active 16th century Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca

“ They reported to the governor how the Indians of the river assembled in great numbers with their canoes, and while our men were descending on the rafts, came out and attacked them with loud cries and beating of drums, shooting a storm of arrows at them. Two hundred canoes surrounded them at one time, trying to board and take possession of the rafts in order to kill the Spaniards. For fourteen days and nights they never ceased fighting, being exposed all that time to a constant fire of arrows, both from those on shore as well as those in the canoes. ”

“ Then the Indians to whom this happens, and those awaiting them on the bank, burst into fits of laughter, and the jokes and merriment continue all the time the market is being held. They come to this market in full paint and in their feathers, and all in this fine plumage are carried down the river, and they vie one with the other who shall be the first across; and this is the cause of their frequent collisions and upsets. In their marketing they talk so loud and so much, that they cannot hear one another for the noise, and all are very gay and jolly. ”

“ Though sick to death, the people derived strength from their desire to return home. The perils and difficulties of this voyage were certainly not light, for the men were not strong enough to handle their arms to resist the enemy, or make use of an oar to help to steer the vessels; and had it not been for the culverins we carried, our trouble would have been greater. We drew the canoes of the Indians into the midst of the brigantines to protect them from the enemy’s attacks till we came to their homes, and for better security the governor distributed some Christians in the canoes. ”

“ ON the banks of this river Paraguai there is a nation of Indians named Agazes; it is a people most feared in all that country, for besides being valiant they are well practised in war and very treacherous. Under pretext of making a treaty of peace they ravaged other tribes, not sparing even their own relatives, wishing to make themselves masters in the land, so that nobody trusts them. They are men of great size and gigantic limbs; they lead piratical lives in their canoes on the river, landing to pillage and capture the Guaranís, who are their principal enemies. ”

“ During all this navigation the governor provided food for all the people, Spaniards and Guaranís, and supplied them well with everything—fish in great abundance and game, so that they had more than they could eat. In this river there is a kind of wild pig that is constantly in the water, larger than ours in Spain; these animals are aquatic in their habits, remaining on land at night, while in the daytime they are always in the water, and when they see a person they plunge into the river and sink to the bottom, remaining a long time under water. ”

“ The women do no other work except at harvest time, when they assist in gathering the maize, and garnering it. From that place the Indians begin to be idolaters; they worship idols made of wood; but, according to the reports brought to the governor, those farther inland have idols of gold and silver.
The governor tried, with kind words, to turn the natives of Los Reyes from idolatry, persuading them to burn their idols, and believe only in God, who created heaven and earth, man, the sea, fish, and every living creature, and that he whom they worshipped was the devil, who deceived them. ”

“ The Indians said they wore these plates in order that they might so glitter and dazzle the eyes of the enemy; and they went forth with loud cries and shouts, all as merry as possible. When the governor departed from the city he left word with Captain Salazar to use every effort to complete the caravel, which he had ordered to be built, and make it ready against his return, so that he might then send his report to Spain of all that had happened in his voyage of exploration. ”

“ These gave them, in exchange for their commodities, maize, manioc, and mandubis; these last are like hazel nuts or chufas, and grow near the ground [329] ; they also supplied them with bows and arrows. Two hundred canoes crossed the river together for this market, laden with all these things; and it was the finest thing in the world to see them cross. The celerity of their movements is such that they sometimes collide with one another, and all the merchandise falls into the water. ”

“ All that precedes about the Amazons is a ridiculous tale which Schmidt could not have heard from any of those poor Indians, who had not the slightest idea about the Scythian mythology or the ancient fables from which this passage of his book is taken, after the fashion for the wonderful, prevalent at this period. The source of this story in the New World is the voyage made in 1540-41 by the Spanish officer, Orellana, who was the first to navigate the great river called of the Amazons, on account of his having related that he met on its banks a tribe of women warriors. ”

“ And when the Carios, who had formerly been our friends, perceived that we Christians were disunited, and had such false and treacherous hearts one towards another, they were not at all pleased, for they thought that every realm that is divided in itself and cannot agree must be destroyed. ”

“ From the said place, Gienugia, to these Tapis the distance is one hundred and twenty-six miles. This nation of Tapis eat their enemies, have no other occupation but waging war, and when they have conquered their enemies, they bring them to their place as prisoners, with great solemnity, as they do here in Germany at the time of a marriage. And when they prepare to slaughter their captives they make a great ceremony. They give their prisoner all he wishes for or lusts after: women with whom he may have intercourse, and meals to his heart’s content, up to the hour that he has to die. ”

