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The Pocket Guide to Selling Greatness SellingPower
Library 1st Edition Gerhard Gschwandtner Digital
Instant Download
Author(s): Gerhard Gschwandtner
ISBN(s): 9780071491631, 0071491635
Edition: 1
File Details: PDF, 1.15 MB
Year: 2006
Language: english
 The Pocket
Guide to

Selling
Greatness
This page intentionally left blank
 The Pocket
Guide to

Selling
Greatness
Gerhard Gschwandtner
Founder and Publisher of Selling Power

MCGRAW-HILL
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CONTENTS

PERSONAL GROWTH 1
Managing Thoughts 3
Trash or Treasure? 5
Are You Fit for Success? 7
Disappointment—What’s in It For Me? 9
Learning from Superachievers 11
Thinking Ahead 13
Predicting the Economy 15
Generating Enthusiasm 17
Mental Growth—The Garden Analogy 19
Self-Improvement 21
Pin Your Hopes on Attitude 23
Sailing and Selling 25
An Equal Opportunity Profession 27
What Makes You Happy? 29
Leadership 32

vii
CONTENTS

Role Models for Success 34

Can You See the Opportunities Ahead? 36
Are You in the Mood for Success? 39
What Now? 41
The Idea of Improvement 43
What’s Success without a Handicap? 46
Can We Talk? 48
Thought Leadership 51
How to Stop a Train 54
The “Body” Politic 56
Passionate Dreamers 59
Is Complexity an Obstacle to Your Progress? 61
What’s Your Definition of Selling? 64

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT 67
Stinking Thinking 69
Tell the Truth 71
The Winner’s Law of 80/20 73
Are You a Professional Salesperson? 75

viii
 CONTENTS

Motivating and Rewarding the Sales Team 77

What Customers Expect after the Sale 79
Dale Carnegie’s Sales Wisdom 81
Keep Old Knowledge While Learning More 83
Are You Manipulating Your Customers? 85
The 1,905-Carat Sapphire 87
Use Act “As If” Techniques to Sell More 89
“Rock Polishing”—Completing the Real Job 91
Applying Good Ideas 93
The Importance of Personality 95
Seek Out Difficult Buyers! 97
Stay Balanced and Move Forward 99
Can You Duplicate Your Successes? 102
Is There a Recession in Your Mind? 105
The Incredible Power of Ideas 107
It’s Time to Adjust Your Selling Strategy! 110
Is Uncertainty Challenging Your
Claim to Success? 113
What Makes Customers “Happy” to Buy
from You? 116

ix
CONTENTS

The Perils of Success 118

The Selling Power of Service 121
How Dedicated Are You to Becoming
a Success? 124
The Benefit of Obstacles 127
Are These High-Tech Miracles for Real? 129
The Essence of Success 132
Which Salesperson Would You Hire? 135
The Three Keys to Sales Success 138
Have You Planned for Your Success? 141
Selling Is Changing—Faster! 144
Look for Eagles 147
Don’t Let the Economy Slow You Down 149
Messages Can Fizzle or Sizzle 152
Getting Squeezed? 154
The Do Not Call Registry—Who Wins? 157
Information-Based Selling 159
Are You Selling at Every Level? 162
A Lesson on Getting Better and Better 165
ROI Selling 168

x
 CONTENTS

Why Selling Slows as a Company Grows 171

Hidden Treasures 174
Could Your Sales Force Run More Efficiently? 177
Meaningful Management Moments 179
What Can You Improve Next? 182
Productivity Gains 185

ACTION PLAN FOR SUCCESS 189

Index 197

xi
This page intentionally left blank
 PERSONAL GROWTH

Copyright © 2006 by Gerhard Gschwandtner. Click here for terms of use.

This page intentionally left blank
 MANAGING THOUGHTS
Rule your mind or it will rule you.
—HORACE

S ales success is not so much determined by what we say

to our customers as by what we say to ourselves. Del
Polito, a researcher who studies thought processes, once
wrote that we experience our thoughts in streams flowing
at various speeds.
Dr. Albert Ellis, a noted psychiatrist, found that we are capa-
ble of developing two or more streams of thoughts, sometimes
flowing in opposite directions.
Thoughts, most researchers agree, have a powerful effect on
our emotions, decisions, and actions. Many consider thinking
as a manageable process, yet few effective thought manage-
ment principles have been discovered and very few of us seem
to apply them consistently.
The three most useful thought management tools are Aware-
ness, Appraisal, and Choice.
Awareness comes from questions like “What am I doing?” or
“What kind of thoughts am I experiencing right now?”
Appraisal means examining your thoughts objectively,
like “Is this thought fact or fiction?” “What evidence do I
have for my conclusions?” “What basis do I have for my as-
sumptions?”
An objective appraisal can lead to healthy thoughts after a
sales call where the customer did not buy, such as “I’m not the

Copyright © 2006 by Gerhard Gschwandtner. Click here for terms of use.

THE POCKET GUIDE TO SELLING GREATNESS

one that the prospect is rejecting.

Awareness comes The facts are that at this time he has
no need, and he’s only rejecting my
from questions like proposal.”
“What kind of thoughts Choice means using your creativity
to expand the number of alternatives
am I experiencing available to you. Choice allows you
to change or reverse the direction of
right now?” the flow of your thoughts.
If you’ve read this far, by now you’re
probably realizing that thought management is hard work, but
so are successful living and successful selling.
Dr. Norman Vincent Peale, who spent a lifetime thinking
about managing thoughts, readily admitted that managing
thoughts is hard work. “But, on second thought,” he said, “it’s
harder not to.”

4
 TRASH OR TREASURE?
The man who reads nothing at all is better
educated than the man who reads nothing
but newspapers.
—THOMAS JEFFERSON

I n reading everyday news, have you ever asked yourself:

“What in the heck am I reading? This is a terrible story! What
an awful situation!”
Did you know that one “regular” newspaper article can cre-
ate a mood of helplessness, outrage, or anger?
We know very little about the effect of information on our
attitudes. We do know, however, that reading can create an
endless tide of emotions.
Although science has determined the effect of nutrition on
our bodies, we can’t pinpoint how much positive information
we need to maintain a healthy mind. Nutritionists know, for
example, the minimum daily requirement of vitamin C. We
also have guidelines on the maximum intake of salt to main-
tain a healthy body. But not one single psychologist knows
how much “bad news” constitutes a hazardous level of nega-
tive information. Do you know your own tolerance for news
items covering violence in minute detail? Do we know how
much positive energy is needed to recover from the emotion-
ally depleting news-shocker?
We have the right to expose ourselves to whatever informa-
tion we want—that’s our Constitutional right—but how about
taking the responsibility for choosing the proper exposure?

