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j 99 C H A P T E R F O R T Y- E I G H T The Horses Embark from the Port The Governor was in this port of Itabitan for two days, during whichtimethepartyloadedthehorsesontothelaunchesandgot all the paraphernalia of the armada into the sort of order he liked. As the country of the Payaguaes Indians was just a short way ahead, very close, the Governor ordered that the Indian from the port of Ipananie who knew the language of the Payaguaes as well as their territory should go along with the party in the lead brigantine. The Governor wanted his good advice on what needed to be done as they advanced. The Governor sailed with a good wind from Itabitan. He declared that the brigantines should proceed together in a tight body so that the Payaguaes would not be able to do any harm to the Guaranis who were traveling in the Governor’s company. “No one sails apart from the brigantines ,” he said, and the armada did travel along in proper form. At night he ordered everyone to cast anchor along the riverbank, and posting a good guard he slept on land. The Guaranis positioned their canoes next to the brigantines, and the Spaniards and the Indians occupied more than a league of land downstream. The firebrands and campfires were so extensive that it was a great pleasure to see them. And for as long as the ships sailed on this exploration, the Governor gave the same rations to the Indians as the Spaniards. The men were so well provided for and full that it was a great thing to see. The fishing and hunting were excellent to excess. Contributing to this was the pursuit of a quantity of wild pigs, bigger than those of Spain, that go about continually in the water. 1 These pigs have a blunter and larger snout than others brought here from Spain. The people call them “water pigs.” They stay on land at night, but by day they are always in the river. When they see people, they immediately plunge into the water, going deep and staying down for quite some time. When they surface again, they are a crossbow shot away from where they dove under. 100 j C H A P T E R F O R T Y - E I G H T No one can hunt these pigs with fewer than a half dozen canoes manned by the Indians, who, like the pigs, are ready to plunge into the water. Three canoes go upstream and three down, and the men in the canoes divide themselves up into three groups. The Indians make themselves fully ready, with the arrows drawn back in their bows. As a pig comes up to the surface, they shoot him with their arrows very quickly, three or four times, before he can go under again. Then they follow him until he bobs back up, dead from his wounds. Of course, they have a lot of meat to eat, which the Christians accept willingly, although they actually have no need of it. All up and down this river there is an abundance of these types of pigs. All our people got so fat and stout on this trip that they looked like they had just come from Spain. The horses were fat, too, and many days our riders took them out into the countryside to pursue game, as there were many deer and tapirs and other wild game. And a lot of otters. ...

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