THE ARRIVAL OF BARREDA, AND THE REMOVAL OF THE
TOWN TO THE BANKS OF THE SALADO.
Barreda groaned on receiving intelligence of the approaching ruin of the
town; he knew how much trouble the Abipones had caused the Spaniards,
whilst at enmity with them, and therefore thought every exertion should
be made to preserve a friendship which was so necessary to the whole
province. Without delay, he set off, with four hundred horsemen, in the
intention of removing the town from the neighbourhood of Ychoalay, and
Sta. Fè, into the territory of St. Iago. The journey was an exceedingly
arduous one; for in the first part of it not a drop of water could be
found, often for the space of twenty leagues, the lakes and rivers being
exhausted by a long drought; and towards the latter end, the country was
flooded by unceasing rains, to such a degree, that they were obliged to
ride through water by day, and to lie down in it at night, when overcome
by sleep. Many of the soldiers passed the night in the trees, and
placing a piece of hard turf, taken from the ant-hills, amongst the
boughs, kindled a fire upon it to heat the water in which they infused
the herb of Paraguay. Barreda reached our town a little before noon, on
Whitsunday. He alighted from his horse, his clothes dripping with the
rain, and hastening to the church, assisted me as I was ministering at
the altar; thus affording an excellent example to the surrounding
soldiers and Indians. But his mind was wholly intent on speedily
remedying the afflicted state of the town, which, to prevent its utter
ruin, he wished to have removed to the banks of the Salado, eighty
leagues distant from its former situation. But Alaykin boldly and
prudently condemned the proposed migration, declaring that the place
mentioned by Barreda for the site of the colony, appeared to him
objectionable. "What," said he, "do you wish us to drink bitter water,
which the very beasts refuse to touch?" The counsels of Barreda were
equally displeasing to all the other Abipones, who were strongly
attached to their native soil, a soil abounding in delightful fruits and
wild animals, and fortified with so many secure lurking-holes; and who
dreaded the vicinity of the Spaniards with as much anxiety as servitude,
having learnt that the one was often the occasion of the other. Although
Barreda endeavoured to mollify them with gifts and promises, he never
could induce them to yield to his wishes. He gave the Cacique Malakin a
woollen blanket, handsomely embroidered in various colours; a gift which
proved the most powerful persuasive to his mind. Arrayed with this
elegant coverlet, the savage promised to migrate, with his family,
wherever Barreda chose, and prevailed upon the Cacique Ypirikin and his
followers, to make the same resolution.
But the followers of the Caciques Alaykin, Oaikin, Machito, and
Zapancha, were afraid that the Spanish soldiers would take them by force
whither they refused to go, and that should they desert, Barreda would
be angry, and fall upon them by surprize. Solicitous, therefore, to
avert this disaster, they secretly sent to the town of St. Jeronymo, to
request the aid of their old friend Ychamenraikin, who accordingly came
with a chosen band of soldiers, under pretence of paying his respects to
Barreda. This Cacique was present at the repeated consultations which
Barreda held with our chiefs, and always spoke with great earnestness in
dissuasion of the proposed removal; but was so highly incensed at a
gentle rebuke he received from Barreda, for meddling with other people's
concerns, that though he dissembled his angry feelings in presence of
the Spaniards, he immediately conferred in private with Alaykin on the
subject of renouncing their friendship. It was his intention to desert
the colony, and after slaying the two priests, Brigniel and Navalon, to
return to his old retreats, and renew the war with the Spaniards. This
he prefaced by making his people carry off a number of choice horses
from Barreda's soldiers, and indeed he would have put the whole of his
iniquitous scheme into execution, had it not been for Chitalin, Cacique
of the Mocobios, who fortunately came from St. Xavier to speak with
Barreda about some of his countrymen still remaining in captivity
amongst the Spaniards, and afterwards went a little out of his way to
visit the town of St. Jeronymo, which was only ten leagues distant from
our colony. The friendship and eloquence of the Mocobian Cacique had so
much influence upon Ychamenraikin as utterly to banish this wicked
determination from his mind; he even had the horses, taken from
Barreda's soldiers, brought back to St. Iago, and ever after cultivated
the friendship of the Spaniards.
Rain continued without intermission for more than a month had converted
the whole of the plain country into a lake. Most of the horses perished
from their hoofs being softened by remaining in the water day and night,
and those which survived could scarcely stand on their feet. Three
hundred were left on the road, being unable to travel on that account.
