swish-e.conf goes in the directory being indexed.
.swishcgi.conf goes in /usr/lib/cg-bin to tell swish.cgi which index to use.
.htaccess is used to allow an alias of swish.cgi to exist in the directory being indexed.
.htaccess also prevents unauthorized access with a password.
Remember to allow .htaccess files to override the apache config files.
There is a doc file that I named swish.cgi help.txt that is available with perl doc.
Some links:
http://swish-e.org/docs/swish-config.html#alphabetical_listing_of_directives
http://www.bluereef.net/support/extensions/cgi/swishe/config.html
http://www.htaccess-guide.com/index.php?a=13
http://swish-e.org/docs/swish-faq.html