Never  had  1  met  with  such  delicious  fare  as  this  seemed  to  me
at  the  time,  not  having  tasted  anything  for  above  forty  days
but  cocoa-nuts  and  such  like  food."  At  length  he  is  joined  by
the  owner  of  the  wigwam  and  his  two  sons,  who  provide  him
with  a  second  supper,  with  a  couch  of  warm  skins,  and  on
the  following  morning  proffer  their  services  as  guides.  After
describing  how  these  hospitable  Indians  detained  him  several  days
iu  order  that  he  might  recruit  his  strength,  and  heal  with  the
juice  of  herbs  the  wounds  he  bad  received  in  "fencing  with  the
rocks,"  he  adds,  that  the  two  boys  grew  extremely  attache<l  to
hira,  and  were  curious  to  know  whether  he  could  use  a  buw  and
arrows.  Having  made  them  understand,  in  broken  Spanish,  that
he  was  entirely  unacquainted  with  them,  because  iu  his  own
country  guns  only  were  used,  they  often  displayed  astonishing
feats  of  dexterity  by  striking  down  the  smallest  bird  Hying.
He  says  that  he  has  seen  them  stand  perhaps  a  hundred  yards
from  a  bird  feeding  upon  the  ground,  and,  by  shooting  directly
upwards,  cause  the  arrow  to  pin  it  to  the  earth ;  and  mentions
ai  a  further  instance  of  their  skill,  that  they  would  stick  a  shaft


26  THE   BOOK   OF   ARCHBBT.
upright,  and,  retiring  a  great  way  off,  shoot  perpendicularly  as
before,  when  the  arrow  so  shot  descended  exactly  upon  the
other  which  was  fixed  in  the  ground,  and  split  it  in  two.
