Kitabı oku: «An Account of the Abipones, an Equestrian People of Paraguay, (1 of 3)», sayfa 11

Mules in company with horses fill the plains of Paraguay, nor shall they be separated in my relation. You will see many of them equal in height to horses, but, on the other hand, the major part are less than those which Italy or Spain produces. You may judge of the multitude of them from this circumstance, that Paraguay yearly sends about eighty thousand to Peru, in return for which she receives all the silver to be seen in her churches and houses, with no inconsiderable advantage. For unbroken mules, two years of age, valued, generally speaking, at three Spanish crowns in Paraguay, fetch ten and often fourteen in Peru. Who can reckon the number of mules, employed either in bearing burdens or in carrying a rider, in the cities and estates of Paraguay? Many thousands of them are constantly occupied in conveying the herb of Paraguay from the woods to the cities, and numbers are yearly sacrificed both to the roughness of the road and the cruelty of their drivers. I have known estates which contained four thousand mules, and many more thousand mares kept for breeding mules.

The young mules, at two years old, are taught to carry burdens or to bear a rider; but being extremely wild, occasion their instructors continual trouble and danger. However docile and obedient they may have appeared in times past, you never can entirely trust to them. For as the Spanish proverb goes, a mule will serve his master seventy years, that he may kick him to death at last. Broken legs, bodies dragged along the ground, cut hands, heads dashed against trees or stones, and other accidents of the same nature, mournfully confirm the truth of this adage. For mules, though stronger than any horse, though accustomed to traverse woods, rocky places, and trackless plains, with both a firmer and gentler pace, and though less liable to hurt their feet, are much more to be dreaded by their riders, on account of their being constantly suspicious of danger. All of a sudden they halt on the road astonished, smell the grass, prick up their ears to listen, and with eyes wandering in every direction descry the most distant objects. The uncommon colour of a plant, a strange smell, the piping of birds, the rustling of trees, or an unusual agitation of the leaves occasioned by the wind, fills them with suspicions of the approach of a tiger, especially at dusk, or at dark night. Presently, seized with sudden terror, they run away with their rider, and unless he be possessed of great presence of mind, either throw him on the ground or drag him along with his feet sticking in the stirrup. The kicking of mules is very dangerous, on account of its being so quickly and frequently repeated. These animals, therefore, are never more to be dreaded than when they are themselves afraid, for at such times they become unmanageable, and seem as if they had lost their senses. As the trade in mules is lucrative in Paraguay, it is also dangerous to the merchants, on account of the exceeding timidity of these animals. Ten thousand mules, entirely free and without bridles, are often driven, by a few Spanish guards, in one drove. At the slightest alarm they all take to flight, hurry over the plain, and hide themselves in interminable deserts, whilst no industry in the horsemen, nor swiftness in the horses, is sufficient to bring them back again. Many have been ruined by mules running away and being lost in this manner.

I have been acquainted with men, in other respects brave and intrepid, who, warned by the danger of others, resolved never in their lives to ride on a mule. I have known many more, who, scorning the most excellent horses, would never travel on any other animal. Neither is this preference to be condemned, for mules, though fearful and treacherous, possess many good qualities which do not belong to horses. Their pace, especially that of the amblers, is easy and firm, by which means they always tread with safety, whether they have to ascend rocks or to creep over marshy places, though horses are better for crossing deep marshes and rivers, on account of their height. One mule is sufficient in a long and difficult journey which would fatigue four horses. Mules are contented with the readiest and coarsest food, though generally fat and sleek. Many of them surpass the swiftest horses in speed, as I have often observed in the races of the soldiers. They are longer lived than most other beasts. In the town of S. Joachim I had mules more than thirty years old, which would bear a rider, and sometimes contrive to kick him off too. Moreover they are possessed of athletic strength, for they are accustomed to carry almost four hundred weight, in journies of many months, through very rough roads, when laden with the herb of Paraguay. In a word, I am unable to determine whether the virtues or vices of mules preponderate.

