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The Second Voyage
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he Second Voyage ofthe French to FloridaJ Made by Captain Laudonniere in IS 64 AFTER PEACE was declared in France, the Admiral of Chatillon remonstrated with the king that there had been no news of the men whom Captain Jean Ribault had left in Florida and that it would be a great pity to lose them.54 Because of this, the king gave him permission to equip three ships, one of 120 tons, another of 100 tons, and a third of 60 tons, to seek them out and give them aid.55 The admiral, then being well informed of the faithful service that I had rendered to His Majesty as well as his predecessor kings of France, advised the king how able I was to serve him on this expedition. This was the reason why he made me commander of these three ships and told me to depart promptly 53 Charles IX, aged eighteen in 1568, an engraving from the collections of the Library of Congress. [3.236.139.73] Project MUSE (2024-03-28 14:08 GMT) to perfonn his orders. Not desiring to do otherwise and feeling very happy at being selected from a large number of others who were very able to acquit themselves in this responsibility, I embarked at Havre de Grace on April 22, 1564, and assembled my vessels as we approached the coast of England. Then I turned toward the south to sail directly to the Fortunate Islands, presently called the Canaries, one of which is called the Deserted Island because it has no inhabitants. It was the first that our ships passed. Sailing forward, we landed the next day at Tenerife. This is also called the Pike because in its midst there is a very high mountain, nearly as high as Aetna, which rises up like a pike. No man can go up on the top of it except from the middle of May to the middle ofAugust because ofthe great cold which is there during the entire year. This is unusual considering that it is not more than 27V2° from the equator. We saw it all covered with snow, although it was by then the fifth of May. The natives of this island, when attacked by the Spanish, withdrew to this mountain.56 There for a space of time they fought, not willing to give up their independence nor to lose their island either by force or by alliance. Of those who had gone to live with the Spaniards not a single man returned to tell of it. Finally all of the natives who had lived there died because they could not survive in this cold place so foreign to their nature and because they lacked there the things necessary for their livelihood. After refreshing myself with the sweet fresh water that came from a spring at the bottom ofthe mountain, I continued my course toward the west, where the The Second Voyage 55 winds favored me so well that fifteen days later OlIr ships arrived safe and sound at the Antilles. I went on shore at the Isle of Martinique, one of the first ofthem. The next day we arrived at Dominica, twelve leagues farther on than the first. Dominica is one ofthe most beautiful ofthe western islands, mountainous and of sweet-smelling air. In passing through, we desired to see the sights that were there and also to replace our supply of fresh water; so I dropped anchor along the coast. As soon as this happened, two Indians came to us in two little boats full of excellent fruit called ananas [pineapples]. As they approached our barque, one ofthem was in doubt about us and returned to land, running away. Our men, perceiving this, caught the poor Indian in the other little boat, and he was so astonished at seeing us that he did not know how to behave. I understood afterwards that he had feared that he had fallen into the hands of Spaniards. These had once captured him and had cut out his testicles, as he showed us. This poor Indian was reassured after a time, and we discussed several things with him, doing this awkwardly because we understood nothing except through the signs that he thought up. Finally he asked leave to depart and promised me a thousand presents. I agreed provided that he would have patience to wait until the next day when we would set foot on the island. When we landed I let him...