Chapter XXVII.
Relates how they sowed some land; the entry into a valley; capture of three boys, and what happened with the natives.
The Captain, on the last day of Easter, taking with him such an escort as seemed necessary, went to an adjacent farm of the natives and sowed a quantity of maize, cotton, onions, melons, pumpkins, beans, pulse, and other seeds of our country; and returned to the ships laden with many roots and fish caught on the beach.
Next day the Captain sent the Master of the Camp, with thirty soldiers, to reconnoitre a certain height, where they found a large and pleasant valley, with villages. When the inhabitants saw us coming, many assembled together in arms. We caught there three boys, the oldest being about seven years of age, and twenty pigs. With these we began a retreat, and the natives, with vigour and bravery, attacked our vanguard, centre, and rearguard, shooting many arrows. The chiefs came out to the encounter, and by their charges forced us to lose the ground we were gaining. Arrived at a certain pass, our people found the rocks occupied by many natives, who were animated by the desire to do as much harm as possible. Here was the hardest fight, their arrows and stones hurled down from the heights, causing great danger to our men. When the Captain heard the noise of the muskets and the shouting, he ordered three guns to be fired off, to frighten the natives and encourage our people; and the better to effect this at the port, those in the ships and on the beach were sent to support the retreating party in great haste. The forces having united, they came to the ships, saving the spoils, and all well.
There was a certain person, who said in a loud voice: “Thirty pigs would be better eating than three boys.” The Captain heard this, and said, with much feeling, that he would rather have one of those children than the whole world besides. He made a speech on the subject, concluding with the following words: “I give the blame to my sins, and to those alone. And how much better would it be for the person who spoke such nonsense if he had given praises to God, who, in a way so strange and unthought-of, saved these three souls—a thing which we must believe to have been predestined?” For this speech there was some ill-feeling on the part of the man who had spoken, and more from his friends.
The natives, on the following day, having other ambuscades, came to attack our watering party, who armed themselves in great haste. The natives shot off their arrows, and our people fired their muskets. The natives then fled, shouting as they went, leaving marks of the harm done them by the balls.
It seems that the natives, in their rage that they could not revenge themselves on us, came to destroy the church. The Captain hurriedly sent off an armed party in the two boats to prevent them. When the natives saw this, they slowly retreated. Their object appeared to have been to draw our men away, to lead them to where many other natives were concealed; for we afterwards saw them go away, crossing the river of Salvador.