Latest / Journey of Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca / 10 - Journey of Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca by Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: Section nine of the Journey of Alvar Nunis Cavesa Devaka
- 0:04Speaker 1: and his Companions from Florida to the Pacific, fifteen twenty eight,
- 0:09Speaker 1: fifteen thirty six. This is the LibriVox recording. All LibriVox
- 0:15Speaker 1: recordings are in the public domain. From more information or
- 0:19Speaker 1: to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Recording by Sue Anderson,
- 0:27Speaker 1: The Journey of Alvar Nunis Cavesa Devaka and his Companions
- 0:32Speaker 1: from Florida to the Pacific, fifteen twenty eight, fifteen thirty six,
- 0:37Speaker 1: translated by Fanny Bandolier. Section nine. We gave the Christians
- 0:44Speaker 1: a great many cowskin, robes and other objects, and had
- 0:48Speaker 1: much trouble in persuading the Indians to return home and
- 0:52Speaker 1: plant their crops in peace. They insisted upon accompanying us until,
- 0:57Speaker 1: according to their custom, we should be in the custom
- 1:00Speaker 1: to the of other Indians, because otherwise they were afraid
- 1:04Speaker 1: to die. Besides, as long as we were with them,
- 1:08Speaker 1: they had no fear of the Christians and of their lances.
- 1:13Speaker 1: At all. This the Christians were greatly vexed, and told
- 1:16Speaker 1: their own interpreter to say to the Indians how we
- 1:19Speaker 1: were of their own race, but had gone astray for
- 1:23Speaker 1: a long while, and were people of no luck and
- 1:27Speaker 1: little heart, whereas they were the lords of the land,
- 1:31Speaker 1: whom they should obey and serve. The Indians gave all
- 1:35Speaker 1: that talk of theirs little attention. They parleyed among themselves,
- 1:39Speaker 1: saying that the Christians lied, for we had come from sunrise,
- 1:44Speaker 1: while the others came from where the sun sets. That
- 1:47Speaker 1: we cured the sick, while the others killed those who
- 1:50Speaker 1: were healthy. That we went naked and shoeless, whereas the
- 1:55Speaker 1: others wore clothes and went on horseback and with lances.
- 2:00Speaker 1: That we asked for nothing, but gave away all we
- 2:03Speaker 1: were presented with. Meanwhile, the others seemed to have no
- 2:07Speaker 1: other aim than to steal what they could, and never
- 2:10Speaker 1: gave anything to anybody. In short, they recalled all our
- 2:15Speaker 1: deeds and praised them highly, contrasting them with the conduct
- 2:19Speaker 1: of the others. This they told the interpreter of the Christians,
- 2:24Speaker 1: and made understood to the others by means of a
- 2:28Speaker 1: language they have among them, and by which we understood
- 2:31Speaker 1: each other. We call those who used that language properly
- 2:36Speaker 1: prima haitu, which means the same as saying Biscayans. Editor's note.
