Loudon free press. (Loudon, Tenn.) 1852-1855, 1853-10-07
From Arthurs Home Gazette.
THE DISCOVERY OF THE MISSISSIPPI.
By wM. II. CARPENTE

romatc than the reniarhab'6 series of eyplura.
Oa and advt n ure which u,hvred in the sixteenth
century. rhe discovery of an unknown cont
nent by CDllm baS, and the he0ric vet ali dar
barrie exploits OF Cortez and Pizarro, had ex.
tended the dominion Of Spain over a vast re-
gion extending from the Mexican Gulf to the
Pacific Ocean; had poured into the ROYAL treas
ury, at Madrid, an almost fabulous amount o.
wealth, and had correspondingv enriched all
those daring Sodiersor fortune whose ambitious
spirits led them to embark in perilous enterpris
cs the splendid results OF &sich were o.sing not
less to their great powers OF endurance than to
their acknowed red coura,,e
Success so astonishing, achieved hy a mere
handful of men when compared with The mum.
berS by whom tNGy &cre opposed animated
others 10 undertake enterprises of "A similar char
acter. The field of conquest hal hthcrtj bcen
confined wholly TO the Southern portion of the
American continent and the adjacent islands;
bit was conjecturrd THAT to ,hp north of, Ct-
ba lay lands as rich in gold ana Jewels rs those
over which the Spanish tag alrea ly hJa:a.!, ana
nations as casy to he overcome.
On the strength OF an Indian tradition. that
brave but crcdulous old SJllier Ponce De Leon,
had explored the Bahama Islands III the vain
search for a fduntain whicl. was rIuicd to pos
sess the marvellous property g. r.iuyeai ;iar
those who drank of its iinpid WIT rs Bat
though Ponce De Leon failed in finding the
i'ibuljGS Fountain OF Youth. he discovered. in
his vova re across The Gull Stream. 4 beautiful
country, frjm wlt;!ile The self ai., CAME la,!ea
with the ifaEI;iHce df tinkutjwn h6wtrS. and to
which, from that cause and from 5 being first
mt with on Palm Snndar-pas,ua Flori,li-
he gave The h;i,iic uf Florida. Ret. rninr to
Spain, he obtained siiltEJri;9 to ooaa,le. aud
govern this htherto unlinown land, 5il, his dow.
ing anticipatioHs terminated disasirously lie
found the natives far more warkc than hose
Of Mexico and Peru, and IN his attempt t. sab
due them he received a gricvous wouud, of
which he langai5iiGl iur d 3hosi TIME; aid aa.l-
~ died.
TIE Fogages Of Lucas Tdy2"cz De .4Y'Ioa
a small quantiy OF silver ana gold, brou hit
from the same coast to Saa Eomia- "a hy the
captain OF IA caravel, stimulated Lucas VasIucz
De Ayliun, IN connection with several other
wealthy persons, owners 81 gjd mines IN that
l2dii, d III oat two veSS;,s l6r the DO ubie pur-
pose ui exploring the country and of kidnap-
ping Indians to WORK III the mines. \ tempest
driving these ships nprthward to Cuba Helena.
in South CarCl.ua, they finally anchored ;lt the
moath OF the Cambahee. The gu;!ciess Ia
dians, So s5on IS theY had rccjIercd from the.r
fears, caI:ie Hocdihg Oa board. brn inr vii:
them presents Of valuable farsy yssma pearls
and sliiall 9uantitiy of gold and silver
Their hospitality was re9Hitr.i bv the faHles:
trcachcry. They were ma,,c prisoners, asd
carried to San Domingo. One Of The vessels
WAS lcst duting the vova 70; the other returned
safely: but the poor captiveS were found useless
as labJrers, and, piuing for their lost liberty the
greater portion of them speedily died either of
grief or ofvoluiitary starvation.
Nasquez De Ayllon soon after undertook
second voyage. His largest vessel being blown
ashore, a total wreck, at the mouth Of the Can.
bahee, he sailed with the other two to the east
ward. Here, also, he landed in a delightful
country, and was received with such an APPEAR
ance Of frank hospitality by the Indians of that
region, that, wholly beguiled OF his suspicious
he suffered the greater portion OF his men to
accompany their entertainers to u large village
4 short distance in the interior After being
feasted fot three days with the utmost show of
friendship, the spaniardS were suddenly assul-
ted, as they slept, and massacred to a man
Early the next morning, 4 yl0n, and the small
force left to guard the ships, were surprised in
Ike manner, and very few escaped to carry
back to Saa Domingo tidins rs of the fate which
had beEaen their comrades.
The AGcehfH'e 81 Paml,bIo De Nlrcdoz.-
Uhde'erre! by the fatality which seemed to at
tend al attempsto Snliiu gate the niiives of FIDri-
da, PInDli D. ! Eire: c :; the weak al Of Coz
tcz, gathered "boJi hIE l;.r5e lhm! cr of res
olGtc shirts, and 5aaraI the rpydl rn.i mission
as Alellatldo,or m;!itirr governor of thoi. conn-
try set sail for the conquest OF Florida. With
four hundred mea and torty-ire horses, he Ian.
ded on the eastern coast on the l2th Of April,
lJ23. After taking uamolested possession Of
the country in Tie name Of his Soyerei "a he or
dcred his ships to sail TO the norihwar,i, while
he penetrated inland in The same direction, at
tended by two tgrifed and sixty lootnien AID
fofiy cavalry.
The progress of the Spaniar1s did rot long
remain undisputed. They had scarcely com
menced Fheir march defore they began to be
greatly annoyed by the fierce though desul
tory attacks of the natives Brushing these of
with constantly increasing difficulty as they pro-
ceeded, they resoluely pressed forward through
the tangled wilderness, now cutting their way
through dense cane-brakes, now crossing with un-
certain fp1tinr br1ld street :h.s If bog " s%antp
and, at times pausing On the Banks of rivers
too deep 10 ford, and too rapid to swim, until
RATS could he constructed to carry them over
Though suffering from HUNGER debiliatrd bv
sickness, and at all times exposed to the ar
rows of outlying foes, the report of Abundance
of gold in the province of ApIlachee enconr.-
ged, them to persevere. They well knew that the
early Suteffngs of Pazarro and his heroic little
band had been compensated by the wealth of
Peru, and in the midst of their greatest p.ea-
tions were sustained by the hope OF similar
reward. After struggling through tn, wilder
ness for fifteen DAYS, they reached the long de-
sired town of Apalachee, which. to their great
dismay, they found mere collection of or.!ina-
airy Indian wir~Hail,s. The inhabitants had
fed before the advance of the SpniarlS, but
they indicated their presence in the vicinity,
and their determined hostility, by lurking in
the woods an cutting off all stra ;ers, aud by /
a series of pertnacous assaults, which rave tie
invaders no rest either by day or nj ght.
At this place, Narvaez remained nearly a
month; recruiting the siren ofhs halftamish
ed followers, and awaiting the return Of rsrics
sent out to examine the country for gold. Fin
ding none, and having reports of more peace
ful people nine days journey to the solthward,
where abundance of provisions could be OBJ
tanned, aud eager to free themselves from the
constant attacks of the warlike natives of AQal-
achee, they took up their line. of march iorthe
village, of Aute, which the finally reached, ai (
ter encounterng many perls by the way, ard
suffering considerable loss both in men and hor
ses.
On their approach, the village was found to
have hcpn ahonlonad and tho booSnc hurnod (