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THE SEA 
 
 AND HF.R 
 
 FAMOUS SAILORS. 
 
 A HISTORY OF MARITIME ADVENTURE AND EXPLORATION FROM 
 THE CHRISTIAN ERA TO THE PRESENT TIME. 
 
ILLUSTRATIONa 
 
 PAOB 
 
 Portraits — Columbus, Vasco da Gama, Magellan, 
 Akson, Drake, Laperouse, and Cook. 
 
 The Doge op Venice wedding the Adriatic, . 19 
 
 Ponce de Leon in Search of the Fountain of Youth, 99 
 
 Balboa taking Possession op the Pacific Ocean, . 105 
 
 A Midnight Panic — the Fire- Ships and the Invincible 
 
 Armada, ...... 145 
 
 Anson's Adventure on the Happy Island, . , 199 
 
 Byron's Crew attacked by Savages, . . 206 
 
 Stones a Match for Muskets — Laperousb and the 
 
 Natives of Navigator's Isles, . . . 240 
 
THE LIBRARY 
 
 OF 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF CALIFORNIA 
 
 PRESENTED BY 
 
 PROF. CHARLES A. KOFOID AND 
 
 MRS. PRUDENCE W. KOFOID 
 
PONCE DE LEON IN SEARCH OF THE FOUNTAIN OF YOUTH. 
 
 lie had heard, from the Indians, of an island wliere, they assorted, was a spring whose waters had the virtue 
 of restoring youlli to the a-eil, and vigour to the decrepit. Ponce thought this fountain would be an inexhaus 
 lihle source of revenue to liim, as he could levy a tax upon all who derived benefit from its intiuence. Wherever 
 he slopped lie drank of all tlie runnin.u streams an<i standing pools, whether their waters were fresh or stagnant, 
 i..iC lie nnglit not miss the famous spring.— Page iiy. 
 
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 CONTENTS. 
 
 PAOB 
 
 jT BE FACE) • • • • • • • • « all 
 
 Ihteoduction, ........ 13 
 
 SECTION I. 
 
 FBOM THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE CHRISTIAN ERA TO THE APPLI- 
 CATION OP THE MAGNETIC NEEDLE TO EUROPEAN NAVIGATION, 
 A.D. 1300. 
 
 CHAPTER I. — Navigation during the Roman Empire — The Rise of Venice 
 and Genoa — The Crusades — Their Effect upon Commerce — Wedding of 
 the Adriatic — Creation of the French Navy — Introduction of Eastern Art 
 into Europe — Maps of the Middle Ages — Remote Effect of the Crusades 
 upon Geographical Science — The Scandinavian Sailors — Their Piracies 
 and Commerce — The Anglo-Saxons — Alfred the Great a Ship-Builder — 
 Discovery of Iceland by the Danes — Discovery of Greenland — The Voyage 
 of Bjami and Leif to the American Continent — Their Discovery of New- 
 fovmdland. Nova Scotia, Nantucket, and Massachusetts — Adventures of 
 Thorwald and Thorfinn — Comparison of the Discoveries of the Northmen 
 with those of Columbus, . . . . . . .17 
 
 CHAPTER II.— The Travels of Marco Polo— The First Mention of Japan in 
 History — Kublai Khan — Marco Polo's Voyage from Amoy to Ormuz — 
 Malacca — Sumatra — Pigmies — Singular Story of Diamonds — The Roc — 
 Polo not recognised upon his Return — His Imprisonment — The Publica- 
 tion of his Narrative — The First Mention of the Loadstone in History — Its 
 Early Names — The First Mention of its Directive Power — Friar Bacon's 
 Magnet — The Loadstone in Arabia — An Eye-witness of its Eflaciency in 
 the Syrian Waters in the year 1240 — The Magnet in China — Early Men- 
 tion of it in Chinese Works — The Variation noticed in the Twelfth Cen- 
 tury — Other Discoveries made by the Chinese — Flavio Gioia — The Arms 
 of Amalfi — All Records Lost of the First Voyage made with the Compass 
 by a European Ship, . . . . . . .28 
 
 IVI310129 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 SECTION II. 
 
 FROM THE APPLICATION OP THE MAGNETIC NEEDLE TO EUROPEAN 
 
 NAVIGATION TO THE FIRST VOYAGE ROUND THE WORLD UNDER 
 
 MAGELLAN, 1300-1519. 
 
 PAOB 
 
 CHAPTER III. — The Portuguese on the Coast of Africa — Thp Spaniards and 
 the Canary Isles — Don Henry of Portugal — The Terrible Cape, now Cape 
 Bojador — Discovery of the Madeiras — A prolific Rabbit — A fearful Scene 
 «— A Seven Years' Conflagration — Hostility of the Portuguese to further 
 Maritime Adventure— The Bay of Horses — The first Gold-Dust seen in 
 Europe— Discovery of Cape Verd and the Azores — The Europeans ap- 
 proach the Equator — Journey of Cada-Mosto — Death of Don Henry — The 
 Portuguese cross the Equator from Guinea to Congo — John ii. conceives 
 the idea of a Route by Sea to the Indies — His Artifices to prevent the 
 Interference of other Nations — The Overland Journey of Covillam to 
 India — The Voyage of Bartholomew Diaz — The Doubling of the Tremen- 
 dous Cape — Its Baptism by the King — Ipjurious EflFects of Success upon 
 Portuguese Ambition, . . , . . . .39 
 
 CHAPTER IV. — Birth of Christopher Columbus— His early Life and Educa- 
 tion — His First Voyage — His Marriage — His maritime Contemplations — 
 He makes Proposals to the Senate of Genoa, the Court of Venice, and the 
 King of Portugal — The Duplicity of the latter — Columbus visits Spain- 
 Juan de Marchena — Columbus repairs to Cordova — His second Marriage 
 — His Letter to the King — The Junto of Salamanca — Columbus resolves 
 to shake the dust of Spain from his feet — Marchena's Letter to Isabella — 
 The Queen gives audience to Columbus — The Conditions stipulated by 
 the latter — Isabella accepts the Enterprise, while Ferdinand remains aloof 
 — The Port of Palos — The Superstition of its Mariners — The hand of Satan 
 —A Bird which lifted Vessels to the Clouds — The Pinta and the Nina — 
 The Santa Maria — The three Pinzons — The Departure — Columbus' Jour- 
 nal — The Helm of the Pinta unshipped — ^The Variation of the Needle— 
 The Appearance of the Tropical Atlantic — iloating Vegetation — Trade- 
 Winds — Alarm and threatened Mutiny of the Sailors — Perplexities of 
 Columbus — Land ! Land ! a False Alarm — Indications of the Vicinity of 
 Land — Mvirmurs of the Crews — Open Revolt quelled by Columbus — Float- 
 ing Reeds and Tufts of Grass — Land at last — The Vessels anchor over- 
 night — Discovery of Guanahani — Ceremonies of taking Possession — Ex- 
 ploration of the neighbouring Islands — Search for Gold — Cuba supposed 
 by Columbus to be Japan — The Cannibals — Haiti — Return homewards — 
 A Storm — Arrival at the Azores — Conduct of the Portuguese — Columbus 
 at Lisbon — At Palos — At Barcelona — Columbus' Second Voyage — Dis- 
 covery of Guadeloupe, Antigoa, Santa Cruz, Jamaica — Illness of Colum- 
 bus—Terrible Battle between the Spaniards and the Savages — Columbus 
 returns to Spain— His Reception by the Queen— His Third Voyage — 
 The Region of Calms — Discovery of Trinidad and of the Main Land — 
 AssumpQion and Margarita — Columbus in Chains — The Failing Health 
 of Columbus— His Fourth Voyage — Martinique, Porto Rico, Nicaragua, 
 
CONTENTS. 5 
 
 PAQX 
 
 Costa Rica, Panama — Hie Search for a Channel across the Isthmus — He 
 predicts an Eclipse of the Moon at Jamaica — His Return — The Death of 
 Isabella — Columbus penniless at Valladolid — His Death — His four Burials 
 — The Iiyustice of the World towards Columbus — Amerigo Vespucci — The 
 New World named America — John Cabot in Labrador — Sebastian Cabot 
 in Hudson's Bay — Vincent Yanez Pinzon at the mouths of the Amazon, SO 
 
 CHAPTER V. — Portuguese Navigation under Emmanuel — Popular Prejudices 
 — Vasco da Gama — Preparations for an Indian Voyage — The' Departure- 
 Rendezvous at the Cape Verds — Landing upon the Coast — The Natiyes— 
 An Invitation to Dinner, and its Consequences — A Storm — Mutiny — The 
 Spectre of the Cape — Da Oama and the Negroes — Adventure with an 
 Albatross — The Hottentots and Caflfres — The River of Good Promise — 
 Mozambique — Treachery of the Natives — Mombassa, and its roguish King 
 — Melinda — Festivities— The Malabar Coast — Calicut — The Route to the 
 Indies discovered — The Moors in Hindostan — Condition of the Country 
 upon the Arrival of Da Gama — Hostility of the Moors — They prejudice 
 the King of Calicut against the Portuguese — Consequent Hostilities — A 
 laconic Epistle — Da Gama sets out upon his Return — Wild Cinnamon — 
 A Moorish Pirate disguised as an Italian Christian — A tempestuous Voyage 
 — Wreck of the San Rafael— Honours and Titles bestowed upon Da Gama 
 — An Expedition fitted out under Alvarez Cabral — Accidental Discovery 
 of Brazil — Comets and Waterspouts — Loss of four Vessels — First Euro- 
 pean Establishment in the East Indies — A Bazaar established at Calicut- 
 Attack by the Moors — Cabral withdraws to Cochin — Visits Cananor and 
 takes in a Load of Cinnamon — Is received with coldness upon his return 
 — Vasco da Gama recalled into the Service by the King — His achievements 
 at Sofala, Cananor, and Calicut — He hangs fifty Indians at the yard-arm 
 — Protects Cochin and threatens Calicut — Withdraws to Private Life- 
 Spread of the Portuguese East Indian Empire — Alphonzo d' Albuquerque 
 — Immense Sacrifice of Life — Ancient Route of the Spice-Trade with 
 Europe — Commerce by Caravans — Revolution produced by Opening the 
 new Route — Francesco Almeida — Discovery of Ceylon — Tristan d'Acunha 
 — The Portuguese Mars — His views of Empire — An arsenal established 
 at Goa — Reduction of Malacca — Siam and Sumatra send embassies to 
 Albuquerque — The Island of Onnuz — Death of Albuquerque — Extent of 
 the Portuguese Dominion — Ormuz becomes the great Emporium of the 
 East — Fall of the Portuguese Empire, . . . . .78 
 
 CHAPTER VI.— Ponce de Leon— The Fountain of Youth— Discovery of 
 Florida — The Martyrs and the Tortugas — The Bahama Channel — Vasco 
 Nunez de Balboa — He goes to Sea in a Barrel — Marries a Lady of the 
 Isthmus — His Search for Gold — Hears of a mighty Ocean — Undertakes to 
 reach it — Preparations for the Expedition — Leoncico the Blood-hound 
 —Battle with a Cacique— Six hundred Natives killed — Ascent of the 
 Mountains — Balboa mounts to the Summit alone— The first sight of the 
 Pacific — Ceremonies of taking Possession — Balboa up to his knees in the 
 Ocean — Every one tastes the Water — A Voyage upon the Pacific, and a 
 narrow Escape — Ignominious Fate of Balboa — Juan Diaz de Solis — Dis- 
 covers the Bio de la Plata — His horrible Death by Cannibal*— A Papal 
 JsuU — Ferdinand Magellan — He offers his services to Spain — His plans — 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 F&OB 
 
 His Fleet — Pigafetta the Historian — An inauspicious Start — TeneriflFe and 
 its Legends — St. Elmo's Fire — The Crew make famous Bargains with the 
 Cannibals — Heavy price paid for the King of Spades — Patagonian Giants 
 — Pigafetta's Exaggerations — The Healing Art in Patagonia — ^The Tragedy 
 of Port Julian — Discovery of a Strait — The Open Sea — Cape Deseado — 
 The Ocean named Pacific — Ravages of the Scurvy — A Patagonian Convert 
 ^The Needle becomes Lethargic — Discovery of the Ladrones — Discovery 
 of the Philippines — The King of Zubu wishes the King of Spain to pay 
 Tribute — He finally abandons the idea— Magellan invades a refractory 
 Island — His Death — Attempts to recover his Body — Serrano left to his 
 Fate — The Ships arrive at Borneo— The Sailors drink too freely of arrack 
 — Festivities and Treachery — The Fleet arrives at the Moluccas — The King 
 of Tidore — A Brisk Trade in Cloves — The Spice-Tariflf— The Vittoria sails 
 homeward — Arrival at the Cape Verds — Loss of One Day — Completion of 
 the First Voyage of Circumnavigation, . . . . .99 
 
 SECTION III. 
 
 FROM THE FIRST VOYAGE ROUND THE WORLD TO THE DISCOVERY 
 OF CAPE HORN, 1519-1616. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. — Voyage of Jacques Cartier — Maritime Projects of Francis 
 r. of France — Gulf of St. Lawrence — A quick Trip home — Second Voyage 
 — Canada, (Quebec, Montreal — A captive King — Voyage of Sir Hugh Wil- 
 loughby and Richard Chancellor — Discovery of Nova Zembla — Disastrous 
 Winter — Fate of the Expedition — Martin Frobisher — His Voyage in quest 
 of a North-west Passage — Greenland — Labrador — Frobisher's Straits — 
 Supposed Discovery of Gold — Second Voyage — A cargo of precious earth 
 taken on Board — Meta Incognita — ITiird Voyage — A mortifying Conclu- 
 sion — The Struggle for Supremacy — Sir John Hawkins — Francis Drake 
 — His first Voyage to the Spanish Main — Commission granted by Queen 
 Elizabeth — Expedition against the Spanish Possessions — Exploits at 
 Mogador and Santiago — Crossing the Line — A Raft — Arrival in Patagonia 
 — Trial and Execution of Doughty — Passage through Magellan's Strait — 
 Adventures of William Pitcher and Seven Men — Cape Horn — Arrival 
 at Valparaiso — A rich Prize— A Spaniard caught napping — Drake's 
 achievements at Callao — Battle with a Treasure-Ship — Drake gives a 
 receipt for her cargo — His Plans for returning Home — Fresh Captures — 
 Performances at Guatnlco and Acapulca — Judges and Prisoners meet a 
 like Fate— Exceeding cold Weather — Drake regarded as a god by the 
 Californians — Sails for the Moluccas — Visits Ternate and Celebes — Crab 
 Island — The Pelican upon a Reef — The Return Voyage — Protest of the 
 Spanish Ambassador — He styles Drake the Master-Thief of the Unknown 
 World— Queen Elizabeth on board the Pelican — Drake's Use of his For- 
 tune — His Death— The Voyage of John Davis to the North-west — Policy of 
 Queen Elizabeth — Thomas Cavendish — His first Voyage — Exploits upon 
 the African and Brazilian Coasts — Port Desire — Port Famine — Battles 
 with the Araucanians — Capture of Paita — Capture of the Santa Anna — 
 The Return Voyage— Cavendish's second Voyage — The Spanish Armada 
 
CONTENTS. 7 
 
 FAGB 
 
 — Preparations in England — The Conflict — Total Rout of the Invincibles — 
 Procession in Commemoration of the Event — The Fiction of El Dorado — 
 Manoa — Description of its fabled Splendours — Attempts of the Spaniards 
 to discover it— Sir Walter Raleigh— His Voyage to Guiana — The Orinoco 
 — His Return — His Imprisonment — His second Voyage — Expedition to 
 Newfoundland — Raleigh beheaded, ..... 121 
 
 CHAPTER VIIL— Discovery of the Solomon Islands by Mendana — He seeks 
 for them again thirty years later — The Marquesas Islands — Arduous Voy- 
 age — Santa Cruz — Hostilities — War, and its results — Death of Mendana — ■ 
 Quiros conducts the Ships to Manilla — Attempts of the Dutch to discover 
 a North-east Passage — Voyage of Wilhelm Barentz — Arrival at Nova 
 Zembla — Winter Quarters — Building a House — Fights with Bears — The 
 Sun disappears — The Clock stops, and the Beer freezes — The House is 
 snowed up — The Hot-Ache — Fox-Traps— Christmas Eve— Twelfth Night 
 — Return of the Sun — The Ships prove unseaworthy — Preparations to de- 
 part in the Boats — Death of Barentz — Arrival at Amsterdam — Results of 
 the Voyage — The Five Ships of Rotterdam — Jacob Mahu — Sebald da 
 Weert — Disasters in the Strait of Magellan — The Fleet is scattered to the 
 Winds — Return of only One Vessel to Holland— Voyage of Oliver Van 
 Noort — First Dutch Voyage of Circumnavigation — Quiros' Theory of a 
 Southern Continent — His Arguments and Memorials — His first Voyage — 
 — Discoveries — EncarnaQion — Sagittaria, or Tahiti — Espiritu Santo — Re- 
 turn — Renewed Solicitations — Death of Quiros — The Muscovy Company 
 of London — Henry Hudson — His Voyages to Spitzbergen and Nova Zembla 
 — His Voyage to America — Casts anchor at Sandy Hook — Ascends the 
 Hudson River as far as the Site of Albany — His Voyage to Iceland and 
 Hudson's Bay — Disastrous Winter — Mutiny — Hudson set adrift — His 
 Death— The Fleet of Joris Spilbergen— Trade at Mocha Island— Treachery 
 at Santa Maria — Terrible Battle between the Dutch and Spanish Fleets^ 
 Spilbergen sails for Manilla — Arrival at Ternate— His return home — The 
 Voyage of Schouten and Lemaire — Discovery of Staten Land — Cape Horn 
 — Lemaire's Strait — Arrival at Batavia — Confiscation of the Ships — Gen- 
 eral Results of the Voyage — The Voyage of William Baffin — Arctic Re- 
 searches during the Seventeenth Century, ..... 149 
 
 SECTION lY. 
 
 FROM THE DISCOVERY OP CAPE HORN TO THE ARCTIC 
 EXPLORATIONS, 1616-1854. 
 
 CHAPTER IX.— The Mayflower— Her Appearance— The Speedwell— Their 
 Departure — Alleged Unseaworthiness of the Speedwell — The Mayflower 
 sails alone — The Equinoctial Storm — Consultations — A remedy applied 
 — First View of the Land — Discovery of New Holland— Tasman ordered 
 to survey the Island — Discovery of Tasrrania — of New Zealand — Mur- 
 derers' Bay — The Friendly Islands — The Feejees — New Britain — Circum- 
 navigation of New Holland — Return to Batavia — Results of the Voyage — 
 Piracy — Origin of the Buccaneers — Their Manner of Life — Dress — Occu- 
 
° CONTENTS 
 
 PAOE 
 
 pation — The Island of Tortuga their Head-Qaarters — Their religious 
 Scruples — Manner of dividing Spoils — The Extern3inator — Exploits of 
 Henry Morgan — Impotence of the Spaniards — Career of William Dampier 
 — His First Piratical Cruise — Adventures by Land and Sea — Lingering 
 Deaths by Poison — The New-Hollanders — Reproaches of Conscience — 
 Dampier's dangerous Voyage in an open Boat — Piracy upon the American 
 Coast — William Kidd sent against the Pirates — He turns Pirate himself 
 — His Exploits, Detection, and Execution, ..... 169 
 
 CHAPTER X. — The Voyage of Woodes Rogers — ^Desertion checked by a novel 
 Circumstance — A Light seen upon the Island of Juan Fernandez — A Boat 
 sent to reconnoitre — Alexander Selkirk discovered — He ships with Rogers 
 as Second Mate — Turtles and Tortoises — Fight with a Spanish Treasure- 
 Ship — Profits of the Voyage — The Dutch West India Company — Renewed 
 Search for the Terra Austrahs Incognita — Jacob Roggewein — His Voyage 
 of Discovery — A Famine in the Fleet — Arrival at New Britain — Vitus 
 Behring — Behring's Straits — Death of Behring — Subsequent Survey of the 
 Strait, . . . . . . . . . 186 
 
 CHAPTER XL — Voyage under George Anson — Unparalleled Mortality — Ar- 
 rival and Sojourn at Juan Fernandez — A Prize — Capture of Paita — Pre- 
 parations to attack the Manilla Galleon — Disappointment — Fortunate 
 Arrival at Tinian — Romantic Account of the Island — A Storm — Anson's 
 Ship driven out to Sea — The abandoned Crew set about building a Boat 
 — Return of the Centurion — Battle with the Manilla Galleon — Anson's 
 Arrival in England — The Proceeds of the Cruise — Colonization of the 
 Falkland Islands — Antoine de Bougainville — The first Female Circumna- 
 vigator, .... ..... 194 
 
 CHAPTER XII.— Voyages for the Advancement of Science — Byron, Wallis, 
 and Carteret — Lieutenant James Cook's First Voyage — A Night on Shore 
 in Terra del Faego — Arrival at Tahiti — The Natives pick their Pockets — 
 The Observatory — A Native chews a Quid of Tobacco— The Transit of 
 Veuus — New Zealand — Cannibalism — Theory of a Southern Continent 
 subverted — New Holland — Botany Bay — The Endeavour on the Rocks — 
 Expedient to stop the Leak — Passage through a Reef — Arrival at Batavia 
 — Mortality on the Voyage home — Cook promoted to the rank of Com- 
 mander — Cook's Second Voyage — A Storm — Separation of the Ships — 
 Aurora Australis — Dusky Bay — Six Waterspouts at once — Tahiti again — 
 Petty Thefts of the Natives — Omai — Arrival at the Friendly Islands — A 
 Banquet — The Fleet witnesses a Feast of Human Flesh — Disproportion of 
 the Sexes — The New Hebrides — New Caledonia — Return home — Honours 
 bestowed on Cook — Cook's Third Voyage — The North-west Passage — Omai 
 — His Reception at home — The Crew forego their Grog — Discovery of the 
 Sandwich Islands — Nootka Sound — Prince William's Sound — Cook's River 
 — Cape Prince of Wales — Two Continents In Sight — Icy Cape — Return to 
 the Sandwich Islands — Cook is deified — Interview with Tereoboo — Sub- 
 sequent Difficulties — A Skirmish — Pitched Battle and Death of Cook— • 
 Recovery of a portion of his Remains — Funeral Ceremonies — Life and 
 Services of Cook, , .... 208 
 
CONTENTS. 9 
 
 PAGE 
 
 CHAPTER XIII. — Louis xvi. and the Science of Navigation — Voyage of La 
 Pgrouse — Arrival at Easter Island — Address of the Natives — Expert Pick- 
 pockets — Survey of the American Coast — A remarkable Inlet — Distressing 
 Calamity — The Japanese Waters — Arrival at Kamschatka — Affray at Na- 
 vigator's Isles — Laperouse arrives at Botany Bay, and is never seen again, 
 alive or dead — Voyages made in Search of him — D'Entrecasteaux — Dillon 
 • — D'Urville — Discovery of numerous Relics of the Ships at Manicolo — 
 Theory of the Fate of Lap6rouse — Erection of a Monument to his memory 
 — The Transplantation of the Bread-fruit Tree — The Voyage of the Bounty 
 — A Mutiny — Bligh, the Captain, with Eighteen Men, cast adrift in the 
 Launch — Incidents of the Voyage from Tahiti to Timor — Terrible Suffer- 
 ings and a marvellous Escape — Arrival of the Mutineers at Tahiti — Their 
 Removal to Pitcairn's Island — Subsequent History, . . . 237 
 
 CHAPTER XIV.— Arctic Explorations— Ross— The Crimson Cliffs— Lancaster 
 Sound — Buchan and Franklin — Parry — The Polar Sea — Winter Quarters 
 —Return home — Parry's Polar Voyage — Boat-Sledges — Method of Travel 
 — Dithearteuing Discovery — 82° 43 North — Ross's Second Voyage — The 
 North Magnetic Pole — Back's Voyage in the Terror — Sir John Franklin's 
 Last Voyage in the Erebus and Terror — Efforts made to relieve him — 
 Discovery of the Scene of his First Winter Quarters — The Grlnnell Expe- 
 dition — The Advance and Rescue — Lieutenant de Haven — Dr. Kane — • 
 Return of the Expedition — Kennedy's Expedition — Sir Edward Belcher — 
 M'Clure — Discovery of the North-west Passage — Junction of M'Clure and 
 Kellett — Episode of the Resolute — Traces of the Fate of Sir John Franklin 
 — The Second Grinnell Expedition — The Advance in Winter Quarters — 
 Total Darkness — Sledge-Parties — Adventures — The First Death — Tenny- 
 son's Monument — Humboldt Glacier — The open Polar Sea — Second 
 Winter — Abandonment of the Brig — The Water again — TJpernavik — 
 Death of Dr Kane — Return of the Fox Expedition — Captain M'Clintock's 
 Account of the Voyage — Discovery of Records and Relics — Death of Sir 
 John Franklin — Captain M'Clintock's answer to tha question. May not 
 some of the crews still be alive among the Esquimaux ? ... 250 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 In presenting this edition, the Editor has to state, that 
 it is to some extent abridged from the original American 
 work, by Frank B. Goodrich. 
 
 In the treatment of a noble and inspiriting subject, the 
 author has displayed extensive knowledge and patient 
 research — having succeeded in bringing together materials 
 of a very varied and interesting nature, pleasantly digested, 
 in a style which secures the attention of the reader. Occa- 
 sionally, however, he indulged in remarks betraying a bias 
 which too frequently arises from an over-indulgence of 
 national feeling. Such allusions have been suppressed ; 
 the volume has also been divested of introductory mattei 
 containing ingenious but airy speculations as to the origin 
 of navigation, and its progress previous to the Christian 
 era ; a chapter on the question as to who was the first 
 to apply steam to navigation ; and another regarding the 
 attempts to lay the Atlantic cable. 
 
 These, with some other points, were considered out of 
 
 place in a volume devoted to the treatment of " The Sea 
 
 AND HER Famous Sailors." The object of the present 
 
 volume is the narration of known facts and established 
 
 results connected with the hazardous and heroic deeds of 
 11 
 
« 
 12 PREFACE. 
 
 our forefatliers ou that changeful element which is the 
 bulwark of British supremacy, while it is the highway of 
 the world. 
 
 Whether we contemplate " The Sea and her Famous 
 Sailors" as a careful and concise ocean-history, or as a 
 compact series of Tales and Adventures, it possesses many 
 attractive as well as useful features. The rise and fall of 
 maritime greatness in connexion with the annals of various 
 nations — the enterprise and endurance which won and main- 
 tained naval power— together with the innumerable episodes 
 of brilliant daring which mark the career of our earlier 
 adventurers — all combine to throw a charm around these 
 pages. In reading the history of the storm-tossed adven- 
 turers, we share their perils and feel pride in their successes. 
 Their memory is ever green, for in such events we have a 
 common interest, whatever be the flag of the brave men 
 who bore it. 
 
 London, 1859. 
 
THE SEA AO HER FAMOUS SAILORS. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 " The sea is His, and He made it," cries the Psalmist of 
 Israel, in one of those bursts of enthusiasm in which he so 
 often expresses the whole of a vast subject by a few simple 
 words. Whose else, indeed, could it be, and by whom 
 else could it have been made 1 Who else can heave its 
 tides and appoint its bounds 1 Who else can urge its 
 mighty waves to madness with the breath and wings of 
 the tempest, and then speak to it again in a master's 
 accents, and bid it be still ? Who else could have peopled 
 it with countless inhabitants, and filled it from its deepest 
 bed to its expanded surface, iBlled it from its centre to its 
 remotest shores, filled it to the brim with beauty and 
 mystery and power 1 Majestic ocean ! Glorious sea ! No 
 created being rules thee or made thee. 
 
 There is mystery in the sea. There is mystery in its 
 depths. It is unfathomed, and perhaps unfathomable. 
 What glittering riches, what heaps of gold, what stores of 
 gems, there must be scattered in lavish profusion in the 
 ocean's lowest bed ! What spoils from all climates, what 
 works of art from aU lands, have been engulfed by the 
 insatiable and reckless waves ! Who shall go down to 
 examine and reclaim this uncounted and idle wealth 1 Who 
 bears the keys of the deep 1 who but He to whom the 
 wildest waves listen reverently, and to whom all nature 
 bows ; He who shall one day speak, and be heard in 
 ocean's profoundest caves ; to whom the deep, even the 
 13 
 
14 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 lowest deep, shall give up its dead, when the sun shall 
 sicken, and the earth and the isles shall languish, and the 
 heavens be rolled together like a scroll, and there shall be 
 
 NO MORE SEA ! 
 
 In early times, in the scriptural and classic periods, the 
 great oceans were unknown. Mankind — at least that 
 portion whose history has descended to us — dwelt upon 
 the borders of an inland, mediterranean sea. They had 
 never heard of such an expanse of water as the Atlantic, 
 and certainly had never seen it. The land-locked sheet 
 which lay spread out at their feet was at aU times full of 
 mystery, and often even of dread and secret misgiving. 
 Those who ventured forth upon its bosom came home and 
 told marvellous tales of the sights they had seen and the 
 perils they had endured. Homer's heroes returned to 
 Ithaca with the music of the sirens in their ears and the 
 cruelties of the giants upon their lips. The Argonauts saw 
 whirling rocks implanted in the sea, to warn and repel the 
 approaching navigator ; and, as if the mystery of the 
 waters had tinged with fable even the dry land beyond it, 
 they filled the Caucasus with wild stories of enchantresses, 
 of bulls that breathed fire, and of a race of men that 
 sprang, like a ripened harvest, from the prolific soil. If 
 the ancients were ignorant of the shape of the earth, it was 
 for the very reason that they were ignorant of the ocean. 
 Their geographers and philosophers, whose observations 
 were confined to fragments of Europe, Asia, and Africa, 
 alternately made the world a cylinder, a flat surface begirt 
 by water, a drum, a boat, a disk. The legends that sprang 
 from these confused and contradictory notions made the 
 land a scene of marvels and the water an abode of terrors. 
 
 At a later period, when, with the progress of time, the 
 love of adventure or the needs of commerce had drawn 
 the navigator from the Mediterranean through the Pillars 
 of Hercules into the Atlantic, and when some conception 
 of the immensity of the waters had forced itself upon 
 minds dwarfed by the contracted limits of the inland sea, 
 
INTRODUCTION. 15 
 
 then the ocean became in good earnest a receptacle of 
 gloomy and appalling horrors, and the marvels narrated by 
 those fortunate enough to return, told how deeply the 
 imagination had been stirred by the new scenes opened to 
 their vision. Pytheas, who coasted from Marseilles to the 
 Shetland Isles, and who there obtained a glance at the 
 bleak and wintry desolation of the North Sea, declared, on 
 reaching home, that his farther progress was barred by an 
 immense black mollusc, which hung suspended in the air, 
 and in which a ship would be inextricably involved, and 
 where no man could breathe. The menaces of the South 
 were even more appalling than the perils of the North ; for 
 he who should venture, it was said, across the equator into 
 the regions of the sun, would be changed into a negro for 
 his rashness ; besides, in the popular belief, the waters 
 there were not na\dgable. Upon the quaint charts of the 
 Middle Ages, a giant located upon the Canary Islands for- 
 bade aU farther venture westward, by brandishing his for- 
 midable club in the path of all vessels coming from the 
 East. Upon these singular maps the concealed and treacher- 
 ous horrors of the deep were displayed in the grotesque 
 shapes of sea-monsters and distorted water-unicorns, which 
 were represented as careering through space and waylaying 
 the navigator. Even in the time of Columbus, and when 
 the introduction of the compass into European ships should 
 have somewhat diminished the fantastic terrors of the sea, 
 we find that the Arabians, the best geogTaphers of the 
 time, represented the bony and gnarled hand of Satan as 
 rising from the waves of the sea of darkness — as the 
 Atlantic was then called — ready to seize and engulf the 
 presumptuous mariner. The sailors of Columbus, on reach- 
 ing the Sargasso Sea, where the collected weeds ofi"ered an 
 impediment to their progress, thought they had arrived at 
 the limit of navigation and the end of the world. Five 
 years later the crew of Da Gama, on doubling the Cape of 
 Good Hope, imagined they saw, in the threatening clouds 
 that gathered about Table Rock, the form of a spectre 
 
1 6 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 waving oflf their vessel, and crying woe to all who should 
 thus invade his dread dominion. The Neptune of the 
 classics, in short, who disported himself in the narrow 
 waters of the Mediterranean, and of whose wrath we have 
 read the famous mythologic accounts, was a deity alto- 
 gether bland and dehonnaire compared to the gloomy and 
 revengeful monopolist of the seas, such as the historians 
 and geographers of the Middle Ages painted him. 
 
 And now Columbus had discovered the Western Con- 
 tinent, Da Gama had found an ocean route to the Indies, 
 and Magellan, sailing around the world, had proved its 
 sphericity and approached the Spice Islands from the East. 
 For centuries, now, the two great oceans were the scenes 
 of grand and useful maritime expeditions. The tropical 
 islands of the Pacific arose, one by one, from the bosom of 
 the sea, to reward the navigator or relieve the outcast. 
 For years property was not safe upon the sea, and tradiog 
 ships went armed, while the armed vessels of nations 
 turned buccaneers. Commerce was by and by spread over 
 the world, and civilisation and Christianity were intro- 
 duced into the desert and the wilderness. Two centuries 
 more, and steam made the Atlantic ocean a ferry-transit. 
 
 The ocean, then, has a history ; it has a past worth 
 narrating, adventures worth telling, and it has played a 
 part in the advancement of science, in the extension of 
 geographical knowledge, in the spread of civilisation and 
 the progress of discovery, which it is eminently worth our 
 while to ponder and digest. Its gradual submission to 
 invasion from the land ; its successive surrender of the 
 islands in the tropics and the ice-mountains at the poles ; 
 its slow but certain release of its secrets ; its final abandon- 
 ment of its exclusiveness — with a multitude of attendant 
 incidents, accidents, battles, disasters, shipwrecks, famines, 
 robberies, mutinies, piracies — form the theme and purpose 
 of these pages. 
 
SECTION I. 
 
 FROM THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE CHRISTIAN ERA TO THH 
 
 APPLICATION OF THE MAGNETIC NEEDLE TO EUROPEAN 
 
 NAVIGATION.— A. d. 1300. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 NAVIGATION" DURING THE ROMAN EMPIRE THE CRUSADES 
 
 THE SCANDINAVIAN SAILORS. 
 
 We have taken tlie birth of Christ as a point of depar- 
 ture in the history of navigation, merely because of the 
 prominence of that event in the annals of the world, not on 
 account of any connexion that it has with the chronicles of 
 the sea. So far from that, the first five centuries of the 
 Christian era are an absolute blank in all matters which 
 pertain to our subject. Tne Roman Empire rose and fell ; 
 and its rise and fall concerned the Mediterranean only. 
 Not even Julius Caesar, the greatest man in Roman history, 
 has a place in maritime records ; unless, when crossing the 
 Adriatic in a fishing-boat during a storm, his memorable 
 words of encouragement to the fisherman, "Fear nothing ! 
 you carry Caesar and his fortunes !" are sufficient to connect 
 him with the sea. Neither Pompey, nor Sylla, nor Angus 
 tus, nor Nero, nor Titus, nor Constantine, nor Theodosius, 
 nor Attila, can claim part or lot in the dominion of man 
 over the ocean. And so we glide rapidly over five cen- 
 turies. 
 
 Upon the mvasion of Italy by the barbarians, a.d. 476, 
 the Veneti, a tribe dwelling upon the north-eastern shores 
 17 c 
 
18 THE WARRIORS OF THE CROSS. 
 
 of the Adriatic, escaped from their ravages by fleeing to the 
 marshes and sandy inlets formed by the deposits of the 
 rivers which there fall into the gulf Here they were se- 
 cure ; for the water around them was too deep to allow of 
 an attack from the land, and too shallow to admit the 
 approach of ships from the sea. Their only resom'ce was 
 the water and the employments it afl'orded. At first they 
 caught fish ; then they made salt, and finally engaged in 
 maritime traffic. Early in the seventh century their traders 
 were known at Constantinople, in the Levant, and at Alex- 
 andria. Their city soon covered ninety islands, connected 
 together by bridges. They established mercantile factories 
 at Rome, and extended their authority into Istria and Dal- 
 matia. In the eighth century they chased the pirates, and 
 in the ninth they fought the Saracens. At this period 
 Genoa, too, rose into notice, and the Genoese and the 
 Venetians at once became commercial rivals and the 
 monopolists of the Mediterranean. 
 
 And now Peter the Hermit, barefooted and penniless, 
 inveighing against the atrocities of the Turks towards 
 Christians at Jerusalem, exhorted the warriors of the 
 Cross to take up arms against the infidels. He inspired 
 all Europe with an enthusiasm like his own, and enlisted 
 a million followers in the cause. The passion of the age 
 was for war, peril, and adventure ; and fighting for the 
 Sepulchre was a more agreeable method of doing penance 
 than wearing sackcloth or mortifying the flesh. The First 
 Crusade, a motley array of knights, spendthrifts, barons, 
 beggars, women, and children, set out upon their wild 
 career. Then came the Second, the Third, and the Fourth. 
 Crusading was the amusement and occupation of two 
 centuries. Two millions of Europeans perished in the 
 cause before it was abandoned. A few words concerning 
 its efiects upon the civilization of Europe, are necessary 
 here, in direct pursuance of our subject. 
 
 During their stay in Palestine the Crusaders learned, 
 and in a measure acquired, the habits of Eastern life. They 
 
^.uAmtttW. S9.iL'I\. 
 
 THE DOGE OF VENICE WEDDING THE ADRIATIC. 
 Th<j Pope, Alexander III., sent tlie Doge the famous nuptiil ring with whieli, ia assertion of liis naviJ su- 
 premacy, " to wed tlie Adriatic." The ceremony was performed from the deck of tlie Bucentaur, or state-galley, 
 with every possii)le accompaniment of pomp and parade. The vessel was crowned with flowers like a bride, iinj 
 amid the harmonies of music nd the acclamations of the spectators the ring was dropped into the sea. — Paou Id 
 
MARRIAGE OF THE ADRIATIC. 19 
 
 In-ought back with them a taste for the peculiar products 
 of that region — jewels, silks, cutlery, perfume, spices. A 
 brisk commerce through the length and breadth of the 
 Mediterranean was the speedy consequence. Genoa, Pisa, 
 Florence, Venice, covered the waters of their inland sea 
 with sails, trafficking from the ports of Italy to those of 
 Syria and Egypt. In every maritime city conquered by 
 tne Crusaders, trading-stations and bazaars were established. 
 Marseilles obtained from the kings of Jerusalem privileges 
 and monopolies of trade upon their territory. Venice sur- 
 passed all her rivals in the splendour and extent of her 
 commerce, and it was for this that the Pope, Alexander 
 III., sent the Doge the famous nuptial ring with which, in 
 assertion of his naval supremacy, " to wed the Adriatic." 
 The ceremony was performed from the deck of the Bucen- 
 taur, or state-galley, with every possible accompaniment of 
 pomp and parade. The vessel was crowned with flowers 
 like a bride, and amid the harmonies of music and the 
 acclamations of the spectators the ring was dropped into 
 the sea. The Republic and the Adriatic, long betrothed, 
 were now indissolubly wedded. This ceremony was re- 
 peated from year to year. 
 
 The Normans, the Danes, the Dutch, imitated the ex- 
 ample of the Italians, or, as they were then called, the 
 Lombards, but were rather occupied in conveying provisions 
 to the armies than in trading for their own account. 
 
 It was during the Crusades that the French navy was 
 created, Philip Augustus, who, on his way to Syria, and 
 thence home again, could not have remained insensible to 
 the advantages of possessing a strong force upon the ocean, 
 formed, upon his retiu^n, the nucleus of a national fleet, for 
 the purpose of defending his coasts either against pirates 
 or foreign invasion. 
 
 While the necessity of transporting articles from the 
 East to supply the demand thus created in the "West gave 
 a stimulus to commerce and navigation, manufactures were 
 encouraged and developed by the operation of the same 
 
20 ART IN THE EAST. 
 
 cause. The Italians learned from tlie Greeks the art of 
 weaving silk, which soon resulted in the weaving of cloth 
 of gold and silver. From the manufactories of Syria, where 
 stuffs were made of camels' hair, improvements were intro- 
 duced into the manufactures of Europe, where they were 
 woven of no other material than lambs' wool. Palestine 
 also suggested to crusaders returning home the advantages 
 of windmills for grinding flour. Arabia furnished the art 
 of tempering arms and polishing steel, of chasing gold and 
 silver, of mounting stones in rich and massive settings. 
 Constantinople furnished the Christians with many splendid 
 specimens of ancient art. 
 
 Nearly all the Gothic monuments of Europe which stiU 
 excite the admiration of the tourist owe their existence to 
 this communication with the Greeks by means of the 
 Crusades, and to the wonder which seized the Frank and 
 Lombard at the sight of the churches and palaces of Byzan- 
 tium. Painting upon glass was also brought from Con- 
 stantinople, and the early painters of Christendom were 
 speedily employed in tracing in colours, upon the windows 
 of abbeys and cathedrals, the exploits of the Crusaders and 
 the triumphs of the Cross. 
 
 From the Arabs and the Greeks, too, the Europeans 
 received their first lessons in the natural and exact sciences. 
 Imperfect and incomplete as were the astronomy, the 
 botany, the mathematics, and the geography of the Ara- 
 bians, they were far in advance of the same professions as 
 understood and practised in Europe. The languages were 
 improved and enriched by the association and exchange ol 
 ideas into which English, Germans, Italians, and French 
 were forced. 
 
 It is obvious, therefore, that the effect of the Ciaisades 
 was to give the people of Europe a new motive for main- 
 taining an intercourse with the people of Asia. They had 
 seen their superior civilisation, and sought to introduce it 
 among themselves. They had learned to appreciate their 
 skill in the arts, and resolved to acclimate those ai'ts at 
 
THE SEA IN THE AGE OF HOMER. 21 
 
 home. They had accustomed themselves to many articles 
 of luxury, which had become articles of necessity, and 
 which it was now essential, therefore, to transport from the 
 Levant, from the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf, to the 
 Bay of Venice and the Gulf of Genoa. There was a 
 demand, in short, in the West, for the products, the manu- 
 factures, the arts, of the East. Here was the origin of the 
 immense Eastern commerce which now fell into the hands 
 of the Genoese and Venetians, and which, resulting from 
 the Crusades, compelled us to the digression we have 
 made. It is not our purpose, however, to refer more at 
 length to this commerce, as it was carried on upon seas 
 which had been navigated for twenty centuries ; and we 
 must hasten forward to the period when new paths were 
 laid out over the immensity of the waters. 
 
 A map, publish e*d just anterior to the First Crusade, 
 fully displays the ignorance which then prevailed in geo- 
 graphical science. The sea, as in the age of Homer, is 
 made to surround the world as a river, the land being 
 divided into three parts, Europe, Asia, and Africa. Africa 
 and Asia are joined together in the south, and the Indian 
 Ocean is an inland sea. Asia is as large as the other two 
 continents combined. On the east there is a small spot 
 indicated as the position of the Garden of Eden by the 
 words, Hie est Paradisus. Europe and Africa are separated 
 from Asia by a long canal, which may be either the Nile 
 or the Hellespont. Africa is still considered the land of 
 mystery and fable : its northern part only is considered 
 inhabitable, the south being even unapproachable, on ac- 
 count of the torrents of flame poured on it by the sun. 
 The Frozen Ocean, the Baltic, the White Sea, and the 
 Caspian, are all united. The northern regions are repre- 
 sented as forming one single island. Scandinavia is made 
 the birthplace and residence of the Amazons, the famous 
 women-warriors to whom antiquity had given a home in 
 the Caucasus. 
 
 We shall, in due order, proceed to show that the indi- 
 
22 THE ANGLO-SAXONS ON THE SEA. 
 
 rect and remote effect of the Crusades, and of the inter- 
 course produced by them between two totally separated 
 regions, was to induce the Discovery of America, tlie 
 Doubling of the Cape of Good Hope, and the Passage of 
 the Straits at the southern extremity of Patagonia, — results 
 due to Columbus, Vasco da Gama, and Magellan, 
 every one of whom were seeking, in the voyages which 
 have rendered them immortal, another passage to the 
 Indies than that held by the Italians — so far as they could 
 prosecute it in vessels upon the Mediterranean. But, 
 before we can proceed from the coasting enterprises of the 
 Lombards upon the land-locked waters of their inland sea, 
 to the daring ventures of the Portuguese and Spaniards 
 upon the raging billows of the Tropical and South Atlantic, 
 we must turn for a moment to the North of Europe, and 
 inquire into the maritime achievements of the Anglo-Saxons 
 and the Northmen during the Dark and Middle Ages. 
 
 The nations inhabiting the borders of the Baltic and the 
 coasts of Norway, as well as those dwelling on the shores 
 of the German Ocean, were situated quite as favourably for 
 maritime enterprise as those upon the banks of the Medi- 
 terranean. Though their earliest expeditions by sea were 
 not stimulated by the same cause — the desire for commer- 
 cial intercourse — they arose from causes equally active. 
 Wliile the Mediterranean countries possessed a fruitful soil 
 and a balmy climate, those of the North, under a sky com- 
 paratively ungenial, aflforded their inhabitants but a few of 
 the articles which they needed : they were led, therefore, to 
 increase their power by sea, in order to establish themselves 
 in more favoured climes, or at least to obtain from them by 
 plunder what their own country could not furnish. Thus 
 they neglected the arts of agriculture, and became inured 
 to a life of piracy upon the sea. They spent their lives in 
 planning and executing maritime expeditions. Fathers gave 
 fleets to their sons, and bade them seek their fortune on the 
 ocean highway. The ships, at first small — being mere 
 barks propelled by twelve oars — came at last to be capable 
 
THE FIRST FLEET. 23 
 
 of caiTying one hundred or one hundred and twenty men. 
 They were supplied with stones, arrows, ropes with wWch 
 to overset small vessels, and grappling-irons with which to 
 come to close quarters. 
 
 It would be remote from our purpose to notice these 
 piratical excursions, were it not that they sometimes resulted 
 in discovery or corrimerce. Many of the marauders settled 
 permanently in England in the seventh century, and esta- 
 blished there the Anglo-Saxon dominion. Alfred, their 
 most celebrated king, obliged to defend his territory from 
 the Danes, turned his attention zealously to everj^thing 
 connected with ships, commerce, discovery, and geography, 
 and became the first founder of that naval power which was 
 at a later period to be the world's dread and admiration. 
 The idea of ship-building once conceived, it was prosecuted 
 with astonishing vigour. Alfred not only multiplied their 
 number, but introduced material improvements. Towards 
 the latter part of his reign, his fleet numbered one hundred 
 sail : it was divided into small squadrons, and stationed at 
 various places along the coast. 
 
 In the year 863, a Dane of Swedish origin, named Gar- 
 dar, adventurously pushing off into the Northern Ocean, 
 though upon an object which history has not recorded, dis- 
 covered the island-rock whose appropriate name is Iceland. 
 Eleven years later, a navigator named Ingolf colonized the 
 country, the colonists, many of whom belonged to the most 
 esteemed families in the North, established a flourishing 
 republic. The situation of these people, isolated in the 
 midst of an arctic ocean, and their relation to the mother- 
 countiy, compelled them to exert and develop their heredi- 
 tarymaritime proclivities. In 877, a sailor named Gunnbjorn 
 saw a mountainous coast far to the west, supposed to be now 
 concealed or rendered inaccessible by the descent of arctic 
 ice. Erik the Red, who had been banished from Norway 
 for murder, and had settled in Iceland, was in his turn out- 
 lawed thence in 983 ; he sailed to the west and discovered 
 a land which he called Greenland, because, as he said. 
 
24: FIRST GLIMPSE OF THE AMERICAN CONTINENT. 
 
 " people will be attracted hither if the land has a good 
 name." He returned to Iceland, and, in the year 985, a 
 large number of ships — according to some authorities, 
 thirty-five — followed him to the new settlement and estab- 
 lished themselves on its south-western shore. 
 
 In 986, Bjarni Herjulfson-Bjarni the son of Herjulf, in a 
 voyage from Iceland to Greenland, was driven a long dis- 
 tance from the accustomed track. He at last saw land to 
 the west, and took counsel with his men as to what land it 
 could be. Bjarni declared it his opinion that it was not 
 Greenland. They sailed close in shore, and noticed that 
 there were no mountains, but that the land was undulating 
 and well wooded. They left the land on their larboard 
 side, and sailed away for two days, when they saw land 
 again. They asked Bjarni if he thought this was Green- 
 land ; and he replied that " he thought it as little to be 
 Greenland as the other, as he saw no high ice-hills." The 
 sailors wished to wood and water there, but Bjarni would 
 not consent. They sailed for three days to the north, and 
 saw a bold shore with high mountains and ice-hills. Bjarni 
 would not land, saying, " To me this land appears little 
 inviting." Sailing for four days more to the north-east, 
 they came to a country which Bjarni confidently pronounced 
 to be Greenland, where he landed and afterwards settled. 
 Various data furnished by this narrative, in the original 
 Icelandic records, have enabled geographers to determine 
 the various coasts thus dimly seen by Bjarni, but upon 
 which he did not land. They are supposed to have been 
 those of Long Island, Rhode Island, Massachusetts, Nova 
 Scotia, and Newfoundland. 
 
 In the year 994, Leif Erikson — Leif the son of Erik 
 the Outlaw — bought Bj ami's ship, and engaged thirty-five 
 men to navigate it, as he intended to sail upon a voyage of 
 discovery. He asked his father Erik to be the captain ; 
 but Erik declined, being, as he said, well stricken in years. 
 They sailed away into the sea, and discovered first the 
 land which Bjarni had rejected. They went ashore, saw 
 
MOUNT HOPE BAY. 25 
 
 no grass, but ijlenty of icebergs, and an abundance of flat 
 stones. From the latter circumstance they named the 
 place Helluland, hellu signifying a flat stone. There can 
 be no doubt that the spot thus named is the modern New- 
 foundland. They went on board again, and proceeded on 
 their way. They went ashore a second time, where the 
 land was flat, and covered with wood and white sand. 
 " This," said Leif, " shall be named after its qualities, and 
 called Marklaud " (woodland). This is undoubtedly Nova 
 Scotia. They sailed again to the south for two days and 
 came to an island which lay to the eastward of the main- 
 land. They observed dew upon the grass, and this dew, 
 upon being touched with the finger and raised to the mouth, 
 tasted exceedingly sweet. This appears to have been Nan- 
 tucket, where honey-dew is known to abound. 
 
 They proceeded on through a tract of shoal water, which 
 corresponds with the sound between Nantucket and Cape 
 Cod, and appear to have run across the mouth of Buzzard's 
 Bay, and to have ascended the Pocasset Eiver as lar as 
 Mount Hope Bay, which they took for a lake. Here they 
 cast anchor, and, " bringing their skin cots from the ship, 
 proceeded to make booths." They remained during the 
 winter, finding plenty of salmon in the river and lake. 
 " The nature of the countiy was, as they thought, so good, 
 that cattle would not require house-feeding in winter, for 
 there came no frost, and little did the grass wither there." 
 Their statement that on the shortest day the sun was above 
 the horizon from half-past seven till half-past four, enables 
 geographers to fix the latitude of the place where they were at 
 41° 43' 10", which is very nearly that of Mount Hope Bay. 
 
 One evening a man of the party was missing — a German 
 named Tyrker, whom Leif regarded as his foster-father. 
 He determined to seek for him, and for this purpose chose 
 twelve reliable men. Tyrker soon returned and said that 
 he had been a long distance into the interior, and had 
 found vines and grapes. " But is this true, my fosterer ?*' 
 said Leif. " Surely is it tnie," he returned ; " for I was 
 
 D 
 
26 . THK FIRST EUROPEAN BORN IN AJVIERIOA. 
 
 bred up in a land where there is no want of either vinea 
 or ^apes." The next morning Leif said to his sailors, 
 " We wiU now set about two things, in that the one day 
 we gather grapes, and the other cut vines and fell trees, so 
 from thence will be a loading for my ship." The record 
 states that the long-boat was filled with grapes. Leif 
 gave the country the name of Vinland, from its vires. 
 
 To the reader of the present day it may seem that the 
 wild vines of Massachusetts and Rhode Island can hardly 
 have been so prominent a feature of the native products as 
 to have given a name to the whole region. But it is cer- 
 tain that six centuries later the Puritans found wild maize 
 and grapes growing there in profusion, while the neigh- 
 bouring island of Martha's Vineyard received its name 
 from the English for a precisely similar reason. 
 
 Upon the return of Leif to Greenland, his brother Thor- 
 wald thought that " these new lands had been much too 
 little explored." Leif gave him his ship, and he put out to 
 sea, with thirty men, in the year 1002. Nothing is known 
 of their voyage till they came to Leif's booths in Vinland. 
 They laid up their ship, caught fish for their support, and 
 spent a pleasant winter. They passed two years in ex- 
 ploring the interior, and then returned by the north, where 
 Thorwald was killed in a battle with the Esquimaux. 
 
 But a more successful discoverer than any of these was 
 Thorfinn Karlsnefne — that is, Thorfinn the Predestined 
 Hero. He was a wealthy merchant of Iceland, the heir 
 of Danish, Swedish, and Norwegian princes. He visited 
 Greenland in 1006, where he married Gudrida, the widow 
 of an Icelandic adventurer, and in 1007 sailed, in three 
 ships, and with one hundred and sixty men, upon a voyage 
 to Vinland. His wife went with him, and, in the autumn 
 of the same year, bore him a son named Snorri, who was, 
 of course, the first of European blood born in America. 
 Thorfinn remained here three years, and had many com- 
 munications with the aborigines. A singular result of this 
 relation may perhaps be traced in the names successively given 
 
SHIPS OF THE NORTHMEN. 27 
 
 to one spot. The Northmen called one of their settlements 
 H<5p, and the Puritans, six centuries later, found that the 
 Indians called it Haup. It would appear that they had 
 continued, in their own tongue, the appellation bestowed 
 upon the place in the Norse language. The Puritans 
 anglicized it, and called it Mount Hope. 
 
 We have no accounts of any further voyages made by 
 the Northmen to America. The records were preserved in 
 the literature of the island, but the memory of them gra- 
 dually faded away from the popular mind. 
 
 Several writers claim for these early navigators a degree 
 of merit beyond that which they are willing to accord to 
 Columbus. " How different," they say, " were the cir- 
 cumstances under which the two voyages were made ! 
 The Northmen, without compass or quadrant, without any 
 of the advantages of science, geographical knowledge, per- 
 sonal experience, or previous discoveries, without the support 
 of either kings or governments — which Columbus, however 
 discouraged at the outset, eventually obtained — but guided 
 by the stars, and upheld by their own private resources and 
 a spirit of adventure which no dangers could repress, crossed 
 the broad Northern ocean and explored these distant lands." 
 
 This is all true ; and doubtless our wonder at the suc- 
 cess with which these early voyages were prosecuted would 
 be augmented tenfold, could we obtain authentic informa- 
 tion upon the character and capacity of the ships in which 
 they were made. Nothing reliable exists upon this sub- 
 ject, except a few rude inscriptions ; and from these, it 
 would actually appear that the vessels used had no decks, 
 and that they were partly propelled by oars. However 
 navigation may have improved since the days of the North- 
 men, it is certain that no sailor would now attempt an 
 Arctic voyage in an open boat ; and when we read of the 
 perils and sufferings of our modern Polar adventurers, it is 
 impossible not to be amazed at the success with which the 
 Danes and Norwegians, with their slender appliances, en- 
 dured and outlived them. 
 
CHAPTER II. 
 
 THE TRAVELS OF MARCO POLO THE FIRST MENTION OP 
 
 THE LOADSTONE IN HISTORY. 
 
 The call to arms against tlie Moslems fixed, as we have 
 said, the attention of Europe upon the East. The travels 
 of Carpini, Rubruquis, and Ascelin, in Tartary and in 
 China, revealed the existence of numerous tribes in localities 
 believed to be occupied by the ocean. Hordes of savages, 
 we are told, and whole nations of powerful and warlike 
 people, emerged from the imaginary waters of Eoiis, the 
 fabulous sea of antiquity and bed of Aurora. Marco Polo, 
 whose celebrated journey was performed during the twenty 
 years closing the thirteenth century, made known the 
 centre and eastern extremity of Asia, Japan, a portion of 
 the islands of the Indian Archipelago, a part of the con- 
 tinent of Africa, and^ by hearsay, the large island of Mada- 
 gascar. We subjoin a brief account of that portion of his 
 travels which was prosecuted by sea. 
 
 He became a great favourite with Kublai Khan, whose 
 winter capital was Khanbalik or Pekin, and served him 
 for many years as one of his confidential officers. He was 
 the first European who heard of the island of Japan, of 
 which he speaks thus : — " Zipangu, or Cipango, is an 
 island in the Eastern Ocean, situated about fifteen hundred 
 miles from the mainland. It is quite large. The inhabi- 
 tants have fair complexions, are civilized in their manners, 
 though their religion is idolatry. They have gold in the 
 greatest abundance, but its exportation is forbidden. The 
 entire roof of the sovereign's palace is stated to be covered 
 28 
 
FIRST INTELLIGENCE OF JAPAN. 29 
 
 with a plating of gold, as we cover churches and other 
 buildings with lead. So famous is the wealth of this island 
 that Kublai Khan was fired with the desire of annexing it 
 to his dominions. He sent out a numerous fleet and a 
 powerful army ; but a violent storm dispersed and wrecked 
 the ships, and thirty thousand men were thrown upon a 
 desert island a few miles from Cipango. They expected 
 nothing but death or captivity, as they could obtain no 
 means of subsistence. Being attacked from Cipango, they 
 got in the rear of the enemy, took possession of their fleet, 
 and put ofi" for the main island. They kept the colours flying 
 from the masts, and entered the chief city unsuspected. 
 All the inhabitants were gone except the women. They 
 took possession, but were closely besieged for six months, 
 until, despairing of relief, they surrendered, on condition of 
 their lives being spared. This took place in the year 
 1284." Such was the first intelligence of the island of 
 Japan which ever reached the ears of Europeans. 
 
 After a stay of seventeen yeai's in China, Marco and his 
 companions resolved to make an attempt to return to their 
 native land. Kublai Khan, however, was unwilling to part 
 with them ; and they owed their final release to a circum- 
 stance wholly unexpected. An embassy from Persia had 
 visited Pekin, and had selected one of Kublai's grand- 
 daughters for the wife of their prince. They set out with 
 her on their journey to Persia, but, after meeting with in- 
 credible obstacles, were obliged to return to the Chinese 
 capital. Marco had, at this time, just returned from a 
 voyage among the islands of the Indian Sea, and had laid 
 before the khan his observations upon the feasibility of 
 navigation in those waters. The ambassadors sought an 
 interview with Marco Polo, and found that they had all a 
 common interest — that of getting away as speedily as 
 possible. The khan was forced to facilitate the departure 
 of the envoys, though it deprived him of his friends the 
 Venetians. Preparations were made upon a grand scale 
 for the expedition. Foui'teen four-masted ships, a. part of 
 
30 MANUFACTURE OF DWARFS. 
 
 tliem with crews of two hundred and fifty men, were 
 equipped and victualled for two years. The khan bade the 
 Polo party an affectionate adieu, making them his ambas- 
 sadors to the principal courts of Europe, and extorting 
 from them a promise to return to his service after a visit 
 to their own country. 
 
 Thus honourably dismissed, they set sail from the port 
 of Amoy in 1291. They coasted along the shores of 
 Cochin-China, and came in sight of the islands of Borneo 
 and Java, though they did not land there. At the island 
 of Bintan, near the Straits of Malacca, they obtained some 
 knowledge of the kingdom of the Malays at the southern 
 extremity of the peninsula. They landed upon Sumatra, 
 and visited many parts of the island. Marco thus speaks 
 of one branch of the trade of the inhabitants : — " It should 
 be known that what is reported respecting the mummies of 
 pigmies sent to Europe from India is only an idle tale, 
 these pretended human dwarfs being manufactured in this 
 island in the following manner. The country produces a 
 large species of monkey having a countenance resembling 
 that of a man. The Sumatrans catch them, shave off their 
 hair, dry and preserve their bodies with camphor and other 
 drugs, and prepare them generally so as to give them the 
 appearance of little men. They then pack them in wooden 
 boxes and sell them to traders, by whom they are vended 
 for pigmies in all parts of the world. But there are no 
 such things as pigmies in India or anywhere else. It ifci 
 mere monkey-trade." 
 
 From Sumatra, Marco and his companions sailed into 
 the Bay of Bengal, touched at the Andaman and Nicobar 
 Islands, arrived at Ceylon, and doubling the southern point 
 of Hindostan, continued to the northward along its western 
 coast. The pearl-fishery here attracted their attention ; 
 and Marco, in his description of the diamonds of a kingdom 
 named Murphili, narrates as a fact a story which was 
 afterwards incorporated in the Adventures of Sin bad the 
 Sailor, — that of pieces of meat being thrown by the jewel- 
 
A LONG ABSENCE. 31 
 
 liuuters into inaccessible valleys, whence they.wei'e brought 
 back again by eagles and storks with quantities of diamontls 
 clinging to them. But the story occurs in the wiitings of 
 one of the Christian Fathers of the fourth century, and 
 Marco Polo only gives it as a legend which he heard. He 
 also alludes to the bird called the roc, which was so large 
 that it lifted elephants into the air ; its feathers measured 
 ninety spans. The locality frequented by these monstrous 
 ornithological specimens was the island of Madagascar. 
 
 The voyage appears to have ended at Ormuz, at the 
 mouth of the Persian Gulf, after a navigation of a year 
 and a half Six hundred men of the various crews had 
 died upon the way. There is no mention made in histoiy 
 of the return of the fleet to China, though Kublai Khan is 
 known to have died three years after the departure of the 
 Venetians. After various adventures, Marco Polo and his 
 companions arrived in Venice in 1295. They had been 
 absent twenty-one years, and their nearest relatives did not 
 know them. When they attempted to converse in Italian, 
 their use of foreign idioms and barbarous forms of expres- 
 sion rendered their language hardly intelligible. Possession 
 had been taken of their houses by some of their kindred, 
 and they found it difficult to expel them. Their state- 
 ments were disbelieved, till, by displaying their immense 
 wealth and their priceless collections of jewels and precious 
 stones, they forced their countrymen to give credit to 
 adventures which must clearly have been extraordinary, to 
 have resulted in such acquisitions of treasure. Marco's 
 riches gave him the name of Milione ; and he is designated 
 in the records of the Venetian Eepublic, and upon the 
 title-page of his work — still extant — as Messer Marco 
 Milione. 
 
 He was induced to write an account of his adventures 
 in the following manner. A war between the Venetians 
 and the Genoese resulted in the capture of the galley of 
 which he was commander. He was imprisoned during four 
 years at Genoa. His surprising history becoming known, 
 
32 INTRODUCTION OF THE COMPASS. 
 
 he was visited by all the principal inhabitants, who were 
 anxious to listen to his narrative. The frequent necessity 
 of repeating the same story became intolerably irksome to 
 him, and he resolved to commit it to writing. He thus 
 gave the first impulse to the promotion of geographical 
 science. He procured from Venice the original notes he 
 had made in the course of his travels, and, with their 
 assistance and that of a Genoese amanuensis, the narrative 
 was composed in his cell. It is a work of great research 
 and deep interest. Formerly read for its marvels, it is now 
 perused as the earliest authentic account of a region which 
 still remains a terra incognita, and whose inhabitants repel 
 curiosity and decline mingling with other nations upon the 
 usual reciprocal terms of fellowship and good-will. Marco 
 Polo is now justly considered the founder of the modern 
 geography of Asia. It was long before any new discoveries 
 were added to those of the illustrious Venetian, but his 
 original statements were confirmed in many quarters : by 
 Oderic, who visited India and China in 1320 ; by Schilt- 
 berger of Munich, who accompanied Tamerlane in his 
 expeditions through Central Asia ; by Pegoletti, an Italian 
 merchant who went to Pekin through the heart of Asia in 
 1335 ; and by Clavijo in 1403, who was sent by Spam aa 
 ambassador to Saraarcand. 
 
 Thus a European had been to the regions of spices and 
 had returned. From this time forward the world was to 
 know no rest till the route by sea had been discovered. 
 
 We have arrived at a momentous epoch in the history of 
 the sea. It was at this period that the mariner's compass 
 was — we do not say invented — but introduced into Euro- 
 pean navigation. That this admirable instrument, which, 
 in half a century, changed the face of the earth, by leading 
 to the discovery of America and thus proving the sphericity 
 of the world, should remain unclaimed by its author, and 
 that we are unable to point to him who thus blessed and 
 benefited his race, must always be a subject of regret. So 
 
ORIGIN OF THE WORD MAGNET. 33 
 
 far from being able to name the individual to whom the 
 invention is due, it has long been deemed impossible to fix 
 even upon the nation who first used the needle at sea. We 
 hope, however, by availing ourselves of recent researches 
 made in France, to arrive at a conclusion not only satis- 
 factory but inevitable. In tracing the history of the com- 
 pass, we must naturally begin with the magnet. 
 
 The ancients were fully acquainted with the loadstone, 
 and with its power of attracting iron, though they were 
 totally ignorant of its polarity. That they were so, is 
 evident from the fact that the classic authors and ancient 
 works upon navigation and kindred subjects do not furnish 
 one word upon the subject. Claudian has left, in one of 
 his idyls, a long description of the stone, and of its peculiar, 
 indeed magical affinity for iron. Had he entertained the 
 most distant idea that this stone could communicate to a 
 steel needle the power of indicating the north, it is not to 
 be supposed for an instant that he would have omitted 
 mentioning it. The earliest name of the loadstone waa 
 Hercules' Stone, which was soon changed to magnes^ from 
 the fact that it was found in abundance in a region called 
 Magnesia, in Lydia. Hence our word magnet. It was 
 not till the fourth century of our era that the quality of 
 repelling as well as of attracting iron seems to have been 
 discovered. Marcellus, the physician of Theodosius the 
 Great, is the first author who mentions this new quality. 
 
 The Romans, who acquired a knowledge of the magnet 
 from the Greeks, preserved the name, though several of 
 their authors, and Pliny among them, mention a tradition, 
 that the magnet was so called from a shepherd named 
 Magnes, who was the first to discover a mine of loadstone, 
 by the nails in his shoes clinging to the metal. 
 
 The first mention in European histoiy of the polarity of 
 the magnetized needle, and of its importance to mariners, 
 occurs in a satirical French poem written in 1190 by one 
 Guyot de Provins. It may be very properly inferred, from 
 the fact that the poet does not merely allude to the com- 
 
34 FIRST USE OF THE NEEDLE. 
 
 pass, but describes it and the polar star at some length, 
 that it was not generally known, and, in fact, had been 
 lately introduced into the Mediterranean. Whence it had 
 been introduced there, we shall learn as we proceed. 
 
 The second historical mention of the compass occurs in 
 a description of Palestine by Cardinal Jacques de Vitry, in 
 the year 1218, in which is the following passage: — " The 
 loadstone is found in India, to which, from some hidden 
 cause, iron spontaneously attaches itself. The moment an 
 iron needle is touched by this stone, it at once points to- 
 wards the North Star, which, though the other stars revolve, 
 is fixed as if it were the axis of the firmament : from whence 
 it has become necessary to those who navigate the seas." 
 
 Brunetto Latini, a grammarian of Florence, and precep- 
 tor of Dante, settled in Paris about the year 1260, and 
 composed a work entitled the " Treasure," in which he 
 distinctly describes the process and the consequence of 
 magnetizing a needle. He also went to England, and, in a 
 letter of which fragments have been published, writes thus : 
 — " Friar Bacon showed me a magnet, an ugly and black 
 stone, to which iron doth willingly cling : you rub a needle 
 upon it, the which needle, being placed upon a point, 
 remains suspended and turns against the star, even though 
 the night be stormy and neither star nor moon be seen ; 
 and thus the mariner is guided on his way." 
 
 The Italian Jesuit Riccioli, in his work upon Geography 
 and Hydrography, states, that before 1270, the French 
 mariners used " a magnetized needle, which they kept 
 floating in a small vessel of water, supported on two tubes, 
 so as not to sink." 
 
 All these authors agree in fixing the period at which the 
 use of the needle was popularized in Europe, at the latter 
 part of the twelfth and the commencement of the thirteenth 
 century. Not one of them mentions the inventor by name, 
 or even indicates his nation. This circumstance leads to 
 the conviction that it was unknown to them, and that, 
 consequently, the inventor was not a European. The 
 
A SUBSTITUTE FOR THE NEEDLE. 35 
 
 tlieory that the Europeans obtained it from the Arabians, 
 and the Arabians from the Chinese, is supported by the 
 following facts : — 
 
 A manuscript work, written by an Arabian named Bailak, 
 a native of Kibdjak, and entitled " The Merchant's Guide 
 in the Purchase of Stones," thus speaks of the loadstone in 
 the year 1242: — " Among the properties of the magnet, 
 it is to be noticed that the captains who sail in the Syrian 
 waters, when the night is dark, take a vessel of water, 
 upon which they place a needle buried in the pith of a 
 reed, and which thus floats upon the water. Then they 
 take a loadstone as big as the palm of the hand, or even 
 smaller. They hold it near the surface of the water, giving 
 it a rotary motion until the needle turns upon the water : 
 they then withdraw the stone suddenly, when the needle, 
 with its two ends, points to the north and south. I saw 
 this with my own eyes, on my voyage from Tripoli, in 
 Syria, to Alexandria, in the year 640. [640 of the 
 Hegira, 1240, a.d.] I heard it said that the captains in 
 the Indian seas substitute for the needle and reed a hollow 
 iron fish, magnetized, so that, when placed in the water, it 
 points to the north vnih its head and to the south with its 
 tail. The reason that the fish swims, not sinks, is that 
 metallic bodies, even the hea^aest, float when hollow, and 
 when they displace a quantity of water greater than their 
 own weight." 
 
 It may fairly be inferred from this passage, that, at the 
 time spoken of (1240), the practice was already of long 
 standing in this quarter, and that the needle and its 
 polarity had been long known and employed at sea. That 
 is, the Arabs had become familiar with the loadstone in 
 1240, while Friar Bacon regarded it, in England, as a 
 curiosity in 1260 — twenty years afterwards. The priority 
 of the invention would seem to be thus incontestably 
 proven for the Arabs. But we shall see speedily that it 
 derived its origin from a region situated still fai'ther to the 
 east, and many centuries earlier. 
 
36 EXPERIMENTS AT PEKIN. 
 
 A famous Chinese dictionary, terminated in the year 
 121 of our era, thus defines the word Magnet : — " The 
 name of a stone which gives direction to a needle." This 
 is quoted in numerous modern dictionaries. One published 
 during the Tsin dynasty — tliat is, between 265 and 419, 
 states that ships guided their course to the south by means 
 of the magnet. The Chinese word for magnet — Tchi nan 
 ■ — signifies, Indicator of the South. It was natural for the 
 Chinese, when they first saw a needle point both north and 
 south, to take the Antarctic pole for the principal point of 
 attraction, for with them the south had always been the 
 first of the cardinal points — the emperor's throne and all 
 the Government edifices invariably being built to face the 
 south. A Chinese work of authority, composed about the 
 year 1000, contains this passage : — " Fortune-tellers rub 
 the point of a needle with a loadstone to give it the power 
 of indicating the south." 
 
 A medical natural history, published in China in 1112, 
 speaks even of the variation of the needle, — a phenomenon 
 first noticed in Europe by Christopher Columbus in 1492 : 
 • — " When," it says, " a point of iron is touched by a load- 
 stone, it receives the power of indicating the south : still, 
 it declines towards the east, and does not point exactly to 
 the south." This observation, made at the beginning of 
 the twelfth century, was confirmed by magnetic experiments 
 made at Pekin, in 1780, by a Frenchman ; only the latter, 
 finding the variation to be from the north, set it down as 
 from 2° to 2° 30' to the west, while the Chinese, persisting 
 in calling it a variation from the south, set it down as 
 being from 2'^ to 2° 30' to the east. 
 
 Thus, the Chinese, who were acquainted with the pola- 
 rity of a magnetized needle as early as the year 121, and 
 who noticed the variation in 1112, may be safely supposed 
 to have employed it at sea in the long voyages which they 
 made in the seventh and eighth centuries, the route of which 
 has come down to us. Their vessels sailed from Canton, 
 through the Straits of Malacca, to the Malabar coast, to the 
 
THE PILOT OF AMALFl. 37 
 
 moutlLS of the Indus and the Euphrates. It is difficult to 
 believe that, aware of the use to which the needle might be 
 ai)plied, they did not so apply it. 
 
 While thus claiming for the Chinese the first knowledge 
 and application of the polarity of the needle, we may say, 
 incidentally, that it is now certain that they made numerous 
 other discoveries of importance long before the Europeans. 
 They knew the attractive power of amber in the first cen- 
 tury of our era, and a Chinese author said, in 324, " The 
 magnet attracts iron, and amber attracts mustard-seed." 
 They ascribed the tides to the influence of the moon in the 
 ninth century. Printing was invented in the province of 
 Chin about the year 920, and gunpowder would seem to 
 have been made there long before Berthold Schwartz mixed 
 it in 1330. Still, it is not necessary to resort to the argu- 
 ment of analogy to sujDport the claims of the Chinese to this 
 admirable invention : the direct evidence is sufiicient. 
 
 A century ago, Flavio Gioia, a captain or pilot of Amalfi, 
 in the kingdom of Naples, was recognised throughout Europe 
 as the true inventor of the compass. He lived in the be- 
 ghining of the fourteenth century, and biographers have 
 even fixed the date of the memorable invention at the year 
 1303. The principal foundation for this assertion was 
 the following line from a poem by Antonio of Bologna, 
 who lived but a short time after Gioia : — 
 
 " Prima dedit nautis usam magnetis Amalphis." 
 Amalfi first gave to sailors the use of the magnet. 
 
 The tradition was subsequently confirmed by the state- 
 ment made by authors of repute, that the city of Amalfi, in 
 order to commemorate an invention of so much importance, 
 assumed a compass for its coat-of-arms. This was believed 
 till the year 1810, when the coat-of-arms of Amalfi was 
 found in the library at Naples. It did not answer at all 
 to the description given of it ; instead of the eight wings 
 which were said to represent the four cardinal points and 
 their divisions, it had but two, in which no resemblance to 
 a compass could be traced. Later investigations have, as 
 
38 VALUE OF THE COMPASS. 
 
 we have said, completely demolished all the arguments by 
 which the comjDass was maintained to be of European origin 
 and of modern date. The curious reader will find the ex- 
 tracts from Chinese works which substantiate the Chinese 
 claim, in a volume published in 1834, at Paris, by M. J. 
 Klaproth, and composed at the request of Baron Humboldt. 
 In the sketch which we are now about to give of the 
 Portuguese voyages to the African coast, it will be remarked 
 that the compass was already introduced and acclimated. 
 No mention whatever is extant of the first venture made 
 upon the Atlantic under the auspices of this mysterious but 
 unerring guide. Science and history must for ever regret 
 that the first European navigator who employed it did not 
 leave a record of the experiment. What would be more 
 interesting to-day than the log of the earliest voyage thus 
 accomplished in European waters 1 The modern reader would 
 surely give his sympathy, unreservedly, to a narrative in 
 which the navigator should describe his wonder, his terror, 
 his joy, when, throughout the voyage, he saw the tremulous 
 index point invariably north ; when, upon the disjDersiou 
 of the clouds which had concealed the Star from view, it 
 was found precisely where the needle indicated ; when, upon 
 its being diverted from the line of direction by some curious 
 and perhaps incredulous experimenter, it slowly but surely 
 returned, remaining fixed and constant through storm and 
 calm, at midnight and at noon. What would be more 
 interesting than the speculations of such a captain upon 
 the cause of the marvellous dispensation 1 And what more 
 amusing than the commentaries of the forecastle, and the 
 learned explanations of the veteran salts to the raw recruits 1 
 But all this absorbing lore has hopelessly disappeared, and 
 the mariner's compass will for ever remain mysterious in its 
 principle, mysterious in its origin, mysterious in its history. 
 We shall have occasion to return to the subject from another 
 point of view, when, in describing the Arctic voyages of the 
 present century, we shall find James Clarke Ross standing 
 upon the North Magnetic Pole. 
 
SECTI01SI IT. 
 
