ANXIETY OF THE ABIPONES CONCERNING THE REVENGE
OF THE TOBAS. CONTAGION OF THE TERTIAN FEVER.
My Abipones, late the conquerors of the Tobas, were not ignorant that
their vanquished enemies observed the same rule as themselves in
revenging injuries, and that victories were often succeeded by bloody
slaughters. That they might not, therefore, be surprized by a sudden
incursion of the Tobas, whom they had recently provoked, they diligently
fortified their tents by the erection of temporary fences. But as fear
deems no protection sufficient, they dreamt, even at mid-day, of
enemies, snares, and attacks. A certain species of beetle, humming at an
unlucky moment, was taken for a spy belonging to the enemy. No place nor
time was free from danger and anxiety to the Abipones. Moreover, the
female jugglers, whose predictions the savages think it a crime to
discredit, used falsely to affirm that the enemies were approaching, and
their divinations being frequently confirmed by Indians going to and
fro, the Abipones often passed the day, and still oftener the night, in
arms, expecting every instant the assault of the Tobas.
To this continual trepidation was added the contagion of the tertian
fever, which raged indiscriminately, for a length of time, amongst
persons of either sex, and of every age. Being forced to attend upon the
sick day and night, I was at length seized with the disorder myself; but
whereas the rest only suffered from it every third day, I, on the
contrary, was afflicted with alternate fits of heat and cold for many
hours every evening; a period at which none but myself felt the
slightest degree of fever. The disease grew so violent, that my head
became delirious at night, my body was inflamed with heat, my tongue
grew black as a coal, and my languid feet consisted of nothing but skin
and bone; it was long before I could walk without leaning on a crutch,
so greatly was my strength exhausted; in a word, I looked like a
breathing carcass. The Indians, who daily crowded to see me, exclaimed
all together, with tears in their eyes, "You are going to die, Father!
you are going to die!" I certainly seemed at no great distance from the
grave, my disorder daily increasing, and myself destitute of physician,
medicine, proper food, wine, bread, sugar, every thing in short
necessary to revive and strengthen me. The very sight of the hard dry
beef, my only fare at other times, created disgust in my languid
stomach: maize ground and boiled, if it could be procured of the Indians
at any price, I accounted a luxury, finding it of great service in
cooling me and quenching my burning thirst. Moreover, I made daily use
of a plant, in Spanish called _verdologa_, in Latin, _portulaca_, which,
boiled in water, afforded me great relief: it has small, bright, green
leaves, growing on a reddish stalk, which creeps along the ground, and
seasoned with oil and vinegar is an excellent substitute for lettuce.
My worst and most intolerable grievance was, that the people assembled
together almost every night, exclaiming with doleful yells, that the
sanguinary Tobas were at hand, and imperiously calling upon me to arise
for the defence of the colony, whilst I was burning with fever and
totally helpless. Unable to stand on my feet, I was sometimes obliged to
keep watch, sitting at the door of my hut, and leaning upon a gun, to
relieve the fears of this faint-hearted crew, who placed more confidence
in one musket than in an hundred spears. I was alive, but hardly
conscious of my existence. At length, when the violence of the fever
abated, and the use of my senses, though not of my limbs, was restored
to me, I often crept through the tents of the sick, leaning on the arms
of others, that no dying person might expire without religious
consolation. Rapidly growing worse and worse, destitute of priest,
physician, soldier, or guard, I was in daily expectation of death; but
whether I was to receive it from the enemies' weapons, or the
pertinacity of the fever, which lasted seven-and-twenty days, I remained
in uncertainty, though well prepared for either, thinking death
preferable to a life spent in such a manner. Fulgentio, to whom I wrote
an account of the calamitous state of our affairs, returned for answer
that neither priest nor soldiers could be sent us till after Easter. I
suppose the good man was unwilling to deprive any Spaniard of the
opportunity of beholding spectacles, or hearing sermons wherein the
memory of our Saviour's sufferings were revived; yet the Governor would
have given greater proofs of piety and prudence, had he, without taking
account of those ceremonies, immediately dispatched a priest to me, who
was dying, and a soldier to the colony, which was exposed to so much
danger. On reading Fulgentio's letter, I cast away all hope of human
aid, and confidently waited for the assistance of Heaven, which I at
length obtained, and by which alone I was preserved. The continual fever
being mitigated at the end of seven-and-twenty days, and converted into
a tertian, my strength slowly returned, and on Palm Sunday I ministered
again at the altar, though in danger of fainting every moment, from the
extreme weakness of my head and feet.
Eight days after Easter, a priest of our order came from Asumpcion,
accompanied by twelve soldiers. This man had been ordered to take upon
himself the care of the colony in case he found me dead; if I was still
sick, to act in my stead, while I sailed to the city. He was as much
rejoiced at my being still alive, as I was at his arrival; for he
dreaded to remain amongst the savages, to whom he was unaccustomed,
having till then been always employed as lecturer on philosophy or
theology. The continual reports concerning the approach of the cruel
Tobas, the repeated noise of war trumpets, the sudden concourse of
trembling women, the tormenting swarms of fleas and gnats, the
wretchedness of his habitation, the heat of the air, and the noxious
vapours arising from adjacent marshes, rendered his life intolerable;
though he had come furnished with fresh bread, with wine, and other
liquors, to nourish or refresh the body, and had even brought water with
him, which I was always obliged to take from a stagnant pool. That he
might not, therefore, be necessitated to remain whilst I returned to
Asumpcion, it is incredible with how liberal a hand he daily dispensed
from his stores whatever was calculated to refresh and strengthen me.
Accustomed to the Indians, and to misery, I had as great an abhorrence
of the city, as he had of the wretched and turbulent colony; so that at
the end of eight days he was at liberty to return with most of the
soldiers, a few only being reserved to watch in the colony. Scarce had
he reached home when he was seized with a fit of sickness, which
confined him to his bed for some months. If eight days' stay was
sufficient to lay him prostrate, though he wanted no comfort, you cannot
wonder that, after two years spent in extreme indigence and amidst
continual disturbances, the ill state of my health obliged me to quit
the colony.
Bands of soldiers were sent at intervals to construct houses for the
Abipones, who, till that time, for more than a year, had dwelt under the
mats, which they used for tents both at home and in travelling. On
holidays, when I was ministering at the altar, I used to discourse with
the soldiers to such effect that many of them confessed to me the faults
of their past life, which was rendered the more necessary by the
perilous situation of our affairs. We were agitated with daily
apprehensions of the enemy's approach. At one time it was reported that
Ychoalay, provoked at repeated plundering of his horses, was drawing
near to the colony; at another, the vengeful Tobas were said to be
coming with confederate savages. As no hope of tranquillity, or shadow
of security appeared, there was not one of the Spaniards who did not
ardently desire a speedy departure from the colony, and all the soldiers
who were ordered thither by their captains thought themselves condemned
to the quarries, or to the oar. The richer and more respectable strove
to evade the journey on pretence of business, indisposition, or by some
other feigned excuses; hence none but the meaner soldiers, Spaniards
only in name, attended our town, and were rather a burden than a
protection to us. Such were generally those who, in the beginning, were
dispatched every month to our colony, both to bring us certain
necessaries, and to see whether I was still alive. They were often
prevented from reaching us from fear of the savages; at other times
every thing they brought was so spoilt with the water as to be of no
possible use: these were frequent causes of distress in the colony.