of good position, and was indebted to the favour of Pedrarias Davila for the means of pursuing his studies at the university. He commenced active life in 1519 by joining his patron in his second expedition to Darien, where he distinguished himself by his ability and the inde pendence of his demeanour. In 1528 we find him exploring the coast of Guatemala and Yucatan, and in 1532 he led a reinforcement of 300 volunteers to the assistance of Pizarro in Peru. To him was due the discovery of the pass through the mountains to Cuzco ; and in the capture of that city and in other important engagements he bore a brilliant part. After the completion of the conquest De Soto, who had landed in America with " nothing else of his own save his sword and target," returned to Spain with a fortune of " an hundred and fourscore thousand duckets, which enabled him to marry the daughter of his old patron Davila, and to maintain " all the state that the house of a nobleman requireth." The Emperor Charles V., to whom he had lent a portion of his wealth, appointed him governor of the Island of Cuba, and adelantado or president of Florida, which was then the object of great interest, as possibly another Peru. In 1538 he set sail with an enthusiastic and richly furnished company of about 600 men, of whom several had sold all that they possessed to furnish their equipment. Landing in May 1539 at Espiritu Santo Bay, on the west coast of the present State of Florida, the explorers continued for nearly four years to wander from one point to another, ever deceived in their expectations, and ever allured by the report of the wealth that lay beyond. The exact line of their route is in many places difficult to identify, but it seems to have passed N. through Florida and Georgia as far as 35" N. lat., then S. to the neighbourhood of Mobile, and finally N.W, towards the Mississippi. This river was reached early in 1541, and the following winter was spent on the Washita. As they were returning in 1542 along the Mississippi, De Soto died (either in May or June), and his body was sunk in its waters. On the failure of an attempt which they made to push eastwards again, his men, under the leadership of Moscoso, were compelled in 1543 to trust themselves to the stream. A voyage of nineteen days brought them to the sea, and they then held along the coast to Panuco, in Mexico. Of this unfortunate expedition three narratives are extant, of seemingly independent origin, and certainly of very different character. The first was published in 1557 at Evora, and pro fesses to be the work of a Portuguese gentleman of Elvas, who had accompanied the expedition : Rela^am verdadcira dos Tra- balhos q ho Goueriwdor do Fernado d Souto <fc ccrtos Fidalgos Portu gueses passarom no d scobrimeto da Provincia da Frolida. Agora nouamete feita per hu Fidalgo Dcluas. An English translation was published by Hakluyt in 1609, and another by an anonymous translator in 1686, the latter being based on a French version which had appeared at Paris in 1685 from the pen of Citri de la Guette. The second narrative is the famous history of Florida by the Inca, Garcilasso de la Vega, who obtained his information from a Spanish cavalier engaged in the enterprise ; it was com pleted in 1591, first appeared at Lisbon in 1605 under the title of La Florida del Ynca, and has since passed through many editions in various languages. The third is a report presented to Charles V. of Spain in his Council of the Indies in 1544, by Luis Hernandez de Bieclma, who had accompanied De Soto as His Majesty s factor. It is to be found in Ternaux-Compans s Recueil de Pieces sur la Floride in the Historical Collections of Louisiana, Philadelphia, 1850, and in W. B. Rye s reprint for the Hakluyt Society of Hakluyt s translation of the Portuguese narrative . See Bancroft s History of the United States, vol. i. ; M Culloch, Researches Concerning the Aboriginal History of America; Monette, History of the Discovery and Settlement of the Valley of the Mississippi.
DESSAIX, JOSEPH MARIE, COUNT (1764-1834), French
general, was born at Thonon, in Savoy, September 24,
1764. He studied medicine, took his degree of doctor at
Turin, and then went to Paris. When the Revolution
broke out he served in the National Guard. Sympathizing
with the extreme party, he attempted in 1791 to establish
its principles in his native land ; but, being prosecuted by
order of the king, he escaped to France. He had organized
the so-called Legion of the Allobroges, and as its captain
took part in the great conflict of August 10, 1792. In the
following years he served at the siege of Toulon, in the
army of the eastern Pyrenees, and in the army of Italy.
He was captured at the battle of Rivoli, but was soon
exchanged. In the spring of 1798 Dessaix was elected
member of the Council of Five Hundred. In consequence
of his opposition to the revolution of 18 Brutnaire (9th
November 1799), by which Napoleon became supreme, he
was excluded from the council, retaining, however, his
military command. He was appointed successively com
mander of Frankfort and of Breda, and in September 1803
was promoted general of brigade, and soon after commander
of the Legion of Honour. He distinguished himself at the
capture of Ulm, at the passage of the Tagliamento, and at
the battle of Wagram. His brilliant courage at this battle
procured him from the emperor the surname of " the
Intrepid," and the dignity of count of the empire. He was
also promoted general of division, and named grand officer
of the Legion of Honour. He took part in the expedition
to Russia, and was twice wounded. .For several months
he was commander of Berlin, and afterwards delivered the
department of Mont Blanc from the Austrians. His just
conduct on this occasion earned him the title of the Bayard
of Savoy. After the first restoration, Dessaix was created
chevalier of St Louis. He nevertheless joined Napoleon in
the campaign of the Hundred Days, and in 1816 was
imprisoned for five months. The rest of his life was spent
in retirement. He died October 26, 1834.
DESSAU, the chief town of the duchy of Anhalt, in
North Germany, is situated in 51 51 6" N. lat. and 12
18 E. long., on the left bank of the Mulde, nearly twQ
miles from its confluence with the Elbe, and 67 miles
south-west of Berlin, with which it is connected by
railway. The town has three suburbs. Of its gates the
Zerbster Thor, with the statues of Otto the Rich and
Albert the Bear, alone remains. The ducal palace, which
stands in fine pleasure-grounds, contains a collection of
historical curiosities, and a gallery of pictures, including
works by Cimabue, Lippi, Rubens, Titian, and Vandyck.
Among the other buildings are the palace of the hereditary
prince, the theatre and concert room, the administrative
offices, bank, gymnasium, musical academy, Amelia and
Wilhelmine Institutes, two hospitals, and the Schlosskirche,
adorned with paintings by Lucas Cranach, in the most in
teresting of which (the Last Supper) are portraits of several
Reformers. The manufactures of Dessau are woollen,
linen, and cotton goods, hats, leather, tobacco, and organs
and other musical instruments ; and there is a consider
able trade in corn. In the environs are the ducal villas of
Georgium and Luisium, the gardens of which, as well as
those of the neighbouring town of Worlitz, are much
admired. Dessau was probably founded by Albert the
Bear ; it was already a town in 1213. It first began to
grow into importance at the close of the 17th century, in
consequence of the religious emancipation of the Jews in
1686, and of the Lutherans in 1697. Moses Mendelssohn,
the philosopher, was born at Dessau in 1729. The popu
lation in 1875 was 19,621.
DESTERRO, NOSSA SENHORA DO DESTERRO, or SANTA
CATHARINA, a city of Brazil, the chief town of the province
of Santa Catharina ; on the west coast of the island from
which the province derives its name, in 27 30 S. lat.
and 48" 30 W long. It is a small but strongly fortified
place, with an excellent harbour, some foreign commerce,
and regular intercourse with Rio de Janeiro, from which it
