chose a representative of that tribe with which we have since discovered grounds for believing the Calusa stood in a particularly close relation. But even so, he was unable to obtain interpretations for most of Fontaneda's Calusa names, and most of the remaining etymologies suggested to him must be rejected as improbable. Yet it is interesting to note that the impression made upon his informants by these names was similar to that certain to be impressed upon anyone familiar with the Muskhogean tongues. He says: "My monitors say that all these words are eminently Chahta in their sounds, but that sometimes they are too imperfectly preserved to be understood, or that their sense can be detected only in part." Of the translations obtained by Smith of names not furnished with interpretations by Fontaneda only that of Calaobe (from kåli hofobi, "deep spring") and perhaps that of Soco (from su'ko, "muscadine") seem to have some probability in their favor. Translations are, however, furnished for a few by Fontaneda himself, and while the literal correctness of these must not be assumed, they present a somewhat more promising field of investigation. These words are Guaragunve, a town on the Florida keys, the name of which is said to mean in Spanish Pueblo de Llanto, i. e., "the town of weeping;' Cuchiyaga, a second town on these islands, the name signifying "the place where there has been suffering;" Calos or Calusa, “in the language of which the word signifies a fierce people, as they are called for being brave and skilled in war;" the Lake of Mayaimi, so called "because it is very large;" Zertepe, "chief and great lord" (though possibly this is a specific title); Guasaca-esgui, a name of the Suwanee, "the river of canes;" No or Non, "town beloved;" Cañogacola, or Cañegacola, "a crafty people, skillful with the bow;" se-le-te-ga, "run to the lookout, see if there be any people coming!"

The first of the above is almost the only one in which an r appears— though Carlos is used for Calos occasionally-and it is possible that this town may be one which Fontaneda informs us to have been occupied by Cuban Arawaks. In English the name would be pronounced nearly as Waragunwe, and if we assume the r has been substituted for an original 7, we might find a cognate for the first part of it in Choctaw wilanli, to weep, while the second part might be compared with Choctaw kowi or konwi, woods, a desert, but I do not feel sure that this order is permissible, and little confidence can be placed in the rendering. For Cuchiyaga Smith's informants suggested ku-chi (cha) ya-ya, "going out to wail," though he remarks that the interpretations of the names of this town and the preceding may have become transposed. Calos was explained to Smith as an abbreviation of the Choctaw words ka-la and lu-sa, "strong (and) black,'

but the form without a terminal a seems to be nearer the original, and I would suggest kallo, strong, powerful, or violent, followed by an article pronoun such as ash, the aforesaid, or osh. In case the final a were original the second word in the compound might be asha, to sit, to be. Mayaimi recalls Choctaw maiha, wide, and mih, it is so, it is like that, although mih is usually initial in position. I can do nothing with Zertepe, but, as suggested, this may not be a generic word. Guasaca-esgui should probably be pronounced Wasaka-esgi, and both parts bear a strong resemblance to the Choctaw uski or oski, cane, though of course, in any case, only one would represent that word; the Choctaw word for river is hacha. In explanation of No, Gatschet cites Creek anokitcha, "lover," anukidshäs, "I love," the Choctaw equivalent of which is anushkunna, no or nu being assumed as the radix, but anoa, "famous," "noted," "illustrious," may also be mentioned in this connection. Perhaps the most suggestive of all of these words is Cañogacola, because the ending looks suspiciously like Choctaw okla, people, which we often find written by early travelers ogala or okala. The first part might be explained by Alabama kȧñgo, not good, bad, or as a shortened form of Choctaw inkana keyu, unfriendly. Finally, se-le-te-ga may contain cheli, you fly, you go rapidly, followed by -t, used in connecting several verbs, and possibly haiaka, to appear, to peep, though I am not certain that this particular combination is admissible. Romans is the only writer to attempt an interpretation of names along the southeastern Florida coast. He gives the name of Indian River as Aisa hatcha and interprets this as meaning "Deer River." 1 The word hatcha, however, was probably given by himself or else obtained from the Seminole Indians and there is no proof that it belonged to the ancient language of Ais, while the first was probably translated arbitrarily in terms of the Choctaw language with which Romans was to some extent familiar.

