The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 35, July 1931 - April, 1932 Page: 58
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Southwestern Historical Quarterly
stream; its banks are very leafy, with high trees, sabines, willows
walnuts, elms, ashes, pin oaks, post oaks, and several other varieties.
The stream contains fish in abundance. I crossed on a raft made
of poles. We kept on through a big woods, dense, pleasant and
shady, until we reached the second Brazo de Dios, about three
leagues distant from the first, a river of the same kind and de-
scription as the first, although not so large and not so full. We
waded through this; afterwards we went on about three leagues
and came to El Paes, near the two Brazos de Dios. Scattered
among these woods there are many cattle, horses, buffalo, bears,
deer, turkeys, quail, partridges, fruit trees, pomegranates, vines,
strawberries, blackberries, persimmons, hazel-nuts, chestnuts, and
some wild sweet potatoes that taste very well. On the bank or
margin of these rivers live many nations of pagan or barbarous
Indians, the Cocos, Mayayes, Jojuanes, Tancagueyes and many
others. The Nations are distinguished from one another by the
stripes that they paint on themselves in one manner or another,
also in the cut of the hair. Some of them have a tonsure like the
Fathers or monks, others keep the forehead shaved and let the hair
grow on the back of the neck, leaving a lock or motote on the
crown of the head, the length of the natural hair of which they
take great care, others cut it off; some bore holes in the muscles
of the nose, others in the ears, but all the nations have one thing
that is common, that is the sign-language with which they talk,
not only for hours but entire days. The Religious who are
newly come to these lands, immediately take up the signs in order
to understand, and make themselves understood by all the Indians
of the many and diverse nations.
In all the rivers of the Province of Texas there are many bea-
vers and otters, which live on the fish that they catch, and they
fish in this manner: they gnaw some large heavy trees on the
banks with their sharp little teeth that seem like awls, first on
one side of the trunk, then on the other, in such a manner that
the tree falls into the river, and at the bottom of it they arrange
something like a dam on the surface of the water. The fish are
held there and cannot pass down stream, then they catch them
and take them out in order to eat them. 8.
The 26th we crossed a creek called El Atascoso, another called
Pefiitas, another El Plato, another El Alamito, and came to a
stop at another called Corpus Christi. The road led through very
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Texas State Historical Association. The Southwestern Historical Quarterly, Volume 35, July 1931 - April, 1932, periodical, 1932; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101092/m1/62/: accessed April 18, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.