Page 50 - Brugger Karl The chronicle of Akakor

The Chronicle of Akakor
The captives were the first White Barbarians in Akakor. The Ugha Mongulala regarded them with both
horror and awe. Only the priests met them with contempt. They threw the dirt of the earth on the false
believers as a token of their humiliation. Then the high council sent the White Barbarians as slaves into the
gold and silver mines. To the end of their days they were to expiate their crimes, as it is written in the
chronicle:

These are the tidings. Thus the high priest spoke to the White Barbarians: "Who has borne you
that you should rule over death and life? Who are you that you should despise the bequest of
the Gods? Whence have you come that you should bring war to our country? Truly, your deeds
are evil. You have shed blood. You have hunted men. You have destroyed the tribes of the sons
of the sun and have sprayed their blood over the mountains." These were the words of the high
priest. They were terrible. But the hearts of the White Barbarians remained hardened, and it
took time for them to realize their fate. They were facing eternal captivity.

2 THE WAR IN THE EAST

1534—1691

Following the discoveries of Spanish and Portuguese sailors, European civilization started expanding in the
New World. The maritime powers of Spain and Portugal (later joined by England and the Netherlands)
became rich by exploiting their colonies. While Spain looted Peru and Mexico, Portugal started the
conquest of the Brazilian east coast. In 1541—1542, Orellana, a battle companion of Pizarro, embarked on
his historical journey across the South American continent. He was the first to navigate the Amazon River,
which he named after the bellicose women he allegedly encountered on his journey. After his return to the
New World in 1546, he died of malaria at the mouth of the Amazon. At this time, the English and the Dutch
started exploring the tributaries of the Amazon. Belém was founded in 1616 by the Portuguese Caldera
Castello Branco in the name of the United Kingdom of Portugal and Spain, and the actual exploration of
Amazonia by the Portuguese was launched here. The main figure was Pedro Texeira, who repeated
Orellana’s historic journey in the opposite direction in 1637. He determined Brazil’s future western frontier
in Portugal’s name at the confluence of Rio Aguarico and Rio Napo. Pedro Texeira, who had prided himself
on having killed 30,000 savages with his own hands, died in 1641. According to the estimate of the Jesuit
father Antonio Veira, the Portuguese conquerors murdered 2 million forest Indians within a period of thirty
years.

The Arrival of the White Barbarians in the East
Where is the Tribe of the Glory that Grows? What has become of the Incas, the sons of the sun? Where is
the Tribe of the Great Voice, the Tribe of Refuse Eaters, and many of the formerly powerful peoples of the
Degenerated Tribes? Greed and violence of the White Barbarians have made them melt away like snow in
the sun. Very few have succeeded in fleeing to the interior of the forests. Others have hidden on the tops of
trees like the Tribe that Lives on the Trees. There they have no protective clothing and nothing to eat. No
one knows where they are, and perhaps they are all dead by now. Other tribes have surrendered to the White
Barbarians who talked to them softly. But good words are no compensation for the misery of an entire
people. Good words do not give them health and do not prevent them from dying. Good words do not give
the tribes a new country where they can live in peace, and hunt freely, and till their fields. All this my
people saw with their own eyes. Our scouts brought back these tidings after venturing far into the territory
of the White Barbarians. My heart aches when I think of all the false promises they gave. But truly, we can
no more expect the rivers to flow backward than we can expect the White Barbarians to keep their promises.
For they are evil and treacherous, as it is written in the chronicle:

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