Chapter IX

1504-1524.

The competitive zeal which Portugal, Spain, and England had displayed, in searching for a short water-way to the eastern coast of Asia, in time quickened the ambition of France to emulate these maritime powers in discovering a desirable route across the Atlantic to the vast domains of the Grand Khan of Cathay. The Gulf of St. Lawrence, as early as the year 1504, was frequented by the fishing vessels of France. The exploration of the coast of the New Land, north of the present Atlantic territory of the United States of America, is described by a famous French sea-captain of Dieppe, in 1539.

“The said land, that part running east and west [Cape Breton Island and Nova Scotia?], was discovered about thirty-five years ago by the Bretons [Britons?] and Normans; hence this land has been called the Cape of the Bretons [Britons?].

“The other part [Newfoundland?] running north and south from Cape Ras to Cape Buona Vista, including nearly seventy leagues, was discovered by the Portuguese, and the remainder, as far as the Gulf of Castiles [north of the Strait of Belle Isle], and still farther, was discovered by the said Bretons [Britons?] and Normans.[361]

“About thirty-three years ago, a ship of Honfleur first went there, of which vessel Jean Denis was captain, and Gamart, of Rouen, pilot. In the year 1508, a ship of Dieppe, called La Pensée, owned by Jean Ango, father of the captain and viscount of Dieppe, sailed there, the master or patron of the said ship being Thomas Aubert, and he was the first person who brought here people from that country.”[362]

In company with the Pensée, another ship, commanded by Giovanni da Verrazzano, also sailed from the port of Dieppe. The two entering the river of St. Lawrence, ascended it to the distance of eighty leagues. The exploration of the river is thus described: “The people of Dieppe continued their commercial intercourse with the East Indies. When they heard of the discoveries which the Spaniards had made in America, they found their emulation incited, and they equipped two vessels to discover whether that part of the world did not extend its coast to the north. They intrusted the command of the ships to two of their most skillful captains, named Thomas Aubert and Jean Vérassen. These two ships sailed from Dieppe at the beginning of the year 1508, and discovered the same year the St. Lawrence River, to which they gave the name of Saint Lawrence because they began to ascend it on this saint’s day [the tenth of August]. They explored the river for more than eighty leagues, finding the inhabitants friendly, with whom they made very profitable exchanges for peltries.”[363]

As related in the chronicle of Eusebius, printed at Paris in 1512, it appears that Aubert and Verrazzano, on their departure from the New Land, carried to France a number of natives. Under the date of 1509, it is said: “Seven wild men were brought from that island (which is called the New Land) to Rouen with their canoe, clothing, and weapons. They are of a sooty color, with thick lips, and bearing marks on the face drawn like blue veins along the cheek-bones from the ear to the middle of the chin; with black hair and coarse like a horse’s mane; having no beard throughout the whole life; no hair on any part of the body, except on the head and eyebrows. They wear a girdle to cover their nakedness, in which girdle is a sort of pouch; they form a dialect with their lips; religion they have none. Their canoe is bark, which a man can lift on his shoulders with one hand. Their weapons are large bows, the strings being intestines or sinews of animals; their arrows are canes barbed with flint or fish-bone. Their food is boiled flesh; their drink water. Of bread and wine and money they have not the least use. They go naked or clad in the skins of beasts,—bears, deer, sea-calves, and the like. Their country, parallel to the seventh climate,[364] is nearer the West[365] than France is farther from it.”[366]

Although for a number of years, at the beginning of the sixteenth century, this part of North America was visited by English, French, and Portuguese seamen, it appears that no navigator had yet sailed along the peculiarly marked and sinuous coast of the new continent between the thirty-fourth and the forty-fifth parallels of north latitude. Fortunately for France, Giovanni da Verrazzano, a Florentine, who, in 1508, had sailed with Aubert to the New Land, was sent a second time on a voyage of discovery toward the west.[367] As pertinently said by Asher: “What Cadamosta had done for Portugal, Columbus for Spain, John Cabot for England, that Verrazzano did for France.”[368]

The history of Verazzano’s second visit to America rightly begins with the attempt of the king of Portugal, in 1523, to impede the sailing of the vessels preparing for the voyage. The means which King John III. of Portugal employed to frustrate this undertaking are partly described by D’Andrada, the Portuguese historian. He says: “At that time the king was told by some Portuguese doing business in France that one João Varezano [Giovanni da Varrazzano], a Florentine, offered himself to Francis to discover other kingdoms in the East, which the Portuguese had not found, and that in the ports of Normandy a fleet was making ready, under the patronage of the admirals of the coast and the dissimulation of Francis, to plant a colony in Santa Cruz, called Brazil, discovered and laid down by the Portuguese on the second voyage to India.[369] Accordingly, he [King John III.] sent to France an embassador, João da Silveyra, son of Fernão da Silveyra, who delayed his going no longer than was necessary to get ready.”[370]

On his arrival at the court of France, Silveyra pursued his investigations respecting the expedition, and on the twenty-fifth of April, 1523, wrote to King John III., saying:

“By what I hear Master João Verazano, who is going on the discovery of Cathay, has not left up to this date for want of opportunity, and because of differences, I understand, between himself and men; and on this point, although knowing nothing positively, I have written my doubts in accompanying letters. I shall continue to doubt, unless he take his departure.”[371] Silveyra, according to what is said by D’Andrada, “accomplished nothing he had in hand except to delay the voyage of the Florentine.”

