FRA MARCO AND CORONADO.

[Sidenote: 1880.]

When the children came in the next week they found Col. Ingham’s large study-table cleared from books and papers, and quite covered with a display of earthenware.

Blanche asked if there were to be an æsthetic wedding; she told him his table seemed to be covered with wedding presents.

“I do not know how the young brides would like my crockery,” said the colonel, laughing, “but you see I could fit out any of you.” There was a gigantic soup-tureen, pitchers of grotesque shapes, curious water-bottles for travellers to carry at their sides, and every sort of cup, of saucer, and tall vases. The material of some was black; of the tureen and most of the larger objects yellow ware, painted with quaint pictures of beasts and of birds and sometimes of men.

He bade them see how closely these things resembled the pottery dug from the western mounds, which he had shown them when they went with him to the Peabody Museum in Cambridge; and, at a nod from him, Tom Rising took down the first volume of Bryant’s History, which is really “Gay’s,” and which is for young people a good history of the United States. Here they found pictures of earthenware from the mounds, and the children engaged eagerly in comparing them with specimens on the table.

Over the sofa was thrown a great rug, woven or knit in black and white wool, and smaller rugs or mats of the same size hung over the chairs.

“Are they from the mounds, Uncle Fritz?”

“These are not,” said he; “these are all modern, so far as I know. Your mother, Blanche, has just now come back from Santa Barbara, and I dare say some of these hard-working people sold her some of their rugs. They keep up their native industries and sometimes come to the stations to sell their work. Through New Mexico and Arizona, the road passes quite near to the pueblos, as they are called, of these industrious Indians, who, under different names, have always held those valleys. They are people who believe in the ‘Together.’ The necessity of uniting to irrigate the land holds them together. They live in these houses, two, three, or four stories high, of which Mr. Cargill has lent us these pictures.”

And then Uncle Fritz showed them some beautiful photographic views of the “pueblos,” or villages. “Pueblos,” which originally means “peoples,” is the name which the Spaniards of Mexico give to any such town.

“By keeping together in these towns, which are almost fortresses, they have defied the roving Indians, like the Camanches and the Apaches, since Cortes’s day. Indeed, the Spaniards found them an even match.”

Then the children found that Col. Ingham had laid out for them the original records, which are still rare, of the first Spanish explorations. Eager for more gold, the viceroy Mendoça sent, as early as 1540, an expedition to discover this country under Coronado. It was a party of three hundred Spaniards with eight hundred native Mexicans.

They were tempted to it by the lying stories of Father Marco, who is one of the princes of lying.

“Four Spaniards, one of whom was a negro, named Stephen, had crossed the continent from the Gulf of Mexico, after the failure of Narvaez. You will find about them in the first volume of the Popular History there, Bryant’s. Father Marco got hold of the negro, and, under his guidance, went north from the then settled parts of Mexico. When he came home he told a grand rigmarole about these pueblos, which probably looked then very much as they look now.

“Here is a part of his letter in your dear old Hakluyt.”

Blanche read aloud what Uncle Fritz had marked for her.

[Sidenote: 1540.]

