PREFATORY BOOK ON THE STATE OF PARAGUAY.

Paraguay is a vast region in South America, extending very widely in

every direction. From Brazil to the kingdoms of Peru and Chili, they

reckon 700 Spanish leagues: from the mouth of the river La Plata, to the

northern region of the Amazons, 1,100. Some reckon more, some fewer

leagues, according as they use German, French, or Spanish miles.

Concerning this matter, a determinate opinion must not be expected.

These huge tracts of land, receding very far from the Colonies, are not

yet rightly explored; possibly, never will be.

Geometry is there a _rara avis_; and were any one capable of measuring

the land, and desirous of the attempt, he would want the courage to

enter it, deterred either by the fear of savages, or by the difficulties

of the journey. Men of our order, seeking out savages for God and the

Catholic King, examined the coverts of its forests, the summits of its

mountains, and the banks of its remotest rivers, traversing, to the

utmost of their ability, every part of the province, always risking, and

often losing, their lives. In Peru and Mexico, there is no corner which

the Europeans, attracted by the hope of gold, have not searched into;

but we are still unacquainted with great part of Paraguay, a region

unproductive of gold, and, therefore, wanting the requisite allurement.

As for what is discovered, who can deny that it is almost entirely owing

to the efforts of the Missionaries? The plains which they traversed, the

rivers which they crossed, together with the distances of places, they

have noted with the utmost fidelity, though not always with equal art.

Paraguay is subject to the King of Spain, in whose authority it is ruled

by three governours, and as many bishops. Each province has its

governour; the first is that of La Plata, on the banks of which is the

city of Buenos-Ayres, the seat of the royal governour, and of a bishop.

It is famous for an academy, monasteries for both sexes, a port, and a

citadel, which, though impregnable to the assaults of savages, and even

of the citizens themselves, would soon yield to the warlike engines of

Europeans; the river compensates for the weakness of the walls, ships

being prevented, by shoals, from approaching. It is destitute of a wall,

ditch, gates, and similar fortifications; defects common to all the

other cities of the province. The inhabitants are reckoned at 40,000,

the dwellings at about 3000, constructed chiefly of brick, and roofed

with tiles; but they are all low, excepting a few of two stories. The

churches are handsome, even to the eye of an European. The finest are

two of which Primoli, a Roman lay-brother of our order, and now in

repute in his native city, was the architect. There are no public

fountains, colossal statues, or images of the Saints in the

market-place. You may count more carriages in Austrian Vienna in one

street, and in one hour, than you can here, in the whole city, during a

whole year. Troops of horse may be seen every moment, nor is it

surprising, that even those of moderate estate should, in the Spanish

tongue, be called _Cavalleros_. Military rank, the magistracy of the

city, and similar dignities, alone confer nobility. The riches of the

inhabitants consist rather in cattle, than in money. The land round

about the city, for near two hundred leagues, is a well wooded plain,

often destitute of water, but rich in corn and pasturage, the latter of

which feeds innumerable herds of cattle, horses, and mules. Wherever you

turn you meet droves of wild horses, the property of the first that

catches them. Besides willows, in which the islands of the river abound,

the peach tree is constantly made use of for fuel.

Buenos-Ayres is one of the principal emporiums of America, merchandise

being either brought from Spain, or secretly smuggled from the

Portugueze. The more wealthy carry on a lucrative trade with Peru and

Chili, in mules and the herb of Paraguay. The climate is moist. Tempests

are equally violent at all times of the year, thunder often continuing

for whole days and nights; this is common to all parts of Paraguay.

Clouds, pregnant with fire and water, terrify, and often destroy, both

men and cattle, either with lightning, or hail of an incredible

magnitude, the like to which Europe has never seen. The city is situated

in S. lat. 34° 36´, and in long. 321° 3´.

On the eastern shore of the river stands Nova Colonia do Sacramento,

opposite to Buenos-Ayres, which the Spaniards, as built and fortified by

the Portugueze on Spanish ground, have often besieged, and as often

restored by treaty; a restoration which the inhabitants of Buenos-Ayres

openly favoured, having in view their profitable traffic with the

Portugueze. But the revenue of the Catholic King was grievously affected

by the gains of these private individuals, from the diminution of the

customary taxes. This little city, the subject of so many disputes,

stands on the higher bank of the river. The houses are few and low,

forming a village, rather than city, yet it is far from despicable;

opulent merchants, wares of every kind, gold, silver, and diamonds are

concealed beneath its miserable roofs. Surrounded with a single and very

slender wall, though sufficiently stored with military engines, arms,

and provisions, for the sudden occasions of war, it yet discovers

neither strength nor elegance. The land under Portugueze authority is of

such small circumference, that the most inactive person might walk round

it in half an hour. Portugueze ships, laden with English and Dutch

wares, and Negro slaves, which have a great sale in America, crowd to

this port, and the Spanish sentinels, either bribed or deceived, convey

the goods to Paraguay, Peru, or Chili. It is incredible how many

millions are lost to the Spaniards in this forbidden traffic. Hence it

is easy to guess why the Portugueze have ever determined to defend this

colony, at all costs, and the Spaniards, on the other hand, to destroy

it.

During my residence of two days, the appearance of the place was such,

that I thought it might be taken, in one assault, by a hundred soldiers.

But as the fear of war came upon them, I doubt not, that new

fortifications were added to the old wall, as the siege cost so much

time and trouble to the Spanish General, Pedro Zevallos, a consummate

officer, and of known success, who, when he prepared to storm the city,

through a breach in the wall, secured as it was with a numerous garrison

and military engines, took it conditionally, October 31, 1762. Before

the walls were yet repaired, twelve English and Portugueze ships of war

arrived there, intending to reduce the Spaniards, then masters of the

city. They conducted the affair with much noise, but little success.

Chance put an end to the engagement, when it had lasted a few hours. The

English Admiral's ship being burnt, the rest fled hastily to the ports

of Brazil, the English throwing the blame on the cowardice of the

Portugueze, and they in turn accusing the foolhardiness of the English.

For the one fought under the very gates, that they might be near to

strike home; the other at a distance, lest themselves should be injured.

This they threw in each other's teeth. Transient, however, was the

advantage which Paraguay derived from this victory; for peace being

ratified between the European powers, the Spaniards restored Nova

Colonia to the Portugueze, that they might recover the Havanna, and

Manilla, capital of the Philippines, both which places the English had

taken from them. After a few years, war was rekindled; and Pedro

Zevallos, having conquered the Island of Santa Catharina, took it a

second time. Finally, in the last peace concluded between the courts of

Madrid and Lisbon, it was ceded to the Spanish. This was a bitter loss

to the Portugueze, yet by the accession of new territories, many more

inlets were opened to them. Cuyaba, a place rich in gold, Matto Grosso,

the little fort of S. Rosa, (called La Estacada,) and other colonies,

were added to Portugal. Some think this intimate connection dangerous to

Peru, hurtful to the Spaniards, and advantageous only to the Portugueze.

For what should hinder the latter, accustomed, as they are, from their

infancy, to arms and difficult routes, and never slothful in extending

the limits of their kingdom, from going and possessing themselves of the

treasures of Potosi, a mountain abounding in silver, but destitute of

iron, and of men to wield it? Some years ago, when I was in Paraguay, a

handful of Portugueze defended the little fort of S. Rosa, (La

Estacada,) against a numerous army of Spaniards and Indians, enlisted at

Potosi, the assailants being shamefully repulsed. About the same time, a

very few Portugueze sallied from the same fort, and coming artfully by

night, surprised S. Miguel, a Peruvian city, inhabited by Indian

Christians, called Moxos. Two Jesuit priests, who had the care of the

city, were dragged into captivity; one of them, an old man, fell a

victim to the journey, whilst the other was thrown into prison. The

Indians, except those who had escaped by flight, were driven out and

dispersed, and every thing was rifled. But away with these sad

memorials; for we would not tear open the newly seared wound, we would

not presage ill for the future. That the happiness and safety of these

flourishing estates may be confirmed by a lasting alliance, is the

desire and the prophecy of every good man.

Fifty leagues to the south of Nova Colonia, on the same shore, stands

Monte-Video, a little city, founded in the year 1726, by D. Bruno

Mauritio Zavala, Governour of Buenos-Ayres; and afterwards fortified

with a wall, a castle, and, here and there, with tiers of cannon, by the

labours of the Guaranies. Besides soldiers and Guaranies, it contains

many men from the Canary islands. On every side the land is fertile in

corn, the farms large, and the cattle and horses incredibly numerous.

The produce of the farms is a provision for the colonists, and there is

daily opportunity of selling cattle and hides for corn: as the ships,

which frequently leave this port, need a provision for many months,

scarce a single vessel sets sail without a freight of twenty or thirty

thousand ox hides for Europe. Grievous it is that so rich a soil should

lie open to the devastating savages, who rise up in troops from their

coverts, in quest of blood or booty, always creating terror, and often

inflicting death. By no arts can they be subdued, by no kindness be won

to the friendship and religion of the Spaniards. Fiercer than wild

beasts, they have now for two centuries mocked the toil of soldiers and

of priests. The latitude of this city is 34° 48´, its longitude 322°

20´.

About thirty leagues from hence lies the gulph of Maldonado, affording a

commodious station for ships, even of large burden. Except sentinels,

you see nothing here but a few cabins, the abodes of misery. Hard by is

an island, the habitation of seals; it lies nearly in the middle of the

river, and were the natural rock on which it stands defended by a double

tier of cannon, how would it guard Paraguay against its enemies! For

they could not elude the fire of the cannon by taking the east side of

the river, unless they preferred being buried in the _Banco Ingles_, or

English shoal.

To the government of Buenos-Ayres belong the cities of Santa Fé and

Corrientes; the one on the east, and the other on the west shore of the

Parana. The former is the handsomest and most opulent. From its trade in

divers articles, and from its countless herds of cattle, it amasses

wealth to a great amount. In former years, it was almost razed to the

ground, and thus reduced to solitude, by the barbarous Abipones,

Mocobios, Tobas, and Charruas. The more valuable and remoter estates

were entirely destroyed; slaughters were committed, in the very

market-place, at mid-day; and it was provided by law, that no one should

enter the church, unless armed with a musket. But after we had founded

the colonies of S. Xavier, S. Jeronymo, Concepcion, S. Pedro, and S.

Pablo, this city began to take breath, and, flourishing again, returned

the security it had previously received. Before, behind, and on both

sides, it is bounded by rivers, which, when they overflow, threaten

destruction to the inhabitants, but are, at other times, extremely

beneficial to them.

Its latitude is 31° 46´. From Buenos-Ayres, its distance is reputed to

be an hundred leagues.

The other city, which the Spaniards call De las Siete Corrientes, takes

its name from seven points of the rock jutting out into the Parana,

against which the current breaks with great violence, and flowing on

very rapidly, carries down ships, coming up the stream, unless in full

sail under a strong wind. A row-boat, in the passage of the river, must

make many windings to avoid the rapidity of the current, as I have often

experienced: for hard upon the city, the great river Paraguay flows into

the still greater river Parana, the one changing its course, and the

other its name. For the Parana, rolling on from east to west, when

joined to the Paraguay, hurries down in a southerly direction with it.

