SOME THINGS WORTHY OF NOTE RESPECTING YCHOALAY
AND OAHERKAIKIN.
Oaherkaikin, a Nakaiketergehe, and a tribesman of Debayakaikin, was of
middling stature, lean, strong-boned, with a pale face, a stern
countenance, small sunken eyes, and short hair shaven at intervals, like
that of a monk; his limbs were all covered with large scars; his ears
were bored to admit the knots of cows horn which he wore by way of
ear-rings; he seemed always either in the act of threatening, or
absorbed in contemplation. He was a great lover of drinking-parties, a
man of few words, though very affable to his followers; an implacable
foe to the Spaniards; ever formidable, even when threatening nothing;
wonderfully well-skilled in the use of the spear and other weapons, and
in the arts of riding and swimming; extremely attached to the
superstitions of the savages; a despiser of elegant clothing; and
endowed with an intrepid and daring mind; but careless of his promises;
given to falsehood and knavery; and well worthy of his name Oaherkaikin,
which signifies a liar. He was as crafty in eluding and repelling the
enemy, as he was bold in attacking them. Having learnt, by means of his
spies, that Nicolas Patron, Vice-Governor of the Corrientines, was
approaching his horde with hostile intentions, accompanied by fifty
horsemen, he would not await the arrival of the Spaniards, but went in
person to meet them with a company of soldiers. Armed with a spear,
arrows, and a military breastplate, and having his face blackened to
make his appearance the more terrible, he stationed himself on foot, in
a place where he had a wood at his back, and an unfordable river in
front. On the approach of the Vice-Governor, he informed him, by means
of a captive interpreter, that if he were inclined to fight, a
corresponding desire was felt on his own part, and that the threats of
the Spaniards excited laughter in him, instead of fear. The
Vice-Governor, astonished at sight of the savage, and provoked at his
insolent challenge, looked at his soldiers, and exclaimed, "Come, get
ropes and catch this wild beast for me!" an order which struck
consternation into the minds of the soldiers. "My Lord," replied a
lieutenant of the name of Añasco, "if you are so desirous of taking this
savage, do you try your own fortune, we have no objection to that; but,
for our own parts, none of us have either leisure or inclination to
throw away our lives upon a joke." As great danger was to be apprehended
in crossing the river, the opposite bank being occupied by the savages,
they began immediately to think of retreat, and nothing was attempted
against the enemy. Oaherkaikin at a distance pursued the Corrientines,
and carried away that very night a drove of horses from the colony of
St. Ferdinand. The Spaniards were not insensible to this injury, but
digested it in silence, fearing to provoke these hornets afresh. You
shall now hear some particulars respecting Ychoalay.
He enjoyed every thing but the name of Cacique. He was born of a most
honourable family amongst the Riikahés, and nearly related to
Debayakaikin, who taught him, when a boy, to sit a horse, and to manage
it. He was exceedingly tall, with an oval face, an aquiline nose, and
strength adequate to all of the fatigues of warfare; indeed, the whole
conformation of his body was exactly expressive of, and suitable to a
military man. On the strength of a peace, established between the
Riikahés and the people of Sta. Fè, the youth Ychoalay visited that
city, and served the Spaniards for hire, either as a breaker-in of
horses, or a guard in the estates. At length he assumed the name of his
master, Benavides, and by this name he was afterwards known, when a
leader of the Abipones, and an enemy to the Spaniards; though his own
countrymen called him Oahari in his boyhood, and at a more advanced
period of his life, Ychoalay. Though averse to the Christian religion,
he was so desirous of an acquaintance with the Spanish language, that in
order to be more sure of attaining it, he went from Sta. Fè to the
kingdom of Chili, whither a Spaniard was returning with a number of
waggons: this man he served on the journey as a driver, and afterwards
as a cultivator of vines, at Mendoza. Ychoalay, ever mindful of his
origin, constantly showed himself the soldier, never appearing out of
doors without a spear, and manifesting courage superior to that of the
rest. Hence, when his companions were robbed or murdered by the Charruas
or Pampas, in the deserts of Paraguay, Ychoalay, repelling force by
force, remained a survivor. Some years after, he returned from Mendoza
to Sta. Fè, and on his masters' refusing to pay him his wages, became
disgusted with the Spaniards. Anger was turned into rage, when he learnt
from a Spaniard of Cordoba, that his life had been attempted by an
inhabitant of Sta. Fè. Weary of his condition, and of the society of the
Spaniards, he rejoined the Abipones, who were, at that time, harassing
the territories of Cordoba with daily inroads, and accompanied his
countrymen in all their plundering excursions, displaying so much valour
as caused him to be soon after promoted from a fellow-soldier to be a
leader of others. Shrewd and active, he always executed with wonderful
bravery, and equal good fortune, whatever he planned to the injury of
the Spaniards. He had a great share in all the victories which I have
related as being obtained over the Spaniards, and in all the dangers and
slaughters inflicted upon them. Frequent and successful expeditions
gained him so much celebrity, that he was as much honoured by his own
people as feared by others.
