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Show 328 Tl!F. LILY AND TJIF. TOTEM'. upon tllC troops on lund, before they could fortify their camp, and ovcrw!wlm them with his superior and uncmbanasscd forces. We shall sec, hcr·cnftcr, the issue of all these calculation~. Jn aU probability his decision was iuflucnced quite as much by his fanaticism as his courage. lie hated the SpauiardH as Catholics, quite as much as they hated him and his flock ns heretics. This rage blinded the judgment of the veteran soldier, upon whom fortunc was not disposed to smile. The condition of things at La Caroline, when Ribault took Ids departure, dcplontblc cuough as we h:wc seen, was rcmlcrcd still worse by another deficiency, the fruit of this decision of the corum:l.tH.lcr. The supplies of food which were ori1•inally brou,..ht out for the ganison, were mostly appropriated for ~he uses of :he fleet, allowing for it.s possibly prolonged absence upon the seas. This absorbed the better portion of the store which was necessaty for the daily consumption at La Caroline. A survey of the quantity in the gr:anary of the fortress, made immediately after the departure of the fleet, led to the necessity of stinting the daily allownncc of the garrison. Thus, then, with provisions short., with Laudonnicrc sick, and otherwise incompctent,-with the tacn cqnnlly few nnd feeble, improvident hitherto, and now apiritless,- thc labors of defence and preparation at La. Caroline went forward slowly; and its watch was maintained with very doubtful vigilance. We have seen enough, in the previous difficulties of tlJe commandant witlt his people, to form a. just judgment of the small tmbordiw~tion which he uaually maintained. JJis government was by no means improved with the obvious necessity before him, and the hourly increase of peril. Alarmed, at first, by tho condition in which he had been left, Lnudonuierc, lUI has been stated, proceeded with the show of diligence, rather TilE FATF. OF LA CAROL!NF.. 329 than its actual working, to repair the fortress, and put l1imself in order for defence. But, with the ttppearance of bad weather, his exertions relaxed; his people, accustomed to wait upon Providence and the lndians,-prayiug little to the One and preying much upon the others-very soon discontinued their unfamiliar nnd disagreeable exertions. They could not supposenvrrse themselves to bad weather-that the Spaniards could posF. iUly expose themselves to chills and fevers during an equinoctial tempest, under any idle impulses of enterprise and duty; and theit watch was maintained with \'Cry doubtful vigilance. On the nigl1t of the nineteenth of September, l\lonsieur de La Vigne was appointed to keep guard with his eompauy. Hut ::\[onsicur de La Vigne had a tender heart, and felt for his soldiers in bad weather. Seeing the rain continue and increase, " he pitied the ~cntincls, so much moyled and wet ; and thinking the Spaniards would not have come in such a strange time, he let them depart, and, to say the truth, hcc went himself into his lodging.'' llut the Spaniard~ appear to have been men of inferior tastes, and of a delicacy less sympathising and scrupulous than .l\lonsicur do La Vigue. J3ad weather appeared to agree with them, and we shall see that they somewhat enjoyed the very showers, from tho nnnoynnce of which our French sentinels were so pleasantly relieved. \Vc shaH hear of these things hereafter. Jn tho meanwhile, lot us look in upon the Adclantado of Florida, Pedro Melendez, a strong, true man, in spite of a savage nature and:~ maddening fauaticism,-let us see him and the progress of his fortunes, where he plants the broad batmer of Spain, with its castellated towers, upon the lonely Indian waters of the Sclooe, that river which our Huguenots had previously dignified with the title of" the Dolphin.'' |
