THE DISCOVERY OF FLORIDA.
The honor of having discovered Florida has been assigned by different
writers to Columbus, Cabot, and De Leon.
In 1492, Columbus terminated his venturesome voyage across the Atlantic
by landing at the island of St. Salvador, so called by the great Genoese
explorer in remembrance of his salvation. It is said that from this
island his people, on his return from Europe, ventured with him to the
shores of Florida, being impressed, as were the Aborigines, with a
belief that the continent possessed waters calculated to invigorate and
perpetuate youth and vitality.
The date 1497 is assigned as the year in which Amerigo Vespucci
discovered the western continent. Vespucci was encouraged by Emanuel,
King of Portugal, and, though probably lacking the inspiring genius and
sublime courage of Columbus, through the accident of fortune he has
perpetuated his name in the designation of half a hemisphere. Doubtless,
Vespucci was the first to reach the mainland of the western continent,
as Columbus did not touch the mainland until his third voyage in 1498,
when he landed at the mouth of the Orinoco in South America. So entirely
unsuspicious was the world at this time of a second continent, that the
transcendent genius of Columbus never suspected the magnitude of his
discovery, and he died in the belief that he had landed on the eastern
shore of Asia.
The next to essay a voyage to the New World was also a native of
Southern Europe. John Cabot, the son of Giovanni Gabota, a native of
Venice, who had settled in Bristol, was commissioned by Henry the
Seventh of England to sail on a voyage of discovery and conquest. Though
the inception and authority for the expedition antedated the sailing of
Columbus by a year, Cabot did not leave England until May, 1498. His
landing on America was at or near the river St. Lawrence, from whence he
sailed southward along the coast, landing only for observation, and
making no attempt to form a settlement. It is doubtful if Cabot ever
sailed as far south as Florida, though it is claimed that to him belongs
the honor of its discovery.
Fourteen years afterward, the first landing was made on the sandy shores
of Florida, and possession claimed in the name of the King of Spain.
The mystic fountain of youth, first pictured in the days of mythology,
whose waters would stay the devastating march of time, endow perpetual
youth, even restore vigor to the decrepitude of age, was said to exist
in the New World.
This fable, with which the European had become familiar from an Egyptian
or Hellenic source, found confirmation in the traditions of the Indians
of the Caribbean Islands. To the mind of the Spanish knight, eager to
continue his youthful prowess and the enjoyment of the adjuncts of power
and authority already achieved, the belief, thus strengthened by
concurrence of a tradition in the New World, seemed an authentic
reality, and the sufficient foundation for great labor and sacrifice.
In this materialistic age we may laugh at the credulousness of the
Spanish chevalier, whose faith in the story of an Indian girl led him to
expend his wealth and sacrifice his life in such a chimerical search;
yet the history of our own day will recount equal faith and as fruitless
ventures.
Juan Ponce de Leon seems to have been a person of influence in Spain,
possessed of a unique character, a chivalrous nature, and a
comprehensive and trained mind. Born in an age when personal valor and
knightly habits were the surest paths to distinction and authority, his
career seems to have been that of an adventurer. When past the meridian
of life, he landed in the Bahamas seeking for the spring of youth. In
vain was his search, but his hopes and his ardor were undaunted. “Upon
the mainland the wished-for waters flowed as a river, on whose banks
lived the rejuvenated races in serene idleness and untold luxuriance.”
Leaving the Bahamas he steered northwest for the coast. While some
accounts make his first landing at a spot north of St. Augustine, it is
more probable that his course was to the west of the Bahama Islands, and
that he first disembarked at or near the southernmost part of Florida,
at a place called Punta Tanchi, now Cape Sable.
It was on March 27th, 1512, Palm Sunday (Pasqua Florida), and from this
accidental date of discovery did the country receive its name, and not
from its abundance of flowers. While the Latin adjective _floridus_
signifies “full of flowers,” soldiers of fortune like De Leon did not
make a practice of using the Latin tongue except in their litany. After
erecting a cross, celebrating a solemn mass, and proclaiming the
sovereignty of the Spanish crown, De Leon coasted along the Florida
shore into the Gulf of Mexico, making various attempts to penetrate the
interior of the country. In this he was unable to succeed, owing to the
swampy nature of the land, and its barrenness of food products. After
the loss of many of his men, the rest, greatly suffering for food,
re-embarked. According to some historians De Leon returned to Spain,
and demanded to be made governor of the new dominions; while others
declare that he withdrew only to the islands, from whence he sent a
description of the newly-discovered province, and begged a grant of the
same. His request was acceded to by the Spanish crown on condition that
he should colonize the country.
Accordingly, in 1516 he returned with two vessels, but his occupancy
being disputed by the Indians, De Leon was mortally wounded in the first
encounter. His followers, being dispirited by the loss of their leader
in a strange and uninviting land, returned on board their vessels and
sailed for Cuba. Here a monument was erected to the memory of Juan Ponce
de Leon, on which is inscribed the following eloquent and deserved
epitaph: “Mole sub hac, fortis requiescunt, ossa Leonis qui vicit factis
nomina magna suis.”
Though De Leon died in disappointment, never having tasted the fabled
waters of which he came in search, his name will ever be associated with
the country he christened, and many a wasted consumptive who has
regained a lost vigor and health under the assuasive influences of
Florida’s climate will give a kindly thought of remembrance and regret
as he recalls him who first visited Florida, a seeker after healing
waters.
[1517.]