saysthatearlyinthiscenturytheywereoftenkilledbytravellers,whotetheredtheirhorsestothecarcassestopreventthemfromstrayingatnight。
FromCorpusChristiJuandeAyolaswassentouttoexploretheriver,andtrytofindthelong
sought
forwaterwaytothePeruvianmines。
HeneverreachedPeru,andCorpusChristineversawhimreturn。
Mendozawaitedayear,andthenreturnedtoSpain,leavinghisgarrisonwithprovisionsforayear,thebread`attherateof(`a/razonde\')
apoundaday,andiftheywantedmoretogetitforthemselves。\'
Onthepassagehomehediedinsane。ThepiouswereofopinionthatitwasajudgmentonhimforthemurderofDonJuanOsorio。
Beforeheembarked,DonPedrohaddespatchedarelative,GonzalodeMendoza,toSpaintobringprovisionsandrecruits。Gonzalo,havingobtainedprovisionsinBrazil,returnedtoCorpusChristi;thenceincompanywithSalazardeEspinosaheheadedanexpeditionuptheriverinsearchofJuandeAyolas,whohadbeenappointedsuccessortoDonPedro。
WiththemwentDomingoMartinezdeIrala,amandestinedtoplayagreatpartintheconquestofParaguay。
HuldericoSchmidel,`HistoriadelDescubrimientodeelRiodelaPlatayParaguay\'。
TheexpeditionwentuptheParaguaytoaplacenearFortOlimpo(21Degreeslong。,58Degreeslat。)aboutahundredleaguesaboveAsuncion。
HeretheysentoutexploringpartiesinalldirectionstoseekAyolas,butwithoutsuccess。IralaremainedwithonehundredmenatFortOlimpo。
GonzalodeMendozaonhisreturn,beingattractedbythesightofafinesiteforatown,landed,andonthefifteenthdayofAugust,1537,foundedAsuncion。HeretheSpaniardsfirstmettheGuaranis,whoweredestinedinafter
yearstobetheconvertsoftheJesuits,andbeassembledbythemintheirfamousmissions。
`AtthediscoveryofAmerica,\'saysFelixdeAzarainhis`DescripcionyHistoriadelParaguay\',`theGuaraniswerespreadfromtheGuianastotheshoresoftheriverPlate,andoccupiedalltheislandsoftheParanaextendinguptolatitude20DegreesontheParaguay,butwithoutcrossingeitherthatriverortheriverPlate。\'
TheyhadalsoafewtownsintheprovinceofChiquitos,andthenationoftheChiriguanaswasanoffshootfromthem。
InBraziltheyweresoonalleitherrenderedslavesorsocrossedwiththeAfricannegrothatthepureracehasbeenalmostentirelylost,thoughthelanguageremainsunderthenameoftheLingoaGeral,andmanywordsfromithavebeenintroducedintoPortuguesespokenbytheBrazilians,as`capim\',grass;`caipira\',half
caste,etc。
Infact,sogreatisthenumberofthesewords,idioms,phrases,andtermsofspeechderivedfromGuarani,thatDr。BaptistadeAlmeida,inhisprefacetohisgrammarpublishedatRioJaneiro(1879),computesthattherearemorewordsderivedfromGuaranithanevenfromArabicinthePortuguesespokeninBrazil。TheGuaranisinBrazilwereknowneitherasTupis,fromtheword`tupy\',savage,orTupinambas,from`tupynamba\',literally,thesavageorindigenousmen。
Perhapsthetwomostimportantworksuponthelanguagearethe`TesorodelaLenguaGuarani\',byRuizdeMontoya,Madrid,1639(itisdedicatedtothe`SoberanaVirgen\');
andthe`CatecismodelaLenguaGuarani\',byDiegoDiazdelaGuerra,Madrid,An~ode1630。Healsowrotea`BocabularioyArtedelaLenguaGuarani\'。
P。Guevara,inhis`HistoriadelParaguay\',relatesacuriousstorywhichhesaidwascurrentamongsttheIndians。Twobrothers,TupiandGuarani,livedwiththeirfamiliesuponthesea
coastofBrazil。
Inthosedaystheworldwasquiteunpopulatedbutbythemselves。
Theyquarrelledaboutaparrot,andTupiwithhisfamilywentnorth,andpopulatedallBrazil;whilstGuaraniwentwest,andwastheancestorofalltheIndiansoftheraceofGuaranis。
JeandeLery,thewell
