Eight days after the departure of the ships, Captain Vergara wrote that the three Spaniards, together with 800 Indians, had set out from the port of Las Piedras,[331] in the 24th degree, below the tropic, to prosecute their journey by land, and that the Indians were in good heart, and pleased to show the road. He further wrote that, having recommended the three Spaniards to the care of the Indians, he had resumed his navigation up the river for the purpose of exploring it.
[331] Las Piedras, or Pan de Azúcar, is in 21° 25′.
[CHAPTER THE THIRTY-FIFTH.]
How the three Spaniards and the Indians returned from their reconnaissance.
TWENTY days after the departure of the three Spaniards from the city of Ascension to reconnoitre the road, they returned and said, that having taken the chief Aracaré as their principal guide, they started from the port of Las Piedras with 800 Indians, more or less, and marched for about four days into the interior, following the guidance of Aracaré, a man much feared and respected by the Indians. He had, however, ordered all the fields where they passed to be set on fire, and this was a signal to their enemies to come and attack them, besides being contrary to the order usually observed in exploring a new country. Moreover, Aracaré openly told the Indians to return, and not to show the country to the Christians, who were evil, and he spoke in this fashion to them, inciting them to rebel. They had begged the Indians to desist from burning the fields, and entreated them to follow the road, but they had refused; at the end of the fourth day the Indians had turned back, having abandoned the Spaniards to their fate, who were in danger of being lost in an unknown country, all the Indians and guides having turned and fled.
[CHAPTER THE THIRTY-SIXTH.]
How wood was prepared for the construction of two brigantines and one caravel.
ABOUT this time the governor sent in search of timber in order to build brigantines for the voyage of discovery he proposed making, and a caravel to send to Spain, to report to His Majesty how things were going in the province with reference to its discovery and conquest. The governor went in person to the forests and plains with the officers, the shipmasters, and sawyers, and within the space of three months sufficient wood had been prepared for the construction of one caravel and ten rowing vessels (i.e., brigantines) for the navigation and exploration of the river. All this wood was transported by the natives to Ascension, and the construction of the brigantines was at once begun.