The Paraguay loses its name for that of the Parana after its junction

with that river. It is inconceivable with what a mass of water these

conjoint streams roll proudly down in one mighty channel. If you did not

see the banks, you might fancy it a sea. This place, in name alone a

city, and unworthy of the name, is chiefly composed of mud-hovels, with

roofs of palm-leaves. The inhabitants are remarkable for their beauty,

fascinated by which, many of the Europeans are entangled in marriages,

which they repent for the rest of their lives. The women destroy

themselves with labour, weaving, and exquisitely embroidering garments,

which they call ponchos. The men are naturally agile, lively, and expert

in horsemanship; but, from their indolence and love of ease, are

oppressed with poverty, when they might abound in every thing, if they

but knew how to improve the fertility of the soil, and the advantages of

the river. The Abipones, who had long afflicted the neighbourhood with

slaughter and rapine, being at length subdued, and settled in the new

colony of St. Ferdinand, the inhabitants revived after they had

entertained thoughts of deserting the city, and the use of the fields

and woods, on the other side of the river, was restored them. These

last, being stocked with noble trees, afford excellent materials for

building ships and waggons. The fields supply pasturage for cattle of

various kinds. The inhabitants derive considerable profits from these

sources; gains which the daily fear of assailing savages deprived them

of. The lat. of the city is 27° 43´, its long. 318° 57´.

In the jurisdiction of the Governour of Buenos-Ayres, are also thirty

Guarany towns, on or near the banks of the Parana, the Uruguay, and the

Paraguay. By geographers they are called Doctrines, or the land of

Missions; but the ignorant or malicious style them, in their books, the

kingdom of the Jesuits, a republic rebellious to the Catholic King,

painting them in the blackest colours which envy and unbridled calumny

can suggest. Let me be excused, if to manifest the falsehood of their

calumnies, I mention the following facts:—That the Jesuit missionaries

have ever left Europe at the expense of the Catholic King, for the

purpose of founding new colonies, and preserving the old—that they are

supported by an annual stipend from the royal purse—that the Guaranies

pay yearly tribute to the King—that a century before as many thousands

as were appointed, fought in the royal camps without any stipend,

whenever they were called upon by the royal governour—that the parishes

are visited by the Bishops as often as seems good—that the Bishops are

honourably received, and splendidly entertained, it may be for many

weeks—that the castles of Buenos-Ayres and Monte-Video were built under

the direction, indeed, of the Spaniards, but by the labour of the

Guaranies—that the royal army consists chiefly of the Guaranies, under

our authority, which were ruled by a few Spaniards, as the body by the

soul, in every undertaking against the warlike savages, against the

Portugueze and their town of Nova Colonia, so often attacked and taken,

or against the insurgents of the city of Concepcion. The Guaranies were

governed by the Jesuits, to whose care they were intrusted by the

Catholic kings, not as slaves by their masters, but as children by their

parents; and these towns were conducted in a manner precisely

conformable to the royal laws.

By the labours of nearly two centuries, the Guaranies, formerly

wandering cannibals and obstinate enemies to the Spaniards, have been

reduced to civilization, to religion, and to the sceptre of the Catholic

King. With what labour, what expense of lives the Jesuits have effected

this—how infinitely these thirty towns surpass the other American tribes

in the number of their inhabitants, in Christian morality, in the

splendour of their churches, in their prompt loyalty, in mechanical

skill, in arts, and in military activity, you may learn from the letters

every where published of the kings, the royal governours, and the

Spanish bishops; from the works of Doctor D. Francisco Xarque, Dean of

Albarrazin, an eye-witness, of the learned Abbot Antonio Muratori, and

an anonymous Englishman, whose book was translated from English into

German, at Hamburgh, in the year 1768. This work gave me great pleasure,

though it sometimes made me smile, especially where the author says, "We

Europeans doat when we blame the Jesuits of Paraguay. It were better to

deliberate how we may bring about in Europe, what they effect among the

Guarany Indians without violence and without money. In their towns, each

labours for all, and all for each. Without needing to buy or sell, every

one possesses the necessaries of a comfortable subsistence, victuals,

lodging, medicine, and education. Money wanting, all is wanting, say the

Europeans; the Guaranies, on the other hand, though destitute of gold

and silver, though unacquainted with any kind of money, daily experience

the truth of the aphorism, _Dii laboribus omnia vendunt_, God gives

every thing to labour. Proportioning the task to their age, their sex,

and their strength, they are always employed, never oppressed with

labour. Of luxuries they are ignorant, superfluity they know not, yet

are happier in their contentment than the wealthiest in their opulence.

He is not prosperous to whom much abounds, but whom little suffices. The

Jesuit priests are curates not of the souls, but of the bodies of the

Guaranies." Being in subjection only to the Catholic King and the royal

governours, not in dreaded slavery amongst private Spaniards, like the

other Indians, the towns increase wonderfully every year in population

under our care, and fresh towns were now and then added to the old ones.

In the year 1732, 141,252 inhabitants were reckoned in the thirty

colonies of the Guaranies; but the small-pox breaking out soon after,

cut off thirty thousand of them. Some time after it returned again, but

in a milder form, and eleven thousand only were its victims. The

measles, likewise, so fatal to Americans, made repeated ravages to a

frightful extent. I write from experience in both, for in my office of

priest, I attended the sick of the small-pox and measles, day and night,

for many months. Famine, also, arising from the continued drought and

consequent density of the land, filled the tombs with Guaranies. Add to

these, the victims of war in the royal camps, where five, and sometimes

six thousand men were detained. In 1767, when we bade America farewell,

there were about an hundred thousand numbered in these towns. M. Louis

Antoine de Bougainville, in his work entitled _Voyage autour du Monde_,

printed at Neufchatel, in the year 1772, must be read with caution. He

loads the Jesuits with egregious praises, but by and bye relates a

thousand things as contrary to truth as dishonourable to us and the

Guarany colonies. _Pessimum inimicorum genus laudantes_, says Tacitus,

in the life of Agricola. I would not, however, willingly believe that an

author, the distinguished favourite of Mars, of Neptune, and, unless I

am deceived, of all the Muses, is to be classed with these knaves. True

it is, he wrote falsely concerning us and the Guaranies; but rather

deceived by the narrations of others, than through envy or malice. He

never even saw the Guarany towns from a distance. I wish he had seen

them! he would have painted the Indians and their missionaries in fairer

colours. A little while, and but a little while, he remained in

Buenos-Ayres, the port and threshold of Paraguay. There he drew the very

worst notions, from the very worst sources, and gave them to Europe as

the undoubted truth. Alas! alas! the friendliest well-wisher could not

then, without danger, advocate our cause. The rising, not the setting

sun is praised by the multitude, and such was then our fate. A Spaniard

of no despicable authority has opened his mind in these words: "If every

thing else which M. de Bougainville has written on the other provinces

be as false as what he has said concerning Paraguay, let his history be

carried to the spice shop to wrap pepper; yea, to a meaner office."

As for Paraguay being the kingdom of the Jesuits, it is the dream—the

stupid fiction of Bernardo Ybañez, a Spaniard, twice expelled from our

society. It would be endless to mention all whose vile detractions have

calumniated the towns and the missionaries of the Guaranies. To refute

them, I oppose the histories of Father Nicolas del Techo; _La Conquista

Espiritual_ of Father Antonio Ruiz de Montoya; the history of Father

Pedro de Lozano; the familiar epistles of Father Antonio Sepp to his

brother; the French original of Father Francis Xavier Charlevoix, (for

the German translation is wretchedly mutilated and corrupted); the

annual accounts of Paraguay, printed at Rome; and the letters of Philip

the Fifth—his two epistles to the Jesuit missionaries of Paraguay, dated

from the palace of Buen-retiro, the 28th of December, 1743; the letter,

printed with them, of the illustrious Joseph de Peralta, bishop of

Buenos-Ayres, in which, himself an eye-witness, he acquaints the same

Philip with the state of the Guarany colonies. These important documents

translated into Latin, and published in 1745, are every where on

sale:—from a perusal of them you may learn, that the Guaranies are not

only obedient to the Catholic King, but especially prompt in their

repulsion of his enemies, exceeding the other American nations in the

extent of their services. The sedition of the Guaranies dwelling near

the banks of the Uruguay, may perhaps be objected; but what was the

cause? Exasperation against the royal decrees, which delivered up seven

of the finest towns of Paraguay to the Portugueze, and obliged thirty

thousand of their inhabitants to migrate into solitude, or seek a

precarious livelihood among the other colonies. Long and vigorously did

the Indians oppose the mandate, not through hatred of the king, but love

of their country. What! do we think the Spaniards, French, or Germans

would act otherwise, if compelled by the command of their sovereigns to

relinquish their native land to enemies? For dear to every one is his

country; particularly so to the Americans. Hence, though no one can

approve the repugnance of the Indians of the Uruguay, who does not think

it, in some measure, worthy of excuse and pardon? They erred in

understanding, rather than in will; for their loyalty to the Catholic

King was sound and lively. No eloquence of the missionaries could induce

them to believe themselves condemned by their good king, to a perpetual

and miserable exile from their native soil, in favour of the Portugueze,

their enemies. "In nothing," (said they in their letters to Joseph

Andonaegui, the royal governour,) "in nothing have we or our ancestors

sinned against our monarch—never have we injured the Spanish colonies:

how then shall we, unoffending subjects, believe ourselves sentenced to

exile by the will of our gracious sovereign? Our grandfathers, great

grandfathers, and in like manner all our brothers have frequently fought

under the royal banners against the Portugueze—frequently against the

armies of the savages. Who shall count the number of those our

countrymen who have fallen in battle, or in the repeated sieges of

Colonia? We, the survivors, still bear about us scars, monuments of our

loyalty and courage. To extend the limits of the Spanish domains, to

defend them against invaders, has ever been our first desire; nor have

we spared our lives in its accomplishment. Would the Catholic King have

these our deserts repaid with the most grievous punishments—with the

loss of our country, our handsome churches, our houses, fields, and

spacious farms? It exceeds belief. But if this be really true, what can

we ever deem incredible? In the letters of Philip the Fifth, (which were

read to us at his command, from the pulpits of our churches,) we were

instructed never to allow the Portugueze to approach our

territories—that they and theirs were our bitterest enemies. Now they

cry out to us, day and night, that the monarch wills our ceding to the

Portugueze those noble, those spacious tracts of land, which nature,

which God, which the Spanish sovereign himself had yielded us; and which

we have cultivated for upwards of a century with the sweat of our brows.

Who shall persuade us that Ferdinand, so dutiful a son, will command

what Philip, his excellent father, had so often forbidden? But if,

indeed, these enmities be changed into friendship, (for both times and

disposition do often change,) and the Spaniards be desirous of

gratifying the Portugueze, let them grant them the spacious plains void

of inhabitants and of colonies, with our free leave. What! shall we give

up our towns to the Portugueze, by whose ancestors so many thousands of

our countrymen have been either slain, or forced into cruel slavery in

Brazil?—We can neither suffer nor believe it. When, embracing

Christianity, we swore allegiance to God and the Catholic King, the

priests and royal governours with one voice promised us the friendship

and protection of the king: now, though guilty of no crime, and

deserving every good return for our services, we are constrained to

expatriate, a punishment most grievous, and almost intolerable. What man

in his senses will believe the faith of the Spaniards, so versatile in

the performance of promises—their friendship so slippery and unsound?"

To this effect wrote the Indian chiefs to the royal governour, who,

being a well-wisher both to the king and the Indians, when he saw their

letter, could hardly refrain from tears; but suppressing pity through

military obedience, he never ceased urging the execution of the royal

decree to the utmost of his power, and threatening those who refused to

obey it with all extremities.

