[3] IBERVILLE, LE MOYNE DE, was one of eight brothers, all eminent in the annals of Canada. He was considered one of the greatest sailors France has produced. In 1685 he assisted in expelling the English from Hudson's Bay. Afterward he took part in the defence of Quebec by Frontenac; destroyed Pemaquid; and took St. John's, Newfoundland. As a commander he was almost uniformly successful. Iberville's name is perpetuated in a town and parish of Louisiana. [4] ST. DOMINGO, or Hayti, had been seized by French buccaneers, 1630. The French government took possession of the island, 1677, thus establishing a _dépôt_ for their operations in the Gulf of Mexico. [5] PENSACOLA (Indian). A place of much historic interest. First discovered, according to the Spaniards, by Narvaez, then by Maldonado, one of De Soto's captains. It received several Spanish names, notably that of Santa Maria de Galve, but finally retained that of the neighboring tribe of savages. [6] ON THE SAME ERRAND. That the Spaniards knew of the Mississippi is clear from their having given it the name Iberville afterward found so apt when ascending it,—Rio de los Palissades,—a title suggested by the enormous rafts of uprooted trees which the river brought down and left stranded at its mouth. [7] TONTY'S LETTER was left in the forks of a tree where the Indians found it. It may be seen in full in Charlevoix, ii. 259. [8] ENGLISH TRADERS from Carolina were pushing their way across the Appalachians. Many French Protestants who had fled from their country on the revocation of the Edict of Nantes, were settled in South Carolina, and it was feared the English would attempt to settle a colony of them in Louisiana. [9] DAUPHINE, originally Massacre Island. FRANCE WINS THE PRIZE. "_A soldier, fire, and water, soon make room for themselves._" Iberville died at Havana in 1706, leaving his uncompleted work to his younger brother, Bienville,[1] who set vigorously about it. Many believed Natchez to be the best point on the river for founding a settlement. Natchez therefore assumed importance to French plans for the future. But Natchez was the principal seat of a powerful nation whose enmity it would be impolitic to arouse by making forcible entry upon their lands. An opportunity soon offered itself, however, which Bienville quickly took advantage of. [Illustration: BIENVILLE. FOUNDER OF NEW ORLEANS, 1718.] In the first place some outrages committed by the Natchez upon passing traders gave Bienville the pretext he sought for building a fort at their village, which was promptly done (1714).