OF THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE ABIPONES IN THE LANDS
BELONGING TO THE CITY OF CORRIENTES.
The city Corrientes is situated towards the East, on the shore where the
rivers Parana and Paraguay are united. I have mentioned this and many
other remarkable circumstances respecting the city Corrientes, in the
Introductory book. The Royal Vice-Governour of the city has some
colonies of Spaniards and Indians under his authority, in an extensive
and fertile territory; though he can scarcely raise three hundred
colonists able to bear arms; who would be quite unequal to repulsing the
savages, did not their military valour compensate for the want of
numbers. For many years they have had to contend with the Payaguas, who
practise piracy, with the Charruas, equestrian savages, and in Chaco
towards the West, with the Abipones, Mocobios, Tobas, and Guaycurùs. The
Abipones, called Yaaukanigas, roam over the opposite shore, being only
separated from the city by the river Parana, which, however, proves no
obstacle to their access; for though it is of a great width, they easily
swim across it, in the very sight of the city. Allured by this facility,
it is incredible with what frequent incursions they ravaged the
territories of Corrientes. It is true, that, in former times, they had
for a short time maintained peace with that city, in order that they
might there exchange the spoils collected from the other Spanish
colonies, for necessary articles. These being their dispositions, they
were kindly received in their frequent visits by the inhabitants, and
even entertained as guests by the Vice-Governour. Of the number of the
Abiponian guests was the Cacique Chilome, who, for some unknown cause,
went privily, in the dead of the night, to the house of the
Vice-Governour; which afforded the Spaniards occasion to suspect, that
the savages were meditating to surprize the city, and that they were
waiting for supplies on the opposite bank of the river to aid them in
executing their project. This report being spread, all the people
assembled. The Cacique and his companions were slain that night, by the
terrified and tumultuous throng. This murder was the occasion of much
bloodshed, and the beginning of a most furious war.
The Abipones, when informed of this deed of the Spaniards, exclaimed
that Chilome was unjustly slain, swore to avenge so great an injury, and
did in effect employ all their strength, anger, and cunning in punishing
the inhabitants of Corrientes, having called to their assistance the
Mocobios and Tobas. The citizens passed few weeks without slaughters,
not a day without alarms. Stricken with the fear of death, they grew
weary of a life they knew not how to preserve, the calamity growing
heavier day by day, inasmuch as fewer soldiers remained, numbers being
slain in daily skirmishes with the enemy. The miserable remnant, struck
with consternation at the fate of their comrades, became readier to fly
the savages, than to put them to flight. The whole country was filled
with perturbation and slaughter. The estates and settlements near the
Parana frequently suffered from the fury and rapacity of the enemy. The
little town of Sta. Lucia is about fifty leagues distant from the city,
and inhabited by a few unwarlike Indians; in consequence of which it was
incessantly molested by the savages. An Indian messenger came from that
town and informed the Vice-Governour Ceballos, that the track of the
Abiponian spies had been discovered there. Ceballos, to prevent all
danger of a hostile inroad, sets off for that place with a troop of
horse. When arrived at the spot called _Las Lagunas_, he receives
letters from the curate of Sta. Lucia, informing him that all things are
safe and tranquil at present; upon which he begins to think of returning
to the city. But at this conjuncture, a Spanish horseman, who had just
escaped from captivity amongst the Abipones, arrives with news that on
the neighbouring shore, and almost in sight, is the populous horde of
the Cacique Ychamenraikin, who had lately gone with his Abipones to
plunder Cordoba; that none were left at home but the women and children,
who were only guarded by a few old men; and that this numerous horde
might be safely attacked, and easily taken. Ceballos thought that this
opportunity of a successful enterprize was to be embraced with both
hands, although many of the soldiers condemned his resolution, and even
turned their backs. They said that a captive deserter was not a person
to be rashly trusted; that they, who were few in number and in a hostile
land, might perhaps be overwhelmed by a multitude of lurking savages;
and that a victory bought at so great a risk was by no means desirable.
But Ceballos, despising the murmurs of the soldiery, eagerly hastened
the expedition, and ordered skiffs to be brought for passing the Parana,
where it unites with the Paraguay. The fugitive acting as guide, in a
few hours the vast company of savages was discovered, and surrounded by
the soldiers. The mothers were taken with their children, or cut to
pieces whilst attempting flight, or struggling with the foe; there were
many indeed, who eluded the Spaniards by cunning or swiftness, which was
by no means difficult in those rugged roads. The booty consisted of
numerous droves of horses, and various household utensils of silver,
which the Abipones had formerly taken from the Spaniards. The soldiers,
returning to the city with a vast crowd of captives, filled the
inhabitants with joy and wonder. It is difficult to say the exact number
of those who were taken, of every age and sex, but I think it amounted
to several hundreds. The wife of the Cacique himself, and his little son
Kieemkè, graced the triumph of the soldiers. Raachik, the grandson of
the same Cacique, escaped by the way on his swift horse, through the
negligence of the soldier appointed to guard him, and returned to his
own country. Some of the captives were sent to the remoter towns of the
Uruguay and Parana, that, being deprived of all hope of a return to
their friends, they might be instructed in the Catholic faith amongst
the Christian Guaranies.
