friend, so totally engross the minds of 
 ministers that they are wholly unmindful of this 
 alarming evil ? Surely if the same encouragement 
 were given to the northern fishermen as is bestowed 
 upon the linen manufactories, a short time would 
 prove it of more real advantage to the country at 
 large than any branch of commerce whatever; 
 and among the many millions annually subscribed 
 surely a small portion might, without the least 
 injury to the state revenue, be appropriated to this 
 great and valuable purpose, could but a clear and 
 demonstrative estimate of its great utility be laid 
 before his majesty, who has ever been the first 
 monarch in the world for promoting trade and 
 agriculture, and for consulting the general good of 
 his subjects. 
 
 My political reveries are interrupted by a mes- 
 sage from my friend B . I must attend him 
 
 for the present j therefore— Adieu !
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 19 
 
 LETTER IV. 
 
 New York, Nov. 17g6. 
 
 It is really astonishing what crowds of 
 shipping are daily issuing from every port in the 
 United States employed in traffic between the dif- 
 ferent hostile powers ; and now the trade of Holland. 
 is suspended it makes surprisingly in favour of the 
 Americans, who, ever intent upon improving the 
 smallest opportunity, will fail not to enrich them- 
 selves on the overthrow of the Dutch republic , 
 for I cannot possibly consider it in any other light, 
 the French being a people not easily got rid of 
 where they have once obtained a footing, as long 
 as they can, by finesse or compulsion, impose their 
 plausible plans on their deceived allies. How such 
 a slow, crafty, and penurious people as the Bata- 
 vians could suffer themselves to be overreached by 
 the impetuous and volatile French is to me, and 
 many thousand others, a matter of the greatest 
 amazement : but nations, whether ruled by kings 
 or governed by democratic power, have their 
 rise, their zenith, and their fall. The Dutch for 
 the space of a century gave laws to every maritime 
 power in the world, excepting in some measure the
 
 20 LETTERS TROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 English. The commercial concerns of the Hol- 
 landers were marked with the most brutal ty- 
 ranny, and not a ship returned laden from the 
 East but its cargo was stained with the blood of 
 the innocent. They have had their day ; and, if 
 Heaven continue to smile on the British arms, the 
 manes of our suffering countrymen and natives 
 will be amply avenged on the heads of their per- 
 fidious oppressors, if we might venture to speculate 
 on probable events : for surely so dissimilar a 
 union as that of France with Holland can never 
 continue long ; and then woe to the grasping 
 schemes of the plodding Batavian 1 for in propor- 
 tion as they sink in the great scale of commercial 
 policy so will the Americans rise. They are in 
 many respects the exact counterpart of the Hol- 
 landers : the advantages of commerce alone en- 
 gross all their thoughts and actions ; and as the 
 Phoenicians were of old so will the Americans in 
 a short time be, should the war continue long, 
 which, from existing circumstances, appears more 
 than probable. 
 
 I am often entertained with the speculating 
 views of your old friend B— ~, who is and ever 
 was fertile and indefatigable in projecting plans for 
 the general good ; and no circumstance, I think, 
 would give him greater pleasure than to hear that 
 the proposed treaty between Great Britain and the
 
 ■ LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 21 
 
 United States was completed ; and he indulges his 
 fancyjn the boldest flights that ever entered the 
 mind of man whenever the wished-for event shall 
 take place. I am to dine with him to-morrow with 
 a large political party in Beak-street, previous to 
 my leaving this place ; to which I think I never 
 shall be disposed to return, unless it be to com- 
 mence merchant. Adieu !
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 LETTER V. 
 
 New Xork. 
 
 Every thing is ready for my de- 
 parture, and I am now going to take leave of my 
 valued friend doctor Dingley, whom I much fear I 
 shall never see again : he having relinquished the 
 idea of visiting England, as he designed some few 
 months since ; and it must be next to a miracle 
 that should ever induce me to revisit America. 
 Time, I trust, will give more stability to my wan- 
 derings. When I first declared my intention of 
 
 going with H to Port Jackson, the good folks 
 
 here seemed to consider me as little better than a 
 lunatic ; but when they found I persisted in my 
 resolution they with one consent began to impor- 
 tune me to take with me some articles for barter 
 or sale upon my arrival in New South Wales, at 
 the same time laying down to me, in the most 
 circumstantial manner, the advantages I should 
 derive from such proceeding. And when, in reply, 
 I objected my total ignorance of all mercantile 
 concerns, and the impropriety of incumbering my- 
 self with merchandise of which I knew not how 
 to dispose, they one and all assured me that I should
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 23 
 
 find In H an excellent factor, and one who 
 
 would be happy to instruct me during the voyage 
 in every particular of commercial mystery ; for 
 it is a pity they say to let slip so fair an oppor- 
 tunity of uniting profit with pleasure, and turning 
 money to advantage, at the same time that I 
 gratify my inordinate desire of roving. All this 
 I cannot but allow ; and really, my friend, I begin 
 to think there must be some charm in acquiring 
 money, which it is time I should be acquainted with. 
 The questions and advice of these people display 
 their real character better than volumes of descrip- 
 tion, and convince me they are an indefatigable 
 interested generation, eternally on the watch for 
 gain, and to make themselves well acquainted with 
 every one's concerns. I cannot imagine from whence 
 their inquisitiveness springs, unless from a desire 
 to learn if by any means they can be of service to 
 you, and by so doing serve themselves. But, be 
 that as it may, I am willing to regard them as a 
 very industrious good sort of people, who from a 
 principle of fellow-feeling are anxious to instruct 
 one in the best method of making the most of 
 every thing : and every rising state should, in my 
 opinion, invariably pursue the same maxim ; for 
 that is the way to render themselves not only 
 rich, but competent to enforce respect from sur- 
 rounding nations.
 
 24 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 More from a wish to avoid an affectation of 
 independence than any real inclination, I have 
 yielded to the advice of my money-making neigh- 
 bours, and purchased from our friend B 
 
 a quantity of articles, for which, he says, I shall 
 receive a very good return. How that may prove 
 I neither know nor care: it is sufficient for me that 
 I have given pleasure to this indefatigable man, who 
 has bustled about in my behalf with the greatest 
 alacrity, and given the most ample instructions to 
 H — ■ — , who is to be my factor. 
 
 But what, you will ask, is the nature of the mer- 
 chandise by which 1 am to gain a fortune ? Why 
 thus it is, my friend : When a man commences 
 trafficker he should first carefully consider the 
 circumstances of those he intends to trade with. 
 He should neither carry wine to Constantinople 
 nor furs to Seringapatam, nor yet should he turn 
 goldsmith or wholesale mercer at Port Jackson. 
 I have therefore — wisely appreciating the wealth 
 and respectability of those to whom I am going — 
 provided myself with a sufficient portion of old 
 clothes. Old cloches! you cry, with a stare of sur- 
 prise and incredulity — Old clothes ! at the same 
 time spelling the words, as if to convince yourself 
 of their identity. Yes, sir; and no laughing matter 
 either. .From a troublesome custom, which the 
 , present generation is hardly enlightened enough
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 25 
 
 to shake off, most people have an ugly prejudice 
 that they must cover their nakedness, though even 
 in a new colony ; and if a man will be dressed in 
 the fashion of his country, and cannot afford new and 
 fashionable raiment, he must be content, though 
 even a settler of New South Wales, with the left- 
 off finery of his betters : and upon this mode of 
 reasoning I have formed my cargo. But, jesting 
 apart, I assure you it is a fact ; our merchants here, * 
 who have experienced it, say this kind of lading 
 turns to very good account. Most of my wares 
 
 are English. 13 has received a large quantity 
 
 of second-hand clothes from London, in exchange 
 for a cargo of wheat ; and in one of the bales, 
 which was opened for inspection at my request, 
 I was fool enough to persuade myself I recognised 
 a coat once worn on gala-days by yourself during 
 our tour' through Ireland, and is the same the 
 
 mischievous Kitty L mutilated so ingeniously, 
 
 for the sake of seeing how an Englishman looked 
 with his sleeves slashed a I' Espagnolc. You see 
 how a man with a long memory may recollect an 
 old acquaintance even across the Atlantic. 
 
 I am to see, by this voyage, that money expended 
 in articles which we throw aside in England as un- 
 serviceable makes — according to American cal- 
 culation — cent per cent. 
 
 But I must hasten to conclude. The wind is fa-
 
 26 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 vourable for our departure, previous to which I 
 have many friendly people to take leave of. It 
 will be some months, I suppose, before you hear 
 from me again. The passage from hence to Port 
 Jackson will not afford any' kind of incidents to 
 amuse you : there are seldom any circumstances 
 occur at sea but what are amusing to sailors only. 
 I need not say that I shall embrace the first op- 
 portunity that offers to inform you of my situation ; 
 for I know well enough that in whatever corner of 
 the world I dispose of myself your friendship will 
 be anxious for my welfare. 
 
 God bless you ! Commend me to all whom you 
 think I have any regard for. But, for the sake of 
 my reputation with the ladies, I beseech you do 
 not let any of our female acquaintance know that 
 I am turned dealer in rags. 
 
 Yours, sincerely.
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 27 
 
 LETTER VI. 
 
 Monte Video, on the banks of 
 La Plata, Jan. J 797- 
 
 If I surprised you in my last with 
 the intelligence of my new occupation, how shall 
 I astonish you when you perceive from whence 
 this is dated ! but it will serve to confirm the old 
 proverb, c What man appoints, God disappoints.' 
 When I closed my last I was fully persuaded my 
 next letter would be dated from the coast of New 
 South Wales j but I was fated to return to America, 
 though not that part of it I had last inhabited. I 
 shall most assuredly commence fatalist ; for many 
 events of my life, and this not the least, have 
 induced me at times to think that a superior power 
 guides and directs every action and design of man: 
 or in default of this position I shall believe in the 
 power of inferior agents, who are permitted, for 
 some great and wise purpose, to counteract and 
 subvert the intentions of individuals. This latter 
 hypothesis seems most agreeable to my ideas of 
 the Divinity, but I doubt whether it will appear so 
 to you. 
 
 The morning after my last communication to
 
 5S LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 you I went on board the Anne and Sarah, hound 
 to Port Jackson, with a determined resolution to 
 remain there for some months, in order to examine 
 into the climate, soil, produce, and colonial im- 
 provements, of the island of New Holland, if is- 
 land it may be called. But instead of complet- 
 ing my design — not to mention my com- 
 mencing trader, which might of itself have en- 
 grossed a great part of my time, and perhaps even 
 turned my ideas into a new channel — my whole 
 arrangement was defeated by a violent hurricane, 
 which succeeded a tedious calm of six-and-thirty 
 hours. It overtook us about six weeks after our 
 departure from New York, a short distance beyond 
 the latitude of Rio Janeiro in Brazil. I had been 
 for several days much indisposed, and during the 
 calm particularly uneasy; but the fury of the wind 
 soon created ideas more disagreeable even than 
 sickness. I have been in many storms at sea, but 
 never in one so alarming as this : we were borne 
 jover the surface of the water with a dreadful ra- 
 pidity ; now elevated as if to pierce the clouds that 
 lowered on our heads, and now again precipitated 
 .into an abyss that seemed to threaten instant an- 
 nihilation. My illness prevented my being of any 
 essential service, but every man on board was 
 obliged to exert himself for the general safety. 
 For two days we ran as the wind directed us : on
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 5?9 
 
 - 
 the evening of the second the vessel sprung her 
 
 bowsprit, and in less than an hour carried away 
 her foretopmast, and to add to our distress, great 
 part of our water casks had been staved. In this 
 
 emergency captain H called a council of all 
 
 the people on board, which consisted, besides him- 
 self, of a supercargo, three passengers, a mate, 
 five seamen, and two boys ; when, after a short 
 deliberation respecting the latitude we were in, it 
 was determined to make the best of our way for 
 the isle of St. Catherine's. Thither we accordingly 
 attempted to steer our course ; but the wind still 
 continuing to rage with unabating violence we 
 were soon, in spite of every exertion, driven too 
 far south to hope to gain that hospitable asylum: 
 a second council was therefore summoned, the 
 result of which was, that, as it was impossible in 
 our shattered state to think of reaching the Cape, 
 we had no alternative but to proceed immediately 
 for the great river La Plata, and endeavour, if pos- 
 sible, to gain Buenos Ayres, there to repair our 
 damage, and recruit our stock of water and pro- 
 visions, the greater part of which had been mate- 
 rially injured. 
 
 This was no sooner decided on. than put in 
 practice. The wind, happily for us, a little sub- 
 sided j and we steered for the largest river in the
 
 / 
 
 I 
 
 30 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 world, which we were fortunate enough to reach 
 without any fresh disaster. 
 
 The accounts which we read of the Plata, so 
 far from being exaggerated, barely convey an 
 adequate idea of its immensity ; though I now find 
 that its depth is by no means proportioned to its 
 length and breadth. When we arrived at the 
 mouth of the river — of which if I had not been told 
 I should never have imagined it— I began to thank 
 God that our perils were over j but I soon found 
 that new ones awaited us, owing to the vast banks 
 of sand dispersed in every direction. At our en- 
 trance, under something more than a brisk gale, 
 it was as much as all hands could do to steer the 
 vessel clear of a most dangerous shoal called the 
 English bank, a place as much dreaded in those 
 parts as the rocks of Scilly or the Goodwin Sands 
 in our vicinity ; and we had scarcely passed it in 
 safety when we struck upon a smaller one, and thus 
 we continued, for want of a pilot, to run off one 
 sand and on another, shaking, jumbling, working 
 and cursing, for near thirty leagues, with boats a- 
 head sounding the whole of the course which we 
 had to traverse before we could reach a -place 
 where we could hope for any assistance : however, 
 by the help of a fresh breeze and constant watch- 
 ing, we made shift in four days to anchor in this
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. SI 
 
 harbour. Monte Video is the first port of safety 
 in this wonderful river : it is situated at the foot 
 of a conical mountain of a stupendous height, 
 which serves as a land-mark, for another moun- 
 tain there is not in a vast tract of country, many 
 hundred miles in extent; and the river, even here, 
 is so wide as to appear to an inexperienced person 
 more in the resemblance of a sea. 
 
 We found in this port two Portuguese merchant- 
 vessels, three French, and two privateers ; which 
 last had, like ourselves, been forced in by stress of 
 weather. On a signal being made by our captain, 
 the commander of the fort sent off a boat with 
 three Spaniards in her to examine our papers ; with 
 which being satisfied, we were permitted to enter 
 the harbour, and we immediately received every 
 necessary assistance. It was evening when we 
 
 arrived; and the next morning captain H and 
 
 we three passengers went ashore. Myself being an 
 Englishman, and presently known as such, I ob- 
 served an eye of suspicion glance on me which 
 way soever I turned myself. But this I cared not 
 for ; being resolved, since my destiny had landed 
 me in Spanish America, to see as much of their 
 town as I possibly could : though, God knows, be- 
 sides the river and the mountain there is but little 
 to excite a traveller's curiosity. The fort seems to 
 be the only object on which any attention has been
 
 32 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 bestowed ; it is large, handsomely built, and con- 
 sists of four bastions, on which are apparently very 
 good brass cannon. Another bastion is begun on 
 the land-side, and when that is finished the fosse 
 is" to be extended a much longer way than at pre- 
 sent on terra firma. I have not much opinion of 
 the strength of this fort, or the force that might 
 be collected to withstand any determined attack of 
 the British arms. It may, and I doubt not would, 
 resist any effort of the Portuguese or native In- 
 dians ; but they would not find it so easy a matter 
 to repulse a select body of English soldiers and 
 sailors, determined upon conquest. 
 
 The church is the next principal building ; it is 
 large and clean, but has nothing remarkable about 
 it : the houses, many of which lie scattered about in 
 a very irregular manner, with very pleasing gardens 
 and little plantations attached to them, are all low 
 and meanly built, very few being higher than the 
 ground floor ; but their tiled tops, with the green 
 trees waving over them, have, taken altogether, 
 rather a pretty effect. 
 
 The country round has nothing interesting, 
 being, I am told, one continued plain every way for 
 many hundreds of miles j and must, therefore, ap- 
 pear with peculiar disadvantage to me, who have 
 been so long accustomed to the rising hills and 
 majestic mountains of the northern continent :
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 33 
 
 and for Monte Video itself, I can compare it to 
 nothing but a solitary rock in the middle of the 
 Pacific Ocean. In native woods, too, they are 
 greatly deficient ; almost every tree and shrub is 
 of artificial culture : and though the prospect on 
 every side is luxuriantly beautiful in the humble 
 walks and vegetation, yet the eye seeks in vain for 
 the thick, dark, waving forests, which in North 
 America are regarded but as natural evils to ob- 
 struct the labour of the industrious agriculturist, 
 but which here would be valued alike for their 
 novelty and beauty, and what is more for their 
 utility, without being subject to the destroying 
 axe, or more destructive firebrand. The Spaniards 
 are not fond enough of agriculture to deprive 
 themselves of shade ; on the contrary, they have 
 laboured to the best of their abilities to supply 
 this great natural defect : nor have they laboured 
 in vain, so favourable is this soil to the hand of 
 cultivation ; and groves of almost every kind of 
 tree or shrub that could be imported now nod at 
 one another in a very pleasing, though not very 
 picturesque, manner ; at least it appears so to my 
 prejudiced taste. Another traveller might think 
 and write widely different ; but what others think 
 of a scene or a subject never has nor ever will 
 influence my pen. 
 
 I am no draftsman j but I have taken a view of 
 
 D
 
 34 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 Monte Video from the most favourable spot I 
 could select, and remit it for your edification. I 
 am only sorry the subject is not more engaging. 
 
 Captain H requested permission to lodge 
 
 us in the house of a wine-merchant whom he had 
 known at the Canaries, which place his friend left 
 about two years since, to settle at Monte Video. 
 The request was granted, and I was received with 
 great hospitality. My not understanding the 
 Spanish language was rather an awkward circum- 
 stance : but the Canarian, though he did not un- 
 derstand English, had a smattering of French, and 
 contrived to irake us comprehend that we should 
 all be treated as part of his family. He has a wife, 
 and two daughters, sprightly lasses both : but our 
 communication is all in dumb shew ; very agree- 
 able though, for ail that. 
 
 We had not been settled above an hour when 
 an order came for the three passengers to attend 
 the governor. We immediately complied, and 
 were conducted thither by a guard of one subal- 
 tern and six soldiers, all very slovenly accoutred, 
 and distinguished by nothing but the extraordinary 
 length of their swords and whiskers, and a most 
 ludicrous affectation of majestic gravity. We 
 found the governor, don Bias D'Hinojosa, taking 
 a refreshment of fruit and coffee, attended by two 
 riegtoes : he arose as we entered, and, slightly
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 3J 
 
 bowing in a very stately manner, immediately re- 
 seated himself, and gave some orders to one of 
 the slaves, who left the apartment - t and presently 
 returned with two Spanish gentlemen and an officer 
 very splendidly dressed, who, I observed, regarded 
 me, during the whole time I remained in the apart- 
 ment, with a stern and scrutinising eye. After a 
 short conversation with the governor, one of the 
 gentlemen, in tolerable English, asked us several 
 questions j as, who we were — whither we were 
 going when we left New York — and what had 
 occasioned our arrival at Monte Video. As the 
 discourse was chiefly addressed to me, I answered 
 for myself and companions, who were both New 
 Yorkists, and going on a voyage of speculation to 
 Port Jackson. When their curiosity was satisfied 
 we were permitted to retire, and were conducted 
 back in the same state as we had been brought 
 thither. The governor appeared to be about 
 forty years of age, of a pleasant aspect, and, though 
 he assumed a gravity, there was a playfulness 
 about the mouth that indicated it was not natural 
 to him. He is married, I find, and has a son and 
 two daughters ; the former is at present at Cor- 
 dovo in the province of Tucuman, where there is 
 a fine college for education. On our return we 
 found a plentiful repast provided by our hospitable 
 host ; consisting of new cakes, fruit, coffee, and 
 
 d ( 2
 
 35 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 several sorts of wine. When we had refreshed 
 ourselves^ I proposed to my companions that we 
 should walk out to survey the town, and if possible 
 ascend the conical mountain, being desirous to 
 make the most of our short stay, and see as much 
 of their country as possible : but our host, with 
 concern in his countenance, informed me my de- 
 sire could not be gratified ; a Spanish soldier had 
 been stationed at his door, and he had been or- 
 dered to consider me only as a prisoner of war 
 during the remainder of my stay at Monte Video. 
 My companions however, not being Englishmen, 
 were at perfect liberty to go wheresoever they 
 thought proper. I cannot but say that this cir- 
 cumstance greatly chagrined me : not that I felt 
 any great disappointment in not being permitted 
 to go abroad ; but I felt like a Briton, and could 
 not digest the idea of coercive confinement.' My 
 fellow-passengers, finding that I was thus laid under 
 an embargo, very quietly relinquished the idea of 
 visiting the mountain, being blest with too great a 
 share of American philosophy to feel greatly in- 
 terested in' the beauties of nature ; and we set 
 about making ourselves as comfortable as our 
 situation would admit. Our friendly entertainer, 
 who was extremely anxious to render my confine- 
 ment, agreeable, amused me very much with the 
 history of the contraband trade constantly carrying
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 37 
 
 on at this settlement, in spite of every effort on the 
 part of government to the contrary ; and this is 
 one cause of the shyness of the Spaniards towards 
 strangers, who are never permitted to perambulate 
 the town until licence has first been obtained from 
 the governor: indeed it seems admirably calculated 
 for such kind of traffic as silver, drugs, hides, &c. 
 and very conveniently situated. It would, I am 
 of opinion, if once in the possession of the Eng- 
 lish, be found a very valuaole key to the riches of 
 the southern world ; and the proximity of the 
 Portuguese would greatly facilitate our obtaining 
 it. The only obstacle I can discover, is ihe diffi- 
 culty there would be for our ships of war to pene- 
 trate thus far up the Plata with any degree of 
 safety, the natural defects of the river affording 
 a much better protection to the country than any 
 artificial bulwarks the Spaniards could erect ; but, 
 the article of navigation alone excepted, I believe 
 the conquest of the Plata might be effected with 
 very little danger on the part of the invaders. 
 
 In our way up the river, I noticed, as we passed, 
 an island that glowed with all the colours of the 
 rainbow, being decked with, I think, every flower 
 that art or nature hath produced in any part of the 
 terrestrial globe. Such a prospect must be ex- 
 tremely grateful to the eye j and the sweet scents 
 they emit when a fresh breeze agitates them, and
 
 S8 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 bears their fragrance towards the land, would in- 
 duce one to imagine that all the odours of 
 Arabia were transplanted to this beautiful spot, 
 which is with singular propriety called the Isle of 
 Flowers. There is likewise another island of a 
 very different description in the Plata, which is 
 called the Isle of Wolves, from being inhabited only 
 by those animals ; but of that I saw nothing, for I 
 was below deck when we passed it. 
 
 The disorder which seised me on board the 
 vessel, but which the bustle of the tempest for a 
 time suspended, is, I fear, about to return : I feel 
 very faint and languid, and have violent pains in 
 my head. I cannot help thinking that, if they 
 would let me go out, moderate exercise would soon 
 relieve me ; but this idea may arise only from a 
 spirit of contradiction, inherent in every Briton 
 when he finds himself restrained in any particular 
 point. But patience, patience ! — time, which re- 
 leases us from every inconvenience, will me from 
 this ; and all will be the same a century hence. 
 
 Adieu, my dear friend ! it is time I should close 
 this very long letter.
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 3 
 
 IXTTER VIL 
 
 Monte Video, Feb. IfgOF. 
 
 My friend II is using the ut- 
 most dispatch to get his damage repaired, which 
 was found to be more serious than he at first 
 apprehended ; however, it is hoped a few days 
 will now complete it, We have had to-day a 
 tremendous gale of wind, which had like to have 
 proved fatal to two of the vessels in the harbour 
 that had not time enough to secure themselves in 
 the manner necessary for safety : in this unruly 
 river, however, by the aid of our crew, they were, 
 though with grer.t ditticulty, properly secured. 
 This wind, I am informed, is often destructive to 
 ships lying in the harbour of Buenos Ayres ; it 
 blows from the west, and is termed the pampero, 
 partly from its violence, and partly from its cross- 
 ing the plains of Las Pampas, which lie to the 
 south-west of Paraguay, and extend frprn thence 
 to Chile, in an almost uninterrupted level of wav- 
 ing grass, for near nine hundred miics. 
 
 I have not been able to obtain permission to 
 ascend the mountain, which majestically rears its
 
 40 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 summit to the clouds ; therefore am compelled to 
 survey its beauties at a distance. 
 
 J 
 
 The Spaniards are never, at the best of times, 
 disposed to grant any kind of indulgence to an 
 Englishman : they regard every individual of our 
 nation with suspicion and dislike ; and now, from 
 the circumstance of our being at war with them, 
 they are more tiresomely vigilant than ever. 
 
 It is now eighteen days since we landed, and, 
 exceprmg on my visit to the governor's, I have not 
 exchanged a single word with any one inhabitant 
 besides our hos*", who, though extremely kind and 
 complaisant, is by no means communicative. 
 
 Provisions are very cheap ; I mean such as 
 are produced here : those from Europe are dear 
 enough ; but I am told they are so only in time 
 of war, when the danger to be apprehended from 
 the English cruisers prevents many from visiting 
 this port and Buenos Ayres. 
 
 I am at present much and seriously indisposed, 
 having for these last two days felt strong feverish 
 symptoms. The quantity of James's powders 
 which I have been accustomed to take have not 
 had the desired effect : I feel an unusual pain in 
 my limbs, a difficulty of respiration, and an un- 
 common tenseness over the eyes. Mr. H saw 
 
 me about an hour since, and was very much alarn>
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 41 
 
 cd : be has requested a father provincial to attend 
 me, who resides at the fort, and is well skilled in 
 the remedies suited to this climate. M. Soderina, 
 the merchant with whom I reside, has undertaken 
 to report my case to the governor, that I may 
 receive every assistance that can be obtained. 
 Though the symptoms I feel are new to me, yet 
 I am willing to think there is no danger in the 
 distemper ; my kind host assures me otherwise ; 
 it being, he says, an epidemic disease — brought on 
 by the dense and heavy fogs, which are very trou- 
 blesome at this time of the year — and which is 
 frequently fatal to Europeans. He has been so 
 obliging as to send for his wife from Buenos 
 Ayres, where she has been these two months on a 
 visit ; and his daughters are extremely attentive. 
 
 There is no precise period for the termination 
 of this disorder ; it depends principally on the tem- 
 perature of the patient : some linger in it for many 
 months, others only a few months ; and some only 
 a few days, when it proves fatal. Should the latter 
 be my case, this will be the last letter you will 
 ever receive from me, for it is with great difficulty 
 I now write. But this, with what I have already 
 written since my arrival here, will, I trust, by Mr. 
 
 II 's means, reach you in safety, should he be 
 
 so fortunate as to complete his voyage. 
 
 If you hear from him, and can by any means
 
 42 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY- 
 
 jerve him, I beseech you do it, and you will confer 
 an everlasting obligation on the memory of your 
 friend. 
 
 The good priest is come. Should I never see 
 you more in this world, I trust we shall meee 
 hereafter. Adieu I perhaps, for ever.
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. A3 
 
 LETTER VIII. 
 
 Buenos Aj/res, Nay, 1 797. 
 
 Three months, my dear friend, 
 have now elapsed since I last addressed a line to 
 you. The greater part of that time I have been 
 a helpless lunatic ; and now I am once more, 
 through the mercy of Heaven, restored to reason, 
 it is but to find myself a prisoner and alone in a 
 land of strangers. They tell me I am at Buenos 
 Ayres, in a convent of brothers dedicated to St. 
 Dominic : how long I have been here or how con- 
 veyed hither they have not yet informed me. It is 
 but this morning they have allowed me the privilege 
 of writing to you ; and when i have done, I fear it 
 will be a long while before I shall be able to gain 
 an opportunity of sending it to England, since I 
 find news have arrived here, during my insanity, 
 of the total defeat of the Spamsh fleet off Cape St. 
 Vincent, by admiral sir John Jervis. This was 
 imparted to me in confidence by one of the lay 
 brothers, whose office it has been to attend me. 
 My hair has been cut off, and I am in the habit of 
 a noviciate : they shaved my head too, I believe ; 
 and I am led to think I owe my life to the care
 
 44 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 and attention of the holy fathers. I do not think 
 my head is rightly settled yet : all the past seems a 
 kind of chaos. I have some recollection of being 
 seised with an epidemic distemper at Monte Video, 
 and likewise of some operations they performed 
 upon me, but when and where I know not. I 
 cannot write you any more at present ; I am too 
 feeble : to-morrow, if better, I will resume the 
 pen. God bless you ! Adieu I
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 45 
 
 LETTER IX. 
 
 Buenos Ay res, June, 1 7Qf. 
 
 It is a fortnight since I was per- 
 mitted the use of pen and ink; and though I have 
 requested this indulgence repeatedly, in the most 
 earnest manner, it has been — through a motive of 
 kindness, I believe— denied me. I am now much 
 stronger, and my head is quite composed ; and 
 though I shall not be able to give you a regular 
 account of all that has occurred for these three 
 months past, yet I will endeavour to relate as 
 many of the particulars as I have been able to ob- 
 tain from my attendant, who still watches me with 
 unremitting assiduity. He is a Frenchman by 
 birth, born at Bourdeaux ; but being left an or- 
 phan at an early age, he was taken by a Spanish 
 merchant to Mexico, where he resided eight years, 
 in the capacity of clerk to his benefactor, who 
 dying at the end of that period, recommended 
 him to the notice of his brother residing at this 
 place, whither the young man immediately re- 
 paired. He had lived with this latter gentleman 
 about five years and a half when an English mer- 
 chant, a friend of his master's, arrived here, and
 
 46 LETTERS FROM TARAGUAY. 
 
 fell ill at the Spaniard's house, where he remained 
 indisposed for some months, during which time 
 the assiduous Frenchman attended to the whole of 
 his business, and transacted it so much to his 
 liking, that on his recovery he made him a present 
 of a sum sufficient to procure his admission into 
 this convent, where, though in the prime of life, he 
 means to end his days. 
 
 Brother Jerome — for that is his name — is one 
 of the most kind-hearted creatures that ever ex- 
 isted ; and to his indefatigable attention I am con- 
 vinced I owe, in a great measure, my restoration to 
 reason. He has given me a succinct detail of all 
 that has happened to me in this part of the world ; 
 and as many of the particulars as I can repeat 
 I will. 
 
 When I closed my last, dated from Monte 
 Video, I was introduced to a venerable man, who, 
 as my host informed me, had been sent by the go- 
 vernor from the fort. He examined my tongue, 
 and the roots of my nails ; when perceiving upon 
 them some black spots, which I had not, nor 
 should, perhaps, have noticed, he instantly de- 
 clared that I was attacked by the faitja, and must 
 immediately be put to bed j but first it was ne- 
 cessary I should be blooded. To this I consented, 
 and he performed the operation in a very dex- 
 trous manner j not with a lancet, as our sur-
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 4? 
 
 creons do, but with an Indian instrument very cu- 
 riously made. It is a small and remarkably sharp 
 flint, ground to an almost imperceptible point, and 
 set in a small bit of ebony or cedar, in much the 
 same manner as our glaziers' diamonds ; with this 
 difference — as theirs is placed perpendicularly in the 
 wood, so this is set horizontally, with as much of 
 the flint projecting as is sufficient to make the in- 
 cision. The arm is bound up as with us; the in- 
 strument is then laid on the vein, and struck with 
 a kind of small hammer ; the blood flows copi- 
 ously : and so skilful are the Indian surgeons, that 
 the patient runs no hazard of having the artery in- 
 jured by this peculiar mode of bleeding. 
 
 When I had submitted to the operation of 
 phlebotomy, and retired to bed, my doctor or- 
 dered an application of boiled herbs in a cotton 
 bag to my stomach and bowels, in which I began 
 to feel the most excruciating tortures, attended 
 wich a violent sickness. The water in which the 
 herbs had been boiled was ordered me to drink ; 
 but before it could be administered I was seized 
 with a vomiting, attended with a burning heat on 
 my brain. In an interval of ease I took the pre- 
 scription, the father standing by the whole of the 
 time ; but neither application had the desired ef- 
 fect : other remedies were tried, but to no better 
 purpose ; the pain in my bowels and burning heat
 
 48 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 on my brain increased every moment. In this 
 state I continued five hours, when suddenly the 
 torment in my bowels abated, and the pain of 
 my head became so excruciating as to bring on a 
 delirium ; and before midnight I was insensible to 
 every thing around. 
 
 Brother Jerome, who was then at Monte Video 
 on business for the superior of this convent, was 
 one among the other religious in the town that 
 attended me during the first and most dangerous 
 paroxysms of my disorder, which lasted one-and- 
 twenty days ; the fever then abaced, but my rea- 
 son was pronounced irrecoverably gone. In the 
 
 mean tir^e captain H , having repaired his 
 
 damage effectually, prepared to sail : but when he 
 came to consult my host and the fathers respect- 
 ing my removal, they were all of opinion it would 
 be highly imprudent for him to think of taking 
 me on board, as they were certain I could not 
 survive such a step four-and-twenty hours ; but 
 if I was left in their care there still remained a 
 shadow of hope that I might recover. In this 
 dilemma my poor friend was almost distracted 
 how to act : he was, as you may suppose, very 
 unwilling to leave me behind, and equally averse 
 to run the hazard of removing me, as in that case 
 the fathers very charitably assured him they could 
 consider him in no other light than as my im-
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 49 
 
 mediate murderer. At last, however, with great 
 difficulty he was persuaded by father Daro — the 
 governor's physician — and M. Soderina to confide 
 me to them ; at the same time assuring him, in the 
 most solemn manner, that nothing on their parts 
 should be neglected to forward my recovery ; and 
 if, in despight of every endeavour, the disorder 
 should at last prove fatal, a proper attested account 
 of my death should be transmitted to New York. 
 This satisfied him ; and, leaving with Soderina a 
 letter of credit on his uncle at Philadelphia for 
 whatever I might want, he left me, though by 
 Jerome's account with great reluctance ; so much, 
 indeed, that he even shed tears as he quitted the 
 apartment. Worthy, affectionate creature ! and if 
 Heaven spare me but to see him once again I 
 will amply recompence his disinterested friend- 
 ship. 
 
 Before his departure he made the fathers a pre- 
 sent of rum and tobacco; which, it seems, serves 
 as barter between them and the Indians. 
 
 The father provincial at Monte Video kept me 
 there until there was no longer any danger to be 
 feared from the fever, and his whole attention 
 was then devoted to the restoration of my reason. 
 My head was shaved, blisters applied, and every 
 other remedy that came within the knowledge of 
 my spiritual physician?. The priests in this pan 
 
 £
 
 50 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 of the world are the only Europeans that profess 
 any knowledge of medicine : they therefore ad- 
 minister to the health of both soul and body with 
 unremitting diligence ; and I will do them the 
 justice to say, that, notwithstanding the dissipated 
 lives led by the generality, none can be more at- 
 tentive to the sick than they are. Not that they 
 study pharmacy with any degree of science, as our 
 practitioners do ; but their knowledge in the ef- 
 fects and quality of herbs and simples is very ex- 
 tensive. The virtues of every plant they have dis- 
 covered ; and as the waters of La Plata, when 
 drank by Europeans, are in many cases fatal, Pro* 
 vidence has planted, for the benefit of man, in ail 
 the different islands on this wonderful river a vast 
 variety of medicinal herbs, which, when applied by 
 a skilful botanist, serve as an antidote to the per- 
 nicious beverage, as well as for the dangerous ef- 
 fects arising from too great an indulgence in the 
 eating of fruit — with every kind of which, peaches 
 In particular, this country abounds. 
 
 When my holy friends had exhausted their 
 whole stock of prescriptions, and I still remained 
 in the same melancholy state, it was judged pro- 
 per by the governor — to whom my case had been 
 daily made known — to have me conveyed to this 
 town, which is the capital of the province of La 
 Plata, and placed under the care of the fathers of 

 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 5\ 
 
 St. Dominic, from whose monastery I now write. 
 I was, in consequence, immediately removed hither. 
 The letter of credit gained me admission, and at 
 the same time particular attention. My friend 
 brother Jerome having had the care of me in a 
 great measure at Monte Video, obtained leave of 
 the superior to continue that charitable office upon 
 my coming here ; which he has done, I am certain, 
 in a most exemplary manner. 
 
 But my restoration to reason, he says, does 
 not arise from any exertions of his, but the in- 
 terposition of the blessed Virgin, and a good In- 
 dian, who, among many others, comes once a year 
 to barter the herb paraguay — a leaf so called, 
 which is here infused and drank in the same man- 
 ner as tea in China, and which equally serves to 
 counteract the pernicious qualities of the water ; 
 with this difference, it does not give that ashy 
 paleness to the countenance which is the certain 
 consequence of drinking an inordinate quantity of 
 tea. 
 
 This Indian, being informed of my malady, gave 
 to Jerome a paper of dried leaves, nearly beat to 
 powder, and a small bottle of liquid : of the first 
 he bade him take a certain quantity and lay flat 
 upon a stone made very hot ; he should then 
 sprinkle them with the liquid, and, when the fumes 
 arose, hold my face over it, and endeavour to 
 
 E 2
 
 52 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 make me inhale as much of the smoke as pos- 
 sible. This was to be repeated two or three times 
 a day ; always remembering to cover my head 
 quite over with cotton, and keep me for an hour 
 warm in bed. 
 
 All these instructions my attendant carefully 
 observed. The first application in a few minutes 
 stupified me ; and he covered me up before half 
 the herb was evaporated, at the same time con- 
 demning himself as having actually killed me. I 
 remained in this state for near two hours and a 
 half, when, to his great joy, I moved, sat up in the 
 bed, and made signs that I wanted drink. This 
 encouraged him to try again, and every succeed- 
 ing trial answered better than the former ; when 
 in the space of four days, during which time 
 he had fumigated my head eleven times, he saw 
 evident marks of returning reason : and before a 
 fortnight had elapsed I was perfectly rational, 
 though still weak, languid, and confused. My 
 recovery, which had been for some time totally 
 despaired of, seemed to give pleasure to the whole 
 of the community. They are thirty-four in num- 
 ber, besides the superior; and very much respected 
 both in the town and adjacent country, being by 
 far the richest order in these parts, that of St. 
 "Francis alone excepted. 
 
 As soon as my senses were sufficiently collected
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 53 
 
 I asked my kind attendant for pen and ink, which 
 he indulged me with, and I made use of them to 
 write a short and incoherent letter to you, anjd 
 which is now on the way to England, in the hands 
 of a captain Frampton, of Boston, who sailed 
 from hence two days ago ; and 1 trust you will re- 
 ceive it as soon if not sooner than that which my 
 
 worthy friend H was to transmit from Port 
 
 Jackson, by which means you will be spared a 
 great deal of painful anxiety on my account. 
 
 It is impossible for me to do justice to the kind- 
 ness of father Jerome, who told me, with great 
 concern in his countenance, that an order had been 
 received from the governor, on my recovery, to 
 detain me as a prisoner. 
 
 This, I think, I hinted to you in my former let- 
 ter ; but as all parts of the world are alike to nie^ 
 the knowledge of my being in confinement does 
 not now affect me : and as I can afford to pay for 
 a few indulgences, I may, I doubt not, make this 
 place comfortable enough ; at least I am very well 
 disposed to think it so. And where a man is 
 willing to make the best of every thing, it is no 
 difficult matter to find means of amusement : and 
 so they will but permit me to stir abroad a little 
 and examine the country, 1 shall be very much at 
 my ease, and perhaps forget I am a prisoner. But 
 the best part of the whole is, that these reverend
 
 54 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 fathers regard me as a very pious and devout 
 Catholic. This strange prejudice I can no other- 
 wise account for than by their finding on my neck 
 
 the precious cross worn by my lost . I missed 
 
 this valued relic immediately upon regaining my 
 senses, but was diffident of asking for it, as not 
 knowing where or how I had lost it. How- 
 ever, when I was, in their opinion, sufficiently re- 
 covered, the jewel was restored to rae ? and in a 
 transport of joy I seized and carried it to my lips. 
 This motion of mine was attributed by the brethren 
 to a motive of grateful piety, and they very 
 readily conceived that I was one of their own 
 persuasion : and Jerome observed, that the re- 
 storation of the jewel would remind me of what 
 the holy Virgin had done for me, by interceding 
 with her blesssed Son for my recovery, the mira- 
 cle of which should be celebrated in their church 
 ©n the festival of Corpus Christi, which, he said, 
 would take place in a few days ; and in the mean 
 time it would be expedient for me to receive the 
 sacrament, and return thanks to the holy mother 
 of God. 
 
