AJ-086: Castañeda, Journey of Coronado (1540-1542)

              

    THE JOURNEY OF
CORONADO

lages freely to visit, buy, sell, and
barter
with them.
  It is governed like Cibola, by an
assembly
of the oldest men. They have their
gover-
nors and generals. This was where they
obtained
the information about a large river,
and that several
days down the river there
were some people with very
large bodies.
  As Don Pedro de Tovar was not
commis-
sioned to go farther, he returned from
there
and gave this information to the general,
who
dispatched Don Garcia Lopez de Carde-
nas with about
twelve companions to go to
see this river. He was well
received when
he reached Tusayan and was entertained
by
the natives, who gave him guides for his
journey.
They started from here loaded
with provisions, for they
had to go through
a desert country before reaching the
inhab-
ited region, which the Indians said was
more
than twenty days' journey. After they had
gone
twenty days they came to the banks
of the river. It
seemed to be more than 3
or 4 leagues in an air line
across to the
other bank of the stream which flowed
be-
tween them.
  This country was elevated and full
of low
twisted pines, very cold, and lying open
tow-
ard the north, so that, this being the
warm
season, no one could live there on account
of the
cold. They spent three days on this
bank looking for a
passage down to the river,
which looked from above as if
the water was
6 feet across, although the Indians said
it
    35