Training:

“Also, from their earliest years, they have no other exercise. When the infants begin to walk, they study to imitate their fathers; they handle arrows and ask for bows, which, if they refuse them, they make them themselves of small sticks, and declare war against the mice of the dwellings ; but not meeting with anything upon which they can fire, they hunt the flies, and out of the house they hunt the lizards, and when these animals are in their holes they will wait for them five or six hours until they come out of them.

Thus, by a continual exercise, they shoot with surprising skill.”

Speed:

“But, although the trees of this last forest, where the Indians and Spaniards fought, were not so close as those of the first, the horses, for all that, could not run but in certain places; and this made the enemy bolder. That, also, which increased their courage, was the almost incredible rapidity with which they discharged their arrows. One Indian had shot six or seven times before a Spaniard had fired and reloaded. The Indians, in fact, are so adroit in handling the bow, that no sooner have they fired than they are ready to recommence.”

The power of the arrow:

Arrow against 2 layer of mail armor:

“But since it has become proper to speak of the extraordinary' shots of the Indians, I shall relate an instance of them. Moscoso, in one of the first skirmishes with the Apalaches, received, in his right side, the shot of an arrow, which pierced his buff and his coat of mail without killing him, because the shot went aslant. The Spanish officers, astonished that a coat of mail of the value of a hundred and fifty ducats should be pierced by a single shot, wished to prove theirs, in order to know if they could depend upon them.

As they were then in the town of Apalache, those who wore coats of mail took a cane basket, strongly woven, and adjusted around it one of the finest coats of mail. They then unbound one of the Indian prisoners, gave him a bow and arrow, and commanded him to fire, at the distance of fifty paces, upon this coat of mail. At the same time, the barbarian, having closed his fist, stretched himself, extended and bent his arm to awaken his strength, shot through the coat of mail and basket with so much force that the shot would still easily have pierced a man. Our people, who saw that a coat of mail could not resist an arrow, adjusted two of them to the basket. They gave an arrow to an Indian whom they ordered to shoot, and he pierced both of them.”

“The Spaniards would not grant his request, and afterward they held their coats of mail of no account, which they, in mockery, called Holland cloth. Therefore they made, of thick cloth, doublets four fingers thick, which covered the chest and the croup of the horses, and resisted an arrow better than anything else.”

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Arrow penetrate mail armor and lance shaft:

“In the melee, as Soto raised himself in his stirrups to pierce an Indian, he was shot behind. The arrow broke his coat of mail and entered quite deep into his buttock. Nevertheless, for fear that the wound might abate the courage of his men, and elevate that of the barbarians, he concealed the wound that he had received and did not extract the arrow, so that he could not sit down. But he did not cease to fight valiantly until the end of the combat, which lasted five hours. Certainly this action alone marks sufficiently his courage and his horsemanship.

Tovar, also, had an arrow-shot which pierced through his lance above the handle. But because the wood was good, the arrow made only its hole, so that the cavalier made use of his lance as usual, after the arrow was cut. This shot is of little importance; however, I related it because the like of it seldom happens.”

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Arrow penetrate mail, thigh, saddle and horse:

“As this cavalier was crossing a stream where the troops were attacked, an Indian, concealed behind a bush, discharged at him an arrow so violently that after leaving broken his coat of mail, it pierced his right thigh, passed through the saddle-bow, and entered into the body of the horse, which, quite furious, rushed out of the stream, bounded over the plain, and tried, by kicking. to disengage the arrow, and throw his rider. The Spaniards who were then engaged near this soldier ran to his assistance, when they perceived that the arrow had pinned him to the saddle, and as the troops were camped quite near the stream, they led him to the quarters. Immediately they adroitly raised him, and cut the arrow between the saddle and his thigh. They also unsaddled the horse, and the Spaniards were surprised that a cane arrow, armed only with a cane point, had penetrated so far.”

