Status Updates From The Discovery and Conquest ...

Indeed, if only brawls, uprisings and wars would end, Los Reyes [Lima] would be one of the finest places in the world in which to spend one's days. There is neither hunger, nor plague, nor rain, nor lightning, nor thunderbolt. The sky is always clear and very beautiful. More could be said, but I will pass on.

One of the Spaniards' main troubles was that the horses' shoes had worn out, and there was no iron. The historian Ovedo reports: They had shoes and nails for their horses made of silver by very good Indian smiths, who made as many as they wanted. These shoes lasted them for the next two months.

Plato tells many most remarkable details about the customs and riches of [Atlantis], in particular about a temple standing in the principal city, the walls of which were covered with plates of gold, silver and brass.