The Conquest of Florida, under Hernando de Soto

Front matter

UNDER HERNANDO DE SOTO. BY THEODORE IRVING. Son quattromila, e bene armati e bene Instrutti.usi al disapo e tollernnti. Buona fe )a gente, e non pu6 da piu dotta O da piii forte guida esser condotta-— Tasso- IN TWO VOLUMES. VOL. I. LONDON : EDWARD CHURTON, LIBRARY, HOLLES STREET, 1835. LONDON : SCHULZE AND CO. POLAND STREET. DEDICATION. TO WASHINGTON IRVING, ESQ. My dear Uncle, I know of no person to whom I can with more propriety dedicate the following pages than to yourself, since they were written at your suggestion, and the materials of which they are composed were moulded into their present form and feature under your affectionate and judicious advice. Often, in the course of my lahours, when I have been dismayed by unlooked for difficulties, and disheartened by those misgivings which beset an inexperienced writer, you have dis pelled my doubts, cheered my faltering spirit, and encouraged me to persevere.

VI dedication. I would be pardoned for alluding to other and greater obligations yet nearer to my heart. With the anxious interest of a parent, you have watched over the most critical period of my life. Amid the excitement and snares of foreign scenes, and in the quiet employments of our home, your counsel has been my guide — your friendship — the circumstances will excuse the term from one so much your junior — your friendship my happiness and pride. The heed lessness of boyhood could not arrest your assiduous care— the wayward habits of youth have not wearied your unceasing solicitude. That I have been thus far led in safety, claims the fer vent gratitude of Your affectionate nephew, Theodore Irving. New York, March, 1835.

Preface

. While studying the Spanish language, some few years since, at Madrid, an old chronicle was placed in my hands, relating to the early discoveries and achievements of the Spaniards in America. It was denominated "The Florida of the Inca, or the History of the Adelantado, Hernando de Soto, Governor and Captain- General of the Kingdom of Florida, and of other heroic cavaliers, Spaniards and Indians : written by the Inca Garcilaso de la Vega." As I read, I became insensibly engrossed by the extraordinary enterprise therein narrated. I dwelt with intense interest upon the hair brained adventures and daring exploits of steel clad warriors, and the no less valiant and chi valrous deeds of savage chieftains, which entitle this narrative to the high praise bestowed upon preface. it by Mr. Southey, of being one of the most delightful works in the Spanish language.

At a subsequent period, I was advised to un dertake a free translation of it into English, as a literary exercise. While occupied in this task, I had the good fortune to meet with a narrative on the same subject, written by a Portuguese soldier, who was present in the expedition. This led me to further research and closer examination ; and, finding that the striking events and perilous adventures in the chronicle of the Inca, were borne out, in the main, by this narrative from another hand, and that various lights had been thrown by modern travellers upon the line of march, said to have been pursued by the adventurous band of De Soto, I was convinced, that what I had before regarded almost as a work of fiction, was an authentic, though, perhaps, occasionally exag gerated history. Deeming, therefore, that a full account of an expedition which throws such an air of romance over the early history of a portion of our coun try, would possess interest in the eyes of my countrymen, I resolved, to the best of my abilities, to digest a work from the materials before me.

PREFACE.

. IX The two main sources from which I have derived my facts, are the narratives already mentioned, by the Inca Garcilaso de la Vega, and by the anonymous Portuguese adventurer. The former I have consulted in a folio edition, printed at Madrid, in 1723, and in the history of the Indias, by Herrara, in which it is incorporated almost at full length. The Portu guese narrative I have found in an English translation, published in London, in 1686, and in an abridgment in Purchas' Pilgrims. It has been the fashion, in latter days, to distrust the narrative of the Inca, and to put more faith in that of the Portuguese. This has occasionally been done without due examination into their respective claims to credibility. Garcilaso de la Vega was a man of rank and honour. He was descended from an ancient Spanish stock by the father's side, while by the mothers, he was of the lofty Peruvian line of the Incas.

His narrative was originally taken by himself, from the lips of a friend; a cavalier of worth and respectability, who had been an officer under De Soto, and for whose probity we have the word ofthe Inca as a gua rantee. It was authenticated and enriched by the written journals or memorandums of two

PREFACE.

