The Calusa had several mound villages in the vicinity to give any Christian shore party a hard time.

Pine Island's creek, on the other hand, is close to the western shore and of sufficient length that the Calusa did not inhabit the central portion extensively. A large underground table of sweet water supplies both Pine and Sanibel today. Ponce probably provisioned from the center section of Pine Island.

While tarrying nine days in the sound, Ponce careened the San Cristobal. This consisted of drifting the vessel gently onto a sand bar at high tide and tipping the ship by pulling over the mast. At lοw tide the crew then scraped barnacles and seaweed from the ship's bottom. The operation required just the right angle of clean sand floor. It also placed the ship and seamen in a situation vulnerable to attack.

To minimize risk, we would expect Ponce to choose an isolated careening site out of arrow range from mangrove thickets lining the shore. The earliest hydrographic chart of Pine Island Sound, made in 1863, reveals a likely spot close to Pine Island opposite what is today Red Fish Pass. Several sand shoals there would have provided good careening sites.

Discovery of "Ponce de Leon rocks" in this vicinity is recorded by Elinor Dormer in her book, "The Sea Shell Islands." Jesse Carter found a small slab of shell breccia shortly after 1900 while exploring the Narrows on Captiva Island. On the stone was inscribed "Ponce de Leon 1513." A friend took it north to check its authenticity and later returned it with a note stating it had no value. Carter tossed out the stone with trash.

An enormous rock similarly carved was found about 1926 near Rocky Creek on Pine Island, ac-cording to Elaine Jordan, author of "The Forgot-ten Island." Lee Willas and some friends were coon hunting and came across several boulders on sand flats behind a wide band of coastal mangroves. Ponce's name was carved on one in flowing style, very worn, and overgrown with moss. On other rocks nearby was a rough rendering of a ship, and an arrow pointing into the woods. Hurricane Donna in 1960 is said to have covered the rocks with sand and they no longer can be located.

Explorers frequently left markers attesting to their presence, stone crosses being a favorite. Unfortunately the purported Ponce de Leon rocks cannot be produced for examination.

They might have been genuine, but they also could be a hoax or a well-intentioned monument by some amateur historian. They may yet be rediscovered by an excavator's shovel or curious fisherman.

THE CALUSA CAPITAL

Early accounts place the Calusas' principal town at "Toampe Island" in Pine Island Sound. John Lee Williams, in his survey of 1832, said Toampe was five miles southeast of Boca Grande Pass on an island a mile long, east to west.

The only island in this area with an east-west axis is Bokeelia at the northern end of Pine Island. A large mound at this spot provides a secure base for a private home today. Early settlers consistently placed Toampe on Useppa Island where a high mound is a prominent landmark.

Later records locate Calusa chiefs more inland -- at Punta Rassa just off San Carlos Bay, along the Caloosahatchee River and on the shore of Lake Okeechobee.

Gonzalo Solis de Meras, a member of the Menendez visit in 1566, says the Calusa chief lived in a village two leagues from a large river. There is no doubt that the river meant is the Caloosahatchee, main thoroughfare of the Calusa empire.

Four possible locations lie on a two-league radius from that stream: St. James City, including Galt Island, on the southern end of Pine Island; Woodring Point and Point Ybel on Sanibel Island and Bodwitch Point on the north end of Estero Island.

Solis gives three other clues to the Calusa chief's "pueblo":

1. It was "near the shore, for they could jump from the brigantine (with an approximate draft of 3 feet) to land without wetting their shoes."
2. It was "about half a league (1.3 miles) from there."
3. The "cacique's house was about two arquebus shots from where the adelantado landed, and 2,000 men might gather therein without being very crowded."

Demonstrations with old arquebuses reveal that its effective range was about 250 yards, although it could reach twice this distance with maximum trajectory and a strong charge of powder. This was no more than a good cross-bow shot, but the high velocity of the bullet could penetrate armor. The greatest military value of the arquebus, particularly against Indians, was the explosive noise.