Preface of Great Epics in American History, Volume 1. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Betty B. Great Epics in American History, Volume 1. Voyages of Discovery and Early Explorations, 1000 A.D. to 1682 by Francis Whiting Halsey. Preface. In these ten volumes, the aim has been to present striking accounts of ten great epics in the history of the United States, from the landing of Columbus to the building of the Panama Canal. In large part, events composing each epic are described by men who participated in them or were personal eyewitnesses of them. Columbus, for example, described his own first voyage. Washington, the defeat of Braddock. General Sam Houston, the battle of San Jacinto. General Robert E. Lee, the capture of John Brown at Harper's Ferry. Murat Halstead, the nomination of Lincoln. Jefferson Davis, the evacuation of Richmond and his own arrest in Georgia by federal troops. Mrs. James Chestnut, wife of the Confederate General. The firing on Fort Sumter. Edmund Clarence Stedman, the retreat from Bull Run. General James Longstreet, pickets charge at Gettysburg. General Sheridan, Sheridan's ride to Winchester. James G. Blaine, the funeral of Lincoln. Cyrus W. Field, the laying of the Atlantic Cable. Horace White, the great Chicago fire. William Jennings Bryan, the first Bryan campaign. Admiral Dewey, the battle of Manila Bay. And Admiral Peary, the finding of the North Pole. These accounts are often supplemented by passages from the writings of historians and biographers, including George Bancroft, Washington Irving, Francis Parkman, Richard Hildreth, William E. H. Leckey, James Shuler, and John Fisk. Or from those of statesmen, journalists, and publicists. Among them, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, Thomas H. Benton, Robert Toomes, Horace Greeley, Bull Run Russell, Carl Scherz, and Theodore Roosevelt. The tables of contents prefixed to the several volumes or the index appended to the last will show how wide is the range of topics. The events described have been of vital and often of transcendent importance to this country and Europe. The writers will be found interesting as authorities and are often supremely competent, alike as authorities and writers. The work is believed to present American history in a form that will appeal to readers for its authenticity and its novelty. Francis W. Halsey, End of Preface. Section 1 of Great Epics in American History, Volume 1. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Betty B. Great Epics in American History, Volume 1. Voyages of Discovery and Early Explorations, 1000 A.D. to 1682 by Francis W. Halsey. Section 1, Introduction. Voyages of Discovery and Early Explorations. Schoolboys have been taught from their earliest years that Columbus discovered America. Few events in prehistoric times seem more probable now than that Columbus was not the first to discover it. The importance of his achievement over that of others lay in his own faith in his success, in his definiteness of purpose, and in the fact that he awakened in Europe an interest in the discovery that led to further explorations, disclosing a new continent and ending in permanent settlements. The earliest voyages to America, made probably from Asia, led to settlements, but they remained unknown ever afterward to all save the settlers themselves, while those from Europe led to settlements that were either soon abandoned or otherwise came to naught. Wandering Tatar, Chinese, Japanese, Meile, or Polynesian sailors who drifted intentionally or accidentally to the Pacific Coast in some unrecorded and prehistoric past, and from whom the men we call our Aborigines probably are descended, sent back to Asia no tidings of what they had found. Their discovery, insofar as it concerned the people of the Old World, remained as if it had never been. The hardy northmen of the Viking Age, who, like John Smith, 600 years afterward, found in Vinland a pleasant land to sea, understood so little of the importance of what they found that by the next century their discovery had virtually been forgotten in all Scandinavia. It seems never to have become known anywhere else in Europe. Indeed, had the northmen made it known to other Europeans, it is quite unlikely that any active interest would have been taken in it. Europe in the year 1000 was self-centered. She had troubles enough to absorb all her energies. Ambition for the expansion of her territory, portrayed with peoples beyond the Great Waters, nowhere existed. Most European states were engaged in a grim struggle to hold what they had, to hold it from the aggressions of their neighbors, to hold it against the rising power of Islam. Columbus did not know he had discovered the continent we call America. He died in the belief that he had found unknown parts of Asia, that he had discovered a shorter and safer route for trade with the East, and that he had given new proof of the assertions made by astronomers that the Earth is round. The men who immediately followed him, Vespucius and the Cabots, believed only that they had confirmed and extended his discovery. Cabot first found the mainland of North America. Vespucius, the mainland of South America, but neither knew he had found a new continent. Each saw only coastlines, made landings, it is true, saw and conversed with natives, and Vespucius fought with natives, but at the existence of a new world, having continents comparable to Europe, Asia or Africa, with an ocean on both sides of them, neither ever so much as dreamed. Under the splendid inspiration of Prince Henry the Navigator, an inspiration that remained potent throughout Portugal, long after his death, Bartholomew Diaz, five years before Columbus, made his voyage to America, rounded the Cape of Good Hope, actually sailed into the Indian Ocean, and was pressing on toward India when his crew from exhaustion refused to go farther, and he was forced to return home. Vasco de Gama, 10 years later, 1497, following the route of Diaz, actually reached India and thus demonstrated that instead of going overland by caravan, India could be reached by sailing around two-thirds of Africa. Spanish and Portuguese navigators, Columbus, de Gama, Diaz, alike sought a new and shorter route for trade with the Far East, one more over that would not be molested by the advancing and aggressive Turks. Columbus believed, and so believed Spain and Portugal, that he had found a shorter route than the one Diaz and de Gama found. Disputes arose between the rival powers as to titles and benefits from the discoveries, and it was because of these that Pope Alexander VI issued his famous bull, dividing between the two all-lands discovered by the navigators, an act which in our time has become a curious anomaly. Since later proof of the existence of continents between the Atlantic and Pacific made the Pope's decree virtually a partitioning of all America between two favorite countries as sole beneficiaries. De Gama returned from India laden with Eastern treasure. Columbus returned from America poorer than when he sailed from the port of Palos. Columbus was believed to have found Asia, but he brought home after several voyages none of the wealth of Asia. Hence, those fierce storms that beat about his head, leading to his imprisonment and to his death in Valadolid, a broken-hearted man. The Spanish explorers who in the next century followed Columbus came to America in pursuit of silver and gold. Rich stores had already been found by their countrymen in Mexico and the Peruvian Andes. In meetings with Indians farther north wearing ornaments of gold, the new explorers became convinced that mineral wealth also existed in the lands now called the United States and especially in the fabled Seven Cities of Cebola in the Southwest. Out of this belief came the bold enterprises of Ponce de Leon, Devaca, Coronado, and De Soto. While out of the Spanish successes in finding gold in America came the first known voyage into New York Harbor, that of Verrazano, the Italian and French service who was seeking Spanish vessels returning richly laden. Of the French and English explorers of later years, Cartier, Champlain, Marquette, Hudson, Drake, who came to Cape Breton, the St. Lawrence, Hudson, and Mississippi Valleys, the California coast, the motives were different. These came to fish for cod to explore the country, to plant the banners of the Sun King and Queen Bess over new territories, to convert the Indians to find a Northwest Passage, that problem of the navigators which baffled them all until 1854, 362 years after the landing of Columbus, when an English ship under Sir Robert McClure sailed from Bering Sea to Davis Strait and thus proved that America, North and South, was an island. Spaniards, however, had dreamed of a Northwest Passage before any of these. When Magellan passed through the strait that bears his name and his ship completed the first circumnavigation of the globe, men began first to see that America was no part of Asia. In further proof, they sought to find a Passage into the Pacific from the North as a complement to Magellan's Passage from the South. Such an attempt was first made by the Spaniards under Vasquez de Alon, four years after the voyage of Magellan, that is in 1524. Alon was hoping to find this Passage when he put in at Hampton Roads, just as Hudson hoped to find it 85 years afterward when he entered the harbor of New York. Hudson, who in a later voyage, sought it once more in Hudson Bay and perished miserably there, set adrift in an open boat and abandoned by his own mutinous sailors. End of section one. Section two of Great Epics in American History, volume one. This is a LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org. Recording by Betty B. Great Epics in American History, volume one. Voyages of Discovery and Early Explorations, 1000 A.D. to 1682. By Francis Whiting Halsey. Section two. Discoveries Before Columbus. One, The Men From Asia and From Norway. By Justin Windsor. There is not a race of Eastern Asia, Siberian, Tatar, Chinese, Japanese, Melee with the Polynesians, which has not been claimed as discoverers, intending or accidental of American shores or as progenitors, more or less perfect or remote of American peoples. And there's no good reason why any one of them may not have done all that is claimed. The historical evidence, however, is not such as is based on documentary proofs of indisputable character. And the recitals advanced are often far from precise enough to be convincing in details if their general authenticity is allowed. Nevertheless, it is much more than barely probable that the ice of Bering Straits or the line of the Aleutian Islands was the pathway of successive immigrations on occasions perhaps far apart or maybe near together. And there's hardly a stronger demonstration of such a connection between the two continents than the physical resemblances of the peoples now living on the opposite sides of the Pacific Ocean in these upper latitudes with the similarity of the flora, which environs them on either shore. It is quite as conceivable that the great northern current setting east athwart the Pacific should from time to time have carried along disabled vessels and stranded them on the shores of California and farther north leading to the infusion of Asiatic blood among whatever there may have been antecedent or a talk than us in the coast peoples. It is certainly in this way possible that the Chinese or Japanese may have helped populate the Western slopes of the American continent. There is no improbability even of the maylays of southeastern Asia extending step by step to the Polynesian Islands and among them and beyond them till the shores of a new world finally received the impress