Chapter III: Part 3

The same evening I hinted to the Cacique Roy, that I wished to see all the inhabitants of the place assembled in one spot, that I might address them, and present them with suitable gifts. My wishes were immediately gratified. They sat around me in such modesty and silence that I seemed to behold statues instead of men. To awaken their attention I played for some time on the viol d'amour. Now, though I think myself the very worst of musicians, yet in these woods I was pronounced an Orpheus by my auditors, who had never heard a better or a worse performer than myself, or indeed any other music whatever, except that which they produce with rattling gourds together. I then addressed the assembly to the following effect: "I do not repent the long journey I have taken, the rivers and marshes I have crossed, the troubles which I have undergone, now that I see you well and kindly disposed towards me. My errand is to render you happy; your friend I am in all sincerity. Suffer me then to declare candidly what I feel with respect to you. I lament and pity your lot, which has buried you amid the shades of woods, ignorant alike of the beauties of the world and of God their creator. I know you pronounce the name of God; but how he must be worshipped, what he forbids, what he ordains, what he promises to the good, and what threatens to the evil, that ye know not: nor, unless taught by a priest, can ye ever learn it, miserable while ye live, and most miserable hereafter when ye die." Here I briefly explained the principal heads of religion with what plainness I could. As I discussed these things, they all listened very attentively, except that the boys laughed a little when I made mention of hell fire. The old man also, when he heard from me that marriage with relations was forbidden, exclaimed, "Thou sayest well, father; such marriages are abominable, but this we know already." From which I discovered that incestuous connexions seemed more execrable to these savages than murder or robbery. Just as I was about to finish my speech, I eyed the congregation more attentively, and cried out, like one astounded, "Alas! in all this numerous assembly I see very, very few of an advanced age; but the reason is manifest. The daily miseries which surround you ruin your constitutions, and bring on a premature death. With naked limbs you daily suffer the injuries of the weather. Your roofs, pervious to every wind, how little do they defend you! Whole days you traverse the woods like famished wild beasts, the chase at last often fruitless, your subsistence fortuitous, what wonder then if continual solicitude about your maintenance harasses your minds? Not to mention the constant risk to which your lives are exposed from the claws of tigers, the bites of serpents, and the weapons and teeth of enemies. Nay, setting aside these things, a soil always damp, as I find yours to be, swarming with gnats and other insects, must unquestionably prove the nursery of diseases. And what hope can the invalid entertain of recovering his health in this your solitude, far from medicine or medical advice? For those whom you call physicians are impostors, fitter for cheating than curing you. From such inconveniences and perils, the Indians your brothers are almost free, who, assembled in one town, conform their lives to the commandments of God and the regulations of the priests. How many old men might you meet with there! Nor need you wonder that the majority extend their lives to the extremity of age, when such and so many assistances are supplied them in the city, of the highest efficacy in prolonging life. In the town separate dwellings are marked out for each, not indeed always the most splendid, but fortified against the vicissitudes of the weather. A suitable portion of beef is every day awarded gratuitously to each. With corn, fruit and vegetables they are commonly well enough supplied from their own land. Every year new clothes are distributed to each. Knives, axes, glass-beads, and similar ornaments, are given as presents. Skilful physicians are night and day in attendance on the sick, who carefully provide them with food prepared in the father's dwelling, and with fit medicine, as occasion requires. If any of you think I have made a greater boast of these things than truth warrants, see before you stand Indian Christians, your brothers, and my companions and clients, of whom the greater part were born and brought up in woods like yourselves, and now, for many years back, have lived under my authority in St. Joachim. Cast your eyes on their garments. Enquire from them the mode of life which exists amongst us. You will quickly learn that they are contented with their lot, and think themselves most happy in every point of view. They have been what you are now; and you have it in your power to be what they now are. Do not deny yourselves this felicity. Consider whether it be expedient to immure yourselves in dusky woods, the prey of successive calamities, and final death. It rests with you to act conformably to my good instructions. With open arms we will receive you as friends receive friends, and without delay make you our fellow townsmen. To propose this to you, and persuade you to accept it, I have taken a long and, as you know yourselves, a most difficult journey, urged by my love and yearning towards you;—but no more need be said on this subject."

