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summary
This book is one of the great first-person accounts of the Spanish conquest of the Americas in the sixteenth century. Morrow’s new translation makes Cabeza deVaca’s adventures available to a wide English-speaking audience for the first time.

Table of Contents

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  1. Front Cover
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  1. Title Page
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  1. Copyright
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  1. Contents
  2. pp. vii-xi
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  1. Translator’s Note
  2. pp. xiii-xx
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  1. Translator’s Acknowledgments
  2. p. xxi
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  1. 1: A Word About the Commentaries of
  2. pp. 1-2
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  1. 2: We Leave the Island of Cape Verde
  2. pp. 3-4
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  1. 3: The Governor and His Fleet Arrive at Santa Catalina, in Brazil, Where the Company Disembarks
  2. pp. 5-6
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  1. 4: Nine Christians Come to the Island
  2. pp. 7-8
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  1. 5: The Governor Makes Haste on His Journey
  2. pp. 9-10
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  1. 6: The Governor and His People Begin Their First Ventures into the Interior
  2. pp. 11-12
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  1. 7: What the Governor and His People Went By Along the Road, and What Sort of Country It Is
  2. pp. 13-16
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  1. 8: Hardships Along the Way for the Governor and His People, and the Kinds of Pines and Pine Cones in That Land
  2. pp. 17-18
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  1. 9: The Explorers Starve, but Save Themselves with Worms, Which They Get from Some Canes
  2. pp. 19-21
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  1. 10: The Indians Are Afraid of Horses
  2. pp. 22-23
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  1. 11: The Governor Travels by Canoe on the R
  2. pp. 24-26
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  1. 12: They Make Rafts to Carry the Sick
  2. pp. 27-28
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  1. 13: The Governor Arrives at the City of Asunci
  2. pp. 29-31
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  1. 14: The Spaniards Who had Fallen Ill on the R
  2. pp. 32-33
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  1. 15: The Governor Sends Help to the People Who Had Gone in His Flagship to Buenos Aires to Assist in the Resettlement of That Port
  2. pp. 34-35
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  1. 16: They Kill the Enemies They Capture, and Then Eat Them
  2. pp. 36-37
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  1. 17: The Governor Concludes a Peace with the Agaces Tribe
  2. pp. 38-40
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  1. 18: The Settlers Complain About Your Majesty’s Officials to the Governor
  2. p. 41
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  1. 19: They Complain About the Guaycuru Indians to the Governor
  2. p. 42
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  1. 20: The Governor Asks for More Details About the Complaint
  2. pp. 43-45
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  1. 21: The Governor and His People Cross the River, and Two Christians Drown
  2. pp. 46-47
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  1. 22: Spies Go Out by Order of the Governor to Follow the Guaycuru Indians
  2. pp. 48-49
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  1. 23: Following the Enemy, the Governor is Advised that They Are Just Ahead
  2. pp. 50-51
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  1. 24: A Jaguar Causes an Uproar Between the Spaniards and the Indians
  2. pp. 52-53
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  1. 25: The Governor and His Men Catch Up with the Enemy
  2. pp. 54-56
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  1. 26: The Governor Breaks His Enemies
  2. pp. 57-58
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  1. 27: The Governor Returns to the City of Asunci
  2. pp. 59-60
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  1. 28: The Agaces Indians Break the Peace
  2. pp. 61-62
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  1. 29: The Governor Sets One of the Guaycuru Prisoners Free and Sends Him to Fetch the Others
  2. p. 63
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  1. 30: The Guaycurues Come to Give Their Allegiance to His Majesty
  2. pp. 64-65
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  1. 31: The Governor, Making Peace with the Guaycurues, Returns His Prisoners
  2. pp. 66-67
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  1. 32: The Aperues Indians Come to Make Peace and Give Their Allegiance
  2. pp. 68-69
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  1. 33: Sentence Is Passed on the Agaces, with an Opinion Offered by the Clerics, the Captains, and Your Majesty’s Officials
  2. p. 70
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  1. 34: The Governor Again Helps the People of Buenos Aires
  2. pp. 71-73
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  1. 35: Three Christians and Some Indians Come Back from Their Explorations
  2. p. 74
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  1. 36: Boards Are Cut for Brigantines and a Caravel
  2. p. 75
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  1. 37: The Indians of the Countryside Return to Be of Service
  2. pp. 76-79
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  1. 38: The Town of Asunci
  2. pp. 80-81
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  1. 39: The Return of Domingo de Irala
  2. pp. 82-84
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  1. 40: What Gonzalo de Mendoza Wrote
  2. pp. 85-86
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  1. 41: The Governor Helps Gonzalo de Mendoza’s Men
  2. p. 87
