Astigi, a city of Andalusia, was his native place. He was born of a most respectable family, and had been in the King's service from his earliest years. He set sail from Cadiz for Paraguay, while yet a youth, bearing letters from the King, in the office of naval secretary. This voyage is often performed in three or four months, with a favourable wind; Barreda and his companions, miserably tost about the ocean, scarce reached the port of Buenos-Ayres on the tenth. Having dispatched their business in that city, all things were put in readiness for returning to Europe, and they entered the vessel. But just as they were going to raise anchor, a furious south wind encountered the ship, turned it on its beam-ends, and would have sunk it, had it not been held by steady anchors. The crew remained the whole night on a sand bank, expecting death every moment. The shades of night increased their fears and their danger. All must have perished, had not a boat arrived, at day-break, from the shore, which is three miles distant from the place where the ships lie at anchor. Barreda conceived such a horror of navigation, that, when his companions returned to Spain, he remained in Paraguay, reserved by the Almighty to repress the boldness of the savages, by whom he was more dreaded in his age, than the sea had been by him in his youth. He was removed from Buenos-Ayres to Salabina, a little town in the country of St. Iago, where his skill in writing rendered him very useful. He volunteered to accompany the soldiers in an incursion against the savages, and after having, in repeated campaigns, given signal proofs of wisdom and valour, was promoted first to command a troop of horse, afterwards to lead them against the savages, and lastly to be chief ruler, in the Governour's name, over the whole territory of the river Salado; in which station, he commended himself to the Royal Governour of Tucuman, by his many brave and noble actions, the chief of which was his prevailing upon the Vilelas to embrace the Roman Catholic religion. By means of his industrious efforts, ten thousand Vilelas quitted their lurking-holes in the woods, entered the new colonies, and received baptism. The small-pox, which broke out soon afterwards, cut off greatest part of them, and the survivors settled first in the land of Cordoba, and afterwards in the territory of St. Iago, where, as they daily decreased more and more under other masters, they were committed to the care of the priests of our order.
Barreda pursued the Abipones and Mocobios, who continued hostile, with the rigour of arms, as he had conciliated the peaceful Vilelas by gentle measures. If he did not entirely repress their boldness, he certainly restrained and punished it with frequent discomfitures. The Royal Governour, desirous of rewarding his merit, conferred on him the supreme administration, in his name, of all affairs, civil and military, in all the colonies of St. Iago. How well he answered to the good opinion entertained of him, you may discover from the circumstance, that he held this office for thirty years, and never laid it down till his death, equally beloved by all good men, and dreaded by the savages. Many declared that they saw nothing to object to in him but his goodness, which almost appeared carried to an excess. In the punishment of criminals, he showed himself more lenient, than hasty or severe; for he used to say he would rather suffer ten guilty men to escape unpunished, than punish one innocent man. Whenever he pronounced sentence, as a judge, he endeavoured to favour the Indian rather than the Spaniard, usually saying: Hé de attender a la parte mas flaca: I must defend the weaker side. He had a very gentle disposition, by which he conciliated all hearts; his person was handsome, and his body large and vigorous, so that it was easy to infer how great a soul inhabited it. In uprightness of conduct, in purity of mind, and in sincere piety, he excelled, or at any rate equalled all the civil and military commanders of his time. His love and reverence for the priesthood were very great. In the presence of hundreds of soldiers, and of my Abipones, he disdained not to honour my hand with a pious kiss; and to assist me as I was performing the sacred rites. He devoted himself entirely to promoting the advantage of the province committed to his care, so that he had no time to think of heaping up riches, which is commonly thought the chief business of Europeans in America. But though not very opulent, he was exceedingly liberal. In short, by the splendor of his virtues, and by his famous achievements against the savages, he obtained an immortal reputation, but at the same time excited the envy of cowards and sluggards; a fate which attends all eminent men, and is their constant inheritance. Noble actions however clearly refute the accusations of the envious. Barreda not only attended thirty expeditions against the Abipones and Mocobios, but headed them all himself except three. The number of his victories, such victories as are gained in America, was the same as that of his expeditions. You would have thought that fortune waited on his footsteps. But he used to impute his success not to fortune, but to the favour of the Almighty, and to the activity and sagacity of his