Rodney remembered there had been a revolt of the Indians in Nicaragua against the intolerable oppression of the Spaniards about thirty years earlier. It had been hopeless from the start, for the Indians were unarmed and the Spanish rulers who had explored and taken over the country after it was discovered by Christopher Columbus, had treated the insurgents with incredible cruelty. Rodney could be sure that the Indians of Nicaragua would help him strike a blow against the might and power and brutality of Spain.
It was only when the natives had finished speaking and he turned to take them aft so they could help pilot the ship that he realised that no one had understood a word that was being said. He saw Barlow’s face and felt he owed him an explanation, and then as he hesitated, realizing t