. X other soldiers, who had served in the expedi tion. He had the testimony, therefore, of three eye witnesses. The Portuguese narrative, on the other hand, is the evidence of merely a single eye witness, who represents himself as a cavalier, or gentle man ; but for this we have merely his own word, and he is anonymous. There is nothing intrinsic in his work that should entitle it to the exclusive belief which has been claimed for it. It agrees with the narrative of the Inca, as to the leading facts which form the frame-work of the story : it differs from it occasionally, as to the plans and views of Hernando de Soto ; but here the Inca is most to be depended upon — the Spanish cavalier from whom he derived his principal information, being more likely to be admitted to the intimate councils of his com mander than one of a different nation, besides being free from the tinge of national jealousy which may have influenced the statements of the Portuguese.

The narrative of the Portuguese is more meagre and concise than that of Garcilaso; omitting a thousand interestirrg anecdotes and personal adventures; but this does not increase its credibility. A multitude of facts, gathered

PREFACE.

. XI from three different persons, may easily have escaped the knowledge, or have failed to excite the attention of a solitary individual. These anecdotes are not the less credible because they were striking and extraordinary. The whole expedition was daring and extravagant, and those concerned in it, were men who de lighted in adventure and exploit.* I have been induced, therefore, in the following pages, to draw my facts more freely and copiously than others, in latter days, have seemed inclined to do, from the work of the Inca ; still I have scrupulously and diligently collated the two narratives, endeavouring to reconcile them where they disagreed, to as certain, with strict impartiality, which was most likely to be correct, where they materially va ried, and to throw upon the whole subject the scattered lights furnished by various modern investigators.

While I have discarded many incidents which appeared hyperbolical, or savoured too strongly of the gossip of an idle soldiery, I have retained, as much as possible, * The reader will find a note concerning Garcilaso de la Vega and his work in the Appendix.

PREFACE.

. those every day and familiar anecdotes which give so lively a picture ofthe characters, habits, persons and manners of the Spanish discoverers of those days, and to my mind, bear so strongly the impress of truth and of nature. My great object has been to present a clear, connected, and characteristic narrative of this singular expedition : how far I have succeeded, it is for the public to judge.

Chapter I

First discovery of Florida. Never was the spirit of wild adventure more universally diffused than at the dawn of the sixteenth century. The wonderful discoveries made by Colombus and his hardy companions, the descriptions of the beautiful summer isles of the west, and the tales of unexplored regions of wealth locked up in unbounded wildernesses, had an effect upon the imaginations ofthe young and the adventurous, not unlike the preaching of the chivalric crusades forthe recoveryofthe Holy Sepulchre. The gallant knight, the servile re tainer, the soldier of fortune, the hooded friar, the pains-taking mechanic, the industrious hus | VOL. I. B bandman, theloose profligate, and the hardy ma riner, — all were touched with the pervading pas sion ; all left their home, country, friends, wives, children, loves, to seek some imaginary Eldo rado, confidently expecting to return with countless treasure.

Of the enterprises undertaken in this spirit, none has surpassed, in hardihood and variety of incident, that of the renowned Hernando de Soto and his band of cavaliers. It was poetry put into action ; it was the knight-errantry of the old world carried into the depths of the American wilderness. Indeed, the personal adventures, the feats of individual prowess, the picturesque descriptions of steel-clad cavaliers, with lance and helm and prancing steed, glittering through the wilds of Florida, Georgia, Alabama, and the prairies of the Far West, would seem the mere fictions of romance, did they not come to us recorded in matter of-fact narratives of contemporaries, and cor roborated by the minute and daily memoranda of eye-witnesses. Before we enter, however, upon the stirring and eventful narrative ofthe fortunes of De Soto and his followers, it is proper to notice briefly the discovery of the land which was the scene of his adventures, and the Various expeditions which stimulated him to his great enterprise.

