of the greatest danger, Columbus had presence of mind enough to write on parchment a short account of his voyage, enclose it in a cake of wax, and commit it to the sea in a cask, in hopes that if all else should be lost, this might survive, and give information of his discoveries to the world. After seventy days, however, they arrived sare in Spain.

CHAPTER VI.

The other Voyages of Columbus.

1. WHEN Columbus arrived in Spain, the news of his wonderful dis coveries rapidly spread far and wide over the country, and he was everywhere looked upon with respect and admiration. Ferdinand and Isabella, then at the city of Bar-ce-lo'-na, received him with the most distinguished tokens of regard.

2. He had brought various specimens of the productions of what was now called the New World, and these were exhibited to the king and queen and to the court, who seemed to regard them with wonder and admiration. No honors were too great for Columbus, and a powerful fleet was placed at his command for another voyage.

3. This was made in the fall of 1493, during which Columbus discovered Ja-mai'-ca and a few other islands. But now unexpected difficulties occurred. Enemies thickened around him and retarded his progress. It was not till the summer of 1498 that he made his third voyage, during which he discovered the Continent of America, to which he had been the first to open a pathway. Even then, being charged with misconduct, he was carried home in chains.

4. Columbus was however liberated, and made a fourth voyage to America in 1502, with his brother Bartholomew and his son Fernando; but it was his last. The same enmity which had caused him to be sent home from his third voyage in fetters, still pursued him, and he at last became its victim. After languishing in obscurity and poverty for a time, he died at Val-la-dol-id', in Spain, May 20th, 1506, in the seventy-first year of his age.

13. What of the voyage homeward?

CHAP. VI.-1. How was Columbus received on his return to Spain? 2. What of the specimens of products of the New World? What of another fleet? 3. When was the second voyage of Columbus performed? What did he discover during his second voyage? His third voyage? 4. What of his fourth voyage? What more of Colum bus?

OTHER DISCOVERIES IN AMERICA.

AMERICUS VESPUCIUS.

27

5. Thus had America been discovered and made known to the Europeans by Christopher Columbus. The new continent, on every just principle, should. have been called Columbia, after its discoverer. But A-mer'-i-cus Ves-pu'-ci-us, a Flor-' en-tine, who visited the continent in 1499, and published a map of the coast, pretending at the same time to have made large discoveries, contrived to have it called by his own name, which it has since retained.

CHAPTER VII.

Other Discoveries in America by the English, Portuguese and French.

1. THE fame of what Columbus had done was soon spread through Europe, and adventurers flocked to the New World-some for honor, some for enterprise, and others for gain. In general, however, the great object of pursuit was gold and other precious commodities, as will become more evident in the progress of our history.

2. John Cab'-ot, a Venetian merchant who had settled at Bristol, in England, sailed in May, 1497, under the patronage of Henry VII. of England, for the purpose of making discoveries in America, being accompanied by his son Sebastian, as well as two other sons. In the course of this voyage, in June, he discovered a portion of the coast of Labrador, and thus was the first discoverer of the continent of Amer ica. He soon returned, but not long after his son Sebastian explored the coast from Labrador to Virginia, claiming the country in the name of the king of England.

5. What of the name of America? Americus Vespucius?

CHAP. VII-1, What followed the discoveries of Columbus? What were the objects of the early adventurers in America? 2. What of John Cabot?

3. In 1501, the king of Portugal sent out a fleet of discovery under the command of Gas'-par Cor-te-re'-al. He sailed along the shores of North America six or seven hundred miles; but he appears to have thought more of money than any thing else; and not finding gold, he seized on fifty of the native Indians, carried them home, and sold them as slaves.

4. Emboldened by his success, he made a second voyage, but did not live to return. The general belief is that he lost his life in attempting to secure another cargo of slaves, and that Labrador was the theatre of his crime and its punishment. This, however, is not quite

certain.

