to light In the meane season I humbly commende my selfe and this my translation vnto you and your selfe and all those which vnder you haue taken this enterprise in hand to the grace good blessing of the Almightie which is able to build further and to finish the good worke which in these our dayes he hath begunne by your most Christian and charitable endeuour Your L. humble at commandement R. H. The preface THere are two thinges which according to mine opinioâ—â— haue been the principall causes in consideration whereof aswell they of auncient times as those of our age haue been enduced to trauell into farre and remote regions The first hath beene the naturall desire which we haue to serch out the commodities to liue happely plentifully and at ease be it whether one abandon his naturall cuntrie altogether to dwell in a better or bee it that men make voiages thither there to serch out and bring from thence such thinges as are there to bee found and are in greatest estimation and in most request in our cuntries The second cause hath beene the multitude of people too frutefull in generation which being no longer able to dwell in their natiue soyles haue entred vppon their neighbours limites and oftentimes passing further haue pearced euen vnto the vttermost regions After this sorte the north climate a frutefull father of so many nations hath oftentimes sent foorth this way and that way his valiant people and by this meane hath peopled infinite countries so that most of the nations of Europe drawe their original from these partes Contrariwise the more southern regions because they be too barraine by reason of their insupportable heate which raigneth in them neede not any such sending foorth of their in habitances and haue beene oftentimes constrained to receaue other people more often by force ofarmes then willingly All Africke Spaine and Italie can also testifie the same which neuer so abounded with people that they had neede to send them abroode to inhabite else where as on the contrary Scythia Norway Gotland and France haue done The posterite of which nations remaineth yet not only in Italie Spaine and Affricke but also in frutefull and faire Asia Neuerthelesse I find that the Romains proceding farther or rather adding vnto these two chiefe causes aforesayd as being most curious to plant not only their ensignes and victories but also their lawes customes and religion in those provinces which they had conquered by force ofarmes haue oftentimes by the decree of their soueraine Senate sent forth inhabitantes which they called colonies thinking by this way to make their name immotall euen to the vnfurnishing of their owne countrye of the forces which should haue perserued the same in her perfection a thing which hindred them much more then advanced them to the possession of the vniversall monarchie where vnto their intention did aspyre For it came to passe that their colonies here and there being miserably sacked by strang people did vtterly ruine and ouerthrowe their empire The brinkes of the riuer of Rine are yet red those of Danubius are noe lesse bloodie and our France be came fatte with their blood which they lost These are the effectes and rewardes of al such as being pricked forward with this Romaine and tirannicall ambition will goe aboute thus to subdue strange people effectes I say contrarie to the profitte which those shall receaue which only are affectioned to the common benefitte that is to say to the generall pollicie of all men and endeuour to vnite them one with another as well by trasicke and forraine conuersations as also by militarie vertues and force of armes whenas the sauages wil not yeeld vnto their endeuours so much tending vnto their profite For this cause princes haue sent foorth out of their dominions certaine men of good actiuitie to plante themselues in strang countries there to make their profite to bring the countrie to ciuilitie and if it might be to reduce the inhabitantes to the true knowledg of our God an end so much more commédable as it is farre from all tiranicall and cruell gouernement and so they haue alwayes thriued in their enterprises and by lyttle and little gained the hartes of them which they haue conquered or wonne vnto them by any meanes Here of we may gather that sometimes it is good yea very expedient to send foorth men to discouer the pleasure and commoditie of strang countries But so that the country out of which these companies are to passe remayne not weakned nor depriued of her forces And againe in such sorte that the companie sent forth be of so iuste and sufficient number that it may not bee defeited by strangers which euery foote endeuour nothing else but to surprise the same vpon the suddaine As within these fewe dayes past the french haue proued to my great greife being able by no meanes possible to withstand the same considering that the elementes men and al the fauours which might be hoped for of a faithful and Christian alliance fought against vs which thing I purpose to discouer in this preseÌ„t historie with so euident truth that the kings maiestie my souerainge prince shall in parte be satisfied of the diligence which I haue vsed in his seruice and myne aduersaries shall find themselues so discouered in their false reportes that they shall haue no place of refuge But before I beginne I wil brefely set downe the situation and description of the land where vnto we haue failed and where we haue inhabited from the yeare 1561 vnto sixtie fiue to the ende that those thinges may the more easily be borne a way which I meane to describe in this discourse ¶ The description of the West Indies in generall but chiefly and particularly of Florida THat part of the earth which at this day wee call the fourth part of the world or America or the West India was unknowen vnto our auncestors by reason of the great distance thereof In like manner all the Westerne Ilandes and fortunate Isles were not discouered but by those of our age Howbeit there haue beene some which haue said that they were discouered in the time of Augustus Caesar and that Virgil hath made mention thereof in the sixt booke of his Aeneidos when he saith That there is a lande beyond the starres and the course of the yeere and of the sunne where Atlas the Porter of heauen sustaineth the pole vpon his shoulders neuerthelesse it is easie to iudge that he meaneth not to speake of this land whereof no man is founde to haue written before his time neither yet aboue a thousand yeeres after Christopher Colon did first light vpon this lande in the yeere 1492. And fiue yeeres after Americus went thither by the commaundement of the king of Castile and gaue vnto it his owne name wherevpon afterward it was called America This man was very well seene in the Arte of Nauigation and in Astronomie whereby be discouered
