OF THE EXCURSIONS OF THE ABIPONES AGAINST THE
COLONIES OF ST. IAGO DEL ESTERO.
Long after the other colonies throughout Paraguay had been struggling
with the enemy, the country of St. Iago continued free from molestation
and totally unacquainted with the Abipones, and their powers; for these
savages had at that time discovered no way of approaching them; but at
last the inhabitants themselves were their instructors. They were in the
habit of going in troops out of their own country to the river Parana,
for the purpose of hunting the numerous stags which frequent its banks.
These hunters sometimes held familiar intercourse with the Abipones, and
sometimes, abusing their friendship, carried away their horses. The
savages, provoked by these injuries, pursued their footsteps when they
departed, and in this way first began to obtain a knowledge of the
province of St. Iago, and afterwards to disturb it with arms.
I have found all the Spaniards throughout Paraguay to be active,
intrepid, endowed with a handsome form, great strength, and a noble
disposition, agile in swimming, and remarkable for skill in
horsemanship; but I fearlessly assert that the St. Iagans are better
qualified than any of the rest to pursue the savages. Both themselves
and their horses are extremely patient of labour, travelling, and
inconveniences of every kind, and are satisfied with that food which is
most easily procured. On sudden expeditions against the savages they
make a composition of maize flour, preserved with honey or sugar: this,
mixed with water, is all their provisions, as it allays both hunger and
thirst; and in travelling with them I did not find it unpleasant,
especially when the weather was particularly hot, as it possesses an
excellent property of cooling the body, and quenching the thirst. The
soldiers use it to save time and labour, for neither wood nor fire are
required to cook this flour. When they dismount from their horses to
cross a lake or river, each man draws water for himself in a little horn
cup suspended by a string, and drinks it mixed with this flour, which
saves time, and enables them more conveniently to pursue the savages.
The Spaniards of Cordoba, Buenos-Ayres, and Sta. Fè, when they took a
journey on account of the Indians, used to drive before them whole
droves of horses and oxen. Whilst a soldier of St. Iago, with but one
horse, makes a journey of many days and even weeks, the former change
their horses frequently in one day, and consume a great deal of time in
catching and harnessing them. That fresh meat may be always in
readiness, they kill oxen every day, so that much of their time is spent
in cutting the flesh, roasting and eating it, and in seeking fuel for
the fire to cook it with. It is no wonder therefore that the slowly
pursuing Spaniards are almost always eluded by the savages who prosecute
their flight without interruption, and that the soldiers of St. Iago are
dreaded on account of their swiftness. Moreover the fires which the
other Spaniards kindle on the way are to be condemned, because the smoke
often betrays them to the Indians. When their flour is consumed, the
soldiers of St. Iago support themselves by the wild animals which they
hunt on the way. Few of them are furnished with muskets; their chief
arms are spears, which, though not of the best quality, are more
formidable to the savages than the fire-arms of others.
Another of their excellencies is a wonderful sagacity in exploring. None
are quicker than they at discovering the hidden retreats of the savages,
at finding any fugitive, whether it be man or beast, or at bringing back
any thing stolen. This quickness at exploring enabled them not only to
discover the savages, but to intimidate and overcome them in time of
war; for to discover the enemy, either whilst they are concealed in
their secret retreats, or contemplating a surprize, is a great part of
victory in America. This I learnt for certain, that the horsemen of St.
Iago, on account of their swiftness, and singular skill in exploring,
were more dreaded by the Abipones, and seldomer and more cautiously
attacked than the other Spaniards. St. Iago itself, from being
surrounded by lesser colonies, never suffered either danger or
molestation from the savages. The whole neighbourhood enjoyed the same
exemption; for a row of surrounding dwelling-houses, like little
fortifications, forbade all access to the savages, or at least rendered
it very dangerous. The storm of the war seems, for many years, to have
fallen on the territories that are washed by the river Salado, and on
those near Cordoba. The passage from Chaco to these places is easy, and
the outskirts of provinces are everywhere more liable to the incursions
of hostile nations. The Abipones frequently overran these territories
for the sake of plunder. Many were slain in the fields and houses, some
taken captive, and others robbed of their goods and cattle. How great
were the sufferings of Moppa and Salabina, old townlets of the Indians,
and the neighbouring places! In Manumo many were killed on the same day.
All the men being slain, a Mulatta woman snatched up a sword, and slew
an Abipon, but she was soon killed herself by the rest. The journey from
Sta. Fè to St. Iago was, at that time, most perilous. The ways were
strewed with the dead bodies of the Spaniards. Miguel de Luna, who,
though more remarkable for greatness of body than of mind, had been
promoted to the rank of camp-master, was returning from the estates of
Sta. Fè, accompanied by a great number of horses and oxen, which he had
purchased. Whilst reclining at noon, under the shade of a tree, he was
surprized by a company of Abipones and Mocobios. Of his companions some
were employed in catching the horses which had been let loose to
pasture, others in killing oxen. Some of the Spaniards were pierced by
the spears of the Abipones in the first attack: the rest were saved by
means of their horses' hoofs, leaving the cattle and baggage in the
hands of the enemy. Tinko, a man famous for his knowledge of ways and
tracks, caught hold of his master Miguel with both hands, and placing
him like a bundle on the crupper of his horse, galloped away so quickly
that Miguel had no time to seat himself in a proper position. The
servant and his master were pursued in their flight by a party of
savages, who kept endeavouring to wound them with spears, but none durst
approach for fear of the musket which hung suspended from Miguel's back,
though this musket was in such a condition that the enemy had little
occasion to fear it, nor could its owner expect it to yield a single
spark of fire. Many years after, I saw this noble pair of fugitives, as
well as that famous instrument of defence, at which I laughed heartily,
for it was hardly worthy of the name of musket.
