Chilian

“ It is highly gratifying to me, after labouring under such difficulties as were never before witnessed on board ships of war, to announce the arrival of the Chilian squadron in Valparaiso—its cradle; where, owing to its unceasing services in the cause of liberty and independence of Chili, Peru, Colombia, and Mexico, it forms an object of admiration and gratitude to the inhabitants of the New World. ”

“ During those two years and a half the Spaniards were masters in Santiago, and Chili was once more a Spanish province, in which the inhabitants were punished terribly in confiscations, imprisonments, and executions for their recent defection. Deliverance, however, was at hand. General San Martin, through whom chiefly La Plata had achieved its freedom, gave assistance to O'Higgins and the Chilian patriots. ”

“ This Chilian was a great man among the natives, and all the valley I spoke of, which lay round his dwelling, was called his own. He lived in a perfect state of tranquility, neither enjoying or coveting anything but what was necessary, and wanting nothing that was so. He had gold merely for the trouble of picking it up, for it was found in all the little gulleys and rills of water which, as I have said, came down from the mountains on every side ”

“ In Chili an exalted patriot has upheld the originality of the Chilian race and language in an anonymous book, claiming that they derive from the Gothic. Thus is the effect of the national spirit exaggerated. Among the Ibero-American republics there is a profound and general {338} resemblance in the pronunciation and the syntax of the language; the same linguistic defects even are to be found in all. The Spanish of the Peninsula loses its majesty overseas ”

“ The port of Antofagasta having been occupied by Chilian troops, the squadron under Admiral Williams left the place and commenced a patrol of the coast, with a view to enforcing a blockade. On the 5th of April the fleet appeared off Iquique, in Peru, and the admiral announced that a blockade of that port would begin on the 15th of April following, thus allowing ten days for the Chilian inhabitants of the place to leave and carry with them all their belongings. ”

“ The Chilian Indians too abhorred a chief who was descended of a race which, by its lieutenants, had first attempted to inslave them, and had necessitated the stoutest of their tribes for more than a century to be continually wasting their blood in defence of their independency. ”

“ The ovation accorded to the victorious Chilians upon their return to Valparaiso was enthusiastic in the extreme; the officers were everywhere fêted and made much of; and Jim Douglas and Terry O’Meara came in for a very large share of attention owing to the fact that they were British. The sympathies of Great Britain had been decidedly turned in favour of Chili by the atrocities which had been committed by the Peruvian fleet in its war against commerce, and by which English ships had suffered to a very serious extent. ”

“ The Chilian authorities are now performing an act of justice by making retribution to these poor Indians, giving to each man, according to his grade of life, a certain portion of land. The value of uncleared ground is very little. ”

“ Valdivia is the name of a Chilian province; also of the river which there pours down from the mountains into the plains: and likewise of a city which is remarkable for its architecturally constructed bamboo-bridge, and for the fact that every man you meet in the street is called Rocca, and prides himself on his ancestors having been the ancient rulers of Chili and walked about there barefooted. Now the inhabitants have degenerated into wearing boots and they talk Spanish. ”

“ They look to each man’s vote, and follow it with a blessing or malediction, which throws its ominous shadow beyond this life. This ecclesiastical power is the most fearful feature in the present condition of the Chilians. Instead of being a wall of defence, it is a wide magazine, laid under its foundations, with a train reaching to Rome. One spark from the Vatican, and Chili sinks in flame and blood! ”

“ Don Francisco Villagran returned to Chili under the flattering belief that the Araucanians would give him no more trouble; and he accordingly turned his attention to the reacquisition of the province of Tucuman, which, after having been subjected by him to Chili, had been since attached to Peru. Thus was a fresh struggle set on foot between the conquerors of the New World. The Chilian commander defeated the chief of the Peruvian forces, and accordingly Tucuman was for a short period restored to the government of Chili. ”

