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Show HISTORY other in a general fight, and finally each one took to his lodge and left for some other part of the country, by which the Spaniards were Separated. This unfortunate circumstance compelled them to remain with the Indians another year, during which time they were cruelly beaten and otherwise badly treated by the Indians. SIVE i} NOVAE CENS' ET VE} TRA CDESCRIP:; TIO + J595. a NM N t : i x “eas: “Pe i tiPP (4 Mee wr rh omy A SO ’ . The pear was prepared for food by squeezing it open, drying it in the sun, and afterwards the skin was beaten into a powder. Their camps were always made near to wood and water. They were a very warlike people and in their campaigns were strategists of no mean order. Cabeza de Vaca writes of their great vigilance, their habits while fighting, their remarkable sight and hearing, as well as of their great powers of physical endurance when confronted with hunger, thirst, or cold. The first printed mention of the buffalo is made by Cabeza de Vaca. In mentioning this animal, Cabeza de Vaca says: ‘‘Cattle come as far as here. Three times I have seen them and eaten of their meat. I think they are about the size of those in Spain. They have small horns like the cows of Morocco; the hair is very long and flocky like the merino’s. Some are tawny, others black. To my judgment the flesh is finer and fatter than that of this country. Of the skins of those not full grown the Indians make blankets, and of the larger they make shoes and bucklers. They come as far as the sea-coast of Florida, from a northerly direction, ranging through a tract of more than four hundred leagues; and throughout the whole region over which they run, the people who inhabit near, descend and live upon them, distributing a vast many hides into the interior country.’’ The Spaniards had agreed among themselves to remain with the Indians a period of six months before making any efforts to escape, and this time having elapsed, CABEZA DE VACA AND HIS they began to put their plans COMPANIONS MAKE THEIR ESCAPE into execution. The Indians FROM THE INDIANS made their annual trip, some twenty leagues distant, for the purpose of gathering the fruit of the prickly pear. Just as matters had 80 shaped themselves as to permit of their carrying out their intentions, the Indians had a quarrel among themselves. They had a great row over a woman, and began beating and kicking each (7 (44-4 MEXICAN 2 OF NEW * FACTS s ars est ted LEADING cA 88 Courtesy of Bureau of American The Buffalo Ethnology of De Bry + ew |
