}It/aria de Agreda, tlze /mnano, and the Tejas
205
pearls. Although these gems, being found in fresh water, were not of the finest quality, they were, nevertheless, pearls, declares the chronicler. The Jumanos were friendly and furnished the Spaniards ample provisions. In accord with their instructions, the two captains explored the country in the vicinity of the present Concho, and traveled down this river "towards the east and inclining to the south through the lands of the Cuitaos, Escanjaques, and Aijados. After having proceeded about fifty leagues, they came to the borders of the nation called Tejas, which they did not enter, because they realized its vast extent and its many peoples. "This nation of the Tejas," continues the chronicler, "runs from south to north, the distance that lies from the Rio del Norte [Rio Grande] to the Rio de las Noeces [the Concho], which must be about one hundred leagues. In width it must be as many leagues from east to west. From the [far] limits of this nation to the coast and the Gulf of Mexico there must be about fifty more leagues to the east, and the said fifty leagues are occupied by disorganized Indian tribes (indios sueltos) who neither sow nor reap, because according to the information of the country bordering the coast, this is filled with many sandy stretches and sand dunes. On its northern boundary, the country of the Tejas adjoins that of the Quiviras and one and the other are said to have native princes or chiefs who govern them. They plant and gather their crops of corn; their lands are fertile; they have abundant irrigation from the streams [ that flow] from the north; and they utilize the wild cows called cibolas and the wild fruits found on the Noeces River on which they border. The nation of the Tejas, from whose limits Captains Hernan Martin and Diego del Castillo returned by the same route to Santa Fe, is in 28° of latitude." 20 Bolton, with much justice, declares "This, so far as I know, is the first information acquired by the Spaniards unquestionably concerning the people from whom Texas got its name." 21 He could have added that it is also the first attempt to define the .limits of the lands occupied by the Tejas and to place Quivira in its relative position therefrom. To understand the description of the limits given by Posadas, it must be kep't in mind that he thought the Rio Grande in its lower course ran east, parallel to the Conchos, but one hundred leagues farther south, and that the Gulf coast was still farther to the east. It is in the space to
20Posadas, "Informe" in Ibid., 57-58. 21 Bolton, "Spanish Occupation of Texas," The Quarterly, XVI, 10.
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