WHOLE VOL. THE WEST INDIES VAZQUEZ DE ESPINOSA 409 



1200. A week before Gov. Pedro de Ursua started down the river, 

 on Our Lady's Eve in September, Lope de Aguirre and Juan Alonso 

 de la Bandera and Lorenzo de Salduendo and Cristobal de Chaves 

 asked him where they were going ; that if they were going after 

 silver and gold, no place in the world could have more than where 

 they were then, which was in the Kingdoms of Peru and offered 

 no difficulty, without going to search for it where they did not know 

 whether it existed or what might happen to them. Pedro de Ursua, 

 realizing what was in their minds, replied with a hearty laugh : "That 

 is fine, gentlemen ; this way you will have it with greater satisfaction 

 and in greater quantity, and will be able to be of greater service to 

 your friends." The disaffected officers answered that what they said 

 was certain and well known, easier and more remunerative, and that 

 it was uncertain and doubtful where they were going. Pedro de Ursua 

 dissembled and wished no further argument with them. One week 

 after we had started down the river, at 200 leagues, for the strong 

 current had carried our fleet that distance, we came on the Rio de 

 Cocami, and Don Juan de Vargas, Lieutenant General of our Gover- 

 nor, with 70 men struck up that river in search of food for the fleet 

 and its men. It took him 25 days to go upstream [and he came down 

 in 8] to that settlement, which was the last reached by Gov. Juan 

 de Salinas ; 40 soldiers who had been in his expedition had come along 

 with us and told us that the Indians of this province wear elaborate 

 cotton clothing ; they have much corn and fish and game, both deer 

 and tapirs and other animals, and many game birds. The country 

 is uninhabitable, being very hot and subject to flood and with innumer- 

 able mosquitoes ; so all the Indians wear fly-flaps or fly-fans of 

 many-colored feathers, very neatly made, for protection against 

 mosquitoes. We took two Indians from this settlement and carried 

 them along for interpreters, for they understood the interpreters we 

 had brought along, and knew the country better. 



120L We left this settlement and traveled down the river a week 

 without coming on anything of importance. We caught much fish 

 at this time, the river being smooth and very wide ; we were carrying 

 along a large amount of corn which we had brought down from the 

 settlement of Cocami ; on the beaches of this great river we kept 

 finding immense quantities of turtle and tortoise eggs, which we 

 took to eat and they needed no butter or oil, for they had it in them. 

 Then we reached a settlement of over 2,000 naked Indians who 

 called themselves Los Paltas ; this will be 100 leagues down the 

 Marafion after leaving the Province of the Motilones, and Cocami. 



