Chapter XI: Aboriginal Tribes 138

The population of Uruguay prior to the Spanish
conquest--Principal tribes--Paucity of information
concerning the early aboriginal life--The Charrúas--
Warlike characteristics of the race--Territory of the
tribe--Stature and physique--Features--The occupations
of war and hunting--Temperament and mannerisms--A
people on the nethermost rung of the social ladder--
Absence of laws and penalties--Medicine-men--A crude
remedy--The simplicity of the marriage ceremony--Morality
at a low ebb--The prevalence of social equality--Method
of settling private disputes--The Charrúas as warriors--
Tactics employed in warfare--Some grim signals of
victory--Treatment of the prisoners of war--Absence of
a settled plan of campaign--Arms of the Charrúas--Primitive
Indian weapons--Household implements--Burial rites--The
mutilation of the living out of respect for the dead--Some
savage ceremonies--Absence of religion--A lowly existence--
Desolate dwellings--Change of customs effected by the
introduction of horses--Indian appreciation of cattle--
Improvement in the weapons of the tribe--Formidable
cavalry--The end of the Charrúas--Other Uruguayan
tribes--The Yaros--Bohanes--Chanas--Guenoas--Minuanes--
Arachanes.