neighborhood of the border land, or the country of the Sacatecas,[1] of which we now have some knowledge.
This way would be somewhat better and more direct for anyone going back there in search of Quivira, since some of those who came with the Portuguese are still in New Spain to serve as guides. Nevertheless, I think it would be best to go through the country of the Guachichules,[2] keeping near the South Sea mountains all the time, for there are more settlements and a food supply, for it would be suicide to launch out on to the plains couutry, because it is so vast and is barren of anything to eat, although, it is true, there would not be much need of this after coming to the cows. This is only when one goes in search of Quivira, and of the villages which were described by the Indian called Turk, for the army of Francisco Vazquez Coronado went the very farthest way round to get there, since they started from Mexico and went 110 leagues to the west, and then 100 leagues to the northeast, and 250 to the north,[3] and all this brought them as far as the ravines where the cows were, and after traveling 850 leagues they were not more than 400 leagues distant from Mexico by a direct route. If one desires to go to the country of Tiguex, so as to turn from there toward the west in search of the country of India, he ought to follow the road taken by the army, for there is no other, even if one wished to go by a different way, because the arm of the sea which reaches into this coast toward the north does not leave room for any. But what might be done is to have a fleet and cross this gulf and disembark in the neighborhood of the Island of Negroes[4] and enter the country from there, crossing the mountain chains in search of the country from which the people at Tiguex came, or other peoples of the same sort. As for enteriug from the country of Florida and from the North sea, it has already been observed that the many expeditions which have been undertaken from that side have been unfortunate and not very successful, because that part of the country is full of bogs and poisonous fruits, barren, and the very worst country that is warmed by the sun. But they might disembark after passing the river of the Holy Spirit, as Don Hernando de Soto did. Nevertheless, despite the fact that I underwent much labor, I still think that the way I went to that country is the best. There ought to be river courses, because the necessary supplies can be carried ou these more easily in
- ↑ Captain John Stevens Dictionary says that this is "a northern province of North America, rich in silver mines, but ill provided with water, grain, and other substances; yet by reason of the mines there are seven or eight Spanish towns if it." Zacatecus is now one of the central states of the Mexican confederation, being south of Coahuila and southeast of Durango."
- ↑ Ternaux, p. 242, miscopied it Quachichiles.
- ↑ Ternaux, p. 243, reads: "puis pendant six cent cinquante vers le nord, ... sorte qu'après avoir fait plus de huit cent cinquante lieues." ... The substitution of six for two may possibly give a number which is nearer the actual distance traversed, but the fact is quite unimportant. The impression which the trip left on Castañeda is what should interest the historian or the reader.
- ↑ The dictionary of Dominguez says: "Isla de negros; ó isla del Almirantazgo, en el grande Océano equipoccial: grande isla de la América del Norte, sobre la costa oeste." Apparently the location of this island gradually drifted westward with the increase of geographical knowledge, until it was finally located in the Philippine group.
