Chesapeake Bay and then returned to Española.
The unhappy experiences of these colonists con-
vinced Philip II. that the region was not likely to be
occupied by the French, and hence he decided that
no further attempt at colonization should be made. ¹

The very next year the unexpected happened.
Jean Ribaut, of Dieppe, under the patronage of
Coligny, the leader of the Huguenots in France, led
a party of soldiers and young nobles to the east
shore of Florida, whence they coasted as far north
as Port Royal Sound. Here Ribaut left thirty
men and returned to France. Want, lonesomeness,
and contentions drove them to the desperate ex-
pedient of building a vessel to make their escape
from the desolate continent, but only at the cost
of such privations as reduced them to cannibal-
ism before they were picked up by an English
ship. ²

In 1564 the plans for a colony in Florida of French
Huguenots were matured by Coligny; and the ex-
pedition set out in June under the command of
René de Laudonnière, a French officer and gentle-
man who had been with Ribaut in the first voyage.
The site selected was at the mouth of the St. John's
River, Florida. Here a fort was built and parties
were despatched to explore the country. There were
few if any tillers of the soil in the company, and

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