in which I had been. All this time I did not eat a bite nor find anything that I could eat. Since I was barefoot, my feet bled a great deal. Yet God was merciful to me, because in all this time the north wind did not blow. If it had, I could not have survived. After five days I reached a riverbank, where I found my Indians. Both they and the Christians had already assumed that I was dead, thinking that a snake had bitten me. They all were very happy to see me, especially the Christians. They told me that they had not looked for me because they had been so hungry while on the move. That night they gave me some of their prickly pears. The following day we departed and went to a place where we found many prickly pears which satisfied our great hunger. And we gave many thanks to our Lord because he always came to our aid.

CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO

How They Brought Other Sick People to Us the Following Day

The following morning many Indians gathered there, bringing five sick persons who were crippled and in a very poor condition, looking for Castillo to heal them. Each one of the sick persons offered his bow and arrows, which he accepted. At sunset he made the sign of the cross on them and commended them to God our Lord, and we all asked God as best we could, to restore their health, since He knew that that was the only way for those people to help us, so that we might escape from such a miserable life. And God was so merciful that the following morning they all awakened well and healthy. They went away as strong as if they had never been sick. This caused great astonishment among them and caused us to thank our Lord heartily for showing us his kindness ever more fully and