27 
Return to the Ships 
his purpose of opening communication with the army, Alargon 
concluded to return to the ships, but with the intention of try¬ 
ing once more. The second day after starting down he arrived 
at the place where the Spaniard had remained. He told him 
that he had gone “above thirty leagues into the country “ be¬ 
yond. It had taken him, before, two and a half days to reach 
the river mouth from here, so that it seems he was about four 
days going down from his farthest point. Roughly estimating 
his progress at six miles an hour for twelve hours a day, in four 
days the distance covered would be about 288 miles. He says 
he went up eighty-five leagues (this would be fifty-five the first 
time and thirty more the second), which, counting in Mexican 
leagues of two and three quarter miles each, gives a distance of 
233I miles, or about one hundred miles above the mouth of the 
Gila. This stream he does not mention. He may have taken 
it for a mere bayou, but it appears to be certain that he passed 
beyond it. He says Ulloa was mistaken by two degrees as to 
his northernmost point, and that he sailed four degrees beyond 
him. The meaning of this may be that he went four degrees 
beyond Ulloa’s false reckoning, or actually two degrees above 
the shoals where Ulloa turned back. This would take him 
to the 34th parallel, and would coincide with his eighty-five 
leagues, and also with the position of the first mountains met 
with in going up the river, the Chocolate range. Alargon was 
not so inexperienced that he would have represented eighty- 
five leagues on the course of the river as equalling four degrees 
of latitude. Had he gone to the 36th degree he would have 
passed through Black Canyon, and this is so extraordinary a 
feature that he could not have failed to note it specially. 
When Alargon arrived at the ships again he evidently had 
strong reason for abandoning his intention of returning for 
another attempt to communicate with Coronado, and he set 
sail for home. Another document says the torredo was de¬ 
stroying the ships, and this is very probable. He coasted 
down the gulf, landing frequently, and going long distances 
into the interior searching for news of Coronado, but he 
learned nothing beyond what he heard on the river. 
While he was striving to find a way of reaching the main 
