Notwithstanding this mass of original material, it is not easy to construct a connected narrative of this voyage, for Oviedo sometimes contradicts himself; Bernal Diaz had undoubtedly forgotten the exact dates, which he nevertheless attempts to give in too many cases; Juan Diaz, owing partly to the numerous translations and changes incidental thereto, is sometimes unintelligible; and Las Casas,[740] who had good facilities for getting at the exact truth, is often very vague and difficult to follow. [Illustration: JUAN DE GRIJALVA. Fac-simile of an engraving in Herrera, i. 312. Cf. also the Mexican edition of Prescott, and Carbajal Espinosa’s _Historia de México_. i. 64.] In addition to this material, the _Décadas abreviadas de los descubrimientos, conquistas, fundaciones y otras cosas notables, acaecidas en las Indias occidentales desde 1492 á 1640_, has been of considerable service. This paper was found in manuscript form, without date or signature, in the Biblioteca Nacional by the editors of the _Documentos inéditos_, and printed by them in their eighth volume (pp. 5-52). It is not accurate throughout; but it gives the dates and order of events in many cases so clearly, that it is a document of some importance. [Illustration: Edward Channing.] THE EARLY CARTOGRAPHY OF THE GULF OF MEXICO AND ADJACENT PARTS. BY THE EDITOR. IN a previous section on the early maps of the Spanish and Portuguese discoveries the Editor has traced the development of the geography of the Gulf of Mexico with the group of the Antilles and the neighboring coasts, beginning with the delineation of La Cosa in 1500. He has indicated in the same section the influence of the explorations of Columbus and his companions in shaping the geographical ideas of the early years of the sixteenth century. Balbóa’s discovery in 1513 was followed by the failure to find any passage to the west in the latitude of the Antilles; but the disappointment was not sufficient to remove the idea of such a passage from the minds of certain geographers for some years to come. The less visionary among them hesitated to embrace the notion, however, and we observe a willingness to be confined by something like definite knowledge in the maker of a map of the Pacific which is preserved in the Military Library at Weimar. This map shows Cordova’s discoveries about Yucatan (1517), but has no indication of the islands which Magellan discovered (1520) in the Pacific; accordingly, Kohl places it in 1518. Balbóa’s discovery is noted in the sea which was seen by the Castilians.[741] [Illustration: THE PACIFIC, 1518.] [Illustration: GULF OF MEXICO, 1520. This map is also given in Weise’s _Discoveries of America_, p. 278.] [Illustration: LORENZ FRIESS, 1522.]