States, and does not therefore immediately concern the
present narrative. Verrazano's account of his discoveries,
as he afterwards wrote it down, is full of picturesque
interest, and may now be found translated into English
in Hakluyt's Voyages. He tells of the savages who flocked
to the low sandy shore to see the French ship riding at
anchor. They wore skins about their loins and light
feathers in their hair, and they were 'of colour russet,
and not much unlike the Saracens.' Verrazano said that
these Indians were of 'cheerful and steady look, not
strong of body, yet sharp-witted, nimble, and exceeding
great runners.' As he sailed northward he was struck with
the wonderful vegetation of the American coast, the
beautiful forest of pine and cypress and other trees,
unknown to him, covered with tangled vines as prolific
as the vines of Lombardy. Verrazano's voyage and his
landings can be traced all the way from Carolina to the
northern part of New England. He noted the wonderful
harbour at the mouth of the Hudson, skirted the coast
eastward from that point, and then followed northward
along the shores of Massachusetts and Maine. Beyond this
Verrazano seems to have made no landings, but he followed
the coast of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. He sailed, so
he says, as far as fifty degrees north, or almost to the
Strait of Belle Isle. Then he turned eastward, headed
out into the great ocean, and reached France in safety.
Unfortunately, Verrazano did not write a detailed account
of that part of his voyage which related to Canadian
waters. But there is no doubt that his glowing descriptions
must have done much to stimulate the French to further