They embarked on the 22d of September, after having eaten all their horses, and having lost above forty of their men from sickness, besides several who were slain by the Indians. Their barks were hardly able to carry them, and they had no sailors among them to direct their perilous navigation. After five days painful progress among intricate creeks133, they came at last to an island, where they found five canoes abandoned by the Indians, and on going into a house they found some dried skates which were a very acceptable though scanty relief to their necessities. Proceeding onwards with the help of these canoes, they suffered extremely for want of water, during which five of them died in consequence of drinking sea-water too freely. Owing to this necessity they were again obliged to land on the continent, where they found water and fish ready dressed in some Indian houses. At night these people attacked them, and the cacique of Apalache whom they had hitherto kept along with them made his escape, leaving a mantle of sables behind him so strongly scented with ambergris that it could be smelt from a considerable distance. Obliged to reimbark, and the weather proving stormy, the barks were all dispersed, and none of them ever more heard of except that in which Cabeza de Vaca was, which was thrown ashore. Panfilo de Narvaez and most of his men were assuredly lost in the storm, or destroyed by the Indians on shore; though there was a foolish report long current that he had penetrated to the South Sea.

When cast on shore, as mentioned at the close of the former section, Cabeza de Vaca and the people along with him were relieved by the Indians; and on endeavouring again to put to sea, the bark was overset, three of the Spaniards were drowned, and Cabeza and a few more got again on shore, naked and without arms. On seeing the miserable plight of these unhappy Spaniards, the Indians came to them with provisions, sat down by them and lamented their misfortunes, carried them to their houses, and made fires by the way to warm them, otherwise they must have perished with the cold, as they were naked and it was now the month of November. They were put into a house with a good fire, the natives dancing all night close by them, which the Spaniards were sadly afraid was a prelude to their being sacrificed next day. But as they were plentifully supplied with provisions they began to recover their spirits and confidence next day. Cabeza de Vaca and his companions were soon afterwards joined by the Spaniards who had escaped from the wreck of another bark. At first they were in all eighty men; but in a short time their number was reduced to fifteen, as they were forced to winter on the island, exposed to excessive cold and great scarcity of provisions. Owing to their misfortunes, they called this Isola de Mal-hado, or the isle of Bad-Luck134.

The inhabitants of this island were of large stature, their only weapons being bows and arrows. The men had one of their nipples bored, wearing a piece of reed in the hole, and a similar ornament in their under lip. They dwelt in this island from October to February, feeding much on certain roots. In the months of November and December they caught fish in a kind of wears inclosed with reeds; but these were not to be got at any other time. At the latter end of February, when all the roots were eaten, they were forced to remove from the island in search of food elsewhere. These natives were extraordinarily fond of their children, the parents and kindred lamenting for such as died during a whole year, after which they completed the funeral ceremonies, and washed off the black paint they had worn in token of mourning. They did not lament for the death of the old, alleging that they had lived their time, and that they took away the food which ought to go to the children. All the dead were buried, except the physicians135, whose bodies were burnt, and their ashes kept for a year, after which these ashes were mixed with water and drank by the relations of the deceased. Every man was contented with one wife; but these physicians had usually two or three each, who lived together very amicably. When a man engages to marry the daughter of another, he gives her all he possesses, and sends to the father of his bride every thing he kills, and in return his diet is sent him from the house of his father-in-law, as he is not permitted to enter the house during the first year of the marriage. Should his father-in-law or any of the brothers of his wife meet him during that time, they always look down and pass on without speaking; yet in that period the woman converses freely with the father or other relations of her husband. These customs are observed both in the island of Mal-hado and through all the country of Florida for fifty leagues inland. When a son or brother dies, the people of the house will rather starve than go in quest of any thing to eat during three months, in all which time the relations of the family send in all that is necessary for their sustenance. Owing to this, several families in Mal-hado were in great straits while the Spaniards resided among them, as many had died and the survivors strictly observed the custom. The houses in the island were of mats, and strewed with oyster shells, on which they lay at night stark naked round the fire. The inhabitants of the province of Tegesta136, reaching from the Martyrs to Cape Cannaveral, feed better than those Indians among whom Cabeza resided, being extraordinarily expert fishers. Two of them will venture out in a small canoe to attack, whales when any are seen upon the coast. One of them steers or paddles the canoe; while the other, being provided with two or three stakes and a mallet, leaps into the sea as soon as he sees a whale rise to the surface, gets upon its head, and immediately drives one of the stakes into one of the spiracles or blowing holes by which the whale breathes. The whale immediately dives to the bottom; and when forced to come up again to breathe, he repeats the operation and plugs up the other spiracle, so that it cannot get breath and is soon suffocated. When the whale dies, they fasten a line of withes or twisted branches to its neck, and tow it to the shore, where it serves a long while for them to feed upon.

Cabeza de Vaca and the remnant of his unfortunate companions remained in the isle of Mal-hado till the end of April 1529, by which time all the food in the island being devoured, the whole population was forced by hunger to go over to the continent of Florida, where they fed upon wild berries. The Spaniards were obliged to act as physicians to the natives, as otherwise they were refused food. In the exercise of this profession, they made the sign of the cross on the parts affected, reciting the Pater noster, and prayed to God to heal their patients, who all affirmed that they derived great benefit from these ceremonies, and supplied the Spaniards with food in return. There were two languages used among these natives within a very little distance, those who spoke the one being called Capoques, and the others Han. When the natives happened to meet together after a long separation, they would often sit down and weep for half an hour before they began to converse.

All the remaining Spaniards, to the number of fourteen, went away along the coast, leaving Cabeza de Vaca behind, who happened to be sick and unable to travel. On his recovery, he had to search among the water for roots137 on which to support himself. Wearied of this uncomfortable manner of life, and being entirely naked, he went away among a tribe called the Charrucos, who dwelt among mountains, where he fared much better, as he turned merchant, going about from place to place bartering such things as they wanted, and in this way he travelled over forty or fifty leagues of the coast. He dealt in sea-shells like those of snails which were used as beads, and in a different kind of shells which were used instead of knives; and in return for these he procured deer-skins, vermillion, and ochre, with which the natives paint themselves, flints for pointing arrows, a kind of bitumen with which these arrow heads are fastened, and reeds with which the arrow shafts are made, as also tufts of deers hair dyed red, which are used as ornaments. By means of this trade Cabeza de Vaca had liberty to go wherever he pleased, and was well received wherever he went, receiving provisions in return for his merchandize.