Permission was, however, granted to form a company for the purpose of colonizing Maranham, and certain gentlemen were appointed lieutenants-general in the West Indies and Brazil. The expedition was fitted out in Brittany, and sailed in March 1612; and, after a severe voyage, it reached the island of Fernando Noronha, whence it proceeded to Maranham. The islanders put themselves, as had been expected, under the protection of France, and their example was followed by two tribes on the mainland. The Cross and the French flag were planted side by side. Unfortunately, however, for the French, the Brazilian Government had just at this time turned its attention in the same direction; and before any tidings of the above proceedings had reached Madrid, orders had been sent out to prosecute the discovery and conquest of the river Amazons and the adjoining regions. The governor was ordered to fix his residence at Olinda in order to push on the expedition, to the command of which Geronymo de Albuquerque was appointed. He was later joined by Compos Moreno. Their progress, however, was slow, and in due time they came into collision with the French, of whose presence in that region the Brazilian authorities now for the first time became aware. It so happened that the officer who made the discovery was prevented by contrary winds from returning from Maranham to Pernambuco. He was driven to the Spanish Main, whence he set sail for Spain. On his arrival there he immediately despatched his pilot to Brazil to warn the authorities, whilst he himself proceeded for the same purpose to Madrid. In this way the colonial government heard of the French occupation of Mararnham not from Brazil, but from Europe.

Fresh instructions were now sent out to the governor, with stringent orders to direct his whole attention towards the island of Maranham. The preparations for that object were accordingly pushed forward with renewed vigour; and in course of time the expedition reached the port of Peria, in the vicinity of Maranham, to examine which a reconnoitering party was now sent out. From a deserter the Portuguese commander learned that the French meant to attack his vessels. He, however, contented himself with drawing them up on shore, and the French victory was confined to securing three of his six ships. The Portuguese, meanwhile, endured such sufferings that a conspiracy was formed amongst the soldiers to blow up the powder-magazine, and thus compel a retreat to Pernambuco by land. The question was, however, settled by the arrival of the French commander Rivardiere, with seven ships and many canoes, containing four hundred Frenchmen and four hundred natives. He forthwith ordered half his force to take possession of a hill which commanded the Portuguese encampment, whilst his native allies proceeded to entrench themselves by means of fascines which they had carried with them, and by means of which they kept themselves in communication with the fleet. Albuquerque, seeing that he was thus cut off from the hope of obtaining fresh water, had no alternative but to fight, although his force both of Portuguese and of natives bore a very small proportion to that opposed to him.

Of the two Portuguese chiefs, the one attacked the enemy on the beach; the other undertook to dislodge him from the hill, each having a force of seventy Portuguese and forty natives, whilst a small body was kept in reserve. The Portuguese attack was so well planned that the French on the hill, not perceiving their own danger, descended to the help of their countrymen, and were unexpectedly charged on the flank. After a short but severe struggle one of their commanders fell, and they retired to their entrenchments on the hill; but the Portuguese, following them, stormed these works likewise and put their defenders to the rout. Rivardiere was so confident in his superiority of numbers that he did not think it necessary to succour his men engaged until the moment had passed for doing so. The tide having now fallen, his canoes were left high and dry on the beach. He attempted to attack the fort, but the muddy shore kept his launches at a distance, and the invalids kept up a brisk fire upon him. One hundred and fifteen of his men were left dead on the field, whilst nine were taken prisoners.

A correspondence now took place between the commanders on either side, as a result of which the following terms were proposed namely, that there should be a truce till the end of the following year, whilst meanwhile two cavaliers, the one French, the other Portuguese, should proceed to France, and likewise two to Spain, to lay the matter before their sovereigns; and that when the determination of the two courts should arrive, the party which should receive orders to remove should evacuate the country, the prisoners meanwhile being released. Rivardiere further bound himself to withdraw his ship and allow free ingress to the supplies which the Portuguese expected. These articles were duly signed, and accordingly two vessels were sent with commissioners to France and Spain respectively.

But the terms of the convention were not long observed. After a while Albuquerque began to receive reinforcements; and finding himself in sufficient strength, he now informed Rivardiere that he had received instructions stating that these countries belonged to the Portuguese crown, and that he was therefore under the necessity of considering the treaty between them as annulled. The French commander now agreed to evacuate the island of Maranham within five months, on condition that the Portuguese should pay for the artillery to be left there, thus to enable him to pay for transports for his people. As security for his good faith he surrendered one of the forts, of which Albuquerque took possession; but from the length of time for which he stipulated before his withdrawal, it is probable that he calculated on something occurring meanwhile which might render that operation unnecessary.

