My Abipones, late the conquerors of the Tobas, were not ignorant that their vanquished enemies observed the same rule as themselves in revenging injuries, and that victories were often succeeded by bloody slaughters. That they might not, therefore, be surprized by a sudden incursion of the Tobas, whom they had recently provoked, they diligently fortified their tents by the erection of temporary fences. But as fear deems no protection sufficient, they dreamt, even at mid-day, of enemies, snares, and attacks. A certain species of beetle, humming at an unlucky moment, was taken for a spy belonging to the enemy. No place nor time was free from danger and anxiety to the Abipones. Moreover, the female jugglers, whose predictions the savages think it a crime to discredit, used falsely to affirm that the enemies were approaching, and their divinations being frequently confirmed by Indians going to and fro, the Abipones often passed the day, and still oftener the night, in arms, expecting every instant the assault of the Tobas. To this continual trepidation was added the contagion of the tertian fever, which raged indiscriminately, for a length of time, amongst persons of either sex, and of every age. Being forced to attend upon the sick day and night, I was at length seized with the disorder myself; but whereas the rest only suffered from it every third day, I, on the contrary, was afflicted with alternate fits of heat and cold for many hours every evening; a period at which none but myself felt the slightest degree of fever. The disease grew so violent, that my head became delirious at night, my body was inflamed with heat, my tongue grew black as a coal, and my languid feet consisted of nothing but skin and bone; it was long before I could walk without leaning on a crutch, so greatly was my strength exhausted; in a word, I looked like a breathing carcass. The Indians, who daily crowded to see me, exclaimed all together, with tears in their eyes, "You are going to die, Father! you are going to die!" I certainly seemed at no great distance from the grave, my disorder daily increasing, and myself destitute of physician, medicine, proper food, wine, bread, sugar, every thing in short necessary to revive and strengthen me. The very sight of the hard dry beef, my only fare at other times, created disgust in my languid stomach: maize ground and boiled, if it could be procured of the Indians at any price, I accounted a luxury, finding it of great service in cooling me and quenching my burning thirst. Moreover, I made daily use of a plant, in Spanish called _verdologa_, in Latin, _portulaca_, which, boiled in water, afforded me great relief: it has small, bright, green leaves, growing on a reddish stalk, which creeps along the ground, and seasoned with oil and vinegar is an excellent substitute for lettuce.