Thus I travelled three days’ journey through towns inhabited by the same people, of whom I was received as I was of those which I had passed, and came into a town of reasonable bigness, called Vacupa, where they showed me great courtesies, and gave me great store of good victuals, because the soil is very fruitful, and may be watered. This town is forty leagues distant from the sea, and because I was so far from the sea, it being two days before Passion Sunday, I determined to stay there until Easter, to inform myself of the islands, whereof I said before that I had information; and so I sent certain Indians to the sea by three several ways, whom I commanded to bring me some Indians of the sea-coast and some of those islands, that I might receive information of them; and I sent Stephen Dorantez, the negro, another way, whom I commanded to go directly northward, fifty or threescore leagues, to see if by that way he might learn any news of any notable thing which we sought to discover. And I agreed with him that if he found any knowledge of any peopled and rich country which were of great importance, that he should go no farther, but should return in person, or should send me certain Indians with that token which we were agreed upon, that if it were but a mean thing he should send me a white cross one handfull long; and if it were any great matter, one of two handsfull long; and if it were a country greater and better than Nueva España, he should send me a great cross. So the said Stephen departed from me on Passion Sunday after dinner, and within four days after the messengers of Stephen returned unto me with a great cross as high as a man, and they brought me word from Stephen that I should forthwith come away after him, for he had found people which gave him information of a very mighty Province, and that he had certain Indians in his company which had been in the said Province, and that he had sent me one of the said Indians. This Indian told me that it was thirty days’ journey from the town where Stephen was, into the first city of the said Province, which is called Cevola. He said also that there are seven great cities in this Province, all under one Lord; the houses are made of lime and stone, and are very great; and the least of them with one loft overhead, and some of them two and three lofts, and the house of the lord of the Province of four, and that all of them joined one into the other in good order, and that in the gates of the principal houses there are many Turkish stones (Turquoise stones) cunningly wrought, whereof he said they had there a great many; also that the people of this city are very well dressed, and that beyond this there are other provinces, all which are much greater than these seven cities.... I deferred my departure to follow Stephen Dorantez, because I thought he would stay for me, and also to attend the return of my messengers whom I had sent to the sea, and who returned to me Easter Day, bringing with them certain inhabitants of the sea-coast, and of two of the islands; of whom I understood that the islands mentioned were scarce of victuals, as I had learned before, and that they are inhabited by people who wear shells of pearls upon their foreheads, and they say that they have great pearls and much gold. They informed me of thirty-four islands, and that they traffic with one another upon rafts. This coast stretches northward as is to be seen. These Indians of the coast brought me certain targets made of cowhides very well dressed, which were so large that they covered them from head to foot, with a hole in the top to look out of; they are so strong that a cross-bow (as I suppose) will not pierce them....

Having considered the former report of the Indians and the evil means which I had to prosecute my voyage as I desired, I thought it not good to wilfully loose my life as Stephen did, and so I told them that God would punish those of Cevola, and that the Viceroy, when he understood what had happened, would send many Christians to chastise them, but they would not believe me, for they said that no man was able to withstand the power of Cevola; and herewithal I left them and went aside two or three stones east, and when I returned I found an Indian of mine which I had brought from Mexico, called Marcus, who wept and said to me: “Father, these men have consulted to kill us, for they say that through your and Stephen’s means their fathers are slain, and that neither man nor woman of them shall remain unslain.” Then again I divided among them certain other things which I had to appease them, whereupon they were somewhat pacified, though they still showed great grief for the people which were slain. I requested some of them to go to Cevola to see if any other Indian had escaped, with intent that they might learn news of Stephen, which I could not obtain at their hands. When I saw this I said to them that I purposed to see the city of Cevola, whatever came of it. They said that none of