The Journey of Alvar Nuñez Cabeza De Vaca - Part 3



During the time I was among them I saw something very repulsive, namely, a 
man married to another. Such are impotent and womanish beings, who dress 
like women and perform the office of women, but use the bow and carry big 
loads. Among these Indians we saw many of them; they are more robust than 
the other men, taller, and can bear heavy burthens.

After parting from those we had left in tears, we went with the others to 
their homes and were very well received. They brought us their children to 
touch, and gave us much mesquite-meal. This mezquiquez is a fruit which, 
while on the tree, is very bitter and like the carob bean. It is eaten 
with earth and then becomes sweet and very palatable. The way they prepare 
it is to dig a hole in the ground, of the depth it suits them, and after 
the fruit is put in that hole, with a piece of wood, the thickness of a 
leg and one and a half fathoms long they pound it to a meal, and to the 
earth that mixes with it in the hole they add several handfuls and pound 
again for a while. After that they empty it into a vessel, like a small, 
round basket, and pour in enough water to cover it fully, so that there is 
water on top. Then the one who has done the pounding tastes it, and if it 
appears to him not sweet enough he calls for more earth to add, and this 
he does until it suits his taste. Then all squat around and every one 
reaches out with his hand and takes as much as he can. The seeds and 
peelings they set apart on hides, and the one who has done the pounding 
throws them back into the vessel, pouring water over them again. They 
squeeze out the juice and water, and the husks and seeds they again put on 
hides, repeating the operation three or four times at every pounding. 
Those who take part in that banquet, which is for them a great occasion, 
get very big bellies from the earth and water they swallow.

Now, of this, the Indians made a great feast in our behalf, and danced and 
celebrated all the time we were with them. And at night six Indians, to 
each one of us, kept watch at the entrance to the lodge we slept in, 
without allowing anybody to enter before sunrise.

When we were about to leave some women happened to come, that belonged to 
Indians living further on, and, informing ourselves where their abodes 
were, we left, although the Indians entreated us to remain a day longer, 
since the place we wanted to go to was very far away, and there was no 
trail to it. They showed us how the women who had just arrived were tired, 
but that if we would let them rest until the next day, they then would 
accompany and guide us. We left, nevertheless, and soon the women followed 
with others of the village.

There being no trails in that country, we soon lost our way. At the end of 
four leagues we reached a spring, and there met the women who had followed 
us, and who told us of all they had gone through until they fell in with 
us again. We went on, taking them along as guides.

In the afternoon we crossed a big river, the water being more than waist-
deep. It may have been as wide as the one of Sevilla, and had a swift 
current. At sunset we reached a hundred Indian huts and, as we approached, 
the people came out to receive us, shouting frightfully, and slapping 
their thighs. They carried perforated gourds filled with pebbles, which 
are ceremonial objects of great importance. They only use them at dances, 
or as medicine, to cure, and nobody dares touch them but themselves. They 
claim that those gourds have healing virtues, and that they come from 
Heaven, not being found in that country; nor do they know where they come 
from, except that the rivers carry them down when they rise and overflow 
the land.

So great was their excitement and eagerness to touch us that, every one 
wanting to be first, they nearly squeezed us to death, and, without 
suffering our feet to touch the ground, carried us to their abodes. So 
many crowded down upon us that we took refuge in the lodges they had 
prepared for our accommodation, and in no manner consented to be feasted 
by them on that night.

The whole night they spent in celebration and dancing, and the next 
morning they brought us every living soul of that village to be touched by 
us and to have the cross made over them, as with the others. Then they 
gave to the women of the other village who had come with their own a great 
many arrows. The next day we went on, and all the people of that village 
with us, and when we came to other Indians were as well received as 
anywhere in the past; they also gave us of what they had and the deer they 
had killed during the day. Among these we saw a new custom. Those who were 
with us took away from those people who came to get cured their bows and 
arrows, their shoes and beads, if they wore any, and placed them before us 
to induce us to cure the sick. As soon as these had been treated they went 
away contented and saying they felt well. 

So we left there also, going to others, by whom we were also very well 
received, and they brought us their sick, who, after we had made the sign 
of the cross over them, would say they were healed, and he who did not get 
well still believed we might cure him. And at what the others whom we had 
treated told they rejoiced and danced so much as not to let us sleep.

After we left those we went to many other lodges, but thence on there 
prevailed a new custom. While we were received very well everywhere, those 
who came with us would treat those who received us badly, taking away 
their belongings and plundering their homes, without leaving them 
anything. It grieved us very much to see how those who were so good to us 
were abused. Besides, we dreaded lest this behavior might cause trouble 
and strife. But as we could not venture to interfere or punish the 
transgressors, we had to wait until we might have more authority over 
them. Furthermore, the sufferers themselves, noticing how we felt, 
comforted us by saying we should not worry; that they were so happy at 
seeing us as to gladly lose their own, considering it to be well employed, 
and besides, that further on they would repay themselves from other 
Indians who were very rich. On that whole journey we were much worried by 
the number of people following us. We could not escape them, although we 
tried, because they were so anxious to touch us, and so obtrusive that in 
three hours we could not get through with them.

The following day they brought us all the people of the village; most of 
them had one eye clouded, while others were totally blind from the same 
cause, at which we were amazed. They are well built, of very good 
physique, and whiter than any we had met until then. There we began to see 
mountains, and it seemed as if they swept down from the direction of the 
North Sea, and so, from what the Indians told us, we believe they are 
fifteen leagues from the ocean. 

From there we went with the Indians towards the mountains aforesaid, and 
they took us to some of their relatives. They did not want to lead us 
anywhere but to their own people, so as to prevent their enemies having 
any share in the great boon which, as they fancied, it was to see us. And 
as soon as we would arrive those that went with us would sack the houses 
of the others; but as these knew of the custom before our coming, they hid 
some of their chattels, and, after receiving us with much rejoicing, they 
took out the things which they had concealed and presented them to us. 
These were beads and ochre, and several little bags of silver. We, 
following the custom, turned the gifts immediately over to the Indians who 
had come in our company, and after they had given these presents they 
began their dances and celebrations, and sent for others from another 
village near by to come and look at us. In the afternoon they all came, 
and brought us beads, bows, and other little things, which we also 
distributed.

