The Narvaez Expedition, 1526-1536
51
of God." Asked how she knew these things, she said they had been told to her by a Moorish soothsayer of Hornachos back in Spain. 23 Narvaez scuds away his fleet. Undaunted by the evil forebodings, Narvaez placed Carvallo, a native of Cuenca, in charge of the ships and ordered him to proceed in the direction of Panuco, keeping always close to the coast, looking for a suitable port wherein to wait for the rest of the expedition. About one hundred men and ten married women were left on board the vessels with sufficient supplies for the projected trip along the coast. The women, whose husbands stayed with Narvaez, were advised by their warner to choose other husbands, as they would never see their former ones again . In order that they might give credence to her words, she promptly picked a new companion and the others followed her example. The ships sailed as instructed, explored the coast for some distance to the west, but not finding the Rio de las Palmas or Panuco, they turned back and discovered the mouth of Tampa Bay, five leagues below the original landing place. They were here joined by the brigantine which Cerda brought from Havana. Together they cruised along the coast once more, looking for Narvaez and his men for a whole year. Finding no trace of them, they sailed away and finally reached New Spain.2'' Such was the short and uneventful story of the fleet of Narvaez. The fate of the overland wanderers was destined to be far more tempestuous. As the ships sailed away Narvaez turned his face reso}utely towards the interior in quest of Apalachen. On May I, 1528, the entire expedi- tion, consisting of three hundred men, set out. Among them were Fray Juan Suarez, Bishop-elect, Fray Palos, and three priests. Forty of the men were mounted. Each one received two pounds of biscuit and half a pound of bacon as his ration. For fifteen days they marched without seeing a living soul. at the end of which time they crossed the Withlacoochie with some difficulty. Continuing on their way, they next passed over the Suwanee, where a horse and man were drowned. After suffering many vicissitudes and privations they finally reached Apalachen on June 25, I 528. Great was their disappointment. Golden Apalachen turned out to be a miserable village of about forty small huts thatched with straw and built low to protect them from the storms. The location : 3 Barcia, I, 43. 24 The fate of the ships was not JearneQ by Cabeza de Vaca until after his return to Mexico and Spain in I 537 . Ibid., I, 43.
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