THE CALAMITIES AND PERPETUAL MUTATIONS OF THE
NEW COLONY AT THE RIVER SALADO.
Two-and-twenty days elapsed before we reached the situation appointed
for the colony. Towards the east it has the bank of the river Salado; an
extensive plain stretches itself towards the west, and on the north and
south it is shut in by a wood. A plain, situated in the midst, scarce
four hundred feet in extent, and sloping down from the high shore of the
Salado, was chosen for the site of the colony. The river, though swollen
with long rain, had something salt and bitter in the taste of its
waters, and we all foresaw that when the sun's heat caused the flood to
cease we should be in want of water for daily use. Barreda, contented
with the situation that first offered, was displeased at hearing these
true, though unpleasant observations, and angrily said—"Whoever dislikes
this water, may go a hundred leagues off to drink of the Parana, for
aught I care." Under his directions, two little huts were hastily built
for myself and my companion, of stakes, covered with dry grass; a third
of the same description was erected to serve as a temporary chapel. The
Abipones were forced to lodge under the mats which they made use of in
travelling. Without any further trouble, Barreda departed with his
soldiers, and was declared the founder of a new town by the Governor of
Tucuman, the Viceroy of Lima, and indeed every body.
Deserted in a vast wilderness, and delivered up to the savages, to
misery, and continual perils, we were called miracles of patience and
obedience by all the well-judging Spaniards; and indeed, had we had as
many assisting hands as admiring eyes, ourselves and the Abipones would
have been well provided for. Our huts were completely exposed to sun,
rain, and wind, to serpents, toads, and dormice, and, what was most
dangerous, to tigers. The place of door and window was supplied by two
holes, before each of which we suspended a bull's hide. But neither
materials nor tools for making tables were to be got. Great numbers of
tigers lay hid within a neighbouring wood, and in wet weather used to
creep into the tents of the Indians to shelter themselves from the rain
and stormy wind; they also attempted to enter our huts sometimes, as we
discovered in the morning from the marks of their feet, but were
deterred by a mastiff dog, which we kept for a guard. The more tigers
were pierced by the spears of the Abipones, the more seemed to flock
thither, as if to revenge the deaths of their companions. Crowds of
large dormice, impelled by hunger, resorted to us from the plain, and
finding no eatables, gnawed every thing of wood, or flax, or wool in our
house. The place also swarmed with large and venomous toads, which, if
offended by a blow or kick, immediately squirted out their blinding
urine. About sun-set they issued in crowds from their holes, and
covering all the ground, rendered it as slippery to the feet as ice.
These were the distresses of the place; what shall I say of our own?
Beef, and that wretchedly bad, was almost our only provision: though we
sometimes tasted the wings of the emus which the Indians caught. We
seldom or never used wine, except at mass. Our own privations, however,
we could have borne with; the worst was our being destitute of the
ordinary comforts and conveniences for the Indians. We had no provision
to give them but ill-tasted beef, the oxen having grown extremely lean
from the fatigues of the journey. Their daily employment, to pass away
the time and to assuage their hunger, was hunting emus and collecting
honey from under ground. Boars, stags, tamanduas, the fruits of palms
and other trees, and eatable roots, all which abound in Chaco, are not
to be found here. A numerous flock of sheep, which supplied us with wool
for wearing-apparel, disappeared in one night: the Abipones, after
diligently searching the woods and remoter plains, could discover no
traces of them. Eight days after their disappearance one ram returned to
the town, but what became of the rest is unknown to this day. Continual
disturbances were added to our extreme poverty. As the highway leading
out of Tucuman to Sta. Fè lay near the town, travellers frequently
carried off our horses and oxen that were dispersed up and down the
pastures. The same depredations were committed with impunity by parties
of wandering savages. Many scouts were sent by Alaykin's hordesmen, who
remained in their native place, to examine the situation of the town,
and other particulars, to entice Malakin's people away, and to threaten
them with hostile assaults and all sorts of extremities, unless they
returned to the former colony. Malakin himself, however, remained firm,
holding threats and promises in equal contempt, but not a few of his
hordesmen were prevailed upon to revisit Alaykin's horde, afterwards
rejoining us again and again. The perpetual going and returning of the
savages was like the ebbing and flowing of the ocean. Alaykin, still
unreconciled to the change of the town, infested all the ways between
Cordoba and Sta. Fè with a great company of Abipones, and became highly
formidable to all travellers. Of the Spanish merchants some were slain,
some robbed, and others annoyed by vexatious detention.
I informed Barreda, by means of a trusty messenger, of the slaughter and
rapine committed by the hostile Abipones, and of their threats and
intentions, that he might, if possible, find some means of restraining
their boldness, and providing for the security of the Spanish
travellers. Troops of horse had indeed been repeatedly sent us, both to
act as guards and to build our houses: yet the savages never made closer
or more daring attacks upon our colony, never carried off greater
numbers of horses and oxen, or caused us more trouble and danger than
when these few soldiers were present. At length Barreda came himself
with two companies of horse, and directed a couple of small rooms to be
built for us of unbaked brick, and wooden beams; a third, of the same
materials, but longer, was styled a chapel. We ourselves were not mere
spectators, but strenuous assistants in the whole work:—laboriously
occupied with mud and timber, we wearied both our hands and feet for
whole days.
It grieved us greatly that buildings erected with so much labour should
be occupied by us but a very few days. Shortly after, when, at the
command of the Superiors, I removed to St. Jeronymo, my companion and
the Indians were obliged to migrate elsewhere: the neighbouring rivers
and lakes being exhausted by long drought, or at least impregnated with
salt, and the plain being on the same account destitute of grass, it
became necessary to remove the colony to the shores of the Dulce, many
leagues distant, before the cattle and the inhabitants were destroyed by
hunger and thirst. When settled there, the Abipones had nearly been
overwhelmed in the night by a sudden inundation of the river, a greater
than which none of the natives had ever witnessed. Thus they were
obliged to remove their colony over and over again, one time to seek
water, at another to avoid it. How calamitous and prejudicial these
reiterated migrations were to the Indians, to the priests, and to the
cattle, would be tedious to relate. After fourteen changes of the
colony, they at last obtained a more fortunate situation on the western
shore of the Rio Dulce, inhabited by Spaniards, and about fifty leagues
distant from the city of St. Iago. More fertile pastures were no where
to be found: so that within a few years the number of kine increased to
thirty thousand, though many were yearly consumed in feeding the
Indians, especially after Debayakaikin and his numerous hordesmen fled
thither from St. Ferdinand. This new guest proved in reality an enemy to
the colony by frequently involving it in broils, on account of his long
quarrel with Ychoalay. At length, however, he bade farewel to the town
of Concepcion, and retired, with most of his people, to their ancient
retreats in Chaco, where, as I have related, he was slain in battle by
Ychoalay.
The colony, freed from the disturbers of its peace, began at length to
enjoy tranquillity; but the fruits never corresponded to the labour
bestowed upon it for many years by the indefatigable Sanchez and his
various companions. Many adults, however, especially when at the point
of death, and a still greater number of infants, received baptism; the
rest were civilized. The Spaniards accounted the friendship of this
nation, formerly for many years their bitterest enemies, an immortal
benefit; and learnt, at length, after they had lost us, that to our
patience and industry they were chiefly indebted for it: for when, to
the grief of all Paraguay, we were sent back to Europe, almost all the
Abipones returned to their former savage state, and were not to be
appeased by the Spaniards without the utmost difficulty.