Raised By Wolves Volume four- Wolves (75 page)

and smoked a pipe to disguise the smell of food. Most of the

and smoked a pipe to disguise the smell of food. Most of the men were smoking pipes because they had nothing to fill their bellies with but smoke. We visited with Cudro and Ash for a time, and found them doing much the same: hoarding their food and lyingabout it.

On the third day, Morgan left a hundred or so men with the boats. He stupidly ordered themto remain with the craft and not venture ashore on pain of death. He was afraid they would encounter some Spanish attack if they ventured out seeking food, and be cut offfromthe boats and lose them. As he and his officers walked away, I saw clearly upon many of the faces of the men so tasked that they were not so foolish as to steadfastly honor his wishes—on pain of death or not—if it meant starving to death.

We then attempted to hack our way alongside the river for an hour. When that proved absurdly difficult, Morgan ordered half our men into the canoes. Then we laboriously worked our way up river—often wading with the canoes on our shoulders—for half the day to a place called Cedro Bueno. There was no food or Spaniards there, either. Six hundred of us milled about, pulled leeches fromone another, and destroyed the few available buildings out of anger and boredom as the canoes returned down river to fetch the rest of our forces—save those guardingthe boats.

Some of the men were becoming weak with hunger. Morgan and his officers were not, though I saw no evidence of themeating. Gaston and I pretended to be hungry, as did Cudro and Ash.

The fourth day, three-quarters of our men walked along

The fourth day, three-quarters of our men walked along the western river bank. The way was much clearer, as the guides had promised. Those weak with hunger continued in the canoes. The next section of water was easier to traverse as well. To increase our speed, one of our guides took two canoes and some of our stronger men to paddle them and roved ahead to searchfor ambuscades.

Around midday, our guide on land told us we approached a post called Torna Cavallos. Soon after, the guide on the river yelled from up ahead that he had found a Spanish position. Careless and starving, cheering buccaneers rushed toward the temporary Spanish fortifications. They found nothing: no Spaniards and no food. However, the place looked very recently abandoned. We even found scattered crumbs the birds had not yet eatenfromthe last ofthe defenders’ meals.

Frustrated, Morgan and I discussed it with our guides. They flattered us by saying that of course the Spanish would run from such a force. They also said there were likely Indian spies nimbly dancing through the impenetrable forest all around us, warningtheir masters ofour approachhours inadvance.

Morgan ordered that every man stay with his brethren. He wanted no parties wanderinginto the woods to chase animals for food. He was afraid lone men would be captured and tortured to draw others into a trap—as he averred Indians were knownto do.

Meanwhile, some of our men had found a cache of leather bags. They were empty, yet arguments broke out over them until the winners happily carried away at least a piece of one. They cut the leather into strips, beat it soundly between one. They cut the leather into strips, beat it soundly between rocks to tenderize it, heated it over a fire, and ate it. Gaston doubted they could derive nourishment from it, but all who supped onit claimed it did muchto ease their bellies.

Gaston and I pretended a strip of boucan was leather; and pounded it viciously before cutting it into tiny bits and eating it while grimacing.

Morgan ordered us onward, and we marched until nightfalland a place called Torna Munniwhere we found another recently deserted ambuscade. That night, men began to talk loudlyofeatinganySpaniard or Indianwe caught.

Fully half our men were in canoes due to the weakness of hunger on the fifth day. Gaston looked them over, but there was nothing he could do and it filled him with guilt and sadness. Even if we broke our vow and shared our boucan, we could not beginto give themalla taste, muchless feed them.

At noon on the fifth day we came to a place called Barbacoa. Which, of course, sounded quite promising; and which, as we should have expected, was quite devoid of Spaniards and food. There was another ambuscade, but this one did not appear to have beenfinished or occupied:causingmento jest that by the time we reached Panama, the terrified Spanish would simply throw open the gates and leave the city defenseless. Other men remarked that if that were to occur, the Spanish would also leave the city empty of treasure and food. I thought our enemy was wisely withdrawing all its forces to defend the city, instead of having them spread out across the countryside to be picked awayas we advanced.

