Page:Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography (1892, volume 3).djvu/328

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300
HUELVA
HUGER

several colonies south of Bio-Bio, and in the beginning of 1603, with a powerful army, besieged the city of Osorno, but, after desperate efforts to capture it, retreated with the loss of many men. Scarcely a month had elapsed when he gathered a new army and appeared again before the fortress; but his advanced age and the results of many old wounds brought about his death before the siege had made any progress.


HUELVA, Alonso Sanchez de (wail'-va), Span- ish navigator, lived in the latter part of the 15th century. He was born in the small town of Huelva, near Moguer, and from that town he took his sur- name. He is generally credited with the first dis- covery of the New World, as it is asserted that he was cast by a tempest on the shores of North America, and, being saved with three or four sail- ors, returned to the island of Madeira ; and that from him Columbus obtained his first information of the continent, and was guided by this in his discovery. As Huelva's original manuscript was lost, the tradition of his voyage was set down as fabulous, but later researches seem to confirm the tradition, and such writers as George Horn, Lae't, Alderete, Jose de Acosta, Grotius, and Hakluyt appear to give it full credit. Mariana affirms that there are authentic proofs of Huelva's landing at Madeira. Garcilaso de la Vega credits Huelva with the discovery of South America. Ferdinand Denis, in his " Articles critiques," Fray Geronimo de la Concepcion, in his "Cadiz Ilustrado," and Diego da Costa, in " Ocios de Espaholes Emigra- dos," also mention Huelva's discovery.


HUEMATZIN (way-mat-seen'), Toltec scholar, lived about the end of the 8th century. He was the most celebrated philosopher of Tula, and is generally believed to be the collector of the histori- cal paintings called " Teomaxtly," the divine book, a kind of cyclopaedia of the history, laws, customs, sciences, and arts known to the Tol- tecs. It also describes the migrations of the na- tion after they left the shores of Asia till their arrival in the Anahuac valley, and relates the dif- ferent sojourns of the tribes on the banks of the river Gila before crossing it. The " Teomaxtly " was included in that magnificent library of Aztec and Toltec volumes condemned to be burned by the Bishop of Mexico, Zumarraga, under the pre- tence that they were works of infidels. Huematzin was not, as it is generally believed, an Aztec. Ac- cording to the most recent researches of the Vicar of Rabinal, Brasseur de Bourbourg, he belonged to the more cultured race of the Toltecs, which, although subjugated afterward by the Aztecs, re- tained the monopoly of science and sacerdotal edu- cation in the ancient Mexican empire.


HUEPON (way-pong'), Araucanian soldier, b. in the valley of Yanapocho about 1511 ; d. near Se- rena early in 1548. He was cacique of the tribe of Promaneos, and, when Chili was invaded by the ex- pedition of Valdivia in 1541, Huepon was elected by the assembled caciques their commander-in- chief against the invaders, and was the first to at- tack the conquerors. During the construction of the city of Santiago by Valdivia, he continually fought the Spaniards, and several times destroyed the fortifications, keeping them in perpetual alarm and scattering their forces. In 1542 he took ad- vantage of the absence of Valdivia on an expedi- tion to the south to surprise the city, destroy the intrenchments, and oblige the citizens to take ref- uge in the fort on the hill, which he also attacked, and compelled the commander, Alonso de Mouroy, to abandon it and accept a battle in the plains, where he was defeated. The new colonv would probably have been destroyed entirely but for the opportune arrival of Valdivia, who defeated Hue- pon. During that year and in 1543-'4 he contin- ued to oppose the Spaniards, but was not fortunate and resolved to abandon the valley of Mapocho with his tribe, and join the northern tribes of Copiapo, who continued the warfare against the Spaniards, and by those tribes he was appointed general-in-chief of the northern confederation on account of his military skill. In 1545 he attacked Alonso de Monroy on the march to Peru in search of re-enforcements, who narrowly escaped with one companion, while all the rest of the force was de- stroyed. In the valleys Coquimbo and Copiapo the Spanish forces found no rest from Huepon, who killed a great number of them, and, on account of his sudden and unexpected appearances, they called him " the ghost." In 1546 Valdivia, to get some rest from Huepon, signed a treaty of peace with him, which was soon broken by the latter, who in 1547 destroyed the new settlement of Se- rena, and continued his depredations till he was murdered by some warriors of the northern tribes, who disliked to be commanded by a southerner.


HUET DE NAVARRE, French governor of Cayenne, born in Conde sur Noireau in 1611; died in Surinam in 1658. Several merchants of Rouen founded in 1640 the Society of the Cap Nord, and obtained from Louis XIII. the concession of the vast countries between the Orinoco and the Amazon on condition that they should establish there a French colony. An expedition of 300 men sailed accordingly from Dieppe on 1 September, 1643, arriving on the banks of Cayenne on 25 November Poncet de Bretigny was the commander, and Huet de Navarre acted as his lieutenant. The new colonists established themselves in the island of Cayenne, and built a fortress on the mountain Ceperon, as a barrier against the incursions of the Indians. Meanwhile the violent temper of Bretigny created trouble; he was murdered by soldiers, and Huet de Navarre was elected to his place in 1644. Under the wise administration of the new governor, the young colony prospered, and a re-enforcement of forty laborers, received in the following year, enabled him to pass to the continent and extend the possessions of the company. But troubles arose again among the colonists, caused principally by the unhealthful climate. Many returned to France, and Huet to Fort Ceperon, awaiting anxiously new re-enforcements, 1647. The Company of Cap Nord relinquished its rights to a new society (1652), which took the name of Les 12 seigneurs, compagnie de la France 5quinoxiale, and sent from Havre an expedition of 800 men under the command of Chevalier de Royville. The latter died at sea, and on landing at Cayenne, 30 September, 1652, the new colonists elected Huet president of the board of four members, who represented the company. The French establishments prospered for several years, and had extended far inland, when a disastrous fire, caused by a lunatic, destroyed all the stores of the colonists in 1656. The Galibis Indians took that opportunity to renew their attacks, and the French resolved to seek refuge at Surinam. Huet opposed the evacuation of Cayenne, but want of provisions compelled him to yield, and, after severe fighting with the Galibis, his forces reached Surinam; but he was so exhausted by the journey that he died a few days later.


HUGER, Daniel (u'-gee), refugee, b. in Loudun, France, 1 April, 1651 ; d. near Santee river, S. C., 24 Dec, 1711. His father, John Huger, was a notary. Before the revocation of the edict of Nantes he fled from France, and eventually settled in