Copyright © 2006 by Gerhard Gschwandtner. Click here for terms of use.

THE POCKET GUIDE TO SELLING GREATNESS

How about placing a value on what

We have the right to we read?
In selling, our attitudes are closely
expose ourselves to linked to success. Thus we know that
whatever information negative information—if we let it in-
fluence us—can be hazardous to our
we want. earning potential.
We can’t say that reading more
than 800 words of “bad news” exceeds
the maximum dose. Nor can we establish a minimum daily re-
quirement of, let’s say, 1,000 words of positive information.
Each of us is operating the most brilliant computer ever
built—our mind—and every moment of our lives we make ir-
reversible decisions concerning its input. Will it be Trash or
Treasure?

6
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variety of fruits, and resound with the singing of parrots and other
birds, and the chattering of apes. Boars, stags, deer, various kinds of
rabbits, capibaris, ducks, plenty of honey, alfarobas, and noble trees,
affording wood for making ships, waggons, or houses, are every
where to be seen. But tigers, alas! continually infest this place; the
climate, which is excessively hot, abounds in whirlwinds, lightning,
and rain; and the air, pregnant with noxious vapours proceeding
from the stagnant waters of adjacent marshes, as well as with
innumerable gnats, renders life unpleasant, and night intolerable to
the inhabitants.
Yet here did the Yaaukanigas, for many years, make their abode.
Their Cacique, Narè, was a man of noble birth and distinguished
prowess, but not otherwise remarkable either for greatness of mind
or body, and notoriously addicted to women and drinking. Fonder of
ease than of business, he on all occasions betrayed a very indolent
disposition. He was thought, however, to have redeemed this vice of
his nature by some appearance of virtue, on account of the fidelity
with which he adhered to the peace he had granted the Spaniards;
though this his followers, eager for booty, attributed to fear rather
than to virtue. He had many younger brothers, amongst the most
famous Pachiekè, a man endowed with great boldness and equal
sagacity, who made himself much dreaded in the course of the war
with the Spaniards: but who, by intemperance in drinking, and
frequent repudiations of his wives, had sullied his reputation for
valour. He entertained a great affection for Nicolas Patron, who
always partook of his deliberations when war was treated of. We
thought his sagacity of no less importance than his bravery, when
the enemies were to be dealt with. Besides Narè, some of the
Yaaukanigas followed Oahari and Kachirikin, men in the prime of
their age, and equally distinguished by their noble family and skill in
plundering.
There was a great succession of priests of our order in the
administration of this colony: they all came full of health, but their
strength being exhausted, were generally recalled to recruit. It is
incredible what dangers and distresses were endured by Fathers
Thomas and Joseph Garzia, the first founders, amongst these
ferocious savages. Kachirikin, the most insolent of them, because he
was not allowed to slay cows at his pleasure, attempted to catch
Father Garzia with a halter, in the sight of the Spaniards. These men
were succeeded in a few months by Fathers Joseph Rosa and Pedro
Ebia, who departed, the one grievously affected in his feet, the other
in his head. At last, Father Joseph Klein, a Bohemian, though often ill
in health, proved equal to the burden, and sustained it to the end.
What he did and endured for about twenty years may be easier
conceived than described. He was able to overcome every kind of
danger and misery, fearlessly despising the one, and patiently
enduring the other. He employed the annual subsidies advanced by
the Guarany towns, in establishing a rich estate on the opposite
bank of the Parana, from the profits of which he obtained every
thing necessary for feeding and clothing the Indians. I must here
renew my former complaint, that although the Spaniards derived so
much advantage from the peace and friendship of the savages, they
did little or nothing towards preserving their colonies, so that the
whole weight of anxiety respecting the support of the Indians,
devolved upon our shoulders. If it had depended upon the citizens of
Corrientes alone, this colony would most certainly have perished in
its infancy from want of food and necessaries of every sort. For
nearly all the sacred utensils, for our whole stock of cloth for
clothing the Indians, and of cattle in the estate, we were indebted to
the liberality of the Guaranies.
Joseph Klein often spent many months in this town without any
companion, but he was assisted at different times by Fathers
Gregorio Mesquida, Juan Quesada, and Dominico Perfeti, a Roman,
to whom, he having been long in a bad state of health, I was
ordered by the Provincial to succeed. Leaving St. Jeronymo, after
spending two years there, I was obliged to sail, for some days,
against the stream on the river Parana, in a wretched boat; the rest
of the way from the little town of Sta. Lucia to the city of Corrientes
I travelled on horseback. The storminess of the weather, the
consequent marshiness of the roads and swelling of the rivers,
together with the neighbourhood of the savage Charruas, rendered
the journey extremely difficult, and, on many accounts, dangerous. I
was honourably conducted, by the then Vice-Governor, to the colony
of St. Ferdinand, on my first approach to which many things
presented themselves to my observation which could not but be
unpleasing—a place surrounded on all sides by marshes, lakes, and
close impending woods; air burning day and night; and a very small
apartment furnished with two doors but no window, and roofed with
the bark of the palm, so badly cemented, that, whenever it rained,
you were as much wetted in the house as if you had been out of
doors. At dinner, water was taken from a neighbouring ditch where
numbers of horses, dogs, and other animals daily drank and bathed,
which received all the filth of the town, and was full of leeches and
insects of different kinds. When I considered these things I no
longer wondered that the health of my predecessors had given way,
and that the Indians themselves had so often to contend with tertian
fevers.
Although I had remained uninjured amidst a hundred calamities
during the former years, yet this situation had well nigh proved fatal
to me. The origin of my complaint was this. Towards sun-set the air
was filled with innumerable gnats, which intruded into my apartment
when supper was brought in, and by their stings and their loud
hissing prevented me from gaining a moment's rest. I passed whole
nights without sleep, walking up and down the court-yard for the
sake of fresh air, which brought on a loathing of food. Continual
want of rest and sustenance reduced me to such an emaciated state
that I was literally nothing but skin and bone. Some thought I could
not survive above three months, but these sad presages were
prevented from being fulfilled by the humanity of the Provincial, at
whose command I was removed to the old towns of the Guaranies.
It was not without tears that I bade farewell to the Abipones,
amongst whom I had lived for five years, and with whose language I
was become pretty well acquainted; but the idea of returning to
them, when restored to health, mitigated my grief at parting. After
four months spent in the town of Sta. Maria Mayor, on the shores of
the Uruguay, the inveterate nausea departed, sleep and appetite
returned, and my health was completely re-established. After
spending nine years amongst the Guaranies, whose language, which
is much easier than the Abiponian, I soon learnt, I was again called
out to found a colony for the Abipones in Timbo, but returned at the
end of two years. In short, I performed the part of a missionary for
eighteen years, spending seven amongst the Abipones, eleven
amongst the Guaranies.
 CHAPTER XXXIII.
PROGRESS OF THE TOWN OF ST. FERDINAND,
WHICH WAS
RETARDED BY DEBAYAKAIKIN.

