362 THE CORONADO EXPEDITION, 1540-1542 [f.th.ann.U 



succeeded at last in quieting them and in persuading two of tbe chief 

 Indians to go with him to a point where he could obtain a view of the 

 "city of Cibola." He proceeded to a small hill, from which he saw 

 that it was situated on a plain on the slope of a round height. " It has 

 a very fine appearance for a village," he writes, "the best that I have 

 seen in these parts. The houses, as the Indians had told me, are all of 

 stone, built in stories, and with flat roofs. Judging by what I could see 

 from the height where I placed myself to observe it, the settlement is 

 larger than the city of Mexico. ... It appears to me that this 

 land is the best and largest of all those that have been discovered." 



" With far more fright than food," the friar says he retraced his way 

 toward New Spain, by hasty marches. During his journey to Cibola, 

 he had heard of a large and level valley among the mountains, dis- 

 tant four or five days from the route which he followed, where he 

 was told that there were many very large settlements in which the 

 people wore clothes made of cotton. He showed his informants some 

 metals which he had, in order to find out what there was in that region, 

 and they picked oat the gold, saying that the people in the valley had 

 vessels made of this material and some round tilings which they hung 

 from their ears and noses. They also had some little shovels of this 

 same metal, with which they scraped themselves to get rid of their 

 sweat. On his way back, although he had not recovered from his fright, 

 the friar .determined to see this valley. He did not dare to venture 

 into it, because, as he says, he thought that those who should go to 

 settle and rule the country of the seven cities could enter it more 

 safely than he. He did not wish to risk his own life, lest he should be 

 prevented from making the report of what he had already seen. He 

 went as far as the entrance to the valley and saw seven good-looking 

 settlements at a distance, in a very attractive country, from which 

 arose a great deal of smoke. He understood from the Indians that 

 there was much gold in the valley, .and that the natives used it for ves- 

 sels and ornaments, repeating in his narrative the reports which he had 

 heard on his outward journey. 



The friar then hastened down the coast to Culiacan, where he hoped, 

 but failed, to And Coronado, the governor of the province. He went 

 on to Compostela, where Coronado was staying. Here he wrote his 

 report, and sent the announcement of his safe return to the viceroy. 

 A similar notification to the provincial of his order contained a request 

 for instructions as to what he should do next. He was still in Com- 

 postela on September 2, and as Mendoza and Coronado also were there, 

 he took occasion to certify under oath before them to the truth of all 

 that he had written in the report of his expedition to Cibola. 



THE EFFECT OF FRIAR MARCOS' REPORT 



In his official report it is evident that Friar Marcos distinguished 

 with care between what he had himself seen and what the Indians had 

 told him. But Cortes began the practice of attacking the veracity and 



