Latest / Journey of Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca / 05 - Journey of Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca by Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca

Transcript

05 - Journey of Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca by Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca · Journey of Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca

0:00
Speaker 1: Section four of the Journey of Alva Nunis Cabsa Devaca
0:05
Speaker 1: and his Companions from Florida to the Pacific, fifteen twenty eight,
0:10
Speaker 1: fifteen thirty six. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox
0:15
Speaker 1: recordings are in the public domain. For more information or
0:19
Speaker 1: to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Recording by Sue Anderson,
0:27
Speaker 1: The Journey of Alvar Nunis Cabsa Devaka and his Companions
0:32
Speaker 1: from Florida to the Pacific, fifteen twenty eight, fifteen thirty six,
0:38
Speaker 1: translated by Fanny Bandelier, Section four. That same day, I
0:44
Speaker 1: saw on one of the Indians a trinket he had
0:47
Speaker 1: not gotten from us, and asking from where they had
0:50
Speaker 1: obtained it, they answered by signs that other men like
0:54
Speaker 1: ourselves and who were still in our rear, had given
0:57
Speaker 1: it to them. Hearing this, I sent two Christians with
1:01
Speaker 1: two Indians to guide them to those people. Very near by.
1:05
Speaker 1: They met them, and they also were looking for us,
1:08
Speaker 1: as the Indians had told them of our presence in
1:11
Speaker 1: the neighborhood. These were the captains Andres Dorantes and a
1:15
Speaker 1: Loncel del Castillo, with all of their crew. When they
1:19
Speaker 1: came near us. They were much frightened at our appearance,
1:22
Speaker 1: and grieved at being unable to give us anything, since
1:26
Speaker 1: they had nothing but their clothes, and they stayed with
1:29
Speaker 1: us there, telling how, on the fifth of that same
1:32
Speaker 1: month their barge stranded a league and a half from there,
1:37
Speaker 1: and they escaped without anything being lost. Altogether, we agreed
1:42
Speaker 1: upon repairing their barge, and that those who had strength
1:45
Speaker 1: and inclination should proceed in it, while the others should
1:49
Speaker 1: remain until completely restored, and then go as best they
1:53
Speaker 1: could along the coast following it till God would be
1:56
Speaker 1: pleased to get us altogether to a land of Christians.
2:00
Speaker 1: So we set to work, but ere the barge was
2:03
Speaker 1: afloat Tavera, a gentleman in our company died, while the
2:07
Speaker 1: barge proved not to be seaworthy and soon sank. Now,
2:12
Speaker 1: being in the condition which I have stated, that is,
2:15
Speaker 1: most of us naked, and the weather so unfavorable for
2:19
Speaker 1: walking and for swimming across rivers and coves, and we
2:23
Speaker 1: had neither food nor any way to carry it, we
2:26
Speaker 1: determined upon submitting to necessity and upon wintering there. And
2:32
Speaker 1: we also agreed that four men who were the most
2:34
Speaker 1: able bodied should go to Ponuco, which we believed to
2:38
Speaker 1: be near by, and that if it was God, our
2:42
Speaker 1: Lord's will, to take them there, they should tell of
2:45
Speaker 1: our remaining on the island and of our distress. One
2:49
Speaker 1: of them was a Portuguese called Alvaro Fernandes, a carpenter
2:53
Speaker 1: and sailor. The second was Mendes, the third Figueroa, a
2:57
Speaker 1: native of Toledo. The fourth Studio from Zafra. They were
3:02
Speaker 1: all good swimmers and took with them an Indian from
3:05
Speaker 1: the island. A few days after these four Christians had left,
3:10
Speaker 1: the weather became so cold and tempestuous that the Indians
3:14
Speaker 1: could no longer pull roots, and the canebrake in which
3:17
Speaker 1: they used to fish yielded nothing more. As the lodges
3:21
Speaker 1: afforded so little shelter, people began to die, and five
3:26
Speaker 1: Christians quartered on the coast were driven to such an
3:30
Speaker 1: extremity that they ate each other up until but one remained, who,
3:36
Speaker 1: being left alone, there was nobody to eat him. Their
3:39
Speaker 1: names are Sierra Diego, Lopez, Coral Palacios, and Gonzalo Ruis.
