;ar : J * jp " V f-' "4. UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA AT LOS ANGELES AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY: O R, AN HISTORICAL ACCOUNT OF THOSE PERSONS WHO HAVE BEEN DISTINGUISHED IN AMERICA, A S ADVENTURERS, STATESMEN, PHILOSOPHERS, DIVINES, WARRIORS, AUTHORS, AND OTHER REMARKABLE CHARACTERS. Comprehending a Recital of The EVENTS conneaed with their LIVES and ACTIONS. VOL. I. BY JEREMY BELKNAP, D. D. " Hie manus ob patriam pugnando vulnera pafli : Quique facerdotes cafti, cum vita manebat : Quique pii vates, et Phcebo digna locuti : Inventas autqui vitam excoluere per artes : Quique fui memores alios fecere merendo :" VIRGIL, JEn. vi. 660. PuMijsfjttJ accoraing to &rt of Congrefe, PRINTED at BOSTON, UY ISAIAH THOMAS AND EBENEZERT. ANDREWS. FAUST'S STATUE, No 45, NEWBUR.Y ST.REST. MDCCXCIV, ADVERTISEMENT, NO apology is neceflary for the appearance of this v/ork, if its utility be admitted. My firft intention was to place the names in alphabetical order ; but, on farther confideration, it was found to be impracticable, unlefs the whole work were before me at one view. A chronoW- o ical arrangement appeared, on the whole, equally proper, and more in my power. Should any deviation from the exaft order take place, it muft be afcribed to a deficiency of materials ; which however, it is hoped, will be fupplied, at fpme future time, BOSTON, JANUARY, 1794, * jsfc PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. On the Circumnavigation of AFRICA by the AN CIENTS; and its probable Confequence, the Popu lation of fome Part of AMERICA. 1 HE firft navigators, of whom we have any account, were the Phenicians, who were fcattcrcd along the coafts of the Mediterranean and of the Red Sea. As early as the days of Mofes, they had extended their navigation beyond the pillars of Hercules, on the weftern coalt of Africa, toward the fouth ; and as far northward as the ifland of Britain, whence they imported tin and lead,* which according to the univcrlal teftimony of the ancients, were not then found in any other country. From the accounts given in ancient hiftory of the expeditions of Sefoftris, King of Egypt, fome have been led to conclude, that he made a difcovery of a// the coaits of Africa.t However this might be, there is no doubt that he opened, or revived a com mercial intercourfe with India and Ethiopia, by way of the Red Sea. It hath alfo been thought, that the voyages of the Phenicians and Hebrews to Ophir, in the time of Solomon, were nothing more nor lefs than circumnavigations of Africa.;* But * See Numbers, chap, xxxi, ver. 22. t Forfter's Hiftory of Voyages and Difcoveries, page 7. Ibid. 6 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. But, leaving thefc, for the prcfent, in the region of conjecture ; the earlieft regular account which we have, of any voyage round the continent of Af rica, is that performed by order of Necho, King of Egypt, and recorded by Herodotus ; the moft an cient hi'lorian, except the facred writers, whofe works have come down to our time. His character as a hiftorian is, "candid in his acknowledgment of what is uncertain, and abfolute when he {peaks of what he knows. ' The date of Necho 's reign is fixed by Rollin 616 years before ChrHt. The date of Herodotus' hiftory is placed by Dufrefnoy in the third year of the 83d Olympiad, anfwcring to 446 years before Chriit, So that he mull have penned his narration of this voyage, in lefs than two centu ries after it was performed. I fhall give his account at large, in a literal tranfJation, from the Geneva edition of his work, in Greek and Latin, by Stepha- tmsi* In defcribing the icveral great divifions of the earth, he fpcaks thus ; u I wonder at thofe who have divided and diflin- guiihed Lybia 5 t Alia and Europe, between which there is not a little difference. If indeed Europe agrees with the others in length, yet in breadth it does not feem, to me, worthy to be compared. For, Lybia fhcws itfelf to be jurrcunded by the fea, ex cept where it joins to Afia. Necos, King of the Egyptians, being the firft of thcle, whom we know, to * Lib. iv, chap. 42. f Lybia is the name by which the whole ccntincnt of Africa Was called by the Greeks, PRELIMINARY DISSERTATIOM. 7 to demonftrate it. After he bad defifted from dig ging a ditch from the Nile to the Arabian gulf (in which work above twenty thoufand Egyptians pe- rifhed ; he betook himfelf to raifing armies and building mips, partly in the north fea* and partly in the Arabian gulf, at the Red Sea, of which they yet fliow fome remains, t) He fent certain Pheni- cians in fhips, commanding them, that having paff- ed the pillars of Hercules, they mould penetrate the north fea, and fo return to Egypt. The Phcni- cians therefore loofmg from the Red Sea, went away into the fouthern fea, and, directing their fhips to land, made a feed time, at the end of au tumn, that they might expeft a harveft, and might affiduoufly coaft Lybia. Then, having gathered the harveft, they failed. + Thus, two years being confumed ; in the third year, coming round the pillars of Hercules, they returned to Egypt ; re porting things which with me have no credit, but siay perhaps with others, that in failing round Lybia they had the Sun on the right hand. In this manner it was Hrft known. " In the fecorid place, the Carthaginians, have faid, that a certain Satafpcs, fon of Tcafpis * By the north fea is meant the Mediterranean, which lies north cf Egypt. f Lib. 11, chap. 48. J <; Into whatever part of Lyhia feamen camp, they \vaited for harveft, and when they had reaped, they loofed from th" fhore." (Note of Stephanus. i. e. They being in the fouthern hemifpheicancl f^'lir.tj north ward, faw the Sun rife on the right hand. A 4 ' 8 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. of Teafpis, a man of the Achamcnides did not fait round Lybia, when he was lent ; but being deter red by the length of the navigation and the fblitude of the country, returned home, having not fulfilled the labour which his mother enjoined him. For he had violated a virgin, daughter of Zopyrus, the fon of Megabyfus ; and for that caufe, being by Xerxes condemned to be crucified, his mother, who was fifler to Darius, liberated him ; becaufe, {he faid, me would impofe on him a punifhinent greater than the King's command. Wherefore it became neceflary for him to fail rouwd all Lybia, till he mould come to the Arabian gulf. Xerxes contenting to this, Satafpes went into Egypt, and, having there taken a fliip and companions, failed to the pillars of Hercules. Having pa fled them, and having doubled the promontory of Lybia call ed Syloes,* he kept a ibuthern courfe. Having traverfed much of the fea in many months, and find ing much more time neceflary, he turned about and came back to Egypt. Returning to Xerxes, he re ported, that in vifiting the remoteft coafts, he had feen fmall men, clothed in Phenician garments; who, at the approach of his fhip, fled to the moun tains and left their villages ; which he entered, and took nothing from them but cattle. He gave this reafon for not having failed round Lybia, that his fhip could fail no farther ; but was flopped. Xer xes did not believe him, and becaufe he had not performed * Now called Cape Bojador in the s6th degree of north lati tude . PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 9 performed his engagement, ordered him to under go his dellined punimment." To the authenticity of this circumnavigation of the African continent, the following objections have been made : Firft, it is fa id that " the veflels which the ancients employed, were fo fmall as not to afford (towage for proviijons, fufficient to fubfift a crew during a long voyage." Secondly, " their conftruclion was fuch that they could feldom venture to depart far from land, and their mode of fleering along the coaft was fo circuit ous and flow, that we may pronounce a voyage from the Mediterranean to India, by the Cape of Good Hope, to have been an undertaking beyond their power to accomplifh ; in fuch a manner as to render it in any degree fubfervient to commerce. To this decifion, the account preferved by Herodo tus of a voyage performed by fome Phenician fhips employed by the King of Egypt, can hardly be con- fidered as repugnant."* I have chofen to confider both thefe objections together, becaufe that each one helps to deftroy the * Robertfon's India, p. 175, American edition. The objections taken from this learned author were not made direftly againft the voyage mentioned by Herodotus ; but rather againft the poflibility of a paflage to India by way of the Atlantic Ocean, and round the African continent. However, as he bnngi this voyage into view in the fa"me argument, and fpeaks of it du- bioufiy, it is conceived that his fentiments are not mifreprefentcd in the above quotations. 10 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION'. the other. For if the vcffds were fo fmall, as not to contain provifions for a long voyage, this was one reafon for the navigators to ke p their courfe near the land ; that they might find water, fruits, game and cattle, on the more, as well as fifh, on the fhoals and rocks near the coaft, for their fubfiftance. And if it was tluir defign to keep near the land, for the fake of difcovery, fmall vcifcls were bed adapted to the purpofe ; becaufe they could pafs over ihoals, through fmall openings, between iflands and rocks, which are generally fituate near the coafls of great continents. Befides, if the vcffels w re fmall, they could carry but fmall crews, who would not iv quire very large quantities of provifion. But Herodotus has helped us to folve the diffi culty refpc6ling provih'onsj in a manner perfectly agreeable to the pra&ice of antiquity, though un known to modern navigators. They went on fliore and fowed corn, and when it was ripe gathered the harvelt. This enables us to account for two circum- ftances attending the voyage of Necho ; the length of time employed, and the fupply of provifion, at leafl of bread, confumed in it. Nor was the fowing and reaping any lofs of time ; for the monfoons in the Indian ocean would not permit them to proceed any fader. A (hip failing from the Red Sea with the N. E. monfoon, in the fummer or autumn, would meet with the S. W. monfoon, in the beginning of December, which mult have detained her in fomc of the harbours, on the PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. ii the eaftern coaft of Africa, till the next April. During this time, in that warm climate, corn might be fown and reaped ; and any other articles, either of provifion or merchandifc, might be taken on board. Then the N. E. monfoon would carry her to the fouthern parts of Africa, into the region of variable winds. This regular courfe and chang ing of the monfoons was familiarly known to the: navigators of Solomon's mips, and was the caufe of their fpending three years, in the voyage to and from Ophir. li In going and returning, they changed the monfoon fix times, which made thirty fix months. They needed no longer time to complete the voy age, and they could not perform it in lcfs."t It is not pleaded, that the voyage of Necho was undertaken for the fake of commerce ; or, if the authenticity of it were eftablifhe'd, that it would prove the practicability of a voyage from the Medi terranean to India } round the Cape of Good Hope, by the vefTels then in ufe, and the nautical (kill then acquired. The voyage of which Herodotus fpeaks might have been a voyage of difcovery; fuch an one as was perfectly agreeable to the genius of the people by whom it was performed, and of the prince, by whofe order and at whofe expenfe it was undertaken. 4i The progrefs of the Phenicians and Carthaginians, in their knowledge of the globe, was not owing entirely to the defire of extending their trade from one country to another. Com merce was followed by its ufual effects, among both thofe t Brucc's travels B. ii, chap. 4. ifc PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. thofe people. It awakened curiofity, enlarged the ideas and defires of men, and incited them tp bold enterprifes. Voyages were undertaken, the fole obje6l of which was to "difcover new countries and to explore unknown feas"* The knowledge acquired in thefe voyages of difcovery might afterwards be fubfervient to commerce ; and though the Pheni- cians might not think it convenient, to circumnavi gate Africa, more than once, yet that they carried on a commercial intercourfe with different parts of that country, and particularly with places fituate on the eaftern coaft, in the Indian ocean, we have evi dence from the facred writings. In the reign of Solomon "the king's mips with the fervants of Hiram and the navy of Tharfhifh every three years brought ivory,t apes and peacocks, befides filver and the gold of Op/rir," which is with great reafon fuppofed to be the" country now called Sofala on the eaftern coaft of Africa, in the fouthern hcmif- phere ; as the learned Bruce, in his late book of travels, has fatisfaclorily proved. The prophet Ezekiel, who was contemporary with Necho, King of Egypt, in the account which he gives of the merchandife of Tyre, enumerates fev- cral commodities, which it is well known belong to Africa, " horns of ivory and ebony, and the pcrfons of men."* We may form fome idea of the ftrength and materials of the mips of the Tynans, and of their * Robcrtfon's AmericaVoI. I, p. 11, ^th edit. t 2 Chron. viii. 18, ix. 21. f Ezekiel, chap, xxvii, ver. 13, 15. PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 13 their {kill in navigation,fromthe following paflagesin his apoftrophe to Tyrus. " They have made all thy fhip-boards of fir trees of Seriir ; they have taken cedars of Lebanon to make mafts for thee ; of the oaks of Bafhan have they made thine oars. Thy wife men, O Tyrus, were thy pilots, The ancients of Gebal, the wife men thereof were thy calkers. The (hips of Tharfhifh did fing of thee ; thou waft replcnifhed and made very glorious in the midft of the feas ; thy rowers have brought thee into great waters." Though we have no particular def- cription of the fize or model of their mips ; yet they certainly had mafts, fails and oars ; their pilots and calkers were wife menj and they were not afraid to fail in great waters, by which is proba bly meant the Ocean, in diftinclion from the Medi terranean. Of the form and ftrutture of the Grecian vefiels we have a more particular knowledge. " They were of inconfiderable burden, and moftly without decks. They had only one maft, and were firang- ers to the ufe of anchors."* But then it muft be remembered, that " the Phenicians, who inftrufted the Greeks in other ufeful arts, did not communi cate to them that extenfive knowledge of naviga tion, which they themfelves poffeffed."t We may hence conclude that the mips of the Phenicians were fuperior to the Grecian vefTels ; and we have no evidence from the ftru&ure of their veflels or their mode of failing, to warrant a doubt of the abil ity 1 Robertfon's America Vol, I, p. 1$, t Ibid. p. 14. 14 PRELIMINARY DISSMRTATIOW, ity of their fhips or Teamen, to perform a voyage round the continent of Africa in three years. To an European theorid fuch a voyage may feem iefs practicable than to an American. The Euro peans have ufually employed none but fhips of great burden, in their trade to India and China; but n'nre the Americans have vifited thofe countries, (loops of fifty or fi.xty tons have failed round the Cape of Good Hope to China, and round Cape Horn to the northweft coait of America, and acrofs the north Pacific Ocean. If any doubt can yet re main, it may be entirely removed by the recollection of a voyage performed in the year 1789, by Lieu tenant Bligh of the Britifh navy; who, being turned adrift by his mutinous crew, traverfcd the foiith Pacific Ocean, above twelve hundred leagues, in a boat of twenty three feet long, with out a deck, in much Itormy weather, with fcanty provifions ; and having paded many dangerous rocks and fhoals, among unknown iflands, arrived in forty one days at a Dutch feulement in Timor, one of the Moluccas.* The obje6hions then agairiit ihe reality of Necho's voyage, from the fi/.e and ihuciure of the Phenician veflcls, and the want ci provifion, are not fo formidable on examination, ?. : fit the firil appearance. t A third * See the printed narrative by Lieut. Bi "T Since this cliffcrtation was fent Lo the prefs I have met with the fullowintf account of an adventure which adds to the credibil My ot'th-.- circu^Hnavigatiop of Afii-.ain fmull embarkations'. PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 15 A third objection againlt the credibility of this early circumnavigation is, that feveral writers of the greateft eminence among the ancients, and mod dillinguilhed for their knowledge of geogra phy, regarded this account rather as an amufing tale, than the hiftory of a real tranfaclion ; and, either entertained doubts concerning the poffibility of failing round Africa, or abfolutely denied it."* That In 1534 when the Portuguefe had eflablifhed a government in India ; Badur King of Kambaya being at war with the great Mogul fought afliftance from the Portuguefe and offered them the liberty of building a fort at Diu. As foon as this liberty was granted and the plan of the fort was drawn, James Botello a per- fon fkilful in the affairs of India, having been in difgrace with John King of Portugal, and being anxious to recover the favour of that Prince refolved to carry the firft news of it to him. Hav ing obtained a copy of the plan he fet out from India in a bark of Jixteenfict and a half long, nin: broad and four and a half deep ; with three Portugueib, two others, and his own flaves. He pretended that he was going to Kambaya, but when he was out at fea, made known his defign to go to Lifton ; at which they were all aitonifhed. Being overcome by fair words they proceeded on their way, till finding themfelves reduced to ditrrefs, the flaves agreed to kill Botello ; but after killing a fervant they were put to death themfelves. With the four who remained, Botello held n hiscourfe, doubled the fouthern cape of Africa and at length arrived at Lifbon ; where the bark was immediately burnt ; that no man might fee it was poiTible to perform that voyage in fo fmall a veficl. The King was greatly pleafed with the news, and reliored Botello to his favour, without any other reward for fo daring an adventure. See a collection of Voyages and Travels, in quarto, printed *t I endon, 1745, by Thomas Aflley. Vol. i. p. 82, i* Robcrtfon's India, p. 175. 16 PRELIMINARY DISSKRTATIO.V. That the Roman geographers and hiftorians did doubt and difbelieve the (lory is very evident ; and the caufes are not far to be fought. The firft was the jealoufy of the Phenicians. u Whatever acquaintance with the remote regions of the earth the Phenicians or Carthaginians acquir ed, was concealed from the reft of mankind with a mercantile jealoufy. Every thing relative to the . ourfe of navigation was a fccret of ftate, as well as a my fiery of trade* Extraordinary facts are recorded concerning their folicitude to prevent other nations from penetrating into what they wifh- ed mould remain undivulged."* One of thefe extraordinary facls is thus related by Strabo. The Romans, being defirous to difcover the places, whence the Carthaginians fetched tin and amber, " fent a veflel, with orders to fail in the wake of a Phcnician veflel. This being obfcrvcd by the' Carthaginian, he purpofely ran his veflel among rocks and fand banks ; fo that it was loft, together with that of the inquifitive Roman. The patriotic commander of the former was indemnified for hi- lofs by his country. v t A fecond rcafon was the pride of the Romans. If, as Pope tells Us, "With honed fcorn. the firft fam'd Cato vir-w'd Rome, learning arts from G recce whom fhe fubdu'd ;'' the fame pride would make their wife men fcorn to lean 1 , geography or navigation, theoretically, from thole who were belt able to teach them. It is ac knowledged * Robcrtfon's America, vol. i. p. 13.' + ForRerN Hiftorv o{ Voyage* and Difcoveriet, chap. i. PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 17 knowledged that the Romans did not imbibe that commercial fpirit and ardor for difcovery which diftinguifhed their rivals."* It muft alfo be obferv- ed, that there was but little intercourfe between them ; and that the Carthaginians were deficient in thofe fciences for which the Romans were famous* Among the Phenicians and Carthaginians, the ftudy and knowledge of their youth were confined to writ ing, arithmetic, and mercantile accounts; whilft polite literature, hiftory and philofophy were in little repute; and by a law of Carthage, the ftudy of the Greek language was prohibited ; left any communication mould be carried on with their e- ncmies.t A third reafon was the opinion which the wifeft men among the Romans had formed, and to which they obilinately adhered, concerning the five- zones, and the impoffibility of pairing from one hemifphere to the other, becaufe of the torrid zone lying between. This doclrine of the zones is fo fully reprefented by Dr. Robertfon,J that I need only refer the reader to what he has written on the iubjccl. But notwithftanding the doubts and the infideli ty of the Roman philofophers, and the great def erence paid to them by this learned and cautious inquirer; there is one circumftance which almoft ^ convinced him of the reality of Necho's voyage, as w Robertfon's America, vol. i, p. 14. + Rollin's Ancient Hiflory, book ii, part i, fefh 7. J Robertfon's America, vol. i, note 8. B i8 PRELIMINARY as related by Herodotus. It is this, that the Phc nicians, in failing round Africa, " had the Sun on their right hand;" which Herodotus, with his ufual modefty and candor fays, " with me has no credit, though it may with others." On this the Dofctor, judicioufiy remarks, " The fcicncc of ailronomy was in that early period fo imperfect, that it was by experience only, that the Phenicians could conic at the knowledge of this facl ; they durft not, without this, havj; ventured to aflert what would have appeared to be an improbable fiction."* In deed if they had not known it by experience, there is not the leait conceivable reaibn for their invent ing fuch a report ; nor even for the entrance of fuch an idea into their imagination. The model! doubt of Herodotus is another argument in favour of the truth and genuincnefs of it ; for as he had no experience to guide him, and the idea was new, it was very proper for him to hefitau- in admitting it, though he mowed his impartiality by inicrting it in his relation. So much for the voyage performed by the Pbt--- nicians under the orders of Necho, which is the firft proof produced by Herodotus, of his pofition, that " Lybia is furrounded by die fea, except where it joins Afia." Hi* fecond proof is not fo conclufjvc, nor is the defign of his introducing it fo obvious. It is the relation of a voyage undertaken by Satafpcs a Per- iian. whofe punifhmem was commuted from cruci fixion * Rpbertfoh's India, note 54. PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 19 fixion to failing round Lybia ; which voyage he began, but returned by the fame route, not having completed it. The reafon which he gave for re turning was, that " his ihip was flopped and could fail no farther," which his fovereign did not believe, and therefore put him to death, to which he had before been condemned. The only evidence which this {lory can afford is, that the circumnavigation of the African con tinent was, at that time, thought practicable The mother of Satafpes thought fo, or fhe would not have propofed it ; and Xerxes thought fo, or he would not have difbelieved the (lory of the fhip being flopped ; by which expreflion was meant that the fea was no farther navigable, by reafon of land. The exacl date of this voyage is not afcertain- ed ; but as Xerxes reigned twelve years, and died in the year 473 before Chriit, it could not have been much more than thirty years, preceding the time when Herodotus publifhed his hiflory. The voyage of Hanno, the Carthaginian, is thus briefly mentioned by Pliny ; c * In the flourifhing fUte of Carthage, Hanno having failed round from Gades [Cadiz] to the border of Arabia, com mitted to writing an account of his voyage ; as did Himilco, who was at the fame time fent to difcover the extreme parts of Europe."* The character of Pliny, as a hiflorian, is, that " he collected from all authors, * Piiny's Natural Hjftory, lib, 2, cap. 67. B 2 20 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION, authors, good and bad, who had written before him ; and that his work is a mixture of truth and error, which it is difficult to feparate." An in- flance, in confirmation of this remark, occurs in this very chapter ; where he fpeaks of forne mer chants, failing from India, and thrown by a tem- peft, on the coaft of Germany. He alfo mentions a voyage, made by Eudoxus, from the Arabian gulf to Cades ; and another of Coelius Antipater, from Spain to Ethiopia. Of thefe voyages, that of Hanno is bed authen ticated. He failed from Carthage with fixty gal- lies, each carrying fifty oars, having on board thirty thoufand men and women, with provifions and articles of traffic. The defign of this equip ment was to plant colonies along the wellern more of Africa, which the Carthaginians, from priority t)f difcovery, and from its contiguity to their ter ritory, confidcred as their own dominion. Han- tio was abfent five years, on this colonizing expe dition ; but there is no certainty of his having pro ceeded any fariher fouthward, than the bay of Benin, in the eighth degree of north latitude. A fragment of his journal, which, at his return, he depofited in the temple of Saturn, at Carthage, is now extant ; and though it has been treated as fabulous by feveral authors, ancient and modern, yet, its authenticity has been vindicated by M. Bougainville, in the 26th volume of the Memoirs of the Royal Academy of Infcriptions and Belles Lettres ; DISSERTATION. 21 Lettrcs ; where a French tranflation of it is given from the Greek, into which language it was ren dered from the original Punic. Concerning the voyage of Eudoxus, the fol lowing account is given by Bruce.* He was fent by Ptolemy Euergetes, as an ambaflkdor to India, to remove the bad effecls of the King's conduft in the beginning cf his reign, who had extorted con tributions from merchants of that and other trad ing countries. Eudoxus returned after the King's death, and was wrecked on the coaft of Ethiopia ; where he difcovered the prow of a fliip, which had. Differed the fame fate. It was the figure of a horfe j and a failor, who had been employed in European voyages, knew this to have been part of one of thofe veflels, which traded on the Atlantic ocean ; of which trade Gades was the principal port. This circumftance amounted to a proof, that there was a paffage round Africa, from the Indian to the Atlan tic ocean. The difcovery was of no greater im portance to any perfon, than to Eudoxus himfelf ; for, fometime afterward, falling under the difplea- fure of Ptolemy Lathy rus, and being in danger of his life, he fled ; and embarking on the Red Sea, failed round Africa and camq to Gades. This voyage of Eudoxus was treated as a fable by Strabo, the Roman geographer, who wrote about a century and a half after the time when it is faid to have been performed. The true caufe of the in credulity * Travels, book ii, chap. 5. The voyage of Eiuloxus was orijr- iinmy written by Pojidowiis, but I have not met \vilh that autljo it PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. credulity of him and of other Roman authors in refpect to thefe voyages and difcoveries, was the doclrine of the zones ; to which they inflexibly adhered, and which entirely precluded all cop- viclion. Thefe are all the evidences which I have had opportunity to examine refpe&ing the queftion of tjie circumnavigation of Africa,* and, upon the whole, there appears to be this peculiarity attending the fubjett, that it was believed by thofe who liv ed neareft to the time when the vqyage of Necho is faid to have been made ; and, that in propor tion to the diftance of time afterward, it was' doubt ed, difbelieyed and denied ; till its credibility was eftabiifhcd beyond all doubt by the Portugucfe ad venturers in the fifteenth century. The credibility of the Egyptian or Phcnician voyages, round the continent of Africa, being ad mitted, and the certainty of the Carthaginian voy ages and colonies on the wettern more of Africa being eflablifhed ; we may extend our inquiry to the probability of what has been advanced by fome writers, and doubted or denied by others, the popu lation of fomc part of America from beyond the Atlantic. The * Dr. Forjtcr, in his hiftory of voyages and difcoveries (chap, i) refers to three German authors, Gefncr, Schlozer and Miehaelis, who have written on this fubjeft. and obferves, that " the circum navigation of Afrira by the Phcmcians and Egyptians is proved nlmofl to a demonfiration." PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 23 The difcovery of the Canary iflands by the Car- lhaginians is a faft well attefted. Pliny fpeaks of them as then deltitute of inhabitants, but containing (vejligia adificioruw) the remains of buildings. From this circumftance, it mud appear, that they had been inhabited before the Carthaginian difcov ery. In Plutarch's time, the Fortunate Iflands were not only inhabited, but were fo celebrated for their fertility, that they were fuppofed to be the feat of the bleffed. When Madeira and Porto Santo were difcover- cd by the Normans and Portuguefc, both were un inhabited. A queftion then arifes, if thefe iflands were fometimes inhabited and at other times defert- ed, what became of their inhabitants ? It mult have been fame uncommon event which could induce them to abandon fo pleafant and fruitful a. country without leaving a (ingle family behind. If they perifhed in the iflands, it is (till more extraordinary ; for it is a molt fmgular circumftance that all the inhabitants of any place fliould be deltroyed and yet the place itfelf remain. George Glas, who puhlifh- ed a hiftory of thefe iflands in 1764, attempts to folve the inquiry thus.* " Almoft two thirds of the Canary iflands are covered with calcined rocks, pumice ftones, and black aflies, which have been formerly thrown out from volcanos ; the remains of which are flill to be f feen, in every one of thefe iflands. Many of the natives * Pae ifi-. to. 24 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. natives might have been deftroyed by thefe violent eruptions, and the remainder being terrified, might abandon their country, and go in queft of new habi tations: but, where they went, is a queftion not cafi- ly folved ; though fome affert, that they patted over to America." An event exactly fimilar is faid by the fame author to have happened about thirty years before he wrote.* " A volcano broke out in the S. W. part of the ifland of Lanccrotta, near the fea, but remote from habitation ; which threw out Rich an immenfe quantity of afhes and ftones, with fo dreadful a noife, that many of the natives deferted their houfes, and fled to Fuertaventura, another ifland, for the preferyation of their lives." But, whether we admit the conjecture, that, be ing thus obliged to quit the iflands, they paffcd over to America," or not ; yet it is extremely probable, that, in fome of the ancient circumnavi gations of Africa, or in palling to and from thcfe iflands, or even in coafting the continent from the ftraights of Gibraltar, fome vefiels might be drawn by currents or driven by iempefts, within the verge of the trade wind ; " which begins not far to the fouthward of the ftraights, and blows nine months of the year, on the coaft of Morocco." In this cafe, it would be next to impoflible, for thofe who had met with any confidcrable damage in their mafts, fails, or rigging, to run in any other direftion, than before the wind to theweftward; and this courfc * Page 000.. PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 25 courfe mud bring them to the continent, or iflands of America. In confirmation of this remark, feveral fa6ls have been adduced by way of proof. One is thus relat ed by Glas ;* " A few years ago, a fmall bark laden with corn and paffcngers, bound from Lan- cerotta to Tenerifre, met with fome difaftcr at fea, by which fhe was rendered incapable of getting to any of the Canary iflands ; and was obliged to run many days before the wind, till fhe came within two days fail of the coaft of Caraccas, in South America ; where (he met an Englifh fhip, which fupplicd the furviving paffengers with water, and directed her to the port of La Guiara, on that coaft." La Guiara is one of the ports to which the trade from the Canaries is reftrifted by the King of Spain ; and the run thither from Teneriffe is gene rally performed in lefs than thirty days, with the trade wind.t Another fal is taken from GumillaJ who fays ; < 4 In December 1731, whilft I was at the town of St. Jofeph in the ifland of Trinidad, a fmall verTe! of Teneriffe, with fix feamen, was driven into that ifland by flrefs of weather. She was laden with wine, and bound for one other of the Canary iflands; flie had provifion only for a few days, which, notwithflanding the utmoft care, had been expended, and the cre.w fubfifted wholly on wine. They * Introduction, page 5. + ibid, page 329, 333. J Cited by Edwards, in his hiftoiy of the W. Indies, vol. i, p. 109, 26 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. They were reduced to the lad extremity ; and were received with aftonifhraent by the inhabi tants, who ran in crowds to fee them. Their ema ciated appearance would have fufficientjy confirm ed the truth of their ftory, if the papers, which they produced, had not put the matter beyond all doubt." A third fact is related by Herrera, the royal Spanifh hiftoriart.t Columbus in his fecond voyage to America, having difcovtred the ifland of Gua- daloupe, <; found a piece of timber belonging to a fhip, which the fcamen call the ftern poll ; which they much admired, not knowing which way it fhould come thither, unlefs carried by tempeftuous weather, from the Canaries, or from the ifland Hifpaniola," where the Admiral's {hip was call a- way in his former Voyage. Ferdinand Columbus, in the life of his father, J does not directly afTert this; but fpeaks of their finding "an iron pan;" and endeavours to account for it, by faying that the ftones there being of the colour of iron, a per- fon of an indifferent judgment might miftake the one for the other.*' Not content with this folution he goes on thus ; " though it were of iron, it was not to be admired, bccaufe the Indians of the ifland of Guadaloupc, being Carribbees, and making their excurfions to rob, as far as Hifpaniola; per haps they had that pan, of the Chriflians, or of the other Indians of Hifpaniola; and it ispoffible they might f Decacl. i, book ii, chap. 7. J Chapter 47, in Churchill's collections, vol. ii. PRELIMINARY JDISSERTATION. 27 might carry the body of the JJiip the Admiral loft, to make ufe of the iron ; and though it were not the hulk of that fhip ; it might be the remainder of fome ether wreck, carried thither by the wind and cur rent from our parts." The improbability of the Indians having carried " the body or hulk of the fhip,, which the Admiral loft," from the northern fide of Hifpaniola, to the caftern fide of Guadaloupe, will appear from the diftance; which is not lefs than two hundred leagues, in a dire8.ion oppofite to the conftant blow ing of the wind. Nor will Herrera's conjecture, that the ftern pott of the Admiral's fhip was carried thither by a tempeft, be readily admitted, by any who are acquainted with the navigation of the Weft Indies; for it mud have pafled through a multi tude of iflands and rocks ; and, without a miracle, could fcarcely have come entire, from fo great a diftance in fuch foul feas. But the difficulty is farther increafed, by confidering what Don Ferdi nand and Herrera have both afferted ; that when Columbus had loft his fhip, "he built a fort with the timber, whereof he loft no part, but made ufe of it all ;"* and this fort was afterward burnt by the natives. If therefore there be any truth in the ftory of the ftern poft found at Guadaloupe ; it muft have belonged to fome other veflelj either foundered at lea, or wrecked on the fhore. Under * Life of Columbus, chap, xxxiv. Herrera, book i. chap. 18. 28 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. Under the head of fortuitous vifits to the Ame rican continent, may be included a circumllance mentioned by Peter Martyryf that not far from a place called Quarequa in the gulf of Darien, Vafco Nunez met with a colony of negroes. From the fmallnefs of their number it was fuppofcd they had not been long arrived on that coait.J Thefe negroes could have come in no other vefiels but canoes ; a circumftance by no means incredible, to thofe who have read the accounts of Cook, and other navigators of the tropical fcas. To thele facls may be added, the cafual difcovery of Brazil, by the Portuguefe commander, Pedro Alvarez Cabral, in his voyage to India in the year 1500; an account of which is preferred by Dr. Robertfon.$ " In order to avoid the calms near the coaft of Africa, he flood out to fea ; and kept fo far to the weft, that, to his furprize, he found himfelf on the more of an unknown country, in the tenth degree of fouth latitude. He imagined at firft, that it was fome ifland in the Atlantic Ocean ; but proceeding along its coaft, for feveral days, he was gradually led to believe, that a country fo ex- tenfive formed a part of fome great continent." Thefe inflances may ferve as fo many fpecimens of the manner, in which America might have provr ed an afylum, to fome of the ancient navigators of the + De orbe novo, Decad. lii, chap. i. J Edwards' hift. Weft Indies, vol. i, p. no. Hift. America, vol. i, p. 151. PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. 29 the African coafts, or of the Canary iflands ; and being arrived, it would be impofiible for them to return. The fame winds which brought them hith er, continuing to blow from the eaitward, would either difcourage them from making -the attempt, or oblige them to put back if they had made it. No argument then can be drawn from hence, in favour of a mutual intercourfe, between this and the old continent. Thofe who would prove, that America was known to the ancients, muft produce better evi dence, than they have yet produced, if they con tend for any other knowledge, than what was acquir ed by cafual difcoverers, who never returned. The opinion that America was peopled, in part, by the Phenicians, was long fince maintained by Hornius; and, though rejected by many fuccecd- ing writers, has been lately revived by Bryan Ed wards,* a well informed merchant of the ifland of Jamaica. He extends the argument no farther, than to the Charaibe nation ; who inhabited the Windward Iflands, and fome part of the fouthern continent ; " whofc manners and characleriftic features denote a different anceftry, from the gene rality of the American nations." In fupport of this opinion, he has produced, perhaps, as much evidence from a fimilarity of manners and language, as a fubjecl of fuch remote antiquity can admit. To this elegant work I muft refer the reader, and mall add one only remark, arifing from the preceding * Hift, W. Indies, vol. i, p. 103. 410. 30 PRELIMINARY DISSERTATION. preceding obfervations ; that if any acccffion of inhabitants was made to America, by the dcfultory migration of the Phenician or Carthaginian navi gators, it is moil rational to look for them between the tropics; the very place where the Charaibes were found, ; A Chronological Detail of Adventures and Difcovenes 9 made by the EUROPEAN Nations^ zw AMERICA, before the Ejlabli/Jiment of the Council of PLY MOUTH, in 1620. Thofe marked with ^T are more particularly enlarged upon in the Lives of the Adventurers. 1001" JJIRON, a Norman, accidentally dif- covered a country which was afterward call ed Winland ; and is fuppofed to be a part of the ifland of Newfoundland. Crantz. Pontoppidan. 1170. MADOC, prince of Wales, emigrated; &3~ and, it is thought, difcovered a new country in the welt. Hakluyt. An ifland called Eftotiland, was difcover- ~^J ed by a fifherman of Frijland ; as related by ZENO. Hakluyt. 1492. CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS, in the fervice of Spam, difcovered Guanahani and other iflands, called Bahamas and Antilles. Ferd. Columbus. COLUMBUS made a fecond voyage, and difcovered Dominica and other iflands, called Caribbees. ibid. 1497. J OHN CABOT, with his fon SEBAS- TIAN, in the fervice of HENRY VII, of England, difcovered the ifland of Newfound land and fome parts of a weftern Continent / as 2 A CHRONOLOGICAL DETAIL or as far northward as lat. 45% and as far fouth- ward as lat. 38. Haklyt. 1498 COLUMBUS made a third voyage, and difcovered the wcftern continent, in lati tude 10, N. Fcrd. Col. l -199 OJEDA, a private adventurer, and AM ERIGO VESPUCCI followed the track of COLUMBUS, and difcovered the we item continent; of which Amerigo, after his re turn to Europe, wrote an account, and pub- lifhcd it. From which, the continent ob tained the name of AMERICA. Robertfon. 1500 CABRAL, in the fervice of Portugal, bound to India, difcovered by accident, the continent of America,in lat. 10 fouth ; which was called BrafiL ibid. 3.502 COLUMBUS made his fourth and lad voyage to the new continent, in qucft of a paffage through it to India. Ferd. Col. t :> : 2 J O H N PO N CE, in the fervice of Spam, difcovered the new continent, in the lati tude of 30' N, and called it Florida. ILrrcra. : - 1 o, VASCO NUNEZ, a Spaniard, travelled acrofs the iflhmus of D'aricn^ and from a mountain, difcovered on the other fide of the cor,rinontanC^rt?z,which.from the direc tion ADVENTURES AND DISCOVERIES. 33 lion in which he faw it } took the name of the South Sea. Robertfon. 1519 HERNANDO CORTEZ, in the fer- vicc of Spain, entered the city of Mexico ; and in the fpace of two years reduced the whole country under the dominion of the King of Spain. ibid. 1520 FERDINAND DE MAGELLANES, a Portuguefe, in the fervice of Spain, paffed through the ftrait which bears his name, and x failed acrofs the South Sea, to which he gave the name of Pacific. He difcovered the Philippine iflands, and was there killed in a fkirmifh with the natives. The fhip, un der the command of SEBASTIAN DEL CANO, returned to Spain by way of the Cape of Good Hope, and thus performed the firft circumnavigation of the Globe. Life of Magellanes. 1524 JOHN DE VERAZZANI, a Floren tine, in the fervice of FRANCIS I, King of France, difcovered the new continent in lat. 34 N. failed northward to lat. 41, where he entered a harbour, which by his defcription mutt be that of New-York. Thence he failed E. and N. E. as far as Newfoundland ; and called the whole coun try New- France. Hakluyt. 1525 STEPHEN GOMEZ,, in the fervice of Spain, failed to Florida, and. thence to C Cape 34 A CHRONOLOGICAL DETAIL OF Cape Race in lat. 46 N. in fearch of a N. W. paffage to India. Herrera. 1526 FRANCIS PIZARRO, failed from Panama to Peru and began the conqueft of that rich and populous country. Pure has. 1528 PAMPHILO DE NARVAEZ, in the fervice of Spain, failed from Cuba with 400 men to conquer Florida. His purpofe was defeated by a temped, in which he was wrecked on the coaft. Herrera. Purchas. 1534 JAMES CARTIER, in the fervice of France, difcovered and named the Bay de Chaleur and the gulf of St. Lawrence. Hakluyt. *535 CARTIER made a fecond voyage, dif covered the Great River of Canada, and failed up as far as Hochelaga, which he named Montreal. He wintered in a little har bour near the weft end of the ifle of Orleans, 1536 which he called Port de St. Croix. The next fummer he returned to France, car rying foine of the natives. Hakluyt. 1539 FERDINANDO DE SOTO failed $3~ from Cuba, with 900 men, to conquer Florida. He traverfed the country in va. 1542 rious directions for three years, and died on the banks of the Mifliffipi. The fur- 1 543 viving part of his army returned to Cuba. Herrera. Purchas. 1540 ADVENTURES and DISCOVERIES. 135 1540 C ARTIER made a third voyage to Canada, built a fort and began a fettle- 1541 ment, which he called Charkburg, 4 leagues or above the Port de St. Croix. He broke 1542 up the fettlement and failed to Newfound land. Hakluyt. ROBERVALj with three fhips and 200 perfons, going to recruit the fettlement in Canada, met Cartier at Newfoundland, and would have obliged him to return ; but he gave him the (lip and failed for France. ROBERVAL proceeded up the river St. Lawrence 4 leagues above the ifland of Orleans, where he found a convenient har bour and place for a fortification. Here he built a fort, and remained over the winter. The ( next year he returned to France with his colony. ibid. During the fucceeding thirty years the paflion for difccwery took another direction. Adventurers from Europe were feeking a paffage to India and China by the N. E. but were prevented from accomplishing their views, by the cold and ice of thofe inhofpitable regions. Forjler. In this interval, the French of Brittany, the Spaniards of Bifcay, and the Portu- guefe, enjoyed the fimery on the banks of Newfoundland, without interruption. Purchas. C 2 1562 3& A CHRONOLOGICAL DETAIL or 1562 Under the patronage of CHATILLON, High Admiral of France, JOHN RI- BALT attempted a fettlement in Florida. He entered a rirer, in lat 32, on the firfl of May ; which, from that circumftance, he named the River May, and the entrance he called Port Royal. Here he built a fort, which in honour of CHARLES IX, of France, he called Fort Charles. After his departure, the people mutinied and return ed to France. Hakluyt and Purchas. 156*4 LAUDONIERE renewed the fettle, rnent and called the country Carolina, after the reigning monarch of France. This colony was on good terms with the na tives ; but fuffered by famine. They were relieved by Sir JOHN HAWKINS, an Eng- lifhman, who offered to carry them to France ; but the hope of finding Jilver in duced them to ftay, till RIB ALT arrived 1 565 with feven fail of veffels. PEDRO MELENDES, in the fervice of Spain, came with a fuperior force, killed Ribalt and moft of his company, and took poffeflion of the country, building three forts. ibid. 1568 GOURGUES, from France, with the help of the natives, who hated the Span iards, broke up the Spanifh fettlements in Florida, and returned to France, leaving the country defart, ibid. 1576 ADVENTURES AND DISCOVERIES. 37 1576' All attempts to find a N. E. paflage to India being frultrated, MARTIN FROB- ISHER, in the iervice of ELIZABETH, Queen of England, failed in fearch of a N. W. paffage. 1577 He made a fecorid voyage. 157$ He made a third voyage. Thefe voyages were made to Greenland^ and produced no material difcovery. He failed through a ftrait which frill bears his name, but is now impaffable by reafon of fixed ice. Hakluyt and Crantz. SIR FRANCIS DRAKE being on a cruife againft the Spaniards in the South Sea, landed on the continent of America, northward of California^ took pofieflion of a harbour, and called the circumjacent country between lat. 38 and 42", New- Albion. Hakluyt. 1579 SIR HUMPHRY GILBERT, obtain- ed of QUEEN ELIZABETH a patent for all $^- countries not pofTcfled by any Chriftiam Prince. Purchas. 1583 GILBERT failed to Newfoundland ; took formal pofleflion of it and of the con tinent of North America, for the Crown of England. In his return his (hip foun dered, and he was loft. ibid. SIR ADRIAN GILBERT, obtained of QUEEN ELIZABETH, a patent for the difcovery 38 A CHRONOLOGICAL DETAIL OF difcovery of a N. W. paflage ; to remain in force five years. Hakluyt. 1584 SIR WALTER RALEIGH,* obtained of QUEEN ELIZABETH, a patent for lands not poifefied by any Chrillian Prince ; by virtue of which hefent PHILIP AMADAS and ARTHUR BARLOW to explore the country called by the Spaniards Florida. ibid. 1585 Under the authority of GILBERT'S patent, JOHN DAVIS failed from Eng land in fearch of a N. W. pafiage. 1586 He made a fecond voyage. 1587 He made a third voyage. DAVIS explored the weftern coaft of Greenland, and part of the oppofite coaft of the continent of America ; the ftrait between them bears his name. Pie alfo difcovered another ftrait which he called Cumberland. Hakluyt. 1585 SIR WALTER RALEIGH fcnt SIR RICHARD GRENVILLE to Florida. He landed a colony of 100 people at Roanoak^ and returned. ibid. 1586 SIR FRANCIS DRAKE returning from his expedition again ft the Spaniards, took the colony on board and carried them to England. ibid. * See life of John Smith. SIR ADVENTURES AND DISCOVERIES. 39 SIR RICHARD GRENVILLE arriv ed after their departure and landed anoth er fmaller colony. ibid. 1587 Sir WALTER RALEIGH fent another company under the command of JOHN WHITE, to colonize the country which QUEEN ELIZABETH called Virginia, in honour of her own Virginity. The fecond colony were not to be found. One hun dred and fifteen perfons were landed to make a third colony, and the governor returned to England for fupplies. Purchas. 1590 GEORGE WHITE was fent to Vir ginia, but finding none of the third colony living, returned to England. ibid. 1592 JUAN DE FUCA, a Greek, in the fer- $3" vice of Spain, was fent by the Viceroy of Mexico to difcover a N. W. paflage, by ex ploring the weftern fide of the American continent. He difcovered a ftrait which bears his name in the 48th degree of N. latitude, and fuppofed it to be the long de- fired paflage. Purchas. 1593 HENRY MAY, an Englifhman, return ing from the Eaft Indies in a French fhip, was wrecked on the ifland of Bermuda, where h found fwine ; from which circum- ftance, it appeared, thai fome other veflTel had been there before. The company C 4 built 40 A CHRONOLOGICAL DETAIL OF built a boat of cedar, caulked it, and payed the feams with lime mixed with turtles' fat, and failed to Newfoundland ; whence they got a paflage to England. Hailuyt. 1593 GEORGE WEYMOUTH failed from or England to difcover a N. W. palfagc. He vifited the coaft of Labrador? and failed 30 miles up an inlet in the latitude of 56 ; but made no material difcovery. Forjler. DE LA ROCHE obtained, from HEN RY TV, of France, a commiflion to con quer Canada, and other countries not pof- feffed by any Chriftian Prince. He failed from France with a colony of convitfs from the prifons; landed 40 on the iflc of Sable. After feven years, the furvivors, being 12 in number, were taken off, and carried home to France; where HENRY pardoned them, and gave them 50 crowns each, as a recompenfc for their fafferings, Purchas. Forftcr. iooo Q. ELIZABETH eftabliflied, by char ter, a company of merchants in England; with an cxclufive privilege of trading to the Eaft Indies. Tablet of Memory. 1602 BARTHOLOMEW GOSNOLD, an Englifhman, difcovdred a promontory on the American coaft, in lat. 42, to which he gave the name of Cafe Cod. He landed pn an ifland which he called Elizabeth, and built ADVENTURES AND DISCOVERIES. 41 built a fmall fort ; but the fame fummer returned to England. Purchas. DE MONTS obtained of HENRY IV, of France, a patent for the planting of L'Acadia and Canada, from lat. 40 to 46. ibid. SAMUEL CHAMPLAIN failed up the Great River of Canada, and returned to France the fame year. ibid. DE MONTS failed from France taking CHAMPLAIN and CHAMPDORE for pilots, and POURTRINCOURT who intended a fct- flement in America, They difcovered and began plantations at Pert Royal, St. John's and St. Crcix, in the Bay of Funda. POURTRINCOURT introduced two Jefuits into Port Royal ; but fbirie contro- verfy arifing, the Jefuits went to Mount DC. Jart and began a rTlantation there. ibid. 1605 ' GEORGE WE YMOUTH failed on a fecond voyage to difcover a N. W. paf- fage ; but falling fhort, made the land in 41 30'; thence failed to 43 20', and dif covered a great river fuppofed to be either Kencbcck or Penobfcot ; took on board five of the natives and returned to England. He put in at Plymouth ; and delivered three 0,3 of them to Sir FERDIKANDO GORGES, then Governour of Plymouth. Gorges. *6o6 JAMES I, King of England, by patent, divided Virginia into two ,dinri6ts. called North 42 A CHRONOLOGICAL DETAIL OF North and South Virginia. The fouthern part, fituate between 34 and 41, he grant ed to a London Company ; the northern part, fituate between 38 and 45, he grant ed to a Plymouth Company. Neither of them were to plant within 100 miles of the other. Purchas. 1607 CHAMPLAIN,by order of DE MONTS, failed up the River of Canada and fortified Quebec, the name of a ftrait in the river. ibid. HENRY HUDSON, in the fervice of the Englifh Eaft India Company, failed in queft of a N. W. paffage. He attempted to pafs to the E. of Greenland, anddifcov- ered Sfitzbergen. He failed as far N. as 82; but, finding the fea obftruted by ice, returned. Forjler. CHRISTOPHER NEWPORT failed to South Virginia, and began a colony at Jamestown. EDWARD WINGFIELD was Prefident, but JOHN SMITH wasthe life and foul of the colony. Smith. Purchas. GEORGE POPHAM* failed to North Virginia and began a plantation at Sagada- hock) of which he was Prefident. In the winter, the mips returned to England, leav ing 45 perfons behind. Their Prefident 1608 dying, the next fpring they broke up the plantation * See the Life of F. Gorges. ADVENTURES AND DISCOVERIES. 43 plantation and went back to England. This winter was remarkably fevere both in Ame rica and England. Purchas. 1608 HUDSON, in the fervice of the Englifh Eaft India Company, undertook a fecond voyage of difcovery, and attempted to pafs on both fides of Nova Zembla ; but the ice being impenetrable, he returned. Purchas. NELSON reinforced the colony of South Virginia with 120 people. ibid. 1609 CHAMPLAIN returned to France, leav ing Capt. PIERRE to command at Quebec. ibid. HUDSON, in the fervice of the DUTCH, made a third voyage, and difcovered the river which bears his name in lat. 41. $p- SIR GEORGE SOMERSbound to South Virginia, was wrecked on Bermuda, whence thofe iflands took the name Somer I/lands. Smith. Purchas. 1610 CHAMPLAIN revifited Quebec and took the command there. Purchas. HUDSON, in the fervice of the Englifh Eaft India Company, difcovered the ftrait and bay which bear his name; and paffed the winter there, intending to purfue his difcoveries in the enfuing fpring; but his crew mutinied and turned him adrift in his boat with feven others, who were never more heard of. Purchas. Campbell. SIR 44 A CHRONOLOGICAL DETAIL OF 1610 SIR GEORGE SOMKRS having built a pinnace at Bermuda, failed to South Vir ginia ; the colony determined to return to England ; but, in failing down James' Riv er, met Lord DELAWARE with a reinforce ment, by which they were encouraged to return and refume the plantation. Purchas. JOHN GUY with a company of 40 per- fons began a colony at the bay of Conception^ in Newfoundland. ibid. 1611 SIR THOMAS DALE reinforced the 3" colony of South Virgina with 300 people ; and Sir THOMAS GATES with 300 more, fu miming them with cattle and fwine ; and thus that colony was eftablifhed. ibid. 1612 The colony at Newfoundland was aug mented to 60 perfons ; but was for many years in a very precarious ftate. Mr. GUY returned to England, and was afterward Mayor of Briftol. Purchas. Oldmixon. The South Virginia Company having fold the ifiands of Bermuda to a part of their own number, they obtained a diftincl charter, and fcnt a colony of go perfons thither ; their rirft governor was RICHARD MOOR. Pwchai. 1613 The colony at Bermuda was enlarged by the addition of 400 perfons. ibid. SIR THOMAS DALE, Governor of Virginia, hearing that the French had fet tled ADVENTURES AND DISCOVERIES. 45 tied within the limits of the northern patent, fent Sir SAMUEL ARGAL L with a fufficient force to diflodge them ; which he did, from Mount Manfel (Dcfart) St. Croix and Port Royal in the Bay of Funda. Thefe French men retired to Quebec and ftrcngthened the fettlement there. Smith. Purchas. Keith. 1614 CAPT. JOHN SMITH having quitted 3- the colony of South Virginia, failed for North Virginia, on a fiihing and whaling voyage ; he ranged the coait from Pcnob- fcot to Cape Cod ; and made a map of the country, which he firft called New England. Smith. 1615 ROBERT BYLOT and WILLIAM BAFFIN failed from England in fearch of a N. W. palfage. 1616 They made another voyage, and difcov- ered the great northern bay which bears BAFFIN'S name. Purchas. Forjler. 1617 During this and the two preceding years, war, famine, and peftilence, raged among T the natives of New England, by which great numbers were fwept off ; and the fur trade between them and the Europeans was inter rupted. Gorges. 1619 THOMAS DERMER* failed to New England ; found many places, before popu lous, almoft defolate, and the few remaining inhabitants / See the life rfF, Gorges, 46 A CHRONOLOGICAL DETAIL, &?. inhabitants either fick or but fcarcely recov ered. In this voyage he failed through the whole pafTage between the main land and Long Ifland and firit determined its in/ular (ituation. Gorges. 