* * * * * After the greater part of the _Guaranís_ had embraced Christianity, a section still refused to listen to the voice of the missionaries, and sought an asylum in the adjoining mountains. Their grieved would-be converters for a while consoled themselves with the reflection that the sudden change from the burning _pampas_ plains to the snows of the _Andes_ would suffice to exterminate the heathen; but when they were disappointed in this pious wish, and when the tribesmen, who had, on the contrary, increased in numbers, ventured to murder some Dominicans, the vengeance of the authorities was roused, and their mountains were invaded, with the result that many hundreds of them were made prisoners or slain. * * * * * The Jesuit missions, where were renewed the innocence and piety of the early Christians, numbered towards the close of the seventeenth century forty large establishments, the most considerable of which included from fifteen to twenty thousand souls. The chief of each mission and the judge were chosen year by year. The fruits of the land were placed in public magazines, from which each family received its allotted share. So remarkable was the innocence of the _Guaraní_ converts that the Fathers own that their pupils’ confessions seldom or never revealed anything to call for absolution. They denied to the Paraguayans any share of inventive genius, but claimed for them on the other hand the greatest powers of imitation. They could make tables, print or copy books, imitate the finest writing, construct musical instruments and watches, draw plans and engrave maps. It was not without labour that their conversion was brought about; but once effected, it was sincere and lasting, and there were no bounds to the attachment they evinced towards their spiritual fathers. The following extract, translated from _Azara_, may give some further idea of the system pursued by the Jesuits. The historian’s knowledge is derived from eye-witnesses, and his statements of fact, though not his conclusions, agree with those of the Fathers:--