Rewards

When we get home to Spain we will be heroes for our accomplishments on this voyage. We will bring fame to our names and families. We will get to keep some of the riches that we will find. We cannot work for we shall be noble men. Our king will reward our Captain De Vaca and he shall remember his loyal crew. Our voyage will be on maps for future generations to study. The gold and silver will weigh down our ship on the way home. In heaven we will eventually find our reward for making the Indians convert to our religion.

Particular Voyage

We are sailing across this gulf looking for a suitable place to land. As always our purpose is to brig back to Spain great riches and to increase the wealth and power of the nation. We will continue to be the greatest empire on earth if we are successful. God guides us forward so that we can also spread his holy name. We have heard stories of the Natives living in walled cities with iron walls and who trade in copper and silver. We must take away these riches and bring them to our king. We are also discovering how large this land mass really is and making maps for voyages to come after us.

Science and Technology

Our Captain De Vaca and the rest of us have only a small understanding of medicine. This voyage to find gold in Florida is one of the worst because many men have gotten sick because of the lack of good food and fresh water. Many men are complaining since we are all in small cabins on this wretched boat, illnesses are spreading like wild fire. At least half of the men have died on this ship and so have many of the Natives. At first, the Natives and the crew did not get along since the Natives were known to have killed many Spaniards in the past. Now how ever they think we have powerful medicine because some men have gotten better. They want De Vaca to take care of the sick Indians too. The Captain said he did not know any cures but then when he saw that the Indians were becoming more obedient, he wisely pretended to know how to make the sick better.

The Rivalry of Nautical Explorations

After the Renaissance, Science and new technology expanded throughout eastern european Countries such as England, Spain, France and Germany. Now that these countries have discovered new knowledge, each of them used what they recently gained in the conquest to expand their nation and to become more powerful. The way that this was to be obtained is by using Nautical advances to discover new areas of the world located in the western hemisphere. Each country wanted more power and land than its former aquaintances and began competing for the " New World" by sailing across the Atlantic Ocean.

The Reason for This Expedition

Myself, and my fellow crew mates were eager to sail in the name of Spain. Our great Lord, King Charles I hired Panfilo de Narvaez and I to lead an expedition that will arrive in the New World. On our journey we are to sail to the Southeast gulf coast and aqquire native inhabbitants as slaves for Spanish commoners.

The Crew

There were many jobs to be had on the ship with Cabeza de vaca. They invloved labor and other handy jos. One of these jobs was to use the lead line. The lead line was used to determine the depth of the water that the ship was sailing into. The leadmen would drop the lead line into the water and then take it out after it reached the bottom. He would then say a number that would correspond with a marking on the lead line that would tell how deep the water was. These numbers were 2,3,5,7,10,15,20, and 25 fathoms(6 feet). Another job was to keep time. Most sailors could do this job because it was farely easy to understand. From sunrise to noon was about six hours, and another six hours from noon to sunset. Using this way of thinking they could approximate at about what time it was.
Another job was to use the "Dutchman's Log". This method was used to tell how fast the ship was going. All you would have to do was throw some object overboard(must be able to float) at the front of the ship and then time how long it takes to get to the back of the ship. This was not a very precise way of telling the speed but it was a rough estimate of how fast you wre moving.

New People, Cultures, and Plant Life Encountered

The main new people that the expedition of Cabeza de Vaca encountered were the natives that lived in the south at that time. As the expedition moved west they encountered even more diverse peoples and cultures. Not very much is know about the kinds of people that he encountered but what he did witness was them being treated horribly by the spaniards and some were made slaves of. Because of this hostility towards them, the natives were also very hostile towards the Spaniards.
There was lots of plant life in the parts of America that they explored. Their expeditions force them to go through very dense jungles which are flooded with wild life.

Finacial Aid of the Expedition

In the year 1527 I was sent on an expedition to explore Florida and the Mexican Gulf Coast. On this journey I was to be accompanied by Panfilo de Narvaez. He and I were to explore under the loyalty of King Charles I, and seize land in our county's name. We were ordered to dock first in Florida, from which we were to explore the coatline until finally we reach Mexico.

The Goals of the Voyage

There were many goals for the voyage made by Cabeza de Vaca. One goal was to convert many of the natives living in these parts of the wild to Christianity. Another major and rather obvious goal for the expeditionors was to conquer the specific part of Florida that the landed on. Another goal was for fame and fortune. they would have been the first Spaniards in this section of America so they would be able take the credit for discovering it and conquering it from the natives who enhabited it before.

It was also important to learn about the place in the "New World" that the Spanish were calling Florida. Not much was known about the New World and many explorers started on expeditions to do exactly what Cabeza de Vaca and his comrades wanted, which was to learn about what else was in this world.

The Risks of Nautical Exploration

There are many risks involved with nautical exploration. One of them is that you trying to get to uncharted islands which can be difficult in itself because theyre uncharted. You dont know what the conditions will be like there and how the weather will be. Another risk of nautical exploration is that the natives in the courties you are exploring could be aggressive and hostile to non-natives exploring their country. Another risk is the risk of disease. It is very likely that when a group of people arrive in a place where no one but natives has been before, disease will spread because there hasnt been any chance to become immune to these diseases. This is also just as true for the natives that live in uncharted places.

They are not immune to our diseases either and are therefore just as easily affected by them as the explorers. Also, upon arriving at what would eventually be called America, Cabeza de Vaca's ship encountered a hurricane which destroyed some of his boats.