agora diremos de los llanos que es una tierra llana y espaçiosa que tiene en anchura mas de quatro cientas leguas por aquella parte entre las dos cordilleras la una la que atrabeso francisco uasques coronado a la mar del sur y la otra la que atrabeso la gente de don fernando de soto a la mar del norte entrando por la florida lo que de estos llanos se bio todo era despoblado y no se pudo ber la otra cordillera ni çerro ni çierra que tubiese de altura tres estados con andar doçientas y sinquenta leguas por ellos atrechos se hallauan algunas lagunas redondas como platos de un tiro de piedra de ancho y mayores algunas dulçes y algunas de sal en estas lagunas ay alguna yerba cresida fuera de ellas toda es muy chica de un geme y menos es la tierra de hechura de bola que donde quiera que un hombre se pone lo çerca el çielo a tiro de ballesta no tiene arboleda sino en los rios que ay en algunas barrancas que son tam encubiertas que hasta que estan a el bordo de ellas no son bistas son de tierra muerta tienen entradas que haçen las bacas para entrar a el agua que esta honda por estos llanos andan gentes como tengo dicho en la primera parte en pos de las bacas haçiendo caça y adobãdo cueros para lleuar a bender a los poblados los inbiernos porque ban a inbernar a ellos cada compañia a donde mas çerca se halla unos a los poblados de cicuye otros haçia quiuira otros haçia la florida a los poblados que estan haçia aquella parte y puerto estan gentes que los llamã querechos y teyas dan relaçion de grandes poblados y segun lo que de estas gentes se bio y de otros que ellos daban notiçia que auia por otras partes ella es harto mas gente que no la de los poblados mas dispuesta y mayores hombres de guerra y mas temidos andan como alarabes con sus tiendas y harrias de perros aparejados con lomillos y en xalmas y sincha quando se les tuerçe la carga aullan llamando quien los aderese comen esta gente la carne cruda y beben la sagre no comen carne humana es gente amoroso y no cruel tienen fiel amistad son muy entendidos por señas secan la carne a el sol cortandola delgada como una oja y seca la muelen como harina para guardar y haçer maçamorras para comer que con un puño que hechan en una olla se hinche por que creçe mucho guisan lo con manteca que siempre procuran traer quando matan la baca uaçian una gran tripa y hinchen la de sangre y hechan la a el cuello para beber quando tienen sed quando an abierto la pança de la baca aprietan para abajo la yerua mascada y el sumo que queda arriba lo beben que diçen que esto da la sustançia de el bientre abren las bacas por el lomo y deshaçen los por sus coyunturas con un pedernal grande como un dedo atado en un palito cō tanta façilidad como si fuese con una muy buena herramienta dando les los filos en sus propios dientes es cosa de ber y de notar la presteça con que lo haçen. ay por estos llanos muy gran cantidad de lobos que andā tras de las bacas tienen el pelo blanco los sieruos son remendados de blanco el pelo ancho y que muriendo ansi con la mano se pelan en caliente y quedan como puerco pelado las liebres que son en gran numero andan tan abobadas que yendo a cauallo las matan con las lanças esto es de andar hechas entre las bacas de la gente de pie huyen.

Now we will tell about the plains. They are a flat, wide land, more than four hundred leagues across in that region. They lie between two mountain ranges. One is the range on the South Sea side, which Francisco Vázquez Coronado crossed. The other is the range on the North Sea side, which Don Fernando de Soto's people crossed, coming in by way of Florida. All of the plains that we saw were without settlements. We could not see the other range, or any hill or ridge even three times a man's height, though we traveled two hundred and fifty leagues across them. Here and there we found round ponds, shaped like plates, a stone's throw wide or more. Some were fresh water and some salt. Around these ponds there is some tall grass. Away from them all the grass is very short, a span high or less. The land is shaped like a ball: wherever a man stands, the sky closes around him at a crossbow shot. There are no trees except along the rivers, which run in ravines. These are so hidden that you cannot see them until you are at their edge. They are of bare earth, and the bison have made paths into them to reach the water, which lies deep. Peoples roam these plains, as I said in the first part, following the bison. They hunt and dress hides to take and sell in the towns in winter, because they go to spend the winter there. Each band goes to whatever town is nearest: some to the towns of Cicuye, others toward Quivira, and others toward Florida, to the towns in that direction. These people, called Querechos and Teyas, tell of great towns. From what we saw of them, and of others they told us lived in other places, there are far more of these people than of the town people. They are better built, greater warriors, and more feared. They travel like Arabs, with their tents and their trains of dogs, which are fitted with pads, packsaddles, and girths. When a dog's load slips to one side, it howls, calling for someone to set it straight. These people eat their meat raw and drink the blood. They do not eat human flesh. They are a friendly people, not cruel, and loyal in friendship. They are very good at making themselves understood by signs. They dry the meat in the sun, slicing it as thin as a leaf. When it is dry, they grind it like flour to store it and to make a mush to eat. A handful thrown into a pot fills it, because it swells a great deal. They cook it with fat, which they always try to carry with them. When they kill a bison, they empty out a large gut, fill it with blood, and hang it around their necks to drink when they are thirsty. When they have opened the animal's stomach, they press the chewed grass down and drink the juice that rises to the top. They say this gives them the goodness of the stomach. They open the bison along the back and take them apart at the joints, using a flint the size of a finger tied to a little stick. They do it as easily as if they had a very fine tool, and they sharpen the edges on their own teeth. The speed with which they do it is a sight worth seeing. On these plains there are a great many wolves, which follow the bison. They have white fur. The deer are patched with white and have coarse hair. When they are killed, the hair can be pulled out by hand while the body is still warm, leaving them like a scalded pig. The hares are very many and so dazed that men on horseback kill them with their lances. This is because they are used to moving among the bison. From people on foot they run away.