Notwithstanding the secret machinations of the king of Portugal, four vessels were finally fitted out and placed under the command of Verrazzano, “to discover new lands.” Late in the year 1523, the fleet set sail, but having encountered a severe storm in the North Sea, all the ships were disabled, and Verrazzano, having returned to Brittany to repair the two barques, La Normandie and La Dauphine, afterward sailed in the Dauphine to the New Land.[372]

When he returned to France, he wrote an interesting letter to Francis I., king of France, dated “on board the ship La Dauphine, in the port of Dieppe, in Normandy, July 8, 1524.”[373] In this communication Verrazzano relates what had happened to his fleet in the North Sea, how he had carried out the orders of the king by sailing in the Dauphine toward the west to go to Cathay, where and when he discovered a new land never before seen by men of ancient or modern times. He then describes the people inhabiting the country, speaks of its various productions, mentions the peculiar physical features of its coast, tells how many leagues he had sailed along it, and concludes with a brief review of the discoveries made to the year 1524 in the western hemisphere. His remarks concerning his failure to find a convenient harbor where he first descried land, of his unsuccessful search for one south of the thirty-fourth parallel, of his steering afterward toward the north in quest of a haven, and of his disappointment in this direction, are so applicable to the peculiar features of this part of the eastern coast of the United States, that it is easy to perceive that he faithfully pictures the shores of South Carolina and North Carolina, along which he began his explorations. The comparisons he makes respecting the natives, the flora, the fauna, the climate, and the harbors of the more northern part of the coast, prove that he had travelled extensively in other parts of the world, and that he was well informed concerning the things he commented upon in his letter. His geographical knowledge is far in advance of that of the scientific men of his time, and he constantly shows that he was practically acquainted with all the known means which were then used to ascertain longitude, latitude, and the measurement of distances. His opinion that the Orient extended around to the New Land was well founded, since it was not known until the eighteenth century that Behring’s Strait separated America from Asia. His reasoning concerning the dimensions of the new continent, that if its breadth corresponded to the extent of its sea-coast it doubtless exceeded Asia in size, is logically correct. Verrazzano’s hopefulness that information of a more satisfactory character respecting the extent of the territory of the New Land would be obtained by other explorers, shows that he was less thoughtful of the brilliancy of his own achievements than he was of the more desirable and important results of future voyages to that part of the present coast of the United States, between the thirty-fourth and forty-fifth parallels, of which he is rightfully entitled to be regarded the discoverer. Verrazzano wrote:[374]

“Most Serene Sire:

“After the past fortune on the northern coasts I did not write
to your most serene and Christian majesty concerning the
success of the four vessels ordered to the ocean to discover
new lands, thinking that you would be informed of all: how, by
the impetuous stress of the winds, we were compelled, with only
the ships La Normandie and La Dauphine, in a damaged condition,
to put back to Brittany, where they were mended. Your serene
majesty has heard of the wandering course we made with these,
armed as in war, along the shores of Spain, and afterward of
the new purpose to pursue, with the Dauphine alone, the first
voyage, from which having returned, I will give your serene
majesty an account of what we discovered.[375]

“From the desert-rock[376] in the sea, near the island of
Madeira of the most serene king of Portugal, we departed with
the said Dauphine, on the seventeenth of the past month of
January, with fifty men, furnished with provisions, arms, and
other martial instruments, and naval stores for eight months.
Sailing westwardly, an easterly wind blowing pleasantly and
moderately, we ran in twenty-five days 800 leagues.[377] On the
fourteenth of February (_il di 14 Febbrajo_), we encountered a
storm as severe as any one navigating ever experienced, from
which we were enabled with divine help and goodness to escape,
to the praise of the glorious and fortunate name of the ship,
which endured the violent waves of the sea, and we pursued
our voyage, continuing toward the west, holding a little to
the north. In twenty-five more days (_in venti cinque altri
giorni_), we ran 400 other leagues, when there appeared a new
land, never before seen by men in ancient or modern times.

“At first it seemed to be somewhat low. On approaching it
within a quarter of a league, we saw by the large fires made
on the shore that it was inhabited. We observed that the coast
trended toward the south, and we inspected it to discover some
harbor which we might enter with the ship to examine the nature
of the land, but for fifty leagues along it we could not find a
convenient haven where we could safely stay. Seeing the coast
continued to run toward the south, we determined to turn and go
back to the north, where we found the same want of harbors as
we ascended the coast.”

The New Land (_Nuova Terra_), discovered by Verrazzano, was first seen by him on the tenth of March, (_old style_,) being that part of the coast of the continent now included in the present territory of North Carolina, north of Cape Fear,[378] on the thirty-fourth parallel of north latitude. It appears that Verrazzano had thought of finding land on his way to the Indies, for he says: “My intention in this voyage was to reach Cathay, on the extreme coast of Asia, expecting, however, to find in the newly discovered land some such obstacle as I found.”

“Ordering a boat to carry us ashore, we beheld,” says Verrazzano, “many people who had collected on the beach. Seeing us approaching, they fled. Some, however, turned and gazed at us with much curiosity. Assuring them by various signs, a number came near, manifesting great delight in scrutinizing the peculiarities of our clothing, figure, and whiteness. They indicated by signs where we could most easily land with the boat, and proffered us some of their food. What we were able to learn of their life and customs while on land, I will briefly relate to your majesty.

“They go nearly naked, wearing only about the loins some skins of small animals similar to the martens. A girdle of woven grass encircles the body, to which they fasten the tails of animals, which hang down as far as the knees. All the rest of the body is nude, as is also the head. Some of them wear drapery in like manner made of the feathers of birds. The color of these people is black (_neri_), not very different from that of the Ethiopians. Their hair is black and thick, but not very long; it is worn tied back upon the head in the form of a little tail.[379] In person they are of good proportion, of middle-stature, a little above our own, broad across the breast, strong in the arms, and well-formed in the legs and other parts of the body; the only exception to their good looks is that they have broad faces, but not all of them, for we saw many who had sharp ones, with large black eyes and a fixed expression. They are not very strong in body, but acute in mind, active and swift of foot as far as we could perceive by observation. They greatly resemble in these two last particulars the people of the East, especially those of the remote regions. We were not able to learn much concerning their habits on account of our short stay on land and the distance of our ship from the shore.”

