ASIA P^PLdBATION BT ALBBRT LEE. (Siatmll Itttweraita SJibrarg CHARLES WILLIAM WASON COLLECTION CHINA AND THE CHINESE THE GIFT OF. CHARLES WILUrAM WASON CLASS OF 1876 1918 Cornell University Library G 80.L47 The world's exploration story. 3 1924 023 258 464 The original of tliis book is in tine Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924023258464 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY THE LAN'IUNLi OK i;OLUMIlL:; /■V,.„// lot it is to live in the twentieth century, when there are few spots which the traveller has not visited or thoroughly explored. We read some of the legends gravely believed in by those who lived in " blind Homer's days," and marvel at their credulity ; when, for instance, we recall what the ancient astronomers believed as to the course of the sun through the heavens, — ^how it travelled in stately silence from the East at break of day, never pausing until it sank slowly in the West, to be caught there in a vessel of gold and carried back behind the northern hills to the place from which it started, there to begin another day's journey. When it came to a consideration of the size and shape of the earth, those men of the olden time had 2 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY equally strange notions. Whereas we have had it abundantly proved that the world is in form an oblate spheroid, or as nearly as possible resembling the shape of an orange with slightly flattened spots at the north and south poles, the Ancients asserted that the earth was a huge, flat, circular plain, round which a great river, called Ocean, flowed. Overhead was the arched firma- ment, in shape like the rind of the half of a scooped-out orange, but made of bronze. It was declared that the giant Atlas bore this vault of heaven upon his shoulders, but that sometimes it rested on the edge of the circular plain where the Ocean washed the earth. Underneath this disc on which men lived and moved was a region similar in shape, and known as Tartarus. According to Homer, this was a deep, dark gulf, and Virgil referred to it as the place of punishment for the guilty. There were many speculations as to what lay beyond the Ocean, for the mariners of that day had not the courage to sail across it and discover the secret for themselves. The story went, that on the distant edge of the mighty river, whose waters swirled round the earth, were the Elysian Fields, " where, under a serene sky, the favourites of Zeus, exempt from the common lot of mortals, enjoyed eternal felicity." The unknown ocean into which venturesome mariners would sail if they went through the Strait of Gibraltar, known to the Ancients as " The Pillars of Hercules," ^ was called, in those far-back days, " The Sea of Dark- ness." The Arabs in the fourteenth century spoke of ' Abyla and Calpe, the two mountains on either side of the Straits of Gibraltar. AMONG THE ANCIENTS 3 it as " a vast and boundless ocean, on which ships dare not venture out of sight of land, for even if the sailors knew the direction of the winds they would not know whither those winds would carry them ; and as there is no inhabited country beyond, they would run great risk of being lost in mist and vapour." So wrote Ibn Khaldun. But to the Ancients the Sea of Darkness was truly horrible. The waters were unfathomable, and all kinds of horrors were there. The stories brought by some , who dared to venture thither told of rivers that ran fire through the lands, whose shores were washed by the fearful sea ; of islands that were full of deadly serpents ; of an island of immense extent, containing huge animals, and men of twice the ordinary stature of mankind, and long-lived in proportion. Later still that island was named Atlantis by Plato, who said that in one day and night it was swallowed up by an earthquake, and disappeared beneath the waters. " The result was that no one had since been able to navigate or explore that sea on account of the slime which the submerged island had produced." Plato, endeavouring to describe the island, declared that it was larger than Asia and Africa ; that in it was a mighty city, the walls of which were decked with gold and sUver, and the roof covered with copper. That land was called Atlantis. Aristotle said that the Cartha- ginians spoke of it as a desert island, abounding in all the necessaries of life. One cannot help the thought that it was a wonderful thing that the ancient mariners, who scarcely ever ventured out of sight of land, should 4 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY have the idea of the existence of a mighty continent somewhere in the great ocean where Columbus dis- covered, long centuries later, the New World, now known as America. Some go so far as to say that the sailors of the ancient days took courage and sailed on and on towards the west in that unknown sea until they discovered the land, and then spread the fame of their discovery in the world. This much is certain, that they firmly believed that there was some great land beyond the sea ; and if it were true that the sailors of those times did actually go west and see the land, they deserved even greater fame than Columbus for sailing into the mysterious ocean that bore such a terrifying character. For at the best their ships were poor, and were rude in construction. Take, for example, the Eg5rptian vessels that floated up and down the Nile. Planks were cut from the Egyptian thorn tree, and these were laid over one another like tiles, and fastened together with wooden pins. How unsubstantial and unsea- worthy such vessels were may be supposed when it is remembered that no ribs were used in their construction, and that the crevices between the planks were stopped with papyrus. There was the one mast on which was suspended a sail of papyrus, and by the aid of this the clumsy, dangerous boat was sent before the wind. Even the Phoenicians, the greatest navigators of ancient days, were possessed of ships which must have robbed the hardiest mariner alive of the courage to venture across the ocean to see what mysteries lay on the other side. At one time they were Uttle more than rafts, but later there were ships formed of slender rods or AMONG THE ANCIENTS 5 hurdles, which were covered with skins. Eventually, however, they began to build with planks, and thus brought into use- a more substantial craft, which, with the passing of years, became seaworthy. What with the legends and the apparent impossi- bilities in the way of taking long voyages far out of sight of land, it is difficult to form any conception of what is reliable in the way of discovery. The talk aboiit the extensive lands beyond the Atlantic Ocean may have been the outcome of imagination merely. This much, however, is certain, when we put aside the legends of the Ancients, that the men who lived before the days of Herodotus had very little knowledge of the world. One writer ^ says that the real geographical knowledge of the Greeks in the time of Homer may be fairly stated as not extending beyond Greece, Egypt, Asia Minor, and the islands. The regions east and south of these limits were clouded by legend ; those on the north and west were the pure creations of fancy. At the time of Hesiod the people of Greece knew definitely the lands that were on the northern shore of the Medi- terranean as far as Spain ; but apparently they knew httle or nothing about the northern coast of Africa, except Egypt. Gradually, however, that knowledge extended. Men began to speak freely of the African shores, and of the ^thiops, which some think now to have been one and the same with the Niger. North- ward we get as far as the Cimmerians of the Crimea ; and far above them, the Arimaspi, the Griffins, and the Gorgons fill up the background of the picture. Pindar, ' J. T. Wheeler, Th$ Geography of Herodotus. 6 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY about the same time, shows us that Sicily and the neigh- bouring coasts of Italy were known and civilised. He represents ^tna as a volcano, and names the Pillars of Hercules, and the Hyperboreans in the distant north. ^ It appears that Herodotus knew a great deal more than this when he began to read what the travellers had to say. One book at his disposal was entitled Travels round the Earth, written by Hecatseus of Miletus, and in it was a description of the Mediterranean Sea, and of southern Asia as far as India. The map which he drew of the world as it was then known shows that he was acquainted with the Mediterranean, Red, and Black Seas, and with the great rivers Danube, Nile, Euphrates, Tigris, and Indus, which for those days was thought to be remarkable. One is disposed to think that the Phoenician navi- gators knew more than they would tell ; for terrible as the sea beyond the Pillars of Hercules was, they ventured thither in search of articles of commerce. They feared that if they gave information to others it would rob them of the monopoly they possessed in trade with the natives in the great outside sea. They kept the knowledge, therefore, to themselves, and on no terms would they tell where they went or what they had seen. Indeed, a story is told which illustrates the determination at all costs to keep the secret. The captain of a Phoenician vessel saw that his ship was being followed by another not of his own country. He sought to get away by making his sailors ply the oars with redoubled energy, but the stranger continued to ' J. T. Wheeler, The Geography of Herodotui, AMONG THE ANCIENTS 7 gain upon him ; and finding that he could not out- distance him, the Phoenician went to the helm, and deliberately ran his ship upon the rocks, choosing ship- wreck " rather than forfeit the mystery of his voyage by giving the smallest degree of information to another country." Such a policy as that kept the people of the older days in ignorance, and consequently many parts of the world were unknown to any but themselves. Now and again a traveller ventured into lands beyond the borders of the then known world, and came back with stories which set the people agape with wonder. They told of inhabitants they had seen who had dogs' heads, or were headless altogether, having eyes in their breasts, or in whose mouths were the teeth of dogs. Those who brought back such stories as these either did so with wUful exaggeration, or had listened to the accounts given by those whom they met on their travels, and then pretended that they had actually seen these mon- strosities with their own eyes. In days when travellers were few, and the possibility of detection in false state- ments was reduced to a minimum, such exaggerations were made with impunity. The Phoenicians wilfully exaggerated, seeking to prevent competition by frighten- ing any venturesome Greeks from entering the lands they themselves visited for the purpose of trading with the natives. Thus " the trees from which they obtained the frankincense in Arabia were reported to be guarded by winged serpents ; the lake where cassia was gathered was infested with large bats, as a defence against which those who collected it had to wrap themselves in the 8 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY hides of oxen ; and cinnamon was acquired by artifice from the nests of birds, which were built on inaccessible rocks." 1 There came a time when the Greeks not only sus- pected that they were being imposed upon, but resolved to take all risks and become explorers themselves, with the result that Herodotus, when he began to read their books, had a considerable amount of information at hand. He had Homer's Iliad and the Odyssey, while Hesiod had written a great deal. So, too, had Heca- tseus of Miletus. Scylax of Caryanda had surveyed, with more or less carefulness, the district which was watered by the river Indus, and set down his observa- tions in writing. Herodotus, who is said to have been born 484 B.C., did work which has won for him the title of " Father of Geographical Knowledge." He seems to have been a reader of all the books of travel he could meet with, and having thus read so much of the countries, he entered on a career of travel in order to see for himself the strange lands that were described. Being possessed of means, for he belonged to the upper rank of citizens, he was able to follow out his wish ; and time being no object, he went slowly, dwelling for weeks and months together at various places, so that he might make in- quiries, gather material for his contemplated work on geography, and from the centres going out in all direc- tions, and running all manner of risks in his pursuit of knowledge. One thing is noticeable with regard to Herodotus, ^ Tozer, History of Ancient Geography. AMONG THE ANCIENTS 9 and the information he collected. He was convinced that a great deal of what he had read was fabulous, so that he determined to see for himself whenever possible. Some of the things we find in his writings were based on what he heard, because it was beyond his power to visit every place ; but he spared no pains to discover the real truth of what was told him. The consequence is that what he wrote has been corro- borated by modern travellers, and what was thought to be pure romance on his part has proved to be positive fact. " As a rule, his information is as accurate as could be expected at such an early date, and he rarely tells marvellous stories, or if he does he points out himself their untrustworthiness." When he had travelled for a long period — between his twentieth and thirty-seventh years — he put his notes into shape, and produced a great work in which he described the countries he had seen. The travels were very extensive. Indeed, it is estimated that he went through " a space of thirty-one degrees of longitude, or 1700 miles, and twenty-four of latitude, or nearly the same distance." One has but to read his work, and then discover that he knew the coast lands thoroughly of all the three sides of Asia Minor. He visited the islands of the Grecian Archipelago, travelled through Greece, explored the lands now under the dominion of the Sultan of Turkey, but then known as Thracia, traversed the whole length of the river Ister, now known to us as the Danube, and carried on his journey northwards into Scythia. His Eastern travels took him far beyond Babylon, and his Western journeys 10 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY enabled him to mark out the miap of Southern Europe even beyond the Pillars of Hercules. What Herodotus has to record about Europe is not altogether satisfactory; strangely enough, he seems to have known Asia and Africa much better. So far as Southern Europe is concerned — say that part south of the river Ister — ^he appears to have been well informed about it ; but as for Western Europe, his knowledge was very scanty. Evidently what he wrote concerning that portion of the continent was hearsay, and not from personal knowledge. He refers to the Cassiterides, or the British Islands, from which his countrymen, the Greeks, obtained their tin, but he was honest enough to say that he could not speak with confidence concerning them, because he had not visited them. In fact, he declared explicitly that he did not believe in their existence at all, for he could not find anyone who had ever been to the islands. It is probable that Hero- dotus considered the Cassiterides to be nothing more than a group of small islands rich with tin, but in every other way unimportant. While he appeared to entertain no doubt of the existence of a Northern Ocean, he con- fessed his ignorance " whether, or not, Europe was bounded on the north and east by the ocean." "The shore of the Baltic Sea, from whence amber was brought, seems to have been the extent of his knowledge that way." As for the information Herodotus possessed of Asia, it was valuable as far as it went. He considered Arabia "the last inhabited country towards the south." He was not at all clear as to the southern shores of Asia. AMONG THE ANCIENTS ii Indeed, " he evidently did not know that the sea which bordered on Persia proper was a gulf," and the map which shows the world according to Herodotus does not mark the coast. It is sea— that much he knew — but of the coast he knew nothing. Nor did he know what lay beyond India, for that, he says, was " the last inhabited country towards the East." He speaks elsewhere of the Indians as " the people of Asia who are nearest the East, and the place of the rising sun." RenneU says that " his ideas of India, whether respect- ing its geography or the state of society, were very limited indeed, and no less erroneous." What lay beyond India Herodotus plainly says he did not know. All that he could declare was, that " from India east- ward the whole country is one vast desert, unknown and unexplored." We of the twentieth century know how wide of the truth he was. Herodotus had a very considerable knowledge of some parts of Africa. The whole of Egypt was most diligently and thoroughly explored by him, as well as the Grecian colonies planted at Cyrene, in Libya.^ Beyond that he is not trustworthy. The Nile, so far as he traced it himself, was correctly described ; but when he wrote about its sources he made it to commence its course somewhere in the west of the Soudan Desert. Beyond that he carries us into " the regions of darkness, of fable, and even of absurdity." One thing is certain, however, that Herodotus believed^ that Africa extended a very great distance southwards. It was his belief' that it was surrounded ' Stevenson, Progress of Discovery. 12 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY by the ocean except at the part where it bordered on Asia. He had heard of the voyage of some Phoenicians from the Red Sea southwards, then up the African coast on the Atlantic side, and into the Mediterranean through the Pillars of Hercules. It had been a three years' voyage, and Herodotus, telling of the enterprise in his own words, declared that the voyagers, when autumn came, " sowed the land at whatever part of Libya they happened to be sailing, and waited for the harvest ; then, having reaped the corn, they put to sea again." It must not be thought that because Herodotus set fotth so much that was mere hearsay and fable, that he did not insert in his work a great many valuable facts. It has been proved that his information contains a surprising amount of truth when we consider how difficult it has been in all ages to travel into the interior of the Dark Continent. " He divides the entire area into three tracts or zones, stretching across from west to east : the first of these was the inhabited tract in the neighbourhood of the sea-coast ; the second, a region infested by wild beasts ; the third, an uninhabited tract of sandy desert." ^ Even this most inland part — the sandy desert — did not extend beyond the southern edge of the Great Sahara. As to the actual size of Africa, it never occurred to Herodotus that it was so vast a continent as it really was. What lay beyond the Great Desert none then living knew. Yet, while Herodotus was in Egypt, he saw caravans going into the interior, and returning, ' Tozer, History of Ancient Geography. AMONG THE ANCIENTS 13 and he questioned the men who belonged to these trading expeditions, so that he acquired a vast amomit of information concerning the country into which they travelled for the purpose of trading with the natives. hH. Thus engaged in seeking for information, the ancient geographer heard the story of the adventures of five young Nasamonians, as the tribe was called to which these belonged. " The young men," he says, " de- spatched on this errand by their comrades with a plentiful supply of water and provisions, travelled at first through the inhabited region, passing which thej' came to the wUd beast tract, whence they finally entered upon the desert, which they proceeded to cross in a direction from east to west. After journeying for many days over a wide extent of sand they came at last to a plain where they observed trees growing ; approaching them, and seeing fruit on them, they proceeded to gather it. While they were thus engaged there came upon them some dwarfish men, under the middle height, who seized them and carried them off. The Nasamonians could not understand a word of their language, nor had they any acquaintance with the language of the Nasamonians. They were led across extensive marshes, and finally came to a town, where all the men were of the height of their conductors, and black complexioned. A great river flowed by the town, running from west to east, and containing croco- diles." Homer had already mentioned these tiny people, " who dwelt by the stream of Ocean in the far southern land whither the cranes fly at the approach 14 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY of our northern winter," and told how the cranes made war on them and slaughtered them. Here was con- firmation of the fact, and whereas Herodotus had doubtless treated the statement as unworthy of credence, he now was so convinced of the truth of the story told to him by the Nasamonians as to assert their exist- ence. In later centuries the world treated what the Nasamonians said as mere fable ; but when modern travellers penetrated into the Dark Continent, they met with a nation of dwarfs who corresponded to the description given by the ancient geographer. Referring broadly to Herodotus and his work, it may be said that he interweaves in his account of the world much that is fabulous ; but in the same manner that modern discoveries in geography have confirmed many things which were deemed errors in his writings, so it has been ascertained that even his fables have, in most instances, a foundation of fact.^ ^ Stevenson, Progress of Discovery. CHAPTER II. THE DISCOVERIES OF PYTHEAS. IN spite of the travels of Herodotus, which were in his days supposed to be exhaustive, there was comparatively little really known of the earth, turn in whatever way men would ; so that when he died there was abundant scope for would-be ex- plorers. Even in Europe and Asia there was suihcient explor- ation to be done to last the Uf etimes of a dozen explorers as persistent as Herodotus ; for when he had written his work it amounted to this — that nothing was known of what lay north of the southern end of the Baltic. The boundary of the world was supposed to be no farther north than that. Neither by personal know- ledge nor by hearsay did Herodotus, or any others in his day, know anything of what lay to the north-east of the Altai Mountains. Away to the east were the great sandy deserts of Tartary and India ; so men said. What lay north of these none ever heard. Their ideas of India appear to have been " the most indistinct possible, both in respect of its extent and of its history." The eastern extremity of Herodotus' s world was a vast desert, unknown and unexplored, and conse- i6 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY quently in extent indefinite. The remainder he knew to be surrounded by the ocean, including Africa, which he confined within limits which were very much narrower than the truth, both in respect of its length and breadth, although much wider than appears in the systems of other geographers.^ But for a long time after the death of Herodotus, which occurred in the year 408 B.C., no one was found enterprising enough to explore those regions which were yet unknown. At rare intervals travellers went to known parts to gather up more reliable information, while others penetrated the lands and seas that were spoken of, but were not marked on the maps in those early days. In such expeditions, for example, we read for the first time of the Sargasso Sea, which Humboldt has described as " that great bank of weeds which so vividly occupied the imagination of Christopher Colum- bus, and which Oviedo calls the sea-weed meadows." Himilco, the Carthaginian, said that he saw this sea of weed, so dense that the ships were checked in their progress, while great sea monsters played around them. The Phoenicians also reported this strange spot in the sea ; " desolate," so they termed it, " fxill of tangle and seaweed, which floats with the ebb and sinks with the flow of the tide, and on it is found an immense multitude of tunnies, incredibly large and fat." Extravagant as some of Herodotus's stories seem, later travellers certainly exaggerated when they made their assertions, and claimed to have visited places which it is hard to believe they ever saw. Their accounts ' Rennell, Geography of Herodotus. THE DISCOVERIES OF PYTHEAS 17 may be set aside as worthless. But there were others whose explorations added considerably to the knowledge of the people as to the unknown parts of the earth. Pytheas, a native of Massilia, now known as Mar- seilles, who lived in the days when Alexander the Great was achieving his conquests — say about the year 330 B.c.^ — " proclaimed to the Greeks the wonders of the ocean and the strange sights of Northern Europe." As I have already pointed out, the Phoenicians had gone into the Western seas freely, but, according to their selfish policy, had kept what information they had to themselves, in order to prevent trade competition. When Pytheas told his story, men ridiculed his state- ments ; but in these later days it has been shown that he had not exaggerated so much as he was said to have done, and if, like Herodotus, he mixed up fable with fact at odd times, the facts, when sifted, were of the utmost value. Pytheas was encouraged by the merchants of the city to discover the spots from whence the Phoenicians obtained their tin and amber, and, if possible, because of the knowledge so gained, start a rival trade. The merchants of the Mediterranean were restless at the thought that the Phoenicians should have the monopoly of the world's commerce. Hence this expedition " to explore those regions and extend their influence." Pytheas was a man of fine intellectual capacity, and not an ordinary person who would be easily imposed upon. " He was a good astronomer, according to the standard of his age, as was shown by his determining by means of the gnomon the latitude of Massilia, on which point it has been established by modern obser- i8 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY vations that his conclusion was almost exactly correct. . . . He was also the first among the Greeks to note the influence of the moon on the tides, and the correspond- ence between the movements of the one and those of the other." So far, therefore, as matters went in those days, Pytheas was not a navigator of the " rule of thumb " order. He was determined to proceed on scientific lines, and on his voyage northwards followed the coast mile by mile, noticing as he went how the ocean had won its way in the great indentation now known as the Bay of Biscay. He marked this on his map, but when Strabo saw it he ridiculed the idea, and declared that, instead of there being such a deep bay as that, the coast followed a straight line from Spain to the mouth of the Rhine. How far Pytheas was right and Strabo wrong is readily seen by the first glance at the map of Europe as we know it to-day. Having reached the northern coast of Gaul, Pytheas turned his ships westward, and examined Britain, hopmg to find the famous tin mines. In the story of his search he wrote down much that is of interest concerning our island. Having travelled in it in many directions, he reported that it was mostly forest or marsh, with here and there broad open spaces where the natives grew wheat, or where cattle and sheep grazed. " This wheat," he says, " the natives threshed, not on open floors, but in barns, because they had so little sunshine and so much rain." How thoroughly Pytheas did his exploration work may be judged when we find him describing the island THE DISCOVERIES OF PYTHEAS 19 of Britain as of triangular shape. His real mistake was a natural one, when we consider that he had few if any scientific instruments to help him in making his observations. He mapped out the coast, but made it in every way longer than it really is. The coastline of England is only 1200 miles long, or, including the openings into the land, 2000 miles ; but Pytheas put it down at 4000 miles. Yet, as Tozer says in his History of Ancient Geography, we must remember that, as he was the first explorer of these regions, he had absolutely no data on which to go in forming a conception of their characteristic features ; and when we find that Pytheas is able accurately to describe the shape and position of the island, to assign a name to its extreme headland, to remark on the changes in its vegetation, and still more to make observations about districts farther to the north, and gather information about them which would have been altogether unattainable in a lower latitude, we feel that his claim to have extended his voyage into these remote waters must be fairly conceded. In his account of this famous voyage Pytheas refers to Thule, which was reported everywhere to be the northernmost point of the known world, among the ice-covered waters of the Arctic regions. What Thule reaUy was none can teU. Some say that it was Iceland. Some go so far as to say that it was Greenland ; others, that it was lilainland, the largest of the Shetland Islands. But Pytheas was honest in the matter. He plainly said that he had not been farther than the northernmost point of Britain, but that the natives told him of the 20 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY distant land, declaring that the days were long and the nights so short as not to deserve the name. It is unfortunate that a careful observer, such as Pytheas appears to have been, contented himself with hearsay information, for the result of his journey was the mixture of a great deal of truth with so much that was false, and consequently misleading. Take as a sample what was said concerning Thule and the adjacent lands, which must be assumed to be the Arctic regions. Strabo refers to it in these words : "It is likewise he who describes Thule and other neighbouring places, where, according to him, neither earth, water, nor air exist separately, but a sort of concretion of all these, resembling marine sponge in which the earth, the sea, and all things were suspended, thus forming, as it were, a link to unite the whole together. It can neither be travelled over nor sailed through." But while one regrets that Pytheas did not himself go farther north to see for himself, it is none the less wonderful that the statements he makes of those northern parts so nearly described the Arctic regions as we know them now, when exploration is carried on under the most favourable conditions. Wrong as he was in many particiilars, he did not deserve the ridicule which Strabo and others heaped upon him. Strabo said of Pytheas, that he was known to be a man upon whom no reliance could be placed, and in one page goes so far as to say that his only aim was that of a juggler, and that he dared to forge lies. Pytheas was mistaken in many things, which accounts for the abuse that was heaped upon him ; such as when THE DISCOVERIES OF PYTHEAS 21 he said that the island of Britain was 2000 miles in length, and that Kent was some days' sail from France. Strabo admits that " every one is prone to romance a little in narrating his travels," so that he scarcely needed to have been so hard on Pytheas, who certainly rendered very great service in the cause of extending the geo- graphical knowledge of the ancients. Naturally enough, since amber was such a valuable article of commerce in those days, Pytheas, lacking courage to search for Thule, turned to the land where this substance was to be obtained. It was in those days more valuable than gold. Pliny says that " the price of a small hgure in it, however diminutive, exceeds that of a living healthy slave." It was worn as a charm for witchcrafts and sorceries, and as a protection against secret poisoning, while no article was more precious in the way of ornament than that which was made of this material. The search for the amber coast led Pytheas along the shores that lie between the mouths of the Rhine and Elbe. It is not improbable that he actually entered the Baltic Sea in his endeavour to find the island of Abalus, from which he was told the amber was brought. The voyage was useful in giving information where there had been the most absolute ignorance ; but of how much real worth the explorations of Pytheas were it is not possible to say, since his own writing is lost, and we have only scraps of his story quoted by his friends, but chiefly by his foes, who pretended that the whole account of his remarkable voyage was nothing but fiction. If mere fiction, it was exceedingly clever. 22 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY and in many points Pytheas must have made some guesses which were extraordinary, because they were so near to the truth. The additions, however, which were made to geography as a science, or to the sciences intimately connected with it, are more palpable and undisputed than the extent and discoveries of his voyages.^ ^ Stevenson, Progress of Discovery. CHAPTER III. ALEXANDER AND HIS CONQUESTS. AT this point there came an unexpected addition of knowledge to tlie Greeks as to the real character of the countries in the Far East. Ale.xander the Great did immense service to the cause of exploration in opening out Oriental lands. His main object was to achieve the conquest of the world, but, as Stevenson points out, he seems to have been actuated by a desire to be honoured as the patron of science, nearly as strong as the desire to be known to posterity as the conqueror of the world. The facilities he afforded to Aristotle in drawing up his natural history, by sending him all the uncommon animals with which his travels and his conquests supplied him, furnish a striking proof of it. He was still more anxious that a full description should be given of the lands through which his armies marched, for along with him he took several geographers, who were directed and enabled to make observations both on the coasts and the interior of the countries through which they passed ; and from their observa- tions and discoveries a new and improved geography of Asia was framed. Besides, the books that till his time 24 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY were shut up in the archives of Babylon and Tyre were transferred to Alexandria ; and thus the astronomical and hydrographical observations of the Phoenicians and Chaldeans, becoming accessible to the Greek philosophers, supplied them with the means of founding their geographical knowledge on the sure basis of mathematical science, of which it had hitherto been destitute. 1 Strabo tells us how much Alexander did in the way of opening out hitherto unknown lands ; for while the whole of the north of Europe as far as the Danube was traversed either by the soldiers or by the geographers that accompanied the army, the greater part of Western Asia was made known. He goes on to say that while the army took but a very hasty view of everything in India, Alexander himself took a much more exact one, causing the whole country to be described by men well acquainted with it, and that this description was after- wards put into the hands of Xenocles, his treasurer. Strabo writes some very strong words about those who had written of India before Alexander went there, saying that they were " a set of liars," and that no faith whatever could be placed in Deimachus and Megasthenes. " They coined the fables," he says, " concerning men with ears long enough to sleep in, men without any mouths, without noses, with only one eye, with spider- legs, and with fingers bent backwards. They renewed Homer's fable concerning the battles of the Cranes and Pygmies, and asserted the latter to be three spans high. They told of ants digging for gold, of Pans with ' Stevenson, Progress of Discoi)ery. ALEXANDER AND HIS CONQUESTS 25 wedge-shaped heads, of serpents swallowing down oxen and stags, horns and all ; meantime, as Eratosthenes has observed, reciprocally accusing each other of false- hood." Strabo points out that these were the stories brought back by the two men who had been sent as ambassadors to one of the Indian princes. With regard to the unknown parts of Europe in those ancient days there were many extravagant notions. Some of the people of the north were declared to be cannibals, while others abstained from eating the flesh of animals. The stories told of the northern races were to the effect that they were terrible in their ferocity. But Alexander's conquests altered the notions of the people who dwelt in the south of Europe completely, and led them to feel that much had been said that was wilfully false, for the mere sake of attracting attention and causing a sensation. The idea found place in the conquering monarch's mind of establishing Greek colonies " with political rights throughout the countries which he subdued, and the introduction through them of Greek ideas and Greek civilisation among the native populations." One wonders whether Alexander was greater as a general than as an explorer or, let us say, geographer. His armies went in all directions, while he moved eastwards intending to conquer India, so that the world came to know of the country and people about the southern shores of the Caspian, and all the land between, right on to the shores of the Persian Gulf. " In the course of their marches they passed over desert plains and salt steppes alternating with luxuriantly fertile districts, 26 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY and through snowy mountain chains," the hke of which had never been seen by any Greek before. The story of Alexander's victorious marches is full of startling incident. It shows a young king going forth, when he was only twenty-two years old, with an admir- able army, conquering Darius the Persian monarch. His forces began their march in 334 B.C., and at the great battle of Granicus the Persians were so terribly beaten that all Asia Minor lay at the mercy of Alexander. There were many fights, but the next great battle was fought at Issus in the following year, when Darius turned and fled, leaving his army to its fatte. City after city 5delded to the victorious king, until he came to Tyre in 332 B.C. The citizens made a desperate resistance, but Alexander, leading his soldiers personally, after a long siege, captured the city. From thence he marched into Egypt, and, conquering it with very little trouble, laid the foundations of the famous city of Alexandria. Having thus subdued his enemies in what would be his rear, so as to prevent his communications from being broken, placing his generals in each city and country as governors or viceroys, Alexander turned his attention to India, intending to effect its conquest, in accordance with his original idea. Marching out of Egypt in 331 B.C., he traversed Phoenicia and Arabia ; and fighting all the way as far as the Tigris, found that Darius had mustered sufficient courage to meet him at Arbela. It is said that Darius had a million men in his army, but Alexander was not dismayed. His soldiers were veterans, splendidly disciplined,- and so confident in the skill of their leader that numbers did not count with them. They ALEXANDER AND HIS CONQUESTS 27 remembered that at Issus, Darius was vanquished with the loss of a hundred thousand men, and that his wife, mother, and children were taken prisoners by the con- queror, while Darius himself had fled. When the fight began the Persians fought bravely, but as the battle went against them, and news came that their king had fled in dismay from the field, they lost their courage, and were routed with dreadful slaughter. The rout became a massacre. The great battle of Arbela broke up the power of Darius, and Alexander became King of Persia. Babylon fell into his hands, and with it its immense treasure ; but even greater booty was found in Susa by the squadrons despatched thither. The Persians had not the time to hide the money that was there, and which was said to be equal to twelve millions sterling. Starting for Persepolis, Alexander found amazing wealth lying there. Camels to the number of 5000, and countless mules, were employed in carrying it away, and when the value was computed it was declared to be worth no less than thirty million pounds ! While Alexander pursued Darius, he placed his treasure in the stronghold of Ecbatana. The Macedonian garrison told off for this important work had to guard forty millions worth of wealth, while their royal master marched on. In 329 B.C. the Macedonian army overran Afghanistan, Victory came to the Greeks ever5rwhere, but unfortunately Alexander became more and more a confirmed drunkard, thus dimming the glory of a great and marvellous career. Things were done in his ungovernable fits of 28 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY drunken anger which were degrading to his station and his name, and which could never be atoned for either by remorse or kindness. Prosperity had a fatal in- fluence on the Macedonian monarch's heart. He was spoilt by long and continuous success. His drunken- ness and his unbroken series of victories led him to the extravagance of claiming divinity for himself. Anaxarchus delivered a speech " advising all to worship at once the man whom they would certainly worship after his death." Callisthenes, the nephew of Aristotle, had the temerity to protest, and in revenge he was tortured and hanged. That done, the army went on to achieve greater conquests, crossing the Indus and invading India. But here Alexander's progress ended. Although " Lord of the World," he found it necessary to return westwards, because his soldiers mutinied and would not go farther. After having raised twelve altars to show how far he had advanced, he turned to the west and marched his veterans homewards. On the way, after what one terms " a disgraceful scene of protracted drunkenness," he fell ill with fever, and died, when he had not yet attained the age of thirty-three. One writer says distinctly that, except as a general, he had lost the balance of his mind. " The ruling despot who fancied himself a god, who could thrust a pike through the body of one friend and sneer at the cries drawn forth from another by the agonies of torture, was already far removed from the far-sighted prudence of the politic statesman and ruler." There was much to reprobate in Alexander, and one wonders how it was that he maintained his hold upon ALEXANDER AND HIS CONQUESTS 29 men whom he served so shamefully, and with such base ingratitude. Yet the world is indebted to him for doing much to add to its stock of geographical know- ledge ; and in a sense he was one of the world's greatest explorers. Even while he was returning from India his mind was set on the construction of a number of ships with which to observe the coast of Arabia ; but that scheme was never prosecuted, because of his death. His geographers surveyed the western side of the Gulf of Persia, and Nearchus, taking a fleet from Nicea on the Hydaspes to Susa, made known a coast which no European had visited before. Summing up what Alexander did in the cause of science through his explorers. Dr. Vincent says : " They acquired intelligence of aU the grand and leading features of Indian manners, policy, and religion, accurate in- formation respecting the geography of the western parts of that country ; they discovered all this by penetrating through countries where, possibly, no Greek had previously set his foot ; and they explored the passage by sea which first opened the commercial intercourse with India to the Greeks and Romans, through the medium of Egypt and the Red Sea, and finaUy to the Europeans, by the Cape of Good Hope." In such a case, considering what else Alexander has been shown to have done, it must be admitted that he did much towards opening out the unknown world ; so that while he was a conqueror first, and a dissolute king whose character has many great blots upon it, he must be regarded as one of the pioneers in the cause of know- ledge and in the spread of civilisation. CHAPTER IV. THE ANCIENTS AFTER ALEXANDER. THERE was one among the ancient geographers who must not be forgotten, although he was no traveller. Eratosthenes, as the keeper of the famous library at Alexandria some time between 240 and 196 B.C., had abundant opportunity for collecting the various accounts of the most notable travellers ; and studying these diligently, he put them into readable form. When he had done this he set himself the task of estimating the size of the earth, which was by no means an easy one, when we remember that the scientific instruments in his day were of the rudest character. " By his time the scientific men of Greece had become quite aware of the fact that the earth was a globe, though they considered that it was fixed in space at the centre of the universe. Guesses had even been made at the size of this globe, Aristotle fixing its cir- cumference at 400,000 stadia (or 40,000 miles) ; but Eratosthenes attempted a more accurate measurement. He compared the length of the shadow thrown by the sun at Alexandria and at Syene, near the first cataract of the Nile, which he assumed to be on the same meridian of longitude, and to be at about 5000 stadia (500 miles) 3° THE ANCIENTS AFTER ALEXANDER 31 distance. From the difference in the length in the shadows he deduced that this distance represented one-fiftieth of the circumference of the earth, which would accordingly be about 250,000 stadia, or 25,000 geographical miles. As the actual circumference is 24,899 English miles, this was a marvellously close approxi- mation, considering the rough means Eratosthenes had at his disposal." ^ It had the merit of being better than guess-work, — a measurement decided on scientific lines. Out of this great area Eratosthenes calculated that one-third of the earth's surface was habitable and that the remainder was ocean. Here again he was not far wrong, for supposing the surface of the earth to be divided into 1000 parts, there are then 266 of land and 734 of water. Strabo criticised Eratosthenes severely, and sought to prove, that his calculations were altogether wrong, and his reasonings on many points absurd. Eratos- thenes certainly deserved censure when he declared that he saw no advantage in being acquainted with the exact boundaries of countries ; and Strabo, on his part, was justified in claiming that it was important that the limits of the continents should be defined by some notable line of limitation. These, however, were quarrels between Strabo and men who knew as much as, if not -more than, himself in many cases, and need not be gone into here. One cannot but admire the sagacity of Eratosthenes, who, working out his calculations in the quietness of the Alexandrian Library, came to the conclusion that "if ' Jacobs, Story of Geographical Discovery. 32 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY it were not that the vast extent of the Atlantic Sea rendered it impossible, one might almost sail from the coast of Spain to that of India along the same parallel." Strabo might laugh at the idea — and did laugh, but Columbus proved that it was wonderfully near the truth. Eratosthenes' calculations led him to believe that the maps of the day were worthless, and consequently he set himself another task — " to reform the map of the world." He treated the inhabited world as an island, and made it in shape an irregular oblong, the extremities of which tapered off to a point both to east and west. He altogether ignored the general division of land into three continents, Europe, Asia, and Africa, by dividing it into two great portions, a northern and a southern, the limit between which was formed by the Mediterranean Sea and the Taurus Mountains, — that is, the range which intersected the whole of Asia.^ The writer just quoted points out that Eratosthenes, in his geographical treatise, was chiefly in error concerning the lands to the extreme north and the extreme south of the world. " Of the conformation of Northern Europe he was altogether ignorant ; and about the central area of that continent north of the Danube he had little to communicate. As regards the corresponding part of Asia, he held fast by the erroneous view that the Caspian communicated with the Northern Ocean, and believed that the Jaxartes flowed into that sea. Nor had he any conception of the southward projection either of India or of Africa. The country, in respect ' Tozer, History of Ancient Geography. THE ANCIENTS AFTER ALEXANDER 33 of which his information is most strikingly in advance of that possessed by previous writers, is Arabia." Even that confirmed grumbler concerning his predecessors and contemporaries — Strabo — condescended to avail himself of the material furnished by Eratosthenes when he set himself to describe that part of the world. This much should be said in favour of Eratosthenes, that Strabo, notable as the great geographer of the ancient world, when he attempted to collect aU the geographical knowledge at the time available, pro- duced a work which, as the Encyclopedia Britannica puts it, had for its scientific basis the work which Eratosthenes had produced, and while Strabo made considerable alterations, they were not altogether for the better, as will be shown later on. Between Eratosthenes and Strabo there came one who threw some light on a part of the Dark Continent, which was little known. Agatharchides, who was tutor to the young king, Ptolemy Soter 11. of Egypt, spent what time was at his disposal in travelling, sailing along the coast of the Red Sea, on into the Indian Ocean, and also going by land right into the interior of Arabia and Ethiopia. Much was told about Arabia that had not been known before, but Agatharchides rendered greater service, perhaps, by his accounts of the things he saw in Ethiopia. His description of the gold mines there are exceedingly interesting. But fable crept into everything which those ancients wrote, due, perhaps, to the fact that so much was taken on hearsay. Thus Agatharchides relates, on the authority of a person of the name of Boxus, of Persian 3 34 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY descent, that when a troop of horses was driven by a lioness as far as the sea, and had passed over to an island, a Persian of the name of Erythras constructed a raft, and was the first person who crossed the sea to it. Perceiving the island to be weU adapted for inhabi- tants, he drove the herd back to Persia, and sent out colonists both to this and the other islands and to the coast. He thus gave his own name to the sea.