 FROM THE APPLICATION OF THE MAGNETIC NEEDLE TO EUROPEAN 
 
 NAVIGATION TO THE FIRST VOYAGE ROUND THE WORLD 
 
 UNDER MAGELLAN.— A. d. 1300-1519. 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 DISCOVERIES OF THE PORTUGUESE BARTHOLOMEW DIAZ. 
 
 We are now to consider a series of voyages, tedious and 
 fruitless at first, siiccessfid in the end, undertaken by tlie 
 Portuguese, in their age of maritime heroism, to discover a 
 passage by sea to the famous commercial region of the 
 Indies, some general knowledge of which had been preserved 
 since the Persian, Macedonian, and Roman Empires. The 
 achievements which we are about to narrate were so sur- 
 prising, so significant, and so complete, that, as has been 
 aptly remarked, they can never happen again in history, 
 unless, indeed, Providence were to create new and ac- 
 cessible worlds for discovery and conquest, or to replunge 
 mankind for ages into ignorance and superstition. But, 
 before proceeding with the discoveries of the Portuguese, 
 w^e must mention a previous discovery made by accident in 
 the same region by the French and Spanish. 
 
 About the year 1330, a French ship was driven among 
 a number of islands which hiy off the coast of the Desert of 
 Sahara. These had been known to the ancients as the 
 Fortunate Islands, and Juba of Mauritania, who is quoted 
 by Pliny, calls two of them by name — Trivaria, or Snow 
 29 
 
40 TENERIFFE. 
 
 Island, and Canaria, or Island of Dogs. They had been 
 lost to the knowledge of the Europeans for a thousand 
 years, and it was a storm which revealed their existence, 
 as we have said, to a vessel forced by stress of weather to 
 escape from the coast into the open sea. The Spaniards 
 profited by the vicinity of the gToup to make discoveries 
 and settlements among them. Trivaria became Tenerift'e, 
 and Canaria the Grand Canary. It was here that super- 
 stition now placed the limits of navigation, and expressed 
 the idea upon maps, by representing a giant armed with a 
 formidable club, and dwelling in a tower, as threatening 
 ships with destruction if they ventured farther out to sea. 
 It is in this immediate neighbourhood we are now about to 
 follow the daring and patient enterprises of the Portuguese, 
 Don Henry, the fifth son of John i. of Portugal, was 
 placed by his father, in 1415, in command of the city of 
 Ceuta, in Africa, which he had just conquered from the 
 Moors. During his stay here, the young prince acquired 
 much information relative to the seas and coasts of Western 
 Africa, and this first suggested in his mind a plan for 
 maritime discovery, which afterwards became his favourite 
 and almost exclusive pursuit. He sent a vessel upon the 
 first voyage of exploration undertaken by any nation in 
 modern times. The commander was instructed to follow 
 the western coast of Africa, and, if possible, to pass the 
 cape called by the Portuguese Cape Non, Nun, or Noim. 
 This had hitherto been considered the utmost southern 
 limit of navigation by the Europeans, and had obtained its 
 name from the negative term in the Portuguese language 
 ■ — implying that there was nothing beyond. A current 
 proverb expressed the idea thus : — 
 
 Whoe'er would pass the Cape of Non 
 
 Shall turn again, or else begone. 
 The fate of this vessel has not been recorded ; but Don 
 Henry continued for many years to send other vessels upon 
 the same errand. Several of them proceeded one hundred 
 and eighty miles beyond Cape Non, to another and more 
 
THE TERRIBLE CAPE. 41 
 
 formidable promontory, to which they gave the name of 
 Bojador — from hojar, to double — on account of the circuit 
 which must be made to get around it, as it stretches more 
 than one hundred miles into the ocean. The tides and 
 shoals here formed a current twenty miles wide ; and the 
 spectacle of this swollen and beating surge, which prechided 
 all possibility of creeping along close to the coast, filled 
 these timid navigators with terror and amazement. They 
 dared not venture out of sight of laud, and, seized with a 
 sudden remembrance of the fabulous horrors of the torrid 
 zone, they regarded the interposition of this terrific cape as 
 a providential warning, and sailed hastily back to Portugal. 
 There, with that fancy for embellishment peculiar to sailors 
 of all ages, they narrated stories, or, as would be said in 
 the present day, yarns, calculated for ever to dissuade from 
 further adventures in the latitudes of Capes Non and Bojador. 
 
 Don Henry, who had returned from Ceuta, resolved, in 
 spite of these obstacles, to employ a portion of his revenue 
 as Grand Master of the Order of Christ, in further mari- 
 time experiments. He fixed his residence upon the Sacrum 
 Promontorium of the Romans. Here he indulged that 
 passion for navigation and mathematics which he had 
 hitherto been compelled to neglect. In 1418, two naval 
 officers of his household volunteered their lives in an 
 attempt to surmount the perils of Bojador. Juan Gonzalez 
 Vasco and Tristan Vax Texeira embarked in a vessel called 
 a harclia and resembling a brig with topsails, and steered 
 for the tremendous cape. 
 
 Before reaching it, however, a violent storm drove them 
 out to sea, and the crew, on losing sight of their accustomed 
 landmarks, gave themselves up to despair. But, upon the 
 abatement of the tempest, they found themselves in sight 
 of an island four hundred miles to the west of the coast. 
 Thus was discovered Porto Santo, the smallest of the gi'oup 
 of the Madeiras, and thus was the feasibility and advantage 
 of abandoning coasting voyages and venturing boldly out 
 to sea made manifest. The adventurers returned to Por- 
 
42 THE TOWERING SPECTRE, 
 
 tugal, and gave glowing accounts of the fertility of tlie 
 soil, of the mildness of the climate, and the character of 
 the inhabitants. Vessels were fitted out to colonize and 
 cultivate the island ; but a singular and most untoward 
 event rendered it useless as a place of refreshment for 
 navigators. A single rabbit littered during the voyage, 
 and was let loose upon the island with her progeny : these 
 multiplied so rapidly that in two years they ate every 
 green thing which its soil produced. Porto Santo was 
 therefore, for a time, abandoned. 
 
 During their residence there, however, Gonzalez and Vax 
 noticed with wonder a strange and perpetual appearance in 
 the horizon to the south-west. A thick, impenetrable cloud 
 hovered over tlie waves, and thence extended to the skies. 
 Some believed it to be a dreadful abyss, and others a fabu- 
 lous island, while superstition traced amid the gloom Dante's 
 inscription on the portal of the Inferno : 
 
 Abandon hope, all ye who enter here ! 
 
 Gonzalez and Vax bore this state of suspense with the im- 
 patience of seamen, while from dawn to sunset the meteor, 
 or the portent, preserved its uniform sullen aspect. At 
 last they started in pursuit. As the ship advanced, the 
 towering spectre was observed to thicken and to expand 
 until it became horrible to view. The roaring of the sea 
 increased, and the crew called on Gonzalez to flee from the 
 fearful scene. But soon the weather became calm, and 
 fiiint images of rocks seemed to the excited crew the menac- 
 ing figures of giants. The clouds dispersed, and the wood- 
 lands were unveiled. The seamen rested on their oars, 
 while Gonzalez admired the wild luxuriance of nature in a 
 S}»ot which superstition had so long dreaded to approach. 
 They searched in vain for traces of either inhabitants or 
 cattle. The abundance of building-wood which the island 
 furnished suggested the name of Madeira ; and a tract 
 covered with fennel (funcha) marked the site of the future 
 town of Funchal. 
 
CULTIVATION OF MADEIRA. 43 
 
 Gonzalez and Vax returned at once to Lisbon, where a 
 public day of audience was appointed by the king to give 
 every celebrity to this successful voyage. Madeira was at 
 once colonized and cultivated ; and it is said that Gonzalez, 
 in order to clear a space for his intended city of Funchal, 
 set the shrubs and bushes on fire, and that the flames, being 
 communicated to the forests, burned for seven years. The 
 sugar-cane was planted, and its cultivation yielded immense 
 sums until sugar-plantations were established in Brazil and 
 thus interfered with the monopoly. The attention of the 
 islanders was then transferred to the grape, and from that 
 time to this Madeira has supplied a favourite brand of wine. 
 
 Don Henry had now, it would appear, surmounted the 
 principal obstacles opposed by ignorance or prejudice to the 
 object of his laudable ambition. But there were many 
 interests threatened by a continuance of discovery by sea. 
 The military beheld with jealous dislike the distinction 
 obtained by, and now willingly accorded to, a profession 
 they held inferior to their own. The nobility dreaded the 
 opening of a source of wealth which would raise the mer- 
 cantile character, and in an equal degree lower the assump- 
 tions and pretensions of artificial social rank. Political 
 economists suggested that there were barren spots in Por- 
 tugal as capable of cultivation as any desert islands in the 
 sea or any sandy coasts within the tropics. It was urged, 
 too, that any Portuguese who should pass Cape Bojador 
 would inevitably be changed into a negro, and would for ever 
 retain this brand of his temerity. 
 
 While Henry was resisting the arguments of his detrac- 
 tors, his father died, and was succeeded upon the throne by 
 his son Edward. The latter gave every encouragement to 
 the maritime projects of his brother, and, in 1433, one 
 Gilianez, having incurred the displeasure of Henry, deter- 
 mined to regain his favour by doubling Cape Bojador. 
 Though we are without details of the voyage, we know that 
 it was successful. Gilianez reported that the sea beyond 
 bojador was quite as navigable as the Mediterranean, and 
 
44 A GOLDEN STIMULUS. 
 
 that the climate and soil of the coast were agreeable and 
 fertile. He was sent the next year, with Henry's cup- 
 bearer, Baldoza, over the same route, and they advanced 
 ninety miles beyond the cape with the conscious pride of 
 being the first Europeans who had ventured so far towards 
 the fatal vicinity of the equator. Though they saw no 
 inhabitants, they noticed the tracks of caravans. 
 
 They were ordered, in 1435, to resume their discoveries, 
 and to prolong their voyage till they should meet with 
 inhabitants. In latitude 24° north, one hundred and thirty 
 miles beyond Bojador, two horses were landed, and two 
 Portuguese youths, sixteen years of age, were directed to 
 mount them and advance into the interior. They returned 
 the next morning, saying that they had seen and attacked a 
 band of nineteen natives. A strong force was despatched 
 to the cave in which they were said to have taken shelter : 
 their weapons only were found. This spot was called 
 Angra dos Cavallos, or Bay of Horses. The two vessels con- 
 tinued on forty miles farther, to a place where they killed a 
 large number of seals and took their skins on board. Their 
 provisions were now nearly exhausted, and the expedition, 
 having penetrated nearly two hundred miles beyond the 
 cape, returned to Lisbon. 
 
 The Portuguese war with Tangiers now absorbed the 
 entire naval and maritime resources of the country, and the 
 plague of Lisbon stayed for a time the patriotic enterprises 
 of Don Henry. In 1440-1442, expeditions sent in the same 
 direction resulted in the capture and transfer of several 
 Moors to Portugal, and in the payment to their captors, as 
 ransom, of the first gold dust ever beheld by Europeans. 
 A river, or arm of the sea, near the spot where this gold was 
 paid, received, from that circumstance, the name of Rio del 
 Ouro. This gold dust at once operated as a sovereign panacea 
 upon the obstinacy and irritation of the public mind. It has 
 been well remarked that " this is the primary date to which 
 we may refer that turn for adventure which sprang up in 
 Europe, and which pervaded all the aideut spuits in every 
 
CAPE VERD. 45 
 
 country for the two succeeding centuries, and which never 
 ceased till it had united the four quarters of the globe in 
 commercial intercourse. Henry had stood alone for almost 
 forty years ; and, had he fallen before those few ounces of 
 gold reached his country, the spirit of discovery might have 
 perished with him, and his designs have been condemned 
 as the dreams of a visionary." The sight of the precious 
 metal placed the discoveries and enterprises of Don Henry 
 beyond the reach of detraction or prejudice. Numerous 
 expeditious were successively fitted out : that of Nuno 
 Tristan, in 1443, who discovered the Arguin Islands, thirty 
 miles to the south-east of Cape Blanco ; that of Juan Diaz 
 and others in 1444 ; that of Gonzalez da Cintra in 1445, 
 who, with seven others, was killed fifty miles south of the 
 Eio del Ouro, — this being the first loss of life on the part of 
 the Portuguese since they had undertaken their explorations. 
 In 1446, a gentleman of Lisbon, by the name of Fernandez, 
 determined to proceed farther to the southward than any 
 other navigator, and accordingly fitted out a vessel under 
 the patronage of the prince. Passing the Senegal Riverj 
 he stood boldly on till he reached the most western promon- 
 tory of Africa, to which, from the number of green palms 
 which he found there, he gave the name of Cape Verd. 
 Bemg alarmed by the breakers with which this shore is 
 lined, he returned to Portugal with the gratifying news of 
 his discoveiy. In 1447, Nuno Tristan sailed one hundred 
 and eighty miles beyond Cape Verd, and reached the mouth 
 of a river, which he called the Rio Grande, now the Gambia. 
 He was attacked by the natives with volleys of poisoned 
 arrows, of the effects of which all his crew and ofiicers died 
 but four ; and the ship was at last brought home by these 
 four survivors, after wandering two months upon the Atlan- 
 tic. The next expedition, under Alvaro Fernando, carried 
 out an antidote against the poisoned shafts of the enemy, 
 which successfidly combated the venom, as all who were 
 wounded recovered. • 
 
 The Azores, or Azores, were now discovered, about nine 
 
46 DEATH OF DON HENRY. 
 
 hundred miles to the west of Portugal ; but some doubts 
 exist both as to the discoverer and the date. The ships of. 
 Don Henry had now penetrated within ten degrees of the 
 equator, and the outcry against venturing into a region 
 where the very air was fatal broke out afresh. In this 
 point of view, therefore, the settlement of the Azores was 
 a matter of no little importance. In 1449, King Alphonso 
 gave his uncle, Don Henry, permission to colonize these 
 islands. In 1457, Henry obtained for them several im- 
 portant privileges, the principal of which was the exemp- 
 tion of their inhabitants from any duties upon their com- 
 merce in Portuguese and Spanish ports. 
 
 In the years 1455-56-57, a Venetian, by the name of 
 Cada-Mosto, undertook, under the patronage of Don Henry, 
 two voyages of discovery along the African coast ; but as 
 he did not proceed beyond the Kio Grande, little or 
 nothing was added to maritime discovery. Don Henry 
 died shortly after the return of Cada-Mosto from his 
 second voyage, and for a season this calamity palsied the 
 naval enterprise of his countrymen. Under his auspices 
 the Portuguese had pushed their discoveries from Cape Non 
 to Sierra Leone ; from the twenty-ninth to the eighth de- 
 gree of north latitude. 
 
 During the remainder of the reign of Alphonso v. — 
 which terminated in 1481 — the Portuguese advanced over 
 the coast and Gulf of Guinea and the adjacent islands to 
 the northern boundary of the great kingdom of Congo, and 
 had therefore arrived within six hundred and fifty marine 
 leagues of the cape which forms the southern point of the 
 African continent. They had crossed the equator, and not 
 a man had turned black. They had entered into a brisk 
 gold-trade with the savages of Guinea. John ii., the son 
 and successor of Alphonso, determined to fortify a point 
 called Mina, from its abundant mines, and sent out twelve 
 vessels with building materials and six hundred men. The 
 negroes at first resisted, but finally yielded their consent. 
 The fort was constructed and named St. Jorge da Mina ; 
 
FROM WEST TO EAST. 47 
 
 the quarry from which the first stone was taken being the 
 favourite god of the tribe that inhabited the coast. 
 
 John II. now added to his other titles that of Lord of 
 Guinea. In the hope of opening a passage by sea to the 
 rich spice-countries of India, he asked the support and 
 countenance of the different states of Christendom. But 
 the established mercantile interest of these countries was 
 naturally hostile to a project which aimed at changing the 
 route of Eastern commerce. John next applied to the 
 Pope for an increase of power, and obtained from his Holi- 
 ness a grant of all the lands which his navigators should 
 discover in sailing from west to east. The grand idea of 
 sailing from east to west — one which implied a knowledge 
 of the sphericity of the globe — had not yet, to outward 
 appearance, penetrated the brain of either pope or layman. 
 One Christopher Columbus, however, was already brooding 
 over it in secret and in silence. 
 
 It had hitherto been customary for Portuguese naviga- 
 tors to erect wooden crosses upon all lands discovered by 
 them. John ii. now commanded them to employ stone 
 pillars six feet high, and to inscribe upon them, in the 
 Latin and Portuguese languages, the date, the name of the 
 reigning monarch, and that of the discoverer. Diego Cam 
 was the first to comply with this conmiand ; he set up a 
 column at the mouth of the river Congo, at which he 
 arrived in 1484. An ambassador was sent by the chief of 
 the territoiy to Portugal, where he embraced Christianity 
 and was baptized by the name of John. The anxiety of 
 the king now increased in reference to interference by other 
 nations : he therefore sent to King Edward, of England, an 
 earnest request that he would prevent the intended voyage 
 to Guinea of two of his subjects, John Tintam and William 
 Fabian, with which request Edward saw fit to comply. 
 The Portuguese monarch now carefully concealed the pro- 
 gress of his navigators upon the African coast, and on all 
 occasions magnified the perils of a Congo voyage. He 
 declared that every quarter of the moon produced a tern- 
 
48 OVERLAND TO INDIA. 
 
 pest ; that the shores were girt with inhospitable rocks ; 
 that the inhabitants were cannibals, and that the only 
 vessels which could live in the waters of the torrid zone 
 were caravels of Portuguese build. Suspecting that three 
 sailors who had left Portugal for Spain intended to sell the 
 secret to the foreign king, he ordered them to be pursued 
 and taken. Two were killed, and the third was broken 
 upon the wheel. " Let every man abide in his element," 
 said John ; " I am not partial to travelling seamen." 
 
 We now approach an era of great achievements. John 
 determined, in 1486, to assist the attempts made on sea 
 by journeys over land. Accordingly, a squadron was fitted 
 out under Bartholomew Diaz, one of the officers of the 
 royal household, while Pedro de Covillam and Alphonso de 
 Payra, both well versed in Arabic, received the following 
 order respecting a land journey : — " To discover the country 
 of Prester John, the King of Abyssinia, to trace the Vene- 
 tian commerce in drugs and spices to its source, and to 
 ascertain whether it were possible for ships to sail round 
 the extremity of Africa to India." They went by way of 
 Naples, the island of Rhodes, Alexandria, and Cairo, to 
 Aden in Arabia. Here they separated, Covillam proceed- 
 ing to Cananor and Goa, upon the Malabar coast of Hin- 
 dostan, and being the first Portuguese that ever saw India. 
 He went from there to Sofala, on the eastern coast of 
 Africa, and saw the Island of the Moon, now Madagascar. 
 He penetrated to the court of Prester John, the King of 
 Abyssinia, and became so necessary to the happiness of 
 that potentate, that he was compelled to live and die in 
 his dominions. An embassy sent by Prester John to Lis- 
 bon made the Portuguese acquainted with Covillam's adven- 
 tures. Long ere this, however, Bartholomew Diaz had 
 sailed upon the voyage which has immortalized his name. 
 He received the command of a fleet, consisting of two ships 
 of fifty tons each, and of a tender to carry provisions, and 
 set sail towards the end of August 1486, steering directly 
 to the south. It is much to be regretted that so few 
 
riAZ DOUBLES THE CAPE. 4 9 
 
 details exist in reference to this memorable expedition. We 
 know little more than the fact that the first stoue pillar 
 which Diaz erected was placed four hundred miles beyond 
 that of any preceding navigator. Striking out boldly here 
 into the open sea, he resolved to make a wide circuit before 
 returning landward. He did so ; and the first land he 
 saw, on again toucliing the continent, lay one hundred miles 
 to the eastward of the great southern cape, which he had 
 passed without seeing it. Ignorant of this, he still kept 
 on, amazed that the land should now trend to the east and 
 finally to the north. Alarmed, and nearly destitute of pro- 
 visions, mortified at the failure of his enterprise, Diaz unwill- 
 ingly put back. What was his joy and surprise when the 
 tremendous and long-sought promontory — the object of the 
 hopes and desires of the Portuguese for seventy-five years, 
 and which, either from the distance or the haze, had before 
 been concealed — now burst upon his view ! 
 
 Diaz returned to Portugal in December 1487, and in 
 his narrative to the king, stated that he had given to the 
 formidable promontory he had doubled the name of " Cape 
 of Tempests." But the king, animated by the conviction 
 that Portugal would now reap the abundant harvest pre- 
 pared by this cheering event, thought he could suggest a 
 more appropriate appellation. The Portuguese poet, Camoens, 
 thus alludes to this circumstance : — 
 
 " At Lisboa's court they told their dread escape, 
 And from her raging tempests named the Cape. 
 
 * Thou southmost point,' the joyful king exclaim'd, 
 
 * Cape of Good Hope be thou for ever named ! ' " 
 
 Successful and triumphant as was this voyage of Diaz, 
 it eventually tended to injure the interests of Portugal, 
 inasmuch as it withdrew the regards of King John from 
 other plans of discovery, and rendered him inattentive to 
 the efibrts of rival powers upon the ocean. It caused him 
 to turn a deaf ear to the proposals of Columbus, who had 
 humbly brought to Lisbon the mighty scheme with which 
 he had been contemptuously repulsed from Genoa. 
 
 o 
 
CHAPTER IV. 
 
 COLUMBUS, HIS EAELY LIFE AND EDUCATION FIRST VOY- 
 AGE — SECOND VOYAGE THIRD VOYAGE FOURTH VOY- 
 AGE AMERIGO VESPUCCI JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT 
 
 VINCENT YANEZ PINZON. 
 
 Christopher Columbus was born in Genoa in the year 
 14 So. His father was a wool-comber, and Christopher 
 followed for a time the same occupation. He was sent, 
 however, at the age of ten years, to the University of 
 Pavia, where he seems to have studied, though with little 
 advantage, natural philosophy and astronomy, or, as it was 
 then called, astrology. Returning to his father s bench, he 
 worked at wool-combing with his brother Bartholomew till 
 he was fourteen years of age. By this time the natural 
 influence of the situation, the atmosphere, and the tradi- 
 tions of Genoa, had awakened in him the tastes and the 
 ambition of a sailor. The sea had long been the home 
 and the life of the Genoese : it was the theatre of their 
 glory, and their avenue to wealth. Christopher's great- 
 tincle, Colombo, commanded a fleet intrasted to him by 
 the king, and with which he carried on a predatory war- 
 fare against the Venetians and Neapolitans. His nephew 
 joined his ship, and thus became acquainted with the 
 whole extent of the Mediterranean, which was at that 
 period ploughed by the pirates of the Archipelago and the 
 corsairs of the Barbary States. As the vessel went armed 
 to the teeth, the young sailor not only learned the art of 
 na\agation, but acquired those habits of discipline and 
 subordination, of self-command and presence of mind, which 
 aftenvards served him in so good stead. This manner of 
 50 
 
MARRIAGE OF COLUMBUS. 51 
 
 life lasted for many years, till Columbiis, at the age of 
 thirty, was wrecked off the coast of Portugal, and reached 
 with some difficulty the city of Lisbon. Here he found 
 his brother Bartholomew settled, and occupying himself in 
 drawing plans, charts, and maps for the use of navigators. 
 Christopher joined him, and gained a sufficient livelihood 
 by copying manuscripts and black-letter books, and aiding 
 his brother in his avocations. He soon married an Italian 
 lady named Felij^pa di Perestrello, whose father, now dead, 
 had been governor of tlie island of Porto Santo, one of the 
 Madeiras. After his marriage he left for Porto Santo, the 
 sterile dowry of his wife, where his first son Diego was born. 
 
 We have already seen that the period was one of the 
 greatest excitement and expectancy in regard to maritime 
 discovery. Columbus had long reflected upon the existence 
 of land in the west, upon the sphericity of the earth, and 
 upon the possibility of crossing the Atlantic. He had 
 already conceived the idea of reaching Asia by following 
 the setting sun across the immensity of the waters. When 
 forty years old, and residing at Lisbon, he proposed to the 
 Senate of Genoa to leave the Mediterranean by the Straits 
 of Gibraltar and to proceed to the west, in the sea known 
 as the Ocean, as far as the " lands where spices bloom," and 
 thus circumnavigate the earth. Tlie Genoese, whose mari- 
 time knowledge was confined to the Mediterranean, and 
 who had no fancy for adventures upon the ocean, declined 
 listening to the proposition. It would also seem that over- 
 tures made by Columbus to the Council of Venice were 
 similarly rejected. For a time, therefore, he abandoned all 
 efi'orts to further his desires. In 1477, he made a voyage 
 to Iceland, in order to discover whether it was inhabited, 
 and even sailed one hundred leagues beyond it, w^here, to 
 his astonishment, he found the sea not frozen. 
 
 Upon the accession of John ti. to the throne of Portugal 
 — a sovereign whom we have already shown to be deeply 
 interested in the progress of the art of navigation — Columbus 
 made known to him his opinions and his plans, assigning 
 
52 DUPLICITY OF JOHN II. 
 
 the extension of the gospel as the avowed and final object of 
 the expedition. The subject was referred to a maritime 
 junto and to a high council, by both of whom it was re- 
 jected as visionary and absurd. The king was induced, 
 however, by one of his councillors, to equip a caravel and 
 send it on a voyage of discovery upon the route traced out 
 by Columbus, and thus obtain for himself the glory of the 
 expedition, if successful. Columbus was invited to hand 
 into the Government his maps and charts, together with 
 his written views upon the whole subject. This he did, 
 supposing, in his simplicity, that another examination was 
 to be made of the practicability of the venture. The king 
 despatched a caravel, under the command of one of the 
 ablest pilots of his marine, to follow the track indicated. 
 The vessel left, but soon returned, her crew having been 
 appalled at sight of the boundless horizon, and her captain 
 having lost his courage in a storm. Columbus, indignant 
 at this duplicity, secretly left Lisbon and returned home to 
 Genoa. At this period he had the misfortune to lose his 
 wife Felippa, who had shared his confidence in the existence 
 of unknown lands, and whose encouragement had sustained 
 him in his disappointments. This was in the year 1484. 
 He renewed his proposal to the Senate of Genoa, which 
 was again rejected. He now cast his eyes upon the other 
 European powers, among whom the two sovereigns of Spain, 
 Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile, seemed to de- 
 serve the preference. 
 
 Not far from Palos, upon the Spanish coast, and in sight 
 of the ocean, stood, upon a promontory half hidden by 
 pine-trees, a monastery — known as La Rabida — dedicated 
 to the Virgin, and inhabited by Franciscan friars. The 
 Superior, Juan Perez de Marchena, offered an example of 
 fervent piety and of theological erudition, at the same time 
 that he was a skilful mathematician and an ardent practi- 
 tioner of the exact sciences. He was at once an astro- 
 nomer, a devotee, and a poet. During the hours of slumber, 
 he often ascended to the summit of the abbey, and, looking 
 
SYMPATHY IN THE MONASTERY. 53 
 
 out upon the ocean — known as the Sea of Darkness — 
 would ask himself if beyond this expanse of waters there 
 was no land yet unclaimed by Christianity. He rejected 
 as fabulous the current idea that a vessel might sail three 
 years to the west without reaching a hospitable shore. 
 The oceitn, formidable to others and intelligible to few, was 
 to him the abode of secrets which man was invited to unfold. 
 
 One day a traveller rang at the gate and asked for re- 
 freshment for himself and his son. Being interrogated as 
 to the object of his journey, he replied that he was on his 
 way to the court of Spain to communicate an important 
 matter to the king and queen. The traveller was Chris- 
 topher Columbus. How he came to pass by this obscure 
 monastery — which lay altogether off his route — has never 
 been explained. A providential guidance had brought him 
 into the presence of the man the best calculated to com- 
 prehend his purpose, in a country where he was totally 
 without friends, and with whose language he was totally 
 unacquainted. A common sympathy drew them together ; 
 and Columbus, accepting for a period the hospitality of 
 March ena, made him the confidant of his views. Thus, 
 while the colleges and universities of Christendom still held 
 the theory that the earth was flat, and that the sea was 
 the path to utter and outer darkness, Columbus and Mar- 
 chena, filled with a spontaneous and implicit faith, in- 
 tuitively believed in the sphericity of the globe and the 
 existence of a nameless continent beyond the ocean. In 
 theory they had solved the great question whether the 
 ship which should depart by the west would come back 
 by the east. 
 
 Marchena gave Columbus a letter of recommendation to 
 the queen's confessor, and, diu^ing his absence, promised to 
 educate and maintain his son Diego. Thus tranquillized in 
 his aff'ections, and aided in his schem^i, Columbus departed 
 for Cordova. Here he was destined to undergo another 
 disappointment ; for the queen's confessor, his expected 
 patron, treated him as a dreaming speculator and needy 
 
54 A JUNTO OF WISE MEN. 
 
 adventurer. He soon became again isolated and forgotten. 
 In the midst of his indigence, however, a noble lady, Beatrix 
 Enriquez, young and beautiful, though not rich, noticed his 
 manners and his language, so evidently above his condition, 
 and detained him at Cordova long after his hopes were 
 extinguished. He married her : she bore him a son, Fer- 
 nando, who afterwards became his father's biographer and 
 historian. 
 
 Columbus now wrote to the king a brief and concise 
 letter, setting forth his desires. It was never answered. 
 After a multitude of similar deceptions and disappointments, 
 Geraldini, the ambassador of the Pope, presented him to 
 Mendoza, the Grand Cardinal, through whose influence 
 Columbus obtained an audience of Ferdinand, who appointed 
 a junto of wise men to examine and report upon his scheme. 
 This junto, made up of theologians and not of navigators 
 and geographers, and which sat at Salamanca, opposed 
 Columbus on biblical grounds, declared the theory a 
 dangerous if not heretical innovation, and finally reported 
 unfavourably. This decision was quite in harmony with 
 public opinion in Salamanca, where Columbus was spoken 
 of as " a foreigner — who asserted that the world was round 
 like an orange, and that there were places where the people 
 walked on their heads." Seven years were thus wasted in 
 solicitation, suspense, and disappointment. From time to 
 time Columbus had reason to hope that his proposals would 
 be reconsidered ; but in 1490 the siege of Baza, the last 
 stronghold of the Moors, and in 1491 the marriage of 
 Isabella, the daughter of Ferdinand and Isabella, with Don 
 Alonzo of Portugal, absorbed the attention of their majesties 
 to the exclusion of all scientific pre-occupations. Finally, 
 when the nintter was re-opened, and the junto was re- 
 assembled, its president, Fernando de Talavera, was in- 
 structed to say that tSe exhaustion of the treasury neces- 
 sitated the postponement of the whole subject until the 
 close of the war with Grenada. At last, Columbus, re- 
 flecting upon the delays, refusals, affronts, and suspicions 
 
THE FRIAR INTERCEDES. 55 
 
 of which he had been the object, the time he had wasted, 
 and the antechambers in which he had waited the conde- 
 scension of the great, resolved to shake the dust of Spain 
 from his feet, and return to the abbey of his friend Mar- 
 cheua. He arrived there bearing upon his person the 
 impress of poverty, fatigue, and exhausted patience. Mar- 
 chena was profoundly annoyed by the reflection that the 
 glory of the future discoveries of Columbus would be thus 
 taken from Spain and conferred upon some rival power. 
 Fearing, however, that he had too readily lent his ear to 
 theories which had been twice rejected as puerile by a com- 
 petent junto, he sent for an eminent mathematician of Palos, 
 Garcia Hernandez, a physician by profession. They then 
 conferred together upon the subject and pronounced the 
 execution of the project feasible. 
 
 Marchena at once wrote an eloquent letter to Queen 
 Isabella, and intrusted it to a pilot whose relations with the 
 court rendered him a safe and reliable messenger. He gave 
 the missive into the hands of the queen, and returned to 
 the monastery the bearer of an invitation to Marchena to 
 repair at once to Santa Fe, where the court then was, 
 engaged in investing Grenada. Columbus borrowed a mule 
 fur the friar, who left secretly at midnight and arrived 
 safely at Santa Fe. Isabella received Marchena graciously, 
 and instructed him to summon Columbus, to whom she sent 
 twenty thousand maravedis — about £14 — with which to 
 purchase a horse and a proper dress in which to appear 
 before her. 
 
 Columbus arrived at Santa Fe just before the surrender 
 of Grenada and the termination of the struggle between the 
 Crescent and the Cross. After the official rejoicings, the 
 queen gave audience to Columbus. As she already believed 
 in the practicability of the scheme, the only subjects to be 
 discussed were the means of execution, and the recompense 
 to be awarded to Columbus in case of success. A com- 
 mittee was appointed to consider this latter point. Colum- 
 bus fixed liis conditions as foUows : — 
 
56 COLUMBUS DISMISSED RECALLED. 
 
 He should receive the title of Grand Admiral of the 
 Ocean. 
 
 He should be Viceroy and Governor-General of all islands 
 and mainlands he might discover. 
 
 He should levy a tax for his own benefit upon all pro- 
 ductions — whether spices, fruits, perfumes, gold, silver, 
 pearls, or diamonds — discovered in, or exported from, the 
 lands under his authority. 
 
 And his titles should be transmissible in his family, for 
 ever, by the laws of primogeniture. 
 
 These conditions were treated with derision by the com- 
 mittee, and Columbus was regarded as an insolent braggart. 
 He would not abate one tittle of his claims, though, after 
 eighteen years of fruitless efifort, he now saw all his hopes 
 at the point of being again dashed to earth. He mounted 
 his mule, and departed for Cordova before quitting Spain 
 for ever. 
 
 Two friends of the queen now represented the departure 
 of Columbus as an immense and irreparable loss, and, by 
 their supplications and protestations, induced her once 
 more to consider the vast importance of the plans he pro- 
 posed. Moved by their persuasions, she declared that she 
 accepted the enterprise, not jointly, as the wife of the King 
 of Spain, but independently, as Queen of Castile. As the 
 treasury was depleted by the drains of war, she offered to 
 defray the expenses with her own jewels. A messenger 
 was despatched for Columbus, who was overtaken a few 
 miles from Grenada. He at first hesitated to return ; but, 
 after reflecting upon the heroic determination of Isabella, 
 who thus took the initiative in a perilous undertaking, 
 against the report of the junto, the advice of her councillors, 
 and in spite of the indifference of the king, he obeyed with 
 alacrity, and returned to Santa Fe. 
 
 He was received with distinction by the court and with 
 affectionate consideration by the queen. Ferdinand applied 
 his signature to the stipulations, but caused it to be dis- 
 tinctly set down that the whole affair was undertaken by 
 
FIRST VOYAGE OF COLUMBUS. 57 
 
 the Queen of Castile at her own risk and peril — thus ex- 
 cluding himself for ever from lot or parcel in this tran- 
 Bccndeut enterprise. 
 
 FIRST VOYAGE OF COLUMBUS. 
 
 Columbus received his letters-patent, granting him all 
 the privileges and titles he had demanded, on the 30th of 
 April 1492. His son Diego was made page to the prince- 
 royal — a favour only accorded to children of noble families. 
 The harbour of Palos was chosen as the port of departure ; 
 and its inhabitants, whose annual taxes consisted in fur- 
 nishing two caravels, armed and manned, to the Govern- 
 ment, were instructed to place them within ten days at 
 the orders of Columbus. Persons awaiting trial or con- 
 demnation were to have the privilege of escaping verdict 
 and punishment by embarking upon this terrible and per- 
 haps fatal voyage. 
 
 The miariners of Palos received these tidings with dis- 
 may. Nothing was certainly in those days more calculated 
 to strike with cerror the cautious coaster than a voyage 
 upon the boundless endless Mare Tenebrosum, which, in 
 the imagination not only of the ignorant, but even of the 
 educated, was the home of chaos, if not the seat of Erebus. 
 Upon the maps of the world designed at this period, the 
 words Mare Tenebrosum were surrounded with figures of 
 imps and devils, compared to which the Cyclops, griffins, 
 and centaurs of mythology were modest and benign crea- 
 tions. The Arabians, who were forbidden by the Koran to 
 depict the forms of animals, gave, as they thought, a fitting 
 character to the sea, by representing the hand of Satan 
 upon their charts, ready to clutch and drag beneath the 
 waves all who should be so rash as to brave the displeasure 
 of Balir-al-Talmet. Besides Satan, besides the Leviathan 
 and Behemoth, and other similar submarine terrors, the 
 adventurer upon the open sea would find adversaries in 
 the air ; and if he escaped the blast and the thunderbolt, 
 it would be to fall a victim to the roc, that gigantic bird 
 
 H 
 
58 SEAMEN WANTED. 
 
 whicli lifted ships into the air and crunched them in the 
 clouds. This roc, from terrifying the companions of Colum- 
 bus, has descended to amuse children in the nautical 
 romance of Sinbad the Sailor. 
 
 Time passed, and the authorities of Palos had yet fur- 
 nished nothing towards the voyage. Owners of vessels hid 
 them in distant creeks, and the port became gradually a 
 desert. The court ordered stringent measures, and at last 
 a caravel named the Pinta was seized and laid up for 
 repairs. All the carpenters turned sick, and neither rope, 
 wood, nor tar, was to be found. In vain did Marchena, 
 the zealous Franciscan of Palos, who was beloved by all its 
 inhabitants, undertake a crusade among the seafaring popu- 
 lation in favour of the project : the whole Andalusian coast 
 considered it chimerical and a temptation of Providence. 
 
 Martin Alonzo Pinzon, one of three brothers, all seamen, 
 and who had at this period lately returned from Rome, 
 where the Pope's librarian had shown him a map bearing 
 the representation of land in the Atlantic to the west, was 
 introduced by Marchena to Columbus. The report soon 
 became current that the brothers, whose credit and influ- 
 ence at Palos were very great, intended to risk the adven- 
 ture on board of the caravel Nina, belonging to the younger 
 of the three. The mariners took courage, and the city of 
 Palos contributed its second caravel, the Gallega, making 
 three in all. This Gallega, though old and heavy and 
 unfit for the service, was stout and solid, and Columbus 
 chose her for his flag-ship, rebaptizing her, however, the 
 Santa Maria. Towards the end of July the vessels were 
 nearly ready for sea, and Columbus retired for a period to 
 the monastery, where he passed his days in prayer and his 
 nights in contemplation. On one occasion he left the con- 
 vent and appeared among the workmen : he surprised the 
 sailors, condemned by the city to accompany him to the 
 west, engaged in putting the rudder of the Pinta together 
 in such a manner that the first storm would unship it. 
 Slarcheua redoubled his exhortations, and at last the ex- 
 
DESCRIPTION OF THE VESSELS. 59 
 
 pedition was ready. Popular belief has in modern times 
 represented these vessels as much smaller than they probably 
 really were. 
 
 The Santa Maria measured about ninety feet at the keel. 
 She had four masts, two of them square-rigged, and two 
 furnished with the lateen-sails of the Mediterranean. She 
 had a deck extending from stem to stern, and a double 
 deck at the poop twenty-six feet long — one-third nearly of 
 her entire length. The double deck was pierced for cannon, 
 the forward deck being armed with smaller pieces, used for 
 throwing stones and grape. From the journal of Columbus, 
 we know that he emi:>loyed in the manoeuvres quite a com- 
 plicated system of ropes and pulleys. Eight anchors hung 
 over her sides. She represented in her general charac- 
 teristics a modern vessel of twenty guns. She was manned 
 by sixty-six men, not one of whom was from Palos — one 
 of them being an Englishman and one an Irishman — and 
 was commanded by Columbus. 
 
 The Pinta and the Nina were decked only forward and 
 aft, the space in the middle being entirely uncovered. 
 Their armament was equal to that of sloops of sixteen and 
 ten guns respectively. Alonzo Pinzon commanded the 
 Pinta, whose total crew, including the officers, numbered 
 thirty men. The youngest of the three Pinzons, Vincent 
 Yanez, commanded the Nina with twenty-three men. The 
 provisions of the fleet consisted of smoked beef, salt pork, 
 rice, dried peas, and other vegetables, herrings, wine, oil, 
 vinegfir, &c., sufficient for a year. 
 
 As the day approached and the danger grew more 
 imminent, the apprehension increased, and the sailors ex- 
 pressed a desire to reconcile themselves with Heaven and 
 obtain absolution for their sins. They went in procession 
 to the monastery of La Rabida, with Columbus at their 
 head, and received the eucharist from the hands of the 
 Franciscan Marcliena. Columbus, while waiting for the 
 land-breeze, retired for a last time to the convent, to medi- 
 tate upon the duties before him, and to peruse his favourite 
 
60 THE FAREWELL. 
 
 book, tlie Gospel of St. John. At three o'clock in the 
 morning of the 3d of August he was awakened by the 
 murmuring of the long wished-for wind in the tops of the 
 pine trees which bordered his cell. The coming day was 
 Friday, a day inauspicious to sailors, but to him a day of 
 good omen. He arose, summoned Marchena, from whom 
 he received the communion, and then descended on foot the 
 steep declivity which leads to Palos, 
 
 The Santa Maria at once sent her boat to receive the 
 admiral, and at the sound of the preparations and the orders 
 of the pilots, the inhabitants awoke and opened wide their 
 windows. Mothers, wives and sisters, fathers and brothers, 
 ran in confusion to the shore, to bid a last farewell to those 
 whom they might perhaps never see again. The royal 
 standard, representing the crucifixion, was hoisted at the 
 main ; and Columbus, standing upon the quarter-deck, 
 gave the order to spread the sails in the name of Jesus 
 Christ. Thus commenced the most memorable venture 
 upon the ocean that man had then made, or has made 
 since. 
 
 Columbus commenced his journal at once, and it is from 
 the passages of this narrative which are still extant that 
 we shall derive an account of the voyage. He begins by 
 declaring the object of the expedition to be to extend the 
 blessings of the gospel to nations supposed to be without it. 
 He adds, that he shall wiite at night the events of the 
 day, and each morning the occurrences of the night. He 
 will mark the lands he shall discover upon the chart, and 
 will banish sleep from his eyelids in order to w^atch the 
 progress of his vessel. 
 
 All went well till Monday, when the helm of the Pinta 
 fell to pieces, — this accident having been a second time 
 prepared by her refractory ownc.rs. The fleet made the 
 best of their way to the Canaries, where the Pinta was 
 repaired. They sailed again on the 6th of September, 
 narrowly escaping attack from three Portuguese caravels 
 that King John had sent against Columbus, indignant that 
 
A DISCOURAGING DISCO VEKY. 61 
 
 he should have transferred to another power the proposal 
 he had once made to himself. 
 
 Thus far the route had lain over the beaten track between 
 the continent and the Canaries, along the coast of Africa. As 
 they now launched into the open sea, and as the Peak of Tene- 
 riffe sank imder the horizon behind them, the heart of Colum- 
 bus beat high with joy, while the courage of his officers and 
 men died away within them. The Admiral kept two logs, 
 one for himself and one for the crew, the latter scoring a 
 distance less than that which they had really made, and thus 
 keejDing them in ignorance of their actual distance from home. 
 His course was to the south-west. The sky, the stars, the 
 horizon, the water, changed visibly as they advanced. Fa- 
 miliar constellations disappeared, others took their place. 
 On the 13th of September Columbus observed a strange 
 and fearful phenomenon. The needle, which till then had 
 been infallible, swerved from the Polar star, and tremblingly 
 diverged to the north-west. The next day this variation 
 was still more marked. Columbus took eveiy precaution 
 to conceal a discovery so discouraging from the fleet, and 
 one which alarmed even him. The water now became 
 more limpid, the climate more bland, and the sky more 
 transparent. There was a delicate haze in the air, and a 
 fragrance peculiar to the sea in the fresh breeze. Aquatic 
 plants, apparently newly detached from the rocks or the bed 
 of the ocean, floated upon the waves. For the first time 
 in the history of the world, the tranquil beauties and the 
 solemn splendours of the tropical Atlantic were passing be- 
 fore the gaze of human beings. According to the journal of 
 Columbus, " Nothing was wanting in the scene except the 
 song of the nightingale to remind him of Andalusia in 
 April." 
 
 The proximity of land seemed often to be indicated by 
 the odour with which the winds were laden, by the abun- 
 dance of marine plants, and the presence of birds. Colum- 
 bus would not alter his course as he did not wish to abate 
 the confidence of his men in his own belief that land was 
 
62 DISCONTENT ABOARD. 
 
 to be found by steering west. The floating vegetation now 
 became so abundant that it retarded the passage of the 
 vessels. The sailors became seriously alarmed. They thought 
 themselves arrived at the limit of the world, where an 
 element too unstable to trade upon, too dense to sail through, 
 admonished the rash stranger to take warning and return. 
 They feared that the caravels would be involved beyond 
 extrication, and that the monsters lying in wait beneath 
 the floating herbage would make an easy meal of their 
 defenceless crews. The trade-winds, then unknown, were 
 another cause of anxiety ; for if they always blew to the 
 westward, as they appeared to do, how could the ships ever 
 return eastward to Europe ? In the midst of the apprehen- 
 sion excited by these causes, which nearly drove the ter- 
 rified men to mutiny, a contrary wind sprang up, and the 
 revolt was thus providentially quelled. Columbus wrote 
 in his journal, " This opposing wind came very opportunely, 
 for my crew was in great agitatidli, imagining that no wind 
 ever blew in these regions by which they could retui'n to 
 Spain." 
 
 But the terrors of the ignorant men soon broke out afresh. 
 Seaweed and tropical marine plants reappeared in heavy 
 masses, and seemed to shut in the ships among their stag- 
 nant growth. The breeze no longer formed billov/s upon 
 the surface of the waters. The sailors declared that they 
 were in those dismal quarters of the world where the winds 
 lose their impulse and the waters their equilibrium, and 
 that soon fierce aquatic monsters would seize hold of the 
 keels of the ships and keep them prisoners amid the weeds. 
 In the midst of the perplexities to which Columbus was 
 thus exposed, the sea became suddenly agitated, though the 
 wind did not increase. This again cheered the crew into 
 a temporary tranquillity. 
 
 At sunset on the 25th, Alonzo Pinzon, rushing excitedly 
 upon the quarter-deck of the Pinta, shouted, " Land ! 
 land ! my lord, I was the first to see it !" The sailors of 
 the Nina clambered joyfully into the tops, and Columbus 
 
MUTINY. 63 
 
 fell upon his knees in thanksgiving. But the morn dissi- 
 pated the illusion, and the ocean stretched forth its illimit- 
 able expanse as before. 
 
 The indications of the vicinity of the land had been so 
 often deceitful, that the crew no longer put faith in them, 
 and fell from discouragement into taciturnity, and from 
 taciturnity into insubordination. The discontent was gene- 
 ral, and no efforts were made to conceal it. In their 
 mutinous conversations, they spoke contemptuously of Co- 
 lumbus as " the Genoese," as a charlatan and a rogue. Was 
 it just, they said, that one hundred and twenty men should 
 perish by the caprice and obstinacy of one single man, and 
 that man a foreigner and an impostor 1 If he persisted in 
 proceeding " towards his everlasting west, which went on 
 and on, and never came to an end," he ought to be thrown 
 into the sea and left there. On their return they could 
 easily say that he had fallen into the waves while gazing 
 at the stars. A revolt was agreed upon between the crews 
 of the three ships, who were on several occasions brought 
 into communication by the sending of boats from the one 
 to the other. The captains of the Pinta and the Nina were 
 aware of what was transpiring, but for the time being main- 
 tained a cautious neutrality. The sea contumed calm as the 
 Guadalquivir at Seville, the au' was laden with tropical 
 fragrance, and in twenty-four hours the fleet, apparently at 
 rest, glided imperceptibly over one hundred and eighty 
 miles. This motionless rapidity, as it were, thoroughly 
 terrified the crew, and breaking out into open mutiny, they 
 refused, on the 10th October, to go any farther westward. 
 The Nina and the Pinta rejoined the Santa Maria ; the 
 brothers Pinzon, followed by their men, leaped upon her 
 deck, and commanded Columbus to put his ship about and 
 return to Palos. 
 
 At this most vital point of the narrative, our authorities 
 are contradictory, while the journal of Columbus himself 
 is silent. According to 0^iedo, — a ^\Titer who obtained 
 his information from an enemy of Columbus, — the latter 
 
64 JOYFUL TIDINGS. 
 
 yielded to liis men so far as to propose a compromise, and 
 to consent to return unless land was discovered in three 
 days' sail. It is certain, at any rate, that the demonstra- 
 tion, which began at night-fall, had ceased long before the 
 morning's dawn. 
 
 And now pigeons flew in abundance about the ships, and 
 green canes and reeds floated languidly by. A bush, its 
 branches red with berries, was recovered from the water 
 by the Nina. A tuft of grass and a piece of wood, which 
 appeared to have been cut by some iron instrument, were 
 picked up by the Pinta. Such indications were sufficient 
 to sustain the most dejected. Still the sun sank to rest in 
 a horizon whose pure line was unbroken by land and unsul- 
 lied by terrestrial vapour. The caravels were called toge- 
 ther, and after the usual prayer, Columbus announced to 
 them that their trials were at an end, and that the morrow's 
 light would bring with it the realization of all their hopes. 
 The pilots were instructed to take in sail after midnight, 
 and a velvet pourpoint was promised to him who should 
 first see land. The expectation and impatience which per- 
 vaded the three ships were indescribable. No eye was 
 closed that night. The Pinta, being the most rapid sailer, 
 was a long way in advance of the others. Suddenly a flash 
 and a heavy report from the Pinta announced the joyful 
 tidings. A Spaniard of Palos, named Juan Rodriguez Ber- 
 mejo, had seen the land and won the velvet pourpoint. 
 Columbus fell upon his knees, and raising his hands to 
 heaven, sang the Te Deum Laudamus. The sails were then 
 furled and the fleet lay to. Ai'ms and holiday dresses were 
 prepared, for they knew not what the day would bring forth, 
 whether the land would offer hospitality or challenge to 
 combat. The great mystery of the ocean was to be revealed 
 on the morrow : in the meantime, the night and the dark- 
 ness had in their keeping the mighty secret — whether the 
 land was a savage desert or a spicy and blooming garden. 
 
 On Friday, the 12th of October 1492, the kindling 
 dawn revealed to the wondering eyes of our adventurers 
 
ENCOURAGING DISCOVERIES. 65 
 
 the bright colours and early-mornirig beauties of an island 
 clothed in verdure, and teeming with the fruits and vege- 
 tation of mid-autumn in the tropics. An anchorage was 
 easily found, and Columbus, dressed in official costume, 
 and bearing the royal standard in his hand, landed upon 
 the silent and deserted shore. He planted the standard, 
 and, prostrating himself before it, kissed the earth he had 
 discovered. He drew his sword, and, naming the land 
 San Salvador, in memory of the Saviour, took possession 
 of it for the Crown of Castile. The crews recognised 
 Columbus as Admiral of the Ocean and Viceroy of the 
 Indies. The most mutinous and outrageous thronged 
 closely about him, and crouched at the feet of one who, in 
 their eyes, had already wealth and honours in his gift. 
 
 The island at which Columbus had landed was called by 
 the natives Guanahani, and is now one of the archipelago 
 of the Bahamas. Tlie inhabitants had retreated to the 
 woods at the arrival of the strangers ; but, being gradually 
 reassured, suffered their confidence to be vv^on, and received 
 from them fragments of glass and earthenware as presents 
 possessing a supernatural virtue. Columbus took seven of 
 them on board, being anxious to convey them to Spain and 
 offer them to the king, promising however to return them. 
 Then he weighed anchor and explored the wonderful region 
 in which these lovely islands lie. New lands were con- 
 stantly, as it were, rising from the waves ; the eye could 
 hardly number them, but the seven natives called over a 
 hundred of them by name. He landed successively at 
 Concepcion, la Fernandme, and Isabella. He sought every- 
 where for traces of gold in the soil, for he hoped thus to 
 interest Spain in a continuance of his explorations. At 
 last, the natives spoke of a large and marvellous land, 
 called Cuba, where there were spices, gold, ships, and 
 merchants. Supposing this to be the wonderful Cipango, 
 described by Marco Polo, he set sail at once. It was now 
 the 24th of October. 
 
 On the 28 th, at dawn, Columbus discovered an island, 
 
 I 
 
66 DESERTION OF THE PINTA. 
 
 which, in its extent and in its general characteristics, re- 
 minded him strongly of Sicily, in the Mediterranean. He 
 no longer doubted that this beautiful spot was the real 
 Cipango. He landed, gave to the island the name of 
 Juana, and commenced a search for gold, which resulted 
 in a complete disappointment. On leaving Cuba, he gave 
 it a name which he thought more appropriate than Juana, 
 styling its eastern extremity Alpha and Omega, being, as 
 he thought, the region where the East Indies finished and 
 where the West Indies began. This error of Columbus 
 was the cause of the North American savages being called 
 Indians — an error which has been perpetuated in spite of 
 the progress of geographical discovery, and which will 
 doubtless endure for ever. 
 
 On the 6th of December he discovered an island, named 
 Haiti by the natives, and which he called Hispaniola, as it 
 reminded him of the fairest tracts of Spain. He found 
 that the inhabitants had the reputation with their neigii- 
 bours of devouring human flesh ; they were called Caniba 
 people, an epithet which, after the necessary modifications, 
 has passed into aU European languages. The Caribs were 
 the nation meant. At this point, the captain of the Pinta 
 deserted the fleet, in order to make discoveries on his own 
 account. Soon after the Santa Maria was wrecked upon 
 the coast of Haiti, and Columbus, thinking that this acci- 
 dent was intended as an indication of the Divine will that 
 he should establish a colony there, built a fort of live 
 timber, in which he placed forty-two men. He weighetl 
 anchor in the Nina on the 11th of January 1493, and 
 shortly after fell in with the Pinta. He pretended to be- 
 lieve and accept the falsehoods and contradictions which 
 Piazon alleged as the reasons for his abandonment of the 
 fl.eet. 
 
 No event of moment happened until the 12 th of Feb- 
 ruary, a month afterwards, when a terrible storm burst 
 over the hitherto tranquil waters. Its violence increased 
 to such a degree that the admiral, fearing his discovery 
 
RETURN OF COLUMBUS TO PORTUGAL. 67 
 
 would perish witli him, withdrew to his cabin, during the 
 fiercest period of the tumult, and wrote upon parchment 
 two separate and concise narratives of his discoveries. He 
 enclosed them both in wax, and, placing one in an 
 empty barrel, threw it into the sea. The other, similarly 
 enclosed, he attached to the poop of the Nina, intending to 
 cut it loose at the moment of going down. Happily 
 the storm subsided; and on the 17th the shattered 
 vessels aiTived at the southernmost island of the Azores, 
 belonging to the King of Portugal. Here half the crew 
 went in procession to the chapel to discharge their vow ; 
 and while Columbus was waiting to go with the other 
 half, the Portuguese made a sally, surrounded the first 
 portion, and made them prisoners. After a useless protest 
 Columbus departed with the men that remained, having 
 with liim, in the Nina, but three able-bodied seamen. 
 Another storm now threw him upon the coast of Portugal, 
 at the mouth of the Tagus, Here he narrowly escaped 
 shipwreck a second time, but, with the assistance of the 
 wonder-stricken inhabitants, reached in safety the roads of 
 Eostello. The king, though jealous of the maritime renown 
 he was acquiring for Spain, received him with distinction 
 and dismissed him with presents. Columbus arrived in 
 the Nina at Palos, on Friday, the 1 5th of March, seven 
 months and twelve days after his departure. Alonzo 
 Pinzon had already arrived in the Pinta, and, believing 
 Columbus to have perished in the storm, had written to 
 the court, narrating the discoveries made by the fleet, and 
 claiming for himself the merit and the recompense. 
 
 It is not our province to relate the history of the career 
 of Columbus upon land. "We simply mention the week he 
 spent with Marchena ; the princely honours he received in 
 his progress to Barcelona, whither the court had gone ; and 
 his reception by the king and queen, in which Ferdinand 
 and Isabella rose as he approached, raised him as he 
 kneeled to kiss theu' hands, and ordered him to be seated 
 in their presence. 
 
68 DISCOVERY OF JAMAICA. 
 
 SECOND VOYAGE OF COLUMBUS. 
 
 Tlie Spanish sovereigns soon fitted out a new expedition ; 
 and, on the 25tli of September 1493, Columbus left the 
 port of Cadiz with seventeen vessels, five hundred sailors, 
 soldiers, citizens, and servants, and one thousand colonists, 
 three hundred of whom had smuggled themselves on board. 
 He sailed directly for the Carib or Cannibal Islands, and 
 on the 3d of November arrived in their midst. He named 
 one of them Maria- Galanta, from his flag-ship ; another 
 Guadeloupe, from one of the shrines of Spain where he had 
 discharged a vow. He here found numerous and disgust- 
 ing evidences of the truth of the story that these people 
 lived on human flesh. The island which he named Mont- 
 serrat, in honour of the famous sanctuary of that name, 
 had been depopulated by the Caribs. He gave to the next 
 land the name of Santa Maria I'Antigoa : it is now known 
 as Antigoa simply. Another he called Santa Cruz, in 
 honour of the cross. Eeturning to Hispaniola, he found 
 the fort destroyed and the garrison massacred. Having 
 founded the city of Isabella upon another part of the island, 
 he sent back twelve of his ships to Spain, and with three 
 of the remaining five, one of which was the famous Nina, 
 started upon a voyage of discovery in the surrounding 
 waters. He touched at Alpha and Omega, and inquired 
 of the savages where he could find gold. They pointed to 
 the south. Two days afterwards Columbus descried lofty 
 mountains, with blue summits, upon an island to which he 
 gave the name of Jamaica, in honour of St, James. Then 
 returning to Cuba, and following the southern coast a dis- 
 tance sufficient to convince the three crews that it was a 
 continent and not an island, he took possession of it as 
 such. He then wished to revisit the Caribbean Islands 
 and destroy the boats of the inhabitants, that they might 
 no longer prey upon their neighbours, but the direction of 
 the winds would not permit him to sail to the west. Re- 
 turning to Isabella, he met his brother Bartholomew, who 
 
DREADFUL ENCOUNTEE WITH PAINTED SAVAGES. C9 
 
 'had jiist arrived from Si3ain, bearing a letter from the 
 queen. He also found, to his extreme regret, that the 
 officers he had left in charge of the colony had transcended 
 their authority and had abandoned their duties. Margarit, 
 the commander, and Boil, the vicar, had departed in the 
 ship that had brought Bartholomew. Overcome by the 
 toils and privations he had undergone, and sick at heart 
 at the sight of the disasters under which the colony was 
 labouring, he fell into a deep lethargy, and for a long time 
 it was doubtfid whether he woidd ever awake again. 
 
 He did awake, however, but only to a poignant con- 
 sciousness of the miseries the Spanish invasion had brouglit 
 upon the island. The Spaniards and Indians had become, 
 through the treachery of the former, hostile during his 
 absence, and battles, surprises, and murders were of daily 
 occurrence. Seeing the necessity of a vigorous effort in 
 order to maintain his authority over the natives, he led his 
 two hundred and twenty men against a furious throng of 
 naked, painted savages, whose numbers were declared by 
 the Spaniardis to be no less than one hundred thousand. 
 The Indians were defeated with great slaughter, and were 
 subjected to the payment of tribute and to the indignity of 
 taxation. At this period an officer, named Juan Aguada, 
 sent out by Ferdinand and Isabella upon the malicious re- 
 presentations of Margarit and Father Boil, to inquire into 
 the state of the colony and the conduct of Columbus, 
 arrived in the island. Columbus determined to return 
 himself to Spain to present in person a justification of his 
 course. A violent storm having destroyed all the vessels 
 except the Niua, Columbus took the command of her, 
 Aguado building a caravel for himself from the wrecks of 
 the others. They both left Isabella on the 1 th of March 
 1496, taking with them the sick and disappointed, to the 
 number of two hundred and twenty-five, and thirty-two 
 Indians, whom they forced to accompany them. They 
 touched at Guadeloupe for wood and water, and, after re- 
 pidsing au attack of Caribs, contrived to gain their confi- 
 
70 THIRD VOYAGE. 
 
 dence, and to obtain the articles of which they stood in need. 
 They left again on the 20th of April. After a long and 
 painful voyage, in the course of which it was proposed to 
 throw the Indians overboard in order to lessen the consump- 
 tion of food, they arrived, without material damage, at the 
 port of Cadiz. Columbus wrote to the king and queen, and 
 during the month that elapsed before their answer was 
 received, allowed his beard to grow, and, disgusted with 
 the world, assumed the garments and the badges of a 
 Franciscan friar. He was soon summoned to Burgos, then 
 the residence of the court, where Isabella, forgetting the 
 calumnies of which he had been the object and the accusa- 
 tions his enemies had heaped upon him, loaded him with 
 favours and kindness. 
 
 THIRD VOYAGE OF COLUMBUS. 
 
 Numerous circumstances prevented Columbus from re- 
 questing the immediate equipment of another expedition. 
 It was not till the 30th of May 1498, that he sailed 
 again for his discoveries in the West. He left San Lucar 
 with six caravels, three laden with supplies and reinforce- 
 ments for the colony at Isabella, and three intended to 
 accompany himself upon a search for the mainland, which 
 he believed to exist west of Hispaniola, Cuba, and Jainaica. 
 On the 1 5th of July, in the latitude of Sierra Leone, they 
 came into the region of calms, where the water seemed 
 like molten silver beneath a tropical sun. Not a breath of 
 air stirred, not a cloud intercepted the fiery rays which fell 
 vertically upon them from the skies. The provisions 
 decayed in the hold, the pitch and tar boiled upon the 
 ropes. The barrels of wine and water opened in wide 
 seams, and scattered their precious contents to waste. The 
 grains of wheat were wrinkled and shrivelled as if roasting 
 before the fire. For eight days this incandescence lasted, 
 till an east wind sprang up and wafted them to a more 
 temperate spot in the torrid zone. 
 
 On the 31st of July land was discovered in the west-— 
 
THE TERRESTRIAL PARADISE. 71 
 
 three mountain peaks seeming to ascend from one and the 
 same base. Columbus had made a vow to give the name 
 of the Trinity to the first land he should discover, and 
 this singular triune form of the land now before them was 
 noticed as a wonderfid coincidence by all on board. It 
 was named, therefore, Trinidad ; it lies off the northern 
 coast of Venezuela, in the continent of South America. 
 The innumerable islands, formed by the forty mouths of 
 the Orinoco, were next discovered, and shortly afterwards 
 the continent to the north, which Columbus judged to be 
 the mainland from the volume of water brought to the sea 
 by the Orinoco. Columbus was not the first to set foot 
 upon the New World he had discovered : being confined to 
 his cabin by an attack of ophthalmia, he sent Pedro de 
 Terreros to take possession in his stead. This discovery of 
 the southern portion of the western continent was, how- 
 ever, as we shall soon have occasion to show, subsequent 
 to that of the northern portion by John Cabot, who visited 
 Labrador in 1497. 
 
 The fleet was unable to remain in these seductive regions, 
 owing to the scarcity of provisions and the increasing 
 blindness of the admiral. He would have been glad to 
 stay in a spot which, in his letter to his sovereigns, he 
 describes as the Terrestrial Paradise, the Orinoco being one 
 of the four streams flowing from it, as described in the 
 Bible. The fact that this river throws from its forty issues 
 fresh water enough to overcome the saltness of the sea to a 
 great distance from the shore, was one of the circumstances 
 which gave to this portion of the world the somewhat 
 marvellous and fantastic character with which the imagina- 
 tion of Columbus invested it. He sailed at once from the 
 continent to Hispaniola, discovering and naming the islands 
 of Assumpcion and la Margarita. At Hispaniola he again 
 found famine, distress, rebellion, and panic on every side. 
 Malversation and mutiny had brought the colony to the 
 very verge of ruin. 
 
 We have not space to detail the manoeuvres and machina- 
 
^'2 FOURTH VOYAGE. 
 
 tions by which the mind of Ferdinand was prejudiced 
 towards Columbus, and in consequence of which, Francesco 
 Bobadilla was sent by him in July 1500 to investigate 
 the charges brought against the admiral. Arrogant in his 
 newly-acquired honours, Bobadilla took the part of the 
 malcontents, and, placing Columbus in chains, sent him 
 back to Spain. He arrived at Cadiz on the 20 th of 
 November, after the most rapid passage yet made across 
 the ocean. The general burst of indignation at the shock- 
 ing spectacle of Columbus in fetters, compelled Ferdinand 
 to disclaim all knowledge of the transaction. Isabella 
 accorded him a private audience, in which she shed tears 
 at the sufferings and indignities he had undergone. The 
 king kept him waiting nine months, wasting his time in 
 fruitless applications for redress, and finally appointed 
 Nicholas Ovando governor of Hispaniola in his place. 
 
 FOURTH VOYAGE OF COLUIMBUS. 
 
 Columbus was now advanced in years, and his sufferings 
 and labours had dimmed his eyesight and bowed his frame ; 
 but his mind was yet active, and his enthusiasm in the 
 cause of discovery irrepressible. He had convinced him- 
 self, and now sought to convince the queen, that to the 
 westward of the regions he had visited the land converged, 
 leaving a narrow passage through which he hoped to pass, 
 and proceed to the Indies beyond. This convergence of 
 the land did in reality exist, but the strait of water he 
 expected to find was, and is, a strait of land — the Isthmus 
 of Panama. However, the queen approved of the plan, 
 and gave him four ships, equipped and victualled for two 
 years. Columbus had conceived the immense idea of pass- 
 ing through the strait, and returning by Asia and the Cape 
 of Good Hope, thus circumnavigating the globe and prov- 
 ing its spherical form. He departed from Cadiz on the 
 8th of May 1502. 
 
 He touched at and named Martinique early in June, 
 and afterwards at St. Jean, now Porto Ricco. Ovando 
 
WATERSPOUTS. 7 
 
 o 
 
 refused his request to land at Isabella to repair his vessel, 
 and exchange one of them for a faster sailer. Escaping a 
 terrible storm, which wrecked and utterly destroyed the 
 splendid fleet in which the rapacious pillagers of the island 
 had embarked their ill-gotten wealth, he was driven by the 
 winds to Jamaica, and thence by the currents to Cuba. 
 Here a strong north wind enabled him to sail south-south- 
 west, towards the latitude where he expected to find the 
 strait. He touched the mainland of North America at 
 Traxillo, in Honduras, and coasted thence southward along 
 the Mosquito shore, Nicaragua, Costa Rica, and Panama. 
 Here he explored every sinuosity and indentation of the 
 shore, seeking, at the very spot where civilisation and com- 
 merce now require a canal, a passage which he considered 
 as demanded by nature and accorded by Providence. He 
 followed the isthmus as far as the Gulf of Darien, and 
 then, driven by a furious tropical tempest, returned as far 
 as Veragua, in search of rich gold mines of which he had 
 heard. The storm lasted for eight days, concluding with 
 a terrible display of waterspouts, which Columbus is said 
 to have regarded as a work of the devil, and to have dis- 
 pelled by bringing forth the Bible and exorcising the 
 demon. One of the waterspouts passed between the ships 
 without injuring them, and spun away, muttering and 
 terrible, to spend its fury elsewhere. 
 
 On reaching Veragua, Columbus sent his brother up a 
 river, which he called Bethlehem, or by contraction Belem, 
 to seek for gold. His researches seeming to indicate the 
 presence of the precious metal, Columbus determined to 
 establish a colony upon the river, an attempt which was 
 defeated by the hostility of the natives. Their fierce 
 resistance and the crazy state of his vessels forced Colum- 
 bus, in April 1503, to make the best of his way to 
 Hispaniola with two crowded vessels, which, being totally 
 unseaworthy, he was obliged to run ashore at Jamaica. 
 There Columbus awed the natives and subdued them to obe- 
 dience and submission, by predicting an eclipse of the moon. 
 
 K 
 
74 DEATH OF COLUMBUS. 
 
 Thus left without a single vessel, he had no resource 
 but to send to Hispaniola for assistance. After a period of 
 fifteen months, lost in quelling mutinies and in opposing 
 the cruelties and exactions of the new masters of the 
 island, he obtained a caravel, and again sailed for Spain 
 on the 12th of September 1504. During the passage he 
 was compelled, by a severe attack of rheumatism, to remain 
 confined to his cabin. His tempest-tossed and shattered 
 bark at last cast anchor in the harbour of San Lucar. He 
 proceeded to Seville, where he heard with dismay of the 
 illness and then of the death of his patroness Isabella. 
 Sickness now detained him at Seville till the spring of 
 1505, when he arrived exhausted and paralytic before the 
 king. Here lie underwent another courtly denial of re- 
 dress. He was now without shelter and without hope. 
 He was compelled to borrow money with which to pay for 
 a shabby room at a miserable inn. He lingered for a year 
 in poverty and neglect, and died at last in Valladolid on 
 the 20th of May 1506. The ingratitude of Ferdinand 
 of Spain thus caused the death in rags, in destitution, and 
 in infirmity, of the greatest man that has ever served the 
 cause of progress or laboured in the paths of science. 
 
 The agitation of the life of Columbus followed his remains 
 to the grave, — for he was buried four successive times, 
 and his dead body made the passage of the Atlantic. It 
 was fi.rst deposited in the vaults of the Franciscan Convent 
 of Valladolid, where it remained seven years. In 1513, 
 Ferdinand, now old, and perhaps repentant, caused the 
 coffin to be brought from Valladolid to Seville, where a 
 solemn service was said over it in the grand cathedral. It 
 was then placed in the chapel belonging to the Chartreux. 
 In 1536 the coffin was transported to the city of St. Do- 
 mingo, in the island of Hispaniola. Here it remained for 
 two hundred and sixty years. In 1795 Spain ceded the 
 island to France, stipulating that the ashes of Columbus 
 should be transferred to Spanish soil. In December of the 
 same year the vault was opened, and the fragments which 
 
INGRATITUDE TOWARDS COLUMBUS. 75 
 
 were foniid — a leaden coffin, mingled with bones and dust 
 returned to dust — were carefully collected. They were 
 taken to Havana, where, in the midst of imposing ceremonies, 
 they were consigned to their fourth and final resting-place. 
 
 We may here refer to that signal instance of public in- 
 gratitude and national forgetfulness which is universally 
 legretted, yet will never be repaired, — the giving to the 
 New World the name of America and not that of Columbia 
 — a substitution due to an obscure and ignorant French 
 publisher of St. Did, in Lorraine. 
 
 ■ Amerigo Vespucci, born at Florence fifteen years after 
 Columbus, and the third son of a notary, appears to have 
 been led by mercantile tastes to Spain in 1486, where he 
 became a factor in a wealthy house at Seville. He aban- 
 doned the counter, howevei*, for navigation and mathematics, 
 and took to the sea for a livelihood. He was at first a 
 practical astronomer, and finally a pilot-major. He went 
 four times on expeditions to the New World in 1499, 
 1500, 1501, 1502. During the first, he coasted along 
 the land at the mouths of the Orinoco, which had been 
 discovered by Columbus the precedmg year. Even had 
 he been the first to discover the mainland, — which he was 
 not, — there would have been no merit in it, for he was 
 merely a subordinate officer on board a ship following in 
 the track of Columbus, seven years after the latter had 
 traced it upon the ocean and the charts of the marine. He 
 published an account of his voyage. But it does not appear 
 that he ever claimed honour as the first discoverer, and the 
 friendly relations he maintained with the family of Colum- 
 bus after the death of the latter show that they did not 
 consider him as attempting to obtain a distinction which 
 did not belong to him. The error flowed from another and 
 more distant source. 
 
 Columbus had died in 1506, and had been forgotten. 
 In 1507 a Frenchman of St. Did republished Vespucci's 
 narrative, substituting the date of 1497 for that of 1499, 
 — thus making it appear that Vespucci had preceded, in- 
 
76 DISCOVERY OF THE MAINLAND OF AMERICA. 
 
 stead of followed, Columbus in his discovery of the maiu' 
 land. He did not once mention Columbus, and attributed 
 the whole merit of the western voyages to Vespucci. He 
 added that he did not see why from the name of Amerigo 
 an appellation could not be derived for the continent he had 
 discovered, and proposed that of America, as having a femi- 
 nine termination like that of Europa, Asia, and Africa, and 
 as possessing a musical sound likely to catch the public ear. 
 This work was dedicated to the Emperor Maximilian, and 
 passed rapidly through editions in various languages. 
 
 It will be proper to add to this view of the voyages of 
 Columbus a brief account of those effected immediately 
 afterwards by John and Sebastian Cabot, and by Vincent 
 Yanez Pinzon. 
 
 In the year 1496 Henry vii. of England, stimulated 
 by the success of Columbus, granted a patent to one Gio- 
 vanni Gabotto, a Venetian dwelling in Bristol, to go in 
 search of unknown lands. Little is known of this person, 
 whose name has been anglicized into John Cabot, except 
 that he was a wealthy and intelligent merchant, and fond of 
 maritime discovery. He had three sons, one of whom, 
 named Sebastian, was nineteen years old at the time of the 
 voyage, upon which, with his brothers, he accompanied his 
 father. They sailed in a ship named the Matthew, and on 
 the 24th of June 1497, discovered the mainland of America, 
 eighteen months before Columbus set foot upon it at the 
 mouths of the Orinoco. For a long time it was supposed 
 that Cabot had landed upon Newfoundland, but it is now 
 considered settled that Labrador was the portion of the con- 
 tinent first discovered by a European. No account of the 
 furtiier prosecution of the voyage has reached us, and the 
 only ofl&cial record of Cabot's return is an entry in the 
 privy-purse expenses of Henry, 10th August 1497 : — "To 
 hym that found the New Isle, £10." Thus, fifty days had 
 not elapsed between the discovery and its recompense in 
 England, — a fact which shows that Cabot returned home at 
 once. He is supposed to have died about the year 1499. 
 
THE LINE CROSSED IN THE ATLANTIC. 77 
 
 Sebastian Cabot, the second son, wbo is regarded as by far 
 the most scientific navigator of this family of seamen, appeara 
 to have lived in complete obscurity during the following 
 twelve years. Disgusted, however, by the want of consi- 
 deration of the English authorities towards him, he ac- 
 cepted an invitation from King Ferdinand to visit Spain in 
 1512. Here, for several years, he was employed in revis- 
 ing maps and charts, and, with the title of Captain and a 
 liberal salary, held the honourable position of Member of 
 the Council of the Indies. The death of Ferdinand, and 
 the intrigues of the enemies of Columbus, induced him to 
 return to England in 1517. He was employed by Henry 
 viiL, in connexion with one Sir Thomas Perte, to make 
 an attempt at a north-west passage. On this voyage he is 
 said to have gained Hudson's Bay, and to have given Eng- 
 lish names to sundry places there. So few details of the 
 expedition have been preserved, that the latitude reached 
 (G7^ degrees) is referred by different authorities both to 
 the north and the south. 
 
 Vincent Yanez Pinzon, the youngest of the three brothers 
 who had accompanied Columbus upon his first voyage, de- 
 termined, upon hearing, in 1499, that the continent was 
 discovered, on trying his fortunes at the head of an expe- 
 dition, instead of in a subordinate position. He found no 
 difliculty in equipping four caravels, and in inducing several 
 of those wdio had seen the coast of Paria to embark with 
 him as pilots. He sailed from Palos in December 1499, 
 and proceeded directly to the south-weit. During a storm 
 wdiich obscured the heavens he crossed the equator, and on 
 the disappearance of the clouds no longer recognised the 
 constellations, changed as they were from those of the 
 Northern to those of the Southern hemisphere. Pinzon 
 was thus the first European wdio crossed the line in the 
 Atlantic. Sailing to the north, he followed the coast for 
 four hundred leagues, and then returned to Palos, carrying 
 with him three thousand pounds' weight of dye-woods and 
 the first opossum ever seen in Europe. 
 
CHAPTER V. 
 
 PORTUGUESE NAVIGATION UNDER EMMANUEL VASCO DA 
 
 GAMA PEDRO ALVAREZ OABRAL ALPHONZO d'aLBU- 
 
 QUERQUE FRANCESCO ALMEIDA TRISTAN d'aCUNHA 
 
 FALL OF THE PORTUGUESE EMPIRE. 
 
 In the year 1495, John il of Portugal was succeeded 
 by his cousin Emmanuel, into whose mind he had a short 
 time before his death instilled a portion of his own zeal for 
 maritime discovery and commercial supremacy. He had 
 especially dwelt upon the necessity of continuing the progress 
 of African research beyond the point which Bartholomew 
 Diaz had lately reached, into the regions where lay the East 
 Indies with their wealth and marvellous productions, and 
 thus substituting for the tedious land-route a more expedi- 
 tious track by sea. Upon his accession Emmanuel found 
 that a strong opposition existed to the extension of Portu- 
 guese commerce and discovery. Arguments were urged 
 against it in his own councils, and had a marked effect upon 
 the public mind by heightening the danger of the intended 
 voyage. 
 
