As successor to Mendoza the Spanish Government appointed Cabeza de Vaca, an experienced adventurer, who sailed from Spain in 1540 with four hundred men. He landed at Santa Catherina in Brazil, and thence made a most adventurous march to Asuncion. He set out on October 18, 1541, and did not arrive till March 11, 1542, after suffering extraordinary hardships. At Asuncion he found that the Spanish settlers had chosen Domingo Irala as their chief. The two rivals, however, had enough work for both, and Cabeza de Vaca sailed down to the River Plate where the Spaniards had practically abandoned their settlements, and the few survivors were in great danger of destruction by the Indians. He refounded Buenos Aires towards the end of 1542; but the time was not yet ripe for the planting of colonies, and not many months later the city was abandoned for the second time. Nor was Cabeza de Vaca fortunate in his undertakings in Paraguay. His attempts to reform abuses made him unpopular with the settlers, who preferred Irala, and in 1544 Cabeza de Vaca was seized and sent a prisoner to Spain where, after the law's long delays, he was acquitted, but never compensated. Irala, who was an able and daring leader, contrived to maintain his authority till his death, which occurred in 1557, and credit is due to him for keeping the Spanish flag flying in the isolated post of Asuncion, which was rapidly growing in importance, and in 1547 was made the seat of a Bishop by Pope Paul III. All this time, however, it should be remembered that we are dealing rather with the history of what is now Paraguay than Argentina, for the southern settlements on the River Plate were once more in the hands of the Indians. It was at this time that another important town was established in territory which now belongs to Argentina. Peru had been conquered by Pizarro, parts of Chile by Almagro, and in 1559 Hurtado de Mendoza passed over the Andes from the west and founded the pleasant city which bears his name. This work of building cities on the eastern side of the Andes was carried on by other Spaniards from Peru, and they founded Tucuman in 1565 and Cordoba in 1573.