knownHuguenotpastorandfriendofCalvin,passedayearonthecoastofBrazilabout1558,havingaccompaniedtheexpeditionofthefamousVillegagnau。Inhisbook(`Histoired\'unVoyagefaictenlaTerreduBrezil\')healwaysreferstotheIndiansasToupinaubaoults,andhaspreservedmanycuriousdetailsofthembeforetheyhadhadmuchcontactwithEuropeans。
Heappearstohavehadaconsiderableacquaintancewiththelanguage,andhasleftsomecuriousconversations`enlangagesauvageetFranc,ais\',inwhichhegivessomegrammaticalrules。ThelanguageofconversationisalmostidenticalwiththatofParaguay,thoughsomewordsareusedwhichareeitherpeculiartotheTupisorobsoleteinParaguayto
day。
HisaccountoftheircustomstallieswiththatofthevariousSpanishwritersandexplorerswhohavewrittenonthesubject。
Tobacco,whichseemstohavebeenknownunderthenameof`nicotiane\'toLery,hefindsinBrazilunderthenameof`petun\',thesamenamebywhichitiscalledinParaguayatpresent。Hebelievedthat`petun\'and`nicotiane\'weretwodifferentplants,buttheonlyreasonheadducesforhisbeliefisthat`nicotiane\'
wasbroughtinhistimefromFlorida,which,asheobserves,ismorethanathousandleaguesfrom`NostreTerreduBrezil\'。
HisexperienceofsavageswasthesameasthatofAzara,andalmostallearlytravellers,forhesays:`NosToupinambaoultsrec,oiventforthumainementlesestrangersamisquilesvontvisiter。\'
Lery,however,seemedtothinkthat,inspiteoftheirpacificinclination,itwasnotprudenttoputtoomuchpowerintheirhands,forheremarks:
`Auresteparcequ\'ilschargeyent,etremplisseyentleursmousquetsjusquesaubout……nousleursbaillionsmoitie/(i。e。,lapoudre)
decharbonbroye/。\'Thismayhavebeenawiseprecaution,butheomitstostateifthe`charbonbroye\'was`bailli\'atthesamepriceasgoodpowder。AccordingtoAzara,whotakeshisfactspartlyfromthecontemporarywriters
Schmidel,AlvarNunez,RuyDiazdeGuzman,andBarcodelaCentenera
theGuaranisweredividedintonumeroustribes,asImbeguas,Caracaras,Tembues,Colistines,andmanyothers。Thesetribes,thoughapparentlyofacommonorigin,neverunited,buteachlivedseparatelyunderitsownchief。
Theirtownsweregenerallyeitherclosetoorinthemiddleofforests,orattheedgeofriverswherethereiswood。Theyallcultivatedpumpkins,beans,maize,mani(groundnuts),sweetpotatoes,andmandioca;
buttheylivedlargelybythechase,andatemuchwildhoney。
Diazinhis`Argentina\'(lib。i。,chap。i。)makesthemcannibals。
Azarabelievesthistohavebeenuntrue,asnotraditionsofcannibalismwerecurrentamongsttheGuaranisinhistime,i。e。,in1789
1801。
LiberalasAzarawas,andcarefulobserverofwhathesawhimself,Iamdisposedtobelievethetestimonyofsomanyeye
witnessesofthecustomsoftheprimitiveGuaranis,thoughnoneofthemhadtheadvantageenjoyedbyAzaraoflivingthreehundredyearsaftertheconquest。Itmaybe,ofcourse,thatthepowersofobservationwerenotsowelldevelopedinmankindinthebeginningofthesixteenthasattheendoftheeighteenthcentury,butthispointIleavetothosewhosebusinessitistoprovethatthehumanmindisinaprogressivestate。
However,FatherMontoya,inhis`ConquistaEspiritualdelParaguay\',affirmsmostpositivelythattheyusedtoeattheirprisonerstakeninwar。\'
Azara,inhis`DescripcionyHistoriadelParaguay\',hasasimilarpassage:
`RecibebientodoIndiosilvestre,alestrangeroquevienedepaz。\'
`Porlocomunrepartenpedazosdeestecuerpo,delqualpedazocozidoenmuchaaguahacenunasgachas(`fritters\')yesfiestamuycelebreparaellosquehacenconmuchascerimonias。\'
