The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 1, July 1897 - April, 1898 Page: 168
334 p. : ill., ports., maps ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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168 Texas Historical Association Quarterly.
to eat. Weak and emaciated from hunger and travel, hampered
by the sick and dying, threatened with mutiny, the outlook was
dreary, not to say hopeless. To march inland was to march to
certain death; on the sea lay their one chance for life.
With rude implements of their own manufacture they made five
rough boats, their spurs and the stirrups from their saddles fur-
nishing the nails. Their few remaining horses were killed, the
flesh eaten, and the skins from their legs made intc bags, which
served as the only means of carrying water. Forty-nine men or
more were crowded into each boat. The instinct of self-preserva-
tion was to be their only guide, for they knew but little, if any-
thing, of the art of navigation. From a strange land they sailed
out on strange waters.
Not daring to trust themselves far out at sea, and in the vain
hope of finding some Spanish settlement, they kept close to, the
shore. For thirty days or more they sailed along in this manner.
Then the water bags rotted, and many of the men, delirious with
thirst, drank the briny water of the sea, and died in agony. While
a like death seemed inevitable to all, they came to an Indian vil-
lage, where was food and water. After a day and night's stay,
during which they were attacked by the Indians, they re-embarked
and sailed on. In this manner they continued for many days, suf-
fering all that men can suffer from want of food and water.
At length they came to a broad river, at the mouth of which
were many little islands-a river which, for several reasons, is sup-
posed to have been the Mississippi. The current being too strong
to allow them to land, they were borne out to sea, and, in the dark-
ness, separated from each other. The captain's boat finally reached
land, but two others, one of which was Cabeza's, drifted out to sea,
for the men were too weak to row. For several days these two boats
stayed together, but a storm arose, and they, too, drifted apart.
Cabeza's boat was finally cast ashore on an island, which, for
reasons to be given later, we believe to, have been Galveston island.
The Spaniards named it Malhado, meaning "Ill-luck." The In-
dians came down to the shore, gave them fish and roots, and treat-
ed them kindly. In an endeavor to launch the boat on the follow-
ing day, it was capsized and borne out to sea. They were now en-
tirely at the mercy of the Indians. These, however, were kindly
disposed, and took them to their village. In a few days they were
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Texas State Historical Association. The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 1, July 1897 - April, 1898, periodical, 1897/1898; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101009/m1/189/: accessed April 28, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.