were with the expedition. The granaries of the place were filled with the surplus from the bountiful harvests of two preceding years, which sufficed to feed the whole army for three or four weeks, besides providing supplies sufficient for more than two months when the expedition resumed its march. These comfortable quarters and the abundant entertainment detained the general and his soldiers for some weeks.[1] This was the outpost of Spanish civilization, and Coronado made sure that his arrangements were as complete as possible, both for the army and for the administration of New Galicia during his absence.
The soldiers, and especially the gentlemen among them, had started from Compostela with an abundant supply of luxurious furnishings and extra equipment. Many of them were receiving their first rough lessons in the art of campaigning, and the experiences along the way before reaching Culiacan had already changed many of their notions of comfort and ease. When the preparations for leaving Culiacan began, the citizens of the town received from their guests much of the clothing and other surplus baggage, which was left behind in order that the expedition might advance more rapidly, or that the animals might be loaded with provisions. Aside from what was given to the people of the place, much of the heavier camp equipage, with some of the superfluous property of the soldiers, was put on board a ship, the San Gabriel, which was waiting in the harbor of Culiacan. An additional supply of corn and other provisions also was furnished for the vessel by the generous citizens.
THE EXPEDITION BY SEA UNDER ALARCON
A sea expedition, to cooperate with the land force, was a part of Mendoza's original plan. After the viceroy left Coronado, and probably while he was at Colima, on his way down the coast from Compostela, he completed the arrangements by appointing Hernando de Alarcon, his chamberlain according to Bernal Diaz, to command a fleet of two vessels. Alarcon was instructed to sail northward, following the coast as closely as possible. He was to keep near the army, and communicate with it at every opportunity, transporting the heavy baggage and holding himself ready at all times to render any assistance which Coronado might desire. Alarcon sailed May 9, 1540, probably from Acapulco.[2]
- ↑ A note, almost as complicated as that which concerns the date of the army's departure, might he written regarding the length of the stay at Culiacan. Those who are curious can find the facts in Coronado's letter from Granada, in Castañeda, and in the footnotes to the translation of the latter.
- ↑ The complete text of Alarcon's report was translated into Italian by Ramusio (vol. iii, fol. 363, ed. 1556), and the Spanish original is not known to exist. Herrera, however, gives an account which, from the close similarity to Ramusio's text and from the personality of the style, must have been copied from Alarcon's own narrative. The Ramusio text does not give the port of departure. Herrera says that the ships sailed from Acapulco. Castañeda implies that the start was made from La Natividad, but his information could hardly have been better than second hand. He may have known what the viceroy intended to do, when he bade the army farewell, two days north of Compostela, Alarcon reports that he put into the port of Santiago de Buena Esperanza, and as the only Santiago on the coast hereabout is south of La Natividad, which is on the coast of the district of Colima