 Never was any expedition, whether by land or water, so 
 unpopular as this of King Emmanuel. The murmurs of the 
 cabinet were re-echoed by the populace, who were wrought 
 upon to such an extent that they believed the natural con- 
 sequence of an invasion of the Indian seas would be the 
 arrival in the Tagus of the wroth and avenging Sultan of 
 Egypt. But Emmanuel discerned prospects of national ad- 
 vantage in rhe scheme, and determined to pursue it to a 
 prosperous issue. 
 
 King John, before his death, and shortly after the return 
 of Diaz, had ordered timber to be purchased for the con- 
 78 
 
DA GAMA.'S FLEET. 79 
 
 structiou of ships fit to cope with the storms of the redoubt- 
 able Cape. Emmanuel now sought a capable commander, 
 and, after much deliberation, fixed upon a gentleman of his 
 own household, Vasco da Gama by name, a native of the 
 seaport of Sines, and already favourably known for enterprise 
 and naval skill. We ane told that " he was formed for the 
 service for which he was called, — violent indeed in his 
 temper, terrible in anger, and sudden in the execution of 
 justice, but at the same time intrepid, persevering, patient 
 in diflBiculties, fertile in expedients, and superior to all dis- 
 couragement. He devoted himself to death if he should 
 not succeed, and this from a sense of religion and loyalty." 
 
 The fleet equipped for Da Gama's voyage consisted of 
 three ships and a caravel, — the San Gabriel, of one hundred 
 and twenty tons, commanded by Da Gama, and piloted by 
 Pero Dalemquer, who had been pilot to Bartholomew Diaz ; 
 the San Rafael, of one hundred tons, commanded by Paulo 
 da Gama, the admiral's brother ; a store-ship of two hun- 
 dred tons ; and the caravel, of fifty tons, commanded by 
 Nicolao Coelho. Besides these, Diaz, who had already been 
 over the route, was ordered to accompany Da Gama as far 
 as the Miua. The crews numbered in all one hundred and 
 sixty men, among whom were ten malefactors condemned 
 to death, and who had consequently nothing to hope for ii» 
 Portugal. Their duty in the fleet was to go ashore upon 
 savage coasts and attempt to open intercourse with the 
 natives. In case of rendering essential service, and escaping 
 with their liv<3S, their sentence was to be remitted. 
 
 The admiral had fixed upon the Cape Verd Islands as 
 the first place of rendezvous in case of separation by storm. 
 They all arrived safely in eight days at the Canaries, but 
 were here driven widely apart by a tempest at night. The 
 three captains subsequently joined each other, but could not 
 find the admiral. They therefore made for the appointed 
 rendezvous, where, to their great satisfaction, they found 
 Da Gama already ariived ; " and, saluting him with many 
 shots of ordnance, and with sound of trumpets, they spake 
 
so A REFUSAL TO DTNE. 
 
 unto him, each of them heartily rejoicing and thanking God 
 for their safe meeting and good fortune in this their first 
 brunt of danger and of peril." Diaz here took leave of 
 them and returned to Portugal. Then, on the 3d of August, 
 they set sail finally for the Cape of Good Hope. 
 
 They continued without seeing land during the months 
 of August, September, and October, greatly distressed by 
 foul weather, or, in the quaint language of those days, " by 
 torments of wind and rain." At last, on the 7th of Novem- 
 ber, they touched the African coast, and anchored in a capa- 
 cious bay, which they called the Bay of St. Helena, and 
 which is not far to the north of the Cape. Here they per- 
 ceived the natives " to be lyttle men, ill-favoured in the 
 face, and of colour blacke ; and when they did speake, it 
 was in such manner as though they did alwayes sigh." 
 
 Trade was now commenced between Da Gama and the 
 natives, and, by means of signs and gestures, cloth, beads, 
 bells, and glass were bartered for articles of food and othei 
 necessaries. But this friendly intercourse was soon inter- 
 rupted by an act of imprudent folly on the part of a young 
 man of the squadron. Being invited to dine by a party of 
 the natives, he entered one of their huts to partake of the 
 repast. Being disgusted at the viands, which consisted of 
 a sea-calf dressed after the manner of the Hottentots, he fled 
 in dismay. He was followed by his perplexed entertainers, 
 who were anxious to learn how they had offended him. 
 Taking their officious hospitality for impertinent aggression, 
 he shouted for help ; and it was not long before mutual 
 apprehension brought on open hostilities. Da Gama and 
 his officers were attacked while taking the altitude of the 
 sun with an astrolabe, by a party of concealed negroes 
 armed with spears pointed with horn. The admiral was 
 wounded in the foot, and with some difficulty effected a 
 retreat to the ships. He left the Bay of St. Helena on the 
 1 6 th of November. 
 
 He now met with a sudden and violent change of wea- 
 ther, and the Portuguese historians have left animated 
 
DA GAMA AND THE NEGROES. 81 
 
 descriptions of the storm which ensued. During any mo- 
 mentary pause in the elemental warfare, the sailors, worn 
 out with fatigue and yielding to despair, surrounded Da 
 Gama, begging that he would not devote himself and them 
 to a fate so dreadful. They declared that the gale could 
 no longer be weathered, and that every one must be buried 
 in the waves if they continued to proceed. The admiral's 
 firmness remained unshaken, and a conspiracy was soon 
 formed against him. He was informed in time of this 
 desperate plot by his brother Paulo, He put the ring- 
 leaders and pilots in irons, and, assisted by his brother and 
 those who remained faithful to their duty, stood night and 
 day to the helm. At length, on Wednesday, the 20th of 
 November, the whole squadron doubled the tremendous 
 jororaontory. The mutineers were pardoned and released 
 from their manacles. 
 
 Da Gama landed some two hundred miles beyond the 
 Cape, and, discharging the victualling ship of her stores, 
 ordered her to be burned as the king had directed. He 
 then entered into commercial relations with the natives, and 
 exchanged red night-caps for ivory bracelets, " Then came 
 two hundred blacke men, some lyttle, some great, bringing 
 with them twelve oxen and four sheep ; and as our men 
 went upon shore they began to play upon four flutes, ac- 
 cording with four sundry voices, the music whereof sounded 
 very well. Which the generall hearing, commanded the 
 tmmpets to sound, and so they danced with our men. In 
 this pastime and feasting, and in buying their oxen and 
 sheep, the day passed over." Da Gama had reason before 
 long to suspect treachery, however, and withdrew his men 
 and re-embarked. It was in this place that a man falling 
 overboard, and swimming for a long time before the accident 
 was observed, was followed by an albatross, who hovered 
 in the air just above him, waiting the propitious moment 
 when he could make a quiet meal upon him. The man was 
 subst^quently rescued, and the albatross disappointed. 
 
 Da Gama now passed the rock de la Cruz, where Diaz 
 
 L 
 
82 THE RIVER OF GOOD PROMISE. 
 
 had erected his last pillar, and by the aid of a brisk wind 
 escaped the dangers of the currents and shoals. Losing 
 sight of land, he recovered it again on Christmas-day, and 
 in consequence named the spot Tierra da Natal, — a name 
 which it still preserves. From this point his course was 
 nearly north, along the eastern coast of the continent. 
 Farther on he landed two of his malefactors, with instruc- 
 tions to inform themselves of the character and customs of 
 the inhabitants, promising to call for them on his return. 
 On the 11th January 1498, he anchored off a portion of 
 the coast occupied by people who seemed peaceably and 
 honestly disposed. They were, in fact, Caffres, — the fleet 
 having passed the territoiy of the Hottentots. After two 
 days spent in theexchangeof civilities of the most courteous 
 nature, the ships proceeded on their way. Da Gama naming 
 the country Tierra da Boa Gete — Land of Good People. 
 
 He next found at the mouth of a large river a tribe who 
 seemed to have made greater progress in civilisation than 
 their neighbours. They had barks with sails made of palm- 
 leaves, — the only indication of any knowledge of na^dgation 
 the Portuguese had yet met with upon the African coast. As 
 far as could be gathered from their Pantomime, they had 
 come from a distance where they had seen vessels as large as 
 the San Gabriel, whence Da Gama conjectured that the 
 Indies were not far off. He gave to the river the name oi Rio 
 dos bos Sinaes, or River of Good Promise. The crew suf- 
 fered greatly here from the effects of scurvy, — many of them 
 dying of the disease and others succumbing under the con- 
 sequences of amputation. The ships were careened and 
 repaired : thirty-two days being spent in this labour. 
 
 The fleet left the River of Good Promise on the 24th of 
 February, and not long after discovered two groups of 
 islands. Near the coast of one of these they were followed 
 by eight canoes, manned by persons of fine stature, less black 
 than the Hottentots, and dressed in cotton cloth of various 
 colours. Upon their heads they wore turbans wrought 
 with silk and gokl thread. They were armed with sworda 
 
MOZAMBIQUE. . 83 
 
 and daggers like the Moors, and carried musical instruments 
 which they called sagbuts. They came on board as if they 
 had known the strangers before, and spoke in the Arabic 
 tongue, repelling with disdain the supposition that they 
 were Moors. They said that their island was called Mo- 
 zambique ; that they traded with the Moors of the Indies 
 in spices, pearls, rubies, silver, and linen, and offered to take 
 the ships into their harbour. The bar permitting their 
 passage, they anchored at two crossbow-shots from the town. 
 This was built of wood and thatch, — the mosques alone 
 being constructed of stone. It was occupied principally by 
 Moors, the rest of the island being inhabited by the natives, 
 who were the same as those of the mainland opposite. The 
 Moors traded with the Indies and with the African Sofala 
 in ships without decks, and built without the use of sails, 
 the pianks being bound together by cocoa fibres, and the sails 
 being made of palm-leaves. They had compasses and charts. 
 The Moorish governor of Mozambique and the other 
 Moors supposed the Portuguese to be Turks, on account of 
 the whiteness of their skin. They sent them provisions, in 
 return for which Da Gama sent the shah a quantity of red 
 caps, coral, copper vessels, and bells. The shah set no value 
 upon these articles, and inquired disdainfidly why the cap- 
 tain had not sent him scarlet cloth. He afterw*ards w^nt 
 on board the flag-ship, where he was received with hospi- 
 tality, though not "without secret preparations against 
 treachery. The Portuguese learned from him that he 
 governed the island as the dcjputy of the King of Quiloa ; 
 that Prestor John lived ajid ruled a long distance towards 
 the interior of the mainland ; that Calicut, whither Da 
 Gama was bound, was two thousand miles to the north-east, 
 but that he could not proceed thither without the guidance of 
 pilots familiar with the navigation. He promised to furnish 
 him with two. Discovering subsequently, however, that the 
 strangers were Christians, the shah contrived a plot for 
 their destruction. The vessels escaped, but with only one 
 pilot, who.sc treachei7 tJiroughout the voyage was a source 
 
;84 A FAREWELL BROADSIDE. 
 
 of constant annoyance and peril. On departing Da Gama 
 gave the traitors a broadside, which did considerable 
 damage to their village of thatch. 
 
 On the 1st of Ajnil Da Gama gave to an island which 
 he discovered the narae of Acoutado, in commemoration of 
 a sound flagillation which was there administered to the 
 pilot for telling him it formed part of the continent, — upon 
 which he confessed that his purpose in thus misrepresent- 
 ing the case was to wreck and destroy the ships. On the 
 7 th they came to a large island of Mombassa, where they 
 found rice, millet, poultry, and fat cattle, and sheep without 
 tails. The houses Avere built of stone and mortar, and the 
 city was defended by a small fort almost even with the water. 
 
 The King of Mombassa, however, was as great a rogue 
 as the Shah of Mozambique, from whom he had heard, by 
 overland communication, of what had happened in his 
 island. During the night following a grand interchange of 
 civilities and of protestations, Da Gama was informed that 
 a sea-monster was devouring the cable. It turned out that 
 a number of Moors were endeavouring to cut it, that the 
 ship might be driven ashore. Anxious to quit this inhos- 
 pitable coast, the fleet profited by the first wind to continue 
 their course to the north. They captured a zambuco, or 
 pinnace, from w^hich they took seventeen Moors and a 
 considerable quantity of silver and gold. On the same day 
 they arrived oft' the town of Melinda, situated three degrees 
 only to the south of the equator. The chief of the cap- 
 tured zambuco offered to procure Da Gama a pilot to take 
 the fleet to Calicut, if he would permit him to go ashore. 
 He was landed upon a beach opposite the city. The chief 
 performed his promise, and induced the king to treat the 
 strangers with courtesy and respect. 
 
 During the interview which followed, the King of 
 Melinda remarked that he had never seen anv men who 
 pleased him so much as the Portuguese, a compliment 
 which Da Gama acknowledged by setting at lil)erty the 
 sixteen Moors of the captured pinnace. The king sent 
 
A CAPTURE a:SD RELEASE. 85 
 
 the promised pilot on his return ; he proved to be as 
 deeply skilled in the art of navigation as any of the pilots 
 of Europe. He was acquainted with the astrolabe, com- 
 pass, and quadrant. The fleet set sail from Melinda on the 
 24th of April. As they had now gone far enough towards 
 the north, and as India lay nearly east, they bade farewell 
 to the coast and struck into the open sea, or rather a wide 
 gulf of the Indian Ocean, seven hundred and fifty leagues 
 across. A few days after, having crossed the line, the crew 
 were delighted to behold again the stars and constellations 
 of the Northern hemisphere. The voyage was rapid and 
 fortunate ; for in twenty-three days they arrived off the 
 Malabar coast, and, after a day or two of southing, dis- 
 covered the lofty hilLs which overhang the city of Calicut. 
 Da Gama amply rewarded the pilot, released the malefac- 
 tors from their fetters, and summoned the crew to prayer. 
 The route by sea had been discovered from the Tagus to 
 the Ganges : Da Gama had laid out the way from Belem 
 to Golconda. 
 
 Some two hundred years before this time, the Malabar 
 coast of Hindostan was united under one single native 
 prince, named Perimal, whose capital was in the interior. 
 It was at this period that the Arabians discovered India. 
 Perimal embraced the Mohammedan religion, and resolved 
 to make a pilgrimage to Mecca and to finish his days there. 
 He intrusted the government to other hands, and embarked 
 for Arabia from the spot where Calicut now stands. The 
 Arabians were led by this circumstance to regard Calicut 
 with peculiar veneration, and by degrees abandoned the 
 former capital : it was thus that Calicut gradually became 
 the great spice and silk market of the East. 
 
 In the time of Vasco da Gama, India Proper, or Hin- 
 dostan, was divided into several independent kingdoms, such 
 as Moultan, Delhi, Bengal, Orissa, Guzarate or Cambaia, 
 Deccan, Canara, Bisnagar, and Malabar. The divisions of 
 Farther India were Ava, Brauia, Pegu, Siam, Cambodiii, 
 
8G THE MOORS OF ARABIA. 
 
 Cochin-Cliina, and Tonkin. The Portuguese fleet had 
 arrived upon the coast of Malabar, which is the edge of 
 south-western promontory of Hindostan. It was here, and 
 upon the western coast generally, that the Portuguese were 
 now enabled to plant establishments and to form treaties 
 of alliance and commerce. 
 
 The Moors of Ai-abia were alarmed at seeing Europeans 
 arrive by sea at the scene of a trade of which they had 
 hitherto held the exclusive monopoly. They succeeded in 
 throwing obstacles in the way of the Portuguese admiral, 
 and in poisoning the ear of the Indian zamorin, or king, 
 against him. They even laid a plot for the destruction of 
 the fleet and all on board, that no one might return to 
 Europe to tell of the new route to the Indies. The native 
 monarch w^as induced by them to testify dissatisfaction with 
 the presents Da Gama had brought, and to ask for the 
 golden statue of the Virgin that ornamented the admiral's 
 sliip, as a more suitable offering to one of his rank. Da 
 Gama replied that it was not a golden Virgin, but a wooden 
 one gilt ; that it had nevertheless preserved him from the 
 perils of tlie sea, and that he could not part with it. After 
 many proofs of the hostility of the Moors and the treachery 
 of the natives, Da Gama obtained from the zamorin the 
 following laconic epistle to his sovereign : — " Vasco da 
 Gama, a gentleman of thy house, has visited my country. 
 His arrival has given me pleasure. My land is full of 
 cinnamon, cloves, pepper, and precious stones. What I 
 desire to obtain in return from yours is gold, silver, coral, 
 and scarlet." With this missive Da Gama set sail upon his 
 return early in September. The zamorin sent sixty armed 
 barks to attack him, but a broadside or two and a favour- 
 able wind enabled him to make good his escape. Upon a 
 neighbouring island some of the crew discovered a large 
 forest of wild cinnamon, l^ot far from here, Da Gama 
 discovered the Angedive, or Five Islands, and in the vicinity 
 had a brush with Indian pirates. An elderly person, differ- 
 ing in appearance from the natives, came on board and 
 
A PRESENT TO KING EMMANUEL. 87 
 
 represented himself as an Italian Christian. He had come 
 from the Indians of the island of Goa, he said, to beg the 
 admiral to go thither and trade. This well-behaved old 
 gentleman proved to be a sort of Moorish buccaneer, and, 
 upon being put to the torture, confessed that he was a spy, 
 and that he had been sent to reconnoitre the fleet and 
 count their numbers. Da Gama retained him as a trophy 
 to present to King Emmanuel. He finally left the Indian 
 coast on the 1 5th of October. 
 
 When they were fairly out at sea, the pirate-prisoner 
 made a complete confession, and his evident sincerity quite 
 won Da Gama's heart. He gave him clothes and a supply 
 of money. The Moor repented of his evil ways and of his 
 pagan faith, and forthwith embraced Christianity. He was 
 baptized by the name of Gaspardo da Gama. 
 
 The voyage back to Melinda, across the gulf, was dis- 
 astrous in every sense. The weather was tempestuous and 
 hot. The scurvy carried off thirty men in the first week, 
 and consternation seized the officers and crew. After four 
 months' na\dgation, when hardly sixteen men able to work 
 were left on each vessel, they descried the African coast, 
 thirteen leagues above Melinda. Descending to the latter 
 city, they were received with joy by the king, who was 
 anxiously awaiting their return. They took on board an 
 ambassador sent by him to King Emmanuel. The San 
 Eafael was lost upon this coast, and the fleet thus reduced 
 to two vessels. Da Gama discovered the island of Zanzi- 
 bar, and received offers of service from the sovereign. He 
 doubled the Cape successfully on the 20th of March, and 
 anchored soon after at the Cape Verds. Here, during tlie 
 night, Nicolao Coelho, the captain of the caravel, slipped 
 away, and made all haste to Portugal, in order to be the first 
 to carry to Europe the intelligence of the grand discovery. 
 
 Da Gama now found that he could prosecute the voyage 
 no further in his disabled vessel, the San Gabriel, and 
 chartered a caravel in which to proceed to Lisbon. On the 
 way his brother Paulo died, and was buried at the is) and 
 
88 RETURN, AND CORDIxiL RECEPTION. 
 
 of Terceira. Vasco arrived at Belem in September 1499, 
 two years and two months after his departure. The king, 
 informed of his approach by the previous arrival of Coelho, 
 sent a magnificent cortege to conduct him to court. He 
 overwhelmed him with honours, wealth, and distinctions. 
 He himself took the title of Lord of the Conquest of 
 Ethiopia, Arabia, Persia, and the Indies. Coelho was 
 ennobled, and a pension of one thousand ducats secured to 
 him. Of the one hundred and sixty men who departed 
 upon this voyage, only fifty-five had returned, and all these 
 were munificently rewarded for their share in the brilliant 
 achievements of their commander. The king ordered a 
 series of public festivities, which were preceded by a solemn 
 service of thanksgiving to Heaven for the glory vouchsafed 
 to the Portuguese name and nation. 
 
 Emmanuel allowed not a week to pass before he directcfl 
 the necessary preparations to be made for fitting out another 
 and more powerful fleet, to follow in Da Gama's track and 
 attempt to colonize the Indies. He determined that Da 
 Gama should enjoy his dignities and renown in peace, 
 however, and intrusted the command to one Pedro Alvarez 
 Cabral, a gentleman of merit and distinction. The fleet 
 numbered thirteen vessels, manned by twelve hundred men, 
 among whom were eight Franciscans to convert the pagans, 
 and some thirty condemned malefactors to undertake com- 
 munications with the savages. Among the captains were 
 Bartholomew Diaz and his brother Diego. The specific 
 object of the expedition was to obtain permission from the 
 Zamorin of Calicut to establish a trading station there, the 
 Portuguese promising in retiu-n to furnish him the same 
 articles which the Moors furnished him, and on more ad- 
 vantageous terms. 
 
 The squadron set sail on the 9th of March 1500. It 
 will appear almost incredible that, in order to avoid the 
 calms known to prevail at that season off" the coast of 
 Guinea, they proceeded so far to the west that, late in 
 April, they touched at the c<mtment now known aa South 
 
LOSS OF FOUR VESSELS. 89 
 
 America, where, however, Yanez Pinzon had been before 
 them. Cabral gave to it the name of Land of the Holy 
 Cross ; but this, as well as the name given by Pinzon, Wiis 
 subsequently changed to that of Brazil, from a species of 
 dye-wood which grew in abundance there. The inhabitants 
 were friendly, and exchanged parrots of brilliant plumage 
 for bits of paper and cloth. Cabral put two of his criminals 
 ashore and left them, with instructions to in(iuire iiito the 
 history of the country and the customs of its inhabitants. 
 He also sent one of his vessels back to Lisbon with intelli- 
 gence of the discovery. 
 
 The fleet left Brazil on tlie 2d of May, steering to tlie 
 south-east, in order to double the Cape. A terrible comet 
 visible day and night, a storm which lasted three weeks, a 
 waterspout reaching to the clouds, — this latter being a 
 phenomenon which the Portuguese had never before seen, — 
 now menaced and harassed them in quick succession. Four 
 vessels were lost, and among them that of Bartholomew 
 Diaz, with all on board. The rest were severely injured ; 
 but Cabral was rejoiced to find that during the storm he 
 had weathered the redoubtable promontory. Encountering 
 some Moorish vessels laden with gold, he seized them, but 
 not until the crews had thrown a portion of the precious 
 metal into the sea. At ]\Iozambique he took a pilot for 
 the island of Quiloa, three hundred miles to the north, 
 whose sovereign was enriched by his gold trade with the 
 African port of Sofala. Here he attempted to enter into a 
 treaty of commerce ; but the prejudices entertained against 
 Christians prevented any concessions on the part of the 
 Moors. At Meliuda, Cabral landed two criminals and the 
 presents for the king sent out by Emmanuel. Obtaining 
 pUots for the Indian coast, he departed on the 7th of 
 August, and arrived at Calicut on the 1.3th of September. 
 
 From this point dates the fii'st European establishment 
 in the East Indies. Stimulated by considerations of in- 
 terest, the zamorin, after many delays, granted the admiral 
 an interview, in which the latter stated the ardent deaiie 
 
 M 
 
90 ATTACK BY THE MOORS. 
 
 of his master, the King of Portugal, to furnish the zamorin'a 
 subjects with all articles of European production or manu- 
 facture, taking in exchange the spices and jewels of the 
 East. A market or bazaar was at once opened, and the 
 cargoes of the ships being transferred to it, were rapidly- 
 converted into cinnamon, diamonds, and drugs. 
 
 The Moors now became seriously jealous of the activity, 
 power, and success of their rivals. They resorted to every 
 means to excite the hostility of the zamorin and his subjects 
 against them. They attacked and destroyed the Portuguese 
 market, plundering it of goods to the amount of four thou- 
 sand ducats. The inconstant zamorin offering neither apo- 
 logy nor restitution, Cabral determined on vengeance. He 
 boarded two large Moorish vessels, killed six hundred men, 
 and salted down three elephants for food. He then bom- 
 barded the town : palaces, temples, and storehouses crumbled 
 to dust beneath the thunders of the artillery. The zamorin 
 fled, and Cabral withdrew with his victorious fleet to Cochin, 
 a rich capital one hundred and fifty miles to the south of 
 Calicut, where pepper was abundant and the king was poor. 
 Trimumpara, the monarch, was informed of the summary 
 •vengeance wreaked by the fleet upon his brother of Calicut, 
 and at once offered the strangers hospitality and protection. 
 The admiral sent him a silver basin full of saffron, and a 
 silver vial filled with rose-water. Trade and barter rapidly- 
 loaded the ships with the fragrant commodities of the 
 country. A fleet of twenty-five sail now appeared in the 
 offing, and Trimumpara told Cabral that their object' was 
 to attack him, and that they were sent by the zamorin of 
 Calicut. Cabral having been separated from his most effi- 
 cient ship, determined not to venture a combat, and made 
 for the north, casting anchor before Cananor, a town a 
 little above Calicut. Here he found a commodious road- 
 stead, an independent prince, and a soil abounding in ginger, 
 cardamom-seeds, tamarinds, and cinnamon. Of the latter 
 article he took four hundred quintals. The king, judging 
 from the insignificance of this purchase that he was short 
 
DISCOVERY OP ST. HELENA. 91 
 
 of money, offered him a further supply upon credit. Cabral 
 expressed his sense of appreciation of this generosity, but 
 declined the proposition. The fleet now sailed homewards. 
 One of the vessels was lost upon the African coast, and, 
 taking fire, was destroyed with its contents. The six ships 
 remaining of the twelve which had left Brazil, arrived at 
 Lisbon on the 31st of July 1501. Cabral was received 
 with coldness by the king, partly on account of the loss of 
 ships and men he had met with, and partly on account of 
 his failure at Calicut, to which place he, the kiug, relying 
 on Cabral' s success, had sent out, three months previous to 
 his return, a fleet of four vessels under Juan de Nueva. 
 This expedition was singularly happy in its results, Nueva 
 lading his vessels to great advantage at Cananor, and 
 discovering the island of St. Helena upon his homeward 
 voyage. 
 
 It was now evident to the Portuguese, that without the 
 employment of force it would be impossible to obtain a 
 permanent foothold in the Indies. After listening to a 
 deliberation as to whether it were not best to abandon the 
 attempt altogether, Emmanuel ordered the equipment of a 
 grand fleet of twenty vessels, to be placed under the com- 
 mand of Vasco da Gama, who consented to resume active 
 life. It was to be divided into three portions : The first, 
 consisting of ten sail, under Da Gama, was to undertake the 
 subjugation of the refractory kings of Malabar ; the second, 
 of five sail, under Vincent Sodrez, was to guard the entrance 
 of the Red Sea into the Indian Ocean, and thus prevent the 
 Turks and Moors from trading with the ports of Africa and 
 Hiudostan ; and the third, of five vessels, under Stefano 
 da Gama, was to be detailed upon any service the admiral 
 might direct. They sailed early in 1502, and formed a 
 treaty of alliance and commerce with the King of Sofala, 
 without difficulty. Da Gama obtained from the King of 
 Quiloa an engagement to pay to the crown of Portugal an 
 annual tribute in gold fresh from the mine. Upon the 
 Indian coast, near Cananor, he fell in with an Egyptian 
 
92 THREE HUNDRED MEN AND WOMEN PERISH. 
 
 vessel of the largest size, laden with costly merchandise, 
 and crowded with Moors of high rank on their way to 
 Mecca. He attacked, plundered, and burned her. Three 
 hundred men and w^omen perished in the flames, in the sea, 
 or by the sword. Twenty children were saved and con- 
 veyed to the ship of Da Gama, who made a vow to educate 
 them as Christians, in atonement for the apostasy of one 
 Portuguese who had become a Mohammedan. After this 
 sanguinary lesson. Da Gama found no obstacles to the 
 establishment of a trading station at Cananor, where his 
 fleet landed a portion of their cargoes. He then sailed to 
 Calicut, determined to inflict summary vengeance upon the 
 faithless and treacherous zamorin. 
 
 Not far from the coast he seized a number of boats in 
 which were fifty Indians. He sent word to the zamorin, 
 that unless satisfaction were given for the late destruction 
 of the Portuguese bazaar before noon, he would attack the 
 city with fire and sword, and would begin with his fifty 
 prisoners. The time having expired, the unfortunate cap- 
 tives were hung simultaneously at the yard-arms of the 
 various vessels. The town w^as then reduced to ashes. A 
 squadron was left to sweep the Moorish vessels from the 
 seas, and Da Gama proceeded down the coast to Cochin, the 
 city of the friendly Trii;iumpara. Presents and compliments 
 were here exchanged, — the off'erings of the King of Portugal 
 being a golden crown, vases of embossed silver, a rich tent. 
 a piece of scarlet satin, and a bit of sandal- wood, while 
 those of his majesty of Cochin were a Moorish turban of 
 silver thread, two gold bracelets set with precious stones, 
 two large pieces of Bengal calico, and a stone said to be a 
 specific against poison, and taken from the head of an 
 animal called bulgodolph, a fabulous creature, declared by 
 some to be a serpent, and by others to be a quadruped. 
 
 An apology was now received from the zamorin, and Da 
 Gama returned to Calicut with only one vessel. Seeing 
 him thus single-handed,\the zamorin sent thirty-three armed 
 canoes against him, and, without the prompt assistance of 
 
SPIIEAD OF EUROPEAN COMMERCE. 93 
 
 Sodrez' cruizing squadron, Da Gama would inevitably have 
 I)erished. The zamorin now threatened Trimumpara with 
 liis vengeance if he continued to harbour the Portuguese 
 and to trade with Christian infidels. Da Gama promised 
 Trimumpara the assistance and alliance of the King of 
 Portugal, and set sail with well-laden vessels. He met the 
 zamorin's fleet of twenty-nine sail, and, having captured 
 two, put the rest to flight with great slaughter. In the 
 two that were taken he found an immense quantity of 
 porcelain and Chinese stuffs, together with an enormous 
 golden idol, with emeralds for eyes, a robe of beaten gold 
 for a vestment, and rubies for buttons. Leaving Sodrez 
 and his fleet to defend Cochin against Calicut, and to 
 exterminate the traders from Mecca, Da Gama returned 
 with tliii'teen vessels to Portugal. The king conferred 
 upon him the titles of Admiral of the Indian Ocean and 
 Count de Vidigueira. He again witlidrew to privacy, and 
 did not a second time emerge into public life till the year 
 1524, when the interests of the country under John in. 
 again reclaimed his services in the East. 
 
 Having narrated the incidents which led to the circum- 
 navigation of Africa, and described the several voyages 
 which introduced the Europeans into the East, by the new 
 route of the Indian Ocean and the Cape of Tempests, we 
 must briefly allude to the sequel — the spread of European 
 commerce among the islands and seaports of this highly 
 favoured region. Alphonzo and Francesco d' Albuquerque, 
 with a fleet of nine vessels, and Edoardo Pacheco, with 
 three vessels, carried terror and revenge to the Malabar 
 coast : forts were built to protect tlie Portuguese com- 
 merce, kings were forced to pay tribute, fleets were swept 
 from the seas ; and, as a proverb of the time expressed it, 
 pepper began to cost blood. Again the King of Portugal 
 sent out a formidable squadron — thirteen ships of the line, 
 the largest yet constructed, under Lopez Soarez. Sea- 
 battles now took place, in which tlie proportions of the 
 
94 THE TRADE OF THE EAST. 
 
 slain were one thousand infidels to seventy-five Portuguese 
 — in which a single European vessel contended successfully 
 with myriads of the native barks. The sacrifice of life 
 was truly awful ; but gradually the whole eastern coast of 
 Africa, and opposite to it, the whole western coast of India, 
 fell under Portuguese sway. 
 
 The entire commerce of this quarter of the world was 
 of course revolutionized by these discoveries and conquests. 
 Before this period the productions of the East had been 
 carried to Europe in the following manner : — The city of 
 Malacca, in the peninsula of the same name, was the cen- 
 tral market to which came the camphor of Borneo, the 
 cloves of the Moluccas, the nutmegs of Banda, the pepper 
 of Sumatra, the gums, drugs, and perfumes of China, 
 Japan, and Siam. These products were taken by water, 
 either in the clumsy boats of the natives or the more solid 
 vessels of the Moors, to the ports of the Red Sea, were 
 landed at Tor or at Suez, whence they were transported by 
 caravans to Cairo, and thence by the Nile to Alexandria, 
 where they were placed on board of vessels bound to all 
 ^he ports of Europe. Those intended for Armenia, Trebi- 
 zonde, Aleppo, Damascus, were taken by the Persian Gulf 
 to Bassorah, and thence distributed by caravans. The Ve- 
 netians and Genoese took their portion at Beyrout, in Syria. 
 The East Indians preferred the manufactures of Europe to 
 gold and silver, and consequently the trade was generally 
 in the form of barter and exchange. In addition to the 
 products of Farther India which we have mentioned, must 
 be added those of India Proper — the fabrics of Bengal, the 
 pearls of Orissa, the diamonds of Golconda, the cinnamon 
 of Ceylon, the pepper of Malabar. 
 
 Thus, not only thousands of labourers, sailors, conductors of 
 caravans, saw themselves suddenly deprived of their livelihood 
 by this diversion of the traffic into the hands of the Portu- 
 guese, but rich cities lost their revenues and princes lost their 
 tribute. While the Venetians resolved to appeal to arms, the 
 Sultan of Egypt addressed a protestation to Rome. But the 
 
DREADFUL SACEIFICE OF LIFE. 95 
 
 King of Portugal tranquillized the Pope by declaring his in- 
 tention of extending the jurisdiction of the apostolic faith, 
 and he prepared to resist violence by sending out, in 1507, 
 Don Francesco Almeida, with twenty-two ships and fifteen 
 hundred regular soldiers : he bestowed upon the new com- 
 mander the title of Viceroy of the Indies. Almeida de- 
 posed the King of Quiloa, and crowned another of his own 
 appointment ; he built a fort in twenty days, garrisoned it 
 with one hundred and fifty men, and left a brigantine and 
 a caravel to scour and protect the coast. He bombarded 
 Mombassa, killed fifteen hundred men and lost five. He 
 erected forts and established trading stations at Onor, Ca- 
 nanor, Surat, and Calicut, upon the Malabar coast. To 
 the important point of Sofala, upon the African coast, 
 Emmanuel sent a distinct expedition of six ships, under 
 Pedro da Nayha and Juan da Quiros, who compelled the 
 king to admit their nation to a share in the famous gold 
 mines which constituted his kingdom and his wealth. In 
 1508, Lorenzo, the son of Almeida, while chasing the flying 
 Moors with six men-of-w^ar, discovered the island of Ceylon, 
 to the south of Hindostan. Here he found the Moors and 
 natives loading vessels with elephants and cinnamon. 
 
 Again King Emmanuel, drawing upon resources whiiHi 
 seemed almost inexhaustible, sent out thirteen vessels, with 
 thirteen hundred men, under Tristan d'Acunha. This fleet 
 was driven to the coast of Brazil, and upon the way thence 
 to the Cape of Good Hope the commander discovered the 
 islands which now bear his name. He burned and pillaged 
 the town of Oja, near Melinda ; he reduced a neighbouring 
 shah to the payment of an annual tribute of six hundred 
 golden ducats. His soldiers would not give the captured 
 women of Brava time to remove their bracelets and ear- 
 rings, but in their ruthless haste cut ofl' their arms and ears. 
 
 It was now evident to the King of Portugal that his 
 rule in the East could not be consolidated and extended by 
 the same means which had obtained bim his first foothold 
 upon the coast — chuLce, intrepidity, and unscrupulous vio- 
 
96 . THE PORTUGUESE MARS. 
 
 lence. What was required was a carefully-conceived system 
 of goverDment, and a man capable of administering it. 
 Emmanuel's choice fell upon Alphonzo d' Albuquerque, 
 whose services in the East had already been meritorious, 
 and to whom, in 1509, he gave the title and power of 
 viceroy. Albuquerque, whose courage obtained for him the 
 name of the Portuguese Mars, ranks, by his talente, his 
 severe virtues, and his disinterested zeal, among the great 
 men whom the world has produced. He at once formed 
 the plan of founding an empire which should extend from 
 the Persian G-ulf to the peninsula of Malacca ; and deter- 
 mining to abandon Calicut, which had thus far been looked 
 upon as the best point for an arsenal, he selected the island 
 of Goa, a little to the north, captured it, and made its 
 admirable harbour a Portuguese roadstead and its town a 
 Portuguese capital. He built bazaars and citadels along 
 the coast from north to south, and then turned his eyes 
 towards Malacca — a magnificent country, ruled by a despot 
 and inhabited by slaves. As we have said, its principal 
 seaport was the central resort of the ships of China, Japan, 
 Bengal, the Philippines and the Moluccas, Coromandel, 
 Persia, Arabia, and Malabar. 
 
 The Portuguese had first visited Malacca two years pre- 
 viously, Emmanuel having sent one Siguiera to make a 
 treaty with the king. He had been perfidiously treated, 
 and Albuquerque now, in 1511, appeared before the city 
 to call the monarch to account. A long and obstinate 
 battle resulted in the defeat of the natives and the uncon- 
 ditional surrender of the peninsula. The kings of Siam, 
 Sumatra, and Pegu sent ambassadors to Albuquerque, 
 asking the honour of his friendship. He built a citadel 
 and returned to Cochin. But, as he left one spot to repair 
 to another, revolt was sure to follow ; and, as the Vene- 
 tians now joined the Moors to repel the Portuguese, he saw 
 that his dominion could not be complete till he controlled 
 the navigation of the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf. The 
 city of Aden, in Arabia, was the key to the Red Sea, com- 
 
A NEW COURSE FOR THE NILE. 97 
 
 irianding, as it did, the Straits of Babelmandeb ; and the 
 island of Ormuz was the key to the Persian Gulf. He 
 failed to take Aden, but he succeeded easily with Ormuz, 
 whose king acknowledged himself the vassal of Emmanuel. 
 Albuquerque then formed a gigantic plan in reference to the 
 Red Sea. Unable to command it by the capture of Aden, 
 he determined to ruin Suez, at the other extremity of the 
 sea, by forming an alliance with the King of Ethiopia, and 
 inducing that monarch to dig a new course for the Nile 
 and make it empty into the Red Sea instead of into the 
 Mediterranean, thus rendering Egypt uninhabitable and 
 Suez desert. The invasion of Egypt by the Turks, how- 
 ever, prevented the accomplishment of this undertaking. 
 Thus the people and kings of the East everywhere gave 
 way before the grand plans and deeds of Albuquerque, 
 whom they both feared for his energy and loved for his 
 justice. When, in 1515, he died at Goa, disgraced by his 
 king and worn out by a thankless sersdce, the heathen 
 monarchs wept over his grave, and for many years went in 
 pilgrimage to his tomb, asking his protection against the 
 cruelty or injustice of his successors. 
 
 The Portuguese, in little more than fifty years from the 
 first expedition of Vasco da Gama, had established an 
 empire in these seas of truly wonderful extent and power. 
 They held exclusive possession of the Malabar and Coro- 
 mandel coasts of India Proper, were masters of the Bay of 
 Bengal, ruled the peninsula of Malacca, and held tributary 
 the islands of Ceylon, Sumatra, Java, and the Moluccas. 
 To the westward, towards Africa, their authority extended 
 as far as the Persian boundary, and over all the islands of 
 the Persian Gulf. In Arabia, even, they had tributaries 
 and allies, and no Arabian prince dared confess himself 
 their enemy. They exercised an influence in the Red Sea : 
 and upon the eastern coast of Africa, they were the masters 
 of Quiloa, Sofala, Mozambique, and Melinda. 
 
 As Albuquerque had foreseen, Ormuz — from its fortunate 
 situation, as an emporium of trade, at the mouth of the 
 
 N ^ 
 
98 FALL OF A GREAT CITY. 
 
 Persian Gulf — became the most important of the Portu- 
 guese conquests. The island was by nature little mure 
 than a barren rock, and was entirely destitute of water. 
 Its wealth and splendour, however, during the period of its 
 commercial supremacy, gave the world an example of the 
 power of trade which had never yet been witnessed. The 
 trading season lasted from January to March and from 
 August to November ; during these months, the houses 
 fronting on the streets were opened like shops, and de- 
 corated with piles of porcelain and Indian curiosities, and 
 perfumed with fragrant dwarf shrubs set in gilded vases. 
 Camels laden with skins of water stood at the corners of 
 the streets. The richest wines of Persia and the most 
 costly odours of Asia were offered in profusion to those 
 who visited the city to trade. Thick awnings stretched 
 from roof to roof across the promenades, excluding the rays 
 of the sun. The luxury and magnificence of the place 
 seemed to flow rather from the lavish extravagance of an 
 idle prince than from the legitimate pomp of a stirring and 
 active commercial population. 
 
 In 1580 Portugal was conquered and annexed to Spain, 
 and the Portuguese Empire in the East at once declined, 
 and the Dutch Empire sprang up upon its ruins. Ormuz 
 was plundered by the Persians and English united in 1662 : 
 the very stones of which its edifices were built were carried 
 away as ballast, and it speedily sank back into its primitive 
 state — a barren and desolate rock. Hardly a vestige of 
 the proud city now remains to vindicate history in its 
 record that here once stood one of the most famous em- 
 poriums of commerce and most frequented resorts of man. 
 
CHAPTER VI. 
 
 DISCOVERIES OF THE SPANTAEDS IN THE WEST PONCE DF 
 
 LEON VASCO NUNEZ BE BALBOA JUAN DIAZ DE SOUS 
 
 FEEDINAND MAGELLAN. 
 
 "We now return, in due cbronological progression, to the 
 discoveries of the Spaniards in the West. "VVe have not 
 space to describe, or even to mention, all the successive 
 expeditions made to various points of the great American 
 Continent : we select, therefore, only the more important 
 and interesting episodes among the Spanish maritime 
 achievements. Three heroes will occupy our attention 
 from lolO to 1514 — Ponce de Leon, Vasco Nufiez de 
 Balboa, and Juan Diaz de Solis. 
 
 Juan Ponce, surnamed De Leon, from his native pro- 
 vince, was one of the Spanish captains who emigrated to 
 Hispaniola shortly after its discovery by Columbus. After 
 an active and prosperous career he found himself, in 1510, 
 by the withdrawal of the king's favour, without place or 
 occupation. He was, however, rich, and resolved to at- 
 tempt to regain his credit by means of discoveries. He was 
 avaricious, too, and would vrillingly have augmented his 
 already large possessions. He had heard, from the Indians 
 of Cuba, of the existence, to the north of Hispaniola, of an 
 island named Bimini, where, they asserted, was a spring 
 whose waters had the virtue of restoring youth to the 
 aged, and vigour to the decrepit. Ponce thought that if 
 he could discover and seize this fountain, it would be an 
 inexhaustible source of revenue to him, as he could levy a 
 tax upon all who derived benefit from its influence. He 
 determined to set out in search of it, and fitted out two 
 99 
 
100 CAPE FLORIDA, 
 
 stout ships at his own expense. "With these he left St. 
 Genevieve, in Porto Rico, on the 1st of March 1512, and 
 steered boldly through the intricate group of the Lucayos. 
 Wherever he stopped he drank of all the running streams 
 and standing pools, whether their waters were fresh or 
 stagnant, that he might not miss the famous spring. He 
 inquired of all the natives he met where he could find the 
 wondrous Fountain of Youth. 
 
 At last he discovered a laud till then unknown to Euro- 
 peans. Early in April, and in Easter-week, he touched 
 what he supposed was an island, but what in reality was a 
 portion of the continent. As the landscape was covered 
 with flowers, he named the spot " Florida." He had 
 several severe fights with the Indians, one of whom he 
 made prisoner, that he might learn Spanish and give him 
 information concerning the country. He now sailed to the 
 south, and doubled Cape Florida on the 8th of May, which, 
 on account of the currents, he named Cabo de las Corri- 
 entes. On the 1 5th he sailed along a line of small islands 
 as far as two white ones, and called the whole group Los 
 Martyros, or The Martyrs, from the high rocks at a dis- 
 tance, which had the appearance of men undergoing cruci- 
 fixion. The name was singularly applicable, for the large 
 number of seamen who have since been wrecked upon these 
 islands has made them iu reality a place of martyrdom. 
 He discovered another group to the south-west, which he 
 called the Tortugas, as his men took one hundred and 
 seventy tortoises upon one of them in a short time, and 
 might have had more if they would. Ponce de Leon con- 
 tinued ranging about here till September, when he returned 
 to Porto Rico, sending one of his ships to Bimini — the 
 smallest of the Bahamas — to see if he could discover the 
 spring. The vessel went and returned, the captain, Perez 
 de Ortubia, reporting that the island was pleasantly diver- 
 sified with hills, groves, and rivers, but that none of the 
 latter possessed any unusual charm. 
 
 One great advantage which resulted from the voyage of 
 
AN ADVENTURER TN A CASK. 101 
 
 Ponce de Leon was the discovery by his second captain, 
 Ortubia, of the passage now known as the Bahama Chan- 
 nel, by which ships bound from Havana to Spain pass 
 out into the Atlantic Ocean. This new passage became 
 the universal track even during Ponce de Leon's life. 
 Upon his return to court he was well rewarded for his 
 discoveries both by land and sea, but his gathering years 
 caused him often to regi-et that he had missed the Foun- 
 tain of Youth. 
 
 We have now to relate the manner in which the Pacific 
 Ocean, which had rolled for centuries in its accustomed 
 bed, unknown to Europeans, was first seen by continental 
 eyes. The islands discovered by Columbus were still under 
 the exclusive dominion of the Spaniards ; Hispaniola was 
 the central point of their operations of discoveiy and con- 
 quest. Settled here, upon a farm, was a man, still in the 
 prime of life, named Vasco Nunez de Balboa. He was a 
 native of Xeres, in Spain, and had eagerly enlisted in the 
 late voyages of adventure. He was known to be a mere 
 soldier of fortune, and of loose, prodigal habits, and is 
 described as an " egregius digladiator," or adroit swords- 
 man. His farm had involved him in debt ; and to escape 
 his embarrassments and elude his creditors, he caused him- 
 self, in 1511, to be nailed up in a cask, to be labelled 
 <* victuals for the voyage," and to be conveyed on board a 
 ship starting upon an expedition to the mainland. When 
 the vessel was out of sight of the shore, he emerged from 
 the cask, and appeared before the surprised captain, Her- 
 nandez de Enciso. Being tall and muscular, evidently 
 inured to hardships and of intrepid disposition, he found 
 favour with the captain, especially when he told him that 
 a venerable priest had asserted " that God reserved him 
 for great things." 
 
 In the course of two years Balboa had acquired autho- 
 rity over a tract of the Isthmus of Darien, and had married 
 the young and beautiful daughter of the Cacique of Coyba. 
 After a victory obtained over one of the neighbouring 
 
102 A GOLDEN PROSPECT. 
 
 monarchs, from whom four thousand ounces of gold and a 
 quantity of golden utensils had been extorted, Balboa 
 ordered one-fifth to be set apart for himself and the rest to 
 be shared among his followers. While the Spaniards were 
 dividing it by weight, a dispute arose respecting the fair- 
 ness of the award, when the Indian who had given the 
 gold spoke to the disputants as follows : — 
 
 " Why should you quarrel for such a trifle 1 If gold is 
 to you so precious that you abandon your homes for it, and 
 invade the peaceful lauds of others, I will tell you of a 
 region where you may gratify your wishes to the utmost. 
 Beyond those lofty mountains lies a mighty sea, w^hich 
 from their summits may be easily discerned. It is navi- 
 gated by people who have vessels almost as la;rge as yours, 
 and, like them, furnished with sails and oars. All the 
 streams which flow from these mountains into the sea 
 abound in gold : the kings who reign upon its borders eat 
 and drink out of golden vessels. Gold, in fact, is as com- 
 mon there as iron among you Spaniards." 
 
 Fired by this discourse, Balboa inquired whether it 
 would be difficult to penetrate to this sea and its golden 
 shores. " The task," the prince replied, " is arduous and 
 dangerous. Powerful caciques will oppose you with their 
 warriors ; fierce cannibals will attack you, and devour those 
 whom they kill. To accomplish your enterprise you will 
 require at least a thousand men, armed like those you have 
 with you now." To prove his sincerity, the prince offered 
 to accompany Balboa upon the expedition at the head of 
 ais warriors. This was the first intimation received by a 
 European of the splendid expanse of water which was so 
 ioon to receive the name of Pacific. It exerted an imme- 
 diate and radical change upon the character and conduct of 
 Balboa. The soldier of fortune became animated by an 
 honourable and controlling ambition ; the restless and reck- 
 less desperado saw before him a glorious path to immor- 
 tality. He baptized the prince who had given him infor- 
 mation so priceless, and proceeded to Darien to obtain the 
 
VALUABLE BLOODHODNDS. 103 
 
 means of accomplishing his scheme. For a long time lie 
 ■was baffled. A terrific tempest laid waste the fields and 
 devastated the harvests. He sent to Hispaniola for men 
 and provisions ; but the emissary was wrecked upon the 
 coast of Jamaica. He wrote to Don Diego Columbus, who 
 governed at San Domingo, informing him of the existence 
 of a new ocean, bordered with shores of gold, and asking 
 for a thousand men with whom to prosecute its discovery. 
 He forwarded the sum of fifteen thousand crowns in gold, 
 to be transmitted to the king as his royal fifths. Many of 
 his followers, too, sent sums intended for their creditors 
 in Spain. 
 
 While waiting for a reply, Balboa learned indirectly that 
 he had fallen into disfavour with the king. One brilliant 
 achievement might restore him to consideration and for ever 
 fix him in the good graces of the monarch. He chose one 
 hundi'ed and ninety of the most vigorous and resolute of his 
 men, and took with him a number of bloodhounds. His 
 own peculiar body-guard was a dog named Leoncico. Leon- 
 cico was covered with scars received in his innumerable 
 fights with the natives. Balboa often lent him to others, 
 and received for his sendees the same share of booty an 
 able-bodied man would have claimed. Leoncico had earned 
 for his master in this way several thousands of dollars. 
 
 On the 1st of September 1513, Balboa embarked with 
 his followers in a light brigantine and nine canoes, and 
 ascended a stream which was navigable as far as Coyba. 
 Here he received accessions of men, and having sent back 
 those who were ill or disabled, prepared to penetrate the 
 wilderness on foot. In a battle with a cacique named 
 Quaragua, he slew six hundred of the natives. Some were 
 transfixed with lances, others hewn down with swords, and 
 others torn to pieces by the bloodhounds. He advanced 
 hardly seven miles a day, but at last reached a village lying 
 at the foot of the mountain that commanded the Ljug 
 wished-for prospect. Only sixty-seven men out of two 
 hundred remauied to make this last gi'and eiiurt. Balboa 
 
104 FIRST VIEW OF THE PACIFIC. 
 
 ordered them to retire early to repose, that they might be 
 ready at the cool hour of dawn. They set forth at day- 
 break on the morning of the 26 th of September. In a 
 short time they emerged from the forests, and arrived at 
 the upper regions of the mountain, leaving the bald simimit 
 still to be ascended. Balboa ordered them to halt, that he 
 might himself be alone to enjoy the scene and the first to 
 discover the ocean. He reached the peak, and there the 
 magnificent sight burst upon his view. The water was 
 still at the distance of two days' journey ; but there it lay, 
 beyond the intervening space, grand, boundless, and serene. 
 He fell upon his knees and returned thanks to God. He 
 summoned his followers to ascend, and thus addressed 
 them : — " Behold, my friends," he said, " the glorious 
 sight which we have so ardently longed for ! Let us pray 
 to God that he will . aid and guide us to conquer the sea 
 and land which we have discovered, and in which no Chi-is- 
 tian has ever entered to preach the holy doctrine of the 
 Evangelists. By the favour of Christ you will thus become 
 the richest Spaniards that have ever come to the Indies." 
 The priest attached to the expedition chanted that impres- 
 sive anthem, the Te Deum ; and the Spaniards, in whom 
 religious fervour and the thirst for pillage seemed to be 
 mingled in equal proportions, joined in the chorus with 
 heart and voice. 
 
 Balboa now called upon all present to witness that he 
 took possession of the sea, its islands and surrounding lands, 
 in the name of the sovereigns of Castile ; and the notary of 
 the expedition made a record to that effect, to which all 
 present, to the number of sixty-seven men, signed their 
 names. Balboa then caused a tall tree to be cut down and 
 fashioned into the form of a cross : this he erected on the 
 spot whence he had first beheld the ocean. A mound of 
 stone was likewise piled up as a monument, and the names 
 of Ferdinand and Juana were carved upon the neighbouring 
 trees. 
 
 A scouting party under Alonzo Martin, sent by Balboa to 
 
BALBOA TAKING POSSESSION OF THE PACIFIC. 
 
 " 1. 01 K live the high and iiiigVity moiiiirchs Don Ftriliiiand ami Donna Juana, sovereigns of Castile, I.con, 
 ami Aragon, in whose name I take real ami actual ami corpoi-eal possess'on of these seas, ami lamls, ami cuasls, 
 ami ports, ami islands of tho Soiitli, ami all thereunto annexed. . . . I am ready to defend th m both now and in 
 
TAKING rOSSESSIOU OF THE PACIFIC. 105 
 
 discover the best route to the sea, came, after two days* 
 journey, to a beach, upon which were two canoes, stranded, 
 as it were, and apparently out of the reach of water. But 
 the tide soon came rushing in and floated them ; upon which 
 Alonzo Martin stepped into one of them, and was thus the 
 first European who embarked upon the ocean which Balboa 
 had discovered and which Magellan was to name. Balboa 
 soon arrived upon the coast ; the tide had ebbed, and the 
 water was nearly two miles distant. But it soon returned, 
 invading the place where the Spaniards were seated. Upon 
 this Balboa arose, and, taking a banner representing the 
 Virgin and Child and bearing the arms of Castile and Leon, 
 marched knee-deep into the water, and, waving the flag, 
 pronoimced the following act of taking possession : 
 
 " Long live the high and mighty monarchs Don Ferdinand 
 and Donna Juana, sovereigns of Castile, Leon, and Aragon, 
 in whose name I take real and actual and corporeal posses- 
 sion of these seas, and lands, and coasts, and ports, and 
 islands of the South, and all thereunto annexed ; and of the 
 kingdoms and provinces which do or may appertain to them 
 in whatever manner or by whatever right or title, ancient 
 or modern, in times past, present, or to come, without any 
 contradiction ; and if other prince or captain. Christian or 
 infidel, or if any law, condition, or sect whatsoever, shall 
 pretend any right to these lauds and seas, I am ready to 
 maintain and defend them in the name of the Castiliau 
 sovereigns, whose is the empire and dominion over these 
 Indies, islands and terra firma. Northern and Southern, with 
 all their seas, both at the Arctic and Antarctic poles, on either 
 side of the equinoctial line, whether within or without the 
 tropics of Cancer and Capricorn, both now and in all time, 
 as long as the world endure, and until the final day of 
 judgment of all mankind." 
 
 As may be supposed, no one appeared to dispute these 
 formidable pretensions, and no champion entered the lists 
 in behalf of the original owners of the seas, islands, and 
 surrounding lands in question ; so that Balboa called upon 
 
 u 
 
l06 BALBOA BEHEADED. 
 
 his companions to bear witness that he had duly and imin- 
 termptedly taken possession. The notary drew up the ne- 
 cessary legal document, which was signed by all present. 
 Then they all tasted the water, which, from its saltness, 
 they felt assured was the ocean. Balboa carved a cross on 
 a tree whose roots were below high-water mark, and, lopping 
 off a branch with his sword, bore it away as a trophy. 
 
 Balboa now wished to perform a voyage upon the bosom 
 of the new-found ocean. In spite of the advice of friendly 
 Indians, who represented the season as stormy, he embarked 
 with sixty of his men in nine canoes. A tempest compelled 
 them to seek refuge upon an island. In the night the tide 
 completely submerged it, and rose to the girdles of the 
 Spaniards. Their canoes were broken to pieces, and at low 
 tide they managed with great difficulty to effect their escape 
 to the mainland. After numerous forays against the ca- 
 ciques ruling the neighbouring tribes, Balboa arrived at the 
 Darien River, on the 19th of January 1514, after having 
 accomplished one of the most remarkable feats on record, 
 and after an expedition which must ever be memorable 
 among deeds of intrepidity and adventure. 
 
 The king created him Adelantado of the South Sea, and 
 Governor of Panama and Coyba, but subject to Pedrarias, 
 the Governor of Darien. The latter regarded him as his 
 rival, and, by a successful series of treacherous arts, brought 
 against him a well-contrived charge of treason to the king. 
 He was reluctantly found guilty by the alcalde, and by Ped- 
 rarias condemned to be beheaded, as a traitor and usurper 
 of the territories of the crown. The execution took place 
 in the public square of a small town near Darien, and was 
 witnessed by Pedrarias from between the reeds of the wall 
 of a house some twelve paces from the scaffold. Balboa 
 and four of his officers were beheaded in quick succession 
 during the brief t"\vilight of a tropical evening. Pedi'arias 
 confiscated Balboa's property, and ordered his head to be 
 iiiil)aledupon a pole and exposed upon the public square till 
 dccuiupositiou should ensue. 
 
DEVOIJEED BY CANNIBALS. 107 
 
 Thus perished, at the age of forty-two years, — the victim 
 of the meanest envy and the most odious treachery, — a man 
 who will be ever remembered as one of the most iUustrious 
 of the early discoverers. Events transformed him from a 
 rash and turbulent adventurer into a discreet and patriotic 
 captain ; and from the moment when he felt that he had 
 drawn the attention of the world upon him, his conduct 
 was that of a man born and predestined to greatness. He 
 foil in the zenith of his glory, a worthy cotemporary of Co- 
 lumbus, Da Gama, and Magellan. 
 
 Juan Diaz de Solis, who, with Yanez Pinzon, Amerigo 
 Vespucci, and Juan de la Cosa, the pilot of Columbus, was 
 a member of the Spanish council appointed to deliberate 
 upon discoveries yet to be made, sailed to South America in 
 1514, and, doubling Capes St. Eoque, St. Augustin, and 
 Frio, entered the bay upon which now stands the city of Rio 
 Janeiro, and was probably the first European to set foot 
 upon the coast thus far to the south. He supposed the bay 
 to be the mouth of a passage through to the South Sea so 
 lately discovered by Balboa. He proceeded to the south, 
 ascertaining the position of every headland and indentation 
 with all the precision the instmments and science of the time 
 would permit. At last he found a great opening of the sea 
 towards the west : he took possession of the northern coast 
 for the King of Spain, and named the gulf Fresh-Water Sea. 
 Subsequently, finding that it was a river, and that silver 
 mines existed there, he named the stream Rio de la Plata. 
 The Indians called it Paraguaza. He found tlie country 
 fertile and attractive, and abundance of the wood which had 
 given to the whole region the name of Brazil. He went on 
 shore with a small party, but soon fell into an ambuscade 
 laid for them by the natives. Solis and five of his com- 
 panions were taken, killed, roasted, and devoured by the 
 horrible cannibals who inhabited the country. The Spaniards 
 who remained on board the ships witnessed the shocking 
 catastrophe, which so appalled and horrified them that they 
 fled in dismay and sailed hastily back to Spain. 
 
108 DIVISION OF SPOIL. 
 
 The Pope of Rome, whose authority was at this period 
 supreme among the princes who were in communion with 
 the Church, now thought proper to anticipate a possible 
 collision between Spain and Portugal, the two monopolists 
 of commerce and discovery. He declared by a bull, or 
 papal decree, that all new countries which should be there- 
 after discovered to the east of the Azores were to belong to 
 the crown of Portugal, while all that were discovered to the 
 west should be the property of Spain. Thus, a potentate 
 who claimed to be infallible issued a decree based upon the 
 pontifical conviction that the world was flat, even after the 
 very solid arguments to the contrary of Columbus and Da 
 Gama. His Holiness, in his wisdom, imagined that one 
 nation might sail to the right, the other to the left, and go 
 on for ever : he did not foresee, what was now almost pal- 
 pable to every eye but that of Roman infallibility, that the 
 Spaniards and the Portuguese would at last meet at the an- 
 tipodes. There, in time, they did meet, and the very pretty 
 dispute which arose in consequence we shall narrate in the 
 sequel. But a more immediate effect of the decree was 
 this : — A Spaniard, if he felt himself neglected or maltreated 
 by his own sovereign, would offer his services to the Por- 
 tuguese king, confident of employment at his hands, as the 
 latter woidd thus weaken Spain and profit by discoveries 
 made by her subjects. A Portuguese, if similarly aggrieved, 
 would in the same way desert to the Spanish king and 
 accept service from the Spanish crown. 
 
 It so happened that one Femao Magalhaens, known in 
 English as Ferdinand Magellan, a Portuguese by birth, and 
 who had served with distinction in the East Indies under 
 Albuquerque, addressed himself to the court of Lisbon for 
 the recompense which was his due. His application was 
 treated with disdain. He forthwith withdrew to Spain 
 with a learned man who had been similarly neglected, one 
 Ruy Falero, an astronomer, whom the Portuguese regarded 
 as a conjurer and charlatan. Magellan made overtures for 
 iicvv discoveries to Cardinal Ximenes, then prime-minisTjer 
 
IS THE WORLD ROUND OR FlJ^T ? 109 
 
 of Spain, and in reality its ruler during the absence of 
 Charles v. The Portuguese ambassador sought by every 
 means in his power to baffle his designs, and demanded of 
 the court that he and Falero should be given up as deser- 
 ters. He even offered Magellan a reward if he would desist 
 from his purpose, or, at least, execute it in the service of 
 Portugal. But the cardinal listened with favour to the plan 
 presented by Magellan, which was briefly as follows : — 
 
 Columbus, who started upon his voyage to the west in 
 order to reach the East Indies by a western route, had 
 failed in his object, discovering instead, an intermediate 
 continent. Magellan now proposed to seek the Portuguese 
 Moluccas, or Spice Islands, by sailing, if possible, from the 
 Atlantic Ocean into the South Sea, discovered by Balboa 
 five years before. His idea was to attempt to find a pas- 
 sage through the mainland of South America by the Rio de 
 la Plata, or some other channel opening upon its eastern 
 coast. Should this succeed, Spain would possess the East 
 Indies as well as the West ; since, if the Moluccas were dis- 
 covered by way of the west, even though situated to the 
 east, they would fall expressly within the allotment made by 
 the late papal buU. Magellan thought the world was 
 round, in defiance of the pontifical declaration that it was 
 flat. 
 
 In accordance with this proposal, the Spanish crown 
 agreed to equip a fleet of five vessels, and to give the com- 
 mand of it to Magellan. It was furthermore agi'eed that 
 he should have a twentieth part of the clear profit of the 
 expedition, and that the government of any islands he might 
 discover should be vested in him and his heirs for ever, with 
 the title of Adelantado. The five vessels were accordingly 
 fitted out at Seville, Magellan's flag-ship being named the 
 Trinidada. They were manned by two hundred and thirty- 
 seven men, tliirty of whom were able-bodied Portuguese 
 seamen, upon whom Magellan principally relied. The astro- 
 nomer Falero declined accompanying him, having, in his 
 fastrological calculations, foreseen that the voyage woidd be 
 
110 LEGEND OF TENERIFFF^ 
 
 fatal to him. A certain San Martino, of Seville, who went 
 in his stead, was, as will be seen, assassinated in his place 
 at the island of Zubii. An Italian gentleman, named Piga- 
 fetta, was permitted by the cardinal to form part of Mar 
 gellan's suite. He afterwards became the historian of the 
 voyage. 
 
 The fleet set sail from Seville on the 10 th of August 
 1519, its departure being announced by a discharge of 
 artillery. Seville is nearly one hundred miles from the sea, 
 by the river Guadalquivir, the seaport of which is San 
 Lucar, whence they finally departed on the 20th of Septem- 
 ber. It would be difficult to imagine circumstances more 
 inauspicious than those under which Magellan left the shores 
 of Europe. The course he was to follow was unexplored : 
 so rash was the attempt considered, that he dared not com- 
 municate to his men the real object of the expedition. The 
 season was already advanced, and he would in all probabi- 
 lity arrive in high southern latitudes at the coldest period 
 of the year. To the perils naturally incident to such a 
 voyage was to be added the unfortunate fact that the com- 
 manders of the other four ships were Spaniards, and conse- 
 quently inimical to Magellan, who, though in the service of 
 Spain, was of Portuguese birth. 
 
 In six days the squadron reached Teneriffe ; of this island 
 Pigafetta relates several curious legends current at that time. 
 It never rained there, he says, and there was neither river 
 nor spring in the island. The leaves of a tree, however, 
 which was constantly surrounded by a thick mist, distilled 
 excellent water, which was collected in a pit at its foot, 
 whither the inhabitants and wild beasts repaired to quench 
 their thirst. Early in October the fleet passed between 
 Cape Verd and its islands, and coasted along the shores of 
 Guinea and Sierra Leone. Here they met with contrary 
 winds, sharks, and dead calms. One dark night, during a 
 violent tempest, the St. Elmo fire blazed for two hours upon 
 their topmast. This, which is now known to be an effect 
 of electricity, which the ancient idolaters believed to be 
 
TRADING WITH THE NATITTIS. 1 I 1 
 
 Castor and Pollux, which Catholics in Magellan's time re- 
 garded as a saint, and which EngHsh sailors call Davy Jones, 
 was a great consolation to the Portuguese during the storm. 
 At the moment when it disappeared it diffused a light so 
 resplendent that Pigafetta was almost blinded and gave 
 himself up for lost ; but, he adds, " the wind ceased mo- 
 mentaneously." 
 
 Passing the equinoctial line and losing sight of the polar 
 star, Magellan steered south-south-west, and in the middle 
 of December struck the coast of Brazil. His men made 
 excellent bargains with the natives. For a small comb they 
 obtained two geese ; for a piece of glass, as much fish as 
 would feed ten men ; for a ribbon, a basket of potatoes, — ■ 
 a root then so little known that Pigafetta describes it as 
 resembling a turnip in appearance and a roasted chestnut in 
 taste. A pack of playing-cards was a fortune, for a sailor 
 bought six fat chickens with the king of spades. The fleet 
 remained thirteen days at anchor, and then pursued its way 
 to the southward along the territory of the cannibals who 
 had lately devoured De Solis. Stopping at an island in the 
 mouth of a river sixty miles wide, they caught in one hour 
 penguins sufficient for the whole five ships. Magellan an- 
 chored for the winter in a harbour found in south latitude 
 49", and called by him Port Julian. Two months elapsed 
 before the country was discovered to be inhabited. At last 
 a man of gigantic figure presented himself upon the shore, 
 capering in the sands in a state of utter nudity, and violently 
 casting dust upon his head. A sailor was sent ashore to 
 make similar gestures, and the giant was thus easily led to 
 the spot where Magellan had landed. The latter gave him 
 cooked food to eat, and presented him incidentally with a 
 large steel mirror. The savage now saw his likeness for the 
 first time, and started back in such fright that he knocked 
 over four men. He and several of his companions, both 
 men and women, subsequently went on board the ships, and 
 constantly indicated by their gestures that they supposed 
 the strangers to have descended from heaven. One of the 
 
112 SURGERY IN PATAGONIA. 
 
 savages became quite a favourite : lie was taught to pro* 
 uounce the name of Jesus and to repeat the Lord's prayer, 
 and was even baptized by the name of John by the chap- 
 lain. This profession of Christianity did the poor pagan no 
 good, for he soon disappeared, — murdered, doubtless, by his 
 people, in consequence of his attachment to the foreigners. 
 
 The whole description given by Pigafetta of these 
 savages, whom Magellan called Patagonians — from words 
 indicating the resemblance of their feet, when shod with 
 the skin of the lama, to the feet of a bear — is now known 
 to be much exaggerated. It is certain that they were by 
 no means so gigantic as he represented them. He adds, 
 that they drank half a pail of water at a draught, fed upon 
 raw meat, and swallowed mice alive ; that when they were 
 sick and needed bleeding, they gave a good chop with some 
 edged tool to the part affected ; when they wished to vomit 
 they thrust an arrow half a yard down their throat. The 
 headache was cured by a gash in the forehead. 
 
 A fearful tragedy was enacted in Port Julian. The four 
 Spanish captains conspired to murder Magellan. The plot 
 was discovered and the ringleaders were brought to trial. 
 Two were hung, another was stabbed to the heart, while a 
 number of their accomplices were left among the Patagonians. 
 Magellan quitted Port Julian in August 1520, having 
 planted a cross on a neighbouring mountain, and taken 
 solemn possession of the country in the name of the King 
 of Spain. On the 1 4th September, he discovered a fresh- 
 water river, which he named Santa Cruz, in honour of the 
 anniversary of the exaltation of the cross. Here the crew, 
 by Magellan's order, made confession and received the holy 
 communion. 
 
 On the 21st of October, Magellan made the great dis- 
 covery which has immortalized his name. He reached a 
 strait communicating between the Atlantic Ocean and the 
 South Sea : consulting the calendar for a name, he called it, 
 in honour of the day, the Strait of the Eleven Thousand 
 Virgins. It is now Magellan's Strait. It was enclosed 
 
A PATAGONIAN GIANT. 113 
 
 between lofty mountains covered with snow ; the water 
 was so deep that it afforded no anchorage. The crew were 
 so fuUy persuaded that it possessed no western outlet, that, 
 had it not been for Magellan's confidence and persistence, 
 they would never have ventured to explore it. The strait 
 was found to vary in breadth from one mile to ten, and to 
 be four hundred and forty miles in length. During the 
 first night spent in the Strait, the Santa Antonio, piloted 
 by one Emmanuel Gomez, who hated Magellan, found her 
 way back into the Atlantic, and returned at once to Spain. 
 The pilot's object was principally to be the first to tell the 
 news of the discovery, and to carry to Europe a specimen of 
 a Patagonian giant, one of whom he had on board of his 
 vessel. On his way he stopped at Port Julian, and took 
 up two of the conspirators who had been abandoned there. 
 The Patagonian was unable to bear the change of the 
 climate, and died of the heat on crossing the line. 
 
 One of Magellan's remaining four vessels was sent on in 
 advance of the others to recomioitre a cape which seemed 
 to terminate the channel. The vessel returned, announcing 
 that the strait indeed terminated at this cape, and that be- 
 yond lay the open sea. " We wept for joy," says Piga- 
 fetta. " The cape was denominated Cabo Deseado — Wished- 
 for Cape — for in good truth we had long wished to see it." 
 The sight gave Magellan the most unbounded joy, for he 
 was now able practically to demonstrate the truth of the 
 theory he had advanced — that it was possible to sail to the 
 East Indies by way of the west. He now named the fa- 
 mous strait the Strait of the Patagonians, but a sense of 
 justice induced the Europeans to change its name, and to 
 call it the Strait of Magellan. At every mile or two he 
 found a safe harbour with excellent water, cedar-wood, sar- 
 dines, and shell-fish, together with an abundance of sweet 
 celery — a specific against the scurvy. 
 
 On the 28th of November, the squadron, reduced to three 
 ships by the loss of the Santiago, left the strait, and launched 
 into the Great South Sea, t{) which, from the steady and 
 
 p 
 
1 1 4 SUFFERINGS OF THE CREW. 
 
 gentle winds that propelled them over waters almost 
 unruffled, Magellan gave the name of Pacific — a name 
 which it has ever since retained. They sailed on and on 
 during the space of three months and twenty days, seeing 
 no laud with the exception of two sterile and deserted islands 
 which they named the Unfortunate. During all this time 
 they tasted no fresh provisions. Their biscuit was little 
 better than dust, and smelled intolerably, being impregnated 
 with the effluvia of mice. The water was putrid and offen- 
 sive. The crew were so far reduced that they were glad to 
 eat leather, which they wer€ obliged to soak for four or five 
 days in the sea m order to render it sufficiently supple to 
 be broiled, chewed, and digested. Others lived on sawdust, 
 while mice were sought after with such avidity that they 
 were sold for half a ducat apiece. 
 
 Scurvy now began to make its appearance, and nine- 
 teen of the sailors died of it. The gums of many were 
 swollen over their teeth, so that, unable to masticate their 
 leathern viands, they perished miserably of starvation. 
 Those who remained alive %ecame weak, low-spirited, and 
 helpless. The Patagonian taken on board the Trinidada at 
 Port Julian was attacked by the disease. Pigafetta, seeing 
 that he could not recover, showed him the cross, and reve- 
 rently kissed it. The Patagonian besought him by gestures 
 to forbear, as the demon would certainly enter his body and 
 cause him to burst. When at death's door, however, he 
 called for the cross, which he kissed : he then begged to be 
 baptized, and was received into the bosom of the Church 
 under the name of Paul. 
 
 The vessels kept on and on, seeing no fish but sharks, 
 and finding no bottom along the shores of the stunted islands 
 which they passed. The needle was so irregular in its mo- 
 tion that it required frequent passes of the loadstone to 
 revive its energy. No prominent star appeared to serve as 
 an Antarctic Polar guide. Two stars, however, were dis- 
 covered, which, from the smallness of the circle they de- 
 scribed in their diurnal course, seemed to be near the polo. 
 
PUNISHMENT OF THIEVES. 115 
 
 " We traversed," says Pigafetta, " a space of from sixty to 
 seventy leagues a day ; and, if God had not granted us a 
 fortunate voyage, we should all have perished of hunger in 
 so vast a sea. I do not think any one for the future will 
 venture upon a similar voyage." It was, indeed, nearly 
 sixty years before Drake, the second circumnavigator, entered 
 the Pacific Ocean. 
 
 Early in March 1521, Magellan fell in with a cluster of 
 islands, where he and his men went ashore to refresh them- 
 selves after the fatigues and privations of their voyage. 
 The inhabitants, however, were great thieves, penetrating 
 into the cabins of the vessels, and taking everything on 
 which they could lay their hands. Magellan, exasperated 
 at length, landed with forty men, burned a village, and 
 killed seven of the natives. The latter, when pierced with 
 arrows through and through — a weapon they had never 
 seen before — would draw them out by either end, and stare 
 at them till they died. Magellan gave the name of Ladrones 
 to these islands — a name which they retain in modern geo- 
 graphy, though, in the time of Philip rv. of Spain, they were 
 called the Marianne Isles, in honour of Maria, his queen. 
 
 On the 7 th of April the squadron entered the harbour 
 of the island of Zubu, one of a group which has since been 
 named the Philippines. Magellan sent a messenger to the 
 king to ask an exchange of commodities. The king ob- 
 served that it was customary for aU ships entering his 
 waters to pay tribute, to which the messenger replied, that 
 the Spanish admiral was the servant of so powerful a 
 sovereign that he could pay tribute to no one. The king 
 promised to give an answer the next day, and, in the mean- 
 time, sent fruit and wine on board the ships. Magellan 
 had brought with him the King of Massana, a neighbouring 
 island, and this monarch soon convinced the King of Zubu 
 that instead of asking tribute he would be wise to pay it. 
 A treaty of peace and perpetual amity was soon established 
 between his majesty of Spain and his royal brother of Zubu. 
 
116 DEATH OF MAGELLAN. 
 
 On the 26tli of April Magellan learned that a neigh- 
 bouring chief, named Cilapolapu, refused to acknowledge 
 the authority of the King of Spain, and remained in open 
 profession of paganism in the midst of a Christian com- 
 munity. He determined to lend his assistance to the con- 
 verted chiefs to reduce and subjugate this stubborn prince. 
 At midnight, boats left the ships bearing sixty -men armed 
 with helmets and cuirasses. The natives followed in twenty 
 canoes. They reached the rebellious island, Matan by name, 
 three hours before daybreak. Cilapolapu was notified that 
 he must obey the Christian king of Zubu, or feel the strength 
 of Christian lances. The islanders replied that they had 
 lances too. The invaders waited for daylight, and then, 
 jumping into the water up to their thighs, waded to shore. 
 The enemy was fifteen hundred in number, formed into 
 three battalions ; two of these attacked them in the flank, 
 the third in the front. The musketeers fired for half an 
 hour without making the least impression. Trusting to the 
 superiority of their numbers, the natives deluged the Chris- 
 tians with showers of bamboo lances, staves hardened in the 
 fire, stones, and even dirt, A poisoned arrow at last struck 
 Magellan, who at once ordered a retreat in slow and regular 
 order. The Indians now perceived that their blows took 
 effect when aimed at the nether limbs of their foe, and 
 profited by this observation with telling eflfect. Seeing that 
 Magellan was wounded, they twice struck his helmet from 
 his head. He and his small band of men continued fighting 
 for more than an hour, standing in the water up to their 
 knees. Magellan was now evidently failing, and the islanders 
 perceiving his weakness, pressed upon him in crowds. One 
 of them cut him violently across the left leg, and he fell 
 on his face. He was immediately surrounded and be- 
 laboured with sticks and stones till he died. His men, 
 every one of whom was wounded, unable to afford him 
 succour or avenge his death, escaped to their boats upon 
 his fall. 
 
