|
Huguenot Settlements at Charles Fort under Ribaut, and at Fort 1562- 1564. We have hitherto accompanied through the wilds of Florida the cavaliers of Spain, who, with the sound of the trumpet and the battle-cry of St. lago, carried devastation and slaughter in their march. They styled themselves Conquistadors ; their purpose was conquest, and their principal object the acquisition of gold, silver, and pearls. A country which promised rich rewards to the patient and laborious pursuits of the agriculturist offered no inducements to them. They had been corrupted and engorged with the plunder of Mexico and the spoil of Peru. They sought not to create wealth, but to seize and appropriate it wherever found, and they had little regard to the amount of suffering they caused the unhappy natives of the land, if either by torture or destruction they could force the discovery of their treasures. Their efforts in Florida had proved fruitless. Where they had looked for easy conquest and great reward they had found only privation and toils, and had met a race fierce and implacable, who lacked only the means of offensive warfare to sweep their invaders from their shores. Narvaez and his followers had perished ingloriously in their attempt to leave a land hostile at every step, and the miserable remnant of the force of De Soto, baffled in all their efforts, had barely escaped into Mexico. The fruitless expedition of De Luna had failed of its object, and the whole of the vast country, from Mexico to the Polar Seas and from the Atlantic to the Pacific, contained not a single settlement of the white race. The dreams of conquest were over, and the adventurers were well satisfied to leave in peace "the richest country of the world." An entirely different class of persons now made their appearance upon the shores of Florida, the principal aim of whom was colonization and settlement. They were of a different race and had come from different motives. The weak and vacillating Charles IX. was King of France, and the Admiral De Chastellan, better known as the famous Coligny, was at the head of the Protestant party. Civil war raged between the votaries of the two religious bodies between whom the kingdom was divided. The transatlantic discoveries and settlements of the Spaniards in Mexico, Peru, and the Spanish Main suggested to the astute mind of the admiral the idea of founding beyond the sea a new empire which might extend the possessions of France, and at the same time strengthen, and, in case of need, afford a refuge to, the Huguenots, if borne down in their contest at home. An expedition was fitted out, and sailed in February, 1562, consisting of two good vessels, under Captain Jean Ribaut, an officer of much experience and considerable reputation. A prosperous voyage brought them directly to the coast of Florida, in the neighborhood of St. Augustine. Sailing to the northward, they discovered the entrance of the St. John's River, landed, and erected a monument of stone, on which was engraved the arms of France, it being placed, it is said, within the said river, and not far from the mouth thereof, upon a little sandy knap. They named the river the river May, because they entered it upon the first day of that month. Re-embarking, they sailed to the northward, landing occasionally, and being received with kindness by the numerous Indians they encountered, to whom they gave presents of trifling value, such as looking-glasses and tin bracelets, with which they were much pleased. After sailing about ninety leagues to the north, they entered the harbor of Port Royal, and anchored. For several days they made excursions up the adjoining rivers, making peaceable overtures to the Indians, with whom they were now upon terms of amity. Ribaut finally concluded to plant his colony at this point, but it was a question as to what portion of his followers would be willing to remain alone upon these unknown shores. He thereupon called his men together and made them a skillful oration, which is reported to us with all the fullness of a modern "Herald" report. Adorning and illustrating his speech by various references to classical antiquity, he closed by saying, " How much, then, ought so many worthy examples to move you to plant here, considering also that you shall be registered forever as the first that inhabited this strange country ! I pray you therefore all to advise yourselves thereof, and to deliver your mind freely unto me, protesting that I will so well imprint your names in the king's ears and the other princes, that your renown shall hereafter thrive unquenchably through our realms of France." Such has ever been the peculiarity of the Gallic race ; they appeal, not to the appetite for gain, not to the riches to be acquired, but, from Charlemagne to Napoleon III., honor to France and renown to themselves have been the incentives to performance of duty and great enterprise. Ribaut judged rightly of the effect of such an appeal to the hearts of Frenchmen. He had hardly ended his oration when the majority of the soldiers replied that a greater pleasure could never betide them, perceiving well the acceptable service which by this means they do unto their prince, besides that this thing should be for the increase of their honors ; whereupon, it is said, Jean Ribaut, being as glad as might be to see his men so well willing, determined at once to search out a place most fit and convenient to be inhabited. The matter was a momentous one an empire was to be founded, and a continent taken possession of; it was felt to be a great occasion, and the minds of the little band ran forward to the time when a New