3:47
Speaker 1: At this the Indians were so startled, and there was
3:50
Speaker 1: such an uproar among them that I verily believe if
3:54
Speaker 1: they had seen this at the beginning, they would have
3:56
Speaker 1: killed them, and we all would have been in great danger.
4:01
Speaker 1: After a very short time, out of eighty men who
4:05
Speaker 1: had come there in our two parties, only fifteen remained alive.
4:10
Speaker 1: Then the natives fell sick from the stomach, so that
4:14
Speaker 1: one half of them died also, And they, believing we
4:18
Speaker 1: had killed them, and holding it to be certain, they
4:22
Speaker 1: agreed among themselves to kill those of us who survived.
4:26
Speaker 1: But when they came to execute it, an Indian who
4:29
Speaker 1: kept me told them not to believe we were the
4:32
Speaker 1: cause of their dying, for if we had so much power,
4:36
Speaker 1: we would not have suffered so many of our own
4:39
Speaker 1: people to perish without being able to remedy it ourselves.
4:44
Speaker 1: He also told them there remained but very few of us,
4:48
Speaker 1: and none of them did any harm or injury, so
4:52
Speaker 1: that the best was to let us alone. It pleased
4:55
Speaker 1: our Lord, they should listen to his advice and counsel
4:58
Speaker 1: and give up there to this island we gave the
5:03
Speaker 1: name of the Island of ill Fate. The people on
5:07
Speaker 1: it are tall and well formed. They have no other
5:10
Speaker 1: weapons than bows and arrows with which they are most dexterous.
5:15
Speaker 1: The men have one of their nipples perforated from side
5:18
Speaker 1: to side, and sometimes both. Through this hole is thrust
5:22
Speaker 1: a reed as long as two and a half hands
5:26
Speaker 1: and as thick as two fingers. They also have the
5:29
Speaker 1: under lip perforated, and a piece of cane in it
5:33
Speaker 1: as thin as the half of a finger. The women
5:37
Speaker 1: do the hard work. People stay on this island from
5:40
Speaker 1: October till the end of February, feeding on the roots
5:43
Speaker 1: I have mentioned taken from under the water. In November
5:47
Speaker 1: and December. They have channels made of reeds and get
5:51
Speaker 1: fish only during that time. Afterwards they subsist on roots.
5:57
Speaker 1: At the end of February they remove to other parts
6:00
Speaker 1: in search of food, because the roots begin to sprout
6:03
Speaker 1: and are not good any more. Of all the people
6:08
Speaker 1: in the world, they are those who most love their
6:10
Speaker 1: children and treat them best. And should the child of
6:14
Speaker 1: one of them happen to die, parents and relatives bewailed,
6:18
Speaker 1: and the whole settlement the lament, lasting a full year.
6:23
Speaker 1: Day after day, before sunrise, the parents begin to weep
6:27
Speaker 1: after them the tribe, and the same they do at
6:31
Speaker 1: noon and at dawn. At the end of the year
6:34
Speaker 1: of morning, they celebrate the anniversary and wash and cleanse
6:37
Speaker 1: themselves of all their paint. They mourn all their dead
6:41
Speaker 1: in this manner, old people excepted, to whom they do
6:44
Speaker 1: not pay any attention, saying that these have had their
6:48
Speaker 1: time and are no longer of any use, but only
6:52
Speaker 1: take space and food from the children. Their custom is
6:56
Speaker 1: to bury the dead, except those who are medicine men,
6:59
Speaker 1: among them whom they burn, and while the fire is burning,
7:04
Speaker 1: all dance and make a big festival, grinding the bones
7:07
Speaker 1: to powder. At the end of the year, when they
7:10
Speaker 1: celebrate the anniversary, they scarify themselves and give to the
7:14
Speaker 1: relatives the pulverized bones to drink in water. Every man
7:19
Speaker 1: has a recognized wife, but the medicine men enjoy greater privileges,
7:23
Speaker 1: since they may have two or three, And among these
7:27
Speaker 1: wives there is great friendship and harmony. When one takes
7:31
Speaker 1: a woman for his wife. From the day he marries her,
7:35
Speaker 1: whatever he may hunt or fish, she has to fetch
7:38
Speaker 1: it to the home of her father, without daring to
7:41
Speaker 1: touch or eat of it. And from the home of
7:44
Speaker 1: the father in law they bring the food to the husband,
7:47
Speaker 1: all the while neither the wife's father nor her mother
7:51
Speaker 1: enter his abode, nor is he allowed to go to
7:54
Speaker 1: theirs or to the homes of his brothers in law.
