mer, the last greeting, as it were, of a departing friend. But these days over, I show a much graver face, night frosts begin, and it is not seldom, that I cover the ground with a white cloth. 21. I, December, introduce winter, and my general appearance is yet harsher than that of my preceding brother. But I also bring Christmas, the merriest feast of the Christian church, and for this merit people mostly do not mind if otherwise I sometimes deal a little hard with them. CXLI. FERDINAND DE SOTO. zeal, eagerness; Eifer. re-cep'-tion, welcome; Empfang. sov ́-er-eign, a monarch; Oberherr; Monarch. ir-re-press-i-ble, not capable of being repressed; ununterdrückbar. e-quip', to supply with all that is necessary; ausrüsten. gorgeous, showy; magnificent; prächtig; glänzend. dec'-i-mate, to take the tenth part of; to destroy any large portion ; zehnten; schwächen. haugh'-ty, proud; stolz. suc-ces'-sor, one who follows; Nachfolger. sol ́-i-tude, a lonely place; Einöde. 1. The discovery of America had produced great excitement throughout the states of Western Europe. In Spain especially there was a wonderful zeal and enthusiasm: the minds of men had grown wild, and the fever for gold and gems was burning in every Spanish vein. Expeditions were being continually fitted out, and the whole drift of enterprise and adventure was towards the setting sun, where it was believed the path to the fabled Eldorado,—the "land of gold," could be found. 2. Perhaps the most brilliant expedition was the one planned and led by Ferdinand De Soto. This great but unfortunate man had been one of the bravest of Pizarro's com panions in his expedition to Peru, and had just returned from that country, loaded with wealth. On his triumphant reception he easily persuaded his sovereign that, away in the heart of the northern continent in the New World, cities and kingdoms could be found as splendid as those of Mexico and Peru. All the favors he asked for were granted. At his own request, he was appointed governor of Cuba and Florida, with the privilege of exploring and conquering the latter country at his pleasure. 3. When his expedition was announced, it stirred an irrepressible enthusiasm. A large number of young men, the flower of Spanish nobility and chivalry, flocked to his standard. Men sold their estates and family jewels to equip themselves, and to join him. From this vast array, De Soto chose six hundred men, the most gallant and daring, all of them clothed in brilliant costumes, and glittering in polished armor and the trappings of chivalry. The day of sailing was as gay as a festival, and never, perhaps, a similar spectacle so gorgeous. 4. After a prosperous voyage, the fleet touched at Havana in the month of May, 1539. Leaving his wife to govern Cuba during his absence, De Soto sailed at once for his destination with a fleet of ten vessels, and in the early part of June, the ships cast anchor in Tampa Bay, in the present state of Florida. Under the midday sun glancing on the burnished armor and golden trappings, the gay and gorgeous six hundred disembarked and passed in review before their commander, ready to begin their march to those unknown empires in the far interior where the cities were said to flash with gems and the streets to be paved with gold. And as they turned back, they saw their returning fleet fading away over the waters, and they knew that they were either to return loaded with wealth and covered with honor, or leave their bones bleaching in the wilderness. 5. The expedition was supposed to be prepared for a grand conquest. They had with them three hundred blooded horses of Andalusia. They carried supplies of iron and steel, tools for the forge and workshop, chains for the captives, and bloodhounds trained for the work of hunting fugitives. They had abundant stores of provisions, with whole droves of swine to fatten on the mast of the country. 6. And now the march into the interior began. How the sounding of trumpets, the fluttering of pennons, the neighing of horses, the glittering of helmet and lance must have startled the ancient forest. But from the very beginning it was a toilṣome and dangerous enterprise. For months and months this band of cavaliers and priests continued their march in search of some great city whose wealth would enrich them all, but they found nothing better than some few wretched Indian villages. Deluded hither and thither, betrayed by captive guides, encountering swollen rivers and impenetrable swamps, some wasting by disease or falling by the deadly arrows of the Indians, they traversed large portions of Georgia, Alabama, and Mississippi ; but the land full of gold they did not find. 7. During the third year of their wanderings, the Spaniards, still deluded with the idea of gold, but decimated in numbers and broken in spirit, came to a magnificent stream. It was the largest river European eyes had ever seen. It was the majestic Father of Waters-the Mississippi. After some barges were built for the transportation of the men and horses, the Spaniards crossed the mighty stream to its western bank, at a point above the mouth of the Arkansas. Here De Soto, in the presence of twenty thousand Indians, erected a huge cross, and then pushed on his fruitless exploration almost to the source of the Red River. He would not admit that his brilliant expedition had utterly failed. His men were now growing desperate, and practiced most cruel barbarities upon the Indians, who were found to be much more civilized than those east of the Mississippi; the stony hearts of the haughty Spaniards now knew neither justice nor mercy for the red man. 8. But De Soto had at last to succumb to obstacles too great for him to conquer. His spirit was completely broken. He had utterly failed; so he returned to the banks of the Mississippi, accompanied by his remaining companions. The disappointment was too great for him. A malignant fever prostrated him, and, after having called his faithful followers around him, he named his successor, and soon after died. His sorrowful soldiers wrapped the dead hero's body in his mantle and put it in the hollowed trunk of a tree for a coffin. But they could not bury their chief on land, because the Indians would certainly disturb and dishonor his remains. So at midnight his body was taken to the middle of the stream, and sunk to the bottom. Thus Ferdinand De Soto, the discoverer of the Mississippi, found a grave in the waters of the great river with which his name will be forever associated. 9. The ragged and half-starved Spaniards now resolved to build barges to descend the river to the gulf, in order, if possible, to reach some Spanish settlement. No other hope of escaping from the dreadful wilderness around them wasTM left them. So they cut timber in the forest, and struck off the fetters from the captives to make bolts and nails to hold their rude floats together, and the Indians of the neighborhood were plundered for the last time in order to furnish supplies for the voyage. And thus, after desperate and cheerless labors, the remains of this most marvelous expedition-about three hundred heart-broken and famished men - were launched upon that silent river, and the solitudes of the red man's home were never again disturbed by the Spaniards, on the banks of the Mississippi. CXLII.-EDWIN AND PAULINUS. (The Conversion of Northumbria.*) con-ver-sion, a radical change of heart; Bekehrung. rood, a representation of the cross with Christ hanging on it; Kruzifix. i'-dol, an image worshiped; Gößenbild. pon'-der, to consider; to think; nachsinnen. Yule'-time, Christmas; Weihnachtszeit. The black-hair'd gaunt Paulinus "And worship Christ our Lord.” Again the gaunt Paulinus To ruddy Edwin spake: "God offers life immortal "For His dear Son's own sake! "Wilt thou not hear His message "And worship Christ our Lord?" -But Edwin look'd and ponder'd, And answered not a word. Rose then a sage old warrior; Was five-score winters old; Whose beard from chin to girdle Like one long snow-wreath rolled : : *The remarkable incident upon which this poem is founded occurred A. D. 627. Edwin was king of Northumberland, of which Deira formed a part. Paulinus was one of the first Christian missionaries in England, and an associate of Augustine, "the Apostle of the English.” |