The next day, as we were going to leave, they all wanted to take us to 
others of their friends, who dwelt on a spur of the mountains. They said 
there were a great many lodges, and people who would give us much, but, as 
it was out of our way, we did not want to go there, and continued on the 
plain, though near the mountains, thinking them to be not far from the 
coast. All the people there are very bad, and we preferred to cross the 
country, as further inland they were better inclined, and treated us 
better. We also felt sure to find the country more thickly settled and 
with more resources. Finally, we did it because, in crossing the country, 
we would see much more of its particulars, so that, in case God our Lord 
should be pleased to spare one of us and take him back to a land of 
Christians, he might give an account of it.

When the Indians saw we were determined not to go whither they wanted, 
they said that nobody lived where we intended to go, neither were there 
tunas nor any other food, and they entreated us to tarry one day longer 
with them, to which we consented. Two Indians were sent out to look for 
people on our proposed route.

The next day we departed, taking many of them along, the women carrying 
water, and so great had become our authority that none dared to drink 
without our permission. After going two leagues we met the men sent out in 
search of people, but who had not found any. At this the Indians seemed to 
show grief, and again begged us to take the way of the mountains, but we 
persisted, and, seeing this, they took mournful leave of us and turned 
back down the river to their homes, while we proceeded along the stream 
upwards.

Soon we met two women carrying loads. As they descried us they stood 
still, put down their loads, and brought us of what these contained, which 
was cornmeal, and told us that higher up on the river we would meet with 
dwellings, plenty of tunas, and of that same meat. We left them as they 
were going to those from whom we had just taken leave, and walked on until 
at sunset we reached a village of about twenty lodges, where they received 
us with tears and deep sorrow. They already knew that, wherever we 
arrived, the people would be robbed and plundered by those in our company. 
But, seeing us alone, they lost their fear, and gave us tunas, though 
nothing else. We stayed there over night.

At daybreak the same Indians we had left the day before surprised the 
lodges, and, as the people were unprepared, in fancied security, and had 
neither time nor place to hide anything, they were stripped of all their 
chattels, at which they wept bitterly. In consolation, the robbers told 
them that we were children of the sun, and had the power to cure or kill, 
and other lies, bigger even than those which they invent to suit their 
purposes. They also enjoined them to treat us with great reverence, and be 
careful not to arouse our wrath; to give us all they had and guide us to 
where there were many people, and that wherever we should come to they 
should steal and rob everything the others had, such being the custom.

After giving these instructions, and teaching the people how to behave, 
they returned, and left us with these Indians, who, mindful of what the 
others had said, began to treat us with the same respect and awe, and we 
travelled in their company for three days. They took us to where there 
were many Indians, and went ahead to tell them of our coming, repeating 
what they had heard and adding much more to it, for all these Indians are 
great gossipers and liars, particularly when they think it to be to their 
benefit. As we neared the lodges all the inmates came out to receive us, 
with much rejoicing and display, and, among other things, two of their 
medicine-men gave us two gourds. Thence onward we carried gourds, which 
added greatly to our authority, since they hold these ceremonial objects 
very high. Our companions sacked the dwellings, but as there were many and 
they only few in number, they could not carry away all they took, so that 
more than half was left to waste. Thence we turned inland for more than 
fifty leagues, following the slopes of the mountains, and at the end of 
them met forty dwellings. 

There, among other things which they gave us, Andres Dorantes got a big 
rattle of copper, large, on which was represented a face, and which they 
held in great esteem. They said it had been obtained from some of their 
neighbors. Upon asking these whence it had come, they claimed to have 
brought it from the north, where there was much of it and highly prized. 
We understood that, wherever it might have come from, there must be 
foundries, and that metal was cast in molds. Leaving on the next day, we 
crossed a mountain seven leagues long, the stones of which were iron 
slags. At night we came to many dwellings, situated on the banks of a very 
beautiful river.

The inmates of these abodes came to receive us halfways, with their 
children on their backs. They gave us a number of pouches with silver and 
powdered antimony (or lead), with which they paint their faces, and many 
beads and robes of cow-skins, and loaded those who came with us with all 
their chattels. These people ate tunas and pine-nuts; there are in that 
country small trees of the sweet pine, the cones of which are like small 
eggs, but the nuts are better than those of Castilla, because the husks 
are thin. When still green they grind them and make balls that are eaten. 
When dried they grind the nuts with the husks, and eat them as meal. And 
those who received us, as soon as they had touched our bodies, returned to 
their houses on a run, then came again, and never stopped running back and 
forth. In this way they brought us a great many things for our journey.

Here they brought to me a man who, they told, a long time ago had been 
shot through the left side of the back with an arrow, the head of which 
stuck close to his heart. He said it gave him much pain, and that on this 
account he was sick. I touched the region of the body and felt the 
arrowhead, and that it had pierced the cartilage. So, with a knife, I cut 
open the breast as far as the place. The arrow point had gotten athwart, 
and was very difficult to remove. By cutting deeper, and inserting the 
point of the knife, with great difficulty I got it out; it was very long. 
Then, with a deer-bone, according to my knowledge of surgery, I made two 
stitches. After I had extracted the arrow they begged me for it, and I 
gave it to them. The whole village came back to look at it, and they sent 
it further inland that the people there might see it also.

On account of this cure they made many dances and festivities, as is their 
custom. The next day I cut the stitches, and the Indian was well. The cut 
I had made only showed a scar like a line in the palm of the hand, and he 
said that he felt not the least pain.

Now, this cure gave us such fame among them all over the country as they 
were capable of conceiving and respecting. We showed them our rattle, and 
they told us that where it had come from there were a great many sheets of 
the same (metal) buried, that it was a thing they valued highly, and that 
there were fixed abodes at the place. We believe it to be near the South 
Sea, for we always heard that sea was richer (in metal) than the one of 
the north.

After leaving these people we travelled among so many different tribes and 
languages that nobody's memory can recall them all, and always they robbed 
each other; but those who lost and those who gained were equally content. 
The number of our companions became so large that we could no longer 
control them.

