Reports of Don Félix de Azara, on several projects

Félix de Azara is generally regarded as a geographer and naturalist. However, less emphasis has been placed on his work as a shrewd ethnographer. Azara toured the Chaco and lived with the aboriginal peoples of the region. His notes and observations reflect the extent of his knowledge of the Chaco and his understanding of the habits and traditions of its inhabitants.
Reports of Don Félix de Azara on various projects to colonize the Chaco is one of Azara’s studies on geography and natural history of South America.

“Reports of Don Félix de Azara on various projects to colonize the Chaco is one of Azara’s studies on geography and natural history of South America.
It is enough to look at the Chaco, where the efforts that have been made to colonize it have been as old as they are constant. The one who tried first was Captain Andrés Manso, who rejected the borders of Peru by the rulers of the city of La Plata, passed the Pilcomayo with the intention of settling on the western bank of this river; and for having perished at the hands of the Chiriguanos, he left this part of the Chaco the name of Llanos de Manso.
Meanwhile the populations advanced everywhere, and before the expiration of the sixteenth century, which had witnessed so many feats, Santa Fe, Santiago del Estero, Esteco, San Miguel del Tucumán, Salta, Jujuy had been founded, which formed an inhabited area from the coasts of the Paraná to the valleys of Tarija.

Peter of Angelis