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The disastrous failure of the expedition of Vasquez de Ayllon to Florida
did not discourage attempts on the part of others in the same direction.
Velaspuez, governor of Cuba, jealous of the success of Cortez in Mexico,
had sent Pamphilo de Narvaez to arrest him. In this attempt Narvaez had
been defeated and taken prisoner. Undeterred by this failure he had
solicited and received of Charles V. the position of governor over
Florida, a territory at that time embracing the whole southern part of
what is now the United States, and reaching from Cape Sable to the
Panuco, or River of Palms, in Mexico. With three hundred men he, in
1528, landed near Appalachee Bay, and marched inland with the hope of
opening a country rich and populous. Bitterly was he disappointed.
Swamps and forests, wretched wigwams with their squalid inmates
everywhere met his view, but no gold was to be found. Discouraged, he
and his followers returned to the coast, where almost superhuman toil
and skill enabled them to build five boats, in which they hoped to work
westward to the Spanish settlements. Embarking, they stole cautiously
along the coast for some distance, but were at last driven by a storm
upon an island, perhaps Galveston, perhaps Santa Rosa, where Narvaez and
most of his men perished. Four of his followers survived to cross Texas
to the Gulf of California and reach the town of San Miguel on the west
coast of Mexico. Here they found their countrymen, searching as usual
for pearls, gold, and slaves, and by their help they made a speedy
return to Spain, heroes of as remarkable an adventure as history
records. These unfortunates were the first Europeans to visit New
Mexico. Their narrative led to the exploration of that country by
Coronado and others, and to the discoveries of Cortez in Lower
California.

[Illustration: Death of Magellan.]

[Illustration: Ferdinand de Soto.]

Ferdinand de Soto, eager to rival the exploits of Cortez in Mexico, and
of his former commander, Pizarro, in Peru, offered to conquer Florida at
his own expense. Appointed governor-general of Florida and of Cuba, he
sailed with seven large and three small vessels. From Espiritu Santo Bay
he, in 1539, marched with six hundred men into the country of the
Appalachians and discovered the harbor of Pensacola. After wintering at
Appalachee he set out into the interior, said to abound in gold and
silver. Penetrating northeasterly as far as the Savannah, he found only
copp