winship] CORONADO TO MENDOZA, AUGUST 3, 1540 559 



under 15 years or over CO, except two or three old men who remained 

 in command of all the other men and the warriors. Two points of 

 emerald and some little broken stones -which approach the color of 

 rather poor garnets ' were, found in a paper, besides other stone crystals, 

 which I gave to one of my servants to keep until they could be sent to 

 Your Lordship. He has lost them, as they tell me. We found fowls, 

 but only a few, aud yet there are some. The Indians tell me that they 

 do not eat these in any of the seven villages, but that they keep them 

 merely for the sake of procuring the feathers.- I do not believe this, 

 because they are very good, and better than those of Mexico. The 

 climate of this country and the temperature of the air is almost like 

 that of Mexico, because it is sometimes hot and sometimes it rains. I 

 have not yet seen it rain, however, except once when there fell a little 

 shower with wind, such as often falls in Spain. The snow and the 

 cold are usually very great, according to what the natives of the country 

 all say. This may very probably be so, both because of the nature 

 of the country and the sort of houses they build and the skins and 

 other things which these people have to protect them from the cold. 

 There are no kinds of fruit or fruit trees. The country is all level, aud 

 is nowhere shut in by high mountains, although there are some hills 

 and rough passages. 11 There are not many birds, probably because of 

 the cold, and because there are no mountains near. There are no trees 

 fit for firewood here, because they can bring enough for their needs from 

 a clump of very small cedars 4 leagues distaut. 4 Very good grass is 

 found a quarter of a league away, where there is pasturage for our horses 

 as well as mowing for hay, of which we had great need, because our 

 horses were so weak and feeble when they arrived. The food which 

 they eat in this country is corn, of which they have a great abundance, 

 aud beans and venison, which they probably eat (although they say 

 that they do not), because we found many skins of deer and hares aud 

 rabbits. They make the best corn cakes I have ever seen auywhere, 

 and this is what everybody ordinarily eats. They have the very best 

 arrangement aud machinery for grinding that was ever seen [plate lxiv]. 

 One of these Indian womeu here will grind as much as four of the Mexi- 

 cans. They have very good salt in crystals, which they bring from a 

 lake a day's journey distant from here. No information can be obtained 

 among them about the North sea or that on the west, nor do I know 

 how to tell Your Lordship which we are nearest to. I should judge that 

 it is nearer to the western, and 150 leagues is the nearest that it seems 

 to me it can be thither. The North sea ought to be much farther away. 

 Your Lordship may thus see how very wide the country is. They have 



'Many garnets are found on the anthills throughout the region, especially in the Navajo country. 



! The natives doubtless told the truth. Eagle and turkey feathers are still highly prized by them 

 for use in their ceremonies. 



: 'It should be noted that Coronado clearly distinguishes between hills or mesas and mountains. 

 Zuui valley is hemmed in by heights varying from 500 to 1,000 feet. 



4 Thia accords perfectly with the condition of the vegetation in Zuui valley at the present time. 



