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+Project Gutenberg's The Spaniards in Florida, by George R. Fairbanks
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Spaniards in Florida
+ Comprising the notable settlement of the Huguenots in 1564,
+ and the History and Antiquities of St. Augustine, Founded
+ A.D. 1565
+
+Author: George R. Fairbanks
+
+Release Date: September 22, 2011 [EBook #37507]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SPANIARDS IN FLORIDA ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Chuck Greif, University of Florida Digital
+Collections and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team
+at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+THE
+SPANIARDS IN FLORIDA,
+COMPRISING THE NOTABLE SETTLEMENT
+OF THE
+HUGUENOTS IN 1564,
+AND THE
+HISTORY AND ANTIQUITIES
+OF
+ST. AUGUSTINE,
+FOUNDED A. D. 1565.
+
+BY
+GEORGE R. FAIRBANKS,
+
+VICE PRESIDENT FLORIDA HISTORICAL SOCIETY: HONORARY MEMBER NEW-YORK
+HISTORICAL SOCIETY: LECTURER ON AMERICAN HISTORY IN THE UNIVERSITY
+OF THE SOUTH.
+
+JACKSONVILLE, FLA.
+COLUMBUS DREW.
+1868.
+
+Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1868, by
+COLUMBUS DREW,
+
+In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the
+United States for the Southern District of New York.
+
+
+RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED
+
+TO
+
+BUCKINGHAM SMITH, ESQ.,
+U. S. SECRETARY OF LEGATION AT MADRID,
+
+TO WHOSE EFFORTS IN THE
+
+DISCOVERY AND PRESERVATION OF THE HISTORY AND ANTIQUITIES OF THE
+SPANISH DOMINION IN AMERICA,
+
+A GRATEFUL ACKNOWLEDGMENT
+
+IS DUE FROM
+
+AMERICAN SCHOLARS.
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE.
+
+
+This volume, relating to the history and antiquities of the oldest
+settlement in the United States, has grown out of a lecture delivered by
+the author, and which he was desired to embody in a more permanent form.
+
+The large amount of interesting material in my possession, has made my
+work rather one of laborious condensation than expansion.
+
+I have endeavored to preserve as fully as possible, the style and
+quaintness of the old writers from whom I have drawn, rather than to
+transform or embellish the narrative with the supposed graces of modern
+diction; and, as much of the work consisted in translations from foreign
+idioms, this peculiarly un-English style, if I may so call it, will be
+more noticeably observed. I have mainly sought to give it a permanent
+value, as founded on the most reliable ancient authorities; and thus, to
+the extent of the ground which it covers, to make it a valuable addition
+to the history of our country.
+
+In that portion of the work devoted to the destruction of the Huguenot
+colony and the forces of Ribault, I have in the main followed the
+Spanish accounts, desiring to divest the narrative of all suspicion of
+prejudice or unfairness; _Barcia_, the principal authority, as is well
+known, professing the same faith as Menendez, and studiously endeavoring
+throughout his work, to exalt the character of the Adelantado.
+
+I am under great obligations to my friend, BUCKINGHAM SMITH, ESQ., for
+repeated favors in the course of its preparation.
+
+
+
+
+PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION.
+
+
+The interest evinced in the publication of the first edition of this
+volume, in 1858, under the title of HISTORY AND ANTIQUITIES OF ST.
+AUGUSTINE, has induced the author to prepare a second edition for the
+press, under the present title, as being more exactly descriptive of
+that portion of the history of Florida embraced in its pages.
+
+He hopes at no distant day to put to press the History of Florida, in a
+much more complete form, and embracing the chequered and various
+pictures of the many expeditions which sought either to found upon its
+shores a kingdom to satiate their ambition, or to find wealth
+commensurate with their desires.
+
+A chapter of no mean interest in the history of Florida has been added
+since the first preface was written. Battles have been fought upon its
+soil, more considerable as to the numbers engaged and the fierceness of
+the fray, than any ever before recorded. But as this chapter forms a
+portion of the general history of the State rather than of the old city
+which played but an inconsiderable part in the contest, it does not fall
+within the purview of this work to make more than a brief mention of
+this period.
+
+G. R. F.
+
+UNIVERSITY PLACE, TENN.,
+OCT. 1, 1868.
+
+
+
+
+CONTENTS.
+
+
+ PAGE.
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+Introductory 9
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+First discovery, 1512 to 1565.--Juan Ponce de Leon 11
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+Ribault, Laudonniere, and Menendez--Settlements of the Huguenots,
+ and foundation of St. Augustine.--1562-1566-1568 13
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+The attack on Fort Caroline.--1585 19
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+Escape of Laudonniere and others from Fort Caroline--Adventures of
+ the fugitives 24
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+Site of Fort Caroline, afterwards called San Matteo 31
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+Menendez's return to St. Augustine--Shipwreck of Ribault--Massacre
+ of part of his command.--A. D. 1565 38
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+Fate of Ribault and his followers--Bloody massacre at Mantanzas, 1565 46
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+Fortifying of St. Augustine--Disaffections and mutinies--Approval of
+ Menendez' acts by king of Spain.--1585-1568 54
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+The notable revenge of Dominic de Gourgues--Return of Menendez--Indian
+ Mission.--1568 60
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+Sir Francis Drake's attack upon St. Augustine--Establishment of
+ missions--Massacre of missionaries at St. Augustine.--1586-1688 65
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+Subjection of the Apalachian Indians--Construction of the fort, sea
+ wall, &c.--1688-1700 71
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+Attack on St. Augustine by Gov. Moore of South Carolina--Difficulties
+ with the Georgians.--1702-1732 77
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+Siege of St. Augustine by Oglethorpe.--1732-1740 82
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+Completion of the castle--Descriptions of St. Augustine a century
+ ago--English occupation of Florida.--1755-1763-1788 90
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+Re-cession of Florida to Spain--Erection of the Parish Church--Change
+ of flags.--1783-1821 100
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+Transfer of Florida to the United States--American occupation--Ancient
+ buildings, &c. 106
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+Present appearance of St. Augustine, as given by the author of
+ Thanatopsis--Its climate and salubrity 110
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+St. Augustine in its old age.--1565-1868 118
+
+
+
+
+THE HISTORY AND ANTIQUITIES OF ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+INTRODUCTORY.
+
+
+The Saint Augustine of the present and the St. Augustine of the past,
+are in striking contrast.
+
+We see, to-day, a town less in population than hundreds of places of but
+few months' existence, dilapidated in its appearance, with the stillness
+of desolation hanging over it, its waters undisturbed except by the
+passing canoe of the fisherman, its streets unenlivened by busy traffic,
+and at mid-day it might be supposed to have sunk under the enchanter's
+wand into an almost eternal sleep.
+
+With no participation in the active schemes of life, and no hopes for
+the future; with no emulation, and no feverish visions of future
+greatness; with no corner lots on sale or in demand; with no stocks,
+save those devoted to disturbers of the public peace; with no
+excitements and no events; a quiet, undisturbed, dreamy vision of still
+life surrounds its walls, and creates a sensation of entire repose,
+pleasant or otherwise, as it falls upon the heart of the weary wanderer
+sick of life's busy bustle, or upon the restless mind of him who looks
+to nothing as life except perpetual, unceasing action--the one rejoicing
+in its rest, the other chafing under its monotony. And yet, about the
+old city there clings a host of historic associations, that throw around
+it a charm which few can fail to feel.
+
+Its life is in its past; and when we recall the fact that it was the
+first permanent settlement of the white man, by more than forty years,
+in this confederacy; that here for the first time, isolated within the
+shadows of the primeval forest, the civilization of the Old World made
+its abiding place, where all was new, and wild, and strange; that this
+now so insignificant place was the key of an empire; that upon its fate
+rested the destiny of a nation; that its occupation or retention decided
+the fate of a people; that it was itself a vice provincial court,
+boasted of its adelantados, men of the first mark and note, of its Royal
+Exchequer, its public functionaries, its brave men at arms; that its
+proud name, conferred by its monarch, "_Le siempre fiel Ciudad de San
+Augustin_,"--The ever faithful City of St. Augustine--stood out upon the
+face of history; that here the cross was first planted; that from the
+Papal throne itself rescripts were addressed to its governors; that the
+first great efforts at Christianizing the fierce tribes of America
+proceeded from this spot; that the martyr's blood was first here shed;
+that within these quiet walls the din of arms, the noise of battle, and
+the fierce cry of assaulting columns, have been heard;--Who will not
+then feel that we stand on historic ground, and that an interest
+attaches to the annals of this ancient city far more than is possessed
+by mere brick and mortar, rapid growth, or unwonted prosperity?
+Moss-grown and shattered, it appeals to our instinctive feelings of
+reverence for antiquity; and we feel desirous to know the history of its
+earlier days.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+FIRST DISCOVERY, 1512 TO 1565--JUAN PONCE DE LEON.
+
+
+Among the sturdy adventurers of the sixteenth century who sought both
+fame and fortune in the path of discovery, was Ponce de Leon, a
+companion of Columbus on his second voyage, a veteran and bold mariner,
+who, after a long and adventurous life, feeling the infirmities of age
+and the shadows of the decline of life hanging over him, willingly
+credited the tale that in this, the beautiful land of his imagination,
+there existed a fountain whose waters could restore youth to palsied
+age, and beauty to efface the marks of time.
+
+The story ran that far to the north there existed a land abounding in
+gold and all manner of desirable things, but, above all, possessing a
+river and springs of so remarkable a virtue that their waters would
+confer immortal youth on whoever bathed in them; that upon a time a
+considerable expedition of the Indians of Cuba had departed northward in
+search of this beautiful country and these waters of immortality, who
+had never returned, and who, it was supposed, were in a renovated state,
+still enjoying the felicities of the happy land.
+
+Furthermore, Peter Martyr affirms, in his second decade, addressed to
+the Pope, "that among the islands on the north side of Hispaniola, there
+is one about three hundred and twenty-five leagues distant, as they say
+which have searched the same, in the which is a continual spring of
+running water, of such marvelous virtue that the water thereof being
+drunk, perhaps with some diet, maketh old men young again. And here I
+must make protestation to your Holiness not to think this to be said
+lightly, or rashly; for they have so spread this rumor for a truth
+throughout all the court, that not only all the people, but also many of
+them whom wisdom or fortune have divided from the common sort, think it
+to be true."[1] Thoroughly believing in the verity of this pleasant
+account, this gallant cavalier fitted out an expedition from Porto Rico,
+and in the progress of his search came upon the coast of Florida, on
+Easter Monday, 1512, supposing then, and for a long period afterwards,
+that it was an island. Partly in consequence of the bright spring
+verdure and flowery plains that met his eye, and the magnificence of the
+magnolia, the bay and the laurel and partly in honor of the day, Pascua
+Florida, or Palm Sunday, and reminded, probably, of its appropriateness
+by the profusion of the cabbage palms near the point of his landing, he
+gave to the country the name of Florida.
+
+On the 3d of April, 1512, three hundred and fifty-five years ago, he
+landed a few miles north of St. Augustine, and took possession of the
+country for the Spanish crown. He found the natives fierce and
+implacable; and after exploring the country for some distance around,
+and trying the virtue of all the streams, and growing neither younger
+nor handsomer, he left the country without making a permanent
+settlement.
+
+The subsequent explorations of Narvaez, in 1526, and of De Soto, in
+1539, were made in another portion of our State, and do not bear
+immediately upon the subject of our investigation, although forming a
+most interesting portion of our general history.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+RIBAULT, LAUDONNIERE, AND MENENDEZ--SETTLEMENTS OF THE HUGUENOTS, AND
+FOUNDATION OF ST. AUGUSTINE.
+
+1562-1565-1568.
+
+
+The settlement of Florida had its origin in the religious troubles
+experienced by the Huguenots under Charles IX. in France.
+
+Their distinguished leader, Admiral Coligny, as early as 1555 projected
+colonies in America, and sent an expedition to Brazil, which proved
+unsuccessful. Having procured permission from Charles IX. to found a
+colony in Florida--a designation which embraced in rather an indefinite
+manner the whole country from the Chesapeake to the Tortugas--he sent an
+expedition in 1562 from France, under command of Jean Ribault, composed
+of many young men of good family. They first landed at the St. John's
+River, where they erected a monument, but finally established a
+settlement at Port Royal, South Carolina, and erected a fort. After some
+months, however, in consequence of dissensions among the officers of the
+garrison, and difficulties with the Indians, this settlement was
+abandoned.
+
+In 1564 another expedition came out under the command of Rene de
+Laudonniere, and made their first landing at the River of Dolphins,
+being the present harbor of St. Augustine, and so named by them in
+consequence of the great number of Dolphins (Porpoises) seen by them at
+its mouth. They afterwards coasted to the north, and entered the River
+St. Johns, called by them the River May.
+
+Upon an examination of this river, Laudonniere concluded to establish
+his colony on its banks; and proceeding about two leagues above its
+mouth, built a fort upon a pleasant hill of "mean height," which, in
+honor of his sovereign, he named Fort Caroline.
+
+The colonists after a few months were reduced to great distress, and
+were about taking measures to abandon the country a second time, when
+Ribault arrived with reinforcements.
+
+It is supposed that intelligence of these expeditions was communicated
+by the enemies of Coligny to the court of Spain.
+
+Jealousy of the aggrandizement of the French in the New World,
+mortification for their own unsuccessful efforts in that quarter, and a
+still stronger motive of hatred to the faith of the Huguenot, induced
+the bigoted Philip II. of Spain, to dispatch Pedro Menendez de Aviles, a
+brave, bigoted and remorseless soldier, to drive out the French colony,
+and take possession of the country for himself.
+
+The compact made between the King and Menendez was, that he should
+furnish one galleon completely equipped, and provisions for a force of
+six hundred men; that he should conquer and settle the country. He
+obligated himself to carry one hundred horses, two hundred horned
+cattle, four hundred hogs, four hundred sheep and some goats, and five
+hundred slaves, (for which he had a permission free of duties), the
+third part of which should be men, for his own service and that of those
+who went with him, to aid in cultivating the land and building. That he
+should take twelve priests, and four fathers of the Jesuit order. He was
+to build two or three towns of one hundred families, and in each town
+should build a fort according to the nature of the country. He was to
+have the title of Adelantado of the country, as also to be entitled a
+Marquis, and his heirs after him, to have a tract of land, receive a
+salary of 2,000 ducats, a percentage of the royal duties, and have the
+freedom of all the other ports of New Spain.[2]
+
+His force consisted, at starting, of eleven sail of vessels, with two
+thousand and six hundred men; but, owing to storms and accidents, not
+more than one half arrived. He came upon the coast on the 28th August,
+1565, shortly after the arrival of the fleet of Ribault. On the 7th day
+of September, Menendez cast anchor in the River of Dolphins, the harbor
+of St. Augustine. He had previously discovered and given chase to some
+of the vessels of Ribault, off the mouth of the River May. The Indian
+village of Selooe then stood upon the site of St. Augustine, and the
+landing of Menendez was upon the spot where the city of St. Augustine
+now stands.
+
+Fray Francisco Lopez de Mendoza, the Chaplain of the Expedition, thus
+chronicles the disembarkation and attendant ceremonies:--
+
+ "On Saturday the 8th day of September, the day of the nativity of
+ our Lady, the General disembarked, with numerous banners displayed,
+ trumpets and other martial music resounding, and amid salvos of
+ artillery.
+
+ "Carrying a cross, I proceeded at the head, chanting the hymn _Te
+ Deum Laudamus_. The General marched straight up to the cross,
+ together with all those who accompanied him; and, kneeling, they
+ all kissed the cross. A great number of Indians looked upon these
+ ceremonies, and imitated whatever they saw done. Thereupon the
+ General took possession of the country in the name of his Majesty.
+ All the officers then took an oath of allegiance to him, as their
+ general, and as adelantado of the whole country."
+
+The name of St. Augustine was given, in the usual manner of the early
+voyagers, because they had arrived upon the coast on the day dedicated
+in their calendar to that eminent saint of the primitive church, revered
+alike by the good of all ages for his learning and piety.
+
+The first troops who landed, says Mendoza, were well received by the
+Indians, who gave them a large mansion belonging to the chief, situated
+near the banks of the river. The engineer officers immediately erected
+an entrenchment of earth, and a ditch around this house, with a slope
+made of earth and fascines, these being the only means of defense which
+the country presents; for, says the father with surprise, "there is not
+a stone to be found in the whole country." They landed eighty cannon
+from the ships, of which the lightest weighed two thousand five hundred
+pounds.
+
+But in the meantime Menendez had by no means forgotten the errand upon
+which he principally came; and by inquiries of the Indians he soon
+learned the position of the French fort and the condition of its
+defenders. Impelled by necessity, Laudonniere had been forced to seize
+from the Indians food to supply his famished garrison, and had thus
+incurred their enmity, which was soon to produce its sad results.
+
+The Spaniards numbered about six hundred combatants, and the French
+about the same; but arrangements had been made for further accessions to
+the Spanish force, to be drawn from St. Domingo and Havana, and these
+were daily expected.
+
+It was the habit of those days to devolve almost every event upon the
+ordering of a special providence; and each nation had come to look upon
+itself almost in the light of a peculiar people, led like the Israelites
+of old by signs and wonders; and as in their own view all their actions
+were directed by the design of advancing God's glory as well as their
+own purposes, so the blessing of Heaven would surely accompany them in
+all their undertakings.
+
+So believed the Crusaders on the plains of Palestine; so believed the
+conquerors of Mexico and Peru; so believed the Puritan settlers of New
+England (alike in their Indian wars and their oppressive social polity);
+and so believed, also, the followers of Menendez and of Ribault; and in
+this simple and trusting faith, the worthy chaplain gives us the
+following account of the miraculous escape and deliverance of a portion
+of the Spanish fleet:--
+
+ "God and his Holy Mother have performed another great miracle in
+ our favor. The day following the landing of the General in the
+ fort, he said to us that he was very uneasy because his galley and
+ another vessel were at anchor, isolated and a league at sea, being
+ unable to enter the port on account of the shallowness of the
+ water; and that he feared that the French might come and capture or
+ maltreat them. As soon as this idea came to him he departed, with
+ fifty men, to go on board of his galleon. He gave orders to three
+ shallops which were moored in the river to go out and take on board
+ the provisions and troops which were on board the galleon. The next
+ day, a shallop having gone out thither, they took on board as much
+ of the provisions as they could, and more than a hundred men who
+ were in the vessel, and returned towards the shore; but half a
+ league before arriving at the bar they were overtaken by so
+ complete a calm that they were unable to proceed further, and
+ thereupon cast anchor and passed the night in that place. The day
+ following at break of day they raised anchor as ordered by the
+ pilot, as the rising of the tide began to be felt. When it was
+ fully light they saw astern of them at the poop of the vessel, two
+ French ships which during the night had been in search of them. The
+ enemy arrived with the intention of making an attack upon us. The
+ French made all haste in their movements, for we had no arms on
+ board, and had only embarked the provisions. When day appeared, and
+ our people discovered the French, they addressed their prayers to
+ our Lady of _Bon Secours d'Utrera_, and supplicated her to grant
+ them a little wind, for the French were already close up to them.
+ They say that _Our Lady_ descended, herself, upon the vessel; for
+ the wind freshened and blew fair for the bar, so that the shallop
+ could enter it. The French followed it; but, as the bar has but
+ little depth and their vessels were large, they were not able to go
+ over it, so that our men and the provisions made a safe harbor.
+ When it became still clearer they perceived besides the two vessels
+ of the enemy, four others at a distance, being the same which we
+ had seen in port the evening of our arrival. They were well
+ furnished with both troops and artillery, and had directed
+ themselves for our galleon and the other ship, which were alone at
+ sea. In this circumstance God accorded us two favors. The first
+ was, that the same evening after they had discharged the provisions
+ and the troops I have spoken of, at midnight the galleon and other
+ vessel put to sea without being perceived by the enemy; the one
+ for Spain, and the other for Havana, for the purpose of seeking the
+ fleet which was there; and in this way neither was taken.
+
+ "The second favor, by which God rendered us a still greater
+ service, was that on the day following the one I have described
+ there arose a storm, and so great a tempest that certainly the
+ greater part of the French vessels must have been lost at sea; for
+ they were overtaken upon the most dangerous coast I have ever seen,
+ and were very close to the shore; and if our vessels, that is the
+ galleon and its consort, are not shipwrecked, it is because they
+ were already more than twelve leagues off the coast, which gave
+ them the facility of running before the wind, and maneuvering as
+ well as they could, relying upon the aid of God to preserve
+ them."[3]
+
+Menendez had ascertained from the Indians that a large number of the
+French troops had embarked on board of the vessels which he had seen off
+the harbor, and he had good ground for believing that these vessels
+would either be cast helpless upon the shore, or be driven off by the
+tempest to such a distance as would render their return for some days
+impossible. He at once conceived the project of attacking the French
+fort upon the river May, by land.
+
+A council of war was held, and after some discussion, for the most part
+adverse to the plan proposed by him, Menendez spoke as follows:
+
+ "Gentlemen and Brothers! we have before us now an opportunity which
+ if improved by us will have a happy result. I am satisfied that the
+ French fleet which four days since fled from me, and has now come
+ to seek me, has been reinforced with the larger part of the
+ garrison of their fort, to which, nor to port, will they be able to
+ return for many days according to appearances; and since they are
+ all Lutherans, as we learned before we sailed from Spain, by the
+ edicts which Jean Ribault published before embarking, in order that
+ no Catholic at the peril of his life should go in his fleet, nor
+ any Catholic books be taken; and this they themselves declared to
+ us the night they fled from us, and hence our war must be to blood
+ and fire, not only on account of the orders we are under, but
+ because they have sought us in order to destroy us, that we should
+ not plant our holy religion in these regions, and to establish
+ their own abominable and crazy sect among the Indians; so that the
+ more promptly we shall punish them, we shall the more speedily do
+ a service to our God and our king, and comply with our conscience
+ and our duty.
+
+ "To accomplish this, we must choose five hundred arquebuse men and
+ pikemen, and carry provisions in our knapsacks for eight days,
+ divided into ten companies, each one with its standard and its
+ captain, and go with this force by land to examine the settlements
+ and fort of our enemies; and as no one knows the road, I will guide
+ you within two points by a mariner's compass; and where we cannot
+ get along, we will open a way with our axes; and moreover, I have
+ with me a Frenchman who has been more than a year at their fort,
+ and who says he knows the ground for two leagues around the fort.
+
+ "If we shall arrive without discovery, it may be that falling upon
+ it at daylight we may take it, by planting upon it twenty scaling
+ ladders, at the cost of fifty lives. If we are discovered, we can
+ form in the shelter of the wood, which I am assured is not more
+ than a quarter of a league distant, and planting there ten
+ standards, send forward a trumpeter requiring them to leave the
+ fort and the country, and return to their own country, offering
+ them ships and provisions for the voyage. They will imagine that we
+ have a much greater army with us, and they may surrender; and if
+ they do not, we shall at least accomplish that they will leave us
+ undisturbed in this our own settlement, and we shall know the way,
+ so that we may return to destroy them the succeeding spring."
+
+After some discussion it was concluded that after hearing mass they
+should undertake the expedition on the third day. Considerable
+opposition was manifested on the part of the officers; but, with a
+consummate knowledge of human nature, the Adelantado got up the most
+splendid dinner in his power, and invited his recreant officers to the
+repast, and dexterously appealed to their fears, as well as their pride,
+and overcame their reluctance to undertake the unknown dangers of a
+first march through Florida at a wet season, an actual acquaintance with
+which would still more have dampened their ardor.
+
+The troops assembled promptly upon the day appointed, at the sound of
+the trumpet, the fife and the drum, and they all went to hear mass,
+except Juan de Vicente, who said he had a disorder of the stomach, and
+in his leg; and when some friends wished to urge his coming, he replied:
+"I vow to God, that I will wait until the news comes that our force is
+entirely cut off, when we who remain will embark in our three vessels,
+and go to the Indies, where there will be no necessity of our all
+perishing like beasts."
+
+This Juan Vicente seems to have been an apt specimen of a class of
+croakers not peculiar to any age or country. Of his future history the
+chronicle gives other instances of a similar spirit; and his sole claim
+to immortality, like that of many an other, is founded upon his
+impudence.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+THE ATTACK ON FORT CAROLINE--1565.
+
+
+The troops, having heard mass, marched out in order, preceded by twenty
+Biscayans and Asturians having as their captain Martin de Ochoa, a
+leader of great fidelity and bravery, furnished with axes to open a road
+where they could not get along. At this moment there arrived two
+Indians, who said that they had been at the fort six days before, and
+who "seemed like angels" to the soldiers, sent to guide their march.
+Halting for refreshment and rest wherever suitable places could be
+found, and the Adelantado always with the vanguard, in four days they
+reached the vicinity of the fort, and came up within less than a quarter
+of a league of it, concealed by a grove of pine trees. It rained
+heavily, and a severe storm prevailed. The place where they had halted
+was a very bad one, and very marshy; but he decided to stop there, and
+went back to seek the rearguard, lest they might lose the way.
+
+About ten at night the last of the troops arrived, very wet indeed, for
+there had been much rain during the four days; they had passed marshes
+with the water rising to their waists, and every night there was so
+great a flood that they were in great danger of losing their powder,
+their match-fire, and their biscuit; and they became desperate, cursing
+those who had brought them there, and themselves for coming.
+
+Menendez pretended not to hear their complaints, not daring to call a
+council as to proceeding or returning, for both officers and soldiers
+went forward very inquietly. Remaining firm in his own resolve, two
+hours before dawn he called together the Master of the Camp and the
+Captains to whom he said that during the whole night he had sought of
+God and his most Holy Mother that they would favor him and instruct him
+what he should do most advantageous for their holy service; and he was
+persuaded that they had all done the same. "But now, Gentlemen," he
+proceeded, "we must make some determination, finding ourselves
+exhausted, lost, without ammunition or provisions, and without the hope
+of relief."
+
+Some answered very promptly, "Why should they waste their time in giving
+reasons? for, unless they returned quickly to St. Augustine, they would
+be reduced to eating palmettos;[4] and the longer they delayed, the
+greater trouble they would have."
+
+The Adelantado said to them that what they said seemed very reasonable,
+but he would ask of them to hear some reasons to the contrary, without
+being offended. He then proceeded--after having smoothed down their
+somewhat ruffled dispositions, considerably disturbed by their first
+experience in encountering the hardships of such a march--to show them
+that the danger of retreat was then greater than an advance would be, as
+they would lose alike the respect of their friends and foes. That if, on
+the contrary, they attacked the fort, whether they succeeded in taking
+it or not, they would gain honor and reputation.
+
+Stimulated by the speech of their General, they demanded to be led to
+the attack, and the arrangements for the assault were at once made.
+Their French prisoner was placed in the advance; but the darkness of the
+night and the severity of the storm rendered it impossible to proceed,
+and they halted in a marsh, with the water up to their knees, to await
+daylight.
