Vices of the inhabitants of that island
The vices of that people were indeed enormous. They were never lovers of peace among themselves, and always were anxious for continual wars, which they carried on at the slightest excuse. All their desire was to rob and capture on land and sea, although they had in their ancient times condemned theft severely. Their arms consisted of a lance; a long, narrow shield which covered the entire body; and a dagger resembling a broad knife, with which they easily cut off the head of him whom they conquered, which was their greatest delight. They also used bows and steel-pointed arrows with skill.
Their greed was insatiable, although they were lazy and slothful; and for that reason they practice unheard-of usury. There is no trace of reason or justice in them. If one lent another a short measure of rice, the debtor was obliged to return it in a certain time. If he did not have the wherewithal to return it, he became a captive, and had no redress; for the judges, who should have prevented that oppression, were the first to practice that offense. That was the practice between peers. If the business were with any chief, the poor wretch remained a slave forever, even though the sum were for only four reals. They made a distinction in those captivities; for if one were born of a slave woman, and a free father, or the contrary, such a one remained a half slave. Consequently in order for the accomplishment of his service to his master, it was sufficient for him to serve for six months scattered along through the twelve of the year. If he were the child of parents both half slave, he was obliged to serve one month, remaining free the three following; then he served another month, continuing in this manner his servitude. Likewise, when a freeman and a slave had many children, the chiefs were wont to set some free, while the others remained slaves forever.
Their intoxication and lust went to excess. They had what wives they could support, and did not exempt among them their sisters and their mothers. Marriage consisted in the will of the parents of the bride, and the suitor paid them the dowry, although it was not handed to them until after they had children. If either of the parents were dead, the dowry was given to the nearest relative. They were divorced with ease, but it was on condition that if the husband solicited it he lost what was given to his parents-in-law; but if the wife procured it, the dowry was restored. If adultery were proved, the aggressor and the aggrieved [husband] came to terms—the same being done in the case of the wife—in regard to the sum that was agreed upon, after considerable haggling, and they generally remained fast friends. Consequently, some husbands were wont to make a business of that, such was their barbarism, arranging tricks, and providing occasions for their wives to repeat their adulteries, in order that they might derive infamous gains. If the culprit had nothing with which to pay, he became a captive or lost his life. Divorce was very frequent, and agreement was made to divide the children between husband and wife for their support.
They gloried in knowing charms and in working them, by consulting the devil—a means by which some made themselves feared by others, for they easily deprived them of life. In confirmation of this assertion, it happened, according to the recital of one of our ministers, that while he was preaching to a great assembly one Indian went to another, and breathed against him with the intent of killing him. The breath reached not the Indian’s face, however, but an instrument that he was carrying, the cords of which immediately leaped out violently, while the innocent man was left unharmed. The philosophy of such cases is that the murderer took in his mouth the poisonous herb given him by the devil, and had another antidotal herb for his own defense. Then, exhaling his breath in this manner, he deprived of life whomever he wished. They used arrows full of poison, which they extracted from the teeth of poisonous serpents. They wounded and killed as they listed, by shooting these through a blowpipe, which they concealed between the fingers of their hands with great dissimulation, blowing the arrows so that they touched the flesh of their opponent. They practiced consultation with the devil by means of their baylans, in order to ascertain natural causes, especially in their illnesses. Consequently, they were very great herbalists, knowing above all the preservatives from the poisons with which they attacked one another on slight occasions—especially the women, who are the more passionate and more easily aroused.
§ VI
Treats of the government of those islanders
The government of those people was neither elective nor hereditary; for he who had the greatest valor or tyranny in defending himself was lord. Consequently, everything was reduced to violence, he who was most powerful dominating the others. When one went to the chief to plead justice, the latter delivered his sentence without writing anything; and there was no appeal, whether the sentence were just or unjust. The rich treated the poor and the plebeians as useless brutes, so that those poor wretches flung themselves upon the rocks to die, as they were unable to endure so hard a yoke. If he who was less did not pay homage to him who was more influential, he was declared as his slave only because the other wished it. They also deprived those miserable beings of life for such reasons. Such was their iniquity and madness.
If any criminal received protection in the house of a chief and the latter managed his affair, the one protected became a perpetual slave, together with his wife, children, and descendants, in return for the protection. Because once while some boats were sailing some drops of water fell on a chief woman, through the carelessness of him who was rowing, it was considered so serious an offense that the poor wretch was condemned to perpetual slavery, together with his wife, children and relatives. However, our religious destroyed that practice by spreading the holy gospel in that country.
The nobility of those Indians was personal. It consisted in one’s own deeds, without reference to those of others. Accordingly, he who was more valiant and killed most men in war was the more noble. The sign of that nobility consisted in wearing the cloth wrapped about the head (of which we have spoken above), of a more or less red color. Those nobles were exempt from rowing in the public fleets (and that although they were slaves), and ate with their masters at the table when they were at sea—a privilege which they gained by their exploits. In that custom of killing they reared their children and taught them from an early age, so that beginning early to kill men, they might become proud and wear the red cloth, the insignia of their nobility.