The cause of the Indians’ animosity and attempts to attack and plunder, was, that they suspected as Pedro was the first who had discovered the wreck on the beach, he had the first chance of booty, and of course had obtained a great quantity of gold, silver, and other valuable property; and had secreted them in the cottage. Impressed with this notion, which I believe was false and groundless, they made several nightly attempts to force the door, but were repulsed by the guard.
I passed these days very unquietly at the cottage, and time seemed to roll most tediously slow. The old lady had some cigars and old books, and I endeavored, by smoking and reading, to beguile the hours. The books, though some were an hundred and fifty years old, were not uninteresting. They consisted partly of the ‘Lives of the Martyrs;’ ‘Sermons by a Priest at Madrid;’ and a large volume of the ‘History of the Conquest of Peru.’
In the evening, Pedro would take his seat at the bedside, and amuse and interest me by his conversation. On an occasion like this, he said, he would relate the following tale, which before he had no opportunity to do. It shows that my discovery and rescue were wholly owing to a circumstance purely fortuitous and accidental.
‘Early in the morning of Thursday,’ said he, ‘two days before you were found on the strand, a soldier of the army of Artigas was strolling on horseback nearer the beach than they usually travel. At about a mile from the scene of the wreck, he discerned in a small cove at the river side, something on the beach; and as it was uncommon to observe any object breaking the uniformity of the sandy plain, he resolved to ride down and examine it. It proved to be one of the kegs of butter, nearly the size of a half barrel, which had been separated by the sea from the other drifting articles, and washed and lodged into this little bay. The soldier alighted from his horse, turned it over, but could not tell what it contained. It being heavy, and thinking it of little value, he left it and rode away. Some time after, in his return, he came near our cottage; he had before frequently stopped here; and now resolved to go in. In the course of conversation with me, on different affairs, he mentioned the discovery, at the river side, of a small barrel, very heavy; containing he knew not what, and supposed it to have drifted ashore from some vessel. Soon after, he left the cottage, and proceeded on his journey. That day and the next, being very stormy, cold and rainy, prevented me from going abroad. On Saturday the weather was still unfair, but at noon it began to clear away. I mounted my cavallo in the afternoon, and took a ride in the direction described by the soldier, in search of the keg he had spoken of. This I soon saw at the edge of the water, and supposing that this was not all that had been driven ashore by the storm, I was induced to make a further search; and recollecting that the wind had been for several days blowing obliquely up the river, I concluded to shape my course down the sea side for new discoveries. Accordingly, I rode on a great distance, without seeing any thing else, and was on the point of returning; when, on winding round a small point of land, I plainly saw at a short distance a thousand vestiges of the wreck covering the beach. I rode slowly through them, near the edge of the water, stopping at times to view them, but not dismounting. I passed the cask you lay in, which I saw was thrown very high up the beach. ‘It was rather strange,’ said he, ‘that you did not hear my horse’s steps.’ I told him I did not; for the tread on the sand was not loud, and the roar of the sea might serve to prevent it. ‘I traversed the whole length of the beach, and frequently stopped to examine different objects of the wreck. I had probably been half an hour on the beach, before I had a thought of one alive so near me.’ I told him I was, during the period of his survey, lying quietly in the cask, without a hope of again leaving it, and wholly unconscious deliverance was so near. ‘In returning,’ he continued, ‘I was passing close to the sand hill between the banks and your place of shelter, and should have passed the cask, if I had not heard a hollow voice from within.’ I inquired if the roll of bagging across the pipe’s mouth, did not attract his notice. ‘No, my friend pilota,’ said Pedro, ‘I should certainly have rode on without regarding it; for I had seen a hundred things just before, in equally curious positions. Your voice alone, which started me at first, caused me to dismount, and look into the cask; and my God, I shall never forget the sight as long as I live.’ What a scene was this for the pencil of the painter!
On the eve of about the fourth day, I asked Pedro, if any of the bodies had washed ashore, besides the one we saw. He replied, not one; and wondered how that alone should be cast so far on shore.
I told him I presumed it was one of the stoutest of the seamen, who had fortunately cleared himself from the ship, without much damage, and had resolutely continued ‘breasting the lofty surge,’ till he reached the middle of the breakers; when, being there overpowered, he expired and sunk; and the force of the waves then propelled the body to the shore before it descended to the bottom.
It is surprising that human bodies will, when dead, sink and continue at the bottom, unmoveable; while other substances, of much greater proportionate weight, will be thrown on shore by the sea.
My friend brought in, and shew me, at different times, large detached pieces of iron, and ring bolts, &c. which he found half buried in the sand.
I was now slowly gaining strength; but each returning day brought fresh alarm from the murderous designs of the villain guachas. On the fourth night they went to the next hut upon the beach, about four miles off, where dwelt a poor and harmless family, and robbed it of every thing valuable, or worth taking; mortally stabbed the father; bound his daughters, and brutally abused them. One of them, an interesting white girl, came the next day to our hut, for some relief, and told in tears the dreadful story.
I had about this time, a great many visiters, who all considered me highly favored by my patron saint, to whom they attributed my hair breath escapes. Among them, were many old women, who came from a distance, and travelled on horseback, about the country, bartering their commodities.