Columbus and Other Heroes of American Discovery

by N. D'Anvers

Convinced of the truth of the story told by the Indians of the desertion of Fort Charles, Laudonnière abandoned his scheme of going there, and resolved instead to found a colony on the May; and for this purpose he selected a spot near the mouth of that river, which is now known as St. John’s Bluff. Again a fort was built, to which the now ill-fated name of Carolina was once more given. Again the colonists contented themselves with preparing for imaginary enemies, and neglected to provide against the attacks of famine and fever. Strength and means were wasted in fruitless expeditions in search of that Apalachen, so long the ignis fatuus of explorers in Florida, where gold in plenty was ever sought but never found. Moreover, among Laudonnière’s men were many reckless adventurers, who, not content with rousing the wrath of the peacefully disposed Indians by unprovoked assaults upon them, varied their occupations by piracies against the Spaniards of the Gulf of Mexico. Retaliations ensued, until at last the colonists, with enemies rising up on every side, were reduced to the greatest extremities.

In vain did Laudonnière endeavor to stem the current of adverse circumstances; in vain did he strive, by example and by precept, to inaugurate a new policy, by tilling the ground for future support, and conciliating the Indians, with a view to obtaining present supplies. His men, desperate with hunger, clamored for him to seize a neighboring chief, and hold him as a hostage, till his people ransomed him with corn; and finally, though much against his own judgment, Laudonnière yielded.

Outina, a chieftain of high repute, was carried off, and imprisoned in Fort Carolina. His subjects, at first furious, appeared to acquiesce in the situation, and offered the coveted ransom in corn, to be fetched from a distant village by the Frenchmen. The famished Huguenots fell into the snare. Instead of granaries of the staff of life they found an ambuscade of armed natives, and, after a long and bloody fight, they returned to their camp with diminished numbers, and no trophies of a hard-earned victory but two small bags of corn.

Death now stared the colony in the face, and probably every member of it must have perished miserably, had not Sir John Hawkins, first of the long list of Englishmen who have disgraced their nationality as dealers in slaves, touched at the fort on his way home from a successful cruise. The wealth he had won in his traffic in human flesh enabled Hawkins not only to relieve the present necessities of the French, but to give them a vessel in which to return home; and they were on the eve of a joyful embarkation, when our old friend Ribault appeared on the scene with fresh emigrants and plentiful stores of every variety.

A new era seemed now likely to be ushered in, but its inauguration was saddened by the humiliation of Laudonnière, whose vigorous efforts to carry out the original intentions of his employer, Admiral Coligny, had been misrepresented in France by certain of his insubordinate followers, whom he had sent home in disgrace, and forgotten. When the first enthusiasm at the arrival of his fellow-countryman had subsided, the one man who had striven to avert the evils which had befallen the colony learned that Ribault had come out to supersede him in his command. The fact that the new governor was quickly convinced of the injustice of the charges brought against Laudonnière, and begged him to remain with him as a friend, and to retain the command of Fort Carolina, appears to have done little to soothe the wounded spirit of our hero. He had resolved to return to France at once and stand his trial, when one of those sudden changes in the aspect of affairs, to which early settlements in America have ever been subject, held him to his post.

As we have seen in our previous chapter, the Spanish looked upon Florida, which they took to include the whole of America north of the Gulf of Mexico, as their own peculiar property. The news of the establishment of a settlement of French Protestants in their territory was, therefore, received with a burst of indignation, to which it was difficult to say whether cupidity, religious zeal, or national jealousy most contributed.

After the failure of the expedition of De Luna to Florida in 1561, a certain Pedro Menendez had been appointed by the Spanish monarch to the government of Florida, on the condition of his subduing it in three years. He now received orders to hasten the start of his expedition, and to add to his scheme the destruction of the colony of French heretics.

The rejoicings at the arrival of Ribault were still going on among the unconscious settlers on the May, when the fleet of Menendez was seen creeping into the harbor. A messenger sent to inquire whence it came, and what it wanted, received the laconic answer that Pedro Menendez was in command, and had come, in obedience to the orders of his sovereign, to “burn and destroy such Lutheran French as should be in his dominions.”

Of Ribault’s fleet of seven vessels, three were just then absent on a trip up the river, and not daring to meet the Spaniards with only four, the French commander was compelled to put out to sea with them, leaving his colony totally unprotected. From a safe distance he watched his enemies disembark a little to the north of his own settlement, intending, so soon as they were involved in all the confusion of a march through an unknown country, to fall upon their rear and destroy them. But, alas! at the critical moment a terrible storm came on, dispersing the French vessels, and leaving the women, the children, and the disabled in Fort Carolina at the mercy of the ruthless Spaniards.

A terrible massacre ensued, from which but a few, including Laudonnière, escaped, and got on board the only two vessels which had not been wrecked, in which they at once put to sea, arriving in due time in France, to tell the awful tidings of the fate of their comrades. The French Government took but little notice of the matter—for were not the sufferers heretics?—and the Huguenots, though beside themselves with rage, were unable to send any adequate force to avenge their co-religionists, until two years later, when the services were secured of Dominique de Gourgues and 150 men.