CHAPTER III.
The Paracoussi, on parting with Laudonniere, renewed his assurances ofgood will, and repeated the promises which had been given to ensurehis deliverance from captivity. The engagement required that a certainnumber of days should be allowed him, in which to gather supplies insufficient quantity to discharge his ransom. Laudonniere left hislieutenants, Ottigny and D'Erlach, with the two hostages, in one of thebarks, to receive the provisions which Utina was to furnish, while hehimself returned to La Caroline. The lieutenants moored their vesselwithin a little creek which emptied into the May, and adopted allnecessary precautions against savage artifice. The vigilance of AlphonseD'Erlach, in particular, was sleepless. He knew, more certainly than hissuperior, the necessities and dangers of the French, and the subtlety ofthe Indians. By day and night they lurked in the contiguous thickets,watchful of every opportunity for assault. An arquebuse presented inwantonness against the ledge which skirted the river, would frequentlyexpel a group of shrieking warriors, well armed and covered with the warpaint; and, with the dawn of morning, the first thing to salute the eyesof our Frenchmen would be long strings of arrows, planted in the earth,their barbs of flint turned upwards, from which long hairs shreds fromheads which had been shorn for war, were to be seen waving in the wind.These were signs, too well understood by previous experience, of athreatened and sleepless hostility.
It was soon found that the Paracoussi either could not or would notcomply with his engagements. He sent a small supply of grain to thelieutenant, but said that more could not be provided except by asurrender of the hostages. The Frenchmen were required to bring thecaptives to the village, when and where they should be furnished withthe full amount of the promised ransom. Satisfied that all this was merepretence, indicating purposes of treachery, the Frenchmen were yet toomuch straitened by want to forego any enterprise which promised themprovisions. They, accordingly, set forth for the place appointed, intwo separate bodies, marching so that they might support each otherpromptly, under the several leads of D'Erlach and Ottigny. The formerheld the advance. The village of Utina was six French leagues fromthe river where they left their barque, and the route which they werecompelled to pursue was such as exposed them frequently to the perilsof ambuscade. But so vigilant was their watch, so ready were they withmatches lighted, and so close was the custody in which they kept theirhostages, that the Indians, whom they beheld constantly flitting throughthe thickets, dared never make any attempt upon them. They reached thevillage in safety, and immediately proceeded to the dwelling-house ofOlata Utina, raised, as before described, upon an artificial eminence.Here they found assembled all the chiefs of the nation; but theParacoussi was not among them. He kept aloof, and was not to be seen atpresent by the Frenchmen. His chiefs received their visitors with smilesand great professions; but, as their own proverb recites, when the enemysmiles your scalp is in danger. They pointed to great sacks of mil andbeans which had already been accumulated, and still they showed theFrenchmen where hourly came other of their subjects adding still moreto the pile.
"But wherefore," they demanded, "wherefore come our white brethren, withthe fire burning in their harquebuses? See they not that it causes ourwomen to be afraid, and our children to tremble in their terror. Let ourbrethren put out this fire, which makes them dread to come nigh withtheir peace-offerings, and know us for a friend, under whose tonguethere is no serpent."
To this D'Erlach replied--"Our red brothers do themselves wrong. Theydo not fear the fire in our harquebuses. They know not its danger. TheFrenchmen have always forborne to show them the power that might makethem afraid. But this power is employed only against our enemies.Let the chiefs of the people of the Paracoussi Utina show themselvesfriends, and the thunder which we carry shall only send its fearfulbolts among the foes of Utina, the people of Potanou, and the warriorsof the great mountain of Apalatchy."
"If we are thus friends of the Frenchmen, why do they keep our belovedmen in bondage? Are these the ornaments proper to a warrior and a greatchief among his people?"
They pointed as they spoke to the fetters which embraced the legs andarms of the hostages, who sat in one corner of the council-house.
"Our red brothers have but to speak, and these chains fall from thelimbs of their well beloved chiefs."
"Heh!--We speak!--Let them fall!"
"Speak to your people that these piles be complete," pointing to thegrain.
"They have heard. See you not they come?"
"But very slowly;--and hearken to us now, brothers of the red-men, whilewe ask,--do the skies that pavilion the territories of the ParacoussiUtina rain down such things as these."
Here D'Erlach showed them a bunch of the arrows which they had foundplanted by the wayside as they came. The thin lips of the savages partedinto slight smiles as they beheld them.
"These grow not by nature," continued D'Erlach; "they fall not fromheaven in the heavy showers. They are sown by the red-men along the pathwhich the white man travels. What is the fruit which is to grow fromsuch seed as this?"
The chiefs were silent. The youth proceeded:
"Brothers, we are calm;--we are not angry, though we well know whatthese arrows mean. We are patient, for we know our own strength. TheParacoussi has promised us supplies of grain, and hither we have come.Four days shall we remain in waiting for it. Till that time, thesewell-beloved men shall remain in our keeping. When we receive thesupplies which have been promised us, they shall be yours. We havespoken."
