m, no one stirred till Soto came
forwards, when the cacique stood up and advanced twenty paces to meet
him. Tascaluza was like a giant, much taller than his son, well-shaped,
and of a good aspect. The Spaniards were well received, abundantly
supplied, and commodiously quartered. They set out again on their march
on the third day; and as the cacique Tascaluza chose to accompany them,
one of the baggage horses belonging to Soto was selected for him to ride
upon. When mounted, his feet reached within, a span of the ground. He
was not fat, as his waist was hardly a yard in compass, and he did not
seem to exceed forty years of age. In the course of this days march,
after coming to a fortified town, the Spaniards had to cross the river,
which they did with considerable difficulty, being badly supplied with
rafts or floats. On taking up their quarters for the night, two
Spaniards were amissing; and when the Indians were asked about them,
they answered in a haughty manner, _they were not given to our keeping_,
so that it was strongly suspected they were murdered. Upon this cause of
jealousy, and being likewise privately informed that the cacique had
assembled a great number of men at a place called Mavila, under pretence
of serving the Spaniards, Soto sent three confidential officers to view
that place, which was about a league and a half from quarters. They
reported that they had seen no person by the way, but that Mavila was a
much better fortified place than, any they had hitherto seen in Florida.

As the Spaniards were bound for Mavila, and under circumstances very
considerable suspicion as to the good intentions of Tascaluza and his
subjects, they marched with the utmost circumspection. Soto led the van
in person, consisting of an hundred horse and an hundred and fifty foot.
He was accompanied by Tascaluza, and as he marched with diligence, he
arrived at Mavila at eight in the morning, the main body not coming up
for a considerable time after. The town of Mavila was seated in a plain,
enclosed by a double row of piles with timbers laid athwart, and the
interstices rammed full of straw and earth, so that it looked like a
wall smoothed by a masons trowel. At every eighty paces distance, there
was a tower or platform where eight men could stand to fight, having
many loop holes. It likewise had two gates. Though it only consisted of
eighty houses, these were so large that each could have contained a
thousand men. In the middle