7:57
Speaker 1: And should they happen to meet, they go out of
8:00
Speaker 1: each other's way a crossbow shot or so, with bowed
8:03
Speaker 1: heads and eyes cast to the ground, holding it to
8:06
Speaker 1: be an evil thing to look at each other or speak.
8:10
Speaker 1: The women are free to communicate with their parents in
8:13
Speaker 1: law or relatives and speak to them. This custom prevails
8:17
Speaker 1: from that island as far as about fifty leagues inland.
8:21
Speaker 1: There is another custom that when a son or brother dies,
8:25
Speaker 1: no food is gathered by those of his household for
8:28
Speaker 1: three months, preferring rather to starve, but the relatives and
8:33
Speaker 1: neighbors provide them with victuals now As during the time
8:37
Speaker 1: we were there, so many of them died that there
8:40
Speaker 1: was great starvation in most of the lodges, due to
8:43
Speaker 1: their customs and ceremonials, as well as to the weather,
8:47
Speaker 1: which was so rough that such as could go out
8:49
Speaker 1: after food brought in, but very little, withal working hard
8:54
Speaker 1: for it. Therefore, the Indians by whom I was kept
8:57
Speaker 1: forsook the island, and in several canoes went over to
9:01
Speaker 1: the mainland to some bays where there were a great
9:04
Speaker 1: many oysters, and during three months of the year they
9:07
Speaker 1: do not eat anything else and drink very bad water.
9:11
Speaker 1: There is lack of firewood, but great abundance of mosquitoes.
9:16
Speaker 1: Their lodges are made of matting and built on oyster shells,
9:19
Speaker 1: upon which they sleep in hides which they only get
9:23
Speaker 1: by chance. There we remained to the end of April,
9:27
Speaker 1: when we went to the seashore where we ate blackberries,
9:30
Speaker 1: for a whole month, during which time they danced and
9:33
Speaker 1: celebrated incessantly. On the island I have spoken of. They
9:39
Speaker 1: wanted to make medicine men of us without any examination
9:43
Speaker 1: or asking for our diplomas, because they cured disease by
9:47
Speaker 1: breathing on the sick, and with that breath and their
9:50
Speaker 1: hands they drive the ailment away. So they summon us
9:55
Speaker 1: to do the same in order to be at least
9:58
Speaker 1: of some use. We laughed, taking it for a jest,
10:02
Speaker 1: and said that we did not understand how to cure.
10:06
Speaker 1: Thereupon they withheld our food to compel us to do
10:09
Speaker 1: what they wanted. Seeing our obstinacy, an Indian told me
10:14
Speaker 1: that I did not know what I said. By claiming
10:17
Speaker 1: that what he knew was useless, because stones and things
10:21
Speaker 1: growing out in the field have their virtues, and he
10:25
Speaker 1: with a heated stone, placing it on the stomach, could
10:28
Speaker 1: cure and take away pain, so that we, who were
10:32
Speaker 1: wiser men, surely had greater power and virtue. At last,
10:37
Speaker 1: we found ourselves in such stress as to have to
10:40
Speaker 1: do it without risking any punishment. Their manner of curing
10:45
Speaker 1: is as follows. When one is ill, they call in
10:48
Speaker 1: a medicine man, and after they are well again, not
10:52
Speaker 1: only do they give him all they have, but even
10:55
Speaker 1: things they strive to obtain from their relatives. All the
10:59
Speaker 1: medicine man does is to make a few cuts where
11:02
Speaker 1: the pain is located, and then sucked the skin around
11:06
Speaker 1: the incisions. They cauterized with fire, thinking it very effective,
11:11
Speaker 1: and I found it to be so by my own experience.
