Cape Horn, and got possession of the western coast of the conti nent. The name It was while South America was being explored that the name "America" came into use. One of the men in Spain who took part in exploration was Amerigo Vespucci, an Italian America " by birth. He wrote an account of a voyage he made to the Orinoco region in 1499, with another man commanding the expedition, and in it he spoke of a new world he had seen. He falsely gave the date as 1497, a year before Columbus really discovered this region on his third voyage. But Vespucci was not suspected of this fraud, and when his account was published in Latin, in 1503, he was pronounced the discoverer of a new continent, while Columbus, as the world then thought, had only found India. The new country was, therefore, called "America," from Americus, the Latin form of Amerigo. On the maps of the day what is now South America appears as America, while that which is the United States is called India or Cathay. Vasco da Gama sailed around Cape of Good Hope in 1497 and reached the true India. When the geographers came to realize this the name India disappeared from the maps of the new world and North America took its place. Shortly afterwards the southern continent began to be called South America. Let us now turn to the explorers of the northern coasts. England had as bold seamen as Spain, but her kings were busy at English ex- home and thought little of new countries. At last ploration came John Cabot, a man born in Genoa, who got permission to search for a northwestern route to India under the English flag. He set out in 1497, reached America near Newfoundland, and sailed southward along the coast for a thousand miles. He is said to have made a second voyage in 1498 on which he went as far as the coast of South Carolina. It was seventy-five years after this before England again showed interest in America; but she did not forget Cabot's voyage; and she claimed as her own all the land he discovered. Another northern explorer was Corte-Real, a Portuguese who discovered Labrador in 1500; but Portugal was intent on following her trade to the Indies by way of Cape of Good French exHope and made no attempt to carry on the work of ploration Corte-Real. France took no part in the earliest explorations but in 1524 one of her sailors, Verrazano, came to the coast, exploring New York harbor and the shore east of it. In 1534 came another, Jacques Cartier. He entered the Gulf of Newfoundland and in a second voyage, 1535, explored the St. Lawrence as far as Montreal. He was looking for a passage to the Pacific Ocean and China; and the name "La Chine" was given to the rapids which stopped his course at Montreal. It was in derision of his belief that China could be reached through the St. Lawrence. It was on the explorations of Cartier that France rested her claim to the St. Lawrence valley. QUESTIONS I. Describe the state of navigation in ancient times. What did the world think of the region south of Gibraltar? How did the Norsemen show their superiority as sailors? How did they come to settle in Greenland? Describe Leif Ericsson's discoveries. Why was Vinland forgotten for centuries? How was its story preserved? II. What was the medieval idea of geography? Explain the work of the navigators. Describe the services of Prince Henry the Navigator. Show how the west coast of Africa was explored. What did Bartholomew Diaz discover? III. What was the theory on which Columbus acted? Why was he greater than other navigators of his day? What effect did the stories of Marco Polo have? Describe the efforts of Columbus to get money for his expedition. Describe his first voyage. How was he received when he returned? How did his second voyage bring disappointment with it? Why was sugar an important thing in the early history of the West Indies? What did Columbus discover on his third and fourth voyages? What land did he think he had encountered south of the West Indies? IV. What land was discovered by Pinzon? How did Magellan complete this discovery? Describe Magellan's voyage on the Pacific Ocean. How did Brazil come into the possession of Portugal? How did the name "America" come into use? What did Vasco da Gama discover? V. Describe the explorations of John Cabot, Verrazano, Corte-Real, and Cartier. Which of these made voyages for England? for France? for Portugal? What claims were founded on them? SUGGESTED TOPICS A Description of Vinland; Routes of Trade with the East; The Adventures of Marco Polo; The Voyage of Magellan. CHAPTER III SPANISH COLONIES IN AMERICA ALTHOUGH Our own country was settled by the English we must feel great interest in the colonies of Spain. They were the first European colonies in the new world, and the great Why they amount of money they yielded made other nations are imwish to have colonies of their own. We must not portant forget, also, that Florida, Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and California were once Spanish colonies. We shall not understand their early history unless we know how Spain explored the vast country Columbus discovered, and how she settled and governed it. The first colony was Hispaniola, or Hayti. It was colonized by Columbus on his second voyage, and we have seen that it became a prosperous sugar-raising country. From this Hispaniola place it was easy to cross to Cuba, and in 1508 that and Cuba great island began to be settled. The two islands soon contained a number of rich sugar planters with great estates on which the Indians were forced to work. The natives did not make good slaves. They loved freedom and pined away under their hardships. As they died their places were taken by other Indians, captured by slave-hunters in other islands, and they also fell victims to slavery. By this means the original inhabitants of the West Indies were destroyed. Negro slaves were imported from Africa to take their places, and did not die under slavery as freely as the Indians. One of the richest men in Hispaniola in 1513 was Ponce de Leon. He was fond of adventure and had explored and settled Florida discovered Porto Rico. When that was done he did not wish to remain idle on his estates. From the natives he heard of a rich country beyond the Bahamas, in which was a fountain having wonderful virtue. One who bathed in it, so it was said, would find his youth renewed. Ponce de Leon believed the reports and thought it would be a worthy adventure to discover so wonderful a country. He fitted out an expedition at his own cost and sailed early in 1513 into the northern seas. Passing the Bahamas, as directed, he came to land on April 2. It was Easter Day, which the Spaniards call Pascua Florida, and the country abounded in flowers; so he named the land "Florida." The spot was north of what is now St. Augustine. He sailed southward along the coast, passed around the end of Florida, and reached Apalache Bay on the west coast. He returned homeward thinking Florida was an island and got permission to settle a colony in it. He now knew it contained no fountain of youth, but he thought great wealth and power would come to him who became its ruler. In 1521 he landed with his followers near what is now Tampa, laid out a town, and prepared to clear and cultivate the fields. But the Indians were hostile. They had now learned enough of the Spaniards to consider them enemies. They concealed themselves around the fort, attacked the settlers, and so wounded Ponce de Leon that he died after a long illness. His followers returned to Cuba, and it was many years before another colony was planted in Florida. Ponce de Another explorer of the land was Balboa. He was once rich but had run into debt and was glad to leave Hispaniola to get Balboa away from his creditors. He joined a colony which set out for the Isthmus of Panama and became the leading man in it. From the Indians he learned of a great ocean to the westward, and he started with nearly two hundred Spaniards and some Indians to find it. The jungle was so dense that it took eighteen days to go forty-five miles. When the guides told him the sea was at hand, he caused his company to halt and went |