Going through these valleys each Indian carried a club three palms in 
length. They all moved in a front, and whenever a hare (of which there are 
many) jumped up they closed in upon the game, and rained such blows upon 
it that it was amazing to see. Thus they drove the hare from one to the 
other, and, to my fancy, it was the most agreeable chase that could be 
thought of, for many a time they would come right to one's hands; and when 
at night we camped they had given us so many that each one of us had eight 
or ten loads. Those of the Indians who carried bows would not take part, 
but went to the mountains after deer, and when at night they came back it 
was with five or six deer for each one of us, with birds, quails, and 
other game; in short, all those people could kill they set before us, 
without ever daring to touch anything, even if dying of hunger, unless we 
blessed it first. Such was their custom from the time they joined us.

The women brought many mats, with which they built us houses, one for each 
of us and those attached to him. After this we would order them to broil 
all the game, and they did it quickly in ovens built by them for the 
purpose. We partook of everything a little, giving the rest to the 
principal man among those who had come with us for distribution among all. 
Every one then came with the share he had received for us to breathe on it 
and bless it, without which they left it untouched. Often we had with us 
three to four thousand persons. And it was very tiresome to have to 
breathe on and make the sign of the cross over every morsel they ate or 
drank. For many other things which they wanted to do they would come to 
ask our permission, so that it is easy to realize how greatly we were 
bothered. The women brought us tunas, spiders, worms, and whatever else 
they could find, for they would rather starve than partake of anything 
that had not first passed through our hands.

While travelling with those, we crossed a big river coming from the north 
and, traversing about thirty leagues of plains, met a number of people 
that came from afar to meet us on the trail, who treated us like the 
foregoing ones.

Thence on there was a change in the manner of reception, insofar as those 
who would meet us on the trail with gifts were no longer robbed by the 
Indians of our company, but after we had entered their homes they tendered 
us all they possessed, and the dwellings also. We turned over everything 
to the principals for distribution. Invariably those who had been deprived 
of their belongings would follow us, in order to repair their losses, so 
that our retinue became very large. They would tell them to be careful and 
not conceal anything of what they owned, as it could not be done without 
our knowledge, and then we would cause their death. So much did they 
frighten them that on the first few days after joining us they would be 
trembling all the time, and would not dare to speak or lift their eyes to 
Heaven.

Those guided us for more than fifty leagues through a desert of very 
rugged mountains, and so arid that there was no game. Consequently we 
suffered much from lack of food., and finally forded a very big river, 
with its water reaching to our chest. Thence on many of our people began 
to show the effects of the hunger and hardships they had undergone in 
those mountains, which were extremely barren and tiresome to travel.

The same Indians led us to a plain beyond the chain of mountains, where 
people came to meet us from a long distance. By those we were treated in 
the same manner as before, and they made so many presents to the Indians 
who came with us that, unable to carry all, they left half of it. We told 
the givers to take it back, so as not to have it lost, but they refused, 
saying it was not their custom to take back what they had once offered, 
and so it was left to waste. We told these people our route was towards 
sunset, and they replied that in that direction people lived very far 
away. So we ordered them to send there and inform the inhabitants that we 
were coming and how. From this they begged to be excused, because the 
others were their enemies, and they did not want us to go to them. Yet 
they did not venture to disobey in the end, and sent two women, one of 
their own and the other a captive. They selected women because these can 
trade everywhere, even if there be war.

We followed the women to a place where it had been agreed we should wait 
for them. After five days they had not yet returned, and the Indians 
explained that it might be because they had not found anybody. So we told 
them to take us north, and they repeated that there were no people, except 
very far away, and neither food nor water. Nevertheless we insisted, 
saying that we wanted to go there, and they still excused themselves as 
best they could, until at last we became angry.

One night I went away to sleep out in the field apart from them; but they 
soon came to where I was, and remained awake all night in great alarm, 
talking to me, saying how frightened they were. They entreated us not to 
be angry any longer, because, even if it was their death, they would take 
us where we chose. We feigned to be angry still, so as to keep them in 
suspense, and then a singular thing happened.

On that same day many fell sick, and on the next day eight of them died! 
All over the country, where it was known, they became so afraid that it 
seemed as if the mere sight of us would kill them. They besought us not to 
be angry nor to procure the death of any more of their number, for they 
were convinced that we killed them by merely thinking of it. In truth, we 
were very much concerned about it, for, seeing the great mortality, we 
dreaded that all of them might die or forsake us in their terror, while 
those further on, upon learning of it, would get out of our way hereafter. 
We prayed to God our Lord to assist us, and the sick began to get well. 
Then we saw something that astonished us very much, and it was that, while 
the parents, brothers and wives of the dead had shown deep grief at their 
illness, from the moment they died the survivors made no demonstration 
whatsoever, and showed not the slightest feeling; nor did they dare to go 
near the bodies until we ordered their burial.

In more than fifteen days that we remained with them we never saw them 
talk together, neither did we see a child that laughed or cried. One 
child, who had begun to cry, was carried off some distance, and with some 
very sharp mice-teeth they scratched it from the shoulders down to nearly 
the legs. Angered by this act of cruelty, I took them to task for it, and 
they said it was done to punish the child for having wept in my presence. 
Their apprehensions caused the others that came to see us to give us what 
they had, since they knew that we did not take anything for ourselves, but 
left it all to the Indians.

Those were the most docile people we met in the country, of the best 
complexion, and on the whole well built. 

The sick being on the way of recovery, when we had been there already 
three days, the women whom we had sent out returned, saying that they had 
met very few people, nearly all having gone after the cows, as it was the 
season. So we ordered those who had been sick to remain, and those who 
were well to accompany us, and that, two days' travel from there, the same 
women should go with us and get people to come to meet us on the trail for 
our reception.

The next morning all those who were strong enough came along, and at the 
end of three journeys we halted. Alonso del Castillo and Estevanico, the 
negro, left with the women as guides, and the woman who was a captive took 
them to a river that flows between mountains, where there was a village, 
in which her father lived, and these were the first abodes we saw that 
were like unto real houses. Castillo and Estevanico went to these and, 
after holding parley with the Indians, at the end of three days Castillo 
returned to where he had left us, bringing with him five or six of the 
Indians. He told how he had found permanent houses, inhabited, the people 
of which ate beans and squashes, and that he had also seen maize.

