ñijzl. ir THE GEO O RAPHICAL, NATURAL AND CIVIL HISTORY OF CHILI. TRANSLATED FROM THE ORIGINAL ITALXAN OF THE ABBE DON J. ÍGNATIUS MOLINA. TO WniCB .O IE ADDED, NOTES FROM THE SPANISH AND FRENCH VERSIONS, ANO TWO APPENDIXES, BY THE ENGLISH EDITOR} THE FIRST, AN ACCOUNT. OP THE ARCHIPELAGO OF CHILOE, FROM THE DESCRIPCION HISTORIAL OF V. F. PEDRO GONZALEZ. DE AGÜEROS J THE SECÒND, AN ACCOUNT OF THE NATIVE TRIBE 3 WHO INRABIT THE SOUTHERN EXTREMITY OF SOUTH AMERICA, EXTRACTED ÇIUEFLY FROM FALKNER’s DESCRIPTION OF PATAGÒNIA. IN TW O VOLVMÈS, VOL. I. PRINTÉD POR LONGMAN, HURST, REES, AND ORME, FATERNOSTER-RpW. 1809, Pfiüted by J. I). ü<*\vick' 40, Baiutcan. TRANSLATOR’S PREFACE. I m p o r t a n t and interesting as has ever been the History of the Spanish settlements in Ame­ rica, particularly to the inhabitants of the same continent, that importarme and interestis at the present period greatly increased, by the oc- currence of events of such magnitude, as will most probably be attended witli the total sevér- ance of those colonies from Europe, and the estàblishment of a new empire in the west. O f thèse séttlements, Chili is in many respects one of thè Uixiòst important. Blest with a soil fertile beyond description, à climate mild and salubrious in thé highest degree, productive of evèry con- véniencé and most of the luxuries of life, and fich in the precious metáis, Nature appears to haye been delighted in lavishing its bounties upoh this favoured portion of the globe. In its minerals, its plants, and its animals, the natu­ r a l \yill find an interesting and copious fïeld of research; and the character of its natives fur- vol» i. b VI nish.es a subject no less cupons and interesting té the moralist. The proud and ihvincible Arau- canian exhibits some characteristic,tráits altoge-r ther new in the aborigines of this continent, and gcarcely tó be paral leled in any nation of thè pld, The long and successful resístance of this brátye peopie to the arms of Spáin, even in the meridian of its military glory, is a wonderful instançe Of what a nation can perforin wlien animated|py a spirit of liberty, and detefmined upon fréedom ordeath. The Araucanians, it is trae, té their high sense of independence and unyielding cou«? rage, had the good fortune of uniting á system of tactics so excellent as even tó excite the admira^ tion of their enemies, and to this in a great mea*? gure may be ascribed their successfülly opposing, with far inferior arms, a po'yverfal and disci* plined foe, Whether the peculiar character of the A w i~ caniáns proceed from the influence pf climate combinirig with moral causes, of is whofly de- rived from their institutions and freeform óf go- vernmeiit ,* whether,. with the Chilians in general, they are of foreigp origin, apd a distinet race from tlie otber natives of America, the rematáis, as the author supposes, of a great and powerfn It peopie, who had attained a high degree o f çivi- lization, and possessed a polished and eopións •j language; or whether their agricultura! khow- Jedge, military skilí, and the culíivation of their ' é Vil idïOïïi, are pwing mere]y to forteiíous cireum- stances, are points of eurioes inquiry* and such as will '¿fiord an ampie field for conjectare, :’V.Thp author of tlie present work> Don Juaa Ignatrus Molina, was a native of Chili, distin- gpished for his íiterary aequirements* and parti- cularly his knowledge of natural hisiory> large collections hvwhiéhhe. had nmde dnring Iris re- sidpifce iia that Comiiry. Gn the dissolutior* ©£ the eelebrated oráerof tke Jesuíta» of whicfe lie #as a member, he shared ihe general fate of that comrmmity, in being empelled from the territorios of Spain, and was, ai the same time* áeprived not only of bis eollections in natural hisiory., but also of bis manu Scripts. The most important of tbe ¿«latter, relati ve to Chili* he b&d* however» ^ good fortune to regain by accident, sorae fime after bis residenee in Bolog&a* m . Itály* Jvhither 'bé^d-.