1620 A Company of ENGLISH PURI- grf- TANS*, who had refided twelve years- in Holland, began a colony in New England* which they called New Plymouth. Morton. KING JAMES It, eftablifhed at Ply. mouth 9 in Devonfhire, a Council, for the planting, ruling and ordering of New Eng land ; and thus the bufmefs of colonizatiofi was formed into a fyftem. Gorges. * See life of W.Bradford. t See life of F. Gorges. AMERICAN AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY. I. B I R O N. 1 HE ancient inhabitants of Norway and Denmark, collectively taken, were diftin- guifhed by the name of NORMANS. Their fituation near the coaft of the fea, and the ad vantages which that element prefented to them beyond all which they could expect, from a rough foil, in a cold climate, led them at an early period to the fcience and practice of navigation. They built their veflels with the beft of oak, and conftructed them in fuch a manner as to encounter the ftorms and bil lows of the northern ocean. They covered them with decks and furnimed them with high forecaftles and fterns. They made ufc of fails as well as oars, and had learned to trim 48 B I R O N. trim their fail* to the wind, in aimed any di rection. In thefe arts, of building mips and of navigation, they were fuperior to the peo ple bordering on the Mediterranean fea, who depended chiefly on their oars, and ufed fails only with a fair wind. About the end of the eighth and beginning of the ninth century, the Normans made themfelves famous by their predatory excur- fions. England, Scotland, Ireland, the Ork ney and Shetland iflands, were objects of their depredations ; and, in one of their piratical expeditions, (A.D. 86 1) they difcovered an illand, which from its lofty mountains, cov r cred with ice and fnow, obtained the name of Iceland. In a few years after they planted a colony there, which was continually aug mented by migrations from the neighbouring countries. Within the fpace of thirty years (889) a new country, fituate on the weft, was discovered, and from its verdure during the fummer months received the name of Greenland. This was deemed fo import ant an acquifition, that, under the conduct ofERic RAUDE, or REDHEAD, a Danifh thief, it was foon peopled. The emigrants to thefe new regions were ftill inflamed with the paflion for adventure and B I R O N. 49 and difcovery. An Icelander of ths name HERIOLF and his ion BIRON* made a voyage every year to different countries, for the fake of traffic. About the beginning of the elev enth century (1001) their mips were feparat-r ed by a florin. When Biron arrived in Nor way, he heard that his father was gone to Greenland, and he refolved to follow him ; but another florm drove him to the J 'out l bw '. 64. $6 B I R O N. The diftance between Greenland and New foundland is not greater than between Iceland and Norway ; and there could be no more difficulty in navigating the weftern than the eaftern parts of the northern Ocean, with fuch veffels as were then in ufe, and by fuch fea- men as the Normans are faid to have been ; though they knew nothing of the magnetic needle^ Upon the whole, though we can come to no pofitive conclufion in a queftion of fuch remote antiquity ; yet there are many cir- cum.ftanc.es to confirm, and none to difprove the relation given, of the voyages of Biron.* But if it be allowed that he is entitled to the honour of having difcovcred America before Columbus, yet this difcovery cannot in the lead detraft from the merit of that cele brated navigator. For there is no reafon to fuppofe that Columbus had any knowledge of the Norman difcoveries ; which long be fore his time were forgotten, and would per haps never have been recolle&ed, if he had 4 not, * At my requeft, Governor WE NT WORTH, of Nova Scotia, has employed a proper perfon, to make inquiry into any veftiges of this ancient colony, which may yet be fubfifiing. I am forry that the refult could not be had, before the publication of thir Volume ; but when it comes to hand, it fliall be communicated. B I R O N. 57 Hot, by the aftoniming exertions of his genius and his perfevering induftry, effected a dif- covery of this continent, in a climate more friendly to -the views of commercial adven turers. Even Greenland itfelf, in the fifteenth century, was known to the Danes and Nor mans only by the name of loft Greenland ; and they did not recover their knowledge of it, till after the Englim had afcertained its exigence by their voyages to difcover a N. W. pafiage to the Pacific Ocean, and the Dutch hadcoafted it in purfuit of whales. II. M A D O C. II. M A D O C. JL HIS perfon is fuppofed to have difcov- cred America, and brought a colony of his countrymen hither, before the difcovery made by Columbus. The ftory of his emigration from Wales is thus related by Hakluyt, whofe book was firft publifhed in 1589 ; and a fec- ond edition of it in 1600. " The voyage of Madoc, the fon of Owen Gwynneth, Prince of North Wales, to the Weft Indies in the year 1 170 ; taken out of the hiftory of Wales lately published by M. David Powel Doftor of Divinitie." " After the death of Owen Gwynneth, his fons fell at debate who fhould inherit after him. For the eldeft fon born in matrimony Edward or lorweth Drwydion was counted unmeet to govern, becaufe of the maime upon his face -, and Howel, that took upon him all the rule, was a bafe fon begotten of an Irifh woman. Therefore David gathered all the power he could and came againft Howel, and fighting with him, flew him; and afterward enjoyed quietly the whole land of North M A D O C. 59 Wales, until his brother lorweth's fon came to age, "MADOC, another of Owen Gwynneth his fons left the land in contention between his brethren and prepared certain {hips with men and munition, and fought adventures by fea, failing ivejt, and leaving the coaft of Ireland fo far north that he came to a land unknown, where he faw many ftrange things. " This land muft needs be fome part of that country of which the Spaniards affirm themfelves to be the firft finders, fince Han- no's time. [* For by reafon and order of cof- mographie, this land to the which Madoc came, muft needs be fome part of Nova Hif- pania or Florida.] Whereupon it is manifeft that that country was long [before] by Brit- tains difcovered, afore [either] Columbus [or Americus Vefputius] led any Spaniards thither. " Of the voyage and return of that Madoc there be many fables feigned, as the common people do u,fe, in diftance of place and length of time, rather to augment than diminim, but fare it is that there he was. And after he had returned home and declared the pleafant and fruitful * The words included in crotchets [ ] are omitted in the fecond edition of Hakluyt's voyages. 60 M A D O C. fruitful countries that he had feen 'without in* habitants ; and upon the contrary part, for what wild and barren ground his brethren and nephews did murther one another, he prepar ed a number of mips and got with him fuch men and women as were defirous to live in quietnefs ; and taking leave of his friends, took his journey thitherwards again. " Therefore it is to be prefuppofed, that he and his people inhabited part of thofe coun tries ; for it appeareth, by Francis Lopez de Gomara, that in Acuzamil, and other places, the people honoured the crofs. Whereby it may be gathered, that Chriftians had been there before the coming of the Spaniards. But becaufe this people were not many, they followed the manners of the land they came to, and ufed the language they found there. " This Madoc arriving in that \veflern country unto the which he came in the year 1170, left moft of his people there, and re turning back for more of his own nation, ac quaintance and friends, to inhabit that fair and large country, went thither again, with ten fails, as I find noted by Gutyn Owen. I am of opinion that the land whereto he came, was fonie M A D O C. 61 fome part of [Mexico ;* the caufes which make me think fo be thcfe. " i. The common report of the inhabit ants of that country, which affirm that their rulers defcended from a flrange nation, that came thither from a far country j which thing is confcfled by Mutezuma King of that coun try, in an oration made for quieting of his people at his fubmimon to the King of Caf- tile -, Hernando Cortez being then prefent, which is laid down in the Spanim chronicles of the conqueft of the Weft Indies. " 2. The Britim words and names of places ufed in that country even to this day do argue the fame - 3 as when they talk to gether, they ufe the word Gwrando, which is hearken or liften. Alfo they have a certain bird with a white head, which they call penguin, that is white head. But the ifland of Corroefo, the river of Guyndor, and the white rock of Penguyn, which be all Britifh or Welch words, do manifeftly mew that it was that country, which Madoc and his peo ple inhabited."] '* Carmina Meredith fihi Rheft mentionem facientia de Madoco Jilio Oweni Givynnedd et de In the fecond Edition, the word Mexico is changed for the Indies ; and the twp following paragraphs are omitted, 62 M A D O C. de fia navigat/one m terras incognitas. Vixit bic Meredith circiter annum Domini 1477. Madoc wyf, mwyedie wedd lawn geneu, Owen Guynned Ni fynnum dir, fy enaid oedd Na da mawr, ond y moroedd. Thefe verfes I received of my learned friend, M. William Camden. 'The fame in Englifh. " Madoc I am the fon of Owen Gwynnedd, With ftature large and comely grace adorned. No lands at home, nor flore of wealth mepleafe, My mind was whole to fearch the Ocean feas." In this extract from Hakluyt is contained all the original information which I have been able to find refpefting the fuppofed difcovery of America by the Welch. The account itfelf is confufed and contradictory. The Country difcovered by Madoc is faid to be " without inhabitants ;" and yet the people whom he carried thither " followed the man ners of the land, and ufed the language they found there." Though the Welch emigrants loft their language, yet the author attempts to prove the truth of his ftory by the preferva- tion of Icveral Welch words in the American tongues. Amorfg thefe he is unfortunate in M A D O C. 63 the choice of " penguin a bird with a white head ;" all the birds of that name on the American fhores having black or dark brown heads, and the name penguin is faid to have been originally pinguedme y from their exceftive fatnefs.* Among the proofs which fome late writers have adduced in fupport of the difcovery of America by Madoc is this, that a language refembling the Welch was fpoken by a tribe of Indians in North-Carolina, and that it is flill ufed by a nation fituate on fome of the weftern waters of the Miffifippi. If that part of the account preferved by Hakluyt be true, that the language was loft, it is vain to offer an argument of this kind in fupport of the truth of the ftory ; but a queftion may here arife, How could any report of the lofs of their language have been tranfmitted to Europe at fo early a period ? An attempt has lately been made to afcer- tain the truth of this piece of hiftory by Dr. John Williams. I have not feen the book itfelf, but if the Critical Reviewers may be credited,-)- no new facts have been adduced. It See the new Encyclopedia, under the article AMERICA. } Critical Review for 1791, page 357. 64 M A D O C. It is remarked by them, that "if Madoc once reached America, it is difficult to explain how he could return home, and it would be more improbable that he fhould arrive in America a fecond time j of which there is not the flighted evidence." They alfo obferve, that "if Madoc failed weftward from Wales, the currents would rather have carried him to Nova Scotia than to the fouthward." The mentioning of Nova Scotia reminds me of ibme words in the native language of shat country which begin with two fyllables refembling the name of Madoc.* A fachem of the Penobfcot tribe who lived in the end of the laft and in the beginning of the prefer^; century bore the name of Madokaivando. A village on ^enobfcot river was called Mada- iuankee. One branch of the river St. John which runs into the bay of Funda is Medoc- tack and another is Medocfccnccafis. The ad vocates of this opinion may avail themfelves as far as they can of this coincidence, but in my apprehenfion it is too precarious to be the ball s of any ju ft conclufion. After all that has been, or can be faid on the fubjed:, we muft obferve with the Criti cal * See C/les' memoirs of his Capij\ity it: 1689. M A D O C. 65 eal Reviewers, that, " if Madoc left Wales and difcovered any other country it muft al ways remain uncertain where that country is." Dr. Robertfon thinks, if he made any difcovery at all, it might be Madeira or one of the Azores.* The book of Hakluyt, in which the original ftory is preferved, was written in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, and in the time of hercontro- verfy with Spain. The defign of his bringing forward the voyage of Madoc appears, from what hs fays of Columbus, to have been, the aflert- ing of a difcovery prior to his, and confe- quently the right of the Crown of England to the fovereignty of America ; a point at that time warmly contefted between the two nations. The remarks which the fame au thor makes on feveral other voyages, evident ly tend to the eftablimment of that claim. But if the flory of Biron be true, which (though Hakluyt has faid nothing of it) is better authenticated than this of Madoc, the right of the Crown of Denmark is, on the principle of prior difcovery, fuperior to either of them. Perhaps the whole myftery may be unveil ed, if we advert to this one circumftance, the E time * Hift. Amer. vol. i, p. 37^. 66 M A D O C. time when Hakluyt's book was firft publifhecL National prejudice might prevail even with fo honeft a writer, to convert a Welch fable into a political argument, to fupport, againft a powerful rival, the claim of his fovereign to the dominion of this continent. III. Z E N III. Z E N O. IT is well known that the Venetians were reckoned among the moil expert and ad venturous of the maritime nations. In that re public, the family of ZENO or ZENI is not only very ancient, and of high rank ; but celebrated for illuflrious achievements. Nicolo Zeno, having exhibited great valour in a war with the Genoefe, conceived an ardent defire, agreeably to the genius of his nation, to trav el ; that he might, by his acquaintance with foreign nations and languages, render himfelf more illuflrious and more ufeful. With this view he equipped a veflel at his own expenfe, and failed through the ftraits of Gibraltar to the northward, [A.D. 1380] with an in tention to vifit Britain and Flanders ; but by a fbrm which lafted many days, he was caft away on the coaft of Frifland. The Prince of the country Zichmni (or as Purchas fpells it Zichmui) finding Zeno an expert feaman, gave him the command of his fleet, confifting of thirteen vefTels, of which two only were rowed with oars ; one was a (hip, and the reft were fmall barks. With E 2 this 6$ Z E N (X this fleet, he made conquefts and depredations in Ledovo and Ilofo and other fmall iilands ; feveral barks laden with fi(h being a part of his capture, Nicolo wrote to his brother Antonio Zeno at Venice, inviting him to Frifland, whither he went, and being taken into the fervice of Zichmni, continued with him fourteen years. The fleet failed on an expedition to Eftland, where they committed great ravages ; but hear ing that the King of Norway was coming againft them with a fuperior fleet, they departed 3 and were driven by a ftorm on fhoals, where part of the fleet was wrecked,and the reft were fav- ed on Grifland, "a great ifland but not inhab^ ited." Zichmni then determined to attack Iceland, \vhich belonged to the King of Norway ; but finding it well fortified and defended, and his fleet being diminifhed, he retired and built a fort in Brefs, one of feven fmall iflands, where he left Nicolo and returned to Frifland. In the next fpring Zeno, with three fmall barks,failed to the northward on difcovery, and arrived at JLngroenland ; where he found a monaftery of Friars, and a Church dedicated to St. Thomas, fituate near a volcano, and heated Z E N (X 69 heated by warm fprings flowing from the mountain. After the death of Nicolo, which happen ed in about four years, Antonio fucceeded him, in the command of the fleet $ and the prince Zichmni, aiming at the fovereignty of the fea, undertoook an expedition ivejiivard, be- caufe that fome fi (her men had difcovered rich and populous iflands in that quarter. The report of the filherrnen was, that above a thoufand miles weftward from Frifland, to which difbnce they had been driven by a tem ped, there was an ifland call Eftotiland, which they had difcovered twenty fix years before > that fix men in one boat were driven upon the ifland, and being taken by the inhabitants were brought into a fair and populous city ; that the King of the place fent for many in terpreters, but none was found who could underftand the language of the fimermen, ex cept one who could fpeak Latin, and he had formerly been caft afhore on the ifiand ; that on his reporting their cafe to the King, he detained them five years, in which time they learned the language ; that one of them vifited divers parts of the ifland, and reported, that it was a very rich .country, E 3 abounding 7 o Z E N O. abounding with all the commodities of tl world ; that it was lefs than Iceland, but far more fruitful, having in the middle a very high mountain, from which originated four rivers. The inhabitants were defcribed as very in genious, having all mechanic arts. They had a peculiar kind of language and letters ; and in the King's library were preferved Latin books, which they did not understand. They had all kinds of metals (but efpecially gold, with which they mightily abounded.*) They held traffic with the people of Engroenland, from whence they brought furs, pitch and brimflone. They had many great fbrefts, which fupplied them with timber for the building of mips, houfes and fortifications. The ufe of the loadftone was not known ; but thefe fimermen having the mariner's compafs, were held in fo high eftimation, that the King fent them with twelve barks to a country at the fouthward, called Droglo where the moft of them were killed and devoured by cannibals ; but one of them faved himfelf by mowing the favages a way of tak ing * This paflage is in Hakkyt's tranflation and the abridgment ky Ortelius ; but Dr. Forfter could not find it in the Italian original of Rajnufio. Northern voyages, p. 1 89. ZEN O. 71 ing n(h by nets> in much greater plenty than by any other mode before known among them. This nfherman was in fo great demand with the princes of the country, that they frequently made war on each other for the fake of gaining him. In this manner he pafT- ed from one to another, till in the fpace of thirteen years, he had lived with twenty five different princes ; to whom he communicated his " miraculous" art of nlhing with nets. He thus became acquainted with every part of the country, which he defcribed to be fo extenlive as to merit the name of a new world. The people were rude and ignorant of the ufe of clothing, though their climate was cold, and afforded beafts for the chace. In their hunting and wars they ufed the bow and the lance - t but they knew not the ufe of metal. Farther to the fouthweft the air was faid to be more temperate and the people more civil. They dwelt in cities* built temples, and worshipped idols to whom they offered human victims ; and they had plenty of gold and filver. The fimerman having become fully ac quainted with the country meditated a return. Having fled through the woods to Drogio, E 4 after 72 ZEN O. after three years fome boats arrived from Ef- totiiand in one of which he embarked for that country ; and having acquired confidera- ble property he fitted out a bark of his own and returned to Frifland. Such was the report of the fimerman up on hearing of which Zichmni refolved to equip his fleet and go in fearch of the new country ; Antonio Zeno being the fecond in command. But "the preparation for the voyage to Eftotiland was begun in an evil hour ; the fimerman who was to have been the pilot died three days before their depar ture." However, taking certain mariners who had failed with the fifherman, Zichmni began the intended voyage. When he had failed afmall diflance to the weflward, he was overtaken by a ftorm which lafted eight days, at the end of which they difcovered land, which the natives called Icarw. They were numerous and for midable and would not permit him to come on more. From this place they failed fix days to the weflward with a fair wind - f but a heavy gale from the fouthward drove them four days before it, when they difcovered land, in which was a volcano. The air was mild and temperate, it being the height of fummer. They ZENO. 73 They took a great quantity of fifh, of fea fowl and their eggs. A party who penetrated the country as far as the foot of the volcano, found a fpring, from which iffued "a certain water, like pitch, which ran into the fea." They difcovered fome of the inhabitants who were of fmall flature and wild -, and who, at the approach of the Grangers, hid themfelves in their caves. Having found a good harbour; Zichmni intended to make a fettlement; but his people oppofing it, hedifmified part of the fleet under Zeno who returned to Frifland. The particulars of this narrative were firft written by Antonio Zeno, in letters to his brother Carlo, at Venice ; from fome fragments of which, a compilation was made by Fran- cifco Marcolini, and preferved by Ramufio. It was tranilated by Richard Hakluyt, and printed in the third volume of the fecond edition of his colle&ions, page 121, &c. From it Ortelius has made an extract in his The at rum or bis. Dr. Forfter has taken much pains to exam ine the whole account,both geographically and hiftorically. The refult of his inquiry is, that Frifland is one of the Orkneys - y that Porland is the clufter of iflands called Faro ; and that Eftland is Shetland. At 74 Z E N a At firft indeed he was of opinion that "the countries defcribed by the Zenos actually ex- ifted at that time, but had fince been fwal- lowed up by the fea, in a great earthquake."* This opinion he founded on the probability that all the high iflands in the middle of the fea are of volcanic original $ as is evident with refpecl to Iceland and the Faro iflands in the North Sea ; the Azores, Tenerifte, Madeira, the Cape de Verds, St. Helena and Afceniion in the Atlantic ; the Society Iflands, Otaheite, Eafter, the Marquefas, and other ifland? in the Pacific. This opinion he was induced to relinquifh, partly becaufe * fo great a re volution muft have left behind it fome hifto- rical veftiges or traditions ;" but, principally, becaufe his knowledge of the Runic language luggefted to him a refemblance between the names mentioned by Zeno and thofe which are given to fome of the iflands of Orkney, Shetland, Faro and the Hebrides. However prefumptucus it may appear to call in queftion the opinion of fo learned and diligent an inquirer, on a fubject, which his philological and geographical knowledge muft * Northern voyages, Dublin edition^ p. 200. 2 E N O. 75 fnuft enable him to examine with the greateft precilion ; yet, from the fearch which I have had opportunity to make, it appears probable to me that his firft opinion was right, as far as it refpects Friiland, and perhaps Porland. My reafons are thefe : i . Dr. Forfter fays that Frifland was " much larger than Iceland ;"* and Hakluyt, in his account of Zeno's voyage, fpeaks of it as "bigger than Ireland. "-f- Neither of thefe accounts can agree with the fuppofition of its being one of the Orkneys ; for Iceland is 346 miles long and 200 wide. Ireland is 310 in length, and 184 in breadth; but Pomona, the mainland of the Orkneys, is but 22 miles long and 20 wide. 2. Frifland was feen by Martin Frobifher in each of his three voyages to and from Greenland in the years 1576, 1577, and 1578.5 In his firft voyage he took his de parture from Foula, the wefternmoft of the Shetland Iflands, in lat. 60 30', and after failing W. by N. fourteen days, he made the land of Frifland, " bearing W. N. W. diftant 16 leagues, in lat. 6i." In his fecond voyage he failed from the Orkneys W. N. W, twen ty * Page 181. i Vol. iii, p. 122. 4 Hakluyt, \ f ol, iii, p. 30, &c. 76 Z E N O. ty fix days, before he came " within making of Frifland $" which he thus defcribes. "July 4th. We made land perfcd:, and knew it to be Frifland. Found ourfelves in lat. 6oi and were fallen in with the fouth- ernmoft part of this land. It is thought to be in bignefs not inferior to England ; and is called of fome authors Weft Frifland. I think it lieth more weft than any part of Europe. It extendeth to the north very far, as feemed to us ; and appeareth by a defcription fet out by two brethren Nicolo and Antonio Zeni ; who being driven off from Ireland about 200 years fmce, were (hip wrecked there. They have in their fea charts defcribed every part,, and, for fo much of the land as we have failed along, comparing their charts with the coaft, we find it very agreeable. All along this coaft the ice lieth as a continual bulwark, and fo defendeth the country, that thofe who would land there incur great danger. "-j~ In his third voyage he found means to land on the ifland. The inhabitants fled and hid themfelves. Their tents were made of fkins and their boats were like thole of Greenland. From thefe well authenticated accounts of Frifland, t Htfklurt, vol. iii. p. 62 Z E N O. 77 Frifland, and its lituation fo far weftward of the Orkneys and Shetland, it feems impofliblc that Dr. Forfter's fecond opinion can be right. 3 . One of the reafons which led the Doctor to give up his firft opinion, that theie lands once exifled, but had difappeared, was, that fo great a revolution muft have left fome veftige behind. If no perfon efcaped to tell the news, what better veftige can there be, than the existence of moals or rocks, in the places where thefe iflands once were known to be ? In a map prefixed to Crantz's hiftory of Green land, there is marked a very extenfive ihoal between the latitudes of 59 and 60, called "The funken land of Bufs." Its longitude is between Iceland and Greenland, and the author fpeaks of it in thefe words, " Some are of opinion that Frifland was funk by an earth quake j and that it was iituate in thofe parts where the funken land of Bufs is marked in the maps -, which the feamen cautioufly a- void, becaufe of the mallow ground and tur bulent waves."* Refpecting Bufs Ifland I have met with no other account than what is preferved by Pur- chas-f- in his abridgment of the journal of James * Vol. i, p. 273, t Vol. iv, p. 815, 822. 7 8 ZEN O. James Hall's voyages from Denmark to Greenland. In his firft voyage [A. D. 1605] he remarks thus, " Being in the latitude of 59^- we looked to have feen Buffe Ifland; but I do verily fuppofe the fame to be placed in a wrong latitude in the marine charts." In his fecond voyage [1606] he faw land which he " fuppofed to be Buffe Ifland lying more to the weftward than it is placed in the ma rine charts," and the next day, viz. July 2d. he writes, " we were in a great current fet- ting S. S. W. which I fuppofe to fet between Buffe Ifland and Frifland over toward Ameri ca." In a fourth voyage made in 1 6 1 2 by the fame James Hall, from England, for the dif- covery of a N. W. paffage, of which there is a journal written by John Gatonbe and pre- ferved in Churchill's Collections,* they kept a good look out both in going and returning for the ifland of Frifland but could not fee it. In a map prefixed to this voyage, Frifland is laid down between the latitude of 61 and 62; and Bufs in the latitude of 57. In Gaton- be's journal the diftance between Shetland and Frifland is computed to be 260 leagues, the fouthernmoft * Vol. vi, p. 260, 268. Z E N O. 79 fouthernmoft part of Frifland and the north- ernmoft part of Shetland are faid to be in the tfame latitude. There is alfo a particular map of Frifland preferved by Purchas* in which are delineated feveral towns and cities ; the two iflands of Ilofo and Ledovo are laid down to the weflward of it, and another called Stro- rnio to the eaftward. In a map of the North Seas prefixed to an anonymous account of Greenland, in Church^ ill's Collection-)- we find Frifland laid down in the latitude 62, between Iceland and Greenland. We have then no reafon to doubt the exif- tence of thefe iflands as late as .the beginning of the laft century ; at what time they dif- appeared is uncertain, but that their place has fince been occupied by a fhoal, we have alfo credible teftimony. The appearance and difappearance of iflands in the northern fea is no uncommon thing, Befides former events of this kind there is one very recent. In the year 1783, by means of a volcanic eruption, two iflands were produc ed in the fea near the S. E. coaft of Iceland, One was fuppofed to be fo permanent, that the King * Vol. ivj p, 625, t Vol. if, p. 378. 8o Z E N O. King of Denmark fent and took formal pof- feffion of it as part of his dominions ; but the Ocean, paying no regard to the territorial claim of a mortal fovereign, has fince reabforbed id in his watery bofom.* Thefe reafons incline me to believe that Dr. Forfler's firft opinion was well founded, as far as it refpe6ls Frifland. He fuppofes Porland to be the clufter of iflands called Faro-f-. But Porland is faid to lie fouth\ of Frifland ; whereas the Faro Iflands lie northweji of Orkney,which he fup pofes to be Frifland, The learned Doctor, who is in general very accurate, was not aware of this inconfiftency. In the account which Hakloyt has given of Martin Frobifher's third voyage, we find that one of his fhips, the Bufs of Bridgevvater, in her return fell in with land, 50 leagues S. E. of Frifland " which (it is faid) was never found before" the fouthernmoft part of which lay in latitude 57^. Along the coaft of this land,which they judged to extend 25 leagues, they failed for three days. The exiftence of this * See a new Geographical Grammar, by a Society in Edin burgh, published by Alexander Kincaid. Vol. i,p. 123. t Northern Voyages, p. 207. | ibidj p. 180. Hakluyt, vol. iii, p. -y-j, 93. Z E N O. 81 this land, Dr. Forfter feems to doubt; but yet allows that " if it was then really difcovered it muft have funk afterwards into the fea, as it has never been feen again j or elfe thefe navigators muft have been miftaken in their reckoning." If fuch an ifland or clufter of iflands did exift in the fituation defcribed by Frobifher, it might be the Porland of Zeno > for the fouthernmoft part of Frifland lay in the lat itude of 60^- -, the fouthernmoft part of this land in 57i .in a direction S. E. from it. It was probably called Bufs, by the Englifh, from the name of Frobimer's veflel which difcover- cdit. The only proof which can now be produc ed of this fact muft be the actual exiftence of rocks and moals in or near the fame place. Of this, it is happily in my power to produce the evidence of two experienced mipmafters, of inconteftible veracity, now living. The firft is Ifaac Smith of Maiden, near Bofton, from whofe log book I have made the follow ing extract. " In a voyage from Petersburg to Bofton, in the mip Thomas and Sarah, be longing to Thomas Rullell, Efq. of Bofton, Merchant, Thurfday, Auguft u, 1785, courfe F W. N. W, 82 Z E N O. W. N. W. wind W. S. W. At 4 A. M. difcovered a large rock a head, which for fome time we took to be^a ihip under clofe reefed topfail. At 7, being within two miles, faw breakers under our lee, on which account wore fhip. There are breakers in two places bearing S. E ; one a mile, the other two miles from the rock. It lies in Lit. 57 38' ; lon gitude Weil from London 13 36' , and may be difcovered five leagues off. We founded and had 56 fathom. The rock appears to be about i oo yards in circumference and 50 feet above water. It makes like a hay flack, black be low and white on the top." The other is Nathaniel Goodwin, of Boflon, who, in his homeward pafTage from Amfterdam, on the 1 5th of Auguft 1793, faw the fame rock. According to his obfervation, (which however on that day was a little dubious) it lies in Lit. r7 48' and Ion. 13 46'. He palled within two miles of it to the fouthward and faw breakers to the northward of it. Its appear ance he defcribes in the fame manner with Dmitri. From thefe authorities I am ftronglv in- O * clined to believe that the fhoal denominat ed " the funken land of Bufs " is cither a part Z. fe N O. 83 part of the ancient Frifland or of fome iiland in its neighbourhood j and that the rock and ledges feen by Smith and Goodwin, belonged to v *he clutter once called Porland. If thefe concluiions be admitted, there can be no fuf- picion of fiction in the ftory of Zeno, as far as it refpedts Prince Zichmni, and his expedi tions. Shetland may then well enough agree with Eilland, which is defcribed by Hakluyt as lying " between Frifland and Norway."* The only place which in Zeno's relation is called by the fame name, by which it is now known, is Iceland ; though there can be no doubt that Engroenland, or Engroveland, is the fame with Greenland ; where, according to Crantz, there Was once a church dedicated to St. Thomas, and iituate near a volcano and a hot fpring.'j- But the queftion is, where fhall we find Eftotiland ? Dr. Forfler is pofitive that " it cannot be any other country, than Winland (difcovered in 1001) where the Normans made a fettlement." The Latin books feen there by the fimerrmn, he fuppofes to have been the library of Eric, Biiliop of Greenland, who went thither in the twelfth century to convert * Vol. iii, p. 122. 111. p. f Crantz's hift. of Greenland, vol. ii, p. 265. Purchas, vol. iv, p. 651. T- 84 Z E N O. convert his countrymen. He is alfo of opi nion that this fifherman had the ufe of the magnetic needle which began to be known in Europe about the year 1302, before \:he time of the Zenos. He allb thinks that the country called Progio is the fame with Florida. In fome of the old maps, particularly in Sanfon's French Atlas, the name Eftotiland is marked on the country of Labrador ; but the pompous defcription of it by the fifher- man, whether it be Labrador or Newfound land, exceeds all the bounds of credibility, and abufes even the licence of a traveller. The utmofl extent of Zichmni's expedition, in confequence of the fimerman's report, could not be any farther weftward than Greenland, to which his defcription well agrees. The original inhabitants were (hort of ftature, half wild and' lived in caverns ; and between the years 1380 and 1384 they had extirpated the Normans and the monks of St. Thomas. The difcovery of Eftotiland muft therefore reft on the report of the fimerman j but the defcription of it, of Drogio, and the Coun try S. W. of Drogio muft be ranked in the fabulous hiftory of America ; and would pro bably Z E N O. 5 bably have been long fince forgotten, if Chrif- topher Columbus had not made his grand dif- covery ; from the merit of which, his rivals and the enemies of the Spanim nation have uniformly endeavoured to detradt. IV CHRISTOPHER 86 IV. CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS. 1 HE adventures which have been al ready fpoken of were more the refult of acci dent than defign j we are now entering on one, founded in fcience and conducted by judg ment ; an adventure, which whether we re gard its conception, its execution, or its con- fequences, will always reflect the higheft hon our on him, who projected it. About the middle of the fifteenth century, when the Portuguefe under the conduct of Prince Henry, and afterward of King John II, were puming their difcoveries along the wef- tern more of Africa, to find a paflage by the fouth to India j a genius arofe, whofe memory has been preferved with veneration in the pages of hiftory, as the instrument of enlarging thr region of fcience and commerce, beyond any of his prcdeceffors. CHRISTOPHER CO LUMBUS, a native of the Republic of Genoa, was born in the year 1447, and at the age of fourteen entered on a feafaring life, as the proper fphere, in which his vigorous mind was deftined to perform exploits which mould COLUMBUS. 87 ftiould aftonim mankind.* He was educated in the fciences of Geometry and Aftronomy, which form the bafis of navigation ; and he was well verfed in Cofmography, Hiftory and Philofophy. His a&ive and enterprifing ge nius, though it enabled him to comprehend the old fyftems, yet would not fuffer him to reft in their decifions, however inclined by time or by venerable names ; but determined to examine them by actual experiment, he firft vifited thefeas within the polar circle, and afterward thofe parts of Africa, which the Portuguefe had difcovered, as far as the coaft of Guinea ; and by the time that he had at tained the age of thirty feven, he had from his own experience received the fulleft con viction, that the opinion of the ancients refpecting the torrid and frigid zones was void of any j uft foundation. When an old fvftem is found erroneous in j one point, it is natural to fufpedt it of farther imperfections ; and when one difficulty is overcome, others appear lefs formidable. Such was the cafe with Columbus ; and his views were accelerated by an incident, which threat ened * Life of Columbus by his fon Ferdinand,, Chap. 4. -See vol. ii. of Churchill's Collection of Voyages. Herrera's Hilt. Amer. vol. i. I'' 4 88 COLUMBUS. ened to put an end to his life. During one of his voyages, the fhip in which he failed took fire, in an engagement with a Venetian galley, and the crew were obliged to leap into the fea, to avoid perifhing in the flames. In this extremity, Columbus, by the help of a floating oar, fwam upwards of two leagues to the coaft of Portugal near Lifbon, and met with a welcome reception from many of his countrymen who were fettled there. At Lifbon, he married the daughter of Pereflrello, an old feaman, who had been con cerned in the difcovery of Porto Santo and Madeira - y from whofe journals and charts, he received the higheft entertainment. Pur- fuing his inquiries in Geography, and obferv- ing what flow progrefs the Portuguefe made in their attempts to find a way round Africa to India, * he began to reflect that as the Portuguefe travelled fo far ibuthward, it were no lefs proper to fail weftward," and that it was reafonable to expe<5t to find the defired land in that direction . It muft here be remembered, that India was in part known to the ancients, and that its rich and ufeful productions had for many centuries been conveyed into Europe, either bv COLUMBUS. 89 by caravans through the defarts of Syria and Arabia ; or by the way of the Red Sea, through Egypt, into the Mediterranean.* This lucrative commerce had been fuccerTive- ly engrofled by the Phenicians, the Hebrews, the Egyptians, the Affyrians, the Palmyrenes, the Arabians, the Genoefe and the Venetians. The Portuguefe were then feeking it by at tempting the circumnavigation of Africa ; and their expectation of finding it in that di rection was grounded on ancient hiftorical traditions, that a voyage had been formerly made by the orders of Necho King of Egypt, from the Red Sea, round the fouthern part of Africa to the ftraits of Hercules j and that the fame route had been traverfed by Hanno the Carthaginian, by Eudoxus the Egyptian, and others, The Portuguefe had confumed about half a century in making va rious attemps, and had advanced no farther, on the weftern coaft of Africa, than juft to crofs the Equator, when Columbus conceived his grfcat defign of finding India in the weft. The caufes which led him to entertain this idea are diftinguimed by his fon, the writer pf his life, into thefe three - y " natural reafon, the * Rob^rtfon's India. Bruce's Travels. no COLUMBUS. y the authority of writers, and the teftimony of failors." By the help of " reafon," he argued in this manner : That the earth and fea compofed one globe or fphere. This was known by obierving the fhadow of the earth in lunar eclipfes. Hence he concluded that it might be travelled over from eaft to weft, or from weft to eaft. It had been explored to the eaft by fome European travellers as far as Cipango, or Japan 5 and as far weft ward as the Azores or Weftern Iflands. The remaining ipace, though now known to be more than half, he luppoied to be but one third part of the cir cumference of the globe. If this fpace were an open fea, he imagined it might be eafily failed over ; and if there were any land extend ing eaftwardly beyond the known limits of Alia, he fuppoied that it muft be nearer to Spain by the weft, than by the eaft. For, it was then a received opinion that the conti nent and iflands of India extended over one .- third part of the circumference of the globe ; that another third part was comprehended between India and the weftern fhore of Spain ; therefore it was concluded, that the eaftern part of India muft be as near to Spain as C O L U M B U S. 91 as the weftern part. This opinion though now known to be erroneous, yet being then admitted as true, made it appear to Columbus very eafy and practicable to difcover India' in the weft. He hoped alib that between Spain and India, in that direction, there might be found fome hlands ; by the help of -which, as refting places in his voyage, he might the better purfue his main del^r. The probabil ity of the e:;iflen:e of land in that' Ocean, he -argued, p. ,,n the opinioa of philofo- phers,' that there was more land than lea on the "fur face or" the globe ; and partly from the necelTiL- a counterpoiie in the weft, for the irhmen.fc quantity of: land which was known to be in the eaft. Another fource, from which he drew his conclufion, was, " the authority of learned men," who had affirmed the pombility of failing from the weftern coaft of Spain, to the eaftern bounds of India. Some of the ancient Geographers had admitted this for truth, and one of them* had affirmed that forty days were fufficient to perform this, navigation. Thefe authorities fell in with the theory which Columbus had formed ; and having, as early as 1474, communicated his ideas in * Plinv. writing 92 COLUMBUS. writing, to Paul a learned phyfician of Flo rence, he received from him letters of that date, Confirming his opinion and encouraging his defign ; accompanied with a chart, in which Paul had laid down the city of Quifay (fup- pofed to be the capital of China) but little more than two thoufand leagues weftward from Lifbon, which in fact is but half te diftance. Thus, by arguing from true prin ciples, and by indulging conjectures partly well founded and partly erroneous, Columbus was led to the execution of a plan, bold in its conception, and, to his view, eafily practicable -, for great minds overlook intermediate obfta- cles, which men of fmaller views magnify into infuperable difficulties. The third ground on which he formed his idea was " the teftimony of mariners ;" a clafs of men who at that time, and in that imper fect ftate of fcience, were too prone to mix fable with fact -, and were often milled by appearances, which they could not folve. In the fea, between Madeira and the Weftern Iflands, pieces of carved wood and large joints of cane had been difcovered, which were fup- pofed to be brought by wefterly winds. Branch es of pine trees, a covered canoe, and two hu man COLUMBUS. 93 man bodies of a complexion different from the Europeans and Africans had been found on the mores of thefe iflands. Some navigators had affirmed, that they had feen iflands not more than an hundred leagues weft ward from the Azores. There was a tradition, that when Spain was conquered by the Moors in the eighth century, feven Bifhops, who were exiled from their country, had built feven cities and churches, on an iiland called An- til la 5 which was fuppofed to be not more than two hundred leagues weft of the Canaries ; and it was faid that a Portuguefe fhip had once difcovered this ifland, but could never find it again. Thefe ftories, partly true and partly fabulous, had their effecl: on the mind of Columbus. He believed that iflands were were to be found, weft ward of the Azores and. Canaries ; though according to his theory, they were at a greater diftance than any of his contemporaries had imagined. His candour led him to adopt an opinion from Pliny ref- pefting floating iflands, by the help of which he accounted for the appearances related to him, by his marine brethren. It is not im probable that the large iflands of floating ice, driven from the Polar Seas to the fouthward ; or 94 COLUMBUS. or the Fog Banks, which form many fingu- )ar appearances reiembling land and trees, might have been the true foundation of this opinion and of thefe reports.* It * The following account of a curious deception, extracted from ! he Gentleman's Magazine, may. elucidate the above obfervations. " March 4, 1748 9,' at two in the afternoon, made land which bore N. E. feven leagues diflance by cflnnation : at five tacked, being about three leagues from faid iflindj wind E. S. E. latitude : V obfcrvation 49 40' ; longitude 24 30', from the Lizard. This ifiand flretches N. W. and S. E. about 5 leagues long, and 9 miles wide. On the fouth fide fine valleys and a great number of birds. March 5, faid ifiand bore N. three leagues, N. W. a reef of rocks three miles. This day a fhip's malt came along fide. On the fouth point of faid ifiand is a fmall maffhy ifiand." " A copy of my journal on board the fnow St. Paul, of London, bound from South Carolina to London. William Otton, Commander." P. S. Captain Otton thought he faw a tent on thr ifland, and would have gone afhore, but had unfortunately ftove his boat fome tin.vj before. * ; Commodore Rodney is commiflioned to go in qnefl of an ifiand, which, according to the report of a mailer of a fhip, and fome others, on examination before the Lords of the Admiralty, lies anout 50 N. and about 300 leagues well of England. Capt. Murdock Mackenzie, an excellent mathematician, and author of the fea charts uf the Orkney and Lewis if!..r,ds, attends him in the Culloden floop, to bring back an account of what difcoverics he may make. As this ifiand lies out c f the track of the trade to America, it is fuppofed to have been mi fled by navigators to our colonies, though marked in for:e Dutch maps. If the Com modore difcovrrs it, he is to take pofL-flion of it by the name of Rodney's iilund." " Friday COLUMBUS. 95 It is not pretended that Columbus was 'the only perfon of his age who had acquired thefe ideas of the form, dimenfions and balancing of the globe ; but he was one of the few who had begun to think for themfelves, and he had a genius of that kind, which makes ufe of fpeculation and reaibning only as excite ments to action. He was not a clofet pro jector, but an enterprifing adventurer - y and having efbblimed his theory on principles, he was determined to exert himfelf to the utmoft, to demonftrate its truth by experi ment. But deeming the enterprife too great to be undertaken by any but a fovereign ftate, he firit applied (as it is faid) to the Republic of Genoa, by whom his project was treated as vifionary.* He then propofed his plan to John "Friday, April 10, 1752, Commodore Rodney arrived at Woolwich ; he had been cruifmg ten days in qucft of an ifland, and the men at the top-mafl-head were more than once deceived with what the i'ailors call fog-banks. About the 6th or ^th day the crew obfcrved branches of trees with their leaves on, and flights of gulls, and pieces of fhipwreck, which are generally re garded as certain figns of an adjacent fhore, but could not difcover any." Gent. Mag. for 1751,^. 235. for 1752,^. 88, 189. N. B. The ifland marked in the Dutch maps, could not have been miftaken for this imaginary ifland, being but a fingle rock. It is the fame that is defcribed in the life of Zeno. Page%2. * This is faid on the authority of Herrera the royal Spanifli hiftorian ; Fer.dinando Columbus, in the life of his father, fayi nothing 96 COLUMBUS. John II. King of Portugal, who, though a Prince of good underftanding and of an en- terpriiing difpofition, yet was fo deeply engag ed in profecuting difcoveries on the African coaft, with a view to find a way to India round that continent ; and had been at fo vaft an ex- penie without any confiderable fuccefs, that he had no inclination to accept the terms which Columbus propofed. Influenced how ever by the advice of Calzadiila, a favourite courtier, he privately gave orders to a {hip, bound to the iflands of Cape de Verd, to at tempt a difcovery in the weft ; but through ignorance and want of enerprife, the naviga tors, after wandering for fome time in the o- cean and making no difcovery, reached their deftincd port and turned the project of Co lumbus into ridicule. Difgufted with this bafe artifice, he quitted Portugal, and went to Ferdinand, King of Spain, having previoufly fent his brother to England to folicit the patronage of Henry VII. But being taken by pirates, and detain ed feveral years in captivity, Bartholomew had it not in his power to reveal his project to Henry, nothing of it ; but reprefents his application to the King of Por tugal as th anc ^ on tne 28th of the fame month, the King and Queen of Spain, by a written inftrument, explained and confirmed the privileges and powers which they had before granted to Columbus, making the office of Viceroy and Governor of the Indies hereditary in his family. On the 25th of September following, he failed from Cadiz, with a fleet of feventeen mips, great and fmall, well furnimed with all necef- G 4 fanes 704 COLUMBUS. faries for the voyage ; and having on board 1500 people, with horfes, cattle, and imple ments to efHblith plantations. On Sunday the third of November, he dif- covered an ifland, to which, in honour of the dav, he gave the name of Dominica. After ward he discovered in fuccefllori other iflands, which he called Marigalante, Guadaloupe, Montferrat, Redonda, Antigua, St. Martin's, St. Urfula, and St. John. On the I2th of November he came to Navidad, on the North fide of Hifpaniola, where he had built his fort, and left his colony - t but he had the mortification to find, that the people were all dead, and that the fort had been deftroyed. The account given by the natives, of the lofs of the colony, was, that they fell intodif- cord among themfelves, on the ufual fubjects of controverfy, women and gold ; that having provoked a chief, whole name was Canaubo, he came againft them with a fuperior force, and deftroyed them j that fome of the natives, in attempting to defend them, had been kill ed, and others were then ill of their wounds ; which, on infpection, appeared to have been made with Indian weapons. Columbus prudently forbore to make any critical inquiry into the matter , but hafted to COLUMBUS. 105 to eftablifh another colony, in a more eligible fituation, to the eaftward ; which he called Ifabella, after his royal patronefs. He had many difficulties to contend with, befides thofe which unavoidably attend undertakings of fuch noveky and magnitude. Nature in deed was bountiful : the foil and climate pro duced vegetation, with a rapidity to which the Spaniards had not been accuftomed. From wheat fown at the end of January, full ears were gathered at the end of March. The ftones of fruit, the flips of vines and the joints of fugar cane fprouted in feven days, and ma ny other feeds in half the time. This was an encouraging profpect -, but the flow ope rations of agriculture did not meet the views of fanguine adventurers. The numerous fol lowers of Columbus, fome of whom were of the befl families in Spain, had conceived hopes of fuddenly enriching themfelves, by the pre cious metals of thofe new regions ; and were not difpofed, to liften to his recommendations of patience and induflry, in cultivating the earth. The natives were difpleafed with the licentioufnefs of their new neighbours ; who endeavoured to keep them in awe by a dif- play of force. The explofion of fire arms, and io6 COLUMBUS. and the light of men mounted on horfes, were at firft, obje&s of terror ; but ufe had render ed them lefs formidable. Columbus, over burdened with care and fatigue, fell fick, and at his recovery, found a mutiny among his men ; which, by a due mixture of refolution and lenity, he had the addrefs to quell. He then endeavoured to eftablifh difcipline among his own people, and to employ the natives in cutting roads through the woods. Whilfl he was prefent, and able to attend to bufinefs, things went on fo profperoufly, that he thought he might fafely proceed on his dif- coveries, In his former voyage he had vifited Cuba j but was uncertain whether it were an ifland or a part of fome continent. He therefore patted over to its eaftern extremity ; and coaft- ed its fouthern fide, till he found himfelf en tangled among a vaft number of fmall iilands, which for their beauty and fertility he called the Garden of the Queen j but the dangerous rocks and fhoals, which furrounded them, obliged him to ftretch farther to the fouth- ward ; by which means, he difcovered the ifland of Jamaica ; where he found water and other refreshments for his men, who were almoft COLUMBUS. 107 almoft dead with famine. The hazard, fa tigue and diftrefs of this voyage, threw him into a lethargic diforder, from which he had juft recovered, when he returned to his colo ny and found it all in confufion ; from the fame caufes which had proved deftructive to the firft. In his abfence, the licentioufnefs of the Spaniards had provoked feveral of the chiefs ; four of whom had united to deftroy them, and had actually commenced hoftilities, in which twenty Spaniards were killed. Co^ lumbus collected his people, put them into the beft order, and by a judicious combination of force and ftratagem gained a decifive victo-^ ry, to which the horfes and dogs did not a little contribute. At his return to Hifpaniola, he had the pleafure of meeting his brother Bartholomew, whom he had not feen for feveral years, and whom he fuppofed to have been dead. Bar tholomew was a man of equal knowledge, ex perience, bravery and prudence with himfelf. His patience had endured a fevere trial in their long feparation. He had many obftacles to furmount, before he could get to England and obtain accefs to the King. He was at Paris io8 COLUMBUS. Paris when he heard of the fuccefs of his brother's firft enterprize ; who had gone on the fecond, before Bartholomew could get to Spain. On his arrival there, and being intro duced to the court, he was appointed to the command of three (hips, which were def- tined to convey fupplies to the colony ; and he arrived whilft Chriftopher was abfent on his voyage to Cuba and Jamaica. Columbus ap pointed his brother to command at Ifabella, whilft he went into the interior part of the ifland, to perfect his conqueft, and reduce the natives to fubjection and tribute. The Indians were fo unufed to collect gold duft, in fuch quantities as their conquerors demanded it, that they offered to plant the imqjenfe plains of Hifpaniola, and pay an e- quivalent in corn. Columbus was ftruck with the magnanimity of the propofal ; and in con- fequence, moderated the tribute. This did not fatisfy the avarice of his fellow adventu rers, who found means to complain of him to the King's minifters, for his negligence in acquiring the only commodity, which they thought deferved the name of riches. The Indians then defifted from planting their ufual quantity of corn, and attempted to fubfift chiefly COLUMBUS. 109 chiefly on animal food. This experiment proved injurious to themfelves as well as to their conquerors ; and it was computed, that within four years, from the firft difcovery of ths ifland, one third part of its inhabitants pcriflied. The complaints againft Columbus fo wrought on the jealous mind of King Ferdi nand, that John Aguado, who was lent, in 1495, with fupplies to the colony, had or ders to at as a ipy on his conduct. This man behaved with fo little difcretion, as to feck matter of accufation, and give out threats againft the Admiral. At the fame time, the fhips which he commanded, being deftroyed by a hurricane, he had no means left to return ; till Columbus, knowing that he had enemies at home and nothing to fupport him but his own merit, refolved to go to Spain, with two caravels ; himfelf in one, and Aguado in the other. Having appointed proper perfons to command the feveral forts $ his brother Bar tholomew to fuperintend the whole, and his brother James to be next in authority ; he fet fail on the tenth of March 1496, and after a perilous and tedious voyage, in the tropical latitudes, i jo COLUMBUS. latitudes, arrived at Cadiz on the eleventh of June. His prefence at Court, with the gold and other valuable articles which he carried home, removed, in fome meaiure, the prejudices which had been excited againft him. But his enemies, though filent, were not idle ; and in a court, where phlegm and languor proved a clog to the fpirit of enterprize, they found it not difficult to obftrudt his views ; which, notwithstanding all discouragements, were ftill pointed to the difcovery of a way to India by the weft. He now demanded eight (hips, to carry fupplies to his colony, and fix to go on dif covery. Thefe demands were complied with, and he began his third voyage on the thir tieth of May 1498. He keptacourfe fo far to the fouthward, that not only his men, but his provisions and water fuftered greatly from ex- ceffive heat. The firft land he made after leaving the liles of Cape de Verd, was a large ifland which he named Trinidad, from its ap pearance in the form of three mountains. He then panned through a narrow {trait and whirl pool into the gulf of Paria ; where, obferv- ing the tide to be rapid, and the water brack- ifli, COLUMBUS. in ifli, he conje&ured, that the land, on the weftern and fouthern fides of the gulf, was part of a continent ; and that the frefh water proceeded from fome great rivers. The people on the coaft of Paria were whiter than thofe of the iflands. They had about their necks plates of gold and firings of pearl ; which they readily exchanged for piec es of tin and brafs, and little bells * f and when they were queflioned whence they obtained the gold and pearls, they pointed to the weft. The Admiral's proviiion not allowing him to ftay long in this place $ he paffed again, through that dangerous ftrait, to which he gave the name of the Dragon's Mouth $ and having fatisfied himfelf, that the land On his left was a continent, he fleered to the N. W j difcovering Margarita and feveral other iflands in his courfe ; and on the thirtieth of Auguft, arrived at the harbour of St. Domingo, in Hifpaniola -, to which place his brother had removed the colony in his abfence, in con- fequence of apian preconcerted between them. Wearied with inceflant care and watching, in this dangerous voyage, he hoped now to enjoy repofe j inftead of which he found his colony much reduced by deaths ; many of the ii2 C O L U M BUS. the furvivors fick, with a difenfe, the peculiar confequence of their debauchery ; and a large number of them in aclual rebellion. They had formed themfelves into a body ; they had gained over many of the Indians, under pre tence of protecting them ; and they had retir ed to a diilant part of the ifland, which prov ed a refort for the feditious and difcontented. Their commander was Francis Roldan, who had been Chief Juflice of the colony ; and their number was fo confiderable, that Columbus could not command a force fufficient to fubdue them. He therefore entered into a negociation, by offering a pardon to thofe who would fubmit, and liberty of returning to Spain to thofe who defired it. Thefe offers, however impolitic, proved fuccefsful. Roldan himfelf accepted them, and perfuaded~others to do the fame ; then, being reflored to his office, he tried and condemned the refractory, fome of whom were put to death. An account of this mutiny was fent home to Spain by Columbus and another by Rol dan. Each had their advocates at court, and the caufe was heard by the King and Queen. Roldan and his men were accufed of adultery, perjury, robbery, murder, and difturbing the peace COLUMBUS. 