THE governor and his army were marching through the skirts of a thick forest, and night was approaching, when a tiger passed through the midst of the Indians, causing a great panic and confusion among them, so that the Spaniards took to their arms, and, thinking the Indians were in revolt, fell upon them, calling on Santiago. In that affray several Indians were wounded, and their companions, seeing the attack made upon them, fled to the mountains. The governor himself narrowly escaped being wounded by two gunshots, the bullets having grazed the skin of his face; and these shots were certainly fired maliciously with intent to kill him, and to please Domingo de Irala, whom he had deprived of the command of the province.
Alvar Nuñez, seeing the Indians had fled, and anxious to put an end to the disorder, dismounted and rushed into the forest after them. He called to them that it was nothing more than a tiger had caused the confusion, that he and his Spaniards were their friends, and that they were all brothers and subjects of His Majesty, and that all should advance together and drive the enemy from the country. The Indians, seeing the governor in person among them, and hearing all he said, became appeased, and descended the hill with him. It is certain that things were at one time so critical as to endanger our men, because, if the Indians had fled and returned to their homes, they would never again have had confidence in the Spaniards. The governor then summoned the chiefs by name, and told them to follow him in perfect security, and have no fear. “If the Spaniards were about to kill you,” he added, “you were yourselves to blame, for you took up arms, and made them believe you intended to kill them; let it be clearly understood that the tiger was the cause of this panic, and let us all be friends once more. You know that the war we are about to engage in is in your interest and on your behalf only, for the Guaycurús have never seen the Spaniards, or had any trouble or grievance with them. We are proceeding against them to protect and defend you.”
Yielding to the governor’s entreaties and encouraging words, the Guaranís returned, and placed themselves under his orders, though still frightened. They said they had been thrown into confusion by the fear that the enemy was upon them, and had fled for protection into the midst of the Spaniards, and this was the only cause of their fear. When the chiefs were pacified, all the people came together, without anyone having been killed. When all were re-united, the governor ordered that henceforth the Indians should pass to the rear, and the Spaniards should march in front, the cavalry being in advance of all, so that the Indians might see with what goodwill the Spaniards marched against the enemy, and lay aside any fears they might still have left; for the Spaniards in that province depended entirely upon the Indians for their means of subsistence, and without this would have had to abandon it altogether. So they marched for two hours after sunset, and halted to sup under some trees on the provisions they carried with them.
[CHAPTER THE TWENTY-FIFTH.]
How the governor and his people overtook the enemy.
AT eleven o’clock at night, when the Indians and Spaniards were resting, without light or fire for fear of betraying their presence to the Guaycurús, one of the spies, who had been sent to observe the enemy’s movements, came into camp, and reported that he had seen them setting up their village. The governor was much pleased on hearing this news, as he had feared that they might have heard the reports of the firing that had taken place in the confusion of the night. Having learned from this spy that the spot they had fixed upon for their settlement was three leagues off, he gave orders to strike the camp, and march slowly forward, in order not to arrive at the place too early, so as to be ready to begin the attack at daybreak. As a security to the friendly Indians, and to distinguish them from the enemy, he ordered them all to paint white crosses on their chests and shoulders, so that the Spaniards might recognise them as friends, and not kill them by mistake for Guaycurús. Although this precaution was adopted, it did not avail much in the obscurity of night, when friend and foe became mixed up in hand to hand fighting, and the quick blows of the sword could not be arrested.
We marched till break of day, and then reached the enemy’s habitations, waiting till daylight before delivering the attack. In order that the horses might not, by their neighing, give the enemy warning, the governor ordered their mouths to be filled with grass; meanwhile the Indians were directed to surround the enemy’s position, leaving a passage for his escape to the mountains, so that the carnage might not be too great.