556 THE CORONADO EXPEDITION, 1540-.542 [eth.ann.H 



the army master to go and see if there were any bad passages which 

 the Indians might be able to defend, and to seize and hold any such 

 until the next day, when I would come up. He went, and found a very 

 bad place in our way where we might have received much harm. 

 He immediately established himself there with the force which he was 

 conducting. The Indians came that very night to occupy that place so 

 as to defend it, and finding it taken, they assaulted our men. Accord- 

 ing to what I have been told, they attacked like valiant men, although 

 in the end they had to retreat in flight, because the army-master was 

 on the watch and kept his men in good order. The Indians sounded a 

 little trumpet as a sign of retreat, and did not do any injury to the 

 Spaniards. The army-master sent me notice of this the same night, so 

 that on the next day I started with as good order as I could, for we 

 were in such great need of food that I thought we should all die of hun- 

 ger if we continued to be without provisions for another day, especially 

 the Indians, since altogether we did not have two bushels of corn, and 

 so I was obliged to hasten forward without delay. The Indians lighted 

 their fires from point to point, and these were answered from a distance 

 with as good understanding as we could have shown. Thus notice was 

 given concerning how we went and where we had arrived. As soon 

 as I came within sight of this city, I sent the army- master, Don Garcia 

 Lopez, Friar Daniel and Friar Luis, and Ferrando Vermizzo, with 

 some horsemen, a little way ahead, so that they might find the Indians 

 and tell them that we were not coming to do them any harm, but to 

 defend them in the name of our lord the Emperor. The summons, in 

 the form which His Majesty commanded in his instructions, was made 

 intelligible to the people of the country by an interpreter. But they, 

 being a proud people, were little affected, because it seemed to them 

 that we were few in number, and that they would not have any difficulty 

 in conquering us. They pierced the gown of Friar Luis with an arrow, 

 which, blessed be God, did him no harm. Meanwhile I arrived with 

 all the rest of the horse and the footmen, and found a large body of 

 the Indians on the plain, who began to shoot with their arrows. In 

 obedience to the orders of Your Lordship and of the marquis, 1 1 did not 

 wish my company, who were begging me for permission, to attack them, 

 telling them that they ought not to offend them, and that what the enemy 

 was doing was nothing, and that so few people ought not to be insulted. 

 On the other hand, when the. Indians saw that we did not move, they 

 took greater courage, and grew so bold that they came up almost to the 

 heels of our horses to shoot their arrows. On this account I saw that it 

 was no longer time to hesitate, and as the priests approved the action, 

 I charged them. There was little to do, because they suddenly took to 

 flight, part running toward the city, which was near and well fortified, 

 and others toward the plain, wherever chance led them. Some Indians 



■It is possible that this is a blunder, in Ramusio'a text, for "His Majesty." The Marquis, in New 

 Spain, is always Cortes, for whom nellher Mendoza nor Coronado had any especial regard. 



