surgeon of the expedition who survived, and he was a man of but
little skill.

De Soto forgot himself and his wound in devotion to the interests of
his men. Foraging parties were sent in all directions to obtain food
for the sufferers, and straw for bedding. Here the army was compelled
many days to remain to recruit from the awful disaster with which it
had been so suddenly overwhelmed.

CHAPTER XVI.

_Days of Darkness._

The Melancholy Encampment.--The Fleet at
Pensacola.--Singular Resolve of De Soto.--Hostility of
the Natives.--Beautiful Scenery.--Winter Quarters on the
Yazoo.--Feigned Friendship of the Cacique.--Trickery of
Juan Ortiz.--The Terrible Battle of Chickasaw.--Dreadful
Loss of the Spaniards.

For twenty-three days the Spaniards remained in their miserable
quarters, nursing the sick and the wounded. As nearly all their
baggage had been consumed in the flames, they were in a condition of
extreme destitution and suffering. Parties, of those who were least
disabled, were sent on foraging expeditions, penetrating the country
around to a distance of about twelve miles. They found the villages
deserted by the terror-stricken inhabitants. But they obtained a
sufficient supply of food to meet their immediate wants. In the
thickets and ravines they found the bodies of many Indians, who had
died of their wounds, and had been left unburied by their companions.
They also found in many of the deserted hamlets, wounded Indians, who
could go no farther, and who were in a starving and dying condition.
De Soto kindly ordered that their wounds should be dressed, and that
they should be fed and nursed just as tenderly as his own men. Several
captives were taken. De Soto inquired of them if another attack were
meditated. They replied that all their warriors were slain; that none
were left to renew the battle; that their chief had sent his son to
watch the movements of the Spaniards, and had summoned his warriors
from a great distance for their extermination. Nearly all were to be
slain. The survivors were to be held as slaves. All their possessions
and especially the magnificent animals they rode, were to be divided
as the spoils of the conqueror. They said that their chief, upon the
arrival of De Soto with his advance guard, was holding a council with
his officers, to decide whether they should immediately attack those
who had already arrived, or wait until the whole army was with