GULF OF MEXICO 



11 



consider that Cantino was familiar with the 

 Portufjuese voyages to the New Workl and incor- 

 porated their discoveries in his drawing. This 

 subject, as well as the questions whether "Ilha 

 Ysabella" on the map represents the island of 

 Cuba or the Crooked Islands group called "Isa- 

 bella" by Columbus, and whether the peninsula 

 west of it is Florida, are critically discussed by 

 Morison (1940). 



The Gulf of Mexico is very crudely shown on 

 the map of the world made by the German carto- 

 grapher, Waldseemiiller, and printed in 1507 in 

 St. Die, Lorraine. This map is famous because 

 for the first time the continent of the New World 

 is shown with the name "America" attached to 

 it in honor of the Florentine explorer. The origi- 

 nal is owned by Franz Joseph II of Liechtenstein.' 



Of the many expeditions that sailed to the New 

 World during the first decade of the sixteenth 

 century, the more important ones were those 

 headed by Hojeda, 1499; Nino and Guerra, 1500; 

 Pinzon, 1499-1500; Lepe, 1500; Bastidas, 1500-02; 

 Hojeda and Vergara, 1502-03; and Cosa, 1504-05. 

 Results of these ventures materially enlarged the 

 knowledge of the geography of the eastern part of 

 the Caribbean area, but its western section, in- 

 cluding the Gulf of Mexico, remained unexplored. 



In 1513 the expedition headed by Ponce de 

 Le6n made a formal discovery of Florida, the 

 existence of which was probably known to Spanish 

 and Portuguese adventurers who visited the land 

 north of Cuba but left no records of their findings. 

 On Easter Sunday, March 27 of that year. Ponce 

 de Leon with his three ships was in sight of land 

 not far from the present city of Jacksonville. To 

 commemorate the holiday the land was named la 

 Florida. Failing in his attempt to circumnavi- 

 gate the "island" Ponce de Le6n turned south 

 and on May 12 of the same year found a chain of 

 islands which he named las Islas de los Mdrtires 

 (present Florida Keys), and about a month later 

 he discovered the Tortugas. In the following 

 year, 1514, the King of Spain incorporated the 

 newly discovered land in an administrative re- 

 gion known as Adelantado de la Isla Bimini e la 

 Florida. 



Ponce de Le6n was the first explorer who re- 

 corded the existence of a strong current along the 



• In May 1950 the map was offered for sale at an auction in New York City 

 with the condition that bids should exceed $50,000, but in the last minute 

 was withdrawn by the owner. 



east coast of Florida. He reported that his ships' 

 while crossing the stream near Cape Canaveral, 

 frequently were swept by strong current. He 

 obviously was referring to that part of the Gulf 

 Stream which at present is known as the Florida 

 Current (Herrera 1601, 1728; Stommel 1950). 



In 1516 Diego Miruelo undertook another ex- 

 pedition to Florida, and in the following year, 

 1517, Fernando de Cordoba and Antonio de Ala- 

 minos explored the northern and western coasts 

 of Yucatin. Driven for several days by a severe 

 storm they finally saw land with a large Indian 

 town, near Cabo Catoche. The expedition re- 

 corded many points, bays, and harbors along the 

 west coast of the Gulf and safely reached the Bay 

 of Campeche, giving it its present name. Trouble 

 started, however, near the place called Champo- 

 ton where C6rdoba and his landing party were 

 attacked by Indians. In this encounter, C6rdoba 

 was badly wounded and many of his soldiers were 

 killed. Alaminos, the principal pilot of the ex- 

 pedition, decided to take advantage of the pre- 

 vailing easterly winds and sailed north to Florida 

 and then turned south toward Cuba. His deci- 

 sion was a right one. In a few days the ships 

 crossed the Gulf and returned to Cuba, where 

 C6rdoba died of his wounds. 



Scientific results of the expedition were signifi- 

 cant. More than 500 miles of the Gulf coast 

 were mapped; proof was obtained of the existence 

 of an open channel between the Florida and 

 Yucatdn Peninsulas; and valuable information was 

 accumulated regarding the prevailing winds, cur- 

 rents, and depth of water. Alaminos was still 

 under the impression that Yucatan was an island. 

 The name Yucatdn was taken from the expression 

 "Uyucatan" which the Spaniards frequently re- 

 ceived from Indians in reply to their questions, 

 the meaning of which was "we don't understand 

 you." 



Before his death, C6rdoba appointed his 

 nephew , Juan de Grijalva, commander of a force 

 consisting of 4 ships and 250 men. Experienced 

 Antonio de Alaminos was again the senior pilot 

 of the expedition which on April 20, 1518, sailed 

 from the harbor of Matanzas (Cuba) and followed 

 C6rdoba's former route toward the Cape of Yuca- 

 tdn. Stormy weather drove the expedition far- 

 ther south along the eastern coast of the peninsula 

 toward an island called by the Spaniards la Isla 

 de Santa Cruz but known at present as Isla de 