The Yaaukanigas, in proportion as they have less estimable qualities

than the other Abipones, are more arrogant and untractable; yet we
never despaired of bringing them to a better course of life, and of
this there appeared some likelihood, so long as they were the sole
inhabitants of the colony. The more advanced in age discontinued
their usual incursions against the Spaniards, and employed
themselves in agriculture. Their dispositions grew milder from daily
intercourse with us. After some months' instruction we joyfully
beheld an appearance of civilization beginning to flourish amongst
them; their horror of baptism insensibly wore away, many infants
and young people received it with the consent of their parents, and
numbers of women and girls crowded to partake of the daily
instructions in the rudiments of religion. But the old female jugglers
thought it a crime even to touch the threshold of the church, and did
their utmost to prevent others from entering it; and to compel the
boys, who were driving about on horseback, to attend divine service,
was a matter of some difficulty. One of the Yaaukanigas, a man
advanced in years, came with his family to be baptized at the very
beginning of the colony. The strict integrity of this excellent man
obtained him the name of Juan Bueno, and his wife, daughter, and
female Negro captive were equally exemplary in their conduct.
The great hopes that we began to entertain of the happy
advancement of religion and of the colony, were all nipped in the
bud by the unlucky arrival of Debayakaikin, who, fearing an attack
from Ychoalay, fled thither with a troop of his hordesmen, thinking
himself secure in a town under the protection of the Spaniards. Of
Ychoalay's challenge to Debayakaikin, and the pacification effected
by means of the Vice-Governor of Corrientes, I have spoken
elsewhere; I shall now show how pernicious Debayakaikin's visit
proved to the colony of St. Ferdinand. His voracious and turbulent
followers, besides privately slaying oxen and calves, to the great loss
of the estate, involved the colony itself in a war with its neighbours,
the Mocobios and Tobas. A party of Mocobios, leaving the town of
Concepcion, surprized the unfortunate Alaykin, about day-break, in
the open plain, and after slaying him and seven of his fellow-
soldiers, in an engagement, they roasted and devoured them on the
spot. Many wounded Abipones saved their lives by the swiftness of
their horses, but the women and children fled for security to the
recesses of a neighbouring grove. Pachiekè, to revenge his father's
death, persuaded the Yaaukanigas and Debayakaikin's hordesmen to
undertake an expedition against the Mocobios, in which although
scarcely any blood was shed, yet the Mocobios, provoked by this
hostile incursion, conspired to the destruction of the whole colony.
Repeated assaults were made both by day and night, and continued
for many years with various fortune: out of many I will relate a few.
About day-break a vast company of Mocobios suddenly made their
appearance in the market-place. Some of them surrounded
Debayakaikin, who was drinking with most of his hordesmen; the
rest meantime, unopposedly, carried off droves of horses that were
wandering up and down the pastures. This vast booty, however, cost
the lives of some; for Pachiekè, brother of the Cacique Narè,
mounting a horse, attacked the hindmost company as they were
departing, and pierced some with his spear, which, on his return, he
displayed smoking with recent blood. On many other occasions, the
Yaaukanigas, having expeditious horses at hand, pursued the flying
Mocobios, and deprived them not only of the horses they had
plundered, but of those they had used on the journey, sending them
home on foot to report the deaths of their comrades. One time the
plain was deluged to such a degree that it did not afford a single
spot where the Mocobios could lie down at night; they therefore
made themselves beds by twining twigs here and there amongst the
boughs of the trees, and in these hurdles laid themselves down to
sleep, but were surprized at night by the pursuing Yaaukanigas, who
slew some, wounded others, and carried off the whole of the booty.
Would that they had been equally successful on the eleventh of
December! that day, so fatal to my horses, will never be erased from
my memory.
The day before, a Guarany, who guarded the cattle, announced that,
early in the morning, he had observed the footsteps of the enemy,
and that many horses were missing. Whilst the Yaaukanigas were
vainly deploring their loss, I, with my companion Father Klein, and
two young men, traversed the plain for some time on horseback. We
saw that a troop had passed the Rio Negro, from their footsteps
impressed on the sand, and from the grass being trodden down by
the multitude of horses. No one doubted that the enemy were by
that time at a considerable distance, no one therefore thought of
pursuing them. I often blew a military trumpet, and with a loud
voice we uttered many pleasant sayings in the Mocobian tongue; we
were both seen and heard by the Mocobios, who were lurking hard
by, but not attacked, because they purposed making an assault on
the town next day. No suspicion of the enemy's intention being
entertained, we all slept soundly. But lo! and behold, the next day at
eleven o'clock the same Mocobios came in sight of the town to carry
off the remaining herd of horses. Most of the Yaaukanigas being
engaged in the chase, the rest in drinking, and we ourselves in
sleeping, as usual with the Spaniards at mid-day, the women
assembled together and filled the market-place and our court-yard
with their lamentations; awakened by which we flew to repel the
enemy, each furnished with a musket, and rendered, by this means,
formidable to ever so numerous a foe. Father Klein set off first,
accompanied by two Abipones. As I was following, a drunken
Yaaukaniga took me by the shoulder, and said, in a fierce tone,
"Where are you hurrying? Why don't you remain to guard the town?
It is better that our horses should be taken than our wives and
children." "Let me alone," replied I; "both shall be taken care of."
I was now farther from the town than from the enemies, and seeing
the plain filled with them as with a swarm of locusts, could scarce
persuade myself that such a multitude could be kept in awe by two
muskets. Nevertheless I hastily tied on my slippers that I might be
disencumbered in running, if a precipitate retreat were necessary,
and advanced towards the savages whom I saw Father Klein
approaching; but they, terrified at the sight of the musket alone,
took to immediate flight, carrying off with them a numerous drove of
horses. Although the enemy was gone we did not think ourselves
free from the danger of an attack, a cloud of dust causing us to
suspect that a troop of savage horse was approaching within the
woods. The armed Yaaukanigas stood for some time in form of
battle, till at length we saw an Indian bringing back the remains of
the horses which had escaped the hands of the plunderers. Quickly
mounting these horses they all hastened, about sun-set, to a place
some leagues distant, named Likinranala; for they knew that the
Mocobios would pass that way, and therefore entertained great
hopes of being able to chastise them, and to recover the horses. But
they returned next day empty-handed, having been eluded by the
craftiness of the enemy, who, forewarned by their spies, that our
people were lying in ambuscade, avoided that situation, and swiftly
fled with their booty through ways impeded with marshes and reeds,
first disencumbering themselves of the saddles, and whatever else
might retard their flight; which, as it could be made no use of, our
people burnt. For my own part I had to lament the loss of some
excellent horses, though consoled by the circumstance that this
aggression had ended without slaughter on either side, though there
is reason to doubt that all the Mocobios reached home without loss
of blood, as weapons were cast at them in their approach to the
estate by some Yaaukanigas who guarded the cattle, but with what
success is not known.
 CHAPTER XXXIV.
FRESH DISTURBANCES, CAUSED BOTH BY
STRANGERS,
AND BY THE INHABITANTS THEMSELVES.

