the affairs of his province, and this neglect sowed the seeds of a revolt which was only suppressed after three years of warfare. Before his departure, so alarming had matters become, that on the 26th of December preceding, the colonists of Guadalajara addressed a petition expressing fear that unless he extended aid the country would be lost.[1]
But the governor was not to be turned from his adventure by trifles. Here was a land where gold was as common as was earthen-ware in Spain, and precious gems could be collected in heaps; time enough to attend to his people after he had gathered wealth. At the end of February,[2] Oñate having been appointed lieutenant-governor, the army marched out of Compostela with banners flying, every man of them having taken an oath, required by the viceroy, to obey the orders of their general and never abandon him.
Day after day and month after month they journeyed northward, robbing and murdering as occasion offered, their eyes like those of hawks ever eager for prey. But gold and jewels were not plentiful there. The seven cities of Cíbola proved but so many empty crocks, and the disappointed booty-hunters cursed the reverend Niza. But there was gold enough beyond, according to the statements of the natives, over toward the north-east, and the Spaniards still pursued. Across rapid rivers and over trackless des-
- ↑ The colonists requested that the refractory natives should be reduced to slavery. The result of the appeal is not known. Tello, Hist. N. Gal., 374-5. Mota Padilla states that Coronado sent the letter to the viceroy, 'para que providenciase, especialmente sobre los dos puntos de la esclavitud de los rebeldes, y del socorro que se pedia de gente.' On the 8th of January, 1540, Coronado set apart lands for the commons of the city of Guadalajara, and on the following day proclaimed the royal cédula of December 20, 1538, commanding houses in the Indies to be constructed of stone, brick, or adobe, to insure their permanency. Cong. N. Gal., 110.
- ↑ The date of departure must have been some day between the review held on the 22d of February and the last day of that month, since Mendoza writing to the king on the 17th of April following commences his letter thus: 'Le dernier de février passé, j'ai écrit de Campostelle à votre majesté, pour lui rendre compte de mon arrivée dans cette ville et du départ de Francisco Vasquez, avec l'expédition,' etc. Ternaux-Compans, Voy., série i. tom. ix. 290. There is an error in the account of Castañeda in Id., 24, where it is ci that the forces arrived at Compostela from Mexico on Shrove-Tuesday, 1541.