+
+At dawn the Frenchman recognized the country, and the place were they
+were, and where stood the fort; upon which the Adelantado ordered them
+to march, enjoining upon all, at the peril of their lives, to follow
+him; and coming to a small hill, the Frenchman said that behind that
+stood the fort, about three bow-shots distant, but lower down, near the
+river. The General put the Frenchman into the custody of Castaneda. He
+went up a little higher, and saw the river and one of the houses, but he
+was not able to discover the fort, although it was adjoining them; and
+he returned to Castaneda, with whom now stood the Master of the Camp and
+Ochoa, and said to them that he wished to go lower down, near to the
+houses which stood behind the hill, to see the fortress and the
+garrison, for, as the sun was now up, they could not attack the fort
+without a reconnoisance. This the Master of the Camp would not permit
+him to do, saying this duty appertained to him; and he went alone with
+Ochoa near to the houses, from whence they discovered the fort; and
+returning with their information, they came to two paths, and leaving
+the one by which they came, took the other. The Master of the Camp
+discovered his error, coming to a fallen tree, and turned his face to
+inform Ochoa, who was following him; and as they turned to seek the
+right path, he stopped in advance, and the sentinel discovered them, who
+imagined them to be French; but examining them he perceived they were
+unknown to him. He hailed, "Who goes there?" Ochoa answered,
+"Frenchmen." The sentinel was confirmed in his supposition that they
+were his own people, and approached them; Ochoa did the same; but seeing
+they were not French, the sentinel retreated. Ochoa closed with him, and
+with his drawn sword gave him a cut over the head, but did not hurt him
+much, as the sentinel fended off the blow with his sword; and the Master
+of the Camp coming up at this moment, gave him a thrust, from which he
+fell backwards, making a loud outcry. The Master of the Camp, putting
+his sword to his breast, threatened him with instant death unless he
+kept silence. They tied him thereupon, and took him to the General, who,
+hearing the noise, thought the Master of the Camp was being killed, and
+meeting with the Sergeant-major, Francisco de Recalde, Diego de Maya,
+and Andres Lopez Patino, with their standards and soldiers, without
+being able to restrain himself, he cried out, "Santiago! Upon them! Help
+of God, Victory! The French are destroyed. The Master of the Camp is in
+their fort, and has taken it." Upon which, all rushed forward in the
+path without order, the General remaining behind, repeating what he had
+said many times: himself believing it to be certain that the Master of
+the Camp had taken with him a considerable force, and had captured the
+fort.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+So great was the joy of the soldiers, and such their speed, that they
+soon came up with the Master of the Camp and Ochoa, who was hastening to
+receive the reward of carrying the good news to the General of the
+capture of the sentinel. But the Master of the Camp, seeing the spirit
+which animated the soldiers, killed the sentinel, and cried out with a
+loud voice to those who were pressing forward, "Comrades! do as I do.
+God is with us;" and turned, running towards the fort, and meeting two
+Frenchmen on the way, he killed one of them, and Andres Lopez Patino the
+other. Those in the environs of the fort, seeing this tragedy enacted,
+set up loud outcries; and in order to know the cause of the alarm, one
+of the Frenchmen within opened the postern of the principal gate, which
+he had no sooner done than it was observed by the Master of the Camp;
+and throwing himself upon him, he killed him, and entered the gate,
+followed by the most active of his followers.
+
+The French, awakened by the clamor, some dressed, others in their
+night-clothes, rushed to the doors of their houses to see what had
+happened; but they were all killed, except sixty of the more wary, who
+escaped by leaping the walls.
+
+Immediately the standards of the Sergeant-major and of Diego Mayo were
+brought in, and set up by Rodrigo Troche and Pedro Valdes Herrera, with
+two cavaliers, at the same moment. These being hoisted, the trumpets
+proclaimed the victory, and the bands of soldiers who had entered opened
+the gates and sought the quarters, leaving no Frenchman alive.
+
+The Adelantado hearing the cries, left Castaneda in his place to collect
+the people who had not come up, who were at least half the force, and
+went himself to see if they were in any danger. He arrived at the fort
+running; and as he perceived that the soldiers gave no quarter to any of
+the French, he shouted, "That at the penalty of their lives they should
+neither wound nor kill any woman, cripple, or child under fifteen years
+of age." By which seventy persons were saved; _the rest were all
+killed_!
+
+Renato de Laudonniere, the Commander of the fort, escaped with his
+servant and some twenty or thirty others, to a vessel lying in the
+river.
+
+Such is the Spanish chronicle, contained in Barcia, of the capture of
+Fort Caroline. Its details in the main correspond with the account of
+Laudonniere, and of Nicolas Challeux, the author of the letter printed
+at Lyons, in France, under date of August, 1566, by Jean Saugrain. In
+some important particulars, however, the historians disagree. It has
+been already seen that Menendez is represented as having given orders to
+spare all the women, maimed persons, and all children under fifteen
+years of age. The French relations of the event, on the contrary, allege
+that an indiscriminate slaughter took place, and that all were massacred
+without respect to age, sex, or condition; but as this statement is
+principally made upon the authority of a terrified and flying soldier,
+it is alike due to the probabilities of the case, and more agreeable to
+the hopes of humanity, to lessen somewhat the horrors of a scene which
+has need of all the palliation that can be drawn from the slightest
+evidences of compassion on the part of that stern and bigoted leader.
+
+The Spanish statement is further confirmed by other writers, who speak
+of a vessel being dispatched by Menendez subsequently to carry the
+survivors to Spain.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+ESCAPE OF LAUDONNIERE AND OTHERS FROM FORT CAROLINE. ADVENTURES OF THE
+FUGITIVES.
+
+
+The narratives of this event are found singularly full, there being no
+less than three accounts by fugitives from the massacre. The most
+complete of these is that of Nicolas de Challeux, a native of Dieppe,
+which was published in the following year. I have largely transcribed
+from this quaint and curious narrative, not only an account of the
+fullness of the details, but also for the light it throws upon the
+habits of thought and modes of expression of that day, when so much was
+exhibited of an external religious faith, and so many were found who
+would fight for their faith when they refused to adhere to its
+requirements. There are apparent, also, a close study of the Scriptures,
+a great familiarity with its language, a frequent use of its
+illustrations, and a disposition to attribute all things, with a
+reverent piety, to the direct personal supervision of the Almighty. By
+the aid of a map of the St. John's River, it will not be difficult to
+trace the perilous route of escape pursued by De Challeux and his
+companions, over obstacles much magnified by the terror of the moment
+and want of familiarity with the country:--
+
+ "The number of persons in the fort was two hundred and forty,
+ partly of those who had not recovered from sea-sickness, partly of
+ artisans and of women and children left to the care and diligence
+ of Captain Laudonniere, who had no expectation that it was possible
+ that any force could approach by land to attack him. On which
+ account the guards had withdrawn for the purpose of refreshing
+ themselves a little before sunrise, on account of the bad weather
+ which had continued during the whole night, most of our people
+ being at the time in their beds sleeping. The wicket gate open, the
+ Spanish force, having traversed forests, swamps, and rivers,
+ arrived at break of day, Friday, the 20th September, the weather
+ very stormy, and entered the fort without any resistance, and made
+ a horrible satisfaction of the rage and hate they had conceived
+ against our nation. It was then who should best kill the most men,
+ sick and well, women and little children, in such a manner that it
+ is impossible to conceive of a massacre which could equal this for
+ its barbarity and cruelty.
+
+ "Some of the more active of our people, jumping from their beds,
+ slipped out and escaped to the vessel in the river. I was myself
+ surprised, going to my duty with my clasp-knife in my hand; for
+ upon leaving my cabin, I met the enemy, and saw no other means of
+ escape but turning my back, and making the utmost possible haste to
+ lead over the palisades, for I was closely pursued, step by step,
+ by a pike-man and one with a partisan; and I do not know how it
+ was, unless by the grace of God, that my strength was redoubled,
+ old man as I am and grey-headed, a thing which at any other time I
+ could not have done, for the rampart was raised eight or nine feet;
+ I then hastened to secrete myself in the woods, and when I was
+ sufficiently near the edge of the wood at the distance of a good
+ bow-shot, I turned towards the fort and rested a little time,
+ finding myself not pursued; and as from this place all the fort,
+ even the inner-court was distinctly visible to me, looking there I
+ saw a horrible butchery of our men taking place, and three
+ standards of our enemies planted upon the ramparts. Having then
+ lost all hope of seeing our men rally, I resigned all my senses to
+ the Lord. Recommending myself to his mercy, grace and favor, I
+ threw myself into the wood, for it seemed to me that I could find
+ no greater cruelty among the savage beast, than that of our enemy
+ which I had seen shown towards our people. But the misery and
+ anguish in which I found myself then, straitened and oppressed,
+ seeing no longer any means of safety upon the earth, unless by a
+ special grace of our Lord, transcending any expectation of man,
+ caused me to utter groans and sobs, and with a voice broken by
+ distress to thus cry to the Lord:
+
+ "'O God of our fathers and Lord of all mercy! who hast commanded us
+ to call upon Thee even from the depths of hell and the shades of
+ death, promising forthwith thy aid and succor! show me, for the
+ hope which I have in Thee, what course I ought to take to come to
+ the termination of this miserable old age, plunged into the gulf of
+ grief and bitterness; at least, cause that, feeling the effect of
+ Thy mercy, and the confidence which I have conceived in my heart
+ for Thy promises, they may not be snatched from me through fear of
+ savage and furious wild beasts on one hand, and of our and Thy
+ enemies on the other, who desire the more to injure us for the
+ memory of Thy name which is invoked by us than for any other cause;
+ aid me, my God! assist me, for I am so troubled that I can do
+ nothing more.'
+
+ "And while I was making this prayer, traversing the wood, which was
+ very thick and matted with briars and thorns, beneath the large
+ trees where there was neither any road nor path, scarcely had I
+ trailed my way half an hour, when I heard a noise like men weeping
+ and groaning near me; and advancing in the name of God, and in the
+ confidence of His succor, I discovered one of our people, named
+ Sieur de la Blonderie, and a little behind him another, named
+ Maitre Robert, well known to us all, because he had in charge the
+ prayers at the fort.
+
+ "Immediately afterwards we found also the servant of Sieur d'Ully,
+ the nephew of M. Lebreau, Master Jaques Trusse, and many others;
+ and we assembled and talked over our troubles, and deliberated as
+ to what course we could take to save our lives. One of our number,
+ much esteemed as being very learned in the lessons of Holy
+ Scripture, proposed after this manner: 'Brethren, we see to what
+ extremity we are brought; in whatever direction we turn our eyes,
+ we see only barbarism. The heavens, the earth, the sea, the forest,
+ and men,--in brief, nothing favors us. How can we know that if we
+ yield to the mercy of the Spaniards, they will spare us? and if
+ they should kill us, it will be the suffering of but a moment; they
+ are men, and it may be that, their fury appeased, they may receive
+ us upon some terms; and, moreover, what can we do? Would it not be
+ better to fall into the hands of men, than into the jaws of wild
+ beasts, or die of hunger in a strange land?'
+
+ "After he had thus spoken, the greater part of our number were of
+ his opinion, and praised his counsel. Notwithstanding, I pointed
+ out the cruel animosity still unappeased of our enemies, and that
+ it was not for any human cause of quarrel, that they had carried
+ out with such fury their enterprise, but mainly (as would appear by
+ the notice they had already given us) because we were of those who
+ were reformed by the preaching of the Gospel; that we should be
+ cowards to trust in men, rather than in God, who gives life to his
+ own in the midst of death, and gives ordinarily his assistance when
+ the hopes of men entirely fail.
+
+ "I also brought to their minds examples from Scripture, instancing
+ Joseph, Daniel, Elias, and the other prophets, as well also the
+ apostles, as St. Peter and St. Paul, who were all drawn out of much
+ affliction, as would appear by means extraordinary and strange to
+ the reason and judgment of men. His arm, said I, is not shortened,
+ nor in any wise enfeebled; his power is always the same. Do you not
+ recollect, said I the flight of the Israelites before Pharaoh? What
+ hope had that people of escaping from the hands of that powerful
+ tyrant? He had them, as it were, under his heel. Before them they
+ had the sea, on either side inaccessible mountains.
+
+ "What then? He who opened the sea to make a path for his people,
+ and made it afterwards to swallow up his enemies, can not he
+ conduct us by the forest places of this strange country? While thus
+ discoursing, six of the company followed out the first proposition,
+ and abandoned us to go and yield themselves up to our enemies,
+ hoping to find favor before them. But they learned, immediately and
+ by experience, what folly it is to trust more in men than in the
+ promise of the Lord. For having gone out of the wood, as they
+ descended to the fort they were immediately seized by the Spaniards
+ and treated in the same fashion as the others had been. They were
+ at once killed and massacred, and then drawn to the banks of the
+ river, where the others killed at the fort lay in heaps. We who
+ remained in the wood continued to make our way, and drawing towards
+ the sea, as well as we could judge, and as it pleased God to
+ conduct our paths and to straiten our course, we soon arrived at
+ the brow of a mountain and from there commenced to see the sea, but
+ it was still at a great distance; and what was worse, the road we
+ had to take showed itself wonderfully strange and difficult. In the
+ first place, the mountain from which it was necessary for us to
+ descend, was of such height and ruggedness, that it was not
+ possible for a person descending to stand upright; and we should
+ never have dared to descend it but for the hope we had of
+ sustaining ourselves by the branches of the bushes, which were
+ frequent upon the side of the mountain, and to save life, not
+ sparing our hands which we had all gashed up and bloody, and even
+ the legs and nearly all the body was torn. But descending from the
+ mountain, we did not lose our view of the sea, on account of a
+ small wood which was upon a little hill opposite to us; and in
+ order to go to the wood it was requisite that we should traverse a
+ large meadow, all mud and quagmire, covered with briars and other
+ kind of strange plants; for the stalk was as hard as wood, and the
+ leaves pricked our feet and our hands until the blood came, and
+ being all the while in water up to the middle, which redoubled our
+ pain and suffering. The rain came down upon us in such manner from
+ heaven, that we were during all that time between two floods; and
+ the further we advanced the deeper we found the water.
+
+ "And then thinking that the last period of our lives had come, we
+ all embraced each other, and with a common impulse, we commenced to
+ sigh and cry to the Lord, accusing our sins and recognizing the
+ weight of his judgment upon us. 'Alas! Lord,' said we, 'what are we
+ but poor worms of the earth? Our souls weakened by grief, surrender
+ themselves into thy hands. Oh, Father of Mercy and God of Love,
+ deliver us from this pain of death! or if thou wilt that in this
+ desert we shall draw our last breath, assist us so that death, of
+ all things the most terrible, shall have no advantage over us, but
+ that we may remain firm and stable in the sense of thy favor and
+ good-will, which we have too often experienced in the cause of thy
+ Christ to give way to the spirit of Satan, the spirit of despair
+ and of distrust; for if we die, we will protest now before thy
+ Majesty, that we would die unto thee, and that if we live it may be
+ to recount thy wonders in the midst of the assembly of thy
+ servants.' Our prayers concluded, we marched with great difficulty
+ straight towards the wood, when we came to a great river which ran
+ in the midst of this meadow; the channel was sufficiently narrow
+ but very deep, and ran with great force, as though all the field
+ ran toward the sea. This was another addition to our anguish, for
+ there was not one of our men who would dare to undertake to cross
+ over by swimming. But in this confusion of our thoughts, as to what
+ manner to pass over, I bethought myself of the wood which we had
+ left behind us. After exhorting my comrades to patience and a
+ continued trust in the Lord, I returned to the wood, and cut a long
+ pole, with the good size clasp knife which remained in my hand from
+ the hour the fort was taken; and I returned to the others, who
+ awaited me in great perplexity, 'Now, then, comrades,' said I, 'let
+ us see if God, by means of this stick, will not give us some help
+ to accomplish our path.' Then we laid the pole upon the water, and
+ each one by turn taking hold of the end of the pole, carried it by
+ his side to the midst of the channel, when losing sight of him we
+ pushed him with sufficient force to the other bank, where he drew
+ himself out by the canes and other bushes growing along its
+ borders; and by his example we passed over, one at a time; but it
+ was not without great danger, and not without drinking a great deal
+ of salt water, in such manner that our hearts were all trembling,
+ and we were as much overcome as though we had been half drowned.
+ After we had come to ourselves and had resumed courage, moving on
+ all the time towards the wood, which we had remarked close to sea,
+ the pole was not even needed to pass another creek, which gave us
+ not much less trouble than the first; but by the grace of God, we
+ passed it and entered the wood the same evening, where we passed
+ the night in great fear and trembling, standing about against the
+ trees.
+
+ "And, as much as we had labored, even had it been more, we felt no
+ desire to sleep; for what repose could there be to spirits in such
+ mortal affright? Near the break of day, we saw a great beast, like
+ a deer, at fifty paces from us, who had a great head, eyes flaming,
+ the ears hanging, and the higher parts elevated. It seemed to us
+ monstrous, because of its gleaming eyes, wondrously large; but it
+ did not come near us to do us any harm.
+
+ "The day having appeared, we went out of the wood and returned
+ towards the sea, in which we hoped, after God, as the only means of
+ saving our lives; but we were again cast down and troubled, for we
+ saw before us a country of marsh and muddy quagmires, full of water
+ and covered with briars, like that we had passed the previous day.
+ We marched across this salt marsh; and, in the direction we had to
+ take, we perceived among the briars a body of men, whom we at first
+ thought to be enemies, who had gone there to cut us off; but upon
+ close observation, they seemed in as sad a plight as ourselves,
+ naked and terrified; and we immediately perceived that they were
+ our own people. It was Captain Laudonniere, his servant-maid,
+ Jacques Morgues of Dieppe (the artist), Francis Duval of Rouen, son
+ of him of the iron crown of Rouen, Niguise de la Cratte, Nicholas
+ the carpenter, the Trumpeter of Sieur Laudonniere, and others, who
+ all together made the number of twenty-six men. Upon deliberating
+ as to what we should do, two of our men mounted to the top of one
+ of the tallest trees and discovered from thence one of our vessels,
+ which was that of Captain Maillard, to whom they gave a signal,
+ that he might know that we were in want of help. Thereupon he came
+ towards us with his small vessel, but in order to reach the banks
+ of the stream, it was necessary for us to traverse the briars and
+ two other rivers similar to those which we passed the previous day;
+ in order to accomplish which, the pole I had cut the day before was
+ both useful and necessary, and two others which Sr. de Laudonniere
+ had provided; and we came pretty near to the vessel, but our hearts
+ failed us from hunger and fatigue, and we should have remained
+ where we were unless the sailors had given us a hand, which aid was
+ very opportune; and they carried us, one after the other, to the
+ vessel, on board of which we were all received well and kindly.
+ They gave us bread and water, and we began afterwards, little by
+ little, to recover our strength and vigor; which was a strong
+ reason that we should recognize the goodness of the Lord, who had
+ saved us against all hope from an infinity of dangers and from
+ death, by which we had been surrounded and assaulted from all
+ quarters, to render him forevermore our thanks and praises. We thus
+ passed the entire night recounting the wonders of the Lord, and
+ consoled each other in the assurances of our safety.
+
+ "Daylight having come, Jacques Ribault, Captain of the Pearl,
+ boarded us to confer with us respecting what was to done by us, and
+ what means we should take for the safety of the rest of our men and
+ the vessels. It was then objected, the small quantity of provisions
+ which we had, our strength broken, our munitions and means of
+ defense taken from us, the uncertainty as to the condition of our
+ Admiral, and not knowing but that he had been shipwrecked on some
+ coast a long distance from us, or driven to a distance by the
+ tempest.
+
+ "We thereupon concluded that we could do no better than return to
+ France, and were of the opinion that the company should divide into
+ two parts, the one remaining on board the Pearl, the other under
+ charge of Captain Maillard.
+
+ "On Friday, the twenty-fifth day of the month of September, we
+ departed from this coast, favored by a strong northerly wind,
+ having concluded to return to France, and after the first day our
+ two ships were so far separated that we did not again encounter
+ each other.
+
+ "We proceeded five hundred leagues prosperously, when, one morning
+ about sunrise, we were attacked by a Spanish vessel, which we met
+ as well as we could, and cannonaded them in such sort that we made
+ them subject to our disposal, and battered them so that the blood
+ was seen to overrun the scuppers. We held them then as surrendered
+ and defeated; but there was no means of grappling her, on account
+ of the roughness of the sea for in grappling her there would be
+ danger of our striking together, which might have sunk us; she
+ also, satisfied with the affair, left us, joyful and thanking God
+ that no one of us was wounded or killed in this skirmish except our
+ cook.
+
+ "The rest of our passage was without any renconter with enemies;
+ but we were much troubled by contrary winds, which often threatened
+ to cast us on the coast of Spain, which would have been the
+ finishing touch to our misfortunes, and the thing of which we had
+ the greatest horror. We also endured at sea many other things, such
+ as cold and hunger; for be it understood that we, who escaped from
+ the land of Florida, had nothing else for vestment or equipment, by
+ day or by night, except our shirts alone, or some other little rag,
+ which was a small matter of defence from the exposure to the
+ weather; and what was more, the bread which we eat, and we eat it
+ very sparingly, was all spoilt and rotten, as well also the water
+ itself was all noisome, and of which, besides, we could only have
+ for the whole day a single small glass.
+
+ "This bad food was the reason, on our landing, that many of us fell
+ into divers maladies, which carried off many of the men of our
+ company; and we arrived at last, after this perilous and lamentable
+ voyage, at Rochelle; where we were received and treated very
+ humanely and kindly by the inhabitants of the country and those of
+ the city, giving us of their means, to the extent our necessities
+ require; and assisted by their kindness we were each enabled to
+ return to his own part of the country."[5]
+
+Laudonniere's[6] narrative speaks more of his own personal escape; and
+that of Le Moyne[7] refers to this description of De Challeux, as
+containing a full and accurate account of what took place. Barcia
+mentions De Challeux, very contemptuously as a carpenter, who succeeding
+badly at his trade, took up that of preaching, but does not deny the
+truth of his narrative.
+
+Those who separated from their comrades and threw themselves upon the
+enemies' mercy, are mentioned by the Spanish writers; but they are
+silent as to the treatment they received.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+SITE OF FORT CAROLINE, AFTERWARDS CALLED SAN MATTEO.
+
+
+It might naturally be supposed that a spot surrounded with so many
+thrilling and interesting associations, as the scene of the events we
+have just related, would have been commemorated either by tradition or
+by ancient remains attesting its situation. But, in truth, no recognized
+point now bears the appellation of Fort Caroline, and the antiquary can
+point at this day to no fosse or parapet, no crumbling bastion, no
+ancient helm or buckler, no shattered and corroded garniture of war
+mingled with the bones of the dead, as evidencing its position.
+
+A writer who has himself done more to rescue from oblivion the
+historical romance of the South than any other,[8] has well said, "It
+will be an employment of curious interest, whenever the people of
+Florida shall happen upon the true site of the settlement and structure
+of Laudonniere, to trace out in detail these several localities, and fix
+them for the benefit of posterity. The work is scarcely beyond the
+hammer and chisel of some Old Mortality, who has learned to place his
+affections and fix his sympathies upon the achievements of the past."
+
+With a consciousness of our unfitness to establish absolutely a memorial
+so interesting as the site of Fort Caroline must ever be, I shall
+endeavor to locate its position, upon the basis of reasons entirely
+satisfactory to myself, and measurably so, I trust, to others.
+
+The account given by Laudonniere himself, the leader of the Huguenots,
+by whom Fort Caroline was constructed, is as follows:--After speaking of
+his arrival at the mouth of the river, which had been named the River
+May by Ribault, who had entered it on the first day of May, 1562, and
+had therefore given it that name, he says, "Departing from thence, I had
+not sailed three leagues up the river, still being followed by the
+Indians, crying still, 'amy,' 'amy,' that is to say, friend, but I
+discovered an hill of meane height, neare which I went on land, harde
+by the fieldes that were sowed with mil, at one corner whereof there was
+an house, built for their lodgings which keep and garde the mil. * * * *
+* * Now was I determined to searche out the qualities of the hill.
+Therefore I went right to the toppe thereof; where we found nothing else
+but cedars, palms, and bay trees of so sovereign odor that Balme
+smelleth not more sweetly. The trees were environed around about with
+vines bearing grapes, in such quantities that the number would suffice
+to make the place habitable. Besides the fertilitie of the soyle for
+vines, one may see mesquine wreathed about the trees in great
+quantities. Touching the pleasure of the place, the sea may be seen
+plain enough from it; and more than six great leagues off, towards the
+River Belle, a man may behold the meadows, divided asunder into isles
+and islet, enterlacing one another. Briefly, the place is so pleasent,
+that those which are melancholicke, would be inforced to change their
+humour. * *
+
+"Our fort was built in form of a triangle; the side towards the west,
+which was towards the land, was inclosed with a little trench and raised
+with turf made in the form of a battlement, nine feet high; the other
+side, which was towards the river, was enclosed with a palisade of
+planks of timber, after the manner that Gabions are made; on the south
+line, there was a kind of bastion, within which I caused an house for
+the munition to be made. It was all builded with fagots and sand, saving
+about two or three foote high, with turfes whereof the battlements were
+made. In the middest, I caused a great court to be made of eighteen
+paces long, and the same in breadth. In the middest whereof, on the one
+side, drawing towards the south, I builded a corps de garde and an house
+on the other side towards the north. * * * * One of the sides that
+inclosed my court, which I made very faire and large, reached unto the
+grange of my munitions; and on the other side, towards the river, was
+mine own lodgings, round which were galleries all covered. The principal
+doore of my lodging was in the middest of the great place, and the other
+was towarde the river. A good distance from the fort I built an oven."
+
+Jacob Le Moyne, or Jacques Morgues, as he is sometimes called,
+accompanied the expedition; and his _Brevis Narratio_ contains two
+plates, representing the commencement of the construction of Fort
+Caroline, and its appearance when completed. The latter represents a
+much more finished fortification than could possibly have been
+constructed, but may be taken as a correct outline, I presume, of its
+general appearance.
+
+Barcia, in his account of its capture, describes neither its shape nor
+appearance, but mentions the parapet nine feet high, and the munition
+house and store house.
+
+From the account of Laudonniere and Le Moyne, it was situated near the
+river, on the slope or nearly at the foot of a hill.[9] Barcia speaks of
+its being behind a hill, and of descending towards it. The
+clerical-carpenter, Challeux, speaks of being able, after his escape, to
+look down from the hill he was on, into the court of the fort itself,
+and seeing the massacre of the French. As he was flying from the fort
+towards the sea, and along the river, and as the Spaniards came from a
+southeast direction, the fort must have been on the westerly side of a
+hill, near the river.
+
+The distance is spoken of as less than three leagues by Laudonniere.
+Hawkins and Ribault say, the fort was not visible from the mouth of the
+river. It is also incidentally spoken of in Barcia as being two leagues
+from the bar. De Challeux, in the narrative of his escape, speaks of the
+distance as being about two leagues. In the account given of the
+expedition of De Gourgues, it is said to be, in general terms, about one
+or two leagues above the forts afterwards constructed on each side of
+the mouth of the river; and it is also mentioned in De Gourgues, that
+the fort was at the foot of a hill, near the water, and could be
+overlooked from the hill. The distance from the mouth of the river, and
+the nature of the ground where the fort was built, are thus made
+sufficiently definite to enable us to seek a location which shall
+fulfill both these conditions. It is hardly necessary to remark that
+there can be no question but that the fort was located on the south or
+easterly side of the river, as the Spaniards marched by land from St.
+Augustine in a northwesterly direction to Fort Caroline.
+
+The River St. Johns is one of the largest rivers, in point of width, to
+be found in America, and is more like an arm of the sea than a river;
+from its mouth for a distance of fifteen miles, it is spread over
+extensive marshes, and there are few points where the channel touches
+the banks of the river. At its mouth it is comparatively narrow, but
+immediately extends itself over wide-spread marshes; and the first
+headland or shore which is washed by the channel is a place known as St.
+John's Bluff. Here the river runs closely along the shore, making a
+bold, deep channel close up to the bank. The land rises abruptly on one
+side into a hill of moderate height, covered with a dense growth of
+pine, cedar, &c. This hill gently slopes to the banks of the river, and
+runs off to the southwest, where, at the distance of a quarter of a
+mile, a creek discharges itself into the river, at a place called "the
+Shipyard" from time immemorial.
