Chapter 25
More Recruiting in the Southeast, 10 K
(AL, GA, FL, 1378)
We went down along the riverbank past the towns and villages that were allied to the large city. We cleared their area not long after their river joined the Union River. I decided to call their river the East Union River rather than name it for their city, since it was likely they would not join. Some three days later, we began to encounter more of the small farming hamlets and again took pains not to disturb their fields. As we approached a small, palisaded town the next day, a small group came forward to meet us. They were elaborately garbed, but no one was being carried. Their leader was a bit older than me and of a somewhat haughty demeanor. Still he greeted us politely and asked us our intentions. I told him I wished to speak to the principle chief of the area in order to present him an offer of unity with us. He replied that the head chief was in a large city some distance east of his town. He would be glad to contact the chief for me and present my proposal. I thanked him for his kindness, but insisted that I would have to present my own proposal if the chief was willing to hear it. If he was not, we would like to continue on to the coast in peace. His hauteur disappeared as he worried about what he should do. Finally, he offered to send someone to see if the chief would receive us, and we could meanwhile camp here outside his city. I agreed that he should send the messenger, but insisted on continuing south. If his chief would receive me, he could send messenger to intercept us, and we would detour to his city. Meanwhile, we would continue south along the river.
The next day, we passed a few more towns and, late in the day, came upon another larger river joining ours from the northeast. We crossed the river and camped on its banks. We followed it into a fairly wide and marshy delta, which forced us a little farther east until we finally came in sight of a bay. It was longer than it was wide, and there was quite a lot of fishing and shellfish gathering in progress all around it. The settlements around the bay were small and scattered and without walls. They also seemed to have some sort of allegiance to the chief upstream. They were quite friendly and shared their food with us. They said that the main city was called Alba ayamule, and it was quite some distance up the river. It was an odd name, since it meant, “I clear the thicket” in Pansfalaya, but perhaps it had some more subtle meaning to them. In any case, I decided to name the river Albayamule for the city, since its subjects were so friendly. We reached the mouth of the bay and found it was protected by barrier islands. We had just begun to turn east along the coast when a messenger who announced that the chief would receive us in his city intercepted us.
I decided to continue along the coast for a while, before turning north toward the city. The messenger was concerned since there was a large city ahead that was not subject to his chief. We came upon a smaller bay with a river at its head and more small villages all around it. The next day, we found the city that concerned the messenger. It was at the head of another bay. It was an odd bay with a very long narrow peninsula jutting out from its east end and almost closing it to the sea. Beyond it were more of the barrier islands. It looked like one would need to take frequent soundings in order to use this for a seaport. The bay seemed to drain several rivers, but the town was at the mouth of the first one. As we drew near, a procession came out with flutes, armed guards, and a litter-borne chieftain. None seemed to have the misshapen heads, but all were heavily tattooed and bedecked with copper and shells. They also spoke a language very similar to Pansfalaya and called themselves Pensacola, which also referred to their long hair. Their chief was named Hopthole Mico. “Mico” meant chief in the similar languages of the Southeastern Towns. That was why it kept cropping up in the names of their chiefs.
The interview went no better than the one at the first city, however. Again it was obvious that gifts were expected and again the chief wanted us to help him attack one of his neighbors. When I refused, we were ordered to leave the town at once and get out of the lands it controlled. I asked just how far his lands extended, and he claimed to own all the land south of the river I had named Albayamule. I told him we would follow the river (I had decided to name it the Pensacola since I couldn’t think of anything else) that ran past his town upstream until we reached the city of his northern neighbor who was awaiting us. This changed his tune a little, and he asked if we were planning to join them. I replied that we merely were going there to make the same offer we had just made him. We would not attack him or join in any attack against him unless he provoked it. Once we left the town, the messenger ridiculed the chief’s territorial claims, assuring us we would be out of their lands by the next day.