- 2:42Speaker 1: The references to the Basque language may mean that it
- 2:45Speaker 1: was as difficult to understand as that idiom and of note,
- 2:51Speaker 1: for more than four hundred leagues of those we traveled,
- 2:54Speaker 1: we found this language in use, and the only one
- 2:57Speaker 1: among them over that extent of country. Finally, we never
- 3:01Speaker 1: could convince the Indians that we belonged to the other Christians,
- 3:05Speaker 1: and only with much trouble and insistency could we prevail
- 3:09Speaker 1: upon them to go home. We recommended to them to
- 3:13Speaker 1: rest easy and settle again in their villages, tilling and
- 3:17Speaker 1: planting their fields as usual, which from lying waste were
- 3:21Speaker 1: overgrown with shrubbery. While it is beyond all doubt the
- 3:24Speaker 1: best land in these indies, the most fertile and productive
- 3:28Speaker 1: of food, where they raised three crops every year. It
- 3:32Speaker 1: has an abundance of fruit, very handsome rivers, and other
- 3:36Speaker 1: waters of good virtues. There are many evidences and traces
- 3:41Speaker 1: of gold and silver. The inhabitants are well conditioned and
- 3:44Speaker 1: willingly attend to the Christians. That is, those of the
- 3:48Speaker 1: natives that are friendly. They are much better inclined than
- 3:52Speaker 1: the natives of Mexico. In short, it is a country
- 3:55Speaker 1: that lacks nothing to make it very good. When the
- 3:59Speaker 1: Indians took leave of us, they said they would do
- 4:02Speaker 1: as we had told them and settling their villages, provided
- 4:06Speaker 1: the Christians would not interfere. And so I say and
- 4:10Speaker 1: affirm that if they should not do it, it will
- 4:13Speaker 1: be the fault of the Christians. After we had dispatched
- 4:17Speaker 1: the Indians in peace and with thanks for what they
- 4:20Speaker 1: had gone through with and for us, the Christians, out
- 4:24Speaker 1: of mistrust, sent us to a certain al card Sebreros,
- 4:29Speaker 1: who had with him two other men. He took us
- 4:32Speaker 1: through forests and uninhabited country in order to prevent our
- 4:36Speaker 1: communicating with the Indians. In reality, also to prevent us
- 4:41Speaker 1: from seeing or hearing what the Christians were carrying on.
- 4:46Speaker 1: This clearly shows how the designs of men sometimes miscarry.
- 4:50Speaker 1: We went on with the idea of insuring the liberty
- 4:53Speaker 1: of the Indians, and when we believed it to be assured,
- 4:57Speaker 1: the opposite took place. The Spaniards had planned to fall
- 5:01Speaker 1: upon those Indians we had sent back in fancied security
- 5:05Speaker 1: and in peace, and that plan they carried out. They
- 5:10Speaker 1: took us through the timber for two days with no
- 5:13Speaker 1: trail bewildered and without water, so we all expected to
- 5:18Speaker 1: die from thirst. Seven of our men perished, and many
- 5:22Speaker 1: friends whom the Christians had taken along, could not reach
- 5:25Speaker 1: before noon the following day the place where we found water.
- 5:29Speaker 1: That same night we traveled with them twenty five leagues
- 5:34Speaker 1: more or less, and at last came to a settlement
- 5:37Speaker 1: of peaceable Indians. There the alcalde left us and went
- 5:41Speaker 1: ahead three leagues further to a place called Kolia Khan,
- 5:45Speaker 1: where Melchordias was chief Alcalde and the captain of the province.
- 5:51Speaker 1: As soon as the chief Alcalde became informed of our
- 5:54Speaker 1: arrival on the same night he came to where we were.
- 5:58Speaker 1: He was deeply moved and praised God for having delivered us.
- 6:02Speaker 1: In his great pity. He spoke to us and treated
- 6:05Speaker 1: us very well, tendering us in his name and in
- 6:09Speaker 1: behalf of the governor Lunu de Gusman, all he had
- 6:13Speaker 1: and whatever he might be able to do. He appeared
- 6:17Speaker 1: much grieved at the bad reception and evil treatment we
- 6:20Speaker 1: had met at the hands of al Karres and the others,
- 6:23Speaker 1: and we verily believed that had he been there at
- 6:27Speaker 1: the time, the things done to us and the Indians
- 6:31Speaker 1: would not have occurred. Passing the night there. We were