soldiers; as if he himself had contributed little or nothing to the prosperous event of the war. Yet it is allowed on all hands that the success of these expeditions was chiefly owing to the prudence, industry, and caution of Barreda. But he was not one of those generals, who, to speak in the words of Livy, enter a contest, relying more on their courage, than on their strength. The desire of fame or booty never induced him to hazard an attack, unless he thought the hope of victory greater than the likelihood of the most trifling slaughter. In order to judge of this he carefully marked the situation of places, the numbers of his adversaries, and the opportunities of the journey and of the road. A band of scouts was daily sent forward, to discover the ambuscades of the enemy, to examine their dwellings and their numbers, or to surprize them unawares. Barreda detested any slaughter of the savages, if attended by that of his own soldiers. "Where I am present," he said, "every thing goes on well. But if," added he, "I were utterly to destroy all the savages in Chaco, at the expense of two soldiers only, verily, on my return to the city, I should expect to be saluted with mud and stones. The people are extremely desirous of the deaths of the savages, but expect their own soldiers to be immortal in every battle." As it had been clearly proved that Barreda was by no means rash in undertaking expeditions, the people of St. Iago with willing minds followed whithersoever he led, and under no leader did these excellent soldiers make more daring achievements.
I have already mentioned that the people of St. Iago possessed a singular skill at exploring, but that Landriel excelled in this respect is doubted by no one. Barreda made use of him for many years as the chief instrument of his victories; and by this penetrating discoverer of the savages he was accompanied wherever he went. Other Spaniards, too, out of the territories of St. Iago, took him for their guide whenever the savages were to be attacked or repelled. I will give you an account of a victory which Barreda gained chiefly by means of this man. As Landriel was on his way home from the woods, where he had been employed in collecting wax and honey, he fell in with Barreda, who had just set off on an expedition against the Abipones, with many hundred horse. "Tarry here awhile," said Landriel to him. "Let me carry home the mules loaden with wax and honey, and to-morrow I will return provided with proper horses, and conduct you straight forward to the dwellings of the Abipones. I saw them myself very lately, and was compelled by hunger to slay some of their oxen." Landriel was joyfully beheld by them all as a propitious star, and not listened to without inspiring confidence of victory. He stood to his promise, and returning the next day, was the life of the party, and the eye and right hand of Barreda. In a few days, as he knew the Abiponian horde to be at no great distance, he stations the forces which were proceeding into Chaco, in a secure place, whilst he himself, with another soldier, goes to discover whether the Abipones continued in the same place where he had first seen them. In the evening, leaving his horse to the care of his companion, he hastens alone and on foot to the place where he had lately espied the dwellings of the savages, but finds that they had changed their quarters. He knew that close by was a lake, affording great convenience for a savage horde. Thither he steals, and perceives from the number of fires that the Abipones, whom he sought, had settled there. Returning to the place where he had left his horse in the care of his companion, he finds that both were departed; for the soldier, imagining that Landriel must have been intercepted by the savages, from his staying so many hours, had consulted his own safety by flight. Barreda, and all the other soldiers, after vainly expecting Landriel's return for so long a time, began to entertain the same suspicions. They were not aware that Landriel had to return on foot, the same distance which he had gone on horseback. But when at length he returned safe, Barreda resumed his courage, and all the rest their hope of victory, especially when they understood that the retreat of the savages had been discovered.
The journey was now begun, forthwith, under Landriel's guidance; and when after many hours they had crossed a plain which was flooded to such a degree as to bear the appearance of a lake, the dwellings of the Abipones were seen, and instantly attacked. The very few men in the place could not stand the assault of the Spaniards, but preferred flight to combat. The Cacique who governed that horde, with most of the efficient men, were then absent: doubtless, had they been at home, the attack would not have proved entirely bloodless. Some of the Indians, however, who were slower in their flight, were slain, and a train of women and children taken captive. Various silver utensils, the fruit of much plunder, many hundreds of horses, and numerous oxen, were the booty of the Spaniards. The day being nearly ended, the Spaniards passed the night in the same place; not sleeping, but watching, and all the captives, many hundreds in number, were guarded in the fold where the horses had formerly been kept.