Verrazzano designated his first landing-place on the coast of the New Land by calling it Diepa, the Italian form of the French name Dieppe, that of the port from which he had sailed to make discoveries in the western hemisphere. Visconte de Maiollo, on his map of the world made in 1527, places the name Diepa on the coast of Francesca, a little north of Terra Florida.[380]

Describing his next place of anchorage, Verrazzano says: “We found not far from this people another, whose mode of life we judged to be similar to that of the former. The whole shore is covered with fine sand about fifteen feet deep, rising in the form of little hills about fifty paces broad. Ascending farther, we found several arms of the sea which, entering through inlets, washed the shore on each side as the coast trends. An extensive country appears, rising somewhat above the level of the sandy beach in beautiful fields and broad plains, covered with immense forests, more or less dense, the foliage of the trees being of various colors, too attractive and charming to be described. I do not believe that these are like the Hercynian forest, or the rough solitudes of Scythia, or the northern regions full of vines and trees, but growing with palms,[381] laurels, cypresses, and other varieties of trees unknown in Europe, which exhale a very sweet fragrance a great distance. We could not examine them closely for the reasons already mentioned, and not on account of any difficulty in traversing the woods, which, on the contrary, are easily penetrated.

“As the Orient stretches around to this country,[382] I do not think that it is devoid of the same kind of drugs and aromatic liquors, nor of other resources as gold and the like, which the color of the earth indicated.[383] The country abounds with many animals as deer, stags, hares, and the like. It is plentifully supplied with lakes and ponds of running water, and with a great variety of birds, fit and useful for every kind of pleasant and delightful sport. This land lies in 34°. The air is salubrious, pure, and of a temperature neither hot nor cold. There are no impetuous winds in these regions, the most prevalent being the northwest and west.

“When we were there in summer-time the sky was clear with little rain, and if fogs and mists were at any time driven in by the south wind, they quickly disappeared, and the sky became again serene and bright. The sea is tranquil and not stormy. Although the whole coast is low and without harbors, it is not dangerous to navigate, being free from rocks and bold, so that within four or five fathoms from the shore there are twenty-four feet of water at all times of tide, and this depth uniformly increases as you go farther into the sea. The holding ground is so good that no ship can part her cable, however strong the wind may be, as we proved by experience, for while riding at anchor on the coast we were overtaken by a gale in the beginning of March, when the winds are high, as is usual in all countries, and we found our anchor broken before it started from its place or moved at all.”

“March being the season in our southern climate, when vegetation of all kinds is putting forth,” says an American writer, residing in South Carolina, “the woods presented to the stranger a greater variety of charms than he had ever beheld. The trees, green and beautiful with the living verdure of our early spring, were bending down with rich clusters of golden jessamine, which spread their rich perfume over the whole air, while the underbrush embraced a collection of aromatic shrubs and wild flowers, which might easily be mistaken for the rich spices of oriental production.”[384]

After inspecting the sandy, harborless shore of Onslow Bay, Verrazzano sailed eastwardly in order to double Cape Lookout, in 34° 37´ north latitude. “We set sail from this place,” he says, “continuing to coast along the shore, which we found turned to the west, [east in the direction in which he was sailing]. The inhabitants were numerous, for we saw every-where many fires.[385] While at anchor on this coast, there being no harbor to enter, we sent the boat to the shore with twenty-five men to obtain water, but it was impossible to land without endangering the boat, on account of the very high surf thrown upon the shore by the sea, as it was an open roadstead.[386] Many natives came to the beach, and signified by various friendly signs that we might trust ourselves on land. One of their noble deeds of friendship deserves to be made known to your majesty. A young sailor was attempting to swim ashore through the surf to carry them some knick-knacks, as little bells, looking-glasses, and similar trifles, when after approaching near to three or four natives and casting them the things and turning about to get back to the boat, he was overturned by the waves and so dashed by them upon the beach that he lay there as if he were dead. When the people saw him in this condition they ran and took him up by the head, legs, and arms, and carried him some distance from the surf. The young man, finding himself borne off in this way, uttered very loud shrieks in fear and dismay, while they answered as best they could in their language, intimating that he had no cause for fear. Afterward they laid him down at the foot of a little hill, where they took off his shirt and trousers, and examined him, expressing the greatest astonishment at the whiteness of his skin. Our sailors in the boat seeing a great fire kindled and their companion placed very near it, full of fear, as is usual in all cases of a novel character, imagined that the natives were about to roast him for food. But as soon as he had recovered his strength, after a short stay with them, and had shown by signs that he wished to return to the boat, they affectionately hugged him and accompanied him to the beach, where leaving him, they withdrew to a little hill, that he might feel more free, and watched him until he was safe in the boat. This young man reported that these people were black as the others, that they had shining skin, middle-stature, but sharper faces and very delicate bodies and limbs, and that they were inferior in strength but quicker in thought. This is all he observed.”

After this adventure, which likely occurred somewhere on the coast near the thirty-sixth parallel, perhaps in the vicinity of Roanoke Island, North Carolina, Verrazzano steered northwardly, and while sailing at night passed by the entrance to Chesapeake Bay and anchored off the coast of Virginia, some distance north of Cape Charles, which is in 37° 3´.

