His resources were but few and he had no chance of re-
ceiving reinforcements, for the colonists of Santa Marta
all thought that he was dead, as they had received no tidings
of him for nearly a whole year. " He and the whole army
were grateful to the Lord for having brought them safely
through so many dangers. Especially because He had
allowed the ' sun of the Gospel '^ to shine for the first time
in those neglected valleys, to lighten the darkness that the
devil had spread over the souls of those poor ' naturals.' "^

The Gospel sun is " awfu' easy carried," as Highlanders
say of the Gaelic tongue. Still, few would have suspected
that Quesada's soldiers had a great deal of it. They had
the grace, however, to come and thank him in a body, and
specially to give their thanks because he had not listened
to them when they had wanted to turn back. Thus he was
justified of faith as well as works, a conjunction that but
seldom gratifies a man, here in this vale of tears.
As from the reports he had received from the Indians he
had captured, he knew that he was now close to well-

' El Sol del Evangelio.
2 " Naturales." This shows that we were not the first to use the
endearing term of " native."

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76 GONZALO JIMENEZ DE QUESADA

peopled districts, Quesada naturally was anxious to ascertain
how he stood as to numbers and in regard to the condition
of his men.
