THE ATLANTIC COAST AND THE PACIFIC DISCOVERED


THE ATLANTIC COAST LINE EXPLORED.--Columbus having shown the way, English,
Spanish, and Portuguese explorers followed. Some came in search of China
or the Spice Islands; some were in quest of gold and pearls. The result
was the exploration of the Atlantic coast line from Labrador to the end of
South America.

SOME FAMOUS VOYAGES.--In 1497 John Cabot, sailing from England, reached
Newfoundland, which he believed to be part of China. [1] In 1498 John
Cabot and his son Sebastian, while in search of the Spice Islands, sailed
along the coast from Newfoundland to what is now South Carolina. [2]

[Illustration: RECORD OF PAYMENT OF JOHN CABOT'S PENSION FOR 1499. [3]
Photographed from the original accounts of the Bristol customs collectors,
now in Westminster Abbey, London.]

[Illustration: DISCOVERY ON THE EAST COAST OF AMERICA.]

Before 1500 Spaniards in search of gold, or pearls, or new lands had
explored the coast line from Central America to Cape St. Roque. [4]

In 1500 Cabral, while on his way from Portugal to India by Da Gama's route
(p. 11), sailed so far westward that he sighted the coast of the country
now called Brazil. Cabral went on his way; but sent back a ship to the
king of Portugal with the news that the new-found land lay east of the
Line of Demarcation. The king dispatched (1501) an expedition which
explored the coast southward nearly as far as the mouth of the Plata
River.