He told of a land
double the extent of New Spain and in situation much preferable; its
seas abounding in pearls of excellent quality and in fish of all kinds,
in quantity greater than was contained in any other discovered sea;
while in the interior of the land, some twenty days' journey to the
northwest, were people who lived in towns, wore clothes, had gold and
silver ornaments, cloaks of cotton, maize and provisions, fowls of the
country (turkeys), and of Castile (chickens); thus the Indians told him
- not only in one place but in many. He desired permission to make
another voyage, and as the late expedition had exhausted his own
resources, asked that he be granted thirty-five thousand dollars from
the royal treasury and outfitting for his ships. These advances he
agreed to repay from the first gain received by him during the voyage.
He also asked, on behalf of those who accompanied him, that the
countries brought by him into subjection to the crown be given to them
encomienda for five lives[3]; that they be made gentlemen and granted
all the favors, exemptions, and liberties that other gentlemen enjoy,
not only in the provinces of the Indies but also in Spain.
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