200 SMITHSONIAN MISCELLANEOUS COLLECTIONS VOL. 102 



and much game — hares, rabbits, deer, partridges— and fish in the 

 Streams ; it has splendid meadowland with attractive scenery ; there 

 are silver mines there. 



Chapter IX 



Continuing the Account of the Exploration and of the Provinces 

 of New Mexico. 



562. Capt. Antonio de Espejo, in continuing his campaign of 

 exploration, left his army in the province just described and with a 

 few soldiers pushed ahead I2 leagues eastward to another province, 

 in which there were 1 1 pueblos containing over 40,000 souls ; these 

 were intelligent people ; they are next the Province of Cibola ; they 

 wear clothing made of cotton cloth and of the decorated skins of 

 those bufifalo. Six leagues to the N. up the river is the Province of 

 the Quires; in the first five pueblos there were more than 15,000 

 souls, all intelligent people and well governed ; this country is at 37° N. 



563. Fourteen leagues N. along the same course comes the Prov- 

 ince of the Cumanes, in which there were five pueblos. The principal 

 one was called Cia ; it contained eight plazas ; the houses were all 

 built with mortar and painted with designs in different colors ; the 

 people were better disciplined and more intelligent than those 

 hitherto ; the province contained over 20,000 souls. At 6 leagues 

 to the NW. comes the Province of the Amejes ; it contains seven 

 pueblos whose population will be over 30,000 souls ; they are entirely 

 similar to their neighbors. 



564. Fifteen leagues to the W. of this province lies Acoma, with 

 over 6,000 souls. It is built on a cliff 50 stades (93 yards) high ; their 

 drinking water comes from cisterns ; they are abundantly supplied 

 with provisions. Their fields are 2 leagues away, along the banks 

 of a small stream which they use for irrigation. They wear cotton 

 and woolen blankets and nicely decorated antelope skins. In this 

 province there are many rosebushes like our own. 



565. Twenty-four leagues W. of this province lies Zuni, otherwise 

 called Cibola, where the city of New Mexico has been established. 

 It was discovered and conquered by Francisco Vazquez de Coronado, 

 and he had set up many crosses there. They found three Christian 

 Indians in the city — Andres de Coyoacan, Caspar de Mexico, and 

 Antonio Guadalajara. They had come in with Gov. Francisco Vaz- 

 quez, and told of a great lake on whose banks there were large 

 settlements, and that that country was very rich. 



