LVI REPORT OP THE BUREAU OF ETHNOLOGY 



has been permitted. A French translation from the 1596 copy 

 was published at Paris in 1838 by Henri Ternanx-( tampans; 

 it contains a number of errors which have misled students of 

 the expedition and of the Indian tribes encountered by it, and 

 which are now brought to light. No English translation of the 

 narrative has hitherto been published. 



In his historical introduction Mr Winship presents an elab- 

 orate account of the reasons for the Coronado expedition, 

 reviewing the results of the ill-fated expedition of Panfilo de 

 Narvaez and the wanderings of Cabeza de Vaca and his three 

 companions, its sole survivors, for nearly eight years among 

 the tribes west of the Mississippi and in northern Mexico, and 

 their final arrival at the Mexican capital. A detailed account is 

 given also of the condition of affairs in Mexico between 1536, 

 the date of Cabeza de Vaca's return, and the journey of Friar 

 Marcos, of Nice, to the cities of Cibola in 1539. It is to this 

 remarkable friar that the discovery of Arizona and New Mexico 

 is to be attributed, and to his narrative, the truth of which has 

 been attested by Bandelier, that some of our knowdedge of the 

 early character of the natives of the extreme southwest has 

 been gained. 



It is singular that so little has popularly been known of the 

 Coronado expedition, for it is doubtful if such an array of 

 splendor has since been beheld by savage eyes. Two hundred 

 and sixty horsemen, 70 footmen, and more than 1,000 friendly 

 Indians and Indian servants, according to one authority, com- 

 posed the arm}-, accompanying which, as a part of its food 

 supply, were 5,000 sheep and 150 cattle, from which the live- 

 stock of the southwest has sprung. "The young cavaliers 

 curbed the picked horses from the large stock farms of the 

 viceroy, each resplendent in long blankets flowing to the 

 ground. Each rider held his lance erect, Avhile his sword and 

 other weapons hung in their proper places at his side. Some 

 were arrayed in coats of mail, polished to shine like that of 

 their general, whose gilded armor with its brilliant trappings 

 was t<> bring him many hard blows a few months later. Others 

 wore iron helmets or visored headpieces of the tough bullhide 

 for which the country has ever been famous. The footmen 



