A Spanish boy, who had been carried away from Paraguay by the Tobas in his infancy, was set at liberty on this occasion. It is incredible how great was his abhorrence of his countrymen the Spaniards, whom he had ever considered as enemies; he was neither to be conciliated by gifts nor caresses. A Spanish woman, who was released from captivity amongst the Tobas, informed the Governor that there was a very numerous horde of Tobas, scarce two days' journey from that place; but he, disregarding the wishes of the Abipones, who urged him to attack it, alleged the weariness of the horses and scarcity of provisions as excuses for hastening his return, and deferring the attack upon that horde till another time; but that time never came. All the sensible Spaniards were indignant at the Governor's letting slip this long wished for opportunity of destroying, or at any rate chastising the atrocious nation of Tobas, whose daily business and delight it for so many years had been to cut the throats of the Spaniards. They thought that the society of the Abipones, who were of so much service in seeking out and fighting the enemy, might not hereafter be obtained without great difficulty; and that many would perhaps atone with their blood for one man's fault in neglecting such fair opportunities of victory.
Whilst the Abipones were absent on this expedition, the defence of the colony entirely devolved upon me, a charge in the performance of which I underwent much trouble and anxiety; for the neighbouring Mocobios, learning from their spies that none but the women and children remained at home with me, repeatedly approached us for mischievous purposes. But as I never ceased watching, day and night, with unremitting vigilance, their insidious attempts never succeeded but once, when they carried off a number of excellent horses from the pastures where they had been left to feed by the Spanish soldiers, the persons appointed to guard them being asleep at the time. The head of the plunderers was a certain Mocobio, who had deserted religion and a town life, and was second to none in rapacity and cunning. By day he used to converse familiarly with the Spaniards appointed to guard the cattle, as he understood their language, and to take his dinner with them: but one night he suddenly went off with his companions who were lurking hard by, and carried away a number of choice horses. After fourteen days' journey our heroes returned, leading in triumph a miserable crowd of captives whom they exhibited as trophies, and testimonials of their valour. But for my part I judged a victory stained with the blood of so many helpless women and girls more worthy of sorrow than of applause, knowing that it would certainly be atoned for by that of myself, or my people, and that the surviving Tobas would never allow the death or captivity of their wives, mothers, or children to go unrevenged; in which opinion all the Spaniards coincided, firmly believing that certain danger threatened the colony from those enraged savages. But the Governor, hastening to the city, evinced how little he had our safety at heart, when he left such a scanty band as we were, exposed to a multitude of enemies, breathing nothing but vengeance. After much entreaty, he could only be persuaded to leave us five Spanish guards, wretched creatures, entirely destitute of courage, and nearly so of arms. These were sent home at intervals, and succeeded by others, as bad, or worse; so that they rather served as a laughing-stock, than as a protection to the Abipones.
I must not omit to mention that the Abipones publicly, and with the utmost effrontery, celebrated a slaughter they had formerly committed on the Spaniards, whose skulls they exhibited with songs and drinking, Fulgentio being present with his forces, and not daring to take the least exception at it. Since they durst do that in the face of the Governor, and four hundred soldiers, what respect would they pay to the threats or admonitions of a priest?
On the same day that the Abipones returned from the expedition, I visited all the tents of my people, to see and speak with the captives, and if they stood in need of medicine or assistance, to afford it them without delay: for either the terror excited by the sudden assault of the Spaniards, or grief at the loss of liberty and their native soil, or the burning heat of the sun in travelling, had affected them to such a degree, that we thought they were certainly going to be seized with some disease. But I found them all in good health except one woman, the skin of whose head had been grazed by a bullet. As the wound was only skin-deep, the Spaniards laid a piece of fresh wax on the place, by way of a plaster, and the flies which infest moist places gradually bred worms there, which, as they occupied a dangerous part of the head, threw the woman into a delirium; but by the timely application of tiger's fat the worms were destroyed.
A slight dispute arose between the Spaniards and Abipones on the subject of the captives; the former, in order to draw all eyes towards them on their return to the city, and to be congratulated with the greater applause, wanted to take both the captive youths and the Toba women out of the hands of the Abipones, and to adorn themselves, like the daw, with borrowed plumes; on the other hand, the Abipones obstinately maintained that what they themselves had taken with the danger of their lives, was their own property; but were induced, by a settled compensation, or liberal promises, to cede a very few of the Tobas to the Spaniards, the rest of the captives being retained in the colony. I did not look upon myself as authorized to decide this controversy, but silently hoped that none of the captives would remain with us, foreseeing that their presence would prove highly prejudicial to our colony. As we had no place for confining the captives, and as they enjoyed equal liberty of wandering with the rest, they every one escaped whilst their masters were absent or asleep. Some of the older Tobas returned home with stolen horses, and having become well acquainted with the whole of our neighbourhood, frequently returned to harass and plunder the colony.
CHAPTER XLII.
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.