[1] From a letter addrest to Francis I, King of France, on July 8, 1524.  Three copies of Verazzano’s letter exist.  One was printed by Ramusio in 1556 and translated for Hakluyt’s “Voyages” in 1583.  The second was found in the Strozzi Library in Florence, and published in 1841 by the New York Historical Society with a translation by J.G.  Cogswell.

The third copy is the one now owned by Count Gulio Macchi di Cellere, of Rome.  It was first published in Italy in 1909, and the first English translation of it was made by Dr. Edward Hagaman Hall, secretary of the American Scenic and Historic Preservation Society, and published in the report of that society for 1910.  This copy has the distinction of being contemporaneous.  Dr. Hall says its value “consists not only in confirming the voyage itself, but also in supplying a wealth of names and details not previously known to exist.”  Verazzano’s account of his visit to New York harbor here given is taken from Dr. Hall’s translation.

Giovanni de Verazzano was born in Italy about 1480, and died about 1527.  He early became a Florentine navigator and afterward a corsair in French service.  His expedition to America was of French origin and sailed in 1523.

    [2] Off the coast of Virginia or Maryland.

    [3] This river is now known as the Hudson.

    [4] Verazzano’s Bay, St. Margarita, was New York Bay.

    [5] Aloysia is now called Block Island.

    [6] Newport.

    [7] Cape Cod.

    [8] A Reference to the discovery of Newfoundland in 1497.

CARTIER’S EXPLORATION OF THE ST. LAWRENCE

(1534)

I

THE ACCOUNT GIVEN BY JOHN A. DOYLE[1]

Jacques Cartier was a brave and experienced sea captain from St. Malo.  In 1534, Cartier made a preliminary voyage of exploration.  Touching at Newfoundland, he sailed through the straits of Belle Isle and explored the east shore of the island, a region which for the barrenness of its soil and the severity of its climate seemed the very spot whither Cain had been banished.  The coast of New Brunswick held out a more inviting prospect.  The fertility of the soil reminded the voyagers of their native Brittany, and one field there seemed worth more than the whole of Newfoundland.  Thence Cartier sailed into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and would have explored the great river of Canada, but storms arose and he deemed it prudent to return to France before bad weather set in.  His report of the country was encouraging.  The soil, as we have seen, promised well, and the voyagers had not yet learned the terrors of a Canadian winter.  The natives were rude in their habits, but they were uniformly peaceful and ready to trade on easy terms for such goods as they possest.  There seemed good reason to hope, too, that they might be converted to Christianity, and one of them had shown confidence enough in the strangers to trust them with his two children, who were easily reconciled to their captivity by the gift of red caps and colored shirts.