MooxEY] THE DE SOTO EXPEDITION 1540 25 



;il (iiuiquili. wliicli is nuMitioncd only l)v RiXiijcl. who doos not .specify 

 wiu'ther it was a (own or a pro\ince — i. (>.. a triliai tci ritoi'v. It was 

 probably a small town, llorethey were wclcoincd in a fiicndly man- 

 ner, the ln<lians yivino' them a littlr corn and many wild tiirUeys, 

 toucther with some doo-s of a peculiar small s])ecies. which were bred 

 for eatiny purposes and did not hark.' They were also .supplied with 

 men to help cai'ry the ha<ii;'aye. The name (iua(|tuli has a Cherokee 

 sound and may l)e connectt'd witli /'•u'gHli', " whippoorwill." iiif(T(ii'll^ 

 '•foam," or y/7t, '"dog." 



Travelinu" still toward the nortii. they arrived a day oi' two later in 

 the provini-e of Xuala. in which we recog-nize the territory of the 

 Suwali. Sara, or C'heraw Indians, in the piedmont region about the 

 head of Broad river in North Carolina. Garcilaso. who did not see it, 

 represents it as a rich coimtry, while the Klvas narrative and Biedma 

 agree that it was a rough, bi-oken country, thinly inhabited and poor 

 in provision. According to (xarcilaso, it was under the rule of the 

 queen of Cotitachitpu, although a distinct province in itself.' The 

 principal town was beside a small rapid stream, (dose under a moun- 

 tain. The chief r(>ceived them in friendly fashion. gi\ ing them coi'n, 

 dogs of the small breed already mentioned, carrying baskets, and bur- 

 den bearers. The coiuitry roundabout showed greater indications of 

 gold nnnes than any they had yet seen.' 



Here De Soto turned to the west, crossing a \ery high mountain 

 range, which appears to have been the Blue ridge, and descending on 

 the other side to a stream flowing in the opposite direction, which 

 was pro))ably one of the upper tributaries of the French Broad.'' 

 Although it was late in May, they found it very cold in the moun- 

 tains.* After several days of such travel they arrivi>d. about the end 

 of the month, at the town of (kiasili, or (iua.xnle. 'I'hc chitd' and 

 principal men came out some distance to welcome them, dressed in 

 tine robes of skins, with feather head-dresses, after the fashion of the 

 country. Before reaching this point the (pieen had manag(>d to make 

 her escape, together with three slaves of the Spaniards, and the last 

 that was heard of her was that she was on her way back to her own 

 country with one of the runaways as her husband. What grieved 

 De Soto most in the matter was that she took with her a .small box of 

 pearls, wdiich he had intended to take from her befon* releasing her, 

 but had left with her for the present in order "'not to discontent 

 her altogether."' 



(xuaxule is described as a vi'ry large town surroundcnl by a nuiidjer 

 of small mounttiin streams which united to form the large river down 

 which the .Spaniards proceeded after leaving the plac(>." Mere, as 



^Ranjel, in Oviedo. Historia General y Natural de la.** Indias. i. p. 5(>2; Madrid, 18.M. 

 'Garcilaso, La Florida del Inca. p. 137, \Tl'i. 'Ranjel. up. eit., i. p. .ili'J. 

 'See note 8, De Soto's route. ^ Elvas, Hakluyt Society, i x, p. (11. 1S51. 



■'(.iarcilaso, op. cit., p. 139. 