We sent large parties of men to search the plantations We sent large parties of men to search the plantations we could see from the river. They proved empty as well. However, one of our groups found a recently hollowed grotto in a hillside. It contained a stash of food including corn, meal, wine, and plantains. Those men were to be commended, because they did not return with this glorious bounty with stuffed mouths and filled bellies—thoughI was sure theyhad alleatensomething.

Morgan ordered that the food be divided among those most in need. Gaston assessed the men in serious condition and they were fed. In the end, only about three hundred men received enough food to stave off death. The rest went hungry, but with better spirits in that they had found something at all. Since we had lost so much time in that endeavor, Morgan urged us on into the night until we at last chose to stop at yet another abandoned plantationnear the river.

I was beginning to be amazed that the Spanish had not even left behind a stray cat. “Truly, what are they doing, bagging the cats and taking them with them?” I asked my matelot as we surreptitiouslychewed a little boucan.

“There would be no need,”he said with a grin. “Cats are smarter than hungry stupid men, especially when they have thousands ofacres offorest to hide in.”

On the sixth day, we went very slowly. Too many men were weak with hunger for us to maintain any sort of pace. We formed a straggling column, with half our number sitting at any given time. Many men had taken to eating grass or leaves. Some of them became extremely ill from this practice and ended up in the canoes. Mymatelot took to amusingme bypointingto this or that leafand recitingits poisonous properties.
that leafand recitingits poisonous properties.

At midday, we came upon yet another seemingly empty plantation. This one surprised us with a barn full of maize. There was little order inwhat occurred withthis treasure. Menfellupon it and stuffed it in their mouths, dry; swallowing before they even chewed. Within minutes, the first men complained of cramps and some of themheaved. This slowed the rest fromoverrunning the men Morgan had now placed to guard the trove. The rumor the grain was poisoned quickly spread through the ranks. Gaston examined the complaining men and the grain and declared the cornfine and their discomfort caused byeatingsuchraw food on such empty stomachs. To my never-ending bemusement, some men still sniffed the grain cautiously when we handed them their ration. For the first time in six days, every man was able to fillhis belly. And, if they were careful, they all had some for the morrow as well.

Morgan decided to keep moving as soon as we had eaten a little. Within another hour or so, we came upon an ambuscade manned by approximately a hundred Indians on the eastern side of the river. Our buccaneers went berserk at the sight of possible prey—truly, they still claimed to wish to eat them. Before Morgan could give orders and have themobeyed, many men rushed across the river and attacked. The Indians evaded them quite nimbly and killed several with arrows. Then the bastards cried, “To the plain, you dogs, to the plain,” in brokenSpanishfromthe trees.

We stopped for the day. Our guides said we had likely seen the Indians here because this was where we needed to cross the river. We would now need to travel along the other side until we reached Cruz, a small town that was the last place the Spanish considered navigable for even canoes and small boats whenthe river was at its proper height. The guides claimed there would be storehouses there, as that was where goods being sent downriver were collected. They also said the plain the Indians spoke of rested between us and Panama, and was— judging from the natives’ taunts—the place where the Spanish were waitingfor us.

That night, there was a great deal of discord heard around the fires. Some men wished to return, others swore they would never walk that river again even if promised the riches of Spain at the other end, and some complained of Morgan and his lack of planning. Their Admiral was not blind or deaf: he knew well morale was low, but he knew not what to do about it. He finally cajoled the guides into going amongst the men and speaking of how much easier the way would be now, and how veryrichPanama was.

On the morning of the seventh day, since we had now seen some version of the enemy, Morgan commanded that everyone see to their weapons and clean and discharge themso that they might not be fouled and misfire. This was usually a daily ritual in the tropics, but we had been eschewing it for the first days of our march in order to conserve powder and lead. The thick and humid air was filled withfat, slow mosquitoes, the smell of cooking corn, and a cacophony of retorts as over four thousand weapons were discharged in an incoherent rhythm. I hoped somewhere across the river the Spanish heard this, and were afraid enough to run from us so that we did not need to trulybattle them.