To add weight to my oration, I presented each of my auditors with trifling gifts,—little knives, scissors, hooks, axes, mirrors, rings, ear-rings, and necklaces of glass-beads. I seemed to have borne down all before me, because I had mingled my oration with a copious largess. For it passes belief with what significations of joy and good-will towards me, on the breaking up of the assembly, each retired to his quarters. In a little while, Cacique Roy, to testify his gratitude, offered me some loaves, prepared, he said, on my account, by his old wife. These loaves were round, made of maize, thin, baked under the hot ashes, which they resembled in colour, and, in a word, so disagreeable that their very sight would disgust the most hungry European. Nevertheless, to temporize as much as might be, I praised the skill of the baker, and their great disposition to gratify me; and taking them in one hand, returned them pleasantly with the other, adding, that it would please me highly if his children would feast on these dainties to celebrate my arrival. The old man approved my counsel, and took back the loaves with the same joy as he had brought them. Strangers must indeed be cautious how they receive food offered by savages, who are very skilful in mixing it with poison, and though officious, always to be feared, as regarding other tribes with an hostile eye. Cacique Roy had a little house for himself and family separate from the rest; yet during the three days we spent with them, he passed the night in that vast dwelling I have named, whether anxious for the safety of his own subjects or of us, I know not. We spent our nights in the open air in the middle of the dwellings of the savages. I cautioned my men to sleep and watch by turns, lest we should be surprised in our sleep by the designs of many. But there was not a symptom or occasion of fear on either side, though the suspicion of danger never left us. On the following day, I sent four chosen men of my associates, with Arapotiyu, to slaughter an ox, which I had left at a distance, and bring its flesh to make a feast for the savages. Nothing could have been devised better calculated to raise their spirits; for the Americans never rejoice with more heartfelt glee, nor pay a more prompt obedience, than when their stomachs are full of beef. The Cacique had a pleasure in spending many hours of the day in familiar conversation with me. He told me ingenuously, that both he and his distrusted the Spaniards and Portugueze in every thing. To conciliate therefore his confidence and good-will towards me, I declared that I was neither a Spaniard nor a Portugueze. Which circumstance being strongly urged by me, the Cacique told all his hordesmen that I was neither of Spanish nor Portugueze extraction, which had the utmost effect in tightening the new chain of friendship and good-will towards me which bound their savage minds. I must here relate a circumstance which I cannot write without a blush, nor can it, I think, be read without a smile. As the Cacique was smoking tobacco through a reed, he opened at once his intentions and his ignorance to my Indians who were sitting with him. "I have conceived an affection," says he, "for our father, seeing for certain that he is not a Spaniard, and should like to enjoy his company as long as I live. Now I have a daughter, the prettiest girl in the world, and I am resolved to marry her to the father, that he may always stay in our family. This intention I have just broke to my wife, and she is of the same mind as myself." On hearing this foolish speech of the old man's, my Indians could not refrain from laughing; and being asked the cause, replied, "that the fathers always live celibate, and are interdicted from marriage by the most sacred law." The old man was thunderstruck; "_An eyrae!_" he exclaimed, with his tobacco reed suspended in the air, "what strange thing is this you tell me?" His astonishment was mingled with sighs, for he grieved that he could not accomplish his wishes. This ridiculous conversation I overheard walking behind among the trees, but dissembling my knowledge, asked my Indians, what the sudden laugh meant; but they were ashamed to repeat to me the Cacique's absurd proposal, and blushing held their peace. It is observable amongst the Guarany Indians, that if many are asked at once, no one answers. I therefore asked one of them separately, who related to me the whole conversation. I thanked the Cacique for his kind intentions towards me, and told him that I and all priests professed that kind of life which excludes wedlock altogether; but that though I could not be his son-in-law, he should always find me his most sincere friend, and, if he wished it, his companion and instructor in Christianity. When he had heard this he redoubled his astonishment and his declarations of affection.

Immediately on my entering the savage horde the preceding day, I had asked them to despatch messengers to acquaint the neighbouring Caciques of our arrival, and exhort them to visit us there. The next day about noon the armed savages arrived in great numbers with their families. Two Caciques led the troop. The first, who was called Veraripochiritù, equalled in height and fullness of body the length of his name, a man remarkable for nothing but gentleness and docility. His son, a handsome boy of ten years old, had all his face painted with small black stars. "You think," said I, "to adorn your face with these stars, but you have disfigured it most wretchedly. Come, behold yourself in this mirror." Having looked at his face a little while, he hastened to some water to wash it, and he, who with his naked limbs, had just before come to me a perfect Pyracmon, when he had wiped off the soot, seemed transformed into a Daphnis. I presented them all with the accustomed trifles, conversed familiarly with each, and very frequently with their Cacique Veraripochiritù, whom I found particularly disposed to our worship. The other Cacique, who appeared with his troop, was Tupanchichù, a man scarce forty years old, handsome and well made, but destitute of that fairness of face and candour of mind which the others boasted. Arrogant, crafty, and designing; under a placid countenance and a perilous suavity of speech, he contrived to cover his cherished purpose of slaying us, which was, however, discovered by others. On coming up he seated himself with me, and demanded, in an imperative tone, a portion of the herb of Paraguay. Some friendly interrogations having passed on both sides, I seized a favourable opportunity of discoursing on the Deity. "We already know," he observed, "that there is some one who dwells in heaven." To this I returned, "that God was the supreme creator and ruler; that he was a tender loving father, most worthy of our hearts and adorations; that it behoved them long ago to have known and understood what pleased and what displeased him." "Tell me, I pray you," said he, "what _does_ displease God." "He abhors," I rejoined, "and terribly punishes adulteries, uncleannesses, lies, calumnies, thefts, homicides." "What," he enquired, interrupting me, with a haughty look, "does not God permit us to slay our enemies? Should we be such fools as not to defend ourselves against those that seek our lives? Such has been my custom if any one threatened mine." I endeavoured to convince the fanatical casuist of his error, and to instil into him a horror of human slaughter, with what success I know not. At that time I learnt from good authority, that this barbarous Cacique, who was feared by the whole neighbourhood as a formidable juggler, displayed in his tent an heap of sculls, whose former possessors he had taken off, partly by poison partly by violence.

