THE ORIGIN AND SITUATION OF A COLONY OF ABIPONES
NAMED FROM S. CARLOS AND THE ROSARY.
That the corruption of one thing is the generation of another, and that
insects are created from putrid substances is affirmed by some
naturalists and denied by others, but certainly such was the origin of
this colony; for it was composed of Abipones who had deserted religion,
and the other towns. Weary of Christian discipline, and of the
inactivity of peace, they for some time vexed the territories of the
Spaniards and Guaranies with slaughter and rapine: but seeing themselves
threatened, both behind and before, with avenging arms, and being unable
to discover any place of retreat where they might conceal themselves
from Ychoalay, they provided for their safety by artifice, since they
could not secure it by force of arms. Three orators were sent to
Asumpcion to petition, in the name of the rest, for a colony, and
priests to instruct them in religion. The Governor, Martinez Fontez,
granted the request of these wily legates with the utmost willingness,
flattering himself that he should gain great favour with the King by
founding this colony. Fulgentio de Yegros, a Paraguayrian commander,
wonderfully approved the Governor's purpose, urged the execution of it,
and bestowed a great many caresses on the Abiponian deputies. The other
more prudent Spaniards strongly opposed the design, truly observing:
"These rascally Abipones, the dregs of the whole nation, come hither
from the fear of punishment, not from the desire of embracing religion:
it is not a colony, but an asylum where they may commit crimes with
impunity, that they seek amongst the Spaniards; and even if this were
not the case, a province so indigent in every respect as this, cannot
afford the supplies necessary for founding and preserving such a
colony." The same was the opinion of all the Jesuits. Eager for glory,
the Governor turned a deaf ear to all these remonstrances. By his order
the people were convoked to the market-place of the city, that each
might voluntarily contribute something for the colony, according to his
means. Some promised sheep and oxen; others horses, or Paraguay tea; the
less opulent, axes, knives, and the other articles of domestic
furniture: and were there not as wide a difference between gifts and
promises, as there is between words and deeds, the colony would have
been amply provided for. But, to use a Spanish proverb, _mucho era el
ruido, pero pocas las nueces_: great was the noise, but few were the
nuts. Many evaded the performance of their promises altogether; others
impudently sent aged cows; lame, lean, and dying horses; old, bare, and
diseased sheep; and every thing else in the same style. Many of those
persons whom the Governor employed in collecting or keeping the cattle
and other things, were deficient either in fidelity or in diligence,
reserving some for their own private use, and exchanging the better
ones, which they kept to themselves, for others of less value. It
therefore is not to be wondered at that the whole of Paraguay did not
contain a more indigent or calamitous colony, of which I, who was forced
to struggle, for two years, with extreme poverty, and the insolence of
these savages, had full and ocular demonstration.
The Abipones, solicitous for their security above all things, themselves
pointed out a situation for the colony, seventy leagues south of
Asumpcion, four leagues distant from the western shore of the Paraguay,
and beset with woods, rivers, and marshes, which rendered it difficult
of access to the Spaniards, who had to cross that vast river whenever
they approached it from their own city. This plain is called Timbò in
the Guarany tongue, from a tree of that name which abounds here; by some
it has been named La Herradura, or the horse-shoe, because the river
Paraguay, being forced into a curve by the interjection of an island,
presents, in this place, the appearance of a horse-shoe. Besides this,
two tolerably large rivers, (both having salt waters,) flow past the
spot where the colony stood, and uniting, in sight of it, into one
channel, form a large lake which afterwards discharges itself into the
Paraguay. After a long drought, you can seldom find any fresh water, or
any of the larger kind of fish, in this labyrinth of waters; innumerable
crocodiles, by which the fish are either consumed or kept away, are
every where to be seen. In the desire of concealment, however, the
Abipones pitched upon this incommodious situation, which the Tobas lay
claim to: and the Spaniards willingly ratified their choice, because
their enemies, the Mocobios and Tobas, used generally to cross the
Paraguay in this place, when they made their excursions against the
Paraguayrians.
In this sequestered place, the Abipones were ordered to remain, till
things being properly settled, and priests appointed, a little town
should be built there. In the mean time, oxen were given them for their
support, yet they still continued to drive vast herds of horses from the
estates of Sta. Fè and St. Jeronymo: but Ychoalay, accompanied with a
troop of horse, surprized this horde of thieves by night, and carried
off all the horses they had plundered; irritated by which nocturnal
assault, they industriously made up for the loss by repeated rapine.
Fulgentio de Yegros visited these Abipones with a numerous band of
soldiers, for the purpose of making a dwelling-house for the expected
priests. After staying two days there, and consuming an incredible
number of the oxen intended for the use of the colony, the soldiers
built only two little huts, so narrow and low, and so badly constructed,
of wood and mud, that the Governor himself pronounced them absolutely
uninhabitable.
The Jesuit Contucci, at that time Provincial and Visitor of Paraguay,
being ordered, in the King's name, to appoint priests for the new
colony, after consulting those persons who were best acquainted with the
affairs of the province, conferred this charge upon me, on account of my
acquaintance with the Abiponian tongue. I was therefore called to the
Guarany town of Sta. Rosa, where the Provincial resided, on business of
the colony, and soon afterwards ordered to hasten to the metropolis,
where I had to wait from the 28th of August till the 24th of November,
whilst the Governor was preparing every thing necessary for beginning
the colony.