houses were only eighty in number, but were of immense size, some of them being capable of lodging fifteen hundred persons.

It was soon evident enough that the Spaniards had run their heads into a snare, from which all their valor and advantage in arms would be required to free them. The fierce and wily chieftain, who had guided them to his stronghold, had from the first resolved to rid the country of their hated presence, and, to that end, had ordered his subjects, men and women, from far and near, to rendezvous at Mauvila; promising, as spoil, the bright arms and gaudy robes of the intruders. Ten thousand warriors, it is said, were assembled in the houses; and Tuscaloosa, in spite of the efforts of De Soto, who "endeav ored to sweeten him with civilities," as well as to detain him by force, abruptly quitted the Spaniards, and entered his palace. To the repeated messages that he should rejoin them, dispatched through Ortiz, no answer was vouchsafed; but when a rather peremptory invitation to dinner was conveyed in the same manner, an Indian noble, with his eyes flashing fire, stepped forth, and cried furiously, "Who are these robbers! these vagabonds! who keep calling to my chief Tuscaloosa, come out! come out! with as little reverence as if he were one of them? By the sun and moon! this insolence is no longer to be borne. Let us cut them to pieces on the spot, and put an and to their wickedness and tyranny." He bent his bow, but en the shaft was discharged, was cut down by a Spaniard. Swarms of warriors, armed to the teeth, now poured out of every house, and a desperate battle, within the rampart, took pla ce.

De Soto, fighting valiantly on horseback, killed several of the Indians with his own hand, and all endeavored to defend the nselves until the main body of the troops should come up. The reverend clergy, already in their quarters, also did their dev oir valiantly; for, says the Portuguese, "the Monk and Priest, laying hold each of them of a staff, stood on each side of the door to knock on the head the first that should set his foot within the house." The assailants, proceeds the same

narrator, fetching the slaves into the inclosure "knock'd off the Chains they carried, and gave them Bows and Arrows to fight against us. Thus they seiz'd all our Equipage and even our Pearls; and seeing that we marched through a Country that in all appearance had submitted, many Souldiers had left their arms with the Baggage; So that they fell into the Enemies' hands, who had besides Swords and Halberds which they had snatched from those who entred with the Governour."

The van-guard, fighting for their lives, finally, with some loss, worked their way out of the town, and joined their companions without. A furious battle, lasting for three hours, ensued. Now the Spaniards, at the point of the lance, would force the torrent of their enemies to the very gate, and now, overpowered by missiles from the rampart, were compelled in turn to give ground. At length the governor ordered a general assault. Two hundred dismounted cavaliers, "marching with extraordinary fury," says the old chronicler, forced the gate, with great slaughter, and the assailants reentered the town. Here the fight still continued, with additional horrors; the houses being fired, and the stifling smoke enveloping the combatants on each side. Choaked with the heat and exhaustion, the Spaniards would drink hastily from a pool which was nearly half blood,* and then renew the combat.

At last the rear-guard, under Luis de Moscoso, who had loitered by the way, hastened up, alarmed by the noise of the battle, and finally, after a bloody conflict, lasting for nine hours, victory declared in favor of the Spaniards. The town was all in flames, and great numbers of the Indians perished in the conflagration. Eighty-two of the Spaniards, with forty-two horses, had fallen, and at least seventeen hundred wounds were distributed among the survivors.

The loss of the Indians was incredible, for they had fought with desperation to the last. Twenty-five hundred bodies

*“The Christians, choʻked with droughth, went to refresh themselves in a Pool near the Palissado, where they drank as much bloud as water; and so returned to the Fight."-Portuguese Narrative.

were scattered without the walls, and the number which had perished within, especially in the burning houses, was probably still greater. Among them, it is probable, was their king, Tuscaloosa-for nothing more was heard of him. All the equipage and plunder of the Spaniards, which, especially in pearls, was very valuable, had been consumed in the flames.

The condition of the victors, wounded and shelterless, was miserable in the extreme, and they were compelled, for want of ointment, to dress their wounds with the fat of the dead Indians a horrible species of chirurgery, which, as we have seen, was also common in the campaigns of Mexico. Greatly to their credit, they treated with kindness the wounded and dying enemy, who, in great numbers, lay scattered around. Not the slightest sign of hostility was again seen in the neighborhood, for nearly all the warriors of the province had perished on that terrible day.