There were, (who could believe it?) among the herd of Spaniards, men of

so hardened a conscience as to whisper in the ears of the Indians, that

the king had never enjoined the delivery of their towns, but that the

Jesuits had sold them to the Portugueze. Such convincing proofs,

however, had the fathers given of their good-will towards the Guaranies,

that the pestilent falsehood never gained credit; some suspicions,

however, were engrafted in the minds of the least wise. Many of the

missionaries, who urged the migration with more fervour than prudence,

had nearly been slain by the Indians in the phrenzy of their patriotism.

Father Bernardo Nusdorfer, superior, as it is called, of the Guarany

towns, and conspicuous for the magistracies he had held, for his

venerable age, his thorough knowledge of the Indian tongue, and lastly,

for his authority and favour with the people, visited the seven cities,

exhorted them again and again, with every kind of argument, to respect

the injunction of the Catholic King, and thought he had prevailed; but

as the Indians are of a versatile and unsteady disposition, when the

time for executing the decree arrived, unmindful alike of their promises

and intentions they would not endure even the mention of the migration.

When the Jesuit, Father Ludovico Altamirano, was sent in the king's name

from Spain to Portugal, to hasten the delivery of the towns, the Indians

would not acknowledge him as a Jesuit or a Spaniard, because they saw

him differ in dress and diet. They even dared to pronounce him a

Portugueze disguised in the habit of our order. Terrified at a report

that the Indians were approaching him in the city of St. Thomas, he

consulted his safety by flying in the night, and soon after I found him,

to my great amusement, in the city of Santa Fé, out of danger, and

hastening to the Abiponian colonies. Had the Indians shown as much

alacrity in yielding to our admonitions, as the Jesuits evinced in

endeavouring to inculcate obedience into their wavering minds, the

business would have been happily effected without disturbance or delay;

but we seldom gained attention, much less compliance. The public

supplications in the market-place, undertaken for the purpose of

persuading their minds, in which a priest of our order, crowned with

thorns, in a mournful voice exhorted the by-standers, with threats and

groans, to proceed with the emigration; these supplications had so good

an effect, that the major part promised conformity: nor did the matter

end in words. A journey was undertaken by the missionaries the next day,

to mark out the limits of the new towns; but the remembrance of their

birth-place soon after recurring, it was broken off.

Meantime, it being reported that Gomez Freyre de Andrade, governour of

Rio de Janeiro, in Brazil, and the author of all these calamities, had

entered their territories with his forces, to arms was the immediate

cry, and each being forced along by the common impulse, the united body

rolled onwards like a mighty river; you would have thought there was a

second Hannibal at the gates. Thus, while the Guaranies repelled force

by force, in defence of their churches and fire-sides, they are

proclaimed rebels—worthier, in fact, of pity than of punishment; for

maddened by their rooted hatred of the Portugueze and the love of their

country, they were hurried blindly on wherever their passions impelled

them. To shake off the Spanish yoke—to injure the neighbouring colonies

of the Spaniards, never so much as entered their thoughts: their ancient

love towards their monarch still burnt in their breasts, but it was not

powerful enough to extinguish the innate love of their country.

Who, then, can wonder that the weak-minded Indian left no stone

unturned, to avoid his expulsion from a land he could not fail to

love,—a land pleasant in its situation, salubrious in its climate, wide

in extent, the envy of the Spanish cities for its churches and other

edifices, adorned with woods, with rivers, and with plains of the

greatest fertility, and lastly, well stored with all the necessaries of

subsistence? Joachim de la Viana, governor of Monte-Video, sent forward

with a detachment of cavalry to explore the country, having leaped from

his horse on the summit of an eminence, and examined through a telescope

the city of S. Miguel, (a place inhabited by seven thousand Indians, and

famous for its magnificent churches and famous row of buildings,) in his

astonishment at the size of the place, exclaimed to the horsemen about

him,—"Surely our people at Madrid are out of their senses, to deliver up

to Portugal this town, which is second to none in Paraguay." This he

said, though a strenuous favourer of the Portugueze, whose party he

embraced to ingratiate himself with Barbara, Queen of Spain. The six

other towns—those of S. Juan, S. Lewis, S. Nicholas, S. Borgia, and S.

Lawrence, were also eminent for the number of their inhabitants and the

beauty of their churches, though neither of them was fortified with

wall, ditch, palisadoes, or even a gate.

To defend these, the inhabitants of the Uruguay assembled on all sides.

Rude and undisciplined, and without a general even tolerably versed in

military knowledge, they entered the unequal lists, the ridicule rather

than the terror of an European army. No time, no place was left them

undisturbed by fear and anxiety, as often as they were assailed by the

equestrian spearmen. This was repeatedly mentioned in Gomez Freyre's

journals, addressed to the Portugueze commissioners of the demarcation.

On both sides the war consisted of long marches and skirmishes, attended

with various success; and thus it ended, more noise having been made by

both parties than blood spilt. This, however, is agreed on all

hands—that the Europeans could never have penetrated to these seven

towns, had all the Guarany towns come to the aid of the Uruguayans. But

those who dwelt on the banks of the Parana were happily restrained from

leaguing with the insurgents, by the exertions of the Jesuits. Judge

from this what opinion must be formed by those who have impudently

stigmatized us as the authors of the sedition, and the leaders of the

rebels. Their books are as many as they are dangerous: for although they

allege nothing but falsehoods, yet, with specious arguments, and

pretended testimony, they seek to extort that credit which would be

exploded by all Europe, were the characters of their witnesses as well

known to others as to ourselves.

And now, gentle reader, a word in your ear! If the Guarany insurgents

were indeed encouraged by the Jesuits, could they not have effected more

against the royal forces? Destitute of the counsels and presence of the

Fathers, they did their business stupidly and unprosperously; a

circumstance mightily advantageous, both to the Spaniards and

Portugueze, whose victory was owing to the bungling management of their

opponents. About the beginning of the disturbances, one Joseph,

Corregidor of S. Miguel, was elected general of their forces against the

Portugueze. This Joseph, an active and courageous man, behaved like a

good soldier but an execrable general, for he was as ignorant of

military tactics as I am of the black art. On his falling in a chance

skirmish, Nicholas Neengirù, many years Corregidor of the city of

Concepçion, succeeded. Under his conduct the war was poorly carried on;

and the affairs of the Uruguayans gradually declining, the seven towns

were delivered up to the royal forces. But, reader, when you utter the

name of Nicholas Neengirù, uncover your head and bend your knee, or

rather, if you know all, burst into laughter. This is that celebrated

Nicholas Neengirù whom the Europeans called King of Paraguay, whilst

Paraguay itself had not an inkling of the matter. At the very time when

the feigned majesty of the King of Paraguay employed every mouth and

press in Europe, I saw this Nicholas Neengirù, with naked feet, and

garments after the Indian fashion, sometimes driving cattle before the

shambles, sometimes chopping wood in the market-place; and when I

considered him and his occupation, could hardly refrain from laughter.

But mark the progress of King Nicholas's fate. To obtain for the base

fiction an appearance of truth, a person in the kingdom of Quito was

bribed to get money coined and stamped with the name of King Nicholas.

This base money was issued both in Europe and America, and no one could

doubt its being coined in Paraguay by the pretended king, where, from

the want of bullion, the Catholic kings themselves had no mint. The

deceit however at length appeared; on March the 20th, 1760, the

artificer of the coin wrote a letter to the King, in which he

confessed—"that he was compelled by the secret stings of conscience to

divulge his crime," &c. This letter detected the venal wretch who

instigated him to coin the money of King Nicholas.

The fame of King Nicholas and the money issued in his name gave

reasonable apprehension to the Court of Madrid; but Pedro Zevallos, who

was sent with an army to reclaim Paraguay, soon perceived that it was

all a false alarm, and declared the same in letters to the king. If any

one doubt my veracity, let him examine the Madrid newspapers, published

in the October of 1768, where he will find these words:—"Whatever has

been rumoured of King Nicholas is certified to be a fabulous invention."

If you require yet stronger evidence, attend to what follows. The

tumults in the Uruguay being settled, Nicholas went himself to the

Spanish camp, and appearing, of his own accord, before the royal

governour, Joseph Andonaegui, gave him an account of all his

proceedings. He was quietly heard, dismissed unpunished, and continued

in his office of Corregidor. Had he been even suspected of affecting the

crown of Paraguay, how different would have been his treatment! Loaded

with fetters,—locked in a horrible dungeon,—he would have expiated his

crime by some fearful punishment, and perhaps been torn limb from limb.

But let us trace the story to its source.

It is a trite proverb in Spain—_La mentira es hija de algo_, falsehood

is the daughter of something. Those pernicious rumours which spread far

and wide, like a pestilence, generally originate in some trifle of no

consequence. Such was the fable of King Nicholas, which sprang from an

ignorance of the Guarany language, was perpetuated by malice, and spread

over all the world. _Tubicha_ signifies _great_ among the Guaranies; and

_Mburubicha_, King or Cacique. Among the companies of Indians sent to

plough the land, to cut and carry wood, or to ferry on the river, there

is always a chief, who directs their motions, and whom they address by

the title of _Ñanderubicha_, our chief or captain. In this manner the

Uruguayan Indians called their leader, Nicholas Neengirù,

_Ñanderubicha_, our captain; which, being heard by the Spaniards of

Asumpcion, who speak a confused jargon of Spanish and Guarany, they

ignorantly and wickedly asserted that the Indians called Nicholas their

king. I must not here omit to mention, that, from the ignorance of the

Spanish and Portugueze interpreters, the most unfavourable opinions of

our affairs and the most execrable calumnies have often arisen. These

men, from their ignorance of Latin and Guarany, have frequently

misinterpreted our letters to governors, acquainted with Spanish only;

so that deeds and expressions, entirely innocent, have been construed

into crimes.

Let us now return to Nicholas, whom error and malice have gifted with an

imaginary sceptre. He was born in the city of Concepçion; his ancestors

were Guarany Indians, and he had married, many years before, a Guarany

woman in the city of Concepçion, where also he had held many and various

offices. Father Ignatius Zierhaim boasts that this celebrated Nicholas,

monarch of Paraguay, was publicly whipped, when a young man, by his

orders, himself being vicar of the place. Nicholas was a tall man, with

a good countenance, but grave and taciturn; his face was good-looking,

though marked with a large scar. Think then how ridiculously fable must

have been added to fable, when this Nicholas was made out a lay-brother

of our order. Only five of this description were with us at that time,

whereof two were physicians, the third had the charge of providing

apparel, the fourth was employed in painting churches, and the fifth was

a feeble old man, whose maladies exercised our patience and his own.

