lphins,
being the present harbor of St. Augustine, and so named by them in
consequence of the great number of dolphins (porpoises) seen by them at
its mouth. They afterward coasted to the north, and entered the river
St. John's, called by them the river May.

Upon an examination of this river Laudonniere concluded to establish his
colony on its banks, and, proceeding about two leagues above its mouth,
built a fort upon a pleasant hill of "mean height," which, in honor of
his sovereign, he named Fort Caroline. The colonists, after a few
months, were reduced to great distress, and were about taking measures
to abandon the country a second time, when Ribault arrived with
reenforcements.

It is supposed that intelligence of these expeditions was communicated
by the enemies of Coligny to the court of Spain. Jealousy of the
aggrandizement of the French in the New World, mortification for their
own unsuccessful efforts in that quarter, and a still stronger motive of
hatred to the faith of the Huguenot, induced the bigoted Philip II of
Spain to despatch Pedro Menendez de Aviles, a brave, bigoted, and
remorseless soldier, to drive out the French colony, and take possession
of the country for himself. The compact made between the King and
Menendez was, that he should furnish one galleon completely equipped,
and provisions for a force of six hundred men; that he should conquer
and settle the country.

He obligated himself to carry one hundred horses, two hundred horned
cattle, four hundred hogs, four hundred sheep and some goats, and five
hundred slaves--for which he had a permission free of duties--the third
part of which should be men, for his own service and that of those who
went with him, to aid in cultivating the land and in building; that he
should take twelve priests, and four fathers of the Jesuit order. He was
to build two or three towns of one hundred families, and in each town
should build a fort according to the nature of the country. He was to
have the title of _Adelantado_ of the country, as also to be entitled a
marquis (and his heirs after him), to have a tract of land, receive a
salary of two thousand ducats, a percentage of the royal duties, and
have the freedom of all the other ports of New Spain.

His force consisted, at starting, of eleven sail of vessels, with two
thousand six hundred men; but, owing to storms and accidents, not more
than one-half arrived. He came upon the coast on August 28, 1565,
shor