FURTHER PRAISES OF YCHOALAY.
It appears from what I have related, how useful Ychoalay was to us in
the dissemination of religion. It is incredible how anxious he was to
preserve the safety of the town and of the Fathers. Any little injury
committed or intended against the Fathers, by his people, he took to
himself, and indeed avenged with more asperity than if it had been done
to himself. Amongst a set of men addicted to strife and drunkenness,
accustomed to slaughter from their boyhood, and madly attached to
superstition, the lives of the Fathers must have been placed in a very
precarious condition, had not his authority been a shield to them, and a
bridle to the savages. If he perceived any danger impending from foreign
foes, he would, even in the dead of the night, apprize the Fathers and
his companions of it, that the common safety might be consulted on. He
was always the first to explore the country, and to occupy the front of
the army whenever force was to be opposed to force, often returning home
wounded whilst his companions remained unhurt. It happened that the
Abipones who inhabited the town of Concepcion, entertaining suspicions
of the Spaniards, suddenly deserted it all in one day, leaving in the
place only three men who had it in charge to murder the two Fathers
Joseph Sanchez and Lorenzo Casado, by treachery, as soon as night set
in. Ychoalay, learning the flight of the Abipones, and the danger of the
Fathers, flew to the spot with no other company than that of the horse
he rode on. He fixed his spear at the door of the Fathers, and offered
himself for their defender. About twilight he spied the three assassins
lying in wait, alarmed and put them to flight, and never saw them
afterwards. He advised that the furniture of the house and the church
should be carried away in a waggon, and about two thousand oxen driven
to the town of St. Jeronymo, and assigned them a place in his little
estate where they might safely feed. The journey was full of danger and
inconvenience. Continual rain had transformed the whole country into a
marsh, so that it seemed impassable to a waggon. The river Malabrigo,
and other lakes were tremendously swelled by the incessant rain. But by
the advice and assistance of Ychoalay, all obstacles were overcome;
every thing that Father Sanchez wished to transport, conveyed to a place
of safety; and the attempts of the runaway Abipones, who had hoped to
seize every thing that the deserted town possessed, completely foiled.
Martinez del Tineo, Governor of Tucuman, wrote a letter to Ychoalay, in
which he commended his fidelity to the Fathers, and recompensed his
services with a piece of beautiful scarlet cloth fit to be worn by any
noble Spaniard. This cloth he devoted to the purpose of buying sheep,
the wool of which he intended to have woven into garments such as the
Abipones wear. To the persuasions of the Fathers that he would adopt the
Spanish costume, Ychoalay replied, "Since I am an Indian, why should I
feign myself a Spaniard in my dress? When those red garments are worn
out, will you give me new ones in their place? That is not to be
expected. Then, derided by every body, I shall be obliged to resume the
garb of the Abipones. My people will say, he boasted himself a Spaniard
whilst his Spanish dress lasted; now that is worn out he must return to
our manner of clothing. I give you my word to dress like a Spaniard as
soon as I get money enough from the wheat I am raising." And, on
entering our church, he attired himself and his horse, like the more
respectable orders of Spaniards. By his skill in agriculture and the
breeding of cattle, he earned enough to clothe himself and his people.
Ychoalay watched with anxious care not only to preserve the safety of
the Fathers, but likewise to prevent the domestic utensils, and the
cattle belonging to the town, from receiving any injury. On stated days
of the week twenty or more oxen were killed, on the flesh of which the
Abiponian inhabitants subsisted. Those of a more voracious appetite than
the rest used secretly to kill oxen for themselves, and still oftener
calves, to the great loss of the estate. Others took it into their heads
to slay the sheep belonging to the estate, not for their flesh, but for
their skins, which they throw over their shoulders like horse-cloths.
Whenever Ychoalay caught any of these offenders, he punished them
severely. To compensate for the loss, they were ordered to pay two
horses for every ox they had slain, one for every sheep; and if they did
not bring them of their own accord, Ychoalay took them away by force. A
savage Mocobio, a stranger, had killed a cow belonging to Ychoalay,
thinking it to be one of the cattle of the town. An Abipon who happened
to come that way said to the Mocobio, "What! have you dared to kill a
cow of Ychoalay's? Woe be to you if he hears of it!" The Mocobio,
alarmed at the news, laid the limbs of the cow upon his horse, and went
straight to the house of Ychoalay. "This," says he, "is the flesh of
your cow which I killed by mistake, thinking it belonged to the town."
"Fool," replied Ychoalay in a rage, "do you think then, that you may
slay the herds of the colony with impunity? The excuse by which you
endeavour to extenuate the criminality of the deed, serves only to its
aggravation. But now begone, and since you have given yourself the
trouble of killing and flaying the beast, take upon you that of
devouring it also." So that, though severe in avenging mischief done to
the property of the town, he was lenient towards those who offended
himself.