By the right of relationship asses should be spoken of between horses and mules. They wander by crowds in the plains of Paraguay, and with their braying prevent the neighbouring inhabitants from the enjoyment of sleep. In Italy and Portugal the ass is a very much employed animal, and used both for the pannier and the saddle. In Paraguay they enjoy a perpetual exemption from labour. In the larger estates great numbers of asses are maintained for the purpose of breeding mules. The female asses are less prolific than you would imagine, but we were never able to discover the cause of their sterility. Asses continually fall a prey to tigers, especially those kept to breed mules, which they prefer to the common sort. No American ever accused asses of pusillanimity, for they bravely repel any tiger, whom they see approaching, with their heels, and defend themselves more pertinaciously than horses; but being here, as every where else, stupid and dilatory, are generally vanquished by the swiftness or cunning of tigers. The Spaniards also kill a great number every year for the sake of the fat which they have in their necks, and which is used, by tanners, to dress and soften stags' skins, and for other purposes. In this vast abundance of horses and mules which Paraguay rears, would not the most needy of the Spaniards or negroes be ashamed to ride upon an ass? But in the territories belonging to Rioja and Catamarca, where horses are not so abundant, the lower orders of Spaniards do not disdain to saddle asses. By a useful edict we took care to prevent the Guaranies from possessing horses, to deprive them of the dangerous opportunity of wandering. Persons of both sexes made use of their own asses to carry home the produce of the neighbouring fields. But those charged with guarding cattle and other offices in the town, always had horses and mules prepared and in readiness.

Paraguay also abounds in numerous flocks of sheep, no ways differing from those of our country. Some of the Guarany colonies have counted thirty thousand, others fewer, according to the number of inhabitants and the size of the pastures. The wool was used chiefly for the clothing of the male Indians, for the women covered themselves with a piece of white cloth made of cotton. An Indian is never content unless he has his belly well filled, and his body well covered; so that a number of sheep and oxen seemed requisite to the preservation of these colonies, the latter supplying meat for food, and the former wool for clothing. Sheep, on account of their tenderness, demand greater care than the larger cattle. Hence we were extremely solicitous to supply them with diligent and faithful shepherds, whom we frequently admonished to bring the flock at stated hours to the folds, which being furnished with a roof, though not with walls, commodiously defended them against the night dew, the heat of the sun, and the attacks of lions and tigers; not to send the sheep into the plain till the sun and wind had dried up the dew; carefully to keep them from marshy places, from the dewy grass, and from thistles and thorns; for too much moisture affects sheep with a mortal cough, and thorns tear their wool; and, lastly, to look about anxiously for pastures abounding in nitre, wholesome grass, and plenty of water. Shepherds should take great care to collect the young lambs, as soon as they are yeaned, and remove them to a safe place, where they may be suckled and licked by their mothers. Should this precaution be neglected, they will certainly be crushed under foot by the old sheep. It is also proper to see whether they are afflicted with worms, which are often bred in the wool. It conduces much to the enriching an estate to distribute the whole flock, consisting of ten or thirteen thousand sheep, into lesser companies, and to assign to each separate folds, pastures, and shepherds, that the care being divided amongst many, each may perform his own office more easily and completely. By these arts the estates of the Guaranies daily gained such accessions of sheep as an European will hardly credit.