^ How much of this was true even Strabo could not say with any certainty. So, too, the story of the travels of EuDOXus, of Cyzicus, is full of strange wonders. Strabo says that Eudoxus travelled into Egypt in the reign of Euergetes II. Being a learned man, and much interested in the peculiarities of different countries, he made interest with the king and his ministers on the subject, but especially for exploring the Nile. It chanced, said Strabo, that a certain Indian was brought to the king by the coastguard of the Arabian Gulf. They reported that they had found him in a ship, alone and half dead ; but they neither knew who he was nor where he came from, as he spoke a language they could not understand. He was placed in the hands of preceptors appointed to teach him the Greek language, on acquiring which he related how he had started from the coasts of India, but lost his course, and reached Egypt alone, all his companions having perished with hunger ; but that if he were restored to his country he would point out to those sent with him by the king the route by sea to India. Eudoxus was one of the number thus sent. ' strabo. Geography. THE ANCIENTS AFTER ALEXANDER 35 " He set sail with a goodly supply of presents, and brought back with him in exchange aromatics and precious stones, some of which the Indians collect from amongst the pebbles of the rivers, others they dig out of the earth, where they have been formed by the moisture, as crystals are formed with us." Those are Strabo's words, and he goes on to say that Eudoxus, coming back thus laden, imagined himself rich for life, but to his chagrin it was all taken from him and claimed by the king. Cleopatra, the king's wife, sent Eudoxus abroad again, when her husband died, and this time with more liberal presents stiU. He was as successful as before, but on his return journey the ship was blown out of the course, and Eudoxus was driven into unknown regions somewhere on the African coast. After many adventures he brought back the greater part of his wealth, but the new king, who had succeeded the now dead queen, took everything from him, and even de- clared that he had not dealt honestly with the cargo with which he ha4 set forth from Egypt. From what Eudoxus heard when listening to the pilots and merchants, he determined to set out on a voyage of discovery, believing that he could sail all round Libya, as Africa was then called. Converting everything he had into money, he set forth, and calling at various ports in the Mediterranean, he told the merchants his intentions. They gave him gold, with which he equipped a large ship and two boats. With these he sailed beyond the Pillars of Hercules, and down the African coast. Unfortunately, those who 36 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY were with him grew mutinous, and compelled him to return. On the way the ship ran aground and broke up, but contriving to save his cargo, and building an- other ship, of fifty oars, he pursued his journey, against the protestations of the seamen who had given him trouble. Continuing his course, he came to a land where the people spoke the same language as that which be had noticed in a previous voyage. Many other facts were noted, but unfortunately he was compelled to abandon the hope of circumnavigating Africa, and of reaching India. On arriving at the Court of Bogus he re- commended that king to undertake an expedition to an uninhabited island he had called at. His enemies encouraged the suggestion, meaning to set him ashore in some deserted place. Word was brought by a friend of their intentions to maroon him, so that he fled from the Court to Iberia, where he equipped the vessels. He loaded them with agricultural implements, seed, and builders, and hastened on the voyage, intending to plant a colony. This is the story as Posidonius told it, but Strabo treated it with scorn. This much, however, seems to be certain — that he reached Gades, and from thence sailed southwards along the African coast, only giving up his attempt when he found farther progress im- possible. Much of the information he obtained was very useful to the geographers of following days. Posidonius, who lived between the years 135 and 50 B.C., "deserves the title of the most intelligent traveller in antiquity." He was a remarkably clever THE ANCIENTS AFTER ALEXANDER 37 man, and Strabo says that he was possessed of the most extensive learning among the philosophers of those times. His books dealt with " philosophy, mathematics, physics, grammar, and history," and one of the most famous was on " The Ocean." His travels were in all directions — into Spain, Africa, Italy, Gaul, Liguria, Sicily, and on the eastern shores of the Adriatic. It is even said that he came as far as Britain, and studied the manners and customs of the tribes that were living there. It was Posidonius's practice to keep " an accurate record of the habits of the remote peoples through whose country he passed. . . . We are thus furnished with interesting information about the condition of the inhabitants of Spain and Gaul at that time, who, though rude, represent a much higher type than those whom we meet with " in the accounts given by Agatharchides.^ No scientific man among the ancients who had gone before had so much knowledge of physical geo- graphy as Posidonius. Some of them had observed the tides, but it was reserved for Posidonius " to draw attention to the influences which are exercised by the sun and moon conjointly in producing the monthly variations in the tides. By him it was pointed out that at the new moon, when the two luminaries are in conjunction, and also at the full moon, the tides are highest, or, as we say, the spring tides are produced ; whereas at the second and last quarters they are lowest, that is, there are neap tides." ^ Nothing seems to have been beyond his range. He 1 Tozer, History of Ancient Geography. 38 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY calculated the depth of the sea at various points, sought to determine the distance and magnitude of the sun, to calctilate the diameter of the earth, and told much of what he saw in his travels which others accepted gladly in later days. It is true that he was not always right, but he was honest, and among all the travellers none received less on hearsay, for he was resolute in seeing with his own eyes, rather than trust either to so-called explorers or to what the natives had to say. CHAPTER V. THE ROMAN CONQUERORS. IT must not be supposed that the Greeks were the only people who knew the world ; but they were the only people who made it their business to find out thoroughly what the world was like. The other great nations of ancient days — Assyria and Persia, for example — simply kept their minds on the world as they knew it, and never troubled themselves as to what lay beyond the borders of their own country, unless they decided upon the conquest of a neighbour- ing nation, or had some special desire for extending their commerce. But another nation was beginning to make itself felt, and exercised a vast influence in this work of discovery. The chief object of the Romans was that of conquest — to make the Roman Empire the mightiest power in existence, and for this purpose their armies were always on the move. Lands were thus opened out into which no Greek nor Roman had ventured, and the people of Rome began to learn more and more of the districts that were thus subdued. Consequently the map of the world changed very considerably, especi- ally towards the west of Europe.^The third war with 39 40 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY Mithridates, King of Pontus, also gave the Romans a knowledge they had not possessed of Asia Minor, on towards the Euphrates, and north as well, towards the Dneister and the Don, two great rivers which were then known as the Tyras and the Tanais. These Mithridatic wars resulted in Roman armies marching right into the heart of their enemy's dominions, and into parts which Alexander had never penetrated. The consequence was that " accurate information was obtained concerning the lands that lay between the Black Sea and the Caspian." Putting aside the stupid stories which the soldiers told — ^such as their progress towards the Caspian being stopped by a multitude of deadly snakes, we get at information that is reliable when we read Theophane's history of Pompey's cam- paign in that part of the world. The tribes were not of so uncouth a nature as people had been led to suppose, for the most civilised of them — the Iberi — " possessed towns and markets, and had tiled roofs to their houses, and some pretence to architecture in their dwelling." Some, however, were little more than barbarians — pirates, indeed, who scoured the waters of the Black Sea and did an immense amount of damage to property and life. Information was also gathered concerning African territory ; and while Sertorius was conducting his cam- paign in Spain, some knowledge was obtained of the so-called Atlantic Islands, known in modern times as Madeira and Porto Santo. They were said to be a thousand miles to the west, in the open sea, and, as Tozer remarks, these islands were identified with the THE ROMAN CONQUERORS 41 " Islands of the Blessed," which had been celebrated from early days in Greek poetry — " where is no snow, nor yet great storm, nor any rain ; but always ocean sendeth forth the breeze of the shrill West to blow cool on men." Indeed, we are told that the barbarians themselves believed that in them were to be found the Elysian plains and the Abodes of the Happy, of which Homer had sung.^ But " Gaul was the most important field of geograph- ical discovery that was opened out during the century which immediately preceded the Christian era." Julius Caesar achieved its conquest with amazing rapidity between the years 58 and 50 B.C., and being a man of exceptional intellectual ability, a scholar as well as a warrior, he did not merely record his fights and victories, but described with real care the country which, by his prowess, he had added to the Roman Empire. His writings concerning Gaul show that he deserves to be counted among the famous explorers of the past. When he had conquered Gaul he crossed over to Britain, and in his Commentaries there are notes of great value concerning the island, as well as of the lands he marched into when he crossed the Rhine into Germany. One has but to follow Roman history carefully, especially when the armies of the Republic invaded strange countries, in order to discover how many hitherto unknown parts were examined and reported on to the Senate. On the other hand, another famous general was sweeping on victoriously. Caesar extended the Roman borders beyond the Alps to Gaul, Western 1 Tozer, History of Ancient Geography. 42 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY Germany, and Britain ; ^ but Pompey as steadily marched eastwards into Western Asia and Egypt. The Romans may be considered as having rendered even more real service to the work of geographical discovery than the Greeks, for no sooner did they conquer a province than they constructed magnificent roads, along which their armies could march to and fro with the greatest ease and expedition. But, as a writer quoted already puts it, " the careful measurement of distances which was thus introduced, and the clearer acquaintance with the relative position of places and the direction followed by rivers and mountain chains which was obtained, tended to promote exactness in geographical study." ^ The distances were not guess- work, as was so often the case with the Greeks. Every mile was measured, and a milestone set up, so that there was accuracy throughout. Every province was carefully mapped out, with plans of the roads, and the distances between the important places in the province distinctly indicated. In what is known as the Augustan age, Strabo was born. It is supposed that he was born 63 B.C., the year when Cicero was consul. He has been deemed one of the most — if not the most — celebrated geographers among the ancients. When he arrived at manhood he became a great traveller. Indeed, he says himself : " Westward I have journeyed to the parts of Etruria opposite Sardinia ; towards the south from the Euxine to the borders of Ethiopia ; and perhaps not one of ' Jacobs, Story of Geographical Discovery. ' Tozer, History of Ancient Geography. THE ROMAN CONQUERORS 43 those who have written geographies has visited more places than I have between those hmits. For those who have gone farther west have not gone so far east- ward, and the case is the same with the regions between the northern and southern hmits." He tells us that he had seen Egypt as far south as Syene and Philse, Comana in Cappadocia, Ephesus, Mylasa, Uysa, and Hierapolis in Phrygia, Gyarus, and Populonia. Of Greece proper he saw but little ; he visited Corinth, Athens, Megara, and places in their vicinity, and perhaps Argos, although he was not aware that the ruins of Mycenae still existed ; he had seen Cyrene from the sea, probably on his voyage from Puteoli to Alexandria. When and where he went from Egypt we know not. Probabilities are in favour of his having returned to Rome, where he undoubtedly resided in his old age.^ During that retirement he wrote his great work on Geography, which consisted of seventeen books. It was the first systematic description of the world, and was intended as " a manual of useful information for the educated classes." Valuable as the work was, it was unfortunate that he did not make it as complete as he might have done with the information he possessed. He travelled a great deal, but did not tell all he knew of " the physical character and the natural phenomena of the countries " he visited and described. He took it for granted that the people who would read his book knew a great deal, and that therefore he could omit certain things. None the less, however, he included much that was of immense value, as giving us the idea ^ Ency. Brit. 44 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY of what the world was deemed to be by those who lived in his day. Time has proved, however, that he, like others in ancient times, was ignorant of the greater part of the earth, and the map he drew was full of errors. It had no Bay of Biscay ; consequently Gaul (France) and Spain ran in an almost straight stretch of coast, so that Britain, instead of lying where it really does, north-west of France, with the English Channel running between, was set down as being where the Bay of Biscay really is. Nor was there any Baltic Sea. The Caspian Sea was made to empty itself into the Northern Ocean, which, according to the map, lay but a little distance away ; India did not terminate in his map, as we know it does, at the southern point of an immense triangle, but was cut off in a straight line with Persia and Afghanistan, and the Ganges was made to run into the Eastern Ocean. The Malay Peninsula was altogether absent; and, as for Africa, there was little or nothing drawn of the land south of the Sahara. Around all this world the ocean ran. Looking at the map as Strabo drew it, we find that the Mediterranean on the European side was fairly well known, but nearly all the African coast was very faulty. Strabo's geography did not receive the attention it deserved from those writers who followed him for nearly four hundred years. One here and there quoted him, but with one exception — Marcianus of Heraclea — no one quoted him fully. No one praised him, or deemed his work of real worth except Alexander von Humboldt, who says that it " surpassed all other geographical labours of antiquity by the diversity of the subjects THE ROMAN CONQUERORS 45 and the grandeur of the composition." Compared with what other writers had to say long after Strabo's death, his work was certainly, with aU its faults, better than any other of the ancient writers. One would have supposed that Pliny would have written a valuable book, considering the knowledge that was at his disposal, by reason of the extension of the Roman Empire ; but it was not an original work, being little more than " a compilation of incongruous materials gathered from writers of different ages." The consequence was that he copied a great deal of what was altogether wrong. Tozer says that his materials are brought together with little method, and his treatise abounds in mistakes and contradictions, arising partly from want of scientific knowledge and of power of deciding as to what was worthless. Considering the many mistakes he made, and the extreme carelessness with which he set forth his facts, his contribution to the world's knowledge in the matter of exploration is not worthy of attention. Infinitely more valuable was a document entitled Periplus Maris Erythresi. The name of the author is not known, but he set forth a description of the coasts of India, Arabia, and Africa which modern explorers have shown to be very correct. As far as he went he gave the truest description the world yet had of the general shape of Africa, and Strabo's drawings were shown to be fuU of inaccuracies. At all events, the coast on the northern portions of East Africa, the Red Sea, Arabia, and the Persian Gulf were drawn with striking accuracy, and the idea that India continued 46 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY its coast in a straight line to the east from the mouth of the Indus was dispelled completely. The author ran down the western coast for a long way, marking it out very much as we have it to-day. He gathered up so much information as to be able to indicate the general position of China, which he speaks of as " a land called This, containing a great city named Thinse, from which silk was exported, both raw and spun, and woven into textures." Information came in freely as to unknown parts of the world during the hundred years which followed the death of Strabo. It Ijas already been seen how the Romans, by their conquests, opened out lands, and obtained knowledge of the country and the people wherever their armies marched. The empire's bound- aries now stretched from Africa to Britain, and from the Rhine to the Euphrates, and even beyond these limits. More than that, however, is to be counted : the enterprise of the merchants, who sent their ships and caravans in all directions to procure luxuries for the wealthy and extravagant nobles. Hunters were busy in obtaining wild beasts for the arena, and traders faced untold dangers in order to secure articles for which their customers were prepared to pay down fabulous prices. For some foreign birds, which were considered great luxuries for the table, more than one hundred pounds each was sometimes demanded. It was extravagance that was inexcusable, and yet in a sense it assisted in making men acquainted with parts of the world that had been hitherto unknown. The sending forth of ships and caravans to bring THE ROMAN CONQUERORS 47 back costly unguents, perfumed waters, jewels, and delicacies was a constant thing, and exploration for these purposes was frequent. As examples there may be mentioned the exploration of the Nile to the Lakes by two centurions in the time of Nero, the expedition of Suetonius Paulinus into the heart of the Sahara ; the regular voyage down the Red Sea along the coasts of Africa and Arabia, beyond the straits into the Persian Gulf, and still farther to India and the Eastern Archi- pelago, while simultaneously land travels were under- taken frequently by the merchants through the heart of Asia to the Far East.^ The greatest of all the ancient geographers was Claudius Ptolemy, of whose life we seem to know nothing. But what is of real importance is his contri- butions to astronomy and geography. As an astronomer and geographer he was equally famous, and for centuries his statements were relied upon as being almost un- questionably accurate. But when exploration was more seriously undertaken in the fifteenth century, men saw how many errors he committed in collecting his information, with the result that whereas he had been venerated, his work fell into oblivion and con- tempt.^ The progress of maritime discovery gradually superseded his great work, and as explorers became more bold they discarded his book as altogether in- adequate and misleading. As a matter of fact, Ptolemy made mistakes of measurement by land and sea ; and also of observation, scale, and projection. Indeed, ^ Rylands, Geography of Ptolemy Elucidated. 2 Ibid. 48 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY a great many errors have been pointed out. For example, the land is represented as extending very- much farther to the east than is actually the case. He makes the Baltic Sea a part of the Northern Ocean ; he advances the Palus Maeotis, which we now call the Sea of Azov, much too far towards the north. Scot- land, instead of lying due north and south, was made to appear as turning at right angles to Albion, or England, and extending right away eastwards. India was not the pointed peninsula we know it to be, and which the Peri-plus Maris Erythrcei showed it to be by careful exploration. Ceylon, too, was represented as an immense island, fourteen times as large as it really is. Then the map of Ptolemy shows the land of Africa as swinging round eastwards, and continuing onwards to meet land coming down from China, making the Indian Ocean a gigantic inland sea; while the Caspian Sea, instead of lying north and south, was twisted round to lie due east and west. Nor was this all. One would have expected to find some really accurate knowledge of the Mediterranean Sea and the countries that lined its shores. But Ptolemy placed the northern shore too far to the north, and the southern shore too much to the south, with the conse- quence that the map of the great inland sea was in every way distorted. The length alone was 1400 miles more than it should have been, "and this enormous error continued in the maps of Europe with little change " till the beginning of the eighteenth century. But while noticing these faults, we must admit that Ptolemy rendered splendid service to the cause of THE ROMAN CONQUERORS 49 exploration. He was the best scholar of his age, and honestly did his best with the material at his disposal ; and considering that he was not a traveller, it is really marvellous that he should have produced a work which none felt they could improve upon for nearly fifteen centuries. He added greatly to the world's knowledge of geography. " In Eastern Europe he mentions for the first time by name the Carpathians (Mons Carpatis), with the existence of which the Romans had become acquainted through Trajan's conquest of Dacia ; and he rightly fixes them as the boundary between that country and Sarmatia. The great river Volga also, the absence of all notice of which in the works of former geographers is so remarkable, here appears under the name of Rha, and is described as discharging its waters into the Hyrcanian or Caspian Sea. In his account of Asia we meet with the earliest notice of the great Altai chain, which, commencing from the central group of the Pamirs, diverges from the Himalaya, and follows a north-easterly direction through Central Asia." Ptolemy also gave fresh information concerning the central districts of Africa. He tells us that the sources of the Nile were in two lakes which were fed by the melting snow of the Mountains of the Moon, and it is surmised that these two lakes were those which we now know as Victoria and Albert Nyanza, while the Moun- tains of the Moon were probably those which are now named Kilimanjaro and Kenia. Yet, all things considered, when everything favourable is said on behalf of Ptolemy's book, it is by no means satisfactory in a geographical sense. It was, says one, 4 50 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY the work of an astronomer rather than a geographer. Not only did the plan of the book exclude all description of the countries with which it dealt, their climate, natural productions, inhabitants, and peculiar features, all of which are included in the domain of the modern geographer, but even its physical geography strictly so called is treated in the most irregular and perfunctory manner. While Strabo was fully alive to the importance of the great rivers and mountain chains which (to use his own expressive phrase) " geographise " a country, Ptolemy deals with this part of his subject in zo careless a manner as to be often worse than useless. Even in the case of a country so well known as Gaul, the few notices which he gives of the great rivers that play an important part in its geography are disfigured by some astounding errors ; while he does not notice any of the great tributaries of the Rhine, though mentioning an obscure streamlet, otherwise unknown, because it happened to be the boundary between two Roman provinces.^ ^ Sir E. H. Bunbury. CHAPTER VI. ARABIANS AND VIKINGS. AFTER Ptolemy died, exploration and questions concerning the unknown world seem to have had no attraction whatever. No one cared to discover whether the map was right or wrong, and none seemed to be eager to know what lay beyond the borders of the then known world. Indeed, those who pretended to have anything to do with science in the Middle Ages took up the statements of Ptolemy, whether right or wrong, and added to them at their own sweet will, so that " errors of a wilder kind, rather in credulity than in positive inaccurate observation, found a place in the maps of the Middle Ages, and were tardily banished from them, at a comparatively recent date, by the improvements of astronomy and navigation." ^ Doubtless, one cause of this decay of interest was the gradual decline of the Roman Empire. As the enemies of Rome closed in upon her, the minds of men were centred on the tremendous task of beating back the invading armies which poured over the frontiers by tens and hundreds of thousands. The consequence was that even commerce began to fail, and thus the 1 History of Maritime and Inland Discovery. 51 52 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY knowledge of the nearest countries faded away, so that what was known of distant parts was mainly the know- ledge of the studious who had no desire to travel. But some of the students of those days were by no means helpful in the matter of spreading knowledge concerning the world in which they lived. They brought their prejudices to bear on the matter, and one especially began to display his wisdom, which proved to be the most egregious ignorance. This was Cosmas, a writer of the sixth century, who was surnamed by his con- temporaries Indico Pleustes, because of his maritime experiences. At first he was a merchant, but later in life he became a monk, and Gibbon remarks " that his work displays the knowledge of a merchant with the prejudices of a monk." He wrote a book, entitled A Christian Topography, Embracing the Whole World, in which he set forth what he had seen in his voyage undertaken twenty years before to the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf, Western India, and Ceylon. Had he written as a merchant there might have been a great addition to the knowledge of geo- graphy ; but being a monk, he felt it his duty to de- nounce the false and heathen doctrine of the rotundity of the earth, and to show that the tabernacle in the wilderness is "the pattern or model of the universe." According to Cosmas, the earth is a vast plain sur- rounded by a wall ; its extent 400 days' journey from east to west, and half as much from north to south. On the wall which bounded the earth the firmament was supported. The succession of day and night is occasioned by an immense mountain on the north of ARABIANS AND VIKINGS 53 the earth intercepting the light of the sun and so creating night. In order to account for the course of the rivers, he supposed that the plane of the earth declined from north to south : hence the Euphrates and Tigris, for example, running to the south, were rapid streams, whereas the Nile, running in a contrary direction, was slow and sluggish. ^ Cosmas was especially severe on those who believed in the earth being a solid round ball on which its in- habitants lived. " He drew a picture of a round ball, with four men standing upon it, with their feet on opposite sides, and asked triumphantly how it was possible that all four could stand upright." Not only so ; he dabbled in astronomy, and, as we have seen, accounted in the most remarkable manner for the succession of day and night. As for the sun, he threw scorn on the idea of its immensity, and declared that it was infinitely smaller than the earth. When he had made all these amazing assertions he poured out his vials of wrath on the scientific men who held that the earth was spherical in shape, denouncing them as " blasphemers, given up for their sins to the belief of such impudent nonsense as the doctrine of Antipodes, and so forth." Yet he was compelled to write down many im- portant facts which came under his observation when he was a travelling merchant. He tells us how the Roman commerce had decayed, for there was not the trade with the Red Sea that there had been ; indeed, it had entirely left the Roman dominions, the Egyptian • Stevenson, Progress of Discovery. 54 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY merchants having taken it up. From AduU vessels regularly sailed east, collecting aromatics, spices, and emeralds from Ethiopia, and sending them to India, Persia, and Arabia, so that by a roundabout route they might find their way to Rome. Then he tells us how Ceylon was the mart of the commerce of the Indian Ocean, and that vessels came from all parts, even from China (which was then known as Tzinitza), bringing silk, aloes, cloves, and sandal- wood. Cosmas tells us much that is interesting about Ceylon in those days, although he did not get his know- ledge first-hand, but through a Greek named Sopatrus. Thus we learn that " the sovereignty was held by two kings : one called the King of the Hyacinth, or the district above the Ghauts, where the precious stones were found ; the other possessed the maritime districts. In Ceylon, elephants are sold by their height ; and he adds, that in India they are trained for war, whereas in Africa they are taken only for their ivory. Various particulars respecting the natural history of Ceylon and India (and other lands) are given, which are very accurate and complete ; the cocoanut with its pro- perties is described ; the pepper plant, the buffalo, the camelopard, the musk animal, etc. ; the rhinoceros, he says, he saw only at a distance ; he secured some teeth of the hippopotamus, but never saw the animal itself. In the palace of the King of Abyssinia the unicorn was represented in brass, but he never saw it." It will be seen that the remark passed upon his book by a recent writer was justified : that in itself the book was a mere bank of mud, but remarkable on account of ARABIANS AND VIKINGS 55 certain geographical fossils of considerable interest which are found embedded in it.^ On the whole, it must be admitted that Cosmas, while he gave us much information, did the cause of scientific exploration a great deal of mischief. Even the monks refused to accept his statements. Yet some of them were industrious in spreading ridic- ulous ideas. The explanation was, that they never cared seriously for geography as a practical science, whereby the men of the day could form a reasonable idea of the world as it reaUy was. As Mr. Jacobs says, in his Story of Geographical Discovery, men studied geography in those days mainly in order to learn about the marvels of the world. " When William of Wykeham drew up his rules for the fellows and scholars of New CoUege, Oxford, he directed them in the long winter evenings to occupy themselves with singing, or reciting poetry, or with the chronicles of the different kingdoms, or with the wonders of the world ! Hence almost all mediaeval maps were filled up with pictures of these wonders, which were the more necessary as so few people could read. A curious survival of this custom lasted on in map-drawing almost to the beginning of this century, when the spare places in the ocean were adorned with pictures of sailing ships or spouting sea monsters." But such a practice led to the drawing of the most outrageous maps, wherein the comparatively accurate maps of the ancient geographers were set aside as worthless, and those who drew the map paid ^little or ^ Ency. Brit. 56 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY no attention to the production of maps that were reUable. " Cartography fell back to a second childhood. Fanatical exponents of the orthodox faith, like Lac- tantius, looked with disdain on all scientific culture. Geographical questions were of no interest to him, because he regarded them as mere matters of opinion. Astronomy was a piece of fantastic folly ; the knowledge of distant lands were learned lumber." ^ It was not to be wondered at, therefore, that the early part of the Middle Ages should be termed the " Dark Age of geographical knowledge." Everything of this nature seemed to experience a retrograde move- ment, so that while geography and map-making practi- cally ceased to exist, the doctrine of the sphericity of the earth was placed under the ban of the Church, and people went back to the Homeric idea of a disc sur- rounded by the ocean. ^ Fortunately the conquests of the Arabians did a great deal towards opening out a knowledge of the world which had been suffered to die by the monks of the Middle Ages. Soon after they had become the disciples of Mahomet they not only set themselves the task of compelling the nations to adopt the Mohammedan religion, but they revived the commercial and enter- prising spirit. With remarkable energy they success- ively conquered Persia, Syria, Egypt, Africa (the northern shores of it), and Spain. When they conquered Persia trade began at once on a large scale, and as the tide of conquest rolled, traders not only brought luxuries and wealth with them, but knowledge of the lands that ' Dr. Sophus Ruge. '' Ibid. ARABIANS AND VIKINGS 57 were thus opened. Thus merchants heard of other lands — not only of China, but of Japan, Sumatra, and Borneo, where the camphire trees grew ; and not content with hearing of the wonders and wealth of Ceylon, their ships went thither. Soon after the conquest of Persia was completed the Caliph Omar directed that a full and accurate survey and description of the kingdom should be made, which comprehended the inhabitants, the cattle, and the fruits of the earth.^ When Syria fell into the hands of the Saracens — to give the Arabians that other name by which they were known — they fitted out an immense fleet and scoured the Mediterranean Sea, so that in a very short space of time Cyprus, Rhodes, and the Cyclades were conquered. Naturally, they turned their attention to Alexandria, which was the first trading city in the world, and although it was provided with strong de- fences it fell into their hands. Egypt was then at their mercy, and was speedily subdued. " As soon as the conquest of Egypt was completed its administration was settled, and conducted on the most wise and liberal principles. In the management of the revenue, taxes were raised ... on every branch from the clear profits of agriculture and commerce." So expeditious were the methods of the Saracens that before long this work of reforming the Government was completed, and the armies were on the march again, with the settled object of conquering as much of Africa as was possible. It resulted in the sweeping of the continent by the disciples of Mahomet, from the Nile ' Stevenson, Progress of Discovery. 58 THE WORLD'S EXPLOIL\TION STORY to the Atlantic sea-board. At the beginning of the eighth century the Saracen armies crossed from Africa into Spain, which was so rapidly conquered " that in a few months the whole of that great peninsula, which for two centuries withstood the power of the Roman republic at its greatest height, was reduced, except the mountainous districts of Asturia and Biscay." No sooner was this accomplished than a map of the newly conquered territory was made, " exhibiting the seas, rivers, harbours, and cities, accompanied with a description of them, and of the inhabitants, the climate, soil, and mineral productions." It will thus be seen that whereas the Christians of the Roman world had ignored science generally, and geography in particular, the Saracens were not merely conquerors, forcing the people they conquered to accept the Mo- hammedan religion, but were seriously determined to have some record made of the lands which they had anything to do with. " From the period of their first conquests the caliphs had given orders to their generals to draw up geographical descriptions of the countries conquered." Not only so. Mohammedan travellers went in all directions, and carefully described the countries they visited. Thus two journeyed to India and China in the ninth century, and their travels, which were written in Arabic, were afterwards translated by Renaudot. Traders went everywhere, " to nearly every port of India, from Cashmere to Cape Comorin," and Massoudi describes a route to China frequented by such traders at the end of the ninth century, which seems to have ARABIANS AND VIKINGS 59 led straight through Tibet. At that time, too, the Arabian merchants in South-eastern Africa went as far south as Zanzibar and Sofala, and some say that they sailed to an island which is supposed to be Madagascar. They were a wonderful people, full of enterprise, and in their reUgious zeal and love for knowledge seem- ing to know no fear. WhUe all Europe was plunged in " barbaric ignorance and savage manners," the Saracens of Spain, known as the Moors, reached a high degree of civilisation. Students came to Cordova from every part of Europe to study under the famous scholars who were there. " Every branch of science was seriously studied there," and medicine made immense strides. " Astronomy, geography, chemistry, natural history — all were studied with ardour at Cordova, and as for the graces of literature, there never was a time in Europe when poetry became so much the speech of everybody, when people of aJl ranks composed those Arabic verses which perhaps suggested models for the ballads and canzonettes of the Spanish minstrels and the troubadours of Provence and Italy." " In arts, sciences, and civilisa- tion generally the Moorish city of Cordova was indeed the brightest splendour of the world." ^ Such were the people who overran Asia, Africa, and Spain ; and when the knowledge of various parts of the world was being lost, their conquests seemed to revive that failing knowledge which the Christians were so indifferent to in the Middle Ages. Not only were the Arabians a wonderful people, but, as already intimated, they fostered learning in ' Stanlej' Lane Poole, The Moors in Spam. 6o THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY every possible form. Some of the caliphs, it is true, discouraged the spread of knowledge, and one in particular requested " the most notable doctors of the sacred law to examine the royal library ; and every book treating of philosophy, astronomy, and other forbidden topics were condemned to the flames." The policy of other rulers was the direct opposite of this. Alkakem ii., who reigned in Andalusia from 961 to 976, ordered the procuring of books both new and old at any price for his library; and throughout his do- minions free schools were opened for the education of the poor, while lectures on science and literature, law and religion, were given in the crowded mosques. In consequence of encouragement like that the many travellers who penetrated into little known and also utterly unknown lands brought back careful know- ledge and put it into book form. But looking at the world which they appeared to know so well, it is a striking fact that the Arabians seemed to centre their attention on countries that were not Christian. Con- sequently they knew very little of Europe, but Africa was known by them to a remarkable extent. " They seem to have extended their arms, or at least their knowledge, as far into the interior as the banks of the Niger. On the east side their arms had penetrated to Sofala, but on the west their knowledge does not appear to have reached beyond Cape Blanco, in the Bay of Arguin." As already indicated, they knew something of Madagascar, and it is confidently asserted that " Arabian colonies and the Mohammedan religion were established in it from a very early period." ARABIANS AND VIKINGS 6i But in Asia the Arabians were very much more diligent in their researches, and " their geographical knowledge of this part of the globe is more full, accurate, and minute than what they had acquired of other portions." Thus they knew a great deal about Persia, following out their policy of making themselves acquainted with the geography, the productions, and the people's habits and customs there. It is suggested that they knew a great deal of Russia, of the Caspian Sea and the country round it, and one tribe especially was singled out — the People of the Throne of Gold, who dwelt in the country near the mouth of the Volga. They knew sufficient of Tibet to divide it into three parts — upper, central, and lower. Hindostan was divided into two portions— Sind and Hind, the first comprising the lands about the Indus, and the latter embracing what we now know as the Deccan. They did not appear to know much of the Coromandel coast, but the western or Malabar coast was accurately de- scribed in their books. A great deal was known of the country through which the Ganges flowed, and it is supposed that when Al D'Javah was mentioned as being rich in spices, but subject to volcanic eruptions, Java was meant. Many journeys to China were described. While the Arabs in the Dark Ages were doing so much to add to their knowledge of the hitherto un- known countries, the terrible Vikings of the north of Europe were going into places which none had known but the people who lived there. Some went as traders, and it is shown that Scandinavian merchants brought the products of India to England and Ireland. " From 62 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY the eighth to the eleventh century a commercial route from India passed through Kharism and Novgorod to the Baltic, and immense quantities of Arabian coins ■ have been found in Sweden, and particularly in the island of Gothland, which are preserved at Stockholm." That is proof that the Scandinavian traders went as far as was claimed for them. But the bleak and barren shores of the Baltic led the intrepid Northmen to go forth and seek more con- genial homes. They knew of the sunny countries in the south, where there was not only wealth and comfort, but luxury, which was never theirs in their own lands. Hence their plans were formed, and the hardy mariners went forth to plunder these most favoured spots. They became professional pirates, who scorned to be mere agriculturists when they knew that by force of arms they could fill their ships with wealth. It is said that no sooner had a prince reached his eighteenth year than he was entrusted by his father with a fleet ; and by means of it he was ordered and expected to add to his glory and his wealth by plunder and victory. Lands were divided into certain portions, and from each portion a certain number of ships were to be fully equipped for sea. These vessels, as well as the Vikings themselves, were admirably adapted to the grand object of their lives. The former were well supplied with stones, arrows, and strong ropes, with which they overset small vessels, and with grappling irons to board them.^ Every man on the Viking ship was an expert swimmer, so that while nothing but a plank was between them and 1 Stevenson, Progress of Discovery. ARABIANS AND VIKINGS 63 death they brought their dangers to a minimum in this regard. Hence when they were beaten back by the people whose coasts they attacked, they dashed into the waves and swam to their ships, leaving their enraged foes baffled on the beach. During these expeditions the Vikings made many discoveries, and proved themselves famous explorers. They opened out lands that had hitherto been unknown. The Northmen had dared to discard the timid practice of other mariners who never ventured out of sight of land, but always crept along the shore. For days and weeks the Northmen sailed on and on into the open sea, with not a speck of land in sight, and nothing to guide them but the sun and stars. In this way the Faroe Islands had been discovered in 861, and later still Iceland was found lying solitary in the ocean. The Norwegians who reached it settled there, and the island, it is said, soon became famous for its learning. From thence these colonists crossed the ocean to Green- land, and also carried on a flourishing trade, sending their ships to Britain, Ireland, France, Germany, and elsewhere ; it is even said as far as Constantinople. Eric the Red, however, displayed a fearlessness which stamps him as the worthiest of his race, in point of courage and enterprise, and what he achieved goes far to lessen the glory of Christopher Columbus, who has been esteemed the discoverer of the New World. He had heard that a Norse navigator named Herjulfson, while sailing from Iceland to Greenland, had been driven westward by a storm, and that he had been brought within sight of some shores which are now 64 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY known to be those of Newfoundland. But neither he nor his companions landed. They were contented with looking at the shores from the ship, then, returning to Greenland, told what they had seen. They were sure that it could not be Greenland, for they knew its shores so weU, and none of its coast was clothed with forests such as they had seen in the new land. That was in 986, but fourteen years later, Eric the Red, known also as Lief Erickson, deliberately set sail from Green- land to brave the sea perils in order to examine the land Herjulfson had seen. In looi he landed on the coast of Labrador, and explored the country, which was mild in climate and in every way more attractive than the bleak regions of Greenland. Then he and his comrades ventured farther south, coming to a district now known as Massachusetts, where they dwelt for one whole year. Rhode Island was visited, and it is even said that the harbour of New York was entered. When news was taken back of this new land, the Norsemen sailed in large companies, exploring the shores and planting colonies in New- foundland and Nova Scotia. " Little, however, was known or imagined by these rude sailors of the extent of the country which they had discovered. They sup- posed that it was only a portion of Western Greenland, which, bending to the north around an arm of the ocean, had reappeared in the west. The settlements which were made were feeble and soon broken up. Commerce was an impossibility in a country where there were only a few wretched savages with no disposition to buy, and nothing at all to sell. The spirit of adventure ARABIANS AND VIKINGS 65 was soon appeased, and the restless Northmen returned to their own country. To this undefined line of coast now vaguely known to them the Norse sailors gave the name of Vinland, because of the quantity of small grapes they found growing there. The old Icelandic chroniclers insist that it was a pleasant and beautiful country. As compared with their own mountainous and frozen island of the North, the coasts of New England may well have seemed delightful.