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they teach them to position themselves in battle, & to make all sorts of movements, in the manner that we will shall describe when we come to speak of the nourishment of youth, & to encourage them further, we ask for some small prizes from the most beautiful & richest girls in the parish, who give it very freely, & whoever wins it, remains adorned with it all day, with praise from the Captain, and applause from those present. I do not want to forget to say, that there is a long house in each parish, in which all the arms are arranged in order, on which are written the names of those to whom they belong, which are visited every week, to prevent them from rusting : The soldiers are reprimanded & criticized if they are not agile, clean and prepared, and even condemned to a fine. Once a year, on the first day of May, all the companies of the parishes will make a parade & revue in the capital city of the Province, before the President or Viceroy, the said Milleniers & Centeniers passing in very fine attire, for I can tell you that no one spares anything that can bring upon them glory & ornament. Once the review was done, all these companies F 4 |
