Spaniards, in the month of May 1541, sent a caravel with Philip de
Caceres, accountant of His Majesty, with orders to enter the river La
Plata, and visit the colony founded there by Don Pedro de Mendoza, and
called Buenos Ayres. And because the season of the year was winter, and
the weather unfavourable to navigation, he was unable to enter that
river, and returned to the island of San Catalina, where the governor
was.[303] And about this time there arrived nine Spanish Christians, who
came in a boat, having fled from the colony of Buenos Ayres because of
the ill-treatment used towards them by the captains residing in the
province; and from these Spaniards he obtained information of the state
in which the Spaniards were who lived in that country. They told him
that the colony of Buenos Ayres was inhabited and provided with people
and commodities; and how Juan de Ayolas, whom Don Pedro de Mendoza had
sent on an expedition of discovery into the interior, while returning
from his discovery, and intending to take refuge in certain brigantines
which he had left in the harbour, named by him Candelaria, in the river
Paraguai, had been killed by a certain nation of Indians living on the
same river, called Payaguás[304]; and all the Christians, with many
other Indians whom he had brought with him from the interior of the
country to carry the loads, belonging to the tribe of Chameses, were
also slain; and that of all the Christians and Indians only one boy of
the Chameses had escaped; and all this had happened because he (Juan de
Ayolas) had not found in the said harbour of Candelaria the brigantines
which he had left to be guarded till his return, according to the orders
he had given a certain Domingo de Irala of the province of Biscay in
Spain, whom he had left in the capacity of captain; who, before the
return of Juan de Ayolas, had withdrawn and abandoned the harbour of
Candelaria, so that Juan de Ayolas, not finding the brigantines as he
had expected, had fallen a victim to the Indians, who had stripped and
slain all his party because of the fault of the said Domingo de Irala,
the Biscayan captain of the brigantines. They also told him that on the
shore of the river Paraguai, one hundred and twenty leagues below the
harbour of Candelaria, a colony had been formed which was called the
town of Ascension,[305] having a good understanding and friendship with
a tribe of Indians called Carios, and that most of the Spaniards in that
province resided there. They further informed him that in the colony
and harbour of Buenos Ayres, situated on the rio del Parana, there were
seventy Christians, and the distance from that harbour to the city of
the Ascension, on the Paraguai, was three hundred and fifty leagues, of
very difficult navigation, up the river. Here, in the capacity of _locum
tenens_ of the governor of the land and province, resided Domingo de
Irala of Biscay, through whose fault happened the death of Juan de
Ayolas, and all the Christians whom he had brought with him. They also
told him that Domingo de Irala had gone from the town of the Ascension
up the river Paraguai with certain brigantines and people, saying that
he was going to search out and relieve Juan de Ayolas, and had entered a
land, much troubled with rains and marshes, and because of this he had
been unable to explore that land, and had returned with six Indian
captives of the same tribe of Payaguás as those who had killed Juan
de Ayolas and the Christians. From these prisoners he had obtained
information and sure knowledge of the death of Juan de Ayolas and of the
Christians, as well as from an Indian of the tribe of Chameses, named
Gonzalo, who had escaped when his tribesmen and the Christians, whose
loads they were carrying, were slain; who had lived ten years in
captivity among those Payaguás. And Domingo de Irala had withdrawn from
that country, having lost sixty men from sickness and fatigue. And they
also told him that the officials of His Majesty, residing in that land
and province, had done and were doing great wrongs to the Spaniards,
colonists and conquerors, and to the Indian natives, vassals of His
Majesty, and that there was much dissatisfaction and disgust. For this
reason, and also because of the ill-treatment they had suffered from
these captains, they had stolen a boat from the harbour of Buenos Ayres,
and had taken to flight with the intention and determination to inform
His Majesty of all that had passed in that land and province. To those
nine Christians, who came naked, the governor gave clothing, and took
them under his protection in order to bring them back with him to the
province, for they were useful men, good sailors, and one of them was
a pilot who knew the navigation of the river.
[303] Schmidt gives a false account of this; cf. _supra_, p. 35.
[304] Cf. _supra_, p. 27.
[305] In the original Spanish version the city of Asuncion is always
written _Ascension_.
CHAPTER THE FIFTH.