of their footsteps and of their ethnic characteristics. We may very likely recognize not proofs but indications along the shores of South America that its original people constituted such a stock or were increased by it as respects the possible early connections of America on the side of Europe. There is an equally extensive array of claims and they have been set forth first and last with more persistency than effect. Leaving the old world by the northern passage Iceland lies at the threshold of America. It is nearer to Greenland than to Norway and Greenland is but one of the large islands into which the Arctic currents divide the North American continent. Hither to Iceland. If we identify the localities in Jeffrey of Monmouth King Arthur sailed as early as the beginning of the sixth century and overcame whatever inhabitants he may have found there. Here too an occasional wandering pirate or adventurous Dane had glimpsed the coast. Hither among others came the Irish and in the ninth century we find Irish monks and a small colony of their countrymen in possession. Hither the Gulf Stream carries the southern driftwood suggesting sunnier lands to whatever race had been allured or driven to its shelter. Here Columbus when as he tells us he visited the island in 1477 found no ice so that if we may place reliance on the appreciable change of climate by the precession of the equinoxes a thousand years ago and more when the Norwegians crossed from Scandinavia and found these Christian Irish there the island was not the forbidding spot that it seems with the lapse of centuries to be becoming. It was an AD 875 that engulf a Jarl of Norway came to Iceland with North settlers they built their habitation at first where a pleasant headland seemed attractive the present engulf show D and later founded Reykjavík where the signs directed them for certain carved posts which they had thrown overboard as they approached the island were found to have drifted to that spot. The Christian Irish preferred to leave their asylum rather than consort with the newcomers and so the island was left to be occupied by successive immigrations of the Norse which their king could not prevent. In the end and within half a century a hearty little Republic as for a while it was of near 70,000 inhabitants was established almost under the Arctic Circle. The very next year AD 876 after engulf had come to Iceland a sea rover Goonbjorn driven in a ship westerly sited a strange land and the report that he made was not forgotten. 50 years later more or less for we must treat the dates of the Icelandic sagas with some reservation we learned that a wind tossed vessel was thrown upon a coast far away which was called Iceland the Great. Then again we read of a young Norwegian Eric the Red not apparently averse to a brawl who killed his man in Norway and fled to Iceland where he kept his dubious character and again out raging the laws he was sent into temporary banishment this time in a ship which he fitted out for discovery and so he sailed away in the direction of Goonbjorn's land and found it. He wailed away three years on its coast and as soon as he was allowed entered back with the tidings while to propitiate intending settlers he said he had been to Greenland and so the land got a sunny name. The next year which seems to have been AD 985 he started on his return with 35 ships but only 14 of them reached the land whenever there was a habitable fjord a settlement grew up and the stream of immigrants was for a while constant and considerable. Just at the end of the century AD 999 Leif a son of Eric sailed back to Norway and found the country in the early fervor of a new religion. For King Olaf Trigvesen had embraced Christianity and was imposing it on his people. Leif accepted the new faith and a priest was assigned to him to take back to Greenland and thus Christianity was introduced into Arctic America so they began to build churches in Greenland the considerable ruins of which which stands to this day the winning of Iceland to the church was accomplished at the same time. In the next year after the second voyage of Eric the red one of the ships which were sailing from Iceland to the new settlement was driven far off her course according to the sagas and Bjarni her Jollison who commanded the vessel reported that he had come upon a land away to the southwest where the coast country was level and he added that when he turned north it took him nine days to reach Greenland. Fourteen years later than this voyage of Bjarni which was said to have been in AD 986 that is in the year 1000 or thereabouts Leif the same who had brought the Christian priest to Greenland taking with him 35 companions sailed from Greenland in quest of the land seen by Bjarni which Leif first found where a barren shore stretch back to ice-covered mountains and because of the stones there he called the region Heluland proceeding farther south he found a sandy shore with a level forest country back of it and because of the woods it was named Markland two days later they came upon another land and tasting the dew upon the grass they found it sweet farther south and westerly they went and going up a river came into an expanse of water where on the shores they built huts to lodge in for the winter and sent out exploring parties in one of these Turker a native of a part of Europe where grapes grew found vines hung with their fruit which induced Leif to call the country Vinland. Attempts have been made to identify these various regions by the inexact accounts of the direction of their sailing by the very general descriptions of the country by the number of days occupied and going from one point to another with the uncertainty if the ship sailed at night and by the length of the shortest day in Vinland the last a statement that might help us if it could be interpreted with a reasonable concurrence of opinion and if it were not confused with other inexplicable statements the next year Leif's brother Thorwald went to Vinland with a single ship and past three winters there making explorations meanwhile south and north. Thorfinn Carl Sefney arriving in Greenland in A.D. 1006 married a courageous widow named Gudrid who induced him to sail with the ships to Vinland and make there a permanent settlement taking with him livestock and other necessities for colonization. Their first winner in the place was a severe one but Gudrid gave birth to a son Snor from whom it is claimed Thorwaldson the Danish sculptor was descended the next season they removed to the spot where Leif had wintered and called the Bay Hop having spent a third winner in the country Carl Sefney with the part of the colony returned to Greenland the saga then goes on to say that trading voyages to the settlement which had been formed by Carl Sefney now became frequent and that the chief lading of the return voyages was timber which was much needed in Greenland a bishop of Greenland Eric Upsie is also said to have gone to Vinland in A.D. 1121 in 1347 the last ship of which we have any record in these sagas went to Vinland after timber after this all is oblivion there are in all these narratives many details beyond this outline and those who have sought to identify localities have made the most they could of the mention of a rock here or a bluff there of an island where they killed a bear of others where they found eggs of a headland where they buried a leader who had been killed of a cape shaped like a keel a broad-faced natives who offered furs for red cloths of beaches where they hauled up their ships and of tides that were strong but the more these details are scanned in the different sagas the more they confuse the investigator and the more successive relators try to enlighten us the more our doubts are strengthened till we end with a conviction that all attempts that consistent unravelment leave nothing but a vague sense of something somewhere done end of section two section three of great epics in American history volume one this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org great epics in American history volume one voyages of discovery and early explorations one thousand ad to sixteen eighty two by Francis Whiting Halsey section three discoveries before Columbus to how the Norwegians came to Vinland one thousand ad Laif invited his father Eric to become the leader of the expedition but Eric declined saying that he was then stricken in years and adding that he was less able to endure the exposure of sea life than he had been Laif replied that he would nevertheless be the one who would be most apt to bring good luck and Eric yielded to Laif's solicitation and rode from home when they were ready to sail they put the ship in order and when they were ready they sailed out to sea and found first that land which Bjarne and his shipmates found last they sailed up to the land and cast anchor and launched a boat and went ashore and saw no grass there great ice mountains lay inland back from the sea and it was as a table land of flat rock all the way from the sea to the ice mountains and the country seemed to them to be entirely devoid of good qualities then said Laif it has not come to pass with us in regard to this land as with Bjarne that we have not gone upon it to this country I will now give a name and call it Heluland they returned to the ship put out to sea and found a second land they sailed again to the land and came to anchor and launched the boat and went ashore this was a level wooded land and there were broad stretches of white sand where they went and the land was level by the sea then said Laif this land shall have a name after its nature and we will call it Markland they returned to the ship forthwith and sailed away upon the main with northeast winds and were out to doger before they sighted land they sailed toward this land and came to an island which lay to the northward off the land there they went ashore and looked about them the weather being fine and they observed that there was dew upon the grass and it so happened that they touched the dew with their hands and touched their hands to their mouths and it seemed to them that they had never before tasted anything so sweet as this a cargo sufficient for the ship was cut and when the spring came they made their ship ready and sailed away and from its products Laif gave the land a name and called it wine land they sailed out to sea and had fair winds until they sighted Greenland and the fells below the glaciers then one of the men spoke up and said why do you steer the ship so much into the wind Laif answers I have my mind upon my steering but on other matters as well do you not see anything out of the common they replied that they saw nothing strange I do not know says Laif whether it is a ship or a scary that I see now they saw it and said that it must be a scary but he was so much keener of sight than they that he was able to discern men upon the scary I think it best to attack says Laif so that we may draw near to them that we may be able to render them assistance if they should stand in need of it and if they should not be peaceable disposed we shall still have better command of the situation than they they approached the scary and lowering their sail cast anchor and launched a second small boat which they had brought with them Turker inquired who was the leader of the party he replied that his name was Thore and that he was a Norseman but what is thy name Laif gave his name art thou a son of Eric the red of Brata led says he Laif responded that he was it is now my wish says Laif to take you all into my ship and likewise so much of your possessions as the ship will hold this offer was accepted and with their ship thus laden they held away to Eric's