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of Canasauga, a village at which he halted, is still
given to a branch of the latter stream.
For several months, the Spaniards were in the valleys which send their waters to the
Bay of Mobile.
Chiaha was an island distant about a hundred miles from Canasauga.
An exploring party which was sent to the north, were appalled by the aspect of the Appalachian chain, and pronounced the mountains impassable.
They had looked for mines of copper and gold; and their only plunder was a buffalo robe.
In the latter part of July, the Spaniards were at
Coosa.
In the course of the season, they had occasion to praise the wild grape of the country, the same, perhaps, which has since been thought worthy of culture, and to admire the luxuriant growth of maize, which was springing from the fertile plains of
Alabama.
A southerly direction led the train to
Tuscaloosa; nor
was it long before the wanderers reached a considerable town on the
Alabama, above the junction of the Tombecbee, and about one hundred miles, or six days journey, from
Pensacola.
The village was called Ma villa, or
Mobile, a name which is still preserved, and applied, not to the bay only, but to the river, after the union of its numerous tributaries.
The
Spaniards, tired of lodging in the fields, desired to occupy the cabins; the Indians rose to resist the invaders, whom they distrusted and feared.
A battle ensued; the terrors of their cavalry gave the victory to the Spaniards.
I know not if a more bloody Indian fight ever occurred on the soil of the
United States: the town was set on fire; and a witness of the scene, doubtless greatly exaggerating the loss, relates that two thousand five hundred Indians were slain, suffocated, or burned.
They had