Those who are conversant with the history of Spanish discoveries, will remember the chime rical cruise of the brave old Governor of Porto Rico, Ponce de Leon, in search of the Fountain of Youth. This fabled fountain, according to Indian tradition, existed in one of the Bahama Islands. Ponce de Leon sought it in vain ; but in the course of his cruisings discovered a country of unknown extent, to which, from the abundance of its flowers, and from its being first seen on Palm Sunday, (Pascha Florida) he gave the name of Florida. Obtaining permission from the Spanish go vernment to subjugate and govern this country, he made a second voyage to its shores, but was mortally wounded in a conflict with the na tives. Such was the fate of the first adventurer into the regions of Florida, and he seems to have bequeathed his ill fortune to his successors.

A few years after his defeat, a captain of a caravel, named Diego Miruelo, was driven to the coast of Florida by stress of weather, where he obtained a small quantity of silver and gold in traffic from the natives. With this he returned well pleased to San Domingo, b spreading the fame of the country he had visited. About the same time a company of several wealthy men at San Domingo, con cerned in gold mines, at the head of which was the Licentiate Lucas Vasquez de Ayllon, auditor and judge of appeals in that island, fitted out two vessels to cruise among the islands and entrap Indians to work in the mines. In the course of this cruise the vessels were driven by stress of weather to a cape on the eastern coast, to which their crews gave the name of St. Helena. The country in the neighbourhood was called Chicorea, and is the same now called South Carolina.

They anchored at the mouth of a river which they called the Jordan, after the name of the captain who discovered it. It is the same now known by the Indian appellation of Cambahee.* The natives hastened to the shores at sight of the ships, which they mistook for huge sea monsters ; but, when they beheld men issue from them, with white complexions * We follow the general opinion, strengthened bv the circumstance that the neighbouring sound and island are still called St. Helena. Herrera places Cape St. Helena and the river Jordan in the thirty-second degree of lati tude, which is that of the Savannah river. — Vide Herrera. D. 2. lib. X. c. 6. and beards, clad in raiment and shining armour, they fled in terror. The Spaniards having dispelled their fears, a friendly intercourse took place. The Indians were kind and hospitable, brought provisions to the ships and made the strangers presents of martin skins, pearls, together with a small quantity of gold and silver.

The Spaniards gave them trinkets in return, and, having com pleted their supplies of wood, water and provisions, invited their savage friends on board their ships. These latter eagerly accepted the invitation. They thronged the vessels, gazing with wonder at every thing around them ; but when a sufficient number were below the decks, the Spaniards perfidiously closed the hatches upon them, and, weighing anchor, made sail for San Domingo. One of the ships was lost in the course of the voyage ; the other arrived safe, but the Indians on board remaining sullen and gloomy, and refusing food, most of them perished.* The reports, however, brought back by the kidnappers, of the country they had visited, * Hist. Florida por el Inca. L. 1. c. 2. Herrera. D. 2. L. x. c. 6. and the specimens of gold and silver brought home about the same time by Diego Miruelo, roused the cupidity of the auditor Lucas Vas quez de Ayllon.

Being shortly afterwards in Spain, he obtained from the Emperor Charles V, permission to conquer and govern the newly discovered province of Chicorea. With this permission he returned to San Domingo, and fitted out an armament of three large vessels, embarking personally in the enterprise. Diego Miruelo persuaded him first to steer in quest of the country which the former had al ready visited, and which he represented as much richer than Chicorea. Miruelo accompanied the expedition as pilot, but, with a want of foresight altogether unworthy of a practised mariner, having neglected in his first visit to take an observation, he was unable to find the place at which he had formerly landed, and was so much mortified by the ridicule and re proaches of his employers, that he fell into a profound melancholy, lost his senses, and died in the course of a few days.

Lucas Vasquez de Ayllon now prosecuted his voyage to the eastward in search of Chico rea. Arriving in the river Jordan, (or Cambahee) — the scene of perfidy acted during the preceding voyage — his principal ship stranded and was lost. With the remaining two he passed further to the eastward, and landed on the coast adjoining Chicorea, in a gentle and pleasant region. Here he was so well received that he considered the country already under his dominion, and permitted two hundred of his men to visit the principal village, about three leagues in the interior, while he remained with a small force to protect the ships. The inhabitants of the village entertained these visitors with feastirrg for three days, until having put them completely off their guard, they rose upon them in the night and mas sacred every soul.

