_How the Christians arrived at the river Panico._
Wheresoever the people dug along the shore they found fresh water.
The jars being filled, and the procession concluded, they embarked;
and, going ever in sight of land, they navigated for six days. Juan
de Añasco said it would be well to stand directly out to sea; for
that he had seen the card, and remembered that, from Rio de Palmas
onward, the coast ran south, and up to that time they had gone
westwardly. According to his opinion, by the reckoning he kept, the
river could not be distant from where they were.
That night they ran out, and in the morning they saw palm-trees
rising above the water, the coast trending southwardly; and from
midday forward great mountains appeared, which had nowhere been seen
until then; for to that place, from the port of Espiritu Santo, where
they had entered Florida, was a low, level shore, not discoverable
at sea until very near. From what they observed, they thought that
during the night they had passed the Rio de Palmas, sixty leagues
distant from Panico, in New Spain. So they consulted together.
Some were of opinion that it would not be well to sail in the dark,
lest they should overrun the Rio de Panico; others, that they could
not be so near as to run by it that night, and that it would not be
well to lose a favorable wind; so they agreed to spread half the
sails and keep on their way. Two of the brigantines, which ran with
all sail up, at daylight passed the river without seeing it: of
the five that remained behind, the first that arrived was the one
Calderon commanded, from which, when a quarter of a league off, and
before the entrance had been discovered, the water was observed to
be thick and found to be fresh. Coming opposite the river, they saw
where the waves broke upon a shoal, at the entrance into the sea;
and, not any one knowing the place, they were in doubt whether they
should go in there or pass by; but finally, having agreed to enter,
they approached the shore without getting into the current, and went
in the port, where no sooner had they come, than they saw Indians
of both sexes in the apparel of Spain. Asking in what country they
were, they received the answer in their own language, that it was the
Rio de Panico,[329] and that the town of the Christians was fifteen
leagues inland. The pleasure that all received at this news cannot
be sufficiently expressed: they felt as though a life had been newly
given them. Many, leaping on shore, kissed the ground; and all, on
bended knees, with hands raised above them, and their eyes to heaven,
remained untiring in giving thanks to God.
[329] Or Pánuco. A Mexican river which flows into the Gulf about
a hundred and fifty miles north of Vera Cruz.
Those who were coming astern, when they saw that Calderon with his
brigantine had anchored in the river, directly steered to enter the
port. The other two, which had gone by, tried to run to sea, that
they might put about and join the rest, but could not, the wind
being adverse and the sea fretful; so, fearing that they might be
lost, they came nigh the land and cast anchor. A storm came up, and
finding that they could not sustain themselves there, much less at
sea, they determined to run on shore; and as the brigantines were
small, drawing but little water, and the beach sandy, the force of
the wind on the sails carried them up dry, without injury to any one.
If those who gained the haven at that time were made happy, these
were oppressed by a double weight of gloom, not knowing what had
happened to their companions, nor in what country they were, fearing
likewise that it might be one of a hostile people. They had come
upon the coast two leagues below the port. So soon as they found
themselves clear of the sea, each took on the back what he could
carry of his things, and, travelling inland, they found Indians, who
told whence they were, and changed what was sorrow into joy. The
Christians rendered many thanks to God for having rescued them from
those numberless perils.