tion superior to that of the naked Indians of San Salvador, and farther on he heard of a sea (the Pacific Ocean), which he supposed to be part of the Indian Ocean. But after many weary weeks he was forced to turn back without finding any strait which would lead to that

Death of the Discoverer. Late in 1504, Columbus was back in Spain, his health greatly broken. Though he sometimes appeared at court, he grew gradually weaker and on the eve of the Ascension, May 20, 1506, died at Valladolid.

Orinoco SOUTH AMERICA LANDS DISCOVERED BY COLUMBUS

His last days were spent in obscurity. Though the world did not note his departure, "Columbus was," says an able American historian, "one of the greatest characters that ever passed before the eyes of men." 1

QUESTIONS AND REFERENCES

Review Questions. - While the Portuguese were engaged in African exploration, what were the Spaniards doing? What project did Columbus submit to Ferdinand and Isabella? Who is mainly deserving of credit for the project of Columbus? What do we know of the manner of his equipment? What was his great object?

Describe the discovery, the return voyage, and the nature of his reception by the Spanish sovereigns.

What was the treaty of Tordesillas? How was civilization carried to the New World? On what voyage did Columbus discover the mainland of America? Describe his downfall and his death. References. Charles H. McCarthy, Columbus and his Predecessors; E. G. Bourne, Spain in America.

1 Thacher, Columbus, I, 86.

CHAPTER III

EXPLORATION AND EARLY SETTLEMENTS

Cabot's Explorations for England. The claim of England to the Atlantic coast of North America was based on the discoveries of John Cabot, an Italian sailor in the service of Henry VII, the last great Catholic king of England. When the deeds of Columbus were talked of and praised at the court of that monarch, John Cabot was living in that country. With the permission of King Henry VII and the assistance of some merchants, he obtained a small vessel and a crew of eighteen, nearly all Englishmen from Bristol. In command of this expedition he set out for the west in May, 1497, and sailed until the 24th of June, when he found himself on the shores of what is thought to have been Labrador or the island of Cape Breton. Sailing along an unknown coast for, perhaps, a thousand miles, he then returned to England. He supposed that the land he saw was the eastern coast of Asia. In the following year, 1498, Cabot led another expedition further to explore the lands that he had discovered, but of his return there is no record. Though there is the greatest obscurity as to the extent of his voyages, England by reason of them claimed the land from Florida to Labrador.

Portuguese Explorations; Cabral. In the year 1500 a fleet under Cabral' left Portugal with rich cargoes for the eastern trade. This commander, who was no timid

1 Like Columbus, John Cabot was a native of Genoa, though he became a naturalized citizen of Venice. Therefore he is sometimes called a Venetian.

2 An entry in the royal accounts shows that the frugal Henry VII gave "To hym that found the New Isle, £10."

PORTUGUESE EXPLORATION

25

sailor, kept well off the coast of Africa. Indeed he sailed so far out to sea that in April he came, quite unexpectedly, on a strange coast. After cruising long enough to know that he was not on the shores of an island, he sent a vessel back to Portugal with tidings of his discovery and suggested to his king that the new continent be more carefully explored. Then he resumed his voyage to India.

Vespucius. It was in 1499 that Amerigo Vespucci (ah-mā-rē'go ves-poot'che) — or Americus Vespucius - first visited the southern continent. With him was Juan de la Cosa (hwahn dã lah cō'sah), who had sailed with Columbus. For some reason Americus removed to Portugal, where he was living when Cabral's ship returned with tidings of his discovery. The king was glad to bring into his service one who was already familiar with the Indies. In 1501, with Americus as chief pilot, three ships sailed for the land seen by Cabral. They came on the coast near Cape St. Roque and for a great distance explored the shores of the country that we know as Brazil. As much of this land was east of the demarcation line (page 20) it was claimed and later settled by the Portuguese.

Naming America. - Vespucius wrote accounts of the lands that he had seen. Early in the sixteenth century it happened that the little college of St. Dié (săn dya') in the Vosges (vōzh) Mountains included among its teachers two men who were preparing a new edition of a geography. One of them, Martin Waldseemüller (vahlt-sāmēl'er), suggested that the new southern continent be called America, in honor of the Italian writer and navigator, Americus Vespucius. This geography, which was printed in 1507, gave the name America to the southern continent only, for the new lands to the north were then supposed to be part of Asia; but in time the name came to be applied to the northern continent also.

SPANISH EXPLORATION AND CONQUEST

Discovery of the Pacific. The Spaniards established colonies not only in Haiti, but also on other islands and on the mainland. Among the earliest settlements was one

ހ

FT.RICHARDS.

BALBOA TAKES POSSESSION OF THE PACIFIC

on the Isthmus of Darien', or Panama'. Sailing to that little colony from Haiti, a captain found on his vessel one Vasco Nuñez de Balboa, who had stowed himself away in order to escape his creditors. When the ship arrived at the isthmus of Darien,

Balboa became a popular leader and defied the governor of the settlement. Later he learned that toward the west was an ocean which washed the shores of lands

rich in gold. With a strong force he convey him to that

set out to find the sea which would favored region. From a peak on Darien he beheld, in September, 1513, a bay which led him to the Pacific, which he called the South Sea. Wading into its waters with a

SPANISH EXPLORERS

27

banner and a drawn sword, he took possession for Spain of both the boundless sea and its shores.

Discovery of Florida. The first undoubted exploration of Florida was that of Juan Ponce de Leon (pōn'thā dā lā-ōn'), governor of Porto Rico, a Spaniard who had come to the New World with Columbus in 1493. It may have been that he was anxious to win fame as a discoverer or that, as is generally believed, he was still more eager to feel once more in his veins the warm blood of youth. Twenty years in the tropics had told on this fearless warrior, and he wished personally to test the merits of a fountain said to exist in a land far to the north and believed to possess the property of restoring youth.

In the same year that Balboa first gazed on the Pacific, Ponce de Leon saw to the west, as he cruised northward in search of the fabled fountain, a land of waving woods and beautiful flowers. This he sighted about Easter Sunday, 1513, and in honor of the day called it Florida,2 a name by which the Spaniards knew all the land north of the Gulf of Mexico. In the year 1521 he was again on the Florida coast for the purpose of making a settlement. His colonists, however, were promptly attacked by the Indians, who killed and wounded many, among them Ponce de Leon himself, who died in Cuba soon after his return.3

1 Earlier voyages to that region are thought to have been made.

In the Spanish language Easter, the church feast commemorating the resurrection, is Pascua de resurrección o florida. The word florida means flowery, full of flowers.

Among other Spanish explorers of this period may be mentioned Cor'dova, who visited (1517) the peninsula of Yucatan, and Pineda (pena'dah), who reported the finding (1519) of a great river (probably the Mississippi), which he called Río del Espíritu Santo (River of the Holy Ghost). In 1521 Ayllon (il-yōn') sent to the coast of Florida an expedition which kidnaped a cargo of natives. In 1526 he tried in person to make a settlement north of Cape Hatteras.