France, with its peopled cities, its rich and fertile fields, its coasts, whitened with the sails of commerce, would be in existence, and they remembered in those after-days as the first occupants of this vast country. A small fort was erected upon a little island and named Charles Fort ; twenty-five men were selected to remain, and placed under the command of Captain Albert. Supplies of ammunition and provisions were left, and with a parting salute of artillery, replied to from the fort, the vessels left the infant settlement, and the destinies of New France were centered in that little fort. The Indians were on terms of amity, and everything promised fair for the future. Ribaut, satisfied with this beginning, returned to France, having been absent about four months. The colony left at Charles Fort prospered for some time, and made various excursions among the Indians, by whom they were well received and lovingly entreated. Indeed, the French seemed to have a peculiar faculty of ingratiating themselves ; and the whole history of their explorations, in every part of America, shows most uniform and remarkable success in conciliating and securing the affection of the savage tribes. The secret consists most probably in the peculiarly adaptable and versatile talent of the French, enabling them to accommodate themselves with ease to any customs or usages, and putting them at once at home wherever they may happen to be placed. Another reason is, that they are skilled in the art of pantomime, the only language at all available upon first meeting with a tribe whose language is unknown. The Frenchman, with his varying gestures, his expressive shrug, his flexible features, his animated manner of expressing himself, would soon be on a good footing and smoking a pipe with the cacique, where the stately Don would be expressing his pleasure in pure Castilian and making gestures at the end of his lance, or the Englishman, with his phlegmatic temperament, would be attempting a direct negotiation. Whether as missionaries, explorers, or traders, the French have ever been foremost in the facility with which they have managed their red brethren. A very little additional aid to French colonization would have made the United States indeed a New France. Captain Albert made an excursion to a country called the Ouade, probably the Savannah River, where the cacique, after supplying them with corn, it is said, gave them a certain number of exceeding fair pearls, two stones of fine crystal, and certain silver ore, and being inquired of where the ore and crystals came from, they answered that it came ten days' journey, and that the inhabitants there dig the same at the foot of certain high mountains, referring, it is quite evident, to the gold regions of Georgia. It had been the intention of Ribaut, when he left the colony, to return immediately with a much larger force, and provided with everything necessary to establish a permanent settlement ; but, when he returned to France, civil war was raging, and nothing could be done, and the existence of Captain Albert and Charles Fort was almost forgotten. Anxiously did the little garrison await the promised return. Their provisions were becoming more scarce, and, day by day, they in vain scanned the horizon in the hope of descrying relief; but none came, and with disappointment came discontent. Their captain became exacting and tyrannical and the men careless and disobedient. A difficulty arising with one Guerlache, a poor drummer, he was ordered to be hung by the captain, and this conclusive evidence of civilization was carried into effect ; another he placed on an island to starve, and then it was determined to remove Albert by taking his life, which they soon did. Months had rolled past since Ribaut was to have returned. After the death of Albert they chose one Nicolas Barre as their captain; and finally, despairing of the return of Ribaut, they determined to attempt to get away. They had not a single ship-carpenter among them, but they managed to build a small pinnace, probably a mere shallop. They covered it with moss, made the cordage of palmettos, and the sails of their shirts and linen. In this miserable little affair, caulked with moss, and with such sails, this little band attempted to cross the stormy ocean which separated them from their native land. It would seem as though the first shock of a tempest would have buried them beneath the waves. They had not laid in sufficient provisions for their long voyage, and, although the calms they encountered were favorable to their safety, they were soon placed in danger of starvation. Listlessly floating upon the sea, becalmed for many days, they were reduced to terrible extremities, until at last they cast lots for the life of one of their number, and Leclerc was sacrificed, and his flesh divided equally - ''a thing so pitiful," says the writer, "that my pen is loath to write it." Fortunately, they were soon after fallen in with by an English vessel and rescued. It seems wonderful that they should have escaped at all, for so crazy a craft never crossed the Atlantic. After the truce between the contending parties in France, Coligny turned his attention to the occupation of Florida, and on the 22d of April, 1564, he dispatched thither three vessels, respectively, of one hundred and twenty, one hundred, and sixty tons burden, under command of Rene de Laudonniere, who- had accompanied Ribaut in the first expedition. This Rene seems to have been a clever young man, some- what fussy and undecided, and considerably elevated by his first command. In person, if Le Moyne's pictures are correct, he was small and