CHAPTER III. French Expeditions. Francis I.-Expedition under Verazzano-His Fate-Admiral Coligni-He sends out Ribault-Colonists return-René Laudonniere-Settlement formed by him-Pedro Menendez -Employed by Philip II.-Founds St Augustine-His Success and Cruelty-Dominique de Gourgues-His Expedition -Triumph-Return to France. FRANCIS I., a powerful monarch, ambitious of every kind of glory, was animated also with eager rivalry of Charles V., who derived much lustre from his possessions in the new world. He therefore ardently desired to follow successfully in the same career; and with this view he supplied to Giovanni Verazzano, a noble Florentine, four vessels destined for America. This chief, after being driven back by a storm, was refitted, and engaged in some successful naval operations on the Spanish coast; and it was then determined, that in the Dolphin, with fifty men, provisioned for eight months, he should prosecute his original design of discovery. After encountering a severe tempest, he came, in the middle of March, upon a coast which Mr Bancroft, with great probability, supposes to be that of North Carolina: and having sailed fifty leagues southward in search of a port without success, he turned again towards the north with the same object. He was once more disappointed as to a harbour; but seeing a fine populous country, he landed in boats, and held some friendly intercourse with the natives.* The latitude of 34° marks a spot in the vicinity of Cape Fear, North Carolina. He next proceeded in an eastern direction along a low coast, where even a boat could not touch; but a sailor swam ashore, and though alarmed by some strange gestures, found the natives kind. A change of course to the northward marks the rounding of Cape Hatteras; and a run of fifty leagues brought him to a fertile region, covered with rich verdure and luxuriant forests. This was Virginia, near the mouth of the Chesapeake, though no mention is made of that great inlet. A sail of 100 leagues in the same direction led to a spacious bay receiving a noble river, evidently the Hudson. They ascended it a short way in boats, and were delighted with its banks. The coast then trended eastward; and after following it fifty leagues, they reached an island of pleasing aspect, which, being of a triangular form, and about the size of Rhodes, clearly appears to be that named Martha's Vine yard. The weather prevented his landing; and, fifteen leagues farther, he found a very convenient port, where he had again much satisfaction in communicating with the people. Though the latitude of 41° 40′ be about half a degree too low, it seems impossible not to recognise Boston.* He then made a course of 150 leagues along a country of similar character but somewhat more elevated, without landing at any point. Another stretch of fifty leagues, first west and then north, brought him to a bolder territory (Nova Scotia), covered with dense forests of fir, pine, and other trees of a northern climate. The inhabitants were fiercer, and carried on trade only under jealous precautions. In a subsequent run of the same extent, he discovered thirty small islands, with narrow channels running between them, being such as are known to stud the northern coast of that country and the adjacent one of Cape Breton. Lastly, by sailing 150 leagues farther, he reached in 50° the land discovered by the Britons (Newfoundland or Labrador). His stock of victuals being spent, he here took in water, and returned to France.t Verazzano, on the 8th July 1524, wrote to the king from Dieppe a narrative of this voyage. Ramusio heard from different quarters that he had submitted to that monarch the plan of a colony; and the general belief is, that he was again employed by him. Mr Biddle, indeed, urges the improbability that, amid the disasters caused by the battle of Pavia in February 1525, Francis could engage in any such undertaking. Down, however, to that fatal day, his career was triumphant; and there was ample time to have authorized another expedition, though there is a total absence of any positive notice on * Mr Bancroft supposes Newport in Rhode Island; but this would imply a retrograde course, and the distance would in no degree correspond. This interesting voyage is narrated in greater detail by Mr Tytler in his "Northern Coasts of America" (Edinburgh Cabinet Library, No. IX. 1833, p. 42-52). After a collation of the original with Mr Bancroft's suggestions, some modified views have been adopted as to the successive coasts surveyed. the subject. Ramusio, without mentioning either place or date, states that in his last voyage, having landed with some companions, he was killed by the savages in presence of his crew still on shipboard. In a modern narrative, which, from its full genealogical details, appears to have been furnished by his relatives, Coronelli, an eminent Venetian hydrographer, is quoted, expressing his belief that the catastrophe took place off Cape Breton, in 1525.* In the portrait from which our sketch is taken, the inscription positively bears “Dead in 1525." It was engraved in 1767 after a picture by Zocchi, in the possession of the family, whose opinion is thus decidedly expressed. Yet Tiraboschit has drawn attention to a letter of Annibal Caro, apparently directed to him when living at Florence in 1537. There seems a mystery round his fate, which we can scarcely now hope to unravel. His descendants probably still continue to enjoy distinction at Florence, having, in 1770, an estate in its vicinity named Verazzano. There is also a portrait of him in the Medicean gallery. Claims so extensive and so feebly supported as those of Spain to North America were not likely to remain long undisputed. Other European nations were then rapidly advancing in maritime skill and enterprise, among whom for some time France took the lead. The defeat and captivity of the king, followed by a humiliating peace, naturally diverted his mind from distant enterprises, especially such as would have been considered hostile by his rival p. 329. Elogi degli Uomini Illustri Toscani (Lucca, 1771-2), vol. ii. + Storia della Letteratura Italiana, vol. ii. part iii. (1777), pp. 206, 207. Mr Tytler first pointed out this passage (Northern Coasts, p. 52), and has been followed by Mr Bancroft, vol. i. p. 21. There is, however, a doubt, from the absence of the Christian name, and the expression, "lands discovered by you or your brother." There was thus a relative, also an explorer, though of far less eminence, who might have been the person addressed. At the same time, Tiraboschi, who boasts of having been the first who drew attention to this letter of Caro, wrote subsequently to the date both of the print and of the "Élogi." Charles. The troubles which agitated the country after his death were also unfavourable to such undertakings; nevertheless, the spirit of adventure was cherished among the people, especially the Huguenots, an industrious class, who almost alone raised her commerce and manufactures to a flourishing condition. Rouen, Dieppe, and above all, Rochelle, ranked with the greatest havens in Europe. Admiral Coligni, one of the leaders in that eventful time, formed the scheme of a transatlantic settlement, which might at once extend the resources of his country, and afford an asylum to his Protestant brethren. While the civil war was yet only impending, he enjoyed intervals of favour at court, which enabled him to obtain permission, first to establish one in Brazil; and when that proved unfortunate, to plant another in Florida. He fitted out two vessels in 1562, and placed them under John Ribault of Dieppe, a seaman of experience. The object was to reach the mouth of the river called by Ayllon the Jordan, now Combahee, in South Carolina; but, steering in too low a latitude, the discoverers reached the St John, near St Augustine, in Florida Proper. They were pleased with the aspect of the country; and, sailing northward to their destination, gave to successive rivers the names of the Seine, the Somme, and the Loire, which have not adhered to them. On reaching Port Royal, they were so delighted with its noble harbour, the magnificent trees and beautiful shrubs, that they determined to choose it for the site of their colony. Having seen a fort erected, and the settlement in a promising state, Ribault left twenty-six men, and returned to France for reinforcements and supplies. This seems an imprudent step. The establishment, in its unsettled state, stood in peculiar need of being well governed; whereas it fell into the hands of Albert, a rash and tyrannical officer, who, finding it difficult to maintain authority, where all thought themselves nearly equal, enforced it in the most violent manner. addressed them in opprobrious language; hanged one of them with his own hand, and threatened others with He |