generous friend to the suffering colonists, however, and supplied them with provisions and gave them one of his own ships. They had suffered too much to be content with this, and were resolved to abandon the settlement. They were on the point of embarking in the ship furnished them by Sir John, when a fleet of several vessels was discovered standing into the river. It was the squadron of Ribault, with reinforcements and all the supplies necessary for founding a permanent settlement. The despair of the colonists was changed to rejoicing, and all were now willing to remain in the colony.

When the news of the planting of the French colony in Florida reached Philip II. of Spain, he was greatly incensed. Florida was a part of his dominions, and he not only resented the intrusion of the French, but could not tolerate the idea of allowing a Protestant colony to enjoy its settlement in peace. He determined at once to exterminate the heretics, and for this purpose employed Pedro Melendez de Avilès, an officer who had rendered himself notorious for his cruelty when engaged against the pirates and in the wars of Spanish America. His son and heir having been shipwrecked among the Bermudas, Melendez desired to return to America to search for him. Philip, who knew his desperate character, suggested to him the conquest of Florida, and an agreement was entered into between the king and Melendez, by which the latter was to invade and conquer Florida within three years, and establish in that region a colony of not less than 500 persons, of whom 100 should be married men, twelve priests of the Catholic Church and four members of the order of the Jesuits. Melendez also agreed to transport to Florida all kinds of domestic animals, and 500 negro slaves. All this was to be done by Melendez at his own cost, and he was secured by the king in the government of the province for life with the privilege of naming his successor, and was granted large estates in the province and a comfortable salary. Though the destruction of the French colony was not named in the agreement, Philip and Melendez understood each other on that point. The cry was at once raised in Spain that the heretics must be exterminated, and Melendez had no trouble in obtaining recruits. Twenty-five hundred persons gathered under his orders, "soldiers, sailors, priests, Jesuits, married men with their families, laborers and mechanics, and, with the exception of 300 soldiers, all at the cost of Melendez."

The expedition sailed in June, 1565, but the vessels were parted by a storm, and Melendez reached Porto Rico in August with but a third of his force. Unwilling to lose time, however, he sailed at once to the mainland, and arrived off the coast of Florida on the 28th of August.

On the 2d of September he discovered a fine harbor and river, and selected this place as the site of his colony. He named the river and bay in honor of St. Augustine, on whose festival he had arrived off the Florida coast. Ascertaining from the Indians the position of the French, he sailed to the northward, and on the 4th of September arrived off Fort Carolina, where a portion of Ribault's fleet lay anchored in the roadstead. The French commander demanded his name and the object of his visit. He was answered: "I am Melendez of Spain, sent with strict orders from my king to gibbet and behead all the Protestants in these regions. The Frenchman who is a Catholic I will spare; every heretic shall die." The French fleet being unprepared for battle, cut its cables and stood out to sea. Melendez gave chase, but failed to overtake it. Returning to the harbor of St. Augustine, he went on shore on the 8th of September, and took possession of the country in the name of Philip II. of Spain, who was proclaimed monarch of all North America. A solemn mass was said, and the foundations of the town of St. Augustine were laid. Thus was established the first permanent town within the limits of the United States. This task accomplished, Melendez prepared to attack Fort Carolina by land.

Ribault had returned with his ships to Fort Carolina after escaping from the Spaniards. A council of war was held, and it was debated among the French whether they should strengthen their works and await the approach of the enemy, or proceed to St. Augustine and attack them with the fleet. Ribault supposed that Melendez would attack the fort by sea, and favored the latter plan, but his officers opposed his design. Disregarding their advice Ribault put to sea, but had scarcely cleared the harbor when a violent storm wrecked his entire fleet on the Florida coast. Nearly all the men reached the shore unharmed, about one hundred and fifty miles south of Fort Carolina.

The wreck of the French fleet was known to Melendez, and he resolved to strike a blow at once at the fort, which he knew to be in a defenceless state. Leading his men through the forests and swamps which lay between the two settlements, he surprised and captured the fort on the 21st of September. Every soul within the walls, including the aged, the women and children, was put to death. A few escaped to the woods before the capture of the fort, among whom were Laudonniere, Challus, and Le Moyne. Their condition was pitiable. They could expect no mercy from the Spaniards, and death awaited them in the forest. A few gave themselves up to the Spaniards, and were at once murdered; the remainder succeeded in gaining the sea-shore, where they were rescued by two French vessels which had remained in the harbor, and escaped the storm. These immediately sailed for France.

The number of persons massacred by the Spaniards at Fort Carolina amounted to nearly two hundred. When the victims were all dead, mass was said, a cross raised, and a site selected for a church. Then Melendez set out to find the survivors of the shipwrecked fleet. They were discovered in a helpless condition, worn out with fatigue, hunger, and thirst. Melendez promised to treat them with kindness if they would surrender to him, and trusting to his plighted word, they placed themselves in his hands. They were at once seized and bound, and marched towards St. Augustine. As they approached the settlement a signal was given, and the Spaniards fell upon them and massacred all but a few Catholics and some mechanics, who were reserved as slaves. French writers place the number of those who perished in the two massacres at nine hundred. The Spaniards give a smaller number. On the scene of his barbarity Melendez set up this inscription: "I do not this as unto Frenchmen, but as unto Lutherans."