None of them bore the christian or sur-name of Nicholas, and they were

all Europeans. Persons of Indian extraction were never adopted into the

number of priests or brothers. The Indians are none of the wisest, I

own, but they are not such idiots as to crown a layman in preference to

the priests, whose dignity and wisdom they rank so high, if the madness

of choosing their own king _had_ possessed them. Allowing the Jesuits,

in a fit of insanity, to have aimed at the sovereign power, they would

not have elected an uneducated layman, but some priest of distinguished

virtue and prudence. An anonymous Frenchman, in a book intitled,

_Nouvelles Pièces intéressantes et nécessaires_, says, page 18, "I will

now show you the origin of Nicholas, King of Paraguay, being supposed a

lay-brother. Some Spanish countrymen happened, in the course of

conversation, to mention the late insurrection on the banks of the

Uruguay." "Verily," says one, "if the Jesuits be wise, they will put the

government of the Indians into the hands of Joseph Fernandez, a

lay-brother of theirs." This Joseph was a native of Spain, formerly

lieutenant of some light-armed cavalry of the king's, and a man of great

military science. We never find a story lose by carrying. The vain

supposition of putting the Indians under the conduct of this lay-brother

was reported in such a manner that what one said _should be_ done,

another said _was_ done, and the rest giving implicit credit to their

asseverations, a prodigious tale grew out of nothing. This Joseph

Fernandez, during the disturbances of the Uruguay, was master of the

public school at Tucuman, and necessarily remarked by the whole of this

populous town, if he intermitted his attendance for a single day. Having

held the office of school-master many years, he managed an estate in the

neighbourhood of the city, and so diligent was he in the exercise of his

calling, that I could swear to his never having seen the land of the

Guaranies of which he was reported King.

To corroborate my account I shall subjoin a few circumstances relative

to this affair. From the seven towns which were garrisoned on their

surrender by the Spaniards, upwards of thirty thousand Indians departed.

Among all who witnessed these innocent exiles, their tender infants, and

their feeble old men, not one but shed a tear of compassion. Fifteen

thousand of the emigrants were received by the towns of the Parana, and

lodged in hovels of straw,—they whose former homes had been of stone,

well-built, and commodious. Nearly the same number were dispersed over

the plains of the Uruguay, where numerous herds of cattle supplied the

means of subsistence. The towns at length evacuated, were offered by the

Spanish Governour to the Portugueze, but not accepted. Amongst other

ways of accounting for this refusal on the part of the Portugueze, it

was reported, that, after exploring the lands of the Uruguay, they found

them destitute of the gold and silver they expected to find there. At

this crisis of affairs died Barbara, Queen of Spain, a Portugueze by

birth, and through an overweening attachment to her own country, a

strenuous advocate for the exchange of lands in Paraguay. Not long

after, Ferdinand the Sixth followed his consort to the tomb. Charles the

Third succeeded his brother in right of inheritance. Whilst King of the

Two Sicilies he had disapproved these treaties which settled the

exchange of lands in America with Portugal; and on his succeeding to the

throne, he utterly abrogated them, as fraught with danger to the

monarchy. He restored the Guarany exiles to their towns, which now,

alas! resembled Jerusalem after the return of the Jews from Babylon.

They found their farms drained of cattle, their fields over-run with

brambles and insects, their houses either burnt or miserably

dilapidated; nay, they were sometimes terror-struck by the dens of

tigers and the holes of serpents! Charles confirmed the Jesuits in their

old administration of the Guarany colonies, of which the Portugueze

party itself did not wish their utter deprivation. Had the King believed

us the fomenters of the late war he would not have committed the

Guaranies to our care and fidelity. About the same time, Zeno, Marquis

de la Ensenada, was recalled from banishment to Madrid by the royal

letters. This principal court minister had never admitted the exchange

of lands agreed upon with the Portugueze, but had transmitted notices of

it to Charles then King of Sicily. For this, if we may credit a report

prevalent in Spain, the Marquis de la Ensenada was banished. That was

not the happy time when you might think as you chose, and speak what you

thought.

King Charles not only refused to acquiesce in the treaties ratified with

the Portugueze, but immediately declared war upon that people; to the

carrying on of which six thousand Guaranies strenuously applied

themselves in the royal camp, under the conduct of Pedro Zevallos, who

having occupied Colonia, carried his victorious arms into Brazil; but

being stopped by the news of peace having been restored in Europe,

testified in his letters to the King, that the success of his

expeditions was greatly owing to the Guaranies. Suffer me, by way of

episode, to draw a rude sketch of the immortal hero Zevallos. His

father, the descendant of a noble family in Spain, was royal governour

in the Canaries, and died in an insurrection, bravely fighting for the

crown. The son, Pedro Zevallos, was handsome, tall, and well made, and

the comeliness of his person was set off by the elegance and suavity of

his manners. Courteous among his friends, and authoritative with his

soldiers, he was neither ruffled with anger, nor soured with harshness.

At every place and time he maintained the character of the pious

Christian, the consummate general, the equitable judge, and, if need

required, the dauntless soldier. During his leisure hours you might see

him praying on his knees in the church for two hours together. Such was

the innocence and integrity of his life, that envy, argus-eyed as she

is, could never detect a stain to reprobate. So exemplary was his

conduct, that the soldier and the christian never jarred, but harmonized

together in one beautiful concord. The victories which have gained the

Spanish hero the plaudits of his country, are rather to be attributed to

his piety, than to his military skill;—to that heaven by which his

undertakings were constantly favoured, and his slender resources

rendered sufficient. In the keenness of his wit, the sagacity of his

judgment, the courage and alertness of his mind, and the soundness of

his loyalty, if one man ever excelled another, _he_ excelled. His

steadfast aim was to benefit rather than please his sovereign, and both

he effected, though more than once disgraced from the royal favour by

the artifices of calumny. He did nothing without much previous

consideration. To crown his purposes with success, he was master of the

most admirable devices; was never at a loss to remove obstacles,—to

anticipate dangers,—and either elude them by artifice, or overcome them

by force. He never charged the future with the present business—never

let slip a good opportunity: did nothing from impulse, every thing from

reason; yet though never headstrong in attempting any thing, or hasty in

attacking an enemy, in battles and sieges he was fierce and determined.

Neither dejected by adverse nor inflated by prosperous circumstances, he

always preserved an equal mind. By kindness and good example, he bound

his soldiers to a prompt obedience; and this I conclude was the cause of

his doing so much with such scanty resources. He was not content to have

given his orders, he would himself overlook their execution. On the eve

of an expedition, he used to inspect the waggons, carefully enquiring

whether they were stored with the requisite arms and provisions, and if

they were properly guarded. Rarely trusting to vague reports and

uncertain answers, he examined every thing, as far as he was able, in

his own person. Early in the night he inspected the different stations

of horse-guards, regardless of sleep, as indeed he was of every other

indulgence. He used to say, that vigilance in the general and obedience

in the men, were the safeguards of the army, and the parent of victory,

a maxim most happily demonstrated in his own person.

Think not that such egregious merits went unrewarded by royalty: he was

honoured with the rank of commendador in the equestrian order of St.

Iago, made knight of the order of St. Janeiro, and even created military

governor of Madrid. Some years after, he received from King Charles the

golden key, a mark of singular prerogative in the court. Rumours of the

Paraguay disturbances having reached Spain, he was invested with the

government of Buenos-Ayres, and commanded to sail thither, to compose

the minds of the Guaranies, and forward the delivery of the seven towns,

accompanied by five hundred regular cavalry-men, chosen from every

regiment of light-armed horse which Spain possesses. To these were added

seven companies of foot, consisting of runaway Germans, French,

Italians, Poles, and even Russians, collected, a few years before, by a

Spanish lieutenant at the surrender of Parma. Most of these were

veterans—fierce warriors, fresh from European battles. As often,

therefore, as Paraguay found them an enemy, they did not let their help

be wanted; but being used to running away at home, they did not forget

their old propensities amongst the antipodes, for they sometimes fled in

troops, from the desire of marriage and a life of less hardship.

During the voyage, Zevallos was anxiously devising methods to

tranquillize Paraguay, which he imagined to be embroiled with intestine

war, and devoted to King Nicholas. On coming in sight of the shores of

Buenos-Ayres, lest by a sudden landing he should endanger his men, he

despatched some soldiers in a boat to feel the way before them.

Perceiving a multitude assembled on the bank of the river Plata, they

hailed them from afar with the usual interrogation of the Spanish

guards, _Quien vive?_—Who reigns here? With one voice they exclaimed,

that Ferdinand the Sixth was their king, and should remain so as long as

they lived. This was more than enough to quiet the fears of the

soldiers, who, deceived by European reports, imagined that King Nicholas

would be dethroned with the utmost difficulty, and at the expense of

their own and much foreign blood. Zevallos himself was astonished when

he learnt that the Guaranies had long since been brought to submission.

He had therefore no fighting with the Indians, but many contentions with

the officers of the Portugueze faction, among whom the Marquis

Val-de-Lirios held a distinguished place, as possessing, from royal

investment, full power of determining every thing connected with the

stipulated exchange of territory with the Portugueze. Equitable in other

respects, but too studious of Queen Barbara's favour, he consulted

principally the advantage of the Portugueze; while Pedro Zevallos, who

laboured for the safety of his country, rather than the favour of his

queen, endeavoured to oppose him. Having impartially investigated all

the occurrences of the revolt previous to his coming, and discovered

that many things had been written against the Guaranies and their

missionaries, without foundation, and that others were basely

exaggerated, he transmitted to the court a correct statement of the

matter, standing forth, on a sudden, the vindicator and eulogist of

those very Guaranies he had come to put down and punish.

Tucuman, another division of Paraguay, extends very widely in every

direction: on the East it reaches the territory of Buenos-Ayres; on the

West, the mountains of Chili; on the South, it is bounded by immense

plains, running out as far as the Magellanic region; and on the North,

by the district of Tariji. It has a governour and bishop of its own, the

one of whom resides at Cordoba, the other at Salta, the capital cities.

Cordoba is famous for the beauty of its houses, the number and opulence

of its inhabitants, and a celebrated academy. In the richness of its

pastures and the multitude of its cattle, it has no superior. Many

thousand mules are annually exported from its estates to the Peruvian

market. Lofty rocks rise in every part of the Cordoban district. A few

leagues distant, on the banks of the river Pucara, which washes the

city, is a place where lime is made. Coming to the place one night, when

the sky was calm and the air tranquil, I heard terrible noises like the

explosion of cannon. But the natives assured me, that these sounds were

common to the neighbouring rocks and happened perpetually. The air,

confined in the cavities of the mountain, and attempting a forcible

passage through the chinks, when stopped by opposing rocks, and

reverberated by their windings, bellows after this fearful manner. In

the city of Cordoba itself, a hollow murmur, resembling the knocks of a

pestle in a wooden mortar, is frequently heard by night. This low

mournful sound runs from one street to another, and is called by the

Spaniards _el pison_, or the paving-hammer. The ignorant vulgar believe

that some spectre or goblin haunts the streets; as for me, I am

convinced that it originates in subterraneous wind, which, forcing its

way through the interstices of the earth, makes violent endeavours to

find a vent; for I observed the lands near the city excavated and

fissured in many places by earthquakes. The city of Salta derives its

principal profits from the passage of mules. St. Iago del Estero, a very

ancient city of Tucuman, was long the seat of a bishop, and afterwards

of a governour. The houses are, however, neither large nor elegant. Pope

Innocent the Twelfth transferred the episcopal see from hence to

Cordoba. The city of St. Iago boasts some tolerably handsome churches.