Of all things upon earth this caused us the greatest pleasure, and we gave 
endless thanks to our Lord for this news. Castillo said that the negro was 
coming to meet us on the way, near by, with all the people of the houses. 
For that reason we started, and after going a league and a half met the 
negro and the people that came to receive us, who gave us beans and many 
squashes to eat, gourds to carry water in, robes of cowhide, and other 
things. As those people and the Indians of our company were enemies, and 
did not understand each other, we took leave of the latter, leaving them 
all that had been given to us, while we went on with the former and, six 
leagues beyond, when night was already approaching, reached their houses, 
where they received us with great ceremonies. Here we remained one day, 
and left on the next, taking them with us to other permanent houses, where 
they subsisted on the same food also, and thence on we found a new custom.

The people who heard of our approach did not, as before, come out to meet 
us on the way, but we found them at their homes, and they had other houses 
ready for us. They were all seated with their faces turned to the wall, 
the heads bowed and the hair pulled over the eyes. Their belongings had 
been gathered in a heap in the middle of the floor, and thence on they 
began to give us many robes of skins. There was nothing they would not 
give us. They are the best formed people we have seen, the liveliest and 
most capable; who best understood us and answered our questions. We called 
them "of the cows," because most of the cows die near therein and because 
for more than fifty leagues up that stream they go to kill many of them. 
Those people go completely naked, after the manner of the first we met. 
The women are covered with deer-skins, also some men, especially the old 
ones, who are of no use any more in war.

The country is well settled. We asked them why they did not raise maize, 
and they replied that they were afraid of losing the crops, since for two 
successive years it had not rained, and the seasons were so dry that the 
moles had eaten the corn, so that they did not dare to plant any more 
until it should have rained very hard. And they also begged us to ask 
Heaven for rain, which we promised to do. We also wanted to know from 
where they brought their maize, and they said it came from where the sun 
sets, and that it was found all over that country, and the shortest way to 
it was in that direction. We asked them to tell us how to go, as they did 
not want to go themselves, to tell us about the way.

They said we should travel up the river towards the north, on which trail 
for seventeen days we would not find a thing to eat except a fruit called 
chacan, which they grind between stones; but even then it cannot be eaten, 
being so coarse and dry; and so it was, for they showed it to us and we 
could not eat it. But they also said that, going upstream, we would always 
travel among people who were their enemies, although speaking the same 
language, and who could give us no food, but would receive us very 
willingly, and give us many cotton blankets, hides and other things; but 
that it seemed to them that we ought not to take that road.

In doubt as to what should be done, and which was the best and most 
advantageous road to take, we remained with them for two days. They gave 
us beans, squashes and calabashes. Their way of cooking them is so new and 
strange that I felt like describing it here, in order to show how 
different and queer are the devices and industries of human beings. They 
have no pots. In order to cook their food they fill a middle-sized gourd 
with water, and place into a fire such stones as easily become heated, and 
when they are hot to scorch they take them out with wooden tongs, 
thrusting them into the water of the gourd, until it boils. As soon as it 
boils they put into it what they want to cook, always taking out the 
stones as they cool off and throwing in hot ones to keep the water 
steadily boiling. This is their way of cooking.

After two days were past we determined to go in search of maize, and not 
to follow the road to the cows, since the latter carried us to the north, 
which meant a very great circuit, as we held it always certain that by 
going towards sunset we should reach the goal of our wishes.

So we went on our way and traversed the whole country to the South Sea, 
and our resolution was not shaken by the fear of great starvation, which 
the Indians said we should suffer (and indeed suffered) during the first 
seventeen days of travel. All along the river, and in the course of these 
seventeen days we received plenty of cowhides, and did not eat of their 
famous fruit (chacan) but our food consisted (for each day) of a handful 
of deer-tallow, which for that purpose we always sought to keep, and so 
endured these seventeen days, at the end of which we crossed the river and 
marched for seventeen days more. At sunset, on a plain between very high 
mountains, we met people who, for one-third of the year, eat but powdered 
straw, and as we went by just at that time, had to eat it also, until, at 
the end of that journey we found some permanent houses, with plenty of 
harvested maize, of which and of its meal they gave us great quantities, 
also squashes and beans, and blankets of cotton, with all of which we 
loaded those who had conducted us thither, so that they went home the most 
contented people upon earth. We gave God our Lord many thanks for having 
taken us where there was plenty to eat.

Among the houses there were several made of earth, and others of cane 
matting; and from here we travelled more than a hundred leagues, always 
meeting permanent houses and a great stock of maize and beans, and they 
gave us many deer (-hides?) and blankets of cotton better than those of 
New Spain. They also gave us plenty of beads made out of the coral found 
in the South Sea; many good turquoises, which they get from the north; 
they finally gave us all they had; and Dorantes they presented with five 
emeralds, shaped as arrow-points, which arrows they use in their feasts 
and dances. As they appeared to be of very good quality, I asked whence 
they got them from, and they said it was from some very high mountains 
toward the north, where they traded for them with feather-bushes and 
parrot-plumes, and they said also that there were villages with many 
people and very big houses.

Among those people we found the women better treated than in any other 
part of the Indies as far as we have seen. They wear skirts of cotton that 
reach as far as the knee, and over them half-sleeves of scraped deerskin, 
with strips that hang down to the ground, and which they clean with 
certain roots, that clean very well and thus keep them tidy. The shirts 
are open in front and tied with strings; they wear shoes.

All those people came to us that we might touch and cross them; and they 
were so obtrusive as to make it difficult to endure since all, sick and 
healthy, wanted to be crossed. It happened frequently that women of our 
company would give birth to children and forthwith bring them to have the 
sign of the cross made over them and the babes be touched by us. They 
always accompanied us until we were again in the care of others, and all 
those people believed that we came from Heaven. What they do not 
understand or is new to them they are wont to say it comes from above.

