however, soon settled by the well known course of events with which
England had nothing to do but to stand aside till the contest was over,
and then in due course of time, like an independent powerful neutral,
step in and reap the rewards.

It is well known that Laudonnière's followers were not altogether
harmonious. Some restless spirits seceded, and seizing one of the
colony's ships, entered successfully in the autumn and winter of 1564-65
into piracy on the rich commerce of Spain in the West Indies. These
French spoliations had been a sore point with the owners of West India
commerce since the days of Verrazano, so much so that the Spanish
Government had instituted a fleet of coastguards among the islands to
intercept and destroy the pirates. This fleet for some time had been
under the charge of an experienced, trusted, and efficient officer named
Pedro Menendez de Avilés. No doubt the provocation was great, and the
new piracy was not to be endured. The home government of Spain had been
kept informed of the Huguenot encroachments in Florida, a country which
had long ago been granted to Ponce de Leon, Ayllon and others, and had
been coasted by Estevan Gomez, but these encroachments had hitherto been
so long winked at that the French colonists began to feel themselves to
be in tolerable security.

French piracy and Calvinism, however, coming together were two
provocations too much for the patriotism and piety of the zealous Roman
Catholic Spanish commander in the West Indies. Besides, there was a
sorrow which roused his Spanish bigotry and induced him more than ever
to serve God and his king by exterminating heresy. Don Pedro, with his
new honors and high hopes, had left Cadiz on the 31st of May 1564, as
Captain-General of the West India, the Terra Firma, the Peruvian, and
the New-Spain fleets, his son under him commanding the ships to Vera