It is washed by the Rio Dulce, which, during its annual flood, rolls

down mountains of sands; excellent bulwarks against the cannon of

assailants, if the city were ever besieged. The inhabitants of the

district of St. Iago are distinguished alike for the greatness of their

valour and the scantiness of their means in the wars against the

savages. From the trade in wax, which they collect in their distant

woods, and from that in corn, they derive some profits, inadequate,

however, to recompense them for the hardships they undergo. Their herds

are few, from the scantiness of the pastures: for the plains, which are

bounded on every side with sand, supply a slender provision of grass, by

reason of the frosts in winter and the drought in summer. In winter,

when the fields are bare, I have observed the horses cropping the

branches of trees, nay, sometimes gnawing their trunks. Did not the Rio

Dulce yearly overflow its banks, the soil would produce nothing

esculent. This flood generally takes place about January, from the

melting of the snows on the Chili and Peruvian mountains. The fertility

of the soil is at that time incredible, producing abundant crops of

corn, and water-pumpkins of great size and sweetness. Clouds of a

remarkable hue announce the event to the natives. The woods around St.

Iago abound in the _alfaroba_, which is converted into a drink, or a

sweet-flavoured bread, and taken in either form is possessed of

medicinal virtues. The Rio Dulce too supplies the inhabitants of its

shores with food. Annually, but at no certain time, shoals of a fish

called _zabalo_ hurry down the river, and are taken by the hand, in such

numbers that, during the period of their arrival, the lower orders need

no other provision.

The city of St. Iago formerly numbered many Indian colonies within its

jurisdiction, the ruins of which are now alone visible, the inhabitants

having perished of want or the small-pox. Some little villages yet

remain: Matarà, Salabina, Moppa, Lasco, Silipica, Lindongasta,

Mañogasta, and Socconcho; they are governed by secular priests, and

inhabited by a very few Indians, employed in the service of the

Spaniards who live amongst them. Their condition is miserable, their

barbarity beyond conception, their houses mere hovels, and their

churches little better. The same may be said of all the villages

remaining in the other districts of Paraguay.

The little town of St. Miguel, situated near the Chili mountains, is

surrounded with hills, plains, large streams, and pleasant woods adorned

with lofty forest trees, which supply the whole province with cedar

planks, and timber fit for the largest houses. Rioja and St. Ferdinand,

or Catamarca, little towns, buried amongst mountains, gain their

principal returns from the culture of vines and red pepper, which is in

daily use amongst the Spaniards. Not only meal, but even cheese, which,

considering the multitude of cattle in the estates of Buenos-Ayres and

Cordoba, is but seldom made, is seasoned so high with this powerful

spice, that it acquires a deep red colour, and a pungency intolerable to

an European palate. All the vine-yards in Paraguay scarce equal the

number of fingers on both your hands; for although the climate and soil

are extremely suitable to vines, they are uniformly destroyed by an army

of ants, wasps, and wood-pigeons. The little wine that is made is

deep-coloured, thick, and generous, though to Europeans newly arrived it

smells somewhat like a drug. The new must squeezed from the grape is

simmered on the fire till it obtains a consistence. Such is the scarcity

of wine in the remote colonies, that we were sometimes unable to

celebrate the Eucharist. For whatever is used at the table or the altar,

is principally brought from Chili, by a long journey, and at great

expense, and often is not to be had for love or money.

In the districts of Rioja and Catamarca there is very scanty pasturage,

and consequently few cattle; a want compensated by the fertility of the

soil, the productiveness of the trees, and the industry of the

inhabitants, who dry figs, weave a kind of woollen garment in common

use, dress ox and sheep hides to great perfection, and apply the leather

to various purposes, as saddles, trunks, and similar articles, to be

commuted for other goods. Xuxuy, a district of St. Salvador, situate on

the Peruvian side of Tucuman, though far from populous, is the seat of

the royal treasurers for the last mentioned country. In this place, the

tertian ague and wens are common; a circumstance arising from the

rivulets flowing from the neighbouring mountains. Talavera de Madrid,

also called Esteco, a state formerly flourishing in vices as in wealth,

situate on the bank of the river Salado, is said to have been swallowed

up, in the last century, with all its houses and inhabitants, by a

violent earthquake; the ill-fated pillar applied to the punishment of

delinquents alone remaining in the market-place.

Fareja, a city of some note, though within the jurisdiction of Chichas

in Peru, contains Jesuits from Paraguay, who, in the hopes of civilizing

the Chiriguanàs, a barbarous race, always hostile to the Spaniards, have

neither spared their labour nor their lives; five of them were butchered

by these savages.

Santa Cruz de la Sierra, with its territory, though bordering on the

eastern confines of Peru, is within the dominions of Paraguay. Its

longitude is 314°, its latitude 21°. It has its own governour and

bishop, to whom are subject the towns of the Chiquitos, savages for many

years instructed by the Jesuits in religion, humanity, and the useful

arts, amid their distant woods. In 1766, the ten towns of the Chiquitos,

founded by men of our order, contained 5173 families, and 23,788 souls;

but the number of deaths far exceeds that of births. Whether this

paucity of issue is to be attributed to the climate, the water, their

food—especially the land-tortoises they use so much—or to a natural

sterility in the parents, let the learned judge. I have frequently

heard, that had not the Jesuits yearly brought a multitude of savages

from the woods, the towns must long since have been depopulated.

In each of the cities of Tucuman and Paraguay, the followers of St.

Dominic, St. Francis, and St. Pedro de Nolasco, as well as the Jesuits,

have their own establishment. Nuns of various orders dwell in Cordoba

and Buenos-Ayres, but no where else. The Spaniards account Tucuman the

poorest country in America, because it is destitute of gold,

notwithstanding its numerous herds of cattle of every description. This

province has been honoured with the presence of St. Francis Solano. When

he was called away to Paraguay, many whole states were left without a

single priest. Francis Victoria, of the order of St. Dominic, first

bishop of Tucuman, in 1581 found only five secular priests and a few

religious, with not one presbyter who understood the language of the

natives, though the province abounded in Indian colonies. Solicitous for

the glory of God, this bishop wrote to request Father Juan Atienza in

Peru, and Joseph Anchuela in Brazil, to send him a few Jesuits already

tried by previous exertions in the Christian cause. Fathers Leonardo

Arminio, an Italian; Juan Saloni, a Spaniard; Thomas Fields, an

Irishman; Manuel Ortega, and Estevam de Grao, Portugueze, were sent by

sea from Brazil, and being taken by the English, were for some time

infamously treated, and at last exposed to the winds and waves in an

open boat; but Providence happily guiding them, reached the port of

Buenos-Ayres. From Peru, Fathers Francis Angulo and Alphonso Barzena had

been already despatched into Tucuman. The last of these was created

vicar-general by Victoria, who esteemed him so highly as openly to

declare that he would himself vacate the bishopric could Barzena benefit

by his abdication. To these have succeeded men of our order, one after

another, for nearly two centuries. Summoned by the bishop and royal

governour, sent from Europe by their Catholic sovereigns, and dispersed

in every corner of Paraguay's immense extent, how strenuously they have

toiled for God and their King, it is not my business to relate.

Thousands of savages won over to God and the King, colonies founded on

every side, churches built to the Lord, and numbers of Spanish cities

imbued with learning and piety—these will testify that we have at least

done something for the Antipodes, though many have left no stone

unturned to blot out our very name. This is, however, beyond

dispute;—that a far more abundant harvest might have been reaped from

our apostolic labours, if the Europeans had not uniformly opposed every

measure conducive to the advantage of the Indians. Not a savage would

now have been left in America, had every professor of Christianity

conformed his life to its dictates, and joined his endeavours vigorously

to ours.

The third division, from which the whole province takes its name, is

that of Paraguay, so called from the river on which it borders. In

regard to the laws of dominion its extent is immense; but from the

dangerous vicinity of the savages on one hand, and the Portugueze on the

other, the inhabitants, considering their number, are contracted into

somewhat narrow limits. Extensive and fertile plains, both to the west

on the opposite side of the river, and towards the north, are totally

neglected, on two accounts—their distance from the metropolis, and the

above-mentioned neighbours. The Corrientine country is accounted the

southern boundary. The inhabitants are almost incalculably numerous.

There are who assert their capability of bringing ten thousand soldiers

into the field, Spaniards only: for if you count Indian natives, and all

the herd of negroes, and other slaves, you might reckon up three times

that number. But the majority of these deserve the motto—"_Nos numerus

sumus, et fruges consumere nati._" Some one was heard to complain of the

governours of Paraguay—that many soldiers were ranged under the banners,

but few who were furnished with a musket, and still fewer who could

manage one if they had it. The metropolis, Asumpcion, takes its name

from the assumption of the Virgin Mary. It is situated in latitude 25°

8´ and longitude 319° 41´, on the banks of the Paraguay, which affords a

convenient station for ships and an opportunity of commerce, but menaces

destruction to the city; for the channel constantly nearing and nearing,

undermines the bank and the houses situate thereupon. Neither splendid

edifices nor city fortifications are here to be found. Many of the

houses are of stone or brick, and roofed with tiles, but none of them

are above one story high. The monasteries are nearly of the same

description, possessing nothing by which you could recognise the church.

The streets are crooked, and impeded with ditches and stones thrown out

of their places, to the imminent peril both of men and horses. It has

but one market-place, and that covered with grass. The governor and

bishop have resided here since the time of Charles V. though neither has

any proper seat. Besides grammar, the scholars in our college pay much

attention to philosophy and theology. For the negroes, Indians, and

mulattos, there is a separate priest and parish church. Even matrons of

the higher rank, boys, girls, and all the lower orders speak Guarany,

though the generality have some acquaintance with Spanish. To say the

truth, they mingle both, and speak neither correctly. When the Spaniards

first occupied this province, in which the Guaranies had previously

settled, for want of Spanish women, they took the daughters of the

natives in marriage. The couples presently caught each other's dialect;

but as is usual with adults, who learn foreign tongues, the Spaniards

miserably corrupted the Indian, and the Indian the Spanish language.

Whence from the original two, a third dialect arose, in use at present.

The major part of the Spaniards live in hamlets, farms, and little

villages, where the convenience of land and pasturage is greatest:

cities, except the metropolis, they have none. Villa Rica and Curuquati

are meagre places, mere shades of towns, the inhabitants being almost

obliterated, by frequent migrations, from fear of the Portugueze. Xerez

and Ciudad Real del Guayra, which once boasted the name of cities, have

long since been destroyed by the incursions of the Portugueze who,

assembled in the city of St. Paulo, enjoy, to this day, the finest parts

of Guayra, the Spaniards vainly lamenting the seizure of the noblest

part of their territory.

Of the ancient towns, where the Spaniards settled the Indians they had

subdued with arms, or won by religion, there remain Caazapà, Yuti,

Ytape, and Yta, which are governed by Franciscans. Caazapà contains

about two hundred families, and exceeds the rest in the number of its

herds. Ytape contains about twenty families; Yuti and Yta, somewhat

more. They are all governed by parish priests. Atira and Altos together

form one little town. Quarambare and Jobati are both inconsiderable.

Yaguaron consists of two hundred families. The Indian inhabitants are

mostly employed in the service of the Spaniards, and consequently in

populousness, morality, and the appearance of their churches, vastly

inferior to our Guaranies, who, exempted from private servitude, are

accountable solely to the Catholic King.

In the dominions of Paraguay are three other towns, founded and

preserved by men of our order. St. Joachim, situate in latitude 24° 49´,

and longitude 321°, on the banks of the Yù, which, in 1767, numbered

2017 Christian inhabitants, named Ytatines or Ytatinguays. As early as

1697 about four hundred persons were discovered in the neighbouring

woods of Taruma, by Father Bartholomew Ximenez and Francisco Robles, and

assembled in the town of Nuestra Senhora de Sta. Fè, 150 leagues distant

from Sta. Fè, where they held the Christian religion many years. But

love of freedom at length bore them back to their original forests,

whence they were in vain recovered, by fathers of our order, in the year

1721. In the place called Taruma, a little town was built for them,

which, in 1723, contained three hundred souls. But partly from the

poorness of the pastures, partly from the disturbances raised by the

Spaniards, on occasion of Joseph Antequera's obtruding himself upon them

as governour, the Ytatines were again removed to Nuestra Senhora de Sta.

