…[ha]bian prometido, y nos trajeron mucho pescado y de unas raíces que ellos comen, y son como nueces, algunas mayores ó menores; la mayor parte de ellas se sacan de bajo del agua y con mucho trabajo. A la tarde volvieron, y nos trajeron mas pescado y de las mismas raíces, y hicieron venir sus mujeres y hijos para que nos viesen; y ansí, se volvieron ricos de cascabeles y cuentas que les dimos, y otros días nos tornaron á visitar con lo mismo que estotras veces. Como nosotros víamos que estábamos proveídos de pescado y de raíces y de agua y de las otras cosas que pedimos, acordamos de tornarnos á embarcar y seguir nuestro camino, y desenterramos la barca de la arena en que estaba metida, y fué menester que nos desnudásemos todos y pasásemos gran trabajo para echarla al agua, porque nosotros estábamos tales, que otras cosas muy mas livianas bastaban para ponernos en él; y asi embarcados, á dos tiros de ballesta dentro en la mar nos dio tal golpe de agua, que nos mojó á todos; y como íbamos desnudos, y el frio que hacia era muy grande, soltamos los remos de las manos, y á otro golpe que la mar nos dió, trastornó la barca; el veedor y otros dos se asieron de ella para escaparse; mas suscedió muy al revés, que la barca los tomó debajo y se ahogaron. Como la costa es muy brava, el mar de un tumbo echó á todos los otros, envueltos en las olas y medio ahogados, en la costa de la misma isla, sin que faltasen mas de los tres que la barca había tomado debajo. Los que quedamos escapados, desnudos como nascimos, y perdido todo lo que traíamos; y aunque todo valia poco, para entonces valía mucho. Y como entonces era por noviembre, y el frío muy grande, y nosotros tales, que con poca dificultad nos podian contar los huesos, estábamos hechos propria figura de la muerte. Plugo á nuestro Señor que, buscando los tizones del fuego que allí habíamos hecho, hallamos lumbre, con que hicimos grandes fuegos; y ansí, estuvimos pidiendo á nuestro Señor misericordia y perdon de nuestros pecados, derramando muchas lágrimas, habiendo cada uno lástima, no solo de sí, mas de todos los otros, que en el mismo estado vian. Y á hora de puesto el sol, los indios, creyendo que no nos habíamos ido, nos volvieron á buscar y á traernos de comer; mas, cuando ellos nos vieron ansí en tan diferente hábito del primero, y en manera tan extraña, espantáronse tanto, que se volvieron atrás. Yo salí á ellos y llamélos, y vinieron muy espantados; hícelos entender por señas cómo se nos habia hundido una barca, y se habían ahogado tres de nosotros; y allí en su presencia ellos mismos vieron dos muertos, y los que quedábamos íbamos aquel camino. Los indios, de ver el desastre que nos había venido y el desastre en que estábamos, con tanta desventura y miseria, se sentaron entre nosotros, y con el gran dolor y lástima que hobieron de vernos en tanta fortuna, comenzaron todos á llorar recio, y tan de verdad, que léjos de allí se podía oir, y esto les duró mas de media hora; y cierto ver que estos hombres tan sin razón y tan crudos, á manera de brutos, se dolian tanto de nosotros, hizo que en mí y en otros de la compañía cresciese mas la pasión y la consideración de nuestra desdicha. Sosegado ya este llanto, yo pregunté á los cristianos, y dije que, si á ellos parescia, rogaría á aquellos indios que nos llevasen á sus casas; y algunos de ellos que habían estado en la Nueva-España respondieron que no se debía hablar en ello, porque si á sus casas nos llevaban, nos sacrificarian á sus ídolos; mas, visto que otro remedio no había, y que por cualquier otro camino estaba mas cerca y mas cierta la muerte, no curé de lo que decían, antes rogué á los indios que nos llevasen á sus casas, y ellos mostraron que habían gran placer de ello, y que esperásemos un poco, que ellos harían lo que queríamos; y luego treinta de ellos se cargaron de leña, y se fueron á sus casas, que estaban lejos de allí, y quedamos con los otros hasta cerca de la noche, que nos tomaron, y llevándonos asidos y con mucha priesa, fuimos á sus casas; y por el gran frío que hacia, y temiendo que en el camino alguno no muriese ó desmayase, proveyeron que hobiese cuatro ó cinco fuegos muy grandes puestos á trechos, y en cada uno de ellos nos escalentaban; y desque vían que habíamos tomado alguna fuerza y calor, nos llevaban hasta el otro tan apriesa, que casi los piés no nos dejaban poner en el suelo, y de esta manera fuimos hasta sus casas, donde hallamos que tenían hecha una casa para nosotros, y muchos fuegos en ella; y desde á un hora que habíamos llegado, comenzaron á bailar y hacer grande fiesta (que duró toda la noche), aunque para nosotros no habia placer, fiesta ni sueño, esperando cuando nos habían de sacrificar; y la mañana nos tornaron á dar pescado y raíces, y hacer tan buen tratamiento, que nos aseguramos algo, y perdimos algo el miedo del sacrificio.

