he had been exceedingly busy in his contests with the astute and powerful king of Spain, Charles V., Francis I. of France was not too much occupied to give some attention to discoveries and settlements in the New World. He engaged Giovanni de Verrazzano, a Florentine, to make explorations in new regions in the unknown West. On January 17, 1524, Verrazzano, in a single vessel, the Dolphin, left Madeira, and having made a number of important discoveries, wrote to the king a description which for its freshness and graphic clearness is remarkable even at the present time. He says that after "as sharp and terrible a tempest as ever sailors suffered, whereof with the Divine help and merciful assistance of Almighty God, and the goodness of our ship, accompanied with the good-hap of her fortunate name-the Dolphin-we were delivered, and with a prosperous wind followed our course west by north, and in other twenty-five days we made above 400 leagues more, when we discovered a new land, never before seen of any, either ancient or modern." The land which Verrazzano discovered was the low level coast of North Carolina, and along this he and his companions sailed for about 50 leagues in search of a harbor which they at length found. When a boat was sent ashore the natives took fright and at first fled to the woods, but their inquisitiveness impelled them to stand and look back, beholding the ship and sailors" with great admiration." When the sailors made them friendly signs the natives one by one came to the shore, "marvelling greatly at their [the sailors'] apparel, shape and whiteness." Beyond the sandy coast, intersected with "rivers and arms of the sea," was seen "the open country rising in height with many fair fields and plains, full of mightie great woods" some of which were dense while others were more open, as pleasant and delectable to behold as it is possible to imagine. And your Majesty may not think," he further says, "that these are like the woods of Hercynia or the wild deserts of Tartary, and the northern coast full of fruitless trees; but they are full of palm trees, bay trees, and high cypress trees, and many other sorts unknown in Europe, which yield most sweet savors far from the shore." Verrazzano represents the land as "not void of drugs or spicery, and of other riches of gold, seeing that the color of the land doth so much argue it." The luxury of the vegetation, the wild vines which clustered upon the ground or trailed in rich festoons from tree to tree, the sweet odoriferous flowers, the tangled roses, and the violets and lilies unlike anything he had seen in Europe, also came in for a large share of his attention in his description to the king. He also speaks of the wild deer in the woods, and of the birds that haunt the pools and lagoons of the coast. He is furthermore transported EARLY ATTEMPTS AT SETTLEMENT. by the calmness of the sea, the gentleness of the waves, the summer beauty of the climate, the pure, wholesome and temperate air, and the serenity and purity of the blue sky, which he says "if covered for a while by clouds brought by the southern wind, they are soon dissolved, and all is clear again." Verrazzano sailed as far north as the fiftieth degree of north latitude, entering the harbors of New York and Newport, but no settlement resulted from this voyage. The first attempt at colonization was made by the English and was extremely disastrous.† In 1536 a London merchant by the name of Hore induced others to join him in a colonization enterprise. They undertook to make a settlement in Newfoundland, but the colonists had not long been there when they began to suffer the pangs of starvation because they had not prepared themselves against the scarcity of food in the region, and, having seized a French fishing vessel *New York Historical Society Collections, series ii., vol. i., p. 45 et seq.; Hakluyt, vol. iii., p. 360 et seq.; Harris's Voyages, vol. ii., p. 348; Buckingham Smith, An Inquiry into the Authenticity of Documents Concerning a Discovery in North America Claimed to have been made by Verrazzano (1864); J. C. Brevoort, Verrazzano the Navigator (1874); B. F. De Costa, Verrazzano the Explorer (1880); H. C. Murphy, The Voyage of Verrazzano, A Chapter of Maritime Discovery in America (1875); Morris, Discoverers and Explorers, pp. 53-56. See also Fiske, Dutch and Quaker Colonies in America, vol. i., pp. 58-68; Parkman, Pioneers of France, pp. 193199, 227-228; Ellis H. Roberts, New York: The Planting and the Growth of the Empire State, vol. i., pp. 2-4. + Hakluyt, vol. iii. 119 which had just arrived, they returned to their native land.