On the banks of this river Paraguai there is a nation of Indians named Agazes; it is a people most feared in all that country, for besides being valiant they are well practised in war and very treacherous. Under pretext of making a treaty of peace they ravaged other tribes, not sparing even their own relatives, wishing to make themselves masters in the land, so that nobody trusts them. They are men of great size and gigantic limbs; they lead piratical lives in their canoes on the river, landing to pillage and capture the Guaranís, who are their principal enemies. They live by fishing and the chase, and do not cultivate the soil. When they capture the Guaraníe they tie their hands together and drag them into the canoes and carry them away. Then they return to the relatives of their captive, who come forth and offer to ransom him; and they strike him cruel blows in the presence of his father, children, or wives, as the case may be, and demand food, threatening to slaughter their prisoner if this is not brought. Having taken as much provisions as their canoes will hold, they return to their houses, carrying their captive along with them. And this is their usual practice, for it rarely happens that the captives are actually ransomed.