noon
The infidels , he said , were God 's natural enemies and fair game to the Christian . To make a long story short , Nuflo 's Christian band , after some successful adventures , met with a reverse which reduced their number from nine to five . Flying from their enemies , they sought safety at Riolama , an uninhabited place , where they found it possible to exist for some weeks on game , which was abundant , and wild fruits . One day at noon , while ascending a mountain at the southern extremity of the Riolama range in order to get a view of the country beyond the summit , Nuflo and his companions discovered a cave ; and finding it dry , without animal occupants , and with a level floor , they at once determined to make it their dwelling-place for a season . Wood for firing and water were to be had close by ; they were also well provided with smoked flesh of a tapir they had slaughtered a day or two before , so that they could afford to rest for a time in so comfortable a shelter . At a short distance from the cave they made a fire on the rock to toast some slices of meat for their dinner ; and while thus engaged all at once one of the men uttered a cry of astonishment , and casting up his eyes Nuflo beheld , standing near and regarding them with surprise and fear in-her wide-open eyes , a woman of a most wonderful appearance . The one slight garment she had on was silky and white as the snow on the summit of some great mountain , but of the snow when the sinking sun touches and gives it some delicate changing colour which is like fire .