 I was about to undeceive the father, and as- 
 sure him I was no pious Catholic, but-a miserable 
 heretic, when a thought struck me, that the error 
 he was in respecting my religion was a very for- 
 tunate circumstance^ and with a little contrivance
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 55 
 
 might be made to answer more purposes than 
 one in my behalf. I therefore very devoutly ac- 
 quiesced in all he said to me ; and as I look upon 
 all externals in religion to be matter of no im- 
 portance, so I trouble my head but little about 
 what they may require of me, in consequence of 
 my supposed belief. 
 
 I have been three days writing this. My head 
 is still unsettled ; but, as I am now on the rapid re- 
 covery, it will not be long, I hope, before I mee r 
 with some adventures worth relating. 
 
 Adieu ! Ever yours.
 
 50 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY 
 
 LETTER X. 
 
 Convent of St, Dominic, June, 1797* 
 
 I am just returned from walking in 
 the convent gardens ; they are spacious, and well 
 laid out, considering the taste of the gardeners 
 in this part of the world : all is done under the 
 directions of two of the fathers, but the whole of 
 the community work in them by turns. The lay 
 brothers, of whom there are seventeen, are con- 
 stantly employed either here or in other domestic 
 offices : a peculiar kind of harmony seems to reign 
 among them. The orders of the superior — who is 
 a Genoese by birth — are given in a mild, but 
 impressive, accent ; and his being their head is 
 hardly known but at meals and during church 
 service. He is going, immediately after the festival, 
 to Cordovo, where there is a university : it is an 
 immense way from hence. He is to be accompanied 
 by several Spanish youths, going thither for edu- 
 cation ; and six or seven missionaries, who are to 
 be dispersed over the provinces of Tucuman and 
 Uraguay : of these places I am to learn a great 
 deal, as soon as I am able to stir about with the 
 fathers. At present I am very weak j but now my
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 5? 
 
 health returns my appetite returns with it, and I 
 cannot help wishing for some of our delicious 
 roast beef, with its usual appendages : but though 
 beef is here more plenty by an hundred fold than 
 in England, yet I believe it would be next to 
 impossible for me to obtain my desire. They 
 have not here the smallest conception of a large 
 joint of meat served up as with us. They slaughter 
 animals, it is true, for their tables : but then the 
 flesh is cooked in such a mawkish way, or rather 
 in no way at all that I can call cooking ; it is so 
 messed up with fish, eggs, onions, oil, and garlic, 
 that it requires the stomach of an Esquimaux to 
 relish what they set even before ?ne, that am an 
 invalid. It is to no purpose I endeavour to make 
 my friend father Jerome understand the meaning 
 ' of roast beef; I might as well talk of friccaseed 
 hare to an Abyssinian. 
 
 The fish here are delicious, provided they were 
 not spoilt in the cooking ; but the people mix so 
 many heterogeneous spices with their abominable 
 oil, to make what they call sauce, that the real 
 flavour of the fish is lost in the sousing : however, 
 I do ail I can to swallow their salmagundi ; though 
 my rebellious stomach will sometimes, in spite of 
 good manners, and even hunger, persist in re- 
 fusing to admit such dainties. The beautiful gold 
 fish that we admire so much in Europe are caught
 
 58 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 in shoals in the Plata : some of them a foot long, 
 and proportionate y large ; one of these I was 
 favoured with to-day for dinner, cooked in plain 
 water, and served up to me without any other 
 sauce than pure unadukerated butter, instead of 
 oil : understand me right though j I do not mean 
 butter such as we in Europe use, made from cream, 
 but the fat of an ox melted down and refined, not 
 unlike what our cookmaids call dripping. You 
 smile, but I assure you it makes an excellent sub- 
 stitute for real butter ; indeed any thing is pre- 
 ferable to their everlasting oil. This was the best 
 dinner I have made since I arrived in this part of 
 America. The fish is delicately sweet, and the 
 nearest to it I ever tasted in England is the red 
 mullet. 
 
 The fishermen say, that when the pampero 
 blows the gold fish hide themselves in the sands 
 or holes of the rocks, and are never seen till the 
 tempest occasioned by this dreadful wind is entirely 
 subsided. Of this pampero I am told, that it rises 
 in the mountains of Cordillera, and crossing the 
 plains of Las Pampas, nine hundred miles in length 
 ■—during the whole of which it does not meet a 
 single tree or shrub to obstruct its progress — pro- 
 ceeds with increasing fury till it reaches the banks 
 of La Plata, when, collecting itself into a kind of 
 stream or current, it rushes with incredible violence
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 5<) 
 
 down the river, sweeping all before it ; and unless 
 the vessels in the harbours are secured with more 
 than ordinary care they are sure of being driven 
 from their moorings, and greatly damaged, if not 
 lost, on the shoals in the river. It is this wind 
 that has caused so many banks, by raising tha^ 
 sand from the plains and hurling it into the stream, 
 where meeting with more or less objects to 
 check its progress, it lodges o*' shifts about at the 
 caprice of the wind. These sands, by daily in- 
 creasing, have destroyed the harbour of Buenos 
 Ayres : no vessel can approach nearer to the town 
 than three or four leagues distance ; the mer- 
 chandise must of course be conveyed to land in 
 small craft, made on purpose to navigate a little 
 shallow river which conveys the goods to the 
 town from the mouth of the harbour ; and even 
 these lesser vessels — which are made long, narrow, 
 and high, but so constructed as to require but: 
 a very trifling draft of water — are obliged to 
 take a winding course, and double two or three 
 points of land round which the little river flows. 
 Several plans for deepening and widening this river 
 have recently been attempted, but I believe with 
 very indifferent success. 
 
 To-morrow week is the festival of Corpus 
 Christi : the whole brotherhood are bustling about 
 in every direction, and preparing all their saintly
 
 60+ LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 paraphernalia for a solemn procession round the 
 town, in which, I understand, I am expected to 
 join ; but it must be in the habit of a noviciate, 
 which elegant array I have worn ever since I came 
 hither. I would fain, upon this occasion, have 
 exchanged it for one of a less mortifying ap- 
 pearance ; but was told by my friend father Jerome 
 that it could not be done without the superior's 
 orders, and if he had thought it proper for me to 
 
 appear in the clothes left for me by Mr. H I 
 
 they would have been returned to me with the cross. 
 I must, therefore, be content to wear this holy 
 dress : but what induces me the more readily to 
 acquiesce is the knowledge of the danger to which 
 I should be exposed were I to mix with the 
 inhabitants in an English habit, which in their 
 most friendly humours is looked on with suspicion 
 and dislike, but which now would be regarded 
 with insult and abhorrence. Englishman and 
 heretic have long been synonimous terms ; but 
 when to these is added that of a victorious enemy, 
 Spanish pride and superstition would be equally in 
 arms, and God only knows what would become 
 of me between them. My conversation with the 
 fathers has hitherto been carried on partly in 
 Latin and partly in French, but I am now very 
 industriously engaged in the study of the Spanish 
 language. I may want it more than I am at present
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 61 
 
 aware of : at any rate it serves to beguile time, that 
 else would appear extremely tedious. You will say, 
 the more tongues a man has the command of the 
 better : it may be so ; I am sure within these last 
 six months I have had occasion for every different 
 language my provident father had me instructed 
 in, and should have felt very awkwardly situated 
 had I been deficient in either. But in each and 
 every one of them I am, at all times, happy to 
 subscribe myself 
 
 Your sincere friend.
 
 62 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 LETTER XL 
 
 Convent of St. Dominic, June, 1/97. 
 
 This morning, as soon as the 
 matin-beli rung, I was desired by father Jerome to 
 attend confession, as a preparatory step to my taking 
 the sacrament on the day of the festival. This was 
 a circumstance I had never attended to, or even 
 once thought about. I paused for a moment : my 
 friend perceived it ; and thinking — I suppose from 
 the change of my countenance — that I had some- 
 thing on my conscience I was unwilling to reveal, 
 smiled, and said I need not be particular, for fa- 
 ther Ximenea was not very severe. I thanked him, 
 and said I was not afraid of any penance the holy 
 man might impose j I was only embarrassed at the 
 idea of confessing to a stranger. Oh, that was 
 nothing ! he said ; and, without waiting for any 
 further observation, hurried me to the confessional, 
 where I knelt down, and answered yes and no to 
 all the questions the father confessor put to me ; for 
 being unacquainted with the form of auricular con- 
 fession, I was necessitated to let him interrogate 
 me without knowing what answers to make : how- 
 ever I got over it pretty well j a small penance
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 63 
 
 was enjoined me of abstinence during the ensuing 
 week, and I received his holy benediction. I was 
 then conducted, for the first time, to the refectory, 
 where the young student was about to ascend a 
 rostrum, and preach a dinner sermon. The fa- 
 thers arranged themselves round a laree table, on 
 which were placed fruits, cakes, coffee, and sweat- 
 meats. At another table sat the noviciates, with 
 somewhat of less delicacies before them. I was 
 seated among the latter company, and by one of 
 the fathers addressed in Latin, saying that as I was 
 once more, through the bountiful mercy of Hea- 
 ven, restored to health from the very brink of the 
 grave, I sjiould partake of his blessings, and be 
 grateful ; not forgetting, at the same time, to offer 
 up a fervent prayer of thanks for my recovery, 
 through the intercession of the holy Virgin and 
 St. Dominic. I having returned a suitable an- 
 swer, grace was said in a very affecting manner, 
 and we partook of the repast, which I really re- 
 lished exceedingly, there being several kinds of 
 fruits that I had no conception of, as none of them 
 grew in the convent gardens. There were ex- 
 cellent small white cakes, and a sort of something 
 soft and thick, which served instead of butter : 
 what it was composed of I know not, but it ate 
 very agreeably. Half a pint of Canary wine was 
 given to each person : and all the time we were
 
 64 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 eating the young priest in the pulpit was preach- 
 ing a sermon ; the subject of which was the 
 merits and adventures of St. Dominic, together 
 with two or three of his pious acquaintance. 
 
 The young man appeared to possess a good 
 delivery, and the discourse was, no doubt, highly 
 edifying, if it could but have been understood by 
 me : however, be that as it may, he received the 
 applause of his superiors, and retired with no small 
 share of self-complacency. Adieu !
 
 Letters from faragua t.- 65 
 
 LETTER XII. . 
 
 Convent of St. Dominic, June; 1JQ?. 
 To-night is the eve of the festival^ 
 which has been announced, with great ceremony, 
 by the cannon of the citadel; and bells are ringing 
 in every part of the town. I have attended mass 
 regularly every morning this week, and am regard- 
 ed by all the society as a very sincere and pious Ca- 
 tholic. How long this opinion will hold, I know 
 not, but I shall not undeceive them if I can help it„ 
 I have likewise dined daily in the refectory, and am 
 highly pleased with my associates. For two hours 
 every day the noviciates dispute on theological 
 subjects, which are attended to by the fathers with 
 great assiduity. Three days this week several 
 young Spaniards of distinction have been admitted 
 to hold controversies with the novices on theology 
 and natural philosophy. These youths are going 
 with the father provincial to Cordovo, there to be 
 entered at the university in much the same manner 
 as we do at Oxford, and nearly the same mode of 
 study is adopted. On seeing me, they one and all 
 seemed to be struck with surprise anu curiosity. 
 My sandy complexion, naturally fairer than is be* 
 
 F
 
 66 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 coming in a man, and which illness has rendered 
 still more delicate, made them, at first sight, con- 
 clude that I was an Englishman ; and the novelty 
 of an English heretic in the noviciate habit of St. 
 Dominic evidently excited, in a great degree, their 
 admiration. Their eyes were continually turned 
 upon me, and the astonishment depictured in their 
 looks was really very amusing. When the au- 
 dience — which is the name given to those assem- 
 blies — broke up, they crowded round the superior, 
 eagerly enquiring how I came there — where from 
 — what I had been — and by what means converted 
 to the holy faith — with many other questions, that 
 I should have liked much to have heard the father 
 answer ; but before they gave him an opportunity 
 the novices withdrew. 
 
 Most of these young men appeared to be from 
 seventeen to three-and-twenty years of age, but 
 not one of them possessed the natural gravity of 
 the Spaniards : their dress was more airily made 
 than in old Spain •, and, instead of cloth, their 
 trouse, doublet, and cloak, were of black cotton ; 
 their hats Genoese velvet, and their stockings and 
 shoes silk; with large tufts in the latter of ribbon 
 or flos. But what surprised me most of all was, 
 to see an English gold watch depending from a 
 belt round each one's waist. Whether this is 
 their usual way of wearing that useful appendage,
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 67 
 
 ©r whether it was only placed so for some par- 
 ticular purpose, I cannot tell ; but it convinces 
 me, that, though they detest our nation, they do 
 not despise our manufactures. 
 
 The next time they came they were rather less 
 free with their eyes, and seemed, by their manner, 
 to consider me as deserving some degree of re- 
 spect. They came round me as I was going out, 
 and said with great gallantry, like so many ca* 
 balkros, that they were happy to find one mart 
 wise enough to quit a nation of infidels ; and they 
 were certain that, if I consulted my own interest, 
 I should never wish to return to England more. 
 These fine things were said in Spanish, of which I 
 have learnt enough to understand the common terms 
 of conversation, though nothing more : however, 
 I made shift to answer them pretty well, and said 
 I did not doubt of finding as much, if not more, 
 happiness in Paraguay than I had ever experienced 
 in any other part of the world. They seemed 
 pleased at my reply, and congratulated me on my 
 recovery, and on my proficiency in the Spanish 
 tongue, which they said was the finest language in 
 the world. I bowed an assent, at which they 
 seemed mightily pleased, and were about to ask 
 me some more questions when a bell summoned 
 them away. 
 
 Brother Jerome came to me immediately after 
 
 f 2
 
 68 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY, 
 
 vespers last night, and told me that two of the 
 fathers meant to join him in soliciting the superior 
 to permit me to accompany them on their visits 
 about the town during his absence, and they had 
 great hopes of succeeding. This information has 
 given me great pleasure, as by that means I hope 
 to have it in my power to send you some descrip- 
 tion of the country and the manners of the people 
 I am compelled to live among ; though God 
 knows if you will ever receive what I write. I 
 have tried several times to learn some particulars 
 respecting the progress of the war, but on that head 
 my friend Jerome is obstinately silent j and I am 
 averse to asking questions of any other of the 
 community, as not only the novices but the lay 
 brothers appear to treat me with a kind of distant 
 civility, and that is all. But there is one among 
 the oldest fathers whose countenance is the index 
 of good-nature and complacency: he has conversed 
 with me twice in the gardens of the convent, but 
 his discourse turned chiefly upon the properties 
 of plants ; and perceiving, by my remarks, that I 
 had some knowledge of natural philosophy, he 
 described to me the nature and qualities of two 
 very beautiful shrubs, natives of this province, and 
 both antidotes against the bite of poisonous rep- 
 tiles. The juice is extracted by bruising the herb, 
 laid flat between two large stones j the bottom one
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 69 
 
 of which is concave, to receive the juice, which is 
 forced out by turning round the upper stone very 
 quickly : the liquid thus obtained is placed in a short 
 stone bottle, and left to ferment two or three hours in 
 the sun. When it ceases to emit a kind of white 
 froth it is fit for use, and is carefully preserved 
 In small vials till wanted, which is not unfre- 
 quently. In case of using it, the wound or sting 
 is first washed with clean spring water, when, 
 being wiped dry, the preparation is poured either 
 into or upon it. A bit of dry cotton is then 
 spread over the part affected, and banded carefully 
 down. This is repeated every two hours, until the 
 cotton comes away green. The poison is then 
 known to be extracted, the wound is rubbed with 
 bear's grease, and the patient declared out of 
 danger. One of these plants strongly resembles 
 scurvy-grass ; the other, which is taller, has a leaf 
 which, in look and feel, appears like the thickest 
 velvet, and is of a dark heavy green colour : it 
 bears a bright crimson flower, faintly tinged with 
 gold, but in size and shape very similar to the 
 blue flag iris : both plants are esculent, and highly 
 esteemed by the natives. 
 
 1 have endeavoured, with father Jerome's assist- 
 ance, to analyse the herbs left by my Indian phy- 
 sician, which so happily effected my restoration to 
 reason: but we found it impossible to ascertain
 
 70 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 their species, as throughout the whole convent 
 garden not one appeared to bear any affinity to 
 them, either in smell or taste. I remarked this 
 circumstance to the botanical father, who said 
 they were peculiar in the province of Tucuman, 
 and that the Indians of the Tercero-river fre- 
 quently brought small baskets full of them to 
 Buenos Ayres for barter, together with a variety 
 pf other articles. That which had cured me, he 
 said, was a composition of four herbs, which the 
 Spaniards had vainly endeavoured to propagate in 
 the district of La Plata, but never could succeed 
 in rearing 5 they being constantly destroyed, when 
 about three inches high from the ground, by the 
 ants, which infest all the plantations in this pro- 
 vince in such numbers as sometimes to cover and 
 destroy almost every plant and shrub in a space of 
 several miles in extent : so cautious is Providence 
 in bestowing its blessings without a proportionate 
 share of evils. 
 
 The soil here is light and sandy, but extremely 
 Tich and productive ; owing, in some measure, to 
 jhe overflowing of the river during the rainy 
 season, which, in much the same manner as the 
 Nile in Egypt, leaves a nutritious slime on the 
 earth : there is, therefore, no great labour requi- 
 site on the part of the proprietor to prepare the 
 ground for the reception of any kind of seed that
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 71 
 
 he wishes to cultivate ; and matters are so con- 
 trived, that every garden is refreshed by water 
 from the Plata, let in or out by a kind of sluice 
 made of osiers woven very strong and thick, 
 which open like our flood-gates used in the inland 
 navigation. The water thus admitted, is sent in 
 smaller channels round the parterres ; and most 
 co.nmonly a quantity of it is retained in a large 
 basin or reservoir, of which there is one in every 
 extensive garden. The reservoir attached to our 
 convent is formed of brick, strongly cemented, an4 
 surrounded wi.h a wall about five feet high, with 
 steps on the outside up to the margin, and down 
 likewise on the inside to the bottom, which in 
 ours is about twenty feet below the surface of the 
 earth. When this supply is very low— which is 
 often the case when the pampero has blown any 
 longer time than ordinary, by which means the 
 waters have been driven with greater violence to» 
 wards the sea, and thereby prevented from dis- 
 pensing their favours among the more remote 
 garden grounds— it is rather treublesome to be 
 got at ; they therefore hasten to take advantage 
 of any swell in the river, and fill the reservoir at 
 once. These water repositories have likewise an 
 opening, about two fjet and a half wide, in the wall 
 that surrounds them. This aperture is secured by 
 a door let into grooves, on each side, to draw up
 
 72 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 and down at pleasure: when the water is low, 
 they raise this door, and the gardener goes inside, 
 where, descending the steps that lead to the bot- 
 tom, he stands as on the brink of a well, and 
 draws as much as he has occasion for. The water 
 here is beautifully clear and sparkling ; but ks 
 coldness, when drank, is apt to bring on dysente- 
 ries and other dangerous diseases, such as I ex- 
 perienced while at Monte Video : for though I am 
 now thirty leagues higher up the Plata, its good 
 and bad qualities are the same, and even at this 
 distance from the sea it is between seven and 
 eight leagues across. You may guess from hence 
 of what an amazing size this river must be. 
 
 But nature, in these regions, as well as in North 
 America, seems to have worked upon a most gi- 
 gantic scale when engaged in their formation, and 
 to have studied well how the component parts 
 could best be rendered worthy the immensity of 
 the whole. She has played the niggard stepdame 
 only with the feathered part of the creation, and 
 even there what is deficient in size she has amply 
 compensated for in variety and numbers. The 
 province of Paraguay is famous for producing 
 birds of the most beautiful plumage ; the banks 
 of the river being, as I am told by the fathers, 
 nearly covered with those lovely little creatures, 
 of almost every description y among which th*
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 75 
 
 most remarkable is the celebrated humming-bird, so 
 well and so often described by naturalists and tra- 
 vellers. Here they are natives 5 and frequently, 
 when I am in the convent garden, I see swarms of 
 them flying about on every side like so many large 
 wasps, or resting on trje shrubs and sucking the 
 flowers, which form the principal part pf their sus- 
 tenance. They are very tame; so much so, indeed, 
 as at times to be very troublesome, when they come 
 by four and five together humming and buzzing 
 round my head, till they confuse me to such a 
 degree that I am obliged to lay about me in self- 
 defence, and buffet them away as we do the blue- 
 bottle flies in England. 
 
 J)o you not pity me for being confined to a 
 country, the very beauties of which, from being 
 too abundant, degenerate into plagues? Adieu!
 
 «74 
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 LETTER XIII. 
 
 Content of St. Dominic, June, J 797* 
 The holy festival was celebrated yester- 
 day, with a degree of pomp of which I had not en- 
 entertained the smallest idea. The morning was 
 ushered in by the ringing of bells, firing of cannon, 
 and other similar demonstrations of joy ; sounds so 
 new, and so widely different from any I had heard 
 since my arrival here, that I began to feel very 
 much alarmed, from an apprehension that the 
 Spaniards had obtained some signal victory over 
 the British arms, and the news had just then ar- 
 rived at Buenos Ayres. My heart proudly palpi- 
 tated at the humiliating idea, and I was very in- 
 dustriously tormenting myself, when fatherjerome 
 entered my room, and presently relieved me, by 
 saying — " Are not these glorious sounds, which 
 proclaim this blessed festival ? What a pity it is 
 so many of your infidel countrymen should be 
 lost to this august ceremony !" I could have 
 hugged the reverend enthusiast for so well re- 
 moving my anxiety ; but not caring to betray my 
 real sentiments on the subject, I coolly answered, 
 " We are not all endowed with an equal portion
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 75 
 
 of the divine spirit, brother Jerome j" and imme- 
 diately accompanied him to the convent chapel. 
 Divine service was performed three times in the 
 course of the morning ; the first mass at six 
 o'clock, the second at half past seven, and the 
 third at nine. 
 
 At ten o'clock, upon a signal given at the go- 
 vernor's house, the community prepared to join 
 in the general cavalcade ; and now, for the first 
 time, I was to see the outside of the convent. We 
 were arranged in order, in a large square, within 
 the gates: first, the young choristers were divided 
 into four bands, twelve in each j these are the 
 children under the tuition of the fathers. The 
 first division was to precede the whole, singing 
 a particular service appropriate to the day. On 
 either side these children walked lay-brothers, 
 bearing ensigns, or pictures representing the dif- 
 ferent achievements of their patron saint. Then 
 followed the novices, among whom was myself; 
 every one bearing some precious relic or another, 
 enclosed in boxes of ebony and ivory, curiously 
 wrought. 
 
 To us succeeded another band of music, ac- 
 companied by all the visitors of distinction, of 
 which there were not a few from the distant plant- 
 ations. Next came the elder fathers of the con-. 
 yent ; two and two, each carrying something re-
 
 76 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 lative to the festival ; and after them the superior, 
 drest in all the regalia of his office, surrounded 
 by the young students going to Cordovo, and six 
 lay-brothers, bearing banners. The remainder of 
 the community, choristers,, and several newly -bap- 
 tized Indians, brought up the rear ; every one in 
 this procession being arrayed in their richest and 
 gayest attire. The cavalcade, having cleared the 
 convent-gate, entered a large handsome square ; 
 on one side of which stands the cathedral, a very 
 fine well-finished edifice, crowned with a cupola, 
 and open on all sides to the view. Round this 
 square were assembled the societies of several 
 other orders, all dressed in paraphernalia ; and 
 a more curious scene I never witnessed. It seemed 
 as if people from all nations of the earth w T ere col- 
 lected together, presenting every different shade 
 of the complexion, from the silver-haired in- 
 habitant of Denmark to the sable-hued native of 
 Guinea. 
 
 Among the crowd some Indian caciques held a 
 very conspicuous place. They wore party-co- 
 loured cotton habits, prettily decorated with a va- 
 riety of feathers, arranged in a very judicious and 
 elegant manner. Bands of wool, red, purple, and 
 yellow, encircled their heads, and supported some 
 of the most beautiful plumes I ever beheld. Se- 
 veral of the caciques wore glittering ornaments on
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY; 77 
 
 their chins ; others on their necks, arms, and 
 legs. But if these Indians pleased by the gaiety 
 of their attire, another tribe interested me no less 
 by their simplicity. These were clad in white 
 cotton vestments, with no other ornament than 
 large full white feathers, rising one above another 
 round the head. This dress, contrasted with the 
 dark copper colour of their skins, was peculiarly 
 striking, and gave a most singular, though ex- 
 tremely pleasing appearance to the whole. 
 
 The outsides of the houses round the square 
 were hung with festoons of flowers, and live birds, 
 tied with strings, to prevent their escape, but long 
 enough to admit of their fluttering sufficiently 
 to expand their beautiful plumage ; a contrivance 
 which I must confess had a very picturesque ef- 
 fect. The portico of the church was decorated 
 with an uncommon quantity of real and artificial 
 flowers, in the disposal of which a great share of 
 taste had been displayed. Under the principal 
 arch was placed a band of musicians, who sung 
 and played most enchantingly. Indeed there is 
 not a place in the world, not even Italy, where 
 sacred music is more studiously attended to. Upon 
 a volley being fired by some of the soldiers — who 
 were all drawn up on one side of the square — the 
 procession commenced by the military, fully ac- 
 coutred, marching off two and two, to the sound
 
 78 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 of drums, trumpets, and other martial music, at 
 intervals halting, to discharge their pieces ; the 
 bells of all the churches ringing, and the ships in 
 the harbour returning the firing in the town : so 
 that altogether you may suppose the concert by 
 no means a despicable one. First after the soldiers 
 came the order of St. Francis, arranged in nearly 
 the same manner as ourselves ; then followed a 
 second division of the military, and the choiristers 
 of the cathedral : to them succeeded the order 
 of St. James ; and, thirdly, we came in. Between 
 our rear and the advanced guard of the fourth 
 community was borne on a very high altar, richly 
 decorated, the elements of the eucharist, sur- 
 rounded by a vast number of people of the . first 
 rank and quality ; some of them bearing lighted 
 wax-candles, highly perfumed j others incense, 
 many banners, and not a few relics : the whole 
 group flanked by soldiers on horseback, in their 
 newest and best attire, firing alternately to the 
 right and left ; and wherever a cross was erected, 
 which I believe was at the end of every street, 
 the whole cavalcade halted to sing the appointed 
 service. 
 
 After the eucharist came another division of 
 soldiers, and after them all the remaining re- 
 ligious of the town, while on either side of the 
 street — for we took the middle — marched the
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 79 
 
 mobility, men, women, and children, but, not- 
 withstanding their numbers, all ranged in regular 
 order, and observing a profound silence, except 
 when they joined in the general choruses, and 
 then blessed St. Dominic. What a din was there! 
 Each division of the whole procession was attended 
 by a band of music, which, halting at the crosses, 
 played almost divinely ; and sorry enough I was, 
 when the devotion of the multitude, breaking forth 
 into audible sounds, spoiled such excellent har- 
 mony. 
 
 The decorations of the houses in magnificence 
 surpassed any thing I ever beheld in Europe on 
 the like occasion. The streets are wide, and most 
 of them in a straight line ; the houses in general 
 low, with here and there a very elegant church 
 or public building, finished according to the rules 
 of European architecture. Every habitation was 
 hung either with tapestry or coloured cottons of 
 various dyes, ornamented with feathers in a very 
 ingenious manner ; between which were suspended 
 festoons of flower^, articles of plate, and even 
 jewels, according to the riches of the owner. 
 Across the streets, from side to side, were tri- 
 umphal arches, composed of boughs of trees art- 
 fully interwoven ; from which hung, as at the 
 portico of the church, a great variety of living 
 birds, all suspended in the most advantageous
 
 $0 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 point of view, and some of them beyond descrip- 
 tion beautiful. Between the arches were set out 
 a vast quantity of eatables ; such as cakes, pies^ 
 fruits, &c. all disposed in a very agreeable man-' 
 ner : and I could not help feeling a kind of pe- 
 culiar English pleasure at this part of the exhibition. 
 Close to the houses, on each side of the streets,* 
 were likewise placed living animals — young tigers, 
 lions, wolves, dogs, and even monkeys of a par- 
 ticular large species — secured so carefully as to 
 prevent any possibility of their escaping, or hurt-: 
 nig those that might come near them. From 
 the windows were suspended baskets, very neatly 
 wove, of a lovely green colour, containing every 
 kind of seed or grain with which they mean to 
 sow the land, that the Saviour of the world 
 might bestow his benediction on them as he passes, 
 which they think will undoubtedly procure them a 
 plentiful harvest ; and indeed they are seldom, if 
 ever, disappointed. 
 
 ] There is not a street through which the pro- 
 cession passes but is adorned in crhis splendid man- 
 ner : for on this festival the riches of every in- 
 dividual are displayed to the greatest advantage 
 possible, and with a peculiar degree of art; which 
 must, I should think, occupy a considerable time 
 in preparation. 
 
 In one of the streets leading to the great square
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAt. 81 
 
 I saw three of the largest and finest peacocks I 
 ever beheld : also pheasants of an extraordinary 
 size and beauty, not much unlike the peacocks in 
 point of feather, but taller, with more slender 
 legs ; and in lieu of a long sweeping tail, small 
 tufts of feathers, Composed of dark brown, beauti- 
 fully shaded with green and gold ; but their eves 
 and plumage, in beauty and variety of colours, 
 far surpassed any of the biped kind that had ever 
 before met my inspection. They all appeared very 
 tame; and, with several other large birds fastened 
 in a similar way, were not in the least disturbed 
 by the firing, the shouts of che multitude, or the 
 trampling of the horses. The ground was all over- 
 strewed with herbs and flowers, so regularly dis- 
 posed as to resemble, in many places, the most 
 delicate Persian carpets. In fine, all the sweets of 
 nature seemed collected in one spot, to honour the 
 sacred festival : and a greater assemblage of peo- 
 ple of all ranks, ages, and conditions, I never wit- 
 nessed, even iu the most populous city in Europe; 
 nor so profound a silence and regularity, except 
 when the pious responses Were made. 
 
 The governor was dressed in a rich Spanish 
 habit, tastily ornamented with gold, jewels, &c. 
 He was surrounded by a numerous and very 
 splendid retinue, as none but the sick are exempt 
 from assistance at this ceremony.
 
 82 LETTERS PROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 When the procession reached the cathedral the 
 air was almost rent by the multitude of voices ; 
 and we entered the edifice during a heavy dis- 
 charge of artillery from the garrison and ships 
 in the harbour, also volleys of musquetry from 
 the soldiers in the streets. Here high mass was 
 celebrated, and the sacrament administered ; which 
 ceremony, of course, occupied a considerable time, 
 and when ended the different communities re- 
 tired in the same order to their respective con- 
 vents. The principal visitors and caciques are in- 
 vited to the governor's, where a plentiful banquet 
 is provided for them, composed of every delicacy 
 the country affords. The eatables, &c. with which 
 the streets were adorned are taken down, and 
 distributed by the parish priests- among the in- 
 habitants, who entertain all strangers that choose 
 to partake of them. At night there is a general 
 rejoicing j when some very ingenious fire-works 
 are displayed, and national games exhibited, such 
 as hunting or baiting the wild bull, &c. and va- 
 rious, martial exercises, in which the inhabitants 
 of Buenos Ayres particularly excel. 
 
 These customs to an Englishman may appear 
 strange, perhaps ridiculous ; but they are abso- 
 lutely necessary in all catholic countries, where it 
 is the object of the religious to make as many con- 
 verts as possible. These public ceremonies, then,.
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 83 
 
 are positively requisite : — you must attack the 
 senses, not the judgment, of an ignorant people. 
 The Indians, in particular, are powerfully attracted 
 by church music : care is therefore taken by the 
 clergy here to invite as many as possible to their 
 splendid festivals, that by witnessing the grandeur 
 and solemnity of the spectacle they might form a 
 wish to become members of a church which, to all 
 outward appearance, is so extremely fascinating. 
 
 At our return to the convent we sat down to a 
 very sumptuous and elegant dinner, composed of 
 every delicacy of the year. This is a peculiar in- 
 dulgence granted them by his holiness the pope ; 
 otherwise our order profess abstinence and morti- 
 fication. But I sincerely believe it is profession 
 only ; for though the rules of this society are 
 neither rigid nor severe, I doubt me they are fre- 
 quently enough infringed upon; in which case, and 
 indeed in most other cases, a penance enjoined is 
 quite sufficient, without spending much time in en- 
 forcing it. 
 
 O 2
 
 §4 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY 
 
 LETTER XIV. 
 
 t 
 
 Content of St. Dominic, June, 1/9/. 
 
 For a certainty the superior of this 
 convent is an excellent, good man ; and I must 
 confess, in spite of my heretical ideas, leads a truly 
 holy and religious life, unbiassed by bigotry, un- 
 trammelled with superstition. He is going very 
 soon to visit a presidency under the protection of 
 St. Dominic, at a place above four hundred miles 
 beyond Cordovo. I should like much to accompany 
 him, but know not how to solicit the favour : for, 
 since I must perforce stay in this part of the world, 
 I would much rather be a wanderer in and about 
 the missions than confined to this dull uninterest- 
 ing spot. I am not fond of an inactive life. Man 
 was never sent into this world by a beneficent 
 Creator to slumber out his days in sloth and in- 
 dolence, amidst a society of licensed drones, who 
 live but to eat and enjoy, without the labour of 
 earning them, the blessings of nature, in a super- 
 lative degree. Mistake me not, my friend : I do 
 not include in this unqualified censure the ad- 
 venturous missionaries who are dispersed over the
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 85 
 
 whole of Paraguay. These, if I may believe re- 
 port, are true- disciples of the primitive apostles, 
 who existed only for the benefit of their fellow 
 beings : but the lives of the clergy in local so- 
 cieties afford at the best but a questionable picture 
 of Christian forbearance, benevolence, and meek- 
 ness. Their power, where they have any, is ex- 
 ercised with a blind erroneous severity ; and their 
 persuasion, when employed, tends but to enslave, 
 not merely the souls, but the bodies of their con- 
 verts. Nevertheless, as they certainly are ma- 
 sters of eloquent dissimulation, they are never at a 
 loss for agents to execute what their policy has 
 planned. 
 
 The interior missions serve to provide for a 
 multitude of young men, who must otherwise at- 
 tach themselves to mechanical pursuits. This is 
 repugnant to the pride of many, who would at 
 any hazard prefer being at the head of a pre- 
 sidency, and governing a body of ignorant sa- 
 vages, in constant fear and turmoil, to a life of 
 dependence, however secure, in more polished so- 
 cieties. For this, my friend, who can blame 
 them ? The love of liberty is inherent in the mind 
 of man. It is an immortal blessing, which can- 
 not be too highly valued, nor too dearly lost. I 
 wonder no longer at the heroic, obstinate resist- 
 ance the Indians made to secure this invstlua]
 
 86 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 treasure ; nor at their inveterate hatred of the 
 Spaniards, who have strove, by the most stubborn 
 unremitting cruelty, to enslave so many unoffend- 
 ing thousands, born free as air, and demanding an 
 equal right with their merciless invaders to every 
 bounty from the hand of nature. They have 
 now flown from the heavy yoke they could neither 
 break nor bear ; and few, very few Indians are at 
 present to be seen in the Spanish settlements, ex- 
 cept the peculiar slaves of the state and indivi- 
 duals. They live at a considerable distance from 
 the towns, and studiously avoid holding any cor- 
 respondence with their tyrants but during the 
 time they come to exchange their commodities for 
 those of Europe, which by former communication 
 with the Spaniards they have learnt the use of. 
 Some of these trading Indians come from an im- 
 mense distance — many between six and seven 
 hundred miles — bringing with them the annual 
 tribute, and large quantities of the herb para- 
 guay ; which, I believe, I mentioned in a former 
 letter. It is here in much request, and used alike 
 by the Spaniards and the natives, being mixed, in 
 some sense, as tea is with us, and drank as a k 
 common beverage ; the want of wine in this pro- 
 vince causing a great consumption of it. I fre- 
 quently drink of it, and taste but very little dif- 
 ference between that and tea. They are both
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 87 
 
 astringents, but with opposite properties : for as 
 the latter relaxes and weakens the stomach, so the 
 former strengthens, braces, and invigorates the 
 whole nervous system. I speak of the received 
 opinion as to the effects of tea : for my own part 
 I always found great benefit from the use of it ; 
 but my constitution is a whimsical one. 
 
 I have been out twice in the town since the 
 festival, accompanied by father Jerome, who has 
 been very busy for these last five days in pre- 
 paring for the departure of the superior ; who, I 
 find, is obliged by his office to visit the presidency 
 once in three years ever since the expulsion of the 
 Jesuits. 
 
 In one of our rambles Jerome took me to the 
 house of a Spanish merchant, who during the 
 peace had considerable dealings with some of our 
 Bristol traders. I can now converse tolerably well 
 in Spanish ; and from this gentleman I learned 
 several particulars respecting the war. He is not 
 over-rigid in his national principles ; but speaks 
 of the English as a brave and generous people, 
 and very much regrets our being in a state of 
 hostility. He has a large family of children, and 
 a very agreeable woman for his wife : her name 
 donna Louisa. She visited England with him 
 
 *
 
 33 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY, 
 
 about sixteen years, ago; but did not, it seems., 
 see the capital. She was at Bath and Bristol, but 
 her travels extended no further. She expresses a 
 great desire to see more of our island, and says 
 she hopes to do so when her husband returns to 
 Old Spain. He is a native of Barcelona, and 
 came here, with many others, to improve his for- 
 tune by commerce. They are both very commu- 
 nicative, talk freely on all subjects, and are ex- 
 tremely fond of pleasure, which indeed every in* 
 dividual here seems to pursue with as much avidity 
 as the North Americans do gain. 
 
 I could not help contrasting the manners of this 
 lively Spaniard with those of my old friend Mrs. 
 
 B at New York. There, all is frugality and 
 
 management : here, nothing but gaiety and dissi- 
 pation. Nothing here is more degrading to a 
 woman of the better sort than attention to the do- 
 mestic concerns of the house ; of which, for the 
 most part, they are wholly ignorant. The morn- 
 ing she employs in religion and visiting her par- 
 ticular friends ; the middle of the day in sleep ; 
 afternoon and evening in dress, music, and con- 
 versations, for cards are not in fashion here. At 
 their grand repasts, which they take at evening, 
 it is genteel for every one to eat as much as pos- 
 sible y and the guests may likewise take away
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 89 
 
 with them as much as they please, without being 
 esteemed in the least ill-bred : and I must con. 
 fess, from the profusion which appears in this 
 merchant's house, I begin to think that trade 
 must be attended with very advantageous effects, 
 as my friends in the northern hemisphere have so 
 
 often asserted ; and of which, if my factor H 
 
 is fortunate, 1 hope to have proof positive. I 
 have learnt to consider this point more attentively 
 since my visit to don Manuel Robledos than be- 
 fore ; as a trilling, or even comfortable, income 
 could not support the style in which even the 
 middling class of people here live : whether Spa- 
 niards holding places under government, mer- 
 chants trading to foreign countries, or Creoles, 
 who carry on a traffic with the Indians — all ap- 
 pear to live as though the only business of their 
 lives was pleasure, and this place the emporium 
 of the world. Not but I could discover in the 
 wretched little hovels inhabited by the mestizes 
 only — this is a mongrel race, sprung from the na- 
 tive Indians and the meanest of the Spaniards — 
 a sufficient share of poverty and filthiness. Some 
 of these people have voluntarily put themselves 
 under the protection of their conquerors ; others 
 are attached with the lands to the officers of state 
 and superior grandees, and pass, like the boors 
 in Russia, from one master to another, at the
 
 90 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 r. 
 
 caprice or pleasure of the crown, or the go- 
 vernor of the province, who exercises here an un- 
 limited power of life and death over the miserable 
 natives, whose situation, in many respects, is far 
 worse than that of the African slave in our co- 
 lonies.
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY, 91 
 
 LETTER XV. 
 
