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Show MOONEY] THE DE SOTO EXPEDITION 1540 25 at Guaquili, which is mentioned only by Ranjel, who does not specify whether it was a town or a province- i. e., a tribal territory. It was probably a small town. Here they were welcomed in a friendly manner, the Indians giving them a little corn and many wild turkeys, together with some dogs of a peculiar small species, which were bred for eating purposes and did not bark. 1 They were also supplied with men to help carry the baggage. The name Guaquili has a Cherokee sound and may be connected with wa'gtM, " whippoorwill," uw&' gill, " foam," or gill, " dog." Traveling still toward the north, they arrived a day or two later in the province of Xuala, in which we recognize the territory of the Suwali, Sara, or Cheraw Indians, in the piedmont region about the head of Broad river in North Carolina. Garcilaso, who did not see it, represents it as a rich country, while the Elvas narrative and Biedma agree that it was a rough, broken country, thinly inhabited and poor in provision. According to Garcilaso, it was under the rule of the queen of Cofitachiqui, although a distinct province in itself. 2 The principal town was beside a small rapid stream, close under a mountain. The chief received them in friendly fashion, giving them corn, dogs of the small breed already mentioned, carrying baskets, vand burden bearers. The country roundabout showed greater indications of gold mines than any they had yet seen. 1 Here De Soto turned to the west, crossing a very high mountain range, which appears to have been the Blue ridge, and descending on the other side to a stream flowing in the opposite direction, which was probably one of the upper tributaries of the French Broad. 8 Although it was late in May, they found it very cold in the mountains.* After several days of such travel they arrived, about the end of the month, at the town of Guasili, or Guaxule. The chief and principal men came out some distance to welcome them, dressed in fine robes of skins, with feather head- dresses, after the fashion of the country. Before reaching this point the queen had managed to make her escape, together with three slaves of the Spaniards, and the last that was heard of her was that she was on her way back to her own country with one of the runaways as her husband. What grieved De Soto most in the matter was that she took with her a small box of pearls, which he had intended to take from her before releasing her, but had left with her for the present in order " not to discontent her altogether." 5 Guaxule is described as a very large town surrounded by a number of small mountain streams which united to form the large river down which the Spaniards proceeded after leaving the place. 6 Here, as 1 Ranjel, in Oviedo, Historia General y Natural de las Indias, I, p. 662; Madrid, 1851. • Garcilaso, La Florida del Inca. p. 137,1723. * Ranjel, op. cit., I, p. 562. • See note 8, De Soto's route. 6 Elvas, Hakluyt Society, ix, p. 61,1851. 0 Garcilaso, op. cit., p. 139. |