O'Eeilly — Remarks on Captain Ciiellar^s Narratke. 203 



arms, at the same time they stripped me of nearly everything I 

 carried, leaving me as naked as when born. That I speak the truth 

 I swear by the sacred baptism -which I have received. Seeing myself 

 in this plight I rendered thanks to God, supplicating His Divine 

 Majesty that his will might bo fulfilled on me, that being my sincere 

 desire. The youth of the old native wished to return to his hut 

 with the horse, being moved to tears seeing the naked state in which 

 I was left, so badly ill treated and in such cold weather. I begged 

 of God most earnestly that he would conduct me to some place where 

 I might die confessed and in His grace, I regained my courage 

 although being then in as great an extreme of misfortune as ever any 

 man had met with. 



" Gathering some fronds of ferns, and picking up by chance a bit of 

 an old mat, I put them round me so as to cover my body from the cold 

 as well as I could. I continued my route in the direction that had 

 been pointed out to me, looking out for the district of the Lord where 

 had been received the Spaniards as mentioned, and reaching the moun- 

 tain-ridge, pointed out to me as a sign,^ I came on a lake around which 

 were some thirty huts, all seemingly uninhabited, and with no person 

 within them. There I proposed to pass the night. Having no parti- 

 cular place to go to, I sought out the hut that seemed the best, in 

 order to put up therein for the night. Entering, therefore, by the 

 door, I saw that it was full of sheaves of the oats of which is made 

 the common bread eaten by these natives (salvages), and I was thanking 

 God, who was so good as to provide me wherewithal to sleep upon, 

 when suddenly I observed creeping out on the other side three men as 

 naked as when born, who rose up and stared at me. I certainly was 

 frightened, thinking in truth that they were devils, and they on their 

 part could even less understand who I could be, coated as I was with 

 fern-fronds and the old mat. On my entering, they spoke not, being 

 all trembling, neither did I speak to them, not knowing who they 

 might be, and the interior of the hut being rather obscure. Seeing 

 myself, therefore, in this so great perplexity, I cried out ' Mother 

 of God, be good to me, and deliver me from all evil ! ' Hearing me, 

 therefore, speak in Spanish, and invoke the Mother of God, they cried 

 out in answer, ' Sea con nosotros esa Gran Seiiora ! ' (may this our 

 Great Lady be with us). Then did I feel safe, and went up to them, 

 asking them if they were Spaniards. ' Indeed,' said they, ' we be so, for 

 our sins. Some eleven of us were stripped near the shore, and naked 



1 See note 6, p. 180. 



P 2 