The river led us northward for two days, then swung northeastward. Several smaller rivers joined it, but we continued to follow the main stream. All along its course, we would find farming hamlets and cultivated fields. Our guide claimed that his master, Tustenuckochee, controlled all these hamlets. We would occasionally encounter a town, and our guide would go in and confer briefly, then catch up while we continued on our way. Eventually, some five days up the river, our guide insisted that we must move north now to reach Alba ayamule. Four days later, we came upon the city along the bank of the river just below its junction with another river. The city was large and palisaded, but not as large as the first city we had encountered on this trip. Even that city was not nearly as large as Murenbalikh, but it was the largest we ever found in the southeast. As usual we were met by a procession. Tustenuckochee was close to forty years old from the look of him and decked out in the usual finery. He seemed more dignified than haughty, however. He was heavily tattooed and wore copper wire in his ears like the Chikasha as well as copper nose ornaments. He had a cloak of some light tan–colored animal pelt.
He greeted me formally and invited me into the city. Again the language was enough like Pansfalaya that I could understand him. We followed the procession back to the city. It proved to be the usual open square, with several building-capped mounds surrounded by the more humble abodes. We stopped at the most pretentious mound, and our host was set down. He gravely indicated that I should follow him, and we went up the mound to what appeared to be a temple rather than a house. Inside were large carved figures made of wood. There were baskets full of inferior-looking pearls. Along the walls were ceremonial weapons made of copper. I was uncomfortable in the temple and wondered what he was up to. He bid me wait and went into a second room screened by a curtain. I looked around a bit while waiting. The images seemed to be warriors with some animal, mostly avian, features. The weapons looked like axe heads and spear points.
At last the chief came out of the other room and led me out on the terrace in front of the temple. He bid me sit on a mat to one side of the entrance, and he sat on another. An attendant came out of the temple carrying a dark liquid in a large shell. He brought it to the chief who took a deep draught, and then he brought it to me. I took a taste, it was exquisitely bitter and fairly close to vile, but tolerable and at least a change from the weed. I did find I began to perspire profusely from the drink. The attendant passed the shell between us again until it was finished. The chief seemed to be watching me for some sort of reaction to the drink, but I couldn’t fathom what he expected. Considering some of the things I’d had to eat and drink on my journeys, it wasn’t half bad.
“What are your chief’s intentions?” he finally broke the silence.
“To unite the various tribes throughout the land in peace,” I replied.
“Why?” he asked.
“We have seen petty divisions destroy our people in our old home,” I suggested, “we don’t want that to happen here.”
“When people move,” he said, “they usually take over a finite area to build a new home. Your people seem to want all the land under the sun. Why?”
“We only want to unite the people in peace,” I returned to the theme. “We are now but a small part of our people, for whole tribes far larger than ours have joined us. I am simply exploring the land and asking those groups that I meet to either join us, confederate with us, or just remain at peace with us. We only force the issue when we are attacked.”
“So if I tell you,” he studied me, “to leave us in peace, you will?”
“Yes, we will,” I assured him. “As long as you leave us in peace.”
“And if someone vaguely connected to me,” he pursued, “should perform some act that you would judge to be hostile, you would descend on me as you did the Hotcangara?”
“Not if you eschewed that act,” I replied.
“What if I was not aware of it?” he continued.
“Are you not kept informed of your subjects’ activities?” I feigned surprise.
“Do you really think,” he seemed affronted, “that any leader could be aware of all the actions of his subjects?”
“Well, if those actions could affect the common good,” I continued the tack.
“Did our neighbors ask you to join them in an attack on us?” he changed the subject.
“Perhaps,” I answered, “I wasn’t interested in who they wanted us to help them attack, since I didn’t come here to attack anyone, only offer alliance.”
“And has anyone allied with you?” he asked.
“The Pansfalaya have joined us,” I replied, “and the small group of towns, in some way under or allied to the town called Koasati, along the large river to the north has confederated with us, but the rest of the people in this area are not very interested in our offer.”
“Is there a ruling class among your people?” he changed the subject again.
“No.” I looked at him steadily. “Anyone can rise to leadership among the Mongols.”
“How many Mongols look like you?” he switched subjects again.
“A handful look like me,” I returned.
