on of her life,
received the stroke of death from the wavering hand of the headsman.

FOUNDING OF ST. AUGUSTINE

MASSACRE OF THE HUGUENOTS IN AMERICA

A.D. 1565

GEORGE R. FAIRBANKS

Although Florida was discovered by Ponce de Leon as early as 1513,
and was soon after visited by other Spanish explorers, no Spaniard
gained permanent foothold there until after the middle of the
sixteenth century. But when the Spaniards did secure such a
foothold, it was to found the first permanent settlement on the
mainland of the United States.

The vast territory which the Spaniards named Florida was claimed by
Spain in right of the discoveries of Columbus, the grant of the
pope, and various expeditions to the region; by England in right of
Cabot's discovery; and by France on account of Verrazano's voyage
(1524) and "vague traditions" of French visitors to the coast.

Following the early Spanish attempts at colonization, came the first
Huguenot settlers from France, seeking refuge in the New World from
persecution at home. What they did and what befell them in the
Florida country, and how the founding of our oldest town, St.
Augustine, was begun by their Spanish supplanters, is told by
Fairbanks in an interesting and carefully verified account.

The settlement of Florida had its origin in the religious troubles
experienced by the Huguenots under Charles IX in France. Their
distinguished leader, Admiral Coligny, as early as 1555, projected
colonies in America, and sent an expedition to Brazil, which proved
unsuccessful. Having procured permission from Charles IX to found a
colony in Florida, a designation which embraced in rather an indefinite
manner the whole country from the Chesapeake to the Tortugas, he sent an
expedition in 1562 from France, under command of Jean Ribault, composed
of many young men of good family. They first landed at the St. John's
River, where they erected a monument, but finally established a
settlement at Port Royal, South Carolina, and erected a fort. After some
months, however, in consequence of dissensions among the officers of the
garrison and difficulties with the Indians, this settlement was
abandoned.

In 1564 another expedition came out under the command of Rene de
Laudonniere, and made their first landing at the River of Do