Part 5

I desired the general to inform me if it was possible to send a letter to Monte Video. He told me it was difficult, as there was but little intercourse; but that he knew of a patriot officer, who, having a passport, would go in a few days to the city. I therefore, the day following, procured of the old woman, materials for writing, and a chopping block. This I placed between my legs on the bed, and began writing; it was a tedious business, and I could sit up no longer than to write one line at a time. I however finished this necessary duty, and wrote two letters; one directed to W. P. White, Esq., the only person I was acquainted with at Monte Video, whom I had formerly known in the capital; and another to the owners in Buenos Ayres. I briefly related the loss of the ship, the fate of the crew, my own situation; and advising something to be done to save the property; of which a greater part had been washed ashore. These I gave to the girl, who in two days forwarded them to the capital.

Pedro, during this day, was still employed, assisted by the two slaves, in recovering articles and provisions, from the beach; which he said was now covered with the natives, who were breaking open trunks, chests, and bales of goods; staving in the pipes of wine, when any one wanted to drink; and exhibiting a confused scene of plunder, fighting, and wanton waste of goods; of which they knew not the value.

Getting drunk with the wine, on the beach, they frequently came to the cottage, and with brutal language and savage gestures, threatened the lives of its generous inhabitants.

As his mother was once bringing in some cakes for me from the kitchen, the ruffians snatched them from her hand; then entering the kitchen, seized and devoured what victuals were there, and threw away the plates.

She one day entered with tears in her eyes, and told me she was sadly afraid of her life and my own, from the Indians; they were very bad men;—and she had overheard a parley between them, of breaking into the hut during the night, to plunder and murder. Indeed, their looks alone spoke their savage character; for often, at times, laying on my bed, I have observed them attentively, as they would sometimes venture into the hut; and I never saw such rascally and ugly looking fellows. They were generally of large size, long black hair, hanging like snakes down their shoulders; thick bushy beard and mustachios; a coarse blanket or pancho wrapped round their waist; another with a hole in the middle, through which they thrust their heads; a turban or checked handkerchief on their heads; horse skin boots, stripped raw from the animal’s leg, and worn raw into the shape of the feet. These, with a sword nearly a fathom long, in an iron scabbard, gave them a most hideous appearance; they indeed looked like demons. All wore long knives stuck into a sheath, in the blanket behind, which they made use of for every purpose; to kill, cut up beef, eat with, and stab their fellow creatures.

The friendly general again came in the evening, attended by several soldiers; and at his departure, left a guard of three at our earnest request, who were well armed, for our defence. This military officer, whose name was Ortugues, appeared much like one of our own country farmers, excepting his formidable iron scabbard sword. His dress was a short jacket of coarse blue, over which was thrown his pancho, or square cloak, drab velvet breeches, and long boots; he seemed a well meaning and benevolent man; but no ways capable of commanding a horde of vagabond marauders, whom he was organising into an army, for the defence of the country, against the encroachments of the Portuguese.

The cause of the Indians’ animosity and attempts to attack and plunder, was, that they suspected as Pedro was the first who had discovered the wreck on the beach, he had the first chance of booty, and of course had obtained a great quantity of gold, silver, and other valuable property; and had secreted them in the cottage. Impressed with this notion, which I believe was false and groundless, they made several nightly attempts to force the door, but were repulsed by the guard.

I passed these days very unquietly at the cottage, and time seemed to roll most tediously slow. The old lady had some cigars and old books, and I endeavored, by smoking and reading, to beguile the hours. The books, though some were an hundred and fifty years old, were not uninteresting. They consisted partly of the ‘Lives of the Martyrs;’ ‘Sermons by a Priest at Madrid;’ and a large volume of the ‘History of the Conquest of Peru.’

In the evening, Pedro would take his seat at the bedside, and amuse and interest me by his conversation. On an occasion like this, he said, he would relate the following tale, which before he had no opportunity to do. It shows that my discovery and rescue were wholly owing to a circumstance purely fortuitous and accidental.

