The Spanish Settlement at Saint Augustine

You find a Timucuan native who shares enough common words with you to communicate. She brings you to her village and offers you food and drink. She says, "These Spaniards are strange, not at all like our people. When they came across the wide waters, they were little men, cramped by sitting long in their big boats."

"They warmed themselves before our fires," she continues. "They filled their bellies with our food and became large."

She goes on, "And next they laid claim to the land."

Laid claim to the land? You wonder what that means?

You ask what it means to lay claim to the land.

You feel tired and feverish. You lie down to rest.

Return to Missions to America home page
Electronic Field Trips home page
Copyright 2000 Colonial Williamsburg Foundation