Columbus and his discoveries.

A rival.

a secret from the rest of the world for their own advantage. He

made several other voyages,

and in 1498 discovered the coast of South America; yet he died in the belief that he had only found a portion of Eastern Asia. One of his companions revealed the secret to Amerigo Vespucci, a Florentine navigator, who explored the eastern coast

QUESTIONS.-7. What other voyages and discoveries did Columbus make? What can you tell about another navigator, and the naming of our continent?

Name of the continent.

Balboa.

Florida.

Mexico.

of South America, and published a glowing account of the great continent which he claimed to have discovered. In his honor that continent was called AMERICA.

8. Spanish settlements were soon made in the West Indies, and expeditions were sent out from St. Domingo, Cuba, and Porto Rico, in search of goldbearing regions which, it was believed, lay around them. In 1510, Balboa crossed the isthmus of Darien, and discovered the Pacific ocean, which he called the South sea. He waded into its waters in full costume, bearing the Spanish flag, and took possession of sea and land, in the name of his sovereign.

AMERIGO VESPUCCI.

BALBOA.1

9. In 1512, John Ponce de Leon sailed from Porto Rico, and discovered the present great southern cape of the United States, which he named Florida. Other adventurers followed him in the same direction, and made vain attempts to plant settlements on the coast of what is now Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina.

In 1517, an expedition under Cordova discovered Mexico; and so favorable was his report that Velasquez, the governor of Cuba, determined to take possession of the country. For this purpose he sent a fleet and small army, under the command of Fernando Cortez, and treachery obtained possession of the coun

1. The picture gives a correct representation of those armed Spaniards who attempted conquests in the New World.

2. He had been governor of Porto Rico, and had been made to believe that on the neighboring continent was a fountain whose waters, when partaken of, would restore youth to old age, and perpetuate it. He was in search of this fountain when, on the 27th of March, he touched the shore, and found it covered with flowers. It was also Pasquas de Flores, or Easter Sunday, on which occasion the churches were decorated with flowers. So he called the land Florida.

QUESTIONS.-8. What can you tell about Spanish settlements and expeditions? What of Balboa? 9. What can you tell about the discovery of Florida? What can you tell about the discovery and conquest of Mexico?

De Soto and the Mississippi.

The Cabots.

R

:

10. In 1539, De Soto, a Spanish adventurer, who was then governor of Cuba, landed with six hundred men in Florida, and marching westward, in spite of hostile natives, discovered the Mississippi river, and explored the country beyond it almost to the base of the Rocky Mountains. After a march of three thousand miles, during a period of about three years, De Soto died on the Mississippi, and the remnant of his followers, having suffered terribly, made their way to a Spanish settlement in Mexico. The chief object of all these expeditions

was GOLD.

DE SOTO.

SECTION II.

ENGLISH AND FRENCH

DISCOVERIES.

1. While the Spaniards were searching for gold in the region of the Gulf of Mexico, English and French adventurers were on the more northerly shores of the continent, on the same errand, and for the discovery of a northwest passage to India through the Polar seas. Henry the Seventh, king of England, would not listen to Columbus; but when he heard of his wonderful success, he was willing to give help in a similar undertaking.

2. John Cabot, a wealthy merchant of Bristol, England, hearing of this disposition of the king, asked him to aid himself and his son Sebastian in fitting out exploring vessels. The king did so. In May, 1497, Sebastian Cabot sailed toward Greenland with two small ships. When he encountered fields of ice in the polar waters, he turned toward the southwest, and first saw the American continent on

1. Verse 5, page 11..

SEBASTIAN CABOT.

QUESTIONS.-10. Describe the adventures of De Soto, and the end of them. What was the object of all Spanish expeditions in America?-1. What were English and French navigators doing? What can you tell about King Henry of England? 2. What can you tell about John Cabot and his son? Describe the voyage and discoveries of Sebastian Cabot.

