AMERICAN PEARLS 253
1542
gave rise to most of the reports of rich pearl finds within the limits
of this country. Of this voyage there are three principal accounts. The
first was by Luis Hernandez de Biedma, who had accompanied De Soto as
factor for Charles V of Spain. His brief report was presented to the
king in 1544, although it was not published until 1841, nearly three
centuries later, when it appeared in a French translation.1 The second, and in our opinion the most reliable account,2
published at Evora in 1577, was by an unnamed Portuguese (in English
editions, commonly spoken of as the Gentleman of Elvas), who was a
member of the expedition. The third account,3 by far the
longest and most widely known, but which was not written until 1591,
was by Garcilasso de la Vega, who represented that his information was
from a Spanish cavalier who had accompanied De Soto.
The
only reference made to pearls in Biedma's report seems to be his
allusion to the large quantity secured at the village of Cofaciqui, on
the east bank of the Savannah River. He states: "When we arrived there,
the queen . . . presented the governor with a necklace of pearls of
five or six rows, procured for us canoes to pass the river, and
assigned the half of the village for our quarters. After having been
in our company three or four days, she escaped into the forest ; the
governor caused search to be made after her, but without success ; he
then gave orders to break open a temple erected in this village,
wherein the chiefs of the country were interred. We took out of it a
vast quantity of pearls, which might amount to six or seven arrobas,4 but they were spoiled by having been underground."5
The
Portuguese narrative alludes to the pearls at Cofaciqui, stating that
the queen "took from her own neck a great cordon of pearls, and cast it
about the neck of the governor. . . . And the lady, perceiving that
the Christians esteemed the pearls, advised the governor to search
certain graves in the town, where he would find many; and that if he
would send to the abandoned towns, he might load all his horses. He
sought the graves of that town and there found fourteen rows of
pearls, and little babies and birds made of them."6 This
account makes no further mention of pearls, except to state that at the
battle of Mavilla this great collection was burned, and that when the
Queen of Cofaciqui escaped from the Portuguese she carried with her a
little chest full of unbored pearls, which some of the