They then repaired by daybreak to the harbour, and surprised Vas quez de Ayllon and his handful of guards. The few who survived escaped wounded and dismayed to their ships, and making all sail from the fatal shore, hastened back to San Domingo. According to some accounts, Ayllon remained among the slain on the coast he sought to subjugate, but others assert that he returned wounded to San Domingo, where the humiliation of his defeat and the ruin of his fortune, conspired with his bodily sufferings to hurry him broken-hearted to the grave. Thus signally did the natives of Chicorea revenge the wrongs of their people who had been so perfidiously kidnapped.* * Hist. Florida, por el Inca. L. 1. c. 2. Herrera. D. 2. L. x. c. 6. Idem. D. iii. lib. 8. c. 8. Peter Martyr. D. vii. c. 11. Heylyn's Cosmographie. L. 4. p. 100. Lond. Ed. 1669-

Chapter II

The Expedition of Pamphilo de Narvaez. The next person who aspired to subjugate the unknown realms of Florida, was a cavalier of greater note, the brave but ill-starred Pamphilo de Narvaez, who had endeavoured to arrest Her nando Cortes in his victorious career against Mexico, in which attempt, Narvaez was de feated, and lost an eye. Possessing favour at court, he was enabled to fit out a considerable armament for his new enterprise. He was invested by the Emperor Charles V with the title of Adelantado, or military governor of the country he expected to oc cupy, which was that part of Florida extending from its extreme cape to the river of Palms. In this expedition he trusted to wipe off the disgrace of his late defeat, and even to b acquire a reputation which might vie with that of Cortes.

On the 12th of April, 1528, Narvaez an chored at the mouth of an open bay on the eastern coast of Florida, with a squadron of four barques and a brigantine. Here he landed his forces, consisting of four hundred men, and forty-five horses ; having lost many of the former by desertion in the West India islands, and several of the latter in a storm. Erecting the royal standard, he took possession of the country for the crown of Spain, without opposition from the natives. After having explored the vicinity, Narvaez determined to penetrate the country in a northerly direction, hoping to discover some great em pire like that of Mexico or Peru. Meanwhile the ships where to proceed along the coast in quest of some convenient harbour where, if they discovered such, he ordered that they should either await his arrival, or steer for Havana, and return with supplies for the army.* This plan was strongly opposed by the treasurer of the expedition, one Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca, a prudent and sagacious man. * Herrera, Decad. iv.

L. iv. c. 4. He represented the danger of plunging into an unknown wilderness without knowing a word of the language, and advised, rather, that they should continue in their ships, until they found a secure harbour and a fertile country, whence they might make incursions into the inte rior. This advice was slighted by Narvaez and his adventurous companions, whose imaginations were inflamed with the idea of inland conquest. The squadron accordingly sailed to the north ward ; Narvaez and his troops setting out by land in the same direction, accompanied by the faithful Alvar Nunez, who, since he could not dissuade his commander from his desperate course, resolved to share his fate. The force which proceeded by land consisted of three hundred men, forty of whom were mounted on horses. The allowance to each man consisted of two pounds of biscuit and half a pound of bacon.

For the first few days they met with fields of maize, and villages con taining provisions. Here, however, they out raged the feelings of the natives by rifling their sepulchres, mistaking them for idolatrous temples. They afterwards journeyed many days through desert solitudes, where there was neither house nor inhabitant, suffering greatly from want of food. They crossed rapid rivers on rafts or by swimming, continually exposed to the assaults of hordes of lurking savages. They traversed swamps and forests, making their way with great difficulty through thickets encumbered by fallen trees, and suffering every variety of hardship. Still they were cheered onward by the as surances of certain captives who served as guides, that at some distance before them lay a vast province called Apalachee, extremely fertile, and abounding in the gold they so eagerly sought after.