 Convent of St. Dominic, June, IfCfl, 
 
 Few people are more disposed to 
 make the most of life than myself. Is it possible, 
 therefore, that I could long endure with patience 
 the dull routine of a monastic life ? I was tired 
 of it in less than a fortnight ; and my thoughts, 
 which neither state policy nor stone walls can re- 
 strain, are eternally roving over these neglected 
 provinces, picturing to myself what vast improve- 
 ments I could make in the various presidencies, 
 the concerns of which form the principal topic of 
 conversation in this convent. I cannot help re- 
 gretting that such immense tracts of fertile land 
 between La Plata and Brazil should lie in a state 
 of uncultivated nature, without contributing in 
 the least to the comfort of any individual. Cer- 
 tain I am that great and unmanly tyranny must 
 have been exercised by the Spaniards over the na- 
 tives, to cause such an universal indolence and 
 imbecility j nor, if I may judge from appearances, 
 is this tyranny in the least abated. 
 
 Last Friday I went again to don Manuel Rob- 
 ledos\ After dinner we walked in his gardens,
 
 92 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 which are very spaeious and beautiful, reaching 
 down to the water's edge. Next adjoining to 
 these were the pleasure-grounds of the lieutenant- 
 governor, in which I saw three Indians at work, 
 apparently sinking under the fatigue of a task to 
 which their strength was inadequate ; while a Span- 
 ish superintendant, who watched all their motions, 
 punished the slightest remission of labour with the 
 most inhuman stripes. 
 
 I enquired of don Manuel if this was their 
 usual custom. He answered, yes : and when I 
 expressed my surprise and abhorrence, by ob- 
 serving, that even the negroes on the British plant- 
 ations passed a life far, very far, less wretched ; 
 he coolly replied, " Very true, sir : and so do my 
 domestic slaves, who am but a merchant. But 
 what is the reason ? The African we are obliged 
 to purchase; and if through ill usage he dies, there 
 is so much money lost. Now the native Indian is 
 the property of the state ; and no one suffers by 
 his loss but his majesty, who has it in his power to 
 replace it immediately, without feeling the least. 
 inconvenience." Bad policy, thought I; but, from 
 prudential motives, said no more upon the sub- 
 ject till our return to the house, when by re- 
 peated questions I gained such information from 
 the communicative Manuel of the Spaniards' in. 
 humanity towards their unfortunate captives as
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 93 
 
 made my blood run coldly through my veins, 
 and my heart revolt from the idea of owning 
 such tyrannic beings for my fellow-creatures. 
 
 When the Spaniards first landed on this injured 
 country the innocent inhabitants received them as 
 gods from a distant region. Then was the time 
 for them to have established their reign on the im- 
 mortal basis of justice and of mercy, and to have 
 secured a certain empire over the minds as well 
 as bodies of their new subjects. Lenity and kind- 
 ness, it has ever been allowed, are far more 
 efficacious in gaining the affections and govern- 
 ing the passions of an untutored savage than 
 rigor and severity unjustly adopted, injudiciously 
 applied. 
 
 In strong uncultivated minds there is no me- 
 dium affection between ardent love and the most 
 deadly hate. Actuated by the former, he will 
 share with you every thing he possesses ; follow 
 you, serve you, die for you : but once excite the 
 latter, and never, never to the end of time can it 
 be, eradicated from his breast, but descends from 
 father to son to the latest generation, and strength- 
 ens instead of decaying. Would it not have been 
 wiser as well as more politic in the Spaniards to 
 have wrapped in downy folds the galling chain 
 of slavery, and learnt to consider these unhappy 
 victims, not as mere beasts o^ burden, formed
 
 94 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 but to labour and to perish, but as men, bearing 
 like themselves the stamp and image of a bene- 
 ficent Creator 3 born with an equal right to all his 
 bounties, and whose ancestors enjoyed unmolested 
 for ages the ground now wet with the tears of their 
 oppressed and injured offspring ; and from which 
 their inhuman tyrants derive the whole of that im- 
 mense wealth, which has long been their only sup- 
 port and pride ? 
 
 There have, it is true, been many humane and 
 salutary regulations made and edicts issued at the 
 court of Spain for the protection and relief of the 
 harassed Indians : but of what service are they s 
 when so shamefully neglected, or so scandalously 
 abused when put in execution ? The power which 
 alone can remedy the evil is at too great a 
 distance to perceive the extent of it ; and here, in 
 the actual scene of action, every one who has the 
 smallest share in the concerns of government is 
 too much occupied by his own particular interest 
 to attend to any measure that might, if adopted, 
 deprive him for a time of the smallest advantage 
 he derives from the post conferred upon him, 
 however such a step might tend to alleviate the 
 sufferings of a wretched people, oppressed and in- 
 jured beyond the power of resistance, or even of 
 complaint. 
 
 The only object here of those in power is to-
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY-, 95 
 
 make an immense and rapid fortune ; at whose 
 cxpence, and by what means, they care not. Every 
 officer that is sent from the mother country hither 
 finds an allotted number of natives attached to 
 the situation provided for him : those he has 
 liberty to employ how, when, and where it best 
 pleases him, and as fast as they perish he demands 
 a new supply ; of whom there are yearly sent 
 many thousands from the inland presidencies to 
 the Spanish towns, there to be employed in the 
 mines, state buildings, or the service of individuals, 
 as government thinks most fitting. 
 
 Such a wanton impolitic sacrifice of lives, joined 
 to the dreadful ravages made by- that fatal disease 
 the small-pox, which is peculiarly destructive- 
 among the Indians, must naturally tend to di- 
 minish their numbers, if not, at length, to their 
 total extermination. Symptoms of this have been 
 already felt, and schemes are daily projecting to 
 ward off the approaching evil. This is useless. 
 It is too late now to be prudent ; and Spain at 
 large must be content to suffer for the turpitude of 
 those in whom the interests of this southern world 
 were vested. 
 
 Great numbers of negroes are yearly imported 
 for domestic servitude, but notwithstanding this 
 the loss of the Indians begins to be sensibly felt ; 
 and was it not for the consciousness the court of
 
 95 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 Madrid cannot but feel of the state of imbecility 
 to which so many years of luxurious indolence 
 have reduced its military power in this country, I 
 should entertain the most serious apprehensions 
 for the liberty of those tribes who in the interior 
 of the provinces have yet preserved their inde- 
 pendence uninjured, unsubdued. Some of them, 
 it is true, pay an annual tribute to the Spaniards 
 for liberty to trade to their settlements ; but there 
 are others still more remote, who heroically per- 
 sist in holding not the smallest intercourse what- 
 ever with the invaders and enslavers of their na- 
 tive land : and this implacable hereditary hatred 
 is augmented rather than diminished by the ag- 
 gravating reports of those Indians who, unable to 
 bear the severity with which they are treated, con- 
 trive means of escape from their servitude in the 
 Spanish towns ; ?nd fly for protection to their 
 happier brethren ; who, by a long and firm re- 
 sistance, have rendered themselves extremely for- 
 midable to their European task-makers, whom they 
 now keep in a constant state of alarm. The arms 
 which once awed them into silence time has ren- 
 dered too familiar to be feared ; and the Spanish 
 rulers perceive too late the fatal error of their pre- 
 decessors, who barbarously rent asunder the bonds 
 of faith and friendship with the natives, trusting 
 only to a despotic tyranny, which in progress of
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 97 
 
 time must inevitably work its own destruction. 
 Such ever be the effects of unfeeling avarice and 
 thirst of power ! Had the kings of Spain when 
 first this country became theirs by right of con- 
 quest — for by no other can they claim it — duly ap- 
 preciated the blessing, and, mindful of the future 
 interests of both nations, adopted such measures 
 only as were most likely to produce not only last- 
 ing but increasing benefits, alike to their successors 
 and their subjects, how widely different would 
 have been the conduct of the mercenary invaders \ 
 
 Omnipotence never created one human being to 
 exercise tyranny over another. We come alike 
 ffee into the world from the hands of the great 
 Creator, and nothing but our vices should make 
 us subservient to the rod of power. If we obey 
 a superior, it should be from principle only, and 
 not from compulsory motives. A generous soul 
 disdains such forced obedience ; nor can the man 
 who boasts the common feelings of humanitv ex- 
 act it. If a man serves me voluntarily, I am 
 served well ; but if I compel him to obey me, the 
 service is not well performed— it is but half done, 
 with grudging and ill-will. Were I a prince, I 
 would sooner command an army of ten thousand 
 volunteers, than boast the services of as many mil- 
 lions compelled into action. 
 
 It is the unhappy natives drawn from the pre- 
 
 H
 
 9$ LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 sidencLs that have erected all the public buildings; 
 and like the thousands whom Peter the Great 
 tore from their native villages, and condemned to 
 work and perish in the bogs of St. Petcrsburgh, 
 so these have laboured, and become unpided vic- 
 tims, under the directions of the Spaniards. 
 
 My friend, I am sick at heart when I consider 
 the depravity of these pretended christians, and 
 the injustice of Heaven in bestowing on such 
 wretches the -power of oppressing so many thou- 
 sand inoffensive beings. But let nor finite wis- 
 dom measure infinite. " The ways of Heaven 
 are dark and intricate, puzzled in mazes, and per- 
 plexed with errors ; our understanding reaches 
 them in vain." 
 
 I may be wrong in estimating the guilt or inno- 
 cence of the unhappy Indians. In ages long since 
 past, crimes may have been committed which now 
 at this far distant period have drawn down the 
 vengeance of an offended Deity ; and the inhu- 
 man Spaniards rule not but as the ministers of re- 
 tributive justice. It is a dark subject : I had bet- 
 ter leave it. Time will unravel all. 
 
 Adieu! Y'urs.
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 99 
 
 LETTER XVI. 
 
 Convent of St. Dominic, July, 17Q7. 
 
 Why, my friend, did the primitive 
 fathers institute religious societies ? Is it consistent 
 with the precepts of Christ to shut up so large a 
 portion of the human species in habitations secluded 
 from the world ? ' Do not many of those men, think 
 you, possess talents that might enable them to be 
 very useful and ornamental members of society, 
 instead of passing away their lives in' a kind of 
 slumbering existence like the little animal called a 
 sloth ? The monastic life, of all others, appears to 
 me the least congenial to the mind of man: — no 
 emulation, no fire, no wish to perpetuate their 
 names to posterity, for that is denied them, and 
 nothing substituted in its stead but a repetition of 
 prayers and exercises in which the heart joins not, 
 and praises to their God for blessings they know 
 not, or knowing, never can enjoy. No man, unless 
 he has truly tried the world and grown weary of 
 it from misfortune and neglect, should be per- 
 mitted to enter a religious house and waste away 
 his life in a state of indolent forgetfulness. Is it 
 natural to suppose that any man should forego the 
 
 h 2
 
 100 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 chief end for which he was created, and seek for 
 happiness in a society from which the female world 
 is utterly excluded ? Were a devotee who had not 
 experienced such a way of life to tell me that he 
 knew he should be perfectly happy in it, I would 
 first boldly assert the contrary, and then quietly 
 demonstrate to him the absurdity of such a notion. 
 Man was formed to mix in and enjoy the blessings 
 of active society, and not to bury the talents with 
 which Heaven has gifted him in the solitude and 
 gloom of a cloister. I am led into these reflections 
 by a discourse I have had this morning with one 
 of the fathers who came into the garden, whither I 
 had gone to assist brother Jerome in placing some 
 choice plants round the margin of the reservoir, 
 the situation in which they thrive best, owing to 
 their natural propensity to stagnant water. His 
 discourse turned at first on the beauty and variety 
 of the flowers ; he then passed to observations on 
 England, and the happiness he supposed I now 
 enjoyed in being so far distant from a nation of 
 heretics, with whom I could never hope to obtain 
 eternal salvation. For a moment I could not reply 
 to his observations : father Jerome looked at me, 
 and gave me to understand by his manner that it 
 was necessary I should seem pleased with my situa- 
 tion. I took the hint, and recovering myself said, 
 I certainly did consider myself as under the highest
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 101 
 
 \ 
 
 obligations to the community, and should feel 
 happy in the extreme if permitted to remain among 
 them till our adverse nations should again be 
 friends. 
 
 ' Then you would leave our society,' said he with 
 some degree of quickness, c and return to those 
 infidels were we at peace ?' ' That, your reverence,' 
 replied I, i will depend on circumstances : since it 
 has pleased Providence to conduct me to these 
 distant regions, I would willingly see as much of 
 them as I possibly can before I decide in what 
 part of the world to fix my resting-place. I 
 have heard much of this wonderful country, and 
 doubt not but I should admire it as much, if not 
 more than any traveller that has preceded me, 
 could 1 but be permitted to visit some of the distant 
 provinces ; — not that I should ever expect to find 
 a spot more suited to my inclinations than Buenos 
 Ayres.' 
 
 ■ True, true, 5 the father said ; he had heard from 
 brother Jerome that I had been for some years 
 past a traveller from choice, not necessity. But 
 was I not tired of roving about ? Should I not be 
 more at my ease, and more comfortable, if fixed to 
 one spot, than to be daily exposing myself to dis- 
 ease and hardships, for such all must expect who 
 led a wandering and unsettled life ? My motive 
 for rambling, I assured him, arose from curiosity 
 alone j I found roving from place to place without
 
 102 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 any settled plan had been essential to my happiness, 
 by bringing fresh objects continually to my view ; 
 and by such means diverting thought from that 
 which, if left to itself, would sooner or later 
 destroy the whole system of reason. 
 
 * It is enough, my son,' said the father, e I will 
 not now ask thee what thy troubles have been ; for 
 if such as thy discourse alludes to, and I conceive it 
 right, at some future time perhaps thou wilt be 
 able to talk more freely on the subject.* As he 
 said this he suddenly changed the subject, and 
 took up a flower, and discoursed on its formation 
 with a precision and correctness I little expected to 
 meet with in a friar of Paraguay. We spent nearly 
 two hours in conversing on various subjects ; but 
 he never once hinted any thing relative to the war 
 or my detention. Father Jerome was all the while 
 employed near us, and seemed to feel a pleasure 
 in hearing his superior talk so long and so familiarly 
 with me. When the latter had left us, two more 
 of the fraternity came up and entered into con- 
 versation ; but their discourse was confined to the 
 pleasure they enjoyed in that holy society, and how 
 happy they were in the continual exercise of devotion. 
 
 I assented to what they said without appearing to 
 doubt the truth of it ; but I could not help smiling 
 to mvself at the mistaken zeal of the reverend 
 labourers. They had never any of them, excepting 
 Jerome, conversed with me so long before, since
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 103 
 
 little more than the customary salutations of the 
 morning, and at the hours of prayer, had passed 
 between us : for though they all, as I have said 
 before, regarded me as a very good catholic, yet 
 being an Englishman was sufficient reason for 
 their keeping me at a kind of civil distance. I 
 was therefore somewhat surprised at this sudden 
 alteration in their behaviour : but the mystery was 
 soon unravelled on my return to the house. One 
 of the lay brothers who has charge of the expen- 
 ditures of the convent, and is in fact the treasurer, 
 came to inform me that the letter of credit left by 
 
 captain H had been duly honoured, and that, 
 
 after paying the fathers for every expence they had 
 been at both before and since my removal hither, 
 he had a surplus in his hands of seven hundred 
 and thirty piastres. He then presented the'account 
 of what had been done for me ; and a letter from 
 
 our friend IB at New York, directed to be 
 
 delivered to me if living, and if not, to be returned 
 by the next American vessel that should touch at 
 Buenos Ayres. This epistle was truly laconic, 
 but very significant and friendly; perfectly con- 
 sonant to the character of the writer, a truly honest 
 man, who it was evident had my interest very 
 much at heart. On examining the brother's ac- 
 count, I found I had no reason to be in any shape 
 displeased at the charges ; on the contrary, I was
 
 104 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 persuaded I had not been charged enough. I there- 
 fore immediately requested him to accept three 
 hundred piastres for the use of the convent, and 
 twenty for himself : observing, at the same time, 
 that I still considered myself as under the highest 
 obligations to every one in the community, and 
 should take every opportunity while I remained 
 there of testifying my gratitude. The pious pur- 
 veyor went from me in high glee : I had made 
 him perfectly happy. Soon after I met brother 
 Jerome repairing again to his usual avocation, 
 gardening, in which he is from inclination a very 
 great proficient. I accompanied him as usual 
 thither, and by the smile on his countenance was 
 certain he had something pleasant to impart. He 
 is a good soul, and fond of anecdote. When we 
 had reached the end of an avenue which com- 
 mands a view of the country to the south, he says, 
 ' Look at that pavilion yonder, and try what you 
 can see.' I did as he bade me : it was a little low 
 building belonging to the grove at St. Theresa, 
 which is a sort of public walk where the inha- 
 bitants of Buenos Ayres go during the processions ; 
 which are as frequent in this place as in all catholic 
 countries in Europe, and even more so. This 
 grove reaches almost the whole length of the town, 
 and nearly encircles the principal buildings. It is 
 a very pleasant place, and much frequented, except 
 
 m 
 
 i
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 105 
 
 when the pampero blows ; and then it is impossible 
 to remain in it on account of the vast quantities of 
 sand which the wind in its violence hurls over the 
 passenger. I looked very earnestly towards the 
 spot, but could not distinguish any particular 
 object for near a minute ; when at last I saw two 
 religious, as I supposed them to be, come out of 
 the alcove. ' Do you not see them now V cried he. 
 e Yes,' said I, ' I see them as you say ; but what, my 
 friend, is there new in a scapulary and cowl ?' ' A 
 great deal,' returned he; 4 sometimes more than you 
 are aware of. The one you see taller and more 
 lusty is not what he seems to be ; he is a country- 
 man of yours, and no monk : the other is a lady, 
 daughter of a privileged Jew immensely rich in 
 this town. She has contrived to effect her escape 
 from a convent at the back of the fort, and they 
 are now waiting for a friend of mine to take them 
 safe to St. Gabriel, from whence they will sail in a 
 few days for England in an American vessel now 
 in the harbour. It was this business which de- 
 tained me so long while you were at don Manuel's, 
 I love your nation, and would do any thing ro 
 serve them : — you see I would.' ' But are they not/ 
 said I, 'in a perilous situation ; — do they not run a 
 risk of discovery V ' Not in the dress of that order/ 
 he replied. ' Do you not observe it is that of the 
 barefooted Carmelites ? they are privileged to beg,
 
 * l r .ITERS FROM FARAGUAY, 
 
 and in the grove are occasionally stationed for that 
 purpose. Many will turn their heads away when 
 they see a religious of that order coming towards 
 them. See the lady accosts at this moment the se- 
 cretary of the major-general : he turns his head and 
 walks on : — there, now they pass down the walk 
 and address two ladies ; they give something. My 
 pupil seems to be perfect at her lesson : the women 
 are, in general, more charitable than the men/ 
 
 When the counterfeit monks had received the 
 donation they returned towards the pavilion, and 
 as they were about to enter it, two seamen came 
 up and accosted them. They turned immediately, 
 and followed the sailors towards the shore : brother 
 Jerome stood fixed to the spot, pursuing with his 
 eyes the objects of his care. A few minutes 
 brought them to the water's edge, where a boat 
 was in waiting, into which they got and were 
 rowed off pretty briskly. A few people were on 
 the ramparts of the fort directly over them, but 
 no one seemed to notice the transaction. The 
 father stood intently gazing until they had doubled 
 a kind of cape, round which boats of every kind 
 are obliged to pass before they can gain the Plata. 
 When the fugitives had cleared this point, he turned, 
 and thanked' God they were now in safety ; 
 'for,' says he, l I am sure they will not now meet 
 - with any interruption ; all the inhabitants will be
 
 BETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 10? 
 
 snug at their siesta when the boat reaches St. 
 Gabriel, and then they may laugh securely at old 
 don Jacob, who, by the bye, is a sort of equivocal 
 character, and a very great miser. He has two 
 other daughters at the same convent, but they are 
 younger and not so pretty, so they will do very 
 well for the purposes of a holy life ; for, between 
 you and me, there is not much devotion in any of 
 our women, unless it be the old devotees, and even 
 they are not so strict as those in Europe, where 
 women, after they have passed the age of admira- 
 tion, are seldom any thing better than religious 
 dragons, for so I remember them when a boy in 
 France. I had an aunt that was one, and I most 
 cordially hated her for the ill-natured vigilance she 
 exercised over my orphan sister, who was three 
 
 years older than myself, and very pretty. But 
 
 hush, here is father Hernandez coming, I will 
 tell you more when we are alone to-morrow.' 
 The father approached : he had a book in his 
 hand on which he seemed very intent, but on 
 seeing me he closed it, and began an acknow- 
 ledgment far my liberality, as he termed it, to 
 the convent. But I instantly assured him, that 
 so far from any thing I had done meriting their 
 thanks, I was, and ever must remain, indebted to 
 them on the score of gratitude far more than I 
 CPU Id express. We then changed the subject to the
 
 108 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 projected improvement in the harbour of Buenos 
 Ayres, which has been long planned ; but he frankly 
 confessed he did not think ever would be accom- 
 plished, it being a work of very considerable labour 
 and expence. For such is the indolence and care- 
 lessness of the Spanish government in this part of 
 the world, which seems active only in the exercise 
 of tyranny and the gratification of avarice, as to 
 be totally neglectful of the real interest of the 
 mother-country. The vesper bell broke up this 
 interesting conversation : and when our evening 
 devotions were over I hastened to commit to paper 
 the occurrences of the day. Adieu !
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 109 
 
 LETTER XVII. 
 
 Convent of St. Dominic, July, 1/97. 
 
 I a m now, my dear friend, allowed 
 the privilege of dressing in the Spanish habit, 
 and paying visits, not only to don Manuel's, but to 
 three or four other families to whom he has in- 
 troduced me. Among the grandest, is a gentle- 
 man nearly related to the major-general. He is 
 an officer of considerable merit, and was one 
 of those preserved by British humanity at the 
 siege of Gibraltar ; where he was wounded in 
 the side by a splinter which broke three of his 
 ribs and his right arm just above the elbow, and 
 likewise very considerably injured his face ; but 
 he recovered, and, at the peace, was sent hither 
 to take the command of a regiment, and make his 
 fortune. 
 
 . He lives in great splendour, and twice invited 
 me to his house within these last ten davs ; each 
 time there was a concert and a ball, for they are 
 as fond of dancing here as in any part of Europe. 
 Their treats are extravagantly sumptuous, and 
 their politeness to strangers exceeds any thing I 
 ever met with. The ladies, in particular, vie with
 
 110 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 each other in obliging their guests. It is not at 
 Buenos Ayres as in Old Spain, where none are 
 admitted to an assembly but those of equal rank: 
 here, merchants and their families are invited to 
 the governor's public entertainments ; and though 
 the inhabitants are not so numerous as might be 
 expected in a town so situated at Buenos Ayres, 
 which is in fact the staple for all the produce of 
 the distant provinces, yet there was at the last 
 ball given in honour of the governor's birth-day 
 a very numerous and brilliant assembly. The dons 
 were dressed in the usual Spanish taste, but with 
 a greater variety of colours, and the ladies' dresses 
 differed very widely from those in Old Spain ; 
 their petticoats were of taffeta, ornamented at the 
 bottom with gold lace, or fringe, richly tasseled. 
 The slippers of some were composed entirely of 
 gold embroidery, and their stockings interwoven 
 with the same metal in so fanciful a manner as to 
 display the shape of the leg to the most luxuriant 
 advantage ; and those that had pretty ones, by 
 the shortness of their petticoats, seemed by no 
 means disposed to conceal their beauties from 
 their admiring partners. A kind of jacket made 
 of velvet fitted tight to the shape, and laced or 
 buttoned in front, with long points hanging down 
 quite round the petticoat, and trimmed at the 
 ends with pearl tassels. On the shoulders of
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 1 1 J 
 
 this jacket was fastened a cloak made of gauze, 
 or some such light material, which hung as a 
 ioose train on the ground, and was occasionally 
 fastened to the side by a clasp of jewels. The 
 general head-dress was either a handkerchief of gold 
 gauze, braided in with diamonds, or else chains of 
 gold and pearls twisted in and out with their shining 
 black hair, which all the ladies have in great pro- 
 fusion ; and their bosoms were covered with soli- 
 taires, composed of every different kind of jewels, 
 pearls, and gold, but no feathers or flowers. 
 
 I danced a saraband with donna Josefina The- 
 resa Iboriola, a young lady of great beauty and 
 accomplishments ; she is a visitor with her father 
 and mother at the commandant's. They are re* 
 sidents at Cordovo, where Josefina was born. 
 
 Donna Louisa equalled in splendour the rich- 
 est lady present. She is the most lively and en- 
 tertaining female I ever conversed with ; and is, 
 with her husband don Manuel, admired by all 
 their acquaintance. 
 
 The paltry distinctions of rank are here laid 
 aside; and from the freedom of conversation I 
 am inclined to think that French liberty and 
 equality have stolen into New Spain. If so, and 
 the contagion should spread, I believe some very 
 material alterations will take place before long. 
 
 The religious form a very considerable portion of
 
 112 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY, 
 
 all public assemblies ; and, if I am to judge from 
 the numbers I every-where meet in the streets 
 and at the houses where I visit, I should be apt 
 to conclude that two-thirds of the male Europeans 
 were ecclesiastics ; for you encounter them in 
 every direction, unless at the hours of prayer. 
 They mix promiscuously in all societies, and 
 appear to be the confidants of every one. A 
 priest, young or old, may enter a house at what 
 time he pleases ; go into whatever apartment he 
 sees fit, and stay as long as he thinks proper ; and 
 no questions are asked. They pass and repass 
 perfectly at their ease : and to those imaginary 
 devout men, the fathers, husbands, and brothers, 
 are as complaisant as an obsequious French petit- 
 maitre ; and, if I may venture to conjecture, these 
 holy gentry have not much reason to regret the 
 state of celibacy to which their religion con- 
 demns them. The ladies are certainly not what we 
 may call handsome, but there is a sort of playful 
 voluptuousness about them that cannot fail to 
 please even one more nice than myself. I speak 
 of the superior class only ; for below it there 
 are not, as with us, any females deserving atten- 
 tion. They appear indolent and filthy in the 
 extreme ; and of a breed so heterogeneous, as 
 would puzzle even aLavater satisfactorily to define 
 their race.
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 1 1 3 
 
 I would fain give you a description of Buenos 
 Ayres ; but, upon my honour, besides the people, 
 there is nothing in it worth describing : it is really 
 surprising that a city like this, which is the capital 
 of such a vast extent of country, and the see of a 
 bishop, should have so little in it worthy the at* 
 tention of a traveller. 
 
 Its site, indeed, is considerable enough, if it 
 were but better occupied. The suburbs, which 
 are principally inhabited by mestizes and negroes, 
 are, in appearance, somewhat similar to thac part 
 of London which lies about Shoreditch and White- 
 chapel— I mean the lowest part of it — but a 
 hundred times more miserable and filthy. The 
 middle of the city is better, and some of the prin- 
 cipal streets have a show of opulence and taste 
 that is very agreeable ; most of the houses that 
 have been built within these last fifty years are 
 of stone, but none of them exceed two stories 
 in height, the greater number are but one. The 
 cdlle del Santa 'Irinidada, or street of the Holy 
 Trinity, and the cade del San Benito, or street 
 of $t, Benedict, are by far the handsomest of 
 the whole. The former, which faces the great 
 door of the cathedral, and runs almost the whole 
 length of the town, is very regularly built, and 
 occupied only by the better sort of the inhabitants. 
 Almost every house has a garden both before and 
 
 behind ; and all those that can afford it havq 
 
 I
 
 114 LETTERS FHOM PARAGUAY. 
 
 balconies, with sun-shades and lattice-work, 
 adorned with the most beautiful shrubs and 
 ilowers that the earth produces. Here the family 
 sit best part of the day, and night too when they 
 are not visiting, and take their coffee or choco- 
 late, and play on their guitars and mandolines : 
 most of the ladies have fire voices, so that the 
 man who strolls about the town in the evening 
 may enjoy the pleasure of a concert gratis as he 
 passes along. 
 
 The cathedral, which is built in a kind of Gre- 
 cian architecture, is a noble building, and deserves 
 a better metropolis : it has a cupola of very ex- 
 cellent workmanship; and a portico to the western 
 door the design and execution of which would 
 do honour to the most celebrated artist; it re- 
 sembles very strongly that of our St. Martin 's-in- 
 the-fields, which is so universally admired. ■ The 
 cathedral was, I understand, the work of the Je- 
 suits before their expulsion. The interior of this 
 edifice is, if any thing, too richly ornamented 
 with carving and gilding, which gives it rather a 
 taudry appearance ; but the inside of the dome is 
 painted in a very tolerable manner, in compart- 
 ments, representing the acts of the apostles — a sub- 
 ject very appropriate to the conversion of the In- 
 dians. The choir is likewise adorned with paint- 
 ings from the same subject ; and there was a very 
 fine altarpiece, but it is now taken down to make
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 1 15 
 
 room for a more valuable one, sent from Old 
 Spain, but which is not yet ready to be put up. 
 
 The bishop, governor, and major-general, have 
 each a separate stall, very superbly decorated 
 with purple velvet, embroidered and fringed with 
 gold : over that of the governor are the king's 
 arms in gold and coloured velvet, very inge- 
 niously contrived. But the custom here of cover- 
 ing almost the whole inside of the churches with 
 flowers and branches — which hang from one saint's 
 day to another, when the dead ones are taken 
 down and fresh put up — though in itself it is 
 pretty enough, yet entirely destroys the beauty of 
 the architecture, while the effect of the flowers 
 themselves is lost in the glare of the gilding. It 
 is well gold is so plenty on this continent, or these 
 extravagant ornaments without taste or judgment, 
 for amore de Dios, would come very expensive. 
 
 The church of St. Francis and that of the 
 convent of Mercy are likewise very beautiful build- 
 ings ; with cupolas and high steeples, much in 
 the same style as the cathedral, and just as pro- 
 fusely decorared, but without any paintings ex- 
 cept the altarpiece. The church and convent of 
 St. Francis stand in the street of that name, which 
 runs obliquely from the water to the grand square 
 in the middle of the city, where the soldiers are 
 sometimes exercised as on a parade : on one side 
 
 i 3
 
 J 16 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 of this square stands the town-hall, a very large 
 and handsome building, erected on a plan of the 
 Jesuits', who certainly may be called the fathers of 
 architecture in this part of the world. 
 
 There are a great many other convents and 
 nunneries dispersed over the city ; some of them 
 very large, and of a noble appearance, but all very 
 well inhabited ; for nuns here are as plentiful as 
 monks, though they have not the same liberty of 
 going into public. All these edifices, with the 
 houses of the governor and major-general — both 
 very commodious — the receiver-general's office, 
 and a public hospital, are built of stone, beauti- 
 fully whire, which is found in a small plain in the 
 vicinity of the town. The barracks for the sol- 
 diers are of brick, as are some few of the houses, 
 and have but a mean appearance when contrasted 
 with the whiteness of the public buildings, the 
 fairness of which is preserved in a gn l measure by 
 the frequent visits of the pampero, wh -h wind is an 
 excellent bleacher. The fort, which commands 
 the island of St. Gabriel, over-against Buenos 
 Ayres, is large, strong, and provided with a great 
 many apparently very good brass cannon; but it 
 is awkwardly situated, and, with a little manoeu- 
 vring, if there was but a sufficient depth of water, 
 an enemy's ships might very easily annoy the best 
 part of the town without being much incommoded
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 117 
 
 by the fire from the fort. But they have little 
 danger to apprehend from an attack by water, the 
 Plata is too well provided with natural barriers, in 
 her sands and shoals, to admit of a marine inva- 
 sion ; unless, indeed, the French were to come 
 here with the flat-bottomed boats they have been 
 these three hundred years preparing for a descent 
 upon England, and then I fear neither the fort, 
 the governor, nor his half-clothed ragged regi- 
 ments of long-haired Indians, and whiskered 
 Spaniards — who are without exception the dirtiest 
 slovenliest set of soldiers I ever set my eyes upon 
 — would be able to accomplish much in defence' 
 of the town : taken altogether, in some points of 
 view, it affords an agreeable prospect enough, from 
 the gardens and trees with which it abounds, con- 
 trasted with the whiteness 01 the houses, which, 
 in their colour, height, and form, greatly resemble 
 those in the British; colonies in North America. 
 But the effect of every thing in this place is, in a 
 great measure, destroyed by the extreme dirtiness 
 of the inhabitants ; who, from their natural in* 
 dolence, and lazy habits, are beastly to an excess 
 in every particular. Heavens! what a contrast 
 do I not frequently draw between the everlasting 
 cleanliness of the North American, and the su- 
 perabundant filthiness of the South ! The former, 
 pvery Friday and Saturday, makes ye hop, skip,
 
 118 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 and jump, like an opera dancer, to escape the trans- 
 parent sprinkling of a notable mop-twirler, or to 
 screen your clothes and eyes from the unfriendly 
 benedictions of the general whitewashing, which 
 annually, and in a smaller degree weekly, takes, 
 place in most of the capital towns. And this some 
 of the shrubs I sent you from Philadelphia can 
 testify, for three of them were, by one of these 
 daughters of cleanliness, plentifully baptised with 
 her olympian dew, which cost me two days 1 labour 
 to wask Off from the leaves only, but from the 
 bark it was impossible to remove it. I remember 
 It was done while I was gone to seek the captain 
 of the vessel that was to convey them to England. 
 When I returned, and saw what had been done, 
 I forgot I was in Pensylvania, and began to anathe- 
 matise most devoutly. Mrs. ran out to 
 
 enquire what was the matter, with her grey stuff 
 gown and whitewashing cap most delicately dap- 
 pled. I told my grievance, and demanded redress. 
 c Lord bless me, 5 said she, ' is that all ! why 
 Would you have had us leave that side of the 
 room undone I' * Undone, madam !' I exclaimed 
 in all the rage of injured genius ; ' yes, i would 
 have had the whole house, nay the whole city, 
 left unwhitewashed, rather than the shrubs should 
 have been sprinkled in this diabolical manner.' 
 \ I do not doubt you in the least,' said she ; ' I
 
 Letters from Paraguay. 119 
 
 never knew an Englishman yet that was fond of 
 cleanliness.* 'Zounds, madam!' cried I, 'can 
 this be deemed cleanliness, which deranges the 
 whole economy of the house, turns topsy turvy 
 things that never should be stirred, and sets at de* 
 fiance every rule of peace, order, and regularity, 
 besides destroying every article that comes within 
 its reach?' ' Pretty talking, truly!' retorted the 
 lady : ' Pray how are the holes and corners to be 
 cleaned, if every thing is not removed into the 
 middle of the room ? Why, good God ! you 
 English are as dirty as the Esquimaux !' This al- 
 lusion silenced me immediately : it was a climax, 
 there was no withstanding it. I therefore quietly 
 ordered a pail of water to be brought me, and be- 
 gan sousing my poor plants as plentifully as the good 
 lady did her house j which operation 1 was left ia 
 perfect security to perform, since nothing can be 
 more acceptable to a North American female than 
 slopping the pavement with water, provided the 
 walls are not splashed in the execution. 
 
 Now were I to represent this mode of cleaning 
 to the ladies of Buenos Ayres, 1 doubt whether I 
 should not be sent to a place of confinement as a 
 lunatic. Scrubbing and scouring are not in the 
 South American dictionary, and 1 really think 
 were never even heard of. The rooms of the 
 wealthy are swept with a kind of broom, made
 
 120 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 from a peculiar sort of grass or flax which grows 
 in the swamps where the wild sugar cane is found. 
 This is collected into a large tuft, not unlike a 
 mop, and with this the slaves sweep, or rather 
 wipe, the rooms, which in summer are covered 
 with a beautiful matting wove by the Indians, 
 and in winter with an European carpet. White- 
 washing, scrubbing, and sousing, would be -far 
 more grateful here than in more northern climes, 
 yet they are never even thought of. The whole 
 life of a woman above the common class is one 
 continued scene of indolent monotony ; and she 
 would think herself degraded to the lowest state 
 of servitude were she, for a moment, to consider 
 by what means any part of the house might be 
 made more commodjously clean than the other. 
 The domestics follow the example of their su- 
 periors as sedulously here as in Europe ; and 
 none of them will do an item of work more than 
 their allotted portion, let what will be the conse- 
 quence : nothing seems more irksome to them 
 than to be compelled to execute any thing out of 
 the common way. As no master is served here from 
 principle or affection, coercive measures are the only 
 springs which set their machines in motion j — for, 
 literally speaking, they are nothing but machines, 
 and that as if formed by some bungling mechanic; 
 for surely there never was such a lazy, dirty, stink-
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 121 
 
 ing set of mortals ever collected together in any 
 other civilised city. 
 
 Godliness is here in vast profusion — I mean in 
 outward show ; but how it exists without its con r 
 comitant cleanliness I am, really, at a loss to con- 
 jecture. I believe I must leave this knotty point 
 to the determination of some more able casuist 
 than 
 
 Your sincere friend.
 
 I 22 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY, 
 
 LETTER XVIII. 
 
 Content of St. Dominic, Jvly, I Jgy. 
 The more I contemplate . the filth 
 and laziness of these people, the more I regret that 
 the miserly Henry, when applied to by Columbus, 
 was not inspired by the demon of avarice, if no 
 more laudable motive could have actuated him, to 
 have fitted out the noble adventurer, and by that 
 means to have secured this country, this rich 
 delightful country, to the crown of Britain. The 
 Spaniards possess blessings they never did, nor 
 ever will, know how to appreciate ; for, slaves to 
 gold, they neglect every other advantage. Had the 
 English possessed this southern world, thousands 
 and tens of thousands, nay millions, would have 
 blest the hour when they became their conquerors. 
 The Jesuits, though now abolished, have shewn, 
 in the immense superstructure they have raised in 
 the interior of this and the adjoining provinces, 
 what wise legislators they could make if gifted 
 with the rod of power, by the several large com- 
 monwealths (if I may use the word) which they 
 have established : and when I consider the fragile 
 foundation on which they erected an edifice that
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 123 
 
 amazes and confounds the world, I know not 
 which to admire most, their zeal for religion, or 
 their superior political wisdom and thorough 
 knowledge of the human heart. The more I 
 reflect upon it the more I imagine that the fathers 
 who first attempted the conversion of the Indians 
 must have been inspired : few could have perse- 
 vered under such dreadful hardships as they suffered 
 if they had not experienced a divine impulse : they 
 knew the secret workings of the passions ; they 
 possessed penetration beyond the depth of common 
 men, and saw that cruelty and deceit were not 
 the means to win the hearts of rude untutored 
 beings, > living in a state of nature, and sensible 
 of no laws but those which she imposes. 
 