At another time the colony was threatened with a still more

dangerous storm, but which was averted by the valour of the
Yaaukanigas. More than three hundred Mocobios and Tobas
approached the town by a silent and hasty journey. One of their
number deserted,—got the start of his companions, and informed
Oaherkaikin's Abipones, our neighbours and friends, of the
impending attack; by which means we received timely intelligence of
our danger. Father Klein, seeing that we were inferior to the enemy
in point of number, with his usual intrepidity crossed the Parana in a
boat, though a violent south wind had rendered it exceedingly
rough, to seek supplies from the Vice-Governor of Corrientes.
Meantime our Yaaukanigas, who were constantly exhorted by me to
a strenuous defence of the colony, indulged in drinking, as usual
with them when they anticipate an encounter with the enemy. For
my part I neglected nothing which could contribute to the defence of
the colony, exerting the utmost vigilance, and sending scouts and
guards in every direction. At two o'clock on Quinquagesima Sunday,
a Yaaukaniga spied one of the enemies in a neighbouring field, from
which we readily concluded that a company was there also. The
Yaaukanigas, though hardly able to stand on their feet from
intoxication, immediately mounted their horses which the women
made ready, and rushed in a disorderly manner upon the Mocobios
and Tobas, who were lying hid at the border of the wood. Uncertain
of the event, and anxious for the safety of the town, I remained in
arms ready to bring my assistance wherever it might be required.
Gracious Providence ordered things according to our wish; for the
enemies, surrounded, and alarmed at our sudden attack, chose to
decline battle, and trust to flight. In the closeness of pursuit, the
Mocobios were divided. Part flying towards the south slew two
Abiponian women who were gathering alfarobas, and carried into
captivity one infant which they took from its mother's breast. The
other part hastened towards the north, pursued by our townsmen till
late at night. One only of the Yaaukanigas received a slight wound at
the beginning of the conflict: how many of the enemy were slain and
wounded is uncertain.
But you, I suppose, are still expecting the auxiliary forces which
Father Klein had sailed to Corrientes to seek the day before. I will
give you some account of this matter, to show you how little
dependence could be placed on the support of the Spaniards, even
in cases of extreme danger. About evening, whilst our Indians were
pursuing the enemy, two Spanish soldiers arrived, but neither of
them deserved the name of soldier, or bore the slightest shadow of
resemblance to a Spaniard. If Hercules be not a match for two,
what, I beseech you, could a couple of poor dastardly fellows do
against four hundred savages? They were of no use whatever, and
served only to excite the laughter of the Indians. No prayers, no
promises, could induce them to employ themselves in removing the
cattle to the town, lest the Mocobios should carry them away at
night from the pastures: palpitating with fear they declared it
impossible to stir without the inclosure of our house. The Indian
boys, more courageous than these soldiers, brought the whole herd
within sight of the town, and diligently guarded them at night that
they might not be again dispersed. We all kept watch the whole
night lest the enemy should repeat the attack; and indeed in the
morning our scouts discovered traces of the Mocobios who had been
wandering over our estate.
The Yaaukanigas, exasperated at the slaughter of the two women,
and at the inefficient supplies afforded them by the Spaniards, sent
a courier for the Vice-Governor, and menacingly signified that they
should consider any delay or refusal as a violation of friendship; and
on Ash Wednesday, Nicolas Patron, accompanied by ten soldiers,
appeared with Father Klein. Our Indians, and the hordesmen of
Oaherkaikin, who had been summoned to attend, received him in
arms, and with their faces painted; and when he entered our house
they besieged the doors on both sides, and blocked up all access to
the market-place, which plainly indicated that they entertained
hostile intentions. The Vice-Governor, who was of an intrepid and
jocular disposition, spying Pachiekè, brother of Narè, at other times
a great friend of his, said to him,—"If you are going to speak with
me, first wipe off the soot with which you have daubed your face;"
to this he replied, in a threatening tone, "Because you are going to
speak with me is the very reason that I have painted my face with
these dark colours." He then, in the name of all the people,
insolently rehearsed their grounds of complaint, saying, "We victors
unwillingly granted you vanquished the peace you sued for. Long did
we refuse this colony which you have thrust upon us, knowing
ourselves less powerful than the enemies which dwelt in the
neighbourhood. To free us from this anxiety how many and great
were your promises! 'My soldiers,' said you, 'shall be yours, and your
enemies shall be mine.' Our forming this friendship with you,
procured us the hatred of the Mocobios and Tobas, our former allies.
For many years they have dared the utmost against us. Our children
are torn from their mothers' bosoms, our wives slain, our horses
stolen; the enemies attack us day and night, and did we not elude
their snares by vigilance, and their numbers by valour, not a man of
us would be left alive, or have a horse to sit upon. These things are
not unknown to you, yet you quietly hear of our calamities without
emotion, and never even bestow a thought upon assisting us. Of
late, when, to revenge our injuries, we attacked the Mocobios with
hostile arms, how fiercely was your anger kindled against us! You
are afraid, forsooth, that the Mocobios, if provoked by us, will vent
their rage upon you, and ravage the territory of Corrientes. How long
will you have your security purchased with the danger of our lives?
Spite of all your opposition, we are determined to go out against the
Mocobios, and revenge our injuries. This one request we reasonably
make, as a testimony of your friendship, and a reward of ours, that
you will send ten Spanish horsemen, provided with muskets, to
accompany us on this expedition." Here the Governor interrupted
Pachiekè, who was proceeding to say more, and with an ill-timed
joke evaded his threatening speech. "When," said he, "with a very
long spear in your hands, and paints of various colours on your
faces, you make the plain tremble under your horses' feet, and fill
the air with the horrible braying of trumpets, in good sooth, you
think yourselves mighty heroes." As he spoke this with mimicking
gestures, appearing to ridicule the method of warfare practised by
the Abipones, extreme indignation was excited amongst the
