Our Catltolic Heritage in Texas
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attack and kill the Spaniards when they entered the province. Undismayed, Moscoso and his men continued on their way. The following day they came to one of the pueblos of the Naguatex. This appears to have been on the banks of a stream, the huts of the Indians being widely scattered. Moscoso was informed that the cacique lived on the opposite side. He determined to rest for a while and pitched his camp a short distance from the river "in a fine open grove of high trees, near a brook, close to the town." Two parties were sent to reconnoiter the river both above and below the camp to find a suitable crossing, but these were stoutly opposed by the natives. They succeeded, nevertheless, in effecting a cross- ing and found the country more thickly settled beyond the river, where there was an abundance of corn. They were evidently in the vicinity of the country of the Tejas Indians, perhaps between Natchitoches and the Sabine, where salt is found and where the Attacapas ranged. 21 Moscoso, upon being informed of the results obtained by the scouting l)arties, sent a messenger to the chief of the Naguatex asking him to come :o visit him and promising that if he did so, all would be forgiven him. Two days later the chief sent word he would come on the morrow. Agree- .able to his word, the chief presented himself the next day, well attended. "They came one before the other, in double file, leaving an opening in the center through which the chief walked. They arrived in the governor's presence weeping, after the usage of Tula."u The chief promised obedience and offered to help the Spaniards. Four days later they set out, after crossing the river, and continued their march until they came to another river, presumably to the west, as this was the general direction they had been following. Assuming they had started from the Sabine in the neighborhood of the country of the Tejas they were now on the east bank of the Neches. The river ran so full that it astonished the Spaniards, who were unable to cross, notwithstanding there had been no rains for more than a month. On inquiring from the Indians the cause, they replied that it often increased in this way without there being any rain in all the country. Some suggested the high water might be the result of the tide, but it was found that the stream ran always down and that it was not brackish. Furthermore, the Indians had never seen nor heard of the sea." UGentleman of Elvas, 171-172. This account is followed closely in the remainder of this narrative. Ufbid., 172. Caddo custom according to Dr. J. R. Swanton. 23 /bid., 174.
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