“How many of them are leaders?” he shot back.
“Two of them,” I answered. “One leads an Ordu, and I am on the Khan’s Council. We both joined the Khan shortly before we left the old land and earned our promotions.”
“It may prove”—he seemed thoughtful—“that yours is the better way. But it is not our way. We cannot join you as you are now organized. The elites rule our people and keep everything orderly and organized. The people are accustomed to it and thrive under it. Mine is the largest territory you will find, and it is no accident.”
“I can see that you are a cut above your neighbors,” I said, “but only because you don’t suffer from their blind arrogance. The Pansfalaya are organized much like we are, and they are a far larger people than yours.”
“They are a large group,” he conceded, “but they are all independent and disorganized.”
“No longer,” I rejoined, “you will soon find them organized into one or more tumen, just like we are.”
“But you assure me,” he persisted, “they and you will not fall on my ‘paltry’ domains unless provoked.”
“That is true,” I agreed.
“Good.” He rose. “We will live in peace with you, and you may continue on your journey. The guide will remain with you until you leave our areas to ensure that no one disturbs you.”
I thanked him, and we descended back down the temple mound. I mounted up, and we left the city. We had not gone long before I found myself retching uncontrollably. Thliotombi asked if I had drunk the Assi-lukutshi. I said I had been given a dark liquid to drink, and he explained that it usually made one retch immediately. He was impressed that I had held it in so long. I told him that the chief had not betrayed any problem, but he suggested that the chief drank it all the time and was probably used to it. I decided that was not quite enough provocation for war.
Since I was interested in mapping the coast, I asked our guide, Itchhasu, if there was a direct route back to the coast that would pass through some other chiefdoms. He said there was a large river in the east that would lead us to the coast, but we should first visit the ancient town of Coosa, up a tributary of the Albayamule River, near the city. I agreed as long as he would show us the way. He said he wanted to join us, if we’d allow him. I wondered if he was a spy, but figured it would do no harm since we often had observers along anyway, and they were little better than spies initially. The trip to Coosa took us four days up the tributary, which flowed generally south into the Albayamule. I decided to name the river Coosa, for the town.
Coosa was not fully palisaded, although there was a partial one on the eastern edge of town. The town was fair sized with a large open square with a pole in its center topped by a bird effigy. There were a few mounds capped with the usual large houses, as well as a very large “hot” or winter house around the square. The rest of the houses seemed to be organized in groups of four around an open area. The four houses included a winter house, a summerhouse, a grain storage house, and a warehouse. Some of the poorer townsfolk managed to concentrate all these things in one or two buildings. The people looked and dressed just like the Alba ayamule people but were quite busy with various pursuits, and little note was taken of us at first. Then a group was hastily thrown together to determine our intentions. Since these were peaceful, we were brought into the center square, and a bit of a crowd began to gather. At length Tustennugee, the chief, came down from his mound to greet us and lead us back up to his house. He was not young, perhaps sixty years old, and was missing quite a few teeth. That along with the strange dialect necessitated our using Itchhasu as interpreter. In time I got so I could get a little of what was being said, for the language was also related to Pansfalaya. The chief seemed a bit distracted and frequently lost tract of the conversation. Some of his replies were to questions not asked. Assistants attended him, but they did nothing to help the matter.
We finally rose to leave with nothing resolved, but the chief assuring us our chief had made a wise decision to accept his daughter’s hand in marriage. We were shaking our heads in disbelief as we descended from the house, but were intercepted at the square by a much younger man who apologized that we had been taken to see the “old” mico. He explained that the older man was his father and had become much confused in old age. He thanked us for coming to visit them, but he knew all about our recruiting drive, and his people were not interested. He did hope we could live in peace with each other, since war had not been kind to his people in recent times. I assured him we would, indeed, remain in peace with his town and wished him better fortune in future campaigns unless they were against our allies.