first and sailed until they arrived at Brata lid having discharged the cargo Laif invited Thorey with his wife Goodrid and three others to make their home with him and procured quarters for the other members of the crew both for his own and Thorey's men Laif rescued fifteen persons from the scary he was afterward called Laif the Lucky Laif had now a goodly store both of property and honor there was serious illness that winter in Thorey's party and Thorey and a great number of his people died Eric the red also died that winter there was now much talk about Laif's wineland journey and his brother Thorvald held that the country had not been sufficiently explored thereupon Laif said to Thorvald if it be thy will brother thou mayest go to wineland with my ship but I wish the ship first to fetch the wood which Thorey had upon the scary and so it was done now Thorvald with the advice of his brother Laif prepared to make this voyage with thirty men they put their ship in order and sailed out to sea and there is no account of their voyage before their arrival at Laif's booths in wineland they laid up their ship there and remained there quietly during the winter supplying themselves with food by fishing in the spring however Thorvald said that they should put their ship in order and that a few men should take the afterboat and proceed along the western coast and explore the region thereabouts during the summer they found it a fair well-wooded country it was but a short distance from the woods to the sea and there were white sands as well as great numbers of islands and shallows they found neither dwelling of man nor lair of beast but in one of the westerly islands they found a wooden building for the shelter of grain they found no other trace of human handiwork and they turned back and arrived at Laif's booths in the autumn the following summer Thorvald set out toward the east with the ship and along the northern coast they were met by a high wind off a certain promontory and were driven ashore there and damaged the keel of their ship and were compelled to remain there for a long time and repair the injury to their vessel then said Thorvald to his companions I propose that we raise the keel upon this cape and call it keelness and so they did then they sailed away to the eastward off the land and into the mouth of the adjoining furth and to a headland which projected into the sea there and which was entirely covered with the woods they found an anchorage for the ship and put out the gangway to the land and Thorvald and all of his companions went ashore it is a fair region here said he and here I should like to make my home they then returned to the ship and discovered on the sands in beyond the headland three mounds they went up to these and saw that they were three skin canoes with three men under each they thereupon divided their party and succeeded in seizing all the men but one who escaped with his canoe they killed the eight men and then ascended the headland again and looked about them and discovered within the furth certain hillocks which they concluded must be habitations they were then so overpowered with sleep that they could not keep awake and all fell into a heavy slumber from which they were awakened by the sound of a cry uttered above them and the words of the cry were these Awake Thorvald thou and all thy company if thou wouldst save thy life and board thy ship with all thy men and sail with all speed from the land a countless number of skin canoes then advanced toward them from the inner part of the furth whereupon Thorvald exclaimed we must put out the war boards on both sides of the ship and defend ourselves to the best of our ability but offer little attack this they did and the screllings after they had shot at them for a time fled precipitately each as best he could Thorvald then inquired of his men whether any of them had been wounded and they informed him that no one of them had received a wound I have been wounded in my arm pit says he an arrow flew in between the gun well and the shield below my arm here is the shaft and it will bring me to my end I counsel you now to retrace your way with the utmost speed but me ye shall convey to that headland which seemed to me to offer so pleasant a dwelling place thus it may be fulfilled that the truth sprang to my lips when I expressed the wish to abide there for a time ye shall bury me there and place a cross at my head and another at my feet and call it crossness forever after at that time Christianity had obtained in Greenland Eric the Red died however before the introduction of Christianity Thorvald died and when they had carried out his injunctions they took their departure and rejoined their companions and they told each other of the experiences which had befallen them they remained there during the winter and gathered grapes and wood with which to freight the ship in the following spring they returned to Greenland and arrived with their ship in Eric's Firth where they were able to recount great tidings to Laith there was now much talk anew about a Weinland voyage for this was reckoned both a profitable and an honorable enterprise the same summer that Kosefny arrived from Weinland a ship from Norway arrived in Greenland this ship was commanded by two brothers Helgi and Finboggi who passed the winter in Greenland they were descended from an Icelandic family of the East Firths it is now to be added that Freides Eric's daughter set out from her home at Gardar and waited upon the brothers Helgi and Finboggi and invited them to sail with their vessel to Weinland and to share with her equally all of the good things which they might succeed in obtaining their to this they agreed and she departed thence to visit her brother Laith and ask him to give her the house which he had caused to be erected in Weinland but he made her the same answer as that which he had given Kosefny saying that he would lend the house but not give it it was stipulated between Kosefny and Freides that each should have on shipboard thirty able-bodied men besides the women but Freides immediately violated this compact by concealing five men more than this number and this the brothers did not discover before they arrived in Weinland they now put out to sea having agreed beforehand that they would sail in company if possible and although they were not far apart from each other the brothers arrived somewhat in advance and carried their belongings up to Laith's house end of section three recording by Linda Johnson section four of great epics in American history volume one this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org great epics in American history volume one voyages of discovery and early explorations one thousand A.D. to sixteen eighty-two by Francis Whiting palsy section four discoveries before Columbus three the first child of European race born in America about one thousand A.D. one summer a ship came from Norway to Greenland the skipper's name was Thorfinn Carlsefny and he was the son of Thord called Horsehead and a grandson of Snorri Thorfinn Carlsefny who was a very wealthy man passed the winter there in Greenland with Laith Ericsson he very soon set his heart on a maiden called Gudrid and sought her hand in marriage that same winter a new discussion arose concerning a wineland voyage the people urged Carlsefny to make the bold venture so he determined to undertake the voyage and gathered a company of sixty men and five women he entered into an agreement with his shipmates that they should each share equally in all the spoils they took with them all kinds of cattle as they intended to settle the country if they could Carlsefny asked Laith for his house in wineland Laith replied that he would lend it but not give it they sailed out to sea with the ship and arrived safe and sound at Laith's booths and carried their hammocks ashore there they were soon provided with an abundant supply of food for a whale of good size and quality was driven ashore and they secured it their cattle were turned out upon the land Carlsefny ordered trees to be felled for he needed timber wherewith to load his ships they gathered some of all the products of the land grapes all kinds of game fish and other good things in the summer after the first winter the screllings were discovered a great throng of men came forth from the woods the cattle were close by and the bull began to bellow and roar with a great noise at this the screllings were frightened and ran away with their packs wherein were gray furs sables and all kinds of skins they fled toward Carlsefny's dwelling and tried to get into the house but Carlsefny caused the doors to be defended neither people could understand the other's language the screllings put down their packs then opened them and offered their wares in exchange for weapons but Carlsefny forbade his men to sell their weapons he bade the women to carry out milk to the screllings as soon as these people had tasted the milk they wanted to buy it and nothing else now it is to be told that Carlsefny caused a strong wooden palisade to be constructed and set up around the house it was at this time that a baby boy was born to Gudrid and Carlsefny and he was called snory in the early part of the second winter the screllings came to them again in greater numbers than before and brought with them the same kind of wares to exchange then said Carlsefny to the women do ye carry out now the same thing which proved so profitable before and nothing else the screllings seemed contented at first but soon after while Gudrid was sitting in the doorway beside the cradle of her infant son snory she heard a great crash made by one of the screllings who had tried to seize a man's weapons one of Carlsefny's followers killed him for it now we must needs take counsel together said Carlsefny for I believe they will visit us a third time in greater numbers let us now adopt this plan when the tribe approaches from the forest ten of our number shall go out upon the cape in front of our houses and show themselves there while the remainder of our company shall go into the woods back of our houses and hue a clearing for our cattle then we will take our bowl and let him go in advance of us to meet the enemy the next time the screllings came they found Carlsefny's men ready and fled Helter Skelter into the woods Carlsefny and his party remained there throughout the winter but in the spring Carlsefny announced that he did not intend to remain there longer for he wished to return with his wife and son to Greenland they now made ready for the voyage and carried away with them much in vines and grapes and skins end of section four recording by Linda Johnson section five of Great Epics in American History volume one this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Great Epics in American History volume one Voyages of Discovery and Early Explorations 1000 A.D. to 1682 by Francis Whiting Halsey section five discoveries before Columbus four other pre-Columbian voyages by Henry Wheaton no subsequent traces of the Norman colony in America are to be found until the year 1059 when it is said that an Irish or Saxon priest named John or John who had preached for some time as a missionary in Iceland went to Vinland for the purpose of converting the colonists to Christianity where he was murdered by the heathens a bishop of Greenland named Eric afterward A.D. 1121 undertook the same voyage for the same purpose but with what success is uncertain the authenticity of the Icelandic accounts of the discovery and settlement of Vinland were recognized in Denmark shortly after this period by King Svend Æstridsen or Sveno II in a conversation which Adam of Bremen had with this monarch but no further mention