Early Exploration of the Coast of Texas
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the matter and determine the boundaries of the respective grants of Narvaez and Guzman in the Panuco-Rio de las Palmas region. 87 The expedition appears to have set out from the Panuco in the summer of 1528. It encountered numerous obstacles in the lakes, marshes, and numerous streams that flow into the gulf. Not only were they con- tinuously bothered by the ravenous mosquitoes and the thousand other tropical insects that infest this region, but they were constantly assailed by the natives who attacked them from behind the trees and thickets. By this time the Indians had deserted their pueblos and were most obstinate in their resistance to the further penetration of their country by the Spaniards. Although Caniedo and his followers traveled about forty leagues, a distance of approximately one hundred and twenty miles to the north of the Panuco River, which would place them beyond the present Rio Grande, they met few Indians and saw practically no pueblos, where both Garay and Camargo had found a numerous native population only a few years before. Five months were spent in the exploration of the country, during which time the men suffered untold hardships because of the hostility of the Indians and the total lack of supplies. Caniedo learned from a few stray Indians that there were many natives in the country, but that they had taken refuge in the woods. They were told the land was rich in minerals in the interior, but they were offered no help nor were they given a welcome. When their provisions gave out, Caniedo and his men were obliged to return to the Panuco after a futile effort to establish a permanent settlement on the Rio de las Palmas, which they were instructed to claim for Guzman in the name of the king. They failed to achieve the purpose of the expedition, which was to found a permanent settlement, similar to Santiestevan, on or near the Rio Grande. 88 But the significance of this heretofore ignored attempt lies in the fact that during their five months' wanderings, they must have reached the Rio Grande and more than likely must have established a temporary camp upon its banks, as Camargo did in I 520. To follow the fortunes of the cruel Guzman, who was appointed presi- dent of the new Audiencia of Mexico this same year, lies outside of the province of our narrative. Suffice it to say that his atrocities in the Panuco region were mild, compared with those he committed in the conquest of Nueva Galicia, which he subsequently undertook. Within three years after he left the Panuco, where he appointed a lieutenant
87 Herrera, op. cit., Dec. iv, Lib. iii, Cap. x, p. 52. 88 / bid., 48-49.
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