Spanish America, Vol. II (of 2)

The wild animals of Paraguay are chiefly found in the mountain regions bordering on the Great River, and on Brazil, where the forests are of impenetrable thickness. The jaguar, the puma or the cougar, and the black bear, are large and very fierce, destroying the cattle whenever they are exposed to their ravages. The ant-bear is a common animal, feeding principally on ants, which it catches, by placing its long tongue on their nests; and the tapir, the water-pig, or capibara, the river-cavies, and various other amphibious animals, frequent its numerous rivers. Mosquitos and other venomous insects are the great plagues of this fine country, and about twenty kinds of serpents, of which, the rattle-snake is the most common, and the boa constrictor the largest, frequent its woods and plains.

In Paraguay, the bird tribes are also very numerous, and possess the charms of song and beauty of plumage, in a degree equal, if not superior to those of any part of South America. Of these, nine different kinds of the humming-bird alone have been enumerated.

But the largest bird seen in the plains of Paraguay, is the great cassowary or American ostrich, remarkable for its immense size, fine plumage, and swift motion.

The fertility of Paraguay is proverbial, and though no mines are worked in it, it is one of the most opulent governments of Buenos Ayres, on account of its various vegetable productions, and the immense herds of horses, mules, cattle and sheep, which pasture on its extensive plains.

Of this government, the southern parts are those which are best known and most inhabited; the northern bordering on the Brazilian frontiers, and reaching to the great inundation of the Paraguay, have been little explored, and are tenanted only by the aborigines and wild animals.

The great features of this country are the numerous rivers, swamps, lakes, plains and woods, with which it abounds. Its largest and most noted rivers being the Paraguay, the Parana, the Porrudos, Mbotely, Tobati, Ipane Piray in the north parts, and in the south the Cañabe and Tibiquari, the latter of which, divides the government from that of Buenos Ayres.

Commerce.– The trade of Paraguay consists in the export of its tea, tobacco, sugar, cotton, hides, tallow, wax, honey, cattle, horses, mules, wool, leather, &c. It is chiefly carried on by the river Paraguay; the journey to Buenos Ayres by land, being seldom performed excepting by couriers, who are then obliged to wade and swim over many rivers, and are exposed to the attacks of the wandering Indians, even the navigation of the Great River not being free from them; the Payaguas tribe often collecting sixty or seventy canoes, with five or six men in each, armed with long lances and clubs, who attack any vessel unprovided with the means of making resistance.

Peace has been made with these people, but they sometimes commit depredations, and the whole government is surrounded by nations equally inveterate and ferocious; on the west are the Tobas and Moscobies, on the south the Abipones, on the north the Guaycurus or Mbayas, and the Panaguas; but the east is free from any immediate neighbours of this description, though on the distant mountains in this quarter called Yerva, are the Monteses, who give great trouble to the people employed to collect the tea, which grows spontaneously in their vicinity. The Monteses also greatly annoy the Portuguese, who are constantly at variance with them. This tribe pushed its way lately across Cuyaba, and part of Matto Grosso, in Brazil, to make an incursion into the head settlements of Moxos, in order to open a path to plunder the country of Santa Cruz de la Sierra and La Paz.

These unsubdued Indians frequently attack the settlements of Paraguay, which has obliged the inhabitants to form a militia in order to repel their aggressions, which are always sudden, and at times when they are least expected. The forts of Paraguay are nineteen in number, and are generally near the river, which is also furnished with guard boats.

The number of Indian villages of the missions is very considerable; they are governed by magistrates, chosen from among themselves, and generally consist of stone or mud houses covered with tiles, having a large square in which is the priest's house, and a good church, the number of inhabitants in each being seldom less than 600, and often exceeding 2000, and the total population of Paraguay is estimated at 97,480 Indians and Spaniards or whites, of which the latter do not form much more than a twentieth part.

The only towns of importance are the capital, Asuncion, Villarica, Curuguaty, Concepcion and Neembucu.

Asuncion, or Nuestra Senora de la Asuncion, the capital, is situated on an angle made by the eastern bank of the river Paraguay, eighteen miles above the first mouth of the Pilcomayo, and forty-eight above that of the second, in 59° 35' west longitude, and 24° 47' south latitude; it was originally a small fort, built in 1538, which soon became a town, and was erected into a bishopric in 1547. Its population consists of 500 Spanish families, and several thousand Indians and mestizoes.