- 6:36Speaker 1: about to leave in the morning of the next day,
- 6:39Speaker 1: but the chief Alcalde entreated us to stay. He said
- 6:43Speaker 1: that by remaining we would render a great service to
- 6:46Speaker 1: God and to your Majesty. As the country was depopulated,
- 6:51Speaker 1: lying waste and well nigh destroyed, that the Indians were
- 6:55Speaker 1: hiding in the woods, refusing to come out and settle
- 6:58Speaker 1: again in their villages. He suggested that we should have
- 7:02Speaker 1: them sent for, and urged them, in the name of
- 7:05Speaker 1: God and of your Majesty to return to the plain
- 7:09Speaker 1: and cultivate the soil. Again, this struck us as difficult
- 7:13Speaker 1: of execution. We had none of our Indians with us,
- 7:17Speaker 1: nor any of those who usually accompanied us and understood
- 7:21Speaker 1: such matters. At last, we ventured to select two Indians
- 7:26Speaker 1: from among those held there as captives, and who were
- 7:30Speaker 1: from that part of the country. These had been with
- 7:33Speaker 1: the Christians whom we first met, and had seen the
- 7:36Speaker 1: people that came in our company, and knew through the
- 7:39Speaker 1: latter of the great power and authority we exercised all
- 7:43Speaker 1: through the land, the miracles we had worked, the cures
- 7:47Speaker 1: we had performed, and many other particulars. With these Indians,
- 7:52Speaker 1: we sent others from the village to jointly call those
- 7:55Speaker 1: who had taken refuge in the mountains, as well as
- 7:58Speaker 1: those from the river of Petitlan, where we had met
- 8:01Speaker 1: the Christians first, and tell them to come as we
- 8:05Speaker 1: wished to talk to them. In order to ensure their coming,
- 8:09Speaker 1: we gave the messengers one of the large gourds we
- 8:12Speaker 1: had carried in our hands, which were our chief insignia
- 8:16Speaker 1: and tokens of great power. Thus provided and instructed, they
- 8:20Speaker 1: left and were absent seven days. Then they came back,
- 8:25Speaker 1: and with them three chiefs of those who had been
- 8:27Speaker 1: in the mountains, and with these were fifteen men. They
- 8:31Speaker 1: presented us with beads, turquoises and feathers, And the messengers
- 8:36Speaker 1: said the people from the river whence we had started,
- 8:39Speaker 1: could not be found, as the Christians had again driven
- 8:43Speaker 1: them into the wilderness. Melchordias told the interpreter to speak
- 8:48Speaker 1: to the Indians in our name and say that he
- 8:51Speaker 1: came in the name of God, who is in heaven,
- 8:53Speaker 1: and that we had traveled the world over for many years,
- 8:57Speaker 1: telling all the people we met to believe in God
- 9:00Speaker 1: and serve him. For he was the lord of everything
- 9:03Speaker 1: upon earth, who rewarded the good, whereas to the bad
- 9:08Speaker 1: ones he meeted out eternal punishment of fire. That when
- 9:12Speaker 1: the good ones died, he took them up to heaven,
- 9:16Speaker 1: where all lived forever, and there was neither hunger, nor thirst,
- 9:20Speaker 1: nor any other wants, only the greatest imaginable glory. But
- 9:26Speaker 1: that those who would not believe in him nor obey
- 9:29Speaker 1: his commandments he thrust into a huge fire beneath the earth,
- 9:35Speaker 1: and into the company of demons, where the fire never
- 9:38Speaker 1: went out, but tormented them forever. Moreover, he said that
- 9:43Speaker 1: if they became Christians and served God in the manner
- 9:47Speaker 1: we directed, the Christians would look upon them as brethren
- 9:51Speaker 1: and treat them very well, while we would command that
- 9:55Speaker 1: no harm should be done to them, neither should they
- 9:58Speaker 1: be taken out of their country, and the Christians would
- 10:01Speaker 1: become their great friends. If they refused to do so,
- 10:05Speaker 1: then the Christians would ill treat them and carry them
- 10:09Speaker 1: away into slavery. To this, they replied through the interpreter
- 10:14Speaker 1: that they would be very good Christians and serve God.
- 10:18Speaker 1: Upon being asked whom they worshiped and to whom they
- 10:21Speaker 1: offered sacrifices, to whom they prayed for health and water
- 10:25Speaker 1: for the fields. They said, to a man in heaven.
