Qass_uJ_D_l ^ SOPYRliiHr DtPUSU fT! /d CHRISTOPHER C'JLLMIiUS. COLUMBUS AND OTHER HEROES OF AMERICAN DISCOVERY BY / N D 'A N V E R S My^^ ?;u^f^ ^ £eA COPIOUSLY ILLUSTRATED GEORGE ROUTLEDGE AND SONS, Limited new york : 9 lafayette place London and Manchester y Copyright, 1885 and 1893, By Joseph L. Blamire. (59 ' 1^^- 3 ^^ ^ee Cdxfon (press 171, 173 Macdougal Street, New York AUTHOR'S NOTE. The present volume is intended to give a general idea of the progress of exploration in the districts now forming Canada and the United States, with the general advance of the white man westwards. The chief authorities consulted in the preparation of the " Heroes of the Exodus to the West" were the reports to their superiors of the early Jesuit missionaries ; George Bancroft's " History of the United States; Bryant's "Popular History of the United States ;" and Bancroft's " Native Races of the Pacific." But reference has also been made to the original works of all the great travelers in the districts under notice ; while much valuable geographical information has been culled from the Journals of the learned Societies both of England and America, and from Reclus's " Geographie Universelle." N. D' AN VERS. Hampstead, 1884. CONTEI^TS. CHAPTER I. America known to the Ancients — The Island of Atlantis— Scandinavian Emigration Eric the Red and Gunnbiorn — Bjarni Herjulfson and Leif the Lucky — Discovery of Vinland— Thorvald and the Skrrellings— A terrible Struggle— An heroic Amazon— Retreat of the Danes — Return of Freydis to Vinland — Massacre of Colonists by her Orders— Total Disappearance of Scandinavian Settlement— Madoc of Wales— The Brothers Zeni— Marco Polo— Early Life of Columbus— The Astrolabe applied to Navigation— A Hearing at last— Duplicity of John '' II. — Columbus in Poverty and Exile — A generous Prior— Hope and Despair Isabella is won over— Full Powers granted to Columbus— The Start from Saltos —Discontent of Sailors— Variation of Compass— Mutiny— Land Ahead!— Discovery of the West Indian Islands— Return to Spain— Second and Third I Voyages— Death in Poverty and Disgrace— Amerigo Vespucci— The Cabots— I First Landing in North America- The Cortereals— Breton Fishermen. . 7 CHAPTER IL [The Spanish in the Gulf of Mexico— Vasco Nufiez de Balboa concealed in a Cask— I His Pardon— Shipwreck and Rescue of Explorers by Balboa— His Discovery of j the Pacific— His Murder by Anias— Expedition of Ponce de Leon— The Discovery of Florida and Search for the Fountain of Youth— Leon's Death from poisoned Arrows— Discovery of the Mouths of the Pacific by Francis Garay— Lucas Vasquez de Ayllon in Florida— His Cruelty to the Natives— Their Retaliation— Verrazano on the Atlantic coast of North America— The Invasion of Florida by Pamphilo de Narvaez— His Disappointment, Retreat, and Death— The Captivity and Escape of four of his Followers— The Expedition of Hernando de Soto — Meeting with Juan Ortiz — His romantic Story— An Indian burned alive— A native Princess— At the foot of the Apalachian Mountains- Southward to Mavilla— Struggle with Indians— Westward ho ! and Discovery of the Mississippi— De Soto in a new Character— His Death and Burial in the Mississippi— Escape of his Men under his Successor, Luis Muscoso de Alvarado— Murder of Louis Cancello, the Missionary— Expedition of De Luna. . 30 ^ GonUiits. CHAPTER III. Verrazano sent out by Francis I, — Discovery of the Hudson — Jacques Cartier in Canada, and his Discovery of the St. Lawrence — Touching Scene at Hocliehiga — Foundation of Fort Charles on the Site of Quebec — Kidnapping of Dounacona and other Natives, and return to Europe — Death of Indian Captives, a.id cold Reception at Hochelaga on the Return of Cartier without them — Break-up of the Colony and Flight of Cartier — Arrival of Robeval — Sad Fate of his People — Ribault and the French Refugees on the River of May — Return lioine of Ribault — Assassination of Pierria — Escape of Colonists in a crazy Pinnace — Their Murder of a Comrade for Food — Their Rescue by an English Vessel — Laudonniere's Colony on the May — Mutiny, and Troubles with the Indians — Famine, and Arrival of Ribault — Disgrace of Laudonniere — Arrival of Menen- dez — Massacre of French Huguenots by Spaniards — Escape of a little Remnant to Anastasia — Second and third Massacres — Gallant Bearing of Ribault — Foundation of St. Augustine — Vengeance of De Gourgues on the Spanish — • Murder of Missionaries in Florida — St. Augustine burned by Drake. . . 49 CHAPTER IV. Sir Humphrey Gilbert's unsuccessful Voyages, and Death by Drowning — Sir Walter Raleigh's Renewal of his Brother's Patent — Grenville and others sent out to Virginia by Raleigh — First Settlement at Roanoake — Its Abandonment by White — Birth of Virginia Dare — Search for the lost Colony — Death of Bartholomew Gilbert — Gosnold's Expedition — Formation of the Southern and Northern Companies — Failure of the Latter to gain a Footing in Maine — Arrival in Chesapeake Bay of Colonists sent out by the Southern Company — Foundation of Jamestown — Smith's Visit to the Potomac — His Captivity among the Indians and Rescue from Death by Pocahontas — Smith chosen President — The Coronation of Powhatan — A new Charter obtained — Emigrants shipwreck — Smith wounded, and compelled to leave Virginia — Subsequent Troubles — Arrival of Sir Thomas Gates — The Colony reduced to sixty starving Men and Women — Jamestown abandoned — Arrival of Lord De La Warre — Return to Jamestown — Marriage and Death of Pocahontas — Gradual Growth of Virginia — Terrible Massacre of 162'-2, and the Results of that Massacre — Arrival of Lord Baltimore in Jamestown — First Settlement of Maryland — Father White. . 64 Contents. ^^ CHAPTER V. The French in Maine, and their Settlement at Port Royal — Jesuit Missionaries at Grand Manan — Destruction of French Colonies by Argall — John Smith and Thomas Hunt on the Coasts of Maine — Vines on the Saco River, and Dermer on Long Island — Early History of the Pilgrim Fathers — Arrival of the May-flower off Cape Cod — Preliminary Exploration by Miles Standish— Discovery of Plymouth Harbor, and first Landing on Plymouth Rock — An Indian Visitor — Arrival of fresh Emigrants — Complications with them and with the Indians — An Indian Chief saved by Englishmen — Indian Plot revealed — Ringleaders slain by Standish — Puritan Refugees at Cape Ann — Standish sent out against '.hem — Peace made by Conant — Conant's Settlement at Salem — The Dorchester Company — Endicott sent out by it to Massachusetts — Arrival of Winthrop with 800 Emigrants — Foundation of Boston and other Towns — Roger Williams expelled from Salem — His Settlement in Rhode Island, and Foundation of Providence — Visit of Indian Chief from Connecticut to Boston — Emigration to Connecticut — John Winthrop appointed Governor — Tearing down of Dutch Arms, and Foundation of Saybrook Fort — Hooker's Emigration to Connecticut, and Foundation of Bradford — Troubles ahead — Discovery of the Hudson — Fight with Indians — Discovery of Hudson's Bay and Death of Hudson — Foundation of New Netherland Company — Dutch Explorations in Delaware, etc. — West India Company founded — Settlement of Walloons at Albany — Foundation of New York — The Swedes on the Delaware — Disputes between them and the Dutch, and between the Dutch and the English. . 