While travelling with these we used to go the whole day without food, 
until night, and then we would eat so little that the Indians were amazed. 
They never saw us tired, because we were, in reality, so inured to 
hardships as not to feel them any more. We exercised great authority over 
them, and carried ourselves with much gravity, and, in order to maintain 
it, spoke very little to them. It was the negro who talked to them all the 
time; he inquired about the road we should follow, the villages &emdash; 
in short, about everything we wished to know. We came across a great 
variety and number of languages, and God our Lord favored us with a 
knowledge of all, because they always could understand us and we 
understood them, so that when we asked they would answer by signs, as if 
they spoke our tongue and we theirs; for, although we spoke six languages, 
not everywhere could we use them, since we found more than a thousand 
different ones. In that part of the country those who were at war would at 
once make peace and become friendly to each other, in order to meet us and 
bring us all they possessed; and thus we left the whole country at peace.

We told them, by signs which they understood, that in Heaven there was a 
man called God, by us, who had created Heaven and earth, and whom we 
worshipped as our Lord; that we did as he ordered us to do, all good 
things coming from his hand, and that if they were to do the same they 
would become very happy; and so well were they inclined that, had there 
been a language in which we could have made ourselves perfectly 
understood, we would have left them all Christians. All this we gave them 
to understand as clearly as possible, and since then, when the sun rose, 
with great shouting they would lift their clasped hands to Heaven and then 
pass them all over their body. The same they did at sunset. They are well 
conditioned people, apt to follow any line which is well traced for them. 

In the village where they had given us the emeralds, they also gave 
Dorantes over six hundred hearts of deer, opened, of which they kept 
always a great store for eating. For this reason we gave to their 
settlement the name of "village of the hearts." Through it leads the pass 
into many provinces near the South Sea, and any one who should attempt to 
get there by another route must surely be lost, as there is no maize on 
the coast, and they eat powdered fox-tail grass, straw, and fish, which 
they catch in the sea in rafts, for they have no canoes. The women cover 
their loins with straw and grass. They are a very shy and surly people.

We believe that, near the coast, in a line with the villages which we 
followed, there are more than a thousand leagues of inhabited land, where 
they have plenty of victuals, since they raise three crops of beans and 
maize in the year. There are three kinds of deer, one kind as large as 
calves are in Castilla. The houses in which they live are huts. They have 
a poison, from certain trees of the size of our apple trees. They need but 
pick the fruit and rub their arrows with it; and if there is no fruit they 
take a branch and with its milky sap do the same. Many of those trees are 
so poisonous that if the leaves are pounded and washed in water near by, 
the deer, or any other animal that drinks of it burst at once. In this 
village we stayed three days, and at a day's journey from it was another 
one, where such a rain overtook us that, as the river rose high, we could 
not cross it, and remained there fifteen days.

During this time Castillo saw, on the neck of an Indian, a little buckle 
from a swordbelt, and in it was sewed a horseshoe nail. He took it from 
the Indian, and we asked what it was; they said it had come from Heaven. 
We further asked who had brought it, and they answered that some men, with 
beards like ours, had come from Heaven to that river; that they had 
horses, lances and swords, and had lanced two of them.

As cautiously as possible, we then inquired what had become of those men; 
and they replied they had gone to sea, putting their lances into the water 
and going into it themselves, and that afterwards they saw them on top of 
the waves moving towards sunset.

We gave God our Lord many thanks for what we had heard, for we were 
despairing to ever hear of Christians again. On the other hand, we were in 
great sorrow and much dejected, lest those people had come by sea for the 
sake of discovery only. Finally, having such positive notice of them, we 
hastened onward, always finding more traces of the Christians, and we told 
the Indians that we were now sure to find the Christians, and would tell 
them not to kill Indians or make them slaves, nor take them out of their 
country, or do any other harm, and of that they were very glad.

We travelled over a great part of the country, and found it all deserted, 
as the people had fled to the mountains, leaving houses and fields out of 
fear of the Christians. This filled our hearts with sorrow, seeing the 
land so fertile and beautiful, so full of water and streams, but abandoned 
and the places burned down, and the people, so thin and wan, fleeing and 
hiding; and as they did not raise any crops their destitution had become 
so great that they ate tree-bark and roots. Of this distress we had our 
share all the way along, because they could provide little for us in their 
indigence, and it looked as if they were going to die. They brought us 
blankets, which they had been concealing from the Christians, and gave 
them to us, and told us how the Christians had penetrated into the country 
before, and had destroyed and burnt the villages, taking with them half of 
the men and all the women and children, and how those who could escaped by 
flight. Seeing them in this plight, afraid to stay anywhere, and that they 
neither would nor could cultivate the soil, preferring to die rather than 
suffer such cruelties, while they showed the greatest pleasure at being 
with us, we began to apprehend that the Indians who were in arms against 
the Christians might ill-treat us in retaliation for what the Christians 
did to them. But when it pleased God our Lord to take us to those Indians, 
they respected us and held us precious, as the former had done, and even a 
little more, at which we were not a little astonished, while it clearly 
shows how, in order to bring those people to Christianity and obedience 
unto Your Imperial Majesty, they should be well treated, and not otherwise.

They took us to a village on the crest of a mountain, which can be reached 
only by a very steep trail, where we found a great many people, who had 
gathered there out of dread of the Christians. These received us very 
well, giving us all they had: over two thousand loads of maize, which we 
distributed among the poor, famished people who had led us to the place. 
The next day we dispatched (as we were wont to do) four runners, to call 
together as many as could be reached, to a village three journeys away; 
and on the next day we followed with all the people that were at the 
place, always meeting with signs and vestiges where the Christians had 
slept.

At noon we met our messengers, who told us they had not found anybody, 
because all were hidden in the woods, lest the Christians might kill or 
enslave them; also that, on the night before, they had seen the Christians 
and watched their movements, under cover of some trees, behind which they 
concealed themselves, and saw the Christians take many Indians along in 
chains. At this the people who were with us became frightened, and some 
turned back to give the alarm through the land that Christians were 
coming, and many more would have done the same had we not told them to 
stay and have no fear, at which they quieted down and were comforted. We 
had Indians with us at the time who came from a distance of a hundred 
leagues, and whom we could not induce to go back to their homes. So, in 
order to reassure them, we slept there that night and the next day went 
further, and slept on the road; and the day after those we had sent to 
explore guided us to where they had seen the Christians. Reaching the 
place in the evening, we clearly saw they had told the truth, and also, 
from the stakes to which the horses had been tied, that there were 
horsemen among them.

