_How the Governor went from Cutifachiqui in quest of Coça, and
what occurred to him on the journey._
On the third day of May,[256] the Governor set out from Cutifachiqui;
and, it being discovered that the wish of the Cacica was to leave the
Christians, if she could, giving them neither guides nor tamemes,
because of the outrages committed upon the inhabitants, there never
failing to be men of low degree among the many, who will put the
lives of themselves and others in jeopardy for some mean interest,
the Governor ordered that she should be placed under guard and took
her with him. This treatment, which was not a proper return for the
hospitable welcome he had received, makes true the adage, For well
doing, etc.; and thus she was carried away on foot with her female
slaves.
[256] This should be May 13, according to Ranjel.
This brought us service in all the places that were passed, she
ordering the Indians to come and take the loads from town to town.
We travelled through her territories a hundred leagues, in which,
according to what we saw, she was greatly obeyed, whatsoever she
ordered being performed with diligence and efficacy. Pedro, the
guide, said she was not the suzeraine, but her niece, who had come to
that town by her command to punish capitally some principal Indians
who had seized upon the tribute; but to this no credit was given,
because of the falsehoods in which he had been taken, though all
was put up with, from the necessity of having some one whereby to
understand what the Indians said.
In seven days the Governor arrived at the province of Chalaque,[257]
the country poorest off for maize of any that was seen in Florida,
where the inhabitants subsisted on the roots of plants that they
dig in the wilds, and on the animals they destroy there with their
arrows. They are very domestic people, are slight of form, and go
naked. One lord brought the Governor two deer-skins as a great gift.
Turkeys were abundant; in one town they presented seven hundred,
and in others brought him what they had and could procure. He was
detained in going from this province to that of Xualla[258] five
days, where they found little grain, but remained two days, because
of the weariness of the men and the leanness of the horses.
[257] In two days, according to Ranjel.
[258] This town is the Choualla of the Inca and the old Cherokee
town of Qualla, which was located above the junction of the
Tuckaseegee and Oconna-Luftee Rivers, in Swain County, North
Carolina. From Cofitachequi the army took a northerly course,
probably following the old Indian and traders' trail to old Fort
Prince George, in Jackson County, South Carolina, and from there
to Xualla.
From Ocute to Cutifachiqui are one hundred and thirty leagues, of
which eighty are desert; from Cutifa to Xualla are two hundred and
fifty of mountainous country; thence to Guaxule, the way is over very
rough and lofty ridges.
One day while on this journey, the Cacica of Cutifachi, whom the
Governor brought with him, as has been stated, to the end of taking
her to Guaxule, the farthest limit of her territories, conducted
by her slaves, she left the road, with an excuse of going into a
thicket, where, deceiving them, she so concealed herself that for
all their search she could not be found. She took with her a cane
box, like a trunk, called petaca, full of unbored pearls, of which
those who had the most knowledge of their value said they were very
precious. They were carried for her by one of the women; and the
Governor, not to give offence, permitted it so, thinking that in
Guaxulle he would beg them of her when he should give her leave to
depart; but she took them with her, going to Xualla, with three
slaves who had fled from the camp. A horseman, named Alimamos, who
remained behind, sick of a fever, wandering out of the way, got lost;
and he labored with the slaves to make them leave their evil design.
Two of them did so, and came on with him to the camp. They overtook
the Governor, after a journey of fifty leagues, in a province called
Chiaha; and he reported that the Cacica remained in Xualla, with a
slave of André de Vasconcelos, who would not come with him, and that
it was very sure they lived together as man and wife, and were to go
together to Cutifachiqui.
At the end of five days the Governor arrived at Guaxulle.[259] The
Christians being seen to go after dogs, for their flesh, which the
Indians do not eat, they gave them three hundred of those animals.
Little maize was found there, or anywhere upon that route. The
Governor sent a native with a message to the cacique of Chiaha,
begging that he would order some maize to be brought together at
his town, that he might sojourn there some time. He left Guaxulle,
and after two days' travel arrived at Canasagua, where twenty men
came out from the town on the road, each laden with a basket of
mulberries. This fruit is abundant and good, from Cutifachiqui to
this place, and thence onward in other provinces, as are the walnut
and the plum (persimmon); the trees growing about over the country,
without planting or pruning, of the size and luxuriance they would
have were they cultivated in orchards, by hoeing and irrigation.
Leaving Canasagua, he marched five days through a desert.
[259] The second day after leaving Xualla they camped at the
junction of two rivers, according to Ranjel. This was probably at
the junction of the Little Tennessee and Oconna-Luftee rivers.