TheirgeneralcharacteristicsseemtohavebeenmuchthesameasthoseofotherIndiansofAmerica。Forinstance,theykepttheirhairandteethtoanextremeoldage,theirsightwaskeen,theyseldomlookedyouinthefacewhilstspeaking,andtheirdispositionwascoldandreserved。Thetoneoftheirvoiceswaslow,solowthat,asAzarasays:`Lavoznuncaesgruesanisonora,yhablansiempremuybajo,singritaraunparaquejarsesilosmatan;
demaneraque,sicaminaunodiezpasosdelante,nolellamaelquelenecesita,sinoquevaa/alcanzarle。\'ThisIhavemyselfobservedwhentravellingwithIndians,evenonhorseback。
TherewasonecharacteristicoftheGuaranisinwhichtheydifferedgreatlyfrommostoftheIndiantribesintheirvicinity,astheIndiansoftheChacoandthePampas,forallhistoriansalikeagreethattheyweremostunwarlike。ItisfromthischaracteristicthattheJesuitswereabletomakesuchacompleteconquestofthem,for,notwithstandingalltheirefforts,theyneverreallysucceededinpermanentlyestablishingthemselvesamongstanyofthetribesintheChacooruponthePampas。
ThenameGuaraniisvariouslyderived。PedrodeAngelis,inhis`ColecciondeObrasyDocumentos\',derivesitfrom`gua\',paint,and`ni\',signoftheplural,makingthesignificationoftheword`paintedones\'or`paintedmen\'。Demersay,inhis`HistoireduParaguay\',
thinksitprobablethatthewordisanalterationoftheword`guaranai\',i。e。,numerous。BarcodelaCentenera(`Argentina\',booki。,cantoi。)
saysthewordmeans`hornet\',andwasappliedonaccountoftheirsavageness。
Bethatasitmay,itiscertainthattheGuaranisdidnotatthetimeoftheconquest,anddonotnow,applythewordtothemselves,exceptwhentalkingSpanishortoaforeigner。Theword`aba\',Indianorman,ishowtheyspeakoftheirpeople,andtothelanguagetheyapplytheword`Abanee\'。
`HistoireduParaguayetdesE/tablissementsdesJe/suites\',L。AlfredDemersay,Paris,1864。
`LaArgentina\',alongpoemorrhymingchroniclecontainedinthecollectionof`HistoriadoresPrimitivosdeIndias\',ofGonzalesBarcia,Madrid,1749。
Inthesamewaytheword`Paraguay\'isvariouslyderivedfromacorruptionoftheword`Payagua\'(thenameofanIndiantribe),and`y\',theGuaraniwordforwater,meaningriverofthePayaguas。
Others,again,deriveitfromaGuaraniwordmeaning`crown\',and`y\',water,andmakeitthecrownedriver,eitherfromthepalm
treeswhichcrownitsbanksorthefeathercrownswhichtheIndiansworeatthefirstconquest。Others,again,deriveitfromabirdcalledparaqua(`Ortolidaparaqua\')。Again,Angelis,inhiswork`SeriedelosSen~oresGobernadoresdelParaguay\'(lib。ii。,p。187),derivesitfromParagua,thenameofacelebratedIndianchiefatthetimeoftheconquest。Whatiscertainisthat`y\'
istheGuaraniforwater,andthisissomethinginaderivation。
`Y\'isperhapsashardtopronounceastheGaelic`luogh\',acalf,thenasal`gh\'inArabic,ortheKaffirclicks,havingbothagutturalandanasalaspiration。Itisrarelyattemptedwithsuccessbyforeigners,evenwhenlongresidentinthecountry。ThoughParaguaywassocompletelythecountryoftheJesuitsinafter
times,theywerenotthefirstreligiousOrdertogothere。AlmostineveryinstancetheecclesiasticswhoaccompaniedthefirstconquerorsofAmericawereFranciscans。TheJesuitsaresaidtohavesenttwoprieststoBahiainBraziltenyearsaftertheirOrderwasfounded,butbothinBrazilandParaguaytheFranciscanswerebeforetheminpointoftime。
Lozano,inhis`HistoriadelParaguay\',comparesittoGreek,butinmyopinionfailstoestablishhiscase;but,then,sofewpeopleknowbothGreekandGuarani。
SanFranciscoSolano,thefirstecclesiasticwhorosetomuchnoteasamissionary,andwhomadehiscelebratedjourneythroughtheChacoin1588
89fromPerutoParaguay,wasaFranciscan。Thus,theFranciscanshadthehonourofhavingthefirstAmericansaintintheirranks。
