J8S 
SCENES IN THE PACIFIC. 
ceded by others who shout their gladness among the parched 
hills, that he journeys towards their villages. They clear the 
path before him of stones and other obstacles; present him 
with strings of wild fruit to eat; and bring him water from 
the stream to drink. 
While these new missions are in progress, the old ones, at 
Loretto, San Xavier, and Londo, are slowly advancing in com¬ 
fort and usefulness. Nor are the Padres in charge of them 
idle in making explorations for other establishments. 
In 1706 Jayme Bravo, in company with the Captain, seven 
soldiers, and some Indians, goes to San Juan Baptista Ligui, 
and having felicitated Padre Pedro Ugarte upon the happy 
beginning of his mission, passes along the shore towards the 
south. He has travelled a day and a half, when an Indian 
brings word that four of his soldiers are dying! Jayme Bravo 
and the Captain return, and find that one of them has found 
a fire where some Indian fishermen have been roasting a spe¬ 
cies of fish called Botates, the liver of which contains a very 
active poison. This soldier communicates the news of food 
at hand to his fellows, and they hasten to devour it. A 
friendly Indian warns them not to eat. But the soldier who 
first discovered the fire replying, “ None of your noise, Indian ; 
a Spaniard never dies,” eats plentifully and gives to his com¬ 
panions. One of them chews and swallows a little; another 
chews, but does not swallow; the other merely handles and 
views the fish. Well would it have been if they had regarded 
the caution of the Indian: for in a very short time they are 
all seized with convulsive pains more or less violent, accord¬ 
ing to the use they have made of the fish. The first expires 
in half an hour. He is soon followed by the second ! The 
third, who merely chew T ed the fish, remains insensible till the 
following morning! The man who only handled them is 
in a very bad condition for several days. This misfortune 
obliges the explorers to abandon their enterprise. They re¬ 
turn to Ligui to bury the dead in the consecrated grounds of 
the mission, and send their sick to Loretto. 