As we left, Itchhasu apologized and insisted that the old Mico had been quite sharp the last time he had seen him, some five years earlier. I suggested we move on the river that would lead us south now. We moved due east for some four days until we reached the river. The terrain was different here. We had to go a little north to find a pass through a steep ridgeline, and the country beyond was rather rough and uninhabited except for hunting camps. The river marked the return of the little settlements we had become used to, and as usual we made every effort to avoid their fields. After two days along this river, we came to the town of Kasihta, the leading town of another chieftaincy. The town was much like Coosa as were the people, and the language was just as hard to follow. We were met since we had to cross the river to the east side to reach the town. We were well received and treated politely, but again there was no interest in our offer at all. As we left, we were given some of their grain stores and told how far downstream we would find the next town. Since they were so pleasant, I decided to name the river for their town.
We kept finding towns of varying sizes along the river all claiming to be independent and none wishing to join us. Finally, as the riverbank began to get marshy, we came upon a town that spoke a language more like the Pansfalaya. They called themselves A’palachi and seemed to have a sort of confederacy of towns in the area. They were rather warlike and were expanding eastward by force of arms. At first they thought we might be induced to join them, but were not put off when I refused since I had nothing to prove and had no quarrel with their neighbors. The chief was named Kushiksa, a tall strong man a little older than me. He engaged us in an archery contest, and we did quite well. He was impressed by our arrows as well as our steel weapons, but I explained he’d have to at least confederate with us to have access to them. He asked what that would entail, and when I explained, he was hesitant about losing some of his warriors for the summer, especially if they’d have to go way north through hostile territory. I suggested they would have to go no farther than the Pansfalaya lands. He seemed to be wavering, so I asked him to send a trusted man along with us who could report back to him as to whether it would be to his advantage to join us. He liked that idea and called in his younger brother, Schakchu. The latter was eager for the adventure and suggested we return after we visited the town they were fighting so he could join us.
The town they were fighting was a few days up a river east of the Kasihta at the southern end of a lake. The town was fairly large and palisaded. I could not detect any difference in appearance or language between them and the A’palachi. There was a difference in their leaders, however. Their chief was not at all interested in my offer and was angered that I had made the same offer to his current enemy. He ordered us away from his lands. We returned to pick up Schakchu and went on down to the coast. The land was increasingly marshy, so I went on down to the coast by boat with Smoking Mirror and Schakchu, in order to finish mapping. I sent the men eastward paralleling the shore until a point where dry ground reached the shore. A guide was sent along to make sure they didn’t get lost. Meanwhile, we reached the sea and found more of the barrier islands along the coast. We paddled along the coast toward the east, putting in on the beach at night. It was amazing how calm the sea was inside the barrier islands, almost like a protected bay. The coast led us northeast for a while before turning east and finally southeast just as we met the troop. Schakchu assured me that there was a large peninsula in the south that was rather marshy, especially at the extreme southern end.
I asked about the locals on the peninsula, and he said that nearby and for some distance south I would find a people he called the Nukfila. They were spread out in many groups of farming towns and cities that were not really connected to each other except occasionally by marriage, or temporary alliance. South of the Nukfila were the Calusa, who also did some farming but mostly exploited the sea and swamps. These were united under a great chief. They were also very aggressive and would likely attack if we tried to visit them. The Nukfila might be more open to a visit, however.
We moved along the coast for a while and soon found the ground quite marshy again, prompting us to move along the beach. The heat soon drove us back into the marsh and the shade of the trees. These were mostly a type of palm. At last we came upon a small village, and they directed us to the principle town, somewhat inland to the southeast. It was called Ossachile, and the people called themselves either that or Yustaga. The town was palisaded and had a central square and mounds for the chief’s house as well as the temple. The houses were rectangular and made of wood with cane mat roofs and rather open to catch any breeze. Understandably, in view of the heat and humidity (it seemed to rain every afternoon), the people dressed skimpily, only a loincloth for the men and a short skirt for the women. The skirt was woven from a type of fibrous moss that seemed to hang from the trees. There was some ornamentation, including bracelets of beads, copper, or bones, and pieces of copper and shell dangling from their belts. They had tattoos on their chests, arms, and thighs only, and these were blue, red, or black. They wore their hair bound up on top their heads with a type of netting or a piece of ropelike material. They often fastened feathers to their hair binding and many carried fans made of feathers. The rather odd habit they favored was growing their finger and toenails long and filing them to a point. Schakchu said that it was for battle. They would gouge their opponent’s foreheads to blind them with their flowing blood. I made a mental note to avoid hand-to-hand combat with these people.