The success of this expedition, though it ought to have obtained glory
for its author, Ceballos, served only to procure him the envy of his
fellow-citizens, and, in the end, banishment. He was persecuted by the
people of Corrientes to such a degree that he was obliged to quit the
city, and sail with his family to the port of Sta. Fè. Do not confound
this man with Pedro Ceballos, Governour of Buenos-Ayres, for no
relationship exists between them, either of family or of country. After
the departure of this excellent man from Corrientes, the affairs of the
inhabitants grew daily more desperate. When Ychamenraikin understood, on
his return from Cordoba, that so many women and children, together with
his own wife and son, had been taken in his absence, he appeared quite
frantic. Infuriated by the loss, and by his eager desire of vengeance,
he called on all the nations of Chaco, whose friendship he could depend
upon, to avenge this deed of the Spaniards. Hostile troops were seen
traversing the plain as thick as locusts. The inhabitants were sought,
and dragged from their safest retreats to suffer death or captivity. All
the estates, villages, settlements and roads were besprinkled with the
blood of these wretches. I collect from the journals of that period,
that seventy or more were killed in one day. Such numbers of dead bodies
were carried in waggons from the country to the city, that heaps of them
were sometimes seen lying on each side of the parochial church, not
single bodies in single graves, but all thrown together into one deep
ditch. As in the remoter plains they could with difficulty find any to
slay, they besieged the city with such a force, and so large an army,
that for some days no one could depart from, or return to the city
without danger of losing his life. Whilst guard was kept by day and by
night, the faint-hearted crowd scarcely ever durst quit the churches,
where they besought the forgiveness of offended Heaven, and the
cessation of so heavy a calamity. The provisions already beginning to
fail, and no hope of liberation appearing, their minds lost all courage,
as their bodies all vigour. But at last the most merciful God seemed to
favour the prayers of the supplicants; for on the eighth day of the
siege the garrison made an eruption, which forced the Abipones to
retreat to their encampments beyond the Parana.
After the short truce allowed them by the departure of the enemy, the
people of Corrientes perceived that war was rekindling against them.
Fresh violence was used by the troops of the Abipones towards the
settlements and estates that were farthest from the city. Amongst them
was a place called _Rincon de_ _Luna_, till then thought inaccessible to
all assailants, because it was hemmed in on every side by deep and wide
marshes and ditches, and the Spaniards were forced to approach it by
means of a boat. The Abiponian horsemen swam across that sea. The place
contained many thousands of cattle, and a sufficient number of Negro
slaves to guard them, not one of whom escaped death or captivity, unless
he concealed himself from the eyes of the savages. More than twenty
youths were carried away, and a great number of the older men put to
death. The churches were spoiled of the sacred utensils. Four large
bells were taken away, and thrown into the water to prevent their being
found. An incredible multitude of horses and mules were driven off: in a
word, an estate inferior to none in opulence and security was, in the
space of a few hours, brought to ruin. The same fate befel almost all
the other estates of the Spaniards, which being now destitute of beef,
and the fruits of the earth having been consumed long ago, they began to
be at a loss for provisions. The scarcity of food daily increasing, they
resolved to desert their native city, and passing through the river, to
change their quarters, dreading death more than exile. Whilst the
savages continued to lay waste the territories of Corrientes, neither
the soldiers nor the captains were deficient in their duty. Bold
incursions were repeated against them, and many movements and attacks
made here and there. Spies were sent, day and night, to observe the
motions of the enemy: but what Argus could watch men whose greatest care
and dexterity were exerted to prevent themselves from being seen? The
Spaniards frequently attacked the savages, but with various success;
they were sometimes conquered, sometimes the conquerors. Ychoalay, the
leader of the Abipones, was, in some skirmish, entangled by the soldiers
in a noose used for catching horses, and would have been strangled had
he not quickly extricated himself. But I firmly assert, that the cause
of the fruitlessness of so many expeditions undertaken against the
savages originated, not in the cowardice of the Spaniards, but in their
boldness and intrepidity, blinded by which they were ignorant or
insensible of the dangers which threatened them, and judged vigilance
and swiftness unnecessary to their safety. The circumstance I am going
to relate will be a proof of this. A company of Spanish horse was placed
in a situation obnoxious to the enemy, as in an observatory. Whilst they
ought to have taken a complete survey of all things in the open plain,
they amused themselves with playing cards in the shade. Meantime a troop
of Abipones suddenly appears, and carries away, before their eyes, the
horses of the Spaniards, no one making any opposition. If thus they
eluded them whilst awake and watching, was it a matter of much
difficulty to slay and plunder them whilst asleep and without suspicion?