“Departing from this place [the coast of North Carolina], and always following the coast which trended toward the north, we came,” says Verrazzano, “in the space of fifty leagues to another land, which appeared very beautiful and full of large forests. We approached it and going ashore with twenty men, went back from the coast about two leagues, and found that the people had fled and hid themselves in the woods in fear. By searching around we discovered in the grass a very old woman with a young girl of about eighteen or twenty years of age, who had concealed themselves for the same reason. The old woman carried two infants on her shoulders, and behind her neck a little boy about eight years old. When we came upon them they began to shriek and make signs to the men who had fled to the woods. We gave them a part of our provisions, which they accepted with delight, but the girl would not touch any, every thing we offered to her being thrown down in great anger. We took the little boy from the old woman to carry him with us to France, and would have taken the girl also, who was very beautiful and very tall, but it was impossible on account of the piercing shrieks she uttered, when we attempted to lead her away. Having to pass some woods, and being far from the ship, we determined to leave her and only take the boy. We found these people fairer (_più bianchi_) than those we had passed. From certain grasses hanging from the branches of trees, they make their clothing; the grasses being woven together with threads of wild hemp. Their heads were uncovered and of the same shape as the other natives we had seen. Their food is a kind of pulse which abounds there, different in color and in size from ours, and of a very pleasant taste. Besides they use birds and fish for food, which they take with snares, and bows made of hard wood. Their arrows are reeds, in the ends of which they fasten the bones of fish and of animals. The animals in these regions are wilder than those in Europe by being more frequently molested by those hunting them. We saw many of their boats constructed of a single tree, twenty feet long and four feet wide, fabricated without the use of stone or iron or other metal. Along the whole coast which we explored for the space of two hundred leagues, we saw no stone of any sort. To hollow out the log they burn as much of it as will form the concave part of the boat, and also form the ends which are to be the prow and stern, to make the boat float well. The land in situation, fertility, and beauty is like the other, covered with forests, filled with different kinds of trees but not such fragrant ones, since the region is farther north and colder.”

While exploring the peninsula of Virginia, the warm-hearted and sympathetic Florentine was pleasingly reminded of his own delightful country by seeing many wild grape-vines festooning the tall forest trees. He observed that the savages carefully removed the shading shrubbery near the prolific vines, so that the ripening rays of the sun could fall on the green fruit.

“We saw in this country,” he says, “many vines growing naturally, entwining themselves about the trees, climbing as they do in Cisalpine Gaul, which, if they were dressed in the right way of cultivation by husbandmen, they would produce without doubt the best of wines, because often the fruit of that drinking is agreeable and sweet, seeing it is not different from our own, (_perche più volte il frutto di quello beendo, veggendo suave e dolce non dal nostro differente_). The vines are held in high estimation by the inhabitants, for they take away all the surrounding concealing shrubbery to enable the fruit to grow.[387]

“We also found,” Verrazzano further relates, “wild roses, violets, lilies, and many kinds of plants and fragrant flowers differing from our own. We cannot describe the habitations of the people as the structures were in the interior, but from various indications we concluded they were formed of trees and shrubs. There were also many signs which led us to suppose that the inhabitants often sleep in the open air without any covering but the sky. We are ignorant of their other habits. We believe, however, that all the people we were among live in the same way.”

When Verrazzano was on land with the twenty men, he crossed the narrow peninsula of Virginia and beheld the wide expanse of Chesapeake Bay.[388] This great body of water, stretching toward the north and south as far as he could see, and spreading westward to an unknown distance, led the surprised explorer to imagine that it was a part of the Indian Ocean, (_Mare Indicum_), by which, if there were a navigable entrance to it, he might sail to Cathay.[389] Ignorant of the fact that he had already passed at night the channel leading to this expanse of water, Verrazzano entertained the thought that he might discover one along the coast farther northward. Although he determined not to sail again at night along the New Land, and resolved to inspect its coast more closely thereafter, he failed to find a passage to the assumed western sea, when he sailed northward. After returning to France, he made a map on which he represented this sea separated from the Atlantic Ocean by a narrow neck of land, similar in outline and situation to the northern part of the peninsula of Virginia. This is corroborated by Hakluyt, the English collector, who says: “Master John Verazanus, which had been thrise on that coast, in an olde excellent mappe which he gave to King Henrie the eight, and is yet in the custodie of Master Locke, doth so lay it out.”[390]

ON MERCATOR’S PROJECTION.]

Verrazzano’s brother, Hieronymus, also made a map of New France, on which he placed this explanatory inscription respecting this part of the coast, which he also delineates as a narrow tract of land: “From this eastern sea [the Atlantic] one beholds the western sea; there are six miles of land between them.”[391] The Sea of Verrazzano (_Mare de Verrazana_), represented on the fan-shaped map made by Michael Locke, in 1582, was, as Hakluyt affirms, “according to Verazanus plat,” which “laieth out the sea makinge a little necke of land in 40 degrees of latitude much like the streyte necke or istmus of Dariena.”[392]

Sailing northwardly from the peninsula of Virginia, Verrazzano proceeded leisurely along the coast searching for an entrance to the so-called western sea. Although he does not speak of entering Delaware Bay, there is no testimony to contradict the assertion that he explored it. Describing his voyage along the coasts of the present states of Maryland, Delaware, and New Jersey, Verrazzano writes: “After having remained here three days, riding at anchor off the coast [of Virginia], for we could not find a harbor, we determined to depart, sailing always along the shore, which trended to the northeast, only navigating in day-time and coming to anchor at night.”