83 CHAPTER VL Champlain in Maine — Foundation of Quebec — Discovery of Lakes Peter and Cham- plain — Foundation of Montreal — First Navigation of the Ottawa — Discovery of Lakes Huron and Nipissing — An Iroquois Execution — Canada taken by the English, and restored to the French — Death of Champlain — Fathers Breboeuf and Daniel on Lake Huron — Raymbault and Pigart on Lake Nipissing — Jogues among the Iroquois — His Murder — Capture, Conversion, and Execution of one of his Murderers — Terrible Iroquois War — Father Dreuillette among the Sioux — His Death in the Forest — Allouez on Lake Superior — Rumors of a great River on the West — Marquette discovers the Mississippi — Descent of the River in native Canoes — Arrival in Arkansas — Saved by the Pipe of Peace — Up the Mississippi to the Illinois — Across North-eastern Illinois — Death of Marquette on the shores of Lake Michigan — Expedition of La Salle — Loss of xii Contents. ^ the r/r/V////— Building of a new Vessel— Discovery of Lake Peoria— Down the Mississippi to tlic Sl'u— Second Expedition of La Salle— Fruitless Search for the Moulh of the Mississippi— Wanderings in Texas and New Mexico— Despair- Attempt to walk back to Canada— Murder in the Jungle— Murder of the Murderers— The Conreurs de hols in the North-west— Baron La Ilontan's Trip down the Mississipjii— Rumors of the Sea on the West— Journey of Father Charlevoix. .....«••• H* CHAPTER VIL Expedition of Diego de ITurtado — Ulloa's Trip up the Gulf of California — Da Nizza in Arizona — The Cities of the Plain — Murder of Dorantes and his Companions — Da Nizza visits Cibola in Disguise — Expedition of Alarchon and Coronado — Discovery of tlie Mouth of the Colorado — Cibola taken by Coronado — Discovery of the Town of Quivira — Discovery of Cape Mendocino by Cabrillo — Viscaino's Trip up the North-west Coast — Numerous Deaths from Scurvy — Discovery of the Mouth of the Columbia — Death of Viscaino — Expedition of Juan deFuca — Supposed Discovery of Queen Charlotte's Sound — De Fonte and Barnardo in the North-western Archipelago — Father Kino among the Picture-Writers and Sun Worshipers — Discovery of the Mimbres — Establishment of a Mission on the Gila — Descent of the Apaches on the Settlements of the Whites — Expulsion of the Jesuits, and Murder of Natives — Pearl-fishers on the Californian Coast — The Jesuits expelled from Lower California — Exodus of Jesuits from Lower to Northern California — First Colony founded at San Diego — Discovery of the Bay of San Francisco — Decline of the Power of the Jesuits, and their gradual Withdrawal from California. ...... 140 CHAPTER Yin. Murder of Captains Stone and Oldham — Massacre on Block Island — Intervention ot Roger Williams— The Last Stand of the Pequods — Emigration of Eaton and Davenport to Connecticut — Foundation of New Haven— First Settlement of Refugees in Carolina— Their Lands given to eight Noblemen — Arrival of Cavaliers and Planters— Misery of the Colonists— Relief at last— Oglethorpe's fii-st Settlement in Georgia— His Meeting with the Indian Chiefs— Pennsylvania granted to Penn— His Reception in Delaware— His Voyage up the River- Treaty with the Indians— Foundation of Philadelphia— Rapid Growth of Pennsylvania— Foundation of Ilarrisburg— The French and Indian War- Foundation of Pittsburg— The War of Independence— Freedom won for the Thirteen Original States of the Union— Declaration of Independence on the 4th July, 1770. . ...... 153 Contents. xm CHAPTER IX. P'Ib«rville's Arrival at the Mouth of the Mississippi — Foundation of the first French Fort on the Bay of Biloxi — English Expedition to the Mississippi — The Mississippi Scheme — Foundation of New Orleans — Bursting of the Bubble — Louisiana ceded to England — Boone's first Trip to Kentucky — Taken Prisoner by the Indians — Escape — Meeting with his Brother — Murder of Squire Boone's Servant — A White Man's Skeleton found in the Woods — Hunters on the Ohio and in Tennessee — First Settlers start for Kentucky — An Indian Ambush — Retreat — Boone in Despair — Fresh Hope — Boone's Third Trip at the Head of a Surveying Party — Purchase of Lands from the Cherokees — Foundation of Boonesborough — Influx of Emigrants acx-oss the Alleghanies — First Settle- ment of Tennessee, Ohio, Illinois, and the South of Michigan — The English supplant the French in Louisiana — Restriction of the Name of Louisiana to a small Tract — First English Settlements in Mississippi and Alabama — Acquisition of Florida — First Spanish and English Settlements in Texas — Acquisition of California, Arizona, and New Mexico — Gradual Retreat of the Red Men before the White Settlers. . . . . . 164 CHAPTER X. The new-born Republic — Pike's Embarkation on the Mississippi at Fort Louis — Sledge Journey along the Banks of the Mississippi — A Chippeway Encampment — A Native Pictorial Record — A Member of the North-west Company — On Snow-shoes to Leech and Red Cedar Lakes — A Council of Chippeway Warriors — Back to St. Louis — New Expedition organized — The Osage Captives — Along the Arkansas — Arrival at the Head-waters of the Mississippi — Search for the Red River of the South — The Rio del Norte mistaken for it — The Explorers taken Prisoners by the Spaniards — Journey across Texas to Natchitoches — Lewis and Clarke embark on the Missouri at St. Louis — The Mouth of the Platte, or Nebraska — Among the Sioux — Difficulty with Indians at the Great Bend — The Mouth of the Yellowstone River — Encounters with White and Brown Bears — The two Forks of the Missouri — Long Hesitation as to which to follow — Lewis solves the Problem by the Discovery of the Great Falls — Terrible Storm, and Narrow Escape of Clarke — The Gates of the Rocky Mountains — Across the Mountains and Discovery of the Source of the Missouri — Search for Shoshones — Three Indian Women surprised — In the Shoshone Camp — Vain Attempt to reach the Source of the Columbia — On the Summit of the Rocky Mountain Range — Down the Pacific Slope to the lower Course of the Columbia — xiv Contents. Construction of Canoes— Down the Columbia to the Great Falls — Successful Navigation of tlicni— In the Great Narrows— The Sea at last— Winter among the Flatheads — Home again. . . • • • . i<0 CHAPTER XI. Discovery of liuhring Straits — Cook and Meares— Rescue from Starvation — Encounter with Natives — Vancouver on the Western Coast — Gray's supposed Discovery of the Columbia — Coxe's Survey of Hudson's Bay — James in Distress in Hudson's liay — Foundation of the Hudson's Bay Company — Discovery of Rupert's KivtM- — Disputes with the French — Knight's Voyage and his terrible Fate — Discovery of Relics of Knight and his Comrades — Moore and Smith in Hudson's Bay — Cession of Canada to England, and its Results — Heroes of the Transition Time — Ilearne's Discovery of Athabasca Lake and the Copperniine River — Massacre of Esquimaux — Discovery of the Arctic Ocean — Result to Geographi- cal Science of that Discovery — Hearne's Return to Hudson's Bay — The Indian Exile wrestled for — Enthusiasm of the Company — The Rise of the North west Company — Mackenzie's Journey to the Slave Lake, and Discovery of the Slave, Athabasca, or Mackenzie River — His Voyage to Great Bear Lake — Return to Fort Clii])pewyan — Journey across Country to the North Pacific — The Work of all Exi)lort'rs united by his last Trip, ..... 