This is an excerpt from a journal kept by one of the men
in de Soto's party. Here, the explorer discusses his
impressions of the Savannah River region.
The country was delightful and fertile, having good
interval lands upon the streams; the forest was open,
with abundance of walnut and mulberry trees....
To all it appeared well to make a settlement there... [it]
is a good country, and one fit in which to raise supplies;
but Soto, as it was his object to find another treasure like
that of Atabalipa, lord of Peru, would not be content with
good lands nor pearls, even though many of them were
worth their weight in gold.
- The Expedition of Hernando de Soto,
1557
According to the excerpt, why was de Soto less
interested in building a settlement in this place?
O He wanted to keep searching for silver and gold in
other places
O He thought the members of the expedition should
focus on finding pearls
He was interested in finding forests in order to ship
wood back to Spain.
He thought settlements should be built away from
the rivers where American Indians lived