About the last of April, 1524, the Dauphine arrived off the low point of land, now called Sandy Hook, designated on Maiollo’s map of 1527 as C. de S. Maria (Cape of St. Mary).[393] Seeing the convenient haven north of it, Verrazzano changed the vessel’s course and slowly sailed into the spacious roadstead. Having found a suitable riding-place, the French barque cast her anchor in the sight of a multitude of interested natives, who from the neighboring hills witnessed the first mooring of a European ship in the tranquil waters of the large bay.

The ship’s boat being manned, Verrazzano began to explore the mouth of the great river, as he designated the channel now called the Narrows. Eager to know the destination of the strange explorers, the curious natives thronged the shores of Staten and Long islands as Verrazzano and his men passed up the Narrows in mid-stream toward the upper bay, which the enthusiastic Italian denominated a very beautiful lake. Entering the commodious bay, Verrazzano hastily surveyed its islands and inlets, the mouth of the noble river flowing into it, and the distant highlands dimly defined along the northern horizon. Describing his short exploration of the upper bay of New York, Verrazzano writes:

“At the end of one hundred leagues we discovered a very delightful place among some small hills, eminences, between which ran a very great river (_una grandissima riviera_) to the ocean, which was deep within to the mouth, and from the sea to the enlargement of the bay the rise of the tide was eight feet, and through it any heavy ship can pass.[394]

“As in good duty we did not wish to run the risk of penetrating the coast without knowledge of the mouth of the river, we took the boat and entered the river within the country where we found it to be thickly inhabited and the people resembling the others we had seen, adorned with birds’ feathers of different colors, coming toward us with evident delight, uttering very loud cries of admiration, indicating, if we had to land with the boat, where it was most safe. We entered the said river within the country about half a league, where we saw it formed a most beautiful lake (_un bellissimo lago_), about three leagues in compass, upon which we saw boats, thirty in number, moving from one part to another with innumerable people, who passed from shore to shore to see us.[395] Very suddenly, as is wont to happen to those navigating, an impetuous contrary wind blew in from the sea, compelling us to return to the ship. We departed from this region with much displeasure on account of its extent and attractiveness, for we believed that it was not without some resources of wealth as all the hills indicated the existence of minerals in them.”

As a geographical designation for the very great river (_una grandissima riviera_), the name Grande (Great) River was used by some of the most celebrated map-makers of Europe, during the sixteenth century. In the seventeenth century, when the Dutch took possession of this part of New France, the Dutch synonym, “Groote,” was substituted for the Italian designation. The Spaniards, who explored the coast of North America after Verrazzano had inspected it, gave different names to the river.

Henry Hudson was induced to explore the Grande River by Captain John Smith, who believed that the English navigator could find a strait connecting it with the western sea (Mare Indicum) delineated on Verrazzano’s map. In the summer of 1609, when Hudson attempted to sail to Asia by a passage north of Novaya Zemlya, and was compelled to abandon the project on account of the barrier of ice surrounding the island, it is said he placed before the officers and crew of the Half Moon (Halve Maen), the choice of one of two proposals. Respecting the proposals of which they had the consideration, the Dutch historian, Van Meteren, thus speaks: “Master Hudson gave them their choice of two things, the first was to go to the coast of America, at the fortieth degree of latitude, mostly incited to this by letters and maps which a certain Captain Smith had sent him from Virginia, and on which he showed him a sea by which he might circumnavigate their southern colony [Virginia] from the north, and from there pass into a western sea. The other proposal was to seek the passage by Davis’s Strait.”[396]

Hudson, besides knowing the situation of the noble stream, was also informed that it was called the Great (Grande) River. Robert Juet, the journalist of the voyage of 1609, recording the incidents of the last day’s exploration of the river, writes: “Within a while after, we came out also of the great mouth of _the great Riuer_.”[397]

De Laet, the Dutch historian, writing in 1625, mentions the fact that the Dutch used the name “Great” for the river in preference to all the other appellations designating it: “The great north river of New Netherland was called by some the Manhattes river, from the people who dwell near its mouth; by others, Rio de Montaignes (River of the Mountains), but by our countrymen it was mostly called ‘_de groote rieviere_’ (the Great river).”[398] As early as the year 1624, the name “Hudson’s River” was inscribed on maps to designate the stream discovered by Verrazzano.[399]

Sailing from the mouth of the Grande River, between the Cape of Saint Mary (C. de S. Maria) and the point of land denominated Anguileme[400] on Maiollo’s map of 1527, Verrazzano coasted along the south side of Long Island for fifty leagues, at the end of which he passed the eastern extremity of the island, now called Montauk Point. While seeking, during a storm, a port of refuge eastward of Long Island, Verrazzano discovered the island now called Block Island, which he describes as triangular in form, and in size about equal to the island of Rhodes.[401] Block Island lies southwest of Narragansett Bay, and is about eight miles long and about five miles broad at its widest part. Verrazzano called it Luisa, the name of the mother of King Francis I., Louise, the daughter of Philippe, duke of Savoy. The orthography of the Italian name, as presented by Visconte de Maiollo on his map of the world of 1527, was soon corrupted by map-makers, and on a number of charts of the sixteenth century it is inscribed “Brisa” and “Briso.” The names “Claude” and “Claudia” appear on some maps as designations for it, used most likely, in honor of Claude, the wife of Francis I., the first being the French orthography of the appellation, and the latter the Italian.

The departure of the Dauphine from the mouth of the Grande River, Verrazzano thus describes: “Weighing anchor, we sailed fifty leagues toward the east, as the coast trended in that direction, and always in sight of it. At the end of the course we discovered an island of a triangular form about ten leagues from the main-land, in size about equal to the island of Rhodes, having many hills covered with trees, and well peopled, judging from the great number of fires we saw all around it. We gave it the name of your majesty’s illustrious mother. We did not land on it, as the weather was unfavorable.”

