Note 1423 — Chapter VII

Castañeda, however, relates the circumstances of Stephen’s death somewhat differently, stating that the negro and his party, on their arrival at Cibola, were shut up in a house outside the city, while for three days the chiefs continued to question him about the object of his coming. When told that he was a messenger from two white men, who had been sent by a powerful prince to instruct them in heavenly things, they would not believe that a black man could possibly have come from a land of white men, and they suspected him of being the spy of some nation that wished to subjugate them. Moreover, the negro had the assurance to demand from them their property and their women; upon which they resolved to put him to death, without, however, harming any of those with him, all of whom, with the exception of a few boys, were sent back, to the number of sixty. (Relation, p. 12.) This latter statement, as well as that in relation to the libidinous practices of the negro, are confirmed by Coronado. Relation; Hakluyt’s Collection of Voyages (Principall Navigations), iii. 454.