Campos had meanwhile reached Lisbon, where he pressed upon the Government the necessity of sending out reinforcements without loss of time. He himself returned with adequate succours for that purpose to Pernambuco, where he found the governor busily employed towards the same end. Their united force amounted to nine hundred men, who were embarked in seven ships. Compos had left Maranham for Europe in January 1615, and he returned to that island early in October of the same year, the supreme command of the expedition being now given to De Moura, the late captain of Pernambuco. In flagrant breach of the second convention with Rivardiere, the French were now attacked in Fort St. Louis, whither they had retired. The French commander submitted unconditionally, and was allowed to sail for France with four hundred of his countrymen. By his incapacity in treating with the Portuguese when his superiority at sea put it within his power to cut off their provisions, the island of Maranham was lost to France.

The next enemy with whom the Portuguese had to contend were of a different race. The Dutch had begun to trade on the north of the Amazons, and had established factories on some of the numerous islands at its mouth. They had given out to the natives that a fleet would soon arrive to establish a colony, and when this intelligence reached Caldeira (a Portuguese officer who had been sent north from Maranham with two hundred men to establish a settlement on the Amazons), it was confirmed by the arrival of a large Dutch vessel. The ship was attacked by his orders, but the Dutchmen defended themselves so well that they could not be conquered save by setting fire to the vessel. This new Captaincy, which was called Pará, was disturbed with serious dissensions, which led to Caldeira, the governor, being put in chains by his mutinous garrison. The colony had likewise to encounter long-continued hostility on the part of the natives. A new governor was sent out from Lisbon, with orders to send home as prisoners both Caldeira and the officer who had accepted the government in his place from the mutineers. When this was done, the war against the natives was prosecuted, and they were successfully hunted down by a ruffian called Maciel, whose object seemed to be to exterminate them. If this were his purpose, it was still further assisted by the fearful havoc caused at this time amongst them by the small-pox.

In the year 1622 a new governor-general brought with him some Jesuits; but the appearance of these Fathers in Maranham excited a tumult against them; for, much to the credit of their order, it had set itself in systematic opposition to the iniquitous conduct of the Portuguese towards the natives. A compromise had to be arrived at, by which the Jesuits agreed, under pain of banishment and the confiscation of their property, not to interfere with the domesticated natives. As a wide belt of desolation had been placed round the Portuguese settlements by Maciel, it was somewhat difficult for the Fathers to find any other natives to exercise their influence upon. About this time much was done to explore the region of the Lower Amazons, in which service it is to be admitted that Maciel, who was now captain of Pará, was as energetic as he was ever savage in his bearing towards the Indians. At the river Curupá some of his people found Dutch, English, and French adventurers, who had made trenches for their defence, and had enlisted natives to assist them. From this post they were driven by Maciel, who destroyed their factories both on the Curupá and on the island of Tocujuz.

Having effected this congenial work, he returned to Belem, now called Parâ. His new conquests were considered at Madrid to be of such consequence as to deserve to be erected into a separate government, partly on account of the difficulty of communication between Maranham and Pernambuco. But the days were at hand when the natives were to be avenged by the arm of another European nation for the wrongs which they had suffered from Maciel and his like.

CHAPTER XVI.

ESTABLISHMENT OF THE JESUITS IN PARAGUAY.

1608-1648.

Saavedra, after much exploration in the territories inhabited by the native tribes, deemed that it would be better to attach rather than to weaken or exterminate them, and that for this purpose it would be advisable to use every means for converting them to Christianity. For this end he appealed to the court of Spain, and in 1608 Philip III. took the memorable decision of issuing the royal letters-patent to the Order of Jesus for the conversion of the Indians of the province of Guayrá, which district comprised both banks of the upper Paraná to the east of Asuncion. In this region the towns of Onteveros, Ciudad Real, and Villa Rica had been founded as early as 1554 by Don Ruy Diaz de Melgarejo.

Two Jesuit priests reached Asuncion in 1610, the modest vanguard of a formidable army. From the very date of their arrival they displayed the usual zeal of their order, and the first reduction was established on the upper Paraná. It was called Loreto, and the neighbouring natives were invited to resort thither, to receive instruction and to become members of the community, which was entirely under Jesuit control. As others of the order arrived, other reductions were formed. On reaching Asuncion the earliest Jesuit Fathers found the colony distracted by rivalries and controversies between the secular and the religious authorities. The first bishop of Paraguay was a Franciscan.

