28 P'D. I. BETTER TURN BACK, THAN GO ON WRONG. PT.I. arrest disease, and give immortal youth; and he set forth to seek it. On Easter Sunday, called by the CH. III. Spaniards Pascua Florida, and a little north of the 1512. latitude of St. Augustine, he discovered what he deem Disco vers Florida. ed, from the blossoms of the forest trees, a land of flowers. The fountain of life was not there; but Ponce took possession of the country in the name of the Spanish king, and called it Florida. 2. The part of South Carolina, in the vicinity of the Combahee river, was soon after visited by a Spaniard, named Vasquez De Ayllon. The country was named Chicora, and the river, the Jordan. De Ayllon invited the natives to visit his ships, and when they stood in crowds upon his deck, he hoisted sail, carried them off; and thus, torn from their families, they were, as slaves, 1520. Wicked- condemned to ceaseless toil. De Ayllon afterwards attempted to conquer the country, but the hostility of de the natives could not be overcome, and numbers of Ayllon. Spaniards perished in the fruitless attempt. ness of Vasquez cessful 1528. 3. By another unsuccessful effort under the advenUnsuc- turer Narvaez, to conquer Florida, and the adjoining attempt country, an army of three hundred Spaniards, wasted of Nar- away, till but four or five returned. vaez. Soto. 4. They however insisted that Florida was the richFerdi- est country in the world; and Ferdinand De Soto, nand de already famous as the companion of Pizarro, the cruel conqueror of Peru, obtained a commission from Charles V. to conquer Florida. He sailed, with a considerable force, to Cuba, of which he had been made governor; 1539. Lands in and there adding to his army, he landed in 1539, at Florida. Espirito Santo, in Florida, with six hundred soldiers; an army greater, and better supplied, than that with which Cortez conquered Mexico. 5. He expected to find mines and utensils of gold; 1. What country did he discover? Observe the dates, and tell which discovered Florida first, the French just mentioned, or this Spaniard? Tell the dates in each case. - 2. Give an account of the expedition of Vasquez de Ayllon. What do you think of his conduct? - -3. What can you say of Narvaez ? — 4. What expedition did Ferdinand de Soto undertake? Give an account of his preparations--his numbers-his place of landing in America.-5. His objects. HORRIBLE BIGOTRY OF THE TIMES. 29 and being from time to time deluded by the natives, he P'T. I. pursued these shadows, which ever fled as he approach- P'D. I. ed. He went north, crossed the Alleghany mountains, c. I. then marched southerly to Mobile, where he fought a His obbloody battle with the people of a walled city. At Pensacola he met ships from Cuba, with supplies for his exhausted army; and too proud to be wise, he continued to pursue a shadow, rather than retrace a false step. ject to find gold. 6. The hope of the precious metals still lured him on, and he now bent his course to the north-west, and in latitude 34° he discovered the Mississippi. He con- April 25, 1541. tinued west until he reached the Wachita, when, be- He discoming dispirited, he turned his course; descending that covers stream to its junction with the Red river. Thence he sissippi went down its current; and where the Red mingles its waters with the Mississippi, he died. His body was May 21, inclosed in a hollow oak, and committed to the broad stream. The officer who succeeded him in command, lost no time, in conducting the poor remains of the army, down the Mississippi, and thence to Cuba. 1542. He dies. Melen from Spain. 7. When the news reached Spain, that Florida had been colonized by French Huguenots, the cruel mo- dez sent narch, Philip II., gave to Pedro Melendez de Aviles a commission, to take possession of that country, and to destroy the heretics. Five hundred persons accompanied Melendez, who were men with families, soldiers, mechanics and priests. Coming upon the coast south of the French settlement, he discovered the harbor of Sept. 8, St. Augustine on the day of that saint, and here he laid 1565. the foundation of the city of ST. AUGUSTINE, the oldest founds by more than forty years, of any within the limits of St. Auour republic. 8. The French had received from Melendez the terrible notice, that he had come to destroy every person 5. His route and return to the coast ?-6. His second route and great discovery? Where did he die? How was his body disposed of? What became of his army?-7. What king sent to destroy the French colony? Whom did he send? What description of persons, and how many accompanied him? What is there remarkable about the city which he founded?-8. What notice did he give the French? He gustine. 30 stroys FIRST PERMANENT SETTLEMENT. PT. I. who was not a catholic. Ribault, supposing that the P'D. I. Spaniards would attack by sea, embarked to meet them. CH. III. A tremendous storm shipwrecked his whole fleet. The Sept. 21, Spaniards, meantime, crossed the forest and attacked by He de- land. Unprepared and surprised, the defenseless fort soon surrendered, when all, without distinction of age and 900 or sex, were murdered. The shipwrecked mariners Hugue- were afterwards found, feeble and exhausted, upon the shore. Melendez invited them to come to him, and trust to his compassion. They came, and he slew them. Fort Carolina nots. kills 200 9. When the news of this massacre of nine hundred French subjects reached the French king, Charles IX., he took no notice of it, for so bigoted was he, that he Aug. 22, wished the entire destruction of the Huguenots. Yet 1568. so deep was the feeling among the people of France, that three years afterwards, individuals headed by the Span- gallant chevalier Gouges, made a descent on the settlement of Florida, and put to death two hundred Spaniards. The Spanish colony was thus checked, but it colony was not destroyed; and it proved to be the first permathe US, nent settlement, made by Europeans upon the shores of our republic. iards. First within 8. Where was Ribault when Melendez attacked the French fort? How did he treat the people in the fort? How the shipwrecked? 9. Who took vengeance on the Spaniards? În what manner? Was the Spanish colony destroyed? What has it proved to be? |