Something must now be said of the climate of Paraguay. The temperature of the air varies in different places. Those which are nearest to the south are colder. In the Magellanic region, which is included in Paraguay, the cold is generally intense, the neighbouring mountains are constantly covered with snow, the south winds are extremely violent, and dreadfully agitate that sea, which is dreaded by all sailors. The territory of Buenos-Ayres itself, situated in the 34th degree of lat. is too cold for tobacco, cotton, the sugar-cane, the herb of Paraguay, apes, and various kinds of parrots, to subsist there, though it produces plenty of wheat, as well as citrons, peaches, quinces, pomegranates, figs, &c. if the diligence of the agriculturist answer to the fertility of the soil. I never saw any snow beyond the mountains near the province of Chili. The year is divided into four seasons as in Europe, but in different order: – whilst the Europeans enjoy summer it is winter there; whilst it is spring in Europe, it is autumn with the Paraguayrians. For with them November, December, and January, are summer; February, March, and April, autumn; May, June, and July, winter; August, September, and October, spring. In the month of August the trees bud, the birds build their nests, the swallows return from their places of retirement. In the winter there is no snow and very seldom frost, so that melons and vegetables will grow up, and not be hurt by the asperity of the air. But in the mountains of Taruma, three frosts succeed one after another. The third, which is much severer than the other two, is always followed, about noon the same day, by a tempest, accompanied with thunder, lightning, and torrents of rain, which causes the herbs, killed by the frosts, to revive, or fresh ones to spring up. The temperature of the air varies according to the wind. The south wind is cold, the north, hot: hence we often had winter and summer in the same day, whenever one wind succeeded to the other. Nor is the difference of winter fixed and certain. For some countries, Brazil for instance, are afflicted with continual rain at that season, whilst others are distressed by long droughts, lasting many months, as is the case with the territory of St. Iago del Estero. Thunderstorms are not peculiar, as in Europe, to the summer season, but are common to every part of the year: nor can it ever be said that this or that month, though a winter one, will be free from thunder, lightning, and hail. The heat of the sun is excessively painful to horses in travelling, but often more endurable to them when resting in the shade, than in Austria during the hottest part of the summer. That the cold in winter is not very intense you may collect from this circumstance, that the Indians of both sexes and of every age are accustomed to endure it, without danger of any bad consequence, with naked feet, uncovered heads, and no other clothing than a thin piece of linen, and that the animals remain out of doors day and night. I do not deny that the Indians sometimes use cloaks made of otters' skins to defend them against the cold air. The shortest day with the Paraguayrians is in the month of June, the summer solstice in Europe. The sun rises at the sixth hour and fifty-second minute, and sets at the fifth hour and seventh minute. Their longest day is in the month of December, our winter solstice. The sun rises at the fifth hour and seventh minute, and sets at the sixth hour and fifty-second minute. I speak of that part of the sky under which lie the Guarany colonies situated in the 24th, 25th, 26th, 27th, 28th, and 29th degrees of latitude. From which it appears that there is no day in Paraguay so long or so short as in our Germany. The air of so extensive a province is necessarily various, but for the most part extremely healthful, and calculated to induce longevity.

A history may justly be called defective, if it do not slightly touch upon what is most worthy of note in the wild beasts, amphibious animals, birds, fishes, plants, trees, and their fruit. We will begin with quadrupeds. The tiger appears first on the scene.

THE TIGER

Paraguay abounds in tigers from the number of its cattle, which are the food of these beasts. They are all marked with black spots, but the skin of some is white, that of others yellow. As the African lions far exceed those of Paraguay in size and ferocity, the African tigers yield in like proportion to the Paraguayrians in the size of their bodies. In the estate of St. Ignatius, which belongs to the Cordoban college, we found the skin of a tiger, that had been killed the day before, fastened to the ground with wooden pegs: it measured three ells and two inches in length, which is no smaller than the dimensions of the hide of a full grown ox. But the largest tiger is much slenderer than any ox.

Tigers, whether springing out like cats or in the act of flight, run extremely quick, but not for a long time together; for as they soon tire, an active horseman may overtake and kill them. In the woods they defend themselves amongst the trees and rocky places, and pertinaciously repulse assailants. It is incredible what slaughters they daily commit in the estates. Oxen, sheep, horses, mules, asses, they kill without difficulty, but never eat till putrid. They devour stinking flesh in preference to sweet, as the following facts will clearly prove. Should a Spaniard, an Indian, and a Negro sleep together near the same fire and in the same place, the tiger will reject the Spaniard and Indian without hesitation, and rush to devour the Negro; for Negroes' flesh they reckon a dainty, because it is most stinking. Tigers will devour, to the last morsel, horses' carcasses streaming with liquid putrefaction, though living horses be at hand. Both Spaniards and Indians conspire against these destructive beasts. They construct a very large chest, like a mousetrap, composed of immense pieces of wood, and supported upon four wheels, and drag it with four oxen into that place where they have discovered traces of tigers. In the farthest corner of the chest, a very stinking piece of flesh is placed, by way of bait, which is no sooner laid hold of by the tiger, than the door of the chest falls and shuts him in, and he is killed by a musket or a spear put through the interstices of the planks. In the town of the Rosary we spied a tiger not yet full grown, but menacing and formidable to all he met, in a wood, a gun's shot distant from my house. Myself and three armed Spaniards flew to kill him; on seeing us, by flying here and there amongst the trees and brambles, he contrived to get out of sight. Following his footsteps we found him lurking in an aged, very large, and almost hollow tree, which, to deprive the tiger of all egress or means of escape, we strewed about with pieces of wood, making a hole in the side of it, that the lurking beast might be put to death with arms, which I at last effected without the least danger to myself. You cannot conceive how the tiger leapt up and down in the hollow of the tree after receiving a few wounds. The skin, which was pierced with shot and the sword till it was like a sieve, could be made no use of, though the flesh afforded the Abipones a sumptuous supper. But as tigers are possessed of singular strength, swiftness, and cunning, it is scarcely safe for one person to pursue them in the open plain. I do not deny that a tiger may be sometimes pierced or strangled, by a Spaniard or Indian alone. But a Spaniard or Indian is often torn to pieces by a tiger from the spear's thrust missing, or failing to inflict a mortal blow; for unless the interior of the head, the heart, or the spine of the back be wounded, this powerful beast does not fall, but gets infuriated, and attacks the aggressor with rage proportioned to the pain of the wound.

