COLUMBUS'S OUTFIT.

11

from the last remnant of the Moorish invaders, afforded prevailing motives with the queen for engaging Colum bus in her service on his own terms. A fleet was ordered to be fitted out from the port of Palos. It consisted of three vessels of inconsiderable size, such as would by no means be deemed suitable for a voyage across the Atlan tic at the present day. They were victualled for twelve months, and had on board ninety mariners, with several private adventurers and servants; amounting in all to one hundred and twenty persons.

It was on the morning of the 3d of August, 1492, that Columbus set sail from the harbour of Palos, in the Santa Maria, the largest vessel of his squadron. The others were called the Pinta and the Nina: the former com manded by Martin Alonzo Pinzon, and the latter by Vin cent Yanez Pinzon, his brother. On the 6th of August they came in sight of the Canaries. Among these islands they were detained more than three weeks, endeavouring to procure another vessel to supply the place of the Pinta, which had suffered some injury in her rudder. The Pinta was finally repaired, and on the 6th of September, Colum bus set sail from Gomera, one of the Canaries, and began his voyage on the unknown deep.

On the 13th of September, the squadron was distant nearly 200 leagues from the most westerly of the Canaries. Here the magnetic needle was observed to vary from its direction towards the polar star, a phenomenon which had not before been observed; and which, of course, filled the mariners with alarm, since it appeared to with draw from them their only guide upon the pathless ocean. Columbus was by no means disheartened by this appear ance. He invented a plausible reason for it; and suc ceeded in reconciling his crew to their further progress. Their discontent, however, speedily broke forth anew, and all the self-possession and address of the admiral were scarcely sufficient to preserve his ascendency and ensure the completion of his voyage.

When their patience was nearly exhausted, the signs of land began to appear. The water had become more shallow; flocks of strange birds were observed; a cu riously wrought staff was taken up by the men of the

What was their success ?-Describe Columbus's outfit.-Where was he detained?-Where was he on the 13th of September ?-What alarme the crew-How were they reconciled to his further progress -Whal followed ?-What signs of land appeared?

12

COLUMBUS AT SAN SALVADOR.

Pinta; and weeds were seen floating in the water, of a kind different from any which were known to the voyagers. During the night of the 11th of October, a lig was observed by Columbus himself, at a distance, moving as if carried by some fisherman or traveller.

This last appearance was considered by him as decisive evidence of land; and, moreover, that the land was inha bited. They continued their course till two o'clock in the morning, when a gun from the Pinta gave the signal that land was in sight. It proved to be one of the Bahama islands.

On the morning of the 12th of October, Columbus, richly attired in scarlet, and bearing the royal standard, entered his own boat, accompanied by the other com manders in their boats, and landing on the island took possession of it on behalf of the Castilian sovereigns, giving it the name of San Salvador.

The island was called, by the inhabitants, Guanahani. It is one of the Bahama group, and is distant about 3000 miles from the most westerly of the Canaries. Columbus afterwards discovered and touched at other islands in the same group, and also added the extensive islands of Cuba and Hispaniola to the possessions of the Spanish sovereigns, before completing his first voyage. All these newly discovered lands he supposed, conformably to the theory which he had adopted, to be at no great distance from India; and as they had been reached by a western passage, they were called the West Indies. Even when the increase of geographical science had discovered the error, the name was retained, and it is continued to the present day.

Columbus's return to Spain was hailed with acclamations of joy. His journey from Palos to Barcelona, where he was to meet the sovereigns, was a perfect triamph, and his reception by Ferdinand and Isabella was attended with marks of favour and condescension proporioned to the magnitude and importance of his services.

Columbus afterwards undertook several voyages to the New World, planted colonies, and built cities and forts. In his third voyage, he visited the continent of America,

Who first saw the light ?-When ?-When did Columbus land in the New World ?What was the island called ?-Where is it?-What other liscoveries did Columbus make in his first voyage ?-What is the origin of the name West Indies?-How was Columbus received in Spain? What was done by Columbus in his subsequent voyages?-Whe firs discovered the continent of America?

and landed at different places on the coasts of Paria and Cumana. But his discovery of the continent had been anticipated by an English voyager, Cabot, as will hereafter be related.