‘Early in the morning of Thursday,’ said he, ‘two days before you were found on the strand, a soldier of the army of Artigas was strolling on horseback nearer the beach than they usually travel. At about a mile from the scene of the wreck, he discerned in a small cove at the river side, something on the beach; and as it was uncommon to observe any object breaking the uniformity of the sandy plain, he resolved to ride down and examine it. It proved to be one of the kegs of butter, nearly the size of a half barrel, which had been separated by the sea from the other drifting articles, and washed and lodged into this little bay. The soldier alighted from his horse, turned it over, but could not tell what it contained. It being heavy, and thinking it of little value, he left it and rode away. Some time after, in his return, he came near our cottage; he had before frequently stopped here; and now resolved to go in. In the course of conversation with me, on different affairs, he mentioned the discovery, at the river side, of a small barrel, very heavy; containing he knew not what, and supposed it to have drifted ashore from some vessel. Soon after, he left the cottage, and proceeded on his journey. That day and the next, being very stormy, cold and rainy, prevented me from going abroad. On Saturday the weather was still unfair, but at noon it began to clear away. I mounted my cavallo in the afternoon, and took a ride in the direction described by the soldier, in search of the keg he had spoken of. This I soon saw at the edge of the water, and supposing that this was not all that had been driven ashore by the storm, I was induced to make a further search; and recollecting that the wind had been for several days blowing obliquely up the river, I concluded to shape my course down the sea side for new discoveries. Accordingly, I rode on a great distance, without seeing any thing else, and was on the point of returning; when, on winding round a small point of land, I plainly saw at a short distance a thousand vestiges of the wreck covering the beach. I rode slowly through them, near the edge of the water, stopping at times to view them, but not dismounting. I passed the cask you lay in, which I saw was thrown very high up the beach. ‘It was rather strange,’ said he, ‘that you did not hear my horse’s steps.’ I told him I did not; for the tread on the sand was not loud, and the roar of the sea might serve to prevent it. ‘I traversed the whole length of the beach, and frequently stopped to examine different objects of the wreck. I had probably been half an hour on the beach, before I had a thought of one alive so near me.’ I told him I was, during the period of his survey, lying quietly in the cask, without a hope of again leaving it, and wholly unconscious deliverance was so near. ‘In returning,’ he continued, ‘I was passing close to the sand hill between the banks and your place of shelter, and should have passed the cask, if I had not heard a hollow voice from within.’ I inquired if the roll of bagging across the pipe’s mouth, did not attract his notice. ‘No, my friend pilota,’ said Pedro, ‘I should certainly have rode on without regarding it; for I had seen a hundred things just before, in equally curious positions. Your voice alone, which started me at first, caused me to dismount, and look into the cask; and my God, I shall never forget the sight as long as I live.’ What a scene was this for the pencil of the painter!

On the eve of about the fourth day, I asked Pedro, if any of the bodies had washed ashore, besides the one we saw. He replied, not one; and wondered how that alone should be cast so far on shore.

I told him I presumed it was one of the stoutest of the seamen, who had fortunately cleared himself from the ship, without much damage, and had resolutely continued ‘breasting the lofty surge,’ till he reached the middle of the breakers; when, being there overpowered, he expired and sunk; and the force of the waves then propelled the body to the shore before it descended to the bottom.

It is surprising that human bodies will, when dead, sink and continue at the bottom, unmoveable; while other substances, of much greater proportionate weight, will be thrown on shore by the sea.

My friend brought in, and shew me, at different times, large detached pieces of iron, and ring bolts, &c. which he found half buried in the sand.

I was now slowly gaining strength; but each returning day brought fresh alarm from the murderous designs of the villain guachas. On the fourth night they went to the next hut upon the beach, about four miles off, where dwelt a poor and harmless family, and robbed it of every thing valuable, or worth taking; mortally stabbed the father; bound his daughters, and brutally abused them. One of them, an interesting white girl, came the next day to our hut, for some relief, and told in tears the dreadful story.

I had about this time, a great many visiters, who all considered me highly favored by my patron saint, to whom they attributed my hair breath escapes. Among them, were many old women, who came from a distance, and travelled on horseback, about the country, bartering their commodities.

A consultation was once held by them, respecting my fever, leg, and bruises; and they recommended a large leaf of an herb, which grows in that country; which, dipped in hot oil and vinegar, had a wonderful and salutary effect when applied to my limb; although the application caused a most uneasy sensation, combined with suffocating pain during two nights; the swelling greatly subsided, excepting about the bend of the knee. During this, for five days, I could lie in only one position in bed, and that on my right side; my wounded leg lying on pillows; the knee bent about half way; in which unvaried bend, it remained in fact, more than a month.

I could instantly perceive a change of wind, on the least motion; and once on moving, when the wind had shifted to the north, the effect was so electric as to cause me to scream aloud. And when, at last, I was compelled to relieve for a moment my painful and palsying posture, it was the task of half an hour to turn myself in bed.

