CHAPTER XXXVII.

OF THE ASSAULT, AND THE MEASURES PRECEDING IT.

Highly to be admired are the anxious precautions with which they precede an attack. They minutely premeditate whatever is likely to befall them. That they may not be deceived in their opinions, they make one of their jugglers the ruler of the expedition, whom, as endued with the knowledge of things future and absent, they consult on all occasions, and, madly credulous, revere as the Delphic Apollo. Should the event prove contrary to the juggler's predictions, not one of them will blame or even distrust him. Though he were to commit blunders every day, he would still carry home a considerable portion of the spoils, the reward of his mendacity. If an attack is to be made next day, they contemplate the situation of affairs in every point of view, nor ever apply their minds to the execution of a project, till convinced of its being devoid of danger. They leave the drove of superfluous horses with persons to guard them, in a place out of sight. They stain their faces with various colours, to excite terror, and for the same purpose some wear a crown of parrots' feathers, others a red cap sparkling with beads of glass, or snails' shells, and others again place an enormous vulture's wing on their heads. I knew an Abipon who wore the skin of a stag's head, branching with horns, by way of a helmet, whenever he was going to fight, and another who tied the beak of a tuncà to his nose before he entered into an engagement. I always observed that those persons who were most solicitous about rendering their persons terrible to others, had the least courage themselves. The most intrepid, neglecting these precautions, await the weapons of the enemy quite undefended, though they always paint their faces. All sit half naked on the bare back of the best horse they possess, and, in place of a bridle, use a thong fastened to the animal's jaws. They throw away all heavy things, and whatever may retard the speed of the horse, that they may be able to make or avoid an attack with more celerity.

The most favourable time for an assault, in their apprehension, is either the beginning or end of the day, when there is just light sufficient to enable them to distinguish all objects. For at dawn or twilight they find more men at home to slay, and those oppressed with sleep: whereas in the day they are generally absent on business. But as the morning or evening have generally been chosen for committing slaughters, the Spaniards began to account those times dangerous, and by vigilant care to defeat the machinations of the savages. Perceiving which, the Abipones thought proper to depart from their usual custom, and often fell upon us at noon, when we were suspecting nothing of the matter. The Mocobios and Tobas followed their example, so that, in the Abiponian colonies, we could reckon no part of the day secure from hostile designs. They scarcely ever venture to make an attack at night, however, for in dark places they fear that some person may be concealed to kill them. Entering my apartment to pay me a friendly visit, when it happened to be destitute of light, they were immediately alarmed, and fearfully exclaimed, _Kemen nenegin greërigi!_ How black your house is! But they are not afraid of the dark in the open plain, when they want to drive away horses, watch, explore the country, or do any thing else there. It is peculiar to the Guaycurùs to break into the colonies and commit their ravages by night; they secretly send forward some of their people to pluck up the stakes fixed in the ground for the security of the place, that the rest of the company may obtain access while the inhabitants are fast asleep, and dreaming of any thing but the impending slaughter. It is on this account that the Guaycurù nation has been so universally formidable. Moreover, the Abipones do not always conduct their assaults in the same manner. If a colony of Christians is to be attacked, they approach secretly by some unknown way, and without noise. They block up all the ways with many rows of horse, that no place of escape may be left to the inhabitants. Others on foot break open the doors of houses; but if they judge this perilous they set fire to the buildings from a distance by shooting arrows headed with burning cotton or tow against them, and if the roofs be covered with straw or any material of that kind, they immediately burn, and wrap the inhabitants in flames; thus, all who rush out are slain by the savages, and all who remain within are burnt to death; and it is as certain as it is incredible, that the weapons of the savages are more dreaded than the fire. In the town of Iago Sanchez, near Corrientes, a church, with the priest officiating at the altar, some Indian women and children, and a few men, was burnt to ashes. At other times the Abipones, having slain or captivated all the inhabitants, carry off whatever may be of service to them; they even take away many things, with the use of which they are unacquainted, that the Christians may derive no benefit from them, though they soon after break them to pieces, or throw them into some river.

Whenever the Abipones think fit to attack the bands of the Spaniards, they rush upon them on their horses, not in close ranks, like the Europeans, but in various parties, so that they can attack their adversaries at once in front, behind, and on both sides, and extending their spears above their horses' heads, kill all they meet. They strike a blow, but that they may not receive one in turn, leap back as quick as they came, and presently resuming courage, return again and again into the ranks. Every one is his own leader; every one follows his own impulse. They can turn their horses round in various circles, with the utmost swiftness, having them wonderfully under their command. They can suspend their bodies from the horse's back, and twist them about like a tumbler, or, to prevent themselves from being wounded, conceal them entirely under the horse's belly. It is by this art chiefly that they escape the leaden bullets of the Spaniards; for by continually changing their position, they deceive and weary the eye of him that is taking aim at them with a gun. They condemn the stationary fighting of the European soldier, and call it madness in a man to stand and expose his breast as a mark to the flying balls. They boast that their quickness in assaulting and evading the blow, is the most useful part of the art of war. Whoever is aware of the volubility of the savages, will never fire till quite sure of hitting them; for after hearing a harmless report, without seeing any of their comrades fall, they will cast away their dread of European arms, and grow more daring than ever; but as long as they see you threatening them with a gun, they will continue to fear, more anxious to save themselves than to kill others.