The adjacent country is rich and fertile, and the climate temperate; the trees around it are always in bloom, foliage, or fruit, and the rich pastures in its neighbourhood nourish abundance of cattle. It exports hides, sugar, tobacco and Paraguay tea; but the boats which trade to this place from the city of Buenos Ayres, take two or three months to ascend the river La Plata, though the only difficulty in navigating it is from the force of the descending current, as the winds generally blowing from the south are favourable for the passage.

Villarica is 100 miles north-east of Asuncion, in 25° 48' south latitude, and 56° 31' west longitude, and was founded in 1576, and contains 3000 inhabitants.

Concepcion, in 23° 23' south latitude, and 57° 16' west longitude, contains 1550 inhabitants, and was built in 1773.

Curuguaty, in 24° 28' south latitude, and 56° 54' west longitude, contains 2250 inhabitants, and was founded in 1715.

Neembucu was built in 1779, in 26° 52' south latitude, and 58° 11' west longitude, and is peopled by 1730 souls.

GOVERNMENT OF TUCUMAN

The third government of Buenos Ayres is that of Tucuman, which is bounded on the north-east by Chichas and Lipes in Charcas, north-west and west by Atacama, west and south-west by Cuyo, or Cujo, south-east by the Pampas or territories inhabited by the Aucaes, Huarcas, or Pampas, Pihuenches, Puelches, Uncos and other unconquered tribes which wander over the plains and mountains adjacent to Chili. On the south-east, it has the jurisdiction of Santa Fé in Buenos Ayres, and on the east it has the uncultivated Llanos de Manso and the country of Chacos or Chaco Gualamba.

Its extent is from 22° to 33° 10' south latitude, its length 370 leagues, and its breadth 190 leagues from east to west.

Tucuman was united to the empire of Peru, in the reign of Vira Cocha, the eighth Inca, by the desire of the inhabitants, who probably intimidated by the conquest of the adjacent country of Charcas, sent messengers to beg to be admitted under the Peruvian government.

The Spaniards conquered this country after finishing the subjugation of Peru, and Diego de Roxas was the first discoverer in 1543, but it was not subdued till the president Pedro de la Gasca, sent Juan Nuñez de Prado in 1549, to establish settlements in Tucma or Tucuman. The inhabitants proving of a mild and peaceable nature, the expedition was unattended with any bloodshed, and four cities were immediately founded, namely, Santiago del Estero, San Miguel del Tucuman, Nuestra Senora de Talavera, and Cordova de la Nueva Andalucia; but these being found insufficient in so large a territory, Rioja, Santa, and Jujui or Xuxui were soon afterwards added; the Spaniards then divided it into three provinces, which they named after the nations they found in it, viz. Juries on the east, Diaguiras on the west, and Comichingones to the south; of which the Comichingones Indians dwelt in caves.

Climate, Features, &c.– The climate of Tucuman is hot in those parts farthest from the main chain and branches of the Andes, but in general the seasons are regular and the soil prolific and good; and as an instance of the healthiness of some parts of the country, it is stated that Louisa Truxo, a negress, lived to the amazing age of 175, and was living on the 5th of October, 1780.

It produces all sorts of grain, esculent plants and fruits in abundance, with plenty of excellent pasture for the innumerable herds of cattle, mules, and horses it contains.

The forests, which overspread a great part of it, contain good timber for building, and which forms one great article of its trade, supplying Santa Fé, Buenos Ayres and its own towns with boards which are conveyed in carts drawn by oxen. It also supplies the timber so necessary in the mining operations at Potosi, and so dear is a peculiar hard wood of which axles for the wheels and engines are made, that 2000 dollars are given for a large axle, owing to the great labour and expence of transport. Box trees, laurels, pines, dragon trees, walnuts, palms and cedars, are a few of the useful plants of Tucuman; and cotton, vines, tobacco, cacao, cochineal, indigo and flax are also cultivated, but none of these articles enter into its export trade, which chiefly consists of cattle and timber; honey and wax are also plentifully produced in the forests.