+
+I am not aware that any remains of Fort Caroline, or any old remains of
+a fortress, have ever been discovered here; but it must be recollected
+that this fort was constructed of sand and pine trees, and that three
+hundred years have passed away, with their storms and tempests, their
+rains and destructive influences--a period sufficient to have destroyed
+a work of much more durable character than sandy entrenchments and green
+pine stakes and timbers. Moreover, it is highly probable, judging from
+present appearances, that the constant abrasion of the banks still going
+on has long since worn away the narrow spot where stood Fort Caroline.
+It is also to be remarked, that as there is no other hill, or high land,
+or place where a fort could have been built, between St. John's Bluff
+and the mouth of the river, so it is also the fact that there is no
+point on the south side of the river where the channel touches high
+land, for a distance by water of eight or ten miles above St. John's
+Bluff.
+
+The evidence in favor of the location of Fort Caroline at St. John's
+Bluff is, I think conclusive and irresistible, and accords in all points
+with the descriptions given as to distance, topography, and points of
+view.
+
+It is within the memory of persons now living, that a considerable
+orange grove and somewhat extensive buildings, which existed at this
+place, then called San Vicente, have been washed into the river, leaving
+at this day no vestiges of their existence. It has been occupied as a
+Spanish fort within fifty years; yet so rapid has been the work of time
+and the elements, that no remains of such occupation are now to be seen.
+
+The narratives all speak of the distance from the mouth of the river as
+about two leagues; and in speaking of so short a distance the
+probability of exactness is much greater than when dealing with longer
+distances.
+
+As to the spot itself, it presents all the natural features mentioned by
+Laudonniere; and it requires but a small spice of enthusiasm and romance
+that it be recognized as a "goodlie and pleasante spotte," by those who
+might like the abundance of the wild grapes and the view of the distant
+salt meadows, with their "iles and islets, so pleasante that those which
+are melancholike would be inforced to change their humour."
+
+It is but proper, however, to say, that at a plantation known as
+Newcastle there is a high range of ground, and upon this high ground the
+appearance of an old earth-work of quadrangular form; but this point is
+distant some six leagues from the mouth of the river, is flanked by a
+deep bay or marsh to the southeast, and the work is on the top of the
+hill and not at its foot, is quadrangular and not triangular, and is a
+considerable distance from the water. These earth-works, I am satisfied,
+are Spanish or English remains of a much later period.
+
+By examining a map of the St. John's river, the first projecting land on
+the south side, lying east of the second township line marked from the
+coast, will be found nearly to indicate the point known as St. John's
+Bluff. On the eastern face the bluff is quite high and precipitous--being
+possibly the "brow of the mountain" mentioned by De Challeux--and
+immediately beyond is a deep indentation of the shore-line of several
+miles in circuit, within which is an immense tract of sea-marsh,
+interspersed with small islands, and cut up by narrow channels. Through
+this the fugitives may be supposed to have crossed, and, reaching the
+high lands which hem in the marsh near the mouth of the river, were
+enabled to view the vessels which offered them rescue. About the year
+1856 a handful of small copper coins were accidentally found near the
+eastern margin of this marsh, in the rear of what is now known as
+Mayport Mill. Some few were at first found on the ground, as if
+accidentally exposed, and upon removing the earth for a slight depth the
+remainder were discovered. They were distributed among several gentlemen
+in Florida, and Mr. Buckingham Smith, at that time and more recently
+made the history of the coins a subject of especial inquiry in Spain.
+
+Just before putting the second edition of this work to press, the
+following letter was received by the publisher of this volume, and is
+given as matter of interest in connection with the locality referred to:
+
+ * * * * *
+
+ MADRID, August 15, 1868.
+
+MY DEAR SIR:--I brought with me from Florida, as I proposed, three
+copper coins of those found with others of the same sort many years ago,
+on the St. Johns river near the old site of Fort Caroline, in what the
+French three centuries ago called the Vale of Laudonniere, that I might
+have them examined in Europe. There were none of the sort in the British
+Museum, with which they might be compared, and in the Bibliothique
+Imperial I could only learn that they were Spanish. On my arrival here I
+gave them for inspection to Senor Bermudez, a long time in charge of the
+national collection of such like antiquities, second only in extent and
+value to that of Paris: and showed them also to other of my friends
+learned in numismatics. The work of A. Heiss, now making its appearance
+in numbers, with the title _Description General de las monedas
+Hispano-Christianas desde la invasion de los Arabes_, has been also
+consulted, and this is the amount of all the conclusions, the
+inscriptions on each coin being nearly the same:
+
+ [image of a dagger] KAROLVS.ET.IOANNA RE.
+
+Two II in the midst, with crowns upon them; to the right P, to the left S;
+ in the middle a square point.
+
+ REVERSO:
+
+ Same--same--same--REGIS.
+
+ A Y in the middle, crowned; to the right IIII; to the left F.
+
+They were struck for Dona Juana and Carlos I., Empr. Charles V., between
+the years 1516 and 1555. The Y is supposed to refer to Ysabel: the
+double I to Joanna I., or may be to the columns of Hercules, and the
+crowns upon them to those of Castilla and Aragon. On later silver coins,
+not so rude, the columns are placed with the words _plus ultra_, as you
+may have observed on a Spanish dollar. The IIII (on some 4,) means four
+maravedises, the value of which have varied: at present 25 of these
+would be the value of a real. These coins are uncommon; in good
+preservation, very rare. The curiosity so many of us have had for a
+number of years about these matters, I believe is at last satisfied.
+
+I have visited the town of Aviles, a league from the Bay of Biscay,
+whence Pedro Menendez came, and brought his fleet to Florida, three
+centuries ago. I saw his tomb, and not far off the chapel of the family
+of one of his companions. There is no stranger any where to be heard of
+in all that country; every thing is intensely and old Spanish in every
+aspect. Going home late one evening, I was accosted by a native in good
+English. He said the town was rarely visited--three or four Englishmen
+within his memory had passed through, and he supposed me to be the first
+person from the United States who had ever been there. I told him I came
+from Florida, and, though rather late, was returning the visit of
+Menendez to St. Augustine.
+
+The estate of this old colonist is in the house of the Count of
+Canalejas, held by the Marquis of San Estevan, who is also by marriage
+the Count of Revilla Gigedo. I called on him at his country seat in
+Dania, and, detaining me to spend the day with him, gave orders to have
+his family pictures and palace shown to me at Gijon, and his papers at a
+residence in Oviedo. Among the documents is a valuable one for writing a
+life of Menendez. It is a draft for a letter in his own hand, directed
+to his nephew, Governor of Florida, in which he expresses his wish to be
+with him and away from business. He speaks of the "invincible armada"
+which he had been appointed to command, and gives the number of his
+ships. This probably was the last thing he ever wrote, dated ten days
+before he died, as it is known that he died on the ninth day of his
+sickness. Of course I have a copy to show you.
+
+Spain has greatly changed within the last eight years--impoverished
+itself, the people say, with improvements. The railroads traverse most
+parts, are well laid, durable, and the service good. The ancient
+monuments have begun to be cared for, are repaired, and in the charge of
+a commission of the government.
+
+Give my best regards to friends about you, and believe me truly yours,
+
+ BUCKINGHAM SMITH.
+
+Mr. COLUMBUS DREW, Jacksonville, Fla.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+MENENDEZ'S RETURN TO ST. AUGUSTINE--SHIPWRECK OF
+
+A. D. 1565.
+
+
+After an ineffectual attempt to induce those in the small vessels of the
+French to surrender, failing in this, the General concluded to return to
+St. Augustine, and send two of his vessels to the mouth of the river to
+intercept them.
+
+Some of the fugitives from the fort fled to the Indians; and ten of
+these were given up to the Spaniards, to be butchered in cold blood,
+says the French account,--to be sent back to France, says the Spanish
+chronicle.
+
+The 24th September being the day of St. Matthew, the name of the fort
+was changed to that of San Matheo, by which name it was always
+subsequently called by the Spaniards; and the name of St. Matthew was
+also given by them to the river, now called St. Johns, on which it is
+situated.
+
+The Spaniards proceeded at once to strengthen the fortress, deepening
+and enlarging the ditch, and raised and strengthened the ramparts and
+walls in such manner, says the boastful Mendoza, "that if the half of
+all France had come to attack it, they could not have disturbed it;" a
+boast upon which the easy conquest of it by De Gourgues, three years
+subsequently, affords an amusing commentary. They also constructed,
+subsequently, two small forts at the mouth of the river, one on each
+side, which probably were located the one at Batten Island and the other
+at Mayport.
+
+Leaving three hundred soldiers as a garrison under his Son-in-law, De
+Valdez, Master of the Camp, who was now appointed Governor of the fort,
+Menendez marched for St. Augustine, beginning now to feel considerable
+anxiety lest the French fleet, escaping from the tempest, might return
+and visit upon his own garrison at St. Augustine, the fate of Fort
+Caroline. He took with him upon his return but fifty soldiers, and,
+owing to the swollen waters, found great difficulty in retracing his
+route. When within a league of St. Augustine, he allowed one of the
+soldiers to go forward to announce his victory and safe return.
+
+The garrison at St. Augustine had been in great anxiety respecting their
+leader, and from the accounts given by those who had deserted, they had
+feared the total loss of the expedition. The worthy Chaplain thus
+describes the return of Menendez:--
+
+ "The same day, being Monday, we saw a man coming, crying out
+ loudly. I myself was the first to run to him for the news. He
+ embraced me with transport, crying 'Victory! Victory! The French
+ fort is ours.' I promised him the present which the bearer of good
+ news deserves, and gave him the best in my power.
+
+ "At the hour of vespers our good General arrived, with fifty foot
+ soldiers, very much fatigued. As soon as I learned that he was
+ coming, I ran home and put on a new soutain, the best which I had,
+ and a surplice, and going out with a crucifix in my hand, I went
+ forward to receive him; and he, a gentleman and a good Christian,
+ before entering kneeled and all his followers, and returned thanks
+ to the Lord for the great favours which he had received. My
+ companions and myself marched in front in procession, so that we
+ all returned with the greatest demonstrations of joy."
+
+When about to dispatch the two vessels in his harbor to the St John's,
+to cut off the French vessels he had left there, he was informed that
+two sails had already been seen to pass the bar, supposed to contain the
+French fugitives.
+
+Eight days after the capture of Fort Caroline, a fire broke out in the
+quarters of St. Augustine, which destroyed much treasure and provisions,
+and the origin of which was doubtful, whether to be ascribed to accident
+or design. Much dissatisfaction prevailed among the officers and
+soldiers, and the fire was looked upon with pleasure by some, as having
+a tendency to hasten their departure from a spot which offered few
+temptations or rewards, compared to Mexico or Peru.
+
+On the very day of Menendez's return, a Frenchman was discovered by a
+fishing party on Anastasia Island, who, being taken, said he was one of
+a party of eighteen, sent in a small vessel, some days before, to
+reconnoitre the Spanish position; that they had been unable to keep the
+sea, and had been thrown ashore, about four leagues below, at the mouth
+of a river; that the Indians attacked and killed three of their number,
+and they thereupon escaped.
+
+Menendez dispatched a captain and fifty men, to get off the vessel and
+capture any of the French who might be found. On their arrival at the
+place, they found that all the French had been killed by the Indians;
+but they succeeded in getting off the vessel. Menendez, feeling uneasy
+in reference to their encounter with the Indians, had followed on after
+the expedition, in company with the worthy Chaplain, to whom his
+promenade among the briars, vines, prickly cedars, chaparral, and
+prickly pears of Anastasia, seems to have been a true _via dolorosa_.
+
+Upon their arrival, they found a considerable body of French upon the
+south side of an inlet, whose fires indicated their position.
+
+The four vessels of Ribault, which had gone in pursuit of the Spaniards
+at St. Augustine, had been overtaken by the storm, and after keeping to
+sea with incredible effort, had been finally driven ashore upon the
+shoals of Canaveral,[10] with but little loss of life but a total loss
+of every thing else; they were thus thrown on shore without shelter from
+the elements, famished with hunger, borne down by disappointment, and
+utterly dispirited and demoralized. They were consumed, also, by the
+most painful uncertainty. Marching to the northward along shore, they
+discovered a skiff, and resolved to send a small number of persons in
+it, to make their way by sea to Fort Caroline, to bring succor to them
+from there. This boat succeeded in reaching the St. John's, where they
+were informed, by friendly Indians, of the fate which had befallen the
+fort; and subsequently they fell in with a Frenchman who had escaped,
+who related to them the whole disaster. Upon this they concluded to seek
+their own safety among the friendly Indians of St. Helena, rather than
+to be the useless bearers of the tidings of their misfortunes to their
+companions in arms.
+
+There are several accounts of the sad fate which befel the followers of
+Ribault, the massacre of whom has been perpetuated by the memorial name
+given to its scene, "the bloody river of Matanzas," the ebb and flow of
+whose recurring tides for three hundred years have failed to wash out
+the record of blood which has associated this massacre of the Huguenots
+with the darkest scenes of earth's history. In consequence of the rank
+and number of the victims, the event produced various and somewhat
+contradictory accounts; but all stamped with a seal of reprobation and
+execration the act and the actors, without reference to creed or
+nationality. Challeux relates instances of cruel barbarity added to the
+atrocity of slaughter itself; and others, it appears, had given other
+versions, all in different degree pointing the finger of historic
+justice to mark and commemorate the crime against humanity.
+
+The Spanish historian, Barcia, aims to counteract this general
+condemnation, of which in his own language he says, "These calumnies,
+repeated in so many quarters, have sullied the fame of the Adelantado,
+being exaggerated by the heretics, and consented to by the Catholics, so
+that even the Father Felix Briot, in his annals, says that he caused
+them to be killed contrary to the faith which he had given them; which
+is altogether a falsehood, for the Adelantado did not give his word, nor
+would he when asked give it, to spare their lives, although they were
+willing to pay him for doing so; nor in the capture of Fort Caroline did
+he do more than has been related; and such is the account given by
+Doctor Salis de las Meras, brother-in-law to Donna Maria de Salis, wife
+of the Adelantado, who was present, and who, relating the punishment of
+the heretics, and the manner in which it was accomplished, says,--
+
+"'The Adelantado occupied himself in fortifying his settlement at St.
+Augustine, as well as he could, to defend it from the French fleet if
+they should attack it. Upon the following day some Indians came and by
+signs informed them that four leagues distant there were a large number
+of Christians, who were unable to cross an arm of the sea or strait,
+which is a river upon the inner side of an inlet, which they were
+obliged to cross in order to come to St. Augustine. The Adelantado sent
+thither forty soldiers about dusk, and arrived about midnight near the
+inlet, where he commanded a halt until morning, and leaving his soldiers
+concealed, he ascended a tree to see what was the state of matters. He
+discovered many persons on the other side of the river, and their
+standards; and to prevent their passing over, he directed his men to
+exhibit themselves towards the shore, so that it might be supposed that
+he had with him a large force; and when they were discovered, a French
+soldier swam over, and said that the persons beyond the river were
+Frenchmen, that they had been wrecked in a storm, but had all saved
+their lives. The Adelantado asked what French they were? He answered,
+that they were two hundred of the people under command of Jean Ribault,
+Viceroy and Captain General of this country for the king of the French.
+He asked again, if they were Catholics or Lutherans? It was replied that
+they were all Lutherans, of the new religion; all of which was
+previously well known to the Adelantado, when he encountered their fleet
+with his vessels; and the women and children whom he had spared when he
+took their fort, had also so informed him; and he had found in the fort
+when he took it, six trunks filled with books, well bound and gilt; all
+of which were of the new sect, and from which they did not say mass, but
+preached their Lutheran doctrines every evening; all of which books he
+directed to be burnt, not sparing a single one.
+
+"'The Adelantado then asked him why he had come over? He said he had
+been sent over by his Captain, to see what people they were. The General
+asked if he wished to return. He said, "Yes, but he desired to know what
+people they were." This man spoke very plainly, for he was a Gascon of
+San Juan de Suz. "Then tell him," said the Adelantado, "that it is the
+Viceroy and Captain General of this country for the king, Don Philip;
+and that his name is Pedro Menendez, and that he is here with some of
+his soldiery to ascertain what people those were, for he had been
+informed the day before that they were there, and the hour at which they
+came."
+
+"'The French soldier went over with his message, and immediately
+returned, saying "that if they would pledge faith to his captain and to
+four other gentlemen, they would like to come and treat with him;" and
+they desired the loan of a boat, which the General had directed to bring
+some provisions to the river. The General instructed the messenger to
+say to his captain, "that he might come over securely under the pledge
+of his word," and then sent over for them the boat; and they crossed
+over. The Adelantado received them very well, with only ten of his
+followers; the others he directed to stay some distance off among some
+bushes, so that their number might appear to be greater than it was. One
+of the Frenchmen announced himself as captain of these people; and that
+in a great storm they had lost four galleons, and other vessels of the
+king of France, within a distance of twenty leagues of each other; and
+that these were the people from on board of one ship, and that they
+desired they would let them have a boat for this arm of the sea, and for
+another four leagues hence, which was at St. Augustine; that they
+desired to go to a fort which they held twenty leagues from there. It
+was the same fort which Menendez had taken. The Adelantado asked them
+"if they were Catholics or Lutherans?" He replied "that they were all of
+the New Religion." Then the Adelantado said to them, "Gentlemen, your
+fort is taken and its people destroyed, except the women, and children
+under fifteen years of age; and that you may be assured of this, among
+the soldiers who are here there are many things, and also there are here
+two Frenchmen whom I have brought with me, who said they were Catholics.
+Sit down here and eat, and I will send the two Frenchmen to you, as also
+the things which some of my soldiers have taken from the fort, in order
+that you may be satisfied.
+
+"'The Adelantado having spoken thus, directed food to be given to them,
+and sent the two Frenchmen to them, and many things which the soldiers
+had brought from the fort, that they might see them, and then retired
+himself, to eat with his own people; and an hour afterwards, when he saw
+that the French had eaten, he went where they were and asked if they
+were satisfied of the truth of what he had told them. They said they
+were, and desired that for a consideration, he should give them vessels
+and ships' stores, that they might return to France. The Adelantado
+answered, "that he would do so with great pleasure if they were good
+Catholics, or if he had the ships for them; but he had not the vessels,
+having sent two to St. Matteo (Ft. Caroline), the one to take the
+artillery they had captured, and the French women and children, to St.
+Domingo, and to obtain provisions. The other had to go upon business of
+his Majesty to other parts.
+
+"'The French captain replied, "that he should grant to all, their lives,
+and that they should remain with him until they could obtain shipping
+for France, since they were not at war, and the kings of Spain and of
+France were brothers and friends." The Adelantado said, "that was true,
+and Catholics and friends he would favor, believing that he would serve
+both kings in doing so; but as to themselves, being of the new sect, he
+held them for enemies, and he would wage war upon them even to blood and
+to fire; and that he would pursue them with all cruelty wherever he
+should encounter them, in whatever sea or land where he should be
+viceroy or captain general for his king; and that he would go and plant
+the holy faith in this land, that the Indians might be enlightened and
+be brought to the knowledge of the Holy Catholic Faith of Jesus Christ
+our Saviour, as taught and announced by the Roman Church. That if they
+wished to surrender their standards and their arms, and throw themselves
+upon his mercy, they might do so, for _he would do with them what God
+should of his grace direct_; or, they could do as they might deem
+proper; that other treaty or friendship they should not have from him."
+The French captain replied, that he could not then conclude any other
+matter with the Adelantado. He went over in the boat, saying, that he
+went to relate what had passed, and to agree upon what should be done,
+and within two hours he would return with an answer. The Adelantado
+said, "They could do as seemed best to them, and he would wait for
+them." Two hours passed, when the same French captain returned, with
+those who had accompanied him previously, and said to the General, "that
+there were many people of family, and nobles among them, and that they
+would give fifty thousand ducats, of ransom, if he would spare all their
+lives." He answered, "that although he was a poor soldier, he could not
+be governed by selfish interests, and if he were to be merciful and
+lenient, he desired to be so without the suspicion of other motives."
+The French captain returned to urge the matter. "Do not deceive
+yourselves," said the Adelantado, "for if Heaven were to join to earth,
+I would do no otherwise than I have said." The French officer then going
+towards where his people stood, said, that in accordance with that
+understanding he would return shortly with an answer; and within half an
+hour he returned and placed in the boat, the standards, seventy
+arquebuses, twenty pistols, a quantity of swords and shields, and some
+helmets and breast-plates; and the captain came to where the General
+stood, and said that all the French force there submitted themselves to
+his clemency, and surrendered to him their standards and their arms. The
+Adelantado then directed twenty soldiers to go in the boat and bring the
+French, ten by ten. The river was narrow and easy to pass, and he
+directed Diego Flores de Valdes, Admiral of the Fleet, to receive the
+standards and the arms, and to go in the boat and see that the soldiers
+did not maltreat them. The Adelantado then withdrew from the shore,
+about two bow shots, behind a hillock of sand, within a copse of bushes,
+where the persons who came in the boat which brought over the French,
+could not see; and then said to the French captain and the other eight
+Frenchmen who were there with him, "Gentlemen, I have but few men with
+me, and they are not very effective, and you are numerous; and, going
+unrestrained, it would be an easy thing to take satisfaction upon our
+men for those whom we destroyed when we took the fort; and thus it is
+necessary that you should march with hands tied behind, a distance of
+four leagues from here where I have my camp." The French replied "that
+they would do so;" and they had their hands tied strongly behind their
+backs with the match ropes of the soldiers; and the ten who came in the
+boat did not see those who had their hands tied, until they came up to
+the same place; for it was so arranged, in order that the French who had
+not passed the river, should not understand what was being done, and
+might not be offended, and thus were tied two hundred and eight
+Frenchmen. Of whom the Adelantado asked that if any among them were
+Catholics, they should declare it. Eight said that they were Catholics,
+and were separated from the others and placed in a boat, that they might
+go by the river to St. Augustine; and all the rest replied "that they
+were of the new religion, and held themselves to be very good
+Christians; that this was their faith and no other." The Adelantado then
+gave the order to march with them, having first given them meat and
+drink, as each ten arrived, before being tied, which was done before the
+succeeding ten arrived; and he directed one of his captains who marched
+with the vanguard, that at a certain distance from there he would
+observe a mark made by a lance, which he carried in his hand, which
+would be in a sandy place that they would be obliged to pass in going on
+their way towards the fort of St. Augustine, and that there the
+prisoners should all be destroyed; and he gave the one in command of the
+rearguard the same orders; and it was done accordingly; when, leaving
+there all of the dead, they returned the same night before dawn, to the
+fort at St. Augustine, although it was already sundown when the men were
+killed.'"[11]
+
+Such is the second part of this sad and bloody tragedy; which took place
+at the Matanzas Inlet, about eighteen miles south of the city of St.
+Augustine, and at the southerly end of Anastasia Island. The account we
+have given, it must be borne in mind, is that of De Solis, the
+brother-in-law and apologist of Menendez; but even under his extenuating
+hand the conduct of Menendez was that of one deaf to the voice of
+humanity, and exulting in cold-blooded treachery, dealing in vague
+generalities intended to deceive, while affording a shallow apology for
+the actor. A massacre in cold blood of poor shipwrecked, famished men,
+prisoners yielding themselves to an expected clemency, tied up like
+sheep, and butchered by poignard blows from behind, shocked alike the
+moral sense of all to whom the tale without regard to faith or flag.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+FATE OF RIBAULT AND HIS FOLLOWERS--BLOODY MASSACRE AT MATANZAS--1565.
+
+
+The first detachment of the French whom Menendez met and so utterly
+destroyed, constituted the complement of a single vessel, which had been
+thrown ashore at a more northerly point than the others. All these
+vessels were wrecked between Mosquito Inlet and Matanzas.
+
+Of the fate of the main detachment, under Ribault in person, we have the
+following account, as related by the same apologist, the chaplain De
+Solis:
+
+"On the next day following the return of the Adelantado at St.
+Augustine, the same Indians who came before returned, and said that 'a
+great many more Christians were at the same part of the river as the
+others had been.' The Adelantado concluded that it must be Jean Ribault,
+the General of the Lutherans at sea and on land, whom they called the
+Viceroy of this country for the king of France. He immediately went,
+with one hundred and fifty men in good order, and reached the place
+where he had lodged the first time, at about midnight; and at dawn he
+pushed forward to the river, with his men drawn out, and when it was
+daylight, he saw, two bow-shots from the other bank of the river, many
+persons, and a raft made to cross over the people, at the place where
+the Adelantado stood. But immediately, when the French saw the
+Adelantado and his people, they took arms, and displayed a royal
+standard and two standards of companies, sounding fifes and drums, in
+very good order, and showing a front of battle to the Adelantado; who,
+having ordered his men to sit down and take their breakfast, so that
+they made no demonstration of any change, he himself walked up and down
+the shore, with his admiral and two other captains, paying no attention
+to the movement and demonstration of battle of the French; so that they
+observing this, halted and the fifes and the drums ceased, while with a
+bugle note they unfurled the white flag of peace, which was returned by
+the Adelantado. A Frenchman placed himself upon the raft, and cried with
+a loud voice that he wished to cross over, but that owing to the force
+of the current he could not bring the raft over, and desired an Indian
+canoe which was there to be sent over. The Adelantado said he could swim
+over for it, under pledge of his word. A French sailor immediately came
+over, but the General would not permit him to speak with him, but
+directed him to take the canoe, and go and tell his captain, that
+inasmuch as he called for a conference, if he desired anything he should
+send over some one to communicate with him. The same sailor immediately
+came with a gentleman, who said he was the sergeant major of Jean
+Ribault, Viceroy and Captain General of this land for the king of
+France, and that he had sent him to say, that they had been wrecked with
+their fleet in a great storm, and that he had with him three hundred and
+fifty French; that they wished to go to a fort which they held, twenty
+leagues from there; that they wished the favor of boats, to pass this
+river, and the other, four leagues further on, and that he desired to
+know if they were Spaniards, and under what leader they served.
+
+"The Adelantado answered him, that they were Spaniards, and that the
+captain under whom they served was the person now addressing him, and
+was called Pedro Menendez. That he should tell his General that the fort
+which he held twenty leagues from there had been taken by him, and he
+had destroyed all the French, and the rest who had come with the fleet,
+because they were badly governed; and then, passing thence to where the
+dead bodies of the Frenchmen whom he had killed still lay unburied,
+pointed them out to him and said, therefore he could not permit them to
+pass the river to their fort.
+
+"The sergeant, with an unmoved countenance, and without any appearance
+of uneasiness on account of what the Adelantado had said, replied, that
+if he would have the goodness to send a gentleman of his party, to say
+to the French general, that they might negotiate with safety, the people
+were much exhausted, and the general would come over in a boat which was
+there. The Adelantado replied, 'Farewell, comrade, and bear the answer
+which they shall give you; and if your general desires to come and treat
+with me, I give my word that he shall come and return securely, with
+four or six of his people whom he may select for his advisors, that he
+may do whatever he may conclude to be best.'
+
+"The French gentleman then departed with this message. Within half an
+hour he returned to accept the assurance the Adelantado had given, and
+to obtain the boat; which the Adelantado was unwilling to let him have,
+but said he could use the canoe, which was safe, and the strait was
+narrow; and he again went back with this message.
