FOUR HUNDRED SPANISH HORSEMEN, IN CONJUNCTION
WITH THE ABIPONES, OVERCOME A NUMEROUS HORDE
OF TOBAS.
The Governor, Joseph Martinez Fontez, being laid up with a fit of the
apoplexy, appointed Fulgentio de Yegros, an illiterate, but brave and
intelligent man, to the government of the province, during the period of
his indisposition. Congratulating himself upon this opportunity of
conducting a successful enterprize, Fulgentio flew to our colony,
accompanied by four hundred horse, in the design of undertaking a joint
expedition with the Abipones against the Tobas, long so hostile to the
whole province. After some days' journey, as no signs appeared of any
hostile settlements, the Spaniards began to think of a return, alleging
the difficulties of the road, the scarcity of provisions, and the
weariness of their horses; but this unseasonable and inglorious design
was openly condemned by the Abipones, who were possessed with a greater
thirst for battle and revenge. Their scouts, by means of the print of
horses' feet, at length discovered a populous horde of Tobas, to which
there was no access but by a narrow path through a surrounding wood.
Every thing was put in readiness for the assault, and, as the event of
momentous affairs is often, as Livy says, determined in a moment, the
Governor resolved, with the approbation of the Abipones, to attack the
savages next day about dawn, whilst they were sleeping, or half asleep,
that they might be circumvented before they were aware of the enemy's
approach. But as some Abipones, who had been sent forward to take a
nearer view of the enemy's station, were so much retarded by the
ruggedness of the way, that they did not return to the Spaniards till
midnight; and as the great forest which intervened could only be crossed
by the horsemen at a leisurely pace; the assault was not made till the
middle of the day, and then with less than the anticipated success: for,
most of the inhabitants being engaged in the chase at a distance from
home, and there being consequently few to oppose the assailants, and
none but a helpless crowd of women, children, and old men to be
vanquished and taken captive, the fight was attended with some
advantage, but with very little difficulty or glory. Terrified at the
sudden attack of the Spaniards, their eyes and ears assaulted by the
blaze and thundering sound of the muskets, these wretches preferred
flight to resistance. Many were intercepted and slain in their
disorderly retreat by the pursuing foe; the rest endeavoured to preserve
their lives in the forest; but as the Abipones examined all the recesses
of the woods like hounds, very few of the Tobas escaped their eyes and
hands, some being deprived of life, others of liberty.
The Spaniards, with great justice, attributed the whole success of this
expedition to the Abipones, by whose sagacity the settlements of the
savages had at first been discovered, and by whose celerity great
numbers were prevented from escaping. I never could learn the exact
number of persons that fell that day, but the captives of every
description amounted to forty, mostly taken by the Abipones, who
obtained besides a booty of an immense drove of horses belonging to the
enemy. The Spanish soldiers, though they terrified all the savages by
the firing of their muskets in this sudden attack, were able to wound
but very few of them, owing to the circumstance of their having passed
the preceding night, in order to be in readiness for pursuing their
journey, on horseback amongst the trees; in which situation the
gunpowder was moistened by the nocturnal dew, so that it was with the
utmost difficulty that it could be afterwards made to take fire. An old
Toba, who had been wounded by a bullet, drove on his family before him,
defending them with an uplifted spear, till he had very nearly reached
the border of the wood, without any of the Spaniards daring to oppose
him; but he and his people were cut to pieces by our Cacique Oahari,
with a sword which he snatched from a Spaniard as it lay idle in its
sheath. The wife and two daughters of the Cacique Keebetavalkin were
slain in the same manner. Not one of the Spaniards was killed, or even
hurt, in this chase, rather than battle. Many of them were present only
to increase the number of soldiers, and to be spectators of the assault.
A Spanish boy, who had been carried away from Paraguay by the Tobas in
his infancy, was set at liberty on this occasion. It is incredible how
great was his abhorrence of his countrymen the Spaniards, whom he had
ever considered as enemies; he was neither to be conciliated by gifts
nor caresses. A Spanish woman, who was released from captivity amongst
the Tobas, informed the Governor that there was a very numerous horde of
Tobas, scarce two days' journey from that place; but he, disregarding
the wishes of the Abipones, who urged him to attack it, alleged the
weariness of the horses and scarcity of provisions as excuses for
hastening his return, and deferring the attack upon that horde till
another time; but that time never came. All the sensible Spaniards were
indignant at the Governor's letting slip this long wished for
opportunity of destroying, or at any rate chastising the atrocious
nation of Tobas, whose daily business and delight it for so many years
had been to cut the throats of the Spaniards. They thought that the
society of the Abipones, who were of so much service in seeking out and
fighting the enemy, might not hereafter be obtained without great
difficulty; and that many would perhaps atone with their blood for one
man's fault in neglecting such fair opportunities of victory.
