Excerpt from The Conquest of Florida: Under Hernando De Soto While studying the Spanish language, some few years since, at Madrid, an old chronicle was placed in my hands, relating to the early discoveries and achievements of the Spaniards in America. It was denominated The Florida of the Inca, or the History of the Adelantado, Hernando de Soto, Governor and captain-gene ral of the Kingdom of Florida, and of other heroic cavaliers, Spaniards and Indians written by the Inca Garcilaso de la Vega. As I read, I became insensibly engrossed by the extra ordinary enterprise therein narrated: I dwelt with intense interest upon the harebrained adventures and daring exploits of steel-clad warriors, and the no less valiant and chivalrous deeds of savage chieftains, which entitle this narrative to the high praise bestowed upon it by Mr. Southey, of being one of the most delightful works in the Spanish language. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.