FRESH DISTURBANCES, CAUSED BOTH BY STRANGERS,
AND BY THE INHABITANTS THEMSELVES.
At another time the colony was threatened with a still more dangerous
storm, but which was averted by the valour of the Yaaukanigas. More than
three hundred Mocobios and Tobas approached the town by a silent and
hasty journey. One of their number deserted,—got the start of his
companions, and informed Oaherkaikin's Abipones, our neighbours and
friends, of the impending attack; by which means we received timely
intelligence of our danger. Father Klein, seeing that we were inferior
to the enemy in point of number, with his usual intrepidity crossed the
Parana in a boat, though a violent south wind had rendered it
exceedingly rough, to seek supplies from the Vice-Governor of
Corrientes. Meantime our Yaaukanigas, who were constantly exhorted by me
to a strenuous defence of the colony, indulged in drinking, as usual
with them when they anticipate an encounter with the enemy. For my part
I neglected nothing which could contribute to the defence of the colony,
exerting the utmost vigilance, and sending scouts and guards in every
direction. At two o'clock on Quinquagesima Sunday, a Yaaukaniga spied
one of the enemies in a neighbouring field, from which we readily
concluded that a company was there also. The Yaaukanigas, though hardly
able to stand on their feet from intoxication, immediately mounted their
horses which the women made ready, and rushed in a disorderly manner
upon the Mocobios and Tobas, who were lying hid at the border of the
wood. Uncertain of the event, and anxious for the safety of the town, I
remained in arms ready to bring my assistance wherever it might be
required. Gracious Providence ordered things according to our wish; for
the enemies, surrounded, and alarmed at our sudden attack, chose to
decline battle, and trust to flight. In the closeness of pursuit, the
Mocobios were divided. Part flying towards the south slew two Abiponian
women who were gathering alfarobas, and carried into captivity one
infant which they took from its mother's breast. The other part hastened
towards the north, pursued by our townsmen till late at night. One only
of the Yaaukanigas received a slight wound at the beginning of the
conflict: how many of the enemy were slain and wounded is uncertain.
But you, I suppose, are still expecting the auxiliary forces which
Father Klein had sailed to Corrientes to seek the day before. I will
give you some account of this matter, to show you how little dependence
could be placed on the support of the Spaniards, even in cases of
extreme danger. About evening, whilst our Indians were pursuing the
enemy, two Spanish soldiers arrived, but neither of them deserved the
name of soldier, or bore the slightest shadow of resemblance to a
Spaniard. If Hercules be not a match for two, what, I beseech you, could
a couple of poor dastardly fellows do against four hundred savages? They
were of no use whatever, and served only to excite the laughter of the
Indians. No prayers, no promises, could induce them to employ themselves
in removing the cattle to the town, lest the Mocobios should carry them
away at night from the pastures: palpitating with fear they declared it
impossible to stir without the inclosure of our house. The Indian boys,
more courageous than these soldiers, brought the whole herd within sight
of the town, and diligently guarded them at night that they might not be
again dispersed. We all kept watch the whole night lest the enemy should
repeat the attack; and indeed in the morning our scouts discovered
traces of the Mocobios who had been wandering over our estate.