+
+"Immediately Jean Ribault came over, whom the Adelantado received very
+well, with other eight gentleman, who had come with him. They were all
+gentlemen of rank and position. He gave them a collation, and would have
+given them food if they had desired. Jean Ribault with much humility,
+thanked him for his kind reception, and said that to raise their
+spirits, much depressed by the sad news of the death of their comrades,
+they would partake only of the wine and condiments, and did not wish
+anything else to eat. Then after eating, Jean Ribault said, 'that he saw
+that those his companions were dead, and that he could not be mistaken
+if he desired to be.' Then the Adelantado directed the soldiers to bring
+each one whatever he had taken from the fort; and he saw so many things
+that he knew for certain that it was taken: although he knew this
+before, yet he could not wholly believe it, because among his men there
+was a Frenchman by name of Barbero, of those whom the Adelantado had
+ordered to be destroyed with the rest, and was left for dead with the
+others, having with the first thrust he received fallen down and made as
+though he were dead, and when they left there he had passed over by
+swimming, to Ribault; and this Barbero held it for certain that the
+Adelantado had deceived them in saying that the fort was taken, it not
+being so; and thus until now he had supposed. The Adelantado said that
+in order with more certainty to believe this and satisfy himself, he
+might converse apart with the two Frenchmen who were present, to satisfy
+him better; which he did.
+
+"Immediately Jean Ribault came towards the Adelantado and said, 'it was
+certain that all which he had told him was true; but that what had
+happened to him, might have happened to the Adelantado; and since their
+kings were brothers, and such great friends, the Adelantado should act
+towards him as a friend, and give him ships and provisions, that he
+might return to France.'
+
+"The Adelantado replied in the same manner that he had done to the other
+Frenchmen, as to what he would do; and that taking it or leaving it,
+Jean Ribault could obtain nothing further from the Adelantado. Jean
+Ribault then said that he would go and give an account of matters to
+his people, for he had among them many of noble blood; and would return
+or send an answer as to what he would do.
+
+"Three hours afterwards, Jean Ribault returned in the canoe, and said,
+'that there were different opinions among his people; that while some
+were willing to yield themselves to his clemency, others were not.' The
+Adelantado replied 'that it mattered but little to him whether they all
+came, or a part, or none at all; that they should do as it pleased them,
+and he would act with the same liberty.' Jean Ribault said to him, 'that
+the half of the people who were willing to yield themselves to his
+clemency, would pay him a ransom of more than 100,000 ducats; and the
+other half were able to pay more, for there were among them persons of
+wealth and large incomes, who had desired to establish estates in this
+country.' The Adelantado answered him, 'It would grieve me much to lose
+so great and rich a ransom, under the necessity I am under for such aid,
+to carry forward the conquest and settlement of this land, in the name
+of my king, as is my duty, and to plant here the Holy Evangel.' Jean
+Ribault considered from this, that with the amount they could all give,
+he might be induced to spare his own life and that of all the others who
+were with him, and that they might be able to pay more than 200,000
+ducats; and he said to the Adelantado, 'that he would return with his
+answer to his people; that as it was late, he would take it as a favor
+if he would be willing to wait until the following day, when, he would
+bring their reply as to what they would conclude to do.' The Adelantado
+said, 'Yes, that he would wait.' Jean Ribault then went back to his
+people, it being already sunset. In the morning, he returned with the
+canoe, and surrendered to the Adelantado two royal standards--the one
+that of the king of France, the other that of the Admiral
+(Coligny),--and the standards of the company, and a sword, dagger, and
+helmet, gilded very beautifully; and also a shield, a pistol, and a
+commission given him under the high admiral of France, to assure to him
+his title and possessions.
+
+"He then said to him, 'that but one hundred and fifty of the three
+hundred and fifty whom he had with him were willing to yield to his
+clemency, and that the others had withdrawn during the night; and that
+they might take the boat and bring those who were willing to come over,
+and their arms.' The Adelantado immediately directed the captain, Diego
+Flores Valdes, Admiral of the fleet, that he should bring them over as
+he had done the others, ten by ten; and the Adelantado, taking Jean
+Ribault behind the sand hills, among the bushes where the others had
+their hands tied behind them, he said to these and all the others as he
+had done before, that they had four leagues to go after night, and that
+he could not permit them to go unbound; and after they were all tied, he
+asked if they were Catholics or Lutherans, or if any of them desired to
+make confession.
+
+"Jean Ribault replied, 'that all who were there were of the new
+religion,' and he then began to repeat the psalm, '_Domine! Memento!
+Mei_;' and having finished, he said, 'that from dust they came and to
+dust they must return, and that in twenty years, more or less, he must
+render his final account; that the Adelantado might do with them as he
+chose.' The Adelantado then ordered all to be killed, in the same order
+and at the same mark, as had been done to the others. He spared only the
+fifers, drummers, and trumpeters, and four others who said that they
+were Catholics, in all, sixteen persons." "_Todos los demas fueron
+degallados_,"--"all the rest were slaughtered," is the sententious
+summary lay which Padre de Solis announced the close of the sad career
+of the gray-haired veteran, the brave soldier, the Admiral Jean Ribault,
+and his companions.[12]
+
+At some point on the thickly-wooded shores of the Island of Anastasio,
+or beneath the shifting mounds of sand which mark its shores, may still
+lie the bones of some of the three hundred and fifty who, spared from
+destruction by the tempest, and escaping the perils of the sea and of
+the savage, fell victims to the vindictive rancor and blind rage of one
+than whom history recalls none more cruel, or less humane. But while
+their bones, scattered on earth and sea, unhonored and unburied, were
+lost to human sight, the tale of their destruction and sad fate,
+scattered in like manner over the whole world, has raised to their
+memory through sympathy with their fate, a memorial which will endure as
+long as the pages of history.
+
+The Adelantado returned that night to St. Augustine, where, says his
+apologist, some persons censured him for his cruelty. Others commended
+what he had done, as the act of a good general, and said that even if
+they had been Catholics, he could not have done more justly than he had
+done for them; for with the few provisions that the Adelantado had,
+either the one or the other people would have had to perish with hunger,
+and the French would have destroyed our people: they were the most
+numerous.[13]
+
+We have still to trace the fate of the body of two hundred, who retired
+from Ribault after his final determination to surrender to the tender
+mercies of Menendez. As we are already aware, it comprised the elite of
+his force, men of standing and rank, and whose spirits had retained
+energy to combat against the natural discouragements of their position;
+and they adopted the nobler resolve of selling their lives, at least
+with their swords in their hands.
+
+De Solis proceeds to give the following further account of them:--
+
+"Twenty days subsequently to the destruction of these, some Indians came
+to the Adelantado, and informed him by signs, that eight days' journey
+from here to the southward, near the Bahama Channel, at Canaveral, a
+large number of people, brethren of those whom the General had caused to
+be killed, were building a fort and a vessel. The Adelantado at once
+came to the conclusion, that the French had retired to the place where
+their vessels were wrecked, and where their artillery and munitions, and
+provisions were, in order to build a vessel and return to France to
+procure succor. The General thereupon dispatched from St. Augustine to
+St. Matteo, ten of his soldiers, conveying intelligence of what had
+taken place, and directing that they should send to him one hundred and
+fifty of the soldiers there, with the thirty-five others who remained
+when he returned to St. Augustine, after taking the fort. The master of
+the camp immediately dispatched them, under command of Captains Juan
+Velez de Medrano and Andrez Lopez Patrio; and they arrived at St.
+Augustine on October 23d. On the 25th, after having heard mass, the
+Adelantado departed for the coast, with three hundred men, and three
+small vessels to go by sea with the arms and provisions; and the vessels
+were to go along and progress equally with the troops; and each night
+when the troops halted, the vessels also anchored by them, for it was a
+clear and sandy coast.
+
+"The Adelantado carried in the three vessels provisions for forty days
+for three hundred men, and one day's ration was to last for two days;
+and he promised to do everything for the general good of all, although
+they might have to undergo many dangers and privations; that he had
+great hope that he would have the goodness and mercy of God to aid him
+in carrying through safely this so holy and pious an undertaking. He
+then took leave of them, leaving most of them in tears, for he was much
+loved, feared, and respected by all.[14]
+
+"The Adelantado, after a wearisome journey, marching on foot himself the
+whole distance, arrived in the neighborhood of the French camp on All
+Saints Day, at daylight, guided by the Indians by land, and the three
+vessels under the command of Captain Diego de Maya. As soon as the
+French descried the Spaniards, they fled to their fort, without any
+remaining. The Adelantado sent them a trumpeter, offering them their
+lives, that they should return and should receive the same treatment as
+the Spaniards. One hundred and fifty came to the Adelantado; and their
+leader, with twenty others, sent to say that they would sooner be
+devoured by the Indians, than surrender themselves to the Spaniards. The
+Adelantado received those who surrendered, very well, and having set
+fire to the fort, which was of wood, burned the vessel which they were
+building, and buried the artillery, for the vessels could not carry
+them."
+
+De Solis here closes his account of the matter; but from other accounts
+we learn that the Adelantado kept his faith on this occasion with them,
+and that some entered his service, some were converted to his faith, and
+others returned to France; and thus ended the Huguenot attempt to
+colonize the shores of Florida.
+
+There are several other accounts of the fate of Ribault and his
+followers, drawn from the narratives of survivors of the expedition,
+which, without varying the general order of events, fill in sundry
+details of the massacres. The main point of difference is, as to the
+pledges or assurances given by Menendez. The French accounts say that he
+pledged his faith to them that their lives should be spared.[15] It will
+be seen that the Spanish account denies that he did so, but makes him
+use language subject to misconstruction, and calculated to deceive them
+into the hope and expectation of safety. I do not see that in a
+Christian or even moral view there is much difference between an open
+breach of faith and the breach of an implied faith, particularly when it
+was only by this deception that the surrender could have been
+accomplished. Nor could Menendez have had a very delicate sense of the
+value of the word of a soldier, a Christian, and a gentleman, when, as
+his apologist admits, he did directly use the language of falsehood, to
+induce them to submit to the degradation of having their hands tied.
+
+Nor, considered in its broader aspects is it a matter of any consequence
+whether he gave his word or no; nor does it lessen the enormity of his
+conduct, had they submitted themselves in the most unreserved manner to
+his discretion. France and Spain were at peace; no act of hostility had
+been committed by the French toward the Spaniards; and Ribault asked
+only to be allowed to pass on. In violation alike of the laws of war and
+the law of humanity, he first induced them to surrender, to abide what
+God, whose holy name he invoked, should put into his heart to do, and
+then cajoling them into allowing their hands to be tied, he ordered them
+to be killed, in their bonds as they stood, defenseless, helpless,
+wrecked, and famished men. It would have been a base blot upon human
+nature, had he thus served the most savage tribe of nations, standing on
+that far shore, brought into the common sympathy of want and suffering.
+The act seems one of monstrous atrocity, when committed against the
+people of a sister nation.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+FORTIFYING OF ST. AUGUSTINE--DISAFFECTIONS AND MUTINIES--APPROVAL OF
+MENENDEZ' ACTS BY THE KING OF SPAIN. 1565-1568.
+
+
+During the time of the several expeditions of the Adelantado against the
+French Huguenots, the fortification and strengthening of the defenses of
+the settlement at St. Augustine had not been neglected. The fort, or
+Indian council-house, which had been first fortified, seems to have been
+consumed in the conflagration spoken of; and thereupon a plan of a
+regular fortification or fort was marked out by Menendez; and, as there
+existed same danger of the return of the French, the Spaniards labored
+unceasingly with their whole force, to put it in a respectable state of
+defense. From an engraving contained in De Bry, illustrating the attack
+of Sir Francis Drake, twenty years afterwards, this fort appears to have
+been an octagonal structure of logs, and located near the site of the
+present fort, while the settlement itself was probably made in the first
+instance, at the lower end of the peninsula, near the building now
+called "the powder-house."
+
+He also established a government for the place, with civil and military
+officials, a hall of justice, etc.
+
+All of these matters were arranged by Menendez before his expedition
+against the French at Canaveral, of whom one hundred and fifty returned
+with him, and were received upon an equal footing with his own men, the
+more distinguished being received at his own table upon the most
+friendly terms; a clemency which, with a knowledge of his character, can
+only be ascribed to motives of policy. The position of the French at
+Canaveral was probably inaccessible, as they had their arms, besides
+artillery brought from the vessels; and the duplicity which had
+characterized his success with their comrades, was out of the question
+here; the French could therefore exact their own terms, and unshackled
+could forcibly resist any attempt at treachery.
+
+The addition of this number to his force lessened the already diminished
+supply of provisions which Menendez had brought with him; and want soon
+began to threaten his camp. He sent as many of his soldiers as he could
+into camp at San Matteo, and endeavored to draw supplies from the
+Indians; but unfortunately for him, the country between the St. Johns
+and St. Augustine was under the rule of the Indian Chief, Satouriara,
+the friend (and ally of the French), whose hostility the Spaniards were
+never able to overcome. Satouriara and his followers withdrew from all
+peaceable intercourse with the Spaniards, and hung about their path to
+destroy, harrass, and cut them off upon every possible occasion.
+
+The winter succeeding the settlement of the Spaniards at St. Augustine,
+was most distressing and discouraging to them. The lack of provisions in
+their camp drove them to seek, in the surrounding country, subsistence
+from the roots and esculent plants it might afford, or to obtain in the
+neighboring creeks, fish and oysters; but no sooner did a Spaniard
+venture out alone beyond, the gates of the fort, than he was grasped, by
+some unseen foe, from the low underbrush and put to death, or a shower
+of arrows from some tree-top was his first intimation of danger; if he
+discharged his arquebuse towards his invisible assailants, others would
+spring upon him before he could reload his piece; or, if he attempted to
+find fish and oysters in some quiet creek, the noiseless canoe of an
+Indian would dart in upon him, and the heavy war-club of the savage
+descending upon his unprotected head, end his existence. Against such a
+foe, no defense could avail; and it is related that more than one
+hundred and twenty of the Spaniards were thus killed, including Captain
+Martin de Ochoa, Captain Diego de Hevia, Fernando de Gamboa, and Juan
+Menendez, a nephew of the Adelantado, and many others of the bravest and
+most distinguished of the garrison.
+
+In this crisis of affairs, the Governor concluded to go to Cuba himself,
+to obtain relief for his colony. He in the meantime established a fort
+at St. Lucia, near Canaveral. A considerable jealousy seems to have
+existed on the part of the governor of Cuba; and he received Menendez
+with great coolness, and in reply to his appeals for aid, only offered
+an empty vessel. In this emergency, Menendez contemplated, as his only
+means of obtaining what he wished, to go upon a filibustering expedition
+against some Portuguese and English vessels which were in those waters.
+While making preparations to do this, four vessels of the fleet with
+which he had left Spain, and which had been supposed lost, arrived; and
+after dispatching a vessel to Campeachy for provisions, he commenced
+his return voyage to his colony, delaying however for a time in South
+Florida, to seek intelligence among the Indians of his lost son.
+
+In the meantime his garrisons at St. Augustine and San Matteo had
+mutinied, and were in open revolt; provisions had become so scarce that
+twenty-five reals had been given for a pound of biscuit, and but for the
+fish they would have starved. They plundered the public stores,
+imprisoned their officers, and seized upon a vessel laden with
+provisions which had been sent to the garrison. The Master of the Camp
+succeeded in escaping from confinement and releasing his fellow
+prisoners, by a bold movement cut off the intercourse between the
+mutineers on board the vessel and those on shore, and hung the Sergeant
+Major, who was at the head of the movement. The Commandant then
+attempted to attack those in the vessel, and was nearly lost with his
+companions, by being wrecked on the bar. The vessel made sail to the
+West India Islands. The garrison at San Matteo took a vessel there and
+come around to St. Augustine, but arrived after their accomplices had
+left.
+
+Disease had already begun to make its ravages, and added to the general
+wish to leave the country; which all would then have done had they had
+the vessels in which to embark. They used for their recovery from
+sickness, the roots of a native shrub, which produced marvelous cures.
+
+At this period Menendez returned to the famished garrison, but was
+forced to permit Juan Vicente, with one hundred of the disaffected, to
+go to St. Domingo by a vessel which he dispatched there for supplies;
+and it is said that the governors of the islands where they went,
+harbored them, and that of some five hundred who on different occasions
+deserted from the Adelantado, and all of whom had been brought out at
+his cost, but two or three were ever returned to him; while the
+deserters putting their own construction upon their acts, sent home to
+the king of Spain criminations of the Adelantado, and represented the
+conquest of Florida, as a hopeless and worthless acquisition; that it
+was barren and swampy, and produced nothing.
+
+After this defection, Menendez proceeded along the coast to San Matteo,
+and thence to Guale, Amelia, and adjoining islands, Orista and St.
+Helena; made peaceful proposals to the Indian tribes, lectured them upon
+theology, and planted a cross at their council-houses. The cacique of
+Guale asked Menendez how it was "that he had waged war upon the other
+white men, who had come from the same country as himself?" He replied,
+"that the other white people were bad Christians, and believers in lies;
+and that those whom he had killed, deserved the most cruel death,
+because they had fled their own country, and came to mislead and deceive
+the caciques and other Indians, as they had already before misled and
+deceived many other good Christians, in order that the devil may take
+possession of them." While at St. Helena he succeeded in obtaining
+permission of the Indians to erect a fort there, and he left a
+detachment. On his return he also erected fort San Felipe, at Orista;
+and after setting up a cross at Guale, the cacique demanded of him, that
+as now they had become good Christians, he should cause rain to come
+upon their fields; for a drought had continued eight months. The same
+night a severe rain-storm happened, which confirmed the faith of the
+Indians, and gained the Adelantado great credit with them. While here,
+he learned that there was a fugitive Lutheran among the Indians, and he
+took some pains to cause to be given to the fugitive hopes of good
+treatment if he would come into the Spanish post at St. Helena, while he
+gave private directions that he should be killed, directing his
+lieutenant to make very strange of his disappearance; an incident very
+illustrative of the vindictiveness and duplicity of Menendez.[16]
+
+He returned to St. Augustine, and was received with great joy, and
+devoted himself to the completion of the fort, which was to frighten the
+savages, and enforce respect from strangers. It was built, it is said,
+where it now stands, _donde este ahora_, (1722.)
+
+The colony left at St. Helena mutinied almost immediately, and seizing a
+vessel sent with supplies, sailed for Cuba, and were wrecked on the
+Florida Keys, where they met at an Indian town the mutineers who had
+deserted from the fort at St. Matteo: these had been also wrecked there.
+
+The garrison again becoming much straitened for provisions, the
+Adelantado, in June, was obliged to go to Cuba for succor. He was
+received with indifference, and his wishes unheeded. He applied to the
+governor of Mexico, and others who happened to be there, and who had the
+power of assisting him; from all he received no encouragement, but the
+advice to abandon his enterprise. He at last pawned his jewels, the
+badge of his order, and his valuables, thus obtaining five hundred
+ducats; with which he purchased provisions, and set sail on his return,
+with only sixty-five men.
+
+But just at this period succor came to the famished troops; a fleet of
+seventeen vessels arrived with fifteen hundred men from Spain, under
+Juan de Avila, as admiral. By this means all the posts were succored and
+reinforced, and the enterprise saved from destruction; for the small
+supplies brought by Menendez would have been soon exhausted, and further
+efforts being out of his power, they would have been forced to withdraw
+from the country.
+
+The admiral of the fleet also had entrusted to him for the Adelantado a
+letter from the king, written on the 12th of May, 1566, which, among
+other matters, contained the following royal commendation of the acts of
+Menendez. "Of the great success which has attended your enterprise, we
+have the most entire satisfaction, and we bear in memory the loyalty,
+the love, and the diligence, with which you have borne us service, as
+well as the dangers and perils in which you have been placed; and as to
+the _retribution_ you have visited upon the Lutheran pirates who sought
+to occupy that country, and to fortify themselves there, in order to
+disseminate in it their wicked creed, and to prosecute there their
+wrongs and robberies, which they have done and were doing against God's
+service and my own, we believe that you did it with every justification
+and propriety, and we consider ourself to have been well served in so
+doing."[17]
+
+To this commendation of Philip II., it is unnecessary to add any
+comment, save that no other action could have been expected of him. And
+of Charles the Ninth, of France, the Spanish historian says that he
+treated the memorial of the widows and orphans of the slain with
+contempt, "considering their punishment to have been just, in that they
+were equally enemies of Spain, of France, of the Church, and of the
+peace of the world."
+
+During the absence of Menendez to inspect his posts, disaffection again
+broke out; and finding his force too numerous, he with sixteen vessels
+went upon a freebooting expedition to attack pirates. He failed to meet
+with any; but having learned that a large French fleet was on its way,
+he visited and fortified the forts on the islands of Cuba, Hispaniola,
+and Puerto Rico, and again returned to Florida; the expected French
+fleet never having arrived. About this time, a small vessel brought from
+Spain three learned and exemplary priests; one of whom, Padre Martinez,
+landed upon the coast with some of the crew, and being unable to regain
+the vessel, coasted along to St. George Island, where he was attacked
+and murdered by the Indians, with a number of his companions.
+
+The following year was principally occupied by Menendez, in
+strengthening his fortifications at his three forts, in visiting the
+Indian chiefs at their towns, and exploring the country. One of his
+expeditions went as far north as the thirty-seventh degree of latitude
+by sea, and another went to the foot of the Apalachian Mountains, about
+one hundred and fifty leagues, and established a fort. The former was
+about the mouth of the Chesapeake, called the Santa Maria,[18] and the
+land expedition, probably to the up-country of Georgia, in the
+neighborhood of Rome.
+
+All attempts at pacifying their warlike neighbor were as fruitless as
+their attempts to subjugate him; whether in artifice and duplicity, in
+open warfare, or secret ambush, he was more than equal to the
+Adelantado, and was a worthy ancestor of the modern Seminole,--never
+present when looked for, and never absent when an opportunity of
+striking a blow occurred.
+
+The Adelantado having had built an extremely slight vessel of less than
+twenty tons, called a frigate, concluded to visit Spain, and ran in
+seventeen days to the Azores, sailing seventy leagues per day, an
+exploit not often equaled in modern times. He was received with great
+joy in Spain, and the king treated him with much consideration. The
+Adelantado felt great anxiety to return to his colony, and deprecated
+the delays of the court, fearing the result of the indignation at his
+cruelty to the Huguenots, which, says his chronicler, increased day by
+day.[19]
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+THE NOTABLE REVENGE OF DOMINIC DE GOURGUES--RETURN OF MENENDEZ--INDIAN
+MISSION--1568.
+
+
+While Menendez thus remained at the Spanish court urging the completion
+of his business, seeking compensation for the great expenditures which
+he had made in the king's service, and vindicating himself from the
+accusations which had been preferred against him,--the revenge, the
+distant murmurs of which had already reached his ears, fell upon the
+Spaniards on the St. Johns.
+
+Dominic de Gourgues, one of those soldiers of fortune who then abounded
+throughout Europe, took upon himself the expression of the indignation
+with which the French nation viewed the slaughter of their countrymen.
+From motives of policy, or from feelings still less creditable, the
+French court ignored the event; but it rankled nevertheless in the
+national heart, and many a secret vow of revenge was breathed, the low
+whispers of which reached even the confines of the Spanish court.
+Conscience, and the knowledge that the sentiment of the age was against
+him, made Menendez from the moment of his success exceedingly anxious
+lest well-merited retribution should fall upon his own colony. He
+guarded against it in every way in his power; he strengthened all his
+posts; he erected for the protection of San Matteo, formerly Fort
+Caroline, two small forts on either side of the entrance of the river,
+at the points now known as Batten Island and Mayport Mills. He placed
+large garrisons at each post, and had made such arrangements against
+surprise or open attack upon his forts, that Father Mendoza boasted
+that, "half of all France could not take them."
+
+De Gourgues, with three vessels and about two hundred and fifty chosen
+men, animated with like feelings with himself, appeared in April, 1568,
+off the mouth of the St. Johns. The Spanish fort received his vessels
+with a salute, supposing them to be under the flag of Spain. De Gourgues
+returned the salute, thus confirming their error. He then entered the
+St. Marys, called the Somme, and was met by a large concourse of
+Indians, friendly to the French and bitterly hostile to the Spaniards,
+at the head of whom was the stern and uncompromising Satouriara. Their
+plans were quickly formed, and immediately carried into execution. Their
+place of rendezvous was the Fort George Inlet, called by them the
+Sarabay; and they traversed that island at low tide, fell suddenly upon
+the fort at Batten Island on the north side of the river, completely
+surprising it. The force occupying the Spanish forts amounted to four
+hundred men, one hundred and twenty of whom occupied the two forts at
+the mouth of the river, and the remainder Fort Caroline. The French with
+their Indian allies approached the fort on the north side of the river
+at day-break. Having waded the intervening marsh and creek, to the great
+damage of their feet and legs by reason of the oyster banks, they
+arrived within two hundred yards of the post, when they were discovered
+by the sentinel upon the platform of the fort; who immediately cried,
+"to arms," and discharged twice at the French a culverin which had been
+taken at Fort Caroline. Before he could load it a third time the brave
+Olatocara leaped upon him, and killed him with a pike. Gourgues then
+charging in, the garrison, by this time alarmed, rushed out, armed
+hastily and seeking escape; another part of Gourgues' force coming up,
+inclosed the Spaniards between them, and all but fifteen of the garrison
+perished on the spot; the others were taken prisoners, only to be
+reserved for the summary vengeance which the French leader meditated.
+
+The Spanish garrison in the other fort kept up in the mean time a brisk
+cannonade, which incommoded the assailants, who however soon managed to
+point the pieces of the fort they had taken; and under the cover of this
+fire the French crossed to the other fort, their Indian allies in great
+numbers swimming with them. The garrison of sixty men, panic-struck,
+made no attempt at resistance, but fled, endeavoring to reach the main
+fort; being intercepted by the Indians in one direction, and by the
+French in another, but few made good their escape. These, arriving at
+Fort Caroline, carried an exaggerated account of the number of their
+assailants.
+
+De Gourgues at once pushed forward to attack Fort Caroline, while its
+defenders were terrified at the suddenness of his attack, and the
+supposed strength of his force. Upon his arrival near the fort, the
+Spanish commander sent out a detachment of sixty men, to make a
+reconnoisance. De Gourgues skillfully interposed a body of his own men
+with a large number of the Indians between the reconnoitering party and
+the fort, and then with his main force charged upon them in front: when
+the Spaniards, turning to seek the shelter of the fort, were met by the
+force in their rear, and were all either killed or taken prisoners.
+Seeing this misfortune, the Spanish commander despaired of being able to
+hold the fortress, and determined to make a timely retreat to St.
+Augustine. In attempting this, most of his followers fell into the hands
+of the Indians, and were slain upon the spot; the commandant with a few
+others alone escaped.
+
+De Gourgues, now completely successful in making retaliation for the
+fate of his countrymen on the same spot where they suffered, on the same
+tree which had borne the bodies of the Huguenots caused his prisoners to
+be suspended; and as Menendez had on the former occasion erected a
+tablet that they had been punished "not as Frenchmen but as Lutherans,"
+so De Gourgues in like manner erected an inscription that he had done
+this to them "_not as to Spaniards, nor as to outcasts, but as to
+traitors, thieves and murderers_."[20]
+
+After inducing the Indians to destroy the forts, and to raze them to the
+ground, he set sail for France, arriving safely without further
+adventure.
+
+His conduct was at the time disavowed and censured by the French court;
+and the Spanish ambassador had the assurance, in the name of that master
+who had publicly declared his approval of the conduct of Menendez, to
+demand the surrender of De Gourgues to his vengeance. The brave captain,
+however the crown might seem to disapprove, was secretly sustained and
+protected by many distinguished persons official and private, and by the
+mass of the people; to whom his boldness, spirit, and signal success
+were grateful. Some years afterwards he was restored to the favor of his
+sovereign, and appointed admiral of the fleet.
+
+That De Gourgues deserves censure, cannot be denied; but there will
+always exist an admiration for his courage and intrepid valor, with a
+sympathy for the bitter provocations under which he acted, both personal
+and national; a sympathy not shared with Menendez, who visited his wrath
+upon the religious opinions of men, while De Gourgues was the
+unauthorized avenger of undoubted crime and inhumanity. Both acted in
+violation of the pure spirit of that Christianity which they alike
+professed to revere, under the same form.
