CHAP. out delay. II. Should they embark in such miserable boats, as they could construct, and descend the river? 1542. Or should they seek a path to Mexico through the forests? They were unanimous in the opinion, that it was less dangerous to go by land; the hope was still cherished, that some wealthy state, some opulent city, might yet be discovered, and all fatigues be forgotten in the midst of victory and spoils. Again July. they penetrated the western wilderness; in July, they found themselves in the country of the Natchitoches ;' but the Red river was so swollen, that it was impossible for them to pass. They soon became bewildered, and knew not where they were; the Indian guides purposely led them astray; "they went up and down through very great woods," without making any progress. The wilderness, into which they had wandered, was sterile and thinly inhabited; the few inhabitants were migratory tribes, subsisting by the chase. The Spaniards, at last, believed themselves to be three hundred miles or more, west of the Mississippi. Desperate as the resolution seemed, it was determined to return once more to its banks, and follow its current to the sea. There were not want Dec. ing men, whose hopes and whose courage were not yet exhausted; but Moscoso, the new governor, had long "desired to see himself in a place where he might sleep his full sleep." They came upon the Mississippi at Minoya, a few leagues above the mouth of Red river; often wading 1 Vega introduces the Natchitoches too soon. L. v. part i. c. i. See Portuguese Account, c. xxxii. and xxxiii. p. 534, 535. Compare Nuttall's Arkansas, p. 264. 2 Portuguese Relation, c. xxxiv. SPANIARDS DESERT THE UNITED STATES. 65 II. 1542. through deep waters; and grateful to God if, at CHAP. night, they could find a dry resting-place. The Indians, whom they had enslaved, died in great numbers; in Minoya, many Christians died; and most of them were attacked by a dangerous epidemic.' Jan. to July. Nor was the labor yet at an end; it was no easy 1543. task for men in their condition to build brigantines. Erecting a forge, they struck off the fetters from the slaves; and, gathering every scrap of iron in the camp, they wrought it into nails. Timber was sawed by hand with a large saw, which they had always carried with them. They caulked their vessels with a weed like hemp; barrels, capable of holding water, were with difficulty made; to obtain supplies of provision, all the hogs and even the horses were killed, and their flesh preserved by drying; and the neighboring townships of Indians were so plundered of their food, that the miserable inhabitants would come about the Spaniards begging for a few kernels of their own maize, and often died from weakness and want of food. The rising of the Mississippi assisted the launching of the seven brigantines; they were frail barks, which had no decks; and, as from the want of iron the nails were of necessity short, they were constructed of very thin planks, so that the least shock would have broken them in pieces. Thus provided, in seventeen days the fugitives reached the July gulf of Mexico; the distance seemed to them two hundred and fifty leagues, and was not much less than 2-18 1543. CHAP. five hundred miles. They were the first to observe, that for some distance from the mouth of the Mississippi the sea is not salt, so great is the volume of fresh water which the river discharges. Following, for the most part, the coast, it was more than fifty Sept. days before the men, who finally escaped, now no 10. more than three hundred and eleven in number, entered the river Panuco.1 Such is the history of the first visit of Europeans to the Mississippi; the honor of the discovery belongs, without a doubt, to the Spaniards. There 1544. were not wanting adventurers, who desired to make one more attempt to possess the country by force of arms; their request was refused. Religious zeal 1 On Soto's expedition, by far the best account is that of the Portuguese Eye-witness, first published in 1557, and by Hakluyt, in English, in 1609. It may be found in Hakluyt, v. v. p. 477-550. There is an imperfect abridgement of it in Purchas, v. iv. p. 15281556; and a still more imperfect one in Roberts' Florida, p. 33-79. This narrative is remarkably good, and contains internal evidence of its credibility. Nuttall erroneously attributes it to Vega. The work of Vega is an extravagant romance, yet founded upon facts. Numbers and distances are magnified; and every thing embellished with great boldness. His history is not without its value, but must be consulted with extreme caution. Herrera, d. vi. l. vii. c. ix.—xii., and d. vii. l. vii. c. i.