- 10:30Speaker 1: We asked what was his name, and they said Aguar,
- 10:34Speaker 1: and that they believed he had created the world and
- 10:37Speaker 1: everything in it. We again asked how they came to
- 10:40Speaker 1: know this, and they said their fathers and grandfathers had
- 10:44Speaker 1: told them, and they had known it for a very
- 10:47Speaker 1: long time, that water and all good things came from him.
- 10:52Speaker 1: We explained that this being of whom they spoke was
- 10:55Speaker 1: the same we called God, and that thereafter they should
- 10:59Speaker 1: give him that name and worship and serve him as
- 11:03Speaker 1: we commanded, when they would fare very well. They replied
- 11:08Speaker 1: that they understood us thoroughly and would do as we
- 11:10Speaker 1: had told. So we bade them come out of the
- 11:14Speaker 1: mountains and be at ease, peaceable, and settle the land again,
- 11:18Speaker 1: rebuilding their houses. Among these houses they should rear one
- 11:22Speaker 1: to God, placing at its entrance a cross like the
- 11:26Speaker 1: one we had, And when Christians came, they should go
- 11:29Speaker 1: out to receive them, with crosses in their hands in
- 11:33Speaker 1: place of bows and other weapons, and take the Christians
- 11:36Speaker 1: to their homes, giving them to eat of what they had.
- 11:40Speaker 1: If they did so the Christians would do them no
- 11:43Speaker 1: harm but be their friends. They promised to do as
- 11:48Speaker 1: we ordered, and the captain gave them blankets, treating them handsomely,
- 11:53Speaker 1: and they went away, taking along the two captives that
- 11:56Speaker 1: had acted as our messengers. This took place in press,
- 12:00Speaker 1: a scribe, notary, and of a great many witnesses. As
- 12:06Speaker 1: soon as the Indians had left for their homes and
- 12:08Speaker 1: the people of that province got news of what had
- 12:11Speaker 1: taken place with us, they, being friends of the Christians,
- 12:15Speaker 1: came to see us, bringing beads and feathers. We ordered
- 12:19Speaker 1: them to build churches and put crosses in them, which
- 12:22Speaker 1: until then they had not done. We also sent for
- 12:26Speaker 1: the children of the chiefs to be baptized. And then
- 12:29Speaker 1: the captain pledged himself before God not to make any raid,
- 12:34Speaker 1: or allow any to be made or slaves captured from
- 12:37Speaker 1: the people and in the country we had set at
- 12:40Speaker 1: peace again. This vow he promised to keep and fulfill
- 12:44Speaker 1: so long until his majesty and the Governor Nuna de
- 12:47Speaker 1: Gusman or the vicebery in his name, would ordain something
- 12:52Speaker 1: else better adapted to the service of God and of
- 12:55Speaker 1: his majesty. After baptizing the children, we left for the
- 13:00Speaker 1: village of San Miguel, where on our arrival Indians came
- 13:04Speaker 1: and told how many people were coming down from the mountains,
- 13:07Speaker 1: settling on the plain, building churches and erecting crosses, in short,
- 13:13Speaker 1: complying with what we had sent them word to do.
- 13:16Speaker 1: Day after day we were getting news of how all
- 13:19Speaker 1: was being done and completed. Fifteen days after our arrival,
- 13:24Speaker 1: Alcadis came in with the Christians who had been raiding,
- 13:28Speaker 1: and they told the captain how the Indians had descended
- 13:31Speaker 1: from the mountains and settled on the plain. Also that
- 13:35Speaker 1: villages formerly deserted were now well populated, and how the
- 13:39Speaker 1: Indians had come out to receive them with crosses in
- 13:42Speaker 1: their hands, had taken them to their houses, giving them
- 13:45Speaker 1: of what they had, and how they slept the night there.