^ Other adventurers from among the Northmen ven- tured across the ocean during the twelfth, thirteenth, and fourteenth centuries, and one expedition in par- ticular visited what is now known as the United States. This was the visit of a Norwegian ship in 1347, and Ridpath, who has already been quoted, says that the Norse remains which have been found in many places point clearly to such visits. But nothing resulted from the discovery of America by the Vikings. " The world was neither wiser nor better. Among the Icelanders themselves the place and the very name of Vinland was forgotten. Europe never heard of such a country or such a discovery. . . . The curtain that had been lifted for a moment was stretched again from sky to sea, and the New World stUl lay hidden in the shadows." Humboldt, however, in his Cosmos, says that the discovery of the northern part of America by the Norsemen cannot be disputed. Throughout the centuries with which we have been dealing, in the endeavour to show how imknown tracts were explored, the north of Europe had been called 1 Ridpath, History of the United States. S 55 THE WORLD^S EXPLORATION STORY Terra Incognita — the Unknown Land. The Vikings not only knew every corner of it themselves, and knew the bays and creeks along the coasts, even in the ice- bound parts, but they spread the knowledge far and wide when they carried out their marauding expeditions and settled in new districts. Thus it became known that there were towns in Germany and elsewhere in the north, with which they carried on a considerable trade — chiefly, it is said, of slaves taken in war. In the beginning and middle of the tenth century " Sleswig is represented as a port of considerable trade and conse- quence ; from it sailed ships to Slavonia, Semland, and Greece, or rather, perhaps, Russia. From a port on the side of Jutland they sailed to Fionia, Scania, and Norway. Sweden is represented as, at this time, carry- ing on an extensive and lucrative trade," and there were some towns which grew rich by commerce near the mouth of the Oder. Writers of those days tell us of adjacent countries. Russia, for instance, is spoken of as "a very extensive kingdom," carrying on trade with the Greeks' in the Black Sea, and the Baltic Sea received a considerable amount of attention. In the thirteenth century the Hanseatic League was formed to protect the carriage by land of merchandise between the cities of Lubeck and Hamburg. Other cities joined the League, which became so powerful that it was able to wage war with Denmark, France, Flanders, and other nations. Carry- ing trade into known and unknown parts, a great deal of new ground was opened out, and a large part of Northern Europe was explored by the traders. Such ARABIANS AND VIKINGS 67 a fact as this tends to show what a large part trade has played in making the world known. The Venetians were especially keen in commerce, and we find their traders everywhere, searching for commodities which found a ready sale in Venice. Jealousy, again, played its part in the work of dis- covery. The powerful League of Cambray, resenting the prosperity of Venice, sent ships in all directions ; while enterprise in other respects, such as the discovery of a passage to the East Indies by the Cape of Good Hope, resulted in severe inroads on the monopoly 6i trade which was possessed by the famous city on the sea. But that discovery of a route round the southern point of Africa was fraught with enormous consequences, as we shall presently see, and showed how worthless the old maps were. CHAPTER VII. INTO THE HEART OF ASIA. IN the middle of the thirteenth century a very remarkable journey was undertaken by a friar named Joannes de Piano Carpini, by command of the Pope, right into the heart of Asiatic Tartary, where the Great Khan's headquarters were. It proved a terrible journey for an old man of sixty- five to undertake. A much younger friar who was with him either turned coward or broke down with fatigue, but Carpini pressed on, and in a hundred and six days travelled lio less than 3000 miles. His new companion and Carpini were so ill on the way that they could scarcely sit on their horses, and " throughout all that Lent," says he, " our food had been nought but millet with salt and water, and with only snow melted in a kettle for drink." The object of the journey was to find out the inten- tions of the Great Khan, as to whether he meant to overrun Europe with his Tartar hordes, or come to some friendly understanding with the European princes. The powerful chieftain gave Carpini a letter, in which he declared that he was the Scourge of God, whose determination it was to subdue the whole world, and set up his flag of defiance against all the countries 63 INTO THE HEART OF ASIA 69 of the West. It was winter when the return journey commenced, and the road, such as it was, through mountain passes, rivers, and frozen steppes, was ice- covered for miles together. " Often they had to he on the bare snow, or on the ground scraped bare of snow with the traveller's foot." But these lonely men, bandaged tightly about the body and their limbs to lessen their sense of fatigue, reached Lyons at last, and gave the letter to the Pope. Carpini wrote two books, setting forth his experi- ences, and what he saw of the country through which he passed while on that trying journey. He tells how, when he and his companion were a league away from the chieftain's quarters, they were made to pass between two fires, so that if they intended any mischief to the lord of the country, or brought any poison with them, the fire might take away all evU. The severity of the journey may be judged when Carpini teUs us that he had to change horses five times a day. Their courage was tested when, passing through the land of Kangittse, they saw many skulls and bones of dead men lying upon the earth like a dunghill. While Carpini was at the Great Khan's capital he heard of a kingdom caUed Cathay in those mediaeval times, but known to us of modern days as China. Carpini spoke of the Kitai — the people of Cathay — as heathen men, who seemed "to be kindly and polished folks enough," and to be beardless. From what he heard, their country was " very rich in corn, in wine, in gold, in silver, in silk, and in every kind of produce tending to the support of mankind." 70 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY When William Ruysbroek, or Rubruquis, who was a Flemish friar, went on a journey to Karakorum, as an ambassador, he bore in mind what he had read in Carpini's writings, and discovered all that was to be learnt about Cathay from the Tartars. It may have been much, but very little is left which he wrote con- cerning them. He simply says : " Beyond Muc is Great Cathaya, the inhabitants whereof (as I suppose) were of olde time called Seres. For from them are brought most excellent stuffes of silke. And this people is called Seres of a certaine towne in the same countrey. I was crediblie informed, that in the said countrey there is one towne having walls of silver, and bulwarkes or towers of golde. There be many provinces in that land, the greater part whereof are not as yet subdued unto the Tartars." ^ But there the account breaks off, and we have to wait for some other traveller to tell us what Cathay was like. Some of the Cathayans were at Karakorum when Ruysbroek was there, and he describes them as he saw them moving about the place. " These Cathayans are little fellows, speaking much through the nose, and, as is general with all those Eastern people, their eyes are very narrow. They are first-rate artists in every kind, and their physicians have a thorough know- ledge of the virtues of herbs, and an admirable skill in diagnosis by the pulse. The common money of Cathay consists of pieces of cotton paper about a palm in length and breadth, upon which certain lines are printed, resembling the seal of Mangou Khan. They do their * Hakluyt, Voyages, etc. INTO THE HEART OF ASIA 71 writing with a pencil such as painters paint with, and a single character of theirs comprehends several letters, so as to form a whole word." Here, as Colonel Henry Yule says, " we have not only what is probably the first European notice of paper-money, but a partial recognition of the peculiarity of Chinese writing." But no traveller had yet gone into the heart of Asia who could be in any way deemed the equal of Marco Polo, who was certainly one of the most celebrated travellers of the Middle Ages. Eighteen years of his life were spent in the East, and one writer 1 goes so far as to say that the travels of this Venetian form an epoch in the history of geographical discovery only second to the voyages of Columbus. At that time, in the seventies of the thirteenth century, the Mongols had conquered nearly the whole of Asia and a great deal of Eastern Europe. It is said that in Asia and Eastern Europe scarcely a dog might bark without Mongol leave. But when the Great Khan died the empire began to break up into kingdoms, just as Alexander's world had done when that great conqueror was buried. No one could term these kingdoms barbarous, for they were " advanced in wealth and art far beyond what the present state of those regions would suggest " ; and this in spite of the terrible wars which soaked the soil of Asia with blood. To read of those wars — of the ambitions of rival princes bent on conquest, of armies swept away in single battles, of fugitive kings and cruel foes — is to read of terrible episodes in the world's history. But ' Jacobs, Story of Geographical Discovery, 72 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY with these we have nothing to do in telling this part of the story of the World's exploration. Our part is to mark how, one after another, the intrepid travellers ventured into the countries which were unknown save by hearsay to the people of Europe, and in consequence we have to run over the story of the travels of Marco Polo the Venetian. His story was written when he was in prison at Genoa. The Genoese, jealous of the splendour and wealth of Venice, sought to rob her of her trade in the Levant, and since this could not be done by fair com- petition it was done by force of arms. In 1294 the two rival fleets met in the Adriatic, and the Venetians were disastrously beaten, for sixty-five of their ships were burned, and eighteen were captured, together with 7000 prisoners. Among these was Marco Polo, who was carried to Genoa and placed in one of the prisons there for four long, weary years. Chapter by chapter he wrote the story of his adventures and travels, and read it in instalments to his fellow-prisoners, who wel- comed this pleasant break in their monotonous and miserable lives within the prison walls. When he was set free his book was eagerly read, and the account he gave of the riches and luxuries to be amassed in those distant climes stirred many of his countrymen to follow his example of exploration and travel in the Far East, and to realise for themselves all the glories and wonders of that fabulous land.^ It is too long a story to tell of Marco Polo's wander- ings in their entirety, for they began when he was but ' Alethea Wiel, Venice. INTO THE HEART OF ASIA 73 a youth of seventeen. In 1271 he started with his two uncles, who were sent by the Pope to see the Great Khan. In order to form some idea of the venturesome- ness of such an expedition, one has to think of what traveUing meant in those days : the weariness of it, its dangers, when travellers carried their lives in their hands, and knew not when they set forth in the morning whether they would live to see the sunset. But they pressed on, although some Dominican friars who started with them turned back, discouraged and afraid to face the perils. The journey led through Ormuz, which lies at the mouth of the Persian Gulf, and after travelling across the Great Desert of Gobi, carrying food for men and beast for months together, over the deserts and mighty rivers, they reached the palace of the Khan. The journey had been a long one, lasting for more than three and a half years, but they were well received by the Oriental chieftain, Kublai. They remained in the country for years, gathering wealth, until the fear got hold of them that the old monarch might die, and what they had, even their lives also, might be taken from them. Again and again they asked for leave to return to Venice, but the old emperor growled refusal to all their hints.^ Kublai formed a great liking for Marco Polo, and took him into his own service, the result of which was that Marco was sent on various missions to India, to Cochin China, and Tibet. For a reward, young though he was, he was made governor of the city of Yanchau. 1 Yule, The Booh of Ser Marco Polo. 74 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY At last an opportunity came for their return home. Arghun Khan of Persia, Kublai's great-nephew, had lost his favourite wife, who, while she lay dying, made him promise to marry one of her kindred. He therefore asked for the hand of the Lady Kukachin, who was then a beautiful girl of seventeen. Kublai consented to her marriage, but was anxious to know how to send her on so long a journey. Remembering that the Polos desired to return to Venice, he asked them to escort her to the Khan of Persia's Court. They wanted no second asking, and sailed away in 1292. It was an ill- starred voyage, and involved long detentions on the coast of Sumatra and in the south of India ; but these delays served a good purpose, since it gave Marco Polo an opportunity of exploring the surrounding country, and making known lands that had never been visited before by Europeans. The voyage, which began in 1292, lasted two long years, and when the Polos brought the princess to the Khan of Persia's palace they found that her would-be husband was dead, and saw her married instead to his son. The story has been told by Marco Barbaro of the return of the travellers to their home. " From ear to ear," says Barbaro, " the story has passed till it reached mine, that when the three kinsmen arrived at their home they were dressed in the most shabby and sordid manner, insomuch that the wife of one of them gave away to a beggar that came to the door one of those garments of his, all torn, patched, and dirty as it was. The next day he asked his wife for INTO THE HEART OF ASIA 75 that mantle, of his, in order to put away the jewels that were sewn up in it, but she told him that she had given it away to a poor man, whom she did not know. Now, the stratagem he employed to recover it was this. He went to the Bridge of Rialto, and stood there turning a wheel, to no apparent purpose, but as if he were a madman, and to all those who crowded round to see what prank was this, and asked him why he did it, he answered : ' He'll come, if God pleases ! ' So after two or three days he recognised his old coat on the back of one of those who came to stare at his mad proceeding, and got it back again. Then, indeed, he was judged to be quite the reverse of a madman ! And from those jewels he built in the contrada of S. Gio- vanni Grisostomo a very fine palace for those days ; and the family got among the vulgar the name of the Ca' Million, because the report was that they had jewels to the value of a million of ducats ; and the palace has kept that name to the present day — namely, 1566." There is another story of the return of the long- absent travellers. It is told by Ramusio, who wrote the preface to the Book of Marco Polo. He says that when the travellers arrived at Venice, " the same fate befeU them as befell Ulysses, who, when he returned after his twenty years' wanderings to his native Ithaca, was recognised by nobody. Thus also those three gentlemen who had been so many years absent from their native city were recognised by none of their kins- folk, who were under the firm belief that they had all been dead for many a year past, as indeed had been 76 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY reported. Through the long duration and the hard- ships of their journeys, and through the many worries and anxieties that they had undergone, they were quite changed in aspect, and had got a certain in- describable smack of the Tartar both in air and accent, having indeed all but forgotten their Venetian tongue. Their clothes, too, were coarse and shabby, and of a Tartar cut." When they went to their house they were looked upon as impostors, but they devised a scheme which convinced their relatives that they were in very deed the men they declared themselves to be. " They invited a number of their kindred to an entertainment, which they took care to have prepared with great state and splendour in that house of theirs ; and when the hour arrived for sitting down to table they came forth of their chamber all three clothed in crimson satin, fashioned in long robes reaching to the ground, such as people in those days wore within doors. And when water for the hands had been served, and the guests were set, they took off those robes and put on others of crimson damask, whilst the first suits were by their orders cut up and divided among the servants. Then, after partaking of some of the dishes they went out again and came back in robes of crimson velvet, and when they had again taken their seats the second suits were divided as before. When dinner was over they did the like with the robes of velvet, after they had put on dresses of the ordinary fashion worn by the rest of the company. These proceedings caused much wonder and amazement among the guests. But when the INTO THE HEART OF ASIA 'j'j cloth had been drawn, and all the servants had been ordered to retire from' the dining hall, Messer Marco, as the youngest of the three, rose from table and, going into another chamber, brought forth the three shabby dresses of coarse stuff which they had worn when they first arrived. Straightway they took sharp knives and began to rip up some of the seams and welts, and to take out of them jewels of the greatest value in vast quantities, such as rubies, sapphires, carbuncles, dia- monds, and emeralds, which had all been stitched up in those dresses in so artful a fashion that nobody could have suspected the fact. For when they took leave of the Great Khan they had changed all the wealth that he had bestowed upon them into this mass of rubies, emeralds, and other jewels, being well aware of the impossibility of carr5Aing with them so great an amount of gold over a journey of such extreme length and difficulty. Now, this exhibition of such a huge treasure of jewels and precious stones, all tumbled out upon the table, threw the guests into fresh amazement, insomuch that they seemed quite bewildered and dumbfounded. And now they recognised that, in spite of aU former doubts, these were in truth those honoured and worthy gentlemen of the Ca' Polo that they claimed to be ; and so all paid them the greatest honour and reverence." So runs the story as Ramusio tells it. Later came that fierce sea fight against Lampa Doria, captain of the Genoese fleet, when Marco Polo, who volunteered to join the fleet of Venice, was placed in charge of one of the galleys. He fought with courage in defence of his country, but was captured, put into irons, and 78 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY sent to Genoa. As we have seen, it was there that he told his story to the prisoners tUl he was weary, and then at their desire committed it to writing in the Latin tongue. Ransom was refused again and again, but the fame which his book brought him among the astonished citizens of Genoa did what money coidd not do. The gentlemen of Genoa petitioned for his release, and he was set free after an imprisonment of four years. It was in 1299 that he returned to Venice.' Soon after his arrival there, Marco Polo was appointed a member of the Grand Council, and held that honourable position until his death in 1323. He travelled no more after his return from Genoa. It is said that his book created an immense sensation wherever it was read. The scholars of the time looked upon it as a daring concoction, and refused to believe that he had seen what he there described. Indeed, even when he lay on his deathbed, they implored him for his soul's sake to withdraw the statements he had invented when writing down startling adventures and strange stories, but he refused, and died asserting to the last that what he had written he had witnessed with his own eyes, and that he had not told one half of what he had really seen. Even this did not convince men, and for years — for centuries, indeed — scholars declared strong doubt that Marco Polo was ever in Tartary or China, and that the whole story was a clumsy imposture.^ The doubts thrown upon Polo's truthfulness were, however, removed in course of time. Missionaries who went forth towards the East found that what he 1 Col. H. Yule, The Book of Ser Marco Polo. IKTO THE HEART OF ASIA 79 said of the countries which they worked in was true, and travellers who were more venturesome and pene- trated those lands of which Marco Polo wrote, discovered that his accounts were marvellously correct, and worthy of credence even in matters of minute detail. Colonel Sir Henry Yule, whose book concerning Marco Polo's work is justly deemed the best that has yet been written, says that Marco Polo has been universally recognised as the " King of Mediaeval Travellers," and that this recognition is due " rather to the width of his experience, the vast compass of his journeys, and the romantic nature of his personal history, than to transcendent superiority of character or capacity." Colonel Yule will not hear of the suggestion that has been made, that Marco Polo deserves to be placed side by side with Christopher Columbus. Nevertheless he points to the fact that Marco Polo has real, indisputable, and unique claims to glory as a traveller. He sets forth those claims in the following manner : He was the first traveller to trace a route across the ■whole longitude of Asia, naming and describing kingdom after kingdom which he had seen with his own eyes ; the Deserts of Persia, the flowering plateaux and wild gorges of Badakhshan, the jade-hearing rivers of Khotan, the Mongolian Steffes, cradle of the -power that had so lately threatened to swallow up Christendom, the new and brilliant Court that had been established at Cambaluc. The first traveller to reveal China in all its wealth and vastness, its mighty rivers, its hUge cities, its rich manu- factures, its swarming population, the inconceivably vast fleets that quickened its seas and its inland waters ; to tell 8o THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY us of the nations on its borders with all their eccentricities of manners and worship, of Tibet with its sordid devotees, of Burma with its golden pagodas and their tinkling crowns, of Laos, of Si am, of Cochin China, of Japan. the Eastern Thule, with its rosy -pearls and golden-roofed palaces ; the first to speak of that Museum of Beauty and Wonder, still so imperfectly ransacked, the Indian Archi- pelago, source of those aromatics then so highly prized, and whose origin was so dark ; of Java, the Pearl of Islands: of Sumatra, with its many kings, its strange costly products, and its cannibal races; of the naked savages of Nicobar and Andaman ; of Ceylon, the Isle of Gems, with its Sacred Mountain and its Tomb of Adam; of India the Great, not as a dream-land of Alexandrian fables, but as a country seen and partially explored, with its virtuous Brahmans, its obscene ascetics, its diamonds and the strange tales of their acquisition, its sea-beds of pearl, and its powerful sun ; the first in medieval times to give any distinct account of the secluded, Christian Empire of Abyssinia, and the semi-Christian Island of Socotra ; to speak, though indeed dimly, of Zanzibar, with its negroes and its ivory, and of the vast and distant Madagascar, bordering on the dark ocean of the South, with its Rue and other monstrosities ; and, in a remotely opposite region, of Siberia and the Arctic Ocean, of dog-sledges, white bears, and reindeer-riding Tunguses. Colonel Yule, after this fine summary of the traveller's work, adds : " That all this rich catalogue of discoveries should belong to the revelations of one man and one book is surely ample enough to account for and to justify the author's high place in the roll of fame, and INTO THE HEART OF ASIA 8i there can be no need to exaggerate his greatness, or to invest him with imaginary attributes." Strangely enough, while Marco Polo contributed such an immense amount of knowledge as to the hitherto unknown Asia, telling the world what that great con- tinent was like, what its people did, and a thousand wonders that he had seen, no one seemed in a hurry to visit those lands in the heart of Asia. Looking upon his account of his travels as an extraordinary exaggera- tion, they placed no importance on what he said. It is suggested that one reason for the lack of enterprise in following up his travels was the fact that the print- ing-press had not been invented, so that no enthusiasm was aroused, since those who were fortunate enough in reading Polo's manuscript declared that it was not worthy of credence. Yet it had one effect — it created a passion among some for undertaking great sea ventures of discovery, which resulted in two of the greatest voyages of history — that of the Portuguese round the Cape of Good Hope, in the endeavour to find a sea-way to India, and Colum- bus's voyage across the Atlantic to find India, and in the searching finding a New World instead. CHAPTER VIII. PRINCE HENRY THE NAVIGATOR. IN 1428 Dom Pedro, of the Royal House of Portugal, went on a diplomatic visit to Venice, and among the presents which he brought back with him was a valuable manuscript of Marco Polo, which the Signoria of the great Italian cit}^ had given to him. When King Dom Manoel saw it he ordered the book to be translated into Portuguese, and among the most eager readers was Prince Henry of Portugal, better known in these days as Prince Henry the Navigator. Forthwith he was fired with enthusiasm, and deter- mined to find this Asia which Marco Polo had travelled through, not by land but by sea. He looked at the rude maps which were then at his disposal, and believed that it must be possible. He had in mind the reports of the journeys of the Phcenicians by sea round the Dark Continent, and the result of his speculations was, that he was convinced that India could be reached that way ; and more than that, he was determined to make the attempt to reach it himself. But there were infinite difficulties in his way. As one writer reminds us,i the compass, though known - R. H. Majrr, Prince Henry the Navigator, PRINCE HENRY THE NAVIGATOR 83 and in use, had not yet given men the courage to put out into the open sea and leave the shore. No sea- chart existed to guide the mariner along those perilous African coasts, no lighthouse reared its friendly head to warn him. " The scientific and practical appliances which were to render possible the discovery of half a world had yet to be developed. But, with such objects in view, the prince collected the information supplied by ancient geographers, unweariedly devoted himself to the study of mathematics, navigation, and cartography, and freely invited, with princely liberality of reward, the co-operation of the boldest and most skilful navi- gators of every country." Ten years before Prince Henry saw the manuscript of Marco which Don Pedro had brought back with him from Venice, the young prince began to puzzle out the possibilities of reaching India by some other way than that which was ordinarily taken by the traders, namely, down the Red Sea and past the Persian coast. If for no other reason, the East Indies were of inestimable importance from the commercial standpoint, because Europe was largely dependent on the East for most of the luxuries of life. As Mr. Jacobs reminds us in his admirable little book. The Story of Geographical Discovery, "nothing produced by the looms of Europe cotdd equal the sUk of China, the calico of India, the muslin of Mussul. The chief gems which decorated the crowns of kings and nobles, the emerald, the topaz, the ruby, the diamond, all came from the East — mainly from India. The whole of mediaeval, medical science was derived from the Arabs, who brought most of 84 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY their drugs from Arabia or India. Even for the incense which burned upon the innumerable altars of Roman Catholic Europe, merchants had to seek the materials in the Levant. For many of the more refined handi- crafts, artists had to seek their best material from Eastern traders ; such as shellac for varnish, or mastic for artists' colours (gamboge from Cambodia, ultra- marine from lapis lazuli) ; while it was often necessary, under mediaeval circumstances, to have resort to the musk or opopanax of the East to counteract the odours resulting from the bad sanitary habits of the West. But above all, for the condiments which were almost necessary for health, and certainly desirable for season- ing the salted food of winter and the salted fish of Lent, Europeans were dependent upon the spices of the Asiatic islands." This was an inducement to any venturesome spirit to find a new way for bringing such luxuries directly into Portugal, rather than by the slow and uncertain journey across the Isthmus of Suez. But Prince Henry of Portugal thought as much of the glory that would come from the explorer's standpoint as from that of commerce. He was desirous of conquering the ocean, and discovering its secrets. At first his thoughts went to the West Coast of Africa, but as time went on a greater ambition possessed him, namely, " the hope of reaching India by the south point of Africa " ; and being a true Catholic, he was eager to spoil the followers of Mahomet, who seemed to hold the real commerce of the world in their hands. If once he could get round to India by ship, then he would PRINCE HENRY THE NAVIGATOR 85 set every sailor in Portugal busy in cutting out the Arab traders. The Moors were already being hated in Spain, because the wealth and luxury were in their hands ; and while men were eager to see them driven out, Prince Henry of Portugal formed the idea of ruining their trade with the East, and searching for a passage to India by the sea.i But so far that was deemed little more than a dream, and while the prince pondered over it, hoping some day to make it a reality, he turned his attention to West Africa. The Moors brought immense wealth across the desert by their caravans, and carried it over the sea into Spain, and gathering what information he could obtain as to the places with which they traded, he came to the conclusion that he could enter the same markets by sailing down the western coast of Africa. No one seemed to know much about the coast, and at the most all that the prince could find out was that some mariners had certainly sailed as far down as Cape Bojador. He thereupon estabhshed himself at Sagres, a rocky pro- montory on the southern coast of Portugal. " It was a small peninsula, the rocky surface of which showed no sign of vegetation, except a few stunted juniper trees, to relieve the sadness of a waste of shifting sand," and there he thought out his schemes for exploring the African coast, and finding the sea-road to India. He obtained the services of Mestre Jacome, of Majorca, " a man very skilful in the art of navigation and in making of maps and instruments." About him also he gathered skilled mariners and those who were ready ' R. H. Major, Prince Henry the Navigator. 86 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY to master the principles of navigation, and were willing to further his schemes. With them he studied un- wearyingly, and did what could be done in order to perfect the instruments that were necessary for bold voyaging away from land. He also studied the maps of men like Eratosthenes and other ancient geographers, becoming more and more sure that there must be a way to India, where, it was believed by all in Europe, the world's wealth was stored. But the first question to solve was this : Did the coast of Africa run a long distance to the south, or did it make a semicircular sweep to the east, as Eratosthenes' map indicated ? And what was more, was it true that farther south than was at present known the heat was so great that men could not live in it ? From time to time voyages were undertaken in that unknown sea to the south, which washed the shores of Africa ; but all Prince Henry's suggestions and plans were disapproved of by his self-constituted advisers, who professed to believe that he was flying in the face of Providence when trying to discover what lay beyond Cape Non, which was the limit, so they said, put by God to the ambition of man. But the prince persisted, with the result that various new spots were made known, and among them was the discovery of the Azores and Madeira. The ventures were not the wild endeavours of men who trusted to chance, but were undertaken on sound principles. As Pedro Nunes said : " Now, it is evident that these discoveries of coasts, islands, and mainland -were not made without nautical intelligence, but our sailors went out very well taught and provided with PRINCE HENRY THE NAVIGATOR 87 instruments and rules of astrology and geometry, which, as Ptolemy says in the first book of his geography, are things with which cosmographers ought to be ac- quainted." In course of time Dom Pedro came back from Venice with the manuscript of Marco Polo, and, as we have seen, it fired Prince Henry's ambition afresh to push on with his schemes for reaching India. For years, says Mr. Major, the prince had, with untiring perseverance, con- tinued to send out annually two or three caravels along the west coast of Africa. Cape Non — which so many of his advisers dreaded to approach — was passed, but the increasing violence of the waves that broke upon the dangerous northern bank of Cape Bojador had till now prevented his sailors from rounding its formidable point. As yet they feared to venture out of sight of land, and risk their lives upon the unknown waters of the Sea of Darkness.^ But the offer of a substantial reward to every sailor on the ship which passed the point of land yet reached farthest south stimulated the courage of the prince's mariners, and proved successful. The result was a constant but slow, yet sure, creeping southwards year by year. Cape Bojador was reached in this manner in 1433, and in 1435 Gonsalves Baldaya went 150 miles beyond it. When Baldaya returned and told the prince that he had seen no men on the shore, but had found traces of camels and men, he was sent south the following year, and went 210 miles beyond the previous point, thus arriving at " the mouth of a large river with many good ' Prince Henry the Navigator. 88 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY anchorages." Two youths of seventeen years were landed, and, mounted on the horses that were brought by the ship, they rode inland, found a score of men who fought with them, but were defeated ; but neither the fight nor subsequent search by the sailors led to any knowledge of the people, who fled on their approach. Space does not permit of any detailed account of the many voyages that were undertaken under the auspices of this enthusiastic geographer. In 1442 a trading company was established at Lagos. It was in this way that one headland after another was passed, and the coast scientificaUy mapped out. Whatever else was done, the old idea that Cape Non was the end of all things was disproved, for land and sea were shown to extend indefinitely towards the south. Not only so, in 1455 Cadamosto, who commanded one of these ex- peditions for the prince, sailed 280 miles up the Senegal, and also reached the mouth of the Gambia. In the year of Henry's death, the Cape Verde Islands were dis- covered. When Prince Henry died, the way to India appeared to be no nearer to discovery. Yet everyone who has studied the career of this great geographer is convinced that he rendered services which resulted in discoveries which can never be truly estimated at their full value. Prince Henry's navigators only visited the coasts of Western Africa, and did not go beyond Sierra Leone. But he set men on the move, as it were, and awoke ambitions which resulted in the rounding of the Cape of Good Hope in later years ; and later still, in laying open the sea-way to India, the Moluccas, and China, the circumnavigation PRINCE HENRY THE NAVIGATOR 89 of the globe became an accomplished fact, and later yet Australia, unsuspected, became known. " Such were the stupendous results of a great thought and of in- domitable perseverance, in spite of twelve years of costly failure and disheartening ridicule." A monument, which was erected at Sagres, where he planned his schemes, bears an inscription which goes to show how far-reaching his work became. It runs as follows : " Sacred For Ever. In this Place the Great Prince Henry, son of John i.. King of Portugal, having undertaken to discover the previously unknown regions of West Africa, and also to open a way by the circumnavigation of Africa to the remotest parts of the East, established at his own cost his Royal Palace, the famous School of Cosmography, the Astronomical Observatory, and the Naval Arsenal, preserving, improv- ing, and enlarging the same till the close of his life with admirable energy and perseverance, and to the greatest benefit of the kingdom, of literature, of religion, and of the whole human race. After reaching by his expeditions the eighth degree of north latitude, and discovering and planting Portuguese colonies in many islands of the Atlantic, this great prince died on the 13th of November 1460. Three hundred and seventy-nine years after his death, Maria 11., Queen of Portugal and the Algarves, commanded that this monument should be erected to the memory of the illustrious prince, her kinsman, the 90 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY Viscount de Sd da Bandeira being Minister of Marine. 1839" Achievements like these have won undying fame for Prince Henry, for thus he laid the foundations for world-wide commerce for his country, and gave an impetus to navigation which led men on to the discovery of half the world. CHAPTER IX. ROUND THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE. WHEN Prince Henry died there was a strong desire on the part of those who were associated with him to carry on his work. The consequence was that expeditions went forth from time to time, each doing more in the way of discovery than its prede- cessors, so that by the year 147 1 the Portuguese ships were exploring the Gold Coast. The King of Portugal — Affonso V. — encouraged the voyages, because they promised weU commercially, and it is asserted that he rented the trade of the African coast to one named Femam Gomez for 500 cruzados a year for five years, reserving the ivory trade for himself. But Gomez also had to sign a bond to explore 300 miles of coast annually, the point at which he was to commence being Sierra Leone. Gomez undertook the task, and made immense wealth by the transaction, since he traded in gold dust, which the natives brought to him from the interior. Slave trading also was carried on somewhat freely. In 1484 there was a strong desire to know how far the coast extended- southwards. Already Cape St. Catherine had been reached, and natives told of lands 91 92 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY \ far south which roused the cupidity of the traders. Diego Cam set forth, and after a while found his ship "in a very strong current setting out from the land, which was still distant, though the water, when tasted, was found to be fresh." It proved to be, later on, the magnificent Congo, called by the natives Zaire. Diego Cam ascended the river for a few miles, but although he met the natives, even his interpreters could not understand them. The consequence was that he took some of the most intelligent looking, and sent them to Portugal to learn the Portuguese language, so that they might serve as interpreters some time hence. When they arrived in Lisbon the king had them taught carefully, meanwhile adding to his own titles that of Lord of Guinea. After two years' stay at Lisbon the Congo nobles, as we find them termed, were taken back to their African home, where the king of the country received them with every token of joy, and gave to the Portuguese mariners an enthusiastic welcome, at the same time embracing Christianity. The Portuguese priests offended the king and his people by insisting on the renunciation of their many wives and only retaining one wife, where- upon His Majesty refused any longer to be a Christian. His eldest son, however, did as the missionaries com- manded, but when the old king died, and he should have succeeded on the throne, the nation rose in rebellion, declaring for polygamy and paganism. In the civil war which followed, the young king, Alphonso, was victorious, and secured his position, giving the mis- sionaries every opportunity to preach to the people. ROUND THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE 93 The natives were ready enough to Hsten and to be baptized, but would not renounce their ancient habits and superstitions. The priests introduced the Inquisition, and one of them, meeting one of the queens while she was walking abroad, beat her so severely with a whip that she promised at once to become a Christian. On her return to her husband's palace she told her story, with the result that, although they maintained their position, the missionaries found their task increasingly difficult. Eventually the people lapsed into heathenism. "While Diego Cam was endeavouring to consolidate the Portuguese influence in this part of Africa the King of Benin, hearing of the Portuguese, sent an ambassador to the King of Portugal asking for mis- sionaries. His real object, however, was to strengthen his hands against his enemies ; so that when his request was responded to, the missionaries did not succeed as they had hoped. Meanwhile, however, the negro ambassador told the king at Lisbon^ "that, eastward of Benin, some 350 leagues in the interior, lived a powerful monarch named Ogane, who held both temporal and spiritual dominion over all the neighbouring kings ; and the King of Benin, on his own elevation to the throne, sent him an embassy with rich presents, and received from him the investiture and insignia of sovereignty. These latter consisted of a staff and cap of shining brass by way of sceptre and crown, with a cross of brass. . . . The ambassadors never saw this monarch during the whole term of their ^ Major, Prince Henry the Navigator. 94 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY stay at his court. Only, on the day of audience he showed one of his feet, which they kissed with reverence as something holy." This story set everyone wondering as to whether this strange monarch was Prester John. It was common talk in Europe during the Middle Ages that somewhere there reigned a great prince of this name, who was a Christian. Many said that he was in the interior of Asia, reigning over some Mongol tribes. Others said that he was the Dalai Lama of Tibet, but the Portuguese, hearing this story from the ambassador of the King of Benin, firmly believed that the Prince Ogane must be Prester John, and made great efforts to find him. This search after Prester John is " in the annals of maritime discovery what the alchemists' pursuit after the great Arcanum was in chemistry." King Joao determined that he should be sought for both by land and sea ; and consequently travellers were sent out in two different directions. Bearing in mind the immense distance in the interior — 350 leagues — His Majesty concluded that the journey by land might be attempted on the eastern side by way of the Red Sea. Consequently Pedro de Covilham and Alphonso de Pa5rva were sent forth, and, travelling first to Alex- andria and Cairo and thence to Aden, they parted to prosecute their search in two different directions, agreeing to meet at Cairo by a certain date. Covilham sailed eastward towards India, De Payva going westwards to Abyssinia. Unfortunately he died, but Covilham, going as far as India, and touching at Goa, becoming thereby the first man from Portugal ROUND THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE 95 to sail the Indian Ocean, returned to Africa, landing in Sofala, where there were some gold mines. On his journey he gained what he thought would be more welcome news to his king than the iinding of Prester John. He had actually been to India, and could tell the way, and tell also what chances there were of trade in that direction ; consequently, when he had examined the gold mines he started for Cairo to meet De Payva, and send back word to Lisbon. But at Cairo he heard that his colleague was dead. De Payva's companions, however, were ready to return to Lisbon, and he sent a letter to His Majesty, in which were words to this effect : " The ships which sailed down the coast of Guinea might be sure of reaching the termination of the continent, by persisting in a course to the south ; and that when they should arrive in the eastern ocean their best direction must be to inquire for Sofala and the Island of the Moon," which was the name for Madagascar. The messengers came back from Lisbon as fast as the ship could carry them, bringing instructions. They proceeded to Ormuz and the coast of Persia, while CovUham travelled into Abyssinia to find Prester John. When he arrived at the Court of the Negus he could not get away again. The monarch found him so useful that he caused him to marry, and refused his consent for him to leave, so that he remained in Abyssinia till he died, thirty-three years later. " From his letter to King Joao it will be seen that to him is to be assigned the honour of the theoretical discovery of the Cape of Good Hope." The practical discovery was made by 96 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY Bartholomew Diaz and Da Gama.^ Unfortunately, Covilham did not gain the credit that was so much his due; while Diaz and Da Gama, acting on information afforded, received the honour. The man who points the way which circumstances render it impossible for him to take, surely deserves honour if his calculations prove to be correct. Even here, however, credit is also due to Prince Henry the Navigator, for he had persistently asserted his belief that there was a way round the south of Africa into the ocean which washed the shores of India. The story of the voyage of Bartholomew Diaz is too long to tell in detail. It was one of difficulty, for the storms seemed destined to beat him back ; but he persevered. When he came to Cape Voltas, south of the mouth of the Orange River, he and his companions " were driven before the wind for thirteen days, due south, with half-reefed sails, and were surprised to find a striking change in the temperature, the cold increasing greatly as they advanced. When the wind abated, Diaz, not doubting that the coast still ran north and south, as it had done hitherto, steered in an easterly direction with the view of striking it ; but finding that no land made its appearance, he altered his course for the north, and came upon a bay where were a number of cowherds tending their kine, who were greatly alarmed at the sight of the Portuguese, and drove their cattle inland." This bay is now known as Flesh Bay, near Gauritz River, 400 miles farther east than the Cape of Good Hope, which Diaz had, unknown to himself, '■ Major, Prince Henry the Navigator, ROUND THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE 97 rounded. Sailing east, the vessel arrived in Algoa Bay, where he followed the example set by other voyagers of erecting great pillars of stone surmounted by crosses wherever they landed. This particular cross was given the name of Santa Cruz, a name which is still in use. " This," says Major, " was the first land beyond the Cape which was trodden by European feet." But while Diaz was anxious to proceed, his men were loud in their demands to sail homewards. He compromised with them, and it was agreed to sail on for three days, and then see whether there was any- thing to promise repayment for further progress. They thus reached what is now called the Great Fish River, although the name then given was Rio de Infante, after Joas Infante, the captain of the second ship. When Diaz desired to proceed there were signs of mutiny, so that he had no choice but to return round the Cape of Good Hope, not then known as such, but which Diaz called Cabo Formentoso, or Stormy Cape, since he had rounded it in the midst of a furious storm. " When he reached Portugal, and made his report to the king, Joas II., foreseeing the realisation of the long-coveted passage to India, gave it the enduring name of Cape of Good Hope." This memorable voyage, from the time of starting tiU the return in December 1487, had lasted sixteen months and seventeen days, and Diaz had discovered no less than 1050 miles of coast. One can but admire the courage and skilful seamanship which dared and accompHshed so much, when it is remembered that the two ships which ventured so far and braved such perils 7 gS THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY in unknown waters were not more than fifty tons burthen each. Thirteen years later Diaz, having discovered Brazil, turned to the Cape of Good Hope. It was again beset with storm, and Diaz went down with his ship at the spot which won for him his glory as a navi- gator and a discoverer. CHAPTER X. ROUND THE CAPE TO THE GOLDEN EAST. THE surprising thing is, that while the Portuguese were so eager to discover the general shape and dimensions of the African continent, and, if possible, find the way by sea to India, no less than ten years should pass before any other ships went the way that Bartholomew Diaz and his companions had travelled. The explanation given, however, seems reasonable, the repeated illness of the king, and domestic loss through the death of his son, Prince Alfonso. Then came famine in the kingdom, and a plague which swept away the people by thousands, so that " the condition of the king's health and the personal anxieties accruing from the state of his kingdom, together with his domestic troubles, were of a nature to present serious obstacles to the development of those grander schemes which had been so vividly opened up to his ambition with respect to India." ^ To crown aU these unfortunate events, he died when he was but a young man of forty, in 1495. His successor, Manoel — or Emmanuel — never lost 1 Major, Prince Henry the Navigator. 