this under the hand of the Notary. The Governor responded that he did but abide by the judgment of the Commissary, and of the majority of the officers, and that I had no right to make these requirements of him.

He then asked the Notary to give him a certificate, that inasmuch as there was no subsistence in that country for the maintenance of a colony, nor haven for the ships, he broke up the settlement he had placed there, taking its inhabitants in quest of a port and land that should be better.

He then ordered the people who were to go with him to be mustered, that they might be victualled with what was needed for the journey. After they had been provided for, he said to me, in the hearing of those present, that since I so much discouraged and feared entering the land, I should sail in charge of the ships and people in them, and form a settlement should I arrive at the port before him. From this proposal I excused myself rather than give occasion for it to be said I had opposed the invasion and remained behind from timidity, and thus my courage be called into question.

From this incident we learn several things:

1. Naryaez had not discovered either of the two great west coast harbor entrances.
2. Miruelo and the other pilots believed they were 10 to 15 leagues from the harbor discovered by Miruelo's uncle years before "which stretched up into the land a dozen leagues."
3. The countryside at their place of landing was "desert and poor such as had never before been discovered in those parts."

Early maps place Miruelo's Bay far up the Florida coast near Apalache. Yet, Nunez' contemporary account gives us an unmistakable clue that Miruelo the elder discovered either Charlotte Harbor or Tampa Bay -- the only two ports in Florida as large as 12 leagues.

The plan to keep near the shore was a logical one but difficult to carry out because of the mangrove thickets and swamps which line the coast. Narvaez had to swing inland a little to find dry marching ground. However, it does not appear that he penetrated to the main Indian trials along the central Florida spine.