Sailing northeasterly from Block Island, the Italian explorer beheld the coast of the main-land, and anchored the Dauphine in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island. Speaking of the discovery of the commodious bay, designated on Maiollo’s map by the Italian name, “Refugio,” Verrazzano says:

“We proceeded to another place fifteen leagues distant from the island, where we found a very excellent harbor. Before entering it we saw about twenty small boats filled with people, who came to the ship with various cries and wonderment. But they would not approach nearer than fifty paces. Stopping, they looked at the structure of the ship, our persons, and dress. Afterward they all cried out loudly together, signifying that they were delighted. By imitating their signs we inspired them with a measure of confidence, so that they came near enough for us to toss them some little bells and glasses and many toys, which they took and looked at laughing, and then came on board without fear. Among them were two kings more attractive in form and stature than can be described. One was about forty years old, the other about twenty-four, and they were dressed in the following fashion.

“The elder king had the skin of a deer wrapped around his nude body, artificially made with various embroideries to decorate it. His head was bare. His hair was bound behind with various bands, and around his neck he wore a large chain ornamented with many stones of different colors. The younger king was like him in appearance. This was the finest-looking people and the handsomest in their costumes that we found in our voyage. They exceed us in size, and are of a very fair complexion (_sono di colore bianchissimo_); some of them incline more to a white, and others to a tawny color. Their faces are sharp; their hair is long and black, on the adornment of which they bestow great care. Their eyes are black and keen; their demeanor is gentle and attractive, very much like that of the ancients. I say nothing to your majesty of the other parts of the body that are all in good proportion as belong to well-formed men.

“The women resemble them in size, and are very graceful and handsome, and quite attractive in dress and manners. They had no other clothing except a deer-skin, ornamented as were the skins worn by the men. Some had very rich lynx-skins upon their arms, and wore various ornaments upon their heads, braided in their hair, which hung down upon their breasts. Others wore different ornaments, such as those of the women of Egypt and Syria. The older and the married people, both men and women, wore many ornaments in their ears, hanging down in Oriental fashion.

“We saw on them pieces of wrought copper, which is more esteemed by them than gold, the latter being deemed the most ordinary of metals, yellow being a color much disliked by them. Blue and red are the colors which they value most highly. Of the things which we gave them, they preferred the bells, azure crystals, and other toys, which they hung in their ears and about their necks. They do not value or desire to have silk or gold-drapery, or other kinds of cloth, nor implements of steel or iron. When we showed them our weapons, they expressed no admiration, and only asked how they were made. The same indifference was manifested when they were given the looking-glasses, which they with smiles returned to us as soon as they had looked at them. They are very generous, giving away whatever they have.

“We formed a great friendship with them, and one day we entered into port with our ship, having before rode at the distance of a league from the shore, as the weather was unfavorable. They came to the ship with a number of their little boats, with their faces painted with different colors, manifesting real signs of joy, bringing us of their provisions, and signifying to us where we could best ride in safety with our ship, and keeping with us until we had cast anchor.

“We remained among them fifteen days to provide ourselves with many things of which we were in want, during which time they came every day to see our ship, bringing with them their wives, of whom they were very careful, for, although they came on board themselves, and remained a long while, they made their wives stay in the boats, nor could we ever get them on board by any solicitations or any presents we could make them. One of the two kings, however, often came with his queen and many attendants to see us for his amusement. But he always stopped on land at the distance of about two hundred paces from us, and sent a boat to announce his intended visit, saying they would come and see our ship. This was done for safety, and as soon as they had received our answer, they came and remained some time to look around. On hearing the annoying cries of the sailors, the king sent the queen, with her attendants, in a very light boat to wait, near an island, a quarter of a league distant, while he remained a long time on board, talking with us by signs, and expressing his fanciful notions about every thing in the ship, and asking the use of all. After imitating our modes of salutation, and tasting our food, he courteously took leave of us. Once, when our men remained two or three days on a small island near the ship for their various necessities, as sailors are wont to do, he came with seven or eight of his attendants to inquire about our movements, often asking us if we intended to remain there long, and offering us every thing at his command. Sometimes he would shoot with his bow, and run up and down with his people, making great sport for us. We often went five or six leagues into the interior, and found the country as pleasant as can be conceived, adapted to cultivation of every kind, whether of corn, wine, or oil. There are open plains twenty-five and thirty leagues in length, entirely free from trees or other obstructions, and so fertile that whatever is sown there will yield an excellent crop. On entering the woods, we observed that they might all be traversed by any large army. The trees in them were oaks, cypresses, and others unknown in Europe. We found, also, apples, plums, filberts, and many other fruits, but of a different kind from ours. The animals, which are in great numbers, stags, deer, lynx, and many other kinds, are taken with snares and by bows; the latter is the principal weapon of the natives. Their arrows are beautifully made. For points they use emery, jasper, hard marble, and other sharp stones instead of iron. They also use the same kind of sharp stones in cutting down trees, and with them construct their boats of single logs, hollowed out with admirable skill, and sufficiently commodious to seat ten or twelve persons. Their oars are short, with broad blades, and are rowed by the force of the arms, with the greatest care and as rapidly as they wish.

“We saw their dwellings, which are circular in form, about ten or twelve paces in circumference, made of logs split in half, without any regularity of architecture, and covered with roofs of straw, nicely put on, which protect them from wind and rain. There is no doubt that they would build stately edifices if they had workmen as skillful as ours, for the whole sea-coast abounds with shining stones, crystals, and alabaster, and on this account it has dens and retreats for animals. They change their habitations from place to place, as circumstances of situation and season may require. This is easily done, for they have only to take with them their mats, and they have other houses immediately prepared.

