

592 THE CORONADO EXPEDITION, 1540-1542 [eth.akh.14 



where the Turk led us astray from the route we should have followed. 

 Thus, leaving the rest aside, we reached Tiguex, where we found the 

 rest of the army, and here the general fell while running his horse, 

 by which he received a wound on his head which gave symptoms of 

 turning out badly, and lie conceived the idea of returning, which ten 

 or twelve of us were unable to prevent by dissuading him from it. 

 When this return had been ordered, the Franciscan friars who were 

 with us — one of them a regular and the other a lay brother — who 

 were called, the regular one Friar Juan de Padilla and the lay one 

 Friar Luis de Escalona, were told to get ready, although they had per- 

 mission from their provincial so that they could remain. Friar Luis 

 wished to remain in these flat-roof houses, saying that he would raise 

 crosses for those villagers with a chisel and adze they left him, and would 

 baptize several poor creatures who could be led, on the point of death, 

 so as to send them to heaveu, for which he did not desire any other com. 

 pany than a little slave of mine who was called Christopher, to be his 

 consolation, and who he said would learn the language there quickly 

 so as to help him; and he brought up so many things in favor of this 

 that he could not be denied, and so nothing more has been heard from 

 him. The knowledge that this friar would remain there was the reason 

 that many Indians from hereabouts stayed there, and also two negroes, 

 one of them mine, who was called Sebastian, and the other one of Mel- 

 chor Perez, the son of the licentiate La Torre. This negro was married 

 and had his wife and children. I also recall that several Indians 

 remained behind in the Quivira region, besides a Tarascan belonging to 

 my company, who was named Andrew. Friar Juan de Padilla preferred 

 to return to Quivira, and persuaded them to give him those Indians 

 whom I said we had brought as guides. They gave him these, and he 

 also took a Portuguese and a free Spanish-speaking Indian, who was 

 the interpreter, and who passed as a Franciscan friar, and a half-blood 

 and two Indians from Capottan (or Capotean) or thereabouts, I believe. 

 He had brought these up and took them in the habits of friars, and he 

 took some sheep and mules and a horse and ornaments and other 

 trifles. I do not know whether it was for the sake of these or for what 

 reason, but it seems that they killed him. and those who did it were the 

 lay servants, or these same Indians whom he took back from Tiguex, 

 in return for the good deeds which he had done. When he was dead, 

 the Portuguese whom I mentioned fled, and also one of the Indians 

 that I said he took in the habits of friars, or both of them, I believe. 

 I mention this because they came back to this country of New Spain 

 by another way and a shorter route than the one of which I have told, 

 and they came out in the valley of Panico. 1 I have given Gonzalo 

 Sobs de Meras and Isidoro de Solis an account of this, because it seemed 

 to me important, according to what I say I have understood, that 



1 This is the spelling of Panuco iu both texis. 



