FERNANDO ALARCHON 



A.D. 



1540. 



craved leave of me to returne unto his companions. 

 From hence I began againe to set saile, and within a 

 dayes sayling I found a towne dispeopled : where assoone 

 as I was entred, by chance there arrived there 500. 

 Indians with their bowes & arrowes, and with them 

 was that principall Indian called Naguachato, which I 

 had left behind, and brought with them certaine conies Conies and 

 & yucas : and after I had friendly interteined them all, >'^^'^^- 

 departing from them, I gave them license to returne to 

 their houses. As I passed further by the desert, I came 

 to certain cotages, out of which much people came to- 

 ward me with an old man before them, crying in a 

 langfuage which mine interpreter wel understood, and 

 he said unto those men : Brethren, you see here that 

 lord ; let us give him such as we have, seeing he dooth 

 us pleasure, and hath passed through so many discour- 

 teous people, to come to visit us. And having thus 

 said, he offred to the Sunne, and then to me in like 

 sort as the rest had done. These had certaine great 

 well made of the skins of fishes called Sea- 

 And I understood that this was a towne be- 

 unto the lord of Quicoma, which people came 

 onely to gather the fruit of their harvest in 

 summer ; and among them I found one which under- 

 stood mine interpreter very well : whereupon very easily 

 I gave them the like instruction of the crosse which I had 

 given to others behind. These people had cotton, but Cotton. 

 they were not very carefull to use the same : because 

 there was none among them that knew the arte of weav- 

 ing, & to make apparel thereof. They asked me how 

 they should set up their crosse when they were come to 

 their dwelling which was in the mountaine, and whether A mountaine. 

 it were best to make an house about it, that it might not 

 be wet, & whether they should hang any thing upon the 

 armes thereof. I said no ; & that it sufficed to set it in 

 a place where it might be scene of all men, until I re- 

 turned : and lest peradventure any men of warre should 

 come that way, they offired mee more men to goe with 



301 



bags 



& 



bremes. 

 longing 

 thither 