* The next attempt at settlement was made by the French while the Spaniards were engrossed with their plans and efforts for conquering South America, and this was more successful. On April 20, 1534, Jacques Cartier, a prominent mariner of St. Malo, was sent on an exploring expedition to the northwest coast of America by Philippe de Brion-Chabot, admiral of France. Cartier made a quick voyage across the Atlantic, then sailed across the Gulf of St. Lawrence and entered a bay which he called Des Chaleurs, giving the bay this name because of the great heat then prevailing. Cartier made no attempt to establish a settlement upon this voyage and soon afterward returned to England. The next year, however, he started on his second voyage on May 19, 1535, sailing with three large ships and a number of colonists. In * Bancroft, vol. i., p. 61 (last rev.). For an account of this voyage see his Discours du Voyage fait par le Capitaine Jacques Cartier aux Terres Neufves Canada (1598); Lescorbot, Histoire de Nouvelle France, vol. i. (1612); Relation originale du Voyage de Jacques Cartier en 1534 (Paris, 1867); H. H. Miles, History of Canada under French Régime, pp. 1-8. Some idea of the geographical knowledge of these early explorers is given by the following extract from the Cosmographie by Jean Allefonce, the "very expert pilot general" who accompanied Cartier and explored the coasts for many miles. He says: "These lands reach to Tartary and I think that it is the end of Asia, according to the roundness of the world. I have been at a bay as far as 42° [Massachusetts Bay] between Norumbega and Florida, but I have not seen the end and do not know whether it extends any farther." See Smith's Thirteen Colonies, vol. i., p. 30. 66 July he reached the scene of his former discoveries; on St. Lawrence's day, August 10, entered the gulf; and giving it the name it now bears, ascended the river to the isle of Bacchus, now Orleans. From that point he advanced to Hochelaga, or Montreal. Upon inquiring the names of the villages along the banks, Cartier in almost all instances received the reply Canada," which is simply a Mohawk word for village.* He had supposed the name applied to the country through which the river river flowed and this name has been applied to that portion of North America ever since. Cartier spent the winter on the isle of Orleans, but the scurvy attacked his company who suffered so severely that they became disgusted with the outlook for colonization and Cartier was compelled to return home. He could not, however, leave the country without taking some mementoes of his voyage, and disregarding the rights of others, kidnapped some of the natives and carried them to France.t + Parkman, Pioneers of France, pp. 199-215; Hildreth, vol. i., p. 45 et seq.; Hakluyt, vol. iii.; Fiske, New France and New England, pp. 12-22; James Douglas, Old France in the New World: Quebec in the Seventeenth Century, pp. 23-39 (1905); Justin Winsor, Cartier to Frontenac, pp. 23-37; Gilbert Parker and Claude G. Bryan, Old Quebec, The Fortress of New France, pp. 6-12 (1903); William H. Johnson, French Pathfinders in North America, pp. 53-63 (1905); C. G. D. Roberts, History of Canada, pp. 8-15; Miles, History of Canada, pp. 8-16; François Joüion des Longrais, Jacques Cartier (Paris, 1888); Kohl, Discovery of Maine; the essays of Joseph Pope Several years now passed before another attempt was made to colonize the same region. During the years 1541-43 François de la Roque, Sieur de Roberval, sent out an expedition under the command of Cartier. The king furnished the latter with five vessels and Roberval was associated with him in the capacity of Governor in Canada and Hochelaga. Though both Cartier and Roberval succeeded in reaching Canada, the enterprise was not attended with success because of various delays, misunderstandings and quarrels between the two, and for a long period of time France gave up any further attempt at founding colonies in America. Nevertheless, what she had done in this brief space of time had laid a foundation which she used as a basis in later years for her claims to the northern portion of the American Continent.* In the meantime, the Spaniards had made numerous attempts at exploration and conquest. The stories of the conquest of Mexico by Ferdinand (or Hernando) Cortés and of Francisco Pizarro in the land of the Incas (Ottawa, 1890), Hiram B. Stephens (Montreal, 1890), and N. E. Dionne (Quebec, 1889); John McMullen, History of Canada, pp. 3–7. * Winsor, Cartier to Frontenac, pp. 37-47; Bancroft, vol. i., pp. 17-18 (last rev.); Morris, Discoverers and Explorers of America, pp. 129–138; Fiske, New France and New England, pp. 22-32; Hakluyt, vol. iii.; Douglas, Quebec in the Seventeenth Century, pp. 38-50; Miles, History of Canada, pp. 17-23; Parkman, Pioneers of France, pp. 215-227, and the authorities cited there, especially Lescarbot, Histoire de Nouvelle France (1612), and LeClerc, Etablissement de la Foi. SPANISH IN THE SOUTH AND SOUTHWEST. (Peru), and of others in South and Central America, need not be told here, as they are concerned more with the history of South America.* The adventures of these men are chiefly important to United States history because of their influence in bringing other adventurers to this country from Spain, two of the most noted of whom were Pánfilo (or Pamphilo) de Narvaez, and Alvar Núñez Cabeza (or Cabeça) de Vaca. Narvaez had been in command of a Spanish auxiliary force under Valasquez in Cuba; in 1520 had been sent by the latter to Mexico to supersede and punish Cortés for his disobedience, but met with overwhelming defeat and lost one eye in the battle; and soon after his return to Spain was appointed by Charles V. governor of Florida. In June, 1527, he set sail from Spain and soon reached the south coast of Cuba, whence he sailed in March, 1528, for Havana, but losing his course, he reached Tampa Bay, Florida, instead, on April 15th.