Chapter Index

× Proem 1. Which Tells When the Fleet Sailed, and of the Officers and People Who Went with It 2. How the Governor Came to the Port of Xagua and Brought a Pilot with Him 3. How We Arrived in Florida 4. How We Entered the Land 5. How the Governor Left the Ships 6. How We Entered Apalachee 7. What the Land is Like 8. How We Left Aute 9. How We Left the Bay of Horses 10. Of Our Skirmish with the Indians 11. What Happened to Lope de Oviedo with Some Indians 12. How the Indians Brought Us Food 13. How We Found Out about Other Christians 14. How Four Christians Departed 15. What Happened to Us in the Village of Misfortune 16. How Some Christians Left the Isle of Misfortune 17. How the Indians Came and Brought Andrés Dorantes and Castillo and Estebanico 18. How He Told Esquivel's Story 19. How the Indians Left Us 20. How We Escaped 21. How We Cured Some Sick People 22. How They Brought Other Sick People to Us the Following Day 23. How We Left after Having Eaten the Dogs 24. About the Customs of the Indians of That Land 25. How the Indians Are Skilled with a Weapon 26. About the Peoples and Languages 27. How We Moved On and Were Welcomed 28. About Another New Custom 29. How They Stole from One Another 30. How the Custom of Welcoming Us Changed 31. How We Followed the Corn Route 32. How They Gave Us Deer Hearts 33. How We Saw Traces of Christians 34. How I Sent for the Christians 35. How the Mayor Received Us Well the Night We Arrived 36. How We Had Them Build Churches in That Land 37. What Happened When I Wanted to Leave 38. What Happened to the Others Who Went to the Indies
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that the Indians had come out to greet them with crosses in their hands and had taken them to their houses and given them part of what they had. They slept with the Indians there that night. Stunned by this new manner, and because the Indians told them that their security was guaranteed, Alcaraz ordered that they not be harmed. Then the Christians departed.

May it be God our Lord's will, through his infinite mercy, that in Your Majesty's lifetime and under your dominion and lordship, these peoples may come to be truly and quite willingly subject to the true Lord who created and redeemed them. We are certain that this will be so and that Your Majesty will be the one to carry it out. This will not be so difficult to achieve because throughout the two thousand leagues that we traveled overland and by boat on the sea, and during the ten months that we constantly traveled the land after we were out of captivity, we did not find any sacrifices or idolatry. During this time we traveled across from one sea to the other, and as far as we could carefully determine, the land may be about two hundred leagues across at its widest. We understand that on the southern coast there are pearls and much wealth and that the best and richest things are near that coast.

We remained in the municipality of San Miguel until May 15th. The reason we stayed such a long time was that the city of Compostela, where Governor Nuño de Guzman resided, was one hundred leagues away, and the entire stretch is desolate and filled with enemies. Some men had to go with us, including twenty horsemen who accompanied us for forty leagues. From that point onward, six Christians who had five hundred enslaved Indians with them, went with us. When we arrived in Compostela, the Governor received us very well. He gave us some of his clothing, which I could not wear for many days, and we were able to sleep only on the floor.

Ten or twelve days later we set out for Mexico City. All along the way we were treated well by Christians. Many of them would come out to the roads to see us, and they thanked God for having delivered us from so many perils.