113 peace of the whole ifland ; whilil Columbus was charged with cruelty to individuals, aim ing at independence, and engroiTing the tribute. It was infinuated,that not being a native of Spain, he had no proper refped: for the noble fami lies, who had become adventurers ; and that the debts due to them could not be recovered. It was fuggefted, that if fome remedy were not fpeedily applied, there was danger that he would revolt, and join with forne other Prince; and that to compafs this defign, he had con cealed the real wealth of the colony, and pre vented the converfion of the Indians to the Catholic faith. Thefe iniinuations prevailed on the jea- loufy of Ferdinand, and even ftaggered the conftancy of Ifabella. They refolved to ap point a judge, who mould examine fadls on the fpot -, and if he mould find the Admiral guilty, to fuperfede him. For this purpofe they fent Francis Bovadilla, a man of noble rank, but whofe poverty alone recommended him to the office. Furniftied with thefe pow ers, he arrived at St. Domingo, when Colum bus was abfent -, took lodgings in his houfe ; invited acculers to appear again ft him - f feized on his efFedts, and finally fent him and both H his j 44 C L U M B U 3. his brothers to Spain in three different mips, but all loaded with irons. The matter of the fhip in which the Admiral failed had fo much refpect for him, that, when he had got to fea, he offered to take off his fetters ; but Columbus nobly declared, that he would permit that honour to be done him, by none but his fovereign. In this hu miliating confinement, he was delivered to Fonfeca, Bifhop of Badajos, who had been the chief iniligator of all thefe rigorous proceed ings, and to whom had been committed the affairs of the Indies. Not content with robbing Columbus of his liberty, this prejudiced ecclellaftic would have deprived him of his well earned reputation of having firft difcovered the new continent. With the accufations which Columbus had fent home again ft Roldan, he had tranfmitted an account of the difcovery of the coaft of Paria, which he juflly fuppofed to be part of a continent. Ojeda, an active officer, who had failed with Columbus in his fecond voy age, was at court when thefe difpatches arriv ed, and faw the draught of the difcovery, with the fpecimens of gold and pearls, which the Admiral had fent home. Being a favourite of COLUMBUS. 115 of Fonfeca, he eafily obtained leave to purfue the difcovery. Some merchants of Seville were prevailed upon to equip four fhips ; with which, in 1499, Ojeda followed the track of Columbus, and made land on the coafl of Paria. Amerigo Vefpucci, a Florentine merchant, well fkilled in geography and navigation, accompanied Ojeda in this voyage j and by publiming the firft book and chart, defcribing the new world, obtained the hon our of having it called AMERICA. This however did not happen till after the death of Columbus. Several other adventurers fol lowed the fame track, and all fuppofed that the continent which they had feen, was part of India. As foon as it was known, that Columbus was arrived at Cadiz, (Nov. 5, 1500) in the difgraceful fituation abovementioned, the King and Queen, amamed of the orders which they had given, commanded him to be releafed, and invited him to court, where they apologized for the mifbehaviour of their new Governor, and not only promifed to recal him, but to reftore to the Admiral all his effects. Co lumbus could not forget the ignominy. He preferved the fetters, hung them up in his H 2 apartment, n6 COLUMBUS. apartment, and ordered them to be buried in his grave. Inflead of reinftating him in his government according to the original contract, the King and Queen fent Ovando, to Hifpaniola, to fuperfede Bovadilla ; and only indulged Co lumbus in purfuing his darling projed:, the difcovery of India by the weft, which he ftill hoped to accompliih. He failed again from Cadiz, on the fourth of May, 1502 ; with four vefTels, carrying one hundred and forty men and boys ; of- which number were his brother Bartholomew and his fon Ferdinand, the writer of his life. In his paffage to the Garibbee iflands, he found his largeft veflel, of feventy tons, unfit for the fervice ; and therefore went to St. Do mingo, in hope of exchanging it for' a better; -ind to feek flicker from aftorm which he faw approaching. To his infinite iurprize and mortification, Ovando would not admit him into the port. A fleet of thirty fhips was then ready to fail for Spain, on board of which Roldan and Bovadilla were prifoners. Co- himbus informed Ovando, of the prognoses which he had obferved, which Ovando difre- garded, and the fleet failed. Columbus then laid C O'L U.M B U S. 117 laid three of his veffels, under the lee of the fhore ; and, with great difficulty, rode out the tempeft. His brother put to fea -, and by his great naval flail faved the {hip in which he failed. Of the fleet bound to Spain, eighteen {hips were loft, and in them perimed Roldan and Bovadilla. The enemies of Columbus gave out that he had raifed this {torm by the art of magic ; and fuch was the ignorance of the age, that the ftory was believed : What contributed the more to its credit, was, that one of the worn; {hips of the fleet, on board of which were all the effects which had been faved from the ru ined fortune of Columbus, was the firft which arrived in Spain. The amount of thefe effects was " four thoufand pefos of gold, each of the value of eight {hillings.' 3 The remark which Ferdinando Columbus makes on this event, fo deftructive to theaccufers of his father, is, "I am fatisfied, it was the hand of GOD, who was pleafed to infatuate them ; that they might not hearken to good advice , for had they arrived in Spain, they had never been puniihed, as their crimes deferved ; but rath er favoured and preferred as being the Bimop's friends."* After * Chap. 88. H3 ii8 COLUMBUS. After this ftorm, and another which foU lowed it, Columbus having collected his lit tle fquadron, failed on difcovery toward the continent ; and, fleering to the fouthweft, tarne to an ifland called Guanania, twelve leagues from the coaft of Honduras $ where he met with a large covered canoe, having on fcoard feveral pieces of cotton cloth of divers colours, which the people faid they had brought from the weft ward. The men were armed with fwords of wood, in which fharp flints were ftrongly fixed. Their provifion was maize and roots, and they ufed the ber ries of cocoa as money. When the Admiral inquired for gold, they pointed to the weft, and when he afked for a ftrait by which he might pafs through the land, they pointed to the eaft. From the fpecimens of coloured cloth, he imagined, that they had come from India - t and he hoped to pafs thither, by the ftrait which they defcribed. Purfuing his courfe to the eaft and fouth, he was led to the gulf of Darien ; and vifited feveral harbours among which was one which he called Porto Bello 5 but he found no paflage extending through the land. He then returned to the weftwarfl $ and landed on the coaft of Vera- gua; COLUMBUS. 119 gua - 3 where the beauty and fertility of the "country invited him to begin a plantation, which he called Belem ; but the natives, a fierce and formidable race, deprived him of the honour of firft eftabliming a colony on the continent, by killing forne of his people and obliging him to retire with the others. At fea, he met with tempeftuous weather of long continuance ; in which his mips were fo Shattered, that with the utmoft difficulty he kept them above water, till he ran them afhore on the ifland of Jamaica. By his extraordinary addrefs, he procured from the natives two of their largeft canoes ; in which two of his moft faithful friends, Mendez and Fiefco, accompanied by fome of his failors and a few Indians, embarked for Hif- paniola. After encountering the greateft dif ficulties, in their paiTage, they carried tidings of his misfortune to Ovando, and folicited his aid. The mercilefs wretch detained them eight months, without an anfwer j during which time, Columbus fuffered the fevereft hardOiips, from the difcontent of his compa ny, and the want of provifions. By the hof- pitality of the natives, he at firft received fuch fupplies, as they were able to fpare ; but the H 4 long 120 COLUMBUS. long continuance of thefe guefts had dimin- jfhed their flore, and the infolence of the mu tineers gave a check to their friendfhip. In this extremity, the fertile invention of Co lumbus fuggefted an expedient which proved fuccefsful. He knew that a total eclipfe of the moon was at hand, which would be vifi- ble in the evening. On the preceding day, he fent for the principal Indians, to fpeak with them, on a matter of the utmofl importance. Being aiTembled, he directed his interpreter to tell them, that the GOD of heaven, whom he worshipped, was angry with them, for withold- ing provifion from him, and would puniih them with famine and peftilence ; as a tok en of which, the moon would, in the even ing, appear of an angry and bloody colour. Some of them received his fpeech with ter ror, and others with indifference \ but when the moon rofe, and the eclipie increafed as me advanced from the horizon, they came in crowds, loaded with proviiion, and begged the Admiral to intercede with his GOD, for the removal of his anger. Columbus retired to his cabin -, and when the eclipfe began to go off, he came out and told them, that he had pray ed to his GOD, and had received this anfwer $ that COLUMBUS. 121 that if they would be good for the future, and bring him provifion as he fhould want, GOD would forgive them ; and as a token of it, the moon would put on her ufual brightnefs. They gave him thanks, and prcmifed com pliance ; and whilft he remained on the ifland there was no more want of provifion. At the end of eight months, Ovando fent a fmall veiTel to Jamaica, with a calk of wine, two flitches of bacon, and a letter of compli ment and excufe, which the officer deliver ed ; and without waiting for an anfwer, weighed his anchor the fame evening and fail ed back to Hifpaniola. The men who adhered to Columbus and were with him on board the wrecks, wondered at the fudden departure of the veflel, by which they expected deliverance. Columbus, never at a lofs for an evafion, told them that the caravel was too fmall to take the whole company, and he would not go with out them. This fiction had the defired effecl: ; thofe who adhered to him refumed their pa tience -j but the mutineers became fo infolent that it was neceflary to fubdue them by force. In the conteft ten of them were killed. Por- ras, their leader, was made prifoner and the others efcaped. Bartholomew Columbus and 12Z COLUMBUS. and two others of the Admiral's party were wounded, of whom one died. The fugitives, having loft their leader, thought it befl to fubmit ; and on the next day fent a petition to the Admiral, confefling their fault, and promifmg fidelity. This promife they confirmed by an oath, of which the imprecation was fingular ; " they re nounced, in cafe of failure, any abfolution from Prieft, Bimop, or Pope, at the time of their death ; and all benefit from the facraments of the Church ; confenting to be buried like heathens and infidels in the open field." The Admiral received their fubmiffion, provided that Porras mould continue prifoner, and they would accept a commander of his appoint ment, as long as they mould remain on the ifland. At length a vefTel, which Mendez had been permitted to buy, with the Admiral's money, at Hifpaniola, came to Jamaica, and took them off. On their arrival at St. Do mingo (Auguft 13, 1504) Ovando affe&ed great joy, and treated the Admiral with a (how ofrefpect ; but he liberated Porras, and threat ened with punimment the faithful adherents of Columbus. As foon as the veflel was re fitted, COLUMBUS. 123 fitted, the Admiral took leave of his treach erous hoft, and, with his brother, fon, and fervants, embarked for Spain. After a long and diflreffing voyage, in which the fliip loft her mails, he arrived at St. Lucar, in MaJ *5 5- His patronefs Ifabella had been dead about a year ; and with her, had expired all the favour which he ever enjoyed in the Court of Ferdinand, Worn out with ficknefs and fatigue, difgufted with the infincerity of his Sovereign, and the haughtinefs of his courtiers, Columbus lingered out a year in fruitlefs fo- licitation for his violated rights ; till death relieved him from all his vexations. He died at Valadolid, on the twentieth of May, 1 506, in the 59th year of his age ; and was buried in the cathedral of Seville, with this infcrip- tion on his Tomb, A Caftilla ya Leon, Nuevo Mundo dio Colon. Tranflated thus. To Caflile and Leon, Columbus gave a new World. In the life of this remarkable man there is no deficiency of any quality which can conflitute 124 C O L U M B U S. conftitute a truly great character.* His genius was penetrating, and his judgment folid. He had acquired as much knowledge of the fciences as could be obtained at that day ; and he corrected what he had learned, by his own obfervations. His conftancy and patience were equal to the moft hazard ous undertakings. His fortitude furmount- ed many difficulties j and his invention ex tricated him out of many perplexities. His prudence enabled him to conceal or fubdue his own infirmities ; whilft he took advan tage of the paflions of others, adjufling his behaviour to his circumftances ; temporiz ing, or acting with vigour, as the occafion required. His fidelity to the ungrateful Prince, whom he ferved, and whole dominions he enlarged, mufl render him forever confpicuous as an example of juflice; and his attachment to the Queen, by whofe influence he was raifed and fupported, will always be a monument of his gratitude. To his other excellent qualities maybe add ed his piety. He always entertained, and on proper * Some of thefe obfervations are taken from Dr. Campbell's account of European fcttlements in America, Vol. I. Chap, vhi. C O L U M B U S.' 12-5- proper occafions exprefied, a reverence for the Deity, and a firm confidence in his care and protection. In his declining days, the conta in tions 'of religion were his chief fupport ; and his laft words were, " Into thy hands, O Lord, I commend my fpirit." The perfecution and injuftice which he fuftered, may be traced up to the contract, which he infilled on, before he engaged in the plan of difcovery. That a foreigner mould attain fo high a rank as to' bs "Viceroy for life, and that the honour of an 'Admiral fhould be hereditary in his family, to the ex- clufion of all the nobles of Spain, was more than their pride and jealoufy could endure -, and they conftantly endeavoured to depreciate his merit j the only foundation on which his honours were erected. There is a ftory recorded by Peter Martyr, a contemporary hiftorian, which exemplifies their malice, and his ingenuity in rifing fupe- rior to it. After the death of the Queen, the nobility afFefted to infinuate, that his difcov- eries were more the refult of accident and good fortune, than of any well concerted meafures. One day at a public dinner, Columbus having borne much infulting raillery on that head, at 126 COLUMBUS. at length called for an egg, and afked whether any of them could fet it upright on its little end. They all confefTed it to be impofiible. Columbus flriking it gently, flatted the fhell till it flood upright on the table. The com pany, with a difdainful fneer, cryed out, *' Anybody might have done it." " Yes (faid Columbus) but none of you thought of it; fo I difcovered the Indies, and now every pilot can fleer the fame courfe. Many things appear eafy wjaeo^ pnce performed, though before, they were, thought impoffible. Remember the feoffs that were thrown at me, before I put my defign in execution. Then it was a dream, a chimera, a delufion j now it is what any body might have done as well as I." When this flory was told to Ferdinand, he could .not but admire the grandeur of that fpirit, which at the fame time he was endeav ouring to deprefs. Writers of different countries have treated the character of Columbus according to their prejudices, either national cr perfonal. It is furprifing to obferve, how thefe prejudices have defcended ; and that even at the diftance of three centuries, there are fome, who affect to deny him the virtues for which he was con- fpicucus, COLUMBUS. 127 fpicuous, and the merit of originating a dii- covery, \vhich is an honour to human reafon. His humanity has been called in queftion, becaufe he carried dogs to the Weft Indies, and employed them in extirpating the natives. The truth is, that in his fecond expedition he was accompanied by a number of gentle men of the beil families in Spain.; and many more would have gone if it had been poffible to accommodate them. Thefe gentlemen car ried with them " horfes, afles and other beafts, which were of great ufe in a new plantation." The conflict which Columbus had with the natives was in confequence of the diforderly conduct of thefe Spaniards j who, in his ab- fence, had taken their goods, abufed their women and committed other outrages, which the Indians could not endure, and therefore made war upon them. In this war he found his colony engaged, when he returned from his voyage to Cuba ; and there was no way to end it, but by purfuing it with vigour. With two hundred Spaniards, of whom -twen ty were mounted on " horfes followed by as many dogs," he encountered a numerous body of Indians, eftimated at one hundred thoufand, on a large plain. He divided his men into two COLUMBUS. two parties, and attacked them on two fides > the noife of the fire arms, foon difperfed them, and the horfes and dogs prevented them from rallying ; and thus a complete victory was obtained. In this inftance alone, were the dogs ufed againft the natives. They nat urally followed their matters into the field, and the horfes to which they were accuftom- cd ; but to fuppofe that Columbus tranfported them to the Weft Indies, with a view to dc- flroy the Indians, appears altogether idle, when it is coniidered that the number is rec koned only at twenty. Excepting in this in (lance, where he was driven by neceflity, there is no evidence, that he made war on the natives of the Weft Indies ; on the contrary, he endeavoured as far as poffible to treat them with juftice and gentlenefs. The fame can- JB oe faid of thofe who fucceeded him. Attempts have alfo been made to detract from hjs merit, as an original difcoverer of the New World. The moft fuccefsful candidate, who has been fet up as a rival to him, is MARTIN BEHAIM of Nuremberg in Ger many. His claim to a prior difcovery has been fo well contefted, and the vanity of it fo fully expofed by the late Dr. Robertfon, that I mould COLUMBUS. 129 I mould not have thought of adding anything to what he has written* had not a memoir ap peared in the fecond volume of the Tranfac- tions of the American Philofophical Society* at Philadelphia, in which the pretenfions of Behaim are revived by M. OTTO ; who has produced fome authorities which he had ob tained from Nuremberg) an imperial city of Germany, and which appear to him, "to eflablifh in the cleareft manner a difcovery of America anterior to that of Columbus." It is conceded that Behaim was a man of learning and enterprife - t that he was contem porary with Columbus, and was his friend j that he purfued the fame fludies and drew the fame conclusions ; that he was employed by King John II. in making difcoveries ; and* that he met with deferved honour for the im portant fervices which he rendered to the crown of Portugal. But, there are fuch dif ficulties attending the ftory of his difcovering America, as appear to me infuperable. Thefe I mail ftate together with fome remarks On the authorities produced by M. Otto. The firft of his authorities contains feveral aflertions which are contradicted by other hif- I tories ; * No - 35> P- 26 3' i 3 o COLUMBUS. tories ;* (i .) That Ifabella, daughter of John, King of Portugal, reigned after the death of Philip, Duke of Burgundy, furnamed the Good. (2.) That to this lady, when regent of the Dutchy of Burgundy and Flanders, Behaim paid a vifit in 1459. And (3.) that having informed her of his defigns, he pro cured a veflel in which he made the difcovery of the ifland of Fayal, in 1460. It is true that Philip, Duke of Burgundy and Flanders, lurnamed the Good, married Ifabella the daughter of John I, King of Por tugal ; but Philip did not die till 1467, and was immediately fucceeded by his fon Charles, furnamed the Bold, then thirty four years of age. There could therefore have been no interregnum, nor female regent after the death of Philip ; and if there had been, the time of Behaim's vifit will not correfpond with it ; that being placed in 1459, eight years before the death of Philip. Such a miftake, in point of fact, and of chronology, is fufficient to induce a fufpicion that the " archives of Nuremberg" are too deficient in accuracy to be depended on as authorities. With * Memoirs of Philip de Comines. Mezeray's and Renault's hiftory of France. Collier's Didionary. COLUMBUS. 131 With refpect to the difcovery of Fayal, in 1460, M. Otto acknowledges that it is ' con trary to the received opinion ;" and well he might ; for the firft of the Azores, St. Maria, was difcovered in 1431 - f the fecond, St. Mi chael, in 1444; the third, Terceira, in 1445; and before 1449, the iilands, St. George, Graciofa, Fayal and Pico, were known to the Portuguefe.* However true it may be that Behaim fettled in the ifland of Fayal, and liv ed there twenty years ; yet his claim to the difcovery of it muft have a better foundation than the " archives of Nuremberg," before it can be admitted. The genuine account of the fettlement of Fayal, and the intereft which Behaim had in it, is thus related by Dr. Forfter, a German author of much learning and good credit. "After the death of the infant Don Henry [which happened in 1463,] the ifland of Fayal was made a prefent of by [his fifler] IfabelJa, Dutchefs of Burgundy, to Jobft von Hurter, a native of Nuremberg. Hurter went in 1466, with a colony of more than 2000 Flem ings of both fexes, to his property, the ifle of Fayal. The Dutchefs had provided the Flem- I 2 ifh * Forfter's hiflory of voyages and difcoverics, p. 256, 257, Dublin edition. 132 C O L U M B U S- iih emigrants with all nccefTaries for two years, and the colony foon increafed. About the year 1486, Martin Behaim married a daugh ter of the Chevalier Jobfl von Hurter, and had a fon by her named Martin. Jobfl von Hurter, and Martin Behaim, both natives of Nuremberg, were Lords of Fayal and Pico."* The date of the fuppofed difcovery of Ame rica, by Behaim, is placed by M. Otto, in 1484, eight years before the celebrated voyage of Columbus. In the fame year we are told-j- that Alonzo Sanchez de Huelva was driven by a ftorm to the weft ward for twenty nine days ; and faw an ifland, of which at his re turn he gave information to Columbus. From both thefe fuppofed difcoveries this conclu- lion is drawn, " That Columbus would never have thought of this expedition to America, had not Behaim gone there before him." Whether it be fuppofed that Behaim and Sanchez failed in the fame fhip, or that they made a difcovery of two different parts of A- merica, in the fame year, it is not eafy to un- derftand from the authorities produced ; but what * Forfler's hiftory of voyages and difcoveriesjp. 257, 258, 259. f GarcilafTo de la Vega's Royal commentaries. Preface. Pur- cbas. vol. v, p. 1454. COLUMBUS. 133 what deftroys the credibility of this plau(lbl tale, is, that Columbus had formed his theo ry, and projected his voyage, at leaft ten years before ; as appears by his correfpondence with Paul, a learned phyfician of Florence, which bears date in 1474.* It is uncertain at what time Columbus firfl made his application to the King of Portugal, to fit him out for a weftern voyage -, but it is certain that after a negociation with him on the fubjecl:, and after he had found out the fecret and unfuccefsful attempt, which had been made to anticipate a difcovery ; he quitted that kingdom in dif- guft, and went into Spain, in the latter end of the year 1484. The authority of thefe fads is unquestioned ; and from them it fully appears, that a prior difcovery of America, by Behaim or Sanchez, made in 1484, could not have been the foundation of the enterprife of Columbus. M. Otto fpeaks of letters written by Be haim in 1486, in the German language, and preferved in the "archives of Nuremberg" which fupport this claim to a prior difcovery. As thefe letters are not produced, no certain opinion can be formed concerning them ; but I 3 from * Life, chap, viii, I 3 4 COLUMBUS. from the date of the letters, and from the voyages which Behaim actually performed in the two preceding years, we may with great probability fuppofe, that they related to the difcovery of Congo, in Africa ; to which Be haim has an uncontroverted claim. I will now ftate the fads relative to this event, partly from the authorities cited by M. Otto ; and partly from others. Dr. Robertfon places the difcovery of Con go and Benin in 1483, and with him Dr. Forfter agrees. The authors of the modern univerfal hiftory* fpeak of two voyages to that coaft ; the firft in 1484, the fecond in 1485; both of which were made by Diego Cam,"!- who is faid to have been one of the moft expert failors and of an enterprifing gen ius. From the chronicle of Hartman Schedl, as quoted by M. Otto, we are informed, that Behaim failed with Cam, in thefe voyages, which arc defcribed in the following terms. " Thefe two, by the bounty of heaven, coaft- ing along the fouthern ocean, and having crofTed * Vol. P- *33> 35 + Diego is the Spanifli name of James, in Latin Jacobus, ana in Portuguefe, Jago. Cam is in Latin, Camus or Canus, and in Spanifli, Cano ; thefe different names are found in different auth or?. COLUMBUS. 13$ eroffed the equator, got into the other hem- ifphere ; where, facing to the eaftivard, their fhadows projected toward the fouth, and right hand." No words could be more completely descriptive of a voyage from Portugal to Con go, as any perfon may be Satisfied by infpedl:- ing a map of Africa ; but how could M. Otto imagine that the difcovery of America was accomplimed in fuch a voyage as this ? " Hav ing finimed this cruize (continues Schedl) in the fpaceof 26 months, they returned to Por tugal, with the lofs of many of their feamen, by the violence of the climate." This latter circumftance alfo agrees very well with the climate of the African coaft ;* but Schedl fays not a word of the difcovery of America. M. Otto goes on to tell us "that the moft pofitive proof of the great Services rendered to the crown of Portugal by Behaim, is the rec- ompenfe beftowed on him by King John II ; who, in the moft Solemn manner, knighted him, in the prefence of all his court." Then follows a particular detail of the ceremony of inftallation, as performed on the i8th of Feb ruary, 1485, and M. Otto fairly owns that this was "a reward for the difcovery of Con- 1 4 f go." * See Brookes' Gazetteer, Benin. 136 COLUMBUS. go." Now let us bring the detached parts of the ftory together. Behaim was knighted on the 1 8th of Feb ruary, 1485, for the difcovery of Congo, in. which he had been employed 26 months pre ceding ; having within that time made two voyages thither, in company with Diego Cam. It will follow then that the whole of the pre ceding years, 1484 and 1483, were taken up in thefe two voyages. This agrees very well with the accounts of the difcovery of Congo, in Robertfon and Forfter, and does not difa- gree with the modern univerfal hiftory a as far as the year 1484 is concerned j which unfor tunately is the year affigned for Behaim's dif covery of " that part of America called Brafil, and his failing even to the flraits of Magel lan." The only thing in M. Otto's memoir which bears any refemblance to a folution of this difficulty is this. " We may fuppofe that Behaim, engaged in an expedition to Congo, was driven by the winds to Fernam- bouc, and from thence by the currents tow ard the coaft of Guiana." But fuppofitions without proof will avail little ; and fuppofi tions againft proof will avail nothing. The two COLUMBUS. 137 two voyages to Congo are admitted. The courfe is defcribed j and the time is determin ed ; and both thefe arc directly oppofed to the fuppofition of his being driven by winds and currents to America. For if he had been driven out of his courfe and had fpent " fever- al years in examining the American iflands, and difcovering the ftrait which bears the name of Magellan $" and if one of thofe years was the year 1484, then he could not have fpent 26 months preceding February, 1485, in the difcovery of Congo -, but of this we have full and fatisfa&ory evidence ; the difcov ery of America therefore muft be given up. There is one thing further in this memoir which deferves a particular remark, and that is the reafon afligned by M. Otto, for which the King of Portugal declined the propofal of Columbus to fail to India by the weft. "The refufal of John II. is a proof of the knowl-, edge which that politic prince had already procured, of the exiflence of a new continent, which offered him only barren lands, inhabit ed by unconquerable favages." This knowl edge is fuppofed to have been derived from the difcoveries made by Behaim. But, not to urge again the chronological difficulty with which which this conjecture is embarraffed, I will take notice of two circumftances in the life of Columbus, which militate with this idea. The firft is, that when Columbus had pro- pofed a weftern voyage to King John, and he declined it, " The King, by the advice of one Doctor Calzadilla, refolved to fend a caravel privately, to attempt that which Columbus had propofed to him ; becaufe in cafe thofe countries were fo difcovered, he thought him- fclf not obliged to beftow any great reward. Having fpeedily equipped a caravel, which was to carry fupplies to the iflands of Cabo Verde, he fent it that way which the Admiral propof ed to go. But thofe whom he fent wanted the knowledge, conftancy and fpirit of the Admiral. After wandering many days upon the fea, they turned back to the iflands of Cabo Verde, laughing at the undertaking, and faying it was impoffible there foould b& a?jy land in t/jq/ejeas."* Afterward, "the King being fen fible how faulty they were whom he had fent with the caravel, had a mind to reftore the Admiral to his favour, and defired that he mould renew the difcourfe of his enterprize ; but not being fo * Life of Columbus, chap. xi. COLUMBUS. To diligent to put this in execution, as the Admiral was in getting away, he loft that good opportunity ; the Admiral, about the end of the year 1484, flole away privately out of Portugal for fear of being flopped by the King/' This account does not agree with the fuppofition of a prior difcovery. The other circumflance is an interview which Columbus had with the people of Lif- bon, and the King of Portugal, on his return from his firfl voyage. For it fo happened that Columbus on his return was by ftrefs of weather obliged to take melter in the port of Lifbon ; and as foon as it was known that he had come from the Indies, "the people thronged to fee the natives whom he had brought and hear the news ; fo that the cara vel would not contain them. Some of them praifing God for fo great a happinefs ; others ftorming that they had loft the difcovery through their Kings incredulity ." When the King fent for Columbus, "he was doubtful what to do ; but to take off all fufpicion that he came from his conquefts, he confentcd." At the interview, "the King offered him all that he ftood in need of for fervice of their Catholic Majefties, though he 1 4 e COLUMBUS. he thought, that forafmuch as he bad been a Captain in Portugal, that conqueft belonged to him. To which the Admiral anfwered, that he knew of no fuch agreement, and that he had ftriftly obferved his orders, which were not to go to the mines of Portugal, [the gold coaft] nor to Guinea."* Had John II. heard of Behaim's voyage to a weftern conti nent, would he not have claimed it by priority of difcovery, rather than by the commiflion which Columbus had formerly borne in his fervice ? Had fuch a prior difcovery been made, could it have been concealed from the people of Lifbon ? And would they have been angry that their King had loft it by his in credulity ? Thefe circumftances appear to me to carry fufficient evidence, that no difcov ery of America prior to that of Columbus had come to the knowledge of the King of Portugal. In anfwer to the queftion " Why are we iearching the archives of an imperial city for the caufes of an event, which took place in the weftern extremity of Europe ?" M. Otto gives us to underftand, that " from the four teenth to the fixteenth centuries, the Germans were Life, chap, xli.. COLUMBUS. J 4 t were the befl geographers, the beft hiftorians and the mofl enlightened politicians." Not to detract from the merit of the German lite rati of thofe ages, I think we may give equal credit to a learned German author of the pre- fent age, Dr. John Reinhold Forfter ; who appears to have a thorough underftanding of the claims not only of his own countrymen, but of others. In his indefatigable refearches into the difcoveries which have been made by all nations, though he has given due credit to the adventures of Behaim in Congo and Fayal, yet he has not faid one word of his vifiting America ; which he certainly would have done, if in his opinion there had been any foundation for it. LETTERS from PAUL, a Phyfician of Flor ence, to CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS, concerning the Difcovery of the Indies. L E r r E R i. To CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS, PAUL the Phyjidan wifheth health. I PERCEIVE your noble and earneft defire t%fail to thofe parts where the fpice is pro duced j and therefore in anfwer to a letter of I4 2 C O L U M B U S. of yours, I fend you another letter, which fome days fmce I wrote to a friend of mine, and fervant to the King of Portugal, before tbe wars of Caftile, in anfvver to another he wrote to me by his highnefs's order, upon this fame account - t and I fend you another fea chart like that I fent him, which will fat- isfy your demands. The copy of the letter is this. T'o FERDINAND MARTINEZ, canon of Lif- bon, PAUL the Phyfician ivifteth health. I AM very glad to hear of the familiarity you have with your moil ferene and magnif icent King ; and though I have very often difcourfed concerning the Jhort way there is from hence to the Indies, where the fpice is produced, by fea, which I look upon to be ihorter than that you take by the coafl of Guinea ; yet you now tell me that his high- nefs would have me make out and demonftrate it, fo as it may be underftood and put in prac tice. Therefore, though I could better {how it him with a globe in my hand, and make him fenfible of the figure of the world ; yet I have refolved to render it more eafy and in telligible, to mow this way upon a chart, fuch as are ufed in navigation ; and therefore I fend one COLUMBUS. 143 one to his majefty, made and drawn with my . own hand ; wherein is fet down the utmoft bounds of the weft, from Ireland in the north, to the farthefl part of Guinea, with all the iflands that lie in the way. Oppofitc to which weftern coaft is defcribed the beginning of the Indies, with the iflands and places whither you may go, and how far you may bend from the north pole toward the equinodtial, and for how long a time - t that is, how many leagues you may fail, before you come to thofe places moft fruitful in all forts of fpice, jewels and precious ftones. Do not wonder if I term that country, where the fpice grows, weft, that product being generally afcribed to the eaft ; becaufc thofe who mall fail weftward will always find thofe places in the weft - t and they that travel by land eaftward will ever find thofe places in the eaft. The ftrait lines that lie lengthways in the chart, fhew the diftance there is from weft to eaft ; the others crofs them, mew the diftance from north to fouth. I have alfo marked down in the faid chart, feveral places in India, where mips might put in upon any ftorm, or contrary winds, or any other accident unforefeen. Moreover to give you full information of all thofe places which you are very defirous to know; i 4 4 COLUMBUS* know -, you muft underftand, that none but traders live or refide in all thole iflands, and that there is as great number of fhips and fea- faring people with merchandife, as in any other part of the world >, particularly in a mod noble port called Zatton, where there are every year a hundred large fhips of pepper, loaded and unloaded, befides many other mips dial take in other fpice. This country is mighty populous, and there are many provinces and kingdoms, and innu merable cities under the dominion of a prince called the Kbam, which name (ignifies, King of Kings ; who for the moft part refides in the Province of Cathay. His predecefTors were very defirous to have commerce and be in amity with Chriftians ; and 200 years fince, fent ambafladors to the Pope; defiring him to fend them many learned men and doctors to teach them our faith ; but by reafon of fome obftacles the ambafTadors met with, they re turned back, without coming to Rome. Befides, there came an ambafTador to Pope Eugenius IV. who told him the great friend- fhip there was between thofe princes, their people, and the Chriftians. I difcourfed with him a long while upon the feveral matters of the COLUMBUS. 145 the grandeur of their royal ftrucliures, and of the greatnefs, length and breadth of their riv ers. He told me many wonderful things of the multitude of towns and cities founded a- long the banks of the rivers ; and that there were 200 cities upon one river only, with marble bridges over it, of a great length and breadth, and adorned with abundance of pil lars. This country deferves as well as any other to be difcovered ; and there may not only be great profit made there, and many things of value found, but alfo gold, filver, all forts of precious ftones, and fpiccs in abundance, which are not brought into our parts. And it is certain, that many wife men, philofophers, aftrologers, and other perfons /killed in all arts, and very ingenious, govern that mighty province, and command their armies. From Lifbon diredtly weftward, there are in the chart 26 fpaces, each of which contains 250 miles, to the moil noble and vafl city of >U2fay 9 which is i oo miles in compafs, that is 35 leagues ; in it there are ten marble bridges. The name fignifies a heavenly city ; of which, wonderful things are reported, as to the ingenuity of the people, the buildings K and i 4 6 COLUMBUS. and the revenues. This fpace abovemention- ed is almoft the third part of the globe. This city is in the province of Mango, bordering on that of Cathay, where the King for the mofl part refides. From the ifland Antilla, whic % h you call the feven cities, and of 'which you have feme knowledge, to the moft noble iiland of Cipango are ten fpaces, which make 2500 miles, or 225 leagues ; which ifland abounds in gold, pearls and precious flones ; and you muft un- derftand, they cover their temples and palaces with plates of pure gold. So that for want of knowing the way, all thefe things are hid den and conceakd, and yet may be gone to with fafety. Much more might be faid, but having told you what is mod material, and you being wife and judicious, I am fatisfied there is nothing of it, but what you underftand, and there fore I will not be more prolix. Thus much may ferve to fatisfy your curiofity, it being as much as the fhortnefs of time and my bufmefs would permit me to fay. So I remain mofl ready to fatisfy and ferve his highnefs to the utmofl in all the commands he mail lay upon me. Florence, 'June 2C, 1474. LE?fF.R COLUMBUS, 147 LETTER II. To CHRISTOPHER COLUMBUS, PAUL the Phyjlcian wijhetb health. I RECEIVED your letters with the things you fent me, which I {hall take as a great fav our, and commend your noble and ardent de- fire of failing from eaft to weft, as it is mark ed out in the chart I fent you, which would demonftrate itfelf better in the form of a globe. I am glad it is well underftood, and that the voyage laid down is not only poffible but true, certain, honourable, very advantageous and moft glorious among all Chriftians. You cannot be perfect in the knowledge of it, but by experience and practice, as I have had in great meafure, and by the folid and true in formation of worthy and wife men, who have come from thofe parts to this court of Rome ; and from merchants who have traded long in thofe parts and are perfons of good re putation. So that when the faid voyage is performed, it will be to powerful kingdoms, and to the moft noble cities and provinces ; rich and abounding in all things we ftand in need of, particularly in all forts of fpice in great quantities, and ftore of jewels. JC 2 This C O L U i\l B U S. This will moreover be grateful to thofe kings and princes, who are very defirous to converfe and trade with Chriftians of thefe our countries, whether it be for fome of them to become Chriftians, or elfe to have communi cation with the wife and ingenious men of thefe parts, as well in point of religion, as in all fciences, becaufe of the extraordinary ac count they have of the kingdoms and govern ment of thefe parts. For which reafons, and many more that might be alleged, I do not at all admire, that you who have a great heart, and all the Portuguefe nation, which has ever had notable men in all undertakings, be ea gerly bent upon performing this voyage. V. JOHN M-9 V. JOHN CABOT AND SEBASTIAN CABOT. A HE economical difpofition of Henry VII, King of England, induced him to pre- ferve tranquillity in his dominions, which greatly contributed to the increafe of com merce and manufactures ; and to bring thith er merchants from all parts of Europe. The Lombards and the Venetians were remarkably numerous ; the former of whom had a ftreet in London appropriated to them and called by their name.* Among the Venetians refident there at that time was JOHN CABOT, a man perfectly {kil led in all the fciences requifite to form an ac- complimed mariner. -f- He had three fons, Lewis,$EB A s T i AN and Sandius, J all of whom he educated in the fame manner. Lewis and Sanftius became eminent men, and fettled, the one at Genoa, the other at Venice. Of Se- baflian a farther account will be given. The famous difcovery made by Columbus caufed great admiration and much difcourfe, in * Forfter's northern Voyages, p. 266. t Campbell's Lives of Admirals, i, 336. J Hakluyt. Ill, 7, 150 CABOT. in the court of Henry, and among the merch ants of England. To find a way to India by the weftj had long been a problem with men of fcience as well as a defideratum in the mer cantile intereft. The way was then fuppofed to be opened -, and the fpecimens of gold, which Columbus had brought home, excited the warmeft defire of purfiiing that difcovery. Cabot, by his knowledge of the globe, fup pofed thr.t a fhorter way might be found from England to India, by the northweft. Hav ing communicated his project to the King, it was favourably received ; and on the fifth of March 1496, a commirTion was granted to "John Cabot, and his three fons, their heirs and deputies, giving them liberty to fail to all parts of eaft, weft, and north, under the royal banners, and enfigns ; to difcover coun tries of the heathen, unknown to chrijlians ; to fet up the King's banners there ; to occupy and pofTefs as his fubjects, fuch places as they could fubdue -, giving them the rule and ju- rifdiclion of the fame, to be holden on condi tion of paying to the King, as often as they Should arrive at Briftol, (at which place only they were permitted to arrive) in wares and merchandife, one fifth part of all their gains ; with CABOT. 151 with exemption from all cuftoms and duties on fuch merchandife as mould be brought from their difcoveries." After the granting of this commifllon, the King gave orders for fitting out two caravels for the purpofe of the difcovery. Thefe were victualled at the public expenfe ; and freight ed by the merchants of London and Briftol, with coarfe cloths and other articles of traffic. The whole company confifted of three hundred men. With this equipment, in the beginning of May 1497,-f J^ n Cabot and his fon Sebaf- tian failed from Briftol towards the north- weft, till they reached the latitude of 58 ; where meeting with floating ice, and the weather being feverely cold, they altered their courfe to the fouthweft ; not expecting to find any land, till they mould arrive at Cathay, the northern part of China, from whence they intended to pafs fouthward to India. On + There is no good account of this voyage written by any con temporary author. It is therefore collected, from feveral who have fet down fafts without much order or precinlon. To recon cile their contradictions, and deduce conduficns from what they have related, requires much trouble ; and leaves an uncertainty with refpeft to particular circumftances ; though the principal facts re well afcertained, K 4 152 CABOT, On the 24th of June, very early in the morning, they were furprized with the fight of land $ which, being the firfl that they had feen, they called Prima Vifla. The defcrip- tion of it is given in thefe words. ' The iiland which lieth out before the land, he cal led St. John, becaufe it was difcovered on the day of St.John, the Baptift. The inhabitants of this iiland wear beafts' fkins. In their wars, they ufe bows, arrows, pikes, darts, wooden clubs, and flings. The foil is barren in fome places and yieldeth little fruit ; but is full of white bears and flags, far greater than ours. It yieldeth plenty of fifli, and thofe very great, as feals and falmons. There are foles above a yard in length ; but efpecially there is great abundance of that kind of nih which the favages call Bacalao, (Cod.) In the fame ifland are hawks and eagles, as black as ravens j alfo partridges. The inhab itants had great plenty of copper. "-f- This land is generally fuppofed to be fome part of the ifland of Newfoundland ; and Dr. Forfter thinks that the name, Prima Vifta, was afterward changed to Eona Vijla, now the northern cape of Trinity bay, in Latitude 48 jo 1 - f Hakluyt iii, 6. Purchas iv, 807. CABOT. 153 50.' Peter Martyr's account is, that Cabot called the land, Bacalaos ; and there is a fmall ifland off the fouthcape of Trinity bay, which bears that name. Mr. Prince, in his chronol ogy, (citing Galvanus for an authority) fays, that the land difcovered by Cabot was in lati tude 45. If this were true, the firft difcovery was made on the peninfula of Nova Scotia ; and as they coafted the land northward, they inuft have gone into the gulf of St. Lawrence, in purfuit of their northweft pafiage. The beft accounts of the voyage preferved by Hakluyt and Purchas, fay nothing of the latitude of Prima Vifta j but fpeak of their failing northward after they had made the land, as far as 67, Stovve, in his chroni cle, ~j~ fays it was on the " north fide of Terra de Labrador." This courfe muft have car ried them far up the ftrait which feparates Greenland from the continent of America. Finding the land ftill ftretching to the northward, and the weather very cold in the month of July - y the men became uneafy, and the commanders found it necefTary to return to Bacalaos. Having here refrefhed them- felves, they coafted the land fouthward, till they f Reign of Hen. vii. An, 14, p. 872. CABOT. they came into the fame latitude with the {traits of Gibraltar 36, or according to fome, no farther than 38, when their provifions falling mort, they returned to England ; bringing three of the Savages as a prefent to the King. " They were clothed with the ikins of hearts, and lived on raw fleih ; but after two years, were feen in the King's court clothed like Englimmen, and could not be difcerned from Englimmen."* Nothing more is faid of John Cabot, the father ; and fome hiftorians aicribe the whole of this difcovery to Sebaflian only ; but at the time of this voyage he could not have been more than twenty years old ; when, though he might accompany his father, yet he was too young to undertake fuch an expedition him- felf. The voyage having produced no fpe- cimens of gold ; and the King being engaged in a controverfy with Scotland, no farther encouragement was given to the fpirit of dif covery. After the King's death, Sebaflian Cabot was invited to Spain, and was received in a refpe&ful manner by King Ferdinand and Queen Ifabella. In their fervice he failed on a voyage * Stowe Reign of Hen. vii, page 875, Anno Rcgni 18. C A B r O T. 155 a voyage of difcovery to the fouthern parts of the New Continent 5 and having vifited the coaft of Brafil, entered a great river to which he gave the name of Rio de la Plata. He failed up this river one hundred and twen ty leagues j and found it divided into many branches ; the mores of which were inhab ited by numerous people. After this, he made other voyages, of which no particular memorials remain. He was honoured by Ferdinand, with a commifTion of Grand Pilot 5 and was one of the council of the Indies. His refidence was in the city of Se ville. His character was gentle, friendly and focial. His employment was the drawing of charts ; on which he delineated all the new difcoveries made by himfelf and others. Peter Martyr fpeaks of him as his friend, with whom he loved familiarly to converfe.* In his advanced age, he returned to Eng land, and refided at Briftol. By the fav our of the Duke of Somerfet, he was intro duced to King Edward VI, who took great delight in his converfation, and fettled on him a penfion of 166. i^f. ^d. per annum for life. * " Familiarem habeo domi CABOTUM ipfum t et inter 'dui* t" Decad. iii, chap. vi. jr6 CABOT. J life. He was appointed governor of a compa ny of merchants, aflbciated for the purpofe of making difcoveries of unknown countries.* This is a proof of the great efleem, in which he was held as a man of knowledge and ex perience in his profeflion. He had a flrong perfuafion that a paflage might be found to China, by the northeaft, and warmly patronif- ed the attempt made by Sir HughWillough- by in 1553 to explore the northern feas, for that purpofe. There is ftill extant a com plete let of instructions drawn and fubfcribed by Cabot, for the direction of the voyage to Cathay, which affords the cleareft proof of his fagacity and penetration. -j~ But though this, as well as all other attempts of the kind, proved ineffectual to the principal end in view, yet it was the means of opening a trade witk> RufTia, which proved very beneficial to the company. Thelaft account which we have of Sebaftian is, that in 1556, when the company were lend ing out a veflel called the Search- thrift, under the command of Stephen Burrough, for dif- covery j the Governour made a vifit on board; which * Hakluyt I. 268, III. 10. + Ibid I, 226, CABOT. 157 which is thus related in the journal of the voyage as preferved by Hakluyt.* " The 27th of April, being Monday, the Right Worfhipful Sebaftian Cabota came a- board our pinnace, at Gravefend , accompani ed with divers gentlemen and gentlewomen ; who, after they had viewed our pinnace, and tailed of fuch cheer as we could make them, went amore, giving to our mariners right lib eral rewards. The good old gentleman Maf- ter Cabota gave to the poor moft liberal alms, wifhing them to pray for the good fortune and profperous fuccefs of the Search- thrift, our pinnace. And then at the fign of St. Chrif- topher, he and his friends banqueted j and made me and them that were in the company great cheer ; and for very joy that he had to fee the towardnefs of our intended difcovery, he entered into the dance bimfelf, among the reft of the young and lufty company -, which being ended, he and his friends departed, moft gently commending us to the governance of Almighty GOD." According to the calculation of his age by Dr. Campbell, he muft at that time have been about eighty years old. He * Vol. i, p. 274. 158 CABOT. He was one of the moft extraordinary men, of the age in which he lived. By his inge nuity and induftry, he enlarged the bounds of fcience and promoted the intereft of the Englifh nation. Dr. Campbell fuppofes it was he who firft took notice of the variation of the magnetic needle.* It had been obferv- ed in the firft voyage of Columbus to the Weft Indies ; though probably Cabot might not have known it, till after he had made the fame difcovery. * Lives of Admirals, i. 419. VI. JAMES '59 VI. JAMESCARTIER. THOUGH the Englim did not profe- cute the difcovery made by the Cabots, nor avail themfelves of the only advantages which it could have afforded them ; yet their neigh bours of Brittany,* Normandy and Bifcay wifely purfued the track of thofe adventurers and took vaft quantities of cod on the banks of Newfoundland. In 1524, John Verazzani, a Florentine, in the fervice of France, ranged the coaft of the new continent from Florida to Newfound land, and gave it the name of New France. In a fubfequent voyage he was cut to pieces and devoured by the favages. It is remarkable that the three great Euro pean kingdoms Spain, England and France, made ufe of three Italians to conduct their dif- coveries : Columbus, a Genoefe ; Cabot, a Venetian ; and Verazzani, a Florentine. This is a proof that among the Italians there were at that time perfons fuperior in maritime knowledge to the other nations of Europe ; though * It is fuppofetl that the ifland of Cape Breton took its name from, the Bretons, the fi&ermen of Brittany. j6o C A R T I E & though the penurious fpirit of thofe repub lics, their mutual jealoufy and petty wars, made them overlook the benefits refulting from ex- tenfive enterprifes, and leave the vafh regions of the new world to be occupied by others. The voyages of Verazzani having produc ed no addition to the revenue of France ; all further attempts to perfect his difcoveries were laid afide ; but the fifhery being found conducive to the commercial intereft, it was at length conceived, that a plantation in the neighbourhood of the banks might be advan tageous. This being reprefented to King Francis I, by Chabot the Admiral, JAMES CAR TIER* of St.Malo, was commiffioned to explore the country, with a view to find a place for a colony. ( On the 2oth of April 1534, he failed from St. Malo with two {hips of fixty tons, and 122 men -, and on the tenth of May came in fight of Bonavifta, on the ifland of Newfoundland. But the ice which lay along the more obliged him to go fouthward ; and he entered a har bour to which he gave the name of St. Catha rine j J where he waited for fair weather, and fitted his boats. As * His name is fometimes written Quartitr* i Forfler's northern voyages, p. 435. * Called m feme maps Catalina. C A R T I E R. 161 As foon as the feafon would permit he fail ed northward, and examined feveral harbours and iilands, on the coaft of Newfoundland ; in one of which he found fuch a quantity of birds, that in half an hour, two boats were loaded with them ; and after they had eaten as many as they could, five or fix barrels full were falted for each (hip. This place was called Bird Ifland. Having palled Cape de Grat, the northern extremity of the land ; he entered the ftraits of Bellifle and vilited feveral harbours on the oppofite coaft of Labrador, one of which he called Cartier's Sound. The harbour is de- fcribed as one of the beft in the world - y but the land is ftigmatized as the place to which Cain was banifhed ; no vegetation being pro duced among the rocks, but thorns and mofs. Yet, bad as it was, there were inhabitants in it, who lived by catching feals, and feemed to be a wandering tribe.