is made of them in the national annals and it may appear doubtful what degree of credit is due to the relations of the Venetian navigators the two brothers Zany who are said to have sailed in the latter part of the 14th century in the service of a Norman prince of the Orcades to the coasts of New England, Carolina and even Mexico or at least to have collected authentic accounts of voyages as far west and south as these countries the land discovered and peopled by the Norwegians is called by Antonio Zany estoto land and he states among other particulars that the princes of the country still had in their possession Latin books which they did not understand and which were probably those left by the bishop Eric during his mission supposing these latter discoveries to be authentic they could hardly have escaped the attention of Columbus who had himself navigated in the Arctic seas but whose mind dwelt with such intense fondness upon his favorite idea of finding a passage to the East Indies across the western ocean that he might have neglected these indications of the existence of another continent in the direction pursued by the Venetian adventurers at all events there is not the slightest reason to believe that the illustrious Genoese was acquainted with the discovery of North America by the Normans five centuries before his time however well authenticated that fact now appears to be by the Icelandic records to which we have referred the colony established by them probably perished in the same manner with the ancient establishments in Greenland some faint traces of its existence may perhaps be found in the relations of the Jesuit missionaries respecting a native tribe in the district of Gaspé at the mouth of the St. Lawrence who are said to have attained a certain degree of civilization to have worshiped the sun and observed the position of the stars others revered the symbol of the cross before the arrival of the French missionaries which according to their tradition had been taught them by a venerable person who cured by this means a terrible epidemic which raged among them End of Section 5 Recording by Linda Johnson Section 6 of Great Epics in American History Volume 1 This is a LibriVox recording While LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Recording by Anita Sloma Martinez Great Epics in American History Volume 1 Voyages of Discovery and Early Explorations 1000 A.D. to 1682 by Francis Whiting Halsey Section 6 The Discovery by Columbus 1492 Part 1 as described by Washington Irving It was early in the morning of Friday the 3rd of August 1492 The Columbus set sail from the Bar of Saltis a small island formed by the rivers Odiel and Tinto in front of Paulus steering for the Canary Islands from whence he intended to strike due west as a guide by which to sail he had the conjectural map or chart sent him by Paolo Toscanelli of Florence In this it is supposed the coasts of Europe and Africa from the South Ireland to the end of Guinea were delineated as immediately opposite to the extremity of Asia while the great island of Sopango described by Marco Polo lay between them 1500 miles from the Asiatic coast at this island Columbus expected first to arrive On losing sight of this last trace of land the hearts of the crews failed them for they seemed to have taken leave of the world behind them was everything dear to the heart of man country, family, friends, life itself before them everything was chaos, mystery and peril In the perturbation of the moment they disparate of evermore seeing their homes many of the ragged seamen shed tears and some broken to loud lamentations Columbus tried in every way to soothe their distress describing the splendid countries to which he expected to conduct them promising them land riches and everything that could arouse their cupidity or inflame their imaginations nor were these promises made for purposes of deception for he certainly believed he should realize them all He now gave orders to the commanders of the other vessels in case they should be separated by any accident to continue directly westward but that after sailing 700 leagues they should lay by from midnight until daylight as at about that distance he confidently expected to find land foreseeing that the vague tears already awakened among the seamen would increase with the space which intervened between them and their homes he commenced a stratagem which he continued throughout the voyage this was to keep two reckonings one private in which the true way of the ship was noted and which he retained in secret for his own government the other public for general inspection in which a number of leagues was daily subtracted from the sailing of the ships so as to keep the crews in ignorance of the real distance they had advanced on the 13th of September in the evening Columbus for the first time noticed the variation of the needle a phenomenon which had never before been remarked he at first made no mention of it lest his people should be alarmed but it soon attracted the attention of the pilots and filled them with consternation it seemed as if the very laws of nature were changing as they advanced and that they were entering another world subject to unknown influences they apprehended that the compass was about to lose its mysterious virtues and without this guide what was to become of them in a vast and trackless ocean Columbus tasked his science and ingenuity for reasons with which to allay their terrors he told them that the direction of the needle was not to the Polar Star but to some fixed and invisible point the variation therefore was not caused by any fallacy in the compass but by the movement of the North Star itself which like the other heavenly bodies had its changes and revolutions and every day described a circle round the pole the high opinion they entertained of Columbus as a profound astronomer gave weight to his theory and their alarms subsided they had now arrived within the influence of the trade wind which following the sun blows steadily from east to west between the tropics and sweeps over fewer joining degrees of the ocean with this propitious breeze directly aft they were walked in gently but speedily over a tranquil sea so that for many days they did not shift to sail Columbus in his journal perpetually recurs to the bland and temperate serenity of the weather and compares the pure and bobby mornings to those of April in Andalusia observing that the song of the nightingale was alone wanting to complete the illusion they now began to see large patches of herbs and weeds all drifting from the west some were such as grow about rocks or in rivers and as green as it recently washed from the land on one of the patches was a live crab they saw also a white tropical bird of a kind which never sleeps upon the sea and tiny fish played about the ships Columbus now supposed himself arrived in the weedy sea described by Aristotle into which certain ships of Cadiz had been driven by an impetuous east wind as he advanced there were various other signs that gave great animation to the cruise many birds were seen flying from the west there was a cloudiness in the north such as often hangs over land and at sunset the imagination of the seaman aided by their desires would shape those clouds into distant islands everyone was eager to be the first to behold and announce the wished-for shore for the sovereigns had promised a pension of 30 crowns to whomever should first discover land Columbus sounded occasionally with a line of 200 fathoms but found no bottom Martin Alonzo Pinzon as well as others of his officers and many of the seaman were often solicitous for Columbus to alter his course and steer in the direction of these favorable signs but he persevered in steering to the westward trusting that by keeping in one steady direction he should reach the coast of India even if he should miss the intervening islands and might then seek them on his return the situation of Columbus was daily becoming more and more critical the impatience of the seaman arose to absolute mutiny they gathered together in the retired parts of the ships at first in little knots of two and three which gradually increased and became formidable joining in murmurs and menaces against the admiral they exclaimed against him as an ambitious desperado who in a mad fantasy had determined to do something extravagant to render himself notorious what obligation bound them to persist or when were the terms of their agreement to be considered as fulfilled they had already penetrated into seas untroversed by a sail and where man had never before adventured were they to sail on until they perished or until all return with their frail ships became impossible who would blame them should they consult their safety and return the admiral was a foreigner a man without friends or influence his scheme had been condemned by the learned as idle and visionary and discounted by people of all ranks there was therefore no party on his side a rather large number who would be gratified by his failure such are some of the reasonings by which these men prepared themselves for open rebellion some even proposed as an effectual mode of silencing all after complaints of the admiral that they should throw him into the sea and give out that he had fallen overboard while contemplating the stars and signs of the heavens with his astronomical instruments Columbus was not ignorant of these secret cabals but he kept a serene and steady countenance soothing some with gentle words stimulating the pride or the avarice of others and openly menacing the most refractory with punishment new hopes diverted them for a time on the 25th of September Martin Pinzon mounted on the stern of his vessel and shouted land, land, senor, I claim the reward there was indeed such an appearance of land in the southwest that Columbus threw himself upon his knees and returned thanks to God and all the crews joined enchanting Gloria in excelsis the ships alter their course and stood all night to the southwest but the morning light put an end to all their hopes as to a dream the fancied land proved to be nothing but an evening cloud and had vanished in the night he was now at open defiance with his crew and his situation would have been desperate but fortunately the manifestations of land on the following day were such as no longer to admit of doubt a green fish such as keeps about rocks swam by the ships and a branch of thorn with berries on it floated by they picked up also a reed, a small board and above all a staff artificially carved all gloom and murmuring was now at an end and throughout the day each one was on the watch for the long sought land they continued on their course until two in the morning when a gun from the pinto gave the joyful signal of land it was first discovered by a mariner named Rodriguez Mermejo resident of Treana, a suburb of Seville but native of Alcala de la Guadaira but the reward was afterward a judge to the admiral for having previously perceived the light the land was now clearly seen about two leagues distant whereupon they took in sail and laid two waiting impatiently for the dawn when the day dawned Columbus saw before him a level and beautiful island several leagues in extent of great freshness and burgure and covered with trees like continual orchard though everything appeared in the wild luxuriance of untamed nature yet the island was evidently populous for the inhabitants were seen issuing from the woods and running from all parts to the shore they were all perfectly naked and from their attitudes and gestures appeared lost in astonishment at the sight of the ships Columbus made signal to cast anchor and to man the boats he entered his own boat richly