to do those things to them. We assured them that as long as we were in their land he would not dare to appear. They were greatly relieved by this and lost much of their fear.

These Indians told us that they had seen the Asturian and Figueroa on the coast with other Indians, the ones that we called Indians of the Figs. None of these peoples reckoned time by the sun or the moon, nor did they keep track of the month or the year. But they do understand and know about the different seasons when fruits ripen or fish die. They are very skilled and practiced in knowing when stars appear. We were always treated well by these people, although we had to dig for our food and carry our share of water and firewood. Their dwellings and foods are like those of the previous groups we encountered, although they suffer more hunger because they have no corn, acorns or nuts. We always walked around nude with them, covering ourselves at night with deerskins. We were very hungry for six of the eight months we spent with them. Another thing they lack is fish.

At the end of this time, the prickly pears were beginning to ripen and we left without being noticed by them, for others further ahead called the Maliacones. They were a day's journey from there. The black man and I reached them, and after three days I sent him to bring Castillo and Dorantes. When they arrived, we all departed with the Indians, who were going to eat some small fruits that grow on trees, their only food for ten or twelve days while waiting for the prickly pears. There they joined other Indians called the Arbadaos, whom we noticed were very sick, emaciated and swollen, such that we were very astonished. The Indians with whom we had come returned the same way they had come, but we told them that we wanted to stay with these others, which saddened them. So we stayed in the wilderness with those others near their dwellings. When they saw us, they got together after having talked