in his time many landes vnknowen vnto the auncient Geographers This countrey is named by some the land of Bresill and the lande of Parots It stretcheth it selfe according vnto Postel from the one pole to the other sauing at the straight of Magelan wherevnto it reacheth three and fiftie degrees beyonde the equator I will deuide it for the better vnderstanding into three principall partes That which is toward the pole Articke or the North is called newe Fraunce because that in the yeere 1524 Iohn Verarsana a Florentine was sent by king Frauncis the first and by Madam the Regent his mother vnto these newe regions where he went on land and discouered all the Coste which is from the tropicke of Cancer to witte from the eight and twentith vnto the fiftith degree and farther to the North. Hee planted in this Countrey the ensignes and armes of the king of Fraunce so that the Spaniardes themselues which were there afterward haue named this Countrey Terra Francesca The same then extendeth it selfe in Latitude from the 25. degree vnto the 54 toward the North and in Longitude from 210. vnto 330. The Easterne part thereof is called by the late Writers the lande of Norumbega which beginneth at the Bay of Gama which separateth it from the Isle of Canada whither Roberuall and Iaques Carter sayled the yeere 1535. About the which there are many Ilands among which is that which is named Terra de Labrador stretching toward Groneland In the Westerne parte there are many knowne countries as the Region of Quiuira Ceuola Astatlan and Terlichichimici The Southerne part is called Florida because it was discouered on Palmesunday which the Spaniards call Pascha Florida The Northerne part is altogether vnknowen The second part of all America is called Newe Spaigne It extendeth from the tropick of Cancer in the 23. degrees and a half vnto the nienth degree In the same is scituated the citie of Themistitan and it hath many regions and many Ilandes adioyned vnto it which are called the Antilles whereof the most famous and renounced are Hispaniola and Isabella with an infinite number of others All this land together with the Bay of Mexico and all the Islandes aforesaide haue not in longitude past seuentie degrees to wit from the 240. vnto three hundreth and ten it is also long and narrow as Italie The third part of America is called Peru it is very great and extendeth it selfe in latitude from the tenth degree vnto the 53. beyond the equator to wit as I haue saide before vnto the straite of Magelan It is made in fashion like to an egge and is very well knowne vppon all sides The parte where it is largest hath threescore degrees and from thence it waxeth narrower and narrower toward both the endes In one part of this land Villegagnon planted right vnder the tropicke of Capricorne and he called it Fraunce Antarticke because it draweth toward the pole Antarticke as our Fraunce doth toward the Articke New Fraunce is almost as great as all our Europe Howbeit the most knowne and inhabited parte thereof is Florida whether many Frenchman haue made diuerse voyages at sundry times in so much that now it is the best known countrie which is in al this parte of new Fraunce The Cape thereof is as it were a long head of land streatching out into the Sea an hundred leagues and runneth directly toward the South it hath right ouer against it 25. leagues distant the Isle of Cuba otherwise called Isabella toward the East the Isles of Bahama Lucaya and toward the West the Bay of Mexico The Countrie is flat and deuided with diuers riuers and therefore moyst and is sandie towards the Sea shore There groweth in those parts great quantitie of Pynetrees which haue no kernels in the Aples which they beare Their Woods are full of Oakes Walnuttrees blacke Cherietrees Mulbury trees Lentiskes and Chestnut trees which are not naturall as those in Fraunce There is great store of Ceders Cypresses Bayes Palme trees Hollies and wilde Uines which clime vp along the trees and beare good Grapes There is there a kind of Medlers the fruit whereof is better then that of Fraunce and bigger There are also Plum trees which beare very fayre fruite but such as is not very good There are Raspisses and a little bearie which we call among vs Blues which are very good to eate There growe in that Countrie a kind of Roots which they call in their language Hatseh whereof in necessitie they make bread There is also there the tree called Esquiue which is very good against the Pocks and other cōtagious diseases The Beasts best known in this Country are Stags Hinds Goats Deare Beares Leopards Owneces Luserns diuers sortes of Wolues wilde Dogs Hares Cunnies and a cretaine kind of beast that differeth little from the Lion of Affrica The Foules are Turkeycockes Partridges Parrots Pigions Ringdoues Turtles Blackbirds Crowes Tarcels Faulcons Laynerds Herons Cranes Storkes wild Geese Malards Cormorans Egrepts white red blacke and gray and an infinite sorte of all wilde foule There is such aboundance of Crocodiles that often times in swimming men are assayled by them of Serpents there are many sortes There is found among the Sauages good quantitie of Gold and Siluer which is gotten out of the Ships that are lost vpon the cost as I haue vnderstood by the sauages themselues They vse traffick therof one with another And that which maketh me the rather beleeue it is that on the cost toward the Cape where commonly the Ships are cast away there is more store of siluer then toward the North. Neuerthelesse they say that in the Mountaynes of Appalatcy there are mines of Copper which I thinke to be golde There is also in this Countrey great store of graynes and herbes whereof might bee made excellent good dyes and paintings of all kind of colours And in truth the Indians which take great pleasure in painting of their skins know very well how to vse the same The men are of an Oliue colour of great stature fayre without any deformitie and well proportioned They couer their priuities with the skin of a stagge wel dressed The most part of them haue their bodies armes thighes painted with very fayre deuises the paynting whereof can neuer be taken away because the same is pricked into their flesh Their haire is very blacke and reacheth euen downe to their hippes howbeit they trusse it vp after a fashion that becometh them very well They are great dissemblers and traytors valiant of their persons and fight very well They haue none other weapons but their Bowes and Arrowes They make the string of their bow of a gutte of a stagge or of a stagges skinne which they know how to dresse as well as any man in Fraunce and with as many different sorts of coloures They head their arrowes with the teeth of Fishes and stone which they work
very fine and handsomly They exercise their yong men to run wel and they make a game among theÌ„selues which he winneth y t hath the longest breath They also exercise theÌ„selues much in shooting They play at the ball in this maner They set vp a tree in the middest of a place which is eight or nine fathom high in the toppe wherof there is set a square matte made of reedes or Bulrushes which whosoeuer hitteth in playing thereat winneth the game They take great pleasure in hunting and fishing The kinges of the Countrie make great warre one against the other which is not executed but by surprise and they kill all the men that they can take afterward they cut of their heads to haue their haire which returning home they carry away to make thereof their triumph when they come to their houses They saue the women and children and nourish them and keepe them alwayes with them Being returned home from the warre they assemble all their subiectes and for ioy three dayes and three nights they make good cheere they daunce and sing likewise they make the most auncient women of the Countrie to daunce holding the haires of their enimies in their hands and in dauncing they sing prayses to the Sun ascribing vnto him the honour of the victory They haue no knowledge of GOD nor of any religion sauing of that which they see as the Sunne and the Moone They haue their Priestes to whome they giue great credit