And when Albernunzo Cabessa de Bacha was sent to Spain there was discord among us Christians, and soon we fought day and night, so that any one would have thought that the devil governed among us; and no man was safe from the other.
We thus made war among ourselves for two whole years, the sending away Cabessa de Bacha being the occasion of it. 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. They therefore held a council, and agreed that they would kill us and drive us out of their country. But God Almighty—praise to Him, always and everlastingly—did not grant these Carios that their designs should prosper; although the whole country of the Carios and other nations, such as the Aygais,[191] were against us Christians.
[191] Agazes.
But when we perceived this state of things we were obliged to make peace among ourselves. And we also entered into a treaty with two other tribes, one named the Jeperis, and the other the Bachacheis,[192] who numbered five thousand men in all. They eat only fish and flesh, are courageous in battle on land and water, but prefer fighting on land. Their weapons are tardes,[193] half a spear in length but not so thick, and the points are tipped with flint. They have also truncheons under their girdles four spans long with a knob at the end.
[192] Yapirús and Mbaiás.
[193] Darts.
Every one of these Indians has also ten or twelve small sticks of wood, or as many in fact as he chooses to carry, a good span long, and on the point of every stick is fixed a broad and long fish’s tooth (named Palmede[194] in Spanish) that resembles a sea-tench. This tooth cuts like a razor; but you should know what they do with these teeth, or what use they put them to.
[194] Palometa.
Firstly, they fight with the aforesaid tardes, and in case they are victorious over their enemies, and that these take to flight, they abandon their tardes and run after the enemies and throw their truncheons under their feet, in order to cause them to fall to the ground; then, without looking to see if they are yet half-alive or dead, they cut their heads off with the aforesaid fish-tooth. This is done so quickly that one has scarcely time enough to turn round; afterwards they put this tooth back again under their girdle or their other clothing.