Colonial History
Chapter 1:
Early Voyages. French settlements.
the enterprise of Columbus, the most memorableChap. I.} 1492 |
1000 or 1003 |
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maritime enterprise in the history of the world, formed between Europe and America the communication which will never cease.
The national pride of an Icelandic historian has indeed claimed for his ancestors the glory of having discovered the western hemisphere.
It is
said, that they passed from their own island to Green land, and were driven by adverse winds from Greenland to the shores of Labrador; that the voyage was often repeated; that the coasts of America were extensively explored, and colonies established on the shores of Nova Scotia or Newfoundland.
It is even suggested, that these early adventurers anchored near the harbor of Boston, or in the bays of New Jersey; and Danish antiquaries believe that Northmen entered the waters of Rhode Island, inscribed their adventures on the rocks of Taunton River, gave the name of Vinland to the south-east coasts of New England, and explored the inlets of our country as far as Carolina.
But the story of the colonization of America by North-men, rests on narratives, mythological in form, and obscure in meaning; ancient, yet not contemporary.
The
Boston: Little, Brown and Company, 1859.
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