 " Thus," says Pigafetta, " perished our guide, our light, 
 
FA.TE OF SERRANO. 117 
 
 and our support. But his glory will survive him. He was 
 adorned with every virtue. In the midst of the greatest 
 adversity he constantly possessed an immovable firmness. 
 At sea he subjected himself to the same privations as his 
 men. Better skilled than any one in the knowledge of 
 nautical charts, he was a perfect master of navigation, as 
 he proved, in making the tour of the world, — an attempt 
 on which none before him had ventured." Though Magellan 
 only made half the circuit of the earth on this occasion, yet 
 it may be said with reason that he was the first to circum- 
 navigate the globe, from the fact that the way home from 
 the Philippines was perfectly well known to the Portuguese, 
 and that Magellan had already been at Malacca. 
 
 An attempt was made in the afternoon to recover the 
 body of Magellan by negotiation ; but the islanders sent 
 answer that no consideration could induce them to part 
 with the remains of a man like the admiral, which they 
 should preserve as a monument of their victory. Two go- 
 vernors were elected in his stead, Odoard Barbosa and Juan 
 Serrano. The latter, together with San Martino, the astro- 
 nomer, and a number of ofiScers, having been decoyed on 
 shore by the converted king, were murdered by him in cold 
 blood. Juan Serrano was seen upon the shore, bound hand 
 and foot : he begged the people in the ships to treat for his 
 release ; and, upon this being refused, he uttered deep im- 
 l^recations, and appealed to the Almighty to call to account 
 on the great day of judgment those who refused to succour 
 him in his hour of need. They put to sea, leaving the 
 unfortunate Serrano to his miserable fate. 
 
 Odoard Barbosa, now sole commander, ordered the Con- 
 ception, one of the three ships, to be burned, transferring 
 its men, ammunition, and provisions to the other two. 
 After landing at various islands he came to the rich settle- 
 ment of Borneo, on the 9 th of July. The king, who was a 
 Mohammedan, and kept a magnificent court, sent out to 
 them a beautiful canoe, adorned with gold figures and pea- 
 cocks' feathers. In it were musicians playing upon the 
 bagpipe and drum. Eight officers of the island brought to 
 
118 pigafetta's walking leaves. 
 
 the captain a vase full of betel areca to chew, a quantity of 
 orange-flowers and jessamine, some sugar-cane, and three 
 goblets of a distilled liquor which they called arrack, and 
 upon which the sailors became intoxicated. Permission 
 was granted the visitors to wood and water on the island 
 and to trade with the natives. An interview with the king 
 was likewise accorded, which took place with every possible 
 ceremony, — processions of elephants, presents of cinnamon, 
 and illuminations of wax flambeaux. Notwithstanding 
 these professions of friendship, the squadron was obliged to 
 leave Borneo very suddenly, in consequence of the appear- 
 ance of one hundred armed canoes, which they imagined to 
 be bent upon a hostile expedition. 
 
 Among the wonders of Borneo, Pigafetta mentions two 
 pearls as large as hens' eggs, and so round that if placed 
 upon a polished table they never remained at rest, and cups 
 of porcelain possessing the power to denote the presence of 
 poison, by breaking if any were put into them. At a neigh- 
 bouring island, where the fleet remained undergoing repairs 
 for six weeks, Pigafetta saw a sight which he thus de- 
 scribes : — " We here found a tree whose leaves, as they 
 fall, become animated and walk about. They resemble the 
 leaves of the mulberry tree. Upon being touched, they 
 make away, but when crushed they yield no blood. I kept 
 one in a box for nine days, and on opening the box found 
 the leaf still alive and walking round it. I am of opinion 
 they live on air." Pigafetta's mistake here was in stating 
 that a leaf resembled an insect : he should have spoken of 
 the curiosity as an insect resembling a leaf. It is now 
 known to naturalists as a species of locust. 
 
 On the 6th of November they espied a cluster of five 
 islands, which their pilots, obtained at their last station, 
 declared to be the famous Moluccas. They had therefore 
 proved the world to be round, for vessels sailing to the west 
 from Spain had now met vessels sailing thence to the east. 
 They returned thanks to God, and fired a round from their 
 great guns. They had been at sea twenty-six months, and 
 had at last, after visiting an infinity of islands, reached those 
 
A CHEAP CARGO. 119 
 
 in quest of which they had embarked in the expedition. 
 On the 8th, three hours before sunset, they entered the 
 harbour of the island of Tidore. They came to anchor in 
 twenty fathoms' water, and discharged all their cannon. 
 The king, shaded by a parasol of silk, came the next day to 
 visit them, said he had dreamed of their approaching visit, 
 had consulted the moon in reference to this cbream, and was 
 now delighted to see it confirmed. He added that he was 
 happy in the friendship of the King of Spain, and was proud 
 to be his vassal. This potentate, whose name was Rajah 
 Soultan Mauzour, was a Mohammedan : he was " an eminent 
 astrologer," and had numerous wives and twenty-six children. 
 
 On the 12 th a shed was erected in the town of Tidore 
 by the Spaniards, whither they carried all the merchandise 
 they intended to barter for cloves. A tariff of exchange 
 was then drawn up. Ten yards of red cloth were to be 
 worth four hundred pounds of cloves, as were also fifteen 
 yards of inferior cloth, fifteen axes, thirty-five glass tum- 
 blers, twenty -six yards of linen, one hundred and fifty pairs 
 of scissors, three gongs, or a hundredweight of copper. As 
 the stock of articles brought by the strangers diminished, 
 however, their value naturally rose, and a yard of ribbon 
 would buy a quintal of cloves : in fact, everything with 
 which the ships could dispense on their return voyage was 
 bartered for cloves. They were soon so deeply laden that 
 they hardly had room in which to stow their water. The 
 Trinidada, becoming leaky, was left behind, Juan Carvajo, 
 her pilot, and fifty-three of the crew, remaining with her. 
 The Vittoria bade adieu to her consort on the 21st of De- 
 cember, the two vessels exchanging a parting salute. The 
 number of Europeans on board the Vittoria was now reduced 
 to forty-six ; and the fleet, which formerly consisted of five 
 sail, was now reduced to one. 
 
 As the Vittoria made her way through the thick archipe- 
 Ugoes of islands which dot the seas in these latitudes, her 
 IMulucca pilot told Pigafetta amazing stories of their inha- 
 bitants. In Aracheto, he said, the men and women were 
 but a foot and a half high ; their food was the pith of iv 
 
120 LOSS OF A DAY. 
 
 tree ; their dwellings were caverns under ground ; their 
 oars were as long as their bodies, so that when they lay down 
 one ear served as a mattress and the other as a blanket ! 
 
 In order to double the Cape of Good Hope, the captain 
 ascended as high as the forty -second degree of south lati- 
 tude : he remained wind-bound for nine weeks opposite the 
 Cape. The crew were now suffering from sickness, hunger, 
 and thirst. After doubling the Cape, they steered north- 
 west for two months, losing twenty-one men on the way. 
 Ai last, on the 9th of July 1522, the vessel made the Cape 
 Verds, These were in the possession of the Portuguese ; 
 and it was a very hazardous thing for the Spaniards to put 
 themselves in their power. However, they represented 
 themselves as coming from the west and not from the east, 
 and made known their necessities. Their long-boat was 
 laden twice with rice in exchange for various articles. On 
 its third trip the crew was detained, — the Portuguese hav- 
 ing discovered that the Vittoria was one of Magellan's fleet. 
 She was compelled to abandon the men as prisoners, and 
 sailed away, — her whole equipment now numbering eighteen 
 hands, all of them, except Pigafetta, more or less disabled. 
 The latter, to discover if his journal had been regularly 
 kept, had inquired at the islands what day it was, and was 
 told it was Thursday. This amazed him, as his reckoning 
 made it Wednesday. He was soon convinced there was no 
 mistake in his account ; as, having sailed to the westward 
 and followed the course of the sun, it was evident that, in 
 circumnavigating the globe, he had seen it rise once less than 
 those who had remained at home, and thus, apparently, had 
 lost a day. 
 
 On Saturday, the 6th of September, the Vittoria entered 
 the Bay of San Lucar, having been absent three years and 
 twenty-seven days, and having sailed upwards of fourteen 
 thousand six hundred leagues. The captain of the Vittoria, 
 Juan Sebastian Cano, was knighted by Charles v., who gave 
 him for his coat of arms the terrestrial globe, with a motto 
 commemorating the voyage. 
 
SECTION III. 
 
 FEOM THE FIRST VOYAGE ROUND THE WORLD TO THE DISCOVERY 
 OP CAPE HORN.— A.D. 1519-1616. 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 JACQUES CARTIER SIR HUGH WILLOUGHBY A^HD RICHARD 
 
 CHANCELLOR MARTIN FROBISHER SIR JOHN HAWKINS 
 
 FRANCIS DRAKE JOHN DAVIS THOMAS CAVENDISH 
 
 THE SPANISH ARMADA SIR WALTER RALEIGH. 
 
 It would appear natural for the Spaniards to have sought 
 to derive immediate profit from their discovery of a western 
 passage to the South Sea. They did not do so, however ; 
 and a generation was destined to pass away before a second 
 European vessel should enter Magellan's Strait. We must 
 for a time, therefore, leave the Spanish and Portuguese in 
 quiet possession of their Indian and American commerce, 
 and turn to the several Transatlantic and Ai'ctic enterprises 
 undertaken at this period by the French and English. 
 
 Jacques Cartier, a native of St. Malo in France, had, in 
 1534, finished his apprenticeship as a sailor. He conceived 
 the idea of seeking a passage to China, and the Spice Islands 
 to the north of the Western Continent, and in the vicinity 
 of the Pole. This was the origin of the various efi"orts made 
 in quest of the renowned North-west passage. He also 
 thought it incumbent upon France to assert her right to a 
 share in the explorations and discoveries which were making 
 Portugal and Spain both famous and rich. He caused his 
 project to be laid before Francis i., who had long viewed 
 121 Q 
 
122 SECOND VOYAGE OF CARTIER. 
 
 with jealousy the successful expeditions of other powers, 
 and who is said once to have exclaimed, " Where is the 
 will and testament of our father Adam, which disinherits 
 me of my share in these possessions in favour of Spain and 
 Portugal ?" He at once approved the proposition ; and, on 
 the 20th of April 1534, Cartier left St. Malo with two 
 ships of sixty tons each. No details oPthe outward voyage 
 have reached us. It was rapid and prosperous, however, 
 for the ships anchored in Bonavista Bay, upon the eastern 
 coast of Newfoundland, on the twentieth day. 
 
 Proceeding to the north, he discovered Belle Isle Straits, 
 and through them descended to the west into a gulf which 
 he called St. Lawrence, having Newfoundland on his left 
 and Labrador on his right. He thus assured l;iimself of the 
 insular character of Newfoundland. He discovered many of 
 the islands and headlands in the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and 
 some of them bear to this day the names he gave them. 
 He had interviews with several tribes of natives, and took 
 possession of numerous lands in the name of the King of 
 France. In the middle of August east winds became pre- 
 valent and violent, and it was impossible to ascend the St. 
 Lawrence River, at the mouth of which they now were. A 
 council was held, and a return unanimously decided upon. 
 They arrived safely at St. Malo, after a rapid and prosperous 
 voyage. 
 
 Francis i. immediately caused three ships, respectively of 
 one hundred and twenty, sixty, and forty tons, to be equipped, 
 and despatched Cartier upon a second voyage of exploration, 
 with the title of Royal Pilot. He started in May 1535, 
 and after a stormy voyage of two months arrived at his 
 anchorage in Newfoundland. From thence he proceeded to 
 the mouth of the St. Lawrence, which he calls by its Indian 
 name of Hochelaga. Here he was told by the savages that 
 the river led to a country called Canada. He ascended the 
 stream in boats, passed a village named Stadacone, — the site 
 of the present city of Quebec, — and arrived at the Indian 
 city of Hochelaga, which, from a high mountain in the 
 
A CANADIAN KING. 123 
 
 vicinity, he named Mont Eoyal, — now Montreal. He went 
 no farther than the junction of the Ottawa and the St. 
 Lawrence, and then returned. He remained at Stadacone 
 through the winter, losing twenty-five of his men by a con- 
 tagious distemper then very little known — the scurvy. 
 
 Cartier returned to France in July 1536, taking with 
 him a Canadian king, named Doniiaconna, and nine other 
 natives, who had been captured and brought on board by 
 compulsion. They were taken to Europe, where Donna- 
 conna died two years afterwards : three others were baptized 
 in 1538, Cartier standing sponsor for one of them. They 
 seem to have all been dead in 1541, the date of Cartier s 
 third voyage. The king ordered five ships to be prepared, 
 with which Cartier again started for the scene of his dis- 
 coveries. The narrative of this expedition is lost ; but it 
 appears to have resulted in few or no incidents of interest. 
 Cartier was ennobled upon his return in 1542, and lived 
 ten years to enjoy his new dignity. His descriptions of the 
 scenery, products, and Indians of Canada are graphic and 
 correct. 
 
 In the year 1553, " the Mystery and Company of Eng- 
 lish merchant adventurers for the discovery of regions, 
 dominions, islands, and places unknown" — at the head of 
 whom was Sebastian Cabot — fitted out an expedition of 
 three vessels, and gave the chief command to Sir Hugh 
 Willoughby, " by reason of his goodly personage, as also for 
 his singular skill in the services of war." King Edward vi. 
 confirmed the appointment in " a license to discover strange 
 countries." 
 
 The fleet consisted of the Buona Speranza, of one hundred 
 and seventy tons, commanded by Sir Hugh, with thirty-eight 
 men, the Edward Buonaventura, of one hundred and sixty 
 tons, commanded by Richard Chancellor, pilot-major of the 
 expedition, with fifty-four men, and the Bona Confidentia, 
 of ninety tons, with twenty-four men. The ships were vic- 
 tualled for fifteen months. On board of them were eighteen 
 merchants interested in the discovery of a north-east passage 
 
124 LOSS OF THE FIRST ARCTIC EXPLORE::.S. 
 
 to India, — a route, therefore, attempted by the English pre- 
 vious to that by the north-west, as the voyage by Sebastian 
 Cabot can hardly be considered a serious effort. A council 
 of twelve, in whom was vested the general direction of the 
 voyage, was composed of the admiral, pilot-major, and other 
 officers. 
 
 The squadron sailed from Deptford on the 10th of May 
 1553, and fell in with the Norwegian coast on the 14th of 
 July. On the 30th, while near Wardhus, the most easterly 
 station of the Danes in Finmark, Chancellor's vessel was 
 driven off in a storm, and was not seen again by the two 
 others. The latter appear to have been tossed about in the 
 North Sea for two months, in the course of which they landed 
 at some spot on the western coast of Nova Zembla, being 
 the first Europeans to visit that uninhabited waste. On the 
 1 8th of September they entered a harbour in Lapland formed 
 by the mouth of the river Arzina. Here they remained a 
 week, seeing seals, deers, bears, foxes, " with divers strange 
 beasts, such as ellans and others, which were to us unknown 
 and also wonderful." It was now the 1st of October, and 
 the Arctic winter was far advanced. They resolved to winter 
 there, first sending out parties in search of inhabitants. 
 Three men went three days' journey to the south-south-west, 
 but returned without having seen a human being. Others 
 who went to the west and the south-east returned equally 
 unsuccessful. This is the last positive intelligence we have 
 of the fate of these hardy and unfortunate explorers. A 
 will, however, alleged to have been made by one Gabriel 
 Willoughby, and signed by Sir Hugh, bearing the date of 
 January 1554, shows, if authentic, that at least two of the 
 party were alive at that period. Purchas, one of the oldest 
 authorities upon navigation and travels extant, says that the 
 Buona Speranza was discovered in the following spring by 
 a party of Russians, who found all the crew frozen to death. 
 In 1557, a Drontheim skipper told an Englishman, at Kegor, 
 that he had bought the sails of the Bona Confidentia ; but 
 it is not known where she was lost, or what was the fate of 
 
RETURN OF THE BUONA VENTURA. 125 
 
 tlie crew. The will of which we have spoken, and a frag- 
 mentary diary attributed to Sir Hugh, were found by the 
 Russians, and were restored to the kinsmen of the adven- 
 turers in England. 
 
 The Edward Buonaventura, commanded by Chancellor, 
 and which was separated from her consorts off Wardhus, 
 reached Archangel, on the White Sea, in Russia, in safety, 
 and laid the foundation of a commercial intercourse between 
 Russia and England. On his return his ship was lost on 
 the coast of Scotland, and he himself, with several of his 
 crew, drowned. Thus, of the three ships despatched, not 
 one ever reached home ; and of the officers, merchants, and 
 men, none survived to revisit their country, except a few of 
 the common seamen of the Edward Buonaventura. The 
 advantages acquired at such a cost of human life were limited 
 to the barren discovery of the ice-clad coast of Nova Zerabla. 
 Nothing had been effected towards the accomplishment of a 
 north-east passage. 
 
 Martin Frobisher, a seaman of experience and enterprise, 
 was the first Englishman to cherish the project of attempting 
 to penetrate to Asia by the channel supposed to exist to 
 the north of America. He communicated his designs to his 
 friends, and spent fifteen years in fruitless efforts to enlist 
 capital and energy in the cause. Sailors, financiers, mer- 
 chants, statesmen, — all regarded the scheme as visionary and 
 hopeless. At last Lord Dudley, the favourite of Elizabeth, 
 interested himself in Frobisher's success, and from that 
 moment he experienced little difficulty in accomplishing his 
 object. He formed a company, amassed the requisite sums 
 of money, and purchased three small vessels, — two barks of 
 twenty-five tons each, the Gabriel and the Michael, and a 
 pinnace of ten tons. This valiant little fleet weighed anchor 
 at Deptford on the 8th of June 1576, and, passing the 
 court assembled at Greenwich, discharged their ordnance, 
 and made as imposing an appearance as their limited outfit 
 would allow. Queen Elizabeth waved her hand at the 
 conunander from a window, and, bidding him farewell, wished 
 
126 FIVE men's sound. 
 
 him success and a happy return. On the 25th he passed 
 the southern point of Shetland, — known as Swinbom HeacL 
 He anchored here to repair a leak and to take in fresh water. 
 On the 10th of July he descried the coast of Greenland, 
 " rising like pinnacles of steeples, and all covered with 
 snow." The crew made efforts to go ashore, but could find 
 no anchorage for the vessels, or landing-place for the boats. 
 On the 28th Frobisher saw dimly, through the fog, what 
 he supposed to be the coast of Labrador, enveloped in ice. 
 On the 31st he saw land for the third time, and on the 1 1th 
 of August entered a strait to which he gave his name. 
 
 He ascended this strait a distance of one hundred and 
 fifty miles. It was not till the eighth day that he saw any 
 inhabitants. He then found that the country was sparsely 
 settled by a race resembling Tartars. He went ashore and 
 established friendly relations with a colony of nineteen per- 
 sons, to each one of whom he gave a " threaden point," — • 
 in other words, a needle and thread. A few days after- 
 wards, five of the crew were taken by the natives and their 
 boat destroyed. The inlet in which this happened was 
 called Five Men's Sound. The next morning the vessels 
 ran in-shore, shot off a fauconet and sounded a trumpet, 
 but heard nothing of the lost sailors. However, Frobisher 
 caught one of the natives in return, having decoyed him by 
 the tinkling of a bell. When he found himself in captivity, 
 we are told that " from very choler and disdain he bit his 
 tongue in twain within his mouth ; notwithstanding, he 
 died not thereof, but lived until "he came to England, and 
 then he died of cold which he had taken at sea." On the 
 26 th of AugTist, Frobisher weighed anchor and started to 
 return to England, the snow lying a foot deep upon the 
 decks. He arrived at Yarmouth on the 1st of October. 
 
 One of Frobisher's sailors had brought with him a bit 
 of shining black stone, which, upon examination, was found 
 to yield an infinitesimal quantity of gold. The North-west 
 passage became now a matter of secondary interest, the 
 mines of Frobisher's Strait promising a more speedy and 
 
frobisher's strait. 127 
 
 abundant return. The Society he had formed determined 
 to send him out anew, in vessels better equipped and pro- 
 visioned for a longer period. He left Blackwall on the 
 2Gth of May 1577, in her Majesty's ship Aide, of one 
 hundred and eighty tons, followed by the Gabriel and 
 IVIichael, his ostensible object being to discover " America 
 to be an island envii'oned with the sea, wherethrough our 
 merchants may have course and recourse with their mer- 
 chandise, from these our northernmost parts of Europe to 
 those oriental coasts of Asia, to their no little commodity 
 and profit that do or shall frequent the same." The fleet 
 passed the Orkneys on the 8th of June. 
 
 For a month they sailed to the westward, the season of 
 the year being that when, in those latitudes, a bright 
 twilight takes the place of the light of day during the few 
 hours that the sun is below the horizon ; so that the crew 
 had " the fruition of their books and other pleasures, — a 
 thing of no small moment to such as wander in unknown 
 seas and long navigations, especially when both the winds 
 and raging surges do pass theu' common and wonted course." 
 Throughout the voyage they met huge fir-trees, which they 
 supposed to have been uprooted by the winds, driven into 
 the sea by floods, and borne away by the currents. 
 
 On the 4th of July they made the coast of Greenland. 
 The chronicler of this voyage, who had doubtless lately 
 visited tropical latitudes, remarks that here, " in place of 
 odoriferous and fragTant smells of sweet gums and pleasant 
 notes of musical birds, which other countries in more tem- 
 perate zones do yield, we tasted in July the most boisterous 
 boreal blasts." In the middle of the month they entered 
 Frobisher's Strait. On either side the land lay locked in 
 the embrace of winter beneath a midsummer sun. Frobisher 
 would not believe that the cold was sufficiently severe to 
 congeal the sea-water, the tide rising and falling a dis- 
 tance of twenty feet. Ten miles from the coast he had 
 Seen fresh -water icebergs, and concluded that they had 
 bucn formed ui)on the laud, and by some accidental caiiiie 
 
128 A PRECIOUS CARGO, AND 
 
 detached. He reconnoitered the coast in a pinnace, and 
 penetrated some distance into the interior, returning with 
 accounts of supposed riches which he had discovered in the 
 bowels of barren and frozen mountains. A cargo of two 
 hundred tons of the precious earth was taken on board of 
 one of the vessels. " On the 20th of August," says the 
 narrative, " it was high time to leave : the men were well 
 wearied, their shoes and clothes well worn ; their basket- 
 bottoms were torn out and their tools broken. Some, with 
 overstraining themselves, had their bellies broken, and 
 others their legs made lame. About this time, too, the 
 water began to congeal and freeze about our ships' sides o' 
 nights." The fleet, which had troubled itself very little 
 with the North-west passage, at once set sail to the south- 
 east, and arrived in England towards the end of September. 
 The specimens of ore were assayed and found satisfac- 
 tory, and Frobisher's reports upon the route to China were 
 received with favour. The Queen gave the name of Meta 
 Incognita, or Unknown Boundary, to the region explored. 
 The Government determined to build a fort in Frobisher's 
 Strait and send a garrison and a corps of labourers there. 
 In the meantime, Frobisher was despatched a third time 
 wnth the same three vessels, and with a convoy of twelve 
 freight-ships, which were to return laden with Labrador ore. 
 They set sail on the 31st of May 1578, and made Green- 
 land on the 20th of June. In July they entered the strait, 
 where they were in imminent danger from storms and ice. 
 The bark Denis, being pretty well bruised and battered, 
 became " so leaky that she would no longer tarry above 
 the water, and sank ; which sight so abashed the whole 
 fleet, that we thought verily we should have tasted the 
 same sauce." Boats were, however, manned, and the drown- 
 ing crew were saved. The storm increased, and the ice 
 pressed more and more upon them, so that they took down 
 their topmasts. They cut their cables to hang overboard 
 for fenders, " somewhat to ease the ships' sides from the 
 great and dreary strokes of the ice. Thus we continued 
 
A MORTIFYING RESULT. 120 
 
 all tliat dismal and lamentable night plunged in this per- 
 plexity, looking for instant death ; but our God, who never 
 leaveth them destitute which faithfully call upon him, 
 although he often punisheth for amendment sake, in the 
 morning caused the wind to cease and the fog to clear. 
 Thus, after punishment, consolation ; and we, joyful wights, 
 being at liberty, hoisted our sails, and lay beating off 
 and on." 
 
 At last, at the close of July, such of the vessels as had 
 not been separated from Frobisher's ship entered the Countess 
 of Warwick's Sound, and commenced the work of mining 
 and lading. The miners were from time to time molested 
 by the natives, but lost no lives. They put on board of 
 their several ships five hundred tons of ore, and, on the 1st 
 of September, sailed with their precious freight to England, 
 where they arrived in thirty days. The ore turned out to 
 be utterly valueless, — a result so mortifying, that it dis- 
 gusted the English for many years with mining enterprises 
 and with voyages of discovery. We shall hear of Frobisher 
 again, in connexion with Francis Drake, and iu the conflict 
 with the Spanish Armada. 
 
 We have seen that, while the Spanish and Portuguese 
 had succeeded in their maritime expeditions, the English 
 had hitherto failed in theirs. The tropics were held in 
 exclusive possession by the two former nations ; and the 
 only two known routes by which ships could sail thither 
 were also in their power. Spain and England were in a 
 state of enmity. No English subject trading in the Spanish 
 dominions was safe, and various outrages occurred. These 
 were resented by the English people before they were taken 
 up by the British Government ; and the injured parties, 
 calling to their aid all persons of adventurous spirit or 
 shattered fortunes, set out upon the sea, if not with the 
 commission, at least with the connivance, of the crown, to 
 avenge their wrongs themselves. 
 
 Among the earlier adventurers was Sir John Hawkins. 
 
 s 
 
130 DRAKE ON THE PACIFIC. 
 
 His exploits were for a time brilliant and successful : at 
 last, however, they were disastrous ; and one of his young 
 kinsmen, Francis Drake by name — who had embarked and 
 lost all his means in the adventure — is alleged to have 
 disobeyed orders and deserted his benefactor and superior 
 in the hour of need. He brought his vessel — the Judith, 
 of fifty tons — however, safely home. 
 
 Drake now resolved to engage permanently in the lawless 
 but exciting career of which he had lately witnessed several 
 interesting episodes. It was long before he could obtain 
 the means of fitting out an expedition under his own com- 
 mand. He at last bought and equipped two vessels — one 
 of two hundred and fifty tons, the other of seventy — 
 manned them with seventy-three men, and sailed for the 
 Spanish dominions in America. He attacked and took the 
 town of Nombre de Dios, on the Isthmus of Darien, but 
 was soon obliged to retreat. He afterwards took Venta 
 Cruz, on the same isthmus, and had the good fortune to 
 fall in with three convoys of mules laden with gold and 
 silver, going from Panama to Nombre de Dios. He carried 
 off the gold and buried the silver. From the summit of a 
 mountain he obtained a sight of the Pacific Ocean or South 
 Sea, which so kindled his enthusiasm that he uttered a fer- 
 vent prayer that he might be the first Englishman who 
 should sail upon it. He was already the first Englishman 
 who had beheld it. 
 
 On his return to England with his treasure, he entered 
 for a time the volunteer service against Ireland, while wait- 
 ing an opportunity to execute the grand project he had 
 formed. At last, Sir Christopher Hutton, Vice-Chamberlain 
 and Counsellor of the Queen, presented him to Elizabeth, 
 to whom Drake imparted his scheme of ravaging the 
 Spanish possessions in the South Sea. The queen listened; 
 but whether she gave him a commission, or merely assured 
 liim of her favourable sentiments, is a disputed point. It 
 is alleged that she gave him a sword and pronounced these 
 words : — " We do account that he which striketh at thee, 
 
8A.LTED WELLS. 131 
 
 r>rake, striketh at us!" He fitted out an expedition, at 
 his own cost and with the help of friends and partners in 
 the enterprise, consisting of five ships; the largest, the 
 Pelican, his flag-ship, of one hundred tons, and the smallest 
 of fifteen. These vessels were manned by one hundred and 
 fifty-four men. They carried out the frames of four pin- 
 naces, to be put together as occasion required, and after the 
 example of the Portuguese in their first Eastern voyages, 
 took with them specimens of the arts and civilisation of 
 their country, with which to operate upon the minds of the 
 people with whom they should come in contact. They sailed 
 in November 1577, but were driven back by a tempest. 
 The expedition finally got to sea on the 1 3th of December. 
 
 At the island of Mogador, ofi' the coast of Barbary, Drake 
 attempted to traffic with the Moors, and in an exchange of 
 hostages lost a man, who was taken by the natives. They 
 then refused to trade, and Drake, after a vain eff"ort to 
 recover the sailor, left the island, and followed the African 
 coast to the southward. Between Mogador and Cape Blanco, 
 he took several Spanish barks called canters, one of which, 
 measuring forty tons, he admitted into his fleet, sending his 
 prisoners ofi" in the Christopher, the pinnace of fifteen tons 
 and one of the original five vessels. He landed on the 
 island of Mayo, where the inhabitants salted their wells, 
 forsook their houses, and drove away their goats. Off the 
 island of Santiago he took a Portuguese vessel bound for 
 Brazil, carrying numerous passengers and laden with wine. 
 He kept the pilot, Nuno da Sylva, gave the passengers and 
 crew a pinnace, and transferred the wine to the Pelican. 
 The prize he made one of the fleet, having given her a crew 
 of twenty- eight men. 
 
 At Cape Verd Drake left the African shore, and, steering 
 steadily to the south-west, was nine weeks without seeing 
 land. When near the equator, he prepared his men for the 
 change of climate by bleeding them all himself. He made 
 the coast of Brazil on the 4th of April 1578 ; the savage 
 inhabitants making large bonfires at their approach, for the 
 
132 A RAFT. 
 
 purpose, as he learned from Sylva, of inducing their devils 
 to wreck the ships upon their coast. On the 27 th he 
 entered the Eio de la Plata, and, sailing up the stream till 
 he found but three fathoms' water, filled his casks by the 
 ship's side. The same night, the Portuguese prize, now 
 named the Mary, and commanded by John Doughty, parted 
 company, as did two days afterwards the Spanish canter, 
 which had been named the Christopher, after the pinnace 
 for which she had been exchanged. Drake, beheving them 
 to have concealed themselves in shoal water, built a raft 
 and set sail in quest of them. 
 
 Early in June, Drake landed on the coast of Patagonia, 
 where he broke up the Swan, of fifty tons, for firewood, 
 having taken everything out of her which could be of any 
 use ; his object being to lessen the number of ships and the 
 chances of separation, and to render his force more compact. 
 His men easily killed two hundred and fifty seals in an hour, 
 which furnished them with very tolerable eating. Shortly 
 after sailing from this spot, named by Drake Seal Bay, the 
 fleet fell in with the Christopher again, which Drake ordered 
 to be unloaded and set adrift. He soon met the Portuguese 
 Mary, and on the 20th the whole squadron anchored in the 
 harbour named Port Julian by Magellan. Intercourse was 
 attempted with the Indians, but was stopped on account of 
 a fray begim by the savages, in which two of the English 
 and one of their own party were killed. The natives made 
 no further attempt to molest the strangers during their two 
 months' stay in the harbour. 
 
 A tragical event now followed. Magellan had in this 
 place quelled a dangerous mutiny, by hanging several of a 
 disobedient and rebellious company. The gibbet was still 
 standing, and beneath it the bones of the executed were now 
 bleaching. Drake apprehended a similar peril, and was led 
 to inquire into the actions of John Doughty. He found, 
 in his investigations, that Doughty had embarked in the 
 enterprise rather in the hope of rising to the chief command 
 than of remaining what he started, a gentleman volunteer. 
 
EXECUTION OF JOHN DOUGHTY. 133 
 
 He had views, it seemed, of supplanting Drake by exciting 
 a mutiny, and of sailing off in one of the ships upon his own 
 account. The company were called together and made 
 acquainted with the particulars ; Doughty was tried for 
 attempting to foment a mutiny, found guilty, and con- 
 demned to death by forty commissaries chosen from among 
 the various crews. Doughty partook of the communion 
 with Drake and several of his ojQ&cers, dined at the same 
 table with them, and, in the last glass of wdne he ever raised 
 to his lips, drank their healths and wished them farew^ell. 
 He walked to the place of execution without displaying 
 unusual emotion, embraced the general, took leave of the 
 company, offered up a prayer for the queen and her realm, 
 and was then beheaded near Magellan's gibbet. 
 
 This tragedy has been embellished by many fanciful ad- 
 ditions on the part of Drake's apologists, and upon the part 
 of his calumniators by many false statements. Different 
 opinions are held in the matter by different writers. It is 
 w^orth remarking, however, that the Spaniards, who never 
 neglected an opportunity of loading Drake with obloquy, 
 extolled him in this case for his vigilance and decision. 
 Doughty was buried on an island in the harbour, together 
 with the bodies of the two men slam in the fray with the 
 savages. 
 
 The Portuguese prize being now found leaky and trouble- 
 some, was broken up, the fleet being thus reduced to three. 
 On the 21st of August Drake entered Magellan Strait — 
 being the second commander who ever performed the voy- 
 age through it. He cleared the channel in sixteen days, 
 and entered the South Sea on the 6th of September. Here 
 the Marygold was lost in a terrible storm, and the Eliza- 
 beth being separated from Drake's vessel, wandered about 
 in search of him for a time, and then sailed for England. 
 Drake was driven from the Bay of Parting of Friends, as he 
 named the spot in which he lost sight of the Elizabeth, and 
 was swept southward to the coast of Terra del Euego, where 
 he was forced from his anchorage and obliged to abandon the 
 
134 SUFFERINGS OF EIGHT MEN. 
 
 pinnace, with eight men in it and one day's provisions, to 
 the mercy of the winds. 
 
 The miseries endured by these eight men are hardly 
 equalled in the annals of maritime disaster. They gained 
 the shore, salted and dried penguins for food, and coasted 
 on till they reached the Plata. Six of them landed, and, of 
 these six, four were taken prisoners by the Indians. The 
 other two were wounded in attempting to escape to the 
 boat, as were the two who were left in charge. These four 
 succeeded in reaching an island nine miles from the coast, 
 where two of them died of their wounds. The other two 
 lived for two months upon crabs and eels, and a fruit re- 
 sembling an orange, which was the only means they had of 
 quenching their thirst. One night their boat was dashed 
 to pieces against the rocks. Unable longer to endure the 
 want of water, they attempted to paddle to land upon a 
 plank ten feet long. This was the laborious work of 
 three days and two nights. They found a rivulet of fresh 
 water ; and one of them, William Pitcher, unable to resist 
 the temptation of drinking to excess, died of its effects in 
 half an hour. His companion was held in captivity for 
 nine years by the Indians, when he was permitted to return 
 to England. 
 
 Drake, after the loss of the pinnace, was driven again to 
 the southward, and, in the quaint language of the times, 
 " fell in with the uttermost part of the land towards the 
 South Pole, where the Atlantic Ocean and the South Sea 
 meet in a large and free scope." He anchored at the cape 
 since called Cape Horn, and gave the name of Elizabethides 
 to all the islands lying in the neighbourhood. He an- 
 chored at the island of Mocha on the 29th of November, 
 having coasted for four weeks to the northward along the 
 South American shore. He landed with ten men, and was 
 attacked by the Indians, who took them for Spaniards. 
 Two of his men were killed, all of them disabled, and 
 he himself badly wounded with an arrow under the right 
 eye. Not one of the assailants was hurt. Drake made 
 
A SPANIAKD CAUGHT NAPPING. 135 
 
 no attempt to take vengeance for this unprovoked attack, 
 as it was evident it was begun under the mistaken idea that 
 they were Spaniards, whose atrocities had made every native 
 of the country their enemy. He sailed for Peru on the 
 same day. 
 
 Early in December he learned, from an Indian who was 
 found fishing in his canoe, that he had passed twenty miles 
 beyond the port of Valhario — now Valparaiso ; and that 
 in this port lay a Spanish ship well laden. The prize was 
 rifled, and one thousand seven hundred and seventy jars of 
 Chili wine, sixty thousand pieces of gold, and a number of 
 strings of pearls, were taken from her. 
 
 A fortnight after leaving Valparaiso, Drake anchored at 
 the mouth of the Coquimbo. The watering party sent 
 ashore had barely time to escape from a body of five hun- 
 dred horse and foot. At another place, called Tarapaca, the 
 waterers found a Spaniard lying asleep, and took from him 
 thirteen bars of silver of the value of four thousand ducats. 
 They next captured eight lamas, each carrying a hundred 
 pounds of silver. At Arica they found two ships at 
 anchor ; from the one they took forty bars of silver, and 
 from the other two hundred jars of wine. Drake next 
 arrived at Callao, the port of Lima — Lima being the capi- 
 tal of Peru — where he immediately boarded a bark laden 
 with silk, which he consented to leave unmolested on 
 condition that the owner would pilot him into Callao, 
 which he did. Here Drake found seventeen ships, which 
 he rifled of their silver, silk, and linen, and then cut 
 their cables and let them drift out to sea. Learning that 
 a richly-laden treasure-ship, named the Cacafuego, had 
 lately sailed for Paita, he at once gave chase. In a ship 
 bound to Panama he found forty bars of silver, eighty pounds 
 of gold, and a golden crucifix set with large emeralds. 
 Soon after crossing the line, the Cacafuego was discovered 
 ten miles to seaward, by Drake's brother John. The Peli- 
 can's sailing qualities were now improved by what Silva, the 
 pilot, cidls a " pretty device." Empty jars were filled with 
 
136 A RECEIPT FOE A CARGO. 
 
 water aud hung with ropes over the stern, in order to lighten 
 her bow. The Spaniard made towards her, whereupon 
 Drake gave her three broadsides, shot her mainmast over- 
 board, and wounded her captain. She then surrendered. 
 He took from her an immense quantity of pearls and pre- 
 cious stones, eighty pounds of gold, twenty-six tons of 
 silver in ingots, a large portion of which belonged to the 
 king, and thirteen boxes of coined silver. The value of this 
 prize was not far from one million of dollars. Then, as if 
 he had been engaged in a legal commercial transaction, 
 Drake asked the captain for his register of the cargo, and 
 wrote a receipt in the margin for the whole amount ! 
 
 The prize thus lightened of her metallic cargo, was then 
 allowed to depart. Her captain received from Drake a letter 
 of safe-conduct in case she should fall in with the Elizabeth 
 or the Mary. 
 
 Drake now considered his object in these seas as ac- 
 complished : the indignities offered by the Spaniards to his 
 queen and country were avenged, and their commerce was 
 well-nigh annihilated. He next examined the various plans 
 of returning home with his booty. He thought it danger- 
 ous to go back by the way he had come : the whole coast 
 of Chili and Peru was in alarm, and ships had undoubtedly 
 been despatched to intercept him. Moreover, the season 
 (for it was now February 1579) was unfavourable either 
 for passing the Strait or for doubling the Cape. He might 
 have followed the course of Magellan, and thus have circum- 
 navigated the globe ; but this seemed but a paltry imitation 
 to his daring and inventive mind. He conceived the idea 
 of discovering a North-west passage and returning to Eng- 
 land by the North Polar Sea. He therefore sailed towards 
 the north, making the coast of Nicaragua in the middle of 
 March. Here he captured a small craft laden with sarsa- 
 parilla, butter, and honey. A neighbouring island sup- 
 plied him with wood and fish : alligators and monkeys also 
 abounded tJiere. A vessel from Manilla, which he captured 
 while her crew were asleep, contributed to his stores lar^e 
 
JUDICIAL DIFFICULTY SOLVED. 
 
 quantities of muslin, Chinese porcelain, and sUks. A ne^TO 
 taken from this vessel piloted him into the haven of Gua- 
 tulco, on the coast of Mexico, inhabited by seventeen Span- 
 iards and a few negroes. Drake ransacked this place, but 
 boasts of no other booty than a bushel of silver coins and a 
 gold chain that Thomas Moon took from the person of the 
 escaping governor. At Acapulco he found a few Spaniards 
 engaged in trying and condemning a parcel of the unhappy 
 natives. He broke up the court, and sent both judges and 
 prisoners on board his vessel. 
 
 He then sailed four thousand five hundred miles in 
 various directions, till he found himself in a piercingly 
 cold climate, where the meat froze as soon as it was re- 
 moved from the fire. This was in latitude forty-eight 
 north. So he sailed back again ten degrees and anchored 
 in an excellent harbour on the California coast. This harbour 
 is considered by numerous authorities as the present Bay of 
 San Francisco. The natives, who had been visited but once 
 by Europeans — under the Portuguese Cabrillo, thirty-seven 
 years before — had not learned to distrust them, and readily 
 entered into relations of commerce and amity with Drake's 
 party. From the Indians the latter obtained quantities 
 of an herb which they called iabak, and which was un- 
 doubtedly tobacco. The Oalifornians soon came to regard 
 the strangers as gods, and did them religious honours. The 
 king resigned to Drake all title to the surrounding country, 
 and offered to become his subject. So he took possession 
 of the crown and dignity of the said territory in the name 
 and for the use of Her Majesty the Queen. Drake named the 
 country New Albion, in honour of Old Albion or England. 
 After remaining five weeks in the harbour, Drake weighed 
 anchor, on the 23d of July, resolved to abandon any further 
 attempt in northern latitudes, and to steer for the MoluccaSj 
 after the example of Magellan. 
 
 On the 1 3th of October he discovered several islands in 
 latitude eight degrees north, and was soon surrounded with 
 cuuoes laden with cocoa-nuts and fruit. These canoes were 
 
 a 
 
138 EVERYTHING ON A LARGE SCALE. 
 
 hollowed out of a single log with wonderful art, and were 
 as smooth as polished horn, and decorated throughout with 
 shells thickly set. The ears of the natives hung down con- 
 siderably, from the weight of the ornaments worn in them. 
 Their nails were long and sharp, and were evidently used as 
 a weapon. Their teeth were black as jet — an effect ob- 
 tained by the use of the betel-root. These people were 
 friendly and commercially inclined. Drake visited other 
 gToups, where the principal occupation of the natives 
 was selling cinnamon to the Portug-uese. At Ternate, one 
 of the Moluccas, the king offered the sovereignty of the isles 
 to Drake, and sent him presents of " imperfect and liquid 
 sugar" — molasses, probably — " rice, poultry, cloves, and 
 meal which they called sagu, or bread made of the tops of 
 trees, tasting in the mouth like sour curds, but melting like 
 sugar, whereof they made certain cakes which may be kept 
 the space of ten years, and yet then good to be eaten." 
 Drake stayed here six days, laid in a large stock of cloves, 
 and sailed on the 9 th of November. At a small island near 
 Celebes, where he set up his forge and caused the ship to 
 be carefully repaired, he and his men saw sights which they 
 described in somewhat exaggerated terms : — " Tall trees 
 without branches, except a tuft at the very top, in which 
 swarms of fiery worms, flying in the air, made a show as if 
 every twig had been a burning candle ; bats bigger than 
 large hens — a very ugly poultry ; cray-fish or land-crabs, 
 one of which was enough for four men, and which dug huge 
 caves under the roots of trees, or, for want of better refuge, 
 would climb trees and hide in the forks of the branches." 
 This spot was appropriately named Crab Island. 
 
 On the 9th of January 1580, the ship ran upon a rocky 
 shoal and stuck fast. The crew were first summoned to 
 prayers, and then ordered to lighten the ship. The ship 
 was at last freed, and started again on her way. Her 
 adventures from this point offer no veiy salient features : 
 she stopped at Java, the Cape of Good Hope, and Sierra 
 Leo]ie. 
 
DRAKE KNIGHTED. 139 
 
 Drake arrived at Plymouth after a voyage of two years 
 and ten montlis. Like Magellan, he found he had lost a day 
 in his reckoning. He immediately repaired to court, where 
 he was graciously received, his treasure, however, being 
 placed in sequestration, to answer such demands as might 
 be made upon it. Drake was denounced in some quarteis 
 as a pirate, while in others collections of songs and 
 epigrams were made, celebrating him and his ship in the 
 highest terms. The Spanish ambassador, Bernardino de 
 Mendoza, who called him the Master-Thief of the Unknown 
 World, demanded that he should be punished according to 
 the laws of nations. Elizabeth firmly asserted her right of 
 navigating the ocean in all parts, and denied that the Pope's 
 grant of a monopoly in the Indies to the Spaniards and 
 Portuguese was of any binding effect upon her. She ordered 
 Drake's ship to be drawn up in a little creek near Deptford, 
 to be there preserved as a monument of the most memorable 
 voyage the English had ever yet performed. She went on 
 bnard of her, and partook of a banquet there with the com- 
 mander, who, kneeling at her feet, rose up Sir Francis 
 Prake. The ship remained at Deptford till she decayed 
 and fell to pieces : a chair was made from one of her planks 
 and presented to the University of Oxford, where it is stiD 
 to be seen. 
 
 Such was the first voyage around the world accomplished 
 by an Englishman. Drake's success awakened the spirit 
 and genius of navigation in England, and contributed in no 
 slight degree to the naval supremacy she afterwards acquired. 
 Drake made a noble use of the fortune he had acquired, in 
 aiding the queen in her wars with Spain, and in encourag- 
 ing the construction of public works. He built, with his 
 own resources, an aqueduct twenty miles in length, with 
 which to supply Plymouth with water. As will shortly be 
 shown, Drake took a prominent part in the destruction 
 of the " Invincible Armada." He afterwards died at sea, 
 while commanding an expedition against the Spanish West 
 India Islands. 
 
140 IN QUEST OF THE NOETH-WEST PASSAGE. 
 
 We may briefly allude here to an attempt made in 158-5, 
 under the auspices of the English Government, by John 
 Davis, a seaman of acknowledged ability, with two ships, — 
 the Sunshine and Moonshine, — to discover the North-west 
 passage. After a voyage of six weeks he saw, in north 
 latitude 60°, a mountainous and ice-bound promontory. It 
 was the south-western point of Greenland, and he gave it 
 the name of Cape Desolation, which it still retains. He 
 now sailed to the north-west, discovered islands, coasts, and 
 harbours, to which he gave appropriate appellations. He 
 thus was the first to enter the strait which bears his name, 
 and beyond which Baffin, thirty years later, was to discover 
 the vast bay which, in its turn, was to bear his name. 
 Davis made two subsequent voyages to these waters in search 
 of a passage across the continent, but, with the exception 
 of the discovery of Davis' Strait, effected nothing which 
 needs to be chronicled here. This single discovery, how- 
 ever, was one of the utmost importance, as it served to 
 stimulate research and to encourage further effort in this 
 direction. More than two centuries were nevertheless 
 destined to elapse before success was to be attained. 
 
 Queen Elizabeth now found it to her advantage to en- 
 courage displays of public spirit in private individuals, and 
 to excite the nobles and persons of fortune to hazard their 
 wealth in the national service. Many gentlemen of rank 
 and position accordingly devoted a portion of their means to 
 prosecuting discovery in distant quarters, and to planting 
 colonies upon savage coasts. Among the most distinguished 
 cf these was Thomas Cavendish, of Trimley, near Ipswich. 
 
 This gentleman was of an honourable family, and possessed 
 a large estate. He equipped, in 1586, three ships of the 
 requisite burden, — the largest, the Desire, being of one hun- 
 dred and forty tons, the Content, being of sixty, and the 
 least, the Hugh Gallant, a bark of forty tons. He provi- 
 sioned them for two years, and manned them with one hun- 
 dred and twenty-three officers and men, some of w^hom had 
 
A FORLORN SETTLEMENT. 141 
 
 served under Sir Francis Drake. His patron, Lord Hims- 
 don, procured him a commission from Queen Elizabeth, thus 
 assimilating his vessels to those of the na^^y. Cavendish 
 sailed from Plymouth on the 21st of July, directing his 
 course to the south, and touching upon the coasts of Guinea 
 and Sierra Leone. Their course across the Atlantic to the 
 Brazilian shore offers no remarkable features. Anchoring 
 in a harbour on the Patagonian coast, Cavendish named it 
 Port Desire, after his flag-ship, a name which it still retains. 
 He entered the Strait at the commencement of January 
 1587, and soon discovered a miserable and forlorn settle- 
 ment of Spaniards. These numbered twenty-three men, 
 being all that remained of four hundred who had been left 
 there three years before by Sarmiento, to colonize the Strait. 
 They had lived in destitution for the last eighteen months, 
 being able to procure no other food than a scanty supply of 
 shell-fish, except when they surprised a thirsty deer or 
 seized an unsuspecting swan. They had built a fortress, in 
 order to exclude all other nations but their own from the 
 passage of the Strait, but had been compelled to leave it, 
 owing to the intolerable stench proceeding from the carcases 
 of their unhappy companions who died of want or disease. 
 Cavendish took the survivors on board, and named the spot 
 upon which the fortress was built Port Famine. 
 
 Cavendish entered the Pacific late in February, after a 
 tempestuous passage from the Atlantic side. Landing upon 
 the Chilian coast, in the country of the Araucanians, he met 
 with a hostile reception from the natives, who mistook his 
 men for Spaniards, by whom the tenitory had been repeat- 
 edly invaded in search of gold. He afterwards undeceived 
 them, and found them willing to satisfy his wants when 
 convinced that they did not belong to that avaricious and 
 cruel people. In another place, inhabited by a Spanish 
 colony, he fought a pitched battle with two hundred horse- 
 men, driving those who were not slain back to the moun- 
 tains. Farther north, the Indians brought him wood and 
 water on their backs. In May he captured two prizes, 
 
112 A GLORIOUS PPJZE. 
 
 taldng out of them twenty thousand pounds' worth of sugar, 
 molasses, calico, marmalade, and hens. He seized upon the 
 town of Paita, which he ransacked and burned, carrying off 
 a large quantity of household goods and twenty-five pounds' 
 weight of pieces-of-eight, or Spanish dollars. He afterwards 
 continued his course along the South American and Mexican 
 coasts. 
 
 Early in November, Cavendish, who had been told by a 
 pilot he had taken that a vessel from the Philippines was 
 expected, richly laden, at Acapulco, lay in wait for her off 
 the headland of California. She was discovered on the 4th, 
 bearing in for the Cape. She was the Santa Anna, of seven 
 hundred tons, belonging to the King of Spain, and com- 
 manded by the Admiral of the South Sea. Cavendish gave 
 chase, and, after a broadside and a volley of small arms, 
 boarded her. He was repulsed, but renewed the action 
 with his guns and musketry. The Spaniard was soon forced 
 to surrender, and her officers, going on board the Desire, 
 gave an account of her contents, — which they stated at 
 thirty thousand dollars in gold, with immense quantities of 
 damasks, silks, satins, musk, and provisions. This glorious 
 prize was divided by Cavendish, a mutiny being very nearly 
 the result : it was, however, prevented by the generosity of 
 the commander. The prisoners were set on shore with suf- 
 ficient means of defence against the Indians ; the Santa 
 Anna was burned, together with five hundred tons of her 
 goods ; and Cavendish then set sail for the Ladrone Islands, 
 five thousand five hundred miles distant. 
 
 He arrived at Guam, one of the group, in forty-five days, 
 and from thence prosecuted his homeward voyage, through 
 the Philippine Islands and the Moluccas, to Java. He 
 passed the months of April and May 1588, in crossing the 
 Indian Ocean to the Cape of Good Hope. He touched at 
 St. Helena early in June, and when near the Azores in 
 September, heard from a Flemish ship the news of the total 
 defeat of the gi'eat Spanish Armada. The voyage of Caven- 
 dish was the thii'd that had been performed round the world, 
 
THE SPANISH ARMADA. 143 
 
 and was the shortest of the three, — being accomplished in 
 eight months' less time than that of Drake. 
 
 Cavendish spent his immense wealth in equipping vessels 
 for a second voyage, which ended disastrously, after an 
 engagement with the Portuguese off the coast of Brazil, 
 where he died. He ranks as one of the most enterprising, 
 diligent, and cautious of the early English navigators. 
 
 From what we have said of the successes of the English, 
 of their encroachments upon the domain of the Spanish, 
 and of the ardent desire of the latter to retain the mono- 
 poly of the trade with the natives of America, and to hold 
 the exclusive right to rob and slay them at their pleasure, 
 the reader will be prepared for the imposing but bombastic 
 attempt made by Spain against England in 1588. Philip 
 II. determined to put forth his strength, and his fleet was 
 named before it sailed, " The Most Fortimate and Invin- 
 cible Armada." It was described in official accounts as 
 consisting of one hundred and thirty ships, manned by 
 eight thousand four hundred and fifty sailors, and carrying 
 nineteen thousand soldiers, two thousand galley-slaves, and 
 two thousand six hundred pieces of brass. In the fleet 
 were one hundred and twenty-four volunteers of noble 
 family, and one hundred and eighty almoners, Dominicans, 
 Franciscans, and Jesuits. Instruments of torture were 
 placed on board in large quantities, for the purpose of 
 assisting in the gi-eat work of reconciling England to 
 Romanism. The Spaniards and the Pope had resolved that 
 all who should defend the queen and withstand the inva- 
 sion, should, with all their families, be rooted out, and their 
 places, their honours, their titles, their houses, and their 
 lands, be bestowed upon the conquerors. 
 
 Elizabeth and her councillors heard these ominous de- 
 nunciations undismayed, and adequate preparations were 
 made to receive the crusaders. London alone furnished 
 ten thousand men, and held ten thousand more in reserve : 
 the whole land force amounted to sixty-five thousand. The 
 fleet numbered one hundred and eighty-one vessels — fifty 
 
1 44 FIRE SHIPS. 
 
 more in number than the Armada, but hardly half as 
 powerful in tonnage. Eighteen of these vessels were volun^ 
 teers, and but one of the one hundred and eighty-one was 
 of the burden of eleven hundred tons. The Lord High 
 Admiral of England, Charles Lord Howard of Effingham, 
 commanded the fleet, with Drake, Hawkins, and Frobisher, 
 in command of the various divisions. A form of prayer 
 was published, and the clergy were enjoined to read it on 
 Wednesdays and Fridays in their parish churches. The 
 country awaited the arrival of the Spaniards in anxiety 
 and yet with confidence. 
 
 The Armada sailed from the Tagus late in May, with 
 the solemn blessing of the Church, and patronized by every 
 influential saint in the calendar. A storm drove it back 
 with loss, and it did not sail again till the 12th of July. 
 It was descried off Plymouth on the 20th, " with lofty 
 turrets like castles, in front like a half-moon ; the wings 
 thereof spreading about the length of seven miles, sail- 
 ing very slowly, though with full sails, the winds being 
 as it were weary with wafting them, and the ocean groan- 
 ing under their weight." The English suffered them to 
 pass Plymouth, that they might attack them in the rear. 
 They commenced the fight the next day, with only forty 
 ships. The Spaniards during this preliminary action found 
 their ships " very useful to defend, but not to offend, and 
 better fitted to stand than to move." Drake, with his 
 usual luck, captured a galleon in which he found fifty-five 
 thousand ducats in gold. This sum was divided among 
 his crew. Skirmishing and detached fights continued for 
 several days, the Spanish ships being found from their 
 height and thickness inaccessible by boarding or ball. They 
 were compared to castles pitched into the sea. The lord- 
 admiral was consequently instructed to convert eight of his 
 least efficient vessels into fire-ships. The order arrived as 
 the enemy's fleet anchored off Calais, and thirty hours 
 afterwards the eight ships selected were discharged of all 
 that was worth removal and filled with combustibles. Their 
 
A MIDNIGHT PANIC. 
 THK FlliE-SlIll'S AND THE INVINCIBLE AliMADA. 
 
 Kighi, of the H'ast efficient vessels were converted into fire-sliips. These were filled with combustibles, ther.- 
 pins were heavily loaded, and their sides smeared witli rosin and wild-fire. At midnight they were sent, with 
 
 1.1 1 L -("iU^ T^ 
 
 A f/:k.<..;Mn 
 
 w1 * Vio nffi'iirlif r>(1 nvmvc • rpmpin- 
 
DESTEUCTION OF THE ASMADA. 145 
 
 giir.s were heavily loaded, and their sides smeared with 
 rosin and wild-fire. At midnight they were sent, with 
 wind and tide, into the heart of the Invincible Armada. A 
 terrible panic seized the affrighted crews : remembering the 
 fire-ships which had been used but lately in the Scheldt, 
 they shouted, in agony, " The fire of Antwerp ! The fire 
 of Antwerp ! " Some cut their cables, others slipped their 
 hawsers, and all put to sea, " happiest they who could 
 first be gone, though few could tell what course to take." 
 Some were wrecked on the shallows of Flanders ; some 
 gained the ocean ; while the remainder were attacked and 
 terribly handled by Drake. The discomfited Spaniards 
 resolved to return to Spain by a northern circuit around 
 England and Scotland. The English pursued, but the 
 exhausted state of their powder-magazines prevented an- 
 other engagement. The lucldess Armada never returned to 
 Spain. A terrific storm drove the vessels upon the Irish 
 coast and upon the inhospitable rocks of the Orkneys. 
 Thu'ty of them were stranded near Connaught : two had 
 been cast away upon the shores of Norway. In all, eighty- 
 one ships were lost, and but fifty-three reached home. Out 
 of thirty thousand soldiers embarked, fourteen thousand 
 were missing. Philip received the calamity as a dispensa- 
 tion of Providence, and ordered thanks to be given to God 
 that the disaster was no greater. 
 
 A day of thanksgiving was proclaimed in England. 
 Some time afterwards the queen repaired in public proces- 
 sion to St. Paul's. The streets were hung with blue cloth ; 
 the royal chariot was a throne with four pillars and a 
 canopy overhead, drawn by white horses. Elizabeth knelt 
 at the altar and audibly acknowledged the Almighty as her 
 deliverer from the rage of the enemy. 
 
 The mines of the precious metals which the Spaniards had 
 discovered in Peru, the wealth which they annually brought 
 home in treasure-ships to the mother-country, together with 
 the exaggerated accounts given by Spanish authors resjiect- 
 
1 4 6 EL DOKADO. 
 
 ing the splendour and the civilisation of the empire of the 
 Incas, had now begun to excite the cupidity and inflame the 
 imagination of eveiy other people in Europe. It was known 
 that, at the time of the conquest of Peru by PizaiTO, a large 
 number of the natives escaped into the interior ; and rumour 
 added that one of the sons of the reigning Inca had with- 
 drawn across the continent to a region situated between the 
 Amazon and the Orinoco, and called by the general name of 
 Guiana. Here he had founded, it was added, an empire 
 more splendid than that of Peni : its capital city, Manoa, 
 only one European had seen. This was a Spaniard, a marine 
 on board a man-of-war, who, according to the legend, had 
 allowed a powder-magazine to explode, and was condemned 
 to death for his carelessness. This penalty was commuted, 
 however, and he was placed in a boat at the mouth of the 
 Orinoco, with orders to penetrate into the interior. He 
 stayed seven months at Manoa, and then escaped to Porto 
 Rico. He gave the following account of the city and king- 
 dom, the latter being called, he said, El Dorado, or The 
 Gilded :— 
 
 The columns of the emperor's palace were of porphyry 
 and alabaster, the galleries of ebony and cedar, and golden 
 steps led to a throne of ivory. The palace, which was built 
 of white marble, stood upon an island in a lake or inland 
 sea. Two towers guarded the entrance : between them was 
 a pillar twenty-five feet in height, upon which was a huge 
 silver moon. Beyond was a quadrangle planted with trees, 
 and vratered by a silver fountain which spouted through four 
 golden pipes. The gate of the palace was of copper. Within, 
 four lamps burned day and night before an altar of silver, 
 upon which was a burnished golden sun. Three thousand 
 workmen were employed in the Street of the Silversmiths. 
 
 The name of El Dorado, as applied to the kingdom of 
 which Manoa was the metropolis, may refer to its wealth 
 and splendour, or it may be derived from a habit attributed 
 by some to the emperor, by others to the high-priests, and 
 even to the inhabitants generally when in a state of intoxi- 
 
PURSUIT OF THE PHANTOM, 147 
 
 cation. This custom was to cause themselves to be anointed 
 with a precious and fragrant gvim, after which gold-dust 
 was blown upon them through tubes, till they were com- 
 pletely incrusted with gold. This attire was naturally con- 
 sidered sumptuous, and, in connexion with the abundance 
 of precious metals afforded by the country, may have given 
 rise to the title of El Dorado. The legend, in either case, is 
 a worthy companion to Ponce de Leon's Fountain of Youth. 
 
 No geographical fiction ever caused such an expenditure 
 of blood and treasure as this. The Spaniards alone lost, in 
 their attempts to discover the city of Manoa, more lives and 
 money than in efiectiug any of their permanent conquests. 
 New adventurers were always ready to start, upon the dis- 
 comfiture or destruction of those who had gone before ; and 
 no disappointment suff'ered by the latter could daunt the 
 hopes of those who believed the discovery reserved for them. 
 The Spanish priests regarded the mania as a device of the 
 Evil One to lure mankind to perdition. 
 
 The greater portion of these persons were adventurers, 
 soldiers of fortune, and Quixotic knights-errant. The most 
 distinguished of the converts to a belief in the existence of 
 an El Dorado, however, it would be unjust to class among 
 them. Sir Walter Raleigh, an Englishman of the highest 
 talent and character, had long been filled with admiration 
 at the courage and perseverance exhibited by the Spaniards 
 in the pursuit of their romantic and brilliant chimera. As 
 he himself firmly believed it to be a reality, he determined 
 to make an attempt himself. A part of his design was to 
 colonize Guiana, and thus to extend the sphere of the in- 
 dustrial and commercial arts of England. He was familiar 
 with the sea, as he had already sent out several expeditions 
 for the colonization of Virginia in America. 
 
 He sailed from Plymouth in February 1595, with five 
 vessels and a hundred soldiers. In order to reach the capital 
 city of Guiana, it was necessary to ascend the Orinoco, the 
 navigation of which was completely unknown to the English. 
 As the ships drew too much water, a hundred men embarked 
 
118 RALEIGH BEHEADED. 
 
 with. Raleigh in boats and proceeded up the stream. Tn 
 these they remained for a month, exposed to all the extremes 
 of a tropical climate, — sometimes to the heats of a burning 
 sun, and again to violent and torrential rains. Raleigh's 
 account of their progress through the labyrinth of islands 
 and channels at the river's mouths, of their precarious sup- 
 plies of food and water, the appearance of the country and 
 the manners of the natives, and, finally, of their entrance 
 into the grand bed of the superb Orinoco, has been admired 
 for its descriptive beauty as well as ridiculed for its extra- 
 vagant credulity. 
 
 Raleigh ascended the stream nearly two hundred miles, 
 when the rapid and terrific rise of its waters compelled him 
 to return. He took formal possession of the country, and 
 made the caciques swear allegiance to Queen Elizabeth. He 
 returned to England during the summer, having been but 
 five months absent. 
 
 On the death of Elizabeth, Raleigh was imprisoned for 
 thirteen years during the reign of James, her successor, for 
 the crime of high-treason and supposed participation in the 
 plot to place Lady Arabella Stuart on the throne. In 1617 
 he equipped a fleet of thirteen vessels in which to proceed 
 to Guiana for the purpose of again seeking El Dorado. The 
 fleet arrived in safety, but Raleigh was too unwell to ascend 
 the Orinoco in person. Captain Keymis led the exploring 
 party, and, upon being compelled to return to the ship 
 without success, and with the news of the death in battle 
 of Sir Walter's eldest son, committed suicide. Raleigh sailed 
 to Newfoundland to victual and refit ; but a mutiny of the 
 crews forced him to return to England, where he was be- 
 headed for the crime already punished by thirteen years' 
 confinement. 
 
CHAPTER VIIL 
 
 ALVAEO MENDANA QUIROS WILHELM BARENTZ THE 
 
 FIVE SHIPS OF ROTTERDAIVT : MAHU AND SEBALD DE 
 
 WEEE^r VAN NOORT HENRY HUDSON JORIS SPIL- 
 
 BEEGEN SCHOUTEN AND LEMAIRE WILLIAM BAFFIN. 
 
 The progress of discovery now recalls us to Spain. 
 About the year 1567, one Alvaro Mendana de Neyra, who 
 had thus far lived in complete obscurity, followed his uncle, 
 Don Pedro de Castro, to Lima, in Peru, where he had been 
 appointed governor. Mendana, disdaming commerce, and 
 feeling little inclination to lead a monotonous life on shore, 
 after the taste he had had during the passage of a roving 
 existence upon the water, resolved to undertake the disco- 
 very of new lands in the name of the King of Spain. His 
 uncle encouraged him in his design, and furnished him with 
 the necessary funds. Mendana set sail from Callao on the 
 11th of January 1568. He proceeded fourteen hundred 
 and fifty leagues to the west, and discovered a group of 
 islands in about 10° south latitude. He sailed round 
 another of the group, St. Christopher, and, after several 
 disastrous encounters with the natives, returned to Callao. 
 This voyage, the most important undertaken by the Spanish 
 since the discovery of America, gave rise to multitudes of 
 fables, with which the historians and chroniclers of Spain 
 filled the minds of the people during the century which 
 followed. The islands discovered by Mendana were repre- 
 sented as enormously rich in gold and the precious metals. 
 The name of Solomon was given to the group, — a name 
 which was thought to be eminently suited to so luxurious 
 an archipelago, having formerly been that of a luxurious 
 prince. As in those days the art of scientific navigation 
 149 
 
150 DISCOVERY OF THE MARQUESAS. 
 
 was in its infancy, and as latitude and longitude were nc^t 
 fixed with any great degree of precision, the position of the 
 Solomon Islands was very loosely marked down by Men- 
 dana ; and the question of their locality became, and for a 
 long time remained, one of the most puzzling questions in 
 geography. 
 
 Mendana sent home to the Spanish Government brilliant 
 accounts of his discoveries, and solicited the means of pro- 
 secuting them still further. War and other en^gements 
 prevented the ministry from attending to his requests till 
 the year 1595, when he obtained the command of an ex- 
 pedition having for its object the colonization of St. Chris- 
 topher. He sailed from Callao in April with four ships 
 carrying four hundred men. Pedro Fernandez de Quiros, 
 of whom we shall afterwards speak more particularly, was 
 the pilot of the fleet. They stopped at Paita, where they 
 watered and enlisted four hundred additional men, and on 
 the 16th of June finally started in quest of the long-lost 
 islands. A month afterwards, being in latitude 11° south, 
 Mendana discovered a group of three islands, to which he 
 gave a collective name as well as individual names. He 
 called them Las Marquesas de Mendo^a, in honour of the 
 Marquis of Mendo^a, a Spaniard of distinction. They are 
 still known as the Marquesas Islands. 
 
 Mendana took possession of the islands in the King's 
 name, and sowed maize in many spots which he thought 
 favourable to its growth. This being done, the shallop 
 refitted, three crosses erected, and wood and water having 
 been stored, the squadron set sail again for the still missing 
 archipelago. The soldiers soon became despondent, and 
 the crews were placed upon short allowance. At last, when 
 eighteen hundred leagues from Lima, they fell in with a 
 large island, one hundred miles in circuit, which Mendana 
 named Santa Cruz — since called Egmont Island by Carteret. 
 Fifty small boats rigged with sails came out to the ship. 
 The men were black, with woolly hair, dyed white, red, 
 and blue. Their teeth were tinged red, and their faces 
 
A WAR OF EXTERMTNATTOX. lol 
 
 and bodies marked with streaks. Tlieir arms were bound 
 round with bracelets of black rattan, while their necks 
 were decorated with strings of beads and fishes' teeth. 
 Mendana at once took them for the people he sought. He 
 spoke to them in the language he had learned upon his 
 first voyage ; but they neither understood him, nor he 
 them. Without provocation, they discharged a shower of 
 arrows at the ship, which lodged in the sails and the 
 rigging, without, however, doing any mischief. The sol- 
 diers fired in return, killing one and wounding many more. 
 
 Friendly relations were soon restored, and Mendana, 
 landing his men, proceeded to found a colony. 
 
 At this point the details furnished by the several 
 chroniclers of the expedition become vague and unsatisfac- 
 tory. It appears that the natives withheld all supplies 
 from the Spaniards, and that Mendana caused two mutineers 
 to be beheaded, and another to be hung. A war of exter- 
 mination now commenced, and a state of sedition, misery, 
 and want ensued, which brought Mendana rapidly to the 
 grave. He died of disappointment and regret, in October 
 1595. His successor being wounded, died in November. 
 The crew, worn out with fatigue and sickness, and being 
 reduced to such an extent that twenty resolute Indians 
 could have destroyed them, resolved to suspend the enter- 
 prise and re-embark. They took in wood and water, and 
 sailed on the 7 th of November. Quiros maintained dis- 
 cipline among a mutinous crew, and, after almost super- 
 human efforts to navigate his crazy ships upon an unknown 
 sea, arrived with the remains of the expedition at Manilla. 
 From thence Quiros returned to Acapulco, in Mexico, and 
 thence to Lima, where he petitioned the viceroy for the 
 means of continuing the researches of Mendana. 
 
 In the year 1514, the Dutch resolved to seek a north-east 
 passage by water to the Indies, across the Polar regions of 
 Europe. Their first two attempts were attended with .«i0 
 little success that the States-General abandoned the under- 
 
152 DllIFTING ICE. 
 
 taking, contenting themselves with promising a reward to 
 the navigator who should find a practicable route. lu 
 1596, the city of Amsterdam took up the matter where 
 the Government had left it, and equipped two vessels, the 
 chief command of which was given to Wilhelm Barentz. 
 He started on the 10th of May, and passed the islands of 
 Shetland and Feroe on the 2 2d. Not long after, the fleet 
 saw with wonder one of the phenomena peculiar to the 
 Arctic regions — three mock suns, with circular rainbows 
 connecting them by a luminous halo. On the 9th of June, 
 they discovered two islands, to which they gave the names 
 of Bear and Walrus Islands. They kept on to the usual 
 Arctic accompaniment of icebergs, seals, auroras boreales, 
 whales, and white bears, till they came to a land which 
 they named Spitzbergen, or land of Sharp-peaked Mountains. 
 On the 17 th of July they arrived at Nova Zembla — dis- 
 covered in 1553 by Willoughby — and here the two shii)3 
 were accidentally separated. In August the vessel of Ba- 
 rentz was embayed in drifting ice, and no efforts could 
 release her from her dangerous position. Winter was 
 coming on, and the crew, despairing of saving the ship, 
 which was now groaning and heaving under the pressure 
 of the ice, resolved to build a house upon the laud, " with 
 which to defend themselves from the colde and wilde beasts." 
 They were fortunate enough to find a large quantity of 
 drift-wood, which had evidently floated from a distance, 
 as the icy soil around them yielded neither tree nor herb. 
 The work began and continued in the midst of constant 
 fights witli bears and the arduous labour of dragging stores 
 from the ship upon hand -sleds. The cold was so extreme 
 that their skin peeled ofl" upon touching any iron utensil. 
 Snow storms interrupted the progress of the house, for 
 which they were soon obliged to obtain materials by break- 
 ing up the ship. One of the men, being pursued by a bear, 
 was only saved by the latter's waiting to contemplate the 
 body of one of his fellow-bears, which the sailors had killed 
 and left to freeze stiff in an upright position. 
 
WINTER QUARTERS. 153 
 
 On the 1 2tli of October half the crew slept in the house 
 for the first time : they suffered greatly from cold, as they 
 had no fire, and because, as the narrative quaintly remarks, 
 " they were somewhat deficient in blankets." The roof wa^ 
 thatched, by the end of October, with sail-cloth and sea- 
 weed. On the 2d of November the sun raised but half his 
 disk above the horizon : the bears disappeared with the sun, 
 and foxes took their place. The clock having stopped, and 
 refusing to proceed, even with increased weights, day could 
 not be distinguished from night, except by the twelve-hour 
 glass. The beer, freezing in the casks, became as tasteless 
 as water. Half a pound of bread a day was served out to 
 each man : the provisions of dried fish and salt meat re- 
 mained still abundant. The chimney would not draw, and 
 the apartment was filled with a blinding smoke — which the 
 crew were obliged to endure, however, or die of cold. The 
 surgeon made a bathing-tub from a wine-pipe, in which 
 they bathed four at a time. They were several times 
 snowed up, and the house was absolutely buried. Though 
 half a league from the sea, they heard the hoiTible cracking 
 and groaning of the ice as the bergs settled down one upon 
 the other, or as the huge mountains burst asunder. On 
 one occasion, unable to support the cold, they made a fire 
 in their house with coal brought from the ship. It was 
 the first moment of comfort they had enjoyed for months. 
 They kept up the genial heat until several of the least 
 vigorous of the men were seized with dizziness and with 
 the peculiar pains known as the hot-ache. Gerard de 
 Veer, the chronicler of the expedition, caught in his -arms 
 the first man that fell, and revived him by rubbing his face 
 with vinegar. He adds, " We had now learned that to 
 avoid one evil we should not rush into a worse one." 
 
 They set traps all around their cabin, with which they 
 caught on an average a fox a day. They ate the flesh, and 
 with the skin made caps and mittens. They had the good 
 fortune to kill a bear nine feet long, from which they ob- 
 tained one hundred pounds of lard. This they found useful, 
 
 u 
 
154 CELEBRATION OF TWELFTH NIGHT. 
 
 not as pomatum, but as the means of burning their lamp 
 constantly, day and night, as if it were an altar and they 
 the vestal virgins. On the 19 th of December they con- 
 gratulated themselves that the Arctic night was just one- 
 half expired ; " for," says the narrative, " it was a terrible 
 thing to be without the light of the sun, and deprived of 
 the most excellent creature of God, which enliveneth the 
 entire universe." On Christmas eve it snowed so violently 
 that they could not open the door. The next day there 
 was a white frost in the cabin. While seated at the fire 
 and toasting their legs, their backs were frozen stiff. They 
 did not know by the feeling that they were burning their 
 shoes, and were only warned by the odour of the shrivelling 
 leather. They put a strip of linen into the air, to see which 
 way the wind was : in an instant the linen was frozen as 
 hard as a board, and became, of com*se, perfectly useless as 
 a weathercock. Then the men said to each other, " How 
 excessively cold it must be out of doors !" 
 
 The 5 th of January was Twelfth Night, and the hut was 
 buried under the snow. In the midst of their misery, they 
 asked the captain's leave to celebrate the hallowed anni- 
 versary. With flour and oil they made pancakes, washing 
 them down with wine saved from the day before and 
 borrowed in advance from the mon-ow. They elected a 
 king by lot, the master gunner being indicated by chance 
 as the Lord of Nova Zembla. On the 8th the twilight was 
 observed to be slightly lengthening, and, though the cold 
 increased with the returning sun, they bore it with cheer- 
 fulness. They noticed a tinge of red in the atmosphere, 
 which spoke of the revival of nature. They visited the 
 ship, and found the ice a foot high in the hold : they 
 hardly expected ever to see her float again. The difficulty 
 of obtaining fuel was now such, that many of the men 
 thought it would be easier and shorter to lie down and 
 die than make such dreadful eff'orts to prolong life. To 
 save wood during the daytime they played snow-ball, or 
 ran, or wrestled, to keep up the circulation. 
 
KETUEN OF THE SUN. 155 
 
 On the 24th of January, Gerard de Veer declared he 
 had seen the edge of the sun : Barentz, who did not expect 
 the return of the hmiinary for fourteen days, was incre- 
 dulous, and the cloudy state of the weather during the 
 succeeding three days prevented the bets which were made 
 upon the subject from being settled. On the 27th they 
 buried one of their number in a snow grave seven feet 
 deep, having dug it wdth some difficulty, the diggers being 
 constantly obliged to return to the fire. One of the men 
 remarking that, even were the house completely blocked up 
 fifteen feet deep, they could yet get out by the chimney, 
 and a sailor ran out to see if he succeeded. He rushed 
 back, saying he had seen the sun. Everybody hastened 
 forth and " saw him, in his entire roundness," just above 
 the horizon. It was then decided that De Veer had seen 
 the edge on the 24th, and they " all rejoiced together, 
 praising God loudly for the mercy." 
 
