they replied that all had died of cold and starvation and that the Indians up ahead had killed Diego Dorantes, Valdivieso and Diego de Huelva for sport when the men went from one lodge to another. They also said that other Indians, their neighbors, had killed Esquivel and Méndez" because of a dream they had, and that Captain Dorantes was now with them. We inquired about thecondition of the surviving men. They told us that they were mistreated very much, because boys and other Indians among them, that are very lazy and mean, kicked and slapped them, and beat them with sticks. Such was the kind of life they led among them.

We inquired about the land ahead and what was in it to sustain us. They replied that it was very sparsely populated, with no food, and a place where people died of exposure to the cold, since they had no hides or other coverings. They also told us that if we wanted to see those three Christians, the Indians that held them were coming in two days to eat nuts a league from there on the bank of that river. And so that we should know that they had told us the truth about the mistreatment of the others, they slapped and beat my companion and gave me my share too. They also threw many lumps of dirt at us. Every day they would hold arrows to our hearts, saying they wanted to kill us as our other companions had been killed. Fearing this, Lope de Oviedo, my companion, said that he wanted to return with some of the women of the Indians with whom we had crossed the inlet and whom we had left behind. I argued with him not to do it and pleaded with him to no end, for I was unable to stop him. So he tumed back and I stayed by myself with those Indians called the Quevenes. The ones with whom he went are called the Deaguanes.

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

How the Indians Came and Brought Andrés Dorantes and Castillo and Estebanico