e brought in and restored to him, at which he seemed well
pleased, yet presented them to Soto, who declined accepting them; but
Capaha desired him to give them to any one he pleased, as they should
not stay with him, and they were accordingly admitted among the
followers of the Spanish army.

At this time the Spaniards suffered excessively for want of salt, when
they were informed by some Indians that there was plenty to be had, and
likewise of the metal they called gold only about four leagues from
thence. Soto accordingly sent Ferdinand de Silvera and Pedro Moreno
under the guidance of these Indians to the place, ordering them likewise
to examine diligently into all the circumstances of the country they
passed through. They returned after eleven days with six loads of rock
salt, as clear as crystal, and one load of fine copper; and reported
that the country they had passed through was rather barren and thinly
inhabited. On receiving this report, the general resolved to return in
the first place to Casquin, and thence to proceed towards the west,
having marched northward all the way from Mavila, in order to remove to
a distance from the sea. After resting five days at Casquin, they
marched other five days down the river, where at a town in the province
of _Quiguate_ the inhabitants fled without any hostilities, but they
returned in two days and the cacique made an apology for his absence. In
the interval, the inhabitants of that place wounded two of the
Spaniards, which the general thought proper to overlook under the
present circumstances. Departing from Quiguate after a sojourn of seven
days, they arrived in five days more at the province of _Colima_,
marching still down the river, and were received in a friendly manner.
At this place they found another river having blue sand, which was salt
to the taste. The Spaniards being much in want of salt, steeped some of
this sand in water, which they strained and boiled, and procured
excellent salt to their great joy; yet some ate of it so voraciously
that ten of them died.

Departing from this province of Colima, which the Spaniards named _De
Sal_, or the Salt Country, they marched four days through an uninhabited
wilderness, after which they came to a province called _Tula_[178]. On
approaching the first town, the whole population both male and female
came out to oppose them, and a battle ensued in which the Indians were
defeated, and the Spaniards rushed into the town al