11:15
Speaker 1: Then they breathe on the spot where the pain is
11:18
Speaker 1: and believe that with this the disease goes away. The
11:22
Speaker 1: way we treated the sick was to make over them
11:25
Speaker 1: the sign of the Cross, while breathing on them, recite
11:29
Speaker 1: a potter noster and ave Maria and pray to God
11:32
Speaker 1: our Lord as best we could to give them good
11:36
Speaker 1: health and inspire them to do us some favors thanks
11:39
Speaker 1: to His will and the mercy he had upon us.
11:44
Speaker 1: All those for whom we prayed, as soon as we
11:46
Speaker 1: crossed them, told the others that they were cured and
11:50
Speaker 1: felt well again. For this they gave us good cheer,
11:53
Speaker 1: and would rather be without food themselves so as to
11:56
Speaker 1: give it to us, And they gave us hides and others.
12:01
Speaker 1: So great was the lack of food then, that I
12:04
Speaker 1: often remained without eating anything whatsoever for three days, and
12:09
Speaker 1: they were in the same plight, so that it seemed
12:12
Speaker 1: to me impossible for life to last, although I afterwards
12:16
Speaker 1: suffered still greater privations and much more distress. As I
12:20
Speaker 1: shall tell further on the Indians that kept Alonzo del
12:25
Speaker 1: Castillo Andresdorantes and the others who were still alive, being
12:29
Speaker 1: of another language and stock, had gone to feed on
12:33
Speaker 1: oysters at another point on the mainland, where they remained
12:37
Speaker 1: until the first day of the month of April. Then
12:40
Speaker 1: they came back to the island, which was from there
12:43
Speaker 1: nearly two leagues off. Where the channel is broadest. The
12:46
Speaker 1: island is half a league wide and five long. All
12:50
Speaker 1: the people of this country go naked only. The women
12:54
Speaker 1: cover part of their bodies with a kind of wool
12:56
Speaker 1: that grows on trees. The girls go about in deer skins.
13:00
Speaker 1: They are very liberal towards each other with what they have.
13:04
Speaker 1: There is no ruler among them, all who are of
13:07
Speaker 1: the same descendancy clustered together. There are two distinct languages
13:12
Speaker 1: spoken on the island. Those of one language are called Kapokes,
13:16
Speaker 1: those of the other han They have the custom when
13:20
Speaker 1: they know each other and meet from time to time,
13:24
Speaker 1: before they speak, to weep for half an hour. After
13:28
Speaker 1: they have wept, the one who receives the visit rises
13:32
Speaker 1: and gives to the other all he has. The other
13:36
Speaker 1: takes it, and in a little while goes away with everything.
13:40
Speaker 1: Even sometimes after having given and obtained all, they part
13:45
Speaker 1: without having uttered a word. There are other very queer customs.
13:50
Speaker 1: But having told the principal ones and the most striking,
13:54
Speaker 1: I must now proceed to relate what further happen to us.
13:59
Speaker 1: After Deantes and Castillo had come back to the island,
14:03
Speaker 1: they gathered together all the Christians who were somewhat scattered,
14:06
Speaker 1: and there were in all fourteen. I, as told, was
14:11
Speaker 1: in another place on the mainland, whither my Indians had
14:14
Speaker 1: taken me, and where I suffered from such a severe
14:17
Speaker 1: illness that although I might otherwise have entertained some hope
14:21
Speaker 1: for life, this was enough to take it away from
14:24
Speaker 1: me completely. When the Christians learned of it, they gave
14:27
Speaker 1: an Indian the robe of Martin we had taken from
14:30
Speaker 1: the casicke as stated, in order that he should guide
14:33
Speaker 1: them to where I was to see me. And so
14:37
Speaker 1: twelve of them came, two having become so feeble that
14:41
Speaker 1: they did not dare to take them along. The names
14:44
Speaker 1: of those who came are Alonzo del Castillo, Andres Dorantes
14:49
Speaker 1: and Diego Dorantes, Valdivieso, Estrada Tostado, Chaves, Gutieres, and Asturian
14:57
Speaker 1: priest Diego de Weelva, Stevanico, the Negro and Benitees. And
15:04
Speaker 1: as they reached the mainland they found still another of
15:07
Speaker 1: our men named Francisco de Leon, and the thirteen went
15:11
Speaker 1: along the coast. After they had gone by the Indians
15:15
Speaker 1: with whom I was told me of it, and how
15:19
Speaker 1: Hieronimo de Alanis and Lope Deoviedo had been left on
15:22
Speaker 1: the island. My sickness prevented me from following or seeing them.