attired in scarlet and bearing the royal standard Martin Alonso Pinzon and Vicente Yanez the brother likewise put off in their boats each bearing the banner of the enterprise emblazoned with green cross having on each side the letters F and Y surmounted by crowns the Spanish initials of the Castilian monarchs Fernando and Isabel as they approached the shores they were delighted by the beauty and grandeur of the forests the variety of unknown fruits on the trees which overhung the shores the purity and suavity of the atmosphere and the crystal transparency of the seas which bathed these islands on landing Columbus threw himself upon his knees kissed the earth and returned thanks to God with tears of joy his example was followed by his companions whose breasts indeed were full to overflowing Columbus then rising drew his sword displayed the royal standard and took possession in the names of the Castilian sovereigns giving the island the name of San Salvador he then called upon all present to take the oath of obedience to him as Admiral and Bysworth and representative of the sovereigns his followers now burst forth into the most extravagant transports they thronged around him some embracing him others kissing his hands those who had been most mutinous and turbulent during the voyage were now most devoted and enthusiastic some becked favors of him as of a man who had already wealth and honors in his gift many abject spirits who had outraged him by their insolence now crouched at his feet begging his forgiveness and offering for the future the blindest obedience to his commands End of Section 6 Section 7 of Great Epochs in American History Volume 1 This is a LibriVox recording All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Recording by Michael Fasio Great Epochs in American History Volume 1 Voyages of Discovery and Early Explorations 1080-1682 by Francis Whiting Halsey Section 7 The Discovery by Columbus 1492 2 As described by Columbus himself As I know that it will afford you pleasure that I have brought my undertaking to a successful result I have determined to write you this letter to inform you of everything that has been done and discovered in this voyage of mine On the 33rd day after leaving Cadiz I came into the Indian Sea where I discovered many islands inhabited by numerous people I took possession of all of them for a most fortunate king by making public proclamation and unfurling his standard no one making any resistance To the first of them I have given the name of our blessed savior trusting in whose aid I had reached this and all the rest but the Indians call it Guanahani To each of the others also I gave a new name ordering one to be called Sancta Moria di Concepcion another Fernandina another Isabella another Joanna and so with all the rest As soon as we reached the island which I have just said was Jal Johanna I sailed along its coast some considerable distance toward the west and found it to be so large without any apparent end that I believed it was not an island but a continent a province of Cathay but I saw neither towns nor cities lying on the seaboard only some villages and country farms with whose inhabitants I could not get speech because they fled as soon as they beheld us I continued on supposing I should come to city or country houses at last finding that no further discoveries rewarded our progress and that this course was leading us toward the north which I was desirous of avoiding as it was now winter in these regions and it had always been my intention to proceed southward and the winds also were favourable to such desires I concluded not to attempt any other adventures so turning back I came again to a certain harbor which I had remarked from there I sent two of our men into the country to learn whether there was any king or cities in that land they journeyed for three days and found innumerable people and habitations but small and having no fixed government on which account they returned meanwhile I had learned from some Indians whom I had seized at this place that this country was really an island consequently I continued along toward the east as much as 322 miles always hugging the shore where was the very extremity of the island from there I saw another island to the eastwards distant 54 miles from this Johanna which I named Hispana and proceeded to it and directed my course for 564 miles east by north as it were just as I had done at Johanna the island called Johanna as well as the others in its neighbourhood is exceedingly fertile it has numerous harbours on all sides very safe and wide above comparison with any I have ever seen through it flow many very broad and health-giving rivers and there are in it numerous very lofty mountains all these islands are very beautiful and of quite different shapes easy to be traversed and full of the greatest variety of trees reaching to the stars I think these never lose their leaves as I saw them looking as green and lovely as they are want to be in the month of May in Spain some of them were in leaf and some in fruit each flourishing in the condition its nature required the nightingale was singing and various other little birds when I was rambling among them in the month of November there are also in the island called Johanna seven or eight kinds of palms which as readily surpass hours in height and beauty as do all the other trees, herbs and fruits there are also wonderful pine woods, fields and extensive meadows birds of various kinds and honey and all the different metals except iron in the island which I have said before was called Hispana there are very lofty and beautiful mountains green farms groves and fields most fertile both for cultivation and for pastureage and well adapted for constructing buildings the convenience of the harbors in this island and the excellence of the rivers in volume and solubility surpass human belief unless one should see them in it the trees, pasture lands and fruits differ much from those of Johanna besides the Hispana abounds in various kinds of spices gold and metals the inhabitants of both sexes of this and of all the other islands I have seen or of which I have any knowledge always go as naked as they came into the world except that some of the women cover parts of their bodies with leaves or branches or a veil of cotton which they prepare themselves for this purpose they are all, as I said before unprovided with any sort of iron and they are destitute of arms which are entirely unknown to them and for which they are not adapted not on account of any bodily deformity for they are well made but because they are timid and full of terror they carry however canes dried in the sun in place of weapons upon whose roots they fix a wooden shaft dried and sharpened to a point but they never dare to make use of these for it has often happened when I have sent two or three of my men to some of their villages to speak with the inhabitants that a crowd of Indians has sallied forth but when they saw our men approaching they speedily took to flight parents abandoning their children and children their parents this happened not because any loss or injury had been afflicted upon any of them on the contrary I gave whatever I had cloth and many other things to whomsoever I approached or with whom I could get speech without any return being made to me but they are by nature fearful and timid but when they see that they are safe and all fear is banished they are very guileless and honest and very liberal of all they have no one refuses the asker anything that he possesses on the contrary they themselves invite us to ask for it they manifest the greatest affection toward all of us exchanging valuable things for trifles intent with the very least thing or nothing at all but I forbade giving them a very trifling thing and of no value such as bits of plates dishes or glass also nails and straps although it seemed to them if they could get such that they had acquired the most beautiful jewels in the world for a chance that a sailor received for a single strap as much weight of gold as three gold solid I and so others for other things of less price especially for new blankets and for some gold coins for which they gave whatever the seller asked for instance an ounce and a half or two ounces of gold or 30 or 40 pounds of cotton which they were already familiar so too for pieces of hoops jugs jars and pots they bartered cotton and gold like beasts this I forbade because it was plainly unjust and I gave them many beautiful and pleasing things which I had brought with me for no return whatever in order to win their affection and that they might become Christians and inclined to love our king and queen and princes and all the people of Spain and that they might be eager to search for and gather and give to us what they abound in and we greatly need they do not practice idolatry on the contrary they believe that all strength all power in short all blessings are from heaven and that I have come down from there with these ships and sailors and in this spirit was I received everywhere after they have got over their fear they are neither lazy nor awkward but on the contrary are of an excellent and acute understanding those who have sailed these seas give excellent accounts of everything but they have never seen men wearing clothes or ships like ours as soon as I had come into the sea I took by force some Indians from the first island in order that they might learn from us and at the same time tell us what they knew about affairs in these regions this succeeded admirably for in a short time we understood them and they us both by gesture and signs and words and they were of great service to us they are coming now with me and have always believed that I have come from heaven not withstanding the long time they have been and still remain with us they were the first to told us this wherever we went one calling to another with a loud voice come come you will see men from heaven whereupon both women and men children and adults young and old laying aside the fear they had felt a little before flocked eagerly to see us a great crowd thronging about our steps some bringing food and others drink with greatest love and incredible goodwill I have told already how I sailed in a straight course along the island of Johanna from west to east 322 miles from this voyage and the extent of my journeys I can say that this Johanna is larger than England and Scotland together for beyond the aforesaid 322 miles in that portion which looks towards the west there are two more provinces which I did not visit one of them the Indians call Anan and its inhabitants are born with tails these provinces extend 180 miles as I learned from the Indians whom I am bringing with me and who are well acquainted with all these islands although these matters are very wonderful and unheard of they would have been much more so if the ships to a reasonable amount had been furnished to me but what has been accomplished is great and wonderful and not at all proportionate to my deserts but to the sacred Christian faith and to the piety and religion of our sovereigns for what the mind of man could not compass the spirit of God has granted to mortals for God is want to listen to his servants who love his precepts even in impossibilities as has happened to me in the present instance who have accomplished what human strength has hitherto never attained for if anyone has written or told anything about these islands all have done so either obscurely or by guesswork so that it has almost seemed to be fabulous therefore let king and queen and princes and their most fortunate realms and all other Christian provinces let us all return thanks to our lord and savior Jesus Christ who has bestowed so great a victory and reward upon us let there be processions and solemn sacrifices prepared let the churches be decked with festival bows let Christ rejoice upon earth as he rejoices in heaven as he foresees that so many souls of so many people heretofore lost are to be saved and let us be glad not only for the exultation of our faith but also for the increase of temporal prosperity in which not only Spain but all Christendom is about to share as these things have been accomplished so have they been briefly narrated farewell in the section 7 section 8 of Great Epics in American History volume 1 this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Great Epics in American History volume 1 Voyages of Discovery and Early Explorations 1000 A.D. 1682 by Francis Whiting Halsey section 8 The Bull of Pope Alexander VI partitioning America 1493 The copy of the Bull or donation by the authority whereof Pope Alexander the 6th of that name gave and granted to the kings of Castile and their successors the regions and lands found in the West Ocean Sea by the navigations of the Spanish Alexander Bishop the servant of the servants of God to our most dearly beloved son in Christ King Ferdinand and to our dearly beloved daughter in Christ Elizabeth Queen of Castile Leon Aragon Sicily and Granada most noble princes greeting and apostolic benediction among other works acceptable to the Divine Majesty and according to our hearts desire this certainly is the chief that the Catholic faith and Christian religion especially in this our time may in all places be exalted amplified and enlarged whereby the health of souls may be procured and the barbarous nations subdued and brought to the faith and therefore whereas by the favor of God's clemency although not without equal deserts we are called to this holy seat of Peter and understanding you to be true Catholic princes as we have ever known you and as your noble and worthy acts have declared in manner to the whole world in that with all your study diligence and industry you have spared no travels charges or perils adventuring even the shedding of your own blood with applying your whole minds and endeavors here on too as your noble expeditions achieved in recovering the kingdom of Granada from the tyranny of the Saracens in these our days do plainly declare your acts with so great glory of the Divine Name for the which as we think you worthy so ought we of our own free will favorably to grant you all things whereby you may daily with more fervent minds to the honor of God and enlarging the Christian Empire prosecute your devout and laudable purpose most acceptable to the immortal God we are credibly informed that whereas of late you were determined to seek and find certain islands and firm lands far remote and unknown and not here to for found by any other to the intent to bring the inhabitants of the same to honor our Redeemer and to profess the Catholic faith you have hitherto been much occupied in the expugnation and recovery of the kingdom of Granada by reason whereof you could not bring your said laudable purpose to the end desired nevertheless as it hath pleased Almighty God the aforesaid kingdom being recovered willing to accomplish your said desire you have not without great labor perils and charges appointed our well beloved son Christopher Columbus a man very well commended as most worthy and apt for so great a matter well furnished with men and ships and other necessaries to seek by the sea where hitherto no man hath sailed such firm lands and islands far remote and hitherto unknown who by God's help making diligent search in the ocean sea have found certain remote islands and firm lands which were not here to for found by any other in the which as is said many nations inhabit living peacefully and going naked not accustomed to eat flesh and as far as your messengers can conjecture the nations inhabiting the aforesaid lands and islands believe that there is one God creature in heaven and seem apt to be brought to the embracing of the Catholic faith and to be imbued with good manners by reason whereof we may hope that if they be well instructed they may easily be induced to receive the name of our savior Jesus Christ we are further advertised that the aforenamed Christopher hath now builded and erected a fortress with good ammunition in one of the aforesaid principal islands in the which he hath placed a garrison of certain of the Christian men that went thither with him as well to the intent to defend the same as also to search other islands and firm lands far remote and yet unknown we also understand that in these lands and islands lately found is great plenty of gold and spices with divers and many other precious things of sundry kinds and qualities therefore all things diligently considered especially the amplifying and enlarging of the Catholic faith as it behooveth Catholic princes following the examples of your noble progenitors of famous memory whereas you are determined by the favor of Almighty God to subdue and to bring to the Catholic faith the inhabitants of the aforesaid lands and islands we greatly commending this your godly and laudable purpose in our Lord and desirous to have the same brought to a due end and the name of our savior to be known in those parts do exhort you in our Lord and by the receiving of your holy baptism whereby you are bound to the apostolic obedience and earnestly require you by the bowels of mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that when you intend for the zeal of the Catholic faith to prosecute the said expedition to reduce the people of the aforesaid lands and islands to the Christian religion you shall spare no labors at any time or be deterred with any perils conceiving from hope and confidence that the omnipotent God will give good success to your godly attempts and that being authorized by the privilege of the apostolic grace you may the more freely and boldly take upon you the enterprise of so great a matter we of our own motion and not either at your request nor at the instant petition of any other person but of our own mere liberality and certain science and by the fullness of apostolic power do give grant and assigned to you your heirs and successors all the firm lands and islands found or to be found discovered or to be discovered toward the west and south drawing a line from the pole arctic to the pole Antarctic that is from the north to the south containing in this donation whatsoever firm lands or islands are found or to be found toward India or toward any other part whatsoever it be being distant from or without the aforesaid line drawn a hundred leagues toward the west and south from any of the islands which are commonly called Delos Azores and Cabo Verde all the islands therefore and firm lands found and to be found discovered and to be discovered from the said line toward the west and south such as have not actually been here to for possessed by any other Christian King or Prince until the day of the nativity of our Lord Jesus Christ last past from the which begineth this present year we by the authority of Almighty God granted unto us in Saint Peter and by the office which we bear on the earth in the stead of Jesus Christ do forever by the tenure of these presence give grant a sign unto you your heirs and successors the Kings of Castile and Leon all those lands and islands with their dominions, territories, cities castles, towers, places and villages with all the right and jurisdictions there unto pertaining constituting, assigning and deputing you your heirs and successors the Lords thereof with full and free power authority and jurisdiction decreeing nevertheless by this our donation grant and assignation that from no Christian Prince which actually hath possessed the aforesaid islands and firm lands unto the day of the nativity of our Lord before said their right obtained to be understood hereby to be taken away or that it ought to be taken away furthermore we command you in the virtue of holy obedience as you have promised and we doubt not you will do upon mere devotion and princely magnanimity to send to the said firm lands and islands honest, virtuous and learned men such as fear God and are able to instruct the inhabitants in the Catholic faith and good manners applying all their possible diligence in the premises we furthermore straightly inhibit all manner of persons of what state, degree order or condition so ever they be although of imperial and regal dignity under the pain of the sentence of excommunication which they shall incur if they do to the contrary that they in no case presume special license of you your heirs and successors to travel for merchandise or for any other cause to the said lands or islands found or to be found discovered or to be discovered toward the west and south drawing a line from the pole arctic to the pole Antarctic whether the firm lands and islands found and to be found be situated toward India or toward any other part being distant from the line drawn a hundred leagues toward the west from any of the islands commonly called Delos Azores and Cabo Verde not withstanding constitutions decrees and apostolic ordinances what so ever they are to the contrary in him from whom empires dominions and all good things do proceed trusting that Almighty God directing your enterprises if you follow your godly and laudable attempts your labors and travels herein shall in short time obtain a happy end with felicity and glory of all Christian people but for as much as it should be a thing of great difficulty these letters to be carried to all such places as should be expedient we will and of like motion and knowledge do decree that whether so ever the same shall be sent or where so ever they shall be received with the subscription of a common notary there on to required with the seal of any person constituted in ecclesiastical court or such as are authorized by the ecclesiastical court the same faith and credit to be given there on to in judgment or elsewhere as should be exhibited to these presence it shall therefore be lawful for no man to infringe or rashly to contradict this letter of our commendation exhortation request donation grant assignation constitution deputation decree commandment inhibition and determination and if any shall presume to attempt the same he ought to know that he shall thereby incur the indignation of Almighty God and his holy Apostles Peter and Paul given at Rome at St. Peter's in the year of the incarnation of our Lord one thousand four hundred ninety three the fourth day of the month of May the first year of our seat end of section eight recording by Linda Johnson section nine of great epics in American history volume one this is a LibriVox recording all LibriVox recordings are in the public domain for more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org great epics in American history volume one voyages of discovery and early explorations 1000 AD to 1682 by Francis Whiting Halsey section nine the discovery of the mainland by the Cabots 1497 one the account given by John A. Doyle as early as the reign of Edward III sailors from Genoa and other foreign ports had served in the English Navy the increasing confusions of Italy after the French invasion naturally tempted her seamen to transfer their skill to the rising powers of Western Europe among such immigrants was John Cabot a Venetian who settled in Bristol and then after a return to his own country again revisited his adopted city of his earlier history and personal character we know nothing our own records furnished nothing but the scanty outlines of his career and the one glimpse of light which is thrown upon the living man is due to a lately discovered