GULF OF MEXICO 



13 



de Costas de Ticrra Firme y las Tierras Nuevas," 

 was published. The original, datod 1521, is in 

 the Archive General de Indias, in Seville, and its 

 reproduction is given by Navarrettc (1837) and 

 Winsor (1884, v. 2, p. 218), 



In 1521 the west coast of Florida was revisited 

 by Ponce de Le6n, who landed probably in Char- 

 lotte Harbor where he was seriously wounded in 

 a battle with Indians. He died within a few 

 days, after being taken back to Cuba. This 

 expedition added nothing to the progress of geo- 

 graphical knowledge of the Gulf, 



The next attempt to conquer Florida and ex- 

 plore the northern part of the Gulf was made by 

 Panfilo de Narvaez, who had distinguished himself 

 in the conquest of Cuba under Velasquez and was 

 at the head of an expedition sent by the Spanish 

 Goverimient to compel Cortes to relinquish his 

 command in Mexico, His defeat and imprison- 

 ment by Cortes did not reflect on his reputation, 

 and upon returning to Spain he obtained from 

 Charles I a grant to colonize a vast expanse of 

 land from Florida proper as far west as Rio 

 Panuco, 



On June 17, 1527, five ships under the command 

 of Narvaez sailed from San Lucas, Spain, with 

 600 men and officers aboard. One of his com- 

 panions was Cabeza de Vaca, the treasurer of the 

 fleet. After leaving the south shore of Cuba in 

 March 1528, the ships, driven north by strong 

 winds, found shelter in a large bay which the 

 Spaniards called Bahia de Santa Cruz. Ac- 

 cording to the description given by Cabeza de 

 Vaca, the bay extended from 7 to 8 leagues inland, 

 had many islands, and presented an excellent 

 anchorage with a depth of water of about 6 

 fathoms. There is no doubt that it was the 

 present Tampa Bay. 



Misinformed by Indians that the land north of 

 the bay, known as Apalachee, was rich in gold, 

 Narvaez marched overland with 300 officers and 

 men while his ships under the command of Miruelo 

 followed the northern direction along the coast. 

 The rendezvous was supposed to be in a bay north 

 of the point of their departure. 



In about 2 months, Narvaez's column reached 

 the village of Apalachee where with great difficulty 

 the men found only a few bushels of corn. Trying 

 to establish contact with the ships, Narvaez turned 

 south and discovered a river, Rio de Magdalena, 

 as the Spaniards called it, which probably cor- 



responds to the present Apalachicola River, The 

 party suffered many hardships in the swamps of 

 this region, and many men perished of exhaustion 

 and disease. 



Failing to contact the ships, Narvaez decided 

 to march west rather than to return to Tampa 

 Bay, On the shores of a bay, which probably 

 corresponds to the present St, George Sound and 

 which was named Bahia de los Caballos, the 

 Spaniards were compelled to slaughter their last 

 horses to make crude boats of their skins, and 

 sailed westward. They followed the shoreline, 

 entering different lagoons (Pensacola, Santa Rosa, 

 and others). In November they reached a bay 

 with many islands (probably Chandeleur Sound in 

 the Mississippi Sound), Since the water was 

 fresh they realized that thej' were near the 

 mouth of a great river which they attempted to 

 enter, but strong wind and current drove them 

 into the sea where Narvaez perished in the storm. 

 His companion, Cabeza de Vaca, found refuge on 

 a small island 5 leagues long and 2 leagues wide 

 which he named Isla de Malhado. The place 

 may be Ship Island, Horn Island, or some other 

 island in the Mississippi Sound, 



Scattered by the storm, most of Narvaez's men 

 perished. With a few men, Cabeza de Vaca 

 succeeded in landing on the mainland, where for 

 6 years he lived among the Indians. In 1533 he 

 gave up hope that any European ship would visit 

 the coast and with Lope Oviedo decided to march 

 westward. Encountering a few small streams 

 they came to the banks of a very large river which 

 they considered to be Rio del Espiritu Santu 

 (Mississippi River), and after crossing it marched 

 for a long time through Texas until they reached 

 the Bay of California. 



In 1536 Cabeza de Vaca returned to Europe 

 where the results of the unfortunate expedition 

 became known. Its principal scientific achieve- 

 rnents can be briefly summarized as follows: The 

 Mississippi River was seen for a second time; 

 Tampa Bay was more fully explored, and new 

 names, such as Apalachee Bay, were added to 

 geography. 



After waiting in vain for Narv&,ez at the place of 

 rendezvous, Miruelo returned with his ships to 

 Tampa Bay. It is interesting to note that, al- 

 though he failed to reach the bay at the north 

 coast of the Gulf where he was supposed to 

 meet Narvaez, the name of Bahia de Miruelo 