bystanders. Whilst the rest were expressing their resentment, one,
more forward than the rest, exclaimed, "Take care how you make a
jest of our horns and trumpets, the clangor of which has, for so
many years, caused every limb of you Spaniards to tremble." The
horrid murmuring of the whole people and their threatening looks
portended danger to the Vice-Governor, who, to conciliate their
enraged minds, adroitly altered his tone, commending the Abipones,
instead of satirizing them, as I warned him by signs. To flattery he
added plenty of promises, (to which he never stood,) saying that
another expedition against the Guaranies prevented him from giving
them satisfaction at that time, but that as soon as the present war
was finished, he would go out against the Mocobios, with some
companies of horse. Having said this, he hastened back to the city
under pretext of business, his coming having served no other end
than that of irritating still further the minds of the Indians. No one
could suggest any remedy for the afflicted colony which seemed
sinking to ruin: amid continual attacks from the savages, or the
apprehension of them, years passed away—years barren of comfort,
but fruitful of misfortunes. Yet still more pernicious than any foreign
foe was the unfortunate society of Debayakaikin's Abipones, both to
the improvement and domestic affairs of the town; induced by their
examples, or relying on their support, our Yaaukanigas frequently
dared to make inroads into the lands of Cordoba, Sta. Fè, and
Asumpcion, where, though they committed no slaughter, they
carried off droves of horses. With still greater boldness, they
annoyed the neighbouring towns of the Guaranies, by whose
liberality chiefly they were clothed and fed. These predatory
incursions we condemned, forbade, and lamented, but had not the
power to prevent. They never did any mischief, however, to the
territory of Corrientes. After the departure of Debayakaikin, many of
his hordesmen remained in the town of St. Ferdinand, others joined
the horde of Oaherkaikin, who had long established himself in a
neighbouring plain, almost in sight of the town. No tears can
sufficiently deplore, nor words express the injury which the morals of
the Yaaukanigas sustained from the vicinity of these plunderers, and
the mischief they did to our little estate. One of this savage rabble,
more rapacious than the rest, made greater havock amongst the
herds than any tiger, and no means of restraining his robberies could
be adopted, whilst our Yaaukanigas, ever friendly to Oaherkaikin,
sometimes abetted, sometimes concealed them. The Vice-Governor,
when informed of the affair, durst not utter a word of reproof to this
chief of the plunderers, who was impudently sitting by his side in our
house, but endeavoured to conciliate him by civil speeches. If
Spanish generals, accompanied by soldiers, are dumb through fear,
when they ought to reproach the savages with their wickedness,
who can wonder if the Fathers, destitute of all human aid, and given
up to the power of the savages, were afraid to treat their errors with
too much severity? Yet despising death we overcame fear, and when
any thing improper met our observation, reprehended it, if
reprehension seemed likely to be of any avail. Take one example out
of many which might be related of the men of our order. Father
Klein, with his usual fearlessness, advised a young man of high
family amongst the Yaaukanigas to refrain from incursions against
the Spaniards, when the ferocious youth dashed a club at his head
with such force that he fell swooning to the ground covered with his
own blood. Not one of the Spaniards who were there, not one of the
Abipones, durst lay hands on the perpetrator of this sacrilegious
blow: he went unpunished. Another Yaaukaniga struck the same
Father with his fist, crying, "It is a fable what you tell us about a God
who created all things."
The estate was exhausted by the continual rapacity of these
plunderers, and scarcely contained oxen sufficient to feed the
Indians for two months. I declared in presence of the Vice-Governor
that we should soon be forced to desert the colony from want of
cattle, but he entreated me not to think of such a thing, saying, "If
you depart, and suffer the Yaaukanigas to do the same, the
malicious will say you have done so with the intention of involving us
Spaniards anew in the calamities of war." "No one," replied I, "would
be so foolish as to credit such a calumny. We cannot confine the
savages within the limits of a little town, nor restrain them from their
habit of wandering, unless we have plenty of provision at home."
The Vice-Governor, convinced, or more probably alarmed by this
speech, promised many things for the preservation of the colony,
and had his powers corresponded to his wishes, this excellent man
would doubtless have fulfilled his promises. The Provincial, informed
by me of the ruin which threatened the colony from want of cattle,
immediately sent me a thousand oxen, for the support of the
Indians: by his liberality, and the supplies of the Guarany towns, an
estate was founded on the opposite shore of the Parana, which, not
being exposed to predatory incursions, abounded in cattle of every
kind in the space of a few years.
One thing is certain, that this colony of Yaaukanigas was not
preserved by the support of the Spaniards, but chiefly by the
vigilance and industry of the Jesuits, and that it was little indebted
for assistance to the city of Corrientes, which, on the other hand,
derived much advantage from it, remaining unmolested, from the
time of its commencement, by the inroads of the savages dwelling in
Chaco. Moreover the Corrientines, reduced almost to desperation by
long war, were enabled to build ships, and waggons on the opposite
shore of the river on which our colony stood, and which abounds in
most excellent trees, and to enrich themselves by commerce without
danger. In the year 1767, when we returned to Europe, the number
of Christian Yaaukanigas was two hundred, the rest having died of
small-pox and other diseases. The survivors, exasperated at the
Spaniards on account of our banishment, burnt the church and the
houses of the Fathers to ashes, deserted the colony they had
inhabited for seventeen years, and returned to their ancient retreats
and their old habits of plundering. A priest of the order of St.
Francis, who had been substituted in our stead, scarce preserved his
life by flying to the city. So unfortunate was the event of a colony
that had cost us so much labour and misery, an event highly
pernicious to the Corrientines and other Spaniards, against whom
the Indians resumed their arms, soon after quitting the colony.
 CHAPTER XXXV.
THE ORIGIN AND SITUATION OF A COLONY OF
ABIPONES
NAMED FROM S. CARLOS AND THE ROSARY.

