All those coasts of this sea have been crowded with sentinels this year, for it was rumored that many Dutch ships were to come, and they always come to sight land at the cape of Espiritu Santo. When we go from some villages to others, we cross many deep rivers, which are all generally full of caymans or crocodiles. These [reptiles] swallow a bull, a cow, or a deer even to their horns, thus causing great loss. They also catch and eat the Indians daily. There is a most abundant quantity of snakes, almost all of which cause death when they sting. There is but one remedy for the wounds, namely, if they happen to have a little of the earth from San Pablo. By having it blessed, they are infallibly cured; and he who is treated with this remedy does not die. There are other snakes which are not poisonous. They are so large that they can swallow a large wild boar, or a large deer, horns and all. A father and some Indians killed one which was eating a hog; they ran up on hearing the grunts of the hog, and speared and killed the snake. There is great abundance of material products, and the country is very fertile. The grain of these regions is rice, and as a rule each fanega of grain sowed yields one hundred fanegas, and many yield two hundred fanegas, especially if it is irrigated and transplanted. There are oranges of many varieties, some of them resembling large melons. Honey and wax is found in the trees, where the bees make it. The wax is worth sixteen or twenty reals an arroba, and a jar of honey one real. I saw a tree which had many honeycombs hanging on the branches. The mountains are fuller of wild boars than are the commons of Espana of swine and cattle in acorn time. One of those swine, if it is fat, is worth two reals, but only one if not fat; and a deer is worth the same sum. There are almost no fruits of Espana. There are melons, cucumbers, pumpkins, and radishes of the country, and quantities of cabbages and lettuce. There are many native fruits, some of which are excellent, but they are not so many or so good as those of Espana, while the food does not have the same nourishment as in Espana. The swine here are excellent, and better and more healthful than those of Espana; for they are eaten like mutton, and are given to the sick as mutton is in Espana. God is ever our physician and apothecary in sickness, and but few times does one fall grievously sick when our Lord does not supply the lack of medicines, without which [_MS. holed_: we?] get along very well, and God helps [us]. Panbohen, July 6, 1629. _Pedro de Prado_