Maize and Cassava Bread

En la dicha isla Española tienen los indios y los cristianos, que después usan comer el pan de estos indios, dos maneras de ello. La una es maíz, que es grano, y la otra cazabi, que es raíz. El maíz se siembra y coge de esta manera: esto es un grano que nace en unas mazorcas de un geme, y mas y menos longueza, llenas de granos cuasi tan gruesos como garbanzos; y para los sembrar, lo que se hace primero es talar los cañaverales y monte donde lo quieren sembrar, porque la tierra donde nace yerba, y no árboles y cañas, no es tan fértil, y después que se ha hecho aquella tala ó roza, quémase; y después de quemada la tierra que así se taló, queda de aquella ceniza un temple á la tierra, mejor que si se estercolara; y toma el indio un palo en la mano, tan alto como él, y da un golpe de punta en tierra y sácale luego, y en aquel agujero que hizo echa con la otra mano siete ó ocho granos poco mas ó menos del dicho maíz, y da luego otro paso adelante y hace lo mismo, y de esta manera á compás prosigue hasta que llega al cabo de la tierra que siembra, y va poniendo la dicha simiente; y á los costados del tal indio van otros en ala haciendo lo mismo, y de esta manera tornan á dar al contrario la vuelta sembrando, y así continuándolo hasta que acaban.

On the said island Española the Indians and the Christians, who afterward [took to] eating the bread of these Indians, have two kinds of it. The one is maize, which is grain, and the other cazabi, which is root. Maize is sown and gathered in this manner: this is a grain that grows on some ears of a geme, and more and less in length, full of grains almost as thick as chickpeas; and to sow them, what is done first is to cut down the canebrakes and woodland where they wish to sow it, because the land where grass grows, and not trees and canes, is not so fertile; and after that cutting or clearing has been done, it is burned; and after the land that was so cut is burned, there remains from that ash a temper to the land, better than if it were manured; and the Indian takes a stick in his hand, as tall as he is, and strikes a blow with the point into the ground and pulls it out at once, and into that hole that he made he throws with the other hand seven or eight grains, a little more or less, of the said maize, and then takes another step forward and does the same, and in this manner, in measure, he goes on until he reaches the end of the land that he sows, and goes on putting in the said seed; and at the sides of the said Indian go others in a line doing the same, and in this way they turn back in the opposite direction sowing, and so continuing until they finish.

On the island of Española, the Indians have two kinds of bread, and so do the Christians, who have since taken to eating it. One is maize, which is a grain, and the other is cazabi, which is a root.1 Maize is sown and harvested like this. It is a grain that grows on ears about a geme long,2 more or less, full of kernels almost as big as chickpeas. To sow it, they first cut down the canebrakes and woods where they want to plant it. Land where only grass grows, and not trees and canes, is not as fertile. Once the land has been cut and cleared, it is burned.3 After the burning, the ash gives the soil a richness better than manure. Then the Indian takes a stick in his hand as tall as he is, strikes its point into the ground, and pulls it out. Into that hole he throws seven or eight kernels of maize with his other hand. Then he takes another step forward and does the same, and he keeps on in this steady rhythm to the end of the field, planting the seed as he goes. Beside him others walk in a line, doing the same. Then they all turn and sow their way back the other way, and go on like this until they finish.

1. Oviedo uses the islanders’ own words for the bread (cazabi, cassava), the plant (yuca) and, below, the squeezing sack (cibucán). The Spaniards took the words over with the foods.
2. A geme was the span from the tip of the thumb to the tip of the forefinger, spread apart.
3. Burning the cleared ground before planting, so that the ash feeds the soil.

Este maíz desde á pocos dias nace, porque en cuatro meses se coge, y alguno hay mas temprano, que viene desde á tres; pero así como va nasciendo tienen cuidado de lo desherbar, hasta que está tan alto, que va ya el maíz señoreando la yerba; y como está ya bien crescido y comienza á granar, es menester ponerle guarda, en lo cual los indios ocupan los muchachos, que á este respecto hacen estar encima de árboles y cadahalsos que ellos hacen de cañas y de maderas, cubiertos por el agua y el sol de suso, y desde allí dan grita y voces, ojeando los papagayos, que vienen muchos á comer los dichos maizales.

This maize comes up within a few days, because in four months it is gathered, and there is some earlier, which comes in three; but as it is coming up they take care to weed it, until it is so tall that the maize is now mastering the grass; and when it is well grown and begins to form grain, it is necessary to set a guard on it, in which the Indians employ the boys, whom for this purpose they make stay on top of trees and platforms that they make of canes and of timbers, covered against the rain and the sun above, and from there they give shouts and cries, scaring off the parrots, which come in great numbers to eat the said maize fields.