Itisnoteworthy,though,thathewasrecalledfromParaguaybyhissuperiors,whoseemtohavehadnoveryexaltedopinionofhim。
HepassedthroughthewholeChaco,descendingthePilcomayotoitsjunctionwiththeParaguay,throughterritoriesbutlittleexploredevento
day。PerhapsthemostcompletedescriptionoftheChacoisthatofP。Lozano,withthefollowingcomprehensivetitle:
`DescripcionchorographicadeTerrenoRios,Arboles,yAnimalesdelosdilatadisimasProvinciasdelGranChaco,Gualamba,ydelosRitosyCostumbresdelainumerablesnacionesbarbarose/infidelesquelehabitan。ConuncabalRelacionHistoricadeloqueenelloshanobradoparaconquistarlasalgunosGobernadoresyMinistrosReales,ylosMisionerosJesuitasparareducirlosa\\lafedelVerdaderoDios。\'PorelPadrePedroLozano,delaCompan~iadeJesus,An~ode1733。EnCordobaporJosephSantosBalbas。
Thisbookdidnotappearinaclandestinemanner,forithad:
1。Censura,porC。dePalmas。2。LicenciadelaReligion,porGeronymodeHuro/za,ProvincialdelosJesuitasdeAndalucia。
3。LicenciadelOrdinarioporelDr。DonFranciscoMiguelMoreno,pormandadodelSr。ProvisorAlonsoJosephGomezdeLara。
4。AprobaciondelRdo。P。DiegoVasquez。5。PrivelegiodesuMajestadporDonMiguelFernandezMorillo。6。Fe/deCorrectorporelLicenciado,DonManuelGarciaAlesson,CorrectorGeneraldesuMajestad(whoaddsinanote,`estelibrocorrespondea\\suoriginal\')。
7。SumodeTassa,asfollows:`Tassaronlossen~oresdelConsejoestelibroa\\seismaravediscadapliego。\'
Palma,inthefirst`censura\',saysthathehadreaditseveraltimes`conrepetidacomplacencia\',andthat,thoughitwas`breveenvolumen\'
(ithas484quartopages),thatitwasalsoshortinitsconcisestyle,keptcloselytotherulesofhistory,andwas`muycopiosaenladoctrina\'。
Charlevoixremarks(`HistoryofParaguay\')`thatitseemsasifProvidence,ingrantinghimmiraculouspowers,hadforgottentheothernecessarystepstomakethemeffective。\'Thathereallyhadthesepowersseemsstrange,butSanFranciscoSolanonarratesofhimselfthat,inpassingthroughtheChaco,helearnedthelanguagesofseveralofthetribes,and`preachedtothemintheirowntonguesofthebirth,death,andtransfigurationofChrist,themysteriesoftheTrinity,Transubstantiation,andAtonement;thatheexplainedtothemthesymbolsoftheChurch,thePapalsuccessionfromSt。Peterdownwards,andthathecatechizedtheIndiansbythousands,tensandhundredsofthousands,andthattheycameintearsandpenitencetoacknowledgetheirbelief。\'
Ofcourse,to
dayitisdifficulttocontrovertthesestatements,evenifinclinedtodoso;butthelanguagesspokenbytheChacoIndiansareamongstthemostdifficulttolearnofanyspokenbythehumanrace,somuchsothatFatherDobrizhoffer,inhis`HistoryoftheAbipones\',says`thatthesoundsproducedbytheIndiansoftheChacoresemblednothinghuman,sodotheysneeze,andstutter,andcough。\'
InsuchalanguagetheAthanasianCreeditselfwouldbepuzzlingtoaneophyte。
HealsosaysthatseveraloftheJesuitswhohadlabouredforyearsamongsttheIndianscouldnevermastertheirdialects,andwhentheypreachedtheIndiansreceivedtheirwordswithshoutsoflaughter。Thisthegoodpriestattributedtothepresenceofa`mockingdevil\'whopossessedthem。Itmaybethatthemockingdevilwasbutasenseofhumour,thepossessionofwhich,evenamongstgoodChristians,hasbeenknowntogiveoffence。
Butbethisasitmay,SanFranciscodeSolanoremainedtwoyearsatAsuncion,thoughwhilsthelivedtherehispowersofspeech(accordingtotheJesuits)
seemtohavebeendiminished,andheheldnocommunicationwiththeIndiansintheirownlanguages。Itmaybethat,likeSt。Paul,hepreferredtospeak,whennotwithIndians,fivewordswithhisunderstandingratherthantenthousandinanunknowntongue。
