MELENDEZ AT SELOOE.
But the enthusiasm excited by the dispersion of Ribault's vessels, and
the escape of their own, was of short-lived duration among the Spaniards
at Selooe. Human nature may obey a grateful impulse, and, while it
lasts, will be insensible to common dangers and common necessities; but
the enthusiasm which excites and strengthens for a season, is one also
which finally exhausts; and when the enervation which succeeds to a
high-strung exultation, is followed by great physical trials, and the
continued pressure of untoward events, the creature nature is quite too
apt to triumph over that nobler spirit whose very intensity is fatal to
its length of life. The sign of providential favor which they had beheld
wrought visibly in their behalf, the inspiriting language of their stern
and solemn leader, the offices of religion, meant to evoke the presence
of the Deity, and to secure, by appropriate rites, his farther
protection, of which they had recently witnessed so wonderful a
manifestation; these wore away in their effects upon our Spaniards, and
in the toils and sufferings which they were subsequently to endure.
Perhaps nothing more greatly depresses the ordinary nature than an abode
in strange and savage regions during a prevalence of cheerless,
unfriendly weather. The soul recoils as it were upon itself, under the
ungenial pressure from without, and looking entirely within, finds
nothing but wants which it is impossible to satisfy. Memory then
studiously recals, as if for the purposes of torture and annoyance, the
aspects of the beloved ones who are far from us in foreign lands. The
joys which we have had with old and loving associates, the sweets of
dear homes, and the sounds of friendly voices, these are the treasures
which she conjures up at such periods, in mournful contrast with present
privations and all manner of denial. But if, in addition to these, we
are conscious of accumulating dangers; if the storm and savage howl
without; if hunger craves without being answered, and thirst raves for
the drop of moisture to cool its tongue, in vain, we must not wonder if
the ordinary nature sinks under its sorrows and apprehension, and loses
all the elastic courage which would prompt endeavor and conduct to
triumph. The master mind alone, may find itself strong under these
circumstances--the man of inexorable will, great faith, and a
far-sighted appreciation of the future and its compensations. But it
is the master mind only which bears up thus greatly. The common herd
is made of very different materials, and in quite another mould.
Don Pedro de Melendez was one of the few minds thus extraordinarily
endowed. His prudence, keeping due pace with his religious fanaticism,
approved him a peculiar character; a man of rare energies, extraordinary
foresight and indomitable will. Resolute for the destruction of the
heretics of La Caroline, he was yet one of that class of persons--how
few--who can forego the premature attempt to gratify a raging appetite,
in recognition of those embarrassing circumstances, which if left
unregarded, would only operate for its defeat. He could wait the season,
with all patience, when desire might be crowned with fruition. Yet was
his thirst a raging one--a master passion--absorbing every other in
his soul. All that had taken place on land and sea, had been certainly
foreseen by him. Thus had he dispatched his ships seasonably to
Hispaniola, as well for their security, as to afford him succor. If he
doubted for the safety of those which remained to him, on the approach
of Ribault, he was relieved of his doubts by his faith in the
interposition of the Deity, and went forth to the encounter, himself
heading the forlorn hope, as it were, without any misgivings of the
result. He _knew_ that the Deity would, in some manner, make himself
manifest in succor for the true believer, even then engaged in the
maintenance of His cause. He had foreseen the threatening aspects of the
heavens, the wild tumults of the sea, the sullen and angry caprices of
the winds. He _felt_ that storm and terror were in prospect, and that
they were meant as his defences against his enemy! But this did not
prevent him from adopting all proper human precautions. He did not
peril his prows beyond the shoals which environed the entrance to his
harborage. He did not trust them beyond the natural bars at the mouth
of the Selooe, leaving them to the unrestrained fury of the demon
winds that sweep the blue waters of the gulf. Nor, assuming the bare
possibility that the protection of the Deity might be withheld from the
true believer, as much for the trial of his valor as his faith, in the
moment of encounter with the heretic, was the Adelantado neglectful of
the means for further struggle, should the assailants, successful with
his shipping, approach the shores of Selooe in the endeavor to destroy
his army. This he sought to protect by the best possible defences. His
troops were under arms in order for battle. Every possible advantage of
trench and picket was employed for giving them additional securities.
His people had already taken possession of the Indian village, from
whence the savages had been expelled; and their dwellings were converted
into temporary fortresses, each garrisoned with its selected band. It is
wonderful, how the veteran chieftain toiled, in the endeavor to secure
his position. While he felt how little the Deity needed the strength of
man, in working out the purposes of destiny, he well knew how necessary
it was that man should show himself worthy, by his prudence and
preparations, of the intervention and the care of Deity.
