THE PAYAGOA VILLAGE.
The Guaycurus and their allies the Payagoas are essentially shepherds.
They are also thorough agriculturalists. The former are horsemen, and
spend half their lives roaming about; the latter are stationary. They
in general live on the banks of rivers and lakes, and are much addicted
to fish.
Their habitations are mere huts of the most primitive description.
Diogo scarcely knew which route to follow to arrive at the village of
the Payagoas--not only of the position, but even of the existence of
which he was ignorant.
As he had already often found himself in connection with them, and knew
their usages, he had darted off quite at random in the direction the
chief had indicated to him, intending to follow as nearly as possible
the bank of the river, convinced that there only he would find their
village, if it really existed, which he had no reason to doubt.
He galloped all night, scarcely knowing where he was going, and
ardently longing for sunrise.
At last the day dawned. Diogo ascended a rather high hill, and from
thence he looked around him.
At three or four leagues from the spot where he had stopped, on the
very bank of the river, the captain perceived--in a rather misty light
it is true, but nevertheless distinct to his piercing eye--a confused
and considerable mass of cabins, over which hovered a thick cloud of
smoke.
Diogo descended the hill, and resumed his course, making straight for
the village. When he approached it, he could see it was more important
than he at first thought, and fortified by an enclosure formed by a
large and deep ditch, behind which they had raised a range of sticks,
bound together with ivy.
The captain called all his boldness to his aid, and, after a moment of
hesitation, bravely advanced towards the village, into which he entered
at a gallop.
The warriors were still for the most part asleep, lying on hides
stretched on the ground, the body covered by the clothing of the women,
and the head placed on little bundles of hay, of which their females
make use in riding on horseback.
In the streets that the captain traversed, he only met children or a
few women going to seek a supply of wood. Others prepared the meal of
manioc; some, crouched down before their cabins, were making either
pottery or baskets, but the greater number were occupied in weaving the
cotton stuff which they use for clothing.
Notwithstanding the early hour, great activity reigned in the village,
which appeared to be very populous. The captain cast, as he proceeded,
a curious glance on all that was offered to his view, inwardly
astonished at the laborious manner of living of these poor Indians,
whom travellers are pleased to represent as so indolent that the least
work is repugnant to them, and as rather liking to pass the entire day
in smoking or sleeping, than in concerning themselves with the cares
which the necessities of life so imperiously demand.
However, notwithstanding the curiosity that devoured him, and the
admiration that this spectacle gave rise to, prudence warned him to
allow nothing to appear on his countenance.
Although he had successfully penetrated into the interior of the
village, Diogo could not but be considerably embarrassed to find the
cottage inhabited by the captain of the Payagoas.
Diogo vainly turned over in his mind, while continuing his gallop,
the means of escaping from this embarrassment, when chance once more
came to his aid. At the moment when he passed before a cabin of good
appearance, forming the angle of a square, his horse, frightened by a
tame peccary, which suddenly rushed howling to fasten to the horse's
legs, began to rear, which in an instant brought round it twenty of
those lazy people who always abound in the centres of population.
These idlers, whose numbers increased every minute, pressed more and
more round the horse, which the captain had extreme difficulty in
restraining, and in preventing from doing injury to some of the people,
whose cries began seriously to frighten the animal.
At the same instant a man of tall stature came out from the hut of
which we have spoken, and, attracted by the noise, threaded the crowd,
which separated respectfully on his appearance, and soon found himself
in face of the captain.
The latter, who, two days previously, when he had been on the search
of the guide, had met with the chief of the Payagoas, recognised him
immediately.
Saluting him in the Indian fashion, he jumped to the ground.
"Ai!" cried the chief; "A Guaycurus warrior? What has happened, then?"
"At the instant, when I was about to stop my horse before the cottage
of the captain, for whom I have a message," answered Diogo without
being disconcerted, "a peccary frightened him."
"Epoï! My brother is a complete Guaycurus horseman; the animal is
tame," graciously said Emavidi, "and is allowed to stray. What is my
brother's name?"
"The Grand Sarigue," said Diogo.
"Ai! I know the name of my brother; he is a renowned warrior; I have
often heard people praise him; I am happy to see him."
The captain thought it necessary to bow.
Emavidi continued--
"My brother has made a long track to arrive here; he will accept the
hospitality of a chief. The Payagoas love the Guaycurus; they are
brothers."
