BUENOS AYRES. 



ce ul the 

 !iyte. 



(nternal 

 policy of 

 the reduc- 

 tions. 



Extension 

 of the Spa- 

 nish con- 

 quests. 



Buenos 

 Ay ret e- 

 rccttd into 

 a separate 

 province in 



mantled by the Jesuits, who took particular care to 

 prevent all communication with the Spanibh soldiery 

 or inhabitants, and led them back to the reductions 

 as soon as their services could be dispensed with. 

 Their services, however, were not confined to mili- 

 tary operations. They were likewise employed in 

 various public woiks. They rebuilt the city of San- 

 ta Fe ; erected the fort of Tabati ; and, in 16G8 and 

 the following years, five hundred of them worked on 

 the fortifications, the fort, and the cathedral of Bue- 

 nos Ayres. But while engaged in these operations, 

 their wiges, their subsistence, and even the expence 

 of their journiis, were all defrayed by the Jesuits. 



The reductions, already planted, were chiefly 

 composed of the Guarinis and Tapes, though ma- 

 ny of the tribes between the Parana and Bra- 

 sil had added to their population. Their coun- 

 try was temperate and fertile ; and, under the care 

 and direction of -their pastors, productions of neces- 

 sity and of luxury were raised in abundance. Grain, 

 sugar, cotton, tobacco, wax, honey, Paraguay tea, 

 &c. were sources of comfort to the inhabitants, and 

 advantageous articles of traffic to the Jesuits, under 

 whose government they lived in the greatest harmony 

 and regularity. " Here," according to the eulo- 

 giums of their advocates, *' no person was idle, nor 

 any one overburdened with labour; all were conve- 

 niently lodged and comfortably clothed, and their 

 food was wholesome, abundant, and equally distribu- 

 ted ; the aged and infirm, the widows and orphans, 

 were maintained by the community ; no monastic in- 

 stitutions, no sordid views of interest, or absurd re- 

 straints of pride, fettered the freedom of choice, or 

 defiled the sanctity of marriage ; no factitious wants, 

 or destructive luxuries, corrupted the human frame ; 

 the benefits of trade were experienced, without the 

 fatal contagion of its vices ; neither the practice nor 

 the necessity of capital punishments existed ; neither 

 tythes nor taxes were known : and the devouring 

 plague of forensic subtlety, oppression, and delay, 

 was proscribed." 



The Spaniards had extended their power over the 

 vast plains which lie between the Paraguay and 

 the Chilian Cordillera. Los Charcas, after an ob- 

 stinate and vigorous resistance, had submitted to 

 Gonzalez Pizarro, soon after the subjugation of 

 Peru ; and Tucuman had also been subdued, and 

 settled by the conquerors of that country. The 

 re-establishment of Buenos Ayres had been resol- 

 ved upon by the governor of Paraguay, and carried 

 into execution in 1580, the want of a proper har- 

 bour at the mouth of the La Plata rendering that 

 undertaking absolutely necessary. This city was at 

 first exceedingly annoyed by the adjacent Indians, 

 and remained long in a state of poverty. It, how- 

 ever, emerged by degrees into distinction, and rose 

 to be the capital of the viceroyalty. A new pro- 

 vince, distinct from that of Paraguay, had also been 

 established about 1620, under the name of Rio de la 

 Plata, now Buenos Ayres, of which Don Diego 

 Gongora was appointed governor. 



Except an insurrection of the Indians, held in the 

 encomiendas of Assumption, which was soon quelled 

 by the assistance of the neophytes, in 1660, nothing 

 of importance occurred until 1679, when the Portu- 



guese attempted a settlement on the north bank of Bmnm 

 the Rio dc la Plata. Their intention was no sooner , *>'** 

 known, than Garro, the governor of Buenos Ay res, J 

 dispatched a summons to Lobo, the Portuguese com- between 

 mandcr, to evacuate the territory of Spam. Lobo the Spa- 

 replied, that he was upon the territory of his sove- niard* and 

 reign ; and even claimed the whole of the left bank *"' 

 of the Paraguay and La Plata, as belonging to the ^ 

 king of Portugal. During some discussions that 

 followed respecting the limits of the two nations, 

 the settlement, under the name of Colonia, or San 

 Sacramento, had been prosecuted with great indus- 

 try ; a regular fortress had arisen, well mounted with 

 cannon, and provided with military stores, and every 

 thing requisite for the building and defence of a city. 

 But Garro having received orders from the viceroy 

 of Peru to attack the Portuguese, its reduction im- 

 mediately followed, when the fort was levelled with 

 the ground. This settlement has given occasion to 

 many disputes and struggles between the rival powers 

 of Portugal and Spain, and has been successively 

 wrested from its founders and restored, until 1778, 

 when it was finally ceded to the Spaniards. 



The spirit of dissension still prevailed at Assump- Commo- 

 tion, and a scene of outrage and rebellion arose about f ' 00 * a . 1 A ** 

 the beginning of the last century, which threatened um P lion ' 

 the dependence of Paraguay upon the crown of 

 Spain. There were many chiefs in the province, 

 who, like Irala, were eager for dominion, and only 

 waited for a favourable opportunity to usurp the 

 sovereign authority. Among these was Don Joseph 

 de Antequera, a knight of Alcantara, and a man of 

 family and genius. Intriguing and ambitious, he had 

 fomented discontent among the inhabitants against 

 the existing governor, Don Diego de los Reyea, 

 which rose so high, that Don Diego, fearing an at- 

 tempt upon his life, fled to Buenos Ayres. Anteque- 



ra, supported by his friends, assumed the reins of go- u ' ur l >s "* 



j j xu govern- 



vernment, and entered upon the exercise cr his new j^^. 



dignity without opposition. As soon as this transac- 

 tion was known at Lima, the viceroy of Peru issued a 

 new commission, dated 16th of February 1722, rein- 

 stating Don Diego in his office ; and ordered Ante- 

 quera immediately to quit the province. Antequera, 

 however, had gone too far to recede with safety ; 

 and though the order was repeated, he still retained 

 his situation, and even openly avowed his resolution 

 of maintaining himself in the government, in spite of 

 all the dispatches he might receive from Lima. Ne- 

 gotiation was attempted to bring him to his duty, but 

 in vain. He had even sent an armed force to Corri- 

 entes, a town within the jurisdiction of the governor 

 of Rio de la Plata, to seize the person of Don Die- 

 go, who was carried to Assumption, and thrown into 

 a dungeon. Forcible measures were now resorted 

 to ; and Don Balthazar, the king's lieutenant at Bue- 

 nos Ayres, advanced at the head of the provincial 

 troops, and 2000 of the reduction Indians, to compel 

 the rebels to submission. Antequera, with 3000 

 men, marched from Assumption to meet him, leaving 

 orders with Juan de Mena, one of his trusty adhe- 

 rents, that, in case of a defeat, Don Diego should and defeat* 

 be publicly strangled. In the engagement which fcl-.'^e royal 

 lowed, the royal troops were routed with great d c 

 slaughter. Antequera entered the city in triumph j zar> 