We have seen the issue of the unfortunate attempt of Ribault upon his
enemy; with the absence of immediate danger, the first tumults of
exultation on the part of the Spaniards, subsided into a sullen and
humiliating repose. As night came on, they momently began to feel the
increasing annoyances of their situation. That they were in temporary
security from the heretic French, left them free to consider, and to
feel, the insecurity and the unfriendly solitude of their situation. The
frail palm covered huts of the Floridian savages, on the banks of their
now raging river, with the tempest roaring among the affrighted forest
trees, afforded but a sorry shelter to their numerous hosts. Darkness
and thick night closed in upon them in their dreary and comfortless
abodes, and their hearts sunk appalled beneath the terrific bursts of
thunder that seemed to rock the very earth upon which they stood. They
were not the tried veterans of Spain. Many among them wore weapons for
the first time, and all were totally inexperienced in that foreign
hemisphere, in which the elements wore aspects of terror which had never
before entered their imaginations. Their officers were mostly able men
and good soldiers, but even these had enjoyed but small experience in
the new world. The levies of Melendez had been hurriedly made, with the
view to anticipate the progress of Ribault. They were not such as that
iron-hearted leader would have chosen for the terrible warfare which
he had in view. Chilled by the ungenial atmosphere, confounded with
torrents such as they had never before beheld, and which seemed to
threaten the return of the deluge, they exaggerated the evils of their
situation and feared the worst. They were not ill-advised upon the
subject of their own strength and resources, and whatever they might
hope in respect to the probable ill-fortunes of Ribault and his fleet,
they knew him to be an experienced soldier, and that his armament was
superior, while his numbers were quite equal to their own. They now knew
that they were the objects of his search and hate, as he had been of
theirs, 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 than
they possessed, he would reappear among them at the moment when least
expected, and that they should perish beneath the fury of his fierce
assault.
While thus they brooded over their situation, officers and men cowering
in the frail habitations of the Indians, through which the rushing
torrents descended without impediment, extinguishing their fires, and
leaving them with no light but that fitful one, the fierce flashes from
the clouds, which threatened them with destruction while illuminating
the pale faces of each weary watcher;--Pedro Melendez, strengthened by
higher if not a holier support, disdained the miserable shelter of
the hovels where they crouched together. He trod the shore and forest
pathways without sign of fear or shows of disquiet or annoyance. He
smiled at the sufferings which he yet strove to alleviate. He opened his
stores for the relief of his people, yet partook of none himself. He
gave them food and wine of his own, even while he smiled scornfully to
see them eat and drink. His solicitude equally provided against their
dangers and their fears. He placed the necessary guards against the one,
and soothed or mocked the other. He alone appeared unmoved amidst the
storm, and might be seen with unhelmed head, passing from cot to cot,
and from watch to watch, urging vigilance, providing relief, and
encouraging the desponding with a voice of cheer. His eye took in
without shrinking, all the aspects of the storm. He gazed with uplifted
spirit as the wild red flashes cleft the great black clouds which
enveloped 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 and
fro, without complaint, or suffering, or fatigue, till his lieutenants
with shame beheld the example of the veteran whom they had not soul or
strength to emulate. His deportment was no less a marvel than a reproach
to his people. They could not account for that seemingly unseasonable
delight which was apparent in his face, in the exulting tones of his
voice, and the eager impulse of his action. That a glow-like inspiration
should lighten up his features, and give richness and power to his
voice, while they cowered from the storm and darkness in fear and
trembling, seemed to them indications rather of madness than of wisdom.
But in truth, it was inspiration. Melendez had been visited by one
of those sudden flashes of thought which open the pathway to a great
performance. A brave design filled his soul; a sudden bright conception,
to the proper utterance of which he hurried with a due delight. He
summoned his chief leaders to consultation in the great council house
of the tribe of Selooe, a round fabric of mixed earth and logs, with a
frail palm leaf thatch, fragments of which, the fierce efforts of the
tempest momently tore away. The rain rushed through the rents of ruin,
the wind shrieked through the numerous breaches in the walls, but
Melendez stood in the midst, heedless of these annoyances, or only
heedful of them so far as to esteem them services and blessings. He knew
the people with whom he had to deal, their fears, their weaknesses, and
discontents, the base nature of many of their desires, and the utter
incapacity of all to realize the intense enthusiasm which shone within
his soul. He could scorn them, but he had to use them. He despised their
imbecility, but felt how necessary it was too temporize with their
moods, and make them rather forgetful of their infirmities, than openly
to denounce and mock them. His eye was fastened upon certain of his
chiefs in especial, whose weaknesses were more likely to endanger his
objects than those of the rest, since these were associated with a
certain degree of pretension arising from their occupance of place. But
there is no one in more complete possession of the subtleties of the
politician, than the fanatic of intense will. All his powers are
concentrated upon the single object, and he values this too highly to
endanger it by any rashness. He can make allowances for the weaker among
the brethren, so long as they have the power to yield service; he only
cuts them down ruthlessly, when, like the tree bringing forth no fruit,
the question naturally occurs to the politician, "Why cumbereth it the
ground?" Melendez was prepared to act the politician amidst all his
fanaticism. For this reason, though his resolution was inexorably taken,
he summoned his officers to a solemn deliberation--a council of war--to
determine upon what should be done in the circumstances in which they
stood.