British Rule Begins 44 The New Smyrna Colony 46 During the Revolution 49 Another Treaty 50 V Spanish Rule Returns 52 The North Florida Republic 55 A Bit of Spain 56 Ceded to the United States 57 VI Under the United States 58 Visitors Begin to Arrive 58 The Freeze of 1835 59 The Seminole War 61 A Peaceful Interlude 62 During the Civil War 64 Tourist Industry Resumed 65 Its Isolation Broken 66 The Flagler Influence 66 The Changing Scene 69 St. Augustine Today 71 PUBLICATIONS 73 [Illustration: _Don Pedro Menéndez de Aviles, the great Spanish admiral, who founded St. Augustine and made Florida a Spanish province._] CHAPTER I Settlement It all began at a little bay on the east coast of Florida during September of 1565. Two large galleons rode at anchor outside the harbor entrance, while three smaller craft with sails furled and pennants flying from each masthead were moored within. The ships were a part of the fleet of Don Pedro Menéndez. They brought an expedition from Spain to establish settlements in Florida and drive out the French Huguenots, who had a fort near the mouth of the St. Johns River in this Spanish-claimed territory. The French colony, named Fort Caroline, lay only some thirty-five miles up the coast from the point where the Spanish ships were anchored. There on this very same day Jean Ribault, who had just arrived from France with reinforcements, was preparing to attack the Spaniards before they could finish landing and fortify their position. During the late forenoon, Menéndez and a group of his officers transferred from the larger of the two galleons offshore to a smaller boat alongside. Aided by a strong incoming tide, the boat entered the inlet and advanced across the bay toward the mainland, heading for a little creek that wound among the marshes to higher ground. As it neared this point, the roar of cannon and the blare of trumpets startled huge flocks of marsh birds into noisy flight.