* In circumnavigating the great ifland of New foundland, they found the weather in gener al cold ; but when they had croffed the gulf in a fouthweflerly direction to the continent, they came into a deep bay, where the climate was * Hakluyt, vol. iii, p. 201 '21 1. L 162 C A R T I E R. was fo warm, that they named it Baye de Cha- leur, or the Bay of Heat. Here were feveral kinds of wild berries, rofcs and meadows of grafs. In the frefh waters they caught fal- mon in great plenty. Having iearched in vain for apaffage through the bay, they quitted it, and failed along the coaft, eaflward, till they came to the fmaller bay of Gafpe -, where they fought flicker from a tempeft, and were detained twelve days in the month of July. In this place Cartier performed the ceremony of taking pofleflion for the King of France. A crofs of thirty feet high was erected on a point of land. On this crofs was fufpended a fhield, with the arms of France and the words Vive k Roy de France. Before it, the people kneeled, un covered ; with their hands extended, and their eyes lifted toward heaven. The natives, who were prefent, beheld the ceremony at fir ft with filent admiration ; but after a while, an old man, clad in a bear's fkin, made figns to them that the land was his, and that they fhould not have it, without his leave. They then informed him by figns, that the crofs was intended only as a mark of direction, by which they might again find the port ; and they C A R T I E R. 163 they promifed to return the next year, and to bring iron and other commodities. They thought it proper however to con ciliate the old man's good will, by entertaining him on board the fhip and making him fev- eral prefents ; by which means, they fo pre vailed on him, that he permitted Cartier to carry two of his fons, young men, to France, on the fecurity of a promife that he would bring them back, at his return the next fpring. From Gafpe, he failed fo far into the Great River, afterward called St. Lawrence, as to difcover land on the oppoiite fide ; but the weather being boifterous, and the current fet- ting againft him, he thought it beft to return to Newfoundland, and then to France ; where he arrived fafe in the harbour of St. Malo on the fifth of September. The difcoveries made in this voyage excit ed farther curioiity ; and the Vice Admiral Melleraye reprefented Carder's merits to the King, fo favourably, as to procure for him a more ample equipment. Three mips, one of 120, one of 60 and one of 40 tons, were deftined to perform another voyage, in the enfuing fpring ; and feveral young men of dif- L 2 tincYion C A R T I E R. tinclion entered as volunteers, to feek adven tures in the new world. When they were ready to fail, the whole company, after the example of Columbus, went in proceflion 'to church, on Whitfunday, where the Bimop of St. Malo pronounced his bleffing on them. They failed on the i9th of May 1535. Meet ing with tempeftuous weather, the fhips were feparated ; and did not join again, till Cartier in the largeft fhip arrived at Bird Ifland, where he again rilled his boats with fowls, and on the 26th of July was joined by the other vef- fels. From Bird Ifland they purfued the fame courfe as in the preceding fummer - y and hav ing come into the gulf on the weftern fide of Newfoundland, gave it the name of St. Law rence. Here they faw abundance of whales. Faffing between the iflandof Afumption (fince called Anticofti) and the northern more, they failed up the great river, till they came to a branch on the northern fide, which the young natives who were on board called Saguenay ; the main river they told him would carry him to Hockelaga, the capital of the whole country. After fpending fome time in exploring the northern coafl, to find an opening to the northward ; C A R T I E R. 165 northward ; in the beginning of September, he failed up the river and difcovered feveral iilands -, one of which, from the multitude of filberts, he called Coudres ; and another, from the vail quantity of grapes, he named Bacchus, (now Orleans.) This iiland was full of inhabitants who fubfifted by fifhing. When the fhips had come to anchor be tween the N. W. fide of the ifland and the main, Carder went on fhore with his two young Savages. The people of the country were at firfl afraid of them -, but hearing the youths fpeak to them in their own language, they became fociable, and brought eels and other fim, with a quantity of Indian corn in ears, for the refrefhment of their new guefts ; in return for which, they were pre- fented with fuch European baubles as were plealing to them. The next day, Donacona, the prince of the place, came to vifit them, attended by twelve boats -, but keeping ten of them at a diftance, he approached with two only, containing fix- teen men. In the true fpirit of hofpitality, he made a fpeech, accompanied with fignifi- cant geftures, welcoming the French to his country and offering his fervice to them. The L 3 young 166 C A R T I E R. young favages, Taignoagni and Domagaia anfwered him, reporting all which they had feen in France, at which he appeared to be pleafed. Then approaching the Captain, who held out his hand, he kifled it, and laid it round his own neck, in token of friendship. Cartier, on his part, entertained Donacona with bread and wine, and they parted mutu ally pleafed. The next day Cartier went up in his boat to find a harbour for his {hips ; the feafon being fo far advanced that it became necefTary to fecure them. At the weft end of the ifle of Bacchus, he found " a goodly and pleafant found, where is a little river and haven ; a- bout three fathom deep at high water." To this he gave the name of St. Croix, and de termined there to lay up his (hips. Near this place was a village called Stada- cona, of which Donacona was the Lord. It was environed with foreft trees, fome of which bore fruit ; and under the trees, was a growth of wild hemp. As Cartier was returning to his mips, he had another fpecimen of the hofpitable manners of the natives. A com pany of people, of both fexes, met him on the more of the little river, fmging and danc ing C A R T I E R. 167 ing up to their knees in water. In return for their courtefy, he gave them knives and beads ; and they continued their mufic till he was beyond hearing it. When Cartier had brought his fhips to the harbour and fecured them, he intimated his intention to pafs in his boats up the -river to Hochelaga. Donacona was loth to part with him ; and invented feveral artifices to pre vent his going thither. Among others, he contrived to drefs three of his men in black and white fkins, with horns on their heads and their faces befmeared with coal, to make them refemble infernal fpirits. They were put into a canoe and palTed by the (hips ; brandifhing their horns and making an unin telligible harrangue. Donacona, with his people, purfued and took them, on which they fell down as if dead. They were carried afhore into the woods, and all the favages fol lowed them. A long difcourfe enfued, and the conclufion of the farce was, that thefe demons had brought news from the God of Hochelaga, that his country was fo full of fnow and ice, that whoever mould adventure thither would perifh with the cold. The artifice afforded diverfion to the French, but L 4 was 168 C A R T I E R. was too thin to deceive them. Cartier de termined to proceed; and on the i9th of September, with his pinnace and two boats, began his voyage up the river to Hochelaga. Among the woods on the margin of the river were many vines loaded with ripe grapes, than which nothing could be a more welcome fight to Frenchmen, though the fruit was not fo delicious as they had been ufed to tafle in their own country. Along the banks were many huts of the natives ; who made figns of joy as they pafled -, prefented them with fifh ; piloted them through narrow channels ; car ried them amore on their backs, and helped them to get off their boats when aground. Some prefented their children to them, and fuch as were of proper age were accepted. The water at that time of the year being low, their paffage was rendered difficult - t but by the friendly afliflance of the natives they furmounted the obftrudions. On the a8th of September they pafled the rapids between the illands in the upper part of the lake An- goleme, (now called St. Peters) and on the fecond of October they arrived at the ifland of Hochelaga ; where they had been expected, and preparations were made to give them a welcome C A R T I E R 169 welcome reception. About a thoufand per- fons came to meet them, fmging and dancing, the men on one fide, the women on the other, and the children in a diflincl: body. Prefents of fifli and other victuals were brought, and in return were given knives, beads and other trinkets. The Frenchmen lodged the firft night in their boats, and the natives watched on the more, dancing round their fires during the whole night. The next morning Cartier, with twenty five of his company, went to vifit the town, and were met on the way by a perfon of dif- tindion, who bad them welcome. To him they gave two hatchets and two knives, and hung over his neck a crofs which they taught him to kifs. As they proceeded, they palled through groves of oak, from which the acorns were fallen and lay thick on the ground. Af ter this they came to fields of ripe corn, fome of which was gathered. In the midft of thefe fields was fituate the town of Hochelaga. It was of a round form, encompaffed with three lines of palifades, through which was one entrance, well fecured with ftakes and bars. On the inlide was a rampart of timber, to which were afcents by ladders, and heaps of 170 C A R T I E R. of ftones were laid in proper places for defence. In the town were about fifty long huts built with flakes and covered with bark. In the mid dle of each hut was a fire, round which were lodging places, floored with bark and covered with fkins. In the upper part was a fcafFold, on which they dried and prefer ved their corn. To prepare it for eating, they pounded it in wooden mortars, and having mixed it with wa ter, baked it on hot ftoncs. Befides corn they had beans, fquafhes and pumpkins. They dried their fifh and preferved them in troughs. Thefe people lived chiefly by tillage and fifh- ing, and feldom went far from home. Thofc on the lower parts of the river were more giv en to hunting, and confidered the Lord of Hochelaga as their fovereign, to whom they paid tribute. When the new guefts were conducted to an open fquare in the centre of the town ; the females came to them, rubbing their hands and faces, weeping with joy at their arrival, and bringing their children to be touched by the ftrangers. They fpread mats for them on the ground, whilft the men feated them- felves in a large circle on the outfide. The King was then brought in a litter, on the moulders C A R T I E R. 171 moulders of ten men, and placed on a mat next to the French Captain. He was about fifty years old, and had no mark of diftinclion. but a coronet made of porcupine's quills dyed red ; which he took off and gave to the Cap tain, requefting him to rub his arms and legs which were trembling with a palfy. Several perfons, blind, lame, and withered with age, were alfo brought to be touched ; as if they fuppofed that their new guefts were mefleng- ers from heaven inverted with a power of healing difeafes. Cartier gratified them as well as he could, by laying his hands on them and repeating fome devotional palTages from a fervice book, which he had in his pocket ; ac companying his ejaculations with fignificant geftures, and lifting up his eyes to heaven. The natives attentively obferved and imitated all his motions. Having performed this ceremony, he defir- ed the men, women and children to arrange themfelves in feparate bodies. To the men he gave hatchets, to the women beads, and to the children rings. He then ordered his drums and trumpets to found, which highly pleafed the company and fet them to dancing. Being 172 C A R T I E R. Being defirous of afcending the hill, under which the town was built, the natives con ducted them to the fummit ; where they were entertained with a mod extenfive and beauti ful profpeft of mountains, woods, iflands and waters. They obferved the courfe of the riv er above, and ibme falls of water in it ; and the natives informed them that they might fail on it for three months ; that it ran through two or three great lakes, beyond which was a fea of frefh water, to which they knew of no bounds ; and that on the other lide of the mountains there was another river which ran in a contrary direction to the fouthweft, through a country full of delicious fruits and free from fnow and ice - y that there was found fuch metal as the Captain's Jiher whittle and the haft of a dagger belonging to one of the company which was gilt with gold. Being fhewn fome copper, they pointed to the north ward, and faid it came frrn Saguenay. To this hill Carrier gave the name of Montreal, which it has ever fince retained. The vifit being finifhed, the natives accom panied the French to their boats, carrying fuch as were weary on their moulders. They were loth to part with their guefts, and fol lowed C A R T I E R. 173 lowed them along the more of the river to a confiderable diftance. On the fourth of Oftober, Cartier and his company departed from Hochelaga. In pafT- ing down the river they erected a crofs on the point of an ifland, which, with three others, lay in the mouth of a (hallow river on the north fide, called Fouetz. On the eleventh they arrived at the Port de St. Croix, and found that their companions had enclofed the mips with a palifade and rampart, on which they had mounted cannon. The next day Donacona invited them to his rendence, where they were entertained with the ufual feftivity and made the cuftom- ary prefents. They obferved that thefe peo ple ufed the leaves of an herb [tobacco] which they preferved in pouches made of fkins and fmoked in ftone pipes. It was very offeniive to the French ; but the natives valued it as contributing much to the prefervation of their health. Their houfes appeared to be well fupplied with provifions. Among other things which were new to the French, they obferved the fcalps of five men, fpread and dri ed like parchment. Thefe were taken from their enemies the Toudamani, who came from the 174 C A R T I E R. the fouth, and were continually at war with them. Being determined to fpend the winter a- rnong thefe friendly people, they traded with them for the provifions which they could fpare, and the river fupplied them with fifh till it was hard frozen. In December the fcurvy began to make its appearance among the natives, and Cartier prohibited all intercourfe with them ; but it was not long before his own men were taken with it. It raged with uncontroled violence for above two months, and by the middle of February, out of one hundred and ten perfons, fifty were fick at once, and eight or ten had died. In this extremity Cartier appointed a day of folemn humiliation and prayer. A crucifix was placed on a tree, and as many as were able to walk went in proceffion, through the ice snd fnow, finging the feven penitential pfalms and performing other devotional exercifes. At the clofeof the folemnity Cartier made a vow, that" if it would pleafe God to permit him, to return to France, he would go in pilgrim age to our Lady of Roquemado." But it was necefTary to watch as well as pray. To pre vent C A R T I E R. 175 vent the natives from knowing their weak and defencelefs ftate, he obliged all who were able, to make as much noife as poffible with axes and hammers ; and told the natives that his men were all bufily employed, and that he would not fuffer any of them to go from the fhips till their work was done. The mips were fafl frozen up from the middle of No vember to the middle of March - 3 the fnow was four feet deep, and higher than the fides of the mips above the ice. The feverity of the winter exceeded all which they had ever experienced ; the fcurvy fllll raged $ twenty five men had fallen victims to it, and the others were fo weak and low in fpirits, that they defpaired of ever feeing their native country. In the depth of this diflrefs and defpon- dency, Cartier, who had efcaped the difeafe, in walking one day on the ice, met fome of the natives, among whom was Domagaia, one of the young men who had been with him to France and who then refided with his coun trymen at Stadacona. He had been fick with the fcurvy, his finews had been fhrunk and his knees fwollen, his teeth loofe, and his gums rotten -, but he was then recovered, and i 7 6 C A R T I E R. ?nd told Car tier of a certain tree, the leaves and bark of which he had ufed as a remedy. Carlier exprefled his wiih to fee the tree ; tel ling him that one of his people had been affect - ed with the fame diforder. Two women were immediately difpatched, who brought ten or twelve branches, and mowed him how to pre pare the decoction ; which was thus, " to boil the bark and the leaves j to drink of the liquor every other day ; and to put the dregs on the legs of the fick."* This remedy prefently came into ufe, on board the mips, and its good effects were fo furprifing, that within one week they were completely healed of the fcurvy ; and fome who had venerial complaints of long ftanding were alfo cured by the fame means. The feverity of winter having continued four months without intermifiion, at the re turn * This tree was called by the natives Ameda or Haneda. Mr. Hakluyt fuppofes it to have been the Saflafras ; but as the leaves vere ufed with the bark, in the winter, it muft have been an ever green. The dregs of the bark were alfo applied to the fore legs of the patient. From thefe circumftances I am inclined to think that it was the fpruce pine (pinus canadenfis J which is ufed in the fame manner by the Indians, and fuch as have learned of them. Spruce beer is well known to be a powerful antifcorbutic ; and the bark of this and of the white pine ferves as a cataplafm for wounds and fores. C A R T I E R. 177 turn of the fun, the feafon became milder, and in April the ice began to break up. On the third of May, Cartier took poflefTion of the country by erecting a crofs, thirty five feet high, on which was hung a fhield, bear ing the arms of France, with this infcription: FRANCISCUS primus, Dei gratia, FRANCO- RUM Rex, regnat. The fame day, being a day of feftivity, the two young favages, Taignoagni and Domagaia, with Donacona the chief of the place, came on board the fhips ; and were partly prevailed on and partly conftrained to accompany Cartier to France. A handfome prefent was made to the Family of Donacona, but it was with great reluctance that his friends parted with him j though Cartier promifed to bring him again at the end of twelve months. On the fixth of May they failed from the Port of St. Croix ; and having touched at St. Peter's in Newfoundland, they arrived at St. Malo in France the fixth of July 1536. Whether Cartier performed his vow to God, the hiftory does not tell us j certain it is, however, that he did not perform his promife to his pafTengers. The zeal for adventures of this kind began to abate. Neither gold nor M filver I 7 8 C A R T I E R. filver were carried home. The advantages of the fur trade were not fully underftood j and the profpect of benefit from cultivation in the fhort fummer of that cold climate, was great ly overbalanced, by the length and feverity of a Canadian winter. The natives had been fo often told of the neceflity of baptifm in or der to falvation, that on their arrival in France, they were at their own requeft baptized ; but neither of them lived to fee their native land again. The report which Cartier brought home, of the fine country beyond the Lakes, had however made fuch an imprerTion on the minds of fome, that, at the end of four years, another expedition was projected. Francis de la Roche, Lord of Roberval, was commif- fioned by the King as his Lieutenant Govern or in Canada and Hockelaga ; and Cartier was appointed his pilot, with the command of five mips. When they were ready to fail, Roberval had not finimed his preparations, and was therefore detained. The King's or- . ders to Cartier being poiitive, he failed from St. Malo on the 23d of May 1540. The winds were adverfe and the voyage te dious. The fhips were fcattered, and did not arrive C A R T I E R. 179 arrive at the place of their deftination till the 23d of Auguft ; when they came to the port of St. Croix in the river of Canada. The firft inquiry made by the natives was for their countrymen who had been carried away. Theanfwer was, that Donacona was dead, and that the others had become great Lords, were married in France, and refufed to return. Neither forrow nor refentment were mown on this occafion ; but a fecret jealou- fy, which had long been working, received ftrength, from an anfwer fo liable to fufpicion. The hiftory of this voyage being imperfect, it is not poflible to fay, in what particular manner this jealoufy operated. Cartier made another excurfion, up the river ; and pitched on a place about four leagues above St. Croix to lay up three of his veflels for the winter. The other two he fent back to France, to in form the King of what they had done -, and that Roberval had not arrived. At the new harbour, which he had chofen for his (hips, was a fmall river, running in a ferpentine courfe to the fouth. On the cart- em fide of its entrance was a high and fteep cliff; on the top of which, they built a fort and called it Charleburg. Below, the mips M 2 were i8o were drawn up and fortified, as they had been in the former winter which he fpent here. Not far from the fort were fome rocks containing chryftals - 3 which they denominat ed diamonds ; and on the more were picked up certain fpecks of a yellow fubftance, which their imaginations refined into gold. Iron ore was found in abundance ; and a kind of black flate, with veins of an apparent metallic fubftance. In what manner they patted the winter, the defective accounts which we have do not in form us. In the fpring of the following year, Cartier and his company having heard noth ing of Roberval ; and concluding that they were abandoned by their friends and expofed to perifh in a climate the mofl fevere, and a- mong people whofe conduct toward them, was totally changed, determined to return to France. Accordingly having fet fail, at the breaking up of the ice, they arrived in the harbour of St. John in Newfoundland, fome- time in June ; where they met Roberval, who, with three mips and two hundred per- fons, male and female, had failed from Rochelle in April - y and were on their way to eftablim a colony in Canada. Cartier went on' board Roberval's C A R T I E R. 181 Roberval's (hip, and fhowed him the dia monds and gold which he had found ; but told him that the hoftile difpofition of the natives had obliged him to quit the country ; which however he reprefented to him as ca pable of profitable cultivation. Roberval ordered him to return to Canada ; but Car- tier privately failed out of the harbour in the night and purfued his voyage to France. Mortified and difappointed, Roberval con^ tinned fome time longer at St. John's before he proceeded, and about the end of July ar rived at the place which Cartier had quitted, There he creeled a fort on a commanding eminence, and another at its foot ; in which were depofited all the provifion, ammunition, artillery, implements of hufbandry and other materials for the intended colony. In September, two veflels were fent back to France, to carry fpecimens of chryftal, and fetch provifions for the next year ; the flores which they had brought being much reduced. By the help of the fifh which they took in the river, and the game which they procured from the favages j and by well huf- banding their provifions, they lingered out a tedious winter, having differed much fro'-j M 3 the 182 C A R T I E R. the fcurvy, of which about fifty of them died. In addition to this diftrefs, Roberval exer- cifed fuch feverity in his government, that one man was hanged, feveral were laid in irons, and fome of both fexes underwent the difcipline of the whip. In April the ice began to break up ; and on the fifth of June he proceeded up the riv er ; leaving De Royeze, his Lieutenant, to command in his abfence, with orders to em bark for France, if he mould not return by the middle of July. As the account of the expedition ends here, we can only remark that the colony was broken up -> and no farther attempt was made by the French to eftablim themfelves in Can ada, till after the expiration of half a century. The laft account of Roberval is that, in 1549, he failed with his brother on fome voyage of difcovery, and never returned. In this firft vifit, which the natives of Can ada received from the Europeans, we have a iiriking inftance of their primitive manners. Sufpe-fting no danger, and influenced by no fear, they embraced the ftranger with unaf- fefted joy. Their huts were open to receive him, their fires and furs to give warmth and reft C A R T I E R. 183 reft to his weary limbs ; their food was fliar- ed with him or given in exchange for his tri fles - y they were ready with their fimple med icines to heal his difeafes and his wounds ; they would wade through rivers and climb rocks and mountains to guide him in his way, and they would remember and requite his kind- nefs more than it deferved. Unhappily for them they fet too high a value on their new gueft. Imagining him to be of a heavenly origin, they were extrava gant and unguarded in their firft attachment, and from fome fpecimens of his fuperiority, obvious to their fenfes, they expected more than ought ever to be expected from beings of the fame fpecies. But when the miftake was difcovered, and the ftranger whom they had adored, proved to be no more than human, having the fame inferior defires and paffions with themfelves ; efpecially when they found their confidence mifplaced and their generous friendship ill requited ^ then the rage of jea- loufy extinguimed the virtue of benevolence ; and they ftruggled to rid themfelves of him, as an enemy, whom they had received into their bofom as a friend. M4 On 184 C A R T I E R. On the other hand, it was too common for the European adventurer, to regard the man of nature as an inferior being - y and whilft he availed himfelf of his ftrength and experience, to abufe his confidence, and repay his kindnefs with infult and injury ; to ftigmatize him as a heathen and a favage, and to beftow on him the epithets of deceitful,treacherous,and cruel; though he himfelf had firft let the example of thefe deteftable vices. VII. FERDINANDO VII. FERDINANDO DE SOTO. JL HE travels and tranfactions of this adventurer are of fo little importance in the hiftory of America^ that I mould not have thought them worthy of much notice ; had it not been, that fome gentlemen of ingenuity and learning, have had recourfe to the expedi tion of this Spaniard as a means of folving the queftion refpecling the mounds and fortifica tions, of a regular conftvu&ion, which within a few years paft have been difcovered in the thickeft {hades of the American foreft.* Though the opinion feems to have been can didly given up by one of the writers who at tempted to defend it j yet, as what was publim- ed on the fubject may have imprefled fome perfons with an idea that thefe works were of European fabric, I {hall briefly relate the hiftory of Soto's march ; and the difficulties which attend * If the reader wifhes to fee a particular investigation of this hypothecs, he may confult the American Magazine, printed at New York, for December 1787, January and February 1788, and fome fubfequent numbers ; compared with the Columbian Mag azine, printed at Philadelphia, for September and November 1788. i86 SOT O. attend the fuppofition that he was the builder of any of thefe fortifications. After the conquefl of Mexico and Peru, in the beginning of the fixteenth century, the inextinguimable thirft for gold, which had feized the Spanifh adventurers, prompted them to fearch for that bewitching metal wherever there could be any profped: of finding it. Three unfuccefsful attempts had been made in Florida, by Ponce, Gomez, and Narvaez ; but becaufe thefe adventurers did not penetrate the interior parts of the continent ; FERDI NAN DO DE SOTO, Governour of Cuba, who had been a companion of the Pizarros in their Peruvian expedition, and had there amafTed much wealth, projected a march into Florida, of which country he had the title of Adelan- tado, or Prefident. He failed from the Port of Havannah May 18, 1539, with nine vefTels, fix hundred men,* two hundred and thirteen horfes, and a heard of fwine, and arrived on the 3Oth of the fame month in the bay of Efpiri- _ tu Santo, on the weflern coaftof the peninfula of Florida. Being * In Prince's Chronology it is faid that Soto had 900 men, "but he quotes Purchas for his authority, in whofe book the number is "Jix hundred." S O T O. 187 Being a foldier of fortune and determined on conqueft, he immediately pitched his camp and fecured it. A foraging party met with a few Indians who refilled them ; two were killed, the others efcaped, and reported to their countrymen that the warriors of fire had invaded their territories ; upon which the fmaller towns were deferted and the natives hid in the woods. Having met with a Spaniard of the party of Narvaez, who had been wrecked on the coail, and had been twelve years a captive with the Indians, Soto made ufe of him as a mef- fenger to them to inquire for gold and filver ; and wherever he could receive any informa tion refpecting thefe precious metals thither he directed his march. His manner of marching was this : The horfemen carried bags of corn and other pro- vilions ; the footmen marched by the fide of the horfes, and the fwine were driven be fore them. When they firft landed they had thirteen female fwine, which in two years in- creafed to feveral hundreds ; the warmth of the climate being favourable to their propaga tion, and the forefts yielding them a plenty of food. The i88 SOT O. The firft fummer and winter were fpent in the peninfula of Florida, not far from the bay of Apalache - y and in the beginning of the following fpring, having fent back his veflels to Cuba for fupplies, and left a part of his men at the port, where he expected the fhips to return, he marched toward the north and eaft, in fearch of a place called Yupaha, where he had been informed there was gold. In this march he crofled the river Altama- ha and probably the Ogechee, and came, as he was informed, within two days journey of the bay of St. Helena, where the Spaniards had been feveral years before. In all this march he ffcaid not more than a week in any one place, He then fet his face northward, and having palled a hilly country, came to a diftrict called Chalaque, which is fuppofed to be the coun try now called Cherokee, on the upper branch es of the river Savannah. Thence he turned iveftward, in fearch of a place called Chiaha, and in this route he croffed the Allegany ridge, and came to Chiaha, where his horfes and men, being exceffively fatigued, he refted thirty days. The horfes fed in a meadow, and and the people lay under the trees, the weath er S O T O, 189 cr being very hot, and the natives in peace. This was in the months of May and June. During their abode there they heard of a country called Chifca, where was copper and another metal of the fame colour. This coun try lay northward \ and a party was fent with Indian guides to view it. Their report was, that the mountains were impaffable, and Soto did not attempt to proceed any farther in that direction. From a careful infpection of the maps in the American Atlas, I am inclined to think that the place where Soto crofTed the moun tains was within the thirty fifth degree of lat itude. In Delifle's map, a village called Ca- nafaga, is laid down on the N. W. lide of the Allegany (or as it is fometimes called) the Apalachian ridge of mountains, in that lati tude ; and Chiaha is faid in Soto's journal to be five days weft ward from Canafagua. To afcertain the fituation of Chiaha we rnuft obferve that, it is faid to be fubject to the Lord of Cofa, which is fituate on an eaft- ern branch of the Mobille ; and Soto's fick men came down the river from Chiaha in boats. This river could be none but a branch of the Mobille ; and his courfe was then turned 190 SOT O. turned toward the fouth. In this march he pafTed through Alibama, Talife, Tafcalufa, names which are ftill known and marked on the maps, till he came to the town of Mavil- la, which the French pronounced Mouville and Mabille. It was then a walled town, but the walls were of wood. The inhabitants had conceived a difgufl to the Spaniards, which was augmented by an outrage commit ted on one of their Chiefs, and finally broke out in a fevere conflict, in which two thoufand of the innocent natives were flain, and many of the Spaniards killed and wounded, and the town was burnt. This was in the latter end of October. It is probable that Soto intended to pafs the winter in the neighbourhood of that vil lage, if he could have kept on friendly terms with the Indians j for there he could have had a communication with Cuba. There he heard that the veffels which he had fent to Cuba for fupplies were, arrived at Ochus [Penfacola] where he had agreed to meet them - y but he kept this information fe- cret, becaufe he had not yet made any dif- coveries which his Spanifh friends would think worthy of regard. The country about S O T O. 191 about him was populous and hoftile, and, being void of gold or filver, was not an ob- jet for him to poffefs at, the rifque of lofing his army, of which above an hundred had already perifhed. He therefore, after flay ing twenty eight days for the recovery of his wounded, determined on a retreat. In this retreat it has been fuppofed that he penetrated northward, beyond the Ohio. The truth is, that he began his march from Mavilla, a village near the mouth of the Mobille, on the i8th of November, and on the 1 7th of December arrived at Chicaca, an Indian village of twenty houfes, where they remained till the next April. The diftance, the time, the nature of the country, the courfe and manner of the march, and the name of the village, all con cur to determine this winter flation of Soto to be a village of the Cbickefaw Indians, iit- uate on the upper part of the Yafou, a branch of the Midi flip pi, about eighty leagues northweftward from Mobille, and not lefs than one hundred and forty leagues, fouth- weftward from the Mufkingum, where the great fortifications, which gave rife to this inquiry, arc found. From C/jicapa, in the fpring, i 9 2 SOT O. fpring, he went weftward, and crofled a river within the thirty fourth degree of latitude, which he called Rio Grande, and which is now known to be the Miififfippi. On the weftern fide of the Mifliffippi, af ter rambling all fummer, he fpent the next winter, at a place called Autiamque, where he enclofed his camp with a wall of timber, the work of three days only. Within this enclofure he lodged fafely during three months j and, in the fucceeding fpring, the extreme fatigue and anxiety which he had fufFered, threw him into a fever, of which he died, May 21, 1542, at Guacoya. To prevent his death from being known to the Indians, his body was funk in the middle of a river. His Lieutenant, Louis de Moicofco, con tinued to ramble on the weflern lide of the Mifiiffippi, till the next fummer ; when worn. with fatigue, difappointment, and lofs of men, he built feven boats, called brigantines, on the Miffiffippi, in which, the Shattered remnants, confifting of three hundrd and eleven, return ed to Cuba, in September 1543.* The place where Soto died is faid to have been on the bank of the Red river, a weftern branch * P o!. v, p. 1532 to S O T O. 193 branch of the Miffiffippi, in lat. 31. The place where the remnant of his army built their vefTels and embarked for Cuba is called in the journal Minoya. They were feventeen days in failing down the river, and they computed the diftance to be two hundred and fifty leagues.* From this account, faithfully abridged from Purchas and compared with the beft maps, I am fully perfuaded that the whole country through which Soto travelled on the eaftern fide of the Mifiifiippi is comprehended with in Florida, Georgia and South Carolina j and that he never went farther northward than the 35th degree of latitude, which is difrant two degrees fouthward from any part of the Ohio. The concluficn then is, that he could not have been the builder of thofe fortifica tions, ftill remaining in that part of the con tinent, which lies N. W. of the Ohio. Nor indeed can any works which he erected for the kcurity of his camp be fubfifting at this time ; for the beft of them were made of wood, and were intended to cover his men and protect his horfes and fwine only during one winter. The * Mr. Prince, in his chronology, fays 400, in figures ; but Pur- chas, from whom he quotes, fays "two hundred and fifrv." N 194 SOT O. The works which have fo much excited curiofity and conjecture, are far more numer ous, extenfive and durable. They are found in various and diftant places, in the interior part of the continent, on both fides of the MiffifTippi ; on the Ohio and its branches ; on James and Potowmack rivers in Virginia ; in the country of the Six Nations, and on the fhores of lake Erie ; where they are exceed ingly numerous. The moft obvious mode of folvins the D queftion refpe<5cing them, is by inquiry of the preicnt natives. But the ftructures are too ancient for their tradition; the oldefl and wifeil men know nothing of their original. The form and materials of thefe works, indi cate the exiftence of a race of men fuperior to the prefent race, in improvement, in defign, and in that patience which muft have accom panied the labour of erecting them. Trees which have been found growing on them have been cut down, and, from indubi table marks, are known to have been upwards of three hundred years old; nor were thefe the firft growth, upon them. The mounds and ramparts are conftrufted of earth, and have acquired afirmnefsand fol- idity, S O T O. 195 idity, which render it probable that they are the work of fome remote age and fome other people ; who had different ideas of conveni ence and were better acquainted with the arts of defence ; and in fact, were much more nu merous than the anceftry of thofe natives, of whom we or our fathers have had any knowledge. It is to be hoped that the perfons who now occupy and are cultivating the lands where thefe fingular buildings are found, will pre- ferve, as far as they are able, fome, at leaft, of thefe monuments of unknown ages ; that as they have long refifted the ravages of time, and may poffibly baffle the refearches of the prefent generation, they may fubfift unimpair ed as fubje&s of fpeculation to our pofterity. N 2 VIII. HUMPHREY 196 VIII. HUMPHREY GILBERT. A.FTER the difcovery of Newfound land by the Cabots, the paflion for adventure, among the Engli(h, met with many fevere checks. But whilft one adventurer after a- nother was returning home from an unfuc- cefsful voyage, intended to penetrate unknown feas to China ; foreigners were reaping the benefit of their partial difcoveries. Within the firft forty years we have no ac count of any attempt made by the Engliih to profecute the difcovery of the new continent, except, that in 1536, two veflels containing one hundred and twenty perfons, of whom thirty were gentlemen of education and cha racter, under the conducl of " Mafter Hore of London" made a voyage to Newfound land ;* but they were fo ill provided, and knew fo little of the nature of the country, that they fuffered the extremity of famine. For, notwithflanding the immenfe quantities of fim and fowl to be found on thofe coafts ; they were reduced fo low as to watch the nefts of birds of prey and rob them of the fifh which * Hakluyt, vol. iii, p. 130. GILBERT. 197 which they brought to feed their young. To collect this fcanty fupply, with a mixture of roots and herbs, the men difperfed themfelves in the woods, until feveral of them were miff ing. It was at firfl thought that they were devoured by wild beafts ; but it was found that they met with a more tragical fate ; the ftronger having killed the weaker and feafted on their flefh. In the midft of this diftrefs, a French fliip arriving with a fupply of provi- fions, they took her by force, and returned to England ; leaving to the Frenchmen their own fmaller veffels, and dividing the provifion be tween them. Complaint of this act of piracy was made to King HENRY VIII: who, knowing the miferies of the unfortunate crew, inftead of puniming them, paid the damage out of his own coffers. Within the fucceeding forty years, the Englifh had begun to make fome advantage by the fifhery ; and in 1 578, the ftate of it is thus defcribed.* " There are about one hun dred fail of Spaniards who come to take cod ; who make it all wet, and dry it when they come home ; befides twenty or thirty more, who come from Bifcay to kill whales for train. N 3 Thefe * Letter of Anthony Parkhurft to Richard Hakluyr } vol. iii, p. 132. 198 GILBERT. Thefe be better appointed for Shipping and furniture of munition than any other nation, fave the Englifh j who commonly are Lords of the harbours. As touching their tonnage, I think it may be near five or fix thoufand. Of Portugals, there are not above fifty fail, whofe tonnage may amount to three thoufand, and they make all wet. Of the French na tion are about one hundred and fifty fail ; the moil of their {hipping is very fmall, not pafl forty tons ; among which fome are great and reafonably well appointed ; better than the Portugals, and not fo well as the Spaniards ; the burden of them may be about feven thou fand. The Englifh veiTels have increafed in four years from thirty to fifty fail. The trade which our nation hath to Iceland, maketh, that the Englifh are not there in fuch num bers as other nations." The next year [1579] Queen Elizabeth granted to Sir HUMPHREY GILBERT, a pa tent for the difcovering, occupying and peop ling of " fuch remote, heathen and barbarous countries as were not actually pofTefTed by any Cbrijlian people."* In confequence of this grant, many of his friends joined him, and preparations * Hakluyt iii. 135. ForRer, 292. GILBERT. 199 preparations were made for an expedition, which promifed to be highly advantageous. But before the fleet was ready, ibme declined and retracted their engagements. Gilbert, with a few companions, failed ; but a violent ftorm, in which one of the fhips foundered, caufed him to return. This misfortune in volved him in debt j and he had no way to fatisfy the demands of his creditors, but by grants of land in America. By fuch means, the country was not likely to be peopled, nor the conditions of his patent fulfilled. He was obliged therefore to fell his eftate before he could make another attempt ; and, after long felicitation, being affifted by fome friends, he fet fail from Plymouth with five fhips, carrying two hundred and fixty men, on the eleventh of June 1583; and on the eleventh of July arrived off the bay of St. John, oh the eaftern coaft of Newfoundland. Thirty fix fiming vefTels were then in the harbour, who refufed him admittance. He prepared to enter by force of arms ; but pre- vioufly fent in his boat with his commirTion from Queen Elizabeth ; on fight of which they fubmitted, and he failed into the port.* N 4 The * Stith's luftory of Virginia, page 6. 200 GILBERT. The intention of this voyage was to take formal polTeilion of the ifland, and of the ft fa ery on for the crown of England, he following manner :* fifth of Auguft, Admiral t pitched on more, in light ; and being attended by ^upJ --uiimoned the merchants and mafttrs of veifels, both Englimmen and oth ers, to be prefent at the ceremony. When they were all afTembled, his commirTion was read, and interpreted to the foreigners. Then a turf and a twig were delivered to him, which he received with a hazle wand. Immediately, .proclamation was made, that by virtue of his commiffion from the Queen, he took poflef- fion, for the crown of England, of the har bour of St. John, and two hundred leagues every way round it. He then published three laws, for the gov ernment of the territory. By the firft, pub lic worlhip was eftablilhed according to the mode of the church of England. By the fec- ond, the attempting of any thing prejudicial to her Majefty's title was declared treafon, ac cording to the laws of England. By the third, * Hakluyt iii, 151, 165. GILBERT. 201 third, the uttering of words, to the dimonour of her Majefty, was to be puniihed with the lofs of ears and the confifcation of property. The proclamation being finifhed, aflent and obedience were fignified by loud acclama tions. A pillar was erected, bearing a plate of lead, on which the Queen's arms were en graven ; and feveral of the merchants took grants of land, in fee farm, on which they might cure their fifti, as they had done be fore. A tax of provifion, by her Majefty's autho rity, was levied on all the mips. This tax was readily paid ; befides which, the Admiral received prefents of wine, fruit, and other re- frefhments, chiefly from the Portuguefe. This formal polTerTion, taken by Sir Hum phrey Gilbert, in confequence of the difcov- ery by the Cabots, is the foundation of the right and title of the crown of England to the territory of Newfoundland and to the fimery on its banks. As far as the time would permit, a furvey was made of the country ; one principal ob ject of which was the difcovery of mines and minerals. The mineralogift was a Saxon, who is characterized as " honeft and religious." This 202 GILBERT. This man brought to the Admiral firft a fpe- cimen of iron, then a kind of ore, which, ofi the peril of his life, he protefted to be filver. The Admiral enjoined fecrecy, and fent it on board ; intending to have it allayed, when they fhould get to fea. The company being difperfed abroad, fome were taken fick and died ; fome hid themfelves in the woods, with an intention to go home, by the firft opportunity j and others cut one of the veflels out of the harbour and carried her off. On the twentieth of Auguft, the Admiral, having collefted as many of his men as could be found, and ordered one of his veflels to flay and take off the fick, fet fail with three fhips ; the Delight, the Hind, and the Squir rel. He coafted along the fouthern part of the ifland, with a view to make Cape Breton and the Ifle of Sable ; on which laft, he had heard that cattle and Avine had been landed by the Portuguefe, thirty years before. Being entangled among moals and involved in fogs, the Delight ftruck on a fand bank and was loft. Fourteen men only faved them felves in a boat ; the lofs of the Saxon refiner was particularly noted, and nothing farther was GILBERT. 203 was heard of the filver ore. This misfortune determined the Admiral to return to Eng land, without attempting to make any farther difcoveries, or to take pofTeflion of any other part of America. On his pafTage, he met with bad weather. The Squirrel frigate, in which Sir Humphrey failed, was overloaded on her deck , but he perfifted in taking his pafTage in her, notwithftanding the remonftrances of his friends, in the Hind, who would have per- fuaded-him to fail with them. From the circumftance of his returning from his nrft voyage without accomplishing its object, it had been reported that he was afraid of the fea ; had he yielded to the folicitation of his friends, the ftigma might have been indelible. When the wind abated, and the veflels were near enough, the Admiral was feen conftantly fitting in the {tern with a book in his hand. On the ninth of September, he was feen for the laft time j and was heard by the people in the Hind to fay, " We are as near heaven by fea as by land." In the following night, the lights of his fnip fuddenly difappeared. The people in the other veffel kept a good look out for him, during the remainder of the voyage. On the twenty fecond of September, they 204 GILBERT. they arrived, through much tempeftand peril, at Falmouth. But nothing more was feen or heard of the Admiral. Whilft his zeal for the interest of the Crown, and the fettlements of its American dominions, has been largely commended ; he has been blamed for his temerity in lavifhing his own and other men's fortunes in the prof- ccution of his defigns. This is not the only inftance of a wafte of property in confequence of fanguine expectations ; which, though ruin ous to the firft adventurers, has produced folid advantages to their fuccefTors. Dr. Forfter has a remark on one of the in cidents of this voyage which is worthy of re petition and remembrance. " It is very clear (fays he) in the inftance of the Portuguefe having ftocked the lile of Sable with domeftic animals, that the difcoverers of the new world were men of humanity ; defirous of provid ing for fuch unfortunate people as might hap pen to be cafl away on thofe coafts. The falfe policy of modern times is callous and tyrannical, exporting dogs to devour them. Are thefe the happy confequences of the fo much boafted enlightened (tate of the prefent age, GILBERT. 205 age, and refinement of manners peculiar to our time ? Father of mercies, when will philanthropy again take up her abode in the breafts of men, of Chriftians and the rulers of this earth !" IX. WALTER 206 IX. WALTER RALEIGH, AND RICHARD GRENVILLE. JL HE diftinguifhed figure, which the life of Sir Walter Raleigh makes in the hif- tory of England, renders unneceffary any oth er account of him here, than what refpedts his adventures in America - t and particularly in Virginia ; of which colony he is acknow ledged to have been the unfortunate founder. He was half brother, by the mother's fide, to Sir Humphry Gilbert, and was at the ex- penfe of fitting out one of the fhips of his fquadron. Notwithstanding the unhappy fate of his brother, he perfifled in his defign of making a fettlement in America. Being a favourite in the court of Queen Elizabeth, he obtained a patent, bearing date the 25th of March 1584, for the difcovering and planting of any lands and countries which were not pofTerTed by any chrijlian prince, or nation. About the fame time the Queen granted him another patent, to licenfe the vending of wine, throughout the kingdom ; that by the profits thence arifing he might be able to bear the RALEIGH. 207 ,the expenfe of his intended plan of coloniza tion. Further to ftrengthen his intereft, he engaged the affiftance of two wealthy kinf- men, Sir Richard Grenville and William Sanderfon.* They provided two barks, and having well furnimed them with men and provifions, put them under the command of Philip Amadas and Arthur Barlow, who fail ed from the weft of England, April 27, ,584. They took the ufual route by the way of the Canaries and the Weft Indies ; the reafon of which is thus exprefTed in the account of this voyage written by Barlowf-, u becaufe we doubted that the current of the bay of Mexico between the cape of Florida and Ha- vanna had been of greater force than we after wards found it to be." Taking advantage of the Gulf ftream, they approached the coaft of Florida ; and on the fecond of July came into flioal water ; where the odoriferous fmell of flowers indicated the land to be near, though not within fight. On the fourth they faw land ; along which they failed forty leagues before they found an en trance. * Stith's Hifty. of Virginia, p. 7, 8. t Hakluyt, iii, 246. 2 o8 RALEIGH. trance. At the firft opening, they caft an chor (July 13) and having devoutly given, thanks to GOD, for their fafe arrival on the coaft, they went amore in their boats, and took pofleffion in the name of Queen Eliza beth. The place where they landed was a fandy ifland, called Wococon,* about fixteen miles in length and fix in breadth, fall of cedars, pines, cyprefs, faflafras and other trees > a- mong "which were many vines loaded with grapes. In the woods they found deer and hares -> and in the waters and marmes, vari ous kinds of fowl ; but no human creature was * This ifland is generally fuppofed to be one of thofe which lie at the mouth of Alhermarle found, on the cc/aft of North Carolina. Barlow, in his letter to Sir W. Raleigh, preserved by Hakluyt, fays, that he, wuh feven others, went in about " twenty miles into the river Occam, and, the evening following, came to an ifland called Roanoke, difiant from the harbour by which we entered, /ci'en leagues j at the north end thereof was a village." Mr. Stub, who wrote the hiftory of Virginia, and who acknowledges that he had not feen this letter in Englifh but in a Latin tranfla- tion, iuppofes. that the ifland Wococon mufl lie between cape Hatteras and cape Fear, and that the diiiance might be 30 leagues. But it appears from Barlow's letter that the boat went in one day and came in the evening to the north end of Roanoke ; the dif- tance j$ .twicd mentioned, once in miles and once in leagues. I fee no reaibn therefore to admit Stith's conjefture in.oppofition to Barlow. Stith however appears to -have been a very clofe and accurate inquirer, as far as his materials and opportunity permitted. RALEIGH. 209 was feen, till the third day ; when a canoe, with three men, came along by the more. One of them landed ; and, without any fear or pre caution, met the Europeans and addrefied them in a friendly manner, in his own language. They carried him on board one of their vef- fels ; gave him a fhirt and fome other trifles, and regaled him with meat and wine. He then returned to his canoe ; and with his com panions went a fifliing. When the canoe was filled, they brought the fifh on more and di vided them into two heaps ; making figns, that each of the vefTels fhould take one. The next day, feveral canoes came 5 in which were forty or fifty people, and among them was Granganimeo, brother of Wingina King of the country ; who was confined at home by the wounds, which he had received in battle, with a neighbouring Prince. The manner of his approach was fearlefs and xef- pedtfuL He left his boats at a diftance ; and came along the fhore, accompanied by all his people, till he was abreaft of the mips. Then advancing with four men only, who fpread a mat on the ground, he fat down on one end ; and the four men on the other. When the Englifh went on more, armed, he beckoned O to 210 K A L I G H. to them to come and fit by him ; which they did, and he made figns of joy and friendfhip, ftriking with his hand on his head and breaft, and then on theirs, to mew that they were all one. None of his people fpokea word j and when the Englifh offered them prefents, he took them all into his own poflemonj making figns that they were his fervants, and that all which they had, belonged to him. After this interview, the natives came in great numbers and brought fkins, coral, and materials for dyes ; but when Granganimeo was prefent, none were permitted to trade, but himfelf and thofe who had a piece of cop per on their heads. Nothing pleafed him fo much as a tin plate, in which he made a hole and hung it over his breaft, as a piece of defenlive armour. He fupplied them every day with venifon, fifli, and fruits, and invited them to vifit him at his village, on the north end of an iiland called Roanoke. This village confifted of nine houfes, built of cedar, and fortified with marp palifades. When the Engliih arrived there in their boat, Granganimeo was abfent ; but his wife en tertained them with the kindeft hofpitality, wafhed their feet and their clothes, order ed RALEIGH. 211 ed their boat to be drawn amore and their oars to be fecured ; and then feafted them with venifon, fifh, fruits, and homony.* Whilft they were at fupper, fome of her men came in from hunting, with their bows and arrows in their hands ; on which her guefts began to miftruft danger - y but ihe or dered their bows to be taken from them, and their arrows to be broken ; and then turned them out at the gate. The Englifh however thought it moft prudent to pafs the night in their boat, which they launched and laid at anchor. At this (he was much grieved ; but, finding all her felicitations ineffectual, fhe ordered the victuals in the pots to be put on board, with mats to cover the people from the rain ; arid appointed feveral perfons of both fexes to keep guard on the beach during the whole night. Could there be a more en gaging fpecimen of generous hofpitality ? Thefe people were characterized as " gen tle, loving and faithful ; void of guile and treachery ; living after the manner of the golden age -, caring only to feed themfelves, with fuch food as the foil affordeth, and to defend * Homony is made of Indian corn beaten in a mortar and fcparated from the bran ; then boiled either by itfclf or in the broth of meat. 02 m RALEIGH. defend themfelves from the cold, in their fhort winter." No farther difcovcry was made of the coun try by thefe adventurers. From the natives they obtained fome uncertain account of its geography, and of a fhip which had been wrecked on the coaft between twenty and thirty years before. They carried away two of the natives, Wanchefe and Manteo ; and arrived in the weft of England about the mid dle of September. The account of this difcovery was fo wel come to Queen Elizabeth, that me named the country Virginia ; either in memory of her own virginity, or becaufe it retained its vir gin purity, and the people their primitive fim- plicity. About this time Raleigh was elected knight of the mire, for his native county of Devon ; and in the Parliament which was held in the fucceeding winter, he cauled a bill to be brought into the Houfe of Commons to con firm his patent for the difcovery of foreign countries. After much debate, the bill was carried through both houfes, and received the royal afTent. In addition to which, the Queen conferred on him the order of Knighthood.* A fecond * Stith, p. 11. RALEIGH. A fecond expedition being refolved on, 'Sir Richard Grenville himfelf took the command, and with feven veflels, large and fmall, failed from Plymouth, on the ninth of April, 1585.-)- They went in the ufual courfe by the Canaries and the Weft Indies j where they took two Spaniih prizes ; and, after narrowly efcaping fhipwreck on Cape Fear, arrived at Wococon the 26th of June 4 The natives came, as before, to bid them welcome and to trade with them. Manteo, whom they had brought back, proved a faith-, ful guide, and piloted them about from place to place. In an excursion of eight days with their boats, they vifited feveral Indian villag es, on the iflands and on the main, adjoining to Albemarle Sound. At one place, called Aquafcogok, an Indian ftole from them a filver cup. Inquiry being made, the offen der was detected and promifed to reftore it ; but the promife being not fpeedily performed, a hafty and fevere revenge was taken, by the orders of Grenville -, the town was burnt and the corn deftroyed in the fields, (July 1 6) whilft f- Hakluyt. iii. 251. J Mr. Stith miftakes in faying May 26, and Sir William Keith, who copies from him, adopts the fame miitake. 