Chapter 10

I was as brown as the people who lived in these lands, and aside from my short pants and tall boots, dressed much alike. With the single deviation that my lighter hair and eyes provided, I would be mistaken for a native. I had been accustomed to perusing the horizon through my spy glass, and saw a sight I had not thought to see, mounted men, riding arch necked crop mane horses, the lowering sun glinting on their brilliant cuirasses. If you wish to scout with any hope or prayer of going without notice, better that you wear brown leather, than polished metal. I consulted with two of my party, the russet dog content to follow where we led, and decided to discover what the purpose of these helmed Spaniards and their pitiful native slaves had. The bestial Spaniards arrogantly claimed that their Catholic God gave them power and supremacy over 'lesser' men, but if you asked any Englishman, the Spaniards were not worth half of an Englishman. Jesus would have spit on them for their treatment of their fellow man.

They drove the suffering wretches along with whips, chained wrist to wrist to prevent their escape, over burdened with gear of dubious utility. We fell in behind them at the limit of sight, even aided by my spy glass, and were not noticed by them, even if they also had looking glasses, because they were bright and shiny in the sun, and tall on horseback, while we were brown and low, without glitter. Neither were we the only skulking followers.

We fell in with tribesmen of the prisoners, who had been following the filthy Spaniards northward from the coastal shores of the Southern Sea, hoping for a chance to rescue their kin, but had lost two of their number to the 'thunder sticks' or muskets of the Spaniards. The large slow balls didn't have much range, but certainly created a big hole as they passed through a man. Even if a shot struck only a limb, it might tear it from the body, leaving the injured to shortly perish of blood loss. Kodaco introduced me in the gesture language of trade as an Englishman, a natural enemy to the Spaniards, and we joined forces to see if we could free the unfortunate and miss-used men from their bonds.

I pointed out the animals which carried the casks of powder, explaining that without them, the thunder sticks would only have about ten charges each, and if the flasks of powder each carried were also disposed of, they would only be able to use the muskets one more time. From this information a plan was devised, of sneaking amidst the camp and taking the flasks from the sleeping men, and putting them in the fire, while cutting the ropes holding the horses, and protecting the prisoners somehow. Before, the method had been the usual plan of night attack, rushing the enemy camp with much furor and commotion, to try to disorient the foe. These Spaniards slept with their musket to hand, and woke quickly, making such efforts less useful. Our newly devised plan depended on stealth and withdraw, taking out only the sentry, but depriving the enemy of horse, powder, and slave.