February 1495, 6 degrees south latitude, Brazil's Potengi River (Rio Potengi).
In the early morning, the Potengi River glittered beneath the golden sunlight, flowing slowly toward the vast Atlantic Ocean. This great river of northeastern Brazil stretched more than four hundred li from west to east and had many tributaries. Dense mangrove forests lined its course, along with all manner of tropical birds. And this four-hundred-li stretch of thick woodland was also a rare fertile alluvial plain between the arid, barren northern Brazilian Highlands and the storm-tossed, dangerous Atlantic Ocean.
The river brought life. The fertile woodland nourished game and also sustained the local Tupi tribes. The Tupi villages lay quietly hidden in the dense forest, not far from the river. Round longhouses (malocas) covered in thatch were scattered through the settlements, most of them small in scale, housing dozens to several hundred people. Thick smoke curled up from the campfires and drifted among the treetops, like markers that could be seen from far away. The Tupi tribespeople, bare-chested and wrapped in grass skirts, paddled canoes back and forth across the river, busy fishing. Outside the villages, small slash-and-burn fields were planted with the most common cassava, corn, and sweet potato, which were also important crops spread across the South American continent.
"Ygapó ará ybype, heta abá o. Amo, on the land east of the river, a group of tribes has appeared!"
"East? A group of tribes appeared by the sea?..."
"Yes! I looked from far away. Very strange, very strange!..."
"Huh? Strange?..."
"Mm! They are 'Karai' (karaí), 'a group of mysterious outsiders'! Their faces seem very, very white, their boats seem very, very big, and their voices are very, very loud! 'Boom, boom!' Like thunder!..."
"?!"
The Tupi hunter Amo blinked, his simple face filled with curiosity. As an