at the time, when, at the commencement of the sixteenth century, the Spaniards penetrated into the country with the object of conquering it. As they advanced in age the Floridians continued to perfect themselves still further, shooting with a surprising strength. In one encounter, a very strong horse having been killed during the night by an arrow, the Spaniards had the curiosity to investigate in the morning the manner in which it had been struck. found that the arrow had entered by the breast, had pierced the heart, and was stopped by the bowels. On another occasion one of the officers of the Spanish army was struck by an arrow on the right side, and it would have "done för" him had it not turned aside, for it cut through his buff jacket and coat of mail.

They

The sight of this perfectly-tempered suit of mail, which had cost 150 ducats, completely pierced by an arrow, gave the Spanish major much to reflect upon. He began from that day to be less confident of the use of his jackets of iron and steel. In order to know still better upon what to depend, the officers released one of their prisoners, placed in his hand a bow and arrow, and ordered him to shoot at the strongest coat of mail they had, which they set up at the distance of 150 paces, and which was covered thickly with reeds. The Indian, in order to shoot with more force, stretched and shook his arms, and pulled his fingers. The arrow was delivered with such power that it pierced the reeds and the armour, and would certainly have killed any one that might have been inside the mail. They doubled the covering of reeds, and the archer again shot and pierced the three substances; but as the arrow did not go deep, he claimed another trial, saying that he was willing to lose his life if he did not shoot with as much effect as on the first

occasion. The Spaniards, however, now knew all they wished to know, and did not allow him another chance to show his skill. So disgusted were they with the result, that afterwards they spoke of their armour in terms of reproach, as "Holland sheeting.". They had to protect themselves as well as they could, but this was not all, they must protect their horses, which were of great service, and could not be replaced in Florida, where the horse was then unknown. They therefore manufactured coats of a coarse kind of cloth, four fingers thick, with which they covered the breast and croup of their animals, and which protected them from the terrible flights of shafts discharged by the natives.

This ingenious precaution had not yet been adopted, when one day, as the Spaniards were crossing a river, an Indian, concealed behind the brushwood, shot one of the officers. The arrow pierced the coat of mail, passed through the right thigh, broke the croup of the saddle, and penetrated into the side of the horse, which, maddened by its wound, leapt out of the water, and, bounding across the plain, endeavoured to shake itself free of the weapon and of its rider. Some soldiers ran to his assistance, and soon perceived that the man was, so to speak, riveted to the horse by the arrow, so terrible had been its force. The new centaur was conducted to head-quarters, and his companions, lifting him gently, cut the arrow between the thigh and the saddle. The missile was only a piece of reed pointed with a bit of cane, so at least says Garcilaso di Vega; and the Spaniards asked with astonishment how so light a shaft could have pierced so many obstacles.

A long time after this period of the Spanish invasion the skill of the Indians of Florida was still famous, and not without reason. They met, sometimes ten in number, each

furnished with a bow and quiver full of arrows, and forming a circle, in the midst of which one threw up an ear of maize, made it the common target. The evidence of their ability was their having peeled the ear of all the grains with their arrows before it again reached the ground. One sometimes saw the ear suspended in the air for a considerable time, maintained, as it were, aloft by the arrows which pierced it, and of which the last fell with the last grain.

CHAPTER VII.

、 WILLIAM TELL AND THE LEGEND OF THE APPLE.

The Cross-bow-Story of William Tell—Silence of the Historians of the Time-The Bailiff Gessler a Myth-Voltaire's mot―The Story of the Apple called in question by a Swiss-Pamphlet burned by the Hangman-Hart, the Tradition of Danish origin—Palnatoke accomplishes Tell's Feat in the Sixteenth Century—Narrative of the Scandinavian Historian-Critical Examination of the Legend -A Curious Dictum-Did Tell ever exist?—Cloudesley also Shoots at the Head of his Child-Two Cross-Bow Shots.

THE Cross-bow as well as the long-bow has had its day of glory and of triumph. The reader will at once recall the name of William Tell. Although his adventure is now classical and known to all, it is necessary to revert to it for a moment, as well as to the history of him who is the hero of it.

Tell was a poor peasant who was born at Bürglen in Uri, and lived at Altorf, at the end of the thirteenth and beginning of the fourteenth centuries. Like others of his fellow citizens, he declined to bow to the despotic authority of a certain Austrian bailiff named Gessler. The latter had caused a pole to be stuck up in the market place in the middle of the public square of Altorf, and had his hat placed upon it. To this ridiculous symbol of power he demanded that all should bow. Tell having refused his homage, was condemned by Gessler to the cruel alternative of having to shoot at and strike an apple placed upon his child's head, or of suffering death

in the event of his skill in archery being unequal to the feat. Tell was so fortunate as to be successful, but he was nevertheless detained by Gessler, who was determined to carry him a prisoner to his castle of Küssnach, on the Lake of the Four *Cantons. During the voyage thither such a tempest arose, that the bailiff in terror undid the bonds of his captive, who now took the helm and steered the bark to the shore. But as soon as he had reached it, Tell threw himself from the boat, and, pushing it out again into the lake, took to flight. He lay in ambush in a road through which Gessler had to pass on his way to Küssnach, and there killed the bailiff with a bolt from his famed cross-bow. Such is the history of the famous Swiss hero. It is said that he took part in the revolution begun in 1307 by Werner Stauffacher, (Schwytz), Walter Fürst (Uri), and Arnold Melchthal (Unterwalden), for the delivery of the Swiss cantons from the Austrian yoke. It is believed also that he fought at Morgarten, the battle which in 1315 consolidated the independence of the country, and that he perished in 1354 in an inundation at Bürglen.

The Swiss recognise and honour Tell as their principal hero, and to glorify his actions and perpetuate his memory fêtes have been instituted, medals struck, and monuments consecrated. Who that has travelled in Switzerland has not marked the veneration of the people for the memory of William Tell? Who has not seen the famous chapel bearing his name, and the bank on which he sprang from Gessler's bark, and which is to this day named "Tell's Leap?" Here is the fountain where the father stood and shot his arrow; the tower there stands where once grew the linden tree under which the brave child was placed by order of Gessler. But are these monuments authentic ?—