THOMAS.] THE HISTORICAL EVIDENCE. 649 



situated Oil the high land above the banks of the river. * * * ^t 

 a distance were seen the dwellings of the chiefs .situated on an emi- 

 nence, and were conspicuous for their size and the work which had been 

 bestowed upon them." ' 



That the pearls here alluded to were in part at least nothing more 

 than shell beads may be assumed without any doubt. Had tliey been 

 genuine pearls it is not likely De Soto would have left them there so 

 willingly. Moreover, nothing is heard afterwards, when other adven- 

 turers visited this region, of its wealth in ])earls. Shell beads are com- 

 mon in southern mounds, often occurring in great numbers, while pearls 

 are comparatively rare. 



This Portuguese gentleman (Gentleman of Elvas) also frequently 

 mentions towns surrounded by "walls" and "palisades."^ These he 

 describes as follows : ' 



The wall, as well of that [town] as of others which afterwards we saw, was of 

 great posts thrust deep iuto the ground and very rough, and many long rails as big 

 as one's arm laid across between them, and the wall was about the height of a lance, 

 and it was daubed within and without with clay and had loop-holes. 



He speaks of another town "where the cacique used to reside, 

 which was very great, walled, and beset with towers, and many loop- 

 holes were in the towers and walls. * * * Within a league and 

 half a league were great towns all walled. Where the governor was 

 lodged was a great lake that came near unto the wall, and it entered 

 into. a ditch that went round about the towu, wanting but little to 

 environ it round." ■• 



If the reader will compare this description with the works on 

 Etowah river, Georgia, figured by C. C. Jones,^ and also from a resur- 

 vey in the preceding part of this volume, with the works of Moorhouse 

 parish, Louisiana, figured by Squier and Davis,* the works at the Knapp 

 place near Little Kock, Arkansas, and those in Catahoula parish, Lou- 

 isiana, figured in this volume, he can not fail to observe the close corre- 

 spondence between the narrator's statement and these lemains. 



Speaking of the arrival of De Soto at the province of Guaxule, evi- 

 dently in the northern jiart of Georgia, and probably on the headwaters 

 of the Coosa river, Garcilasso says: 



The chief, whose name was also Guaxule, came out with 500 men to meet him and 

 took him in the village [jraeblo] in which were 300 houses, and lodged him in his 

 own. This house stood on a high mound [cerro] similar to others we have already 

 mentioned. Round about was a roadway sufficiently broad for six men to walk 

 abreast.' 



There are good reasons, as will hereafter be shown, for believing that 

 this refers to the celebrated Etowah mound near Cartersville. 

 The town of Talisse is described as "strong in the extreme, for, 



'Hist. Florida, Lib. 3, cap. xiv, p. 130. •• P. 72. 



»Hi9t. Coll. La., n, pp. 153, 158. 159,162, 165,172, « Autiquitiea Soiitheru Indians, pi. 1. 



186. anil 203. c Ancient monuments, pi. xxxvni, fig. 4. 



= P. l.l:!. ' Hist. Florida, cd. 1723, lib. III. cap, XX. p. 139. 



