HAVING obtained this information, the governor determined, in accordance with the advice of the officers and clergy and captains, to penetrate into the interior and discover the settlements there, and for this purpose he chose three hundred arquebusiers and crossbowmen. As the country through which they had to pass before they came to the inhabited districts was deserted, he ordered them to take provisions for twenty days. He ordered one hundred Christians to remain in the port to guard the brigantines, with 200 Guaranís, and appointed Captain Juan Romero to be their commander, for he knew the country. We left the port of Los Reyes on the 26th November 1543. All that day we marched through cool and shady forests, following our guide by a little frequented path. That night we rested by the side of some streams of water, and the following morning, one hour before daybreak, resumed our journey, sending twenty men in advance with the guide to clear the road; for the further we went the more closed we found it by trees and high, thick weeds, rendering it very difficult to penetrate into the interior. That same day, at five o’clock in the evening, we halted to pass the night by the side of a great lagoon, where the Indians and Christians caught fish in their hands. As we advanced, we ordered the guide to climb the trees and hills to reconnoitre, and make certain we were on the right road to the inhabited country.
The Guaranís, whom the governor had brought with him, supported themselves on the provisions they had been allowed to take, on the honey they extracted from trees, and by the chase of wild boar, tapirs, and deer. Though game seemed plentiful, the expedition was so numerous, and the noise made on the march was so great, that the wild animals took fright, and not much was killed. The Indians and Spaniards also partook of the wild fruits, found in abundance. None of these did them any harm, except that of a tree resembling the myrtle, with a fruit similar to that of the Spanish myrtle, but a little larger, and with a fine flavour. All those who ate of it vomited, or had diarrhœa. These effects, however, did not last long, and did no further harm. They also made use of the palm-tree, which is common in that country. The date of this palm is not edible, but the nut inside is round, and like a sweet almond. The Indians make flour of it, and find it nourishing; the young shoots of the palm are likewise very good eating.
[CHAPTER THE SIXTY-SECOND.]
How the governor arrived at the Rio Caliente.
WE had marched five days in the country, following our guide, always obliged to cut our way with infinite labour, when we came to a rivulet, which falls from a mountain; its water is very warm, clear, and sweet; and the Spaniards caught some fish in it. Here the guide began to be embarrassed, saying that as it was a long time since he passed that way he did not recognise it, and was at a loss how to guide us, the old track having entirely disappeared. The next day the governor left the Rio Caliente (river of warm water); and we followed the guide with great trouble, cutting our way through forest, brushwood, and a multitude of obstacles.
That same day, at ten o’clock in the morning, two Indian Guaranís presented themselves before him, and said they were some of those who had remained in those deserts after the wars waged by their tribesmen against the people in the interior, when they were defeated and massacred. They and their wives and children had concealed themselves in the most inaccessible parts of the forest for fear of the natives, and only fourteen of them survived; that at two days’ journey there was a hamlet of Guaranís, numbering ten persons, one of whom was a relative of theirs, and that there were other Guaranís in the country of the Xarayes, who were at war with this people. As these Indians seemed frightened of the Christians and their horses, the governor ordered the interpreter to reassure them, and asked them where they dwelt; they answered that their homes were close by, and soon their wives and children arrived with others of their relatives, who may have numbered fourteen in all. These confirmed what the first two had said. On being asked how they supported themselves in that country, and how long they had inhabited it, they answered that they cultivated maize, and lived by the chase, on honey and wild fruits, and that when their fathers were killed they were children. The oldest of them might have been about thirty-five years of age. They were asked if they knew the way thence to the settlements of the interior, and how long it would take to arrive at the inhabited land. They answered that as they were very young when they were brought there, and had never made the journey since, they were unable to direct us how to go, nor could they say how long it would take to arrive at that region. But they added, their relatives, who lived in the hamlet, two days’ journey from theirs, had passed several times by that road, and knew it. Perceiving that these Indians did not know the road, the governor told them to go home, and dismissed them with presents, with which they returned to their homes well satisfied.