Excerpt
journey on foot, I rode Babieca and saw Pánfilo Oviedo among the
infantry, chewing his upper lip through the hole in his front teeth, as
well as Benjamin Cienfuegos and Gregorio de La Parra, who walked
like an unhorsed nobleman. On seeing me, he waved a gleeful
greeting. Gregorio walked close to Losada’s horse, having managed
in the time we spent in El Tocuyo to win Losada’s favour.
During the None hour, we changed course eastward. God
willing, we would arrive at Nueva Segovia on the fifth day.
At sundown, Losada ordered us to stop at the only stream we
encountered since leaving the green valley that was nourished by
the river El Tocuyo. The Indians started camp immediately, lighting
the fires, hanging hammocks, cooking food, unloading beasts and
watering them. They were agile, silent, expressionless and
deliberately slow, like cats. It was hard for me to guess from their
gestures what they were thinking, since they didn’t react as we
would. Their skin was hairless, painted with dark lines and dots,
their earlobes and lips pierced through with thin sticks. They wore
loincloths and gourds to cover their privates, and long Spanish
shirts, dirty and ragged, making them look like beggars.
I dragged myself to the nearest rock by the stream and let the
water sooth my sore feet. We had travelled the most uncivilized
trails in the world, up and down eroded hills and valleys of reddish
earth covered with cactuses and thistles. In the name of all saints,
how these people would have profited from a Roman invasion!
I was still ruminating when a splashing sound nearby startled me.
The sloshing lasted so long that curiosity got the better of me, and,
exhaustion notwithstanding, I waded into the water up to my knees,
placing my feet carefully on the slippery rocks, to see what was
making the noise.
Behind some tall grass, the current had drifted into a little pool.
There was Gregorio, sitting on the streambed. With an apprehensive
expression, he submerged himself, emerging promptly and moving
his lips as though murmuring something. My first impulse was to
join him, but that was promptly extinguished.
It was Friday. Jews preparing for Shabbat bathed on Fridays.
Libros Libertad 