The policy which had been initiated and pursued by Irala of incorporating the natives with the governing body had fallen into at least partial disuse. Although the natives of Paraguay had not to complain of the same harsh treatment from their Spanish conquerors as had the Peruvians, their condition still left much to desire. They were not slaves in name, nor could they be purchased or sold, but they were nevertheless compelled to labour in the interest of others who had no responsibility for their care or support. The priests, as befitting their character, were willing and anxious to better their condition; but the colonists were loth to permit their interference in secular matters. Still their presence was not without its result, if only in its leading to its being considered more respectable to treat the natives as human beings rather than as the lower animals. Such being the state of society on the arrival of the Jesuits, whose professed object was the redemption of the natives, their coming was by no means welcomed by the colonists.

Asuncion was, however, for the meantime spared, for the scene of action of the first Jesuit Fathers was at some three hundred miles’ distance in the three settlements above mentioned. Of these settlements, and of the reduction of Loreto, scarcely a vestige now remains. The early settlers suffered so much from the natives and from the hostile Portuguese, that the province was abandoned. Twice was the site of Villa Rica changed, and the present town of that name dates from 1678. The Fathers then descending the river, established themselves in the district of Misiones, on the left bank of the Paraná, a district which is at the present day, and has long been, in dispute between Brazil and her neighbour. The early success of the Jesuits in converting the natives was very remarkable; but it may be as well to remember that it is the Jesuits themselves, and not independent writers, who have chronicled the fact. The Paraguayans, they say, not only embraced the faith, but voluntarily entered the reductions, and accepted the rule of the spiritual teachers. Before their coming the name of the foreigner had been terrible. The Spaniards, disappointed in finding gold, had taken possession of the territory, forcing the Paraguayans to a lot of unrequited drudgery. The Jesuits, however, had come to live and to die amongst them, seeking nothing for themselves but to be allowed to teach the arts of civilization and to show the way to paradise. It is not surprising that the contrast between their ways and those of their secular countrymen should have won the natives’ confidence. Indeed, as one of the conditions granted by the crown to the founders of the reductions was that these were to be free from all colonial control, the Paraguayans would at first sight seem to be the gainers by entering them. It was one of the principles of the order that the natives should not be subjected to unrecompensed labour.

It is somewhat remarkable that whilst the system and labours of the Jesuits in Paraguay are spoken of by most Protestant writers with almost unqualified praise, they are denounced in unmeasured terms by their Catholic rivals the Franciscans. It is not to be questioned that the early members of the order—the immediate disciples of Loyola—were actuated in their mission by no other motive than the most self-sacrificing and disinterested zeal; but these men were succeeded by others of a different stamp, and as time wore on the Jesuit rulers of Paraguay might enjoy a life of indolence and luxury. During the first twenty-five years of their mission they founded no less than ten towns; but the historian Azara points out that these twenty-five years precisely coincides with the time when the Portuguese furiously persecuted the natives in order to sell them into slavery. The frightened fugitives took refuge in the region between the Uruguay and the Paraná, and crowded into the Jesuit towns. During the following hundred years or more only one other town was established. Thus it appears that Portuguese rapacity had not a little to do with the establishment of Jesuit rule at Paraguay.

The career of the Jesuits, however, was not destined to run on with uniform smoothness. A governor of Paraguay was appointed whose policy and interest were not in unison with theirs. Cespedes was married to a Portuguese lady, whose sympathies were rather with her man-stealing countrymen than with the people ruled over by her husband. During his visit at Rio de Janeiro on his way to his government, Cespedes, it is said, so far fell into the hands of the Brazilians as to make a bargain with them by which he was to assist them in kidnapping those whom he had been sent to govern and protect. He resolved to pass by land to Asuncion. The first point he reached within Spanish territory was Loreto, on the banks of a tributary of the Paraná. There the Jesuits awaited his coming with joyful anticipation, which was soon to be changed to dismay. The estates of the Señora Cespedes in Brazil were in need of labourers, and the conscientious governor made a pact with the slave-hunters to facilitate their operations on condition of receiving six hundred of their captives. Under these circumstances it is not surprising that the missionary establishments of Guayrá should have fallen an easy prey. The early neophytes were carried off by thousands and sold into slavery. Having no protection to look for at Asuncion, the remainder fled, to the number of twelve thousand. The Fathers accompanied them until they were, as they thought, at a safe distance in the region now known as Misiones. In their new reductions the Jesuits continued their work of proselytizing, and, after the dismissal of Cespedes, tried various means of acquiring influence at Asuncion. Nor were they unsuccessful. The natives not unnaturally preferred their rule to that of the civil authorities, and consequently the reductions grew powerful. The result was that the government became jealous, and that the Franciscans, headed by the bishop, took means to rid themselves of their successful neighbours and rivals.