From here, which is called the river of Petutan, to the river which Diego 
de Guzman reached, there may be, from the place where we first heard of 
the Christians, eighty leagues; then to the village where the rain 
overtook us, twelve leagues; and from there to the South Sea twelve 
leagues. Throughout all that country, wherever it is mountainous, we saw 
many signs of gold, antimony, iron, copper and other metals. Where the 
permanent houses are it is so hot that even in January the air is very 
warm. From there to the southward the land, which is uninhabited as far as 
the Sea of the North, is very barren and poor. There we suffered great and 
almost incredible starvation; and those who roam through that country and 
dwell in it are very cruel people, of evil inclinations and habits. The 
Indians who live in permanent houses and those in the rear of them pay not 
attention to gold nor silver, nor have they any use for either of these 
metals.

Having seen positive traces of Christians and become satisfied they were 
very near, we gave many thanks to our Lord for redeeming us from our sad 
and gloomy condition. Any one can imagine our delight when he reflects how 
long we had been in that land, and how many dangers and hardships we had 
suffered. That night I entreated one of my companions to go after the 
Christians, who were moving through the part of the country pacified and 
quieted by us, and who were three days ahead of where we were. They did 
not like my suggestion, and excused themselves from going, on the ground 
of being tired and worn out, although any of them might have done it far 
better than I, being younger and stronger.

Seeing their reluctance, in the morning I took with me the negro and 
eleven Indians and, following the trail, went in search of the Christians. 
On that day we made ten leagues, passing three places where they had 
slept. The next morning I came upon four Christians on horseback, who, 
seeing me in such a strange attire, and in company with Indians, were 
greatly startled. They stared at me for quite a while, speechless; so 
great was their surprise that they could not find words to ask me 
anything. I spoke first, and told them to lead me to their captain, and we 
went together to Diego de Alcaraza, their commander.

After I had addressed him he said that he was himself in a plight, as for 
many days he had been unable to capture Indians, and did not know where to 
go, also that starvation was beginning to place them in great distress. I 
stated to him that, in the rear of me, at a distance of ten leagues, were 
Dorantes and Castillo, with many people who had guided us through the 
country. He at once dispatched three horsemen, with fifty of his Indians, 
and the negro went with them as guide, while I remained and asked them to 
give me a certified statement of the date &emdash; year, month and day 
&emdash; when I had met them, also the condition in which I had come, with 
which request they complied.

From this river to the village called San Miguel, which pertains to the 
government called New Galicia, there are thirty leagues.

Five days later Andres Dorantes and Alonso del Castillo came with those 
who had gone in quest of them. They brought along more than six hundred 
Indians, from the village, the people of which the Christians had caused 
to flee to the woods, and who were in hiding about the country. Those who 
had come with us as far as that place had taken them our of their places 
of concealment, turning them over to the Christians. They had also 
dispatched the others who had come that far.

When they arrived at where I was Alcaraz begged me to send for the people 
of the villages along the banks of the river, who were hiding in the 
timber,, and he also requested me to order them to fetch supplies. There 
was not occasion for the latter as the Indians always took good care to 
bring us whatever they could; nevertheless, we sent our messengers at once 
to call them, and six hundred persons came with all the maize they had, in 
pots closed with clay, which they had buried for concealment. They also 
brought nearly everything else they possessed, but we only took of the 
food, giving the rest to the Christians for distribution among themselves.

Thereupon we had many and bitter quarrels with the Christians, for they 
wanted to make slaves of our Indians, and we grew so angry at it that at 
our departure we forgot to take along many bows, pouches and arrows, also 
the five emeralds, and so they were left and lost to us. We gave the 
Christians a great many cow-skin robes, and other objects, and had much 
trouble in persuading the Indians to return home and plant their crops in 
peace. They insisted upon accompanying us until, according to their 
custom, we should be in the custody of other Indians, because otherwise 
they were afraid to die; besides, as long as we were with them, they had 
no fear of the Christians and of their lances. At all this the Christians 
were greatly vexed, and told their own interpreter to say to the Indians 
how we were of their own race, but had gone astray for a long while, and 
were people of no luck and little heart, whereas they were the lords of 
the land, whom they should obey and serve.

The Indians gave all that talk of theirs little attention. They parleyed 
among themselves, saying that the Christians lied, for we had come from 
sunrise, while the others came from where the sun sets; that we cured the 
sick, while the others killed those who were healthy; that we went naked 
and shoeless, whereas the others wore clothes and went on horseback and 
with lances. Also, that we asked for nothing, but gave away all we were 
presented with, meanwhile the others seemed to have no other aim than to 
steal what they could, and never gave anything to anybody. In short, they 
recalled all our deeds, and praised them highly, contrasting them with the 
conduct of the others.

This they told the interpreter of the Christians, and made understood to 
the others by means of a language they have among them, and by which we 
understood each other. We call those who use that language properly 
Primahaitu, which means the same as saying Bizcayans. For more than four 
hundred leagues of those we travelled, we found this language in use, and 
the only one among them over that extent of country. Finally, we never 
could convince the Indians that we belonged to the other Christians, and 
only with much trouble and insistency could we prevail upon them to go 
home.

We recommended to them to rest easy and settle again in their villages, 
tilling and planting their fields as usual, which, from lying waste, were 
overgrown with shrubbery, while it is beyond all doubt the best land in 
these Indies, the most fertile and productive of food, where they raise 
three crops every year. It has an abundance of fruit, very handsome 
rivers, and other waters of good virtues. There are many evidences and 
traces of gold and silver; the inhabitants are well conditioned, and 
willingly attend to the Christians, that is, those of the natives that are 
friendly. They are much better inclined than the natives of Mexico; in 
short, it is a country that lacks nothing to make it very good. When the 
Indians took leave of us they said they would do as we had told them, and 
settle in their villages, provided the Christians would not interfere, and 
so I say and affirm that, if they should not do it, it will be the fault 
of the Christians.

