Our C at/10/ic fl erit.age in T e:rns
308
It was Christmas day before every thing was ready. On December 25 , while the people of Veracruz offered prayers for the success of the expe- dition. the two vessels sailed out of the harbor on their venturesome trip. Three days later they arrived safely in Tampico. Bad weather delayed their departure from this port for more than two months, during which time a large portion of their provisions were consumed. The viceroy. however, replenished their supply and the vessels again set sail on March 7. Proceeding up the coast slowly, and keeping close to the shore in order to be able to examine all the rivers and inlets, Rivas and Iriar te diligently noted all the important landmarks and gave names to many of them, which they s~ill bear. By March 30 they reached a river which they called Rio de las Flores. While exploring its mouth , they came upon the wreckage of a ship which bore signs of French make. This river. which has not been satisfa:torily identified, was about twenty miles below Matagorda Bay.12 Continuing their explorations they discovered on April 4, a large bay. nine leagues beyond the Rio de las Flores. This was no other than Mata- gorda Bay. Here they found unmistakable signs of the French. Four leagues from the entrance into the bay (Caballo Pass), or about ten miles towards the northeast, they saw a stranded vessel which still bore the characteristic French arms with the fleur-de-lis. This was the Belle, as will be remembered, which was run upon a sand bar by its pilot , Aigron. From the condition of the rigging the Spaniards concluded that it had been wrecked more than a year before. Encouraged by their discovery, they scouted the vicinity and found a few empty barrels of powder and a number of abandoned cannon. A group of Indians, who had been attracted by the presence of the strangers, were questioned but to no avail. as they did not seem to understand the interpreters that had been brought from Tampico. The region was found to be extremely low and swampy. It was concluded, therefore, that no sane person would choose such a site for a settlement. Although they were certain that the vessel had belonged to the French and that the settlers must have visited this locality, they did not suspect that only a few miles away, up on Ga rcitas Creek, some thirty or forty Frenchmen were even then dis- cussing what to do so that they might leave this desolate spot. Finding no other signs than the few remnants to indicate the proximity of the 12 For a discussion of the identity and location of this river, see Hackett, Pichardo: l.imits of l.mtisi,ma and Texas, I , 377-378 , 418-419.
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