The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 8, July 1904 - April, 1905 Page: 219
xiii, 358 p. : ill., maps ; 23 cm.View a full description of this periodical.
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De Leon's Expedition of 1689.
are many lagoons of salt water around it, whose marshes prevented
us at some places from crossing on horseback. For long stretches,
therefore, we went on foot, leading the horses. The arm of the
sea which appeared to us the longest runs in toward the north,
another smaller one to the south, and the other, the smallest, to-
ward the settlement mentioned in this diary.
We went eight long leagues' along the shore, till it pleased
God that we should discover the mouth, through which one enters
the bay. This was probably about two leagues from the place we
could reach on horseback. We were greatly rejoiced at this dis-
covery; in token of which we fired a salute with our arquebuses.
The Frenchman affirmed that this was the mouth and harbor,
through which he had entered when he came into these parts with
Monsieur Felipe So-and-So. The mouth of the harbor, so far as
we could judge, is about two short leagues2 across. There is a bar
of low land across it which is closer to the mainland (mas arri-
mado a la costa) on the side toward Vera Cruz than toward
Florida.8 The Frenchman says that ships enter through the nar-
1See p. 206, note 3.
"That is, barely two leagues.
'The Map contains no mention of Florida. The Planta de la costa de
Florida la mas occidental desde 27 grad. de latitude norte hasta 29 grad.
(Lanzas, no. 80), is apparently intended to represent Espfritu Santo Bay,
since it contains the legend, "Enderecho donde hallamos el S.de la Salle
con dos navios". The map accompanying the documents in regard to the
Le6n expedition of 1690, the Viage que el also de 1690 hizo el Governador
Alonso de Leon desde Coahuila hasta la Carolina Provincia habitada de
Texas y otras naciones al Nordeste de la Nueva Espaeia has the name
"Costa de la Florida" applied to what is apparently Matagorda Peninsula;
while the name "Costa de na. Espaila" applies to what should be Mata-
gorda Island, but is joined to the mainland, west of the entrance to Mata-
gorda Bay. The Planta cosmographica del lago desan Bernardo conlos
senos y Rios qae 4 el se communican, descubierto por el orden del exmo.
Sr. Conde de Galve V. Gor. y Cpn Gl. desta Na espalAa obserbada y delin-
eada por Dn Manl Joseph Aficado Alas Matas An de 1691 (Lanzas, no.
61), has the legend "Costa que mira A La Florida," on what is apparently
Matagorda Peninsula, between about 28 40' and 290; Costa que ba para
Vera Cruz, applied to a stretch of coast west of the Laga de San Bernardo
(Esplritu Santo Bay).
The term Florida is exceedingly indefinite in its early use. Ponce de
Le6n died in the belief that the land he had discovered was an island; ac-219
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Texas State Historical Association. The Quarterly of the Texas State Historical Association, Volume 8, July 1904 - April, 1905, periodical, 1905; Austin, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth101033/m1/226/: accessed April 26, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Texas State Historical Association.