He Sailed Thence On The 8th Of April, And Came To A Place On
The 20th, Where Some Indians Were Seen On The Shore.
He here anchored and
went ashore, when the Indians endeavoured to get possession of the boat,
with the oars and arms.
This was not at first resented, till one of the
natives knocked down a sailor with a blow on the head, on which the
Spaniards were obliged to fight in their own defence, and had two men
wounded by arrows or darts pointed with sharp bones. The Indians were
repulsed with some difficulty, and received little damage; and at night De
Leon got his men on board and sailed to the mouth of a river, where he
took in wood and water. They were here ineffectually opposed by sixty
natives, one of whom was made prisoner to give them some information of
the country, and to learn Spanish. They called this river Rio de la Cruz,
as they left in this place a stone cross with an inscription. On the 8th
of May they doubled Cape Florida, which was named Cabo de las Corrientes,
or the Cape of Currents, because they found the currents here stronger
than the winds; and they came to an anchor near a town called Abacoa.
All this coast, from Cape Arracaifes to Cape Corrientes, or Cape
Florida, lies north and south, one point east, and is all quite free of
shoals and rocks, with six fathoms water. They found Cape Florida to be in
lat.
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