of Florida, leaving Captain Albert in command at a fort built on an island in the bay of Port Royal, Ribaut then attempted to prosecute a farther voyage of discovery; but was soon obliged to return to Dieppe. The Indians acted towards the French in a friendly manner; and when the non-arrival of reinforcements, and the want of supplies, forced them to leave the country, they furnished them with the materials for equipping a brigantine. The subsequent misfortunes of the French do not belong to this history. Another expedition, under command of René de Laudonniére, was sent out by Coligni, and reached the coast of Florida in June, 1524. The Indian sachems received the French in as kind a manner as before. They showed them the monument erected by Ribaut and seemed proud to make their alliance. A fort was built about two leagues from the mouth of the river St. Matthew, or May, as the French called it, and a serious attempt made to found a colony. Laudonniére often assisted the friendly tribes against their hostile neighbors; by which course he made his situation a difficult and dangerous one, although successful in the open contests with the enemy. At length, when supplies began to fail, Laudonniére broke his alliance with his former friends, and took Outina, the cacique, for whom he hoped to get a high ransom, prisoner. The Indians were irritated, and when Outina was set at liberty, they at once prepared for war. Long arrows were stuck in the fields with scalps hanging at the tops, and the navigation of the river obstructed to prevent the French from returning to Fort Carolina. Several soldiers who had strayed from the main body were cut off; and a detachment of thirty men, under Ottigny, was attacked by a large force of Indians. Several men were killed, twenty-two wounded, and the boats to which they fled had great difficulty in regaining the fort. The French were only saved from utter ruin, by the relief extended by an English captain, named Hawkins, who, with four vessels was exploring the coast. As Laudonniére was preparing to leave the country, Jean Ribaut arrived from France, with several vessels and large reinforcements. Ribaut succeeded Laudonniére, as governor of the colony. Soon after, a large force of the Spanish Catholics, under Pedro de Melendez, arrived on the coast and established the fort St. Augustine. The object of the Spaniards was the expulsion of the Protestant French from Florida. In the bloody scenes which followed, throwing a detestable infamy on the name of the savage Melendez, the Indians took no part. It is enough to say, that the French were all either butchered, or driven out of the country. When, in the latter part of 1567, Dominic de Gorgues came to Florida to revenge the massacre of his countrymen, the Indians joined him, in great force. The Spanish forts, which were under command of Villareal, were attacked in a furious manner, and the enemy being placed between two fires, but few escaped. Many were taken and reserved for a more dreadful death. They were hung on trees, and the inscription, "I do not this as unto Spaniards and mariners, but as unto traitors, robbers and murderers," was placed over them by the revengeful De Gorgues. After receiving the congratulations of the Indians, as their deliverer, he then returned to France. No further attempts were made to establish colonies in Florida by the French, although it had been proved that the Indians, when well treated, were kindly disposed, and willing to assist them. 1 |