[The next morning the Indians came] as they had promised. They brought us a great deal of fish and some roots that they eat, which are like nuts, some bigger and some smaller. Most of them are dug from under the water, with great labor. In the evening they came back and brought us more fish and more of the same roots. They had their wives and children come to see us. So they went home rich with the little bells and beads we gave them. On other days they came back to visit us, bringing the same things as before. We saw that we had been given fish and roots and water and the other things we asked for. So we decided to put to sea again and go on our way. We dug the boat out of the sand where it was buried. We all had to strip and work very hard to get it into the water. We were in such a state that much lighter tasks were enough to wear us out. Once we were aboard, two crossbow shots out to sea, such a wave struck us that it soaked us all. Since we were naked and the cold was very great, the oars fell from our hands. With the next wave the sea gave us, the boat turned over. The veedor and two others held on to it to save themselves. But it turned out the opposite way, for the boat dragged them under and they drowned. The coast is very rough. With one roll the sea threw all the rest of us onto the shore of the same island, tangled in the waves and half drowned. No one was missing but the three the boat had dragged under. Those of us who escaped were as naked as the day we were born, and we had lost everything we had with us. All of it was worth little, but at that time it meant a great deal. It was November then, and the cold was bitter. We were so thin that our bones could be counted with no trouble, and we looked like the very image of death. It pleased our Lord that, as we searched among the embers of the fire we had made there, we found some live coals. With them we built big fires. And so we prayed to our Lord for mercy and the forgiveness of our sins, weeping many tears. Each of us felt pity not only for himself but for all the others, whom he saw in the same state. At sunset the Indians, thinking we had not left, came back to look for us and to bring us food. But when they saw us in such a different state from before, and so strange to look at, they were so frightened that they drew back. I went out to them and called them, and they came, very frightened. I made them understand by signs that one of our boats had sunk and three of us had drowned. There in front of them they saw two of our dead themselves, and the rest of us were going the same way. When the Indians saw the disaster that had come upon us, and the disaster we were in, with so much misfortune and misery, they sat down among us. They felt such great sorrow and pity at seeing us in that state that they all began to weep loudly, and so sincerely that they could be heard far away. This went on for more than half an hour. These men seemed to us so lacking in reason and so rough, like brutes. Truly, to see them grieve so much for us made my anguish, and that of others in our company, grow all the greater, and we felt our misfortune all the more. When the weeping had died down, I asked the Christians whether they agreed that I should ask these Indians to take us to their houses. Some of them had been in New Spain. They answered that we should not even speak of it, because if the Indians took us to their houses, they would sacrifice us to their idols. But since there was no other way out, and any other path led to a nearer and surer death, I paid no attention to what they said. Instead I asked the Indians to take us to their houses. They showed that they were very glad to do it, and told us to wait a little, and they would do what we wished. Then thirty of them loaded themselves with firewood and went off to their houses, which were far from there. We stayed with the others until nearly nightfall, when they took hold of us and hurried us along to their houses. The cold was bitter, and they feared that someone might die or faint on the way. So they had four or five very large fires built at intervals along the path, and at each one they warmed us. As soon as they saw that we had gained a little strength and warmth, they rushed us on to the next one. They went so fast that our feet hardly touched the ground. In this way we reached their houses, where we found they had built a house for us, with many fires in it. About an hour after we arrived, they began to dance and hold a great celebration, which lasted all night. For us, though, there was no pleasure, no celebration, and no sleep, as we waited for the moment they would sacrifice us. In the morning they gave us fish and roots again and treated us so well that we felt a little safer and lost some of our fear of being sacrificed.