Answer:
No account of the voyage itself, by either Álvarez or Garay, has come to light. Garay's report to the Spanish crown, however, is summarized in a 1521 royal cédula granting him the territory, called Amichel, that Álvarez de Pineda had explored in his name. Although the document identifies neither Álvarez nor other participants in the voyage, it comprises the only extant description of the exploration. The four ships, carrying 270 men, sailed from Jamaica by late March 1519-about six weeks after Cortés had sailed from Cuba on the expedition that led to the conquest of Mexico. The stated purpose of Álvarez de Pineda's voyage was to explore the coast between the discoveries of De León on the Florida peninsula and those made on behalf of Velázquez along the southern Gulf, in hope of finding a strait to the Pacific Ocean. After clearing the Yucatán Channel, which separates Cuba and the mainland, the ships continued north until the Florida panhandle was sighted, then turned east, expecting to find the passage that was supposed to separate the "island of Florida" from the mainland. The ships probably neared the end of the Florida peninsula before contrary wind and strong current forced them to turn about, then sailed west and south along the coast until they found Cortés's nascent settlement of Villa Rica, the first European settlement on the North American mainland.