CHAP. III.

DISPUTES IN HIS ABSENCE.

41

at some personal sacrifice for he gave two of his own daughters in marriage to the principal chiefs of the party opposed to him, Don Francisco Ortiz de Vergara and Don Alonzo Riquelme de Guzman, the father of Ruy-Diaz, the historian of the Conquest.

CHAPTER IV.

1550-1620.

Conquest of La Guayrá Yrala confirmed in his Government Divides the Indians amongst the Conquerors, and regulates their Services His Death Succeeded by Vergara Nuflo de Chaves founds Santa Cruz de la Sierra Persuades Vergara to proceed to Peru The Viceroy supersedes him, and appoints Zarate in his place Caceres, his Lieutenant, is opposed by the Bishop, and sent out of Paraguay Zarate reaches Assumption and dies De Garay made LieutenantGovernor Founds the present City of Buenos Ayres in 1580 slain by the Savages Establishment of the Government of the Rio de

la Plata in 1620.

Is

PERU being closed against him by La Gasca's orders, Yrala turned his views to fresh conquests in the opposite direction, on the side of Brazil. Crossing Paraguay, he passed the Paraná above the grand falls, and ascended its left bank as far as the Tiété, whence he overran the whole of the province of La Guayrá, striking terror into the Tupi Indians, who had been in the habit of making inroads into the lands of the Guaranis to carry them off and sell them as slaves to the Portuguese upon the coast; as a further check to which he founded a Spanish settlement on the eastern shore of the Paraná, to which he gave the name of Ontiveros (1554).

The encroachments of the Portuguese slave-hunters in that quarter already menaced to interfere with the settlements of the Spaniards, and Yrala, upon his return to Assumption, despatched an agent to Spain urging attention to the fact, and at the same time submitting to the Emperor a full report of his own proceedings, and of the state and prospects of the colonies of Paraguay.

The Emperor had appointed, in place of Cabeza de Vaca, another Adelantado for the Rio de la Plata, Don Juan de Sanabria: but as if some fatality attended that

CHAP. IV. THE EMPEROR MAKES YRALA GOVERNOR.

43

title, after making preparations for his departure he fell sick and died; and now the long and important services of Yrala could no longer be overlooked: on two occasions he had been chosen Governor by the unanimous voice of the colonists, and although twice he had been superseded when he little expected it, first by Cabeza de Vaca, and afterwards by La Gasca's appointment of Diego Centeno, he had under all trials and circumstances shown himself an obedient and loyal subject of the Crown: by his vigorous measures he had completed the conquest of all Paraguay, and had extended the influence, if not the authority, of the Spanish arms as far as the confines of Peru on the one side, and the coast of Brazil on the other. The Emperor did but justice to his deserts, however late, in ratifying the choice of the colonists, and in sending him in all due form his appointment as Governor and Captain General over all the countries he had taken possession of for the Crown. Early in 1555 he received his public commission by the hands of Father Pedro de la Torre, who in that year was sent out as the first titular Bishop of Paraguay, with a large retinue of priests and friars, to the great joy of the colonists, who were much in need of such spiritual aid.

Their arrival had been for some time expected: reports of the Bishop's appointment had preceded him, and long before he reached Assumption it was known that the ships had entered the Rio de la Plata, through the Indians, who had forwarded the intelligence from tribe to tribe across the intermediate countries by telegraphic signals known only to themselves, and carried on by means of fires by night and smoke by day.*

The Governor himself went forth to meet him upon his landing, and, falling upon his knees, kissed his hands, and humbly solicited his benediction before all the people.

*"Muchos dias habia que se tenia noticia por via de los Indios de abajo como habian llegado de Castilla ciertos navios á la boca del Rio de la Plata; cuya nueva se tenia por cierta, puesto que la distancia del camino era grande, y por la facilidad con que los naturales de aquel rio se dan aviso unos á otros por humaredas y fuegos con que se entienden."-- Argentina, cap. xvi., page 106.

These telegraphic means of communication in use amongst the Indians of the Paraná caused no less wonder amongst the Spaniards of Paraguay than did the establishment of regular posts and running couriers to their countrymen in Peru long before any such rapid means of communication were in use in any part of Europe.