It is worthy of remark, that, though he vented his fury for a long space
of time on the other Spanish colonies, he always spared those of Sta.
Fè, and likewise that he never touched the lives of men devoted to
religion, or permitted his soldiers to do so. He never suffered female
jugglers to remain within his horde; and that they might not remove to
some other, he pierced them himself with a spear, lest they should
deceive his people with their artifices, or disturb them with bad
auguries. Long acquaintance with Ychoalay gave me opportunities of
observing many things in his character that were worthy of praise, many
that deserved reprehension. He had such an immoderately high opinion of
himself, that he could never endure to hear any of his countrymen
extolled for valour. Extremely self-conceited and opinionated, he was
very impatient of opposition. His restless and turbulent disposition
induced him to plan methods whereby he might circumvent or vanquish
Oaherkaikin, and others of his rivals, not from the hope of emolument,
but from the desire of overthrowing the celebrity they had obtained.
This caused him to be always sowing dissensions, and hunting out
occasions of quarrels, which proved the source of numerous disturbances
in the new town, and prevented it from ever enjoying a respite from its
enemies. Though at other times mild and courteous, when scheming
expeditions against his adversary, he deprived his dearest friends of
his conversation. Amongst various coverings for the head, he had one
little woollen cap of a yellow colour, and whenever he wore this I
observed him to be stern and meditative, and carefully avoided his
company. Joseph Brigniel was amused by this observation of mine, and
became so convinced of its truth, by experience, that we used jokingly
to call that little hat the prognostic of an approaching expedition
against the enemy.
But these and other defects Ychoalay redeemed by shining virtues. None
of us ever entertained the least doubt of his being the chief instrument
of the peace established between the Abipones and all the Spaniards, and
the founder and preserver of the colony of St. Jeronymo. He always
religiously adhered to the friendship he had contracted with the
Spaniards, and took great care to prevent any of the Abipones from
violating it, often with the risk of his life. Whomsoever he understood
to be guilty of a violation of the peace, against them, as against
enemies, he thought it his duty to take up arms. This was an occasion of
continual war with the Abipones Nakaiketergehes. Thousands of horses,
which during many years he had retaken from their plunderers, he brought
back to the Spanish colonies, and restored to their masters, and was
displeased at being asked what compensation he required, saying, "Don't
you know then that I am your friend? All I ask is not to be thought
mercenary." By his zeal in preserving and recovering the property of the
Spaniards, he incurred the hatred of all the savages; even his
countrymen regarded him with execration as a friend of the Spaniards,
and an enemy to themselves: whence his daily complaint: "My countrymen
think me wicked now, because I am good; formerly they called me good,
because I was wicked." Sometimes when he invited his fellow-hordesmen to
join him in tilling the fields, or attacking the enemies of the town, on
their delaying, or refusing to accompany him, under pretext of a want of
proper horses, "Father," would he say to me, "you would have seen them
follow me with the utmost alacrity, had I invited them to rob and murder
the Spaniards. Not one would have remained with you in the town; not one
would have made the scarcity of horses an objection."
