The grape is not cultivated by the natives of this great kingdom of Florida. They do not care as much for it as do people of other nations, but they will eat it when it is very ripe or had been dried. Our men were extremely happy over these fine specimens of the fruit, for they were similar to those grown in Spain, the like of which they had not found in Mexico or the whole of Peru.

On the second of June, the Governor ordered 300 foot soldiers ashore to perform the solemn act of taking possession of Florida in the name of the Emperor Charles V. King of Spain. This procedure completed, these men passed the rest of the day walking along the coast, and that night slept on land.

As yet they had seen nothing of the natives, but at the third or dawn watch, the Indians burst upon them with such audacity and force as to compel them to retreat to the edge of the water. Mean-while, however, they sounded an alarm, and both men and horses came from the ships to aid them as quickly as if they too had been on land.

Lieutenant General Vasco Porcallo de Figueroa, who commanded the assistance, found these foot soldiers very much upset and confused. Like raw recruits, they had got in each other's way while fighting, and some already had been wounded by arrows. With the advent of help, however, all pursued the Indians for a good while and then returned to their quarters.

But hardly had they arrived there when Vasco Porcallo 's horse fell dead from the effects of an arrow. Striking above the saddle, the missile had passed through the cloth, saddle tree, and pack saddle. More than a third of it had penetrated the ribs of the animal to the very cavity of its body. Vasco Porcallo, however, was exceedingly pleased that the first horse to be used in the conquest -- and the first lance to be employed in the first skirmish -- should have been his.

On this and the following day, the Spaniards disembarked both animals and men. Then when they had rested for eight or nine days and had put everything in order pertaining to their ships, they marched inland a little more than two leagues to the town of a cacique known as Hirrihigua.

When Pamphilo de Narvaez had gone to conquer that province, he had waged war with Hirrihigua and later he had converted the Indian to friendship. Then for some unknown reason, he had committed certain abuses against the cacique which are of too odious a nature to be told here.

It suffices to say that because of those offenses, Hirrihigua was now fearful of the Spaniards and consumed with bitterness toward them. Consequently on learning of Hernando de Soto's arrival in his land he left both his house and village unprotected and fled to the forest.

At this point, Garcilaso turns to the adventures of Juan Ortiz and tells the story substantially as the eyewitnesses. However, the Indian maiden's directions to Chief Mucozo's (Mococo) village gives us some additional information regarding topography and distance:

"Lest you lose faith in me and despair of your life, or doubt that I will do everything in my power to save you, " she said, "I will assist you to escape and find refuge if you are a man and have the courage to flee. For tonight, if you will come at a certain hour to a certain place, you will find an Indian in whom I shall entrust both your welfare and mine.

"This man will guide you to a bridge two leagues distant. When you arrive there, you must command him to go no further. Instead he must return before dawn to this village lest he be missed and by revealing my rashness as well as his own cause both of us to suffer for having given our aid.

"Six leagues beyond the bridge there is another town, the lord of which is Mucozo, a man who loves me exceedingly and desires my hand in marriage. You will tell him that I am sending you in my name so that he may help you in your need. I know that, being the person he is, he will do everything he can for you, as you shall see. And now commend yourself to your God, for there is no more than I can do in your behalf. "

Juan Ortiz threw himself at the feet of the maiden in gratitude for this favor and benefit as well as for all of her kindnesses both past and pre-sent. Then he made preparations to flee during the coming night.

At the appointed hour, when everyone in the cacique's household was asleep, he sought out the promised guide and they departed from the town without being heard. When they reached the bridge, and Ortiz learned that there was no further possibility of losing his way before coming to the town of Mucozo, he instructed his companion to return home at once with the utmost caution.

A fugitive now, Juan Ortiz arrived before dawn at the place he was seeking, but he dared not