200 CHAPTER XIL The Pacific Fur Company — Voyage of the Tonquin — Foundation of Astoria — Massacre on the Tonquin — Terrible Revenge — The great Small-pox Chief — Start of the Land Expedition — An Ambush — Unevpectod Rescue — Treachery of an Inter- preter — Among the Crow Indians — The Black Mountains — The invisible Lords of the Mountain — Arrival on the Banks of the Mad River — Across Country to the Henry River — Construction of Canoes — Embarkation on the Henry — A Cajiadian drowned — The Lion Caldron — Across Country again — Among the Akai-chies — News of the Astorians — Threatened Attack of the Natives — Arrival on the Bank:, of the Columbia — Along the River to Indian Encampment — News of Tragedy on the Tonquin — Down the Columbia to Astoria. , 230 CHAPTER XIH. Cass's Voyage up the Mississippi— Long and James on the Platte, or Nebraska — Discovery of the two Sources of the Platte — Among the Mountain Passes — Eating of ])oisonous Berries— fleeting with a Bear — Ascent of Pike's Peak — Search for Head-waters of the Arkansas— The Canadian taken for the Arkansas, and followed to its June-lion with the latter River— Start of new Expedition Contemn. xv from the Ohio — Cannibalism among the Natives — The Apostle of the Indians — Across the Prairies to Lake Michigan — Through Illinois to the Mississippi — Up the Mississippi to the Minnesota — The Head-waters of the Minnesota — The primal Home of the Red River of the North, the St. Lawrence, etc. — Up the Red River to Lake Winnipeg — From Lake Winnipeg to the Lake of the Woods, and thence across Country to Lake Superior — Schoolcraft's Ascent of the Mississippi, and Discovery of its actual Source. . . . 233 CHAPTER XIV. Wilkes' Survey of the Western Coast — Fremont's Ascent of the Kansas — Encounter with Arapaho Warriors — Arrival at Fort Laramie — A threatening Letter — Fremont's Reply^On the Sweet Water River — Discovery of Mountain Lake and Fremont's Peak — A winged Messenger — Back to Fort Laramie — To the Rocky Mountains again — On the Banks of the Bear River — Discovery of the Great Salt Lake — Embarkation on the Lake — Sudden Change in the Character of its Waters — From the Salt Lake through the Great Basin to Fort Hall and thence to the Columbia River — Attempt to return Home by a New Route — Lost in the Wilderness — Discovery of Lake Tlamath — Search for an Opening in the Mountains — Discovery of Pyramid Lake — Meeting wkh Snake Indians — Hunger — Salmon discovered in a Rivei- flowing into the Lake — News of White Men on the South — All Hope of reaching United States abandoned — Fremont resolves to cross the Sierra Nevada — First Peak scaled — Meeting with Indians — A Gap in the Mountains discovered at last — Ascent of the Californian Mountain — Opening a Path through tlie Snow — A terrible Prophecy — Flight of Guide — First Sight of Seaboard Range of Mountains- -Intense Excitement — ■ Down the Eastern Slopes of the Californian Mountain to the Banks of the Sacramento — Arrival at Sutter's Fort — Back to St. Louis by way of the South Pass — Fremont's third and last Journey. ..... 240 CHAPTER XV. Early History of the Mormons — Murder of Smith — Expulsion from Illinois — Across the frozen Mississippi — Through the Wilderness — Summons to the War — Young Men sent to the Aid of the Republic — Arrival on the Shores of the Great Salt Lake — Building of Salt Lake City — Expedition of Stansbury — California ceded to the States — Discovery of Gold near Sutter's Fort — World- wide Excitement — Rush of 30,000 Emigrants Westward — Terror of Indians at xvi Contents. Approach of the White Men — Sufferings in the Mountains — Jealousy of Settlers- Prairies set on Fire— Survivors of the 30,000 rescued by White Men from California. .....•••• 255 CHAPTER XYL Cozene' Start from Merilla— First Encounter with Apaches, and Murder of Laws— A Bear Hunt — To the Ruins of Le Gran Quivara — Two Mules stolen — Back again to ^lerilla — Cozens and Cochise, an Apache Chief — Cochise offers to act as Guide to the Encainj)nient of his Warriors — The great Mirage known as Greenhorn's Lake — A Chaos of Rocks and Precipices — Following an Indian Trail — Down the Ravine to the Apache Valley — First Sight of Apache Village with Huts built on truncated Mounds — Excitement among the Apaches — Cochise explains Co.zens' Presence — Eager Welcome — Arrival of Magnus Colorado, the great Scalper — Trying Interview between Magnus and Cozens — Eternal Friendship sworn — A blood-stained Baby's Frock — Scalp Dance and its attendant Horrors — Back again to Mexico — Second and third Trips to the North — With Jim Davis the Emigrant's Friend, to the Navajoe Country — Ascent of the Sierra Madre — Encounter with a Panther — In the Zuni Valley among the blue-eyed Indians — Ruins of Zuni — Encounter with Navajoes — Jim Davis's Story^Re-capture of stolen Cattle — A fall of Three Hundred Feet — Marvelous Preservation of Cozens — Nursed by the Zunis — Murder of Stewart's Family by Aj)aches — Escape of Stewart to Zuni — His Death of a broken Heart — Return of Cozens to Mexico. . . .... 258 CHAPTER XVIL ears no reason to doubt, although it is impossible to fix its exact locality. Booths were erected, stores were laid in for the winter, and amicable rela- tions were opened with the Skra^llings, who came in great numbers, first to stare at the intruders, and then to trade with them, exchanging valuable furs for red cloth, etc. A slight and almost ludicrous incident w^as the first thing to break up what had appeared to be the beginning of a long course of successful coloni- zation. A bull belonging to one of the leaders of the expedition rushed suddenly among tlie buyers and sellers, so terrifying the natives, who had never before seen an animal of that description, that the^'' tied to their kayaks, or skin-boats, in the greatest confusion, returning some weeks later in greatly increased numbers, and armed with bows and arrows, to revenge themselves for what they took to be an intentional insult. Fierce indeed was the struggle in whicli they were now involved, and, overwhelmed by superior numbers, the colonists seemed likely to be exter- minated, when the tide was turned by the courage of Freydis, a daughter of Kric the Red, who, imbued with the brave spirit of her father, suddenly faced the savages, and brandishing a sword whicli she had taken from a dead warrior of her own race, she invited the enemy to come and slay her if they would, even tearing (^jien her dress to make clear her meaning. The Skra'l lings, perhaps taking these strange gestures for the signs of superhuman agency, gazed for a moment in awe-struck silence at the lonely figure standing thus unprotected among the shiin, and then, with cries a§ Heroes of American Discovery. n wild and weird in the ears of the Northmen as those of their champions to the nuxives, they one and all turned and fled. The terrible slaughter among their men had, however, so disgusted the lead- ers of the colony, that they soon afterwards returned to Greenland ; and, but for the ambition of Freydis, the history of the Scandinavian colonies in North America would have ended then and there. Unable to forget her triumph, and eager for yet further distinction, this remarkable woman did not rest until she had organized a new expedition, which, under the leadership of two brothers named Helgi and Finnbogi, set sail in 1011, and, landing in Vinland without molestation from the natives, took possession of the booths erected by their jDredecessors. AH seemed likely to go w^ell, wdien the over- bearing conduct of Freydis, wdio w^as not one to shine in the peaceful work of colonization, led to dissensions among the explorers. By a crafty artifice she managed to pick a quarrel with the two brothers, and, with the co-operation of her husband, Thorvard — who, though naturally a mild and inoffensive man, appears to have been entirely under the control of his stronger- minded wife — she succeeded in effecting their massacre, and that of all who were inimical to her supremacy. The survivors, terror-struck by the fate of their companions, yielded without a struggle to the rule of Frey- dis, who, first binding them all