By the provident counsels of the elder Spaniards, estates and colonies
of Indians had been placed on the higher shores of the Parana; that from
them the enemies might be seen coming out of Chaco, and that the other
remoter settlers might, by this means, be admonished of the approaching
danger. The Parana, in these places, is often broken by little islands,
which, affording resting-places to the horses when they are fatigued
with swimming, offer the Abipones a very convenient passage. Hence, that
all sudden assaults might be prevented by the neighbourhood of the
settlers dwelling on the shore, Sta. Lucia, St. Iago Sanchez, Ohoma, and
Ytati, four townlets of the Indians, were formerly built on the banks of
the Parana, at intervals of some leagues. The Abipones, finding that
these colonies stood in the way of their clandestine journeys to the
interior parts of the province, resolved upon their destruction, and
their endeavours proved by no means fruitless. The town of St. Iago
Sanchez was at length ruined. Whilst the able-bodied Indians were
employed in cutting bulrushes, and a crowd of women, children, and old
men were listening to the preacher, the town and church were suddenly
besieged by the savages, and consumed by fire. Flight was impracticable:
the priest and the whole congregation were burnt to ashes. The
neighbouring townlet of Ohoma was annoyed by continual inroads, till the
inhabitants, fearing lest it should undergo the same fate, deserted it
of their own accord, and removed to safer places. Ytati was miserably
ravaged by the Payaguas, Abipones, and Mocobios, but recovered when
peace was made by the enemy; and is at this day rich in cattle, though
not in inhabitants. The colony of Sta. Lucia was assaulted for many
years, but never completely conquered, though the number of inhabitants
was incredibly thinned. As the circumference of it is very
inconsiderable, it is entirely surrounded by a slender wall, to which it
owes its security, as I was assured by the curate of the place. This man
had made use of two precautions for the defence of himself and his
fellow-citizens; he placed a high chamber on the top of his house,
whence he diligently watched the enemy advancing through the flat
country. He kept continually in readiness, moreover, a very small
warlike machine, by the explosion of which, he both signified to his
people, who were employed without the walls, that they should betake
themselves home, as danger was nigh, and at the same time deterred the
savages from approaching. Arriving at the town of St. Ferdinand, I was
asked by one of the Abipones, which way I had come, and on my replying
that I had passed through Sta. Lucia, "Alas!" said he, "that terrible
Father lives there. He makes use of a huge musket; (alluding to the
engine I have described.) Our horses could never support the thundering
sound it emits, whilst we have laboured to approach it." Had he been
candid, he would have added, that not the horses only, but also their
riders, were often put to flight by the noise of that machine.
Whilst this little town of Sta. Lucia remained in security, the other
towns and estates of the Spaniards were utterly ruined, being either
sacked by the enemy, or deserted by the Spaniards through fear of the
enemy. Therefore, whilst the country near the shore was entirely
divested of the dwellings of the Christians, the Abipones crossed the
Parana at their pleasure, and traversed the land, more like fixed
inhabitants, than occasional visitors. The Spanish scouts sent from the
city were generally eluded by the savages, and frequently slain by them.
But a troop of Spanish horse had remained for the defence of the estates
situated near the rivers Sombrero, Sombrerillo, Peguahò, and Riachuelo,
and of those nearer the city; they also served to guard the oxen brought
from those estates to support the city. Wherever you set your foot in
the surrounding fields, you may behold monuments of the cruelty of the
savages;—here the remains of dilapidated buildings;—there, numerous
crosses planted in the ground. If you enquire what those crosses mean,
you will hear that thirty, forty or more bodies of miserable wretches,
who were slain by the savages, were formerly buried there. They will
show you, in another place, a field sadly noted by the blood and dead
bodies of the Spaniards, who were slain in an unfortunate engagement
with the savages.
Another misery was added to the calamities of the city, namely, the want
of wood. The eastern shore of the Parana, which the city occupies, is
not entirely deficient in trees, which afford wood for fuel, but none
grow there supplying useful materials for building houses, ships, or
waggons. The western shore, however, abounds in such trees; but this
being the land of the Yaaukanigar Abipones, no Spaniard can approach it
without endangering his life. During the heat of the war, Father Joseph
Gaete, of our College, who at that time managed the domestic affairs of
the city, saw there was immediate occasion for a very long and firm
plank, to prop a house which was almost ready to fall. To procure this
with safety, he filled a ship fit to cross the river, with slaves, gave
them a guard of soldiers, and accompanied them himself. But scarce had
the trunk received a few blows from the axe, when the shouts of the
Abipones were heard. The Negroes and soldiers, awaiting neither the
arrival of the enemy, nor the Father's orders, left their tools,
clothes, and food, flew to the ship, and entirely forgetting the plank
which had been the object of their search, made for the opposite bank as
fast as possible, flying "the cruel coasts and greedy shore"; their safe
escape from which was reckoned amongst the blessings of their lives.
From these accounts you may guess in what a condition the affairs of
Corrientes then were. Upon the inhabitants of this city did the Abipones
pour forth their most unrelenting persecutions, because they were the
nearest and most hateful to them. Separated from the Corrientines by the
river Parana alone, they easily reiterated their incursions, attracted
to plunder by the short distance, and stimulated to revenge by the ever
fresh remembrance of the injuries they professed themselves to have
received. The peace concluded with the Abipones in the year 1747, and
the colonies founded for them, at length put an end to these long
calamities. By these means, also, the savages in Chaco were appeased, or
at least restrained, so that the Corrientines, after weathering this
furious storm, began at last to recover from their sufferings.