She was attended by seven persons, two of them her brothers, and
two her female domestics. The boat was wrecked, and Madame Godin,
narrowly escaping with her life, endeavoured with her party to
accomplish the remainder of her journey on foot. She saw them
perish, one after another, of hunger and disease, till she was
left alone in the howling wilderness. Still, like Milton's lady
in Comus, she was permitted to come safely out of all these
perils, and, after unparalleled sufferings, falling in with some
friendly Indians, she was conducted by them to a French
settlement. Though a young woman, it will not be surprising that
the hardships and terrors she endured turned her hair perfectly
white. The details of the extraordinary story are given in a
letter to M. de la Condamine by her husband, who tells them in an
earnest, unaffected way that engages our confidence. Voyage dans
l'Amerique Meridionale, p. 329, et seq.]
The Spaniards listened with horror to the recital of Vargas, and
their blood almost froze in their veins as they saw themselves
thus deserted in the heart of this remote wilderness, and
deprived of their only means of escape from it. They made an
effort to prosecute their journey along the banks, but, after
some toilsome days, strength and spirits failed, and they gave up
in despair!
Then it was that the qualities of Gonzalo Pizarro, as a fit
leader in the hour of despondency and danger, shone out
conspicuous. To advance farther was hopeless.
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