by an oath never to tell of her conduct at home, set them at work to cut timber and collect the curiosities and valuables of the country. Then, when she had acquired enough to insure her w^ealth for the remainder of her life, she embarked for Greenland with the little remnant of the original party. The Icelandic sagas, already referred to, tell how the iniquity of Freydis gradually leaked out, and how, though she herself escaped unpunished, her sins w^ere visited upon her children. With her return home the attempts at American colonization by the North- men appear to have ceased, but tradition tells of many a trip by contempo- rary adventurers of other nationalities ; for, between the fitful excursions from Greenland — wiiich, as we have seen, left no real or permanent impress on the people or districts visited— and the well-organized expedition of modern times, we hear of Arab sailors of the 12th century having sighted land in the unknown Western Ocean, graphically called, from its real and imaginary horrors, the Sea of Darkness ; and of a voyage made in 1170 by Madoc, son of the Prince of North Wales, who, after sailing for many weeks away from his native land, came to a country, supposed to have been the modern Virginia, differing in every respect from any European land. 12 Heroes of Aineviciui Diseovcry. (\M-t:iin travelers of the 17tli century tell of white men speaking the \Vel>li loni^aie having been met with among the Indians far away in the West ]rnosed to all the preconceived notions of cosmographers. In voyage after voyage made by Columbus in the succeeding years to the Az(»res, the Canaries, and the coasts of Guinea, then the limits of navigation to the westward, the future discoverer became more and more fully" con- vinced that, with the necessary time and means at his disposal, he might convert his dream into a waking reality; but, alas! all his attempts to ol)tain a hearing for his scheme from those who were in a 23osition to forward it were met by scorn and ridicule. The first ray of hope to break upon the despair of Columbus at this ill- success was the invention — or, to be more strictly accurate, the application to navigation — of the astrolabe, the precursor of the modern quadrant, by Afartin Beliaim, and by Roderigo and Joseph, physicians in the employ of John II. of Portugal. xVrmed with it and the mariner's compass, as defensive weapons, the nautical explorer needed no longer to fear trusting himself on the trackless paths of the ocean ; and, Columbus, full of new hope, asked for and obtained an interview with John IT. in 1482 or 1483. We can im- agine with what eagerness our hero pleaded his cause, and with what patience he exi)lained Lvery detail of his scheme, winning at last a consent, though but a i-eluctant one, that his proposition should be referred to a "learned junto, chaiged with all matters relating to maritime discovery," to which title we may add the saving clause, "of which they were cognizant;" for the minds of king and council alike were set, not on the pushing of discov- ery westwards, but on further efforts to find a new route to India on the p:ast, and to ascertain the locality of the empire of the fabulous monarch, Prester John. Heroes of American Discovery, 15 The council to whose judgment the scheme of Columbus was submitted consisted of the Roderigo and Joseph already mentioned, and of the king's confessor, Diego Ortiz de Cazadilla, Bishop of Ceuta, who condemned it without hesitation. The king, however, feeling perhaps not altogether con- vinced by the arguments adduced against it, privately sent out a vessel to test the route mapped out by Columbus, obtaining no result except that of driving the greatest man of the age away from his court, disgusted with the duplicity ^vliicli, while openly discrediting their author, could thus seek to use his iDlans. COLUMBUS BEFORE THE COUNCIL. The ignorant pilots commissioned to work out the route conceived by the master-mind of the great mariner, returned to Lisbon without venturing beyond the beaten track ; and in the ensuing year Columbus secretly left Lisbon, taking with him his young son Diego. We all know the story of his scornful reception at the court of Genoa, and of his arrival, after long wanderings to and fro, footsore, liungry and disheartened, at the gate of La Rabida, a Franciscan convent in Andalusia, to beg a little bread and water for his starving child. This simi)le and pathetic request formed the turning-point of Columbus's career. The prior of the convent, Don Juan Perez de March ina, whose name i6 Heroes of American Discovery. deserves to be immortalized in every record of the discovery of the New World, was passin;,^ at the iiiome'iit ; aii superstitions of the age with regard to the perils of the deep, caused Coliiiiihiis uiuch embarrassment from tlie very first, and he was de- tained for tliree weeks at the Canaries by an " accident ' ' — supposed to have been pur- posely brought about — to the rudder of the Pinta. It w^as not until the 6th SejDtember that the actual voyage of dis- covery can be said to have commenced. Setting sail that day from the island of Gomera he passed Ferro, the last of the Canaries, on the 9tli. As the last traces of land faded from the sight of the untutored mariners, their hearts failed them, and with tears and groans they en- treated their leader to turn back while there was yet time. The passing of a portion of a wreck on the 11th still further aroused their fears, and it was all that Colum])us could do to induce them to obey his orders. On the 13th September a slight but deeply significant incident occurred. Columbus, watching with eager interest the little compass — wdiich, surrounded as ht' uas l)y timid, vacillating spirits, must have seemed to him his one steadfast, unchangeable friend — noticed a variation in the needle. To quote the words of Washington Irving, "he perceived about nightfall that the needle, instead of pointing to the north star, varied about lialf a point, or between five and six degrees, to the northwest, and still more on the follow- ing nioniing." Knowing liow greatly this phenomenon would alarm his people, Columbus at first k(>i)t it to himself ; but it was soon remarked by the joilots, and their repoi-t sent a fresh thrill of horror through the crews. They were entering a new world, where the very laws of nature were changing, and in which even inanimate oljjects were subject to weird, unearthly influences. Calm amid the ever-increasing excitement, Columbus, with greater in- KMHAKKATION OF COLUMBUS. Heroes of American Discovery. 