[Sidenote:  Columbus discovers Cuba.]

6.  The Indians and the Indies.—­These Indians were not at all like those wonderful people of Cathay and Cipango whom Marco Polo had described.  Instead of wearing clothes of silk and of gold embroidered satin, these people wore no clothes of any kind.  But it was plain enough that the island they had found was not Cipango.  It was probably some island off the coast of Cipango, so on Columbus sailed and discovered Cuba.  He was certain that Cuba was a part of the mainland of Asia, for the Indians kept saying “Cubanaquan.”  Columbus thought that this was their way of pronouncing Kublai Khan—­the name of a mighty eastern ruler.  So he sent two messengers with a letter to that powerful monarch.  Returning to Spain, Columbus was welcomed as a great admiral.  He made three other voyages to America.  But he never came within sight of the mainland of the United States.

[Sidenote:  John Cabot visits North America, 1497. Higginson, 40-42; Eggleston, 8-10; American History Leaflets, No. 9.]

7.  John Cabot, 1497.—­While Columbus explored the West Indies, another Italian sailed across the Sea of Darkness farther north.  His name was John Cabot, and he sailed with a license from Henry VII of England, the first of the Tudor kings.  Setting boldly forth from Bristol, England, he crossed the North Atlantic and reached the coast of America north of Nova Scotia.  Like Columbus, he thought that he had found the country of the Grand Khan.  Upon his discovery English kings based their claim to the right to colonize North America.

[Sidenote:  Americus Vespucius, his voyages and books. Higginson, 37-38; Eggleston, 7-8.]

[Sidenote:  The New World named America.]

8.  The Naming of America.—­Many other explorers also visited the new-found lands.  Among these was an Italian named Americus Vespucius.  Precisely where he went is not clear.  But it is clear that he wrote accounts of his voyages, which were printed and read by many persons.  In these accounts he said that what we call South America was not a part of Asia.  So he named it the New World.  Columbus all the time was declaring that the lands he had found were a part of Asia.  It was natural, therefore, that people in thinking of the New World should think of Americus Vespucius.  Before long some one even suggested that the New World should be named America in his honor.  This was done, and when it became certain that the other lands were not parts of Asia, the name America was given to them also until the whole continent came to be called America.

[Illustration:  AMERICUS VESPUCIUS.]

[Sidenote:  Balboa sees the Pacific, 1513.]

[Sidenote:  Magellan’s great voyage, 1520. Eggleston, 10-11.]