_How the governor hastened his journey._
HAVING listened to the statement of those nine Christians, the governor
thought that, in order to succour as speedily as possible the Spaniards
residing in the town of the Ascension, as well as those in the port of
Buenos Ayres, he would discover a road by _terra firma_ from the
island, and so make his way to those parts already mentioned where the
Christians were, and that he would send the vessels round by sea
to Buenos Ayres. He therefore, against the will and opinion of the
accountant Philip de Caceres, and of the pilot Antonio Lopez, who
advised that they should all go together to Buenos Ayres, sent from the
island of St. Catalina, Pedro Dorantes (the factor) to explore a road by
land into the interior of the country where formerly many vassals of
the King of Portugal had been killed by the native Indians. This Pedro
Dorantes, by order of the governor, started with one hundred Spaniards,
and some Indians who acted as guides; and at the end of three months and
a half he returned to the island of St. Catalina, where the governor was
awaiting him, and this, among other things, was what he reported: having
crossed great sierras, and mountains, and much desert country, he had
arrived at a place called "el Campo" (the plain), where the country
began to be inhabited, and that the natives of the island had told him
that the route he had taken was the safest to enter that country. He had
followed a river called the Ytabucú,[306] which is opposite the point
of the island at eighteen or twenty leagues from the harbour. When the
governor knew of this, he sent immediately to reconnoitre the country
watered by this river, through which he decided to make his journey; and
having done this, he determined to enter the country by that route, in
order to explore a region that had never before been seen, and carry
relief, in the shortest possible time, to the Spaniards in that
province. Having thus decided upon his plans, he told the friars,
Bernardo de Armenta and Alonzo Lebron his companion, to remain in the
island of St. Catalina and instruct the native Indians in the Christian
doctrine, directing and confirming those already baptized. But these
monks declined to obey, assigning as a pretext that they wished to
accompany the governor, in order to establish themselves in the town of
the Ascension, where the Spaniards were whom he was going to relieve.
[306] Or Itapucu. This river rises in the coast range, and falls into
the ocean south of San Francisco.
CHAPTER THE SIXTH.
_How the governor and his people advanced into the interior._
THE governor, having full information concerning those parts through
which he had to enter in order to discover the land and relieve the
Spaniards, and being supplied with all things necessary for his journey,
on the eighteenth of October of the same year ordered the embarkation of
the people that were to follow him in the discovery, with the twenty-six
horses and mares which had survived the sea voyage; and he ordered them
to cross the river Ytabucu and subdue it, and take possession of it in
the name of His Majesty, as newly discovered land. He left in the island
of St. Catalina one hundred and forty persons, who were to embark and
go by sea to the river La Plata, where the port of Buenos Ayres is
situated; and he charged Pedro Estopiñan Cabeza de Vaca, whom he left
there in the capacity of captain of the said people, that before leaving
the island he should supply and furnish the vessel with provisions both
for the people he was taking with him, as well as for those in Buenos
Ayres; and before his departure he gave many presents to the natives of
the island, in order that they might remain, and some of them readily
offered their services to accompany the governor and his people, to show
the road and be useful in other ways; and their assistance happened to
be very handy. On the 2nd November of the said year the governor ordered
that all his people, besides the provisions carried by the Indians,
should each take what he could carry for the road. And the same day
he began his march, with two hundred and fifty arquebusiers and
crossbowmen, very well trained in arms, twenty-five horses, the two
Franciscan friars, and the Indians of the island; then he sent the
vessel back to the island of St. Catalina in order that Pedro de
Estopiñan Cabeza de Vaca might embark and go with his people to Buenos
Ayres; and so the governor went on his way into the interior of the
land, where he and his people underwent many troubles. In nineteen days
they crossed great mountains, cutting roads through forests, to enable
the men and the horses to pass, for all the land was uninhabited. And at
the end of these nineteen days, having exhausted the provisions which
they had carried when they began their march, and having nothing left to
eat, it pleased God that, without the loss of a man, they discovered the
first inhabitants, who are called "del campo", where they found certain
villages of Indians, whose chief lord was called Añiriri, and at one
day's journey from this people there was another whose chief was
Cipoyay. And beyond this people again there was a third tribe of
Indians, whose chief said that he was called Tocanguasú. And when the
Indians knew of the arrival of the governor and his people, they went
out to meet him laden with plenty of provisions, showing great joy at
their arrival. The governor received them affably, and, besides paying
the value of the provisions into the hands of the chiefs, he graciously
gave them many shirts and other things, with which they remained
satisfied. This is a people and tribe called Guaranís; they are
cultivators, sowing maize twice in the year, and also cassava. They rear
fowls as in our Spain, and geese; keep many parrots in their houses,
and occupy much land, and the whole are of one language. They eat human
flesh, as well that of their Indian enemies as of Christians; they also
eat one another. This people is very fond of war, and they seek it; they
are very vindictive. Of this people and their territory the governor
took possession, in the name of His Majesty, as newly discovered land,
and called it the province of Vera,[307] as it appears from the deeds
of possession that were drafted before Juan de Aroaz, notary royal. And
this being done on the 29th of November, the governor and his people
left Tocanguasu. And after two days' march, on the 1st of December, they
arrived at a river called by the Indians Yguazu,[308] which means big
water; here the pilots took the depth.