Thus ended the first conference. That night the French lieutenants foundtheir way to the presence of the Paracoussi. He was kept concealed in asmall wigwam, deeply embowered in the woods, but in near and convenientneighborhood to the village. He himself had sent for them, and one ofhis sons had shown the way. They found the old monarch still maintainingthe state of a prince, but he was evidently humbled. His captivity hadlessened his authority; and his anxiety to comply with the engagementsmade with the French had in some degree impaired his influence overhis people. They had resolved to destroy the pale-faces, as insolentinvaders of their territory, consumers of its substance and enemiesof its peace. It was this hostility and this determination that hadinterposed all the obstacles in the way of procuring the suppliespromised.
"They resist me, their Paracoussi," said Utina bitterly, "and haveresolved on fighting with you! They will wage war against you to thelast. See you not the planted arrows that marked your pathway to myvillage? These arrows are planted from the territories of Utina, byevery pathway, to the very gates of La Caroline. They will meet youreyes wherever you shall return to the fortress. They mean nothing lessthan war, and such warfare as admits of no peace. Go you, therefore, goyou with all speed to your vessels, and make what haste you can to thegarrison. The woods swarm with my warriors, and they no longer heedmy voice. They will hunt you to your vessel. They mean to throw treesathwart the creek so that her escape may be cut off, while they doyou to death with their arrows, and I cannot be there to say to mypeople--'stay your shafts, these be our friends and allies.' They nolonger hearken to my voice. I am a Paracoussi without subjects, a rulerwithout obedience,--a shadow, where I only used to be the substance."
The despondency of the king was without hypocrisy. It sensibly impressedour Frenchmen. They felt that he spoke the truth. He was then, in fact,excluded from the house of council, as incurring the suspicion of thered-men as fatally friendly to the whites. While they still conversed,they were alarmed by violent shrieks, as of one in mortal terror.
"That scream issues from a French throat!" exclaimed D'Erlach, as herushed forth. He was followed by Lieutenant Ottigny and another.The Paracoussi never left his seat. The screams guided them into aneighboring thicket, into which they hurried, arriving there not amoment too soon. A Frenchman struggled in the grasp of five stalwartsavages, who had him down and were preparing to cut his throat. He hadbeen beguiled from the place which had been assigned him as a watch, andwas about to pay the penalty of his folly with his life. In an instantth
e gallant Alphonse D'Erlach had sprung among them, his sword passingclear through the back of the most prominent in the group of assailants.His body, falling upon that of the captive, prevented the blows whichthe rest were showering upon him. They started in sudden terror at thisinterruption. Their own and the clamors of the Frenchman had kept themfrom all knowledge of the approaching rescue. In an instant they weregone. They waited for no second stroke from a weapon whose first addresswas so sharp and sudden. They left their captive, bruised and groaning,but without serious injury to life or limb.
The warnings and assurances of the Paracoussi were sufficiently enforcedby this instance of the hostility of the red-men. But the necessity ofsecuring all the supplies they might possibly procure from the natives,either through their own artifices or because of the apprehension fortheir chiefs, caused our Frenchmen to linger at the village of Utina.They were determined to wait the full period of four days which they hadassigned themselves. In this period they saw the Paracoussi more thanonce. At each interview his admonitions were delivered with increasedsolemnity. They found his chiefs less and less accommodating at everyinterview. The piles of grain at the council-house increased slowly.Occasionally an Indian might be seen to enter and cast the contents ofhis little basket among the rest. The Frenchmen endeavored to persuadethe chiefs to furnish men to carry the grain to their vessel, but thiswas flatly denied. Resolved, finally, to depart, each soldier wasrequired to load himself with a sack as well filled as it was consistentwith his strength to bear. This was slung across his shoulder, and, inthis way, burdened with food for other mouths as well as their own, andcarrying their matchlocks besides, the Frenchmen prepared to depart, onthe morning of the 27th July, 1565, from the village of Utina to thebark which they had left. It was a memorable day for our adventurers.In groups, scornfully smiling as they beheld the soldiers staggeringbeneath their burdens, the chiefs assembled to see them depart from thevillage. Alphonse D'Erlach beheld the malignant triumph which sparkledin their eyes.
"We shall not be suffered to reach the bark in quiet;" was his remark toOttigny. "Let me have the advance, Monsieur, if you please; I have dealtwith the dogs before."
To this Ottigny consented; and leading one of the divisions of thedetachment, as at coming, D'Erlach prepared to take the initiate in aprogress, every part of which was destined to be marked with strife.The immediate entrance to the village of the Paracoussi, the only path,indeed, by which our Frenchmen could emerge, lay, for nearly half amile, through a noble avenue, the sides of which were densely occupiedby a most ample and umbrageous forest. The trees were at once great andlofty, and the space beneath was closed up with a luxuriant undergrowthwhich spread away like a wall of green on either hand. D'Erlachremembered this entrance.
"Here," said he to Ottigny, "Here, at the very opening of the path,our trouble is likely to begin. Let your men be prepared with matcheslighted, and see that your fire is delivered only in squads, so that, atno time, shall all of your pieces be entirely empty."
