In December, 1685, Matheos was despatched with a larger force to demand the surrender of the Carolinians, on pain of the destruction of the Indian towns. Again he failed to lay hands on the traders, though he seized peltry and trading goods in a blockhouse near Coweta. At Coweta, Matheos managed to impose submission upon eight towns. The Indians of Coweta, Kasihta, Tuskegee, and Kolomi were still recalcitrant, and in punishment their villages were burned. Under this blow the two latter towns professed a short-lived repentance. But Kasihta and Coweta held out, and spies brought rumors that they intended to desert their Chattahoochee settlements. Soon the Charles Town traders were busy again along the Chattahoochee. Woodward, ill, made the dangerous journey back to Charles Town in a litter, followed by one hundred and fifty burdeners laden with peltry. This enterprising explorer returned no more to the Chattahoochee. But he had laid the foundations of English trade and alliance in the old Southwest.