The difficult task now devolved upon Yrala of parcelling out amongst the Spaniards the subjugated Indians, of whom there were from 50,000 to 60,000, with their families, in Paraguay alone, who were to be apportioned amongst those who had taken part in the conquest of the country, according to their services. They were about 400 in number; and in proportion as their original hopes of plunder and of gold and silver had failed, so the produce of the conquered lands and the personal services of the natives to cultivate them became of more importance to them. They were, in fact, the only recompense to which they could now look in return for all the toils and hardships they had undergone; for it will be recollected that in the original agreement with Mendoza, when he undertook the conquest and settlement of the country, it was specifically provided that the Crown was not to be called upon for any part of the expenses: those, therefore, who went out did so upon their own account, looking only to share in whatever advantages might eventually result from their own exertions.

T

The personal services of the natives were, from the first discovery of America, considered as the legitimate right of the conquerors; but the excessive abuse of that right, which had led to the entire depopulation of some of the first discovered countries, had obliged the Government at home to interfere on behalf of the wretched Indians, and by certain humane ordinances so to endeavour to regulate their labour as not only to secure them for the future from such ill treatment, but to ameliorate their social condition, and to bring them within the pale of Christianity.

The opposition which those humane regulations encountered is well known. In Peru they caused the rebellion which La Gasca was sent out to quell; and elsewhere they were received with such dissatisfaction as obliged the Government to rest satisfied for a time with a modification of their first intentions, and to leave the treatment of the unfortunate Indians to be regulated by the ruling authorities according to circumstances, although as far as possible conformably to the rules laid down by the Council of the Indies.

CHAP. IV.

HIS HUMANE REGULATIONS.

45

In the mining districts of Peru, where the amount of gold and silver raised depended upon the forced labour of the Indians, little less mercy was shown them than in Hispaniola, which was depopulated by the first conquerors. In Paraguay the case so far differed that, the utility of their labours being limited to the cultivation of the fruits of a highly fertile soil, there was no motive on behalf of their masters to overwork them, whilst there were many which made it their interest to treat them kindly, and to keep up their numbers.

The regulations made by Yrala,* with the aid of the Bishop, for their government and treatment, seem to have been planned with every attention to their interests and social improvement, whilst their masters seem to have been satisfied with the limited service they were bound to give them in a country where there was no need to think of anything more than a liberal provision for their daily wants. All beyond was a useless superfluity, where nothing could be sold or bought, in a state of society where the use of money was unknown, and where the wants of men were in fact confined to the necessaries of life.

The conquered Indians were congregated in villages under simple municipal regulations, administered by alcaldes, who were generally chosen from their own caciques, subject to the supervision of Spanish officers appointed to see that their religious instruction was attended to, and that they were properly taken care of and not overtasked by their masters.

In these communities, or Encomiendas, as they were called, every male from the age of 18 to 50 was required

* "Vencedor Yrala de sus enemigos, amado aun de sus émulos, respetado de todos, condecorado con el Gobierno, continuó manejándose en adelante como magistrado sabio, capitan prudente, padre de su pueblo, y árbitro equitativo de los extraños," &c.

"Los pueblos sometidos lejos de provocar su ira, recibiéron sin murmurar el destino que á bien se tuvo señalarles. Siendo este el de los repartimientos, nunca convenia menos exterminarlos: por el contrario, promover aquella tal qual cultura de la razon, que permitian las circunstancias, y que conduce á los principios de la vida social, aficionarlos al

trabajo mostrándoles las riquezas que la tierra abriga en sus senos, dar un nuevo ser a la vegetacion, enseñarles todos los medios, no solo de conservar su existencia, sino tambien de labrar el opulento patrimonio de los encomenderos, y en fin adelantar los establecimientos con aumento de la felicidad publica y privada; esta era todo lo que exigia el plan de una politica sensata. El genio vasto del Gobernador Yrala capaz de abrazar las combinaciones mas complicadas del mando, desempeñó estos objetos, y le hizo digno de vivir en los fastos de estas provincias," &c.--Funes, Hist.