The Jesuits appealed to Spain and likewise to the Pope, with the result that their representative obtained for them a royal grant, which rendered the missions independent of the government of Paraguay. They were likewise permitted to provide the natives with firearms, to be used in self-defence. When the next raid was made by the slave-hunters, they were so well received that, though they were a thousand in number, few escaped to tell of their surprise and defeat. The missions were no more troubled by men-stealers from Brazil.

But the Jesuits had still to contend with the rival ecclesiastics of Asuncion. The Bishop of Paraguay, Cardenas, was at this time a prominent figure. He is said to have hated the Jesuits with a fervour which is seldom more evoked than in religious animosities; but he by no means confined his attention to them. It was an age when all men dreaded the curse of Rome, and Cardenas was nothing loth to use this terrible weapon. Amongst others who fell under his ban was Hinostrosa, the governor of the colony, who had ventured to differ from him upon some matter which does not appear. The people were scandalized at the governor’s disgrace; and in fear of a tumult the bishop withdrew from the capital. He was followed by the penitent governor, who sought and obtained the removal of the anathema. The bishop having now the civil as well as the spiritual power virtually in his hands, lost no time in making it felt by the Jesuits. They were prohibited from preaching within Asuncion, and their schools were closed. But if the governor was subdued by the ecclesiastical authority, the Viceroy of Charcas and his council were not. The governor of Paraguay was severely reprimanded for having submitted himself to an arrogant prelate, who was in turn denounced, and was compelled to retire for some years from Asuncion.

On his return to that city, the governor died; and as in this emergency the choice of a successor lay with the people, the Bishop Cardenas was now elected to rule in his stead. Once more he was in possession of full power, and once more he lost no time in proclaiming his determination to use it for the expulsion of the Jesuits. Having, under threats of excommunication, collected a large crowd of people capable of bearing arms, he demanded the surrender of the Jesuits’ College. In vain its rector protested that his order exercised their rights under a royal grant. The doors were forced open, and the priests and neophytes were driven out. These having been brought to the river, were placed in boats and cast adrift without sail or oar. The college was then sacked, and the statues of Loyola and Xavier dragged from their pedestals. This violence was the natural prelude of the bishop’s own fall. He was summoned for trial before the Grand Council of Peru, and finally deposed from all authority.

The deposition of Cardenas was the signal for the recall of the Jesuits, and for some time to come they were masters of the situation. There still existed, however, continual jealousy and discord between them and the Franciscans; and the civil authorities were disposed to side with the latter. The Jesuits nevertheless applied themselves with undiminished earnestness to acquire power in Asuncion. By establishing and controlling the schools, they obtained the direction of the rising generation; and the missions were by this time rich and nourishing. Outside the reductions the natives preferred the Jesuit rule to that of the civil authorities, as the former repudiated slavery; whilst within the reductions the servitude to which they were subjected was disguised under another name. It was labour for the common benefit.

The systems of the Spanish governors and of the Jesuit Fathers, respectively, were widely different, and require some explanation. From the first advent of the former a mixed race gradually sprung up. The Spaniards brought with them few if any women, and if a certain proportion of Spanish ladies arrived later they were not in sufficient numbers to affect the general rule, which was that the Spanish settlers were allied to Guaraní wives. Thus was formed the modern mixed Paraguayan race. In a very short time, therefore, by means of the ties of relationship, a strong sympathy grew up between the Spaniards and the Guaranís or those of Guaraní blood, and a recognition of this fact formed the basis of the plan of government founded by the great Irala. The lot of the natives of Paraguay, as compared with the natives of the other Spanish dominions in the New World, was far from being a hard one. There were no mines to work. The Spaniards came there to settle, rather than to amass fortunes with which to return to Europe. The country was abundantly fertile, and such wealth as the Spaniards might amass consisted in the produce of their fields or the increase of their herds, which were amply sufficient to support them. Consequently all they required of the natives, for the most part, was a moderate amount of service as labourers or as herdsmen, whilst in return they were in a position to impart to the Paraguayans many of the arts of civilization.

The Jesuits, on the other hand, admitted no other Europeans within the bounds of their reductions, and having themselves no ties of kindred by marriage or otherwise with those around them, remained a distinct class apart. Their disciples were not even instructed in the Spanish or any other European tongue, save so much, perhaps, as was implied by their being taught to patter certain prayers by rote. As to their temporal concerns, they laboured, as it was said, for the common weal, but they were, in fact, reduced to a condition of the most utter servitude imaginable. Not only had they, like their native brethren beyond the limits of the reductions, to give their labour in the fields and in tending the herds, but when this was done the whole of their produce—beyond that necessary for their own sustenance—went into the common Jesuits’ fund,—that is to say, went towards building and adorning splendid churches, many of which, with their carved ornaments of the finest wood, remain to this day when the race that produced them is no more. Nor was this the only labour that fell upon such of the natives as were enticed into life-long servitude for “the greater glory of God.” It was necessary to seclude them from the temptations of the outer world, and for this purpose each reduction was converted into a fortress, so contrived as at the same time to preclude the entrance of strangers from without and the exit of disciples from within. The Paraguayans who had submitted themselves to the Jesuits’ absolute sway were thus cunningly made the artificers of the chains that bound them. It is going considerably in advance of the period now in question to advert to the reigns of Francia and the second Lopez, but it may be permitted here to point out that, in thus inducing a system of utter mental and moral imbecility, the Jesuit Fathers are undoubtedly responsible for the untold misery which was brought about under these tyrants, and which at length resulted in the extinction of the Paraguayan race.

