ll thoughts of taking the chief
command himself, as the affairs of his own province required his
immediate presence there; nevertheless, he was desirous of being present
at the departure of the armament, for which purpose he journeyed
overland to the harbour of Natividad, where all the vessels lay in
readiness, and only awaited his commands for setting sail.

Just as he was about to issue these commands, he received a letter from
Christobal de Onate, whom, as I have above stated, Vasquez Coronado,
during his absence in Cibola, had appointed governor of Xalisco. In this
letter Onate stated that he was threatened on all sides by large bodies
of Indians, who had, in particular, taken up a strong position on the
mountains of Chochitlan, and had killed a considerable number of his
troops; and that, if he did not receive immediate assistance, he must be
cut off, with the whole of his men. In short, Onate drew so dreadful a
picture of the posture of affairs, that the whole of New Spain itself
seemed to be threatened with destruction, if the Indians could march
down victorious from their strong position on the heights. Alvarado, on
receiving this intelligence, hastened with a large body of troops to
Onate's assistance, whom he indeed found in so perilous a position, that
if this timely help had not come, the Indians would very shortly have
mastered his small body of troops. After Alvarado's arrival the enemy
did not repeat their attacks so often, yet they fought with great
courage each time the combat was renewed. It was in one of these
engagements between the rocky mountains that a horse stumbled, and
rolled headlong down a steep declivity. Alvarado, who happened to be
ascending the same height, was unable to get out of the way of the
rolling horse, which carried him down, and lay upon him, when both
reached the bottom, so that his body was bruised all over, and he found
himself very ill. However, the bruises he had received were not
considered dangerous, and he was conveyed in a sedan to the neighbouring
town de la Purificacion for medical aid, but on his way thither he had
frequent swoons, and scarcely a few days elapsed before he rendered up
his spirit to God, after he had partaken of the holy communion, and made
his confession. Some persons even maintained that he left a will, but
nothing was ever seen of it.

This excellent cavalier would, no doubt, have survived, if he had not
been carried to the town in the weak state