In Tucuman, the desert places and woods abound with all kinds of game and wild animals, as pumas, jaguars, ant bears, bears, wild hogs, elks, deer, hares, rabbits, armadillos, guanucos, vicunas, and many other kinds. The American ostrich or cassowary frequents the plains, and innumerable birds are seen in its woods, &c. The immense boa, called in this country ampolaba, destroys the smaller animals which come within its reach, and appears, when lying among the grass, like the huge trunk of an old tree; besides the boa, there are also rattle-snakes, vipers and other reptiles common to warm climates.

In the rivers and lakes are found abundance of fish, tapirs, cavies, water-pigs, and other amphibious animals.

The great chain of the Andes, which borders and sends forth branches into Tucuman, is so high in some parts as to reach the regions of eternal snow; in it there are several mines, which were formerly worked by the Spaniards, and there remain striking vestiges of the mining operations carried on by the Peruvians.

The rivers of Tucuman are numerous, the principal ones being the Vermejo, the Salado, the Xuxuy, the Dulce and the Quarto. The Vermejo, or Rio Grande, rises near Casabinda, and flows with a stately stream into the La Plata, near Corrientes. The Salado takes its waters from many streams which flow down from the mountains of Tucuman, in south latitude 24°, and chiefly from those of the valley of Calchaqui, where it receives a large stream which comes from the south-west; it then runs into the valley of Huachipas, which name it takes, but soon changes it for that of Charomores, from a place so called; it then flows westward, and is called Pasage; as being in the road from Buenos Ayres to La Plata, it must be here crossed by travellers with some risk, owing to the rapidity of its current; it then is called De Balbuena, from passing through the settlement of that name, and is joined near this place by the Rio Piedras, and passes down through the district of Santiago del Estoro, from whence it runs eighty leagues, under the name of Salado, and loses itself eighty-six miles north-north-west of the city of Santa Fé, in a lake named El Mar Chiquito. The Chacos, or Dulce, runs by the side of this river, after it passes through Salta, and at last falls into it. Its whole course is 200 leagues, and it formerly reached Santa Fé, where it formed a peninsula with an arm of the La Plata, but having opened itself new channels by its great swellings, it now loses itself in the lake, which is the case with almost all the rivers of this province, as they generally form large sheets of water, from which they rarely issue.

The numerous lakes in this province are generally shallow, and produced by the overflowing of the rivers: but they have the singular quality of being mostly saline, particularly those in the neighbourhood of the Rio Vermejo.

There is in these vast plains through which the rivers pass an immense tract of land, the soil of which is saturated with fossil salt. It extends to the south of Buenos Ayres, and is about 700 miles in length by 150 in breadth. It is said that in this extent, which reaches to the Rio Vermejo, there is not a river, well or lake whose waters are not brackish. All the rivers which flow through it to the La Plata are fresh until they cross this waste, after which they become salt till they enter the great stream. Even the Pilcomayo and Vermejo, although they have a free course, have always a salt taste when the waters are low. This substance appears in the greatest abundance between Santa Fé and Cordova, and the salt quality of the soil reaches to St. Jago del Estero, where the whole ground is covered with a white incrustation even to the foot of the Cordillera.

Natural saltpetre is also collected in this part of the country, after a shower the ground being whitened with it. Chaco contains many salt lakes, and to the south-west of Buenos Ayres, they are found at from 400 to 450 miles distance. To these, journeys are frequently made with carts, in order to collect the fine crystallized grains which cover their banks.

The cattle of this country cannot subsist without this substance; they devour with avidity the salted clay they find in the ditches; and when this happens to fail, as is sometimes the case in Paraguay, they perish in the course of a short time.

From Buenos Ayres, the great road to Potosi and Lima passes through Tucuman. In 1748, regular stages were built all the way, post-houses were erected, and relays of horses and carriages provided.

The method of travelling is in covered waggons drawn by oxen or horses, in which the traveller can recline, and must necessarily exercise much patience: but the silver and gold from the mines, as well as all kinds of merchandize, are conveyed along this road on the backs of mules. Its extent from Buenos Ayres to Potosi, is 1617, or according to some accounts, 1873 miles, 400 of which are over the elevated chains of the Andes, and are impassable for the waggons; from Potosi to Lima the route continues 1215 miles more, and passes over the highest ridges of the mountains, where the traveller undergoes all sorts of danger and privations, and is exposed to the utmost extremes of heat and cold.