 Another season of snow now set in, while, at the same 
 time, the ice that bound the ship began to break up, so 
 that the men feared she woidd escape and float away wbile 
 they were blockaded in the house. They were obliged to 
 make themselves shoes of worn-out fox-skin caps, as the 
 leather was frozen as hard as horn. On the night of the 
 6 th of April a bear ascended to the roof of the house by 
 means of the embankments of snow, and, attacking the 
 chimney with great violence, was very near demolishing it. 
 On the 1st of May they ate their last morsel of meat, 
 relying henceforth on what they might entrap or kill. 
 
 It was now decided that even if the ship should be dis- 
 engaged she would be unfit to continue the voyage. Their 
 only hope lay in the shallop and the long-boat, which they 
 endeavoured to prepare for the sea, in the midst of interrup- 
 tions from bears, who " were very obstinate to know how 
 Dutchmen tasted." As late as the 5th of June it snowed 
 so violently that tbey could only work within doors, where 
 they got ready the sails, oars, rudder, &c. On the 1 2th 
 they act to work with axes and other tools to level a path 
 
15G THE SHIP ABANDONED. 
 
 from the ship to the water — a distance of five hundred 
 paces. On the 1 3 th Barentz wrote a brief account of their 
 voyage and sojourn, placed it in a musket-barrel, and 
 attached it to the fireplace in the house for the information of 
 future navigators. They then dragged, with infinite labour, 
 the boats to the water, together with barrels and boxes 
 of such stores as their now impoverished ship could yield. 
 They bade adieu to their winter quarters on the 14th, at 
 early morning, " with a west wind and under the protection 
 of Heaven." Barentz, who had been a long time ill, died 
 on the 20th, while opposite Icy Cape, the northernmost 
 point of Nova Zembla, His loss was deeply regretted ; 
 but their " grief was assuaged by the reflection that none 
 can resist the will of God." 
 
 The men were often obliged to drag the boats across 
 intervening fields of ice ; and sometimes, when the wind 
 was contrary, they drew them up on a floating bank, and, 
 making tents of the sails, camped out, as if on military 
 service. The sentinels frequently challenged bears, and, on 
 one occasion, three coming together and one being killed, 
 the sm'viving two devoured their fallen companion. Through 
 dangers and difiiculties then unparalleled in navigation, 
 they struggled hopefully on, descending the western coast 
 of Nova Zembla towards the northern shores of Russia and 
 Lapland. On the 16th of August they met a Russian 
 bark, which furnished them with such provisions as tht 
 captain could spare. On the 20th they touched the coast 
 of Lapland upon the White Sea, where they found thirteen 
 Russians living in miserable huts upon the fish which they 
 caught. On the 2d of September they arrived at Kola, in 
 Lapland, where they found three Dutch ships, one of which, 
 was their consort, which had been separated from them ten 
 months before. Having no further use for their boats, they 
 carried them with ceremony to the " Merchants' House," 
 or Town Hall, where they dedicated them to the memory 
 of their long voyage of four hundred leagues over a tract 
 never traversed before, and which they liad accomplished in 
 
THE FIVE SHIPS OF KOTTEEDAM. 1 .J 7 
 
 open boats. They started at once for home, and arrived 
 on the 1st of November at Amsterdam, twelve in number. 
 The city was greatly excited by the news of their return, 
 for they had long since been given up for dead. The 
 chancellor and the " ambassador of the very illastrious King 
 of Denmark, Norway, the Goths and the Vandals" were at 
 that moment at dinner. The voyagers were summoned to 
 narrate their adventures before them — which they did, 
 *' clad in white fox-skin caps." 
 
 No voyage had hitherto been so fruitful in incident, peril, 
 and displays of persevering courage and fortitude. Though 
 it resulted in no discovery except that of the western coast 
 of Nova Zembla, it served the useful purpose of demonstrat- 
 ing the difficulty, if not the impossibility, of effecting a 
 north-east passage. 
 
 The Dutch, who had now succeeded the Portuguese in 
 the possession and control of the East Indies, had, up to 
 the year 1598, made all their voyages thither by the Por- 
 tuguese route — the Cape of Good Hope. In this year two 
 fleets fitted out by them were directed to proceed by the 
 Strait of Magellan and across the South Sea. The first of 
 these expeditions is known as that of the Five Ships of 
 Rotterdam, one of the five, however, becoming separated, 
 and forming a distinct enterprise, under Sebald de Weert : 
 the second was the voyage of Oliver Van Noort. 
 
 The Five Ships of Rotterdam were equipped at the charge 
 of several merchants called the Company of Peter Verhagen. 
 The flag-ship was commanded by Jacob Mahu ; the second 
 in command being Sebald de Weert. They sailed from 
 Goree, in Holland, on the 27th of June 1598. 
 
 On the 6th of April they entered the Strait of Magellan, 
 and were compelled to pass the Antarctic winter there — that 
 is, till late in August. Gales of wind followed each other 
 in quick succession ; and the anchors and cables were so 
 much damaged that the crews were kept in continual labour 
 and anxiety. The scarcity of food was such that the people 
 
158 SOUTH SEA EXPEDITION. 
 
 were sent on shore eveiy day at low water, frequently in 
 rain, snow, or frost, to seek for shell-fish or to gather roots 
 for their subsistence. These they devoured in the state in 
 which they were found, having no patience to wait to cook 
 them. One hundred and twenty men were buried during 
 this disastrous winter. 
 
 On the evening of September the 3d, the whole fleet, 
 including a shallop of sixteen tons, named the Postillion, 
 which had been put together in the Strait, entered the South 
 Sea. A storm soon arose, scattering them in every direc- 
 tion. Of these five ships, only one reached home again. 
 The second was abandoned at sea ; the third was plundered 
 by the Japanese at Bungo ; the fourth was taken by the 
 Spaniards at Valparaiso ; and the fifth fell into the hands 
 of the Portuguese at the Spice Islands. The Postillion 
 shallop, which had been launched in the Strait, was never 
 heard of after she entered the Pacific Ocean. 
 
 The plan of the South Sea Expedition under Oliver Van 
 Noort was in all respects similar to that of Mahu and De 
 Weert, and the equipment was made at the joint expense of 
 a company of merchants. The vessels fitted out were the 
 Mauritius, whose tonnage is not mentioned — in which sailed, 
 as Admiral, Van Noort, who was a native of Utrecht, and 
 an experienced seaman — the Hendrick Frederick, and two 
 yachts, the whole being manned by two hundred and forty- 
 eight men. The instructions to the Admiral were to sail 
 through Magellan Strait to the South Sea, to cruise off the 
 coast of Chili and Peru, to cross over to the Moluccas to 
 trade, and then, returning home, to complete the circumna'\d- 
 gation of the globe. He sailed on the 1 3th of September 
 1598, three months after the departure of the Five Ships 
 of Rotterdam. After an absence of three years Van Noort 
 returned to Rotterdam on the 26th of August 1601, where 
 he was received with the utmost joy. His was the first Dutch 
 vessel that circumnavigated the globe, and the only one of 
 the nine ships that sailed from Holland in 1598 in that 
 design which succeeded in fulfilling it. The voyage con- 
 
THE ANTAKCTIC EXPEDITION. 159 
 
 trlbuted nothing to geography, but, in spite of the instances 
 ol' barbarity with which it abounded, added to the warHke 
 and commercial reputation of the country, and therefore met 
 with favour from both Government and people. 
 
 Pedro Fernandez de Quiros was the pilot of Mendana's 
 second expedition. During the voyage he had reflected 
 deeply upon the probability of the existence of a Southern 
 continent : on his return to Peru, he asserted it, and de- 
 voted the remainder of his life to the prosecution of a plan 
 of discoveiy. He was the first to bring forward scientific 
 arguments in support of the theoiy — one which, by the 
 way, was destined to agitate and interest the world for two 
 centuries, till its final overthrow by Cook. He presented 
 two memorials to Don Louis de Valasco, the viceroy, praying 
 for ships, men, and other necessaries, with which " to plough 
 up the waters of the unknown sea, and to seek out the 
 undiscovered lands around the Antarctic Pole, the centre of 
 that horizon." His argimieuts were many of them profound, 
 and made a deep impression upon the viceroy, who despatched 
 him with strong recommendations to the court of Spain. 
 Philip III, gave favourable attention to his projects, and 
 ordered that Quiros should go in person upon an expedition 
 " among these hidden provinces and severed regions — an 
 expedition destined to win souls to heaven and kingdoms 
 to the crown of Spain." Quiros retuiTied to Lima " with 
 the most honoiu'able schpdules which had ever passed the 
 Council of State." He built three ships, and embarked on 
 the 20th of December 1605, holding his course west by 
 south. 
 
 A thousand leagues from Peru he discovered a small island 
 which he named Encama^ion : to others, of little importance 
 and uninhabited, he gave the names of Santehno, St. Miguel, 
 and Archangel : the tenth he called Dezena. On the 1 0th of 
 February 1606, land was seen from the topmast-head, and, 
 to the joy of all, columns of smoke — an unmistakable sign 
 that the land was inhabited — were perceived ascending at 
 
160 INDIANS SUBDUED BY BEAVERY. 
 
 numerous points. A boat advanced to the surf, through, 
 which it seemed impossible to gain the shore. A young 
 man, Francisco Ponce by name, stripped off his clothes, say- 
 ing that, if they should thus turn their faces from the first 
 danger which offered, there would be no hope of eventual 
 success. He threw himself into the sea, and, after a fierce 
 struggle with the receding waves, clambered up a rock to 
 a spot where one hundred Indians were awaiting him. 
 They seemed pleased with his resolution, and frequently 
 kissed his forehead. Peace was made, and a safe anchor- 
 age was pointed out. The island thus discovered subsequently 
 became, for many reasons, the most famous in the whole 
 Pacific Ocean. Quiros called it Sagittaria ; but it is now 
 kno\ni as Tahiti or Otaheite. 
 
 The fleet stayed here but two days, and then continued 
 on its way. On the 2Gth of April he made a land which he 
 took to be the continent of which he was in search, and to 
 which he gave the name of Tierra Austral del Espiritu Santo. 
 Bougainville and Cook, who arrived here a century and a half 
 afterwards, thought themselves justified, by acquiring the 
 certitude that it was a group of islands and not a continent, 
 in christening them anew — Bougainville naming them the 
 Grand Cyclades, and Cook the New Hebrides. The Span- 
 iards found it impossible to make peace with the natives, 
 and the few days which they spent there were passed in 
 wrangling and bloodshed. 
 
 The achievements and discoveries of Quiros properly end 
 here. His ships were separated, and his own crew disabled 
 by the effects of poisonous fish which they had eaten. He 
 called a council of his oflBcers, and asked their opinion upon 
 a choice of courses, — a prosecution of the voyage to China, 
 or a return to Mexico. The latter was decided upon. 
 Quiros arrived at Acapulco nine months after his departure 
 from Callao. 
 
 His stirring appeals as to farther efforts in the same 
 direction were disregarded by the feeble successor of Charles 
 V. ; and Quiros, who, though a Portuguese by birth, is often 
 
DROPPING ANCHOR IN NEW YORK BAY. 161 
 
 styled the last of the Spanish heroes, died at Panama on 
 his way back to Lima. 
 
 While energetic efforts were thus being made in the 
 regions lying about the equator, another adventurer, equally 
 enterprising, was endeavouring to reach the Pole. Henry 
 Hudson, a seaman renowned for his hardy and daring 
 achievements, was appointed, in 1607, by the Muscovy 
 Company of London, to the command of a vessel intended 
 to penetrate to China by the Arctic Seas to the north of 
 Europe. His crew consisted of ten men and a boy. He 
 advanced as far as Greenland, and returned by Spitzbergen, 
 — being convinced that the ice formed an insurmountable 
 barrier againt farther progress. He again set out in 1608, 
 and keeping more to the eastward, passed to the north of 
 Norway, Sweden, and Russia as far as Nova Zembla. The 
 ice again stopj)ed him, and he returned, — persuaded that 
 the north-eastern passage did not exist. The next year he 
 was again sent upon the same errand ; but, being stiU un- 
 successful, he crossed the Atlantic to America. He coasted 
 along the continent as far as Chesapeake Bay, and then returned 
 to the north, entering Delaware Bay and arriving in sight 
 of the islands of Neversink on the 2d of September. This 
 he pronounced a " good land to fall in with, and a pleasant 
 land to see." The next morning he passed Sandy Hook, 
 and came to anchor in what is now the Lower Bay of New 
 York. What an event in the history of American popula- 
 tion, enterprise, commerce, intelligence, and power, was the 
 di'opping of that anchor in Sandy Hook ! 
 
 Here he lingered a week in friendly intercourse with the 
 natives of New Jersey, while a boat's company explored the 
 waters up to Newark Bay. And now the great question : — 
 Shall he turn back, or ascend the stream 1 Hudson was of 
 a race not prone to turn back, by sea or land. On the 1 1th 
 of September he raised the anchor of the Half-Moon, and 
 passed through the Narrows, beholding on both sides " as 
 beautiful a land as one could tread on j" the ship floated 
 cautiously and slowly up the noble stream, — the first that 
 
 X 
 
162 Hudson's bay. 
 
 ever rested on its bosom. He passed on till he came to anchor 
 in deep water, near the site of the present city of Albany. 
 Happy if he could have closed his gjdlant career on tho 
 banks of the streiim which so justly bears his name, and 
 thus have escaped the sorrowful and mysterious catastro])ho 
 which awaited liini the next year. 
 
 He soon after returned to England ; and, not being dis- 
 couraged, nor finding it difficult to obtain the means of 
 continuing his maritime adventures, he set sail, in 1610, 
 in a vessel of fifty-five tons' burden, manned by twenty- 
 throe men and victualled for six months. He touched at 
 the Orkneys, and anchored at Iceland. Mount Hccla ro,- 
 vcaled to him the magnificence of a volcano in travail, and 
 the Hot Springs obligingly cooked his food. He passed 
 Greenland, where the sun set in the north. In tlie course 
 of June and July he passed to the northward of Labrador, 
 and followed the strait which now bears his name. In 
 spite of ice and disturbances among his crew, which at 
 times assumed the character of a mutiny, he pushed on into 
 the great inland sea known as Hudson's Bay. For a long 
 time he did not know that it was a bay, and naturally was 
 led to hope that he was on the point of attaining the object 
 of all his efforts, — a passage by the nortli-west to China. 
 
 On the 1st of November, after seeking wintei- quarters, 
 his men found a siutable spot for beacliing their vessel. 
 Ten days afterwards they were frozen in, with provisions 
 hardly sufficient to last, upon the most meagre allowance, 
 till they could exi)ect a release from the ice. A rewanl 
 was offered to those who added to tlie general stock by 
 catcijing eitluT birds or fish, or animals serviceable for 
 food. A house was built ; but the season was so far 
 advanced that it could not be rendered fit to dwell in. 
 The winter was severe, and the men lived at first upon 
 partridges, then upon swans and teal, and finally upon moss 
 and fi'ogs. Towards spring tiiey obtained furs from the 
 natives, in exchange for hatchets, glass, and buttons. 
 
 When th(^ ice In-oke u]) they prepared to i-eturn ; tho 
 
SET ADRIFT. 1G3 
 
 last ration of bread ^being exhausted on the day of their 
 de}>arture. A report was circulated among the crew that 
 Hudson had concealed a quantity of bread for his own use, 
 and a mutiny, fomented by a man named Green, broke out 
 on the 21st of June. Hudson was seized and his hands 
 bound. Together with the sick, and those whom the frost 
 had deprived of the use of their limbs, he was put into the 
 shallop and set adrift. Neither he, nor the boat, nor any 
 of its crew, were ever heard of again alive or dead. They 
 undoul)tedly perished in a violent storm which arose tlie 
 next day, though, had they survived it, they must have 
 soon succumbed eitlier to hunger or exposure. Hudson 
 died in the bay which bears his name : his name will live, 
 however, iudissolubly connected, as it is, with the American 
 Mediterranean and the superb river and harbour which 
 have contributed to make New York, in seventy-five years, 
 the second commercial metropolis of the world. 
 
 We have seen that the Dutch succeeded the Portuguese 
 in the posscssi<jn of the East Indies. During the struggle 
 between these two powers for supremacy over the Spice 
 Islands, the Dutch East India Company resolved to make 
 a vigorous effort to reach the Moluccas by the Strait of 
 Magellan. They equipped a fleet of six ships, for tlie 
 purpose of exploring a nev route, under the command of 
 Joris Spilbergen as admiral, who had already conducted a 
 Dutch fleet to the Indies. He sailed from the Texel on 
 the 8th of August 1 G 1 4. 
 
 The vessels entered the South Sea on the 6th of May, 
 and on the 25th anchored off Mocha Island, half a league 
 from the coast of Chili. The natives were delighted to 
 learn that the strangers were the enemies of the Spaniards 
 their oppressors, and to see that their ships were so large 
 and well armed. The chief of the island visited the ad- 
 miral's ship and remained his guest all night. A hatchet 
 was the price fixed upon for two fat sheep ; and a hundred 
 were obtained at this rate. 
 
164 SANGUINAEY CONFLICT. 
 
 On the 29tli the vessels anchored off the island of Santa 
 Maria, and though there were Spaniards upon it, nego- 
 tiations were opened. The Dutch officers were invited by 
 a Spaniard to dine on shore, and, having accepted and 
 assembled for the purpose, were either led to suspect 
 treachery, or were convinced that they were strong enough 
 to help themselves without negotiation. They summoned 
 soldiers from the ships, burned a number of houses, and 
 carried off five hundred sheep. The Spaniard who was to 
 have been their host, but who was now their prisoner, 
 having informed them that the Viceroy of Peru had been 
 for some months aware of their approach, and that a strong 
 force was prepared at Lima to attack them, Spilbergen 
 determined to go in search of the Spanish fleet. At Arica 
 — the seaport to which the Potosi silver was brought to be 
 shipped to Panama — they took a small ship laden with 
 treasure. On the evening of the 1 6th of July the Spanish 
 fleet of eight sail appeared in sight. The Jesu Maria, the 
 flag-ship, had no less than four hundred and sixty men, 
 and mounted twenty-four guns ; and the whole squadron 
 were in the same proportion better provided with men 
 than artillery. Don Rodrigo de Mendo9a was the com- 
 mander. About ten at night the Spanish and Dutch 
 admirals closed. The night becoming very dark, the fleets 
 were gradually separated. The next morning five of the 
 Spanish ships sent word to their admiral that they were 
 going to escape if they could. The Spanish admiral and 
 vice-admiral were lashed together for mutual support, and 
 were, in this condition, attacked by the Dutch. The 
 Spanish seamen several times hung out a white flag in 
 token of surrender, which was as often cut down by their 
 officers, who chose rather to die than yield, especially as 
 they had sworn to the Viceroy of Peru to bring him all 
 the Hollanders in chains. At nightfall the Spanish ad- 
 miral's ship cut herself loose and fled from pursuit ; but 
 her leaks and damages were so serious that she went to 
 the bottom before dawn. This decided the victory in 
 
EXCLUSIVE PRIVILEGES OF THE DUTCH. 1 G5 
 
 favour of the Dutch. The victorious fleet sailed directly 
 for Callao ; and proceeding to the north, on the 11th of 
 October entered the harbour of Acapulco, in Mexico or 
 New Spain. Negotiations were entered into and a treaty- 
 was made, the Dutch agreeing to release all their prisoners, 
 and the Spanish to furnish them with oxen, sheep, poultry, 
 fruit, water, and wood. 
 
 On the 23d of January 1616, they came in sight of the 
 Ladrones, where they stopped two days to traffic with the 
 natives for flesh, fish, fruit, and fowl. On entering the 
 Straits of Manilla, they gained intelligence of a fleet of 
 twelve ships and four galleys, manned by two thousand 
 Spaniards, besides Indians and Chinese, sent to drive their 
 countrymen from the Moluccas and to reduce these islands 
 to the dominion of Spain. On this news they discharged 
 all their prisoners, and made preparations to meet the Ma- 
 nilla fleet and to proceed to the assistance of their friends. 
 To the great joy of their countrymen, they arrived on the 
 29 th of March at Ternate, one of the principal islands of 
 the group, where the Dutch possessed a trading-station. 
 
 Spilbergen was now detained nine months in the Molucca 
 and neighbouring islands, in the service of the East India 
 Company. He left the ships in which he had hitherto 
 sailed in India, and returned to Holland in the Amsterdam. 
 His voyage produced no new discoveries in the South Sea ; 
 but the Directors of the Company bestowed upon him the 
 highest praise for his prudent management and timely 
 energy. The Company may be said to have dated their 
 grandeur from the day of his return, both as regards power 
 and wealth, — the first resulting from his successful circum- 
 navigation of the globe, the latter from their conquests in 
 the Moluccas, in which he took a prominent part, and of 
 which he brought home the first intelligence. 
 
 Tlie Dutch East India Company held from the Govern- 
 ment the exclusive privilege of trading in the Great South 
 Sea, — all private citizens being prohibited from entering 
 those waters by the Cape of Good Hope on the east or the 
 
] G6 SEARCH FOR A NEW PASSAGE. 
 
 Strait of Magellan on the west. This prohibition stimu- 
 lated rather than checked the commercial ardour of the 
 country, and it soon became the study of navigators and 
 merchants to discover some safe means of eluding the law, 
 it being hard, they said, that Government should close up 
 the channels which Nature had left free. Isaac Lemaire, a 
 rich trader of Amsterdam, was the first to whom the idea 
 occurred of seeking another passage from the Atlantic to the 
 Pacific than the Strait of Magellan. He imparted his views 
 to William Cornelison Schouten, who had been three times 
 to the East Indies in the different capacities of supercargo, 
 pilot, and master. He too was convinced that to the south 
 of Terra del Fuego lay another passage from one ocean to 
 the other. Could they find this passage, they might legally 
 trespass upon the monopoly held by the Company. They 
 determined to attempt the discovery, and Lemaire advanced 
 half the necessary funds, Schouten and his friends furnish- 
 ing the other half Two ships were fitted out, the larger, — 
 the Concord, — of three hundred and sixty tons, being 
 manned by sixty-five men, and pierced for twenty-nine guns 
 of small calibre ; the Horn, of one hundred and ten tons, 
 carrying eight cannons, four swivels, and twenty-two men. 
 Schouten was master and pilot of the expedition, and James 
 Lemaire, the son of Isaac, supercargo. The object of the 
 voyage was kept a profound secret, the officers and men 
 being bound by their articles to go wherever they should be 
 required. The little fleet was equipped in the port of Horn, 
 and left the Texel on the 1 4th of June 1615, proceeding 
 towards the coast of Africa. 
 
 Late in October the ships' companies were informed of 
 the design of the voyage, and readily consented to engage 
 in a scheme which promised both distinction and emolu- 
 ment. Early in December they made the coast of Pata- 
 gonia, some three hundred miles to the north of Magellan's 
 Strait. Here the Horn, the smaller of the two vessels, 
 caught fire by accident and was destroyed. Her iron-work, 
 guns, and anchors were transferred to the Concord. On the 
 
nONFISOATION BY THE DUTCH. 167 
 
 24 th the Concord passed the Strait of Magellan, and was 
 soon in the latitude where Schouten and Lemaire hoped to 
 make their grand discovery. While Terra del Fuego ^Yas 
 still in sight upon their right hand, they noticed a high 
 rugged island upon their left, which they named Staten 
 Land, or Land of the States. The ship passed between the 
 two, and soon after rounded the promontory which advanced 
 the farthest into the sea, to which, in honour of the port 
 from which the expedition had sailed, Schouten gave the 
 name of Cape Horn. He then launched into the South 
 Sea, being the first who passed completely round the South 
 American continent. Lemaire claimed the honour of giving 
 his name to the strait which had brought them to the 
 Cape, — one which clearly belonged to Schouten, as the 
 leader and pilot of the expedition. The strait is still known 
 by the name of the supercargo, geographers having conse- 
 crated, by silence, this manifest act of injustice. 
 
 Altering their course to the northward, they soon recog- 
 nised the mouth of Magellan's Strait, — which rendered 
 their discovery complete. Schouten then made for the 
 island of Juan Fernandez, where he hoped to give rest and 
 refreshment to his sickly and wearied crew. The currents 
 and the winds woidd not permit him to land ; and he was 
 compelled to start across the Pacific in a crazy ship and 
 with a disabled company. 
 
 Early in July 1616 they arrived at the Moluccas, and 
 went on shore upon the island of Gilolo, where they pro- 
 cured poultry, tortoises, rice, and sago. They next touched 
 at Ternate, where they were kindly entertained by the Dutch 
 authorities. They then sailed for Java, and cast anchor in 
 the harbour of Jacatra — now Batavia — sixteen mouths after 
 quitting the Texel, having lost but three men upon the 
 voyage. The expedition properly terminates here ; for Jan 
 Petersen Cohen, President for the Dutch East India Com- 
 pany at Bantam, in Java, confiscated their ship and cargo 
 as forfeited for illegally sailing within the boundaries of the 
 company's charter. He sent Schouten and Lemaire to 
 
168 DISCOVERY OF Baffin's BAY. 
 
 Holland, however, that they might plead their cause before 
 a competent court. Lemaire died on his way home, over- 
 come with grief and vexation at the disastrous end of a voy- 
 age which had been so successful till the seizure of the ship. 
 Schouten made several subsequent voyages to the East In- 
 dies, and died in 1625, in the island of Madagascar. His 
 name is little known, and his memory has almost passed 
 away, although to him clearly belongs the credit of improv- 
 ing upon Magellan's discovery by furnishing a safer route 
 to the commerce of the world, and substituting the doubling 
 of Cape Horn for the threading of the Strait. 
 
 During this same year the English made their last attempt 
 for nearly two centuries in the Arctic waters. William 
 Baffin, who had accompanied Hudson in one of his earlier 
 voyages, embarked in the capacity of pilot on board the 
 Discovery, commanded by one Kobert Bylot. The crew 
 consisted of fourteen men and two boys. Passing throup^h 
 Davis' Strait, they came to the vast bay which now bears 
 Baffin's name. They found it to be eight hundred miles 
 long and three hundred wide. They ascended to the north 
 as far as the seventy-eighth degree of latitude, where the 
 bay seemed to taper off in a strait or sound, which they 
 called Thomas Smith's Sound. Here Baffin observed the 
 greatest variation of the needle known at that time — fifty- 
 six degrees to the west. The charts of Baffin are lost ; 
 but several of his journals are extant, and contain numer- 
 ous astronomical and hydrographic observations, which 
 have since been fully verified by the superior instruments 
 of modem science. Baffin saw the opening to the west 
 which Ross, two centuries later, was to call Lancaster 
 Sound, and through which Parry was to penetrate to Mel- 
 ville Island and to the Polar Sea. He was convinced that 
 a north-west passage existed, though he never made a 
 second voyage in search of it. These icy coasts remained 
 unvisited till the middle of the 1 8th century, when English 
 navigators were roused into fresh activity by the reward 
 offered by Parliament — £20,000 to him who should sail 
 to China by the north-west. 
 
SECTION IV. 
 
 FROM THE DISCOVERT OF CAPE HORN TO THE ARCTIC 
 EXPLORATIONS.— A.D. 1616-1854. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 THE MAYFLOWER ABEL JANSEN TASMAN THE 
 
 BUCCANEERS WILLIAM DAMPIER. 
 
 We have now to narrate the incidents of a voyage with- 
 out precedent, in one point of view, in maritime annals, 
 and to chronicle the adventures of a ship which, in some 
 respects, may be said to have achieved a fame little inferior 
 to that of any other that ever ploughed the ocean. We 
 allude to the Mayflower, in which the Pilgiim Fathers pro- 
 ceeded from Southampton Water to Plymouth Rock. The 
 details of the voyage, however, are few and unsatisfactory. 
 
 The Majilower was built in England, at a time when 
 English commerce could bear no comparison with that of 
 Holland, and when the trade with the latter power employed 
 six hundred Dutch ships to one hundred of English build. 
 They were picturesque in appearance, though tub-like and 
 clumsy, the hull being broad-bottomed and capacious, while 
 the lofty cabins, towering high both fore and aft — a style 
 now obsolete in Europe, but still prevailing in the Red Sea 
 and the Levant — caused them to roll heavily in rough 
 water. The Mayflower was a high-stemed, quaint, but 
 staunch little vessel of one hundred and eighty tons, and 
 was built for one of the trading companies lately chartered 
 169 Y 
 
170 DEPARTUEE OF THE PILGRIM FATHERS. 
 
 by the Government. The Dutch portion of the emigration 
 had already embarked at Delfthaven in the Speedwell, of 
 sixty tons, and both vessels were, on the 1st of August 1620, 
 anchored before the old towers of Southampton. The pil- 
 grims were then regularly organized for the voyage, being 
 distributed according to rules laid down and accepted by 
 all. The larger number were, of course, received on board 
 the Mayflower. On the 5th of August, both vessels weighed 
 anchor, and sailed down the beautiful estuary of Southamp- 
 ton Water : passing the Isle of Wight and the rocks known 
 as the Needles, they entered the English Channel. 
 
 They were no sooner launched upon the fretful waters of 
 this confined strait than their disasters began. The captain 
 of the Speedwell, who had engaged to remain a year abroad 
 with the vessel, actuated either by cowardice or by dissatis- 
 faction with the enterprise, declared that his ship was leaky, 
 and that she could not proceed to sea. Dartmouth Har- 
 bour ofiered an opportunity for effecting the necessary re- 
 pairs, and here a week was spent : the Speedwell was then 
 pronounced quite sound by the carpenters and surveyors. 
 They again set sail ; but the captain of the Speedwell soon 
 profited by the vicinity of Plymouth to assert a second time 
 that he was ready to founder. He ran into port, and the 
 Mayflower followed. No special cause was discovered for 
 the apprehensions of the captain ; but it was decided that 
 the Speedwell should be sent back to London as unseaworthy, 
 with such of her passengers as were disheartened, the re- 
 mainder being transferred to the larger ship. One hundred 
 and one persons — some of them aged and infirm, and seve- 
 ral of them women soon to become mothers — were thus 
 imprisoned, as it were, in a vessel much too small to ac- 
 commodate them ; while the delays resulting from the 
 treachery or stratagem practised by the captain of the Speed- 
 well had already proved so serious, that it was the 6th of 
 September before the Mayflower, with her crowd of suffer- 
 ing passengers, could continue the voyage thus inauspici- 
 ously commenced. 
 
VALUE Oil' A SCEEW. 171 
 
 TLe wind was east by north, blowing, according to the 
 journal, "a fine small gale," when the Mayflower started from 
 Plymouth upon her lonely way. The solitude of the ocean 
 — in this latitude almost a trackless waste — lay stretched 
 out before them. The prosperous gale soon gave way to 
 the equinoctial storm, and a terrible head-wind from the 
 north-west compelled the little bark to struggle anxiously 
 with waves which threatened to engulf her. She was soon 
 sorely shattered : her upper works w^ere strained, and one 
 of the main beams amidships was bent and cracked. A con- 
 sultation was held betw^een the seamen and passengers, and 
 the question was seriously debated whether it would not be 
 better to put back. It was fortunately discovered, how- 
 ever, that one of the Dutch pilgrims had accidentally 
 brought on board a large iron screw, and this served to 
 rivet the defective beam. The ship proceeded on her course, 
 struggling with westerly gales and tempestuous seas. For 
 whole days together she was compelled to lie to, or to scud 
 with bare poles. Only one death occurred during this terrible 
 voyage — a loss in numbers which was made good by the 
 birth of a boy, to whom was given the name of Oceanus 
 Hopkins. 
 
 Sixty-four days had passed, and the 9 th of November 
 had dawned. Upon this date the tempest-tossed pilgrims 
 obtained their first view of the American coast. 
 
 The Mayflower remained in Plymouth Harbour, and was 
 the home of the women and children during the severe 
 winter of 1620-21. She rode out the storm at her an- 
 chorage — though she was placed in great danger by a gale 
 upon the 4th of February, her want of ballast — unladen as 
 slie was — rendering her light as a cockle-shell. With the 
 opening of spring, the captain determined to return to Eng- 
 land, and offered to carry back any of the colonists who 
 might be disheartened by the calamities which had over- 
 taken them — for they had buried half their number. But 
 tlieir sufferings had endeared the soil to them, and not one 
 eui braced the opportunity of returning. The Mayflower 
 
172 DISCOVERY OF TASMANIA. 
 
 left Plymouth on the 5th of April 1621, and made the run 
 home to London in thirty days. 
 
 The Council of the Dutch East India Company thought 
 proper, in 1642, to order a complete and precise survey of 
 the lands accidentally discovered during the previous fifty 
 years by vessels trading between Holland and Batavia, in 
 Java. These had touched, at intervals, at numerous points 
 upon the continental island of New Holland — Hertog at 
 Endracht's Land in 1616, and De Witt, Van Nuyts, and 
 Carpenter at other points, somewhat later. It was emi- 
 nently desirable that a scientific navigator should visit and 
 render an account of this region, of which only casual 
 glimpses had thus far been obtained. Captain Abel Jansen 
 Tasman was intrusted with this duty by Van Diemen, 
 Governor-General of the Company. He left Batavia in 
 August with two vessels, the Zeehaan and the Heemskirk, 
 and proceeded towards the south and south-east. During 
 this portion of the voyage the needle was in such continual 
 agitation, unwilling to remain in any of the eight points 
 and boxing the whole compass in twenty-four hours, that 
 Tasman was led to believe large mines of loadstone to exist 
 in the vicinity. On the 24th of November he discovered 
 land, and gave to it the name of Van Diemen's Land — a 
 name which, in honour of its discoverer, is now changed to 
 Tasmania. Tasman set up a post, upon which every man 
 of the company cut his name, and upon the top of which a 
 flag was hoisted, and then set out in quest of the Solomon 
 Islands, which he supposed to lie to the east. 
 
 On the 13th of September he discovered a high, moun- 
 tainous country, to which he gave the name of Staten Land 
 — Land of the States [of Holland]. Its present name is 
 New Zealand. He coasted along the shore to the north- 
 east, and anchored in a fine bay, though he did not dis- 
 embark. The savages, who were shy at first, at last 
 ventured on board the Heemskirk, in order to trade. 
 Tasman, suspicious of their intentions, sent a boat with 
 
MUKDEREES' BAY. 173 
 
 seven men from the Zeehaan, to put the crew of his consort 
 upon their guard. These seven men, being without arms, 
 were attacked, three of them were killed, and the other 
 four forced to swim for their lives. The two vessels 
 opened their fire upon the canoes of the islanders, and 
 Tasman branded the spot with a name which still exists 
 upon the charts — Murderers' Bay. 
 
 On the 21st of January 1643, he saw three islands, in 
 latitude 21° south : he named them Amsterdam, Eotter- 
 dam, and Middlebourg. The inhabitants were peaceable 
 and friendly, were unacquainted with the use of weapons, 
 and very skilfid in stealing. These are now the principal 
 members of the group known as the Friendly Islands. 
 They remained unvisited by Europeans from the time of 
 Tasman, in 1643, to the second voyage of Cook in 1773 
 — a space of one hundred and thirty years. Cook found 
 traditions still existing respecting Tasman' s ships ; and a 
 nail was shown him which had been left by the Dutch 
 navigator. Proceeding to the north and then to the west, 
 Tasman discovered a group of twenty islands, girt with 
 shoals and sands. He named them Prince William's Islands 
 and Heemskirk's Shallows. These now form the eastern 
 portion of the Feejee archipelago. They remained unvisited 
 for a century and a half, until the people of the Friendly 
 Islands spoke of them to Cook and his successors, and in- 
 duced them to visit them. 
 
 Tasman now feared that the currents and winds had 
 driven him more to the westward than he had supposed ; 
 for he had not seen the sun for many weeks, and was con- 
 sequently without reliable observations. He resolved to 
 make for the north, and then for the western coast of New 
 Guinea, in order not to be driven to the south of the island 
 and pass it without seeing it. On the 1st of April he saw 
 the coast of what he supposed was New Guinea, but 
 which was in reality New Britain. 
 
 On the 18th of May Tasman reached the western ex- 
 tremity of New Guinea, having sailed entirely round the 
 
174 SEA-EOBBERS. 
 
 continent or island of Australia. He arrived at Batavia, 
 whence he had started, after an absence of ten months. 
 His expedition was the clearest and most precise of the 
 several voyages which had been made for the discovery of 
 the Terra Australis Incognita : few voyages, since that of 
 Magellan, had contributed more to geogi-aphical science ; 
 for, by reducing the limits of the Terra Australis, as he did 
 by circumnavigating the supposed continent, he did much 
 to rid geography of its most important error. 
 
 Tasman made a second voyage in 1644 ; but his jour-' 
 nals and his track have been completely lost. The portion 
 of his discoveries relative to New Zealand and the Friendly 
 Islands was completed by Cook ; that relative to Van Die- 
 men's Land by d'Entrecasteaux, in his voyage in search of 
 La Perouse. 
 
 It is necessary to pause at this period in our review of 
 the grand maritime expeditions which successively left the 
 various seaports of the world, in order to refer to a prac- 
 tice which was now rendering commerce hazardous and the 
 whole highway of the seas insecure — piracy. Besides the 
 numerous isolated adventurers who preyed upon the vessels 
 of any and every nation which fell in their way, a powerful 
 association or league of robbers, w^ho infested particularly 
 the West India Islands and the Caribbean Sea, and who 
 bore the name of Buccaneers, became, during the century 
 of which we are now speaking, the peculiar dread of 
 Spanish ships. The Spaniards would not allow any other 
 nation than their own to trade in the West Indies, and 
 pursued and murdered the English and French wherever 
 they found them. Every foreigner discovered among the 
 islands or on the coast of the American continent was 
 treated as a smuggler and a robber ; and it was not long 
 before they became so, and organized themselves into an 
 association capable of returning cruelty by cruelty. The 
 Spaniards emjjloyed coast-guards to keep off interlopers, the 
 commanders of which were instructed to massacre all their 
 
THEIR MODE OF LIFE. 175 
 
 prisoners. This tended to produce a close alliance, oflfen- 
 sive and defensive, among the mariners of all other nations, 
 who in their turn made descents upon the coasts aud 
 ravaged the weaker Spanish towns and settlements. A 
 permanent state of hostilities was thus established in the 
 West Indies, independent of peace or war at home. After 
 the failure of the mines of St. Domingo and its abandon- 
 ment by the Spaniards, it was taken possession of, early in 
 the sixteenth century, by a number of French wanderers 
 who had been driven out of St. Christopher ; and their 
 numbers were soon augmented by adventurers from all 
 quarters. 
 
 As they had neither wives nor children, they generally 
 lived together by twos for mutual protection and assistance : 
 when one died, the survivor inherited his property, unless 
 a will was found bequeathing it to some relative in Europe. 
 Bolts, locks, and all kinds of fastenings were prohibited 
 among them, the maxim of " honour among thieves" being 
 considered a more efficient safeguard. The dress of a buc- 
 caneer consisted of a shirt dipped in the blood of an animal 
 just slain, a leathern girdle in which hung pistols and a 
 short sabre, a hat with feathers, but without a rim, except 
 a fragment in guise of a visor to puU it on and off, and 
 shoes of untanned hide, without stockings. Each man hnd 
 a heavy musket and usually a pack of twenty or thirty 
 dogs. Their business was, at the outset, cattle-hunting ; 
 and they sold hides to the Dutch who resorted to the 
 island to purchase them. They possessed servants and 
 slaves, consisting of persons decoyed to the West Indies 
 and induced to bind themselves for a certain number of 
 years. 
 
 The Spaniards inhabiting other portions of St. Domingo 
 conceived the idea of ridding the island of the buccaneers 
 by destroying all the wild cattle ; and this was carried into 
 execution by a general chase. The buccaneers abandoned 
 St. Domingo and took refuge in the moimtainous and well- 
 wooded island of Tortuga, of which they made themselvfj; 
 
176 PROVISION FOR THE WOUNDED. 
 
 absolute lords and masters. The advantages of the situa- 
 tion brought swarms of adventurers and desperadoes to the 
 spot ; and from cattle-hunters the buccaneers became pirates. 
 They made their cruises in open boats, exposed to all the 
 inclemencies of the weather, and captured their prizes by 
 boarding. They attacked indiscrimmately the ships of 
 every nation, feeling especial hostility and exercising pecu- 
 liar cruelty towards the Spaniards. They considered them- 
 selves to be justified in this by the oppression of the 
 Mexicans and Indians by Spanish rulers, and, quieting 
 their consciences by thus assuming the character of avengers 
 and dispensers of poetic justice, they never embarked upon 
 an expedition without publicly offering up prayers for suc- 
 cess, nor did they ever return laden with spoils without as 
 publicly giving thanks for their good fortune. 
 
 They seldom attacked any European ships except those 
 homeward bound — which were usually well freighted with 
 gold and silver. The Spaniards held them in such terror 
 that they usually surrendered on coming to close quarters. 
 The spoil was equitably divided, provision being first made 
 for the wounded. The loss of an arm was rated at six 
 hundred dollars, and other wounds in pruportion. The 
 commander could claim but one share ; although, when he 
 had acquitted himself with distinction, it was usual to 
 compliment him by the addition of several shares. When 
 the division was effected, the buccaneers abandoned them- 
 selves to all kinds of rioting and licentiousness till their 
 wealth was expended, when they started in pursuit of 
 new booty. 
 
 The buccaneers now rapidly increased in strength, daring, 
 and numbers. They sailed in larger vessels, and undertook 
 enterprises requiring great energy and audacity. Miguel 
 de Basco captured, under the guns of Portobello, a Spanish 
 galleon valued at a million of dollars. A Frenchman of 
 the name of Montbars conceived so deadly a hatred for the 
 Spaniards, and killed so many of them, that he obtained 
 the title of " The Exterminator." But the fame of all the 
 
PEOMOTION. 177 
 
 buccaneer commanders was eclipsed by that of Henry Mor- 
 g:!iii, a Welshman. The boldest and most astonishing of 
 his exploits was his forcing his way across the Isthmus of 
 Darien from the Atlantic to the Pacific Ocean. His object 
 was to plunder the rich city of Panama: his expedition, 
 however, opened the way to the great Southern Sea, where 
 tlie buccaneers laid the foundation of much of our geogra- 
 pliical knowledge of that ocean. He first took the castle 
 of San Lorenzo, at the mouth of the river Chagres, where 
 out of tliree hundred and fourteen Spaniards he put two 
 lumdred to death. He left five hundred men in the castle, 
 one hundred and fifty on board of his thirty-seven ships, 
 and with the rest — who, after deducting the killed and 
 wounded, amounted to about twelve huncked men — began 
 his progress through a wild and trackless country w^hich 
 was then known only to the native Indians. After a 
 desperate combat with the Spaniards, he took and plun- 
 dered Panama, which then consisted of about seven thousand 
 houses. He returned to the mouth of the Chagres with an 
 enormous booty, and, after defrauding the fleet of their 
 share of the spoils, sailed for Jamaica, which was already 
 an English colony. He was made deputy-governor of the 
 island by Charles ii., by whom he was also knighted. He 
 proved an efficient ofiicer, and gave no quarter to the 
 buccaneers ! 
 
 Morgan's expedition had pointed out a short way to the 
 South Sea; and, in 1680, some three hundred English 
 buccaneers started from the Atlantic side to cross the 
 isthmus. They formed an alliance with the Darien In- 
 dians, who furnished them a quantity of canoes upon the 
 Pacific side. Some of them remained a long time in the 
 South Sea, and made many discoveries of undoubted benefit 
 to mankind. 
 
 The Spaniards never dared to defend themselves unless 
 they greatly outnumbered their assailants, and even then they 
 were usually routed with ease. They revenged themselves 
 upon the enemy by mangling and subjecting to mimic tor- 
 
 2 
 
178 A ROVER. 
 
 tures such dead bodies of the invaders as were left behind, 
 — an exhibition of impotent rage which only excited the 
 buccaneers to fresh cruelties. 
 
 One of the English buccaneers ("William Dampier) be- 
 came subsequently an eminent discoverer, author, and phi- 
 losopher. After receiving a collegiate education, he went 
 to sea in northern latitudes, which for a time disgusted 
 him with a maritime life. A voyage to the East Indies, 
 the superintendence of a plantation in Jamaica, and three 
 years spent among the logwood-cutters of Campeachy, gave 
 him a strong bias for the tropical waters. In Campeachy 
 he became acquainted with some of the buccaneers, whose 
 descriptions of their adventures kindled in him a fondness 
 for a roving and piratical life. He joined an expedition 
 under Captain John Cooke ; an English pilot named Cowley 
 was engaged as master, and embarked in complete ignorance 
 of the nature of the voyage. They sailed in August 1683 
 in the Revenge, mounting eight guns, and manned by fifty- 
 two men. Cowley was told the first day that the vessel's 
 mission was trade, and her destination St. Domingo ; on 
 the second, he was informed that piracy was her object, and 
 Guinea her market. 
 
 Stopping at the Cape Verd Islands, they resolved to go 
 to Santiago, in the hope of finding some ship in the road, 
 and intending to cut her cable and run away with her. 
 They saw a ship at anchor, and approached her with hostile 
 intent. They were not far off when her company struck 
 her ports and ran out her lower tier of guns. Cooke bore 
 away as fast as he could, convinced that he was unable to 
 cope with a Dutch East Indiaman of fifty guns and four 
 hundred men. Some time after, when off Sierra Leone, 
 they fell in with a newly-built ship of forty guns, well 
 furnished with water, provisions, and brandy, which they 
 boarded and captured. They named her the Revenge, and 
 continued their voyage in hor. destroying their original 
 vessel. From here they cross^^d the Atlantic to the Pata- 
 gonian coast. They doubled C^ape Horn during a tre- 
 
IN QUEST OF THE SILVER-FtEET. 179 
 
 mendous storm of rain, which furnished them with twenty- 
 three barrels of fresh water. The weather was at this time 
 so cold, that the men could drink three quarts of burnt 
 brandy in twenty-four hours without being intoxicated. 
 They joined company in the Pacific with the Nicholas of 
 twenty-six guns, Captain John Eaton, and started together 
 upon an attempt against the Peruvian coast. They cap- 
 tured three flour-ships, and learned from the prisoners that 
 their presence was known to the Peruvian authorities. 
 Their design upon the coast was therefore abandoned. They 
 carried their prizes to the Gallapagos or Tortoise Islands, 
 where they might store their captured provisions in a 
 secure place. They arrived and anchored there on the 
 31st of May 1684. 
 
 Proceeding to the northward, they descried the coast of 
 Mexico early in July, where Cooke, who had been ill for 
 some months, died and was buried. Edward Davis, quarter- 
 master, was elected captain in his stead. The two ships 
 separated on the 2d of September, the Nicholas withdraw- 
 ing from the partnership. Davis and Dampier remained 
 in the Kevenge, and were soon joined by the Cygnet, a 
 richly-loaded vessel, designed for trading on this coast. 
 They attacked Paita in the month of November, but found 
 it evacuated. On the 1st of January 1685, they captured 
 a package of letters sent by the President of Panama to 
 hasten the captains of the silver-fleet from Lima, as the 
 coast was believed to be clear. Being particularly desirous 
 that the silver-fleet should share this belief, they sufi'ered 
 the letter-bearers to continue their voyage, and resolved to 
 lie in wait for the ships. In the meantime they captured 
 several prizes, and manned them with buccaneers that they 
 met from time to time, engaged in small enterprises on 
 separate accounts. By the end of May their fleet consisted 
 of ten sail, two of them being ships of war, carrying fifty- 
 two guns and nine hundred and sixty men. The Spanish 
 fleet, consisting of fourteen sail, eight of them men-of-war, 
 and two of them fii'e-ships, the whole manned by three 
 
180 
 
 i:ansom. 
 
 thousand men, now hove in sight. The admiral of the 
 fleet deceived the buccaneers at night by hoisting a light 
 upon the topmast of an abandoned bark, by which they 
 were decoyed into a position which gave the Spaniards the 
 next day all the advantage of the wind. Thus was the 
 grand scheme adroitly frustrated. 
 
 Having thus failed at sea, they agreed to try their for- 
 tune on land, and chose the city of Leon, on the coast of 
 Nicaragua. Four hundred and seventy men were landed 
 for this purpose. They were met and opposed by five 
 hundred foot and two hundred horse, both of which arms 
 of the service retreated in confusion at the first collision. 
 As they refused to ransom the city for thirty thousand 
 dollars, it was set on fire. A Spanish gentleman, who had 
 been captured by the buccaneers, was released upon his 
 promise to deliver one hundred and fifty oxen at Kealejo, 
 the next place which they intended to attack. Realejo was 
 taken, but yielded them little of value except five hundred 
 bags of flour, with some pitch, tar, and cordage, and the 
 one hundred and fifty promised oxen. Captains Davis and 
 Swan now agreed to separate, the former wishing to return 
 to Peru, and the latter desiring to visit the northern coasts 
 of Mexico, Dampier remained with Swan in the Cygnet. 
 
 Swan and Dampier were now convinced that the com- 
 merce of this region was not carried on by sea, but by land, 
 by means of mules and caravans. They, therefore, resolved 
 to try their fortune in the East Indies. They sailed from 
 California on the 31st of March 1686. They made the 
 island of Guam, after a voyage of six thousand miles, in 
 seven weeks, having but three days' provisions left, and the 
 men having begun to talk of eating CajDtain Swan when 
 these were exhausted. 
 
 They learned here, from the friar belonging to the garri- 
 son, that Mindanao, one of the Philippine Islands, was 
 very fertile and productive, and that the natives, who were 
 Mohammedans, were at war with the Spaniards. They 
 therefore resolved to go there, and left Guam on the 2d of 
 
INDOLENCE OF THE NATIVES. 181 
 
 June. After seeing Luzon (IVIatan), where Magellan was 
 killed, they anchored off Mindanao, the largest of the 
 Philippines with the exception of Luzon. 
 
 The Sultan of Mindanao received the strangers with fa- 
 vour, and would gladly have induced them to settle upon 
 the island and form the nucleus of an English trading station. 
 Dampier would have remained, but the majority were against 
 him. After a time a mutiny broke out, and as Captain 
 Swan manifested no energy or address in quelling it, he and 
 thii'ty-six men were left at Mindanao, the rest escaping with 
 the ship. Dampier here remarks that they had buried six- 
 teen men upon the island, who had died by poison, — the 
 natives revendng the slightest dalliance with their women 
 with a deadly, though lingering, dose or potion. Some of 
 the mutineers that ran off with the vessel died, of poison 
 administered at Mindanao, four months afterwards. Read, 
 the new captain, and. Dampier, cruised for some time among 
 the Philippine Islands. 
 
 On the 4th of January 1688, they touched at New 
 Holland, — then known to be a vast tract of land, and by 
 all except the Dutch supposed to be a continent. Here they 
 found a miserable race of people, living on shell-fish. They 
 were tall, straight-bodied, and thin, with small, long limbs. 
 A bit of the rind of a tree and a handful of grass formed 
 their only clothing. The crew landed several times, and 
 brought the natives to some degree of familiarity by giving 
 them a few old clothes : but they could not prevail upon 
 them to assist them in carrying water or any other burden. 
 When the savages found that the ragged jackets and breeches 
 which had been given them were intended to induce them 
 to work, they took them off and laid them down upon the 
 shore. 
 
 Dampier was now tired of wandering about the world 
 with this mad crew, none of whom — not even the captain 
 — had any settled purpose or object in view. Read was 
 afraid that Dampier would desert, and when off Sumatra 
 executed a scheme which he hoped would render it impos- 
 
182 A PERILOUS ESCAPE. 
 
 sible. He gave chase to a small sail which was discovered 
 making for Acheen in Sumatra. Taking on board the four 
 Malays who manned her and the cocoa-nuts with which she 
 was laden, he cut a hole in her bottom and turned her loose. 
 This he did in order to render Dampier and any others who 
 might be disaflected afraid to trust themselves among a 
 people who had been thus robbed and abused. At one of 
 the Mcobar Islands, however, Dampier escaped, and two 
 Englishmen and one Portuguese followed him. The four 
 sailors of Acheen were also put ashore. The whole eiglit 
 joined company, purchased a canoe, for which they gave an 
 axe in exchange, and set off to row to Acheen. They had 
 not proceeded half a mile before the canoe overset. They 
 swam ashore, dragging the canoe and their chests, and spent 
 three days in making repairs. The Achaneese fitted the 
 canoe with that universal Polynesian apparatus, — an out- 
 rigger, or balancer, on each side, — by which capsizing is 
 rendered impossible. They felled a mast in the woods and 
 made a substantial sail with mats. They put off again, fol- 
 lowing the shore for several days. At length they ventured 
 forth upon the open sea, with one hundred and fifty miles 
 of dangerous navigation before them. They rowed with four 
 oars, taking theu' turns, — Dampier and Hall, one of the 
 Englishmen, relieving each other at the tiller, none of the 
 rest being able to steer. The current against them was very 
 strong, so that, when looking in front for Sumatra, Nicobar, 
 to their dismay, was still visible behind them. A dense 
 halo round the sun, portending a storni, now caused great 
 anxiety to Dampier. The wind freshened till it blew a gale, 
 and they reefed the sail one-half of its surface. The light 
 bamboo poles supporting the outriggers bent as if they would 
 break ; and, if they had broken, the destruction of the boat 
 would have been inevitable. Putting away directly before 
 the wind, they ran off their course for six hours, the out- 
 riggers being very much relieved by this change of direction. 
 Dampier's description of this storm is graphic and quaint. 
 " The sky looked very black," he wiltes, " being covered 
 
COUKAGE FAILS. 183 
 
 with dark clouds. The winds blew hard and the seas ran 
 high. The sea was already roaring in a white foam about 
 us, — a dark night coming on, and no land in sight to shelter 
 us, and our little ark in danger to be swallowed by eveiy 
 wave ; and, what was worst of all, none of us thought our- 
 selves prepared for another world. I had been in many 
 imminent dangers before now ; but the greatest of them all 
 was but a play-game compared to this. I must confess that 
 I was in great conflicts of mind at this time. Other dangers 
 came not upon me with such a leisurely and dreadful so- 
 lemnity : a sudden skirmish or engagement or so was nothing 
 when one's blood was up and pushed forward with eager 
 expectations. But here I had a lingering view of approach- 
 ing death, and little or no hopes of escaping it ; and I must 
 confess that my courage, which I had hitherto kept up, 
 failed me here. I had long ago repented me of my roving 
 course of life, but never with such concern as now. I com- 
 posed my mind as well as I could in the hope of God's 
 assistance ; and, as the event showed, I was not disappointed 
 of my hopes." 
 
 About eight o'clock in the morning one of the Malays 
 cried out, Pulo Way, which Dampier and Hall took to be 
 good English, meaning " Pull away." He pointed to the 
 horizon, where land was just appearing in sight. This was 
 the island of Pulo Way, at the north-west end of Sumatra. 
 It lay to the south ; and, in order to make it with a strong 
 west wind, " they trimmed their sail no bigger than an 
 apron," and, relying upon their outriggers, made boldly for 
 the shore, which they reached the next morning, the 21st 
 of May. The supposed island turned out to be the Golden 
 Mountain of Sumatra. They landed, and, after being hos- 
 pitably received by the natives, arrived at Acheen early in 
 June. 
 
 At this point the history of Dampier' s adventures as a 
 circumnavigator comes properly to an end. He published 
 a narrative of his career, which he dedicated to Charles 
 Montague, President of the Royal Society, and which brought 
 
184 THE COMMANDER TURNS PIRATE. 
 
 him into favourable notice. His descriptions have been long 
 admired for their graphic force ; while his treatises on winds, 
 tides, and currents show a remarkable degree of observation 
 and science for that age of the world. We shall soon have 
 occasion to mention him again. 
 
 We must now refer to another species of piracy — pri- 
 vateering. England and France were at war ; and private 
 armed vessels, bearing commissions from James ii. and 
 William in. against the French, roved the seas and robbed 
 all defenceless ships which fell in their way. They attacked 
 even the vessels of Great Britain, and from privateers be- 
 came pirates. 
 
 The English Government determined to suppress tliis 
 nefarious practice. A proposition to purchase and arm a 
 private ship for the service was received with favour, and 
 several nobles, together with Bellamont and Colonel Kichard 
 Livingston of New York, contributed a fund of six thousand 
 pounds sterling. Livingston recommended, to command the 
 vessel, one William Kidd, who had been captain of a mer- 
 chant-vessel sailing between London and New York, and of 
 a privateer against the French. Kidd was placed in com- 
 mand, and Livingston became his security for the share he 
 agreed to contribute — six hundred pounds sterling. To 
 give character to the enterprise, a commission was issued 
 under the great seal of England and signed by the king, 
 William in., directed to " the trusty and well-beloved 
 Captain Kidd, commander of the ship Adventure Galley." 
 This vessel carried thirty guns and sixty men. Kidd 
 departed from Plymouth in April 1696, and arrived oif 
 the American coast in July following. He occasionally 
 entered the port of New York, where he was cordially 
 received, as he was considered useful in protecting its com- 
 merce. For this service the Assembly voted him the sum 
 of two hundred and fifty pounds sterling. 
 
 He now added ninety-five men to his crew, who shipped 
 to go to Madagascar in pursuit of pirates. He then sailed 
 for the East Indies, and while on his way resolved, possess* 
 
HIS ARKEST AND EXECUTION. 185 
 
 ing as lie did a vessel manned and equipped like a fiigate, 
 to turn pirate himself. He seems to have found ready- 
 listeners in the licentious creatures of whom he had com- 
 posed his crew. He arrived off the Malabar coast, in 
 Hindostan, where he pillaged vessels manned by Indian, 
 Arab, and Christian crews. He landed from time to time, 
 burned settlements, murdered and tortured the inhabitants, 
 and placed a price upon the heads of such persons as he 
 thought their friends would ransom. He captured a mer- 
 chantman named the Quedagh, and, refusing the offered 
 ransom of thirty thousand rupees, sold her and her cargo 
 at a pirates' rendezvous for forty thousand dollars. He 
 exchanged the Adventure for a larger vessel, and established 
 himself at Madagascar. Here he lay in ambush, plunder- 
 ing the flags of every nation. He made himself dreaded as 
 a bloody, cruel, and remorseless bandit, from Malabar and 
 the Eed Sea across the Atlantic to the West Indies and tha 
 American coast. He arrived at New York in 1698, laden, 
 it is asserted, with more spoil than ever feU to the lot of 
 any other individual. He disembarked at Long Island, 
 where he buried a quantity of gold, silver, and precious stones. 
 
 After satisfying his crew by such a division of the 
 remainder as they considered equitable, he dismissed them, 
 and had the audacity to appear in the streets of Boston in 
 the dress of a gentleman of leisure. Bellamont, Governor 
 of New York, met him, caused his arrest, and sent him to 
 England for trial. He was executed on the 12th of May 
 1701. 
 
 Piracy did not disappear with KidtL The coasts of the 
 Caroliuas were for a long time infested with freebooters, 
 though at various times some fifty of them were hung in 
 Charleston. But the decisive blow against them was struck 
 in 1723. The British man-of-war Greyhound captured a 
 craft with twenty-five men and carried them into Khode 
 Island. They were tried, found guilty, and hung at Nev/- 
 port in July. This was the end of piracy in the Americau 
 waters. 
 
 2 A 
 
CHAPTER X. 
 
 "WOODES EOGEES ALEXANDER SELKTEK DAMPIER 
 
 DUTCH WEST INDIA COMPANY JACOB EOGGEWEIN 
 
 VITUS BEHEING. 
 
 A COMPANY of merchants of Bristol fitted out two ships 
 in 1708 — the Duke and Duchess — to cruise against the 
 Spaniards in the Soutli Sea. The Duke was commanded 
 by Woodes Rogers, the Duchess by Stephen Courtney. 
 William Dampier, whose name had long been a terror to 
 the Spaniards, was pilot to the larger ship. They left 
 Bristol on the 14th of July, with fifty-six guns and three 
 hundred and thirty-three men, and with double the usual 
 number of officers, in order to prevent the mutinies so com- 
 mon in privateers. 
 
 Nothing of moment occurred tiU the vessels anchored at 
 Isola Grande, off the coast of Brazil. Here two men de- 
 serted, but were so frightened in the night by tigers, as 
 they supposed, but in reality by monkeys and baboons, that 
 they took refuge in the sea and shouted till they were 
 taken on board. The two ships passed through Lemaire's 
 Strait and doubled Cape Horn, and on the 31st of January 
 1709, made the island of Juan Fernandez. During the 
 night a light was observed on shore, and Captain Rogers 
 made up his mind that a French fleet was riding at anchor, 
 and ordered the decks to be cleared for action. At day- 
 light the vessels stood in towards the land ; but no French 
 fleet — not even a single sail — was to be seen. A yawl was 
 sent forward to reconnoitre. As it drew near, a man was 
 Been upon the shore waving a white flag ; and, on its nearer 
 186 
 
KOBINSON CRUSOE. 187 
 
 approach, he directed the sailors, in the English language, 
 to a spot where they could best effect a landing. He was 
 clad in goat-skins, and appeared more wild and ragged than 
 the original owners of his apparel. His name has long been 
 known throughout the inhabited world, and his story is 
 familiar in every language. We need hardly say that his 
 name was Alexander Selkirk, and that his adventures fur- 
 nished the basis of the romance of Robinson Crusoe. 
 
 Alexander Selkirk was a Scotchman, and had been left 
 upon the island by Captain Stradling, of the Cinqueports, 
 four years and four months before. During his stay he had 
 seen several ships pass by, but only two came to anchor at 
 the island. They were Spaniards, and fired at him ; but 
 he escaped into the woods. He said he would have sur- 
 rendered to them had they been French ; but he chose to 
 run the risk of dying alone upon the island rather than fall 
 into the hands of Spaniards, as he feared they would either 
 put him to death or make him a slave in their mines. 
 *' He told us," says Rogers, " that he was born in Largo, in 
 the county of Fife, and was bred a sailor from his youth. 
 The reason of his being left here was a difference with his 
 captain, which, together with the fact that the ship was 
 leaky, made him willing to stay behind. He took with him 
 his clothes and bedding, with a firelock and some powder 
 and bullets, some tobacco, a knife, a kettle, a Bible, with 
 other books, and his mathematical instruments. He diverted 
 himself and provided for his sustenance as well as he could, 
 but had much ado to bear up against melancholy for the 
 first eight months, and was sore distressed at being left alone 
 in so desolate a place. He built himself two huts of pimento- 
 trees, thatched with long grass and lined with goat skins, — 
 killing goats as he needed them with his gim, as long as his 
 powder lasted. When that was all spent, he procured fire 
 by rubbing two sticks of pimento wood together. He slept 
 in his large hut and cooked his victuals in the smaller, and 
 employed himself in reading, praying, and singing psalms, — - 
 60 that, he said, he was a better Christian during his soil- 
 
188 SOMETHIXO LARGE. 
 
 tude than he had ever been before, or than, he was afraid, 
 he should ever be again." 
 
 Captain Rogers remained here a fortnight, refitting his 
 ship. The " governor," as his men called Selkirk, never 
 failed to procure two or three goats a day for the sick. 
 They boiled up and refined eighty gallons of seal oil, in 
 order to save their candles. On the 1 4th of February the 
 anchors were weighed, Alexander Selkirk shipping on board 
 the Duke as second mate. 
 
 Wlien off the Lobos Islands they took a prize, which they 
 named The Beginning. They learned from their prisoners 
 that the widow of the late Viceroy of Peru was soon to em- 
 bark at Callao for Acapulco, with her family and riches ; 
 and they determined to lie in wait for her. In the mean- 
 time they landed and took the town of Guayaquil, but con- 
 sented to its ransom for thirty thousand dollars. They also 
 seized thirteen small vessels, from which they took meal, 
 onions, quinces, pomegranates, oil, indigo, pitch, sugar, gun- 
 powder, and rice. 
 
 At the Gallapagos Islands they laid in a large stock of 
 sea-turtles and land-tortoises, some of the former weighing 
 four hundred pounds, while the latter laid eggs in profusion 
 upon the decks. Some of the men affirmed that they had 
 seen one four feet high, that two of the party had mounted 
 on its back, and that it easily carried them at its usual 
 slow pace, not appearing to regard their weight. This 
 monster was supposed to weigh seven hundred pounds at 
 least. 
 
 Having made the coast of Mexico, and having determined 
 to wait only eight days either for the Manilla galleon or 
 the ship of the viceroy's widow, they were rejoiced to decry, 
 on the morning of the 2 2d of December, the Spanish trea- 
 sure-ship on the weather bow. She had barrels hung at 
 her yard-arm, which seemed to warn the English of an 
 explosion if they attempted to board. The engagement 
 commenced at eight, and lasted an hour, after which she 
 emick and surrendered. The prize was named The Bachelor, 
 
A GOOD RETURN. 189 
 
 mid she was equipped as a member of the squadi'on, which 
 iiuw sailed immediately for the Ladrone Islands. 
 
 They arrived at Guam on the 10th of March 1710, 
 %\ here their wants were amply supplied, cocoa-nuts being 
 furnished in abundance at the rate of one dollar a hundred. 
 At the Cape of Good Hope they joined a number of home- 
 ward-bound ships, and sailed in company, early in April, 
 forming a fleet of sixteen Dutch and nine English ships. 
 Rogers and his consorts anchored at Erith, in the Thames, 
 on the 1 4th of October. 
 
 This voyage is the last in which Dampier is known to 
 have been engaged, and what became of him afterwards 
 has never been ascertained. It would not be easy to name, 
 before the time of Cook, a navigator to whom the merchant 
 and mariner are so much indebted. His style was un- 
 assuming, as free from affectation as was the narrative itself 
 from invention. Dean Swift made Captain Lemuel Gulliver 
 liail Dampier as cousin. 
 
 The outfit of this voyage amounted to £15,000, and the 
 gross profits to £170,000. One-third of this, or £57,000, 
 was divided among the officers and seamen. In view of 
 this enormous return for a two years' voyage, we can hardly 
 wonder at the fact that in this age, and during a long suc- 
 ceeding period, nearly all navigation was privateering, and 
 that all ventures upon the seas appear to the reader of the 
 present day as little better than the marauding excursions 
 of corsairs and buccaneers. 
 
 The monopoly of the Dutch East India Company had 
 been somewhat disturbed, as early as the year 1621, by the 
 formation and charter of the Dutch West India Company. 
 The latter held the exclusive commerce of the African coast 
 from the Tropic of Cancer to the Cape of Good Hope, and 
 that of the American coast both upon the Atlantic and 
 Pacific Oceans. In 1674 its power and influence were 
 somewhat extended by a fresh grant of privileges and an 
 increase of capital. It was necessary for any one proposing 
 
190 EASTER ISLAND. 
 
 a new scheme of commerce within the limits under their 
 control, to apply to the Company for permission to execute 
 it. A mathematician, of the name of Roggewein, a native 
 of the province of Zealand, formed a project, in 1696, for 
 the discovery of the vast continent and islands supposed to 
 exist in the south under the name of Terra Australis In- 
 cognita. He died, however, before any step was taken by 
 the Company in furtherance of his designs. His son, Jacob 
 Roggewein, renewed the application in 1721, presenting a 
 memorial, in accordance with which immediate orders were 
 given for equipping three vessels — the Eagle, of thirty-six 
 guns, the Tienhoven, of twenty-eight, and the African 
 galley, of fourteen. Roggewein was made admiral, and 
 271 men were embarked upon the three ships, which sailed 
 from the Texel on the 21st of August 1721. 
 
 They had a long and painfid passage across the Atlantic 
 — the crews suffering from heat, hunger, thirst, and the 
 scurvy. Many of the men had high fevers, and some of 
 them fits like the epilepsy. During a terrible hunricane on 
 the 21st of December, the Tienhoven parted company, and 
 the Eagle and the African galley kept on together as far as 
 the Strait of Magellan. In this latitude Roggewein saw 
 the group of islands which a French privateer had named 
 Islands of St. Louis, but which some Dutch traders had 
 subsequently called the New Islands. On arriving at the 
 island of Juan Fernandez, Roggewein was surprised and 
 rejoiced to see the Tienhoven safe at the rendezvous. 
 
 After a considerable run to the westward, Roggewein 
 discovered, on the 14:th of April 1722, an island sixteen 
 leagues in extent, to which he gave the name of Easter 
 Island in commemoration of the day. This was one of the 
 most important discoveries ever made in the Pacific ; and 
 Easter Island is, for many reasons, one of the most famous 
 oases in that desert of water. He intended to land with a 
 sufficient force to make a general survey ; but a west wind 
 forced him from his anchorage and drove him out to sea. 
 
 He soon found himself in the wide tract which had 
 
ENCOUNTER WITH THE NATIVES. 101 
 
 obtained the name of Bad Sea, on account of the brackish 
 water of one of its islands. Through this region he sailed 
 eight hundred leagues, and by a change of wind was driven 
 with his consorts among a number of islands, by whi^h they 
 were considerably embarrassed. The Africa, which drew the 
 least water, was sent in advance, but soon got upon the 
 rocks and fired signals of distress. Night came on, and the 
 natives, alarmed by the reports, kindled fires and came in 
 crowds to the shore. The Dutch, whose confusion of mind 
 seems to have been extreme, fired upon them without cere- 
 mony, that they might have as few dangers as possible to 
 contend with at once. In the morning the Africa was found 
 to be jammed between two rocks, from whence she could 
 not be disengaged. She was therefore abandoned. The 
 island upon which she was lost was named Pernicious 
 Island. Five men deserted here, and were left behind. 
 Eight leagues from Pernicious, an island, discovered at day- 
 break, was named Aurora ; and another, seen at sunset, was 
 called Vesper. At another, which they named the Island 
 of Recreation, a party sent on shore for salad and scurvy- 
 grass for the sick had so desperate an encoimter with the 
 natives, that, when a second landing was proposed, not a 
 man could be prevailed on to make the dangerous attempt. 
 
 Roggewein was now convinced that no Terra Incognita 
 was to be discovered in the latitude he had kept, and there- 
 fore resolved, in accordance with his instructions, to return 
 home by way of the East Indies. His crews were so reduced 
 that a further loss of twenty men would compel him to 
 abandon one of his remaining vessels. The officers regretted 
 this decision ; for they were anxious to visit the lands named 
 Solomon's Islands by Mendana on account of their supposed 
 wealth ; but they were now compelled to return by way of 
 New Biitain, the Moluccas, and the East Indies. 
 
 Not far from Recreation Island, a group was discovered 
 by the captain of the Tienhoven, and was named from 
 him Bowman's Islands. These islands are supposed to have 
 been the most northerly of the Society Islands. 
 
192 PAINFUL SUFFERINOR. 
 
 During the long run to New Britain, tlie friglitful eflfects 
 of bad provisions were made painfully manifest, for the salt 
 meat had long been decayed, the bread was full of maggots, 
 and the water intolerably putrid. The scurvy began to cut 
 off four and five men a day. Cries and groans were in- 
 cessantly heard in all parts of the ship : those who were 
 well fainted at the stench of the carcases. Some were 
 reduced to skeletons, so that the skin cleaved to their bones, 
 whUe others swelled to a monstrous and disgusting size. 
 Tlie journal says that "an Anabaptist of twenty-five years 
 old called out continually to be baptized, and when told, 
 with a sneer, that there was no parson on board, became 
 quiet, and died with great resignation." At last the high 
 laud of New Britain put an end to their miseries, for 
 which there was no cure on earth except fresh meat, green 
 vegetables, and pure water. The expedition intrusted to 
 Roggewein thus proved abortive by the failure to find a 
 Southern continent. 
 
 We come now to the first expedition at sea made by 
 Russia for the purpose of extending and promoting the 
 science of geography. Vitus Behring was a Dane in the 
 Russian service, having been tempted by the encourage- 
 ments held out to foreign mariners by Peter the Great. 
 He had risen to the rank of captain in 1725, when the 
 Empress Catherine, who was anxious to promote discovery 
 ill the north-east of Asia and to settle the c^uestion, then 
 doubtful, as to the existence of a strait between Asia and 
 America, appointed him to the command of an expedition 
 fitted out for that purpose. During a period of seven 
 years, having travelled overland to Karaschatka, he explored 
 rivers, sounded and surveyed the coasts, and sailed as far 
 to the northward as the season and the strength of his 
 very inferior boats would permit In 1732 he was made 
 captain-commander, and the next year was ordered to con- 
 duct an expedition fitted out on a very extensive scale for 
 purposes of discovery. In 1740 he reached Okhotsk, where 
 
DISCOVERY OF BEHRING's STRAIT. 193 
 
 vessels liad previously been built for him. He sailed for 
 Awatska Bay, where he founded the settlement of Petro- 
 paulowski, known in English as the Harbour of Peter 
 and Paul. Sailing to the northward, he landed upon the 
 American coast, giving name to Mount St. Elias, and then, 
 returning to the westward, struck the continent of Asia, 
 finding a strait fifty miles wide between the two continents 
 at the point where they approach each other the nearest. 
 This, in honour of its discoverer, is called Behring's Strait. 
 
 It is not improbable that Behring passed to the north of 
 East Cape, the promontory on the Asiatic side, into the 
 Arctic Ocean beyond. He was soon compelled to return, 
 owing to the disabled condition of his vessel, which was 
 wrecked upon an island on the 3d of November 1741. 
 This island, which was little better than a naked rock, 
 afforded neither food nor shelter ; and Behring, suffering 
 from the scurvy and sinking from disappointment, lay down 
 in a cleft of the rock to die. The sand collected and drifted 
 about him, half burying him alive. He would not suffer it 
 to be removed, as it afforded him a grateful warmth. He 
 died in this wretched condition on the 8th of December. 
 The next summer, the few of his crew who survived the 
 winter built a vessel from the timber of the wreck : in this 
 they reached Kamschatka and made known the miserable 
 fate of their commander. 
 
 Though Behring settled the fact of the existence of the 
 strait which bears his name, it was reserved for Captain 
 Cook to survey the entire length of buth coasts. This he 
 did with a precision and accuracy which left nothing for 
 after-voyagers to perform, and which has made the geo- 
 graphy of this remote and barbarous region as familiar as 
 that of the Atlantic shores of America. The island upon 
 which Behring died, and which was then uninhabited and 
 without a shrub upon its surface, is now an important 
 trading station, and affords comfortable winter quarters to 
 vessels from Okhotsk and Kamschatka 
 
 2 B 
 
CHAPTER XL 
 
 GEOEGE ANSON ANTOINE DE BOUGAINVILLE. 
 
 In consequence of war having been declared betwixt 
 Great Britain and Spain in 1739, an expedition was fitted 
 out in England to attack the distant possessions of Spain 
 in America, and especially in Peru. A fleet of six vessels, 
 manned by fourteen hundred men and accompanied by two 
 victualling ships, was accordingly placed under the com- 
 mand of George Anson, a captain in the naval service. The 
 flag-ship was the Centurion, mounting sixty guns and 
 carrying four hundred men. On their way out from Spit- 
 head, on the 18th of September 1740, the fleet was joined 
 by a large convoy of trading ships, which were to keep 
 them company a portion of the way — numbering in all 
 eleven men-of-war and one hundred and fifty sail of mer- 
 chantmen. 
 
 The squadron passed through Lemaire's Strait on the 
 7th of March 1741. The sternmost ships were no sooner 
 clear of the Strait than the tranquillity of the sky was 
 suddenly disturbed, and all the presages of a threatening 
 storm appeared in the heavens and upon the waters. The 
 winds were let loose upon the unfortunate fleet, and for 
 three long months blew upon them with unrelenting fury. 
 The Severn and Pearl parted company and were never seen 
 again. During the mouth of April forty-three of the crew 
 of the Centurion died, of the scurvy ; and during the pas- 
 sage from the Strait to the island of Juan Fernandez, the 
 flag-ship lost by this disease, by accident, and by tempest, 
 194 
 
SELK1EK*S GOAT. 195 
 
 two hundred and fifty men ; and she could not at last 
 muster more than six foremast-men capable of doing duty. 
 On the 2 2d of May a terrific hurricane from the starboard 
 quarter split all her sails and broke all her standing rigging, 
 endangered the masts, and shifted the ballast and stores. 
 The air was filled with fire, and the oflBcers and men upon 
 the decks were wounded by exploding flashes which coursed 
 and darted from spar to spar. 
 
 Thus crippled and disabled, with five men dying every- 
 day, and not ten of the crew able to go aloft, the Cen- 
 turion, separated from her consorts, and supposing them to 
 have perished in the storm, made the best of her weary 
 way to the island of Juan Fernanaez, where she arrived at 
 daybreak on the 9 th of June, after losing eighty more men 
 from the scurvy. 
 