The Jesuits have been their own historians; therefore the following details, written by themselves, must be read with the reflection that there was no contemporary critic to bequeath another side of the picture. Quitting the lower banks of the Plata, already covered with innumerable cattle on boundless plains which showed a perpetual verdure, the Jesuits, on their way to their destination, were shocked, on touching at the island of S. Gabriel, by beholding a tribe of idolaters who inspired terror in their neighbourhood and probably still more at home, since we learn that they put their women to death on attaining the age of thirty. After traversing about a thousand miles of river they reached the Guaraní missions, comprising thirty settlements. On the western coast, and further to the north, were the Chiquito missions, with which the others maintained a correspondence, which until the early part of the eighteenth century could only be effected by way of Peru, along a route of eight hundred leagues, intersected by streams only fordable at certain seasons. The shorter way from the Plata to the Chiquito missions was jealously closed by the Guaranís.

The Guaranís were of two classes—hunters and fishermen. The former ignored the use of saddles, but passed their time for the most part on the horses which had followed the Spaniards. The fishermen adored a demon who manifested itself in the form of a large bird. It was at length determined by the Jesuits to attempt to penetrate to the Chiquito settlements of their brethren by way of the Uruguay river; and two Fathers, accompanied by thirty Paraguayan disciples, set out with this object from Asuncion. They had ascended about a hundred leagues when they were met by a boat, carrying Payaguas, who, being placed between two enemies, implored the aid of the Jesuits. To the west were their sworn foes, the Guaycurus; to the east were the Brazilian slave-hunters. This natural cry for help was interpreted as a prayer for admission within the Church’s pale, and one of the Fathers remained with his converts at the Lake of Uberada, while the other proceeded alone towards Peru.

The sudden conversion of the natives, however, which had resulted from terror, lasted only as long as the Jesuits and their party remained sufficiently strong to overawe them. Left with one Father and fifteen Paraguayans, they obtained leave to depart for the purpose of bringing others to share the Father’s instruction. On their return in sufficient numbers to overpower him, fourteen of his Paraguayans were put to death, one being reserved as interpreter; one of the Spanish boatmen was likewise spared to steer the Payaguas to their former haunts. There the interpreter was put to death in the defence of his master, who, however, together with his brother Jesuit, was almost immediately afterwards murdered by the Guaycurus.

About the same period there were in Buenos Ayres some twenty thousand Africans who could not speak Spanish. In order to be able to administer spiritual food to these, Father Chomé studied the tongue of Angola, in which in the course of three months he acquired such proficiency that he was able to persuade himself that the Africans understood his attempts to expound the doctrines of Christianity. His linguistic powers marked him out for service in Peru, but his destination was changed to Paraguay. He was conveyed thither in a covered cart, carrying with him his own bedding and provisions. The neighbourhood of Santa Fè was then infested by the Guaycurus, who were even daring enough to attack that town. They gave no quarter, and carried as trophies the scalps of their victims. Their weapons were bows and arrows, lances and darts, which rebounded by means of a string fastened to the projector’s thumb. Issuing from their ambuscades, and giving utterance to wild cries, they inspired still further terror by their aspect, being enclosed in a suit composed of feathers. They had already attained perfection in horsemanship, now falling flat on the animals’ necks, now swinging their persons beneath their girths and holding on by their feet, or throwing themselves from one side to the other as occasion might require. If it seemed desirable to abandon their steeds and take to the river or thicket, they were as fishes in the former, and could defy the thorns of the latter.

Beset by these savages, Father Chomé was indebted to his escort for his arriving without accident at Santa Fè, where he was still two hundred and twenty leagues from the nearest of the reductions. The carts in use were but little suited to a country intersected by streams, and where bridges were unknown. On reaching a stream the waggon was unloaded and attached to the tails of horses, who struggled as best they could to the opposite shore. Such travellers as could not swim were committed to small boats formed of a single ox-hide, with the almost unnecessary injunction to sit still in them. In the pelotas, too, the loads were transported. From Santa Fè Father Chomé proceeded towards his destination on horseback.

