SWANTON] INDIANS OF THE SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES 37 



discovered region of which he had in the meantime secured the 

 exclusive right of settlement. They explored the coast for 250 

 leagues and returned to Santo Domingo in July bringing with them 

 one or two Indians from each province to be trained as interpreters. 

 In July 1526, Ayllon himself sailed from Santo Domingo with 3 

 large vessels and 600 settlers of both sexes. They landed at the 

 mouth of a river which they named the Jordan, probably the Santee, 

 where Francisco of Chicora and the other interpreters showed their 

 good sense by deserting. One vessel was also lost, and, becoming 

 dissatisfied with the place, the settlers removed to a river which they 

 call the Gualdape, 40 or 45 leagues away. This has been variously 

 placed, but I am inclined to think it was near the Savannah River if 

 not that stream itself, since the country from the Savannah south- 

 ward was afterward known as the Province of Guale, a name which 

 the longer term Gualdape may contain. Here, however, many sick- 

 ened and died; on October 18 Ayllon died also, dissensions arose, 

 and in the middle of winter the survivors returned to Hispaniola. 

 (Winsor, 1884-89, vol. 2, pp. 238-241; Anghierra, 1912, vol. 2, pp. 

 255-257.) 



Meantime, in 1524-25, Giovanni da Verrazano explored the Atlan- 

 tic coast of America from south to north. By Harrisse (1892, pp. 

 214-228), he is supposed to have made his first landfall as far south 

 as Florida, but the latitude given by himself is 34°, which would indi- 

 cate some point in the present North Carolina. He recorded a few 

 interesting particulars regarding the inhabitants of the region agree- 

 ing very well with what later writers tell us. 



The explorations of Estevan Gomez were well to the north. 

 In December, 1526, Panfilo de Narvaez was granted title to all lands 

 between the Rio de las Palmas and the Cape of Florida, and, after 

 unforeseen delays, his fleet of 4 ships and a pinnace sighted the 

 Florida coast on April 14, 1528. Two days later they anchored off the 

 mouth of an inlet which was perhaps Johns Pass, just north of Tampa 

 Bay. At its head was an Indian town with a large communal house, 

 apparently one of the great town houses of the Timucua. In the de- 

 serted habitations the Spaniards found a single gold ornament and 

 some fish nets. Later they discovered another bay, evidently Old 

 Tampa Bay, and from there, on May 1, Narvaez started inland 

 at the head of 300 men after having sent the 3 ships which remained to 

 him along the coast to Panuco. The land force crossed the Withla- 

 coochee and Suwannee and reached an Apalachee town (Ibitachuco) 

 on June 25. There they found an abundance of corn and in the 

 narratives of the expedition occurs what is probably the first refer- 

 ence to those wooden mortars used in reducing corn to flour. Twenty- 

 five days later they set out for a town called Ante, not far from the 