15:28
Speaker 1: I had to remain with those same Indians of the
15:30
Speaker 1: island for more than one year, and as they made
15:34
Speaker 1: me work so much and treated me so badly, I
15:37
Speaker 1: determined to flee and go to those who lived in
15:40
Speaker 1: the woods on the mainland, and who are called those
15:44
Speaker 1: of Charuco. I could no longer stand the life I
15:49
Speaker 1: was compelled to lead. Among many other troubles, I had
15:52
Speaker 1: to pull the eatable roots out of the water and
15:55
Speaker 1: from among the canes where they were buried in the ground.
15:59
Speaker 1: And from this my fingers had become so tender that
16:02
Speaker 1: the mere touch of a straw caused them to bleed.
16:06
Speaker 1: The reeds would cut me in many places because many
16:09
Speaker 1: were broken, and I had to go in among them
16:12
Speaker 1: with the clothing I had on of which I have told.
16:16
Speaker 1: This is why I went to work and joined the
16:18
Speaker 1: other Indians. Among these I improved my condition a little
16:22
Speaker 1: by becoming a trader, doing the best in it I could,
16:26
Speaker 1: And they gave me food and treated me well. They
16:30
Speaker 1: entreated me to go about from one part to another
16:33
Speaker 1: to get the things they needed, as on account of
16:36
Speaker 1: constant warfare, there is neither travel nor barter in the
16:39
Speaker 1: land so trading along with my wares, I penetrated inland
16:44
Speaker 1: as far as I cared to go, and along the
16:47
Speaker 1: coast as much as forty or fifty leagues. My stock
16:52
Speaker 1: consisted mainly of pieces of sea shells and cockles, and
16:55
Speaker 1: shells with which they cut a fruit, which is like
16:58
Speaker 1: a bean, used by them for healing and in their
17:01
Speaker 1: dances and feasts. This is of greatest value among them,
17:05
Speaker 1: besides shell beads and other objects. These things I carried inland,
17:11
Speaker 1: and in exchange brought back hides and red ochre, with
17:14
Speaker 1: which they rub and dye their faces, and hair, flint
17:18
Speaker 1: for arrow points, glue and hard canes wherewith to make them,
17:22
Speaker 1: and tassels made of the hair of deer, which they
17:25
Speaker 1: dye red. This trade suited me well because it gave
17:29
Speaker 1: me liberty to go wherever I pleased. I was not
17:33
Speaker 1: bound to do anything, and no longer a slave. Wherever
17:38
Speaker 1: I went, they treated me well and gave me to
17:41
Speaker 1: eat for the sake of my wares. My principal object
17:45
Speaker 1: in doing it, however, was to find out in what
17:48
Speaker 1: manner I might get further away. I became well known
17:52
Speaker 1: among them. They rejoiced greatly when seeing me, and I
17:56
Speaker 1: would bring them what they needed, and those who did
17:59
Speaker 1: not know me would desire and endeavor to meet me
18:02
Speaker 1: for the sake of my fame my sufferings. While trading
18:07
Speaker 1: thus it would take long to tell danger, hunger, storms
18:12
Speaker 1: and frost, overtaking me, often in the open field and alone,
18:16
Speaker 1: and from which through the mercy of God, our Lord,
18:19
Speaker 1: I escaped. For this reason I did not go out
18:23
Speaker 1: trading in winter, it being the time when the Indians
18:26
Speaker 1: themselves remain in their huts and abodes, unable to go
18:30
Speaker 1: out or assist each other. Nearly six years I spent
18:35
Speaker 1: thus in the country, alone among them, and naked, as
18:39
Speaker 1: they all were themselves. The reason for remaining so long
18:43
Speaker 1: was that I wished to take with me a Christian
18:46
Speaker 1: called Lope de Oviedo, who still lingered on the island.
