Mark you, now, what he does further with the man’s head, and to what use he puts it, namely, if he has any opportunity for so doing, after such a skirmish. He takes off the skin with all the hair over the ears, then he fills the head out and leaves it to become hard; afterwards he puts this hard and dry skin on a little hoop as a souvenir, in the same way as here in Germany a knight or commander puts a scutcheon in the churches.
But to return to our narrative, and to make it short. It so happened that the Jeperis and Bachacheis[195] came to us with about one thousand men, which pleased us very much; we then went out of the town Noster Signora Desumsion with our chief commander, besides three hundred and fifty Christians and these one thousand Indians, so that every Christian had three men to look after him, whom our commander had ordered for them. And we came afterwards to a distance of three miles from the place where our enemies the Carios, who numbered fifteen thousand, were encamped in the open, in good order. Now when we were only half a mile from them we would do nothing that day for we were tired and it was raining; so we remained in the wood, where we passed the night. The following morning we marched against them at six o’clock, and coming upon them by seven, we fought together till ten. Then they were obliged to fly, and ran in haste to a place four miles distant, which they had fortified, and its name was called Froemiliere.[196] The Indian chief was Machkaria. In this skirmish the dead on the enemy’s side who were killed by us numbered two thousand, whose heads the Jeperis[197] carried on their spears. And on our side there fell ten Christians besides the wounded, whom we sent back to Noster Signora Desumsion; but we pursued the enemy with all our army to their place Froemiliere, whither Machkaria their chief had fled. But these Carios had fortified their place with three wooden stockades, like a wall. The wooden posts were as thick as a man in the middle part of his body, or even thicker, three fathoms high, and sunk into the earth the height of a man.
[195] Yapirús and Mbaiás.
[196] It is impossible to interpret this name, which certainly is not Guaraní.
[197] Yapirús.
They had also dug pits or deep holes, and planted in each of them five or six pointed stakes as sharp as needles. So this town of theirs was very strong, and contained many valiant warriors; there can be no doubt about that. And we lay three days before that place without being able to do anything or to win anything from them.
However, at length, by God’s help, we became stronger than they were.
We soon made great Bodelle or Pabesse[198] out of the skins of deer and of the amida.[199] This is a big beast, like a good-sized mule; it has feet like a cow, but on the whole resembles an ass; and its flesh is suitable to be eaten. There are plenty of them in this country; and their skin is half a finger thick. Such a pabesse we gave to every Indian of the Jeperis, and to others a good hatchet, and between two such Indians we placed an arquebuss shooter. There were over four hundred of these targets.
[198] Spanish words, rodela or pavés, i.e., shields and targets.
[199] Anta or tapir.