99 100 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY sight of the benefit likely to accrue from pushing on the discoveries begun by Prince Henry the Navigator, and as soon as he was established in his throne he looked for an able navigator to attempt the passage to India by the newly discovered southern cape of Africa. Yet if the story told be true, the selection proved to be a fortunate chance rather than one which displayed the king's wisdom. The king, according to Pedro de Mariz, was gazing out of the windows of his palace one evening, meditating on those great schemes which had so occupied Joas ii., when he saw Vasco da Gama enter the court. He was a sailor of great reputation at the time, and had already sailed upon the African seas. Instantly the king declared that he had found the right man, and forthwith bade him make ready for the expedition, giving him the title of Cafitam mar. The monarch and the admiral discussed the arrange- ments, and the little fleet was got ready. It was to be composed of , four vessels of medium size, " in order that they may enter everywhere and again issue forth rapidly." They were well built, and solidly made to resist the storm, and we are told that they were pro- vided with a triple supply of sails and hawsers ; all the barrels destined to contain water, oil, or wine were strengthened with hoops of iron, provisions of aU kinds were provided, and ammunition and artillery in requisite quantities.^ The ships were ridiculously small for such a task as had been assigned, for while the smallest was of less than 50 tons, the largest was only 120 tons, and the ' Africa and its Exploration. FERDINAND MAGELLAN, THE FIRST EXPLORER TO SAIL ROUND THE WORLD. ROUND THE CAPE TO THE GOLDEN EAST loi crews of the four vessels, including ten criminals " who were put on board to be employed on any dangerous service," numbered not more than i6o men and boys. They set forth on Saturday, the 8th of July 1497, and on the 4th 'of November dropped anchor in the Bay of Santa-EUena, or St. Helena, to ship wood and water. They doubled the Cape of Good Hope afortnight later, and made the acquaintance of the natives, with whom, while friendly at first, they had some very unpleasant experi- ences. On the 17th of December the ships passed the spot beyond which the sailors of Diaz would not allow their captain to proceed ; and in spite of the strong current. Da Gama reached a spot on Christmas Day to which he gave the name of Natal. The natives on the coast at this part proved to be Kafhrs, and of far greater stature than the dwarfed Bushmen with whom the voyagers had quarrelled. Their weapons were assegais tipped with iron, but some carried bows and arrows. So well did the Portuguese get on with them that Da Gama marked the country in his map as the Land of Good People (Terra da Bon Gente). One writer 1 says that wherever Da Gama landed to make inquiries about CovUham and the Court of Prester John, he found the ports inhabited by fanatical Moors, who, as soon as they discovered that their visitors were Christians, attempted to destroy them, and refused to supply them with pilots for the farther voyage to India. Had it not been for this, some very profitable trans- actions would have followed, for the Mohammedan 1 Jacobs, Story of Geographical Discovery. 102 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY merchants who were there traded in gold and silver, cloth and spices, pearls and rubies. At first the viceroy greeted them kindly, but when he found that Da Gama and his men were Christians he resorted to treachery, with the intention of kiUing them. It came to fighting, and Da Gama only obtained water by levelling his cannon on the town, which stood on the Island of Mozambique, and declaring that he would fire into it if his demand was not met. Da Gama was fortunate in capturing two richly laden barks, the contents of which he divided among his crews. The ships by this time had been reduced to three, the San Gabriel of 120 tons, the San Raphael, 100 tons, and the Berrio, a caravel of 50 tons. A smaller craft had to be destroyed, since it did not seem equal to the storms by which they were beset at times. The Portuguese were in yet greater danger from the Moors, or Arabs, when they reached Mombaz, or Mombasa, on the 8th of April 1498. As they cast anchor a native vessel shot out of the port with a hundred armed men, and these demanded permission to come on board the Portuguese ships. But Da Gama, fearing treachery, refused, but promised to enter the harbour in the morning. The night was one of the gravest anxiety, for the most determined attempts were made, under the cover of the darkness, either to board the ship, or cut them adrift so that they might be wrecked. Da Gama and his captains, however, were alert, and their readiness for emergencies enabled them to frustrate every endeavour of the treacherous Moors. When morning broke the Portuguese weighed anchor and sailed away, thus destroying the plan of the King ROUND THE CAPE TO THE GOLDEN EAST 103 of Mombaz to capture them and send them into slavery. They had not been on the way many hours before they fell in with a Moorish ship laden with silver and gold, and what at that juncture were as precious, provisions and water. The next day Da Gama arrived at Melinda, " a rich and flourishing city, whose gilded minarets, sparkling in the sunshine, and whose mosques of dazzling whiteness, stood out against a sky of the most intense blue." There they met with a great welcome from the king, who honestly desired to enter into friendship with Da Gama's sovereign. Presents were exchanged, the king bringing with him on board the admiral's ship " a close-fitting damask robe, lined with green satin, and a very rich head-dress, two chairs of bronze with their cushions, a round sunshade of crimson satin fastened to a pole, a sword in a silver scabbard, several trumpets, and two of a peculiar form made of elaborately carved ivory as high as a man, to be played at a hole in the middle." But Da Gama declined to go ashore, lest this should merely blind him to any contemplated treachery, his excuse being that " he was not permitted by his sove- reign to land." On the 24th of April he sailed for Calicut on the Malabar coast in South India — a daring feat in days like those, when navigation lacked so much in the matter of accurate instruments. But he reached it safely, and cast anchor on Sunday, the 20th of May 1498. Samudri-Raja, king of the coast, but called by the voyagers Zamorin, was anxious to see Da Gama, but the Arabs who were there displayed the intensest dislike. They foresaw some powerful competitors for 104 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY the trade of India, which had so far been in their own hands. They dealt on their own terms with the Vene- tians and Genoese, and with the French and Spaniards ; but here were men who had been heard of in Africa, keen in business, and likely to injure them greatly. Vasco da Gama is not free from blame in his dealings with the Arabs. These latter had taken some of his men prisoners when they established a factory, where- upon Da Gama seized a dozen Indians and held them as hostages for the safety of his countrymen, which was reasonable enough ; but when Diaz and his comrades were released and were safely on board, he only sent back six of the Indians. It was his intention to take the others back to Portugal, declaring that he would bring them back again. When he set sail his ships only got a league away from land when they were becalmed, and the Hindoos and Arabs coming out in large numbers a fight began, which was only ended by a storm which drove Da Gama out to sea. It is supposed that meanwhile the captives died or took their lives rather than suffer themselves to be carried away from their native-land. The king of the coast had been kind in every way. He had sent a letter by Da Gama to the King of Portugal which ran thus : " Vasco da Gama, a nobleman of your household, has visited my kingdom, which has given me great pleasure. In my kingdom there is abundance of cinnamon, cloves, ginger, pepper, and precious stones in great quantities. What I seek from thy country is gold, silver, coral, and scarlet." Da Gama sailed northwards, thinking that he had ROUND THE CAPE TO THE GOLDEN EAST 105 parted with the people of Calicut, but a few days later several vessels came in pursuit. Fortunately for the Portuguese, there was no further fighting, misfortune coming to their pursuers, seven of whose ships ran aground. When, after a while. Da Gama ran his ships on shore to caulk them, he was attacked by pirates, who were driven off by the ships' guns. On the 5 th of October the Portuguese ships sailed westwards, but the voyage lasted for three long months, because of " the frequent calms and contrary winds." In many ways that journey from India to Africa proved disastrous. The men feU ill of scurvy, thirty of them died, and others were helpless in their bunks, so that at one time " there were only left seven or eight men to work each vessel, and if the voyage had lasted a fort- night longer there would not have been a soul left." Happily they touched the coast, and obtained fresh provisions on the 2nd of January 1499. In a few days more they were made welcome at Melinda, where for five days they received the greatest kindness. The remainder of the journey homewards was in every way more pleasing. Instead of finding enemies among the natives, they met with friendly greetings, but their numbers so diminished that the San Raphael was burnt, since there were not men enough to work three ships. It was not until August that the siirvivors arrived in Lisbon, a whole year having gone since they had left the shores of India. " In that important voyage (Da Gama) had lost his brother, more than half his crew, and half his vessels, but he brought back the solution of a great problem which was destined to raise his io6 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY country to the very acme of prosperity." When the King of Portugal showered his honours upon him, it was on a man who. had done great things for the national glory ; and the effects of that historic voyage were great indeed. The discovery of the way to India by the Cape of Good Hope, says one, was almost immediately the cause of a great commercial revolution. It turned the trade of India into a new channel, depriving the Venetians, the Genoese, and other states or peoples, of the advan- tages they had derived from it so long as it had been carried on by the Persian Gulf, the Red vSea, across Persia and Asia Minor, or across Egypt and the Isthmus of Suez, and thence by the Mediterranean to the European shores. It placed all the valuable part of that great commerce in the hands of the Portuguese discoverers and conquerors, who, by their possession of Malacca, secured the trade of the Indian Archipelago, and by their settlements at Goa, Diu, and other ports on the Malabar coast, monopolised the commerce with Europe during the sixteenth century. From the day the Portu- guese established this monopoly the Italians began to decline rapidly in wealth and prosperity ; and as it was with the Portuguese and Italians, so will it be with every people that gains or loses the control over the trade of the Golden East.^ " When this news reached Venice," says the Vene- tian chronicler, " the whole city felt it greatly, and remained stupefied, and the wisest held it as the worst news that had ever arrived." The trade which Marco 1 Macfarlane, History of British India. ROUND THE CAPE TO THE GOLDEN EAST 107 Polo had made possible was not only threatened, but began from that day to fall away. Other ventures followed which seemed to consolidate the trade of Portugal with the East Indies ; and as Mr. Jacobs says, " the Indian Ocean became, for all trade purposes, a Portuguese lake throughout the sixteenth century. . . . But they only possessed their monopoly for fifty years, for in 1580 the Spanish and Portuguese crowns became united on the head of Philip 11., and by the time Portugal recovered its independence, in 1668, serious rivals had' arisen to compete with her and Spain for the monopoly of the Eastern trade." CHAPTER XL FINDING THE NEW WORLD. WHILE the Portuguese were persistently pressing forward in their search for the way to India round the southern point of Africa, Christopher Columbus was declaring his belief that another way lay across the Atlantic, since it was admitted that the. world was round. It is true that the admission was only made half-heartedly even by the most learned, and when it came to be put to the test many began to express doubts on the very point they had declared their belief in. Not one of them all would have accepted the challenge to sail the unknown seas and put the question beyond dispute by attempting a voyage round the globe. But Christopher Columbus, who was born at Genoa in 1435, believed in such a possibility heart and soul. He was a sailor by the time he was fourteen years old, and continued such until he was nearly thirty-five, when he went to Portugal, " the country to which adventurous spirits from all parts of the world then resorted, as the great theatre of maritime enterprise." ^ He had heard of the Portuguese voyages along the coast of Africa, 1 Prescott, Ferdinand and Isabella. 108 FINDING THE NEW WORLD 109 and desired to take part in them, which he did for a long series of years. While in Portugal he married the daughter of Barthol- omew Perestrella, who was somewhat famous as a sailor, and when his mother-in-law handed to him her dead husband's papers, maps, and nautical instruments, he began to study them closely. Columbus was also an observant man, and when from time to time various things were washed upon the shores of Portugal, which were not to be found in Europe or Africa, he formed the idea that there must be some land beyond the seas which was yet unknown to Europeans. Pines, bamboos, the seeds of plants unknown, even two corpses of men " whose physiognomy and features differed entirely from those of European or African countries, only served to convince Columbus more than ever that there was land beyond the seas." He was still more convinced when he recalled the fact that the ancients believed in the existence of land in the Atlantic. Putting together his arguments, he set forth the follow- ing points as proof that there was land on the other side of the ocean : First, natural reason, or conclusions drawn from science ; secondly, the authority of writers, ancient chiefly ; and thirdly, the testimony of sailors, compre- hending, in addition to popular rumours of land de- scribed in western voyages, such relics as appeared to have floated to the European shores from the other side of the Atlantic.! Some writers, moreover, had written fanciful books or letters suggesting an unknown land. ' Footnote in Prescott, Ferdinand and Isabella. no THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY In addition to these, Columbus had read Marco Polo's book and Sir John MandeviUe's story of his travels, and came to the conclusion that since these travellers believed in the great extent of land in Asia towards the East, those lands could not reaUy be very far across the Atlantic. Maps that were in existence, too, seemed to encourage Columbus in this belief, and he made bold to propose to the King of Portugal a voyage to the West. The king consulted a council of " great mathematicians and geographers," who " treated the question as an extravagant absurdity." This was discouraging, not to Columbus only but to the king, who called together a larger council of learned men ; but these also ridiculed the idea. The king, however, was certainly dishonest. He had the plans which Columbus had prepared, and secretly fitting out a caravel, sent the ship to sea with orders to put the matter to the test. The sailors, however, returned because of storms, and Columbus, angry at such a dishonest course, left Lisbon in disgust and went to Spain. Unfortunately, the king and queen were at war with the Moors at the time, and could not attend to him as fully as they might otherwise have done. Stni, they gave his scheme some attention, and requested Fernando de Talavera, prior of Prado, to discuss the matter with Columbus, and report. Talavera did as desired, and put the question before a council of the most eminent scholars in the kingdom. These discussed the scheme in a most leisurely fashion, quite believing that time was no object, so that years went by and no conclusion FINDING THE NEW WORLD in was arrived at. Some held up the scheme to ridicule ; some believed it, and privately urged their Majesties to encourage Columbus. They did so in an indifferent way, by tailing him that when the war with the Moors was over they would consider his proposal to send an expedition to the West. Utterly discouraged, Columbus determined to apply elsewhere, and went so far as to send his brother Bartholomew to England, and ask the support of Henry VII. The English king was willing to hear what Columbus had to say, and sent for him, to learn more of the strange enterprise ; but his invitation came too late. While Columbus, despairing of any help from the Spanish sovereigns, started for France to see the monarch of that kingdom, he called at the convent of La Rabida, of which Juan Perez was prior. Perez, believing in his scheme, persuaded his guest to remain while he himself went to see the king and queen, who were in the camp outside of Granada, which they were besieging. He pleaded so well that Columbus was sent for, and an opportunity was afforded him of setting forth his plans and arguments to the sovereigns. Prescott says that Columbus endeavoured to stimu- late the cupidity of his audience by picturing the realms of Mangi and Cathay, which he confidently expected to reach by the western route, in all the barbaric splendour which had been shed over them by the lively fancy of Marco Polo and other travellers of the Middle Ages ; and he concluded with appeaUng to a higher principle, by holding out the prospect of extending the Empire of the Cross over nations of benighted heathen, while he 112 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY proposed to devote the profits of hisj enterprise to the recovery of the Holy Sepulchre.^ His eloquence and this special pleading roused the queen to action, and she promised him substantial help. The king, however, prejudiced from the first, pro- tested that Columbus laid down conditions which could not possibly be granted ; but Columbus, refusing to modify his proposals, withdrew and went away. On the road, however, he was overtaken by a messenger from the queen, and requested to return ; and on his doing so he was enabled to undertake his voyage of discovery. " By the terms of the capitulation, Ferdi- nand and Isabella, as lords of the ocean seas, constituted Christopher ' Columbus their admiral, viceroy, and governor-general of all such islands and continents as he should discover in the Western Ocean ; with the privilege of nominating three candidates, for the selection of one by the crown, for the government of each of these territories. He was to be vested with exclusive right of jurisdiction over all commercial transactions within his admiralty. He was to be entitled to one-tenth of all the products and profits within the limits of his discoveries, and an additional eighth provided he should contribute one-eighth part of the expense." ^ This was all on parchment ; but the new lands had yet to be discovered, and the perilous voyage had still to be undertaken. On the 3rd day of August 1492 Columbus set sail from Palos harbour with two caravels, or light vessels without decks, and a third of larger burden, while the crews numbered 120 men. Perhaps ■■ Prescott, Ferdinand and Isabella. " Ibid. FINDING THE NEW WORLD 113 in the whole history of the world there had never been a great enterprise which presented more difficulties, or a more persistent determination to overcome them. The voyage thus begun has beer; fittingly referred to as " unprecedented and perilous." For seventy-one days Columbus kept his ships sailing always to the West. He knew that he had left behind him thousands who declared him presumptuous, while others affirmed that at the end of his voyage he would find, not land, but a mountain of water up which no vessel could sail. But he persevered in spite of it all ; in spite, too, of the opposition raised by the fears of his pilots and the mutinous conduct of the crew. On the 21st of Sep- tember the men demanded that the ships should be turned for Europe, since they would proceed no farther, and so threatening was their attitude towards the admiral that it seemed to him that concession was necessary in order to escape death. More than once the men declared that they would toss him overboard, but he withstood them boldly, and protested that until he had gone farther into the West he would not give up his task. The sailors, finding in his indomitable courage something to admire, returned to their tasks, and before long, when hope had almost died out of Columbus himself, and he began to fear that his men were right in demanding a return home, the sea brought tokens which made the most rebellious hesitate, and own that after all the admiral might be right. For on the waters herbage, fresh and green, as if but just now torn away from its growing place, floated by. Then came fruits, dancing on the waves, and branches of thorn with 114 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY berries on them, and reeds, not soddened by long im- mersion in the sea, and more than all a staff which had been carved by the hand of men. Columbus pointed to them, and argued that as the drift came always from the West there must be land on which the herbage grew, and man, or otherwise that carved staff could not have been where they found it. Before long the land came within view. In the early dawn of Friday, 12th October, Rodrigo Friana, who was the look-out on board the Pinta, set up a shout of " Land ! " A gun was fired aS the signal. The ships lay-to, and the sailors saw before them the flat and densely wooded shores. Then followed music and jubilee ; and just at sunrise Columbus himself first stepped ashore, shook out the royal banner of Castile in the presence of the wondering natives, and named the land San Salvador. Columbus believed that he had reached India, and little thought, when he fell on his knees and kissed the earth, that he kissed the soil of the New World. " That discovery," said the president of the Royal Geographical Society,! " was without any doubt the most momentous event since the fall of the Roman Empire, in its effect on the world's history. In its bearing on our science, the light thrown across the Sea of Darkness by the great Genoese was nothing less than the creation of modern geography." Columbus had fully established the truth of his long-contested theory that there was land beyond the sea, and he had done so in the face of argument, sophistry, sneer, scepticism, and contempt.^ 1 Sir Clements Markham. ^ Prescott, Ferdinand and Isabella. FINDING THE NEW WORLD 115 The land on which Columbus had landed was an island which the natives called Guanahain, but thinking it India, he called the people Indians. The natives wore thin plates of gold in their ears, and when ques- tioned as to where the precious metal was obtained they answered, " From the West." Finding that Guanahain was but an island, he continued his voyage, and found the islands of Concepcion, Cuba, and Hayti, and others. On the shore of the Bay of Caracola, Columbus built the first fort ever erected in the New World by Europeans. It was built out of the timbers of the Santa Maria. Having seen enough to prove that his enterprise had been warranted by events, Columbus commenced his journey homewards in January 1493. I-eaving some of his men in the new colony, which was named La Navidad, he began a voyage which proved to be troublesome by reason of the trade winds. One writer says that the discovery of the trade winds alone would have been sufficient to make Columbus famous. The ancients, he points out, were entirely unacquainted with these permanent breezes, and though maritime adventure had been largely prosecuted by the Portu- guese, they had not penetrated into the region of the Trades. Proceeding cautiously along the shores of Barbary, they had explored the coasts of Africa, but in hugging the coasts in that manner they did not enter the district of the north and south-east trade winds. Columbus, however, on his voyage of discovery, fell in with the north trade winds soon after he had left the Canary Islands, " and for the first time a sail from the ii6 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY Old World swelled before the steady breath of the northern tropic. This circumstance, favourable to the success of his expedition, speedily excited the appre- hensions of his crew, who found themselves borne, day after day, by a permanent breeze, farther from their native shores, and inferred the impossibility of returning, as they observed no change in its direction." ^ Columbus overcame these difficulties by fine seaman- ship, and at length, on the i8th of February, he landed on the island of St. Mary's, only to be arrested by the orders of the King of Portugal. No doubt chagrin at having been deprived of the glory of playing some part in the great discovery led the monarch to listen to his courtiers, but he eventually apologised and liberated the admiral, who went at once to the Coxirt of Ferdinand and Isabella, where he received a magnificent reception. He had brought back with him specimens of the products of the New World. Prescott the historian, in his elo- quent description of historic events in those far-back days, tells how Columbus was accompanied by several of the native islanders, arrayed in their simple barbaric costume, and decorated, as he passed through the principal cities, with collars, bracelets, and other orna- ments of gold, rudely fashioned. He exhibited also considerable quantities of the same metal in dust or in crude masses. Among the specimens was one great lump of gold, out of which was fashioned a vessel for sacred uses. There were also vegetable exotics possessed of aromatic or medicinal virtue, and several kinds of quadrupeds unknown in Europe, and birds whose ^ Gallery of Nature. FINDING THE NEW WORLD 117 varieties of gaudy plumage gave a brilliant effect to the pageant. 1 Mrtierever the admiral went — through town or city — he was applauded by crowds that forgot all differ- ences of rank ; and when he came to court, even their Majesties stood to receive him, and caused him to be seated in their presence — " unprecedented marks of condescension to a person of Columbus's rank, in the haughty and ceremonious Court of Castile." Columbus did not long remain in Europe, for in the following September 1493 he set out on his second voyage. He was still under the impression that the land to which he was sailing was a part of the Indies, and thus we have the name accounted for when the truth was known — ^West Indies, as distinct from the East Indies, which Columbus thought he had discovered. Unfortunately, during his absence jealousy was doing its best to injure him. After being away for three years he " returned to find himself the victim of a thousand bitter jealousies and suspicions." The third voyage resulted in the discovery of Trinidad and the mainland of South America, near the mouth of the Orinoco. He was the first European to set foot on the great Southern Continent. On his return to Hayti he found that his enemies had been at work, undoing all that he had done. Indeed, when he attempted to restore order, Bobadilla, an agent of the Spanish Govern- ment, put him in chains and sent him back to Spain. On his arrival there all that he had done for the glory of Spain seemed to have been forgotten ; but the 1 Prescott, Ferdinand and Isabella. ii8 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY queen remained firm in her loyalty, and restored to him his emoluments and honours. Feeling old and worn, he had no desire to undertake another voyage, as he asserted he had done enough. " I have estab- lished all that I have proposed, the existence of land in the West. I have opened the gate, and others may enter at their pleasure." Yet the king and queen urged him to undertake a fourth voyage, and on the gth of March 1502 he set sail from Cadiz. The governor refused to allow him to land at Hispaniola, treating him with a contempt and insolence that seem incredible, so that when he had explored the south side of the Gulf of Mexico, Columbus returned to Spain utterly dis- couraged. Discoverer of a new world, he would have been a man possessed of amazing wealth if the agree- ment entered upon had been honourably carried out ; but there seemed to be nothing but dishonourable treatment all the way through. His enemies wilfuUy misrepresented him, and sought to show reason why money that was his due should be diverted in other directions. Yet he hoped that when he could see the queen she would not only listen to his complaints, but would order immediate restitution of that which was his. To his great grief and his absolute undoing, the good queen lay dying when he, a sick and broken man, set foot on Spanish soil again, and before he could reach the capital she was dead, and Columbus was friendless. The king was indifferent, but promised restitution, yet did nothing. As Mr. Major says : " The gift of a world could not move the monarch to gratitude." Honour was still accorded, FINDING THE NEW WORLD 119 but he felt the neglect displayed by monarch and nobles. It is scarcely too much to say that the great discoverer died at Valladolid of a broken heart, on 20th May 1506. The story of those years which preceded the death of Columbus reflect shame on the sovereign and his court. It presents " a picture of black ingratitude on the part of the crown to this distinguished benefactor of the kingdom, which it is truly painful to contemplate. We behold an extraordinary man, the discoverer of a second hemisphere, reduced by his very success to so low a state of poverty that in his prematurely infirm old age he is compelled to subsist by borrowing, and to plead, in the apologetic language of a culprit, for the rights of which the very sovereign whom he has benefited has deprived him. . . . The selfish and cold-hearted Ferdinand beheld his illustrious and loyal servant sink, without relief, under bodily infirmity, and the paralysing sickness of hope deferred ; and at length . . . the generous heart, which had done so much without reward, and suffered so much without upbraiding, found rest in a world where neither gratitude nor justice is asked or withheld." ^ Even when Columbus was dead the world did not know how to guard his good name, and measure out the praise that was his due. For instead of giving the New World a name which would have associated Columbus with it, Amerigo Vespucci, a Florentine navigator, took all the honour in that matter, and from his name Amerigo the New World became America. He was a navigator " of some daring, but no celebrity," and when his ex- plorations are examined they do not appear to be of any ^ Maj or. Prince Henry the Navigator. 120 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY great importance compared to what Columbus had done. In 1499 he landed on the eastern coast of South America, and on a second voyage, two years later, showed clearly by his investigations that the New World could not be what Columbus thought it to be, even when he died, namely, a part of India. He showed the world that it was land that no one had suspected, and that beyond it lay another sea, which must be crossed before the real India could be touched. Martin WaldseemiiUer, a German professor, suggested that the New World should be named after Amerigo Vespucci, and the suggestion was adopted. Humboldt indignantly protested against such an undeserved honour. " Vespucci," he said, "shorie only by reflection from an age of glory. When compared with Columbus, Sebastian Cabot, Bartholomew Diaz, and Da Gama, his place is an inferior one. The majesty of great memories seems concentrated in the name of Christopher Columbus. It is the originality of his vast idea, the largeness and fertility of his genius, and the courage which bore up against a long series of misfortunes, which have exalted the admiral high above all his contemporaries . ' ' When the New World was discovered, the adventurous spirits seemed to be aroused to zeal and enthusiasm. Within- ten years of Columbus's death the principal islands of the West Indies were explored and colonised. In 15 10 a Spanish colony was planted on the Isthmus of Darien, and three years later its governor, Vasco Nunez de Balboa, having been told by the Indians that there was a great sea on the farther side, crossed the isthmus, BALBOA VIEWING THE SOUTH PACIFIC. FINDING THE NEW WORLD 121 and looked upon the ocean which was afterwards named the Pacific. " Not satisfied with merely seeing the great water, he waded in a short distance, and, drawing his sword after the pompous Spanish fashion, took possession of the ocean in the name of the King of Spain." ^ Among the companions of Columbus in his second voyage was one Juan Ponce de Leon. It was commonly reported in Spain at the time that there was a fountain of perpetual youth in the Bahamas into which the old might plunge and come out young again. In 1512 De Leon, who was now growing old, fitted out an expedi- tion to find these youth-restoring waters. Sailing from Porto Rico, he and his comrades came to a shore they had never seen before, beautiful with flowers and forests, and full of the songs of birds. He called it Florida— the Land of Flowers, but he did not know that Sebastian Cabot, flying the English flag, had already been there. There was, however, no youth-restoring fountain in the land, so that he went elsewhere, but although he bathed in many streams he grew older. When he returned, and was made Governor of Florida by the king, he went back to establish a colony. The Indians, however, opposed his landing, and in the fierce fight which followed De Leon was wounded with a poisoned arrow and died. ^ Ridpath, History of the United States. CHAPTER Xll. HOW THE SPANIARDS EXPLORED THE NEW WORLD. IT has already been shown that although Columbus was unquestionably the first to proclaim to the world at large the existence of a new and vast region in the direction of the setting sun, he was by no means the first to discover America, for the Northmen had explored the whole of the east coast as far south as latitude 41° 30' N., and had planted a colony in what is now the state of Massachusetts. But as the Book of Days expresses it, to Columbus still belongs the merit of having reasoned out the existence of a New World. The Spaniards, having once acquired full knowledge of the fact that the New World actually existed, deter- mined to win what glory and wealth were obtainable through this great discovery. To point to Spanish enterprise as a noble endeavour to add to the cause of science something that was truly valuable would be to do something that had no foundation in fact ; for beyond question the incentive was the gathering in of gold and the addition of vast domains to the territory over which the Spanish monarch ruled. So far as King Ferdinand's action is concerned, we may credit him with an honest desire to advance the SPANIARDS AND THE NEW WORLD 123 cause of discovery and colonisation as the best manner in which to develop his nation. He formed a Board of Navigation, whose chief work was to map out projected voyages, and make arrangements for expeditions to unknown places. Volunteers were forthcoming, for stories came of hidden hoards of gold and precious stones which had been discovered, making adventurers rich beyond the dreams of avarice. The gold fever drew men away from their occupations, and indeed it was said of Seville alone, that it was " in a manner de- populated by the general fever of emigration, so that it actually seemed to be tenanted only by women." In this manner the Gulf of Mexico was searched eagerly by fleets, either provided by private individuals who risked all that they had in the expectation of gaining fabulous fortunes by discovering gold, or by the govern- ment expeditions which came under the management of the Board of Navigation. Fernandez de Cordova thus discovered Yucatan and the Bay of Campeachy, while farther south Grijalva examined the coast of Mexico, and heard such stories of amazing wealth in the interior that, in the year 1519, Fernando Cortez led an expedition, ostensibly on a voyage of discovery, but in his own heart meditated an advance into the empire over which Montezuma reigned, purposing its conquest. He landed at Tabasco, and began one of the famous conquests of history. The audacity of Cortez and his companions, who all told did not number more than 700, and who had not more than eighteen horses and ten small field-pieces of artillery, is surely unequalled, unless we name the enter- 124 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY prise of Pizarro, the conqueror of Peru. This little army marched on and on, knowing that the forces of Montezuma were to be counted by thousands upon thousands. At one time the followers of Cortez began to quail before the thought of such enormous odds, and something like a panic set in, so that they clamoured for return. But Cortez was one of those men who never look back. He had come to conquer Mexico, he answered ; and a few days later his men learnt that he had sent secret orders to his admiral to dismantle the eleven ships, and burn them. There was a storm of indignation when the news came, but Cortez appealed to their cupidity, and, telling of the treasures in Mexico, went forward, declaring that he would advance even were his companions but a score or two. Then with the courage of despair the little army marched after him. The natives were terrified when they saw the horses, " the movable fortresses," in which the Spaniards had crossed the ocean, " the iron which covered them, the noise of the cannon," and the evolutions of the little band of mounted cavaliers who galloped over the plains when the ambassadors, who came from Mexico, waited an answer to the messages from the sovereign of the country. They brought the most costly presents, hoping to induce the Spaniards to return, and doing this again and again, they found to their dismay that the show of wealth made the invaders more eager than before to go forward with their plans for conquest. Everything seemed to favour the Spaniards. The nations through whose territory Cortez marched threw off their allegiance to Montezuma, made peace with SPANIARDS AND THE NEW WORLD 125 the invaders, and furnished him with soldiers and guides. The story of the advance is one of the most thrilling in history. It teUs of battles against thousands, of bloody victories over natives whose naked bodies were no match against the armoured Spaniards, of their visits to temples whose altars were covered with the blood of human victims, of the massacre of 6000 of the inhabitants of ChjDlula when Cortez discovered a plot against him in the town. The caciques ever5rwhere submitted, and after many days Cortez entered the capital. The Spaniards were quartered in the great central square near the temple of the Aztec god of war. Rid- path, in his History of the United States, tells of their sojourn in the capital. He says that for a month Cortez remained quietly in the city. He was permitted to go about freely with his soldiers, and was even allowed to examine the sacred altars and shrines where human sacrifices were daily offered up to the deities of Mexico. He made himself familiar with the defences of the capital and the Mexican mode of warfare. On every side he found inexhaustible stores of provisions, treasures of gold and silver, and, what greatly excited his anxiety, arsenals filled with bows and javelins. To all appearances Montezuma was treating the invaders as honoured guests, dealing with them in the most generous spirit, and adding daily to their comfort and enjoyment by festivals and gifts. Yet Cortez was in perpetual fear of some terrible catastrophe and ultimate ruin, and his only alternative appeared to be to get the emperor into his hands, so that he might 126 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY have some security for the safety of his Httle army. The pretext came when a young Spanish hidalgo was murdered, and his head, held high on a spear, was carried through the country by warriors and women who rent the air with a call to arms, in order to destroy the invad- ing force. Cortez went to the palace, charged Montezuma with treachery, and, seizing him, loaded him with irons in the presence of his nobles, and forced him to acknow- ledge Charles v.. King of Spain, as his over-lord. During these long months Cortez carried on his work of discovery, although it was not done from any motive of adding to geographical knowledge, but rather with the idea of discovering the wealth of the country he had conquered. His men were able to move freely, for he was esteemed a god and a child of the sun. Send- ing little parties of armed men in various directions, the messengers of Cortez not only noted the character of the Mexican land, but destroyed the idols in the temples, to whom human sacrifices were offered, and raised the cross therein, and images of the Virgin Mary. Some of his officers went forth as ambassadors to caciques, who were known to be enemies of the emperor, and with these Cortez made alliances, so that he thus raised up a spirit of rebellion against Montezuma, who had no alternative but to yield to all his demands, among these being the payment of £1,260,000 and an annual tribute. An unexpected danger drew Cortez out of the capital. He had been appointed by Velasquez, Governor of Cuba, to lead the expedition, and Velasquez, hearing the glorious accounts of his triumphs, sent Narvaez to supersede him, and wiith hiiJJ no Jg s§ than twelve hundred SPANIARDS AND THE NEW WORLD | 127 well-armed veterans. Leaving one hundred and forty men in the capital under the command of Alvarado, Cortez marched out to meet this force. His own army numbered not more than two hundred men ; but with these he made an unexpected and furious night attack upon the camp of Narvaez, and compelled the surrender of the whole force. Picturing to them the glories of the country and its wealth, he worked so thoroughly on their imagination that they joined his standard and marched back with him to Mexico. During his absence some terrible things had happened in the capital. " Alvarado, either fearing a revolt or from a spirit of atrocious cruelty, had attacked the Mexicanswhile they were celebrating one of their festivals, and slain five hundred of the leaders and priests." The people rose against the Spaniards in fxiry, and shut Alvarado and his men within the palace in which they were quartered. Their plight was desperate, and none could have escaped had not Cortez appeared after some forced marches. The Mexicans suffered him to enter the city, but their menaces filled the Spaniards with dread. Before many days the streets were running with blood, the dead lay in them by thousands, and although the Spaniards performed prodigies of valour they barely escaped destruction through sheer weight of numbers. To save himself from his peril, Cortez adopted a second shameless expedient, more wicked than the first. Montezuma was compelled to go upon the top of the palace in front of the great square where the besiegers were gathered, and counsel them to make peace with the Spaniards. For a moment there was universal silence, 128 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY then a murmur of vexation and rage, and then Monte- zuma was struck down by the javelins of his own subjects. In a few days he died of wretchedness and despair, and for a while the warriors, overwhelmed with remorse, abandoned the conflict. But with the renewal of the strife Cortez was obliged to leave the city.