Many of the soldiers, who had come furnished with ten horses, had not
one remaining on their return, and were forced to use others lent them
by their companions. Amid these tumults, both of the weather and of the
people, indignant at the very mention of a removal, a whole month passed
away. Barreda, impatient of the delay, determined to set off without
waiting for the cessation of the rain, accompanied by his own people,
and those families of Abipones that chose to follow him. The day before
the journey, four waggons were sent forward, laden with the domestic
furniture of the town, and also with gates, and doors of houses; five
pair of oxen, and twenty assisting horses were requisite to drag each of
these waggons through a country full of water and marshes: at length,
however, as no strength nor industry proved sufficient, it was found
necessary to lighten the waggons of the doors and every thing of wood.
When we were ready to depart, the Abipones sat quietly in their huts,
all of which Barreda entered with me. I acted as interpreter, whilst he
warned them in a melancholy and threatening tone, to consider again and
again what they were doing; intimating that he should look upon those as
his friends who followed us, but that they who remained would hardly
escape the avenging hands of Ychoalay, and the Spaniards of Sta. Fè. All
his efforts were vain. Mournful silence and sullen looks were their only
reply. Barreda, not choosing to delay any longer, left the town with me,
part of the soldiers being sent forward, part following us; but Father
Sanchez was suddenly seized with an indisposition so that he could not
join us till the morrow. Malakin, Ypirikin, and thirty families followed
us on the first day of our journey.
On the second, the showers ceased, but constant rain for thirty days had
entirely inundated the country, which is naturally plain and level. For
three weeks we had to ride on horseback with the water touching our
legs, and often reaching up to our knees. That the continual wet might
be the sooner exhaled, we always rode barefoot, hanging our shoes and
stockings from the top of the saddle: for the water contained within the
shoes causes faintings, weakness of stomach, small ulcers, head-ache,
and other disorders in America. We found chewed tobacco leaves, mixed
with saliva, and applied every night to the soles of our feet, a
powerful preservative against this noxious moisture. On the same account
it was thought useful to smoke tobacco. We were obliged to pass the
night in the cold air, often covered from head to foot with hoar frost,
which was almost continual at that time of the year. When we wanted to
lie down at night, much art and good fortune were requisite to choose a
situation, which, though very muddy, had but little water. We were
obliged to swim, or sail on the pelota across some rivers, which had
overflowed their banks; but it was a matter of more time and labour to
convey to the other side huge waggons, and some thousands of sheep,
oxen, and horses, without the assistance of a bridge or boat.
Some soldiers, weary of travelling, deserted from us. One, who was
particularly eager to get home, endeavoured to accelerate his return by
a great piece of villainy. He knew that they would be detained a long
time in building the new colony, and, resolving to disconcert the whole
scheme, persuaded the Abipones, under a show of kindness and compassion,
to return to their native soil, affirming that Barreda's only motive in
removing them from thence, was to furnish himself with an opportunity of
surprizing and slaying them with impunity. The asseverations of this
wicked man found the readier credit with the Abipones, from their
constantly having this suspicion impressed upon their minds. Next day,
when we began to proceed on our journey, not one of the Abipones was
seen to stir. Barreda, astonished at this sudden tergiversation,
inquires the cause, but receives no answer; till at last a woman, who
had long been in captivity amongst the Spaniards, makes known the
soldier's impudent discourse, but could be induced by no solicitations
to discover the man's name. Barreda, after threatening this most
abandoned of mankind, whoever he was, with a thousand deaths, reproached
Malakin for his ridiculous credulity, and that he might be prevailed
upon to pursue his journey by some new testimony of friendship, made him
a present of the silver clasps that fastened his shirt-sleeves, having
nothing else left to give. This bauble proved as potent as the coverlet
had done, and induced the deserting Indians to follow us. But here too
we found that violent affections are but of short duration. The nearer
the Abipones drew to the Spanish territories, the stronger grew their
fear and repentance at having quitted their native country. At night, as
we were sitting on the ground near the fire with Barreda, Malakin came
to us, and protested that those lands were not approved of by his
people; that they dreaded the neighbourhood of the Spanish nation, and
lamented the want of trees, fruits, roots, and herbs, which the women
could not dispense with. Barreda exerted all his eloquence to refute
these objections, and retain the wavering minds of the people in their
duty, promising all sorts of benefits, emoluments, security, and
convenience to accrue from the vicinity of the Spanish towns; which
method of arguing moved our extreme disapprobation, as the Indians,
finding things turn out contrary to what they had been led to expect,
began to accuse the Spaniards of want of veracity, and greater
liberality in words than deeds.