He returned to attempt the venture for the second
time, but his force was again defeated, and on this occasion he lost his
life.
The Indians in these provinces had now become expert horsemen. They,
too, possessed their share of the enormous quantities of live stock with
which the country abounded; but if from drought or any other such cause
the numbers of their animals grew uncomfortably diminished, they would
raid the European settlements, and, taking the colonists by surprise and
slaughtering without mercy, would sweep the country-side clear of live
stock, and scamper away to their own haunts at top speed.
Thus the hatred between the natives and the colonials grew ever more
bitter, and weapons, ambushes, and massacres constituted the sole means
of communication between the two. These Indians of the open plains
proved themselves formidable enemies, and, utterly merciless as they
showed themselves to the vanquished, they rapidly became a continual
source of dread to the pioneers living in the remoter settlements.
In 1767, when the order was received from Spain to expel the Jesuits
from the Spanish colonies in South America, the expulsion took place
unattended by any untoward circumstances in such places as Cordoba,
Corrientes, Montevideo, and Santa Fe.
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