



















62 THE MOUND BUILDERS OF TENNESSEE. 
was of a yellow caste and very fine texture. De Soto, in. 
his mareh in 1539 and 1540, saw great numbers of similar — 
feathered mantles; the Mexicans at the time of the Spanish 
conquest were clad in similar garments. E | 
The tribes of Indians inhabiting the immense territory 
called by the Spaniards, Florida, embracing a country of 
indefinite extent, bordering upon the Gulf of Mexico, an 
including a large portion of the Valley of the Mississippi 
and the present States of Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Missis- 
sippi, and the middle and western portions of Tennessee, 
were more highly civilized, and farther advanced than those 
` in more northern regions; they were worshippers of the sun, 
were governed by despotic princes, cultivated the soil, had 
made some advances in the arts, and their manners, customs 
and religion all pointed to Mexico as their native country. 
The population was much greater at the time of the inva- 
sion of De Soto than it has been at any subsequent period 
Large armies were frequently arrayed against him. 
Potosa, Florida, he was furnished with seven hundred bur- 
den bearers. In Ocute, Georgia, he was supplied with two 
hundred of these Indian servants, and at Cafeque, in the 
same State, four thousand more transported the effects of his 
army. A numerous population was found in the provin 
of Coofa, and large forces opposed him at Maubila, Chi 
asa, and Alabama. The invasion of De Soto resulted in the 
destruction of an immense Indian population in all the te 
tory through which he passed ; they were not only destroyed 
in the bloody battles by thousands, but they were worn out. 
by heavy burdens, and hunted down with bloodhounds. The 
European diseases, which the natives inherited from the 
. Spaniards, served also to thin out their population. Again, 
ihe constant bloody wars in which they were afterwards en- 
 gaged among themselves, and which, to a great extent, grew 
out of the invasions, still farther reduced their numbers. 
. The towns were surrounded with walls of earth and pa 



