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Show MOONBT] DE 80TO's ROUTE 197 about fifty feet wide at the base and narrowing gradually to the top. Had this been the mound of the narrative it is hardly possible that the chronicler would have failed to notice also the two other mounds of the group or the other one on the opposite side of the river, each of these being from twenty to twenty- five feet in height, to say nothing of the great ditch a quarter of a mile in length which encircles the group. Moreover, Cartersville is at some distance from the mountains, and the Etowah river at this point does not answer the description of a small rushing mountain stream. There is no considerable mound at Coosawatee or in any of the three counties adjoining. The Nacoochee mound has been cleared and cultivated for many years and does not now show any appearance of a roadway up the side, but from its great height we may be reasonably sure that some such means of easy ascent existed in ancient times. In other respects it is the only mound in the whole upper country which fills the conditions. The valley is one of the most fertile spots in Georgia and numerous ancient remains give evidence that it was a favorite center of settlement in early days. At the beginning of the modern historic period it was held by the Cherokee, who had there a town called Nacoochee, but their claim was disputed by the Creeks. The Gentleman of Elvas states that Guaxule was subject to the queen of Cofitachiqui, but this may mean only that the people of the two towns or tribes were in friendly alliance. The modern name is pronounced NaguUlt' by the Cherokee, who say, however, that it is not of their language. The terminal may be the Creek udshi, " small," or it may have a connection with the name of the Uchee Indians. From Guaxule the Spaniards advanced to Canasoga ( Ranjel) or Canasagua ( Elvas), one or two days' march from Guaxule, according to one or the other authority. Garcilaso and Biedma do not mention the name. As Garcilaso states that from Guaxule to Chiaha the march was down the bank of the same river, which we identify with the Chattahoochee, the town may have been in the neighborhood of the present Gainesville. As we have seen, however, it is unsafe to trust the estimates of distance. Arguing from the name, Meek infers that the town was about Cona-sauga river in Murray county, and that the river down which they marched to reach it was " no doubt the Etowah," although to reach the first named river from the Etowah it would be necessary to make another sharp turn to the north. From the same coincidence Pickett puts it on the Conasauga, " in the modern county of Murray, Georgia,'' while Jones, on the same theory, locates it " at or near the junction of the Connasauga and Coosawattee rivers, in originally Cass, now Gordon county." Here his modern geography as well as his ancient is at fault, as the original Cass county is now Bartow, the name having been changed in consequence of a local dislike for General Cass. The whole theory of a march down the Coosa river rests upon this coincidence of the name. The same name however, pronounced G& nsd'tft by the Cherokee, was applied by them to at least three different locations within their old territory, while the one mentioned in the narrative would make the fourth. The others were ( 1) on Oostanaula river, opposite the mouth of the Conasauga, where afterward was New Echota, in Gordon county, Georgia; ( 2) on Canasauga creek, in McMinn county, Tennessee; ( 3) on Tuckasegee river, about two miles above Webster, \ n Jackson county, North Carolina. At each of these places are remains of ancient settlement It is possible that the name of Kenesaw mountain, near Marietta, in Cobb county, Georgia, may be a corruption of Gftnsagl, and if so, the Canasagua of the narrative may have been somewhere in this vicinity on the Chattahoochee. The meaning of the name is lost. On leaving Canasagua they continued down the same river which they had followed from Guaxule ( Garcilaso), and after traveling several days through an uninhabited (" despoblado") country ( Elvas) arrived at Chiaha, which was subject to the great chief of Coca ( Elvas). The name is spelled Chiaha by Ranjel and the Gentle- |