because they are great MagiciaÌ„s great southsayers and callers vpon Diuels These Pristes serue them in steed of Phisitions and Chirurgions They carry alwayes about them a bagge full of herbes and drugs to cure the sicke diseased which for the most part are sicke of the Pocks for they loue women and maydens exceedingly which they call the daughters of the Sunne and some of them are Sodomites They mary and euery one hath his wife and it is lawfull for the king to haue two or three yet none but the first is honored and acknowledged for Queene and none but the children of the first wife inherite the goods and authoritie of the father The women doe all the busines at home They keep not house with them after they know they be with child And they eate not of y t which they touch as long as they haue their flowers There are in all this Countrey many Hermaphrodites which take all the greatest paine and beare the victuals when they goe to warre They paint their faces much and sticke their haire full of feathers or downe that they may seeme more terrible The victuals which they carry with them are of bread of hony and of mealeâ—â—ade maiz parched in the fire which they keepe without being marred a long while They carrie also sometimes fishe which they cause to be dressed in the smoke In necessitie they eate a thousand rifraffes euen to the swallowing downe of coales and putting sand into the pottage which they make of this meale When they goe to warre their king marcheth first with a clubbe in the one hand and his bow in the other with his quiuer full of arrowes All his men follow him which haue likewise their bowes and arrowes While they fight they make great cries and exclamations They take no enterprise in hand but first they assemble oftentimes their council together and they take very good aduisement in any matter before they growe to a resolution They meete together euery morning in a great common house whither their kinge repayreth and setteth him downe vppon a seate which is higher than the seates of the other where all of them one after another come and salute him and the most auncient begin their salutations lifting vp both their handes twise as high as their face saying ha he ya and the rest answeare ha ha Assoone as they haue done their salutation euerie man sitteth him downe vppon the seates which are rounde about in the house If there be any thing to intreate of the king calleth the Iawas that is to say their Priestes and the most auncient men and asketh them their aduise Afterward he commaundeth Cassine to bee brewed which is a drinke made of the leaues of a certaine tree They drinke this Cassine very hoat he drinketh first then he causeth to bee giuen thereof to all of them one after another in the selfe same boule which holdeth wel a quart measure of Paris They make so great account of this drinke that no man may taste thereof in this assemblie vnlesse he hath made proofe of his valure in the warre Moreouer this drinke hath suche a vertue that assoone as they haue drunke it they become all in a sweate which sweate being past it taketh away hunger and thirst for 24. houres after When a king dieth they burie him verye solemnly and vppon his graue they set the cup wherein he was wont to drinke and rounde about the sayde graue they sticke many arrowes and weepe and fast three dayes and three nightes together without ceassing All the kinges which were his friendes make the like mourning and in token of the loue which they bare him they cut of more than the one halfe of their haire as well men as women During the space of sixe moones so they reckon their moneths there are certain women appointed which bewayle the death of this king crying with a loude voyce thrise a day to wit in the morning at noone and at Euening All the goods of this king are put into his house and afterwarde they set it one fire so that no thing is euer more after to be seene The like is done with the goods of the pristes and besides they burrie the bodyes of the pristes in their houses and then they set them on fire They sowe their maise twise a yeere to witte in March and in Iune and all in one and the same soyle The saide maise from the time that it is sowed vntill the time that it be ready to be gathered is but three monethes on the grounde The other sixe monethes they let the earth rest They haue also faire Pumpions and very good beanes They neuer doung their land onlie wheÌ„ they would sowe they set the weedes on fire which grewe vp during the sixe monethes and burne them all They digge their ground with an instrument of wood which is fashioned like a broad mattocke wherewith they digge their Vines in Fraunce they put two graines of maise together When the lande is to bee sowed the king commaundeth one of his men to assemble his subiectes euerie day to come to labour during which labour the king causeth store of that drink to be made for them wherof we haue spoken At the time when the maise is gathered it is al carried into a common house where it is distributed to euery man according to his quality They sowe no more but that which they thinke will
to bring vp their children themselues are wont to contribute to their honest education the rather if they finde any towardlines or reasonable hope of goodnes in them And if Elizabeth Queene of Castile and Arragon after her husband Ferdinando shee had emptied their cofers and exhausted their treasures in subdueing the kingdome of Granada rooting the Mores a wicked weed out of Spayne was neuerthelesse so zealous of Gods honour that as Fernandus Columbus the Sonne of Christopher Columbus recordeth in the historie of the deeds of his Father she layde part of her owne Iewels which she had in great accompt to gage to furnish his Father foorth vpon his first voyage before any foot of land of al the West Indies was discouered what may we expect of our most magnificent gratious prince ELIZABETH of Englande into whose lappe the Lord hath most plentifully throwne his treasuries what may we I say hope of her forwardnes bountie in aduancing of this your most honourable enterprise being farre more certaine then that of Columbus at that time especially and tending no lesse to the glorie of God then that action of the Spaniards For as you may read in the verie last wordes of the relation of Newe Mexico extant now in english the maine lande where your last colonie meane to seate themselues is replenished with many thousands of Indians Which are of better wittes then those of Mexico and Peru as hath beene found by those that haue had some triall of them whereby it may be gathered that they will easilie embrace the Gospell forsaking their idolatrie wherein at this present for the most part they are wrapped intangled A wise Philosopher noting the sundry desires of diuers men writeth that if an oxe be put into a medow he will seeke to fill his bellie with grasse if a storke be cast in she will seeke for snakes if yee turne in a hound he will seeke to start an hare So sondrie men entring into these discoueries propose vnto themselues seuerall ends Some seeke authoritie and places of commandement others experience by seeing of the worlde the most part worldly and transitorie gaine that often times by dishonest and vnlawfull meanes the fewest number the glorie of God and the sauing of the soules of the poore blinded infidels Yet because diuers honest and well disposed persons are entred already into this your busines and that I knowe you meane hereafter to