At length they arrived in sight of the place which gave its name to this long desired pro vince. Narvaez had pictured to himself a se cond Mexico, and was chagrined at finding a mere village of two hundred and forty houses. Alvar Nunez was sent forward to take posses sion, which he did without opposition, the in habitants having all fled to the woods. The Spaniards remained twenty-five days in the village, exploring the neighbouring country, and subsisting upon the provisions they found in the place. During this time they were ha rassed, day and night, by the natives, who proved to be an exceedingly warlike people, besides being disappointed in their hopes of finding gold, and discouraged by accounts of she country farther* on. They were told, how ever, that by shaping their course to the southward, towards the sea, after nine days' journey, they would come to the village of Aute, where maize, vegetables and fish would be found in abundance, and where the natives were of a friendly disposition.

Towards Aute, therefore, they turned their steps, more eager now for food than for gold. The journey was perilous and full of disaster. They had to cross deep lagoons, and dangerous swamps, the water often up to their breasts, their passage obstructed by rotten trees, and beset by hordes of savages. These latter appeared to the disheartened Spaniards of gigantic stature; they had bows of an enormous size, from which they discharged arrows with such force as to penetrate armour at the distance of two hundred yards. At length, after incredible hardships, and with the loss of many men and horses, the adventurers arrived at the village of Aute.* * Supposed to be on what is now called the Bay of St. Marks. The natives abandoned and burnt their houses as the invaders approached ; but left behind a quantity of maize, with which the Spaniards appeased their hunger.

A day's march beyond the village brought them to a river which gradually expanded into a large estuary. Here they came to a pause in their perilous career, and held a consultation as to their future movements. Their hopes of wealth and conquest were at an end. Nearly a third of their original number had perished ; while of the survivors a great majority were ill, and disease was daily spreading among them. To attempt to retrace their steps, or to proceed along the coast in search of the fleet would be to hazard the lives of all. At length it was suggested that they should construct small barks, launch them and keep along the coast until they should reach their ships. This was a forlorn hope, but they caught at it bke desperate men. They accordingly set to work with great eagerness. One of them constructed a pair of bel lows out of deer skins, to which he applied a wooden pipe.

Others made charcoal, and a forge. By the aid of these, they soon turned their stirrups, spurs, cross-bows, and other articles of iron, into nails, saws, and hatchets. The tails and manes of their horses twisted with the fibres of the palm tree, served for rigging ; the men's shirts cut open and sewed together furnished sails ; the fibrous part of the palm was also used as oakum, the resin of the pine for tar ; the skins of horses were made into vessels to contain fresh w7ater ; and a quantity of maize was won by hard fighting from the natives. A horse was killed every three days to furnish provisions for the labourers and for the sick. Having at length by great exertions completed five frail vessels, the Spaniards em barked on the 22d of September, each vessel containing from forty to fifty persons, but so closely crowded, that there was scarcely room to move, whilst the gunwales of these fragile barks, were forced down to the water's edge.

Setting sail from this bay, which they called the Bay of Caballos, and continuing their course for several days, they reached an island, where they secured five canoes that had been deserted by the Indians. These being attach ed to their vessels enabled them to sail with greater comfort. Passing through the strait between the island and the main land, which they called the Strait of San Miguel, they sailed onward for many days, enduring all the torments of hunger and thirst. The skins which contained their fresh water having burst, some of the men, driven to desperation, drank salt water, and died miserably. Their sufferings too w-ere aggravated by a fearful storm. At length they approached a more populous and fertile part of the coast, upon which they occasionally landed to procure provisions, and were immediately involved in fatal affrays with the natives.

Thus harassed by sea and land, famishing with hunger, their barks scattered and scarcely manageable, these unfortunate wanderers lost all presence of mind, and be came wild and desperate. They were again driven out to sea, and scattered during a stormy night. At daybreak three of these tempest-tossed vessels rejoined each other. In one, which was the best manned and the best sailer, was Pamphilo de Narvaez. Alvar Nunez, who had command of another, seeing the Adelantado making towards the land, called upon him for aid. Narvaez replied that it was no longer time to assist others, but that every one must take care of himself. He then steered towards the shore, and left Alvar Nunez to make the best of his way with the other bark. After sailing along the coast for many days, one night Narvaez anchored off the land.

