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14. The Great Plains.
14．大平原
Soon, however, a new hope came to the Spaniards, for an Indian told them that far away in the north there really was a golden land. Onward rode Coronado and a body of picked men. They crossed vast plains where there were no mountains to guide them. For more than a thousand miles they rode on until they reached eastern Kansas. Everywhere they found great herds of buffaloes, or wild cows, as they called them. They also met the Indians of the Plains. Unlike the Indians of the pueblos, these Indians lived in tents made of buffalo hides stretched upon poles. Everywhere there were plains, buffaloes, and Indians. Nowhere was there gold or silver. Broken hearted, Coronado and his men rode southward to their old homes in Mexico.
然而，西班牙人有了新的希望，因为一个印第安人告诉他们远在北方真的有一片黄金之地。卡罗纳多选出一支精锐继续前行，他们走在广袤的平原上，未见到一座山。他们奔驰一千里最终到达堪萨斯东部，沿途看到成群的水牛，用他们的话说，“成群的野奶牛”。他们还遇到平原上的印第安人，与普韦布洛印第安人不同，这些印第安人生活在水牛皮做成的帐篷中，到处都是平原、水牛和印第安人，根本找不到黄金和白银，卡罗纳多和他的同行者伤透了心，他们向南走，返回到他们在墨西哥的老家。
15. De Soto in the Southeast, 1539-1543.
15．德·索托在美洲东南部（1539——1543年）
In 1539 a Spanish army landed at Tampa Bay, on the western coast of Florida. The leader of this army was De Soto, one of the conquerors of Peru. He "was very fond of the sport of killing Indians" and was also greedy for gold and silver. From Tampa he marched northward to South Carolina and then marched southwestward to Mobile Bay. There he had a dreadful time; for the Indians burned his camp and stores and killed many of his men. From Mobile he wandered northwestward until he came to a great river. It was the Mississippi, and was so wide that a man standing on one bank could not see a man standing on the opposite bank. Some of De Soto’s men penetrated westward nearly to the line of Coronado’s march. But the two bands did not meet. De Soto died and was buried in the Mississippi. Those of his men who still lived built a few boats and managed to reach the Spanish settlements in Mexico.
1539年，一支西班牙军队在佛罗里达西部海岸的坦帕湾登陆，这支军队的首领是德·索托，他曾经参与征服秘鲁，此人“非常热衷于杀死印第安人的运动”，并且极度贪婪黄金和白银。德·索托从坦帕向北到了南卡罗莱纳，并且径直向西南进军，到达莫比尔海湾。在莫比尔海湾他度过了一段可怕的时光，因为印第安人烧了他的军营和给养，并杀死了他的许多士兵。从莫比尔海湾出发，他向西北征战，直到一条大河挡住去路，这就是密西西比河。这条河流非常宽，一个人站在岸边根本看不到对岸站着的人。德·索托派出一部分士兵向西前进，他们几乎走到了考里纳多的探险路线上，但是，两股队伍没有汇合，德·索托死去并被埋葬在密西西比。那些活着的士兵造了一些船，并设法回到西班牙人在墨西哥的聚居地。
16. Other Spanish Expeditions.
16．其他西班牙远征队
Many other Spanish explorers visited the shores of the United States before 1550. Some sailed along the Pacific coast; others sailed along the Atlantic coast. The Spaniards also made several attempts to found settlements both on the northern shore of the Gulf of Mexico and on Chesapeake Bay. But all these early attempts ended in failure. In 1550 there were no Spaniards on the continent within the present limits of the United States, except possibly a few traders and missionaries in the Southwest.
在1550年前还有许多西班牙探险者到达过美国，他们有的是沿着太平洋海岸航行，有的沿着大西洋海岸航行。西班牙人还数次尝试在墨西哥湾北部和切萨皮克海湾找到聚居地，但是，所有这些尝试都归于失败。1550年，除了西南部还有部分西班牙商人和伟教士，美国现有大陆上已经没有西班牙人。