sende some such good Churchmen thither as may truely saie with the Apostle to the Sauages We seeke not yours but you I conceaue great comfort of the successe of this your action hoping that the Lord whose power is wont to be perfected in weakenes will blesse the feeble foundations of your building Onely bee you of a valiant courage and faint not as the Lorde saide vnto Iosue exhorting him to proceede on forwarde in the conquest of the lande of promise and remember that priuate men haue happily wilded and waded through as great enterprises as this with lesser meanes then those which God in his mercie hath bountifully bestowed vpon you to the singuler good as I assure my selfe of this our common wealth wherein you liue Hereof we haue examples domesticall and forreine Remember I pray you what you finde in the beginning of the Chronicle of the conquest of Irâ—â—â—de newlie dedicated vnto yourselfe Read you not that Richard Strangbowe the decayed earle of Chepstowe in Monmuthshire being in no great fauour of his Soueraigne passed ouer into that Iland in the yeere 1171. and accoÌ„panied only with certaine of his priuate friends had in short space such prosperous successe that hee opened the way for king Henrie the second to the speedie subiection of all that warlike nation to this crowne of Englande which so continueth to this present day The like conqueste of Brasilia and annexing the same to the kingdome of Portugal was first begunne by meane and priuate men as Don Antonio de Castillio Ambassadour here for that realme by his office keeper of all the records and monuments of their discoueries assured me in this citie within these sixe yeeres Now if the greatnes of the maine of Virginea and the large extension thereof especially to the West should make you thinke that the subduing of it were a matter of more difficultie then the conquest of Irelande first I answere that as the fresh experience of that happie and singuler skilfull pilâ—tte and Captaine M. Iohn Dauis to the northwest towarde which his discouerie your selfe haue thrise contributed with the forwardest hath shewed a great part to bee maine Sea where before was thought to bee mayne lande so for my part I am fully perswaded by Orâ—elius late reformation of Culuacan and the gulfe of California that the land on the backe part of Virginea extendeth nothing so farre westward as is put downe in the mappes of those partes and that before two yeeres come to an ende God blessing the foresaide Captaine Dauis endeuours he will put vs out of that doubt and manie others Moreouer it is not to bee denied but that one hundred men will doe more nowe among the naked and vnarmed people in Virginea then one thousande were able then to doe in Irelande against that armed and warrelike nation in those daies I say further that these two yeares last experience hath plainely shewed that wee may spare tenne thousand able men without any misse And these are as manie as the kingdome of Portugal had euer in all their garrisons of the Assores Madera Cape verde Guinea Brasill Mozambique Melinde Zocotora Ormus Diu Goa Mallacca the Moluccoes Amacan and Macao vpon the cost of China Yea this I say by the confession of singuler expert men of their owne natioÌ„ whose names I suppresse for certaine causes which haue beene personally in the East Indies and haue assured mee that their kings had neuer aboue ten thousand natural borne Portugals their slaues excepted out of their kingdome remaining in all the aforesaid territories Which also this present yeere I sawe confirmed in a secrete extract of the particuler estate of that kingdome and of euerie gouernment and office subiect to the same with the seuerall pensions thereunto belonging Seeing therefore we are so farre from want ef people that retyring dayly home out of the Lowe Countries they go idle vp downein swarmes for lacke of honest intertainmeÌ„t I see no fitter place to employ some part of the better sort of them trayned vp thus long iu seruice theÌ„ in the inward parts of the firme of Virginea against such stubborne Sauages as shall refuse obedience to her Maiestie And doubtlesse many of our men will be glade faine to accept this condition when as by the reading of this present treatie they shall vnderstand the fertilitie and riches of the regions confining so neere vppon yours the great commodities and goodnesse whereof I trust you will suffer to come shortly
druÌ„mer of the Frenchbands which as it was told me was very cruelly handged by his owne Captaine and for a small fault which Captaine also vsing to threaten the rest of his souldiers which staied behind vnder his obedience and peraduenture as it is to be presumed were not so obedieÌ„t vnto him as they should haue bin was the cause that they fell into a mutiny because that many times hee put his threatnings in execution whervpon they so chased him that at the last they put him to death And the principall occasion that moued them therevnto was because hee degraded another souldier named La chere which he had banished and because he had not performed his promise for he had promised to send him victuals from eight dayes to eight daies which thing he did not but saide on the contrarie that he would be glad to heare of his death He said moreouer that hee woulde chastice others also and vsed so euill sounding speeches that honesty forbiddeth me to repeate them The souldiers seeing his madnes to increase from day to day and fearing to fall into the dangers of the other resolued to kil him Hauing executed their purpose they went to seeke the Souldier that was banished which was in a small Iland distant from Charlesfort about three leagues where they found him almost halfe dead for hunger When they were come home againe they assembled themselues together to choose one to be gouernour ouer them whose name was Nicolas Barré a man worthy of commendation and one which knew so well to quite himselfe of his charge that all rancour and dissention ceassed among them and they liued peaceably one with another During this time they beganne to builde a small Pinnesse with hope to returne into Fraunce if no succours came vnto them as they expected from day to day And though there were not a man among them that had any skill notwithstanding necessitie which is the maistresse of all sciences taught them the wayes to builde it After that it was finished they thought of nothing else sauing how to furnish it with all thinges necessary to vndertake the voyage But they wanted those thinges that of all other were most needfull as cordage and sailes without which the enterprise could not come to effect Hauing no meanes to recouer these thinges they were in worse case then at the first and almost ready to fall into despayre But that good God which neuer forsaketh the afflicted did succour them in this necessity As they were in these perplerities king Audusta and Maccou came to them accompanied with two hundred Indians at the least whom our Frenchmen went foorth to meete withal and shewed the king in what neeede of cordage they stood who promised them to returne within two dayes and to bring so much as should suffice to furnish the Pinnesse with tackling Our men being pleased with these good newes and promises bestowed vpon them certaine cutting hookes and shirtes After their departure our men sought all meanes to recouer rosen in the woodes wherein they cut the Pine trees round about out of which they drew sufficirut reasonable quantitie to bray the vessel