“The father and the whole family dwell together in one house. In some of their houses we saw twenty-five or thirty persons. Their food is pulse, as that of the other people, which is here better than elsewhere, and more carefully cultivated. In the time of sowing they are governed by the moon, which they think effects the sprouting of the grain. They have many other ancient customs. They live by hunting and fishing, and they are long lived. If they fall sick ...[402] they cure themselves without medicine, with the heat of fire. Death comes to them at last from extreme old age. We judged them to be very affectionate and charitable toward their relatives, for they make loud lamentations in their adversity, and in their misery call to remembrance all their good deeds. When they die their relations mutually join in weeping mingled with singing for a long while. This is all that we could learn of them.

“This region is situated on the parallel of Rome, in 41⅔ degrees, as I shall narrate hereafter to your serene majesty.[403] At present I shall describe the situation of this place. At its south end the channel is narrow and a half league wide. It extends, between east [south?], and north, twelve leagues. Then it enlarges and forms a very spacious bay twenty leagues in circuit, in which are five small islands, very fertile and attractive, and covered with high trees. The bay is so spacious that between these islands any number of vessels might ride at ease without fear of tempests and other dangers. At the entrance of the bay, farther south, there are very attractive hills on both sides of the channel, and many streams of clear water flow from the eminences into the sea. In the middle of the mouth there is a rock of freestone (_uno scoglio di viva pietra_), formed by nature and suitable for the construction of any kind of machine or bulwark for the defence of the haven.”

Verrazzano’s description of Narragansett Bay, named Port du Refuge on Gastaldi’s map of 1553,[404] is so accurate that without any other information it would be easy to determine the situation of the place where for fifteen days, ending the sixth of May (_old style_), he and his crew held familiar intercourse with the friendly Indians inhabiting the islands and the main-land in the vicinity of the anchorage of the Dauphine. The latitude of the bay given by Verrazzano cannot be gainsaid.[405]

Departing, on the sixth of May, from Port du Refuge, the Dauphine sailed on a southeasterly course to pass the islands of Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket. Having steered fifty leagues in this direction, Verrazzano found the coast to trend toward the north, which he followed until he again cast anchor off the coast of Maine, a little north of the forty-third parallel.

The wary aborigines of this part of the New Land would not venture near the Dauphine, nor could they be induced to part with their commodities until they were remunerated with such things as were most useful to them. The landing of twenty-five men from the vessel provoked an attack, and yet after this show of hostility the Indians fled to the woods.

Speaking of his departure from Narragansett Bay, Verrazzano writes: “Having supplied ourselves with every thing necessary, on the sixth of May [_old style_], we departed from the port, and sailed one hundred and fifty leagues, keeping close enough to the coast not to lose it from our sight. The character of the country appeared much the same as before, but the mountains were a little higher, and in all appearance rich in minerals.

“We did not stop to land, as the weather was very favorable for pursuing our voyage, and the country presented no variety. The shore stretched to the east, and fifty leagues beyond more to the north, where we found a more elevated country, full of very dense woods of pine, cypress, and the like, indicative of a cold climate.

“The people were entirely different from the others we had seen, whom we had found kind and gentle, but these were so rude and barbarous that we were unable, by any signs we could make, to hold any communication with them. They clothe themselves with the skins of bears, wolves, lynx, marine, and other animals. Their food, which we inferred from several visits to their dwellings, is obtained by hunting and fishing. They have certain vegetables which are roots of spontaneous growth. They have no pulse, and we saw no signs of its cultivation. The land appears sterile and unfit for the growth of fruits or grain of any kind. If we wished at any time to traffic with them, they came to the sea-shore and stood upon the rocks, from which they lowered down by a cord to our boats beneath whatever they had to barter, continually crying out to us not to come nearer, and instantly demanding from us that which was to be given in exchange. They took from us only knives, fish-hooks, and sharpened steel. No regard was paid to our courtesies. When we had nothing left to exchange with them, the men at our departure made the most brutal signs of disdain and contempt possible. Against their will, we penetrated two or three leagues into the interior with twenty-five men. When we came to the shore, they shot at us with their arrows, uttering the most horrible cries, and afterward fleeing to the woods. In this region we found nothing extraordinary except vast forests, and some metalliferous hills as we inferred, for we saw that many of the people wore copper ear-rings.”

Following the trend of the coast of Maine, Verrazzano found along this part of his course for the space of fifty leagues, numerous islands, thirty-two of which, near the main-land, were high and attractive. Among them he saw many excellent roadsteads and navigable channels.

Describing his exploration along the coast of Maine, Verrazzano remarks: “Departing from this place [perhaps in the vicinity of Cape Neddock], we kept along the coast steering to the northeast, and found the country more pleasant and open, free from woods, and far in the interior we saw lofty mountains, but none which extended to the shore.

“Within fifty leagues we discovered thirty-two small and attractive islands, all near the main-land. They were so high and so disposed as to afford as fine harbors and channels as those that are in the Adriatic Gulf, near Illyria and Dalmatia. We had no intercourse with the people, but we judge that they were similar in disposition and habits to those we were last among.

“After sailing between east and north the distance of one hundred and fifty more leagues, and finding our provisions and naval stores nearly exhausted, we took in wood and water, and determined to return to France, having discovered five hundred and two, that is to say, seven hundred leagues of new land (_avendo discoperto leghe 502 cioe leghe 700 più di nuova terra_).”