- 13:50Speaker 1: Amazed at these changes and at the sayings of the Indians,
- 13:54Speaker 1: who said they felt secure, he ordered that no harm
- 13:58Speaker 1: be done to them, and with this they departed. May God,
- 14:02Speaker 1: in his infinite mercy, grant that in the days of
- 14:05Speaker 1: your majesty and under your power and sway, these people
- 14:10Speaker 1: become willingly and sincerely subjects of the True Lord who
- 14:15Speaker 1: created and redeemed them. We believe they will be, and
- 14:20Speaker 1: that your majesty is destined to bring it about, as
- 14:23Speaker 1: it will not be at all difficult. For two thousand
- 14:28Speaker 1: leagues did we travel on land and by sea in barges. Besides,
- 14:33Speaker 1: ten months more after our rescue from captivity, untiringly did
- 14:38Speaker 1: we walk across the land. But nowhere did we meet
- 14:41Speaker 1: either sacrifices or idolatry. During all that time we crossed
- 14:46Speaker 1: from one ocean to the other, and from what we
- 14:49Speaker 1: very carefully ascertain, there may be from one coast to
- 14:53Speaker 1: the other, and across the greatest width two hundred leagues.
- 14:58Speaker 1: We heard that on the shores of the south there
- 15:00Speaker 1: are pearls and great wealth, and that the richest and
- 15:04Speaker 1: best is near there, at the village of San Miguel.
- 15:08Speaker 1: We remained until after the fifteenth of May, because from
- 15:12Speaker 1: there to the town of Compostela, where the governor Nunia
- 15:16Speaker 1: de Gusman resided, there are one hundred leagues of deserted country,
- 15:20Speaker 1: threatened by hostiles, and we had to take an escort along.
- 15:25Speaker 1: There went with us twenty horsemen, accompanying us as many
- 15:29Speaker 1: as forty leagues. Afterwards, we had with us six Christians
- 15:34Speaker 1: who escorted five hundred Indian captives. When we reached Compostela,
- 15:39Speaker 1: the governor received us very well, giving us of what
- 15:42Speaker 1: he had for us to dress in. But for many
- 15:45Speaker 1: days I could bear no clothing, nor could we sleep
- 15:49Speaker 1: except on the bare floor. Ten or twelve days later
- 15:54Speaker 1: we left for Mexico. On the whole trip we were
- 15:57Speaker 1: well treated by the Christians. Many came to see us
- 16:00Speaker 1: on the road, praising God for having freed us from
- 16:04Speaker 1: so many dangers. We reached Mexico on Sunday, the day
- 16:08Speaker 1: before the vespers of Saint James, and were very well
- 16:12Speaker 1: received by the Viceroy and the Marquise of the valley,
- 16:15Speaker 1: who presented us with clothing, offering all they had. On
- 16:20Speaker 1: the day of Saint James there was a festival with
- 16:22Speaker 1: bull fight and tournament. After taking two months rest at Mexico,
- 16:28Speaker 1: I desired to come over to this realm, But when
- 16:31Speaker 1: ready to sail in October, a storm wrecked the vessel
- 16:35Speaker 1: and it was lost. So I decided to wait until
- 16:38Speaker 1: winter would be over, as in these parts navigation is
- 16:42Speaker 1: then very dangerous on account of storms. When winter was
- 16:46Speaker 1: passed Andrestorantes and I left Mexico during lent for Vera
- 16:51Speaker 1: Cruz to take a ship there, but had again to
- 16:54Speaker 1: wait for favorable winds until palm Sunday. We embarked and
- 16:59Speaker 1: were on board more than fifteen days, unable to leave
- 17:03Speaker 1: on account of a calm and the vessel began to
- 17:06Speaker 1: fill with water. I took passage on one of the
- 17:09Speaker 1: ships which were in condition to leave, while Dorantes remained
- 17:13Speaker 1: on the first one, and on the tenth day of
- 17:16Speaker 1: the month, three craft left port. We navigated together for
- 17:21Speaker 1: one hundred and fifty leagues. Afterwards, two of the ships
- 17:25Speaker 1: dropped behind, and in the course of a night we
- 17:28Speaker 1: lost track of them. It seems that, as we found
- 17:32Speaker 1: out later, their pilots and skippers did not venture any
- 17:36Speaker 1: further and returned to port without giving us any warning.
