not lead us out to explore the country and find its
treasures? He is keeping us from making our fortunes," the gentlemen
adventurers cried.

Here again we are reminded of the Spaniards under Narvaez and Soto, who
struggled through the swamps and interminable pine-barrens of Florida,
cheered on by the delusive assurance that when they came to the country
of Appalachee they would find gold in abundance. (See "Pioneer Spaniards
in North America.")

{83}

Another class of malcontents took matters into their own hands. They
were ex-pirates, and they determined to fly the "jolly Roger" once more.
They stole two pinnaces, slipped away to sea, and were soon cruising
among the West Indies. Hunger drove them into Havana. They gave
themselves up and made their peace with the Spanish authorities by
telling of their countrymen at Fort Caroline.

Now, Spain claimed the whole of North America, under the Pope's grant.
Moreover, Philip of Spain had but lately commissioned as Governor of
Florida one Pedro Menendez de Aviles, a ruthless bigot who would crush a
Protestant with as much satisfaction as a venomous serpent. Imagine the
effect upon his gloomy mind of the news that reached him in Spain, by the
way of Havana, of a band of Frenchmen, and, worst of all, heretics
settled in Florida, his Florida!

Meanwhile the men at Fort Caroline, all unconscious of the black storm
brewing in Spain, continued their grumbling. They had not heard of the
fate of the party who had sailed away, and now nearly all were bent on
buccaneering. One day a number of them mutinied, overpowered the {84}
guard, seized Laudonniere, put him in irons, carried him on board a
vessel lying in the river, and compelled him, under threat of death, to
sign a commission for them to cruise along the Spanish Main. Shortly
afterward they sailed away in two small vessels that had been built at
Fort Caroline.

After their departure, the orderly element that remained behind restored
Laudonniere to his command, and things went on smoothly for three or four
months. Then, one day, a Spanish brigantine was seen hovering off the
mouth of the river. It was ascertained that she was manned by the
mutineers, now anxious to return to the fort. Laudonniere sent down a
trusty officer in a small vessel that he had built, with thirty soldiers
hidden in the hold. The buccaneers let her come alongside without
suspicion and began to parley. Suddenly the soldiers came on deck,