 In his description of the island, Anson speaks of the 
 former residence of Alexander Selkirk upon it, and says, 
 " Selkirk tells us, among other things, that, as he often 
 caught more goats than he wanted, he sometimes marked 
 their ears and let them go. This was about thirty-two 
 years before our arrival at the island.. Now it happened 
 that the first goat that was killed by our people had his 
 ears slit ; whence we concluded that he had doubtless been 
 formerly under the power of Selkirk. He was an animal 
 of a most venerable aspect, dignified with an exceeding 
 majestic beard and with many other symptoms of antiquity.'* 
 
 The Centurion was soon joined by the Tyrol sloop of 
 war, by the Gloucester, and the victualler Anna Pink : the 
 other members of the squadron were never heard of again. 
 While refitting, a sail was discovered upon the distant 
 horizon, and the Centurion started out in pursuit of her. 
 She surrendered without delay, and proved to be the Monte 
 Carmelo, bound from Callao to Valparaiso, with a cargo of 
 sugar and blue cloth, and eighty thousand dollars in Spanish 
 coin. The Centurion then returned with her prize to Juan 
 Fernandez. The repairs upon all the vessels were hastily 
 completed, and, while they were sent to cruise in different 
 
196 IMMENSE CAPTURE. 
 
 directions in search of Spanish merchantmen, the Centurion 
 and the Carmelo sailed, on the 19 th of September, for the 
 general rendezvous at Valparaiso. 
 
 In November Anson determined to attack the seaport of 
 Paita, in Peru. The town was taken with the utmost 
 ease, and speedily reduced to ashes. The loss of the 
 Spaniards by the fire, in broadcloths, silks, velvets, cam- 
 brics, was represented by them to the court of Madrid as 
 amounting to £300,000. Anson's ships carried away 
 with them, in plate, com, and jewels, about £30,000 more. 
 Soon after leaving Paita they fell in with a launch laden 
 with jars of cotton. The people on board said they were 
 very poor ; but, as they were found dining on pigeon pie 
 served up in silver dishes, it was thought advisable to 
 search for the sources of this opulence. The jars of cotton 
 were found to contain about £12,000 in double doubloons. 
 
 Anson now determined to steer for the southern parts of 
 California, there to cruise for the galleon due at Acapulco 
 from Manilla towards the middle of January. He did not 
 arrive there till the 1st of February 1742 ; but being assured 
 by some of his Spanish prisoners that the galleon was often 
 a month behind her average time, he stood on and off, 
 waiting with feverish impatience for an arrival whose value 
 he estimated in round millions. He soon learned from 
 some negroes whom he captured, that the galleon had ar- 
 rived on the 9th of January. They added, however, that 
 she had delivered her cargo, and that the Viceroy of Mexico 
 had fixed her departure from Acapidco, on her return, for 
 the 14th of March. This news was joyfully received by 
 Anson and his men, as it was much more advantageous for 
 them to seize the specie which she had received for her 
 cargo than to seize the cargo itself. 
 
 It was now the 19 th of February, and the galleon was 
 not to leave port till the 1 4th of March, or, according to the 
 old style, followed by Anson, the 3d of March. The inter- 
 val was employed in scrubbing the ships' bottoms, in bringing 
 them into the most advantageous trim, and in regulating 
 
HOPE DEFERRED. 197 
 
 the orders, signals, and positions to be observed when the 
 famous ship should appear in sight. 
 
 The 3d of March passed without bringing news of the 
 galleon. A fortnight went by ; and Anson at last came to 
 the conclusion that his presence upon the coast had been 
 discovered, and that an embargo had been laid upon the 
 object of their hopes. He afterwards discovered that his 
 presence was suspected, and that the wary Spaniards had 
 frustrated his schemes by detaining the galleon till the suc- 
 ceeding year. The admiral gave orders for the departure 
 of the fleet from the American coast, in prosecution of the 
 plans di'awn up previous to his leaving England. He sailed 
 early in May with the Centurion and Gloucester only, hav- 
 ing scuttled and destroyed his three prizes on the enemy's 
 coast. 
 
 A terrible attack of scurvy soon reduced both vessels to 
 half their working force, and a storm of unusual violence 
 completely disabled the Gloucester. She held out, however, 
 till the middle of August, when her stores, her prize-money, 
 and her sick were with great difiiculty removed to the Cen- 
 turion, which was herself in a crazy and well-nigh desperate 
 condition. The Gloucester was set on fire, lest her wreck 
 might fall into the hands of the Spaniards. 
 
 The Centurion kept on her way, losing eight, nine, and 
 ten men every twenty-four hours. A leak was discovered, 
 which all the skill of the carpenters failed to stop. The 
 ship and men were in a condition bordering on positive 
 despair. 
 
 On the 27th of August, the Centurion came in sight of 
 a fertile and (as Anson supposed) inhabited island, which 
 he afterwards found to be one of the Ladrones, and named 
 Tinian. Fearing the inhabitants to be Spaniards, and 
 knowing himself to be incapable of defence, Anson showed 
 Spanish colours, and hoisted a red flag at the foretopmast 
 head, intending by this to give his vessel the appearance of 
 the Manilla galleon, and hoping to decoy some of the 
 islanders on board. The trick succeeded, and a Spaniard 
 
198 ~ THE HAPPY ISLAND. 
 
 and four Indians were easily taken with their boat. The 
 Spaniard said the island was uninhabited, though it was 
 one of an inhabited group : but that the Spaniards of the 
 neighbouring station of Guam used it as a storehouse and 
 granary from whence they drew inexhaustible supplies. On 
 landing, Anson at once converted a storehouse filled with 
 jerked beef into an hospital for the sick : in this he depo- 
 sited one hundred and twenty-eight of his invalids. The 
 salutary effect of land-treatment and vegetable food was 
 such that, though twenty-one died on the first day, only 
 ten others died during the two months that the Centurion 
 remained at anchor in the harbour. 
 
 Anson gives a romantic account of the happy island of 
 Tinian. The vegetation was not luxuriant and rank, but 
 resembled the clean and uniform lawns of an English estate. 
 Three thousand cattle, milk-white with the exception of 
 their eafs, which were black, grazed in a single meadow. 
 The island also produced in abundance the very best specifics 
 for scorbutic disorders, and the inlets furnished fish of ple- 
 thoric size and inviting taste. 
 
 On the night of the 2 2d of September a violent storm 
 drove the Centurion from her anchorage, sundering her 
 cables like packthread. Anson was on shore, down with 
 the scurvy ; several ofl&cers, and a large part of the crew, 
 amounting in all to one hundred and thirteen persons, were 
 on shore with him. This catastrophe reduced all, both at 
 sea and on land, to the utmost despair : those in the ship 
 were totally unprepared to struggle with the fury of the 
 winds, and expected each moment to be their last ; those 
 on shore supposed the Centurion to be lost, and conceived 
 that no means were left them ever to depart from the island. 
 As no European ship had probably anchored here before, it 
 was madness to expect that chance would send another in a 
 hundred ages to come. Besides, the Spaniards of Guam 
 could not fail to capture them ere long, and, as their letters 
 of marque had gone in the Centurion, they would undoubt- 
 edly be treated as pirates. 
 
ANSON'S ADVENTURE ON THE HAPPY ISLAND. 
 
 During a storm, while Anson and one liuntlreil ami tliirteen of his crew were ashore, the Centurion broke Iroin 
 her anchorage, sundering her cables like packthread. To effect their escape, they must haul the Spanish bark, 
 ■^■hich they had captured on their arrival, ashore, saw her asunder, lengthen her twelve feet — which would give 
 her forty tons' burden and enable her to carry tliem all to Chnia. Trees were felled and sawed into plunks, 
 Anson vorkiiisr with axe and adz^' as viL'orouslv as any of liis men. — Paok 199. 
 
A FORLORN SITUATION. 199 
 
 In this desperate state of things, Anson, who preserved 
 his usual composure, projected a scheme for extricating 
 himself and his men from their forlorn situation. In case 
 the Centurion did not return within a week, he said, it 
 would be fair to conclude, not that she was wrecked, but 
 that she had been driven too far to the leeward of the 
 island to be able to return to it, and had doubtless borne 
 away for Macao. Their policy, therefore, was to attempt 
 to join her there. To effect this, they must haul the 
 Spanish bark, which they had captured on their arrival, 
 ashore, saw her asunder, lengthen her twelve feet — which 
 would give her forty tons' burden and enable her to carry 
 them all to China. The carpenters, who had been fortu- 
 nately left on the island, had been consulted, and had pro- 
 nounced the proposal feasible. The men saw the necessity 
 of active co-operation, and went zealously to work. 
 
 The blacksmith, with his forge and tools, was the first 
 to commence his task ; but unhappily his bellows had been 
 left on board the ship. Without his bellows he could get 
 no fire ; without fire he could mould no iron ; and without 
 iron the carpenters could not rivet a single plank. But the 
 cattle furnished hides in jjlenty, and these hides were im- 
 perfectly tanned with the help of a hogshead of lime found 
 in the jerked-beef warehouse : with this improvised leather, 
 and with a gim-barrel for a pipe, a pair of bellows was con- 
 structed which answered the intention tolerably well. Trees 
 were felled and sawed into planks, Anson working with axe 
 and adze as vigorously as any of his men. The juice of 
 the cocoa-nut furnished the men a natural and abundant 
 grog, and one which did not intoxicate them, but kept them 
 temperate and orderly. When the main work had been 
 thus successfully started, it was found, on consultation, that 
 the tent on shore, some cordage accidentally left by the 
 Centurion, and the sails and rigging already belonging to 
 the bark, would serve to equip her indifferently when she 
 was lengthened. Two disheartening circumstances were 
 now discovered : aU the gunpowder which could be collected 
 
200 CHEERING INTELLIGENCE. 
 
 by the strictest search amounted to just ninety charges — 
 considerably less than one charge apiece to each member of 
 the company : their only compass was a toy, such as are 
 made for the amusement of school-boys. Their only qua- 
 drant was a crazy instrument which had been thrown over- 
 board from the Centurion with other lumber belonging to 
 the dead, and which had providentially been washed ashore. 
 It was examined by the known latitude of the island of 
 Tinian, and answered in a manner which convinced Anson 
 that, though very bad, it was at least better than nothing. 
 
 On the 9 th of October — the seventeenth day from the 
 departure of the ship — matters were in such a state of for- 
 wardness that Anson was able to fix the 5th of November 
 as the date of their putting to sea upon their voyage of two 
 thousand miles. But a happier lot was in store for them. 
 On the 11th, a man working on a hill, suddenly cried out 
 in great ecstasy, " The ship ! the ship !" The commodore 
 threw down his axe and rushed with his men — all of them 
 in a state of mind bordering on frenzy — to the beach. By 
 five in the afternoon the Centurion — for it was she — was 
 visible in the ofiSng : a boat with eighteen men to reinforce 
 her, and with meat and refreshments for the crew, was sent 
 off to her. She came happily to anchor in the roads the 
 next day, and the commodore went on board, where he was 
 received with the heartiest acclamations. The vessel had, 
 during this interval of nineteen days, been the sport of 
 storms, currents, leakages, and false reckonings ; she had 
 but one-fourth of her complement of men ; and when by a 
 happy accident of driftage, she came in sight of the island, 
 the crew were so weak they could with difficulty put the 
 ship about. The reinforcement of eighteen men was sent 
 at the very moment when in sight of the long-wished for 
 haven, the exhausted sailors were on the point of abandon- 
 ing themselves to despair. 
 
 Fifty casks of water, and a large quantity of oranges, 
 lemons, and cocoa-nuts were now hastily put on board the 
 Centurion. On the 21st of October the bark (so lately the 
 
HOPE EEVIVED. 201 
 
 object of all the commodore's hopes and fears) was set on 
 fire and destroyed. The vessel then weighed anchor, and 
 took leave of the island of Tinian, — an island which, in the 
 language of Anson, " whether we consider the excellence of 
 its productions, the beauty of its appearance, the elegance 
 of its woods and lawns, the healthiness of its air, and the 
 adventures it gave rise to, may in all these views be justly 
 styled romantic." After a smooth run of twenty daj^s, the 
 Centurion came to an anchor on the 12th of November, in 
 the roads of Macao, — thus, after a fatiguing cruise of two 
 years, arriving at an amicable port and in a civilized coun- 
 try, where naval stores could be procured with ease. 
 
 The Centurion remained more than five months at Macao, 
 where she was careened, thoroughly overhauled, and refitted. 
 The crew was reinforced by entering twenty-three men, some 
 of them being Lascars, or Indian sailors, and some of them 
 Dutch. On the 19 th of April the admiral got to sea, 
 having announced that he was bound to Batavia and from 
 thence to England. But his real design was to cruise off 
 the Philippine Isles for the returning Manilla galleon. In- 
 deed, as he had the year before prevented the sailing of the 
 annual ship, he had good reason to believe that there would 
 this year be two. He therefore made all haste to reach 
 Cape Espiritu Santo, the first land the galleons were accus- 
 tomed to make. They were said to be stout vessels, mount- 
 ing forty-four guns and carrying five hundred hands ; while 
 he himself had but two hundred and twenty-seven hands, 
 thirty of whom were boys. 
 
 The Centurion made Cape Espiritu Santo late in May, 
 and from that moment forward her people waited in the 
 utmost impatience for the happy crisis which was to balance 
 tlie account of their past calamities. They were drilled 
 every day in the working of the guns and in the use of their 
 small-arms. The vessel kept at a distance from the cape, 
 in order not to be discovered. But, in spite of all precau- 
 tions, she was seen from the land, and information of her 
 presence was sent to Manilla, where a force consisting of 
 
 2 c 
 
202 THE ENCOUNTER. 
 
 two ships of thirty-two guns, one of twenty guns, and two 
 sloops of ten guns, was at once equipped : it never sailed, 
 however, on account of the monsoon. 
 
 On the 20th of June at sunrise, the man at the mast- 
 head of the Centurion discovered a sail in the south-east 
 quarter. A general joy spread through the ship, and the 
 commodore instantly stood towards her. At eight o'clock 
 she was visible from the deck, and proved to be the famous 
 Manilla galleon. She did not change her course, much to 
 Anson's surprise, but continued to bear down upon him. It 
 afterwards appeared that she recognised the hostile sail to 
 be the Centurion, and resolved to fight her. Anson picked 
 out thirty of his choicest hands and distributed them into 
 the tops as marksmen. Instead of firing broadsides with 
 intervals between them, he resolved to keep up a constant 
 but irregular fire, thus baffling the Spaniards if they should 
 attempt their usual tactics of falling down upon the decks 
 during a broadside and working their guns with great brisk- 
 ness during the intermission. At one o'clock the Centurion 
 being within gim-shot of the enemy, hoisted her pennant. 
 The Spaniard now, for the first time, began to clear her 
 decks, and tumbled cattle, sheep, pigs, goats, and poultry 
 promiscuously into the sea. Anson gave orders to fire with 
 the chase-guns : the galleon retorted with her stern-chasers. 
 During the first half-hour he lay across her bow, traversing 
 her with nearly all his guns, while slie could bring hardly 
 half a dozen of hers to bear. The mats with which the 
 gaUeon had stuffed her netting now took fire, and burned 
 violently, terrifying the Spaniards and alarming the English, 
 who feared lest the treasure would escape them. However, 
 the Spaniards at last cut away the netting and tossed the 
 blazing mass into the sea among the struggling and roaring 
 cattle. The Centurion swept the galleon's decks, the top- 
 men wounding or killing every officer but one who appeared 
 upon the quarter, and totally disabling the commander him- 
 self The confusion of the Spaniards was now plainly 
 visible from the Centurion. The officers could no longer 
 
THE PRIZE. 20 
 
 Q 
 
 bring the men up to the work ; and at about three in the 
 afternoon she struck her colours and surrendered. 
 
 The galleon, named the Nostra Signora de Cabadonga, 
 proved to be worth in hard money about £260,000. She 
 lost sixty-seven men in the action, besides eighty-four 
 wounded ; while the Centurion lost but two men, and had 
 but seventeen wounded, all of whom recovered but one. 
 " Of so little consequence," remarks Anson, " are the most 
 destructive arms in untutored and unpractised hands." 
 
 The specie was at once removed to the Centurion, the 
 Cabadonga being appointed by Anson to be a post-ship in 
 his Majesty's service, and the command being given to Mr. 
 Saumarez, the first lieutenant of the Centurion. The two 
 vessels then stood for the Canton River, and arrived off 
 Macao on the 11th of July. On the way, Anson reckoned 
 up not only the value of the prize just captured, but the 
 total amount of the losses his expedition had caused the 
 crown of Spain since it left the English shores. The gal- 
 leon was found to have on board about £273,000 in gold, 
 and thu'ty-five thousand six hundred and eighty-two ounces 
 of virgin silver, besides cochineal and other commodities. 
 This, added to the other treasure taken in previous prizes, 
 made the sum-total of Anson's captures in money not far from 
 two millions, — independent of the ships and merchandise 
 which he had either burned or destroyed, and which he set 
 down as three millions more ; to which he added the ex- 
 pense of an expedition fitted out by the court of Spain, 
 under one Joseph Pizarro, for his annoyance, and which, he 
 learned from the galleon's papers, had been entirely broken 
 up and destroyed. 
 
 At Macao, Anson sold the galleon for £1200, which was 
 much less than her value. He was very anxious to get to 
 sea at once, that he might be himself the first messenger 
 of his good fortune, and thereby prevent the enemy from 
 forming any projects to intercept him. The Centurion 
 weighed anchor from Macao on the 15th of December 
 1743 : she touched at the Cape of Good Hope on the 11th 
 
204 WEALTH AND EE^OWN. 
 
 of March 1744, where the commodore sojourned a fortnight, 
 in a spot which he considered as not disgraced by a compa- 
 rison with the valleys of Juan Fernandez or the lawns of 
 Tinian. The fortuitous escapes and remarkable adventures 
 which had characterized the career of his famous ship con- 
 tinued till she saluted the British forts. The French had 
 espoused the cause of Spain ; and a large French fleet was 
 cruising in the Chops of the Channel at the moment when 
 the Centurion crossed it. The log afterwards proved that 
 she had run directly through the hostile squadron, con- 
 cealed from view by a dense and friendly fog. She arrived 
 safe at Spithead on the 15 th of June, after an absence of 
 three years and nine months. Anson caused the captured 
 wealth to be transported to London, upon thirty-two wag- 
 gons, to the sound of drum and fife. The two millions 
 were divided, according to the laws which regulate the dis- 
 tribution of prize-money, between Anson, his oflScers and 
 men, — the crown abandoning every penny to those who had 
 suffered and fought for it. Anson was now the richest man 
 in the naval service. The sympathy and applause bestowed 
 upon him by the public may be imagined from the fact that 
 the narrative of his voyage went through four immense 
 editions in a single year, was translated into seven Em-opean 
 languages, and met with a far greater success than had ever 
 fallen to the lot of any maritime journal. 
 
 Several years after the period of wliich we have been 
 speaking, the French Government had colonized the Falk- 
 land Islands, lying off the eastern coast of Patagonia. The 
 establishment lasted barely three years, and, in an agricul- 
 tural point of view, was a complete and disastrous failure. 
 The Spanish crown subsequently claimed these islands as 
 belonging to the continent of South America, and the King 
 of France was easily induced to abandon them. Captain 
 Louis-Antoine de Bougainville was instructed, in 1766, to 
 proceed to the islands, and there, in the name of his French 
 mojesty, cede them to the Spanish authorities who would 
 
A STRANGE REPORT. 205 
 
 be sent out for tlie purpose. He was then to continue on, by 
 the Strait of Magellan and the Pacific, to the East Indies, 
 and thence to return home. Should he accomplish this task, 
 he would be the first French circumnavigator of the globe. 
 
 Bougainville's mission was attended with the most com- 
 plete success, but contains little on which we require to 
 dwell. After they had been more than a year at sea, it 
 was discovered that one of the hands in the expedition, 
 engaged as servant to the botanist, was a woman. The 
 commander on hearing this went on board the store-ship to 
 make investigations. He thought the report incredible, as 
 Bard was already an exjoert botanist, and had acquu'ed the 
 name, during his excursions with his master among the 
 snows of Magellan's Strait — where he carried provisions, 
 fire-arms, and bundles of plants — of being his beast of 
 burden. The first suspicion of him occurred at Tahiti, 
 where the natives, with the keen intuition of savages, cried 
 out in their dialect, " It is a woman ! " and insisted on 
 paying her the attentions due to her sex. AVlien Bougain- 
 ville went on board the Etoile, Bard, bathed in tears, 
 admitted that she was a woman. She said she was an 
 orphan, had served before in men's clothes, and that the 
 idea of a voyage around the world had inflamed her curiosity. 
 Bougainville does her the justice to state that she always 
 behaved on board with the most scrupulous modesty. She 
 was not handsome, and was twenty-seven years of age. She 
 was the first woman that ever circumnavigated the globe. 
 
 Bougainville returned to France on the 16th of March 
 1769, having been absent two years and four months, and 
 having lost only seven men during the voyage. He was 
 the first Frenchman who ever went round the world in one 
 ship — one Gentil de la Barbinais, a pirate, having accom- 
 plished a voyage of circumnavigation in several ships, some 
 fifty years before. He sustained his claim to this honour 
 by publishing a narrative of his expedition, written in au 
 animated and graceful style, and which established his re- 
 putation as a sailor and explorer. 
 
CHAPTER XII. 
 
 VOYAGES FOB THE ADVANCEMENT OF SCIENCE : BYEON— - 
 WALLIS AND CARTERET COOK's THREE VOYAGES. 
 
 England was now at peace with all the world, and His 
 Majesty George iii. conceived an idea which till then had 
 penetrated no royal brain — that of sending out vessels upon 
 voyages of discovery in the single view of extending the 
 domain of science and contributing to the advancement of 
 geographical knowledge. Voyages had previously been 
 undertaken for purposes either of conquest, colonization, 
 pillage, or privateering ; and discovery had usually been 
 the result of accident, and was generally subordinate to the 
 grand business of plunder and rapine. The most prominent 
 of these voyages being those under the command of the 
 celebrated Captain Cook, it will be unnecessary to do more 
 than refer to the others. 
 
 The first consisted of two vessels, the Dolphin and Tamar, 
 the former a man-of-war of twenty-four guns, and the 
 latter a sloop of sixteen, commanded by Commodore John 
 Byron, who had been one of the wrecked captains of An- 
 son's fleet in 1740. After entering the South Sea, Byron 
 turned to the north as far as Juan Fernandez, and then 
 maldng a long stretch to the west in 1 4° 5' south latitude 
 and in 145° west longitude, discovered a group of islands, 
 two of which he named St. George's Islands. Here the 
 savages, in attempting to repel an invasion of their domain, 
 provoked reprisals, and two or three of them were killed ; 
 one being pierced by three balls which went quite through 
 his body, took up a large stone and died in the act of 
 206 
 
BYRON'S CREW ATTACKED BY SAVAGES. 
 At St. George's Islainl the savages, in attempting to repel an invasion of their domain, provoked reprisals, and 
 two or three of them were killed ; one being pierced by three balls which went quite throufjh his body, took up a 
 large stone and died in the act of throwing it. — PyiOK 206. 
 
VOYAGES TO THE SOUTH SEAS. 207 
 
 throwing it. After an absence of nearly two years, Byron 
 returned to England with a loss of only six men in each 
 ship, including those that were drowned. This number 
 was so inconsiderable that it was deemed probable that 
 more of them would have died had they remained on shore. 
 Byron, having discharged all the duties devolving on him 
 during this voyage with prudence and energy, could not be 
 held responsible for the poverty of the scientific results ob- 
 tained — a circumstance owing to the absence of scientific 
 men, naturalists, mathematicians, astronomers, &c. 
 
 The Government resolved to make another eSbrt, and to 
 equip the expedition in a style more adequate to its neces- 
 sities. The Dolphin was immediately refitted and furnished 
 for a voyage to be made in the same seas under Captain 
 Samuel Wallis. The Swallow, a sloop of fourteen guns, 
 was appointed to be her consort, instead of the lumbering 
 Tamar, aud Captain Carteret, who had accompanied Byron, 
 was ordered to command her. The Prince Frederick was 
 appointed to accompany them as store-ship. They left 
 Plymouth in company on the 22d of August 1766. The 
 vessels were separated during a storm in the Strait of 
 Magellan id 1767, and the Dolphin arrived in the Downs 
 on the 20th of May 1768. Wallis was enabled to com- 
 municate a paper to the Koyal Society, in time for that body 
 to give to Lieutenant Cook, then preparing for his first 
 voyage, more complete instructions by which to govern his 
 movements. 
 
 After an absence of three years, the Swallow anchored at 
 Spithead. No navigator had yet done so much with re- 
 sources so insufficient. Carteret's discoveries were of the 
 highest interest in a geographical point of view. He was 
 a worthy predecessor of Cook ; and his achievements with 
 a crazy ship and a disabled crew prepared the public mind 
 for the researches which his already distinguished successor 
 would be enabled to make with the carefully-equipped ex- 
 pedition placed under his command. 
 
208 FLYING FISH. 
 
 FIRST VOYAGE OF COOK. 
 
 In the year 1768 the Eoyal Society of England induced 
 the Government to equip and despatch a vessel to the South 
 Seas. The vessel whose career we are now to chronicle 
 sought neither capture, nor spoil, nor prize-money. It was 
 a peaceful ship, with a peaceful name — the Endeavour : 
 her commander bore a name to be rendered illustrious by 
 peaceful deeds, and he was bound upon a peaceful errand. 
 James Cook, an officer of forty years of age, who had 
 rendered efficient service in America at the capture of 
 Quebec, and who had shown himself a capable astronomer, 
 was instructed to proceed to the island named Sagittaria by 
 Quiros, and King George the Tliird's Island by Wallis, 
 there to observe and record the transit of the planet Venus 
 over the disk of the sun. The position of the island as 
 reported by Wallis was deemed to be exceedingly favourable 
 for such an observation. Cook was promoted to the rank 
 of lieutenant ; Charles Green was attached to the ship in 
 the capacity of astronomer ; Joseph Banks and Solander — 
 the latter a Swede and a pupil of Linnaeus — in that of 
 naturalists ; Buchan as draughtsman ; and Parkinson as 
 painter. The vessel sailed from Plymouth Sound, with a 
 fair wind, on the 25th of August. 
 
 The voyage to Eio Janeiro was enlivened by many in- 
 cidents now of quite ordinary occurrence, but novel and 
 interesting to navigators one hundred years ago. They saw 
 flying fish whose scales had the colour and brightness of 
 burnished silver. They caught a specimen of that species of 
 mollusc which sailors call a Portuguese Man-of-War — a crea- 
 ture ornamented with exquisite pink veins, and which spreads 
 before the wind a membrane which it uses as a saU. They 
 observed that luminous appearance of the sea now familiar 
 to all, but then a startling novelty. They were of opinion 
 that it proceeded from some light-emitting animal : they 
 threw over their casting-net, and drew up vast numbers of 
 medusae, which had the appearance of metal heated to a 
 
THE SAVAGES AT THEIR OLD TRICKS. 209 
 
 glow, and gave forth a white and silvery effulgence. At 
 Rio Janeiro the viceroy regarded them with strong suspicion, 
 and refused to allow IVIr. Banks to collect plants upon 
 the shore. 
 
 Towards the 1st of January 1769 the sailors began to 
 complain of cold, and each of them received a Magellanic 
 jacket. On the 11th, in the midst of penguins, albatrosses, 
 sheer- waters, seals, whales, and porpoises, they descried the 
 Falkland Islands, and, soon after, the coast of Terra del 
 Fuego. On the 15th ten or twelve of the company went 
 on shore, and were met by thirty or forty of the natives. 
 Each of the latter had a small stick in his hand, which he 
 threw away, seeming to indicate by this pantomime a re- 
 mmciation of weapons in token of peace. Acquaintance 
 was then speedily made : beads and ribbons were distri- 
 buted, and a mutual confidence and good-will produced. 
 Conversation ensued — if speaking without conveying a 
 meaning, and listening without comprehending, can be 
 called so. Three Indians accompanied the strangers back 
 to the ship. One of them, apparently a priest, performed 
 a ceremony of exorcism, vociferating with all his force at 
 each new portion of the vessel which met his gaze, seemingly 
 for the piu"pose of dispelling the influence of magic which 
 he supposed to prevail there. 
 
 On the 2 2d of January, Cook weighed anchor and com- 
 menced the passage through the Straits of Lemaire ; on the 
 26th he doubled Cape Horn and entered the Pacific Ocean. 
 He sailed for many weeks to the westward, making many 
 of the islands which had been discovered the year before by 
 the French navigator Bougainville, and himself discovering 
 others. On the 11th of April he arrived at King George's 
 Island, his destination, and the next morning came to anchor 
 in Port Royal Bay, in thirteen fathoms' water. The natives 
 brought branches of a tree, which seemed to be their emblem 
 of peace, and indicated by their gestures that they should 
 be placed in some conspicuous part of the ship's rigging. 
 Tliey then brought fish, cocoa-nuts, and bread-fruit, which 
 
 2d 
 
210 A QUID. 
 
 they exchanged for beads and glass. The ship's company 
 went on shore, and mingled in various ceremonies instituted 
 for the purpose of promoting fellowship and good-will. 
 During one of these, Dr. Solander and Mr. Markhouse — 
 the latter a midshipman — suddenly complained that their 
 pockets had been picked. Dr. Solander had lost an opera- 
 glass in a shagreen case, and Mr. Markhouse had been re- 
 lieved of a valuable snuff-box. A hue and cry was raised, 
 and the chief of the tribe informed of the theft. After great 
 effort and a long delay, the shagreen case was recovered ; 
 but the opera-glass was not in it. After another search, 
 however, it was found and restored. The savages, upon 
 being asked the name of their island, replied, 0-Tahiti, — 
 " It is Tahiti." The present mode of writing it, therefore, 
 — Otaheite, — is erroneous : Tahiti is the proper spelling. 
 
 Cook now made preparations for observing the transit of 
 Venus. He laid out a tract of land on shore, and received 
 from the chief of the natives a present of the roof of a house, 
 as his contribution to science. He erected his observatory 
 under the protection of the guns of his vessel, being some- 
 what suspicious of the object of such constant offerings of 
 branches as the inhabitants insisted upon making. Mr. 
 Parkinson, the painter, found it difficult to prosecute his 
 labours ; for the flies covered his paper to such a depth that 
 he could not see it, and ate off" the colour as fast as he 
 applied it. 
 
 One day Mr. Banks was informed that an Indian friend 
 of his, Tubourai by name, was dying, in consequence of 
 something which the sailors had given him to eat. He 
 hastened to his hut, and found the invalid leaning his head 
 against a post in an attitude of the utmost despondency. 
 The islanders about him intimated that he had been vomit- 
 ing, and produced a leaf folded up with great care, which 
 they said contained some of the poison from the fatal effects 
 of which he was now expiring. He had chewed the portion 
 he had taken to powder, and had swallowed the spittle. 
 During Mr. Banks's examination of the leaf and its contents, 
 
AN IRRESISTIBLE TEMPTATION. 211 
 
 he looked up with the most piteous aspect, intimating that 
 he had but a short time to live. The deadly substance 
 proved to be a quid of tobacco. Mr. Banks prescribed a 
 plentiful dose of cocoanut-milk, which speedily dispelled 
 Tubourai's sickness and apprehensions. 
 
 On the 1st of May the astronomical quadrant was taken 
 on shore for the first time and deposited in Cook's tent. The 
 next morning it was missing, and a vigorous search was 
 instituted. It had been stolen by the natives, and carried 
 seven miles into the interior. Through the intervention of 
 Tubourai it was recovered and replaced in the observatory. 
 
 Thus far the integrity of Tubourai had been proof against 
 every temptation. He had withstood the allurements of 
 beads, hatchets, coloured cloth, and quadrants, but was 
 finally led astray by the fascinations of a basket of nails. 
 The basket was known to have contained seven nails of un- 
 usual length, and out of these seven five were missing. One 
 was found upon his person ; and he was told that if he 
 would bring back the other four to the fort the afiair should 
 be forgotten. He promised to do so, but, instead of fulfilling 
 his promise, removed with his family to the interior, taking 
 the nails and all his furniture with him. 
 
 The transit of Venus was observed, with perfect success, 
 on the 3d of June, by means of three telescopes of different 
 magnifying powers, by Cook, Dr. Solander, and Mr. Green. 
 Not a cloud passed over the sky from the rising to the set- 
 ting of the sun. A party of natives contemplated the pro- 
 cess in solemn silence, and were made to understand that 
 the strangers had visited their island for the express purpose 
 of witnessing the immersion of the planet. The ship left 
 Tahiti on 1 3 th June. 
 
 Lieutenant Cook now discovered, successively, the various 
 islands which he regarded as forming an archipelago, and to 
 which he gave the name of Society Islands. He left the 
 last of them on the 15th of August, and on the 25th cele- 
 brated the anniversary of their leaving England by taking a 
 Cheshire cheese from a locker and tapping a cask of porter. 
 
2 I 2 THE TRANSIT OF MERCURY. 
 
 On the Both they saw the comet of that year, Tupia re- 
 markicg with some agitation that it would foment dissensions 
 between the inhabitants of the two isknds of Bolabola and 
 Ulieta, who would seem, from this, to have been peculiarly 
 susceptible to meteorological influences. On the 7 th of 
 October they discovered land, and anchored in an inlet to 
 which they gave the name of Poverty Bay. This was the 
 north-east coast of New Zealand, — an island discovered in 
 1642 by Tasman, and which had not been seen since, a 
 space of one hundred and twenty-seven years. The natives 
 received them with distrust, and several of them were killed 
 by musket-shots. All efforts to enter into amicable relations 
 with them failed. Somewhat farther to the south they 
 found the natives more disposed to be friendly, and Mr. 
 Banks and Dr. Solander went ashore and shot several birds 
 of exquisite beauty. 
 
 The expedition had thus far been sailing to the southward. 
 Dissatisfied with the results, and finding it difficult to pro- 
 cure water in sufficient quantities, Cook put about, deter- 
 mining to follow the coast to the northward. He named a 
 promontory in the neighbourhood Cape Turnagain. Another * 
 jDromontory, more to the north, where a huge canoe made 
 a hasty retreat, he called Cape Runaway. On the 9 th of 
 November, the transit of Mercury was successfully observed, 
 and the name of Mercury Bay given to the inlet where the 
 observation was made. Two localities, for reasons which 
 will be obvious, were called Oyster Bay and Mangrove River. 
 Before leaving Mercury Bay, Cook caused to be cut, upon 
 one of the trees near the watering-place, the ship's name 
 and his own, with the date of their arrival there, and, after 
 displaying the English colours, took formal possession of 
 it in the name of his Britannic Majesty King George the 
 Third. 
 
 On the 17th of December, they doubled North Cape, 
 which is the northern extremity of the island, and com- 
 menced descending its western side. The weather now 
 became stormy and the coast dangerous, so that the vessel 
 
BOTANY BAY. 213 
 
 was obliged to stand off to great distances, and intercourse 
 with the natives was very much interrupted. At one point, 
 however, the Enghsh satisfied themselves that the inhabi- 
 tants ate human flesh, the flesh at least of enemies who 
 had been killed in battle. 
 
 By the end of March 1770 the ship had circumnavigated 
 the two islands forming what is now known as New Zealand, 
 and had therefore proved, what was before uncertain, that 
 it was insular, and not a portion of any grand Southern 
 mainland. The whole voyage, in fact, had been unfavour- 
 able to the notion of a Southern continent, for it had swept 
 away at least three-quarters of the positions upon which it 
 had been founded. It had also totally subverted the theory 
 according to which the existence of a Southern continent 
 was necessary^ to preserve an equilibrium between the 
 Northern and Southern hemispheres ; for it had already 
 proved the presence of sufficient water to render the Southern 
 hemisphere too light, even if all the rest should be land. 
 
 The vessel left New Zealand on the 31st of March, sail- 
 ing due west, and on the 1 8th of April Mr. Hicks, the first 
 lieutenant, discovered land directly in the ship's path. This 
 was the most southerly point of New Holland, and was 
 called, from its discoverer. Point Hicks. Cook followed 
 the coast for many days to the northward ; and it was only 
 on the third that he learned, from ascending smoke, that 
 the country was inhabited. On the 1 3th he saw a party 
 of natives walking briskly upon the shore. These subse- 
 quently retired, leaving the defence of the coast to two 
 persons of very singular appearance. The landing party 
 detached by Cook numbered forty men ; and one of the 
 musketeers was ordered to show the two champions the 
 folly of resistance,-- by lodging a charge of small shot in their 
 legs. The wooders and waterers then went ashore, and with 
 some difliculty obtained the necessary supplies. 
 
 Early in May, Cook landed at a spot to which, from a 
 casual circumstance, he gave the name of Botany Bay, a 
 name now famous the world over. Mr. Banks and Dr. 
 
214 ON THE ROCKS. 
 
 Solander collected here large quantities of plants, flowers, 
 and branches of unlmown trees ; and it was this incident 
 that furnished the pastoral appellation to the Retreat for 
 Transported Criminals. They found the woods filled with 
 birds of the most exquisite beauty ; the shallow coasts were 
 haunted with flocks of water-fowl resembling swans and 
 pelicans ; the mud-banks harboured vast quantities of 
 oysters, mussels, cockles, and other shell-fish. The inhabi- 
 tants went totally naked, would never parley with the 
 strangers, and did not seem to understand the Tahitian 
 dialect of Tupia. 
 
 On the night of Sunday the 10th of June, the vessel 
 struck at high tide upon a rock which lay concealed in 
 seventeen fathoms' water, and beat so violently against it 
 that there seemed little hope of saving her. Land was 
 twenty-five miles off", with no intervening island in sight. 
 The sheathing-boards were soon seen to be floating away all 
 around, and the false keel was finally torn off. The six 
 deck-guns, all the iron and stone ballast, casks, staves, oil- 
 jars, decayed stores, to the weight of fifty tons, were thrown 
 overboard Avith the utmost expedition. To Cook's dismay, 
 the vessel thus lightened did not float by a foot and a half 
 at high tide, so much did the day-tide fall short of that of 
 the night. They again threw overboard everything which 
 it was possible to spare ; but the vessel now began to leak, 
 and it was feared she must go to the bottom as soon as she 
 ceased to be supported by the rock, so that the floating of 
 the ship was anticipated not as a means of deliverance, but 
 as an event that would precipitate her destruction. The 
 ship floated at ten o'clock, and was heaved into deep water. 
 There were nearly four feet of water in the hold. The leak 
 was held at bay for a time j but the men were finally ex- 
 hausted, and threw themselves down upon the deck, flooded as 
 it was to the depth of three inches by water from the pumps. 
 The vessel was finally saved by the following expedient, 
 proposed and executed by Mr. Markhouse : — He took a 
 lower studding-sail, and having mixed together a largo 
 
STOPPING A LEAK. 215 
 
 quantity of oakum and wool, choi)ped pretty small, stitched 
 it down in haiiJfuls upon the sail as tightly as possible. 
 The sail was then hauled under the ship's bottom by ropes ; 
 and, when it came under the leak, the suction which carried 
 in the water carried in with it the oakum and the wool. 
 The leak was so far reduced that it was easUy kept under 
 by one pump. The vessel was finally got ashore and beached 
 in Endeavour Eiver : the suiTounding localities were fitly 
 named Tribidation Bay, Weaiy Point, and the Islands of 
 Hope. 
 
 On the 3d of August, the ship sailed from Endeavour 
 River, the carpenter having at last completed the necessary 
 repairs. They now coasted along the edge of a reef w^hich 
 stretched out some twenty miles from the shore. This 
 became suddenly of so formidable an aspect, and the winds 
 and waves rolled them towards it with sure and fatal speed, 
 that the boats were got out and sent ahead to tow, and 
 finally succeeded in getting the ship's head round. The 
 surf was now breaking to a tremendous height within two 
 hundred yards : the water beneath them was unf\\thomable. 
 An opening in the reef was now discovered, and the dan- 
 gerous expedient of forcing the ship through it was success- 
 fully tried. They anchored in nineteen fathoms' water, 
 over a bottom of coral and shells. The opening through 
 the reef received the name of Providential Channel. 
 
 They sailed to the northward many days within the reef, 
 till they at last found a safe passage out. Cook then for 
 the last time hoisted English colours upon the eastern coast, 
 which he was confident no European had seen before, and 
 took possession of its whole extent, from south latitude 
 thirty-eight to latitude ten. He claimed it in behalf of his 
 Majesty King George the Third, by the name of New South 
 Wales, with all its bays, rivers, harbours, and islands. Three 
 volleys of small-arms were then fired, and the spot upon 
 which the ceremony was performed was named Possession 
 Island. The ship passed out to the westward, finding open 
 sea to the north cf New Holland ; a circumstance which 
 
216 NOVEL FIRE-ARMS. 
 
 gave great satisfaction to all on board, as it showed that 
 New Holland and New Guinea were separate islands^, and 
 not, as had been imagined, different parts of the supposed 
 Southern continent. On Thursday the 24th of August the 
 ship left New Holland, steering towards the north-west, 
 with the intention of making the coast of New Guinea. 
 
 Early in September they arrived among a group of islands 
 which they supposed to lie along the coast of New Guinea. 
 As they attempted to land, Indians rushed out of the thickets 
 upon them with hideous shouts, one of them throwing some- 
 thing from his hand which burned like gunpowder but made 
 no report. Their numbers soon increased, and they dis- 
 charged these noiseless flashes by four and five at a time. 
 The smoke resembled that of a musket, and as they held 
 long hollow canes in their hands, the illusion would have 
 been perfect had the combustion been accompanied by con- 
 cussion. Those on board the ship were convinced the natives 
 possessed fire-arms, supposing that the direction of the wind 
 prevented the sound of the discharge from reaching them. 
 Cook determined to lose no time in this latitude, having 
 accomplished what he considered as of paramount import- 
 ance ; that is, he had sailed between the two lands of New 
 Holland and New Guinea, and had thus established their 
 insular character beyond any possibility of controversy. 
 
 He now sailed to t]ie west, and anchored, on the 8th of 
 October, at Batavia, in Java. Here he laid up the ship for 
 repairs. " What anxieties we had escaped," he writes, " in 
 our ignorance that a large portion of the keel had been 
 diminished to the thickness of the under leather of a shoe !" 
 But the ship's company, which had been so wonderfully 
 preserved from the perils of the sea, were destined to 
 undergo the rude attacks of disease upon land. Mark- 
 house, the surgeon, Tupia and Tayeto, the Tahitians, and 
 four sailors, were rapidly carried off by fever. On the 27th 
 of December the ship weighed anchor, the sick-list including 
 forty names. Before doubling the Cape of Good Hope she 
 lost Sporing, one of the assistant naturalists, Parkinson the 
 
SUFFEEINGS OF THE CREW. 217 
 
 artist, Green the astronoper, Molineux the master, besides 
 the second lieutenant, four carpenters, and ten sailors. Cook 
 was forced to wait a month at the Cape, and, on the 12th 
 of July 1771, he cast anchor in the Downs, after a cruise 
 of three eventful years. His crew was decimated, and his 
 ship no longer seaworthy. The skill and enterprise dis- 
 played by Cook, and the important results attained by the 
 voyage, induced the Government to raise him to the rank 
 of Commander. 
 
 SECOND VOYAGE OF COOK. 
 
 The English Government now determined to despatch an 
 expedition in search of the supposed Southern or Austral 
 continent. A Frenchman, by the name of Benoit, had seen, 
 in 1709, to the south of the Cape of Good Hope, in lati- 
 tude 54° and in longitude 11° east, what he believed to be 
 land, naming it Cape Circumcision. Cook was placed in 
 command of the Resolution and Adventure, and instructed 
 to endeavour to find this cape and satisfy himself whether 
 it formed part of the great continent in question. He left 
 Plymouth on the 13th of July 1772, and the Cape of 
 Good Hope on the 2 2d of November. 
 
 A terrific gale soon drove both vessels from their course, 
 washed overboard their live stock, and wellnigh disabled 
 the Resolution. The cold increased suddenly, and drawers 
 and fear-noughts were served in abundance to the crew. 
 Immense ice-islands now occupied the horizon, and the sea, 
 dashing over them to the height of sixty feet, filled the air 
 with its ceaseless roar. On Sunday, the 1 3th of December, 
 they were in the latitude of Cape Circumcision, but ten 
 degrees east of it. For weeks they kept in high southern 
 latitudes, now menaced by towering peaks of ice, now en- 
 closed by immense fields and floating masses, till, towards 
 the 1st of February 1773, Cook came to the unwelcome 
 conclusion that the cape discovered by Benoit was nothing 
 more than a huge tract of ice, which, being chained to no 
 anchorage, and subject to no latitude, he had no reason to 
 
 2 E 
 
218 FIRST SIGHT OF THE AURORA AUSTRALIS. 
 
 expect to find in the spot where the credulous Frenchman 
 had discovered it sixty years before. 
 
 On the 8th of February, the Resolution lost sight of the 
 Adventure, and cruised three days in search of her, firing 
 guns and burning false fires, but without success. On the 
 17th, between midnight and three in the morning. Cook 
 saw lights in the sky similar to those seen in high northern 
 latitudes, and known by the name of Aurora Borealis. The 
 Aurora Australis had never been seen before. It sometimes 
 broke out in spiral rays, and in a circular form ; its colours 
 were brilliant, and it diSused its light throughout the heavens. 
 On the 24th, a tremendous gale, accompanied with snow 
 and sleet, made great havoc among the ice-islands, breaking 
 them up, and largely increasing the number of floating and 
 insidious enemies the ship had to contend with. These 
 dangers were now, however, so familiar to the crew, that 
 the apprehensions they caused were never of long duration, 
 and were in some measure compensated by the seasonable 
 supplies of water the ice-islands afforded them, and without 
 which they would have been greatly distressed. 
 
 On the 1 6th of March, Cook found himself in latitude 
 59°, longitude 146° east. He now determined to quit this 
 quarter, where he was convinced he should find no land, 
 and proceed to New Zealand to look for the Adventure, 
 and to refresh his crew. On the 26th he anchored in 
 Dusky Bay, New Zealand, after having been 117 days at 
 sea, and having sailed eleven thousand miles without once 
 seeing land. This point, the most southerly of New Zealand, 
 had never been visited by a European before. 
 
 While coasting to the northward, towards Queen Char- 
 lotte's Sound, where he expected to find the Adventure, 
 Cook suddenly observed six water-spouts between his vessel 
 and the land. Five of them soon spent themselves ; the 
 sixth started from a point three miles distant, and passed 
 within fifty yards of the stern of the Resolution, though 
 she felt no shock. The diameter of its base was about 
 sixty feet ; within this space the sea was much agitated, 
 
WATEE-SPOUTS. 219 
 
 and foamed up to a great height. From this a tube was 
 formed, by which the water and air were carried up in a 
 spiral stream to the clouds, from whence the water did not 
 descend again, being dispersed in the upper regions of the 
 atmosphere. " I have been told," says Cook, " that the 
 firing of a gun wiU dissipate water-spouts ; and I am sorry 
 that we did not try the experiment, as we were near enough, 
 and had a gun ready for the purpose ; but as soon as the 
 danger was past I thought no more about it." 
 
 On the 18th of May, the Resolution discovered the 
 Adventure in Queen Charlotte's Sound. The crews of the 
 two ships were overjoyed at meeting each other after a 
 separation of fourteen weeks. The captain of the latter 
 had seen upon the coast some natives of the trilie which 
 had furnished Tupia to Cook's vessel upon his first voyage. 
 They seemed quite concerned when informed that he had 
 died at Batavia, and were anxious to know whether he had 
 been killed, and whether he had been buried or eaten. 
 
 The two ships sailed in company from New Zealand on 
 the 7th of June, their purpose being to proceed to the 
 eastward in search of land as far as longitude 140° west, 
 between the latitudes of 41° and 46° south. During a 
 long cruise. Cook saw nothing which induced in him the 
 belief that they were in the neighbourhood of any continent 
 between the meridian of New Zealand and America. A 
 fact which militated against it was, that they had, as is 
 usual in all great oceans, large billows from every direction 
 in which the wind blew a fresh gale. These biUows never 
 ceased with the cause which first put them in motion — a 
 sure indication that no land was near. They constantly 
 passed low and half-submerged islands, now consisting of 
 coral shoals fretting the waves into foam, and now of islets 
 clothed with verdure. On the 17th of August they arrived 
 at Tahiti, after an entirely fruitless voyage. 
 
 The thieving and cheating propensities of the natives 
 appeared in bold relief during the sojourn of the English 
 upon their coast. The latter sometimes paid in advance 
 
220 PAYING IN ADVANCE. 
 
 for promised supplies of hogs and fowls, in which case they 
 were sure never to get them, the wary trader making otf 
 with his axe, shirt, or nails, and dispensing with the ne- 
 cessity of fulfilling his engagement. The practice of over- 
 reaching was not confined to the underlings of society, but 
 extended even to the chiefs. A potentate of high warlike 
 renown came one day to the side of the Resolution, and 
 ofiered for sale a superb bundle of cocoa-nuts, wliich was 
 readily bought by one of the officers. On untying it, it 
 was found to ctmsist of fruit which they had already once 
 bought, and which had been tapped, emptied of the milk, 
 and thrown overboard. The dishonest dignitary sat in his 
 canoe at a distance, indicating by the glee and vigour of 
 his pantomime that he enjoyed in a supreme degree the 
 brilliant success of this mercantile fraud. 
 
 Cook left Tahiti eaily in September, taking with him a 
 young savage named Poreo, who was smitten with a desire 
 to visit foreign parts. At the neighbouring island of Hua- 
 heine, a native named Oniai, belonging to the middle class, 
 was also taken on board. Cook tlms speaks of him two 
 years later : — " Omai has most certainly a good under- 
 standing, quick parts, and honest principles : he has a na- 
 tural good behaviour, which renders him acceptable to the 
 best company, and a proper degree of pride, which teaches 
 him to avoid the society of persons of inferior rank. He 
 has passions of the same kind as other young men, but has 
 judgment enough not to indulge them to an improper 
 excess." Omai was taken back to Huaheine by Codk when 
 he started upon his third voyage of discovery, in 1776. 
 
 Cook arrived at Middlebourg, one of the Friendly Islands, 
 early in October. Two canoes, rowed by three men each, 
 came boldly alongside ; and some of them entered the ship 
 without hesitation. One of them seemed to be a chief, by 
 the authority he exerted, and accordingly received a present 
 of a hatchet and five nails. Tioony — such was this poten- 
 tate's name — was thus cheaply conciliated. Cook and a 
 party soon embarked in a boat, accompanied by Tioony, who 
 
SPEEDY DISTILLATION. 221 
 
 conducted them to a little creek, where a landing was eab'ily 
 effected. Tioony brandished a branch of the tree of peace 
 in his right hand, extending his left towards an immense 
 crowd of natives, welcomed the English on shore with loud 
 acclamations. Not one of them carried a weapon of any 
 sort : they thronged so thickly around the boat that it was 
 difficult to get room to land. They seemed more desirous 
 to give than receive ; and many threw whole bales of cloth 
 and armfuls of fruit into the boat, and then retired without 
 either asking or waiting fur an equivalent. Tioony then 
 conducted the strangers to his house, which was situated 
 upon a fine plantation beneath the shade of shaddock-trees. 
 The floor was laid with mats. Bananas and cocoa-nuts were 
 set before them to eat, and a beverage was prepared for 
 them to drink. This was done in the following manner : 
 — Pieces of a highly-scented root were vigorously masticated 
 by the natives ; the chewed product was then deposited in 
 a large wooden bowl and mixed with water. As soon as 
 it was properly strained, cups were made of green leaves 
 which held nearly half a pint, and presented to the English. 
 No one tasted the contents but Cook — the manner of brew- 
 ing it having quenched the thirst of every one else. In this 
 island, as well as in the neighbouring one of Amsterdam, the 
 people — both men and women — were observed to have 
 lost one or both of their little fingers. Cook endeavoured 
 in vain to discover the reason of this mutilation. 
 
 On his return to New Zealand in November, Cook found 
 that his elforts to introduce new plants and animals had 
 been frustrated by the natives. One of the sows had been 
 incapacitated by a severe cut in one of her hind legs ; the 
 other sow and the boar had been sedulously kept separate. 
 The two goats had been killed by a fellow named Gobiah, 
 and the potatoes had been dug up. Cook here beheld a feast 
 of human flesh. A portion of the body of a young man of 
 twenty years was broiled and eaten by one of the natives 
 with evident relish. Several of the ship's crew were ren- 
 dered sick by the disgusting sight. 
 
222 ~ A HTNT FOR THE FAIR SEX. 
 
 Tlie Adventure separated from her consort at this point ; 
 nor was she again seen during the remainder of the voyage. 
 Cook left JSFew Zealand early in December for a last attempt 
 in the Southern Ocean. On the 12th he saw the first ice, 
 and on the 23d, in latitude 67°, found his passage ob- 
 structed by such quantities that he abandoned all hopes of 
 proceeding any farther in that direction, and resolved to 
 return to the north. As he was in the longitude of 137°, 
 it was clear that there must be a vast space of sea to the 
 north unexplored — a space of twenty-four degrees, in which 
 a large tract of land might possibly lie. 
 
 Late in February 1774, Cook was taken ill of bilious 
 colic, and for some days his life was despaired of. The 
 crew suffered severely from scurvy. On the 11th of March, 
 they fell in with Roggewein's Easter Island, which they 
 recognised by the gigantic statues which lined the coast. 
 They noticed a singular disproportion in the number of the 
 males and females, having counted in the island some seven 
 hundred men and only thirty women. 
 
 Early in April, Cook arrived among the Marquesas 
 Islands, discovered in 1595 by Mendana. On the 2 2d he 
 arrived at Point Venus, in Tahiti, where he had observed 
 the transit in 1769, and of which the longitude was known : 
 he was able, therefore, to determine the error of his watch, 
 and to fix anew its rate of going. The natives, and espe- 
 cially Otoo, the king, expressed no little joy at seeing him 
 again. On leaving Tahiti, Cook visited in detail the islands 
 named Espiritu Santo by Quiros, and Grandes Cyclades by 
 Bougainville. As he determined their extent and position, 
 he took the liberty of changing their name to that of the 
 New Hebrides. 
 
 Cook now discovered the large island of New Caledonia, 
 whose inhabitants he mentions as possessing an excellent 
 character. Subsequent navigators, however, ascertained 
 them to be cannibals. They were much lower in the scale 
 of intelligence than the Tahitians. Cook was unable to 
 obtain provisions ; and as his crew were now suffering from 
 
OMAI RETURNS. 223 
 
 famine, he returned to New Zealand, where he arrived on the 
 1 8th of October. He left again on the 1 0th of November, 
 and anchored on the 2 1 st of December in Christmas Sound, 
 in Terra del Fuego. He doubled Cape Horn, discovered 
 numerous islands of little importance, and finally headed 
 the vessel for the Cape of Good Hope. He anchored in 
 Table Bay on the 19th of March 1775. He here found 
 news of the Adventure, which had already passed the Cape 
 on her way home. On the 30th of July, Cook landed at 
 Plymouth, after an absence of three years and eighteen days. 
 During this space of time he had lost but four men, and 
 only one of these four by sickness. He was promoted to 
 the rank of captain, was elected a member of the Royal 
 Society of London, and received the Godfrey Copley gold 
 medal in testimony of the appreciation in which his efforts 
 to preserve the health of his crew were held by the Govern- 
 ment. He was now forty-seven years of age. 
 
 THIRD VOYAGE OF COOK. 
 
 Cook might justly have retired at this period to private 
 life, to enjoy his well-earned reputation. But the grand 
 question of the North-west Passage, now agitated by the 
 jDress and the public, induced him once more to tempt the 
 perils of foreign adventure. As every effort to force a 
 passage through Baffin's or Hudson's Bay had signally fldled, 
 it was determined to make the experiment through Behring's 
 Straits. On the 9th of February 1776, Cook received the 
 command of the sloop-of-war Eesolution — the vessel in 
 which he had made his last voyage — the Discovery, of three 
 hundred tons, being appointed to accompany the expedition. 
 Both ships were equipped in a manner befitting the nature 
 of their mission : they were well supplied with European 
 animals and plants, which they were to introduce into the 
 islands of the Pacific. Oniai, the young Tahitian whom 
 Cook had brought to England, was placed on board the 
 Resolution, as it was not likely another opportunity would 
 occur of sending him home. He left London with regret ; 
 
224 OMAl's RECEPTION. 
 
 but the consciousuess that the treasures he carried with 
 him would raise him to an enviable rank among his coun- 
 trymen, operated by degrees to alleviate his sorrow. The 
 Resolution sailed from Plymouth on the 12th of July, and 
 was followed, on the 10th of August, by the Discovery : 
 both vessels joined company, early in November, at the 
 Cape of Good Hope. 
 
 As we have already been frequently over the track now 
 for the third time traversed by Cook, we shall merely give 
 his route, without detailing his adventures, which did not 
 materially differ from those of his former voyages. He 
 arrived at Van Diemen's Land in December, and passed a 
 fortnight of the month of February 1777, in Queen Char- 
 lotte's Sound, New Zealand. Soon after he discovered 
 an island which the natives called Mangya ; he noticed that 
 the inhabitants, for want of a better pocket, slit the lobe of 
 their ear and carried their knife in it. At another island 
 of the same group, Omai extricated himself and a party of 
 English from a position of great danger by giving an exag- 
 gerated account of the instruments of war used on board the 
 ships. " These instruments," he said, " were so huge that 
 several people could sit conveniently within them ; and one 
 of them was sufficient to cru.sh the whole island at a s-hot." 
 Had it not been for this formidable story, Omai thought 
 the party would have been detained on shore all night. 
 At one of the Society Islands Cook planted a pineapple and 
 sowed some melon-seeds. He was encouraged to hope that 
 endeavours of this kind would not be fruitless, for upon the 
 same day the natives served up at his dinner a dish of tur- 
 nips, the produce of the seeds he had left there during his 
 last voyage. 
 
 The Resolution soon anchored off Tahiti, and Cook 
 noticed particularly the conduct of Omai, now about to be 
 restored to his home and his friends. A chief named Ootu, 
 and Omai's brother-in-law, came on board. There was 
 nothing either tender or striking in their meeting. On the 
 contrary, there seemed to be a perfect indifference on both 
 
VALUE OF liED FEATHPJRS. 225 
 
 sides, till Omai, having taken his brother down into the 
 cabin, ojDened the drawer where he kept his red feathers 
 and gave him three of them. Ootu, who would hardly 
 speak to Omai before, now begged that they might be 
 friends. Omai assented, and ratified the bargain with a 
 present of feathers ; and Ootu, by way of return, sent 
 ashore for a hog. But it was evident to the English that 
 it was not the man, but his property, they were in love 
 with. " Such," saj^s Cook, " was Omai's first reception 
 among his countrymen. Had he not shown to them his 
 treasure of red feathers, I question much whether they 
 would have bestowed even a cocoa-nut upon him. I own 
 I never expected it would be otherwise." 
 
 The important news of the arrival of red feathers was 
 conveyed on shore by Omai's friends, and the ships were 
 surrounded early the next morning by a multitude of canoes 
 crowded with people bringing hogs and fruit to market. 
 At first a quantity of feathers n(jt greater than might be 
 plucked from a tomtit would purchase a hog weighing fifty 
 pounds ; but such was the quantity of this precious article 
 on board that its value fell five hundred per cent, before 
 night. Omai was now visited by his sister ; and, much 
 to the credit of them both, their meeting was marked by 
 expressions of the tenderest affection. Cook foresaw, 
 however, that Omai would soon be despoiled of everything 
 he had if left among his relatives : so it was determined 
 to establish him at the neighbouring island of Huaheine. 
 A large lot of land was obtained there from the chief, and 
 the carpenters of the. two ships set about building him a 
 house fit to contain the European commodities that were 
 his property. Cook told the natives that if Omai were 
 disturbed or harassed he should upon his next visit make 
 them feel the weight of his resentment. Omai took pos- 
 session of his mansion late in October, and on Sunday, 
 November 2, bade adieu to the officers of the ship. He 
 sustained himself in this trying ordeal till he came to Cook, 
 and then gave way to a passionate burst of tears. He wept 
 
 2 F 
 
226 THE SANDWICH ISLANDS. 
 
 abundantly while being convej^ed on shore. " Tt was no 
 small satisfaction to reflect," writes Cook, " that we had 
 brought him back safe to the spot from which he was taken. 
 And yet such is the strange nature of human affairs that it 
 is probable we left him in a less desirable situation than 
 he was in before his connexion with us. He had tasted 
 the sweets of civilized life, and must now become more 
 miserable from being obliged to abandon all thoughts of 
 continuing them." 
 
 During the stay of the vessels at the Society Islands, 
 Cook induced the crews to give up their grog and use the 
 milk of cocoa-nuts instead. He submitted to them whether 
 it would not be injudicious, by drinking their spirits now, 
 to run the risk of having none left in a cold climate, where 
 cordials would be most needed, and whether they would not 
 be content to dispense with their grog now, when they had 
 so excellent a liquor to substitute in its place. The pro- 
 posal was unanimously agreed to, and the grog was stopped 
 except on Saturday nights. 
 
 Early in February 1778, Cook made a m.ost important 
 discovery — that of the archipelago now known as the Sand- 
 wich Islands, so named by Cook in honour of the Earl of 
 Sandwich, First Lord of the Admiralty. He -vnsited five 
 of these islands, one of which was Oahu, He found a re- 
 markable similarity of manners and coincidence of language 
 with those of the Society Islands, and in his journal asks 
 the following question : — " How shall we account for this 
 nation having spread itself in so many detached islands, so 
 v.idely separated from each other, in every quarter of the 
 Pacific Ocean ? V7e find it from New Zealand in the south 
 to the Sandwich Islands in the north ! And, in another 
 direction, from Easter Island to the New Hebrides ! That 
 is, over an extent of three thousand six hundred miles north 
 and south, and five thousand miles east and west !" 
 
 From the Sandwich Islands Cook sailed to the north-east, 
 and on the 7th of March struck the coast of America, upon 
 the shores of the tract named New Albion by Sir Francis 
 
cook's river. 227 
 
 Drake. The skies being very threatening, he gave the 
 name of Cape Foulweather to a promontory forming the 
 northern extremity. Late in March the two vessels entered 
 a broad inlet, to which Cook gave the name of King George's 
 Sound ; but it is better known now by its original name of 
 Nootka Sound. The natives were friendly and willing to 
 sell and buy. 
 
 Cook left Kootka Sound on the 2Gth of April, and early 
 in May entered a deep inlet, which he named Prince Wil- 
 liam's Sound. Proceeding on his course, as he supposed, 
 towards Behring's Strait, he was surprised to find various 
 indications that he was no longer in the sea, but ascending 
 a wide and rapidly-flowing river. He was, however, en- 
 couraged to proceed by finding the water as salt as that of 
 the ocean. Having traced the stream a distance of two 
 hundred miles from its entrance, without seeing the least 
 appearance of its source, and despairing of finding a passage 
 through it to the ISTorthern Seas, he determined to return. 
 Mr. King, one of the ofl&cers, was sent on shore to display 
 the flag and take possession of the country and river in his 
 Majesty's name, and to bury in the ground a bottle contain- 
 ing some pieces of English coin of the year 1772. The 
 vessels left the river — afterwards named, by order of Lord 
 Sandwich, Cook's River — on the 5th of June. 
 
 On the 9 th of August Cook arrived at a point of land 
 in north latitude 66°^ which he called Cape Prince of 
 Wales, and which is the western extremity of North 
 America. Had he sailed directly north from this spot 
 he would have passed through Behring's Straits. But the 
 attraction of two small islands drew him to the westward, 
 and by nightfall he anchored in a bay on the coast of Asia, 
 having in the course of twenty-four hours been in sight of 
 the two continents. On the 12th, while sailing to the 
 north, both continents were in- sight at the same moment. 
 On the r7th a brightness was perceived in the northern 
 horizon, like that reflected from ice, commonly called the 
 blink. But it was thought very improbable that they 
 
228 A SUDDEN CHANGE. 
 
 should meet with ice so soon. Still, the sharpness of the 
 air and gloominess of the weather seemed to indicate some 
 sudden change. The sight of a large field of ice soon left 
 no doubt as to the cause of the brightness of the horizon. 
 At half-past two, being in latitude 71° and in twenty-two 
 fathoms water. Cook found himself close to the edge of the 
 ice, which was as compact as a wall and twelve feet out of 
 water. It extended to the north as far as the eye could 
 reach. A point of land upon the American coast obtained 
 the name of Icy Cape. 
 
 The season was now so far advanced that Cook aban- 
 doned all attempts to find a passage through to the Atlantic 
 this year, and directed his attention to the subject of 
 winter quarters. Discovering a deep inlet upon the 
 American side, he named it Norton's Sound, in honour of 
 Sir Fletcher Norton, Speaker of the House of Commons. 
 At Oonalaska, an island some distance to the south, he 
 fell in with three Russian carriers, who had some store- 
 houses and a sloop of thirty tons' burden. They appeared 
 to have a thorough knowledge of the attempts which had 
 been made by their countrymen, Kamschatka, Behring, and 
 others, to navigate the Frozen Ocean, 
 
 On the 26th of October Cook left Oonalaska for the 
 Sandwich Islands, intending to spend the winter months 
 there, and then to direct his course to Kamschatka, arriving 
 there by the middle of May in the ensuing year. On the 
 2 6th of November the two ships anchored at the archipelago 
 of the Sandwich Islands and discovered several new members 
 of the group. At Owhyhee, Cook found the natives more 
 free from reserve and suspicion than any other tribe he had 
 met ; nor did they even once attempt a fraud or a theft. 
 Cook's confidence, akeady great, was still further augmented 
 by a singular, if not grotesque incident. 
 
 The priests of the island resolved to deify the captain, 
 under the name of Orono. One evening, as he landed upon 
 the beach, he was received by four men, who immediately 
 swathed him in red cloth, and then conducted him to a 
 
MORE HONOUEABLE THAN AGREEABLE. 229 
 
 sort of sacrificial altar, where, by means of an indescribable 
 ceremony, consisting of rapid speeches, offerings of putrid 
 hogs and sugar-canes, invocations, processions, chants, and 
 prostrations, they conferred upon him a celestial character 
 and the right to claim adoration. At the conclusion, a 
 priest named Kaireekeea took part of the kernel of a cocoa- 
 nut, which he chewed, and with which he then rubbed the 
 captain's face, head, hands, arms, and shoulders. Ever 
 after this, when Cook went ashore, a priest preceded him, 
 shouting that Orono was walking the earth, and calling 
 upon the people to humble themselves before him. Presents 
 of pigs, cocoa-nuts, and bread-fruit were constantly made 
 to him, and an incessant supply of vegetables sent to his 
 two ships : no return w^as ever demanded or even hinted 
 at. The offerings seemed to be made in discharge of a 
 religious duty, and had much the nature of tribute. When 
 Cook inquired at whose charge all this munificence was 
 displayed, he was told that the expense was borne by a 
 great man, named Kaoo, the chief of the priests, and grand- 
 father of Kaireekeea : this Kaoo was now absent, attending 
 Tereoboo, the king of the island. 
 
 The king, upon his return, set out from the village in a 
 large canoe, followed by two others, and paddled toward 
 the ships in great state. Tereoboo gave Cook a fan, in 
 return for Avhich Cook gave Tereoboo a clean shirt. Heaps 
 of sugar-cane and bread-fruit were then given to the ship's 
 crew, and the ceremonies were concluded by an exchange of 
 names betweea the captain and the king, — the strongest 
 pledge of friendship among the inhabitants of the Pacific 
 islands. 
 
 It was not long before Tereoboo and his chiefs became 
 very anxious that the English should bid them adieu. They 
 imagined the strangers to have come from some country 
 where provisions had failed, and that their visit to their 
 island was merely for the purpose of filling their stomachs. 
 " It was ridiculous enough to see them stroke the sides and 
 pat the bellies of our sailors," says King, the continuator of 
 
230 ANOTHEK THEFT, AND ITS CONSEQUENCES. 
 
 Cook's journal, " and telling tliem that it was time for tliem 
 to go, but that if they would come again the next bread- 
 fruit season they should be better able to supply their 
 wants. We had now been sixteen days in the bay ; and, 
 considering our enormous consumption of hogs and vege- 
 tables, it need not be wondered that they should wish to 
 see us take our leave." When Tereoboo learned that the 
 ships were to sail on the next day but one, he ordered a 
 proclamation to be made through the villages, requiring the 
 people to bring in presents to Orono, who was soon to take 
 his departure. 
 
 On the 4th of February 1779, the vessels unmoored and 
 sailed out of the harbour, after having received on board a 
 present of vegetables and live stock which far exceeded any 
 that had been made them either at the Friendly or Society 
 Islands. The weather being, however, extremely unfavour- 
 able, they were compelled to return for shelter, and on the 
 11th dropped anchor in nearly the same spot as before. 
 The foremast was found to be much damaged, the keel being 
 exceedingly rotten, having a large hole up the middle of it. 
 The reception of the ships was very different from what it 
 had been on their first arrival : there were no shouts, no 
 bustle, no confusion. The bay seemed deserted, though 
 from time to time a solitary canoe stole stealthily along the 
 shore. 
 
 Toward the evening of the 1 3th, a theft committed by a 
 party of the islanders on board the Discovery gave rise to a 
 disturbance of a very serious nature. Pareea, a personage 
 of some authority, was accused of the theft, and a scuffle 
 ensued, in which Pareea was knocked down by a violent 
 blow on the head with an oar. The natives immediately 
 attacked the crew of the pinnace with a furious shower of 
 stones and other missiles, and forced them to swim off with 
 great precipitation to a rock at some distance from the 
 shore. The pinnace was immediately ransacked by the 
 islanders, and would have been demolished, but for the in- 
 terposition of Pareea, who, upon the recognition of his mno- 
 
INTERVIEW AVITfl THE KING. 231 
 
 cence, joined noses with tlie officers and seemed to have 
 forgotten the blow he had received. 
 
 When Captain Cook heard of what had happened, he 
 expressed some anxiety, and said that it woiikl not do to 
 allow the islanders to imagine they had gained an advan- 
 tage. It was too late to take any steps that evening, how- 
 ever. A double guard was posted at the observatory, and 
 at midnight one of the sentinels, observing five savages 
 creeping toward him, fired over their heads and put them 
 to flight. The cutter of the Discovery was stolen from the 
 buoy where it was moored. At daylight Cook loaded his 
 double-ban-elled gun and ordered the marines to prepare for 
 action. It had been his practice, when anything of conse- 
 quence was lost, to get the king or several of the principal 
 men on board, and to keep them as hostages till it was 
 restored. His purpose was to pursue the same plan now. 
 He gave orders to seize and stop all canoes that should 
 attempt to leave the bay. The boats of both ships, well 
 manned and armed, were therefore stationed across the 
 mouth of the harbour. Cook went ashore in the pinnace, 
 obtained an inter\4ew with the king, satisfied himself that 
 he was in nowise privy to the theft committed, and invited 
 him to spend the day on board the Rescjlution. Tereoboo 
 readily consented, and, having placed his two sons in the 
 pinnace, was on the pomt of following them, wdien an elderly 
 woman, the mother of the boys, and a younger woman, the 
 king's favourite wife, besought him with tears not to go on 
 board. Two chiefs laid hold on him, insisting that he 
 should go no farther. The natives now collected in prodi- 
 gious numbers, and began to throng around Cook and their 
 king. Cook, finding that the alarm had spread too gener- 
 ally, and that it was in vain to think of kidnapping the 
 king without bloodshed, at last gave up the point. 
 
 Thus far the person and life of Cook do not appear to 
 have been in danger. An accident now happened which 
 gave a fatal tm'n to the afl'air. The ships' boats, in firir.g 
 at canoes attempting to escape, hati unfortunately killed a 
 
232 A DEADLY CONFLICT. 
 
 chief of the first rank. The news of his death arrived just 
 at the moment when Cook, after leaving the king, was walk- 
 ing slowly toward the shore. It caused an immediate and 
 violent ferment : the women and children were at once sent 
 off : the warriors put on their breast-mats and armed them- 
 selves with spears and stones. One of the natives went up 
 to Cook, flourishing a long iron spike by way of defiance, 
 and threatening him with a large stone. Cook ordered him 
 to desist, but, as the man persisted in his insolence, was at 
 length provoked to fire a load of small shot. As the shot 
 did not penetrate the matting, the natives were encouraged, 
 by seeing the discharge to be harmless, to further aggres- 
 sion. Several stones were thrown at the marines : their 
 lieutenant, Mr. Phillips, narrowly escaped being stabbed by 
 knocking down the assailant with the butt end of his 
 musket. Cook now fired his second barrel, loaded with 
 ball, and killed one of the foremost of the natives. A gene- 
 ral attack with stones and a discharge of musketry imme- 
 diately followed. The islanders, contrary to the expectations 
 of the English, stood the fire with great firmness, and, 
 before the marines had time to reload, broke in upon them 
 with demoniacal shouts. Four marines were instantly 
 killed ; three others were dangerously wounded ; Phillii^s 
 received a stab between the shoulders, but, having fortu- 
 nately reserved his fire, shot the man who had wounded 
 him just as he was going to repeat the blow. 
 
 The last time that Cook was seen distinctly, he was 
 standing at the water's edge, calling out to the people in 
 the boats to cease firing. It is supposed that he was desir- 
 ous of stopping fm^ther bloodshed, and wished the example 
 of desisting to proceed from his side. His humanity proved 
 fatal to him ; and he lost his life in attempting to save the 
 lives of others. It was noticed that while he faced the na- 
 tives none of them offered him any violence, deterred, per- 
 haps, by the sacred character he bore as an Orono ; but the 
 moment he turned round to give his orders to the men in 
 the boats, he was stabbed in the back and fell face foremost 
 
DEATH OF C'OOlv. 233 
 
 into the water. The ishmders set up a deafening yell and 
 dragged his body on shore, where the dagger with which he 
 had been killed was eagerly snatched by the savages from 
 each other's hands, each one manifesting a brutal eagerness 
 to have a share in his destruction. 
 
 " Thus fell," writes King, " our great and excellent com- 
 mander. After a life of so much distinguished and suc- 
 ces.sful enterprise, his death, as regards himself, cannot be 
 reckoned premature, since he lived to finish the work for 
 which he seemed designed, and was rather removed from the 
 enjoyment than cut off from the acquisition of glory. How 
 sincerely his loss was felt and lamented by those who had 
 so long found their general security in his skill and conduct, 
 and every consolation in their hardships m his tenderness 
 and humanity, it is neither necessary nor possible for me to 
 describe : much less shall I attempt to paint the horror 
 with which we were struck, and tlie universal dejection 
 and dismay which followed so dreadfid. and unexpected a 
 calamity." 
 
 When the consternation consequent upon the loss of their 
 commander had in some measure subsided, Clarke, the cap- 
 tain of the Discovery, assumed the chief command of the 
 expedition. The ships were in such a bad condition, and 
 the discipline became so relaxed upon the withdrawal of the 
 master-mind, that it was decided to employ pacific mea- 
 sures, rather than a display of vigorous resentment, to 
 obtain the restitution of the remains of Cook and of the 
 four soldiers. The moderation of the English produced no 
 effect, however, the natives using the bodies of the marines 
 in sacrificial burnt-offerings to their divinities. As they 
 considered that of Cook as of a higher order, they cut it 
 carefully hi pieces, sending bits of it to different parts of the 
 island. Upon the evening of the 1 5th, two priests brought 
 clandestinely to the ship the portion they had received for 
 religious purposes, — flesh without bone, and weighing about 
 nine pounds. They said that this was all that remained of 
 the bod}'^, the rest having been cut to pieces and burned : 
 
 2 a 
 
234 • INSOLENCE OF THE NATIVES. 
 
 the head, however, and all the bones, except what belonged 
 to the trunk, were in the possession of Tereoboo. 
 
