La mentira toba de Monsieur Thouar

Abstract

Leader of an expedition of exploration to the Bolivian Chaco in 1887, the Frenchman Arthur Thouar attributed his failure to lack of water, the geographical errors of his predecessors, the ill-will of the créole population and mostly to the Franciscan missionaries and the Toba indians of the Pilcomayo river. Thouar altered his reports to justify his actions and to present himself as the glorious heir of explorer Jules Crévaux. His main tool to achieve this was his manipulation and invention of the story of Yalla, an indigenous Toba woman.

Keywords

• Explorations of the Northern Chaco
• travelogues
• Arthur Thouar
• Doroteo Giannecchini
• Jules Crévaux