+
+While these scenes were enacting on the St. Johns, Menendez was on his
+way to his colonies, where he first heard of the descent of De Gourgues,
+then on his way back to France. The Adelantado upon his arrival found
+his troops hungry and naked, and their relations with the Indians worse
+than ever. Having made such arrangements as were in his power, he
+returned to Havana, to further his plans for introducing Christianity
+among the Indians; to which, to his credit be it said, he devoted the
+greater share of his time and attention. Father Rogel applied himself to
+learning their language, with great success; and an institution was
+established in Havana especially for their instruction. In the Ensayo
+Cronologica, there is set forth in full, a rescript addressed by Pope
+Pius V., to Menendez, conveying to him the acknowledgements of his
+Holiness for the zeal and loyalty he had exhibited, and his labors in
+carrying the faith to the Indians, and urging him strongly to see to it
+that his Indian converts should not be scandalized by the vicious lives
+of their white brethren who claimed to be Christians.
+
+A small party of Spaniards, as has already been mentioned, accompanied
+by a priest, De Quiros, had been left upon the Chesapeake, and under the
+auspices of a young converted chief, who had been some time with the
+Spaniards in Havana and Florida, anticipated a more easy access to the
+Indian tribes in that region. Another priest, with ten associates, went
+the following year; when, after they had sent away their vessel, they
+discovered that their predecessor had been murdered, through the
+treachery of the renegade apostate; and they themselves shortly fell
+victims to his perfidy. Menendez dispatched a third vessel there; when
+the fate of the two former parties was ascertained, and he went in
+person to chastise the murderers; he succeeded in capturing six or
+seven, who, it is said, (rather improbably I think), confessed
+themselves to have been implicated in the massacre. Menendez, in his
+summary and sailor-like way, ordered their execution at the yard-arm of
+his vessel. The Cronicle says that they were first converted and
+baptized, by the zeal of Father Rogel, before the sentence was carried
+into execution. A long period elapsed before any further efforts were
+made in this quarter to establish a colony; and it was then accomplished
+by the English. In consequence of these temporary establishments,
+however, the Spanish crown, for a long period, claimed the whole of the
+intervening country, as lying within its Province of Florida.
+
+The annals of the city during the remainder of the life of Menendez,
+present only the usual vicissitudes of new settlements,--the
+alternations of supply and want, occasional disaffections, and petty
+annoyances.
+
+Menendez was the recipient from his court of new honors from time to
+time, and had been appointed the grand admiral of the Spanish Armada;
+when, in September, 1574, he was suddenly carried off by a fever, at the
+age of fifty-five. It is a singular coincidence that De Gourgues, five
+years afterwards, was carried off in a similar manner, just after his
+appointment as admiral of the French fleet. A splendid monument in the
+church of San Nicolas, at Aviles, was erected to the memory of Menendez,
+with the following inscription:
+
+ "HERE LIES BURIED THE ILLUSTRIOUS CAVALIER, PEDRO MENENDEZ DE
+ AVILES, A NATIVE OF THIS CITY, ADELANTADO OF THE PROVINCES OF
+ FLORIDA, KNIGHT COMMANDER OF SANTA CRUZ OF THE ORDER OF SANTIAGO,
+ AND CAPTAIN GENERAL OF THE OCEANIC SEAS AND OF THE ARMADA WHICH HIS
+ ROYAL HIGHNESS COLLECTED AT SANTANDER IN THE YEAR 1574, WHERE HE
+ DIED ON THE 17TH OF SEPTEMBER OF THAT YEAR, IN THE 55TH YEAR OF HIS
+ AGE."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+SIR FRANCIS DRAKE'S ATTACK UPON ST. AUGUSTINE--ESTABLISHMENT OF
+MISSIONS--MASSACRE OF MISSIONARIES AT ST. AUGUSTINE--1586-1638.
+
+
+Nine years had elapsed from the death of Menendez, and the colony at St.
+Augustine had slowly progressed into the settlement of a small town; but
+the eclat and importance which the presence of Menendez had given it,
+were much lessened; when, in 1586, Sir Francis Drake, with a fleet
+returning from South America, discovered the Spanish look-out upon
+Anastasia Island, and sent boats ashore to ascertain something in
+reference to it. Marching up the shore, they discovered across the bay,
+a fort, and further up a town built of wood.
+
+Proceeding towards the fort, which bore the name of San Juan de Pinas,
+some guns were fired upon them from it, and they retired towards their
+vessel; the same evening a fifer made his appearance, and informed them
+that he was a Frenchman, detained a prisoner there, and that the
+Spaniards had abandoned their fort; and he offered to conduct them over.
+Upon this information they crossed the river and found the fort
+abandoned as they had been informed, and took possession of it without
+opposition. It was built entirely of wood, and only surrounded by a wall
+or pale formed of the bodies or trunks of large trees, set upright in
+the earth; for, says the narrative, it was not at that time inclosed by
+a ditch, as it had been but lately begun by the Spaniards. The platforms
+were made of the bodies of large pine trees (of which there are plenty
+here), laid horizontally across each other, with earth rammed in to fill
+up the vacancies. Fourteen brass cannon were found in the fort, and
+there was left behind the treasure chest, containing L2,000 sterling,
+designed for the payment of the garrison, which consisted of one hundred
+and fifty men. Whether the massive, iron-bound mahogany chest,[21]
+still preserved in the old fort is the same which fell into the hands
+of Drake, is a question for antiquaries to decide; its ancient
+appearance might well justify the supposition.
+
+On the following day, Drake's forces marched towards the town, but
+owing, it is said, to heavy rains, were obliged to return and go in the
+boats. On their approach, the Spaniards fled into the country. It is
+said, in Barcia, that a Spaniard concealed in the bushes, fired at the
+sergeant major and wounded him, and then ran up and dispatched him, and
+that in revenge for this act, Drake burnt their buildings and destroyed
+their gardens. The garrison and inhabitants retired to fort San Matteo,
+on the St. Johns river. Barcia says that the population of the place was
+then increasing considerably, and that it possessed a hall of justice,
+parochial church, and other buildings, together with gardens in the rear
+of the town.
+
+An engraved plan or view of Drake's descent upon St. Augustine,
+published after his return to England, represents an octagonal fort
+between two streams; at the distance of half a mile another stream;
+beyond that the town, with a look-out and two religious houses, one of
+which is a church, and the other probably the house of the Franciscans,
+who had shortly before established a house of their order there. The
+town contains three squares lengthwise, and four in width, with gardens
+on the west side.
+
+Some doubt has been thrown on the actual site of the first settlement,
+by this account; but I think it probably stood considerably to the south
+of the present public square, between the barracks and the powder-house.
+Perhaps the Maria Sanchez creek may have then communicated with the bay
+near its present head, in wet weather and at high tides isolating the
+fort from the town. The present north ditch may have been the bed of a
+tide creek, and thus would correspond to the appearance presented by the
+sketch. It is well known that the north end of the city was built at a
+much later period than the southern, and that the now vacant space below
+the barracks, was once occupied with buildings. Buildings and fields are
+shown upon Anastasia Island, opposite the town. The relative position of
+the town with reference to the entrance of the harbor is correctly shown
+on the plan; and there seems no sufficient ground to doubt the identity
+of the present town with the ancient locality.
+
+The garrison and country were then under the command of Don Pedro
+Menendez, a nephew of the Adelantado, who, after the English squadron
+sailed, having received assistance from Havana began, it is said, to
+rebuild the city, and made great efforts to increase its population, and
+to induce the Indians to settle in its neighborhood.
+
+In 1592, twelve Franciscan missionaries arrived at St. Augustine, with
+their Superior, Fray Jean de Silva, and placed themselves under the
+charge of Father Francis Manon, Warden of the convent of St. Helena. One
+of them, a Mexican, Father Francis Panja, drew up in the language of the
+Yemasees his "Abridgment of Christian Doctrine," said to be the first
+work compiled in any of our Indian languages.
+
+The Franciscan Father Corpa established a Mission house for the Indians
+at Talomato, in the northwest portion of the city of St, Augustine,
+where there was then an Indian village. Father Blas de Rodriguez, also
+called Montes, had an Indian Church at a village of the Indians called
+Tapoqui, situated on the creek called Cano de la Leche, north of the
+fort; and the church bearing the name of "Our Lady of the Milk" was
+situated on the elevated ground a quarter of a mile north of the fort,
+near the creek. A stone church existed at this locality as late as 1795,
+and the crucifix belonging to it is preserved in the Roman Catholic
+Church at St. Augustine.
+
+These missions proceeded with considerable apparent success, large
+numbers of the Indians being received and instructed both at this and
+other missions.
+
+Among the converts at the mission of Talomato, was the son of the
+cacique of the province of Guale, a proud and high-spirited young
+leader, who by no means submitted to the requirements of his spiritual
+fathers, but indulged in excesses which scandalized his profession.
+Father Corpa, after trying private remonstrances and warnings in vain,
+thought it necessary to administer to him a public rebuke. This aroused
+the pride of the young chief, and he suddenly left the mission,
+determined upon revenge. He gathered from the interior a band of
+warriors, whom he inspired with his own hatred against the missionaries.
+Returning to Talomato with his followers under the cover of night, he
+crept up to the mission house, burst open the chapel doors, and slew the
+devoted Father Corpa while at prayer; then severed his head from his
+body, set it upon a pikestaff, and threw his body out into the forest
+where it could never afterwards be found. The scene of this tragedy was
+in the neighborhood of the present Roman Catholic cemetery of St.
+Augustine.
+
+As soon as this occurrence became known in the Indian village, all was
+excitement; some of the most devoted bewailing the death of their
+spiritual father, while others dreaded the consequences of so rash an
+act, and shrunk with terror from the vengeance of the Spaniards, which
+they foresaw would soon follow. The young chief of Guale gathered them
+around him, and in earnest tones addressed them. "Yes," said he, "the
+friar is dead. It would not have been done, if he would have allowed us
+to live as we did before we became Christians. We desire to return to
+our ancient customs; and we must provide for our defense against the
+punishment which will be hurled upon us by the Governor of Florida,
+which, if it be allowed to reach us, will be as rigorous for this single
+friar as if we had killed them all.--For the same power which we possess
+to destroy this one priest, we have to destroy them all."
+
+His followers approved of what had been done, and said there was no
+doubt but what the same vengeance would fall upon them for the death of
+the one, as for all.
+
+He then resumed. "Since we shall receive equal punishment for the death
+of this one, as though we had killed them all, let us regain the liberty
+of which these friars have robbed us, with their promises of good things
+which we have not yet seen, but which they seek to keep us in hope of,
+while they accumulate upon us who are called Christians, injuries and
+disgusts, making us quit our wives, restricting us to one only, and
+prohibiting us from changing her.--They prevent us from having our
+balls, banquets, feasts, celebrations, games and contests, so that being
+deprived of them, we lose our ancient valor and skill which we inherited
+from our ancestors. Although they oppress us with labor, refusing to
+grant even the respite of a few days, and although we are disposed to do
+all they require from us, they are not satisfied; but for everything
+they reprimand as, injuriously treat us, oppress us, lecture us, call us
+bad Christians, and deprive us of all the pleasures which our fathers
+enjoyed, in the hope that they would give us heaven; by these frauds
+subjecting us and holding us under their absolute control. And what have
+we to hope except to be made slaves? If we now put them all to death, we
+shall destroy these excrescenses, and force the governor to treat us
+well."
+
+The majority were carried away by his address, and rung out the war-cry
+of death and defiance. While still eager for blood, their chief led them
+to the Indian town of Tapoqui, the mission of Father Montes, on the
+Cano de la Leche; tumultuously rushing in, they informed the missionary
+of the fate of Father Corpa, and that they sought his own life and those
+of all his order; and then with uplifted weapons bade him prepare to
+die. He reasoned and remonstrated with them, portraying the folly and
+wickedness of their intentions, that the vengeance of the Spaniards
+would surely overtake them, and implored them with tears, that for their
+own sakes rather than his, they would pause in their mad designs. But
+all in vain; they were alike insensible to his eloquence, and his tears,
+and pressed forward to surround him. Finding all else vain, he begged as
+a last favor that he should be permitted to celebrate mass before he
+died. In this he was probably actuated in part by the hope that their
+fierce hatred might be assuaged by the sight of the ceremonies of their
+faith, or that the delay might afford time for succor from the adjoining
+garrison.
+
+The permission was given; and there for the last time the worthy Father
+put on his robes, which might well be termed his robes of sacrifice. The
+wild and savage crowd, thirsting for his blood, reclined upon the floor
+and looked on in sullen silence, awaiting the conclusion of the rites.
+The priest alone, standing before the altar, proceeded with this most
+sad and solemn mass, then cast his eyes to heaven and knelt in private
+supplication; where the next moment he fell under the blows of his cruel
+foes, bespattering the altar at which he ministered, with his own life's
+blood. His crushed remains were thrown into the fields, that they might
+serve for the fowls of the air or the beasts of the forest; but not one
+would approach it, except a dog, which, rushing forward to lay hold upon
+the body, fell dead upon the spot, says the ancient chronicle; and an
+old Christian Indian, recognizing it, gave it sepulture in the forest.
+
+From thence the ferocious young chief of Guale led his followers against
+several missions, in other parts of the country, which he attacked and
+destroyed, together with their attendant clergy. Thus upon the soil of
+the ancient city was shed the blood of Christian martyrs, who were
+laboring with a zeal well worthy of emulation, to carry the truths of
+religion to the native tribes of Florida. Two hundred and sixty years
+have passed away since these sad scenes were enacted; but we can not
+even now repress a tear of sympathy and a feeling of admiration for
+those self-denying missionaries of the cross, who sealed their faith
+with their blood, and fell victims to their energy and devotion. The
+spectacle of the dying priest struck down at the altar, attired in his
+sacred vestments, and perhaps imploring pardon upon his murderers,
+cannot fail to call up in the heart of the most insensible, something
+more than a passing emotion.
+
+The zeal of the Franciscans was only increased by this disaster, and
+each succeeding year brought additions to their number. They pushed
+their missions into the interior of the country so rapidly that in less
+than two years they had established through the principal towns of the
+Indiana no less than twenty mission houses. The presumed remains of
+these establishments are still occasionally to be found throughout the
+interior of the country.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+SUBJECTION OF THE APALACHIAN INDIANS--CONSTRUCTION OF THE FORT, SEA
+WALL, &c.--1638-1700.
+
+
+In the year 1638, hostilities were entered into between the Spanish
+settlements on the coast, and the Apalachian Indians, who occupied the
+country in the neighborhood of the river Suwanee. The Spaniards soon
+succeeded in subduing their Indian foes; and in 1640, large numbers of
+the Apalachian Indians were brought to St. Augustine, and in alleged
+punishment for their outbreak, and with a sagacious eye to the
+convenience of the arrangement, were forced to labor upon the public
+works and fortifications of the city. At this period the English
+settlements along the coast to the northward, had begun to be formed,
+much to the uneasiness and displeasure of the Spanish crown, which for a
+long period claimed, by virtue of exploration and occupation, as well as
+by the ancient papal grant of Alexander, all the eastern coast of the
+United States. Their missionaries had penetrated Virginia before the
+settlement at Jamestown; and they had built a fort in South Carolina,
+and kept up a garrison for some years in it. But the Spanish government
+had become too feeble to compete with either the English or the French
+on the seas; and with the loss of their celebrated Armada, perished
+forever their pretensions as a naval power. They were therefore forced
+to look to the safety of their already established settlements in
+Florida; and the easy capture of the fort at St. Augustine by the
+passing squadron of Drake, evinced the necessity of works of a much more
+formidable character.
+
+It is evident that the fort, or castle as it was usually designated, had
+been then commenced, although its form was afterwards changed; and for
+sixty years subsequently, these unfortunate Apalachian Indians were
+compelled to labor upon the works, until in 1680, upon the
+recommendation of their mission Fathers, they were relieved from further
+compulsory labor, with the understanding that in case of necessity they
+would resume their labors.
+
+In 1648, St. Augustine is described to have contained more than three
+hundred householders (_vecinos_), a flourishing monastry of the order of
+St. Francis with fifty Franciscans, men very zealous for the conversion
+of the Indians, and regarded by their countrymen with the highest
+veneration. Besides these there were in the city alone, a vicar, a
+parochial curate, a superior sacristan, and a chaplain attached to the
+castle. The parish church was built of wood, the Bishop of Cuba, it is
+said, not being able to afford anything better, his whole income being
+but four hundred pezos per annum, which he shared with Florida; and
+sometimes he expended much more than his receipts.
+
+In 1665, Captain Davis, one of the English buccaneers and freebooters
+(then very numerous in the West Indies), with a fleet of seven or eight
+vessels came on the coast from Jamaica, to intercept the Spanish plate
+fleet on its return from New Spain to Europe; but being disappointed in
+this scheme, he proceeded along the coast of Florida, and came off St.
+Augustine, where he landed and marched directly upon the town, which he
+sacked and plundered, without meeting the least opposition or resistance
+from the Spaniards, although they had then a garrison of two hundred men
+in the fort, which at that time was an octagon, fortified and defended
+by round towers.
+
+The fortifications, if this account be true, were probably then very
+incomplete; and with a vastly inferior force it is not surprising that
+they did not undertake what could only have been an ineffectual
+resistance. It does not appear that the fort was taken; and the
+inhabitants retired probably within its enclosure with their
+valuables.[22]
+
+In the Spanish account of the various occurrences in this country, it is
+mentioned that in 1681, "the English having examined a province of
+Florida, distant twelve leagues from another called New Castle, where
+the air is pleasant, the climate mild, and the lands very fertile,
+called it Salvania; and that knowing these advantages, a Quaker, or
+Shaker (a sect barbarous impudent, and abominable), called William Penn,
+obtained a grant of it from Charles II., King of England, and made great
+efforts to colonize it." Such was the extent then claimed for the
+province of Florida, and such the opinion entertained of the Quakers.
+
+In 1681, Don Juan Marquez Cabrera, applied himself at once, upon his
+appointment to the governorship of Florida, to finishing the castle;
+and collected large quantities of stone, lime, timber, and iron, more
+than sufficient subsequently to complete it. About this period, a new
+impulse was given to the extension of the missions for converting the
+Indians; and large reinforcements of the clerical force were received
+from Mexico, Havana, and Spain; and many of them received salaries from
+the crown. A considerable Indian town is spoken of at this period, as
+existing six hundred varas north of St. Augustine, and called Macarasi,
+which would correspond to the place formerly occupied by Judge Douglas,
+deceased, and which has long been called Macariz. Other parts of the
+country were known by various names. Amelia Island was the province of
+Guale. The southern part of the country was known as the province of
+Carlos. Indian river was the province of Ys. Westwardly was the province
+of Apalachie; while smaller divisions were designated by the names of
+the chiefs.
+
+It is hardly to be doubted, that the same spirit of oppression towards
+the Indians, exercised in the other colonies under Spanish domination,
+existed in Florida. It has been already mentioned that the Apalachians
+were kept at labor upon the fortifications of St. Augustine; and in
+1680, the Yemasees, who had always been particularly peaceful and
+manageable, and whose principal town was Macarisqui, near St. Augustine,
+revolted at the rule exercised over them by the Spanish authorities at
+St. Augustine, in consequence of the execution of one of their chiefs by
+the order of the governor; and six years afterwards they made a general
+attack upon the Spaniards, drove them within the walls of the castle,
+and became such mortal enemies to them, that they never gave a Spaniard
+quarter, waylaying, and invariably massacring, any stragglers they could
+intercept outside of the fort.
+
+In 1670, an English settlement was established near Port Royal, South
+Carolina, one hundred and five years subsequent to the settlement of St.
+Augustine. The Spaniards regarded it as an infringement upon their
+rights; and although a treaty, after this settlement, had been made
+between Spain and England, confirming to the latter all her settlements
+and islands, yet as no boundaries or limits were mentioned, their
+respective rights and boundaries remained a subject of dispute for
+seventy years.
+
+About 1675, the Spanish authorities at St. Augustine, having
+intelligence from _white servants_ who fled to them, of the discontented
+and miserable situation of the colony in Carolina, advanced with a
+party under arms as far as the Island of St. Helena, to dislodge or
+destroy the settlers. A treacherous colonist of the name of Fitzpatrick,
+deserted to the Spaniards; but the governor, Sir John Yeamans, having
+received a reinforcement, held his ground; and a detachment of fifty
+volunteers under Colonel Godfrey, marched against the enemy, forcing
+them to retire from the Island of St. Helena, and retreat to St.
+Augustine.[23]
+
+Ten years afterwards, three galleys sailed from St. Augustine, and
+attacked a Scotch and English settlement at Port Royal, which had been
+founded by Lord Cardross, in 1681. The settlement was weak and
+unprotected, and the Spaniards fell upon them, killed several, whipped
+many, plundered all, and broke up the colony. Flushed with success, they
+continued their depredations on Edisto River, burning the houses,
+wasting the plantations, and robbing the settlers; and finished their
+marauding expedition by capturing the brother of Governor Morton, and
+burning him alive in one of the galleys which a hurricane had driven so
+high upon land as to make it impossible to have it re-launched. Such at
+least is the English account of the matter; and they say that intestine
+troubles alone prevented immediate and signal retaliation by the South
+Carolinians.[24]
+
+One Captain Don Juan de Aila went to Spain in the year 1687, in his own
+vessel, to procure additional forces and ammunition for the garrison at
+St. Augustine. He received the men and munitions desired; and as a
+reward for his diligence and patriotism, he also received the privilege
+of carrying merchandise, duty free; being also allowed to take twelve
+Spanish negroes for the cultivation of the fields of Florida, of whom it
+is said there was a great want in that province. By a mischance, he was
+only able to carry one negro there, with the troops and other cargo, and
+was received in the city with universal joy. This was the first occasion
+of the reception of African slaves; although as has been heretofore
+mentioned, it was made a part of the royal stipulation with Menendez,
+that he should bring over five hundred negro slaves.
+
+Don Diego de Quiroga y Losada, the governor of Florida in 1690, finding
+that the sea was making dangerous encroachments upon the shores of the
+town, and had reached even the houses, threatening to swallow them up,
+and render useless the fort which had cost so much to put in the state
+of completion in which it then was, called a public meeting of the chief
+men and citizens of the place, and proposed to them that in order to
+escape the danger which menaced them, and to restrain the force of the
+sea, they should construct a wall, which should run from the castle and
+cover and protect the city from all danger of the sea. The inhabitants
+not only approved of his proposal, but began the work with so much zeal,
+that the soldiers gave more than seventeen hundred dollars of their
+wages, although they were very much behind, not having been paid in six
+years; with which the governor began to make the necessary preparations,
+and sent forward a dispatch to the home government upon the subject.
+
+The council of war of the Indies approved, in the following year, of the
+work of the sea wall, and directed the viceroy of New Spain to furnish
+ten thousand dollars for it, and directed that a plan and estimate of
+the work should be forwarded. Quiroga was succeeded in the governorship
+of Florida, by Don Laureano de Torres, who went forward with the work of
+the sea wall, and received for this purpose the means furnished by the
+soldiers, and one thousand dollars more, which they offered besides the
+two thousand dollars, and likewise six thousand dollars which had come
+from New Spain, remitted by the viceroy, Count de Galleo, for the
+purpose of building a tower, as a look-out to observe the surrounding
+Indian settlements. Whether this tower was erected, or where, we have no
+certain knowledge. The towers erected on the governor's palace and at
+the northeast angle of the fort, were intended as look-outs both sea and
+landward.
+
+The statements made in reference to the building of this wall, from the
+castle as far as the city, confirm the opinion previously expressed,
+that the ancient and early settlement of the place was south of the
+public square, as the remains of the ancient sea wall extend to the
+basin at the Plaza. The top of this old sea wall is still visible along
+the centre of Bay street, where it occasionally appears above the level
+of the street; and its general plan and arrangement are shown on several
+old maps and plans of the city. Upon a plan of the city made in 1665, it
+is represented as terminating in a species of break-water at the public
+square. It is unnecessary to add that the present sea wall is a much
+superior structure to the old, and extends above twice the distance. Its
+cost is said to have been one hundred thousand dollars, and it was
+building from 1837 to 1843.
+
+In the year 1700, the work on the sea wall had progressed but slowly,
+although the governor had employed thirty stone-cutters at a time, and
+had eight yoke of oxen drawing stone to the landing, and two lime-kilns
+all the while at work. But the money previously provided, and
+considerable additional funds was requisite, resembling in this respect
+its successor. The new governor, De Curriga, took the matter in hand, as
+he had much experience in fortifications. The defenses of the fort are
+spoken of as being at the time too weak to resist artillery, and the
+sea wall as being but a slight work.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+ATTACK ON ST. AUGUSTINE BY GOVERNOR MOORE OF SOUTH
+CAROLINA--DIFFICULTIES WITH THE GEORGIANS. 1702-1732.
+
+
+Hostilities had broken out between England and Spain in 1702. The
+English settlements in Carolina only numbered six or seven thousand
+inhabitants, when Governor Moore, who was an ambitious and energetic
+man, but with serious defects of character, led an invading force from
+Carolina against St. Augustine. The pretense was to retaliate for old
+injuries, and, by taking the initiative, to prevent an attack upon
+themselves. The real motive was said by Gov. Moore's opponents at home,
+to have been the acquisition of military reputation and private gain.
+
+The plan of the expedition embraced a combined land and naval attack:
+and for this purpose six hundred provincial militia were embodied, with
+an equal number of Indian allies; a portion of the militia, with the
+Indians, were to go inland by boats and by land, under the command of
+Col. Daniel, who is spoken of as a good officer, while the main body
+proceeded with the governor by sea in several merchant schooners and
+ships which had been impressed for the service.
+
+The Spaniards, who had received intimations of the contemplated attack,
+placed themselves in the best posture of defense in their power, and
+laid up provisions in the castle to withstand a long siege.
+
+The forces under Col. Daniel arrived in advance of the naval fleet of
+the expedition, and immediately marched upon the town. The inhabitants,
+upon his approach, retired with their most valuable effects within the
+spacious walls of the castle, and Col. Daniel entered and took
+possession of the town, the larger part of which, it must be
+recollected, was at some distance from the castle.
+
+The quaint description of these events, given by Oldmixon, is as
+follows:--
+
+"Col. Rob. Daniel, a very brave man, commanded a party who were to go
+up the river in periagas, and come upon Augustino on the land side,
+while the Governour sailed thither, and attacked it by sea. They both
+set out in August, 1702. Col. Daniel, in his way, took St. Johns, a
+small Spanish settlement; as also St. Mary's, another little village
+belonging to the Spaniards; after which he proceeded to Augustino, came
+before the town, entered and took it, Col. Moor not being yet arrived
+with the fleet.
+
+"The inhabitants having notice of the approach of the English, had
+packed up their best effects and retired with them into the castle,
+which was surrounded by a very deep and broad moat.
+
+"They had laid up provisions there for four months, and resolved to
+defend themselves to the last extremity. However, Col. Daniel found a
+considerable booty in the town. The next day the Governour came ashore,
+and his troops following him, they entrenched, posted their guards in
+the church, and blocked up the castle. The English held possession of
+the town a whole month; but finding they could do nothing for want of
+mortars and bombs, they despatched away a sloop for Jamaica; but the
+commander of the sloop, instead of going thither, came to Carolina out
+of fear of treachery. Finding others offered to go in his stead, he
+proceeded in the voyage himself, after he had lain some time at
+Charlestown.
+
+"The Governour all this while lay before the castle of Augustino, in
+expectation of the return of the sloop, which hearing nothing of, he
+sent Col. Daniel, who was the life of the action, to Jamaica on the same
+errand.
