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Show 316 THE LILY AND TIIC TOTEM. di:ms as it is unfavorable to our Frenchmen. Tic speaks in the hip:hcst terms of the qualities and resources of the country, as aboundin"' in commodities unknown to men, and equal to those of any rcgio: in the world. lie tells us of the gold ~rocur~d by the llurrucnot colonists, one mnF.s of two pounds wc1ght bcmg taken by ~1cm from the Indians, without equivalent. The latter he describes as h:lving some estimation of the precious metal~:~; " for it is wrought flat and graven, which they wear about their neck~:~, &c. n The Frenchmen cat snakes in the ~:~ight of our Englishmen, to their ~e no little admiration i" and affirm the same to be a delicate meat. Laudonnicrc tells Tiawkins some curious !:nakc stories, which could not well be improved upon, even i~ the 11 1Junter's Cnmp,"on a" Lying Saturday." "I heard a mJracle of one of these addcrs,"-snakcs n. yard and a half long,-" upon the which a faulcon {hawk) seizing, the s.'\yd adder did clnSJle llCr taile about her i which, the French captniue seeing, came to the r s<'ue of the faulcon, and took hcr,-slaying the adder." 'fhcro is no improbability in this story; but \Ve shall be slow to give our testimony in behalf of that which follows : " And the Captaine of tho Frenchmen saw abo a serpent with three heads and foure feet, of tho bignessc of a great spaniel, which, for want of a harqucbu c, he durst not attempt to slay." J~audonnicrc had e\'idcntly some appreciation of tho marvellous; but ouly fot~r feet to thru, hca.ds was a monstrous disproportion. 'l'he account wlJich Hawkins gives of the abundance of fish in the neighborhood of th:J garrison, is no exaggeration, and only adds W the surprise tl1at we feel at the wretched indolence and imbecility of tho colonisl8, who, with this resource" at their doores," depended for tlu:.ir supply upon the Floridians. Havddns's account of the coast and characteristics of Florida HISTORI CAL SUMMARY. 317 is copious and full of interest, but belongs not to this narrative. lie left the Huguenots, on the 28th July, 15G5, making all prepamtions to follow in his wake; and on tho fifteenth of August l~:mdounicre was prepared to depart also. 'l'ho biscuit was ma.do for the \'Oya.ge, the goods and chattels of the soldiers were taken on board, and most of the W!ller ;-nothing delayed their S..'liling but head-winds ;-when the whole proceeding was arrested by the Rudden appearance of ]~ibault, with the long-promised flupplics f1·om !~ranee. The approach of Hibault was exceedingly cautiou.'!; so circumspect, indeed, that fears were enterl:tined by the garrison that his ships were those of the Spaniards. The guns of the fortress were already trained to bear upon them when the strangers discovered themselves. 'l'ho reasons for their mysterious deportment, as subsequently given, arose from certain false reports which had reached :France, of tho conduct of r~amlonnioro. llo ltad been described, by letters from some of hi.s mnlcontents in tho colony, as affecting a sort of regal state-as preparing to shake off his dependence upon tho mother-country-and setting up for himself, as the sovereign lord of the Floridas. Poor Laudonniere! li\·ing on vipers, crude berries and bitter roots, mocked by tho snvngcs on one hand, fettered and flouted by his own runagates and rebels on the other,--defied in his authorit.y, and starving in nil his state, was in no mood to affect royalty upon the River May. llc was, no doubt, a vain and ostentatious person; but, whate\'er may have been his absurdities and vanities, at first, they had been s~fficicntly schooled by l1is necessities, we should think, W cure him of any such idle affectations. Tio had been subdued and lmmbled by dcfetJ.t,-the fhilure of his plans, and the evident contempt into which he had sunk among his people. Yet of all this, the King of France and 1\lonsicur de Coligny could have |
