ply into
difficulties,"--had he said frankly to the friendly princess, "I have
decided to return to my home, and I solicit your friendly cooperation
to assist me on my way;" and had he made her a present, in token of
his gratitude, of some of those articles with which he could easily
have parted, and which were of priceless value to her, he might
doubtless have retired unmolested. Instead of this he followed the
infamous example which Pizarro had set him in Peru.

He appointed a guard, who were directed to keep a constant watch upon
the princess, so that she could by no possibility escape; at the same
time he informing her, in the most courteous tones, that the
protection of his army and of her own people rendered it necessary
that she should accompany him on his march. He held her in silken
chains, treating her with the utmost delicacy and deference. The
princess had sufficient shrewdness to affect compliance with this
arrangement. It certainly accomplished the desired effect. All strife
between the natives and the Spaniards ceased, a sufficient body of
porters accompanied the army, and its march was unimpeded. A beautiful
palanquin was provided for the princess, and the highest honors were
lavished upon her.

Colonel A. J. Pickett, in his interesting and very carefully prepared
History of Alabama, speaking of the locality of this village where De
Soto tarried so long, and encountered so many adventures, says:

"He entered the territory of the present Georgia at its
southwestern border, and successively crossing the Ockmulgee,
Oconee, and Ogeechee, finally rested on the banks of the
Savannah, immediately opposite the modern Silver Bluff. On
the eastern side was the town of Cutifachiqui, where lived an
Indian queen, young, beautiful, and unmarried, and who ruled
the country around to a vast extent. In 1736 George Golphin,
then a young Irishman, established himself as an Indian
trader at this point, and gave the old site of Cutifachiqui
the name of Silver Bluff. The most ancient Indians informed
him that this was the place where De Soto found the Indian
princess; and this tradition agrees with that preserved by
other old traders, and handed down to me."

According to this statement the village of Cutifachiqui was on the
eastern bank of the Savannah river, in Barnwell county, in the State
of South Carolina. On the morning of the 4th of May, 1540, De Soto
again put