+
+"This gentleman, being hearty in the design, procured a supply of bombs,
+and returned towards Augustino. But in the mean time two ships appeared
+in the offing, which being taken to be two very large men of war, the
+Governour tho't fit to raise the siege and abandon his ships, with a
+great quantity of stores, ammunition, and provisions, to the enemy. Upon
+which the two men of war entered the port of Augustino, and took the
+Governour's ships. Some say he burnt them himself. Certain it is they
+were lost to the English, and that he returned to Charles-Town over land
+300 miles from Augustino. The two men of war that were thought to be so
+large, proved to be two small frigates, one of 82, and the other of 16
+guns.[25]
+
+"When Col. Daniel came back to St. Augustine, he was chased, but got
+away; and Col. Moor retreated with no great honor homewards. The
+periagas lay at St. Johns, whither the Governour retired and so to
+Charles-Town, having lost but two men in the whole expedition."
+
+Arratomakaw, king of the Yamioseans, who commanded the Indians,
+retreated to the periagas with the rest, and there slept upon his oars
+with a great deal of bravery and unconcern. The governor's soldiers,
+taking a false alarm, and thinking the Spaniards were coming, did not
+like this slow pace of the Indian king in his flight, and to quicken him
+into it, bade him make more haste. But he replied, "No; though your
+governor leaves you, I will not stir till I have seen all my men before
+me."
+
+The Spanish accounts say that he burned the town, and this statement is
+confirmed by the report made on the 18th July, 1740, by a committee of
+the House of Commons of the province of South Carolina, in which it is
+said, referring to these transactions, that Moore was obliged to
+retreat, _but not without_ first burning the town.[26]
+
+It seems that the plunder carried off by Moore's troops was
+considerable; as his enemies charged at the time that he sent off a
+sloop-load to Jamaica, and in an old colonial document of South Carolina
+it is represented "that the late unfortunate, ill-contrived, and worst
+managed expedition against St. Augustine, was principally set on foot by
+the said late governor and his adherents; and that if any person in the
+said late assembly undertook to speak against it, and to show how unfit
+and unable we were at that time for such an attempt, he was presently
+looked upon by them as an enemy and traitor to his country, and reviled
+and affronted in the said assembly; although the true design of the said
+expedition was no other than catching and making slaves of Indians for
+private advantage, and impoverishing the country. * * * And that the
+expedition was to enrich themselves will appear particularly, because
+whatsoever booty, as rich silks, great quantity of church plate, with a
+great many other costly church ornaments and utensils taken by our
+soldiers at St. Augustine, are now detained in the possession of the
+said late governor and his officers, contrary to an act of assembly
+made for an equal division of the same amongst the soldiers."[27]
+
+The Spanish accounts of this expedition of Moore's are very meager. They
+designate him as the governor of St. George, by which name they called
+the harbor of Charleston; and they also speak of the plunder of the
+town, and the burning of the greater part of the houses. Don Joseph de
+Curriga was the then governor of the city, and had received just
+previous to the English attack, reinforcements from Havana, and had
+repaired and strengthened the fortifications.
+
+The retreat of the English was celebrated with great rejoicing by the
+Spaniards, who had been for three months shut up within the limited
+space of the walls of the castle; and they gladly repaired their ruined
+homes, and made good the ravages of the English invasion. An English
+account says that the two vessels which appeared off the bar and caused
+Moore's precipitate retreat, contained but two hundred men, and that had
+he awaited Colonel Daniel's return with the siege guns and ammunition,
+the castle would have fallen into their hands.
+
+In the same year, the king of Spain, alarmed at the dangers which
+menaced his possessions in Florida, gave greater attention to the
+strengthening the defenses of St. Augustine, and forwarded considerable
+reinforcements to the garrison, as well as additional supplies of
+munitions.
+
+The works were directed to be strengthened, which Governor Curriga
+thought not as strong as had been represented, and that the sea wall in
+the process of erection was insufficient for the purpose for which it
+was designed.
+
+Sixty years had elapsed since the Apalachian Indians had been conquered
+and compelled to labor upon the fortifications of St. Augustine; their
+chiefs now asked that they might be relieved from further compulsory
+labor; and after the usual number of references and reports and
+informations, through the Spanish circumlocution offices, this was
+graciously granted in a suspensory form, until their services should be
+again required.
+
+During the year 1712, a great scarcity of provisions, caused by the
+failure of the usual supply vessels, reduced the inhabitants of St.
+Augustine to the verge of starvation; and, for two or three months, they
+were obliged to live upon horses, cats, dogs, and other disgusting
+animals. It seems strange, that after a settlement of nearly one hundred
+and fifty years, the Spaniards in Florida should still be dependant upon
+the importation of provisions for their support; and that anything like
+the distress indicated should prevail, with the abundant resources they
+had, from the fish, oysters, turtle, and clams of the sea, and the
+arrow-root and cabbage-tree palm of the land.
+
+The English settlements were now extending into the interior portions of
+South Carolina; and the French had renewed their efforts at settlement
+and colonization upon the rivers discharging into the Gulf of Mexico.
+All three nations were competitors for the trade with the Indians, and
+kept up an intriguing rivalship for this trade for more than a hundred
+years.
+
+There seems to have been at this period a policy pursued by the Spanish
+authorities in Florida, of the most reprehensible character. The
+strongest efforts were made to attach all the Indian tribes to the
+Spanish interest; and they were encouraged to carry on a system of
+plunder and annoyance upon the English settlements of Carolina. They
+particularly seized upon all the negroes they could obtain, and carried
+them to the governor at St. Augustine, who invariably refused to
+surrender them, alleging that he was acting under the instructions of
+his government in so doing.
+
+In 1704, Governor Moore had made a sweeping and vigorous excursion
+against the Indian towns in Middle Florida, all of whom were in the
+Spanish interest; and had broken up and destroyed the towns and missions
+attached to them. In 1725, Col. Palmer determined, since no satisfaction
+could be obtained for the incursions of the Spanish Indians, and the
+loss of their slaves, to make a descent upon them; and with a party of
+three hundred men entered Florida, with an intention of visiting upon
+the province all the desolation of retributive warfare.
+
+He went up to the very gates of St. Augustine, and compelled the
+inhabitants to seek protection within the castle. In his course he swept
+every thing before him, destroying every house, field and improvement
+within his reach; carrying off the live stock, and every thing else of
+value. The Spanish Indians who fell within his power, were slain in
+large numbers, and many were taken prisoners. Outside of the walls of
+St. Augustine, nothing was left undestroyed; and the Spanish
+authorities received a memorable lesson in the law of retribution.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+SIEGE OF ST. AUGUSTINE, BY OGLETHORPE--1732-1740
+
+
+Difficulties existed for many years subsequently between the Spanish and
+English settlements. In 1732, Oglethorpe planted his colony in Georgia,
+and extended his settlements along the coast towards Florida, claiming
+and occupying the country up to the margin of the St. Johns, and
+established a post at St. George Island. This was deemed an invasion of
+the territory of Spain; and the post was attacked unfairly, as the
+English say, and some of their men murdered. Oglethorpe, upon this,
+acting under the instructions of the home government, commenced
+hostilities by arranging a joint attack of the forces of South Carolina
+and Georgia, with a view to the entire conquest of Florida.
+
+The instructions of the king of England to Oglethorpe, were, that he
+should make a naval and land attack upon St. Augustine; "and if it shall
+please God to give you success, you are either to demolish the fort and
+bastions, or put a garrison in it, in case you shall have men enough for
+that purpose; which last, it is thought, will be the best way to prevent
+the Spaniards from endeavoring to retake and settle the said place
+again, at any time hereafter."[28]
+
+Don Manuel Monteano was then governor of Florida, and in command of the
+garrison. The city and castle were previously in a poor condition to
+withstand an attack from a well-prepared foe; and on the 11th November,
+1737, Governor Monteano writes to the governor-general of Cuba, that
+"the fort of this place is its only defense; it has no casemates for the
+shelter of the men, nor the necessary elevation to the counter-scarp,
+nor covert ways, nor ravelins to the curtains, nor other exterior works
+that could give time for a long defense; but it is thus naked outside,
+as it is without soul within, for there are no cannon that could be
+fired twenty-four hours, and though there were, artillery-men to manage
+them are wanting."
+
+Under the superintendence of an able officer of engineers, Don Antonio
+de Arredondo, the works were put in order; the ramparts were heightened
+and casemated; a covered way was made, by planting and embanking four
+thousand stakes; bomb-proof vaults were constructed, and entrenchments
+thrown up around the town, protected by ten salient angles, many of
+which are still visible. The garrison of the town was about seven
+hundred and forty soldiers, according to Governor Monteano's return of
+troops. On the 25th March, 1740, the total population of St. Augustine,
+of all classes, was two thousand one hundred and forty-three.
+
+Previous to his attack upon the place, General Oglethorpe obtained the
+following information from prisoners whom he took at the outposts. He
+says: "They agree that there are fifty pieces of cannon in the castle at
+St. Augustine, several of which are of brass, from twelve to forty-eight
+pounds. It has four bastions. The walls are of stone, and casemated. The
+internal square is sixty yards. The ditch is forty feet wide, and twelve
+feet deep, six of which is sometimes filled with water. The counterscarp
+is faced with stone. They have lately made a covered way. The town is
+fortified with an entrenchment, salient angles and redoubts, which
+inclose about half a mile in length, and a quarter of a mile in width.
+The inhabitants and garrison, men, women and children, amount to above
+two thousand five hundred. For the garrison, the king pays eight
+companies, sent from Spain two years since for the invasion of Georgia;
+upon establishment fifty-three men each, three companies of foot and one
+of artillery, of the old garrison, and one troop of horse one hundred
+each upon establishment; of these, one hundred are at St. Marks, ten
+days' march from St. Augustine; upon the Gulf of Mexico, one hundred are
+disposed in several small forts."
+
+Of these out-posts, there were two, one on each side of the river St.
+Johns--at Picolata and immediately opposite--and at Diego. The purpose
+of the forts at Picolata was to guard the passage of the river, and to
+keep open the communication with St. Marks and Pensacola; and when
+threatened with the invasion of Oglethorpe, messengers were dispatched
+to the governor of Pensacola for aid, and also to Mexico by the same
+route. The fort at Diego was but a small work, erected by Don Diego de
+Spinosa, upon his own estate; and the remains of it, with one or two
+cannon, are still visible. Fort Moosa, was an out-post at the place now
+known by that name, on the North River, about two miles north of St.
+Augustine. A fortified line, a considerable portion of which may now be
+traced, extended across from the stockades on the St. Sebastian to Fort
+Moosa. Communication by a tide-creek existed through the marshes,
+between the castle at St. Augustine and Fort Moosa.
+
+Oglethorpe first attacked the two forts at Picolata, one of which,
+called Fort Poppa, or St. Francis de Poppa, was a place of some
+strength. Its remains still exist, about one-fourth of a mile north of
+the termination of the Bellamy Road, its earthworks being still strongly
+marked.
+
+After a slight resistance, both forts fell into his hands, much to the
+annoyance of Governor Monteano. Oglethorpe speaks of Fort Francis as
+being of much importance, "as commanding the passes from St. Augustine
+to Mexico, and into the country of the Creek Indians, and also being
+upon the ferry, where the troops which come from St. Augustine must
+pass." He found in it, one mortar piece, two carriages, three small
+guns, ammunition, one hundred and fifty shells, and fifty glass bottles
+full of gunpowder, with fuses--a somewhat novel missile of war.
+
+The English general's plan of operation was, that the crews and troops
+upon the vessels should land, and throw up batteries upon Anastasia
+Island, from thence bombarding the town; while he himself designed to
+lead the attack on the land side. Having arrived in position, he gave
+the signal of attack to the fleet, by sending up a rocket; but no
+response came from the vessels, and he had the mortification of being
+obliged to withdraw his troops. The troops were unable to effect a
+landing from the vessels, in consequence of a number of armed Spanish
+galleys having been drawn up inside the bar; so that no landing could be
+made except under a severe fire, while the galleys were protected from
+an attack by the ships, in consequence of the shoal water.
+
+He then prepared to reduce the town by a regular siege, with a strict
+blockade by sea. He hoped, by driving the inhabitants into the castle,
+so to encumber the governor with useless mouths, as to reduce him to the
+necessity of a surrender, to avoid starvation. The town was placed under
+the range of his heavy artillery and mortars, and soon became untenable,
+forcing the citizens generally to seek the shelter of the fort.
+
+Col. Vanderduysen was posted at Point Quartel; and others of the troops
+upon Anastasia Island, and the north beach. Three batteries were
+erected: one on Anastasia Island, called the Poza, which consisted of
+four eighteen-pounders and one nine-pounder; one on the point of the
+wood of the island, mounting two eighteen-pounders. The remains of the
+Peza battery are still to be seen, almost as distinctly marked as on the
+day of its creation. Four mortars and forty cohorns were employed in the
+siege.
+
+The siege began on the 12th June; and on the 25th June a night sortie
+was made from the castle against a portion of the troops under command
+of Col. Palmer, who were encamped at Fort Moosa, including a company of
+Scotch Highlanders, numbering eighty-five men, under their chief, Capt.
+McIntosh, all equipped in Highland dress. This attack was entirely
+successful, and the English sustained a severe loss, their colonel being
+killed, with twenty Highlanders, twenty-seven soldiers, and a number of
+Indians.
+
+This affair at Fort Moosa has generally been considered as a surprise,
+and its disastrous results as the consequence of carelessness and
+disobedience of the orders of Oglethorpe. Captain McIntosh, the leader
+of the Highlanders, was taken prisoner, and finally transferred to
+Spain. From his prison at St. Sebastian, under date of 20th June, 1741,
+he gives the following account of the matter:--
+
+"I listed seventy men, all in Highland dress, and marched to the siege,
+and was ordered to scout nigh St. Augustine and molest the enemy, while
+the general and the rest of his little army went to an island where we
+could have no succor of them. I punctually obeyed my orders, until seven
+hundred Spaniards sallied out from the garrison, an hour before
+daylight. _They did not surprise us_, for we were all under arms, ready
+to receive them, which we did briskly, keeping a constant firing for a
+quarter of an hour, when they prest on with numbers; was obliged to take
+our swords until the most of us were shot and cut to pieces. You are to
+observe we had but eighty men; and the engagement was in view of the
+rest of our army, but they could not come to our assistance, by being in
+the foresaid island, under the enemy's guns. They had twenty prisoners,
+a few got off, the rest killed; as we were well informed by some of
+themselves, they had three hundred killed on the spot,[29] besides
+several wounded. We were all stripped naked of clothes, brought to St.
+Augustine, where we remained three months in close confinement."[30]
+
+This officer was Capt. John McIntosh; and his son, Brig. Gen. McIntosh,
+then a youth of fourteen, was present in the engagement, and escaped
+without injury. The family of the McIntoshes have always been
+conspicuous in the history of Georgia.
+
+The large number of persons collected within the walls of the castle,
+and under the protection of its battlements, soon gave rise to serious
+apprehensions on the part of the besieged, of being reduced by
+starvation to the necessity of a speedy surrender. The batteries of
+Oglethorpe were planted at so great a distance that he could produce but
+little effect by his shot or shells upon the castle, although he
+rendered the city itself untenable. The heat of the season and the
+exposure, to which the Provincial militia were unaccustomed, soon
+produced considerable sickness and discouragement in the invading force,
+and affected Oglethorpe himself.
+
+The Spanish governor sent most urgent messages to the governor of the
+island of Cuba, which were transmitted by runners along the coast, and
+thence by small vessels across to Havana. In one of these letters he
+says, "My greatest anxiety is for provisions; and if they do not come,
+there is no doubt of our dying by the hands of hunger." In another, he
+says, "I assure your Lordship, that it is impossible to express the
+confusion of the place; for we have no protection except the fort, and
+all the rest is open field. The families have abandoned their houses,
+and come to put themselves under the guns, which is pitiable; though
+nothing gives me anxiety but the want of provisions; and if your
+Lordship for want of competent force cannot send relief, we all must
+perish."[31]
+
+With the exception of the Fort Moosa affair, the hostilities were
+confined to the exchange of shots between the castle and the batteries.
+Considerable discrepancy exists between the Spanish and English
+accounts, as to the period when the garrison was relieved: it was the
+communication of the fact of relief having been received, which formed
+the ostensible ground of abandoning the siege by Oglethorpe; but the
+Spanish governor asserts that these provision vessels did not arrive
+until the siege was raised. The real fact, I am inclined to think, is
+that the provision vessels arrived at Mosquito, a harbor sixty miles
+below, where they were to await orders from Gov. Monteano, as to the
+mode of getting discharged,[32] and that the information of their
+arrival, being known at St. Augustine, was communicated to the English,
+and thus induced their raising the siege; in fact, the hope of starving
+out the garrison was the only hope left to Oglethorpe; his strength was
+insufficient for an assault, and his means inadequate to reduce the
+castle, which was well manned and well provided with means of defense.
+
+It was in truth a hopeless task, under the circumstances, for Oglethorpe
+to persevere; and it is no impeachment of his courage or his
+generalship, that he was unable to take a fortress of really very
+respectable strength.
+
+The siege continued from the 13th June to the 20th July, a period of
+thirty-eight days. The bombardment was kept up twenty days, but owing to
+the lightness of the guns and the long range, but little effect was
+produced on the strong walls of the castle. Its spongy, infrangible
+walls received the balls from the batteries like a cotton bale, or sand
+battery, almost without making an impression; this may be seen on
+examination, since the marks remain to this day, as they were left at
+the end of the siege, one hundred and seventeen years ago.
+
+The prosecution of the siege having become impracticable, preparations
+were made for retiring; and Oglethorpe, as a pardonable and
+characteristic protest against the assumption of his acting from any
+coercion, with drums beating and banners displayed, crossed over to the
+main land, and marched in full view of the castle, to his encampment
+three miles distant, situated probably at the point now known as Pass
+Navarro.
+
+Great credit and respect have been deservedly awarded to Governor
+Monteano, for the courage, skill, and perseverance with which he
+sustained the siege.
+
+It is well known that the English general had, in a few months, an ample
+opportunity of showing to his opponent that his skill in defending his
+own territory under the most disadvantageous circumstances, was equal to
+that of the accomplished Monteano himself. The defense of Frederica, and
+signal defeat of the Spanish forces at Fort Simons, will ever challenge
+for Oglethorpe the highest credit for the most sterling qualities of a
+good general and a great man.
+
+Two years subsequently, Oglethorpe again advanced into Florida, appeared
+before the gates of St. Augustine, and endeavored to induce the garrison
+to march out to meet him; but they kept within their walls, and
+Oglethorpe in one of his despatches says, in the irritation caused by
+their prudence, "that they were so meek there was no provoking them." As
+in this incursion he had no object in view but a devastation of the
+country, and harrassing the enemy, he shortly withdrew his forces.
+
+A committee of the South Carolina House of Commons, in a report upon the
+Oglethorpe expedition, thus speaks of St. Augustine, evidently smarting
+under the disappointment of their recent defeat.
+
+ * * * * *
+
+ "JULY 1ST, 1741."
+
+"St. Augustine, in the possession of the crown of Spain, is well known
+to be situated but little distance from hence, in latitude thirty
+degrees, in Florida, the next territory to us. It is maintained by his
+Catholic Majesty, partly to preserve his claim to Florida, and partly
+that it may be of service to the plate-fleets when coming through the
+gulf, by showing lights to them along the coast, and by being ready to
+give assistance when any of them are cast away there-about. The castle,
+by the largest account, doth not cover more than one acre of ground, but
+is allowed on all hands to be a place of great strength, and hath been
+usually garrisoned with about three or four hundred men of the King's
+regular troops. The town is not very large, and but indifferently
+fortified. The inhabitants, many of which are mulattoes of savage
+dispositions, are all in the king's pay; also being registered from
+their birth, and a severe penalty laid on any master of a vessel that
+shall attempt to carry any of them off. These are formed into a militia,
+and have been generally computed to be near about the same number as the
+regular troops. Thus relying wholly on the king's pay for their
+subsistence, their thoughts never turned to trade or even agriculture,
+but depending on foreign supplies for the most common necessaries of
+life, they spent their time in universal, perpetual idleness. From such
+a state, mischievous inclinations naturally spring up in such a people;
+and having leisure and opportunity, ever since they had a neighbor the
+fruits of whose industry excited their desires and envy, they have not
+failed to carry those inclinations into action as often as they could,
+without the least regard to peace or war subsisting between the two
+crowns of Great Britain and Spain, or to stipulations agreed upon
+between the two governments."[33]
+
+Among the principal grievances set forth in this report, was the
+carrying off and enticing and harboring their slaves, of which a number
+of instances are enumerated; and they attributed the negro insurrection
+which occurred in South Carolina, in 1739, to the connivance and agency
+of the Spanish authorities at St. Augustine; and they proceed in a
+climax of indignation to hurl their denunciation at the supposed authors
+of their misfortunes, in the following terms: "With indignation we
+looked at St. Augustine (like another Sallee!) That den of thieves and
+ruffians! receptacle of debtors, servants and slaves! bane of industry
+and society! and revolved in our minds all the injuries this province
+had received from thence, ever since its first settlement. That they had
+from first to last, in times of profoundest peace, both publickly and
+privately, by themselves, Indians, and Negroes, in every shape molested
+us, not without some instances of uncommon cruelty."[34]
+
+It is very certain there was on each side, enough supposed causes of
+provocation to induce a far from amiable state of feeling between these
+neighboring colonies.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+COMPLETION OF THE CASTLE--DESCRIPTIONS OF ST. AUGUSTINE A CENTURY
+AGO--ENGLISH OCCUPATION OF FLORIDA. 1755--1763--1788.
+
+
+Don Alonzo Fernandez de Herrera was appointed governor of Florida in
+1755, and completed the exterior works and finish of the fort. It is
+this governor who erected the tablet over its main entrance, with the
+Spanish coat of arms sculptured in _alto relievo_, with the following
+inscription beneath:--
+
+ REYNANDO EN ESPANA EL SENR
+ DON FERNANDO SEXTO Y SIENDO
+ GOVOR Y CAPN DE ESA CD SAN AUGN DE
+ LA FLORIDA Y SUS PROVA. EL MARISCAL
+ DE CAMPO DN ALONZO FERNDO HEREDA
+ ASI CONCLUIO ESTE CASTILLO EL AN
+ OD 1756 DIRIGENDO LAS OBRAS EL
+ CAP. INGNRO DN PEDRO DE BROZAS
+ Y GARAY.
+
+DON FERDINAND THE SIXTH, BEING KING OF SPAIN, AND THE FIELD MARSHAL, DON
+ALONZO FERNANDO HEREDA, BEING GOVERNOR AND CAPTAIN GENERAL OF THIS
+PLACE, ST. AUGUSTINE, OF FLORIDA, AND ITS PROVINCE. THIS FORT WAS
+FINISHED IN THE YEAR 1756. THE WORKS WERE DIRECTED BY THE CAPTAIN
+ENGINEER, DON PEDRO DE BRAZOS Y GARAY.
+
+I am not sure but that the boastful governor might with equal propriety
+and truth have put a similar inscription at the city gate, claiming the
+town also as a finished city.
+
+The first fort erected was called San Juan de Pinos, and probably the
+same name attached to the present fort at the commencement of its
+erection; when it acquired the name of St. Mark, I have not discovered.
+The Apalachian Indians were employed upon it for more than sixty years,
+and to their efforts are probably due the evidences of immense labor in
+the construction of the ditch, the ramparts and glacis, and the
+approaches; while the huge mass of stone contained in its solid walls,
+must have required the labor of hundreds of persons for many long years,
+in procuring and cutting the stone in the quarries on the island,
+transporting it to the water, and across the bay, and fashioning and
+raising them to their places. Besides the Indians employed, some labor
+was constantly bestowed by the garrison; and, for a considerable period,
+convicts were brought hither from Mexico to carry on the public works.
+During the works of extension and repair effected by Monteano, previous
+to the siege by Oglethorpe, he employed upon it one hundred and forty of
+these Mexican convicts. The southwestern bastion is said to have been
+completed by Monteano. The bastions bore the names respectively of St.
+Paul, St. Peter, St. James, &c.
+
+The whole work remains now as it was in 1756, with the exception of the
+water battery, which was reconstructed by the government of the United
+States in 1842-3. The complement of its guns is one hundred, and its
+full garrison establishment requires one thousand men. It is built upon
+the plan of Vauban, and is considered by military men as a very
+creditable work; its strength and efficiency have been well tested in
+the old times; for it has never been taken, although twice besieged, and
+several times attacked. Its frowning battlements and sepulchral vaults
+will long stand after we and those of our day shall be numbered with
+that long past, of which it is itself a memorial; of its legends
+connected with the dark chambers and prison vaults, the chains, the
+instruments of torture, the skeletons walled in, its closed and hidden
+recesses--of Coacouchee's escape, and many another tale, there is much
+to say; but it is better said within its grim walls, where the eye and
+the imagination can go together, in weaving a web of mystery and awe
+over its sad associations, to the music of the grating bolt, the echoing
+tread, and the clanking chain.
+
+Of the city itself, we have the following description in 1754:--
+
+"It is built on a little bay, at the foot of a hill shaded by trees, and
+forms an oblong square, divided into four streets, and has two full
+streets, which cut each other at right angles. The houses are well
+built, and regular. They have only one church, which is called after the
+city. St. John's Fort, standing about a mile north of it, is a strong,
+irregular fortification, well mounted with cannon, and capable of making
+a long defense."
+
+I am inclined to think that the _mile_ between the fort and the city,
+and the _hill_ at the foot of which, he says, the city was built,
+existed only in the focus of the writer's spectacles.
+
+The Provinces of Florida were ceded by treaty to England in the year
+1763, and the Spanish inhabitants very generally left the country, which
+had then been under Spanish rule for near two hundred years; and
+certainly in no portion of this country had less progress been made.
+Beyond the walls occupied by its garrison, little had been attempted or
+accomplished in these two hundred years. This was in part, perhaps,
+attributable to the circumstances of the country--the frequent hostility
+of the Indians, and the want of that mutual support given by
+neighborhoods, which in Florida are less practicable than elsewhere; but
+it was still more owing to the character of the Spanish inhabitants, who
+were more soldiers than civilians, and more townsmen than
+agriculturists; at all events, at the cession of Florida to Great
+Britain, the number of inhabitants was not over five thousand.
+
+Of the period of the English occupation of Florida, we have very full
+accounts. It was a primary object with the British government, to
+colonize and settle it; and inducements to emigrants were strongly put
+forth, in various publications. The work of Roberts was the first of
+these, and was followed in a few years by those of Bartram, Stork, and
+Romans. The works of both Roberts and Stork, contain plans and minute
+descriptions of St. Augustine. The plan of the town in Stork, represents
+every building, lot, garden, and flower-bed in the place, and gives a
+very accurate view of its general appearance.
+
+The descriptions vary somewhat. Roberts, who published his work the year
+of the cession, 1763, shows in connection with his plan of the town, an
+Indian village on the point south of the city, at the powder-house, and
+another just north of the city. The one to the north has a church. A
+negro fort is shown about a mile to the northward. Oglethorpe's landing
+place is shown on Anastasia Island, and a small fort on the main land
+south of the city. The depth of water on the bar is marked as being at
+low water, eight feet.
+
+Roberts describes the city as "running along the shore at the foot of a
+pleasant hill, adorned with trees; its form is oblong, divided by four
+regular streets, crossing each other at right angles; down by the sea
+side, about three-fourths of a mile south of the town, standeth the
+church, and a monastery of St. Augustine. The best built part of the
+town is on the north side, leading to the castle, which is called St.
+John's Fort. It is a square building of soft stone, fortified with whole
+bastions, having a rampart of twenty feet high, with a parapet nine feet
+high, and it is casemated. The town is fortified with bastions, and with
+cannon. On the north and south, without the walls of the city, are the
+Indian towns."