“ The place we were in was green and flourishing, and the soil well cultivated by the poor industrious Chilians, who lived here in perfect solitude, and pleased with their liberty from the tyranny of the Spaniards, who very seldom visited them, and never molested them, being pretty much out of their way, except when they came for hunting and diversion, and then they used the Chilians always civilly, because they were obliged to them for their assistance in their diversions, the Chilians of those valleys being very active, strong, and nimble fellows. ”

“ Cousin Giles said. "She doesn't seem to consider what an heiress she is. And she's enough like Chilian to be his own child. He always had that dainty way with him, like a woman, and everything must be fine and nice, yet he never was ostentatious. She'll make a charming young woman. I wish I could persuade Chilian to come to Boston."
Chilian had driven in with the carriage. There had been a shower in the night and the travelling was delightful. He had missed his little girl so much, yet he knew it had been better to save her the poignancy of the sad occurrence. ”

“ How they got through the hills, and were entertained by the generous Spaniard, and afterwards by the wealthy Chilian; how the men, greedy for gold, were hardly brought away from the mountains; and how, once, they had much ado to persuade them not to rob the honest Chilian who had used [Pg 425] them so well, till my lieutenant, then their captain, by a stratagem, seized on their weapons, and threatened to speak to the Spaniard to raise the Chilians in the mountains, and have all their throats cut ”

“ Neither could the Spaniards, despite armor and cannon. Not even the Chilians, with the improved weapons of modern times could conquer the Auraucanos. They are the finest tribe or race of Indians inhabiting the southern portion of the continent, and it is their intermarriage with the whites in the last forty or fifty years which has helped make Chile what it is today—a country with many qualities which distinguish it from its sister republics. ”

“ Douglas’s face became drawn, and his eyes took on a very strained look, as he realised what it would mean if he could not get the Janequeo off; the Peruvians would give very short shrift to a body of men who had been caught in the attempt to torpedo their fleet. Moreover, he had heard certain gruesome stories from the Chilian seamen to the effect that some of the half-caste troops which the Peruvians had with them were rather addicted to the pastime of torturing any prisoners who might be unlucky enough to fall into their hands—a relic, undoubtedly, of the customs of their Indian ancestors. ”

“ This house was a chingana, a name which has no equivalent in French or English. A Chilian chingana presents so eccentrically droll an appearance, that it would defy the pencil of Callot, and is beyond all description. Let the reader figure to himself a low room, with smoky walls, the floor of which is but beaten earth, and rendered filthy by the detritus left by the feet of incessantly arriving and departing visitors. ”

“ If climate and environment have a great influence on the moulding of racial character, it is not unnatural to suppose that the exceptional characteristics of Chili have had their due effect upon the inhabitants. The Chilians have been called the “English of South America,” and it has been put{158} forward that they derive their origin from the natives of Northern Spain, whereas other South American States were colonised by adventurers from the southern part of the Peninsula. ”

“ The aboriginal inhabitants of Chili, from the ocean to the Andes, from Peru to Magellan, all speak the same language. It is a regular, harmonious, and rich language, and so elegant, expressive, and copious, that Europeans who have studied it, think the Chilians must, in former times, have possessed a much greater degree of civilization than at present; because mere savages could never have formed a dialect so perfect. ”

“ It is observable that all the Chilians who inhabit the eastern valleys of the Andes, namely, the Pehuenches, the Puelches, the Huilliches, and the Chiquillanians, are much redder than their countrymen dwelling westward of those mountains. All the mountaineers dress themselves in skins and paint their faces; and, living in general by hunting, lead a wandering and unsettled life. They are, generally speaking, of a lofty stature and of great strength.{169}
CHAPTER XI.
BRAZIL: DISCOVERY OF THE MINES; ATTEMPT OF THE FRENCH ON RIO DE JANEIRO. ”