Also they gathered a kind of mosse which groweth on the trees of this countrey to serue to calke the same withall There now wanted nothing but sayles which they made of their owne shirtes and of their sheetes Within few dayes after the Indian kinges returned to Charles-fort with so good store of cordage that there was found sufficient for tackling of the small Pinnesse Our men as glad as might bee vsed great liberality towards them and at their leauing of the couÌ„trey left them all their marchandise that remayned leauing them thereby so fully satisfied that they departed from them with all the contentation of the world They went forward therefore to finishe the Brigandine and vsed so speedie diligence that within a shorte time afterwarde they made it readie furnished with all thinges In the meane season the winde came so fit for their purpose that it seemed to inuite them to put to ehe Sea which they did without delay after they had set all their thinges in order But before they departed they embarked their artillarie their forge and other munitions of warre which Captaine Ribault had left them and then as much mill as they coulde gather together But being drunken with the too excessiue ioy which they had conceiued for their returning into Fraunce or rather depriued of all foresight and consideration without regarding the inconstancie of the winds which change in a moment they put themselues to sea and with so slender victualles that the end of their enterprise became vnlucky and vnfortunate For after they had sayled the third parte of their way they were surprised with calmes which did so much hinder them that in three weeks they sayled not aboue fiue and twentie leagues During this time their victuals coÌ„sumed and became so short that euery man was constrained to eate not past twelue graines of mill by the day which may be in value as much as twelue peason Yea and this felicitie lasted not long for their victuals failed them altogether at once and they had nothing for their more assured refuge but their shoes and leather ierkins which they did eate Touching their beuerage some of them dranke the Sea water others did drinke their owne vrine and they remayned in such desperate necessitie a very long space during the which parte of them died for hunger besides this extreeme famine which did so grieuously oppresse them they fell euery minute of an houre out of all hope euer to see Fraunce againe in so much that they were constrayned to cast the water continually out that on all sides entred into their Barke And euery day they fared worse and worse for after they had eaten vp their shoâ—es and their letherne Ierkins there arose so boysterous a winde and so contrary to their course that in the turning of a hande the waues filled their vessell halfe full of water and brused it vpon the one side Being nowe more out of hope then euer to escape out of so extreame perill they cared not for casting out of the water which nowe was almost readie to drowne them And as men resolued to die euery one fell downe backeward and gaue themselues ouer altogether vnto the will of the waues When as one of them a little hauing taken hart vnto him declared vnto them how little way they had to sayle assuring them that if the winde held they should see land within three dayes This man did so incourage them that after they had throwne the water out of the Pinnesse they remayned three dayes without eating or drinking except it were of the Sea water When the time of his promise was expired they were more troubled then they were before seeing they could not discry any lande Wherefore in this extreme despaire certayne among them made this
motion that it was better that one man onely should dye then that so many men should perish they agreed therefore that one should dye to sustaine the others Which thinge was executed in the person of La Chere of whom we haue spoken heretofore whose fleshe was deuided equally amongst his fellowes a thing so pitifull to recite that my pen is loth to write it After so long time and tedious trauels God of his goodnesse vsing his accustomed fauour changed their sorrow into ioy and shewed vnto them the sight of lande Whereof they were so exceeding glad y â— the pleasure caused theÌ„ to remayne a long time as men without sense whereby they let the Pinnesse flote this and that way without holding any right way or course But a smal English barke boarded y â— vessel in which there was a Frenchman which had been in the first voyage into Florida who easily knewe them and spake vnto them afterward gaue them meat and drink Incontinently they recouered their naturall courages declared vnto him at large al their nauigation The English men consulted a long while what were best to be done and in fine they resolued to put on land those that were most feeble and to carry the rest vnto the Queene of Englande which purposed at that time to sende into Florida Thus you see in briefe that which happened vnto them which Captaine Iohn Ribault had left in Florida And nowe will I goe forwarde with the discourse of mine owne voyage The ende of the first voyage of Iohn Ribault into Florida ¶ The second voyage vnto Florida made and written by Captaine Laudonniere which fortified and inhabited there two Sommers and one whole VVinter AFter our arriuall at Diepe at our comming home from our first voyage which was the twentieth of Iuly a thousand fiue hundred sixtie and one wee found the ciuill warres begun which was in parte the cause why our men were not succoured as Captaine Iohn Ribault had promised them whereof it followed that Captaine Albert was killed by his souldiers the couÌ„trey abaÌ„doned as heretofore we haue sufficieÌ„tly discoursed as it may more at large bee vnderstood by those men which were there in person After the peace was made in Fraunce my Lord Admiral de Chastillon shewed vnto the king that he heard no newes at all of y â— men which Captaine Iohn Ribault had left in Florida that it were pity to suffer them to perish In which respect the king was content he should cause three ships to be furnished y â— one of sixe score tuns the other of a 100. and the third of 60. to seeke them out and to succour them My Lorde Admirall therefore being well informed of the faithful seruice which I had done aswel vnto his maiesty as to his predecessors kings of FrauÌ„ce aduertised the king how able I was to do him seruice in this voyage which was the cause that he made me chief captain ouer these 3 ships charged me to depart w t diligence to perform his coÌ„mandement which for mine own part I would not gainsay but rather thinking my self happy to haue beene choseÌ„ out amoÌ„g such an infinit number of others which in my iudgment were very wel able to haue quited theÌ„selues in this charge I embarked my self at new haueÌ„ the 22. of April 1564. sayled so y â— we fel neere vnto the coast of England And then I turned towards the South to sayle directly to the fortunate Ilands at this present called the Canaries one of which called the Ile Sauage because as I thinke it is altogether without inhabitantes was the first that our shippes passed Sayling therefore on forwarde wee landed the next day in the Isle of Teneriffe otherwise called the Pike because that in the middest thereof there is an exceeding high mouÌ„taine neere as high as that of Etna which riseth vp right like a pike into the top wherof no man can go vp but from the middest of May vntill the middest of August by reason