The maize comes up within a few days, since it is harvested in four months, and one kind ripens even sooner, in three. As it grows, they take care to weed it, until it is tall enough to win out over the weeds. When it is well grown and the ears begin to fill, it has to be guarded. The Indians give this job to the boys. They make them stay up in trees, or on platforms they build of cane and wood, roofed against the rain and the sun. From there the boys shout and yell to scare off the parrots, which come in flocks to eat the maize.

Hay otra manera de pan que se llama cazabi, que se hace de unas raíces de una planta que los indios llaman yuca; esto no es grano, sino planta, la cual es unas plantas que hacen unas varas mas altas que un hombre, y tiene la hoja de la misma manera que el cáñamo, como una palma de una mano de un hombre, abiertos y tendidos los dedos; salvo que aquesta hoja es mayor y mas gruesa que la del cáñamo, y toman para la sembrar esta rama de esta planta, y hácenla trozos tan grandes como dos palmos, y algunos hombres hacen montones de tierra á trechos y por linderos en órden, como en este reino de Toledo ponen las cepas de las viñas á compás, y en cada monton ponen cinco ó seis ó mas de aquellos palos desta planta; otros no curan de hacer montones, sino llana la tierra, hincan á trechos estos plantones, pero primero han rozado ó talado y quemado el monte para sembrar la dicha yuca, segun se dijo en el capítulo del maíz, escrito antes de este, y desde á pocos dias nasce, porque luego prende; y así como va cresciendo la yuca, así van alimpiando el terreno de la yerba, hasta que esta planta señorea la dicha yerba;

There is another kind of bread that is called cazabi, which is made from some roots of a plant that the Indians call yuca; this is not grain, but plant, which is some plants that make some stems taller than a man, and it has the leaf in the same way as hemp, like the palm of a man’s hand with the fingers open and spread, except that this leaf is bigger and thicker than that of hemp; and to sow it they take this branch of this plant and make it into pieces as big as two palmos, and some men make mounds of earth at intervals and in rows in order, as in this kingdom of Toledo they set the stocks of the vines in measure, and in each mound they put five or six or more of those sticks of this plant; others do not bother to make mounds, but, the land [left] flat, stick in at intervals these cuttings; but first they have cleared or cut down and burned the woodland to sow the said yuca, as was said in the chapter on maize, written before this one; and within a few days it comes up, because it takes root at once; and as the yuca grows, so they go clearing the ground of grass, until this plant masters the said grass;

There is another kind of bread called cazabi. It is made from the roots of a plant the Indians call yuca.4 This is not a grain but a plant, which grows stems taller than a man. Its leaf is shaped like the leaf of hemp, like a man’s hand with the fingers spread open, except that this leaf is bigger and thicker. To plant it, they take a stem of this plant and cut it into pieces two palmos long.5 Some people make mounds of earth at intervals, set out in rows, the way vines are planted in even rows here in the kingdom of Toledo. In each mound they put five or six or more of these sticks. Others do not bother to make mounds. They leave the ground flat and set the cuttings in it at intervals. But first they clear, cut and burn the woods to plant the yuca, as I said in the chapter on maize before this one. It comes up within a few days, because it takes root quickly. As the yuca grows, they keep clearing the weeds from the ground, until the plant wins out over them.

4. Cazabi was made from the bitter kind of cassava (manioc); Oviedo also knew a harmless kind on the mainland. The bitter kind's juice holds prussic acid, a deadly poison. Squeezing out the juice, and then cooking, made it safe to eat.
5. The Spanish palmo, a hand’s span from the tip of the thumb to the tip of the little finger, was reckoned as a quarter of a vara, the Spanish yard.

y para hacer pan de ella, que llaman cazabi, rállanla, y después aquello rallado, estrújanlo en un cibucan, que es una manera de talega, de diez palmos ó mas de luengo, y gruesa como la pierna, que los indios hacen de palmas, como estera tejido, y con aquel dicho cibucan torciéndole mucho, como se suele hacer cuando de las almendras majadas se quiere sacar la leche, y aquel zumo que salió desta yuca, y es mortífero y potentísimo veneno, porque con un trago súbito mata; pero aquello que quedó después de sacado el dicho zumo ó agua de la yuca, y que queda como un salvado liento, tómanlo, y ponen al fuego una cazuela de barro llana, del tamaño que quieren hacer el pan, y está muy caliente, y no hacen sino desparcir de aquella cibera expremida muy bien, sin que quede ningun zumo en ella, y luego se cuaja y se hace una torta del gordor que quieren, y del tamaño de la dicha cazuela en que la cuecen, y como está cuajada, sácanla y cúranla, poniéndola algunas veces al sol, y después la comen, y es buen pan;

and to make bread from it, which they call cazabi, they grate it, and afterward that grated [stuff] they squeeze in a cibucán, which is a kind of sack, of ten palmos or more in length and thick as a leg, which the Indians make of palms, woven like a mat, and with that said cibucán twisting it hard, as is usually done when one wishes to draw the milk from pounded almonds, and that juice that came out of this yuca, and it is deadly and most potent poison, because with one swallow it kills suddenly; but that which remained after the said juice or water of the yuca is drawn out, and which remains like a damp bran, they take it, and they put on the fire a flat clay pan, of the size they want to make the bread, and it is very hot, and they do nothing but scatter some of that well-pressed meal, without any juice remaining in it, and then it sets and becomes a cake of the thickness they want, and of the size of the said pan in which they cook it, and when it has set, they take it out and cure it, putting it sometimes in the sun, and afterward they eat it, and it is good bread;

