I dragged the boat up beyond,
as I thought, the reach of the sea, and started to hunt for food
and water. I found enough berries and things to keep me alive,
but not enough to stock my boat for another cruise. A week after
I landed there was a tornado, and when it cleared off and I had
recovered from my fright -- for the trees were blown down like
rushes, and I thought my last day was come -- I found that the boat
was washed away.
"I was mightily disheartened at this, and after much thinking
made up my mind that there was nought for it but to keep along the
shore until I arrived at a port, and then to give out that I was
a shipwrecked sailor, and either try to get hold of another boat,
or take passage back to Spain and make a fresh start. However, the
next morning, just as I was starting, a number of natives ran out
of the bush and seized me, and carried me away up into the hills.
"It was not pleasant at first, for they lit a big fire and were
going to set me on the top of it, taking me for a Spaniard. Seeing
their intentions, I took to arguing with them, and told them in
Spanish that I was no Spaniard, but an Englishman, and that I had been
a slave to the Spaniards and had escaped. Most of them understood
some Spanish, having themselves been made to work as slaves
in their plantations, and being all runaways from the tyranny of
their masters.
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