In 1566 Melendez attempted to plant a colony on the shores of the Chesapeake bay, but the vessel despatched for this purpose met such contrary winds that the crew abandoned the effort to reach the bay, and sailed for Spain. Melendez the next year returned to Spain, having spent his fortune in establishing the colony of St. Augustine, from which he had derived no benefit.

The massacre of the French and the destruction of the colony at Fort Carolina excited not even a remonstrance from the French court, which was blinded to its true interests by its religious bigotry. The Huguenots and the better part of the nation felt keenly the wrong the country had suffered, and Dominic de Gourges, a gallant gentleman of Gascony, determined to avenge it. Selling his ancestral estate, he equipped thrce vessels, and with one hundred and fifty men sailed for Florida, in August, 1567. He surprised and captured a Spanish fort near the site of Fort Carolina, and took the garrison prisoners. He spent the winter here, and finding himself too weak to maintain his position sailed for France in May, 1568. Before doing so, however, he hanged his prisoners, and set up over them the inscription: "I do not this as unto Spaniards or mariners, but as unto traitors, robbers, and murderers." His expedition was disavowed by the French government, and he was obliged to conceal himself to escape arrest after his return to France.

France now abandoned her efforts to colonize the southern part of North America, and relinquished her pretensions to Florida. Spain, on the other hand, gave more attention to this region, and emigrants from her dominions were encouraged to settle, and new colonies were formed within its limits. In the West Indies, and in Mexico, Central and South America, Spain during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries was supreme.

CHAPTER V.

THE FIRST ENGLISH COLONY.

The English Claim to America-Voyages of Frobisher-Exploits of Sir Francis Drake— Sir Humphrey Gilbert-Intends to found a Colony in America-Is lost at Sea-Sir Walter Raleigh obtains a Patent of Colonization-Discoveries of Amidas and BarlowRaleigh sends out a Colony to Virginia-Settlement on Roanoke Island-Its FailureArrival of Grenville-Second Effort of Raleigh to Colonize Virginia-Roanoke Island again Settled-The "City of Raleigh"-Virginia Dare-Fate of the Colony-Death of Raleigh-Other Voyages of the English.

HOUGH England had made no effort to colonize America during the long period we have been considering, she never abandoned her claims to that region, claims which were based upon the discoveries and explorations of John and Sebastian Cabot. The voyages of her fishermen to Newfoundland kept the country fresh in the minds of the seafaring Englishmen, and from time to time voyages were made to the American coast for the purpose of trading with the savages. Under Elizabeth, who pursued the wise policy of fostering her navy, a race of hardy and daring sailors grew up in England, and carried the flag of their country into every sea. In this reign Martin Frobisher with two small ships made a voyage to the frozen regions of Labrador in search of the northwest passage. He failed to find it, but penetrated farther north than any European had yet gone, A. D. 1576. His second voyage was made the next year, and was undertaken in the hope of finding gold, as one of the stones he had brought home on his first cruise had been pronounced by the refiners of London to contain the precious metal. The fleet did not advance as far north as Frobisher had done on his first attempt, as a large mass of yellow earth was found which was believed to contain gold. The ships were loaded with this, and all sail was made for home, only to find on reaching England that their cargo was but a heap of worthless dirt. A third voyage with fifteen ships was attempted in 1578, but no gold was found, and the extreme northern latitudes were ascertained to be too bleak for colonization.

Between the years 1577 to 1580 Sir Francis Drake sailed to the Pacific, and by levying exactions upon the Spanish settlements on the

Oregon, in the hope of
The cold seemed very

western coast of America acquired an immense treasure. As Bancroft well observes, this part of Drake's career "was but a splendid piracy against a nation with which his sovereign and his country professed to be at peace." Having acquired this enormous wealth Drake applied himself to the more useful task of discovery. Crossing the equator he sailed northward, as far as the southern part of finding a northern passage between the oceans. great to voyagers just from the tropics, and he abandoned his attempt and returned southward to a harbor on the coast of Mexico. Here he refitted his ship, and then returned to England through the seas of Asia, having circumnavigated the globe, a feat which had been accomplished only by the ship of Magellan.

It was not the splendid but demoralizing achievements of Drake which led the way to the establishment of the English power in America. That was the work of the humble fishermen who sailed on their yearly voyages to the banks of Newfoundland. The

SIR WALTER RALEIGH.

progress of this valuable industry was closely watched by Sir Humphrey Gilbert, who believed that a lucrative trade might be opened with the new world by the planting of a colony within its limits. He obtained authority from Queen Elizabeth to establish such a colony in the vicinity of the fisheries. In 1578 he sailed to America on a voyage of discovery, and in August of that year landed at St. Johns, Newfoundland, and took formal possession of the country for England. He then sailed to the southward, exploring the coast, but lost his largest ship with all on board. This made it necessary for him to return home, as the two vessels which remained to him were too small to attempt a protracted voyage. One of them, called the "Squirrel," was a mere boat of ten tons. Unwilling to expose his men to a danger which he would not face, Sir Humphrey took passage in the "Squirrel" instead of in the larger and safer vessel. On the homeward voyage the ships encountered a terrific storm. In the midst of the gale the people on the "Hind," the larger ship, saw Sir Humphrey sitting at the stern of his little vessel, which was laboring painfully in the heavy seas. He was calmly reading a book, perhaps that sublimest of books, from which he had drawn the pure principles which guided his whole life. As the "Hind" passed him he called out to those on board of her, "We are as near to heaven by sea as by land." That night the lights of the "Squirrel" suddenly