letter from his countrymen the Venetian ambassador of his son Sebastian we know more he was born in Bristol returned with his parents to Venice when three years old and revisited England as a boy or very young man his features marked with the lines of thought and hardship still live on the canvas of Holbein and one at least of the naval chroniclers of the day writes of him in the language of warm personal affection in 1496 a patent was granted to John Cabot and his sons Louis, Sebastian and Sancius this patent is interesting as the earliest surviving document which connects England with the New World it gave the patentees full authority to sail with five ships under the royal ensign and to set up the royal banner on any newly found land as the vassals and lieutenants of the king they were bound on their return to sail to Bristol and to pay a royalty of one fifth upon all clear gain the direction of the voyage the cargo and size of the ships and the mode of dealing with the natives are all left to the discretion of the commander of the details of the voyage itself so full of interest for every Englishman we have but the scantiest knowledge in this respect the fame of Sebastian Cabot has fared far worse than that of the great discoverer with whom alone he may be compared we can trace Columbus through every stage of his enterprise we seem to stand by the side of the great admiral in his difficulties his fears his hopes his victory we can almost fancy that we are sharing in his triumph when at last he sails on that mission whose end he saw but in a glass darkly victorious over the intrigues of courtiers the avarice of princes and the blindness of mere worldly wisdom our hearts once more sink as the cowardice of his followers threatens to undo all and the prize that had seemed one is again in danger we feel all the intensity of suspense as night after night land is promised and the morning brings it not when at length the goal is reached we can almost trick ourselves with the belief that we have a part in that glory and are of that generation by whom and for whom that mighty work was wrought no such halo of romantic splendor surrounds the first voyage of Sebastian Cabot a meager extract from an old Bristol record in the year 1497 June 24 on St. John's Day was newfoundland found by Bristol men in a ship called the Matthew and a few dry statements such as might be found in the notebook of any intelligent sea captain these are all the traces of the first English voyage which reached the new world we read in an account probably published under the eye of Cabot himself that on June 24 at five o'clock in the morning he discovered that land which no man before that time had attempted and named it Prima Vista an adjacent island was called St. John in commemoration of the day a few statements about the habits of the natives and the character of the soil and the fisheries make up the whole story we may perhaps infer that Cabot meant this as a report on the fitness of the place for trade and fishing knowing that these were the points which would excite most interest in England one entry from the privy purse expenses of Henry VII ten pounds to him that found the new isle is the only other record that remains to us Columbus was received in solemn state by the sovereigns of Aragon and Castile and was welcomed by a crowd greater than the streets of Barcelona could hold Cabot was paid ten pounds the dramatic splendor of the one reception the prosaic mercantile character of the other represent the different tempers in which Spain and England approached the task of American discovery but though our own annals give a so scanty an account of the reception of the two cabots the want is to some extent supplied from a foreign source letters are extant from the Venetian ambassador in which he describes with just pride the enthusiasm with which his countrymen was received by the people when he walked along the streets the next year saw Cabot again sailing with a fresh patent several points in it are worthy of notice John Cabot is alone mentioned by name from this it might be and indeed has been inferred that the part played by Sebastian Cabot in the first voyage was merely secondary and that John was the principal conductor of the first voyage as he was by the patent designed to be of the second he is authorized in person or by deputy to take six English ships of not more than 200 tons burden each and to lead them to the land which he had lately discovered there is no limitation either of departure or return to Bristol and no mention is made of royalties probably the original provisions were still regarded as binding except so far as rescinded or modified by the second patent in 1498 Sebastian Cabot sailed from Bristol with one vessel manned and vitalled at the King's expense accompanied by three ships of London and probably some of Bristol itself his cargo consisted of gross and slight wares for trafficking with the natives so scantier the records of Cabot's two expeditions that although we know the geographical extent of his discoveries yet it is impossible to assign each voyage its proper share we know that in one or other of them he reached 67 and a half degrees of North latitude and persuaded himself that he had found the passage to cafe the fears however of his sailors justified perhaps by the dangers of the North Seas withheld him from following up the enterprise he then turned southward and coasted till he came into the latitude of 38 of the result of the second voyage and of Sebastian Cabot's reception in England we hear nothing he disappears for a while from English history carrying with him the unfulfilled hope of a North West passage destined to revive at a later day and then to give birth to some of the most daring exploits that have ever ennobled the names of Englishmen End of Section 9 Section 10 of Great Epochs in American History Volume 1 This is a LibriVox recording All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer please visit LibriVox.org Great Epochs in American History Volume 1 Voyages of Discovery and Early Explorations 1000 A.D. to 1682 by Francis Whiting Halsey Section 10 The Discovery of the Mainland by the Cabots 1497 2. Peter Martyr's Account These North Seas have been searched by one Sebastian Cabot, a Venetian born whom being yet but in manner an infant his parents carried with them into England having occasion to resort thither for trade of merchandise as is the manner of the Venetians to leave no part of the world unsearched to obtain riches He therefore furnished two ships in England at his own charges and first with three hundred men directed his course so far toward the North Pole that even in the month of July he found monstrous heaps of ice swimming on the sea and in manner continual daylight yet saw he the land in that tract free from ice which had been molten by heat of the sun Thus seeing such heaps of ice before him he was enforced to turn his sails and follow the west so coasting still by the shore that he was thereby brought so far into the south by reason of the land bending so much southward that it was there almost equal in latitude with the sea called Fretum Herculium having the North Pole elevate in manner in the same degree He sailed likewise in this tract so far toward the west that he had the land of Cuba on his left hand in manner in the same degree of longitude As he travelled by the coasts of this great land which he named Bacalaus he saith that he found the light course of the waters toward the west but the same to run more softly and gently than the swift waters which the Spaniards found in their navigation southward Wherefore it is not only more like to be true but ought also of necessity to be concluded that between both the lands hitherto unknown there should be certain great open places whereby the water should thus continually pass from the east into the west which waters I suppose to be driven about the globe of the earth by the incessant moving and impulsion of the heavens and not to be swallowed up and cast out again by the breathing of Demogorgon as some have imagined because they see the seas by increase and decrease to flow and reflow Sebastian Cabot himself named those lands Bacalaus because that in the seas thereabout he found so great multitudes of certain big fishes much like unto Tunnies which the inhabitants call Bacalaus that they sometimes stayed his ships he found also the people of those regions covered with beast skins yet not without the use of reason he saith also that there is great plenty of bears in those regions which used to eat fish for plunging themselves into the water where they perceive a multitude of these fishes to lie they fasten their claws in their scales and so draw them to land and eat them so that as he saith the bears being thus satisfied with fish are not noisome to men he declared further that in many places of these regions he saw great plenty of Latin among the inhabitants Cabot is my very friend whom I use familiarly and delight to have him sometimes keep me company in my own house for being called out of England by the commandment of the Catholic King of Castile after the deaths of Henry King of England the seventh of that name he was made one of our council and assistants as touching the affairs of the New Indies looking daily for ships to be furnished for him to discover this hid secret of nature this voyage is appointed to be begun in March in the year next following being in the year of Christ 1516 what shall succeed your holiness shall be advertised by my letters if God grant me life some of the Spaniards deny that Cabot was the first finder of the land of Baca Laos and affirm that he went not so far westward but it shall suffice to have said thus much of the gulfs and straits and of Sebastian Cabot End of Section 10 Section 11 of Great Epochs in American History Volume 1 This is a LibriVox recording All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain For more information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox.org Recording by Michael Fosio Great Epochs in American History Volume 1 Voyages of Discovery in Early Explorations 1080-1682 by Francis Whiting Halsey Section 11 The Voyages of America's Vespuchius 1497 Vespuchius' Own Account We left the port of Cadiz for consort ships and began our voyage in direct course to the fortunate Isles which are called today La Gran Canaria which are situated in the Ocean Sea at the extremity of the inhabited west and set in the third climate over which the North Pole has an elevation of 27.5 degrees beyond the horizon and they are 280 leagues distant from this city of Lisbon by the wind between the Metzodi and Lebecio where we rained eight days taking in provision of water and wood and other necessary things and from there, having said our pure prayers we weighed anchor and gave the sails to the wind beginning our course to westward taking one quarter by southwest and so we sailed on till at the end of 37 days we reached a land which we deemed to be a continent which is distant westwardly from the Isles of Canary about a thousand leagues beyond the inhabited region within the torrid zone for we found the North Pole at an elevation of 16 degrees above its horizon and it was westward according to the shooing of our instruments 75 degrees from the Isles of Canary where at we anchored with our ships a league and a half from land and we put out our boats freighted with men in arms we made toward the land and before we reached it had sight of a great number of people who were going along the shore by which we were much rejoiced and we observed that they were a naked race they shooed themselves to stand in fear of us I believe it was because they saw