172 THE AMAZOX AND MiADEIRA RIVERS. 
He even goes so far as to tlepvivo the .fesuits of all erertit for the 
foundation of the Missions ; which, as lie labours to proAn^, had tlieir 
origin in the so-called Eucomniicudas, plantations of Indian slaA^es 
established by private persons, civil and military officers of high rank, 
under the protection of the Government; and whoso success and con- 
tinuance were rendered possible only by the di-cad felt by the still 
independent tribes of the terrible razzias of the Paulistas. But Azara 
is too pi'cjudiced altogether. Surely the cruel treatment of the En- 
cominiendas caiuiot be taken as having added to the jirosperity of the 
Missions, institutions founded by the same hated Avhito race ; and the 
iear of the invasions of the Paulistas could not have been very great 
with the Chiquitos, and the Mojos for instance, liAung in the far West 
(the present Bolivia), though elseAvhere it might have counted for 
sometliing.* 
The secret of the complete success of the Jesuits doubtless lay in the 
strict organization and discipline of the Order, the zeal and unseltishness 
of its members, the tact Avith Avhich they treated the Indians; and in 
the docile temper and quiet humility which down to the present day 
characterize the tribes they chiefly experimented on, the Guaranis and 
the Mojos. Some attempts at reducing to submission other tribes, like 
the Avarlike Coroados between the Parana and upper Uruguay, were 
quite unsuccessful ; and in one case ended Avith the death of the daring 
missionary. 
According to the notes of Azara, and of the Jesuits Dobrizhoffer and 
Charlevoix, the way in which these Missions (or Beducciones, as they 
were then called) were administered Avas as follows. On each of them 
were two priests; one apparently to attend exclusively to spiritual afijiirs, 
but in reality directing the whole concern, and the other to look after 
Avorldly matters, the administration in all its details. All the Missions 
Avithin a ceitain district were under the superintendence of a superior, 
Avho resided at one of the principal ones— for the Paraguay Missions, it 
was Candelaria ; for those of the Beni, S. Pedro — and fonned the medium 
of communication betAveen those outposts and the General of the Order in 
Europe. 
The preliminary measures for the foundation of a new Mission are 
thus described by Azara. Eirst of all, some Indians belonging to an 
* Once only, in 1691, tlie Piiulistas came as far as CWquitos ; but they were tWven 
back, and have over since left the Missions there in xieace. 
