pean fabric, I shall briefly relate the history of Soto's march, and the difficulties which attend the supposition that he was the builder of any of these fortifications.

After the conquest of Mexico and Peru in the beginning of the sixteenth century, the inextinguishable thirst for gold which had seized the Spanish adventurers prompted them to search for that bewitching metal wherever there could be any prospect of finding it. Three unsuccessful attempts had been made in Florida by Ponce, Gomez, and Narvaez; but, because these adventurers did not penetrate the interior parts of the Continent, FERDINANDO DE SOTO,† governor of

* [See Chronological Detail, &c.-H.]

[De Soto was born at Xeres de Bajados (but, according to Garcilaso, at Villa Nuova de Barcarota, in Estremadura: see also Biog. Univ.), of a respectable family, but not distinguished for rank or wealth. By virtue of his natural energy and enthusiasm he became interested in the then popular adventures in America, where he served under Pedrarias Davila, governor of Darien, having "no more estate than a sword and buckler." With Pizarro in the conquest of Peru he commanded a troop of horse, and gained much reputation as well as wealth. His share of the spoils in that expedition is said to have been 180,000 crowns of gold. On his return to Spain he appeared at court with a magnificent retinue and equipage, "resolved to make himself be taken notice of by a sumptuous expense, though otherwise he had no inclination to liberality." Here he married the daughter of Pedrarias, and received the favourable notice of the emperor, who now made him governor of Cuba, and added

Cuba, who had been a companion of the Pizarros in their Peruvian expedition, and had there amassed much wealth, projected a march into Florida, of which country he had the title of adelantado, or president. He sailed from the port of Havanna May 18, 1539, with nine vessels, six hundred men,* two hundred and thirteen horses, and a herd of swine, and arrived on the 30th of the same month in the Bay of Espiritu Santo, on the western coast of the peninsula of Florida.

Being a soldier of fortune and determined on conquest, he immediately pitched his camp and secured it. A foraging party met with a few Indians, who resisted them; two were killed; the others escaped, and reported to

the title of "marquis of the lands which he might conquer." His inclination to invade Florida was strengthened, if not originated, by the narrative of Cabeça.de Vaca, one of the survivers of the unfortunate expedition of Narvaez, who represented it as one of the richest countries in the world. Soto quickly assembled a company for this purpose, among whom were many cavaliers of quality from Spain and Portugal. He equipped seven ships, and sailed from St. Lucar in the month of April, 1538. In the year which elapsed before he left Cuba for Florida, he sent two expeditions to explore the coast and select a suitable place for landing. The fleet with which he sailed from Havanna consisted of five ships, two caravels, and two brigantines, with six hundred men.-H.]

* In Prince's Chronology it is said that Soto had 900 men; but he quotes Purchas for his authority, in whose book the number is "six hundred."

their countrymen that the warriors of fire had invaded their territories, upon which the smaller towns were deserted, and the natives hid in the woods.*

Having met with a Spaniard of the party of Narvaez,† who had been wrecked on the coast, and had been twelve years a captive with the Indians, Soto made use of him as a messenger to them to inquire for gold and silver; and, wherever he could receive any

* [The treatment of the Indians by De Soto and his party was marked by every circumstance of ferocious and brutal cruelty. They were hunted by bloodhounds, loaded with chains, forced to be baggage-carriers and guides, attacked on the slightest cause, and slaughtered like beasts. Take an example: “The general sent out two captains several ways to take Indians, who brought in a hundred, as well women as men, that were all divided in this manner: The captain who took the prize set one or two apart for the governor, the rest were divided between the captain and soldiers. They were chained by the neck, and served to carry the baggage, pound the maize, and in other employments wherein the chain incommoded them not too much." If any attempted to escape, "they paid dear for it."-Relation, p. 44. 66 Nor, indeed, did any of those who were put in chains ever return again" with the consent of their captors.-Ib., 81. And again, "the Indians that served us, going naked and in irons during the bitter cold of winter, were almost all starved to death."-Ib., 50. The historian of Elvas adds, that De Soto "could not endure that any Indian should be so bold as to fall foul upon a Christian, right or wrong."-Ib., 77. Once he or dered an Indian to be burned alive merely to gain information of his route.-Ib., 62.-H.]

† [John Ortiz. He died at Autiamque in 1542 —H.]

information respecting these precious metals, thither he directed his march.

His manner of marching was this: The horsemen carried bags of corn and other provisions, the footmen marched by the side of the horses, and the swine were driven before them.* When they first landed they had thirteen female swine, which in two years increased to several hundreds; the warmth of the climate being favourable to their propagation, and the forests yielding them a plenty of food.

The first summer and winter were spent in the Peninsula of Florida, not far from the Bay of Apalache; and in the beginning of the following spring, having sent back his vessels to Cuba for supplies, and left a part of his men at the port, where he expected the

[The fatigues and sufferings of the company were excessive. The footmen were obliged to carry their provision on their backs, and often reduced to extremities and death from the want of suitable food. Their journeys were over deserts and difficult mountains, or through tracts inhabited by those only of whom their own cruelty had made them suspicious, and who more than once proved themselves no contemptible foe. They swam rivers, waded deep marshes, cut through canebrakes, hungered, thirsted, scorched under a hot sun, and wasted away from fear, anxiety, and doubt. The golden region fled before them, semper cedentia retro, and their high hopes of conquest and wealth gradually gave way to uncertainty and despair, till they abandoned every wish but to escape with life.-H.j

ships to return, he marched towards the north and east in search of a place called Yupaha, where he had been informed there was gold.*

In this march he crossed the River Altamaha, and probably the Ogechee, and came, as he was informed, within two days' journey of the Bay of St. Helena, where the Spaniards had been several years before. In all this march he stayed not more than a week in any one place.†

*[He was induced to march for Yupaha by the representations of a young Indian, who told him that the queen of that country received tribute in gold; and, to confirm his statements, described the process of digging, melting, and refining it, "as if he had seen it done a hundred times."-Relation, 49. On reaching it they were disappointed in their expectations of gold; but, having searched the tombs of the town, they found "fourteen bushels of pearls," which they lost in the burning at Mobile.-İb., 65, 95.-H.]

It is impossible to ascertain exactly the points which De Soto reached in his various excursions. We have the time and distance of the marches in general terms, the latter of which, at least, must be received with some caution. For their marches were often circuitous, and even retrograde, and their own com. putation of days' marches probably carelessly made. As we have not the precise length of their days' marches, which were very various, so we have not the precise number of days which they were actually marching. We cannot arrive at any certainty, though we may make, as in the text, a plausible conjecture. The party left Palache the third of March, 1540, and left Cutifachiqui, in the region of Yupaha, the third of May; and the distance is given at "four hundred and thirty leagues, from southwest to northeast.”—Relation, &c., 50, 68, 87.—H.]