 But the hope of bringing over these poor people 
 to a knowledge of the true and only God was not 
 the only motive that actuated these deep and 
 cunning politicians ; they had a greater and more 
 enlarged sphere of action in view. They daily 
 witnessed the imprudence of exercising coercive 
 measures over the poor conquered people, who 
 had made such noble and heroic stands to preserve 
 their native blessing, liberty, and repress their 
 barbarous invaders : th e fathers were convinced 
 that men who had acted uniformly with such 
 determined valour would be much sooner won by 
 mild and gentle treatment than by acts of violence 

 
 124 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 ^nd oppression : they, therefore, about the middle 
 of the sixteenth century, petitioned his catholic 
 majesty for leave to enter the interior of Paraguay 
 and Tucuman, and endeavour by means of per- 
 suasion only to initiace in the principles of the 
 christian religion the hordes of Indians who had 
 fled from the persecutions of the Spaniards j and by 
 thus planting the gospel in these remote regions, 
 bring over to the service of the state thousands 
 that were then wandering far distant from any 
 Spanish settlement. . 
 
 Their petitions were granted ; and a vast number 
 of missionaries, selected irom the society of Jesus, 
 were sent out at the king's expence to put in 
 practice the theory they had adopted ; and it was 
 •settled between his majesty and the mission, that 
 the state should be at the charge of transporting 
 them to the scene of action, where they were to 
 open their spiritual campaign, in which the go- 
 vernors of the provinces, by order of the court, 
 were not to interfere in any shape relative to the 
 establishment, nor was any Spaniard whatever 
 to enter their districts without leave obtained. 
 
 They were to be provided with necessaries of 
 every kind for the arduous undertaking ; and to 
 be supplied from time to time with articles of 
 clothing, furniture, and every other thing which, 
 the exigency of their situation might require.
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 12* 
 
 The missionaries, on their part, agreed to pay to 
 the crown annually a sort of capitation tax, of a 
 piastre per head for every individual they might 
 bring over to the faith of Christ ; and, in pro- 
 portion as their proselytes encreased, to send a 
 certain number to the royal works or army when- 
 ever the state should think proper to make the 
 demand, provided the converted Indians were 
 sufficiently numerous to admit of drafts being 
 made for that purpose, which was to be done,.«.if I 
 conceive the matter right, in much the same 
 manner as the militia is drawn for with us ; but 
 with this difference, that the Indians are drafted 
 for life ; and the services required of them are 
 severe in the extreme when compared to the 
 employ of our militia, who are never called into 
 action but on extraordinary occasions, and dis- 
 banded at the end of the war to return, if they 
 think proper, to their native towns and families : 
 but the poor Indians once sent from their peaceful 
 settlements never return to them more ; they are 
 condemned for the rest of their lives to toil and 
 misery, either to work in the mines or to form a 
 kind of auxiliary troop to fight against their un- 
 subdued brethren, who even now make frequent 
 inroads on the Spanish settlements. Others are 
 doomed to labour incessantly at the public works, 
 and manv are consigned to the different offices of
 
 126 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 state, and pass like heirlooms from one master to 
 another with the post to which they are attached. 
 The present major-general, who lives adjacent to 
 the fort and has the command in all military 
 matters in this part of the world, has several 
 hundreds of these wretched people at his disposal ; 
 and I wish I could add that his treatment of them 
 is such as redounds to his credit as a humane 
 man and a judicious officer ; but truth compels 
 int.- o say, that, on the contrary, the severity 
 which is exercised over them is such as must 
 shock the understanding and pain the heart of 
 every person endowed with merely the common 
 feelings of justice and humanity. 
 
 No wonder then that to serve a Spaniard is 
 deemed by the natives the most dreadful of all 
 calamities ; every Indian shrinks from the sound 
 of a Spaniard's voice, and among the unreduced 
 his religion is held in the utmost abhorrence. 
 
 The dispersion, or rather expulsion, of the 
 crafty Jesuits was become an act of state necessity* 
 since they had established in the very centre of the 
 southern provinces an immense theocracy, which 
 even threatened to overturn, at some future period, 
 the power of the crown, if the various accounts I 
 have received may be relied on ; for, at the time 
 of their expulsion, they could command, as spi- 
 ritual guides, several hundred thousand families,
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 127 
 
 and among them no less an army of well-disciplined 
 troops than from eighty to a hundred thousand 
 men, all properly trained, clothed, and accoutred, 
 and ready to follow wherever their pastors should 
 think fit to lead them. 
 
 How far this estimate may be true I know not ; 
 I give it you on the report of father Hernandez ; 
 and I have heard the same confirmed by don 
 Manuel, who is of opinion that the present race of 
 ecclesiastics have not at all mended the condition 
 of the Indians, who are in fact worse off and more 
 oppressed than before. He thinks, and says, thai; 
 were the English to make a spirited attack on 
 Buenos Ayres in conjunction with the Portuguese 
 on the side of the Brazils, there is not a doubt of 
 the Indians joining them ; the face of things being 
 so materially changed since the dismissal of the 
 Jesuits, under whom they had been detached from 
 a state of barbarism, instructed in the knowledge 
 of our blessed christian faith, and taught the use of 
 arms, agriculture, and commerce ; nay, even some 
 of the fine arts are known among them ; I myself 
 have seen several specimens of drawings done by 
 the Indians, which, from their correctness and 
 beauty, I should readily have taken for the work 
 of an Italian artist. I had sketched two or three 
 views from the convent garden, and thought them 
 tolerably well done ; but I found them very in-
 
 12& LETTERS FROM PARAGtJAV. 
 
 different when compared with those examples of 
 savage genius, which plainly evinces that great care 
 must have been taken to instruct them, and proves 
 that those very people we have been taught to 
 look upon as little better than the brute creation 
 possess no^ only a clear comprehension of per- 
 ceptible objects, however different from any tiling 
 they have been accustomed to, but elegant and 
 refined intellects, and capacities competent to exe- 
 cute whatever an enlightened European may boast 
 as an exclusive accomplishment. The Jesuits 
 judged and acted right ; mildness and persuasion 
 have succeeded in drawing forth from obscurity 
 those gems of reason which, like the diamond, 
 remained hid in darkness till the ingenuity of man 
 found the means of disclosing their beauties. I 
 hope it is not sinful to wish this oppressed and 
 deeply injured people might make one more grand 
 effort ; and, by the aid of the still unconquered 
 nations, assert their rights, and drive these bar- 
 barous tyrants from their lands. They are now 
 brought to a knowledge of the true God, and 
 human sacrifices are no longer known among 
 
 o o 
 
 them. The rights of nations, and the relative 
 duties of society, they are now informed of; nor 
 do they neglect the practice. Then will not divine 
 vengeance be at length appeased by the deaths of 
 so many thousands, as, since the conquest have
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 129 
 
 paid, through the upraised arm of power, the 
 debts due to offended Heaven ? 
 
 I am certain, my friend, this great revolution 
 might be accomplished, could the British arms but 
 gleam upon the plains of Paraguay : believe me, 
 this is no idle chimera or phantasm of the brain, 
 but the result of critical enquiry and mature re- 
 flection. Had the Spaniards pursued their con- 
 quest with mildness and lenity, no honest or good 
 man would have envied them the possession of this 
 rich and fertile country ; but every one would 
 have rejoiced to see so many human beings drawn 
 from their savage life and barbarous customs to 
 partake in Christian occupations and rational en- 
 joyments, and know that they were formed for 
 nobler purposes than to be waging eternal war, 
 and, in their franuc triumphs, to sacrifice and eat 
 each other. Such would have been the happy 
 consequences of a humane policy on the part of 
 the Spaniards ; but the direct contrary method has 
 been pursued by those who term themselves the 
 most zealous for the cross of Christ. Deceived, 
 deluded, arrogating mortals ! the sighs of the 
 suffering Indians will yet be heard at the throne of 
 Mercy, and their tears, ere long, be washed away 
 in the blood of the Spaniards. 
 
 Don Manuel assures mc I must not draw eon-v 
 elusions from the Indians I have seen at work 
 
 K
 
 130 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 here of what the natives are collectively ; for the 
 Appearance of these is disgusting in the extreme : 
 but these, he t^ll« mc, are rot real Indians, but a 
 kind of ilibrig&el ureed between an African and-a 
 native. God of Jieaven, how I devest any thmg 
 that tends to mar thy gram! designs! Man, when 
 created first, was perfect, and viirhout a blemish j 
 and, as a special mark of the Almighty's favour, 
 formed after his own celestial image : for, as the 
 Scripture says — " In the liken' 5 of God created 
 he man." But I know what a certain wag of our 
 acquaintance would say if he saw these people : 
 4 Why yes, the Scripture does says so, and it may 
 be very true ; but then it is so many years since 
 the stamp was made, that it is now too much 
 worn ©ut to make any fixed impression.' Trifling 
 as this remark may seem, it is really a very natural 
 one ; for, :<h\\e surveying this degenerate race,- we 
 might very readily image that Omnipotence had 
 no share in their formation : but from whence 
 can this deformity of particular people arise ? Is it 
 to be deduced from natural, physical, or artificial 
 causes ? or do the crimes of man occasion this wide 
 deviation from -the original laws of nature, which, 
 in themselves, are all perfection? To solve this 
 question requires an abler physiologist than myself: 
 but I cannot help thinking, with our friend doctor 
 Dhigley, that the wickedness of man is the princi-
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 131 
 
 pal cause ; and if so, I must regard the marriages 
 of vicious or deformed men and women as abso- 
 lutely outrages against nature, and, as such, ought 
 not to be permitted. Why not suffer those only to 
 inhabit: the cloister ? the condemning them to 
 celibacy would be no loss to the community, but 
 rather an advantage ; we should not then meet in 
 the circles of society deformed, ugly, sickly, un- 
 happy beings, utterly incapable of enjoying life 
 with any degree of satisfaction. Whether their 
 debility arises from natural or acquired defects, it 
 would be far better, in my opinion, for them to 
 pass their lives secluded from the busy world ; for 
 to be received in society with an eye of pity only 
 must to a quick and susceptible mind give the 
 most poignant uneasiness. In the peaceful shades 
 of the cloister the glance of scorn cannot reach 
 them, nor the sounds of affected feeling or cruel 
 derision invade their ears. The deformed in mind 
 too, even before those whose infirmity of body 
 unfits them for society, should be condemned to 
 solitude and prayer ; since the innocent then would 
 not be contaminated by their vices, and they 
 might themselves learn, from religion and reflection, 
 to amend their lives. This, you will say, is idle 
 theory, and never can be realised : it may be so, 
 but that does not do away the justice of it. I can- 
 not bear to see so many line young men and 
 
 k 2
 
 152 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 women immured within the walls of a convent 
 that would, in every sense of the words, be useful 
 and ornamental members of society. The clergy 
 would not men deserve the odium which is daily 
 thrown o.' them, the women would have less 
 ten ptation, and secret vice would not have so 
 many votaries.— But I forget I am in the domi- 
 nions of l\h :athol?c majesty ; where reveries like 
 these would perhaps subject me to the censures of 
 the church, should they be known. Adieu !
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 133 
 
 LETTER XIX. 
 
 Convent of St. Dominic, August, J/9/'. 
 
 About an hour after I had closed 
 my last observations respecting the Indians I re- 
 ceived a note from don Manuel, requesting my 
 company to spend the day, as he expected a party 
 from the country, with whom he thought I should 
 be very well amused. I am now at liberty to 
 go out and in as often as I please, provided bro- 
 ther Jerome is informed what family I intend to 
 visit. He is my friend as well as keeper ; there- 
 fore I have nothing more to do than say to him I 
 am going so and so, and shall return at such an 
 hour, which I punctually observe. This is all ; 
 and I wander for hours about the town and its 
 vicinity, sometimes drop into one house and 
 sometimes into another ; and they being scattered 
 widely about, the trees and shrubs with which 
 they are surrounded afford me the most ample 
 gratification — for more refreshing or more odo- 
 riferous scents never regaled the sense of mortal. 
 And this blessing of Heaven on the outsides of the 
 hduses counteracts, in some measure, the disagree- 
 able smells I often encounter within.
 
 134 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 In my way to don Manuel's I took a circuit 
 round, in order to visit a brother, of the order of 
 Mercy, with whom I have contracted an acquaint- 
 ance ; and, as I can now converse with tolerable 
 fluency in Spanish, rr ost of those I consort with 
 regard me as one dispose*, 'o spend the remainder 
 of my life among them. " All 's one for that," 
 as FalstafF says : I am not bound to justify their 
 presentiments. 
 
 When I reached the convent I was informed 
 by the porter that father Nicolas was gone to 
 administer extreme unction to senhor don Gabriel 
 Ventura. 1 enquired where the senhor lived, and 
 was surprised, on being told, to find it was in a 
 little house in the suburb of San Benito, at which 
 I had often stopped to converse with its owner, a 
 feeble old man, whom I thought very poor ; and, 
 under that idea, had often taken to him a bottle 
 of wine, which is here, in general, Jear ; and he 
 always appeared to receive it with great pleasure 
 and thankfulness. 
 
 To my utter amazement, I now learnt that he 
 was one of the richest men in Buenos Ayres ; but 
 had never been married, consequently had no le- 
 gitimate children to inherit his possessions. I 
 could scarcely believe this account, not thinking 
 it possible that any man possessing such con- 
 rider able wealth should by choice live in a state
 
 LETTERS FRQM PARAGUAY. 135 
 
 of apparent penury. But I found it was all true 
 on my arrival at don Manuel's, who' declared that 
 to his certain knowledge don Gabriel was Worth 
 above two millions of piastres; aii, ho v. ever, gained 
 by his father, under the As i lSo contract^ he 
 having been appointed by government to purchase 
 from the English and Dutch all the negroes 
 brought by them to Buenos Avres ; and though 
 he amassed immense sums while that contract 
 lasted, yet he never had spirit to spend a single 
 piastre. The whole of his wealth was hoarded for 
 the son, now dying, whom he next to idolised, 
 and fondly hoped to see outshine in splendor even 
 the grandees themselves : and, that his accomplish- 
 ments might equal his riches, he sent him to Old 
 Spain for education, where he remained at Sala- 
 manca near nine years, when his father sent for 
 him home, to complete a marriage between him 
 and a young lady, the only daughter of a very rich 
 merchant at St. Jago, with whom he was to have 
 a princely fortune. 
 
 Every thing was prepared for the nuptials, and 
 both fathers anxiously anticipated the moment that 
 should make their children happv in each other ; 
 when, on the eve of the day appointed for the 
 •celebration of the marriage, the intended bride 
 was seized with the small-pox, and died in agonies 
 the third day after. This shock affected her fa-
 
 136 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY; 
 
 ther in so sensible a manner that he survived her 
 little more than a month, leaving the whole of 
 his immense property to the college at Cordovo. 
 Don Domingo Ventura, on this melancholy event, 
 once more sent his son to Old Spain : but on his 
 passage thither the vessel was taken by an English 
 privateer, and he was carried into Plymouth. 
 There he remained for some time, and fell in love 
 with an English lady ; but she being engaged to 
 another, he could not obtain her. On this fair- 
 one's account he lingered in England a long while 
 after the war was concluded : but her husband 
 being appointed to a place at Bengal, she went 
 thither with him ; and our disappointed Spaniard 
 Teturned to his father, with a fixed determination, 
 never to marry. This resolution of his, it was be- 
 lieved, broke the old man's heart in less than two 
 years after his son's arrival. Gabriel inherited 
 the whole of his fortune ; but never entered into 
 any company from the time of his father's death : 
 and for these last fifteen years he has wholly re- 
 sided at the little dwelling where I used to visit 
 him, in a manner wholly abstracted from the 
 world. His wealth must be immense ; for it has 
 been in the hands of a person at Cadiz ever since 
 his father's death, with orders for him to make 
 the most of it -while the melancholy owner re- 
 mained here, in a state of apparent starvation. His
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 13? 
 
 health has been declining for many months, and 
 the convent of Mercy, it is conjectured, will enjoy 
 the greater part of his riches ; for he has no re« 
 lations to give them to, his father having been an 
 obscure adventurer, whom no one knew. 
 
 Don Manuel had scarcely finished this account 
 when a message was delivered to him, desiring 
 that, if I was at his house, he would immediately 
 bring me to don Gabriel Ventura's. Very much 
 surprised, we hastened thither ; and found the old 
 gentleman in the agonies of death. He turned his 
 eyes towards me, and motioned for me to approach, 
 I did so, and knelt by the bed-side. He then 
 asked, with great difficulty, if I knew a family of 
 the name of L — — ■ — , in the county of Sussex ? I 
 told him, no; I had not the least acquaintance with 
 any one in that quarter: — but 1 had a relation who 
 lived near the place he mentioned, and in all pro- 
 bability knew the family. At this his eye assumed 
 a temporary lustre, and, taking my hand, he asked 
 me if that relation of mine would see that a parcel 
 was safely delivered to the person for whom it was 
 directed ; or, if she were dead, to her children, 
 if any survived, and if not, to her nearest of kin? 
 I solemnly assured him, that if it once reached 
 England it should be punctually conveyed to the 
 party he mentioned. He then put into my hands 
 a small parcel, which I hope you will receive with
 
 138 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 this letter : and let me beg of you to see the poof 
 man's request complied with as expeditiously as 
 you can, having pledged my honour for the due 
 performance of it. Don Manuel undertakes to 
 get both that and my letters — which I have regu- 
 larly taken to his house as soon as finished, lest 
 any accident might happen to me — speedily for- 
 warded to England. 
 
 But you may like to know how my visit ter- 
 minated. When I had secured the packet, Ven- 
 tura seemed more composed, and we joined in 
 the prayers that were offered up for his repose. 
 He received extreme unction, and we left him in 
 a kind of slumber. Father Nicolas remained, and 
 the next morning I heard he was no more. His 
 will was opened, and in it he bequeathed, as was 
 expected, a very considerable sum to the convent 
 of Mercy, for masses to be said for the repose of 
 his soul. Two domestics who had formerly lived 
 with his father were handsomely provided for; and 
 to my astonishment I received a ring of great 
 value, as a recompence for the trouble I may be 
 at in the execution of my, or rather your, com- 
 mission. 
 
 In this man's fate we see another unhappy de- 
 monstration of the futility of all human designs, 
 and the caprice of what we call fortune. When 
 I reflect on this and many similar circumstances, I
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 139 
 
 am almost tempted to arraign the dispensations of 
 Heaven, when it bestows on those incapable of en- 
 joyment an overflowing of every earthly blessing, 
 while the virtuous and accomplished are denied 
 even the common comforts o£ ; existence. Surely 
 there appears a very blameable partiality in the 
 distribution of Divine favours ; or else we must 
 admit the Eastern doctrine, and allow the inter- 
 ference of inferior agents, endowed with powers 
 sufficient to influence the fate of mortals, and be- 
 stow or withhold the treasures of this world, as 
 bet . pleases their capricious fancies : else why do 
 we so often see a man of genius, honour, and re- 
 ligion, surrounded with afflictions and disappoint- 
 ments, without a friend to aid or comfort him ; 
 and, on the other hand, a fellow that is both 
 knave and fool reveling in every blessing this world 
 affords ? 
 
 My friend, if there is not a race of beings infe- 
 rior- to the Deity, yet possessing the means of con- 
 trolling the fortunes of man, then is the Omnipo- 
 tent either wholly regardless of the creatures he 
 has formed or cruelly unjust in his treatment of 
 them : and neither of these positions can I re- 
 concile to my ideas of the almighty Creator. But 
 I must leave this subject : it is a dangerous one 5 
 and, if indulged, may make a sceptic of me. 
 Perhaps you would like to 'know how I spend
 
 UO LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 my time. Thus it is : On ordinary days 1 rise 
 when the matin-bell summons me to prayers. De* 
 votion — or the show of it — ended, I attend bro- 
 ther Jerome, and one or other of his compeers, 
 into the garden ; for, to speak freely, I shun the 
 senior fathers as much as possible. I cannot have 
 patience to listen to or argue on theological sub- 
 jects, when I know neither party can benefit by 
 the discussion. I always, therefore, if 1 can, keep 
 out of their way ; and from matins to breakfast 
 amuse myself in assisting to transplant herbs and 
 shrubs, watering the flowers, gathering fruit, or . 
 any other little office, where I may be busy with- 
 out doing mischief. Breakfast over, I retire to 
 my apartment and read Spanish authors, of which 
 the convent library can boast some pretty good 
 ones, besides the religious. This takes me up two 
 or three hours, according to the goodness of the 
 subject ; and when tired of this employment I 
 take a little Indian basket, and visit the environs 
 of the town, where I botanize till the mid-day 
 prayers, when I attend and join very fervently in 
 their devotions. Soon after we dine. When that 
 ceremony is dispatched I continue about an hour 
 with the novices, listen to their arguments, and 
 sometimes contend with them j but that is only 
 according to the humour I am in. When each 
 retires to his room I either write to you, resume
 
 LETTERS FEQM PARAGUAY. 14 1 
 
 my reading, or arrange the plants I have ga* 
 thered, and study the mode observed by the In- 
 dians in the use of them, to compare it with that 
 adopted by our physicians. I have collected se*. 
 veral medicinal plants, which I think are not yet. 
 known in Europe, few botanists having visited 
 South America, I regret much the circumscribed 
 limits of my rambles ; for I am not permitted to 
 go beyond a certain district, which does not exr 
 fend above a mile and half from the centre of 
 the towUf However, I am promised by father 
 Hernandez — who acts as our superior while the 
 real one is away — that I shall soon have greater 
 indulgence. 
 
 After the hours of sleep, termed the siesta, 
 which begins about two and ends at five — during 
 which time a most profound silence reigns every- 
 where around— I dress myself, and pay a visit to 
 some family or other with whom I have made ac* 
 quaintance ; where I generally spend three or four 
 hours very pleasantly, in music, dancing, or con- 
 versation. 
 
 The eldest son of don Manuel — a fine boy, 
 whom I mentioned to you in a former letter — im- 
 proves hourly. He can already hold a tolerable 
 discourse in English j and by instructing him I 
 contrive to preserve my native tongue, which
 
 J 42 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 otherwise, from want of practice, I should be in 
 danger of losing. 
 
 I have begun to take several views about the 
 town and its vicinity : but have not yet had it in 
 my power to finish one, as.no drawing or plan of 
 any place, either public or private, is permitted to 
 be made but by a native Spaniard ; and here they 
 are all too lazy to trouble themselves about any 
 thins: of the kind* But, notwithstanding their 
 indolence in other matters, they contrive to be 
 pretty vigilant spies ; and, like true dogs in the 
 mugger, industriously hinder others from enjoying 
 the advantages they are themselves insensible to. 
 How I detest such needless, selfish, narrow-minded 
 policy ! 
 
 I spend most evenings very agreeably ; and but 
 for a thought that now and then obtrudes itself 
 on my remembrance, I might, perhaps, be happy, 
 as far as man can hope for happiness this side 
 the grave : but cruel reflection, like a pursuing 
 fiend, still presenting to my view the mirror of 
 past times, dispels at once the flattering delusion ; 
 and to avoid the misery of mind that haunts me 
 I hurry into company, and strive to elude its grasp 
 by restless and incessant action. 
 
 I have been trying several, experiments to ex-f 
 tirpate the ants, which swarm here as bad as the
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 143 
 
 locusts in Egypt, and destroy the young plants 
 with the most unrelenting fury; as do the monkeys, 
 of which there is an uncommon number here, and 
 some of an extraordinary shape and bigness. They 
 find out, cunningly enough, where any new plants 
 of European growth have been set, and watch with 
 the utmost vigilance until they are about two 
 inches above the ground ; when these artful crea- 
 tures contrive to make their way into the gardens, 
 and there nibble and destroy every dainty article 
 they can find, turning up the soil with their paws, 
 as if determined that not even the roots should 
 escape their depredations. Nor are the parrots 
 of Paraguay less intent upon destruction than the 
 quadruped ; only with this difference, the former 
 work by day, the latter by night. It is not a little 
 amusing to observe the contrivances of the gar- 
 deners to circumvent the e mischievous animals : 
 one mong many, intended for the monkev, is 
 truly farcical in its effects. They weave a kind 
 of wicker trough, or rather pipe, about three feet 
 long and two in circumference, in which is placed 
 a small light box, wherein young green twigs of 
 the vine or other plants are set. This box is laid 
 towards the end of the trough, furthest from the 
 aperture ; the monkey is of course obliged to 
 make what we call a long arm to reach the bait : 
 •the box being pressed down by his exertions, a
 
 144 BETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 spring with a weight attached to it falls, and en- 
 closes his paw, which generally has been inserted 
 so far as to take in the leg nearly to the shoulder. 
 The moment he finds himself ensnared he strug- 
 gles to get loose : but his efforts only serve to 
 fasten him more securely in the trap ; for writhe 
 which way he will the weight, by turning on a 
 pivot, sCrews the limb still faster within. When 
 he finds all his endeavours useless he makes a 
 grand push to set off with the whole apparatus, 
 grinning and gnashing his teeth in a most grotesque 
 manner : but when he reaches the place by which 
 he entered the garden a new difficulty occurs ; 
 the whole length of the wicker is most commonly 
 opposed to the aperture, and he must either sit 
 quietly down and knaw the trough to pieces— 
 which, from its being made of strong osiers, would 
 take up a considerable time—- or else he must re- 
 sign all hopes of escape, and calmly wait the ap- 
 proach of the gardener, when a very diverting 
 scene ensues. At first the monkey makes use of 
 the most supplicating gestures to molify the anger 
 of his assailant, whom he finds prepared with a 
 cudgel to chastise his knavery, When supplica-^ 
 tion will not avail he throws himself upon his 
 back, and begins to chatter, grin, spit, and fight; 
 and is so extremely dextrous in turning himself to 
 avoid the blows, that scarcely one in ten touches
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 143 
 
 him ; but he makes as much noise as though he 
 felt the full weight of the whole. One is not a 
 little amused to see the farce ; however, it always 
 ends like a tragedy, fatal to the robber, who is, 
 killed and given to the negroes or Indians, wheqj 
 they make a feast with his carcass, which I am 
 assured they prefer to beef, or even venison. 
 
 The depredating parrots are likewise caught in 
 traps, but the gardeners are careful not to injure 
 their plumage. As soon as taken, their necks are 
 twisted, and the feathers curiously preserved. 
 These the Indians have a method of preparing 
 in' a manner equally singular and beautiful, by 
 blending the colours agreeably to the strictest 
 rules of art. Of these, intermixed with the 
 feathers of the birds taken on the banks of the 
 Paraguay*, they make cloaks, ornaments for the 
 head, and picture-frames ; which last are truly in- 
 genious, and have a most striking and agreeable 
 eilcct. A plain frame of wood is first made, the 
 size of the picture, the edges turned with a sharp 
 curve ; over this is spread the picture, whether on 
 canvas, paper, or other materials : that done, an- 
 
 * The name of this province is derived from the quantity 
 •f beautiful birds and flowers with which it abounds: the 
 word paraguay .signifying, in the language of the natives, tw 
 ritty (>f' colour*. 
 
 L
 
 146 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 other frame is added, made entirely of feathers, 
 and those such as bear an analogy to the subject, 
 and by their different tints reflect a shade the best 
 calculated to display the merits of the painter to 
 advantage. How this is contrived I am as yet 
 ignorant ; but certain I am that it produces an 
 effect the splendour and beauty of which none 
 but those that behold it can form a competent 
 idea. 
 
 In the church of the Franciscans I am informed 
 they have a picture of the Last Supper, painted 
 by an Indian residing at one of the presidencies 
 on the Uraquay, a very capital performance ; the 
 frame of which is composed entirely of feathers 
 of a bright gold colour, and so artfully contrived 
 as to appear to the nicest observer some of the 
 most correct carving and gilding ; nor can the 
 difference be discovered until it is touched by the 
 hand. This picture was a present to the Franciscan 
 fathers from the Jesuits, not many years before 
 their expulsion. 
 
 This is to me another proof of the great policy 
 and depth of thought of those ecclesiastical mon- 
 archs ; for 1 cannot consider them in any other 
 light. Their plans were laid with amazing judg- 
 ment, and attended with unexampled success ; and 
 as Moses led the Israelites for forty years through 
 the wilderness of Canaan on to conquest and the
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 147 
 
 tatter abolition of surrounding nations, so would 
 >he Jesuits, as soon as they had found the youths 
 of the tribe they governed were thoroughly in- 
 itiated in the discipline of war, and those of ma- 
 turer years as well grounded in the theory of 
 governing and preserving those arts they had so 
 carefully been taught. The holy fathers wouldj 
 like the law-giver of old, have conducted them 
 to triumph over their proud oppressors, and the 
 dissolute invaders of their native plains. An ec- 
 clesiastical heptarchy would then have been esta- 
 blished, and a pope elected to superintend the 
 whole. I hazard this conjecture from concurring 
 circumstances which I daily hear of, notwithstand- 
 ing every tongue is enjoined silence as to those par- 
 ticulars ; but things will out at times, in spite of 
 prohibitions. 
 
 My old friend, brother Jerome, is very apt to 
 forget himself, and, from something I caught hold 
 of to-day, i am certain all is not right in the pre- 
 sidency whither our superior is gone, who, if I 
 am rightly informed, is to remain in that district, 
 and exercise his spiritual functions among them, 
 in order to see if mildness and humanity will not 
 have a much happier effect upon the disorderly 
 members than coercive measures, which have been 
 exercised, 1 believe, lately to very little purpose. 
 Father Pablo's Christian equanimity of temper 
 
 € 2
 
 148 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY'. 
 
 and mild benevolence will, I am certain, restore 
 all to tranquillity, if tyranny does not counteract 
 his designs, and usurping power do away the 
 good his pious exhortations cannot fail of pro- 
 ducing. 
 
 I can now conceive the reason why I was de- 
 nied the privilege of attending him, in the cha- 
 racter of a novice, to his mission. In the refusal 
 there was policy : had I gone I might have dis- 
 covered the nakedness of the land, or rather the 
 imprudent conduct of the rulers, who seek by pro- 
 hibitory laws to repress even the luxuriant gifts of 
 nature. 
 
 Is such a system, my friend, congenial to the 
 laws of either God or man ? Does it not betray 
 a weakness, which in time must destroy itself ? 
 Where Heaven has showered its bounties, and na- 
 ture has spread her most inviting gifts, why should 
 the commands of usurping power render nugatory 
 the one and destroy the other ? It would be very 
 painful to me, possessing a Briton's idea of liberty 
 and property, to have the first circumscribed and 
 the second liable to be seized on by the legislative 
 power, or what I enjoyed not to be permitted to 
 make the most of, which I am informed is now 
 the case. During the reign of the Jesuits, go- 
 vernment did not interfere in either spiritual or 
 temporal affairs. The converted Indians, in their
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 149 
 
 different towns, were encouraged to exercise trade 
 and commerce without the interference of the civil 
 power ; and were permitted to sell whatever they 
 chose to dispose of, without being burthened with 
 duties on any one article. They paid the annual 
 pias:res exacted of them on their first establish- 
 ment, and sent from their communities the num- 
 bers which the state demanded j and this was 
 all. Their property, whether it consisted in land, 
 cattle, or articles of barter, was exempt from the 
 rapacity of tax-gatherers ; and they yielded no ac- 
 count to any one but their spiritual governors, 
 who laboured as well as the meanest Indian for 
 the general good. In every town they had a pub- 
 lic store-house, in which was deposited the pro- 
 duce of every individual's exertions ; and from 
 this grand source was drawn the means of sup- 
 port for all. This was daily portioned out by 
 their pastor, agreeably to the wants of every one, 
 who was always sure of enough, but none to 
 waste. The clergy saw the necessity of domestic 
 regulation, and enforced it, till at length the peo- 
 ple were also convinced of its utility ; and while 
 each in his turn laboured for himself, he also pro- 
 vided for the community at large. The aged, the 
 children, and the sick, were sure of being taken 
 care of : all their wants were supplied from the 
 grand repository, and the surplus was freely re-
 
 150 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 signed to the church. It was such wise and pre* 
 vident regulations as these that elevated Sparta,. 
 Rome, and Athens, from a mere handful of as-, 
 piring men, to republics that governed the world. 
 But now, if my information is founded on truth— 
 and I have no reason to doubt it — this wise system 
 of things is entirely overturned. The Indians have, 
 it is true, ecclesiastics as usual, to superintend 
 them and regulate their affairs ; but those eccle- 
 siastics are now themselves subordinate to the civil 
 power, and not, as heretofore, guided by their 
 own laws exclusively. They must now pay a 
 heavy duty for every article they make use of in 
 the presidency, and all they dispose of is taxed in 
 a similar manner. The clergy are answerable for 
 the strict payment of the duties ; and if injustice 
 is exercised, it is of no use to complain. Their 
 parish priests are appointed by the state, and are 
 amenable to it for their conduct. Every step they 
 take is watched, and the utmost vigilance ob- 
 served by the civil magistrate. The military com- 
 mandant is no longer a cacique, but a Spaniard ; 
 so is their corrigidore, alcalde, alquazils, &c. All 
 is now in the power of the state ; and though the 
 ancient forms are apparently kept up, yet it is in 
 appearance only. Formerly no Spaniard was 
 permitted to come among them ; and if, through 
 business or accident, any one or more did arrive.
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 151 
 
 at the presidency, they were obliged by law to 
 limit their stay to three days ; at the expiration of 
 which, if they did not depart peaceably, they were 
 by force compelled. 
 
 Now young people are sent from all parts of 
 the province to visit the presidencies, and like- 
 wise to study at Gordovo, under professors of 
 other orders, who are, I understand, instructed to 
 implant in the minds of their pupils an abhorrence 
 of the Jesuitical tenets, in hopes that in a few 
 years all ideas of their different republics will be 
 done away. How this system will succeed I will 
 not pretend to say ; but, if I may judge from the 
 manner of the young Spanish students who ac- 
 companied our superior to Cordovo, very little 
 good will result from it to either party. These 
 young men seemed to me to have imbibed a 
 strong tincture of modern French philosophy, 
 and many expressions which escaped them plainly 
 indicated very liberal sentiments on the art of 
 governing. I very much doubt if the rising 
 generation of Spaniards will pay any more respect 
 to a crowned head than their volatile neighbours 
 have done. Let but those principles be dissemk 
 nated over this new world, and farewell to the 
 monarchy in the old cine. The resources now 
 daily drawn by the mother country from this, 
 once stopped, or even suspended, and Old Spain
 
 152 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 must speedily become the prey of any power that 
 chooses to invade her. It is the riches of these 
 injured nations which alone supports the pride of 
 }iis Ca:holic majesty, and without which Spain 
 would long since have become a province of 
 France, or else have been parcelled out, like that 
 devoted country Poland, among different nations 
 of Europe. Our admirals, under Elizabeth, put 
 the death-stroke to their maritime greatness, and 
 our succeeding victory over their arrogant designs 
 at Gibraltar completed it. Indeed, it would be. 
 stamping the dispensations of Heaven with in- 
 justice were they ever again to be a powerful na- 
 tion. " Blood will have blood," as Shakspeare ex- 
 presses it. Their horrid auto de fes, and daily sa- 
 crifice of thousands in the mines, call aloud at 
 the throne of Heaven for retributive justice. The 
 former evil, it is true, ceased with the reign of 
 the Jesuits ; but the latter still exists, and that in a 
 much wider extent than ever. There is not a visit 
 I make in the town but I am told of the immense 
 quantities of silver drawn from the mines, and pre- 
 paring for exportation to the mother country as 
 soon as there may be a peace. When I hear this 
 I cannot help devoutly wishing it may fall into the 
 hands of my countrymen, and inspire them with 
 the thoughts of conquest here. But if the navi- 
 gation of La Plata may be urged as an argument
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. L5S 
 
 against such an expedition, why not direct their 
 arms against the fruitful plains of Chile ? which I 
 am informed is another Tempe — mild, salubrious, 
 rich, and fertile, abounding in all the blessings of 
 nature, in the most comprehensive sense : a place 
 which holds out the most inviting picture to any 
 nation possessing souls indued with the spirit of 
 enterprise, industry to improve, and humanity to 
 govern ; for the one without the other is like a 
 king without a country. I am to see a gentleman 
 this evening, who has recently passed the Cor- 
 dillera, and who comes here for the express pur- 
 pose of treating with an English factor for some 
 British manufactures, which he means to speculate 
 on at Conception ; but his designs are not known 
 to any one here but don Manuel. 
 
 From this gentleman I hope to learn some au- 
 thentic particulars respecting Chile, a province I 
 have a very ardent desire to visit ; but 1 fear I shall 
 not be allowed that satisfaction. At times I am 
 almost tempted to take the cowl, in order to have 
 an opportunity of seeing the presidencies ; for 
 many fathers are still sending o(F to supply the 
 place of the ci-devant disciples of Jesus. I have 
 made great intercession on every side, through 
 the medium of my friend Jerome, to obtain this — 
 in my eyes— ^-desirable privilege ; how I shall suc- 
 ceed as yet I know not, but I believe the good-
 
 154 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 natured brother would be very happy if I could 
 have my wishes gratified, and I am certain still more 
 so if I would turn monk. Blessed St. Dominic, 
 what a pious reverend father should I not make 1 
 Pr'ythee, my dear friend, indulge thy fancy for a 
 minute, and imagine me in the scapulary, cowl, and 
 tonsure, enjoining penance to some lovely young 
 Spanish female, who, with mischief in her eye and 
 meekness on her tongue, believes all to be gospel 
 that comes from her father confessor. Ah, man 
 Dieu! what happy fellows those ghostly confidants 
 must be! 
 
 Adieu! Yours, in the true spirit of envy.
 
 BETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 15$ 
 
 LETTER XX. 
 
 Content of St. Dominic, Aug. I/97, 
 I have this morning received 
 another remittance from my old friend at New 
 York, and have not hesitated to make another 
 offering to the fathers, which was very graciously 
 accepted. I am in hopes, through the proper 
 application of my piastres, that I shall be shortly 
 able to obtain a more enlarged sphere of action. 
 There is a whisper among the novices that one of 
 the fathers is appointed to the care of a mission 
 on the banks of the Uraguay. They don't know 
 which •> but should it be father Hernandez, I think 
 I may stand some chance of accompanying him. 
 He seems, by his manner, to have taken a sort of 
 liking to me j and any kind of travelling, so it be 
 travelling, would be more agreeable to me than 
 beating, like a mill-horse, the same eternal round 
 v/hich at present I am compelled to submit to. 
 
 The trees round the houses, which I frequently 
 ramble among, forcibly recal to my remembrance 
 
 the groves at C , where you and I used to 
 
 enjoy every pleasure our happy country affords to 
 those possessed of independence : and could I but
 
 lo(j LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 meet with as much cleanliness in this part of the 
 world as I was accustomed to find there, I should 
 spend many hours very agreeably ; but, alas ! I 
 must not think of it. Here pride and laziness have 
 banished neatness ; all within doors is disgustingly 
 filthy; and without, were it not for the sweets which 
 fill the air from the grateful breezes blowing con- 
 stantly from the Plata, the place would be really 
 insupportable. It is these breezes which keep the 
 city cool and temperate ; for, being surrounded on 
 all sides by plains of immense extent, the winds 
 have nothing else to employ themselves upon. 
 
 I had rambled this morning to the utmost limits 
 of the bounds prescribed me, which happens on one- 
 side to be the banks of the little river that runs up 
 to the town, I was standing on its margin, and 
 reflecting on the similarity of my then situation 
 and when I was at Westminster-school, when 
 m\ny a time I have stood at the end of Palace-yard 
 longing to break bounds and scamper off with 
 some one or other of the town boys, who had been 
 telling me where they were going and how 
 agreeably they were to be entertained. I sighed 
 at the remembrance, and could not help wishing 
 those happy days might once more return. I stood 
 in a musing posture, regardless of every thing near 
 me, when I was roused from my reveries by the 
 loud clatter of women's voices, and, turning quickly
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 157 
 
 round, perceived four negro women and a girl 
 washing linen. Their mode of proceeding seemed 
 to me very strange, and i stood silent, to watch 
 their motions. One of them spread the clothes on 
 the green sward by the river's side ; another took 
 up an earthen vessel of water, and soused them ; 
 while the other two knelt down, and with a piece 
 of soap smeared them well over : then, with both 
 hands spread fiat, they rubbed the articles back- 
 wards and forwards on the grass. When this had 
 been done some time, the women again soused 
 the linen well with water, turning it this way and 
 that, and sprawling it about in a very uncouth 
 manner, as 1 thought ; but never rubbing it between 
 their hands, as the English washerwomen do. 
 When the articles were found to be sufficiently 
 clean, the water-bearer took them to the river, 
 rinsed them up and down two or three times, and 
 then hung them up on poles set cross-ways on 
 others fixed in the ground. "While one woman 
 was thus employed the others were repeating the 
 operation of smearing and sousing upon the rest 
 of the clothes ; so that, by working one under 
 another, no time was lost. The women appeared 
 to press the linen as much with their knees as 
 their hands. In this manner they dispatched a 
 large basket of clothes in a little time ; and as the 
 sun was very ardent on the spot where they per-
 
 158 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 formed this curious washing ceremony, the whole 
 of the truck was dry almost as soon as they had 
 finished ; and in the space of an hour and half 
 they had taken every thing back to where they came 
 from, I suppose, dry and as white as the purest 
 snow. ! 
 