At last the Caciques made a final resolve, and entreated me to get a colony founded for them in their native land, like those which the other Indian Christians had obtained. I consented to their wishes with the more pleasure, from perceiving the opportunities of seeking out other savages in the remoter forests, which a settlement in the woods of Mbaeverà would afford. Tupanchichù, though averse to the worship of Christ, durst not oppose the other two Caciques, men of more weight than himself as well from their age, as from the number of their adherents. He cunningly therefore pretended to assent, that he might the more certainly overturn the design of founding a colony. After having spent three days with them, I told them all that I intended to depart the next day, but that when I had procured cattle, and other necessaries for building and preserving the town, I would immediately return. To testify their good-will the Caciques made their sons accompany me to my town. The hypocritical Tupanchichù having no son grown up, associated with me his wife's brother, a youth of surpassing comeliness. Four sons of Cacique Roy came with me; Arapotiyu, the eldest, Avarendi, the second, and two who were yet boys; Gatò, a young captive of the Cacique's, also attended us. To these were added some married men, so that, altogether, eighteen savages accompanied us on our way. The Spaniards, whom we met advancing, when they saw me accompanied by so many naked savages, armed with bundles of arrows, and adorned with crowns of parrot feathers, after their first panic had subsided, paid me liberal applauses and congratulations. Finally we entered St. Joachim in triumph, and were hailed by the festive acclamations of the inhabitants. Our Indian guests were liberally treated, clothed, and largely gifted with knives, axes, glass-beads, and other trifles. After resting fourteen days they were sent back to their woods, attended by some of my Indians, Arapotiyu excepted. This youth, from the time when he first met me, would never suffer himself to be separated from my side. Having for some months tried his constancy and his acquaintance with every thing pertaining to Christian worship, I baptized, and, not long after, united him in marriage, according to the Christian rites. Though a new inhabitant of our city he surpassed in every kind of virtue, and he might have been taken for an old disciple of Christianity. His lamentations knew no end, when by the royal summons we were recalled to Europe, amid the tears of all the Indian colonies. The captive Gatò also remained with us in the city fully contented with his situation, and behaving so well that his conduct obtained him baptism and Christian wedlock. But not many months after he died of a slow disease.

Our Indians, returning from the woods of Mbaeverà, brought news that the quinsy was raging among the savages; that the jugglers, especially Tupanchichù, endeavoured to persuade the ignorant multitude that this pest was introduced by us, in order to inspire them with a hatred of the Christians. I immediately despatched letters to my provincial, in which I informed him of my journey, the savages I had discovered, and the intended foundation of a settlement. He approved my design, and when my return to the savages drew near, supplied my room in the town of St. Joachim with another father. The royal governour, also, D. Joseph Martinez Fontes, was made acquainted with what had been done and what was further intended, and requested to invest me with the power of founding the colony. But, alas! the devil interrupted this prosperous course of affairs, by means of two of his agents, the inhuman Tupanchichù and an opulent Spaniard. Attend and shudder at the detail of their villainy. An unexpected messenger arrives from Mbaeverà with the news that Cacique Roy had died of eating poisoned potatoes, administered by Tupanchichù, who, not content with the murder of the old Cacique, had attempted the life of his widow, that he might possess himself of the knives and other iron implements which her husband had left. This woman, despairing of safety in the forest, betook herself to the town with her family. The mother having been well instructed in the rudiments of the Christian doctrine, was baptized on the same day with her eight children and a single captive, to the great comfort of the by-standers;—as for _me_, my joy can scarcely be conceived. Though the iniquitous deed of Tupanchichù is worthy of universal execration, yet still more detestable appears the memory of that man who, actuated by the base desire of self-aggrandizement, dared to frustrate the colony we had in agitation.

