18 



FISHERY BULLETIN OF THE FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE 



Day, August 14, 1693, and following their custom, 

 the Spaniards immediately renamed it "Bahia de 

 Santa Maria de Galve," the last name being 

 added to the holy name of the Virgin in honor of 

 the viceroy of the territory. Siguenza made a 

 detailed survey of Pensacola Bay and described 

 its configuration, depth, islands, and rivers. The 

 expedition proceeded farther east and after some 

 difficulty entered Mobile Bay, made soundings in 

 the channel, and found that the depth was only 

 20 "palmas." As a result of Siguenza's observa- 

 tions strong recommendations were made to oc- 

 cupy Pensacola, but a final order for this action 

 was not issued until 1698. 



Rivalry among the western European powers 

 in establishing a foothold on the shores of the 

 Gulf of Mexico greatly enhanced the geographical 

 knowledge of the region. As a military necessity 

 the whole northern coast of the Gulf, with har- 

 bors, rivers, and lagoons, was surveyed; fairly 

 accurate navigational charts were prepared; and 

 information was accumulated regarding the pre- 

 vailing winds and currents. In this way marked 

 progress was attained in the cartography of the 

 Gulf and adjacent coastal lands. 



EIGHTEENTH CENTURY 



At the beginning of the eighteenth century 

 sailing vessels of European powers engaged in 

 trade or in pursuit of military designs continued 

 to traverse the waters of the Gulf in ever in- 

 creasing numbers, but the era of ambitious ex- 

 peditions and daring adventures, which in the 

 past fired public enthusiasm, was over. As a 

 matter of routine the ships made astronomical 

 observations and determined the longitude and 

 latitude of the places already known, surveyed 

 the harbors and passes, made numerous soxmd- 

 ings, and recorded the direction and velocities of 

 winds and currents. These navigational data 

 were eagerly sought by the cartographers to be 

 incorporated in new maps, numbers of which ap- 

 peared in various European countries and in 

 Mexico. Examples given below, which illustrate 

 this progress, have been selected from a large 

 array of the cartographic material issued during 

 this period. 



French interest in the Mississippi River and the 

 surrounding country is clearly expressed in the 

 work of the famous French geographer, Guillaume 

 Delisle (in the French publications the name is 



spelled "de L'Isle" and "Del'Isle") whose chart of 

 Louisiana and of the course of the Mississippi 

 was composed in 1719. The inscription reads 

 that it was drawn after consulting many memoirs 

 of Le Maire and others. The map shows the 

 routes of De Soto and of other explorers and depicts 

 the course of the principal rivers. The name 

 Texas (Los Teijas) for the first time appears in 

 cartography. According to Kohl (1857, No. 238), 

 the Delisle map is "the mother and main source 

 of all the later maps of the Mississippi and of the 

 whole West of the United States." 



The entrances to the Mississippi River, being 

 of great importance to the French mariners, were 

 surveyed with great persistency. Among the 

 many persons who contributed to our knowledge 

 of the physiography of the river, Lemoyne de 

 Serigny occupies a prominent position. In 1719 

 he participated in military operations in Florida 

 and Louisiana and led a successful attack from 

 the sea against Pensacola. His observations 

 along the northern part of the Gulf coast are 

 incorporated in a map drawn by an anonymous 

 French cartographer and entitled "Carte de la 

 cote de la Louisiane depuis I'Embouchure du 

 Mississippi jusqu' a la Baie de St. Joseph, etc." 

 The Library of Congress has a photographic 

 reproduction of this document. The original is 

 in Paris in Dep6t de la Marine. Serigny produced, 

 also, a detailed map in colors of the approaches 

 to Pensacola Bay. The notation on the body of 

 the latter map contains reference to a strong 

 surface current and the rise and fall of tides 

 approximating 3 feet during a 24-hour period. 



In connection with the construction of fortifica- 

 tions around the recently founded city of New 

 Orleans, the French Government detailed many 

 engineers to Louisiana. Among them Bernard 

 de la Harpe distinguished himself by numerous 

 observations which were incorporated in the de 

 Beauvilliers map of 1720. The map shows many 

 streams, mountains, towns, and Indian villages 

 along the Gulf of Mexico and many islands off 

 the coast of Yucatan. The chart of the Louisiana 

 coast drawn about the same time (1719-20) by 

 Devin was also made on the basis of the reports 

 of De la Harpe and other French army officers. 

 It shows many soundings and the positions of 

 shallows and reefs in St. Louis Bay and adjacent 

 waters. 



The necessity of having accurate maps for safe 