On this account, whenever any of those beasts are to be destroyed, many men armed with spears unite together; the use of the musket alone is almost always dangerous; for unless the tiger is knocked down by the first ball, he leaps furiously to the place whence the fire proceeded, and tears the man that inflicted the wound. He, therefore, that does not choose to run the risk of his life, goes accompanied on each side by two spearmen, who pierce the tiger as it advances to attack him, after he has fired his musket. Taught by the danger of others, I found that bullets must not be rashly used against tigers. Travelling with six Mocobios, from the city of Santa Fè to the town of St. Xavier, I passed the night on the banks of the round lake, in the open air, as usual; the earth was our bed, the sky our covering. The fire, our nightly defence against tigers, shone for a while in the midst of us as we slept, but at length grew very low. In the middle of the night a tiger crept towards us. My Indian companions, that they might not appear distrustful of the friendship of the Spaniards, had begun the journey unarmed. Anticipating no danger, I had neglected to load my musket. At my direction, firebrands were dexterously hurled at the approaching tiger. At each throw he leapt back roaring, but resumed courage, and returned again and again, more threatening than before. Meantime I loaded my musket. But as the darkness deprived me of all hope of killing the tiger, and left me only the desire to escape, I loaded my musket with plenty of shot, and fired it off without a ball. The beast, alarmed at the horrid thundering, instantly fled, and we lay down to sleep again, rejoicing in our success. Next day, at noon, in a narrow path, bounded on one side by a lake, and on the other by a wood, we met two tigers, which would have been caught with a noose by the pursuing Mocobios, had they not fled and hidden themselves in the wood.

Innumerable tigers are yearly caught with leathern thongs by the Spaniards and Indians, on horseback, and are strangled, after being swiftly dragged for some time along the ground. The Pampas wound the tiger's back with a slender arrow, and kill him instantly. At other times, for the same purpose, they use very strong arrows, or three round stones suspended from thongs, which they hurl at the tiger. How great their strength must be you may judge from this, that if they meet two horses in the pastures tied together with a thong to prevent their escaping, they will attack and slay the one, and drag him, along with the other live one, to their den. I should not have believed this, had I not myself witnessed it, when travelling in company with the soldiers of St. Iago. Their cunning is equal to their strength. If the wood and the plain deny them food, they will procure it by fishing in the water. As they are excellent swimmers, they plunge up to their neck in some lake or river, and spout from their mouths the white froth, which, swimming on the surface of the water, the hungry fishes eagerly devour as food, and are quickly tossed on to the shore by the claws of the tigers. They also catch tortoises, and tear them from their shells by wondrous artifice, in order to devour them. Sometimes a tiger, lurking unseen under the high grass or in a bramble bush, quietly watches a troop of horse passing by, and rushes with impetuosity on the horseman that closes the company. On rainy and stormy nights they creep into human habitations, not in search of prey or food, but to shelter themselves from the rain and from the cold wind.

