now, although we were adrift in a perilous sea, and had no hope of making land, save in a wild and savage country, where there was more hope of mercy from the indians than from the civilized spaniards, i was yet so thankful to find myself free of the ship and of senor manuel nunez, that for some moments i could scarcely believe in my freedom.
“i could swear that i am but dreaming and shall presently awake to find myself a prisoner,” i said to pharaoh, who was busily engaged in examining the boat.
“’tis no dream, master,” said he. “this is a very stern reality, as you shall quickly find. nor is it time for dreaming. if we mean to come out of this adventure with [pg 96]whole skins, we shall have to acquit ourselves like true men.”
“i am ready,” said i. “tell me what to do, and i will do it.”
“well said,” he answered approvingly. “but i could see from the outset that you had the true spirit in you. you are a yorkshireman, master, and i am a sea-dog of cornwall; but, marry, we are both englishmen, and we will come out of this scrape yet. ’tis not the worst i have been in—but more of that anon. now to begin with, we will discuss our present situation, and then, having determined our course of action, we will put it into execution.”
so we talked things over, and eventually came to these conclusions. we were, so far as pharaoh could reckon, about ten miles from land, and we must reach the coast during the night if we wished to escape observation. that accomplished, we must strike across country for acapulco, where it was possible we might meet with [pg 97]an english ship. the distance was some three hundred miles in a bee-line, and the character of the country rough; but that mattered little, for we should of necessity be obliged to keep away from the roads and bridges. there was no considerable town on our way, save oaxaca, and that we must leave to our left. if we fell in with spaniards we were lost men, for they would certainly carry us to vera cruz or to mexico, and there hand us over to the inquisitors. as for wild beasts and indians, we must take our chance, trusting in god’s mercy for protection and help.
we now examined the boat, which was but a small craft that had been unstrung the day before, in order that the ship’s carpenter might examine some fancied defect in the rudder. fortunately a pair of oars had been left in her, and these pharaoh now took in hand, bidding me steer for the volcanic flame, which played over the peak of tuxtla, immediately before us.
[pg 98]
“i can pull ten miles in this sea,” said he, “and i warrant you have had little experience in that line, master. now, you see that the wind has drifted us due south until to-night, and therefore nunez has come some five-and-thirty miles out of his course for vera cruz. he will now beat up along the coast, heading north and west, and so if we steer south-by-east he will have hard work to catch us when he finds that we are gone, as he will ere morning. and now to work.”
thereupon he fell to the oars, and with such good-will, that the light craft, her nose kept towards the volcanic fire, began to shoot through the regular swell of the placid ocean at a comfortable rate. hour after hour he toiled, and would hear naught of my relieving him, though his throat grew dry with thirst and his arms ached. gradually the coast loomed higher and higher through the gloom, and at length pharaoh pulled in his oars, and stood up in the bow to look around him.
[pg 99]
“when i was off this coast ten years ago,” said he, “i remember a spot hereabouts where a boat might land with safety and ease. we will lie quiet till the light comes, master, and then attempt a landing.”
“but suppose nunez should see us?”
“he could not catch us ere we land if he did, unless by some strange chance he has gotten to the east of us—and that’s not possible,” said pharaoh. “i reckon that by this time he is twenty miles to westward of us, and therefore we are well out of his reach.”
so we hove-to until the morning began to break, when, spying a convenient creek, we ran the boat ashore, and so set foot on mexican soil, wondering what was to befall us next.
now, to me, who had never seen aught of any land save england, these new surroundings were exceeding strange and wonderful. although it was yet but a half-light [pg 100]all round us on shore, the giant peak of orizaba, rising high and magnificent across the land to the north-west, was already blazing in the saffron-colored tints of early morning, while directly above us the lower heights of tuxtla also reflected the rays of the rising sun. once away from the shore the vegetation surprised and delighted me exceedingly. great trees, such as i had never seen or heard of, sprang from the rocks and towered above us like gigantic ferns; the undergrowth was thick and luxurious, and the grass under foot was soft and heavy as velvet. also, though it was winter, there were flowers and plants blossoming in the open such as never blossom in our english glass-houses, so that altogether i was amazed at the richness and prodigality of the land, and said so to my companion.
