864 



SCIENCE. 



[X. S. Vol. XXI. Xo. 544. 



Thomas. The ' New International Encyclo- 

 pedia ' follows, in part, Mooney and Lowery, 

 but also diifers from them in part. 



It will be seen from this list that the gen- 

 eral consensus of authorities — all, in fact, but 

 two or three — locate Xuala somewhere in 

 northern Georgia, most of them in Habersham 

 County, while Mooney and Lowery place it in 

 southwestei'n North Carolina, somewhere in the 

 region of Henderson or Rutherford County. 

 Although the article ' De Soto,' in the ' New 

 International Encyclopedia ' apparently fol- 

 lows Mooney in locating Xuala, though it does 

 not mention the name, it differs radically from 

 them in regard to the immediately following 

 portion of the route, carrying it down the 

 Coosa, instead of the Chattahoochee. It is 

 rather strange that Lo\Yery on the ' Sketch 

 Map ' of his work locates Xuala in or near 

 Habersham County, northeastern Georgia, and 

 Guaxule about Bartow County, and follows 

 down the Coosa River instead of the Chatta- 

 hoochee as in his text (p. 230). 



The object at present is to examine briefly 

 the data and determine, if possible, which of 

 these two divergent views agrees most nearly 

 with the original chronicles of the expedition, 

 and the topography of the country, or whether 

 both are erroneous. 



All the facts bearing upon this particular 

 inquiry to be drawn from the original chron- 

 icles relate to the march from Cofitachiqui — 

 where the Adelantado was so royally enter- 

 tained by the noted cacica — to Chiaha, where 

 he paused to recuperate because of abundant 

 food and pasture. 



It is now generally conceded that Cofitachi- 

 qui was located on the east bank of Savannah 

 River, at or near Silver Bluff, about twenty- 

 five miles below Augusta, though one or two 

 authors have contended that it was at the 

 junction of Broad and Savannah Rivers. We 

 shall, therefore, proceed upon the assumption 

 that it was at or in the vicinity of Silver Bluff 

 — as this theory is maintained by the views 

 we propose to discuss; calling attention fii'st 

 to that theory which places Xuala in western 

 North Carolina. 



From Cofitachiqui, according to all the 

 original chronicles, De Soto and his army pro- 



ceeded northward, without, so far as the rec- 

 ords show, recrossiug the river, hence on the 

 east side of the Savannah, in what is now 

 South Carolina. However, in order to pro- 

 cure a supply of food the army was divided 

 into two parties, that with De Soto going 

 directly onward, while the other turned aside, 

 some twelve leagues, say the chronicles (prob- 

 ably toward the bottom land), where there was 

 a store of maize offered them by the cacica. 



Before reaching Xuala they passed through 

 some small villages or settlements of the 

 Chalaque (or Achalaque) now recognized as 

 the Cherokees. The time given for the march 

 from Cofitachiqui to the Chalaque by the dif- 

 ferent chroniclers differs considerably; Elvas 

 states it was seven days ; Garcilasso, eight ; 

 and Ranjel (in Oviedo), only two. Biednia 

 does not mention Chalaque, but makes the 

 time occupied in going from Cofitachiqui to 

 Xuala eight days. As further data regarding 

 the time occupied, it may be stated that Elvas 

 makes the time from Cofitachiqui to Xuala 

 twelve days. Ranjel makes it seven days, 

 mentioning as an intermediate village Gua- 

 quili — not noted by the others — which he says 

 was three days' march from Xuala. Garcil- 

 asso makes the distance between the same 

 points fifty leagues. All agree in giving the 

 time from Xuala to Guaxule as five days. 



As the particular view we are now discuss- 

 ing is that maintained by Mr. Mooney and 

 Mr. Lowery (in his text) and the latter fol- 

 lows the former without going into details, 

 for these we have necessarily to refer to the 

 statements by the former. 



According to these the Chalaque villages 

 were probably on or near Keowee River, for 

 which point we may assume Anderson, An- 

 derson County, South Carolina, as among the 

 modern names along the supposed route. 

 From ihis point the Adelantado's force pro- 

 ceeded to Xuala, which this authority, as al- 

 ready stated, places about Henderson County, 

 North Carolina. From there, according to 

 both authorities, they moved west, ' down 

 French Broad' River as far, we are justified 

 in supposing (as no point is mentioned), as 

 to or near the site of Asheville. From there 

 these authors carry them southwest to 