slight, with a pleasant countenance. The Indian chiefs are represented as towering a head and shoulders above him. On Thursday, the 22nd day of June, 1564, about three o'clock in the afternoon, Laudonniere says he came to the land, went on shore near a little river which is 30° distant from the equator, and ten leagues above Cape Frangois, drawing towards the south, and about 30° above the river May. "After we had stricken sail and cast anchor athwart the river, I determined to go on shore to discover the same. Therefore being accompanied with Monsieur d'Ottigni and Monsieur d'Arlac, my ensigne, and a certain number of soldiers, I embarked myself about 3 or 4 of the clock in the evening, and arrived at the mouth of the river. I caused the channel to be sounded, which was found to be very shallow, although that further within the same the water was there found reasonably deep, which separated itself with two great arms, whereof one runneth toward the south and the other toward the north. Having thus searched the river, I went on land to speak with the Indians which waited for us on the shore, which, at our incoming on land, came before us crying with a loud voice their Indian language, Antipola, benassan, which is as much as to say, brother, friend, or some such thing. After they had seen very much of us they showed us their paracoussi, that is to say their king and governor, to whom I presented certain toyes, wherewith he was well pleased ; and for mine own part I pray God continually for the great love which I have found in these savages, which were sorry for nothing but that the night approached and made us retire unto our ships. For though they endeavoured by all means to make us tarry with them, and showed by signals the desire they had to present us with some rare things, yet, nevertheless, for many and reasonable occasions^ I would not stay on shore all night, but excusing myself for all their offers, I embarked myself again and returned toward my ships. Howbeit, before mine departure, I named their river the River of Dolphins, because that at mine arrival I saw there a great number of dolphins which were playing in the mouth thereof." This account by Laudonniere himself, of his first landing on the coast of Florida, is given at length, for the reason that it is the harbor of St. Augustine which he describes; and the spot where that city is now built was the scene of the interview which he here relates. The two arms of the river, running to the north and south, are the North River and the Matanzas River, and the shallow water on the bar, and the gentle and pleasant courtesy which characterized the natives, may be said to be perpetuated to this day. In the volume of De Bry, relating to Florida, the first plate contains a striking picture of the River of Dolphins, a boat with Captain Laudonniere about landing, a large number of the natives on the shore. One group represents the paracoussi, seated upon a carpet of green leaves, surrounded with his people, awaiting the landing of the French, whose three vessels are at anchor. The pahii, the pine, and the cedar are represented as growing on the shore. On the next day they sailed for the mouth of the river May, the St. John's, where Laudonniere was shown by the Indians the column erected by Ribaut. After examining various localities, Laudonniere concluded to establish his settlement at the point now known as St. John's Bluff. The reasons which induced a location upon the St. John, as given by Laudonniere himself, were that *'to the southward there was nothing but a flat, marshy country, unfit to inhabit, and, from the report of those who were left at Charles Fort, the country thereabouts was not productive, while the means of subsistence seemed to abound on the river May ; and upon their first visit they had seen gold and silver in the possession of the natives, a thing which put me in hope," he says, " of some happy discovery in time to come." The poetic nature of the Frenchman, and his eye for natural beauty, was kindled as he explored the margin of the river; and to one place which pleased his fancy, at the request of his soldiers, he gave the name of the Vale of Laudonniere - his eye charmed with the green meadows and bright visions of spring. Having fixed upon the spot upon which to erect the fort, he commanded the trumpet to sound, and assembled his men, to return thanks to God for their favorable and happy arrival. "Thus they sang hymns of praise to the Lord, supplicating that His holy grace might be continued to His poor servants, and aid them in all undertakings which they desired should redound to His glory and the advancement of our Holy Faith." They laid out their fort in the form of a triangle, and received some assistance from the Indians in its construction. An expedition went up the river in boats, and at twenty leagues' distance, probably about Mandarin, they came to an Indian town called Thimagua, and by the Indians of this tribe he was informed of nine other kings or caciques, named Cadecha, Chilili, Eclanan, Enacoppe, Calany, Anacharagua, Anitagua, Equera, Mucoso. The last named will be recognized as the protector of Juan Ortiz, thirty years before. From time to time, boat expeditions were made to the tribes settled along the river, and they had frequent applications to assist the caciques in their wars against each other, and on several occasions did so to strengthen themselves with their neighbors. On the 29th of August, 1564, it is said ''a lightning from heaven fell within half a league of our fort, more worthy to be wondered at and put in writing than any of the strange signs which have been seen in times