The report of Antonio de Espejo on his long and thorough reconnoissance in 1582-1583 attracted so much attention that for a time and in some circles his expedition was looked upon as resulting in the original discovery of New Mexico. This name was also given by Espejo to the country, and it thereafter remained. While the documents relating to Coronado slumbered unnoticed and almost forgotten, the report of Espejo was published within less than three years after it had been written. It must be stated here that there are two manuscripts of the report of Espejo, one dated 1583 and bearing his autograph signature and official (notarial) certificates, the other in 1584 which is a distorted copy of the original and with so many errors in names and descriptions that, as the late Woodbury Lowery very justly observed, it is little else than spurious. I had already called attention to the unreliability of the latter version, and yet it is the one that alone was consulted for more than three centuries because it had become accessible through publication in the Voiages of Hakluyt, together with an English translation even more faulty, if possible, than its Spanish original. The authentic document, with several others relating to Espejo's brief career, was not published in full until 1871, and even then attracted little attention because it was not translated and because the _Coleccion de Documentos del Archivo de Indias_ is not accessible to every one. But the publication of 1871 was by no means the first printed version of Espejo's relations. Even prior to 1586 a somewhat condensed narration of his exploration had been published, being embodied in the _History of China_ by Father Gonzalez Mendoza. This account is based on the authentic report in some of the various editions, on the spurious document in others. The book of Father Mendoza was soon translated into French. It is not surprising that Espejo's narrative should appear first in print in a work on the Chinese Empire by a Franciscan missionary. That ecclesiastic was impressed by some of Espejo's observations on Pueblo customs which he thought resembled those of the Chinese. The discoveries of Espejo were then the most recent ones that had been made by Spaniards, and as New Mexico was fancied to lie nearer the Pacific than it really does, and facing the eastern coast of China, a lurking desire to find a possible connection between the inhabitants of both continents on that side is readily explicable. But Father Mendoza had still another motive. The three monks which Chamuscado had left in New Mexico had sacrificed their lives in an attempt to convert the natives. They were martyrs of their faith, hence glories of their order, and the Franciscan author could not refrain from commemorating their deeds and their faith. The spurious text was not taken from Mendoza, but manifestly was copied from the transcript by a bungling scribe imperfectly acquainted with the Spanish tongue.