- 17:40Speaker 1: Neither did we hear any more from them. So we
- 17:44Speaker 1: kept on and on the fourth of May reached the
- 17:46Speaker 1: port of Havana, on the island of Cuba, where we
- 17:50Speaker 1: waited until the second of June, still hoping for the
- 17:54Speaker 1: other two vessels to arrive. Then we left. We were
- 17:58Speaker 1: afraid of falling in with wrench craft that only a
- 18:01Speaker 1: few days before had captured three of ours at the
- 18:05Speaker 1: altitude of the island of Bermuda, a storm overtook us,
- 18:09Speaker 1: as is quite usual in those parts according to the
- 18:11Speaker 1: people who are wont to travel in them, and for
- 18:14Speaker 1: a whole night we considered ourselves lost. But it pleased
- 18:19Speaker 1: God that when morning came, the storm abated and we
- 18:22Speaker 1: could proceed on our way. Twenty nine days after sailing
- 18:27Speaker 1: from Havana, we had made eleven hundred leagues, said to
- 18:31Speaker 1: be the distance from it to the settlement of the Azores,
- 18:35Speaker 1: and the next day we passed the island called of
- 18:38Speaker 1: the Raven and met with a French vessel. At noon.
- 18:43Speaker 1: She began to follow us, having with her a caravel
- 18:47Speaker 1: taken from the Portuguese, and gave us chase. That same
- 18:51Speaker 1: evening we saw nine more sail but at such a
- 18:55Speaker 1: distance that we could not distinguish whether they were of
- 18:58Speaker 1: the same nation as our pursuer or Portuguese. At nightfall,
- 19:03Speaker 1: the frenchman was but a cannon shot from our ship,
- 19:07Speaker 1: and as soon as it was dark, we changed our
- 19:09Speaker 1: course so as to get away from him. As he
- 19:12Speaker 1: was close upon us, he saw our maneuver and did
- 19:15Speaker 1: the same, and this happened three or four times the
- 19:20Speaker 1: Frenchman could have taken us then, but he preferred to
- 19:23Speaker 1: wait until daylight. It pleased God that when morning came,
- 19:28Speaker 1: we found ourselves, as well as the French ship, surrounded
- 19:32Speaker 1: by the nine craft we had seen the evening before,
- 19:36Speaker 1: and which turned out to belong to the Portuguese navy.
- 19:40Speaker 1: I thank our Lord for having allowed me to escape
- 19:43Speaker 1: from peril on land and sea. When the French saw
- 19:47Speaker 1: it was the fleet of Portugal, they released the caravel
- 19:50Speaker 1: which was filled with Negroes. They had taken it along
- 19:53Speaker 1: in order to make us believe they were Portuguese and
- 19:57Speaker 1: to induce us to expect them. On separating from the caravelle,
- 20:01Speaker 1: the Frenchman told the skipper and pilot we were French,
- 20:05Speaker 1: also belonging to their own navy. Then they put into
- 20:09Speaker 1: their vessel sixty oarsmen, and thus by oar and sail
- 20:14Speaker 1: went away with incredible swiftness. The caravel then approached the galley,
- 20:18Speaker 1: warning its captain that both our vessel and the other
- 20:22Speaker 1: were French, so that when we came up to the
- 20:24Speaker 1: galley and the squadron saw it, believing us to be French,
- 20:29Speaker 1: they cleared for action and came to attack us, but
- 20:32Speaker 1: when we were near enough to them, we saluted, and
- 20:35Speaker 1: they saw we were friends. They had been deceived, suffering
- 20:39Speaker 1: the privateer to escape by means of his strategy in
- 20:42Speaker 1: telling that we were also French. Four caravels went in
- 20:47Speaker 1: pursuit of him, Having come up with the galley and
- 20:50Speaker 1: presented our respects. The captain, Diego de Silvera, asked where
- 20:55Speaker 1: we came from and what we had on board. We
- 20:58Speaker 1: told him from New Spain that we carried silver and gold.
