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booty, Cortes sent to Spain two vessels carrying eighty-eight thousand pesos of gold in bars, and the wardrobe of Montezuma. "The latter," Diaz observes, " was a valuable present, and well worthy of our great emperor's acceptance, for it embraced jewels of the greatest value, pearls of the size of hazel-nuts, and various precious stones, the number of which my memory will not permit me to designate. At the same time were sent the bones of the giants which we found in the temple of Cojohuacan, which were similar to those given to us by the Tlascallans that we had previously sent to Spain."

'Historia verdadera de la conquista de la Nueva España. Diaz. cap. xxxix-clix.- Vide The memoirs of the conquistador. Lockhart. chap. xxxixclix.

CHAPTER VIII.

1518-1524.

THAT part of the coast of the continent, now included in the territory of the states of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and the westerly portion of Florida, was first discovered and explored by Alonso Alvarez de Pineda. The fleet which this Spaniard commanded was fitted out by Francisco de Garay, the wealthy governor of the island of Jamaica, who had accompanied Columbus to the New World in 1493. Bernal Diaz, in his history of the conquest of New Spain, thus speaks of this expedition: "In the year 1518, when the report of our having discovered this country, under Cordoba and Grijalva, and of the twenty thousand pesos which came into the hands of Diego Velasquez, had spread through the whole of the West Indies," and when Garay "received information of a new expedition that was destined for New Spain, under Hernando Cortes, he [Francisco de Garay] was seized with a great desire likewise to discover some new countries, and certainly he had more wealth at his command than we to fit out a fleet for such a purpose. He had learned considerable about the riches of the. new countries from our old chief pilot Alaminos, and how thickly populated the provinces were on the river Panuco; and as several other sailors, who had accompanied us on those expeditions, confirmed what Alaminos had told him, he thought that it was to his ad

vantage to request his majesty to grant him the permission to make further discoveries on the river Panuco, and to appoint him governor of all the lands he should discover. For this purpose he dispatched his major-domo, Juan de Torralva, to Spain, with letters and presents for those who at that time administered the affairs of the Indies, soliciting them to procure him the appointment mentioned.

"His majesty was at the time in Flanders, and the president of the council of the Indies, Don Juan Rodriguez de Fonseca, bishop of Burgos and titular archbishop of Rosano, with the two licentiates Zapata and Vargas, and the secretary Lopez de Conchillos, managed the affairs of the Indies as they pleased. Garay therefore easily obtained the appointment of adelantado and governor of the provinces bordering on the river San Pedro and San Pablo, and of all the countries he should discover. By virtue of this appointment he fitted out three vessels, having on board two hundred and forty men, including a strong body of cavalry, cross-bowmen, and musketeers. The chief command of this fleet he gave to Alonso Alvarez de Pineda.1

It is further related that the explorers set sail in 1519, toward" the peninsula of Florida, in twenty-five degrees of north latitude, for Florida appeared to them to be a very attractive island, and they thought that it was better to settle on islands than on the main-land, because they could more easily conquer the natives and keep them in subjection. They landed, but the people of Florida killed so many of them that they did not dare to settle there. They then sailed along the coast and came to the river of Panuco, five hundred

'Historia verdadera de la conquista de la Nueva Espana. Diaz. cap. lx, clxii.-Vide The memoirs of the conquistador. Lockhart. chap. lx, clxii.

leagues from the peninsula of Florida, measured on a course along the coast. The natives attacked them at every place. Many of them were killed at Chila [near the mouth of the river Panuco], where the natives flayed and eat those who fell into their hands, and hung up the skins in their temples to commemorate their valor."

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Diaz further observes : "While we were lying at Villa Segura, Cortes was informed by letters that one of the vessels which Garay had fitted out for the purpose of forming settlements on the river Panuco had arived at Vera Cruz. This vessel was commanded by a certain Comargo, and had on board more than sixty soldiers, who were all in bad health, with their bodies greatly swelled. This Comargo gave the particulars of the unfortunate termination of Garay's expedition to the river Panuco.

"The Indians had massacred the commander-inchief, Alonso Alvarez de Pineda, and all his soldiers and horses, and then had set fire to his vessels. Comargo alone had been fortunate enough to escape with his men on board of one of the vessels, and had steered for Vera Cruz, where the explorers arrived half famished, for they had not been able to procure any provisions from the enemy. This Comargo, it was said, had taken the vows of the order of the Dominicans.

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Comargo and his men, by moderate advances, at last arrived at Villa Segura, for they were so weakened that they could scarcely move along. When Cortes saw in what a terrible condition they were, he commended them to our care, and showed Comargo and all his men every possible kindness. If I

1 Tratado, que compos e nobre & notauel capitão Antonio Galuão.

remember rightly, Comargo died soon after, and also several of his men." "

The fields of the explorations of Alonso Alvarez de Pineda, Juan de Grijalva, Francisco Hernandez de Cordoba, and Juan Ponce de Leon are represented on a traced map of the coast of the continent and of the new lands (traza de las costas de tierra-firme y de las tierras nuevas), made in 1521, to define the limits of the jurisdictions of Juan Ponce Leon, Francisco de Garay, and Diego Velasquez.

On the peninsula of Florida, delineated on the map, is inscribed in Spanish : "Florida called Bimini, which Juan Ponce discovered." West of it is a broken line and this inscription: "As far as this Juan Ponce discovered." At some distance farther west is another line of limitation and this explanation: "From here Francisco Garay began to discover." West of this is the early designation of the Mississippi River, " Rio del Espiritu Santo" (River of the Holy Spirit). Southward beyond the mouth of the Panuco River is a third broken line and the inscription : "As far as this place Francisco de Garay discovered toward the west, and Diego Velazquez toward the east as far as Cabo de las Higueras, which the Pinzons discovered, and the population has given it to them."

According to these memoranda and the statements of Herrera, the Spanish historian, Juan Ponce de Leon

1 In June, 1523, Francisco de Garay sailed with a fleet and a large number of troops from Jamaica to take possession of the province of Panuco, of which he had been appointed governor. He failed to accomplish his purpose, and

died in the city of Mexico, at the end of December, 1523. de la conquista de la Nueva España. cap. cxxxiii, clxii. of the conquistador. Lockhart. chap. cxxxiii, clxii.

Historia verdadera Vide The memoirs

* Coleccion de los viages y descubrimientos. Navarrete. 64-69; 147-153.

tom. iii. pp.

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