SCANDINAVIAN SETTLEMENTS.

Many subsequent voyages were made to the American mainland for wood, and it was even attempted to plant a permanent colony in Vinland,-but without success, on account of the hostility of the natives.

After three centuries of prosperity, however, the Scandinavian colonies in Greenland began to decay. Emigration thither was forbidden "the black death" carried off many of the people, and the rest fell victims to the natives, and to a piratical fleet which made a descent upon the coast. With the unfortunate colonists died out all knowledge of Vinland, except what was buried in Icelandic records and traditions. The Western Continent, once more lost to the civilized world, remained to be rediscovered by the genius of Co

LUMBUS.

QUESTIONS ON THE MAPS.

Map, p. 6. - Which is the largest of the three continents shown? Which is the smallest? Which extends farthest south? What would be the most direct way of reaching the Western Continent from Europe? From Africa? From Asia? Which of the oceans is the largest? What part of the Pacific is broadest? What part is narrowest? What three grand divisions constitute the Old World? What two, the New World? Map, p. 8. What were Norway and Sweden anciently called? What islands lie about midway between Norway and Iceland? In what part of Greenland were the Norse settlements? What land south-west from Greenland? Describe the route of the Norsemen to the New World.

CHAPTER II.

DISCOVERIES OF COLUMBUS.

Christopher Columbus was born about 1435, at Genoa, then one of the leading commercial cities of Italy. Well grounded in geography, astronomy, and navigation, at the

age of fourteen he went to sea, and for the next twentyeight years was engaged in various voyages,— extending beyond Iceland on the north, southward to Guinea, and as far west as the Azores', which islands the Portuguese had discovered shortly before.

The profitable East Indian trade, carried on at this time by way of the Mediterranean and the Red Sea, was chiefly in the hands of Venice. The two most enterprising maritime countries were Portugal and Spain. Portuguese navigators had coasted Africa to its southern extremity; which, in the anticipation of reaching the Indies by rounding it, they had called the Cape of Good Hope. Their voyages had proved that the earth was not, as once believed, encircled by a belt of impassable heat at the equator; but superstitious fears of terrible storms, frightful monsters, and a "Sea of Darkness" out of which a gigantic hand would rise to crush the too venturesome mariner, had prevented any attempts to explore the western waters of the Atlantic.

The shape of the earth and its revolution round the sun had not at this time been established. Most that was known of Eastern Asia was derived from the wonderful stories of Marco Polo, who had drawn lively pictures of Cathay' (China), with its mountains of precious stones and lakes of pearls,—and of Cipango (Japan), with its golden-floored palace and other marvels of wealth-but had conveyed little geographical knowledge that could be relied on.

The studies of Columbus had convinced him that the earth was round; and, supposing it to be much smaller than it really is, he believed that Asia could be easily reached by standing boldly out across the unknown Atlantic.

Various objects evidently not of European origin had been driven by west winds on the Azores; among them, the bodies of two men that seemed of a new race. Whence could they come, but from some land across the ocean? This land Columbus determined to reach; but he was poor

-he had no ships. He must enlist some state in the enterprise, and thus obtain the necessary outfit. Full of religious enthusiasm, he regarded this voyage to the western seas as his peculiar mission, and himself (as his name CHRISTOPHER imports) the appointed Christ-bearer, or Gospel-bearer, to the natives of the new lands he felt that he was destined to discover.

First Voyage of Columbus.-After unsuccessful negotiations with the king of Portugal, Columbus in 1484 betook himself to the court of Spain. Ferdinand and Isabella, the sovereigns of that country, were then warring with the Moors, and their treasury was wellnigh exhausted. Yet Isabella, though the plans of Columbus after years of discouraging delay were condemned as visionary by a council of her learned men, was at length persuaded to fit out two vessels for the voyage. To these small carʼavels, which had no decks and would now be regarded as unfit even for coasting purposes, Columbus, with the aid of his friends, added a third and larger vessel. Men having with difficulty been obtained, and Columbus having been furnished with a letter from the king and queen to the Grand Khan of Tartary, the little squadron sailed August 3, 1492, from Palos (pah'loce), a seaport on the south-western coast of Spain.

The trials of the voyage commenced when the farthest land of the Canaries faded from sight (September 9th). Then the hearts of the sailors failed, and many gave way to tears. Columbus vainly strove to quiet their fears; and when, after many days passed without sight of the expected land, it was found that the needle varied from the north, despair almost drove them to mutiny and throw their commander overboard. Columbus, however, kept on with unfaltering faith; and soon, to his delight, indications of the neighborhood of land appeared. Watching throughout the night himself in eager expectation, he beheld a dim moving light. The joyful cry of "LAND!" was raised; and when

day dawned (October 12th), a wooded island was seen in the distance, with wondering natives crowded on the shore.

At sunrise Columbus and his officers landed. His first act was to kneel down, and thank God with tears; his second, to unfurl the royal banner and take possession of the

RECEPTION OF COLUMBUS BY FERDINAND AND ISABELLA, ON HIS RETURN.

country in the name of his sovereigns, receiving the homage of his men, and of the natives, who looked upon the Spaniards as gods come down to earth. The land thus discovered was San Salvador', or Guanahani (gwah-nah-hah'ne), one of the Baha'mas (see Map, p. 38).

Columbus next directed his course to the south, and discovered Cuba, Hispanio'la-now called Hayti (ha'te)-and

HIS LATER VOYAGES.

13

other islands. On Hispaniola he left some of his men as a colony; and setting out on his return with several of the natives and specimen products of the New World, after riding out a terrible storm, he reached Palos in safety. Roaring cannon and pealing bells heralded his progress to the court of Ferdinand and Isabella, where he was hailed as the great discoverer of his age.

His Subsequent Voyages.-Columbus made a second voyage in 1493, taking out a number of adventurers as settlers; in the course of this expedition, Jamaica and Porto Rico (re'ko) were visited. A third voyage (1498) resulted in the discovery of Trinidad and the mainland of South America. The object of his fourth voyage (1502) was to find a passage to India by keeping on to the west. He failed of course in this, but explored the coast of Central America for many miles. Obliged to beach his weather-beaten vessels on the coast of Jamaica, after many hardships he succeeded in making his way to Hispaniola, and thence to Spain,only to find Queen Isabella dead, Ferdinand ungrateful, and to drag out his two remaining years in poverty and gloom.

To the very close of his life, Columbus had no idea that he had discovered a new continent, but supposed the lands he had reached to be outlying islands of India. In this belief, he called the natives Indians.

Administration of Columbus.-In his original commission Columbus had been appointed viceroy of all the lands he should discover, and in this capacity he ruled the colony planted under his auspices in Hispaniola. During his long absences, however, affairs were badly managed, and complaints were raised against his administration. The settlers became rebellious. The proud Spaniards whom he tried to force to honest labor could ill tolerate the orders of a foreigner of humble birth, whose high honors they envied. Their expectations of sudden riches were disappointed, and no less the king's, who had hoped to swell his revenues