[
61]
For
France had begun to settle the region with a
colony of Protestants; and Calvinism, which, with the special cooperation of Calvin himself, had, for a short season, occupied the coasts of
Brazil and the harbor of
Rio Janeiro,
1 was now to be planted on the borders of
Florida.
Coligny had long desired to establish a refuge for the Huguenots, and a Protestant French empire, in
America.
Disappointed in his first effort, by the apostasy and faithlessness of his agent, Villegagnon, he still persevered; moved alike by religious zeal, and by a passion for the honor of
France.
The expedition which he now planned was intrusted to the
command of
John Ribault of
Dieppe, a brave man, of maritime experience, and a firm Protestant, and was attended by some of the best of the young French nobility, as well as by veteran troops.
The feeble Charles IX.
conceded an ample commission, and the
squadron set sail for the shores of
North America.
Desiring to establish their plantation in a genial clime, land was first made in the latitude of
St. Augustine; the fine river which we call the
St. Johns,
2 was discovered, and named the
River of May.
It is the St.
Matheo
3 of the Spaniards.
The forests of mulberries were admired, and caterpillars readily mistaken for silkworms.
The cape received a French name; as the ships sailed along the coast, the numerous streams were called after the rivers of
France; and
America, for a while, had its Seine, its
Loire, and its Garonne.
In searching for the
Jordan or
Combahee, they came upon
Port Royal entrance,
4 which seemed the outlet