- 21:02Speaker 1: He inquired how much it might be, and the skipper
- 21:05Speaker 1: informed him that we had about three hundred thousand castellanos.
- 21:11Speaker 1: Thereupon the captain exclaimed, faith, you come back very rich,
- 21:16Speaker 1: although you have a bad craft and miserable artillery. That
- 21:20Speaker 1: dog of a French renegade has lost a fat morsel.
- 21:24Speaker 1: But bastard, now go ahead, since you escaped, follow me closely,
- 21:29Speaker 1: and God helping I shall lead you back to Spain.
- 21:33Speaker 1: The caravels that had gone in pursuit of the French
- 21:36Speaker 1: soon returned because the latter sailed too fast for them,
- 21:39Speaker 1: and they did not want to leave their squadron, which
- 21:42Speaker 1: was escorting three ships loaded with spices. We reached the
- 21:46Speaker 1: island of Teresera, where we rested fifteen days and took
- 21:50Speaker 1: in supplies, also waiting for another ship from India with
- 21:54Speaker 1: the same kind of cargo as the three our fleet
- 21:57Speaker 1: was escorting. At the end of the fifteen days, we
- 22:00Speaker 1: sailed all together for the port of Lisbon, where we
- 22:04Speaker 1: arrived on the ninth of August vespers of Saint Laurentia's
- 22:08Speaker 1: day of the year fifteen thirty seven. And in testimony
- 22:14Speaker 1: of that what I have stated in the foregoing narrative
- 22:18Speaker 1: is true, I hereunto signed my name Cabasa Devaca. The
- 22:24Speaker 1: document which this is taken from was signed with his
- 22:27Speaker 1: name and bore the seal with his coat of arms.
- 22:32Speaker 1: Since in the foregoing narrative I have related the journey,
- 22:35Speaker 1: the arrival at and the departure from the country and
- 22:40Speaker 1: returned to this realm, I now wish to tell also
- 22:43Speaker 1: what happened to the ships and to the people who
- 22:46Speaker 1: remained on board of them. I have not said anything
- 22:49Speaker 1: about them as yet, for the reason that we heard
- 22:52Speaker 1: nothing of their fate until after our return, when we
- 22:56Speaker 1: found many of the survivors in New Spain, and some
- 22:59Speaker 1: here in Casa Steel, through whom we learned everything that
- 23:02Speaker 1: had occurred to them after we had forsaken the three vessels,
- 23:06Speaker 1: one having been lost previously on the wild coast. These
- 23:11Speaker 1: vessels were in great peril and had on board a
- 23:14Speaker 1: hundred persons with few supplies. Among these people were ten
- 23:18Speaker 1: married women, one of whom had foretold the governor many
- 23:22Speaker 1: things that afterwards happened to him. When he marched inland.
