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That same night three Indians came to wait upon them who were troubled with pains in their heads, desiring Castillo to cure them, and as soon as he had blessed them with the sign of the cross they became well; in reward for which they brought tunas and venison, and blazed abroad the wonderful cures which had been performed upon them by the strangers.

All the rest belonging to the expedition had perished, some having been stoned to death by the natives, and others drowned, among whom was Panfilo de Narvaez, as Figueroa, who was present, related to Cabeza. Among these Indians who fed upon tunas they endured much hunger, as there was not enough for them all.

Below she wrote: You will find Tunas in the cacti thickets of any desert, but if you are so fortunate as to be able to reach specimens which were brought from Mexico and set as hedges around the gardens of the old missions, you will find there the material for this salad in its most luscious form.

Being intent on prosecuting their journey, they fled one days journey into the country of the Maliconas, where they fed for twelve days on a small kind of fruit till the tunas were ripe. Having endured much hunger there for some time, they were directed to the habitations of another tribe which spoke the same language.

Cabeza took off the mat from the dying man, prayed to God to restore him to health, and when he had several times blessed the man and breathed on him, the attendants presented him with a bow and arrows and a basket of tunas, conducting him to cure others in the same manner.

To add to their sufferings, they lost their way, and it rained very much which distressed them greatly, as they were entirely naked. They rested that night in a wood, where they roasted tunas as food.

The Spaniards intended to have proceeded farther, but on being informed that the country through which they meant to travel was desert, the tunas all eaten, and the climate excessively cold, they agreed to remain with the Avares all winter, who went five days journey into the country to feed on a sort of fruit called yeros.

I hired such a boat once or twice; but the experience of some friends who had fished every day for two months and not got one single blessed tuna damped my ambition. Tunas there run up to 300 lbs., big enough, and yet tiny compared with the monsters of the Mediterranean, the Morocco coast and the Japanese seas; there they run up to 2000 lbs.

In the insurrections a few of them openly took the field, and the Maid of Las Tunas is remembered, a Cuban Joan of Arc, who rode at the head of the rebel troops, battled as stoutly as the veterans, and was of special service as scout and spy. Three times she fell into the hands of the Spaniards. Twice she coaxed her way to freedom.

It was determined to proceed during the night to Palo Alto, fifty miles to the eastward, the Helena remaining at Las Tunas to confirm the Spaniards in the belief that an attempt was to be made to land there. July 2.