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Arrow against horse:

“The Indian stood firm at first, but afterwards took to his heels. The Spaniard pressed him; but the barbarian seeing himself about to be pierced, resisted, and at the moment that the cavalier gave him a thrust with his lance which brought him to the ground and killed him, he shot an arrow which pierced and prostrated the horse of Silvestre, so that the barbarian, the horse, and the rider fell one upon the other.

The Spaniards, surprised that a single shot of an arrow fired so close had slain a horse so vigorous, had the curiosity to see, in the morning, the effect of this shot. They found that the arrow had entered the breast, and, after having pierced the heart, had stopped in the intestines; with so much force did the Indians shoot.”

Skill:

1 man against 7 Spanish cavalry:

“Aniasco mounted on horseback. one day, and, having ridden with six of his companions through the streets of Apalache, they all took a fancy to make a tour of the town on the outside. As they had no intention of going very far away, because the barbarians placed themselves in ambush behind the bushes and the country was not safe, they left without other arms than their swords, except Pegado, who carried a lance.

Whilst they were riding at a slow pace, and pleasantly conversing on different subjects, they perceived an Indian and his wife, who were collecting beans, in a field near a wood. They immediately spurred straight towards them, and the woman, wholly beside herself, not being able to escape, the Indian took her, carried her into the forest, thrust her against the first thicket, and forcibly pushed her into it. Then, instead of saving himself with her, he boldly returned to where he had left his bow, and advanced against the cavaliers with as much resolution as if he had but one to contend with. The Spaniards, surprised at this action, and believing that it would be a shame for seven men to slay one, wished only to capture him.

They charged so suddenly upon him that he had not time to shoot. They overthrew him and held him to the earth, crying out to him " quarter " and that he should surrender. But the more they pressed him the more he showed courage, for quite struck down as he was, he wounded them all in the legs, and stuck with arrows, the bellies of their horses; finally, he escaped once from under their feet, arose, took his bow with both hands and gave with it, so violent a blow upon the forehead of Pegado, that the blood flowed down his visage, and he was quite stunned by it. This cavalier, enraged at seeing himself thus treated, urged his horse upon the barbarian, gave him some thrusts with his lance, struck him in the breast, and laid him dead at his feet. The Spaniards at the same time examined their-horses, and found that they all were slightly wounded. They retraced their route to Apalache, ashamed that a single man had given them so much trouble.”

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Shooting from a tree:

“One day a party of fifty foot-soldiers and twenty cavaliers left the camp to search for corn at a league from there, where, on their arrival, they collected as much as they had need of. They then placed themselves in ambush to capture some barbarians, and posted a sentinel on an elevated place. He almost immediately gave notice that an Indian appeared, who glanced from one side to the other as if he had an intention to discover something. Upon this notice, Diego de Soto, one of the brave cavaliers of the army, spurred to capture the barbarian, who, at first, attempted to escape. However, happening to consider that the horse would intercept him, he gained a tree, the ordinary refuge of the Indian. He prepared his bow and awaited with firmness until his enemy was within reach of his arrow. As Soto had seen that he could not advance as far as under the tree, he passed close by and gave a thrust with his lance at the Indian, who had no sooner parried it than he fired and pierced the horse of the Spaniard with so much force, that afterwards he staggered about twenty steps and fell dead.

In the meantime, arrived Velasques, who followed at a canter to succor Soto, and when he saw his companion's horse slain, he urged his own, advanced directly at the barbarian, and thrust at him his lance. The Indian, after having parried it also, fired and slew the horse of Velasques. These two Spaniards immediately charged, with their lances, upon the barbarian, who, in retreating to the wood, turned his head, and said to them with disdainful pride, that if they had to fight on foot, they would see with whom would remain victory. He thus escaped from the cavaliers with his reputation, and left them in despair at being unfortunately dismounted. The party then retraced their route to the camp, sorry at what had happened to their comrades.”