ducted him to house of the chief, where, far from meeting with the customary ornaments among these savages, the trophies of death, there was merely a kind of canopy, formed of the most valuable coverings, beneath which the new guest was seated. Prostrate at his feet, they surveyed him attentively, and exerted all their faculties to discover, by his demonstrations, and through the medium of the interpreter, the wishes of a man whom they regarded as an oracle sent from heaven.
Here our feelings are wrought to an extreme degree of compassion. How are the descriptions of the miserable Pano, in which he is represented as sanguinary and barbarous, to be reconciled with these traits of sincerity and humanity? And why, these Indians being the relatives and ancient allies of the Omaguas and Cocamas, converted to Christianity;—why, being absolutely dependent on them for the implements of agriculture, without which they find it extremely difficult to subsist;[1]—why, we ask, now that so many years have elapsed since the Maynas nations were reduced, with so favourable a disposition on the part of the Panos, and with the advantageous means presented by the commerce[2] to which they are urged by their very mode of subsistence; far from having been united, so as to form a commonalty or republic, they have been driven, on the other hand, to the hard necessity of labouring under apprehensions for their personal safety, and regarding themselves as enemies? A simple shepherd who penetrated into the
- ↑ The whole of the mountainous territory is occupied by trees of an uncommon magnitude, which the Indians are under the necessity of felling, to be enabled to plant their productions. As their hatchets, whatever may be the industry they employ in sharpening them, do nothing more than mangle and lacerate the trunks, two lunar months are spent in felling a tree;—an operation which might be performed in the space of a few hours with a hatchet of iron. They have thus to undergo an infinite toil, in cultivating a small space of ground.
- ↑ “If, therefore we view, with the strictest impartiality, the fine countries in which the sciences and the arts flourish, and which were in remote times occupied by barbarism, we may demand of ourselves: how have these canals been opened?—How have these morasses been drained?—How have these cities been founded?—And the reply, to which every sensible man will give his assent, will be—by the means of commerce. In reality, th enations by which others have been civilized, have been constantly commercial.” Histor. Politic. de los establec. ultram. t. i. p. 3.
In the account of the peregrination of father Sobreviela, the president of the Maynas missions, Don Pedro Valverde, and the governor of the province, Don Francisco Requena, received the tribute of praise due to their laudable exertions on this head. We have now to add, that the former has broken down the barrier which separated the christian from the infidel, and forced them to remain friends; while the latter only waits the sanction of the supreme authority, to open and facilitate a commerce between the Indian nations reciprocally.
