does show a Rio Salado (Salty River) at about the same location. Immediately south of Salty River, Freducci lists Chequiche which is the alternate spelling for Tequesta, now Miami.

The location of Salty River has puzzled historians for centuries. The several streams flowing over the rocky east rim of the Everglades basin were eminently potable. Old Spanish grants refer to the principal one, Miami River, as Sweetwater.

Fortunately Romans provides us with a valuable clue. "There are four little inlets between this rock (at West Palm Beach) and latitude 25:35. One of these is not always open. The last is in the north end of the first island whose south end DeBraham has thought proper to call Cape Florida, although it is by no means a cape or headland at all." DeBraham, Romans' boss, shifted Cape Florida from Palm Beach to Key Biscayne where it remains. Romans called it "Fools Cape" on his map and declared that "Key Biscay is a good place for careening craft of ten feet draught, and there is good water on it."

"West from this is the river Rattones, being a fine stream and pretty considerable," says Romans. "At its mouth are the remains of a savage settlement (Tequesta). To the southward of this river is a large body of marsh through which several rivulets of fine water empty themselves into the sound."

Romans is in error in calling the Miami River by the name Rattones, but his location and description are unmistakable. Subsequent cartographers showed Rattones at the very northern end of Biscayne Bay where today it is called Oleta Creek. Romans also was off by a few minutes of latitude for Cape Florida, as finally fixed, but the amount of error is consistent for many of his other sightings and relatively insignificant.

Romans next gives us a startling bit of information. "Here (at the edge of the marsh, south of Miami River) a man may stand with one foot in fresh, and the other in salt water. Nay, when the tide is out, fresh water boils up through the sand."

Williams describes the Miami River as a small stream about six feet deep where it enters Biscayne Bay and is affected by "the tide which rises about four miles up in a rocky channel."

Surely the geological oddity of a stream which exudes fresh water into the sea floor at low tide, and turns salty for its lower four miles at high tide, is the inspiration for "Salty River," a.k.a. the Miami River.

The Florida Keys supposedly were named the Martires by Ponce, though Herrera's explanation is more imaginative than accurate. Indians called the chain of islands Cuchiyago according to Fontenada, which means "place of suffering." The Freducci map applies this name. Ponce's captive Indian probably gave him the translation which described past native hardships rather than future Spanish problems.

Freducci gives us the names of two specific Keys: El Nirda and Canbei. The first is a puzzle as to meaning and location, but Canbei sounds like the Guaranunbe of Fontenada. The present Matecumbe Key probably is a variation of Canbei.

WEST COAST FEATURES

Herrera does not mention any west coast features, but the Freducci map records several important ones. Guchi undoubtedly is the Indian village of Tuchi named by Fontenada. Stababa probably is the same as the Scaspada of Fontenada. An echo of Stababa is contained in the Padron Real map of 1529 which gives Stapara at the same location. The 1529 Borgian map shows the Caloosahatchee River as Rio Stapana and San Carlos Bay as the Bay of Juan Ponce. Juan Lopez Velasco refers to Escampaba in his 1574 "Geografia and Description of the Indies."

The Freducci map gives us one more tantalizing clue omitted by Herrera. Among the heavy concentration of islands off the west coast are two larger ones named Isles de Matanza (Massacre Islands). Their exaggerated size signals that they are significant. As we learned, Ponce fought two battles with the Calusa in which the deaths of one Spaniard and "some" Indians are recorded. Perhaps this was the inspiration for naming the islands so dramatically.

The Matanza Islands of Freducci are only vaguely located. The name survives on the west coast for a narrow pass between Estero Island and the mainland. Some researchers believe this is an example of displacement common in early cartography. The original locale has been variously identified with the islands of Estero, Pine, Sanibel and Captiva.

Notice that the great ports of Charlotte Harbor and Tampa are not indicated. This is strong evidence that Ponce got no farther north than Carlos Bay which on the earliest maps carried the cognomen of Juan Ponce. Nevertheless, Carlos Bay was good enough for caravels and brigantines; and that, apparently, satisfied the adelantado.