CHAP. II.

Paillataru elected Toqui; Government of Rodrigo de Quiroga; Conquest of the Archipelago of Chiloé; Description of its Inhabitants.

ANTIGUENU had for successor in the Toquiate, Paillataru, the brother or cousin of the celebrated Lautaro, but his character was of a very different stamp. Slow and extremely circumspect in his operations, he contented himself during the first years of his command in maintaining undiminished the love of liberty in the bosoms of his countrymen, and in leading them from time to time to ravage the enemy's country. During the same time a change was made of the Spanish governor Rodrigo de Quiroga, who had been appointed to that office by the Royal Audience of Lima, began his administration by arresting his predecessor, and sending him prisoner to Peru.

Having received a reinforcement of three hundred soldiers in 1865, he entered the Araucanian territory, rebuilt the fort of Arauco and the city of Canete, constructed a new fortress at the celebrated post of Quipeo, and ravaged the neighbouring provinces. Towards the end of the fol

lowing year he sent the Marshal Ruiz Gamboa with sixty men to subject the inhabitants of the Archipelago of Chiloé; that officer encountered no resistance, and founded in the principal island the city of Castro and the port of Chacao.

The islands of this Archipelago amount to eighty, and, like most other islands, have been produced by earthquakes, owing to the great number of volcanoes with which that country formerly abounded. Every part of them exhibits the most unquestionable marks of fire. Several mountains in the great island of Chiloe, which has given its name to the Archipelago, a composed of basaltic columns, which, whatever may be said to the contrary, could have been produced only by the operation of fire.

The native inhabitants, though descended from the continental Chilians, as their appearance, their manners, and their language all evince, are nevertheless of a very different character, being of a pacific or rather a timid disposition. They made no opposition, as we have already observed, to the handful of Spaniards who came there to subjugate them, although their population is said to have exceeded seventy thousand; nor have they ever attempted to shake off the yoke until the beginning of the present century, when an insurrection of no great importance was excited, which was soon quelled. The number of inhabitants at present amounts to upwards of

eleven thousand; they are divided into seventysix districts or Ulmenates, the greater part of which are subject to the Spanish commanders, and are obliged to render personal service for fifty days in the year, according to the feudal laws, which are rigidly observed in this province, notwithstanding they have been for a long time abolished throughout the rest of the kingdom.

These islanders generally possess a quickness of capacity. and very readily learn whatever is taught them. They have a genius for the mechanical arts, and excel in carpentery, cabinetmaking, and turnery, from the frequent occasions which they have to exercise them, all their churches and houses being built of wood. They are very good manufacturers of linen and woollen, with which they mix the feathers of seabirds, and form beautiful coverings for their beds. They make also ponchos, or cloaks of various kinds, striped or embroidered with silk or thread. From their swine, which are very numerous, they make excellent hams, the most esteemed of any in South America.

Notwithstanding the great quantity of timber annually taken from them, these islands are covered with thick woods; and as it rains there almost incessantly, the cultivated grounds continue wet the whole year. From hence it follows that the inhabitants, although they have cattle, make no use of them for ploughing, but

till the earth in a very singular manner. About three months before sowing-time they turn their sheep upon their lands, changing their situation every three or four nights. When the field is sufficiently manured in this manner they strew the grain over it. One of their strongest men then attempts to harrow it by means of a machine formed of two large sticks of hard wood made sharp and fastened together, which he forces into the ground with his breast, and thus covers the seed. Notwithstanding this imperfect tillage, a crop of wheat will yield them ten or twelve for one. They also raise great quantities of barley, beans, peas, quinoa, and potatoes, which are the largest and best of any in Chili. From the excessive moisture of the atmosphere, the grape never acquires sufficient maturity to be made into wine, but its want is supplied by various kinds of cider, obtained from apples and other wild fruits of the country,

The necessity that they are under of often going from one island to another, where the sea is far from deserving the name of the Pacific, renders the Chilotes excellent sailors. Their piragues are composed of three or five large planks sewed together, and caulked with a species of moss that grows on a shrub, These are in great numbers throughout the whole of the Archipelago, and are managed with sails

and oars, and in these frail skiffs the natives will frequently venture as far as Conception.*

These people are fond of fishing, an occupation to which they are led from the great variety of fish with which their coasts abound. Large quantities of these are dried and sent to foreign countries. They likewise dry the testaceous kinds, particularly the conchs, the clamps, and the piures. For this purpose they arrange them in a long trench, covering them with the large leaves of the panke tinctoria. Over these they place stones, on which they make a hot fire for several hours. They then take the roasted animals from their shells, and string them upon threads, which they hang for some time in the smoke. In this mode they keep very well, and are carried to Cujo and other places at a distance from the sea.

As soon as the Christian religion was preached in Chiloé, it was readily embraced by the natives, who have ever since continued faithful and obedient to its precepts. Their spiritual concerns are under the direction of the bishop of Conception, and their temporal are administered by a governor appointed by the captain-general of

* It will not be improper to observe here, that the Indians, who form the principal part of the sailors of the South Seas, are very active, docile, and industrious, and excellent seamen for these mild and temperate climates. Spanish Trans.