There is a chapter in the Bible, of which you cannot read three verses without crying.—What chapter is it?
Sketches of the Manners, Customs, and History of the Indians of America.
CHAPTER VIII.
Character of the Indians.—Employed in the mines.—Story of a pickaxe.—Mr. Temple’s conduct considered.—Humanity of the Indians to him.—His reflections.—Dress of the Indian men;—of the women.
In 1825, Edmund Temple, a young Englishman, went out to Potosi as agent for a mining company formed in London. From his “Travels” I shall select such remarks and incidents as tend to illustrate the present character and condition of the native Indians. We shall then be better able to judge what they have gained by their intercourse with Europeans.
“The Peruvian Indians are a strong, healthy race, though not very tall, and generally laborious, for every kind of labor is performed by them. In Potosi, however, the miners, all Indians, have acquired a character for habits of idleness and a propensity to defraud their employers, which it must be admitted is not altogether without foundation, though I think the cause of the evils complained of may be traced to harsh treatment, or to unwarrantable exactions of some sort, aggression being as frequent on one side as delinquency on the other.
“I know from experience, that, by proper management, their faults and the disadvantages arising from them may be guarded against, and in a great degree corrected. A worm, or, if it be thought more applicable, the adder, will turn when trod upon, and will then resent the injury; so has it been with these Indians before now; but, with kind usage, fair remuneration for their services, and an impartial conduct towards them, they are perfectly tractable, and may become good, faithful, and willing servants.
“During my residence at Potosi I have had occasion to employ many Indians, as well miners as those of other trades and occupations; there is no want of hands, as it has been generally supposed, and I cannot say that I have any cause of complaint against them; they performed the work for which they were engaged to the best of their abilities, and at the completion of it I paid them their hire.
“Sunday, after the hour of early mass, is the customary time of paying the miners, and all persons employed in the ingenios; this practice I did not adhere to, having preferred settling all such matters, so far as I had control, on Saturday evening.