WHEREIN IS SHOWED HOW WE WERE USED IN PANUCO, AND IN WHAT FEAR OF DEATH
WE WERE THERE, AND
HOW WE WERE CARRIED TO MEXICO TO THE VICEROY, AND OF
OUR IMPRISONMENT THERE AND AT TESCUCO, WITH THE COURTESIES AND
CRUELTIES WE RECEIVED DURING THAT TIME, AND HOW IN THE END WE WERE BY
PROCLAMATION GIVEN TO SERVE AS SLAVES TO SUNDRY GENTLEMEN SPANIARDS.
Upon the fourth day after our coming thither, and there remaining in a
perplexity, looking every hour when we should suffer death, there came
a great number of Indians and Spaniards armed to fetch us out of the
house, and amongst them we espied one that brought a great many new
halters, at the sight whereof we were greatly amazed, and made no other
account but that we should presently have suffered death; and so,
crying and calling to God for mercy and for forgiveness of our sins, we
prepared ourselves to die; yet in the end, as the sequel showed, their
meaning was not so; for when we were come out of the house, with those
halters they bound our arms behind us, and so coupling us two and two
together, they commanded us to march on through the town, and so along
the country from place to place toward the city of Mexico, which is
distant from Panuco west and by south the space of threescore leagues,
having only but two Spaniards to conduct us, they being accompanied
with a great number of Indians, warding on either side with bows and
arrows, lest we should escape from them. And travelling in this order,
upon the second day, at night, we came unto a town which the Indians
call Nohele, and the Spaniards call it Santa Maria, in which town there
is a house of White Friars, which did very courteously use us, and gave
us hot meat, as mutton and broth, and garments also to cover ourselves
withal, made of white baize. We fed very greedily of the meat and of
the Indian fruit, called nochole, which fruit is long and small, much
like in fashion to a little cucumber. Our greedy feeding caused us to
fall sick of hot burning agues; and here at this place one Thomas
Baker, one of our men, died of a hurt, for he had been before shot with
an arrow into the throat at the first encounter.
The next morrow, about ten of the clock, we departed from thence, bound
two and two together, and guarded as before, and so travelled on our
way toward Mexico, till we came to a town within forty leagues of
Mexico named Mesticlan, where is a house of Black Friars, and in this
town there are about the number of three hundred Spaniards, both men,
women, and children. The friars sent us meat from the house ready
dressed, and the friars and men and women used us very courteously, and
gave us some shirts and other such things as we lacked.
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