That the corruption of one thing is the generation of another, and

that insects are created from putrid substances is affirmed by some
naturalists and denied by others, but certainly such was the origin of
this colony; for it was composed of Abipones who had deserted
religion, and the other towns. Weary of Christian discipline, and of
the inactivity of peace, they for some time vexed the territories of
the Spaniards and Guaranies with slaughter and rapine: but seeing
themselves threatened, both behind and before, with avenging
arms, and being unable to discover any place of retreat where they
might conceal themselves from Ychoalay, they provided for their
safety by artifice, since they could not secure it by force of arms.
Three orators were sent to Asumpcion to petition, in the name of the
rest, for a colony, and priests to instruct them in religion. The
Governor, Martinez Fontez, granted the request of these wily legates
with the utmost willingness, flattering himself that he should gain
great favour with the King by founding this colony. Fulgentio de
Yegros, a Paraguayrian commander, wonderfully approved the
Governor's purpose, urged the execution of it, and bestowed a great
many caresses on the Abiponian deputies. The other more prudent
Spaniards strongly opposed the design, truly observing: "These
rascally Abipones, the dregs of the whole nation, come hither from
the fear of punishment, not from the desire of embracing religion: it
is not a colony, but an asylum where they may commit crimes with
impunity, that they seek amongst the Spaniards; and even if this
were not the case, a province so indigent in every respect as this,
cannot afford the supplies necessary for founding and preserving
such a colony." The same was the opinion of all the Jesuits. Eager
for glory, the Governor turned a deaf ear to all these remonstrances.
By his order the people were convoked to the market-place of the
city, that each might voluntarily contribute something for the colony,
according to his means. Some promised sheep and oxen; others
horses, or Paraguay tea; the less opulent, axes, knives, and the
other articles of domestic furniture: and were there not as wide a
difference between gifts and promises, as there is between words
and deeds, the colony would have been amply provided for. But, to
use a Spanish proverb, mucho era el ruido, pero pocas las nueces:
great was the noise, but few were the nuts. Many evaded the
performance of their promises altogether; others impudently sent
aged cows; lame, lean, and dying horses; old, bare, and diseased
sheep; and every thing else in the same style. Many of those
persons whom the Governor employed in collecting or keeping the
cattle and other things, were deficient either in fidelity or in
diligence, reserving some for their own private use, and exchanging
the better ones, which they kept to themselves, for others of less
value. It therefore is not to be wondered at that the whole of
Paraguay did not contain a more indigent or calamitous colony, of
which I, who was forced to struggle, for two years, with extreme
poverty, and the insolence of these savages, had full and ocular
demonstration.
The Abipones, solicitous for their security above all things,
themselves pointed out a situation for the colony, seventy leagues
south of Asumpcion, four leagues distant from the western shore of
the Paraguay, and beset with woods, rivers, and marshes, which
rendered it difficult of access to the Spaniards, who had to cross that
vast river whenever they approached it from their own city. This
plain is called Timbò in the Guarany tongue, from a tree of that
name which abounds here; by some it has been named La
Herradura, or the horse-shoe, because the river Paraguay, being
forced into a curve by the interjection of an island, presents, in this
place, the appearance of a horse-shoe. Besides this, two tolerably
large rivers, (both having salt waters,) flow past the spot where the
colony stood, and uniting, in sight of it, into one channel, form a
large lake which afterwards discharges itself into the Paraguay. After
a long drought, you can seldom find any fresh water, or any of the
larger kind of fish, in this labyrinth of waters; innumerable
crocodiles, by which the fish are either consumed or kept away, are
every where to be seen. In the desire of concealment, however, the
Abipones pitched upon this incommodious situation, which the Tobas
lay claim to: and the Spaniards willingly ratified their choice, because
their enemies, the Mocobios and Tobas, used generally to cross the
Paraguay in this place, when they made their excursions against the
Paraguayrians.
In this sequestered place, the Abipones were ordered to remain, till
things being properly settled, and priests appointed, a little town
should be built there. In the mean time, oxen were given them for
their support, yet they still continued to drive vast herds of horses
from the estates of Sta. Fè and St. Jeronymo: but Ychoalay,
accompanied with a troop of horse, surprized this horde of thieves
by night, and carried off all the horses they had plundered; irritated
by which nocturnal assault, they industriously made up for the loss
by repeated rapine. Fulgentio de Yegros visited these Abipones with
a numerous band of soldiers, for the purpose of making a dwelling-
house for the expected priests. After staying two days there, and
consuming an incredible number of the oxen intended for the use of
the colony, the soldiers built only two little huts, so narrow and low,
and so badly constructed, of wood and mud, that the Governor
himself pronounced them absolutely uninhabitable.
The Jesuit Contucci, at that time Provincial and Visitor of Paraguay,
being ordered, in the King's name, to appoint priests for the new
colony, after consulting those persons who were best acquainted
with the affairs of the province, conferred this charge upon me, on
account of my acquaintance with the Abiponian tongue. I was
therefore called to the Guarany town of Sta. Rosa, where the
Provincial resided, on business of the colony, and soon afterwards
ordered to hasten to the metropolis, where I had to wait from the
28th of August till the 24th of November, whilst the Governor was
preparing every thing necessary for beginning the colony.
 CHAPTER XXXVI.
COMMENCEMENT OF THE COLONY.