5. The French, too, engaged in attempts to make discoveries. Their operations, however, were at first principally about the mouth of the St. Law'-rence, and the islands of Newfoundland and Cape Bre'-ton. By the year 1505 or 1506, they were quite familiar with this region, and Den'-ys of Hon-fleur' had drawn a map of the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

6. As early as 1508, the French had become much engaged in the fisheries on the northeast coast of the present United States, and, as if to follow up the wicked example of the Portuguese, and involve the first settlers in cruel wars, had forcibly carried away to France some of the natives. They appear also to have meditated the establishment of colonies in the New World.

CHAPTER VIII.

Various Discoveries in North America.-The Voyage of Verrazani.-Discoveries of Cartier.-Ponce de Leon.Ferdinand de Soto.-Sir Walter Raleigh.

1. ONE of the most remarkable voyages of discovery was made in 1524. Fran'-cis I., king of France, sent out to America, Ver-ra-za'-ni, a Flor'-en-tine, who, with a single vessel, the Dolphin, after a long voyage of fifty days, in which he encountered a terrible storm, reached North Carolina; thence, sailing northward, he explored the coasts of New Jersey, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Maine, and Nova Scotia, and returned to France. He also paid some attention to the coasts of Florida, which, however, had been previously occupied by the Spaniards.

8, 4. What of the king of Portugal and Gaspar Corte real? 5, 6. What of the French? CHAP. VIII-1. What remarkable voyage took place in 1524?

VARIOUS DISCOVERIES IN NORTH AMERICA.

29

2. In 1534, the same king sent James Car'-tier to the Gulf of St. Lawrence and Newfoundland. In a second voyage, this navigator sailed up the St. Lawrence as far as Mon-tre-al', to which he gave its present name. He learned from the Indians something of northern

to Rico [ree'-co], in March, 1512, to make discoveries by himself. He found a new region, on the 6th of April, to which he gave the name of Florida, on account of its florid or blooming appearance.

4. The king of Spain, in whose name Leon claimed the country, appointed him the governor of it, on condition of his establishing a colony there. In attempting to effect a settlement, he met with many remarkable adventures; finally his people were attacked by the Indians and driven away, and he was himself mortally wounded.

5. In 1520, two ships were fitted out at St. Do-min'-go, which proceeded to the coast of South Carolina, and having decoyed some native Indians on board, suddenly set sail, and carried them to St. Domingo. It is not surprising, from this and similar outrages, that the savages of the continent, from one end of it to the other, became suspicious of white men.

6. In 1540, Ferdinand de So'-to made a tour through Florida, northward, to Georgia, and thence westward, across the Cher-o-kee' country and Alabama, to the country of the Chick-a-saws', where he spent the winter. In the spring of 1541, he discovered and crossed the Missis

?

2. What occurred in respect to Cartier in 1534? 3, 4. What of Florida and Ponce de Leon? 5 Capture of Indians? 6 What of Ferdinand de Soto

sippi, and traveled in Arkansas and Missouri. He died in 1542, and his companions passed through Louisiana to Mexico.

The Indians of

7. The details of this expedition are full of interest. these regions, at this period, were numerous, and their manners

SIR WALTER RALEIGH.

and customs pre sent much that is curious.

8. We have already seen that the English, through the Cabots, had established exclusive claims in the new continent. In 1584, Queen Eli zabeth having made a grant to the celebrated and accomplished Sir Walter

Ra'-leigh, he sent hither two ships on a voyage of discovery. These entered Pamlico Sound, and explored the coast to the northward. The queen bestowed upon this region the title of Virginia.

9. Among the discoveries of minor importance, made toward the close of the sixteenth century, were those of Bar-thol'-o-mew Gos'-nold, an Englishman. In a voyage to Virginia, as the whole coast was then called, he discovered and named Cape Cod, Martha's Vineyard, and Elizabeth Island, belonging to Massachusetts; he attempted to form a settlement on the latter, but without success.

CHAPTER IX.

The Native Inhabitants of the New World.-Peculiar Plants and Animals.

1. WHILE the various nations of Europe were thus making discoveries along the eastern coast of North America, the Spaniards were

7. What of the southern Indians? 8. What of Sir Walter Raleigh? 9. What of Gosnold! CHAP. IX.-1. What of the enterprises of the Spaniards in the West Indies?