Tlte Scare/, for La Salle, 1685-1689
to be cautious, since these Indians were supposed to be very close to the French settlement and naturally inclined to be fri~ndly to the strangers. The site of the colony was not to be approached in the daytime in order to avoid being observed by the settlers. A careful diary of the occurrences of each day was to be kept with all regularity. 7 It was not until January 3~ 1686, that everything was in readiness for the start. Because of stormy weather, howe\"er, the ship did not drop anchor at Apalache until January 17. The Lieutenant-Governor visited the ship soon after its arrival and again warned the crew against the Indians on Apalachicola River. With two native pilots to help them, the sanguine explorers set out once more on January 30. to follow the coast westward. The Apalachicola River was soon reached, but because of unfavorable weather, no attempt to enter it or to get in communication with the Indians was made. On February 6, Romero and his companions came to a beautiful bay which Jordan describes as "the best bay I have ever seen in my life." This was Pensacola Bay, known to the Spaniards before, but almost forgotten. The Panzacolas, who proved friendly and welcomed the Spaniards with great kindness, declared, when asked, that they knew nothing of a settlement of wh ite men in the vicinity. They admitted, however, that a large ship had entered the harbor about a year before They warned the Spaniards against the Mobilas, who were at war with them. Unable to secure any definite information , the trip was resumed on February 8. Two days later Mobile Bay was explored. It was found to he shallow and unsuited for large vessels. For several days. perhaps weeks, the expedition seems to have stayed in this harbor before continuing its journey westward. On March 4, after having gone some distance beyond Mobile Bay, they came to the mouth of a large river, whose swift stream and great quantity of tree trunks and driftwood prevented them from entering it. They little suspected that this was the Mississippi and inno- cently called it Rio de la Palizada. To an adjoining cape, they gave the name of Caho de Lodo (Mud Cape). This unmistakable landmark of today was unwittingly passed. The failure to recognize the river is explained by the fact that they were looking for a large stream which emptied into a beautiful and spacious bay. As they were preparing to make a more careful examination of the coast, a storm came up and drove them out to sea. When the weather subsided, they found they were
7 Instrucci6n y derrota que han de observar y guardar Juan Enriquez Ilarroto y Antonio Romero, November 13, 1685, in Ibid., 40-43.
Powered by FlippingBook