 Fond as the good housewives of New York are 
 of deluging every thing with water, I am afraid 
 they would say of this negro mode of washing 
 that it was more haste than good speed, for 
 nothing could possibly be well done that was 
 hurried over in such an apparently slovenly man- 
 ner : but, in my opinion, this observation would 
 not hold good ; for the clothes, though not rubbed 
 with so much labour as the North Americans may 
 bestow, yet did not appear a jot less clean or white. 
 This was the first washing 1 had witnessed since 
 my arrival ; and I assure you I was not a little 
 amused. What trifles, you will say, at times, interest 
 me ! They do so : but can you wonder at it, when 
 you consider the local life I at present lead, and 
 the circumscribed manners of the people I am 
 among ? I am not permitted to visit the landing- 
 place of the boats coming from the harbour ; that 
 is out of bounds : and when I walk about the town 
 the few individuals I meet are either Spaniards, 
 moresque, or negroes ; for very few Indians, if 
 any, will be seen in the Spanish settlements, except
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 159 
 
 at the times of barter. I have not had the plea- 
 sure of seeing the gentleman from Conception ; 
 for, instead of dining with don Manuel, he had 
 been summoned to attend the major-general. 
 
 Donna Louisa gives a grand entertainment this 
 evening, at which all the principal ladies in the 
 city are to be present. It is her husband's birth- 
 day ; and, as he is a great favourite with all ranks 
 of people, it will be very brilliantly attended. 
 Father Hernandez accompanies me. He is, 1 am 
 certain, a very worthy character ; and I shall, during 
 our walk, venture to prefer my request of being per- 
 mitted to travel with him to the presidency, and he 
 will tell me at once whether or not it can be granted. 
 
 Oh ! but I had like to have forgot : 1 have a 
 commission for you to execute for donna Louisa. 
 She wishes you to procure her a complete set of 
 Handel's oratorios, which she means to send as a 
 present to the convent of St. Benedict at Cordovo ; 
 one of the community having expressed a great 
 desire to obtain them, in order that the Indians at 
 the presidencies may be instructed to perform some 
 of that immortal master's inimitable compositions. 
 The Indians, I am assured, are wonderful pro- 
 ficients in church music : for the fathers, on their 
 first establishment, took the utmost pains to have 
 the children taught that captivating art ; nor have 
 the pupils ill repaid the trouble that was taken
 
 160 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 with them : though 1 am yet to learn if they are" 
 indulged in their usual attendance in the churches, 
 which during the reign of the Jesuits was constant 
 and . uiii emitting. Nothing can please an Indian 
 more than being employed in any office immedi- 
 ately about the church ; for that they regard as the 
 ultimatum of all their wishes : and those who, by 
 their voices and skill in music were appointed 
 choiristers or performers in the bands of musicians 
 attached to the divine service thought themselves 
 the particular favourites of Heaven, and their spi- 
 ritual guides failed not to encourage such ideas. 
 It is therefore a great point of emulation in them 
 to study music in a very assiduous manner, and 
 painting also, that they might, by the exertion of 
 their abilities, contribute towards the decoration of 
 the house of God, and by their offerings secure 
 for themselves a seat in the mansions of eternal 
 bliss ; and it is by such fascinating measures as 
 these that so many have bee^k converted. .What a 
 pity it is the clergy of the reformed church are 
 not as indefatigable in the pursuit of proselytes as 
 the superstitious Romans ! whose zeal — real or pre- 
 tended — for religion very few of our divines are 
 much inclined to imitate. Let me, though, except 
 from this charge of spiritual indolence that notable 
 class of labourers in the vineyard of Christ, the 
 methodists, who, God speed them ! work as hard
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 161 
 
 In the cause of the Lord as many of their disciples 
 do in that of the devil. I cannot, however, some- 
 times help thinking, that the industry of the 
 Whitfieldites is in general no better bestowed than 
 that of the agriculturist in Scotland ; verifying an 
 old vulgar proverb originally from Spain, and very 
 much in request here, i. e. " Great cry and little 
 wool ! quoth the devil when he sheared his hogs." 
 Mercy upon me ! what must the blessed saints and 
 holy martyrs think, when they look down from 
 their celestial abodes and see religion made a trade 
 of — Avarice the master, Fraud and Hypocrisy 
 foremen in the shop, and Ignorance the only pur- 
 chaser ? At limes I am really half inclined to fear, 
 that if I leave this region of devotion at all in my 
 senses I shall quit it an infidel, or at best with no 
 better faith than a quaker's. Adieu ! Yours. 
 
 M
 
 162 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 LETTER XXI. 
 
 Convent of St. Dominic, Aug. 179/. 
 
 I have succeeded, my friend, in my 
 application to father Hernandez, who, luckily for 
 me, is appointed to visit the presidency of Rioja 
 Minor, on the banks of the great river Uraguay ; 
 our superior finding it necessary to have a father 
 placed there whose urbanity of manners may con- 
 ciliate the jarring interests which at present disturb 
 the community. This is the true reason, as 
 brother Jerome informs me ; but the report in 
 our house is, that the present rector of the parish 
 is become too infirm to attend any longer to the 
 laborious duties of his situation. 
 
 The young missionaries that accompanied our 
 superior are sent many leagues further up the 
 country : some to St. Lucia, others to St. Cruz, 
 and the remainder as far as St. Juan Antiste, 
 among the tribes or nation called Chiquitos ; from 
 whence they are to be still further dispersed, an 
 entire change being about to take place in the 
 missions. We are to leave this city as soon as the 
 annual rains have ceased, which here descend with 
 uncommon violence, attended with some of the
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 163 
 
 most terrific thunder and lightning I ever witnessed. 
 During vespers last evening a tremendous storm 
 came on, and the chapel was illuminated with 
 double the number of candles used at prayers ; but 
 we had little reason for doing so, for in one 
 moment the whole place seemed one sheet of 
 liquid fire, which played with apparent wantonness 
 round the image of the Virgin, which had been 
 set up, with a vast deal of ceremony, about two 
 hours before, that the fathers might supplicate her, 
 should occasion require her services ; which, as 
 they pre-imagined, actually was the case. They 
 therefore, as the storm increased, fell down upon 
 their knees at her feet, and with earnest supplica- 
 tions implored her and saint Dominic to take their 
 house and themselves under their protection. But, 
 though they prayed and sung most devoutly and 
 with all their might, the mother of God and the 
 canonised Dominic remained deaf to all their 
 entreaties : and what aggravated the matter was, 
 that a tree which grew close to the east end of the 
 chapel, and had been in a tottering condition for 
 some time, fell down at the moment when the 
 fathers' devotion was at its height, and, woeful to 
 relate, dashed its branches through the chapel 
 window, and sacrilegeously threw down the 
 blessed Virgin herself, with all her glittering para- 
 phernalia j and even the image of St. Dominic, a 
 
 M '2
 
 164 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 venerable old figure, had part of his nose and one? 
 of his hands knocked off. At this dreadful cata- 
 strophe the whole community arose as with one 
 consent, and fairly took to their heels across the 
 court-yard, leaving the holy ladv prostrate before 
 the shrine of St. Dominic. 1 ran with the rest ; 
 but I happened to be one of those usually in all 
 foot races consigned to the devil — I mean the 
 hindmost. The pampero blew Ike a Jamaica 
 tornado, and whistled through the long vaulted 
 galleries with a horrid hollow violence. • One clap 
 of thunder succeeded another before we had time 
 to say God preserve us ! and sounded, as it ran 
 along the concave -of heaven, as though all the 
 artillery of the skies was opened to annihilate us ; 
 while from the celestial watering-pot the rain 
 descended in overwhelming torrents, and quickly 
 deluged every street and garden. The bells' of all 
 the churches in the city were set a-ringing, in 
 order, as they said, to allay the sound of the 
 thunder. God knows how far this nad any effect ; 
 but the heavenly noises appeared to me completely 
 to drown the terrestrial ones, and retain, as they 
 ought, their pre-eminence. This scene, taken 
 altogether, was quite nouvelle to me ; but, notwith- 
 standing its terrors, 1 could not for the soul of me 
 repress a smile when I turned my eyes around 
 and saw the fathers, some upon their knees, some-
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 1G.5 
 
 upon their faces, and others throwing the holy- 
 water about with as much profusion as the ladies 
 of New York do the whitewash ; their hands 
 trembling, their eyes staring, and their features 
 distorted into as many grotesque forms as there 
 were individuals. The fall of the Virgin was re- 
 garded as ominous ; and in their terror they ex- 
 pressed their apprehensions that it foreboded the 
 downfal of their house. Possessed with this 
 alarming idea, they supplicated every saint in the 
 calendar, except St. Dominic, to ward off the 
 approaching eyil : he, poor soul ! was thought to 
 have but little influence in heaven, or he would 
 have taken care to prevent such a dreadful disaster 
 and disgrace. 1 joined in their prayers as devoutly 
 as my risible faculties would permit ; for, maugre all 
 my endeavours, the more I strove to conceal my 
 merriment the more uncontrollable it appeared. I 
 " was therefore fain to hide my face on the ground, 
 and let the effects of laughter pass for those of fear. 
 Oh! thought 1, as 1 lay in this manner, what 
 would their reverences say if they knew that in me, 
 instead of a 'pious Catholic, they had nursed an 
 abominable heretic ? The cause of the Virgin's 
 downfal would be immediately accounted for, and 
 I should be sent pelUmell to perdition. However, 
 luckily for me, all my actions were ascribed to 
 (levotion, and poor St, Dominic was anathematised
 
 166 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 in my stead, I could not help pitying the un- 
 fortunate block, which will, no doubt, undergo a 
 severe castigation ; for that, I understand, is fre- 
 quently his portion, when he does not attend so 
 complacently as he ought to his supplicant. But 
 if their prayers are granted his venerable figure is 
 ornamented with flowers and beads ; nay some- 
 times, on extraordinary occasions, they oblige him 
 with new clothes : but this accident under his 
 very nose will, I fear, keep him in disgrace and 
 dirty garments for a long time to come. 
 
 From whence, my friend, does this superstitious 
 bigotry proceed ? Is it from custom only, or ig- 
 norant obstinacy, like the Israelites of old ; or is 
 man naturally prone to idolatry ? I would wish to 
 have this question sarisfactorily answered, but don't 
 know how to go about it. If 1 ask a Catholic, he 
 will tell me a long rigmarol of the necessity of 
 erecting images, and the efficacy of prayingto them; 
 since those they represent are in the presence of 
 the Redeemer, and ever ready to attend to any 
 petition that may be preferred to his representative, 
 over whom each saint is supposed^ — considerate 
 enough — to be eternally watching ; for celestial 
 spirits are allowed to be present not only in heaven, 
 but a thousand other places, near every ugly block 
 their complaisant votaries may term their holy image. 
 
 This religious absurdity brings to my mind a
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 16/ 
 
 form in our law, which says, " To be tried before 
 our lord the now king, before the king himself at 
 Westminster in the county of," &c. By which 
 preamble our gracious sovereign is supposed to be 
 present day after day in the court of King's-bench, 
 there personally to hear and decide causes, when 
 at the same time every body knows he never was 
 there in his life for any such purpose, nor ever 
 will be : this is what 1 call lying by licence. But 
 were I to start this simile to one of these pious 
 fathers he would most devoutly cross himself, 
 turn up the whites of his eyes, and implore the 
 holy Virgin to protect him from such a miserable 
 infidel, who certainly never could work his way 
 out of purgatory after death, unless millions of 
 masses were said or sung for the redemption of his 
 soul. Now this is all stuff; and yet, my friend, I 
 do not altogether deny the existence of a purgatory, 
 nor the reaonableness of imploring the saints : but 
 then it must be to those only whom I reverence as 
 such, not a sinful individual like myself, canonised 
 only for his wealth or power, but those that 
 have suffered for the cross of Chris:, and remained 
 steadfast in their faith even unto death. There 
 may be some reason in offering up our prayers to 
 them, and that without the mockery of a carved 
 and painted image, made perhaps by a clumsy 
 
 s
 
 168 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 carpenter, my next-door neighbour, and cursed! 
 by him a hundred times during the operation, for 
 being so devilish hard to cut. 
 
 In the first rude dark ages of Christianity, when 
 visible objects were necessary to work upon the 
 senses of men, in order more clearly to demon- 
 strate the truth of the doctrines inculcated by the 
 preachers, images may have been of service to the 
 cause of religion : but now, when mankind are 
 more enlightened, and the whole civilised world 
 has learnt to dis anguish for themselves between 
 real and imaginary beings and sensible and in- 
 sensible substances, what need is there of this idle, 
 and I may add impious, idolatry? I have in many 
 instances before now preferred the ceremonies of 
 the Greek church to those of the Roman ; pictures 
 being, in my opinion, much more intelligible re- 
 presentatives of either men or things than a sense- 
 less inexpressive piece of wood carved into some- 
 thing, and barely something, like the human form. 
 But it is ridiculous to attempt to convince those 
 who' are grounded in their absurd prejudices of 
 the absurdity of them ; it is some such event as 
 that of the Virgin's ciownfal which I believe must 
 work the reformation. 
 
 The young novices — who I very well know are 
 no real devotees — were, 1 could plainly perceive,
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY, 3 G^ 
 
 as much tickled with the ludicrcusness of the ad- 
 venture as myself 5 and had it not thundered sq 
 tremendously would have sought an opportunity 
 of intimating to me that they thought it a good 
 practical joke, and enjoyed the fathers' perplexity ; 
 for, by every glance they cast upon me when we 
 reached the refectory in safety, I was convinced 
 they had had as much trouble as myself to refrain 
 from laughing aloud at the distress and dismay of 
 the elders. This circumstance has given me fresh 
 reason to believe that superstition and bigotry are 
 about to quit these regions, as they have already 
 done the European continent ; and I do not know of 
 any corner of the globe they can rake shelter in when 
 driven from hence. - The Portuguese, it is true, 
 still retain their ancient bigotry ; but I am of opi- 
 nion, that when the prince regent ascends the 
 throne the reign of monks and Jesuits, with their 
 relics and idolatrous trumpery, will go nigh to be 
 transplanted to the bottom of the Tagus : for, if 
 I may prognosticate as to the probable event of 
 things, extra-devotion must fly the realm, or 
 Lusitania will no longer remain subject to the 
 house of Braganza. Strange mutations in church 
 and state have taken place since the French re- 
 voluti >n, and still stranger will follow before the 
 repi "i mania ceases to operate, The liberty
 
 170 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 which the ecclesiastics enjoy here enables them to 
 mix in all companies, and, as this is a maritime 
 town, they have opportunities of learning in- 
 telligence sooner than those in the more remote 
 parts of the continent. When out on visits they 
 indulge in excesses even more than the laity, and 
 when they return to the convent they are not 
 always upon their guard. But what they have 
 learned out is sometimes, in an unguarded moment, 
 related within : the novices get hold of it, and 
 make their own remarks, which,- 1 assure you, 
 are not very confined, for they indulge pretty 
 freely in conversation upon subjects which, a 
 few years ago, they hardly dared think upon, 
 and the mention of which would have procured 
 them very severe corporeal punishment : but such 
 punctilios are now but little regarded. Piety even 
 seems to hide her head, and shrink abashed at 
 some of their sallies ; and the freedom which the 
 women enjoy here does not a little encourage the 
 growth of infidelity. I have talked several times 
 with don Manuel upon this particular, and he 
 declares that the state winks at the dissolute lives 
 of the clergy, that they may, by their example, 
 give a new turn to the modes of worship formerly 
 observed by the Jesuits, and, by the levity of 
 their conduct, lessen the reverence with which the
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 171 
 
 Indians were wont to regard their religious go- 
 vernors ; whose interest among the natives the 
 court has long been jealous of, and wished to 
 undermine. How far this may be good policy I 
 will not pretend to say, but it certainly has a 
 very destructive and dangerous appearance.
 
 }?3 Letters from Paraguay, 
 
 LETTER XXII. 
 
 Convent of St, Dominic, Sept. \Td7> 
 
 Every thing is now prepared for 
 our departure : father Hernandez honours me with 
 his confidence, and purposes to make me his 
 secretary on the journey, which will be a very 
 long one. We are to go by water in three balsas, 
 a kind of boat used for the river navigation ; two 
 are to convey us and our attendants, and the third 
 our provisions and other necessaries. 
 
 1 shall now have the satisfaction of seeing the 
 more remote banks of the Paraguay, or Plata, 
 and the Uraguay ; which latter empties itself into 
 the former many leagues beyond Buenos Ayres, 
 My friends, don Manuel and donna Louisa, regret 
 much my resolution of leaving them, and harbour 
 many apprehensions that I shall never return. 
 They have exerted all the influence they have over 
 me to dissuade me from my purpose ; but my 
 resolution once fixed, I assured them no argu- 
 ments could shake it : besides, I considered the 
 permission of going as a very great compliment 
 paid me by the father, whose, good opinion I 
 could not, by any means, think of abusing.
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY, 173 
 
 The bishop and governor have both been in-' 
 formed of my design, and have very obligingly 
 offered their services, if in any shape I should 
 require them. By the bye, I cannot help thinking 
 they are glad to get me out of the town ; though 
 for what reason, except my being an Englishman, 
 I really carmot imagine, nor do I much trouble 
 my head to discover. 
 
 Our travelling company will consist of father 
 H. as father provincial, attended by a young 
 brother in the character of father eomoanion, two 
 
 J. ' 
 
 novices, and myself. Some Indians from the 
 presidency are to take us into their balsas a short 
 distance from the city. This part of the journey 
 we go by land: it is only about five or six leagues £- 
 for we do not enter upon the water at the mouth 
 of the harbour, because of the difficulty the balsas 
 find in navigating the Plata, especially near Buenos 
 Ayres, which has no shelter from the winds, and 
 the little creek which runs through the town is not 
 by any means calculated to receive the Indian boats. 
 Provisions for our voyage ar£ already laid in ; 
 that is to say, bread made of maize, the native 
 corn of this country, which is very wholesome, 
 but by no means so palatable as our European 
 wheat, which is grown here in small quantities, 
 only just enough to make cakes or pastry for the 
 grandees and clergy. This maize, variously pre-
 
 1/4 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 pared, forms the principal part of the diet of the 
 Indians and negroes. The animal food that we 
 may want will be procured as we proceed along 
 by the Indians, who arc, it seems, very expert at 
 all kinds of hunting. Brother Jerome has fur- 
 nished me with linen and clothes fit for the 
 journey, the most plain and simple that can be 
 imagined: my whole dress consists, besides my 
 shirt, of a pair of black or grey worsted stockings, 
 a black waistcoat, and breeches quite plain, and over 
 them a grey robe, not unlike a domino, fastened 
 at the neck with a button and loop, and round the 
 waist with a leathern belt and buckle ; the sleeves 
 are wide and long, so that I am obliged to turn 
 them up half way from the wrist. A large black 
 hat, of capacious dimensions, completes this elegant 
 attire ; which were I to wear in the streets of 
 London would procure me as many attendants as 
 a catawbaw Indian, or the Turkish ambassador : 
 but it is the costume of those that accompany the 
 missions ; of course I can have no reasonable ob- 
 jection to it. I know not how I shall be able to 
 remit my letters to you after I leave this town : 
 but I shall, nevertheless, continue to write ; and if 
 you do not receive any letters from me conclude 
 I am at too remote a distance to forward them to 
 Europe. I have written to New York, and don 
 Manuel has undertaken to manage my affairs in
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 175 
 
 tljat quarter. I have made another offering to the 
 convent : and brother Jerome I have privately 
 remunerated for the many friendly services he has 
 rendered me. He pressed very earnestiy to ac- 
 company us ; but the society, 1 believe, consider 
 his services in too valuable a light to be readily 
 dispensed with;. God bless you ! Commend me to 
 all those whom you know I hold in dear remem- 
 brance. 
 
 Ever yours.
 
 t?6 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 LETTER XXIII. 
 
 Presidency of Rioja Minor, Nov. 179/. 
 
 Many weeks have elapsed since I 
 fast took up my pen to address you. Thank 
 Heaven, I am in good health and spirits, and not 
 at all ill pleased with my situation, though in the 
 midst of woods and wilds; for although I am lodged 
 in what they call a town I can scarcely see a house 
 near me, the streets are so intersected with trees. 
 
 We left Buenos Ayres on the fifth of Sep- 
 tember, in the major-general's private coach : 
 father Hernandez, the father companion, the two 
 young novices, and myself. The Indians of our 
 company were waiting for us at the harbour of 
 Rio de la., Conchas, about six leagues above Bu- 
 enos Ayres, to reach which we had to pass over a 
 part of the plains of Las Pampas : on the way I 
 saw the Indians and negroes killing the black cattle 
 for their hides, which form the principal part of 
 the exports from the harbours on the Plata. Their 
 method is singular, and very dextrous; but to 
 me it seems a savage occupation. The cattle here 
 run wild over a plain many hundred miles in ex- 
 tent j and when the natives are employed, to pro-
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 177 
 
 cure a. large quantity of hides they go out in 
 parties, each furnished with a kind of sling or dart, 
 armed at one end with an iron, shaped like a cre- 
 scent and extremely sharp : this weapon they 
 throw at the beasts as they fly, and seldom if ever 
 miss their aim of ham-stringing them. As soon as 
 the poor animal feels himself wounded he stag- 
 gers, drops, and lies helpless on the ground at the 
 mercy of his assailant. The hunter, seeing him fall, 
 does not stop to kill him immediately, but goes on 
 wounding more in the same manner ; and this he 
 continues doing until he is either tired of the pur- 
 suit or has maimed the number he w r ants : he 
 then leaves off, and, when he has taken some re- 
 freshment, returns and 'finally dispatches them. 
 Formerly several hundreds were killed in this man- 
 ner at every hunting, and no part of them pre- 
 served but their tongues, hides, and fat ; the rest 
 of the carcass used to be left on the spot to be 
 devoured by the tigers .and birds of prey, who 
 are always hovering near the smell of blood : but 
 now, father Hernandez informs me, they are be- 
 come more careful of the cattle, which are found 
 not to multiply so fast as formerly, so that 
 part of the meat is now preserved in the Indian 
 manner, and sold to the vessels that touch at 
 Buenos Ayres. This newly-introduced article of 
 commerce is found to be very advantageous to the 
 
 N
 
 I?3 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 country people ; and is therefore encouraged by 
 the governor, who, take him for all in all, is a 
 tolerably good kind of a master, and would appear 
 a better if he had not so many jackanapeses in 
 office under him. I do not wonder at the herbage 
 on these immense plains growing so excessively 
 thick and high, since it is so often for many miles 
 drenched with blood ; not to mention the over- 
 flowing of the river, which happens immediately 
 after the heavy rains, and leaves a rich slime be- 
 hind, not unlike that described by travellers as 
 occasioned by the inundation of the Nile. What 
 rich pastures would not these fertile acres make 
 in the hands of an English farmer ! and corn could 
 be raised, were the plains enclosed, with half the 
 labour requisite in our country. The soil is so 
 over-rich, it would not need manure of any kind : 
 Nature here appears to take the toil into her own 
 hands, and to require but very little trouble on 
 the part of the agriculturist ; and in the hands 
 of Nature I doubt all will remain while Span- 
 ish oppression continues to counteract the bless- 
 ings of Heaven. The few houses we passed on our 
 journey were all of them surrounded with trees, 
 set close to each other in rather a regular manner j 
 but none that I could see were more than one 
 story high. When we reached the harbour of 
 Las Conchas we found the balsas ranged in order
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 179 
 
 close to the shore, on which stood two houses in* 
 habited by Creoles, who are placed there by the 
 bishop with a small annual stipend : indeed his 
 holy eminence is in all respects a very humane 
 good man, and takes care to provide for all his 
 domestics as soon as they attain an age that inca- 
 pacitates them for work. In one of these houses, 
 which are appropriated entirely to the entertain- 
 ment of travellers, we found a very agreeable re- 
 freshment of fruit, cakes, honey, and Canary wine. 
 In the other house was provided beef, Indian bread, 
 and chica : this last is a kind of fermented drink not 
 unlike our porter ; it is made from pounded maize, 
 dried over the fire, and then put into earthen ves- 
 sels rilled with water, where it is left a certain time 
 to ferment, and when it ceases to work it is fit to 
 drink, which the Indians do to an excess whenever 
 they can procure it. When our repast was over, 
 prayers were said by father Hernandez, and with 
 his benediction the servants of the major-general 
 returned to Buenos Ayres, while we entered the 
 balsas. In the first were the two fathers, attended 
 by ten Indians and two negroes ; in the next 
 were the two novices and myself, with the like 
 number of attendants ; and in the third balsa were 
 four Indians, and as many negroes, with our pro- 
 visions and baggage. We soon quitted the har- 
 bour de la Conchas, and entered upon the Plata, 
 which we navigated in rather a zigzag direction, 
 
 N 2
 
 ISO LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 by reason of the many shoals with which this river 
 abounds, and the multiplicity of islands that are 
 strewed in all directions, which make a very pleas- 
 ing appearance : but the travelling this way is ex- 
 tremely tedious, as the balsas are obliged to keep 
 constantly near shore, or rather to pass from is- 
 land to island, being by their formation incapable 
 of resisting any violence of weather. They do 
 not use sails, but row along in a very slow 
 and quiet manner : four constantly ply the oar, 
 and are relieved every two hours. The room — 
 if I may so call it — in which we were accommo- 
 dated, was about nine feet long, covered with skins 
 of tigers. On this is spread a mattress the whole 
 breadth of the balsa, which is enclosed about four 
 feet high with a kind of railing made of bamboo, 
 round which is hung a sort of coarse cloth manu- 
 factured by the Indians. The top is covered with 
 manicoe or palm leaves so neatly fitted, that not 
 the least drop of wet can penetrate : this room is 
 left open in the front wide enough to admit two 
 persons at a time, though in a stooping position ; 
 and when within you must either sit or lie along, 
 for you cannot stand upright. The apartment is 
 furnished with every convenience for the voyage, 
 and we can repose very much at our ease in this 
 American treckschuyt conveyance. We rowed 
 full forty leagues up La Plata, crossing from island 
 to island until we reached the opposite shore in
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 181 
 
 order to gain the river Uraguay, which empties 
 itself into the Plata about two hundred leagues 
 from the sea. But at its mouth an island ob- 
 structed our entrance, leaving only a very narrow 
 channel for the boats to pass through : our rowers 
 were therefore obliged to coast nearly the whole 
 length of the island before they could get into the 
 current, which alone leads every vessel into the 
 Uraguay. This river differs widely from the Plata 
 in every respect, but chiefly in being infested with 
 rocks instead of sands — for infested it certainly is. 
 I had been in hopes, that as soon as we had quitted 
 the Plata we should proceed without stopping at 
 night, as hitherto we had constantly done ; for no 
 balsa will venture far from shore, by reason of 
 their being obliged to cast anchor as soon as it is 
 dark, under cover either of the river bank or one 
 of the islands, to avoid the danger of striking on 
 one of the rocks and getting wrecked ; for those 
 accidents are very frequent to the river naviga- 
 tors of Paraguay. Our company not being over- 
 numerous — 1 mean of Europeans — we could not 
 make our voyage very diverting, unless when 
 the balsas anchored for the night j when the first 
 thing the Indians did was to offer up their prayers 
 to the Virgin, in which we, the superiors, very 
 devoutly joined. This important business dis- 
 patched, they immediately prepared to get their.
 
 I S3 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 suppers, at which they are very expert. They 
 quickly kindle a fire., and the provisions, if not 
 ready cooked, are put upon stakes of wood after 
 the manner of a spit, but sharp at both ends : one 
 point they stick into the earth close to the fire, 
 and when they think the lowest part of the meat 
 is sufficiently done they turn ends with the spit ; 
 and as they are not in the habit of dressing turbot 
 by a stop-watch, like our English epicures, the 
 toast is soon ended, and as soon eaten with sur- 
 prising gout, without either bread, salt, or vege- 
 table. "When their meal is dispatched — and they 
 are not long about it, as no chica is allowed to be 
 drank — they spread a good quantity of skins on the 
 ground, and, without any covering besides the 
 trees, betake themselves to rest ; not in the least 
 troubling themselves about any precautions to 
 guard against the wild beasts and reptiles, which 
 they say the fire will suffice to drive away. How r 
 ever, their security had like to have cost them 
 dear in one instance. We had, as usual, put into 
 a small creek to take our dinner, and father Her- 
 nandez proposed staying about two or three hours 
 to examine the remains of a presidency which 
 about eight months since was destroyed by a tribe 
 of wild Indians, who, like the Arabs, are eter- 
 nally wandering about, and, like them too, are all 
 expert horsemen. We had all quitted the bal-
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 185 
 
 sas, and were variously employed. Some of the 
 Indians were gathering wood for firing, three were 
 fishing — the Uraguay abounds with excellent fish 
 of almost every kind — and others were gone to 
 try their luck in the woods. Father Hernandez, 
 his companion, the novices, and myself, were strol- 
 ling round the church — which had been left by the 
 destroyers uninjured, as had also the burying- 
 ground — when we were alarmed by three of our 
 Indians running out of the wood and shrieking 
 most horridly. We immediately made towards 
 them ; but you may imagine our terror when we 
 perceived they were pursued by a female tiger of 
 enormous size, and a young cub as ferocious as 
 herself. She had been wounded in her breast and 
 one of her fore legs, which, while it retarded her 
 pace, augmented her fury. The father companion, 
 with great presence of mind, ran to the fire, and 
 snatched a flaming brand ; the two novices and 
 myself followed his example ; and we placed our- 
 selves directly between the Indians and their purr 
 suers. 
 
 The blaze arrested their pace for a moment, 
 and luckily gave time for two of the negroes to 
 discharge their fowling-pieces : one of the shots 
 took effect in the body of the mother, and the 
 other killed the cub. The tigress was now more 
 enraged than ever, and instantly reared on her
 
 184 LE'ITLRS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 hind legs to seize the father companion, who was 
 nearest, when the flying Indians, who had rallied 
 and returned to the spot, thrust two spears into the 
 breast of -the angry animal, who immediately fell, 
 and, dreadfully howling, expired. 
 
 For my own part, I hardly knew what I did ; 
 the suddenness of the attack, and fright lest the In- 
 dians should not escape, had an effect upon me I 
 never experienced before. However, I presently 
 recovered myself, and ran up to assist father Her- 
 nandez, who, in coming towards us, had unfortu- 
 nately stept upon a viper which had turned round 
 his leg, and he was too much terrified to attempt 
 to disengage himself. I caught the reptile by the 
 throat, and, untwining it, held its head down with 
 my foot, and crushed it to pieces ; then called the 
 father companion to assist me in bearing father 
 Hernandez to the fire, where we examined the 
 wound and applied some of the juice of the mapal- 
 chaco — an herb peculiar to the province of Tucu- 
 man, used as an antidote for animal poisons — with 
 which travellers are always provided in case of ac- 
 cidents. When our confusion had a little subsided 
 we looked round, to see if we had all our company 
 complete; and found that one Indian was missing. 
 This threw us into fresh alarms; and, anxious to be 
 certain of his fate, I requested the two novices to stay 
 by father Hernandez ^ while myself and the father
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 185 
 
 companion, with two negroes, entered the wood. We 
 endeavoured to retrace the steps of the men whose 
 rencontre had occasioned us so much alarm. They 
 had informed us which way they had taken, which 
 was through a thicket of underwood about half a 
 mile from the scene of action, when just at the 
 moment they had taken a level at a deer the ti- 
 gress made her appearance. They turned and 
 discharged their pieces, which, being aimed in an 
 oblique direction had not the desired effect, as the 
 beast, though wounded, did not fall. They im- 
 mediately took to their heels, without once recol- 
 lecting their companion, who had pushed on before 
 them, in pursuit of a wild boar. This was but a 
 sorry account to enable us to trace the poor fellow, 
 whom we at every step expected to find either torn 
 to pieces or mortally wounded by the rattle-snake; 
 for our fears conjured up a thousand dangers, 
 which were greatly increased when, after two 
 hours' fruitless search, we were obliged to return 
 towards the shore without having made the smallest 
 discovery that could assist us in ascertaining his 
 fate. We were therefore proceeding very discon- 
 solately back to our party, when, as we turned a 
 corner of the burying-ground wall, who should we 
 behold-but the lost sheep, laden with the carcasses 
 of a wild boar and a young fawn. The former he 
 Seemed to think a little too heavy for him, and was
 
 186 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 muttering to himself respecting it, at the same 
 time very devoutly anathematising his companions 
 who he thought had deserted him. 
 
 We hollaed for joy that we had found him ; 
 when he threw down his burden, and, staring, asked 
 us, very sulkily, what we meant by finding him. 
 We now perceived that he was ignorant of our 
 adventure with the tio;er, which we informed him 
 of. He stood silent for a moment, and then ex- 
 claimed — c I only wish I had been there ; she 
 should hardly have made such an uproar : I would 
 have shewn you how to have managed her.* ' Oh 
 Christ ! then,' said I, c I wish you had been there. 
 I should have been very happy to see such won- 
 derful manoeuvres. ' We hastened to father Her- 
 nandez with our new-found companion and the 
 provender he had procured us, which our other 
 people made haste to prepare for the spits* Fa- 
 ther Hernandez was very ill, owing to the double 
 fright he had experienced ; and his indisposition 
 alarmed us very much, as we had near twenty 
 leagues to travel before we couid obtain any as- 
 sistance, when we should reach the presidency of 
 St. Andrea, which has been recently established, in 
 the room of that destroyed by the wild Indians : 
 however, we conveyed him to the balsa, where I 
 proposed to the father companion to bleed him. 
 He consented ; and I performed the operation with
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 187 
 
 an English lancet, as my case of instruments had 
 not been taken from me either at Monte Video or 
 Buenos Ayres. Our little company were all very 
 unhappy at the illness of the good father : however, 
 in three days he was pretty well recovered ; but the 
 leg still continued much inflamed, and displayed as 
 many colours as the back of the reptile that in- 
 jured him, which was of a beautiful dark blue, 
 tinged with light green, yellow, and brown ; the 
 belly was perfectly white and smooth, and the 
 creature altogether was about three feet long. 
 
 I fomented the leg every three or four hours 
 with a decoction of herbs. The poison was perfectly 
 drawn by the application of the mapalchaco, but 
 I could not with all my care restore the limb to its 
 proper colour : this alarmed the father, and for 
 his sake I was anxious to reach the presidency as 
 soon as possible ; but this was not to be ; for the 
 next morning a sudden and violent storm came 
 on, we were obliged to lash the balsas securely to 
 the shore, and were glad to remain under their 
 friendly covering for near twelve hours. The storm 
 raged with as much violence as that I witnessed at 
 Buenos Ayres ; and when it in some respects sub- 
 sided, the wind still continued too high to admit 
 of our leaving the creek, which was happily shel- 
 tered from mischief on the land side by some very 
 }iigh hills, or rather mountains, to the north. We
 
 1S8 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 continued, therefore, at anchor three days longer, 
 and our people every morning ventured again into 
 the woods, nor ever returned without good store 
 of provisions ; and, God knows, we had need of 
 plenty, for the Indians are most tremendous eaters. 
 
 The fathers and we novices had some fish caught 
 and dressed for ourselves; but, though the fish are 
 in themselves delicious, I could not relish them, for 
 want of butter and vinegar, neither of which could 
 I procure, though I had plenty of orange and le- 
 mon juice, but that was not what I wanted. I 
 therefore chummed with the Indians, and, as the 
 air from the river seemed to give every one a very 
 keen appetite, I ate most surprisingly of every 
 thing they set before me. Hunger, you will say, 
 needs no sauce ; and I never saw the proverb more 
 truly verified than during this journey ; but, hun- 
 gry as I was, I could not eat my meat without salt 
 and biscuit : my companions, though, were not so 
 delicate. 
 
 The third day after the storm I went ashore 
 in the morning to gather some herbs for the 
 father, when I took a slight sketch of the 
 church of the ruined presidency dedicated to San 
 Isidro. 
 
 The ruins had been pretty well cleared away, as. 
 had likewise the underwood, which in the neigh- 
 bourhood was very plentiful ; so that a large space
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 189 
 
 before the church was entirely free from tree or 
 shrub. The cross in front was elevated on a 
 round base of earth covered with grass, and had a 
 very agreeable appearance, from the extreme white- 
 ness and roundness of the stone. This erection of 
 the cross is, in my opinion, one of the best appen- 
 dages to the Roman faith ; and I wish there w-as 
 one attached to every Protestant church. The 
 trees to the right of the building had evidently 
 been much thinned as far as the base of the ad- 
 jacent hills, but the country all round seemed one 
 entire forest. All along the banks of the Ura- 
 guay, indeed, there is no want of the thick dark 
 waving woods I so much regretted on my first ar- 
 rival at Buencs Ayres, or rather at Monte Video ; 
 but, except the hills to the back of the presidency, 
 I could not discover any that deserved that name 
 to the right of the river. The woods, as far as I 
 penetrated them in search of the herb, appeared to 
 abound with every kind of tree or shrub that I had 
 before seen on this great continent, with the addition 
 of many others to which I was a perfect stranger ; 
 but they are so thick set with underwood as to be 
 almost impervious either to man or beast : a great 
 many of the latter, though, do contrive, by some 
 means or other, to take up their Habitations there, 
 which I had a convincing proof of; but thejr 
 seemed by their insolence to consider themselves
 
 190 LETTEks FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 as the sole lawful proprietors of those immense fo- 
 rests, and every traveller as an invader of their 
 rights. I no longer wondered at the extraordinary 
 size of the animals which I had heard frequent 
 mention of at Buenos Ayres, for they range the 
 woods . at pleasure, and prey upon each other as 
 theh- hunger prompts; for here, as among men, the 
 weakest ever becomes the prey of the strongest. 
 
 We left this place, which in remembrance of our 
 adventure I termed Tiger Creek. On the morning 
 of the ninth day after our arrival father Hernandez 
 was better, and no danger was to be apprehended 
 from the hurt in his leg. Our people had taken 
 care to lay in a good stock of provisions, which 
 they stowed in a very careful manner, that they 
 might not, they said, have any occasion to battle 
 with the tigers again for a dinner. The skin of 
 the one we killed they spread over the top of the 
 balsa, where between the sun and the wind it soon 
 got dry. 
 
