as great discrepancy. Thus
Biedma makes the distance from ( luaxule to Chiaha four days, Garcilaso has it six
days, and Elvas seven days. As to the length of an average day's march we find it
192 MYTHS OF THE CHEROKEE [bth.ash.19
estimated all the way from "four leagues, more or less" (< rarcilaso | to " every day
seven or eight leagues" (Elvas). In another place the Elvas chronicler state- thai
they usually made five or six leagues a day through inhabited territories, but that in
crossing uninhabited regions — as that between Canasagua and Chiaha, they marched
every day as far as possible for fear of running out of provisions. One of the most
glaring discrepancies appears in regard to the distance between Chiaha and Coste.
Both the Portuguese writer and Garcilaso put Chiaha upon anisland — a statement
which in itself is at variance with any present conditions, — but while the former
makes the island a fraction over a league in length the latter says that it was five
leagues long. The next town was Coste, which Garcilaso puts immediately at the
lower end of the same island while the Portuguese Gentleman represents it as seven
days distant, although he himself has given the island the shorter length.
Notwithstanding a deceptive appearance of exactness, especially in the Elvas and
Banjel narratives, which have the form of a daily journal, the conclusion is irresist-
ible that much of the record was made after dates had been forgotten, and the
sequence of events had become confused. Considering all the difficulties, dangers,
and uncertainties that constantly beset the expedition, it would be too much