past, and whereof histories have been written. For although the meadows were then green, and half covered with water, nevertheless the lightning, in one instant, consumed about five hundred acres, therewith, and burned, with the ardent heat thereof, all the souls which took their pasture in the meadows, which thing continued for three days space, which caused us not a little to muse, not being able to judge whereof the fire proceeded. For one while we thought the Indians had burned their houses and abandoned their places for fear of us. Another while we thought they had discovered some ships at sea, and that, according to their customs, they had kindled many fires here and there to signify that their country was inhabited ; nevertheless, being not assured, I was upon the point to send some one by boats to discover the matter, when six Indians came to me from Paracoussi Allimicany, which, at their first entry, made me a long discourse, and a very long and ample oration (after they had presented me with certain baskets full of maize, of pumpkins, and of grapes) of the loving amity which Auimicany desired to continue with me, and that he looked from day to day where it would please me to employ him in my service. Therefore, considering the serviceable affection that he bore unto me, he found it very strange that I thus discharged mine ordinance against his dwelling, which had burnt up an infinite sight of green meadows, and consumed even down unto the water, and came so near unto his mansion that he thought he saw the fire in his house ; wherefore he besought me most humbly to command my men that they would not shoot any more towards his lodgings, otherwise he would be constrained to abandon his country, and to retire himself unto some place farther off from us," The French commander, seeing that the Indians thought this wonderful stroke of lightning had proceeded from their cannon, encouraged the idea, and informed them he was glad they were inclined to be peaceable ; that he could easily have reached his house, some miles distant, if he had chosen, but that he only fired half-way to show them his power. All this the Indians believed, and the paracoussi would not come within twenty-five leagues of the fort for two months. "Two days afterward there followed such an excessive heat in the air, that the river became so hot that I " think it was almost ready to seethe, for there died so great abundance of fish, and that of so many divers sorts, that in the mouth of the river only there were found dead enough to have laden fifty carts, whereof there issued a putrefaction in the air which bred many dangerous diseases amongst us, inasmuch as most of my men fell sick and almost ready to end their days. Yet, notwithstanding, it pleased our merciful God so far to provide by his Providence, that all our men got well." In September one of the Frenchmen pretended that by the secret art of magic he had discovered a mine of gold and silver, far up within the river, and that their captain was intending to conceal it from them. Acting upon the credulity of others, he soon organized a conspiracy to make way with Laudonniere. At this time Laudonniere sent a small vessel back to France, under the command of Captain Bourdett, and with him seven or eight of those whose fidelity he suspected. He was subsequently prostrated by fever, and the discontented in his garrison proceeded to an open conspiracy. They seized his person, and confined him upon a small vessel in the river for fifteen days. For the purpose of explorations by water, Laudonniere had constructed two small vessels. These they seized, and taking from the fort whatever they required, they set out upon a freebooting expedition against the Spaniards, or anybody else they might meet. The vessels were separated, and each went on its course. One of them captured the first vessel they met, and abandoned their own ; afterwards, cruising among the islands, they made another capture, and were finally most of them taken and destroyed. A small brigantine, escaping pursuit, returned to Fort Caroline, and Laudonniere had them tried by court-martial, and the four leaders were sentenced to be hung. It is related " that when they found their proximity to Fort Caroline, in a kind of mockery, they counterfeited judges; but they played not this prank until they had tippled well of the wine they had on board. One counterfeited the judge, another Captain Laudonniere ; another, after he had heard the matter pleaded, concluded thus: 'Make you your causes as good as it pleases you, but if, when you come to the Fort Caroline, the captain causes you not to be hanged, I will never take him for an honest man. ' Others thought that, his choler being past, he would easily forget the matter." Being out of provisions, they were obliged, however,to enter the river and submit to Laudonniere. The only modification of the sentence of death upon the four leaders was that, being soldiers, they should be first shot before being hung. Being led out to execution, one of them endeavored to excite a rescue ; but they were all four shot, and then hanged upon gibbets at the mouth of the river. Thus early did this sad emblem of crime and human depravity succeed the planting of the sign of man's redemption upon our shores. During this period, Laudonniere heard that two white men were living at a distance among the Indians. He at once sent word to the caciques of the neighboring tribes that he would give a large reward to have them brought to him. He soon obtained them. They were naked, wearing their hair long to their hips, in the Indian fashion. They were Spaniards by birth, but