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Rh manufacture have been unearthed under such circumstances that we feel justified in attributing them to the companions either of De Soto or of Louis de Velasco.

It is a well-established fact that twelve priests, eight clergymen of inferior rank, and four monks accompanied the Adelantado's army. We are assured that the conversion of the natives was one of the avowed



purposes of the expedition. These clerical gentlemen were supplied with crucifixes, crosses, and rosaries, which they employed about, and distributed during the course of, their religious labors. That some effort was made to indoctrinate the aborigines in the mysteries of Christianity, and to lead them to look upon the cross as a symbol of peace, we are distinctly advised- Witness the erection of large wooden crosses, and the teachings of the priests at Achese, at Casqai, in the province of Icasqui, and elsewhere.

It appears by no means improbable that these crosses were presented