shown
the way, others were quick to follow. In 1497 and 1498 came John and
Sebastian Cabot (cab'-ot), sailing under the flag of England, and
exploring our coast from Labrador to Cape Cod; and Pinzon and Solis,
with Vespucius[2] for pilot, sailing under the flag of Spain along the
shores of the Gulf of Mexico, around the peninsula of Florida, and
northward to Chesapeake Bay. Between 1500 and 1502 two Portuguese
navigators named Cortereal (cor-ta-ra-ahl') went over much the same
ground as the Cabots. For the time being, however, these voyages were
fruitless. It was not a new world, but China and Japan, the Indian
Ocean, and the spice islands, that Europe was seeking. When, therefore,
in 1497, Vasco da Gama sailed from Lisbon, passed around the end of
Africa, reached India, and came back to Portugal in 1499 with his ship
laden with the silks and spices of the East, all explorers turned
southward, and for eleven years after the visit of the Cortereals no
voyages were made to North America.

[Footnote 2: As this man was an Italian, his name was really Amerigo
Vespucci (ah-ma'-ree-go ves-poot'-chee), but it is usually given in its
Latinized form, Americus Vespucius (a-mer'-i-cus ves-pu'-she-us).]

%6. Why the Continent was called America.%--But some great voyages
meantime were made to South America. In 1500 a Portuguese fleet of
thirteen vessels, commanded by Cabral, started from Portugal for the
East. In place of following the usual route and hugging the west coast
of Africa, Cabral went off so far to the westward that one day in April,
1500, he was amazed to see land. It proved to be what is now Brazil, and
after sailing along a little way he sent one of his vessels home to
Portugal with the news.

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

He did this because six years before, in June, 1494, Spain and Portugal
made a treaty and agreed that a meridian should be drawn 370 leagues
west of the Cape Verde Islands and be known as "The Line of Demarcation"
All heathen lands discovered, no matter by whom, to the east of this
line, were to belong to Portugal; all to the west of it were to be the
property of Spain. Now, as the strange coast seemed to be east of the
line of demarcation, and therefore the property of Portugal, Cabral sent
word to the King that he might explore it.

Accordingly, in May, 1501, the King sent out three ships in charge of
Americus Vespucius. Vespucius sighted the coast somewhere about