Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography/Ferrer, Rafael

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Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography

Ferrer, Rafael

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Edition of 1900. This is a fictitious person. While Rafael Ferrer was a real person born in 1570, this is a mostly fictitious biography. Ferrer did not travel to Quito until 1599, having arrived in Pasto in 1598, and he also found the Cofanis to be peaceful and receptive. His second expedition was in 1604, not 1608, and he was made master of novices in 1606, not 1605:, while his final travels began in 1608, not 1610. Further, while his death came at the hands of the Cofanis, this was via the sabotage of a bridge in 1610, not being thrown off a rock in 1611: the Cofanis had been persecuted by colonisers since their first encounter with Ferrer, and they blamed him for this, while there were also multiple Cofanis involved in his murder, none of whom are recorded as being massacred by fellow tribe members in response.

4492831Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography — Ferrer, Rafael

FERRER, Rafael (fer-rer'), Spanish missionary, b. in Valencia in 1570 ; d. in San Jose, Peru, in 1611. He entered the order of the Jesuits, against the wishes of his father, who wished his son to follow a military career. He went to Quito in 1593 and became a missionary among the Cofanis, a warlike mountain tribe, who had done much damage by their frequent incursions. In 1601, with no other arms than his cross and his breviary, he penetrated into their territory. On 29 June, 1608, the mission of "San Pablo and San Pedro " of the Cofanis was regularly organized. In 1(504 three other villages were brought under the influence of civilization, and the Cofanis ceased to be the terror of the Spanish government. Colo- nists, as a consequence, poured into the adjacent territory. The viceroy of Quito ordered Ferrer in 1605 to civilize the unconquered tribes along the river Napo, and to make a chart of the basin of that stream. He advanced more than 3,600 miles into the interior, and met with a friendly re- ception. He also made a map of the places he had traversed, and brought back a tolerably complete herbarium of the plants that he had found, and presented it to the viceroy of Quito. This voyage of exploration lasted thirty-one months. After resting at his mission among the Cofanis he re- turned to Quito from the north and traversed a hitherto unexplored forest, of which he made a plan. He discovered a large lake and the river Pilcomayo, which, on account of its navigability, was of much service to the colonization of that country. At Quito he received the title of " Chief of the missions of the Cofanis," and was, besides, appointed governor and chief magistrate of the Co- fanis. When Father Ferrer returned to his mis- sions in 1610 he devoted himself to the civilization of the few tribes of the Cofanis that up to this time had not come within his infliience, and met his death at the hand of a chief whom he had obliged to renounce polygamy. The savage surprised Fa- ther Ferrer as he was walking in the neighbor- hood of San Jose, and cast him from a narrow rock which was used to bridge a torrent. The murderer was massacred by the other Cofanis as soon as they learned of his deed. The account of the explorations of Father Ferrer never saw the light, aiui the original manuscript was lost. An extract from it was published in liie collection of the " Lettres Edificantes " by Father Dettre, pub- lished in the last century and reprinted in 1840. Besides this. Father Bernard de Bologne published in the " Bibliotheca Societatis Jesu " the same ex- tract under the title " Relations du pere Ferrer de ses voyages dans I'Amazonie et des missions qu'il a fondees en la nation Cofane " (1763), followed by a notice of Ferrer's life. Father Ferrer published "Arte de la Lengua Cofana" (Quito, 1643), and he translated into the language of the Cofanis the catechism, and selections from the gospels for every Sunday in the year. The original manuscript of this translation was discovered in a Spanish con- vent, and published in Paris.