had been fifteen years among the Indians, having been wrecked upon the keys called the Martyrs. They said a considerable number were saved, and among them several women, who had married among the Indians and had families, so that possibly the descendants of these Spaniards may be among the Seminoles to this day. Among other excursions which were made, was one to the widow of King Hia-caia, whose domain seems to have been at St. Mary's. It is said ''she courteously received our men, sent me back my barks full of beans and acornes, with certain baskets of cassina, where- with they make their drinke. And the place where this widow dwelleth is the most plentiful of any that is in all the coast, and the most pleasant. It is thought that the queene is the most beautiful of all the Indians, and of whom they make the most account, yea, and her subjects honor her so much, that almost continually they carry her on their shoulders, and will not suffer her to go on foot." In De Bry there is an engraving made from a sketch of Jacques Morgues, (1) who accompanied this deputation, representing her Majesty in her state procession. At the head appear two trumpeters blowing upon reeds. Then follow six chiefs bearing a canopied platform, on which is seated, shaded by a leafy canopy, her Majesty in the person of a beautiful female. Around her neck is a cordon of pearls ; bracelets and anklets adorn the person, et prceterea nihil. On each side walk other chiefs, holding large feather shades or fans; beautiful young girls bearing baskets of fruits and flowers follow next to the queen, and then warriors and her household guards. An excursion to Lake George and the island at its mouth - now called Drayton Island - is thus mentioned : " I sent my two barks to discover along the river, and up towards the head thereof, which went so far up that they were thirty leagues good beyond a place named Matthiaqua; and there they discovered the entrance of a lake, upon the one side whereof no land can be seen, according to the report of the Indians, which was the cause that my men went no further, but returned backe, and in coming home went to see the Island of Edelano, situated in the midst of the river, as faire a place as any that may be seen through the world, for, in the space of three leagues that it may contain in length and breadth, a man may see an exceeding rich country and marvellously peopled. At the coming out of the village of Edelano to go unto the river's side, a man must pass through an alley about three hundred paces long and fifty paces broad, on both sides whereof great trees are planted ; the boughs thereof are tied like an arch, and meet together so artificially, that a man would think that it were an arbor made of purpose, as fair, I say, as any in all Christendom, although it be altogether natural." They had expected succor from France, by the end of April, 1545, at the uttermost, and had not been prudent in the saving of their provisions. They had latterly lived upon the provisions they obtained from the Indians, but as spring and summer came on they began to suffer from want, and, the season wearing on, they despaired of receiving help from home, and resolved to leave the country so soon as they could repair their vessels, or build another. They were now in great straits to keep from starvation, and besought the Indians to furnish them. But the natives now became very exacting, and soon exhausted the store of articles suitable for presents which the French had with them. At last, finding themselves unable to procure of the savages provisions to victual their vessels, they determined to abandon the peaceful policy which they had hitherto pursued towards the Indians, and, by capturing one of the leading chiefs, force a large amount of provisions for his ransom. They thereupon seized Olata Utina, a great chief, and held him prisoner, but they failed to procure the expected ransom, and embittered the Indians fruitlessly. Afterwards they obtained some relief from the new corn in the Indian fields near them, and the fair queen, before spoken of, gave them a liberal quantity. In the mean time they pushed forward with all diligence their preparations for leaving. In August there appeared on the coast four vessels, being the fleet of Sir John Hawkins, returning from an expedition to the Spanish Main. They came in for a supply of water, and were received and entertained by Laudonniere with the best he had, even, he says, ''killing certain sheep and poultry which he had hitherto carefully preserved to stock the country withal." Sir John, seeing the distress they were in, generously offered to transport them all back to France, which Laudonniere declined, because, he says, he was "in doubt upon what occasion he made so large an offer, for I knew not how the case stood between the French and English ; and though he promised me, on his faith, to put me on land, in France, before he would touch England, yet I stood in doubt least he should attempt somewhat in Florida in the name of his mistress. Therefore I flatly refused his offer. " The garrison, however, hearing of the offer made by the English general, had no such scruples, and said they would go, unless he made some arrangement for their departure. Laudonniere finally effected the purchase of the smallest of the English vessels. The English commander acted very handsomely, leaving the French to put their own valuation upon the vessel, who judged it worth seven hundred crowns. In payment of this sum, he delivered them four pieces of artillery, one thousand of iron, and one thousand of powder. Seeing the small amount of provisions the French