the mainland, they found another of our men named Francisco de León, and all thirteen went along the coast. Once they had been brought across, the Indians who held me told me about it, and how Jerónimo de Alániz and Lope de Oviedo remained on the island. My illness prevented me from seeing them or following them.

I had to stay with these same Indians from the island for over a year. Because they worked me so hard and treated me so poorly, I decided to flee from them and go to those that live in the forests and mainland, a people called the Charruco. I could not bear the kind of life I had with them. Among many other afflictions, in order to eat I had to pull the roots from the ground under the water among the canes where they grew. My fingers were so worn by this that a light brush with a piece of straw would cause them to bleed. And the canes cut me in many places because many of them were broken and I had to go among them with the clothing that I have said I was wearing. For this reason I went over to the other Indians and fared a bit better with them. I became a trader and tried to ply my trade the best I could. Because of this they fed me and treated me well, asking me to go from one place to another for things they needed, since people do not travel or trade much in that land because of the continuous warfare that goes on.

With my trading and wares I went as far inland as I wanted and I would travel the coast for a distance of forty or fifty leagues. The main items of my trade were pieces of sea snails and their insides, and seashells which they use to cut a certain fruit that looks like a bean, used by them for medicinal purposes and for dances and festivals (and this is the thing they value most), sea beads and other things. These are what I carried inland, and in exchange and barter I received hides and red ochre, which they rub on their faces and hair to dye them, flints for arrowheads, paste and stiff canes to