The Fathers of the Paraguayan missions, however, had still to be dealt with. Their first move was to cause an address to be signed by their _Guaraní_ foremen, and to present it to the governor, praying that the Jesuits might continue to live with them. That this petition came from the Jesuits themselves, and not from the Indians, was apparent. Bucareli, accordingly, taking it as an indication that they did not mean to surrender without a struggle, took energetic measures to compel them to submit. Occupying the pass of _Tebicuari_, and sending a force to _S. Miguel_, he ascended the _Uruguay_ at the head of a further force. By way of proving the worthlessness of the _Guaraní_ petition on behalf of the Jesuits, he caused another document to be prepared and signed by the Indian judges and _caciques_ of some thirty towns, expressing thankfulness to the King for having relieved them from their former arduous life. Whatever else these respective petitions may show, they certainly prove how thoroughly the _Guaranís_ had learnt the lesson of implicit obedience to whatsoever instructions they might receive, irrespective of their convictions, if they had sufficient individuality left to possess any. But by this time it was evident that resistance was hopeless. Many of the missions had fallen into the hands of the governor, and the Fathers did not venture to bring their disciples into the field. They were sent to _Buenos Ayres_, and shared the fate of their brethren who had preceded them. There was indeed no discretion left to the authorities in executing the measures for the expulsion of the Jesuits from the Spanish dominions. One of the most able and conscientious of the number, the aged Father Chomé, being confined to his bed by illness, was carried from the _Chiquito_ missions in a hammock to _Oruro_, where he died from the effects of the journey. Another missionary, Father Mesner, an old and infirm man, who had laboured for thirty years in the _Chiquito_ “Reductions,” was sent on a journey of four hundred and fifty miles to _Santa Cruz_. After remaining there for five months, until the season for crossing the _Andes_ had come, he was placed upon a mule, whilst riding upon which he died. It is right to add that the Spanish Minister, on learning these facts and others of a similar nature, indignantly reproved the South-American authorities for their inhumanity. In all one hundred and fifty-five Jesuits were expelled from _La Plata_, _Tucuman_, and _Paraguay_.