† On this voyage Cabeza de Vaca acted as treasurer of the company. Narvaez determined to strike in The details will be found in Fiske, Discovery of America, vol. ii., pp. 213-426; Prescott, Conquest of Peru; Moses, Establishment of Spanish Rule in America, p. 109 et seq.; Markham, History of Peru; Benzoni, History of the New World; Helps, The Spanish Conquest in America, vols. ii., iii. and iv.; Francis A. MacNutt, Fernando Cortes and the Conquest of Mexico, 1485-1547 (1910). For the disputed question as to where Narvaez landed see Woodbury Lowery, The Spanish Settlements within the Present Limits of the United States, App. J., and for the proclamation issued by Narvaez, pp. 178-180. 121 land and on May 1 with 300 men he Cabeza de Vaca was one of the four survivors of this expedition, but with his three companions was captured by the Indians and for several years they were held prisoners, being carried by them through western Louisiana and eastern Texas. Finally escaping, they wandered from tribe to tribe, exchanging the shells and wampum of the coast for hides and other inland commodities. Wending their way along the Rio Grande through Texas, they entered New Mexico, crossed Chihuahua and Sonora to the Gulf of California, and in May, 1536, after a journey of about 2,000 miles, reached Culiacan. One *Thomas B. Smith, Relation of Alvar Nuñez Cabeça de Vaca, chaps. v.-xv. is the chief. authority for this expedition. See also Lowery, Spanish Settlements, pp. 172-197; Bancroft, vol. i.. pp. 27-30 (last rev.); Theodore Irving, The Conquest of Florida by Hernando de Soto, chap. ii.; Barnard Shipp, Hernando de Soto and Florida, chap. vi.; D. G. Brinton, Notes on the Floridian Peninsula; William H. Johnson, Pioneer Spaniards in North America, pp. 195–207; Charles Morris, Discoverers and Explorers of America, pp. 87-93. of the chief results of their pilgrimage was to reveal to Spanish knowledge the existence of a large territory north of Mexico.* In 1520 Lucus Vazquez de Ayllon, the auditor of St. Domingo in the Island of Hispaniola, formed a company with six other prominent men of the island for the purpose of capturing Indian caribs as slaves to as slaves to work at the mines. The two vessels in which he set sail were driven by a storm to the east coast of Florida and Ayllon entered the province of Chicora (South Carolina). Here he succeeded in gaining the confidence of the natives but soon abused that confidence by an act of treachery. Inducing about 130 of the Indians to come aboard his vessel, he set sail The account of their travels is given in G. F. de Oviedo y Valdes, Historia General y Natural de las Indias De Vaca also published an account of his adventures in 1542, which appeared in an English version by Samuel Purchas, in vol. iv. of Purchas His Pilgrimes and in a translation by Smith (1857-71). See also Morris, Discoverers and Explorers of America, pp. 93–96; Bandelier, Contributions to the History of the Southwestern l'ortion of the United States (1890); Johnson, Pioneer Spaniards, pp. 207-215; W. H. H. Davis, Spanish Conquest of New Mexico (1869); Bandelier, The Journey of Alvar Nuñez Cabeza de Taca, in The Trail Makers series (1905); Woodbury Lowery, Spanish Settlements, 1513–1561, pp. 198-212; Thomas Buckingham Smith, Relation of Alvar Nuñez Cabeça de Vaca, chap. xv. et seq. (ed. 1871); the article by Pouton and McFarland in Texas Historical Association Quarterly (1898); F. W. Hodge (ed.), The Narrative of Alvar Nuñez Cabeça de Vaca, in Spanish Explorers in the Southern United States, pp. 3-126 (1907); Bandelier, Alvar Nunez Cabeza de Vaca, in the Magazine of Western History, vol. iv., pp 327-336; the extract from De Vaca's Relation of the Journey to New Mexico in Old South Leaflets, No. xxx. with them as prisoners, carrying them to Hispaniola. The captured Floridians showed a most desperate aversion to servitude and nearly all died of sorrow and home-sickness. Ayllon now received a grant of the province of Chicora and in 1524 equipped another expedition to conquer it. His pilot was unable to find the spot at which they had disembarked on the previous voyage, howerer, and the landing was made on that part of the coast which seemed most fertile. The Indians received the Spaniards in a friendly manner, and Ayllon, believing himself safe from attack, sent, or himself led, a body of 200 men to reconnoitre a town a short distance inland. Here the Indians feasted them for four days, but during the night of the fourth day attacked them and killed all. The Indians then marched against the remaining Spaniards on the coast but they succeeded in escaping to the vessels and after many adventures in reaching Hispaniola. Ayllon's fate is a matter of much doubt, as it is not known whether he was killed at the first attack or escaped to the vessels. with the remaining Spaniards. If he did escape, he did not long survive his ill-fated expedition, as in 1525 Charles V. granted the province of Chicora to Ayllon's son.* |