of the ouer great colde which is there all the rest of the yeere which is a woonderfull strange thing considering that it is not past seuen and twentie degrees and a halfe distaunt from the Equator We sawe it all couered ouer with snowe although it were then but the fifte of May. The inhabitantes in this Isle being heretofore pursued by the Spaniardes retired themselues into this mountaine where for a space they made warre with them and woulde not submit themselues vnto their obedience neither by foule nor faire meanes they disdayned so much y â— losse of their Iland For those which went thither on the Spaniards behalfe left their carkases there so that not so much as one of them returned home to bring newes NotwithstaÌ„ding in the end the inhabitants not able to liue in that place according to their nature or for want of suche thinges as were necessarie for the commoditie of their liuelihoode did all die there After I had furnished my selfe with some freshe water very good and excellent which sprang out of a rocke at the foâ—t of this mountayne I continued my course towarde the West wherein the windes fauoured me so well that fifteene dayes after our shippes arriued safe and sounde at the Antilles and going on land at the Isle of Martinica one of the first of them the next day wee arriued at Dominica twelue leagues distant from the former Dominica is one of the fairest Ilandes of the West full of hilles and of very good smell Whose singularities desiring to know as we passed by seeking also to refresh our selues w t fresh water I made y â— mariners cast anker after we had sayled about half along y â— cost therof As soone as wee had cast Anker two Indians inhabitantes of that place sayled toward vs in two Canoaes full of a fruit of great excellencie which they call Ananas As they approched vnto our barke there was one of them which being in some misdoubt of vs went backe againe on land and fled his way with as much speede as he could possibly Which our men perceiued and entred with diligence into the other Canoa wherein they caught the poore Indian brought him vnto me But the poore fellow became so astonied in beholding vs that he knew not which way to behaue himselfe because that as afterward I vnderstood hee feared that he was fallen into the Spaniard hands of whom he had beene taken once before and which as he shewed vs had cut of his stones At length this poore Indian was assured of vs and discoursed vnto vs of many things wherof we receaued very smal pleasure because we vnderderstood not his mind but by his signes TheÌ„ he desired me to giue him leaue to depart promised me y â— he would bring me a thousaÌ„d presents whereunto I agreed on condition that hee would haue patience vntill the next day when I
a couple of gentlemen whome I most trusted which brought me word that the soldiers were determined to come to mee to make a request vnto me But I told them that this was not the fashiō to present a request vnto a captaine in this maner therefore they should send some fewe vnto mee to signifie vnto me what they woulde haue Herevpon the fiue thiese authours of the sedition armed with Corslets their Pistolles in their handes alreadie bent prest into my Chamber saying vnto mee that they woulde goe to New Spaine to seéke their aduenture Then I warned them to beé well aduised what they meant to doe but they foorth with replyed that they were fully aduised alreadie and that I must graunt them this request seéing then quoth I that I am enforced to doe it I will send Captayne Vasseur and my sergeant which will make aunswere and giue meé an accompt of euerie thing that shall beé done in this voyage and to content you I thinke it good that you take one man out of euery chamber that they may accompanie Captayne Vasseur and my sergeant wherevpon blaspheming the name of God they answered that they must goe thither that there lacked nothing but that I should deliuer them the armour which I had in my custodie for feare least I might vse them to their disaduantage beéing so villanously abused by them wherein notwithstanding I would not yelde vnto them But they tooke all by force and carried it out of my house yea and after they had hurte a gentleman in my Chamber which spake agaynst their doinges they laide handes on me and carried mee verie sicke as I was prisoner into a shippe which rode at ancre in the middest of the riuer wherein I was the space of fifteene dayes attended vppon with one man onely without permission for any of my seruauntes to come to visite me from euery one of whom as also from the rest that tooke my part they tooke away their armour And they sent mee a passe port to signe telling me playnely after I had denied them that if I made anie difficultie they woulde all come and cutte my throate in the ship Thus was I constrayned to signe their passe port and foorth with to grant them certayne mariners with Trenchant an honest and skilfull Pilot. When the barkes were finished they armed them with the kinges munition with pouder with bullets and artilerie asmuch as they neéded and chose one of my sergeautes for their Captaine named Bertrand Conferrent for their ensigne one named La Croix They compelled Captayne Vasseur to deliuer them the flagge of his ship Then hauing determined to sayle vnto a place of the Antilles called Leauguaue belonging vnto the king of Spayne there to goe on lande on Christmasse night with intention to enter into the Church while the Masse was saide after midnight and to murder all those that they founde there they set saile the eight of December But because the greatest part of them by this time repented them of their enterprise and that nowe they beganne to fall into mutinies among themselues when they came foorth of the mouth of the riuer the two barkes diuided themselues the one kept a long the coast vnto Cuba to double the Cape more easily and the other went right foorth to passe athwart the Isles of Lucaya by reason whereof they met not vntill sixe weékes after their departure during which time the barke that tooke her way a long the coast wherein one of the chiefe conspiratours named De Orange was captayne and Trenchant was pilote neére vnto a place called Archaha tooke a Brigantine laden with a certayne quantitie of Cassaua which is a kinde of breade made of rootes and yet neuerthelesse is verie white and good to eate and some little Wine which was not without some losse of their men For in one assault that the inhabitantes of Archaha made vppon them two of their men were taken to witte Steuen Gondeau and one named Grand Pré besides two more that were slayne in the place namely Nicolas Master Doublet yet neuerthelesse they tooke the brigantine wherein they put all their stuffe that was in their owne barke because it was of greater burthen and better of sayle then their owne afterwarde they sayled right vnto the Cape of Santa Maria neére to Leauguaue where they went on lande to calke and bray their shippe which had a great leake In this meane while they resolued to sayle to Baracou which is a village of the Isle of Iamaica where at there arriuall they found a Carauele of fiftie or threéscore tunnes burden which they tooke without any bodie in it And after they had made good chere in the village the space of fiue or sixe daies they embarked themselues in it leauing their second shippe then they returned to the Cape of Tiburon where they met with a patach which they toke by force after a longe conflicte In this Patache