Note 263 — Chapter XI · THE SINKING OF THE FLEET. July-August, 1519.
Reading edition
Bernal Diaz intimates that Pineda had remained at Rio Pánuco to colonize, while one vessel was sent down to take possession where Cortés met the men. After giving an account of two expeditions in 1518 and 1519, Gomara says: ‘Otros dizen, que no fue mas de vna vez. Sino que como estuuo mucho alla cuẽtan por dos.’ Hist. Ind., 55. But Las Casas mentions distinctly that it was on the strength of Camargo’s discoveries, in 1518, that the grant was made to Garay in the following year, ubi sup. ‘Garai auia corrido mucha costa en demãda de la Florida, y tocado en vn rio y tierra, cuyo rey se llamaua Panuco, donde vieron oro, aun que poco. Y que sin salir de las naues auiã rescatado hasta tres mil pesos de oro.’ Gomara, Hist. Mex., 67; Cortés, Cartas, 56-7; Oviedo, iii. 262-3; Herrera, dec. ii. lib. vi. cap. i.