21 genuity than penetration, explained away the strange deviation — the cause of which has not yet been determined, though many great authorities attrib- ute it to solar inliuence — by saying that it was due, not to any fault in the compass itself, but to the alteration of the position of the north star. Thus, whether he himself did or did not believe this to be the true solution of the mystery, did our hero once more calm the terrors of his men, who Avere, a little later, further cheered by the sight of a heron and a water- wag- tail, which, as birds supposed never to venture far out to sea, were looked upon as sure harbingers of land. Next were seen floating patches of herbs and weeds, which could only, it was thought, have been washed from river banks, or from rocks by the sea-shore ; and, convinced that their perils were now over, the eager mariners crowded on deck, each anxious to be the first to catch a glimpse of the longed-for country ; but as day after day passed on, and no further indications of the end of the voyage were perceived, all the old fears returned, the men broke out into open mutiny, and Columbus" s position became critical in the extreme. Even Martin Alonzo Pinzon, one of the most important members of the squadron, now questioned the wisdom of the Admiral's determined adherence to a western course ; and our hero, though still full of the most intense belief in final success if that course were maintained, was beginning to doubt whether he should himself achieve more than martyrdom in the cause he had so much at heart. Matters were at this stage, when, on the night of the lltli October, 1492, as the weary leader was peering into the darkness of the horizon from the deck of his ves- sel, hoping against hope to make out some indication of land, no matter how vague, he fancied he saw a light. Scarcely daring to trust his eyes, he called first one and then another of the companions of his venture, each of whom confirmed his opinion. A light of some kind was undoubtedly moving on the distant waters, but whether it proceeded from some fisherman's bark, or from the long-sought land, it was impossible to determine. Never was daylight more eagerly longed for than then ; but, hours before it came, the suspense of the three watchers on the Santa Maria was relieved by the booming of a gun from the Pinta, the signal that others also had seen the significant token of the approach to the promised haven. A little later, the dark outlines of the shores of an island, relieved against white l^reakers, were distinctly made out ; and when the dawn of the 12th October, 1492, broke at last, ' ' a level and beautiful island, several leagues in 2 2 Heroes of .Imeriean Discovery. extent, of great fresliness and verdure, and covered Avith trees like a con- tinual 'orcliard," lay before the eyes of the astonished mariners. Naked natives were hurrying to and fro, expressing by their gestures their astonish- ment at tlie appearance of the ships ; and at once ordering the boats to be manned. Columbus, scarcely able to restrain his emotion, started to take possession, in the name of the monarchs of Castile, of the newly-discovered territory. No sooner did the hero set foot on shore, than he fell upon his knees, ki.ssed the ground, and with tears of joy gave thanks to God for thus enabling liini to (•omi)leie his work. Then rising, his heart doubtless swelling with exultatit)n, he drew his sword, unfurled the royal banner, named the island "San Salvador," and solemnly declared it to be the property of Ferdinand and Isabella, "calling on all present to take the oath of obedience to him as Admiral and Viceroy representing the persons of the sovereigns." Although there is some little difference of opinion as to which of the West Indian islands was thus discovered by Columbus, it is generally supposed to liave been that now called by the English Cat Island, one of the great Ba- hama group, and situated in N. lat. 24°, W. long. 74° 30', of which the native name was Guanahamo. Imagining it to be situated at the extremity of India, the explorer called its people Indians, an appellation which has clung to the aborigines of the New World ever since. Remaining at Guanahame only long enough to ascertain the "Indians" to be a gentle, friendly, simple people, with well-formed figures, and pleas- ant, intelligent faces, Columbus again set sail on the 14th October, and, cruising hither and thither, he discovered several other islands, including the imi)ortant Cuba and San Domingo, of all of which he took possessioii in the name of his patrons, planting a small colony on the last named, and meeting everywhere with a cordial welcome fi'om the "savages," though his own people gave him a good deal of trouble by their perpetual rivalries and jealousies. Among these latter troubles, none perhaps affected the Admiral so pain- fully as the desertion of Don Alonzo Pinzon. Pinzon had, in the days of the discoverer's desi)ondency, stood toward him as a imtron, and, Spanish patrician as he was, his countenance had been of no mean value. The very fad Jilso that he consented to serve under Columbus must have seemed a token of his faithfulness; l)ut they had not long been out at sea before he showed that subordiiialion was galling to him, and at last, while Columbus Heroes of America ft Discovery. 23 was exploring Cuba, lie made his escape with La Pinta, the second in size of the boats which formed the little fleet. The fact was, that news had come to them of rich lands to the North- west, and Pinzon, disappointed that his superior would not steer in that direction, resolved to steal away, and go in search of a golden empire for himself. But the North-west did as little for him as it did for many who came after him, and Columbus encountered him again on the return journey, without the gold of which he had dreamed, and with his vessel so disabled that it could only reach the shores of Spain with difficulty. Indeed, had it not been for the merciful treatment of Columbus, the craven Pinzon would probably have i)erished on the waters. Satisfied with the results of his first trip, and anxious to obtain the neces- sary supplies for the further prosecution of his discoveries, Columbus set sail for Europe on the 4tli January, 1493, arriving at the bar of Saltos on the 15th March of the same year. Among those who were on the shore to welcome the returning hero was Don Perez de Marchina, of whose eager waiting for his home-coming the Marquis de Belloy has drawn a touching picture in his charming Life of Columbus. We see him for long months spending his spare moments in his observatory, anxiously watching for the least shadow of a sail upon the horizon. At last he descries a little vessel making its way toward Saltos, and he rushes to the harbor, his sudden appearance giving to the people of the little town the signal that Columbus is at hand. Soon the discoverer is at the shore, and the arms of his " guide, philosopher and friend " are the first to embrace him. From Saltos Columbus made his way to Barcelona, then the residence of the court, where he was received with all the enthusiasm due to one who had added to the kingdom a new empire of undetermined extent and apparently boundless wealth. More impatient of the delay caused by the rejoicings in his success than he had been of the impediments thrown in his way when he had been unable to obtain a hearing for his embryo scheme, Columbus lost no time in urging on the sovereigns the fitting out of a new expedition, and, six short months after his return home, we find him leaving Cadiz with seventeen sliii:>s and 1,500 men. This second voyage resulted in the discovery of the Caribbee Islands and Jamaica. But in the midst of his work among the West Indian Islands, the Ad- miral was recalled home to answer terrible charges— of untruthfulness in his descriptions of the countries discovered, and of cruelty to the natives and colonists under his charge — brought against him by his enemies. Although ^4 Hci'ocs of American Discovery. he succeedod in clearing liiniself for a time, to the satisfaction of Ferdinand and Isabella, from tlie odious suspicions which had been cast upon him, the COLUMBUS IN CHAINS. rest of his life was one long struggle with persecution and adversity. From his third voyage, in which he discovered Trinidad, and landed atPniia, on Heroes of American Discovery. 