FLORIDA. CHAPTER I. DE JUAN PONCE DE LEON. HIS VOYAGE IN SEARCH OF THK THE beautiful name of Florida, restricted, for more than a century, to a single province, and now to a single state, was, in the early history of America, applied to a vast extent of country, embracing nearly all the eastern portion of the continent, between Canada and Mexico. In narrating the settlement of the West Indies, mention has been made of Juan Ponce de Leon, conqueror and governor of the island of Porto Rico. This man, in addition to the ambition and rapacity common to all his class, possessed, it should seem, rather more than their usual share of fancy and credulity. Deprived, in advanced age, of his hardly-earned command, his imagination became much excited by the accounts of certain old Indians, who averred that far in the north was a land abounding in gold, and possessing a well of such miraculous virtue as to restore youth to those who bathed in it. To discover this land of treasure, and to rēgain the youth which should enable him to enjoy it, became at once the object of his ambition. "Nothing can better illustrate the gorgeous and dreamy imagination of the age, than the fact that this worldly, practical, and experienced man now embarked a great portion of his wealth in such a chimerical enterprise." With three ships, manned, under a leader so redoubted and on an errand so alluring, by ready volunteers, on the 3d of March, 1512, he set sail from Porto Rico. Touching at Guanahani, and making inquiries without success, for the desired region, he held on to the north-west, and on the 27th, came in sight of land. On the 2d of April, he anchored near the mouth of what is now called the St. John's river, and landing, on the following day, took possession of the country in the name of the Spanish sovereigns. It was Palm Sunday (Pascua Florida), on account of which, as well as of the gay and flowery appearance of the country, he bestowed on it the name of Florida. For several weeks he stood southward along the shore, frequently landing, and searching in vain for his fountain of youth and the gold with which the fabled land abounded. On the 14th of June, he set sail for home, and arrived, after tedious navigation, the victim of disappointment, in Porto Rico. Thence the old cavalier repaired to Spain, where he underwent some raillery from the wits about court, but obtained the appointment of governor of the newlydiscovered region, and finally rēgained the command of Porto Rico. At that island he remained until 1521, when, stimulated by the renown of Cortes, he again fitted out two vessels, and made a fresh voyage to the land of his discovery. With a considerable force, he landed on the coast, and was soon engaged in combat with the Indians, who bravely defended their country against the invaders. Wounded by an arrow, the governor was carried on board his ship, and sailed for Cuba, where, soon after his arrival, he expired from the effect of his wound, aggravated by mental uneasiness and disappointment. A Latin epitaph chronicled his name and exploits: "Mole sub hac fortis requiescant ossa Leonis, Qui vicit factis nomina magna suis." Beneath this mound rest the bones of the valiant Lion, Who in his deeds surpassed the names of the famous. Subsequent expeditions to this land of natural beauty and imagin ary expectation, for a long period, present but a repetition of sufferings and disasters. Lucas Vasquez de Ayllon, sailing, with three hundred men, to what is now known as South Carolina, was cut off, with nearly all his command, by the hostile Indians. Pamphilo de Narvaez (defeated and captured by Cortes at Cempoalla, in Mexico) in 1528, with four hundred men, landed on the western coast of Florida, and penetrated, in the vain hope of treasure, through the marshes, to Appalachee. A third of his command perished of hun ger, or were slain by the Indians, on their return, and the remainder, losing their way, were finally stopped by an arm of the sea. In this extremity, the almost hopeless task was undertaken of constructing vessels wherewith to regain their ships-of transmuting, in fact, the relics of a cavalcade into a squadron, if possible, forlorner still. Stirrups, spurs, and every article of iron, wrought on a rude forge, were converted into nails; the tails and manes of the horses, twisted with fibres of the palm, were used for rigging, and their skins for water-casks. The shirts of the soldiers, cut open and sewed together, furnished sails, and maize for provision was won, by fighting, from the Indian villages. By these ingenious devices (the saine adopted by Gonzalo Pizarro in his lamentable expedition to the Amazon) five miserable barks were patched together, in each of which forty or fifty men, closely crowded, put to sea. All were dispersed and swallowed up by tempests; and five men, the sole survivors, escaped to shore. These took up their march to the westward, and, passing from tribe to tribe, often detained as slaves, they crossed the Mississippi, and after a