corated with great quantities of pearls.

De Soto, with a large retinue of his own officers and of the household
of the princess, visited this mausoleum. Much to his surprise, he
found there an edifice three hundred feet in length, and one hundred
and twenty in breadth, with a lofty roof. The entrance was decorated
with gigantic statuary of wood. One of these statues was twelve feet
in height. In the interior many statues and carved ornaments were
found.

A large number of wooden chests or coffins contained the decaying
bodies of the illustrious dead. By the side of each of these there was
another smaller chest, containing such valuables as it was probably
supposed the chief would need in the spirit-land. Both the Inca and
the Portuguese narrative agree in the account of the almost incredible
number of pearls there found. It is said that the Spaniards obtained
fourteen bushels, and that the princess assured them, that by visiting
the mausoleums of the various villages, they could find enough pearls
to load down all the horses of the army.

The Spaniards generally were greatly elated at the discovery of these
riches. Pearls were estimated at a value almost equal to diamonds. It
is said that Queen Cleopatra possessed a single pearl which was valued
at three hundred and seventy-five thousand dollars. Philip II. of
Spain received as a present a pearl, about the size of a pigeon's egg,
valued at one hundred and sixty thousand dollars.

De Soto was urged to establish his colony upon this river, which has
variously been conjectured to have been the St. Helena, the Oconee,
the Ogeechee, and the Savannah. The country was beautiful and fertile;
the climate delightful; and apparently an inexhaustible pearl fishery
near. It was urged that an agricultural colony could be established on
the fertile banks of the river, while from the seaport at its mouth a
lucrative trade could be carried on with the mother country for all
the rich productions of Spain.

But the persistent spirit of De Soto was not to be turned from its one
great all-absorbing object, the search for gold. He urged, and with
great show of reason, that, in consequence of the recent pestilence,
there was not sufficient provision in the country, to support the army
for a month; that by continuing their march they might enter far
richer provinces, and might find mines of gold. Should they be
disappointed, they could easily return; and in the meantime, the
Indians hav