was inventoried and transferred to Mamí’s ship. Next we were separated into three groups: The women and children were removed to Mamí’s ship. The men who looked like laborers, and therefore did not have prosperous families who could pay to ransom them, were transferred to another ship. These unfortunates would be put to work as oarsmen, which was the same as receiving a death sentence. The rest of the captives—those who were dressed as clergymen or as gentlemen or who had the manners of such—were reassigned to the third boat.
I was greatly relieved when Mamí determined that Rodrigo, as my brother, was valuable too, and included him with me in the third cluster. Once our transfer was finished, the corsairs stripped El Sol of everything of value. The last man to abandon it poured tar on the deck and set it on fire. As El Sol went down in flames and smoke, my hopes sank as well. Even when it went under, the Greek fire kept burning on the deck, illuminating El Sol ’s descent to the bottom of the Mediterranean.
We were stuffed into a small crawl space below deck, forward of the midsection where the oarsmen rowed. On each side of the vessel they sat on wooden planks, four rowers to an oar, attached at the wrists and ankles by iron chains that ran through hooks connected to the sides of the galleon. The oarsmen spoke Spanish and other European languages. They were naked except for a swatch of fabric they wore around their midwaist. The backs of many of the men were verdigris and purple slabs of raw flesh, crawling with green maggots. Swarms of flies feasted on the pus that suppurated from their wounds. We learned not to breathe too hard, or to open our mouths unnecessarily, for fear of swallowing the buzzing shiny flies, which fought to enter our bodies as if to devour us from the inside out.
For days and nights, the low ceiling above our heads forced us to remain on our buttocks, pressed against each other like salted fish in a sealed barrel. Rodrigo found a space near me. Being so close to each other was a great consolation. Forward from the front of the crawl space was a globular window through which I caught glimpses of the sea and sky. There was also a hole in the floor, which we used to relieve ourselves. But it was hard to move around: often it was easier to urinate and defecate in place. In this extreme confinement all the class differences were soon erased. After a while aristocrats, prelates, and hidalgos all acted like beasts fighting for a chance at survival.
Fleas, chiggers, and lice feasted on our blood; fat black roaches crawled on the walls, and angry rats scurried between our legs. Now and then a bucket of fresh water with a cup was brought to the front of the crawl space, and each man was allowed to fill half the cup and pass it around until everyone had drunk. If the bucket was emptied before each had his ration, the unlucky thirsty men would have to wait until the bucket was brought again later. When our thirst was extreme we began to drink each other’s urine. The soggy biscuits that were handed to us now and then were fat with worms. We resorted to eating the fleas, and the lice that infested our heads. We began catching the roaches and the rats and mice, pounding them to death with our feet and fists, then tearing them to pieces and devouring their flesh and entrails.
Grown men cried inconsolably over the lack of news about their wives and children. The married men were tormented that their wives and daughters would end up in Turkish harems, and the fathers of male children could not hide their horror that their sons would be sold to Turkish sodomites. One of our men had managed to hide a Rosary and we found solace in saying the Lord’s Prayer and reciting Hail Marys in a whisper. Only through prayer could I escape a voyage that seemed bound for hell. The gentlemen in our midst knew that their families would pay their ransoms promptly; but the rest wondered what the future held for us. My
I was greatly relieved when Mamí determined that Rodrigo, as my brother, was valuable too, and included him with me in the third cluster. Once our transfer was finished, the corsairs stripped El Sol of everything of value. The last man to abandon it poured tar on the deck and set it on fire. As El Sol went down in flames and smoke, my hopes sank as well. Even when it went under, the Greek fire kept burning on the deck, illuminating El Sol ’s descent to the bottom of the Mediterranean.
We were stuffed into a small crawl space below deck, forward of the midsection where the oarsmen rowed. On each side of the vessel they sat on wooden planks, four rowers to an oar, attached at the wrists and ankles by iron chains that ran through hooks connected to the sides of the galleon. The oarsmen spoke Spanish and other European languages. They were naked except for a swatch of fabric they wore around their midwaist. The backs of many of the men were verdigris and purple slabs of raw flesh, crawling with green maggots. Swarms of flies feasted on the pus that suppurated from their wounds. We learned not to breathe too hard, or to open our mouths unnecessarily, for fear of swallowing the buzzing shiny flies, which fought to enter our bodies as if to devour us from the inside out.
For days and nights, the low ceiling above our heads forced us to remain on our buttocks, pressed against each other like salted fish in a sealed barrel. Rodrigo found a space near me. Being so close to each other was a great consolation. Forward from the front of the crawl space was a globular window through which I caught glimpses of the sea and sky. There was also a hole in the floor, which we used to relieve ourselves. But it was hard to move around: often it was easier to urinate and defecate in place. In this extreme confinement all the class differences were soon erased. After a while aristocrats, prelates, and hidalgos all acted like beasts fighting for a chance at survival.
Fleas, chiggers, and lice feasted on our blood; fat black roaches crawled on the walls, and angry rats scurried between our legs. Now and then a bucket of fresh water with a cup was brought to the front of the crawl space, and each man was allowed to fill half the cup and pass it around until everyone had drunk. If the bucket was emptied before each had his ration, the unlucky thirsty men would have to wait until the bucket was brought again later. When our thirst was extreme we began to drink each other’s urine. The soggy biscuits that were handed to us now and then were fat with worms. We resorted to eating the fleas, and the lice that infested our heads. We began catching the roaches and the rats and mice, pounding them to death with our feet and fists, then tearing them to pieces and devouring their flesh and entrails.
Grown men cried inconsolably over the lack of news about their wives and children. The married men were tormented that their wives and daughters would end up in Turkish harems, and the fathers of male children could not hide their horror that their sons would be sold to Turkish sodomites. One of our men had managed to hide a Rosary and we found solace in saying the Lord’s Prayer and reciting Hail Marys in a whisper. Only through prayer could I escape a voyage that seemed bound for hell. The gentlemen in our midst knew that their families would pay their ransoms promptly; but the rest wondered what the future held for us. My
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