AtthetimeofthefirstconquestParaguaywasalmostentirelypeopledbytheGuaranirace。Itdoesnotappearthattheirnumberwaseververygreat,perhapsnotexceedingamillioninthewholecountry。FromthewritingsofMontoya,Guevara,Lozano,andtheothermissionariesofthetime,itiscertainthattheyhadattainedtonoveryhighdegreeofcivilization,thoughtheywerecertainlymoreadvancedthantheirneighboursintheGranChaco。
Itismostprobablethattheyhadnotasinglestone
builttown,orevenahouse,orthatsuchathingexistedsouthofNewGranada,totheeastwardoftheAndes,forwemaytakethedescriptioninSchmidel\'s`HistoryoftheCasadelGranMoxo\'eitherasamistakeorasastorywhichhehadheardfromsomePeruvianIndianofthepalacesoftheIncas。
Atanyrate,noremainsofstone
builthouses,stilllessofpalaces,areknowntohavebeenfoundinBrazilorParaguay。
ThisraceatonetimespreadfromtheOrinocototheriverPlate,andeveninthecaseofitsoffshoot,theChiriguanas,crossedtothewestbankoftheParaguay。PadreRuizMontoya,inhis`ConquistaEspiritualdelParaguay\',cap。i。,speakingoftheGuaranirace,says:`DominaambosmareseldelsurportodoelBrasilycin~iendoelPeruconlosdosmasgrandesriosqueconoceelorbequesoneldelaPlata,cuyabocaenBuenos
Ayresesdeochentaleguas,yelgranMaran~on,a\\elinferiorennadaequepasabienvecinodelaciudaddeCuzco。\'
BarcodelaCentenera,in`LaArgentina\',cantov。,alsorefersto`LaCasadelGranMoxo\'。Itwassituated`enunalaguna\',andwas`todadepiedralabrada\'。
To
dayalltheGuaraniswhoarestillunconqueredliveintheimpenetrableforestsoftheNorthofParaguayorintheBrazilianprovinceofMattoGrosso。
TheirlimitstothesouthextendtoneartheruinedmissionsofJesusandTrinidad。Bypreference,theyseemtodwellaboutthesourcesoftheIgatimi,anaffluentoftheParana,andinthechainofmountainsknowneitherasSanJoseorMbaracayu。
TheParaguayansgenerallyrefertothemasMonteses(dwellersinthewoods),andsometimesasCaaguas。Theypresentalmostthesamecharacteristicsastheydidatthediscoveryofthecountry,andwanderinthewoodsastheJesuitsdescribethemasdoingthreehundredyearsago。
Oliveincolour,ratherthicklyset,ofmediumheight,thinbeards,andgenerallylittlehairuponthebody,theirtypehasremainedunchanged。
ThedifferenceinstatureamongsttheGuaranisislessnoticeablethanamongstEuropeans。TheirlanguageispoorerthantheGuaranispokenbytheParaguayans,andthepronunciationbothmorenasalandguttural。
Theirnumeralsonlyextendtofour,aswasthecaseatthetimeofthediscovery。
Theirnumeralsarefourinnumber(`petei^,mocoi^,mbohapi=,ira^ndi=\');
afterthistheyaresaidtocountinSpanishinthesamewayasdotheGuarani
speakingParaguayans。MuchhasbeenwrittenontheGuaranitonguebymanyauthors,butperhapsthe`Gramatica\',`Tesoro\',andthe`Vocabulario\'ofPadreAntonioRuizMontoya,publishedatMadridin1639and1640,remainthemostimportantworksonthelanguage。PadreSigismundihasleftacuriousworkinGuaranionthemedicinalplantsofParaguay。Beforethewarof1866
70
severalMS。copiesweresaidtoexistinthatcountry。
SeeDuGratz\'s`Re/publiqueduParaguay\',cap。iv。,p。214。
Liketheirforefathers,theyseldomuniteinlargenumbers,andpaylittlehonourorobediencetotheirchiefs,whodifferinnorespect,eitherinarms,dress,orposition,fromtheordinarytribesmen。
InBraziltheyareconfinedtothesouthernportionoftheprovinceofSanPaulo,andarecalledbytheBraziliansBugres
thatis,slaves。
Amoreunfittingnameitwouldhavebeenimpossibletohitupon,asalleffortstocivilizethemhaveprovedabortive,andto