Amongst the captives were some Spanish women, who had been formerly taken in war by the Abipones; one of these persuaded the soldiers to return by a different, and more convenient way than that by which they had come, and this proposal was eagerly embraced by the soldiers, whose clothes were still wet with the water of their yesterday's journey. Meantime the report of the incursion of the Spaniards provoked to the desire of vengeance all the Abipones who dwelt in the vicinity. Exasperated by the captivity of their wives and children, they fell upon the last company of the St. Iagans, but met with a brave repulse. Some of the soldiers, however, forgetful of the danger, were nearly slain by the savages, whilst at a distance from their companions. One of them falling from his horse into a marshy place, would soon have been pierced with spears, had not Captain Gorosito succoured him by the intervention of a musket. The Indians, perceiving that their skirmishes had produced no effect, withdrew to their places of concealment, leaving the Spaniards to pursue their journey, without further molestation. Alaykin, ill enduring the loss of so many people and horses, began to think of establishing a peace with the inhabitants of St. Iago, and of requesting a colony for himself; both of which he obtained, by the intercession of Barreda. Numbers were slain, and about two hundred taken prisoners, in another excursion undertaken by Barreda against the Mocobios, most of whom, terrified by so much slaughter, took refuge in the town of St. Xavier, which had been founded in the territories of Sta. Fè, for the Caciques Aletin and Chitalin, and at that time contained about twenty families, but was wonderfully increased by the accession of those whom Barreda frightened into entering it, or freed from captivity and sent thither. I pass by many other expeditions of this kind which Barreda successfully conducted against the savages; some of them, however, I shall touch upon in treating of the affairs of Cordoba. Barreda always maintained that his assaults on the savages would have caused less effusion of blood, had his soldiers, though excellent in every other respect, paid more obedience to his orders. You shall now hear the complaints he made against them.
CHAPTER VIII.
OF CERTAIN DEFECTS IN THE SOLDIERS OF ST. IAGO, OF
THEIR COMPANIES, AND OF THE DEGREES OF MILITARY
RANK AMONGST THEM.
The soldiers of St. Iago were accused of three defects by their old general, Barreda. The first is, that in an assault, they neglect to surround the dwellings of the savages on every side, and thus give them an opportunity of escaping. They make the first attack in front, leaving a way to the wood, whither the enemy may take shelter. Experience has taught them that the Abipones and Mocobios fight desperately when straitened. They knew well that the province would be more disturbed by the deaths of two soldiers, than rejoiced at the slaughter of two hundred savages. Induced by these considerations, the soldiers of St. Iago, slighting the orders of their commander, attack the enemy on that part which they think least dangerous to themselves. Another subject of complaint to Barreda, was, that, though he commanded them to make the attack in silence, they still would rush on with shouts and senseless clamour. The third objection was, their greediness for booty. When an unarmed multitude of women and children were taken, whilst the men escaped, the soldiers, scattered up and down the plain, were eagerly seeking droves of horses, when they ought to have been employed in pursuing and slaughtering the fugitives, and in watching diligently, lest the savages should shake off dread, quit their lurking-holes, and again exhibit their faces in the field. Barreda himself, in an expedition against the Mocobios, ran great risk of losing his life; for as he remained in the plundered camp, with but one companion, the rest being employed in catching the enemy's horses in the plain, a Mocobio suddenly started up from under a mat, and before taking to flight, shot an arrow at his breast, which would have proved mortal, had he not been protected by his woollen garment: the man was immediately pierced with a musket ball. Who would not laugh at the paltry plunder of the enemy's camp? They search every corner, and collect jugs, pots, gourds, shells, skins of beasts, emus' feathers, in short whatever they can find, leaving nothing behind but the dust. With much care and trouble they carry home all sorts of trash, to be exhibited as trophies to their neighbours and to posterity.