Upon the whole more resemblances between these words and Choctaw seem to occur than would be expected if the languages had nothing in common, and those which we find in Guasaca-esgui and Cañogacola are almost too striking to be merely accidental. In connection with the first of these reference should be made to the name of a province mentioned only once by Fontaneda and seemingly located near Tampa Bay. This is Osiquevede, in which it is possible we again have oski. The latter part of the word might be interpreted by means of Choctaw fitiha, to whirl or veer about.

Putting all of the above evidence together, we may fairly conclude that a connection with Choctaw, or at all events some Muskhogean dialect, is indicated, but we must equally admit that it is not proved.

1 Romans, Concise Nat. Hist. of E. and W. Fla., p. 273.

In the interior of the country, about Lake Okeechobee, were many towns said to be allied with the Calusa chief, and from the names of these towns given us by Fontaneda they would appear to have been allied in language also.1

On the east coast of Florida were a number of small tribes settled in the various inlets. From south to north the most important were the Tekesta, Jeaga, and Ais. The name Tekesta resembles those of the Calusa towns in appearance, and so do the names of several smaller places in the same locality, one town, Janar, even having a designation absolutely identical with that of a Calusa settlement.

3

We know little more of the Jeaga and Ais. They had many cultural features in common with the Calusa—including a uniform hostility to Christian missions and their languages were at least markedly different from Timucua. In 1605 the governor of Florida, in commenting on the visit of some Ais Indians to St. Augustine, says that the language spoken in that province was "very different from this" (i. e., Timucua). He conversed with them by means of Juan de Junco, an Indian of the Timucua mission of Nombre de Dios, who spoke to the interpreter of the Surruque, a tribe living about Cape Canaveral. We might assume from this that the Surruque spoke the same language as the people of Ais, but many of them were familiar with Ais on account of the proximity of the two peoples, and I am inclined to regard the Surruque as the southernmost band of Timuqua upon the Atlantic coast.

The linguistic position of the Tamahita Indians is uncertain, but there is some reason to think that their name will prove to be another synonym for Yuchi. This possibility will be discussed at length when we come to consider the history of that tribe.

THE CUSABO

HISTORY

Little as we know about these people, it is a curious fact that their territory was one of the first in North America on which European settlements were attempted, and these were of historical importance and even celebrity. They were made, moreover, by three different nations, the Spaniards, French, and English.

The first visitors were the Spaniards, who made a landing here in 1521, only eight years after Ponce de Leon's assumed discovery of Florida. Accounts of this voyage, more or less complete, have

1 Fontaneda in Col. Doc. Ined., v., p. 539; see pp. 331-333.

* See p. 333.

* The Spanish orthography of this word is retained; it was pronounced something like Heaga.

5

been given by Peter Marytr,' Gomara,' Oviedo,3 and Herrera,' and in more recent times by Navarrete, Henry Harrisse, John Gilmary Shea, and Woodbury Lowery. That of Shea is based largely on original manuscripts, and, as it contains all of the essential facts, I will quote it in full.

In 1520 Lucas Vasquez de Ayllon, one of the auditors of the Island of St. Domingo, though possessed of wealth, honors, and domestic felicity, aspired to the glory of discovering some new land, and making it the seat of a prosperous colony. Having secured the necessary license, he despatched a caravel under the command of Francisco Gordillo, with directions to sail northward through the Bahamas, and thence strike the shore of the continent. Gordillo set out on his exploration, and near the Island of Lucayoneque, one of the Lucayuelos, descried another caravel. His pilot, Alonzo Fernandez Sotil, proceeded toward it in a boat, and soon recognized it as a caravel commanded by a kinsman of his, Pedro de Quexos, fitted out in part, though not avowedly, by Juan Ortiz de Matienzo, an auditor associated with Ayllon in the judiciary. This caravel was returning from an unsuccessful cruise among the Bahamas for Caribs the object of the expedition being to capture Indians in order to sell them as slaves. On ascertaining the object of Gordillo's voyage, Quexos proposed that they should continue the exploration together. After a sail of eight or nine days, in which they ran little more than a hundred leagues, they reached the coast of the continent at the mouth of a considerable river, to which they gave the name of St. John the Baptist, from the fact that they touched the coast on the day set apart to honor the Precursor of Christ. The year was 1521, and the point reached was, according to the estimate of the explorers, in latitude 33° 30′.

Boats put off from the caravels and landed some twenty men on the shore; and while the ships endeavored to enter the river, these men were surrounded by Indians, whose good-will they gained by presents.

