we should not be saddened by it, because they were so glad to see us that they considered their belongings well spent. They said they would be repaid later on by others who were very rich.

We had a great deal of difficulty all along the way because so many people were following us. We couldn't escape them even if we tried, because they were in a great hurry to reach us and touch us. They were so insistent about this that sometimes three hours would go by and still we could not make them leave us alone. The following day they brought us all the people of the village. Most of them were clouded in one eye and others totally blind because of the same cause, which astonished us. They are very well built people with fine features, whiter than any others we had seen.

Here we began to see mountains, which seemed to come all the way from the North Sea. From the information the Indians gave us about this, we believe that they are fifteen leagues from the sea. We left with these Indians towards this mountain range. They led us through a place where their kinsmen lived, since they wanted to take us only to places where their kinfolks lived. They did not want their enemies to profit even from seeing us. When we arrived, the people who led us there looted the others. Since they were familiar with the custom, they had hidden some things before we arrived. After they had welcomed us with much festivity and rejoicing, they retrieved what they had hidden and came to present it to us. The items were beads, red ochre and some small bags of silver. Following the custom, we gave it to the Indians who had come with us. Once they had given it to us, they began their dances and festivities and sent for others from a neighboring village to come see us. That afternoon they all came, bringing us beads and bows and other things that we distributed.

The following day when we wanted to leave, everybody wanted to take us to where some friends of theirs