^ Nothing can exceed the horror of that retreat across the causeway, which ran with blood. As Prescott tells the story in his Conquest of Mexico, we feel that nothing more terrible in history could be found than the story of that struggling mass of human life, when every thrust of javelin or sword meant death. The army that emerged from that path of blood was a broken one ; but Cortez rallied his men, and when a few days later the Mexicans came forth to annihilate this little band of Spanish warriors which emerged on the plain of Otompan, the Mexican banner was captured, and the enemy fled in fearful confusion. Cortez again marched against the city, but it was not until the siege had lasted for nearly nine months that the capital yielded. But with its fall " the empire of Montezuma was overthrown, and Mexico became a Spanish province." The siege ended on the 13th of August 1521, and must be numbered among the most fearful of history. When the city fell into the hands of the relentless conqueror he gave permission to those who were within to leave, if they so desired, and Diaz, who was the chronicler of the expedition, then tells us what he and his brother Spaniards saw. " The causeways," he says, " were crowded for three days and nights with men, women, 1 Ridpath, History of the United States. SPANIARDS AND THE NEW WORLD 129 and children. These poor beings were much emaciated, and had a death -hke appearance. . . . The houses were found filled with dead bodies. . . . The soil in the city looked as if it had been ploughed, for the famished inhabitants had dug every root out of the ground, and had even peeled the bark from the trees to appease their hunger. We did not find any fresh water in the city, for that in all the wells was salty. During the horrible famine the Mexicans had not eaten the flesh of their countrymen, although they greedily devoured that of the Tlascallans and Spaniards. Cer- tainly no people in this world ever suffered so much from hunger, thirst, and the horrors of war as the inhabit- ants of this great city." Diaz then tells us of the magnificent share of the booty which Cortez sent home to the Spanish monarch, Charles v. Two vessels carried eighty-eight thousand fesos of gold in bars, and. the wardrobe of Montezuma. A peso de or a or a peso of gold is worth in English money £2, I2S. 6d., so that this present amounted in value to ;f 231,000. The present-day value of money would make it equal to nearly a million of our own pounds. Then, as Diaz says, the wardrobe of Montezuma " was a valuable present, and well worthy of our great emperor's acceptance, for it embraced jewels of the greatest value, pearls of the size of hazel-nuts, and various precious stones, the number of which my memory will not permit me to designate." Much of the work of Spanish exploration, it will be seen, was due to the greed for gold. It was thus that Narvaez, who was appointed Governor of Florida, set 130 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY forth to reduce the territory within his appointed jurisdiction. When he arrived at Tampa Bay in April 1528 with 260 foot soldiers and 40 horsemen, bent on conquering the land, the natives, " anxious to be rid of the intruders, began to hold up their gold trinkets and point to the north. The hint was eagerly caught at by the avaricious Spaniards, whose imaginations were set on fire with the sight of the precious metal. They struck boldly into the forests, expecting to find cities and empires, and found instead swamps and savages. They reached the Withlacoochie and crossed it by swimming ; they passed over the Suwanee in a canoe which they made for the occasion, and finally came to Apalachee, a squalid village of forty cabins. This, then, was the mighty city to which their guides had directed them." The story of that intended conquest is a humiliating one for Spain. The march of worn-out men and horses through pathless woods, with savages meeting them at every turn, the days of toil and hunger, the nights when they dared not sleep without lying on their arms, and with doubled and trebled sentries, the wading through lagoons, and the fording of dangerous streams — all these belong to one of the most disastrous marches in the world's tale of conquest. When they reached the harbour of St. Mark's the promised ships were not there, but with that indomitable energy which characterised the Spaniards of those days, when they were searching unknown lands, they built some brigantines and started for the Mexican settlements. Even now their plight was more terrible than before. SPANIARDS AND THE NEW WORLD 131 " They were tossed by storms, driven out of sight of land, and then thrown upon the shore again, drowned, slain by the savages, left in the solitary woods dead of starvation and despair, until finally four miserable men of all the adventurous company, under the leadership of the heroic De Vaca, first lieutenant of the expedition, were rescued at the village of San Miguel, on the Pacific coast, and conducted to the city of Mexico." The only repayment for so much suffering and peril was the know- ledge gained of an unknown land. The dismal record did not deter Ferdinand de Soto, whose name had become famous in the conquest of Peru, and who had been appointed Governor of Cuba and Florida. When he announced his intention of achieving the conquest of Florida the cavaliers who were in the west, proud to serve under such a distinguished com- mander, and eager for wealth as well, flocked to him by hundreds, so that he had the opportunity of choosing those who should go with him. Six hundred were so favoured, " the most gallant and daring." They laughed at the thought of danger, and treated the expedition rather as one of pleasure. " Elaborate preparations were made for the grand conquest : arms and stores were provided, shackles were wrought for the slaves, tools for the forge and workshops were abundantly supplied, bloodhounds were bought and trained for the work of hunting fugitives, cards to keep the young knights excited with gaming, twelve priests to conduct religious ceremonies, and, last of all, a drove of swine to fatten on the maize and mast of the country." It was June 1539 when the ten ships entered Tampa 132 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY Bay. But although there were such elaborate prepara- tions, the stern work of exploration and battle could not be avoided. The cavaliers soiled their rich suits of armour and tore their silken embroidery as they toiled through forests and plunged into gloomy morasses. Many a hope was slain in the march into Florida, for many a cavalier lay stark in the forests or on the open plain, pierced with the poisoned arrows of the Indians, who without fear withstood them constantly. At last they came, just as winter was beginning, to the country of the Appalachians, and to whUe away the time De Soto sent forth exploring parties. When spring-time came the camp was broken up, and the march began afresh. As yet they had found no gold, nor had they won any glory. All that had come to them was a knowledge of an unknown land. Ridpath teUs how an Indian guide, just as they were going to start, told of a powerful and populous empire to the north- east. An empress ruled it, and her land was full of gold. A Spanish soldier, one of the men of Narvaez, who had been kept a captive among the Indians, denied the story ; but.De Soto only said that he would find gold or see poverty with his own eyes, and the company pressed on. When they had gone far into the country the guide went mad, and the little army was lost in the forest. To extricate themselves they travelled to the north, into what is now South Carolina, then to the west. It was a weary, aimless journey, now into North Carolina, then through Tennessee, and later into Lower Alabama. When they came to the place where the Tombecbee joins SPANIARDS AND THE NEW WORLD 133 the Alabama they fought a great battle with the Indians, of whom between two and three thousand were slain, and eighteen of De Soto's men and eighty horses. The Spaniards found the fight disastrous, for they lost all their baggage. Matters grew worse after this desperate encounter, for the explorers were dependent on such food as they could find in the country, which proved to be poor. By the time they reached the hunting grounds of the Chickasas tribe in the country through which the Nor- thern Mississippi flowed, they were so near to starva- tion that they plucked the growing maize and ate it. The winter of 1540-41 was cold, but they came across a deserted Indian village which they occupied for some months, until in February they were startled by the war-cries of Indians, who rushed in and burnt the village. Spanish valour prevailed, however, and when the spring came they moved forward to the great river, the Father of Waters, as the Mississippi is called. They were the first white men to see it, the point where they approached it being at Chickasaw Bluff, north of the 34th parallel of latitude. Nature in her dread magnificence held sway everywhere, and the travellers, coming through the primeval forest, which they saw in all its grandeur and glory, watched the great river, as its water rolled on and on in irresistible flood, with awe. Had they but cared for wealth which comes by spending labour on the fertile soil, they might well have settled here ; but the constant cry was for gold, and no trouble was deemed too great if that could be won. They built rafts from the floating trees, and ventured 134 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY across with such horses as they had ; then pushing forward to the Washita River, in the region of the Missouri, they reached the town of Atiamque, where they spent the winter of 1541-42. Fortunately the Indians were friendly, but to the lasting shame of the Spaniards their kindness was requited with intolerable cruelty. " No consideration of justice, humanity, or mercy," we are told, " moved the stony hearts of these polite and Christian warriors. Indian towns were set on fire for sport ; Indian hands were chopped off for a whim ; and Indian captives burned alive because, under fear of death, they had told a falsehood." ^ When winter passed, the explorers, disheartened and unpossessed of a single ounce of gold, wandered on until once more they came to the Mississippi banks. By this time De Soto was so discouraged that he gave way to melancholy, and died a broken-hearted man. They buried him in the great river, " with which his name will be associated for ever." Moscoso, his lieutenant, now became the leader of the Spaniards, whose only wish was to reach Mexico, where they should meet with their own countrymen ; but travelling without any scientific instruments or maps, they seemed to be going and coming uselessly, now striking across great plains, losing themselves in fearful forests, again seeing the Mississippi they had long before left behind them, reaching it at a point above the mouth of the Red River. One of the cavaliers proposed that they should build boats and trust them- selves to the stream, and the suggestion was received ^ Ridpath, History of the United States. SPANIARDS AND THE NEW WORLD 135 with acclamation. The work began, and went forward for many a long month. They had set themselves the task in January 1543, but it was July before the seven brigantines were ready for the journey to the sea, which was 500 miles to the south. The stream bore them down in seventeen days, and at last they found themselves in the Gulf of Mexico. Even then their sufferings had not ended. Fifty-five days of danger from storm and a perilous coast passed by before they reached the Spanish colony at the River of Palms. The roll-call showed how great the cost in human life had been, for only " 311 famished and heart-broken fugitives " answered. Philip II. was bent on colonising Florida, in spite of the heavy losses already incurred, and Pedro Melendez was commissioned in 1565 " to explore the coast of Florida, conquer the country, and plant in some favourable district a colony of not less than 500 persons, of whom 100 should be married men." But he was bound down by contract to do all this within three years. The well-known story of De Soto's disasters seemed to have no deterrent effect, for 2500 men volunteered, and landed in Florida after an astonishingly quick voyage from Spain. Private instructions had been given to Melendez " to attack and destroy a colony of French Protestants called Huguenots who, in the previous year, had made a settlement about thirty-five miles above the mouth of the St. John's River." They were to pay the penalty for intruding on what was claimed to be Spanish territory. 136 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY Melendez made it his first care to lay the foundation stones of " the oldest town in the United States." This was done on 2nd September 1565 — St. Augustine. That accomplished, Melendez marched to the Huguenot colony, fell on it at night, and ruthlessly butchered such men, women, and children as they found there. Two hundred lay dead when morning came, while others escaped into the forest. But that was not the whole story. Some of the colonists had gone on board several ships which were wrecked on the stormy coast, and such as escaped death by drowning found shelter on the shore. Melendez came and, making fair promises, induced them to surrender. Trusting to assurances solemnly given, they came across the river ; but when all had left the boats the Spaniards sprang upon them, bound them two by two, and drove them with whips to St. Augustine. There they were slaughtered — 700 of them — none being' kept alive but those who were clever mechanics or Catholic servants. Melendez then proceeded to found what proved to be " the first permanent European colony " in North America. This part of the American coast was now explored from the Isthm.us of Darien to Port Royal in South Carolina. The Spaniards, moreover, were acquainted with the country west of the Mississippi as far north as New Mexico and Missouri, and east of that river they had traversed the Gulf States as far as the mountain ranges of Tennessee and North Carolina. ^ ' Ridpath, History of United States. I have closely followed this able writer in his account of these Spanish enterprises. — Author. CHAPTER XIII. ENGLAND'S SHARE IN EARLY EXPLORATION. THE discovery of the New World woke up Europe, and there were many in England who thought of her colonising possibilities. Two brothers in particular — whom their countrymen called John and Sebastian Gabato — had come from Venice to England with their relatives and settled in Bristol, where they went by the name of Cabot. John Cabot, who had become a wealthy merchant in the western city, saw more in the discovery which Columbus had made than most men of his time, and although the great Genoese had supposed that he had found India, Cabot did not think so. His idea was that if he could take the voyage west, but by a more northern course than that which Columbus had pursued, he would find Cipango, known in modern times as Japan. Here the wealth of the far-off East lay, according to general report, in the greatest profusion. The palaces of the princes were as richly furnished as Solomon's Temple ; here was the El Dorado, and treasure-house of the world.^ The hard-headed Cabot went to London and obtained an audience with Henry vii., to whom he explained the 1 Greswell, History of Canada. 137 138 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY grounds of his belief that the eastern coast of Asia could be reached by sailing in a direct westward direction from England, and how this course would be a shorter way than the one taken by Columbus.^ On the 5th of March 1496 the king granted John Cabot a charter, and full permission to equip a ship at his own charges, while the king, on the other hand, was to draw a large share of the anticipated profits. In the spring of 1497 Cabot was on the sea steering due west, his expedition consisting of a ship named Matthew, and another of smaller tonnage. After many a weary day of sailing on the lonely waters, land was sighted on the 24th of June. \i^ But what was the land ? Cabot believed it to be Cathay, and being more of a Venetian than an English- man, he not only planted the flag of England, but ran up that of Venice beside it. Some say that this was Newfoundland, others that it was the northern part of the island of Cape Breton ; but it is also declared that Cabot steered a north and west course from Bristol, and sighted the coast of Labrador.^ A certain Lorenzo Pasqualigo wrote from London to some brothers of his who lived in Venice at the time, and his letter, which was dated the 23rd of August 1497, has this paragraph in it : " The Venetian, our country- man, who went with a ship from Bristol to search for a new island, is returned, and says that seven hundred leagues from here he discovered firm land, the territory of the Grand Khan. He coasted for three hundred ' Weise, The Discoveries of A merica. ^ Greswell, History of Canada. ENGLAND'S SHARE IN EXPLORATION 139 leagues, and landed ; saw no human beings, but he has brought here to the king certain snares which had been set to catch game, and a needle for making nets ; he also found some feUed trees, by which he judged there were inhabitants. He returned to his ship in doubt, and he was three months on the voyage, and on his return saw two islands to starboard, but would not land, time being precious, as he was short of provisions. This has greatly pleased the king. . . . The king has promised him, in the spring, ten ships, armed to his order, and at his request has conceded him all the prisoners, except those confined for high treason, to man his fleet. The king has also given him money with which he may amuse himself until that time, and he is now in Bristol with his sons and his wife, who is also a Venetian." One must not lay much stress on the close-fisted king's generosity, for in the privy purse account of His Majesty the amount that was given for Cabot to spend was £1.0 — a king's reward to a man who had discovered for him an empire ! Other letters that went to Venice and elsewhere in Italy contain statements as to the kind of land that was found. " They say that the land is fertile and temperate, and think that red-wood grows there, and they affirm that there the sea is full of fish that can be taken not only with nets, but with fishing baskets, a stone being placed in the basket to sink it in the water, and this, I have said, is told by the said Messer Joanne (Caboto). And the said Englishmen, (Caboto's) partners, say that they can bring so many fish that this kingdom will have no more business with Islanda (Iceland), and 140 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY that from that country there will be a very great trade in the fish, which they call stock-fish. But Messer Joanne has his thoughts directed to a greater under- taking, for he thinks of going, after this place is occupied, along the coast farther toward the East until he is opposite the island called Cipango, . . . where he believes all the spices of the world grow, and where there are also gems." The reports of a voyage that spoke with certainty of the presence of great fishing banks ought not merely to have pleased the king ; they should have made him place down a considerable sum of money for another expedition in order to look for the land of gems, and countries which would advance the trade of England. But Henry vii. was a miser at heart, and would not spend a farthing if others could be found who would provide the money. As it transpired, the first voyagers in the English ships had done what not even the ships of Spain had yet accomplished — they made the real discovery of the American continent. " Fourteen months elapsed before Columbus reached the coast of Guiana, and more than two years before Ojeda and Vespucci came in sight of the mainland of South America." ^ The second expedition went out under the command of Sebastian, John Cabot's second son. It consisted of five ships provisioned for a year. But neither ships nor provisions were found out of the king's privy purse, but by the money provided by the Cabots and the Bristol merchants. The little fleet was among the floating icebergs in 1498. Peter Martyr says that when ' Ridpath, History of the United States. ENGLAND'S SHARE IN EXPLORATION 141 they had crossed the ocean, turning rather more to the south than Sebastian Cabot intended, in order to avoid the icebergs, they came upon such vast shoals of fish, resembling tunnies, that the progress of the ships was actually retarded. The people of the regions they came to later on were covered with skins, and seemed to be fairly intelligent. It was intensely cold, and the ships went slowly down the coast " as far as thirty-eight degrees," but some say that " he went as far as the point of Florida, which is in twenty-five degrees." Cabot's errand was one of ex- ploration in order to add lands to the English crown, and also to find openings for trade. The Spanish historian, Gomara, says that " he also went to see if there was any land in the Indies on which a colony might be settled." Other Spaniards agree with this writer in stating that Cabot had the island of Cuba on his left hand ; but Weise, author of The Discoveries of America, says that if Sebastiano Caboto had explored any part of the present coast of the United States he certainly would have imparted some information respecting its physical features, its inhabitants, its flora and fauna, to the inquisitive chroniclers of his age ; whereas the descriptions of the regions explored by him only apply to the more northern parts of the continent represented on the map of 1544, to which territory was given the name of La Terra de los Bacallaos, which means the Land of Codfish. It is interesting to read what was inscribed on that map concerning the people and the country. " The people wear clothes made of the skins of animals, use 142 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY bows and arrows, lances, darts, knob-headed clubs, and slings in their wars. The country is very sterile. In it are many white bears, and deer as large as horses, and many other animals of the same class ; also immense numbers of fish, such as" soles, salmon, very large lings, a yard in length, and many other kinds of fish, but the most numerous are those called bacallaos. In this country there are falcons as black as ravens, eagles, partridges, linnets, and many other birds of different kinds." Cabot's voyage opened out the knowledge that the New World was providing trade for the enterprising merchants of England, and it would be difficult to over- estimate the value of the discoveries made, although he brought back no gold. Fisheries were discovered infinitely richer than those of Iceland. Here was a new world of trade and enterprise opened out to the saUors of England which has lasted from the date of Cabot's discoveries up to the present day. As one points out, a gold or diamond mine may be exhausted, but the harvest of the sea goes on and is renewed every year. Such was the substantial El Dorado which the Cabots and the Bristol adventurers chanced upon, to say nothing of the fact that among the moderns there rests on them the honour of first seeing the American con- tinent.^ Sebastian Cabot was disgusted with Henry vii.'s parsimony, which would not permit him to spend some money in opening out the newly found land, and he therefore accepted an invitation from King Ferdinand ' See Greswell, History of Canada. ENGLAND'S SHARE IN EXPLORATION 143 to act as Pilot-Major of Spain. Meanwhile the Bristol traders were impatient at the strides which the Spaniards and Portuguese were making in commerce. Ships were constantly bringing home stories of their doings : how they were not merely sending vessels to America, which brought back gold in fabulous quantities, but were trading in the East, where wealth was to be had for the fetching. They heard how Vasco da Gama of Portugal had doubled the Cape of Good Hope, and succeeded in reaching India, bringing back astounding riches. It was exasperating to think that England — when she possessed the opportunity — was falling back in the race for wealth, and holding no place on the seas.^ Henry vii. would not move, as much because he had a wholesome fear of the pope, as from his unwilling- ness to spare good money on the chance of getting great gain or risking the loss of it all. The pope had drawn a line on the map 300 miles west of the Azores. It ran north and south, and his decree was that every inch of land west of the line belonged to Spain. Bristol traders heard of new markets for woollen cloths, and were told of the luxuries the Portuguese were bringing back to Europe from the East Indies, and selling at enormous profits. That being so, they ignored both king and pope, and determined to fit out an expedition, the object of which was again to find' a shorter passage to India than that round the Cape of Good Hope. It met with disaster, for the vessels were locked up in what was later known as Hudson's Bay. The crews, in sheer hunger, fed on the dead bodies of their comrades, and by almost 1 See my England's Sea Story. 144 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY superhuman exertions such as survived found their way home again. Further endeavours were made to find the northern way to the Indies, for the idea was altogether given up that America was a part of India. Many things led the discoverers to doubt the correctness of the idea which the Spaniards had formed. The Portuguese had visited no part of Asia, either continent or island, from the coast of Malabar to China, on which they had not found natives highly civilised, who had made considerable progress in the elegant as well as the useful arts of life, and who were evidently accustomed to intercourse with strangers and acquainted with commerce. So says Stevenson, who proceeds to point out that in these respects the New World formed a striking contrast.^ For example, the islands were inhabited by naked savages, unacquainted with the rudest arts of life, and obtaining their food from hand to mouth, by what might be secured in the chase or from such fruits and herbs as grew wild. Ex- cluding the Mexicans, there had been no people yet met with who were in any sense civilised. It was the same with the natural productions and the animals. Things that had so far been found in Asia and Europe were missing here. " There were no lemons, oranges, pome- granates, quinces, figs, olives, melons, vines, nor sugar canes, neither apples, pears, plums, cherries, currants, gooseberries, rice, nor any other corn but maize. There was no poultry (except turkeys), oxen, sheep, goats, swine, horses, asses, camels, elephants, cats, nor dogs, except an animal resembling a dog, but which did not bark." 1 Progress of Discovery. ENGLAND'S SHARE IN EXPLORATION 145 One other great point was that the coast of the New \A'orld extended many hundred miles to the south and north of the equator, and this, from what those who had been to the East knew, could not possibly be one and the same land. Consequently, by the year 1513, Spaniards as well as Englishmen abandoned the idea that India and the New ^^'orld were the same. The Portuguese came to the same conclusion. Then came the question — How to find a way to India ? Cabot and others believed that there must be a northern way, and, as we know, tried to find it and failed, after intolerable sufferings in Hudson's Bay. The Portuguese also made an effort in the same direction, and Certireal left Lisbon in 1501, sailed north-west as far as Ne\\-foundland, explored the coast of the island, and then, sailing on, found the river St. Lawrence. He next came to Labrador, giving the country that name " because from its latitude and appearance it seemed to him better fitted for culture than his other discoveries in this part of America." It seemed worth the expenditure of labour. Still going north, he found his difficulties increase, and consequently returned to Portugal to fit up an expedition capable of meeting the new conditions. Unfortunately this enterprising explorer died on his second voyage, and his companions did not attempt to find the north-west passage, but went home. The endeavours of the Portuguese and the English roused the jealousy of the Spaniards, and- they also began to sail northwards, but failed to get farther than 36° north latitude. They then tried from the Pacific side, with the result that a considerable portion of the 146 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY north-west coast of America was made known. But the cold kept them back from the endeavour to find the passage from that side. There were two or three Englishmen at the time ready, as Cabot had been, to take the risks in a further attempt to force the north passage, if it really existed. Although Cabot had suffered so terribly in Hudson's Bay, Sir Hugh Willoughby, accompanied by Richard Chancellor and Stephen Borough as captains of other ships, sailed in 1553 on a voyage " for the search and discovery of the northern part of the world, and especially to look for a north-east passage to India." There was thus a notable change in direction, and the idea in the minds of the mariners of England generally was that there must be open sea all round the north of Europe and Asia. The ships were provisioned for a year and a half, but when they had been out at sea a few weeks a storm separated the ships, and they saw no more of Chancellor's ship, Edward Bonaventure, and Borough's vessel. Yet Sir Hugh Willoughby determined to pro- ceed, although he had been deprived of his pilot-general, Chancellor. The admiral lost his reckoning, and, being ignorant of pilotage, and of the most simple navigation, his clear course should have been a return home ; but he pressed on. He had no idea that the gale had swept him on and on until he was near the coast of Nova Zemlia. This was in August. In September his ships were exploring the harbours of Norwegian Lapland, " wherein were very many seal fishes and other great fishes ; and upon the main " they " saw bears, great-deer, foxes, ENGLAND'S SHARE IN EXPLORATION 147 with divers strange beasts ... to us unknown, and also wonderful." They wintered in the harbour of Arzina, because the storms terrified the men. But, as we read, they had no provision for wintering in an arctic climate, and so terrible was the winter that the whole of the crew perished to a man, and nothing would ever have been known of their experiences had not the ships and frozen bodies and Willoughby's journal been found. It must have been a fearful outlook for them all. They had expected hard experiences, but nothing like this. We find in the journal this statement as to their deter- mination to remain in Arzina. " Thus remaining in this hauen the space of a weeke, seeing the yeare farre spent, and also very euill wether, as frost, snow, and haile, as though it had beene the deepe of winter, we thought best to winter there. Where- fore we sent out three men, south-south-west, to search if they could find people, who wente three dayes iourney, but could finde none ; after that we sent other three westward foure dales iourney, which also returned without finding any people. Then we sent three men south-east three dayes iourney, who in like sorte returned without finding of people.or any similitude of habitation." Yet this was only in Arzina in Lapland ; but from what is found in the journal most of the company were alive in January 1554. In spite of the fact that Richard Chancellor lost sight of WiUoughby in the storm that broke up the exploring fleet, he was more fortunate than the others. It had been agreed at starting that if by any means the ships 148 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY were separated, Vardohuus should be the rendezvous, and Chancellor went there. But no other ships arriving during seven long days, he hoisted his sails, and going eastward arrived at the White Sea. He landed near a Russian castle, where the city of Archangel is now situated, and, at the invitation of Czar Ivan, visited Moscow. The journey was important in many ways. It served to make known a hitherto strange land, for none of the English had ventured either so far north or into Russian territory, and there was positively no trade whatever between the Czar's people and the English nation. Chancellor succeeded in making arrangements for trade between the two countries. His journey served another purpose ; for where it had been declared again and again that there was no money to be made in the polar regions, he showed by the trade which was opened out that there was a great quantity of wealth, if sought in the right way. Some important knowledge was obtained as to the people and the country over whom the Czar ruled. Chancellor's journal says that " Russia is very plentifull both of land and people, and also wealthy for such commodities as they haue. They be very great fishers for Salmons and small Coddes : they haue much oyle which wee call treine oyle, the most whereof is made by a riuer called Duina. . . . They haue also a great trade in seetting of salte water. ... To the West of Colmogro there is a place called Gratanowe, in our language Nouogorode, where much fine fiaxe and Hempe groweth, and also niuch waxe and honie. Tlie Dutch marchants ENGLAND'S SHARE IN EXPLORATION 149 haue a Staplehouse there. There is also great store of hides, and at a place called Plesco ; and thereabout is great store of Flaxe, Hempe, Waxe, Honie." Chancellor's thought was, that if the Dutch had their footing in Russia as traders, why not the English ? And dangerous as the journey was, he undertook to travel 200 miles to Moscow, and saw the Czar. He found Moscow greater than London, but it was not built with any order. Men set down their houses where and how they pleased, building them of timber, and therefore " very dangerous for fire." The Czar's court was very splendid, his courtiers clad in cloth of gold. The Czar sat in a gilt chair, clothed in a long garment of beaten gold, wearing an imperial crown upon his head, and holding in his right hand a staff of gold and crystal — all of which greatly impressed the Englishman. Terrible as the Czar was to others, he was very affable to Chancellor, asked many questions concerning England and its sovereign, and readily concluded a trade treaty. Chancellor then rode to Archangel, and safely returned to England, bearing letters from the Czar to the King.^ Unfortunately, while he had been so successful, not only in his voyage but in being instrumental in establish- ing the Muscovy Company, he perished in his next enterprise. He went to Moscow in 1555, and started for home in 1556 ; but the Bonaveniure was wrecked on the coast of Aberdeen. The Russian or Muscovy Company was a vigorous one, and in every sense its members were worthy to be accounted among the best and most enterprising of 1 See Hakluyt's Voyages. 150 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY Queen Elizabeth's subjects. They found a splendid agent in Anthony Jenkinson, who, stiU young, was already a great traveller for those days. While he was but a youth he was sent in the year 1546 to the Levant, and during that journey he visited nearly every port in the Mediterranean, alike on the African and European shores. He was at Aleppo when the famous Sultan, Solyman the Great, entered the city, and the young traveller wrote a vigorous account of that monarch's entry. Jenkinson, by his ready address, secured per- mission from Solyman to trade with his ships, and succeeded in obtaining a great many privileges with "regard to toUs and ships' dues. This was the young traveller whom the Muscovy Company appointed in 1557 to be captain-general of their fleet, at a salary of forty pounds a year — not a great one, even at present- day value. To enter Russia for the purposes of trade, he sought for Archangel, and therefore sailed up the coast of Norway and round the North Cape. When reading the story one almost imagines himself reading some pages of Homer's Odyssey, minus the fighting ; for it is fuU of daring, and of marvellous escapes. Jenkinson tells of his call at a cape named Swetinoz, where there was a great stone, " to which the barkes that passed thereby were wont to make offerings of butter, meal, and other victuals, thinking that unless they did so their barkes or vessels should there perish." Not long after they sailed by the fateful spot where the brave Willoughby and his companions were frozen to death. Arriving at Vologhda, one of the factories which the ENGLAND'S SHARE IN EXPLORATION 151 Muscovy Company had erected, Jenkinson undertook a hazardous journey of 1200 miles, over snow and ice, passing through immense forests, braving all the perils from wolves and other wild animals, and at last drove into Moscow, a city which he declares to be at least two miles in circumference. It was Jenkinson's good fortune to be favourably received by the Czar, who permitted the Englishman to behold the barbaric splendour in which he lived among his nobles. He was even privileged to dine with him, and afterwards succeeded in securing terms that were favourable to the merchant adventurers. Leaving Moscow on the 23rd of April 1558, Jenkinson travelled south by water to Kolomna, and then journeyed on to the famous city of Nijni Novgorod, where he marked down much that served to show the world what Russian life was like ; and he tells us much that would not otherwise have been known as to the position which civilisation held, or rather lacked, in Russia three hundred years ago. Leaving Novgorod, he went on to Astrachan, which he reached in a time of terrible famine. He then passed to the Caspian Sea, where he had the honour of being the first to set up the English flag on Caspian waters. On landing, after a month's difficult navigation, Jenkin- son joined a caraven of a thousand camels, and going by way of Khiva, traversing a route which was so splendidly covered some years ago by Burnaby, the author of The Ride to Khiva, he reached Bokhara. The Tartar King welcomed him, and sought to learn as much as possible about England and her people. But, 152 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY as the traveller says, " after all this great entertainment, before my departure he showed himself a very Tartar, for he went to the wars owing me money, and saw me not paid before his departure." While he was in Central Asia Jenkinson saw much which caused him to take full notes as to the merchandise of India at the time. " The Indians," he says, " do bring fine whites, which the Tartars do roll about their heads." Not only so, " they carry back silks, red hides, slaves, and horses." The merchandise of Persia was similar. Russians traded with the leaders of the caravans in red hides, sheep skins, "woollen cloth of divers sorts, wooden vessels, bridles, saddles, with such like, and do carry away from thence divers kinds of wares, made of cotton, wool, divers silks," and other things. " From Cathay are brought in time of peace, and when the way is open, musk, rhubarb, satten, damasks, and divers other things." The disturbed state of Persia prevented him from entering the country, and he retraced his steps along the route he had travelled by, bringing six Tartar ambassadors and twenty-five Russians whom he had rescued from slavery. Finally he reached Moscow, saw the Czar again, and returned to England. Jenkinson set out before long to try to open com- mercial relations with Persia, and carried with him letters from our Queen Elizabeth and the Czar for the Shah, then known as " The Great Sophy," entreating friend- ship and safe conduct, and expressing a hope for trade. The errand failed, and he returned to England in 1563. Elizabeth was more chary of rendering help in Jenkinson' s desire to attempt the north-east passage to Cathay, and ENGLAND'S SHARE IN EXPLORATION 153 the scheme fell through. In the meantime he was in some danger. The queen put him in command of a ship, with orders to cruise on the Scottish coast, to prevent the Earl of BothweU from landing, and also to clear the sea of pirates. He did his work with such vigour as to displease the Earl of Bedford, and the latter made complaint to Elizabeth that Jenkinson had captured Wilson, a pirate whom the earl had licensed ! This throws some light on the wild doings of the days of Good Queen Bess. Great jealousy rankled in the hearts of the merchant adventurers by reason of the influence which an Italian agent was gaining in Russia, and Jenkinson was sent to counteract him. He was successful in securing a monopoly of the White Sea trade. His next journey was a failure. Something had offended the Czar, and the privileges granted were annulled, and the company's property confiscated by the emperor. When the Czar heard that Jenkinson was coming he sent word that he would take off his head if he came to Moscow. Hence his return to England. Then he desired to rest, for, as he said, he was getting an old man. Yet he was ready to go — and did go — to Denmark, to negotiate for the right of navigating the northern seas, and to arrange the Sound dues. Enough has been said to show that Anthony Jenkinson, unknown almost now, was a remarkable man. " He was the first Englishman who penetrated into Central Asia. His voyages, though undertaken mainly in the interests of commerce, seemed largely to extend geographical knowledge of districts till then barely known 154 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY by name. He seems to have been a good observer, so far as was then possible, and many of his determinations of latitude, both in Europe and Asia, are fairly exact ; but far more interesting than these are his acute descrip- tions of his routes, and the people through whose country he passed." CHAPTER XIV. THE FIRST VOYAGE ROUND THE WORLD. WHILE English minds were much occupied with the great question of a north-west and north- east passage to India, Ferdinand Magellan — • a Portuguese by birth and a navigator by profession — had a counter-proposal. He had thought the matter out, and came to the conclusion that there must be a south-west passage to Asia, and that it could be found by sailing down the eastern coast of South America, going on and on until the shore ended at a southern point. Magellan set forth his scheme to the King of Portugal, but that monarch was so indifferent to his proposals that the navigator went to Spain and begged the aid and patronage of Charles v., who was as eager to put the matter to the test as the other sovereign was slow. In a very short time five vessels were ready, and two hundred and thirty experienced sailors had volun- teered for the enterprise of sailing, somewhere across the ocean, though none knew where but Magellan and the emperor. The voyage began on Monday, the loth of August 1519, when the little fleet left Seville port, and sailed for the west coast of Africa. Having arrived opposite Sierra 156 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY Leone, Magellan turned his ships to the west, and crossed the ocean to Brazil, reaching what is now known as Rio Janeiro on the 13th of December. The impressions of the voyagers as to that country are interesting. " The land of Brazil, which produced everything in abundance, is as large as Spain, France, and Italy united. It is one of the countries acquired by the King of Portugal. The people of Brazil are not Christians, nor are they idolaters, for they worship nothing. . . . They go entirely naked, the women as well as the men. Their houses are long cabins, which they call hoi. They tie on cotton nets called hammocks, fastened at the ends to two strong posts. Their fireplaces are on the ground. Their hois frequently contain a hundred men with their wives and children, consequently there is always considerable noise in these houses." From what the travellers said, the olive-coloured natives were by no means pleasant to look on, with their painted faces and bodies, nor in their custom of piercing the lower lip with three holes, through which a slender cylindrical stone two inches long was thrust. One is disposed to think that the historian of the voyage exaggerated when he described the men and women who were met with lower down the American coast. They came upon a race of giants, and of one individual this is said : " This man was so prodigiously large that our heads scarcely reached to his waist. He had an attractive appearance. His face was broad and painted red, with the exception of a circle of yellow round his eyes and two spots, figured like hearts, on his cheeks. His hair, which was thin, was whitened with THE FIRST VOYAGE ROUND THE WORLD 157 some kind of powder. His coat, or rather his mantle, was made of furs, well sewed together, taken from an indigenous animal, which afterward we had an oppor- tunity to see." Pigafetta goes on to say that savage as these Indians are, they are not without their medicaments. When they have a pain in the stomach, in place of an active medicine they thrust an arrow far down the throat to cause them to vomit. If they have a headache, they make a gash in their forehead, and do the same with other parts of their body where they feel pain so as to let blood. Their religion was limited to adoring the devil, and as for their habits they were wanderers, going from place to place like gipsies, and living on raw meat and a sweet root called capac. These were the Patagonians. Darwin described them later, in his Journal of a Voyage round the World, as a race of tall men whose height appeared greater than it really was, from their large guanaco mantles, their long flowing hair, and general figure, the average height being about six feet. AU this time Magellan was on the lookout for some passage west, but none was met with until they had reached the very point of the continent. On the way he was beset with troubles, for the captains of the other four ships, being Spaniards, were intensely jealous of the admiral, who was a Portuguese, and plotted his murder. The plot was discovered, and Magellan brought on them the fiercest retribution. One was flayed alive, another stabbed to the heart, the third, who had been forgiven but proved treacherous, was set ashore and left to the mercy of the Patagonians. 158 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY The conduct of the voyagers towards the natives was questionable. Magellan gave them presents when some of them came on board, and then, showing them some bright rings and shackles, fastened them on the ankles of the unsuspecting Indians, who found themselves prisoners. "They tried to liberate themselves, and when they found that impossible they loudly called on their gods to aid them. But no gods came, and Magellan would have borne them off to Spain if he had not tried to effect a change of his captives for others, in doing which they broke loose. In the pursuit one of Magellan's crew was shot by a poisoned arrow." At last the ships sailed into a strait which was caUed at first the Strait of the Eleven Thousand Virgins, in honour of the day when it was found, namely 21st October 1520. The ships had gone into other great openings before, and for a time it was thought that this might be but a deep indentation, and that they would have to return. For days they went on slowly through the winding strait, sounding as they went lest the narrow sea which was only " half a league wide, more or less," should have hidden rocks and bring them disaster. The voyagers declared the length to be 440 miles, but later estimates determined it to be 315 miles long. It was a forbidding way, and the mariners were fuU of fear, for on the north were lofty snow-covered mountains. One ship had been already lost, and of the four that remained, one deserted, the St. Antonio, which had the pilot, Gomez, on board. He sailed back to Spain whUe he was supposed to have gone forward to test the channel, and in the darkness THE FIRST VOYAGE ROUND THE WORLD 159 of the night had turned round and made for home. Arriving there, he told the king a garbled story of Magellan's ignorance and incompetence. After waiting for a while for the missing ship, Magellan went on, but at the end of thirty-eight days in the passage, now known by his name, the Straits of Magellan, he saw before him the boundless ocean. There was scarcely a ripple on the surface at the time, so that he called the ocean Pacific, or Peaceful, and then began a voyage where no white man's ships had ever spread their sails. It is said that at the first sight of the great South Sea for which he had been searching he wept for joy. The cape at the north-eastern entrance of the straits he named Cape Desiderati, or Desire. "For in truth," said he, " we had long desired to see it." The land on his left, while passing through the straits, was called Tierra del Fuego by reason of an incident that occurred. As we have seen, three ships had been sent on to explore. A storm swept the straits, and a few days having gone and the ships not having returned, Magellan believed them lost. Going forward to search for any signs of wreckage, he saw two ships at anchor near the shore, and smoke arising from a fire on the beach. Hence he marked on the map the name that has re- mained for 400 years — Tierra del Fuego, the land of the fire. Although Magellan had reached the ocean of which he had dreamed, his troubles were by no means ended. The peaceful sea was treacherous, and storms such as he had never known before belied the name Pacific. Steering north-west, leaving the continent of South. i6o THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY America on his right, he started for a voyage on the unknown sea, making for the shores of Cipango. Days went by, weeks came and went, but neither land nor birds appeared. For 4000 leagues they went, and in all that time they only touched at two desert islands without inhabitants, and having no life on them but birds and trees. These they called Isole Sfortunato ■ — ^the Unfortunate Islands. On the way they suffered terribly, and Pigafetta says that "if God and the Holy Mother had not granted us a fortunate voyage we should all have perished from hunger on so vast a sea. I do not think that anyone wiU hereafter venture on a similar voyage." The hearts of the navigators failed them, but on they went. To return over those landless leagues was only to cross an ocean where they could never hope for food, while by pressing on they might at any time come to land where it could be found. The Ladrones — midway between Australia and Japan — were reached on the 6th of March 1^20, and food was there obtained. The extremity of the voyagers was great, for scurvy fiUed the cabins with sick men, but the fresh provisions and the welcome rest on shore revived those who had not suffered too greatly. Among the dead, however, was an Enghshman — the only Englishman in the fleet. Leaving the Ladrones, the three ships sailed forward to the Philippines, where the voyagers were well received. But the stay was disastrous to Magellan personally. The natives treated him with a kindness that merited his best consideration, but the Spanish and Portuguese tyranny set aside all claims for honourable treatment. THE FIRST VOYAGE ROUND THE WORLD i6i Magellan demanded the payment of tribute, and it was paid by all save one fierce chieftain, who refused to be browbeaten. Thereupon Magellan marched his men against him, and in the battle which ensued the navi- gator was slain. It was a mad enterprise, to lead a few scores against thousands of angry warriors. Eight of Magellan's men were slain, and the others found safety only by a swift retreat to the ships. Magellan was pierced by a lance, and was left where he fell. Without their leader the navigators put out to sea, and then took counsel. One ship proved unseaworthy, and had to be run ashore, so that before they burnt her they might take away what was of value and use. Then they decided on seeking the Moluccas. At first they hesitated, for the Portuguese, in their jealousy lest others should find the islands and rob them of their trade, had declared that the Moluccas " lay in the middle of an impassable sea, full of shallows, and were surrounded by a cloudy, foggy atmosphere." But they felt that they must venture thither, or wander aimlessly. Con- sequently they went forward timidly enough, missing with every day's experience the enterprise of the dead Magellan. When, however, they reached the Molucca Islands they found that their fears were groundless, the stories false, and the new land aU that could be desired. It was a welcome ending to a voyage which had extended over twenty-seven long months. These islands were five in number : " Tarenate, Tadore, Mutir, Machian, and Bachian. When afterwards cloves were found on the adjacent islands the name Moluccas was appHed to all the islands lying between the Philippines and Java." i62 THE WORLD^S EXPLORATION STORY The ship La Trinidad was in a sinking condition, and was left behind. The only vessel remaining was La Victoria. Juan Sebastian del Cano was chosen captain, and the survivors began the journey home on the 2ist of December 1521. Laden with spices, she began her voyage, going by way of the Cape of Good Hope. When, on the 8th of September 1522, she entered the port of Seville she had achieved what no other ship had ever before succeeded in accomplishing. She had gone all round the world, and " thus passed into history the wonderful achievement of the first circumnavigation of the earth in three years and twenty-nine days. The loss of life by fighting and storm and disease was great. Out of 230 men — some say 270 — who started from Seville on the perilous voyage to an unknown sea, only eighteen returned ; and of the five ships, the only one to cast anchor in SevUle again was La Victoria. The ship that had been left at the Moluccas — La Trinidad — because she was unseaworthy, had some fearful experiences. Her men, when they had patched her up, sought to take her to the Spanish settlements at Panama. They succeeded in sailing a considerable portion of the way, but food failed them and they returned to the Moluccas, where they were seized by the Portuguese on the plea that they were pirates. The sailors were thrust into prison, but four contrived to escape, and after many terrible experiences they got back to Spain. Later on by ones and twos others came into Spanish harbours, so that when the roll-call was closely examined the total of those who set forth from THE FIRST VOYAGE ROUND THE WORLD 163 Spain and succeeded in returning numbered thirty-five. Even then the death list was a long one, and heavy payment for the achievement of the first circumnaviga- tion of the globe. Mr. Jacobs points out that the importance of this voyage was unique when regarded from the point of view of geographical discovery. " It decisively clinched the matter with regard to the existence of an entirely New World independent from Asia. In particular, the backward voyage of the Trinidad (which has rarely been noticed) had shown that there was a wide expanse of ocean north of the line and east of Asia, whUst the previous voyage had shown the enormous extent of sea south of the line. After the circumnavigation of the Victoria it was clear to cosmographers that the world was much larger than had been imagined by the ancients ; or rather, perhaps, one may say that Asia was smaller than had been thought by the mediseval writers. The dogged persistence shown by Magellan in carrying out his idea, which turned out to be a perfectly justifi- able one, raises him from this point of view to a greater height than Columbus, whose month's voyage brought him exactly where he thought he would find land accord- ing to Toscanelli's map. After Magellan, as wiU be seen, the whole coast lines of the world were roughly known, except for the Arctic Circle and for Australia." ^ ' Jacobs, Story of Geographical Discovery. CHAPTER XV. THE FRENCH EXPLORERS IN AMERICA. THE great discoveries made by the Spaniards and the EngUsh in the New World roused the French nation into great activity, and brought them to the resolution to take their share in the work of exploration, so that they might thereby add to their dominions. The fishermen were the foremost in this venture, for as early as 1504 we hear of some from Normandy and Brittany fishing for cod on the great banks of Newfoundland. Finding the fishing profitable, they began to explore the island with the full intention of making it a French possession. The French sailors went yet farther, for a captain named Thomas Aubert, accompanied by Giovanni da Verrazzano, sailed farther west, and entered the mouth of the River St. Lawrence, saUing 240 miles up. They gave it that name because they entered it on the day of St. Lawrence, the loth of August 1508. Several years later Verrazzano came again, and explored the coast in these parts very thoroughly, and to such purpose that one writer^ said of him: "What Cadomosta had done for Portugal, Columbus for Spain, John Cabot for England, that Verrazzano did for France." ' Asher, Henry Hudson, the Navigator. 