Chronicle of the Narvaez Expedition

The magistrate Melchor Diaz receives Cabeza de Vaca and the others magnanimously, praising God for their preservation and entreating Cabeza de Vaca to remain for a while. Diaz wants Cabeza de Vaca to convince the Indigenous people to resettle the land. When Cabeza de Vaca meets with some Indigenous chiefs, Diaz informs them about the importance of converting, and the Indigenous people agree to become “very good Christians and serve God” (99). Diaz explains that the Indigenous God (Aguar) is the same as the Christian God; he informs the Indigenous people that should more Europeans come, they should meet them with crosses—this way, “the Christians would do them no harm, but be their friends” (100).

The Europeans instruct the Indigenous people to build churches in their villages and baptize the children of the chiefs. The enslavers in turn pledge before God not to raids or capture any Indigenous people in the countryside, unless His Majesty, the governor, Nuño de Guzman, or the viceroy “ordained something better adapted to the service of God and of His Majesty” (101).

Cabeza de Vaca and the others then travel on to San Miguel, where Captain Alcaraz tells them that many Indigenous families are returning from the mountains and resettling the land.