Ottigny prepared to follow this counsel. His men were all apprised ofwhat they had to expect; and were told, at the first sign of danger,to cast down their corn bags, and betake themselves to their weaponswholly. The grain might be lost--probably would be--but better this,than, in a vain endeavor to preserve it, lose life and grain together.Thus prepared, D'Erlach began the march. He was followed, at a shortinterval, by Ottigny, with the rest of the detachment; a small force ofeight arquebusiers excepted, who, under charge of a sergeant, were sentto the left of the thicket which bounded the avenue on one hand, withinstructions to scour the woods in that quarter, yet without passingbeyond reach of help from the main body.
All fell out as had been anticipated. D'Erlach was encountered as heemerged from the avenue, by a force of three hundred Indians. Theypoured in a cloud of arrows, but fortunately at such a distance as todo little mischief. With the first assault the Frenchmen dispossessedthemselves of their burdens, and prepared themselves for fight. Thesavages came on more boldly, throwing in fresh flights of arrows asthey pushed forward, and rending the forests with their cries. D'Erlachpreserved all his steadiness and coolness. He saw that the arrows wereyet comparatively ineffectual.
"Do not answer them yet, my good fellows," he cried, "but stoop ye,every man, and break the arrows, as many as ye can, that fall about ye."
He had seen that the savages, having delivered a few fires, were wontto rush forward and gather up the spent shafts, which, thus recovered,afforded them an inexhaustible armory, upon which it is their custom torely. When his assailants beheld how his men were engaged, they rushedforward with loud shouts of fury, and delivering another storm of darts,they made demonstrations of a desire for close conflict, with theirstone hatchets and macanas. At this show, D'Erlach spoke to his men insubdued accents.
"Make ye still as if ye would stoop for the fallen arrows, ye of thefirst rank; but blow ye your matches even as ye do so, and falling uponyour knees deliver then your fire; while the second rank will cover youas ye do so, and while ye charge anew your pieces."
The command was obeyed with coolness; and, as the Indians dartedforward, coming in close packed squadrons into the gorge of the avenue,the soldiers delivered their fire with great precision. Dreadful wasthe howl which followed it, for more than thirteen of the savages hadfallen, mortally hurt, and two of their chief warriors had been made tobite the dust. Seizing the bodies of their slain and wounded comrades,the survivors immediately hurried into cover, and D'Erlach at oncepushed forward with his command. But he had not advanced more than fourhundred paces, when the assault was renewed, the air suddenly beingdarkened with the flight of bearded shafts, while the forest rang withthe yells of savage fury. They were still too far for serious mischief,and were besides covered with the woods; so, giving the assailantslittle heed, except to observe that they came not too nigh, or toosuddenly upon him, D'Erlach continued to push forward, doing as he haddone before with the hostile arrows whenever they lay in the pathway.But the courage of the red-men increased as they warmed in the struggle,and they grew bolder because of the very forbearance of the Frenchmen.Besides, their forces had been increased by other bodies, eachapproaching in turn to the assault, so as to keep their enemiesconstantly busy. In parties of two or three hundred, they darted fromtheir several ambushes, and having discharged their arrows, and met withrepulse, retired rapidly to other favorite places of concealment torenew the conflict as it continued to advance. By this time, the wholebody of the Frenchmen had become engaged in the fight. The force underOttigny, following the example of that led by D'Erlach, had succeeded inpressing forward, though not without loss, while making great havoc withthe red-men. These people fought, never men more bravely; and, but forthe happy thought, that of destroying their arrows as fast as they fell,it is probable that the detachment had never reached La Caroline. Theyhovered thus about the march of the Frenchmen all the day, encouragingeach other with shouts of vengeance and delight, and sending shaft uponshaft, with an aim, which, had they not been too greatly sensible ofthe danger of the arquebuse, to come sufficiently nigh, would have beenalways fatal. Yet well did the savage succeed, so long as they remainedunintoxicated by their rage, in dodging the aim of the weapon. AsLaudonniere writes--"All the while they had their eye and foot soquicke and readie, that as soone as ever they saw the harquebuse raisedto the cheeke, so soon were they on the ground, and eftsoone to answerwith their bowes, and to flie their way, if by chance they perceivedthat we were about to take them."
This conflict lasted from nine o'clock in the morning until night. Itonly ceased when the darkness separated the combatants. Even then,but for the deficiency of their arrows, they probably would not havewithdrawn from the field. It was late in the night when the Frenchmenreached their boats, weary and exhausted, their grain wrested from them,their hostages rescued, and twenty-four of their number killed andwounded. The Floridians had shown themselves warriors of equal spiritand capacity. The determined exclusion of their Paracoussi from counselswhic
h it was feared that he would dishonor, their manly resistance tothe white invaders, their scornful ridicule of their necessities, theirproud defiance of their power, and the fierce and unrelenting hostilitywith which they had chased their adversaries, remind us irresistibly ofthe degradation of Montezuma by his subjects, their prolonged warfarewith the Spaniards, their sleepless hostility, and that bloody strugglewhich first drove them over the causeways of Tenochtitlan. The inferiorstate and wealth of the Paracoussi, Olata Ouvae Utina, constitutes nosuch sufficient element of difference, as to lessen the force of theparallel between himself and people, and those of the Atzec sovereign.