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I
•
Royal
Commentarie1.
BooK
III.
their
Forcu~es
by
Po.!feffions in the
City
of
Couo,
where it was my Fortune to
have acquaintance with
the~
.
The~e
four
alking fofcly over a Plain, to eafe their Horfes, which were much
tired
with
the Labour of the
la
ft Engagement, and being at forne dillance from the
place\ here the Bartel was fought,
they
difcovered on the fide ofa little
Hill
bel~~
feven
I ndian
Gentlemen, all armed with their Bows and Arrows, going to join with
the
Indian
Army, and very gallant, with their Plumes of Feathers, and other
Ornaments.
o foon as they
faw
the
Spaniards,
they
put
themfelves into Rank
at ten or
t\\
elve paces diftant each from the other,
with
defign
ro
divide
th~
Enemy, that they might come apart, and not
in
a
Body cogecher. The
Spa–
niards
made figns
to
them ,
that they were Friend , and would not fight
with chem; but notwithftanding the
Jndians
prepared their Arms, and would
not accept of their
riendChip, fo that both fides engaged with great Courage
and Refolution.
The
Spaniard,r
(as they report themfelves) fay, that they were afhamed of the
inequality of
chis
march, that four Cavaliers, fuch as they were, well armed,
and
mounted on their Horfes, with Lances in their Hands, {hould engage with feven
lndian1
on Foot, and naked, \: ithout defenfive Arms, who notwithftanding re-·
fufed not
co
fight with
as
much courage, as
if
their Breafts had been covered with
Steel
,
affifting and helping each other
ith much Bravery. That
Jndi11n
who
had none to encounter him, always helped him, that was engaged,
and
fo
alter–
natively came
in,
to
the fuccour e ch of other, fometimes crofS,
and
fometimes
b hind, according
to
the Order and
ethod agreed amongfl: them; fo that for
the moft p rt, two
Jndian1
fought with one
Spaniard.
At
length, afrer a long
kirmi 1, chat every
Spaniard
had kille his
Indian,
and one of them was in pur–
fuit
ofa fingle
Indian,
'
ho,
as
he
~as
flying, took up a Scone, which he threw
and hit the Beaver of h' Head-piece, which covered
his
Face, with fuch force
as half fiunn,d him, and had killed him outright, had
it
not been for that piece
f
Armour; howfo
er, nocwithflanding the Blov , the
Spaniard
made an end of
this
Indian,
and killed him alfo.
The other
n'
o
Indians
fled , and efcaped ; for the
Spaniard.r
were not very
eager
to
purfoe them , conGdering that their Horfes had been much tired, and
haraffed with this fecond, as
~ell
as \:\'ich the
fuCl:
Encounter;
fo
that they
thought it neither honourable, nor "'·orth their pains,
to
kill
the two furviving
India111.
After
c11e SkirmHh was over, the four Companion
ll:aid
a
while, to examine
chemfelves, and to know what hurt each Man had received; and upon Enquiry
they found, that three of them were wounded, and that two of thefe three
. had received three W ouncl apiece, though flight one , and. the fourth had
his Horfe wounded with an Arrow., the which hurt ' as many Days in hea–
ling;
ac
ording as he, who was Maft:er
of the
Horfe, related
it
to
me
in
this
manner:
«
All
four of us, faid he, were wounded, but
I
mofl: grievouily
of
any,
be–
,, cau(e
I
was more fenfible of the hurt, which my Horfe received, than
if
I
had
'' been wounded my felf, by reafon of the great
ant
I
had of him.
I
remember
1ien
I
was
a
Child, the great lamentation the
Spaniard.r
made
for
their Horf
es,
and would .rather have been wounded themfelves than their Horfes ; and in like
manner this Gentleman was troubled for th· misfortune#
'
In
fine, thefe four returned
to
the
Army,
and acquainted their Companions,
that the Engagement which they had had with the feven
Indian1
that day, was
more dangerous, than the great fight with
fix
or feven thoufand of
th~m.
Several
other SkirmHhes pa!fed the fame day of the like nature, one of which
was
that
which we have recounted in the lafl: Chapter of the fir(l: Book of
this
fecond
Part, where we fpeak
of
the Loyalty and Affeetion which the
lndi1ins
taken in
fight profe!S unto the
paniardr.
In
this manner they marched forward, fighting
every other day more or lefS, untill they came to a warlike People, called
Ch11q11i–
faca,
where they engaged _with many thoufands of
Indiam,
\
h<?
frra~med th~
Spa–
niards
with want of Prov1fions, and kept chem alway
allarm d
with contumal
Skirmiil1es wherein many
were
~illed
and
wounde , which
the
Hiflorians
men–
tion,
but
~ich
great
brevity.
Gomttr~