Chronicle of the Narvaez Expedition

Cabeza de Vaca sends Lope de Oviedo, the strongest of the men, to reconnoiter the area. While searching, Oviedo finds several huts and takes a few items. Cabeza de Vaca sends three men to find Oviedo, who is being followed by three Indigenous men. Eventually, while Oviedo and the others make it back to the main group, over 100 Indigenous people show up to reinforce the original three. Afraid, Cabeza de Vaca and inspector Alonso de Solis attempt to calm the Indigenous people down by offering “beads and bells” (31). The Indigenous people offer arrowheads as a token of friendship. They tell the Europeans through signs that they will return with food and water.

The Indigenous people return as promised, bringing fish, roots, and water. In the evening they bring more; their wives and children also come to look at the foreigners. They appear to value the bells and beads highly. Cabeza de Vaca and the others decide to set sail again now that they have rested and have provisions. However, a wave capsizes the boat, drowning the inspector, and washing the others ashore “as naked as we had been born” (32). Cabeza de Vaca describes the men as emaciated: “We were in such a state that our bones could easily be counted and we looked like death itself” (32).