The distance of seven hundred leagues Verrazzano reckoned in the following way, as explained by him in his geographical exposition of the voyage: “In addition to the 92 degrees we ran toward the west from our point of departure before we reached land on the thirty-fourth parallel, we have to count 300 [French] leagues, which we ran northeastwardly and 400 nearly east along the coast before we reached the fiftieth parallel of north latitude.” Measured directly north from the thirty-fourth parallel to the fiftieth, the space includes sixteen degrees, which multiplied by 31¼ French leagues, which at that time equaled a degree of latitude, the product of 500 French leagues is obtained.[406] Two leagues added to these, for the distance sailed directly south of the thirty-fourth parallel, make 502 French leagues, or about eleven hundred and four land-miles, the geographical extent of the coast explored by Verrazzano.[407] The New Land (_Nuova Terra_), discovered by Verrazzano, was as early as the year 1527 delineated on a map of the world and denominated Francesca. This Italian name it bore for a number of years until the French geographical designation La Nouvelle France (New France) was substituted for it.[408]

Concluding his description of the new country, Verrazzano remarks: “As to the religious faith of all these tribes, not understanding their language, we could not learn either by signs or gestures any thing certain. It seemed to us that they had no religion or laws, nor any knowledge of a First Cause or Mover,—that they worshipped neither the heavens, stars, sun, moon, nor the other planets. We could not learn if they were given to any kind of idolatry, or offered any sacrifices or supplications, or if they have temples or houses of prayer in their villages. Our conclusion was that they had no religion, but lived without any. This seems to be the result of ignorance, for they are very easily persuaded, and imitated us with earnestness and fervor in all that they saw us do as Christians in our acts of devotion.”

Verrazzano added to this general description of his remarkable discoveries, an elaborate cosmographical explanation of the situation of the New Land. His geometrical elucidation of the distances sailed by the Dauphine, shows how desirous he was to make plain the geography of the vast continent, which he and others had partly explored. He says:

“It remains for me to place before your serene majesty a cosmographical description of the voyage. As I have already said, we departed from the desert-rocks, lying in the extreme part of the West known to the ancients, and in the described meridian near the Fortunate Islands, on the thirty-second parallel from the equator of our hemisphere, and sailed from it westwardly to where we found the first land, 1,200 leagues or 4,800 miles, reckoning according to nautical custom four miles to a [marine] league.[409] ... During our voyage we had no lunar eclipses or similar celestial phenomena. We therefore determined our progress from the difference of longitude, which we ascertained by various instruments, taking the sun’s altitude from day to day, and by calculating geometrically the distance run by the ship from one horizon to another. All these observations, as also the ebb and flow of the tide in all places, were noted down in a little book, which may prove serviceable to navigators. They are communicated to your majesty with the hope of promoting science.

“My intention in this voyage was to reach Cathay, on the extreme coast of Asia, expecting, however, to find in the newly discovered land some obstacle as I found, yet I did not doubt that I should sail by some passage to the eastern ocean. It was the opinion of the ancients that our eastern ocean of India was an expanse of water without any intervening land. Aristotle supports it by arguments founded on various probabilities, but it is contrary to later belief and false by observation. The discovered country, of which the ancients knew nothing, is another world compared with that which was before known, being evidently larger than our Europe together with Africa, and, perhaps, Asia, if one rightly estimate its extent, as shall now be explained briefly to your majesty.”[410] He then speaks of the Spaniards sailing as far south as the Strait of Magellan and as far north as the twenty-first parallel without finding a termination to the continent....

“But to return to ourselves:—in the voyage which we have made by the order of your majesty, in addition to the ninety-two degrees we ran toward the west from the point of our departure before we reached land on the thirty-fourth parallel, we have to count 300 leagues which we sailed northeastwardly, and 400 nearly east along the coast before we reached the fiftieth parallel of north latitude, the point where we turned our course from the shore toward home. Beyond this point the Portuguese had sailed as far north as the arctic circle without coming to the end of the continent. Adding the degrees of south latitude explored, which are fifty-four, to those of the north, which are sixty-six, the sum is one hundred and twenty degrees, and therefore more than are included in the latitude of Africa and Europe, for the north point of Norway, the extremity of Europe, is in 71° north latitude, and the Cape of Good Hope, the southern extremity of Africa, is in 35° south latitude, and their sum is only one hundred and six degrees. If the breadth of this newly discovered country correspond to the extent of its sea-coast, it doubtless exceeds Asia in size. In this way we find that the land forms a much larger part of our globe than the ancients supposed, who maintained, contrary to mathematical reasoning, that it was less than the water, whereas actual experience proves the reverse, so that judging in respect to extent of surface, the land covers apparently as much space as the water.[411]

“I hope to point out and explain more clearly and satisfactorily the great extent of the New Land or New World, of which I have been speaking. Asia and Africa, we know, are joined together and are connected with Norway and Russia with Europe, which disproves the idea of the ancients that all this northern part had been navigated from the promontory of Cimbri [Denmark] eastward as far as the Caspian Sea. They also maintained that the whole continent was surrounded by two oceans, lying east and west of it, which seas in fact do not surround either of the two continents, for as we have already seen the land in the western hemisphere at 54° south latitude extends eastwardly an unknown distance, and that the land north of the equator, beyond the sixty-sixth parallel, turns to the east and does not terminate at the seventieth parallel.[412]

“In a short time, I hope we shall have more satisfactory information concerning these things by the aid of your serene majesty, whom I pray Almighty God to prosper in lasting glory, that we may see the most important results of this our geography in the fulfillment of the holy words of the gospel.

“On board the ship Dauphine, in the port of Dieppe, in Normandy, the 8th day of July, 1524.

“Your humble servant,

“Janus Verazzanus.”