Having effected this congenial work, he returned to _Belem_, now called _Parâ_. His new conquests were considered at Madrid to be of such consequence as to deserve to be erected into a separate government, partly on account of the difficulty of communication between _Maranham_ and _Pernambuco_. But the days were at hand when the natives were to be avenged by the arm of another European nation for the wrongs which they had suffered from Maciel and his like.
NOTE.--Chapters V., IX., XV. and XVI. of vol. I. are founded on “History of _Brazil_;” by Robert Southey. Longman. 1810.
On “The History of _Paraguay_;” Charles A. Washburn. Lee and Shepard. New York. 1871.
On “_Noticia Biografica De Fernando de Magallanes_;” by Navarrete.
On “_Lettres Édifiautes et Curienses,;” écrites des Missions Étrangères. Nouv. edit._; _par_ Querbeuf.
On “_La Plata_;” _Etude Historique_; _par_ Santiego Arcos. Paris. 1865.
On “History of the Indies;” by J. de Acosta; Hakluyt Society. 1880.
And on “_Voyage dans l’Amérigue Méridionale_;” _par Don_ F. de Azara. 4 vols. 8vo. 1809.
_ESTABLISHMENT OF THE JESUITS IN_ PARAGUAY.
The town of _Buenos Ayres_, once permanently established, soon became a considerable place; and that notwithstanding its incommodious and unsafe harbour. Forty years after its foundation (1620) it was declared a separate colony, which was to comprise all the regions in _La Plata_ below the confluence of the _Paraguay_ and the _Paraná_. It likewise became the seat of a bishop, and in fifty years from its foundation numbered as many inhabitants as _Asuncion_. The colony of _Tucuman_ had been founded in 1564, but it did not, like _Paraguay_, have the advantage of river communication with the ocean, nor did it benefit by the direction of a master mind such as that of Irala. Notwithstanding this, the jurisdiction of the governor of _Tucuman_ was in 1596 extended over _Paraguay_. The governor deputed a very able substitute to administer the latter province in the person of Hernando Saavedra, whose capacity for administration is considered to have been only surpassed by that of Irala.
Saavedra, after much exploration in the territories inhabited by the native tribes, deemed that it would be better to attach rather than to weaken or exterminate them, and that for this purpose it would be advisable to use every means for converting them to Christianity. For this end he appealed to the court of Spain, and in 1608 Philip III. took the memorable decision of issuing the royal letters-patent to the Order of Jesus for the conversion of the Indians of the province of _Guayrá_, which district comprised both banks of the upper _Paraná_ to the east of _Asuncion_. In this region the towns of _Onteveros_, _Ciudad Real_, and _Villa Rica_ had been founded as early as 1554 by _Don_ Ruy Diaz de Melgarejo.