daytheystillrangetheforests,attackingsmallpartiesoftravellers,andburningisolatedfarm
houses。TheBraziliansassertthattheyarecannibals,butlittleisknownpositivelyastothis。
WhathasalteredthemsoentirelyfromtheoriginalGuaranisofthetimeoftheconquest,whoweresoeasilysubdued,itishardtoconjecture。Onethingiscertain:thattheexamplegiventhembytheChristiansettlershasevidentlynotbeensuchastoinducethemtoleavetheirwildlifeandenterintothebondsofcivilization。
Diaz,inthe`Argentina\',thinkstheCaribsoftheWestIndieswereGuaranis,andtheJesuitsoftenrefertothemunderthatname。
ThispointwouldbeeasilysetatrestbyexaminingifanyGuaraniwordsremaininthedialectoftheCaribsoftheMosquitocoast。
Astotheirrelativenumbersatthetimeofthefoundationofthemissions,itismostdifficulttojudge。Atnoonetimedoesthepopulationofthethirtytownsseemtohaveexceededonehundredandthirtythousand。
SeeDemersay,`HistoireduParaguay\',p。324,fornamesofGuaranitribes。
AlfredMauryalso,inhis`LaTerreetl\'HommeAme/ricain\',p。392,speaksof`lerameaubrasilio
guaranin,ouCara/ibe,quis\'etendaitjadisdepuislesPetites
Antillesjusqu\'auParaguay。\'
D\'Orbignyinhis`L\'HommeAmericain\',estimatestheGuaranisofBrazilatonehundredandfiftythousand。
Humboldtcitestwohundredandsixty
ninethousandastheprobablenumberofIndiansofeverykindintheBrazilianEmpire。
TheViscountdeItabayana(aBrazilianwriter)fixesthenumberattwohundredandfiftythousandtothreehundredthousand。
VelosodeOliveiraputsitateighthundredthousand;
andlaterstatisticiansrangebetweenonemillionfivehundredthousandandseventoeighthundredthousand。
ThenumbersgivenofIndiansbytheSpanishconquerorsarealmostalwaysgrosslyoverstated,fromthewishtheynotunnaturallyhadtomagnifytheimportanceoftheirconquestsandtoenhancetheirexploitsintheeyesofthoseforwhomtheywrote。
StruckbythetractablecharacteroftheGuaranis,MendozabegantobuildafortonAugust15,1537(whichisthedayoftheAssumption),andthenamehegavetohisfortwasAsuncion,whichafterwardsbecamethecapitalofParaguay。
EspinosareturnedtoCorpusChristi,andafterwardstoBuenosAyres,whereasmallforcehadstillremained。Thisforce,tiredoftheceaselessbattleswiththeQuerandis,orPampaIndians,embarkedforAsuncion。
Irala,afterwaitingformanymonthsatFortOlimpo,returnedtoAsuncion,wherehefoundRuizdeGalanactingasGovernor。Adisputeatoncearosebetweenthem,andIrala,afterhavingbeenimprisoned,wasallowedtoreturntoFortOlimpo。HerehefoundthePayaguaIndiansinrebellion,andinthebattlewhichensuedheisreportedtohaveslainsevenofthemwithhisownhand。HestillmaintainedafitfulsearchforJuandeAyolas,butwithoutsuccess。
Fewmodern`conquerors\'inAfricaseemtohaveengagedinpersonalcombatwiththenatives。EvenofMr。RhodesitisnotsetdownthathehaskilledmanyMatabelewithhisownhands。Timeschange,notalwaysforthebetteringofthings。
GalanreturnedtoBuenosAyres,and,stoppingatCorpusChristi,tookoccasiontofalluponthefriendlyandunsuspectingTimbuIndiansandmassacreaquantityofthem。Whyhedidsoisquiteuncertain,fortheTimbueshadbeeninthehabitofsupplyingthefortofCorpusChristiwithprovisions;itmaybethatthequalityoftheprovisionswasinferior,butneitherRuizDiaznorSchmidelinformsusonthepoint。
Galan,afterhis`victory\',re
embarkedforBuenosAyres,leavingAntoniodeMendozaincommandwithahundredmen。
Oneday,whenaboutthehalfoftheforcewashunting,theIndiansfelluponitandcutitofftothelastman;