- 23:26Speaker 1: She warned him not to go, as neither he nor
- 23:30Speaker 1: any of his company would return, and that should any
- 23:34Speaker 1: come back, God would work miracles through him, as she
- 23:39Speaker 1: felt sure that few or none would escape. The governor
- 23:44Speaker 1: retorted that he and all who went with him expected
- 23:47Speaker 1: to fight and conquer many and very strange people and countries,
- 23:52Speaker 1: so that while many would have to die in the conquest,
- 23:56Speaker 1: he was sure, from the accounts he had of the
- 23:59Speaker 1: richness of the country, that the survivors would be fortunate
- 24:03Speaker 1: and become very wealthy. He entreated the woman to tell
- 24:07Speaker 1: him who it was that had acquainted her with the
- 24:09Speaker 1: things past and present of which she had spoken. She
- 24:14Speaker 1: answered that in Castile, a Moorish woman from Ornachos had
- 24:18Speaker 1: told her what she said to us before we left there,
- 24:22Speaker 1: all of which took place as predicted. After the governor
- 24:26Speaker 1: had appointed for his lieutenant and commander of all the
- 24:30Speaker 1: vessels and their crews one Carvallo, a native of Puenca Deewaite,
- 24:35Speaker 1: we marched off the governor, leaving orders that they embark
- 24:38Speaker 1: at once and proceed to Ponuco, hugging the coast always
- 24:43Speaker 1: and keeping a lookout for the port, where, when found
- 24:47Speaker 1: they should wait for us. At the time the people
- 24:50Speaker 1: were embarking, some saw and distinctly overheard the woman before
- 24:56Speaker 1: mentioned saying to the other women that since their husbands
- 25:00Speaker 1: had gone inland to affront such imminent peril, they should
- 25:04Speaker 1: not think of them any longer, but at once looked
- 25:07Speaker 1: for other husbands that she was going to do it
- 25:10Speaker 1: for her part. So she and the others married and
- 25:13Speaker 1: lived with those that were on board the vessels. The
- 25:17Speaker 1: vessel set sail and went on, but did not find
- 25:20Speaker 1: the port in the direction they were proceeding, so they
- 25:24Speaker 1: turned around and went back, where five leagues further down
- 25:28Speaker 1: from our landing place, they struck the harbor. It stretched
- 25:32Speaker 1: inland for seven or eight leagues and was the one
- 25:36Speaker 1: we had already discovered, and where we had found the
- 25:39Speaker 1: boxes from Spain as told before, And where were the
- 25:43Speaker 1: bodies of Christians? From this harbor? And along that coast.
- 25:48Speaker 1: The three vessels, together with the one that rejoined them
- 25:51Speaker 1: from Havana and the Brigantine, cruised in search of us
- 25:55Speaker 1: for nearly a year, and then, not finding us, they
- 25:59Speaker 1: went to New Spain. That harbor is the best on earth.
- 26:04Speaker 1: It sweeps inland for seven or eight leagues. The water
- 26:07Speaker 1: is six fathoms deep at the mouth and five near
- 26:10Speaker 1: the shore. The bottom is mud, and there are no
- 26:14Speaker 1: tides inside the bay, nor heavy storms. There is space
- 26:18Speaker 1: in it for many vessels, and it has many fish.
- 26:22Speaker 1: The distance from it to Havana, a Christian town on Cuba,
- 26:26Speaker 1: is one hundred leagues on a line from north to south.
- 26:30Speaker 1: The breezes are constant, and the trip is made from
- 26:33Speaker 1: one place to the other in four days, because the
- 26:36Speaker 1: vessels go and come with little trouble. And now that
- 26:40Speaker 1: I have given an account of the ships, it may
- 26:42Speaker 1: be well to record also who those are, and wherefrom
- 26:47Speaker 1: whom it pleased God to rescue from all these dangers
- 26:50Speaker 1: and hardship. The first is Alonso del Castillo Maldonado, a
- 26:56Speaker 1: native of Salamanca and son of Doc torcast dio Idonia
- 27:01Speaker 1: Aldonza Maldonado. The second is Andres Dorantes, son of Pablo Dorantes,
- 27:07Speaker 1: born at Bejar, but a resident of Hebra Leone. The
- 27:12Speaker 1: third is Alvar Nunis Cabesa Devaca, son of Francisco de
- 27:17Speaker 1: Vera and grandson of Pedro de Vera, who conquered the
- 27:21Speaker 1: Canarian islands. His mother was called Donia Teresa Cabesa Devaca,
- 27:27Speaker 1: and she was a native of Heres de la Frontera.
- 27:31Speaker 1: The fourth was Estevanico, an arab Negro from Azamor. End
- 27:37Speaker 1: of section nine. End of the Journey of Alvar Nunis
- 27:41Speaker 1: Cabesa Devaca and his companions from Florida to the Pacific,
- 27:46Speaker 1: fifteen twenty eight, fifteen thirty six, translated by Fannie Bandolier,