About the distance of 500 miles from Buenos Ayres, the country is one plain, covered only with cattle, horses and mules, and stretching to the horizon; the land then begins insensibly to rise, and in 500 miles more, the road lies over the branches of the chain of Chiquitos, to the town of Salta, where the grand and snow-covered tops of the central Andes present themselves. The thick woods of Tucuman are then lost; but the swarms of locusts, crickets, ants, mosquitoes, toads, frogs, serpents, and alligators, also disappear, the traveller having now entered the temperate region; the road then winds amid abrupt and frightful precipices and chasms, and sometimes with so narrow a footway that the mules can scarcely move.

The path is here indented with deep holes, in which the animals place their legs, and thus prevent the danger of slipping over the precipices; at other places where the road inclines at a great slope, these sagacious creatures place themselves with their fore and hind feet close together, and inclining forward, as if about to lie down, they slide with inconceivable velocity to the bottom.

These mountains in some parts are traversed at the bottom of narrow and perpendicular clefts, where, if the animal falls, his rider must infallibly be crushed.

The passage of the many torrents and rivers is also another difficulty; across those which are shallow, very large and high horses are used, which are trained for the purpose; over the deeper ones, rope bridges are thrown; and it is only in summer that this journey can be attempted, as the swelling of the rivers and the winter torrents render them impracticable. Even in summer, when the snow in the higher regions suddenly melts, the torrents are swoln to such a degree, and dash with such force from the mountains, that many an unhappy traveller perishes.

Mules constitute the great commerce of Tucuman; these animals are bought in Cordova, Santa Fé and Buenos Ayres, and being fattened during the winter in the valleys and plains, are driven to Peru, where they sell for twelve or seventeen dollars each, 50,000 being thus sold every year, and with them are driven from 14 to 16,000 cows. It also sends soap wrapped in hides to Peru; but the importation of all articles is subject to a toll, on passing the Peruvian frontier, the produce of which is applied to the pay of the troops, the repair of the forts, and the defence of the frontier against the unsubdued Indians; for there is not a government in all America so liable to the incursions of these tribes as Tucuman, as they surround it on the east and south; for which reason its population has not much increased, the settlers being continually liable to lose their property from these irruptions. Of the forts built for the protection of the government, there are at present thirteen; and the amount of the population, including the converted Indians, is 100,000.

That singular order, the Jesuits, had some missions in Tucuman, and formed about 24,000 of the natives into a militia, to repel the invasions of the Chaco Indians, of whom the Mataguayos are the most warlike; but the Indians of Tucuman at present are under the care of the monks of St. Francis, and are employed in cultivating maize, cotton, tobacco, &c., for their use, and those of the towns.

The capital and chief towns of this government are Tucuman, Cordoba, Rioxa, Jujuy, Santiago, Londres, and Salta, with thirty-eight other towns and villages, and ten missions.

Its capital, Tucuman, or San Miguel del Tucuman, is in 26° 49' south latitude, and 64° 36' west longitude, 1170 geographical miles in a direct line from Lima, 462 south of La Plata, and 200 miles east of Copiapo, in Chili; it was founded by Diego de Villaroel, in 1685, but placed in another situation, its present site, by the then governor, in 1680, on account of an inundation which swept away the church and houses. It is in a pleasant plain, though much in want of water, having a mild climate, producing abundance of fruits and grain, and containing a cathedral, a convent of Franciscans, one of La Merced, and a college, which was built by the Jesuits.

It has a trade in mules, but its principal traffic consists in oxen for the travelling waggons, and in the waggons themselves; there are also some unworked silver mines in its neighbourhood.

San Miguel is the see of a bishop who resides at Cordova. The bishopric is that of Tucuman, and was erected in 1570. In the jurisdiction which surrounds it, is found a tree, named Quebracho, on account of its great hardness, which often breaks the axe, and becoming, when steeped in water, as solid as stone. The salt river, Sali is about a league south of this city.