This man, a Paraguayrian, but not of Spanish extraction, having amassed great riches, principally from trading in the herb of Paraguay, required a multitude of slaves to manage his concerns; and when he understood that numerous hordes of savages were discovered by me in the woods of Mbaeverà, and that a colony was to be built there, he conceived a design of transferring these savages, by some means or other, to his estate that he might use them instead of negroes who stood him at a great price. To this end, he selected men, versed in the Guarany tongue, to persuade the savages to that which he desired, directing them to gain over, with large presents, whomsoever words failed of affecting. These arts they put in practice, but without prevailing on a single man. And truly it was madness to expect it of the wood Indians, who, from the dread of slavery, shun the neighbourhood, yea the very shadow of the Spaniards; and who, now that their settlement had been thoroughly explored, began to despair of their safety—to fear lest that Spaniard, whose service they were unwilling to embrace, should sometime despatch an armed troop of soldiers to drive them into slavery and exile. This danger being daily and nightly before their eyes, they at length resolved to change their quarters and seek a retreat as distant as possible from their present abode, and accordingly, having burnt their hovels to ashes, they all migrated like runaways rather than travellers.

Being informed of this flight of the Indians, I set out thither with forty Christians, among whom was Arapotiyu, who was thoroughly acquainted with the circumjacent ways and woods. But after doing much and suffering more, we effected nothing: and having traversed the banks of the rivers Mondaỹ and Acaraỹ and the interjacent country, without detecting a trace of man, we were forced to remeasure our sorrowful and weary steps: which circumstance filled every honest breast with unspeakable grief. The Spanish and Indian Christians burnt with indignation against that man who had dared to devastate an harvest ripe for the shearers, and ready for the granary of the church.

In endeavouring to make these savages slaves he hindered them from becoming worshippers of the Supreme Being and disciples of Jesus Christ. But divine providence took vengeance on his crimes.

He had a number of hired men employed in the woods of Mbaeverà, upon the preparation of the herb tea, a great quantity of which, already prepared, awaited the mules which were to convey it to the city. Meanwhile it was kept in the hut of the Spanish labourers, an edifice situated on the banks of the river Acaraỹ, which were covered with reeds and tall grass. These were suddenly seized with an immense conflagration, kindled by the savages. The superintendant, fearing for his magazine, in order to extinguish the approaching flame, despatched eighteen of his comrades—to perish in the same conflagration; for a sudden blast of wind inflamed the whole surface so quickly that the Spaniards beheld themselves encircled with fire without an outlet left for their escape. Some leapt into the marshes, but they were almost dry;—some plunged into the mud, but all their endeavours were vain. They were not absolutely burnt, but suffocated, scorched and roasted, their garments, in general, remaining unhurt. The same evening thirteen miserably perished; the next day three more; the other two came to a still more wretched, because a more protracted end. The spies of the savages witnessed this destruction of the Spaniards, but afar off, lest themselves should be hurt; now more daring, from having perceived the fewness of the Spaniards, one, armed with arrows and a club, stole into the Spanish hut where only one man remained. "So," said the savage with a stern aspect, "you have dared to enter these woods, which were never yours! Know ye not that this is our hereditary soil? Are ye not content with having injuriously usurped immense tracts and innumerable woods, spite of the vain opposition of our ancestors? Should any one of _us_ attempt _your_ domains, would he return alive? No: and we will imitate your example. If, therefore, you are wise, if life is dear to you,—haste away,—advise your countrymen cautiously to shun our woods, unless they would be the cause of their own deaths." During this menacing speech the Spaniard remained silent, pale with expectation of the mortal stroke. To save his life, he offered, with a trembling hand, knives, axes, garments and other trifles within his reach; pacified by which the savage returned to his comrades who lurked hard by. The Spaniard, deeming any stay in these quarters extremely perilous, ran off, leaving, to its own fate, many thousand pounds of ready made tea.