After we had dispatched the Indians in peace, and with thanks for what 
they had gone through with and for us, the Christians (out of mistrust) 
sent us to a certain Alcalde Cebreros, who had with him two other men. He 
took us through forests and uninhabited country in order to prevent our 
communicating with the Indians, in reality, also, to prevent us from 
seeing or hearing what the Christians were carrying on.

This clearly shows how the designs of men sometimes miscarry. We went on 
with the idea of insuring the liberty of the Indians, and, when we 
believed it to be assured, the opposite took place. The Spaniards had 
planned to fall upon those Indians we had sent back in fancied security 
and in peace, and that plan they carried out.

They took us through the timber for two days, with no trail, bewildered 
and without water, so we all expected to die from thirst. Seven of our men 
perished, and many friends whom the Christians had taken along could not 
reach before noon the following day the place, where we found water that 
same night. We travelled with them twenty-five leagues, more or less, and 
at last came to a settlement of peaceable Indians. There the Alcalde left 
us and went ahead, three leagues further, to a place called Culiacan, 
where Melchior Diaz was chief Alcalde and the captain of the province.

As soon as the chief Alcalde became informed of our arrival, on the same 
night he came to where we were. He was deeply moved, and praised God for 
having delivered us in His great pity. He spoke to us and treated us very 
well, tendering us, in his name, and in behalf of the Governor, Nuño de 
Guzman, all he had and whatever he might be able to do. He appeared much 
grieved at the bad reception and evil treatment we had met at the hands of 
Alcaraz and the others, and we verily believe that, had he been there at 
the time, the things done to us and the Indians would not have occurred.

Passing the night there, we were about to leave in the morning of the next 
day, but the chief Alcalde entreated us to stay. He said that by remaining 
we would render a great service to God and Your Majesty, as the country 
was depopulated, lying waste, and well nigh destroyed. That the Indians 
were hiding in the woods, refusing to come out and settle again in their 
villages. He suggested that we should have them sent for, and urge them, 
in the name of God and of Your Majesty, to return to the plain and 
cultivate the soil again.

This struck us as difficult of execution. We had none of our Indians with 
us, nor any of those who usually accompanied us and understood such 
matters. At last we ventured to select two Indians from among those held 
there as captives, and who were from that part of the country. These had 
been with the Christians whom we first met, and had seen the people that 
came in our company, and knew, through the latter, of the great power and 
authority we exercised all through the land, the miracles we had worked, 
the cures we had performed, and many other particulars. With these Indians 
we sent others from the village, to jointly call those who had taken 
refuge in the mountains, as well as those from the river of Petlatlan, 
where we had met the Christians first, and tell them to come, as we wished 
to talk to them. In order to insure their coming, we gave the messengers 
one of the large gourds we had carried in our hands (which were our chief 
insignia and tokens of great power.)

Thus provided and instructed, they left and were absent seven days. They 
came back, and with them three chiefs of those who had been in the 
mountains, and with these were fifteen men. The presented us with beads, 
turquoises, and feathers, and the messengers said the people from the 
river whence we had started could not be found, as the Christians had 
again driven them into the wilderness.

Melchior Diaz told the interpreter to speak to the Indians in our name and 
say that he came in the name of God, Who is in heaven, and that we had 
travelled the world over for many years, telling all the people we met to 
believe in God and serve Him, for He was the Lord of everything upon 
earth, Who rewarded the good, whereas to the bad ones He meted out eternal 
punishment of fire. That when the good ones died He took them up to 
heaven, where all lived forever and there was neither hunger nor thirst, 
nor any other wants &emdash; only the greatest imaginable glory. But that 
those who would not believe in Him nor obey His commandments he thrust 
into a huge fire beneath the earth and into the company of demons, where 
the fire never went out, but tormented them forever. Moreover, he said 
that if they became Christians and served God in the manner we directed, 
the Christians would look upon them as brethren and treat them very well, 
while we would command that no harm should be done to them; neither should 
they be taken out of their country, and the Christians would become their 
great friends. If they refused to do so, then the Christians would ill 
treat them and carry them away into slavery.

To this they replied through the interpreter that they would be very good 
Christians and serve God.

Upon being asked whom they worshipped and to whom they offered sacrifices, 
to whom they prayed for health and water for the fields, they said, to a 
man in Heaven. We asked what was his name, and they said Aguar, and that 
they believed he had created the world and everything in it.

We again asked how they came to know this, and they said their fathers and 
grandfathers had told them, and they had known it for a very long time; 
that water and all good things came from him. We explained that this being 
of whom they spoke was the same we called God, and that thereafter they 
should give Him that name and worship and serve Him as we commanded, when 
they would fare very well.

They replied that they understood us thoroughly and would do as we had 
told.

So we bade them come out of the mountains and be at ease, peaceable, and 
settle the land again, rebuilding their houses. Among these houses they 
should rear one to God, placing at its entrance a cross like the one we 
had, and when Christians came, they should go out to receive them with 
crosses in their hands, in place of bows and other weapons, and take the 
Christians to their homes, giving them to eat of what they had. If they 
did so, the Christians would do them no harm, but be their friends.

The promised to do as we ordered, and the captain gave them blankets, 
treating them handsomely, and they went away, taking along the two 
captives that had acted as our messengers.

This took place in presence of a scribe (notary) and of a great many 
witnesses.

As soon as the Indians had left for their homes and the people of that 
province got news of what had taken place with us, they, being friends of 
the Christians, came to see us, bringing beads and feathers. We ordered 
them to build churches and put crosses in them, which until then they had 
not done. We also sent for the children of the chiefs to be baptized, and 
then the captain pledged himself before God not to make any raid, or allow 
any to be made, or slaves captured from the people and in the country we 
had set at peace again. This vow he promised to keep and fulfill so long 
until His Majesty and the Governor, Nuño de Guzman, or the Viceroy, in his 
name, would ordain something else better adapted to the service of God and 
of His Majesty.

After baptizing the children we left for the village of San Miguel, where, 
on our arrival, Indians came and told how many people were coming down 
from the mountains, settling on the plain, building churches and erecting 
crosses; in short, complying with what we had sent them word to do. Day 
after day we were getting news of how all was being done and completed.

