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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，因為一個印第安人告訴他們遠在北方真的有一片黃金之地。卡羅納多選出一支精銳繼續前行，他們走在廣袤的平原上，未見到一座山。他們奔馳一千里最終到達堪薩斯東部，沿途看到成群的水牛，用他們的話說，“成群的野奶牛”。他們還遇到平原上的印第安人，與普韋布洛印第安人不同，這些印第安人生活在水牛皮做成的帳篷中，到處都是平原、水牛和印第安人，根本找不到黃金和白銀，卡羅納多和他的同行者傷透了心，他們向南走，返回到他們在墨西哥的老家。
15. De Soto in the Southeast, 1539-1543.
15．德·索托在美洲東南部（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，一支西班牙軍隊在佛羅里達西部海岸的坦帕灣登陸，這支軍隊的首領是德·索托，他曾經參與征服秘魯，此人“非常熱衷于殺死印第安人的運動”，并且極度貪婪黃金和白銀。德·索托從坦帕向北到了南卡羅萊納，并且徑直向西南進軍，到達莫比爾海灣。在莫比爾海灣他度過了一段可怕的時光，因為印第安人燒了他的軍營和給養，并殺死了他的許多士兵。從莫比爾海灣出發，他向西北征戰，直到一條大河擋住去路，這就是密西西比河。這條河流非常寬，一個人站在岸邊根本看不到對岸站著的人。德·索托派出一部分士兵向西前進，他們幾乎走到了考里納多的探險路線上，但是，兩股隊伍沒有匯合，德·索托死去并被埋葬在密西西比。那些活著的士兵造了一些船，并設法回到西班牙人在墨西哥的聚居地。
16. Other Spanish Expeditions.
16．其他西班牙遠征隊
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年前還有許多西班牙探險者到達過美國，他們有的是沿著太平洋海岸航行，有的沿著大西洋海岸航行。西班牙人還數次嘗試在墨西哥灣北部和切薩皮克海灣找到聚居地，但是，所有這些嘗試都歸于失敗。1550年，除了西南部還有部分西班牙商人和偉教士，美國現有大陸上已經沒有西班牙人。
