..Under the crown, American history; . r the seacoast, as well as wecould shape our course. We came to rivers, THE HUGUENOTS IN FLORIDA. 15 which we crossed, sometimes by swimming,sometimes by the aid of fallen trees. At last,when exhausted, and ready to lie down and die,we came to a vast sea-marsh, and one of ourmen, climbing a high tree, saw not only the sea,but the vessel ofCaptain Maillard,which he signaled,and they sent boatsafter us. * More dead thanalive, we were takenon board, and therewe found the SieurLaudonniere, who had also escaped. Soonthe Pearl sailed up to us, and Capt. Jean Ri
..Under the crown, American history; . r the seacoast, as well as wecould shape our course. We came to rivers, THE HUGUENOTS IN FLORIDA. 15 which we crossed, sometimes by swimming,sometimes by the aid of fallen trees. At last,when exhausted, and ready to lie down and die,we came to a vast sea-marsh, and one of ourmen, climbing a high tree, saw not only the sea,but the vessel ofCaptain Maillard,which he signaled,and they sent boatsafter us. * More dead thanalive, we were takenon board, and therewe found the SieurLaudonniere, who had also escaped. Soonthe Pearl sailed up to us, and Capt. Jean Ribauttold how his vessels had been dispersed andwrecked by the hurricane, during which thefort had been taken. But he said he wouldnever leave the coast while there was a chanceof any of our men escaping; that it was hisduty to stay and give them aid. But CaptainMaillard sailed for France, taking us with him. Captain Ribaut, who would not desert hispost of duty, was again tempest-tossed, and hisremaining vessels were driven ashore. The. French wandered about, half starving, and 16 THE HUGUENOTS IN FLORIDA. knowing well that the Indians, whom the sol-diers at the fort had angered, would take thefirst chance to revenge themselves. A body of Spaniards came upon them. Theywere too weak to resist, and gave up their armsupon a solemn promise from Vallemande, thecommanding ofificer, that they should be treatedas prisoners of war. Ribaut, honorable and truthful himself, believedthe Spaniard. They were marched on, and ashe was in front, he did not see that his thirtymen had their hands tied behind their backs. As they entered the fort, the massacre Ribaut himself was first to fall; thenthe others were stricken down, one by one. Inall, nine hundred Huguenots were murderedon the banks of the St. John. There have been few such scenes in Americanhistory, and the tragedy has been but littlenoted. The lovely Floridian river retains notoken of this massacre. While we rememberthe b
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