Of all the losses of the Christians, nothing troubled them so much as that of the flour and wine which they used for the sacrament-for, after solemn consultation among the clergy, it was held that to substitute corn-bread would be an offence bordering on sacrilege.

CHAPTER III.

DISCONTENT OF THE CAVALIERS-DESPONDENCY OF SOTO-HE MARCHES
WESTWARD-WINTERS AT CHICAZA-BATTLE AND BURNING OF THE
VILLAGE-ARRIVAL AT THE MISSISSIPPI-THE LITTLE CACIQUE

OF CHISCA-PASSAGE OF THE RIVER-MARCH TO ARKAN-
SAS-RETURN TO THE MISSISSIPPI.

WHILE remaining amid the ruins of Mauvila, Soto learned that ships had arrived on the coast, and that the Bay of Achusi, (Pensacola,) where he had ordered his fleet to rendezvous, was distant only seven days' journey from his present

position. But the elation with which he received these tidings was damped by the discontent and sedition of his followers. With despair, he overheard a conversation between certain of the cavaliers, who avowed their intention to seize the ships and make their way to Mexico. All his toils seemed to have been in vain; the sacrifice of his immense fortune, and the fatigues and perils of his journey, had been incurred for nothing. There was no treasure to send to Cuba to attract fresh volunteers. He became a moody and disappointed man; but in his secret soul resolved never to return without having accomplished something commensurate to his former fame and anticipations. But the fire of ambitious enthusiasm was burnt out, or quenched by disappointment. "He no longer pretended to strike out any grand undertaking; but, stung with secret disappointment, went recklessly wandering from place to place, without order or object, as if careless of time and life, and only anxious to finish his existence."

Turning his back upon the coast, on the 18th of November, he again set forth into the interior; the malcontents being overawed by his stern and ominous demeanor. He crossed the Black Warrior and the Tombigbee, not without opposition from the Indians, and at the end of thirty days arrived at the village of Chicaza (Chickasaw). Here he encamped for two months, living in friendly intercourse with the surrounding natives. At the end of that time, disputes having occurred, and some Indians having been slain, the most powerful cacique of the neighborhood resolved on a deadly revenge. In the dead of night a furious attack was made upon the village, which was fired by burning arrows. After a long battle, the assailants were beaten off; but forty of the Spaniards and fifty of their horses had perished in the flames or by the weapons of the

enemy.

During the remainder of the winter, (1541,) they remained at a miserable encampment in the neighborhood, often attacked by the savages, and suffering terribly from cold. Being, for the most part, without shelter, "the chiefest remidie were

greate fires. They spent all night in turnings without sleepe; for if they warmed one side, they freesed on the other."

On the first of April, they again took up their march, and on the way stormed and took a strong fortress, called Alibamo, with great slaughter of the enemy, and with the loss of fifteen of their own number.

After marching for many days through a marshy and uninhabited country, Soto came in sight of a vast river, which he called the Rio Grande. It was the Mississippi, which still rolls its majestic current over his grave. Here was a village called Chisca, which the Spaniards seized and pillaged. The aged cacique, who was lying ill on his bed, on hearing the alarm, seized his tomahawk, and with great fury rushed down from his fortress toward the village-declaring that he would exterminate the intruders. "With all these bravadoes, the cacique, besides being infirm and exceedingly old, was pitiful in dimensions; the most miserable little Indian that the Spaniards had seen in all their marchings. He was animated, however, by the remembrance of the deeds and exploits of his youth, for he had been a doughty warrior, and ruled over a vast province."*

This fiery little chieftain, however, was held back by his women and attendants, who entreated him to wait for the assembling of his people. Within three hours he was surrounded by four thousand warriors, and Soto was glad to purchase peace by giving up his plunder and prisoners. Food and shelter were then supplied to the visitors, who remained here some time to recruit their strength. They then marched for four days along the bank, seeking a convenient place to cross. Twenty more were employed in building boats; and a multitude of warriors, with a great number of canoes, assembled on the opposite shore. These Indians continually annoyed them with desultory attacks, though as often repulsed. "It was a pleasant sight," says one, "to see them in their Canoes, which were most neatly made, and very large, with their Pavilions, Feathers, Shields, and Standards, that looked like a fleet

* Theodore Irving's Conquest of Florida.