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porting his men and animals across it. Indeed, one horse was borne down by the current, with his rider upon his back, and both were drowned. The remainder of his force, however, passed the river in safety, and Narvaez now entered a region of country which was somewhat more favorable for the occupation of man, and where he hoped he should at length find cities and towns and a more wealthy population. Instead of which, however, he only found more numerous enemies to encounter, and a fiercer and more determined resistance.

Still the Indians would not meet him in the open field. They contented themselves with following his steps, sometimes making false treaties of peace with them, for by this time he had learned to hold some communication with them, sometimes drawing him into ambuscades, and sometimes contenting themselves with harassing his march, and picking off his men with their arrows from thickets in which they lay concealed while the column of troops was passing.

THE BLOODHOUNDS.

Among the other means of warfare against the Indians which Narvaez brought with him was a supply of bloodhounds. All the Spanish generals made great use of bloodhounds in their contests

with the natives of these countries. These dogs, when used thus against human beings, are trained to follow the scent of man, and in doing their work they become as ferocious and as terrible as tigers. They are very large, being more than two feet high, and extremely swift of foot. When once put upon the track of a fugitive they never lose the scent, and so fierce are they for blood that often they can neither be called, nor pulled, nor beaten off, when once they have seized their victim, until they have killed and half devoured him.

Narvaez not only used these bloodhounds to pursue and capture Indians on his march, but he sometimes, as was the custom with other Spanish commanders, used them as executioners to carry into effect a sentence deliberately pronounced upon a captive.

In one case, for example, he became very much displeased with a certain chief named Hirrihigua, who made a sort of treaty of peace with him, as Narvaez understood it, soon after he crossed the Suwanee. Afterward Narvaez became so incensed with something which Hirrihigua had done, that he ordered his nose to be cut off, and then brought out his mother and set the bloodhounds upon her. The bloodhounds sprang upon her with the utmost fury, like wild beasts upon their prey. They

seized her by the throat, killed her immediately, and then tore her to pieces and devoured her.

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These and similar atrocities perpetrated by Narvaez on his advance into the country beyond the Suwanee exasperated the minds of the Indians to

the last degree. The tribes made common cause against him, and endeavored to harrass and impede his march in every possible way. There were no roads, and though the expedition had now passed in some degree beyond the region of the swamps and everglades, they found instead interminable forests, which were everywhere so encumbered with fallen trees and dense undergrowth, that the labor was immense of cutting a way through them. Both men and horses began to suffer now a great deal for want of food, for Narvaez had brought no provisions with him except a two days' supply at the commencement of his march. He had trusted to the resources of the country, which he had expected to find populous and wealthy like the kingdoms of Mexico and Peru. The horses began to give out. The men, too, suffered so much from hunger, that when a horse could march no further they slaughtered him for food. At last they were reduced to such short allowance that for two or three weeks they lived mainly upon roots and other esculent substances which they found in the woods. They made great use for this purpose, it is said, of certain tender leaves that grew upon the palmetto tree. They made every possible effort to induce the Indians to supply them with food, but without any success.

ARRIVAL AT APALACHE.

They pressed on, however, notwithstanding all these difficulties, being cheered by the intelligence that there was a town at some distance before them, called Apalache. If they could reach that town they hoped to procure there all that they required. Great was their disappointment, however, when at last they reached it, to find that it consisted of a miserable Indian hamlet of about forty wigwams, forsaken and desolate, and wholly devoid of every thing that could supply their wants or minister to their comfort, except to furnish them a scanty and cheerless shelter from the winds and rain. The inhabitants had abandoned their dwellings and fled, when they learned that the invaders were approaching.

There were, however, some fields of corn growing near, the ears in which were beginning to get ripe, thus promising a moderate supply of food. Narvaez established himself in the deserted village, and though he was attacked two or three times by the Indians who still lurked in the neighborhood, he remained there for nearly a month, resting and recruiting his men, and seeking information from every quarter, in order to obtain some light, if possible, to aid him in determining what course to pursue.

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