550 THE CORONADO EXPEDITION, 1540-1542 [eth.ann.14 



The men weave cloth and spin cotton. They have salt from a marshy- 

 lake, which is two clays from the province of Cibola. 1 The Indians 

 have their dances and songs, with some flutes which have holes on 

 which to put the fingers. They make much noise. Tbey sing in unison 

 with those who play, and those who sing clap their hands in our fash- 

 ion. One of the Indians that accompanied the negro Esteban, who 

 had been a captive there, saw the playing as they practiced it, and 

 others singing as I have said, although not very vigorously. They 

 say that five or six play together, and that some of the flutes are 

 better than others. 2 They say the country is good for corn and beans, 

 and that they do not have any fruit trees, nor do they know what 

 such a thing is. 3 They have very good mountains. The country lacks 

 water. They do not raise cotton, but bring it from Totonteac. 4 They 

 eat out of flat bowls, like the Mexicans. They raise considerable corn 

 and beans and other similar things."' They do not know what sea fish 

 is, nor have they ever heard of it. I have not obtained any information 

 about the cows, except that these are found beyond the province of 

 Cibola. There is a great abundance of wild goats, of the color of bay 

 horses; there are many of these here where I am, and although I have 

 asked the Indians if those are like these, they tell me no. Of the 

 seven settlements, they describe three of them as very large; four not 

 so big. They describe them, as I understand, to be about three cross- 

 bow shots square for each place, and from what the Indians say, and 

 their descriptions of the houses and their size, and as these are close 

 together, and considering that there are people in each house, it ought to 

 make a large multitude. Totonteac is declared to be seven short days 

 from the province of Cibola, and of the same sort of houses and people, 

 and they say that cotton grows there. I doubt this, because they tell 

 me that it is a cold country. They say that there are twelve villages, 

 every one of which is larger than the largest at Cibola. They also tell 

 me that there is a village which is one day from Cibola, and that the 

 two are at war. 6 They have the same sort of houses and people and 

 customs. They declare this to be greater than any of those described; 

 I take it that there is a great multitude of people there. They are very 

 well known, on account of having these houses and abundance of food 

 and turquoises. I have not been able to learn more than what I have 



^he same salt lake from which the Zufus obtain their salt supply today. 



'Compare with this hearsay description of something almost unknown to the Spaniards, the thor- 

 oughly scientific descriptions of the Hopi dances and ceremonials recorded by Dr J. Walter Fewkes. 



*The peaches, watermelons, cantaloupes, and grapes, now so extensively cultivated by the Pueblos, 

 were introduced early in the seventeenth century by the Spanish missionaries. 



d At first glance it seems somewhat strange that although Zuiii is considerably more than 100 miles 

 south of Totonteac, or Tusayan, the people of the former villages did not cultivate cotton, but in this 

 I am reminded by Mr Hodge that part of the Tusayan people are undoubtedly of southern origin and 

 that in all probability they introduced cotton into that group of villages. The Pimas raised cotton 

 as late as 1850. None of the Pueblos now cultivate the plant, the introduction of cheap fabrics by 

 traders having doubtless brought the industry to an end. See page 574. 



; "Y otras simillas como chia" is the Spanish text. 



'Doubtless the pueblo of Marata (Makyata) mentioned by Marcos de Niza. This village was situ- 

 ated near the salt lake and had been destroyed by the Zunis some years before Niza visited New Mexico. 



