![]() ![]() ![]() God had mercy upon me, that in all this time there was no norther otherwise I could not have survived.Īt the end of five days I reached the shores of a river and there met my Indians. During all that time I did not eat a mouthful, nor could I find anything to eat, and my feet, being bare, bled a great deal. But one night fire fell on the straw with which I was covered, and while I was asleep in the hole it began to burn so rapidly that, although I hurried out as quick as possible, I still have marks on my hair from this dangerous accident. Of the long grass that grows there I made bundles, with which I covered myself in that hole and so was protected from the night cold. I also picked up dry wood that had fallen and built around the hole four fires crosswise, being very careful to stir them from time to time. Then I scratched a hole in the ground and threw in it much firewood from the numerous trees. I went to the brush in the timber near the rivers and stopped in it every evening be-įore sunset. For the night I used the following artifice: It was my only protection against the cold, for I went as naked as a new-born child. Thus I went on for five days, always with my firebrands and load of wood, so that in case the fire went out where there was no timber, as in many parts there is none, I always would have wherewith to make other torches and not be without firewood. It pleased God to let me find a burning tree, by the fire of which I spent that very cold night, and in the morning loaded myself with wood, took two burning sticks and continued my journey. The people returned without me, and starting to rejoin them that night I went astray and got lost. Five days after our arrival they left to get more tunas at a place where people of a different nation and language lived, and having travelled five days, suffering greatly from hunger, as on the way there were neither tunas nor any kind ofįruit, we came to a river, where we pitched our lodges.Īs soon as we were settled we went out to hunt for the fruit of certain trees, which are like spring bittervetch (orobus), and as through all that country there are no trails, I lost too much time in hunting for them. Hearing this, and as winter and cold weather were setting in, we determined to spend it with those Indians. They replied there were plenty of tunas all through that country, but that the season was over and nobody there, because all had gone to their abodes after gathering tunas also that the country was very cold and very few hides in it. They celebrated our coming for three days, at the end of which we asked them about the land further on, the people and the food that there might be obtained. We thanked God for His daily increasing mercy and kindness, and after they were all well they began to dance and celebrate and feast until sunrise of the day following. People for him to cure, and each brought a piece of venison, and so many there were that we did not know where to store the meat. Forthwith they offered us many tunas, because they had heard of us and of ![]() They were those who used to fetch bows to ours and barter with them, and, although of another nation and speech, they understand the idiom of those with whom we formerly were and had arrived there on that very day with their lodges. These Indians speak another language and are called Avavares. They lodged Dorantes and the negro at the house of a medicine man, and me and Castillo at that of another. They appeared to be pleased with our company and took us to their homes. We told them in the language of the Mariames that we had come to see them. At sunset we came in sight of the lodges, and two crossbow shots before reaching them met four Indians waiting for us, and they received us well. He answered that the dwellings were nearby and that he would guide us, and we followed. The negro told him that we were going in search of the people that had raised the smoke. We sent the negro after him, and as the Indian saw him approach alone he waited. The Journey of Alvar Nuñez Cabez de Vaca (1905), Īway. ![]()
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