The Coronado Expedition, 1540-1542.: Excerpted from the Fourteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1892-1893, Part 1.Winship, George Parker
History
The Coronado Expedition, 1540-1542.: Excerpted from the Fourteenth Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1892-1893, Part 1.
Winship, George Parker
Coronado, Francisco Vásquez de, 1510-1554; Southwest, New -- Description and travel
While the army was resting in this ravine, as we have related, a
tempest came up one afternoon with a very high wind and hail, and in
a very short space of time a great quantity of hailstones, as big
as bowls, or bigger, fell as thick as raindrops, so that in places
they covered the ground two or three spans or more deep. And one hit
the horse—or I should say, there was not a horse that did not break
away, except two or three which the negroes protected by holding
large sea nets over them, with the helmets and shields which all the
rest wore;[171] and some of them dashed up on to the sides of the
ravine so that they got them down with great difficulty. If this had
struck them while they were upon the plain, the army would have been
in great danger of being left without its horses, as there were many
which they were not able to cover.[172] The hail broke many tents,
and battered many helmets, and wounded many of the horses, and broke
all the crockery of the army, and the gourds, which was no small
loss, because they do not have any crockery in this region. They do
not make gourds, nor sow corn, nor eat bread, but instead raw meat—or
only half cooked—and fruit. [p507]
From here the general sent out to explore the country,[173] and they
found another settlement four days from there[174] . . . The country
was well inhabited, and they had plenty of kidney beans and prunes
like those of Castile, and tall vineyards. These village settlements
extended for three days. This was called Cona. Some Teyas,[175] as
these people are called, went with the army from here and traveled
as far as the end of the other settlements with their packs of dogs
and women and children, and then they gave them guides to proceed
to a large ravine where the army was. They did not let these guides
speak with the Turk, and did not receive the same statements from
these as they had from the others. These said that Quivira was toward
the north, and that we would not find any good road thither. After
this they began to believe Ysopete. The ravine which the army had now
reached was a league wide from one side to the other, with a little
bit of a river at the bottom, and there were many groves of mulberry
trees near it, and rosebushes with the same sort of fruit that they
have in France. They made verjuice from the unripe grapes at this
ravine, although there were ripe ones.[176] There were walnuts and
the same kind of fowls as in New Spain, and large quantities of
prunes like those of Castile. During this journey a Teya was seen
to shoot a bull right through both shoulders with an arrow, which
would be a good shot for a musket. These people are very intelligent;
the women are well made and modest. They cover their whole body.
They wear shoes and buskins made of tanned skin. The women wear
cloaks over their small under petticoats, with sleeves gathered up
at the shoulders, all of skin, and some wore something like little
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account