After the greater part of the Guaranís had embraced Christianity, a section still refused to listen to the voice of the missionaries, and sought an asylum in the adjoining mountains. Their grieved would-be converters for a while consoled themselves with the reflection that the sudden change from the burning pampas plains to the snows of the Andes would suffice to exterminate the heathen; but when they were disappointed in this pious wish, and when the tribesmen, who had, on the contrary, increased in numbers, ventured to murder some Dominicans, the vengeance of the authorities was roused, and their mountains were invaded, with the result that many hundreds of them were made prisoners or slain.

The Jesuit missions, where were renewed the innocence and piety of the early Christians, numbered towards the close of the seventeenth century forty large establishments, the most considerable of which included from fifteen to twenty thousand souls. The chief of each mission and the judge were chosen year by year. The fruits of the land were placed in public magazines, from which each family received its allotted share. So remarkable was the innocence of the Guaraní converts that the Fathers own that their pupils’ confessions seldom or never revealed anything to call for absolution. They denied to the Paraguayans any share of inventive genius, but claimed for them on the other hand the greatest powers of imitation. They could make tables, print or copy books, imitate the finest writing, construct musical instruments and watches, draw plans and engrave maps. It was not without labour that their conversion was brought about; but once effected, it was sincere and lasting, and there were no bounds to the attachment they evinced towards their spiritual fathers.

The following extract, translated from Azara, may give some further idea of the system pursued by the Jesuits. The historian’s knowledge is derived from eye-witnesses, and his statements of fact, though not his conclusions, agree with those of the Fathers:—

“The thirty-three Jesuit missions were ruled in the following manner: Two Jesuits resided in each pueblo. The one called the cura had either been provincial or rector in their colleges, or was at least a grave padre. He did not exercise any of the functions of a cura, and frequently did not know the language of the Indians. He occupied himself only with the temporal administration of all the property of the pueblo, of which he was the absolute director. The spiritual department was confided to another Jesuit, called compañero, or vice-cura, subordinate to the first. The Jesuits of all the pueblos were under the superintendence and vigilance of another, named the superior of the missions, who had, moreover, the power to confirm from the Pope. To control these pueblos they had no laws, either civil or criminal; the only rule was the will of the Jesuits. Though in each pueblo there was an Indian called a corregidor, and others called alcaldes and rejidores (mayor and aldermen), that formed a municipal body like that which they have in Spanish colonies, no one of them exercised the least jurisdiction, and they were only instruments that served to execute the will of the curas, even in criminal cases. The curas who inflicted the punishments were never cited before the king nor before any of the ordinary tribunals. They compelled the Indians of both sexes and of every age to labour for the community, without permitting any person to labour at all for himself. All must obey the orders of the cura, who stored up the produce of the labour, and who had the charge of supplying food and clothing to all. From this it is seen that the Jesuits were absolutely masters of everything; that they completely disposed of the surplus stock of the whole community; and that all the Indians were equal, without distinction, and unable to possess any private property. There could be no motive of emulation to induce them to exercise their talents or their reason, since the most able, the most virtuous, the most active, was not better fed or clothed than the others, nor would he obtain any enjoyment that was not common to all. The Jesuits have persuaded the world that this kind of government was the only one suitable for the Indians, and had rendered happy those who were like children, and incapable of taking care of themselves. They add, that they direct them as a father governs his family, and that they collect and keep in the storehouses the products of the harvests, not for private use, but to make a proper distribution to their children, who, incapable of provision, do not know how to preserve anything for the sustenance of their families. This manner of government had appeared in Europe worthy of such great encomiums, that the lot of these Indians has almost come to be envied. But this is done without reflecting that these same Indians in a savage state did know how to support their families, and that individuals of the same Indians that had been subjugated in Paraguay lived an age before in a state of liberty, without knowing of such community of goods, without the necessity of being directed by any person, nor of being incited or forced to labour, and without a public storehouse or distribution of the harvest; and that, too, notwithstanding they had to support the charge of the commanderies that took the sixth part of their annual labour. It seems, then, they were not such children, nor were they so incapable as the Fathers tried to make them appear. But were such incapacity certain, from their not having sufficient time in a century and a half to correct such defects, one of the two following causes appears reasonable,—either the administration of the Jesuits was contrary to the civilization of the Indians, or they were such a people as were incapable of emerging from their primitive state of infancy.”

