to
those villages. Three handsome churches were erected, and adorned with
images, tapestry, and beautiful ornaments. We gained the good-will of
those Indians to such a degree that, their opinion of us extending to
their neighbors, even the savages who were hidden among the mountains
came to us; and consequently those villages received much increase,
as we shall soon see. There was one of these newcomers in particular,
very appropriately named Sayor, which means "robber" (and truly he
was such in his deeds), who was a savage in his mode of life; without
house or dwelling, he lived among the mountains and in caves--even
using as food, when he found no other game, the serpents that he
killed. Although somewhat advanced in years, he possessed incredible
agility in running and leaping, the natural disposition and propensity
of savage wild beasts. The neighboring villages held this man in so
great fear that, whenever he entered one of them, all the people fled
from him as from a wild beast, believing him to be a violent madman;
and by such compulsion he took, without any resistance, all that
he desired from the houses. I saw this man, who unexpectedly came
toward me of his own accord; he was naked, his only covering being a
wretched breech-cloth; he wore in his girdle a dagger, and carried in
his hands his bow and arrows. I caressed him, and tried to soften him
with presents and gentle treatment, and this intercourse we continued
for five or six years, with increasing confidence and satisfaction on
his part. Consequently he maintained with us very intimate relations
until, finally, Father Diego Garcia, who as we shall later see went to
those regions as visitor in the year fifteen hundred and ninety-seven,
decided that it was time to grant him holy baptism. The father visitor
himself bestowed this grace upon him, baptizing him with his own hands
with great solemnity, and with demonstration of the grace and efficacy
of this most divine sacrament. The name of Pablo was given to him,
which from that time on he so highly prized that if at any time he
was inadvertently called by his former nickname, he showed (although
with a gracious and Christian spirit) regret and disdain equal to
his pleasure and pride in the name of Christian. Accordingly he would
answer to those who called him Sayor: "Not Sayor, but Pablo." After
his baptism we married him; and he now dwells in his own home as the
father of a family, with great discretion and