Whilst the Abipones were absent on this expedition, the defence of the
colony entirely devolved upon me, a charge in the performance of which I
underwent much trouble and anxiety; for the neighbouring Mocobios,
learning from their spies that none but the women and children remained
at home with me, repeatedly approached us for mischievous purposes. But
as I never ceased watching, day and night, with unremitting vigilance,
their insidious attempts never succeeded but once, when they carried off
a number of excellent horses from the pastures where they had been left
to feed by the Spanish soldiers, the persons appointed to guard them
being asleep at the time. The head of the plunderers was a certain
Mocobio, who had deserted religion and a town life, and was second to
none in rapacity and cunning. By day he used to converse familiarly with
the Spaniards appointed to guard the cattle, as he understood their
language, and to take his dinner with them: but one night he suddenly
went off with his companions who were lurking hard by, and carried away
a number of choice horses. After fourteen days' journey our heroes
returned, leading in triumph a miserable crowd of captives whom they
exhibited as trophies, and testimonials of their valour. But for my part
I judged a victory stained with the blood of so many helpless women and
girls more worthy of sorrow than of applause, knowing that it would
certainly be atoned for by that of myself, or my people, and that the
surviving Tobas would never allow the death or captivity of their wives,
mothers, or children to go unrevenged; in which opinion all the
Spaniards coincided, firmly believing that certain danger threatened the
colony from those enraged savages. But the Governor, hastening to the
city, evinced how little he had our safety at heart, when he left such a
scanty band as we were, exposed to a multitude of enemies, breathing
nothing but vengeance. After much entreaty, he could only be persuaded
to leave us five Spanish guards, wretched creatures, entirely destitute
of courage, and nearly so of arms. These were sent home at intervals,
and succeeded by others, as bad, or worse; so that they rather served as
a laughing-stock, than as a protection to the Abipones.
I must not omit to mention that the Abipones publicly, and with the
utmost effrontery, celebrated a slaughter they had formerly committed on
the Spaniards, whose skulls they exhibited with songs and drinking,
Fulgentio being present with his forces, and not daring to take the
least exception at it. Since they durst do that in the face of the
Governor, and four hundred soldiers, what respect would they pay to the
threats or admonitions of a priest?
On the same day that the Abipones returned from the expedition, I
visited all the tents of my people, to see and speak with the captives,
and if they stood in need of medicine or assistance, to afford it them
without delay: for either the terror excited by the sudden assault of
the Spaniards, or grief at the loss of liberty and their native soil, or
the burning heat of the sun in travelling, had affected them to such a
degree, that we thought they were certainly going to be seized with some
disease. But I found them all in good health except one woman, the skin
of whose head had been grazed by a bullet. As the wound was only
skin-deep, the Spaniards laid a piece of fresh wax on the place, by way
of a plaster, and the flies which infest moist places gradually bred
worms there, which, as they occupied a dangerous part of the head, threw
the woman into a delirium; but by the timely application of tiger's fat
the worms were destroyed.
A slight dispute arose between the Spaniards and Abipones on the subject
of the captives; the former, in order to draw all eyes towards them on
their return to the city, and to be congratulated with the greater
applause, wanted to take both the captive youths and the Toba women out
of the hands of the Abipones, and to adorn themselves, like the daw,
with borrowed plumes; on the other hand, the Abipones obstinately
maintained that what they themselves had taken with the danger of their
lives, was their own property; but were induced, by a settled
compensation, or liberal promises, to cede a very few of the Tobas to
the Spaniards, the rest of the captives being retained in the colony. I
did not look upon myself as authorized to decide this controversy, but
silently hoped that none of the captives would remain with us,
foreseeing that their presence would prove highly prejudicial to our
colony. As we had no place for confining the captives, and as they
enjoyed equal liberty of wandering with the rest, they every one escaped
whilst their masters were absent or asleep. Some of the older Tobas
returned home with stolen horses, and having become well acquainted with
the whole of our neighbourhood, frequently returned to harass and
plunder the colony.