Not one soldier receives any pay, throughout the whole district of St. Iago. The colonists are all divided into companies, some of which consist of two hundred men, more or less. Each has its captain, lieutenant, ensign, (though that is a mere title, for they have no ensigns,) and corporals. It is the captain's duty to call out the soldiers to an excursion. The lieutenant's business is to guard the horses, both by day, when they are driven all together along the road, without riders, and by night, when they are grazing in the open plain. Many take long journeys on one horse, but the more opulent carry four, or even ten, and ride them by turns. The ensigns act in the place of the lieutenant, when he is absent, or resting. In each of the territories of the province, there is a master of the watch, called Sargento Mayor, who has the chief command both over the captains and their companies, and orders which are to go to war. This officer, sometimes from partiality, sometimes from being corrupted by bribes, suffers the richer people to remain at home, and forces the poorer, and generally the least able, to attend the militia. All condemn, but none dare to correct this abominable custom, the pernicious effects of which extend to the whole province. Barreda permitted nobody to be appointed for an expedition, who did not possess at least four horses, and who had neither brothers nor grown-up sons at home, to manage his domestic affairs in his absence. During my stay there, the whole province of St. Iago contained eleven companies, which took their names from their captains. Beside these, there is a company of scouts, called Batidores del campo, containing fewer than the others, but those few of tried sagacity and courage. The chief and the champion of this company was Landriel, who, as a remuneration for his well-known merits, was declared camp-master by the Governour of Tucuman. But I should have been better pleased to have heard of his having been enriched with money, or a pension, than adorned with an empty title. According to report, his father was not of low birth, but his mother must have been an Indian, to judge from his features, speech, and complexion. He was born in a village of St. Iago. Reading and writing were the extent of his attainments. He was courteous and upright in his manners, endowed with a quick understanding, with singular prudence and piety, and robust, though middle-sized in stature. He always led a single life, to the best of my remembrance. I visited him on my return from the city, when he dwelt with his mother, in a miserable hut, not far from Soconcho, on the banks of the river Dulce, and was grieved to witness the poverty of so famous a man. The Governour granted him the field Alarcòn, which extends many leagues, and is rich in woods, but being surrounded with a vast desert, and consequently liable to the incursions of the savages, cannot be cultivated with safety.
The last, and chief company, consists of the captains who have served out their time, and are called Capitanes Reformados. These attend the Vice-Governour, the Commander-in-chief in excursions, but are exempt from the other journeys and burdens of the war. To obtain this immunity, those who are more gifted with wealth than courage purchase the title of a reformed captain, though they never discharged the office either of captain or lieutenant. You can hardly imagine how ardently all the Americans, both Indians and Spaniards, sue for military dignities, and how much they are delighted with these honourable titles. Do they faint with hunger, thirst and wretchedness?—salute them with the title of captain, or master of the watch, and they will revive,—in cælum, jusseris, ibunt. There was an old Spaniard who knew how to make waggons, gates, and mill-wheels, and was, on this account, styled a mathematician by the ignorant vulgar, who doubtless accounted him superior to Archimedes. Barreda was in want of this man's assistance in constructing the gates and window-beams in the new colony of Concepcion; but being well aware that the old workman would never be persuaded to go to the country of the Abipones, being more attached to his own house than a tortoise to its shell, he made use of an honest stratagem to obtain his purpose, and immediately declared him a reformed captain. In a few days, Barreda gives out his intention of taking a journey to the colony. According to custom, two companies and all the reformed captains were called out, amongst whom, this most noble artificer, as he had lately been elected one of their number, could not refuse to go. Barreda jocosely told me the whole story, in the new town of Concepcion, and charged me always to salute the said workman with the high-sounding title of Captain, saying it would be an excellent method of stimulating him to exertion. I took the hint, and whenever I had occasion to visit the workshop, interspersed every sentence with Señor Capitan. "Very true," said he; "by the grace of God I am a captain; that can't be denied. But what of that?" And then he complained to me, that many did not know that this was the case. I immediately employed all my rhetorical powers in extolling the perfections of a reformed captain in general, and his own exceeding merit in particular; and in this panegyric I took care that every sentence should begin and end with, Señor Capitan. At my request, this mode of speech was adopted by Barreda and all the rest, which artifice succeeded so well, that the good old man made the gates, doors, and other necessaries, with all possible dispatch, though not in the most skilful manner: such was the potency of the unprofitable title of captain amongst them, which I have seen confirmed by another event of the same kind, that took place in the town of Concepcion.