Fifteen days after our arrival Alcaraz came in with the Christians who had 
been raiding, and they told the captain how the Indians had descended from 
the mountains and settled on the plains; also that villages formerly 
deserted were not well populated, and how the Indians had come out to 
receive them with crosses in their hands, had taken them to their houses, 
giving them of what they had, and how they slept the night there. Amazed 
at these changes and at the sayings of the Indians who said they felt 
secure, he ordered that no harm be done to them, and with this they 
departed. May God in his infinite mercy grant that in the days of Your 
Majesty and under your power and sway, these people become willingly and 
sincerely subjects of the true Lord Who created and redeemed them. We 
believe they will be, and that your Majesty is destined to bring it about, 
as it will not be at all difficult.

For two thousand leagues did we travel, on land, and by sea in barges, 
besides ten months more after our rescue from captivity; untiringly did we 
walk across the land, but nowhere did we meet either sacrifices or 
idolatry. During all that time we crossed from one ocean to the other, and 
from what we very carefully ascertained there may be, from one coast to 
the other and across the greatest width, two hundred leagues. We heard 
that on the shores of the South there are pearls and great wealth, and 
that the richest and best is near there.

At the village of San Miguel we remained until after the fifteenth of May, 
because from there to the town of Compostela, where the Governor, Nuño de 
Guzman, resided, there are one hundred leagues of deserted country 
threatened by hostiles, and we had to take an escort along. There went 
with us twenty horsemen, accompanying us as many as forty leagues; 
afterwards we had with us six Christians, who escorted five hundred Indian 
captives. When we reached Compostela, the Governor received us very well, 
giving us of what he had, for us to dress in; but for many days I could 
bear no clothing, nor could we sleep, except on the bare floor. Ten or 
twelve days later we left for Mexico. On the whole trip we were well 
treated by the Christians; many came to see us on the road, praising God 
for having freed us from so many dangers. We reached Mexico on Sunday, the 
day before the vespers of Saint James, and were very well received by the 
Viceroy and the Marquis of the Valley, who presented us with clothing, 
offering all they had. On the day of Saint James there was a festival, 
with bull-fight and tournament.

After taking two months' rest at Mexico I desired to come over to this 
realm, but when ready to sail in October, a storm wrecked the vessel and 
it was lost. So I determined to wait until winter would be over, as in 
these parts navigation is then very dangerous on account of storms.

When winter was past, Andres Dorantes and I left Mexico, during Lent, for 
Vera Cruz, to take a ship there, but had again to wait for favorable winds 
until Palm Sunday. We embarked and were on board more than fifteen days, 
unable to leave on account of a calm, and the vessel began to fill with 
water. I took passage on one of the ships which were in condition to 
leave, while Dorantes remained on the first one, and on the tenth day of 
the month three craft left port.

We navigated together for one hundred and fifty leagues; afterwards two of 
the ships dropped behind, and in the course of a night we lost track of 
them. It seems that, as we found out later, their pilots and skippers did 
not venture any further, and returned to port without giving us any 
warning; neither did we hear any more from them. So we kept on, and on the 
fourth of May reached the port of Habana, on the second of June, still 
hoping for the other two vessels to arrive. Then we left.

We were afraid of falling in with French craft that only a few days before 
had captured three of ours.

At the altitude of the Island of Bermuda a storm overtook us, as is quite 
usual in those parts, according to the people who are wont to travel in 
them, and for a whole night we considered ourselves lost. But it pleased 
God that, when morning came, the storm abated and we could proceed on our 
way. Twenty-nine days after sailing from Habana we had made eleven hundred 
leagues, said to be the distance from it to the settlement of the Azores, 
and the next day we passed the island called of the raven, and met with a 
French vessel at noon. She began to follow us, having with her a caravel 
taken from the Portuguese, and gave us chase. That same evening we saw 
nine more sail, but at such a distance that we could not distinguish 
whether they were of the same nation as our pursuer, or Portuguese. At 
nightfall the Frenchman was but a cannon-shot from our ship, and as soon 
as it was dark we changed our course so as to get away from him. As he was 
close upon us he saw our maneuver and did the same, and this happened 
three or four times.

The Frenchman could have taken us then, but he preferred to wait until 
daylight. It pleased God that, when morning came, we found ourselves, as 
well as the French ship, surrounded by the nine craft we had seen the 
evening before, and which turned out to belong to the Portuguese navy. I 
thank Our Lord for having allowed me to escape from peril on land and sea.

When the French saw it was the fleet of Portugal they released the 
caravel, which was filled with negroes. They had taken it along in order 
to make us believe they were Portuguese and to induce us to expect them. 
On separating from the caravel the Frenchman told the skipper and pilot we 
were French also, belonging to their own navy; then they put into their 
vessel sixty oarsmen, and thus, by oar and sail, went away with incredible 
swiftness. 

The caravel then approached the galley warning its captain that both our 
vessel and the other were French, so that when we came up to the galley 
and the squadron saw it, believing us to be French, they cleared for 
action and came to attack us. But when we were near enough to them we 
saluted, and they saw we were friends. They had been deceived, suffering 
the privateer to escape by means of his strategy in telling that we were 
also French. Four caravels went in pursuit of him. Having come up with the 
galley and presented our respects, the captain, Diego de Silveira, asked 
where we came from and what we had on board. We told him from New Spain, 
and that we carried silver and gold. He inquired how much it might be, and 
the skipper informed him that we had about three hundred thousand 
Castellanos. Thereupon the captain exclaimed: "Faith, you come back very 
rich, although you have a bad craft and miserable artillery. That dog of a 
French renegade has lost a fat morsel, the bastard! Now, go ahead, since 
you escaped; follow me closely, and, God helping, I shall lead you back to 
Spain."

The caravels that had gone in pursuit of the French soon returned because 
the latter sailed too fast for them and they did not want to leave their 
squadron, which was escorting three ships loaded with spices.

We reached the Island of Tercera, where we rested fifteen days and took in 
supplies, also waiting for another ship from India, with the same kind of 
cargo as the three our fleet was escorting. At the end of the fifteen days 
we sailed, all together, for the port of Lisbon, where we arrived on the 
ninth of August, vespers of Saint Laurentius day, of the year 1537.

And, in testimony of, that what I have stated in the foregoing narrative 
is true, I hereunto sign my name:

Cabeza de Vaca