CHAPTER XIII.

RETROSPECTIVE—AI^   HISTORICAL   SKETCH.

The discovery of Florida carries us back almost to the
middle ages, and its first permanent settlement antedates
that of Jamestown by forty-two years and that of Plym¬
outh by fifty-five 5/ears. No other portion of the North
American Continent has had so long and so varied a his¬
tory ; and for this reason it will be impossible for me to do
more here than give a rapid outline or summary of the
principal events.*

According to some authorities, Sebastian Cabot visited
the coast of Florida in 1497, only five years after the dis¬
covery of America by Columbus ; but this is very doubt¬
ful, and the received opinion among geographers is that
Cape Hatteras was the southern limit of Cabot's voyage.
The actual discovery of Florida is generally credited to
Ponce de Leon, who, after subjugating the Island of Porto
Rico, set out in search of a certain Fountain of Youth
which w^as at first said to be located on the Island of Bi-
mini, and then, not being found there, on another island
farther away to the northwest. Pie left Porto Rico early
in 1512, and on the 27th of March reached the coast of
Florida at a point a little north of the present site of St.
Augustine. It was Easter-Sunday (called Pascua Florida
in Spanish) when he made land, and partly on this account^

* It need hardly be said that the chief authority for this chapter is the
excellent " History of Florida " by George R. Fairbanks, published by the
Lippincotts, of Philadelphia.