 The natives on shore passed the night in feasts and re- 
 joicings, seeking evidently to animate and inflame their 
 courage previous to the expected collision. The next day, 
 about noon, finding the English persist in their inactivity, 
 great bodies of them, blowing their conch-shells and strut- 
 ting about upon the shore in a blustering and defiant 
 manner, marched off over the hills, and never appeared 
 again. Those who remained comj)ensated for the paucity 
 of their numbers by the insolence of their conduct. One 
 man came within musket -shot of the Resolution and waved 
 Cook's hat over his head, his countrymen upon the water's 
 edge exulting in his taunts and jeers. The watering-party 
 sent upon their daily duty were so annoyed, that they only 
 obtained one cask of water in an afternoon. An attack 
 upon the village was in consequence decided upon, and was 
 executed by the marines in a vigorous and effective manner. 
 A sanguinary revenge was taken for the death of their 
 commander ; many of the islanders were slain, and their 
 huts burned to the ground. This severe lesson was neces- 
 sary, for the natives were strongly of opinion that the 
 English tolerated their provocations because they were un- 
 able to suppress them, and not from motives of humanity. 
 At last a chief named Eappo, a man of the very first con- 
 sequence, came with presents from Tereoboo to sue for 
 peace. The presents were received, but answer was re- 
 turned that, until the remains of Captain Cook were 
 restored, no peace would be granted. 
 
 On Saturday the 20th, a long procession was seen to 
 descend the hill toward the beach. Each man carried a 
 sugar-cane or two upon his shoulders, with bread-fruit and 
 plantains in his hand. They were preceded by two drum- 
 mers, who planted a staff, with a white flag upon it, by the 
 water's edge, and drummed vigorously, while the rest ad- 
 vanced one by one and deposited their presents upon the 
 ground. Eappo, in a long feathered cloak, and with a 
 
EECOVEEY OF COOK's REMAINS. 235 
 
 bearing of deep solemnity, mounted upon a rock and made 
 signs for a boat. Captain Clarke went ashore in the pin- 
 nace, ordering Lieutenant King to attend him in the cutter. 
 Eappo went into the pinnace and delivered to the captain a 
 quantity of bones wrapped up in a large quantity of fine 
 new cloth, and covered with a spotted cloak of black and 
 white feathers. The bundle contained the hands of the 
 unfortunate commander entire ; the skull, deprived of the 
 scalp and the bones that form the face ; the scalp, detached, 
 with the hair cut short, and the ears adhering to it ; the 
 bones of both arms, the thigh and leg bones, but without 
 the feet. The whole bore evident marks of having been in 
 the fire, with the exception of the hands, the flesh of which 
 was left upon them, with several large gashes crammed 
 with salt, apparently for the purpose of preventing decom- 
 position. The lower jaw and feet, which were wanting, 
 had been seized by difterent chiefs, Eappo said, and Tereoboo 
 was using every means to recover them. 
 
 The next morning Eappo came on board, bringing with 
 him the missing bones, together with the barrels of Cook's 
 gun, his shoes, and several other trifles that had belonged 
 to him. Eappo was dismissed with orders to " taboo" the 
 bay — that is, to place it under interdict during the per- 
 formance of the funeral ceremonies. This was done, Not 
 a canoe ventured out upon the water during the remainder 
 of the day, and, in the midst of the silence and solemnity 
 of the scene, the bones were placed in a cofiin and the 
 service of the Church of England read over them. They 
 were then committed to the deep, beneath the booming 
 thunders of the artillery of both vessels. " What our 
 feelings were on this occasion," says King, " I leave the 
 world to conceive. Those who were present know that it 
 is not in my power to express them." 
 
 No one man ever contributed more to any science than 
 did Captain Cook to that of geography. We have seen 
 that, on his fii'st voyage, he discovered the Society Islands, 
 determined the insular character of Is ew Zealand, discovered 
 
23 C WHAT THE WORLD OWES TO COOK. 
 
 tlie straits wliicli cut that island in halves, and made a 
 complete survey of both portions. He explored the eastern 
 coast of New Holland, gave Botany Bay its name, and 
 surveyed an extent of upwards of two thousand miles. In 
 his second voyage he resolved the problem of a Southern 
 continent, having traversed that hemisphere in such a man- 
 ner as to leave no probability of its existence, unless near 
 the Pole, out of the reach of navigation, and beyond the 
 habitable limits of the globe. He discovered New Cale- 
 donia, the largest island in the South Pacific except New 
 Zealand ; he settled the situations of numerous old disco- 
 veries, rectifying their longitude, and remodelling all the 
 charts. On his third voyage he discovered, to the north 
 of the equator, the group called the Sandwich Islands, — a 
 discovery which, all things considered, and from their situa- 
 tion and products, may be said to be the most important 
 acquisition ever made in the Pacific. He explored what 
 had hitherto remained unknown of the western coast of 
 America, — an extent of three thousand five hundred miles, — • 
 and ascertained the proximity of the two great continents 
 of Asia and America. " In short," says King, " if we 
 except the Sea of Amur, and the Japanese Archipelago, 
 which still remain imperfectly known to the Europeans, he 
 has completed the hydrography of the habitable globe." 
 After Christopher Columbus, Cook acquired, and now, at a 
 distance of nearly a century, still enjoys, the highest de- 
 gree of popularity which ever fell to the lot of a navigator 
 and discoverer. 
 
CHAPTER XIII. 
 
 LAPl^ROUSE TRANSPLANTATION OF THE BUEAD-FRUTT 
 
 TREE WILLIAM BLIGH. 
 
 Upon the perusal of the voyages, discoveries, and services 
 of Cook, Loiiis XVI., king of France, conceived the idea of 
 sharmg in the glory which the English were reaping from 
 maritime adventure and exploration. He di-ew up a plan 
 of campaign with his own hand, ordered the two frigates 
 Boussole and Astrolabe to he prepared for sea, and gave 
 the command to Jean-Fran9ois Galaup de la Pdroiise, — 
 better known as Lap(^roiise. The vessels were supjilied 
 with every conceivable accessory. The fleet sailed from 
 Brest on the 1st of August 1785, and arrived at Con- 
 ception, in Chili, late in Febmary 1786. 
 
 After a short stay here, the two frigates again put to 
 sea, and, early in April, anchored in Cook's Bay, in Easter 
 Island. Here the two commanders landed, accompanied 
 by about seventy persons, twelve of whom were marines 
 armed to the teeth. Five hundred Indians awaited them, 
 the gi'eater part naked, painted, and tattooed, some wearing 
 bunches of odoriferous herbs about their loins, and others 
 being covered with pieces of white and yellow cloth. None. 
 of them were armed, and, as the boats touched the land, 
 they advanced with alacrity to aid the strangers in their 
 disembarkation. The latter marked out a circular space, 
 where they set up a tent, and enjoined it strongly upon the 
 islanders not to intrude upon this enclosure. The number 
 of the natives had now increased to eight hundred, one 
 hundred and fifty of whom were women. "S^Tiile the latter 
 would seek, by caresses and agreeable pantomime, to with- 
 237 
 
238 FRENCH POLITENESS. 
 
 draw the attention of the Frenchmen from passmg events, 
 the men would slyly pick their j^ockets. Innumerable 
 handkerchiefs were pilfered in this way ; and the thieves, 
 emboldened by success, at last seized their caps from their 
 heads and rushed off with them. It was noticed that the 
 chiefs were the most adroit and successful plunderers, and 
 that though, for appearance' sake, they sometimes ran after 
 an offender, promising to bring him back, it was evident 
 that they were running as slowly as they could, and that 
 their object was rather to facilitate than to prevent their 
 escape. Lape'rouse was not saved from spoliation by his 
 rank : A polite savage, having assisted him over an ob- 
 struction in the path, removed his chapeau and fled with 
 the utmost rapidity. On re-embarking to return to the 
 ships, only three persons had handkerchiefs, and only two 
 had caps. Lap^rouse stayed but a day on this island, 
 having nothing to gain and everything to lose. There was 
 no fresh wafer to be foiuid, the natives drinking sea-water 
 like the albatrosses of Cape Horn. In return for the hos- 
 pitality with which they had been received, LajD^rouse 
 caused several fertile spots to be sown with beets, cabbages, 
 wheat, carrots, and squashes, and even with orange, lemon, 
 and cotton seeds. " In short," says Lapdrouse, " we loaded 
 them with presents, overwhelmed with caresses the young 
 and children at the breast ; we sowed their fields with 
 useful grains ; we left kids, sheep, and hogs to multiply 
 upon their island ; we asked nothing in exchange ; and yet 
 they robbed us of our hats and handkerchiefs, and threw 
 stones at us when we left." The following reflection, which 
 concludes Lap(^rouse's account of Easter Island, could only 
 have proceeded from a Frenchman : — " I decided to depart 
 during the night, flattering myself that when, upon the 
 return of day, they should find our vessels gone, tliey 
 would attribute our departure to our just resentment at 
 their conduct, and that this conclusion might render them 
 better members of society." 
 
 On the 23d of June, in latitude 60° north, Lap^rouse 
 
VEEY QUIET. 239 
 
 struck the American coast. He recognised at once Beliring's 
 Mount St. Elias, whose summit pierced the clouds. From 
 this point southward, as far as Monterey, in Mexico, hiy 
 an extent of coast which Cook had seen but not surveyed. 
 The exploration of this coast was a work essential to the 
 interests of navigation and of commerce ; and, though the 
 season only allowed him three months, he executed it in a 
 manner creditable to the navy of France. He discovered a 
 harbour that had escaped the notice of preceding navigators, 
 which seems to have been a remarkable place. The water 
 is unfathomable, and is surrounded by precipices rising per- 
 pendicularly from the water's edge into regions of eternal 
 snow. Not a blade of grass, not a green leaf, grows in 
 this desolate and sterile spot. No breeze blows upon the 
 surface of the bay ; its tranquillity is never troubled except 
 by the fall of enormous masses of ice from overhanging peaks. 
 The air is so still and the silence so profound, that the noise 
 made by a bird in laying an egg in the hollow of a rock 
 is distinctly heard at the distance of a mile and a half ! 
 This wonderful bay Lapdrouse named Frenchport. 
 
 A painful accident occurred as the vessels, after a some- 
 what prolonged stay, were about departing from the spot. 
 Three boats, manned by twenty-seven men and officers, 
 were sent to make soundings in the bay, in order to com- 
 plete the survey. They had strict orders to avoid a danger- 
 ous current, but became involved in it unawares. Two 
 boats' crews perished, consifsting of twenty-one men, tlie 
 greater part of them under twenty-five years of age. Two 
 brothers, by the name of Laborde, whom their superior 
 officers always sent togetlier on missions of j)eril, were 
 among the victims of the disaster. A monument was 
 erected to their memory, and a record buried in a bottle 
 beneath it. The inscription was thus conceived : — 
 
 " At the entrance of this bay twenty-one brave sailors perisli'd : 
 Whoever you may be, mingle your tears with ours." 
 
 Early in June, Lupirouse entered a sea never before 
 
240 SANGUINARY VENGEANCE. 
 
 ploughed by a European keel ; and as it was only known 
 from Japanese or Corean cliarts, published by the Jesuits, 
 it was his first object either to verify their surveys or to 
 correct their errors. As the Jesuits travelled and made 
 their calculations by land, Lapdrouse added hydrographic 
 details and observations to their data, which he found quite 
 generally correct. His voyage in these latitudes set many 
 doubts at rest. At Kamschatka, letters and despatches 
 were received from France, intimating that Lap^rouse had 
 been promoted in rank. M. de Lesseps, the interpreter, 
 vfas here detached from the expedition, with the ships' 
 journal, which was afterwards published in France. 
 
 The track of Lapdrouse was now directly south, through 
 the heart of the Pacific Ocean. He touched on the 9 th 
 of December at Maouna, one of Navigator's Isles. The 
 vessels were at once surrounded by a hundred or more 
 canoes filled with pigs and fruit, which the natives would 
 only exchange for glass beads, which in their eyes were 
 what diamonds are to Europeans. Delangle, the captain of 
 the Astrolabe, went ashore with the watering party. The 
 islanders made no objection to their landiiig their casks ; 
 but as the tide receded, leaving the boats high and dry 
 upon the beach, they became troublesome, and finally forced 
 Delangle to a trial of his muskets. For this they took a 
 sanguinary vengeance. Delangle was killed by a single 
 blow from a club, as was Lamanon, the naturalist. Eleven 
 marines were savagely murdered, while twenty were seri- 
 ously wounded. The rest escaped by swimming. Lapdrouse 
 did not feel himself sufficiently strong to attempt reprisals. 
 The natives hurled stones with such force and accuracy that 
 they were more than a match for as many musketeers. 
 Besides, he had lost thirty -two men and two boats, and his 
 situation generally was such that the slightest mischance 
 would now compel him to disarm one frigate in order to 
 refit the other. It was late in January 1788 that he 
 arrived at Botany Bay in New Holland, the last place in 
 which he was ever seen alive or dead. 
 
STONES A MATCH FOR MUSKETS. 
 LAPEROUSE AND THE NATIVES OF NAVIGATOr's ISLES. 
 
 Belangle, the captain of the Astrolabe, vaskillei! I>y a single blow from a club, as was Lanianoii, the llatul•ali^t. 
 Kleven marines were savagely munlered, while twenty were seriously wounded. The rest escaped by swimmin;;. 
 The natives hurled stones with iuch force and accuracy that they were more than a match for as many mu*- 
 keteers. — Page 240. 
 
SEARCH FOR THE VESSELS. 241 
 
 His last letter to the Minister of Marine was dated at 
 Botany Bay, the 7 th of February. In this he stated the 
 route by which he intended to return home, and the dates 
 of his anticipated arrivals at various points. His j^lan was 
 to visit the Friendly Islands, New Guinea, and Van Diemen's 
 Land, and to be at the Isle of France, near Madagascar, at 
 the beginning of December. His letter arrived in due course 
 at Paris, where the public mind was too much agitated by 
 the throes of revolution to pay much heed to matters of 
 such remote interest. At last, in the year 1791, the Society 
 of Natural History called the attention of the Constituent 
 Assembly to the fate of Lapdrouse and his companions. 
 The Assembly then sent two ships to Botany Bay, with 
 orders to steer the same course from that place that Lap^ 
 rouse had traced out for himself. Some of his followers, it 
 was thought, might have escaped from the wreck, and might 
 be confined on a desert island or thrown upon some savage 
 coast. The expedition was under the command of Rear- 
 Admiral d'Entrecasteaux, and returned in two years, without 
 having obtained the slightest clue to the fate of Laijdrouse. 
 Their commander died of scurvy at Java. 
 
 In the year 1813, Captain Dillon, in the service of the 
 British East India Company, putting in at one of the Feejee 
 Islands, found there two foreign sailors, one of whom was a 
 Prussian, the other a Lascar. At their request he trans- 
 ported them to the neighbouring island of Tucopia, where 
 he left them, the natives expressing no hostility toward 
 them nor objections to their stay. In 1826, thirteen years 
 afterward. Captain Dillon again touched at Tucopia, where 
 he found them comfortable and contented. The Lascar sold 
 the armourer a silver sword-hilt of French manufacture, and 
 bearing a cipher engraved upon it. It resulted from Dillon's 
 inquiries that the natives had obtained many articles of iron 
 and other metals from a distant island named Manicolo, 
 where, as they said, two European ships had been wrecked 
 forty years before. It immediately occuiTed to Dillon that 
 this circumstance was connected with the fate of Lapdrouse. 
 
 2 H 
 
242 SUPPOSED FATE OF LAPeEOUSE. 
 
 He at once sailed with the Prussian to Manicolo, but was 
 prevented from landing by the surf and the coral reef. 
 
 In 1827, Dumont d'Urville was sent out by the French 
 Government in the sloop-of-war Astrolabe to explore the 
 great archipelagoes of the Pacific, with authority to follow 
 up any clue he might discover to the fate of Lap6'ouse. 
 At Hobart Town he heaid some account of the efforts made 
 by Dillon, and determined to conclude what he had begun. 
 He sailed at once for Manicolo, and after examining the 
 eastern coast of the island without success, proceeded to the 
 western. Here he found numerous articles of European 
 manufacture in possession of the savages, who refused to 
 say whence they had obtained them, or to point out the 
 scene of any catastrophe or shipwreck. At last, the offer 
 of a piece of red cloth induced a painted islander to conduct 
 a boat's crew to the spot which is now regarded as that at 
 which the lamented commander and his vessels met their 
 untimely fate. Scattered about in the bed of the sea, at the 
 depth of about twenty feet, lay anchors, cannon, and sheets 
 of lead and copper sheathing, completely corroded and dis- 
 figured by rust. They succeeded in recovering many of 
 them from the water — an anchor of fourteen hundred 
 pounds, a small cannon coated with coral, and two brass 
 swivels, in good preservation. Thus possessed of evidence 
 which after the lapse of forty years must be considered as 
 conclusive, d'Urville erected near the anchorage a cenotaph 
 to the memory of the hapless navigator. 
 
 The islanders were now profuse in their explanations of 
 the circumstances attending the calamity. As far as d'Urville 
 could interpret their language and their jDantomime, the ships 
 struck upon the reef during a gale in the night. One speedily 
 sank, only thirty of her crew escaping ; the other remained 
 for a time entire, but afterwards went to pieces, her whole 
 crew having been saved. From her timbers they constructed 
 a schooner, in which labour they occupied seven moons or 
 months, and then sailed away. Wliat befell them after 
 their second embarkation, what was the fate of their dai ing 
 
A CAEGO OF GARDEN-POTS. 243 
 
 little vessel, if indeed any such was ever built, no one has 
 survived to tell. It is safe to believe that both vessels were 
 lost upon the island of Vanikoro, now one of the archipelago 
 of the New Hebrides. It is supposed that Lapdrouse was 
 the first European navigator that visited it, Dillon the 
 second, and d'Urville the third. 
 
 In the year 1787, the merchants and planters of Eng- 
 land, interested in the West India possessions, petitioned the 
 king to cause the bread-fruit tree to be introduced into these 
 islands ; and, in accordance with this request, the armed 
 transport Bounty, of two hundi'ed and fifteen tons, was 
 fitted out at Deptford with the proper requisites. Lieu- 
 tenant William Bligh, who had been round the world with 
 Cook, was appointed to command her. Her cabin was 
 fitted with a false floor cut full of holes sufl&cient to receive 
 one thousand or more garden-pots. She was victualled for 
 fifteen months, and laden with trinkets for the South Sea 
 Islanders. Her destination was Tahiti by way of Cape 
 Horn. She sailed late in December 1787. 
 
 After a three months' temiDCstuous passage, she made the 
 eastern coast of Terra del Fuego. She contended thirty 
 days here with violent westerly gales, seeking either to 
 thread the strait or double the cape. Finding either course 
 impossible, Bligh resolved to cross the South Atlantic and 
 approach Tahiti from the westward — a determination which 
 was successfully executed. He gave directions to all on 
 board not to inform the natives of the object of their visit, 
 lest the price-cuiTent of bread-fruit trees should suddenly 
 rise. He contrived to make the chiefs believe that he was 
 doing them a favour in conveying specimens of their plants 
 to the great King of England. A tent was erected on 
 shore to receive the trees, some thirty of which were potted 
 every day. On the 4th of April 1789, the vessel set sail, 
 with one thousand and fifteen roots in pots, tubs, and boxes. 
 
 It was now that an event took place which rendered the 
 cruise of the Bounty one of the most extraordinary in the 
 
244 HEARTLESS MUTINEERS. 
 
 annals of the sea. A mutiny, which had been planned in 
 secrecy, broke out on the 27th. The whole crew were en- 
 gaged in it, with the exception of eighteen men. Bligh, 
 with these eighteen — most of them officers — ^was hurried 
 into the launch, which was cut loose, with one hundred and 
 fifty pounds of bread, twenty-eight gallons of water, a little 
 rum and wine, with a quadrant and compass. A few 
 pieces of pork, some cocoa-nuts, and four cutlasses, were 
 thrown at them as they were cast adrift. Some of the 
 mutineers laughed at the helpless condition of the launch ; 
 while others expressed their confidence in Bligh' s resources 
 by exclaiming, with oaths, " Pshaw ! he'll find his way 
 home if you give him pencil and paper ! " " He'll have a 
 vessel built in a month !" 
 
 Defenceless and unarmed, Bligh saw they had nothing to 
 hope from the inhabited islands of the surrounding waters. 
 He told the crew that no chance of relief remained except 
 at Timor, where there was a Dutch colony, at a distance of 
 three thousand five hundred miles. They all agreed, and 
 bound themselves by a solemn promise, to live upon one 
 ounce of bread and a gill of water a day. They then bore 
 away across this unknown and barbarous sea, in a boat 
 twenty-three feet long from stem to stern, deep-laden with 
 nineteen men, and barely suj^plied with food for two. There 
 is nothing in maritime annals more marvellous than this 
 voyage from Tahiti to Timor. 
 
 The first thing done was to return thanks to God for 
 their preservation, and to invoke his protection during the 
 perils they were to encounter. The sun now rose fiery and 
 red, foreboding a severe gale, which, before long, blew with 
 extreme severity. The sea curled over the stern, obliging 
 them to bale without cessation. The bread was in bags, 
 and in danger of being soaked and spoiled. Unless this 
 could be prevented, starvation was inevitable. Everything 
 was thrown overboard that could be spared, — even to suits 
 of clothes : the bread was then secured in the carpenter's 
 chest. A teaspoonful of rum and a fragment of bread-fruit 
 
BOPELESS PEESEVERANCE. 245 
 
 — collected from the floor of the boat, where it had been 
 crushed in the confusion of departure — was now served to 
 each man. They constantly passed in sight of islands, 
 upon which they did not dare to land. They kept on, alter- 
 nately praying, dining on damaged bread, and sipping infini- 
 tesimal quantities of rum or other cordial. On grand 
 occasions, Bligh served out as the day's allowance a quarter 
 of a pint of cocoa-nut milk and two ounces of meat. One 
 half of the men watched while the other half slept with 
 n(jthing to cover them but the heavens. They could not 
 stretch out their limbs for want of room : they became 
 dreadfully cramped, and at last the dangers and pains of 
 sleep were such that it became an additional misery in their 
 catalogue of sorrows. A heavy thunder-shower enabled 
 them to quench their thirst for the first time and to increase 
 their stock of water to thirty-four gallons ; but it wet 
 them through and caused them to pass a cold and shivering 
 night. The next day the sun came out, and they stripped 
 and dried their clothes. Bligh thought the men needed 
 additional comfort under these dismal circumstances, and 
 issued to each an ounce and a half of pork, an ounce 
 of bread, a teaspoonful of rum, and half a pint of cocoa-nut 
 milk. They kept a fishing-line towing from the stern ; 
 but in no instance did they catch a fish. 
 
 Bligh now became convinced that in serving ounces of 
 bread by guess-work he was dealing out over-measure, and 
 that if he continued to do so his stores would not last the 
 eight weeks he had intended they should. So he made a pair 
 of scales of two cocoa-nut shells, and having accidentally 
 found a pistol-ball, twenty-five of which were known to 
 weigh a pound or sixteen ounces, he adopted it as the mea- 
 sure of one ration of bread. The men were thus reduced 
 frorS' one ounce to two hundred and seventy-two grains. 
 Another thunder-shower now came on, and they caught 
 twenty gallons of water. The usual consolation of a thimble- 
 ful of rum was served when the storm was over, together 
 with one mouthful of pork. The men soon began to com- 
 
246 SUPPER WITHOUT BREAD. 
 
 plain of pains in tlie bowels ; and nearly all had lost, in a 
 measure, the use of their limbs. Their clothes would not 
 dry when taken off and hung upon the rigging, so impreg- 
 nated was the atmosphere with moisture. On the fifteenth 
 day they discovered a number of islands, which, though 
 forming part of the group of the New Hebrides, had been 
 seen neither by Cook nor Bougainville, and thus, in the 
 midst of their agonies, the satisfaction of contributing to 
 geographical science was, as it were in derision, awarded to 
 them. The men now clamoured for extra allowances of 
 pork and rum — which Bligh sternly refused, administering 
 his bullet-weight of bread with the severest economy. 
 
 " At dawn of the twenty-second day," says Bligh, " some 
 of my people seemed half dead : our appearances were hor- 
 rible, and I could look no way but I caught the eye of some 
 one in distress. Extreme hunger was now too evident ; but 
 no one suffered from thirst, nor had we much inclination to 
 drink — that desire, perhaps, being satisfied through the 
 skin. Every one dreaded the approach of night. Sleep, 
 though we longed for it, afforded no comfort : for my own 
 part, I almost lived without it." Bligh now examined the 
 remaining bread, and found sufficient to lasb for twenty-nine 
 days ; but as he might be compelled to avoid Timor and go 
 to Java, it became necessary to make the stock hold out for 
 forty days. He therefore announced that supper would 
 hereafter be served without bread ! 
 
 A great event happened on the twenty-seventh day. A 
 noddy — a bird as large as a small pigeon — was caught as it 
 flew past the boat. Bligh divided it, with the entrails, into 
 nineteen portions, and distributed it by lots. It was eaten, 
 bones and all, with salt water for sauce. The next day a 
 booby — which is as large as a duck — was caught, and was 
 divided and devoured like the noddy, even to the entrails, 
 beak, and feet. The blood was given to three of the men 
 who were the most distressed for want of food. On the 
 thirtieth day they landed upon the northern shore of New 
 Holland, and gave thanks to God for his gracious protection 
 
LAND ! 247 
 
 through a serious of disasters and calamities almost un- 
 paralleled. 
 
 They found oysters upon the rocks, which they opened 
 without detaching them, A fire was made by the help of 
 a magnifying-glass ; and then, with the aid of a copper pot 
 found in the boat, a delicious stew of oysters, pork, bread, 
 and cocoa-nut was cooked. Spring water was obtained by 
 digging where a growth of wire grass indicated a moist situ- 
 ation. The soft tops of palm-trees and fern-roots furnished 
 a very palatable addition to their mess. After laying in 
 sixty gallons of water and as many oysters as they could 
 collect, they re-embarked, having slept two nights on land, 
 and been greatly benefited thereby. Keeping north-west- 
 ward, and coasting along the shore, they landed from time 
 to time in search of food. On the 2d of June, the 
 watch of the gunner, which had been the only one in the 
 company successfully to resist the influences of the weather, 
 finally stopped, so that sunrise, noon, and sunset were now 
 the only definite points in the twenty-four hours. On the 
 next day, having followed the north-eastern shore of New 
 Holland as far as it lay in their route, they once more 
 launched into the open sea. 
 
 On Thm^sday, the 11th, they passed, as Bligh supposed, 
 the meridian of the eastern point of Timor — a fact which 
 diff'used universal joy and satisfaction. On Friday, at three 
 in the morning, the island was faintly visible in the west, 
 and by daylight it lay but five miles to the leeward. They 
 had run three thousand six hundred and eighteen miles 
 in an open boat in forty-one days with provisions barely 
 sufficient for five. Though life had never been sustained 
 upon so little nourishment for so long a time, and under 
 equal circumstances of exiDOsure and suffering, not a man 
 perished during the voyage. Their wants were most kindly 
 supplied by the Dutch at Conpang, and every necessary and 
 comfort administered with a most liberal hand. 
 
 On his return to England, Bligh published a narrative of 
 his voyage and of the mutiny, which was soon translated into 
 
248 TEN OF THE MUTINEERS EXECUTED. 
 
 all the languages of Europe. He ascribed the revolt to the 
 desire of the crew to lead an idle and luxurious life at Tahiti, 
 though subsequent developments, and his own conduct when 
 Governor of New South Wales, seem to show that his cruel- 
 ties and tyranny had rendered him odious and intolerable. 
 The British Government could not allow such a transaction 
 upon the high seas to pass unpunished, and despatched 
 tJie frigate Pandora, Captain Edwards, to Tahiti in the 
 month of August. Only ten of the mutineers were found, 
 the rest having withdrawn to another island through fear of 
 discovery, as we shall now relate, merely stating that the 
 ten persons taken were conveyed to England, where they 
 were tried and executed. 
 
 John Adams, one of the mutineers, being apprehensive 
 that the English Government would make an attempt to 
 punish tlie revolt, resolved to escape to some neighbouring 
 and uninhabited island, and there establish a colony. With 
 eight Englishmen, one of whom was Christian, the ring- 
 leader in the mutiny, their Tahitian wives, and a few 
 islanders of both sexes, he sailed in the Bounty to Pitcairn's 
 Island, which had lately been seen by Carteret. They 
 arrived there in 1790, and, having unladen the vessel, 
 burned her. A settlement was formed, which prospered in 
 spite of the continual quarrels between the males of the 
 two races. This hostility resulted, in three years, in the 
 extinction of the savages, leaving upon the island Adams, 
 three Englishmen, ten women of Tahiti, and the children, 
 some twenty in number. One of the Englishmen, having 
 succeeded in distilling brandy from a root which grew in 
 abundance, drank to excess and threw himself headlong 
 from a rock into the sea. Another was slain for entertain- 
 ing designs upon the wife of the only remaining Englishman 
 except Adams. Thus, in 1799, Adams and Young were 
 the only males of the original colony surviving. They 
 began to reflect upon their duties toward their children and 
 those of their companions : they commenced holding reli- 
 gious services morning and evening, and instructed the 
 
A NEV7 COLONY. 249 
 
 rising generation in such rudimental branches of education 
 as their own learning would permit. Young died in 1801, 
 and Adams became the administrator and patriarch of the 
 colony. He was assisted by the Tahitian women, who 
 showed a remarkable capacity for civilisation and aptitude 
 for refinement. An English frigate, the Briton, touched at 
 Pitcairn in 1814, and her captain offered to take Adams 
 back to England, promising to procure his pardon from the 
 king. But the forty-seven persous, women and children, 
 forming the settlement, besought their patriarch not to 
 leave them. In 1825 Captain Beechey visited the island, 
 and found the population increased to sixty-six. Adams 
 was sixty years old, but still vigorous and active. He 
 begged Beechey to marry him, according to the rites of the 
 English Church, to the woman with whom he had lived, 
 and who was now infirm and blind. Beechey gladly 
 acceded to the request. Soon after, an English missionary, 
 named Buffet, went out to Pitcairn to assist Adams in the 
 discharge of his duties and to succeed him upon his death. 
 The latter event occurred in 1829. Vessels occasionally 
 stopped at Pitcairn, and the English Government was thus 
 kept informed of the progress of its interesting colony. 
 
 In 1856, the descendants of the original settlers, having 
 increased so much as to outgrow the resources of their sea- 
 girt home, abandoned Pitcaim's Island, and transferred 
 themselves, with their goods and chattels, to Norfolk 
 Island, directly west and toward New South Wales. They 
 numbered one hundred and ninety -nine in all, the oldest 
 man being sixty-two, and the oldest woman eighty. Their 
 new home contains about fourteen thousand acres, and is 
 weU watered, fertile, and healthy, the soil producing abun- 
 dantly both European and tropical fruits, vegetables, grains, 
 and spices. The history of the colony, the offspring of 
 European fathers and Tahitian mothers, is as remarkable a^ 
 any tale in romance or any legend in mythology. 
 
CHAPTER XIV. 
 
 AECTIC EXPLORATIONS. 
 
 We have now entered the nineteenth century. From 
 this time forward we shall find no romantic interest attach- 
 ing to the history of the sea, with the single exception of 
 that of the Arctic waters. The epoch of adventure stimu- 
 lated by the thirst for gold has long since passed : there 
 are no more continents to be pursued, and few islands to be 
 unbosomed from the deep. There was once a harvest to be 
 reaped ; but there remain henceforward but scanty leavings 
 to be gleaned. The navigator of the present century cannot 
 hope to acquire a rapid fame by brilliant discoveries : he 
 must be content if he obtain a tardy distinction by patient 
 observation and minute surveys — a task far more useful 
 than showy, and, while less attractive, much more arduous. 
 Our narrative, therefore, will attach exclusively to the 
 Polar adventures of the heroes of the North-Avest Passage : 
 of Ross, who saw the Crimson Cliffs ; of Parry, who dis- 
 covered the Polar Sea ; of James Clarke Ross, who stood 
 upon the North Magnetic Pole ; of M'Clure, who threaded 
 the North -west Passage ; of Franklin and of Kane, the 
 martyrs to Arctic science. 
 
 In the winter of 1816, the whalers returning from the 
 Greenland seas to England reported the ice to be clearer 
 than they liad ever known it before. The period seemed 
 favourable for a renewal of Arctic exploration ; and in 1818 
 tlie Admiralty fitted out two vessels — the . Isabella and 
 250 
 
RED SNOW. 251 
 
 Alexander — for the purpose. Captain John Eoss was sent 
 in the first to discover a north-west passage, and Lieutenant 
 Edward Parry in the second, to penetrate if possible to the 
 Pole. Their instructions required them to examine with 
 especial care the openings at the head of Baffin's Bay. Sail- 
 ing on the 1 8th of April, they reached the coast of Green- 
 land on the 17th of June. They saw tribes of Esquimaux 
 who had never seen men of any race but their own, and 
 who felt and testified an indescribable alarm at the sight of 
 the adventurers. It was subsequently proved that what 
 they feared was contagion. Quite at the northern extre- 
 mity of the bay, Eoss observed the phenomenon which has 
 given so romantic, almost legendary, a character to his voy- 
 age, — that of red snow. He saw a range of peaks clothed 
 in a garb which appeared as if borrowed from the looms and 
 dyes of Tyre. The spot is marked upon the maps as " The 
 Crimson Clitfs." The colour was at the time supposed to 
 be a quality inherent in the snow itself ; but subsequent 
 investigations have established its vegetable origin. 
 
 The ships were now at the northern point of Baffin's 
 Bay, among the numerous inlets which Baffin had failed to 
 explore. They all appeared to be blocked up with ice, and 
 none of them held out any flattering promise of concealing 
 within itself the long-sought North-west Passage. Smith's 
 Strait, where the bay ends, was carefully examined ; but it 
 proved to be enclosed by ice. Eeturuing towards the south 
 by the western coast of the bay, they arrived at the entrance 
 of Lancaster Sound on the 30th of August, just as the sun, 
 after shining unceasingly for nearly three months, was be- 
 ginning to dip under the horizon. The vessels sailed up the 
 sound some fifty miles, through a sea clear from ice, the 
 channel being surrounded on either hand by mountains of 
 imposing elevation. It was here that Eoss committed the 
 mistake which was to cloud his own reputation and to put 
 Parry, his second, forward as the first of Arctic navigators. 
 He asserted, and certainly believed, that he saw a high 
 ridge of mountains stretching directly across the passage. 
 
252 ATTACKED BY WALRUSES. 
 
 This, he thought, rendered farther progress impracticable, 
 and the order was given to put the ships about. Koss 
 returned to England, convinced that Baffin was correct in 
 regarding Lancaster Bay as a bay only, without any strait 
 beyond. It was destined that Parry should thread the strait 
 and find the Polar Sea beyond. 
 
 In the same year the British Government sent an expe- 
 dition under Captain Buchan and Lieutenant (afterwards 
 Sir John) Franklin, to endeavour to reach the Pole. The 
 objects were to make experiments on the elliptical figure of 
 the earth, on magnetic and meteorological phenomena, and 
 on the refraction of the atmosphere in high latitudes. The 
 two vessels — the Dorothea and Trent — sailed in April 
 1818, and made their way to Magdalena Bay, in Spitzber- 
 gen. In latitude 74° north, near an island frequented by 
 herds of walruses, a boat's crew was attacked by a number 
 of these animals, and only escaped destruction by the pre- 
 sence of mind of the purser. He seized a loaded musket, 
 and plunging the muzzle into the throat of the leader of the 
 school, discharged its contents into his bowels. As the 
 walrus sinks as soon as he is dead, the mortally-wounded 
 animal at once began to disappear beneath the water. His 
 companions abandoned the combat to support their chief 
 with their tusks, whom they hastily bore away from the 
 scene of action. 
 
 The climate here was mild, the atmosphere pure and 
 brilliant, and the blue of the sky as intense as that of Naples. 
 Alpine plants, grasses, moss, and lichens, flourished in 
 abundance, and aff"orded browsing pastm'age to reindeer at 
 the height of fifteen hundred feet above the sea. The 
 shores were alive with awks, divers, cormorants, gulls, wal- 
 ruses, and seals. Eider-ducks, foxes, and bears preyed and 
 prowled upon the ice; and the sea furnished a home to jaggers, 
 kitti wakes, and whales. Having ascended as high as 80° 
 34' N., and finding it impossible to penetrate farther to the 
 north, Buchan resolved to quit the waters of Spitzbergeu 
 
BEAllS ON THE SCENT. 1^53 
 
 and stand away for those of Greenland. A pack of floating 
 icebergs, upon which the waves were beating furiously, 
 beset the ships. The Trent came violently in collision with 
 a mass many hundred times her size. Every man on board 
 lost his footing ; the masts bent at the shock, while the 
 timbers cracked beneath the pressure. This accident ren- 
 dered a prosecution of the voyage impracticable, and the two 
 ships returned to England, where they arrived in October. 
 The expedition thus failed of the main object it was intended 
 to accomplish. 
 
 As we have already remarked, Ross neglected the oppor- 
 tunity of penetrating to the interior of Lancaster Sound. 
 The Government, encouraged by Lieutenant Parry to believe 
 that the supposed chain of mountains barring the passage 
 had no existence but in Ross's imagination, gave him the 
 command of two ships, strongly manned and amply stored, 
 for the prosecution of discovery in that direction. He left 
 England on the 11th of May 1819, with the ship Hecla 
 and the gun-brig Griper. On the 15th of June he unex- 
 pectedly saw land, — which proved to be Cape Farewell, the 
 southern point of Greenland, though at the distance of more 
 than a hundred miles. The ships were immovably " beset " 
 by ice on the 25th : their situation was utterly helpless, 
 all the pov/er that could be applied not availing to tui'ii 
 their heads a single degree of the compass. 
 
 The officers and men occupied themselves in various 
 manners diu'ing this period of inaction. Observations were 
 made on the dip and variation of the magnetic needle, and 
 lunar distances were calculated. White bears were enticed 
 within rifle distance by the odour of fried red herrings, and 
 then easily shot. On the 30th the ice slackened, and after 
 eight hours' incessant labour, both ships were moved into 
 the open sea. On the 12 th Parry obtained a supply of 
 pure water which was flowing from an iceberg, and the 
 sailors shook from the ropes and rigging several tons' weight 
 of congealed fog. The passage to Lancaster Sound was 
 
254 THE POLAR SEA. 
 
 laborious, and was only effected by the most persevering 
 efforts on the part of all. 
 
 An entrance into the sound was effected on the 1st of 
 August : and Parry felt, as did the officers and men, that 
 this was the point of the voyage which was to determine 
 the success or faikire of the expedition. Reports, all more 
 or less favourable, were constantly passed down from the 
 crow's nest to the quarter-deck. The weather was clear, 
 and the ships sailed in perfect safety through the night. To- 
 wards morning all anxiety respecting the alleged chain of 
 mountains across the inlet was at an end ; for the two shores 
 were still forty miles apart, at the distance of one hundred 
 and fifty miles from the mouth of the channel. The water 
 was now as free from ice as the Atlantic ; and they began 
 to flatter themselves that they had fairly entered the Polar 
 Sea. A heavy swell and the familiar ocean-like colour 
 which was now thought to characterize the water were also 
 encouraging circumstances. The compasses became so slug- 
 gish and irregular that the usual observations upon the 
 variation of the needle were abandoned. The singular phe- 
 nomenon was soon for the first time witnessed of the needle 
 becoming so weak as to be completely controlled by local 
 attraction, so that it really pointed to the north pole of the 
 ship, — that is, to the point where there was the largest 
 quantity of iron. 
 
 Ice for a time prevented the farther western progress of 
 the vessels, and they sailed one hundred and twenty miles 
 to the south, in a sound which they called Prince Regent's 
 Inlet. Parry suspected, though incorrectly, that this inlet 
 communicated with Hudson's Bay. Returning to the mouth 
 of the inlet, he found the sea to the westward still encum- 
 bered with ice ; but a heavy blow, accompanied with rain, 
 soon broke it up and dispersed it. They proceeded slowly 
 on, naming every cape and bay which they passed : an inlet 
 of large size they called Wellington, " after his Grace the 
 Master of the Ordnance." Being now convinced that the 
 passage through which they had thus far ascended was a 
 
THE REWARD GAINED. 255 
 
 strait connecting two seas, Parry gave it the name of Bar- 
 row's Strait, after Mr. Barrow, Secretary of the Admiralty. 
 The prospects of success during the coming six weeks were 
 now felt by the commander of the expedition to be " truly 
 exhilarating." 
 
 An island — by far the largest Parry had seen in these 
 waters — appeared early in September, and the men worked 
 their arduous way along its southern coast, till, on the 4th, 
 they reached the longitude of 110° west. The two ships 
 then became entitled to the sum of £5000, the reward 
 offered by Parliament to the first of His Majesty's subjects 
 that should penetrate thus far to the westward within the 
 Arctic Circle. The island was called Melville Island, from 
 the First Lord of the Admiralty. In a bay named The 
 Bay of the Hecla and Griper, the anchor was dropped for 
 the first time since leaving England ; the ensigns and pen- 
 nants were hoisted, and the British flag waved iu a region 
 believed to be without the pale of the habitable world. 
 
 The summer was now at its close, and it became neces- 
 sary to make a selection of winter quarters. A harbour 
 was found, a passage-way cut through two miles of ice, and 
 the ships settled in five fathoms' water : they were soon 
 firmly frozen in at a cable's-length from the shore. Hunt- 
 ing, botanizing, excursions upon the island, experiments in 
 an observatory erected on shore, and amateur theatricals, 
 afforded some relief from the unavoidable inactivity to which 
 officers and crew were now condemned. Parry had named 
 the group of islands of which Melville is the largest, the 
 North Georgian Islands, in honour of Ejng George ; and 
 during the days of constant darkness a weekly newspaper, 
 entitled The North Georgia Gazette and Winter Chjvnicle, 
 was edited by Captain Sabine, the astronomer. 
 
 The sun reappeared on the 3d of February 1820, after 
 an absence of ninety- one days. The theatre was soon 
 closed and the newspaper discontinued. The ice around 
 the ships was seven feet thick, though by the middle of May 
 the crews had cut it away so as to allow the ships to float, 
 
256 BOATS WITH RUNNEES. 
 
 and had sawed a channel for their boats. On the 1st of 
 August there was not the slightest symptom of a thaw ; on 
 the 2d the ice broke up and disappeared with a suddenness 
 altogether inexplicable. Parry determined to return home 
 at once, and arrived at Leith, in Scotland, towards the 
 close of October. He was received with great favour, and 
 was rewarded for his signal services by promotion to the 
 rank of captain. 
 
 Parry made a second voyage in 1821, with instructions 
 to seek a passage by Hudson's Strait instead of by Lancaster 
 Sound. It was totally unsuccessful. He made a third 
 attempt, in 1824, with the Fury and the Hecla. The 
 Fury was lost in Lancaster Sound, and Parry returned 
 bajffled and for a time disheartened. 
 
 In 1827 a new idea was broached with reference to the 
 Pole and the most likely method of reaching it. Captain 
 Parry, despairing of getting there in ships, conceived the 
 })lan of constructing boats with runners, which might be 
 dragged upon the ice, or, in case of need, be rowed through 
 the water. The Government approved of the idea, and 
 two boats were specially constructed for the service : each 
 one, with its furniture and stores, weighed three thousand 
 seven hundred and fifty-three pounds. They were placed 
 on board the sloop-of-war Hecla ; and the expedition 
 left the Nore on the 4th of April 1827 for Spitzbergen. 
 At Hammersfeld, in Norway, they took on board eight 
 reindeer and a quantity of moss for their fodder. 
 
 After experiencing a series of tremendous gales, being 
 beset in the ice till the 8th of June, the Hecla was safely 
 anchored on the northern coast of Spitzbergen, in Hecla 
 Cove. Parry gave his instructions to his lieutenants, Foster 
 and Crozier, and on the 2 2d left the ship in the two 
 boats, having named them the Enterprise and Endeavour, 
 with provisions for seventy-one days. The ice appeared so 
 rugged that the reindeer promised to be of little assistance, 
 and were consequently left behind. The following is an 
 
MODE OF TRAVELLING. 257 
 
 al^ridged account of the extraordinary method of ti-avelling 
 adopted upon this singular voyage : — 
 
 " It was my intention," says Parry, " to travel by night 
 and rest by day, thus avoiding the glare resulting from the 
 sun shining from his highest altitudes upon the snow ; and 
 proceeding during the milder light shed during his vicinity 
 to the horizon — for, of course, during the summer, he never 
 set at all. This practice so completely inverted the natural 
 order of things that the officers, though possessing chrono- 
 meters, did not know night from day. When we rose in 
 the evening we commenced our day by prayers ; after 
 which we took off our raccoon-skin sleeping dresses, and 
 put on our box-cloth travelling-suits. "We breakfasted upon 
 warm cocoa heated with spirits of wine — our only fuel — 
 and biscuit : we then travelled five hours, and stopped to 
 dine, and again travelled four, five, or six hours, according 
 to circumstances. It then being early in the morning, we 
 halted for the night, selecting the largest surface of ice we 
 happened to be near for hauling the boat on. Every man 
 then put on dry stockings and fur boots, leaving the wet 
 ones — which were rarely found dry in the morning — to be 
 resumed after their slumbers. After supper the officers and 
 men smoked their pipes, which served to dry the boat and 
 awnings, and often raised the temperature ten degrees. A 
 watch was set to look out for bears, each man alternately 
 doing this duty for one hour. It now being bright day, 
 the evening was ushered in with prayers. After seven 
 hours' sleep, the man appointed to boil the cocoa blew a 
 reveilld upon the bugle, and thus at nightfall the day was 
 recommenced." 
 
 The difficulty of travelling was much greater than had 
 been anticipated. The ice, instead of being solid, was 
 composed of small, loose, and rugged masses, with pools of 
 water between them. In their first eight days they made 
 but eight miles' northing. At one time the men dragged 
 the boats only one hundred and fifty yards in two hours. 
 On the 17th of July they reached the latitude of 82° 14' 
 
 2 K 
 
258 LABOUE IN VAIN. 
 
 28" — the highest yet attained. On the 18th, after eleven 
 hours' exhausting labour, they advanced but two miles ; 
 and on the 20th, having apparently accomplished twelve 
 miles in three days, an observation revealed the alarming 
 fact that they had really advanced but five. The terrible 
 truth burst upon Parry and his officers : the ice over which 
 they were with such effort forcing their weary way ivas 
 actually drifting to the south ! This intelligence was con- 
 cealed from the men, who had no suspicion of it, though 
 they often laughingly remarked that they were a long time 
 getting to this eighty-third degree. They were at this 
 time in 82° 43' 5". The next observation extinguished 
 the last ray of hope : after two days' labour they found 
 themselves in 82° 40'. The drift Was carrying them to 
 the south faster than their own exertions took them to the 
 north ! In fact, the drift ran four miles a day. It was 
 evidently hopeless to pursue the journey any farther. The 
 floe upon which they slept at night rolled them back to the 
 point they had quitted in the morning. Parry acquainted 
 the men with the disheartening news, and granted them 
 one day's rest. 
 
 The ensigns and pennants were now displayed, the party 
 feeling a legitimate pride in having advanced to a point 
 never before reached by human beings, though they had 
 failed in an enterprise now proved beyond the pale of pos- 
 sibility. They returned without incident of moment to 
 England. Parry did not totally abandon the idea of 
 eventually reaching the Pole over the ice, and as late as 
 1847 was of the opinion that at a different season of the 
 year, before drifting comes on, the project may yet be 
 realized. Still, no mortal man has ever yet set foot upon 
 the pivot of the axis of the globe ; and it is not venturing 
 too much to predict that no man ever will. 
 
 In the year 1828 Sir John Eoss applied to the Govern- 
 ment for the means of making a second voyage to the 
 Arctic waters of America, and was refused. The next year 
 
BESET BY ICE. 259 
 
 Mr. Sheriff Booth, a gentleman of liberal si:)irit, offered to 
 assume the jDecuniary responsibilities of the expedition, and 
 empowered Koss to make what outlay he thought proper. 
 He bought and equipped the Victory, a packet-ship plying 
 between Liverpool and the Isle of Man. She had a small 
 high-pressure engine, and paddle-wheels which could be 
 lifted out of the water. She sailed in May 1829. We 
 shall give but a brief account of the incidents of the voyage 
 till we arrive at the event which has made James Clarke 
 Ross, the nephew of Sir John, illustrious — the discovery of 
 the North Magnetic Pole — that mysterious spot towards 
 which for ever points the needle of the mariner's compass. 
 
 While in Baffin's Bay, in June, the Victory lost her 
 fore-topmast in a gale ; two of the sailors who were reefing 
 the topsails had barely time to escape with their lives. 
 Proceeding through Lancaster Sound, and then descending 
 to the South into Prince Regent's Inlet, Ross arrived, after 
 coasting three hundred miles of undiscovered shore, at a 
 spot which he thought would furnish commodious winter 
 quarters. The whole territory received the name of Boothia, 
 in honour of the patron of the expedition. Here they re- 
 mained eleven months, beset by ice ; not even during the 
 months of July and August 1830, did the ship stir from 
 the position in which she was held fast. At last, on the 
 17th of September, she was found to be free, and the 
 delighted crew j^reparod for a speedy deliverance. The 
 unfortunate vessel sailed only three miles, hoAvever, when 
 she was again firmly frozen in. The engine, which had 
 proved a wretched and most inefficient contrivance, was 
 taken out and carried ashore — an event which was hailed 
 with pleasure by all. " I believe," says Ross, " that there 
 was not a man who ever again wished to see its minutest 
 fragment." Another year of monotony and silence now 
 stared the weather-bound navigators in the face. Six 
 months elapsed before even a land excursion could be 
 attempted ; but in May 1831 occurred the great discovery 
 to which we have referred. 
 
260 THE MAGNETIC POLE. 
 
 Commander James Clarke Ross was the second officer of 
 the ship. He started in April, with a party, to make ex- 
 plorations inland. The dipping-needle had long varied 
 from 88° to 89° — thus pointing nearly downwards — 90* 
 being, of course, the amount of variation ft-om the horizontal 
 line of the ordinary compass which would have made it 
 directly vertical. Commander Ross was extremely desirous 
 to stand upon the wonderful spot where such an effect 
 would be observed, and joined a number of Esquimaux who 
 were proceeding in the direction where he imagined it lay. 
 He determined, if possible, so to set his foot that the Mag- 
 netic Pole should lie between him and the centre of the 
 earth. Arriving at a place where the dipping-needle pointed 
 to 89° 46', and being therefore but fourteen miles from its 
 calculated position, he could no longer brook the delay 
 attendant upon the transportation of the baggage, and set 
 forward upon a rapid march, taking only such articles as 
 were strictly necessary. The tremendous spot was reached 
 at eight in the morning of the 1st of June. The needle 
 marked 89° 59' — one minute from the vertical — a variation 
 almost imperceptible. We give the particulars of this most 
 interesting event in the words of the discoverer himself : — 
 
 " I believe I must leave it to others to imagine the 
 elation of mind with which we found ourselves now at 
 length arrived at this great object of our ambition : it 
 almost seemed as if we had accomplished everything we 
 had come so far to see and do — as if our voyage and all 
 its labours were at an end, and that nothing now remained 
 for us but to return home and be happy for the remainder 
 of our days. 
 
 " We could have wished that a place so important had 
 possessed more of mark or note. It was scarcely censurable 
 to regret that there was not a mountain to indicate a spot 
 to which so much of interest must ever be attached ; and 
 I could even have pardoned any one among us who had 
 been so romantic or absurd as to expect that the Magnetic 
 Pole was an object as conspicuous and mysterious as the 
 
FIXING THE BRITISH FLAG. 261 
 
 fabled mountain of Sinbad — that it even was a mountain of 
 iron or a magnet as large as Mont Blanc. But Nature had 
 here erected no monument to denote the spot which she had 
 chosen as the centre of one of her greatest powers. 
 
 " As soon as I had satisfied my own mind, I made known 
 to the party the gratifying result of all our joint labour ; 
 and it was then that, amidst mutual congratulations, we 
 fixed the British flag on the spot and took possession of the 
 North Magnetic Pole and its adjoining territory in the name 
 of Great Britain and King William the Fourth. We had 
 abundance of materials for building, in the fragments of 
 limestone which covered the beach ; and we therefore 
 erected a cairn of some magnitude, under which we buried 
 a canister containing a record of the interesting fact — only 
 regretting that we had not the means of constructing a 
 pyramid of more importance and of strength sufficient to 
 withstand the assaults of time and the Esquimaux. Had 
 it been a pyramid as large as that of Cheops, I am not sure 
 that it would have done more than satisfy our ambition 
 under the feelings of that exciting day. The latitude of 
 this spot is 70° 5' 15", and its longitude 96° 46' 45" 
 west from Greenwich." 
 
 We must remark in this connexion that the fixation of 
 the latitude of the Magnetic Pole was the only important 
 element of this discovery ; for, as the Magnetic Pole re- 
 volves about the North Pole at the rate of 11' 4" a year, 
 it consequently changes its annual longitude by that amount. 
 A quarter of a century has elapsed since its longitude was 
 settled for the year 1831 ; and this lapse of time involves 
 a change of place of between four and five degrees. It re- 
 quires no less than eighteen hundred and ninety years to 
 accomplish the cycle of revolution. The latitude of the 
 Pole of course remains unchanged. It will always be suffi- 
 cient glory for Ross to have stood upon the spot where the 
 Pole then was : the fact that the spot then so marvellous has 
 since ceased to be so is assuredly no cause for detracting from 
 \xm merit. After this discovery the party returned to the ship. 
 
262 THE RESCUE. 
 
 In September the ice broke up, and the Victory, which 
 had the previous year sailed three miles, this year sailed 
 four. She was again immediately frozen in : the men's 
 courage gave way, and the scurvy began to appear. Their 
 only hope of a final deliverance seemed to be to proceed 
 overland to the spot where the Fury had been lost under 
 Parry in 1824, and to get her supplies and boats. The 
 distance was one hundred and eighty miles to the north. 
 They drank a parting glass to the Victory on the 29 th of 
 May 1832, and nailed her colours to the mast. After a 
 laborious journey of one month, they reached Fury Beach, 
 where they found three of the boats washed away, but 
 several still left. These were ready for sea on the 1st of 
 August, when the whole party embarked. They were com- 
 pelled to return in October, and made preparations for their 
 fourth Polar winter. The season was one of great severity : 
 in February 1833 the first death by scurvy took place. 
 Koss himself and several of the seamen were attacked by 
 the disease. It was not till August that the boats were 
 again able to move. They reached Barrow's Strait on the 
 17 th, and on the morning of the 26 th descried a sail. 
 They made signals by burning wet powder, and succeeded 
 in attracting the stranger's attention. She was a whaler, 
 and had been formerly commanded by Koss himself. Thus 
 they were rescued. After a month's d^lay, the vessel, now 
 filled to its utmost capacity with blubber, sailed for Hull, 
 in England. There Ross and his othcers received a public 
 entertainment from the mayor and corporation. The former 
 then repaired to London, reported himself to the Secretary of 
 the Admiralty, and obtained an audience of the king. His 
 Majesty accepted the dedication of his journal, and allowed 
 him to add the name of William the Fourth to the Magnetic 
 Pole. He learned that he had been given up for lost long 
 since, and that parties had been sent out in search of him. 
 
 All concerned in this interesting expedition were rewarded 
 by Parliament. Mr. Booth was shortly after knighted ; 
 Commander Ross was made post-captain ; the other officers 
 
BRITISH LIBEEALITy. 263 
 
 received speedy promotion ; aud Government paid the crew 
 the wages which had accrued beyond the period of fifteen 
 months for which they were engaged — amounting in all to 
 £4580. A select committee of the House of Commons 
 was appointed to consider the claims of Captain Ross him- 
 self, and concluded its labours by recommending that a sum 
 of £5000 be voted to him by Parliament. 
 
 In 1836, the English Government appointed Captain 
 George Back — who had lately been upon a land-expedition 
 in the American Arctic regions in search of Captain and 
 Commander Ross — to the since celebrated ship Terror, for 
 the purpose of determining the western coast-line of Prince 
 Regent's -Inlet. The voyage, though entirely unsuccessful, is 
 one of the most remarkable on record — showing as it did a 
 power of resistance and endurance in a ship which till then 
 was not believed to belong either to iron or heart of oak. 
 Back proceeded no farther than Baffin's Bay, the Terror re- 
 maining for ten months fast in the gripe of its " cradle" or 
 " ice-waggon " as the men called the huge floating berg 
 upon which she rested. He was knighted on his return, 
 and his sturdy ship was put out of commission and docked. 
 It is a subject of regret that so splendid a specimen of 
 marine architecture, as far as strength and solidity are con- 
 cerned, should have met the fate which she has encountered. 
 Where she is no mortal knows, except perhaps a few inac- 
 cessible Esquimaux ; for she has disappeared with her consort, 
 the Erebus, and their brave commander. Sir John Franklin. 
 
 Though the discovery of a North-west Passage — if one 
 existed — was no longer expected to afford a short and com- 
 modious commercial route to the Indies aud to China, stiU 
 the scientific and romantic interest of the subject was so 
 powerful, that Great Britain resolved to make one last 
 attempt, and selecting two vessels whose fame was now 
 world-wide, appointed Sir John Franklin to their conmiand, 
 • — the Erebus being his flag-ship, with Captain Crozier, as 
 
264 THE EREBUS AND TERROR, 
 
 his second, in the Terror. The officers and crew, all told, 
 numbered one hundred and thirty-eight picked and resolute 
 men. The instructions given to Franklin were to proceed, 
 with a store-ship ordered to accompany him, as far up Davis' 
 Straits as that vessel could safely go, there to transfer her 
 provisions and send her home. He was then to get into 
 Baffin's Bay, enter Lancaster Sound, thread Barrow's Straits, 
 and follow Parry's track due west to Melville Island, in the 
 Polar Sea. Here the instructions, with an assurance which 
 seems incredible now, begged the whole question of a North- 
 west Passage, and directed him to proceed the remaining 
 nine hundred miles which separate that point from Behring s 
 Strait, — a region which it was hoped would be found free 
 from obstru(;tion. He was not to stop to examme any 
 opening to the northward, but to push resolutely on to 
 Behring's Strait, and return home by the Sandwich Islands 
 and Panama. He sailed from the Thames on the 19th of 
 May 1845. He received the store-ship's cargo in Davis' 
 Straits, and then despatched her home. His two ships were 
 seen by a whaler named the Prince of Wales on the 26 th 
 of July : they were in the very middle of Baffin's Bay, 
 moored to an iceberg and waiting for open water. 
 
 Two years passed away, and nothing being heard from 
 them, the public anxiety respecting them became very great. 
 The Government determined to attempt their rescue, and 
 sent out three several expeditions in 1848. The two first 
 — one overland to the Polar Sea, under Richardson and 
 Rae, another by Behring's Strait, in the ships Herald and 
 Plover — totally failed of success, as they were founded 
 upon the supposition that Franklin had advanced farther 
 westward than Parry in 1820, — a supposition altogether 
 unlikely. The third — consisting of the Enterprise and 
 Investigator, under Captain Sir James Clarke Ross — was 
 equally unsuccessful, though conducted in a quarter where 
 success was at least possible. At Port Leopold, at the mouth 
 of Prince Regent's Inlet, Ross fonned a large depot of provi- 
 sions, the locality having been admirably chosen, .being upon 
 
PUBLIC ANXIETY. 265 
 
 Parry's route to the Polar Sea, and upon any track Frank- 
 lin would be likely to take on his way back, in case he had 
 already advanced beyond it. His men built a house upon 
 shore of their spare spars, and covered it with such canvas 
 as they could dispense with. They lengthened the In- 
 vestigator's steam-launch, so that it would be capable of 
 carrying Franklin and his crew safely to the whalers 
 rendezvous, and left it. They then made their way 
 through the ice to Davis' Straits, and arrived in England 
 early in November 1849. 
 
 The probable fate of Franklin now absorbed all minds, 
 and the Admiralty, Parliament, the public, and the press 
 eagerly discussed every theory which would account for his 
 prolonged absence, and every means by which succour could 
 be sent to him. The Admiralty offered a reward of one 
 hundred guineas for accurate information concerning him. 
 Lady Franklin offered the stimulus of £2000, and a second 
 of £3000, to successful search ; and the British Govern- 
 ment sought to enlist the services of the whalers by announc- 
 ing a bonus of £20,000. A vessel was sent to land provi- 
 sions and coal at the entrance to Lancaster Sound. Three 
 new expeditions were sent out in 1850 by the Government, 
 besides one by public subscription, assisted by the Hudson 
 Bay Company, under Sir John Ross, and another by Lady 
 Franklin, They accomplished wonders of seamanship, and 
 their crews endured the most harassing trials ; but we have 
 no space to chronicle anything beyond the finding of a few 
 distinct but unproductive traces of the missing adventurers, 
 which occurred in the following manner : — 
 
 Captain Ommauey, of the Assistance and Intrepid, landed 
 on Cape Riley, in Wellington Channel, late in August. 
 There he observed sledge-tracks and a pavement of small 
 stones which had evidently been the floor of a tent. Around 
 were a number of birds' bones and fragments of meat-tins. 
 Upon Beechey Island, three miles distant, were found a 
 cairn or mound constructed of layers of meat-tins filled with 
 gravel, the embankment of a house, the remains of a car- 
 
 2l 
 
266 TRACES OF THE WANDERERS. 
 
 penter's shop and an armourer's forge, with remnants of rope 
 and clothing ; a pair of gloves laid out to dry, with stones 
 upon them to prevent them blowing away. The oval out- 
 line of a garden w^as still distinguishable. But the most 
 interesting and valuable result of these investigations was 
 the finding of three graves with inscriptions, one of which 
 will show the tenor of the whole : — • 
 
 " Sacred to the memory of William Braine, R.M., of 
 H.M.S. Erebus, who died April 3, 1846, aged thirty -two 
 years. Choose ye this day ivhom ye will serve. — Josh, 
 xxiv. 15." 
 
 This and one of the other inscriptions, dated in January, 
 seemed to fix at this spot the first winter quarters of Frank- 
 lin, — for 1845-1846. They also show that but three men 
 died during the winter ; and three out of one hundred and 
 thirty-eight is not a high proportion of mortality. The 
 seven hundred empty meat-tins seemed to show that the 
 consumption of meat had been moderate ; for the ships 
 started with twenty-four thousand canisters. This was the 
 substance of the intelligence obtained during this year of 
 the fate of the wanderers ; and it was, as will be noticed, 
 already five years old. 
 
 An expedition was also fitted out for the search in 1850, 
 under the combined auspices of Henry Grinnell, Esq., a 
 merchant of New York, and the United States Navy De- 
 partment, — the former furnishing the ships and the means, 
 the latter the men and the discipline. Two hermaphrodite 
 brigs, the Advance and Rescue, — of one hundred and forty- 
 four and ninety tons respectivel}'', manned by thirty-eight 
 men, all told, and strengthened for Arctic duty beyond all 
 precedent, were prepared for the service. They were placed 
 under the command of Lieutenant De Haven, — Dr. E. K. 
 Kane, of the Navy, being appointed surgeon and naturalist 
 to the squadron. They sailed from New York on the 23d 
 of May, and in less than a month descried the gaunt coast- 
 of Greenland at the moment when the distinction between 
 diiy and night began to be lost. The Danish inhabitants of 
 
THE GRINNELL EXPEDITION. 267 
 
 the settlement at Lievely made them such presents of furs 
 as their own scanty wardrobes permitted. Two sailors, 
 complaining of sickness, were landed at Disco Island, thence 
 to make the best of their w^ay home. 
 
 Thus far the weather had been favourable, and they passed 
 the seventy-fourth degree without meeting ice. On the 7 th 
 of July, being still in Baffin's Bay, they encountered the 
 pack. It was summer-ice, consisting of closely-set but 
 separate floes. They could not make over three miles a day 
 headway through it, — which they considered a useless ex- 
 penditure of labour. They remained beset for twenty- one 
 days, when the pack opened in various directions. The ships 
 now reached Melville Bay, on the east side of Baffin's Bay, 
 — Lancaster Sound, through which they were to pass, being 
 upon the west. Melville Bay, from the fact that it is always 
 crowded with icebergs, and presents in a bird's-eye view all 
 the combined horrors and perils of Arctic navigation, has 
 received the appellation of the " Devil's Nip." Across this 
 formidable indentation the two vessels made their weary 
 way, occupying five weeks in the transit. A steam-tug 
 would have towed them across in forty-eight hours. In the 
 middle of August the vessels entered Lancaster Sound, and 
 on the morning of the 21st overhauled the Felix, engaged 
 in the search, under the veteran Sir John Ross. The next 
 day the Prince Albert, one of Lady Franklin's ships, was 
 seen, and soon after the intelligence was received of the dis 
 covery of traces of Franklin and his men. The navigators 
 of both nations visited Beechey Island and saw there the 
 evidences which we have already mentioned. The Advance 
 and Rescue now strove in vain to urge their way to Wel- 
 lington Channel. The sun travelled far to the south, and 
 the brief summer was rapidly coming to a close. The cold 
 increased, and the fires were not yet lighted below. On 
 the 1 2th of September the Rescue was swept from her moor- 
 ings by the ice and partially disabled. The pack in which 
 they were enveloped, though not yet beset, was evidently 
 drifting they knew not whither. The commander, convinced 
 
268 FROZEN UP. 
 
 that all westward progress was vain for tlie season, resolved 
 to return homeward. The vessels' heads were turned east- 
 ward, and slowly forced a passage through the reluctant 
 ice. On the evening of the 14th of September, Dr. Kane 
 was endeavouring, with the thermometer at far below zero, 
 to commit a few words to his journal, when he heard De 
 Haven's voice : " Doctor," he said, " the ice has caught 
 us : we are frozen up." 
 
 The Advance was now destined to undergo treatment 
 similar to that suffered by the Terror under Captain Back. 
 For eight mortal months she was carried, cradled in the ice, 
 backwards and forwards in Wellington Channel, wherever 
 the winds and currents listed. At first, before the ice 
 around them had become solid, they were exposed to con- 
 stant peril from " nips" of floating and besieging floes ; but 
 these huge tablets soon became a protection by themselves 
 receiving and warding off subsequent attacks. Early in 
 October, the vessels were more firmly fixed than a jewel in 
 its setting. 
 
 They now made preparations for passing the winter. 
 The two crews were collected in the Advance. Until the 
 stoves could be got up, a lard-lamp was burned in the cabin, 
 by which the temperature was raised 12° above zero. The 
 condensed moisture upon the beams from so many breaths 
 caused them to drip perpetually, till canvas gutters were 
 fitted up which carried off a gallon of water a day. The 
 three stoves were soon ready, and these, together with the 
 cooking-galley, diffused warmth through the common room 
 formed by knocking the forecastle and cabin into one. Light 
 was furnished by four argand and three bear's-fat lamps. 
 The entire deck of the Advance was covered with a housing 
 of thick felt. On the 9 th of November their preparations 
 were fairly completed. 
 
 The sun ceased to rise after the 1 5 th November : after 
 that, the east was as dark at nine in the morning as at 
 midnight ; at eleven there was a faint twilight, and at 
 noon a streak of brown far away to the south. The store- 
 
AMIABLE DECEPTIONS. 2 GO 
 
 room would have furnished an amateur geologist with an 
 admirable cabinet, so totally were the eatables and drink- 
 ables changed in appearance by the cold. " Dried apples 
 and peaches assumed the appearance of chalcedony ; sour- 
 krout was mica, the laminae of which were with difficulty 
 separated by a chisel ; butter and lard were passable marble ; 
 pork and beef were rare specimens of Florentine mosaic ; 
 while a barrel of lamp-oil, stripped of the staves, resembled 
 a sandstone garden-roller." 
 
 The crews soon began to suffer in health and spirits : their 
 faces became white, like celery kept from the light. They 
 had strange dreams and heard strange sounds. The scurvy 
 appeared, and old wounds bled afresh. Dr. Kane endea- 
 voured to combat the disease by acting upon the imagina- 
 tion of the sufferers. He ordered an old tar with a stiff 
 knee to place the member in front of a strong magnet and let 
 it vibrate to and fro like a pendulum. A wonderful and 
 complete cure was thus effected. He practised all sorts of 
 amiable deceptions upon his patients — making them take 
 medicine in salad and gargles in beer. Not a man was 
 lost during the voyage. 
 
 From time to time fissures would open in the ice around 
 them with an explosion like that of heavy artillery. It 
 became necessary to make preparations for abandoning the 
 vessel, and sledges, boats, and provisions were gotten ready 
 for an emergency. The men were drilled to leave the ship 
 in a mass at the word of command. The crisis seemed to 
 be upon them many a time and oft ; but the Advance held 
 firmly together, and the ice around her gradually became 
 solid as granite again. Dr. Kane lectured at intervals on 
 scientific subjects, till the return of light brought with it a 
 return of hope and animal spirits. On the 29 th of Janu- 
 ary 1851, the sun rose above the horizon, after an absence 
 of eighty-six days. " Never," says Dr. Kane, " till the 
 grave-clod or the ice covers me, may I forego this blessing 
 of blessings again ! I looked at him thankfully, with a great 
 globus in my throat." 
 
270 DISRUPTION OF THE ICE, 
 
 The ice-pack did not open till the close of March. Pi-e- 
 vious to this, all the successive symptoms of the coming 
 thaw presented themselves. The ice began to smoke, and 
 the surface became first moist and then soft. It was soon 
 too warm to skate, and the cabin lamps that had buniod 
 for four months without cessation were extinguished. The 
 mercury rose to 32° ; the housings were removed from the 
 Advance, and the Kescue's men returned to their deserted 
 ship. The saw was put in motion early in May ; but the 
 grand disruption of the ice, which was either to free the ships 
 or crush them, did not occur till the 5tli of June. It was 
 five o'clock in the afternoon when the first crack was heard, 
 and the water, spirting up, was seen following the track of 
 the fissure. In half an hour the ice was seamed with cracks 
 in every direction, some of them spreading into rivers twenty 
 feet across. The Rescue was released at once : the coating 
 of the Advance held on for three days more, parting at last 
 under the weight of a single man. The liberated ships soon 
 made the Greenland coast, at Godhavn, where they spent 
 five days in reposing, and in splicing the main-brace — this 
 latter being a convivial and not a mechanical operation. 
 The vessels arrived safely at the Brooklyn Navy- Yard on 
 the 1st of October 1851. The vessels were restored to Mr. 
 Grinnell, with the stipulation that the Secretary of the Navy 
 might claim them, in case of need, for further search in the 
 spring. 
 
 Encouraged by the discovery of traces of her husband, 
 Lady Franklin caused the Prince Albert, upon her return 
 with the intelligence, to be at once refitted for another Ai'c- 
 tic voyage. The expedition, though conducted with con- 
 summate skill by William Kennedy, late of the Hudson's 
 Bay Company, and Lieutenant Bellot, of the French Navy, 
 his second, totally failed of success. It returned in October 
 1853. In the meantime, another and more imposing ex- 
 pedition — that under Sir Edward Belcher — had sailed for 
 the polar regions. The squadron consisted of five vessels — > 
 
FARTHER SEARCH FOR FRANKLIN. 271 
 
 the Assistance, with the steamer Pioneer, the Resohite, with 
 the steamer Intrepid, and the North Star storeship. They 
 sailed on the 28th of April 1852, and arrived at their head- 
 quarters at Beechey Island — the scene of Franklin's hiberna- 
 tion in 1846 — on the 10th of August. The North Star 
 remained here with the stores, while the two ships, with 
 their respective tugs, started upon distinct voyages of explo- 
 ration — Sir Edward Belcher, in the Assistance, standing up 
 Wellington Channel, and Captain Kellett, in the Resolute, 
 proceeding to Melville Island. The latter was instructed to 
 seek at this point for intelligence of Captains M'Clure and 
 CoUinson, who had been sent to Behring's Strait in 1850, 
 in order to force their way eastward from thence, and who 
 had not since been heard of As the interest of Sir Edward 
 Belcher's expediticm centres entirely in the junction effected 
 by Kellett with M'Clure, we revert to the adventures of the 
 latter explorer, now distinguished as the discoverer of the 
 North-west Passage. 
 
 Collinson and M'Clure sailed in the Enterprise and In- 
 vestigator for Behring's Strait via Cape Horn on the 20th 
 of January 1850. They arrived at the strait in July. 
 The Enterprise, being foiled in her efforts to get through 
 the ice, turned about and entered at Hong-Kong. M'Clure, 
 in the Investigator, kept gallantly on through the strait, 
 and, diu'ing the month of August, advanced to the south- 
 east, into the heart of the Polar Sea, along a coast never 
 yet visited by a ship, and on the 21st August arrived at 
 the mouth of Mackenzie River, discovered by Mackenzie in 
 his land-expedition in 1789 to determine the northern coast- 
 line of America. He had now passed the region visited 
 and surveyed in former years by Franklin, Back, Rae, and 
 others, in overland explorations, and, on the 6th of Sep- 
 tember, arrived at a point considerably to the east of any 
 land marked upon the charts. He now began to name the 
 islands, headlands, and indentations. On the 9th the ship 
 was found to be but sixty miles to the w^est of the spot to 
 which Parry, sailing westward, had carried his ship in 1820. 
 
272 DISCOVERY OF THE NORTK-WEST PASSA.GE. 
 
 Could lie but sail these sixty miles, his name would be im- 
 mortal. " I caunot," be writes, " describe my anxious 
 feelings. Can it be possible that this water communicates 
 with Barrow's Straits, and shall prove to be the long-sought 
 North-west Passage 1 Can it be that so humble a creature 
 as I am will be permitted to perform what has baffled the 
 talented and wise for hundreds of years V On the 17th, 
 the Investigator reached the longitude of 117° 10' west — 
 thirty miles from the waters in which Parry wintered with 
 the Hecla and Griper in a harbour of Melville Island. 
 Alas ! the vessel went no farther east : the ice drifted per- 
 ceptibly to the west, and it was fated that these thirty 
 miles should remain, as they had remained for ages, as im- 
 passable to ships as the Isthmus of Suez. 
 
 The Investigator passed the winter heeled four degrees 
 to port and elevated a foot out of water by a " nip," in 
 which position she rested quietly for months. Late in Oc- 
 tober, a sledge-party of six men, headed by M'Clure, started 
 to traverse on foot the distance which it was forbidden their 
 ship to cross. On the 25 th they saw the Polar Ocean ice. 
 The next morning, before daybreak, they ascended a hill 
 six hundred feet high, convinced that the dawn would reveal 
 them the pre^dous surveys of Sir Edward, and make them 
 the discoverers of the North-west Passage, by connecting 
 their voyage from the west with his from the east. The 
 return of day showed their anticipations to be coiTect : Mel- 
 ville Strait was visible to the north, and between it and 
 tliem, though there was plenty of ice, there was no inter- 
 vening land. They had discovered the Passage, — that is, 
 an ice-passage, which of course involved a water-passage 
 when the state of the atmosphere permitted it. Though 
 they regretted bitterly that they could not get their ship 
 through, their only remaining course was to send one of 
 their party home by the well-known route through Barrow's 
 Straits, and thus prove the existence of the passage by the 
 return of one who had made it. They erected a cairn and left 
 a record of their visit, and then commenced their homeward 
 
AN UNEXPECTED VISITOR. 273 
 
 journey to the ship. M'Clure became separated from his 
 companions, and nearly perished in the snow. He arrived 
 in safety, however, and the grand discovery was duly cele- 
 orated and the main-brace properly siDliced. Numerous 
 searching parties were now from time to time sent out, and 
 in the midcQe of July the ice broke up and the Investigator 
 was released. She drifted five miles more to the east, — 
 thus reducing the distance of separation to twenty -five miles. 
 Here she was again firmly and inextricably frozen in. An- 
 other and another winter passed ; and it was not till the 
 spring of 1853 that relief reached them. In order to make 
 a consecutive story, we must return to that portion of Sir 
 Edward Belcher's squadron which, under Captain Kellett, 
 was sent to Melville Island, and which arrived there late in 
 1852. At this period, Kellett, in the Eesolute, and 
 M'Clure, in the Investigator, were about one hundred and 
 seventy miles apart. 
 
 A sledge-party sent out by Kellett discovered, with the 
 wildest delight, in October 1852, a cau*n in which M'Clure 
 had deposited, the April previous, a chart of his disco- 
 veries. They were compelled to wait the winter through ; 
 and it was not till the 1 0th of March that Kellett ventured 
 to send a travelling-party in quest of the Investigator. The 
 communication was effected on the 6th of April 1853. 
 M'Clure thus describes it : — • 
 
 " While walking near the ship, in conversation with the 
 first lieutenant, we perceived a figure coming rapidly towards 
 us from the rough ice at the entrance of the bay. He was 
 certainly unlike any of our men ; but, recollecting that it 
 was possible some one might be trying a new travelling- 
 dress preparatory to the departure of our sledges, and cer- 
 tain that no one else was near, we continued to advance. 
 The stranger came quietly on : had the skies fallen upon 
 us we could hardly have been more astonished than when 
 he called out, ' I'm Lieutenant Pim, late of the Herald, 
 now of the Eesolute. Captain KeUett is in her, at Dealy 
 Island.' 
 
