_How the Governor went from Pacaha to Aquiguate and to Coligoa, and
came to Cayas._
The Governor rested in Pacaha forty days, during which time the two
caciques made him presents of fish, shawls, and skins, in great
quantity, each striving to outdo the other in the magnitude of the
gifts. At the time of his departure, the chief of Pacaha bestowed
on him two of his sisters, telling him that they were tokens of
love, for his remembrance, to be his wives. The name of one was
Macanoche, that of the other Mochila. They were symmetrical, tall,
and full: Macanoche bore a pleasant expression; in her manners and
features appeared the lady; the other was robust. The cacique of
Casqui ordered the bridge to be repaired; and the Governor, returning
through his territory, lodged in the field near his town. He brought
there much fish, exchanged two women for as many shirts with two
of the Christians, and furnished a guide and tamemes. The Governor
marched to one of his towns, and slept, and the next night came to
another that was near a river,[286] where he ordered him to bring
canoes, that he might cross over. There taking his leave, the chief
went back.
[286] St. Francis River.
The Governor travelled towards Aquiguate,[287] and on the fourth
day of August came to the residence of the cacique, who, although
he had sent him a present, on the road, of many shawls and skins,
abandoned the place through fear on his arrival. That town was the
largest seen in Florida: one-half of it was occupied by the Governor
and his people; and, after a few days, discovering that the Indians
were dealing in falsehoods, he ordered the other part to be burned,
that it might not afford them cover should they attack him at night,
nor be an embarrassment to his cavalry in a movement to repel them.
An Indian having come, attended by a multitude, declaring himself to
be the cacique, the Governor delivered him over to be looked after
by his body-guard. Many of the Indians went off, and returned with
shawls and skins; but, finding small opportunity for carrying out
their evil plan, one day the pretended cacique, walking out of the
house with the Governor, ran away with such swiftness that not one of
the Christians could overtake him; and plunging into the river, at
the distance of a crossbow-shot from the town, he made for the other
shore, where many Indians, giving loud shouts, began to make use
of their arrows. The Governor directly crossed over to attack them
with horse and foot; but they dared not await him: following them
up, he came to a town that was abandoned, before which there was a
lake[288] the horses could not pass over, and on the other side were
many females. The footmen having crossed, capturing many of them,
took much clothing. Returning to the camp early in the night, the
sentinels seized a spy, who assenting to the request to lead to where
the cacique was, the Governor directly set out with twenty cavalry
and fifty infantry in quest of him. After travelling a day and a
half, they found him in a thick wood; and a soldier, ignorant of who
he was, having struck him on the head with a cutlass, he called out
not to kill him, that he was the chief; so he was captured, and with
him one hundred and forty of his people.
[287] This place was on the west side of the St. Francis River,
in the northern part of Lee County or the southern part of St.
Francis County, Arkansas.
[288] This may have been Lake Michigamia of the French maps,
which ceased to exist after the New Madrid earthquakes.
The Governor, returning to Quiguate, directed him to tell his people
to come and serve the Christians; but, after waiting some days,
in the hope of their arrival, and finding that they did not come,
he sent two captains, each on an opposite side of the river, with
infantry and cavalry, whereby many of both sexes were made prisoners.
The Indians, seeing the harm that they received for their rebellious
conduct, waited on the Governor to take his commands, coming and
going often, bringing with them presents of fish. The cacique and two
of his wives being at their liberty in the quarters of the Governor,
which were guarded by his halberdiers, he asked them what part of the
country was most inhabited; to which they replied, that to the south,
or down the river, where were large towns, and the caciques governed
wide territories, with numerous people; and that to the northwest was
a province, near some mountains, called Coligoa. He, with the others,
deemed it well to go thither first; saying that the mountains,
perhaps, would make a difference in the soil, and that silver and
gold might afterward follow.
The country of Aquiguate, like that of Casqui and Pacaha, was level
and fertile, having rich river margins, on which the Indians made
extensive fields. From Tascaluça to the River Grande may be three
hundred leagues; a region very low, having many lakes: from Pacaha
to Quiguate there may be one hundred and ten leagues. There he left
the cacique in his own town; and an Indian guided them through an
immense pathless thicket of desert for seven days, where they slept
continually in ponds and shallow puddles.[289] Fish were so plentiful
in them that they were killed with blows of cudgels; and as the
Indians travelled in chains, they disturbed the mud at the bottom, by
which the fish, becoming stupefied, would swim to the surface, when
as many were taken as were desired.
[289] They crossed four swamps, according to Ranjel, which were
the L'Anguille River, Big Creek, Bayou de Vue, and Cache River.
The inhabitants of Coligoa had never heard of the Christians, and
when these got so near their town as to be seen, they fled up stream
along a river that passed near by there; some throwing themselves
into the water, whence they were taken by their pursuers, who, on
either bank, captured many of both sexes, and the cacique with the
rest. Three days from that time came many Indians, by his order, with
offerings of shawls, deer-skins, and two cowhides: they stated that
at the distance of five or six leagues towards the north were many
cattle, where the country, being cold, was thinly inhabited; and
that, to the best of their knowledge, the province that was better
provisioned than any other, and more populous, was one to the south,
called Cayas.
About forty leagues from Quiguate stood Coligoa,[290] at the foot of
a mountain, in the vale of a river of medium size, like the Caya, a
stream that passes through Estremadura. The soil was rich, yielding
maize in such profusion that the old was thrown out of store to
make room for the new grain. Beans and pumpkins were likewise in
great plenty: both were larger and better than those of Spain: the
pumpkins, when roasted, have nearly the taste of chestnuts. The
cacique continued behind in his own town, having given a guide for
the way to Cayas.
[290] Coligoa was in the valley of Little Red River, and before
arriving there, they crossed White River below the mouth of
Little Red River, in Woodruff County, Arkansas.
We travelled five days, and came to the province of Palisema.[291]
The house of the cacique was canopied with colored deer-skins,
having designs drawn on them, and the ground was likewise covered in
the same manner, as if with carpets. He had left it in that state
for the use of the Governor, a token of peace, and of a desire for
friendship, though still he did not dare to await his coming. The
Governor, finding that he had gone away, sent a captain with horse
and foot to look after him; and though many persons were seen,
because of the roughness of the country, only a few men and boys
were secured. The houses were few and scattered: only a little maize
was found.
[291] According to Ranjel, before arriving at this place they
passed through Calpista, where there was a flowing salt spring.
This spring was on the bank of Little Red River, in Cleburne
County.
Directly the Governor set forward and came to Tatalicoya,[292] whence
he took the cacique, who guided him to Cayas, a distance of four
days' journey from that town. When he arrived and saw the scattered
houses, he thought, from the information he had received of the great
populousness of the country, that the cacique was lying to him--that
it was not the province; and he menaced him, bidding him tell where
he was. The chief, as likewise the other Indians taken near by,
declared that to be in Cayas,[293] the best town in all the province;
and that although the houses were far apart, the country occupied
being extensive, it had numerous people and many maize-fields. The
town was called Tanico.[294] The camp was placed in the best part
of it, nigh a river. On the day of arrival, the Governor, with some
mounted men, went a league farther, but found no one, and only some
skins, which the cacique had put on the road to be taken, a sign of
peace, by the usage of the country.
[292] After leaving Tatalicoya they came to a great river,
according to Ranjel. This was White River.
[293] This province was in the region of northwestern Arkansas
and the Indian Territory.
[294] Tanico was located on the east side of Grand or Neosho
River, in the Indian Territory.