Page:Don Coronado through Kansas.djvu/44

33 A SPANISH MEDICINE MAN. lh I travels aud how did they treat you?" De Vaca: "Your humble servant had made it a point to acquire the mysteries of the medicine men of our tribe, and, in fact, had been initiated into their secrets, so it was very easy to convince the tribes we met of our superiority and to work on their credulity by reason of our additional experience and education. But the most important articles which brought about courteous treatment was my medicine-man's bag, bells, and other toys, which some of the ingenious men of our party had made, and which puzzled the natives and awed them. We were not only treated kindly but offered every inducement to remain with many of the tribes which we visited." Mendoza: "It has already coino to my notice that you were in a pitiable condition Avhen nvst di covered. WiU you tell us liow yon got along without clothing?" De VaCx: "As you are awarD, the natives go very sparingly clothed, so wo could procure none from them, and, in fact, first our leggings began to ravel out thin until nothin:j v. as left but the waist by reason of going through the timber, gr;iss, and wading streams, till at last we got into the same costume as the Indians themselves; but remarkable to relate, we did not mind that, in fact, living with nature seemed to agree with us if we had only some vegetable matter to go with the animal. The only part of pur person ourselves with the sMh of a fresh Mhed aIniBtial, which when iittcd to the feet and kept in place by thongs, upon becoming dry were soon very
 * affected were our feet, but it was very easy to shoe