CORONADO: Griffis, Romance of Discovery, 168-182; Hale, Stories of Adventure, 136-140. DE SOTO: Hart, Colonial Children, 16-19; Higginson, American Explorers, 121-140. MAGELLAN: McMurry, Pioneers on Land and Sea, 186-225; Butterworth, Story of Magellan, 52-143: Ober, Ferdinand Magellan, 108-244. The effect in England of Colum bus' dis covery THE MEN WHO MADE AMERICA KNOWN TO JOHN CABOT ALSO SEARCHES FOR A SHORTER ROUTE TO 22. Cabot's Voyages. When the news of Columbus' great discovery reached England, the king was sorry, no doubt, that he had not helped him. The story is that Columbus had gone to Henry VII, King of England, for aid to make his voyage. But England had a brave sailor of her own, CABOT TAKING POSSESSION OF NORTH AMERICA FOR On the spot where he landed Cabot planted a large cross John Cabot, an Italian, born in Columbus' own town of Genoa, who also had learned his lessons in voyages on the Mediterranean. Cabot had gone to live in the old town of Venice. Afterward he made England his home and lived in the old seaport town of Bristol, the home of He, too, believed the world to be round, and that India could be reached by sailing westward. King Henry VII gave Cabot permission to try, providing he would give the king one fifth of all the gold and silver which everybody believed he would find in India. Accordingly, John Cabot, and it may be his son, Sebastian, set out on a voyage in May, 1497. After many weeks, Cabot discovered land, now supposed to be either a part of Labrador or of Cape Breton many English sailors. From the statue modeled by John Island. He landed and planted JOHN CABOT AND HIS SON SEBASTIAN Later, he probably saw parts of Newfoundland, but nowhere did he see a single inhabitant. He did, however, find signs that the country was inhabited, but he found no proof of rich cities or of gold and silver. In the seas all around Cabot saw such vast swarms of fish that he told the people of England they would not need to go any more to cold and snowy Iceland to catch fish. How John Cabot was treated by the king and people of England when he came back is seen in an old letter written from England by a citizen of Venice to his friends at home. "The king has promised that in the spring What John Cabot discov ered The king and people pay honor to Cabot our countryman shall have ten ships, armed to his order. The king has also given him money wherewith to amuse himself till then, and he is now at Bristol with his wife, who is also a Venetian, and with his sons. His name is John Cabot, and he is called the great admiral. Vast honor is paid to him; he dresses in silk, and the English run after him like mad people, so that he can enlist as many Cabot's second voyage THE FINDING OF AMERICA The first voyages of Columbus, the discoverer of the New World, and of Cabot, the first man to reach the mainland of North America of them as he pleases, and a number of our own rogues besides. The discoverer of these places planted on his newfound land a large cross, with one flag of England and another of St. Mark, by reason of his being a Venetian." Again, in May, 1498, John Cabot started for India by sailing toward the northwest. This time the fleet was larger, and filled with eager English sailors. But Cabot could not find a way to India, so he altered his course and coasted southward as far as the region now called North Carolina. Now because of these two voyages of Cabot, England later claimed a large part of North America, for he had really seen the mainland of America before Columbus. Spain also claimed the same region, but we have seen how Mexico and Peru drew Spaniards to those countries. If England had been quick to act and had made settlements where Cabot explored, she would have had little Why England trouble in getting a hold in North America. But she did not do so. Henry VII was old and stingy. Cabot in sethad twice failed to find India with its treasures of gold tling and silver, so little attention was given to the new lands. SIR FRANCIS DRAKE, THE ENGLISH "DRAGON," WHO SAILED THE SPANISH MAIN AND WHO SINGED THE KING OF SPAIN'S BEARD" 23. The Quarrel between Spain and England. After John Cabot failed to find a new way to India, King Henry did nothing more to help English discovery. His son, Henry VIII, got into a great quarrel with the King of Spain. He was too busy with this quarrel to think much about America. But during this very time, Cortés and Pizarro were doing their wonderful deeds. Spain grew bold, seized English seamen, threw them into dungeons, and even burned them at the stake. Englishmen robbed Spanish ships and killed Spanish sailors in revenge. was slow America Their sailors 24. Sir Francis Drake. A most daring English seaman was Sir Francis Drake. From boyhood days he had been a sailor. His cousin, Captain Hawkins, gave take up him command of a ship against Mexico, but the Spaniards the fell upon it, killed many of the sailors, and took all they quarrel had. Drake came back ruined, and eager to take revenge. Why hated the Spaniards Begins his most famous voyage Besides, he hated the Spaniards because he thought they were plotting to kill Elizabeth, the Queen of England. In 1573 Drake returned to England with his ship loaded with gold and precious stones, captured from the Spaniards on the Isthmus of Panama. 25. Drake's Voyage around the World. After four years Drake, with four small but fast vessels, sailed direct for the Strait of Magellan. He was determined to sail the Pacific, which he had seen while on the Isthmus of Panama. In June his fleet entered the harbor of Patagonia where Magellan had spent the winter more than fifty years before. After destroying his smallest vessel, which was leaky, Drake sailed to the entrance of the Strait. Here he changed the name of his ship from the Pelican to the Golden Hind, with ceremonies fitting SIR FRANCIS DRAKE From the original portrait attributed to the occasion. The fleet passed safely through the Strait, but as it sailed out into the Pacifica terrible storm scattered the ships. One went down, and one returned to England, believing that Drake's ship, the Golden Hind, had been destroyed. But Drake had a bold heart, good sailors, and a stout ship. After the storm he sailed north to Valparaiso, where his men saw the first great treasure ship. The Spanish sailors jumped overboard, and |