The travels of Pedro de Cieza de Léon, A.D. 1532-50, / contained in the first part of his Chronicle of Peru

by Pedro de Cieza de León

“ ‘August 10th. To the beach of Quarý, passing the mouth of lake Tumehán, where there are rocky cliffs.

“ ‘August 11th. Reached the beach of Mamurihán-merím, which is on the right bank; the 12th the beach of Gamuhím; the 13th that of Itirapuá; the 14th that of Caçadua; the 15th that of Guajará; the 16th that of Arutá; the 17th the mouth of the river Paniný; the 18th the beach of Parahán; the 19th the mouth of the river Chiriuiný. From this river begins a very long beach, along which we navigated all through the 20th, 21st, 22nd, 23rd, 24th, and 25th, and on the 26th arrived at another beach called Pedreira. On the 27th we were alongside another extensive beach, by which we went on until the end of the month. Nothing worth mentioning happened throughout this month; but the voyage began to grow more difficult, because the river got gradually narrower, much obstructed with trunks of trees, and so very tortuous, that we have sometimes gone on a whole day without advancing scarcely anything, on account of the great bends of the river.

“ ‘September. Continuing to ascend the river during the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd, on the 4th passed the mouth of the igarapé Macuianý, said to be inhabited by a horde of cannibals, of the tribe Jamamadi, to the number of about four hundred. Thus we went on until the 11th, when we passed another igarapé, the Euacá, on the left, in which also there are numerous Jamamadi Indians. In the mouth of this stream, and on an adjacent beach, there was an encampment of more than a hundred people who had been drawn together by hearing our réveillé.

“ ‘On the 12th passed the mouth of the river Canaquirý, whose sources are in the campos of the river Madeira. In this river appeared sixteen ubás and cascas[475] with Indians of the tribe Canamarý (cannibals), who came out to meet us; they were in all sixty-five souls. By an Indian who accompanied our expedition, and who understood a little of their language, we learnt that the Canamarýs were plotting among themselves to surprise our canoes by night, kill us all, and carry off our goods. Profiting by this timely warning, I had the canoes anchored in the middle of the stream, and prepared our troops to resist any attack that should be attempted by night. Early in the morning the Indians dispersed, but not before we had bought of them their arrows and curabís (poisoned arrows), and then, telling them that another canoe was following us, we got rid of them.

“ ‘On the 18th reached the first malóca (village) of the Cucama Indians; on the 23rd we drew up at the second; on the 29th at the third, and, although the voyage began to be very arduous, we went on all day of the 30th.

“ ‘October. After having gone on the whole of the 1st, we arrived on the 2nd of this month at the fourth maloca of Cucamas; on the 4th, at the fifth maloca; on the 6th, at the sixth maloca; and on the 9th, at the seventh maloca.

“ ‘These Indians, gathered together in malocas, to the number of thirty, forty, or fifty each, subsist on aipím (=Manihot Aypi Pohl.)[476] and bananas of which they have plantations, and on game. They are light-coloured, well-made (that is, the men, for of women we saw not a single one, because they hide them away, except the old ones), and they bore the under lip. They wear ponchos. They had no iron tools of any kind, and they were well content with some axes which we gave them. They would employ this tool to make their canoes, for they make their clearings by fire alone.

“ ‘They were highly delighted when they saw us approach, for they had never before seen civilised people; although they mentioned a few names of persons whom they had seen at the headwaters of the Juruá.

“ ‘Many of these Indians wished to go down the river with our expedition, but, as our farinha was nearly exhausted, I did not venture to take them; besides, as their principal aliment is aipím and bananas, and we had a great distance to go before coming to those plants again, they would necessarily have suffered much by the way.

“ ‘They live unceasingly persecuted by the tribes Canamarýs, Apurinás, and Oainomarís (all cannibals), who unite to harass them, rob them, and kill those they meet in order to devour them.