h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

The next expedition to the Florida Peninsula was led by Panfilo de Navarez. After serving in the conquest of Cuba, he was giving the task of travelling to Mexico to bring Cortez and his army back to their duties for the King of Spain. On their first encounter Navarez was shot in the eye by an arrow- 'I am killed' he exclaimed. Other than the loss of his eye he survived and joined Cortez in his conquest of the Aztecs.

He sailed for Florida in June 1527 with the intention of starting a colony. By the time he arrived at Tampa Bay he had only 400 of the 600 colonists and soldiers he had recruited in Spain. Some had deserted and others were on ships that had been wrecked, or otherwise delayed. Remembering the fate of Ponce De Leon, he greeted the local natives with a show of force. Accounts report that he attacked the chief and cut off his nose.

The locals began to tell Navarez of all the gold and riches held by the tribes only a little further to to north. They were desperate to lure the invaders some-place, any-place else.

With visions of gold and riches so close at hand, the original goal of creating a colony was quickly forgotten.

Navarez sent some of his Ships back to their base in Cuba, While others were instructed to follow the coast line north and find an appropriate place for a rendezvous.

After heading inland they found little food along their route. The various groups of natives were all hostile, and even when they managed to enter a village no gold or treasure existed there.

Desperate for food and having found little of value, the expedition reached the St Mark's River, just south of present day Tallahassee. This was the perfect place for them to reunite with the ships, but none were in sight.

Left with few resources, they resolved to build a fleet of several small boats that could follow the coast line until they reached a familiar area of the Mexican coast. Shortly after they arrived off the coast of Texas they encountered a huge storm that destroyed all the boats and killed almost 2/3rds of the explorers, including Navarez himself.

Three of the survivors under the command of the treasurer Alvar Cabeza de Vaca managed to reach the Spanish forces at Mexico city on 24 June, 1536. Their journal is all that remains of the expedition, it records their trials of almost a decade wandering in the wilderness.

F S

[Amy P]

good read more please

A decade of wandering in the wilderness?