+
+The next plan we have, is in the work by Dr. Stork, the third edition of
+which was published in 1769. He gives a beautiful plan of the place.
+Shows the fort as it now exists, with its various outworks; three
+churches are designated, one on the public square at its southwest
+corner; another on St. George street, on the lot on the west side, south
+of Green lane, and a Dutch church near where the Roman Catholic cemetery
+now exists. From the size of the plan, it does not embrace the Indian
+village. The present United States Court-house was the governor's
+official residence, and is represented as having attached to it a
+beautiful garden. The Franciscan house or convent is shown where the
+barracks are now, but different in the form of the buildings. With the
+exception of the disappearance of a part of one street then existing,
+there appears very little change from the present plan of the town and
+buildings.
+
+He describes the fort as being finished "according to the modern taste
+of military architecture," and as making a very handsome appearance, and
+"that it might justly be deemed the prettiest fort in the king's
+dominion." He omits the pleasant hill from his description, and says
+"the town is situated near the glacis of the fort; the streets are
+regularly laid out, and built narrow for the purposes of shade. It is
+above half a mile in length, regularly fortified with bastions,
+half-bastions, and a ditch; that it had also several rows of the Spanish
+bayonet along the ditch, which formed so close a chevaux de frize, with
+their pointed leaves, as to be impenetrable; the southern bastions were
+built of stone. In the middle of the town is a spacious square, called
+the parade, open towards the harbor; at the bottom of the square is the
+governor's house, the apartments of which are spacious and suitable;
+suited to the climate, with high windows, a balcony in front, and
+galleries on both sides; to the back of the house is joined a tower,
+called in America a look-out, from which there is an extensive prospect
+towards the sea, as well as inland. There are two churches within the
+walls of the town, the parish church, a plain building, and another
+belonging to the convent of Franciscan Friars, which is converted into
+barracks for the garrison. The houses are built of free-stone, commonly
+two stories high, two rooms upon a floor, with large windows and
+balconies; before the entry of most of the houses, runs a portico of
+stone arches. The roofs are commonly flat. The Spaniards consulted
+convenience more than taste in their buildings. The number of houses
+within the town and lines, when the Spaniards left it, was about nine
+hundred; many of them, especially in the suburbs, being built of wood,
+are now gone to decay. The inhabitants were of all colors, whites,
+negroes, mulattoes, Indians, &c. At the evacuation of St. Augustine, the
+population was five thousand seven hundred, including the garrison of
+two thousand five hundred men. Half a mile from the town to the west, is
+a line with a broad ditch and bastions, running from the St. Sebastian
+creek to St. Marks river. A mile further is another fortified line with
+some redoubts, forming a second communication between a stoccata fort
+upon St. Sebastian river, and Fort Moosa, upon St. Marks river.
+
+"Within the first line near the town, was a small settlement of Germans,
+who had a church of their own. Upon the St. Marks river, within the
+second line, was also an Indian town, with a church built of freestone;
+what is very remarkable, it is in good taste, though built by the
+Indians."
+
+The two lines of defense here spoken of, may still be traced. The
+nearest one is less than one-fourth of a mile from the city gate, and
+the other at the well-known place called the stockades, the stakes
+driven to form which, still distinctly mark the place; and the ditch and
+embankment can be traced for a considerable distance through the grounds
+attached to my residence.
+
+A letter-writer, who dates at St. Augustine, May, 1774, says, "This town
+is now truly become a heap of ruins, a fit receptacle for the wretches
+of inhabitants." (Rather a dyspeptic description, in all probability.)
+
+A bridge was built across the Sebastian river by the English, "but the
+great depth of the water, joined to the instability of the bottom, did
+not suffer it to remain long, and a ferry is now established in its
+room; the keeper of the ferry has fifty pounds per annum allowed him,
+and the inhabitants pay nothing for crossing, except after dark."
+
+The English constructed large buildings for barracks, characterised by
+Romans "as such stupendous piles of buildings, which were large enough
+to contain five regiments, when it is a matter of great doubt whether
+there will ever be a necessity to keep one whole regiment here. The
+material for this great barracks was brought from New York, and far
+inferior to those found on the spot; yet the freight alone amounted to
+more than their value when landed. It makes us almost believe," says the
+elaborate Romans, "that all this show is in vain, or at most, that the
+English were so much in dread of musquitoes, that they thought a large
+army requisite to drive off these formidable foes. To be serious," says
+he, "this fort and barracks add not a little to the beauty of the
+prospect; but most men would think that the money spent on this useless
+parade, would have been better laid out on roads and fences through the
+province; or, if it must be in forts, why not at Pensacola?"
+
+There is a manuscript work of John Gerard Williams de Brahm, existing in
+the library of Harvard University, which contains some particulars of
+interest, relative to Florida at the period of the English occupation.
+
+He states the number of inhabitants of East Florida, which in those days
+meant mostly St. Augustine, from 1663 to 1771, as follows: householders,
+besides women, &c., two hundred and eighty-eight; imported by Mr.
+Turnbull from Minorca, &c., one thousand four hundred; negroes, upwards
+of nine hundred. Of these, white heads of families, one hundred and
+forty-four were married, which is just one-half; thirty-one are
+storekeepers and traders; three haberdashers, fifteen innkeepers,
+forty-five artificers and mechanics, one hundred and ten planters, four
+hunters, six cow-keepers, eleven overseers, twelve draftsmen in employ
+of government, besides mathematicians; fifty-eight had left the
+province; twenty-eight dead, of whom four were killed acting as
+constables, two hanged for pirating. Among the names of those then
+residing in East Florida are mentioned Sir Charles Burdett, William
+Drayton, Esq., planter, Chief Justice; Rev. John Forbes, parson, Judge
+of Admiralty and Councillor; Rev. N. Fraser, parson at Musquito;
+Governor James Grant, Hon. John Moultrie, planter and lieutenant
+Governor; William Stork, Esq., historian; Andrew Turnbull, Esq., H. M.
+Counselor; Bernard Romans, draftsman, &c.; William Bartram, planter;
+James Moultrie, Esq.
+
+He says, The light house on Anastasia Island had been constructed and
+built of mason-work by the Spaniards; and, in 1769, by order of General
+Haldimand, it was raised sixty feet higher in carpenter's work, had a
+cannon planted on the top, which is fired the very moment the flag is
+hoisted, for a signal to the town and pilots that a vessel is off. The
+light house has two flag-staffs, one to the south and one to the north;
+on either of which the flag is hoisted, viz., to the south if the vessel
+comes from thence, and the north if the vessel comes that way.
+
+"The town is situated in a healthy zone, is surrounded with salt water
+marshes, not at all prejudicial to health; their evaporations are swept
+away in the day time by the easterly winds, and in the night season by
+the westerly winds trading back to the eastward. At the time when the
+Spaniards left the town, all the gardens were well stocked with fruit
+trees, viz., figs, guavas, plantain, pomegranates, lemons, limes,
+citrons, shadock, bergamot, China and Seville oranges, the latter full
+of fruit throughout the whole winter season; and the pot-herbs, though
+suspended in their vegetation, were seldom destroyed by cold. The town
+is three-quarters of a mile in length, but not quite a quarter wide; had
+four churches ornamently built with stone in the Spanish taste, of which
+one within and one without the town still exist. One is pulled down;
+that is the German church, but the steeple is preserved as an ornament
+to the town; and the other, viz., the convent church and convent in town
+is taken in the body of the barracks. All houses are built of masonry;
+their entrances are shaded by piazzas, supported by Tuscan pillars or
+pilasters, against the south sun. The houses have to the east windows
+projecting sixteen or eighteen inches into the street, very wide, and
+proportionally high. On the west side, their windows are commonly very
+small, and no opening of any kind to the north, on which side they have
+double walls six or eight feet asunder, forming a kind of gallery, which
+answers for cellars and pantries. Before most of the entrances were
+arbors of vines, producing plenty and very good grapes. No house has any
+chimney for a fire place; the Spaniards made use of stone urns, filled
+them with coals left in their kitchens in the afternoon, and set them at
+sunset in their bed-rooms, to defend themselves against those winter
+seasons, which required such care. The governor's residence has both
+sides piazzas, viz., a double one to the south, and a single one to the
+north; also a Belvidere and a grand portico decorated with Doric pillars
+and entablatures. On the north end of the town is a casemated fort, with
+four bastions, a ravelin, counterscarp, and a glacis built with quarried
+shell-stones, and constructed according to the rudiments of Marechal de
+Vauban. This fort commands the road of the bay, the town, its environs,
+and both Tolomako stream and Mantanzas creek. The soil in the gardens
+and environs of the town is chiefly sandy and marshy. The Spaniards seem
+to have had a notion of manuring their land with shells one foot deep.
+
+"Among the three thousand who evacuated St. Augustine, the author is
+credibly informed, were many Spaniards near and above the age of one
+hundred years, (observe;) this nation, especially natives of St.
+Augustine, bore the reputation of great sobriety."[35]
+
+On the 3d of January, 1766, the thermometer sunk to 26 deg. with the wind
+from N. W. "The ground was frozen an inch thick on the banks; this was
+the fatal night that destroyed the lime, citron, and banana trees in St.
+Augustine, and many curious evergreens up the river that were twenty
+years old in a flourishing state."[36] In 1774 there was a snow storm,
+which extended over most of the province. The ancient inhabitants still
+(1836) speak of it as an extraordinary white rain. It was said to have
+done little damage.[37]
+
+In this connection, and as it is sometimes supposed that the climate is
+now colder than formerly, it may be stated that the thermometer went
+very low in 1799. East Florida suffered from a violent frost on the 6th
+April, 1828. In February, 1835, the thermometer sunk to 7 deg. above zero,
+wind from N. W.; and the St. Johns river was frozen several rods from
+the shore; all kinds of fruit trees were killed to the ground, and the
+wild orange trees suffered as well as the cultivated.
+
+Dr. Nicholas Turnbull, in the year 1767, associated with Sir William
+Duncan and other Englishmen of note, projected a colony of European
+emigrants, to be settled at New Smyrna. He brought from the islands of
+Greece, Corsica, and Minorca, some fourteen hundred persons, agreeing to
+convey them free of expense, find them in clothing and provisions, and,
+at the end of three years, to give fifty acres of land to each head of
+a family, and twenty-five to each child. After a long passage they
+arrived out, and formed the settlement. The principal article of
+cultivation produced by them was indigo, which commanded a high price,
+and was assisted by a bounty from the English government. After a few
+years, Turnbull, as is alleged, either from avarice or natural cruelty,
+assumed a control the most absolute over these colonists, and practiced
+cruelties the most painful upon them.
+
+An insurrection took place in 1769 among them, in consequence of severe
+punishments, which was speedily repressed, and the leaders of it brought
+to trial before the English court at St. Augustine; five of the number
+were convicted and sentenced to death. Gov. Grant pardoned two of the
+five, and a third was released upon the condition of his becoming the
+executioner of the other two. Nine years after the commencement of their
+settlement, their number had become reduced from 1,400 to 600. In 1776,
+proceedings were instituted on their behalf by Mr. Yonge, the
+attorney-general of the province, which resulted in their being
+exonerated from their contract with Turnbull; lands were thereupon
+assigned them in the northern part of the city, which was principally
+built up by them; and their descendants, at the present day, form the
+larger portion of the population of that place.
+
+Governor Grant was the first English governor, and was a gentleman of
+much energy; and during his term of office he projected many great and
+permanent improvements in the province. The public roads, known as the
+king's roads, from St. Augustine to New Smyrna, and from St. Augustine
+to Jacksonville, and thence to Coleraine, were then constructed, and
+remain a lasting monument of his wisdom and desire of improvement.
+
+Gov. Tonyn succeeded Gov. Grant; and a legislative council was
+authorized to assemble, and the pretense and forms of a constitutional
+government were gone through with.
+
+In August, 1775, a British vessel called the Betsey, Capt. Lofthouse,
+from London, with 111 barrels of powder, was captured off the bar of St.
+Augustine, by an American privateer from Charleston, very much to the
+disgust and annoyance of the British authorities.
+
+At this period, St. Augustine assumed much importance as a depot and
+_point d'appui_ for the British forces in their operations against the
+Southern States; and very considerable forces were at times assembled.
+
+In the excess of the zeal and loyalty of the garrison and inhabitants of
+St. Augustine, upon the receipt of the news of the American Declaration
+of Independence, the effigies of John Hancock and Samuel Adams were
+burned upon the public square, where the monument now stands.
+
+The expedition of Gen. Prevost against Savannah was organized and
+embarked from St. Augustine, in 1779.
+
+Sixty of the most distinguished citizens of Carolina were seized by the
+British in 1780, and transported to St. Augustine as prisoners of war
+and hostages, among whom were Arthur Middleton, Edward Rutledge, Gen.
+Gadsden, and Mr. Calhoun; all were put upon parole except Gen. Gadsden
+and Mr. Calhoun, who refused the indulgence, and were committed to the
+fort, where they remained many months close prisoners. Gen. Rutherford
+and Col. Isaacs, of North Carolina, were also transported hither, and
+committed to the fort.
+
+An expedition was fitted out from St. Augustine in 1783, to act against
+New Providence, under Col. Devereux; and, with very slender means that
+able officer succeeded in capturing and reducing the Bahamas, which have
+ever since remained under English domination.
+
+The expense of supporting the government of East Florida during the
+English occupation, was very considerable, amounting to the sum of
+L122,000. The exports of Florida, in 1778, amounted to L48,000; and in
+1772, the province exported 40,000 lbs. indigo; and in 1782, 20,000
+barrels of turpentine.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+RE-CESSION OF FLORIDA TO SPAIN--ERECTION OF THE PARISH CHURCH--CHANGE OF
+FLAGS. 1783--1821.
+
+
+In June, 1784, in fulfillment of the treaty between England and Spain,
+Florida, after twenty years of British occupation, was re-ceded to the
+Spanish Crown, and taken possession of by Governor Zespedez.
+
+The English residents, in general, left[38] the country, and went either
+to the Bahamas, Jamaica, or the United States. Those who went to the
+British islands were almost ruined; but those who settled in the States
+were more successful.
+
+In April, 1793, the present Roman Catholic church was commenced, the
+previous Church having been in another portion of the city.[39] It was
+constructed under the direction of Don Mariana de la Rocque and Don P.
+Berrio, government engineer-officers. The cost of the church was
+$16,650, of which about $6,000 was received from the proceeds of the
+materials and ornaments of the old churches, about $1,000 from the
+contributions of the inhabitants, and the remaining $10,000 furnished by
+the government. One of its four bells has the following inscription,
+showing it to be probably the oldest bell in this country, being now 185
+years old.
+
+[Illustration: image of a cross]
+
+ Sancte Joseph.
+ Ora Pro Nobis.
+ D 1682.
+
+Don Enrique White was for many years governor of Florida, and died in
+the city of St. Augustine. He is spoken of by those who knew him, in
+high terms, for his integrity and openness of character; and many
+amusing anecdotes are related connected with his eccentricities.
+
+In 1812, the American government, being apprehensive that Great Britain
+designed obtaining possession of Florida, sent its troops into the
+province, overrunning and destroying the whole country. The manner and
+the pretenses under which this was done, reflect but little credit on
+the United States government; and the transparent sham of taking
+possession of the country by the patriots, supported by United States
+troops, was as undignified as it was futile. It is for the damages
+occasioned by this invasion, that the "Florida claims" for "losses" of
+its citizens have been presented to the government of the United States.
+The _principal_ of the damages sustained, that is to say, the actual
+value of the property then destroyed, has been allowed and paid; but the
+interest, or damages for the detention, has been withheld upon the
+ground that the government does not pay interest. The treaty between the
+United States and Spain in reference to the cession of Florida to the
+United States, requires the United States to make _satisfaction_ for
+such claims; and the payment of the bare amount of actual loss, after a
+detention of thirty years, is considered by the claimants an inadequate
+_satisfaction_ of a just claim.
+
+In the spring of 1818, General Jackson made his celebrated incursion
+into Florida, and by a series of energetic movements followed the
+Seminoles and Creeks to their fastnesses, and forever crushed the power
+of those formidable tribes for offensive operations.
+
+In the latter part of 1817, a revolutionary party took possession of
+Amelia Island, and raised a _soi disant patriot_ flag at Fernandina,
+supported mainly in the enterprise by adventurers from the United
+States; M'Gregor was assisted by officers of the United States army. An
+expedition was sent from St. Augustine by the Spanish governor to eject
+the invaders, which failed. One Aury, an English adventurer, for a time
+held command there; and also a Mr. Hubbard, formerly sheriff of New
+York, who was the civil governor, and died there. The United States
+troops eventually interfered; but negotiations for the cession put a
+stop to further hostilities.
+
+The king of Spain, finding his possessions in Florida utterly worthless
+to his crown, and only an expense to sustain the garrisons, while the
+repeated attempts to disturb its political relations prevented any
+beneficial progress towards its settlement, gladly agreed, in 1819, to a
+transfer of Florida to the United States for five millions of dollars.
+
+An English gentleman who visited St. Augustine in 1817, gives his
+impressions of the place as follows: "Emerging from the solitudes and
+shades of the pine forests, we espied the distant yet distinct lights of
+the watch towers of the fortress of St. Augustine, delightful beacons to
+my weary pilgrimage. The clock was striking ten as I reached the foot of
+the drawbridge; the sentinels were passing the _alerto_, as I demanded
+entrance; having answered the preliminary questions, the draw-bridge was
+slowly lowered. The officer of the guard, having received my name and
+wishes, sent a communication to the governor, who issued orders for my
+immediate admission. On opening the gate, the guard was ready to receive
+me; and a file of men, with their officer, escorted me to his
+Excellency, who expressed his satisfaction at my revisit to Florida. I
+soon retired to the luxury of repose, and the following morning was
+greeted as an old acquaintance by the members of this little community.
+
+"I had arrived at a season of general relaxation, on the eve of the
+carnival, which is celebrated with much gayety in all Catholic
+countries. Masks, dominoes, harlequins, punchinellos, and a great
+variety of grotesque disguises, on horseback, in cars, gigs, and on
+foot, paraded the streets with guitars, violins, and other instruments;
+and in the evenings, the houses were open to receive masks, and balls
+were given in every direction. I was told that in their better days,
+when their pay was regularly remitted from the Havana, these amusements
+were admirably conducted, and the rich dresses exhibited on these
+occasions, were not eclipsed by their more fashionable friends in Cuba;
+but poverty had lessoned their spirit for enjoyment, as well as the
+means for procuring it; enough, however, remained to amuse an idle
+spectator, and I entered with alacrity into their diversions.
+
+"About thirty of the hunting warriors of the Seminoles, with their
+squaws, had arrived, for the purpose of selling the produce of the
+chase, consisting of bear, deer, tiger, and other skins, bears' grease,
+and other trifling articles. This savage race, once the lords of the
+ascendant, are the most formidable border enemies of the United States.
+This party had arrived, after a range of six months, for the purpose of
+sale and barter. After trafficking for their commodities, they were seen
+at various parts of the town, assembled in small groups, seated upon
+their haunches, like monkeys, passing round their bottles of _aque
+dente_ (the rum of Cuba), their repeated draughts upon which soon
+exhausted their contents; they then slept off the effects of
+intoxication, under the walls, exposed to the influence of the sun.
+Their appearance was extremely wretched; their skins of a dark, dirty,
+chocolate color, with long, straight, black hair, over which they had
+spread a quantity of bears' grease. In their ears, and the cartilages of
+the nose, were inserted rings of silver and brass, with pendants of
+various shapes; their features prominent and harsh, and their eyes had a
+wild and ferocious expression.
+
+"A torn blanket, or an ill-fashioned dirty linen jacket, is the general
+costume of these Indians; a triangular piece of cloth passes around the
+loins; the women vary in their apparel by merely wearing short
+petticoats, the original colors of which were not distinguishable from
+the various incrustations of dirt. Some of the young squaws were
+tolerably agreeable, and if well washed and dressed would not have been
+uninteresting; but the elder squaws wore the air of misery and
+debasement.
+
+"The garrison is composed of a detachment from the Royal regiment of
+Cuba, with some _black_ troops; who together form a respectable force.
+The fort and bastions are built of the same material as the houses of
+the town, _coquina_. This marine substance is superior to stone, not
+being liable to splinter from the effects of bombardment; it receives
+and imbeds the shot, which adds rather than detracts from its strength
+and security.
+
+"The houses and the rear of the town are intersected and covered with
+orange groves; their golden fruit and deep green foliage, not only
+render the air agreeable, but beautify the appearance of this
+interesting little town, in the centre of which (the square) rises a
+large structure dedicated to the Catholic religion. At the upper end are
+the remains of a very considerable house, the former residence of the
+governor of this settlement; but now (1817), in a state of dilapidation
+and decay, from age and inattention.
+
+"At the southern extremity of the town, stands a large building,
+formerly a monastery of Carthusian Friars, but now occupied as a barrack
+for the troops of the garrison. At a little distance are four stacks of
+chimnies, the sole remains of a beautiful range of barracks, built
+during the occupancy of the British, from 1763 to 1783; for three years
+the 29th regiment was stationed there, and in that time they did not
+lose a single man. The proverbial salubrity of the climate, has obtained
+for St. Augustine the designation of the Montpelier of Forth America;
+indeed, such is the general character of the Province of East Florida.
+
+"The governor (Copinger), is about forty-five years of age, of active
+and vigorous mind, anxious to promote by every means in his power the
+prosperity of the province confided to his command; his urbanity and
+other amiable qualities render him accessible to the meanest individual,
+and justice is sure to follow an appeal to his decision. His military
+talents are well known, and appreciated by his sovereign; and he now
+holds, in addition to the government of East Florida, the rank of
+Colonel in the Royal Regiment of Cuba.
+
+"The clergy consist of the _padre_ (priest of the parish), Father Cosby,
+a native of Wexford, in Ireland; a Franciscan friar, the chaplain to the
+garrison, and an inferior or cure. The social qualities of the _padre_,
+and the general tolerance of his feelings, render him an acceptable
+visitor to all his flock. The judge, treasurer, collector, and notary,
+are the principal officers of the establishment, besides a number of
+those devoted solely to the military occupations of the garrison. The
+whole of this society is extremely courteous to strangers; they form one
+family, and those little jealousies and animosities, so disgraceful to
+our small English communities, do not sully their meetings of friendly
+chit-chat, called as in Spain, _turtulias_. The women are deservedly
+celebrated for their charms; their lovely black eyes have a vast deal of
+expression; their complexions a clear brunette; much attention is paid
+to the arrangement of their hair; at mass they are always well dressed
+in black silk _basquinas_ (petticoats), with the little _mantilla_
+(black lace veil) over their heads; the men in their military costumes;
+good order and temperance are their characteristic virtues; but the vice
+of gambling too often profanes their social haunts, from which even the
+fair sex are not excluded. Two days following our arrival, a ball was
+given by some of the inhabitants, to which I was invited. The elder
+couples opened it with minuets, succeeded by the younger couples
+displaying their handsome light figures in Spanish dances."[40]
+
+The old inhabitants still speak in terms of fond regret of the place
+when embowered in its orange groves, and the pleasantness of its old
+customs and usages. Dancing formed one of their most common amusements,
+as it does now. The posey dance, now become obsolete, was then of almost
+daily occurrence, and was introduced in the following manner: The
+females of the family erect in a room of their house a neat little
+arbor, dressed with pots and garlands of flowers, and lit up brightly
+with candles. This is understood by the gentleman as an invitation to
+drop in and admire the beauty of their decorations. In the mean time,
+the lady who has prepared it, selects a partner from among her visitors,
+and in token of her preference, honors him with a bouquet of flowers.
+The gentleman who receives the bouquet becomes then, for the nonce, king
+of the ball, and leads out the fair donor as queen of the dance; the
+others take partners, and the hall is thus inaugurated, and may continue
+several successive evenings. Should the lady's choice fall upon an
+unwilling swain, which seldom happened, he could be excused by assuming
+the expenses of the entertainment. These assemblies were always
+informal, and frequented by all classes, all meeting on a level; but
+were conducted with the utmost politeness and decorum, for which the
+Spanish character is so distinguished.
+
+The carnival amusements are still kept up to some extent, but with
+little of the taste and wit which formerly characterised them, and
+without which they degenerate into mere buffoonery.
+
+The graceful Spanish dance, so well suited in its slow and regular
+movements to the inhabitants of a warm climate, has always retained the
+preference with the natives of the place, who dance it with that native
+grace and elegance of movement which seems easy and natural for every
+one, but is seldom equaled by the Anglo-Saxon.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+TRANSFER OF FLORIDA TO THE UNITED STATES--AMERICAN OCCUPATION--ANCIENT
+BUILDINGS, ETC.
+
+
+On the 10th day of July, in the year 1821, the standard of Spain, which
+had been raised two hundred and fifty-six years before over St.
+Augustine, was finally lowered forever from the walls over which it had
+so long fluttered, and the stars and stripes of the youngest of nations
+rose where, sooner or later, the hand of destiny would assuredly have
+placed them.
+
+It was intended that the change of flags should have taken place on the
+4th of July; owing to a detention, this was frustrated; but the
+inhabitants celebrated the 4th with a handsome public ball at the
+governor's house.
+
+The Spanish garrison, and officers connected with it, returned to Cuba,
+and some of the Spanish families; but the larger portion of the
+inhabitants remained. A considerable influx of inhabitants from the
+adjoining States took place, and the town speedily assumed a somewhat
+American character. The proportion of American population since the
+change of flags, has been about one-third. Most of the native
+inhabitants converse with equal fluency in either language.
+
+In the year 1823 the legislative council of Florida held its second
+session in the government house at St. Augustine. Governor W.P. Duval
+was the first governor after the organization of the territory. The
+Ralph Ringwood Sketches of Irving have given a wide celebrity to the
+character of our worthy and original first governor, now recently
+deceased.
+
+During the month of February, 1835, East Florida was visited by a frost
+much more severe than any before experienced. A severe northwest wind
+blew ten days in succession, but more violently for about three days.
+During this period, the mercury sunk to seven degrees above zero. The
+St. Johns river was frozen several rods from the shore. All kinds of
+fruit trees were killed to the ground; many of them never started
+again, even from the roots. The wild groves suffered equally with those
+cultivated. The orange had become the staple of Florida commerce;
+several millions were exported from the St. Johns and St. Augustine
+during the two previous years. Numerous groves had just been planted
+out, and extensive nurseries could hardly supply the demand for young
+trees. Some of the groves had, during the previous autumn, brought to
+their owners, one, two, and three thousand dollars; and the increasing
+demand for this fruit, opened in prospect mines of wealth to the
+inhabitants.
+
+ "Then came a frost, a withering frost."
+
+Some of the orange groves in East Florida were estimated at from five to
+ten thousand dollars, and even more. They were at once rendered
+valueless. The larger part of the population at St. Augustine had been
+accustomed to depend on the produce of their little groves of eight or
+ten trees, to purchase their coffee, sugar, and other necessaries from
+the stores; they were left without resource.
+
+"The town of St. Augustine, that heretofore appeared like a rustic
+village, their white houses peeping from among the clustered boughs and
+golden fruit of their favorite tree, beneath whose shade the foreign
+invalid cooled his fevered limbs, and imbibed health from the fragrant
+air,--how was she fallen! Dry, unsightly poles, with ragged bark, stick
+up around her dwellings; and where the mocking-bird once delighted to
+build her nest, and tune her lovely songs, owls hoot at night, and
+sterile winds whistle through the leafless branches. Never was a place
+rendered more desolate."[41]
+
+The groves were at once replanted, and soon bid fair to yield most
+abundantly; when, in 1842, an insect was introduced into the country,
+called the _orange coccus_, which spread over the whole country with
+wonderful rapidity, and almost totally destroyed every tree it fastened
+upon. Of late, the ravages of this insect seem less destructive, and the
+groves have begun to resume their bearing; these add to the beauty of
+the residences at St. Augustine with their glossy, deep-green leaves,
+and golden fruit; and hopes of an entire restoration are now confidently
+entertained.
