Expedition Into Texas, 1675 



345 



guages, these being Don Lazaro Au- 

 gustin, governor of the pueblo of San 

 Miguel de Luna, of the town of Guada- 

 lupe, of this province, and Pascual, an 

 Indian. These chiefs were each asked 

 questions apart from each other to see 

 if what they said agreed, and they all 

 said that they were heathen, without 

 knowledge of the true God or what He 

 was ; nor did they know anything of the 

 true way of salvation and were without 

 light in regard to it ; that they wished 

 to become Christians and to be baptized 

 with their children and their wives and to 

 live as such in the settlement or settle- 

 ments in which they might be placed, 

 and though they were too old to enjoy it 

 themselves, their children could, and 

 they would raise them as Christians and 

 they would continue in the same way, 

 and from this time the}' gave their alle* 

 giance to the king, our master, Don 

 Carlos II, and the)' would be friends to 

 the Spaniards. At this they all shouted, 

 " Viva, Viva, Viva, the King, our 

 master!" and from what I observed, 

 with much sincerity and zeal. In the 

 name of the king I received them under 

 the royal protection, and assured them 

 on the part of the king that all would 

 be accomplished, and I demanded that 

 on their part they should live quietly 

 and peaceably and assemble for cate- 

 chism at the place most convenient to 

 them. Because of the distance from 

 their habitations and of the dissensions 

 that existed between the barbarous 

 tribes in the territory, the one against 

 the other, and which lead to their kill- 

 ing each other, and not having the 

 means of feeding so many people my- 

 self, I told them to remain for the pres- 

 ent in the most convenient place. They 

 said through the interpreter that they 

 would do so. Their people came up 

 and went and kissed the sleeves of the 

 habits of the missionaries, Fathers Juan 

 Larios and Dionisio de San Buena- 

 ventura, and asked permission to give 

 them an offering- of what thev had, in 



thanksgiving to God for having opened 

 to them the way of truth. They then 

 placed on the ground, some a piece of 

 lard, some a piece of tallow, and others 

 the skins of animals, such as they use 

 for clothing, beds, and covering. 



In said place and river of San Isidro, 

 in said province, on the 16th day of 

 May, 1675, we erected a portable altar 

 with fittings for the purpose of cele- 

 brating mass, and at the sound of a little 

 bell all the people came to be present at 

 it and to hear mass chanted by Father 

 Juan Larios. All the people attended, 

 and when it was over they begged 

 Father Larios to baptize them. He 

 made them understand by the inter- 

 preter that he could not do this until 

 they had learned the prayers, and he 

 consoled them by baptizing fifty-five 

 children at the breast, the Spaniards 

 being sponsors for them. Religious 

 instruction was given them, andacount, 

 was made of those with the four chiefs 

 and the}' numbered four hundred and 

 twenty-five warriors and seven hundred 

 and forty-seven women and children of 

 all ages, making a total of one thousand 

 one hundred and seventy-two. 



At said place of San Isidro, on said 

 day, month, and year, I, the lieutenant 

 of the alcalde maior, installed in pos- 

 session of his ministry, as comiserio 

 misionero, Father Juan Larios, in ac- 

 cordance with the royal provision. 



On said day, month, and year, and at 

 said place, before me, said lieutenant of 

 the alcalde maior, appeared an Indian 

 of the Guiequesale nation, and brought 

 into my presence a Spanish boy, who 

 appeared to be about twelve years old. 

 He had a line on his face, marking him 

 from his forehead to his nose, and two 

 lines on his cheeks, one on each, and 

 rows of them on his left arm and one 

 on the right. Having examined said 

 Indian through the interpreter, D. La- 

 zaro Augustiu, and the Indian, Pascual, 

 also an interpreter, he said, being asked 

 where he had gotten the Spanish boy, 