the gouernour of Iamaica was taken with greate store of riches aswell of gold and siluer as of marchandise and wine and manye other things wherewith our sedicious companions not content determined to seeke more in their Carauell and their gouernour of Iamaica also After they were come to Iamaica they missed of another Carauell which did saue it selfe in the Hauen The gouernour being fine and subtile séeing himselfe brought vnto the place which he desired and where he commanded obtained so much by his fayre wordes that they which had taken him let him put two litle boyes which were taken with him into a litle cocke boate and sende them to his wife into the village to aduertise her that she should make prouision of victuals to send vnto him But in stéede of writing vnto his wife he spake vnto the boyes secretly that with all diligence she should send the vessels that were in the hauens néere that place to suecour and rescue him Which she did so cunningly that on a morning about the breake of the day as our seditious companions were at the hauens mouth which reacheth aboue two leagues vp within the lande there came out of the hauen a Malgualire which maketh sayle both forward and backwarde and then two great shippes which might be ech of them of fourescore or an hundred tunnes a piece with good store of ordinance and well furnished with men at whose comming our mutinous fellowes were surprised being not able to sée them when they came aswel because of the darkenesse of the weather as also by reason of the length of the hauen considering also they mistrusted nothing True it is that fiue or sixe and twéentie that were in the Brigantine discouered these ships when they were néere them which séeing themselues pressed for want of leasure to weigh their ancer cut their cable and the trumpetter which was in it aduertised the rest wherevpon the Spaniardes séeing them selues descryed discharged a voley of Canon shot
embarkment caused a Proclamation to be made that all soldiers that were vnder his charge shoulde presently with their weapons embarke them and that his two ensignes shoulde march which was put in execution He came into my chamber and prayed me to lende him my Lieutenant mine ensigne and my sergeant and to let all my good soldiers which I had goe with him which I denied him because my selfe being sicke there was no man to stay in the fort Thereuppon he answered me that I neéded not to doubt at all that he would returne the morrow after that in y ◠meane space Monsieur De Lys should stay behind to looke to al things Then I shewed vnto him that he was chiefe in this countrey and that I for my part had no farther authoritie that therefore hee would take good aduisement what he did for feare least some inconuenience might ensue Then he tolde me that he coulde doe no lesse then to continue this enterprise and that in the letter which he had receyued from my Lorde Admirall there was a postscript which he shewed me written in these words Captaine Iohn Ribault as I was enclosing vp this letter I receaued a certayne aduice that Don Pedro Melendes departeth from Spaine to goe to the coaste of Newe Fraunce see you that you suffer him not to encroch vppon you no more then he would that you should encroch vpon him You seé quoth he the charge that I haue and I leaue it vnto your selfe to iudge if you could doe any lesse in this case considering the certayne aduertisment that we haue that they are already on lande and will inuade vs. This stopped my mouth Thus therefore confirmed or rather obstinate in this enterprise and hauing regard rather vnto his particular opinion then vnto the aduertismentes which I had giuen him the inconueniences of the time whereof I had forewarned him hee embarked himselfe the eighth of September and tooke mine ensigne and eight and thirtie of my men away with him I report me to those that knowe what wars meane if when an ensigne marcheth any soldier that hath any courage in him will stay behinde to forsake his ensigne Thus no man of commaundement stayed behinde with meé for ech one followed him as chiefe in whose name straight after his arriual all cryes and proclamations were made Captayne Grange which liked not very well of this enterprise was vnto the tenth of the moneth with mee and woulde not haue gone aborde if it had not beéne for the instant requestes that Captaine Ribault made vnto him which staid two dayes in the rode attending vntill La Grange was come vnto him Who being come aborde they set sayle altogether and from that time forwarde I neuer sawe them more The verie day that he departed which was the tenth of September there rose so great a tempest accompanied with such stormes that the Indians themselues assured me that it was the worst weather that euer was seéne on that coast where vpon two or threé dayes after fearing least our shippes might be in some distresse I sent for Monsieur Du Lys vnto me to take order to assemble the rest of our people to declare vnto them what neéde we had to fortifie our felues which was done accordingly and then I gaue them to vnderstande the necessitie and inconueniences whereinto we were like to fall aswell by the absence of our ships as by the neérenes of the Spaniards at whose hands we could looke for no lesse then an open and sufficient proclamed warre seéing they had taken lande and forcified themselues so néere vnto vs. And if any misfortune were fallen vnto our men which were at sea we ought to make a full accompt with ourselues that we were to endure many great miseries being in so small number and so many wayes afflicted as we were Thus euerie one promised me to take paynes and therefore considering that their proportion of victuals was small and that so continuing they would not be able to doe any great worke I augmented their allowance although that after the arriuall of captayne Ribault my portion of vituacls was allotted vnto mee as vnto a common souldier nether was I able to geue so muche as parte of a bottel of wine to anye man which deserued it for I was so farre from hauing meanes to doe so that the Captaine himselfe tooke two of my boates wherein the rest of the meale was which was left me of the biscuits which I caused to bee made to returne into Fraunce so that if I shoulde say that I receaued more fauour at the handes of the Englishmen being strangers vnto mee I shoulde say but a truth Wee began therefore to fortifie our selues and to repaire that which was broken downe principallie towarde the waterside where I caused threéscore foote of treés to bee planted to repaire the Palissado with the plankes which I caused to bee taken of the shippe which I had builded Neuerthelesse not withstanding all our diligence and trauaile we were neuer able fully to repaire it by reason of the stormes which commonly did vs so great annoy that we could not finish our inclosure Perceatting my selfe in such extremitie I tooke a muster of the men which captaine Ribault had left me to seé if there were any that wanted weapon I found nyne or ten of them whereof not past two or threé had euer drawen sword out of a scabbarde as I thinke Let them which haue beene bolde to say that I had men ynough left me so that I had meanes to defende my selfe giue eare a little nowe vnto mee and if they haue eyes in their heads let them se what men I had Of the nine there were foure but young striplinges which serued Captaine Ribault and kept his dogges the fift was a cooke among those that were without the fort and which were of the aforesaide companie of Captayne Ribault there was a Carpenter of threéscore yeares olde one a beérebrewer one olde Crosse-bowe maker two shoemakers and foure or fiue men that had their wiues a player on the Virginals two seruants of Monsieur Du Lys one of Monsieur De Beauhaire one of Monsieur De la Grange and about fourescore and fiue or sixe in all counting aswell Lackeys as women and children Beholde the goodly troupe so sufficient to defende themselues and so couragious as they haue esteémed them to be and for my part I leaue it to others consideration to imagine whether Captaine Ribault woulde haue left them with mee to haue borrowed my men if they had beéne such Those which were left mee of myne owne companie were about sixteéne or seuenteéne that coulde beare armes and all of them poore and leane the rest were sicke and maimed in the conflicte which my Lieutenant had against Vtina This viewe beéing thus taken we set our watches whereof wee made two centinels that the soldiers might haue one night freé Then we bethought
