number of his imps had threatened to kill
him if he acted as a guide to the Spaniards, and had dragged him about
and beaten him so unmercifully that he had assuredly been killed if they
had not come to his assistance; and, since the great devil fled from two
Christians, he begged to be baptized that he might be a Christian like
them and able to drive away the devil. This appeared to be no fiction,
by the bruises and swelling which Peter exhibited; and accordingly Soto
gave him in charge to the priests, who remained with him all night and
baptized him; and next day he was mounted on horseback, being unable to
walk on account of the drubbing he had got from the Devil!

The two armies marched apart, pursuant to the wise precautions adopted
by Soto. The Indians kept excellent order, having a regular van and rear
guard, and making those who carried the provisions and baggage keep in
the centre. Every night the two armies lay at some distance, each
appointing their own guards. On the third day of the march from Cofaqui
they entered upon the wilderness, through which they marched for six
days, finding the country very agreeable. They had two rapid rivers to
cross, at both of which the cavalry was made to form a kind of wall
above the ford to break the force of the stream, by which means they all
got safe over. On the seventh day both Spaniards and Indians were much
at a loss, as the road they had hitherto followed was now at an end, so
that they knew not which way to take through the rest of the wilderness.
Soto asked the Indian general how it could possibly happen that among
eight thousand men of his nation, more especially as they had always
been at war with the people to whose country they were going, no one
should know the road. The Indian chief answered that none of them had
ever been there; for the war was never carried on by means of complete
armies, as they merely killed or made prisoners of each other, when they
chanced to meet at the fisheries on the rivers, or while hunting; and as
the people of Cofachiqui were most powerful, his countrymen did not
venture so far into the wilderness, by which reason they were
unacquainted with the country. He farther assured Soto that he might
rely on the probity and good faith both of the cacique and himself, who
had no intention of fraud or perfidy; yet he might if he pleased take
what hostages he thought proper for his security, and if that were not
sufficient, he would submit to