1. Three days had Aguirre been on his march, when he fell in with a mining settlement, where gold was extracted; but the inhabitants and their negro workmen had fled. In the hurry of flight a large quantity of maize was left behind in a hut, of which Aguirre was glad, for his party wanted provisions; still, he would have been better pleased had he been able to lay hands on the negro miners, and add them to a party of twenty others he had with him under their captain, for he trusted that the negros would be of much use to him in his projected warlike encounters, for he had already well schooled these negros, and had told them they were free. He allowed them the same licence as the Spaniards, to commit every species of enormity, and they exceeded the doings of the white men in robberies, cruelties, and murders.

After a day's rest, Aguirre continued his route, when very heavy rains fell, soaking his people to the skin, and causing the track up the mountains to be so slippery that the unshod laden animals were continually slipping and falling, and even rolling backwards, to the great inconvenience of the soldiers.