1565.

hewen in for the bowing of their backs, and another place made high for their heads, which they put one by another all along the walles on both sides. In their houses they remaine onely in the nights, and in the day they desire the fields, where they dresse their meat, and make provision for victuals, which they provide onely for a meale from hand to mouth. There is one The maner of thing to be marvelled at, for the making of their fire, kindling of fire and not onely they but also the Negros doe the same,

in Florida.

which is made onely by two stickes, rubbing them one
against another: and this they may doe in any place?
they come, where they finde sticks sufficient for the
purpose. In their apparell the men onely use deere
skinnes, wherewith some onely cover their privy mem-
bers, othersome use the same as garments to cover them
before and behind; which skinnes are painted, some
yellow and red, some blacke & russet, and every man
according to his owne fancy. They do not omit to
paint their bodies also with curious knots, or antike
worke, as every man in his owne fancy deviseth, which
painting, to make it continue the better, they use with
a thorne to pricke their flesh, and dent in the same,
whereby the painting may have better hold. In their
warres they use a sleighter colour of painting their faces,
thereby to make themselves shew the more fierce; which
after their warres ended, they wash away againe. In
their warres they use bowes and arrowes, whereof
their bowes are made of a kind of Yew, but blacker
then ours, and for the most part passing the strength
of the Negros or Indians, for it is not greatly inferior
to ours: their arrowes are also of a great length, but
yet of reeds like other Indians, but varying in two
points, both in length and also for nocks and feathers,
which the other lacke, whereby they shoot very stedy:
the heads of the same are vipers teeth, bones of fishes,
flint stones, piked points of knives, which they having
gotten of the French men, broke the same, & put the
points of them in their arrowes head: some of them

3

have their heads of silver, othersome that have want of these, put in a kinde of hard wood, notched, which pierceth as farre as any of the rest. In their fight, being in the woods, they use a marvellous pollicie for their owne safegard, which is by clasping a tree in their armes, and yet shooting notwithstanding: this policy they used with the French men in their fight, whereby it appeareth that they are people of some policy and although they are called by the Spanyards Gente triste, that is to say, Bad people, meaning thereby, that they are not men of capacity: yet have the French men found them so witty in their answeres, that by the captaines owne report, a counseller with us could not give a more profound reason.

1565.

Monsieur

The women also for their apparell use painted skinnes, but most of them gownes of mosse, somewhat longer then our mosse, which they sowe together artificially, and make the same surplesse wise, wearing their haire downe to their shoulders, like the Indians. In this river of May aforesayd, the captaine entring with his pinnesse, found a French ship of fourescore tun, and two pinnesses of fifteene tun a piece, by her, and speaking with the keepers thereof, they tolde him of a fort The French two leagues up, which they had built, in which their fort. captaine Monsieur Laudonniere was, with certeine soul- Laudonniere. diers therein. To whom our captaine sending to understand of a watering-place, where he might conveniently take it in, and to have licence for the same, he straight, because there was no convenient place but up the river five leagues, where the water was fresh, did send him a pilot for the more expedition thereof, to bring in one of his barks, which going in with other boats provided for the same purpose, ankered before the fort, into the which our captaine went; where hee was by the Generall, with other captaines and souldiers, very gently enterteined, who declared unto him the time of their being there, which was fourteene moneths, with the extremity they were driven to for want of victuals, having brought

1565.

very little with them; in which place they being two hundred men at their first comming, had in short space eaten all the maiz they could buy of the inhabitants about them, and therefore were driven certeine of them to serve a king of the Floridians against other his enemies, for mill and other victuals: which having gotten, could not serve them, being so many, so long Bread made a time: but want came upon them in such sort, that of akorns. they were faine to gather acorns, which being stamped small, and often washed, to take away the bitternesse of them, they did use for bread, eating withall sundry times, roots, whereof they found many good and holesome, and such as serve rather for medecines then for meates alone. But this hardnesse not contenting some of them, who would not take the paines so much as to fish in the river before their doores, but would have all things put in their mouthes, they did rebell against the captaine, taking away first his armour, and afterward imprisoning him: and so to the number of fourescore of them, departed with a barke and a pinnesse, spoiling their store of victuall, and taking away a great part thereof with them, and so went to the Islands of Hispaniola and Jamaica a roving, where they spoiled and pilled the Spanyards; and having taken two caravels [III. 518.] laden with wine and casavi, which is a bread made of roots, and much other victuals and treasure, had not the grace to depart therewith, but were of such haughty stomacks, that they thought their force to be such that no man durst meddle with them, and so kept harborow in Jamaica, going dayly ashore at their pleasure. But God which would not suffer such evill doers unpunished, did indurate their hearts in such sort, that they lingered the time so long, that a ship and galliasse being made out of Santa Domingo came thither into the harborow, and tooke twenty of them, whereof the most part were hanged, and the rest caried into Spaine, and some (to the number of five and twenty) escaped in the pinnesse, and came to Florida; where at their landing they were

