The Jesuit Contucci, at that time Provincial and Visitor of Paraguay, being ordered, in the King's name, to appoint priests for the new colony, after consulting those persons who were best acquainted with the affairs of the province, conferred this charge upon me, on account of my acquaintance with the Abiponian tongue. I was therefore called to the Guarany town of Sta. Rosa, where the Provincial resided, on business of the colony, and soon afterwards ordered to hasten to the metropolis, where I had to wait from the 28th of August till the 24th of November, whilst the Governor was preparing every thing necessary for beginning the colony. CHAPTER XXXVI. COMMENCEMENT OF THE COLONY. The Governor distinguished the colony he was founding with the name of S. Carlos and the Rosary, that he might at the same time show his piety to the Virgin Mary, and ingratiate himself with Carlos the Third, King of Spain. He and I embarked on the 24th of November, 1763, and were saluted with guns on the banks of the Paraguay. Our company consisted of four hundred provincial soldiers; Fulgentio de Yegros conducted the cavalry by land, and the rest of the infantry were distributed into three ships and came with us. We went on shore every night, and at mid-day also, whenever we found a convenient landing-place. The Paraguay abounds in shoals and hidden rocks, yet the danger arising from them was not so great as the inconvenience occasioned by innumerable gnats, during our ten days' voyage. Fulgentio de Yegros, with his company of horse, awaited us at a place called Passo del Timbò. On our landing, crowds of Abipones swam from the opposite shore, which they inhabited, to salute us. Some hundred oxen, with the horses of the Spaniards, were sent over to us on the other side of the river. We spent three days in the same place, engaged in the business of crossing, and then pursued our voyage. About sun-set, a tempest arose, with loud thunder and stormy wind. Though we had entered the lake which serves as a port there, we were miserably tost about by the waves for many hours. This tempest was succeeded by heavy rain, which lasted three days, and confined us within the narrow limits of the ship; during this interval, we amused ourselves with watching the huge crocodiles that surrounded the vessel. The spot appointed for the colony was a league distant from the port; thither I went, on foot, and alone, from eagerness to take a view of the situation. The whole plain was deluged with water. Having taken an entire survey, I returned to the ship, and informed the Governor that the situation appointed for the colony appeared to me to be fitter for frogs than men, and that no kind of good grain was produced in the country.