The slaughter of the Spaniards of St. Iago in the woods named Hierro, was much more desperate. To give you some idea of the extent of it, a little prefacing is necessary. To seek honey and wax in the woods, to purify and prepare it, and to sell it to others, is the principal and peculiar trade of the inhabitants of St. Iago. Slaves are sent for that purpose by the more opulent, with a director, to the remotest woods, where natural bee-hives are found in hollow trees. Cottages are built for the labourers of boughs and straw, where there is a field close by, and a good opportunity of getting water. They always keep a number of horses and mules; the former for the purpose of travelling and hunting, the latter for that of carrying burdens of provisions, wax, and honey. They are all extremely solicitous to have in readiness very swift horses, with which they daily sally forth to hunt wild animals, the flesh of which they use for food, and the skins for bags to hold the honey. Whilst the rest wander through the wood, their director boils the wax collected the day before, and prepares food for his companions on their return. There is one place particularly abundant in honey; it is a hundred leagues from St. Iago, and is named Hierro. This circumstance was well known to Oaherkaikin, the crafty leader of the Abipones, and thither he came to commit depredations with a faithful troop of followers, nor was he disappointed in his hopes; for he found a vast number of Spaniards in that place seeking honey. The most distinguished of these was Lisondo, than whom, the Commander-in-chief, Barreda, declared, he had not a braver nor more active soldier. One of the slaves, who had gone to a neighbouring ditch to draw water, spied an Abiponian horseman leaning upon his spear, and having his face painted with dark colours; upon which he called out _Amigo_, friend. This salutation being sternly rejected by the savage, the slave, greatly alarmed, told what he had seen to Lisondo, who, always intrepid, said he saw no immediate occasion for fear. Soon after, the bands of Abipones sprung forth from the various parts of the wood where they had concealed themselves, and slaying all they met, rushed into the cottage of Lisondo, who, armed with his axe and his presence of mind alone, broke the spears of four of the assailants, but at last fell oppressed by numbers. He expired wounded in many places, having been first dragged out of doors by strong straps of leather, with which his hands and feet were bound. Lisondo being slain, the few who escaped the eyes and hands of the savages, saved their lives by flight. Three or four leapt on to the same horse, and beginning their journey without any provisions, the fugitives were threatened with fresh dangers of death. They had to travel at least fifty leagues, in a vast solitude, before they could reach the dwellings of men. Hence, wasted with hunger, thirst, and apprehension, they at length reached home, many of them on foot, and