03 2i 4 RALEIGH. whilft the affrighted people fled to the woods for fafety. From this ill judged aft of vio lence, may. be dated the misfortunes and fail ure of this colony. Leaving one hundred and eight perfons to attempt a fettlement, Grenville proceeded with his fleet to the ifland of Hatteras 3 where he received a vifit from Granganimeo, and then failed for England. On the i8th of September he arrived at Plymouth -, with a rich Spanifh prize which he had taken on the pafTage. Of the colony left in Virginia, Ralph Lane was appointed Governor. He was a military man, of confiderable reputation in the fea- fervice. Philip Amadas, who had command ed in the firft voyage, was Admiral. They chofe the ifland of Roanoke in the mouth of Albemarle Sound, as the place of their refi- dence ; and their chief employment was to explore and furvey the country, and defcribe the perfons and manners of its inhabitants. For thefe purpofes, Sir Walter Raleigh had fent John Withe, an ingenious painter ; and Thomas Heriot, a fkilful mathematician, and a man of curious obfervation : both of whom performed RALEIGH. 215 performed their parts with fidelity and fuc- cefs.* The farther! difcovery which they made to the fou th ward of Roanoke was Secotan, an Indian town between the rivers of Pamptico and Neus, diftant eighty leagues. To the northward they went about forty leagues, to a nation called Chefepeags, on a fmall river now called Elifabeth, which falls into Chefe- peag Bay, below Norfolk. To the weftward they went up Albemarle Sound and Chowan river, about forty leagues, to a nation called Chowanogs ; whofe King,Menatonona,amufed them with a flory of a copper mine and a pearl fimery ; in fearch of which they fpent much time and fo exhaufled their provifions, that * The drawings which Mr. Withe made were engraven and printed at Frankfort (1590,) by Theodore De Bry. They repre- fent the'pcrfons and habits of the natives, their employments, di- verfions and fuperftitions. From thefe, the prints in Beverley's hiftory of Virginia are copied. Mr. Heriot wrote a topographical defcription of the country and its natural hiftory, which is pieferved in Hakluyt's collection vol. iii, 226. It was tranflated into Latin, and publiflied by De Bry in his collection of voyages. It has been fuppofed that Ra leigh himfelf came to Virginia with this colony. This is a mif- take, grounded on a miftranflation of a pafTage in Heriot's narrative. It is thus exprefled in Englifli "The aftions of thofe who have been by Sir Walter Raleigh therein employed." Which is thus rendered in the Latin tranflation, "qui generofum D. Wai- tcrum Ralegh, in earn regioncm cbmitati funi." Stith, p. 22. RALEIGH. that they were glad to eat their dogs before they returned to Roanoke. During this excurfion, their friend Gran- ganimeo died ; and his brother Wingina dif- covered his hoftile difpofition toward the col ony. The return of Mr. Lane and his party, from their excurfion, gave a check to his mal ice for a while ; but he fecretly laid a plot for their deftrudion ; which being betrayed to the Englifh, they feized all the boats on the iiland. This brought on a fkirmifh, in which five or fix Indians were killed, and the reft fled to the woods. After much jealoufy and diflimulation on both fides, Wingina was drawn into a fnare ; and with fight of his men, fell a facrifice to the refentment of the Englifh. In a few days after Wingina' s death, Sir Francis Drake, who had been cruifing againft the Spaniards in the Weft Indies, anct had received orders from the Queen to vifit this colony, arrived with his fleet onthecoaft; and by the unanimous defire of the people, took them all off and carried them to England, where they arrived in July 1586. Within a fortnight after the departure of this unfortunate colony, Sir Richard Grenville arrived RALEIGH. 217 arrived with three mips for their relief. Find ing their habitation abandoned, and being un- abJe to gain any intelligence of them ; he landed fifty men, on the ifland of Roanoke, plentifully fupplied with provifions for ttvp years, and then returned to England. The next year (1587) three mips were fent, under the command of John White, who was appointed Governor of the colony, with twelve Counfellors. To them Raleigh gave a charter of incorporation for the city of Ra leigh, which he ordered them to build on the river Chefepeag, the northern extent of the difcovery. After narrowly efcaping fhip wreck on Cape Fear, they arrived at Hatteras, on the 22d of July, and fcnt a party to Roanoke to look for the fecond colony of fifty men. They found no perfon living, and the bones of but one dead. The huts were {landing ; but were overgrown with bufhes and weeds. In converfation with fome of the natives, they were informed, that the colony had been de- ftroyed by Wingina's people, in revenge of his death. Mr. White endeavoured to renew a friendly intercourfe with thofe natives ; but their jea- Joufy rendered them implacable. He there fore 218 RALEIGH. fore went acrofs the water to the main with a party of twenty five men, and came fudden- ly on a company of friendly Indians, who were feated round a fire, one of whom they killed before they difcovercd the miftake. Two remarkable events are mentioned as happening at this time ; one was the baptifm of Manteo, the faithful Indian guide ; the other was the birth of a female child, daugh ter of Ananias Dare, one of the Council ; which, being the firft child born in the colo ny, was named Virginia. By this time (Auguft 21) the mips had un loaded their ftores and were preparing to re turn to England. It was evident that a farth er fupply was necefTary, and that fome perfon muft go home to folicit it. A difpute arofe in the Council on this point, and after much altercation, it was determined, that the Gov ernor was the moft proper perfon, to be fent on this errand. The whole colony joined in requeuing him to proceed, promifing to take care of his intereft in his abfence. With much reluclance he confented, on their fub- fcribing a teftimonial of his unwillingnefs to quit the plantation. He accordingly failed on the 27th of Auguft, and arrived in England the RALEIGH. 219 the following November. The nation was in a ftate of alarm and apprehenfion on ac count of the war with Spain, and of the in vincible armada, which had threatened it with an invafion. Sir Walter Raleigh was one of the Queen's Council of war, as were alfo Sir Richard Grenville and Mr. Lane. Their time was wholly taken up with public confultations, and Governor White was o- bliged to wait, till the plan of operations a- gainfl the enemy could be adjufted and carri ed into execution. The next fpring, Raleigh and Grenville, who had the command of the militia in Cornwall, and were training them for the defence of the kingdom ; being ftrongly folicited by White, provided two fmall barks, which failed from Biddeford on the 2 ad of April 1588. Thefe veffels had commifTions as mips of war, and being more intent on gain to themfelves, than relief to the colony, went in chace of prizes, and were both driven back by mips of fuperi- or force, to the great mortification of their patron, and the ruin of his colony. Thefe difappointments were a fource of vexation to Raleigh. He had expended forty thoufand pounds, of his own and other men's money, 220 RALEIGH. money, in purfuit of his favourite object ; and his gains were yet to come. He therefore made an alignment of his patent (March 7, 1.589) to Thomas Smith, and other merch ants and adventurers, among whom was Gov ernor White ; with a donation of one hun dred pounds, for the propagation of the Chrif- tian religon in Virginia. Being thus difen- gaged from the bufmefs of colonization ; he had full fcope for his martial genius, in the war with Spain. His affignees were not fo zealous in the pro- iecution of their bufinefs. It was not till the fpring of 1590, that Governor White could return to his colony. Then, with three mips, he failed from Plymouth, and paffing through the Weft Indies, in queft of Spanifli prizes, he arrived at Hatteras on the i5th of Auguft. From this place they obferved a imoke arifmg on the ifland of Roanoke j which gave them fome hope that the colony was there fubfifting; on their coming to the place, they found old trees and grafs burning, ofbut no human being. On a poft of one of the houfes they faw the word Croatan t which gave them fome hope, that at the ifland of that name they fhould find their friends. RALEIGH. 221 friends. They failed for that ifland ; which lay fouthward of Hatteras ; but a violent ftorm arifing, in which they loft their anch ors, they were obliged to quit the inhofpita- ble coaft and return home ; nor was any thing afterward heard of the unfortunate colony. The next year (1591) Sir Richard Gren- ville was mortally wounded in an engagement with a Spanim fleet ; and died on board the Admiral's mip, where he was prifoner. Raleigh, though difengaged from the bufi- nefs of colonizing Virginia, lent five times at his own expenfe to feek for and relieve his friends ; but the perfons whom he employed, having more profitable bufinefs in the Weft Indies, either went not to the place, or were forced from it by ftrefs of weather j it being a tempeftuous region, and without any fafe harbour. The laft attempt which he made, was in 1602 ; the year before his imprifon- ment ; an event which gratified the malice of his enemies, and prepared the way for his death ; which was much lefs ignominious to him than to his fovereign, King James I, the Britifli Solomon ; fuccefTor to Elizabeth, the Britim Deborah.* This * As a fpecimcn of the language of that time, let the reader iake the following extraft from Purehas, He 222 RALEIGH. This unfortunate attempt to fettle a colony in Virginia, was productive of one thing which will always render it memorable, the intro duction of tobacco into England. Cartier, in his vifit to Canada, fifty years before, had obferved that the natives ufed this weed fumigation, but it was an object of difguft to Frenchmen. Ralph Lane, at his return in 1586, brought it firft into Europe -, and Raleigh, who was a man of gaiety and fafhion, not only learned the uie of it himfelf, but in troduced it into the polite circles j and even the Queen herfelf gave encouragement to it. Some humourous ftories refpecting it are ftill remembered. Raleigh laid a wager with the Queen, that he would determine exactly, the weight of fmoke which iffued from his pipe. This he did by firft weighing the tobacco and then the aihes. When the Queen paid the wager, me pleafantly obferved, that many la bourers had turned their gold into fmoke j but that he was the firjfl who had converted fmoke into gold. It " He [i. e. King James] is beyond comparifon a raeer tranf- cendcnt, beyond all his predeceflbrs, princes of this realm.; be yond the neigbouring princes of his own time ; beyond the conceit of fubjefts dazzled with fo much brightnefs ; beyond our vilorious Deborah, not in fex alone, but as peace is more ex cellent than war, and Solomon than David ; in this alfo thitt hr is, and we enjoy his prefent funfhine." RALEIGH. 223 It is alfo related that a fervant of Sir Wal ter, bringing a tankard of ale into his ftudy as he was fmoking his pipe, and reading, was fo alarmed at the appearance of fmoke, iffuing out of his mouth, that he threw the ale into his face, and ran down to alarm the family, crying out that his mafter was on fire. King James had fo refined a tafte, that he not only held this Indian weed in great abhor rence himfelf, but endeavoured, by proclama tions and otherwife, to prevent the ufe of it among his fubjedts. But all his zeal and authority could not fupprefs it. Since his time it has become an important article of commerce, by which individuals in Europe and America, as well as colonies and nations, have rifen to great opulence. X. JOHN 224 X. JOHN D E F U C A. VvHEN the exiftence of a weftern continent was known to the maritime nations of Europe, one great object of their in quiry was, to find, through feme openings which appeared in it, a paflage to India and China. For this purpofe feveral expenfive and unfucceisful voyages were made -, and ev ery hint which could throw any light on the &bjedt was eagerly fought and attended to, by thole who coniidercd its importance. JOHN DE F'ucA was a Greek, born in the iiland of Cephalonia in the Adriatic gulf. He had been employed in the fervice of Spain, in the Weft Indies, as a mariner and pilot, above forty years. Having loft his fortune, amount ing (as he faid) to fixty thoufand ducats, when the Acapulco fhip was taken, by Captain Cavendish an Englishman ; and being difap- pointed of the recompenfe which he had ex pected from the court of Spain ; he returned in difguft, to his native country, by the way of Italy ; that he might fpend the evening of his life, in peace and poverty, among his friends. At D E F U C A. At Florence he met with John Douglas, an Englifhman, and went with him to Venice. There, Douglas introduced him to Michael Lock, who had been Conful of the Turkey company at Aleppo, and was then occafional- ly refident in Venice. (A. D. 1596.) In converfation with Mr. Lock, De Fuca gave him the following account of his adven tures. " That he had been fent by the Viceroy of Mexico, as pilot of three fmall veflels, to dif- cover the flraits of Anian, on the weftern coaft of America - y through which, it was conjectured that a paffage might be found, in to fome of the deep bays on the eaftern fide of the continent. This voyage was fruftrated, by the mifcondud: of the commander, and the mutiny of the feameri; " In 1592 the Viceroy fent him again, with the command of a caravel and a pinnace, on the fame enterprize. Between the latitudes of 47 and 48 N. he difcovered an inlet, into which he entered and failed more than twenty days. At the entrance was a great headland, with an exceeding high pinnacle orfpired fock, like a pillar. Within the ftrait, the land ftfetched N,W* and N.E. and alfo E. and S.E. It was P much D K F U C A. much wider within, than at the entrance, and contained many iflands. The inhabitants were clad in the (kins of beafts. The land appear ed to be fertile like that of New Spain, and was rich in gold and filver. " Suppofing that he had accomplifhed the intention of the voyage and penetrated into the North Sea ; but not being ftrong enough, to refift the force of the numerous favages, who appeared on the mores ; he returned to Acapulco, before the expiration of the year." Such was the account given by De Fuca ; and Mr. Lock was fo imprefled with the fin- cerity of the relation and the advantages which his countrymen might derive from a know ledge of this flrait ; that he earneftly urged him to enter into the fervice of Queen Eliza beth, and perfedl the difcovery. He fucceed- ed fo far, as to obtain a promife from the Greek, though fixty years old - y that if the Queen would furnifli him with one mip, of forty tons, and a pinnace, he would undertake the voyage. He was the more eafily per- fuaded to this, by a hope that the Queen would make him fome recompence for the lofs of his fortune by Capt. Cavendifh. Mr. D E F U C A. 227 Mr. Lock wrote to the Lord Treafurer Cecil, Sir Walter Raleigh and Mr. Hakluyt, requeuing that they would forward the fcheme, and that one hundred pounds might be advanced to bring De Fuca to England. The fcheme was approved ; but the money was not advanced. Lock was fo much en gaged in it, that he would have fent him to England at his own expenfe ; but he was then endeavouring to recover at law, his de mands from the Turkey company, and could not difburfe the money. The pilot there fore returned to Cephalonia - y and Lock kept up a correfpondence with him, till 1602, when he heard of his death. Though this account, preferved by Pur- chas,* bears fufficient marks of authenticity , yet it has been rejected as fabulous for nearly two centuries ; and is treated fo even by the very candid Dr. Forfter.-j- Recent voyages however, have eftabiimed the exiftence of the ilrait ; and De Fuca is no longer to be con- iidered as an importer ; though the gold and iilvcr in his account were but conjectural. The ftrait which now bears his name is formed by land, which is fuppofed to be the continent * Lib. iv, chap, xx, p. 849. + Nprthern voyages, p. 451. P 2 * 228 D E F U C A. continent of America on one fide - y and by a very extenfive clufter of iflands on the other. Its fouthern entrance lies in lat. 48 20' N. long. 124 W. from Greenwich, and is about feven leagues wide. On the larboard fide, which is compofed of iflands, the land is very mountainous ; rifing abruptly in high and fharp peaks. On the ftarboard fide, is a point of land terminating in a remarkably tall rock, called the pillar. Within the entrance, the pafTage grows wider, extending to the S. E. N, and N. W. and is full of iflands. On the E. and N. E. at a great diftance are feen the tops of mountains ; fuppofed to be on the continent ; but the mips trading for furs have not penetrated far to the eaftward ; the fea otters being their principal object, and the land furs of fmall confideration. For this reafori) the eaftern boundary of the inland fea is not yet fully explored. The ftrait turns to the N. and N. W. encompaiTing a large clufter of iflands, among which is fituate Nootka Sound, and comes into the Pacific ocean again in lat. 51 15', long. 128 40'. This extremity of the ftrait is called its north ern entrance, and is wider than the fouthern. Another D E F U C A. Another ftrait has been lately feen which is fuppofed to be that of De Fonte, a Spanish Admiral, difcovered in 1640 ; the exiftence of which has alfo been treated as fabulous. The clufter of iflands, called by the Britifh feamen Queen Charlotte's, and by the Americans, Wa(hington's iflands, are in the very fpot where De Fonte placed the Archipelago of St. Lazarus.* The entrance only of this ftrait has been vifited by the fur mips. It lies in lat. 54 35' and long. 131 W.-f~ Thefe recent and well eftablifhed facts may induce us, to treat the relations of former voyages with decent refpect. The circum*- navigation of Africa by the ancient Phenicians, was for feveral ages deemed fabulous by the learned Greeks and Romans. But its credi bility was fully eftablimed by the Portuguefe difcoveries in the fifteenth century. In like manner the difcoveries of De Fuca and De Fonte * Sec the Critical Review, January, 1791. f For this information I am indebted to Captain ROBERT GRAY ; who has the laft fummer, (1793) returned from a fecond circumnavigation of the globe in the {hip Columbia of Bofion. Pie has failed quite through the flrait of De Fuca; and feen the entrance of that of De Fonte. The latitudes and longitudes of thefe places are taken from a very neat and accurate map of the N. W. coaft of America, drawn by Mr. HAS WELL, firxl Mate of the Columbia in her late voyage. PS 230 D E F U C A. Fonte which have long been fligmatized by geographers as pretended, and marked in their maps as imaginary, are now known to have been founded in truth, though from the im perfection of inftruments or the inaccuracy of hiftorians, the degrees and minutes of latitude and longitude were not precifely marked, and though fome circumftances in their accounts are but conjectural. Farther difcoveries may throw new light on the fubject, and though perhaps a N. W. paffage, by fea, from the Atlantic into the Pacific may not exift -, yet bays, rivers and lakes are fo frequent in thofe northern regions of our continent that an in land navigation may be practicable. It has been fuggefted that the company of Englifh merchants who enjoy an exclulive trade to Hudfon's Bay have, from interefted motives, concealed their knowledge of its weftern extremities. Whether there be any juft foundation for this cenfure, I do not pre tend to determine - 3 but a furvey is faid to be now making, from which, it is hoped, that this long contefted queftion of a N. W. paff- age will receive a full folution. XI. BARTHOLOMEW 231 XL BARTHOLOMEW GOSNOLD. T^ JL HE unfortunate iflue of Raleigh's at tempt to make a fettlement in America, to gether with the war with Spain, which con tinued for feveral years, gave a check to the fpirit of colonizing. In the beginning of the feventeenth century it was revived by BAR THOLOMEW GOSNOLD, an intrepid mariner in the weft of England. At whofe expenfe he undertook his voyage, to the northern part of Virginia, does not appear -, but, on the 26th of March 1602, he failed from Fal- mouth, in Cornwall, in a fmall bark, with thirty two men. Inftead of going by the way of the Canaries and the Weft Indies, he kept as far north as the winds would permit, and was the firft Engliihman who came in a dired courfe to this part of America. On the 1 4th of May they made the land, and met with a lhallop of European fabric, in which were eight favages, one of whom was drefled in European clothes ; from which they concluded that fome unfortunate fifher- men of Bifcay or Brittany, had been wrecked on the coaft. P 4 The 232 G O S N O L D. The next day they had again fight of land, which appeared like an ifland, by reafon of a large found which lay between it and the main. This found they called Shole Hope. Near this cape they took a great number of cod, from which circumftance they named the land Cape Cod. It is defcribed as a low fandy fhore in the latitude of 42. The Cap tain went on fhore and found the fand very deep. A young Indian, with plates of copper hanging to his ears, and a bow and arrows in his hand, came to him, and in a friendly man ner offered his fervice. On the 1 6th, they coafted the land fouth- erly, and at the end of twelve leagues difcov- ered a point, with breakers at a diflance ; and, in attempting to double it, came fuddenly in to moal water. To this point of land they gave the name of Point Care ; it is now call ed Sandy Point, and forms the foutheaftern. extremity of the county of Barnftable, in Maffachufetts. Finding themfelves furrounded by fhoals and breakers, they lay at anchor till they had examined the coaft and foundings in their boat during which time fome of the natives made them a vifit. One of them had' a plate of G O S N O L D. 233 of copper over his breaft, a foot in length and half a foot in breadth ; the others had pend ants of the fame metal at their ears : they all had pipes and tobacco, of which they were very fond. In furveying the coaft they difcovercd breakers lying off a point of land, which they denominated Gilbert's Point; it is now call ed Point Gammon, and forms the eaftern fide of the harbour of Hyennes. On the 1 9th they pafTed the breach of Gil bert's Point, in four and five fathoms of water, and anchored a league or more to the weft- ward of it. Several hummocks and hills appeared, which at firft were taken to be iflands -, thefe were the high lands of Barnfta- ble and Yarmouth. To the weftward of Gilbert's Point, ap peared an opening, which Gofnold imagined to have a communication with the fuppofed found which he had feen weftward of Cape Cod -, he therefore gave it the fame name Shole Hope ; but finding the water to be no more than three fathoms deep, at the diftance of a league, he did not attempt to enter it. From this opening, the land tended to the fouthweft ; and, in coafting it, they came to an 234 G O S N O L D. an ifland to which they gave the name of Marthas Vineyard. This ifland is defer ibed as "diftant eight leagues from Shole Hope, five miles in circuit, and uninhabited ; full of wood, vines and berries : here they faw deer and took abundance of cod." From their flation off this ifland, where they rode in eight fathoms, they failed on the 24th; and doubled the cape of another ifland, next to it, which they called Dover cliff : this courfe brought them into a found, where they anchored for the night, and the next morning fent their boat to examine another cape, which lay between them and the main, from which projected a ledge of rocks, a mile into the fea, but all above water, and not dan gerous. Having pafTed round them, they came to anchor again, in one of the finefl founds, which they had ever feen and to \vhich they gave the name of Gofnold's Hope. On the northern fide of it was the main ; and on the fouthern, parallel to it, at the diftance of four leagues, was a large ifland which they called Elizabeth, in honor of their Queen. On this ifland they determined to take up their abode ; and pitched upon a fmall woody iflet in the middle of a frefh pond, as a fafe place G O S N O L D. 235 place to build their fort. A little to the northward of this large ifland lay a fmall one half a mile in compafs, and full of cedars. This they called Hill's Hap. On the op- pofite northern more appeared another firm- lar elevation to which they gave the name of Hap's Hill. By this defcription of the coaft it is evident that the found into which Gofnold entered was Buzzard's Bay. The iflarid which he called Martha's Vineyard, was not that which now goes by that name, but a fmall iflarid, the eafternmoft of thofe which are known by the name of Elizabeth's iilands. It is called by the Indians NenimiiTett -, its prefent cir cumference is about four miles, but it has doubtlefs been diminimed fince Gofnold's time, by the force of the tides which fet into and out of the bay with great rapidity. Its natural produdtions and pleafant fituation an- fwer well to his defcription ; and deer are frequently feen and hunted upon it : but none were ever known to have been on the great ifland, now called Martha's Vineyard ; which is above twenty miles in length and was always full of inhabitants. For what reafon and at what time the name was tranf- ferred 236 G O S N O L D. ferred from the one to the other, I have not yet learned. The cliff named Dover is fuppofed to be the eaflern head of a fmall ifland which was called by the natives Onky Tonky,and is now corrupted into Uncle Timmy. The rocky ledge is called Rattlefnake Neck. Hill's Hap confifts now of two very fmall iflands called Wicpeckets. There is every appear ance that thefe were formerly united ; and there are now a few cedars on them. Hap's Hill, on the oppofite part of the main, is a fmall elevated ifland, of an oval form, near the mouth of a river which pafles through the towns of Wareham and Rochefler. It is a confpicuous object to navigators. The ifland on which Gofnold and his com pany took up their abode, is now called by its Indian name Naumaun, and is the property of the Honourable JAMES BOWDOIN, of Bof- ton, to whom I am indebted for thefe remarks on Qofnold's journal, which is extant at large in Purchas's collections.* Near the fouthweft end of Naumaun is a large frefh pond ; fuch an one as anfwers to Gofnold's defcription, excepting that there is no -* Vol. v, p. 1647. G O S N O L D. 237 no iflet in the middle of it. The more is fandy ; but what revolution may have taken place within the fpace of almofl two centuries paft, we cannot fay. Whilft fome of Gofnold's men laboured in. building a fort and {tore houfe on "the fmall iiland in the pond, and a flat boat to go to it ; he crofled the bay in his veflel and difcovered the mouths of two rivers : one was that near which lay Hap's Hill, and the other, that, on the fhore of which the town of New- Bedford is now built. After five days abfence, Gofnold returned to the ifland and was received by his people with great ceremony ; on account of an Indian chief and fifty of his men who were there on a vifit. To this chief they prefented a ftraw hat and two knives ; the hat he little regarded ; but the knives were highly valued. They feafted thefe favages with fifh and muftard, and diverted themfelves with the effect of the muftard on their nofes. One of them ftole a target, but it was reftored. They did not ap pear to be inhabitants, but occafional vifitants at the ifland, for the fake of gathering fhell- fiih. Four of them remained, after the others were 238 G O S N O L D. were gone, and helped the Englifh to dig the roots of faffafras - y with which, as well as the 'furs which they bought of the Indians, the veffel was loaded. After fpending three weeks in preparing a fbre houfe, when they came to divide their provifion, there was not enough to victual the Ihip, and to fubfift the planters till the fhip's return. Somejealoufy alfo aroie about the intentions of thofe who were going back; and after five days confultation they determin ed to give up their delign of planting, and re turn to England. On the eighteenth of June they failed out of the bay through the fame paflage by which they had entered it ; and on the twenty third of July they arrived at Ex- mouth, in the well of England. Gofnold's intention was to have remained with a part of his men, and to have fent Gil bert, the fecond in command, to England, for farther fupplies ; but half of fo fmall a com pany would not have been a fuflicient num ber to refift thefavages,had they been difpofed to attack them. After his return to England he was inde fatigable in his endeavours to forward the fet tling G O S N O L D. 239 fettling of a colony in America, and was one of thofe who embarked in the next expedi tion for Virginia, where he had the rank of a Counfeilor, and where he, died in the year 1607. XII. JOHN 240 XII. JOHN SMITH. r-f-i 1 HOUGH the early part of the life of this extraordinary man was fpent in foreign travels and adventures which have no refer ence to America -, yet the incidents of that period fo ftrongly mark his character, and give fuch a tincture to his fubfequent actions, and are withal fo fingular in themfelves, that no reader (it is prefumed) will cenfure the in troduction of them here as impertinent. He was born at Willoughby, in Lincoln- fhire, in the year 1579.* From the firft dawn of reafon, he difcovered a roving and roman tic genius, and delighted in extravagant and daring actions among his fchool fellows. When about thirteen years of age, he fold his books and fatchel, and his puerile trinkets, to raife * This is determined by an infcription annexed to his portrait on his map of New-England " ^Etat 37. Anno 1616." This portrait reprefcnts him clad in armour and under it arc thefe veri'es : " Such are the lines that (hew thy face ; butthofe That (hew thy grace and glory brighter bee ; Thy faire difcoveries and fowle ovcrthrowes Of falvages much civilized by thee, Beft fhew thy fpirit, and to it glory win, So thou irtbra.JJ't without, but gelde within." SMITH. 241 raife money, with a view to convey himfelf privately to fea ; but the death of his father put a ftop for the prefent to this attempt, and threw him into the hands of guardians, who en deavoured to check the ardour of his genius, by confining him to a compting houfe. Being put apprentice to a merchant at Lynn, at the age of fifteen, he at firfl conceived hopes that his mafter would fend him to fea in his fervice, but this hope failing, he quitted his mafter, and with only ten Shillings in his pocket, en tered into the train of a young nobleman who was travelling to France. At Orleans he was difcharged from his attendance on lord Bertie, and had money given him to return to Eng land. With this money he vifited Pans, and proceeded to the Low Countries, where he en- lifted as a foldier, and learned the rudiments of war, a fcience peculiarly agreeable to his ardent and active genius. Meeting with a Scots gentleman abroad, he was perfuad- to pafs into Scotland, with the promife of be ing ftrongly recommended to King James ; but being baffled in this expectation, he re turned to his native town, and finding no company there which fuited his tafte, he built a booth in a wood, and betook himfelf ta 242 SMITH. to the ftudy of military hiflory and tactics, di verting himfelf at intervals with his horfe and lance ; in which exercile he at length found a. companion, an Italian gentleman, rider to the earl of Lincoln, who drew him from his fyl- van retirement to Tatterfal. Having recovered a part of the eftate which his father had left him, he put himfelf into a better condition than before, and fet off again on his travels, in the winter of the year 1596, being then only feventeen years of age. His nrfl itage was Flanders, where meeting with a Frenchman who pretended to be heir to a noble family, he, with his three attendants, prevailed upon Smith to go with them to France. In a dark night they arrived at St. Valery in Picardy, and, by the conni vance of the (hip mafler, the Frenchmen were carried amore with the trunks of our young traveller, whilft he was left on board till the return of the boat. In the mean time they had conveyed the baggage out of his reach, and were not to be found. A failor on board, who knew the villains, generoufly undertook to conduct him to Mortaine where they lived, and fupplied his wants till their arrival at the place. Here he found their friends, from whom he could gain no recompence ; but the report S^ M I T H. 243 report of his furFeriags induced feveral perfons of diftinction to invite him to their houfes. Eager to purfuehis travels, and not caring to receive favours which he was unable to re quite, he left his new friends and went from port to port in fearch of a fhip of war* In one of thefe rambles, near Dinan, it was his chance to meet one of the villains who had robbed him. Without fpeaking a word, they both drew - t and Smith having wound ed and difarmed his antagonift, obliged him to confefs his guilt before a number of per fons who had afTembled on the occafion. Sat isfied with his victory, he retired to the feat of an acquaintance, the earl of Ployer, who had been brought up in England, and having received fupplies from him, he travelled along the French coaft to Bayonne, and from thence crofTed over to Marfeilles j vifiting and obferv- ing every thing in his way which had any reference to naval or military architecture. At Marfeilles he embarked for Italy, in company with a rabble of pilgrims. The ihip was forced by a tempeft into the harbour of Toulon, and afterward was obliged by a contrary wind to anchor under the little ifland of St. Mary, off Nice, in Savoy. The bigotry of the pilgrims made them afcribe their 244 S M I T H. their ill fortune to the prefence of a heretic on board. They devoutly curfed Smith, and his Queen Elizabeth, and in a fit of pious rage threw him into the fea. He fwam to the ifland, and the next day was taken on board a (hip of St. Malo which had alfo put in there for fhelter. The matter of the fhip, who was well known to his noble friend the earl of Ployer,entertained him kindly,and carried him to Alexandria in Egypt ; from thence he coafled the Levant > and on his return had the high fatisfaction of a naval engagement with a Venetian (hip, which they took and rifled of her rich cargo. Smith was fet on (hore at Antibes with a box of a thoufand chequins, (about 2000 dollars) by the help of which he made the tour of Italy, crofTed the Adriatic and travelled into Stiria, to the feat of Ferdinand, Archduke of Auftria. Here he met with an Englim and an Irifh Jefuit who introduced him to lord Ebcrfpaught, baron Kizel and other officers of diftinftion, and here he found full fcope for his genius ; for the emperor being then at war with the Turks, he entered into his army as a vol unteer. He SMITH. 245 He had communicated to Eberfpaught a method of converting at a diftance by fignals made with torches, which being alternately ihown and hidden a certain number of times, defignated every letter of the alphabet. He had foon after an opportunity of making the experiment. Eberfpaught being belieged by the Turks in the ftrong town of Olimpach, was cut off from all intelligence and hope of fuccour from his friends. Smith propofed his method of communication to baron Kizel, who approved it, and allowed him to put it in practice.* He was conveyed by a guard to a hill within view of the town, and fufficiently remote from the Turkifh camp. At the dif- play of the fignal, Eberfpaught knew and an- fwered it, and Smith conveyed to him this intelligence, " Thurfday night, I will charge on * The method is this. Firft, three torches are fhown in a line equi-diftant from each other, which are anfwered by three others in the fame manner. Then the meflage being written as briefly as poflible, and the alphabet divided into two parts, the letters from A to L are fignified by mowing and hiding one light, as often as there are letters from A to that letter, which you mean. The letters from M to Z by two lights in the fame man ner. The end of a word is fignified by mowing three lights. At every letter, the light fiands till the other party may write it down and anfwer by his fignal, which is one light. O.3 246 SMITH. on the Eaft > at the alarm fally thou." The anfwer was " I will." Juft before the at tack, by Smith's advice, a great number of falfe fires were made on another quarter, which divided the attention of the enemy and gave advantage to the aflailants ; who, be ing affifted by a fally from the town, killed many of the Turks, drove others into the river, and threw fuccours into the place, which obliged the enemy the next day to raife the fiege. This well conducted exploit, pro duced to our young adventurer, the command of a company, confifting of two hundred and fifty horfemen in the regiment of count Mel- drick, a nobleman of Tranfylvania. The regiment in which he ferved being en gaged in feveral hazardous enterprizes, Smith was foremoft in all dangers and diftinguimed himfelf both by his ingenuity and by his val our -j and when Meldrick left the Imperial army, and pafled into the fervice of his native prince, Smith followed him. At the fiege of Regal, the Ottomans derided the flow approaches of the Tranfylvanian army, and fent a challenge, purporting that the lord Turbjiha, to divert the ladies, would light any fingle Captain of the Chriftian troops. The S M I T H. 247 The honour of accepting this challenge, being determined by lot, fell on Captain Smith ; who, meeting his antagonift on horfeback, within view of the ladies on the battlements, at the found of mufic began the encounter, and in a fhort time killed him, and bore away his head in triumph to his general the lord Moyzes. The death of the chief fo irritated his friend Grualgo, that he fent a particular challenge to the conqueror, who, meeting him with the fame ceremonies, after a fmart combat, took off his head alfo. Smith then in his turn fent a rneflage into the town, informing the ladies, that if they wifhed for more diver- fion, they mould be welcome to his head, in cafe their third Champion could take it. This challenge was accepted by Bonamolgro, who unhorfed Smith and was near gaining the viclory. But remounting in a critical moment, he gave the Turk a ftroke with his faulchion which brought him to the ground, and his head was added to the number. For thefe fmgular exploits he was honoured with a military proceffion, confifling of fix thoufand 'men, three led horfes, and the Turks' heads on the points of three lances. With this ce- 4 remony 248 SMITH. remony Smith was conducted to the pavilion of his general, who, after embracing him, prefented him with a horfe richly furnifhed, a fcymitar and belt worth three hundred ducats, and a commiffion to be major in his regiment. The prince of Tranfylvania, after the capture of the place, made him a prefent .of his picture fet in gold, and a penfion of three hundred ducats per annum, and moreover granted him a coat of arms bearing three Turks' heads in a fhield. The patent was admitted and recorded in the college of Heralds in England, by Sir Henry Segar, garter king at arms. Smith was always proud of this diftinguiming honour, and thefe arms are accordingly blazoned in the frontifpiecc ito his hiftory, with this motto, ff Vine ere eft vivere." After this, the Tranfylvanian army was de feated by a body of Turks and Tartars near Jlotenton, and many brave men were (lain, among whom were nine Englifh and Scots officer.^. who, after thefafhionof that day, had entered into this fervice, from a religious zeal to drive the Turks out of Chriftendom. Smith was wounded in this battle and lay among the dead. His habit difcovered him to SMITH. 24$ to the viftors as a perfon of confequence ; they ufed him well till his wounds were heal ed, and then fold him to the Baflia Bogal, who fent him as a prefent to his miflrefs T^ra- gabigzanda at Conftantinople, accompanied with a meflage, as full of vanity as void of truth, that he had conquered in battle a Bo hemian nobleman, and prefented him to her as a ilave. The prefent proved more acceptable to the lady than her lord intended. She could fpeak Italian - y and Smith, in that language, not only informed her of his country and quality, but converfed with her in fo pleafmg a manner as to gain her affe&ions. The connexion prov ed fo tender, that to fecurehim for herfelf and to prevent his being ill ufed or fold again, me fent him to her brother the Bafha of Nalbraitz, in the country of the Cambrian Tartars, on the borders of the fea of Afoph. Her pre tence was, that he mould there learn the man ners and language as well as religion of the Tartars. By the terms in which ihe wrote to her brother, he fufpe&ed her defign, and refolved to difappoint her. Within an hour after Smith's arrival he was ftripped ; his head and beard were maven, an iron collar was put 250 SMITH. put about his neck ; he was clothed with a coat of hair-cloth, and driven to labour among other Chriftian flaves. He had now no hope of redemption, but from the love of his mif- trefs, who was at a great diftance, and not like ly to be informed of his misfortune ; the hopelefs condition of his fellow flaves could not alleviate his defpondency. In the depth of his diftrcfs, an opportunity prefented for an efcape, which to a perfon of a lefs courageous and adventrous fpirit would have proved an aggravation of mifery. He was employed in threming, at a grange, in a large field about a league from the houfe of his tyrant, who in his daily vilits treated him with abufive language, accompanied with blows and kicks. This was more than Smith could bear, wherefore watching an opportu nity when no other perfon was prefent, he lev elled a ftroke at him with his threfhing in- flrument, which difpatched him. Then hid ing his body in the ftraw and (hutting the doors, he filled a bag with grain, mounted the Bafha's horfe, and betaking himfelf to the defart, wandered for two or three days, ig norant of the way, and fo fortunate as not to meet with a fingle perfon who might give information SMITH. 251 information of his flight. At length he came to a pofl ere&ed in a crofs road, by the marks on which he found the way to Mofcovy, and in fixteen days arrived at Exapolis on the river Don > where was a Ruffian garrifon, the com mander of which underftanding that he was a Chriftian, received him courteoufly ; took off his iron collar, and gave him letters to the other governors in that region. Thus he travelled through part of Ruffia and Poland, till he got back to his friends in Tranfylvania ; receiving prefents in his way from many per- fons of diftindtion, among whom he particu larly mentions a charitable lady, Callamata, being always proud of his connexion with that fex, and fond of acknowledging their fav ours. At Leipfic he met with his colonel, count Meldrick, and Sigifmund, prince of Tranfylvania, who gave him 1 500 ducats to repair his lofies. With this money he was enabled to travel through Germany, France, and Spain, and having vifited the kingdom of Morocco, he returned by fea to England ; having in his paiTage enjoyed the pleafure of another naval engagement. At his arrival in his native country he had a thoufand ducats in his purfe, which, with the intereft he had remaining 252 SMITH. remaining in England, he devoted to feek adventures and make discoveries in NORTH AMERICA. Bartholomew Gofnold having conceived a favourable idea of America, had made it his bufmefs, on his return to England, to folicit affiftance in profecuting difcoveries. Meet ing with Captain Smith, he readily entered into his views, the employment being exactly fuited to his enterprizing genius. Having en gaged Edward Maria Wingfield, a merchant, Robert Hunt, a clergyman, and feveral others, they prevailed upon a number of noblemen, gentlemen, and merchants, to folicit a patent from the crown, by which the adventurers to Virginia became fubjecl to legal direction, and had the fupport and encouragement of a wealthy and refpeclable corporation ; which was ufually flyled the South Virginia compa ny, or the London company, in diftindion from the Plymouth company, who fuperin- tended the affairs of North Virginia. The date of their patent was April 10, 1606, and on the 1 9th of the following December, three (hips, one of one hundred tons, another of forty, and one of twenty, fell down the river Thames for Virginia. The commander was Chriftopher SMITH. 253 Chriftopher Newport, an experienced mari ner. They had on board the neceflary per- fons and proviiions for a colony ; and their orders for government were fealed in a box, which was not to be opened till they ihould arrive in Virginia. The mips were kept in the Downs by bad weather fix weeks, and afterward had a tem- peftuous voyage. They took the old route by the Canary and Caribbee iflands, and did not make the entrance of Chefapeak Bay till the a6th of April 1607. From the begin ning of their embarkation, there was a jealou- fy and diflention among the company. Smith and Hunt were friends, and both were envied and fufpe&ed by the others. Hunt was ju dicious and patient, his office fecured him from infult. Smith was ardent and induftri- ous, courteous in his deportment, but liberal in his language. On fome fuggeftions that he intended to ufurp the government, and that his confederates were difperfed among the companies of each fhip, he was made a prifoner from the time of their leaving the Canaries, and was under confinement when they arrived in the Chefapeak. When the box was opened it was found that Bartholo mew 254 SMITH. mew Gofnold, John Smith, Edward M. Wingfield, Chriftopher Newport, John Rat- cliff, John Martin, and George Kendal were named to be of the council ; who were to chufe a preiident from among themfelves for one year, and the government was vefted in them. Matters of moment were to be " examined by a jury, but determined by the major part of the council, in which the prefident had two voices." When the council was fworn, Wingfield was chofen prefident, and a decla ration was made of the reafons for which Smith was not admitted and fworn among the others. Seventeen days from their arrival were fpent in ieeking a proper place for their firft planta tion. The fouthern point of the bay was named Cape Henry, and the northern Cape Charles, in honour of the two fons of King James. To the firft great river which they difcovered they gave the name of their fove- reign ; and the northern point of its entrance was called Point Comfort, on account of the good channel and anchorage which they found there. On the flats they took plenty of oyfters, in fome of which were pearls ; and on the plain they found large and ripe ftraw- berries, SMITH. 255 berries, which afforded them a delicious re- paft. Having met with five of the natives, they invited them to their town, Kecoughtan, where Hampton is now built. Here they were feafted with cakes made of Indian corn, and regaled with tobacco and a dance. In return they prefented the natives beads and other trinkets. Proceeding up the river, another company of Indians appeared in arms. Their chief, Apamatica, holding in one hand his bow and arrow, and in the other a pipe of tobacco, demanded the caufe of their com ing ; they made figns of peace, and were hof- pitably received. On the 131?! of May, they pitched upon a peninfula where the mips could lie in fix fathom water, moored to the trees, as the place of their intended fettlement. Here they were vifited by Pafpiha, another Indian chief, who being made acquainted with their defign, offered them as much land as they wanted, and afterward fent them a deer for their entertainment. On this fpot they piched their tents, and gave it the name of James -town. Every man was now employed either in g and planting gardens, or making nets, or 256 S M I T H. or in cutting and riving timber to reladc the fhips. The prefident at firft would admit of no martial exercife, nor allow any fortifica tions to be made excepting the boughs of trees thrown together in the form of a half moon. Captain Newport took Smith and twenty more with him to difcover the head of James-river. In fix days they arrived at the falls, and erect ing a crofs, as they had at Cape Henry, took pofleiTion of the country in the name of King James. In this route they vifited POWHA- TAN, the principal Indian chief, or emperor. His town confiflcd of twelve houfes pleafantly fituate on a hill ; before which were three iflands, a little below the fpot where Rich mond is now built. Captain Newport pre- fented a hatchet to this prince, which he gratefully received, and when fome of his In dians murmured at the coming of the Kng- lifh among them, he filenced them by faying " why fhould we be offended ? they hurt us not, nor take any thing by force ; they want only a little ground which we can eafily fpare." This appearance of friendmip was not much relied on, when at their return to James-town, they found that the company had been furprif- ed at their work by a party of Indians, who had SMITH* 257 had killed one and wounded feventeen others, A double headed {hot from one of the (hips had cut off a bough of a tree, which falling among the Indians, terrified and difperfed them. This incident obliged the Prefident to alter the plan of the fort, which was now a triangular palifade with a lunette at each an gle ; and five pieces of artillery were mounted on the works, which were completed by the -i 5th of June. It was allb found necefTary to exercifc the men at arms, to mount guard and 'be vigilant, for the Indians would furprife and, moleft ftragglers, whiTft by their fuperior a- gility they would efcape unhurt. The iliips being almoft ready to return, it was thought proper that fome decifion (hould be had respecting the allegations againft Smith, His accufers affected commiferation, and pre tended to refer him to the cenfure of the com pany in England, rather than to expofe him, to a legal proiecution which might injure his reputation or touch his life. Smith, who knew both their malice and their impotence, openly fcorned their pretended pity and defied their refentment. He had conducted himfelf . fo unexceptionably in every employment which had been allotted to him, that he had R rendered 258 SMITH. rendered himfelf very popular , and his accuf- ers had by a different condudt loft the affec tions and confidence of the people. Thofe who had been fuborned to accufe him ac knowledged their fault, and difcovered the fe- cret arts which had been pradtifed againft him. He demanded a trial, and the iflue was, that the Prefident was adjudged to pay him two hundred pounds ; but when his pro perty was feized in part of this fatisfaction, Smith generoufly turned it into the common ftore, for the benefit of the colony. Such an adion could not but increafe his popularity. Many other difficulties, had arifen among them, which, by the influence of Smith, and the exhortations of Hunt, their chaplain, were brought to a feemingly amicable conclu- fion. Smith was admitted to his feat in the council, and on the next Sunday they celebrat ed the communion. At the fame time the Indians came in, and voluntarily defired peace. With the good report of thefe t ran factions Newport failed for England on the 22d of June, promifing to return in twenty weeks with frefh fupplies. The colony thus left in Virginia confifted of one hundred and four perfons, in very mif- erable SMITH. 259 erable circumftances, efpecially on account of provilions, to which calamity their long voyage did not a little contribute, both as it confumed their flock, and deprived them of the opportunity of lowing feafonably in the fpring. Whilft the mips remained, they could barter with the failors for bread ; but after their departure, each man's allowance was half a pint of damaged wheat, and as much barley , per day : the river, which at the flood was fait, and at the ebb was muddy, afforded them their only drink ; it alfo fuppli- ed them with flurgeon and fhellfim. This kind of food, with their continual labour in the heat of fummer, and their frequent watch- ings by night in all weathers, having only the bare ground to lie on with but a flight cov ering, produced difeafes among them j which by the month of September carried off fifty perfons, among whom was Captain Gofnold. Thofe who remained were divided into three watches, of whom not more than five in each were capable of duty at once. All this time the Prefident, Wingfield, who had the key of the ftores, monopolized the few refrefhmenfs which remained, and was meditating to de- fert the plantation privately in the pinnace, R 2 and 260 SMITH. and remove to the Weft Indies. Thefe things rendered him fo hateful to the reft, that they depofed him and elected Ratcliffe in his room ; they alfo removed Kendal from his place in the council, fo that by the middle of Septem ber, three members only were left. Ratcliffe. being: a man of no refolution nor o activity, committed the management of affairs abroad to Smith, in whom his confidence was not mifplaced. At the fame time the Indians in their neighbourhood brought in a plenti ful fupply of fuch proviiions as they had, which revived their drooping fpirits ; and Smith feeing the neceffity of exertion to fe- cure themfelves, and provide for the approach ing winter, partly by his animating ipeeches, but more by his example, fet them to work in mowing and binding thatch, and in build ing and covering houfes. In thefe exercifes he bore a large fhare, and in a ihort time got a fufficiency of houfes to make comfortable lodgings for all the people excepting himfelf. This being done, and the provifions which the natives had brought in being expended, he picked a number of the beft hands and em barked in a (hallop which they had brought from S M I T H. 261 from England, to fearch the country for a- nother fupply. The party which accompanied Smith in this excurfion, confifled of fix men, well arm ed, but ill provided with clothing and other neceflaries. What was wanting in equipment was to be fupplied by refolution and addrefs > and Smith's genius was equal to the attempt. They proceeded down the river to Kecoughtan [Hampton] where the natives, knowing the needy ftate of the colony, treated them with contempt, offering an ear of corn in exchange for a mulket, or a fword, and in like propor tion for their fcant and tattered garments. Finding that courtefy and gentle treatment would not prevail, and that nothing was to be expected in the way of barter, and more over provoked by their contempt,Smith order ed his boat to be drawn on more and his men to fire at them. The affrighted natives fled to the woods, whilft the party fearched their houfes in which they found plenty of corn -, but Smith did not permit his men to touch it; expecting that the Indians would return and attack them. They foon appeared to the number of fixty or feventy, formed into a fquare carrying their idol OKE, compofed R 3 of 262 SMITH. of fkins, fluffed with mofs and adorned with chains of copper. They were armed with clubs and targets, bows and arrows, and ad vanced, finging, to the charge. The party re ceived them with a volley of {hot, which brought feveral of them to the ground and their idol among them -, the reft fled again to the woods, from whence they fent a depu tation to offer peace and redeem their god. Smith, having in his hands fo valuable a pledge, was able to bring them to his own terms ; he ftipulated that fix of them mould come unarmed, and load his boat with corn, and on this condition he would be their friend and give them hatchets, beads and copper. Thefe ftipulations were faithfully performed on both fides ; and the Indians in addition prefented them with venifon, turkies, and other birds ; and continued finging and danc ing till their departure. The fuccefs of this attempt encouraged him to repeat his excurfions by land and wa ter - y in the courfe of which he difcovered feveral branches of James-River, and particu larly the Chickahamony, from whofe fertile banks he hoped to fupply the colony with provifion. But induftry abroad will not make a flourishing SMITH. 