Fè, where they remained ten years, and bore a good report. But the

bloody insurrection of the neighbouring Spaniards, famine, and the

wasting pestilence of the small-pox, compelled them, in 1734, to take

refuge in the forests they had formerly occupied. On the instant,

Fathers Sebastiano de Yegros, Juan Escandon, Felix Villagarzia, and Luke

Rodriguez, were sent to explore the lurking-places of the fugitives,

and, after a laborious journey of eighteen months, returned

unsuccessful. At length, in 1745 accident effected what labour could

not. By the command of the superiors, Father Sebastiano de Yegros began

the search, and after a forty-nine days journey of matchless difficulty,

found the Ytatines in the woods of Tapebo. No opposition being made on

their parts, a town was built for them in their native soil. Cattle of

all kinds, clothes, axes, household furniture, and a few masters of

music, and other arts, being sent from the old town, every thing went on

favourably.

But a sudden terror interrupted the prosperous course of the new colony.

The Guaycurus or Mbayas began to devastate the neighbouring estates of

the Paraguayrians with slaughter and depredation. The Ytatines, thinking

the marauders already upon them, lost all sense of safety. Alarmed by

perpetual rumours of the enemy's approach, they spent their nights

without sleep, and in open daylight still dreamt of peril. To this

another distress was added: the want of water. The Fathers therefore

judged it expedient to remove twenty-five leagues southwards, where the

intermediate forests could protect them against the Guaycurus, and

afford them a constant supply of water. In 1753, having left their

church, and the residence of the Fathers, they built a town on the spur

of the moment, which was regulated after the model of the Guarany

colonies, increased by the accession of new families, and settled on a

good foundation. To this city I devoted eight years of unregretted

labour. When D. Manuel de la Torre, Bishop of Asumpcion, payed us his

accustomed visit, he beheld with admiration the rigid Christian

discipline, the accuracy of divine worship, and universal good order

established among men so lately inhabitants of the woods. D. Carlos

Murphy, an Irishman, and governor of Paraguay, was delighted during his

five days' visit at my house with the dexterous management displayed by

the Indians as well of their musical instruments, as of their weapons.

Another colony in the jurisdiction of Paraguay, that of St. Stanislaus,

is the offshoot of St. Joachim. For the Ytatines, discovered by the

joint efforts of the Indians and the Fathers of St. Joachim in woods

situate between the rivers Caapivarỹ, Yeyuỹ, and Tapiraguaỹ, were

prevailed upon to assemble in one place and embrace the Christian

religion. Arduous, indeed, was the task of persuading them to leave

their native woods; for, accustomed to the shade of towering trees, they

shun the exposed and sunny plain, where they think their lives and

liberties daily endangered. Father Sebastiano de Yegros lived a year in

the woods with the savages; at the end of which time, he persuaded them

to relinquish their woods, and occupy the plains bordering on the river

Tapiraguaỹ, whither Fathers Manuel Guttierrez and Joseph Martin Mattilla

bought cattle and the necessaries of subsistence, and in 1751 erected a

chapel and dwellings. Softened by the kindness and liberality of the

Fathers, they became docile and conformable to Christian discipline. In

my visits to this town, I could not but admire the gentle disposition

and compliance with divine regulations, displayed in a people bred in

woods and thickets. In a few years the town was increased by the

accession of Indians, won over by Fathers Antonio Planes, Thaddeus Emis,

a Bohemian, and Antonino Cortada, after arduous journeys amid pathless

wilds. This colony lies in latitude 24° 20´, and in longitude 321° 35´.

In 1767 it contained upwards of two thousand three hundred inhabitants,

who had formerly wandered over those woods, where the Spaniards gather

the herb of Paraguay. So that from the towns of St. Joachim and St.

Stanislaus, a lucrative trade is opened to the whole province by the

removal of the savages; since which the Spaniards can fearlessly

traverse the woods that produce the herb in question.

In confirmation of this, I will cite a remarkable instance. The remote

forest of Mbaeverà abounds in the trees of the leaves of which the herb

of Paraguay is made. To prepare this, a multitude of Spaniards, with the

necessary oxen, horses, and mules, are sent from the city of Asumpcion.

The forest through which their journey lay, a tract blocked up with

mingled trees and reeds, and impeded with twenty-six rivers, and as many

long marshes, is full eighty leagues in extent, in which space you will

rarely find ten paces of plain land. To render this passable, it was

requisite to fell trees, to throw bridges over the rivers, to give the

marshes consistence with bundles of boughs, and to level the

declivities. When these things had been effected with equal labour and

expense, huts were required to receive the Spaniards, hedges to inclose

the beasts, and a frame work formed of stakes partly driven into the

ground, partly laid cross-wise, to roast the leaves on. The necessary

preparations made, the Spaniards were sent to the woods where the leaves

were gathered. But their superintendant Vilalba lit upon a hovel, which,

though empty, evidently belonged to the savages. Struck with the

unexpected occurrence, he hastened to his companions with the news,

which instigated them to immediate flight, and to think of saving their

lives instead of gathering the herb of Paraguay. Nor do I, on this

account, think them to be accused of cowardice or sloth. For in seeking

the trees from which they lopped the branches, they did not traverse the

woods in one body, but separately, and when they returned home, they

were loaded with burthens. Moreover from carrying no weapon but the

knife they used, they were always undefended from the assault of the

savages. Abandoning therefore the business on which they had come, they

returned to the city on their mules and horses. Vilalba, quitting his

associates, turned aside to the city of St. Joachim, and related to the

Fathers what he had seen and done, conjuring them to endeavour by every

possible means to bring the savages to their town. The Fathers readily

began the attempt. But, perceiving themselves unequal to such a journey,

dispatched a chosen band of Indians, under the conduct of Vilalba, to

search out the savages, and sound their inclinations. After some days,

having imprudently consumed their provisions, they turned back before

they had even approached the station, which the Indians were supposed to

hold. So that the glory of finding these savages was reserved to the

author of this work.

Some years after, I was sent by the superior to the city of St. Joachim.

The rumour concerning the Indians of Mbaeverà continued to spread, and

with it the fear of the Spaniards, who durst not even approach the

woods, which promised so abundant an harvest of the herb of Paraguay.

Under the conduct of Vilalba, I set out with five and twenty Indians,

through marshes and rivers. The bridges and other aids, prepared to

secure the passage of the Spaniards, had long perished. Every obstacle

however being overcome, we arrived at the place in question, and

discovered the remains of the savage hut. The bones of apes, boars, and

antas, a wooden mortar, a few grains of maize, and other things of this

kind, were discovered there; a path leading to the river side, well trod

with the naked feet of the Indians, was also visible; but not a single

recent vestige could we any where detect, though for many days we

attentively searched both the neighbouring woods, and the banks of the

river Acaraỹ. After having traversed the mournful solitude eighteen

days, and suffered what neither I can describe nor my reader credit, as

no hope remained of finding the Indians, we returned to the town, the

improvement of our patience being our only recompense. I walked the

whole way, and often barefoot. Had I turned ever so little from the east

to the south, we should have found the habitations of the savages, as

was proved to me the following year. The Spaniards, being made

acquainted with my diligent search of the forest of Mbaeverà, persuaded

themselves that the savages had migrated elsewhere, and accordingly set

out thither in great numbers. But, lo! in the course of their business,

they perceived the savages dropping in upon them one after another.

Conciliated by familiar discourse, and presents of beef and other

trifles, they seemed to entertain no hostile sentiments, but visited the

dwellings of the Spaniards in friendly guise. To enquiries concerning

their place of abode, they replied that it was at a great distance, and

could only be approached by crossing many marshes; a cunning answer,

dictated by their fears for themselves and their wives, if visited by

the Spaniards. Lest their footsteps should betray their resorts, in

returning home they practised the following artifice: if they went by a

southern, they returned by a northern road, and contrariwise, so that

the Spaniards could not form an idea of the place where they lurked. And

thus the savages and Spaniards suspected one other, and their mutual

distrust increased every day.

Vilalba, alarmed for his own safety, informed me how matters stood, and

assured me of success in discovering the savages if I would only renew

the attempt. I undertook the journey without delay. But scarcely had two

days elapsed, when all the rain in heaven seemed combined to overwhelm

us, and after eight days of misery, compelled us to return, from the

certainty of still greater wretchedness, if we proceeded. Twenty days

the obstinate rain continued, yet we did not think our business

desperate, and on returning to the town, I impatiently awaited an

opportunity of renewing it. Not long after, I undertook a third

expedition, which proved successful. At length I reached my post,

discovering three tolerably populous hordes, over whom presided as many

caciques; Roy, Tupanchichù, and Veraripochiritù. The first hut we met

with was built of palms, interwoven with dry grass, opening by eight

doors and containing sixty inhabitants. Here and there hung nets which

are used both to sleep and sit in. Each family has its own fire, on the

hearth around which stand a multitude of pots, gourds, and mugs. They

are generally handsome, particularly the youths; from never being

exposed to the sun their faces are fair. The males of every age shave

their heads, a circle of hair being left on the crown. At seven years

old they have their under lip pierced, and insert a reed of the

thickness of a quill into the hole. All of whatever sex or age hang a

common triangular shell in their ears. The men go almost naked, wearing

nothing but a narrow girdle round their loins, but the women are covered

from head to foot, with a white garment manufactured from the bark of

the Pinò. These savages ornament their heads with crowns of long parrot

feathers, disposed with considerable elegance. Their arms consist of

barbed arrows, with which they shoot even little birds on the wing with

great dexterity. They maintain themselves and their families by the

chase. They often lurk in thickets, for the purpose of shooting or

ensnaring antas, which they inveigle by a skilful imitation of their

bray; nor are they wholly averse from agriculture. In these woods there

is an amazing produce of maize, and other fruits, as also of tobacco. On

going to bed they put their pots full of flesh or vegetables on the

fire, that their breakfasts may be ready when they awake: for at

earliest dawn, the males, from seven years old and upwards, traverse the

woods with a bundle of darts, in search of that game, on which they must

subsist for the day. The mothers put their babies in wicker baskets, and

carry them on their shoulders, when they travel in the woods. From the

hives with which the trees abound, they collect quantities of most

excellent honey, serving both for meat and drink. Their name for God, in

the Guarany tongue, is _Tupà_, but of that God and his commandments,

they care little to know. They are as ignorant of the worship of idols,

as they are of the Supreme being. The spirit of evil they call Aña or

Añanga, but they pay him no adoration. The magicians, or more properly

imposters, who arrogate to themselves full power of warding and

inflicting disease and death, of predicting future events, of raising

floods and tempests, of transforming themselves into tigers, and

performing I know not what other preternatural feats, they religiously

venerate. Like other Americans, they think polygamy allowable, but

rarely avail themselves of the license: from which circumstance,

repudiation is frequent among them. Marriage with the most distant

relations they shun as highly criminal. They inclose their dead in large

vessels of clay, according to an old Guarany rite. What their fate after

this life may be, they never trouble themselves to enquire. They do not

feed on human flesh to my knowledge, though the neighbouring Indians

reckon it a delicacy. Every stranger whatsoever, Indian, Spaniard, or

Portugueze, they suspect of hostile intentions, and receive in arms,

believing every other race their enemies and designers on their freedom.

