Chapter 3

Although we liked the idea of varying our diet with the meat from the birds, we were also apprehensive about who had left them there, and whether they were meant for us as a sign of peace or whether they were hung there to prevent them from being eaten by wild animals with the idea to collect them later. In the end, desire for the taste of food that wasn’t fish from the stream, shellfish and crabs from the beach, or salt cod from our stores settled the argument. The birds’ feathers were quickly plucked, the birds were gutted and washed clean, and then cut into pieces to be added to the cooking pot. There was not enough meat to make a meal for each man, but the addition of the meat to our normal breakfast made it taste like a dish fit for a king.

After we had eaten, we returned to the discussion about who might have left the birds near our cabin. It was obvious that we were not alone in this strange land in spite of not having seen any signs of other people until that day. We agreed that we would have to be especially vigilant in future, and that none of us should venture from the cabin alone. Although it appeared that the birds had probably been left as a gift and a sign of peace, until we actually met whoever had left them, we could not know for certain that the person or people were not hostile.

The rest of the day passed quietly, as we went about our daily tasks of fetching water from the stream, constructing fish traps, chopping wood for the fire, and scanning our surroundings for signs of other people. That day we saw nothing, but the next day was different.

Again, in the morning as we emerged from the cabin, we found four of the same dead birds with their feet bound together with vines hanging from a nearby tree branch. It appeared that our visitors were as cautious about our intentions as we were about theirs. If we were going to make face-to-face contact, we knew that we had to reciprocate the gifts that had been left for us. We had little to offer apart from salt cod and fish from the stream that we had smoked to preserve for the cold weather of the long winter that we feared would arrive soon.

Although we had more salt cod than smoked fish, it was soon agreed that offering salt cod might not be the most appropriate offering to present to our invisible benefactors because they might not know how to soak it in fresh water to remove the salt in order to make the fish palatable when cooked. Therefore, smoked fish was the present that we decided should be our offering, along with a pottery cup with a handle which was filled with some of the salt from our store. The fish and the cup were hung from the same branch where the birds had been left for us, and we retreated to the cabin to await the outcome of our presentation.

By the time the sun had set, and darkness descended on the land, we had not seen any sign of anyone, and our peace offerings remained suspended from the tree branch where we had hung them earlier.

However, by morning the branch was bare, and the smoked fish and the pottery cup had been removed.

It was about noon on that same day that we finally saw the first inhabitant of this land. There were three men standing at the edge of the clearing where we had constructed our cabin. They were dressed in animal skins and had long hair that was braided on both sides of their head and decorated with shells and feathers. I was the first of our group to catch sight of them as I came from the stream carrying a bucket of water. As soon as I saw them, I stopped and carefully put my bucket on the ground. Then I raised both hands in the air with the palms turned towards them to show them that I did not have any weapons and that I was not going to try to harm them.

I hoped that they understood the message I was trying to convey to them, and that they would also not try to harm me because I saw that they were carrying spears, and each man seemed to have a bow slung from a shoulder.

One of the men took a few steps forward and raised his right hand returning the gesture I had made. That made me feel relieved that I was not about to be killed, so I also took a few steps in the direction of the trio.

The man who had raised his hand began to walk steadily towards me while his two companions gripped their spears, obviously ready to react to any hostile movement from me. Naturally, I was not about to give them any reason to launch their spears in my direction.

As the man approached me, I observed that he had unnaturally coloured skin, and that the skins covering his upper body were the pelts from several animals that had been sewn together and which were wrapped around his body and tied with a belt. His lower body was naked apart from a small animal skin that covered his manhood. On his feet, he wore shoes fashioned from some type of soft leather.

However, the most striking feature about him was the reddish colour of his skin. On closer examination, it was evident that this hue was the result of the application of a red ochre earth mixed with grease. His face was hairless and rounded in shape, with a flattened nose.

When he was a few paces distant from me, he stopped, and we both examined each other closely. I saw that both his spear and his arrows were tipped with bone or stone, and that he had a stone knife tucked into the belt that held his cloak in place around his body. I learned later that he was most intrigued by the fact that my clothes covered the whole of my body and that a wispy beard sprouted from my chin, although at the age of 15 I had not yet grown a full beard.

At length, putting his right hand on his chest, he spoke. “Beothuk” was what he repeated several times. I understood that he was telling me his name, so I replied in similar fashion “Juan.”

Later, I discovered that he had been telling me the name of his tribe or people and not his own name. However, contact had been made, and we had exchanged some information about each other in spite of not really understanding what had been said.

Seemingly satisfied with our first verbal exchange, the man placed his spear on the ground, and sat cross-legged on the ground and indicated that I should do the same. When I had done so, he began to speak at length. I listened intently, but I could not understand any word that he spoke. Finally, he paused, and I began to explain to him who we were and how we had come to be living in our small cabin. He did not indicate that he had understood what I had said in Euskara, so I repeated my information in Castilian, then in Galego and Portuguese, and finally in Arabic. However, he gave no indication of understanding any of these languages.

We were not left alone for long as another man left the cabin to check on the progress of the food that had been prepared earlier and that was cooking for our midday meal. On seeing me and the stranger sitting facing each other, he returned to the cabin, and immediately reappeared accompanied by the captain and one other man.

The captain spoke to the others to reassure them that what they were seeing did not present any danger to our group. Later, he explained that when he saw that the stranger and I were sitting on the ground it was obvious to him that this was a sign of a peaceful encounter, as it would have been almost impossible for either of us to successfully attack and overcome the other.

Motioning to the men with him, the captain slowly and carefully approached me and the stranger. He held his hands up with the palms facing towards the stranger to show that he was not carrying any weapons. Finally, when he reached where we were sitting, he slowly lowered himself to the ground beside me.

Again, the stranger went through the same ritual of placing his right hand on his chest and saying “Beothuk” several times. The captain replied in the same fashion with his name “Juan.” Naturally, this reinforced the mistaken idea that our group was a tribe called ‘Juan’ since the captain and I shared the same name, and that the stranger’s name was ‘Beothuk.’

Soon, ‘Beothuk’ signalled to his two companions who had remained vigilant at the edge of the tree line and indicated that they should join us. They also placed their spears on the ground and sat cross-legged beside their companion. At this, our captain, Juan de Hondarribia, indicated that the two men who had remained near the cabin should join us. Now we were four from our group facing three from the strangers, but in a very short time the remainder of our group returned to the cabin from carrying out their daily tasks. One by one, they joined our group sitting on the ground which caused the three strangers to peer closely at each man in turn as if trying to decide if we were all really human in spite of our strange clothes and bearded faces.

At last, they seemed to be satisfied, and our captain instructed the cook and two other men to fetch some food to share with the strangers. At first, they were reluctant to accept the bowls of fish stew that were presented to them, but after they had seen that we also ate the same food, they began to dip their hands into the hot liquid to search for some pieces of fish.

As we all used wooden spoons to eat our food, we were surprised at how the strangers could bear to immerse their hands into the hot food without flinching or showing any signs of pain. Even when they were given spoons, they did not seem to have any idea of what to do with them, but after seeing how we used the spoons to scoop up fish and liquid together, they soon began to imitate us and clumsily undertook the task of eating in our fashion.