Christopher Almaraz may be called the founder of this colony; he certainly was the occasion of its being founded. A Spaniard by descent, and born in the country of St. Iago, he was taken captive when a boy by the Abipones, amongst whom he was brought up, and became a savage in countenance, language, mind, and manners. None of the savages was more hostile to the Spaniards than Almaraz, so that he became famous for slaughters and plunderings, and was an Abipon in the eyes of the Abipones themselves, by whom he was not only naturalized, but honoured in an uncommon degree, by receiving in marriage a woman of noble family amongst them, who, after bearing him many children, was carried away to St. Iago, with the other captives taken by Barreda, in his assault. In the hope of recovering his wife, Almaraz entreated his Cacique, Alaykin, to request Barreda to grant a colony for his countrymen, declaring that this was the surest and the only method of procuring the liberty of the captives. He offered his services as orator and ambassador in the negociation. This advice being approved by Alaykin, Almaraz set off unaccompanied and unarmed, and after travelling more than a hundred leagues, entered the town of St. Iago. The business succeeded to his wish, and Barreda assented with pleasure to his petition for a colony. Supported by the assistance of the Governor of Tucuman, and by repeated conversations well acquainted with the inclinations of the Cacique Alaykin, he founded a colony on the eastern shore of the river Inespin, which is nine leagues distant from the Parana, sixty from the city of Sta. Fè, and a hundred and seventy from the land of St. Iago. The town was situated on a gentle acclivity. The climate was admirably temperate, neither parched with summer heats, nor starving with frost or cold winds. In the neighbourhood was a river, supplying wholesome water, a wide plain abounding in pasture, and woods which afforded fruit-trees, fire-wood, and timber for building. There was an incredible variety of wild animals fit for the chase. All kinds of palm-trees grew near at hand. In an immense plain, extending towards the south, you beheld many thousands of wandering horses; and the marshes, lakes, and rivers abounded in otters and capibaris. The soil moreover was extremely fertile, and favourable to any kind of seed. These numerous advantages induced the Cacique Alaykin to choose that place for the site of the colony. His companions too, greatly approved of the situation, thinking that the more distant it was from the towns of the Spaniards, the better secured it must be from their attacks. Rivers frequently unfordable, immense swamps, marshes, and lakes many miles in extent, incredibly retard the journey from St. Iago to this colony.