La Relación - page 102

La Relación - page 102

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.

Cabeza de Vaca

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