bwahton] EARLY HISTORY OF THE CREEK [NDIANS 115 
In this manner we marched for eight days, without meeting any more natives, 
until one league from the site !<> which 1 said we were going. There, as we were 
marching along, Indians crepl up unseen and fell upon our rear. A boy belonging to a 
nobleman, called Avellaneda, who was in the rear guard, gave the alarm. Avellaneda 
turned back to assist, and the Indians li it him with an arrow on the edge of the cuirass, 
piercing his Deck nearly through, so that he died on the spot, and we carried him 
to Auto. It took us nine days from Apalachen to the place where we stopped. And 
then we found that all the people had left and the lodges were burnt. But there was 
plenty of maize, Bquash, and beans, all nearly ripe and ready for harvest. We rested 
there for two days. 
After this the governor entreated me to go in search of the seaj as the Indians said 
it was so near by, and we had, on this march, already suspected its proximity from a 
great river to which we had given the name of the Rio de la Magdalena. I left on the 
following day in search of it, accompanied by the commissary, the captain Castillo, 
Andres Dorantes, 7 horsemen, and 50 foot. We marched until sunset, reaching 
an inlet or arm of the sea. where we found plenty of oysters on which the people feasted, 
and we gave many thanks to God for bringing us there. 
The next day I sent 20 men to reconnoiter the coast and explore it, who returned on 
the day following at nightfall, saying that these inlets and bays were very large and 
went so far inland as greatly to impede our investigations, and that the coast was still 
at a great distance. Hearing this and considering how ill-prepared Ave were for the 
task, I returned to where the governor was. We found him sick, together with many 
others. The night before Indians had made an attack, putting them in great stress, 
owing to their enfeebled condition. The Indians had also killed one of their horses. 1 
The next day they left Aute and, with great exertion, reached 
the spot where Cabeza de Vaca had come out on the Gulf. It was 
determined to build boats and leave the country, but meanwhile, in 
order to provide themselves with sufficient provisions, they made 
four raids upon Aute "and they brought as many as 400 fanegas of 
maize, although not without armed opposition from the Indians." 2 
Our author adds that "during that time some of the party went to 
the coves and inlets for sea food, and the Indians surprised them 
twice, killing ten of our men in plain view of the camp without our 
being able to prevent it. We found them shot through and through 
with arrows, for, although several wore good armor, it was not suffi- 
cient to protect them, since, as I said before, they shot their arrows 
with such force and precision.'' 3 Near the end of September, 1528, 
they embarked in five barges and left the country, coasting along 
toward the west, and having nothing further to do with Apalachee 
or its inhabitants. The narrative given by Oviedo 4 is practically 
the same; that in the "Relacion" published in the Documentos Inedi- 
tos 5 is even briefer. 
The next we learn of the Province of Apalachee is from the chroni- 
clers of the great expedition of De Soto. Ranjel, who is generally 
the most reliable, gives the following account- 
On Wednesday, the first of October, [1539] the Governor Hernando de Soto, started 
from Agile and came with his soldiers to the river or swamp of Ivitachuco, and they 
1 Bandelier, op. fit., pp. 28-34. B mdelier, op. cit., p. 39. 
2 Ibid., ]>. ite. A fanega is about equal to a * Oviedo, Hist. Gen., in, pp. 578-582. 
bushel. - Doc. Ined., Xiv, pp. 265-279. 
