All the real work was done by the women, and even they took care not to over-exert themselves.

All were short-lived.

The women began to age at twenty, the men were old at twenty-five and generally died about thirty, of general decay, said the priest.

In my opinion of pure laziness.
Exertion is a condition of healthy existence; and the most active are generally the longest lived.
Nevertheless, Fray Ignacio was content with his people.

They were docile and obedient, went regularly to church, had a great capacity for listening patiently to long sermons, and if they died young they got so much the sooner to heaven.
All the same, Fray Ignacio was not so free from care as might be supposed.
He had two anxieties.