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j 149 C H A P T E R S I X T Y- N I N E Captain Francisco de Ribera Returns from His Expedition On the twentieth of January 1544, Captain Francisco de Ribera returned with the six Spaniards the Governor had sent with him, as well as the guide he had taken along. He also brought back the three Indians who were left of the eleven Guaranis the Governor had sent with him. As I have said before, the Governor had dispatched this entire party to explore—to see with their own eyes—the settlements lying beyond the point from which he himself had earlier returned. They had gone off down the road in search of Tapuaguazu, where the guide was saying that the Indian settlements began for the whole region. When Ribera arrived in Puerto Reyes with the six Christians, all wounded, everyone in our company rejoiced and gave thanks to God that they had escaped that perilous road. Truth be told, the Governor had given them all up for lost, as eight of the eleven Indians who had gone with Ribera and his party had earlier come back. The Governor was enraged by this and much inclined to punish them. The chiefs who were their relatives implored him to order the Indians hanged after they returned for abandoning the Christians, leaving them behind; they had originally charged the eight with the job of accompanying Ribera’s party and taking care of the Spaniards until they returned to the chiefs’ presence. The chiefs said, “They simply have not done this. They deserve the gallows.” The Governor gave the men a reprimand instead, with a warning that if they did it again he would punish them. As it was their first offense, he pardoned them so as not to upset all the other Indians of their tribe. ...

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