The language proved to be a problem. There was a vague similarity to Pansfalaya, but I could not understand it at all. Fortunately, Schakchu could speak the language and acted as our interpreter. They were intrigued by the idea of sending along an observer, but that was the extent of their interest at the moment. There seemed to be a decent road of sorts that was used for trading, and I was assured it would take me to the other major towns. I was glad enough for the road, but I did want to map the coast, so I prevailed on the Yustaga to guide one of my mappers south along the coast as far as was safe while I led the men along the trade road.
The road took us east for some distance through several small towns that would not even send an observer along with us. Then it intersected with a larger road that went north and south. We turned south on this road and after passing through some rather mean little villages came to a wide, languid river, meandering generally southward along the road. Eventually the road crossed the river, or, at least, ended on the west side and started up again on the east side. Not long after crossing the river, we came upon a fair-sized town of people calling themselves the Potano. They seemed to be part of a group of towns and directed us to the principle town. These people were exactly like the Yustaga from all appearances, although Schakchu claimed their language was a little different.
The principle town was larger than the others, and its chief was indifferent to us and our mission. Still, he did not mind our passing through his territory and even suggested that we talk to his relatives and sometime allies to the east, the Utina. This entailed an eastward detour on another trade road, but eventually we came to the principle Utina town, and they did agree to send an observer along. The observer, ponderously named Dulchancheyin, guided us south to the next major chieftaincy, the Ocale. This group was also indistinguishable from their northern neighbors, although they were a bit friendlier. Their chief seemed rather thoughtful over our proposal and decided to send along his oldest son, Katcili, a lad of about fifteen years, to expose him to the ways of diplomacy and to broaden his horizons. The boy was very excited about his mission. We were turned east again to visit another group who called themselves the Acuera, just across a river from the Ocale.
The Acuera proved to be a smaller, more scattered group, with generally poorer, smaller towns than the Ocale. Interestingly, Katcili showed no contempt for these people, but greeted them warmly and was equally well received. It seemed that they had formed an alliance in the last few years, and it had been quite beneficial to both. The Acuera chief also decided to send his oldest son, Athore, along much to Katcili’s delight since the two were good friends. We were now turned back again to regain the trade road and follow it south. This lead us through a few independent towns of varying size, but no interest in our proposal. A few of them rather rudely urged us south without even hearing me out. Eventually we came to a river that flowed north, and along its banks, we found another major chieftaincy, the Urriparacushi.
We were guided to the chief town and brought to the chief. He was a rather grave man, of perhaps forty or so years. He informed me through Schakchu that his coastal tributaries had warned him that we were coming. They had intercepted our expedition along the coast, but had let them continue once they explained themselves. He trusted that we were not a group of exiles looking for a new home. I reassured him through Schakchu of our intentions and gave him the usual recruiting speech. We piqued his curiosity, and he also decided to send an observer. He chose his younger brother, Helicopile, a man about my age. The latter was a bit reluctant to join us, but agreed. We found out later that he had just gotten married.
We crossed the river and continued south. We passed through a few more of the Urriparacushi towns before again encountering some independent towns. One of these sent along an observer. After a while, we came upon a river flowing southwest, and Helicopile informed us that it would lead us to a large bay on the coast. We followed it and soon came to a town of another chieftaincy, the Tocobaga. We were ushered along to the principle town, which was rather large and palisaded. There seemed to be some difference with these people, however. In appearance they were the same, but they seemed to live in large communal houses with the end of one of them walled off for the chief. The house was quite open on the sides, but was covered with palm fronds woven together. Indeed, they seemed to use the whole trees as pillars and then weave the fronds together for a roof. Further, logs were used as half walls and reed benches held up by logs cut two feet long and painted blue, red, or yellow. The language was different enough that Schakchu had to use Katcili’s help to interpret.
