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Our Catliolic Heritage in Texas
They sustain themselves with quantities of calabashes, ground mesquite, mushrooms, prickly pears, and fish from the river." 9 Five leagues beyond the country of the Raya Indians the little party came upon numerous Indians of the Cabris nation, also called Pazaguantes. They, too, lived along the Conchos near its juncture with the Rio Grande, but they spoke a language different from that of the tribes already men- tioned and had a much better physique. "The Cabris nation are very handsome, very spirited, very active, and more intelligent than the people previously met. They are of large stature and their face, arms, and bodies are striped with pleasing lines." This last characteristic, typical of the Jumano Indians, who lived east of the Rio Grande, seems to indicate that the Cabris were a division of this nation. The chronicler goes on to say that they were clean and more modest than the Conchos and that they cultivated small patches of land in the proper season of the year. They wore their hair in the shape of skull caps. These Indians, like the others visited, proved friendly, and appeared to be glad to see the Spaniards. From them they learned that other tribes had fled at their approach, fearful lest they be taken prisoners and sold in the Spanish settlements as slaves. 10 Fray Agustin Rodriguez and Chamuscado explained to the Cabris, with the aid of an interpreter, that they came to help them against their enemies, to be their friends, and to protect them. They further assured the natives that in the future the Spaniards would come only as friends, provided the Indians behaved themselves. Having won their confidence they continued their march to La Junta de los Rios, near present Presidio, where the Conchos enters the Rio Grande. Here they found numerous Indians and placed several crosses in their respective rancherias. The tribes appeared to speak a language slightly different from that of the Cabris, although the two groups understood each other without difficulty. Gallegos called this new tribe Amotomanco, but they were also called 'Hammond, "The Rodriguez Expedition," in New JIIexico Historical Review, ll, pp. 249-250. Prior to the publication of this detailed account of the Rodriguez expedition the chief documentary sources were the documents published in Pacheco y Cardenas, Vol. XV, pp. 80-99, and their translation in Bolton, S,Panis/1 Explora- tions, 137-160. Dr. Mecham, who had access to the MS. used by Hammond, pub- lished the best summary in the New Mexico Historical Review in Volume I, pp. 265-291. IOHammond, "Rodriguez Expedition," New Mexico H istorical Review, II, pp. 252-253. As already noted, frequent slave hunting expeditions had entered this region in spite of the stringent regulations of 1573 against this practice.
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