Tlte Domi11ican i11art,yrs of Texas, r553-r554
145
their confidence in the short distance to Panuco, which they imagined was not far away, or through mere carelessness and Jack of experience, the entire party set out the next day, taking with them but a small portion of the provisions recovered from the wreck of the fleet. "When they started," says Davila Padilla, "there was not one who foresaw [the evident fact] that they would have to eat next day. They left there an abundance of the food salvaged from the sea." 15 Following the coast in the direction of Panuco, they painfully picked their way over the burning sands. "All were afoot, most of them without shoes, and with but scanty clothes. The women and the children suffered the most, but necessity forced all to travel as fast as possible. They soon experienced the pangs of hunger and the pain of exhaustion. The heat of the sand tried them severely and [it seemed as if] there was fire both over their heads and under their feet. The children cried, the mothers were filled with sorrow at their inability to help them, and all hurried on, spurred by the hope of finding relief in the land of the Christians." In this way they continued along the shore. over sandy wastes for five days, when they came to "a very large river that enters the sea, which the Spaniards called Rio Bravo because of its swift current and its great volume of water." This seems to have been Brazos Pass. Here they built several rafts on which all crossed to the opposite bank. Unfortunately, a cleric or secular priest, who was in the party, unintentionally dropped into the river the two crossbows that had kept the Indians at bay here- tofore. It seems that the good man had been carrying a bundle of personal belongings which had tired him. When he boarded the raft, he decided to drop his bundle in the river, but by mistake he picked up the one in which the crossbows were wrapped . The Indians, who like a pack of hungry wolves had followed the party, soon discovered the loss of the crossbows and became bolder than ever in their attacks. The Spaniards had only a few swords to fight with, and the natives took good care not to come within striking distance. Beyond the river, the group found a small grove of trees, where they rested for a while before continuing their march. A few days later, early one morn- ing, the Indians captured two Spaniards. After making them undress, as they had done with so many of the companions of Cabeza de Vaca twenty-five years before, they set them free and sent them back to their companions.
15 Davila Padilla, o,p. cit. , 27 5. All quotations are from this work unless other- wi!.e indicated hereafter.
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