Three days afterwards, to avoid going on at random, Soto sent on Juan Anasco with thirty horse to explore the country. Anasco set out a little before night, and after proceeding about two leagues, he heard the barking of dogs and the noise of some children, and saw some lights; but on going towards the place for the purpose of trying to seize one or two Indians from whom to gain intelligence, he found that the town was on the other side of the river. He halted therefore at a place which seemed to be used as a landing for canoes; and having fed and rested the horses, he returned to give Soto an account of what he had observed. Soto went accordingly next day with an hundred horse and an equal number of foot to view the town; and as the Indians fled on seeing the Spaniards, the two Christian Indians, Peter and Mark called to them across the river that no harm was intended. Upon this six Indians ventured across the river in a canoe, and came to wait on Soto, who was seated in a chair, which was always carried with him to receive the natives in state, as the customs of these people required. On approaching Soto, the six Indians made their obeisances; first to the sun, then to the moon, and lastly to the Spanish commander, whom they asked whether he was for peace or war with their nation. He answered by means of his interpreter, that he was desirous of peace, and required nothing from them but provisions for his people. They replied that they willingly accepted of peace, but were sorry to say that they were very scarce of provisions in consequence of a pestilence which had lately raged among them; but they would inform their sovereign of his demands, who happened to be a young unmarried woman. When they had delivered their message to the princess, two large canoes covered with awnings were seen to set out from the town on the other side of the river, into one of which seven or eight women embarked, and six men in the other. Among the women was the princess who ruled over the tribe; and immediately on coming to Soto, she sat down on a stool before him, which her people brought for her use, and after some complimentary discourse, she expressed her sorrow for the scarcity which then existed in her country, but that having two storehouses filled with provisions for relieving the necessities of her subjects, she would give him one of these, and hoped he would leave her in possession of the other. She said likewise that she had two thousand measures of maize at another town, which she would give him, and would quit her own house and half the town to accommodate him and his people, and if that did not suffice, that the whole of the town should be cleared for his use. Soto thanked her in a courteous manner for her friendly offers, declaring that he would be perfectly satisfied with whatever she was pleased to give. While he was speaking, she took off a string of pearls which she wore round her neck, and gave it to Juan Ortiz the interpreter to present it in her name to Soto, as she could not deliver it with her own hands without transgressing the rules of decorum160. Soto stood up and received it with much respect, and presented her in return with a ruby which he wore on his finger. Thus peace was ratified with this princess, who now returned to the other side of the river, all the Spaniards admiring her beautiful appearance and good behaviour.
After this all the Spanish force was transported across the river, on rafts and in canoes, four horses being drowned in the passage. The Spaniards were all commodiously quartered in the middle of the town, and the country round was found to be extraordinarily fertile. The mother of the princess of this tribe was a widow, and resided about twelve leagues from this town in great retirement; and on being sent for by her daughter to see the strangers, she not only refused, but sent a severe reproof to her daughter for admitting those persons of whom she knew nothing. Soto sent Juan Anasco with thirty horse, with a respectful message to the old lady inviting her to come to visit him. Anasco was accompanied on this occasion by an Indian of considerable rank, who seemed pensive and melancholy. After travelling some leagues, they stopped for rest and refreshment, and sat down under the shade of a tree to partake of a repast. Throwing off his mantle of sables, the Indian took the arrows one by one from his quiver, which were very curiously made of reeds, having heads of bones with three points161 all of them feathered on three sides, and both them and his bow beautifully painted with some kind of bituminous substance, as smooth and glossy as the finest varnish. The last arrow which he drew out was headed with flint, sharp-pointed, and double-edged like a dagger. Seeing that the Spaniards were all intent upon observing the curious arrows, he cut his own throat with the flint-headed arrow, and immediately fell down dead. The other Indians who accompanied Anasco said that in their opinion he had killed himself because he was carrying a message which he believed was disagreeable to the old lady. A short time after this, as Anasco was still proceeding, one of the Spaniards observed that they were going blindly in search of a woman who was said to have gone to hide herself from them in another place; and as Soto already had the daughter in his power, he had no occasion for the mother also, and as their number was small they were exposed to much danger, and had much better return to head-quarters. As this advice was universally approved of, they turned back.
Three days afterwards Soto sent twenty Spaniards up the river in two canoes at the request of the daughter to seek her mother, under the conduct of an Indian who offered to conduct them to her place of concealment. While on this expedition, the Spaniards recollected that Peter and Mark had reported there was both gold and silver in that province; but upon search they found much copper of a golden colour, and great plates of ore162 which was very light and mouldered away like earth, which probably had deceived the young Indians. A wonderful quantity of pearls were found, and the old lady gave them leave to go into a sacred house where the chiefs or nobles of the tribe were buried, to take what pearls were there, and to another temple, or sepulchre rather, near the town, in which the bodies of her own ancestors were reposited, where they found pearls in still greater abundance. In these repositories of the dead they found a number of wooden chests in which the bodies were laid; and beside them in baskets made of reeds there were great quantities of large and seed pearls, as also garments both for men and women, made of skins and fine furs. So great was the abundance of pearls found on this occasion, that the kings officers weighed five hundred pounds weight. As Soto was unwilling to encumber his troops with so much additional weight, he proposed that no more than fifty pounds should be then taken, to send to the Havannah to learn their value; but as they were already weighed, the officers begged that they might be all carried away, to which he consented, and gave his captains two handfuls of pearls as large as pease to make strings of beads or rosaries.
Leaving Cofachiqui, the army came to another town called Tolomeco, in a temple or charnel-house more properly of which place, opposite the residence of the chief, they found strings of large pearls hanging on the walls, and others in chests, with many fine garments like those formerly mentioned; and in rooms over this charnel-house were great numbers of pikes with copper heads resembling gold, and clubs, staves, and axes of the same metal, and bows, arrows, targets, and breast-plates. Soto would not take away any of these, being resolved to continue his march. Accordingly, taking leave of the princess of Cofachiqui, he divided the army into two parts for the better convenience of provisions, retaining the immediate command of one, and confiding the other to the charge of Baltasar de Gallegos. In this order they moved on to the province of Chalaqui; and next day were exposed to such a storm of wind, lightning, and hail, that many of them must have perished, but for the shelter afforded by the trees, as the hail-stones were as large as pigeons eggs. On the sixth day of this new march, they came to the valley of Xaula, a pleasant country to the N.N.E. The sailors who accompanied the army believed the river which flowed past Cofachiqui to be the same which is known on the coast under the name of Santa Ellena; and computing their marches at four leagues a-day, it appeared that the forces had come two hundred leagues from Apalache to Xaula163; which, with an hundred and fifty leagues from the Bay of the Holy Ghost to Apalache, made four hundred and ten leagues in all164.
160
The circumstance of great quantities of pearls being found in this part of the country tends in some measure to confirm the idea of Soto being now on the Tenasse River. In the most recent maps of this part of America, a part of this river near its great bend, where it sweeps round from a S.W. to a N.N.W. direction, is distinguished by the appellation of the
162
These large plates of
163
Two hundred Spanish leagues would amount to near 800 English miles. But as the march, was entirely in an uncertain and probably changing direction, this estimate does not assist in determining any thing of its extent Eight hundred miles would reach, even from Espiritu Santo Bay, to beyond the Ohio.-E.
164
The numbers in the text are obviously corrupt, as the particulars do not agree with the sum; but it is impossible to correct or reconcile them, neither indeed is it of much consequence, as no establishment was made in Florida by Soto, and the names of the places he visited are now unknown and uninteresting. Four hundred and ten Spanish leagues, or 1640 English miles, would carry us into Upper Canada.-E.