The Abipones, like almost all the Americans, dreading the most distant
idea of slavery, will scarcely perform the smallest service, unless
quite sure of a compensation. Whenever you require anything of them,
_Mieka enegèn labevè?_ what will you give me? they eagerly reply. They
quietly looked on, whilst we were saddling our horses, or cutting down
wood, and though they would not move a finger to our assistance,
employed their tongues lavishly in our praise. "Bless me, Father! how
well you equip your horse! How dexterous, and strong you are!" they
exclaimed, though we should have preferred their assistance to their
encomiums. Ychoalay, unlike the rest in this respect, was extremely
ready to perform all sorts of good offices. He served the Fathers not
with fine words, but with good deeds, as I had good reason to know,
having taken many long journeys with him through incommodious wilds,
when he fulfilled the part of a most diligent servant. Though many
Abipones of inferior rank accompanied us, whenever we had to pass the
night, or the mid-day in the plain, he charged himself with seeking
fuel, bearing water, and taking care of the horses, and used always to
procure me a safe passage over rivers and marshes. He not only harnessed
my horse for me, but prudently pointed out that which was fittest for
the journey we were going to enter upon. In travelling he always
remained close by my side, kept a strict watch on all sides, and if he
discovered any danger, acquainted me with it, and cautiously avoided it.
The other Fathers, too, openly professed their obligations to this
excellent man. The founding and preserving of the town of St. Jeronymo
is chiefly to be attributed to him. Except three little huts, hastily
constructed by the Spaniards, every thing was done under the direction,
and by the labour of Ychoalay, particularly when it was removed to the
southern shore. It was necessary to erect a little building for the
performance of divine service, a dwelling-house for the Fathers, some
cottages for the shepherds, and large folds for the cattle. There was
likewise occasion to fortify the court-yard of our house with stakes,
that in sudden incursions of the savages it might afford a defence to
the women and children; huts were also to be constructed for the
Abipones, who, till then, had sheltered themselves under mats. For these
purposes many thousands of trees must be cut down, carried home, and
worked upon. Ychoalay was the life of the labour and the labourers. He
was always the first to take up the axe, the last to lay it down,
instigating the Abipones to diligence more by example than by precept.
The Fathers, as a mark of their gratitude, presented the industrious
Ychoalay with a hat adorned with broad silver fringe, which, that he
might not appear to slight their kindness, he accepted, at the same time
however expressing himself careless of elegancies of that kind. He had
scarcely worn the hat twice in the street, when some Abipon requested
and obtained it. Ychoalay would freely bestow beautiful woollen garments
of many colours, fresh from his wife's loom, on any one who asked for
them. By this liberality he wrought so much, that all were ready to lend
him their assistance whenever he stood in need of it, either in shearing
sheep, or ploughing fields in his estate, whither a vast number of
persons of both sexes flocked every year to assist Ychoalay. The wages
of the labourers consisted of nothing more than their board, and
gratuitous largesses during the year. Though he gave those who laboured
for him plenty to eat, yet economy was not forgotten. He sent the more
agile Abipones to the shores of the Parana, to hunt deer, on the flesh
of which, and on that of oxen, he fed those who were employed in
labouring in the fields. Out of his own herds he used to slay the males
only, wisely sparing the mothers to increase the stock. "The Indians,"
said he, "are eager to devour the cows, never considering that bulls
don't bring forth young. If the Spaniards had always fed upon cows, we
should, long since, have been destitute both of cows and bulls."
In other things also, he evinced his superiority over the rest of the
Indians. The herb of Paraguay, which is in common use amongst all ranks
in Paraguay, he drank when it was offered him, but never requested it of
us. He prudently feared, that if, by a too frequent use, he accustomed
himself to this costly beverage, he should some time or other be obliged
either to beg or buy it. We dealt out a portion of this herb every day
to the Abipones who were employed with the axe or the plough, but
Ychoalay advised them to make no use of it. "Accustomed as you are from
childhood," said he, "to cold water, why can you not refrain from this
hot drink? Unless you practise this abstinence, habit will become a
second nature, and make you unable to do without it. The Fathers will
supply you with the herb whilst you are ploughing; but when you cease
from that employment they will deny it, because they are obliged to
purchase it at a high price. Abstain, therefore, whilst you have it, and
you will never be distressed by the want of it."
It is the custom of the Abipones and Mocobios to weary the Fathers with
perpetual and importunate requests. We took a pleasure in gratifying
them to the utmost of our power, but they frequently asked for things
which we had not to give, and which you could not find in any warehouse
at Amsterdam. Ychoalay, though desired to acquaint us with whatever he
stood in need of, could never be induced to ask us any favour. Though
the fame of his warlike prowess was so great as almost to excite envy,
he would never accept of the honours of a captain, nor suffer himself to
be enrolled amongst the Hëëcheri, and always used the dialect of the
common people: and though his numerous military achievements entitled
him often to change his name, he always retained his primitive one of
Ychoalay. So great was his dislike of ostentation in apparel and
horse-trappings, that he scorned to keep company with some youths, who
gave themselves proud airs, and fed daintily. Conscious of his own
merits, he had, undeniably, a very high opinion of himself, yet he
detested flattery, and never boasted of any thing but of being no
braggadocio. He could not bear that his rivals Oaherkaikin and
Debayakaikin should be preferred to himself: yet when informed of any
brave action performed by one of his own nation in battle, he would
overflow in his praise. You will learn many things reflecting honour on
the noble Ychoalay, in my relation of the vicissitudes of the furious
war between the Riikahés and Nakaiketergehes.