263 a flourifhing plantation without economy at home. What he had taken pains and rifqued his life to provide, was carelefsly and wanton ly expended ; the traffic with the natives be ing under no regulation, each perfon made his own bargain, and by out bidding each other they taught the Indians to fet a higher value on their commodities, and to think themfelves cheated when they did not all get the fame prices. This bred a jealoufy and fowed the feeds of a quarrel with them, which the colo ny were in a poor condition to maintain, be ing at variance among themfelves. The fhallop being again fitted for a trading voyage, whilft Smith was abroad on one of his ufual rambles, and the people being dif- contented with the indolence of Ratcliffe, their prefident, and the long ficknefs of Mar tin j Wingfield and Kendal, who had been difplaced, took advantage of Smith's abfence, and cpnfpired with fome malcontents to run away with the veflel and go to England. Smith returned unexpectedly, and the plot was difcovered. To prevent its execution, recourfe was had to arms, and Kendal was killed. Another attempt of the fame kind was made by Ratcliffe himfelf, ailifted by R 4 Archer ; 264 SMITH. Archer; but Smith found means to defeat this alfo. He determined to keep pofiefiion of the country, the value of which was daily rifing in his eftimation -, not only as a fource of wealth to individuals,but as a grand nation al objecl 5 and he knew that great undertak ings could not be accompli (hed without la bour and perfeverance. As the autumn advanced, the waters were covered with innumerable wild fowl 5 which with the addition of corn, beans, and pump kins, procured from the Indians, changed hunger into luxury, and abated the rage for abandoning the country. Smith had been once up the river Chickahamony, but becaufe he had not penetrated to its fource, exceptions were taken to his conduct: as too dilatory. This imputation he determined to remove. In his next voyage, he went fo high that he was obliged to cut the trees, which had fall en into the river, to make his way through as far as his boat could fwim. He then left her in a fafe place, ordering his men not to quit her until his return j then taking two of them, and two Indians for guides, he proceed ed in one of their canoes to the meadows at {he river's head , and leaving his two men with S M I T H. 265 with the canoe, he went with his Indian guides acrofs the meadows. A party of 300 Indians below, had watched the motions of the boat. They firfl furprized the ftraggling crew, and made one of them prifoner, from whom they learned that Smith was above. They next found the two men, whom he had left with the canoe, aileep by a fire, and killed them; then having difcovered Smith, they wounded him in the thigh with an arrow. Finding himfelf thus atlaulted, and wounded, he bound one of his Indian guides with his garters to his left arm, and made ufe of him as a fhield, whilft he difpatched three of his enemies and wounded fome others. He was retreating to his canoe, when regarding his enemies, more than his footfleps, he fudden- ly plunged with his guide into an oozy creek, and ftuck faft in the mud. The Indians af- tonifhed at his bravery did not approach him, till almoft dead with cold, he threw away his arms, and begged them to draw him out, which they did and led him to the fire, where his flain companions were Tying. This fight admonimed him what he was to expert. Be ing revived by their chafing his benumbed linibs, he called for their chief, Opechanka- now, 266 SMITH. now, King of Pamaunkee, to whom he prc- fented his ivory compafs and dial. The vi brations of the needle, and the fly under the glafs, which they could fee but not touch, afforded them much amufement; and Smith, having learned fomething of their language, partly by means of that, and partly by figns, entertained them with a defcription of the nature and ufes of the inftrument ; and gave them fuch a lecture on the motions of the heavens and earth, as amazed them, and ful- pended for a time, the execution of their pur- pofe. At length, curiofity being fatiated, they faflened him to a tree, and prepared to difpatch him with their arrows. At this in fant, the chief holding up the compafs, which he efleemed as a divinity, they laid a- fide their arms, and forming a military pro- cefiion, led him in triumph to their village Orapaxe. The order of their march was thus : they ranged themfelves in a fmgle file, the King in the midft, before him were borne the arms taken from Smith and his compan ions ; next after the King, came the prifoner, held by three flout favages ; and on each fide a file of fix. When they arrived at the vil lage, the old men, women, and children, came out SMITH. 267 out to receive them ; after fome manoeuvres, which had the appearance of regularity, they formed themfelves round the King and his prifoner, into a circle, dancing and tinging, adorned with paint, furs, and feathers, bran- difhing their rattles, which were made of the tails of rattlefnakes. After three dances, they difperfed, and Smith was conducted to a long hut, guarded by forty men. There he was fo plentifully feafted with bread and veni^ fon, that he fufpected their intention was to fatten and eat him. One of the Indians, to whom Smith had formerly given beads, brought him a garment of furs, to defend him from the cold. Another, whofe fon was then fick and dying,' attempted to kill him, but was prevented by the guard. Smith being conducted to the dying youth, told them that he had a medicine at James-town, which would cure him, if they would let him fetch it -, but they had another defign, which was to furprize the place, and make ufe of him as a guide. To induce him to perform this fer-? vice, they promifed him his liberty, with as much land, and as many women, as would content him. Smith magnified the difficulty and danger of their attempt,from the ordnance, mines 268 SMITH. mines and other defences of the place, which exceedingly terrified them, and to convince them of the truth of what he told them, hft wrote on a leaf of his pocket book, an inven tory of what he wanted, with fome directions to the people at the fort, how to affright the meflengers who went to deliver the letter. They returned in three days, reporting the terror, into which they had been thrown, and when they produced the things for which he had written, the whole company were afton- ifhed at the power of his divination by the freaking leaf. After this they carried him through feveral nations, inhabiting the banks of the Potow- mack and Rapahanock, and at length brought him to Pamaunkeej where they performed a ftrange ceremony, by which they intended to divine, whether his intentions toward them, were friendly or hoftile. The manner of it was this : early in the morning a great fire was made in a long houfe, and a mat fpread on each fide, on one of which he was placed, and the guard retired. Prefently, an Indian prieft, hideoufly painted, and drefled in furs and fnake Ikins, came flapping in, and after a variety of uncouth noifes and geflures, drew a circle with SMITH, 269 with meal round the fire. Then came in three more in the fame frightful drefs, and after they had performed their dance, three others. They all fat oppoiite to him in a line, the chief prieft in the midfl. After tinging a fong, accompanied with the mufic of their rattles, the chief prieft laid down five grains of corn, and after a fhort fpeech three more ; this was repeated till the fire was encircled. Then continuing the incantation, he laid flicks between the diviiions of the corn. The whole day was fpent in thefe ceremonies, with fail ing ; and at night a feaft was prepared of the beaft meats which they had. The fame tricks were repeated the two following days. They told him that the circle of meal reprefented their country, the circle of corn the fea more, and the flicks his country ; they did not ac quaint him, or he has not acquainted us with the refult of the operation ; but he obferved that the gunpowder, which they had taken from him, was laid up among their corn, to be planted the next fpring. After thefe ceremonies, they brought him to the emperor POWHATAN, who received him in royal flate, clothed in a robe of racoon fkins, feated on a kind of throne, elevated 270 S M I T H. elevated above the floor of a large hut, in the midfl of which was a fire j at each hand of the prince, fat two beautiful girls, his daugh ters, and along each fide of the houfe, a row of his counfellors, painted and adorned with feathers and {hells. At Smith's entrance a great fhout was made. The Queen of Apa- matox, brought him water to wa(h his hands, and another ferved him with a bunch of feathers, inftead of a towel. Having feafted him after their manner, a long coniultation was held, which being ended, two large ftones were brought in, on one of which his head was laid, and clubs were lifted up to beat out his brains. At this critical moment, POCA- HONTAS, the King's favourite daughter, flew to him, took his head in her arms, and laid her own upon it. Her tender intreaties pre vailed. The king confented that Smith fhould live, to make hatchets for him, and ornaments for her. Two days after, Powhatan caufed him to be brought to a diflant houfe ; where, after another threatening, he confirmed his promife, and told him he mould return to the fort, and fend him two pieces of cannon, and a grind- flone ; for which he would give him the country SMITH. 271 country of Capahoufick, and forever efteem him as his fon. Twelve guides accompani ed him, and he arrived at James-town, the next day. According to the flipulation, two guns and a large grindftone were offered them, but having in vain tried to lift them, they were content to let them remain in their place. Smith, however, had the guns loaded, and difcharged a volley of {tones, at a tree cover ed with icicles. The report and effect con founded them ; but being pacified with a few toys, they returned, carrying prefents to Powhatan and his daughter, of fuch things as gave them entire fatisfaction. After this ad venture, the young princefs, Pocahontas, fre quently vifited the plantation, with her attend ants, and the refremments which fhe brought from time to time proved the means of faving many lives, which otherwife would have been loft. Smith's return happened at another critical juncture. The colony was divided into parties, and the malcontents, were again preparing to quit the country. His prefence a third time, defeated the project in revenge for which they meditated to put him to death, under pretence that he had been the means of murdering the two 272 S M I T H. two men who went with him in the canoe ; but by a proper application of valour and Itrength, he put his sccufers under confine ment, till an opportunity prefented for fend ing them as prifoners to England. The misfortunes and mifmanagements of this Virginian colony, during the period here related, feem to have originated partly in the tempers and qualifications of the men who were appointed to command, and partly in the nature and circumstances of the adventure. There could be no choice of men for the fer- vice,but among thofe who offered themfelves j and thefe were previoufly flrangers to each other, as well as different in their education, qualities and habits. Some of them had been ufed to the command of mips, and partook of the roughnefs of the element on which they were bred. It is perhaps, no great compli ment to Smith, to fay that he was the beft qualified of them, for command ; fince the event proved that none of them, who furviv- ed the firft ficknefs, had the confidence of the people in any degree. It is certain that his refolution prevented the abandonment of the place the firft year ; his enterprizing fpi- rit led to an exploration of the country, and acquainted I T H. 273 acquainted them with its many advantages ^ his captivity produced an intercourfe with the favages ; and the fapplies gained from them, chiefly by means of his addrefs, kept the peo ple alive till the fecond arrival of the mips from England. The Virginians, therefore, juftly regard him, if not as the father, yet as the faviour of that infant plantation. In the winter of 1607, Capt. Newport ar rived from England in Virginia. The other fliip, commanded by Capt. Nelfon, which fail ed at the fame time, was difmafled on the American coaft, and blown off to the Weft- Indies. The fupplies fent by the company were received in Virginia with the moft cor dial avidity ; but the general licenfe given to the failors, to trade with the favages, proved detrimental to the planters, as it raifed the prices of their commodities fo high, that a pound of copper would not purchafe, what before could be bought for an ounce. New port himfelf was not free from this fpirit -of profufion, fo common to feafaring men, which he manifefted by fending prefents of various kinds to Powhatan, intending thereby to give him an idea of the grandeur of the Englim nation. In a vifit which he made to this S prince, 274 S M I T H. prince, under the conduct of Smith, he was received and entertained with an equal fhow of magnificence j but in trading with the lavage chief, he found himfelf outwitted. Powhatan, in a lofty {train, fpoke to him thus : " It is not agreeable to the greatnefs of fuch men as we are, to trade like common people for trifles ; lay down therefore at once, all your goods, and I will give you the full value for them." Smith perceived the fnare, and warned Newport of it ; but he, thinking to out brave the favage prince, difplayed the whole of his {lore. Powhatan then fet fuch a price on his corn, that not more than four bufhels could be procured $ and the necef- fery fupplies could not have been had, if Smith's genius, ever ready at invention, had not hit on an artifice which proved fuccefsful. He had fecreted fome trifles, and among them a parcel of blue beads , which, feemingly in a carelefs way, he glanced in the eyes of Pow hatan. The bait caught him 5 and he earn- eftly defired to purchafe them. Smith, in his turn, raifed the value of them, extolling them as the mofl precious jewels, refembling the colour of the iky, and proper only for the nobleft fovereigns in the univerfe. Powhatan's imagination SMITH. 275 imagination was all on fire $ he made large offers. Smith infifted on more, and at length fuffered himfelf to be perfuaded to take be tween two and three hundred bumels of corn for about two pounds of blue beads* and they parted in very good humour, each one being very much pleafed with his bargain. In a fubfequent vifit to Opecankanough, King of Pamaunkee, the company were entertained with the fame kind of fplendor and a fimilar bargain clofed the feftivity ; by which means, the blue beads grew into fuch eftimation, that none but the princes and their families were able to wear them* Loaded with this acquifition, they return ed to James-town ; where an unhappy fire had confumed feveral of their houfes, with much of their provifions and furniture. Mr. Hunt, the chaplain, loft his apparel and library in this conflagration, and efcaped from it with only the clothes on his back. This misfor tune was feverely felt $ the (hip (laying in port fourteen weeks, and referving enough for the voyage home, fo contracted their ftock of provifions, that before the winter was gone, they were reduced to great extremity, and many of them died. The caufe of the {hip's S 2 detention 276 SMITH. detention for fo long a time was this : In fearching for frefh water in the neighbour hood of James-town, they had difcovered in a rivulet, fome particles of a yellowim ifing- glafs, which their fanguine imaginations had refined into gold daft. The zeal for this pre cious matter was fo ftrong, that in digging, warning and packing it to complete the lading of the fhip, all other cares were abforbed. This was a tedious interval to Capt. Smith ; his judgment condemned their folly, his pa tience was exhaufted, and his paflion irritated, and the only recompenfe which he had for this long vexation was, the pleafure of fend ing home Wingfield and Archer, when the fhip departed. The other fhip arrived in the fpring, and notwithstanding a long and unavoidable deten tion in the Weft-Indies, brought them a com fortable fupply of provifions. They took ad vantage of the opening feaion, to rebuild their houfes and chapel, repair the palifades, and plant corn for the enfuing fummer, in all which works the example and authority of Smith, were of eminent fervice. Every man of activity was fond of him, and thofe of a contrary difpofition were afraid of him. It was SMITH. 277 was propofed that he fhould go into the coun try of the Monacans, beyond the falls of James-river, that they might have fome news of the interior parts to fend home to the com pany ; but a fray with the Indians detained him at James-town, till the mip failed for England, laden chiefly with cedar, but not without another fpecimen of the yellow duft, of which Martin was fo fond, that he took charge of the packages himfelf and returned to England. An acceflion of above one hun dred men, among whom were feveral gold- fmiths and refiners, had been made to the col ony, by the two laft fhips, and a new mem ber, Matthew Scrivener, was added to the council. Having finimed the necefTary buflnefs of the feafon, and difpatched the ihip, another voyage of difcovery was undertaken by Capt. Smith and fourteen others. They went down the river (June 10, 1608) in an open barge, in company with the fhip, and having parted with her at Cape Henry, they crofTed the mouth of the bay, and fell in with a clufter of iflands without Cape Charles, to which they gave the name of Smith's Ifles, which they ftill bear. Then re-entering the bay S 3 they 278 SMITH. they landed on the eaftern neck, and were kindly received by Acomack, the prince of that peninfula, a part of which ftill bears his name. From thence they coafted the eaftern fhore of the bay, and landed fdmetimes on the main, and at other times on the low iflands, of which they found many, but none fit for habitation. They proceeded up the bay to the northward and crofled over to the weftern more, down which they coafted to the fouthward, and in this route difcovered the mouths of the great rivers, which fall into the bay on that fide. One in particular, at tracted much of their attention, becaufe of a reddHh earth which they found there, and from its refemblance to bole-ammoniac, they gave it the name of Bolus-river, and it is fo named in all the early maps of the country ; but in the later, it bears the Indian name Pa- tapfco 5 on the north fide of which is now the flourifhing town of Baltimore. They failed thirty miles up the Potowmack, with^ out feeing any inhabitants ; but on entering a creek found themfelves furrounded by In dians who threatened them. Smith prepared for an encounter ; but on firing a few guns, the Indians, terrified at the noife, made figns of S M I T H. 279 of peace, and exchanged hoflages. One of the company was by this means carried to the habitation of their prince, and the whole were kindly ufed. They learned that it was by direction of Powhatan that the Indians were in arms, and had attempted to furprife them - y from this circumftance they were led to fuf- pectthat Powhatan, had been informed of this expedition, by the difcontented part of the colony whom Smith had obliged to flay in the country when they would have defert- ed it. It was Smith's invariable cuftom, when he met with the Indians, to put on a bold face, and if they appeared defirous of peace to de mand their arms, and fome of their children as pledges of their fincerity $ if they complied, he conlidered them as friends -, if not, as ene mies. In the courfe of this voyage, he col lected fome furs, and difcovered fome colour ed earths, which the favages ufed as paints, but found nothing of the mineral kind. At the mouth of the Rappahanock, the boat grounded, and whilft they were waiting for the tide, they employed themfelves in flicking with their fwords the fames which were left on the flats. Smith having ftuck his fword S 4 into SMITH. into a ftingray, the fifli raifed its tail, and with its Iharp indented thorn, wounded him in the arm. The wound was extremely painful, and he prefently fwelled to that degree, that they expected him to die, and he himfelf gave them orders to bury him on a neighbouring ifland. But the furgeon, Dr. Rufiel, having probed the wound -, by the help of a certain oil, ib allayed the anguifh and fwelling, that Smith was able to eat part of the fifh for his fupper. From this occurrence, the place was diftinguifhed by the name of Stingray- Point, which it flill bears. On the 2 1 ft of July, they returned to James-town. Having, with the coloured earths which they had found, difguifed their boat and ftreamers, their old companions were alarmed at their approach, with the apprehen- fion of an attack from the Spaniards ; this was a trick of Smith's to frighten the old Prefi- dent, who had rioted on the public {lores, and was building a houfe in the woods, that he might feclude himfelf from the fickly, difcon- tented, quarrelfome company. On Smith's arrival, they fignified their defire of inverting him with the government. Ratcliffe being depofed, it fell to him of courfe ; and having recommended SMITH. 2*1 recommended Scrivener to preiide in his ab- fence, he entered on another voyage of difcov- ery, being determined to fpare no pains for a full exploration of the country. From the 24th of July, to the 7th of Sep tember, with twelve men in an open barge, he ranged the bay of Chefapeak, as far north ward as the falls of Sufquehannah, entering all the rivers that flow into the bay, and ex amining their fhores. In fome places, the na tives were friendly, an din others jealous. Their idea of the ftrange vilitors, was, that they had come " from under the world to take their world from them." Smith's conftant endea vour, was to preferve peace with them ; but when he could not obtain corn in the way of traffic, he never fcrupled to ufe threats, and in fome cafes, violence, and by one or the other method he prevailed fo as to bring home a load of provifions for his difcontented companions, who without his efforts would not have been able to live. Sicknefs and death were very frequent, and the lateft com ers, were moft affedted by the diforders of the climate. Smith was now eftablimed in the prefiden- cy, by the election of the council and the re- queft 282 SMITH. queft of the company ; but the commiflion. gave to a majority of the council the whole power. Newport, at his third arrival, brought over two new members, and Ratcliffe having flill a feat, though depofed from the prefiden- cy, Smith was obliged in fome cafes to comply with their opinions, contrary to his own judgment, an initance of which will now be exhibited. The Virginia company in London, de ceived by falfe reports, and mifled by their own fanguine imaginations, had conceived an expectation not only of rinding precious metals in the country, but of difcovering the South Sea, from the mountains at the head of James - river -, and it was thought, that the journey thither, might be performed in eight or ten days. For the purpofe of making this capi tal difcovery, they put on board Newport's mip, a barge capable of being taken to pieces, and put together again at pleafure. This barge was to make a voyage to the head of the river, then to be carried in pieces acrofs the moun tains, and to defcend the rivers which were fuppofed to run weftward to the South Sea. To faciliate this plan, it was neceflary to gain the favour of Powhatan, through whofe country SMITH. 283 country the paffage mufl be made ; and as means of winning him, a royal prefent was brought over, confifting of a bafon and ewer, a bed and furniture, a chair of flate, a fuit of fcarlet clothes, with a cloak and a crown, all which were to be prefented to him in due form ; and the crown placed on his head, with as much folemnity as poffible. To a perfon who knew the country and its inhabitants fo well as Smith, this project appeared chimeri cal, and the means whereby it was to be car ried on, dangerous. With a fmall quantity of copper and a few beads, he could have kept Powhatan in good humour, and made an ad vantage of it for the colony, whereas a profu- iion of prefents he knew would but increafe his pride and infolence. The project of travel ling over unknown mountains with men already weakened by ficknefs, and worn out with fatigue, in a hot climate, and in the midft of enemies, who might eafily cut off their retreat, was too romantic even for his fanguine and adventrous fpirit. His opinion upon the matter cannot be expreffed in more pointed language, than he ufed in a letter to the company. " If the quartered boat was burned to afhes, one might carry her in a bag, but 284 SMITH. but as me is, five hundred cannot, to a navi gable place above the falls." His diffent however was ineffectual, and when he found that the voice of the council was for execut ing it, he lent his am* fiance to effect as much of it as was practicable. Previoufly to their fetting out, he under took, with four men only, to carry notice to Powhatan of the intended prefent, and invite him to come to James-town, that he might receive it there. Plaving travelled by land twelve miles to Werocomoco, on Pamunky (York) river, where he expected to meet Powhatan, and not finding him there, whilft a meffenger was difpatched thirty miles for him ; his daughter Pocahontas, entertained Smith and his company with a dance, which for its fingularity, merits a particular def- cription. In an open plain, a fire being made, the gentlemen were feated by it. Suddenly a noife was heard in the adjacent wood, which made them fly to their arms, and feize on two or three old men, as hoftages for their own fecurity, imagining that they were betrayed. Upon this the young princefs came running to Smith, and paflionately embracing him, offered SMITH. 285 offered herfelf to be killed, if any harm mould happen to him or his company. Her aflur- ances, feconded by all the Indians prefent, removed their fears. The noife which had alarmed them, was made by thirty girls, who were preparing for the intended ceremony. Immediately they made their appearance, with no other covering than a girdle of green leaves and their fkins painted, each one of a different colour. Their leader had a pair of buck's horns on her head, an otter's fkin as her gir dle, and another on one arm ; a bow and ar row in the other hand, and a quiver at her back. The reft of them had horns on their heads, and a wooden fword or ftafF in their hands. With fhouting and finging, they formed a ring round the fire, and per formed a circular dance for about an hour, after which they retired in the fame order as they had advanced. The dance was followed by a feaft, at which the favage nymphs were as eager with their carefles as with their at tendance ; and this being ended, they con ducted the gentlemen to their lodging by the light of fire brands. The next day Powhatan arrived, and Smith tklivered the meflage from his father, Newport (as 286 SMITH. (as he always called him) to this effect. That he had brought him from the King of England, a royal prefent, and wifhed to fee him at James-town, that he might deliver it to him 5 promifing to aflift him in profecut- ing his revenge againft the Monacans, whofe country they would penetrate even to the fea beyond the mountains." To which the fav- age prince with equal fubtilty and haughti- nefs, anfwered, " If your King has fent me a prefent, I alfo am a King, and am on my own land. I will flay here eight days. Your father muft come to me, I will not go to him, nor to your fort. As for the Monacans, I am able to revenge myfelf. If you have heard of felt water beyond the mountains, from any of my people, they have deceived you." Then with a flick he drew a plan of that region on the ground j and after many compliments the conference ended. The prefent being put on board the boats, was carried down James-river and up the Pa- munkee, whilft Newport, with fifty men, went acrofs by land and met the boats, in which he paffed the river, and held the propofed inter view. All things being prepared for the ce remony of coronation, the prefent was brought from SMITH. 287 from the boats j the bafon and ewer were de- pofited, the bed and chair were fet up, the fcarlet fuit and cloak were put on, though not till Namontac (an Indian youth whom Newport had carried to England and brought back again) had affured him that thefe habili ments would do him no harm ; but they had great difficulty in perfuading him to receive the crown, nor would he bend his knee, or incline his head in the leafl degree. After many attempts, and with actual preffing on his moulders, they at laft made him ftoop a little and put it on. Inftantly, a fignal being given, the men in the boats fired a volley, at which the monarch ftarted with horror, im agining that a defign was forming to deftroy him in the fummit of his glory; but being afTured that it- was meant as a compliment, his fear fubfided, and in return for the baubles of royalty received from King James, he defired Newport to prefent him his old fur mantle and deer fkin (hoes, which in his eftimation. were doubtlefs a full equivalent ; fince all this finery could not prevail on the wary chief to allow them guides for the difcovery of the in land country, or to approve their defign of vifiting it. Thus difappointed they returned to 288 SMITH. to James-town, determined to proceed with out his affiftance. Smith, who had no mind to go on fuch a fruitlefs errand, tarried at the fort with eighty invalids to relade the (hip, whilfl Newport with all the council, and one hundred and twenty of the health ieft men, began their tranfmontane tour of difcovery. They pro ceeded in their boats to the falls at the head of the river ; from thence they travelled up the country two days and a half, and difcover- cd two towns of the Monacans, the inhabit ants of which fcemed very indifferent toward them, and ufed them neither well nor ill. They took one of their petty princes and led him bound to guide them. Having perform ed this march, they grew weary and returned, taking with them in their way back certain portions of earth, in which their refiner pre tended that he had feen figns of filver. This was all the fuccefs of their expedition ; for the Savages had concealed their corn, and they could neither perfuade them to fell it, nor find it to take it by force. Thus they returned to James-town, tired, difappointed, hungry and iick, and had the additional mortification of being laughed at by Smith for their vain at tempt. The SMITH. 289 The Virginia company had not only a view to the difcovery of the South Sea, but alfo to eftablifh manufactures in their colony ; and for this purpofe had fent over a number of work men from Poland and Germany, who were fkilled in the making pot ames and glafs, as well as pitch and tar. Had the country been full of people, well cultivated and provided with all neceflaries for carrying on thefe works, there might have been fome profpect of ad vantage; but, in a new region, the principal objects are fubfiftence and defence ; thefe will necefTarily occupy the firfl adventurers to the exclufionof all others. However, Smith was of fo generous a difpofttion, and fo indefatiga ble in doing what he apprehended to be his duty, and in gratifying his employers, that as foon as Newport returned from his fruitlefs attempt to find the South Sea, he fet all, who were able, to work, that he might, if poffible, anfwer the expectation of the company. Thole who were fkilled in the manufactures, he left under the care of the council, to carry on their works ; \vhilft he took thirty of the moft ac tive with him, about five miles down the riv er, to cut timber, and make clapboards ; this being, as he well knew, an employment the T moft 290 S iM I T H. moft certain of fuccefs. Among thefe were feveral young gentlemen, whofe hands not having been ufed to labour, were bliftered by the axes, and this occalioned frequent expref- fions of impatience and profanenefs. To punifh them, Smith caufed the number of every man's oaths to be taken down daily, and at night as many canns of water to be poured inlide his fleeve. This difcipline was no lefs fingular than effectual ; it fo leffened the number of oaths, that fcarcely one was heard in a week, and withal it made them perfectly good humoured, and reconciled them to their labour. At his return to the fort, he found, not only that bufmefs had been neglected, but much provifion confumed, and that it was neceffary for him to undertake another expe dition for corn. He, therefore, went up the Chickahamony with two boats and eighteen men, and rinding the Indians not in a humour for trading, but rather fcornful and infolent, he told them that he had come not fo much for corn, as to revenge his imprifonment, and the murder of his two men, fome time before. Putting his crew in a pofture of attack, the Indians fled, and prefently fent meflengers to treat of peace ; for the obtaining which, he made SMITH. 291 made them give him an hundred bulhels of corn, with a quantity of fifh and fowls > and with this fupply he kept the colony from flarving, and preferved the mip's provifions for her voyage to England. At her depar ture, me carried fuch fpecimens as could be had of tar, pitch, turpentine, foap afhes, clap boards, and wainfcotj and at Point Comfort, met with Scrivener, who had been up the Pamaunkee for corn, and had got a quantity of pocones, a red root, ufed in dying ; thefe being taken on board, Capt. Newport returned to England the third time, leaving about two hundred perfons in Virginia. The harveft of 1608, had fallen mort both among the new planters and the natives ; and the colony was indebted to the inventive ge nius and indefatigable perfeverance of Smith, for their fubfiftence during the fucceeding winter. As long as the rivers were open, he kept the boats continually going among the natives, for fuch fupplies as could be obtain ed ; and he never would return empty, if any thing were to be had by any means in his power. Whilft abroad on thefe excurfions, he and his men were obliged frequently to lodge in the woods, when the ground was T 2 hard 292 S M I T H. hard frozen and covered with fnow ; and their mode of accomodating themfelves was, firft to dig away the fnow and make a fire ; when the ground was dried and warmed, they re moved the fire to one fide, and fpread their mats over the warm fpot for their bed, ufing another mat as a fcreen from the wind ; when the ground cooled, they fhifted the fire again ; by thus continually changing their pofition they kept themfelves tolerably warm through many cold nights ; and it was obferved, that thofe who went on this fervice and fubmitted to thefe hardfhips, were robuft and healthy, whilfl thofe who flayed at home were always weak and fickly. The fupplies procured by trading being in- fufficient, and hunger very prefling, Smith ventured on the dangerous project of furpriz- ing Powhatan, and carrying off his whole flock of provifions. This Indian prince, had formed a fimilar defign refpefting Smith ; and for the purpofe of betraying him, had in vited him to his feat, promifing that if he would fend men to build him a houfe, after the Englifh mode, and give him fome guns and fwords, copper and beads, he would load his boat with corn. Smith fent him three Dutch SMITH. 293 Dutch carpenters, who treacheroufly revealed to him the defign which Smith had formed, On his arrival with forty fix men, he found the prince, fo much on his guard, that it was impoffible to execute his defign. Having fpent the day in converfation (in the courfe of which Powhatan had in vain endeavoured to perfuade Smith to lay aficje his arms, as being there in perfect fecurity) he retired in the evening and formed a defign to furprize Smith, and his people at their fupper -, and had it not been for the affectionate friendfhip of Pocahontas, it would p.robably have been effected. This amiable girl, at the rifque of her life, ftole from the fide of her father, and paffing in the dark through the woods, told Smith with tears in her eyes of the plot, and then as privately returned. When the In dians brought in the fupper, Smith obliged them to tafte of every difh ; his arms were in readinefs, and his men vigilant ; and though there came divers fets of meffengers one after another, during the night, under pretence of friendly inquiries, they found them fo well prepared, that nothing was attempted, and the party returned in fafety, T 3 In 294 S M I T H. In a fubfequent vifit to Opecancanough, by whom he formerly was taken prifoner, this prince put on the femblance of friendfhip, whilft his men lay in ambum with their bows and arrows. The trick being difcovered by one of Smith's party and communicated to him, he refolutely feized the King by his hair, and holding a piftol to his breaft, led him trembling to the ambum, and there with a torrent of reproachful and menacing words, obliged him to order thofe very people not only to lay down their arms, but to load him with provifions. After this, they made an at tempt to murder him in his fleep, and to poi- fon him, but both failed of fuccefs. The chief of Pafpiha meeting him alone in the woods, armed only with a fword, attempted to moot him, but he clofed with the favage, and in the ftruggle both fell into the river j where, after having narrowly efcaped drown ing, Smith at laft prevailed to gripe him by the throat, and would have cut off his head, but the intreaties of the poor vi<5tim prevail ing on his humanity, he led him prifoner to James-town. This intrepid behaviour ftruck a dread into the favager, and they began to believe what he SMITH. 295 he had often told them, that, " his God would protect him againft all their power, whilft he kept his promife ; which was to preferve peace with them as long as they fhould refrain from hoftilities, and continue to fupply him with corn." An incident which occurred about the fame time, confirmed their veneration for him. An Indian having ftolen a piftol from James-town, two brothers who were known to be his companions were feiz- ed, and one was held as hoftage for the other, who was to return in twelve hours with the piftol, or the prifoner was to be hanged. The weather being cold, a charcoal fire was kind led in the dungeon which was very clofe, and the vapour had fo fuffbcated the prifoner, that on the return of his brother at the appointed time, with the piftol, he was taken out as dead. The faithful favage lamented his fate in the moft diftreffing agony. Smith, to con- fole him, promifed, if they would fteal no more, that he mould be recovered. On the application of fpirits and vinegar, he mewed figns of life, but appeared delirious -, this griev ed the brother as much as his death. Smith undertook to cure him of this alfo, on the repetition of the promife to fteal no more. T 4 The 296 S M I T H. The delirium being only the effedr, of the fpi- rits which he had fwallowed, was remedied by a few hours ileep ; and being difmifTed, with a prefent of copper, they went away, be lieving and reporting that Smith was able tt bring the dead to life. The effect was, that not only many ftolen things were recovered, and the thieves punimed, but that peace and friendly intercourfe were prefer ved, and corn brought in as long as they had any, whilfl Smith remained in Virginia. He was equally fevere and refolute with his own men, and finding many of them inclin ing to be idle, and this idlenefs in a great meafure the caufe of their frequent fickneffes and deaths, he made an order, " that he who would not work fhould not eat, unlefs he were difabled, by ficknefs ; and that every one who did not gather as much food in a day as he did himfelf, fhould be banifhed." A recent attempt having been made, to run away with the boats, he ordered that the next per- fon who fhould repeat this offence fhould be haneed. Ey firmnefs in the execution of thefe laws, and by the concurrent force of his own example in labouring continually, and his whole fhare of European pro- vifions SMITH. 297 vifions and refreshments to the fick, he kept the colony in fuch order, that, though many of them murmured at his feverity, they all be came very induftrious ; and withal fo healthy, that, of two hundred perfons, there died that winter and the next fpring no more than feven. In the fpace of three months they had made a quantity of tar, pitch, and pot afhes ; had produced a fample of glafs -, dug a well in the fort ; built twenty new houfes -, provided nets and wiers for liming ; creeled a block houfe on the ifthmus of James-town j anoth er on Hog liland ; and had begun a fortrefs on a commanding eminence. As the fpring came on, they paid fuch attention to hufband- ry, as to have thirty or forty acres cleared and fit for planting ; and a detachment had been fent to the fouthward, to look for the long loft colony of Sir Walter Raleigh, but without fuccefs. Such was the ftate of the Virginia colony, when Captain Samuel Argal arrived on a trad ing voyage, and brought letters from the com pany in England, complaining of their difap- pointment, and blaming Smith as the caufe of it. They had conceived an ill opinion of Jiim, from the perfons whom he had fent home, 298 SMITH. home, who reprefented him as arbitrary and violent toward the colonifts, cruel to the fav- ages, and difpofed to traverfe the views of the adventurers, who expected to grow rich very fuddenly. There was this difadvantage attending the bufmefs of colonization in North America, at that day, that the only precedents which could be had were thole of the Spaniards, who had treated the natives with extreme cruelty, and amaffed vail fums of gold and filver. Whilft the Englifh adventurers detefted the means by which the Spaniards had acquired their riches, they ftill expected that the fame kind of riches might be acquired by other means ; it was therefore thought politic, to be gentle in de meanor and lavifh of prefents toward the na tives, as an inducement to them to difcover the riches of their country. On thefe princi ples the orders of the Virginia company to their fervants were framed. But experience had taught Smith, the moft difcerning and faithful of all whom they had employed, that the country of Virginia would not enrich the adventurers in the time and manner which they expected; yet he was far from abandon ing it as worthlefs : his aim, was thoroughly to SMITH. 299 to explore it; and by exploring, he had difcov- cred what advantages might be derived from it ; to produce which, time, patience, expenfe and labour, were abfolutely neceilary. He had fairly reprefented thefe ideas to his em ployers, he had fpent three years in their fer- vice, and from his own obfervations had drawn and fent them a map of the country -, and he had conducted their affairs, as well as the na ture of circumftances would permit. He had had a diforderly, factious, difcontented, difap- pointed fet of men, to control, by the help of a few adherents j in the face of the native Jords of the foil, formidable in their numbers and knowledge of the country, verfed in flrat- agem, tenacious of refentment, and jealous of ftrangers. To court them by prefents was to acknowledge their fuperiority, and inflate their pride and infolence. Though favages, they were men and not children. Though defti- tute of fcience, they were pofTeffed of reafon, and a fufficient degree of art. To know how to manage them, it was necefTary to be per- fonally acquainted with them ; and it muft be obvious, that a perfon who had refided feveral years among them, and had been a prifoner with them, was a much better judge of the proper 3 oo SMITH. proper methods of treating them, than a com pany of gentlemen at feveral thoufand miles diftance, and who could know them only by report. Smith had, certainly, the interefl of the plantation at heart, and by toilfome expe rience, had jult learned how to conduft it ; when he found himfelf fo obnoxious to his employers, that a plan was concerted to fuper- fede him, and reinftate, with a mare of autho rity, thofe whom he had difmifTed from the fervice. The Virginia Company had applied to the King to recal their patent and grant another ; in virtue of which they appointed -Thomas Lord de la Warre, general ; Sir Thomas Gates, lieutenant general ; Sir George Somers, admiral ; Sir Thomas Dale, marmal ; Sir Ferdinando Wainman, general of horfe ; and Captain Newport, (the only one of them who had feen the country) vice-admiral. The ad venturers having, by the alteration of their pa tent, acquired a reinforcement both of dignity and property, equipped nine (hips ; in which were embarked five hundred perfons,men,wom- en and children. Gates, Somers, and Newport, had eachacommiflion, inverting either of them who might firfl arrive, with power to call in the old SMITH. 301 old and fet up the new commiilion. The fleet failed from England in May 1609, and by fome flrange policy the three commanders were em barked in one fhip. This {hip being feparated from the others in a ftorm, was wrecked on the ifland of Bermuda ; another foundered at lea ; and when the remaining feven arrived in Virginia, two of which were commanded by Ratclifte and Archer, they found themfelves deftitu^e of authority ; though fome of them were full enough of prejudice againft Smith who was then in command. The fhips had been greatly mattered in their pafTage, much of their provilion was fpoiled, many of their people were fick ; and the feafon in which they arrived was not the mod favourable to their recovery. A mutinous fpirit foon broke out, and a fcene of confufion enfued ; the new comers would not obey Smith, becaufe they fuppofed his commiffion to be fuperfeded j the new commiffion was not arrived, and it was uncertain whether the (hip which carried it would ever be feen or heard of. Smith would gladly have withdrawn and gone back to Eng land, but his honor was concerned in main taining his authority till he mould be regularly fuperfeded ; and his fpirit would not fufferhirn to 302 S M I T H. to be trampled on by thofe whom he defpifed. Upon due confideration, he determined to maintain his authority as far as he was able ; waiting fome proper opportunity to retire. Some of the moft infolent of the new comers, " he laid by the heels." With the more moderate he confulted what was beft to be done ; and, as a feparation feemed to be the beft remedy, and it had been in contempla tion to extend the fettlements, fome were in duced to go up to the Falls, others to Nanfe- mond, and others to Point Comfort. Smith's .year being almoft expired, he offered to relign to Martin, who had been one of the old coun cil, but Martin would not accept the com mand ; he, therefore, kept up the form ; and, as much as he could, of the power of govern ment ; till an accident which had nearly proved fatal to his life, obliged him to return to England. On his return from the new plantation at the Falls ; fleeping by night in his boat ; a bag t of gun powder took fire, and burnt him in a moft terrible manner. Awaking in furprife,and finding himfelf wrapt in flames* he leaped into the water, and was almoft drowned, before his companions could recover him. SMITH. 303 him. At his return to James- town, in this diftrefTed condition, Ratcliffe and Archer con- fpired to murder -him in his bed -, but the afTafTin, whom they employed, had not courage to fire a piftol. Smith's old foldiers would have taken off their heads -, but he thought it prudent to pafs by the offence, and take this opportunity, as there was no furgeon in the country, of returning to England. As foon as his intention was known, the council appoirited Mr. Percie to prefide in his room ; and detained the (hip three weeks, till they could write letters, and frame complaints againft him. He at length failed for England, about the latter end of September 1609 ; much regreted by his few friends, one of whom has left this character of him. " In all his proceedings he made juftice his firft guide, and experience his fecond -, hating bafenefs, floth, pride, and indignity, more than any dangers. He never would allow more for himfelf than for his foldiers -, and upon no danger would fend them where he would not lead them himfelf. He would never fee us want what he had, or could by any means get for us. He would rather want than bor row i or ftarve, than not pay. He loved action more than words ; and hated covetoufnefs and 304 S M I T H. and falfehood worfe than death. His adven tures were our lives ; and his lofs our deaths." There needs no better teftimony to the truth of this character, than what is related of the miferable colony after- he had quitted it. Without government, without prudence, carelefs, indolent, and factious, they became a prey to the infolence of the natives, to the difeafes of the climate and to famine. With in fix months, their number was reduced from five hundred to fixty ; and when the three commanders, who had been wrecked on Ber muda, arrived (1610) with one hundred and fifty men in two fmall veflels, which they had built out of the ruins of their fhip, and the cedars which grew on the ifland ; they found the remnant of the colony in fuch a forlorn condition ; that without hefitation, they de termined to abandon the country, and were failing down the river ; when they met a boat from the Lord De la Warre, who had come with a fleet to their relief. By his perfuafion they refumed the plantation, and to this for tunate incident, may be afcribed the full ef- tablidiment of the colony of Virginia. Such a genius as Smith's could not remain, idle. He was well known in England, and the SMITH. 30$ the report of his valour, and his fpirit of ad venture, pointed him out to a number of merchants, who were engaged in the Ameri can fimery, as a proper perfon to makedifcov* eries on the coaft of North Virginia. In April 1614, he failed from London with two {hips, and arrived at the ifland of Monahigon in latitude 43^ , as it was then computed, where he built feven boats. The defign of the voyage was to take whales, to examine a mine of gold, and another of copper, which were faid to be there -, and if either, or both of thefe mould fail, to make up the cargo with fifh and furs. The mines proved a fic tion, and by long chafing the whales to no purpofe, they loft the beft feafon for nming ; but whilft the feamen were engaged in thefe fervices ; Smith, in one of his boats, with eight men, ranged the coaft, eaft and weft, from Penobfcot to Cape Cod ; bartering with the natives for beaver and other furs, and making obfervations on the mores, iflands, harbours, and head lands 3 which, at his re turn to England, he wrought into a map, and prefenting it to prince Charles, (afterward the royal mar 7*j/r)with arequeft that he would give the country a name, it was for the firft time U called 306 S M I T H.- called New-England. The prince alfo made feveral alterations in the names which Smith had given to particular places. For inftance, he had called the name of that promontory, which forms the eaftern entrance of MafTa- chufetts bay, Tragabigzanda ; after the name of the Turkifh lady to whom he had been formerly a flave at Constantinople ; and the three iflands which lie off the Cape, the Turks Heads, in memory of his victory over the three Turkifh champions, in his Tranfyl- vanian adventures. The former, Charles, in filial refped: to his mother, called Cape Anne, which name it has ever fince retained j the name of the iflands has long fince been loft ; and another clufter to which he gave his own name, Smith's Ifles, and which name the prince did not alter, are now, and have for more than a century been called the Ifles of Shoals ; fo that the moft pointed marks of his difcoveries on the coaft of New-England, have, either by his own complaifance to the fon of his fovereign, or by force of time and acci dents become obfolete. When he failed for England in one of the mips, he left the other behind, to complete her lading, 'vith orders to fell the filh in Spain. The mailer, Thomas Hunt, SMITH; 3*07 Hunt* decoyed twenty four of the natives on board, and fold them in Spain for Haves. The memory of this bafe tranfaclion was long preferved among the Americans, and fucceed- ing adventurers fuffered on account of it. At Smith's return to England he put in at Plymouth j where relating his adventures, and communicating his fentiments to Sir Ferdinando Gorges, he was introduced to the Plymouth Company of adventurers to North Virginia, and engaged in their fervice. At London he was invited by the South Virginia company to return to their fervice ; but made ufe of his engagement with the Plymouth adventurers as an excufe for declining their invitation. From this circumftance it feems, that they had been convinced of his former fidelity, notwithftanding the letters and re ports which they had formerly received to his difad vantage. During his fhy in London, he had the very fingular pleafure of feeing his friend Pocahontas, the daughter of Powhatan. Hav ing been made a prifoner in Virginia, (he was there married to Mr. John Rolfe, and by him was brought to England. She was then about twenty two years of age ; her pcribn U 2 was 308 SMITH. was graceful, and her deportment gentle and pleafing. She had been taught the Englifh language and the Chriftian religion, and bap tized by the name of Rebecca. She had heard that Smith was dead, and knew nothing to the contrary, till (he arrived in England. The fame of an Indian princefs- excited great curiofity in London ; and Smith had the ad- drefs to write a handfome letter to the Queen, letting forth the merits of his friend, and the eminent fervices (he had done to him and the colony of Virginia. She was introduced by the lady De la Warre ; the Queen and royal family received her with much complacency, and me proved herfelf worthy of their notice and refpecl. At her firft interview with Smith fhe called him father ; and becaufe he did not immediately return the falutation and call her child, me was ib overcome with grief, that {he hid her face and would not fpeak for ibmetime. She was ignorant of the ridiculous affectation which reigned in the court of James ; which forbad Smith aflum- ing the title of father, to the daughter of a King j and when informed of it (he defpifed it ; patlionately declaring, that me loved him /as a father, and had treated him as fuch in her SMITH. 309 her own country, and would be his child wherever me went. . The fame pedantic af fectation caufed her hufoand to be looked upon as an offender, for having, though a fubject, invaded the myfterious rights of royalty in marrying above his rank. This marriage, however, proved beneficial to the colony, as her father had thereby become a friend to them, and when the came to England, he fent with her Uttamaccomac, one of his trufty counfellors -, whom he enjoined to inquire for Smith, and tell him whether he was alive. Another order which he gave him was, to bring him the number of people in England ; accordingly, on his landing at Plymouth, the obedient favage began his account by cutting a notch on a long ftick for every perfon whom he faw - y but foon grew tired of his employ ment, and at his return told Powhatan that they exceeded the number of leaves on the trees. A third command from his prince was, to fee the God of England, and the King, Queen, and Princes, of whom Smith had told him fo much ; and when he met with Smith, he delired to be introduced to thofe perfonages. He had before this {een the King, but would not believe it ; becaufe U 3 the 3 io SMITH. the perfon whom they pointed out to him had not given him any thing. " You gave Pow- hat'an (faid he to Smith) a white dog, but your King has given me nothing/' Mr. Rolfe was preparing to return with his wife to Virginia, when {he was taken ill and died at Gravefend ; leaving an infant fon, Thomas Rolfe, from whom are defcended feveral fam ilies of note in Virginia, who hold their lands by inheritance from her. Smith had conceived fuch an idea of the value and importance of the American conti nent, that he was fully bent on the bufmefs of plantation, rather than fiming and trading for furs. In this he agreed with his friend Sir Ferdinando Gorges, and the few other active members of the council of Plymouth, but it had become an unpopular theme. One colo ny had been driven home from Sagadahock by the feverity of the feafon and the deaths of their leaders. Men who were fit for the buiinefs were not eafily to be obtained, thole who had formerly been engaged were difcour- aged, and it required great ftrength of mind as well as liberality of purfe, to fet on foot another experiment. After much trouble in endeavouring to unite perfons of oppofite in- terefis., S M. I T H. 3 u terefts, and ftimulate thofe who had fuftained former loffes, to new attempts, he obtained one fhip of two hundred tons, and another of fifty, with which he failed in 1615. Plav- ing proceeded about one hundred and twenty leagues, they were feparated in a ftorm -, the fmaller one commanded by Capt. Thomas Dermer purfued her voyage ; but Smith hav ing loll his marts was obliged to put back under a jury mail to Plymouth. There he put his flores on board a fmall bark of fixty tons, and thirty men, of whom fixteen were to aflift him in beginning a new colony. Meeting with an Englifh pirate, his men would have had him furrender ; but though he had only four guns, aud the pirate thirty fix, he difdained to yield. On fpeaking with her, he found the commander and fome of the crew to be his old fhipmates, who had run away with the (hip from Tunis, and were in diftrefs foe provifions ; they offered to put themfelvcs under his command, but he reject ed the propofal and went on his voyage. Near the Weftern Iflands he fell in with two French pirates ; his men were again thrown into a panic, and would have ftruck, but he threatened to blow up the (hip, if they would U 4 not 3ia SMITH. not fight ; and by firing a few running (hot, he efcaped them alfo. After this he was met by four French men of war, who had orders from their Sovereign to feize pirates. He fhowed them his commifiion under the great feal ; but they prefi dioufly detained him whilft they fuffered his fhip to efcape in the night, and return to Plymouth. They knew his enterprifing fpirit, and were afraid of his mak ing a fettlement in New-England, fo near to their colony of Acadla ; and they fuf- pected, or at leaft pretended to fufpect, that he was the perfon who hod broken up their fifhery at Port Royal (which was really done by Captain Argal) the year before. When their cruife was finimed, they carried him to Rqchelle -, and notwithftanding their promifes to allow him a {hare of the prizes which they had taken whilft he was with them, they kept him as a prifoner on board a ihip at anchor. But a ftorm arifing, which drove all the people below, he took the boat, with an half pike for an oar, thinking to make his efcape in the night. The current was fo ftrong that he drifted to fea, and was near periming. By the turn of the tide he got afhore, on a marfhy ifland, where fome fowlers SMITH. 