rk, and he was so tormented with
arrows and battered with stones as he sought to ascend that he was wounded
and had to be carried from the field. Others were injured and three horses
were killed, but in less than an hour the place was carried, the warriors
retreating in dismay before the impetuous assault.

Glad enough were the soldiers to occupy the deserted houses. Their food
had given out and they were half starved, but in the store-rooms they
found "that of which there was greater need than of gold or silver, which
was much corn and beans and chickens, better than those of New Spain, and
salt, the best and whitest I have seen in all my life." The chickens seem
to have been wild turkeys, kept by the natives for their plumage. But of
the much-desired gold and silver there was not a trace.

The story of all the adventures of the Spaniards in this country is too
extended and not of enough interest to be given here. It must suffice to
say that before their eyes the Seven Cities of Cibola faded into phantoms,
or rather contracted into villages of terraced houses like that they had
captured. Food was to be had, but none of the hoped-for spoil, even the
turquoises of which so much had been told proving to be of little value.
Expeditions were sent out in different directions, some of them
discovering lofty, tower-like hills, with villages on their almost
inaccessible summits, the only approach being by narrow steps cut in the
rock. Others came upon deep canons, one of them discovering the wonderful
Grand Canon of the Colorado River. In the country of Tiguex were twelve
villages built of adobe, some on the plain and some on the lofty heights.
The people here received the Spaniards peaceably and with much show of
welcome.

In Tiguex was found an Indian slave, called by the Spaniards El Turco,
from his resemblance to the Turks, who said he had come from a rich
country in the east, where were numbers of great animals with shaggy
manes,--evidently the buffalo or bison, now first heard of. Some time
later, being brought into the presence of Coronado, El Turco had a more
wonderful story to tell, to the effect that "In his land there was a river
in the level country which was two leagues wide, in which were fishes as
big as horses, and large numbers of very big canoes with more than twenty
rowers on a side, and carrying sails; and their lords sat on the poop
under awnings, and on the prow they had a great golden eagle. He said also