m of a cone. Though its sides are of steep
pitch, they are thickly wooded to the summit; trees of large size
standing upon its table-like top. But something more than trees stand
there; the scaffolds upon which are laid the bodies of the Tovas dead;
hundreds of which may be seen in all stages of decay, or shrivelled and
desiccated by the dry winds and sun of the Chaco till they resemble
Egyptian mummies. For it is the "Cemetery Hill," a spot hallowed in the
hearts of these Indians, and so giving the title of "Sacred" to this
particular place, as the town adjacent to it. The latter is situated
just under the hill, between its base and the shore of the lake. No
grand city, as might be supposed from such a high-sounding name, but
simply a collection of palm and bamboo _toldos_, or huts, scattered
about without any design or order; each owner having been left free to
select the site of his frail tenement, since among the Tovas municipal
regulations are of the simplest and most primitive character. True,
some dwellings, grander and more pretentious than the common, are
grouped around an open space; in the centre of which is one much larger
than any of the others, its dimensions equalling a dozen of them. This
is not a dwelling, however, but the _Malocca_, or House of Parliament.
Perhaps, with greater propriety, it might be called "Congress Chamber,"
since, as already hinted at, the polity of the Tovas tribe is rather
republican than monarchical.

Strange, as sad, that in this republic of redskins, and so-called
savages, should exist the same political contradiction as among some
other republican communities, having the name of civilised. For
although themselves individually free, the Tovas Indians do not believe
in the doctrine that all men should be so; or, at all events, they do
not act up to it. Instead, their practice is the very opposite, as
shown by their keeping numbers of slaves. Of these they have hundreds,
most of them being Indians of other tribes, their enemies, whom they
have made captive in battle. But to the Tovas master it signifies
little what be the colour of his bondman's skin, whether white or red;
and many of the former, women as well as men, may be seen doing drudgery
in this same Sacred town--its hewers of wood and drawers of water.
These are also captives, the spoil of predatory incursions across the
Salado into the settlements of Santiago, Salto, and Tucuman.

Most of these slaves, employ