108 



THE FEENCH BLOOD IN AMEEICA 



Bad Manage- 

 ment 



The Spaniards 

 Arrive 



Menendez the 

 Butcher 



lished by others, they have not the peculiar qualifications 

 requisite to successful colonizing when left to themselves. 

 In this instance they invited the fate that overtook them. 

 They had to depend upon themselves for food supplies, 

 yet neglected to cultivate the soil, fell to quarrelling, 

 treated the natives unwisely, and proved generally unfit 

 for their undertaking, difficult at best. Laudonniere was 

 weak as leader ; the young nobles who had crossed the 

 ocean to find gold could not stoop to work, and grumbled 

 at being required to do their part in the work of fortifi- 

 cation. The Protestants had no pastor, and complained 

 that Laudonniere was indifferent to religion. Then came 

 famine, owing to the failure to raise crops. The second 

 summer found scarcity at La Caroline, although the river 

 teemed with fish. Laudonniere at last decided to return 

 to Europe and give up his attempt. The one ship usable 

 was put in repair and the French were making ready to 

 depart when the English fleet appeared. The captain 

 was friendly, relieved their necessities, and offered to 

 transport them to France. Unhappily that was declined, 

 but a ship was bought from the English. Soon another 

 fleet appeared, commanded by Eibault, who had been 

 sent to supersede Laudonniere. His fleet comprised 

 seven ships and carried not far from a thousand men, 

 including a number of Huguenot gentlemen. At least 

 one minister was in the company, M. Eobert. Lau- 

 donniere was able to clear himself from the charges laid 

 against him, and was cordially treated by his old-time 

 commander. 



The end drew near. Five days after Eibault' s arrival 

 a third fleet came in sight. It was the Spaniards. 

 Eibault' s larger ships had fled. Spain denied the right 

 of France in the new world, and especially the right of 

 French Protestants to live anywhere. The King of Spain 

 had sent Menendez, one of his bravest and crudest cap- 

 tains, to dislodge the French colony. With a fleet of 

 fifteen ships and two thousand six hundred men, Spanish 



