May be it is because a wise man from India once told me that i was not going to be no Hillary nor Tenzing, that i have since been hooked on reading about the perilous journeys of others (in the comfort of my living room), as they tread across time, across forests, across polar caps and the unlimited perilous things that this fragile world offers to us. We, the pretentious jewels in the crown of this earth. Nothing has entralled me more that the Narvaez expedition to Florida in 1528. Especially this one character named Cabeza de Vaca, about whom i have often dreamt. Who was this guy, but not so fast? The story starts with a very egoistical, selfish, gold-crazy Narvaez, who was since day one jealous of Cortes`s success in Mexico, i.e Tenochtitlan. Narvaez even had the guts to plan a 'hijack' of Cortes`s booty by landing with his own conquistadors in Mexico, and trying to ambush the great one (Cortes). Cortes being Cortes, short circuits him, by a daring night time guerilla attack, blinds him in one eye, and dismantles his whole army in no time. To speed things up, after a very long imprisonment period (~ 8 years) in Cortes`s make-shift prison, Narvaez was released, runs to his wife in Cuba, goes back to Spain, and lobbies to be sent back to another place, another zone, just to prove he could do better than Cortes. Can there be anyone more determined and revengeful that this man? Short-tempered and short sighted as he is, Narvaez has the luck to hire a group of the daring and creative people. Cabeza de Vaca was a gentleman from Seville. With Dukes, and Marquises as cousins, he had a pretty calm and comfortable life, before being tipped to join Narvaez on his expedition as treasurer. Believe it or not, he was to be the eyes and ears of Charles V, Spain monarch. Any gold and emeralds found by Narvaez was to be reported, so that the compassionate King could tax a 15% commission on the treasure. Is this what company treasurers normally do in Silicon Valley?
But things end up badly for the expedition. They descend on the coast of Florida, looking for gold. They one and only strategy seems to be a get-rich-quick one. Things end up badly, they land on the western part of florida, and get bogged down by marshes and interminable wetlands. The tribal folks they meet are the most violent in this part of the US, and ambushes are a daily and regular occurence. In this process, many perish. Few that survive walk across the western Florida coast trying to find their elusive ships that were supposed to be looking out for them after disembarking them at Bay of the Cross. They never find the ship. The cold September night winds, coupled with the cunning and master bow and arrow craftsman on the region, cost many lives, and trigger a cat and mouse chase along the interminable beaches of Florida. Having been to Clearwater last year, i now begin to understand the significance of this place, that is, if you erase all the five star Hiltons and all from your imagination, i can almost see the survivors walking desperately towards the Texas coast, hoping to reach Cortes`s Mexico, being chased by this Tribe, and end up cannibalising their own dead on cold Florida nights....
The four that get captured and enslaved by the local tribes, Cabeza de Vaca, Dorantes, Esteban ( a black Moroccan), and Castillo had come to the Americas to rule but now are themselves the ruled !
I end here, and let you (reader) see the brutal jouney few amongst us ever take.
Thought: Are we just not what our environment make of us. Leave us in the absolute wild, in another world, and we become the 'other'. All the illusions drop out.
Cabeza de Vaca, became an indian, a medicine man, a trader and a mystic. Remember he landed with a full load of pride and ego, 'le cousin de' Marquis de Seville !
Fascinating...
Sunday, February 4, 2007
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