is as a warning to him to desist from such dangerous and
fatiguing enterprises, for which reason he asked leave to return to
Cuba, and distributed his horses, arms, and provisions among the troops,
leaving his son Gomez Xuarez de Figuero well equipped behind him to
continue the enterprise, which was better fitted for younger men, and in
which Gomez acquitted himself like a man of honour.

On receiving intelligence from Gallegos of the pleasantness of the
interior country, Soto determined to advance with the bulk of his men,
leaving Calderon to command at the town belonging to Harrihiagua with
forty horsemen, to secure the ships, provisions, and stores. On this
occasion he gave strict orders to Calderon, to give no offence to the
Indians, but rather to wink at any injuries they might offer. Soto did
not think proper to halt in the town of Mucozo, lest he might be
burdensome to him and his people with so great a force, though that
friendly cacique offered to entertain him. But he recommended to Mucozo
to be kind to the Spaniards who had been left at the Bay of the Holy
Ghost. Soto marched N.N.E. to the town of Urribarracuxi, but neglected
to make proper marks in the country through which he travelled, which
was a great fault, and occasioned much trouble in the sequel. On coming
to the town of Urribarracuxi, he used every possible endeavour to
prevail upon that cacique to enter into friendship, but quite
ineffectually. Endeavouring to penetrate farther into the country in
search of that cacique, they came to a morass which was three leagues
over, and the road through which was so difficult as to take two days of
hard labour; and next day the advanced party or scouts returned saying
that it was quite impossible to proceed farther in that direction, on
account of a number of rivers which took their rise in the great morass
and intersected the country in every direction. Three days were
ineffectually spent in searching for some way to pass onwards, Soto
being always among the foremost to go out upon discovery. During this
period the Indians made several excursions from the woods and morasses
to assail the Spaniards with their arrows, but were generally repelled
without doing any harm, and some of them made prisoners, who, to regain
their liberty, pretended to shew the passes to the Spaniards, and led
them to such places as were not fit for the purpose. On their knavery
being discovered, some of them were torn in pieces by the