ir, whom the
people of the Moluccas call Papuas. Most of them are witches, and eat
human flesh; and are so much given to wickedness, that the devils walk
among them as companions. Yet when these wicked spirits find any of the
Papuas alone, they kill him with cruel blows, or smother him; for which
reason they always go out in companies of two or three together. There is
in this country a bird as large as a crane, which has no wings wherewith
to fly, but runs on the ground with the swiftness of a deer, and, of the
small feathers of this bird, the natives make hair for their idols. They
have likewise a particular herb, the leaf of which, after being washed in
warm water, if laid on any member, and licked with the tongue, will even
draw out the whole blood of a mans body; and, by means of this leaf, the
natives let blood of themselves, when afflicted by sickness.

From these islands they came to others named the _Guellas_, in lat. 1 deg. N.
_east and west_[82], from the island of Ternate, in which the Portuguese
have a fortress. These islands are 124 leagues from the island of _Moro_,
and between forty and fifty leagues from Ternate. From thence they went to
the island of _Moro_[83], and the islands of Cloves, going about from one
island to another; but the natives would not permit them to land, desiring
them to go to the fortress, where captain _Antonio Galvano_, the author of
this work, would receive them in a friendly manner, who was, as they
stiled him, _factor_ of the country, and they could not be allowed to land
without his license. This circumstance is worthy of being noticed, that
the natives were so well affected to the Portuguese as to venture their
lives, with their wives, children, and goods, in their service.

In the year 1537, John de Vadillo, the governor of Carthagena, went with a
powerful armament from the port called _St Sebastian de Buena Vista_, in
the gulf of Uraba, to the Rio Verde, whence he went by land, without
previously knowing any part of the way, and without carriages, to the very
extremity of Peru and the town of La Plata, a distance of 1200 leagues, a
most memorable journey. The whole country, from the Rio Verde to the
mountains of Abibe, is full of rugged hills, thick forests, and many
rivers, through which they had to pierce their way with infinite toil. The
mountains of Abibe are said to be twenty leagues broad, and can only be
passed over in the months of January, February, March, and Apri