Previously to the foundation of the Jesuit reductions, posts had been established in various parts by the Spaniards for purposes of trade and local government. Several of these were in the neighbourhood of the Jesuits’ settlements. But the order would not tolerate the presence of Europeans near them. They complained in pathetic tones of the hardships endured by the natives at the hands of the avaricious Spanish superintendents, who not only exacted from them one-sixth part of their produce, but showed them a pernicious example in the way of morality, and thus interfered with the Jesuits’ religious teaching. These complaints having been forwarded to the court of Spain, the superintendents were withdrawn and their posts abolished, thus leaving the Jesuits in sole control of the territory of Misiones. This decision is the more remarkable, inasmuch as the Jesuits were not only not under Spanish rule, but were not even for the most part of the nation which had produced their founder. Nor did they pay tax or tribute to the crown.

But the exercise of absolute power within their own territory did not satisfy the ambitious order. They sought to make their influence felt and visible everywhere, and in so seeking paved the way for their downfall. Their first idea was to gain control over the rising generation by giving gratuitous instruction to the youth of wealthy families; and, warned by their previous experience, they prepared themselves against future reverses by raising from amongst their neophytes a very considerable standing army. They could at a very early period of their reign bring into the field a force of some seven thousand men.

CHAPTER XVII.

ENGLISH NAVIGATORS IN SOUTH AMERICA, HAWKINS, DRAKE, AND RALEIGH.

1564-1618.

Foremost amongst the English navigators to Spanish American waters comes the redoubtable Hawkins. That he was an admirable seaman and a most courageous man, no one will question. He was likewise as patriotic as it was possible for man to be, and was most considerate and fair towards those under his command, by whom he seems to have been respected and beloved. But it may help to form a more correct opinion of the age in which he lived, and may serve somewhat to modify our judgment respecting the Spaniards and Portuguese of the sixteenth century in the matter of slavery, if we remember that Sir John Hawkins, of whom most Englishmen are to a certain extent proud, was, in plain terms, an atrocious slave-dealer. This article was, in fact, the staple commodity in which he trafficked, and he pursued his course to the coast of Africa, there to capture his cargo of negroes, with not a whit more concern for them or their rights than would have been displayed by Rob Roy or by Roderick Dhu for the cattle which they carried off from the Lowlands. It may be well also to bear in mind that his course of life was well known to Queen Elizabeth and Her Ministers, and that Her Majesty, in token of Her approval of his proceedings, placed at his disposal one of Her vessels, the “Jesus” of Lubeck, of 700 tons.

As this work is not intended to throw light on the African slave-trade further than in as far as it concerns South America, it is not necessary to follow Sir John throughout all his nefarious proceedings on the coast of Africa. But one of his voyages, in the course of which he proceeded with his usual cargo, in the year 1564, to Cape de la Vala, has for us unusual interest, inasmuch as in the course of its narrative we find the first mention, among English writers, of the potato. It is well known that Raleigh and certain of his companions, at a much later date, brought home with them that root from Virginia. It is the case likewise, that, some time before this voyage of Raleigh, Drake had introduced the same plant to these islands; but that our first acquaintance with the potato is due to Hawkins and his expedition of the above-mentioned year will appear from the following extract:—

“Here perceiving no trafficke to be had with them, nor yet water for the refreshing of our men, we were driven to depart the twentieth day, and the 2 and twentieth we came to a place in the maine called Cumana, whither the captaine going in his pinnisse, spake with certaine Spaniards of whom he demanded trafficke, but they made him answere, they were but souldiers newely come thither, and were not able to by on negro; whereupon hee asked for a watring place, and they pointed him a place two leagues off, called Santa Fè, where we found marvellous goodly watring, and commodious for the taking in thereof; for that the fresh water came into the sea, and so our shippes had aboord the shore twentie fathome water. Neere about this place inhabited certaine Indians, who the next day after we came thither came down to us, presenting mill and cakes of breade, which they had made of a kinde of corne called maiz, in bignesse of a pease, the eare whereof is much like to a teasell, but a spanne in length having thereon a number of granes. Also they brought down to us Hennes, Potatoes and Pines, which we bought for beades, pewter whistles, glasses, knives and other trifles. These potatoes be the most delicate rootes that may be eaten, and doe farre exceed our passeneps or carets.”[S]

Hawkins and his men kept on their course along the coast, and came on the 3rd of April to a place called Burboroata, where the ships came to anchor, and he himself went on shore to speak to the Spaniards, to whom he declared his nationality, and that he came thither for lawful trade, for which he required permission. They made answer that they were forbidden by their king to traffic with any foreign nation, upon pain of forfeiting their goods; they therefore desired him to depart, for they were subjects, and might not go beyond the law. Hawkins, however, who was an impersonation of the Civis Romanus sum, was above the law. He replied that his necessity was such as he might not so do; for being in one of the Queen’s armadas of England, and having many soldiers in them, he had need both of some refreshing for them, and of victuals, and of money also, without which he could not depart. With much other talk he persuaded them not to fear any dishonest part of his towards them; for neither would he commit any such thing to the dishonour of his prince, nor yet for dishonest reputation and estimation, unless he were too rigorously dealt withal, which he hoped not to find at their hands.