—xi. is not an original authority, and his statements furnish merely cumulative evidence. The Ensayo Cronologico contains nothing of moment on the subject. Lescarbot, N. Fr. tom. i. p. 36, and Charlevoix, N. Fr. tom. i. p. 24, and v. iii. p. 408, offer no new views. Du Pratz is unnecessarily sceptical. The French translator of Vega has not a word of valuable criticism. Of English authors, neither Purchas nor Harris have furnished any useful illustrations. Of books, published in America, Belknap, in Am. Biog. v. i. p. 185 -195, comments with his usual care. McCulloh, in his Researches, Appendix, iii. p. 523-531, makes an earnest attempt to trace the route of Soto. So Nuttall, in his Travels in Arkansas, Appendix, p. 247-267. Nuttall had himself roved through the same regions, and his opinions are justly entitled to much deference. Flint only glances at the subject. Stoddard, in his Sketches, p. 4, is vague and without detail. I have compared all these authors; the account in Hakluyt, with good modern maps, can lead to firm conclusions. 2 Ensayo Cronologico, Año, MDXLIV. SPANISH MISSIONARIES IN FLORIDA. 67 II. Dec. 28. was more persevering; Louis Cancello, a missionary CHAP. of the Dominican order, gained, through Philip, then heir apparent in Spain, permission to visit Florida, 1547. and attempt the peaceful conversion of the natives. Christianity was to conquer the land, against which so many expeditions had failed. The Spanish governors were directed to favor the design; all slaves, that had been taken from the northern shore of the gulf of Mexico, were to be manumitted and restored to their country. The ship was fitted out with much 1549. solemnity; but the priests, who sought the first interview with the natives, were feared as enemies, and, being immediately attacked, Louis and two others fell martyrs to their zeal.' Florida was abandoned. It seemed as if death guarded the avenues to the country.2 While the Castilians were every where else victorious, Florida was wet with the blood of the invaders, who had still been unable to possess themselves of her soil. The coast of our republic on the gulf of Mexico was not, at this time, disputed by any other nation with Spain; while that power claimed, under the name of Florida, the whole seacoast as far as Newfoundland,3 and even to the remotest north. In Spanish geography, Canada was a part of Florida. Yet within Ensayo Cronologico, p. 25, 26.; Vega, l. vi. c. xxii. p. 267.; Gomara, c. xlv.; Urbani Calvetonis de Gallorum in Floridam expeditione Brevis Historia, c. i., annexed to Nov. Nov. Orbis Hist. p. 432, 433; Eden and Willes, fol. 229; De Bry's introduction and parergon to his Brevis Narratio eorum 4 quæ in Florida Gallis acciderunt. 2 Gom. c. xlv.; Vega, l. vi. c. xxii. 4 Bolvio á la Florida Champlain; entrò en Quebec, &c Ensayo Cronologico, p. 179. II. CHAP. that whole extent, not a Spanish fort was erected, not a harbor was occupied; not one settlement was 1549. planned. The first permanent establishment of the Spaniards in Florida was the result of jealous bigotry. 1562. For France had begun to settle the region with a colony of protestants; and Calvinism, which, with the special co-operation of Calvin himself, had, for a 1555. short season, occupied the coasts of Brazil and the harbor of Rio Janeiro,' was now to be planted on the borders of Florida. Coligny had long desired to establish a refuge for the Huguenots and a protestant French empire in America. Disappointed in his first effort by the apostacy and faithlessness of his agent, Villegagnon, he still persevered; moved alike by religious zeal and by a passion for the honor of 1562. France. The expedition which he now planned, was entrusted to the command of John Ribault of Dieppe, a brave man of maritime experience and a firm protestant, and was attended by some of the best of the young French nobility, as well as by veteran troops. The feeble Charles IX. conceded Feb. an ample commission, and the squadron set sail for 18. the shores of North-America. Desiring to establish their plantation in a genial clime, land was first made in the latitude of St. Augustine; the fine river, which we call the St. Johns,2 was discovered and May. named the river of May. It is the St. Matheo3 of 1 De Thou's Hist. l. xvi. Lery, Hist. Nav. in Bras. An abridgement of the description, but not of the personal narrative, appears in Purchas, v. iv. p. 1325-1347. Lescarbot, N. F. 1. ii. t. i. p. 143-214; Southey's Brazil, part i. c. ix.; True Declaration of the State of 2 Compare the criticism of Holmes' Annals, v. i. p. 567. Holmes surpasses Charlevoix in accuracy. 3 Ensayo Cronologico, p. 43. |