The chief came out of his enclosure to meet us. He was a heavy man of middle age and had also been expecting us. Our mapping expedition had been in their territory not long ago and had continued around the bay. He had warned them not to go south of the bay, since the Calusa would likely kill them. He expected they would be back soon. He listened intently to our proposal and asked a few questions of the observers from the northern tribes. Word had filtered down along the trade route that there was a new very powerful tribe in the north that controlled the copper sources. They had also heard that we traded tools made from a new harder metal for such things as a kind of salt. He was anxious to trade salt for the tools. I explained that we weren’t interested in regular salt since we had all that we wanted from our confederates. We were interested in the salt that cools the tongue. He didn’t know anything about such a salt, but promised to ask about it. I told him that he would have to at least confederate with us in order to get the steel tools and showed him my sword so he could appreciate the value. He was quite impressed and decided to send his nephew, Uti, a lad of about twenty, along with us.
We moved on down the river to the bay, and as we started south along it, the mapping expedition came into view. They had switched to boats to map the coast and Skenne-mok, the mapper, proudly presented me with his effort. He had done a good job. There were two more chieftaincies around the bay before one got to the Calusa. They had ventured a little too close and had been pursued by some of the latter in boats. They had managed to elude them and return to the last chieftaincy. I went ahead and visited the two groups. The first was called Mocozo and the second Ozita. They were just like the Tocobaga in every way, and they also agreed to send along observers. I asked the Ozita chief about the Calusa. He said that at times they trade with them, but only if they initiated it. He had no idea why they were so hostile, but they kept to themselves and he had never been in one of their towns. He suggested that I go to the east coast and talk to the people there. They weremuch more approachable, and some of them might be on good terms with the Calusa, although he was sure that was not likely. He recommended that I just forget about them.
Since Skenne-mok was an Ishak, I decided to send him to map the rest of the coast that we had missed. I told him to stay along the coast but avoid the towns until he got near the Pansfalaya land and then go inland and make contact with them. The Pansfalaya did not live along the coast, but were friendly with the tribes that did, and the latter would make sure he got to them safely. I sent a few men with him who were also quite good with the dugout boats. I told them to meet me at the Wildcat Ordu in the fall. The rest of us moved east threading our way through swamps, marshes, and lakes. There was a trade road, but it was not as well used or as easy to follow once we left the Mocozo lands. We did encounter some villages, but they were poor-looking collections of round grass huts with tiny entrances. The people were friendly and had large cultivated fields. We traded them some dried meat for fresh fish. After six days, we finally came to the coast. It was completely protected by a long chain of barrier islands. We turned south and eventually came upon a small bay or inlet and on its bank a town.
The people called themselves the Wacata. They lived in the same sort of grass huts we had seen inland and were also very friendly, although their language was different enough to encumber communication. They shared with us a kind of walrus without tusks that they considered a delicacy. They were not really organized, but were a loosely allied group of towns with similar interests. They would be happy to join us if we ever spread down this far. They did not deal with the Calusa, but they were on good terms with their southern neighbors, the Hobe. We continued south to look in on the Hobe. They proved to be just like the Wacata, even to the point of agreeing to join if we ever reached them. They suggested we visit their southern neighbors the Tekesta, who perhaps did deal with the Calusa.
The Tekesta were about three days’ journey south of the Hobe. They looked much like them in general, but wore more adornment including necklaces, bracelets, and hanging decorations mostly consisting of shells, wood, and fish spines. They were not very friendly, but were put off by our numbers and appearance enough not to attack. We had a terrible time communicating with them, but finally our Ozita observer, Yehowlogee, was able to talk to them in halting Calusa. They brought up their chief, Emolda, and he listened carefully to our offer. He replied that the Calusa were the strongest people he knew of, and until that changed, he would be a fool to ally with anyone else. Of course, if we destroyed them, the Tekesta would be happy to join us instead. However, we did not have enough men, and he didn’t think our large dogs would