Indignant at words so unbecoming a soldier, the secular priest, a brave man in the prime of his years, exclaimed as he arrived, "I swear by Christ that we shall not die. The enemies must be sought and slain." So saying he leapt upon a horse, and armed with a gun hastened to succour that part of the city where the enemies were said to be raging. But lo and behold! when he arrives there, he finds the inhabitants all sound asleep, not even dreaming of the Abipones! Such was the terror excited in the Paraguayrians, not merely by the figures and presence of the Abipones, but by the very report of them. Two things which long experience has taught me, I greatly wish impressed on the minds of all. The first is, that the Indians are never less to be dreaded than when they present themselves most terrible, and with the greatest noise. For all that frightful preparation only betrays the fears of the savages. Distrusting their courage, strength, and arms, they think that paint of various colours, feathers, shouting, trumpets, and other instruments of terror, will forward their success. But any one with a very moderate share of courage, and stock of armour, will despise all this as unworthy of fear. This is my first maxim. My second is, that the Indians are never more to be feared than when they seem most afraid. They sometimes lurk concealed, uttering no sound, and giving no intimation of their presence; but this silence is as sure a prognostic of an attack, as a calm is, in the ocean, of an impending storm. They arrive on a sudden, and surprize the self-secure. They imitate death, whose ministers they are, by coming when least expected. In the heat of battle, the Abipones often take to flight, in the design of enticing the Spaniards to pursue them, that they may slay them, when they are separated and their ranks disturbed, though unable to do so as long as they are in order. Hence it not unfrequently happens, that they who thought themselves the victors are vanquished by the fugitives. They fly to marshes, woods, winding-ways, defiles of mountains, rocks, or bushes, which places the excellence of their steeds, and their skill in riding and swimming enable them quickly to cross; while the pursuing Spaniards, incumbered by their clothes and baggage, and often destitute of proper horses, are easily pierced with spears whilst separated from one another, and struggling with the water, the mud, and the other difficulties of the way. Not to mention other artifices, after committing slaughters, plundering houses, and killing the inhabitants, the Abipones feign departure, and seem to be hastening their flight; but when they are supposed many leagues distant, renew the assault, surprize the surviving Spaniards, and kill all they can. So that it is a certain fact, that the Indians are never more formidable than when they seem most afraid.