“ The governor left those Indians, and continued his navigation of the river all that day with a fair wind, arriving at sunset at certain settlements belonging to the same tribe of Indians on the river shore, near the water’s edge; but in order not to lose time, and favourable weather for the voyage, he passed on without stopping. These people are agriculturists, sowing maize and other roots, hunting and fishing a great deal, both fish and game being abundant. Men and women wear the skins of wild animals, except a few, who only cover their privities. ”

“ The first guide we had taken had assured us that on the fifth day we should find provisions and reach an inhabited country with plenty of commodities. Having put faith in these promises, both Christians and Indians had improvidently consumed all they brought with them, though every man had been supplied with two arrobas of flour. The governor had, in their opinion, to consider that there were barely six days’ provisions left, and at the end of that time there would be nothing for the people to eat. ”

“ THE riparian chiefs, and those inhabiting the vicinity of the Paraguai, near the town of the Ascension, vassals of His Majesty, came and presented themselves before the governor, and complained of a tribe of Indians that dwelt near their borders. These Indians are great warriors, and valiant men, who live on venison, butter, honey, fish, and wild boar, eating nothing besides, neither they nor their wives and children. They go daily to the chase for it is their only occupation. ”

“ These habits of life, and their want of a fixed abode, rendered it impossible for the clergy to teach them the Christian religion, for the necessities of their lives prevented them from abandoning their nomadic habits, dependent as they were upon these for the means of procuring food; if, on the other hand, they were to be compelled to give up this mode of livelihood, they might die of hunger. Hence it would be lost labour to teach them, nor could the monks live with them, owing to the insecurity of remaining among a people so little to be trusted. ”

“ Garcia de Vanegas, who was one of those who had arrested the governor, died a sudden, terrible death, his eyes having fallen out of his head, and he never declared the truth of what had passed. Alonso Cabrera, the supervisor, his accomplice, lost his reason, and in a fit of frenzy he killed his wife at Loxa. The friars who had taken part in the revolt and troubles also died suddenly, which seemed to show the small blame attaching to the governor in his conduct towards them. ”

“ These are very lofty and vigorous trees, yielding a fruit one palm and a half in length and as thick as three fingers. The people ate much of it, and the inside is as sweet as honey. It does not differ the least from that kind which is brought into Spain from other countries, except that it is much larger and rougher to the taste, because it is uncultivated. There are eighty of these trees united together on the bank of the Paraguai. In these parts of the river there was an abundance of wild fruit, which the Spaniards and Indians ate. ”

“ CHAPTER THE SIXTEENTH. How the natives kill and eat their enemies.
SOON after the arrival of the governor at the Ascension the natives and conquistadores brought serious charges against the officers of His Majesty. Alvar Nuñez therefore ordered all the native subjects of the king to assemble, and in the presence of the monks and clergy told them he had been sent to protect them, and that they should come to the knowledge of God and accept Christianity at the hands of the monks and clergy who had come as the ministers of God, and should subject themselves to His Majesty. ”

“ Their delight and joy consist in making war. They drink and eat enormously, are full day and night; they are also fond of dancing, and lead such an Epicurean life that it is not possible to describe it. It is a fierce, ambitious, and arrogant people; they make wine of Turkish corn, becoming as drunk upon it as if they were drinking the best of wines. They speak the same language as the Carios, with only a very slight difference.
[269] Tapis, writes here Schmidt, and this is the Guaraní name of the tribes south of Brazil, as was given by Father Anchieta and others contemporary to the conquest. ”

“ All were elegantly attired with parrots’ feathers, and aprons of white beads to cover their nakedness. They placed the Spaniards in their midst, and led them into the village, at the entrance to which large numbers of women and children were waiting for them. The women all had their privities covered, and many of them wore wide cotton dresses, this material being in use among them under the name of tipoes.
When the Spaniards had entered the village they came to where the chief of the Xarayes was. He was surrounded by three hundred Indians of very good appearance, mostly elderly men. ”

“ That barbarous Indians are treacherous; that when they slay their enemies they will tear them to pieces and burn them, is beyond dispute. But that they will eat their flesh is a slander and a despicable falsehood founded on interested motives. I have yet to find the man who will tell me in good faith he has seen the Indians eat human flesh. Schmidt does not say it, nor does Alvar Nuñez, nor any other of the historians of America, though all repeat the tale ”