THE WHOLE NATION OF ABIPONES ARE ASSEMBLED IN
THREE COLONIES, BUT ARE AGAIN UNLUCKILY DISTURBED
BY A WAR OF THE SPANIARDS AGAINST THE
GUARANIES.
On Oaherkaikin's entering the colony of St. Ferdinand, we beheld with
joy what the Spaniards of Paraguay had been vainly desiring ever since
the time of the Emperor Charles the Fifth. The whole nation of Abipones
were at length settled in three colonies; an event which seemed to
promise great advantage both to the cause of religion and that of the
whole province. But, alas! a sudden storm from Europe destroyed all
these nourishing hopes. The kings of Spain and Portugal agreed upon an
exchange of their territories in America, in consequence of which those
seven towns on the eastern shore of the Uruguay were to be delivered up
to the Portugueze, and two-and-thirty thousand Christian Guaranies, who
inhabited them, were ordered to remove to another place by Ferdinand the
Sixth. The Guaranies, full of tender attachment to their country, could
be induced by no arguments to believe that such a removal had been
enjoined them by the Catholic king. This cession of the towns to their
enemies the Portugueze, they thought must have been imposed on them by
way of punishment; though they were at a loss to imagine what crime they
could have committed deserving such punishment, unless to have served
God and the King were accounted such.
This universal doubt impressed on the minds of the Indians, respecting
the royal order for their removal, was confirmed by a most impudent lie,
invented by certain wicked knaves amongst the lower order of Spaniards;
who assured the Indians that the removal enjoined in the King's name was
a fabrication of the Jesuits, they having themselves sold those towns to
the Portugueze, out of a thirst for gold. The Guaranies, possessed with
this abominable suspicion, grew more and more deaf to the admonitions of
the Jesuits, who, through respect to the King, were constantly urging
their departure. The filial affection which they had always borne to the
Fathers being destroyed, they began openly to reject the authority of
others, and to manage every thing according to their own pleasure. What
did not the Missionaries do to conquer their obstinacy, and to reduce
them to obedience! What did they not endure! How often did they put
themselves in danger of death! With crowns of thorns on their heads,
they made a mournful supplication in the streets, whilst a voice of
thunder from the pulpit, interrupted with frequent tears, besought and
exhorted the people assembled in the church to obey the royal mandate.
Miserable lamentations or futile promises were all that could be
extorted from them. Some, indeed, who were of a milder temper, departed,
but, vanquished by the love of their native land, returned next day, and
hardened themselves against the last extremities. At length, seeing that
war would be made against them, they took up arms, and for some time
stood out against the armed Portugueze, and the Spaniards who assisted
them.
After various vicissitudes of war, which I have briefly touched upon in
another place, these seven towns were ceded by the Spaniards, but not
accepted by the Portugueze, because they had at length discovered that
all that territory along the banks of the Uruguay was destitute of the
supposed mines of gold and silver. About fourteen thousand Indian exiles
were dispersed up and down the plains of the Uruguay; nearly as many
crossed the river of that name, and settled in the different towns of
the Parana, where, after quitting handsome freestone houses, they were
thankful for the precarious subsistence afforded by the kindness of
their countrymen, and for cottages hastily built of straw. But Charles
III., who was removed from the throne of Naples to that of Spain,
cancelled the exchange of lands with the Portugueze agreed on by his
late brother Ferdinand, and commanded that the landmarks placed in
Paraguay should be pulled up, war declared on the Portugueze, and the
Guarany exiles sent back to their towns, the administration of which was
as usual to be intrusted to the Jesuits. But alas! what a mournful
appearance did these towns, formerly so flourishing, present, after a
three years' absence of their inhabitants! The churches were shorn of
their splendor, the estates spoiled of their cattle. The walls and roofs
of the houses were injured by the soldiers and the weather. Part of the
buildings were reduced to ashes. The untilled fields began to be
overspread with wood, and filled with tares. The whole neighbourhood was
infested with snakes and tigers. It seemed as if the arts and industry
of a whole century could hardly replace or make up for what had been
destroyed in the last three years.
This terrible misfortune of the Guarany nation alarmed the minds of the
Abipones, and estranged them from the Spaniards. With sorrowful eyes
they beheld all the Spaniards able to bear arms called out against the
Guaranies. "If the Spaniards," said they, "are so desirous of war, why
do they not turn their arms against the Guaycurùs, the Aucas,
Chiriguanos, Yaapitalakas, and other hostile nations? Why do they
persecute the Guaranies, their most faithful friends, who have done so
much service to the king in the royal camps? Is the friendship of the
Spaniards so versatile? Have they so short a memory as to forget the
submission which the Guaranies have uniformly observed towards them?"
Complaints and wonderings of this kind were daily felt and expressed by
all. Nor was the affair confined to words alone. Many of them, either
displeased by the severity of the Spaniards towards the Guaranies, or
distrustful of their friendship, or tempted by the opportunity of
pillaging, which the absence of the soldiers afforded, deserted their
towns. Such were the deplorable effects of the war with the Guaranies.
On the same day that Nicolas Patron went out against the Guaranies with
troops of Corrientine horse, Oaherkaikin and his companions, now freed
from fear, bade adieu to the colony of St. Ferdinand, intending to live,
as formerly, on rapine in the country. His example was followed by the
inhabitants of other colonies. They saw that, as the men were called out
against the Guaranies, the towns and villages of the Spaniards were
inhabited by women only, or persons incapable of fighting, and that they
might overrun the defenceless estates at their pleasure. Making use of
this excellent opportunity, they molested the colonies, not only of the
Spaniards, but likewise of the Abipones, especially that of St.
Jeronymo, to the utmost of their power. Ychoalay was deserted by many of
his people, and on that account derided by his enemies, because he could
no longer assist the Spaniards, or be assisted by them, they being
engaged in the war with the Guaranies. His fidelity, however, and his
courage, remained unaltered. He affronted the hostile storm on every
side, with all the strength and arts that he was master of. An estate of
his on the banks of the Malabrigo, rich in herds, flocks of sheep, and
horses, but undefended by any guards, and inhabited by a few women only,
was attacked by a company of Abipones, Mocobios, and Vilelas. No
resistance being made, they drove away the cattle, took the women
captive, and sent one old woman to tell Ychoalay that they had taken his
cattle, and that if he was desirous of recovering them, he should come
and give them battle at the Ychimaye, on the banks of which they would
await his arrival. The message delivered by the old woman served as a
trumpet to Ychoalay. Spite of the weather, which was cold and rainy, he
flew burning with rage to the appointed place, accompanied by a handful
of his people. He beheld the multitude of enemies, attacked, and
completely vanquished them. A good many of the enemy were slain, numbers
wounded, and the rest put to flight; and indeed every body was of
opinion, that not one would have escaped alive, had not Ychoalay, who
was wounded with an arrow in the arm, allowed them horses to carry them
home. After recovering the cattle, and the female captives of the town,
Ychoalay returned, signalized with a severe wound, and an unexpected
victory, leaving the enemies in such consternation, that they even
neglected to carry off their dead. At another time Ychoalay, awakened by
an alarming sound in the middle of the night, mounted a horse, and rode
out to take a survey. He had scarcely gone thirty steps from his own
door, when he saw two Toba spies, took them captive, and sent them,
well-guarded, to the town of St. Xavier, where some Tobas, allies of the
Mocobios, were dwelling. The absence of the Spanish soldiers rendered
the Abipones, and other wandering savages, daily bolder and more
mischievous to the whole province: and their frequent excursions were
the more injurious, because they who used, at other times, to repulse
the enemies, were then fatigued with carrying on war against their
friends the Guaranies.