huatlan"--place
of women), near to which was an island inhabited
by warlike females exclusively.[7] The usual exaggerations
about metallic wealth were added to this report; and when, in
1529, Nuno de Guzman governed Mexico he set out northwards,
first to conquer the sedentary Indians of Michhuacan,
and then to search for the gold and jewels of the Amazons.[8]
It was while on this foray that he heard of the Seven Cities in
connection with Ciguatan. This latter place was reached;
and, while the fancies concerning it were speedily dispelled
by reality, those concerning the Seven Cities flitted further
north.[9] Guzman overran, laid waste, and finally colonized
Sinaloa. He sent parties into Sonora; but, after his recall,
slow colonization superseded military forays on a large scale,
at least for a few years.

During this time, Pamfilo de Narvaez had undertaken the
colonization of Florida.[10] His scheme failed, and cost him
his life. Of the few survivors of his expedition, four only
remained in the American continent, wandering to and fro
among the tribes of the south-west. After nine years of untold
hardships, these four men finally reached Sonora, having
traversed the continent, from the Gulf of Mexico to the
coast of the Pacific. The name of the leader and subsequent
chronicler of their adventures was Alvar Nunez Cabeza de
Vaca.[11]

It is not possible to follow and to trace, geographically,
the erratic course of Cabeza de Vaca with any degree of certainty.
His own tale, however authentic, is so confused[12] that
it becomes utterly impossible to establish any details of location.
We only know that, in the year A.D. 1536, he and
his associates finally met with their own countrymen about
Culiacan.[13]

They reported that, when their shiftings had cast them far
to the west of the sinister coast of what was then called "Florida,"
settlements of Indians were reached which presented a
high degree of culture.[14] These settlements they described as
having a character of permanence, but we look in vain for any
accurate description of the buildings, or of the material of
which they were composed.[15] For such a report of important
settlements in the north, the mind of the Spanish conquerors
in Mexico was, as we have already intimated, well prepared.

During their stay among the nondescript tribes of South-western
North America, Cabeza de Vaca and his companions
had tried to scatter the seeds of Christianity,--at least,