WHOLE VOL. THE WEST INDIES VAZQUEZ DE ESPINOSA 68l 



niuytus, which are very large and handsome turkeys ; herons both 

 white and of other colors, with very fine aigrettes on their heads ; 

 other birds sky-blue in color and very handsome, called maynimbi ; 

 and the mysterious macangua[y] bird, which is the size of a small 

 cock, with a crest, and variegated in white, gray, and other colors, 

 and they say it lives on vipers. Its method of killing them to eat 

 is to perch on guard in a tree to watch till the viper comes out to 

 eat or sun itself ; when it sees it, it dashes in to fight with it, shieldino- 

 itself and parrying with its short wings and aiming blows at its eyes 

 until it puts them out and kills it ; and if by chance the snake succeeds 

 in biting or stinging it, it sets ofif at once and picks and eats the 

 herb called macanguaca, which combines the name of the bird and 

 of herb, which is ca in the Indian language of that country ; and 

 after eating this it returns to the fight until it kills it. The herb 

 resembles maidenhair fern, except that its leaves are arranged like 

 a cross ; it has very great efificacy against poison, whose effects are 

 instantly counteracted by eating this herb. 



1792. The river is very full of fish; there are shad (sabalos), 

 dorados, pacus, which are round and snub-nosed like rays ; curubis, 

 which are long and pointed like a needle and scaleless ; patis, which 

 are like dogfish, without scales and with flesh yellow as saflfron ; 

 palometas, and abundance of small crayfish which they call piquiras, 

 and which are so plentiful that with a sieve and a bit of bacon by 

 moonlight one can catch quantities of them ; they are very wholesome 

 food and the recourse of many poor people. 



1793. In that river there is a sort of lizard about a vara and a 

 half long, spotted all over with yellow and dark gray; it is called 

 yacarete in the Indian language ; it has a very strong musky smell 

 and is very harmful. In those forests there are tigers, ounces, and 

 bears with tails so long that when it rains they cover their heads 

 with them ; and there are other curiosities in that country such that 

 it is impossible to describe them or refer to them. 



Chapter XLI [31] 



Of the City of Asuncion, Capital of the Diocese and State of 

 Paraguay. 



1794. The city of Asuncion was founded by Captains Juan de 

 Ayolas and Juan de Salazar Espinosa by order of Gov. Don Pedro 

 de Mendoza in the year 1536, on some tall blufifs on the banks of 

 the great Rio Paraguay. They go down from the city to the river 

 for water for the city service by paths down the blufif. The city 



