May 1, 1513

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Entry 4

A lot of events have taken place scince my last writing. We explored the west coast of Florida, which has been speculated not to be an island, but part of "Asia". The land is not that as explained by Marco Polo however, and these natives are to primitive, and to different from the discription in Marco Polo's book to be true Indians. The last part was just my speculation, however it has evidence to back it up.
We have mapped the area to the best of our abilities, shown here:
Leon and some other footsoldiers explored the area to investigate the area for settlement. I am glad I was not part of that search party. They encountered natives. They say that these natives were unlike the ones they had encountered on previous islands, and that these natives were inately aggressive. I personally believe Leon attacked first or that perhaps these natives were warned by others that the white man is not welcome. I personally don't blame the natives for retalliating, this is, after all, their land. Many of the crew members have learned to dislike me for this way of thinking. I fear if this trip lasts much longer they will throw me overboard and no one will come to my aid. It seems the only man here who likes me is Leon. He says that me being different from the rest of the crew helps him gain a new perspective on situations. Doesn't mean he'll change the way he handles them however. One of the things that had been troubling me on this trip was Leon's promise to have me lead one of his war parties if it came to that. So, you can imagine the terror I felt when Leon came back with the information on the unfriendly naties. Not to mention, the relief I felt when Leon said we will leave Florida and travel back to try and find Bimini. We leave tommorow. I am starting to doubt my thought of exploration. I would still feel wonderful if I could lead my own crew of unarmed men to study new area's animals and plantlife. This is a sad dream, however, for no country will fund a trip for an explorer from a country that has not yet proved itself in exploring, and not for some nature walk. Each country needs some sort of gain for exploration: praise for discovery, land to colonize, gold, spices, or a fountain of youth.
Speaking of that fountain, I have to thank the myth. While it may have made me spend countless hours hopelessly searching, Leon believes it to be on Bimini, and that is the real reason he is leaving.

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Photos

Florida old map
A rough representation of Floridas coastline