them would go with me. At the last, when they saw me resolute, two of the chief of them said they would go with me; with whom and with my Indians and interpreters I followed my way till I came within sight of Cevola, which is situated on a plain at the foot of a round hill, and makes sure to be a fair city, and is better situated than any that I have seen in those parts. The houses are built in order, according as the Indians told me, all made of stone with divers stories and flat roofs, as far as I could discern from a mountain, whither I ascended to view the city. The people are somewhat white, they wear apparel, and lie in beds, their weapons are bows, they have emeralds and other jewels, although they esteem none so much as turquoises, wherewith they adorn the walls of the porches of their houses, and their apparel and vessels, and they use them instead of money through all the country. Their apparel is of cotton and of ox-hides, and this is their most commendable and honorable apparel. They use vessels of gold and silver, for they have no other metal; whereof there is greater use and more abundance than in Peru, and they buy the same for turquoises in the province of the Pintados, where there are said to be mines of great abundance. Of other kingdoms I could not obtain so particular instruction. Divers times I was tempted to go thither, because I knew I could but hazard my life, and that I had offered unto God the first day that I began my journey; in the end I began to be afraid, considering in what danger I should put myself, and that if I should die the knowledge of this country should be lost, which in my judgment is the greatest and the best that hitherto has been discovered; and when I told the chief men what a goodly city Cevola seemed to me, they answered me that it was the least of the seven cities, and that Totonteac is the greatest and best of them all, because it has so many houses and people that there is no end of them. Having seen the disposition and situation of the place I thought good to name that country “el nuevo regno de San Francisco,” in which place I made a great heap of stones by the help of the Indians, and on the top thereof I set up a small slender cross because I wanted means to make a greater, and said that I set up that cross and heap in the name of the most honorable Lord Don Antonio de Mendoça, Viceroy and Captain-General of Nueva España, for the emperor our lord, in token of possession, according to my instruction; which possession I said that I took in that place of all the seven cities, and of the kingdoms of Totonteac, of Acus, and of Marata. Thus I returned with much more fear than victuals, and went until I found the people which I had left behind me with all the speed that I could make, whom I overtook in two days’ travel, and went in their company till I had passed the desert, where I was not made so much of as before; for both men and women made great lamentation for the people which were slain at Cevola, and with fear I hastened from the people of this valley and travelled ten leagues the first day, and so I went daily eight or ten leagues, without staying until I had passed the second desert, and though I was in fear yet I determined to go to the great plain, whereof I said before that I had information, being situated at the foot of the mountains, and in that place I understood that this plain is inhabited for many days’ journey toward the east, but I dared not enter into it, considering that if hereafter we should inhabit this other country of the seven cities, and the kingdoms before mentioned, that then I might better discover the same, without putting myself in hazard, and leave it for this time, that I might give relation of the things which I had seen. At the entrance of this plain I saw but seven towns only of a reasonable bigness, which were far off in a low valley, being very green and a most fruitful soil, out of which ran many rivers. I was informed that there was much gold in this valley, and that the inhabitants work it into vessels and thin plates, wherewith they strike and take off their sweat, and that they were people that will not suffer those of the other side of the plain to traffic with them, and they could not tell me the cause of it. Here I set up two crosses and took possession of the plain and valley in like sort and order as I did at other places before mentioned; and from thence I returned on my voyage with as much haste as I could make, until I came to the city of Saint Michael, in the province of Culiacan, thinking there to have found Francis Vazquez de Coronado, Governor of Nueva Galicia, and finding him not there I proceeded on my journey till I came to the city of Compostella, where I found him. I do not write here many other particularities, because they are impertinent to this matter; I only report that which I have seen, and which was told me concerning the countries through which I travelled, and of those which I had information of.