I shall here record another excursion to the savages, which, though completed in less time than the former, was productive of more advantage. A company of Spaniards were employed in preparing the herb of Paraguay on the southern banks of the river Empalado. The trees from which these leaves were plucked failing, they commissioned three men to seek for the tree in request beyond the river. By accident they lit upon a hovel and a field of maize, from which they falsely conjectured that the wood was full of savage hordes. This occurrence affected them all with such fear, that, suspending the business upon which they were engaged, they kept within their huts, like snails in their shells, and spent day and night in dread of hostile aggression. To deliver them from this state of fear, a messenger was sent to St. Joachim, requiring us to search for the savages abiding there, and to remove them, when found, to our colony. I applied myself to the task without shrinking, and on the day of St. John the Evangelist commenced my travels, accompanied by forty Indians. Having taken a guide from the Spanish hut, and crossed the river Empalado, we carefully explored all the woods and the banks of the river Mondaỹ-mir̂i, and discovering at length, on the third day, a human footstep, we traced it to a little dwelling, where an old woman with her son and daughter, a youth and maiden of twenty and fifteen years of age, had lived many years. Being asked where the other Indians were to be found, the mother replied that no mortal besides herself and her two children survived in these woods; that all the rest, who had occupied this neighbourhood, had died long ago of the small-pox. Perceiving me doubtful as to the correctness of her statement, the son observed, "You may credit my mother in her assertion without scruple; for I myself have traversed these woods far and near in search of a wife, but could never meet with a single human being." Nature had taught the young savage that it was not lawful to marry his sister. I exhorted the old mother to migrate as fast as possible to my town, promising that both she and her children should be more comfortably situated. She declared herself willing to accept my invitation, to which there was only one objection. "I have," says she, "three boars which have been tamed from their earliest age. They follow us wherever we go, and I am afraid, if they are exposed to the sun in a dry plain, unshaded by trees, they will immediately perish." "Pray be no longer anxious on this account," replied I; "depend upon it I shall treat these dear little animals with due kindness. When the sun is hot, we will find shade wherever we are. Lakes, rivers, or marshes will be always at hand to cool your favourites." Induced by these promises, she agreed to go with us. And setting out the next day we reached the town in safety on the first of January. And now it will be proper to give a cursory account of the mother and her offspring. Their hut consisted of the branches of the palm-tree, their drink of muddy water. Fruits, antas, fawns, rabbits, and various birds, maize, and the roots of the _mandiò_ tree afforded them food; a cloth woven of the leaves of the _caraquatà_, their bed and clothing. They delighted in honey, which abounds in the hollow trees of the forest. The smoke of tobacco the old woman inhaled, night and day, through the reed to which was affixed a little wooden vessel, like a pan. The son constantly chewed tobacco leaves reduced to powder. Shells sharpened at a stone or split reeds served them for knives. The youth, who catered for his mother and sister, carried in his belt two pieces of iron, the fragment of some old broken knife, about as broad and long as a man's thumb, inserted in a wooden handle, and bound round with wax and thread. With this instrument he used to fashion arrows with great elegance, make wooden gins to take antas, perforate trees which seemed likely to contain honey, and perform other things of this kind. There being no clay to make pots of, they had fed, all their lives, on roasted meat instead of boiled. The leaves of the herb of Paraguay they only steeped in cold water, having no vessel to boil it in. To show how scanty their household furniture was, mention must be made of their clothes. The youth wore a cloak of the thread of the caraquatà, reaching from his shoulders to his knees, his middle being girded with little cords, from which hung a gourd full of the tobacco dust which he chewed. A net of coarser thread was the mother's bed by night and her only garment by day. The girl in like manner wore a short net by day in which she slept at night. This appearing to me too transparent, I gave her a cotton towel to cover her more effectually. The girl folding up the linen cloth into many folds, placed it on her head to defend her from the heat of the sun, but at the desire of the Indians wrapped it round her. I made the youth, too, wear some linen wrappers, which in my journey I had worn round my head as a defence against the gnats. Before this, he had climbed the highest trees like a monkey to pluck from thence food for his pigs, but his bandages impeded him like fetters, so that he could scarcely move a step. In such extreme need, in such penury I found them, experiencing the rigours of ancient anchorites, without discontent, vexation, or disease.

