597 / 1060
I'
BooK
II.
Royal
Cornmentaries.
\\ ithin their d:fcovery : Their way
'~as
now over other
h1ount~ins~
n·.
ber r
than
thofe already paffed, but worfe, if :vorfe could be:
And
fhll
Famme an
Mortality pre!fed them hard with great difcouragement,
fo
rhat they . er for ed
to
kill
their worft Horfes, and with ther
Fle01
to
make Br<;>th
for
the:i·
0ck
f
~
-
ple. But what was moft lamentable
to
fee>
was
Men dymg and
penilung "'
1~h
mere
weaknefs; for not having firength to walk, they were left to
rnem_felve
m
the Mountains· and not being able to help one the other, every one fhtfted
f<
r
hi111felf:
One
day they left eleven Men alive
in
this manner,_and
anot~er
day
thi~ceen: When they were ali:noR fiarved, and were forced
to
y1e~d
to
their'~
eaknel
,
the under,jaw
fell
in that manner, that they could not
{hut
their mouths;
fo
when
they
left
them'
an
they faid
was)
God rejf., and
r~~in
with
)'OU
••
and the
f
oor
Wretches would anfwer with an imperfect pronurn;:1anon,
God
go
l.-vsth
yo11;
nor
h -
ving firength
to
move their
Tongue~.
All
t~efe
particulars, beli?e
th
commo?
report v.
ere related to me by
a
certain SouldJer
called-~
---
de
Porta!va
;
I
heard
u:
r~~
more than once,and
I
could not but weep.
at
the fadoefs of the fioty : And
he farther faid, that it did not fo much trouble him when he left them dead,
but
to abandon Men in chat condition alive, was more grievous than could be expre[–
fed.
In
this
manner above eighty
Spaniards
peri!hed, befides
Indians,
in a fur
grea–
ter
number~
Moreover, they had another difficulty
to
pafs
the
River
~iximu;
for
the Timbers which they
cut
for that purpofe,
were fo
heavy, being fappy and
green, that
they would not float, but fink
to
the bottom ; nor were there any
places
where
it
might be waded over, being
a
very
fi
ift and rapid ftrearn,
and
much infefied with Alligators, which they call
Caymanes,
which are a
fort
of
Cro–
codile of about twenty five or thirty Foot long ; and fo voracious, that they are
very dangerous in the Water. At length they made fome Floats with Bough
faftned together, and therewith paffed with
as
much difficulty as we can imagine.
lt
happened, that being
to
pafs one of thefe Rivers, and feeking the mofr com–
modious place,· they efpied two great Trees oppofite to each other, on<2 on one
fid~
and the other on the other fide of theilliver, with
branches
extending
fo
wide, that they reached each other ;
it
was thought
fit
to
cut
down one of rhefe
towards the
root~
which they did, and
fo
direeted the fall of
it
on the rtree on the
other fide,
that
it fell and refted on the other; both which
trees
being1joyned
to–
gether, ferved for a Bridge, over which the
Spaniards
and
Indiam
taking hold on
me boughs, paffed by three and four at a time. At length there remained onely
.fn,
perfons to go over, which were three
Spaniard1,
and three
Jndiam,
of which
the Captain himfelf was one who would
be
the
laft
t~bring
up the rere; the
In–
Jian1
were ordered to go foremoft
to
carry
the Arms, and two other
Spaniards
who were intimate Comerades of the Captains were to bear the Saddles, and
paf–
ting in
this
order
near
the top of the fianding tree , that which was cut gave
a
arack, and broke off from that part towards the bottom, which remained un–
hewen;
the two
Spaniard!,
and the three
Indians,
kept their hold
fall:
upon the
boughs; and the Captain, who obferved the danger more than thofe \'\
1
ho were
before
him,
gave
a leap
over his Companions, and catched firm hold on a bough
of the
fianding tree, which breaking with
bis
weight, he
fell
therewith into the
Water
j
thofe which fate on the other
rree
were like ife carried down the
fueam with him , and were never feen more : But two or three of the
Captain's Comerades ftanding on the other fide,
and
obferving the danger
in
hich he was, followed him on the bank, and reaching out to
hlrn
the end of
their Lances, he took hold
0£
them; and therewith they drew him to the iliore
and faved him, returning thanks to Almighty God for this great deliverance. And
now
travelling n their
way
forward , ia what place foever that they found
any'
plenty of wild Fru!t or Roots larger
tha~ ordi~ary,
they would ftay there toga–
ther and make prov1fion of them for food m their Journey. And having thus wan–
der~d
above the fpace of one whole year in the Mountains, at length one day
whilft
the~
made a fiay to gather their
ruits, the Captain took a fancy to climb
a tree, yv¥ch grew on the highefl: part of the Mountain,
to
fee
if
he could efpy
any
plam or end of thofe Rocks, or hope to free themfelves from that Maze or
Labyr~nth:
And being on the tap of one
f
the highefi
trees,
which are in tl;ofe
p~ts
like lofty Towe:s, he. could not di(cover any plain Countrey, being
fHIL
en–
vironed on
all
fides
with
mighty
~ountarns;
but looking round about, he obfer–
ve~
a
~teat
flock ofParrots near him,
v
hich
V\
ith their ufual chattering noife took
their
flight
Sourh-Eafi, and at a good difiance from
him,
about
fi
e or
fix
Leagues
as