It must be allowed that the progressive improvement of the town was,
under God, chiefly to be attributed to the industry and authority of
Ychoalay: for the chief Cacique Ychamenraikin, although illustrious for
his high birth and warlike actions, and endeared to his people by the
gentleness of his disposition, contributed nothing of consequence to the
establishment of the colony. He presided over all, but was of service to
no one, the mere shadow of a magistrate, the useless image of power. He
was addicted to drinking, and practised polygamy and divorce. Yet all
bore him great good-will, because he connived at the vices of his
hordesmen. The love of Christian knowledge had no place in his breast,
nor did he ever enter public religious assemblies, or endeavour to make
others do so. During his lifetime, no man would ever receive baptism,
till on the point of death: when he died, no man refused it, which was
brought about by the labours of Ychoalay, who, though not possessed of
the chief command, managed all the affairs of the town by his own
authority. He obliged others to attend the church, in order to learn the
elements of religion, but for some time delayed entering it himself.
After receiving daily admonitions on this subject from Joseph Brigniel,
"Father," replied he, "permit me to think about slaying Oaherkaikin. My
head is at present in a tumult with warlike cares. In time of peace I
shall have leisure to attend to your religious discourses." After
repeated excursions against Oaherkaikin, a truce being at length
established, Brigniel reminded him of his promise, to which Ychoalay
replied, "I must first make a fold for the security of the sheep in the
estate, I will then become your disciple in the school of religion;" and
he kept his word. A few days after, the Father, on entering the church,
beheld Ychoalay kneeling on the ground and heard him praying, and making
the responses. Thenceforward, no man was a more constant attender on
places of worship, or displayed greater modesty and docility when there:
and by his example they were daily crowded with pious hearers. He not
only committed to memory the regular Christian prayers, and every thing
relating to religion, but repeated them aloud to his domestics in the
evening.
When the Fathers had occasion to baptize persons languishing under a
mortal disease, or the bite of a venomous snake, and if they died, to
bury them in holy ground, according to the rites of the catholic church,
Ychoalay alone was their defender and assistant. It would be difficult
to enumerate all those who for baptism, sepulchral honours, and indeed
heaven itself, are indebted to the labours of Ychoalay. By his desire,
Ychamenraikin first, and then all the boys and girls were dedicated to
Christ by baptism; for the more careful performance whereof, twenty
alone were admitted on the same day to the sacred font. This, indeed,
was effected, more by the example than by the exhortations of Ychoalay,
who had his children baptized as soon as they saw the light, and those
which died he gave into the hands of the priest, to be buried with the
Christian forms. You will wonder, I think, that one who was so careful
of the salvation of others should have neglected his own, since it would
commonly be thought that what was not eligible for himself could hardly
be eligible for another.
Indeed we were all surprized that the virtuous Ychoalay should, for so
many years, have deferred his baptism, to receive which he had long been
peculiarly fit. He lived for many years contented with one wife, never
frequented drinking-parties, except to consult upon war, and was a
bitter enemy to drunkenness and drunkards. Though formerly the prince of
plunderers, he was now become a severe avenger of plunderings. He was as
well acquainted with the ordinances of religion as with his own name. He
shunned no labour conducive to his own advantage or that of the town,
and was assiduous in cultivating land and breeding cattle. He might,
therefore, have been initiated into the Roman Catholic religion long
before, and indeed he frequently assured us of his intention to be so,
as soon as ever his mind was free from anxiety respecting his rival
Oaherkaikin. In fact, when the Vice-Governor Francisco de Vera Muxica
was in the town of St. Jeronymo, he requested baptism of his own accord,
but was desired by the same to wait a little, because he wished to
perform the ceremony in the city of Sta. Fè, with great magnificence.
Ychoalay, displeased at the delay, could not be induced to receive
baptism till some years after, when it was administered to him by Father
Joseph Lehman, in the above-mentioned city; where the ceremony was
performed with much pomp, and so large a concourse of people that the
church could hardly contain the multitude. The Royal Vice-Governor
himself took the illustrious neophyte from the sacred font, and gave him
a sumptuous feast, and suitable gifts. The Spaniards with joyous and
tearful eyes beheld the celebrated Ychoalay standing by the divine altar
like the meekest lamb, whom all Paraguay had formerly dreaded as a
rapacious wolf.