102 IDLE DAYS IN PATAGONIA 



and wind of the desert had made him so brown, 

 while in manner and speech he had grown so like 

 an Indian, that the poor amateur savage found 

 it hard at first to establish his identity. His rela- 

 tions had, however, been poor, and had long 

 passed away, leaving nothing for him to inherit, 

 so that there was no reason to discredit his 

 strange story. He related that when the Indians 

 drew him from the water and carried him back 

 to the corral they disagreed among themselves as 

 to what they should do to him. Luckily one of 

 them understood Spanish, and translated to the 

 others the substance of Damian's speech delivered 

 from the water. When they questioned their cap- 

 tive he invented many other ingenious lies, say- 

 ing that he was a poor orphan boy, and that the 

 cruel treatment his master subjected him to had 

 made him resolve to escape to the Indians. The 

 only feeling he had towards his own race, he as- 

 sured them, was one of undying animosity; and 

 he was ready to vow that if they would only let 

 him join their tribe he would always be ready for 

 a raid on the Christian settlement. To see the 

 entire white race swept away with fire and steel 

 was, in fact, the cherished hope of his heart. 

 Their savage breasts were touched with his pite- 

 ous tale of sufferings; his revengeful feelings 

 were believed to be genuine, and they took him to 

 their own home, where he was permitted to share 

 in the simple delights of the aborigines. They be- 

 longed to a tribe very powerful at that time, in- 



