On the coming up of the Spaniards, Soto sent a message to the fugitive cacique by means of some prisoners, offering peace; but Capaha would not hear of any friendly intercourse, and loudly declared his resolution to take ample vengeance of his enemies. Learning that the Spanish commander was making preparations for an attack on Capaha, Casquin requested him to wait for sixty canoes which he had ordered up the river, by means of which the army could be transported to attack the fortified island. In the mean time the troops of Casquin marched through the country of their enemies, which they laid waste on all sides, and in their course set free some of their own countrymen who were there in captivity, and had been lamed by cutting the sinews of one of their legs to prevent them from running away. On going in the canoes to attack the island, a great part of its coast was inaccessible, being overgrown with thick briars and brambles, which formed an impenetrable barrier, and the only accessible part was fortified by several rows of strong palisades. Soto ordered two hundred of his Spanish soldiers to endeavour to land along with the Indians belonging to Casquin. On this occasion one Spaniard was drowned by too great eagerness to get first to land; but the rest managed so well that they soon gamed the first palisade, on which the women and children belonging to the defenders set up a terrible cry of consternation. A desperate opposition was made at the second palisade, in which consisted the last refuge of the defenders. The subjects of Capaha reviled those of Casquin, calling them cowardly dogs, who had never ventured before to attack that place, and threatened them with ample vengeance when the valiant strangers had left the country. The subjects of Casquin were so intimidated by these threats and the brave opposition they experienced, that in spite of every thing their cacique could say they took to flight, carrying off forty of the canoes, and would have done the same with the other twenty, had not two Spaniards that were left in charge of each defended them with their swords. Being thus deserted by their allies, and having no horses to act against the Indians, the Spaniards began to retire; and when the Indians proposed to pursue them, Capaha restrained them, thinking this a favourable opportunity to embrace the peace he had before rejected, and the Spaniards accordingly retired unmolested.
Next day, without taking any notice whatever of Casquin, Capaha sent four messengers to Soto, apologizing for having before refused peace, which he now sued for, and requested leave to wait upon him. Soto was well pleased with this, and returned a suitable answer. Accordingly, Capaha came next day to the town, attended by an hundred Indians finely adorned with plumes of feathers; and before waiting on the general went to the sepulchre of his forefathers, where he gathered together the bones with anxious care, kissed them with much reverence, and replaced them in their chests or coffins. On coming into the presence of Soto, he paid his compliments with a good grace, and though only about twenty-six years of age gave an intelligent account or the affairs of his country. Turning to his enemy Casquin, he addressed him as follows: "I suppose you are now well pleased at having seen what you never expected, for which you may thank the power of these valiant strangers: But when they are gone, you and I shall understand each other. In the mean time I pray the sun and moon to send us good seasons." Being informed of what Capaha had said, the general without giving time to Casquiu to reply, assured Capaha that he and his Spaniards had not come into the country to inflame the enmity of the tribes, but to reconcile them. After more friendly discourse of this nature, Capaha consented to be friends with Casquin, and the two chiefs sat down to dinner with Soto. After the repast, the two women who belonged to Capaha and had been taken prisoners were brought in and restored to him, at which he seemed well pleased, yet presented them to Soto, who declined accepting them; but Capaha desired him to give them to any one he pleased, as they should not stay with him, and they were accordingly admitted among the followers of the Spanish army.
At this time the Spaniards suffered excessively for want of salt, when they were informed by some Indians that there was plenty to be had, and likewise of the metal they called gold only about four leagues from thence. Soto accordingly sent Ferdinand de Silvera and Pedro Moreno under the guidance of these Indians to the place, ordering them likewise to examine diligently into all the circumstances of the country they passed through. They returned after eleven days with six loads of rock salt, as clear as crystal, and one load of fine copper; and reported that the country they had passed through was rather barren and thinly inhabited. On receiving this report, the general resolved to return in the first place to Casquin, and thence to proceed towards the west, having marched northward all the way from Mavila, in order to remove to a distance from the sea. After resting five days at Casquin, they marched other five days down the river, where at a town in the province of Quiguate the inhabitants fled without any hostilities, but they returned in two days and the cacique made an apology for his absence. In the interval, the inhabitants of that place wounded two of the Spaniards, which the general thought proper to overlook under the present circumstances. Departing from Quiguate after a sojourn of seven days, they arrived in five days more at the province of Colima, marching still down the river, and were received in a friendly manner. At this place they found another river having blue sand, which was salt to the taste. The Spaniards being much in want of salt, steeped some of this sand in water, which they strained and boiled, and procured excellent salt to their great joy; yet some ate of it so voraciously that ten of them died. Departing from this province of Colima, which the Spaniards named De Sal, or the Salt Country, they marched four days through an uninhabited wilderness, after which they came to a province called Tula178. On approaching the first town, the whole population both male and female came out to oppose them, and a battle ensued in which the Indians were defeated, and the Spaniards rushed into the town along with the fugitives; and as the inhabitants obstinately refused to submit or surrender they were all massacred. After this, on Reynoso Cabeza de Vaca179 going into one of the houses, he was suddenly beset by five women who had hidden themselves in a corner, who would have stifled him if he had not been rescued by two soldiers who came in upon hearing his cries for assistance, and who were forced to kill the women before they could extricate him from their hands. From this place Soto sent out parties of his cavalry to view the country. When any Indians were made prisoners in these excursions, they used to throw themselves on the ground, exclaiming "either kill me or leave me," refusing obstinately to accompany the Spaniards, or to give any account of the country. At this place the Spaniards found several well dressed cows hides, though they could never learn from whence they came180, and likewise other good skins of various kinds. Four days after the arrival of the Spaniards at this place, they were attacked one morning early by surprise by a large party of Indians, in three several places at once, all calling out Tula! Tula! continually, which was considered as a watch-word to know each other in the obscurity and confusion of the attack. The Spaniards seized their arms in all haste, invoking the blessed virgin and their patron apostle St Jago for aid, as they were in the utmost peril. In this battle the Indians fought with great clubs, a weapon which had not been seen before in Florida. The Indians continued the assault with such obstinacy till after sunrise, and the Spaniards had been so completely surprised, that they were forced to lay aside all punctilios of military discipline, each using his utmost individual efforts for safety, and the officers even submitting to fight occasionally under the command of their inferiors. At length the Indians were repulsed, and retired unpursued by the Spaniards, of whom four were killed and a good many wounded.
178
It is proper to observe that this place is named Fula on another occasion by Herrera.-E.
179
This may have been a relative of Alvar Nunnez Cabeza de Vaca, whose adventures in escaping from the disastrous expedition of Panfilo de Narvaez to Florida have been related in the third section of this chapter.-E.