the defence of a station, they ought to be divided into three ranks, so that ten might fire their guns upon the enemy, ten load, and the others reserve an equal number loaded. By which means they would always have time to load their guns, and the Indians would never want cause for fear. By the careful observance of this method, thirty artillery soldiers might be found sufficient to rout and put to flight three hundred Americans. But if three hundred artillery-men were to fire all their guns at once, without killing any of the enemy, they, on the other hand, might be overcome by thirty savages. For the Abipones, like most of the Americans, are intimidated by the most trifling slaughter of their companions: if but one or two of them fall, the rest instantly take to flight, esteeming life far above the honour of victory. How comes it then that they are so dreaded by other nations? I will explain this in the next chapter. CHAPTER XXXVIII. BY WHAT MEANS THE ABIPONES RENDER THEMSELVES FORMIDABLE, AND WHEN THEY ARE JUSTLY TO BE DREADED. Naturally fearful, they render themselves formidable by art. They make up for the want of native bravery by the noise of their trumpets, the craftiness of their ambuscades, by their astonishing swiftness, their painted faces, and many-coloured plumes. They adorn their heads with feathers of various birds, either erected like a crest, or bearing the appearance of a crown. They paint their faces sometimes white or red, but more commonly black. Soot, scraped from pans and kettles, is generally used for this purpose. In travelling, when soot is not to be got, they make a fire, and use its smoke and ashes to paint themselves with. The fruit of the tree Urucuy̆ furnishes them with materials for a red paint: but on sudden occasions they prick their tongues with a thorn, and daub their faces with the blood that flows plenteously from the wound. They do not all paint in the same pattern. Some darken the forehead only, some one cheek, and some both. Some streak the whole face with spiral lines; others only make two circles round the eyes; and others again blacken the whole of the face. This custom is common to many other nations of Paraguay, especially the equestrian ones.