Following a native precedent for which they saw no alternative, Spanish authorities, civil and religious, pressed Indians into service as burdeners. This use of native labor, drafted or obtained through the market mechanism, was common to both Spanish and British America. In Florida it began when allied caciques first supplied "their" Indians to carry the Spanish baggage on joint military campaigns (Marques, 1606). The second advance of the frontier, from east to west, had laid a line of doctrinas that reached western Timucua by 1608 and Apalache in 1633 (Horruytiner, 1633). Behind this moving frontier the supply lines lengthened until the camino real stretched westward for 100 leagues (Horruytiner, 1637). For the convenience of travellers, Indian towns along the camino real were urged to space themselves 7 leagues apart, the day's journey, or dieta, of Roman law. AN118 In the towns, the council houses offered lodging to chiefs, Indians, and soldiers. Thanks to the "king's sabana" that the town planted and to the widows that the town supported, the messenger or burdener in the king's service could count on a cooked meal and food for his next day's journey. The king's field also rationed the burdener that any travelling soldier could press into service to carry his gear and bedroll to the next town. (Bushnell SS)