We saw two venture from the wood and draw it up on
beach.
In a little while came around a point of shore a canoe
with one Indian who made toward us, using his oar very
dexterously, and when he entered our shadow holding up
cotton and fruit. It was to be seen that he had had no
communication with the men of the large canoe.
The Admiral himself called out encouragingly and snatching
the first small thing at hand held it up. The Indian
scrambled on board. He stood, as fine a piece of bronze
as any might see, before the Genoese, as great a figure as
might be found in all Italy--all Spain--all Europe.
The elder touched the younger, the white man the red
man, as a king, a father, might have touched a prince, a
son. He himself took the youth over our ship, showing
him this, showing him that, had the music play for him,
brought him to Fray Ignatio who talked of Christ, pointing
oft to heaven. (To my thinking this action, often repeated,
was one of the things that for so long made them
certain we had come from the skies.) In the cabin he
gave the Indian a cup of wine and a biscuit dipped in honey.
He gave him a silken cap with a tassel and himself put
round his throat one of our best strings of beads, and into
his hand not one but three of the much-coveted hawk bells.
He was kinder than rain after drought.
Pages:
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159