CHAPTER XV.

FURTHER PRAISES OF YCHOALAY.

It appears from what I have related, how useful Ychoalay was to us in the dissemination of religion. It is incredible how anxious he was to preserve the safety of the town and of the Fathers. Any little injury committed or intended against the Fathers, by his people, he took to himself, and indeed avenged with more asperity than if it had been done to himself. Amongst a set of men addicted to strife and drunkenness, accustomed to slaughter from their boyhood, and madly attached to superstition, the lives of the Fathers must have been placed in a very precarious condition, had not his authority been a shield to them, and a bridle to the savages. If he perceived any danger impending from foreign foes, he would, even in the dead of the night, apprize the Fathers and his companions of it, that the common safety might be consulted on. He was always the first to explore the country, and to occupy the front of the army whenever force was to be opposed to force, often returning home wounded whilst his companions remained unhurt. It happened that the Abipones who inhabited the town of Concepcion, entertaining suspicions of the Spaniards, suddenly deserted it all in one day, leaving in the place only three men who had it in charge to murder the two Fathers Joseph Sanchez and Lorenzo Casado, by treachery, as soon as night set in. Ychoalay, learning the flight of the Abipones, and the danger of the Fathers, flew to the spot with no other company than that of the horse he rode on. He fixed his spear at the door of the Fathers, and offered himself for their defender. About twilight he spied the three assassins lying in wait, alarmed and put them to flight, and never saw them afterwards. He advised that the furniture of the house and the church should be carried away in a waggon, and about two thousand oxen driven to the town of St. Jeronymo, and assigned them a place in his little estate where they might safely feed. The journey was full of danger and inconvenience. Continual rain had transformed the whole country into a marsh, so that it seemed impassable to a waggon. The river Malabrigo, and other lakes were tremendously swelled by the incessant rain. But by the advice and assistance of Ychoalay, all obstacles were overcome; every thing that Father Sanchez wished to transport, conveyed to a place of safety; and the attempts of the runaway Abipones, who had hoped to seize every thing that the deserted town possessed, completely foiled. Martinez del Tineo, Governor of Tucuman, wrote a letter to Ychoalay, in which he commended his fidelity to the Fathers, and recompensed his services with a piece of beautiful scarlet cloth fit to be worn by any noble Spaniard. This cloth he devoted to the purpose of buying sheep, the wool of which he intended to have woven into garments such as the Abipones wear. To the persuasions of the Fathers that he would adopt the Spanish costume, Ychoalay replied, "Since I am an Indian, why should I feign myself a Spaniard in my dress? When those red garments are worn out, will you give me new ones in their place? That is not to be expected. Then, derided by every body, I shall be obliged to resume the garb of the Abipones. My people will say, he boasted himself a Spaniard whilst his Spanish dress lasted; now that is worn out he must return to our manner of clothing. I give you my word to dress like a Spaniard as soon as I get money enough from the wheat I am raising." And, on entering our church, he attired himself and his horse, like the more respectable orders of Spaniards. By his skill in agriculture and the breeding of cattle, he earned enough to clothe himself and his people.

Ychoalay watched with anxious care not only to preserve the safety of the Fathers, but likewise to prevent the domestic utensils, and the cattle belonging to the town, from receiving any injury. On stated days of the week twenty or more oxen were killed, on the flesh of which the Abiponian inhabitants subsisted. Those of a more voracious appetite than the rest used secretly to kill oxen for themselves, and still oftener calves, to the great loss of the estate. Others took it into their heads to slay the sheep belonging to the estate, not for their flesh, but for their skins, which they throw over their shoulders like horse-cloths. Whenever Ychoalay caught any of these offenders, he punished them severely. To compensate for the loss, they were ordered to pay two horses for every ox they had slain, one for every sheep; and if they did not bring them of their own accord, Ychoalay took them away by force. A savage Mocobio, a stranger, had killed a cow belonging to Ychoalay, thinking it to be one of the cattle of the town. An Abipon who happened to come that way said to the Mocobio, "What! have you dared to kill a cow of Ychoalay's? Woe be to you if he hears of it!" The Mocobio, alarmed at the news, laid the limbs of the cow upon his horse, and went straight to the house of Ychoalay. "This," says he, "is the flesh of your cow which I killed by mistake, thinking it belonged to the town." "Fool," replied Ychoalay in a rage, "do you think then, that you may slay the herds of the colony with impunity? The excuse by which you endeavour to extenuate the criminality of the deed, serves only to its aggravation. But now begone, and since you have given yourself the trouble of killing and flaying the beast, take upon you that of devouring it also." So that, though severe in avenging mischief done to the property of the town, he was lenient towards those who offended himself.