313 fowlers found him in the morning almoft dead with cold and hunger. He gave them his boat to carry him to Rochelle, where he learned that the fhip which had taken him, with one of her prizes, which was very rich, had been driven on more in that ftorm, and loft, with her Captain and one half of the men. Here he made his complaint to the judge of the Admiralty, and produced fuch evidence in fupport of his allegations, that he was treat ed with fair words ; but it does not appear that he got any recompence. He met here and at Bourdeaux with many friends, both French and Englim, and at his return to Eng land, published in a fmall quarto, an account of his two laft voyages, with the depofitions of the men who were in the fhip when he was taken by the French. To this book he prefixed his map of New-England - 3 and in it gave a defcription of the country, with its many advantages, and the proper methods of rendering it a valuable acquifition to the Eng- lifh dominions. When it was printed, he went all over the weft of England, giving copies of it to all perfons of note ; and en deavouring to excite the nobility, gentry, and merchants. 3 i4 SMITH. merchants, to engage with earncflnefs in the bufinefs of colonizing America. He obtained from many of them fair promifes, and was complimented by the Plymouth company with the title of Admiral of New-England. But the former ill fuccefs of fome too fanguine ad venturers, had made a deep imprefiion, and a va riety of crofs incidents, baffled all his attempts. However, his experience and advice were of eminent fervice to others. The open frank- nefs and generofity of his mind led him to give all the encouragement which he could to the bufmefs of fi filing and planting in New- England ; for which purpofe, in 1622, he pablifhed a book, entitled, " New-England's Tryals" fome extracts from which are preferv- ed by Purchas.* No man rejoiced more than himfelf in the eftablifhment of the colo nies of Plymouth and MaiTachufetts. When the news of the maflacre of the Vir ginian planters by the Indians, 1622, arrived in England, Smith was all on fire to go over to revenge the infult. He made an offer to the company that if they would allow him one hundred foldiers and thirty failors, with the necefTary provifions and equipments, he would range the country, keep the natives in awe, * Vol. v, p, 1837. S M I T H. 315 awe, protect the planters, and make difcover- ies, of the hitherto unknown parts of Ameri ca ; and for his own rifque and pains would defire nothing but what he would " produce from the proper labour of the favages." On this propofal the company was divided, but the pufillanimous and avaricious party pre vailed ; and gave him this anfwer, " that the charges would be be too great ; that their flock was reduced ; that the planters ought to defend themfelves ; but, that if lie would go at his own expenfe, they would give him leave, provided he would give them one half of l\\t pillage ." Such an anfwer could be re ceived only with contempt. When the King in 1624, inftituted a com- miffion for the reformation of Virginia, Smith, by defire of the commiffioners, gave in a re lation of his former proceedings in the colony, and his opinion and advice refpecling the proper methods of remedying the defeats in government, and carrying on the plantation with a profpecl: of fuccefs.* Thefe with ma ny * Agreeably to Smith's advice to thefe commiRloners, Kiiig Charles I. at his acceffion diffblved the company, in 1626, and re duced the colony usder the immediate direction of the croxvn, ap pointing the governor and council, and ordering all patents and procefles to iflue in his own name, 316 SMITH. ny other papers he collected and publimed, in 1627, in a thin folio, under the title of, " The General Hiftory of Virginia, New- England, and the Somer Ides." The narrative part is made up of journals and letters of thofe who were concerned with him in the plantation, intermixed with his own obfervations. His intimate friend, Mr. Purchas, had publifh- ed moft of them two years before in his " Pil grims." In 1629, at the requeft of Sir Robert Cot ton, he publimed a hiftory of the early part of his life, entitled, " The true Travels, Adven tures and Obfervations of Capt. John Smith." This work is preferved intire, in the fecond volume of Churchill's collections, and from it, the former part of this account is compiled. In the concluiion he made fome addition to the hiftory of Virginia, Bermuda, New-Eng land and the Weft Indies, refpedting things which had come to his knowledge, after the publication of his general hiftory. He ftated the inhabitants of Virginia in 1628 at five thoufand, and their cattle about the fame number. Their produce was chiefly tobacco ; but thofe few who attended to their gardens bad all forts of fruit and vegetables in great abundance SMITH. 317 abundance and perfection. From New-Eng land, they received falted fifti ; but of frefh filh their own rivers produced enough, befide an infinite quantity of fowl ; as their woods did of deer and other game. They had two brew houfes ; but they cultivated the Indian corn, in preference to the European grain. Their plantations were fcattered ; fome of their houfes were palifaded ; but they had no fortifications nor ordnance mounted. His account of New-England is, that the country had been reprefented by adventurers from the weft of England, as rocky, barren and defolate ; but that, fmce his account of it had been publimed, the credit of it was fo raifed, that forty or fifty fail went thither an nually on fifhing and trading voyages. That nothing had been done to any purpofe in eftabliming a plantation, till " about an hun dred Brownifts went to New-Plymouth ; whofe humorous ignorance caufed them to endure a wonderful deal of mifery, with infi nite patience." He then recapitulates the hiftory of his American adventures in the following terms. " Now to conclude the travels and adven tures of Captain Smith : How firft he plant ed 318 S M I T H. ed Virginia, and was fet afhore with a hundred men in the wild woods ; how he was taken prifoner by the favages, and by the King of Pamaunky tied to a tree to be fhot to death ; led up and down their country, to be mown for a wonder ; fatted as he thought for a fac- rifice to their idol, before whom they conjur ed three days, with ftrange dances and invoca tions ; then brought before their Emperor Powhatan, who commanded him to be {lain ; how his daughter Pocahontas faved his life, returned him to James-town, relieved him and his famiflied company, which was but eight and thirty, to poflefs thofe large domi nions ; how he difcovered all the feveral na tions on the rivers falling into the bay of Chef- apeak ; how he was ftung almoft to death by the poifonous tail of a fifh called a ftingray ; how he was blown up with gunpowder and returned to England to be cured. " Alfo how he brought New England to the fubjection of the kingdom of Great Brit- tain ; his fights with the pirates, left alone among French men of war, and his fhip ran from him ^ his fea fights for the French a- gainft the Spaniards ; their bad ufage of him ; how in France, in a little boat, he efcaped them SMITH. 319 them ; was adrift all fuch a ftormy night at fea by himfelf, when thirteen French mips were fplit or driven on more by the ifle of Rhee, the General and moft of his men drowned ; when GOD, to whom be all honor and praife, brought him fafe on more to the admiration of all who cfcaped ; you may read at large in his general hiftory of Virginia, the Somer iflands and New England." This was probably his laft publication, for he lived but two years after. By a note in JolTelyn's voyage, it appears that he died in 1631, at London, in the fifty fecond year of his age. It would give lingular pleafure to the com piler of thefe memoirs, if he could learn from any credible teftimony, that Smith ever receiv ed any recompence for his numerous fervices and fufFerings. The fenfe which he had of this matter, in 1627, ma ^ be g* ven in hi s own words. " I have fpent five years, and more than five hundred pounds, in the fer- vice of Virginia and New England, and in neither of them have I one foot of land, nor the very houfe I built, nor the ground I dig ged with my own hands j but I fee thofe countries mared before me by thofe who know them only by my defcriptions." XIII. 320 XIII. D E M O N T S, POUTRINCOURT AND CHAM PLAIN. xxFTER the difcovery of Canada, by Carrier, the French continued trading to that country for furs, and fifhing on the banks of Newfoundland, Cape Breton and Acadia ; where they found many excellent and conve nient harbours, among which Canfeau wae early diftinguifhed as a place extremely fuita- ble for the fimery. One Savalet, an old mari ner, who frequented that port, had before 1609 made no lefs than forty two voyages to thofe parts.* Henry IV, King of France, perceived the advantages which might arife to his kingdom from a farther exploration of the northern, parts of America ; and therefore gave encour agement to thofe who were defirous of mak ing adventures. In 1598, the Marquis DE LA ROCHE obtained a commidion of Lord Lieutenant, and undertook a voyage with a view to eftablifh a colony ; confiding of con victs * Purchas v. 1640. D E M O N T S. 321 vicls taken out of the prifons. Happening in the courfe of his voyage to fall in with the ifle of Sable, a low, fandy id and, lying about twenty five leagues fouthward of Canfeau, he there landed forty of his miferable crew, to fubfift on the cattle and fwine, with which the place had been flocked by the Portuguefe, for the relief of fhipwrecked feamen. The reafon given for chufing this forlorn place, for the difembarkation of his colony, was, that they would be out of all danger from the favages, till he mould find a better fituation for them on the continent, when he promifed to return and take them off. Whether he ever reached the continent is uncertain,* but he never again law the ifle of Sable. Return ing to France, he engaged in the wars, was made a prilbner by the Duke of Merceur, and foon after died. The wretched exiles fubiift- ed on fuch things as the place afforded, and clothed themfelves with the {kins of feals. At the end of feven years,-)- King Henry, in compaffion, * Forfler fays, that "he made in different parts of it, fuch re- fcarches as he thought necefiary, and then returned to France." p. 443. Purchas fays that "it was his fortune, by reafon of con trary wind, not to find the main land, but was blown back to France." Vol. v, p. 1807. + Purchas fays twelve ; this will bring it to the laft year of Henry's life, 1610. w 322 D E M O N T S. companion, fent a fimerman to bring them home. Twelve only were then alive. The fimerinan, concealing frlm them the generous intention of their fovereign, took all the fkins which they had collected as a recompence for his fervices, fome of which being black foxes were of great value. The King had them brought before him in their feal fkin habits and long beards. He pardoned their former crimes, and made each of them a prefent of fifty crowns. When they difcovered the fraud of the fifherman, they inftituted a pro- cefs againft him at law, and recovered large damages ; by means of which they acquired fo much property as to enter into the fame kind of traffic. The King alfo granted to PONTGRAVE DE CMAUVIN, an exclufive privilege of trading at Tadoufac, the mouth of the river Saguenay ; to which place he made two voyages, and was preparing for a third when he was prevented by death. The next voyager of any note was SAMUEL CHAMPLAIN, of Brouage; a man of a noble family ; who, in 1603, failed up the river of Canada, as far as Cartier had gone in 1535. He made many inquiries of the natives con cerning D E M O N T S. 323 cerning their country, its rivers, falls, lakes, mountains and mines. The refult of his in quiry was, that a communication was formed, by means of two lakes, with the country of the Iroquois toward the fouth ; that toward the weft there were more and greater lakes of frefh water, to one of which they knew no limits ; and that to the northward there was an inland fea of fait water. In the courfe of this voyage, Champlain anchored at a place called Quebeck, which in the language of the country fignified a flrait j and this was thought to be a proper fituation for a fort and fettle- inent. He heard of no mines but one of copper, far to the northward. With this in formation he returned to France, in the month of September. On the eighth of November in the fame year King Henry granted to the Sieur DE Mo NTS, a gentleman of his bed chamber, a patent constituting him Lieutenant General of all the territory of L'Acadia, from the for tieth to the forty fixth degree of north latitude, with power to fubdue the inhabitants and convert them to the Chriftian faith.* This patent * See the patent, in French, in Hazard's Collection, vol. i. 45, and tranflated iato Englifh, in Churchill's Collections, vol. viii, p. 796. W 2 324 D E M O N T S. patent was publifhed in all the maritime towns of France -, and De Monts having equipped two veflels failed for his new government on the feventh of March, 1604; taking with him the aforefaid Samuel Cham plain for a pilot, and Monlieur DE POUTRINCOURT \vho had been for a long time defirous to vifit America. On the 6th of May, they arrived at a har bour on the S. E. fide of the peninfula of Acadia where they found one of their countrymen, Roflignol, trading with the Indians without licence. They feized his {hip and cargo j leaving him only the poor confolation, of giv ing his name to the harbour where he was taken j the provifions found in his fhip were a feafonable fupply, and without them the en- terprize muft have been abandoned. This place is now called Liverpool. From Port Roflagnol they coafted the pen infula to the S. W. and having doubled Cape Sable came to anchor in the bay of St. Mary, where Aubry, a pried, going afliore, was loft in the woods, and a proteflant was charg ed with having murdered him, becaufe they had fometimes had warm difputation on re ligious fubjedts. They waited for him fever- al D E M O N T S. 325 al days, firing guns and founding trumpet?, but in vain ; the noife of the fea was fo great that no other found could be heard. Con cluding that he was dead, they quitted the place after fixteen days ; intending to examine that extenfive bay on the weft of the peninfu- la to which they gave the name of La Baye Francoife ; but which is now called the Bay of Fnnda. The prieil was afterward found alive, but almoft flarved to death. On the eaftern fide of this bay they difcov- ered a narrow itrait, into which they entered, and foon found themfelves in a fpacious ba- fon, invironed with hills, from which de- fcended ftreams of freili water ; and between the hills ran a fine navigable river, which they called L'Equille. It was bordered with fertile meadows, and full of delicate fifh. Poutrin- court, charmed with the beauty of the place, determined here to take his refidence, and having received a grant of it from De Monts, gave it the name of Port Royal. [Anna polis.] From Port Royal, De Monts failed farther into the great bay, to vifit a copper mine. It was a high rock, on a promontory, between two bays. [Menis.] The copper, though W 3 mixed 326 D E M O N T S. mixed with ftone, was very pure ; relembling that called Rozette copper. Among thefe ftones they found chryftals and a certain fhin- ing ftone of a blue colour. Specimens of thefe ftones were fent to the King. In farther examining the bay they came to a great river which they called St. John's ; full of iflands and fwarming with fifh. Up this river they failed fifty leagues, and were extremely delighted with the vaft quantity of grapes which grew on its banks. By this river they imagined that a Ihorter communica tion might be had with the Baye de Chaleur and the port of Tadoufac, than by the fea. From the river St. John they coafted the bay, fouthwefterly, till they came to an ifland in the middle of a river which Champlain had previoufly explored. Finding its fituatioii fafe and convenient, De Monts refolved there to build a fort and pafs the winter. To this ifland he gave the name of St. Crojx j* be- caufe * This is a Ration of much importance. It has given rife to a controverfy, between the United States and the Britifh govern ment, which is not yet terminated. I fhall therefore give a de- fcription of this ifland and its furrounding waters, from a tranfla- lion of Mark Lefcarbot's hiftory of the voyages of De Monts, in which he himfelf was engaged, and therefore had fcen the place which he defcribes. This tranflation is to be found at large in Churchill's D E M O N T S. 327 caufe that two leagues higher there were brooks which " came crofs-wife to fall with in this large branch of the fea." The winter proved fevere, and the people fuffered fo much by the fcurvy, that thir ty fix of them died ; the remaining forty, who were all lick, lingered till the fpring (1605) when they recovered by means of the frefh vegetation. The remedy which Cartier had found in Canada was here unknown. As Churchill's Colle&ions, vol. viii, -796, and an abridgement of it ia Purchas's Pilgrims, vol. v, 1619. " Leaving St. John's river, they came, following the coaft twenty leagues from that place, to a great river, which is proper ly fea, fj. e. fait water] where they fortified themfelves in a lit tle ijland feated in the midft of this river, which the faid Cham- plain had been to difcover and view. And, feeing it ftrong by nature, and of eafy defence and keeping ; befides that the feafon began to flide away, and therefore it was behoveful to provide of lodging, without running any farther, they refolved to make their abode there. " Before we fpeak of the {hip's return to France, it is meet to tell you, how hard the ifle of St. Croix is to be. found out, to them that were never there. For there are fo many ifles and great bays to go by [from St. John's] before one be at it, that I won der how one might ever pierce fo far as to find it. There are three or four mountains, imminent above the others, ore the fides; but on the north Jide from whence the river runneth down, there is but a JJiarp pointed one, above two leagues dijiant. The woods of the main land are fair and admirable high, and well grown, as in like manner is the grafs. There is right over again ft the ijland frejh water brooks, very pleafam and agreeable ; where W 4 I 328 D E M O N T S. As foon as his men were recovered, De Monts refolved to feek a comfortable ftation in a warmer climate. Having victualled and armed his pinnace he failed along the coaft to Norombega, a name which had been given by fome European adventurers to the bay of Peno'ofcot -j from thence he failed to Kenne- bec, Cafco, Saco, and finally came to Male- barrc, as Cape Cod was then called by the French. where divers of Monf. De Monts men did their bufincfs. and builded there, certain cabbins. As for the nature of the ground it is moft excellent, and moft abundantly fruitful. For the faid Monf. De Monts having caufcd there fome piece of ground to be tilled, and the fame fowed with rye ; he was not able to tarry for the maturity thereof to reap it ; and notwithftanding, the grain fallen hath grown and increafed fo wonderfully, that two years af ter, we reaped and Bid gather of it as fair, big and weighty as in France, which the foil hath brought forth without any tillage : ar;d yet at this prefent [i6ocjj it doth continue (till to multiply every year. " The faid ifland containeth fome half a league in circuit, and at the end of it, on the fca fide, there is a mount, or Jmc.ll hill, which is, as it were, a little ijle. fevered from the other, where Monf. De Monts his cannon were placed. There is alfo a little chappcl, built after the favage fafliion. At the foot of which chappel there is fiich Jlore of muffles as is wonderful, which may be gathered at low water, but they are fmall. " Now let us prepare and hoift up fails. Monf. de Poutrin- rourt made the voyage into thefc parts, with fome men of good fort, not to winter there ; but as it were to feek out his feat, and find out a land that might like him. Which he having done, had no need to fojourne there any longer. So then, the {hips being rcsdr D E M O N T S. 329 French. In fome of the places which he had patted, the land was inviting ; and par ticular notice was taken of the grapes ; but the favages appeared numerous, unfriendly and thievifh : De Monts' company being fmall^he preferred fafety to pleafure, and returned firft to St. Croix, and then to Port Royal ; where he found Dupont, in a fhip from France, with frefh fupplies and a reinforcement of forty ready for the return, he {hipped himfelf, and thofe of his compa ny in one of them. " During the forefaid navigation, Monf. De Monts his people, did work about the fort i which he feated at the end of the :'- and, oppofite to the place where he had lodged his cannon. Which was wifely confidered, to the end to command the river up and down. But there was an inconvenience ; the faid fort did lie toward the north, and without any fhelter, but of the trees that were on the ifie more, which all about he commanded to be kept and not cut down. " The moft urgent things being done, and hoary fnowy father being come, that is to fay winter, then they were forced to keep within doors, and to live every one at his own home. During which time, our men had three fpecial difcommodities, in this ifl- and, want of wood, (for that which was in the faid ifle was fpent in buildings) lack of frefii water, and the continual watch mad by night, fearing fome furprize from the favages, that had lodged themfelves, at the foot of the faid ifland, or fome other enemy. For the malediction and rage of many chriftians is fuch, that one muft take heed of them much more than of infidels. When thev had need of water or wood, they were conftrained to crofs over the river, which is thrice as broad of every fide as the river of jSeine." By D E M O N T S. forty men. The (lores which had been de- poiited at St. Croix were removed acrofs the bay, but the buildings were left ftanding. New houfes were erected at the mouth of the river, which runs into the bafon of Port Royal - 3 there the ftores and people were lodged 5 and De Monts having put his affairs in as good order as poflible, in the month of September embarked for France ; leaving Dupont as his lieutenant, with Champlain, and Champdore to per feel; the fettlement, and explore the country. During the next winter they were plentifully fupplied by the favages with venifon, and a great trade was carried on for furs. Nothing is faid of the fcurvy ; but they had fhort al lowance of bread ; not by reafon of any fcarc- ity of corn but becaufe they had no other mill to grind it than the hand mill, which re quired By a gentleman who refided feveral years in thofe parts, I have been informed, that an ifland which anfwers to this defcription, lies in the eajlern part of the bay of PafTamaquoddy ; and there the river St. Croix was fuppofed to be, by the commiflioners who ne gotiated the peace in 1783, who had MitchePs map before them; but, in a map of the coaft of New England and Nova Scotia, pub- lifhed in London, 1787, by Robert Sayer, and faid to be drawn by Capt. Holland, the river St. Croix is laid down at the tutjltrn part of the bay ; the breadth of which is about fix or fevcn leagues. D E M O N T S. 331 quired hard and continual labour. The fav- ages were fo averfe to this exercife, that they preferred hunger to the tafk of grinding corn, though they were offered half of it in pay ment. Six men only died in the courfe of this winter. In the fpring of 1606, Dupont attempted to find what De Monts had miffed, in the preceding year, a more foutherly fettlement. His bark was twice forced back with adverfe winds -, and the third time was driven on rocks and bilged at the mouth of the port. The men and flores were faved ; but the vef- fel was loft. Thefe fruitlefs attempts proved very difcouraging ; but Dupont employed his people, in building a bark and fhallop ; that they might employ themfelves in vifiting the ports, whither their countrymen refort to dry their fifh, till new fupplies mould arrive. De Monts and Poutrincourt were at that time in France, preparing, amidft every dif- couragement, for another voyage. On the thir teenth of May, they failed from Rochelle, in a fhip of one hundred and fifty tons ; and on the ayth of July arrived at Port Royal, in the abfence of Dupont, who had left two men only to guard the fort. In a few days he 332 D E M O N T S. he arrived, having met with one of their boats which they had left at Canfeau, and great was the joy on both fides at their meeting, Poutrincourt now began his plantation j and having cleared a fpot of ground, within fifteen days he fowed European corn and fev- eral forts of garden vegetables. But notwith- ilanding all the beauty and fertility of Port Royal, De Monts had ftill a deiire to find a better place at the fouthward. He therefore prevailed on Poutrincourt to make an other voyage to Cape Malebarre ; and fo earn- cft was he to have this matter accomplifhed, that he would not wait till the next fpring, but prepared a bark to go to the the fouth ward as foon as the (hip was ready to fail. On the 28th of Auguft, the fliip and the bark both failed from Port Royal. In the {hip De Monts and Dupont returned to France ; whilft Poutrincourt, Champlain, Champdore and others crofTed the bay to St. Croix, and thence failed along the coaft ; touching at many harbours in their way till they arrived in fight of the Cape, the object of their voyage. Being entangled among the fhoals, their rudder was broken and they were obliged to come to anchor, at the diftance of three D E M O N T S. 333 three leagues from the land. The boat was then fent aihore to find a harbour of frefh water ; which by the information of one of the natives was accomplished. Fifteen days were fpent in this place ; during which time^ a crofs was erected, and pofTeflion taken, for the King of France ; as De Monts had done two years before at Kenebeck. When the bark was repaired and ready to fail, Poutrin- court took a walk into the country, whilft his people were baking bread. la his ab fence fome of the natives vifited his people and ftole a hatchet. Two guns wore fired at them, and they fled. In his return he faw feveral parties of the favages, male and female, carry ing away their children and their corn j and hiding themfelves, as he and his com pany pafled. He was alarmed at this jftrange appearance ; but much more fo, when early the next morning a mower of ar rows came flying among his people, two of whom were killed and feveral others wounded. The favages having taken their revenge, fled ; and it was in vain to purfue them. The dead were buried at the foot of the crofs -, and tvhilil the funeral fervice was performing, the favages were dancing and yelling in mock concert, 334 D E M O N T S. concert, at a convenient diftance, but within hearing. When the French retired on board their bark, the favages took down the crofs, dug up the bodies and ftripped them of their grave clothes, which they carried off in tri umph. This unhappy quarrel gave Poutrincourt a bad idea of the natives. He attempted to pafs farther round the cape ; but was prevent ed by contrary winds ; and forced back to the fame harbour, where the favages offering to trade, fix or feven of them were feized and put to death. The next day another attempt was made to fail farther ; but the wind came againft them. At the diftance of fix or feven leagues they difcovered an ifland ; but the wind would not permit them to approach it ; they therefore gave it the name of Douteufe, or Doubtful. This was probably either Nantucket or Ca- pawock, now called Martha's Vineyard ; and if fo, the conteft with the Indians was on the fouth more of Cape Cod ; where are feveral harbours and ftreams of frem water. To the harbour where he lay, he gave the name of Port Fortune. It D E M O N T S. 335 It was now late in the feafon and no prof- pet appeared of obtaining any better place for a iettlement ; befides, he had two wound ed men whofe lives were in danger. He therefore determined to return, which he did by the morteft and mod direct courfe ; and after a perilous voyage, in which the rudder was again broken, and the bark narrowly ef- caped fhipwreck, he arrived at Port Royal on the 1 4th of November. The manner in which they fpent the third winter was focial and feftive. At the princi pal table, to which fifteen perfons belonged, an order was eftablifhed, by the name of L'ordre de bon temps. Every one took his turn to be caterer and fteward, for one day, during which he wore the collar of the order and a napkin, and carried a ftafF. After fupper he reiigned his accoutrements, with the ceremony of drinking a cup of wine, to the next in fuccef- fion. The advantage of this inflitution was, that each one was emulous to be prepared for his day -, by previoufly hunting or fiming, or purchafing fifh and game of the natives, who conftantly relided among them, and were ex tremely pleafed with their manners. Four 336 D E M O N T S, Four only died in this winter j and it is re marked that thefe were " fluggim and fretful. 5 ' The winter was mild and fair. On a Sunday in the middle of January, after divine fervice, thsy " fported and had mufic on the river ;" and in the fame month they went two leagues, to fee their corn field, and dined cheerfully in the fun (Line. At the firft opening of the fpring (1607) they began to prepare gardens - y the produce of which was extremely grateful - y as were al- fo the numberlefs fifh which came into the river. They alfo creeled a water mill, which not only faved them much hard labour, at the hand mill ; but gave them more time for rim ing. The fifh which they took were called herrings and pilchards ; of which they pickled feveral hogmeads tQ be fent home to France. In April they began to build two barks, in which they might vifit the ports, frequented by the fimermen, and learn fome news from their mother country, as well as get fupplies for their fubfiftence. Having no pitch to pay the feams, they were obliged to cut pine trees and burn them in kilns, by which means they obtained a fufficiency. On D E M O N T S. 337 On Afcenfion day, a veflel arrived from France, deftined to bring fupplies ; a large mare of which, the crew had ungeneroully confumed in their voyage. The letters brought by this vefTel informed them that the company of Merchants, aflbciated with De Monts, was encouraged ; and that their (hip was to be employed in the fifhery at Canfeau. The reafon of this proceeding was, that con trary to the King's edit, the Hollanders had intruded themfclves into the fur trade, in the river of Canada ; having been conducted by a treacherous Frenchman ; in confequence of which, the King had revoked the exclufive privilege which he had given to De Monts for ten years. The avarice of thefe Holland ers was fo great, that they had opened the graves of the dead, and taken the beaverfkins in which the corpfes had been buried. This outrage was fo highly refented by the favages at Canfeau, that they killed the perfon, who had mown the places where the dead were laid. This news was extremely unwelcome, as it portended the deftruction of the colony. Poutrincourt however was fo well pleafed with his fituation, that he determined to rc- , X turn 338 p E M O N T S. turn to it, though none but his own family ihoiild accompany him* He was very defir- ous to fee the iflue of his attempt at agricul ture, and therefore detained the veffel, as long as he could and employed his bark in fmall voyages, about the bay, to trade for furs, and gather fpecimens of iron and copper to be tranfported to France. When they were all ready to fail, he tarried eleven days longer than the others, that he might carry home the firft fruits of his harveft. Leaving the buildings, and part of the proviiion with the /landing corn, as a prefent to the friendly na tives, he finally failed from Port Royal, on the nth of Auguft, and joined the other vef- fels at Canfeau $ from which place, they proceeded to France, where they arrived in the latter end of September. Specimens of the wheat, rye, barley, and oats were mown to the King ; which, with other productions of the country, animal and mineral, were fo highly acceptable, that he re newed and confirmed to De Monts the privi lege of trading for beavers ; that he might have it in his power to eftablifh a colony. In confequence of which, the next fpringfev- eral families were fent to renew the plantation, whe D E M O N T S. 339 who found that the favages had gathered lev- en barrels of the corn which had been left flanding ; and had referved one for their friends whom they expected to return. The revocation of the exclufive patent given to De Monts, was founded on com plaints, made by the matters of fifhing vefiels, that the branch of commerce in which they were engaged would be ruined. When this patent was reftored, it was limited to one year ; and on this condition, that he mould make an eftablifhment in the river St. Law rence. De Monts therefore quitted his connexion with Acadia, and the compa ny of Merchants, with whom he had been connected, fitted out two mips for the port of Tadoufac, in 1608. The fur trade was of very confiderable value, and the com pany made great profits ; but De Monts find ing their interefts hurt by his connexion with them, withdrew from the aflbciation. Poutrincourt refolving to profecute his plantation at Port Royal, the grant of which had been confirmed, to him by the King, fent Biencourt, his fon, to France, (1608) for a fupply of men and provifions. One condition of the grant was, that attempts mould be made Xa to 34 o D E M O N T S. convert the natives to the Catholic faith, it was theVefore neceffary to engage the afiiftance of fome ecclefiaftics. The firft who embrac ed the propofal were the Jefuits, by whofe zealous exertions a contribution was foon made for the purpofe ; and two of their order, Biard and Maffe, embarked for the new plantation. It was not long before a controverfy arofe be tween them and the proprietor, who faid " it was his part to rule them them on earth, and theirs only to guide him to heaven."* After his departure for France, his fon Biencourt, difdaining to be controled by thofe whom he had invited to refide with him, threatened them with corporal punimment, in return for their fpiritual anathemas. It became necef- fary then that they mould feparate. The Je fuits removed to mount Defart, where they planted gardens and entered on the bufmefs of their million, which they continued till 1613 or 1614 ; when Sir Samuel Argal from Vir ginia broke up the French fettlements in Acadia. In the encounter one of thefe Jefuits was killed and the other was made prifoner. Of the other Frenchmen, fome difperfed themfclves in the woods and mixed with the * Pupchasv. 1808. favages D E MONT favages -, fome went to the river St. Law rence and ftrengthened the fettlement which Champlain had made there ; and others re turned to France. Two advantages were expected to refult from eftablifhing a colony in the river St. Lawrence : One was, an extenfion of the fur trade, and another was the hope of penetrating weftward, though the lakes, to the Pacific Ocean, and finding a nearer communication with China. One of the verlels fent by the company of merchants, in 1608, to that river, was commanded by Champlain. In his form er voyage he had marked the ftrait above the Ifle of Orleans, as a proper fituationfora fort ; becaufe the river was there contracted in its breadth, and the northern more was high and commanding. He arrived there in the begin ning of July, and immediately began to clear the woods, to build houfes, and prepare fields and gardens. Here he fpent the winter, and nis company fufFered much by the fcurvy. The remedy which Cartier had ufed, was not to be found, or the favages knew nothing of it. It is fuppofed that the former inhabitants had been extirpated, and a new people held pofleflion.* X 3 la * Purchas v, 1 642 . 342 D E M O N T S. In the fpring of 1 609, Champlain, with two other Frenchmen and a party of the natives, went up the river now called Sorel and enter ed the lakes, which lie toward the fouth, and communicate with the country of the Iroquois. To the largeft of thefe lakes Champlain gave his own name, which it has ever fince retain ed. On the more of another, which he called Lake Sacrament, now Lake George, they were difcovered by a company of the Iroquois, with whom they had a fkirmifh. Champlain killed two of them with his mufquet. The fcalps of fifty were taken and brought to Quebeck in triumph. In the autumn, Champlain went to France, leaving Capt Pierre to command $ and in 1 61 o he returned to Quebeck, to perfecl: the colony, of which he may confidered as the founder. After the death of Henry IV, he ob tained of the Queen Regent, a commif- fion as Lieutenant of New-France, with very cxtenfive powers. This commiffion was confirmed by Lewis XIII 5 and Champlain was continued in the Government of Canada. The D E M O N T S. 343 The religious controverfies, which prevail ed in 1' ance, augmented the number of colo- nifh. A fettlement was made at Trois Rivieres, and a brifk trade was carried on at Tadoufac. In 1626, Quebeck began to affume the face ot a city, and the fortrefs was -rebuilt with ilone -, but the people were divided in their religious principles and the Hugonot party prevailed. In this divided ftate, (1629) the colony was attacked by an armament from England under the condudt of Sir David Kirk. He failed up the river St. Lawrence and appeared before Quebeck, which was then fo miferably fupplied, that they had but feven ounces of bread to a man for a day. A fquadron from France, with provifion for their relief, entered the river ; but, after fome refiftance, were tak en by the Englim. This disappointment in- creafed the diftrefs of the colony and obliged Champlain to capitulate. He was carried to France in an Englim fhip ; and there found the minds of the people divided, with regard to Canada ; fome thinking it not worth regain ing, as it had coil the government vaft fums, without bringing any return j others deeming the X 4 344 D E M O N T S. the fimery and fur trade to be great national obje&s, cfpccially as they proved to be a njur- fery for feamen. Thefe fentiments, fupported by the folicitation of Champlain, prevailed j and by the treaty of St. Germain's, in 1632, Canada, Acadia and Cape Breton were reftor- ed to France. The next year Champlain refumed his gov ernment, and the company of New France were reflored to their former rights and pri vileges. A large recruit of inhabitants, with a competent fupply of Jefuits, arrived from France 3 and with fome difficulty a million was eftablifhed among the Hurons > and a fem- inary of the order was begun at Quebeck. In the rnidfl of this profperity Champlain died, in the month of December, 1635 \ and was fucceeded the next year by De Montmagny.^ Champlain is characterized as a man of good fenfe, itrong penetration and upright views ; volatile, active, enterprising, firm and valiant. He aided the Hurons in their wars with the Iroquois, and perfonally engaged in their battles ; in one of which he was wound ed. His zeal for the propagation of the Catholic religion was fo great that it was a common D E M O N T S. 345 common faying with him, that " the falvation of one foul was of more value than the con- quefl of an empire."* * Charlevoix Hift. Nouvelle, France, Tom. i, p. 197, 410. XIV. FERDINANDO XIV. FERDINANDO GORGES. AND JOHN MASON. W E know nothing concerning Gorges in the early part of his life.* The firft ac count we have of him, is the difcovery which he made of a plot which the earl of Eflex had laid to overthrow the government of Queen Elizabeth, the tragical iflue of which is too well known to be here repeated. Gorges, who had been privy to the confpiracy at firft, communicated his knowledge of it to Sir Walter Raleigh, his intimate friend, but the enemy and rival of Effex.-f' There was not only an intimacy between Raleigh and Gorges, but a fimilarity in their genius and employment > both were formed for intrigue and adventure ; both were inde fatigable in the profecution of their fanguine projects ; and both were naval commanders. During the war with Spain, which occupi ed the lafl years of Queen Elizabeth, Gorges, with other adventurous fpirits, found full em ployment * In Joflelyn's voyage he is called " Sir F. G. of Afliton Phillips, in Somerfet." p. 197. f Hume. GORGES. 347 ployment in the navy of their miftrefs. When the peace, which her fucceflbr, James I, made in 1 604, put an end to their hopes of honor and fortune by military enterprizes, Sir Ferdinando was appointed Governor of Plymouth, in Devonihire. This circum- ftance, by which the fpirit of adventure might feem to have been reprefled, proved the occa- fion of its breaking out with .frefh ardour, though in a pacific and mercantile form, con nected with the rage for foreign difcoveries, which after fome interruption, had again feiz- ed the Englifh nation. Lord Arundel, of Wardour, had employed a Captain Weymouth in fearch of a north- weft palTage to India. This navigator having miftaken his courfe, fell in with a river on the coaft of America, which, by his deicription, muft have been either Kenebeck, or Penob- fcot. From thence he brought to England, five of the natives, and arrived in the month of July, 1605, in the harbour of Plymouth, where Gorges commanded, who immediately took three of them into his family. Their names were Manida, Sketwarroes and Taf- quantum ; they were all of one language, though not of the fame tribe. This accident proved 34 8 GORGES. proved the occaiion, under God's providence, of preparing the way for a more perfect dif- covery than had yet been made of this part of North-America. Having gained the affections of thefe fava- ges by kind treatment, he found them very docile and intelligent ; and from them he learned by inquiry, many particulars concern ing their country, its rivers, harbours, iflands, fifh and other animals j the numbers, difpo- fition, manners and cuftoms of the natives ; their government, alliances, enemies, force and methods of war. The refult of thefe in quiries ferved to feed a fanguine hope of in dulging his genius and advancing his for tune by a more thorough difcovery of the country. His chief aiTociate in this plan of difcovery, was Sir John Popham, Lord Chief Juftice of the King's Bench, who, by his acquaintance with divers noblemen, and by their intereft at court, obtained from King James a patent for making fettlements in America, which was now divided into two diftricfts, and called North and South Virginia. The latter of thefe diftridts was put under the care of cer tain noblemen, knights, and gentlemen, who were GORGES. 349 were ftyled the London Company ; the former under the direction of others in Briftol, Exe ter and Plymouth, who were called the Ply mouth Company, becaufe their meetings were ufually held there. By the joint efforts of this company, of which Popham and Gorges were two of the mod enterprifing members; a fhip, command ed by Henry Chalong,- was fitted out, and failed in Auguft, 1606, for the difcovery of the country, from which the favages had been brought, and two of them were put on board. The orders given to the mailer, were to keep in as high a latitude as Cape Breton, till he fhould difcover the main land, and then to range the coaft fouthward, till he fhould find the place from which the natives had been taken. Inftead of obferving thefe orders, the Captain falling fick on the pafTage, made a fouthern courfe, and firfl arrived at the ifland of Porto Rico, where he tarried fome time for the recovery of his health ; from thence coming northwardly, he fell in with a Span- ifh fleet from the Havannah, by whom the fhip was leized and carried to Spain. Captain Prynne, in another fhip, which failed from Briftol, with orders to find 350 GORGES. long, and join with him in a furvey of the coaft, had better fuccefs ; for though he fail ed of meeting his confort, yet he carried home a particular account of the coafts, rivers, and harbours, with other information relative to the country, which made fo deep an impref- lion on the minds of the company, as to flrengthen their refolution of profecuting their enterprize. It was determined to fend over a large num ber of people fufficient to begin a colony. For this purpofe George Popham was appointed prefident ; Raleigh Gilbert, admiral - y Ed ward Harlon, mafter of ordnance ; Robert D and be- fides thefe, the colony confifted of 100 men, who were fly led planters. They failed from Plymouth in two mips (May 31, 1607) and having fallen in with the ifland of Monahigon (Augufl ii,) landed at the mouth of Sagada- hock, or Kenebeck river, on a peninfula, where they erected a ftore houfc, and having fortified it as well as their circumftances would admit, gave* it the name of Fort St. George. By GORGES. 351 By means of two natives, whom they brought with them from England, viz. Sket- warroes, fent by Goiyes, and Dehamida, by Popham, they found a cordial welcome among the Indians, their fachems offering to conduct and introduce them to the Bamaba or great chief, whofe refidence was at Penobfcot, and to whom, it was expected, that all Grangers fhould make their addrefs.* The Preiident having received feveral invi tations, was preparing to comply with their requeft, and had advanced fome leagues on his way, but contrary winds, and bad weather, obliged him to return, to the great grief of the fachems, who were to have attended him. The Bamaba hearing of the difappointment, fent his fon to vifit the Prefident, and fettle a trade for furs. The mips departed for England, in De cember, leaving behind them only 45 perfons of the new colony. The feafon was too far advanced * The Baftiaba of Penobfcot, was a prince, fuperior in rank to the fachems of the feveral Tribes. All the fachems, weftward, as far as Naumkeeg [Salem] acknowledged fubjeftion to him. Pie is frequently mentioned in the accounts of the firft voyages to New-England ; but was killed by the Tarrateens in 1615, be- fore any effectual fettlementwas made in the country. We have no account of any other Indian chief in thefe northern parts f America, whwfe authority was fo extenfive. 352 GORGES. advanced before their arrival to begin planting for that year, if there had been ground prepar ed for tillage. They had to fubfift on the provifions which they had brought from England, and the fifli and game which the country afforded. The feverity of an Ame rican winter was new to them ; and though it was obferved, that the fame winter was un commonly fevere in England, yet that cir- cumflance being unknown, could not allevi ate their diftrefs. By fome accident, their ftorc houfe took fire, and was con fumed, with the greater part of their provifions, in the middle of the winter ; and in the fpring (1608) they had the additional misfortune to lofe their Prefident, Captain Popham, by death. The (hip, which their friends \n England ~ had by their united exertions fent over with fupplies, arrived a few days after, with the melancholy news of the death of Sir John Popham, which happened while {he lay waiting fora wind at Plymouth. The command of the colony now devolved on Gilbert, but the next fhip brought an ac count of the death of his brother Sir John Gilbert, which obliged him to return to Eng land, to takd- care of the eftate to which he fucceeded. GORGES. fucceeded. Thefe repeated misfortunes and difappointments, operating with the difguft which the new colonifts had taken to the climate and foil, determined them to quit the place. Accordingly, having embarked with their Prefident, they returned to England, carrying with them, as the fruit of their la bour, a fmall veflel, which they had built during their refidence here, and thus the firft colony, which was attempted in New Eng land, began and ended in one year. The country was now branded as intolera bly cold, and the body of the adventurers re- linqu ilhed the defign. Sir Francis Popham, indeed, employed a fhip for fome fucceeding years in the filhing and fur trade ; but he, at length, became content with his lofles, and none of this company but Sir Ferdinando Gorges, had the refolution to furmount all difcouragements. Though he fincerely lament ed thelofs of his worthy friend, the Chief Juf- tice> who had zealoufly joined with him, in thefe hitherto fruitlefs, but expenfive labours, yet, "as to the coldnefs of the clime (he fays) he had too much experience in the world, to be frighted with fuch a blaft, as knowing many great kingdoms and large territories Y more 3 4 GORGES. more northerly feated, and by many degrees colder, were plentifully inhabited, and divers of them ftored with no better commodities than thefe parts afford, if like induftry, art and labour, be ufed." Such perfevering ardor in the face of fo ma ny difcouragements, muft be allowed to dif- cover a mind formed for enterprize, and fully perfuaded of the practicability of the under taking. When he found that he could not be fec- onded in his attempts for a thorough difcov- ery of the country, by others, he determined to carry it on by himfelf j and for this pur- pofe he purchafed a mip, and engaged with a mailer and crew to go to the coafl of New England for the purpofe of fiming and traffic, the only inducement which feafaring people could have to undertake fuch a voyage. On board this (hip he put RICHARD VINES, and feveral others of his own fervants in whom he placed the fulleft confidence and whom he hired at a great expenfe to flay in the country, over the winter, and purfue the difcovery of it. Thefe perfons having left the fhip's com pany to follow their ufual occupation on the coaft, travelled into the land, and meeting with GORGES. 355 with the favages, who had before returned to America, by their affiftance became acquainted with fuch particulars as Gorges wimed to know. Mr. Vines and his companions were received by the Indians with great hofpitality, though their reiidence among them was rendered haz ardous -, both by a war which raged among them, and by a peftilence which accompanied or fucceeded it. This war and peftilence are frequently fpoken of by the hiftorians of New England* as remarkable events, in the courfe of Provi dence, which prepared the way for the eftab- lifliment of an European colony. Concern ing the war, we know nothing more than this ; that it was begun by the Tarratenes, a nation who refided eaftward of Penobfcot. Thefe formidable people furprized the Bama- ba, or chief fachem, at his head quarters, and deftroyed him with all his family ; upon which all the other fachems who were fubor- dinate to him, quarrelled among themfelves for the fovereignty : and in thefe difTenfions many of them as well as of their unhappy people perimed. Of what particular kind the Y 2 peftilence 356 G O 'R G E S. peftilence was, we have no certain* informa tion ; but it feems to have been a diforder pe culiar to tjie Indians, for Mr. Vines, and his companions, who were intimately converfant with them, and frequently lodged in their wigwams, were not in the lead degree affect ed by it, though it fwept off the Indians at iuch a prodigious rate, that the living were not able to bury the dead, and their bones were found feveral years after, lying about the villages where they had refided. The extent of this peftilence was between Penobfcot in the eaft, and Narraganfet in the weft. Thefc two tribes efcaped,whilft the intermediate peo ple were wafted and deftroyed. The information which Vines obtained for Sir Ferdinando, though fatisfactory, in one view, produced no real advantage proportion ate to the expenfe. Whilft he was deliberat ing by what means he fhould farther profe- cute his plan of colonization, Capt. Henry Harky, who had been one of the unfortunate adventurers to Sagadahock, came to him, bringing * Mr. Gookin fays, that he "had difcourfed with feme old Indians who were then youths, who told him, that the bodies of the ficlc wer- exceeding yellow, (which they defcribed by pointing to garment) both before they died and after ward.'* S. .s of Hiftorical Society for 1792. p. 148. GORGES. 357 bringing a native of the Ifland Capawock, now called Martha's Vineyard, who had been treacheroufly taken from his own country by one of the timing fhips and fhown in London as a fight. Gorges received this favage, whofe name was Epenow, with great plea- fare : and about the fame time recovered Af- facumet, one of thofe who had been fent in the unfortunate veyage of Captain Chalong. Thefe two Indians at firft, fcarcely underflood each other ; but, when they had grown better acquainted, AfTacumet informed his old matter of what he had learned from Epenow con cerning his country. This artful fellow had invented a flory of a mine of gold in his native ifland which he fuppofed would induce fome adventurer to employ him as a pilot, by which means he hoped to get home, and he was not difappointed in his expectation. Gorges had engaged the Earl of Southamp ton, then commander of the Ifle of Wight, to advance one hundred pounds, and Capt, Hobfbn another hundred, and alfo to go on the difcovery. With this affiftance, Harley failed in June 1614, carrying v/ith him feveral land foldiers and the two before mentioned Indian^ with a third named Wanape, who Y 3 had 358 GORGES. had been fent to Gorges from the Ifle of Wight. On the arrival of the fhip, fhe was foon piloted to the ifland of Capawock, and to the harbour where Epenow was to perform his promife. The principal inhabitants of the place,with fome of his own kinfmen,came on board, with whom he held a conference and contrived his efcape. They departed, promifing to return the next day with furs for traffick. Epenow had pretended that if it were known, that he had difcovered the fe- crets of his country, his life would be in danger, but the company were careful to watch him -, and to prevent his efcape, had dreffed him in long clothes, which could eafi- ly be laid hold of, if there fhould be occafion, His friends appeared the next morning in twenty canoes, and lying at a diftance, the Captain called to them to come on board, which they declining, Epenow was ordered to renew the invitation. He, mounting the forecaftle, hailed them as he was directed, and at the fame inflant, though one held him by the coat, yet being ftrong and heavy, he jump ed into the water. His countrymen then ad vanced to receive him, and fent a mower of arrpws into the Jthip, which fo difcgncerted the GORGES. 359 the crew, that the prifoner completely effedl- ed his efcape. Thus the golden dream van- imed, and the fhip returned without having performed any fervices adequate to the ex- penfe of her equipment. The Plymouth company were much dif- couraged by the ill fuccefs of this adventure ; but the fpirit of emulation between them and the London company proved very ferviceable to the caufe in which they were jointly en gaged. For thefe having fent our four mips under the command of Michael Cooper, to South Virginia, [January, 1615] and Captain John Smith, who had been employed by that company, having returned to England, and engaged with the company at Plymouth, their hopes revived. Sir Ferdinando Gorges, in concert with Dr. SutlifTe, Dean of Exeter, and feveral others, equipped two veflels, one of two hundred, the other of 50 tons, on board of which (befides the compliment of feamen) were fixteen men who were deftined to begin a colony in New England. [March, 1615] When they had failed one hundred and twen ty leagues, the large {hip loft her mafts, and fprung a leak ; which obliged them to put back under jury mafts to Plymouth. From Y 4 thence 360 GORGES. thence Smith failed again [June 24] in a bark of fixty tons, carrying the fame fixteen men; but on this fecond voyage, was taken by four French men of war, and carried to France. The velfel of fifty tons, which had been feparated from him, purfued her voyage, and returned in fafety ; but the main defign of the voyage, which was toeffeft a fettlement, was frustrated. The fame year (October) Sir Richard Haw kins, by authority of the Plymouth company, of which he was Prefident for that year, vifit- ed the coalt of New England, to try what fervices he could do them in iearching the country, and its commodities j but on his ar rival, finding the natives engaged in war, he pafled along the coafl to Virginia, and from thence returned to England, by the way of Spain, where he difpofed of the fifh, which/ he had taken in the voyage. After this, fhips were fent every feafon by the London and Plymouth Companies on voyages of profit ; their fifh and furs came to a good market in Europe, but all the attempts which were made to colonize North Virginia, by fome unforefeen accidents failed of fuccefs. Gorges, however, had his mind ftill invariably bent GORGES. 