Narrative and Critical History of America, Vol. 2 (of 8): Spanish Explorations and Settlements in America from the Fifteenth to the Seventeenth Century
History
Narrative and Critical History of America, Vol. 2 (of 8): Spanish Explorations and Settlements in America from the Fifteenth to the Seventeenth Century
America -- Discovery and exploration; America -- History; United States -- History
The vessels then turned southward, following the coast till the 20th,
when Ponce landed near Abayoa, a cluster of Indian huts. On attempting
to sail again, he met such violent currents that his vessels could make
no headway, and were forced to anchor, except one of the caravels,
which was driven out of sight. On landing at this point Ponce found
the Indians so hostile that he was obliged to repel their attacks by
force. He named a river Rio de la Cruz; and, doubling Cape Corrientes
on the 8th of May, sailed on till he reached a chain of islands, to
which he gave the name of the Martyrs. On one of these he obtained wood
and water, and careened a caravel. The Indians were very thievish,
endeavoring to steal the anchors or cut the cables, so as to seize the
ships. He next discovered and named the Tortugas. After doubling the
cape, he ran up the western shore of Florida to a bay, in 27° 30’,
which for centuries afterward bore the name of Juan Ponce. There are
indications that before he turned back he may have followed the coast
till it trended westward. After discovering Bahama he is said to have
despatched one caravel from Guanima under John Perez de Ortubia, with
Anton de Alaminos, to search for Bimini, while he himself returned
to Porto Rico, which he reached September 21. He was soon followed by
Ortubia, who, it is said, had been successful in his search for Bimini.
Although Ponce de Leon had thus explored the Florida coast, and added
greatly to the knowledge of the Bahama group, his discoveries are not
noted in the editions of Ptolemy which appeared in the next decade, and
which retained the names of the Cantino map. The Ribeiro map (1529)
gives the Martyrs and Tortugas, and on the mainland Canico,—apparently
Cancio, the Lucayan name of Florida. In the so-called Leonardo da
Vinci’s Mappemonde, Florida appears as an island in a vast ocean that
rolls on to Japan.[802]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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