journey of ten years, succeeded in reaching the Spanish settlements in Mexico. A more wonderful or arduous feat of travel, all circumstances considered, is hardly recorded in history. An expedition more memorable and disastrous still was that of Hernando de Soto, already mentioned in the account of the Conquest of Peru. That famous cavalier, whose whole estate, on reaching the New World, says one of his companions, "was no more but a Sword and Buckler," had returned to Spain with his thirst for achievement yet unallayed, and with a vast treasure, enabling him to provide ample means for its gratification. Alvar Nunez, one of the survivors last mentioned, had applied to the crown for authority to make conquests in the vast region he had traversed. This demonstration, combined with his reserved and mysterious demeanour, was supposed to indicate the certainty of treasures locked up in their unknown recesses. De Soto accordingly made a similar application, and received the offices of governor and captain-general, both of Cuba and Florida, with authority for almost unlimited conquest and discovery. The wealth acquired by the plunder of Peru was lavishly devoted to his new enterprise. Nine hundred and fifty Spaniards, with a company of brave Portuguese, who had served in the wars of Africa, were enrolled under his standard, and in April, 1538, he sailed, with his armament, from San Lucar. He passed nearly a year in Cuba, making fresh preparations for his enterprise, and finally, on the 18th of May, 1539, with nine vessels, set sail from Havana. In a few days he landed at Tampa Bay, where he was soon involved in war with Hiriga, a native cacique, who had suffered much wrong at the hands of Narvaez. Among the hostile Indians he discovered one Juan Ortiz, a soldier of that commander, who for many years had been captive with them, and who proved exceedingly useful as an interpreter. By his good offices and his acquaintance with the country, several desirable alliances with native chiefs were affected; and the army, as it marched into the interior, was abundantly supplied by them with provisions. The town of Ochili, situated on an ancient mound, and containing five hundred houses, was taken by surprise, and the invaders proceeded to Vitachucco, the capital of a province of the same name. For three days an apparently friendly intercourse was maintained. with the inhabitants; but on the fourth, as the Spaniards were quitting the town, the chief, who marched by the side of De Soto, suddenly snatched the sword from his sheath, and attempted to run him through the body. His warriors, (to the number of six thousand, we are told) posted in the wood, at this signal, rushed on their guests and attacked them furiously; but the latter, assisted by their native allies, after fighting nearly all day, repulsed them with much loss. Marching onward, they took the town of Osichili (Tallahasoche) after a sharp fight, and thence proceeded to Appalachee. In a swamp before this place, the natives, gathered in great numbers, gave them battle, but were defeated, and the town was won. Here the Spanish general took up his winter-quarters, his vessels being brought around into the Appalachee river. CHAPTER II. MARCH DELUSIVE REPORT OF AN INDIAN.-DISASTROUS A GOOD harbour, with indications of gold, was reported by an exploring party to exist an hundred and eighty miles westward; and a young Indian prisoner also averred that in his country, to the eastward, was an abundance of the precious metal. "Whereupon," (says one of the Portuguese who wrote a history of the expedition) "he described the manner how that Gold was dug, how it was melted and refined, as if he had seen it done a hundred times, or as if the Devil had taught him; insomuch that all who understood the manner of working in the Mines, averred that it was impossible for him to speak so exactly of it, without having seen the same; and so the Relation of that Indian passed for a real truth, because of the circumstances wherewith he confirmed it." Depending on this strangely fallacious testimony, in March, 1540, the Spanish force again took up its march on an enterprise perhaps the most disastrous in American history. No gold was found, in many months of wearisome travel through marsh and forest, and great suffering was continually endured by the explorers and inflicted on the natives. Many of the caciques, through whose country the invaders passed, were subdued, and their people reduced to slavery. Chained and loaded down like beasts of burden, these unhappy creatures often perished on the way, of fatigue, of hunger, and the bitter cold of winter. The Spaniards also suffered great extremities; and one of them flung away a bag-full of beautiful pearls, rather than submit to the drudgery of carrying them further. A loathsome disease, occa sioned by the want of salt, presently appeared among them, and eventually carried off sixty of their number. Gradually changing their course to the north and west, the invaders, crossing the Cher |