Memoir of Hernando de Escalante Fontaneda Respecting Florida Written in Spain, About the Year 1575 by Hernando Escalante de Fontaneda

In this memoir we receive an account of the captivity of Hernando Escalante de Fontaneda, who was a creole shipwrecked in Florida on his way to Spain for his education. In parts, this memoir is strangely cool: the death of his brother is passed over very quickly, for example. Also, while the memoir describes the geography and peoples of the land, if we choose to read it against the grain, one could imagine a convincing scenario in which Fontaneda is actually writing to discourage Spanish colonization, to protect the people with whom he's been living for more than half his life. Stylistically, this text is not the most exciting I've ever read, but it offers a unique perspective on early American settlement.