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.

Bands of soldiers were sent at intervals to construct houses for the Abipones, who, till that time, for more than a year, had dwelt under the mats, which they used for tents both at home and in travelling. On holidays, when I was ministering at the altar, I used to discourse with the soldiers to such effect that many of them confessed to me the faults of their past life, which was rendered the more necessary by the perilous situation of our affairs. We were agitated with daily apprehensions of the enemy's approach. At one time it was reported that Ychoalay, provoked at repeated plundering of his horses, was drawing near to the colony; at another, the vengeful Tobas were said to be coming with confederate savages. As no hope of tranquillity, or shadow of security appeared, there was not one of the Spaniards who did not ardently desire a speedy departure from the colony, and all the soldiers who were ordered thither by their captains thought themselves condemned to the quarries, or to the oar. The richer and more respectable strove to evade the journey on pretence of business, indisposition, or by some other feigned excuses; hence none but the meaner soldiers, Spaniards only in name, attended our town, and were rather a burden than a protection to us. Such were generally those who, in the beginning, were dispatched every month to our colony, both to bring us certain necessaries, and to see whether I was still alive. They were often prevented from reaching us from fear of the savages; at other times every thing they brought was so spoilt with the water as to be of no possible use: these were frequent causes of distress in the colony.