Show SCRAPS f RON iROll AMERICAN HISTORY 1 J Jean n RiDout's Colony Colon 1562 i. i ADMIRAL COLIGNY the great Protestant le leader der in France had long entertained a Y scheme for founding a colony in the theY New World the object being to fo furnish a refuge for the persecuted Protestants r or H Huguenots as they were called in France His first attempt had failed but in the early spring of 1562 he sent senta a second expedition to the New World This expedition was commanded by I Jean an excellent seaman and a staunch Protestant Under him was a band of veteran soldiers and a few young g nobles in search of adventure They left Havre France February f 1562 and crossing the Atlantic sighted the low green coast of Florida on the of April April- of the same year Sailing northward th they y found themselves themselves themselves them them- I selves the first of May off the mouth of ofa a great river which they named the K River of of May The land was beautiful with the freshness of cf spring on this fair f May day Never had the soldiers seen seena a a. country more inviting Fish abounded in the waters of the river all kinds of water-fowl water swarmed on its banks birds of brilliant plum plumage ge flitted among the gre green n branches of the forest trees in inthe inthe inthe the forest the deer roamed unmolested and many-colored many flowers lent beauty beauly to the green meadows Surely a colony Would prosper in this fair land From From this place the party sailed northward exploring the coast and at length arrived at an opening which the they called Port Royal Here they halted and on the of May sailed up a abroad abroad broad river and landed The soldiers were so captivated with the country that l they wished to remain Although this expedition was for the purpose of exploration exploration exploration ex ex- and not for forming a permanent permanent permanent perma perma- nent colony thought it best to lea leave ve some of the party to hold the country in the name of the King of France Accordingly he selected thirty and placed Al Albert bert de in com com- mand With the rest of the men he set sail for France At first all went well with this little colony They busied themselves with the building of a fort which they called They treated the Indians very kindly and gained in return their good will and friendship The character charac charac- ter of the colonists however was not such 1 as to form a peaceful community Their aim was adventure conquest and gold As soon as the fort was completed they J set out in search of adventure The Indians were their friends and they traveled about from one tribe to another l seeking gol gold Many months were passed in this way and when they returned to 10 Charles fort their provisions gave out J They applied to the Indians who supplied supplied supplied sup sup- plied their wants and saved sayed them from i starving The band of landsmen and sailors soon fell into quarrels among themselves Albert their commander j cut off from all restraint and communication communication communication cation with the Old World became very oppressive He hanged with his own I hands a drummer who had displeased him and banished a soldier upon a alone aone lone ione one island to die The colonists resented resented resented re re- this oppression and a number of the boldest formed a league killed j Albert rescued the soldier and selected i Nicolas Barre to command them Nicolas Nicolas Nico Nico- las Barre a. a a man man of merit restored j I peace among the colonists But by this time they were thoroughly tired of the eternal solitude of the forest They longed for home and the of life in France This little band of m men n were the only civilized beings from the N North orth Pole to Mexico A continent was their prison At last they became desperate They would leave this wilderness no matter what it cost They determined to build a sh ship p and every man worked with a will They hewed down the huge forest trees collected pitch from the pines for fortar fortar fortar tar obtained ropes from the Indians and soon had a rude awkward ship finished They ma made e sails out of their clothing and putting on board a few supplies eagerly em embarked barked and set sail for France T To a their joy at first refreshing breeze steadily wafted them homeward but when they were well out on the high seas the breeze died out and the ship lay motionless motionless' on the glassy ocean To Tomake Tomake Tomake make matters worse their supplies got low Twelve kernels of maize was each mans man's daily portion At last all was exhausted ted After the water gave ou out some of them drank the salty brine of the ocean several died A storm arose an and tossed their crazy ship about at will At length the storm abated a afresh afresh afresh fresh breeze sprang up and soon the famishing crew were speeding on to towards towards towards to- to wards France With hungry eyes they gazed ahead but they were yet far from home At length it began to be whispered that one of them by his death might save the rest Lots were cast and the lot fell to La LaChere LaChere Chere the soldier whom Albert had banished The crew surrounded the unfortunate man killed him and eagerly portioned out his flesh This sustained them until they were picked up by an English bark The feeblest were landed in France and the others were taken as prisoners to Queen Elizabeth I |