They harboured the same suspicion with regard to me and my Indian

comrades, when they saw us coming.

The first whom we discovered in the woods was a fine young man holding a

bird like our pheasants, expiring in his hand. I approached the

astonished youth, complimented him upon his singular skill in archery,

and, as gifts prevail more with the Indians than fine words, presented

him with a piece of roast meat, which he devoured with all the avidity

of hunger. This unexpected breakfast dissipated the alarm which the

sudden appearance of strangers had excited. His name was _Arapotiyu_, or

the morning: for in the Guarany tongue _ara_ signifies _day_, _poti_ the

_flower_, and _yu_ whatever is _yellow_ or _golden_; so that by the

golden flower of day they express the morning. And from this _morning_

we discovered that the _sun_, Captain Roy, the principal cacique of the

vicinity, was the youth's father. For whatever questions I put to him,

he quietly answered, and said, that his father was occupied in hunting,

not far distant. "Come then," said I, joyfully, "conduct us to him as

quickly as possible." To this the youth willingly assented, keeping

close to my side the whole way. Having proceeded through the woods for

the space of an hour, we beheld an emaciated old man, armed with an

immense knife, and creeping at a snail's pace, accompanied by two youths

(his son and a captive) furnished with a bundle of arrows. The Indian

Christians who were with us bent their bows and the points of their

arrows to the ground, to testify friendship, on approaching him; one of

the more aged of my companions kissed the left cheek of the cacique, as

a sign of peace, and explaining the reason of our coming, said, "God

save thee, brother! See, we are come to visit you as friends, for we

think you akin to us. And this father-priest, whom we attend, is the

minister of God himself. He teaches us, feeds us, clothes and tenderly

loves us; for when he buries our dead, wrapped in a white cloth, he

chaunts over us." My Indian would have spoken more, but the old man

interrupted him with an ironical and angry exclamation of _Hindo!_

repeated several times. He vehemently denied that any relationship

existed between them, and regarded us with the most wrathful aspect,

supposing us to be Spanish or Brazilian Portugueze Indian-hunters. Then

addressing himself to me, he angrily said, "You are come in vain,

father-priest: we don't want a father-priest. St. Thomas long ago prayed

enough for our land. All kind of fruits grow in plenty here." For the

rude savage thought the presence of a priest useful only in procuring

fertility to the soil. "Granting," I replied, "that St. Thomas was

formerly in your territories, yet whatever he taught your ancestors of

the Supreme Deity and his laws has long since escaped your memories. I

am ready to repeat his instructions. But, bless me, good old man, why do

we stand talking in the mud? why don't we sit down on the trunk of the

tree, which is out of the swamp?" Accordingly we sat down, and I

detailed to him the occasion and the hardships of my long journey. To

win the good-will of the surly old man, I ordered a choice piece of

roast meat to be brought him, which he greedily seized and devoured. His

hunger appeased, his jealous mind began to soften, and I tried all ways

to find an entrance to his heart. To this end, I offered him some snuff,

but pushing it from him with both hands, he answered, "_Aquihiye_," I

fear it, supposing it magical powder, possessed of the power of

charming. I then opened to him my design of visiting his horde, but he

argued it to be impossible. "My residence," says he, "is very far

distant from hence. Three rivers, as many marshes, and the worst

possible roads intervene." "By this argument," answered I, "you can

never divert me from my purpose, who, after a journey of so many days,

have succeeded in overcoming so many rivers and marshes, and such

woods." "But you must know," opposed the old man, "that my health is not

very good, and that I feel myself unequal to the journey." "I can easily

believe that," was my answer, "when I am daily made sensible of my own

ailments. And no wonder: the badness of the weather, the copious rains,

the wet forest, the muddy roads, the long marsh, which I crossed up to

the knees in water, the steep mountains which I ascended, the want of

food, and the continued walking from day-break till past mid-day, how

could they fail to produce ill health? But though we are thus

debilitated, yet I think we have strength enough left to carry us to

your home, where we can rest ourselves. We will take it easily: let

those who are stouter go before; we that are infirm will follow slowly

after." "You would keep away from my dwelling," answered the old man,

"if you knew the peril that awaits you there. My countrymen are of an

evil disposition; they want to slay, slay, slay all strangers." "Though

your countrymen," answered I, laughing, "resemble your portrait ever so

accurately, I need feel no apprehension on that account. With you, the

terror of the vicinity far and near, with one so illustrious for valour

and great deeds as you, for our friend and protector, what mortal durst

attempt to injure us? With you at our side we will fear nothing." By

this apparent confidence, by these praises, I won the old man's heart,

and found him my friend. In a cheerful tone, he exclaims "It is well!"

and orders the two youths to hasten home forthwith. "Tell our

countrymen," says he, "that a father-priest is here, who makes much of

me, and a company of Indians who affirm that they are of our blood.

Charge the women not to be frightened at the stranger's approach, but to

sweep the house diligently, according to my particular desire." About

sweeping the house, thought I to myself, I care little; but that the

savages might possibly take it into their heads to discharge all their

quivers of arrows upon us, that was indeed a reflexion that disturbed me

not a little.

Away went the messengers like the wind. The old cacique and I pursued

their footsteps at a slower pace, beguiling the inclemency of the

weather and the asperities of the journey by familiar conversation; and

whilst the majority of Europeans were feasting luxuriously, (for it was

the third day of the carnival,) _we_, sitting on the margin of a river,

restored our exhausted strength by a draught of cold water. About

sun-set, the vast hut I described appeared in view. A crowd of the

natives, fitted out with bows and arrows, and crowned with parrots'

feathers, attended our arrival and addressed us with the usual

salutation _Ereyupa_, Now thou art come: to which I returned the

accustomed _Ayù anga_, Now I am come. One of them approached me, and, as

if angry with himself for having forgotten his crown, ran back for it,

and returned with it on to greet me. As I was standing with some of my

companions at the door of the house, there arose a mighty trepidation

amongst the women and children. "There is nothing at all to be afraid

of, dear sisters," said the eldest of my Indians. "You see before you

your relations, the descendants of your ancestors. Not one of us

harbours an evil thought towards you. I am the chief and director of

them all." "What the old man has told you," said I, "is perfectly true.

No one present is evilly disposed towards you but myself. I am a

terrible fellow; for" (putting on a fierce countenance and uttering a

hiss) "at one mouthful I intend to devour two or three children." This

pleasantry changed all their terror into laughter. The women returned to

their stations, and with one accord entreated me to enter the house.

"You will never persuade me to that," replied I. "I see you have dogs

and whelps amongst you, and where dogs are there must fleas be also: now

there is nothing I dread so much as fleas, because they are disturbers

of sleep, which, after the fatigues of a long journey, I feel myself

sorely in want of. But I will not go far from your residence. In this

open spot, where I may see and be seen by all, I am resolved to station

myself." And truly, for the sake both of decorum and security, I spent

three days and nights in the open air, though the weather was

occasionally rainy.

The same evening I hinted to the Cacique Roy, that I wished to see all

the inhabitants of the place assembled in one spot, that I might address

them, and present them with suitable gifts. My wishes were immediately

gratified. They sat around me in such modesty and silence that I seemed

to behold statues instead of men. To awaken their attention I played for

some time on the viol d'amour. Now, though I think myself the very worst

of musicians, yet in these woods I was pronounced an Orpheus by my

auditors, who had never heard a better or a worse performer than myself,

or indeed any other music whatever, except that which they produce with

rattling gourds together. I then addressed the assembly to the following

effect: "I do not repent the long journey I have taken, the rivers and

marshes I have crossed, the troubles which I have undergone, now that I

see you well and kindly disposed towards me. My errand is to render you

happy; your friend I am in all sincerity. Suffer me then to declare

candidly what I feel with respect to you. I lament and pity your lot,

which has buried you amid the shades of woods, ignorant alike of the

beauties of the world and of God their creator. I know you pronounce the

name of God; but how he must be worshipped, what he forbids, what he

ordains, what he promises to the good, and what threatens to the evil,

that ye know not: nor, unless taught by a priest, can ye ever learn it,

miserable while ye live, and most miserable hereafter when ye die." Here

I briefly explained the principal heads of religion with what plainness

I could. As I discussed these things, they all listened very

attentively, except that the boys laughed a little when I made mention

of hell fire. The old man also, when he heard from me that marriage with

relations was forbidden, exclaimed, "Thou sayest well, father; such

marriages are abominable, but this we know already." From which I

discovered that incestuous connexions seemed more execrable to these

savages than murder or robbery. Just as I was about to finish my speech,

I eyed the congregation more attentively, and cried out, like one

astounded, "Alas! in all this numerous assembly I see very, very few of

an advanced age; but the reason is manifest. The daily miseries which

surround you ruin your constitutions, and bring on a premature death.

With naked limbs you daily suffer the injuries of the weather. Your

roofs, pervious to every wind, how little do they defend you! Whole days

you traverse the woods like famished wild beasts, the chase at last

often fruitless, your subsistence fortuitous, what wonder then if

continual solicitude about your maintenance harasses your minds? Not to

mention the constant risk to which your lives are exposed from the claws

of tigers, the bites of serpents, and the weapons and teeth of enemies.

Nay, setting aside these things, a soil always damp, as I find yours to

be, swarming with gnats and other insects, must unquestionably prove the

nursery of diseases. And what hope can the invalid entertain of

recovering his health in this your solitude, far from medicine or

medical advice? For those whom you call physicians are impostors, fitter

for cheating than curing you. From such inconveniences and perils, the

Indians your brothers are almost free, who, assembled in one town,

conform their lives to the commandments of God and the regulations of

the priests. How many old men might you meet with there! Nor need you

wonder that the majority extend their lives to the extremity of age,

when such and so many assistances are supplied them in the city, of the

highest efficacy in prolonging life. In the town separate dwellings are

marked out for each, not indeed always the most splendid, but fortified

against the vicissitudes of the weather. A suitable portion of beef is

every day awarded gratuitously to each. With corn, fruit and vegetables

they are commonly well enough supplied from their own land. Every year

new clothes are distributed to each. Knives, axes, glass-beads, and

similar ornaments, are given as presents. Skilful physicians are night

and day in attendance on the sick, who carefully provide them with food

prepared in the father's dwelling, and with fit medicine, as occasion

requires. If any of you think I have made a greater boast of these

things than truth warrants, see before you stand Indian Christians, your

brothers, and my companions and clients, of whom the greater part were

born and brought up in woods like yourselves, and now, for many years

back, have lived under my authority in St. Joachim. Cast your eyes on

their garments. Enquire from them the mode of life which exists amongst

us. You will quickly learn that they are contented with their lot, and

think themselves most happy in every point of view. They have been what

you are now; and you have it in your power to be what they now are. Do

not deny yourselves this felicity. Consider whether it be expedient to

immure yourselves in dusky woods, the prey of successive calamities, and

final death. It rests with you to act conformably to my good

instructions. With open arms we will receive you as friends receive

friends, and without delay make you our fellow townsmen. To propose this

to you, and persuade you to accept it, I have taken a long and, as you

know yourselves, a most difficult journey, urged by my love and yearning

towards you;—but no more need be said on this subject."