When Blanche had read so far, Uncle Fritz bade her give him the book.

“You see,” he said, “all this talk about the seven cities was very exciting to them, because they all had a legend about seven cities which had been founded by seven Portuguese bishops, ages before.

“When the Cabots came back to England from their first voyage, it was reported that they had found ‘the seven cities.’ And when this lying Father Marco reported seven cities, Mendoça thought he had found the seven cities of the seven bishops.

“Oddly enough, it seems to prove that these pueblo Indians had and have a fancy of building their towns in groups of seven. At least, there are two or three such instances.

“On the strength of this report by the Friar, Coronado started with his party. They had a long march northward parallel with the Gulf of California. They came out near the Gila River, where you will find ‘Casa Grande’ on the map. This means ‘Great House.’ It still stands, and they call it Montezuma’s house to this day. Then Coronado persevered across the desert and found the ‘seven cities.’ They were, doubtless, just such pueblos as these you have the pictures of now. He was dreadfully disappointed.”

And Uncle Fritz bade Horace Feltham read Coronado’s report.

It remains now to certify your honor of the seven cities, and of the kingdoms and provinces whereof the provincial father made report to your lordship; and to be brief, he said the truth in nothing that he reported, but all was quite contrary, saving only the names of the cities, and great houses of stone; for although they are not wrought with turquoises, nor with lime, nor bricks, yet they are very excellent good houses of four or five lofts high, wherein are good lodgings and fair chambers with lathers[15] instead of stairs, and certain cellars under the ground very good and paved, which are made for winter, they are like stones; and the lathers when they are high for their houses are in a manner movable and portable, which are taken away and set down where they please, and they are made of two pieces of wood with their stepps, as ours are. The seven cities are seven small towns, all made with these kind of houses that I speak of, and they stand all within four leagues together, and they are all called the kingdom of Civola,[16] and every one of them have their particular name, and none of them is called Civola, but altogether are called Civola; and this town which I call a city I have named Granada, as well because it is somewhat like it, and also in remembrance of your lordship. In this town where I now remain there may be some two hundred houses, all compassed with walls, and I think that with the rest of the houses which are not walled, there may be altogether five hundred. There is another town near this, which is one of the seven, and is somewhat larger than this, and another as large, and the other four are somewhat less, and I send them all painted to your lordship with the voyage; and the parchment wherein the picture is was found here with other parchments. The people of this town seem to me of a reasonable stature and witty, yet they seem not to be such as they ought, of that judgment and wit to build these houses such as they are. For the most part they are naked, except their private parts which are covered; and they have painted mantles like those which I send to your lordship. They have no cotton wool growing because the country is cold, yet they wear mantles, as your honor may see by the show thereof, and yet it is true that there was found in their houses certain yarn made of cotton wool. They wear their hair on their heads like those of Mexico, and they are well nurtured and conditioned, and they have a good quantity of turquoises, which with the rest of the goods which they had, except their corn, they had conveyed away before I came thither; for I found no women there, nor no youth under fifteen years old, nor no old folks above sixty, saving two or three old folks, who stayed behind to govern all the rest of the youth and men of war. There were found in a certain paper two points of emeralds and certain small stones broken which are in color somewhat like very bad granates, and other stones of crystal, which I gave one of my servants to lay up to send them to your lordship, and he lost them, as he told me. We found here guinea cocks, but few. The Indians tell me in all these seven cities that they do not eat them, but they keep them only for their feathers. I do not believe them, for they are excellently good, and larger than those of Mexico. The season of this country and the temperature of the air is like that of Mexico, for sometimes it is hot and it rains, but hitherto I never saw it rain, but once there fell a little shower with wind, as they are wont to fall in Spain. The snow and cold are wont to be great, as the inhabitants of the country say, and it is very likely to be so, both in respect to the manner of the country and by the fashion of their houses, and their fires and other things which this people have to protect them from the cold. There is no kind of fruit nor fruit trees. The country is all plain, and is on no side mountainous, albeit there are some hills and bad passages. There are small stores of fowl: the cause is the cold, and because the mountains are not near. There is no great store of wood, because they have sufficient wood for their fuel four leagues off in a wood of small cedars. There is most excellent grass within a quarter of a league, for our horses, as well to feed them in pasture, as to mow and make hay, whereof we stood in great need, because our horses came hither so weak and feeble. The victuals which the people of this country have is maize, whereof they have a great store, and also small white peas and venison, which by all likelihood they feed upon (though they say no) for we found many skins of deer, of hares, and of conies. They eat the best cakes that I ever saw, and everybody generally eats them. They have the finest order and way to grind that we ever saw in any place; and one Indian woman of this country will grind as much as four women of Mexico. They have most excellent salt in kernel, which they fetch from a certain lake a day’s journey from here. They have no knowledge of the North Sea, nor of the Western Sea, neither can I tell to which we be nearest. But in reason they should seem to be nearest to the Western Sea, and at the least I think I am an hundred and fifty leagues from thence, and the Northern Sea should be much farther off. Your lordship may see how broad the land is here. Here are many sorts of beasts, bears, tigers, lions, porcupines, and certain sheep as big as an horse, with very great horns and little tails. I have seen their horns so big that it is a wonder to see their greatness. Here are also wild goats, whose beards likewise I have seen, and the paws of bears and the skins of wild boars. There is game of deer, ounces, and very large stags, and all men are of opinion that there are some bigger than that beast which your lordship bestowed upon me, which once belonged to John Melaz. They travel eight days’ journey into certain plains lying toward the North Sea. In this country there are certain skins well dressed, and they dress them and paint them where they kill their oxen, so they say themselves.

“The salt,” said Uncle Fritz, “was from the great Salt Lake, or some place near it. As for the cakes, see what Lieut. Bourke writes to me. He is in our army now, and has lived among the Moquis, who, as he thinks, still inhabit the towns which Coronado called ‘Cibola.’”

And Fergus read from Lieut. Bourke’s letter:--

[Sidenote: 1874.]

“The Moquis still make very good cakes and still use the stone ‘metals’ for grinding corn and seeds as their ancestors did in 1541. Their meal is reddish and purplish in color, and the bread or cake is baked as a thin sheet, thinner than pie-crust, and afterwards rolled into the shape of a banana. When I visited them with General Crook in 1874, they used, besides corn, grass-seeds, acorns, and the seeds of sunflowers, which they cultivated in large fields.”