18:51
Speaker 1: The other companion, Alanis, who remained with him after a
18:54
Speaker 1: lonesome little Castillo, and Andris Dorantes and all the others
18:58
Speaker 1: had gone, soon died, And in order to get him
19:02
Speaker 1: Oviedo out of there, I went over to the island
19:06
Speaker 1: every year, entreating him to leave with me and go
19:10
Speaker 1: as well as we could in search of Christians. But
19:13
Speaker 1: year after year, he put it off to the year
19:16
Speaker 1: that was to follow. In the end, I got him
19:20
Speaker 1: to come, took him away, and carried him across the
19:24
Speaker 1: inlets and through four rivers on the coast, since he
19:28
Speaker 1: could not swim. Thence we proceeded together with several Indians
19:33
Speaker 1: to an inlet one league wide, very deep everywhere, and
19:37
Speaker 1: which seemed to us from what we saw to be
19:40
Speaker 1: the one called of the Holy Ghost. On the opposite shore,
19:44
Speaker 1: we saw Indians who had come to meet those in
19:47
Speaker 1: our company. They informed us that further on there were
19:50
Speaker 1: three men like ourselves, and told us their names. Upon
19:55
Speaker 1: being asked about the rest of the party, they answered
19:58
Speaker 1: that all had died from cold and hunger, and that
20:01
Speaker 1: the Indians beyond had killed Diego Dorantes, while Diviso and
20:07
Speaker 1: Diego de Uelva wilfully, only because these had gone from
20:11
Speaker 1: one house to another, and their neighbors, with whom was
20:15
Speaker 1: now the captain Dorantes, had, in consequence of some dream
20:20
Speaker 1: dreamt by these Indians, killed Eskivel and Mendes also. We
20:26
Speaker 1: asked them about those who remained alive, and they said
20:29
Speaker 1: they were in a very sorry condition, as the boys
20:33
Speaker 1: and other Indians, idlers and ruffs, kicked them, slapped their faces,
20:38
Speaker 1: and beat them with sticks, and such was the life
20:41
Speaker 1: they had to lead. We inquired about the country further
20:44
Speaker 1: on and the sustenance that might be found in it.
20:48
Speaker 1: They said it was very thinly settled, with nothing to eat,
20:51
Speaker 1: and the people dying from cold, as they had neither
20:55
Speaker 1: hides nor anything else to protect their bodies. They also
20:59
Speaker 1: told that if we wished to meet the three Christians
21:03
Speaker 1: about two days hence, the Indians would come to a
21:06
Speaker 1: place about a league from there, on the shore of
21:08
Speaker 1: that river, to feed on nuts, and to show us
21:12
Speaker 1: that what they said of the ill treatment of our
21:14
Speaker 1: people was true. The Indians with whom we were kicked
21:19
Speaker 1: and beat my companion neither did I remain without my
21:23
Speaker 1: share of it. They threw mud at us and put
21:26
Speaker 1: arrows to our chests every day, saying they would kill
21:30
Speaker 1: us in the same way as our other companions. And
21:33
Speaker 1: fearing this lope deoviedo. My companion said he preferred to
21:39
Speaker 1: go back with some women of the Indians in whose
21:41
Speaker 1: company he had forded the cove, and who had remained behind.
21:46
Speaker 1: I insisted he should not go, and did all I
21:49
Speaker 1: could to prevail upon him. To remain, but it was
21:53
Speaker 1: in vain. He went back, and I remained alone among
21:57
Speaker 1: these Indians, who are called Kiven, whereas those with whom
22:02
Speaker 1: he went away were called Diaguanes. Two days after Lope
22:07
Speaker 1: deo Vievo had gone, the Indians who kept Alonso del
22:10
Speaker 1: Castillo and Andres Dorantes came to the very spot we
22:15
Speaker 1: had been told of to eat the nuts upon which
22:17
Speaker 1: they subsist for two months in the year, grinding certain
22:21
Speaker 1: small grains with them without eating anything else, even of
22:26
Speaker 1: that they do not always have, since one year there
22:30
Speaker 1: may be some, and the next year not they The
22:33
Speaker 1: nuts are of the size of those of Galicia, and
22:37
Speaker 1: the trees are very big and numerous. An Indian told
22:41
Speaker 1: me that the Christians had come, and that if I
22:44
Speaker 1: wished to see them, I should run away to hide
22:47
Speaker 1: on the edge of a grove, to which he pointed,
22:50
Speaker 1: as he and some of his relatives were to visit
22:53
Speaker 1: these Indians and would take me along to the Christians.