3 6i bent on his original plan, and every incident which ieemed to favour his views, was eager ly improved for that purpofe. Being poffeff- cd of the journals and letters of the feveral voyagers, and of all the information which could he had, and being always at hand, to attend the meetings of the Company, he con trived to keep alive their hopes, and was the prime mover in all their tranfactions. About this time Captain Thomas Dermer, who had been employed in the American fifhery, and had entered fully into the fame views ; offered his fervice to aflift in profecut- ing the difcovery of the country. He was at Newfoundland, and Gorges prevailed on the company, to fend Captain Edward Ro craft, in a {hip, to New England, with ord ers to wait there till he mould be joined by Dermer. Rocraft, on his arrival, met with a French interloper, which he feized, and then failed with his prize to South Virginia. In the mean time Dermer went to England, and having conferred with Gorges and the com pany, on the intended difcovery, went out in a fhip, which Gorges himfelf owned ; hoping to meet with Rocraft, but was much perplex- $d at not finding him. Having 362 GORGES. Having ranged and examined evecy part of the coaft, and made many ufeful obfervations, which he tranfmitted to Gorges, he maped his courfe for Virginia,* where Rocraft had been killed in a quarrel, and his bark funk. Dermer being thus difappointed of his con- fort, and of his expected fupplies, returned to the northward, At the ifland of Capawock, he met with Epenow, who knowing him to be employed by Gorges, and fufpecting that his errand was to bring him back to England, confpired with his countrymen, to feize him and his companions, feveral of whom were killed in the fray : Dermer de fended himfelf with his fword, and efcaped, though not without fourteen wounds, which obliged him to go again to Virginia, where he died. The lofs of this worthy man, was the moft difcouraging circumftance which Gorges had met with, and as he himfelf exprefTes it, " made him almoft refolve never to intermed dle again in any of thefe courfes." But he had in facl: fo deeply engaged in them, and had fo many perfons engaged with him, that he could not retreat with honour, whilft any hope * It is faid that he was the firft who pafled the whole extent of Long Ifland Sound, and difcovered that it was not conneftcd with the continent. This was in 1619. GORGES. 363 hope of fuccefs remained. Soon after this, a profpect began to open from a quarter, where it was leaft expected. The patent of 1606, which divided Virgin ia into two colonies, exprefsly provided that neither company mould begin any plantation within one hundred miles of the other. By this interdiction the middle region of North America was neglected, and a bait was laid to attract the attention of foreigners. The adventurers to South Virginia had pro hibited all who were not free of their compa ny from planting or trading within their lim its 5 the northern company had made no fuch regulation ; by this means it happened that the South Virginia Ihips could fifh on the northern coaft, whilft the other company were excluded from all privileges in the fouth- ern parts. The South Virginians had alfo made other regulations in the management of their bufmefs, which the northern company were deiirous to intimate. They thought the moft effectual way to do this, was to procure an exclusive patent. With this view, Gorges, ever active to promote the intereft which he had efpoufed, folicited of the crown a new charter, which a by the intereft of his friends in court, 364 GORGES, court, was after Ibme delay obtained. By this inftrument forty noblemen, knights and gentlemen, were incorporated by the ftyle of " the council eftablifhed at Plymouth, in the county of Devon, for the planting, ruling and governing of New England in America." The date of the charter was November 3, 1620. The territory fubjecl to their jurifdiftion was from the /foth to the 48th degree of north latitude, and from fea to fea. This charter is the foundation of all the grants which were made of the country of New England. Before this divifion was made, a number of families, who were fly led Puritans, on ac count of their feeking a farther reformation of the Church of England, which they could not obtain, and who had retired into Holland to avoid the fe verity of the penal laws again ft diflenters, meditated a removal to America. The Dutch were fond of retaining them as their fubje&s, and made them large offers, if they would fettle in fome of their tranfmarine territories ; but they chofe rather to relide in the dominions of their native prince, if they could have liberty of confcience. They had, by their agents, negociated with the South Virginia company, and obtained a permifliori to GORGES. 365 to tranfport themfelves to America within their limits j but as to the liberty of con- fcience, though they could obtain no indul gence from the crown under hand and feal, yet it was declared, that " the King would -connive at them, provided they behaved peaceably." As this was all the favour which the fpirit of the times would allow, they de termined to caft themfelves on the care of Divine Providence and venture to America. After fevcral difafters, they arrived at Cape Cod in the 42d degree of north latitude, a place remote from the object of their intention, which was Hudfon's river. The Dutch had their eye on that place and bribed their pilot riot to carry them thither. It was late in the feafon when they arrived ; their permillion from the Virginia company was of no ufe here j and having neither authority nor form of government, they were obliged for the fake of order, before they difembarked, to form themfelves into a body politic, by a written instrument. This was the beginning of the colony of New- Ply mouth ; and this event happened (Nov. n, 1620) a few days after King James had figned the patent for incor porating the council, Thefe circumftances ferved 366 GORGES. ierved the intereft of both, though then wholly unknown to each other. The coun cil, being informed of the eftablimment of a colony within their limits, were fond of tak ing them into their protection, and the colony were equally defirous of receiving that pro tection as far as to obtain a grant of territory. An agent being difpatched by the colony to England, Sir F. Gorges interefted himfelf in the affair, and a grant was accordingly made (1623) to John Peirce,in truft for the colony. This was their firft patent ; they afterwards (1629) had another made to William Bradford and his aflbciates. One end which the council had in view, xvas, to prevent the accefs of unauthorized ad venturers to the coaft of New-England. The crews of their mips, in their intercourfe with the natives, being far from any eftablifhed government, were guilty of great licentiouf- nefs. Befides drunkennefs, and debauchery, fome flagrant enormities had been committed, which not only injured the reputation of Eu ropeans, but encouraged the natives to acts of hoftility. To remedy theie evils, the coun cil thought proper to appoint an officer to ex- crciie government on the coaft. The firft perfon GORGES. 367 perfon who was fent in this character, was Capt. Francis Weft -, who finding the fifher- men too licentious and robuft to be control- * ed by him, foon gave up this ineffectual com mand. They next appointed Capt. Robert Gorges, a fon of Sir Ferdinando. He was like his father, of an a&ive and enterprizing genius, and had newly returned from the Ve netian war. He obtained of the council a patent for a trac~l of land on the northeaftern tide of Maffachufetts Bay, containing thirty miles in length and ten in breadth, and by the influence of his father, and of his kinfman Lord Edward Gorges, he was difpatched with a commiffion to be "Lieutenant General and Governour of New England" They appointed for his council the aforefaid Weft, with Chrif- topher Levet, and the Governour of New Ply mouth for the time being. Gorges came to Plymouth in 1623, publifhed his commiflion, and made fome efforts to execute it. He brought over with him as a Chaplain, Willi am Morrell, an Epifcopal clergyman. This was the firft effay for the eftablifhment of a General Government in New England, and Morrel was to have a fuperintendence in ec- clefiaftical, as Gorges had in civil affairs - y but he 3 68 GORGES. fre made no ufe of his commifiion at Ply mouth ; and only mentioned it in his conver- fation about the time of his departure.* This general government was a darling object with the council of Plymouth, but was much Dreaded by the planters of New England j however, all the attempts which were made to carry it into execution failed of fuccefs. Gor ges, after about a year's relidence in the country, and holding one court at Ply mouth, upon a Mr. Wefton, who had be gun a plantation at WeflagufTet, [Wey- mouth] where Gorges himfelf intended a icttlement, was recalled to England, the fupplies * This Morrefl appears to have been a diligent inquirer into th ftate and circumflances of the country, its natural production* and advantages, the manners, cuftoms, and government of the pntives ; the refult of his obfervations he wrought into a poem which he printed both in Latin and Englifli. The Latin is by no means deftitute of .claflical merit, of which the following line* may ferve as an evidence. " Eft locus occiduo procul hinc fpatiofus in orbe Plunma regna tenens, populifque incognitus ipfis : Felix fnigiferis fulcis, fimul fcquore felix, Pracdia perdives variis, & fluminc dives, Axe fatis cahdus, rigidoquca frigore tutus." Thedefcripticnitfelf is jufl and animated, and the Engiifli trsnffation(corrTideringthe date of it) is very tolerable. It is printed in the collections of the Hiftorical Society, far 125. GORGES. 369 f applies which he expelled to have received having failed. This failure was owing to one of thofe crofs accidents which continually be- fel the Council of Plymouth. - Though the erection of this board was really beneficial to the nation, and gave a proper direction to the fpirit of colonizing, yet they had to ftruggle with the oppofing interefrs of various forts of perfons. The company of South Virginia, and in deed the mercantile intereft in general, find ing themfelves excluded from the privilege of fifhing and traffic, complained of this inftitu- tion as a monopoly. The commons of Eng land were growing jealous of the royal pre rogative ; and wifhing to reftrain it ; the grant ing charters of incorporation with exclufive advantages of commerce was deemed a ufur- pation on the rights of the people. Com plaints were firfl made to the King in coun cil ; but no difpofition appeared there to countenance them. It happened however, that a parliament was called for fome other purpo- fes (February 1624) m which Sir Edward Cook was chofen fpeaker of the commons. He was well known as an advocate for the liberties of the people, and an enemy to pro- Z jectors. 370 G O R -G E S. jeclors. The King was at firft in a good hu mour with his parliament, and advantage was taken of a demand for fubfidies to bring in a bill againft monopolies. The houle being refolved into a committee, Sir Ferdinando Gorges was called to the bar, where the fpeaker informed him, that the patent granted to the council of Plymouth was complained of as a grievance ; that under colour of planting a colony, they were purfu- ing private gains : that though they refpect- ed him as a perfon of worth and honour, yet the public intereft was to be regarded before all perfonal confiderations ; and therefore they re quired that the patent be delivered to the houfe. Gorges anfwered, that he was but one of the company, inferior in rank and abilities, to many others - y that he had no power to de liver it, without their confent, neither in fad, was it in his cuftody. Being afked where it was, he faid, it was for aught he knew, ftill remaining in the crown-office, where it had been left for the amendment of forne errors. As to the general charge he anfwered ; that he knew not how it could be a public gr/Vi;- ancc fince it had been undertaken for the Advancement of religion, the enlargement of the GORGES. 371 the bounds of the nation, the increafe of trade, and the employment of many thoufands of people ; that it could not be a monopoly -, for though a few only were interefted in the bu- finefs, it was becaufc many could not be in duced to adventure where their lofles at firft were fure, and their gains uncertain ; and, indeed, fo much lofs had been fuftained that moft of the adventurers themfelves were wtary ; that as to the profit arifing from the fifhery it was never intended to be con verted to private ufe, as might appear by the offers which they had made to all the maritime cities in the Weft of England ; that the grant of exclufive privileges made by the crown, was intended to regulate and fettle plantations, by the profits arifing from the trade, and was in efTecl: no more than many gentlemen and lords of manors in England enjoyed without offence. He added, that he was glad of an opportunity for fuch a parliamen tary inquiry, and if they would take upon themfelves the bufinefs of colonization, he and his affociates would be their humble fer- vants as far as lay in their power, without ajiy retrofpect to the vaft expenfe which they had already incurred in difcovering and taking pof- 37 2 GORGE S. ieliion of the country, and bringing matters to their then prefent fituation. He alib defired, that if any thing further was to be inquired into, it might be given him in detail -, with liberty of anfwering by his council. A committee was appointed to examine the patent and make objections - y which were deli- vered to Gorges ; accompanied with a decla ration from the fpeaker that he ought to look upon this as a favour. Gorges having acknow ledged the favour, employed council to draw up anfwers to the objections. His council were Mr. (afterwards Lord) Finch, and Mr. Caltrup, afterwards attorney general to the court of wards. Though in caufes where the crown and parliament are concerned as parties, council are often afraid of wading deeper than they can fafely return ; yet Gorges was fatisfied with the conduit of his council, who fully anfwered the objections, both in point of Law and Jujiice ; thefe anfwers being read, the houfe afked what further he had to fay, upon which he added fome obfervations in point of Policy , to the following effedt: That the adventurers had been at great cofl and pains to enlarge the King's dominions ; to employ many feamen, handicraftsmen, and labourers : GORGES. 373 labourers ; to fettle a flouriming plantation, and advance religion in thofe favage countries ; matters of the higheft confequence to the nation, and far exceeding all the advantage which could be expected from a fimple courfe of fiming, which muft foon have been given over ; for that fo valuable a country, could not long remain unpofTefled either by the French, Spaniards, or Dutch -, fo that, if the plantations were to be given up, the fimery muft inevitably be loft, and the honour, as well as jntereft of the nation, greatly fuffer ; that the mifchief already done by the perfons who were foremoft in their complaints was intolerable ; for, in their diforderly intercourfe with the favages, they had been guilty of the greateft exceffes of debauchery and knavery, and in addition to all thefe immoralities, they had furnimed them with arms and ammuni tion ; by which they were enabled to def- troy the peaceable fi mermen, and had become formidable enemies to the planters. He further added, that he had, in zeal for the intereft of his country, deeply engaged his own eftate, and fent one of his fons to the American coaft, befides encouraging many of his friends to go thither j this he hoped would Z 3 * - be 374 GORGES, be ^n apology for his earneftnefs in this plea, as if he had fhewn lefs warmth it might have been conftrued info negligence and in gratitude. Thefe pleas however earned and rational, were to no purpofe. The parliament pre- fented to the King the grievances of the na tion, and the patent for New-England was the firft on the lift. Gorges, however, had taken care that the King {hould be previoufly acquainted with the objections and anfwers ; a,nd James was fo jealous of his prerogative, that though he gave his aflent to a declara tory act againfl monopolies in general, yet he Would not recal the patent. However, in deference to the voice of the nation, the coun cil thought fit to fufpend their operations. This proved for 4 while,, djfcouraging to the fpirit of adventure and occafioned the recalling Robert Gorges from his govern ment. But the parliament having proceeded with niore freedom and boldneis in their com plaints, than fuited the feelings of James, he diffolved them in hafte, before they could proceed to meafures for remedying the difor- dcrs in church and ftate, which had been the fubjecl: G O R G E S., 375 fubject of complaint ; and Tome of the more liberal fpeakers were committed to prifon . This ferved to damp the fpirit of reformation, and prepared the way for another colony of emi grants to New-England. About the fame time, the French ambaf- fador put in a claim in behalf of his court to thefe territories, to which Gorges was fummoned to anfwer before the King and council, which he did in fo ample and con-' vincing a manner, that the claim was for that time filenced. Gorges then, in the name of the Council of Plymouth, complained of the Dutch, as intruders on the EngliCh pofief- fions in America, by making a fettlement on Hudfon's river. To this, the States made an fwer, that if any fuch things had been done, it was without their order, as they had only erected a company for the Weft Indies. Thig anfwer, made the council refolve to profecute their bulinefs and remove thefe intruders. Hitherto Gorges appears in the light of a zealous, indefatigable and unfuccefs- ful adventurer ; but neither his labours, expenfe, nor ill fuccefs were yet come to a conclulion. Z4 To 376 GORGES. To entertain a juft view of Sir Ferdinando Gorges, we muft confider him both as a mem ber of the Council of Plymouth, purfuing the general intereft of American plantations ; and at the fame time as 1 an adventurer, undertak ing a fettlement of his own, in a particular part of the territory which was fubjedl to the jurifdiction of the council . Having formed an intimacy with Capt. John Mafon, Governour of Portfmouth, in the county of Hants, who was alfo a member of the council ; and hav ing (1622) jointly with him procured from the council, a grant of a large extent of coun try, which they called Laconia, extending from the river Merrimack to Sagadahock, and from the ocean to the lakes and river of Canada, they indulged fanguine expectation of fuccefs. From the accounts given of the country by fome romantic travellers, they had conceived an idea of it as a kind of terreftrial paradife, not merely capable of producing all the necefTaries and conveniencies of life but as already richly furnifhed by the bountiful hand of nature. The air was faid to be pure and falubrious the country pleafant and delightful, full of goodly forefts, fairvallies, and fertile plains abounding in vines, chefnuts, walnuts, and many GORGES. 377 many other forts of fruit ; the rivers ftored with fifli and environed with goodly meadows full of timber trees. In the great lake,* it was faid, were four iilands, full of pleafant woods and meadows, having great (lore of flags, fallow deer, elks, roebucks, beavers and other game ; and thefe iflands were fuppoied to be commodioufly fituate for habitation and traffic, in the midfl of a fine lake, abounding with the moft delicate fifh. This lake was thought to be lefs than ico miles diftant from the fea coaft ; and there was fome fecret expedition that mines and precious flones, would be the reward of their patient and dili gent attention to the bufinefs of difcovery. Such were the charms of Laconia ! It has been before obferved that Gorges O had fent over Richard Vines, with forne others, on a difcovery, to prepare the way for a colorfy. The place which Vines pitched upon, was at the mouth of the river Saco.* Some years after, another fcttlement was ms'de on the river of Agamenticus, by 'Francis Norton, whom Gorges fent over with a num ber of other people, having procured for them a patent of 12,000 acres on the eail fide of the river, and 12,000 more on the weft fide > * Lake Champlain. 378 GORGES. fide ; his fon Ferdinando Gorges being named as one of the grantees ; this was the beginning of the town of York. Norton was a Lieu tenant Colonel, and had raifed himfelf to that rank from a common ibldier, by his own merit. In this company were fcveral artific ers, who were employed in building faw mills, and they were fupplied with cattle and other neceffaries for the bufinefs of getting lumber. About the fame time (viz. 1623) a fettle- ment was begun at the river Pifcataqua, by Captain Mafon, and feveral other merchants, among whom Gorges had a (hare. The prin cipal defign of thefe fettlements was, to eftab- lifh a permanent fifhery, to make fait, to trade with the natives, and to prepare lumber for exportation. Agriculture was but a fecondary object, though in itielf the true fource of all opulence and all fubfiftence. Thefe attempts proved very expenfive and yielded no adequate returns. The aflbciates were difcouraged, and dropped off one after another, till none but Gorges and Mafon re mained. Much patience was neceflary, but in this cafe it could be grounded only on en- thufiafm. It was not pomble in the nature of things that their intereft fliould be advanc ed OGS. 37$ cd by the manner in which they conduced their bufinefs. Their colonifts came over either as tenants or as hired fervants. The produce of the plantation could not pay their wages, and they foon became their own maf- ters. The charge of making a fettlement in fuch a wildernefs was more than the value of the lands when the improvements were made : overfeers were appointed, but they could not hold the tenants under command ; nor prevent their changing places on every difcontent : The proprietors themfelves never came in perfon to fuperintend their intereils, and no regular government was eftablifhed to punim offenders or preferve order. For thefe reafons though Gorges and Mafon expended from firft to lad more than twenty thoufand pounds each, yet they only opened the way for others to follow, and the money was loft to them and their poflerity.* Whilft their private intereft was thus fink ing in America, the reputation of the coun cil of which were members lay undsr fuch difadvantage in England as tended to endanger their political exigence. As they had been incorporated for the purpofe, not merely of g ran ting * See Hifiory of Nev-Hamp&ire, vol. ;. Chap. i. u. 380 G O . R G E S. granting lands, but of making actual planta tions in America, they were fond of encou raging all attempts, from whatever quarter, which might realize their views and ex pectations. The ecclefiaftical government at this time allowed no liberty to fcrupulous confciences ; for which reafon many who had hitherto been peaceable members of the national church, and wimed to continue fuch, finding ftiat no indulgence could be granted, turned their thoughts toward America where fome of their brethren had already made a fettlement. They firft purchafed of the council of Plymouth a large territory^ and afterward obtained of the crown a charter, by which they were confti- tuted a body politic within the realm. In June 1630 they brought their charter to America, and began the colony of Maffachufetts. This proved an effectual fettlement, and the rea- fons which rendered it fo were the the zeal and ardour which animated their exertions ; the wealth which they poffefled, and which they converted into materials for a new plantation $ but principally \htprefencc of the adventurers themfelves, on the fpot, where their fortunes were to be expended and their zeal exerted. The GORGES. 381 The difference between a man's doing bufinefs by himfelf, and by his fubftitutes, was never more fairly exemplified than in the conduct of the Maffachufetts planters, compared with that of Sir Ferdinando Gorges : what the one had been labouring for, above twenty years without any fuccefs,was realized by the others in two or three years ; in five, they were fo far advanced as to be able to fend out a colo ny from themfelves to begin another at Con necticut ; and in lefs than ten, they founded an Univerfity which has ever fince produc ed an uninterrupted fucceffion of ferviceable men in church and ftate. The great number of people who flocked to this new plantation, raifed an alarm in Eng land. As they had manifefted their difcon- tent with the ecclefiaftical government, it it was fufpe&ed that they aimed at independence p , and would throw off their allegiance to the crown. This jealoufy was fo ftrong, that a royal order was made to reftrain any from coming hither who fhould not firfl take the oaths of allegiance and fupremacy, and obtain a licence for their removal. To refute this jealous cavil againft the planters of Ncw-England,wc need only to ob- ferve, 382 GORGES. ferve, that at the time when they began their fettlement, and for many years after, the lands which they occupied were objects of envy both to the Dutch and French. The Dutch claimed from Hudfon, as far as Connecticut river, where they had erected a trading houfe. The French claimed all the lands of New England ; and the Governour of Port Royal, v.'hen he wrote to Governour Winthrop,direcl- ed his letters to him as Governour of the Englijh at BoJIon in Acadia. Had the New England planters thrown off their fubjection to the crown of England they muft have become a prey to one or the other of thefe rival powers. Of this they were well aware, and if they had entertained any idea of independency, which they certainly did not (nor did their fuccejjbrs till driven to it by Britain herfelf) it would Lave been the moft impolitic thing in the world to have avowed it, in the prefence of neighbours with whom they did not wifh to be connected. This jcaloufy, however groundlefs, had an influence on the public councils of the nation, as well as on the fentiments of individuals, and contributed to increaie the prejudice which had been formed againft all who were con* cerned " GORGES. 383 ccrned in the colonization of New England. The merchants ftill confidered the Council of Plymouth, as monopolizing a lucrative branch of trade. The South Virginia company, dif- relimed their exclufive charter, and fpared no pains to get it revoked. The popular party in the commons regarded them as fupporters of the prerogative, and under the royal influ ence.* The high church party were incenf- cd againft them as enemies of prelacy, becaufe they had favoured the fettlement of the Puri tans within their territory: and the King him- felf fufpected that the colonies in New Eng land had too much liberty to conlift with his notions of government. Gorges was looked upon as the author of all the mifchief ; and being publicly called upon, declared, " that though he had earneftly fought the intereft of the plantations, yet he could not anfwer for the evils which had happened by them.'* It was extremely mortifying to him to find that after all his exertions and expenfes in the fer- vice of the nation, he had become a very un popular chara&er, and had enemies on all fides. To * This manifestly appears from the grant which they were o- bliged to make to Sir William Alexander, of the country of Nova Scotia, by virtue of a meflage from the King, which they confider ed as a command. This grant Was ceanVmed t him by the King, and he fold it to the Frensli. 384 GORGES. To remedy thefe difficulties, he projected the refignation of the charter to the crown j and the divifion pf the territory into twelve lordfhips,tobe united under one General Gov- ernour. As the charter of MaiTachufetts flood in the way of this project, he, in conjunction with Maion, petitioned the crown for a revo cation of it. This brought on him the ill will of thofe colonifls alfo, who from that time regarded him and Mafon as their enemies. i3efore the council furrendered their charter, they made grants to fome of their own mem bers, of twelve diftricts, from Maryland tOySt. Croix, among which the diftrict from Pifcata- qua to Sagadahock, extending one hundred arid twenty miles northward into the country, was afiigned to Gorges. In June 1635, the coun- i il reiigned tbeir charter, and petitioned the King and the lords of the privy council for ;. confirmation of the feveral proprietary grants, and the eftablifhment of a general government. Sir Ferdinando Gorges, then three Icore years of age, was the pcrion nominated to be. the General Governor. About this time, Maibn, one of the principal actors in this affair, was removed by death : ^nd u fliip, which was in tended for the fn IK-\V 'icvcrnmeru* ; GORGES. 385 fell and broke in launching. A quo warranto was ilTued againft the Mailachuietts charter, but the proceedings upon it were delayed, and never completed. An order of the King in council, was alfo ifTued in 1637, for theeftab- limcnent of the general government, and Gor ges was therein appointed Governour ; but the troubles in Scotland and England, at this time grew very ferious and put a check to the bufi- nefs. Soon after, Archbifhop Laud and fome other lords of council, who were zealous in the affair, loft their authority, and the whole project came to nothing. Gorges however, obtained of the crown in 1639, a confirmation of his own grant, which was ftyled the Province of Maine, and of which he was made Lord Palatine with the fame powers and privileges as the bimop of Durham in the County Palatine of Durham. In virtue of thefe powers, he conftituted a government within his faid province, and in corporated the plantation at Agamenticus in to a city, by the name of Gorgeana, of which his coufin, Thomas Gorges, was Mayor, who refided there about two years, and then return ed to England. The council for the admin- iftration of government were Sir Thomas A a JofTelyn, -86 GORGES. JofTelyn, Knight, Richard Vines, (Steward) Francis Champernoon (a nephew to Gorges,) Henry JofTelyn, Richard Boniton, William Hooke, and Edward Godfrey. The plan which he formed for the govern ment of his province was this : It was to be divided into eight counties, and thefe into iixteen hundreds, the hundreds were to be fubdivided into parimes and tythings, as the people fhould increafe. In the abfence of the proprietor a lieutenant was to prefide, A chancellor was constituted for the decifion of civil caufes $ a treafurer to receive the revenue, a marfhal for managing the militia, and a marfhal's court, for criminal matters ; an ad miral, and admiral's court, for maritime caufes ; a mafter of ordnance and a fecretary. Thefe officers were to be a ftanding council. Eight deputies were to be elected, one from each county, by the inhabitants, to fit in the fame council -, and all matters of moment were to be determined by the lieutenant with advice of the majority. This council were to ap point juftices, to give licences for the fale of lands fubjett to a rent of four pence or fix pence per acre. When any law was to be enacted or repealed, or public money to be raifed, they GORGES. 387 they were to call on the counties to elecl each two deputies, "to join with the council in the performance of the fervice;" but nothing is faid of their voting as a feparate houfe. One lieutenant and eight juftices were allowed to each county ; two head conftables to every hundred ; one con (table and four tythingmen to every pariih ; and in conformity to the in flictions of King Alfred, each tythingman was to give an account of the demeanor of the families within his tything, to the conftable of the parim, who was to render the fame to the head conftables of the hundred, and they to the lieutenant and juftices of the county ; who were to take cognizance of all mifdemean- ors ; and from them an appeal might be made to the proprietor's lieutenant and council. Forms of government, and plans of fettle- ment, are much more eafily drawn on paper, than carried into execution. Few people could be induced to become tenants in the neighbourhood of fuch a colony as Maflachu- fetts, where all were freeholders. No provi- fion was made for public inftitutions^ fchools were unknown, and they had no minifters, till in pity to their deplorable ftate, two went thither from Bofton on a voluntary million, A a 2 and 3 8S GORGES. and were well received by them. The city of Gorgeana, though a lofty name, was in fadt but an inconfiderable village 5 and there were only a few houfes in fome of the beft places for navigation. The people were without order and morals, and it was faid of fome of them, that " they had as many (hares in a woman, as they had in a riming boat."* Gor ges himfelf complained of the prodigality of his fervants, and had very little confidence in his own fons, for whofe aggrandizement he had been labouring to eftablifh a foundation. He had indeed creeled faw mills and corn mills, and had received fome acknowledgment in the way of rents, but lamented, that he had not reaped the " happy fuccefs of thofe who are their own flewards, and the difpofers of their own affairs." x How long Gorges continued in his office as Governour of Plymouth, does not appear from any materials within my reach. In 1625, he commanded a fhip of war in a fquad- ron under the Duke of Buckingham, which was fent to the affiftance of France, under pre tence of being employed againft the Gcnoefe. But a fufpicion having arifen that they were deftined * Hutchinfon's Colieftion of Papers, p. 424. GORGES. 389 deilincd to affift Louis againft his proteftant iubjecls at Rochelle, as foon as they were ar rived at Dieppe, and found that they had been deceived, Gorges was the firfl to break his orders and return with his (hip to England. The others followed his example, and their 2eal for the Proteftant religion was much ap plauded.* When the civil difTenfions in England broke out into a war, Gorges took the royal fide ; and, though then far advanced in years, engaged perfonally in the fervice of the crown. He was in Prince Rupert's army at the liege of jBriftol in 1643 \ and when that city was re taken in 1645 by the parliament's forces, he was plundered and imprifoned.-f' His politi cal principles rendered him obnoxious to the ruling powers, and when it was neceflary for him to appear before the commiffioners for foreign plantations, he was feverely frowned upon, and confequently difcouraged. The time of his death is uncertain -, he is fpoken of in the records of the Province of Maine as dead in June 1647, Upon his de- ceafe, his e.ftate fell to his cldefl fon, John Gorges, * Hume. f Joffelyn fays that he was ffveral times plundered and imprU foned. p. 197. Aaj 390 GORGES. Gorges, who, whether difcouraged by his father's ill fuccefs, or incapacitated by the feverity of the times, took no care of the prov ince, nor do we find any thing memorable concerning him. Moft of the commiflioners who had been appointed to govern the prov ince defertedit; and the remaining inhabit ants in 1649, were obliged to combine for their own fecurity. In 1651, they petitioned the Council of State that they might be con^- fidered as part of the commonwealth of Eng land. The next year, upon the requeft of a great part of the inhabitants, the colony of Maflachufetts took them under their protec tion, being fuppofed to be within the limits of their charter fome oppofition was made to this ftep ; but the majority fubmitted or acquiefced ; and confidering the difficulties of the times, and the unfettled ftate of affairs in England, this was the befl expedient for their fecurity. On the death of John Gorges, the proprie ty deicended to his fon Ferdinando Gorges, of Weftminfter, who feems to have been a man of information and activity. He printed a defcription of New England in 1658, to which he annexed a narrative written by his grand father j GORGES. 391 father; from which this account is chiefly compiled ; but another piece which in fome editions is tacked to thefe, entitled " Wonder working Providences," was unfairly afcribed to Sir Ferdinando Gorges, though written by a Mr. Johnfon of Woburn in New England. On the reftoration of King Charles II. Gorges petitioned the crown, complaining of the MafTachufetts colony for ufurping the government of Maine, and extending their boundary lines. In 1664, commifTioners were fent to America, who finding the people in the Province of Maine divided in their opin ions with refpect to matters of government, appointed juftices in the King's name to gov ern them -, and about the fame time the pro prietor nominated thirteen commiffioners and prepared a fet of inftructions which were en tered on the records of the province. But upon the departure of the royal commiiSon- ers the colony refumed its jurifdiction over them. Thefe two fources of government kept alive two parties, each of whom were always ready to complain of the other and juftify themfelves. An inquiry into the conduct of Maffachu- fetts had been instituted in England, and the A a 4 colony 392 GORGES. colony was ordered to fend over agents to an- fwer the complaints of Gorges, and Mafon, the proprietor of New Hampshire, who had joint* ]y propofed to fell their property to the crown to make a government for the Duke of Mon- mouth. This propofal not being accepted, the colony themfelves took the hint, and thought the moil effectual way of filencing the complaint would be, to make a purchafe. The circumftances of the Province of Maine were fuch as to favour their views. The In dians had invaded it, moft of the fettlements were deftroyed or deferted, and the whole country was in trouble -, the colony had af forded them all the afliftance which was in their power, and they had no help from any other quarter. In the height of this calamity John Umer, Efq. was employed to negociate with Mr. Gorges for the purchafe of the whole territory, which was effected in the year 1677. The fum of twelve hundred and fifty pounds fterling was paid for it, and it has ever fmce been a part of Maflachufetts. It is now formed into two counties, York and Cumberland; but the Diftritt of Maine, as eftablimed by the laws of the United States, comprehends GORGES. 393 comprehends alfo the counties of Lincoln, Wamington, and Hancock $ extending from Pifcataqua to St. Croix ; a territory large e- nough, when fully peopled, to be formed into a diftinct ftate. XV. HENRY 394 XV. HENRY HUDSON. NOTWITHSTANDING the fnmiefs attempts, which had been made, to find a paf- fage to India, by the north, the idea was not given up ; but it was fuppofed, that under the direction of fome prudent, refolute and expe rienced commander, the objecl: might yet be attained. A fociety of wealthy and fanguine adventurers, in England, believed the practi cability of the paflage - t and with a refolution and liberality almoft unexampled, raifed the money to carry on this expenfive undertaking. They gave the command of the expedition, to HENRY HUDSON, a feaman of enlarged views and long experience ; in whofe knowl edge and intrepidity they could fafely confide; and whofe enterprizing fpirit was exceeded by none, and equalled by few of his contem poraries.* When the fhip, which they had deftined for the voyage, was ready, Hudfon with his crew, according to the cuftom of feamen in that day, went to church on April 19, 1607, and there partook of the Lord's Supper, -f- On the * For/let's northern voyages p, 324, t Purchas iv. 567, HUDSON. 395 the firft of May, he failed from Gravefend ; and on the 2ift of June, difcovered land, in lat. 73, on the eaftern coaft of Greenland, which he called Hold with Hope. His defign was, to explore the whole coaft of Greenland, which he fuppofed to be an iiland ; and, if poffible, to pafs round it, to the northweft ; or elfe directly under the pole. But having failed as far as the latitude of 82, he found the fea obftructed by impenetrable ice ; and was obliged to return to England j where he arrived on the I5th of September. By this voyage, more of the eaflern coaft of Greenland was explored, than had ever before been known ; and the ifland, afterward called Spitzbergen, was firft difcovered. It alfo o- pened the way to the Englifh, and after them to the Dutch, to profecute the whale nmery in thofe northern feas. The next year,* the fame company of ad venturers refolved to make another attempt, and fent Hudfon again, to find a paffage by ' the northeaft. He failed on the 22d of A- pril 1608. The higheft latitude, to which he advanced in this voyage, was 75 30'. Af ter having made feveral attempts, to pafs be tween * Pur^has iv, p. 574. 396 HUDSON. tween Spitzbergen and Nova Zembla, which he found impracticable ; the feafon was fo far fpent, and the winds fo contrary, that he had not time to try the ftrait of Waygats, nor Lumley's Inlet; and therefore thought it his " duty, to fave victual, wages and tackle, by a fpeedy return." He arrived at Gravefend on the 2oth of Auguft,* After his return from his fecond voyage, he. went over to Holland and entered into the fervice of the Dutch. Their Eaft India com pany fitted out a mip for difcovery, and put him into the command.-f' He failed from Amfterdam on the 25th of March 1609.^ The * In the journal of this voyage, written by Hudfon himfelf, is the following remark. "June 15, lat. 75 7', this morning one of our company looking overboard faw a mermaid, and calling up fome of the company to fee her, one more came up, and by that time, (he was come clofe to the {hip's fide, looking earneftly on the men. A little after, a fea came and overturned her. From th navel upward, her back and breafis were like a woman ; (as they fay that faw her) her body as big as one of us ; her (kin very white ; and long hair hanging down behind, of colour black. In her going down, they faw her tail, which was like th,e tail of a por- poife, and fyeckled like a mackarel. Their names that faw her were Thomas Hilles and Robert Rayner." Purchas iv. 575, + This is faid on the authority of Dr. Forfter. The journal fays nothing of it. It was written by Robert Juet, his mate. ibid. 581. J Smith, .in his hiflory of New York, following Oldrnixon and ther fecond baud authorities, places this voyage in 1608. But as the journals of Hudfon's four voyages are extant in Purchas, I take all dates from him. HUDSON. 397 The higheft latitude which he made in this voyage was 71 46' ; where he found the fea in the neighbourhood of Nova Zembla fo fill ed with ice, and covered with fogs, that it was impoffible to pafs the ftrait of Waygats to the eaftward. He therefore tacked and fleered wefterly, toward Greenland ; intending to fall in with Bufs Ifland, which had been feen by one of Frobifher's (hips in 1 578 ; but when he came into the latitude where it was laid down, he could not find it. He then fleered fouthwefterly ; pafled the banks of Newfoundland among the French mips which were fifliing, without fpeaking with any of them ; and failed along the coafl of America. In this route he difcovered Cape Cod and landed there ; then purfued his courfe to the fouth and weft ; making remarks on the foundings and currents, till he came to the entrance of Chefapeak bay. Here he plied oft and on for feveral days, and then turned again to the northward. In his return along the coaft, on the 28th of Auguft he difcovered the great bay, now- called Delaware, in the latitude of 39 5'. In this bay he examined the foundings and currents, 398 H U D S O N. currents, and the appearance of the land -, but did not go on more. From this bay, paffing along a low marfhy coaft fkirted with broken iflands, on the ad of September he faw high hills to the northward ; which I fuppofe were the Nev- eriinks in New Jerfey. On the 4th of September, he came to an chor in " a very good harbour" in the latitude 40 30', which is the bay within Sandy Hook. On the 6th, the boat was fent to furvey what appeared to be the mouth of a river, diftant four leagues. This was the ft rait called the O Narrows, between Long liland and Staten Jlland ; here was a good depth of water; and within was a large opening, and a narrow river, to the weft ; the channel between Ber gen Neck and Staten Ifland. As the boat was returning, it was attacked by fome of the natives, in two canoes. One man, John Colman, was killed ; he was buried on a point of land, which, from that circumftance, was called Colman's point. It is probably Sandy Hook, within which the ihip lay. On the 1 1 th, they failed through the Nar rows, and found a " good harbour fecure from all winds." The next day, they turned againfl a N. W. HUDSON. 399 a N. W. wind, into the mouth of the river, which bears Hudfon's name ; and came to anchor two leagues within it. On thefe two days, they were vifited by the natives, who brought corn, beans, oyfters and tobacco. They had pipes of copper, in which they fmoked ; and earthen pots, in which they drefled their meat. Hudfon would not fuffer them to ftay on board by night. From the i2th to the i9th of September, he failed up the river -, which he found about a mile wide and of a good depth, abounding with fifh, among which were " great ftore of falmons." As he advanced, the land on both fides was high, till it became very mountain ous. This ts high land had many points, the channel was narrow,and there were many eddy winds." From a careful enumeration of the com puted diftances, in each day's run, as fet down in the journal, it appears that Hudfon failed fifty three leagues. To this diftance, the river was navigable, for the (hip ; the boat went up eight or ten leagues farther - y but found the bottom irregular, and the depth not more than feven feet. It is evident therefore that he 400 HUDSON. he penetrated this river, as far as where the city of Albany now (lands. The farther he went up the river, the more friendly and hofpitable the natives appeared. They gave him fkins in exchange for knives and other trifles. But as he came down, be low the mountains, the favages were thievifh and troublefome, which occafioned frequent quarrels, in which eight or nine of them were killed. The land on the eaftern fide of the river near its mouth, was called Manabata. On the 4th of O&ober he came out of the river j and without anchoring in the bay, flood o-ut to fea ; and fleering dire6lly for Europe, on the yth of November arrived " in the range of Dartmouth in Devonfhire." Here the journal ends. The discoveries made by Hudfon, in this remarkable voyage, were of great mercantile confequence to his employers. It has been faid, that he " fold the country, or rather his right to it, to the Dutch."* This however is queflionable. The fovereigns of England and France laid equal claim to the country, and it is a matter which requires fome difcuflion, whether the Hollanders were, at that time, fo far * Smith's hiftory of New York, p. 14. Carey's edition. HUDSON. 401 far admitted into the community of nations* as to derive rights which would be acknowl edged by the other European powers.* . How ever, whilft they were ftruggling for exift- e;ice among the nations, they were growing rich by their mercantile adventures j and this capital difcovcry, made at their expenfe, was a fource of no fmall advantage to them. They had, for fome time before, caft an eye on the fur trade :; and had even bribed fome Frenchmen, to admit them into the traffic at Acadia and St. Lawrence. The difcovery of Hudfon's river, gave them at once, an entrance of above fifty leagues into the heart of the American continent ; in a litua-* tion, where the beft furs could be procured without any interruption from either the French or the Englim. The place indeed lay within the claim of both thefe nations ; Acadia extended from the latitude of 40 to 48 ; and Virginia from 34 to 45 ; but the French had made feveral fruitlefs attempts to pafs fouthward of Cape Cod ; and had but juft begun their plantations at Acadia and St. Lawrence. The Englim had made fome ef- forts to eftabjim colonies in Virginia, one of which * Chalmers* Annals. 568. Bb 402 H U D S O N. which was flruggling for exiftence, and others had failed, both in the ibuthern and northern divifion. Betides, King James, by a flroke of policy peculiar to bimfelf, in dividing Virginia, between the North and South Companies, had interlocked each patent with the other > y and at the fame time interdicted the patentees from planting within one hundred miles of each other.* This uncertainty, concurring with ether caufes, kept the adventurers at fuch a diftance, that the intermediate country, by far the moft valuable, lay expofed to the in- trufions of foreigners , none of whom knew better than the Dutch, how to avail them- felves of the ignorance or inattention of their neighbours, in the purfuit of gain. But whether it can, at this time, be deter mined or n'ot, by what means the Holland ers acquired a title to the country -, certain it is, that they underftood and purfued the ad vantage which this difcovery opened to them. Within four years, a fort and trading houfe were erected on the fpot where Albany is now built ; and another fort on the S. W. point of the ifliind, where the city of New- York now * Seepage 41. 42. See alfo Hazard's Colle&ion, vol. r, page 50. H U D S O N. 403 now ftands -, by a company of Merchants, who had procured from the States General a patent for an exclufive trade to Hudfon's river. The tranfadtions between Hudfon and his Dutch employers are not ftate'd in the ac counts of his voyages. Dr. Forfter fays that he offered to undertake another voyage in their fervice, but that they declined it, upon which he returned to England ; and again entered into the fervice of the Company, who had before employed him. The former attempts for a northern paflage having been made in very high latitudes^ was now determined, to feek for one, by pafTing to the weft ward of Greenland, and examining the inlets of the American continent. For this purpofe a fhip was fitted out, and the command was given to Hudfon ; but, unhap pily, the Company infifted that he fhould take with Lim as an affiftant, one Colburne, a very very able and experienced feaman. Their great confidence in Colburne's ikill excited Hudfon's envy 5 aad after the mip had fallen down the river, he put him on board a pink, bound up to London, with a letter to the owners, containing the reafons of his con- B b 2 duel ; 404 HUDSON. duct $ and then proceeded on his voyage. [April 22, 1610.] Thisrafh ftep gave the crew an example of difobedience, which was fo feverely retaliated on himfelf, as to prove the caufe of his ruin. He went round the north of Scotland, through the Orkney and Faro iflands, and on the 1 1 th of May made the eaftern part of Iceland. Sailing along its fouthern more, in fight of the volcanic mountain Hecla, he put into a harbour in the weftern part of the ifland ; where he met with a friendly reception from the inhabitants $ but found great difienfions among his crew, which he could not appeafc without much difficulty. Having doubled the fouthern promontory of Greenland, he fleered N. W. for the Ameri can continent. In this paflage he was fo en tangled with floating ice,that healmoft defpair- ed of getting clear. But at length, with much labour and peril,he forced his way through the ftrait and into the bay which bear his name. The farther he advanced, the greater were the xnurmurings among his men. He removed his mate and boatfwain and put others into their places. This difcipline not only rendered him ^ more unpopular ; but inflamed the difplaced . efScers with bitter refentment againft him. The H U D 8 O N. 405- The whole Cummer having been fpent, in examining the eaftern and fouthern extremities of the deep and extenfive bay, which he had difcovered -, in October it was too late to re turn ; the difcovery was yet incomplete, and he was loth to leave it. He had taken but half a year's provifion from England. It was therefore neceflfary to hufband what was left, and procure more by hunting - y which was done in great plenty, by reafon of the numer ous flights of fowl, which fucceeded each other through the winter. In November the (hip was frozen up. Soon after the gunner died, and a controverfy took place about dividing his clothes. Hudfon was partial to Henry Green, a young man of a debauched character, whom he had taken on board ; and whofe name was not on the fhip's books. This young man ungenerouily took part with the difcontented, and loft Hudfon's favour. They had to ftruggle with a fevere winter, and bad accommodations, which produced fcorbutic and rheumatic complaints. Thefe were relieved by a decoction of the buds of a tree filled with a balfamic juice ; the liquor was drank, and the buds applied to the fwelled joints. This is fuppofed to have been balfamlfera, B b 3 When. 4 o6 HUDSON. When the fpring came on, the birds difap- peared, and their provifions fell mort. To ilill the clamour among the diicontented, Hudfcn injudicioufly divided the remaining ftores, into equal fhares, and gave each man his portion ; which fome devoured at once and others preferved. The iLip being afloat, he began to fail to ward the N. W. to purfue the object of his voyage ; when, (June 21, 1611) a confpira- cy which had been fometime in fermentation, broke out into open mutiny. The difplaced mate and boatfwain, accompanied by the in famous Green and others, rofe and took com mand of the fhip. They put Hudfon, his ion, the carpenter, the mathematician, and five others, molt of whom were lick and lame,, into the ihallop ; with a fmail quantity of meal, one gun and ammunition, two or three fpears and an iron pot -, and then with the moil favage inhumanity turned them adrift. This is the left account of Hudfon. Wheth er he, with his unhappy companions, perifhed by the iea, by famine, or by the favages, is unknown. The confpirators put the iliip about to the paftward and halted to get oiu of the bay. :r Cape Digges, they met with feven canoes he {".wages, by whom they v/ere attack; Tl HUDSON. 407 The perfidious Green was killed, and three others wounded, of whom two died in a few days. The miferable remnant, purfued their courfe homeward, and fuffered much by fam ine ; but at length arrived in Ireland, and from thence got to England. This account of the unfortunate end of Hudfon and the return of the Ihip, is taken from a narrative written by Abacuc Pricket,* whom the mutineers preferved, in hope that by his connexion with Sir Dudley Digges, one of the owners, they fhould obtain their pardon. The mofl aflonilhing circumftance in this horrid aft of cruelty, is the oath, by which the confpirators bound themfelves to execute their plot ; the form of it is preferved by Pricket, and is in thefe words. You {hall fwear truth, to GOD, your Prince and Country -, you fhall do nothing but to the Glory of GOD, and the good of the action in hand, and harm to no man." It is to be hoped, that the abfurdity, hypoc- rify, and blafphemy of this tranfaction will ever be unparalleled in the hiftory of human depravity ! * Purchas, iv, 597, POSTSCRIPT. 1 HE author is fo much indebted to HAKLUYT and PURCHAS, that he thinks it butjuftto give fome account of them and their writings, RICHARD HAKLUYT, Prebendary of Weftminfter, was born in Herefordmire, 1553. He early turned his attention to geo graphy, and read lectures in that fcience at Oxford, where he was educated, and where he introduced maps and globes, into the pub lic fchools. In 1582 he publifhed a fmall collection of voyages and difcoveries $ and going two years after as chaplain to Sir Ed ward Stafford ambafTador to France, he there met with and publifhed a M. S. entitled, The Notable Hi/lory of Florida, by Laudon- nicrre and other Adventurers. He returned to England in 1588, when he applied himfelf to collect, tranflate and digeft all the voyages, journals and letters that he could procure, which he publifhed firft in one volume, 1589, to which he afterward added two others, and reprinted the firft in 1599, and 1600. He was a man of indefatigable diligence and great integrity ; much in favour with Queen lilizabeth's miniftry, and largely converfant with 409 with feamen. He died in 1616, and his ma- nufcripts fell into the hands of Mr. Purchas. [Wood and Northouck.] A complete fet of Hakluyt's Voyages is in the library of the Maffachufetts Hiftorical Society. SAMUEL PURCHAS was born at Thack- ftead in Eflex, 1577, and educated at Cam bridge. He was firft vicar of Eaftwood in Effex, then rector of St. Martin's London. Pie published a folio volume entitled, Purchas his Pilgrimage, or Relations of the World and the 'Religions obferved, in all Ages and Places, &c. The third edition of it, is dated 1617. When Mr. Hakluyt's papers fell into his hands he compiled four other volumes, which were printed 1625 j they are entitled, Purchas bis Pilgrims. Part i, ii, iii, iv. The whole makes a fet of five volumes. They confift of journals, letters, narratives, tranflations and abridgements, comprehending all the travels and difcoveries made in all parts of the world, and are, with Hakluyt's work, the largeft and moft authentic collection of the kind, extant for that time. By the publishing of this vol uminous work, Pqrchas brought himfelf into debt. 410 debt -, and it has been laid that he died in* prifon j but Northouck fays he died in his own houfe in London, 1628. A complete fet of Purchas's Pilgrims is ir\ the library of Harvard College. ERRATA. Page 7. not* read failing iveftward {aw ihfi ;:r'J,\i>< fun on the rigLi hand. 38, dele the marginal note. 186, line 4, from bottom, for heard read herd. 190, line 6, for Mabille read Mobille. 208, note, line 4, for about, read a teat. 2ZO, line 4, from bottom, dele the firft rf. 222, line 6, after weed infert in. 363, line 6, from bottom, read latfijtr. The SUCCESSION cfS o v r R E i c K s of t he E u R o p E A K N A T i o x s a; Ac Aavc /zc<^ POSSESSIONS^ CON NE xi ONS ZTZ AMER ic A. A. D. ENGLAND. 1773 1485 Lewis XVI. Henry VII. 1-92 I5C9 Republic. Henry VIII, *547 A. D. SPAIN. ' Edward VI. 1474 J553 Ferdinand V. r.nd Ifabell. Mary. I5C4 1558 Phillip I. Elizabeth. I5l6 1603 James I. *tv o ? I- King Charles > -\r r 5 V. Emp. 1625 1556 Charles I. Philip II. 1648 IJ 9 8 16 Commonwealth. Philip III. 1 53 O. Cromwell. Philip IV. 1658 TG6$ R. Cromwell. Charles II. j66o I7CO Charles II. Philip V. 1685 1746 James II. Ferdinand VI. 1688 J 759 William and Mary Charles III. 1694 1789 Y **OT William III. Charles IV. I ,. CI Anne. A. D. PORTUGAL, 1714 1481 George I. John II. 1727 1495 George II, Emanuel. 1760 1521 George III. John III. . 1557 A. D. FRANCE. SeKaftian. J 4^3 1578 Charles VIII. Henry. 1498 1580 15*5 Lewis XII. Francis I. 1598 Philip II. -, of Spain Philip III. J> and 1547 Henry II. 1621 1 Portugal. Philip IV. J J559 1640 Francis II. Jol.n IV. 1560 1656 Charles IX. Alphonfa VI. 1574 166" Henry II. Peter. 1589 1704 Henry IV, John V. 1610 J7-0 Lewis XIII, Jofeph. 1643 1777 Lewis XIV, Maria Frances If