hesitation the carrying out of the
orders from Spain in the province of Paraguay. Many tens of thousands
of Indians formed part of the Jesuit settlements, and the influence of
the Company was supreme throughout all the territories which now
constitute North-West Uruguay, South-East Paraguay, and South-West
Brazil.

Don Francisco de Paula Bucareli y Ursua, the Governor of Buenos Aires,
marched north in order to effect the eviction. Bucareli's few companies
of troops would, of course, in actual warfare have stood no chance
whatever against the numerous Indian regiments which the Jesuit missions
now possessed. Bucareli relied on his gifts of tact and diplomacy, of
which he gave no small evidence during the negotiations which ensued. As
it turned out, the employment of neither of these qualities, nor of the
troops which he brought with him, proved necessary, for the Jesuits
expressed themselves ready and willing to comply with the order, and,
having obeyed it, they were escorted to Buenos Aires. From thence they
were sent by ship to Europe, and the great social structure they had
erected fell forthwith to the ground.

The districts which had formerly been occupied by the mission Indians
became after a while practically depopulated, and the Portuguese,
remarking this state of affairs, decided that the moment was favourable
for aggression. Thus, in 1801, Portuguese troops from the town of San
Pedro advanced against the Spanish port on the western shore of the Lake
Patos, whilst others advanced towards the River Prado.

The majority of these invaders appear to have been more or less of the
freebooting order. One of the most notable bodies was commanded by Jose
Borges do Canto, who assembled a small army of forty men, which he armed
at his own expense. Learning that the Indians, bereft now of their
Jesuit Fathers and discontented with the Spanish rule, would take the
first opportunity of rising against the Spaniards, he determined to
push on towards the site of the old missions.

At San Miguel the band of desperadoes came across an entrenchment manned
by Spaniards. These, entirely deceived as to the real importance of the
force which attacked them, retired after the exchange of a few shots,
and capitulated on condition of permission to retreat unmolested. This
was granted, but the retiring Spanish garrison was almost immediately
afterwards taken prisoner by another roving Portuguese body. It was some
while before their prot