The Lily and the Totem; or, The Huguenots in Florida

by William Gilmore Simms

  CHAPTER III.

  MELENDEZ AT SELOOE.

  But the enthusiasm excited by the dispersion of Ribault's vessels, andthe escape of their own, was of short-lived duration among the Spaniardsat Selooe. Human nature may obey a grateful impulse, and, while itlasts, will be insensible to common dangers and common necessities; butthe enthusiasm which excites and strengthens for a season, is one alsowhich finally exhausts; and when the enervation which succeeds to ahigh-strung exultation, is followed by great physical trials, and thecontinued pressure of untoward events, the creature nature is quite tooapt to triumph over that nobler spirit whose very intensity is fatal toits length of life. The sign of providential favor which they had beheldwrought visibly in their behalf, the inspiriting language of their sternand solemn leader, the offices of religion, meant to evoke the presenceof the Deity, and to secure, by appropriate rites, his fartherprotection, of which they had recently witnessed so wonderful amanifestation; these wore away in their effects upon our Spaniards, andin the toils and sufferings which they were subsequently to endure.

  Perhaps nothing more greatly depresses the ordinary nature than an abodein strange and savage regions during a prevalence of cheerless,unfriendly weather. The soul recoils as it were upon itself, under theungenial pressure from without, and looking entirely within, findsnothing but wants which it is impossible to satisfy. Memory thenstudiously recals, as if for the purposes of torture and annoyance, theaspects of the beloved ones who are far from us in foreign lands. Thejoys which we have had with old and loving associates, the sweets ofdear homes, and the sounds of friendly voices, these are the treasureswhich she conjures up at such periods, in mournful contrast with presentprivations and all manner of denial. But if, in addition to these, weare conscious of accumulating dangers; if the storm and savage howlwithout; if hunger craves without being answered, and thirst raves forthe drop of moisture to cool its tongue, in vain, we must not wonder ifthe ordinary nature sinks under its sorrows and apprehension, and losesall the elastic courage which would prompt endeavor and conduct totriumph. The master mind alone, may find itself strong under thesecircumstances--the man of inexorable will, great faith, and afar-sighted appreciation of the future and its compensations. But itis the master mind only which bears up thus greatly. The common herdis made of very different materials, and in quite another mould.

  Don Pedro de Melendez was one of the few minds thus extraordinarilyendowed. His prudence, keeping due pace with his religious fanaticism,approved him a peculiar character; a man of rare energies, extraordinaryforesight and indomitable will. Resolute for the destruction of theheretics of La Caroline, he was yet one of that class of persons--howfew--who can forego the premature attempt to gratify a raging appetite,in recognition of those embarrassing circumstances, which if leftunregarded, would only operate for its defeat. He could wait the season,with all patience, when desire might be crowned with fruition. Yet washis thirst a raging one--a master passion--absorbing every other inhis soul. All that had taken place on land and sea, had been certainlyforeseen by him. Thus had he dispatched his ships seasonably toHispaniola, as well for their security, as to afford him succor. If hedoubted for the safety of those which remained to him, on the approachof Ribault, he was relieved of his doubts by his faith in theinterposition of the Deity, and went forth to the encounter, himselfheading the forlorn hope, as it were, without any misgivings of theresult. He _knew_ that the Deity would, in some manner, make himselfmanifest in succor for the true believer, even then engaged in themaintenance of His cause. He had foreseen the threatening aspects of theheavens, the wild tumults of the sea, the sullen and angry caprices ofthe winds. He _felt_ that storm and terror were in prospect, and thatthey were meant as his defences against his enemy! But this did notprevent him from adopting all proper human precautions. He did notperil his prows beyond the shoals which environed the entrance to hisharborage. He did not trust them beyond the natural bars at the mouthof the Selooe, leaving them to the unrestrained fury of the demonwinds that sweep the blue waters of the gulf. Nor, assuming the barepossibility that the protection of the Deity might be withheld from thetrue believer, as much for the trial of his valor as his faith, in themoment of encounter with the heretic, was the Adelantado neglectful ofthe means for further struggle, should the assailants, successful withhis shipping, approach the shores of Selooe in the endeavor to destroyhis army. This he sought to protect by the best possible defences. Histroops were under arms in order for battle. Every possible advantage oftrench and picket was employed for giving them additional securities.His people had already taken possession of the Indian village, fromwhence the savages had been expelled; and their dwellings were convertedinto temporary fortresses, each garrisoned with its selected band. It iswonderful, how the veteran chieftain toiled, in the endeavor to securehis position. While he felt how little the Deity needed the strength ofman, in working out the purposes of destiny, he well knew how necessaryit was that man should show himself worthy, by his prudence andpreparations, of the intervention and the care of Deity.

