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explorations and take possession in the name of England of all lands which he might discover. He sailed from England in 1497, and on June 24th of that year came in sight of the coast of Labrador or of Čape Breton Island. Columbus, it will be remembered, did not discover the continent of South America till fourteen months later.

Cabot took possession of the country he had reached with the usual formalities, planting the cross and the banners of England and the Venetian Republic, and cruised for several hundred miles along the coast.

His return to England was marked by unbounded rejoicings. The king desired him to continue his discoveries and was willing to furnish the necessary funds. But he does not appear to have made a second voyage, and his name henceforth disappears mysteriously from the pages of history.

But his son Sebastian, who had probably accompanied his father on his famous voyage, perpetuated and added new luster to the name of Cabot. In 1498, when hardly more than twenty-two years of age, he commanded an expedition whose object was to find a northwest passage to India. He therefore directed his course at first to the higher latitudes, but afterward turned southward along the coast, which he explored as far down, probably, as the Chesapeake. He had made extensive discoveries, but his voyage was unsuccessful so far as its chief object was concerned, and it attracted less attention because of the great success which Vasco da Gama had just attained in reaching India by way of the Cape of Good Hope. Sebastian Cabot's subsequent life was varied. On the death of Henry VII. Ferdinand invited him to Spain, where he was accorded high honors and given the command of an expedition to search in the southwest for a passage to India. On this voyage he entered the La Plata River, in South America. After

ward returning to England, he received a pension and became the president of a company which sent out an expedition to the northeast to seek in still another direction the long-sought passage to India, which was not yet despaired of.

Sebastian Cabot was probably the first European to recognize that a new continent had been found. The great discoverer, Columbus, died in the belief that he had reached some part of the eastern coast of Asia, and little dreamed of the powerful nations and magnificent cities that would displace the savages and the forests of the New World.

CHAPTER IV.

SPANISH EXPLORATIONS.

Religious and mercenary motives of the Spaniards-Slavery-Da rien settled-Balboa discovers the Pacific-Ponce de Leon and Florida-Yucatan-Cortes conquers Mexico-Magellan circumnavigates the globe-D'Ayllon-Expedition of Narvaez-Concluded under the leadership of De Vaca-Pizarro's conquest of Peru-De Soto discovers the Mississippi-His death-The Huguenots in Florida-Their massacre by Menendez-St. Augustine founded — Coronado, Cabrillo, and Espejo-Santa Fé founded-Portuguese explorations-Cor. tereal-Relations between the Spaniards and indians.

A new world having been discovered, there were many hardy adventurers to follow in the footsteps of Columbus and explore the lands he had made known.

The western nations of Europe naturally took the lead in sending out expeditions. The new lands being inhabited by races of lower civilization than Europeans and of a heathen religion, were considered fair subjects for conquest. The expeditions took formal possession of the territories they explored in the name of their native governments, and seemed to consider the wealth they found in Central and South America as the just reward for their enterprise and the introduction of their civilization and religion.

But the religious motives which actuated Columbus shortly gave place to mercenary ones, and religion served chiefly as an excuse for conquest and extermination. The colonies that were planted in the West Indies employed Indians as slaves to carry on the hard labor, and thousands of natives were brought from the main-land to perish miserably in slavery.

The King of Spain at this period, Charles V., was at the same time Emperor of Germany and one of the most powerful monarchs in Europe, and Spain took an early and leading part in exploring the New World, pushing out in all directions, north, west, and south, from the West Indies. But her emissaries were cruel and rapacious, and incurred the hatred and vengeance of the natives to a greater degree than those of any other nation.

After exploring and colonizing the West Indies the Spaniards pushed over to the main-land, and their first colony was founded at Darien in 1510. In 1513 the governor of that colony, Vasco Nunez de Balboa, ascended the mountains on the isthmus and was the first European to see from American shores the vast expanse of the Pacific Ocean. He descended to the strand, waded into the water, and with drawn sword claimed the sea and all the lands it washed for Spain.

The first attempts at exploration within the present limits of the United States were made by Juan Ponce de Leon, a rich but old cavalier, who, having heard traditions of a fountain of youth, fitted out a private expedition to find the rejuvenating waters. He sailed from Porto Rico, and on Easter Sunday, 1512, came in sight of a shore beautiful with tropical verdure. Easter was called by the Spaniards Pasqua Florida (the Feast of Flowers), and partly in honor of the day and partly because of the luxuriant vegetation that met his eyes he called the land Florida. He landed a few days later near the present site of St. Augustine and claimed the country for the Spanish crown, in the possession of which it remained for over three centuries. He of course failed to find the fountain which was the object of his search, though he explored the coast southward to the Tortugas.

Charles V., king of Spain, appointed him governor

of Florida and sent him thither again to plant a colony. When he landed, in 1521, he was attacked by the Indians, his men were defeated, and he himself received his death-wound.

In 1517 Yucatan was discovered by Fernandez de Cordova, and in 1519 Hernando Cortes was sent by the Governor of Cuba with about 800 men to conquer Mexico. The emperor of that country, Montezuma, a powerful and rich monarch, sent embassadors with costly presents to entreat him not to penetrate the country. He nevertheless burned his ships behind him and pushed forward on an exploit that proved to be one of the most romantic in history.

He entered the City of Mexico in November and remained for some time in the splendid and opulent capital. At last, perhaps fearing that his small force might be overwhelmed by the hosts of natives who swarmed around them, he seized Montezuma on some pretext as a hostage for the safety of the Spaniards. He forced the emperor to declare himself a vassal of Charles V., to pay at once a princely sum of gold, and to promise an annual tribute to Spain.

Then learning that Narvaez had been sent to deprive him of his command, he left part of his troops in the capital and marched with the remainder to surprise his fellow-countryman. Having effected this object against a largely superior force, he persuaded the defeated Spaniards to follow him in his return to Mexico.

There he found that a conflict had arisen between the natives and the soldiers he had left, who were saved from great danger by the arrival of Cortes. A long struggle now commenced, during which, on one occasion, Cortes forced Montezuma to appear before his subjects and advise them to lay down their arms. As a reward for the emperor's lack of courage and patriotism, he was struck down by his own people