a dying man
administered to them the oath of obedience to Moscoso. He then called
to his bedside, in groups of three persons, the cavaliers who had so
faithfully followed him through his long and perilous adventures, and
took an affectionate leave of them. The common soldiers were then, in
groups of about twenty, brought into the death chamber, and tenderly
he bade them adieu.

These war-worn veterans wept bitterly in taking leave of their beloved
chief. It is worthy of record that he urged them to do all in their
power to convert the natives to the Christian religion; that he
implored the forgiveness of all whom he had in any way offended; and
entreated them to live as brothers, loving and helping one another. On
the seventh day after he was attacked by the fever, he expired.

"He died," writes the Inca, "like a Catholic Christian,
imploring mercy of the most Holy Trinity, relying on the
protection of the blood of Jesus Christ our Lord, and the
intercession of the Virgin and of all the celestial court,
and in the faith of the Roman church. With these words
repeated many times, he resigned his soul to God; this
magnanimous and never-conquered cavalier, worthy of great
dignities and titles, and deserving a better historian than a
rude Indian."

Thus perished De Soto, in the forty-second year of his age. His life,
almost from the cradle to the grave, had been filled with care,
disappointment and sorrow. When we consider the age in which he lived,
the influences by which he was surrounded, and the temptations to
which he was exposed, it must be admitted that he developed many noble
traits of character, and that great allowances should be made for his
defects.

The Governor had won the confidence and affection of his army to an
extraordinary degree. He was ever courteous in his demeanor, and kind
in his treatment. He shared all the hardships of his soldiers, placed
himself in the front in the hour of peril, and was endowed with that
wonderful muscular strength and energy which enabled him by his
achievements often to win the admiration of all his troops. His death
overwhelmed the army with grief. They feared to have it known by the
natives, for his renown as a soldier was such as to hold them in awe.

It was apprehended that should his death be known, the natives would
be encouraged to revolt, and to fall with exterminating fury upon the
handful of Spaniards now left in the land. T