I informed Barreda, by means of a trusty messenger, of the slaughter and rapine committed by the hostile Abipones, and of their threats and intentions, that he might, if possible, find some means of restraining their boldness, and providing for the security of the Spanish travellers. Troops of horse had indeed been repeatedly sent us, both to act as guards and to build our houses: yet the savages never made closer or more daring attacks upon our colony, never carried off greater numbers of horses and oxen, or caused us more trouble and danger than when these few soldiers were present. At length Barreda came himself with two companies of horse, and directed a couple of small rooms to be built for us of unbaked brick, and wooden beams; a third, of the same materials, but longer, was styled a chapel. We ourselves were not mere spectators, but strenuous assistants in the whole work:—laboriously occupied with mud and timber, we wearied both our hands and feet for whole days. It grieved us greatly that buildings erected with so much labour should be occupied by us but a very few days. Shortly after, when, at the command of the Superiors, I removed to St. Jeronymo, my companion and the Indians were obliged to migrate elsewhere: the neighbouring rivers and lakes being exhausted by long drought, or at least impregnated with salt, and the plain being on the same account destitute of grass, it became necessary to remove the colony to the shores of the Dulce, many leagues distant, before the cattle and the inhabitants were destroyed by hunger and thirst. When settled there, the Abipones had nearly been overwhelmed in the night by a sudden inundation of the river, a greater than which none of the natives had ever witnessed. Thus they were obliged to remove their colony over and over again, one time to seek water, at another to avoid it. How calamitous and prejudicial these reiterated migrations were to the Indians, to the priests, and to the cattle, would be tedious to relate. After fourteen changes of the colony, they at last obtained a more fortunate situation on the western shore of the Rio Dulce, inhabited by Spaniards, and about fifty leagues distant from the city of St. Iago. More fertile pastures were no where to be found: so that within a few years the number of kine increased to thirty thousand, though many were yearly consumed in feeding the Indians, especially after Debayakaikin and his numerous hordesmen fled thither from St. Ferdinand. This new guest proved in reality an enemy to the colony by frequently involving it in broils, on account of his long quarrel with Ychoalay. At length, however, he bade farewel to the town of Concepcion, and retired, with most of his people, to their ancient retreats in Chaco, where, as I have related, he was slain in battle by Ychoalay.