My three wood Indians wore their hair dishevelled, cropped, and without a bandage. The youth neither had his lip perforated, nor his head crowned with parrot feathers. The mother and daughter had no ear-rings, though the former wore round her neck a cord from which depended a small heavy piece of wood, of a pyramidal shape, so that by their mutual collision they made a noise at every step. At first sight I asked the old woman whether she used this jingling necklace to frighten away the gnats; and I afterwards substituted a string of beautifully coloured glass-beads, in place of these wooden weights. The mother and son were tall and well-looking, but the daughter had so fair and elegant a countenance, that a poet would have taken her for one of the nymphs or dryads, and any European might safely call her beautiful. She united a becoming cheerfulness with great courtesy, and did not seem at all alarmed at our arrival, but rather enlivened. She laughed heartily at _our_ Guarany, and we, on the other hand, at _her's_. For as this insulated family had no intercourse with any but themselves, their language was most ridiculously corrupted. The youth had never seen a female except his mother and sister, nor any male but his father. The girl had seen no woman but her mother nor any man but her brother, her father having been torn to pieces by a tiger before she was born. To gather the fruits that grew on the ground or on the trees, and wood for fuel, the dexterous girl ran over the forest tangled as it was with underwood, reeds, and brambles, by which she had her feet wretchedly scratched. Not to go unattended, she commonly had a little parrot on her shoulder, and a small monkey on her arm, unterrified by the tigers that haunt that neighbourhood. The new proselytes were quickly clothed in the town, and served with the daily allowance of food before the rest. I also took care they should take frequent excursions to the neighbouring woods, to enjoy the shade and pleasant freshness of the trees, to which they had been accustomed. For we found by experience, that savages removed to towns often waste away from the change of food and air, and from the heat of the sun, which powerfully affects their frames, accustomed, as they have been from infancy, to moist, cool, shady groves. The same was the fate of the mother, son, and daughter in our town. A few weeks after their arrival they were afflicted with a universal heaviness and rheum, to which succeeded a pain in the eyes and ears, and, not long after, deafness. Lowness of spirits, and disgust to food at length wasted their strength to such a degree that an incurable consumption followed. After languishing some months, the old mother, who had been properly instructed in the Christian religion and baptized, delivered up her spirit, with a mind so calm, so acquiescent with the divine will, that I cannot doubt but that she entered into a blessed immortality. The girl, who had entered the town full of health and beauty, soon lost all resemblance to herself. Enfeebled, withering by degrees like a flower, her bones hardly holding together, she at length followed her mother to the grave, and, if I be not much deceived, to Heaven. Her brother still surviving was attacked by the same malady that proved fatal to his mother and sister, but being of a stronger constitution overcame it. The measles, which made great havoc in the town, left him so confirmed in health that there seemed nothing to be feared in regard to him. He was of a cheerful disposition, went to church regularly, learnt the doctrines of Christianity with diligence, was gentle and compliant to all, and in every thing discovered marks of future excellence. Nevertheless, to put his perseverance to the proof, I thought it best to delay his baptism a little. At this time an Indian Christian, a good man and rich in land, who, at my orders, had received this catechumen into his house, came to me and said, "My father, our wood Indian is in perfect health of body, but seems to have gone a little astray in mind: he makes no complaints, but says that sleep has deserted him, his mother and sister appearing to him every night in a vision, saying, in a friendly tone, 'Suffer thyself, I pray thee, to be baptized. We shall return to take thee away, when thou dost not expect it.' This vision, he says, takes away his sleep." "Tell him," answered I, "to be of good heart, for that the melancholy remembrance of his mother and sister, with whom he has lived all his life, is the probable cause of these dreams, and that they, as I think, are gone to Heaven, and have nothing more to do with this world." A few days after, the same Indian returns, giving the same account as before, and with confirmed suspicions respecting the fearful delirium of our new Christian. Suspecting there was something in it, I immediately hastened to his house, and found him sitting. On my enquiring how he felt himself, "Well," he replied, smiling, "and entirely free from pain;" but added, that he got no sleep at night owing to the appearance of his mother and sister, admonishing him to hasten his baptism, and threatening to take him away unexpectedly. He told me over and over again, with his usual unreservedness, that this prevented him from getting any rest. I thought it probable that this was a mere dream, and worthy, on that account, of neglect. Mindful, however, that dreams have often been divine admonitions and the oracles of God, as appears from Holy Writ, it seemed advisable, in a matter of such moment, to consult both the security and tranquillity of the catechumen. Being assured of his constancy, and of his acquaintance with the chief heads of religion by previous interrogatories, I soon after baptized him with the name of Lewis. This I did on the 23d of June, the eve of St. John, about the hour of ten in the morning. On the evening of the same day, without a symptom of disease or apoplexy, he quietly expired.

This event, a fact well known to the whole town, and which I am ready to attest on oath, astonished every one. I leave my reader to form his own opinion; but in my mind I could never deem the circumstance merely accidental. To the exceeding compassion of the Almighty I attribute it that these three Indians were discovered by me in the unknown recesses of the woods; that they so promptly complied with my exhortations to enter my town, and embrace Christianity; and that they closed their lives after receiving baptism. The remembrance of my expedition to the river Empalado, though attended with so many hardships and dangers, is still most grateful to my heart, inasmuch as it proved highly fortunate to the three wood Indians and advantageous to the Spaniards. These last, having been certified by me, that, upon the immense tracts of woodland here mentioned, not a vestige of the savages remained, collected, during the three years they stayed, many hundred thousand pounds of the herb of Paraguay, from which they derived an amazing profit. Thus much on the Guarany towns of Taruma. If on this subject I appear to have written too much, let the reader be told that I have passed over many memorable things in silence.

The most recent colony in the jurisdiction of Paraguay, called Belen, is situated on the banks of the Ypaneguazù, to the north of Asumpcion. It was built in 1760 for Indians of the savagest kind, called Guaycurus or Mbayas. They are very expert horsemen, large and generally tall, hostile in the highest degree to the Spaniards, full of the absurdest superstition and arrogance, and, as appears from their clothing and manners, ignorant of the very name of modesty. Their only care is that of their horses and arms, in the management of which their skill is admirable. War, or more correctly pillage, is the occupation they reckon most honourable. In 1745, they laid waste the lands of Paraguay, with exceeding pertinacity. The greater part of the province was more employed in regretting the slaughters and the rapine, than in preventing them, nor could they devise any remedy for the evil. The soldiers were now baffled by their swiftness, now unexpectedly surprized by their designs, and now discomfited by their powerful assaults. The savages, elated by the daily victories they had gained for many years, could neither be restrained by the arms of the Spaniards nor appeased by fair words. At last, in the sixteenth year of the present century, the desired peace was at length brought about, and a colony founded in the place above-mentioned. To found and govern this, Father Joseph Sanchez Labrador was happily chosen. He spared no labour in learning the difficult language of the savages, and in bringing them round to civilization and christianity, both by daily instruction and by kindness. Would that the Father's diligence and patience had obtained a corresponding reward! The little grandson of the Cacique Epaguini, who presided over the colony, many infants, and, some adults whose lives were despaired of, received baptism; but the rest did little else than wander over the plains. Their fidelity, however, seems above all praise; for, after the conclusion of the peace, they never formed any design hostile to the Spaniards, who, whilst they feared the Mbayas as enemies, and remembered the slaughter they had sustained, promised mountains of gold for the maintenance of their colony; but when their fears subsided, they began to supply them sparingly, or at least tardily, with those things deemed necessary for living in a town, so that the proselytes would have died of hunger had not the fruit of the palm-tree and wild animals supplied the want of beef. Countless and incredible are the labours, cares, hardships, and perils even of their lives, with which Father Joseph Sanchez and his companions, Juan Garzia, and Manuel Duran, were harassed for many years. Duran, the person last named, was intended to begin a new colony for the Guañas or Chañas, a pedestrian tribe, subject to the Mbayas, exceedingly numerous on both sides the Paraguay. Being skilful agriculturists, they have already begun to cultivate the grounds and to raise themselves crops on the eastern shore of the Paraguay. In a soil so fertile, so opportune for the discovery of new nations, great progress in the Christian cause was expected from this docile, and populous nation. But he who had long employed himself in the foundation of the colony, when, with incredible labour, he had collected the necessaries for its preservation and completion, was summoned with his associates back to Europe.

