All the march I had very
hard tasks imposed on me, which I must perform on pain of punishment.
I was obliged to carry on my head a large flat stone used for grinding
our corn, weighing as I should suppose, as much as 25 pounds; besides
victuals, mat and cooking utensils. Though I was pretty large and
stout of my age, yet these burthens were very grievous to me, being
only about six years and a half old.
We were then come to a place called Malagafco. When we entered the
place we could not see the least appearance of either houses or
inhabitants, but upon stricter search found, that instead of houses
above ground they had dens in the sides of hillocks, contiguous to
ponds and streams of water. In these we perceived they had all hid
themselves, as I suppose they usually did upon such occasions. In
order to compel them to surrender, the enemy contrived to smoke them
out with faggots. These they put to the entrance of the caves and set
them on fire. While they were engaged in this business, to their
great surprise some of them were desperately wounded with arrows which
fell from above on them. This mystery they soon found out. They
perceived that the enemy discharged these arrows through holes on the
top of the dens directly in to the air. Their weight brought them
back, point downwards on their enemies heads, whilst they were smoking
the inhabitants out.
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