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  1. 42: Four Christians Die of Their Wounds in a War
  2. pp. 88-89
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  1. 43: The Friars Flee
  2. pp. 90-91
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  1. 44: The Governor Takes Four Hundred Men on His Expedition
  2. pp. 92-93
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  1. 45: The Governor Leaves Behind the Supplies He Is Carrying
  2. p. 94
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  1. 46: He Pauses to Talk with the Natives of That Port
  2. pp. 95-97
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  1. 47: He Sends for an Interpreter for the Payaguaes
  2. p. 98
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  1. 48: The Horses Embark from the Port
  2. pp. 99-100
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  1. 49: How They Killed Juan de Ayolas and His Companions When They Came to This Port
  2. pp. 101-103
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  1. 50: The Interpreter and the Others Who Were Supposed to Return Fail to Do So
  2. pp. 104-107
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  1. 51: The Guaxarapos Parley with the Governor
  2. pp. 108-109
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  1. 52: The Indians of That Country Come to Live Along the Banks of the River
  2. pp. 110-112
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  1. 53: They Put Three Crosses at the Mouth of This River
  2. pp. 113-115
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  1. 54: The Indian Farmers of Puerto Reyes
  2. pp. 116-118
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  1. 55: How Garcia’s Indians Populated This Place
  2. p. 119
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  1. 56: The Governor Speaks with the Chaneses
  2. pp. 120-121
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  1. 57: The Governor Looks for Garcia’s Indians
  2. p. 122
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  1. 58: The Governor Speaks to the Officials and Lets Them Know What Is Happening
  2. pp. 123-124
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  1. 59: The Governor Sends Word to the Xarayes
  2. pp. 125-129
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  1. 60: The Interpreters Return from Seeing the Xarayes Indians
  2. pp. 130-132
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  1. 61: The Governor Resolves to Set Off on His Exploration
  2. pp. 133-134
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  1. 62: The R
  2. pp. 135-136
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  1. 63: The Governor Sends Men to Look for a House That Lies Ahead
  2. pp. 137-138
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  1. 64: The Interpreter Comes Back from the Little House
  2. pp. 139-140
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  1. 65: The Governor and His Men Return to the Port
  2. p. 141
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  1. 66: How They Wanted to Kill the Men Who Had Stayed Behind in Puerto Reyes
  2. pp. 142-143
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  1. 67: The Governor Orders Captain Mendoza to Search for Provisions
  2. pp. 144-145
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  1. 68: The Governor Sends Captain Ribera in a Brigantine to Explore the River of the Xarayes
  2. pp. 146-148
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  1. 69: Captain Francisco de Ribera Returns from His Expedition
  2. p. 149
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  1. 70: Captain Francisco de Ribera Gives an Account of His Exploration
  2. pp. 150-154
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  1. 71: The Governor Sends for Captain Gonzalo de Mendoza
  2. pp. 155-157
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  1. 72: Hernando de Ribera Returns from His Exploration Along the River
  2. p. 158
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  1. 73: What Happened to the Governor and His People in Puerto Reyes
  2. pp. 159-161
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  1. 74: The Governor and His Men Arrive in Asunci
  2. pp. 162-165
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  1. 75: The People Gather in Front of Domingo de Irala’s House
  2. pp. 166-167
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  1. 76: Turbulence and Uproar Abound in the Land
  2. pp. 168-169
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  1. 77: The Governor Is Held Prisoner in a Very Harsh Jail
  2. pp. 170-171
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  1. 78: The Insurgents Plunder the Land and Take Its Estates by Force
  2. pp. 172-173
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  1. 79: The Friars Flee Again
  2. pp. 174-175
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  1. 80: How They Put Everyone Not of Their Opinion on the Rack
  2. p. 176
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  1. 81: They Want to Kill an Alderman Because of the Request He Made of Them
  2. pp. 177-178
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  1. 82: The Insurgents Allow the Indians to Eat Human Flesh
  2. pp. 179-180
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  1. 83: They Write to Your Majesty and Send on Their Account
  2. pp. 181-183
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  1. 84: The Governor Is Poisoned Three Times with Arsenic While He Is on the Road
  2. pp. 184-187
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  1. Postscript: The Account of Hernando de Ribera Made Before Pedro Hern
  2. pp. 188-194
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  1. Appendix: Original Preliminary Remarks (the Prohemio) by Cabeza de Vaca
  2. pp. 195-200
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  1. [Image Plates]
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  1. Notes
  2. pp. 211-227
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  1. Suggestions for Further Reading
  2. pp. 229-232
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  1. Index
  2. pp. 233-240
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  1. Back Cover
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