164 THE FRENCH EXPLORERS IN AMERICA 165 He started with four vessels, but he had not long been at sea in that January of 1524 before a fierce gale rendered it necessary that three of the ships, in a leaking condition, should put back to France again, leaving Verrazzano to decide whether he should return or go forward in the one seaworthy ship at his disposal. He decided to go forward in his ship, La Dauphine, and on the 7th of March he touched the American shores. Like other voyagers, he had sailed due west, expecting to reach Cathay, but as he said, when writing to the King of France, he discovered " a new land, never before seen by men of ancient or modern times." In reality he had reached that part of the New World which was later known as the New England shore. They sailed along the coast towards the south for fifty leagues, hoping to find a good harbour, but neither there nor to the north did they discover one that was worth the name. Finally Verrazzano determined to anchor near the low sandy beach, close by the mouth of Cape Fear, and began at once a traffic with the natives, whom he describes as black, of good proportion, of middle stature, " broad across the breast, strong in the arms, and well formed in the legs and other parts of the body." But for a belt about the loins, they went naked, and were extremely swift of foot. They were gentle, timid creatures, who treated the strangers with great kindness, and deserved better treatment than was meted out to them, for Verrazzano tried to kidnap some of them. Going farther north, exploring the coast as they went, they sent in boats continually, and found that there was an abundance of minerals in the mountains. i66 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY They thus examined the shores of what is now New Jersey, and at last entered the splendid harbour of New York. Beyond those shores stretched " beautiful fields and broad plains, covered with immense forests, more or less dense, the foliage of the trees being of various colours, too attractive and charming to be described." These are Verrazzano's words to the king, and he goes on to say that the country abounded with many animals, as deer, stags, hares, and the like ; that it was plentifully supplied with lakes and ponds of running water, and with a great variety of birds, fit and useful for every kind of pleasant and delightful sport ; while the air was salu- brious, pure, and of a temperature neither hot nor cold. Then Verrazzano tells of a sailor who jumped into the sea to swim ashore,, to give some trinkets to the natives that came to stare in awe at the mighty ship. But as he set foot on the beach the waves beat him senseless for a few moments, and the natives hurried down and carried him higher up the shore, to keep him from drowning. He shrieked in fear when he saw that he was being borne away, but the Indians assured him by signs that they would do him no harm. Presently they stripped him, and gazed in wonder at his white skin, then lit a fire to warm him. His fear increased, for he thought he had fallen among cannibals ; but they set him free after an affectionate farewell, and saw him go to the boat that had come to his assistance. This was Verrazzano's story, and one would think from what he says that he and his men were kind ; but strangely enough, from that day all the natives fled into the forests when his ship appeared, and all along the THE FRENCH EXPLORERS IN AMERICA 167 New England coast — to give it its later name — they were wary and suspicious, and would not buy nor sell. When the voyagers had examined Nova Scotia they sailed for Newfoundland, and finally returned to France. Even Verrazzano did not solve the problem as to whether there was a way still west by sea to Cathay. The maps of his day are so drawn as to leave an observer to suppose that there was a strait which only wanted sailing through in order to reach an open sea which would lead to the Indies. As late as 1609 the famous Captain John Smith induced Henry Hudson to explore the coast covered by Verrazzano, and find a way through some strait marked on the Frenchman's map, so as to sail on into the Indian Sea and come to Cathay. Apart from the mistaken notion that the New World was only an immense island in the sea, which could be passed when once the way was found round it or by a strait through it, the descriptions of the people and the country were valuable. Verrazzano tells us that what- ever was sown would yield an abundant crop ; that oaks grew there, apples, plums, filberts, and other things. Indeed, it was a pleasant land, and valuable for colonisation. Farther north, when 150 leagues of coast had been passed, the Frenchman found the natives more rude and barbarous, and the land sterile and unfit for the growth of fruits or grain of any kind. " If we wished," says Verrazzano, " at any time to traffic with them, they came to the seashore, and stood upon the rocks, from which they lowered down by a cord to our boats beneath whatever they had to barter, continually crying out to us not to come nearer, and instantly de- i68 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY manding from us that which was to be given in exchange. They took from us only knives, fish-hooks, and sharpened steel. No regard was paid to our courtesies. When we had nothing left to exchange with them the men, at our departure, made the most brutal signs of disdain and contempt possible." Verrazzano claims to have explored 2100 miles of country in this voyage, although it is not easy to accept such a statement, even when he tries to explain it. None the less his discoveries were remarkable, and his statements concerning the people were valuable. " It seemed to us that they had no religion or laws, nor any knowledge of a First Cause or Mover, — that they wor- shipped neither the heavens, stars, sun,, moon, nor the other planets. We could not learn if they were given to any kind of idolatry, or offered any sacrifices or sup- plications, or if they have temples or houses of prayer in their villages." Verrazzano returned to France, but was restless to get away again to find this strait which he had failed to discover. Consequently he sailed across the Atlantic in 1526 for the third time with three vessels. But it was a disastrous enterprise. Ramusio says : "In the last voyage which he made, having gone on land with some of his men, he and they were all put to death by the inhabitants, and in the presence of those who were on board the ship were roasted and devoured." It was an unhappy ending to an expedition which was under- taken with the express purpose of examining the New World right up to the North Pole, and, if possible, to find a way through. Verrazzano declared that he would THE FRENCH EXPLORERS IN AMERICA 169 not be content with merely coasting, but would see how far it was possible to go into the interior, as weU as find a short and direct way to Cathay. A few years went by before the French king found it convenient to send forth another exploring expedition, but at last, in 1534, James Cartier, of St. Malo, in Brittany, was commissioned to examine the northern parts, and find, if possible, the passage which Verrazzano had failed to discover. When he arrived at Newfoundland he circumnavigated the island, then sailed into the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and from thence to the Bay of Chaleurs. He spent three months in exploring the coast of Labrador and the Strait of Belle Isle, as well as a good portion of the Gulf of St. Lawrence ; then, having hoisted the French flag, taken possession of the country in the name of the king, he returned to France, not being prepared for a severe winter in the New World. Cartier was now famous throughout France, and in a very short time three vessels were at his disposal, while a number of young noblemen volunteered to join him. They went, however, rather as colonists than discoverers, and on the 19th of May 1535 they were on the ocean. Reaching the Gulf of St. Lawrence by a strange coincid- ence on the loth of August, just as Verrazzano had done, and apparently ignorant of the fact that the name had been already given to the great opening, Cartier called it the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and began to sail as far into its waters as possible. Hearing that there was an important town far up the stream called Hochelaga, Cartier went to it in his boats, and reached a beautiful village at the foot of a 170 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY high hill, where he met with a welcome from the chief. Winsor says that the white strangers were evidently looked upon as superior beings capable of healing by the hand, for the palsied were brought to be touched. The chieftain of the savages was borne into the throng upon the shoulders of men, and he offered a shrunken limb to be stroked. In recognition of the potency of the Frenchman's charm the Indian lifted his wreath of authority from his own head and placed it upon the brow of his visitor. Cartier, in fulfilment of the missionary spirit which he had avowed to the French king, began to repeat the Gospel of St. John. Then, making the sign of a cross, he uttered a prayer, and afterwards read the Passion of Christ. It was mere necromancy to the astonished savages.^ From the top of the hill above the village Cartier saw the river stretching away to the west, but the winter was coming on, and he dared not attempt the ascent to see whether the river was really the strait that led into the sea for Cathay. Running up his flag, and taking possession of the land for the King of France, and calling Hochelaga by another name — Mount Real — he went back to his ships, where he and his men spent the winter, scourged by the scurvy. It is said that at one time there were but ten sound Frenchmen to minister to the sick, and twenty-five of his company died. The natives brought them a concoction made of the bark of the white pine, and it did them great good. When spring-time came the Frenchmen erected a great cross on which were carved the words : Franciscus ^ Winsor, Cartier to Frontenac. THE FRENCH EXPLORERS IN AMERICA 171 Primus, Dei gratia Francorum Rex regnet. Winsor teUs us that the first act, after this erection of the cross and claiming the country in the name of Francis I., was to lure the local chieftain into a snare, and to carry him and other savages on board the ships. It was an inexcusable act of treachery, and it only resulted in the unfortunate King of the Hurons being carried off to die of a broken heart. Altogether the expedition was a failure, and the Frenchmen went back to France dis- couraged. " Neither silver nor gold had been found on the banks of the St. Lawrence ; and what was a new world good for that had not silver and gold ? " Francis i. was disposed to convert this new possession into a real and profitable part of the French dominions, and consequently he prepared another expedition, appointing Francis of La Roque, Lord of Roberval, in Picardy, as Viceroy of New France. Roberval called for volunteers, but the previous experiences made them slow in coming. " The French peasants and mechanics were not eager to embark for a country which promised nothing better than savages and snow. Cartier's honest narrative about the resources of New France had left no room for further dreaming. So the work of enlisting volunteers went on slowly, until the Government adopted the plan of opening the prisons of the kingdom, and giving freedom to whoever would join the expedition. There was a rush of robbers, swindlers, and murderers, and the lists were immediately filled. Only counter- feiters and traitors were denied the privilege of gaining their hberty in the New World." Cartier was made captain-general and pilot of the 172 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY fleet. By the 23rd of August 1541 he was at Hochelaga, where the Indians met him and asked him for their king whom he had taken away. His answer was that he had died a Christian, and desired Agona to reign in his stead. The story was so plausible that the simple- minded Indians believed it, and once more were ready to deal with him. He went up the river as far as Quebec, and built a fort there, which he named Charlesbourg. But he was sullen, since he was now only a subordinate of Roberval, who was following, and consequently he did nothing in the way of exploration, and when Roberval had arrived, returned to France secretly. As might have been expected, no viceroy could successfully colonise a new land when the colonists were the sweepings of the jails. The scoundrels were always taxing his powers as a governor, and hangings and whippings were going on continually in the terrible winter which followed. Roberval's endeavours to find a way to the west of the St. Lawrence failed. The waters of that mighty river were clogged with ice, so that he could not move onwards, and when he went into winter quarters scurvy began again to kiU his men. That and the gibbet and the lash served to tame the turbulent spirits, which were the last who should have been sent out to found a new empire. When the spring-time came, and the ice was swept away into the ocean, Roberval began to explore the land. He went up the river with seventy men in boats, leaving thirty to guard the fort. Apparently nothing came of this, for we do not even know whither he went nor what he saw. We only know that there was something done. THE FRENCH EXPLORERS IN AMERICA 173 and that Roberval at last returned to France. It is said that he undertook another voyage, and that the ships set saU, but they were never heard of again. Daring as were the endeavours of Cartier, it was Samuel Champlain who explored the St. Lawrence, and discovered many facts about that mighty river and the lakes that served to feed it. He has been spoken of as one of the most eminent and soldierly men of his times, and when a company of Rouen merchants desired someone to explore the country through which the great St. Lawrence ran, and to establish trading stations there, they selected Champlain for the task. One can but admire the business instinct of the traders who planned the expedition. Hitherto the craze of every would-be explorer or colonist was for gold, which, they beheved and hoped, was to be had for the asking. But here were men who considered that " a traffic in the furs which those regions so abundantly supplied was a surer road to riches than rambHng about in search of gold and diamonds." Apart from any fame Champlain might have gained as a soldier, he is described as a man who was physically suited for the task of pioneer, for his person was rugged, his strength was equal to almost any physical task, his constitution did not succumb to exposure either of cold or heat, while his spirit would not allow him to be daunted by danger.^ He sailed from France in March 1603, and, arriving at the St. Lawrence, went up the river until he reached Quebec, which he at once declared the best spot possible ^ Winsor, Cartier to Frontenac. 174 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY where a trading fort could be built. He did not quail before the thought that the warlike Iroquois held the country as their hunting grounds, and that at any time they might turn against him and his companions. He trusted to his skill in dealing with them, and even ventured to penetrate still farther into the unknown territory. Going up the river he found the Algonquins putting on their war-paint, preparatory to a rush down to the territories of the Iroquois, but as he had no quarrel with either tribe he obtained information, and passed on to find a river which, the Indians said, flowed from a large lake which connected with other great sheets of water. When he reached the spot where Montreal now stands he heard of greater rapids and yet vaster lakes, and far beyond these again the open sea. He heard enough to show that there were immense possibilities of wealth for traders, and then returned. While doing this he explored the country on either side of the river, and at last, in September of the same year, embarked for France with a ship-load of furs which had been collected at the trading fort during his absence. Champlain returned to America and spent a great amount of time in examining the coast, drawing a map of the shore-line of Nova Scotia and New England. He did not on this voyage go near the St. Lawrence, but when he returned to France in 1607 he found that an expedition was being prepared to explore the fur country, in order to extend the trapping trade. Cham- plain joined the expedition, and reaching the spot where he had marked a site for a future trading fort, he laid the foundations of Quebec beneath the cliffs. That done, THE FRENCH EXPLORERS IN AMERICA 175 he explored the country and, after a winter full of hard- ships, ascended the St. Lawrence. Here he met the Hurons and Algonquins, who were preparing to go on the war-path against the Iroquois. They invited Cham- plain to join them, and he consented, so that when the march began he penetrated with the Indians into lands where no white man had ever gone. While this was useful in so far as it served to make Canada known, it had a most baneful effect on the traders for a century to come ; for the Iroquois, knowing that Champlain was leading their enemies, turned their hands against aU white men, and butchered them at sight. " For over a century," says Winsor, " the Iroquois found no pastime equal to rendering life in Canada miserable. They kept in perpetual anxiety every settler along the great valley who dared to occupy a farmstead away from the palisaded settlements. The shrieks of murdered children, the moans of tortured parents, and devastation of house- holds mark the course of French-Canadian history as long as the Iroquois maintained an aggressive confederacy." Champlain had been made lieutenant-governor of this territory by the king, and therefore determined to discover all that could be known of the land he had to rule. He was instructed to hold the country per- manently, and develop its geography, which meant that " an opportunity should be taken to put to the test what he had already explained to the king, namely, the practicability of finding a way to China, avoiding at the same time the cold of the north and the heat of the south." Again and again he passed up and down the river, sometimes returning to France and receiving 176 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY fresh instructions, which centred on geographical dis- coveries and the formation of trading companies. What- ever new country Champlain explored, he was careful to draw a map of it, and did so with considerable accuracy, on the whole, although there were many errors owing to the faults of his astrolabe ; so many, indeed, that " men of science to-day find his accounts far less satis- factory than those of the Englishmen, Hariot and White, on the Virginian coast twenty years before." From 1614 to 1629 war, trade, and missions were very much mixed up. It is said that Champlain was chiefly employed in strengthening the commercial plans of the colony, and in arranging for the introduction of priests. The traders objected strongly to having to find the money for the missions, and Champlain's wars, as we have seen, rendered life a burden to the colonists, through the savage inroads of the Iroquois. In one of the fights Champlain was wounded, and had to be carried away in a basket. The effect of his policy with the Indians was to cause those against whom he fought to join the enemies of France — the English and the Dutch. As a consequence he was no longer able to prosecute his explorations, but had to be on the defensive. Indeed, when England and France went to war in 1628, Kirke endeavoured to drive Champlain out of Quebec, and in the following year the town surrendered to the English, and "the red flag of England floated fromCapeDiamond." Eventually Quebec was restored to France, and Cham- , plain returned to Canada. It must not be supposed that the French were very numerous there, for it is stated that the whole white THE FRENCH EXPLORERS IN AMERICA 177 population of Canada at the time — 1634 — was scarcely more than sixty souls, and of this number only two households could be said to have fastened themselves on the soil. In fact, says Winsor, all results of con- sequence in the colony's life could be traced to the summer traffic in furs, and development stopped with that.i It was very different with the English, of whom there were at least 4000 about Massachusetts Bay, and 12,000 colonists elsewhere along the coast. It has always been a remarkable fact that while the English seem to be born colonists, the French have invariably failed. Yet if any man could have won success for France it was Champlain, who died on Christmas Day, 1635, of paralysis. From the time of Champlain 's death exploration proceeded slowly. Now and again traders went into the unknown country after hearing what the Indians said. Some spoke of a great river to the west flowing into the China Sea, and traders sought for it. Two such men went west in 1654, and traversed the country beyond Lake Michigan, where they gathered an immense store of furs. Later yet some Englishmen left the James River in Virginia, and crossed the mountains. In 1658- 59, Grosseilliers wintered on the shores of Lake Superior. Later still this traveller's enterprise took him along the southern shore of the lake, and saw the Mississippi, so some say, but this is doubtful. He pursued his explora- tions west and north ; he even turned in the direction of B oston ; but strange to say, there is nothing satisfactory in his travels so far as definite knowledge is concerned. 1 Winsor, Cartier to Frontenac. 12 178 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY JoLiET, however, contributed greatly to the geogra- phical knowledge of North America. He was sent west to inquire whether the stories told of great deposits of copper near Lake Superior were true. While the result of the inquiry was not altogether encouraging to him, he was able to tell of much that promised well. He was the first white man to trace the strait from Huron to Erie, and then to turn up the valley of the Grand River and strike the shores of Ontario at its western end. When someone was wanted to discover a new route to Lake Superior, Frontenac, the governor, chose Joliet. He was told to find the Mississippi by way of Green Bay ; but he was also told that he would probably discover that that mighty river emptied itself into the Gulf of California, thus opening a way to China and Japan. He set out in 1673 with six companions, facing unknown perils with splendid courage. It was a wonderful j ourney . Sometimes the travellers found themselves among the dense growth of wild oats, through which for days together their two canoes Went slowly. But after a while they " ran into a region of rich bottom lands, diversified by undulations that were topped with trees. Festooning vines hung from branches, which here and there flecked the gentle current with their shadows. Now a dense copse of walnut and oak, as well as trees that were new to them, stretched along the bank. They swept round islands in the stream as it broadened, and saw tangled climbers bearing down the imprisoned bushes. In the opens they espied the roebuck, and encountered, singly and in herds, the Illinois oxen clothed in wool, " for the buffalo had THE FRENCH EXPLORERS IN AMERICA 179 been more or less familar to the French for ten years." At last the canoes shot into the mighty stream of the Mississippi. They .sped down stream by day, but anchored at night, but for a week and more their canoes glided onwards in the current without need for paddles save for steering ; and during all that time they saw no sign of man. But on the 25th of June 1673 they found some human footprints on the western bank, and landing, traced them until they came to an Indian village. There " they saw French cloth on some of the savages, and learned that intertribal traffic had probably passed it along from the French traders on the lakes." This people told them the same stories of demons and dangers to which a persistence in going farther would subject them, but they determined to go forward. On the way they were alert for any possible western passage, but met with none. They came to the mouth of the Onabouskigon, now the Ohio River, but they did not linger, for here their relentless foes, the Iroquois, were raiding the country. July came and their dangers increased, for the Indians grew more and more un- friendly. They wore European cloth, and carried guns. One Indian told them that the red men far down the stream were fiercer yet. This conversation took place at the mouth of the Arkansas, and so real were the dangers already encountered that, fearing to face yet greater, Joliet determined to return, lest he and his little party should fall into the hands of the Spaniards. They were already at the point marked 33° 40', and on 17th July they sought to beat up the river against the i8o THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY stream. They did not take the same route, for when they came to the lUinois they turned into its quieter course, and after many a weary day came to a place which they called Mont Joliet, forty miles south-west of Chicago. Later they entered Lake Michigan by what was known as the Chicago portage. Up to that point they had traversed in nearly five months as many as 2500 miles. They reached the St. Lawrence at last, but at the rapicjs, above Montreal, Joliet's canoe capsized, two of his men were drowned, within sight of home, as it were, and the box which contained his journals was lost. The loss seemed irreparable, but with a determination that was admirable he waited where he was, and called back to memory the things he had seen, and from his recollections transcribed his maps. La Salle was another Frenchman who did great things in the way of opening out the country to the west. In 1680 he first saw the Mississippi. Two years later he marched straight through the territory of the Arkansas Indians, in spite of the fact that he saw at every turn proofs of the bloodthirsty spirit of the savages. They received him with kindness, respecting the calumet which heheldout to them, and then he took possession of theland, setting up a post, and hanging on it the arms of France. Thence La Salle rode down the Mississippi, taking aU the risks from Indians or Spaniards, if any such should see them. He was met by some Indians, who sent showers of arrows from the banks, but La Salle went on until he came to a part where the river divided into three channels. Here he made up three parties, one for each channel, THE FRENCH EXPLORERS IN AMERICA i8i and parted. It might have been a separation for ever, but three days later they were together again, and now no longer floating in fresh water, but in brackish, which afterwards grew quite salt, showing that the sea was not far distant. When the company had all assembled La Salle took possession for France of the great river and aU the country which it watered, giving to it the name of Louisiana. No other Frenchman had reached the mouth of the great Mississippi before that day. It was an immense addition to the French dominions, and as it was set forth in the map which was afterwards prepared by Franquelin, in 1684, " the French claim was bounded by the Gulf of Mexico westward to the Rio Grande, thence north-westerly to the rather vague watershed of what we now know as the Rocky Mountains, with an indefinite hne along the sources of the upper Mississippi and its higher affluents, bounding on the height of land which shut off the valley of the Great Lakes till the Appalacliians were reached. Following these mountains south, the line skirted the northern limits of Spanish Florida, and then turned to the Gulf." It was 1200 mfles from north to south. " The flood that coursed this enormous basin was one of the world's largest, draining an area of more than 1,250,000 square miles, which sent twenty million of miflions cubic feet of water annuaUy into the sea." Then came the journey home — long, wearisome, terrible — by reason of the enemies that seemed to be awaiting his return. At one spot he lay at death's door for forty days ; then dragged himself from his bed of leaves, and pursued the homeward way. CHAPTER XVI. DISCOVERY AND CONQUEST IN SOUTH AMERICA. WHILE Englishmen and French explorers were opening out the lands of North America, the Spaniards were pushing on into the southern continent with an enterprise which was apparently actuated by a desire to bring the natives into the Christian Church ; but in reality they were striving not only to extend the dominions of the Spanish monarchs and the influence of the pope, but to gather in the gold and precious stones with which the New World was said to abound. The pope, Alexander vi., had issued a famous Bull, which divided between the Portuguese and Castilian monarchs the world which Columbus was going to discover, and an imaginary line was laid down west of the Azores as the boundary .^ The Bull was issued in 1493, and as soon as the New World was found the Spaniards, ready to steal a march on the Portuguese, began to push out in all directions, and run up the Spanish flag on newly found territory. In that way Mexico was discovered, and subdued by Cortez. So also was Nicaragua discovered, the Nicaraguans being undoubtedly ' Helps, Spanish Conquest in America. 182 DISCOVERY IN SOUTH AMERICA 183 of Mexican origin, their religion, language, and mode of writing being similar. They were also " in that state of civilisation which gives great promise of the gradual formation of an important empire. The edifices were not so grand as those of the Mexicans, but there was no want of skUl in their buUdings or of polity in their laws." Gil Gongalez discovered the coast in 1522, penetrated into the interior, told the cacique of the country of the greatness of the Spanish monarch, and not only baptized 30,000 of the Nicaraguans, but brought away what was probably more gratif5dng still, a large quantity of gold. It was an unhappy day for the natives, for there came at once the greedy gold-seekers, whose way was every- where marked with blood, which told of the most horrible cruelties in their endeavours to squeeze out gold, and wring confessions of hidden treasures. Conquest was pursued by the Spaniards in all direc- tions. In this way Guatemala feU into their hands after fierce but hopeless fights on the part of the natives against Alvarado, who had fought under Cortez in Mexico. The Spanish general was induced to push into the interior when he heard of great cities, built of stone and mortar, and of one especially, said to be as large as Mexico. ^ Meanwhile Vasco Nunez de Balboa took command of an expedition undertaken to establish a settlement in Darien. There had been another commander previously appointed, namely, Martin Fernandez Enciso, but he was so cruel and incompetent that his soldiers refused ^ Helps, Spanish Conquest in America. i84 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY to have him as leader, and put the more capable Balboa in command. This was in March 1511, and while Balboa was pushing forward with his task, Enciso, who was a thoroughly good geographer and a scholarly man, went into retirement and wrote a book, which was pubUshed in 1519. It was " the first Spanish book which gives an account of America." On the 25th of September 15 13 Vasco Nunez de Balboa saw the ocean on the other side of the Isthmus of Darien. It was the first sight of the great Pacific which any European had ever obtained, and from that day the Spaniards began to push steadily forward along that other shore, always in search of an El Dorado. " The first detailed account of the west coast of South America was written by that keenly observant old soldier, Pedro de Cieza de Leon, who was travelling in South America from 1533 to 1550, and published his story at Seville in 1553." ^ Into this mighty ocean, as we know, Magellan sailed in search of the Spice Islands. And here, too, came Pizarro, and set forth from the Spanish settlement to achieve the conquest of Peru — one of the most daring and, apparently, the maddest enterprise ever undertaken by a handful of desperate adventurers. Helps' says that Pizarro was haunted by a fixed idea, namely, the discovery of rich regions in the southern seas ; and this idea never left him, for it culminated in his voyage down the American coast upon the west, and then the march into a hostile country. With eighty men and four horses Pizarro set sail in the middle of November 1524, and went southwards ^ Ency. Brit. DISCOVERY IN SOUTH AMERICA 185 along the coast, not so much with an idea of adding to the world's stock of geographical knowledge as to find a hunting ground for gold. As a matter of fact, Pizarro was so uneducated that he could not write his own name, but he was a soldier who was ready to persist against the most tremendous odds, having an unbounded con- fidence in the superiority of the Spaniards whenever Indians, even by thousands, were in question. The voyage did not promise much at the beginning, for a desert lined the shores, and the country was in every way uninviting. They landed at one spot and marched inland, but what with the heat and their heavy armour the men became so exhausted that they could scarcely crawl. There was nothing found to repay the toU, and they returned to the ship disappointed and discontented. But there was always the news from every native they met that far away to the south was the famous land of the Incas, whose very hills were full of gold and whose wealth was unbounded. For ten long days they sailed south, and food growing scarce on board, the men were brought to two ears of maize a day, and water failed. In sheer necessity, unable as they were to obtain any food in the desert land, they turned back to Puerto de la Hambre, " flaccid, disfigured, hungry looking," and there they waited while the ship went to the Pearl Islands for provisions. But meanwhile they seemed to be doomed to starvation, and twenty died of want, since the only sustenance possible was a few fish and some scanty wild fruit. Fortunately Pizarro, at the head of a foraging party, found some cacao trees and maize. i86 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY When Montenegro came back with the ship and provisions he found that twenty-seven of the Spaniards had died, while one had succumbed to a poisoned arrow shot at him by some Indians when he was searching for food. The voyage began afresh, and they came to a place which they named Puerto de la Candaleria. But they had not changed their position for the better. The climate was so humid that their wide-flapped hats fell in pieces, and the linen vests which they wore over their armour soon grew rotten. The forests were for the most part too dense to be penetrated, while the annoyance from mosquitos was insupportable.^ When they reached a place which they called Pueblo Quemado they found a deserted Indian town about a league from the shore, and here, since it was capable of being fortified, Pizarro determined to remain while the leaky ship went back for repairs. Some fights took place meanwhile with the Indians, but although they came on in overwhelming numbers they were driven back with slaughter. The Spaniards, however, moved on to Chicama, " a humid, melancholy, sickly spot, where it rained continually." According to arrangement, Almagro came with reinforcements, and after missing Pizarro by sailing too far down the coast he found him eventually at Chicama, while on his way back to Panama. Joining the two forces, Almagro hurried to Panama to secure further aid and necessaries for the expedition, then returned to his commander " with two ships and two canoes, with arms, provisions, and a pilot named ' Helps, Spanish Conquest in America. DISCOVERY IN SOUTH AMERICA 187 Bartolome Ruiz." Thus strengthened they went forward till they came to a river called Cartagena, near to San Juan, where they captured a town with 15,000 pesos of gold, and provisions. Pizarro waited here, while Almagro returned for more men, taking some of the gold to show, and Ruiz the pilot was sent down the coast to explore it. Ruiz on his voyage south found a raft on which were two young Indians and three women. They were natives of Tumbez, and told the interpreter of a famous king, Huayna Capac, and of a city of Cuzco which contained great stores of gold. As if to prove that there was wealth in the lands they were nearing, Ruiz found on the raft pottery, woollen clothes of exquisite workmanship, also silver and gold. On his return Almagro had arrived with forty men and provisions, and with these the expedition set forth again. But at last Pizarro grew discouraged. He had passed through so much that even his spirit seemed to break ; but Almagro begged him to go forward while he would return for yet more aid. Sir Walter Raleigh, in his History of the World, speaks of the trials of the Spanish explorers thus : " Here I cannot forbear to commend the patient virtue of the Spaniards : we seldom or never find that any nation hath endured so many misadventures and miseries as the Spaniards have done in their Indian discoveries ; yet, persisting in their enterprises with an invincible constancy, they have annexed to their kingdom so many goodly provinces as bury the remembrance of all dangers past. Tempest and shipwrecks, famine, overthrows, mutinies, heat and cold, pestilence and i88 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY all manner of diseases, both old and new, together with extreme poverty, and want of all things needful, have been the enemies wherewith every one of their most noble discoverers, at one time or other, hath encountered. Many years had passed over their heads, in the search of not so many leagues ; yea, more than one or two have spent their labour, their wealth, and their lives in search of a golden kingdom, without getting further notice of it than what they had at their first setting forth. All which notwithstanding, the third, fourth, and fifth undertakers have not been disheartened. Surely they are worthily rewarded with those treasuries and paradises which they enjoy ; and well they deserve to hold them quietly, if they hinder not the like virtue in others, which perhaps will not be found." Such a statement applies to the conquerors of Peru, to whom hunger and suffering came in such measure as to lead to the question whether even the discovery of wealth would repay the risk and infinite dangers they encountered. There came a day when the men clamoured to return, and when, while the Spaniards were on the island of Gallo, a line was drawn on the ground, and they were told to make decision — to stand this side with Pizarro for going forward, or on that side for return — only fourteen stood with Pizarro. The others returned to Panama. Pizarro, fearing to dwell with such a little company on an island where he was exposed night and day to the attacks of overwhelming bodies of Indians, crossed to another which was uninhabited, and there waited until Almagro should return. It was a terrible waiting. Starvation DISCOVERY IN SOUTH AMERICA 189 faced them, and they were only kept alive by the shell- fish they found upon the shore. One can imagine their feelings when the Spaniards on that desolate island one day saw the white sails of a ship approaching — their alternate hope and fear ; and when it proved to be Almagro, bringing with him food for the starving, their joy was unbounded. But no recruits had come. One reads the story with amazement, when it tells how the little company de- termined to press forward — the few to fight untold thousands, and brave unknown perils. When they landed at the Island of Santa Clara they found that it was a sacred spot to the Indians — a place to which they came to sacrifice ; for here were found rich offerings of precious metal wrought with many shapes, together with " beautifully woven woollen mantles, dyed yellow, the mourning colour of the Peruvians." Yet such natives as were found said that " those riches were nothing compared to those that were to be found in their country." Farther on they met more Indians, and heard of the wonders of Tumbez. One of their number, Pedro de Candia, clad in his coat of mail, went forward to visit the city on their invitation, and the report he brought back kindled afresh the desire for exploration, but more especially the craving for wealth. He had seen the temple lined with plates of gold, and gold was every- where in the shape of ornaments. Even in the gardens were figures of animals wrought in solid gold. The news and trophies caused Pizarro to return to Panama, where he displayed the unmistakable tokens of the reality igo THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY of the Land of Gold. Then, leaving his companions behind, he sailed for Spain, told of what he had seen and heard, was made Governor of Peru and was commissioned to conquer it, and in 1530, returning to Panama with volunteers, fitted out three ships and set forth on the most famous expedition of history with 183 men and 37 horses. But he had to begin early with his fighting, for everywhere the Indians, hearing of his intended conquest, awaited his coming. Yet he drove them away when he landed, seized the town of Coaque, and captured booty " amounting to 12,000 pesos in gold, 1500 marks in silver, and many emeralds." These he sent to Panama, hoping to induce other volunteers to join his standard. But during the seven months of waiting his men suffered terribly from a loathsome disease. At last two ships arrived with twenty-six horse soldiers, as many horses, and thirty footmen. The enlarged little army then set forth to march along the coast, until they came opposite to the Island of Puna. A terrible fight took place on the island — the result of treachery, and the Indians were butchered without mercy. Another fight took place at Tumbez in May 1532. Before going forward, Pizarro laid the foundations of a Spanish town, to be called San Miguel, and while waiting there, compelling the Indians to build the place, he made inquiries and gathered information concerning the empire he had come to conquer. What news was obtained showed that he had chosen an opportune time, since Peru was being torn by a civil war between Atahualpa, the Inca, and his brother. DISCOVERY IN SOUTH AMERICA 191 On the 24th of September 1532 Pizarro began a march on Cassamarca, but on the way the Spaniards saw a long procession of Peruvians crossing the plains. It was an embassy from the Inca bringing valuable presents and provisions, and inviting Pizarro to come and fight with him against his enemies. Nothing could be more to the Spaniards' wish, but his answer was proudly spoken. " Tell Atahualpa that if he wishes to be my friend, and to receive me as such, in the way that other princes have done, I will be his friend. I will aid him in his conquest, and he shall remain on his throne, for I am going to traverse this country until I reach the other sea. If, on the other hand, he wishes for war, I will wage it against him." The next day the march began afresh, and on the 15th of November, after a terrible journey through the rugged country, Pizarro entered Cassamarca. De Soto was then sent forward with twenty horsemen, and had an interview with the Inca, and later the general sent on his own brother, Fernando Pizarro, to enforce the message De Soto had taken, and asking the Inca to visit him, which he did, accompanied by 6000 of his soldiers. Meanwhile Pizarro had treacherously planned to seize the Inca, and hold him as hostage while he pursued his conquest. It was a daring scheme, that a few Spaniards should attempt to subdue a nation which numbered at least eleven millions of the finest of the South American Indians. The Inca was carried into the city, where the Spaniards were drawn up to receive him. Pizarro had an inter- view with the monarch, and presently Father Vincente 192 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY de Valverde, the senior priest of the expedition, began a discourse which set forth the rehgion of the Spaniards, and calling upon Atahualpa to embrace it and be baptized. The Inca passionately refused, and at a given signal the Spaniards closed in upon him and took him prisoner. A fearful fight was waged about the monarch's litter. The Indian nobles fell round him, and heaps of dead bodies showed how terrible the slaughter was. Two thousand dead bodies of Indians lay in the square when the fight was ended, and the Inca was a prisoner.^ Yet, strange to say, not a Spaniard was wounded, save the general himself and one of the horses. The next morning the Spaniards ransacked the camp outside the city, and brought in spoils that were of incredible value. Later on Pizarro named the amount of gold and silver which should serve as the ransom for the Inca, who was held close as a prisoner. One great room was fixed upon, and as high as Pizarro could reach, a line was drawn. Then he demanded that the place should be filled with gold up to that mark. Atahualpa reluctantly agreed, since he had no choice. But the ransom came in slowly, and Pizarro sent out parties of horsemen in all directions to superintend the spoiling of the palaces and temples, so that the wealth they con- tained might go to the filling of the chamber. It came in at last, and the line was reached — a mass of gold such as the world had never seen before, gathered into one place. It amounted to 1,326,539 pesos of pure gold, and was worth £3,482,164 of English money. The humblest man in the Spanish camp became rich, for his * I have told the story of this fight in The Inca's Ransom. — Author. DISCOVERY IN SOUTH AMERICA 193 share was between three thousand and four thousand pesos. To the lasting shame of Pizarro and his companions, the Inca was not set free although his ransom was honourably paid. It was pretended that he was medi- tating treachery, and when he demanded his release, since he had carried out his part of the compact, he was charged with perfidy, tried and executed. Not all the Spaniards should be blamed, for a minority protested vehemently, and rather than be party to so abominable an act of dishonesty they quitted Pizarro's camp and returned to Panama. When the conquest was complete, Almagro, who was badly treated in the division of the spoils, proceeded to conquer Chili, that long strip of country to the south, which lies between the mountains and the coast, which had been assigned to him by the Spanish monarch. Almagro found the march so difficult as to be almost impossible. Helps says that on the snowy passes men and horses were frozen to death, and on their return by the plain they were obliged to traverse a horrible region, called the desert of Atacama, which could only be passed with the greatest difficulty. The men who marched with him, like Almagro himself, were not aware of the wealth that only wanted seeking in the mines of Potosi, and, suffering as they did, they clamoured for a return to Cuzco, where there was luxury, and comfort was to be found. While Pizarro ruled in Peru he " originated an enterprise which, leading men to the eastern side of the Andes, was to make them acquainted with regions of 13 194 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY the New World far more extensive than had ever yet been discovered in any single enterprise by land. It does not seem to have been gold that on this occasion tempted the explorers. There was a region where cinnamon trees were known to abound ; and it was into this cinnamon country, neighbouring to Quito, that the marquis sent his brother Gonzalo at the end of the year I539-" Three hundred Spaniards went with Gonzalo Pizarro, and 4000 Indians, but it was a march full of diffi- culty, and even to the seasoned Spaniards trying and terrible. As for the poor Indians, they were frozen to death by scores during the passage over the mountains. When the expedition descended to the plains they found them uninhabited, but farther on they entered Sumaco, a district near to the cinnamon land. Finding that the natives either could not or would not give any informa- tion, Gonzalo, with horrible cruelty, " tortured these poor Indians, burning some and throwing others to his dogs to be torn to pieces." Leaving his sick men at Sumaco, Gonzalo marched on, so hard pressed at times for food as to have to subsist on herbs and roots. Coming to a town called Coca, he waited for two months to give the Spaniards who had been left behind time to join him. Here was a river named Coca, and following it for leagues they found that it was a part of the Amazon, the world's mightiest river. Some portions of the land were poor and sterile, and there was but a sparse population. The climate being moist and hot, the men fell sick and died off quickly. But pressing on, they came at length DISCOVERY IN SOUTH AMERICA 195 to an open land, " where the Indians were more civihsed, possessing maize, being clothed in cotton garments, and having huts to shelter themselves from the rain." Here Gonzalo Pizarro halted, while he sent out parties in all directions to see what manner of country he had come to ; but " they aU returned with the same news, that the land was full of forests, marshes, lakes, and ponds." One never reads these stories of the Spaniards, who opened out the unknown lands of the New World, without admiring their splendid courage and their indomitable perseverance. The sufferings so far endured, and the perils daily experienced while in the country of the Amazon, did not deter them. If they were to go forward they must needs cross the river, which at that point was six miles in breadth. They determined to build a vessel, for which they had brought no materials. The wood was near, but not the iron. It is said,^ that the iron- work was partly made out of the shoes of the horses ; the pitch out of the resin from the trees ; the tow out of their own linen, already half rotted by the continual dampness. " Their commander, Gonzalo Pizarro, a worthy brother of the great marquis, — at least as regards perseverance, — was always foremost in the work ; whether it was cutting down timber, making charcoal, or labouring at the forge. Neither was any occupation too mean or too laborious for him ; and men must follow when their chief is the first to do and to suffer." Even when the brigantine was finished and launched on the Amazon it was inadequate for the 2000 ' Helps, Spanish Conquest in America. 