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Making a halt at Anhayca, the capital town of the district of Palache, De Soto sent a party to view the sea-coast. The men commissioned for this service discovered tokens of the ill-fated expedition of Narvaez at Aute, where the five boats were built. These were a manger hewn from the trunk of a tree, and the bones of the horses who had been killed to supply the means of outfit.

De Soto, about the last of November, sent a detachment back to the bay of Espiritu Santo, with directions for two caravels to repair to Cuba, and the other vessels, which had not already been ordered home, to come round by sea and join him at Palache. Twenty Indian women were sent as a present to the general's wife, Donna Isabella.

In one of the scouting expeditions, during the stay at Palache, a remarkable instance of self-devotion was seen in two Indians, whom the troops came upon as they were gathering beans, with a woman, the wife of one of them, in their company. "Though they might have saved themselves, yet they chose rather to die than to abandon the woman." 66 They wounded three horses; whereof one died," before the Spaniards succeeded in destroying them. Early in March, 1540, the Spanish forces were put in motion for an expedition to Yupaha, far to the north-east. Gold was still the object of search. A young Indian, who was made prisoner at Napetaca, alleged that he had come from that country, and that it was of great extent and richness. He said that it was subject to a female cacique, and that the neighboring tribes paid her tribute in gold, whereupon he described the manner how that gold was dug, how it was melted and refined, as if he had seen it done a hundred times, or as if the devil had taught him; inasmuch that all who understood the manner of working in the mines, averred that it was impossible for him to speak so exactly of it, without having seen the same."

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THE NEW YON. PUBLIC LIERAN

ASTOR, LENOX AN TILDEN FOUNDATIONE,

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Soto in this tour; and, indeed, the position of many of the localities which are described by his historians, and the distances and directions of his wearisome and perilous journeyings, must, at the present day, be matters of conjecture. It may not, however, be amiss to mention briefly the accounts preserved of the appearance of some of the tribes through whose dominions he passed before his return to the north-western districts of modern Florida.

As he moved northward, a marked change was perceived in the buildings. Instead of the grass-covered huts which served well enough in the genial climate of the peninsula, the people of Toalli had "for their roof little canes placed together like tile; they were very neat. Some had the walls made of poles, so artificially interwoven, that they seemed to be built of stone and lime." They could be thoroughly warmed in the winter, which was there pretty severe. The dwellings of the caciques were roomy and commodious, and were rendered conspicuous by a balcony over the entrance. Great skill was shown by these people in the manufacture of cloth from grass or fibrous bark, and the deer skins, of which they made leggins and other articles, were admirably well dressed and dyed.

The most remarkable of the countries visited on this Northern exploration, was Cutifachiqui, supposed to have been situated far up the Chatahoochee, which was governed by a female. The Spaniards were astonished at the dignity and refinement of the queen. Her reception of De Soto reminds one of Cleopatra's first meeting with Anthony, as described by the great dramatist. She was brought down to the water in a palanquin, and there seated in the stern of a canoe, upon cushions and carpets, with a pavilion overhead. She brought presents of mantles and skins to the general, and hung a necklace of large pearls about his neck.

The Indians of the country were represented as "tawny, well-shaped, and more polite than any before seen in Florida." Their numbers had been greatly reduced, two years previous, by a pestilence, and many deserted dwellings were to be seen around the town. The accounts given of the quantity of pearls obtained here, by searching the places of sepulture, are incredible.

Departing from Cutifachiqui, De Soto had the ingratitude to carry the queen along with him, compelling her even to go on foot. "In the mean time, that she might deserve a little consideration to be had for her still," she induced the Indians by whose houses the cavalcade passed, to join the party, and lend their aid in carrying the baggage. She succeeded, finally, in making her escape.

We must now dismiss De Soto and his band upon their long journey through the western wilderness. He died upon the Red River, and those of his companions who escaped death from exposure, disease, or savage weapons, years after the events above described, made their way down the Mississippi to the gulf, and thence reached the Spanish provinces of Mexico.

CHAPTER III.

FROM THE CONQUEST BY DE SOTO TO THE YEAR 1818.- MISSIONARY OPERATIONS BY THE SPANIARDS.-MOORE'S INVASION OF FLORIDA. -BOWLES.-WARS OF 1812.-DEFEAT OF THE SEMINOLES BY GENERAL JACKSON.

WE can but briefly touch upon the incidents of Florida history for nearly two centuries after De Soto's invasion. The French Huguenot refugees, who settled upon St. John's river in 1562, found the natives placable and

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