We crossed the river and marched along the eastern shore. By late morning, we began to see smoke ahead of us. Knowingwe were approachingthe townofCruz, menranahead in the hopes that we were at last seeing signs of habitation, and that every column of smoke was a cook fire with delicious victuals upon it. The idea drove us all on, until we did reach the town and found our vanguard of men lying about dejected. The retreating Spaniards had set fire to the place. There was, of course, little remaining. Sadly, this time the Spanishhad left some small animals about, including stupid cats and trusting dogs, and the menmade short work ofkillingand butcheringthem.

Then in one of the King’s storehouses, which the villagers had not burned, our men came upon a treasure trove of wine from Peru. There was much rejoicing, and Morgan made no move to stop this unexpected booty’s consumption. Unfortunately, wine on starved stomachs was even worse than dry corn, and nearly every man who drank became ill. We did not go further that day. By nightfall, half our number lay about in misery, as they had drunk enough to make them sick, but not enough to make them drunk. Most thought they were poisoned and dying.

To make matters worse, though Morgan had ordered no one to venture fromthe village in a party of less than a hundred, one group of men did wander off in search of victuals. They were set upon by waiting Spaniards and Indians in the forest, and one of our men was captured before he could retreat to camp. We spent the night listening to that poor soul’s screams as he was tortured to terrorize and enrage us.

Gaston and I found our friends, and the four of us retreated beyond the light of the fires and put our backs to one of the town’s few remaining stone walls. We stuffed little bits of boucaninour ears and sipped wine untilwe were drunk.

We did not speak. There was nothing to be said. We were miserable and exhausted, and we were not the ones starving. Gaston and I had not spoken of anything of import in days. We had not wanted anyone to see that we were capable of that degree of intellectual exertion. In truth, we were barely capable of more than the most absurd jests concerning the weight of the medicine chest. I had been telling himfor two days that he had loaded every vial with lead, and he had been accusing me of stashing food and kittens in the damn wooden chest. We were not at our best, but we were far fromthe worst we had ever been.

On the eighth day, we abandoned the canoes. Morgan ordered that one vessel be hidden so that it could be used to send messages downstream when necessary. The rest he sent downriver to the place where we had left the larger boats several days to the north.

Then he called for the assembly of a vanguard of two hundred men to be commanded by Captain Prince. He asked that those feelingmost healthystep forward.

I looked to Gaston and whispered. “I do not wish to fight anyone, but some ofus must defend those who cannow not defend themselves.”

He smiled. “It is probably foolish. We will be ambushed bythe Spanishor worse.”
“Yet?”
“We should.”
We stepped forward and offered our services. Morgan

was pleased: I could at least communicate well with the guide. CaptainPrince spoke no Castilian.

Our vanguard of two hundred marched east into the mountains, making relatively good time. The remaining eleven hundred menfollowed at a slower pace.

We were attacked by Indians several times in the mountain pass. Time and again they would shower us with arrows from fortifications and defensive positions that would have allowed a well-trained cadre of men to hold an army at bay; yet, each time we approached, the Indians fell back. They only defended one of their ambuscades long enough for us to actually fight them. In that encounter, we killed dozens of them and theykilled eight ofours and wounded tenmore.

Our guide and Captain Prince commented on the stupidity of the Indians—that they did not know to hold the high ground—or the cunning of the Spanish—that they were having the Indians lure us to them. I thought the ease of our egress through the mountains was actually due to the cunning of the Indians and the stupidity of the Spanish. What nation was so stupid as to send their slaves to defend their land? I doubted the Indians believed they had a reason to wage war on us. They were just pretendingto fight us inorder to appease their masters.

In the late afternoon, we were through much of the mountainous region, and we stopped in a large field and waited

 

for the rest of our army. In the distance we could see a group of

for the rest of our army. In the distance we could see a group of Indians watching us from a hill. Captain Prince sent fifty of our men to try to capture some of them. It was a fool’s errand, and the menreturned dejected and evenmore exhausted.