25 the coast of South America, he was sent home in chains. We only linger a moment by the manacled hero to quote once more from Tennyson's ''Columbus." , You know The flies at Lome that ever swarm about. And cloud the highest heads, and murmur down Truth in the distance — lliese outbuzzed me so. That even our prudent king, our righteous queen — I prayed them, being so calumniated, They would commission one of weight and worth To judge between my slandered self and me — Fonseca, my main enemy at their court. They send me out his tool, Bovadilla, one » As ignorant and impolitic as a beast — Blockish irreverence, brainless greed — who sack d My dwelling, seized upon my papers, loos'd My captives, fee'd the rebels of the crown. Sold tlie crown-farms for all but nothing, gave All but free leave for all to work the mines. Drove me and my good brothers home in chains ; And gathering ruthless gold — a single piece Weighed nigh four thousand castillanos — so They tell me — weigh'd him down into the abysm. The hurricane of the latitude on liim fell, The seas of our discovering over-roll Him and his gold ; the frailer caravel. With what was mine, came happily to the shore. There was a glimmering of God's hand." Soon after the conclusion of his fourth and last voyage, Columbus died at Valladolid in poverty and disgrace, leaving others — many of whom he had himself trained to be able navigators — to reap the fruits of his labors. One of the first explorers to follow in the track of Columbus was Amerigo Vespucci, whose name, for some reason not very clearly made out, was be- stowed on the land discovered by his great predecessor. The work of Amerigo was, however, almost entirely confined to the southern half of the vast con- tinent called after him, although he is supposed to have sailed without land- ing as far north as Chesapeake Bay ; and we therefore pass on to the Calxjts, one of whom appears to have been the first European of modern times to set foot in North America. 26 Heroes of American Discovery. In 1406, Henry YII. of England, intent on finding that short cut to India which it was so eagerly hoped would open to Europe the commerce of the AMKRIGO VESPUCCI, East, a 1 (pointed John Cabot to the command of five vessels, with orders thoroughly to ejcplore the western portion of the Atlantic Ocean, and ''find Heroes of American Discovery. 27 whatsoever isles, countries, regions, or provinces of the heathen and infidels, whatsoever they be, and in what part of the world soever they be, which before this time have been unknown to Christians" — a wide commission truly, which was carried out, so far as we can tell from the masses of con- flicting evidence before us, by the sail- ing from Bristol, in 1497, of a single sliij), the Matthew^ with John Cabot as commander, and his three sons, Ludovico, Sebastiano, and Sanzio, among the subordinate members of the expedition. Sailing due west, as the most direct mode of carrying out his instructions, John Cabot came in sight, on the 24th June, 1497, of the mainland of America ; but whether the portion first seen was Cape Breton, Newfoundland, or Labrador, is undetermined. With- out making any attempt to land, the navigators contented themselves with sailing along some three hundred leagues of the coast, and returned home to be received with as much enthusiasm as if they had fulfilled the whole of their mission, and to be rewarded for finding the "New Isle " with the muni- ficent sum of £10. A second and a third voyage appear to have been undertaken by John Cabot, with no better results than the first ; but after his death— about 1499 — his son Sebastian, who had long been endeavoring to secure the co-opera- tion of Ferdinand of Spain for an extensive scheme of exploration in the North, came to England, and was appointed by the reigning monarch to the command of an expedition to Labrador. On this trip Sebastian landed several times on different parts of the north- eastern coast of America, and penetrated as far north as 67 1-2°, in his vain quest for that ignis fatuus of his day— the North-west Passage to India ; but at last, his provisions failing him, he was compelled to return to Bristol, bringing with him, as his only trophies, some of the natives of districts visited. CABOT BEFORE THE COSMOGRAFHERS. 28 Htrocs of American Discovery. This undoubted discovery of the mainland of America, the date of -which isvarionsly given by different authorities, important as it in reality Avas, led to no very definite results. In 1500, a trip was made from Portugal to the North-east by a certain Gaspar Cortereal, who, though nominally in quest of the north-west pass- age, seems to have made the acquisition of slaves his main object. He penetrated as far north as 50°, and landed on the shores of what is now New Brunswick, naming it Terra de Labrador, or the "land of laborers," a title subsequently transferred to a strip of the seaboard further north. Enticing some lifty- seven of the natives — who are described as "like gip- sies in coloi', well-made, intelligent, and modest" — on board his vessels, he returned with them to Portugal, and, having sold them, started on a new trip shortly afterward, from which he never returned ; but history is silent as to whether he fell a victim to the perils of the sea or to the vengeance of those he wronged. Tn 1502, Miguel Cortereal, a younger brother of the inhuman Gasjiar, started in search of the missing vessel, but he too disappeared, leaving no trace l)ehind him ; and when an expedition, sent out by the King of Portu- gal to ascertain the fate of the voyagers, returned with no tidings of either sliij\ it was resolved that the fatal latitudes should henceforth be avoided. For th«' next few years tlie north-east coasts of the western continent were visited by none ])ut certain venturesome fishermen of Brittany, whose mem- ory still lives in the name of Cape Breton, but who, thinking only of secur- SEBASTIAN CABOT. Heroes of American Discovery. 29 ing to tliemselves the harvest of the new-found seas, added next to nothing to our geograjjhical knowledge ; though John Denys of Honlieur is said to have explored the whole of the present Gulf of St. Lawrence. INDIAN BOATS. CHAPTER II. THE DISCOVERY OF THE PACIFIC, AND THE EARLY EXPLORATION OF FLORIDA. UALbOA DISCOVKRING TUK I'AOIFIC OCEAN. TO atone for the sudden check in the progress of discovery in the North, mentioned in our previous chap- ter, we find the Spanish vigorously prosecuting their explorations in the Gulf of Mexico, bent, like other na- tions, on finding a new passage to India, though con- vinced that it lay, not among the snow and ice of the Arctic regions, but in more southerly latitudes. Ignorant of the important fact, that the land barring their progress west- Heroes of American Discovery. 