The Spaniards made answer that it lay not in them to give any licence, for that they had a governor to whom the government of these parts was committed; but if Hawkins would stay ten days longer they would send to their governor, who was three score leagues off, and would return answer within the appointed time.

Meanwhile Hawkins was permitted to bring his ships into harbour and to receive the victuals he required. On the fourth day he went in and received according to promise all things requisite; whereupon the shrewd captain thought to himself that to remain according to his promise for the stipulated ten days, spending victuals and men’s wages, would be a mere act of folly. He therefore requested permission to sell certain lean and sick negroes which he had in his ships, like to die upon his hands if he kept them ten days. He was forced to make this request, because he had not otherwise wherewith to pay for victuals and for necessaries. This request being put in writing and presented, the officers and town-dwellers assembled together; and, finding his request so reasonable, granted him licence for thirty negroes, which afterwards they caused the officers to view, to the intent they should accede to nothing but what was reasonable, for fear of afterwards being called to answer therefor.

But the Spaniards were as much on their guard as was Hawkins, and he found but little demand for his negro wares, since the authorities had decided that none but the poor should be permitted to bid for them. It was a question of bargaining, and Hawkins made pretence of being about to depart, carrying his goods elsewhere. He answered that he not only required permission to sell, but likewise his fair profit; and he thought it due to his character to show by his papers what he had paid for his negroes, and likewise what all the charges of the trade he was engaged in had cost him. As they did not wish for his departure they encouraged him to remain, by telling him that he would get a better price there than anywhere else. He therefore consented to remain, in order that he might dispose of his lean negroes. He disposed of a few next day, but could do nothing more until the arrival of the governor a fortnight later.

Hawkins addressed to the governor a petition asking to be allowed to sell his negroes, which permission was granted him. But perceiving that the Spaniards would neither consent to pay anything like the price he demanded, nor consent to relinquish the king’s custom duty of thirty ducats on each slave, he determined to take more decisive measures. Accordingly on the 16th of April he prepared one hundred men well armed, with whom he marched against the town. On this demonstration, the governor not unnaturally sent messengers to inquire what it meant, and requiring him to halt until he should have received his answer. The captain, declaring how unreasonable a thing the king’s custom was, requested to have the same abated, offering to pay seven and a half per cent. The governor replied that his demand should be granted. Hostages being given, the invaders then departed to their ships, and carried on their traffic for twelve days without disturbance, when Hawkins again made a show of departing, in order to obtain higher prices.

On the 4th of May he actually departed, and on the 6th reached the island of Curaçao, where the ships found great refreshment in beef, mutton, and lambs, which were in such plenty that they were given gratis. The cattle in this island is reported to have increased in such prodigious ratio that of a dozen of each sort originally imported there were to be found in twenty-five years a hundred thousand at least. Fifteen hundred were yearly killed, for the sake only of their skins and tongues.

On the fifteenth of the month they left Curaçao, and on the seventeenth anchored near Cape de la Vela, and next proceeded to the Rio de la Hacha, where Hawkins had again recourse to threats before being permitted to traffic. As they would not accede to his price, however, he shot off a calverin to summon the town, and preparing one hundred men in armour, went on shore, having in his great boat two falcons of brass, the other boats being likewise armed. The townsmen turned out to resist the invasion; but although they were superior in numbers, they soon gave way and sent a flag of truce. A colloquy now occurred between Hawkins and the treasurer, with the result that the former obtained all his requests, receiving hostages for their fulfilment. After some further passages of distrust, the English departed in a friendly manner, their captain receiving at the treasurer’s hands a testimonial of his good behaviour. Hawkins then proceeded to Jamaica, and thence by Cuba and Florida for England.

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The first acquaintance of Drake with Spanish America was made in the course of a voyage to the West Indies and the Caribbean Sea in the years 1565 and 1566. But the voyage which caused his name first to be placed on record was that in which he accompanied Hawkins in the year 1567. The expedition consisted of six ships, one of them being lent by Queen Elizabeth in token of her approbation of the objects of the voyage. The “Jesus” of Lubeck, a vessel of 700 tons, bore the flag of Hawkins. Two other vessels were commanded respectively by Hampton and by Bolton; whilst the “Judith” was commanded by Captain Francis Drake, he being then a young man of about twenty-seven. There were in addition two very small vessels, the “Angel” and the “Swallow.”