_How the Governor arrived at Caliquen, and thence, taking
the cacique with him, came to Napetaca, where the Indians,
attempting to rescue him, had many of their number killed and
captured._
On the eleventh day of August, in the year 1539, the Governor left
Cale, and arrived to sleep at a small town called Ytara, and the
next day at another called Potano, and the third at Utinama, and
then at another named Malapaz. This place was so called because one,
representing himself to be its cacique, came peacefully, saying that
he wished to serve the Governor with his people, and asked that he
would cause the twenty-eight men and women, prisoners taken the night
before, to be set at liberty; that provisions should be brought,
and that he would furnish a guide for the country in advance of
us; whereupon, the Governor having ordered the prisoners to be let
loose, and the Indian put under guard, the next day in the morning
came many natives close to a scrub surrounding the town, near which
the prisoner asked to be taken, that he might speak and satisfy them,
as they would obey in whatever he commanded; but no sooner had he
found himself close to them, than he boldly started away, and fled
so swiftly that no one could overtake him, going off with the rest
into the woods. The Governor ordered a bloodhound, already fleshed
upon him, to be let loose, which, passing by many, seized upon the
faithless cacique, and held him until the Christians had come up.
From this town the people went to sleep at that of Cholupaha, which,
for its abundance of maize, received the name of Villafarta; thence,
crossing a river before it, by a bridge they had made of wood, the
Christians marched two days through an uninhabited country.
On the seventeenth day of August they arrived at Caliquen, where
they heard of the province of Apalache, of Narvaez having been there
and having embarked, because no road was to be found over which to
go forward, and of there being no other town, and that water was on
all sides. Every mind was depressed at this information, and all
counselled the Governor to go back to the port, that they might not
be lost, as Narvaez had been, and to leave the land of Florida; that,
should they go further, they might not be able to get back, as the
little maize that was yet left the Indians would secure: to which
Soto replied, that he would never return until he had seen with his
own eyes what was asserted, things that to him appeared incredible.
Then he ordered us to be in readiness for the saddle, sending word to
Luis de Moscoso to advance from Cale, that he waited for him; and,
as in the judgment of the master of the camp, and of many others,
they should have to return from Apalache, they buried in Cale some
iron implements with other things. They reached Caliquen through
much suffering; for the land over which the Governor had marched lay
wasted and was without maize.
All the people having come up, a bridge was ordered to be made over
a river that passed near the town, whereon we crossed, the tenth day
of September, taking with us the cacique. When three days on our
journey, some Indians arrived to visit their lord; and every day they
came out to the road, playing upon flutes, a token among them that
they come in peace. They stated that further on there was a cacique
named Uzachil, kinsman of the chief of Caliquen, their lord, who
waited the arrival of the Governor, prepared to do great services;
and they besought him to set their cacique free, which he feared to
do, lest they should go off without giving him any guides; so he got
rid of them from day to day with specious excuses.
We marched five days, passing through some small towns, and arrived
at Napetaca on the fifteenth day of September, where we found
fourteen or fifteen Indians who begged for the release of the cacique
of Caliquen, to whom the Governor declared that their lord was no
prisoner, his attendance being wished only as far as Uzachil. Having
learned from Juan Ortiz, to whom a native had made it known, that
the Indians had determined to assemble and fall upon the Christians,
for the recovery of their chief, the Governor, on the day for which
the attack was concerted, commanded his men to be in readiness, the
cavalry to be armed and on horseback, each one so disposed of in his
lodge as not to be seen of the Indians, that they might come to the
town without reserve. Four hundred warriors, with bows and arrows,
appeared in sight of the camp; and, going into a thicket, they sent
two of their number to demand the cacique: the Governor, with six men
on foot, taking the chief by the hand, conversing with him the while
to assure the Indians, went towards the place where they were, when,
finding the moment propitious, he ordered a trumpet to be sounded:
directly, they who were in the houses, foot as well as horse, set
upon the natives, who, assailed unexpectedly, thought only of their
safety. Of two horses killed, one was that of the Governor, who was
mounted instantly on another. From thirty to forty natives fell by
the lance; the rest escaped into two very large ponds, situated some
way apart, wherein they swam about; and, being surrounded by the
Christians, they were shot at with crossbow and arquebuse, although
to no purpose, because of the long distance they were off.
At night, one of the lakes was ordered to be guarded, the people
not being sufficient to encircle both. The Indians, in attempting
to escape in the dark, would come swimming noiselessly to the
shore, with a leaf of water-lily on the head, that they might pass
unobserved; when those mounted, at sight of any ruffle on the
surface, would dash into the water up to the breasts of the horses,
and the natives would again retire. In such way passed the night,
neither party taking any rest. Juan Ortiz told them that, as escape
was impossible, they would do well to give up; which they did, driven
by extreme chillness of the water; and one after another, as cold
overpowered, called out to him, asking not to be killed--that he was
coming straightway to put himself in the hands of the Governor. At
four o'clock in the morning they had all surrendered, save twelve
of the principal men, who, as of more distinction and more valiant
than the rest, preferred to die rather than yield: then the Indians
of Paracoxi, who were going about unshackled, went in after them,
swimming, and pulled them out by the hair. They were all put in
chains, and, on the day following, were divided among the Christians
for their service.
While captives, these men determined to rebel, and gave the lead to
an interpreter, one reputed brave, that when the Governor might come
near to speak with him, he should strangle him; but no sooner was the
occasion presented, and before his hands could be thrown about the
neck of Soto, his purpose was discovered, and he received so heavy
a blow from him in the nostrils, that they gushed with blood. The
Indians all rose together. He who could only catch up a pestle from
a mortar, as well as he who could grasp a weapon, equally exerted
himself to kill his master, or the first one he met; and he whose
fortune it was to light on a lance, or a sword, handled it in a
manner as though he had been accustomed to use it all his days. One
Indian, in the public yard of the town, with blade in hand, fought
like a bull in the arena, until the halberdiers of the Governor,
arriving, put an end to him. Another got up, with a lance, into a
maize crib, made of cane, called by Indians barbacoa, and defended
the entrance with the uproar of ten men, until he was stricken down
with a battle-axe. They who were subdued may have been in all two
hundred men: some of the youngest the Governor gave to those who
had good chains and were vigilant; all the rest were ordered to
execution, and, being bound to a post in the middle of the town yard,
they were shot to death with arrows by the people of Paracoxi.