Having now mentioned the Indian colonies within the domains of Paraguay, we will proceed to the other peculiarities of the province.

Notwithstanding the heat of the climate, the soil of Paraguay abounds in the most useful productions: cotton, the sugar cane, tobacco, honey, maize, mandioc, various kinds of pulse, potatoes of different sorts, medicinal plants, colours, frankincense, divers species of gums, balsams, palms, towering cedars, and other trees, both those that bear fruit, and those that serve for building of ships, houses, and waggons; it moreover abounds in horses, mules, oxen, and sheep. There is no vestige of metals or precious stones in this country, as the early Spaniards imagined. Parrots, monkeys of various kinds, antas, stags, deer, tamanduas, tigers, and lions: choice fish, emus, partridges, dogs, crocodiles, capibaris, and huge tortoises, are every where to be found in astonishing numbers. The countless myriads of serpents, snakes, ants, and other reptiles and insects, evidently noxious, we shall fully treat of hereafter. The production peculiar to this province, and consequently by much the most profitable, is the Herb of Paraguay; of the production, preparation, nature, use, and price of which I am now going to treat.

The leaves cut from the tree _Caà_, and parched at a slow fire, got the name of the Herb of Paraguay, from a sort of resemblance to the herb tea, which, like itself, is drunk infused in boiling water. The tree _caà_ grows no where spontaneously but in woods about two hundred leagues from the city of Asumpcion. Like reeds, it thrives best in a moist swampy soil. In form and foliage, except that the leaves are softer, it resembles the orange tree, but far exceeds it in size. Its flowers are small and white, with a calyx composed of five leaflets. The seed is very like American pepper, except that three or four small whitish, oblong kernels appear beneath the skin. The boughs, which are cut off from the trees with a bill, are parched for some time on beams laid cross-wise over the fire; after which the leaves, with the smaller twigs, are spread on the ground, and beat to powder with sticks. When prepared by this less laborious method, it is called _yerba de palos_, because it is composed of leaves and leaf-stems, and their fibres, which are in a certain degree woody. An _arroba_ (which is twenty-five pounds) of this herb, is sold in the forest for nearly two German florins; in the city of Asumpcion, from the expense of carriage, the price is double. The _caà-miri_ is sold at a double price, being prepared by our Guaranies, with more labour and accuracy; for they carefully separate and throw aside the leaf-stems and larger fibres. After parching the leaves at a slow fire, they pound them gently in a wooden mortar, taking care not to beat them too small. For the more entire they remain, the more taste and smell they possess; if pulverized very small, they lose both. _Caà-miri_ signifies the small herb, being made by the Indian Guaranies of the tender parts of the leaves, the leaf-stems and all the particles of wood being excluded; it is not, however, reduced to powder, like that of the Spaniards. The herb, when properly prepared, exhales a very pleasant fragrance, without the admixture of any thing else; but if it be sprinkled with a little of the leaves or rind of the fruits of the _quabira miri_, the odour is doubled, the flavour improved, and the price increased. Add to this, that the herb is of a gummy nature, and in parching it, care must be taken that it be not over-dried. Merchants, when they would try the quality of the herb, put a little of it into the palm of their hand, and blow upon it; when much of the herb flies off, they judge it to be too high dried, and deprived of juice and virtue; but when it adheres to the hand as if glued there by a natural gum, they value it highly. In consequence of the bitterness natural to the herb, it is drunk with sugar. The Indians, however, and the lower orders amongst the Spaniards, drink it unmingled with any thing. Though the _caà_ is only found in the remotest parts of Paraguay towards the N. E., it affords a beverage not only to the Paraguayans, but to the Peruvians and the inhabitants of Chili, who never cease sipping it from morning to night. This nectar of Paraguay is relished by every rank, age, and sex, and is to them what chocolate, coffee, Chinese tea, and spirits are to other nations. The herb, after having been conveyed on mules from the remotest roads of Paraguay to the distant kingdoms of Peru and Chili, from the difficulties of the journey, and the heavy tolls, which send great returns to the royal treasury, is sold at its journey's end, at a greatly increased price.

