agle in the
air; it is another ruse on their part to scatter their warriors, and we
must seek them near the island in river Gila."

After a minute's silence, another spoke:

"The whites have doubtless a thousand stratagems at their service, but
can they increase their stature? No; and if on the contrary they could
make themselves so small that the Indian eye could not perceive them,
they would do it. Our enemies are from the south--these men just
discovered come from the north--it is not therefore towards the island
that we must go."

In the midst of these contradictory opinions, the shouts of the Indians,
at the sight of Cuchillo, burst forth, compelling the chiefs to suspend
their deliberations until the warriors who pursued him had returned.
When they reappeared, they reported that they had discovered the trail
of the whites. Then the second chief who had spoken--a man of tall
stature and darker in colour than most of his tribe--whence his name of
the _Blackbird_--again spoke:

"I have said that the men who come from the north could not form part of
those who come from the south. I have always seen that the south and
the north are enemies of one another like the winds which flow from
opposite quarters. Let us send a message to the three warriors on the
island and ask them to join us against the other whites, and the Indian
will be gladdened at the death of his enemies by the hands of each
other."

But this advice, dictated by prudence and knowledge of mankind, found no
support in the council. The Blackbird was forced to yield, and it was
agreed that the mass of the troop should march against the camp, while
only a small detachment should be sent to the island.

A quarter of an hour after, one hundred men set off for the camp; while
twenty others went towards the island, thirsting for the blood of the
three men who had taken shelter there.

It is towards the end of the month of March that we find the
gold-seekers and their chief in the camp described, after they had lost
by the Indians and by the numberless dangers of the desert, forty of
their men. But although weakened by this loss, still the chances
between them and the Indians, ever ready to defend their territory, were
nearly equal. On each side was cunning, and the habit of following an
almost invisible track, while the cupidity of the one was equalled by
the ferocity of the other.

Nevertheless the enthusiasm was no longer so great as on the d