31 ward formed part of one vast continent, one liardy Spanish mariner after another wasted his strength in seeking for some channel between the so- called islands hemming in his bark on this side and on that, until at last the mystery was solved by a freebooter named Vasco Nunez de Balboa, whose romantic story must be given here, forming as it does an era in the history of the whole of the New World. Nothing could well have been more inauspicious than the commencement of the voyage of the first European who set eyes on the Pacific Ocean, One of the earliest settlers in San Domingo, Vasco Nunez de Balboa was so un- successful in his tilling of the soil that he soon found himself in absolute destitution, and, hoping to elude his creditors, he managed to hide himself in a vessel bound for the Caribbean Sea, at that time a favorite resort of pirates and adventurers of every description. When out of sight of land, Balboa ventured forth from his cask, and, fall- ing on his knees before the captain, Enciso by name, entreated him to pro- tect him and let him share in the expedition. Enraged at so flagrant a de- fiance of his authority as the concealment of a man on board his ship, Enciso at first threatened to put our hero ashore on some desert island and abandon him to starve, but finally, softened by his eloquent pleadings, he consented that he should work oat his passage. To this leniency Enciso soon after- ward owed the safety of himself and all his people. His vessel was wrecked on the coast of the Isthmus of Darien, and Nunez, who had visited the dis- trict in his early wanderings, led the Spaniards to a friendly Indian village on the Darien. Life was, however, all Balboa chose to accord to the man to whom he owed his own rescue from a miserable death. Arrived at the village, he accom- plished the deposition of Enciso, and his own appointment to the supreme command. Then, having learned in various preliminary excursions that, six days' journey to the west, there lay another sea, he led his men in the direc- tion indicated, and, after literally fighting his way, step by step, through tribes of hostile Indians, he came, on the IStli of September, 1513, to the foot of a high mountain, from which his guides assured him the sea could be seen. Imbued, in spite of his rough freebooting nature, with something of the true spirit of an explorer, Balboa now ordered his followers to wait, while he made the ascent alone. Arrived on the brow of the hill, he looked down, and beheld beneath him the wide-stretching ocean, lighted up by the brilliant rays 32 Heroes of American Discovery. of a tropical sun. Forgetting his lust of gain, and the crimes which had led him to liis present position, lie now thoiiglit only of the solution by his means of the problem which had so long baffled men of science of every na- tionality, and, falling on his knees, he gave thanks to God that it had l)leased Him " to reserve unto that day the victory and praise of so great a thing unto him." This act of worship over, Nunez summoned his followers to gaze upon the wonderful sight and ordered them to pile up stones, as a token that he took possession of the land in the name of his sovereign, Ferdinand of Castile. His next stej:) was to send twelve of his men — one of whom was the great Pizarro, future conqueror of Peru — to find the best route to the Pacific coast, himself following more leisurely with the body of his forces. The twelve pioneers quickly came to the beach, and, finding a couple of native canoes fioating inshore, two of them, named Alonzo Martin and Blazede Abienza, sprung into them, calling to their comrades to bear witness that they were the first Europeans to embark upon the southern sea. Thus, on September 29, 1513, was completed the first discovery of the great Pa- cific Ocean, of which Columbus had heard from the natives in his various voyages, though he had never been able to reach it, and which, first crossed by Magellan in 1621, has ever since been an inexhaustible field for the efforts of explorers, and is as- sociated with the names of Cook, Anson, D'Entrecasteaux, Vancouver, Kot- zebue, and many other great navigators of modern times. The discoverer of the Pacific, like so many of the heroes of his day, did not live to reap the fruits of his work. He won the appointment of Adelan- tado^ or governor of the ocean he had been the first to see — an office giving him, though neither he nor his sovereign was aware of it, authority over I'lLlNCIS nZARUO. Heroes of American Discovery. 33 But five short years after the some 80,000,000 square miles of land and sea ! eventful 13th Seji- tember, he was be- lieaded by order of the Spanish Gov- ernor of Darien, Peter Anias, wlio api)earsto liave been jealous of his su- perior popularity, and to have feared his growing power. As was natural, the work of Balboa led to the fitting out of numerous expeditions, not only to the southern seas, but to the dis- tricts north of the death of Magellan. Isthmus of Darien, which, according to native rumor, were rich in gold and precious stones. Leaving the stofy of the progress of discovery southwards for the present, we go on to the first successor of Nunez entitled to rank among the heroes of the North, the Spaniard, Juan Ponce de Leon, who, when Governor of Puerto Rico, was induced, by the traditions afloat among the natives of the West Indies of the existence of a Fountain of Youth in the North, to lead an expedition in that direction, which resulted in the discov- ery of Florida. Whether, at the time of his adventure, De Leon was old, and anxious to regain his youth, or young, and eager to retain it, history does not say. We only know that he made it the object of his life to discover the marvelous re- gion containing the magic fountain, and set sail for that purpose with three caravels on the 3d March, 1512, accompanied by a numerous band of gen- tlemen, eager to share with their leader the glories of immortality. After a month's sail in a north-westerly direction, De Leon came in sight of a country, *•' covered with flowers and verdure," and, as it happened to be Easter Sunday, he named the new land Pasena de Flores, or Pasqua Florida, 34 Hi erocs of A merua7i Discovery. that being the Spanish njinie for the festival so inseparably connected with lioral (h'coiations. On tlie 2(1 A juil the explorers landed at the jjoint now called Fernandina, considerably further north than the modern boundary be- tween Floiida and (T(M)rgia— the term Florida having been at first loosely applietl to all the districts on the north-east of the Uulf of Mexico. Owing to the hostility of the natives, De Leon and his men were, however, soon A HAYOU IN FLORIDA. compelled to return to their ships, but they spent some time in cruising up and down both sides of the piMiinsula, making flying visits in-shoi-e, in hope of extricating inl'ormation from the Indians as to the i)osition of the coveted Fountain of Youth. In this quest their failnic was complete ; but when at last c()mi)elled to return to Puerto Rico, they were rewarded for their long wanderings by the discovery of the Bahamas on their voyage btu-k. As usual in such cases, De Leon received the appoint uient of Adelantado Heroes of American Discovery, 35 of the country he had visited, weighted, however, with the condition tliat he should colonize it. With this end in view, and perhaps also with a hope of yet renewing his strength at the magic well, he returned to Florida in 1521, only to fall a victim in a struggle with some Indians who opposed his landing, and greeted their would-be governor with a shower of jjoisoned ar- rows. Between the first and last visit of De Leon to Florida, several heroes of Central American discovery touched on the coast of the newly-found district, on their way to and from Mexico; and in 1518, Francis Garay, for some time Governor of Jamaica, cruised along the whole of the shores of North America bordering on the Gulf of Mexico, i)assing the mouths of the Missis- sippi, called by the Indians the Miche Sepe, or Father of Waters, and by the Spaniards the Rio del Espirito Santo, or the River of the Holy Ghost. Re- fraining from landing on account of the " little hospitable " appearance of the country, Garay contented himself with drawing a maj) of the coast-line, whi(;h he very accurately describes as " bending like a bow," adding that a line drawn from the most southerly point of Florida to the northernmost headland of Yucatan " would make the string of the bow." The next European to visit Florida was Lucas Vasquez de Ayllon, who set out with two ships