“ Every particular of this campaign he remembers as precisely as though it had occurred but yesterday; and he will yarn for hours together about Prat, Condell, Lynch, Simpson, Williams, and all the rest of them; men of English descent for the most part, who had adopted Chili as their home and country, and who helped to make the Republic what she now is, a credit to herself and to them, and a worthy protégé of that greater country across the sea from which sprang the noble and gallant gentlemen who raised Chili to the position of first of the South American Republics. ”

“ And, oh, dear Rachel, I couldn't bear to have anybody ugly to you. And then you know we couldn't give you up. Cousin Chilian said so, and Miss Eunice cried."
Miss Winn winked some tears out of her eyes, though she tried to smile. It was very comforting to a woman without kith or kin to feel so welcome in a household.
Cynthia was sitting on the step of the porch one May night when the moon was making shifting shadows through the trees and silvering the paths. Chilian was studying the face, and wondering a little what was flitting through the brain that now and then gave it such intentness. ”

“ The land of Chili, from 30° Ssouth latitude, was and is still in part occupied by several tribes who speak the same language. They form the fourth and most southern group of the Andes people, and are called Araucanians. Like almost all American tribal names, the term Araucanian is indefinite; sometimes it is restricted to a single band, and sometimes so extended as to embrace a group of tribes. Some regard them as a separate family, calling them Chilians, while others, whom we follow, regard them as the southern members of the Andes group, and still others class them with the Pampas Indians. ”

“ The general language is Spanish, excepting on the borders of Arauco, where the ancient dialect, the Chili-dugu, or Chilese tongue, is cultivated by all classes. The females of Chili are as luxurious in their dress and equipages as those of Lima: but are noted for their kindness and hospitality towards strangers; and this virtue is practised in its greatest extent by all the inhabitants of the Spanish portion. In short the Chilians appear to be the most frank, courteous and generous people of Spanish America. ”

“ Thus fell the conqueror of Chili, a man endowed, unquestionably, with a great mind and with superior powers of organization and of governing, as well as with excellent military talents. The modern Chilians may look back with satisfaction upon the founder of their State as on one whose name is unstained by the horrible cruelties towards the natives which attach to the memories of the conquerors of Peru. Even at the time of the outbreak after the settlement at St. Iago, it is to Valdivia’s credit that he merely cast the ringleaders into prison. Pizarro would have ruthlessly burned them. ”

“ The Indians had learned how to use the weapons which they had captured, and obtained repeated victories. In the end, the Spaniards made peace. The river Biobio was fixed as the boundary between Auraucania and the colony of Chile.
“The Chilians also were unable to overcome the Auraucanos. In the end, however, in 1881, the Auraucanian tribal chiefs held a grand council, and decided to cast in their lot with the people who had overthrown the Spaniards. They incorporated themselves as citizens of Chile. ”

“ The Araucanians when met with farther north had a story current amongst them of having discovered a settlement of white people, who spoke an unknown tongue, in the recesses of the mountains in the same vicinity. The Chilotes and Chilians from the western side fondly cherish the belief in the existence of La Ciudad Encantada, and the mythical people Los Cesares, to the discovery of which, according to De Angelis—to whose research is due the collection of all the records on the subject—the attention of Buenos Ayres, Lima, and Chili was so long directed. ”

“ The Chilians have a colder climate, and the people for the most part came from the north of Spain; they are hardier and more active; then, too, they are not so strict in church matters, and here they call them heretics, and a Peruvian hates a heretic a great deal worse than he does the father of all evil. ”

“ Cynthia turned scarlet.
"I think you must be warm and tired with the long stage ride; wouldn't you like to come upstairs with me?"
Cynthia rose as Cousin Chilian looked approval, and followed up the stairway, where her feet sank in the carpet. There were several rooms, with the air blowing through delightfully, and there was fragrance everywhere from vases of flowers.
Mrs. Stevens took off her hat and inspected her. She was going to be a big heiress and a pretty girl in the bargain, piquant with a slightly foreign look, though perhaps it was more in her manner. ”