us clothed and of other appearance, then their own they all withdrew to a hill and for whichsoever signals we made to them of peace and of friendliness they would not come to parley with us so that as the night was now coming on and as the ships were anchored in a dangerous place being on a rough and shelterless coast we decided to remove from there the next day and to go in search of some harbor or bay where we might place our ships in safety and we sailed with a misterial wind thus running along the coast with the land ever in sight continually in our course observing people along the shore till after having navigated for two days we found a place sufficiently secure for the ships and anchored half a league from land on which we saw a very great number of people this same day we put to land with the boats and sprang on shore full forty men in good trim and still the land's people appeared shy of converse with us and we were unable to encourage them so much as to make them come to speak with us and this day we labored so greatly in giving them of our wares such as rattles and mirrors, beads, spa line and other trifles that some of them took confidence and came to discourse with us and after having made good friends with them the night coming on we took our leave of them and returned to the ships and the next day when the dawn appeared we saw that there were infinite numbers of people upon the beach and they had their women and children with them we went to shore and found that they were all laden with their worldly goods which are such like as, in its proper place, shall be related and before we reached the land many of them jumped into the sea and came swimming to receive us at a bow shot's length from the shore for they are very great swimmers with as much confidence as if they had for a long time been acquainted with us and we were pleased with this, their confidence for so much as we learned of their manner of life and customs it was that they go entirely naked as well the men as the women they are of medium stature, very well proportioned their flesh is of a color that verges into red like a lion's mane and I believe that if they went clothed they would be as white as we they have not any hair upon the body except the hair of the head, which is long and black and especially in the women whom it renders handsome in aspect they are not very good looking because they have broad faces so that they would seem tartar-like they let no hair grow on their eyebrows nor on their eyelids nor elsewhere except the hair of the head for they hold hairiness to be a filthy thing they are very light-footed and walking and running as well the men as the women so that a woman reeks nothing of running a league or two as many times we saw them do and herein they have a very great advantage over us Christians they swim with an expertness beyond all belief and the women better than the men for we have many times found and seen them swimming two leagues out at sea without anything to rest upon their arms are bows and arrows very well made save that the arrows are not tipped with iron or any other kind of hard metal and instead of iron they put animals or fishes teeth or a spike of tough wood with the point hardened by fire they are sure marksmen for they hit whatever they aim at and in some places the woman used these bows they have other weapons such as fire hardened spears and also clubs with knobs beautifully carved warfare is used among them which they carry on against people not of their own language very cruelly without granting life to anyone except to reserve him for greater suffering their dwellings are in common and their houses are made in the style of huts but strongly made and constructed with very large trees and covered over with palm leaves secure against storms and winds and in some places they are of so great breadth and length that in one single house we found there were six hundred souls and we saw a village of only thirteen houses where there were four thousand souls every eight or ten years they changed their habitations and when asked why they did so they said it was because of the soil which from its filthiness was already unhealthy and corrupted and that it bred aches in their bodies which seemed to us a good reason their riches consist of birds plumes in many colors or of rosaries which they make from fish bones or of white or green stones which they put in their cheeks and in their lips and ears and of many other things which we in no wise value they use no trade they neither buy nor sell in fine they live and are contented with that which nature gives them the wealth that we enjoy in this our Europe and elsewhere such as gold jewels pearls and other riches they hold as nothing and although they have them in their own lands they do not labor to obtain them nor do they value them they are liberal in giving for it is rarely they deny you anything and on the other hand liberal in asking when they show themselves to your friends we decided to leave that place and to go further on continuously coasting the shore upon which we made frequent descents and held converse with a great number of people and at the end of some days we went into a harbor where we underwent very great danger and it pleased the Holy Ghost to save us and it was in this wise we landed in a harbor where we found a village built like Venice upon the water there were about forty-four large dwellings in the form of huts erected upon very thick piles and they had their doors or entrances in the style of drawbridges and from each house one could pass through all by means of the drawbridges which stretched from house to house and when the people thereof had seen us they appeared to be afraid of us and immediately drew up all the bridges and while we were looking at this strange action we saw it coming across the sea about twenty-two canoes which are a kind of boats of theirs constructed from a single tree which came toward our boats as they had been surprised by our appearance in clothes and kept wide of us and thus remaining we made signals to them that they should approach us encouraging them with every token of friendliness and seeing that they did not come we went to them and they did not stay for us but made to the land and by signs told us to wait and that they should soon return and they went to a bill in the background and did not delay long when they returned they led with them sixteen of their girls and entered with these into their canoes and came to the boats and each boat they put four of the girls that we marveled at this behavior your magnificence can imagine how much and they placed themselves with their canoes among our boats coming to speak with us in so much that we deemed it a mark of friendliness and while thus engaged we beheld a great number of people advance swimming towards us across the sea who came from the houses and as they were drawing near to us without any apprehension just then there appeared at the doors of the houses certain old women uttering lary loud cries and tearing their hair to exhibit grief whereby they made us suspicious and we each betook ourselves to arms and instantly the girls whom we had in the boats threw themselves into the sea and the men of the canoes drew away from us and began with their bows to shoot arrows at us and those who were swimming each carried a lance held as covertly as they could beneath the water so that recognizing the treachery we engaged with them not merely to defend ourselves but to attack them vigorously and we overturned with our boats any of their al-Madi or canoes for so they call them we made a slaughter of them and they all flung themselves into the water to swim leaving their canoes abandoned with considerable loss on their side they went swimming away to the shore there died of them about fifteen or twenty and many were left wounded and of ours five were wounded and all by the grace of God escaped death we captured two of the girls and two men we proceeded to their houses and entered them and in them all we found nothing else than two old women and a sick man we took away from them many things but of small value and we would not burn their houses because it seemed to us as though that would be a burden upon our conscience and we returned to our boats with five prisoners and betook ourselves to the ships and put a pair of irons on the feet of each of the captors except the little girls and when the night came on the two girls and one of the men fled away in the most subtle manner possible and the next day we decided to quit that harbor and go further onwards we proceeded continuously skirting the coast until we had sight of another tribe distant perhaps some eighty leagues from the former tribe and we found them very different in speech and customs we resolved to cast anchor and went ashore with the boats and we saw on the beach a great number of people amounting probably to four thousand souls and when we had reached the shore they did not stay for us but betook themselves to flight through the forests abandoning their things we jumped on land and took a pathway that led to the forest and at the distance of a bow-shot we found their tents where they had made very large fires and two of them were cooking their victuals and roasting several animals and fish of many kinds where we saw that they were roasting a certain animal which seemed to be a serpent saved that it had no wings and was in its appearance so loathsome that we marveled much at its savageness thus went we on through their houses or rather tents and found many of those serpents alive and they were tied by the feet and had a cord around their snouts so that they could not open their mouths as is done in Europe with mastic dogs so that they may not bite they were of such savage aspects that none of us dared to take one away thinking they were poisonous they are of the bigness of a kid and in length an L and a half their feet are long and thick and armed with big claws they have a hard skin and are of various colors they have the muzzle and face of a serpent and from their snouts there rises a crest like a saw which extends along the middle of the back as far as the tip of the tail in fine we deemed them to be serpents and venomous and nevertheless those people ate them this land is very populous and full of inhabitants and of numberless rivers and animals few of which resemble ours accepting lions, panthers, stags, pigs, goats, and deer and even these have some dissimilarities of form they have no horses nor mules nor saving your reverence, asses, or dogs nor any kind of sheep or oxen but so numerous are the other animals which they have and all are savage and of none do they make use for their service that they could not be counted which shall we say of others such as birds which are so numerous and of so many kinds and of such various colored plumages that it is a marvel to behold them the soil is very pleasant and fruitful full of immense woods and forests and it is always green for the full age never drops off the fruits are so many that they are numberless and entirely different from ours this land is within the torrid zone close to or just under the parallel described by the tropic of cancer where the pole of the horizon has an elevation of 23 degrees at the extremity of the second climate many tribes came to see us and wondered at our faces and our whiteness and they asked us whence we came and we gave them to understand that we had come from heaven and that we were going to see the world and they believed it in this land we placed baptismal fonts and an infinite number of people were baptized and they called us in our language Karabi which means men of great wisdom End of section 11