The Governor distinguished the colony he was founding with the

name of S. Carlos and the Rosary, that he might at the same time
show his piety to the Virgin Mary, and ingratiate himself with Carlos
the Third, King of Spain. He and I embarked on the 24th of
November, 1763, and were saluted with guns on the banks of the
Paraguay. Our company consisted of four hundred provincial
soldiers; Fulgentio de Yegros conducted the cavalry by land, and the
rest of the infantry were distributed into three ships and came with
us. We went on shore every night, and at mid-day also, whenever
we found a convenient landing-place. The Paraguay abounds in
shoals and hidden rocks, yet the danger arising from them was not
so great as the inconvenience occasioned by innumerable gnats,
during our ten days' voyage. Fulgentio de Yegros, with his company
of horse, awaited us at a place called Passo del Timbò. On our
landing, crowds of Abipones swam from the opposite shore, which
they inhabited, to salute us. Some hundred oxen, with the horses of
the Spaniards, were sent over to us on the other side of the river.
We spent three days in the same place, engaged in the business of
crossing, and then pursued our voyage. About sun-set, a tempest
arose, with loud thunder and stormy wind. Though we had entered
the lake which serves as a port there, we were miserably tost about
by the waves for many hours. This tempest was succeeded by heavy
rain, which lasted three days, and confined us within the narrow
limits of the ship; during this interval, we amused ourselves with
watching the huge crocodiles that surrounded the vessel. The spot
appointed for the colony was a league distant from the port; thither
I went, on foot, and alone, from eagerness to take a view of the
situation. The whole plain was deluged with water. Having taken an
entire survey, I returned to the ship, and informed the Governor that
the situation appointed for the colony appeared to me to be fitter for
frogs than men, and that no kind of good grain was produced in the
country.
Next day, leaving guards for the security of the ship, we rode out to
the place in question. The small hut which Fulgentio de Yegros had
constructed for the two priests, was at first sight pronounced
uninhabitable by the Governor, under whose inspection another,
somewhat larger, but in no other respect superior, was hastily built
by the soldiers. Europeans will not be displeased to hear how these
huts are constructed. Stakes are driven very deep into the ground,
and reeds or withes fastened to them with twigs or thongs of
leather. The empty spaces between each row of reeds are filled up
with pieces of wood, or small bricks, on to which mud, well worked
up with straw, and cow's dung, is plastered. The Spaniards call this
sort of fabric a French wall, (tapia Françesa) and always adopt it
when stones or bricks are scarce. If it is properly made, and
whitewashed with lime or tobati, it will last, and can hardly be
distinguished from a common wall. The grassy ground is the floor of
the apartment. In this manner the cottages and chapels were
generally constructed in the colonies of the savages. You shall now
hear how they are roofed. The trunks of the caranday palms cut in
half and hollowed out serve instead of slates or tiles. Frequently a
roof is made with bundles of long dry grass tied to reeds placed
underneath, in the same manner as, in other places, thatch is made
of straw, which is not to be had in Paraguay; for the reapers cut
down nothing but the ear of wheat, afterwards burning the stalk or
stubble, the ashes of which serve instead of manure to fertilize the
soil. Sometimes houses are covered with bundles of dry grass, rolled
in soft mud, cemented together, and thus secure from being set on
fire by the burning arrows of the savages. In the colony of the
Rosary I found that roofs of this kind, though they afford some
protection against fire, are not of the least use in excluding rain: for
the mud with which the dry grass is plastered, gets so much
softened by long rain, and affords such free access to heavy
showers, that it seems to rain harder within doors than without. In
short, the house built for me by the soldiers was hardly of any use:
for the thongs, which they had formed of wet raw hides, soon
putrefying, the reeds and mud plastered on them fell off, leaving the
stakes quite bare; so that my hut presented the appearance of a
bird-coop, but was afterwards laboriously repaired and rendered
habitable by myself and my companion. I strengthened that side of
the wall which looks towards the stormy south, with a plaster
composed of mud, and the blood of oxen, which repels water like
pitch. The chapel was very small, and entirely unornamented: some
of my own handy-work imparted a little degree of elegance to the
altar.
The palisade of our house, which is necessary in every colony to
defend it against the assaults of the savages, had been very
negligently made by the soldiers, who were in such a hurry to get
home that they left nothing finished. The Governor was equally
desirous to return to the city: he could take no rest here: thick
swarms of gnats tormented him with their stings; but a still worse
grievance was the anxiety that preyed upon his mind lest they
should be surprized by a sudden attack of the savages. Horsemen
were therefore kept watching day and night, and at the door of his
own hut he stationed a foot company of guards, besides four
cannon; in the hut itself he kept forty large muskets, and some
smaller ones, ready to be fired in a moment. So that he distrusted
those very Abipones for whom he was founding the colony; and the
feeling was mutual; for they, ever suspicious of the friendship of the
Spaniards, thought themselves justified in their fears since the
Governor had brought so many soldiers, and so few oxen to feed
them on. "What need," said they, "of four hundred soldiers? Had no
hostilities been intended against us, one hundred would have been
more than sufficient. If he was resolved upon building a colony in
this place, why did he not send more than three hundred oxen? The
Spaniards will consume these, and what will they leave for us?" That
they might not therefore be exposed to the treachery of the
Spaniards, they pitched their tents three miles distant from us, in a
place with a wood on one side, a river on the other, and a mound in
front. It was in vain that I endeavoured to argue them out of these
foolish fears, and I was equally unsuccessful in my attempts to
tranquillize the suspicious mind of the Governor; who took every fly
for an enemy, as what I am going to relate will sufficiently prove. Six
Yaaukaniga youths came from St. Ferdinand to see the new colony.
At my desire they immediately accompanied me unarmed to the
Governor, and kissed his hands with great civility and respect. He,
terrified at the appearance of these new guests, whom he mistook
for enemies, or emissaries of the enemy, ordered all the guards to
stand ready in arms, and after passing the night in the greatest
anxiety, purified his soul by confessing to me early in the morning,
and receiving the sacrament at my hands. On leaving the chapel, he
informed me that he was going to depart immediately with all his
people; and before noon, having hastily settled his affairs, he set off
on what appeared more like a flight than a journey. The Abipones,
receiving intelligence of this, flew from their tents, and hastened
with all speed to the harbour to take leave of the Governor, whom
they found already seated in the vessel, and who, interpreting this
officious journey as a hostile pursuit, ordered the ship to be put from
shore in such a hurry, that he left behind him a waggon which was
to have been carried back to the city. A brave man in other respects,
but a novice amongst the American savages, and well aware of the
unsteadiness of their friendship, and the uncertainty of their faith, he
may be deemed excusable in preferring fear and caution to risking
his life.
 CHAPTER XXXVII.
EXTREME INDIGENCE OF THE COLONY, AND ITS
VARIOUS
CALAMITIES.

