Adair, who was with them in the forties, thus describes the manner in which their numbers had become reduced: "The Chikkasah in the year 1720, had four large contiguous settlements, which lay nearly in the form of three parts of a square, only that the eastern side was five miles shorter than the western with the open part toward the Choktah. One was called Yaneka, about a mile wide and six miles long, at the distance of twelve miles from their present towns. Another was ten computed miles long, at the like distance from their present settlement, and from one to two miles broad. The towns were called Shatara, Chookhcereso, Ilykehah, Tuskairillao, and Phalacheho. The other square was single, began three miles from their present place of residence, and ran four miles in length, and one mile in breadth. This was called Chookka Phar&ah, or "the long house." It was more populous than their whole nation contains at present. The remains of this once formidable people make up the northern angle of that broken square. They now scarcely consist of four hundred and fifty warriors, and are settled three miles westward from the deep creek, in a clear tract of rich land, about three miles square, running afterwards about five miles towards the N. W. where the old fields are usually a mile broad. The superior number of their enemies forced them to take into this narrow circle, for social defence; and to build their towns on commanding ground, "at such a convenient distance from one another as to have their enemies, when attacked, between two fires.2 From the estimates of Chickasaw population given in even very early times it would seem that this decrease was not as great as Adair supposes; the matter will be taken up in another place. (Swanton)