+
+In December, 1835, the war with the Seminole Indians broke out; and for
+some years St. Augustine was full of the pomp and circumstance of war.
+It was dangerous to venture beyond the gates; and many sad scenes of
+Indian massacre took place in the neighborhood of the city. During this
+period, great apparent prosperity prevailed; property was valuable,
+rents were high; speculators projected one city on the north of the
+town, and another on the west; a canal to the St. Johns, and also a
+railroad to Picolata; and great hopes of future prosperity were
+entertained. With the cessation of the war, the importance of St.
+Augustine diminished; younger communities took the lead of it, aided by
+superior advantages of location, and greater enterprise, and St.
+Augustine has subsided into the pleasant, quiet, _dolce far niente_ of
+to-day, living upon, its old memories, contented, peaceful, and
+agreeable, and likely to remain without much change for the future.
+
+Of the public buildings, it may be remarked that the extensive British
+barracks were destroyed by fire in 1792; and that the Franciscan Convent
+was occupied as it had been before, as barracks for the troops not in
+garrison in the fort. The appearance of these buildings has been much
+changed by the extensive repairs and alterations made by the United
+States government. It had formerly a large circular look-out upon the
+top, from which a beautiful view of the surrounding country was
+obtained. Its walls are probably the oldest foundations in the city.
+
+The present United States Court-house, now occupied by many public
+offices, was the residence of the Spanish governors. It has been rebuilt
+by the United States; and its former quaint and interesting appearance
+has been lost, in removing its look-out tower, and balconies, and the
+handsome gateway, mentioned by De Brahm, which is said to have been a
+fine specimen of Doric architecture.[42]
+
+Trinity Episcopal Church was commenced in 1827, and consecrated in 1833,
+by Bishop Bowen, of South Carolina. The Presbyterian Church was built
+about 1830, and the Methodist chapel about 1846.
+
+The venerable-looking building on the bay, at the corner of Green lane
+and Bay street, is considered the oldest building in the place, and has
+evidently been a fine building in its day. It was the residence of the
+attorney-general, in English times.
+
+The monument on the public square was erected in 1812-13, upon the
+information of the adoption of the Spanish constitution, as a memorial
+of that event, in pursuance of a royal order to that effect, directed to
+the public authorities of all the provincial towns. Geronimo Alvarez
+was the Alcalde under whose direction it was erected. The plan of it was
+made by Sr. Hernandez, the father of the late General Hernandez. A short
+time after it was put up, the Spanish constitution having had a
+downfall, orders were issued by the government that all the monuments
+erected to the constitution throughout its dominions, should be
+demolished. The citizens of St. Augustine were unwilling to see their
+monument torn down; and with the passive acquiescence of the governor,
+the marble tablets inscribed PLAZA DE LA CONSTITUCION being removed, the
+monument itself was allowed to stand; and thus it remains to this day,
+the only monument in existence to commemorate the farce of the
+constitution of 1812. In 1818, the tablets were restored without
+objection.
+
+The bridge and causeway are the work of the government of the United
+States. The present sea-wall was built between 1835 and 1842, by the
+United States, at an expense of one hundred thousand dollars.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+PRESENT APPEARANCE OF ST. AUGUSTINE, AS GIVEN BY THE AUTHOR OF
+THANATOPSIS--ITS CLIMATE AND SALUBRITY.
+
+
+St. Augustine has now attained, for this side of the Atlantic, a period
+of most respectable antiquity. In a country like America, where States
+are ushered into existence in the full development of maturity, where
+large cities rise like magic from the rude forest, where the "oldest
+inhabitant" recollects the cutting down of the lofty elms which shadowed
+the wigwam of the red man, perchance on some spot now in the heart of a
+great city; an antiquity of three centuries would be esteemed as almost
+reaching back (compared with modern growth) to the days of the Pharaohs.
+
+The larger number of early settlements were unsuitably located, and were
+forced to be abandoned on account of their unhealthiness; but the
+Spanish settlement at St. Augustine has remained for near three hundred
+years where it was originally planted; and the health of its inhabitants
+has, for this long period, given it a deserved reputation for salubrity
+and exemption from disease, attributable to locality or extraneous
+influences or causes.
+
+The great age attained by its inhabitants was remarked by De Brahm; the
+number and healthfulness of the children that throng its streets,
+attract now, as they did then, the attention of strangers. This
+salubrity is easily accounted for, by the almost insular position of the
+city, upon a narrow neck of land nearly surrounded by salt water; the
+main shore, a high and healthy pine forest and sandy plains, so near the
+ocean as to be fanned by its constant breezes, and within the sound of
+its echoing waves; a situation combining more local advantages for
+salubrity could hardly be imagined. While it will never probably
+increase to any great extent in population, it will hardly be likely to
+decrease. Its health, easy means of support, unambitious class of
+inhabitants, with their strong attachments and family and local ties,
+will contribute to maintain St. Augustine as the time-honored ancient
+city, with its permanent population, and its visitors for health, for
+centuries perhaps yet to come.
+
+I cannot perhaps better conclude these historic notices than by giving
+the impressions of the author of Thanatopsis,[43] one whose poetic fame
+will endure as long as American literature exists. Writing from St.
+Augustine in April, 1843, he says:
+
+"At length we emerged upon a shrubby plain, and finally came in sight of
+this oldest city of the United States, seated among its trees on a sandy
+swell of land, where it has stood for three hundred years. I was struck
+with its ancient and homely aspect, even at a distance, and could not
+help likening it to pictures which I had seen of Dutch towns, though it
+wanted a wind-mill or two to make the resemblance perfect. We drove into
+a green square, in the midst of which was a monument erected to
+commemorate the Spanish constitution of 1812, and thence through the
+narrow streets of the city to our hotel.
+
+"I have called the streets narrow. In few places are they wide enough to
+allow two carriages to pass abreast. I was told that they were not
+originally intended for carriages; and that in the time when the town
+belonged to Spain, many of them were floored with an artificial stone,
+composed of shells and mortar, which in this climate takes and keeps the
+hardness of rock; and that no other vehicle than a hand-barrow was
+allowed to pass over them. In some places you see remnants of this
+ancient pavement; but for the most part it has been ground into dust
+under the wheels of the carts and carriages introduced by the new
+inhabitants. The old houses, built of a kind of stone which is seemingly
+a pure concretion of small shells, overhang the streets with their
+wooden balconies; and the gardens between the houses are fenced on the
+side of the street with high walls of stone. Peeping over these walls
+you see branches of the pomegranate, and of the orange-tree now fragrant
+with flowers, and rising yet higher, the leaning boughs of the fig with
+its broad luxuriant leaves. Occasionally you pass the ruins of
+houses--walls of stone with arches and stair-cases of the same material,
+which once belonged to stately dwellings. You meet in the streets with
+men of swarthy complexions and foreign physiognomy, and you hear them
+speaking to each other in a strange language. You are told that these
+are the remains of those who inhabited the country under the Spanish
+dominion, and that the dialect you have heard is that of the island of
+Minorca.
+
+"'Twelve years ago,' said an acquaintance of mine, 'when I first visited
+St. Augustine, it was a fine old Spanish town. A large proportion of the
+houses which you now see roofed like barns, were then flat-roofed; they
+were all of shell rock, and these modern wooden buildings were then not
+erected. That old fort which they are now repairing, to fit it for
+receiving a garrison, was a sort of ruin, for the outworks had partly
+fallen, and it stood unoccupied by the military, a venerable monument of
+the Spanish dominion. But the orange-groves were the wealth and ornament
+of St. Augustine, and their produce maintained the inhabitants in
+comfort. Orange-trees of the size and height of the pear-tree, often
+rising higher than the roofs of the houses, embowered the town in
+perpetual verdure. They stood so close in the groves that they excluded
+the sun; and the atmosphere was at all times aromatic with their leaves
+and fruit, and in spring the fragrance of the flowers was almost
+oppressive.'
+
+"The old fort of St. Mark, now called Fort Marion--a foolish change of
+name--is a noble work, frowning over the Mantanzas, which flows between
+St. Augustine and the island of Anastasia; and it is worth making a long
+journey to see. No record remains of its original construction; but it
+is supposed to have been erected about a hundred and fifty years
+since,[44] and the shell rock of which it is built is dark with time. We
+saw where it had been struck with cannon balls, which, instead of
+splitting the rock, became imbedded and clogged among the loosened
+fragments of shell. This rock is therefore one of the best materials for
+fortification in the world. We were taken into the ancient prisons of
+the fort-dungeons, one of which was dimly lighted by a grated window,
+and another entirely without light; and by the flame of a torch we were
+shown the half obliterated inscriptions scrawled on the walls long ago
+by prisoners. But in another corner of the fort, we were taken to look
+at the secret cells, which were discovered a few years since in
+consequence of the sinking of the earth over a narrow apartment between
+them. These cells are deep under ground, vaulted over-head, and without
+windows. In one of them a wooden machine was found, which some supposed
+might have been a rack, and in the other a quantity of human bones. The
+doors of these cells had been walled up and concealed with stucco,
+before the fort passed into the hands of the Americans.
+
+"You cannot be in St. Augustine a day without hearing some of its
+inhabitants speak of its agreeable climate. During the sixteen days of
+my residence here, the weather has certainly been as delightful as I
+could imagine. We have the temperature of early June as June is known in
+New York. The mornings are sometimes a little sultry; but after two or
+three hours a fresh breeze comes in from the sea sweeping through the
+broad piazzas, and breathing in at the windows. At this season it comes
+laden with the fragrance of the flowers of the Pride of India, and
+sometimes of the orange tree, and sometimes brings the scent of roses,
+now in bloom. The nights are gratefully cool; and I have been told by a
+person who has lived here many years, that there are very few nights in
+summer when you can sleep without a blanket.
+
+"An acquaintance of mine, an invalid, who has tried various climates,
+and has kept up a kind of running fight with death for many years,
+retreating from country to country as he pursued, declares to me that
+the winter climate of St. Augustine is to be preferred to that of any
+part of Europe, even that of Sicily, and that it is better than the
+climate of the West Indies. He finds it genial and equable, at the same
+time that it is not enfeebling. The summer heats are prevented from
+being intense by the sea-breeze, of which I have spoken. I have looked
+over the work of Dr. Forry on the climate of the United States, and have
+been surprised to see the uniformity of climate which he ascribes to Key
+West. As appears by the observations he has collected, the seasons at
+that place glide into each other by the softest gradations; and the heat
+never, even in midsummer, reaches that extreme which is felt in the
+higher latitudes of the American continent. The climate of Florida is,
+in fact, an insular climate: the Atlantic on the east, and the Gulf of
+Mexico on the west, temper the airs that blow over it, making them
+cooler in summer and warmer in winter. I do not wonder, therefore, that
+it is so much the resort of invalids; it would be more so if the
+softness of its atmosphere, and the beauty and serenity of its seasons
+were generally known. Nor should it be supposed that accommodations for
+persons in delicate health are wanting; they are, in fact, becoming
+better with every year, as the demand for them increases. Among the
+acquaintances whom I have made here, I remember many who having come
+hither for the benefit of their health, are detained for life by the
+amenity of the climate. 'It seems to me,' said an intelligent gentleman
+of this class, the other day, 'as if I could not exist out of Florida.
+When I go to the north, I feel most sensibly the severe extremes of the
+weather; the climate of Charleston itself appears harsh to me.'
+
+"The negroes of St. Augustine are a good-looking specimen of the race,
+and have the appearance of being very well treated. You rarely see a
+negro in ragged clothing; and the colored children, though slaves, are
+often dressed with great neatness. In the colored people whom I saw in
+the Catholic church, I remarked a more agreeable, open, and gentle
+physiognomy than I have been accustomed to see in that class.
+
+"Some old customs which the Minorcans brought with them from their
+native country, are still kept up. On the evening before Easter Sunday,
+about eleven o'clock, I heard the sound of a serenade in the streets.
+Going out, I found a party of young men with instruments of music,
+grouped about the window of one of the dwellings, singing a hymn in
+honor of the Virgin,[45] in the Mahonese dialect. They began, as I was
+told, with tapping on the shutter. An answering knock within had told
+them that their visit was welcome, and they immediately began the
+serenade. If no reply had been heard, they would have passed on to
+another dwelling. I give the hymn as it was kindly taken down for me in
+writing, by a native of St. Augustine. I presume this is the first time
+that it has been put in print; but I fear the copy has several
+corruptions, occasioned by the unskillfulness of the copyist. The letter
+_e_, which I have put in italics, represents the guttural French _e_,
+or, perhaps, more nearly the sound of the _u_ in the word but. The _sh_
+of our language is represented by _sc_ followed by an _i_ or an _e_; the
+_g_, both hard and soft, has the same sound as in our language.
+
+ "'Disciar_e_m lu dol
+ Cantar_e_m aub' alagria
+ Y n'arem a da
+ Las pascuas a Maria
+ O Maria!
+ "'Sant Grabiel,
+ Qui portaba la ambasciado
+ Des nostro rey del cel,
+ Estaran vos prenada
+ Ya omitiada
+ Tu o vais aqui surventa
+ Fia del Dieu contenta
+ Para fe lo que el vol
+ Disciar_e_m lu dol, &c.
+
+ "'Y a milla nit
+ Pariguero vos regina
+ A un Dieu infinit,
+ Dintra una establina.
+ Y a milla dia,
+ Que los angles von cantant
+ Pau y abondant
+ De la gloria de Dieu sol
+ Disciar_e_m lu dol, &c.
+
+ "'Y a Libalam,
+ Alla la terra santa
+ Nus nat Jesus
+ Aub' alagria tanta
+ Infant petit
+ Que tot lu mon salvaria
+ Y ningu y bastaria
+ Nu mes un Dieu tot sul
+ Disciar_e_m lu dol, &c.
+
+ "'Cuant de Orion lus
+ Tres reys la stralla veran
+ Dieu omnipotent
+ Adora lo vingaran
+ Un present inferan
+ De mil _e_ncens y or
+ A lu beneit seno
+ Que conesce cual se vol
+ Disciar_e_m lu dol, &c.
+
+ "'Tot fu gayant
+ Para cumple la prumas
+ Y lu Esperit sant
+ De un angel fau gramas
+ Gran foc ences,
+ Que crama lu curagia
+ Dieu nos da lenguagia
+ Para fe lo que Dieu vol
+ Disciar_e_m lu dol, &c.
+
+ "'Cuant trespasa
+ De quest mon nostra Senora
+ Al cel s' empugia
+ Sun fil la matescia ora
+ O! Emperadora
+ Que del cel san eligida
+ Lu rosa florida
+ Me resplenden que un sol
+ Disciar_e_m lu dol, &c.
+
+ "'Y el tercer giorn
+ Que Jesus resunta
+ Dieu y Aboroma
+ Que la mort triumfa
+ De alli se balla
+ Para perldra Lucife
+ An tot a sen penda
+ Que de nostro ser el sol
+ Disciar_e_m lu dol, &c.
+
+"After this hymn, the following stanzas, soliciting the customary gift
+of cakes or eggs, are sung:--
+
+ "'Ce set que vam cantant,
+ Regina celestial!
+ Damos pan y alagria
+ Y bonas festas tingan
+ Y vos da sus bonas festas
+ Danos dines de sus nous
+ Sempre tar_e_m lus neans Uestas
+ Para recibi un grapat de nes,
+ Y el giorn de pascua florida
+ Alagramos y giuntament
+ As qui _e_s mort par dar nos vida
+ Y via glorosiamente,
+ A questa casa esta empedrada
+ Bien halla que la empedro;
+ San amo de aquesta casa
+ Baldria duna un do
+ Formagiado o empanada
+ Cucutta a flao;
+ Cual se val casa rue grada,
+ Sol que no rue digas que no.'
+
+"The shutters are then opened by the people within, and a supply of
+cheese, cakes or other pastry, or eggs, is dropped into a bag carried by
+one of the party; who acknowledge the gift in the following lines, and
+then depart:--
+
+ "'Aquesta casa reta empedrada
+ Empedrada de cuatro vens;
+ Sun amo de aquesta casa
+ Es omo de compliment.'
+
+"If nothing is given, the last line reads thus:--
+
+ "'No es homo de compliment.'"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+ST. AUGUSTINE IN ITS OLD AGE.--1565-1868.
+
+
+Three hundred and three years have now passed over the walls of this
+venerable city. Ten generations of men and women have passed away since
+this ancient city had an existence and a name. One can look back to 1565
+and picture to the mind the galleons of Spain anchored off its harbor;
+see the gallant Adelantado Menendez, clad in mail, preceded by the
+standards of Spain, and followed by his men at arms, his bowmen and his
+cavaliers, taking possession of the country in the name of his
+sovereign. The waves roll in upon the same shores now as they did then;
+the green, grassy marshes and oyster-clad banks present to our eyes the
+same appearance as they did to theirs; the white sandy beach which
+received the impress of the iron-clad heel of the cavalier, now yields
+to the pressure of your foot; the rustling pines along the shore cast
+their pleasant shadows over you as they did over them, and perchance the
+same eager thoughts of gain pervade your breast as you pass beneath
+them, as filled the hearts and souls of those who long ago came seeking
+gold and wealth unmeasured upon those shores.
+
+Three hundred years ago, and St. Augustine stood the solitary settlement
+of the white race north of the Gulf of Mexico in all that great expanse
+which now boasts of its thirty-four States, its three hundred cities,
+and its thirty millions of people.
+
+Then the Province of Florida extended northward to the pole, and
+westward to the Pacific. At a later period, after the voyages of the
+French and English, its boundaries were limited to the shores of the
+Chesapeake and the Mississippi river, and were subsequently gradually
+contracted to their present limits, so that Florida once represented
+upon the maps all of the United States.
+
+The life of St. Augustine runs parallel with that of Spain. For a long
+period Spain was at the head of European monarchies; its rulers held
+sway over more vast possessions than had ever belonged to any single
+crown since the days of the Caesars; wealth flowed into its coffers from
+the New World in boundless profusion, and corruption, venality and
+effeminacy followed in its train. The whole continent of America was
+claimed as its dominion. Its fleets anchored upon every shore for
+conquest or exploration, and its banners were unfurled by its generals,
+and the cross was planted by its priests, upon every headland. From all
+this grandeur and eminence the Spanish monarchy has been cast down.
+Driven from land to land, it has receded from the main land of America,
+and has exchanged its dominion over a continent to the islands of the
+sea, which it holds with a precarious grasp, and it now remains in a dry
+old age a fourth-rate power where once it stood foremost. The first
+planted of all the cities of the United States, St. Augustine, now ranks
+among the least.
+
+Ten years have been added to the longevity of the ancient city since the
+first publication of this work. Ten years do not make their mark upon
+the aged man as they do upon the youth launching forth into manhood, or
+as they do upon him who in the full measure of his matured strength is
+battling with life. On the nation at large, these ten years have left
+almost ineffaceable scars and bruises; ten years, the most important,
+the weightiest and the gravest of any since the throes of the great
+revolution which gave birth to the nation. This long sad period has left
+no mark upon its walls--grey and mouldy with the weight of years, and
+have scarcely added a tinge the more of age and sorrow--and yet the
+inner life of the old city has sustained a great shock. The system of
+servitude, which has now been swept away, was the sole dependence of
+many aged persons, of many poor widows and orphan children.
+
+Servants in St. Augustine were treated with paternal kindness; they had
+grown up in the family of the indulgent master, had been his play-mate
+in infancy, and rendered willing service. They had their holidays and
+their balls, and were ever found in the background at all festive
+gatherings, enjoying, upon a privileged footing, the pleasures of the
+hour, looking on and commenting with pride upon the graceful movements
+in the dance of their young mistresses, and anon whirling each other
+around to the music, in the corridors, with the unrestrained exuberance
+of their simple and unalloyed happiness. All this has passed away, their
+homes are broken up, the poor widow and the orphan children have been
+brought to want, the sound of music and dancing no longer resound in
+the old streets, the privileged house-maid and man-servant no longer do
+their easy tasks with cheerful song and merry laugh.
+
+The naval forces of the United States took possession of St. Augustine
+in 1862. Batteries had been mounted at the fort, and a small garrison of
+Confederate troops were in military occupation of the place, but too few
+in numbers to offer any resistance, and the city was surrendered by the
+civil authorities upon the demand of Captain Dupont. The 4th New
+Hampshire regiment first garrisoned the city. The old fort was brushed
+up and repaired, the earth-works strengthened, and barracks built on the
+platform. Occasionally reconnoitering parties of Confederates approached
+the town, and on one occasion a festive party of officers, who had gone
+out to Mr. Solanas, near Picolata, to attend a dance, were captured,
+with their music and ambulance, by Captain Dickinson, celebrated for
+many daring exploits. It was even believed that this daring partisan had
+ridden through the city at night in the guise of a Federal cavalry
+officer. On another occasion, the commanding officer of the garrison at
+St. Augustine was captured on the road from Jacksonville by a
+Confederate picket.
+
+The inhabitants, isolated from all means of obtaining supplies from
+without the lines, were reduced to great straits. The only condition
+upon which they were allowed to purchase, was the acceptance of an oath
+of loyalty. Sympathizing strongly with the South, they were placed in an
+unfortunate position, and many doubtless suffered greatly. At one
+period, those of the citizens who had relatives in the Confederate
+service were ordered to leave the city. Then ensued a scene which
+beggars description. Men, women and children were huddled on board a
+vessel, and, homeless and helpless, were carried along the coast and
+disembarked, shelterless, on the banks of the Nassau river, to make
+their way to food and shelter as best they could--hardships which hardly
+seemed called for by any military necessity. Many of the young men of
+the city went into the Confederate service and served through the war
+with distinction, but many fell victims on the battlefield, in the
+hospitals, or from exposure to the rigorous climate of Virginia and
+Tennessee, to which they were unaccustomed.
+
+To these misfortunes succeeded to all, sales and forcible deprivation of
+property, under the most rigorous construction of most rigorous
+laws--the unsettling of titles and the loss of mean have combined to
+lessen the ability of the people to do more than try to live, without
+much effort to improve their homes and the appearance of the city.
+
+Some changes have taken place in the suburbs of the city. Macariz, the
+site of the old Indian town, belonging to the late Judge Douglas, with
+its beautiful groves of forest trees, has been utterly destroyed; and a
+once pleasant cottage home, near the stockades, dear to the writer,
+cared for and embellished with many things pleasant to the eye, fragrant
+with the ever blooming roses and honeysuckles, has, under the rude hand
+of war, been utterly destroyed, with its library, its furniture, and all
+its pleasant surroundings.
+
+But while man's work has been to destroy, Nature has done much within
+these few years to restore one of its former sources of prosperity, the
+cultivation of the orange, which, having been at one period almost
+utterly destroyed by the cold, and then by the coccus insect, is now
+fast regaining its pristine vigor and productiveness, and promises in a
+few years to furnish to the city more permanent and abundant sources of
+prosperity than it has ever had.
+
+With the infusion of Northern energy and capital, much could be done to
+further the prosperity of the old city, by building up first-class
+hotels and boarding-houses for visitors during the winter, by rebuilding
+the Picolata railway, thus facilitating access to the city, and thus a
+means of support could be given to its inhabitants.
+
+I am sure that no one will feel otherwise than that its old age shall be
+tranquil and serene, and that its name may ever be associated with
+pleasant memories.
+
+[Illustration: decoration]
+
+ * * * * *
+
+
+FOOTNOTES:
+
+[1] The fountain of youth is a very ancient fable; and the reader will
+be reminded of the amusing story of the accomplishment of this miracle,
+told in Hawthorne's Twice-Told Tales, and of the marvelous effects
+produced by imbibing this celebrated spring water.
+
+[2] Barcia Ensayo, Cron. 66.
+
+[3] The galleon spoken of was Menendez's own flag ship, the El Pelayo,
+the largest vessel in his fleet, fitted out at his own expense, and
+which had brought four hundred men. He had put on board of her a
+lieutenant and some soldiers, besides fifteen Lutherans as prisoners,
+whom he was sending home to the Inquisition at Seville. The orders to
+his officers were to go as speedily as possible to the island of
+Hispaniola, to bring provisions and additional forces. Upon the passage,
+the Lutheran prisoners, with some Levantine sailors, rose upon the
+Spaniards, killed the commander, and carried the vessel into Denmark.
+Menendez was much chagrined when he ascertained the fate of his favorite
+galleon, a long period afterwards.
+
+[4] A low palm, bearing an oily berry.
+
+[5] Ternaux Compans.
+
+[6] Hakluyt.
+
+[7] Brevis Narratio.
+
+[8] W. Gilmore Simms, Esq.
+
+[9] Laudonniere says, "_joignant la montagne_."
+
+[10] Canaveral, where Ribault was wrecked, must have been some point
+north of Mosquito Inlet, and not the cape now bearing that name, as he
+could not have crossed Mosquito Inlet in his march to Matanzas.
+
+[11] Barcia, p. 87.
+
+[12] Barcia, p. 89.
+
+[13] Barcia, p. 89.
+
+[14] Barcia, p. 89.
+
+[15] Such was the understanding of those who then wrote in reference to
+the transaction, as Barcia admits.
+
+[16] Ensay. Cron. 110.
+
+[17] Ensayo: Cron. 115.
+
+[18] Pensacola Bay was also so called.
+
+[19] Ensayo: Cron. 133.
+
+[20] Ternaux Compans, p. 357.
+
+[21] This old chest, which remained in one of the western vaults of the
+fort, up to the late war, was broken up for relics, and is no longer
+there.
+
+[22] I do not find any account of this expedition and capture of St.
+Augustine in the Ensayo Cronologica.
+
+[23] Carroll's S. C., Vol. 1, p. 62.
+
+[24] Rivers' S. C. Hist. Coll. p. 143. Do. Appendix, 426. Carroll's
+Coll., 2d vol., 350.
+
+[25] There must be an error, of course, in this statement of an 82-gun
+ship entering St. Augustine, as the depth of water would never admit a
+vessel of over 300 tons: probably 82 should read 12 tons. G. R. F.
+
+[26] Carroll's Hist. Coll., vol. 2, p. 352.
+
+[27] Rivers' Hist. Sketches, S. C., app. 458.
+
+[28] State Papers of Georgia. Ga. Hist. Soc.
+
+[29] This statement is unsupported by either Spanish or English
+authority. The writer of the letter, through want of familiarity with
+their language, misunderstood his informants, in all probability, as to
+the extent of their loss.
+
+[30] MSS, in Geo. Hist. Soc. Library.
+
+[31] Monteano, MSS., Archives St. Augustine.
+
+[32] Monteano, MS. Letter of, 28th July, 1740.
+
+[33] Report upon Expedition to St. Augustine. Carroll's Coll. 2d vol.,
+p. 354.
+
+[34] Carroll's Hist. Coll. S. C. p. 359.
+
+[35] De Brahm MS., p. 192.
+
+[36] Stork, p. 11.
+
+[37] Williams' Florida, p. 17.
+
+[38] Among the families remaining were the Fatios, Flemings, and a few
+others.
+
+[39] The old parish church was on St. George street, on west side of the
+street.
+
+[40] Voyage to Spanish Main. London, 1819. Page 116, _et seq._
+
+[41] Williams' Florida, pp. 18, _et seq._
+
+[42] It is said to have been taken down by the contractor, to form the
+foundation of his kitchen.
+
+[43] Bryant.
+
+[44] It is much more ancient.
+
+[45] This song is usually called the _Fromajardis_.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of Project Gutenberg's The Spaniards in Florida, by George R. Fairbanks
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