To make bread from it, which they call cazabi, they grate it. Then they squeeze the grated root in a cibucán. This is a kind of sack ten palmos long or more and as thick as a leg, which the Indians weave from palm leaves like a mat. They twist the cibucán hard, the way one does to press the milk out of crushed almonds. The juice that comes out of the yuca is a deadly and very powerful poison. One swallow kills at once. They take what is left after the juice has been squeezed out, which is like damp bran. They put a flat clay pan on the fire, the size of the bread they want to make, and let it get very hot. Then they simply spread the well-pressed meal on it, with no juice left in it. It sets at once into a cake as thick as they like and as wide as the pan they cook it in. When it has set, they take it out and cure it, putting it out in the sun from time to time. Then they eat it, and it is good bread.

pero es de saber que aquella agua que primero se dijo que habia salido de la dicha yuca, dándole ciertos hervores y poniéndola al sereno ciertos dias, se torna dulce, y se sirven y aprovechan de ella como de miel ó otro licor dulce, para lo mezclar con otros manjares; y después tambien tornándola á hervir y serenar, se torna agro aquel zumo, y sirve de vinagre en lo que le quieren usar y comer, sin peligro alguno.

but it is to be known that that water which, as was first said, had come out of the said yuca, [by] giving it certain boilings and putting it in the night air certain days, turns sweet, and they use and take advantage of it as of honey or other sweet liquor, to mix it with other dishes; and afterward, also turning it to boil and to [stand in] the night air, that juice turns sour, and serves as vinegar in what they wish to use it and eat, without any danger.

But you should know this about the water squeezed out of the yuca, as I said. If it is boiled several times and left out in the night air for some days, it turns sweet. They use it like honey or some other sweet syrup, mixing it into other dishes. If it is boiled and left out in the night air again, the juice turns sour. Then it serves as vinegar for whatever they want to use it in and eat, with no danger at all.

Este pan de cazabi se sostiene un año y mas, y lo llevan de unas partes á otras muy léjos, sin se corromper ni dañar, y aun tambien por la mar es buen mantenimiento, y se navega con él por todas aquellas partes y islas y Tierra-Firme, sin que se dañe si no se moja.

This bread of cazabi keeps a year and more, and they carry it from some parts to others very far, without its spoiling or going bad, and even also at sea it is good sustenance, and one sails with it through all those parts and islands and Tierra-Firme, without its being damaged if it does not get wet.

This cazabi bread keeps for a year or more. They carry it very long distances from place to place without its spoiling or going bad. It is also good food at sea. People sail with it all through those regions, to the islands and Tierra Firme,6 and it stays good as long as it does not get wet.

6. Tierra Firme, “the mainland,” was the Spaniards’ name for the mainland coast across the Caribbean from the islands. His first post in the Indies was there, at Darién on the Isthmus of Panama.

Pero la del zumo que mata es en las islas donde ha acaescido estar algun cacique ó principal indio, y otros muchos con él, y por su voluntad matarse muchos juntos; y después que el principal, por exhortacion del demonio, decia á todos los que se querian matar con él, las causas que le parescia para los atraer á su diabólico fin, tomaban sendos tragos del agua ó zumo de la yuca, y súbitamente morian todos, sin remedio alguno.

But the [kind] with the juice that kills is in the islands, where it has happened that some cacique or principal Indian, and many others with him, and by their own will, killed themselves, many together; and after the principal one, by exhortation of the devil, told all those who wished to kill themselves with him the reasons that seemed [good] to him to draw them to his diabolical end, they took each a swallow of the water or juice of the yuca, and suddenly all died, without any remedy.

The kind whose juice kills grows on the islands. There it has happened that a cacique,7 or some other leading Indian, and many others with him, killed themselves together of their own will. The leader, urged on by the devil,8 would tell all those who wanted to die with him the reasons he thought would draw them to his devilish end. Then they would each take a swallow of the yuca water, or juice, and all of them died at once, beyond any help.

7. A cacique was a chief. The Spaniards learned the word in the Caribbean islands and used it for Indigenous leaders everywhere.
8. Many Christians of the time, Oviedo among them, believed that the devil spoke to and through peoples who did not know Christ, and led them to sin and death.