"I accept the generous offer of the chief," answered the captain.
Emavidi Chaime clapped his hands. A slave ran towards him. The chief
ordered him to take charge of Diogo's horse. He then dismissed the
crowd which had stopped before his door with a gesture, and introduced
the captain to his cabin, the entrance to which he closed with a hurdle
covered with an ox's hide.
The cabin was spacious, well ventilated, clean, and internally arranged
with uncommon intelligence.
In a distant corner of the apartment the slaves were occupied in
certain labours, under the direction of the wife of the chief.
On a sign from Emavidi, she came with haste to welcome the stranger,
and to offer him all the refreshment which she supposed he needed.
This woman was named White Star. She was tall and well made: her
features were intelligent, without being absolutely handsome. The
expression of her countenance was sweet; she appeared to be about
twenty-two or twenty-three years of age at the most.
Her costume was composed of a piece of stuff streaked with various
colours, which enveloped her rather tightly from the chest to the foot,
fastened at the hips by a large girdle, called ayulate, of a crimson
colour. This girdle is white in the case of young girls, and they only
abandon it when they marry. Pinia-Pai was neither painted nor tattooed;
her long black hair, arranged in the Brazilian style, fell nearly to
the ground; little silver beads, threaded, forming a kind of chaplet,
encircled her neck; metal plates attached to her breast half-concealed
her bosom, and large semicircles of gold were suspended to her ears.
With this picturesque costume this young woman was not wanting in a
certain piquant grace, and was calculated, as indeed was the fact, to
appear charming to the captain.
With a celerity full of respect, White Star had in an instant garnished
the table with dishes, the abundance of which made up for the frugality
of the repast, for it consisted only of meat, fruits, boiled fish, and
meat dried in the sun, and roasted on hot coals.
Diogo, on the invitation of the chief, proceeded to do honour to this
improvised repast, of which he had begun to feel the want.
The chief, although taking no part in the repast, excited his guest
to eat, and the captain, whose appetite appeared to increase as he
proceeded, did not need any pressing to vigorously attack all the
dishes.
Moreover, apart from the hunger Diogo felt, he knew that not to eat
much, when one is invited to the table of a chief, is considered by the
latter as wanting in politeness, and almost a mark of contempt.
However, a time arrived when, notwithstanding all his good will, he was
obliged to stop.
Emavidi Chaime, who had followed with interest the prowess accomplished
by his guest, appeared charmed. He then offered him some tobacco in a
long pipe of palm leaves, rolled together, and the two men proceeded to
emit large puffs of smoke in each other's faces.
When her presence was no longer necessary, White Star had discreetly
withdrawn into another apartment of the cottage, making a sign to her
slaves to follow her.
A considerable lapse of time now elapsed, without a single word being
exchanged. The nature of the Indians is contemplative, and has much in
common with that of the Orientals. Tobacco produces on them the effect
of a narcotic, and if it does not completely send them to sleep, it at
least plunges them for a considerable time into a kind of somnolent
ecstasy.
It was Emavidi Chaime who first broke silence.
"My brother, the Grand Sarigue, is the bearer of a message from Tarou
Niom to me?" said he.
"Yes," answered Diogo.
"Is this message personal, or is it addressed to the other captains of
the nation, and to the grand council?"
"It is only for my brother, Emavidi Chaime."
"Epoï, does my brother think proper to communicate it to me at once, or
does he prefer to wait and take some hours of repose?"
"The Guaycurus warriors are not weak women," answered Diogo; "a journey
of a few hours on horseback takes nothing from their vigour."
"My brother has well spoken; what he says is true. My ears are open;
the words of Tarou Niom always rejoice the heart of his friend."
"Tarou Niom is prudent," answered Diogo; "he knows that the Pai dogs
now tread the sacred earth of the Guaycurus and the Payagoas. Treason
has come with them."
Then, removing from his girdle, where he had placed it, the knife that
the chief had sent by him, he presented it to the Payagoas.
"Here," said he, "is the keaio of Tarou Niom. Does the captain, Emavidi
Chaime, recognise it?"
The chief took it in his hands, considered it for an instant with
attention, and, replacing it on the table--
"I recognise it," said he; "my brother can speak."
Diogo bowed as a sign of acknowledgment, passed the knife again into
his girdle, and answered--
"Here are the words of Tarou Niom; they are graven in the heart of the
Grand Sarigue. Tarou Niom reminds the captain of the Payagoas of his
promise; he asks him if he has really the intention to keep it?"
