&t. gugustme Snsttitute of Science
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£>t. Augustine Jfloritm
;80 St.George St. February 4,1927
Hr.Harral Ayres O.S.T. Managing Dir ctor Mezzanine Floor,Gunters Hotel San Antonio,Texas.
My dear Mr.Ayres,
Before writing you again about the date of the founding o_ St.Augustine I wanted to tr„v ana lind the book you quote from,but l find .e do not nave it. we have one on DeSota by Fanny 3an-delier but not tne one you mention. Tne one on DeSota is well written and 1 feel sure that the date used in tne"Spanisn Pioneers" that you quote from is a mistake in printing that nas escaped notice. It is so easy not to notice suc^i a mistake especiail., if you are not very famil-ar with tne place. Dr.Robertson who is such a wonderful scholar and historian in his late puolication Oi "Brevard History ol Florida" in a note on one page speakes of the Flagler Hotels and railroad being started or built in 1895 when it should be 1885,ana I called his attention to it. Someone in the future will quote from thau date and make a big mistake. In our own booxMis i find the printers made a mistake in the date of the map of Mariano de la Roque ana it is 1778 instead of 1788 as it should be. This mistake I never noticed and two editions of 20000 will go out with this mistake. If made in 1778 it would be 3.n English map while it is a Spanish map.
That St.Augustine was founded in 1565 is so well established by the French,English,Spanish accounts printed and letters ate.that I am sure there could not be any mistake in the date. Ribault came first in 1562 then again the French came ir. 1564 see French's translations in tne Historical Society puoiicatiuns of Louisiana .then in"Elizabeth-an Seamen"you can read Hawkins Accountof the Ffencn settlement. In all the Spanish accounts it is 1565 . V/e now have two copies oi Barcia here and the geography of Velasco written in 1571-1576.
The documents from Spain that I expected have not yet arrived.
They were secured by the International Researc.. Bureau ,and there has been a delay,but the Austrian consul is no., attending to it. The headquarters of tuis bureau is in Austria .oifice in He.. York .London and other places. I
I am now retyping Mr.AcostaS translation ofi Barrientos written in 1668 before the death of Men.ndez in.Chapter 13 The arrival of the Fleet in Florida "On August 28,I565,Menendez and nis fleet sighted land,the land where now St.Augustine is located,and as on that day it was the day of St.Augustine,they praised the Lord and prayed Him to bless them in their enterprise in the new land that they were to conquer and settle.