GARAY, Francisco de, Spanish explorer, died in Mexico in 1523. He was a companion of Columbus on his second voyage, was afterward famed for his opulence, and became governor of Jamaica. In 1519 Alvaro Alonso de Pineda commanded a fleet of four ships which were sent out by Garay to Yucatan. The ostensible object of the voyage was to search for a strait west of Florida, but pecuniary gain was the real purpose. The strait was not found, and the ships, turning toward the west, explored rivers and ports, and communicated with the inhabitants. They finally reached Vera Cruz, and a pillar was set up between that place and Tampico to commemorate the discoveries of Garay. After Bight months of exploration, the navigators took possession of the region for 300 leagues along the coast in the name of the crown of Castile. The Mississippi, then called" Espiritu Santo," was shown distinctly on the maps of Garay's pilots. When Charles V. examined the account of the explorer, a royal edict was issued in 1521 granting Garay the privilege of colonizing at his own cost the region he had discovered, the limits of the grant being to a point south of Tampico and the extreme discovery of Ponce de Leon, near the Alabama coast. This did not satisfy Garay, and in 1523 he lost fortune and life in a personal dispute with Cortes for the control of the region on the River Panuco.