[CHAPTER THE TENTH.]
Of the fear the Indians had of the horses.
THE fourteenth of January, continuing their journey among settlements of Indians of the nation of Guaranís, all of whom came to meet the Spaniards with much pleasure, bringing maize, fowls, honey, and many other commodities; and as the governor always paid them to their contentment, they brought such a profusion that the surplus remained on the road. All their people go naked, men as well as women; they had a great fear of the horses, and asked the governor to tell the horses not to be angry with them; and in order to appease them they brought them food. So they arrived at a wide river of mighty waters called Yguatú,[313] a very noble river, abounding in fish and bordered by forests; on its shore there is a settlement of Guaranís, who sow maize and cassava, as in other parts they had already passed through; and they came out to receive the governor, being aware of his coming, and of the good treatment they would receive; and they brought plenty of provisions. In all that land there are pine trees of many different kinds, with fruits like those I have spoken of. And the Indians waited upon the governor and his people, because he always treated them well. The Yguatú flows due west in the twenty-fifth degree, and may be as large as the Guadalquivir. Its banks (according to the accounts of the natives, and as I saw with my own eyes) are populous, and the inhabitants are the richest people of all that land and province, both for agriculture and stock-raising. They rear plenty of fowls, geese, and other birds; and they have abundance of game, such as boar, deer, dantas,[314] partridges, quails, and pheasants; and they have great fisheries in this river. They grow plenty of maize, potatoes, cassava, mandubies, and many other fruits; and from the trees they collect a great quantity of honey. From this settlement the governor decided to write to the officials of His Majesty, and to the captains and people residing in the town of the Ascension, to let them know that by order of His Majesty he was on the way to relieve them, and sent two native Indians of that land with the letter. While staying on the river Pequiry,[315] a dog bit a certain Francisco Orejon, citizen of Avila in Spain, in the leg; and fourteen other Spaniards fell sick because of the long journey. These remained with Orejon, in order to follow by short stages. The governor recommended them to the natives, in order that these might favour them, and guide them on the way to follow him when they recovered their health. And in order that they might do this the more willingly, he gave many presents to the chief and other natives, who were much pleased with them. All this country, through which the governor was marching with his people making his discoveries, is filled with large fields abundantly watered by rivers, rivulets, and springs, well shaded by trees and cultivated. It is the most fertile land in the world, adapted for cultivation and colonization. Many parts of it are conveniently situated for sugar refineries; and the country is full of game. The inhabitants are of the nation of the Guaranís, who eat human flesh, and are all agriculturists and rear geese and fowls. They are a domesticated people, friendly towards the Christians, and with a little trouble would accept our holy Catholic faith, as experience has proved. And, judging from the nature of the soil, it is certain that if there are mines of silver anywhere, it is here they may be found.
[313] The Yguatú is an oriental affluent of the Paraná, entering this river at 25° lat. S. The name is not to be found in modern maps.
[314] Anta or tapir.
[315] The Pequiry flows into the Paraná ninety miles north of the Yguassu; the governor of Paraguai founded on its margin the town of Ciudad Real de Guaira in the sixteenth century, destroyed afterwards by the Paulistas.
[CHAPTER THE ELEVENTH.]
How the governor navigated the river Yguazú, in canoes, and how, in order to avoid a cataract of that river, he carried the canoes one league by hand.