Two leagues before he came to Chiaha, fifteen men met the Governor,
bearing loads of maize, with word from the cacique that he waited
for him, having twenty barbacoas full; that, moreover, himself, his
lands, and his vassals, were subject to his orders. On the fifth day
of July[260] the Governor entered Chiaha.[261] The cacique received
him with great pleasure, and, resigning to him his dwellings for his
residence, thus addressed him:--
POWERFUL AND EXCELLENT MASTER:
Fortunate am I that you will make use of my services. Nothing
could happen that would give me so great contentment, or which I
should value more. From Guaxule you sent to have maize for you
in readiness to last two months: you have in this town twenty
barbacoas full of the choicest and the best to be found in all
this country. If the reception I give is not worthy of so great
a prince, consider my youth, which will relieve me of blame, and
receive my good-will, which, with true loyalty and pure, shall
ever be shown in all things that concern your welfare.
[260] It should be June 5, according to Ranjel.
[261] Chiaha was evidently on the island at the junction of
the Little Tennessee and Tennessee Rivers, in Loudon County,
Tennessee.
The Governor answered him, that his gifts and his kindness pleased
him greatly, and that he should ever consider him to be his brother.
There was abundance of lard in calabashes, drawn like olive oil,
which the inhabitants said was the fat of bear. There was likewise
found much oil of walnuts, which, like the lard, was clear and of
good taste; and also a honey-comb, which the Christians had never
seen before, nor saw afterwards, nor honey, nor bees, in all the
country.
The town was isolated, between two arms of a river, and seated near
one of them. Above it, at the distance of two crossbow-shot, the
water divided, and united again a league below. The vale between,
from side to side, was the width in places of a crossbow-shot,
and in others of two. The branches were very wide, and both were
fordable: along their shores were very rich meadow-lands, having many
maize-fields.
As the Indians remained at home, no houses were taken save those
of the chief, in which the Governor lodged; the people lived out,
wherever there happened to be shelter, each man having his tree.
In this manner the army lay, the men out of order and far apart.
The Governor passed it over, as the Indians were peaceful, and the
weather very calm: the people would have suffered greatly had they
been required to do differently. The horses arrived so worn out, that
they could not bear their riders from weakness; for they had come
all the way with only a little maize to live on, travelling, hungry
and tired, even from beyond the desert of Ocute; so, as the greater
part of them were unfit to be mounted, even in the necessary case of
battle, they were turned out at night to graze, about a quarter of a
league from the camp. The Christians were greatly exposed, so much so
that if at that time the Indians had set upon them, they would have
been in bad way to defend themselves.
The duration of the sojourn was thirty days, in which time, the soil
being covered with verdure, the horses fattened. At the departure,
in consequence of the importunity of some who wanted more than was
in reason, the Governor asked thirty women of the chief for slaves,
who replied that he would confer with his principal men; when one
night, before giving an answer, all went off from the town with their
women and children. The next day, he having made up his mind to go
in search of them, the cacique arrived, and, approaching, thus
addressed him:--
POWERFUL LORD:
Because of my shame, and out of fear of you, discovering that
my subjects, contrary to my wishes, had chosen to absent
themselves, I left without your permission; but, finding the
error of my way, I have returned like a true vassal, to put
myself in your power, that you may do with my person as shall
seem best to you. My people will not obey me, nor do any thing
that an uncle of mine does not command: he governs this country,
in my place, until I shall be of mature age. If you would pursue
and punish them for disobedience, I will be your guide, since my
fate at present forbids me doing more.
The Governor then, with thirty mounted men and as many footmen, went
in search of the people. Passing by the towns of some of the chiefs
who had gone off, he cut down and destroyed the great maize-fields;
and going along up the stream where the natives were, on an islet, to
which the cavalry could not go, he sent word to them, by an Indian,
that they should put away all their fears, and, returning to their
abodes, give him tamemes, as had been done all the way along, since
he did not wish to have women, finding how very dear they were to
them. The Indians judged it well to come and make their excuses to
him, so they all went back to the town.
A cacique of Acoste, who came to see the Governor, after tendering
his services, and they had exchanged compliments and proffers of
friendship, was asked if he had any information of a rich land; he
answered yes: that towards the north there was a province called
Chisca, and that a forge was there for copper, or other metal of
that color, though brighter, having a much finer hue, and was to
appearances much better, but was not so much used, for being softer;
which was the statement that had been given in Cutifachiqui, where
we had seen some chopping-knives that were said to have a mixture
of gold. As the country on the way was thinly peopled, and it was
said there were mountains over which the beasts could not go, the
Governor would not march directly thither, but judged that, keeping
in an inhabited territory, the men and animals would be in better
condition, while he would be more exactly informed of what there was,
until he should turn to it through the ridges and a region which he
could more easily travel. He sent two Christians to the country of
Chisca, by Indians who spoke the language, that they might view it,
and were told that he would await their return at Chiaha for what
they should have to say.