"Well, then," he replied, "if you won't obey my orders, I have another who will," and calling the second chief, Augusto Jiménez, ordered him to "kill those worthless wretches at once!" Those thirty-five unfortunates, still in chains, were thus murdered in cold blood, and from this instant forward they began to persecute me, making me endure all kinds of miseries. They began by refusing me food to such an extreme that I was frequently obliged to eat _airambo_ (a leaf resembling the Brazilian _vinagrera_), _caguana_, _palmito_, &c.--the few things that they gave us to prevent our dying from hunger being quite insufficient for the numerous band. In these conditions, and seeing that at any moment I might become the victim of the ferocity of the chiefs of the section, I resolved to resign my position, and wrote asking for permission to return to Brazil. This I repeated four times, always receiving the reply that, as they had no other employee to take my place, they could not let me go. Thus I remained without anybody to appeal to, without resources, and without means of transportation, for there was no canoe in which I could escape. At last I understood that they did not mean to let me leave there, for, naturally, they feared that I would relate the series of monstrous crimes committed there. During these three years and eight months of prison I had the opportunity of seeing an infinity of atrocities, the like of which could hardly have been committed in the Inquisition. One day a _tuchaua_ called Iubitide, arrived with seventy Indians and gave an Indian woman of his tribe to Jiménez, the chief of the section; but Jiménez, not satisfied with this gift, asked the _tuchaua_ for his own woman. The refusal of the latter was sufficient for Jiménez to order him to be tied up and shot to death. It would be an endless task to relate the innumerable crimes that I have seen committed during my stay in this section. Here, recently, in the month of July, the _tuchaua_ known as Tiracahuaca and his wife were held prisoners in chains. When Jiménez--who had been temporarily absent--arrived, he had them brought into his presence and told them that if their tribe did not appear within the space of eight days, he would show them what he would do with them. The eight days passed, and as the tribe did not come, he ordered a can of kerosene to be poured over them, and then, striking a match, he set fire to these unfortunates, who fled to the forest uttering the most desperate cries. Naturally, upon seeing such an awful crime committed, I expressed my horror at it to Jiménez, who replied that if there were anybody who wished to protest against the orders he gave, he would be served in the same manner, and that if the company kept him as chief, it was because he knew how to do his duty. Then I perceived that my life was in more danger every day, and I resolved to escape at any risk.