30 . HOME LIFE IN FLOEIDA. 



authority to conquer and govern the country, under the 

 high-sounding title of Adelantado. Returning to the West 

 Indies, he immediately commenced extensive preparations 

 for an expedition of conquest and settlement. The build- 

 ing and arming of ships and the enlistment of the proper 

 kind of men for such work consumed a considerable time, 

 and it so happened, unluckily for Ponce De Leon, that he 

 was in the interval called upon to suppress an insurrection 

 of the Caribs, who, having loug patiently borne with the 

 wanton cruelty of their conquerors, were at last roused to 

 resistance. And now the physical results of that direful 

 search over sea and land for the Fountain of Youth 

 revealed themselves more unmistakably than ever. De 

 Leon, the renovv^ned soldier, had lost his cunning. He led 

 his men through swamps and jungles, with a reckless dis- 

 regard of probable ambuscades and entanglements more 

 suited to a young, inexperienced volunteer than to a dis- 

 ciplined, war-hardened veteran. His soldiers died from 

 sickness brought on by needless exposure and fatigue, their 

 ranks were thinned by unseen foes who lurked behind the 

 trees and underbrush, ever and anon sending a fatal arrow 

 into their midst. Instead of securing, as they expected, 

 an easy victory over the untaught savages, one reverse 

 after another overtook the devoted band, until they were 

 compelled to abandon the expedition, the whole burden of 

 its failure being justly ascribed to the want of skill and 

 judgment of its leader. 



The effect of this reverse was disastrous to the future 

 fortunes of De Leon. His prestige was gone forever, and 

 men feared to trust to his leadership. The result was that 

 nine years elapsed before he succeeded in collecting even a 

 small force to accompany him to the beautiful land of 

 which he was nominally Adelantado. Before that unfor- 

 tunate expedition against the Caribs Ponce De Leon could 



