charge of a herd of steers. They
asked him in broken Spanish "What they would have." Drake gave them to
understand that he wished to buy some fresh meat, upon which they picked
out several cattle "with ease and so readily, as if they had a special
commandment over them, whereas they would not abide us to come near
them." The Indians have just that skill in handling cattle which the
negroes have in handling mules. They did Drake this service willingly,
"because our Captain, according to his custom, contented them for their
pains with such things as they account greatly of." He left them in high
good humour, promising him that if he came again he should have what he
desired of them. Drake left the shore as soon as his pinnaces were laden
with fresh meat, and sailed on up the coast till he reached the lesser,
or western, mouth of the Rio Grande, "where we entered about three of
the clock." The river runs with a great fierceness, so that the hands
were able to draw fresh water "for their beverage" a mile and a half
from the mouth. It was a current almost too fierce to row against in the
hot sun, so that five hours' hard rowing only brought them six miles on
their way upstream. They then moored the pinnaces to a great tree that
grew on the bank. They ate their suppers in that place, hoping to pass a
quiet evening, but with the darkness there came such a terrible
thunderstorm "as made us not a little to marvel at," though Drake
assured the younger men that in that country such storms soon passed. It
wetted them to the bone, no doubt, but within three-quarters of an hour
it had blown over and become calm. Immediately the rain had ceased, the
air began to hum with many wings, and forth came "a kind of flies of
that country, called mosquitoes, like our gnats," which bit them
spitefully as they lay in the bottoms of the boats. It was much too hot
to lie beneath a blanket, and the men did not know how to kindle a
"smudge" of smouldering aromatic leaves. They had no pork fat nor
paraffin to rub upon their hands and faces, according to the modern
practice, and "the juice of lemons," which gave them a little relief,
must have been a poor substitute. "We could not rest all that night,"
says the narrative. At daybreak the next morning they rowed away from
that place, "rowing in the eddy" along the banks, where the current
helped them. Where the eddy failed, as in swift and shallow places, they
hauled the boats up with great labour by ma