and afterwards Santa Maria Philipina; also of an expedition in 1559, to the port of Y'Chuse, in thirty degrees twenty mi- nutes, about twenty leagues south of the bay of Santa Maria; and of a reconnoissance in 1561, to about thirty-five degrees. Of the Huguenots in France from 1562 to 1564; and the voyage of M. Réné Laudonnière in 1564 from that country to Florida. Of Sir John Hawkins; his voyages from London to Africa to take negroes and sell them; his visit to Laudonnière in Florida Of the voyage of Ribault from France to Florida in 1565; and the massacre there of the French by the Spaniards under Me- nendez. BOOK I. OF DISCOVERIES IN THE WEST UNTIL 1519. CHAPTER I. Of the alleged discovery of America by the Northmen in the eleventh, by the Welch in the twelfth, and by Nicholas and Antonio Zeno in the fourteenth century. Many elaborate dissertations have been written to prove that discoveries were made on the northern coast of America before the era of Columbus. The following is extracted from the second chapter of Mr. Wheaton's History of the Northmen :* "There was formerly, say the ancient Sagas, a man named Herjolf, who was descended from Ingolf, the first settler of Iceland. This man navigated from one country to another with his son Bjarne, and generally spent the winters in Norway. It happened once on a time that they were separated from each other, and Bjarne sought his father in Norway, but not finding him there, he learnt that he was gone to the newly discovered country of Greenland. "History of the Northmen or Danes and Normans from the earliest times to the conquest of England by William of Normandy. By Henry Wheaton, hono rary member of the Scandinavian and Icelandic literary societies at Copenhagen," published at Philadelphia in 1831. Bjarne resolved to seek and find out his father, wherever he might be, and for this purpose set sail for Greenland (1001), directing himself by the observation of the stars, and by what others had told him of the situation of the land. The three first days he was carried to the west, but afterwards, the wind changing, blew with violence from the north, and drove him southwardly for several days. He at last descried a flat country, covered with wood, the appearance of which was so different from that of Greenland, as it had been described to him, that he would not go on shore, but made sail to the northwest. In this course, he saw an island at a distance, but continued his voyage, and arrived safely in Greenland, where he found his father established at the promontory, afterwards called Herjolfsnos, directly opposite to the southwest point of Iceland. "(1002.) In the following summer, Bjarne made another voyage to Norway, where he was hospitably received by Erik, a distinguished Jarl of that country. The Jarl, to whom he related his adventures, reproached him for not having explored the new land towards which he had been accidentally driven. Bjarne having returned to his father in Greenland, there was much talk among the settlers of pursuing his discovery. The restless, adventurous spirit of Leif, son of Erik the Red, was excited to emulate the fame his father had acquired by the discovery of Greenland. He purchased Bjarne's ship, and manned it with thirty-five men. Leif then requested his father to become the commander of the enterprize. Erik at first declined, on account of the increasing infirmities of his old age, which rendered him less able to bear the fatigues of a sea-faring life. He was at last persuaded by his son to embark, but as he was going down to the vessel on horseback, his horse stumbled, which Erik received as an evil omen for his undertaking: I do not believe,' said he, 'that it is given to me to discover any more lands, and here will I abide.' Erik returned back to his house, and Lief set sail with his thirtyfive companions, among whom was one of his father's servants, a native of the South-countries, named Tyrker (Dieterich-Dirk), probably a German. "They first discovered what they supposed to be one of the countries seen by Bjarne, the coast of which was a flat, stony land, and the back ground crowned with lofty mountains, covered with ice and snow. This they named Helluland, or the flat country. Pursuing their voyage farther south, they soon came to another coast, also flat, covered with thick wood, and the shores of white sand, gradually sloping towards the sea. Here they cast anchor and went on shore. They named the country Mark-land, or the country of the wood, and pursued their voyage with a northeast wind for two days and nights, when they discovered a third land, the northern coast of which was sheltered by an island. Here they again landed, and found a country, not mountainous, but undulating and woody, and abounding with fruits and berries, delicious to the taste. From thence they re-embarked, and made sail to the west to seek a harbour, which they at last found at the mouth of a river, where they were swept by the tide into the lake from which the river issued. They cast anchor, and pitched their tents at this spot, and found the river and lake full of the largest salmon they had ever seen. Finding the climate very temperate, and the soil fruitful in pasturage, they determined to build huts and pass the winter here. The days were nearer of an equal length than in Greenland or Iceland, and when they were at the shortest, the sun rose at half past seven, and set at half past four o'clock.* "It happened one day soon after their arrival, that Tyrker, the German, was missing, and as Leif set a great value upon the youth, on account of his skill in various arts, he * Supposing this computation to be correct, it must have been in the latitude of Boston, the present capital of New England. |