that he had gone "above thirty leagues into the country" beyond. It
had taken him, before, two and a half days to reach the river mouth
from here, so that it seems he was about four days going down from
his farthest point. Roughly estimating his progress at six miles an
hour for twelve hours a day, in four days the distance covered would
be about 288 miles. He says he went up eighty-five leagues (this
would be fifty-five the first time and thirty more the second),
which, counting in Mexican leagues of two and three quarter miles
each, gives a distance of 233 3/4 miles, or about one hundred miles
above the mouth of the Gila. This stream he does not mention. He may
have taken it for a mere bayou, but it appears to be certain that he
passed beyond it. He says Ulloa was mistaken by two degrees as to his
northernmost point, and that he sailed four degrees beyond him. The
meaning of this may be that he went four degrees beyond Ulloa's false
reckoning, or actually two degrees above the shoals where Ulloa
turned back. This would take him to the 34th parallel, and would
coincide with his eighty-five leagues, and also with the position of
the first mountains met with in going up the river, the Chocolate
range. Alarcon was not so inexperienced that he would have
represented eighty-five leagues on the course of the river as
equalling four degrees of latitude. Had he gone to the 36th degree he
would have passed through Black Canyon, and this is so extraordinary
a feature that he could not have failed to note it specially. When
Alarcon arrived at the ships again, he evidently had strong reason
for abandoning his intention of returning for another attempt to
communicate with Coronado, and he set sail for home. Another document
says the torredo was destroying the ships, and this is very probable.
He coasted down the gulf, landing frequently, and going long
distances into the interior searching for news of Coronado, but he
learned nothing beyond what he heard on the river.