 We had not rowed along above an hour and a 
 half when we were agreeably surprised with the 
 sight of two balsas laden with various articles 
 which some Indians on board were taking to the 
 presidency of St. Cruz, situated among the Guara- 
 nis, a nation not as yet very well known ; but there 
 are several towns established among them which 
 they told us bade fair to be very considerable, as
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY, 191 
 
 the converted Indians were daily increasing. These 
 men, nineteen in number, appeared to be all very 
 active, intelligent, and good-natured ; and, if the 
 countenance may be considered as the index of 
 the heart, I should pronounce them all better 
 Christians than any of the Spaniards 1 have mixed 
 with at Buenos Ayres. Father Hernandez asked 
 them several questions in the Indian language— 
 which of course I did not understand - and the 
 answers they made see~ned to give him great satis- 
 faction : four of them spoke very good Spanish. 
 They offered us, in the most friendly manner, part 
 of every thing they had, and seemed hurt at our 
 refusing to accept it j but the good father assured 
 them we had plenty of every article sufficient to 
 supply us till we reached St. Andrea, which we 
 hoped to do in four days, if we were not visited by 
 any more squalls. They were satisfied with this : 
 and father Hernandez gave the cacique a case of 
 needles, and some relic, but I forget what : how- 
 ever he received it very gratefully, and in return 
 presented the father with a beautiful basket made 
 of reeds of various colours, woven in a very in- 
 genious manner ; and with this interchange both 
 parties were highly pleased. The Indians kept us 
 company two days, halted as we halted, and prayed 
 as we prayed to a picture of the Virgin, which was 
 every night placed on a kind of altar, raised by
 
 192 LETTERS FRCM PARAGUAY. 
 
 gathering a few long stones and laying them one 
 above the other, under the shade of the fairest tree 
 they could pick out : the picture was elevated on 
 the stones, and the evening song to the Virgin 
 began, in which we all joined ; two or three 
 short prayers followed ; and father Hernandez 
 closed the ceremony with his benediction. The 
 picture remained on shore till we re-embarked, 
 when it was replaced with great ceremony in the 
 principal balsa. On-tiie morning of the third day 
 we parted from our friendly companions. Our 
 company turned into a branch of the river which 
 was to convey us to the place of our destination, 
 and the Indians continued onwards up the main 
 stream. Father Hernandez spoke highly in praise 
 of the rector of St. Cruz, whom he had known 
 ever since they were children together. He was 
 born, he said, at Buenos Ayres, and> though pos- 
 sessed of a plentiful estate, had relinquished all the 
 comforts and pleasures his riches could have pro- 
 cured him to become a priest, and had carried to 
 the presidency a considerable sum of money, which 
 he was hourly employing in acts of kindness 
 among i the Indians ; and by the gentleness of his 
 manners and universal philanthropy he has gained 
 over more souls to the faith of Christ in a few 
 months than many others have done in the like 
 number of years. Not the smallest complaint has
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 193 
 
 eVer reached the bishop since this good man was 
 appointed rector, and the town is daily increasing 
 xiot only in religious converts but every useful art, 
 for he has at his own expence fetched from 
 Buenos Ayres many enterprising artisans, to whom 
 he has given the most liberal encouragement ; 
 and, as he found the Indians very apt to learn, 
 he spared no expence to have them instructed. 
 
 'I wish,' said father Hernandez, with an affecting 
 shake of his head as he concluded this account, ' I 
 wish there were more such truly pious Christians 
 to study as well the temporal welfare of their flock 
 as the spiritual. There would not then so often 
 i be occasion for references to the bishop, since 
 every good man may always govern his community 
 in peace and regularity, but a bad one cannot, for 
 arbitrary power was never yet productive of any 
 thing but evil.' He paused, and seemed to reflect 
 for a time on some very material subject ; when, 
 suddenly starting, he asked, with some degree of 
 quickness, in what manner cur clergy in England 
 conducted themselves ? I had forgot to tell you, 
 that from the day of our leaving the creek I re- 
 mained in the first balsa with him and the father 
 companion, that I might be handy to render him 
 any little service he might stand in need of; he 
 having formed an idea, from the ready manner in 
 which 1 bled him, that J possessed a competent 
 
 o
 
 194 LETTERS FROM? PARAGUAY. 
 
 knowledge of Tnedicine and surgery. I was rather 
 surprised at his question ; and, indeed, knew not 
 exactly what to answer, since I was ignorant in 
 what manner the Romish clergy were organised in 
 my native country. I therefore merely observed, 
 that the laws of England restricted the clergy very 
 much ; but, so far as they were allowed to act 
 freely, I did believe very few laid themselves open 
 to censure : for in respect to local temporal con- 
 cerns they never openly interfered, as these matters 
 were left either to the inspection of the magistrates, 
 or the care of individuals themselves. The father 
 companion observed, that in that case they must 
 live much happier lives than the religious in South 
 America, since worldly affairs must engross and 
 perplex great part of the latters* time, especially 
 when the rector is burthened with a very large 
 community ; for though he can answer -for the 
 propriety of his own conduct, it is next to im- 
 possible to secure the exact observance of existing 
 laws in those employed under him, who but too 
 often exhibit very doubtful examples to the poor 
 Indians, who are taught to seek in them for every 
 virtue, as the exact patterns of the God whose re- 
 presentatives they are. ' But/ said I, 6 father, 
 there are many among the missionaries who really 
 deserve the high opinion the poor Indians form of 
 them. , ' True, my son,' replied father Hernandez,
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 195 
 
 c there are ; and were they all like the primitive 
 fathers who first planted the blessed 'gospel in this 
 great country, what a harvest might not the 
 servants of our holy Redeemer now have had to 
 reap ! But, alas ! I fear too many tares are sown 
 among the wheat, and the evil one has but too 
 much reason to rejoice in his success.' He then 
 proceeded to give me the history of the presidency 
 to which we were going, and which, eight years 
 ago, was one of the most flourishing and happy 
 throughout the province ; but the worthy rector 
 dying full of years, and the blessings of every sur- 
 rounding being, another was appointed to succeed 
 him from among the brothers of St. Augustine. 
 He had lived long at Buenos Ayres, and was 
 esteemed a very good kind of a man. For some 
 time after his arrival at Rioja Minor — the name of 
 the presidency — he justified the good opinion which 
 had been formed of him ; but, on a sudden, he 
 became lax in his duty, and regardless of those 
 intrusted to his care : he forgot his clerical cha- 
 racter, and associated with none but those ap- 
 pointed to command the military. His whole 
 time was occupied in studying their tactics, and 
 the care of souls was left entirely to the inferior 
 clergy, and those were incompetent to the duty 
 required. They could not administer extreme 
 unction to the sick, nor baptize infants : {hey 
 
 o 2
 
 1 96 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 could not celebrate high mass, nor, in fact, dis- 
 charge any of the more material offices incumbent 
 on the rector to perform. The fiscal seeing the 
 father negligent in the performance of his duty, 
 slackened in his own j and the tenientes, or lieu- 
 tenants under the commandant, from the force of 
 bad example became* careless in theirs also ; so 
 that in a few months all was confusion and dis- 
 order ; the caciques alone remained stedfast in their 
 conduct. These worthy Indians, finding at last 
 that the presidency was on the very brink of ruin, 
 sent off some of their faithful people with an 
 account of their situation to Buenos Ay res. The 
 bishop immediately ordered our superior from St. 
 Dominic's thither, to find out the cause of their 
 complaints, and remedy the evil. This good man 
 was fir^t to see the young people he took with him 
 safe to Cordovo, where the young missionaries are 
 to stay till father Pablo return : but, unhappily for 
 him, he found on his arrival that the evil had 
 taken too deep a root, and nothing less than the 
 removal of every one in office could restore peace. 
 He has therefore sent these thoughtless men to 
 Cordovo, from whence they will be conveyed to 
 Buenos Ayres ; for they must not be chastised for 
 their folly on the spot, since that might lower the 
 character of the clergy in the estimation of the 
 Indians — a circumstance they are pertinaciously
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 197 
 
 careful to prevent. The next step taken by our 
 superior was to send to his convent for a father to 
 take upon him the care of the presidency ; and 
 father Hernandez being appointed, he only waited 
 the superior's coming to set off to Cordovo. c If,' 
 said that holy man, c I am fortunate enough to re- 
 store peace, and bring things back to their former 
 happy state, I shall not have h\ r ed in vain ; but 
 God and the blessed saints alone can tell how I 
 shall succeed.' He then proceeded to tell me, that 
 having observed in me an earnest desire to see 
 more of the country than I could ever hope for, 
 unless in times of peace as a merchant, he thought 
 he could not oblige me more than by taking me 
 with him on his journey ; and as he knew he 
 should at times stand very much in need of a 
 friend in whom he could confide, and I was there 
 without any material ties to control me, or any 
 hopes or expectations of any kind but those of 
 every honest man, he was of opinion that in me 
 he should find a gentleman whose advice and 
 judgment he could with security rely on. He 
 said he should have no objection to my returning 
 to Buenos Ayres after I had made some stay with 
 him ; but he requested I would pledge my honour 
 that what he had then related, and likewise all 
 that might happen in the presidency during my 
 residence there, which I must of course be privy
 
 ]£)8 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 f 
 
 to, should never be made known by me to any 
 
 individual in that country ; it being a maxim in 
 the church to keep its secrets within its own 
 bosom, and those that lay open any intrusted to 
 their charge expose themselves to the severest cen- 
 sures of it. { But, I think,' added the father, ' you 
 are not now to learn what is due to the servants 
 of God and our holy religion.' When he ceased 
 speaking, surprise at the confidence he had re- 
 posed in me prevented my immediate reply j but, 
 apologising for my tardiness, I assured him in the 
 most solemn manner, that every thing he had said 
 should faithfully remain a secret in my own bosom 
 from the knowledge of any one on this continent ; 
 and so far from wishing to return to Buenos 
 Ayres, I could assure him that till I was at liberty 
 to return to my own country, I should deem 
 myself extremely happy in being permitted to 
 remain with him ; and if by any means I could 
 render myself of service, so as partly to return his 
 friendship, it would give me the greatest possible 
 pleasure. He thanked me in a most affectionate 
 manner, and soon after this , conversation we lay 
 down to repose. The wind blew fresh, and I 
 wrapped my head up in a long mantle of blue 
 cotton ; it being customary here, when going to 
 sleep, to cover the head and face entirely over, in 
 order to prevent the flies or other insects from
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 199 
 
 awaking you. I had scarcely composed myself to 
 sleep, when the balsa s:ruck with great violence 
 against a sunken rock, which our Indians had not 
 discovered. We all started up in a moment, and 
 sprung forward ; but, luckily, she was soon got off 
 without any very material damage. We then 
 stood away for a small island about a mile distant ; 
 the river we were on being much narrower, and 
 more interspersed with islands, than the Uraguay. 
 The other two balsas had escaped the danger, and 
 plied their oars freely. They anchored before us, 
 and were on shore ready to assist in drawing ours 
 to land. As soon as we were safe on terra 
 firma, we paid, as usual, our devotions to the 
 Virgin ; and, without even staying to eat, the 
 Indians set about examining the bottom of the 
 vessel : two of them, and one negro, plunging into 
 the water, and diving underneath it. They pre- 
 sently arose, and said the hurt was very trifling ; the 
 rock having only slightly grazed the bottom of 
 one of the canoes. Apropos, I should tell you 
 here how the balsas are constructed. There are 
 two canoes to each, longer or shorter according to 
 the number of persons the balsa is to convey. 
 These canoes are formed out of hollowed trees, 
 which are felled on purpose, generally of some 
 light timber ; and the Indians are very dextrous in 
 hollowing them to a great nicety. When the
 
 200 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 inside is prepared, the ends are closed with a 
 weaving of bamboo and slips of manicoe leaves, 
 which are woven so extremely close, that neither 
 water nor air can penetrate. This weaving runs 
 out in a sharp point, two feet, and sometimes more, 
 beyond each end ; for stem and stem, as the sailors 
 say, are both alike in appearance ; so they may be 
 navigated either way, like the funnies on the river 
 Thames. The two canoes are lashed tight to each 
 other by means of ropes made from the bark of 
 trees, which 1 am informed is much stronger and 
 tougher than hemp ; and indeed I am inclined to 
 believe it, for were the ropes not composed of 
 very strong materials it would be impossible for 
 the balsas to resist the fury of the winds, which 
 seem to blow here, when they do begin, as if 
 determined to carry all before them : however, 
 thank God, we did not encounter any of their 
 violence after leaving Tyger creek. When the 
 canoes are thus connected, the room which I 
 have described in a former part of my letter is 
 laid upon half the length of them, for there is no 
 after-end that you can properly term so : the 
 rowers set on benches forward, and with the 
 luggage serve to keep the vessel in trim. I hardly 
 know what to compare them to nearer than a 
 double war-canoe described by captain Cook as 
 used by the Friendly Islanders.
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 201 
 
 When we were all satisfied respecting the damage, 
 -and every thing was put to rights, our people pre» 
 pared to eat ; and I assure you this is an affair of 
 no small importance, for not a littLe will suffice 
 twenty or thirty people determined to eat their 
 bellies full : no one upon these journeys must 
 reckon upon setting limits to the appetites of the 
 Indians. Hungry they get, and eat they must ; 
 therefore if (he balsa does not afford a sufficient 
 quantity, they immediately have recourse to the 
 woods, which reach all along the banks of the 
 river and abound with all sorts of animals, to 
 supply the deficiency ; and the newly-killed meat 
 is put scarcely cold to the fire, from whence it is 
 taken up again before it is half done, or even 
 warmed through, and devoured with an eagerness 
 almost cannibalical. They really, more than once, 
 made me sick to see them. Our men, therefore, 
 had no sooner dispatched all we had taken in at 
 Tyger creek than they sallied forth to get more : 
 for my own part, I thought there had been enough 
 laid in for a West-India voyage ; but the event 
 proved that my eye was not so capacious as the 
 Indians' bellies — to reverse an old vulgar English, 
 allusion. All was gone presently, except the 
 biscuit we had brought with us from Buenos 
 Ayres, which these sharp-witted gentry did not 
 care to meddle with. The island we were on was
 
 £02 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 small, and could not afford us the necessary sup- 
 ply ; we therefore once more embarked, and were 
 rowing for the opposite shore, when we descried 
 upon it a large troop of wild Indians. They came 
 close to the water, and one of them, in tolerable 
 Spanish, asked if we wanted any provisions. Our 
 people immediately answered yes : the greater part 
 of the strangers upon hearing this retired from the 
 shore into the woods, from whence they soon 
 returned with a roebuck and half a wild boar, a 
 bag of maize, and five dried fish. These latter 
 appeared to the fathers to be a very great novelty. 
 We drew in to the shore ; and the Indians in the 
 baggage balsa presently struck a bargain for the 
 whole, by exchanging an old saw unfit for use, two 
 old chisels, and a looking-glass, for the meat, 
 maize, and fishes. I stood amazed to see how 
 contented the poor men seemed to be with this 
 miserable payment. I had in my hand a large 
 Spitalfields silk handkerchief, chequered blue and 
 red ; this attracted the notice of several among the 
 strangers, but of none more so than their chief, 
 who appeared by his gestures to consider it as the 
 most desirable article he had ever beheld : he 
 clasped his hands together, and lifted them up- 
 wards, then motioned to me that he supposed it to 
 be a cloak ; pointed to his head, and then to the 
 wood. While these antics were performing, the
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 203 
 
 only one among them that spoke Spanish was 
 engaged with our men at a distance ; I could not, 
 therefore, get to speak to him. But when I had 
 sufficiently diverted myself with this new posture- 
 master, I made signs that I would give him the 
 handkerchief; and father Hernandez, who had 
 been as much amused with him as myself, ordered 
 the balsa to be drawn close in to shore. The 
 chief timidly advanced towards us, when I put the 
 object of his desire upon one of the oars, and 
 handed it to him. He caught hold of it with a 
 kind of rapture, kissed it several times, waved it 
 over his head, and skipped about like one frantic. 
 At last he spread it square upon his shoulders, 
 tying two of the corners in the front of his neck ; 
 and when he had done that, he walked in great 
 state through a long rank of his people, who 
 looked at him with the utmost respect and ad- 
 miration. This part of the farce diverted us more 
 than the former, as it was evident he was imitating 
 the walk of some Spanish grandee ; and the gait, 
 whosever it was, appeared to be admirably mi- 
 micked. This cacique was about forty years of 
 age, tall, and his limbs finely proportioned, with a 
 very lively animated countenance. He had the 
 skin of some beast we were unacquainted with 
 round his middle, made in much the same form as 
 the Highland kelts ; round his head were twisted
 
 204 LETTERS PROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 several sorts of parti-coloured wool, but no feathers; 
 and this was the whole of his dress. He had lost 
 two of the fingers of his left hand ; he carried no 
 weapons of any kind, nor did those that were with 
 him appear to have any. Father Hernandez spoke 
 io him in the language of the Guaranis ; but he 
 either did not, or would not, understand him. I 
 had brought with me a small piece of crimson 
 velvet, which I meant for a present to any one 
 whom I considered as deserving it. This was tied 
 in another handkerchief of a similar pattern to the 
 first, but coloured blue and yellow ; and I had a 
 great mind to bestow the latter upon a verv inter- 
 esting young Indian who stood aloof from the rest, 
 and did not speak to any one. His dress was the 
 same as that worn by the chief; with this difference, 
 he had only two bands of wool upon his head, one 
 blue, the other green. The rest of the Indians 
 had nothing on their heads, nor any article of dress, 
 besides the skin of some beast or another tied 
 round their middles, and reaching half way down 
 their thighs. I beckoned to the young man to 
 come near, and he obeyed with evident marks of 
 respect and diffidence ; when close to the water's 
 edge he stopt, and gazed with an expression on 
 his countenance of the greatest astonishment, 
 looking first at the father*, and then at me. I 
 imagined that his wonder arose from the difference
 
 .LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 205 
 
 he observed in the colour of our skins. Both the 
 Spaniards were nearly olive ; and my complexion, 
 naturally very fair, is whiter now than when I left 
 you: so much has my illness altered it. He looked 
 stedfastly at me for near a minute ; then clasping 
 his hands, lifted them above his head, and stooping 
 forward with his face towards the sun, bowed 
 three times very reverently : then raising himself 
 up, he pointed with his right hand, first at the sun, 
 and then at me. This manoeuvre he repeated 
 several times, but we could not make out what he 
 meant. I therefore fetched the handkerchief; and, 
 fastening it to the oar, handed it to him, having 
 first tied a small horn comb in one corner of it. 
 The moment he received it, he lifted it three times 
 above his head, then kissed it with great reverence, 
 and taking out the comb kissed that likewise, and 
 tried to place it on his chin ; but not finding it 
 adhere, he gazed at it with great amazement and 
 curiosity. I shewed him another ; and taking off 
 my hat passed it several times through my hair, 
 that he might learn the use of his acquisition. He 
 immediately comprehended me ; and pulling his 
 own hair, of which he had a very large quantity, 
 before him, began to run the comb through his 
 disordered locks, which appeared to want the hair- 
 dresser more than anv I had ever seen. He then 
 
 J 
 
 took the handkerchief, and spreading it on his
 
 206 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY, 
 
 knees examined every square ; when, turning it, he 
 observed the stripes were blue on one side and 
 yellow on the other. This circumstance seemed 
 to please him much ; as by his antics he gave us 
 to understand he imagined he had two handker- 
 chiefs instead of one. Presently the chief returned j 
 when the young man humbly advanced towards 
 him, laid both the articles at his feet, telling him, 
 as we supposed, who had given them to him, and 
 asking permission — as we interpreted his motions — 
 to keep them. A long discourse passed between 
 him and the chief, when the comb was folded in 
 the handkerchief, and that placed between two 
 palm leaves with great care and niceness. The 
 youlh then clasped them to his bosom, kissed the 
 hand of the chief, and ran up with them into the 
 woods with uncommon swiftness ; from which I 
 conjectured, gallantly enough, that he had some 
 lady there to whom he was anxious to display his 
 treasures. By this time, the man who first hailed 
 us from the shore again addressed us, to know if 
 we would stay while they procured us some more 
 provisions, which they would do in less than an 
 hour : to this father Hernandez agreed, as he 
 wanted to make some enquiries. This was made 
 known to the chief, who immediately dispatched 
 several of his people towards that part of the wood 
 whither the young Indian had gone. The father
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 2G7 
 
 then asked what tribe of nation they belonged to. 
 The interpreter answered the Charuas, who inhabit 
 a large tract of land between the Uraguay and the 
 Parana. It was part of this nation that composed 
 the presidency which had been desolated at Tyger 
 creek, and those that remained of the converted 
 Indians had been collected together by father Josef 
 Almanza and father Augustin Romana, and taken 
 away to another presidency, but where it was 
 situated he could not say. The father desired to 
 know how they came to be attacked. He said he 
 did not know ; but he believed it was a Spaniard, 
 who had escaped from some sort of punishment 
 among his countrymen, that led the Indians on to 
 demolish the settlement. This circumstance in 
 some measure accounted for the church and church- 
 yard being left uninjured, the reason of which 
 had before very much puzzled us all ; the fathers 
 not being able to conceive why the holy edifice 
 had been spared, it being contrary to the general 
 practice of the Indians to respect any thing relative , 
 to the Christian worship, whenever they imagine 
 themselves offended. Several other questions were 
 asked respecting the converts, and whether their 
 company had not a desire to embrace the faith of 
 Christ. To this last the Indian answered, sternly, 
 no — with an expression of the greatest contempt ; 
 adding, that now they were at liberty to live and
 
 203 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY.. 
 
 act as they pleased, but if they became Christians 
 they could not ; the maponos — meaning the mis* 
 sionaries — would not let them, and they thought 
 themselves much happier as they were. He was 
 asked how he had acquired the Spanish language. 
 By going, he said, frequently to Santa Fe, and 
 sometimes to Buenos Ayres, with skins and other 
 articles to barter, where he had been obliged in 
 several of his journeys to stay till the waters were 
 gone back ; for the river, as I believe I informed 
 you in a former letter, in winter overflows the 
 country for many leagues each way, there being 
 no mountain to obstruct its progress for several 
 hundred miles, nor any hill, but a very few beauti- 
 ful green ones to the north of the Uraguay, of 
 which I have given a partial view in my sketch of 
 the church at Tyger creek. The chief, then, by 
 means of the interpreter, asked father Hernandez 
 some questions respecting the presidency to which 
 we were going. He knew it, he said ; it was that 
 of Rioja Minor, by the lake Iberi, to which place 
 we had not above ten leagues further to go, and 
 the settlement was in the country of the Yaros. 
 This was the first time I had been informed of the 
 exact spot of our destination ; and much as I had 
 desired this voyage, I must own I was happy to 
 find we were near our journey's end ; for although 
 it was spring, and the sun by no means trouble-
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. £09 
 
 some, yet I wished much to be at the desired 
 haven. While this kind of conversation was car- 
 rying on we saw the young Indian who had ran 
 away returning with five others, laden w^ith se- 
 veral kinds of animal food, apparently just killed ; 
 two very fine birds, of a large size, very nearly re- 
 sembling in shape and colour our pheasants ; and 
 another bag of maize. Our purveyors soon com- 
 pleted the purchase of all this provision for one 
 bottle of brandy. This I thought driving a Jew 
 bargain with a vengeance. I should have con- 
 sidered two bottles of liquor but a poor recom- 
 pence for merely fetching the articles, much more 
 having them also ; but be that as it may, both 
 parties appeared very well content. Still I was not 
 satisfied, and I requested the father's permission 
 to give the chief and his son — for such I now 
 found the young man to be — a large drinking- 
 glass each ; for I had observed them regard one, 
 while in my hand, with longing eyes of admiration. 
 My wish was complied with; and to, the interpreter 
 I gave a small pocket looking-glass, which made 
 him perfectly happy. 
 
 Father Hernandez then ordered the balsa to 
 proceed, it being near evening, and our present 
 situation not at all an eligible one for passing the 
 night. We were accordingly pushed from the 
 shore j and our people, as they proceeded, sung 
 
 p
 
 210 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 the evening hymn to the Virgin. The strange 
 Indians were very attentive, and listened as they 
 accompanied us along the bank of the river. They 
 could walk much faster than the balsa was rowed, 
 but they slackened their pace to keep us company. 
 The looks of these good-natured people very much 
 interested me : and I no longer wonder at the in- 
 fluence the Jesuits have had over their converts, if 
 all the other nations are like the Charuas j for no- 
 thing binds man to man more securelv than the 
 bonds of pure religion, and, vice versa, nothing 
 makes men more inveterate enemies to each other 
 than a difference in religious tenets ; which con- 
 vinces me that an Indian once converted can never 
 be a bad man, since he never embraces the 
 Christian faith but from a thorough conviction of 
 its justice ; and once grounded in its principles, 
 1 am certain he could not become an apostate, 
 since in every action he is governed only by con- 
 scientious motives. 
 
 This apparently happy people travelled with us 
 near two leagues, when their further progress was 
 stopped by a large creek ; we were, therefore, 
 obliged to leave them. The chief and his son at 
 parting joined their hands, and lifted them above 
 their heads : they then bent themselves three times 
 towards the sun, when, again lifting their hands, 
 they turned up the creek, and, followed by their
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 211 
 
 people, entered a thick wood. When they were 
 gone, the father companion ob erved, what a pity 
 it was that such ingenious well-disposed creatures 
 as these seemed to be were still ignorant of the 
 true faith, and lamented that there were not some 
 evangelical workmen sent among them. ' I doubt 
 not but there have been,' said father Hernandez ; 
 ' but their time is not yet come — " Many are called 
 at the first, and others at the twelfth, hour of the 
 day, yet the last may be first, and the first last ; 
 for many are called, but few chosen." ' He was 
 silent, and the father companion did not venture 
 another remark. 
 
 The river we now were on was neither broad 
 nor deep, in proportion to the Uraguay: it is called 
 the Iber, from the lake Iberi, with which it com- 
 municates, and is on each side thick set with trees 
 of various sorts ; but the cocoa and manicoe do 
 not abound here as in the islands of the Plata ; 
 those which I saw on the banks of the river were 
 small, and without fruit. There were several Eu- 
 ropean trees, which seemed to thrive exceedingly 
 well ; such as the oak, ash, lime, and in many 
 places birch. Whether these are natural to the 
 climate, or introduced by the Spaniards, I am yet 
 to learn : but now we are settled in a presidency 
 it is my intention to collect every information on 
 this head, as well as on many others, respecting 
 
 P 2
 
 212 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 the natives and their present modes of life ; for 
 many thousands remain still in a state of nature. 
 I feel mvself more and more anxious to wander 
 among them, for the sole purpose of ascertaining 
 whether the Jesuits were or were not to blame in 
 the measures they adopted. I dare not venture 
 an enquiry of the fathers ; they are too scrupu- 
 lously reserved upon that subject, and my situation 
 obliges me to be cautious. Having continued our 
 course about two leagues further, we anchored for 
 the night ; and prayers were no sooner ended than 
 the cooks began their office. In a very short time 
 we had the birds purchased of our late com- 
 panions placed before the fathers and myself, and 
 though dressed in such a hasty manner I as- 
 sure you we made a very hearty supper j and hav- 
 ing piously blessed the providers, we betook our- 
 selves to rest. 
 
 Early the next morning we pursued our way, 
 and before noon entered on the lake Iberi. Here 
 a new scene presented itself. This beautiful lake 
 is above a hundred miles long, and forty broad. 
 It is situated in a vast plain, between the rivers 
 La Plata, Parana, and Uraguay. It has two 
 mouths: one running south-west, in a meandering 
 direction, falls into the Plata, just below the town 
 of St. Lucia; the other eastward, and disembogues 
 itself in the Uraguay. Through this last we en-
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 213 
 
 tered the lake, which is picturesque in the ex- 
 treme. It has several islands on it, which abound 
 with deer and vast quantities of wild fowl, with 
 some few hares, whose flesh, I am told, is delicious ; 
 but I hope soon to have an opportunity of judg- 
 ing for myself. The water of the lake is fresh, 
 and remarkably sweet ; and on its banks, I find, 
 are established several considerable presidencies, 
 which are the most flourishing of any in the pro- 
 vince : this is owing to the extreme fertility of 
 the land, occasioned by the overflowing of the 
 lake, which happens twice a year, and sometimes 
 oftener, according as the Plata is more or less agi- 
 tated by the pampero during the equinoxes. 
 
 We continued sailing about three leagues to the 
 south-west, when we were agreeably surprised by 
 the sound of martial music, which drew nearer as 
 we advanced; when our balsa taking a sharp turn 
 round a point of land thick set with trees of the 
 most enlivening verdure, we were presented with 
 a scene the most pleasing and romantic that can 
 well be imagined. The presidency opened to our 
 sight, and presented at once a view truly grand 
 and picturesque. The shore was lined with peo- 
 ple, the bells were ringing, and the military band, 
 assisted by a troop of choiristers, welcomed our 
 arrival. We immediately landed, and were re- 
 ceived with tears of joy by our venerable superior,
 
 214 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 father Pablo, who had remained here for the sole 
 purpose of personally resigning the power to fa- 
 ther Hernandez. We then proceeded to the 
 church, where we had holy water presented to us 
 by the good pastor. The major-general of the 
 little army trained in this neighbourhood came 
 with the corrigidore, the fiscal, and his fenientes, 
 to pay their compliments of congratulation : in- 
 deed the whole community appeared, from their 
 numbers, to be collected together for the same 
 reason. The prayers of the church were sung in. 
 a most inchanting manner by the young Indians, 
 who still retain the same mode of performing di- 
 vine service N as that established by the Jesuits. 
 They were all very neatly dressed in white sur- 
 plices, and the church with its ornaments was 
 neat in the extreme. It is a large but not lofty 
 building, of beautiful white stone, with a centre 
 and two aisles, rather tastefully fitted up. The 
 right hand aisle is appropriated for the men, and 
 the left for the women. The chancel is occupied 
 by the boys— ranged in order— and their pre- 
 ceptors, of whom they seem to stand in the great- 
 est awe. In the body of the church are disposed 
 the girls and their teachers. Both sexes were clad 
 in very neat dresses : that of the men, made of 
 thin black cloth, consists of a short doublet and 
 large breeches j their legs naked, and on their
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 215 
 
 feet a very pretty kind of sandal, made by them- 
 selves, of the skin of some beast in winter, and in 
 summer of a peculiar sort of long grass, which 
 grows all over the province of Paraguay by the 
 water side, and is extremely tough and lasting. 
 
 The habit of the women consists only of a large 
 grey cotton garment, something like a shift, with 
 ihort sleeves, and reaching a little below the 
 knees, which is banded in round the waist with a 
 girdle of coloured wool or cotton. They wear 
 half-boots or sandals, like the men ; and the mar- 
 ried women have upon their heads a cap made 
 tight in front, but open behind, to let their hair 
 hang down ; and many of them wore crosses sus- 
 pended from their necks, by strings of common 
 black beads, which the fathers carry with them to 
 the settlements. 
 
 The young women wear no cap, but let their 
 hair, which is remarkably long and thick, flow loose 
 over their shoulders : it is parted on the top of 
 the head, and some few plait it ; but if brought 
 forward it would make an excellent veil. They 
 are straight and well shaped, with lively animated 
 features ; and no more like the poor Indians I saw 
 at Buenos Ayres than, as Hamlet says, " Hype- 
 rion to a satyr :" so effectually does slavery, sor- 
 row, and ill usage, destroy the finer fabric of man. 
 These here look healthy, cheerful, and perfectly
 
 216 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 content : those at Buenos Ayres miserable squalid 
 objects ; many of them maimed, from the hard- 
 ships they endure, and all apparently praying for 
 the hour that shall close their lives and miseries 
 for ever. Here they are neatly clothed, plenti- 
 fully fed, and comfortably lodged ; nor is there 
 such a thing as a cripple to be seen among them : 
 there they have scarcely a rag to wrap round 
 them, or a hovel to shelter them from the fury of 
 the elements ; they partake of nothing but the 
 meanest of victuals ; and if they are sick no one 
 thinks it worth his while to trouble his head about 
 them, but they are left to survive or perish, as 
 Omnipotence shall please to appoint. What a 
 contrast, my friend, is here ! Could we be sur- 
 prised if the flames of rebellion should, ere long, 
 burst forth and overwhelm the treacherous un- 
 suspecting Spaniards ? The Indians who go an- 
 nually to pay the tribute or barter with the Eu- 
 ropeans, cannot avoid seeing the sufferings of their 
 devoted brethren. I could say much upon this 
 subject, and I could prophesy events in times not 
 far distant ; but in my present situation silence 
 best becomes me. All appears quiet now ; but I 
 fear, nay I am certain, it is but a deceitful calm 
 that precedes a dreadful storm, which will, when 
 least expected, break in fatal thunder upon the 
 heads of the proud oppressors. Human patience,
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 91 ~ 
 
 in every state of life, may be stretched to its ut- 
 most limits, and yet forbear to turn j but let that 
 limit once be passed, and woe to the tyrant who 
 has tried how far he might injure with impunity ! 
 
 When the ceremonies of the church were over 
 we were conducted to the monastery — dedicated 
 to St. Dominic — which is close to the church : it 
 is a very neat edifice, two stories high, built of 
 grey brick, which has a very pleasing appearance. 
 There are at present only nine brothers, including 
 our company; and when our superior leaves us he 
 will take three of them away with him. The con- 
 vent garden is very spacious, and well laid out, 
 being kept in the nicest order. In the centre is a 
 very pretty fountain with three branches, which 
 are constantly throwing water into three different 
 channels, one leading to the bath, another to the 
 reservoir, and the third to the convent kitchen. 
 Baths are more common here than at Buenos Ayres, 
 owing to the heat being more fervent here than 
 there by several degrees. 
 
 In the church they have a most superb font of 
 white Italian marble, adorned with most capital 
 bas relief, representing the baptism of the mul- 
 titude by S:. John. This font was a present to 
 the fathers of St. Dominic by cardinal York, 
 whose name is held in the highest veneration 
 throughout this province. This amiable and truly
 
 218 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 worthy prelate sent some years ago two mission- 
 aries hither, and with them this valuable present. 
 There are likewise in the church two pictures, 
 painted in Italy ; the one representing the con- 
 version of a Jew, the other St. Paul preaching to 
 the Corinthians. There have been copies made 
 of each by some of the Indians, which are ex- 
 tremely well executed, all things considered. There 
 are also two originals by native artists, one dis- 
 playing purgatory, the other hell : of these I can- 
 not say any thing in praise, there is too much 
 bigotry and superstition evident in the designs ; 
 and were I to describe them minutely I doubt I 
 should raise a smile even upon your demure face, 
 
 and set our old friend K grinning most 
 
 disrespectfully, for I am certain it would recal to 
 his remembrance a large picture we saw once in 
 
 L square, which exhibited old Knight, the 
 
 famous South-Sea swindler, sailing in a ship's 
 jolly boat towards the infernal regions, with his 
 pockets stuffed full of money-bags, and his hands 
 Ciammeu with bonds and debentures ; the old fel- 
 low dressed in a suit of scarlet and gold and a 
 full-bottomed perriwig, attended by a thousand 
 dancing devils, with little dung-forks in their 
 hands, ready to shove the boat along if it did not 
 go so fast as they would have it ; while the mouth 
 of a great serpent, gaping wide, represented heli.
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 219 
 
 spewing forth flames of fire, and hundreds of little 
 mischievous imps stood ready to receive and wel- 
 come him. I have often recollected this piece 
 since my coming hither, and as often a laugh has 
 burst forth, in spite of all my endeavours to the 
 contrary. 
 
 They burn more candles in the church here 
 than anv 1 have ever been in, either m the old 
 world or the new ; which, as they are all tallow, 
 must, I think, occasion a very di agreeable smell 
 and warmth also, when the building is crowded, 
 in summer ; and it is for this reason, I suppose, 
 the windows are so contrived as to be laid entirely 
 open, in order to admit a free current of air. 
 There are several altars in the church besides the 
 great one in the chancel, which is decorated every 
 day with flowers by the children, who are some 
 of the neatest and most docile little creatures I 
 ever beheld. Both sexes are dressed alike, in a 
 garment made like a shift, of white cotton, fastened 
 round the waist with a belt of tvger skin, which 
 in this province is more\beautiful than any brought 
 from the East-Indies, the ground being nearly of 
 a bright yellow colour, the spots of a jet black, 
 which has a very striking eilccr. A great many 
 children are employed about the church, for 
 which service they are selected by turns ; and none
 
 220 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 can seem more happy than they do in this occu- 
 pation. 
 
 A week has now elapsed since our arrival. The 
 superior quits us to-morrow to return to Cordovo, 
 from whence it is supposed he will journey through 
 the province of Tucuman to the city of Concep- 
 tion, in Chili. What this long journey is under- 
 taken for I cannot learn. I now feel the want of 
 brother Jerome, whose friendly communications 
 used sometimes to divert me exceedingly. Father 
 Hernandez is very unwell : he has not yet re- 
 covered the shock he received at Tyger creek ; 
 but he is cheerful, and anxious to make every 
 one around him so. This morning, in company 
 with the superior, and attended by the novices 
 and myself, he went round the presidency ; the 
 corregidor, fiscal, and others, escorting us. This 
 town is pretty large, and very regularly built. The 
 streets^ which are in the Roman style, exactly 
 parallel, are divided by plantations of trees, thick 
 set, oranges, lemons, citrons, myrtles of every 
 various sort, and scores of other oderiferous shrubs, 
 which as you pass regale the senses most delight- 
 fully, and seem to give one a foretaste of those 
 blissful regions where our religion tells us we 
 shall rest for ever. Little currents of the purest 
 water run with gentle ripplings underneath the 
 trees, over a smooth bed of small round pebbles.
 
 LETTERS FROM -PARAGUAY. 221 
 
 The houses are mostly built of clay, one story- 
 high, and covered with tiles ; but the dwellings of 
 the commandant, corrigidor, fiscal, and others of 
 note, are higher, made of brick, and fitted up 
 with every convenience. The public storehouse 
 is in the centre of the town ; it is one story high, 
 very long and wide, divided into several apart- 
 ments, so contrived as to receive every different 
 article for use or barter. Formerly this store- 
 house was under the sole regulation of the rector, 
 and by him only was the produce portioned out 
 to the different families; but now the Spanish com- 
 mandant claims a share in the distribution. How 
 far this may be productive of good I will not take 
 upon me to say ; but 1 will just give you a slight 
 sketch of the Jesuits' manner of regulating these 
 matters when they possessed an uncontrolled au- 
 thority. 
 
 All the product of the year, such as corn, 
 maize, fruits, wool, and cotton ; all articles for 
 barter, and in fact every thing the district afforded, 
 was brought to these magazines, where proper 
 officers were appointed to receive them, who took 
 account of every particular, which was registered, 
 together with the names of the persons who de- 
 livered them, and the day. No individual was al- 
 lowed to keep any thing in his own house save 
 the necessary quantity of corn, which on the first
 
 222 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 of every month was delivered to each family in 
 proportion, according to the number of which it 
 consisted j and in the same manner they received 
 all other kinds of provision. Every day a cer- 
 tain number of cattle were slaughtered for the in- 
 habitants, which, when killed, were taken to the 
 store-house, where the officers attended to deliver 
 the stated quantity to the master or mistress of 
 each family ; and if at any time they had oc- 
 casion for more than the general allowance it was 
 immediately given them, but nothing was suf- 
 fered to be wasted. In like manner they were 
 supplied with clothes ; for all the cotton they spun 
 and wove, or any other article which they manu- 
 factured — and they always were, and are still, very 
 industrious — was as soon as finished taken to the 
 public stock, and at certain periods of the year 
 every family received its proper quantity of apparel; 
 and as the articles were all without distinction of 
 one fashion and colour, there could not possibly 
 be any partiality observed in the distribution of 
 them. The officers and chiefs were only distin- 
 guishable from the rest by a chain round the 
 neck, a white wand, a feather, fan, or some such 
 simple peculiarity. There were, and still are, 
 two hospitals for the sick — one for the men, the 
 other for the women ; where as soon as any 
 one is taken ill he is immediately conveyed, as
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 223 
 
 none remain ill in their own houses. Each ho- 
 spital has a lay-brother to attend it, who is well 
 skilled in surgery and phjsic, and has several as- 
 sistants under him. They have likewise a large 
 room well stored with drugs, both native and Eu- 
 ropean. In fact, nothing is wanting to supply the 
 wants of either the healthy or the sick ; and, that 
 no one might be neglected, several of the oldest 
 and most experienced Indians were appointed to 
 superintend the whole, and see that justice was ad- 
 ministered in every department and the sick pro- 
 perly attended. How such wise regulations as 
 these should ever be subject to change I must 
 own rather surprises me ; but changed they cer- 
 tainly are. Instead of the officers and super- 
 intendants being selected by the rector only, they 
 are now made subordinate to the military, who 
 are appointed by the governor of the province ; 
 and instead of being commanded by Indian chiefs, 
 they are subjected to a Spanish commandant and 
 fiscal, to whom even the rector is answerable for 
 the conduct of his flock. Many other alterations 
 have been made, which I fancy have gone near to 
 overturn the wise regulations established by the 
 Jesuits, who, in my opinion, understood the true 
 art of governing better than any other body of 
 men in the universe. [ shall soon know more of 
 the changes which have taken place : at present
 
 224 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 I am rather hobbling in the dark, and therefore 
 may very well expect to stumble upon error. I 
 can as yet only draw conclusions from what I am 
 told — and people are sometimes given to lying — ■ 
 or from what I see ; and appearances are often de- 
 ceitful. Time is the only true authority, and to 
 that I trust for better information ; but in the 
 mean while no endeavours on my part shall be 
 wanting to accelerate the acquisition of it. Holy 
 St. Francis, what an irksome, dull, unprofitable 
 state would life be if man were not stimulated to 
 action by curiosity ! 
 
