ecesses of the forest on the banks. For a while the Spaniards
would not believe the surly message of death given by the unseen
Indians. In the end, however, its truth could not be doubted, and Irala
assumed command of the party. Returning to Asuncion, he was unanimously
appointed Governor by the settlers of the place.

[Illustration: SUGAR-MAKING.

A seventeenth-century representation of the whole of the processes of
the manufacture of sugar.

_From "Historia Antipodum."_]

The character of Domingo Martinez de Irala was eminently suited to the
post he now held. His courage was high, his determination inflexible,
and his energy abundant. It is true that, in the same manner as his
colleagues of the period, he was frequently totally careless of the
means employed so long as the end was achieved. Nevertheless, he was in
many respects an ideal leader, and his vigorous personality kept in
check both the ambitions of the Spanish cliques and the dissatisfaction
of the less friendly Indians.

Irala was destined to undergo many vicissitudes in the course of his
Governorship. Very soon after he had been elected to this post it was
his fate to be superseded for a while. Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca,
having obtained the appointment in Spain itself, came out by Royal
Licence to govern the new province of which Asuncion was the capital.
Cabeza de Vaca was essentially a humanitarian Governor, who proved
himself extremely loth to employ coercion and the sword, which means, in
fact, he only resorted to with extreme reluctance as a very last
resource. His courage and determination were evidenced by his overland
journey; for, instead of sailing up the great river system from the
mouth of the River Plate, he brought his expedition overland from Santa
Catalina in Brazil, advancing safely through the numerous tribes and
difficult country which intervened between the coast and Asuncion.

The temperament of Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca, however, was of too
refined and trusting an order to deal with the turbulent and somewhat
treacherous elements which abounded at Asuncion. After a while a revolt
occurred, brought about probably by the Governor's objection to the
wholesale plundering and enslavement of the Indians by the Spaniards.
The populace turned strongly against the Governor. Cabeza de Vaca was
flung into prison, and sent a prisoner to Spain, after which drastic
procedure Irala was once again elected Governor by the colonists.
Doubtless