The Rosary, as it had been unaptly named, was, from its very outset,
the most thorny of all colonies. All the Spaniards being departed
with the Governor, I was left entirely in the power of the Abipones,
and of the hostile savages who infested the neighbourhood; yet,
depending on the protection of the Almighty alone, I never felt
myself more secure. There was no colony of Christians within thirty
leagues of us, from which we could expect succour against the
hostile troops of Mocobios, Tobas, and Guaycurus, whose hordes
were so near that the smoke of them could be discerned from our
colony. My Abipones for some time obstinately refused to remove
their tents to the situation appointed for the colony. The sudden
departure of the Governor was the origin of this refusal and of a
hundred suspicions,—"The Spaniards departed to-day," said they,
"perhaps in the intention of returning to-morrow to murder us, when
they hear that we are settled in the open plain." Seeing no houses
built for them, as usual in other colonies, they took occasion to
suspect every thing that was bad. Three days I spent
unaccompanied, at the end of which, by much persuasion, I
prevailed upon the Abipones to quit their retreat, and remove to the
place where I was. They learnt from their spies that the Spaniards
were at a great distance, and being delivered from their suspicions
at length became more tranquil.
Wherever I turned my eyes I found necessaries wanting for myself
and the Indians, without which life could not be supported nor the
colony preserved. Almost all the sheep which the Spaniards
contributed were useless from age and disease, and the falling off of
their wool; indeed most of them died whilst the Governor was there,
so that all prospect of obtaining wool from them to clothe the
Indians entirely disappeared. The very lean and indifferent beef
which was our principal and almost only food, afforded the Indians
daily subject of complaint. The oxen, which were sent from the
remote estates of the Spaniards, at intervals of a year, arrived
emaciated, and half dead from the length of the journey, and, as no
others remained, were immediately slain, without being left time to
fatten. Their flesh, either boiled or roasted, was devoid of all taste
and moisture, and better adapted to disgust than refresh the
stomach. For my part, I loathed it so much, that during many
months I tasted no other food than boiled cows' feet, though
destitute of bread or any vegetables.
Fulgentio de Yegros had established a little estate for the use of the
colony on the opposite shore of the river, but its pastures were by no
means fertile, and so poorly was it furnished with cattle, that they
scarce sufficed to feed the Abipones; consequently very few could
be left to breed. The man sent by Fulgentio to guard the cattle was
an infamous wretch, composed of nothing but fraud and falsehood,
who used to slay the fattest cows for his own use, and sell the fat
and suet to the Spaniards, whilst we in the colony were suffering the
greatest want of both. He also fatigued the horses of the colony by
hunting with them, or lending them to others for the same purpose,
as if they were entirely at his disposal. I often accused him to the
Governor, but he was never punished, though convicted of
innumerable thefts. The man whom Fulgentio appointed to
supersede him was honest, but not quite sane: he was agitated by
continual terrors, and wherever he was, imagined that stones were
being thrown at him by some unknown hand, even in the middle of
the day. What diligence or accuracy could be expected from such a
person in managing the estate? Our never having a proper guard for
the cattle was the chief origin of all our miseries: for the Abipones
think nothing wanting to their felicity if they have plenty of good
meat, but if that be not the case will never rest easy in the colony.
It may also be reckoned amongst our misfortunes, that as the estate
was on the opposite shore of the Paraguay, we had to convey across
that vast river all the oxen necessary for our support. A ship, strong
horses, dexterous horsemen, and much industry were requisite to
effect that without the loss of many oxen.
Maize, and various kinds of beans, roots, and melons, serve the
Indians as a seasoning, or substitute for meat: I therefore exhorted
the Abipones to cultivate the ground, but agricultural implements
were wanting; we had scarcely any oxen fit for the plough; and were
even unprovided with a supply of seed for sowing. Some bushels of
maize were sent from the city, but they had been terribly gnawed by
the worms; also a sack of beans, in coming from thence, had been
wetted in the river from the carelessness of the sailors, and had
already pushed out shoots. Who would believe that the neighbouring
savages, our former enemies, supplied us with various kinds of
seeds, which we had so long and vainly sought from the Spaniards?
The country itself, as I declared at first sight, was unfavourable to
plants, because it abounded in chalk. After much rain, it bore the
appearance of a lake—when the waters subsided it became as hard
and dry as a stone. Notwithstanding this, the Abipones did plough
and sow great part of it, but they lost their labour; in the woods,
however, where the soil is more fertile, and the sun's heat kept off
by the shade of the trees, they reaped an abundant and easily-
earned harvest of various fruits. I found the soil extremely
favourable to the tobacco which I planted, but could never find a
situation fit for sowing cotton. The alfaroba was only to be found in
distant forests, but the want of it was supplied by abundance of
honey. Other fruits, which grow quite common elsewhere, are
extremely scarce here. The country near the shore abounds in stags,
deer, and emus, the neighbouring rivers in crocodiles, water-wolves,
and capibaris, but are mostly destitute of fish. It is a remarkable
circumstance, that the river near the colony swarmed, for some
days, with every kind of fish, which were easily caught with the
hand, as they swiftly hurried down the stream: they are thought to
have been conveyed into this river by intermediate pools, from the
Rio Grande, at the time of the annual flood.
But it is quite clear to me, that the penury of the colony was not so
much owing to the nature of the situation, as to the indigence of the
founders. The other Fathers, who were sent to instruct the savages,
received from the Governors and opulent citizens a plentiful supply
of linen and woollen cloth, glass-beads, knives, scissars, rings,
needles, hooks, ear-rings, &c. baits by which both the eyes and
minds of the savages are taken. When I set off to found the colony,
not so much as a pin was given me in the city of Asumpcion. The
Spaniards of Sta. Fè and St. Iago supplied the Fathers with choice
horses when they went to a new colony. The Spaniards of
Asumpcion, on the contrary, robbed me of four excellent horses, for
which I was indebted to the kindness of the Jesuits in the Guarany
towns: yet the Governor neither made any enquiry after the thieves,
nor indemnified me for the loss. Great scarcity almost always
prevailed in the colony, because the supplies, which the Spaniards
engaged themselves to pay, were very seldom and very sparingly
sent, or, being brought by sailors, were long in reaching us, or were
destroyed on the way from want of care. No assistance could be
expected from the Guarany towns, which were so beneficial to other
colonies, both on account of their distance and the calamities of that
period. The small remainder of those little gifts, with which the
liberality of my friends had supplied me, I used, in my distress, for
the purpose of allaying the discontent of the Abipones, who had
been induced by the promises of the Spaniards, and the hopes of
bettering their fortune, to assemble in this colony, where they justly
lamented to find themselves deluded, and in want of every thing.
 CHAPTER XXXVIII.
CONTINUAL TUMULTS OF WAR.

To our other miseries were added perpetual warlike commotions.

The new Governor, Martinez, to ingratiate himself with the King,
resolved upon sending two hundred soldiers against the
neighbouring hordes of Mocobios and Tobas, out of those four
hundred which had been chosen to found the colony. On his
consulting with me, I dissuaded him from an expedition, the event of
which appeared so uncertain, lest the new colony, which was but
poorly stocked with inhabitants, should be involved in war, and
perish in its infancy. With the same ardour I recommended it to my
Abipones religiously to maintain peace with all; they, however, never
had either power or inclination to continue in a state of quiescence.
One tumult succeeded to another. Soon after the colony was
founded, Ychoalay came, and in a friendly manner desired restitution
of the horses lately taken from him. Enraged at receiving a refusal,
he set off, with a chosen band of his people, to recover them by
force. My Abipones, rendered obstinate by their inveterate hatred to
Ychoalay, determined to withstand him to the utmost. Some
employed themselves in conveying the horses to a place of greater
safety, that they might not be seized by the enemy; whilst others
roamed up and down the woods, seeking honey to make mead. I,
meantime, was a prey to anxious cares, ignorant what course to
pursue when the town should be attacked. Ychoalay, formerly so
much my friend, was now become the most dreadful of enemies. "It
would be wrong," thought I, "to take up arms against one who is
only coming to recover his own; but if, as is most likely, victory
declares in his favour, and he puts to death every inhabitant that
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