Laudonniere also was on the verge of abandoning Fort Caroline when Ribaut hove into sight with relief. The colonists stayed on, only to be scattered by a hurricane. While, disorganized, many were captured by the adelantado Pedro Menendez de Aviles.

The French surrendered upon a promise of good treatment. However, Menendez treacherously beheaded them. At the massacre site he erected a sign, "Not as to Frenchmen, but as to Lutherans." About 50, including Laudonniere and Le Moyne, were overlooked by Menendez and managed to make their way back to France.

Three years later the French corsair Dominique de Gourges avenged his countrymen by recapturing

Fort Caroline and hanging the Spanish garrison. Over the corpses Gourges erected a sign, "Not as to Spaniards, but as to liars and murderers." Nevertheless, the French never again tried to plant a colony in Florida.

Despite the French sojourn brevity, Le Moyne's sketches provide a priceless first-hand look at the Indians who opposed the first adelantados in central Florida. The drawings and accompanying comments, 41 in all, were published in 1591 by Thedor de Bry for a book titled "America."

One other scrap of information pertinent to our study is contained in a letter from a young soldier of the Laudonniere expedition. He recounts