which wee had sunke because it wanted ballast and coulde not be saued Thus I encreased the furniture of the ship wherein I was my selfe embarked and made one which had beéne Masters-mate in the foresaid small shippe Master of mine And because I lacked a Pilot I praied Iames Ribault that heé would graunt me one of the foure men that he had in his shippe which I should name vnto him to serue me for a Pilot he promised to giue me them which neuerthelesse he did not at the instant when we were readie to depart notwithstanding all the speéch I vsed to him in declaring that it was for the Kinges seruice I was constrained to leaue the ship behinde me which I had bought of the English Captaine because I wanted men to bring her away For Captain Iames Ribault had taken away her furniture I tooke away her ordinance onely which was all dismounted whereof I gaue nine pieces to Iames Ribault to carrye into France the other fiue I put into my shippe The fiue and twentieth of September wee sette sayles to returne into France and Captaine Iohn Ribault and I kept companye all that daye and the next vntill threé or foure a clocke in the after noone but because his shippe was better at bowling then ours he kept him to the wind and left vs the same day Thus we continued our voyage wherein we had maruelous flawes of winde And about the eight and twentieth of October in the morning at the breake of daye wee discried the Isle of Flores one of the Assores where immediatly vpon our approching to the lande we had a mighty gust of winde which came from the Northeast which caused vs to beare against it foure daies afterwarde the winde came South Southeast was alwaies variable In all the time of our passage wee had none other foode sauing Biscuit and water About the tenth or eleuenth of Nouember after wee had sailed a longe time and supposing wee were not farre from lande I caused my men to sound where they found threéscore fifteéne fathoms water whereat we all reioysed praised God because we had sailed so prosperously Immediately after I caused them to set sayle againe so we continued our way but for asmuch as we had borne to much toward the Northeast we entered into Saint Georges chanel a place much feared of all Sailers and where as many ships are cast away But it was a faire gift of God that we entred into it when the weather was cleare We sailed al the night supposing we had beéne shot into the narrow Sea betweene England and France by the next day to reach Diepe but wee were deceaued of our longing for about two or three of the clocke after midnight as I walked vpon the hatches I discried land rounde about me whereat we were astonied Immediatly I caused them to strike saile and sound we found we had not vnder vs past eight fathoms of water whereupon I commaunded them to staye till breake of day which being come and seéing my Mariners tolde me that they knew not this land I commanded them to approch vnto it Being neére thereunto I made them cast anker and sent the boat on shoare to vnderstand in what country we were Word was brought me that we were in Wales a prouince of England I went incontinently on land where after I had taken the ayre a sickenesse tooke mee whereof I thought I shoulde haue dyed In the meane while I caused the shippe to bee brought into the bay of a small towne called Swansey where I found Marchants of saint Malo which lent me money wherewith I made certaine apparell for my selfe and part of my company that was with me and because there were no victuals in the shippe I bought two Oxen and salted them and a tonne of Beere which I deliuered into his handes which had charge of the shippe praying him to carrie it into France which he promised me to doe for mine own part I purposed with my men to passe by land after I had taken leaue of my Mariners I departed from Swansey and came that night with my company to a place called Morgan where the Lord of the place vnderstanding what I was stayd me with him for the space of sixe or seuen daies and at my departure mooued with pittie to see me goe on foote especially being so weake as I was gaue me a little Hackenye Thus I passed on my iourney first to Bristo then to London where I went to do my duety to Monsieur de Foix which for the present was the kings Ambassadour holpe me w t money in my necessitie From thence I passed to Calis afterward to Paris where I was infourmed that y e king was gone to Moulins to sotourne there incontinently with all the hast I could possibly make I gate me thither with part of my company Thus briefly you see the discourse of all that happened in new France since the time it pleased y ◠kings Maiestie to send his subiects thither to discouer those parts The indifferent vnpassionate readers may easily weigh the truth of my doings be vpright iudges of y ◠endeuour which I there vsed For mine owne part I will not accuse nor excuse any it sufficeth me to haue folowed the truth of the history whereof many are able to beare witnes which were there present I will plainly say one thing That the long delay that Captaine Iohn Ribault vsed in his embarking the fifteen daies that he spēt in rouing along the coast of Florida before he came to our fort Caroline were the cause of the losse that we sustained For he discouered the coast the fourteénth of August spent the time in going from riuer to riuer which had beén sufficiēt for him to haue discharged his ships in for me to haue embarked my selfe to returne into France I wote well that all that hee did was vpon a good intent yet in mine opinion he should haue had more regard vnto his charge then to the deuises of his owne braine which sometimes he printed in his head so deépely that it was very hard to put them out which also turned to his vtter vndoing for hee was no sooner departed from vs but a tempest tooke him which in fine wrackt him vppon the coast where all his ships were cast away he with much adooe escaped drowning to fall into their hands which cruelly massacred him and all his company The end of the historie written by Laudonniere THE FOVRTH VOYAGE of the French men into Florida vnder the conduct of Captaine GOVRGVES in the yeare 1567. CAptaine Gourgues a Gentleman borne in the country neére vnto Bordeaux incited with a desire of reuenge to repaire the honour of his nation borrowed of his friendes and soulde part of his owne goods to set foorth furnish three ships of indifferent burthen with all things