BOOKS - Last of the Incas A Romance of the Pampa
US $5.88
914901
914901
Last of the Incas A Romance of the Pampa
Author: Gustave Aimard
Year: January 1, 1875
Format: PDF
File size: PDF 944 KB
Language: English
Year: January 1, 1875
Format: PDF
File size: PDF 944 KB
Language: English
CONTENTS. I. THE BOMBEROS II. EL CARMEN III. DON TORRIBIO CARVAJAL IV. THE TREE OF GUALICHU V. THE COUNCIL OF THE ULMENS VI. NOCOBOTHA VII. THE COUGARS VIII. THE ESTANCIA OF SAN JULIAN IX. DON SYLVIO D'ARENAL X. THE VIRGIN FOREST XI. THE CHASE OF NANDUS XII. THE TOLDERIA XIII. THE PAMPERO XIV. PREPARATIONS FOR A SIEGE XV. A BRAVE RESOLVE XVI. THE INVASION XVII. THE ATTACK ON POBLACION DEL SUR XVIII. THE CAVE OF THE COUGARS XIX. DON TORRIBIO'S HOUSE XX. THE INDIAN CAMP XXI. THE TOLDO OF THE GREAT TOQUI XXII. DELILAH XXIII. THE AGONY OF A TOWN XXIV. THE LAST OF THE INCASCHAPTER I.THE BOMBEROS.Patagonia is as little known at the present day as it was when JuanDiaz de Solis and Vicente Yanez Pinzon landed there in 1508, sixteenyears after the discovery of the New World.The earliest navigators, whether involuntarily or not, threw over thiscountry a mysterious veil, which science and frequent relations havenot yet entirely removed. The celebrated Magalaes (Magellan) and hishistorian, the Chevalier Pigafetta, who touched at these coasts in1520, were the first to invent these Patagonian giants so tall thatEuropeans scarce reached their girdle, who were upwards of nine feethigh, and resembled Cyclops. These fables, like all fables, have beenaccepted as truths, and in the last century became the theme of a verylively dispute among learned men. Hence the name of Patagonians (greatfeet) was given to the inhabitants of this country, which extends fromthe western watershed of the Andes to the Atlantic Ocean.Patagonia is watered, through its entire length, by the Rio Colorado inthe north, and the Rio Negro in the east-south-east. These two rivers,through the windings of their course, agreeably break the uniformityof an arid, dry, sandy soil, on which prickly shrubs alone grow, ordispense life to the uninterrupted vegetation of their banks. They windround a fertile valley overshadowed by willow trees, and trace two deepfurrows through the midst of an almost level country.The Rio Negro runs through a valley surrounded by precipitous cliffs,which the waters still wash at places; wherever they have retired, theyhave left alluvial soil covered with an eternal vegetation, and formednumerous islets covered with willows, and contrasting with the mournfulaspect of the naked cliffs.Monkeys, wild asses, foxes, and red wolves constantly traverse thedesert in every direction, together with the cougar, or American lion,and the imbaracayas - those ferocious and formidable wild cats. Thecoasts are thronged with amphibious carnivora, such as sea lions andelephant seals. The _guya_, concealed in the marshes, utters itsmelancholy cry; the _guacuti_, or stag of the Pampas, runs lightly overthe sand; while the _guanaco_, or American camel, sits pensively on thesummit of the cliffs. The majestic condor soars amid the clouds, inthe company of the disgusting cathartes. Urubus and auras which, likeit, hover round the cliffs on the seaboard to dispute the remains ofcorpses with the voracious caracaras. Such are the plains of Patagonia,a monotonous solitude empty, horrible, and desolate!
