Both the Creeks and Cherokees returned to their tents and prepared to leave the camp. Bartram and the surveyors were in a quandary about what to do, and asked Newota to join them in inducing the Indian leaders to continue their joint effort.

Newota said, “They will not change. They know the correct way to the next place.”

“Then what can we do?”

“You must follow them. If they do not arrive at the designated fork in the river, then perhaps they will agree to retrace our steps and give your instruments another chance.”

The chief surveyor said, “This is a waste of time. We’ll just be wandering around in the woods and swamps for a few days for nothing.”

Bartram asked, “But what will it serve us to proceed without the natives, and into their own territory? It is obvious that they are preparing to leave us.”

Newota added, “There are some other requirements. Emistisiguo has designated the Cherokee chief to be the expedition leader since we will be in his territory. The compass case is not to be opened, and some substantial gifts are expected because the little instrument has been used to imply that the Cherokees do not know their own lands. If we proceed, Cherokee scouts must always be in the forefront of the expedition.”

This was not a decision to be made lightly; it would be a four-day journey before they reached the stream, to see how great an error the natives had made. But they finally agreed to the Indians’ demands, and the group set out again in a northerly direction, led by two young Cherokees who moved forward with seeming confidence. Their general course was at least two points farther east on the surveyor’s compass than the colonel had originally planned. The entourage now moved in a relatively straight line but at an excruciatingly slow pace, since the Indians knew they were being paid by the day.

Expecting to have to retrace their steps, the colonel instructed his men to make only light and infrequent trail marks, and he looked at the compass only inside his small tent when they stopped to camp. He compared it with the North Star and was absolutely convinced that, when just slightly adjusted for known deviation in the area, it pointed to true north. He shared this information with Bartram and with anyone else who would listen, but none of the Indians would speak about the subject. With growing impatience, the British surveyors were forced to follow the two braves along their obviously erroneous route.