My appetite, at this time, had become insatiate, and though I could not get so much to eat as I wanted, owing to the care of my old nurse, I ate great quantities, and drank all that came within my reach; keeping bottles of liquor under my pillow, for my night supply. The smallest lad’s chief occupation was to bring in water; of which, during the twelve days I remained here, I believe I drank fifty gallons, besides half a dozen bottles of cordial, a dozen of wine, ten gallons of port, in a keg, and several bottles of other liquors; all of which Pedro had saved from the beach.

My condition appeared to engross all the attention of my kind hostess, and occupy all her care and time. She never entered the apartment, nor went to sleep, without the kind question of ‘que quero usted, pilota?’ (what is wanting;) and the answer was usually, ‘water.’

I asked her one afternoon what reward she expected, or what recompense I should give; or what return I could make, for her untiring goodness. ‘Speak not of it, Don Horky,’ said she; ‘who can tell but that my son Pepe, may go to other countries by sea, and be shipwrecked, and cast ashore, and that your mother may then do that and more, for him, than I am doing now for you.’ It was an answer heartfelt, I believe, by us both, though I smiled to think on the improbability that Pedro could be thrown ashore in a storm, upon a wharf in Boston.

This family had lived many years happily and comfortably in Monte Video, previous to its surrender to the Patriots, in 1813; but were then compelled to quit their home; and since that period, had suffered, as well as many other families, all the hardships to which their adhesion to the cause of old Spain, exposed them. The old man, her husband, was in constant fear of his life; and during my stay at the hut, which drew many unwelcome visiters, appeared only once or twice, and then only in the evening; living otherwise, as before mentioned, at a relation’s, concealed.

On the second evening, he came and inquired of his wife about me, as follows: ‘Bien,’ says he, ‘como esta su huespedo?’ ‘mucho mejor,’ she replied; ‘tiene gano muy vivo para beber y comer;’ ‘esta christiano?’ he asked, which made me smile. ‘Sin duda,’ she replied; ‘todas son christianos en Norte America;’ ‘como los Inglesas y el pilota sabe las nombres de todas los santas, y puede repeto el credo catolico.’ ‘Dios le guarda,’ he replied; and to me, ‘a Dios, usted le passa bein;’ so saying, he left the cottage.

On inquiring my health, and asking if I was a christian, she answered, ‘much better;’ and doubtless a christian, as all in America, as well as the English, were christians; and that as evidence, I could repeat the Catholic creed, and knew the names of all the saints; for which he bestows his benediction.

When at times I would whistle and sing, to beguile the pain, my hostess would ask the reason. I told her I did so to kill the pain. But I saw she often thought from my strange behaviour, that my fever and pain had rendered me delirious. My apprehensions, however, in this weak state, and nervous debility of body and mind, gave me incessant and tormenting anxiety.

The close of each day gave rise to painful fears, for the events of the dreaded night; expecting constantly the breaking in of the guachas; and knowing too well their merciless ferocity. The nightly barking of the watchful dogs, giving notice of their approach, sounded in my ears like a summons bell, tolling for execution. I was not certain of living out an hour, nor was my chance of life of the value of a shilling.

One night, when all had retired to rest, and the guards lay snoring upon the floor, the dogs set up a roaring yell, and we soon after heard the tread of heavy footsteps, and violent thumping at the door. Pedro, who lay at my side, aroused the guards and opened it; while the soldiers and my hostess prepared for defence.

I saw by the moonshine, five hideous looking fellows, armed with swords and bayonets, standing before the door. A sharp parley ensued between them and the guard. They said that they had orders to search the hut for any money or valuables, that the pilota, (myself,) might have recovered from the wreck. But the guard presenting their pieces, told them it was all false, and a contrivance to plunder; as they themselves were placed there by the General for my defence, and they would directly fire upon them, unless they instantly made off.

At this, they thought proper to make a speedy retreat, stealing in their way a horse from the field.

I was now in anxious and daily expectation of some persons from Monte Video, to convey me from this fearful situation and dangerous abode. On the eighth day, I was agreeably relieved, by the arrival of two clerks, an Englishman and Spaniard, from Monte Video, in consequence of receiving my letters, from the house of the consignees, in order to effect my removal to the city, and also to endeavor to secure some part of the property.

The latter they found totally impossible, nothing of value being now left on the strand, as all had been carried up country, by the natives.

