538 THE CORONADO EXPEDITION, 1540-1542 [eth. akn. u 



natives, because at one place, several days before reaching Sefiora, 1 the 

 hostile Indians wounded a Spaniard called Mesa, and he did not die, 

 although the wound of the fresh poison is fatal, and there was a delay 

 of over two hours before curing hiin with the juice. The poison, how- 

 ever, had left its mark upon hiin. The skin rotted and fell off until it 

 left the bones and sinews bare, with a horrible smell. The wound was 

 in the wrist, and the poison had reached as far as the shoulder when 

 he was cured. The skin on all this fell off. 2 



The army proceeded without taking any rest, because the provisions 

 had begun to fail by this time. These districts were in rebellion, and 

 so there were not any victuals where the soldiers could get them until 

 they reached Petlatlan, although they made several forays into the cross 

 country in search of provisions. Petlatlan is in the province of Culiacan, 

 anil on this account was at peace, although they had several surprises 

 after this. 3 The army rested here several days to get provisions. After 

 leaving here they were able to travel more quickly than before, for the 

 3D leagues of the valley of Culiacan, where they were welcomed back 

 again as people who came with their governor, who had suffered ill 

 treatment. 



Chapter 6, of how the general .started from Culiacan to give the viceroy 

 an account of the army with which lie had been intrusted. 



It seemed, indeed, as if the arrival in the valley of Culiacan had ended 

 the labors of this journey, partly because the general was governor 

 there and partly because it was inhabited by Christians. On this 

 account some began to disregard their superiors and the authority which 

 their captains had over them, and some captains even forgot the obedi- 

 ence due to their general. Each one played his own game, so that while 

 the general was marching toward the town, which was still 10 leagues 

 away, many of the men, or most of them, left him in order to rest in the 

 valley, and some even proposed not to follow him. The general under- 

 stood that he was not strong enough to compel them, although his 

 position as governor gave him fresh authority. He determined to accom- 

 plish it by a better method, which was to order all the captains to pro- 

 vide food and meat from the stores of several villages that were under 

 his control as governor. He pretended to be sick, keeping his bed, so 

 that those who had any business with him could speak to him or he with 



"MotaPadilla. cap. xxxiii, 5, p. 166, says that at Sonora . . . "imiriii un fulanoTemiiio, bermannde 

 Baltasar Bafmelos, uno de los quatro minexoB de Zacatecas; Luis Hernandez, Domingo Fernandez y 

 otros." 



: Itudo Ensayo, p. 64: "Mago, en lengua Opata [of Sonora], es un arbol pequeuo, mui lozano de 

 verde, y hermoso ii la vista; pero contiene una Ieche mortal que A corta incision de su corteza brota, 

 con la que los Naturales suelen untar bus nuchas ; y por esto la Hainan hierba de la rlecha, pero ya 

 pocos lo usan. Sirbe tarabien dicba leclie para abrir tumores rebeldes, aunque no lo aconsejara, por 

 su calidad venenoso." This indicates a euphorbiacea. Candelier (Final Report, pt. i. p. 77) beHeves 

 that no credit is to be given to the notion that the poison used by the Indians may have been snake 

 poison. The Seri are the only Indians of northern Mexico who in recent times have been reported 

 to use poisoned arrows. 



3 Ternaux, p. 223: "On parvint ainsi a Petatlan, qui depend de la province de Culiacan. A cette 

 epoque, ce village etait sonmis. Mais quoique depuis il y ait eu plusieurs souleveiuents, on y resta 

 quelques jourB pour se refaire." Compare the Spanish. 



