Coronado, not wishing to subject all his companions to suffering, but
eager still to reach the fabled Quivira, at length sent all his followers
back except thirty horsemen and six foot-soldiers, with whom he continued
his journey to the north, the bisons supplying them with abundance of
food.
For six weeks they marched onward, crossing at the end of thirty days a
wide stream, which is thought to have been the Arkansas River, and at last
reached Quivira, which seems to have lain in the present State of Kansas.
A pleasing land it was of hills and dales and fertile meadows, but in
place of El Turco's many-storied stone houses, only rude wigwams were to
be seen, and the civilized people proved to be naked savages. The only
yellow metal seen was a copper plate worn by one of the chiefs and some
bells of the same substance. The utmost Coronado could do was to set up a
cross and claim this wide region in the name of his master; and his chief
satisfaction was in strangling El Turco for his many embellished lies.
We shall not describe the return journey, though it was not lacking in
interesting incidents.
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