had on hand. Sir John most generously supplied them with twenty barrels of meal, five pipes of beans, a hogshead of salt, one hundred pounds of wax, to make candles with ; forasmuch, as it is said, he saw the French soldiers were barefoot, he took compassion upon them and gave them fifty pairs of shoes ; besides this, he made presents to all the officers. As soon as Sir John had sailed, they made all diligence to get their stores ready for their departure, and by the 15 th of August they had everything ready, and awaited fair winds. It was with no pleasant feelings they prepared to leave a country to which they seemed to have become much attached. Laudonniere says, " There was none of us to whom it was not an extreme grief to leave a country wherein we had endured so great travails and necessities, to discover that which we must forsake through our own countryman's fault. I leave it your cogitation to think how near it went lo our hearts to leave a place abounding in riches, as we were thoroughly enformed thereof in coming whereunto, and doing service unto our prince, we left our own country, wives, children, parents, and friends, and passed the perils of the sea, and were therein arrived, as in a plentiful treasure of all our hearts' desire." The question naturally suggests itself, how did it happen that, in a country abounding in the means of subsistence, this colony should have been reduced to such distress? Theirs was no peculiar case; in every instance of an attempt at settlement within the limits of the United States the same thing occurred: after they had eaten up what they had brought with them and what they could obtain of the Indians, they invariably starved. They were generally either soldiers, or persons not accustomed to labor, and their idea of obtaining the means of subsistence was the commissary's store, or the market ; the labor of their own hands in the field they never looked to, and did not seem to know how to avail themselves of the resources of hunting and fishing. At this very period the river which ran by Fort Caroline abounded in fish and oysters, and, when literally starving, the Indians caught fish before their eyes, and demanded such prices as they chose. The example of the Indian fields of maize was before them, and yet they planted not a seed. In interesting juxtaposition with Laudonniere's own account of his troubles, and of the visit of the English fleet, we have the account of this visit from one of Sir John Hawkins's expedition, who, after speaking of the condition in which he found the French, says: "Notwithstanding the great want that the Frenchmen had, the ground doth yield victuals sufficient, if they would have taken pains to get the same; but they, being soldiers, desired to live by the sweat of other men's brows. The ground yieldeth naturally grapes in great store, for in the time the French men were there, they made twenty hogsheads of wine. Also it yieldeth roots, passing good; deeres marvellous good, with divers others beasts and fowl serviceable to the use of man. There be things wherewith a man may live, having maize wherewith to make bread, for maize maketh good savory bread and cakes, as fine as flour; also it maketh good meale, beaten and sodden with water, and eateth like pap wherewith we feed children, a good drink, nourishable, which the French did use to drink of in the morning, and it assuageth their thirst, so that they had no neede to drink all the day after. (2) "The commodities of this land are more than are yet known to any man; for besides the land itself, whereof there is more than any Christian king is able to inhabit, it flourisheth with meadow pasture-ground, with woods of cedar and Cyprus, and other sorts, as better cannot be in the world. They have for apothecary, herbs, roots, and gums great store, as storax liquida, turpentine, gum myrrhe, and frankincense. ''Of beasts in the country, besides deer, foxes, hares, pole-cats, conies, ounces, and leopards, I am not able certainly to say, but it is thought that there are lions and tigers, as well as unicorns; lions especially. Also venomous beasts, such as crocodiles, whereof there is a great abundance; adders of great bigness, whereof our men killed some a yard and a half long. On these adders (3) (rattlesnakes, probably) ''the Frenchmen did feed, to no little admiration of us, and affirmed the same to be a delicate meat," A tolerably accurate description of the different kinds of fish and birds is given, and the writer seems to have been particularly struck with the advantages of the country for raising cattle. "The houses of the Indians," he says, ''are not many together, for in one house an hundred of them do lodge, they being made much like a great barn, and in strength not inferior to ours, for they have stanchions and rafters of whole trees, and are covered with palmetto leaves, having no place divided but one small room for their king and queen. In the midst of this house is a hearth, where they make great fires all night, and they sleep upon certain pieces of wood, hewn in for the bowing of their backs, and another place made high for their heads."
(1) Sometimes called Le Moyne. (2) " The Floridians, when they travel, have a kind of herbe dried, who, with a cane,
and earthen cup in the end with fire and the dried herbs put together, doe suck throu a cane the smoke thereof,
which smoke satisfieth their hunger, and therewith they live four or five days without meate or drinke ; and this
all the Frenchmen used for this purpose; yet doe they hold, withal, that it causeth them to reject from their stomachs,
and spit out water and phlegm."
Table of Contents |
