Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
(continued)
It was about seven in the morning and tired of fighting, the barbar-
ians and their many accomplices lost hope of their ability to carry out
their designs. They resolved to abandon the field of battle and retire
from the Mission. They headed to the hacienda or
estancia,
where there
were not more than three Guaraní Indian shepherds, who defended
themselves with arrows and fled to the woods on the bank of the
Salado River, which borders the
estancia.
The infidels rounded up the
horses, mares, mules and 6,000 head of cattle. Rich with booty, they
retired to their lands, in which they were unable to enjoy the fruits of
their plunder.
It was the case that the famous [Indian] cacique Bravo encountered
the troop of thieves. He was the sworn enemy of Felipe Yahati, and
envious of the booty that he was carrying, Bravo and his men sprang
on them, took the lives of many of them, and despoiled them of all
their stolen goods. In this way he repaid with death the cruel Felipe
Yahati for his iniquities and hatred of Christianity. The men of the caci-
que Bravo captured an injured Yahati and the barbarian [Bravo], relish-
ing in the blood of his rival, ordered that his warriors strike him with
their lances little by little, giving him a slow and very cruel death.
Source:
“Testimony of Padre Sánchez Labrador on the abandonment of
three Jesuit missions south of the Salado River.” In Furlong, Guillermo.
Entre los pampas de Buenos Aires
(Buenos Aires: Talleres Gráficos “San
Pablo,” 1938), pp. 204-205.
the territory being settled by Hispanic landowners and cattlemen.
The forts also became centers of trade between the two cultures.
Government officials even instituted an effective policy of supplying
the indigenous groups with cattle and horses, paying them “tribute”
as a guarantee to peace. Nevertheless, this conflict would only inten-
sify in the 19th century, again in response to important events in the
Hispanic world of Chile and Argentina. Then, even more warlike and
powerful chieftains were to follow in the footsteps of Cacapol.
The Jesuit Problem
Isolation preserved Asunción in a state of near economic lethargy
throughout the 17th century. Few Spanish immigrants entered the
