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j 13 C H A P T E R S E V E N What the Governor and His People Went By Along the Road, and What Sort of Country It Is From that river called Iguazú, the Governor and his people set out toexplorethecountry,andonthethirddayofDecembertheycame to another river that the Indians called Tibagi. This is a stream walled in by tremendous, overlapping slabs of stone, placed in such an orderly manner that they look man-made. 1 Traveling along one stretch of this river was quite hard work, as the men and the horses slipped and couldn’t gain any traction. They held on to each other to counteract this. Although the river wasn’t particularly deep, the water ran with a strong and furious current. From as far as two leagues away from this river the Indians came in, much pleased to see us, to bring food for the army. So we lacked nothing in the way of provisions, to such an extent that we sometimes left the surplus along the side of the trails we took. This sort of generosity caused the Governor to give back a great deal to the Indians as well and linger with them for a while—especially with the chiefs. After he paid them for the food, he gave them a number of trade goods and trinkets, as well as various other favors. It was good treatment all around. The Governor’s fame raced through the province as a result of these actions, and all the natives lost their fear of the Spaniards, came to see them, and brought along everything they had. They were paid for their trouble, as we have said. On that same day, we were near another settlement of Indians whose principal lord was a man named Tapapirazu. 2 An Indian arrived who was a native of the coast of Brazil; his name was Miguel, and he was a new convert. He came to us from the city of Asunción, where the Spaniards we were going to help lived. This Miguel was going back to the Brazilian 14 j C H A P T E R S E V E N coast because he had been among the Spaniards for quite a long while. The Governor spent a fair amount of time with him, as he knew a great deal about conditions around Asunción and about the Spaniards and Indians there. These Spaniards were in dire peril because of the deaths of Juan de Ayolas and the other Spanish captains and their men who had been killed by the Indians. Once Miguel had told his story, he volunteered to go back with the Governor to the city of Asunción, from which he had just come, to serve as a guide and advise the Governor’s party on the proper routes to take. The Governor then discharged the Indians who had accompanied him from Santa Catalina Island, sending them back to the coast. So these fellows left, quite happy and pleased with the Governor’s good treatment and the many presents he had given them. The Governor’s men lacked experience in the proper treatment of Indians, and he did not want them to harm or even aggravate the natives. 3 Consequently, he ordered the men in general not to barter with the Indians or talk to them. “Furthermore,” he said, “the Spaniards of our party are not to go into their houses or settlements, because the temper of the natives is such that any small thing might scandalize them or set them off. And that could result in great damage and discontent all across this country.” In addition, the Governor ordered that only people within our company who were familiar with the Indians should trade with them and purchase provisions to be shared among all the Spaniards, and all this at the Governor’s expense. The result was that the Governor divided up provisions in person among his men every day, handing everything out graciously and with nothing in it for himself. It was quite remarkable to see how all the Indians of that country feared our horses. This dread of theirs drew them to our route with a lot of things in hand for the horses to eat, including chickens and honey. “We don’t want these creatures to get angry with us,” they said, “so we’ll make sure they eat well.” To pacify the Indians, the Spaniards habitually made camp some distance...

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