[2] GULF COAST of Florida is laid down with tolerable accuracy on a map of 1513 (Ptolemy, Venice). Garay examined it in 1518. By 1530 (Ptolemy, Basle) the Gulf Coast had obtained quite accurate delineation. The Gulf, itself, being the highway for ships bound to Mexico and Yucatan, was well known to Spanish sailors. Erelong it became an exclusively Spanish sea on which no other flag was allowed. [3] HERNANDO DE SOTO is described by one of his followers as "a stern man of few words, who, though he liked to know and sift the opinions of other men, always did what he liked himself, and so all men did condescend unto his will."—_Rel. Portugall._ [4] WHITSUNDAY, or Whitsuntide, a festival of the Christian Church commemorating the descent of the Holy Ghost upon the apostles. [5] SLAVERY, a certain type, it is true, existed among the Indians of this continent, who held their captives in semi-servitude, though the condition was totally different, in that the captive was considered eligible for adoption into the family and tribe of his master. Among the Indians the question of social equality had nothing to do with their policy toward their prisoners, or such as refused to become incorporated with themselves. [6] A SPANIARD who came with Narvaez to Florida, named Juan (John) Ortiz. [7] EL DORADO. Bear this name in mind. We shall meet with it again. [8] THAT FATAL MARCH. The one clew to the route De Soto took in his wanderings up and down what are now the Gulf States, is found in the names of various Indian nations whose countries he traversed. Thus the names Apalache, Coça (Coosa), Tuscaluca (Tuscaloosa), and Chicaça (Chicasaw) are so many landmarks. But no precise data remain from which to lay down, with reasonable accuracy, a journey which extended over at least eight or ten states, covered thousands of miles, and occupied years in making. De Soto's crossing place is placed on Pownall's (Eng.) official map of 1755 at or near Osier Point, on the east bank, now corresponding with the north-west corner of the State of Mississippi and De Soto County. On a map of 1775, it is fixed on the thirty-fourth parallel, some distance below the ancient village of the Arkansas, or "Handsome Men." [9] As FUGITIVES, De Soto's followers, under command of Moscoso, his successor, built themselves boats, in which they descended the Mississippi to the coast, finally reaching Tampico, in Mexico, "whereat the viceroy greatly wondered." DEATH AND BURIAL OF DE SOTO. "_By a Portugall of the Company._"