Unfortunately, the Italian pilot who directed the voyage
was killed in a skirmish with Indians during a temporary
landing. Some have thought that this pilot who perished
on the Mary of Guildford may have been the great navigator
Verrazano, of whom we shall presently speak.

The little vessel sailed down the coast to the islands
of the West Indies. She reached Porto Rico in the middle
of November, and from that island she made sail for the
new Spanish settlements of San Domingo. Here, as she lay
at her anchorage, the Mary of Guildford was fired upon
by the Spanish fort which commanded the river mouth. At
once she put out into the open sea, and, heading eastward
across the Atlantic, she arrived safely at her port of
London.



CHAPTER VI

FORERUNNERS OF JACQUES CARTIER

We have seen that after the return of the second expedition
of the Cabots no voyages to the coasts of Canada of
first-rate importance were made by the English. This does
not mean, however, that nothing was done by other peoples
to discover and explore the northern coasts of America.
The Portuguese were the first after the Cabots to continue
the search along the Canadian coast for the secret of
the hidden East. At this time, we must remember, the