The Dominican illartyrs of Texas, 1553-1554
but that he was unable to speak. After the others left, he heard the Indians pass in pursuit of their victims and soon after, fell asleep. vVhen he awokt:: sometime in the middle of the night, the good friar felt much relieved by the warmth of the sand that covered him, which had also staunched the flow of blood from his numerous wounds. He felt so comfortable, however, that he soon relapsed into slumber. When he again awoke it was still before dawn. Strength having been restored by his much needed rest, he got out of the small grave into which he had been laid by his companions and began to walk, following the tracks of the others who had fled and left him behind. "Each tree appeared to him to be a group of Indians with bows and arrows and he imagined every time that the wind blew by him that it was caused by an arrow flying at him." 23 After traveling about a quarter of a league with great difficulty, he came upon a truly desolate scene. In an open field before him all his companions lay dead. The Indians had overtaken them and killed them all. The sight deeply impressed the poor missionary with the fact that he was now the only survivor of the happy and carefree group that sailed so merrily from Veracruz a few months before. He felt so weak and worn out that he hesitated to go on and wished that he were dead and out of misery, as his companions. He found the body of Fray Juan de Mena with an arrow through the back. Fray Juan Ferrer must have fallen on the way from the river, for his body was not with the rest. The lone survivor wept silently and said his prayers for the living and the dead, and finding comfort in this pious act, he wended his steps once more towards Panuco. "For four days he walked slowly on, in constant fear of being killed at every step. The wounds festered and were now filled with maggots ... He had no food nor drink and the sight of himself caused him nausea."!' One evening as he walked along the beach, he saw a log on the sand. Being tired unto death, he stopped to rest upon the log. Hardly had he fallen asleep, when hundreds of sand crabs covered his naked body, attracted by the pus and maggots of his numerous wounds and sores. With much difficulty, he succeeded in driving the hungry sand crabs away, who, seemed bent upon devouring him alive. Several days longer he struggled on, barely able to walk until he came at last to the Panuco. Once more he was doomed to disappointment. For many days he had endured great thirst, and now that he saw the river before him he hurried 23 Davila Padilla, op. cit., pp. 287-288. 24 /bid., p. 288.
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