Some say that
the expedition moved parallel with the coast until the Savannah River
was reached, at a point twenty-five miles below Augusta; but it is just
as probable that the route, after reaching the Ocmulgee, was along the
banks of that stream and in a northwesterly direction.

At Toalli the Indians had summer and winter houses to live in, and they
had storehouses for their maize. The women wore blankets or shawls made
of the fiber of silk grass, and the blankets were dyed vermilion or
black. Thenceforward the Indians whom the Spaniards met with were of a
higher order of intelligence, and of a more industrious turn, than those
left behind in Florida and along the southern boundary of Georgia.

As De Soto marched along, he seized Indians and made guides of them,
or made prisoners and held them until he was furnished with guides and
interpreters. He also announced to the Indians that he was the Child of
the Sun, who had been sent to seek out the greatest Prince and Princess.
This made a great impression on the Indians, many of whom were sun
worshipers.

Many times during the march the Spaniards were on the point of
starvation, and the account of their sufferings as set forth in the
history of the expedition is intended to be quite pathetic. We need
not pause to shed any tears over these things, for the sufferings the
Spaniards endured were nothing compared to the sufferings they inflicted
on the Indians. They murdered and robbed right and left, and no doubt
the Indians regarded them as demons rather than Christians. More
than once when the Spaniards were wandering aimlessly about in the
wilderness, they were found by the Indians and saved from starvation. In
turn the simple-minded natives were treated with a harshness that would
be beyond belief if the sickening details were not piously set forth by
the Spanish historian of the expedition.

[Illustration: Indian Queen 020]

About the 28th of April the expedition reached the neighborhood of
Cutifachiqui, having been told by three Indians whom they had taken,
that the queen of that province knew of the approach of the Spaniards,
and was awaiting them at her chief town just across the river. As De
Soto came to the shore of the stream, four canoes started from the
opposite side. One of them contained a kinswoman of the queen, who
had been selected to invite the Spaniards to enter the town. Shortly
afterwards the queen came forth from the town, seated on a palanquin o