Tlie Dominican 1v/artyrs of Texas, 1553-1554
143
six days, they decided to make their way to Panuco, they merely followed the coast or as near to it as possible. From the accounts of their overland march, in which all were to die except two, it seems they crossed only three large rivers: One they called Rio Bravo, because of the swiftness and the volume of its stream; the other they definitely recognized as the Rio de las Palmas, which was no other than the Rio Grande of today; and the third was a large stream about halfway between the Rio de las Palmas and the Panuco, which they called Tanipa, but which in all prob- ability was the Rio de San Fernando. From these facts it may be con- cluded that the wreck occurred somewhere on Padre Island, about half- way between Corpus Christi and Brazos Pass, which they unknowingly called Rio Bravo; that the second stream was the Rio Grande in the vicinity of present day Brownsville; and that the third stream was, as already indicated, San Fernando River in the present state of Tamaulipas. 10 But let us return to the unfortunate survivors on the deserted coast. By an inscrutable design of Providence, they had been cast upon the shore of Texas, where most of them were to find untimely deaths and where in . their misery, the Dominican friars were to be their only consolation. For six days they did not see a living thing. On the seventh, there came about a hundred warriors, armed with bows and arrows, but bearing an abundant supply of fresh fish and some lighted logs to make a fire. They came in peace and appeared to be over- joyed with the arrival of the strangers upon their shores. Through signs, they made the Spaniards understand that they should build a fire and cook the fish ; that the Indians were their friends. Although the Spaniards had ample provisions from what they had been able to salvage from the wreck, they had not had any fresh food or fire since their arrival and were consequently glad to accept the gifts brought by the Indians. The commander of the fleet, who was among the survivors and had taken command, warned the Spaniards to beware, pointing out that if the Indians were sincere in their friendship, it was strange they should have brought their bows and arrows and left their wives and children behind. He wisely remarked that "to be friends they have too many arrows, and to be enemies they have brought too much food." Cautiously the men kept an eye on their unexpected hosts, while the women prepared a hot meal of fried fish. When the meal was ready, the watch kept on the Attempt to reac/1 tl1e Pa11uco.
18 For a detailed account of the route followed by the survivors, see Davila Padilla, Fundacion, 27 5-290; Barcia, EIIS0')/0 Crono/ogico, 29-3 I.
Powered by FlippingBook