212 Proceedings of the Royal Irish Academy. 



declined, assuring him that I would be quite content with a guide 

 who could conduct me to some place whence I could take ship for 

 Scotland. He was most unwilling, however, to give me leave, or any 

 of the Spaniards who were with him, pretexting that the roads were 

 not safe, his determination really being to detain us, so that we might 

 serve him as a guard. So much friendship did not quite satisfy me, 

 and consequently I came to a secret arrangement with four of the 

 soldiers who were in my company, to get away in the morning two 

 hours before daybreak, so that they might not stop us on the road, 

 and also because the day before, a son of Manglana told me, that his 

 father had declared that he would not allow me to leave the castle 

 until the King of Spain had sent soldiers to his country, and that he 

 intended to imprison me in order that I might not get away. Taking 

 into account this information, I dressed myself as well as I could, and 

 one fine morning took to the road with the four soldiers, it being ten 

 days after the (feast of the) IS'ativity of the year '88, and continued 

 journeying by hilly countries and uninhabited places,^ with what sore 

 fatigue Grod only knows, so that after twenty days of travelling, we 

 came to a halt in a place where were lost Alonso de Leyva, the Conde 

 de Paredes, and D. Toma's de Granvela, with many other gentlemen, 

 the details relative to whose misfortunes would fill a quire of paper. 

 There I went among the huts of some natives inhabiting the district, 

 and learned from them the pitiful deaths of our people who were 

 drowned there. They also showed me many of the jewels and valuable 

 property which had belonged to them, all which caused me great 

 pain, the greatest, indeed, being when I ascertained that I could not 

 find there wherewithal to embark for the Kingdom of Scotland, until 

 one day* information was given me of the country of a certain native 

 (salvaje) called the Prince Ocan, where were certain ' Charruas' 

 ( ), which were about to leave for Scotland. I set out 



at once for this place, dragging myself along, and hardly able to move 

 on accoimt of a wound which I had in the foot, it was, however, a 

 matter of life or death with me, and consequently I put out all my 

 lemaining strength on the road, and, on my arrival at the place found, 

 that, in spite of all my diligence the ' Charruas ' ( ) 



had sailed two days previously. This for me was a sore disappoint- 

 ment since I found myself in a poor place, and one full of enemies, as 

 many English were living in the port, and were coming every day on 

 business to Ocan. At this time I was suffering great pain in the leg, 



1 See note 12, p. 185. - See note 13, p. 185. 