[307] Alvar Nuñez took the name of his mother's family, 'Cabeza de
Vaca'; the name of his father, a descendant of the Adelantado of the
Canary Islands, was 'de Vera'.
[308] The Iguazu, or Yguassu, a large affluent of the Paraná, rises in
the Sierra do Mar, near the city of Curitiba, and flows nearly due
west. It forms the boundary of the provinces of Paraná and Santa
Catharina.
CHAPTER THE SEVENTH.
_Which treats of what happened to the governor and his people in his
journey, and of the nature of the land._
FROM this river Yguazu the governor and his people advanced on their
discovery; and on the 3rd of December they arrived at a river called by
the Indians Tibagi.[309] Its bed is paved with large stones, placed in
such order and regularity as though by hand. In crossing to the other
side of this river there was great trouble, because the people and the
horses slipped on the stones and could not keep their footing, and to
remedy this they joined hands. And although the river was not very
deep, the water ran with great force. At about two leagues beyond this
crossing the Indians came with great delight, and brought the army
provisions, so that they were never short of food, and had sometimes
even more than they could take, and left it on the road. This caused
the governor to give the Indians much, and to be generous with them,
especially with their chief, to whom, besides paying the price of the
commodities which they brought, he gave many presents, and did them many
favours and treated them so well that the fame went through the land and
the province, and all the natives laid aside their fear and came to see
and to bring all they had, and they were paid for it as aforesaid. The
same day, being near another Indian settlement, whose chief said he was
called Tapapirazú, there arrived a newly converted native Indian whose
name was Miguel, who came from the town of the Ascension, where the
Spaniards resided who were to be relieved. This Indian was returning to
the coast of Brazil, as he had been a long time with the Spaniards. The
governor conversed for some time with him, and informed himself of the
condition in which were the province, the Spaniards and the natives, and
of the great danger in which the Spaniards were because of the death of
Juan de Ayolas, and of other captains and people killed by the Indians.
Having given full information, this Indian, of his own wish, offered to
return in company with the governor to the town of the Ascension, whence
he had come, to guide and show the Spaniards the road they had to take.
Then the governor discharged the Indians that came with him from the
island of St. Catalina, and ordered them to return. These Indians, owing
to the good treatment and many presents they had received, returned well
satisfied and merry. As the people that the governor brought with him
were wanting in experience, and for fear lest they should do wrong or
mischief to the Indians, he ordered that they should neither traffic
nor communicate with them, nor visit their houses and villages, for the
Indians are of so easily excitable a nature, and shocked at the least
thing, that great inconvenience might have resulted in all the land. He
therefore ordered that only those persons who understood the Indians
should have dealings with them, and buy the provisions for all the
people at the governor's cost. And so every day he distributed the
provisions himself, and gave them gratis without any interest. It was
curious to see how feared were the horses by the Indians of that land
and province, that for the terror they had of them they dropped on
the road, and set food for them, such as fowls and honey, saying that,
provided they would not be angry, they would give them plenty to eat;
and to tranquillize them they said that they would not abandon their
settlements. But fearing lest the Christians should use violence with
them they fixed their camps at some distance off. Owing to the good
order that was kept, and seeing that the governor punished everyone who
offended them, all the Indians, with their wives and children, had such
confidence that it was a sight to see. And from very distant parts
they came, laden with provisions, only to see the Christians and their
horses, as a thing that had never before been seen in the land.
[309] The Tibagi, an affluent of the Parana-panéma, rises not far from
the Iguassu, and flows N.N.W. with a very rapid course and a total
fall of 1,550 feet in 300 miles. Its characteristic rocks are trap and
basalt. (See Bigg-Wither in _Journal R. G. S._, vol. xlvi.)
The governor and his people, continuing their journey through the
land and province, arrived at a settlement of Indians of the tribe of
Guaranís, and the chief of this tribe went out with all his people in
great joy to receive and welcome him. And they brought with them honey,
geese, fowls, flour, and maize. And the governor, through the medium of
interpreters, spoke to them affably, and told them he was pleased
at their coming, and ordered that they should be paid for what they
brought, which gave them great satisfaction. Moreover, he sent as a
present to the chief of this tribe, whose name was Pupebaie, some
presents, such as knives and scissors and other articles. We left the
Indians of this tribe so merry and pleased that they danced and sang
for joy all through the settlement.