196 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY of whom the expedition was composed — counting the Indians and the Spaniards. Only a few could go on board, and Pizarro put on it the sick and the baggage. The others marched along the banks ; but " those who went on foot had often to cut their way with hatchets through the dense forests. Those who guided the brigantine had to be constantly watchful lest the force of the current should carry them beyond the ken of their companions. When the land march was impossible on one side of the river, the army passed over to the other in the brigantine, and also in four canoes they had made. These passages — what with the vessel's going to and fro — sometimes occupied two or three days. Hunger dogged the footsteps of the men. Still they maintained this painful and laborious mode of journeying for two months, at the end of which time they learnt from some Indians whom they met with, that, at a distance of ten days' journey, there was a rich land abounding in provisions, where this great river they were upon joined another great river. The brigantine was sent forward to find the junction, under the command of Francisco de Orellana, the sick and the baggage going with him, these to be left in the pleasant land, and the brigantine to return with pro- visions. Orellana went forward, the stream carrying him down quickly, and in three days he reached the junction of the rivers — the joining of the Napo and the Coca. Sir Clements Mafkham has translated Acuna's Discovery of the Great River of the Amazons, where the writer says : " This river of Napo flows from its source DISCOVERY IN SOUTH AMERICA 197 between great masses of rock, and is not navigable until it reaches the port where the citizens of Archidona have established the hamlet for their Indians. Here it becomes more humane and less warlike, and consents to bear a few ordinary canoes on its shoulders, conveying pro- visions ; but from this point, four or five leagues, it does not forget its former fury until it unites with the River Coca. The united stream has great depth, and becomes tranquil, offering a good passage for larger vessels." Pizarro believed the report that the rich land was at the junction, but Orellana found it destitute of people and provisions. It is said that he wished to take up the expedition himself from that point, and sent word to Pizarro that it was impossible to bring back the brigantine against the stream. He won over the men who were with him, and sailed on, leaving Pizarro behind. It was a shameful desertion. " In the course of his voyage he came upon some tribes where the women fought by the side of their husbands, and hence he called that country the Land of the Amazons. Swiftly the brigantine bore its crew onwards. They were the first men to traverse that vast continent ; and, at the end of their voyage of 2500 mUes, they found themselves in the Atlantic, nearly at the same degree of latitude at which they had started. Thence they made their way to Trinidad, where Orellana, enriched with the gold and emeralds that had been placed on board the brigantine, purchased a vessel and sailed for Spain. He went to court, procured a royal licence for securing the territories he had discovered, 198 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY and fitted out an expedition for that purpose. The great river, now known by the name of the Amazon, was then called, after its discoverer, the Orellana. That traitor, however, did not live to profit by his discovery, but died on his voyage outwards." Gonzalo Pizarro waited on and on, but finding that Orellana did not return, he built some canoes and rafts and descended the stream, others marching on the banks, until they came to the junction where those who would not join the deserting captain had remained. Only one man was there alive — Hernan Sanchez de Vargas — and he told of Orellana's perfidy. Slowly and hope- lessly Pizarro and his companions made their way back to Quito, and thence to his brother's camp. The story of further explorations of the great southern continent is too long to be told here. As we have seen, in 1541 Orellana went down the Amazon. Twenty years later Lope de Aguirre sailed the same course, but it was not until 1639 that a full account was written by Father Cristoval de Acuiia, who ascended it from its mouth to the city of Quito. The Spaniards looked upon the whole of the southern part of the New World as a gift from His Holiness the Pope, who disposed of newly discovered lands to whom he would. Hence they not only pushed their conquests in Central America, Mexico, and Peru, but towards every point of the compass. Venezuela had been very early discovered by Ojeda in 1499, and on the same voyage his ship traversed the coast for scores of leagues. Point by point the whole of Central America was ex- plored, and in many places the Jesuits established DISCOVERY IN SOUTH AMERICA 199 missions, and made the world acquainted with hitherto unknown parts. In 1516 Juan de Sohs, the Grand Pilot of Spain, was sent forth by Charles v. on a voyage of discovery, especially with the object of searching out the Southern Continent. While so doing he entered the Rio de la Plata, but could pursue his discoveries no farther, having landed among cannibals, who killed and ate him. The news that had been brought by his men from the Rio de la Plata, however, caused the King of Spain to send a well equipped expedition thither, Don Pedro de Mendoza having command of no less than fourteen vessels. Sailing up the La Plata, he took possession of the country in the king's name, and founded Buenos Ayres, but in other respects misfortune and failure was the result of the expedition. The settlement itself suffered so much from famine that it was abandoned, and the colonists moved up the River Parana, or Para- guay, to Assumcion, where the country was fertile. The natives here were cultivators of the soil, growing maize, potatoes, and mandioc. These settlers and the Jesuits who established missions there endeavoured more than once to reorganise the colony at Buenos Ayres, but with small success, and consequently they centred their atten- tion on Paraguay, which was thickly populated. Paraguay has been described as rich and beautiful. " It has lakes, rivers, and woods ; and in the character of its scenery much resembles an English park. . . . The fruits of this most fertile land are oranges, citrons, lemons, the American pear, the apple, peaches, plums, figs, and olives. The bees find here their especial home, 200 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY and twelve different species of them are enumerated, some of which form their nests in the trees, in the shape of a vase. The woods are not like the silent forests of America, but swarm with aU kinds of birds, having every variety of note and feather, from the soft colours of the wild dove to the gay plumage of the parrot, from the plaintive note, of the nightingale to the dignified noise of those birds which are said to imitate the trumpet and the organ." The Jesuits were eager enough to work in this fertile land, but it did not offer sufficient inducement to the colonists, whose constant cry was " Gold ! " In time, however, it was realised that the gold supply had been exhausted by the earliest comers from Spain, and the Spaniards who went to the new lands were compelled to settle there as planters, to become rich only by the increase of the earth as the result of honest toil. It must not be forgotten, however, that the Portu- guese navigators had a share in the exploration of South America, although it was purely accidental. A fleet had been sent forth from Lisbon to the East Indies, but when it reached Cape Verde a tempest drove the ships out to sea, and after beating about for days Cabral, the admiral, found himself near a strange shore, wooded down to the water's edge. It was what is now known as Brazil. " The Portuguese missionaries then celebrated mass on the flowery turf of this unknown land, amid savage tribes who bent before the cross ; and thus the immense empire of Brazil, the brightest jewel in the Portuguese Crown, was won in a single day." i If ' D'Orsay, Portuguese Discoveries. DISCOVERY IN SOUTH AMERICA 201 Cabral knew that in the preceding year, 1499, Pincon, a companion of Columbus, had discovered and taken possession of the land for his Spanish Majesty, he at all events quietly ignored it, and claimed it for Portugal. But he did not stay to explore the country. His work had been defined, namely, to go to India, and therefore, contenting himself with sending a message to Lisbon about this new land, he sailed round the Cape of Good Hope to carry on his proper task. King Emanuel, receiving the message, sent Amerigo Vespucci to Brazil with three vessels, but the voyage failed. The next, however, succeeded, and a colony was established. But it languished, because India and Africa were sending more wealth to Lisbon. Eventually the colonisation of the country was pursued, criminals were sent over there to become colonists, and bit by bit the mighty possession was opened out. By these adventurers the whole line of Brazilian coast, from the mouth of the La Plata to the mouth of the Amazon, became " studded at intervals with Portu- guese settlements, in all of which law and justice were administered, however inadequately. It is worthy of observation, that Brazil was the first colony founded in America on an agricultural principle, for until then the precious metals were the exclusive attraction." ^ It was in this way, with Spain and Portugal bending themselves to the task of colonisation and conquest, that tlie mighty continent of South America became known, and played its part in the history of the world. ^ Ency. Brit. CHAPTER XVII. EXPLORATION IN ASIA. WHILE America, North and South, was being explored and taken possession of by European nations, Asia was receiving more and more attention, and especially from the Portuguese, " under the stimulus of expected commercial gain." We have already seen how Vasco da Gama's voyage round the Cape of Good Hope showed the Portuguese the way to India, and opened out Asia to -the com- mercial enterprise of the maritime nations of Europe. In 1498 the Portuguese landed on the Malabar coast of India, " and speedily made themselves," we are told, " master of the Indian Ocean, which they swept with their fleets from Arabia to China." In 1516 they were in China, and established a factory at Macao, so that their trade commanded nearly all the special com- modities of Asia — " the spices of the Moluccas, and the precious stones and ivory of Ceylon, the sUks, porcelain, drugs, and tea of China." In 1542 the Portuguese began to trade .with Japan, from which in limited quantities gold, silver, and copper were obtained. We have also noticed how strenuously the Portuguese mariners pursued their explorations in Africa, always EXPLORATION IN ASIA 203 with the idea of eventually reaching India. Reviewing their progress briefly, we see that they had rounded the Cape of Good Hope, and in 1506 visited and explored the Island of Madagascar. In 1513 their ships were in the Red Sea, and they were busily engaged in examining the shores and harbours. The ports of Abyssinia were thus visited in 1520, and the Persian Gulf was reached and explored soon after, trading stations being established along both coasts.^ Years before that, however, Portuguese ships were examining the Indian coasts, and islands ever5rwhere received attention. " Sumatra was examined with great care, and from it they exported tin, pepper, sandal, camphire, etc. In 15 13 they arrived at Borneo ; of it, however, they saw and learned little, except that it also produced camphire. In the same year they had made themselves weU acquainted with Java ; here they obtained rice, pepper, and other valuable articles. It is worthy of remark," Stevenson goes on to say, " that Barros, the Portuguese historian of their discoveries and conquests in the East, who died towards the close of the sixteenth century, already foresaw that the immense number of islands, some of them very large, which were scattered in the south-east of Asia would justly entitle this part, at some future period, to the appellation of the fifth division of the world. To the first belong the Moluccas. The second archipelago comprises Gilolo, Moratai, Celebes, Macassar, etc. The third group contains the great Isle of Mindinao, Soloo, and most of the Southern Philippines. The fourth archipelago was • Stevenson, Progress of Discovery. 204 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY formed of the Banda Isle, Amboyna, etc. ; the largest of these were discovered by the Portuguese in the year 151 1. From Amboyna they drew their supply of cloves." Here alone was ample evidence of the marvellous enterprise of the Portuguese mariners in opening un- known parts. The fifth archipelago was almost unknown, but it stretched away southwards, and there can be little doubt that it comprised the immense island of Australia, and the other islands which were near. That great island-continent, however, was never suspected to be an island, but a part of the great southern continent which was only supposed to exist, but had never so far been seen. New Guinea came within the fifth group of islands. By 1540, according to the opinion of some geographers, " the Portuguese had visited the coasts of New Holland, but they regarded it as part of the great southern continent, the existence of which Ptolemy had first imagined." The discovery of the sea-road to India and the Far East by the Portuguese gave an immense impulse to commerce ; and whereas the European traders were eager to obtain Asiatic productions, the monarchs of the East were equally as anxious to extend their trade. Yet the Portuguese held the monopoly for many years. The Spaniards had no time to spare to think of Asia, and even when the Spanish and Portuguese countries became united, and a Spanish king reigned over both, in 1580, it was the policy of the monarch to protect Portuguese trade and see that others did not interfere. France could not find time to trade so far away from home, for the wars in Italy absorbed attention. Venice EXPLORATION IN ASIA 205 was decaying, and was at death-grips with her enemies, so that her commerce was dpng out. England was preoccupied with the Wars of the Roses and with France, or engaged in hunting down the Spaniards in the New World. The Dutch, however, fast becoming traders on a more ambitious scale, threw out their challenge, and sent trading ships into the Indian Ocean. The English followed, and the monopoly ended. Companies were formed by the Dutch, who pushed their new commerce with such remarkable energy that in 1600 no less than eight ships came back from Asia " laden with cinnamon, pepper, cloves, nutmegs, and mace ; the pepper they obtained at Java, the other spices at the Moluccas, where they were permitted by the natives, who had driven out the Portuguese, to establish factories." Later, in 1602, the Dutch Government interfered and compelled the companies to combine and form one strong one to trade wherever possible in Asia. The ships and sailors were armed, to drive out the Portuguese wherever they found them, and for this purpose they went as far as Japan. At one time they made such a bid for power that an army of 30,000 men was sent out in a fleet of fifty vessels. The Dutch ships thus went everywhere, and 'all along the Asiatic shores trading stations were established at spots hitherto unknown to Europeans. In this way, therefore, Asia was opened out, and made known, at aU events along the coasts. But the Dutch had to reckon with the English merchants, who determined to extend their trade in the East. The English Levant Company, formed for trading 2o6 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY with the Eastern part of the Mediterranean, sent merchandise to India in 1584. About the same time EUzabeth " granted introductory letters to some adventurers to the King of Cambaya " ; these men travelled through Bengal to Pegu and Malacca, but do not seem to have reached China. They, however, obtained much useful information respecting the best mode of conducting the trade to the East. They also did much towards affording information concerning lands hitherto untraversed by Europeans. Elizabeth next granted a charter to what was to be known as the East India Company. " She seems to have been directly led to grant this in consequence of com- plaints among her subjects of the scarcity and high price of pepper ; this was occasioned by the monopoly of it being in the power of the Turkey merchants and the Dutch, and from the circumstance that by our war with Portugal we could not procure any from Lisbon." Practically speaking, the establishment of the company was resolved upon in retaliation for the action of the Dutch, who charged English merchants 6s. and 8s. per pound of pepper, whereas the price had been only 3s. It was resolved to deal with India directly and not through the Dutch, and accordingly Elizabeth granted a charter with the title of " The Governor and Company of Merchants of London trading to the East Indies." This was granted on the 31st of December 1600. This company established factories, or trading stations, in many places, and even extended their trade to Japan, from which country, however, the Dutch persuaded the emperor to drive out all Europeans except themselves. EXPLORATION IN ASIA 207 These commercial transactions led Dutch, English, and other merchants into keen competition, so that they went wherever they could imagine it possible to establish a factory, with the result that many spots in Asia became known which had hitherto been unseen by Europeans. But Asia was also largely made known through the expansion of Russia eastwards. The Russians discovered, about the middle of the seventeenth century, that the north of Asia was bounded by the Frozen Ocean, and that was so nauch knowledge added to show the shape of the Asiatic continent. The discovery had been made by a ship ha\Tng sailed down the River Lena in 1636, and entering the ocean. The Russian idea was not to discover but to conquer, and thus one tribe after another was found and beaten, until the Russian soldiers reached the eastern shores of Asia, near to Okhotsk. The progress of the armies was nothing Mke as rapid as when Alexander swept into Southern Asia, for it took the Russians sixty years to accomplish these conquests. Kamschatka was discovered in 1690, and while thought at first to be an island, was proved to be a part of the mainland in 1695. Later still, the Kurile Islands were found and annexed by Russia. Questions now began to be asked as to whether the Asiatic continent stretched so far eastwards as to actually join America at the point which we now know to be occupied by the Behring Straits. Behring had the command of an expedition prepared by Catherine the Great, and his vessel, built in Kamschatka, started from that coast in 1728. Then it was that he discovered that Kamschatka was a peninsula, and not an island. A second 2o8 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY voyage followed, and Behring saw that Asia and America were separated, The straits received his name, but un- fortunately he was wrecked shortly afterwards and died. As we shall see presently, Captain Cook confirmed the assertion that Asia was separated from America by a narrow strait. Expedition after expedition followed, attempts being made not only to trace the Asiatic coast, but to find out what was to be known of the islands in those parts. That led to other expeditions intended to trace the American west coast. In 1790 the English Government, disputing with Spain concerning the Nootka Sound, sent Captain Vancouver to take possession of the country in that quarter, and also commissioned him to see whether there was any truth in the suggestion that there was a navigable passage between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans. Leaving England on ist April 1791, he sailed to the west coast of America, and surveyed it carefully as far as Cook's River. " Every opening which pre- sented itself was explored, and never left till its termi- nation was determined ; so that on a very careful and minute inspection of every creek and inlet of a coast consisting almost entirely of creeks and channels, formed by an innumerable multitude of islands, he thought himself justified in pronouncing that there is no navigable passage between the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, unless there may be a possibility of sailing through the strait between Asia and America, and navigating the Frozen Ocean." 1 1 Stevenson, Progress of Discovery. , -'1?S«i, IN THIBET. A land from which the veil of mystery has not lony Ijecn hfted. EXPLORATION IN ASIA 209 Attention, however, was not confined to the explora- tion of the coasts. There was always the thought of commerce, and, so far as Russia was concerned, the fur trade led men into hitherto unknown spots on hunting expeditions, with the result that a great deal of northern Asia became known. That, with the knowledge brought to Russia during the progress of her armies, and the journeys of her ambassadors to Persia, China, and else- where, to say nothing of the travels of Pallas and others at the expense of the Russian Government, " for the purpose of gaining a fuller and more accurate account of the provinces of that immense empire," led to the opening out of a continent which was but little known to Europeans. These travellers went chiefly to the south, " which, from climate, soil, and productions, were most valuable and most capable of improvement." But English traders in India often made overland journeys from that vast country to Europe, so that Asia to the west began to be familiar, and was mapped out more and more fully. The East India Company sent embassies in all directions — to Persia, Tibet, Ava, Cabul, as well as inland to the native princes of India. The Himalaya Mountains were frequently crossed. Then there was con- siderable commerce with China, alike from India and from England, and knowledge became more and more accurate and full of that immense empire. Even Corea was made known, and the various embassies forwarded in order to lead to commercial treaties became acquainted with the country lying between these countries and Calcutta. Tibet was long an unknown land to Europeans, and indeed even to Asiatics. Its great elevation causes 14 210 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY the climate to be rather arctic than tropical, so that there is no gradual blending of the climates and physical conditions of India and Tibet, such as would tend to promote intercourse between the inhabitants of these neighbouring regions ; on the contrary, there are sharp lines of demarcation, in a mountain barrier which is scalable at only a few points, and in the social aspects and conditions of life on either side. No great armies have ever crossed Tibet to invade India ; even those of Jenghiz Khan took the circuitous route via Bokhara and Afghanistan, not the direct route from Mongolia across Tibet .^ Still, travellers ventured into the dangerous regions in spite of the stories that were told of awful dangers. Friar Odoric travelled from Cathay to Lhasa as far back as 1328. Antonio Andrada, a Jesuit, went to Tibet from India, and entering at the western corner, crossed the country into China. That was three centuries later. " In 1660 Fathers Grueber and D'Orville travelled from Peking via Tangert to Lhasa, and thence through Nepal to India ; and during the first half of the eighteenth century various Capuchin friars appear to have passed freely between Delhi and Lhasa, by way either of Nepal or Kashmir." ^ Thus more and more knowledge was added to that which had been set forth by Marco Polo, the great pioneer among Asiatic travellers and geographers. Since those days travellers have crossed the continent, and recrossed it, so that to-day there is not, by com- parison, much remaining in the unknown lands for explorers to examine. ' Ency. Brit. CHAPTER XVIII. THE STORY OF AUSTRALIA. WE have already noticed that in early times — even as far back as the first century — a very distinct impression existed that there was a Great South Land, bounding what was known as the Indian Ocean ; later still it was believed that it also formed the southern boundary of the newly discovered Pacific. But until Bartholomew Diaz had rounded the Cape of Good Hope, even the bare possibility of seeing it was out of the question. The hints as to its existence were persistent. Marco Polo tells us that the Chinese believed in a Great South Land, but whether it was Java, Sumatra, New Guinea, Borneo, or even Madagascar,^ none can say. A Floren- tine, named Corsali, went so far as to give descriptions, and he says : " Antara (the Great South Land) contains many populous cities and towns ; it abounds in gold ; and the inhabitants are addicted to cock-fighting." This must have been pure guesswork on the part of the man who wrote these words in 1515, for so far no traces have been discovered of any great cities, nor even of small towns in Australia. 1 See Laurie, History of Australasia. 212 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY As a matter of fact, also, no one now accepts any date for discovery previous to the year 1598. It is true that Portuguese maps had the Great South Land marked in them in 1542 — Jave la Grande — but it was nowhere near the true position of Australia, being too far to the east. But later men began to pass from surmise to some- thing more like reality. Cornelius Wylfliet, a Dutchman, has this in a book which he published in 1598 : " The Australis Terra is the most southern of all lands, and is separated from New Guinea by a narrow strait . Its shores are hitherto but little known, since, after one voyage and another, that route has been deserted, and seldom is the country visited, unless when sailors are driven there by storms. The Australis Terra (or Southern Land) begins at one or two degrees from the equator, and is ascertained by some to be of so great an extent that, if it were thoroughly explored, it would be regarded as a fifth part of the world." Torres actually sailed through the strait from east to west in 1606, and it has borne his name in consequence in the maps. This Spanish captain did not, however, know that the land to the south of this strait was a great island-continent, but supposed it to be a great series of islands. It was not an accidental discovery, for Torres and his companion, De Quiros, were sent out by the Peruvian Government to discover the Great South Land, in the hope that it might also prove a Land of Gold. The story of the voyage is likened to that undertaken by Columbus. De Quiros saw land one day, and supposed —as Columbus had done — that it was a New World, THE STORY OF AUSTRALIA 213 but it proved to be only an island. Like San Salvador, which was not far from America, this island — Austrialia del Spiritu Santo — proved to be near to Australia. Then again, the parallel holds good by the fact that the crew of the ship mutinied, as Columbus's had done, and when he was compelled to return home he was under the impression, as Columbus had been, that he had seen the mainland. In 1616 the Dutch, who were asserting their claims in various parts of Asia and the islands, sent Dirk Hartog on a voyage of exploration, and he sailed along the west coast of Australia. "As if to put the question beyond the realm of future doubt, but probably without the slightest expectation of ever being mistaken for a Columbus, the shrewd skipper engraved the record of his arrival on a tin plate, which was found by Captain Vlaming, while exploring the Swan River, in the Geel- vink, 1697." ^ This landing was at Shark's Bay, on the west coast. Two years later two other Dutch vessels explored the Gulf of Carpentaria, and the westward peninsula was given the name of Arnhem Land, after one of the ships. As the ships went on the crew were by no means enchanted with what they saw. " Everywhere shallow waters and barren coasts," ran the report the captains gave on their return home ; " islands thinly peopled by divers cruel, poor, and brutal nations, and of very little use to the Dutch East India Company." They discovered the Gulf of Carpentaria, which they named after Carpenter, the pilot. The whole shore of the ^ J. S. Laurie, The Story of Australasia. 214 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY Great Bight was traced in 1627 by Peter Nuyts, who was sent to Japan by the Dutch Government. In spite of the dreary reports brought back by the Dutch and the Spaniards, the persistent idea was that there were treasure islands near to the Great South Land, and it was openly said that the previous voyagers were telling lying stories in order to discourage other seamen from going there. Captain John Welbe, in the days of James i., proposed to establish a company of London adventurers for carrying on a trade to, and settling colonies in, Terra Australis, " and working and improving the gold and silver mines which there abound." There was nothing in all the fraudulent prospectuses of to-day which had less warrant for declaring that there was any gold in Australia, for as far as we know no one had found an ounce of the precious metal there up to that date. Welbe had the impudence and roguery to say, in his appeal to others to find money, that the " St. George's Islands and New Wales, and some other islands thereabouts, abound with mines of gold and silver, which belong to no other European Prince or State." He goes on to say that he undertakes that these mines " will enrich the British nation upwards of 50,000,000 sterling if taken possession of, and colonies settled, which is not half what the kingdom of Peru has produced to the Spaniards since their first settlement there, under Francisco Pizarro, the first viceroy." Welbe was careful to add at the end of his long prospectus these words : " The proposer has no Sinister Ends nor Self-interest in view, and expects no Pay nor any Reward, but such Part of the neat Produce of Profits THE STORY OF AUSTRALIA 215 as the Directors themselves shall think fit, and agree, to allow him." Fortunately for those who had money to invest, the people of England were shy of the pro- posal, and the company was not formed. No previous explorer of the Southern Seas did any- thing to compare with Abel Tasman, who, in 1642, was sent forth with a roving commission by Van Dieman, the Dutch Governor of Batavia. In the first voyage he discovered Van Dieman's Land and New Zealand. In the second voyage, which was undertaken in 1644, he explored the north shores of Australia. It was unfortunate that he saw the most uninviting coasts — so uninviting, indeed, that when he brought back his honest report it was not deemed worth the while of the Dutch to colonise Australia, or New Holland, as it was then called. As Laurie says, if, when he turned to go home from Tasmania, he had followed the eastern coast, instead of going too far to sea eastwards, he would have discovered the present New South Wales, Queensland, and perhaps Torres Straits. In that case " the Dutch would then have no longer hesitated to permanently seize the grand prize of Australasia, thus destroying England's future opportunity. Truly, as Carlyle phrases it, ' Great events turn on a straw ! ' " It was left to Captain Cook to discover those shores and place a splendid prize within our reach. An Englishman, who became pirate, or buccaneer, sailed the southern seas in 1688. This was Dampier, who in 1699 got into better ways and was content to serve in the English Navy as captain of the Roebuck. It was known that he had been in these seas, and the 2i6 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY Government, putting a trusty crew on board, could be assured that there would be no more piracy. Whether the temptation sometimes came to capture prizes under the black flag with the cross-bones one does not know. At all events, Dampier pursued his commission carefuUy, explored a thousand miles of the coast, and gained a great deal of information concerning the natives, the birds, and scenery. It was all uninviting, however, and by no means encouraging to would-be colonists or traders. Australia seemed to offer no inducements to the enter- prising. So far the eastern coast was absolutely unknown. Captains from several nations had traced the coasts on the north, the west, and the south, and the results from the traders' standpoint were discouraging. It may be said that as a consequence there was no exploration right on to the year 1770, when Captain Cook, having sailed round New Zealand, continued his voyage to the west, and came to Cape Howe on the 19th of April, in what is now New South Wales. He did not land, but from the ship he saw the natives on the shore. " We saw no place to give shelter even to a boat," he says. Knowing that the eastern coast had never been explored, he began a northerly course, examining every mile of the shore with the utmost care. It was this thoroughness which rendered his voyages everywhere so valuable, and his reports reliable. In the month of May the Endeavour anchored in a bay which was named by the naturalists on board Botany Bay, because they found a great quantity of plants there, and the country " agreeably variegated with wood and lawn." THE STORY OF AUSTRALIA 217 It was a dangerous voyage, for there were breakers and storms to brave, but fine seamanship enabled Cook to compass his task in spite of the fact that the ship ran aground at Cape Tribulation. But his courage did not fail, and working as hard as any of his men, he got her off, repaired her, and pursued his voyage. Calvert, in his work. The Exploration of Australia, summarises the results of this voyage when Cook, on landing at various places, planted the British flag on Australian soil. He proved the insularity of New Holland by sailing through the Endeavour Straits, and he took possession of the whole eastern coast from latitude 38° to latitude io^° south in right of His Majesty King George iii., giving to the territory the name of New South Wales. He likewise carefully delineated the great eastern coast with most of its capes, bays, islands, shoals, reefs, etc. He has been called the Columbus of the Southern Ocean ; and regarding him a writer has said : " What the immortal Genoese navi- gator accomplished in the Northern Hemisphere for Spain and Europe, Cook accomplished in the Southern Hemisphere for England and mankind." Cook found Port Jackson to be a magnificent harbour, " fitted by nature to shelter all the navies of the world." He recommended that it should be made a penal settle- ment, with the result that the British Government sent out some colonists and soldiers, and 757 convicts, 1030 in all, " and thus was founded our Colonial Empire in the Southern Ocean," at Sydney. This settlement became the centre from which exploration was made by various persons, largely to discover the capabilities of the 2i8 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY island-continent for colonisation, and also to find fresh pastures for the rapidly increasing flocks and herds. In 1794, however, Quartermaster Hacking and a few companions endeavoured to cross the Blue Mountains, which rose like an impassable barrier between the land that skirted the coast and the interior. There was much to discourage them in the attempt, and the natives declared the lands beyond to be the abode of evil spirits. Apparently the attempt was abandoned until 1813, when Blaxland and Wentworth crossed the tract of land which lies between Sydney and the Blue Mountains, and determined to force a way across the mountain range to find pasture - land. Calvert tells how they succeeded in climbing the first range, and for a time made fair progress. " At length, however, they got confused and lost amidst the intricate windings of the deep ravines, and almost gave up the attempt in despair. They continued their search, however, and eventually found a spur of the main ridge trending westward, which they followed till they reached the summit. From that point they could see below them a well-watered valley of apparent richness. Descending, they found themselves in a good grass country, through which a small river flowed. This was indeed a valuable discovery, and an all-important step in the march of exploration." Before long Australia was proved to be a " land of gold." The crossing of the Blue Mountains led to further exploration in the splendid plains, and the Government determined to make a road across the range. While the convicts were engaged in blasting the rocks gold THE STORY OF AUSTRALIA 219 was found in considerable quantities ; but the secret was kept by threats of flogging for any convict who divulged the fact. Lieutenant Oxley, who was the Surveyor-General of the Colony, was sent by Governor Macquarie in 1817 to explore the country thoroughly. Oxley and his com- panions seem to have gone in all directions, covering an immense area, going where no white man had ever yet gone, finding swamps, " impervious scrub, shallow lagoons, from which rose a poisonous miasma," and coming to the conclusion, after having travelled 500 miles from their starting-point, but 1000 miles in reality, counting the windings of their course, that the country was uninhabitable. Oxley wrote : " There is a uniformity in the barren desolateness of this country which wearies one more than I am able to express. One tree, one soil, one water, and one description of bird, fish, or animal prevails alike for 10 miles or for 100. A variety of wretchedness is at all times preferable to one unvarying cause of pain or distress." Oxley struck to the north-east, in order to reach the Macquarie River. Leaving the Lachlan and starting on this new journey, he and his party came to a fertile land, and traced the course of the Macquarie, travelling through rich and well-watered lands. But after a time, some 130 miles on, the country changed. " Flat, inter- minable plains, which were evidently swept by river floods, met their disappointed gaze ; until, having reached the 148th degree of latitude and the 31st of longitude, the Macquarie seemed to lose itself and be involved in vast swamps and marshes." 220 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY The variety of Australian soil was proved in that journey, which now took another direction. At first, while travelling eastward, they came to boggy land, in which they lost some horses ; but later they came to the rich pasture-lands which were called the Liverpool Plains. Having struck the Peel River, they reached a tremendous ravine 3000 feet in perpendicular depth. From thence they took a southward course, through " hilly picturesque scenery, with open woods abounding in kangaroos." Streams were everywhere, and a hundred miles away from the coast they were on high land, several thousands of feet above the sea. Here they found the Apsley River, which was not navigable, because gf its great falls, one being 280 feet in height. A dangerous country, because of its rocky nature and its steep hills followed. The natives, too, were treacherous ; but after a five months' journey the party reached Port Stephens. " Though baffled by the Macquarie swamps," Oxley had " discovered a vast extent of magnificent country. Moreover, he had crossed the mountains far to the northward, and had found a port from which communication to the interior was practicable. Oxley's discoveries marked an im- portant epoch in the history of the colony, and a new impulse was given towards opening up the country. The pioneer squatter kept pressing on with his flocks and herds wherever grass and water were to be found." ^ This was practically the beginning of inland ex- ploration. The general shape of the coast had been determined by voyagers of various countries, but the ^ Calvert, Exploration of Australia. THE STORY OF AUSTRALIA 221 vast interior of the island-continent was absolutely unknown. Oxley commenced the work in splendid manner, and showed that Australia was worthy of still more attention. To follow the many explorers in detail is impossible here. It is scarcely possible, indeed, to mention their names ; but some stand out prominently as having done notable work in opening out a hitherto unknown land. What is now the neighbouring colony of Victoria was travelled over by Hovell and Hume in 1824. In 1803 those who looked at this territory casually reported it to be fit neither for settlers nor convicts ; but it proved long years afterwards to be a veritable gold mine, more than £250,000,000 worth of the precious metal having been found there. The object of the expedition was to discover " whether any large rivers flowed into the sea on the south-eastern coast." It was a strangely constituted party. The governor promised several convicts a free pardon and grants of land if, on their being taken to a certain distant point, they should find their way safely to Sydney, and give a clear account of what the country was like through which they passed. Mr. Hamilton Hume was given the control of the expedition, and was joined by Captain Hovell. The men were led to Lake George, 165 miles south-west of Sydney. From that point they journeyed through the Yass Plains, and reached the Murrumbidgee River seventeen days after starting. They met with difficulties at once, for the river was flooded, but from some high land they saw " richly grassed country skirted by forest ; the meadows not only bearing a grass 222 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY similar to English rye grass, but others of the nature of clover, lucerne, and burnet." The journey was exhausting across this land, where they raet the Medway River, but at last they came to what they called the Australian Alps, — " mountains," says Hume, " of a conoidal form and of an immense height, and some of them covered about one-fourth of their height with snow," extending semicircularly from S.E. to S.S.W. for possibly some twenty miles. On the i6th of November they came to a river, now known as the Murray, eighty yards broad at that point, and rolling by at the rate of three miles an hour. For some days they searched for a ford, and were at last compelled to improvise a boat and cross with their stores and cattle, oxen having been tried on this journey as well as horses. Other streams were met and crossed, among them the Goulbourn, the country through which it flowed being " extremely beautiful, clothed with luxuriant herbage, and both hill and lowland thinly wooded." " A finer country for sheep cannot exist," said Hume in his journal. The travellers were in a desperate plight with weari- ness and lack of provisions. The scrub proved to be impenetrable. Climbing a hill they saw the country, and took another course through some rich pasture- land, where there were many streams, in which eels were plentiful. Going south-west they found the sea at a point called by them Port PhUlip Heads. By their contract the convicts were now at liberty to return home, and the journey commenced on the i8th of December 1824. It ended successfylly at Lake George, THE STORY OF AUSTRALIA 223 and the convicts were free men and landed proprietors. Calvert says concerning the expedition, that Hume and Hovell had " disproved Oxley's theory, which was supported by many scientific men of the day, namely, that the western interior was uninhabitable. They made known the existence of a vast extent of country suitable either for agriculture or grazing, and watered by a multitude of rivers and streams. Slender as were the means at their command, and with an outlook beset with difficulties and dangers, they accomplished a mission of surpassing importance, inasmuch as they were the real founders of Victoria." The great stimulus to early exploration seems to have been the water famines. One drought had led to the passage of the Blue Mountains, in 1812 ; but that which came in 1826 was so serious that Captain Charles Sturt was deputed to lead an expedition " to find out what lay beyond the marsh " which Oxley had traversed. The Lachlan, the Macquarie, the Castlereagh, the Murrumbidgee, the Hume, and the Goulbourn Rivers emptied themselves, none knew whither.^ Sturt was confident that Australia had some mighty rivers somewhere, into which these known rivers ran, and he started with the definite idea of tracing the Macquarie, to discover whether it flowed into another river, or took a turn and ran to the sea. But other opinions regarding the emptying of these rivers centred about the prevalent idea that " the western interior of New Holland comprehended an extensive basin, of which the ocean of reeds which had proved so formidable I Calvert, The Exploration of Australia. 