On searching the island they found it
to contain no water except a brackish liquid, to be had by digging, The
only food obtainable was shell-fish, and occasionally the rank flesh of
sea birds. They had neither the tools nor materials to build
habitations, and were forced to shelter themselves from the scorching
sun in summer and from the bitter cold in winter with a few bushes.
When de Castro spoke of Montbar he became livid, and a very evil light
shone in his eyes. For two years they had endured upon this island
untold suffering. All the women and children were long since dead,
except Donna Isabel Barreto, who clung to life with the tenacity born
of a desire for revenge. Of the two hundred and forty Spaniards
marooned by Captain Montbar but thirty now survived, the rest having
perished miserably from starvation and exposure, when their bodies had
been cast from the cliffs into the sea.
When Pedro and his companions had somewhat recovered they led us to
where their wretched settlement had been made among a clump of gaunt,
wind-swept trees, and, in pity for their forlorn condition, I ordered
all the provisions we had in the boat to be brought for their
refreshment.
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