370 THE CORONADO EXPEDITION, 1540-1542 [bth.anh.14 



Mendoza had guarded against rival expeditions from bis own terri- 

 tory, and so soon as lie knew that Friar Marcos bad succeeded in bis 

 quest, be took precautions to prevent the news of tbe discovery from 

 reaching otber portions of tbe New World. His chief fear, probably, 

 was lest De Soto, who bad recently received a license to explore the 

 country between the Rio de las Palmas, in the present Texas, and 

 Florida, 1 might direct bis expedition toward the western limits of bis 

 territory, if he should learn of the rich prospects there. Although 

 Mendoza probably did not know it, De Soto bad sailed from Habana in 

 May, 1539, and in July, sending back his largest ships, be began the long 

 march through the everglades of Florida, which was to end in the Missis- 

 sippi. Mendoza, with all the formality of the viceregal authority, ordered 

 that no vessel sailing from New Spain should touch at auy port in the 

 New World on its way back to the home peninsula, and this notice was 

 duly served on all departing shipmasters by tbe secretaries of tbe 

 viceroy. By tbe middle of November, however, despite all this care, a 

 ship from Vera Cruz sailed into the harbor of Habana. Tbe master 

 declared, on bis oath, that he had been forced to put in there, because 

 sickness bad broken out aboard bis vessel soon after the departure from 

 New Spain and because be had discovered that bis stock of provisions 

 and water was insufficient for tbe voyage across the Atlantic. Curi- 

 ously enough, one of tbe crew, possibly one of those who had been seized 

 with the sickness, had in his possession some letters which he had been 

 asked to deliver to Hernando De Soto, in Habana. Apparently the 

 agent or friend of De Soto living in Mexico, one Francisco de Billegas, 

 did not know that the adelantado had left Cuba, although he had 

 arranged to have the letters carried to Spain and given to tbe repre- 

 sentative of tbe adelantado there if De Soto was not found at Habana. 

 De Soto had taken care that his interests should be watched and pro- 

 tected, in Spain as well as in tbe New World, when he started on his 

 search for the land of wealth north of the Gulf of Mexico, the search 

 on which Ayllon and Narvaez had failed so sadly. 



It was the regular practice of all the governors and successful 

 explorers in the colonies of the empire to maintain representatives in 

 Spain who should look after their interests at court and before tbe 

 administrative bureaus. When the news of Friar Marcos' discovery 

 reached Europe, accompanied by reports of tbe preparations which 

 Mendoza was making for an expedition to take possession of the new 

 territory, protests and counterclaims were immediately presented in 

 behalf of all those who could claim any right to participate in this 

 new field of conquest. The first formal statements were filed with the 

 Council for the Indies, March 3, 1540, and on June 10, 1511, the factor 

 or representative of Cortes, whose petition is first among tbe papers 

 relating to tbe case, asked for an extension of six days. This ends the 



1 The capitnlacion or agreement with X)e Soto ia printed in Pacheco y Cardenas, Doc. de Indias. vol. 

 xv, pp. 354-363. 