"Yes, I will keep the promise made to my brother, the captain of the
Guaycurus. This very day the grand council will assemble, and tomorrow
the war canoes will ascend the river; I myself will direct them."
"What, then, does my brother mean?" said Diogo; "I do not understand
him. Does he not say that the war canoes will ascend the river?"
"I have, indeed, said so," answered the chief.
"For what reason will my brother take that direction?"
"Why, to aid, as has been agreed between us, Tarou Niom, to conquer the
Pai dogs."
"Listen to the words of the chief; the Pai are surrounded by my
warriors; flight is impossible for them; already discouraged and half
dying with hunger, in two or three suns at the latest they will fall
into my hands, if my brother remember his promise."
"Well?" interrupted the chief.
"Other enemies more serious," imperturbably continued Diogo, "threaten
us at this moment."
"Is that true, then, which, this very morning, one of my scouts told
me?" cried the chief.
"It is, unhappily, but too true," coolly answered Diogo. "It is
especially with the design of assuring you of that news, and of taking
with you the necessary dispositions--that is to say," said he, with a
gracious smile, "to concert only measures of safety that it may suit
you to adopt in the general interest, and to report them immediately to
Tarou Niom, in order that he may efficiently support you, that he has
sent me to his brother."
"So the whites are entering in all directions?"
"Yes."
"The captain, Joachim Terraira, has then really set out from Villa
Bella?"
"There cannot be the least doubt of that," boldly answered Diogo.
"And Tarou Niom," pursued the chief, "thinks that I ought to dispute
the passage of the Pai?"
"Six thousand warriors will join those of the Payagoas chief."
"But it is especially the passage of the river that it is important to
defend."
"This opinion is also that of Tarou Niom."
"Epoï, my warriors, aided by those of my brother, Tarou Niom, will keep
the ford of Camato, whilst the great war canoes will intercept the
communications, and harass the Pai along the river."
"My brother has perfectly understood his wishes."
"What may be the number of the Pai who come from Bella Villa?"
"Tarou Niom has been assured that they were at least two thousand."
"Ai; that is extraordinary; I have been told that their number is not
more than five hundred."
Diogo bit his lips, but immediately collecting himself--
"They are more numerous than the leaves strewed by the hurricane," said
he, "only they are divided into little war detachments."
"Ha!" cried the chief, with alarm, "That is terrible."
"Moreover," added Diogo, who knew the terror Indians have for Negroes,
"each war detachment is followed by a considerable number of coatas
(Negroes), who have taken the terrible oath to massacre all the
Payagoas wanderers, and to carry away their wives and daughters."
"Oh!" said the chief, with a feeling of ill-concealed fright; "The
coatas are not men, they resemble evil genii. The warning of my brother
shall not be lost. This very evening the women and children shall leave
the village to withdraw into the Llano de Manso, and the warriors shall
proceed to march to the ford of Camato, followed by all the war canoes."
Diogo rose--
"Does the Grand Sarigue leave, then, already?" asked the chief, rising
also.
"It is necessary, chief; Tarou Niom has charged me with making the
greatest haste."
"Epoï, my brother will thank the great captain of the Guaycurus."
The two men went out. On the order of Emavidi Chaime a slave brought
out Diogo's horse; the latter leaped into the saddle, exchanged a few
more words with the chief, and then they separated.
The captain was delighted. Up to the present time all had succeeded
beyond his hope; not only did he know the plans of the enemy, but also
he had learned that the Paulistas, who had suddenly appeared on the
battlefield, could, at any moment, come to aid them. Moreover, he had
hindered the junction of the two Indian nations, which, by preserving a
free passage of the rivers, offered a chance of safety to the caravan.
Diogo left the village at a gentle trot, plunged in these sanguine
reflections, and only wishing one thing--to rejoin his companions as
soon as possible.
When he saw the desert plain spread out before him, he leant over the
neck of his horse, refreshed and invigorated by two hours of repose,
touched it with the spur, and began to dart along with the rapidity of
the wind.
On a sudden, at the turn of a path, he came across a horseman who was
coming towards him with a rapidity equal to his own.
Diogo could not repress an exclamation of surprise, and almost of fear.
In this horseman he recognised Malco Diaz.
"Fortune turns," grumbled he between his teeth, at the same time urging
forward his horse, which appeared to annihilate space.