All his crew had gone on shore for provisions, except one sailor and a page who was sick. A violent gale sprirrging up from the north, the vessel, in which was neither food nor water, was driven out to sea, and no tidings were ever after heard of her. Thus perished the ill-fated Pamphilo de Narvaez. The only survivers of this disastrous expedi tion were Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca, and four of his companions. After the most sin gular and unparalleled hardships, they tra versed the northern parts of Florida, crossed the Mississippi, the desert aird mountainous regions on the confines of Texas and the Rocky Mountains, passing from tribe to tribe of Indians, oftentimes as slaves, until, at the expi ration of severalyears, they succeeded in reaching the Spanish settlement of Compostella. From thence Alvar Nunez proceeded to Mexico, and ultimately arrived at Lisbon in 1537; nearly ten years after his embarkation with Pamphilo de Narvaez.* * This chapter is chiefly taken from the " Naufragios de Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca," with occasional refer ences to Herrera.

Chapter III

Hernando de Soto— His birth— Adventures in Peru- Fits out an armament for Florida — Touches at the Canary Islands — Arrival at Cuba. One would have thought that after the melancholy result of these sad enterprises, and others of less note, but equally unfortunate, the coast of Florida would have been avoided as a fated land. The Spanish discoverers, however, were not to be deterred by difficulties and dangers, and the accounts which they heard of the vast extent of this unknown coun try and of opulent regions in its interior, served only as a stimulus to still bolder and more extensive enterprises. It is proper to note that the Spaniards, at this period, had a very vague idea of the coun try called Florida, and by no means limited it to its present boundaries. They knew some thing of the maritime border of the peninsula, but Florida, according to their notions, ex tended far beyond, embracing the confines of Mexico in one direction, the banks of New foundland in another, and expanding into a vast Terra Incognita to the north.

The accounts brought to Europe by Alvar Nunez of the expedition of Pamphilo de Narvaez contributed to promote this idea. It was supposed that this unfortunate cavalier, in his extensive march, had but skirted the borders of immense internal empires, which might rival in opulence and barbaric splendour, the recently discovered kingdoms of Mexico and Peru ; and there was not wanting a bold and ambitious spirit to grasp immediately at the palm of conquest. The candidate who now presented himself to undertake the subjugation of Florida was Her nando de Soto, and as his expedition is the subject of the following pages, it is proper that he should be introduced particularly to the reader. Hernando de Soto was born about the year 1501, in Villa Nueva de Barcarota,* * The Portuguese narrator assigns Xeres de Badajos as and was ofthe old Spanish hidalguia, or gentry, for we are assured by one of his biographers that " he was a gentleman by all four descents," — that is to say, the parents both of his father and mother were of gentle blood ; a pedigree, which, according to the rules of Spanish heraldry, entitled him to admission into the noble order of Santiago.

Whatever might be the dignity of his birth, however, he began his career a mere soldier of fortune. All his estate, says his Portuguese historian, was but a sword and buckler. He accompanied Pedrarias Davila,* when the latter went to America to assume the command of Terra Firma. The merits of De Soto soon gained him favour in the eye of Pedrarias, who gave him the command of a troop of horse : with these he followed Pizarro in his successful expedition into Peru. Here he quickly signalized himself by a rare combination of pru dence and valour. He was excellent in coun cil, yet foremost in every perilous exploit ; not recklessly seeking danger for its own sake, or the birth-place of De Soto ; we follow, however, the authority of the Inca Garcilaso de la Vega. Herrera. Hist. Ind. Dec. VI. L. 7. c. 9. agrees with the Inca. * Properly written Pedro Arias de Avila. from a vain thirst of notoriety, but bravely putting every thing to the hazard where any important point was to be gained by intre pidity.

Pizarro soon singled him out from the hardy spirits around him, and appointed him his lieutenant.* If there was a service of especial danger to be performed, it was invariably en trusted to De Soto : — if there was an enterprise requiring sound judgment and fearless daring, De Soto was sure to be called upon. A mas ter at all weapons, and a complete horseman, his prowess and dexterity were the admiration of the Spanish soldiery. They declared that his lance alone was equal to any ten irr the army ; and that in the management of this chivalrous weapon, he was second only to Pizarro. He was sent by that commander on the first embassy to the renowned but ill fated Inca Atahualpa, whose subjects, we are told, were filled with surprise and admiration on behold ing his wonderful feats of horsemanship, f * Herrera Hist.