Spanish and Portuguese South America during the Colonial Period; Vol. 1 of 2

by Robert Grant Watson

1542.

After the departure from the Paraná of Cabeza de Vaca, those of his men from whom he had separated were doomed to experience the invariable inconstancy of savages. The fear of chastisement and the hope of receiving presents being alike removed, the Guaranís attempted by every means in their power to cut off the sick men and their guard; but by the aid of the friendly Indian chief to whose care they had been entrusted, they were enabled to continue their course in safety, and, having descended the Paraná to the Tres Bocas, or three mouths of the Paraguay, they ascended the latter river, and reached Asuncion one month after their leader.

At the time when this exploration by land of the region between the Atlantic Ocean and the river Paraguay was being so successfully carried out under the leadership of Cabeza de Vaca, another expedition, of still greater geographical importance, was being effected elsewhere on the same Continent; but before describing the discovery of the Amazons, it is necessary to go back to the circumstances of which it was one of the results. In reconnoitering the course of exploration over a vast continent, it is impossible to relate the events of each year in the exact order in which they occurred. One must take the discovery of one region after another, going back when necessary to recount other explorations elsewhere which may have meanwhile occurred simultaneously with those already described. It may therefore be desirable here to follow the proceedings of Cabeza de Vaca in Paraguay. His first care was to send down vessels to Buenos Ayres to the relief of that portion of his force which had been despatched by sea from Santa Catalina to the latter place. It was obviously of the first advantage to the public interest that the settlement of Buenos Ayres should be re-established. Without some port near the sea the settlers in the interior would ever be at a loss for the means of communication with Spain. The vessels from Santa Catalina had reached Buenos Ayres long before the arrival of those sent from Asuncion, and during the interval the Spaniards brought by the former had nearly perished from hunger. The force from Paraguay arrived in time to enable them to resist a formidable attack from the natives. They attempted to fulfil the governor’s orders to rebuild the town; but they were at length discouraged by the incessant rain, and abandoning the attempt, embarked for Asuncion.

Cabeza de Vaca had taken into his alliance the Guaranís, and with them he proceeded to attack another tribe, the Guaycurùs, on the opposite side of the river. These were, as might be expected, disconcerted at the sight of his armed horses and riders, and readily consented to be his allies. With their aid he prepared to follow the course of exploration towards Peru; and whilst vessels were being constructed for river navigation, he sent Irala forward with an expedition by land. Soon following in person and passing a settlement on the Paraguay, called Puerto de los Reyes, which had been founded by Irala, he penetrated into the interior; but from the want of provisions he had to return to Paraguay. There he and his people suffered to the full the hardships incident to the life of explorers. Whilst they were reduced by hunger, prostrated by fever, and tormented by mosquitoes, they were attacked by formidable bands of natives, having defeated whom, the Adelantado was glad to turn his face again towards Asuncion. On his arrival, however, fresh troubles awaited him. During his absence a conspiracy had been hatched. His person was seized and his authority usurped, Irala being proclaimed governor in his stead. After a captivity of eleven months Cabeza de Vaca was sent a prisoner to Spain, in company with two official persons who were to prefer groundless charges against him; yet, notwithstanding his innocence and his services, he had, like Warren Hastings at a later period, to await during eight years a sentence of acquittal.

The downfall of Cabeza de Vaca did not inaugurate a reign of peace at Asuncion. Irala had been called to power by popular election, but his authority was curtailed by the pretensions of certain official persons who were nominated to their positions from Castile. Disputes and dissensions arose; but after a time these became silenced in the face of a combination against the Spaniards by two native tribes, the task of chastising whom was confided to Irala. The chosen leader of the colonists showed himself equal to the occasion. He successfully defended the colony, which he employed the following two years in consolidating. But a long period devoted to peaceful pursuits was not to the taste of a man cast in the mould of Vasco Nuñez or of Cortez. Setting out with three hundred and fifty Spaniards and two thousand auxiliaries, he ascended the Paraguay as far as to San Fernando. There the main body of the expedition left the course of the stream, their boats being entrusted to the care of some Spaniards. Irala was well fitted to be the leader of such an expedition of discovery. Active and experienced, he was likewise cautious, and was never found unprepared on an emergency. Having journeyed onwards for a month or more, his ears were at length greeted by the sound of the Spanish language from Peruvian lips. Such was the first communication which took place between the Spaniards proceeding from La Plata and those who proceeded from the Pacific Ocean.

1547.

Irala, in conformity with the orders of the President Gasca of Peru, retraced his steps to Asuncion. There he distributed to his followers repartimientos, or consignments of land and slaves—a measure which greatly added to his popularity. He likewise founded a new settlement named Ciudad Real, near the border line of the Spanish and Portuguese territories. In the year 1547 Asuncion became the seat of a bishop, and about the same time an important intermediate station between Paraguay and Peru was established at Santa Cruz de la Sierra, whilst Spanish civilization also began to extend downwards from Paraguay in the direction of the sea.

The favourable reports which had reached Spain of the climate and capabilities of Paraguay were such as to divert thither many emigrants who would otherwise have turned their faces towards Mexico or Peru. It was the constant endeavour of Irala to level the distinctions which separated the Spaniards from the natives and to encourage inter-marriages between them. This policy, in the course of time, led to a marked result,—namely, to that singular combination of outward civilisation and of primitive simplicity which was to be found in the modern Paraguayan race until it was annihilated under the younger Lopez. “It was,” to quote Mr. Washburn, who lived eight years amongst them, “an anomalous people, and the like had never been seen in any other country of America. The reason of this may be found in the fact that in no other colony did the early colonists in large numbers adopt the native language and take the Indian women as wives.”

1557.

Irala, in fact, created a nation. The colony under his administration became numerous and wealthy. From his first arrival in the New World until his death, his career was one of activity, toil, and adventure, always in the conscientious discharge of his duty to his sovereign and to those around him. He was the life and soul of the colony, and his death, which occurred in 1557 at the village of Ita near Asuncion, when he had attained the age of seventy years, was lamented alike by Spaniards and Guaranís. In the estimation of Mr. Washburn, he was the first and last great man ever known to La Plata.