-gone outMs arm at in Europe. ?vi? ;FuTnisliéd with these materiálv be applxed himself to writfng the lúsíory oí that emmfry* at?lwe different pemds; iilie brst parfc> comprising the. Natural Hisíory* |n tire yeaf iTS7,.,aná the seçend* eontaining the Eiv.il,- í or: realas meñtioned in his Prefaee, mol pntil • some yearf after. Tbis work* which was ■wfíiteri in Italiaft, has ©btámed a. reiy Mgh re- pufation on the continent of Europe* where it baávfrbeeii transíate# into the Freneh, Germán* and Spanish langnages. The celebrate d Ábhá h 2 Clavigero,, iii his History of México, in referring in a note to that of Chili, mentions it in the most respectable terms, and calls the author his learned friend. In rendering this work into English, reférence has heen had both to the French and Spanish versions, which contain some valuable additional notes. Through the politeness of agentlemanof his acquaintance, the translator has also been furnished with an anonymous compendium of the History of Chili, printed in Bologna, in 1776, from which the supplementary notes to this volume are taken. In addition to what is said ab ove, the English Editor has to state, that he has, from documents in his possession, added a few occasional Notes, which are distinguished by the ïetters JB. JE- He has also subjoined, from Falkner’s Descrip- tion of Patagònia, a further elucidation of the language of the Auracanos; andtwo Appendixes, the first containing an Account of the Archi- pelago of Chiloé, from the Descripción Histo­ rial of that Province, by P. F. Pedro González de Agüeros, printed at Madrid, in 17 9 1; and the second, an Account of the Native Tribes who inhabit the Southern Extremity of South Ame­ rica, extracted chiefly from Falkner’s work. PREFACE TO THE NATURAL HISTORY OF.CH1LL T h e attention of Europe is at tliis time more than ever directed to America. W e are desirous of obtaining information of its climate, its natu­ ral productions, and its inhabitants; in short, every thing that is worthy of notice in that part of the world is now a subject of intefest to the most enlightened nations. Chili is acknowledged, by all who have writ- ten upon America, to be one of its provinces meriting the most attention. This country is distinguished, not so much by its extent, as by the mildness of its climate; and it raay be said to enjoy all the advantages of the most fayoured. countries without their inconveniences. In my opinión, it may, with propriety, be compared to ltaly ; as this is called the garden of Europe, that, with more justice, may be styled the garden of South America. The climate of the two countries is nearly the same, b 3 X and they are situated under nearly similar pa<* ralléis of latitude. They likewíse resemble each ollier m tíie circumsíance of íheir being of much. greater extent'in iengih iban in breadth, and that they are boíh divided by a chain of moun- faias. The Cordilleras or fhe Andes are to Chili, what tire Appennhies are to Iíaly, tlie source of almost all the rivera that water the coüntry, and diffuse over it fertility and abundance^ This cbain of mountains has as sensible an infíúence onthe salubxiiy of the air of Chili, as the Apen- nines have upon that of ítaly; and so ñrmly are the iuhabitants couyiuced of this fact, that, whenever they álteospt to account for any chango in the state of the atmosphere, they attribute it to the effeci of these mouniaíns, which they con- síder as power-ful and iufallïble agenta. A coimhy so revnarkabíef boíh for iís natura! productions, and its politi cal staíe, certainly werits to be well fcriown ; jet the accounts that we have of it are merely superficial, and titile is to be fouaá, respeeting its natural productions, su wnters opon natural history. O f the ian- guage and the cusióms of the íohabitants we are equally ignorant, and scarcely any thing is known o f ¿he excrtions.which the Chilians imVe made, oyen in our <lavs, t© deferid íheir libertíésv Á few well-íoforraed travellers, who have been ín the comitry, have publislied some v&Iuable accounts, bul too conscise to fu-rnish a fcòmpetent ideà of it. Father Lotiis Feüiílé, a French Minina friar, has given a scientific de- scription of the plants that he found upon the coast, to which he has.added an account of se- veral animals that hé noticed tliere. This is a Wórk of great mèrit; the désciiptions are pre­ cise., and perfecti y correct; but as it was pub- lished by tíie ordér and at tlie expense of tbe king3 the copies of it have become very scaree, and are in the possession ó f but fevv. A number of Spanish authors have treated of this country. The last century produced severa!, noi to mention those of the present; but few of their writings, however, have been published, for reasons which I sliall liereaffer assiffn,O O f the latter, tlie first in point of merit are those of Don Pedro de Figueroa, and the Abbés Mi- chael de Olivarez and Philip VMaurre. The two former treat of the political history of the country, from the arrival of tbe Spaniards to' the present time. That of tbe Abbé Olivarez merits particular attention, from the great number of interesting facts relative to the long wars be- tween the Spaniards and Araucanians, whicli lié has collected with no less judgment than indus- try.