_How the Governor went from Aguacay to Naguatex, and what
happened to him._
The day the Governor left Aguacay he went to sleep near a small town,
subject to the lord of that province. He set the encampment very nigh
a salt lake,[308] and that afternoon some salt was made. He marched
the next day, and slept between two mountains, in an open grove; the
next after, he arrived at a small town called Pato; and on the fourth
day of his departure from Aguacay he came to the first inhabited
place, in a province called Amaye. There they took an Indian, who
said that thence to Naguatex was a day and a half's journey, all the
way lying through an inhabited region.
[308] This town and lake were on the west side of Quachita River,
about two miles south of Arkadelphia, in Clark County.
Having passed out of Amaye, on Saturday, the twentieth of July,[309]
between that place and Naguatex, at mid-day, along a clump of
luxuriant woods,[310] the camp was seated. From thence Indians being
seen, who had come to espy them, those on horseback went in their
pursuit, killed six, and captured two. The prisoners being asked by
the Governor why they had come, they said, to discover the numbers
he had, and their condition, having been sent by their lord, the
chief of Naguatex; and that he, with other caciques, who came in his
company and his cause, had determined on giving him battle that day.
[309] The twentieth of July was Thursday.
[310] Probably on Prairie de Roane, near Hope.
While thus conferring, many Indians advanced, formed in two
squadrons, who, so soon as they saw that they were descried, giving
whoops, they assailed the Christians with great fury, each on a
different quarter; but finding how firm was the resistance, they
turned, and fleeing, many lost their lives; the greater part of
the cavalry pursuing them, forgetful of the camp, when those that
remained were attacked by other two squadrons, that had lain in
concealment, who, in their turn, having been withstood, paid the
penalty that the first had done.
When the Christians came together, after the Indians fled, they
heard loud shouting, at the distance of a crossbow-shot from where
they were; and the Governor sent twelve cavalry to see what might be
the cause. Six Christians were found amidst numerous Indians, two,
that were mounted, defending four on foot, with great difficulty;
and they, as well as those who went to their succor, finally ended
by killing many. They had got lost from those who followed after
the first squadrons, and, in returning to the camp, fell among
them with whom they were found fighting. One Indian, brought back
alive, being asked by the Governor who they were that had come to
give him battle, said the cacique of Naguatex, the one of Maye, and
another of a province called Hacanac, lord of great territories and
numerous vassals, he of Naguatex being in command. The Governor,
having ordered his right arm to be cut off, and his nose, sent him
to the cacique, with word that he would march the next day into
his territory to destroy it, and that if he wished to dispute his
entrance to await him.
The Governor stopped there that night, and the following day he
came to the habitations of Naguatex, which were much scattered, and
having asked for the town of the cacique, he was told that it stood
on the opposite side of a river near by. He marched thitherward;
and coming to the river,[311] on the other bank he saw many Indians
awaiting him, set in order to defend the passage; but, as he did not
know whether it might be forded or not, nor whereabouts it could be
crossed, and having some wounded men and horses, he determined to
repose for some time in the town where he was, until they should be
healed.
[311] Little River, in Hempstead County.
In consequence of the great heats that prevailed, he pitched his camp
a quarter of a league from the river, in a fine open grove of high
trees, near a brook, close to the town. Some Indians taken there,
having been asked if the river was fordable, said yes, at times it
was, in certain places; on the tenth day he sent two captains, each
with fifteen cavalry, one up and the other down the stream, with
guides to show where they might get over, to see what towns were to
be found on the opposite side. They were both opposed by the Indians,
who defended the passages the best they could; but these being taken
notwithstanding, on the other shore they found many habitations, with
much subsistence; and having seen this, the detachments went back to
the camp.