CHAPTER X.

SWIMMERS OF AMERICA AND OCEANIA.

A Fight in the Water, an Episode in the History of Florida - The Sports of the Tahitians in the time of Cook.

No nation could boast of having had more indefatigable and courageous swimmers than the Indians of the southern portions of America at the time of the discovery of that vast continent by the Europeans. Among these natives, it is to the inhabitants of Florida, at present one of the most fertile states of the Union, that the palm ought to be awarded. The Floridians were accustomed to fish far out at sea, and after maintaining themselves in the water by swimming only, they brought back the spoil with them when the burden was not too heavy. The women were equally clever in the practice of the art, and could swim across the widest rivers, carrying their infants on their backs, in the same way as, with the lightness of the squirrel, they could climb to the tops of the highest trees.

Florida was discovered by Sebastian Cabot in 1496, but he only beheld the country, without setting foot on it. Jean Ponce de Leon was the first who landed upon this fertile soil, in March, 1512 or 1513, and as the date was Palm Sunday the Sabbath of Branches-he gave it the appropriate name of Florida. After him several Spaniards tried to penetrate into this new region, but without success. It was at this time that a bold adventurer, Ferdinand de Soto, appeared before the Emperor Charles V. at Valladolid, and

offered to conquer Florida for the benefit of the Spanish monarch, and received permission. Born at Villa-Nueva de Barca-Rotta, of noble parents, this bold and ambitious man had been, in the year 1533, one of the twelve conquerors of Peru, and had returned with great riches, not including the magnificent present he had received from the Inca Atahualpa, so treacherously treated by the Spaniards. All the others of the band, satisfied with their lot, lived peaceably in Spain upon the treasures they had plundered from the unhappy Peruvians; but Ferdinand de Soto was possessed by the demon of adventure and change, and was tormented by the recollection that he had not conquered even the smallest kingdom for himself, while Hernando Cortez had won Mexico, and Pizzaro and Almagro had made themselves masters of Peru. Why should not he in his turn carve out for himself some country in America? Why should he not win for himself the title Conquestador, or, rather, butcher of the Indians? Had he not as much bravery and as few scruples as the other adventurers? It was with these ideas that he turned his eyes upon Florida, the right of which Charles gave to him—the right that belonged neither to the one nor the other.

The Spanish captain first landed in Florida in the year 1539, and there committed excesses similar to those that had marked the progress of his compatriots in other parts of the continent. The Indians in despair hanged themselves rather than fall into the hands of the foreigners and become their slaves. It is related that one day a Spanish officer, rope in hand, arrived at the place where a number of Indians had gathered for the purpose of committing suicide, and threatened that if they persisted he would hang himself along with them. The Indians, terrified, dispersed without

attempting to carry out their design, preferring life, however painful it might be, to the torture of finding themselves in another world in company with one of their tyrants. What a suggestive proof of the aversion—of the hatred and horror of the Spaniards entertained by those tribes! Nevertheless, all the Indians did not, like those of whom we have spoken, give way to despair and suicide, but defended themselves with resolution and bravery, as the historian of their country, Garcilasso di Vega, informs us.

Ferdinand de Soto had entered one of the provinces of the country, then called Vitachuco, the cacique or governor of which detested the Spaniards and their cruel practices. He attempted to draw them into an ambush, but the foreigners, made aware of his design, kept themselves on their guard. The cacique, who, according to custom, bore the same name as the province and its capital, Vitachuco, had assembled on an extensive plain outside the city about 10,000 of his subjects, all picked and active men, with their feathers so arranged on their heads as to make them look almost giants. On a signal agreed upon, the Floridians were to have fallen upon the Spaniards, who numbered not more than 300 men. Instead, however, of waiting, and allowing themselves to be surprised, the clever invaders reversed the plan, and commencing the attack, and falling upon their enemy, the chief, who was unprepared, was surrounded, and unable to offer any resistance. The plain on which the Floridians were marshalled was bounded on one side by a forest, on the other by two marshes, or rather a marsh and a lake. The Indians fought well, but they were not able to bear long the assaults of the Spanish cavalry. Some sought refuge in the darkness of the forest, others in the muddy waters of the marsh, sure that none could pursue