The Yaaukanigas, exasperated at the slaughter of the two women, and at
the inefficient supplies afforded them by the Spaniards, sent a courier
for the Vice-Governor, and menacingly signified that they should
consider any delay or refusal as a violation of friendship; and on Ash
Wednesday, Nicolas Patron, accompanied by ten soldiers, appeared with
Father Klein. Our Indians, and the hordesmen of Oaherkaikin, who had
been summoned to attend, received him in arms, and with their faces
painted; and when he entered our house they besieged the doors on both
sides, and blocked up all access to the market-place, which plainly
indicated that they entertained hostile intentions. The Vice-Governor,
who was of an intrepid and jocular disposition, spying Pachiekè, brother
of Narè, at other times a great friend of his, said to him,—"If you are
going to speak with me, first wipe off the soot with which you have
daubed your face;" to this he replied, in a threatening tone, "Because
you are going to speak with me is the very reason that I have painted my
face with these dark colours." He then, in the name of all the people,
insolently rehearsed their grounds of complaint, saying, "_We_ victors
unwillingly granted _you_ vanquished the peace you sued for. Long did we
refuse this colony which you have thrust upon us, knowing ourselves less
powerful than the enemies which dwelt in the neighbourhood. To free us
from this anxiety how many and great were your promises! 'My soldiers,'
said you, 'shall be yours, and your enemies shall be mine.' Our forming
this friendship with you, procured us the hatred of the Mocobios and
Tobas, our former allies. For many years they have dared the utmost
against us. Our children are torn from their mothers' bosoms, our wives
slain, our horses stolen; the enemies attack us day and night, and did
we not elude their snares by vigilance, and their numbers by valour, not
a man of us would be left alive, or have a horse to sit upon. These
things are not unknown to you, yet you quietly hear of our calamities
without emotion, and never even bestow a thought upon assisting us. Of
late, when, to revenge our injuries, we attacked the Mocobios with
hostile arms, how fiercely was your anger kindled against us! You are
afraid, forsooth, that the Mocobios, if provoked by us, will vent their
rage upon you, and ravage the territory of Corrientes. How long will you
have your security purchased with the danger of our lives? Spite of all
your opposition, we are determined to go out against the Mocobios, and
revenge our injuries. This one request we reasonably make, as a
testimony of your friendship, and a reward of ours, that you will send
ten Spanish horsemen, provided with muskets, to accompany us on this
expedition." Here the Governor interrupted Pachiekè, who was proceeding
to say more, and with an ill-timed joke evaded his threatening speech.
"When," said he, "with a very long spear in your hands, and paints of
various colours on your faces, you make the plain tremble under your
horses' feet, and fill the air with the horrible braying of trumpets, in
good sooth, you think yourselves mighty heroes." As he spoke this with
mimicking gestures, appearing to ridicule the method of warfare
practised by the Abipones, extreme indignation was excited amongst the
bystanders. Whilst the rest were expressing their resentment, one, more
forward than the rest, exclaimed, "Take care how you make a jest of our
horns and trumpets, the clangor of which has, for so many years, caused
every limb of you Spaniards to tremble." The horrid murmuring of the
whole people and their threatening looks portended danger to the
Vice-Governor, who, to conciliate their enraged minds, adroitly altered
his tone, commending the Abipones, instead of satirizing them, as I
warned him by signs. To flattery he added plenty of promises, (to which
he never stood,) saying that another expedition against the Guaranies
prevented him from giving them satisfaction at that time, but that as
soon as the present war was finished, he would go out against the
Mocobios, with some companies of horse. Having said this, he hastened
back to the city under pretext of business, his coming having served no
other end than that of irritating still further the minds of the
Indians. No one could suggest any remedy for the afflicted colony which
seemed sinking to ruin: amid continual attacks from the savages, or the
apprehension of them, years passed away—years barren of comfort, but
fruitful of misfortunes. Yet still more pernicious than any foreign foe
was the unfortunate society of Debayakaikin's Abipones, both to the
improvement and domestic affairs of the town; induced by their examples,
or relying on their support, our Yaaukanigas frequently dared to make
inroads into the lands of Cordoba, Sta. Fè, and Asumpcion, where, though
they committed no slaughter, they carried off droves of horses. With
still greater boldness, they annoyed the neighbouring towns of the
Guaranies, by whose liberality chiefly they were clothed and fed. These
predatory incursions we condemned, forbade, and lamented, but had not
the power to prevent. They never did any mischief, however, to the
territory of Corrientes. After the departure of Debayakaikin, many of
his hordesmen remained in the town of St. Ferdinand, others joined the
horde of Oaherkaikin, who had long established himself in a neighbouring
plain, almost in sight of the town. No tears can sufficiently deplore,
nor words express the injury which the morals of the Yaaukanigas
sustained from the vicinity of these plunderers, and the mischief they
did to our little estate. One of this savage rabble, more rapacious than
the rest, made greater havock amongst the herds than any tiger, and no
means of restraining his robberies could be adopted, whilst our
Yaaukanigas, ever friendly to Oaherkaikin, sometimes abetted, sometimes
concealed them. The Vice-Governor, when informed of the affair, durst
not utter a word of reproof to this chief of the plunderers, who was
impudently sitting by his side in our house, but endeavoured to
conciliate him by civil speeches. If Spanish generals, accompanied by
soldiers, are dumb through fear, when they ought to reproach the savages
with their wickedness, who can wonder if the Fathers, destitute of all
human aid, and given up to the power of the savages, were afraid to
treat their errors with too much severity? Yet despising death we
overcame fear, and when any thing improper met our observation,
reprehended it, if reprehension seemed likely to be of any avail. Take
one example out of many which might be related of the men of our order.
