King Henry and the people received John Cabot with great honor. Everybody thought that Cabot had reached Asia, and he also believed that he had. He was called the "Great Admiral," and the people of Bristol ran after him on the street, shouting his name and trying in every way to show him how much they admired and honored him. The king gave him fifty dollars in money, which seems to us in these days a small sum for so long and dangerous a voyage. Besides this, the king urged him to undertake another voyage.

About a year later Sebastian Cabot made the second voyage, and this time the gloomy shore of Labrador was reached.

Sebastian on his voyage sailed far north, passing many icebergs, and seeing many strange and wonderful sights.

On great blocks of ice that floated past the ship he saw immense white bears. These bears were fine swimmers, and would often leap into the water and bring out fish, which they would devour greedily. The waters were filled with fish, and, as the ship neared the shore, they grew so numerous as almost to retard the sailing of the vessel.

"Now," said Cabot, "the English will not have to go to Iceland any more for fish."

But Cabot knew that the lands he was seeking were warm lands. So he turned his vessel south, hoping to reach some opening which would lead to them. To his great surprise, he found the coast very long and without any opening, and he sailed on and on as far as Maryland, taking possession of the land for England.

At places along this shore were seen Indians, clad in skins and furs of wild animals, fishing from little canoes. Stags much larger than any in England were seen in great numbers, and wild turkeys and game of all sorts abounded.

Then Sebastian Cabot began to think that this was a part of Asia never known before, and he set sail for home to tell the wonderful news.

When he reached Bristol he found everybody still interested in India. It was a water route to India that was wanted, and not a new country. People cared more about reaching golden Cathay than about finding new, barren lands.

So, although King Henry was proud to know that the new land belonged to England, it was eleven years before he made any further attempt to send ships there to take possession.

AMERIGO VESPUCCI.

Amerigo Vespucci was a native of Florence, Italy, and a friend of Columbus. He was an educated man and very fond of study.

Amerigo Vespucci.

At the time in which he lived it was difficult to find the latitude and longitude of places, and few people were able to calculate either correctly. Vespucci was skillful in the work of computing longitude, and he was also well versed in the history of all the voyages that had been made. He was familiar with the facts of astronomy and geography then known, and was well able to conduct the sailing of a ship into strange waters.

It is believed that Vespucci made six voyages. He did not command his own vessels, as Columbus did, but he went with the expedition as assistant or adviser to the captain, keeping records of the voyage and making maps and charts.

In his first voyage, made in 1497, Vespucci reached the coast of Honduras, and sailed into the Gulf of Mexico. Here he found, probably on the coast of Yucatan, a queer little sea village which reminded him of the great city of Venice near his home.

A Queer Little Sea Village.

The houses in this village were made of wood, and were built on piles running out into the water. These houses were connected with the shore by bridges, which were constructed in such a manner that they could be drawn up, thus cutting off all connection with the land. In one house Vespucci found six hundred people. A very large family, was it not?

Continuing the voyage around the Gulf of Mexico, Vespucci saw many strange and wonderful things. The natives roasted and ate frightful animals, which from the description given us we now know to have been alligators. They also made cakes, or patties, out of fish, and baked them on red-hot coals. The Spaniards were invited to taste these dainties, and those of the sailors who did so found the strange food very palatable.

After sailing round the coast of Florida, the ships headed northeast, landing every now and then for the purpose of trading with the Indians. The Spaniards, finding but little gold and none of the rich spices for which they were looking, at last decided to return home.

Just before sailing, some friendly Indians helped the Spaniards to make an attack upon a cannibal island. The attack was successful, and about two hundred cannibals were taken prisoners and carried to Spain, where they were sold as slaves.

Vespucci made a second voyage in 1499, in which he sailed down the African coast to the Cape Verde Islands, and then headed his ship almost directly west. He sighted land at Cape St. Roque, and then sailed northwest, exploring the north coast of South America, then called the Pearl Coast. After this he returned to Spain.

Shortly after the return of Vespucci to Spain, he accepted an offer to take service under the Portuguese flag.

In 1501 he set sail from Lisbon with three caravels, under this flag. He reached the coast of South America near Cape St. Roque, and sailed south as far as the South Georgia Islands.

As he proceeded southward, he found the country was inhabited by fierce Indians, who ate their fellow-creatures. He did not like the natives, as you may suppose; but he thought the country was beautiful, with the wonderful verdure and foliage of the tropics, and the queer animals and bright-colored birds.

Great was the joy of Vespucci when he discovered in the forests large quantities of a sort of red dyewood which was prized very highly by Europeans. This wood, which had hitherto been found only in Eastern countries, was called brazil wood; and because of its abundance there, he gave the name Brazil to that part of the country.

The expedition sailed slowly on and at length lost sight of land. It is thought that Vespucci headed the ships southeast because he wished to find out whether there was land or not in the Antarctic Ocean.

As they sailed farther and farther south, the climate became very disagreeable. The winds grew cold and forbidding, fields of floating ice hindered the progress of the vessel, and the nights became very long.

The sailors grew frightened, fearing that they were entering a land of constant darkness. Their fear became greater when a terrific storm arose. The sea grew rough, and the fog and sleet prevented the sailors from seeing whether land was near or not. The land which they had hoped to find now became an added danger.

One day, through the sleet and snow, the sailors saw with terror a rocky, jagged coast in front of them.

This land proved to be the South Georgia Islands, and was a wretched and forlorn country composed of rocks and glaciers, and entirely deserted. For a day and a half they sailed in sight of this frightful shore, fearing each moment that their ship would be cast on the rocks and that they would all perish. As soon as the weather permitted, therefore, Vespucci signaled his fleet, and the ships were headed for home, reaching Portugal in 1502.

This voyage secured Brazil for Portugal, and added greatly to the geographical knowledge of the day.

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