Barreda ordered the soldiers to hedge round a very large field, to plough, and sow it with maize, melons, cotton, &c. and he himself laboured with his own hands, that the Abipones might not be ashamed of the plough. At the end of four days, being obliged to return to the city, he gave it in charge to one of the common soldiers, to get it properly ploughed and sowed during his absence, promising him, by way of reward, the title of reformed captain. Lured by so sweet a bait, the soldier exceeded Barreda's expectation, and almost went beyond himself. From the rising to the setting of the sun, he made the oxen fly with the plough, and himself and his companions overflow with sweat, caused by toiling under a burning sun; careless of the heat, of food and sleep, he laboured with such ardour, that his task was finished sooner than could have been imagined. Barreda, on his departure, by sound of drum, proclaimed this strenuous ploughman a reformed captain, to the surrounding troop of horse. But you will laugh to hear how transitory is human greatness. In less than three days, this new captain lost his dignity, and the favour of him who conferred it. It is worth while to relate the cause of his disgrace, which will discover a shameful custom of the soldiers of St. Iago. When absent, they are possessed with an incredible desire of home. Those who are sent to the colonies of the Abipones pursue their journey thither very tardily, but return with amazing quickness. They fatigue their horses with hurrying day and night, as, though they may have no wounds to show, they wish to present themselves at home, alive and safe, as soon as possible. From this extreme desire of revisiting their friends, it often happens that the soldiers, whilst striving with each other in haste, desert their leader. Barreda, in the journey I mentioned, was offended to find so very few soldiers remaining in his company, and particularly at the absence of him whom he had named captain but a few days before. He sent a man forward to signify to him that he was degraded from his rank. Grieved and surprized at this intelligence, he condemned his own haste, and almost wept for the loss of his title. Landriel became his counsellor, and advised him to fill the horns, which they used for jugs, with fresh water, to carry them to Barreda, and say that he had hastened to fetch cold water from the river Turugon, as none was to be got within many leagues. Barreda, parching with thirst, was so pleased with this civility, that, not perceiving the deceit, he restored to the good man the title of captain. I relate these unimportant circumstances to show you what a value the Spaniards set upon military titles. Hence, whenever you meet a Spaniard or half Spaniard in the country, if you wish to avoid giving offence, be sure not to accost him by his name or surname alone, but always add his title, if he have any. If he be of the very lowest condition, call him Señor Cabo de esquadra, or Señor Sargento. If you observe wrinkles in his forehead, grey hairs on his head, and shoes or boots on his feet, though his clothes be ever so shabby, you may have no hesitation in calling him captain: but if he have silver clasps to his bridle, brazen stirrups, (we generally use wooden ones,) spurs of silver, and a staff in his hand, be assured that he holds the title of Sargento Mayor, or Maestre de Campo. In a noble city of Tucuman, where I resided for some time, all the richer sort of people are called camp-masters, and in fact they are so; for a knowledge of agriculture and the breeding of cattle is the sole means of maintenance and nobility to the inhabitants of that place. You would be thought a savage and fit to be hunted out of society, unless you made abundant use of these honourable appellations, which they seek with such ardor. A man of our order happened, on a journey, to fall in with a Spaniard in a place where four roads met, and, whilst considering which way he should take, repeatedly addressed his companion with the title of captain: till the man, thinking himself insulted, said, with a threatening look, "Good Father, how long will you continue to make me angry? You must either be a stranger, or very ignorant, since you don't know that I am a Sargento Mayor:" so much displeasure do they evince if their ears are not gratified with their proper appellations. But they are not ashamed to be saluted with titles which do not really belong to them. I saw Barreda writing letters to the Governour of Tucuman, in which he honoured him with the title of colonel, though he was only lieutenant-colonel of a regiment of infantry. I reminded Barreda of this circumstance, thinking it must have slipped his memory. But he replied that he had written it purposely, not through forgetfulness: that I was unacquainted with the customs of America, where it is necessary to politeness, to add one degree, at least, to a title of dignity.