To add weight to my oration, I presented each of my auditors with

trifling gifts,—little knives, scissors, hooks, axes, mirrors, rings,

ear-rings, and necklaces of glass-beads. I seemed to have borne down all

before me, because I had mingled my oration with a copious largess. For

it passes belief with what significations of joy and good-will towards

me, on the breaking up of the assembly, each retired to his quarters. In

a little while, Cacique Roy, to testify his gratitude, offered me some

loaves, prepared, he said, on my account, by his old wife. These loaves

were round, made of maize, thin, baked under the hot ashes, which they

resembled in colour, and, in a word, so disagreeable that their very

sight would disgust the most hungry European. Nevertheless, to temporize

as much as might be, I praised the skill of the baker, and their great

disposition to gratify me; and taking them in one hand, returned them

pleasantly with the other, adding, that it would please me highly if his

children would feast on these dainties to celebrate my arrival. The old

man approved my counsel, and took back the loaves with the same joy as

he had brought them. Strangers must indeed be cautious how they receive

food offered by savages, who are very skilful in mixing it with poison,

and though officious, always to be feared, as regarding other tribes

with an hostile eye. Cacique Roy had a little house for himself and

family separate from the rest; yet during the three days we spent with

them, he passed the night in that vast dwelling I have named, whether

anxious for the safety of his own subjects or of us, I know not. We

spent our nights in the open air in the middle of the dwellings of the

savages. I cautioned my men to sleep and watch by turns, lest we should

be surprised in our sleep by the designs of many. But there was not a

symptom or occasion of fear on either side, though the suspicion of

danger never left us. On the following day, I sent four chosen men of my

associates, with Arapotiyu, to slaughter an ox, which I had left at a

distance, and bring its flesh to make a feast for the savages. Nothing

could have been devised better calculated to raise their spirits; for

the Americans never rejoice with more heartfelt glee, nor pay a more

prompt obedience, than when their stomachs are full of beef. The Cacique

had a pleasure in spending many hours of the day in familiar

conversation with me. He told me ingenuously, that both he and his

distrusted the Spaniards and Portugueze in every thing. To conciliate

therefore his confidence and good-will towards me, I declared that I was

neither a Spaniard nor a Portugueze. Which circumstance being strongly

urged by me, the Cacique told all his hordesmen that I was neither of

Spanish nor Portugueze extraction, which had the utmost effect in

tightening the new chain of friendship and good-will towards me which

bound their savage minds. I must here relate a circumstance which I

cannot write without a blush, nor can it, I think, be read without a

smile. As the Cacique was smoking tobacco through a reed, he opened at

once his intentions and his ignorance to my Indians who were sitting

with him. "I have conceived an affection," says he, "for our father,

seeing for certain that he is not a Spaniard, and should like to enjoy

his company as long as I live. Now I have a daughter, the prettiest girl

in the world, and I am resolved to marry her to the father, that he may

always stay in our family. This intention I have just broke to my wife,

and she is of the same mind as myself." On hearing this foolish speech

of the old man's, my Indians could not refrain from laughing; and being

asked the cause, replied, "that the fathers always live celibate, and

are interdicted from marriage by the most sacred law." The old man was

thunderstruck; "_An eyrae!_" he exclaimed, with his tobacco reed

suspended in the air, "what strange thing is this you tell me?" His

astonishment was mingled with sighs, for he grieved that he could not

accomplish his wishes. This ridiculous conversation I overheard walking

behind among the trees, but dissembling my knowledge, asked my Indians,

what the sudden laugh meant; but they were ashamed to repeat to me the

Cacique's absurd proposal, and blushing held their peace. It is

observable amongst the Guarany Indians, that if many are asked at once,

no one answers. I therefore asked one of them separately, who related to

me the whole conversation. I thanked the Cacique for his kind intentions

towards me, and told him that I and all priests professed that kind of

life which excludes wedlock altogether; but that though I could not be

his son-in-law, he should always find me his most sincere friend, and,

if he wished it, his companion and instructor in Christianity. When he

had heard this he redoubled his astonishment and his declarations of

affection.

Immediately on my entering the savage horde the preceding day, I had

asked them to despatch messengers to acquaint the neighbouring Caciques

of our arrival, and exhort them to visit us there. The next day about

noon the armed savages arrived in great numbers with their families. Two

Caciques led the troop. The first, who was called Veraripochiritù,

equalled in height and fullness of body the length of his name, a man

remarkable for nothing but gentleness and docility. His son, a handsome

boy of ten years old, had all his face painted with small black stars.

"You think," said I, "to adorn your face with these stars, but you have

disfigured it most wretchedly. Come, behold yourself in this mirror."

Having looked at his face a little while, he hastened to some water to

wash it, and he, who with his naked limbs, had just before come to me a

perfect Pyracmon, when he had wiped off the soot, seemed transformed

into a Daphnis. I presented them all with the accustomed trifles,

conversed familiarly with each, and very frequently with their Cacique

Veraripochiritù, whom I found particularly disposed to our worship. The

other Cacique, who appeared with his troop, was Tupanchichù, a man

scarce forty years old, handsome and well made, but destitute of that

fairness of face and candour of mind which the others boasted. Arrogant,

crafty, and designing; under a placid countenance and a perilous suavity

of speech, he contrived to cover his cherished purpose of slaying us,

which was, however, discovered by others. On coming up he seated himself

with me, and demanded, in an imperative tone, a portion of the herb of

Paraguay. Some friendly interrogations having passed on both sides, I

seized a favourable opportunity of discoursing on the Deity. "We already

know," he observed, "that there is some one who dwells in heaven." To

this I returned, "that God was the supreme creator and ruler; that he

was a tender loving father, most worthy of our hearts and adorations;

that it behoved them long ago to have known and understood what pleased

and what displeased him." "Tell me, I pray you," said he, "what _does_

displease God." "He abhors," I rejoined, "and terribly punishes

adulteries, uncleannesses, lies, calumnies, thefts, homicides." "What,"

he enquired, interrupting me, with a haughty look, "does not God permit

us to slay our enemies? Should we be such fools as not to defend

ourselves against those that seek our lives? Such has been my custom if

any one threatened mine." I endeavoured to convince the fanatical

casuist of his error, and to instil into him a horror of human

slaughter, with what success I know not. At that time I learnt from good

authority, that this barbarous Cacique, who was feared by the whole

neighbourhood as a formidable juggler, displayed in his tent an heap of

sculls, whose former possessors he had taken off, partly by poison

partly by violence.

At last the Caciques made a final resolve, and entreated me to get a

colony founded for them in their native land, like those which the other

Indian Christians had obtained. I consented to their wishes with the

more pleasure, from perceiving the opportunities of seeking out other

savages in the remoter forests, which a settlement in the woods of

Mbaeverà would afford. Tupanchichù, though averse to the worship of

Christ, durst not oppose the other two Caciques, men of more weight than

himself as well from their age, as from the number of their adherents.

He cunningly therefore pretended to assent, that he might the more

certainly overturn the design of founding a colony. After having spent

three days with them, I told them all that I intended to depart the next

day, but that when I had procured cattle, and other necessaries for

building and preserving the town, I would immediately return. To testify

their good-will the Caciques made their sons accompany me to my town.

The hypocritical Tupanchichù having no son grown up, associated with me

his wife's brother, a youth of surpassing comeliness. Four sons of

Cacique Roy came with me; Arapotiyu, the eldest, Avarendi, the second,

and two who were yet boys; Gatò, a young captive of the Cacique's, also

attended us. To these were added some married men, so that, altogether,

eighteen savages accompanied us on our way. The Spaniards, whom we met

advancing, when they saw me accompanied by so many naked savages, armed

with bundles of arrows, and adorned with crowns of parrot feathers,

after their first panic had subsided, paid me liberal applauses and

congratulations. Finally we entered St. Joachim in triumph, and were

hailed by the festive acclamations of the inhabitants. Our Indian guests

were liberally treated, clothed, and largely gifted with knives, axes,

glass-beads, and other trifles. After resting fourteen days they were

sent back to their woods, attended by some of my Indians, Arapotiyu

excepted. This youth, from the time when he first met me, would never

suffer himself to be separated from my side. Having for some months

tried his constancy and his acquaintance with every thing pertaining to

Christian worship, I baptized, and, not long after, united him in

marriage, according to the Christian rites. Though a new inhabitant of

our city he surpassed in every kind of virtue, and he might have been

taken for an old disciple of Christianity. His lamentations knew no end,

when by the royal summons we were recalled to Europe, amid the tears of

all the Indian colonies. The captive Gatò also remained with us in the

city fully contented with his situation, and behaving so well that his

conduct obtained him baptism and Christian wedlock. But not many months

after he died of a slow disease.

Our Indians, returning from the woods of Mbaeverà, brought news that the

quinsy was raging among the savages; that the jugglers, especially

Tupanchichù, endeavoured to persuade the ignorant multitude that this

pest was introduced by us, in order to inspire them with a hatred of the

Christians. I immediately despatched letters to my provincial, in which

I informed him of my journey, the savages I had discovered, and the

intended foundation of a settlement. He approved my design, and when my

return to the savages drew near, supplied my room in the town of St.

Joachim with another father. The royal governour, also, D. Joseph

Martinez Fontes, was made acquainted with what had been done and what

was further intended, and requested to invest me with the power of

founding the colony. But, alas! the devil interrupted this prosperous

course of affairs, by means of two of his agents, the inhuman

Tupanchichù and an opulent Spaniard. Attend and shudder at the detail of

their villainy. An unexpected messenger arrives from Mbaeverà with the

news that Cacique Roy had died of eating poisoned potatoes, administered

by Tupanchichù, who, not content with the murder of the old Cacique, had

attempted the life of his widow, that he might possess himself of the

knives and other iron implements which her husband had left. This woman,

despairing of safety in the forest, betook herself to the town with her

family. The mother having been well instructed in the rudiments of the

Christian doctrine, was baptized on the same day with her eight children

and a single captive, to the great comfort of the by-standers;—as for

_me_, my joy can scarcely be conceived. Though the iniquitous deed of

Tupanchichù is worthy of universal execration, yet still more detestable

appears the memory of that man who, actuated by the base desire of

self-aggrandizement, dared to frustrate the colony we had in agitation.

This man, a Paraguayrian, but not of Spanish extraction, having amassed

great riches, principally from trading in the herb of Paraguay, required

a multitude of slaves to manage his concerns; and when he understood

that numerous hordes of savages were discovered by me in the woods of

Mbaeverà, and that a colony was to be built there, he conceived a design

of transferring these savages, by some means or other, to his estate

that he might use them instead of negroes who stood him at a great

price. To this end, he selected men, versed in the Guarany tongue, to

persuade the savages to that which he desired, directing them to gain

over, with large presents, whomsoever words failed of affecting. These

arts they put in practice, but without prevailing on a single man. And

truly it was madness to expect it of the wood Indians, who, from the

dread of slavery, shun the neighbourhood, yea the very shadow of the

Spaniards; and who, now that their settlement had been thoroughly

explored, began to despair of their safety—to fear lest that Spaniard,

whose service they were unwilling to embrace, should sometime despatch

an armed troop of soldiers to drive them into slavery and exile. This

danger being daily and nightly before their eyes, they at length

resolved to change their quarters and seek a retreat as distant as

possible from their present abode, and accordingly, having burnt their

hovels to ashes, they all migrated like runaways rather than travellers.