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82 j C H A P T E R T H I R T Y- N I N E The Return of Domingo de Irala Some fifteen days into the month of February, Domingo de Irala appeared in this town of Asunción along with the three brigantines he had taken on his exploration of the Río Paraguay. He came ashore to give the Governor an account of his excursion. He said that since the twentieth of October last, when he had left the port of Asunción, until Twelfth Night, the sixth of January, he had traveled up the Río Paraguay, trading and studying the Indians along the riverbanks. 1 Irala had come to a land of Indians who farmed and raised chickens and ducks, which they kept to fend off all the annoyance and damage done to them by crickets. It seemed that no matter how many blankets these people had, the crickets gnawed away and ate them up. These crickets proliferated in the straw covering of their roofs. “The Indians kept a number of big jars in which they stored their clothes,” said Irala. “They placed both blankets and skins inside these containers and sealed them with clay lids, and that’s how they protected their clothing. Many crickets fell out of the high ceilings of the houses looking for something to gnaw on, and the ducks were on them very fast, gobbling them all up. “This sort of thing went on two or three times each day when we went out to eat,” said Irala. “It’s a beautiful thing to see the ducks feeding themselves like this.” These Indians have their houses right on the shores of some lakes and near others. They call themselves the Cacocies Chaneses. 2 They advised Irala that the way to the towns of the interior lay along a certain route. So Irala made three trips of discovery into the interior. “The country seemed to be very good,” he said. “The Indians gave me a good account of these lands.” In addition to this, there are a lot of foodstuffs in these Indian towns, things with which our Spaniards were able to provision themselves in preparation for a journey of discovery and conquest. The Return of Domingo de Irala j 83 Irala had seen signs of gold and silver among the Indians. They had offered to guide him and show him the route he should follow. “In all the journeys of discovery I’ve made along the entire river,” he said, “I have never had clearer news of any place I had intended to explore.” So, he had gone off into the country the Indians described from his camp on the river—the place he had arrived at on that same Twelfth Night. He called this jumping-off place Puerto Reyes, and he left its inhabitants with a keen desire to meet other Spaniards. 3 “Perhaps you might wish to meet them,” he said to the Governor. And so Domingo de Irala finished his report to the Governor of what he had found and brought back. The Governor then summoned his clerics, the officials of Your Majesty , and the army captains. Once they were assembled, he had read out to them the report of Domingo de Irala. The Governor asked them to accept the report and its contents. In addition, this group gave the Governor their opinion of what should be done to further explore Irala’s new territory in the service of God and Your Majesty, in response to a question the Governor had asked earlier. “It might well serve His Majesty that we now have a certain route of exploration, the best found up to this time,” said the Governor. The upshot of this was that, with everyone present—leaving no one out—the group gave their opinion: it was indeed in Your Majesty’s best interest that we begin our exploration with all speed at Puerto Reyes. That’s what the official group said, and they all put their signatures on their opinion. After this, the expedition could begin with no need at all for any modifications , as the countryside was brimming with provisions—the foodstuffs and other items needed for its own exploration. Comprehending the views of the clerics, the monks, and the captains, the Governor followed them strictly, thinking all the while that in this way he was performing a service for Your Majesty. He ordered the ten brigantines he had already constructed...

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