On the seventh of December they arrived at a river known to the Indians
as the Taquari.[310] This river has a copious stream and a strong
current; and they found its banks inhabited by a tribe of Indians whose
chief was called Abangobi. This chief, in company with all the Indians
of his tribe, together with their wives and children, came out to
receive the governor, showing great joy at his arrival; and they brought
plenty of provisions, for which they were paid as usual. All these
Indians belong to one tribe, and all speak one language. From this place
they went on, leaving the natives so well satisfied that they carried
the news from place to place of the good treatment used towards them,
and showed everything they had received, so that wherever the governor
and his people had to pass, the natives were friendly and came to
meet them laden with provisions, receiving payment according to their
satisfaction. On the 14th December, having passed through some tribes of
Guaranís, by whom he was well received and entertained, the governor
and his people arrived at a settlement whose chief said he was called
Tocangusir. Here they halted one day to rest, because the people were
tired; and the direction they were following was west north-west a
quarter north. And at this place the pilots observed for latitude in
twenty-four and a half degrees, at a distance of one degree from the
tropic. Since entering the inhabited region they had found the country
to be very pleasant, with large plains, forests, and many rivers,
streams and rivulets, with abundance of good drinking water. In fact,
it is a land very suitable for cultivation and stock-rearing.
[310] This river Taquari is a tributary of the Paraná-Pané, now called
by the Brazilian geographers Paraná-panema. On this river Taquari the
Jesuits founded one of their ancient missions of Guaira, under the
tropic in the present Brazilian province _do Paraná_.
CHAPTER THE EIGHTH.
_Of the troubles that the governor and his people underwent on their
way, and of a kind of pine tree, and of the fruits of that land._
FROM the place called Tuguy, the governor and his people continued their
journey to the 19th December, without finding any settlements; this
circumstance, and the many rivers and bad passages that had to be
crossed by men and horses, caused them much trouble. They had to make
as many as eighteen bridges in a single day, across rivers as well as
over marshes, many of which were dangerous; and they had to pass great
sierras and steep mountains and large thickets of reeds that had hard,
sharp points, and other jungle. Twenty men had to be constantly in
advance, cutting and clearing a road; and it took many days to pass
through these forests, which were so thick that the sky could not be
seen overhead. And on the said nineteenth day of the said month they
arrived at a certain settlement of Guaranís, who with their chief, their
wives and children, showing great pleasure, came forth to meet the
Spaniards, two leagues from their settlement, bearing many commodities,
such as fowls, geese, honey, potatoes and other fruits, maize, and flour
of the pine tree, of which they make great quantity.
There are many pine trees in that land so great that four men with their
hands joined cannot compass one. They are tall and straight, and very
suitable for masts of ships and caracks, according to their length.
Their fruit is large, and the kernel about the size of an acorn. The
husk is like that of chesnuts, yet they differ in flavour from those of
Spain. The Indians gather them, and make of them a great quantity of
flour for their nourishment. There are many wild boar and monkeys in
that country, which feed on those kernels in the following way: the
monkeys climb to the tops of the pine trees, and suspend themselves by
their tails; then with hands and feet they detach a number of these
fruits and let them fall to the ground. And when they have thrown down a
quantity of these fruits they descend and eat them; but it often happens
that the wild beasts are watching while the monkeys pull down the fruit,
and when they have thrown them down, while the monkeys are descending
from the pine trees, the boars come out against them; and they steal
and eat the fruit, the monkeys all the while uttering cries from the
branches of the trees. There are also other fruits, of different kinds
and taste, that ripen twice a year. In this place of Tuguy the governor
remained during the feast of the nativity, both to celebrate this
feast as well as to rest the people. They found here an abundance of
provisions, for the Indians supplied them with all commodities. So the
Spaniards, partly owing to the festivities, and partly to the good
treatment they received from the Indians, were much refreshed, although
such repose was very prejudicial to them, because, taking no exercise
and eating plentifully, they could not digest what they ate, and
they immediately caught fevers, which did not happen while they were
marching. As soon as they resumed their march, after the first two days
they got rid of the disease, and regained their health. At first the
people importuned the governor, entreating that he might stop and
rest some days, but he would not consent to it, for he had already
experienced what would be the consequence; but the people thought that
he declined because he wished to give them more trouble, till at length
they were fain to acknowledge he had so acted for their good, since by
eating much they suffered; and of this the governor had great
experience.
CHAPTER THE NINTH.
_How the governor and his people found themselves starving, and
appeased their hunger with worms from reeds._
THE twenty-eighth day of December the governor and his people departed
from the village of Tuguy, where they left the Indians well pleased,
and, pursuing their route by land the whole day without finding any
inhabitants, they came to a wide and deep river with a strong current,
and along it were forests of cypress and cedar, and other trees; in
crossing this river they had plenty of trouble that and the three
following days. Marching through the land, they passed by five villages
of the Guaraní Indians, all of whom came forward and greeted us, with
their wives and children, bringing plenty of provisions, so that our
people were always well supplied, and the Indians very pacific, owing to
the good treatment and the payment they received. All this is a very
pleasant land, abounding in water and woods. The inhabitants sow maize,
cassava and other seeds, and three kinds of potatoes, white, yellow, and
reddish, very large and well flavoured. They rear geese and fowls, and
gather much honey from the hollows of the trees.