Tlze Narvaez Expedition, r526-r536
47
ulous cures performed by himself and companions, he is modest and always careful to qualify the results which he obtained." 15 Departure of Narvaez. By June, 1527, everything was in readiness for the great adventure. On the 17th of this month, Narvaez set sail from the port of San Lucar de Barrameda, unaware of the fate that awaited him. The expedition consisted of five ships with six hundred colonists and soldiers aboard. Among them were Father Juan Suarez and his four Franciscan missionaries, a number of women, the wives of some of the men, and a few negroes. 16 They made their way first to Santo Domingo, where they remained for about forty-five days, buying supplies, _particularly horses. During the stay, one hundred and forty men deserted, deciding to go no farther. From here he proceeded to Santiago de Cuba where he enlisted some additional men to fill his depleted ranks and to purchase additional sup- plies and horses. While in Cuba, a former friend of his, Vasco Porcallo de Figueroa, a resident of Trinidad, a town on the southern coast of the island, offered to give him some provisions if he would go or send for them. Narvaez started out from Santiago for Trinidad with the entire fleet, but when he arrived at present Caho Cruz, he decided it was not necessary to go all the way with the whole expedition. He con- sequently dispatched Cabeza de Vaca and Captain Juan Pantoja with two vessels to bring the supplies from Trinidad. This port had a repu- tation of being very insecure. Shortly after the arrival of the two vessels, while Cabeza de Vaca and Pantoja were ashore trying to secure the pro- visions as quickly as possible, a terrific storm arose which not only wrecked the two ships, but the town as well. For ten leagues along the coast they searched for the vessels and survivors, but found only pieces of wreckage and the badly disfigured bodies of some of the victims of the fury of the elements. Sixty men and twenty horses, besides all their arms and the supplies were lost. Of the crew of the two ships only thirty men managed to escape. This was taken as a presage of their future 1 5Lowery, The Spanish Settlements Witl,in the Present Limits of t/1e Uniled States, r5r3-r56r, 175. 16The Naufragios edition of 1542 fixes the date of departure as June 17, as does Oviedo, but the edition of 1555 says June 27, while the Relacion ( Doc11me11tos lneditos, Vol. I 4, p. 269) has this date June 7. All first three accounts agree on the number of ships and men, but the last mentioned says seven hundred.
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