The Abipones, like almost all the Americans, dreading the most distant idea of slavery, will scarcely perform the smallest service, unless quite sure of a compensation. Whenever you require anything of them, _Mieka enegèn labevè?_ what will you give me? they eagerly reply. They quietly looked on, whilst we were saddling our horses, or cutting down wood, and though they would not move a finger to our assistance, employed their tongues lavishly in our praise. "Bless me, Father! how well you equip your horse! How dexterous, and strong you are!" they exclaimed, though we should have preferred their assistance to their encomiums. Ychoalay, unlike the rest in this respect, was extremely ready to perform all sorts of good offices. He served the Fathers not with fine words, but with good deeds, as I had good reason to know, having taken many long journeys with him through incommodious wilds, when he fulfilled the part of a most diligent servant. Though many Abipones of inferior rank accompanied us, whenever we had to pass the night, or the mid-day in the plain, he charged himself with seeking fuel, bearing water, and taking care of the horses, and used always to procure me a safe passage over rivers and marshes. He not only harnessed my horse for me, but prudently pointed out that which was fittest for the journey we were going to enter upon. In travelling he always remained close by my side, kept a strict watch on all sides, and if he discovered any danger, acquainted me with it, and cautiously avoided it.

The other Fathers, too, openly professed their obligations to this excellent man. The founding and preserving of the town of St. Jeronymo is chiefly to be attributed to him. Except three little huts, hastily constructed by the Spaniards, every thing was done under the direction, and by the labour of Ychoalay, particularly when it was removed to the southern shore. It was necessary to erect a little building for the performance of divine service, a dwelling-house for the Fathers, some cottages for the shepherds, and large folds for the cattle. There was likewise occasion to fortify the court-yard of our house with stakes, that in sudden incursions of the savages it might afford a defence to the women and children; huts were also to be constructed for the Abipones, who, till then, had sheltered themselves under mats. For these purposes many thousands of trees must be cut down, carried home, and worked upon. Ychoalay was the life of the labour and the labourers. He was always the first to take up the axe, the last to lay it down, instigating the Abipones to diligence more by example than by precept.

The Fathers, as a mark of their gratitude, presented the industrious Ychoalay with a hat adorned with broad silver fringe, which, that he might not appear to slight their kindness, he accepted, at the same time however expressing himself careless of elegancies of that kind. He had scarcely worn the hat twice in the street, when some Abipon requested and obtained it. Ychoalay would freely bestow beautiful woollen garments of many colours, fresh from his wife's loom, on any one who asked for them. By this liberality he wrought so much, that all were ready to lend him their assistance whenever he stood in need of it, either in shearing sheep, or ploughing fields in his estate, whither a vast number of persons of both sexes flocked every year to assist Ychoalay. The wages of the labourers consisted of nothing more than their board, and gratuitous largesses during the year. Though he gave those who laboured for him plenty to eat, yet economy was not forgotten. He sent the more agile Abipones to the shores of the Parana, to hunt deer, on the flesh of which, and on that of oxen, he fed those who were employed in labouring in the fields. Out of his own herds he used to slay the males only, wisely sparing the mothers to increase the stock. "The Indians," said he, "are eager to devour the cows, never considering that bulls don't bring forth young. If the Spaniards had always fed upon cows, we should, long since, have been destitute both of cows and bulls."

In other things also, he evinced his superiority over the rest of the Indians. The herb of Paraguay, which is in common use amongst all ranks in Paraguay, he drank when it was offered him, but never requested it of us. He prudently feared, that if, by a too frequent use, he accustomed himself to this costly beverage, he should some time or other be obliged either to beg or buy it. We dealt out a portion of this herb every day to the Abipones who were employed with the axe or the plough, but Ychoalay advised them to make no use of it. "Accustomed as you are from childhood," said he, "to cold water, why can you not refrain from this hot drink? Unless you practise this abstinence, habit will become a second nature, and make you unable to do without it. The Fathers will supply you with the herb whilst you are ploughing; but when you cease from that employment they will deny it, because they are obliged to purchase it at a high price. Abstain, therefore, whilst you have it, and you will never be distressed by the want of it."

It is the custom of the Abipones and Mocobios to weary the Fathers with perpetual and importunate requests. We took a pleasure in gratifying them to the utmost of our power, but they frequently asked for things which we had not to give, and which you could not find in any warehouse at Amsterdam. Ychoalay, though desired to acquaint us with whatever he stood in need of, could never be induced to ask us any favour. Though the fame of his warlike prowess was so great as almost to excite envy, he would never accept of the honours of a captain, nor suffer himself to be enrolled amongst the Hëëcheri, and always used the dialect of the common people: and though his numerous military achievements entitled him often to change his name, he always retained his primitive one of Ychoalay. So great was his dislike of ostentation in apparel and horse-trappings, that he scorned to keep company with some youths, who gave themselves proud airs, and fed daintily. Conscious of his own merits, he had, undeniably, a very high opinion of himself, yet he detested flattery, and never boasted of any thing but of being no braggadocio. He could not bear that his rivals Oaherkaikin and Debayakaikin should be preferred to himself: yet when informed of any brave action performed by one of his own nation in battle, he would overflow in his praise. You will learn many things reflecting honour on the noble Ychoalay, in my relation of the vicissitudes of the furious war between the Riikahés and Nakaiketergehes.