Father Klein, with his usual fearlessness, advised a young man of high
family amongst the Yaaukanigas to refrain from incursions against the
Spaniards, when the ferocious youth dashed a club at his head with such
force that he fell swooning to the ground covered with his own blood.
Not one of the Spaniards who were there, not one of the Abipones, durst
lay hands on the perpetrator of this sacrilegious blow: he went
unpunished. Another Yaaukaniga struck the same Father with his fist,
crying, "It is a fable what you tell us about a God who created all
things."
The estate was exhausted by the continual rapacity of these plunderers,
and scarcely contained oxen sufficient to feed the Indians for two
months. I declared in presence of the Vice-Governor that we should soon
be forced to desert the colony from want of cattle, but he entreated me
not to think of such a thing, saying, "If you depart, and suffer the
Yaaukanigas to do the same, the malicious will say you have done so with
the intention of involving us Spaniards anew in the calamities of war."
"No one," replied I, "would be so foolish as to credit such a calumny.
We cannot confine the savages within the limits of a little town, nor
restrain them from their habit of wandering, unless we have plenty of
provision at home." The Vice-Governor, convinced, or more probably
alarmed by this speech, promised many things for the preservation of the
colony, and had his powers corresponded to his wishes, this excellent
man would doubtless have fulfilled his promises. The Provincial,
informed by me of the ruin which threatened the colony from want of
cattle, immediately sent me a thousand oxen, for the support of the
Indians: by his liberality, and the supplies of the Guarany towns, an
estate was founded on the opposite shore of the Parana, which, not being
exposed to predatory incursions, abounded in cattle of every kind in the
space of a few years.
One thing is certain, that this colony of Yaaukanigas was not preserved
by the support of the Spaniards, but chiefly by the vigilance and
industry of the Jesuits, and that it was little indebted for assistance
to the city of Corrientes, which, on the other hand, derived much
advantage from it, remaining unmolested, from the time of its
commencement, by the inroads of the savages dwelling in Chaco. Moreover
the Corrientines, reduced almost to desperation by long war, were
enabled to build ships, and waggons on the opposite shore of the river
on which our colony stood, and which abounds in most excellent trees,
and to enrich themselves by commerce without danger. In the year 1767,
when we returned to Europe, the number of Christian Yaaukanigas was two
hundred, the rest having died of small-pox and other diseases. The
survivors, exasperated at the Spaniards on account of our banishment,
burnt the church and the houses of the Fathers to ashes, deserted the
colony they had inhabited for seventeen years, and returned to their
ancient retreats and their old habits of plundering. A priest of the
order of St. Francis, who had been substituted in our stead, scarce
preserved his life by flying to the city. So unfortunate was the event
of a colony that had cost us so much labour and misery, an event highly
pernicious to the Corrientines and other Spaniards, against whom the
Indians resumed their arms, soon after quitting the colony.