Early Exploration of the Coast of Texas
13
cruz, where the prisoners told Cortes of their experiences with the Indians of the Panuco region, described the houses, and stated the amount of gold value in pesos they had obtained from the natives. 28 But after the expedition left Veracruz, they again stopped at another river which they described as "a very large river," according to the official report, where they stayed for forty days to careen their ships, and during which time they not only traded amicably with the natives, but explored the river for a distance of six leagues, in which area they counted as many as forty different Indian pueblos. 29 The question that naturally arises is where did Pineda and his men stop for forty days on their return trip? It has been suggested that the "very large river" was very likely the Mississippi because of its volume. 30 But on the other hand, there never was a large Indian pueblo at the mouth of the Mississippi, nor such a group of Indian villages in its immediate neighborhood as was described so minutely by Pineda in the report transmitted to the king. 31 That the river on which they spent forty days on the return was the Rio Grande, soon to become known as the Rio de las Palmas, is borne out by the statements of the notary public in his interview with Cortes. At that time he declared that Garay wished to have the limits of their respective lands determined in order to establish a settlement on a river which was approximately thirty leagues north of the Panuco. This statement is corroborated by G6mara, who declares that the distance from the Panuco River to the Rio de las Palmas is thirty leagues. 32 It so happens that the actual distance between the two rivers is approximately ninety miles, which is the equivalent of the number of leagues indicated. Keeping in mind, therefore, that it was the intention of Pineda to establish a colony on a river which was thirty leagues from Panuco, it is more than likely that after he left Veracruz he stopped to reconnoiter the site before he recommended it for per- manent occupation to his employer. There remains, however, the question of the volume of the river course. In this respect, it is necessary to remember that Pineda left Veracruz about the fifteenth of August. 33
28See page Io ante. 29See pages I 1-12 ante.
30 Lowery, S,Panisli Settlements within the Present Limits of lite United States, 150; Shea, Ancient Florida, in Winsor, Narrative and Critical History, II, 237 . 31Navarrete, op. cit., III, 147 . 32 G6mara, Historia de las lndias, in Barcia, Historiadores, II, 36. 33Cervantes de Salazar, Cronica, 182-185.
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