1565.

The occasion

of the falling Floridians.

out with the

put in prison, and incontinent foure of the chiefest being condemned, at the request of the souldiers, did passe the harquebuzers, and then were hanged upon a gibbet. This lacke of threescore men was a great discourage and weakening to the rest, for they were the best souldiers that they had: for they had now made the inhabitants weary of them by their dayly craving of maiz, having no wares left to content them withall, and therefore were inforced to rob them, and to take away their victual perforce, which was the occasion that the Floridians (not well contented therewith) did take certeine of their company in the woods, and slew them; wherby there grew great warres betwixt them and the Frenchmen: and therefore they being but a few in number durst not venture abroad, but at such times as they were inforced thereunto for want of food to do the same and going twenty harquebuzers in a company, were set upon by eighteene kings, having seven or eight hundred men, which with one of their bowes slew one of their men, and hurt a dozen, & drove them all downe to their boats; whose pollicy in fight was to be marvelled at: for having shot at divers of their bodies which were armed, and perceiving that their arrowes did not prevaile against the same, they shot at their faces and legs, which were the places that the Frenchmen were hurt in. Thus the Frenchmen returned, being in ill case by the hurt of their men, having not above forty souldiers left unhurt, whereby they might ill make any more invasions upon the Floridians, and keepe their fort withall: which they must have beene driven unto, had not God sent us thither for their succour; for they had not above ten dayes victuall left before we came. In which perplexity our captaine seeing them, spared them out of his ship twenty barrels The French of meale, & foure pipes of beanes, with divers other greatly revictuals and necessaries which he might conveniently Hawkins. lieved by M. spare and to helpe them the better homewards, whither they were bound before our comming, at their request

1565.

Twentie

hogsheads of wine made in Florida, like to the wine of

Orleans.

Labourers

necessary to inhabit new countreys.

we spared them one of our barks of fifty tun. Notwithstanding the great want that the Frenchmen had, the ground doth yeeld victuals sufficient, if they would have taken paines to get the same; but they being souldiers, desired to live by the sweat of other mens browes : for while they had peace with the Floridians, they had fish sufficient, by weares which they made to catch the same but when they grew to warres, the Floridians tooke away the same againe, and then would not the Frenchmen take the paines to make any more. The ground yeeldeth naturally grapes in great store, for in the time that the Frenchmen were there, they made 20 hogsheads of wine. Also it yeeldeth roots passing good, Deere marvellous store, with divers other beasts, and fowle, serviceable to the use of man. These be things wherewith a man may live, having corne or maiz wherewith to make bread: for maiz maketh good savory bread, and cakes as fine as flowre. Also it maketh good meale, beaten and sodden with water, and eateth like pap wherewith we feed children. It maketh also good beverage, sodden in water, and nourishable; which the Frenchmen did use to drinke of in the morning, and it assuageth their thirst, so that they had no need to drinke all the day after. And this maiz was the greatest lacke they had, because they had no labourers to sowe the same, and therfore to them that should inhabit the land it were requisit to have labourers to till and sowe the ground: for they having victuals of their owne, whereby they neither rob nor spoile the inhabitants, may live not onely quietly with them, who naturally are more desirous of peace then of warres, but also shall have abundance of victuals profered them for nothing: for it is with them as it is with one of us, when we see another man ever taking away from us, although we have enough besides, yet then we thinke all too little for our selves: for surely we have heard the Frenchmen report, and I know it by the Indians, that a very little contenteth them: for the Indians with the head of maiz rosted, will travell a whole