“aye,” said he, “’tis indeed a fair land, master, and would be very well if these murderous spaniards had left it alone. as [pg 101]it is, they have simply turned it into a pandemonium, such as all lands, fair or foul, become when men go a-lusting for gold and treasure. yea, not even the indians, with all their heathenish practices, were half so cruel as these spaniards with their racks and thumb-screws, their stakes and daggers. and therefore the more reason why we should avoid them.”
having somewhat refreshed ourselves by a brief rest, and armed ourselves with two stout cudgels cut from a neighboring tree by pharaoh’s knife, which was the only weapon we had, we set forth through the woods, he leading the way. by that time we were faint with hunger and could well have done with a meal, but though there were, doubtless, indian villages close at hand we dare enter none of them, and so went forward with empty stomachs. in the woods, however, we came upon prickly pears, which there grow wild, and these we essayed to eat; but had great difficulty in [pg 102]stripping them of the prickles, which, if they enter the tongue, do cause an unpleasantness that is not soon forgot. our hunger growing very keen we sought to capture or slay some bird or animal, and pharaoh being accustomed to this sort of hunting—for he had known many adventures—presently succeeded in knocking down a wild turkey, flocks of which bird we constantly encountered. we lighted a fire by means of his flint and steel, and cooked our quarry, and so went forward again refreshed by the food, which was pleasant enough to hungry men.
we pressed on for two days through the woods, living as we best could upon such animals as pharaoh was able to knock down, and on the pears, which were all the more aggravating to our hunger because of their sharp spines. during those two days we did not come in contact with human beings, though we thrice saw parties of indians and had to conceal ourselves from [pg 103]them. we followed no path, and if we chanced to cross one we immediately left it and plunged deeper into the woods. by the end of the first day our clothes were torn to rags, and hung in strips from our backs; by the end of the second our shoes had been cut to pieces, and so we looked as wretched and lost a couple of vagabonds as you ever saw.
on the evening of the second day we came to the verge of the wooded heights, and saw before us the wide plain of orizaba, which lay between us and acapulco, and must needs be crossed if we meant to reach the pacific coast.
“it is here that i see most reason to be a-feared,” said pharaoh, as we halted and looked out across the plain. “there is precious little cover or shelter on this plain, and it will be a miracle if we escape observation in crossing it. moreover, there are constantly traversing it bodies of spaniards, going to and from oaxaca and mexico, [pg 104]so that we shall be liable to capture at any moment, having nowhere to hide ourselves.”
“how would it do to hide ourselves as we best can by day, and to go forward by night?” said i.
“’tis a good notion, master, and we will try it,” he answered. “but i fear me there is little in which we can hide, and as for food, i do not see how we are to manage. howbeit, we will not despair yet awhile, having managed so far.”
that night we accordingly made our way across the wide and lonely plain, having for our guide the constellation virgo, which pharaoh nanjulian knew and pointed out to me with some learning.
“them that go down to the sea in ships,” said he, “must needs learn a good deal if they would prosper. i have studied the heavens somewhat, because more than once it has been my lot to find myself at sea without a compass, and in a plight like [pg 105]that a knowledge of the stars and planets is a good thing for a man to have at his command. now, if we do but set our faces to yonder constellation we shall keep in a straight line for acapulco—and god send we may land there safely!”
we made fairly good progress across the plain, but when morning broke from the eastern horizon we were still many a long mile from the great terrace of mountainous land which divides mexico from oaxaca and the pacific coast. therefore we had to cast about us for some shelter. this we had great difficulty in securing, for the plain at that part was entirely barren of shrub or tree, and there was not even a water-course at which we could slack our parched throats. but coming upon a half-ruined hut, which had evidently been the home of some mexican indian, tending his sheep in those wild parts, we took refuge in it and lay down to sleep, hoping that no one passing that way would feel curious [pg 106]enough to stop and examine our shelter.
this sort of life continued to be our lot for another day and night, during which we had scarcely anything in the way of food, and also suffered severely from thirst. and what with this, and with our fear of meeting indians and spaniards materially increased, our condition was by no means a happy one. but we still continued to hope, and to cheer each other onward.
