The incredible adventure of Cabeza de Vaca

I first heard this mentioned in the pub a few weeks ago; a Spaniard shipwrecked in the Americas in the Sixteenth century, living among native American Indians. Tales of extreme hardship, hunger, shamanism, more hunger, brutal treatment by the Indians, hunger again, and an incredible journey across the Gulf of Mexico picqued my interest.

With some time off work to recover from my 33rd birthday, I thought I'd check it out. It was worth the read. Not many books have a Chapter 23 entitled "How we left after Having eaten the Dogs". (thank goodness).

Read it online : Southwestern Writers Collection

After returning to Spain, Cabeza de Vaca wrote an account of his years in the Americas. First published in 1542, this extraordinary adventure story has thrilled readers for centuries. Cabeza de Vaca's account is also of great anthropological and historical importance. In Texas alone he identified 23 Indian groups, describing in detail their clothes, languages, eating habits, rituals, homes, and migrations. In 1989, thanks to the generosity of Bill and Sally Wittliff and an anonymous donor, the Southwestern Writers Collection received a very special gift - a copy of the 1555 edition of La relación. This is one of the rarest books in the world.

Mind you for some of the indians it wasn't all bad:

Throughout this land they get drunk on a certain smoke and give all they have to obtain it. They also drink a tea made from the leaves of a tree that resembles the live oak, which they toast in vessels on a fire.

!SR