Cordoba, or Cordova de la Nueva Andalucia, is in 31° 30' south latitude, 63° 15' west longitude, 156 leagues from Buenos Ayres, at the foot of the Andes, and was founded, in 1550, by Juan Nuñez de Prado. The river Primero, so called because it is the first of five, is in its vicinity, and a hill of some height adjoins it, so that, although in the plain, the water easily passes off.

This city approaches a square form, with many good houses, a large but irregular cathedral, three convents, and two colleges. Few places of the same extent display equal wealth, the Spaniards and Creoles being noted for their industry. The chief trade is to the fair at Salta, in mules, where they are sold for Peru, and the town of Cordova contains many slaves, who weave and make their own cloths.

The bishop and chapter also reside here.

Wine and grain are brought from Mendoza in Cuyo, brandy in leathern bags from St. Juan de la Frontera, and meat and fruits are abundantly supplied in the neighbourhood. Cordova is the capital of a province or district of the same name, extending about 100 leagues in length, and seventy in breadth, intersected by a chain of mountains, and celebrated for its woollen manufactures.

The mountains which traverse this province are covered with perpetual snow, and at Ramauso, sixty miles from Cordova, they branch out, and are so far from each other that a saline plain, seventy miles in length, extends to Tucuman, in which nothing grows but the salsola kali, nearly four yards in height, amid the white incrustations of fossil salt.

The decayed city of St. Jago del Estero is in this plain, 650 miles north-north-west of Buenos Ayres, in 27° 46' south latitude, and 65° 12' west longitude, on the banks of the Dolce, which is large and navigable, and affords great variety of fish. It contains about 300 houses, or 500 families, of mulattoes and mestizoes, of a dark yellow complexion and sickly appearance, from the great heat of the climate; as surrounded on one side with the plain, and on the other with deep forests; the place suffers from a stagnation of the air. The women are subject to goitrous swellings, which much disfigure them, though they are generally handsome when not afflicted with this disease; and the country near the woods produces wheat, rice, barley, and all sorts of fruits, particularly figs and raisins; the forests supplying game, but are infested with jaguars and beasts of prey.

Rioxa, or Todos Santos de Rioja, is a small city, founded, in 1591, by Juan Ramirez de Velasco, on a plain of great extent, bounded on the west by the mountains, in which the inhabitants breed some cattle.

Its territory produces cotton, grain and vines, but the soil is poor.

This city contains a parish church, three convents and an ancient college of the Jesuits, being in 29° 12' south latitude, and 70° west longitude, 240 miles west-south-west of St. Jago del Estero.

Xuxuy, or Jujuy, or San Salvador, is twenty leagues north of Salta, 174 miles north of Santiago del Estero, in 23° 5' south latitude, and 66° 2' west longitude, and is the chief place of a district of the same name on the frontier of Peru. This town is seated at the foot of a high mountain of the eastern Andes, contains about 300 houses, and is the most northerly city of Tucuman. Near it the river Xuxui, being joined by several others, flows towards the La Plata, after forming the Vermejo in Chaco.

Londres, or London is a village which was formerly founded by Juan de Zuriata, in honour of Mary Queen of England, in 1555, on the event of her marriage with Philip II.

It is in 19° 12' south latitude, but is at present of little importance.

Salta, or San Miguel de Salta, is a city and district of this government, from which the cattle trade with Peru is carried on.

This city stands in 24° 17' south latitude, and 64° 1' 30" west longitude, and was founded, in 1582, by Don Gonzalo de Obreu y Figueroa, under the name of San Clemente de la Nueva Sevilla, but was afterwards changed to its present scite in the beautiful valley of Lerma, which is five leagues in circumference, and through which passes a river, on whose shore the city stands, having a fine bridge over it.

It contains 400 houses, and 500 men capable of bearing arms, who have hitherto defended the city against the Indians, though it has no walls. In it are one church, two chapels, four convents, and a college which belonged to the Jesuits, the inhabitants being chiefly Spaniards and their slaves. Its environs are very fertile, abounding in wheat, rye and vines, with pastures for the cattle exported from this place to Peru; and its commerce consists in corn, meal, wine, cattle, salt meat, fat hides and other commodities, which are sent to all parts of Peru. The cattle and mules of Tucuman also go from this place, which is situated on the high road from Buenos Ayres to Potosi.