his followers, under Cabeza de Vaca, crossed the continent.

4. When the Spanish governor of Mexico heard their story, he sent Fray Marcos to find the "Seven Cities of Cibola"; and began the exploration of the southwestern part of the United States.

5. In 1539-1541 De Soto and his band explored the southeastern part of the United States from Florida to the Mississippi River.

6. By 1582 two Spanish settlements had been made in the United States —St. Augustine, 1565, and Santa Fé, 1582.

EUROPE FINDS AMERICA.

DISCOVERY AND EXPLORATIONS, 1492-1600.

ATLANTIC COAST.

1492. Columbus. Islands off the coast. 1493. Columbus. Islands off the coast. 1497. John Cabot. North America. Labrador. 1498. John and Sebastian Cabot. Labrador to Cape Cod. Pinzon and Solis. Florida to Chesapeake Bay. 1500. Cabral. Discovers Brazil. 1501. Vespucius. Explores Brazilian coast. 1500-1502. Cortereals. Explore coast North America. 1513. Ponce de Leon. Discovers and names Florida.

GULF COAST.

     1498. Pinzon and Solis. Explore Gulf of Mexico and
           coast of Florida.
     1519. Pineda. Sails from Florida to Mexico.
     1528. Narvaez. Florida to Texas.
     1543. Followers of De Soto sail from Mississippi River
           to Mexico.

THE INTERIOR.

     1519-21. Cortes. Conquers Mexico.
     1534-36. De Vaca. From the Sabine River to the Gulf
           of California.
     1539. Fray Marcos. Search for the Seven Cities. Wanders
           over New Mexico.
     1540-42. Coronado, Gila River, Rio Grande, Colorado
           River.
     1539-41. De Soto. Wanders over Florida, Georgia, and
         Alabama, and reaches the Mississippi River.
     1582-1600. Spaniards in the valleys of the Gila and Rio
           Grande.

PACIFIC COAST.

     1513. Balboa. Discovers the Pacific Ocean.
     1520. Magellan. Sails around South America into the
           Pacific.
     1578-1580. Drake. Sails around South America and
           up the Pacific coast to Oregon. (See p. 26.)

CHAPTER III

ENGLISH, DUTCH, AND SWEDES ON THE SEABOARD

%15. The English Claim to the Seaboard.%—After the Spaniards had thus explored the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, and what is now Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, the English attempted to take possession of the Atlantic coast. The voyages of John and Sebastian Cabot in 1497 and 1498 were not followed up in the same way that Spain followed up those of Columbus, and for nearly eighty years the flag of England was not displayed in any of our waters.[1] At last, in 1576, Sir Martin Frobisher set out to find a northwest passage to Asia. Of course he failed; but in that and two later voyages he cruised about the shores of our continent and gave his name to Frobisher's Bay.[2] Next came Sir Francis Drake, the greatest seaman of his age. He left England in 1577, crossed the Atlantic, sailed down the South American coast, passed through the Strait of Magellan, and turning northward coasted along South America, Mexico, and California, in search of a northeast passage to the Atlantic. When he had gone as far north as Oregon the weather grew so cold that his men began to murmur, and putting his ship about, he sailed southward along our Pacific coast in search of a harbor, which in June, 1579, he found near the present city of San Francisco. There he landed, and putting up a post nailed to it a brass plate on which was the name of Queen Elizabeth, and took possession of the country.[3] Despairing of finding a short passage to England, Drake finally crossed the Pacific and reached home by way of the Cape of Good Hope. He had sailed around the globe.[4]

[Footnote 1: For Cabot's voyages read Fiske's Discovery of America,
Vol. II., pp. 2-15.]

[Footnote 2: See map of 1515.]

[Footnote 3: The white cliffs reminded Drake strongly of the cliffs of Dover, and as one of the old names of England was Albion (the country of the white cliffs), he called the land New Albion.]

[Footnote 4: For Drake read E.T. Payne's Voyages of Elizabethan
Seamen.]

%16. Gilbert and Ralegh attempt to found a Colony.%—While Drake was making his voyage, another gallant seaman, Sir Humphrey Gilbert, was given (by Queen Elizabeth) any new land he might discover in America. His first attempt (1579) was a failure, and while on his way home from a landing on Newfoundland (1583), his ship, with all on board, went down in a storm at sea. The next year (1584) his half-brother, Sir Walter Ralegh, one of the most accomplished men of his day and a great favorite with Queen Elizabeth, obtained permission from the Queen to make a settlement on any part of the coast of America not already occupied by a Christian power; and he at once sent out an expedition. The explorers landed on Roanoke Island, off the coast of what is now North Carolina, and came home with such a glowing description of the "good land" they had found that the Virgin Queen called it "Virginia," in honor of herself, and Ralegh determined to colonize it.[1]

[Footnote 1: For Ralegh read E. Gosse's Raleigh (in English Worthies
Series); Louise Creighton's Sir W. Ralegh (Historical
Biographies Series).]

%17. Roanoke Colony; the Potato and Tobacco.%—In 1585, accordingly, 108 emigrants under Ralph Lane left England and began to build a town on Roanoke Island. They were ill suited for this kind of pioneer life, and were soon in such distress that, had not Sir Francis Drake in one of his voyages happened to touch at Roanoke, they would have starved to death. Drake, seeing their helplessness, carried them home to England. Yet their life on the island was not without results, for they took back with them the potato, and some dried tobacco leaves which the Indians had taught them to smoke.

Ralegh, of course, was greatly disappointed to see his colonists again in England. But he was not discouraged, and in 1587 sent forth a second band. The first had consisted entirely of men. The second band was composed of both men and women with their families, for it seemed likely that if the men took their wives and children along they would be more likely to remain than if they went alone. John White was the leader, and with a charter and instructions to build the city of Ralegh somewhere on the shores of Chesapeake Bay he set off with his colonists and landed on Roanoke Island. Here a little granddaughter was born (August 18, 1587), and named Virginia. She was the child of Eleanor Dare, and was the first child born of English parents in America.

[Illustration: Roanoke Island and vicinity]

Governor White soon found it necessary to go back to England for supplies, and, in consequence of the Spanish war, three years slipped by before he was able to return to the colony. He was then too late. Every soul had perished, and to this day nobody knows how or where. Ralegh could do no more, and in 1589 made over all his rights to a joint-stock company of merchants. This company did nothing, and the sixteenth century came to an end with no English colony in America.[1]

[Footnote 1: Doyle's English Colonies in America, Virginia, pp. 56-74;
Bancroft's History of the