I was extremely rejoiced at their coming, and we were soon concerting plans for my departure. Lines and posts of defence had been established between Toledo, the place where I was, and Monte Video, and these prevented any cattle or provisions being carried from the country to the Portuguese, in the city, whom they considered as invaders.

Oxen, therefore, not being allowed to pass into the city, mules not here to be procured, it was at last agreed that they should return to Monte Video, and send down a cart with mules, from the city. They slept one night at the hut, and on the next day, Sunday, departed; having seen sufficient of the character of the natives, and glad they had escaped the knives of the guachas, and vowing they would not venture their lives again among such a murderous crew, for the value of a ship and cargo.

On the eve of the next day, Monday, Pedro brought in the trunk which he had drawn from the beach at my desire, at the time of my discovery, and now opened it to examine what articles it might contain. He told me he had hitherto kept it secreted in the grass, in the rear of the cot; and had not dared to take out any articles to dry for fear of the deserters and Indians; for should they discover any thing valuable hanging out, they would certainly steal it, and search the house for more. But none of them being now near the house, he had brought it in to the side of the bed, for my inspection.

It was a large black English iron-bound trunk, of the largest size, containing every article of clothing, but no money. These were all thoroughly wet, and many indelibly spotted and mildewed, the effects of the salt water. This stock of apparel was at this time a great acquisition to me, as my whole wardrobe consisted of a borrowed shirt.[2]

Among the things he handed me, were a set of long muslin curtains for a state room; which the old lady begged I would give to her. And Pedro in his turn, thought that a couple pair of the pantaloons would make him happy as a cavallero; to which I readily assented, and told them I laid claim to nothing but their hospitality, for which I was a constant debtor.

At the bottom was found a large roll of papers, which he handed me, and carefully unrolling them, I expected they were a set of interesting manuscripts; but found them to be only a collection of beautiful colored French engravings; such as the four seasons, twelves months, subjects from scripture, Robinson Crusoe, &c.; in all about forty; which I requested Pedro to hang on a line overhead to dry, which he did. Most of the contents were then stowed again in the trunk, and Pedro dragged it back to its place of concealment.

The next morning I awoke with earnest expectation of the cart from Monte Video; but I waited in vain; and evening brought fresh cause of fear.

During this day, an Irishman, a laborer, who had lived many years in that country, came; and after some conversation with my hostess, requested of her the loan of a spade.

He said he had but just come from the beach, and that several bodies of my companions lay exposed on the sand, and that the gulls were devouring them; that the Indians were too intent on plunder, and getting intoxicated, to assist in interring them; and that he would again go down to perform this christian office, and bury them in the sand.

An old kind of shovel was mustered for him, and he went off with this laudable design. Returning the next day, he informed me he had buried several, and many bodies had come ashore in a shocking state; so broken and bruised that it was impossible to distinguish them; some, he said, were still in the surf, which he could not drag out; and of necessity, had to leave, ‘food for gulls;’ their bones, doubtless, at this day, lie bleaching on the sand.

I was still waiting with the most painful anxiety, for the arrival of the conveyance from the city; and no poor and condemned malefactor, in hopes of a reprieve, or pardon, ever waited with more emotion the mandate which should restore him his liberty, than I did for a passport and conveyance to the walls of Monte Video.

The cannibals were daily and hourly growing more barbarous; and our danger every moment increased. I had every reason to believe that on this night, they intended to make a desperate attack upon the cottage, and to have murdered all in their power. But Providence otherwise ordered.

About sunset, the little lad came running into the hut, from his play, exclaiming to his mother, that ‘a strange thing was coming towards the house.’ My heart throbbed a little at this notice, and soon after, as I hoped for, I was gratified with the entrance of the driver and guide, of the long wished for cart. They were cordially welcomed; and as they slept in the hut, I passed the night with a more temperate feeling, and a mind less apprehensive of a midnight attack.

To death, and to danger the most terrific, I had been exposed, and had faced them with manly firmness. I had escaped from wild beasts, and met the fury of elements, without shrinking; but the horrid prospect of having my flesh gashed and lacerated, by the knives of the savages, gave me infinite anguish; and heated with fever, rage and indignation, I could almost, at times, had it been in my power, have seized indiscriminate destruction, and like Samson of old, have sacrificed my own life to relieve it from such a state of torturing suspence, and to take revenge upon the blood thirsty ruffians; for here were men, if I may so degrade the term, (for they were not indeed in the image of their Maker,) ‘more fierce and more inexorable far, than empty tigers, or the roaring sea.’