from Cuba, in 1520, bound on a quest for a land called Chicoru, said to exist to the north of Florida, and to contain within its limits a sacred stream, whose waters possessed powers similar to those of the Fountain of Youth. Landing between 32° and 33° N. latitude, De Ayllon was h'Ospital)ly received by the simple natives, who crowded on to his vessels, and gazed with wondering, child-like eyes at all the new wonders before them. Leaving the poor creatures unmolested until he had gained their confidence, the crafty Spaniard amused himself for a time with excursions on the banks of a river to which he gave the name of the Jordan, and when he had in- duced 130 Indians to go on board, he suddenly returned to the ships, and gave orders for the anchors to be weighed, and set sail for Cuba. The agony of the captives, when they saw the shores of their native land receding from before them, and realized that return was impossible, i)assed description. Only dimly did they understand that their fate was to work for the white men ; and when a fierce storm arose, and one vessel was swal- lowed up, with all its inmates, by the waves, the survivors may perhaps have thought that tlui home from which their strange captors came was beneath the ocean. However that maybe, but few of the Indians on the second ship 36 Heroes of Aiuej'icaii Discovery. lived to reacli New SiKiiii, and wIkmi flitMv, tlunr services were of little nsetc their master, who, disappointed in his lirsl venture, lost no time in organiz- ing a new and more formidable expedition, consisting of several vessels, liaving on board a force of some five hundred men. After much beating about on the coast north of Florida, during which one pilot is said to have gone mad with vexation at being unable to iind the Jor- HAVANA nAKBOR (CL Ba). dan, De Ayllon landed at a spot near his first encampment, and, to his sur- prise, was received with enthusiasm by the Indians, who, proving them- selves apt pupils of their tirst European teachers, feasted him and liis men until they were completely deceived. On the tifth day after the landing, when the white men were sleejiing off the effects of their orgies, the Indians rose en masse and murdered them all. Then, turning their attention to the vessels lying at anchor, they attacked the sailors with their poisoned arrows, killing many of them, but failing to prevent the escape of a little remnant, who carried home the story of the ill- fated expedition. Whether De Ayllon himself perished on land or at sea is Heroes of ^hfien'can Discovery, 37 unknown ; but it is certain that he never returned, and, to quote a quaint old chronicler whose narrative is among those preserved by the Hakluyt So- ciety, "he was lost .... leaving nothing done worthy of memorie." After this tragic conclusion of an unworthy career, Florida and its people were left undisturbed for several years, though some further details of the configuration of its eastern coast were given in 1624 by Yerrazano of Flor- ence, who sailed from the point of the peninsula as far north as Cape Breton, and whose experiences on the Atlantic seaboard are given below. The brief respite enjoyed by the unfortunate natives was, however, but a lull before a more terrible storm of invasion than any with which they had yet had to cope, for in 1528, seven years after the death of De Ayllon, Pamphilo de Narvaez, inflamed by the exaggerated accounts given by the survivors of pre- vious expeditions as to the wealth of Florida, obtained permission from Charles V. of Germany to take possession of it in his name. Leaving Spain in the autumn of 1527, with live ships and a force of some 600 men, Narvaez arrived, after many delays, in the Bay of Tampa, on the west coast of Florida, in February, 1528. Landing with half of his forces, the leader at once commenced his march to the interior, in spite of the re- monstrances of some of the chief officers, who feared that if he once lost sight of his vessels he would never see them again. Remembering the ex- perience of Cortes, Narvaez hoped to find a second wealthy nation to plun- der ; but his disappointment and dismay may be imagined when, instead of any indications of advanced civilization, he met only with vast swamps and forests teeming with naked savages, who, though they melted away at his approach, and eluded his vengeance as if by magic, hung about in the rear of his army, harassing his every movement, and j^icking njD the stragglers for private murder and tortures worse than death. Buoyed up through all his miseries, however, by the rumors which met him at every turn of the existence in the north of a district called Apalachen, where gold was to be had for the asking, Narvaez still pressed on, to be re- warded at last, after months of Aveary marching by arriving at a miserable Indian village of some forty houses — supposed to have been somewhere near the mouth of the Apalacha river, flowing from the Apalachian mountains of Georgia — from which all the able-bodied inhabitants had fled. ''This," said the Indian guides — who, taken prisoners by the way, had been forced to give their unwilling services to the intruders — " this is Apalachen ; it is here that the gold you long for is to be found." 38 Heroes of American Discovery. Unwilling even yet to own himself beaten, Narvaez took possession of the village, and gave his men permission to remove their armor and rest, intending the next morning to test the truth of the guides' assurance that game and gold were plentiful in the neighboring woods. But the craft of the Indian had once more supplied his want of strength to cope with the white man. So soon as the Spaniards were asleep in the miserable wigwams they had seized, the savages gathered round them with stealthy tread, and set fire to their temporary resting-places. Many who escaped the flames fell victims to the poisoned arrows let fly with unerring aim from ambushes on every side, and when the morning broke, the few survivors, including Narvaez himself, determined to return to the sea by the shortest route the}^ could find. A fortnight's hard fighting with enemies and obstacles innumerable brought a still further diminished remnant to Xh^ beach, far from the place they had left their five vessels ; and with the savages behind them, and the sea before them, the luckless explorers resolved to build some boats, and trust themselves to the mercy of the waves rather than to that of man. Five crazy barks were constructed with infinite difiiculty, and in them the few men still alive embarked. Not daring to venture into the open sea, the explorers, who knew nothing of navigation, paddled slowly along the shores of the modern state of Ala- bama, and in about six weeks reached the mouths of the Mississippi in safety ; but there a violent storm overtook them and four of the boats, in- cluding that containing Narvaez himself, were lost. The fifth, with Cabeca de Vaca (who was originally treasurer to the expedition) on board, had a nar- row escape ; but the greater number of men in her reached the land, where they were, strange to say, kindly received by the natives. A little later, stragglers from the other boats, who had saved their lives by swimming, ar- rived, and, joining forces, the adventurers started for the western coast on foot, hoping to reach the Mexican province of Sonora, which had already been colonized by the Spaniards. Four only of the original party survived to reach the western coast, and these four, of whom Cabeca de Vaca — who seems to have borne a charmed life — was one, were held in captivity by the Indians l