discoverer's flagship was of 100 tons and drew 6 1/2' feet loaded.

John R. Hale, in his "Age Of Exploration," estimates the Santa Maria to have been 150 tons, 75 feet long, 25 feet abeam and a draft of 6 feet.

Bjorn Landstrom, in his book "The Ship," gives the Santa Maria only 80 tons with a draft of "about 614 feet."

Jose Maria Martinez-Hidalgo, director of the Barcelona Maritime Museum, concludes that the Santa Maria was 105 tons, 78 feet in length on deck, 26 feet beam, and had a draft of 7 feet.

The traditional formula for setting a ship's dimensions in those days was 1-2-3. A beam of one-unit measure would require a keel twice as long and an over all deck length of 3 units of measure.

When evaluating tonnage we have to keep in mind that the "tun" originally meant a hogshead of wine, eventually standardized to 40 cubic feet. We do not know whether Soto's flagship was rated in volume capacity tuns or weight displacement tons. For our purposes, tonnage indicates a size and probable draft relative to contemporary ships.

A three-quarter scale reconstruction of the Santa Maria on the 1-2-3 formula has been built by Lowell Lytle of St. Petersburg, Florida. It sails as a floating museum. She is 65 feet long and draws 8 feet of water. By extension, a full-scale reconstruction would draw about 10 feet.

The Golden Hinde, flagship of Sir Francis Drake on his round-the-world voyage, was a small galleon that also has been reconstructed after careful study of old records. Now berthed in San Francisco Bay, she is 102 feet over all, 75 feet at the water line, has a beam of 20 feet, displaces 290 tons, and draws 13 feet.

From these brief examinations of medieval ships we can speculate conservatively that the San Cristobal, Santa Ana and La Magdalena had drafts of approximately 15 feet loaded. The other "ships" probably drew about 12

feet. The caravel could maneuver through 6-foot channels, and the brigantines could go just about anywhere.

Celi's xebec, is will be remembered, was a light 34-man ship designed expressly for Florida waters; and it is estimated to have drawn 8 or 9 feet of water. John Lee Williams' lateen rigged sloop, able to anchor in six feet of water, could not navigate the deep-enough, but narrow, Caloosahatchee channel.

CONCLUSIONS FROM DEPTH STUDY

1. Hydrology of Florida's west coast today is close to that in Soto's time.
2. "Four fathoms or less of water two leagues from shore" exist in front of Carlos Bay and the southwest passage into Tampa Bay.
3. Soto's largest ships probably required 15-feet of water.
4. Natural channels of 15-foot depth at high tide exist at Boca Grande Pass into Charlotte Harbor and at Southwest Pass into Tampa Bay.
5. A wider, deeper channel into Tampa Bay is obvious from any position that also could note the Southwest Pass.
6. It is not likely that the configuration and depth of channels through Carlos Bay would permit passage of Soto's large ships into the Caloosahatchee or Pine Island Sound.
7. The countryside of trees and marshes bordering Charlotte Harbor and Tampa Bay con-form to descriptions of Soto's landing place. The grassy savannah stretching from the banks of the Caloosahatchee does not fit the accounts of Soto chroniclers.
8. The Peace River courses through a plain, a feature encountered by Soto early in his march.
9. The main body of Tampa Bay had plenty of sailing room and depth, but extremely shallow water would have been met on the approaches to Pinellas Peninsula or Manatee River.
10. Charlotte Harbor has a large shoal in the middle of the bay but also two channels of sufficient depth to kedge deep-sea vessels at flood tide. Thereafter there is 15 feet or more to Punta Gorda, and 12 feet almost to Live Oak Point.