 Adieu, my friend ! and depend upon it if any 
 one is benefited by my researches it will be your- 
 self, for no other mortal shares the confidence of 
 
 Yours, &c.
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 225 
 
 LETTER XXIV. 
 
 Rioja Minor, Xoxcmber, 1/0?. 
 Father Pablo has left us ; and 
 although he had been here no longer the whole 
 town regretted his departure, and at the moment 
 when he entered the balsa every eye was wet with 
 tears. His affability and condescension have won 
 the heart of every individual. The bishop did 
 right indeed to send such a worthy man hither : 
 for if any man could compose differences and re- 
 concile jarring interests it was this benevolent 
 father ; for the spirit of the God of peace evi- 
 dently resides in his bosom. His selecting father 
 Hernandez to supply his place plainly evinces the 
 necessity of placing here a man of humanity and 
 conciliatory manners. I cannot as yet learn when 
 the former rector left this place : for none that we 
 found here, except the commandant, corregidore, 
 and fiscal, speak the Spanish language; and all 
 of us have been particularly desired to make 
 ourselves acquainted with the Indian tongue as 
 quickly as possible. Our present superior already 
 understands it. He has been at this presidency 
 before, and speaks it fluently. He is extremely 
 
 0.
 
 22C) LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 anxious to have all those about him as well versed 
 in it as himself : I am inclined to obey him in all 
 things, and have already acquired several words. 
 One of the sacristans, a man of considerable abili- 
 ties, though an Indian, is ordered to attend me 
 every morning, to give me instructions in the 
 language, and in several matters relative to the 
 church service. I have been enjoined by father 
 Hernandez to pay particular attention to his in- 
 structions, since he is a very worthy man, and has 
 held his office near twenty years : but I am not 
 to take any notice to him of any thing relative to 
 the war, or to let any one know that I am an 
 Englishman and a prisoner ; it being the wish of 
 the superior to have me considered as a gentleman 
 who voluntarily chose to come and reside here. 
 The novices who came with us have been also en- 
 joined silence on" the subject, and never in con- 
 versation to drop the smallest hint respecting my 
 country ; they, therefore, affect to treat me as a 
 native Spaniard. I fall in with all their humours; 
 and were it not for writing to you, I should, I 
 think, almost forget I am an Englishman, espe- 
 cially in these peaceful abodes. There is, it seems, 
 another presidency not many leagues distant on the 
 same side of the lake. At this presidency father 
 Hernandez means to visit a venerable friend of his, 
 who has been lately appointed rector, after having
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 227 
 
 spent his youth among the Chequetos Indians, near 
 to the spot where the Plata takes its rise, above 
 eight hundred miles from hence. 
 
 All is not right, I fear, in this community, as 
 the greatest vigilance appears to be observed by 
 the military. It was one of the sentinels at the 
 out-posts that discovered the approach of the balsas, 
 as they hove round the head-land, which conceals 
 in one point of view the presidency. He gave 
 notice of our being at hand, and that occasioned 
 the drums and trumpets which we heard at our 
 approach. These sentinels are stationed at such 
 convenient distances, that notice of any event can 
 be sent a very considerable way by the beating of 
 drums, or firing signals ; and by these means, if 
 any of the towns are attacked by the roving In- 
 dians — which has been not unfrequently the case — 
 the signals are instantly made, and the troops be- 
 longing to the next presidency hasten to the im- 
 mediate succour of their friends. By this I un- 
 derstand there are regular alarm posts, entirely 
 round the lake. I am of opinion some attack or 
 other has been made lately ; for never did I see 
 such strict watch enforced, even at the frontier 
 towns in Germany, as is observed here. Whether 
 it arises from fear of an open and avowed enemy, 
 or recent domestic treachery, or the effects of for- 
 mer discipline, I know not; but certain lam there
 
 228 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 is something to be feared ; and were It not so 
 very far from the coast, and in a country where 
 there are but few mines of gold or silver, and no 
 gems like those of Golconda, I should be tempted 
 to conclude they expected a visit from some of my 
 countrymen : but, unless they chose to come here 
 and turn farmers and graziers, and cultivate this 
 rich and fertile soil, I doubt they would hardly 
 make it worth their while to come so far : but to 
 those who possessed local ideas only this would be 
 a mine of wealth. Adieu !
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 229 
 
 LETTER XXV. 
 
 Rioja Minor, Prcembcr, 1797- 
 
 How restless my dear friend, is the 
 mind of man ! ever on the win** in pursuit of new 
 objects to gratify curiosity or dissipate spleen ; 
 and as soon as the novelty ceases we regard it 
 with insipidity, and, perhaps, disgust. At first we 
 consider new and pleasing objects with a kind of 
 rapture, and think we cannot possibly ever get 
 tired of them : but by a repetition of viewing and 
 reviewing they become familiar to the organs of 
 sight, and we begin by little and little to regard 
 them with indifference ; and we say to ourselves, I 
 saw this yesterday, it is the same to-day. We then 
 wish to fly in pursuit of something more new, and 
 which we foolishly imagine will prove more in- 
 teresting; but, alas! find ourselves deceived. Every 
 thing that 1 have proved yet tires on repetition, 
 except an intelligent well-informed person: in the 
 conversation of such a one you are sure to have 
 something new, something to interest the heart 
 from whence all dull monotony is banished. I 
 have often in England, and indeed other places, 
 gazed with a sort of enthusiastic transport on a
 
 230 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 beautiful woman, and thought her the most per- 
 fect workmanship of God till I have conversed 
 with her, when, to my utter mortification, I have 
 discovered my supposed divinity a mere mortal, 
 without even common sense or energies. I have 
 instantly become tired of such an uninteresting 
 companion, and have hastened to seek for one less 
 handsome, but perhaps more stocked with the gifts 
 of sense and understanding. I have been led into 
 these reflections by a discovery of my own weak- 
 ness. You may remember I told you at Buenos 
 Ayres, in one of my letters, that I had an earnest 
 wish to ramble over Paraguay : I obtained my 
 wish, and was brought hither; and for some days 
 after I had left the city I regarded the balsa as 
 the most pleasant room I had ever been in. The 
 rivers as 1 passed, and woods by which the) were 
 skirted, I viewed as the most wonderful works of 
 the gicac Creator. "When I entered upon the lake 
 new t-auties opened to my view, and a new field 
 of admiration presented itself which way soever 
 I turned my eyes. I gazed, wondered, and ad- 
 mired ; and then thought I should never cease to 
 contemplate its varied beauties. These scenes are 
 now become familiar to me; and at times I cannot 
 help wishing myself on the Bay of Biscay, though 
 it should chance to be in one of its most turbulent 
 moods : yet when this wish escapes me I in-
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. l 23\ 
 
 stantly think, why cannot I be at peace ? why not 
 enjoy the calm serenity of the scenes around me, 
 or mix with pleasure in the placid contentment of 
 the convent? After musing for a moment, I take 
 shame to myself, and check the wandering spirit 
 that so often rises in rebellion against me : then 
 again the words of Polydore occur to me, where 
 he says — 
 
 " I would be busy in the world, and learn j 
 Not, like a coarse and useless dunghill weed, 
 Fix.'d to one spot, and rot just as I grow." 
 
 Then I fly off again like a tangent, and actually 
 wish for the wings of a bird, that I might rove, 
 unmolested over earth, seas, and clouds, go where 
 I chose, and stop where i thought proper, wholly 
 free from the anxieties and cares which infest and 
 embitter the lot of mortals. But away with these 
 phantasies ! you shall hear how my hours are em- 
 ployed. We rise with the dawn, when the whole 
 parish attends mass ; none are permitted to be ab- 
 sent, unless from sickness, or some other material 
 cause. Mass over, each one betakes himself to 
 his employ — the children to school, the men and 
 women to work — till eight o'clock, when they 
 breakfast : when this repast is finished, which is 
 not long about, the bell rings to call the children 
 to the church to say their catechism and qhauni
 
 232 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 the service. The boys lead in the chancel : the girls, 
 standing in the body of the church, make the re* 
 sponses in a very pleasing and pious manner. 
 Prayers over, they again go to school, where the 
 boys are taught every useful branch that suits their 
 genius ; the girls to read, write, sew, spin, weave, 
 and every other female employment. The teach- 
 ers are, without enlarging on their merits, some 
 of the most weiUinformcd and most intelligent 
 persons I have ever met with ; but, not content 
 with the abilities of the teachers, some of the most 
 experienced and sensible of the parishioners super- 
 intend by turns the srhopls, and inspect the im- 
 provements of the children ; so that the teachers 
 cannot be remiss in their duty without subjecting 
 themselves to the censures of their superiors, who 
 are always the chiefs and heads of families. At 
 mid-day they dine, and are allowed an hour for re- 
 creation ; when they again go to school, where 
 they continu till near sunset, when the bell again 
 rings for prayers, at which, as in the morning, the 
 whole parish assembles, where ihey recount their 
 beads, hear the evening prayers, sing the hymns 
 appointed, receive their rector's benediction, and 
 repair to their houses, where they take their sup,, 
 pers of bread, fruit, and chica. This repast is 
 soon ended, when every family betake them? 
 selves to bed s and thus passes each revolving day.
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 233 
 
 Our community dine at twelve: an hour after din- 
 ner is spent in conversation over our fruit, and a 
 small portion of Cuyo wine, which has been sent 
 as a present to the fathers. The hour expired, 
 each betakes himself to his different occupation : 
 — some of the brothers visit the sick, others attend 
 those that . re employed in the offices of the 
 church, such as cleaning, ornamenting it, and so 
 forth. The novices and myself study the language, 
 or read to the superior, whose health, I am sorry 
 to observe, is not as it should be. The loss of 
 this good man will be severely ielt whenever it 
 shall please Omnipotence to take him hence, for 
 he is already regarded by the Indians as their 
 father. 
 
 There are fourteen Spaniards attached to the 
 military and the stores ; but there is very little 
 communication between them and the fathers. 
 Don Solicarpo do Zulucta is the commandant : he 
 iS a man of stern and forbidding manners : he 
 does not appear to like his situation ; it is too local 
 for one that has been used to the gay intercourse 
 of a city. There are four Spanish ladies here, or 
 rather Creoles ; one of them is wife to the com- 
 mandant, the other three are her relations. 1 have 
 seen them but twice, at church. They are none 
 of them pretty. They spoke to our superior with 
 an air of what I thought forced condescension j
 
 \ 
 
 234 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 and they asked a multitude of questions, but they 
 were not polite enough to attend to the answers, 
 Their eyes were directed to the spot where stood 
 the novices and myself. The commandant's lady 
 is named donna Teresa Tarcel. She is pregnant, 
 and near her time ; for which, it seems, great pre- 
 parations are making. But that period, so much 
 dreaded by the ladies in England, is not here con- 
 sidered in any other light then a mere, trifling in^ 
 disposition ; at least it is so by the Indian women, 
 who are seldom confined more than two or three 
 days, and some not at all. Whether it is so gentle 
 with the creole ladies I will not take upon me to 
 say. The beds used upon these occasions are placed 
 on bedsceads as high as those commonly used in 
 France; and, like them, they have no feather-beds. 
 The lower mattresses are composed of pimento 
 leaves, stitched in fine cotton : the upper ones are 
 made of fine wool, or the down of geese, laid be- 
 tween pimento leaves, and covered with silk or 
 velvet, most commonly the latter ; but this de- 
 pends on the riches of the owner. The sheets are 
 generally of very fine cotton, neatly trimmed with 
 lace; the blankets of the finest Spanish wool, very 
 thin ; the coverlid of silk or velvet, fringed with 
 gold; the curtains, in summer, are made of Turkey 
 or East-India gauze, elegantly painted : these cur- 
 tains are kept close drawn, and fastened dowu
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 235 
 
 with small hooks to the lowest mattress, except a 
 small place on one side, just wide, enough to ad- 
 mit the attendant, who, when within, carefully 
 closes the aperture, in order to prevent the in- 
 trusion of swarms of flies, which here are num- 
 berless, and which generally infest the room 
 where the sick are, in preference to any other 
 part of the house. By this artifice these trouble- 
 some intruders are compelled to keep a respect- 
 ful distjr.ee, though much to their regret; for on 
 my conscience there are not in existence such in- 
 defatigable foes as these tedious insects. If they 
 art one .joment, as we suppose, effectually routed, 
 dispersed, and actually driven away, yet in a few 
 minutes they will contrive to rally all their forces, 
 and, with more spiteful malignancy than ever, re- 
 turn to the charge. The whole house is in alarm: 
 mops, made of feathers, dipped in lemon juice and 
 lime-water, are flourished about in all directions, 
 and as many as this libation souses become victims, 
 but the far greater number take shelter under the 
 wings of their neighbours ; and when this is found 
 to be the case nothing but a most cursed smoke, 
 made from burning wet leaves and half-dried grass, 
 will rid the house of these infernal tormentors. 
 The leaves and grass, being wetted with lemon 
 juice, are set on five in a large earthen dish with 
 sides about six inches high, and placed in the;
 
 236 
 
 LE1TERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 middle of the room. This is kept burning, or 
 rather mouldering, till the enemy is dislodged, and 
 this is the only thing that can procure a short re- 
 spite from their cursed stings: and short indeed is 
 the respite ; for no sooner is one swarm destroyed 
 and the smoke evaporated than new squadrons 
 arrive, armed cap-a-pie ; and before the stench of 
 the smoke is well out of the house in they come, 
 and at it they go tooth and nail. There is no stand- 
 ing this; and I instantly hasten to my room, where,, 
 being solitary, they seldom intrude. Adieu !
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 23? 
 
 LETTER XXVI. 
 
 i 
 
 Rioja Minor, Jan. l/f>8. 
 
 Every hour that I spend with my 
 Indian instructor teems with information yet more 
 interesting than the former. This morning, during 
 one of our rambles, he imparted several particulars 
 that I was extremely desirous of obtaining, but 
 principally relative to the herbs used in such cases 
 of illness as mine on my first arrival at Monte 
 Video, and which I think may be of essential ser- 
 vice in England during most epidemic diseases. 
 I am certain, from experience, that if properly ap- 
 plied it cannot fail of curing those who may un- 
 fortunately have caught the infection ; for we have 
 herbs in our country that will very nearly work, 
 the same effects as those reared in Tucuman, only 
 the process must be different. But observe the 
 following rules, and I will venture my life that not 
 one in a hundred will die : Take of camomile, 
 rosemary, wormwood, rue, and featherfew, of each 
 a large handful ; set them on the fire in a large 
 pipkin, or bell- metal pot; cover them with two 
 gallons of water, and let them boil till the strength
 
 2SS LETTERS FROM "PARAGUAY. 
 
 is entirely drawn oiit ; then take about half a peck 
 of the best unslaked lime, put some of it in an 
 earthen pan unglazed, pour the herb decoction hot 
 upon it, and as the smoke ascends let the patient's 
 head be held over it in such a position as to in- 
 hale the fumes at the mouth, nose, and ears; and 
 as the vapours die away fresh knobs of lime must 
 be thrown in, and this to be continued as long as 
 the party infected can bear it. In the mean time 
 let some pure strong lime-water be made, of which 
 take a quarter of a pint — more or less, propor- 
 tioned to the habit of body of the patient : mix 
 with it three table spoonfuls of the herb decoction 
 hot, and give it to the sick person as soon as he or 
 she is placed in a warm bed. Let the body, and 
 particularly the head, be carefully kept warm, so as 
 to prevent any check to the perspiration that will 
 ensue upon this operation ;• but at the same time 
 preserve -a free circulation of air through the 
 apartment, that all effluvia arising from the infected 
 person may pass instantaneously off: in case of 
 thirst, give the patient plentifully to drink of strong 
 green tea warm, but without milk or sugar j and 
 in no stage of the disorder either bleed or blister, 
 for such a measure might be immediately fatal. 
 
 This dose and fumigation must be repeated as 
 often as the patient can support it, till an amend-
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 233 
 
 rnent takes place ; and in prisons, or other places 
 where a great many may be confined together, it 
 will be necessary to have the room fumigated like- 
 wise. This remedy must be applied as soon as 
 possible after the attack of the disorder, which is 
 presently known by a sickness and headach, and 
 which seldom Spares any European on his arrival 
 on these shores. It is with some dreadfully vio- 
 lent in its effects, frequently terminating, if not in 
 death, at least in total insanity ; and many of its 
 symptoms partake of the nature of the yellow fever, 
 a species of which was very prevalent in England, 
 I remember, in the year 1779 or thereabout. 
 
 Yesterday morning some of our trading In- 
 dians brought to father Hernandez several very 
 beautiful skins of different wild animals preserved 
 and dressed in a peculiar delicate manner, and a 
 variety of curious birds stuffed and scented with 
 great art, and had a very pleasing effect. They 
 likewise, to my no small astonishment, produced 
 a quantity of gold exceedingly fine and pure, partly 
 in ingots and partly in dust. This latter article 
 of gold, I understand, is collected among the moun- 
 tains and upland springs on the banks of the Ura- 
 guay ; and the Indians, with great ingenuity, 
 contrive to send it to Buenos Ayres, and exchange 
 ix in a contraband way with the American mer-
 
 240 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 chants and .other foreigners, This traffic, how « 
 ever, is kept a profound secret by the trusty few 
 who are employed in collecting the metal, and by 
 whom it has hitherto been monopolised. Fa 'her 
 Hernandez and many others of the clergy wink at 
 this procedure, but we have great reason to believe 
 that the government at Buenos Ayres suspects 
 this treasure to have been discovered by the presi- 
 dencies, and meditates a still further infringement 
 of the Indians' liberties, to force a disclosure of the 
 source from whence this newly-found wealth is 
 derived^ than which nothing is more dreaded by 
 the natives in whose possession it lies. The sup- 
 posed internal poverty of their land has hitherto 
 been their only protection — and a feeble one it is, 
 Heaven knows — against the rapacious cruelty of 
 Spanish governors, inquisitors, and tax-men. The 
 known discovery of any spot of ground containing 
 either gold or silver would immediately and ine- 
 vitably ensure the destruction and death of its in* 
 nocent possessors* 
 
 Most fervently do I pray that my just and gener- 
 ous countrymen may in time become the masters 
 of this high-favoured region, and be the lenient 
 governors of this ingenious unoffending people, 
 who would make, I am now convinced, the best 
 subjects in the world to such a gracious liberal*
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 241 
 
 minded sovereign as now reigns in our happy isle ; 
 
 where conquest and humanity go hand in hand, 
 
 and where so many millions enjoy privileges and 
 
 blessings they scarcely know how to appreciate. 
 
 Not so 
 
 Your sincere friend.
 
 242 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 LETTER XXVII. 
 
 Rioja Minor, Jan. 1/98. 
 
 I have this morning been on the lake, 
 which abounds with a vast variety of fine fish, which 
 the Indians take in various ways: — some with a line, 
 as with us ; others by a spring. The latter is a cu- 
 rious way : they fasten a hook with a bait to it to a 
 long branch of willow, which grows in great profu- 
 sion on the banks of the lake : the branch to which 
 the hook is attached is bent, by means of a cord, 
 to the edge of the water ; this cord is fastened to 
 the willow close to the bank, and by means of two 
 sticks placed crossways on the back of the tree; 
 the moment the fish takes the bait the cord gives 
 way, and the hook rises with the fish attached to 
 it. 1 his method is - observed to catch trout, which 
 are here in great abundance, and of the finest size 
 and flavour I ever tasted. Sometimes they drew 
 the seine, but this is a new introduction: previous 
 to this the Indians used to place themselves in their 
 canoes and watch the passing fish, at which they' 
 would dexterously aim a dart, and in less than a 
 minute they would see the fish rise to v the surface 
 of the water with the arrow in it, which they seized^
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 243 
 
 and drew the fish into the canoe. I saw three 
 large fish, resembling in colour and taste our sal* 
 mon, caught in this way, which is indeed very 
 amusing. The eye of every Indian appears to me 
 to possess the properties of the hawk, or they 
 could not, I think, dnrt the arrow so unerringly into 
 the fish as they do. It is very pleasant to be on 
 the lake before light in the morning, but after that 
 it becomes much too hot. I seized the oppor- 
 tunity of being alone with the Indian — for there 
 was but one in the boat with me — to take a hasty 
 sketch of the town from the lake. The point from 
 which I took it was not so well adapted for the 
 purpose as I could have wished ; but I made the 
 best of what presented itself, and will, if possible, 
 send it you. Father Hernandez is very unwell. 
 He has done me the honour to consult me on his 
 case. I frankly told him I had never studied me- 
 dicine, and all the knowledge I possessed had been 
 gathered in my rambles through different coun- 
 tries, and the necessity I had been frequently un- 
 der of administering to my own wants in places 
 where medical advice could not be obtained ; and 
 by diligent observations on the effects of my own 
 applications I had gathered a slight knowledge of 
 drugs and simples, sufficient to direct me in pre- 
 scribing for myself, and by that means I had often 
 preserved my health ; but I doubted my abilities in 
 
 k c 2
 
 5 14 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 prescribing to others. These observations, he 
 said, still more convinced him that I understood 
 diseases ; and therefore strenuously requested I 
 would prescribe for him. I acquiesced in his 
 wishes ; and going to the hospiral, where all the 
 drugs are kept, I made up, as far as my judgment 
 could direct, what 1 thought would be of real ser- 
 vice to him. He took it, reposing the greatest con- 
 fidence in my skill. It has had, thank God, very 
 salutary effects : he is better, but still very unwell. 
 I have advised him to go across the lake to the 
 town of Itu, situated on the banks of the Parana, 
 where there is, I am informed, a very valuable 
 spring, which is of great efficacy in weak and de- 
 bilitated habits : he has complied with my advice, 
 and told me it is his intention to go thither im- 
 mediately. 1 am to accompany him. The father 
 companion will take charge of the flock during the 
 superior's absence. He is not much liked by the ge- 
 nerality : they regard him as a man of austere man- 
 ners, wholly devoid of that benevolence and mildness 
 of character which mark father Hernandez. This 
 good man, lam much afraid, will not survive long: 
 his soul seems already detached from earth. There 
 is a something about him which I find not in any 
 other except our aged superior at Buenos Ayres, 
 to whom, I mid, father Hernandez is related, being 
 his nephew by the mother's side. Neither of these
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 245 
 
 good men embraced the monastic life from choice : 
 necessity, dire necessity, backed by parents' 
 stern commands, consigned them both, at an early 
 age, to retirement and obscurity. Father Hernan- 
 dez in youth loved, and was beloved by, an amiable 
 and lovely woman ; but he had an elder brother, 
 and to his aggrandisement became a victim. This 
 cruel determination decided his fate ; the lady was 
 married to his more fortunate brother, and him- 
 self doomed to a life of celibacy and sorrow ; for 
 though five-and-forty years have elapsed since that 
 fatal period, he has never ceased to regret her 
 loss ; and it is this bitter recollection, I am certain, 
 which aggravates his bodily sufferings : for although 
 he is, I think, as sincere a Christian as this world 
 can boast, yet the agitation of his mind at times 
 disorders the whole nervous system. You, who 
 know what I have suffered from a similar affliction, 
 can well imagine how sincerely I participate in all 
 his sorrows, and how anxious I must be to ad- 
 minister comfort and consolation to him. He has 
 been too much indisposed since his arrival to take 
 any active steps towards the regulation of several 
 abuses which he hinted to me on our voyage, but 
 as soon as he gets better a thorough alteration is 
 to take place in every department. There seems 
 to be a kind of jealousy between the clergy and 
 the military — who are not now dependant on the
 
 246 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 rector, as formerly they were : for there are here 
 but two estates instead of three, and, if I am not 
 mistaken, in a few years one will entirely over? 
 throw the other ; for when once suspicion gets 
 footing in the body politic of a government, that 
 government stands on a tottering foundation, Far- 
 ther Hernandez sees this approaching evil, and, I 
 am well persuaded, dreads it also. Peace and good- 
 will to all the world is the motto of this righteous 
 man, and I am certain nothing would go nearer to 
 hasten his end than the knowledge of these inof- 
 fensive people being subject to the military yoke. 
 The means by which this extraordinary change is 
 to be effected are not as yet very apparent ; but I 
 fear it is the intention of the Spanish politicians, 
 who now take a principal part in the administra- 
 tion of affairs in this province, to oblige the clergy 
 by little and little totally to overthrow the .admir- 
 able structure founded by the Jesuits, upon a base 
 which should seem calculated to defy the under- 
 mining arts of even a Mazarine or a Goertz : but 
 no establishment, I am now convinced, can exist 
 beyond its appointed period. The clergy have 
 had their reign of uncontrolled dominion, in this 
 as in all other countries : whose will now succeed 
 Heaven only knows ; but I could prophecy, ' with 
 a near aim to the main chance of things as yet not 
 come to light'— but let that rest. The Spaniards
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 247 
 
 may think to hold these injured people in the most 
 slavish bondage, but in vain; there are no links of 
 gratitude or confidence to bind th^ union. Former 
 wrongs added to present impositions will rise in 
 battle array against them. Omnipotence will as- 
 sist the oppressed in their efforts for emancipation, 
 and the now mourning natives of these southern 
 regions may in a few years more enjoy in happy 
 liberty those acquirements and advantages they 
 have so dearly purchased. 
 
 I am now effectually cut off from hearing any 
 news of your part of the other hemisphere, and 
 most probably shall for a long time remain so ; 
 for if I can obtain the happiness of travelling to 
 distant places with father Hernandez I shall not 
 form a wish to return to Buenos Ayres: and though 
 I continue to write to you I cannot hope to receive 
 a letter from you in return. The Indian cacique 
 who has the care of the fisher) has promised to 
 take charge of any papers I may wish to have sent to 
 don Manuel Robledo, i 10m he personally knows ; 
 having several times had dealings with him at Bu- 
 enos Ayres, on his annual visits to that city for the 
 purpose of barter. 
 
 This Indian is a very sensible ingenious man : 
 there is scarcely any thing that you can describe 
 to him but he immediately comprehends. I told 
 him about a week ago that I wanted a box to be
 
 248 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 made of cedar-wood, with a secret drawer to hold 
 my letters : the manner of forming it I described 
 to him as near as I could remember to that 1 had 
 finished in London, and to help his imagination I 
 slightly drew a sketch. He said but few words on 
 the subject ; but this morning, immediately after 
 mass, he came to me, and presented one of the neatest 
 and most ingenious articles of the kind 1 ever saw : it 
 is so contrived, that unless you are acquainted with 
 the secret spring it is impossible to get at any thing 
 contained in one half of it ; and examine it ever so 
 nicely, you cannot perceive the deception. His ready 
 conception and artful execution surprised me 
 greatly ; and with the greatest pleasure I presented 
 him two pistoles, which made him nearly frantic 
 with joy, for none here are allowed to possess any 
 thing independent of the public stock : but as this 
 trifle of mine was given to him without the know- 
 ledge of any one but ourselves, I advised him to 
 keep it secret, and take the piastre I had agreed to 
 give him to the general repository : and as every 
 thing each individual does is known to the teni- 
 entes, this box of mine was looked upon as a mere 
 article of convenience ; but the secret part of it is 
 known only to the maker and myself: I have se- 
 cured his silence, and all is very well. I mean the 
 private drawer to hold all my writings except mere 
 letters of business, which I am permitted to write
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 24$ 
 
 to don Manuel. My friendly Indian has promised 
 me when he goes next to Buenos Ayres to take 
 my secret with him to that gentleman, whom he 
 will instruct to open the box, take out what I may 
 send, and forward any thing he would wish to 
 have conveyed to me in the same manner back ; 
 while the open part of the box, when taken from 
 hence, will contain nothing but what all the world 
 may see : and don Manuel is to return the like. 
 Thus far I am safe : all that I have wrote since 
 my arrival here is already deposited within it ; and 
 this, when I close it, shall be put there likewise : 
 therefore when it reaches you, you will see you have 
 no occasion to be uneasy on my account. But how 
 wild I am talking ! God only knows whether you 
 wili ever receive this or any others that I have ad- 
 dressed to you : but if you should, do not neglect 
 writing to me in return, and direct your letters to 
 don Manuel's; for there is a possibility, though but 
 a possibility, of their coming to my hand. Exist- 
 ing circumstances must govern your pen. Don M. 
 has my instructions respecting all affairs at New 
 "York 3 so all there is safe. Adieu! Yours.
 
 260 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 LETTER XXVIII. 
 
 Presidency of Nombr.c de Dios, Jan. 1798. 
 
 We set oat for Itu the morning be* 
 fore yesterday, and crossed the lake in a tartane, 
 that is, a long boat with sails ; the after part of it 
 covered with an awning made of reeds and manicoe 
 leaves, neatly banded down with osiers. There is a 
 kind of out-rigger attached to the side, which in sud- 
 den squalls is so contrived as to lift up and enclose 
 those that are under the awning in a very compact 
 and comfortable manner. This is a much plea- 
 santer mode of travelling than in the balsas j for 
 you are not confined to either a sitting or a lying 
 posture, neither is your eye pained to observe the 
 hard labour of the poor fellows at the oars. There 
 is most commonly a fine breeze on the lake, which 
 cools the air, and sends on the vessel with great 
 celerity. We left Rioja Minor at nine in the 
 giorning, and, as the wind was fair without vari- 
 ation, we reached the presidency of No?nbre de 
 Dios about six in the evening. 
 
 The beauties of the lake during our voyage were 
 picturesque in the extreme. Small islands, covered 
 with wood and stocked with deer, are dispersed in
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 251 
 
 every direction ; on some of them are scattered 
 little romantic huts inhabited by Indians, who reside 
 {here for the purpose of catching wild-fowl or 
 gathering eggs, which are laid in every bush by the 
 water birds : some of those are deliciously cooked in 
 the Indian way, which is roasting, or rather baking, 
 them, in a small oven made of hot stones. 
 
 Father Hernandez ordered the boat to be put 
 in at one of these islands, on which were about 
 ten Indians/who readily came to us, bringing with 
 them broiled fish, baked eggs, some excellent 
 cakes, and fresh honey ; also a large bottle of 
 chica, and a smaller one of brandy. We gladly 
 accepted their provision, and sat down upon the 
 long grass to partake of it. This grass, which was 
 in most places near two feet high, they assured us 
 was but of a week's growth, owing to the fogs 
 which overspread the islands by night, and the in- 
 tense power of the sun by day ; and I must own such 
 rapid vegetation very much surprised me. When 
 about four or five feet high the Indians cut it 
 down, and make cushions, beds, and carpets ; which 
 they sell in the towns, and are as soft, if not softer, 
 than our horse-hair mattresses, as they possess an 
 elastic silky quality, and are not liable to close in 
 hard lumps like the hair or wool, owing to the 
 dextrous manner in which the Indians weave or 
 rather plait them. Some people will have them
 
 252 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 wove with leaves of the fig, manicoe, pimento, and 
 other trees, intermixed with the grass ; and these 
 kind are very pretty to look at, as the form of the 
 leaves is exactly preserved. 1 have ordered one 
 of these curious beds to be made for me, and sent 
 to our convent ; but whether I shall be allowed the 
 use of it or not I cannot say. Baskets are also 
 made of this grass, in so neat and subtile a manner 
 as to hold any kind of liquid : our chica was 
 served up in one, and the brandy was in a bottle 
 of the same. The manufacture of these simple 
 articles convinces me that the Indians only want 
 proper instructors and liberty to equal, if not sur- 
 pass, any civilised nation in every work of art or 
 ingenuity. Father Hernandez bought a beautiful 
 basket and two bottles, to take as a present to the 
 predicador mayor at Nombre de Bios. This pre- 
 sidency has not been established above five years ; 
 it is therefore in its infant state, and entirely mo- 
 delled according to the new code. As soon as 
 our arrival was announced, the predicador came 
 out to receive us, dressed in his sacred vestments; 
 attended by all the community, who welcomed our 
 good superior with the most lively pleasure. We 
 were immediately conducted to the church and 
 most profusely sprinkled with holy water, and per- 
 fumed with some very costly incense out of a silver 
 pot. This last part of the ceremony was a novelty
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 25$ 
 
 to us all ; but I assure you it seemed very grateful 
 to my olfactory nerves, and my clothes still retain 
 the fragrance. While a pretty Indian youth, dress- 
 ed in his surplice, was holding my garments over 
 the incense, I could not help imagining myself in 
 Asia Minor; but the music, and the voices singing 
 Te Deitm, presently dispelled the illusion. 
 
 The church of this presidency is small, but very 
 regularly built ; as is the convent, where there are 
 only five brothers at present : there have been more, 
 but they are gone on missions among the Zamu- 
 cos, who inhabit near the banks of the river Pilco- 
 mayo, a considerable distance from Nombre de 
 Dios, on the opposite side of the Plata, where there 
 are but very few establishments ; it being a nation 
 of wild roving Indians, who have sworn everlasting 
 hatred to the Spaniards: as a proof of which I was 
 shewn a musical instrument something resembling 
 the pipes of Pan, made out of the bones of one of 
 the missionaries they sacrificed among them some 
 years ago ; and it seems it is their, usual custom to 
 form such articles from the bones of all the Spa- 
 niards who are unfortunate enough to fall into 
 their hands. From such accounts as these I should, 
 I think, entertain but little relish for the hazardous 
 undertaking of converting them : but such is the 
 zeal with which many are inspired that there is no 
 difficulty in getting candidates for this desirable
 
 254- LETTERS FROM- PARAGUAY. 
 
 office ; on the contrary, all the brothers are emul- 
 ous to obtain the appointment, and the Gospel still 
 continues to spread, though very slowly, among 
 the Zamucos, who are nearly as wild and savage 
 as the natives of the middle part of Amazonia, 
 who are, by all report, a most ferocious set of 
 beings, bearing in form alone the semblance of 
 humanitv. 
 
 Whatever glory may be attached to the calling 
 of a missionary, I do not think I should be easily 
 moved thereto, as my friend Dempster at Philadel- 
 phia used to say, when we were talking to him of 
 any amusement. 
 
 The country round Nombre de Dios is much 
 
 the same in point of lowland beauty as that on the 
 
 other side of the lake j and between this place- and 
 
 Itu — which is about forty miles distant — is one 
 
 entire plain, where thousands of horses run wild, 
 
 and the Indians every way round are a nation of 
 
 Arabs, eternally on horseback; and this convenience 
 
 of riding instead of walking wherever they choose 
 
 to go is one of the few benefits they have derived 
 
 from the invasion of the Spaniards, for the actions 
 
 of none in this quarter are controlled by any but 
 
 their own caciques, unless it is such as live in the 
 
 towns of the presidencies. 
 
 I am promised by the predicador mayor a full 
 account of the customs and manners of six differ-
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. %$& 
 
 ent nations among whom 'he has resided within 
 these last eighteen years : this account is to be 
 prepared against our return to Rioja Minor, which 
 is meant to be in about six weeks, if -my venerable 
 friend does not derive any essential benefit from 
 the waters of Aricirre. The predicador's name is 
 Antonio Sisternas : he appears to be a man of hu- 
 manity, but not much gifted with understanding : 
 a plain simple soul, who will never, I am certain, 
 be accused of either treachery or oppression ; for 
 he has not head-piece enough for the one, nor re- 
 solution enough for the other. 
 
 We shall go from her.ce to Itu in a kind of car 
 something like those used in Russia, between a 
 coach and a cart : this is drawn by four and some- 
 times six horses, for here these valuable animals 
 may be had for the trouble of catching them, as 
 they run in droves wild over the immense plains, 
 covered with the richest verdure. When the In- 
 dians are in want of any they go in parties of eight 
 or ten to the plain, each with a long rope in his 
 hand, at one enu of which is a running noose. 
 When they have fixed on a place convenient to 
 begin their operations, one half of the men drive 
 a number of the horses towards the spot where 
 the others are stationed whh the ropes ready, when 
 the moment the beasts come near each man en- 
 deavours to throw the noose over the neck of the
 
 25 5 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 one nearest to him. If he effects this he imme- 
 diately runs off, still holding the rope ; by which 
 means the noose is pulled tight, and goes near to 
 strangle the poor prisoner, who after a few inef- 
 fectual struggles quietly submits to his enslaver : 
 the moment the hunter perceives him stagger, from 
 the tightness of the rope round his neck, he runs 
 up and mounts him ; then slackening the cord a 
 little by degrees he makes the animal move round 
 in a circle so extremely fast, that both horse and 
 rider become in a short time completely sick and 
 giddy. They stop when they think he is like to 
 drop, and when recovered again begin the same 
 round, until the beast is perfectly exhausted : they 
 then lead him home, where in a few days he is 
 thoroughly tamed, and becomes so very docile that 
 a child of four years old might manage him. There 
 are no saddles or bridles used here, nor are. they 
 even heard of: the Indians ride exactly like the 
 English country bumpkins, bare-ridged, with an 
 halter made of the long grass tightly wove, and 
 the same kind of rope serves as harness for the 
 cars used at the presidencies ; indeed they answer 
 every purpose of leather, the use of which is here 
 but little known, except for exportation. 
 
 How many useful and important blessings which 
 in the more civilised parts of the world are coveted 
 even beyond their value are here thrown away, or
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 251 
 
 held in no estimation whatever ! Great God! how 
 little is thy munificence regarded in this highly- 
 favoured country, and how poorly are thy boun* 
 ties understood ! The Indians seem all to reason 
 with my favourite Goldsmith, when he says— 
 
 *' Man wants but little here belowj 
 Nor wants that little long." 
 
 Their wishes seem limited to the mere natural 
 wants of the day that passes over them ; for all 
 beyond they care not, save for an opportunity of 
 gratifying the inveterate enmity they bear towards 
 their Spanish oppressors. Adieu ! Yours*
 
 258 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY, 
 
 LETTER XXIX. 
 
 February, 1/gS. 
 
 We are now at the presidency of 
 Saint Mary and Saint John, near which is the me- 
 dicinal spring of AricifFe, about a league and a half 
 from the river Parana : it is a very considerable 
 establishment, and under very wise regulations. As 
 far as I have yet seen, it is conducted on the same 
 plan as that of Rioja Minor, which partakes more 
 of the old system than the new. We arrived on 
 the eve of their annual festival : the bells were set 
 a-ringing to announce us ; several guns were fired; 
 with other demonstrations of joy. We were, as be- 
 fore, immediately escorted to the church, and the 
 same ceremonies observed ; with this difference — our 
 clothes were not perfumed in the Asiatic manner, 
 as at Nombre de Dios, but, in lieu of it, the rector 
 here was extravagantly profuse of highly-scented 
 water : this is another new refinement. Mercy 
 on us ! thought I, what pious vagary shall I see 
 next ? I meant to have given you a description of 
 the holy procession and so forth, but was obliged 
 to attend father Hernandez to see the fall of Itu ; 
 but which I found to be little more than what
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 250 
 
 they call a rapid in North America. It is a na« 
 tural cascade, and forms a very beautiful and in- 
 teresting scene to those who have never beheld the 
 bold majestic cataracts-of the Niagara, or the ro- 
 mantic waterfalls of the north of Scotland. 
 