Amerigo Vespucci, a Florentine gentleman, who had sailed with Columbus, visited the continent some years afterwards; and published an account of his expedition, so plausibly written as to lead his contemporaries to the supposition that he was the real discoverer. The continent, in consequence, received the appellation of America; at what period is not well ascertained. Although we cannot but regret the injustice of this proceeding, which deprives Columbus of an honour so nobly earned, yet the consent of all nations has given the name a sanction, which it were vain to dispute or disregard.

It was the lot of Columbus to receive injustice and neglect in return for the greatest benefits. He was deprived of the rewards and honours promised him by Ferdinand and Isabella, superseded in the government of the colony which he had founded, and sent home in chains from the New World which he had found for Castile and Leon; and, after having attracted the admiration and applause of the whole civilized world by the brilliancy of his achievements, he was suffered to die in comparative poverty and neglect.

What is said of Vespucci ?-How was Columbus treated by the seve reigns of Spain?

14

THE FRENCH IN NORTH AMERICA.

CHAPTER II.

NORTH AMERICA DISCOVERED AND SETTLED.

ALTHOUGH Columbus discovered the New World, he was not the first navigator who reached the Americar continent. This was the achievement of John Cabot and his son Sebastian; who conducted an expedition of five ships, under a commission from Henry VII, of England, to search for unknown islands and countries, and take possession of them in the king's name. The expedition was fitted out from Bristol, in England, and reached the American continent, probably in 56 degrees of north latitude, on the coast of Labrador, June 14th, 1497, nearly fourteen months before Columbus, on his third voyage, came in sight of the main land.

If the right of discovery be valid, a point which it is hardly worth while to discuss here, England had certainly the best right of any of the nations of Europe to plant colonies in North America. Her claim, however, was warmly disputed by Spain, Portugal and France.

The Cabots made another voyage to North America in 1498, and explored the coast as far south as Maryland; and Sebastian Cabot, who, on account of his nautical skill and enterprise, was called the Great Seaman, sailed, in 1517, up the straits and bay which afterwards received the name of Hudson, until he reached the latitude of sixty-seven and a half degrees, expecting to find a northwest passage to India. A mutiny of his crew compelled him to return.

The Portuguese, who at this period were very active in prosecuting distant voyages of discovery, fitted out an expedition under Gaspar Cortereal. He explored the coast for 600 miles, as far to the north as the 50th degree, and brought off upwards of 50 Indians, whom he sold as slaves on his return. (1501.)

The French were among the early voyagers to North America. The banks of Newfoundland were visited by their fishermen as early as 1504, and in 1523 John Verra

What is said of the Cabots?-When did they discover the continent of America -What nations disputed the claim of England to the dis. covery of North America ?-What was done by the Cabots in 1498?-By Sebastian in 1517 ?-What was done by the Portuguese ?-When? By the French 1-When?

zani, a Florentine, was sent on a voyage of discovery by Francis I. He explored the American coast from North Carolina to Nova Scotia, and held friendly intercourse with the natives. The French claims to their American territories were founded upon his discoveries.

Another expedition, under James Cartier, was fitted out in 1534, and the gulf and river of St. Lawrence were visited, many of the harbours and islands explored, and the country declared a French territory. The next year, Cartier sailed up the St. Lawrence again, and discovered and named the island of Montreal. He passed the winter in Canada, and in the spring erected a cross with a shield upon it, bearing the arms of France, and an inscription declaring Francis I to be the sovereign of the territory; to which he gave the name of New France.

In 1540, Francis de la Roque, Lord of Roberval, ob tained from Francis I a commission to plant a colony in America, giving him a viceroy's authority over the territories and islands on the gulf and river St. Lawrence. Cartier was, at the same time, commissioned as captain general and chief pilot of the expedition, with authority to raise recruits for the colony from the prisons of France, a circumstance by no means favourable to the permanence of the proposed settlement. These leaders were rather too independent of each other. They did not even depart from Europe in company. Cartier left France in May, 1541, sailed up the St. Lawrence, built a fort near where Quebec was subsequently founded, passed the winter

Describe Roberval and Cartier's expeditions.