Chronicle of the Narvaez Expedition

The Europeans travel towards the sunset for 17 days with little to eat. They come across a group of Indigenous people who eat powdered straw for one third of the year due to the scarcity of food in the region. They then find a much more prosperous group, whose permanent houses contain plenty of corn, beans, squash, and cotton blankets. From there, they travel 100 leagues to another set of houses, whose inhabitants want the Europeans to make the sign of the cross over them and give them many gifts. The Indigenous people believe the Europeans come from Heaven: “What they do not understand or is new to them they are wont to say comes from above” (87). The Europeans teach the many different peoples they encounter about Christianity.

In one village, the Indigenous people give Dorantes 600 hearts of deer. People south of this village eat predominantly powdered foxtail grass, straw, and fish. Further south, near the coast, there are many peoples who grow three types of beans and corn and use a very toxic poison from a tree. When Castillo notices an Indigenous man with a sword belt buckle, the Europeans learn that another group of Europeans often raids the area. Saddened and overjoyed to hear about others like them, Cabeza de Vaca and the others are worried that Indigenous people might take revenge on them “in retaliation for what the Christians did to [the Indigenous people]” (90). But this is not the case, and they are continually treated well by those they encounter.

Their followers send out messengers to gather as many people as possible, though they find very few Indigenous people—many are hiding from the other European group, who might kill or enslave them. There are many signs of gold and other metals in the area, though the inhabitants of permanent dwellings have no interest in gold or silver.

Cabeza de Vaca, Estevanico, and 11 Indigenous people go out to search for the other Europeans, while Dorantes and Castillo remain behind. Cabeza de Vaca travels ten leagues before he comes across white horsemen who are astonished to find him dressed as and in the company of Indigenous people and escort him to their commander, Diego de Alcazar. Cabeza de Vaca informs him about Dorantes, Castillo, and the Indigenous followers. Alcazar sends out three horsemen and 50 Indigenous people; Estevanico goes along as guide. Cabeza de Vaca asks for a certified statement of the date and his physical condition.

Diego de Alcazar asks Cabeza de Vaca to send word to any Indigenous people still in hiding to come and bring supplies. Cabeza de Vaca quarrels with the European enslavers over their treatment of the Indigenous people. After Cabeza de Vaca tells the Indigenous people to go back to their villages, the other Europeans try to persuade the Indigenous people to ignore him. However, the Indigenous people will only listen to Cabeza de Vaca: “In short, they recalled all our deeds, and praised them highly, contrasting them with the conduct of the others” (96). With some difficulty, Cabeza de Vaca convinces the Indigenous people that they should return home. He claims that the Indigenous people will now live peacefully and productively—if not, it will be the fault of the Europeans. Still, although Cabeza de Vaca does his best to ensure the freedom of the Indigenous people, the other Europeans raid and capture those going back to their homes.