Some days later, Gordillo formally took possession of the country in the name of Ayllon, and of his associate Diego Caballero, and of the King, as Quexos did also in the name of his employers on Sunday, June 30, 1521. Crosses were cut on the trunks of trees to mark the Spanish occupancy.

Although Ayllon had charged Gordillo to cultivate friendly relations with the Indians of any new land he might discover, Gordillo joined with Quexos in seizing some seventy of the natives, with whom they sailed away, without any attempt to make an exploration of the coast.

On the return of the vessel to Santo Domingo, Ayllon condemned his captain's act; and the matter was brought before a commission, presided over by Diego Columbus, for the consideration of some important affairs. The Indians were declared free, and it was ordered that they should be restored to their native land at the earliest possible moment. Meanwhile they were to remain in the hands of Ayllon and Matienzo.7

Another account of this expedition is given by Peter Martyr,' from whom Gomara and nearly all subsequent writers copied it.

1 Peter Martyr, De Orbe Novo, п, pp. 255-271.

1 Gomara, Hist. de las Indias, p. 32

Oviedo, Hist. Gen., m, PP. 624-633.

Herrera, Hist. Gen., 1, pp. 259-261.

Navarrete, Col., m, pp. 69-74.

Harrisse, Disc. of N. Amer., pp. 198-213

"In Winsor, Narr. and Crit. Hist. Amer., II. pp. 238-241.

Lowery, Span. Settl., 1513-1561, pp. 153-157, 160-168.

While it is not fortified with official documents like that of Shea it comes from a contemporary and one intimately acquainted with all of the principals and therefore deserves to be placed beside the other as an original source of information.

Some Spaniards, anxious as hunters pursuing wild beasts through the mountains and swamps to capture the Indians of that archipelago [the Bahamas], embarked on two ships built at the cost of seven of them. They sailed from Puerto de Plata situated on the north coast of Hispaniola, and laid their course towards the Lucayas. Three years have passed since then, and it is only now, in obedience to Camillo Gallino, who wishes me to acquaint Your Excellency with some still unknown particulars concerning these discoveries, that I speak of this expedition. These Spaniards visited all the Lucayas but without finding the plunder, for their neighbors had already explored the archipelago and systematically depopulated it. Not wishing to expose themselves to ridicule by returning to Hispaniola empty-handed, they continued their course towards the north. Many people said they lied when they declared they had purposely chosen that direction.

They were driven by a sudden tempest which lasted two days, to within sight of a lofty promontory which we will later describe. When they landed on this coast, the natives, amazed at the unexpected sight, regarded it as a miracle, for they had never seen ships. At first they rushed in crowds to the beach, eager to see; but when the Spaniards took to their shallops, the natives fled with the swiftness of the wind, leaving the coast deserted. Our compatriots pursued them and some of the more agile and swift-footed young men got ahead and captured a man and a woman, whose flight had been less rapid. They took them on board their ships and after giving them clothing, released them. Touched by this generosity, serried masses of natives again appeared on the beach.

When their sovereign heard of this generosity, and beheld for the first time these unknown and precious garments for they only wear the skins of lions and other wild beasts he sent fifty of his servants to the Spaniards, carrying such provisions as they eat. When the Spaniards landed, he received them respectfully and cordially, and when they exhibited a wish to visit the neighborhood, he provided them with guide and an escort. Wherever they showed themselves the natives, full of admiration, advanced to meet them with presents, as though they were divinities to be worshipped. What impressed them most was the sight of the beards and the woolen and silk clothing. But what then! The Spaniards ended by violating this hospitality. For when they had finished their explorations, they enticed numerous natives by lies and tricks to visit their ships, and when the vessels were quickly crowded with men and women they raised anchor, set sail, and carried these despairing unfortunates into slavery. By such means they sowed hatred and warfare throughout that peaceful and friendly region, separating children from their parents and wives from their husbands. Nor is this all. Only one of the two ships returned, and of the other there has been no news. As the vessel was old, it is probable that she went down with all on board, innocent and guilty. This spoliation occasioned the Royal council at Hispaniola much vexation, but it remained unpunished. It was first thought to send the prisoners back, but nothing was done, because the plan would have been difficult to realise, and besides one of the ships was lost.

These details were furnished me by a virtuous priest, learned in law, called the bachelor Alvares de Castro. His learning and his virtues caused him to be named Dean of the Cathedral of Concepcion, in Hispaniola, and simultaneously vicar and inquisitor.

148061°-22-3