The vessel in which it is taken is made of a hide, or of a gourd split in half, and, amongst the higher orders, plated all round with silver. Into this vessel they put a common table spoonful of the herb, stir it up for some time with sugar and cold water, and then pour the hot water upon it. Many drop in the juice of a citron or lemon. The herb thus prepared is strained through a silver pipe, annexed to which is a little globe, finely punctured; this is done lest any particle of the herb, which is noxious to the stomach, should slip down the throat with the liquor. Others use a narrow wooden pipe or slender reed for this purpose. The Indians, who are not in the habit of straining it, often swallow unintentionally a quantity of the herb, green concrete balls of which are sometimes said to be found in the bowels of the deceased. However this may be, it is most certain, that the warm water in which the herb has been steeped too long, cannot be drunk with safety to the health. Water of this kind grows black, and is only used by ink makers to deepen the blackness of their ink.

The moderate use of this herb is wholesome and beneficial in many ways. For when taken with caution, it acts as a diuretic, provokes a gentle perspiration, improves the appetite, speedily counteracts the languor arising from the burning climate, and assuages both hunger and thirst, especially if the herb be drunk with cold water without sugar. If any one wishes to perspire freely, he needs no drug: let him drink an infusion of this herb, as hot as possible, and then lie down. If his stomach appear in want of an emetic, he has only to take the same herb in tepid water. On the other hand, it cannot be doubted, that by the immoderate and almost hourly use of this potation, the stomach is weakened, and continual flatulence, with other diseases, brought on. I have known many of the lower Spaniards who never spoke ten words without applying their lips to the gourd containing the ready-made tea. If many topers in Europe waste their substance by an immoderate use of wine and other intoxicating liquors, there are no fewer in America who drink away their fortunes in potations of the herb of Paraguay.

In the remotest forests, many thousands of men are employed unceasingly in the preparation of this herb during every part of the year, and many thousands of oxen are annually consumed in these labours. But who shall number the multitude of mules, not only occupied in transporting the herb, but destroyed by the asperities and the length of the journey? Hence they who hire the labourers that collect the herb, who supply oxen, mules, and the various iron implements, seldom grow rich, and they who are hired for this business live amidst constant wretchedness. The merchants who import it into Peru and Chili are the only gainers, and their gains are immense. If in all Paraguay there are a few opulent men, they have amassed their wealth from dealing in the Herb of Paraguay, and in mules, which they export into Peru and Chili. The marketing of the other Paraguayrian productions is attended with infinite labour, and little or uncertain profit. I have often heard the Paraguayrians complain of the scarcity of the _caà_ tree; but I must own their lamentations always appeared to me very ridiculous, when they themselves are the occasion of it. For when, after the usual manner, they ought only to cut off the boughs, for the sake of a readier profit they fell the trees themselves; this being very generally done, the trees are yearly diminished in great numbers. The Indians, more provident, only crop the superfluous and luxuriant boughs, the tree itself being left alive and uninjured for succeeding years.

To spare time, expense, and labour, we planted the _caà_ within sight of the Guarany Reductions, and from them, in a very short time, the largest forests have arisen. If the Spanish agriculturists would but imitate this piece of industry, how much would their fortunes be benefited! But the planting of woods of this kind requires art, and patience, and the labour of many hands. The seed of the _caà_ being exceedingly glutinous, must be washed in water till that native gluten be thoroughly removed; which if you neglect, your time will be lost, and your hopes frustrated. The ground in which you mean to sow the prepared seed must be copiously drenched with water, and almost rendered muddy. These premises having been cautiously attended to, you may think yourself fortunate, if, at the end of four months, any sign of germination appear; the seed being sown very deep. While the plants are yet young, they must be transplanted, and set at great and equal distances, lest one impede and injure the other. A ditch, two feet deep and as many broad, must be dug, to receive and retain the rain-water; and in the middle of each ditch the plants are to be placed singly. As long as the plants are tender, they must be defended against the hoarfrost and cutting south winds by a little thatched tent. This is moreover indisputable, that the trees which are planted and reared by human care, never grow so high as those of nature's own setting in the forests. Those however which are planted and cultivated by us, in three or four years time produce a plenteous crop of leaves, so that the labour attending artificial woods is sufficiently repaid by the after-profit. Woods are likewise sown by various birds, which swallow with great avidity the seeds of the herb-tree; these being, by reason of their natural gluten, indigestible, pass through them, and falling into moist ground, become the daily origin of new trees, and gradually of forests.