CHAPTER XCIV

    How, after the captains were united, they determined to go forward; how they suffered much from thirst, insomuch that many of their servants perished, yet how they went on exploring.

THE captains and all the Spaniards, after having rested for some days from their former hardships, and discussed what might be best for them to do, it seemed good to all that they should pass on and traverse as many provinces as they could; for, if they could reach the mighty[328] Rio de la Plata, they would certainly find that its banks were peopled by very rich nations, and they would all soon be very prosperous, and would settle in that land which all who came from Spain were so anxious to see. When they had come to this resolution, they were told by the Indians that fourteen leagues farther on to the west [sic] there was a wide tract called Mocaquaxa,[157] but that there was no water on the way, and no trees but algarrobos.[158] When the captains knew that there would be scarcity of water, in order that the servants who carried the baggage might not fail, they ordered ewes' skins to be prepared and calabashes to be collected for carrying water. They did not take much count of this desert because, if it was only fourteen leagues wide, they could march quickly over it and they would not be much troubled about water. So they struck camp and began the march late in the afternoon, when the sun was sinking to hide its brightness behind the high hills to the westward. They marched with much haste that evening and part of the night, until it was so dark that the guide could not make out the way, nor guess where he was going. So, as they could march no farther, the tents were pitched with the intention of continuing onwards at daylight. Day had scarcely shown signs of dawning when the Spaniards were again on the march. The heat was so intense that it is almost absurd to believe it. They truly affirm that neither the heats of the Libyan deserts, nor of Egypt, nor of the sandy desert of the coast near Piura were greater, for at that time the sun reigned in the south.

As the heat was so great the water they had brought was soon consumed; and the more they drank the more they were harassed by thirst. Many of the servants, who came with the Spaniards, died of the heat and want of water. The[329] horses were very tired. The Spaniards, seeing the pass to which they had come, and knowing that if all the servants died the expedition must be a failure, some of those who had horses pushed on with what speed they could to bring water in the calabashes and skins and succour the foot soldiers and native servants, and enable them to advance. With no little trouble, the horses being much fatigued, they returned with the vessels full of water, and thus saved many lives. They passed the night as best they could. As the dawn approached our Lord God, who at such times reveals his marvels, ordained that the clouds, by the thunder that rolled amongst them, should show signs of approaching rain; and the people, cheered by the sound, threw themselves down with their backs on the ground, open mouthed, that the drops might fall into them should the rain come. It was not long before a heavy shower came down and Spaniards and Indians made big pits to receive it. Soon the pits were full, and the people were able to drink at their pleasure. The barbarians of the province whither they were going, when they heard of the coming of the Spaniards, deserted the country, from the fear in which they held them; and when the Spaniards arrived there no Indians were to be found. Whilst they were looking about to see which direction they could have gone off in they came upon some spies and scouts who had been left behind [by the Indians] to carry word of the Spaniards' arrival. These fellows wounded two horses with their arrows and then made off to give notice to the Indians and inform them how few in number the Christians were. When the Indians heard this, many of them readily assembled to make war, and while the native servants and some friendly Indians were gathering herbage for the horses, the enemy came in a troupe of as many as six hundred Indians, and killed some of them. The alarm being given, the Spaniards came out on their horses and joined in the fight. Notwithstanding that a few of these[330] were wounded, more than two hundred natives were slain on the field and many more were wounded, so with no little outcry they turned their backs in terror, astonished at the valour of the Spaniards, and unable to believe but that their enemies had some deity among them. The captains regained the village where they had encamped.