A Vanished Arcadia: being some account of the Jesuits in Paraguay 1607-1767 by R. B. (Robert Bontine) Cunninghame Graham
page 38 of 350 (10%)
page 38 of 350 (10%)
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affirms most positively that they used to eat their prisoners taken in war.'**
-- * Azara, in his `Descripcion y Historia del Paraguay', has a similar passage: `Recibe bien todo Indio silvestre, al estrangero que viene de paz.' ** `Por lo comun reparten pedazos de este cuerpo, del qual pedazo cozido en mucha agua hacen unas gachas (`fritters') y es fiesta muy celebre para ellos que hacen con muchas cerimonias.' -- Their general characteristics seem to have been much the same as those of other Indians of America. For instance, they kept their hair and teeth to an extreme old age, their sight was keen, they seldom looked you in the face whilst speaking, and their disposition was cold and reserved. The tone of their voices was low, so low that, as Azara says: `La voz nunca es gruesa ni sonora, y hablan siempre muy bajo, sin gritar aun para quejarse si los matan; de manera que, si camina uno diez pasos delante, no le llama el que le necesita, sino que va a/ alcanzarle.' This I have myself observed when travelling with Indians, even on horseback. There was one characteristic of the Guaranis in which they differed greatly from most of the Indian tribes in their vicinity, as the Indians of the Chaco and the Pampas, for all historians alike agree that they were most unwarlike. It is from this characteristic that the Jesuits were able to make such a complete conquest of them, for, notwithstanding all their efforts, they never really succeeded in permanently establishing themselves amongst any of the tribes in the Chaco or upon the Pampas. |
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