38 BUREAU OF AMERICAN ETHNOLOGY [Bull. 137 



sea, and reached it on July 28. A few days afterward they passed 

 on to the coast of the Gulf. All of this time, and indeed until they 

 left the country for good, they were pursued relentlessly by the 

 Apalachee Indians. Here they determined to build boats in which 

 to make their escape from the country, and 5 boats were finally 

 constructed in which the 242 survivors departed, September 22, 1528. 

 Coasting westward along the shores of the Gulf of Mexico, they pres- 

 ently came upon an Indian village of mat houses which "seemed to be 

 permanent," on or near Pensacola Bay. Half an hour after sunset, 

 although the Indians had received them at first in a friendly man- 

 ner, they made a sudden onslaught and wounded Narvaez himself in 

 the face with a stone, but were beaten off. The qhief of this band 

 was able to escape, leaving in the hands of those who had seized him 

 a robe of "marten-ermine skin," "which," says Cabeza de Vaca (1905, 

 p. 45), "I believe, are the finest in the world and give out an odor like 

 amber and musk." Skins of the same kind and from the same region 

 were particuarly praised. It is probable that they were from the 

 muskrat. The Indians made 3 furious attacks that night until they 

 were finally ambushed from the rear by a party of 15 men, but not 

 one white man escaped unhurt. In the morning, before leaving, the 

 Spaniards destroyed more than 30 canoes. 



After voyaging 3 days longer they entered a firth and met a canoe- 

 load of Indians who, in reply to a request for water, promised to get 

 some if they were given vessels in which to bring it back. A Christian 

 Greek named Doroteo Teodoro said he would go with them and did so 

 in spite of the attempts of his companions to dissuade him. He took 

 a Negro along, and two Indians remained with the Spaniards as 

 hostages. In the evening the Indians returned with the vessels but 

 with no water in them and neither the Greek nor the Negro. 



In the morning many canoes of Indians came, demanding their two companions, 

 who had remained in the barge as hostages. The Governor answered that he 

 would give them up, provided they returned the two Christians. With those 

 people there came five or six chiefs, who seemed to us to be of better appearance, 

 greater authority and manner of composure than any we had yet seen, although 

 hot as tall as those of whom we have before spoken. They wore the hair loose and 

 very long, and were clothed in robes of marten, of the kind we had obtained 

 previously, some of them done up in a very strange fashion, because they showed 

 patterns of fawn-colored furs that looked very well. (Cabeza de Vaca, 1905, pp. 

 47-48.) 



The mention of long hair shows that we are probably dealing with 

 Indians related to the Choctaw since male Choctaw, unlike the men in 

 surrounding tribes, did not shave any parts of their heads except in 

 time of mourning. The most interesting point connected with these 

 two groups of Indians is the fact that they had very few bows and 

 arrows, but were armed mainly with slings and darts. That these 



