Spanish Explorers in the Southern United States, 1528-1543. / The Narrative of Alvar Nunez Cabeca de Vaca. The Narrative of the Expedition of Hernando De Soto by the Gentleman of Elvas

by active 16th century Alvar Núñez Cabeza de Vaca; active 16th century Pedro de Castañeda de Nájera; Knight of Elvas

[17] Southwestern Cuba.

[18] The westernmost point of the island.

[19] The place of landing is identified as having been about St. Clement's Point, on the peninsula west of Tampa Bay, on the western coast of Florida. See Woodbury Lowery, Spanish Settlements, 1513-1561 (New York, 1901), p. 177, and App. J.

[20] These were Indians belonging to the Timuquanan, or Timucuan family, now entirely extinct. The Seminoles were comparatively recent intruders in the peninsula, except in the extreme northern part.

[21] April 14, 1528.

[22] April 15, 1528

[23] An Arawak term for house, referring specifically to a dwelling with an open shed attached. The Spaniards became acquainted with the word in Santo Domingo. For descriptions of these habitations see Fewkes, "The Aborigines of Porto Rico and Neighboring Islands," Twenty-fifth Annual Report of the Bureau of American Ethnology, 1906.

[24] April 16, 1528.

[25] For the interesting if farcical formula used in taking possession of a country in the name of Spain, see Buckingham Smith, Relation of Alvar Nuñez Cabeça de Vaca (ed. 1871), App. III., 215-217, and Lowery, op. cit., pp. 178-180.

[26] Really northeast.