22:57
Speaker 1: I confided in them and determined to do it, because
23:00
Speaker 1: they spoke a different language from that of my Indians.
23:05
Speaker 1: So the next day they took me along. When I
23:08
Speaker 1: got near the site where they had their lodges, andres
23:11
Speaker 1: Dorantes came out to look who it was, because the
23:14
Speaker 1: Indians had informed him also that a Christian was coming.
23:18
Speaker 1: And when he saw me, he was much frightened, as
23:22
Speaker 1: for many days they believed me to be dead, the
23:25
Speaker 1: Indians having told them so. We gave many thanks to
23:29
Speaker 1: God for being together again, and that day was one
23:32
Speaker 1: of the happiest we enjoyed in our time. And going
23:37
Speaker 1: to where was Castillo, they asked me whither I went.
23:41
Speaker 1: I told him my purpose was to go to a
23:43
Speaker 1: country of Christians, and that I followed this direction and trail.
23:48
Speaker 1: Andres Dorantes said that for many days he had been
23:51
Speaker 1: urging Castillo and Estevanico to go further on, but they
23:56
Speaker 1: did not risk it, being unable to swim and afraid
23:59
Speaker 1: of the rivers and inlets that had to be crossed
24:01
Speaker 1: so often in that country. Still, as it pleased God,
24:06
Speaker 1: our Lord, to spare me after all my sufferings and sickness,
24:09
Speaker 1: and finally let me rejoin them, They at last determined
24:14
Speaker 1: upon fleeing as I would take them safely across the
24:17
Speaker 1: rivers and bays we might meet, But they advised me
24:21
Speaker 1: to keep its secret from the Indians. As well as
24:24
Speaker 1: my own departure, lest they would kill me forthwith, and
24:28
Speaker 1: that to avoid this it was necessary to remain with
24:31
Speaker 1: them for six months longer, after which time they would
24:36
Speaker 1: remove to another section in order to eat prickly pears.
24:40
Speaker 1: These are fruit of the size of eggs, red and black,
24:44
Speaker 1: and taste very good. For three months they subsist upon
24:47
Speaker 1: them exclusively, eating nothing else. Now, at the time they
24:52
Speaker 1: pluck this fruit, other Indians from beyond come to them
24:56
Speaker 1: with bows for barter and exchange. And when those turned back,
25:01
Speaker 1: we thought of joining them and escaping. In this way.
25:05
Speaker 1: With this understanding, I remained, and they gave me as
25:09
Speaker 1: a slave to an Indian with whom Dorantes stayed. This Indian,
25:13
Speaker 1: his wife, their son, and another Indian who was with
25:16
Speaker 1: them were all cross eyed. These are called Mariames. And
25:21
Speaker 1: Castillo was with others who were their neighbors, called Iguasses.
25:26
Speaker 1: And so being here with them, they told me that
25:29
Speaker 1: after leaving the island of ill Fate, they met on
25:33
Speaker 1: the coast the boat in which the purser and the
25:35
Speaker 1: monks were going adrift, and that crossing the rivers, of
25:39
Speaker 1: which there were four, all very large and very swift,
25:43
Speaker 1: the barges in which they crossed were swept out into
25:46
Speaker 1: the sea, where four of their number were drowned. Thus
25:50
Speaker 1: they went ahead until they had crossed the inlet, which
25:53
Speaker 1: they did by dint of great efforts. Fifteen leagues from
25:57
Speaker 1: there they met another of our parties, and when they
26:01
Speaker 1: reached there, already two of their companions had died. In
26:04
Speaker 1: sixty leagues of travel. The survivors also were very near death.
