These dueling accounts by German Schmidel and Spaniard Cabeza de Vaca are rare examples of discovery and exploration from the early 1500s. Schmidel gives us the rare account of a colonial era "grunt," a German gunner in Spanish employ. He sees the Spanish conquista as a job, reporting on the wondrous sights in a plain, matter-of-fact fashion. This contrasts with Cabeza de Vaca's noble mission for the Most Catholic Kingdom of Spain. The most telling difference? When the troops meet the Guarayos tribe deep in the jungles of what is now eastern Bolivia, Schmidel bluntly states the "king" gave them women to, well..., do what soldiers do with free women. Cabeza de Vaca, however, tells of the same event, claiming the king offered them women and they righteously refused on account of tiredness. Good stuff. ( )