69
Tke Nar7.1aez Expedition, 1526-1536
expedition of three hundred Spaniards who landed so proudly in Florida in 1528. Tlte last four survivors plan their escape. After almost seven years of incredible sufferings, these lone survivors at last met at the river of nuts (the Guadalupe) and there Cabeza de Vaca heard from Dorantes the fate of all the others. One idea still animated the four, however: to escape from the Indians and to find their way back to the land of the Christians. They now made plans to accomplish this long cherished dream for which they had endured so many hardships and suffered so many privations. It was decided that the time for leaving was not opportune. It would be better to wait until the time of the tunas (prickly pears), according to Dorantes. "At that time they [the natives] pluck this fruit," he said, "other Indians from beyond come to them with bows for barter and exchange," and when thus engaged, it would be easy to join them anrl escape. In the meantime the plan had to be kept secret from the I nclians. The mere suspicion of it would be fatal to all of them. Cabeza de Vaca agreed, therefore, to become the slave of the Mareames, with whom Dorantes lived, and to wait until the time of the ttmas. Patiently he remained for six months in spite of hardships and abuse. At last the Indians set out for the prickly pears, thirty leagues hence, somewhere west of Corpus Christi Bay, which would place them in the vicinity of Helena, in Karnes County. 70 It was now the early summer of I 534. Just as they were about to start, a quarrel between the Indians who had control of the remaining Christians occurred over a woman and "each one took his lodge and went his own way. So we Christians had to part, and in no manner could we get together until the year following." 71 In spite of disappointments and unforeseen circumstances, when the next year rolled around the Spaniards met again in the land of the tmias, somewhere in Ka,rnet_or De',yit.t Counties. Not until September 8, 1535, however, did they finally succeed in escaping. When they at last came together, "all three praised the Lord, and resolved as Christians (and gentlemen, which each of them was), that they would not live this life 70 R. C. Hill, "From Nuts to Tunas," Dallas News, August 27, 1933. This is a much debated question. For a discussion of other possible sites where these Indians were accustomed to go to gather prickly pears, see the excellent study of Davenport and Wells, "The First Europeans in Texas," Quarterly, Vol. 22, pp. 205-222 . After a careful examination of all the various studies on the subject, we are inclined to agree with Hill. 71Barcia, I, 22; I3andelier, 95.
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