The defeated man, with
anger burning his jealous heart to a white heat, did return, and
immediately demanded of the king some mission that should allow him to
remove the disgrace from his name. To get rid of him, the king sent him to
the conquest of what is now Florida.
Expedition to Florida. It was a brave expedition that set forth on a bright
day in June, 1527. Five ships and six hundred men made quite a showing, yet
the Atlantic Ocean, aided by storms and winds, flouted and routed them, so
that it was April of the following year before the main part of the
expedition landed at Tampa Bay. Of the total destruction of the party, save
Cabeza de Vaca and three or four others, all readers are fairly familiar,
as they are likewise of De Vaca's wonderful eight years' journey across the
continent.
Arrival at San Miguel. I have thus rapidly traced these events in the early
history of the exploration of this continent, for it was the wanderings of
Cabeza de Vaca and his final arrival at San Miguel in New Galicia that
brought the Ensign Tovar into Arizona, and led to the discovery of the
Grand Canyon.
Preliminary Reconnaissance. The Viceroy of New Spain at that time was
Antonio de Mendoza, a wise, loyal and farseeing man.
