Our C atl1olic Heritage in Texas
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march, due to the high water, it had taken him seven days. Much interested in the mention of a bay between La Bahia and the Nueces, the Indian Toribio was questioned and he declared that this bay was about six leagues above (north of) the mouth of the Nueces River. Desirous of learning more about the Bay of Santo Domingo, the character of the coast and the tribes that lived in the area between La Bahia and the Nueces River, Parrilla next examined Tomas de Ojeda, Lieutenant of the Presidio of La Bahia. He estimated that the actual distance along the coast from La Bahia to the Nueces was about forty leagues, but that· it was impassable at this time of the year because of the heavy rains. As to islands he declared he knew of only two, one opposite the Bay of Corpus Christi, known as Culebra and one opposite the Bay of San Domingo, some five or six leagues above the mouth of the Nueces. There were several other much smaller, which were frequently submerged by high waters. On the two larger islands had seen Copano, Piguique, and Karankawa Indians, who made their permanent home there. But at the present time he knew there were very few of these Indians left on the two islands as a consequence of the severe epidemics of smallpox and measles which had visited them in recent years. They had been further reduced by the large number who had decided to join the missions at La Bahia and San Antonio. Questioned concerning -ships known to have landed along the coast, he declared that approximately seven years before a vessel had been wrecked on _Culebra Island. The Captain of La Bahia had succeeded in rescuing one English boy, nine years old, and in obtaining some salvage, but that most of the cargo and all the survivors with the exception of the boy had been destroyed by the fierce Karankawa tribe. The incident had been reported to the viceroy at the time. Another ship had been similarly wrecked about five years before on the island opposite Santo Domingo Bay. No survivors had been found when the captain of the presidio came upon it, and only a part of its cargo was rescued. But recently he had neither seen nor heard that any foreign vessels had attempted to land on these islands." From the declarations of the witness examined, it is safe to conclude that we have here the first detailed description of Mustang, St. Joseph, and Matagorda Islands and of Copano Bay, called Santo Domingo. Culebra
SJDeclaraciones de Juan Gregorio de Alvarado, the Indian Toribio, and Tomas de Ojeda in Testimonio de las DUigencias Practticadas . .. (Dunn Tr. 1767) pp. 22-29.
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