Though the very shadow of this beast is enough to create alarm, yet those are most to be dreaded which have already tasted human flesh. Tigers of this description have an intense craving after men, and continually lie in wait for them. They will follow a man's footstep for many leagues till they come up with the traveller.

It will be proper in this place to give account of some methods of defence against tigers. If you climb a tree to avoid falling into the clutches of a tiger, he will ascend it also. In this case urine must be your instrument of defence. If you cast this into the eyes of the tiger, when he is threatening you at the foot of the tree, you are safe – the beast will immediately take to flight. In the night a blazing fire affords great security against tigers. Dogs also are dreaded by them, though these they sometimes cruelly flay and tear to pieces. The Spaniards have mastiffs which are very formidable to tigers. In the town of St. Ferdinand a tiger often stole by night into the sheepfolds, killed the sheep, sucked their blood, and leaving their bodies, carried away their heads. This audacity at length appearing to us no longer endurable, at sun-set twenty Abipones armed themselves with spears to kill the mischievous beast, and placed themselves in ambush. Another, armed with pistols, lay down in the midst of the flock. Though the men were silently concealed in the court-yard close by, yet the tiger, aware of the circumstance, either from the smell or hearing, durst not approach the sheepfold. At length, despairing of his arrival, the watchers, about night-fall, returned to their huts. Scarcely had they turned their backs, when the tiger returned and tore to pieces ten sheep. To search him out, all the Abipones that were at home set off on foot, armed on both sides with spears, ready to strike whenever the beast appeared. At the request of the Indians, I closed the company, armed with a gun and bayonet and some pistols. After diligently exploring the vicinity, as no tiger appeared, we returned home without effecting our business, and saluted by the hisses of the women. But the very same tiger at sun-set daily approached the town, to tear away part of the carcass of a dead horse, without ever being caught by the Indians who lay in wait for him. The Abipones have continual contests with tigers, and unless the spear misses, are uniformly victorious. Hence an Abipon is very rarely devoured by a tiger, but innumerable tigers are devoured by the Abipones. Their flesh, though horridly ill-savoured even when quite fresh, is eagerly craved after by the equestrian savages, who also drink melted tiger's fat, esteeming it nectar, and even believing it a means of producing valour. They all detest the thought of eating hens, eggs, sheep, fish, and tortoises, imagining that those tender kinds of food engender sloth and languor in their bodies, and cowardice in their minds. On the other hand, they eagerly devour the flesh of the tiger, bull, stag, boar, anta, and tamandua, having an idea that, from continually feeding on these animals, their strength, boldness, and courage are increased. In repeated battles with tigers many persons are wounded by their claws. The scars, after the wounds are healed, occasion excessive pain and burning, which no time nor medicine can ever relieve. The tigers themselves are tormented with the heat of their own claws, and in order to relieve the pain, they rub them against the tree seibo, and leave the mark of their nails in the bark.

The tiger spares no living creature; all it attacks, but with various fortune and success: for horses and mules, unless they save their lives by speedy flight, are generally overcome; asses, when they can gain a place where they may defend their backs, repel the assailant, by going round and round, and kicking very quickly for a long time; but in the open plain they seldom obtain a victory. Cows, trusting to their horns, defend themselves and their calves with the utmost intrepidity. Mares, on the contrary, at the approach of a tiger, desert their foals and take to flight. Antas lie down on their backs, await the advancing foe with expanded arms, and immediately on his assault squeeze him to death, if we may credit the testimony of the natives. Tigers' skins are used by the Abipones for breastplates, for horsecloths, for carpets, and for wrappers. In Spain, every skin is sold for four, and sometimes six German florens. In the hope of gain, a number of Spaniards join together in Paraguay, and go out to hunt tigers. A vast quantity of tigers' skins are yearly sent to Spain. In the city of Sta. Fè, I knew a Spaniard at first indigent, who, from this trade in skins, within a few years excited the envy of others by his opulence.

To the tiger kind belong two other wild beasts, but smaller, and not so ferocious. One of them is called by the Spaniards onza, the other by the Guaranies mbaracaya. These, though seldom offensive to other animals, often depopulate a whole henroost by night, but are seldom seen by day.