ower of Spain. That shadow was growing
bigger and darker year by year. The heir to the Spanish throne, Charles,
grandson of Ferdinand and Isabella, would be emperor of Germany, ruler
of the Netherlands, King of Aragon, Castile, Granada and Andalusia, and
sovereign of all the Spanish discoveries in the West; and no one knew
how far they might extend. France might have to fight for her life.

Meanwhile Norman and Breton fishermen went scudding across the North
Atlantic every year, like so many petrels. Honfleur, Saint Malo, La
Rochelle and Dieppe owed their modest prosperity to the cod. Baccalao,
codfish or stockfish, all its names referred to the beating of the fish
while drying, with a stick, to make it more tender; it was cheaper and
more plentiful than any other fish for the Lenten tables and fast-days
of Europe. The daring French captains found the fishing trade a hard
life but a clean one.

From the fishermen Aubert and Verrazzano had learned something of the
nature of the country. Bears would come down to steal fish from under
the noses of the men. Walrus and seal and myriads of screaming sea-gulls
greeted them every season. The natives were barbarous and unfriendly.
North of Newfoundland were two small islands known as the Isles of
Demons, where nobody ever went. Veteran pilots told of hearing the
unseen devils howling and shrieking in the air. "Saint Michael!
tintamarre terrible!" they said, crossing themselves. The young
Florentine listened and kept his thoughts to himself. He had never seen
any devils, but he had seen men go mad in the hot fever-mist of African
swamps, thinking they saw them.

Aubert was not sure whether this was an inlet, a strait or a river
behind the great barren island. When he had sailed westward for eighty
leagues the water was still salt. The banks had drawn closer together
and rude fortifications appeared on the heights. Canoes put forth from
the wooded shores and surrounded the sailing ship. They were filled with
copper-colored warriors of threatening aspect.

The French commander did not like what he saw. He was not provisioned
for a voyage around the world, and if these waters were the eastern
entrance to a strait he might emerge upon a vast unknown ocean. If on
the other hand he was at the mouth of a river, to ascend it might result
in being cut off by hostile savages, which would be most unpleasant. A
third consideration was that the inhabitants were said to live on fish,
game,