Sebastian Cabot's discoveries.

Verrazzani.

Cartier.

the rugged shores of Labrador. He was the first discoverer of the American continent, Columbus having seen only some of its neighboring islands.'

2

3. Sebastian was placed in command of another expedition the following year. It was fitted out by his father and some Bristol merchants for the discovery of a northwest passage to India. He was again turned southward by ice. He discovered Newfoundland, and explored the Atlantic coast as far as the present harbor of Charleston. His discoveries gave him great fame. In 1517 he was sent again to the Polar seas; and in 1526 while in the employment of the king of Spain, he explored the coast of Brazil, in South America, and discovered the great river de la Plata.

VERRAZZANI.

4. The king of France, in the mean time, had become interested in these wonderful voyages, and in 1523 he employed John Verrazzani, a Florentine, to explore the coasts of the mysterious New World. Verrazzani sailed in December, and in March first touched the continent at the mouth of the Cape Fear river. He then sailed northward, examined the coast all the way to Newfound

land, and called the entire country NEW FRANCE.

ARMS OF FRANCE.

2. He gave the name of Newfoundland (new found land) to this large island. He perceived the immense numbers of codfish in its vicinity; and within five or six years after this discovery, many fishermen from England, Brittany, and Normandy went thither for those treasures of the deep.

QUESTIONS. 3. Describe other voyages and discoveries of Sebastian Cabot on the coast of North America. Describe his discoveries in South America. 4. What did the king of France do? What can you tell about Verrazzani's discoveries? What did he call the new country? 5. What else did the French do? What can you tell about James Cartier's doings?

Events on the St. Lawrence.

Protestants in France.

1534,and soon afterward discovered the mouth of the great river which he named St. Lawrence.' He set up a cross and the arms of France on the shore, and took possession of the country in the name of the French king.

6. Cartier commanded another expedition to the St. Lawrence, in 1535. Leaving his larger vessels in the mouth of the St. Charles, at the site of Quebec, he went in boats to the capital of the Indian king of the country, situated where Montreal' now stands. He was kindly received, and returning, wintered in his ships, in the St. Charles. In the spring he decoyed the Indian king on board of one of his vessels, and carried him off to France, where he died broken-hearted. This wicked act made the Indians hate the "pale-faces," as they called Europeans. Other efforts were made by the French to plant settlements in New France, but none were successful until seventy years afterward."

7. At this period, there was much religious excitement in France. The protests of Martin Luther and others against certain doctrines and practices of the Roman Catholic Church, had made a great disturbance in Europe. Those who favored the reformation then attempted were called Protestants. These had become numerous in France about the year 1560, and there they were named Huguenots. They had a powerful friend in Jas per Coligny, high admiral of France.

1. This name was given because the discovery was made on the festival day of St. Lawrence in the calendar of the Roman Catholic Church.

2. It was called Hochelaga. He ascended the great hill in the rear of the village, and so inspired was he with the view from its summit, that he called it Mont-Real, or Royal Mountain, the name of the present city at its foot.

3. Cartier made another voyage to the St. Lawrence, as a subordinate. Francis de la Roque, a wealthy nobleman of Picardy, in France, fitted out an expedition for discoveries and settlement in New France, by permission of the French king. He chose Cartier for his

lieutenant, who sailed before his superior was ready, in June, 1541. Cartier again went up the St. Lawrence, and found the natives sullen on account of his perfidy. He built a fort at Quebec. Francis (who is better known as Lord of Roberval) followed, but the attempt at settlement was a failure. Roberval passed up the St, Lawrence, built two more forts near Quebec, endured a winter of great distress, and returned to France in the spring of 1543. Six years afterward he again sailed for the St. Lawrence, and was never heard of afterward.

QUESTIONS.-6. What can you tell about Cartier's second voyage? How did he treat the Indian king? 7. What can you tell about religious excitement in Europe? What were the reformers called? What can you say of the French Protestants?