  We have seen the issue of the unfortunate attempt of Ribault upon hisenemy; with the absence of immediate danger, the first tumults ofexultation on the part of the Spaniards, subsided into a sullen andhumiliating repose. As night came on, they momently began to feel theincreasing annoyances of their situation. That they were in temporarysecurity from the heretic French, left them free to consider, and tofeel, the insecurity and the unfriendly solitude of their situation. Thefrail palm covered huts of the Floridian savages, on the banks of theirnow raging river, with the tempest roaring among the affrighted foresttrees, afforded but a sorry shelter to their numerous hosts. Darknessand thick night closed in upon them in their dreary and comfortlessabodes, and their hearts sunk appalled beneath the terrific bursts ofthunder that seemed to rock the very earth upon which they stood. Theywere not the tried veterans of Spain. Many among them wore weapons forthe first time, and all were totally inexperienced in that foreignhemisphere, in which the elements wore aspects of terror which had neverbefore entered their imaginations. Their officers were mostly able menand good soldiers, but even these had enjoyed but small experience inthe new world. The levies of Melendez had been hurriedly made, with theview to anticipate the progress of Ribault. They were not such as thatiron-hearted leader would have chosen for the terrible warfare whichhe had in view. Chilled by the ungenial atmosphere, confounded withtorrents such as they had never before beheld, and which seemed tothreaten the return of the deluge, they exaggerated the evils of theirsituation and feared the worst. They were not ill-advised upon thesubject of their own strength and resources, and whatever they mighthope in respect to the probable ill-fortunes of Ribault and his fleet,they knew him to be an experienced soldier, and that his armament wassuperior, while his numbers were quite equal to their own. They now knewthat they were the objects of his search and hate, as he had been oftheirs, and they still looked with dread to his reappearance, suddenly,and the coming of a conflict which should add new terrors to the storm.They could not conceive the extent of the securities which they enjoyed,and fancied that with a far better acquaintance with the country thanthey possessed, he would reappear among them at the moment when leastexpected, and that they should perish beneath the fury of his fierceassault.

  While thus they brooded over their situation, officers and men coweringin the frail habitations of the Indians, through which the rushingtorrents descended without impediment, extinguishing their fires, andleaving them with no light but that fitful one, the fierce flashes fromthe clouds, which threatened them with destruction while illuminatingthe pale faces of each weary watcher;--Pedro Melendez, strengthened byhigher if not a holier support, disdained the miserable shelter ofthe hovels where they crouched together. He trod the shore and forestpathways without sign of fear or shows of disquiet or annoyance. Hesmiled at the sufferings which he yet strove to alleviate. He opened hisstores for the relief of his people, yet partook of none himself. Hegave them food and wine of his own
, even while he smiled scornfully tosee them eat and drink. His solicitude equally provided against theirdangers and their fears. He placed the necessary guards against the one,and soothed or mocked the other. He alone appeared unmoved amidst thestorm, and might be seen with unhelmed head, passing from cot to cot,and from watch to watch, urging vigilance, providing relief, andencouraging the desponding with a voice of cheer. His eye took inwithout shrinking, all the aspects of the storm. He gazed with upliftedspirit as the wild red flashes cleft the great black clouds whichenveloped the forests in a shroud. "Ay!" he exclaimed, "verily, O Lord!thou hast taken this work into thine own hands!" And thus he went to andfro, without complaint, or suffering, or fatigue, till his lieutenantswith shame beheld the example of the veteran whom they had not soul orstrength to emulate. His deportment was no less a marvel than a reproachto his people. They could not account for that seemingly unseasonabledelight which was apparent in his face, in the exulting tones of hisvoice, and the eager impulse of his action. That a glow-like inspirationshould lighten up his features, and give richness and power to hisvoice, while they cowered from the storm and darkness in fear andtrembling, seemed to them indications rather of madness than of wisdom.But in truth, it was inspiration. Melendez had been visited by oneof those sudden flashes of thought which open the pathway to a greatperformance. A brave design filled his soul; a sudden bright conception,to the proper utterance of which he hurried with a due delight. Hesummoned his chief leaders to consultation in the great council houseof the tribe of Selooe, a round fabric of mixed earth and logs, with afrail palm leaf thatch, fragments of which, the fierce efforts of thetempest momently tore away. The rain rushed through the rents of ruin,the wind shrieked through the numerous breaches in the walls, butMelendez stood in the midst, heedless of these annoyances, or onlyheedful of them so far as to esteem them services and blessings. He knewthe people with whom he had to deal, their fears, their weaknesses, anddiscontents, the base nature of many of their desires, and the utterincapacity of all to realize the intense enthusiasm which shone withinhis soul. He could scorn them, but he had to use them. He despised theirimbecility, but felt how necessary it was too temporize with theirmoods, and make them rather forgetful of their infirmities, than openlyto denounce and mock them. His eye was fastened upon certain of hischiefs in especial, whose weaknesses were more likely to endanger hisobjects than those of the rest, since these were associated with acertain degree of pretension arising from their occupance of place. Butthere is no one in more complete possession of the subtleties of thepolitician, than the fanatic of intense will. All his powers areconcentrated upon the single object, and he values this too highly toendanger it by any rashness. He can make allowances for the weaker amongthe brethren, so long as they have the power to yield service; he onlycuts them down ruthlessly, when, like the tree bringing forth no fruit,the question naturally occurs to the politician, "Why cumbereth it theground?" Melendez was prepared to act the politician amidst all hisfanaticism. For this reason, though his resolution was inexorably taken,he summoned his officers to a solemn deliberation--a council of war--todetermine upon what should be done in the circumstances in which theystood.