 2 M 
 
274 EECOVERY OF THE RESOLUTE. 
 
 " To rush at and seize him by the hand was the first 
 impulse ; for the heart was too full for the tongue to speak. 
 The news flew with lightning rapidity : the ship was all in 
 commotion ; the sick, forgetful of their maladies, leaped 
 from their hammocks ; the artificers dropped their tools, 
 and the lower deck was cleared of men ; for they all rushed 
 for the hatchway, to be assured that a stranger was actu- 
 ally among them and that his tale was true. Despondency 
 fled the ship, and Lieutenant Pim received a welcome — pure, 
 hearty, and grateful — that he will surely remember and 
 cherish to the end of his days." 
 
 It was now decided to abandon the Investigator, immov- 
 ably fixed as she was in the ice. Her colours were hoisted 
 on the 3d of June, and she was left alone in Mercy Bay. 
 The ofiicers and crew arrived on board the Resolute on the 
 17th. M'Clure sent Lieutenant Gurney Cresswell, with 
 despatches for the Admiralty, by sledges, down to Beechey 
 Island, where he found a Government vessel and at once 
 sailed for England. Though he had not made the North- 
 west Passage, he had at least crossed the American continent 
 within the Arctic Circle ; and this had yet been done by no 
 mortal man. 
 
 Kellett and M'Clure remained for many months in the 
 Resolute and Intrepid, beset in the ice. They received in- 
 structions from Belcher in April 1854, to abandon their 
 ships. The latter were placed in a condition to be occupied 
 by any Arctic searching-party, — the furnaces of the steamer 
 being left ready to be lighted. Sir Edward Belcher had 
 also been compelled to abandon his vessels, the Assistance 
 and Pioneer : the four crews met at Beechey Island, and 
 embarked on board their store-ship, the North Star, which 
 had been laid up for two years. They arrived in England 
 late in September. The Resolute was found in Bafiin's Bay, 
 in 1855, by Captain Buddington, of the New London whaler 
 George Henry. She had forced her way, unaided by man, 
 through twelve hundred miles of Arctic ice. The incidents 
 of her arrival at New London, of the abandonment to the 
 
INTELLIGENCE OF FRANKLIN. 275 
 
 Anierican sailors of all claim upon her by the British Go- 
 verumeiit, of her purchase by the United States Congress 
 from her new owners, her re-equipment at the Brooklyn 
 Navy- Yard, and her restoration to the English Navy by 
 Captain Hartstene, U.S.N., are still fresh in the minds of all. 
 
 Soon after the return of Belcher and ]\I'Clure to Eng- 
 land, intelligence of Franklin and his party was received. 
 Dr. Rae, who had been engaged for a year past in a search 
 by land, had met a party of Esquimaux who were in 
 possession of numerous articles which had belonged to 
 Franklin and his men. They stated that in the spring of 
 1850 they had seen forty white men near King William's 
 Land, dragging a boat and sledges over the ice. They were 
 thin and short of provisions : their officer was a tall, stout, 
 middle-aged man. Some months later the natives found 
 the corpses of thirty persons upon the mainland, and five 
 dead bodies upon a neighbouring island. They described 
 the bodies as mutilated ; whence Dr. Rae inferred that the 
 party had been driven to the horrible resource of cannibal- 
 ism. The presence of the bones and feathers of geese, 
 however, showed that some had survived till the arrival of 
 wild-fowl, about the end of May. Dr. Rae purchased such 
 articles of the natives as would best serve to identify their 
 late possessors. All furnished testimony ; but a round 
 silver plate gave strong evidence, bearing as it did the follow- 
 ing inscription : — " Sir John Franklin, K.C.B." The slight 
 clue thus yielded of his fate was the last which had thus 
 far been obtained. The expedition of Dr. Kane had, how- 
 ever, already sailed from New York. 
 
 The Government of the United States forwarded to Dr. 
 Kane, in the month of December 1852, an order " to con- 
 duct an expedition to the Arctic Seas in search of Sir John 
 Franklin." The brig Advance was again placed at his dis- 
 posal by Mr. Grinnell, and manned by eighteen picked men. 
 Dr. Kane's plan was to enter Smith's Sound at the top of 
 
270 THE ARCTIC PILLARS OF HERCULES. 
 
 Baffin's Bay, — into which, alone of the Arctic explorers, 
 Captain Inglefield had penetrated in August 1852, in the 
 Isabel, — to reach, if possible, the supposed northerly open 
 sea, where he hoped to find traces of the missing navigators. 
 He sailed from New York on the 30th of May 1853, 
 touched at Fiskernaes, in Greenland, on the 1st of July, 
 where he engaged the services of Hans Cristian, a native 
 Esquimaux of nineteen years. Through ice and fog the 
 vessel forced her way, and on the 7th of August doubled 
 Cape Alexander, a promontory opposite another named Cape 
 Isabella, — the two being the headlands of Smith's Strait, 
 and styled by Dr. Kane the Arctic Pillars of Hercules. 
 
 The vessel closed, with the ice again the next day, and 
 was forced into a land-locked cove. Every effort to force 
 her through the floes was tried, without success, and, after 
 imdergoing the most appalling treatment from the wind, 
 waves, and ice combined, the brig was warped into winter 
 quarters, in Rensselaer Bay, on the 2 2d August, and was 
 frozen in on September 1 0. There she lies to this hour — 
 " to her a long resting-place indeed," writes Kane ; " for the 
 same ice is around her still." This was in latitude 78° 
 37' N. — the most northerly winter quarters ever taken by 
 Christians, except in Spitzbergen, which has the advantage 
 of an insular climate. An observatory was erected, a ther- 
 mal register kept hourly, and magnetic observations recorded. 
 Parties were sent out to establish provision-depots to the 
 north, to facilitate researches in the spring. Three depots 
 or " caches" were made, the most distant being in latitude 
 79° 12': in this they deposited six hundred and seventy 
 pounds of pemmican and forty of meat -biscuit. These ope- 
 rations were arrested by darkness in November, and the 
 crew prepared to spend one hundred and forty days without 
 the light of the sun. The first number of the Arctic news- 
 paper, " The Ice-Blink," appeared on the 21st. The ther- 
 mometer fell to 67° below zero. Chloroform froze, and 
 chloric ether became solid. The air had a perceptible pun- 
 gency upon inspiration ; all inhaled it guardedly and with 
 
DISTRESSING INFLUENCE OF DARKNESS. 277 
 
 compressed lips. The 2 2d of December brought with it 
 the midnight of the year : the fingers could not be counted 
 a foot from the eyes. Nothing remained to indicate that 
 the Arctic world had a sun. The men, during this their 
 first winter, kept up their spirits wonderfully ; but most of 
 the dogs died of diseases of the brain brought on by the 
 depressing influences of the darkness. 
 
 The first traces of returning light were observed on the 
 21st of January, when the southern horizon had a distinct 
 orange tint. Towards the close of February the sun silvered 
 the tall icebergs between the headlands of the bay : his 
 rays reached the deck on the 28th, and perpetual day 
 returned with the month of March. The men found their 
 faces badly mottled by scurvy-spots, and they were nearly 
 all disabled for active work. But six dogs remained out of 
 forty-four. " No language can describe," says Kane, " the 
 chaos at the base of the rock on which the store-house had 
 been built. Fragments of ice had been tossed into every 
 possible confusion, rearing up in fantastic equilibrium, surg- 
 ing in loug inclined planes, dipping into dark valleys, and 
 piling in contorted hills." A sledge party was sent out on 
 the 19 th to deposit a relief cargo of provisions ; on the 
 31st, three of its members returned swollen, haggard, and 
 almost dumb. They had left four of their number in a tent, 
 disabled and frozen. Dr. Kane at once started with a 
 rescue of nine men, and, after an unbroken march of twenty- 
 one hours, came in sight of a smaU American flag floating 
 upon a hammock. They were received with an explosion 
 of welcome. The return with the sledge laden with the 
 weight of eleven hundred pounds was effected at the ex- 
 pense of tremendous efforts of energy and endurance. 
 
 While still nine miles from their half-way tent, they felt 
 the peculiar lethargic sensation of extreme cold — symptoms 
 which Kane compares to the difiused paralysis of the elec- 
 tro-galvanic shock. Bonsall and Morton asked permission 
 to go to sleep, at the same time denying tliat they were 
 cold. Hans lay down under a diift, and in a few moments 
 
278 Tennyson's monument. 
 
 was stiff. An immediate halt was necessary. The tent 
 was pitched, but no one had the strength to light a fire. 
 They could neither eat nor drink. The whisky froze at the 
 men's feet. Kane gave orders to them to take four hours' 
 rest and then follow him to the half-way tent, where he 
 would have ready a fire and some thawed pemmican. He 
 then pushed on with William Godfrey. Tliey were both in 
 a state of stupor, and kept themselves awake by a continual 
 articulation of incoherent words. Kane describes these 
 hours as the most wretched he ever went throu^rh. On 
 arriving at the tent, they found that a bear had overturned 
 it, tossing the pemmican into the snow. They crawled into 
 their reindeer sleeping-bags and slept for three hours in a 
 dreamy but intense slumber. On awaking, they melted 
 snow-water and cooked some soup ; and on the arr-ival of 
 the rest of the party they all took the refreshment and 
 pushed on towards the brig. Their strength soon failed 
 them again, and they began to lose their se]f-control. Kaue 
 tried the experiment of a three-minutes sleep, and, findir.g 
 that it refreshed him, timed the men in their turns. Doses 
 of brandy, and finally, the distant sight of the brig, revived 
 and encouraged them. The last mile was accomplished by 
 instinct, as none of the men remembered it afterwards : they 
 staggered into the cabin delirious and muttering with agony. 
 Death now entered the devoted camp : JeSerson Baker 
 died of lock-jaw on the 7th of April. A meeting with a 
 party of Esquimaux now enabled Kane to reinforce his dog- 
 team, and encouraged him to start late in April, upon his 
 grand sledge excursion to the north. It failed, however, 
 completely. Kane became delirious on the 5 th of May, 
 and fainted every time he was taken from the tent to the 
 sledge. He was conveyed back to the brig, and from the 
 14th to the 20th lay hovering between life and death. 
 Short as the expedition was, however, several remarkable 
 discoveries were made. " Tennyson's Monument" was the 
 name given to a solitary column of greenstone, four hundred 
 and eighty feet high, rising from a pedestal two hundred 
 
AN ICE-OCEAN. 279 
 
 and eiglity feet high — both as sharply finished as if tliey 
 had. been cast for the PLace Vendome. But the most 
 wonderful feature was the Great Glazier of Humboldt — an 
 ice-ocean of boundless dimensions, in which a complete sul)- 
 stitution had been effected of ice for water. " Imagine," 
 Kane writes, " the centre of the continent of Greenland 
 occupied through nearly its whole extent by a deep unbroken 
 sea of ice that gathers perennial increase from the water-shed 
 of vast snow-covered mountains and all the precipitations of 
 the atmosphere upon its OAvn surface. Imagine this moving 
 onward like a great glacial river, seeking outlets at every 
 fiord and valley, rolling icy cataracts into the Atlantic and 
 Greenland seas, and, having at last reached the northern 
 limit of the land that has borne it up, pouring out a mighty 
 frozen torrent, into unknown Arctic space. . . . Here was a 
 plastic, moving, semi-solid mass, obliterating life, swallow- 
 ing rocks and islands, and ploughing its way with irresistible 
 march through the crust of an investing sea." 
 
 Other sledge-parties were from time to time sent out. 
 One of six men left the brig on the 3d of June, keeping to 
 the north and reaching Humboldt Glacier on the 15th. 
 Four returned to the ship on the 27th, one of them entirely 
 blind. Hans Cristian and William Morton kept on, and 
 finally, in north latitude 81° 22', sighted open water — an 
 open Polar sea. To the cape at which the land terminated 
 Morton gave the name of Cape Constitution. A lofty peak 
 on the opposite side of the channel, hut a little farther to 
 the north, and the most remote northern land known upon 
 our globe, was named Mount Edward Parry, from the great 
 pioneer of Arctic travel. 
 
 A second winter now stared the explorers in the face. 
 " It is horrible," says Kane, " to look forward to another 
 year of disease and darkness, without fresh food or fuel." 
 Still, preparations were made for the direful extremity. 
 Willow-stems and sorrel were collected as antiscorbutics. 
 Lumps of turf, frozen solid, were quarried with crowbars, 
 and with them the ship's sides were embanked. During 
 
280 ABANDONMENT OF THE BRIG. 
 
 the early mouths a communication was kept up with the 
 nearest Esquimaux station, seventy-five miles distant, and 
 thus scanty supplies of fox, walrus, seal, and bear meat 
 were occasionally obtained. These failed, however, during 
 the months of total darkness. Early in February, Kane wrote 
 in his journal : — " We are contending at odds with angry 
 forces close around us, without one agent or influence 
 within eighteen hundred miles whose sympathy is on our 
 side." On the 4th of March the last fragment of fresh 
 meat was served, and the whole crew would have perished 
 miserably of starvation, had it not been for the successful 
 issue of a forlorn -hope excursion to the Etah Esquimaux 
 station undertaken by Hans and two dogs. Dr. Kane ate 
 rats, and thereby escaped the scurvy. The bunks were 
 warmed by oil-lamps, after the Esquimaux fashion : the 
 beds and the men's faces became, in consequence, black and 
 greasy with soot. The sufferings endured by the party were 
 perhaps the most dreadful to which Arctic adventurers have 
 ever been subjected. 
 
 The abandonment of the brig had been resolved upon 
 before the setting in of winter, and the misery of the hours 
 of darkness had been in some measure alleviated by the 
 progress of the preparations for that event — in making 
 clothing, canvas moccasins, seal-hide boots, and in cutting 
 water-tight shoes from the gutta-percha speaking-tube. 
 Provision-bags were made of sail-cloth rendered impervious 
 by coats of tar. Into these the bread was pressed by beat- 
 ing it to powder with a capstan-bar. Pork-fat and tallow 
 were melted down and poured into other bags to freeze. 
 The three boats — none of them sea-worthy — were strength- 
 ened, housed, and mounted on sledges rigged with shoulder- 
 belts to drag by : one of them they expected to burn for 
 fuel on reaching water. The powder and shot, upon which 
 their lives depended, were distributed in canisters : Kane 
 took the percussion-caps into his own possession, as more 
 precious than gold. The 1 7th of May was fixed upon for 
 the departure. 
 
THE FAREWELL. 28 1 
 
 The farewell to the brig was made with due solemnity. 
 The day was Sunday, and prayers and a chapter of the 
 Bible were read. Kane then stated in an address the ne- 
 cessities under which the ship was abandoned and the 
 dangers that still awaited them. He believed, howeyer, 
 that the thirteen hundred miles of ice and water which lay 
 between them and North Greenland could be traversed 
 with safety for most and hope for all. A brief memorial 
 of the reasons compelling the desertion of the vessel was 
 fastened to a stanchion near the gangway, to serve as their 
 vindication in case they were lost and the brig was ever 
 visited. The flags were hoisted and hauled down again, 
 and the men scrambled off over the ice to the boats, no 
 one thinking of the mockery of cheers. 
 
 We have not space to detail the perils, adventures, and 
 narrow escapes from starvation of this hardy party in their 
 romantically dangerous escape to the south. On the IGth 
 of June the boats and sledges approached the open water. 
 " We see its deep-indigo horizon," writes Kane, " and hear 
 its roar against the icy beach. Its scent is in our nostrils 
 and our hearts." The boats, which w^ere split with frost 
 and warped by sunshine, had to be caulked and swelled 
 before they were fit for use. The embarkation was effected 
 on the 19 th : the Red Eric, the smallest of the three boats, 
 swamped the first day. They spent their first night in an 
 inlet in the ice. Sometimes they would sail through creeks 
 of water for many successive hours : then would follow 
 days of weary tracking through alternate ice and w^ater. 
 During a violent storm they dragged the boats upon a 
 narrow shelf of ice, and found themselves within a cave 
 which myriads of eider had made their breeding-ground. 
 They remained three days in this crystal retreat, and 
 gathered three thousand eggs. They doubled Cape Dudley 
 Digges on the 11th of June, and spent a week at Pro- 
 vidence Halt, luxuriating on a dish composed of birds 
 sweeter and juicier than canvas-backs and a salad made of 
 raw eggs and cochlearia. The coast now trended to the 
 
 2 N 
 
282 RETURN OF THE FOX EXPEDITION. 
 
 east ; the wide expanse of Melville Bay lay between them 
 and Uijernavik — that Danish ontpost of civilisation. They 
 landed at Upernavik the next day in the midst of a crowd 
 of children, and drank coffee that night before hospitable 
 Danish firesides. There Kane and his party embarked on 
 board of a Danish vessel, the captain engaging to drop them 
 at the Shetland Islands. On the 11th September 1855 
 they arrived at Godhavn, and there, at the very moment of 
 their final departure. Captain Hartstene's relief-squadron was 
 sighted in the offing. 
 
 Dr. Kane fell a victim to his zeal in the arduous paths of 
 science on 16th February 1857, sincerely lamented by all. 
 
 The Fox screw discovery vessel (Captain M'Clintock), 
 sent to the Arctic regions at the expense of Lady Franklin, 
 in search of information as to the fate of her husband and 
 his companions, returned to England on 20th September 
 1859. This expedition adds another and concluding chap- 
 ter to the many brilliant records that adorn our naval an- 
 nals. Captain M'Clintock brought relics and papers which 
 corroborate the information previously obtained by Dr. Rae, 
 except in the one important point, that our unfortunate 
 countrymen had resorted to cannibalism, in their last des- 
 perate eff"orts to maintain existence. No evidence of this 
 was apparent ; on the contrary, chocolate, tea, and tobacco 
 were among the articles recovered. The following particu- 
 lars of this expedition are abridged from the narration of 
 Captain M'Clintock at a meeting of the Royal Geographical 
 Society on 14th November 1859 : — ■ 
 
 "We sailed from Aberdeen 1st of July 1857, and bade 
 adieu to Upernavik, the most northern of the Danish 
 settlements in Greenland, on the 6th of August. My ob- 
 ject was to complete the search in the area left unexplored 
 between the expeditions of James Ross, Austin, and Belcher, 
 upon the north ; of Collinson and M'Clure on the west ; of 
 Rae and Anderson upon the south ; whilst its eastern boun- 
 dary is formed by the western shores of Boothia. The por- 
 
CAPTAIN M'CLINTOCK's ACCOUNT OF THE VOYAGE. 283 
 
 tion of the earth's surface thus defined comprises an area 
 nearly 300 miles square. Thirty-five dogs and an Esqui- 
 maux driver were obtained in Greenland as valuable auxi- 
 liaries in our anticipated sledge travel. On the IStli of 
 August, when attempting to pass from Melville Bay to Lan- 
 caster Sound, through vast accumulations of drift ice, the 
 ship was seriously obstructed, and finally became beset and 
 frozen up for the winter; then commenced an ice-drift, not 
 exceeded in length by any that I knew of. During the 
 autumn and early sprmg, about seventy seals were shot in 
 the water spaces, affording a good supjDly of food for our 
 dogs, and oil for our lamps. It was not until the 25th of 
 April 1858, by which time we had drifted down to lat. 
 631°, that we were able to escape out of the ice, under cir- 
 cumstances which will long be remembered by all on board. 
 During the 242 days of our imprisonment, the ship's posi- 
 tion was astronomically determined, on the average twice a 
 week, and her accumulated drift thus ascertained amounts 
 to 1194 geographical miles. Having once more regained 
 command over the Fox, oiu' voyage was commenced anew. 
 We directed our course to the Greenland settlements in the 
 hope of obtaining supplies of fresh provisions ; we met, 
 however, with but little success, though what the Danish 
 residents possessed they readily shared with us. Closely 
 following up every movement of the ice, we succeeded in 
 crossing Melville Bay by 18th of June, and reached Pond's 
 Inlet on 27th of July. Proceeding up Barrow Strait, we 
 reached, on the 11th of August, Beechey Island, the scene 
 of Franklin's first winter, and now the site of a house and 
 store of provisions. Here is a cenotaph bearing inscriptions 
 to the memory of those who perished in the last Governmen.t 
 expedition ; also a marble tablet to the lamented Bellot. 
 In fitting proximity to these I placed a similar memorial, 
 appropriately inscribed, to the memory of our lost country- 
 men in the Erebus and Terror. It was sent out for the 
 purpose by desire of Lady Franklin. We then sailed for 
 Bt-'llot Strait, and arrived there on the 20th of August. 
 
284 SLEDGING OPERATIONS. 
 
 Bellot Strait is the water communication between Prince 
 Regent's Inlet and the Western Sea, now known as Frank- 
 lin Strait ; it separates the extreme northern point of the 
 American continent from the extensive land known as North 
 Somerset, Whilst daylight continued, attempts were made 
 to carry out provisions towards the magnetic pole, in order 
 to facilitate the sledging operations of the ensuing spring ; 
 but these almost entirely failed in consequence of the dis- 
 ruption of the ice to the southward, and the impossibility 
 of traversing so rugged a country. Lieutenant Hobson, 
 already distinguished by his sledge journeys in the vicinity 
 of Behriug's Straits, conducted these operations, and re- 
 turned on board the Fox with his party in November, after 
 much suffering from severe weather, and imminent peril on 
 one occasion, when the ice upon which they were encamped 
 drifted to seaward with them across Wrottesley Inlet. Al- 
 though vegetation was comparatively abundant, yet the fre- 
 quent stormy winds which draw through Bellot Strait are 
 probably a sufficient cause for the scarcity of animal life 
 there. Besides our two Esquimaux hunters, Mr. Petersen 
 and several sportsmen were almost constantly on the alert ; 
 yet, during our prolonged stay of more than eleven months, 
 only three reindeer, two bears, eighteen seals, a few water- 
 fowl, and ptarmigan were obtained. Early spring journeys 
 were commenced on the 17th of February of the present 
 year by Captain Young and myself. Captain Young pro- 
 ceeded to carry a depot of provisions across Franklin Strait, 
 whilst I went southward to the magnetic pole, to meet the 
 natives and obtain, if possi))le, some information that might 
 direct us to the object of our search. I was accompanied 
 by the interpreter, Mr. Petersen, and one seaman ; we took 
 with us two dog-sledges. On the 28th of February, when 
 near Cape Victoria, we met with a small party of natives, 
 who readily built us a large snow hut, and spent the night 
 in it with us. We were subsequently visited by about 
 forty-five individuals, and during the four days we remained 
 amongst them obtained many relics of the lost crews, and 
 
INTELLIGENCE OF A WRECK. 285 
 
 also the information that several years ago a ship was crushed 
 by the ice and sunk off the north-western shore of King 
 William Island, but that all her people landed safely, and 
 went away to a great river, where they died. These 
 Boothian Esquimaux were well supplied with wood and iron, 
 once the property of the white men. With this important 
 information we returned to the Fox, after an absence of 
 twenty-jQve days of sharp marching, and unusually severe 
 weather, the mercury being occasionally frozen for many 
 hours together. The result of this journey was also im- 
 portant to geography, since it completed the discovery of 
 the coast line of the American continent. Early in April 
 our long-projected spring journeys were commenced. Lieu- 
 tenant Hobson accompanied me as far as Cape Victoria ; 
 each of us had a sledge drawn by four men, and an auxi- 
 liary sledge drawn by six dogs, this being all the force we 
 could muster. Before separating we met two Esquimaux 
 families in snow huts upon the ice, as is their custom from 
 October until June, wlien seals, and perhaps an occasional 
 bear, are their only food. During the summer months they 
 resort to the rivers, lakes, or deer passes, and subsist on 
 fish, venison, and birds. From these people we learned that 
 a second ship had been seen off King William Island, and 
 that she drifted ashore in the fall of the same year. From 
 this wreck they obtained a vast supply of wood and iron. 
 
 " According to my original plan of sledge-search, matured 
 during the winter. Lieutenant Hobson was to complete the 
 exploration of the north shore of Victoria Land, between 
 Cape Collinson and Wynniatt's furthest ; but in consequence 
 of the information obtained from the Esquimaux, I directed 
 him to search the northern and western shores of King 
 William's Island for the wr^ck, and to follow any traces he 
 might find. Lieutenant Hobson, therefore, crossed over to 
 Cape Felix, whilst with my own party and the interpreter 
 I marched along the east shore of King William Island, 
 occasionally passing deserted snow huts, but without meet- 
 ing with Esquimaux until the 8th of May, when near Cape 
 Norton, or as named in some charts. Cape Smith , here we 
 
286 THE MAECn TO THE GEEAT RIVEE. 
 
 found a snow village, containing thirty or tliirty-five inlia- 
 l)itants. They quickly gathered about us, exhibiting the 
 utmost delight at our visit, and eagerness to answer Peter- 
 sen's questions ; but in consequence of their excited state, 
 it was very difficult to understand them clearly. They had 
 not been apprised of our approach, and their independent 
 testimony exactly agreed with that which had previously 
 been obtained. Bartering was commenced immediately, and 
 continued with much spirit on the part of the natives. I 
 purchased venison, seal, and salmon, to supply our wants, 
 and all the relics of personal interest, such as silver spoons 
 or forks, which they had. All the wooden articles they 
 possessed, including a large sledge, were made of material 
 obtained from the wreck. Had I had the means of carry- 
 ing them away, I would have purchased many more things. 
 They pointed to Peel Inlet, and told us that one day's march 
 up it, and from thence four days overland, brought them to 
 the wreck. None of them had been there for more than 
 a year, and then but little remained visible above the ice. 
 Their countrymen had resorted to it for several years past 
 in great numbers, and had carried off all that they could. 
 Some few of these people had seen the white men on their 
 march to the great river, and said that ' many of them 
 dropped by the way,' but that this was not known to them 
 at the time, nor until the following winter, when the bodies 
 v/ere found. Pursuing the native route, we crossed the low 
 land behind it, and met with an Esquimaux family off Point 
 Booth. They also told us that we would find some of their 
 people upon the large island on the Great River, alluding to 
 ]M(^ntreal Island ; yet none were seen there, nor any recent 
 traces of them. These were the last Esquimaux we met 
 with. Point Ogle, Montreal Island, and Barrow Inlet, were 
 successively searched, but without finding any traces of 
 Europeans, except a few scraps of copper, tin, and iron near 
 an Esquimaux stone-mark. Having now overlapped the 
 ground searched by Messrs. Anderson and Stewart when 
 they descended the Back River in 1855, and having no 
 hope of meeting natives by proceeding further up it, I turned 
 
INTERESTING EELICS. 287 
 
 to the north-west to complete the search to the spot where 
 our countrymen first landed upon King William's Island. 
 Recrossing Dease and Simpson's Strait, we continued the 
 minute examination of the southern shore of King Williaui's 
 Island without success, until near Cape Herschel, the west- 
 ern limit of Simpson's discovery, when a bleached skeleton 
 was found near the beach, around which lay fragments of 
 European clothing. The snow was most carefully removed, 
 and a small pocket-book, containing a seaman's parchment 
 certificate and a few letters, were found. Judging from the 
 remains of his dress, this unfortunate young man had been 
 either a steward or oflicer's servant, and his position exactly 
 verified the Esquiraaux's assertions, that ' they dropped as 
 they walked along.' The skeleton lay at full length upon 
 a level ridge of gravel, just above the beach, in a part which 
 was almost bare of snow ; for walking on, especially if the 
 person was fatigued, it was far preferable to the ice whereon 
 the sledges would of necessity have to travel. Simpson's 
 cairn on Cape Herschel was next day examined ; it had been 
 disturbed, in fact the greater part pulled down, and the im- 
 pression left upon my mind is, that records were deposited 
 by the retreating crews in this conspicuous and well-known 
 position, but that they were subsequently removed by the 
 Esquimaux. I will now revert to the proceedings of Lieu- 
 tenant Hobson. After separating from me at Cape Victoria, 
 he made for Cape Felix, the north extremity of King Wil- 
 liam's Island. At a short distance to the westward of it 
 he came upon unequivocal traces of the Franklin expedition 
 — a large cairn of stones, close beside which were three 
 small tents, with blankets, old clothes, and other debris of 
 a station, probably for magnetic or for shooting purposes ; 
 but although the ground beneath the cairn was broken into, 
 and a trench dug all round it at a distance of ten feet, no 
 record was discovered. The most interesting of these relics, 
 including our national flag, were brought away. Two 
 smaller cairns were next found by Lieutenant Hobson as he 
 continued his search ; and on the 6th of May, at Point Vic- 
 tori, the extreme reached by James Ross in 1830, he pitched 
 
288 DEATH OF SIR JOHN FRANKLIN. 
 
 his tent beside a large cairn, which he then supposed to be 
 the one built by that officer. Lying amongst some stones, 
 which had evidently fallen off the top of the cairn, was 
 found a small tin case containing a record ; in fact, the 
 record of the long-lost expedition. By it we have been 
 informed, that in May 1847, all was well on board the 
 Erebus and Terror ; that in the year 1845, the same year 
 in which they left England, they ascended Wellington Chan- 
 nel to lat. 77'^, and returned southward by the west of 
 Cornwallis Island, and spent their first winter at Beechey 
 Island. On the 12th of September 1846, they were beset 
 in lat. 70-05°, long. 98-23^ W., and here, in the packed 
 ice, about fifteen miles off" the N.W. shore of King Wil]iam's 
 Island, they passed their second winter. Lieutenant Gore 
 and Mr. Des Veaux, with a party of six men, landed and 
 deposited the above record, and another exactly similar, 
 which was found in a small cairn one day's march further 
 south. Round the margin of the former of these docu- 
 ments much additional information was given, under date 
 the 25th of April 1848. The ships, it states, were aban- 
 doned on the 2 2d of April 1848, about fifteen miles to the 
 N.KW. ; therefore they drifted southward only twelve or 
 fourteen miles in twenty months. The survivors, 105 in 
 number, under the command of Captain Crozier, landed 
 at this spot, and built the cairn which now exists upon 
 the site of James Ross's cairn, which must have been 
 taken down by the Esquimaux. Sir John Franklin died on 
 the 11th of June 1847 ; and the total loss by deaths in 
 the expedition up to the date of their landing, was nine 
 officers and fifteen men. They intended proceeding on the 
 morrow for Back's Fish River, and this record was signed 
 by Crozier as captain of H.M.S. Terror, and senior officer, 
 also by Fitzjames, as captain of H.M.S. Erebus. Even this 
 three days' march seems to have shown them how greatly 
 they had overrated their strength, for here they threw away 
 a vast quantity of clothing and stores of all sorts ; in fact, 
 all that was not absolutely indispensable. Lieutenant Hob- 
 son continued his search almost to Cape Herschel, without 
 
DISCOVERY OF A BOAT AND SLEDGE. 289 
 
 finding any trace of a wreck or of natives. As he retraced 
 his steps, he left full information of his most important dis- 
 coveries for me, so that I had the advantage of knowing 
 what had already been found. After leaving Cape Herschel, 
 and proceeding north-westward along the shore, I found the 
 traces of natives become less numerous and less recent ; and 
 after rounding Cape Crozier — the west point of the island 
 — they ceased altogether. When a day's march north-east- 
 ward of Cape Crozier, I came upon a boat twenty-eight feet 
 long, mounted upon a sledge of suitable dimensions. A 
 note left here by Hobson informed me of his having disco- 
 vered her five days before. It was at once evident that 
 this fine boat had been prepared with the greatest care for 
 the ascent of the Back River. In order to reduce her weight 
 she had been cut down to the thwarts, and very light fir 
 upper-works substituted, supporting a canvas weather-cloth ; 
 and she had been fitted with a housing-cloth, that the crew 
 might sleep within her, and thus obviate the necessity for 
 carrying tents. After Hobson's party had dug out the snow 
 which filled this boat, they found a large quantity of cloth- 
 ing and portions of two human skeletons. One of them lay 
 beneath a pile of clothing in the after-part of the boat, and 
 was probably the last survivor. The other lay in the bow, 
 but both had been very much disturbed by wild animals. 
 Two double-barrelled guns stood upright, and loaded as they 
 had been placed, in readiness for use. Watches, silver forks 
 and spoons, small religious books, and articles of all sorts, 
 were found, but neither journals nor pocket-books. Of pro- 
 visions there remained chocolate and tea, but no biscuit or 
 meat ; there was also tobacco, wood-fuel, and ammunition. 
 Now, as this boat was only sixty-five miles from the posi- 
 tion of the ships when abandoned, it appeared to be most 
 strange that she should have been deserted so early on the 
 march, the more so as many precious relics, which might 
 very easily have been carried away, remained in her. But, 
 on a close examination, I found that she had been returning 
 towards the ships ! 
 
 2 
 
290 MAY NOT SOME STILL BE ALIVE 
 
 " After mature consideration upon all that I have seen, 
 I am of opinion that the abandonment of the Erebus and 
 Terror had been contemplated for months previously to its 
 execution ; also, that the whole crew had become affected 
 by scurvy, and greatly debilitated. We know that Frank- 
 lin's ships were cut off from all supplies of game for three 
 consecutive winters, and that this is the only case on record 
 of ships' crews subsisting solely upon their own supplies for 
 so long a period. The Investigator was abandoned after 
 the third winter, but her crew had been able to procure 
 some valuable fresh food, game of different sorts, including 
 about a hundred reindeer. She lost only three men, yet 
 the whole crew were affected by scurvy. But the Erebus 
 and Terror, before being abandoned, had lost twenty-four 
 men, and therefore I conclude that the remainder of their 
 crews were at least as seriously affected as were the people 
 of the Investigator. There are two important questions 
 which have been so frequently put to me, that I gladly take 
 this opportunity to offer some explanation upon so deeply 
 interesting a subject. The first question is. Whether some 
 of the 105 survivors may not be living among the Esqui- 
 maux 1 The various families, or communities, of Esquimaux 
 met with by Rae, Anderson, and myself, at different times 
 and places, aU agree in saying, ' No ; they all died.' But 
 let us examine for ourselves. The western shore of King 
 William's Island, along which they were compelled to travel 
 for two-thirds of their route, is uninhabited ; and all that 
 is known to us of the mouth of the Back River, is derived 
 from the journeys of Back, Simpson, Anderson, and myself ; 
 none of us have met natives there, consequently it is fair to 
 conclude that the Esquimaux but seldom resort to so inhos- 
 pitable a locality. Even much more favoured shores in this 
 vicinity are but very thinly sprinkled with inhabitants, and 
 their whole time is occupied in providing a scanty subsist- 
 ence for themselves. In fact, their life is spent in a struggle 
 for existence, and depends mainly upon their skill in taking 
 seals during the winter, a matter which requires such long 
 
AMONG THE ESQUIMAUX ? 291 
 
 training, that no European has ever yet succeeded in ac- 
 quiring it. My two Greenland Esquimaux tried various 
 methods at Bellot Strait, yet did not succeed ; and without 
 dogs trained to scent out the small breathing-holes of seals 
 through the ice, and through the snow which overlays 
 the ice, I do not think even the Boothian Esquimaux could 
 live. It requires not only that a man should possess a 
 trained dog, but that he himself should be well trained in 
 the only successful mode of seal-hunting, in order to subsist 
 in this locality. It is, therefore, evidently an error to sup- 
 pose that, where an Esquimaux can live, a civilized man 
 can live also. Esquimaux habits are so entirely different 
 from those of all other people, that I believe there is no 
 instance on record of either a white man or an Indian be- 
 coming domesticated amongst them, or acquiring tolerable 
 expertness in the management of a kayak. With regard to 
 the probability of procuring the means of subsistence inde- 
 pendently of the Esquimaux, I will just state what was shot 
 by my own sledge party — and we never lost a chance of 
 shooting anything — during the journey along the lands in 
 question, that occupied us for seventy-nine days, and covered 
 nearly 1000 geographical miles of distance. The sum total 
 amounted to two reindeer, one hare, seventeen willow-grouse, 
 and three gidls. The second question is. Why have the re- 
 mains of so few of our lost countrymen been found ? It is, 
 indeed, true that only three of the 105 were discovered; 
 but we must bear in mind, that from the time they left the 
 ship they were dragging sledges and boats, and therefore 
 they must have travelled almost constantly upon the ice, 
 not upon the laud ; consequently all traces or remains there 
 vanished with the summer thaw of 1848. There is no 
 doubt that many relics still remained strewed along the 
 uninhabited shore of King William's Island, beneath the 
 snow ; but as it was most carefully examined three times 
 over, I cannot think that any conspicuous object, such as 
 would be put up to indicate where records were deposited, 
 could possibly have escaped us." 
 
292 
 
 CONCLUSIOK 
 
 Having brought to a conclusion the history of " The Sea and 
 HER Famous Sailors," in which we have shown what the ocean 
 once was in man's estimation, and the steps by which it has 
 taken its place in the world's economy, let us very briefly refer to 
 what the ocean now is, and what place it now holds. It is the 
 peaceful highway of nations — a highway without tax or toll. If 
 the distances be considered, the sea is the safest and most com- 
 modious route from spot to spot, whether for merchandise or 
 man. Like the lightning and the thunderbolt, it has submitted 
 to the yoke. Though still sublime in its immensity and its 
 power, it has lost most of those features of character which once 
 made it mysterious and fantastic, and has become the everyday 
 pathway of traffic. Mail routes are as distinctly marked upon 
 its surface as the equator or the meridian of Greenwich ; steam- 
 ships leave their docks punctually at the stroke of noon. The 
 monsters that plough its waters have been hunted by man till 
 the race is wellnigh exhausted ; for the leviathan which fright- 
 ened the ancients is the whale which has illuminated the moderns. 
 
 The sailor, to whom once the route was trackless and untrod- 
 den, now consults a volume of charts prepared for his use, and 
 finds his course laid out upon data derived from oft-repeated 
 experience. He takes this or that direction in accordance with 
 known facts regarding the prevalence of winds or the motion 
 of currents. He keeps a record of his own experience, that in 
 its turn it may be useful to others. He has plans and surveys 
 which give him the bearings of every port, the indentations of 
 every coast, the soundings of every pass. Beacons warn him of 
 reefs and sunken rocks, and buoys mark out his course through 
 the shallows of sounds and straits. If a new lighthouse is erected, 
 or is the warning lamp for any reason discontinued upon any 
 coast, the fact is at once made known to the commerce of all 
 nations. A vessel at sea is safer from spoliation than is the 
 traveller upon the high-road or the sojourner in a city. In short, 
 the ocean, once a formidable and repellant element, now fur- 
 nishes food and healthful employment to millions. 
 
 The chronicles of the sea give rise to a thought calculated to 
 teach a lesson of humility. After centuries of submission to 
 man and of ministration to his pleasures and necessities, the sea 
 is absolutely the same in its physical aspects as when, after the 
 subsidence of the waters of the Deluge, it took its place in the 
 great hollows and valleys of our globe. Man has often made 
 the wilderness to blossom as the rose, but not one iota of change 
 has he wrought upon the investing desert of waters. 
 
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 endeavoured to find something suited for aU ; for the elder ones, whose maturer minds 
 require food of a more varied and elevated character ; and for the little ones, to whom 
 the fairy-tale will never lose its attractions. Stories for all such are within theso 
 pages ; are the flowers which compose my nosegay, and which have been selected 
 with thoughtful care, and bound together with a loving hand, as an offering to that 
 great and interesting portion of the public, its Juvenile Readers ; the children 
 now — the men and women of a few years hence. To them, therefore — the generous, 
 warm-hearted, pure-minded, and affectionate youthful generation, which has its ranks 
 filled up in never-ceasing succession — these volumes are inscribed. 
 
 Maet Howitt. 
 
 London: James Hogg & Sons, 9 St Bride's Avenue, Fleet Street, E.C. 
 
Uniform in Size, Small Crown 8vo, Cloth Extra, Price 38. 6d. 
 Illustrations on Tinted Paper, full size of page. 
 
 Tlid 
 
 Men who have Risen: a Book for Boys. 
 
 With Eight Illustrations. 
 
 COKTEKTS. 
 
 The Rise of the Peel Family. 
 The Beginning of the Rothsehiliis. 
 Stephenson the Railway Pioneer. 
 Davy the Chemist. 
 Oberlin the Pastor. 
 Franklin the Navigator. 
 Astor the MilUounaire. 
 
 Hutton the Bookseller. 
 
 Linn'Eus the Naturalist. 
 
 Smeaton the Engineer. 
 
 Wilson the Omithologiat. 
 
 Eldon the Judge. 
 
 W'ilhelm the Knife-Grinder. 
 
 The Story of Hugh Miller's Early Days. 
 
 Pictures of Heroes^ and Lessons from 
 
 their Lives. With Eight Illustrations. 
 
 CONTBSTS. 
 
 An Imperial Convert; or, the Youth and Man- 
 hood of Constantine. 
 
 The Moslem's Dream ; or, the Crescent on the 
 r.oire. 
 
 King Alfred ; or, a Thousand Years Ago. 
 
 Frederick Barbarossa, the " Redbeard " of the 
 Rhine, 
 
 Brother John of Vicenza, 
 Northern Lights. 
 The Snovp King. 
 
 Scenes in the Life of William the Silent. 
 The Polish Wizard. 
 
 Innsbruck and its Eclioes ; or, the Rescue, th« 
 Run, the Bribe, and the Ruin, 
 
 The Habits of Good Society: a Hand- 
 Booh of Etiquette for Ladies and Gentlemen. With Thoughts, Hints, 
 and Anecdotes concerning Social Observances, Nice Points of Taste 
 and Good Manners, and the Art of Making One's-self agreeable. The 
 whole Interspersed with Humorous Illustrations of Social Predica- 
 ments. Remarks on the History and Changes of Fashion, and the 
 Differences of English and Continental Etiquette. 
 
 PART I.— THE INDIVIDUAL. 
 
 Chjlp. I. — The Dressing-Rcom. 
 II.— The Lady's Toilet. 
 III.— Dress. 
 I'V . — Lady's Dress. 
 
 Chap. V. — Accomplishments. 
 
 VI. — Feminine Accomplishments. 
 VII.— Manners, Carriage, and Uabitt. 
 VIII.— The Carriage of a Lady. 
 
 PART II.— THE INDIVIDUAL IN INDIVIDUAL RELATIONS. 
 Chaf. IX.— In Public. | Chap. X.— In Private. 
 
 PART III.— THE INDIVIDUAL IN COMPANY. 
 
 Chap. XT. — Dinners, Diners, and Dinner- Parties. 
 XII. — Lailies at Dinner. 
 XIII. -Balls. 
 
 Chap. XIV.— Morning and Evening Fartiea. 
 XV. — Marriage. 
 XVI.— Presentation at Court. 
 
 A Handy Book of Medical Information 
 
 and Advice. Containing a Brief Account of the Nature and Treat- 
 ment of Common Diseases ; also, Hints to be followed in Emergencies; 
 with Suggestions as to the Management of the Sick-room, and the 
 Preservation of Health, and an Appendix, in which will be found a 
 List of the Medicines referred to in the Work, with their Proper Doses 
 and Modes of Administration. By a Physician. 
 
 *»* In addition to the simple every-d.ny knowledge, which is useful to all, and p.irticnlarly to the Head 
 ofa Household, this little. Volume is siiecially intended as a Safe and Ready Guide to those Resident in 
 Country Places, and generally under circumstances where Medical Advice is not instantly available. 
 
 London : James Hogg & Soks, 8, St. Bride's Avenue, Fleet Strest, E.C. 
 
Uniform in Size Small Crown 8vo, Clotli Extra, Price 3s. 6d. 
 Illustrations on Tinted Paper, full size of page. 
 
 Tlie 
 
 Women of Worth : a Book for Girls. 
 
 With Eight Illustrations. 
 
 The Worthy Daughter— Charlotte Bronte. 
 The Newgate Schoolmistress — Elizabeth Fry. 
 The Jail Missionary — Sarah Martin. 
 The Worker of Charity — Margaret Mercer. 
 The Teacher in the Wilds — Sarah Judson. 
 The Noble Matron — Lady Russell. 
 The True Wife— Lad-y Fanshawe. 
 The Pattern of Domestic Virtue — Lucy Hutchin- 
 son. 
 The Friend of Columbus — Isabel the Catholic. 
 The Queealy' Scholar — Lady Jane'Grey. 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 The 
 
 The 
 The 
 The 
 The 
 The 
 The 
 The 
 The 
 The 
 The 
 
 Star of Austria— Maria Theresa. 
 Pastor's Helpmate — Madeleine Oberlin. 
 Children's Favourite — Ann Barbaald. 
 Estimable Governess — Suzanne Curchod. 
 Patient Astronomer — Caroline Herscbel 
 Quiet Reformer — Hannah More. 
 Poet's Companion — Mrs. Wordsworth. 
 Sculptor's. A.ssistant — Ann Flaxman. 
 Earnest Christian — Lady Warwick. 
 Guardian Angel — Lady Mackintosh. 
 Old-Fashioned Dame — Lady Somerville. 
 
 The Book of Children s Hymns and 
 
 Mkymes. Collected by the Daughter of a Clergyman. 
 
 •«• This is a comprehensive collection of what may be called "Thb Children's Favooritrs." Th« 
 volume is profusely Illustrated by Wood Engravings, and printed in clear bold type. 
 
 Favourite Passages in Modern Christian 
 
 Biography. A Treasury of Biographical Facts, and a Collection of 
 some of the Finer Passages in Modern Christian Biography. With 3 
 Group of Seven Portraits. 
 
 Richard Cecil. 
 Andrew Fuller. 
 Adolphe Monod. 
 Frederick William Krum- 
 
 macher. 
 Robert Hall. 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 John Foster. 
 Thomas Arnold. 
 William Archer Butler. 
 Thomas Chalmers 
 Henry Martyn. 
 John Williams. 
 
 Robert Murray M'Cheyne. 
 John Mackintosh. 
 Henry Haveloclc. 
 Hedley Vicars. 
 James Wilson. 
 Patrick Eraser Tytler. 
 
 Frieftdly Hands and Kindly Words, 
 
 Stories Illustrative of the Law of Kindness, the Power of Persever- 
 ance, and the Advantages of Little Helps. With Eight Illustrations. 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 The Fortunes of the Skinner's Apprentice. 
 
 The Golden-winged Messenger. 
 
 The Flower Girl and the Divers. 
 
 Conneinara Joe. 
 
 The Sprig of Moss. 
 
 The " Good Seed ;" or, the Ups and Downs of the 
 
 JIariner's Life. 
 Watching for a Sunbeam. 
 The Hermit of Gaul. 
 In Prison with a Four footed Friend. 
 The Little Boy's Purchas«. 
 I'll Do it! 
 
 Love and Faith. 
 
 One Bright Beam on a Cheerless Path. 
 
 A Word from Bessy ; or, the Turning-Point o^ 
 
 a Life. 
 Save the Krring. 
 
 Little Davy and My Stolen Purse. 
 The Donkey of Many Masters. 
 Speak Gently. 
 Feathered Helps. 
 The Good Angels. 
 
 TVie Story of Mozart and his First Attempt, 
 nie Merchant of Cairo. 
 
 The Busy Hives Around Us : a Variety 
 
 of Trips and Visits to the Mine, the Workshop, and the Factory. 
 With Popular Notes on Materials, Processes, and Machines. With 
 Illustrations. 
 
 London: J^iiia Hooo & Sons, 9. St. Bride's Avenue, Fleet Street, KC. 
 
 A ^ 
 
EDITED AND WRITTEN BY MARY HOWITT. 
 
 In One Handsome Small Crown 8vo Volume, Full Gilt, Price 58., 
 
 A TEEASURT OP TALES FOB, YOUNG PEOPLE. 
 
 THE OLD FAVOURITES. 
 
 With Illustrations by ZWECKEE, Printed on Toned Paper. 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 RockboiuTie Hall, introducing the Young 
 Folks' Readings, and their Conversa- 
 sations about Old Favourite Tales. 
 
 Some Account of Robin, Dicky, Flapsy, 
 and Pecksy. 
 
 The New Robinson Crusoe. 
 
 The Inquisitive Girl. 
 
 The Trial of Careful v. Luckless. 
 
 The Trial of SaUy Delia. 
 
 Keeper's Travels in Search of his Master. 
 
 King Alfred. 
 
 A New Acquaintance. 
 
 The Little Heroine. 
 
 Sandy Wright and the Orphan. 
 
 Lady Grizel Baiilie. 
 
 Travels of Baron Munchausen, 
 
 Arabella Hardy. 
 
 The Conjugating Dutchman. 
 
 The Early Years of Henrj', Earl of More- 
 land. 
 
 King Lear. 
 
 The Comedy of Errors. 
 
 The SoUtary Family of Normandy. 
 
 The History of a Surprising Cure of the 
 Gout. 
 
 The Bank Note. 
 
 My Lord Snowdrop. 
 
 Simple Susan. 
 
 The Noble Acts and Heroic Deeds of Sir 
 Galahad. 
 
 Moral Conversations and Stories. 
 
 Beauty and the Beast 
 
 Uniform with the above. Small Crown 8vo, Full Gilt, Price 5s., 
 
 A TREASURY or TALES FOE, YOUI^G PEOPLE. 
 
 THE NEW FAVOURITES. 
 
 WITH ILLUSTRATIONS BY PALMER AND COLEMAN. 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 The Chimasra. 
 Red-Headed Andy. 
 A Rainy Day, and what came of it. 
 The Beautifid Gate. 
 Making Something. 
 The White Violet. 
 
 The Boat Club, or the Bunkers of Ripple- 
 ton. 
 
 The Lords of W5rven. 
 
 My Little Lizzie. 
 
 The Secret Society. 
 
 The Little Peacemaker. 
 
 Some Passages from the Life of Jonas on 
 
 a Farm. 
 The Story of the Grey African Parrot. 
 The Travelling Tinman. 
 
 Looking at my young audience with affectionate regard, and seeing amongst them 
 boys and girls, youths and maidens, of all classes, of all tastes and dispositions, I have 
 endeavoiu-ed to find something suited for all ; for the elder ones, whose maturer minds 
 require food of a more varied and elevated character ; and for the little ones, to whom 
 the fau-y-tale will never lose its attractions. Stories for all such are within these 
 pages ; are the flowers which compose my nosegay, and which have been selected 
 with thoughtful care, and boimd together with a loving hand, as an offering to that 
 great and interesting portion of the public, its Juvenile Readers ; the children 
 now — the men and women of a few j-ears hence. To tliem, therefore — the generous, 
 warm-hearted, pure-minded, and affectionate youthful generation, which has its ranks 
 filled up in never-ceasing succession — these volimies are inscribed. 
 
 Maey Howitt. 
 
 London : Jaitks Hogg & Sons, 9 St Bride's Avenue, Fleet Street, E.C. 
 
Crown 8i'o, doth, full gilt, price 65., 
 
 Studies of Christian Character. 
 
 By BiTHA Fox, Author of " Pictures of HeroeB," " The Yews," &o 
 With Illustrations by James Godwin, printed on toned paper. 
 
 CONTBNTS. 
 
 The Lamp in the Cell. 
 
 Signal Fires, 
 
 Watchers for the Dawn. 
 
 The Friendships of the Reformation. 
 
 The Artists of the Reformation. 
 
 The Cobbler Poet of Nuremberg. 
 " The Tenth Muse." 
 The Red Silk Banner. 
 The Fair Fietiet. 
 
 Crown 8vo, cloth, full gilt, price 5s., 
 
 The Brave Old English Confessors. 
 
 With Illustrations by L. Huaed, printed on toned paper. 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 John Wycliffe : his Life, his Work, and his Creed. 
 William Tyndale : with some Incidents in the 
 
 Lives of the Early Reformers. 
 Cranmer and his Times. 
 
 Nicholas Ridley, the Calm and Resolute Confessor. 
 The Life and Doings of Master Hugh Latimer. 
 Bunyan, the Dreamer in Bedford Jail. 
 
 Thomas Fllwood : the Autobiography of a Genial 
 
 hearted Scholar. 
 The Story of James Nayler. 
 Andrew Marvell, the Witty Patriot. 
 John Roberts : Rural Life two Centuries ago. 
 The Trials and Aspirations of Richard Baxter. 
 John Locke, the Advocate of Toleration. 
 
 Third Edition, Revised, 
 Two Volumes, Fcap. Svo, cloth, full gilt, price 5s. each, 
 
 Mornings with Mama; or^ Scripture 
 
 Dialogues for young Persons from Ten to Fifteen years of Age. By 
 Mrs. Gillespie Smyth, Author of " Selwyn," " The Life and Times 
 of Olympia Morata," " Probation," &c. 
 
 *«* Various eminent Clergjmen encouraged the preparation of these favourite Dialogues ; and the 
 late Dr. Chalmers (to whom, by permission, the volumes w«re originaZly dedicated) msAe T)si\y Use of 
 them in his own Family. 
 
 THE OLD TESTAMENT SERIES. 
 
 Vol. I. EAKLIER LIVES AND NAREATIVES. 
 „ II. LATER HISTORY AND BIOGRAPHY. 
 
 *»* Each Volume is illustrated by eight full-page highly-finished Engravings on Wood by Dalzibl, 
 (printed ou toned paper), chiefly from choice compositions of the Old Masters, including Rapbael, 
 PonssiN, Claude LoRRAtNE, Rubens, Salvatob Rosa, Vanloo, and Jouvenet. Also Specimens ol 
 •everal eminent Modern Masters, British and Foreign— Copley, Eexnolds, Woodpordb, Hamii>tok, 
 Stkabdbbr, and Scbnorr. 
 
 London : James Hogg & Sons, 9, St. Bride's Avenue, Fleet Street, E.O. 
 
Tn One Volume, price 6^., 
 
 The Book of Drawing-Room Plays and 
 
 Evening Amusements. A comprehensive Manual of In-door Eecrea- 
 tion, including all kinds of Acting Charades — Mute, Comic, Poetic, 
 Fairy, Dramatic, Historic, and Classic ; Proverbs, Burlesques, and 
 Extravaganzas ; comprising Novel and Original Ideas, numerous 
 Skeleton Plots and Dialogues ; Descriptions of Continental Court 
 Tableaux hitherto unnoticed in this Country ; Intellectual, Active, 
 Catch, and Trick Games ; Forfeits, Board Games, Puzzles, and 
 Parlour Magic. The whole interspersed with Practical Directions 
 concerning Costume, and Hints on Management and Accessories. 
 By Henry Dalton. With Scenic Illustrations by Cokbould and 
 Du Maurier, and upwards of One Hundred and Twenty Diagrams 
 on AVood. Accompanied by a copious Index. 
 
 In One thick Volume, with Twelve full page Illustrations 
 on toned paper, price 5s., 
 
 Every Boys Stories : a Choice Collectio?i 
 
 of Standard Tales, Bhymes, and Allegories. 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Complete Edition of Sandford and Merton. By 
 
 Thomas Day. 
 Lame Jervaa. By Maria Edokwobth. 
 Chtvy Chase. . 
 
 The Whistle: a True Story. By Franklin. 
 The Brahmin's Well. By Howison. 
 Tarlton and Loveit. By Maria F.doeworth. 
 
 The Vision of Mirza. By Adbisok. 
 
 The Journey of a Day. By Dr. Johnsoi*. 
 
 The Contented Man. By Washington Ir- 
 
 VINO. 
 
 The Handsome and Deformed Leg. By Fa an k- 
 
 MN. 
 
 Llewellyn and his Dog Gelert. &c. &c. 
 
 Crown 8yo, cloth, full gilt, price 5s., 
 
 Fit to he a Duchess ; with other Stories 
 
 of Courage and Principle. By Mrs. Gillespie Smyth, Author of 
 '■'Selwyn;" "Life and Times of Olympia Morata ;" "Probation;" 
 " Tales of the Moors," &c. With Illustrations by Corbould and 
 Absolon, printed on toned paper. 
 
 In small Crown Svo, cloth extra, price 3s. 6d., 
 
 Noble Traits of Kingly Men ; or^ Pic- 
 
 tures and Anecdotes of European History, with a Bird's-eye View 
 of the Grander Movements and their Leaders. With Eight Illustra- 
 tions by S. A. Groves. 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 European Life — The Original Elements of European Life — The Christian Element — The Crusades — Th« 
 Becret of Mahommedan Conquest — The Influence of the Crusades — Europe Ecclesiastical — The Church ol 
 Rome — Hildebrand— The Church of Rome in another aspect — Luther — Europe spreading Westward— 
 Oolumbus — The Pilgrim Fathers— The Modern Emigrant. 
 
 The Last Sigh of the Moor. 
 
 The Famous Order of the Knights Templars. 
 
 The Cou! cil of Constance. 
 
 I — ' — ■ 
 
 Loudon : Jambs Hogg & Sons, 9, St. Bride's Avenue, Fleet Street, E.C. 
 
In Crown 8vo, Cloth Gilt, price 5s., 
 With Illustrations on Toned Paper, 
 
 Men who were Earnest : the Sprt7igs 
 
 of their Action and Influence. A Series of Biographical Studies. 
 
 COKTENTS. 
 
 Dr. Arnold— The Earnest and Intrepid Teacher. 
 
 Dr. Chalmers — The Religious and Social Le>a.4«r. 
 
 Robert Hall — The Earnest and Eloquent Predcher. 
 
 John Foster, and Decision of Character. 
 
 Thomas Clarkson — The Champion of Megro Eman- 
 cipation . 
 
 Sir Thomas Fowell Buxton — An Example of Patient 
 Energy. 
 
 ■William Allen— The Philosophic Philanthropist. 
 
 Hilmar Ernst Rauschenbuseh— A Picture of Patri- 
 archal 8imphcity. 
 
 Albert Durer — The Artist of the Beformatioii. 
 
 Blaise Pascal— The Witty Casuist. 
 
 Fenelon — The Affectionate Bishop. 
 
 Neander — The Learned Theologian. 
 
 Perthes the Publisher, and Literary Germany. 
 
 Andrew Fuller — A Story of Religious Life Sixty 
 
 Years ago. 
 Dr. Andrew Thomson — The Advocate of Pure 
 
 Bible Circulation. 
 Bernard Gilpin — The Apostle of the North. 
 
 In Foolscap 8vo, Cloth Extra, Full Gilt, price 5s., 
 
 T'he Art of Doing our Best^ as seen in 
 
 the Lives and Stories of some Thorough Workers. Bj Halwin 
 Caldwell. With Eight Illustrations by John Absolon, H. K. 
 Browne, and the Brothers Dalzieh 
 
 C0KTENT8. 
 
 " Head and you will know ;" or, the Story of a Great 
 
 Linguist. 
 Ihfe Story of Bernard Palissy, the Potter. 
 >Iacaulay, the Historian. 
 "Labour overcomes Everything;" or, the Story of 
 
 William Gifford. 
 James Brindley, the Founder of Canal Navigation 
 
 in Britain. 
 William Tyndale, Translator of the Bible. 
 
 John Flaxman ; or, the Life of a Great Sculptor. 
 Francis Huber and his Wile ; or, the History of » 
 
 Blind Naturalist. 
 Inigo Jones — Great Ends from Small Beginning*. 
 Iz»ak Walfon, the Complete Angler. 
 Tliomais Holcroft ; or, the Ups and Downs of Life. 
 Htber, the Good Bishop. 
 The Invincibles of Common Life — Carey, Ledyard, 
 
 Count Rumford, and Drew. 
 
 Foolscap 8vo, price 7s. 6d., 
 
 ALM.^ MATRES. 
 
 WITH LETTERS TO THE FRESHMEN AND THE DONS OF OXFORD 
 By MEGATHYM SPLENE, B.A. Oson, Esq. 
 
 The book is one of the most practical we hare ever met with on Oxford life. — English 
 Cli urchman. 
 
 This is a ''aithful exposure of the evils that prevail in the English and foreign Universi- 
 ties, and especially at the University of Oxford. — British Banner. 
 
 His account of the ordinary life of a German Professor will be read with pleasure by 
 everybody (except, perhaps, by an Oxford Don); and it is certain that the book evinces 
 ^•eat literary talent. — lUustrated Times. 
 
 The work will, we feel assured, cause no inconsiderable excitement in many quarters, 
 and will be eagerly sought after, from the establishments attacked, and from the boldness 
 and severity of the onset. — Plymouth Herald. 
 
 We recommend the work as one that parents, undergraduates, dona, and even proctors, 
 may learn something from. — Bookseller. 
 
 Keener wit has never been brought to bear upon the whole subject of University li e 
 in England than in the work before us, which, in point of boldness and force, is really 
 a very remarkable one. — Scottish Press. 
 
 The singular contrast between the ways and the doings of the undergraduates of Ox- 
 ford and those of Bonn is amusing, and affords matter for thought on the different effects 
 produced hy different systems of education. — Gentleman's Magazine. 
 
 No parent or guardian who contemplates sending his son or ward to any of the Oxford 
 colleges, should neglect to peruse this volume ; and all persons interested in our edu- 
 cational system should study it attentively The book is well written, and the 
 
 advice and suggestions it contains are good, and we unhesitatingly recommend it.— 
 Mair's Ecclesiastical Register. 
 
 The author has hit many blots in university discipline. — 'ITie Beacon. 
 
 London: James Hogg & Sons, 9 St Bride's Avenue, Fleet Street, E,C. 
 
Uniform with the present Volume, price 3s. 6d. Where Illustrations 
 are specified, these are on Tinted Paper, full size of page. 
 
 Me?t who have Risen : a Book for Boys. 
 
 With Eight Illustrations. 
 
 The Rise of the Peel Family. 
 The Beginning of the RothschiMs. 
 .Stephenson the Railway Pioneer. 
 D.avy the Chemist. 
 Oberlin the Pastor. 
 Franklin the Navigator. 
 Astor the Millionnalre. 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Hutton the Bookseller. 
 
 Ijinnseus the Naturalist. 
 
 Smeaton the Engineer. 
 
 Wilson the Ornitliologist. 
 
 EKion the Judge. 
 
 Wilhelm the Knife-Grinder. 
 
 The Story of Hugh Miller's Early Days. 
 
 Pictures of Heroes^ and Lessons from 
 
 their Lives. With Eight Illustrations. 
 
 An Imperial Convert; or, the Touth and Man- 
 hood of Constantine. 
 
 The Moslem's Dream; or, the Crescent on the 
 Loire. 
 
 King Alfred ; or, a Thous.nnd Tears Ago. 
 
 Frederick Barbarossa, the " htdbeard " of the 
 Rhine. 
 
 CONTKNTS. 
 
 Brother John of Vicenra. 
 
 Norttiern Lights. 
 The Snow King. 
 
 Scenes in the Life of William the Silent. 
 The Polish Wizard. 
 
 Innsbruck anil its Echoes; or, the Rescae, the 
 Run, the Bribe, and the Ruin. 
 
 The Habits of Good Society: a Hand- 
 Book of Etiquette for Ladies and Gentlemen. With Thoughts, Hints, 
 and Anecdotes concerning SociMl Observances, Nice Points of Taste 
 and Good Manners, and the Art of Making One's-self agreeable. The 
 whole Interspersed with Humorous Illustrations of Social Predica- 
 ments, Eemarks on the History and Changes of Fashion, and the 
 Differences of English and Continental Etiquette. 
 
 PART I.— THE INDIVIDUAL. 
 
 CbAp. I. — The Dressing-Room. 
 II.— The Lady's Toilet. 
 III.— Dress. 
 IV. — Lady's Dress. 
 
 Chap. V. — Accomplishments. 
 
 "VI. — Feminine Accomplishments. 
 VII. — Manners. Carriage, and Habite. 
 VIII.— The Carriage of a Lady. 
 
 PART II.— THE INDIVIDUAL IN INDIVIDUAL RELATIONS. 
 Chap. IX.— In Public. | Chap. X.— In Private. 
 
 PART Ml.— THE INDIVIDUAL IN COMPANY. 
 
 Chap. XI. — Dinners, Diners, and Dinner- Parties. I Chap. XIV.— Morning and Evening Parti-M. 
 XII. — Ladies at Dinner. | XV. — Slarriage. 
 
 XIII.— Balls. • XVI.— Presentation at Court. 
 
 A Handy Book of Medical Information 
 
 and Advice. Containing a Brief Account of the Nature and Treat- 
 ment of Common Diseases ; also, Hints to be followed in Emergencies; 
 with Suggestions as to the Management of the Sick-room, and the 
 Preservation of Health, and an Appendix, in which will be found a 
 List of the Medicines referred to in the Work, with their Proper Doses 
 and Modes of Administration. By a Physician. 
 
 ,- In addition to the simple everyday knowledge, which is useful to all, and particularly to the Head 
 
 of a Household, this little Volume is specially intemled as a .Safe and Ready Guide to those Resident in 
 Country Places, and generally under circumstances where Medical Advice is not instantly available 
 
 London : James Hogg & Sons, 9, St. Brido's Avenue, Fleet Street, E.G. 
 
Uniform with the present Volume, price 3s. 6d. Where Illustrations 
 are specified, these are on Tinted Paper, full size of page. 
 
 Small Beginni?2gs : or^ the Way to Get 
 
 On. Witli Eight Illustrations. 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 John "Walter of the " Times" — the Sovereign of 
 " The Fourth Estate." 
 
 The Story of the first Indian Baronet — Sir Jam- 
 setjee Jejeebhoy the Parsee Merchant. 
 
 Minton and Wedgwood ; or, the History of a Tea- 
 cup ami two great Potters. 
 
 George Heriot the Shrewd Goldsmith. 
 
 Joseph Brotherton the Factory Boy. 
 
 Stephen Girard the Cabin Boy. 
 
 John Leyden the Shepherd Boy.' 
 
 Drake the Sea-King ; or, the Building of " Old 
 England's Wooden Walls." 
 
 Dupuytren the Resolute Surgeon. 
 
 I/affitte the Banker ; or, a Fortune in a Pin. 
 
 James Montgomery, Poet and Editor. 
 
 John Ray the Reverent Inquirer. 
 
 Breguet the Ingenious Watchmaker. 
 
 David Wilkie the Painter of Daily Life. 
 
 John Pounds and his Ragged Scholars ; or, the 
 
 Cobbler's Experiment. 
 William Knibb the Friend of the Slave. 
 George Birkbeck and the Origin of Mechanics' 
 
 Institutions. 
 Edward Baines the Successful Printer. 
 
 The Sea and her Famous Sailors. 
 
 A History of Maritime Adventure and Exploration, with Incidents 
 in the Lives of Distinguished Naval Heroes and Adventurers. With 
 Eight Illustrations. 
 
 *,• This Volume, whether viewed as a careful concise Ocean History, or as a compact series of Tales 
 and Adventures, possesses many attractive as well as useful featurds. It embraces the rise and fall of 
 Maritime Greatness in connexion with the annals of various nations — the enterprise and endurance 
 which won and maintained Naval Power — and the innumerable episodes of brilliant daring which mark 
 the career of our Early Adventurers. 
 
 The Pilgrim in the Holy Land ; or^ 
 
 Palestine^ Past and Present. By the Eev. Heney Osborn, A.M. 
 With Twelve Illustrations, representing various leading objects of 
 interest in the Holy Land, including several Views of the Holy 
 Sepulchre, drawn from Photographs, &c. &g. 
 
 Complete and Illustrated Edition of 
 
 The Pilgrim's Progress, By John Bunyan. 
 
 With Twelve Illustrations. 
 
 •,* It has been the aim of the Publishers, in producing a New Edition of this Standard Work, to 
 combine at once a plain readable text, and such artistic excellence as will present a popular Edition 
 with features hitherto obtainable only in Editions published at a much higher price. 
 
 Todd's Lectures to Children, 
 
 A Complete Edition of the First and Second Series, with a Memoir 
 of the Author, from Authentic Sources, and Twelve full-page Illus- 
 trations on Tinted Paper. 
 
 COMTENtS. 
 
 How do we know there is any God. 
 
 Repentance for Sin . 
 
 Angels' Joy when Sinners repent. 
 
 What Faith is and what its Use ia. 
 
 God will take care of us. 
 
 Jesus Chr'st tasting Death. 
 
 Christ interceding for us. 
 
 Giving Account to God. 
 
 Great Events hang on Little Things. 
 
 Fragments all to be saved. 
 
 The Sabbath to be kept Holy. 
 
 The Grave losing its Victory. 
 
 The Lowly Cradle. 
 
 The Lost Child. 
 
 The Child Found. 
 
 Gathered Lilies. 
 
 The Little Strip. 
 
 The Great King. 
 
 The Broken Stuff Mended. 
 
 The Flowers. 
 
 The Angel's Errand. 
 
 God Rejoicing. 
 
 The Oldest Riddle. 
 
 The Great Change. 
 
 London: James Hogg & Soks, 9, St. Bride's Avenue, Fleet Street, KO. 
 
Uniform with tlie present Volnme, price 3s. B(L Where Illustrations 
 are specified, these are on Tinted Paper, full size of page. 
 
 Women of Worth : a Book for Girls ^ 
 
 With Eight Illustrations. 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 The "Worthy Daughter— Charlotte Bronte. 
 The Newgjite Sclioolmistress-^Klizabeth Yvj, 
 The Jail Missienary — Sarah Martin. 
 The Worker of Charity — Margaret Mercer. 
 The Teacher in the WUds — Sarah Judson. 
 The Noble Matron — Lady Rus3ell. 
 The True "Wife— Lady Fanshawe. 
 The Pattern of Domestic Virtue — Lucy Hutchin- 
 son. 
 The Friend of Columbus— Isabel the Catholic. 
 The Queeoly Scholar — Lady Jane Grey. 
 
 The Star of Austria — Maria Theresa. 
 
 The Pastor's Helpmate — Madeleine Oberlin. 
 
 The Children's Favourite — Ann Barbauld. 
 
 The Kstimable Governess — Suzanne Curchod. 
 
 The Patient Astronomer — Caroline Herschel. 
 
 The Quiet- Reformer — Hannah More. 
 
 The Poet's Companion — Mrs. "Wordsworth. 
 
 The Sculptor's A.ssistant — Ann Flaxnian. 
 
 The Earnest Christian — Lady "Warwick. 
 
 The Guardian Angel — Lady Mackintosh. 
 
 The Old-Fashioned Dame-^Lady bomerville. 
 
 The Book of Children s Hym?io and 
 
 Bkymes. Collected by the Daughter of a Clergyman. 
 
 •,* This is a comprehensive collection of what may bo called " Thb Children's Favouritbs." The 
 Tolume is profusely Illustrated by "Wood Engravings, and printed in clear bold type 
 
 Favourite Passages in Modern Christian 
 
 Biography. A Treasury of Biographical Facts, and a Collection ot 
 some of the Finer Passages in Modern Christian Biogi-aphy. With a 
 Group ©f Seven Portraits. 
 
 Richard Cecil. 
 Andrew Fuller. 
 Adolphe Monod. 
 Frederick William Krum- 
 
 macher. 
 Robert Hall. 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 John Foster. 
 Thomas Arnold. 
 "William Archer Butler. 
 Thomas Chalmers. 
 Henry Martyn. 
 John "Williams. 
 
 Robert Murray M'Cheyne. 
 John Mackintosh. 
 Henry Havelock, 
 Hedley Vicars. 
 James "Wilson. 
 Patrick Fraser Tytler. 
 
 Friendly Hands and Kindly Words. 
 
 Stories Illustrative of the La"w of Kindness, the Po"wer of Persever- 
 ance, and the Advantages of Little Helps. With Eight Illustrations 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 The Fortunes of the Skinner's Apprentice. 
 
 The Golden- winged Messenger. 
 
 The Flower Girl and the Divers. 
 
 Connemara Joe. 
 
 The Sprig of Moss. 
 
 The " Good Peed ;" or, the "Ups and Downs of the 
 
 Mariner's Life. 
 Watching for a Sunbeam. 
 The Hermit of Gaul. 
 In Prison with a Four-footed Friend. 
 The Little Boy's Purchase. 
 I'll Do it! 
 
 LoTe and Faith. 
 
 One Bright Beam on a Cheerless P.nth. 
 
 A Word from Bessy ; or, the Turning-Point of 
 
 a Life. 
 Save the Erring. 
 
 Little Davy and My Stolen Purse. 
 The Donkey of Many Masters. 
 Speak Gently. 
 Feathered Helps. 
 The Good Angels. 
 
 The Story of Mozart and his First Attempt. 
 The Merchant of Cairo. 
 
 The Busy Hives Around Us : a Variety 
 
 of Trips and Visits to the Mine, the Worhshop, and the Factory.. 
 With Popular Notes on Materials, Processes, and Machines. Witb 
 Illustrations. 
 
 London : Jambs Hogg & Sons, 9, St. Bride's Avenue, Fleet Street, E.G. 
 
Uniform wltli tlie present Volume, price 3s. 6(1. Where rUnstratlonB 
 are specified, these are on Tinted Paper, full size of page. 
 
 The Angel of the Icebergs and other 
 
 Stories and Parahles. To which is added TRUTH MADE SIMPLE, 
 a System of Theology for Childrea. By the Rev. Johm Todd, D.D. 
 With Twelve Illustrations. 
 
 ANGEL OF THE ICEBERG. 
 
 Kiblan the Great and the Little Angel. 
 
 The Day Lily and the Old Mahogany-Tree. 
 
 The Old House in Sunken Hollow. 
 
 Little Mufta and the Valley of Sorrow. 
 
 The Island of Convicts and the Young Prince. 
 
 The Living Ship. 
 
 The Angel of Toil and the Great Mill. 
 
 The Great Cable. 
 
 Tailmor in the Wilderness. 
 
 Timothy Tattle and the Little Impi. 
 
 Oapeenim the Golden-hauded. 
 
 Little Sunbeam. 
 
 TRUTH MADE SIMPLE. 
 Address to Mothers. 
 Lecture I. — Is there any God ? 
 
 , , II . — God a Spirit. 
 
 „ III.— God Eternal. 
 
 ,, IV.— God is Everywhere. 
 
 „ v.— God Wise. 
 
 „ VI.— God Knows KverythinK* 
 
 ,, VII.— God's Power. 
 
 „ VIII.— Truth of God. 
 
 „ IX. — God does as He Fleaiet. 
 
 „ X.- God is Holy. 
 
 „ XI.— God is Good. 
 
 The Popular Preachers of the Ancient 
 
 With Four 
 
 Church: their Lives, their Manner, and their Work. 
 Illustrations. 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 The Christian Fhilanthropist — Cyprian of I The Fearless Bishop — Basil the Great. 
 
 Carthage. The Genial Theologian— Gregory Nazianzen. 
 
 The Faithful Minister — Ambrose of M'ilan. The " Golden-mouthed" Orator — Chrysoetom 
 
 The Homely Preacher — Augustine of Hippo, I of Byzautium, 
 
 The Vicar of Wakefield. 
 
 With the following Twelve Illustrations : — 
 
 Farmer Flamhorough and the Blind Piper, 
 The Vicar's Sly Accidt-nt. 
 The Squire begs to be favoured with a Song. 
 A Lord and a Squire for Two Shillings. 
 George Primrose on his Travels — " No song, 
 
 no supper." 
 The Vicar tries Horse-dealing. 
 
 Moses starts for the Fair. 
 Hunt the Slipper. 
 The Vicar as a Gaol Beformer, 
 Unexpected Visitors. 
 The Wanderer's Return. 
 The Vicar's Second Meeting with Ephraim 
 '" Jenkinson. 
 
 Roses and Thorns : or^ Five Tales of 
 
 the Start in Life. With Eight Illustrations. 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 " Blessed are the Pure in Heart." 
 I.— AKIN FOR EVER. 
 
 " Let Patience have its Perfect Work." 
 II.— RACHEL ASTOU'S ENGAGEMENT. 
 
 " Be of Good Cheer." 
 III.— TWO TIMES IN MY LIFE. 
 
 " Behold the Power of Love." 
 IV.— THE CHRISTMAS BRIDE. 
 
 " The Rolling Stone gathers no Moss." 
 v.— A STORY IN A SNUFF-BOX. 
 
 The Star of Hope and the Staff of Duty. 
 
 Tales of Womanly Trials and Victories. With Eight Illustrations. 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 My "IJarly Days ; a Tale in Seven Chapters. 
 Beatrice Ringtoa ; in Two Parts. 
 
 My First Situation : being the Fxigitive Bernini* 
 
 scences of a Retired Governess. 
 A Year of Married Life. 
 
 London : Jaujis Hoao & idons, 'i, St. Bride's Avenue, Fleet iStreet, £.0. 
 
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