butfortheopportunearrivaloftwovesselsthefortwouldhavebeendestroyed。However,manySpaniardswereslain,andAntoniodeMendozaamongstthem。
Afterthisbattle,inwhichSantiagoissaidtohaveappearedonthetopoftheprincipaltowerofthefortdressedinwhitewithadrawnswordinhishand,GalanandEspinosareturnedtoAsuncion,takingwiththemtheremainderoftheinhabitantsofBuenosAyres。
AtAsunciontheyfoundthatIralahadagainreturnedwithouthavingdiscoveredtracesofAyolas。IralawaselectedGovernorunderaclauseintheroyalletterspatentwhichprovidedforthecaseofAyolasnotreturning。HisfirstactwastoorderthecompleteevacuationofBuenosAyres。AnItalianvessel,whichwasgoingtoPeruwithcolonists,havingbeendrivenintotheriverPlate,unitedwiththeremainsofthecolonistsatBuenosAyresandproceededtoAsuncion。
Santiago,asindutybound,usuallyappearedwheneverSpaniardswerehardpressed。FewwritershadthecourageofBernalDiaz,whoofasimilarappearancesaid:`ButI,sinnerthatIwas,wasnotworthytoseehim;whomIdidseeandrecognisewasFranciscodeMorlaonhischestnuthorse\'(BernalDiaz,`HistoriadelaConquistadeNuevaEspan~a\',cap。xxxiv。,p。141;
Madrid,1795)。
Curiouslyenough,theremnantsofseveralexpeditionsthusjoinedtofoundthefirstpermanentcityintheterritoriesoftheriverPlate;
notatBuenosAyres,butathousandmilesawayintheinteriorofthecountry,whereitseemedlittleprobablethattheirattemptwouldprovesuccessful。
TopresideovertheheterogeneouselementsofwhichAsuncionwascomposed,DomingoMartinezdeIralawaschosen。HewasaBiscayan,amemberofthatancientracewhichneitherRomansnorMoorswereeverabletosubdue。Nothingisknownabouthisantecedents。NotimprobablyhewasasonofoneoftheinnumerablesmallgentlemenwithwhomtheBasqueprovincesusedtoswarm。Almosteveryhouseinthelittletownsevento
dayhasitscoatofarmsoverthedoor。Everyinhabitantclaimedtobeanobleman,andinthereignofCharlesV。theyfurnishedmanysoldiersofreputeinthewarsofEuropeandAmerica。
ThesystemofIralawastoconciliateratherthansubduethenatives。
Isolatedfromhelpofeverykind,thelengthofthevoyagefromSpainprecludingallideaofspeedysuccourinarebellion,itwastheonlycoursehecouldpursue。
Fromtheveryfirstheencouragedthesoldierstomarrywomenofthecountry,thuscreatingtieswhichboundthemtotheland。
TwoFranciscanfriarssetaboutatoncetolearnthelanguageandpreachtothepeople。TheyalsoseemtohaveendeavouredtoreducetheGuaranilanguagetowriting。So,fromseveralcircumstances,theearlyhistoryofParaguaywasverydifferentfromthatofeveryotherSpanishpossessioninAmerica。ToalltheothersSpanishwomenseemtohavegoneingreaterorinsmallernumbers。ToParaguay,atthefoundationofAsuncion,itseemsthathardlyanywomenwent。
ThusitwillbeseenthattheFranciscanswereatworkinthecountrylongbeforethearrivaloftheJesuits。Itmaybeonthisaccountthattheybecamesuchbitterenemiesofthelatercomers。
Sothereadifferentstateofsocietyarosetothat,forexample,inChileorinMexico。InboththosecountriesfewSpaniardsevermarriednativewomen。Thosewhodidsowereeithermembersofthehighestclass
whosometimes,butrarely,marriedIndianwomenofpositionfrommotivesofpolicy
orelsethelowestclassofSpaniards;
inthiscase,afterageneration,theirchildrenbecamepracticallyIndians。InParaguayitwasquitethecontrary,andthegrandchildrenofIndianmothersandSpanishfatherswerealmostreckonedSpaniards,andthenextgenerationalwaysso。
Washburne,inhis`HistoryofParaguay\'(p。32,cap。i。,vol。i。),pointsoutthecontrastbetweentheeffectsofthetreatmentmetedoutbyPenntotheIndiansinPennsylvaniaandthatbyIralainParaguay。