DISCOVERY OF SAN SALVADOR.

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about two leagues distant; whereupon they took in sail, and laid to, waiting impatiently for the dawn.

15. The morning at length arrived, -October 12th, or N. S. October 21, and before the delighted Spaniards lay a level and beautiful island, called by the natives GUANAHANI, but to which Columbus gave the name of SAN SALVADOR. This island, known on English maps by the name of CAT ISLAND, was several leagues in extent, of great freshness and verdure, and was covered with trees, like a continual orchard.

16. Columbus, in a rich dress, and with a drawn sword, soon after landed with his men, with whom, having kneeled and kissed the ground with tears of joy, he took possession of the island, in the name of Queen Isabella, his patron. On landing, the Spaniards were surprised to find a race of people quite unlike any that they had ever seen before. They were of a dusky coppercolor, naked, beardless, with long black hair, floating on their shoulders, or bound in tresses round their heads. The natives were still more surprised at the sight of the Spaniards, whom they considered as the children of the sun, their idol. The ships they looked upon as animals, with eyes of lightning and voices of thunder.

17. Having spent some time in an examination of this island, he proceeded to visit several others not far distant; and at length, on the 7th of November, came in sight of the Island of

Cuba, and not long after fell in with the Island of Hispaniola, or San Domingo.

18. Having spent some time in examining the country, and in traffic with the natives, Columbus set sail on his return. He was overtaken by a tremendous storm; during which he enclosed in a cake of wax a short account of his voyage and discovery, which he put into a tight cask, and threw it into the sea, hoping that, if he perished, it might fall into the hands of some navigator, or be cast ashore, and thus the knowledge of his discovery be preserved to the world. But the storm abated, and he arrived safe in Spain, March, 1493.

19. For this discovery, which laid the foundation for all subsequent discoveries in America, Columbus was entitled to the honor of giving name to the New World. But he was robbed of it by the address of Americus Vespucius. This adventurer was a Florentine, who sailed to the New World in 1499, with one Alonzo Ojeda, who had accompanied Columbus in his first voyage. On his return, he published so flattering an account of his voyage, that his name was given to the continent, with manifest injustice to Columbus.

20. After this, Columbus made a second and third voyage; in the latter of which he discovered the continent, near the mouth of the river Orinoco. This was August 10th, 1498. Yet he was ignorant, at the time, that the land in question was anything more than an island.

21. During this third voyage, Columbus was destined to experience severe afflictions. After his departure from Spain, having been appointed governor of the New World, his enemies, by false representations, persuaded the king to appoint another in his place. At the same time, the king was induced to give orders that Columbus should be seized and sent to Spain. This order was executed with rigid severity; and the heroic Columbus returned to Spain in irons!

22. On his arrival, he was set at liberty by the king; but he nover recovered his authority. Soon after his return from a fourth voyage, finding Isabella, his patroness, dead, and himself neglected, he sunk beneath his misfortunes and infirmities, and expired at Valladolid on the 30th of May, 1506, or 1507. His last words were, "Into thy hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit."

23. The body of Columbus was deposited in the convent of St. Francisco, but was afterwards removed to a monastery at Seville, where, for a time, it rested, with the remains of his son, Diego. The bodies of both, however, were afterwards removed

VOYAGES OF THE CABOTS.

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to Hispaniola, and here again disinterred, and conveyed to Havana, in the island of Cuba, where in peace they now repose.

24. We shall conclude this notice of the great pioneer to this western world, in the eloquent language of the author to whom we have been indebted for the principal incidents in the life of this illustrious man.* "He (Columbus) died in ignorance of the real grandeur of his discovery. Until his last breath, he entertained the idea that he had merely opened a new way to the old resorts of opulent commerce, and had discovered some of the wild regions of the East. He supposed Hispaniola to be the ancient Ophir, which had been visited by the ships of Solomon; and that Cuba and Terra Firma were but remote parts of Asia. What visions of glory would have broken upon his mind, could he have known that he had indeed discovered a new continent, equal to the whole of the old world in magnitude, and eparated by two vast oceans from all the earth hitherto known by civilized man!"

II. JOHN CABOT. - When the discovery of Columbus was announced, the civilized nations of Europe became eager to share with Spain the honors and advantages of further discoveries in the New World. As early as May, 1497, John Cabot, a Venetian by birth, but then a resident in England, accompanied by his son, Sebastian, a young man, sailed under the patronage of Henry VII., King of England, on a voyage of discovery; and on the 24th of June O. S., or July 3d N. S., fell in with land, to which he gave the name of PRIMA VISTA (First Seen), and which, until a recent date, was judged to be the Island of Newfoundland, but which is now believed to have been the coast of Labrador. During this same voyage, however, it is thought he discovered the Island of Newfoundland; immediately following which, elated with his success, he returned to England.

III. SEBASTIAN CABOT. In 1498, Sebastian Cabot, in company with three hundred men, made a second voyage; during which he explored the continent from Labrador to Virginia, and, according to some authorities, to Florida. After several other voyages, he returned to England, during the reign of Edward VI., and, as a reward for his eminent services, was created Grand Pilot of the kingdom.

IV. JOHN VERRAZANI.-1. The French attempted no dis

*Irving's Columbus.

The commission granted Cabot is the oldest American state paper o England, bearing date March 5, O. S. 1496, although he did not sail till the year following