 This rapid, then, of Itu is nothing more than a 
 chain of rocks, which extends across from side to 
 side of the river Parana : the rocks rise in divisions, 
 and look like embrasures ; but instead of the 
 mouths of cannon you are presented with large 
 streams of water gushing down into a bed of hard 
 gravel below, where we saw five Indians ; three at 
 the bottom of the fall, at a little distance from the 
 foaming spray, pushing onwards a large boat laden 
 with a variety of articles, which were tightly se- 
 cured within ; while two other men stood in the 
 water above the rocks pulling two ropes, that were 
 fastened to the prow of the boat : and at a little di- 
 stance beyond were four more, who by their joint 
 endeavours safely dragged the boat up the fall. 
 "When they had her carefully lodged in the upper 
 stream they rested a while, and then, hoisting their 
 sail, proceeded on their way. The fall at the place 
 where this manoeuvre was performed appeared to 
 me to be about twelve feet perpendicular height ; 
 but the centre part, which somewhat resembles the 
 horse-shoe of Niagara, must be oansiderably higher. 
 The Parana is here very wide ; but not so rapid at, 
 
 8 2
 
 26*0 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY, 
 
 present as it is sometimes, when swelled by rains : 
 then I think the fall must be a very pleasing sight. 
 A great many boats are at times hindered from 
 passing till the violence of the current is over : 
 there were five ascended on the side we were 
 on during our short stay, which did not exceed 
 three hours. Our car being covered with a very 
 convenient awning, we enjoyed the scene alto- 
 gether very much at our ease. This river, though 
 deeper than either the Plata or the Uraguay, is 
 much more secure, being free from the shoals of 
 the one and the rocks of the other, except where 
 the falls are formed ; and even there, to a person ac- 
 customed to navigate the stream, the passage is not 
 dangerous. After we had sufficiently satisfied our 
 curiosity we returned to the presidency, where the 
 commandant had prepared an entertainment for 
 our superior's reception. His name is don Au- 
 gustine de la Cana: he is a creole by birth, born at 
 Assumption : he appears to be a man offense and 
 merit, and would, I think, make a conspicuous fi- 
 gure in a more active and elevated station. He 
 received us with great politeness, and was ex- 
 tremely anxious to make every thing agreeable to 
 the good father ; pointing out several things a* 
 salutary remedies for his complaint, to be used 
 during his stay at the baths, which he lamented 
 %ere not so comfortable as they might be made
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. S6l 
 
 were there more visitors : but the very few that 
 come, and the short time they stay, hold out no 
 inducement to any one to think of improving the 
 situation. These waters, in taste and quality, are 
 much the same as ours at Bristol-wells. The 
 spring was first discovered about sixty years ago, 
 by father Estevan Serbert, a Jesuit missionary, who 
 caused it to be enclosed in a neat circular building 
 of stone, tiled ; and planted a very pleasant grove of 
 trees round the spot. 
 
 The presidency was then in its infant state, and 
 besides the father, who knew the virtues of the 
 spring, few or none for many years made use of it ; 
 but it is now in more request. A pretty little Indian 
 town has spread around it, with one very good house 
 for the cacique, who entertains and lodges those who 
 come here to try its efficacy. This man, who is of 
 the tribe of Yaros, came to us one day dressed in 
 his habit of ceremony, and cut so grotesque an ap- 
 pearance that I prevailed upon him to stay while I 
 took a rough sketch of his figure. To be sure he 
 is a deformed ugly mortal, and I am a miserable 
 limner : but you must excuse all faults ; it will 
 serve to give you an idea what kind of animals I am 
 among. His shirt, or body-garment as I may call 
 it — for they wear no other — was of blue and white 
 striped cotton, fastened round the waist by a belt 
 of tiger skin } his cloak was indeed truly beautiful,
 
 262 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 being composed entirely of feathers of the greatest 
 variety of colours I ever beheld, and laid together 
 so artfully as to resemble the most delicately 
 painted satin : on his head, too, he had a kind of 
 cap or crown made of the high tail-feathers of the 
 peacock, pheasant, and some other bird I am un- 
 acquainted with, but whose snowy plumage is 
 far richer than that of the celebrated ostrich. He 
 had two bracelets on each arm, formed of round 
 gold links about an inch in diameter, and the 
 thickness of a crown-piece : buskins of woven 
 grass, laced in front like half boots, completed his 
 elegant attire : and in his hand he carried a dart, 
 such as is commonly used by the Indians, about 
 three feet long, with a sharp barb of iron at the 
 smallest end. He is a very civil obliging crea^ 
 turc, and almost worships father Hernandez, whose 
 health, I am sorry to say, declines daily, and I much 
 fear that neither the waters nor any other remedy 
 can now restore him: the fright and hurt at Tiger 
 creek were more than his advanced age and feeble 
 constitution could support. I watch over him as 
 though he were my father, and from my very soul 
 wish 1 could devise any thing that would relieve 
 him ; but, as the destroying malady is more men- 
 tal than corporeal, I doubt if any mortal power 
 can save him. Though he does not imagine the 
 waters will be of any service to him, yet he means 

 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 263 
 
 to continue here the time he at first proposed ; and 
 he seems daily to repose fresh confidence in me. 
 Should it please God to prolong his life, I hope by 
 his means to visit most of the presidencies in this 
 province, or else get permission to accompany one 
 of the missions that is about to be dispatched to 
 Chile, a country which is reported to be another 
 Eden, and to see — which I must pass — the Cordil- 
 lera. Of these celebrated mountains I am con- 
 stantly hearing the most strange and, I think, fa- 
 bulous accounts ; but I trust before I quit this con- 
 tinent, if death do not terminate my mortal career, 
 in person to examine those stupendous works of 
 nature, and likewise, if not too presuming, to de- 
 scend into the bowels of the earth, and gratify, if 
 possible, my curiosity, by exploring the far-famed 
 mines of Potosi. Adieu ! Ever yours, whether 
 above ground or below.
 
 264 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 LETTER XXX. 
 
 St. Mary and St. John, Feb. 17Q8. 
 
 The good father Hernandez has 
 this morning been hastily recalled to his presidency 
 of Rioja Minor : an Indian arrived about an hour 
 since from the commandant, to requesc his imme- 
 diate return : the reasons for which he is not inform- 
 ed of. This has alarmed and hurt him much. It is 
 evident he feared some material change was about 
 to take place before he came away ; for had I not 
 very strongly urged the necessity of his trying 
 something to dispel the melancholy that hung over 
 him he would not by any means have left his go- 
 vernment. He is, however, in tolerable spirits j 
 and, though somewhat uneasy, appears more cheer- 
 ful than I have seen him for some time past. 
 
 Our car will be ready in two hours : father 
 Hernandez is engaged at present with Antonio 
 Sisternas ; and I seize a few moments to write to 
 you., lest any unforeseen event should occur to 
 prevent my taking up the pen again so soon as I 
 could wish. Some hints dropped by the Indian
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 265 
 
 with whom I have spoken seem to indicate as 
 much : but, in the words of Macbeth — 
 
 " . Come what come mtiy, 
 
 Time and the hour runs through the roughest &?y." 
 
 On my return to Rioja Minor I expect to find 
 there a letter, with a remittance from don Manuel ; 
 and soon, I trust, I shall be able to have my papers 
 convzyed to Buenos A'yres: for though I can hardly 
 hope to hear any thing respecting my friends in 
 Old England, 1 cannot help wishing for some ac- 
 count of the European world. Gou oless you ! 
 Adieu !
 
 266 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 LETTER XXXL 
 
 Rioja Minor, March, 1/Q8, 
 
 MY DEAR FRIEND, 
 
 Amid the tumult and confusion 
 
 which every-where reign around, I am once more 
 
 allowed the liberty of spending a few hours alone, 
 
 and shall seize that opportunity to address a few 
 
 lines to you. In my last I informed you of our 
 
 sudden recal from the baths of Ariciffe, which we 
 
 left in less than two hours after I had closed it. 
 
 The fathers of the presidency appeared, by their 
 
 countenances and manner, to dread the return of 
 
 my venerable friend to this place ; but no words 
 
 escaped them on the subject : a hasty leave was 
 
 all that time would admit of; ceremony of every 
 
 kind v/as dispensed with ; and, by the direction of 
 
 the Indian messenger, we reached the presidency 
 
 of Nombre de Dios in far less time than I could 
 
 have imagined possible. The community there 
 
 were in the utmost consternation : we found them 
 
 at some distance from the college, waiting our 
 
 arrival. The tartane was in readiness, and every 
 
 thing in it provided to hasten us on. Instead of
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 267 
 
 going to church, we entered the boat ; prayers 
 were offered up on the shore for our safety, and 
 we instantly set sail. Father Hernandez made not 
 the smallest remark to me until we reached the 
 island on the lake, at which we had stopped to 
 dine on our way forwards ; when the same Indians 
 came to the shore, and assisted us to land. When 
 we had quitted the tartane, the father took me by 
 the arm, and leading me apart from our company, 
 paused, and looked in my face for some moments 
 \vi:h an expression I never shall forget: he then 
 seized my hand, and fervently pressing ir, addressed 
 me in Latin to nearly the following effect : ' k My 
 valued friend, the evil I have so long dreaded is 
 now, I am certain, fast approaching. When we 
 reach Rioja Minor I fear we shall find it not the 
 seat of peace, but anarchy and rebellion. There 
 are many unquiet spirits in the presidency, which 
 our worthy superior thought he had, by his mild- 
 ness and humanity, composed to rest, and whom 
 he vainly thought I was calculated to keep quiet j 
 but I had not been there above a week before I 
 saw he had been deceived, and that it would be 
 impossible for my weak endeavours to re-establish 
 that order and unanimity which subsisted uninter- 
 rupted until within these last three years. The 
 brother who was superseded by the bishop was 
 better adapted to lead an army into the held than
 
 56S LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 to take charge or the flock of Christ. He pro- 
 pagated tenets which all those not -very firmly 
 grounded in their faith readily embraced. These 
 misguided people began in a little time to shew, in 
 all their words and actions, that they regarded the 
 innovations made by the crown as infringements 
 of their charter ; for as such they consider the 
 convention made between the state of Spain and 
 the first founders of the presidencies : and, headed 
 by their refractory pastor, they refused to comply 
 with the orders received from the bishop of Buenos 
 Ayres^ — the principal of which was, that the military 
 sent thither should be considered as a part of the 
 native community, and that the whole should be 
 subject ,to the commandant and major-genera!. 
 They were in this disordered state when father 
 Pablo was sent to them. His arrival, the removal 
 of the discontented brothers and their colleagues 
 in office, produced a temporary calm, which has 
 proved, as I feared, fallacious. Men with the 
 temperaments of the Indians are not easily at- 
 tached ; they may respect my years, but they will 
 not, when bent on other measures, listen to my 
 remonstrances. It requires a man of youth, energy, 
 and vigour, to deal with such turbulent spirits. 
 Father Michael, my companion, is far better cal- 
 culated for this office than myself; to him, there- 
 fore, I shall, as far as may be prudent, delegate the
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 26<* 
 
 authority placed in my hands. I wish I could re- 
 sign it altogether ; but that I dare not : however," 
 added the rather, " in whatever State I may find 
 affairs, I have one most earnest request to make to 
 you — which is, that you will abide by me until it 
 shall please the Almighty to call me hence ; an 
 event which, I am sure, is not far distant. Be 
 cool and collected in every situation into which 
 you may possibly be thrown, and remember it is 
 my advice and wish that you do not think of 
 staying at our presidency after I am no more. 1 
 have already written to father Pablo on the subject i 
 he has power and influence to serve you ; follow 
 him to Chile. Paraguay will not afford you that 
 amusement you may expect in its neighbouring 
 province ; but if you have a wish to know more 
 particulars respecting it, I have desired my ve* 
 nerable friend father Estevan, at St. Dominic's con^ 
 vent, to furnish you with all my observations made 
 during the many years of my youth I spent as a 
 missionary among various nations. The state of 
 affairs, both generally and individually, has since 
 been greatly altered : but the country is still the 
 same, as are the manners of the natives ; and with 
 respect to these two points my papers may afford 
 you some useful information, and you will find in 
 them many circumstances related, and a few in- 
 structions added, which may serve to direct your 
 
 V
 
 HO LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 conduct should it be your lot to continue under 
 the Spanish government ; but remember it is my 
 earnest wish that you travel no furtber north. 
 Time presses, or I would talk more with you upon 
 this subject ; for when we reach Rioja Minor I 
 fear we shall have but little time for friendly com- 
 munication. My papers are all at St. Dominic j 
 doubt not but when you reach there they will be 
 given to you for your perusal : you may retain 
 them until you leave America ; in that case return 
 them to father Pablo, if living -, if not, to the con- 
 vent library." Father Hernandez was about to 
 say something more, when the Indian messenger 
 approached us, and said we must take advantage 
 of the strong breeze which then blew, as it might 
 probably go lay before we could reach the main 
 land if we did not depart immediately. We had 
 no reason to dispute what he said ; therefore 
 hastened to the boat, took a slight refreshment of 
 biscuit and fruit, and after giving the island Indians 
 a trifling present for having expedited the mattress 
 I ordered on my journey forward — and which I 
 found had been sent to the presidency five days 
 before — we pushed from shore, and continued to 
 run very briskly before the wind for above four 
 hours, when the well-known point of land ap- 
 peared in view : in about an hour more we doubled 
 it, and could distinguish the royal flag flying o»
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. <Z~l 
 
 the steeple of the church, and a smaller one at 
 every signal-post. This was, indeed, a conviction 
 that peace no longer reigned in the presidency'; 
 and as we approached nearer to the shore wii 
 perceived a large party of the military drawn up 
 on the beach, the convent surrounded by a strong 
 guard, and not one of the town Indians to be seen. 
 Father Hernandez sickened at the sight, and, 
 throwing himself back on the seat of the boat, 
 uttered a pious ejaculation in Latin, and burst into 
 a passion of tears : he could not speak, but his 
 looks betrayed the bitterness of Christian sorrow*. 
 The soldiers assisted us to land, and the teniente 
 mayor, or first lieutenant, received us, instead of 
 the commandant. Father Hernandez was obliged 
 to be borne in the arms of the attendants to the 
 monastery, where, as soon as he was placed in a 
 chair, he fainted away. Two of the brothers we 
 had left here, and three of the Indians belonging 
 to the church, were all that came to our assistance. 
 When my venerable friend was a little recovered 
 he enquired for fathers Michael and Joseph, and 
 was answered that they were in confinement, by 
 order of the commandant ; but if he wished to see 
 them they should immediately be sent for. Having 
 replied in the affirmative, one of the Indians quitted 
 the apartment, and in about a quarter of an hour 
 returned with the prisoners, guarded by a teniente
 
 £72 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 and twelve men. I was obliged to interrogate 
 them, for farmer Hernandez was incapable; and 
 the result of my questions was, thai three days after 
 we had left the presidency a large band of roving 
 Indians was discovered hovering about the town : 
 the military were immediately apprised of it, and 
 prepared to drive them back, which they effected 5 
 but the next day, towards evening, they appeared 
 again, though in fewer numbers ; when fathers 
 Michael and Joseph proposed to the commandant 
 to go out and address them, as they both under- 
 stood the language of the natives. To this 
 Zulucta readily consented, and ordered them to 
 endeavour to bring over to the presidency as many 
 of the Indians as they possibly could. They ac- 
 cordingly went, and staid with the strangers the 
 whole of that day and the next ; when they re- 
 turned at night, bringing with them seven caciques, 
 who, they said, had a desire to be baptized, and 
 then return to their tribes and persuade them all 
 to embrace the Christian religion. In consequence 
 of this declaration on the part of the fathers, these 
 seven men were baptized, in the presence of the 
 commandant, major-general, and others. A house 
 was given them to inhabit, provisions sent from 
 the stores for their subsistence, and every attention 
 paid to render their situation agreeable. For about 
 a week they seemed greatly amused with all they
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 2 73 
 
 saw and heard, especially the church ceremonies 
 and music ; but on the ninth morning they ex- 
 pressed a wish to return to their people. Father 
 Michael and several of the town Indians accom- 
 panied them on their way ; and when they parted, 
 the chiefs expressed great thankfulness for the 
 blessings they said they had received, and promised 
 to visit them again soon. On the evening of the 
 same day one of the stranger Indians came to the 
 town, and desired to be shewn to the commandant - , 
 whom he wished to speak with in private. His 
 request was at first refused, but on his urging it 
 very strongly, saying he had something of the 
 first importance to communicate, he was admitted ; 
 when he informed don Policarpo that it was the 
 intention of his fellows who still remained in the 
 vicinity, headed by the seven caciques who had 
 been baptized, to join a large body of the town 
 Indians, who had every thing prepared for a ge- 
 neral insurrection, fall upon the military as they 
 went in annual procession for the dead, and de- 
 stroy the whole, seize upon the stores, take the 
 presidency entirely to themselves, and put to death 
 every one that would not aid their measures. 
 
 To this scheme fathers Michael and Joseph had 
 given their consent, it being the wish of the greater 
 part of the townspeople to render themselves in- 
 dependent of the Spanish government, as they did
 
 274 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY 
 
 not like to have so many of their numbers drafted 
 away, and sent they knew not whither ; neither did 
 they choose to continue the payment of the annual 
 tribute, as for a considerable time past they had 
 more than supported themselves, and no longer 
 wanted any assistance from the crown. This 
 long detail the Indian confirmed by some kind of 
 token, which Policarpo has thought proper to keep 
 secret : but, in consequence of his information, the 
 two fathers were immediately put under arrest, 
 and a messenger dispatched to recal father Her- 
 nandez ; guards were placed by the commandant 
 round the town, so that the whole was nearly sur- 
 rounded with military ; several suspected persons 
 were taken up and lodged in prison, and all that 
 held any public situation were narrowly watched ; 
 all business was suspended, and but few of the 
 inhabitants would venture out of their houses. 
 
 Father Hernandez listened to the whole of this 
 account with the greatest calmness ; and when it 
 was concluded, turning to the fathers, he conjured 
 them, by the death of their blessed Redeemer, to 
 answer whether the accusation against them was, 
 or was not, founded on facts. They seemed con- 
 founded and alarmed ; but before they could make 
 any reply, the commandant was announced. He 
 entered the hall with a stern and haughty air, and 
 advanced with anger in his countenance towards
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY, 2?5 
 
 «ur good superior, who endeavoured to rise to 
 receive him, but fell back again upon his chair. 
 Zulucta, without noticing the good man's illness, 
 placed himself upon a seat beside him, and burst 
 into a string of invectives against the conduct of 
 the suspected fathers, whom, he said, it was his 
 intention to send immediately under a strong 
 guard to Buenos Ayres, there to answer to the 
 bishop for their proceedings, the profligacy of 
 which he was but too well assured of. Father 
 Hernandez endeavoured all he could to mollify the 
 acrimony of the commandant, and to doubt the 
 truth of the brothers being involved in the con- 
 spiracy ; and represented the necessity there was of 
 investigating the whole affair upon the spot, before 
 the bishop and major*general at Buenos Ayres 
 were troubled with it. But the more this good 
 man said to extenuate matters* the more irritated 
 the commandant became ; and, in defiance of the 
 solicitations and remonstrances of our superior, the 
 two fathers were remanded back to their confine- 
 ment, and orders given for the balsa to be pre- 
 pared to convey them to Buenos Ayres. Neither 
 were they permitted to say a word in their de- 
 fence, but were reconducted to the town prison 
 by the guard which accompanied them to the 
 convent. The commandant then rose to leave the 
 hall, and addressing father Hernandez in some- 
 
 t 2
 
 276 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 what a gentler tone, said — ' I attach no blame to 
 you, father, in this affair, therefore consider yourself 
 in the same light as on your arrival at the pre- 
 sidency ; but let the few religious that remain, and 
 are attached to your station, remember that they 
 are not, as in former times, to interfere in any 
 thing that relates to civil or military affairs ; let 
 them look :o their duties in ecclesiastical matters 
 only, or the military shall take the sacred functions 
 into their own hands, till orders shall be received 
 to the contrary.' Having said this, he slightly 
 bowed, and departed. 
 
 Our venerable friend and father sat for some 
 moments in his chair, motionless and silent ; and, as 
 I gazed upon him, I doubted whether the unfeeling 
 Policarpo had not put the fmal stroke to all his 
 miseries : at length, the deep-drawn sigh and tear 
 of mental anguish announced him still a sufferer. 
 I held him in my arms, and entreated him to take 
 a cordial to raise his over-oppressed spirits. When 
 his agitation had a little subsided, he complied with 
 my request ; but its effects were only momentary : 
 he was obliged to be conveyed to bed, when a 
 fever came rapidly on, and, the weather being 
 excessively hot, before three the next morning he 
 was delirious. I never left him for a moment : he 
 remained for three days insensible, though perfectly 
 passive j and I tried, with the assistance of one of
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 277 
 
 the brothers who acted as town physician, every 
 remedy that my imagination could suggest to 
 alleviate his disorder, but in vain : the skill of 
 mortals was of no avail, for the angel of death 
 was waiting to conduct his spotless soul to regions 
 of eternal happiness. About nine in the morning 
 of the fourth day he dropped into a slumber, from 
 which he awaked apparently relieved. He knew 
 me, and extending his feeble hands to clasp mine, 
 tried to articulate some sentences, but nature was 
 too much exhausted. I knelt beside him, but could 
 only distinguish the words — c Buenos Ayres — go 
 —and the holy Virgin — ' His voice failed him, 
 and he made a sign to have the extreme unction 
 administered. I gave him to understand that he 
 had already received it : a faint smile beamed 
 upon his countenance. — My friend, that smile was 
 more than mortal ; and never, never while I live, 
 will it be forgot by me. — He then pressed my 
 hand to his lips ; and, with a feeble sigh, his 
 righteous spirit took its flight for ever. 
 
 To describe to you what I felt at that painful 
 moment would be impossible : that God who 
 knows the secret feelings of every human heart, 
 can witness how unfeigned my sorrow was. 
 
 The death of this excellent man was immediately 
 notified to the commandant : the news, it seems, 
 affected him j and, for once, I should hope his
 
 278 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 heart smote him for the unfeeling manner in which 
 he had treated the aged and pious Hernandez. 
 
 1 followed the remains of my second father to 
 the grave, to which it was consigned with all the 
 respect his piety and virtues demanded. When the 
 earth closed him from my sight for ever, I felt as 
 though my heart was rent in twain, and thought 
 the better half of me was buried : I wept like a 
 child. And even now I at times start from my chair, 
 and run to the apartment where I was used to sit 
 and read to him ; and there, in a kind of stupor, 
 look around in hopes to see his placid smile, or 
 hear the sound of his revered voice. Your feeling 
 heart, my friend, can pardon mine this weakness. 
 
 Adieu !
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY, 2/9 
 
 LETTER XXXIL 
 
 Iiijja Minor, March, 1/98. 
 MY DEAR FRIEND, 
 
 I must now, as well as I am able, 
 
 give you a short account of the scenes I have been 
 
 engaged in since the death of my lamented friend, 
 
 who, I bless God, did not live to be a partaker in 
 
 them. I think I wrote you, that father Michael 
 
 and father Joseph were placed in confinement, until 
 
 the balsa should be ready to convey them to 
 
 Buenos Ayres. I was so much taken up with the 
 
 illness and death of our good pastor, that I never 
 
 even bestowed a thought upon these men until the 
 
 morning after the funeral, when I sent to the 
 
 commandant to request that I might be permitted 
 
 to return with the prisoners to the convent of St. 
 
 Dominic, if they were not already sent off; for 
 
 not a single person had opened his lips to me on 
 
 that or any other subject, save the death of the 
 
 superior, whom every one lamented. The answer 
 
 I received from don Policarpo was, ' That he 
 
 should consider of my request ; and in the mean 
 
 time desired I would keep myself quiet with the
 
 280 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 other two brothers in the monastery,' round which 
 I found the guard was still stationed. This answer 
 of the commandant's somewhat surprised me ; and 
 about the middle of the day after that on which 
 it was sent to me, I was sitting in the apartment 
 formerly occupied by the venerable Hernandez, 
 reflecting on my situation, and wondering for what 
 new vicissitudes I was reserved, when I was roused 
 from my reverie by the loud confused din of an 
 approaching multitude. Presently a signal gun was 
 fired, the drums beat to arms, and the piercing 
 war-shout of the Indians burst upon my ears. I 
 sprung in terror from my seat, and ran to the 
 window, but it only commanded a view of the 
 convent garden. I was therefore hastily returning 
 to the door when it flew open, and the friendly 
 Indian who made my secret box for me rushed 
 into the room, followed by about twenty of the 
 town Indians. ' Come with me, father Mathias,' 
 said he-^-for that is my religious title — * for with 
 us you will be safe.' ' What is the matter ?' cried 
 I ; c what does all this mean ?' ' Father Michael 
 and father Joseph,' returned he, ' have been rescued 
 from the balsas by some tribes of the wild Charuas : 
 they have joined the town Indians, who have 
 risen in a body and are now surrounding every 
 Spaniard's house ; but I will preserve you.* Saying 
 this, he threw part of a tiger's skin across my
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 281 
 
 shoulders, and pulled me after him out of the 
 monastery, and towards the strand. All we past 
 was tumult, horror, and confusion ; the military- 
 were flying in all directions, pursued by the Charuas 
 armed with long barbed darts, which they sent 
 through the air with amazing celerity. The 
 townsmen had taken possession of the signal post, 
 storehouse, and arsenal, and being at the hour of 
 siesta, all the Spaniards had been taken unprepared. 
 This was the revolt which had been so long 
 dreaded, and which the commandant too securely 
 thought he had effectually circumvented through 
 the intelligence received from the Indian. But this 
 pretended confession, it now appears, was only a 
 deep-laid scheme to deceive the commandant ; die 
 conspirators had foreseen the consequences, and 
 provided accordingly. I perceived, as I passed 
 along from the monastery to the water, that all 
 who had not the whole or part of a tiger's skin 
 upon their shoulders were immediately sacrificed 
 either by the town Indians, who wore this symbol, 
 ©r by the Charuas, who had theirs tied about their 
 waists as their common, and indeed only, covering. 
 When I reached the strand, the first objects I 
 beheld were the dead bodies of the commandant 
 and major-general, pierced in every part wkh darts 
 and arrows. I have since learnt they dragged the 
 former from his bed, and massacred him j his wife 
 
 s
 
 £82 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 and family were killed in much the same manner % 
 and so sudden and unexpected was the blow, that 
 not a single destined victim had escaped. My 
 friendly Indian I found had provided a piece of 
 tiger's skin for me even before I returned with 
 father Hernandez j but so very secret were the 
 conspirators that, although he reposed the greatest 
 confidence in me, he would not venture to give 
 me the token, or drop any hint concerning it, until 
 he saw his friends had entered the town, and 
 secured the principal characters, he then hastened 
 to the convent to protect me. When the Indians 
 pointed out to me the mangled body of the un- 
 fortunate Zulucta, the horror in my cpuntenance 
 became, I am certain, too visible not to be noticed 
 by my conductor, who turned to his companions, 
 and said he would take me to his friends at the 
 town-house. Thither I was immediately hurried, 
 amidst the shrieks of the vanquished, and the cries 
 of the women and children, who vainly endea- 
 voured to save from the uplifted weapon, a father, 
 a husband, or a brother. The unsubdued Indians 
 set no limits to their fury, but wreaked their 
 vengeance indiscriminately, without sparing either 
 age or sex. The tumult of my mind can be better 
 imagined than described as I passed over the 
 bleeding bodies of those who, in a moment of fatal 
 security, had fallen by the hands of these merciless
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 283 
 
 beings. When we came to the public hall, I found 
 a vast number of the town Indians keeping guard 
 over some of the miliary whom they had taken 
 prisoners without wounding them, but how they 
 were to be disposed of I could not learn. When 
 I entered, my friendly Indian introduced me to a 
 relation of his, who held the post of teniente, 
 saying to him — ' This is my friend, and no 
 Spaniard, he must be protected.' He then handed 
 me within a rail of bamboo that parted the room, 
 and hastily quitted the place. The other imme- 
 diately presented me some wine and biscuit — meat 
 and drink are the first offering of Indian friendship 
 —and 1 was constrained to partake of them, lest by 
 a refusal i should offend ; but never did a morsel 
 pass my lips with so much repugnance, not even 
 my commons of mutton while at college. The 
 tumult without now appeared to increase, but not 
 a single gun was fired : I therefore concluded that 
 all the mischief was done by darts and arrows. At 
 length the sounds began to die away, and as night 
 approached, silence came with it. The hall, how- 
 ever, where I still remained was soon filled wi:h 
 the town Indians and the chiefs of the wild tribe, 
 to all of whom 1 was presented. They looked at 
 me with a mixture of surprise and admiration ; 
 this was owing to the colour of my skin ; they had 
 never seen any man so white before. God knows,
 
 2S4 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 I regarded them in a much less favourable light 
 than they appeared to consider me. Most of them 
 were covered with blood and dirt j they were 
 strong muscular men, with a savage ferocity of 
 countenance thar made me shudder, though I am 
 not apt to be frightened at any one : but a scene 
 like this was entirely new to me, and I trust I 
 shall never in my life witness such another. The 
 whole of the night was spent by the Indians in 
 consultation ; but as they conversed in the Charuan 
 language, which I was entirely unacquainted with, 
 I cannot pretend to say what was the result. 
 
 In the morning father Michael and father Joseph 
 entered, to whom the Indians paid great respect ; 
 they came to me, enquired after my health, and 
 said they hoped I was not alarmed at what had 
 happened. I hardly know what answer I made 
 them ; but they replied I was perfectly right in 
 remaining passive, and I might then return to the 
 convent in safety with them, for order was every- 
 where restored. I thanked them, and enquired 
 whether it was their intention to remain here, or 
 return to Buenos Ayres. They replied, to remain, 
 as they were among friends whom they could trust 
 as they needed no superiors ; and if I chose to 
 continue at the convent, I should find no difference 
 between my past and future situation, unless that 
 I should enjoy unlimited liberty, provided I would
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 285 
 
 take an oath to abide by the rules they were about 
 to adopt for the government of the community. I 
 again thanked them for their friendly offers, but 
 said if they would permit me to return to Buenos 
 Ayres I should esteem myself most sensibly obliged 
 to them, as it had been the wish of the good father 
 Hernandez that I should do so, with a view of 
 gaining permission to accompany father Pablo to 
 Chile. They paused on what I said, and at last 
 observed, that, as they knew I was an English 
 prisoner, they thought I could not do better than 
 stay with them ; however they would consider of 
 my proposal, and let me know the result. I 
 was then conducted back to the monastery. As 
 I passed I found the bodies of the slain had been 
 removed ; but how they had been disposed of 
 nobody would tell me, nor could I get any one 
 for several days to hold any conversation with me : 
 no forms of religion were observed, nor was I 
 once summoned to attend mass. From some dis- 
 course, however, which passed between those who 
 came in and out at my meals, I gathered that near 
 twelve hundred of the military and town Indians 
 had fallen in the conflict. This loss was to be 
 supplied by the Charuas, who meant to enroll 
 themselves among the liberated townsmen, as they 
 were termed. On the sixth day in the evening, 
 father Michael came to me, and apologised for not
 
 285 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY* 
 
 seeing me before, saying, that the many material 
 things he had had to arrange alone prevented him. 
 He then entered into a long dissertation on the 
 necessity the town Indians had been under of 
 adopting the decisive measures they had pursued, 
 to obtain that liberty the state of Spain had so 
 long deprived them of, and which it was their 
 firm determination to secure against whatever steps 
 the crown might have recourse to, to prevent 
 them ; for although they respected the laws, they 
 were not disposed to abide by any but those they 
 themselves should frame : their oppressors had 
 reigned long enough, and they were resolved to 
 enjoy their native freedom, or perish in the at- 
 tempt. I endeavoured to reason with him on his 
 mistaken conduct, and shew how wrong it was 
 for a servant of God to take up the sword, and 
 by his arguments and example to lead a large body 
 of men into error : but I soon found he had the 
 better side of the question ; his arguments were 
 founded on facts so evident, that 1 was at last 
 obliged to acquiesce in all he said. Pie then 
 urgently pressed me to become a member of the 
 community, offering to pledge his life that I should 
 be safe in every change that might take place ; and 
 if I desired it at a future period, he would take 
 care to have me safely conveyed to England. But 
 I steadily refused his offers 3 and alleged the re-
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. S3? 
 
 quest of father Hernandez as the most cogent 
 reason for my conduct, adding, that it was the 
 first wish of my heart to visit Chile. He paid a 
 deference to the opinion of his late excellent 
 superior ; but said he doubted much if, when I 
 had passed the Cordillera, I should find the presi- 
 dencies much more composed than the one I was 
 about to leave : however, since I was determined 
 to quit them, he would do all in his power to 
 accommodate me ; the balsas which annually 
 convey thp articles of barter from the settlement 
 to the capital were then preparing, and I should 
 depart in one of them. He said he had taken 
 care that no tell-tales should be trusted on board 5 
 and he should exact this much of me, that I would 
 remain concealed in the balsa upon its arrival at 
 the harbour de las Conchas on the Plata until the 
 Indians had finished their business ; when, as soon 
 as they had taken on board the lading they were 
 to bring back to the presidency, they should sail 
 about a league or two up the river on their return, 
 when I should be put on shore, and from thence I 
 must get to Buenos Ayres in the best manner I 
 could. c This,' added father Michael, s is all I can 
 do for you ; when you reach the city you may 
 relate as much as you think proper of what has 
 been acted here, for before any force can come 
 against us we shall be prepared to receive them.'
 
 283 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 I asked him if he had no fears of an attack from 
 any of the neighbouring presidencies. He said 
 none, for they were provided against all events. 
 Our discourse lasted a long while, and we parted 
 very sincere friends for aught I know to the con- 
 trary ; he had convinced me of the rectitude of his 
 conduct, and promised to inform me of every par- 
 ticular circumstance that might occur by means of 
 an Indian friend he had at Buenos Ayres, for as 
 to a friend among his own countrymen, he never 
 entertained an idea of finding any thing of the kind. 
 Thus we parted, and I went to prepare for my 
 departure, and write this much to you. I go from 
 hence early to-morrow ; my next, 1 hope, will be 
 dated from my old habitation, the convent of St. 
 Dominic. Adieu !
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 389 
 
 LETTER XXXIII. 
 
 Convent of St. Dominic, 
 Buenos Ayres, May, 1799. 
 
 MY DEAR FRIEND, 
 
 Thank Heaven, I am once more 
 safely lodged in this mansion of peace, and, truth 
 compels me to confess, heartily tired of my ad- 
 ventures in the wilds of Paraguay. God of my 
 fathers, how weak and erring is the mind of man ! 
 The fairest object on which his every hope and 
 wish was centred when viewed in the perspective 
 only, and hard to be obtained, if thy indulgent 
 hand yield it to his grasp how lktle does he feel 
 the folly of anticipation ! Every promised pleasure 
 fades in the moment of possession, and with 
 enjoyment brings dissatisfaction and disgust. 
 
 Fashion, O thou almighty Ruler of the universe'! 
 my future fortunes as best shall please thy heavenly 
 wisdom. Henceforth, my friend, I form no more 
 vain wishes : experience has taught me resignation ; 
 and to the latest hour of my life, however long I 
 labour through this world of disappointment and 
 deception, still shall this conviction be my guide — 
 
 u
 
 290 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 That what Omnipotence decrees, man must acknow* 
 ledge right. 
 
 My voyage from Rioja Minor was far more 
 tedious than when I travelled with the good father 
 Hernandez, whose death is here universally la- 
 mented. As we slowly passed the ruined presidency 
 at Tiger creek, I could not restrain the tear of 
 affectionate regret, which flowed from the remem- 
 brance that it was there that venerable man re- 
 ceived the wound which ultimately proved the final 
 end of all his sorrows. Every object that I beheld 
 and recollected served but to recall him more 
 forcibly to my mind; and the uninteresting con- 
 versation of my companions was by no means cal- 
 culated to dispel such melancholy thoughts. We 
 met with no adventures to enliven our passage; 
 the Indians hunted for their suppers unmolested ; 
 nor did any troop of friendly natives appear upon 
 the banks of the river to amuse us with their 
 antics — all around seemed to mcurn in silence 
 wiui me for the friend and father I had lost. 
 
 When we reached the harbour de las Conchas,, 
 I was obliged, in compliance with the orders of 
 father Michael, to keep close concealed in the 
 apartment of the balsa until the Indians- had com- 
 pleted their business of barter with the agents, 
 who came for that purpose from Buenos Ayres-. 
 (n five days all was concluded, and on the sixth
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 291 
 
 they returned up the river. When they had rowed 
 about two leagues from the harbour, they stopped 
 to put me on shore : my baggage was all contained 
 in a little leathern caravan; and, with many ex- 
 pressions of esteem and regret on their parts, they 
 Jeft me. Then, with my treasure on my back, I 
 patiently plodded on foot my way back to Rio las 
 Conchas ; where I fortunately met with a Jew 
 merchant, who was one of those that had trafficked 
 with my departed friends : he was going back in a 
 cart laden with purchases to Buenos Ayres, and 
 readily ngreed to give me a lift. Qn our way he 
 was very inquisitive as to my business, and where 
 I had been ; but I pretty well evaded his questions : 
 and on the following evening, about seven o'clock, 
 he set me down at the gate of St. Dominic's con- 
 vent. My appearance, and the accounts I brought 
 with me, have thrown not only the community, but 
 the government, into consternation : all is bustle 
 and hurry to get troops sent off to bring back the 
 insurgents to their duty, though their place of desti- 
 nation is concealed from the public. How they will 
 succeed, God only knows : I cannot say that my 
 good wishes go with them ; I have seen too much 
 of the other side of the picture. Silence is enjoined 
 me under the severest penalty ; and not even don 
 Manuel must I make acquainted with what has 
 passed. I have been upon this business twice to
 
 29*2 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 
 
 the governor, and three times to the bishop, who 
 has been so kind as to give me his promise that I 
 shall be sent to father Pablo as soon as they receive 
 intelligence of his arrival at St. Iago. I have 
 experienced a very cordial welcome from all my 
 old friends in this city, who say they are very 
 happy to see me returned, and I really believe 
 would be much more so could I be prevailed on 
 to disclose my adventures. 
 
 All my letters, I find, have been sent to you, 
 and by a means which leads me to hope they will 
 reach you in safety. I found in don Manuel's 
 hands a remittance from New York, which came 
 very opportunely. I have made my accustomed 
 offering to these holy fathers, and, in the hope of 
 being sent to Chili, have been rather more liberal 
 than usual. The bishop informed me that he had 
 received a letter from father Hernandez — written 
 as he was about to depart for the baths of Ariciffe 
 — respecting me. His reverence was pleased to 
 say he honoured and esteemed that worthy man, 
 and for his sake should make a point of obliging 
 me. The present superior of this convent, too, 
 had likewise been written to by my lamented friend ; 
 and, according to his request, I have been favoured 
 with all his papers. These will occupy all my 
 leisure hours; and, as there is no time fixed for 
 my returning them until I leave America, I shall
 
 LETTERS FROM PARAGUAY. 293 
 
 transcribe many of them for your perusal, and out 
 of the whole I hope to be able to form a concise 
 history of the many missions he was engaged in 
 for near twenty-five years. As this will engross 
 most of my time while I am waiting for news 
 from St. Iago, you will not perhaps receive another 
 letter from me while in this city. Trouble not 
 yourself about the probable consequences of my 
 wanderings : I have no fears, 
 
 " For God is ever present, ever felt- 
 In the wide waste, as in the city, full." 
 
 His almighty hand, I trust, will guide, succour, 
 and preserve, your sincere friend, in every region 
 and in e ,r ery climate. 
 
 THE END.
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIBRARY 
 
 Los Angeles 
 
 This book is DUE on the last date stamned b/»l 
 
 
 
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