26:10
Speaker 1: On the whole trip they ate nothing but crawfish and
26:13
Speaker 1: yeba pedrera. At this the last cove, they said they
26:18
Speaker 1: saw Indians eating blackberries, who, upon perceiving the Christians, went
26:23
Speaker 1: away to another promontory. While seeking a way to cross
26:27
Speaker 1: the cove, an Indian and a Christian came towards them,
26:30
Speaker 1: and they recognized figaroa one of the four we had
26:34
Speaker 1: sent ahead from the island of ill Fate, who there
26:37
Speaker 1: told them how he and his companions had gotten to
26:40
Speaker 1: that place, where two of their number and one Indian
26:43
Speaker 1: had died from cold and hunger, because they had come
26:47
Speaker 1: and remained in the worst weather known. He also said
26:51
Speaker 1: that the Indians took him and Mendes, while with them.
26:55
Speaker 1: Mendes fled, going in the direction of Panuco as best
26:59
Speaker 1: he might, but the Indians pursued and killed him. So
27:03
Speaker 1: as he Figueroa was with these same Indians, he learned
27:08
Speaker 1: from them that with the Mariamees there was a Christian
27:11
Speaker 1: who had come over from the other side and had
27:14
Speaker 1: met him with those called Kevenies, and that this Christian
27:19
Speaker 1: was Ernando de Esquivel, from by the hosts, a companion
27:23
Speaker 1: of the commissary from Esquevel. He learned how the Governor,
27:28
Speaker 1: the purser, and the others had ended. The purser with
27:32
Speaker 1: the friars had stranded with their barge among the rivers,
27:35
Speaker 1: and while they were proceeding along the coast, the barge
27:39
Speaker 1: of the governor and his men came to land also
27:42
Speaker 1: he The governor then went with his barge as far
27:45
Speaker 1: as the Big Cove, whence he returned and took his
27:48
Speaker 1: men across to the other side, then came back for
27:51
Speaker 1: the Purser, the monks, and the rest. He further told
27:55
Speaker 1: him that after disembarking, the governor revoked the powers he
27:59
Speaker 1: had given to the purser as his lieutenant, giving the
28:02
Speaker 1: office to a captain that was with him, called Pontocha.
28:06
Speaker 1: The governor did not land that night, but remained on
28:10
Speaker 1: his barge with a pilot and a page who was sick.
28:13
Speaker 1: They had neither water nor anything to eat aboard, and
28:17
Speaker 1: at midnight a northerner set in with such violence that
28:21
Speaker 1: he carried the barge out into the sea without anybody
28:25
Speaker 1: noticing it. They had for an anchor only a stone,
28:29
Speaker 1: and never more did they hear of him. Thereupon, the
28:33
Speaker 1: people who had remained on land proceeded along the coast, and,
28:37
Speaker 1: being much impeded by water, built rafts with great trouble,
28:42
Speaker 1: in which they passed to the other side. Going ahead,
28:46
Speaker 1: they reached a point of timber on the beach, where
28:49
Speaker 1: they found Indians, who, upon seeing them approach, placed their
28:52
Speaker 1: lodges on the canoes and crossed over to the other
28:55
Speaker 1: side of the coast, and the Christians, in view of
28:58
Speaker 1: the season and weather, since it was in the month
29:01
Speaker 1: of November, remained in this timber because they found water
29:06
Speaker 1: and firewood, some crawfish and other seafood, but from cold
29:11
Speaker 1: and hunger they began to die. Moreover, Pantocha, who remained
29:16
Speaker 1: as lieutenant ill, treated them on this Soto, mayor, brother
29:21
Speaker 1: of Vasco, Porcayo, the one from the island of Cuba,
29:24
Speaker 1: who had come in the fleet as Nice through the Campo,
29:28
Speaker 1: unable to stand it longer, quarreled with Pantocha and struck
29:32
Speaker 1: him a blow with a stick, of which he died.
29:36
Speaker 1: Thus they perished one after another, the survivors slicing the
29:41
Speaker 1: dead for meat. The last one to die was Soto Mayor,
29:45
Speaker 1: and Esquivel cut him up and fed on his body
29:49
Speaker 1: until the first of March, when an Indian of those
29:52
Speaker 1: who had taken to flight previously came to look if
29:55
Speaker 1: they were dead, and took Esquivel along with him. End
30:01
Speaker 1: of Section four.