The same road which had been the scene of these events became always
liable to the incursions of the savages, and proved fatal to many who
journeyed there. Alarcon, Las Tres Cruzes, La Viuda, Las Sepulturas, Don
Gil, Do[=n]a Lorenza, and other places near the river Salado, are wont
to inspire terror by recalling the memory of the numerous slaughters
perpetrated there. Throughout these extensive tracts of land, estates
once flourished opulent in cattle, which being laid waste by the
savages, a mournful solitude, opportune for plunderers, had succeeded.
Hence the road hanging over the river Salado was deserted by the St.
Iagans, who, for the sake of security, thought proper to frequent
another, named _El camino de los porongos_. But whilst they avoided
Charybdis they fell upon Scylla, for there the Abipones wandered in
troops, bearing destruction to all they met. One Barassa, and three
companions, as they were conveying merchandise on mules from the city of
Sta. Fè, were cruelly murdered in the field called _Los monigotes_,
whilst I was in Paraguay.
The slaughter of the Spaniards of St. Iago in the woods named Hierro,
was much more desperate. To give you some idea of the extent of it, a
little prefacing is necessary. To seek honey and wax in the woods, to
purify and prepare it, and to sell it to others, is the principal and
peculiar trade of the inhabitants of St. Iago. Slaves are sent for that
purpose by the more opulent, with a director, to the remotest woods,
where natural bee-hives are found in hollow trees. Cottages are built
for the labourers of boughs and straw, where there is a field close by,
and a good opportunity of getting water. They always keep a number of
horses and mules; the former for the purpose of travelling and hunting,
the latter for that of carrying burdens of provisions, wax, and honey.
They are all extremely solicitous to have in readiness very swift
horses, with which they daily sally forth to hunt wild animals, the
flesh of which they use for food, and the skins for bags to hold the
honey. Whilst the rest wander through the wood, their director boils the
wax collected the day before, and prepares food for his companions on
their return. There is one place particularly abundant in honey; it is a
hundred leagues from St. Iago, and is named Hierro.
This circumstance was well known to Oaherkaikin, the crafty leader of
the Abipones, and thither he came to commit depredations with a faithful
troop of followers, nor was he disappointed in his hopes; for he found a
vast number of Spaniards in that place seeking honey. The most
distinguished of these was Lisondo, than whom, the Commander-in-chief,
Barreda, declared, he had not a braver nor more active soldier. One of
the slaves, who had gone to a neighbouring ditch to draw water, spied an
Abiponian horseman leaning upon his spear, and having his face painted
with dark colours; upon which he called out _Amigo_, friend. This
salutation being sternly rejected by the savage, the slave, greatly
alarmed, told what he had seen to Lisondo, who, always intrepid, said he
saw no immediate occasion for fear. Soon after, the bands of Abipones
sprung forth from the various parts of the wood where they had concealed
themselves, and slaying all they met, rushed into the cottage of
Lisondo, who, armed with his axe and his presence of mind alone, broke
the spears of four of the assailants, but at last fell oppressed by
numbers. He expired wounded in many places, having been first dragged
out of doors by strong straps of leather, with which his hands and feet
were bound. Lisondo being slain, the few who escaped the eyes and hands
of the savages, saved their lives by flight. Three or four leapt on to
the same horse, and beginning their journey without any provisions, the
fugitives were threatened with fresh dangers of death. They had to
travel at least fifty leagues, in a vast solitude, before they could
reach the dwellings of men. Hence, wasted with hunger, thirst, and
apprehension, they at length reached home, many of them on foot, and
though they had escaped death, looked more dead than alive. Meanwhile,
in the scene of so much bloodshed, a vast quantity of wax and honey, a
number of excellent horses and mules, the large brazen caldrons for
refining the wax, the axes and various other iron implements, and the
wearing apparel, became the prey of the savages; whilst the owners at
St. Iago bitterly deplored the deaths of the men, and the loss of their
property. The Abipones who committed this slaughter were those who, till
then, had refused to enter the colonies founded for their nation; but
they soon after took refuge in them to avoid the vengeance of the
Spaniards.
The Abipones raged with still more violence and pertinacity against
those colonies which look towards the south, and are near the
territories of Cordoba. Zumampa, Las Barrancas, and El Oratorio, for a
long time witnessed the cruelty of the savages. A whole village was
destroyed, while some of the inhabitants were slain, and others made
captive, scarce one or two surviving. This country is intersected by a
high road, through which waggons loaden with Peruvian money frequently
pass to Buenos-Ayres. The certainty of booty and great facility of
committing depredations had attracted the Abipones to these parts of the
province, to the great annoyance of merchants, who were thus
necessitated either to lose their merchandise, or to bring soldiers at a
great expense to defend the waggons and their drivers, who often lost
their lives as they were endeavouring to defend the lives and properties
of others.
These and many other things of this kind were committed by the Abipones
against the inhabitants of St. Iago, who knew not that they had to deal
with a people accustomed to leave nothing unrevenged. They frequently
eluded the attempts of the enemy by vigilance, oftener warded them off
by dint of brave exertions. They often returned slaughter for slaughter,
wounds for wounds. They had made such frequent inroads into Chaco, and
so many successful invasions of the hordes of the savages, that the
soldiers were scarce sufficient to guard the captives. I cannot commend
the soldiers of St. Iago without launching out into the praise of their
general, Barreda. Excuse me if I make some tribute to my love for this
man, and appear somewhat prolix in what respects him but fear nothing in
regard to veracity. Barreda is indeed my friend, but truth still more
so.