The examples of our own age show that rashness in firing has been the destruction of many,—circumspect and provident delay the salvation of no fewer. It may be as well to give a few instances of this. In the territory of St. Iago del Estero, about dawn a troop of Abiponian horse descended from a steep and precipitous rock, and attacked a town of the Spaniards, called Las Barrancas; nor was it any difficult matter for them to slay the sleeping inhabitants. The Captain, Hilario, awakened by the yelling of the savages, and the groans of the dying, occupied the threshold of his house, keeping a gun always pointed at the enemies. Not one of them dared approach him. By this threatening action alone, he preserved himself and his little daughter alive amidst the deaths of so many of his neighbours. Another Spaniard, in the territory of Corrientes, seeing the court-yard of his house, which was but slightly fortified with stakes, surrounded by Abipones, turned his gun, perhaps not loaded, towards them, threatening first one, then another, by turns. This was more than sufficient to frustrate the intended assault of the Abipones. I knew a captain named Gorosito, who did much service amongst the soldiers of St. Iago. He made use of a gun from which you could not expect a single spark of fire, and on being asked why he did not have it repaired, replied that he thought that unnecessary. "It is sufficient," said he, "to show even a useless gun to the savages, who, not knowing it to be defective, are terrified at the very sight of it. Furnished with this gun, I have gained not only security, but glory, in many skirmishes." But I have no occasion for the testimonies and experience of others, having myself so often frightened away troops of assaulting savages, armed with a gun which I never once fired.

On the other hand, how dangerous a thing it is to fire guns inconsiderately, we have often found on various occasions, but above all in a new Indian colony, where a few garrison soldiers guarded the borders of Tucuman, on account of the frequent incursions of the savages. This little town, the rebellious Mataguayos attacked about evening with all sorts of weapons. The soldiers, seized with a sudden trepidation, discharged all the fire-arms they could lay hands on at the savage band, but to their own injury, not that of the enemy, who, leaving their adversaries no time to load afresh, set fire to the houses with arrows headed with burning tow, and pierced the soldiers, who fled from thence into the court-yard, with barbed darts. Two Jesuit priests, who officiated there, Fathers Francisco Ugalde and Romano Harto, whilst attending to the salvation of the dying soldiers, underwent the fury of the savages within the palisadoes of the house. The first was mortally wounded with arrows, and buried in the ruins of the burning chapel, where he was entirely reduced to ashes, one little bone alone remaining, to which funeral honours were afterwards paid elsewhere. That his soul was received into Heaven is the opinion of all who are acquainted with his exceeding piety and mild integrity of conduct. Father Romano Harto, his companion, though wounded with two arrows which pierced deep into his side, crept under cover of night from the palings of his house into a neighbouring wood, and escaped the eyes and murderous hands of the savages. Weltering in blood, and tortured by the pain of his wounds and the burning thirst it occasioned, he passed the night out, of doors amongst the trees, during a furious tempest of rain, wind, and thunder. No one was at hand to lend him any aid. At day-break, crawling out into the plain, by God's mercy he espied a soldier who had fled from the massacre of the day before, and who carried him on his horse to the Spaniards at a very great distance, where he was completely healed. What, let me ask, was the occasion of so many deaths, and of so tragic an event? The unseasonable haste of a few soldiers in discharging their guns. The empty noise struck the air alone, and gave such courage to the Indians, that, laying aside fear, they rushed on more boldly, and denied the Spaniards the necessary time for loading their guns afresh. It was said, moreover, that many were destitute of gunpowder, and all certainly were so of courage, panic-struck at the sudden arrival of the savages, the burning of the houses, and the sight of so many deaths. The assaults of the savages must be repelled promptly but providently. Arms must be immediately resorted to, but something must always be reserved for the sudden chances of war: as the Indians, intent upon every opportunity of committing mischief, easily overcome the unarmed or those that manage arms unskilfully. Thus, if thirty artillery soldiers should undertake the defence of a station, they ought to be divided into three ranks, so that ten might fire their guns upon the enemy, ten load, and the others reserve an equal number loaded. By which means they would always have time to load their guns, and the Indians would never want cause for fear. By the careful observance of this method, thirty artillery soldiers might be found sufficient to rout and put to flight three hundred Americans. But if three hundred artillery-men were to fire all their guns at once, without killing any of the enemy, they, on the other hand, might be overcome by thirty savages. For the Abipones, like most of the Americans, are intimidated by the most trifling slaughter of their companions: if but one or two of them fall, the rest instantly take to flight, esteeming life far above the honour of victory. How comes it then that they are so dreaded by other nations? I will explain this in the next chapter.