224 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY to Mr. Oxley formed, most probably, the outskirts ; and it was generally thought that an expedition, pro- ceeding into the interior, would encounter marshes of vast extent." So said Sturt in his journal ; and it was his duty to confirm the idea or disprove it by another discovery. He started on the loth of September 1828, going over the ground which Oxley had travelled ten years earlier. Oxley had found a turbulent river near Mount Harris, but Sturt saw nothing but a deep river bed at the bottom of which a stream of water trickled lazily. Here and there he found traces of Oxley' s camps, but did not linger. Before September was out the travellers had met with many discouragements. Streams they hoped to meet were not found, for Oxley had either calculated wrongly, or the water had disappeared during the droughts, while the camps proved very unhealthy, and they were tormented by mosquitos. A hundred miles' journey into the interior having failed to reward their search, they returned to the Macquarie and waited for Hume's party. Hume had gone out in another direction, and when he retiirned, worn out and ill, he said that he had travelled W.S.W. and W.N.W., crossed various creeks, a chain of ponds, and seen hills to the north. He had passed a native burial-ground and native huts, ever hoping to meet with the Castlereagh River, but saw no sign of it, nor of the Macquarie having re-formed. When the united party went forward by easy stages, because of Hume's illness, they were in desperate need of water, and suffered intolerably from thirst ; yet, THE STORY OF AUSTRALIA 225 whenever they saw natives they were encouraged to believe that water could not be far away. The expecta- tion was realised, for eventually they found themselves " on the banks of a noble river." Sturt says that the bank was from forty to forty-five feet above the level of the stream, while " the channel of the river was from seventy to eighty yards broad, and enclosed an unbroken sheet of water, evidently very deep, and literally covered with pelicans and other wild fowl." Unfortunately their joy was short lived, for when the men climbed down the bank to slake their thirst they found the water to be brackish, and had to go forward thirsty. Fortun- ately they found a pool of fresh water, which served to save the party from death. Later on it was discovered that the Darling River — as they named it after the governor of the colony — flowed out from some brine springs. Progress ultimately became impossible, not merely because of the lack of water, but because food was not to be found, and what they ate was not obtained in the forests but only from the store they carried on their horses' backs. Even the natives whom they met were dying of starvation, so that retreat was decided upon, and they returned to Mount Harris on the 7th of April. Calvert says of this journey that, in spite of untoward circumstances, very considerable and important know- ledge had been added to that already possessed. They had found the Darling, and had traced into it the Macquarie and the Castlereagh ; but there still remained a mystery to be solved, as to the course and outlet of the Darling. What the explorers saw showed them that it was land that was worthless from the colonists' view, IS 226 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY since it was " practically uninhabitable and useless. It was either burnt up with drought or flooded with water. The chief river was salt, the natives were afflicted with loathsome diseases or starving ; a more miserable God- forsaken territory it was impossible to conceive." Failure having been the consequence of a journey in one direction, it was determined to try another beyond the Darling ; and for this purpose the Government planned an expedition which should first descend the Murrumbidgee, seeing that nothing useful came from following the Macquarie and the Lachlan. Sturt set out on the 3rd of November 1829, and thus began a journey which, from start to finish, covered more than 2000 miles. Profiting by his experience, he took with him an apparatus for distilling water, in case they should only meet with what was brackish. Gradually, as the expedition proceeded, the journey became more and more difficult. The country was one of low sandy ridges and dismal swamps, and ultimately, after tracing a small river called the Tamat, they found themselves in a vast marsh, and the river had disappeared. They had taken with them a whale boat in sections, and putting these together, a party of six men got through the marsh and found themselves at last in the missing stream, which, they said, ran strong. Carried on- ward by the flood at a great pace, the boat at last entered " a broad and noble river." They named it the Murray, after Sir George Murray, Minister for the Colonies. " Curiously enough," says Calvert, " as was afterwards discovered, the native name of the stream was very similar to that chosen by Sturt, being Murrewa." THE STORY OF AUSTRALIA 227 The Murray proved to be a magnificent river, " not unworthy to be classed with the great rivers of the Old World," flowing at the rate of two and a half knots an hour, and at least 500 feet broad. The journey down was not without danger from the natives, and at one place they had a serious fight, and were compelled to defend themselves with shot and bayonet. At a later stage they reached the point where the Darling flowed into the Murray, and there they hoisted the Union Jack. Going on down the stream, they found the country to be much as they had ex- perienced in the previous journey. It was " full of lagoons, and the natives were horribly afflicted with some skin disease like leprosy, which obliterated their faces and otherwise disfigured them." The waters of the two rivers did not mingle when the junction was effected. The speed seemed to be equal, but " there was a distinct line of demarcation between the waters, the one being limpid and clear, the other tinged and turbid." Other streams entered the river, one the Rufus, so named after M'Leay, who had very red hair, and another the Lindesay. The country became poor and inhospitable ; the natives they met were filthy and tiresome ; and later in their voyage food ran scarce. Thirty-three days after the boat had struck into the stream in the great marsh the voyagers came to Lake Alexandrina, where the Murray terminated, and through which it communicates with the sea, " having thus achieved great and valuable triumphs of discovery." But now came the grave question as to how they should return to Sydney. They were weak from want 228 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY of good food, and the sea was impossible, since it was so rough. There was no alternative but to pull up the Murray against the strong current, thus to reach Ponte- badgery, taking all the risks with the natives. They started on the 14th of January 1830, and it was not until the seventy-seventh day that they arrived at the point where they had left their comrades at the marsh. Neither men nor provisions were there, and they had again, worn out though they were, to puU on for seventeen days. Often they fell asleep while at the oars, and had it not been that they shot some swans they would have died of starvation. When they were ninety miles by land from Pontebadgery they halted and sent two of their number overland to bring aid. After six days " the last ounce of flour was served out ; the boat was abandoned," and preparations were made to follow MulhoUand and Hopkinson. These two, however, appeared in the evening. They had met Harris, who had been left with the others at the marsh when Sturt started on the river in the boat. They brought back food, and thus provided a veritable feast for the starving travellers. After a rest they went to Sydney by easy stages. " Thus was accomplished by far the greatest dis- covery as yet made on the Australian continent, earning for Sturt the title of the Father of Australian Explorers." The story of Australian exploration is a long and important one, but it is impossible to do much more than point out the various discoveries. Major Mitchell, for example, in 1835, examined the Darling more closely than Sturt had done, and surveyed a large extent of rich THE STORY OF AUSTRALIA 229 country in what is now known as Victoria. It was numerically a strong expedition which ultimately reached the Murray, which they re-explored. The blacks came no less than 200 miles to meet them, with the express determination to fight. Thej;- were, however, beaten at what Mitchell called Mount Dispersion. When the Darling was reached it was so dry that they walked across the riverbed dryshod. Later, while examining the Murray, they found the district admirably adapted for farming and cattle raising, and later still the leader declared that he had come to " a country ready for the immediate reception of civilised man ; and destined, perhaps, to become eventually a portion of a great empire. Un- encumbered by too much wood, it yet possessed enough for all purposes ; its soil was exuberant, and its climate temperate ; it was bounded on three sides by the ocean, and it was traversed by mighty rivers, and watered by streams innumerable." This newly discovered land was named Australia Felix by Mitchell, who, while an excellent man in many respects, thought sufficiently well of himself to be able to depreciate everything else done by other explorers. In the year 1851 a new name was given — Victoria, and a colony sprang up which presents an unparalleled history in regard to development. In 1836 Lieutenants Grey and Lushington proposed an expedition northward, and the Government at home, approving, sent them forth in H.M. sloop of war, the Beagle, with instructions " to gain information as to the real estate of North- Western Australia ; its resources. 230 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY and the courses and direction of its rivers and mountain ranges ; to familiarise the natives with the British name and character ; to search for and record all information regarding the natural productions of the country, and all details that might bear upon its capabilities for colonisation or the reverse ; and to collect specimens of its natural history." ^ This, it is said, was the first expedition of Australian exploration originated in London, and the authorities displayed their short- sightedness by sending out men only one of whom knew anything from experience of Australia. Landing at Entrance Bay, the men began their journey, and like other explorers suffered intensely for want of water. Fortunately they found later that " no country in the world is better watered " than Western Australia. Here, as in other expeditions, too, the natives were a perpetual source of danger, and the members of the party had some narrow escapes from death in the fights that followed. Torrents of rain sometimes arrested their progress, and at times " they found themselves entangled amidst streams and dense vegetation, as difficult to penetrate as a jungle " ; but they pressed on until they came to a country which was so barren, and the road so inaccessible to horses, and " they were so utterly cut off by rocks, hills, rain-storms, marshes, and tributary streams," that they felt unequal to the task of proceeding farther in their exhausted condition. Hence their reluctant decision to return. Even this failure, however, did not daunt Grey, for he journeyed again to Australia, and conducted two ^ Calvert, Exploration of A ustralia. THE STORY OF AUSTRALIA 231 other expeditions — one to the north and one to the south. They were of minor importance as compared to his last expedition, which he undertook in order to examine the north coast and the country in that portion of the island-continent. Grey started in the Russel, on the 17th of February 1839. From the outset he was beset with misfortunes, for a gale sprang up and one of his boats was smashed, water failed them, and a quantity of stores was lost. What exploration meant in Australia we have already seen, but Grey's difficulties seemed intensified. He says in his Journal : " All the stores we had with us, with the exception of the salt provisions, were spoilt; our ammuni- tion damaged ; the chronometers down ; and both boats so stoved and strained as to be quite beyond our powers of repairing them effectually." And so they struggled on, says one writer, " patching, repairing, searching for water, and picking up waifs of stores until the 3rd of March, when they launched the boats and started for the mainland. At this time their sole remaining stock of water amounted to one pint per man, so that their position was becoming a desperate one." Grey's indomitable spirit compels our admiration. Discouragements did not deter him. Coasting, he discovered the mouth of the Gascoyne, and travelling inland found an expanse of water, as he and his com- panions thought, but it proved to be a mirage, " and their lovely lake was but a miserable salt marsh after all." In the whole story of exploration it would be difficult to find greater dangers and hardships than these travellers endured. Whether they tried land or 232 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY sea, whether they went inland or crossed to the islands, they were at the mercy of the hurricane, threatened with starvation, beset by savages, and parched with thirst. But the endeavour to explore an unvisited country was not a vain one . ' ' The country examined lies between Cape Cuvier and Swan River, and two objects were in view, namely — the nautical survey of the coast and the exploration of the continent. The rivers found and named were the Gascoyne, Murchison, Hull, Bowes, Buller, Chapman, Greenough, Irwin, Arrowsmith, and Smith Rivers. Two mountain ranges were discovered, namely, the northern extremity of the Darling Range and about thirty miles to the eastward of it, which he called the Victoria Range. Also Gairdner's Range, some forty miles in length, terminating seaward in Mount Perron. Then three extensive districts of good country were discovered, namely — the province of Victoria, the district of Babbage, and another adjacent to Perth, which was left unnamed. The explorer's journals teem with valuable information, more especially regarding natural history and aboriginal manners, customs, rites, cere- monies, etc. As a record of unselfish devotion, heroic bravery, and indomitable perseverance, nothing can surpass the graphic narrative of Lieutenant Grey," who afterwards became Sir George Grey, K.C.B. The governor, while acknowledging the value of Grey's discoveries, sought for corroborative evidence " before allowing any settlement or encouraging invest- ment in these lands," and Mr. Moore was sent to report on the coast districts, which proved on closer examina- tion to be too sterile. RAILWAY THROUGH TUIi (ill'I'SLAM) I-OREST THE STORY OF AUSTRALIA 233 Edward John Eyre, an overlander — one who drove great herds of cattle across the mainland from one market to another — stands out prominently as an explorer. The enterprise of this cattle dealer may be understood when it is known that at one time he drove a great herd from Sydney to Adelaide, a distance of 1000 miles. That first journey took eight months, but as he knew the country better he ventured with yet greater droves, shortening the time down to a half, and with comparatively little loss. This was in the years 1837 and 1838. Seeing so much of the country, he desired to see more. In 1839 he started on a long journey to the Flinders Range, which he believed crossed the continent. To reach the district he purposed to examine, he traversed new country, well watered, richly grassed, and lightly timbered — a splendid ground for the squatter. Then, as so often is the case in Australia, he found a great stretch of barren land beyond the Broughton River, and farther on, ascending one of the hills of a range of mountains, he saw low, rocky, barren, sandy plains, with here and there a few stunted bushes. Lofty rocky ranges stretched northward, and comprised the view to the east. At an apparent distance of about twenty- five miles to the west and north-west there was a broad shining stripe, which looked like water. Eyre named it Lake Torrens, and finding that the country was not valuable from the cattle-breeder's standpoint he returned home. News of what Eyre had seen of Lake Torrens having become the common talk of the colonists, he was pre- vailed upon to penetrate into the interior and, if possible. 234 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY plant the English flag, which the governor gave him, in the very centre of the continent. He started with some others — eight in all — and went first to Lake Torrens. On reaching it he found it in the midst of a waterless region, the bed of the lake, which was twenty miles across, being nothing but " salt of dazzling whiteness," and all its surroundings sterile in the extreme. Wherever he went he found sandy, barren soil, salt rendering it impossible of cultivation, ever5rwhere, indeed, waterless and horrible. Again and again Eyre came to the coast to make farther ventures inland, but was always driven back for food and water, which were not to be found in " a frightfidly arid country." On one tramp across a desert of 135 miles he did not meet with a single drop of water, but E5n:e passed on, his horses, like his men, suffering intolerably from thirst. The explorer would not be warned, but pressed west- ward, with the sea on one side and salt land on the other. It was his purpose to explore the coast as far as King George's Sound, which meant a journey along the southern shore of 1300 miles. When he had yet 600 miles to travel, counting as the crow flies, he had, 142 pounds of flour for five persons, and three sheep. Those who read the story, while admiring the in- domitable spirit of the leader, can but feel that his determination to go forward was absolute foolhardiness. As one says, it was not so much in the interests of ex- ploration as to make a record journey. For six days the horses had not a drop of water, and sank exhausted again and again. They were only saved by a fortunate discovery of water on the 30th of March ; they found THE STORY OF AUSTRALIA 235 it by digging down six feet. It was the first drop, save what was obtained by the dew, in a slow journey of 160 miles ! Baxter returned fifty miles for some buried stores, but one of his three horses died, and after another rest, they set forth to cover 600 miles, with three weeks' provisions! To all entreaties to go home Eyre turned a deaf ear. To make matters worse, while they pressed forward, suffering more and more in this mad enterprise, two out of the three blacks murdered Baxter while he was on night watch, and then bolted. Others in his party had been sent back from time to time, and had not returned, so that Eyre found himself alone but for one loyal black, with forty pounds of flour, four gallons of water, a little tea and sugar, a rifle, and a pair of pistols.^ Even now he determined to continue his journey, dogged by the two natives who had kiUed Eyre's com- panion. He came to water again — the first for seven days, after having travelled 150 mUes of " rocky, barren, and scrubby tableland." At last he saw a ship not far away, and, attracting attention by lighting a fire and causing a smoke, he was taken on board the whaler Mississippi. He stayed here a whUe, but even then determined to press on. On the 14th of June he started, the country proving to be fairly well watered, and finally reached King George's Sound, and took his horses into Albany. In spite of the story told of incredible sufferings endured by explorers, men were ready to venture into the unknown interior in order to discover the truth or falsehood of statements made by various natives, or to '■ Calvert, Exploration of Australia. 236 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY obtain more satisfactory information concerning vast districts that had been seen or heard of by travellers who had not the time or necessary equipment for close exploration. Yet there was not the enterprise displayed in exploring Australia that has been noticeable in regard to other continents. Mr. Laurie suggests the explanation thus. That doubtless, in regard to Australia, the temptation to explore lacked the fascinating stimulus of other con- tinents abounding in natural resources, picturesque scenery, rich and varied fauna and flora, and people of an interesting type, with perhaps intelligent, though rude and uncouth, works of art, rare and venerable remains, or startling conditions. But here, says Mr. Laurie, none of all those attractions presented themselves.^ There was, however, the spur of necessity when Australia became increasingly popular as a colonial settlement. As shiploads of immigrants entered the various ports it was found necessary to seek out the best possible lands where cultivation or cattle-breeding could be carried on ; so that the Government and learned societies, not waiting for private ventures, commissioned men of known ability to conduct systematic exploration. Eyre's journey, so full of horrible experiences in the sun-burnt, waterless land, did not deter men, and many a name might be mentioned of travellers who accepted commissions to visit and report on what they might see of the interior. M'Douall Stuart, who was in the employ of Messrs. Chambers & Finke, ventured, at their request, to search for pastoral-lands in 1859, went where no ' Laurie, The Story of Australasia. THE STORY OF AUSTRALIA 237 other traveller had gone, and discovered streams and feeding-grounds for cattle. Then, on his own account, he started from Adelaide when a reward of £10,000 was offered to the first colonist who should cross the continent. Stuart began his journey in March i860 with Kekwick and Head, and reached the M'Donnell Range. On the 22nd of April he had arrived at the centre of the continent, and planting the flag on a hiU, buried a bottle at the spot recording the fact. But it was no holiday excursion. Scurvy troubled the travellers. The scrub seemed to defy their efforts to proceed, and the natives were so unfriendly that they had to return. He made another attempt as soon as he could get horses, the Government finding the funds ; and going forward on New Year's Day, 1861, with ten men besides Kekwick, and fifty horses with supplies, Stuart reached Newcastle Water. Here again progress was impossible, because of the " dense waterless mulga (acacia) scrub." He was compelled to return to Adelaide, where everyone was talking of the disastrous ending of Burke's expedition. The news of that traveller's death did not cause Stuart to abandon his efforts, and by the 23rd of May 1862 he had gone farther than before. On the 25th of July he bathed his hands and face in the sea at Chambers Bay. He had promised Sir R. MacDonneU that he would perform such an ablution if his enterprise should be successful. The Union Jack was hoisted with cheers, and a buried inscription told that the South Australian Great Northern Exploring Expedition, which left Adelaide in October 1861, had crossed the continent, and on the 25th of July 1862 had reared the flag to 238 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY commemorate its achievement. Stuart was attacked by scurvy on the return journey. All were in great straits from thirst. Creek after creek was found a dry channel. Borne on a litter at last, Stuart was in Adelaide, weak but triumphant, in December. He suggested at an early date the formation of a telegraphic line across his track, and the energetic colonists were prompt to form it. Their enterprise in this respect, and Stuart's repeated journeys, have entitled him to first mention in the narrative of discovery.^ It was not an easier journey than his previous ones, for the terrible heattriedboth horse andman, and the natives were implac- able as before. Many a name found place on the map of Australia by reason of Stuart's resolute endeavours, and he well deserved the reward which the governor refused to give owing to some quibble as to his claim. It was said that Burke was the first to cross Australia, but he never actually reached the sea. Stuart received £2000 and a grant of 1000 square miles of land in the interior, rent free ; but his health was so broken that he never occupied it. The Royal Society of Melbourne, at the time when Stuart was preparing for his enterprise, invited Robert O'Hara Burke to lead an expedition to the north coast, the conditions being that he should cross the continent straight through the centre, making for Carpentaria. He undertook the task, and camels were brought from India, since it was thought that they would encounter the desert difficulties more successfully than horses. Burke was joined by Wills, King, and Gray, and the party ^ Rusdeu, History of Australia. THE STORY OF AUSTRALIA 239 started from Melbourne on the nth of February 1861.1 The expedition prospered, for leaving the bulk of his supplies at Cooper's Creek, he made a dash for the coast, which proved successful. " Though not actually coming within sight of the sea, Burke and his associate WUls reached the tidal waters of the Flinders River, and thus," says the Dictionary of National Biography, " won the fame of being the first white men to cross the Australian continent." It must not be forgotten, how- ever, that it was Stuart who was the first to cross from coast to coast, and actually see the waters that washed the northern shores of Australia. Burke had left Brake in charge of the stores at Cooper's Creek, but Brake having been told to wait for three or four months for the leader's return, waited that time, and then abandoned his post, leaving but a small supply of stores behind him in case Burke should return. Burke and Wnis reached Cooper's Creek on the 21st of April, and found that Brake was gone. Wills suggested that they should follow, but Burke insisted on taking another route, thinking that the stations in South Australia would be nearer than the course they had previously travelled. It was a disastrous decision, for even before they had reached Cooper's Creek camel after camel had to be killed for food, and at last death began to thin out the little party. Gray died, and when it was found that Brake, not having been relieved by Wright as had been arranged, had gone, matters were worse, for the provisions left were altogether insufiicient. 1 This date is on Rusden's authority. The date given in the Dictionary of National Biography is the 20th of August i860. 240 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY The journey to the South Australian stations began without the camels, for the last one died on the 7th of May. Now and again as they travelled, footsore and hungry, they met some blacks who treated them kindly, so far as their own scanty food would allow. Growing weaker and weaker, they managed to crawl back to Cooper's Creek, where Burke and Wills died, and King was left alone. He, too, would have died of starvation had he not met some blacks who fed him, and allowed him to stay with them as one of themselves until the 2ist of September, when Howitt arrived with a relief expedition. King was " wasted as a shadow," and " too weak to speak clearly at first," but after a while he bore the journey back to Cooper's Creek, where Howitt found the buried journals. Later on Howitt was sent to bring to Melbourne the remains of the dead travellers, and the bodies received a public funeral on the 21st of January 1863. These and minor explorations did not open out the whole of Australia, for, as the Ency. Brit, states, a third part, at least, of the interior of the whole continent, between the central line of Stuart and the known parts of West Australia, from about 120° to 134° E. long., an extent of half a million square miles, still remained a blank in the map. But efforts were made to open out these unknown parts, and many expeditions were prepared. The brothers Forrest travelled from west to east in 1870, near the Australian Bight, and in 1871 they found pastoral - lands to the east of Perth. Ernest Giles attempted to explore " the dreaded desert " in 1872, ROBERT O HARA BURKE, AUSTRALIAN EXPLORER. THE STORY OF AUSTRALIA 241 beginning from the South Austrahan side. " Travelhng from Chambers' PUlar on the telegraph line to the Tropic of Capricorn, he crossed and re-crossed the barren sand- hills, seeing little vegetable growths but spinifex, mulga, and mallee scrub. Turning southwards he met an enormous marsh or evaporated lake (Amadeus) of treacherous blue mud encrusted with salt." Later still he was bold enough to make another attempt with com- panions, one of whom died of privation and the deadly heat. The party reached Charlotte Waters in July 1874, having discovered much of interest. Mr. Elder and Captain Hughes found a path across the desert, and Colonel Warburton sought to find some- thing more definite regarding the unknown interior. He started with camels in April 1873, and " as a proof of endurance, courage, and fidelity the expedition was famous ; but it confirmed the evil reputation of the land." After several unsuccessful attempts, Warburton got round to the north-west, but had to be relieved. It is impossible, within such limited space, to set forth the journeys undertaken by the Forrests, Giles, and others. The result of their travels was to show that the land between the 20th and 30th degrees of south latitude was hopelessly barren, and altogether unfit for settlement. Modern enterprise, however, has opened out the continent to such an extent that overland routes have now been found possible, though scarcely con- venient for traf&c, between all the widely separated Australian provinces. But as the Ency. Brit, remarks : " The Endeavour River, in S. lat. 16°, which was visited by Captain Cook a hundred years ago, seems capable 16 242 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY of being used for communication with the country inland. A newly discovered river, the Johnstone or the Gladys, is said to flow through a very rich land, producing the finest cedars, with groves of bananas, nutmeg, ginger, and other tropical plants." To aU this must be added the mineral wealth of the continent, which up to 1892 showed a produce worth £448,166,384. Even this does not compare in absolute and genuine good for the commonwealth with the splendid industrial progress that has been made, as tract after tract of country has been opened up. A prominent colonial, speaking of the progress of Australia, bears testimony to the magnificent possibilities which followed the painful enterprises of those who undertook the task of exploration. " Nobody knew," he says, " what the country was when the experiment was first made, and had it been the barren sandy waste that some of the early Dutch discoverers thought it, the soil would have yielded to the world no great nation. . . . Happily the country possessed the capacity for supporting a large number of people, and that capacity gradually disclosed itself. It is not fully known even yet ; but from time to time, as larger resources were needed, they have been unfolded." What is true of the colonising capabilities of the colonials is true of the men who went forth to discover the unknown plains and rivers. They were men who displayed an immense amount of energy, endurance, and daring ; but in so doing they became the pioneers of civilisation and made the growth of a great nation possible. CHAPTER XIX. THE FINDING OF THE NIGER. IT will be remembered that the Portuguese marked down the outline of Africa, and altogether changed the maps which had been in vogue up to the days of Prince Henry the Navigator. But while the map itself was comparatively correct in its drawing, so far as the coast outline was concerned, little or nothing reliable was known of the interior. There were rumours, but no one could vouch for their accuracy. Mer- chants were eager for trade in the Middle Ages, but they only ventured a few miles inland from the coast. In fact, the more modern men had not the pluck and courage of the ancients, who entered into a keen com- petition to discover the course of the Nile, and find out the secrets of Inner Africa beyond the Great Desert. When one comes to think of it, the enterprise of the ancient travellers was astonishing. Without scientific instruments to help them, they faced " the burning heat, the wide stretches of barren sand, the waterless wastes," and encountered the savage nomads of the interior in the interests of trade or science, so that none of our modern explorers can present a more heroic record than many who traversed the unknown 244 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY long centuries ago. For they had superstition to add to the terrors of the desert regions. And, as Joseph Thomson says, " we find not only ample evidence of such successful adventure, but a wonderfully just estimate of the physical conditions which characterised the region lying between the Mediterranean and the Soudan. They describe first a zone of sharply contrasted fertility and barrenness, of green oasis and repeUant desert, scantily inhabited by wild, roving tribes. Next comes a more terrible region lying farther to the south — a land of desolation and death, swept by the wild sirocco and sandstorm, burnt by fierce relentless suns, unrefreshed by sparkling earth-born springs, unmoistened by the heaven-sent rain or by the gentle dew of night. Beyond lies a third region — the Land of the Negroes — made fertile by spring and stream, by marsh and lake." These ancients spoke again of mighty rivers in Africa. The Nile could be seen at any time, but none could teU anything definite as to the place of its origin. But there was also a great stream flowing through the Land of the Negroes, although none had seen it, until Herodotus met the five young Nasamones who had gone thither and saw a river flowing from west to east. How much reliance was to be placed upon the report none could tell ; but the followers of Islam — the conquer- ing Arabs— sweeping through North Africa, did much to confirm some of the reports set down in writing by the ancient geographers and travellers. The Arab soldiers marched into Western and Central Soudan, and the monarchs of the new kingdoms along the African shores of the Mediterranean did much to encourage THE FINDING OF THE NIGER 245 traders to penetrate the interior. It was thus that Timbuctoo became " an international market of the first rank, where merchants from Egypt, Tripoli, Morocco, the Saharan oases, and the Soudan met to exchange their various articles of barter." The reports of the great river, " flowing from west to east," as the Nasamones declared, were confirmed, because what is now known as the River Niger was a giant river running through the land of which Timbuctoo was the capital. But the Arabs did not trouble them- selves as to where the Niger began, and into what sea it ran. Some of them doubtless thought — as the ancients did — that the Niger and the Nile were one and the same, while others declared that the river took a sudden sweep to the south and ran into the ocean of the west. As we have already seen, the Portuguese of the fifteenth century examined the western coast of Africa bit by bit, but while they marked down the Senegal and the Gambia, the world learnt nothing new concerning the Niger. They merely pointed out the way ; but as for affording information, they served to bring confusion by drawing maps which showed the Niger as running into those other rivers. As Thomson says : " It had been the mission of Portugal to draw a girdle round Africa ; it was now to be the rSle of Britain to take up the work and penetrate inland with more lasting results than had followed Portuguese embassies and missionary and commercial enterprises." A British company was formed in 1618 " to explore the Gambia, with the object of reaching the rich region of the Niger." Richard Thompson led the way, but the Portuguese 246 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY massacred a great number of his men in their resentment at his intrusion ; even then, however, had it not been for the dreadful fever, he would have stuck to his task. Indeed, he intended to do so, but was murdered by his followers, who mutinied. One might well expect that men would shirk the dangerous task of exploring the Gambia and discovering the course of the Niger when it was known that others had come on such disaster. But " Richard Jobson, gentleman," as he described himself on the title-page of his book, The Golden Trade, went out with a light heart, and in his travels he covered, according to his own estimate, as many as 320 leagues. His hope was not so much to add to geographical knowledge as to get into touch with a reputed Land of Gold. When he came to the country where Thompson had been murdered he found things better in every way, and travelling up the rivers, he exceeded his expectations. Small ships, he tells us, could go as far as Barraconda, 400 mUes up th^ Gambia, and then for miles on end the boats were available. He was looking for a veritable El Dorado — a city whose roofs were covered with gold, and consequently he disregarded such things as oU, indiarubber, and various nuts. A man whose mind was set on the " Golden Trade of the Ethiopians " treated these articles of commerce as beneath his notice. But he never found the golden city, nor did the natives ever come with gold, eager to exchange the precious metal for paltry articles which he had brought with him. There had been great talk of the unicorn, but that creature THE FINDING OF THE NIGER 247 did not show itself, although the natives had declared that it was found in the interior. To read the pages of The Golden Trade is to read of quaint notions held by those who essaj^ed to travel when James the First was King in England. But, as we have the reminder, Jobson was not extravagant in his descriptions of what he saw, especially when he tells us of the animals that loitered along the river banks. In the river were crocodiles and sea-horses, the former of which were as many as thirty feet long, and were naturally the terror of the natives. " So numerous were they in the upper part that their musky odour became offensive, and at last impregnated the river water with a similar taste to an extent that made it undrinkable." As for the much-talked-of sea-horse, it proved to be nothing more nor less than the hippo- potamus, which was so fierce in resenting the attempts of the natives to kill it with their spears, and it was in self-preservation rather than because it was vicious that it smashed the canoes of those whose spear-heads gleamed in the blazing sunshine. One of the river-fish — the African cat-fish we caU it now — awoke the wonder of Jobson and his men, repaying those who handled it with an electric shock. Of the wild beasts which " the countrey is stored withaU," they dreaded the " lyon," and, says Jobson, " in regard of a servant he hath two or three that doe attend him, which we doe caU the little Jacke All." As for the inhabitants of the land, he met Portuguese, " the Fulbies, a tawny race, rather like the Egyptians, who are mostly cattle- keepers, and the Mandingoes, or Ethiopians, who are the dominant race, and profess themselves the natural 248 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY inhabitants." Apart from the knowledge he put into his book, there was no result, for the expedition was a failure. He had to return. Captain Bartholomew Stibbs, sent out by a new African Company in 1720, faUed, as far as trading was concerned, but he showed that the Gambia and Senegal Rivers had no connection whatever with the Niger. The African Association was formed in London in 1788 for the express purpose of promoting the exploration of Inner Africa, quite apart from any trading enterprise, and purely in the interests of scientific knowledge. The French had meanwhile been trading in the Niger region, and naturally an association like this made the great river their first object, the question they put for explorers to solve being, the river's commencement and its outlet. This may be set down as the first organised attempt to map out Inner Africa, and explorer after explorer went into the Dark Continent. One was Ledyard, who died of fever ; Lucas failed in his attempt to cross the Sahara from Tripoli. Horneman succeeded in crossing it, and then was lost. Maj or Houghton, at the suggestion of the association, started at the Gambia in order to avoid the desert in 1791. He got as far as Medina, and was well treated by the King of Wuli, but after losing a great portion of his transport by fire he pushed on through Bambuk. But he was robbed in the desert, and left there to die. Mr. Thomson points out the dangers which travellers of the olden time had to face if they ventured to penetrate Africa : " African fevers had a terror then which they no longer possess. The MUNGO PARK. THE FINDING OF THE NIGER 249 continent was practically unkno^yn, and to the imagination, with no facts to act as correctives, everything wore a terrible aspect. Cannibalism, general bloodthirstiness, and ferocity, a love of plunder, and all manner of horrible practices, were associated with the name of negro. Death by thirst or starvation was thought likely to be the lot of those who escaped the miasma of the land or the murderous spear of the native. Brave, indeed, would be the man who should face such an accumulation of vaguely discerned and mightily ex- aggerated horrors." Even with this before him Mungo Park volunteered in 1795, and, although he was only twenty-four years old at the time, he was well equipped for the task in point of courage, had travelled, and was not only fuU of a love for adventure, but was an able naturalist. His offer was accepted by the association, and he started with his orders, which were : "To reach the River Niger by such route as might be found most convenient ; to ascertain its origin, course, and if possible its termina- tion ; to visit the chief towns in its neighbourhood, but more particularly Timbuktu and those of the Haussa country."^ One cannot fail to admire the audacity of the young Scotsman, who, before his career had ended, had proved his right to a foremost place among the explorers, and he is to be counted among the gallant band of those who gave their lives in the cause of discovery. His energy was remarkable, for in a short time after leaving England — about seven weeks — he was 200 1 Thomson, Mungn Park and the Niger. 250 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY miles up the Gambia. There, however, he was laid low by a fever, and for five months he was on his back in a British trading station. When he began to plan his progress he could not find a caravan going his way, and rather than wait longer he started, on 2nd December 1795, with a horse, two asses, a negro, and a boy. After sufferings which make one wonder at his fortitude he reached Sego, on the Niger. That was on the 20th of July 1796. On the way he had been robbed of the greater portion of his goods, and had actually at times to chew straw to appease the pangs of hunger. Terrified with the violence of the people they met, who kept them in perpetual fear of death, Mungo Park's companions deserted him, and he was left to go forward alone. The negro boy, however, returned, and together the two pro- ceeded, constantly subjected to insult and brutality, to say nothing of the torture of travelling in a blazing sun without water. To these horrors was added that of imprisonment at Ludamar, the Arabs there insisting that he was a spy, and treating him with extraordinary contempt because he was a Christian. They shut him up on his arrival in a hut, and exposed him night and day to the insults of the populace, adding to his sense of danger by telling him that he was first to be mutilated by degrees and then kiUed. Even his rations were frequently forgotten while he accompanied his captors to the town of Koiro, and this when the heat was intoler- able and made it agony to move. At last he escaped, only to suffer from weariness, hunger, and thirst. But at last he reached Sego, and saw the Niger, " sweeping along in a majestic stream towards the east, THE FINDING OF THE NIGER 251 and glittering in the bright rays of the morning sun." He was the first European to see it. The King of Bambarra not only refused to see Park, but declined to admit him into Sego, so that he travelled on his way to explore the Niger River, which here ran through " a highly cultivated country — resembling the park scenery of England," but full of danger because of its numerous wild beasts. After a time he came to a swampy district where, says Thomson, his life was rendered almost unendurable " by mosquitos, which rose in such myriads from the swamps and creeks as to harass even the most thick-skinned and toijiid of the natives. The nights were one continuous maddening torture, Park's rags affording him no protection from their attacks." At last his horse had to be abandoned, and Park went on. alone. On the 29th of July 1796 he arrived at Silla, eighty miles along the Niger from Sego, but his discourage- ments had been so many that he determined to return to the coast. It meant a walk of iioo miles without allowing for deviations, and probably 1900 miles in all, without money, without a companion, and in rags, and the way was infested with lions and other wild beasts. Fortunately he found his horse alive and better, and together they proceeded. At one or two places he received much kindness, but the Fulahdus stripped him of everything except his shirt and trousers and his hat, which contained his notes The marvel is that this brave-hearted traveller, shoeless and absolutely destitute, his horse gone, and his compass, did not lie down in despair when he thought of the 252 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY hundreds of miles yet to be traversed. But, says Thomson, " irresistibly his mind was diverted from the horrors of his position to the beauty " of a little tuft of moss. "As he examined with admiration its delicate conformation the thought occurred to him, ' Can that Being who planted, watered, and brought to perfection in this obscure part of the world a thing which appears of so small importance, look with unconcern upon the situation and sufferings of creatures formed after His own image ? Surely not ! ' " And with that thought to spur him on he rose to his feet and went his way. At Kamalia he was compelled to remain for seven months, stricken with fever, but, looked after by a negro named Kaarta Taura, he recovered. Ultimately he joined a slave caravan, saw the horrors of the slave trade, and finally reached Pisania on the Gambia on the loth of June 1797, and returned to England, arriving at Falmouth on the 22nd of December. In 1803 the Government offered him the leadership of an expedition to Africa, but owing to a change in the administration there was considerable delay. The aim in view was " the extension of British commerce and the enlargement of our geographical knowledge." On the 28th of March 1805 Mungo Park and his expedition arrived at Goree, where thirty-five soldiers awaited him under the command of Lieutenant Martin. These with forty-five soldiers which Park brought from England made up a strong fighting force, but unfortun- ately the European soldiers died off quickly, eleven only surviving by the 19th of August, when the expedition reached Bambakoo on the Niger. THE FINDING OF THE NIGER 253 To teU the story of that progress is to repeat largely the experiences and hardships of Park's first journey. \Vhat with sick men, the rough and unfriendly treatment of the Arabs, the sufferings from heat and thirst, the dangers in swamps from crocodiles, and from wild beasts in the forests, one is prepared for the thinning out of the once strong expedition. By the 27th of July there was not a donkey hving, and the question of transport was serious in the extreme. When Park arrived at Bambakoo, or Bammaku, he sent a messenger to Mansong, who had refused him admission to Sego on his first journey. Now, however, a reply came welcoming him. Taking his men down the river in canoes, the explorer approached Sego ; but while expressing friendship, Mansong, by a messenger, seemed to intimate that his presence in Sego would not be agreeable, but that the white strangers should be protected, at all events as far as his influence extended eastwards. Park was permitted to stay at Sansandig, a large town of 11,000 inhabitants, for two months, trafficking, and preparing for his journey down the Niger. Any unfriendliness on the part of the king was undoubtedly due to the Moors and native merchants, who desired Park to be killed and tinned back. By the time Mungo Park was ready for the river journey the expedition had shrunk terribly. He " had nothing better than an rmwieldy half-rotten canoe, and a crew consisting of an officer whoUy unsuited to the work, three European privates, of whom one was mad and the others sick, and lastly, Amadi Fatuma, the guide, and three slaves — nine men in all." Yet Park 254 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY was setting out on a journey which, if his own ideas were correct that the Niger ran into the Congo, must mean a voyage of nearly 3000 miles. Thomson says that, compared with that of Park, the enterprise of Columbus was most hopeful. Columbus had always the option of turning back. For Park there was no such door of escape. Success or death was his only choice, and even success might mean captivity or worse, the best geographer of the time holding that the Niger termina- tion was not in the ocean, but in the heart of the continent. Added to this there were the dangers of a river " studded at parts with dangerous rocks, and ever5rwhere infested by equally dangerous hippos," and human enemies yet more fierce — the " fanatical Moors and Tuaregs . . . and cannibal savages " beyond. Park's resolution was to achieve or die. He was determined to discover the river's course and outlet at all costs ; but what happened when he allowed his canoe to carry him down the great stream we do not know unless we take up the story as Amadi Fatuma told it to Isaaco, a native messenger who was sent to make inquiries. Park had not been heard of, but Amadi told Isaaco that when the canoe reached the Island of Jinbala there was a fight with the natives, but Park succeeded in getting away down the stream. Two other such fights followed, one being near Timbuctoo. There seven canoes fuU of armed natives barred the way, but Park again succeeded, only to be met later by sixty canoes. Amadi said that even then Park passed on, but the canoe struck on the rocks. They repaired the damage and suffered them- THE FINDING OF THE NIGER 255 selves to go down with the current. A thousand miles had been traversed since Park started in the Joliha, and he had surmounted every dif&culty ; but at last he came among rapids and rocks where the river divided, and where the natives had him at their mercy. One after another Park's men were slain, until four only remained. " Amadi tells us that in the end Park took hold of one white man and Martyn of the other, and thus united they aU four jumped into the river, whether to die together or with the intention of mutually assisting each other wiU never be known." But it was death for all save Amadi, who jumped in after them, and Park's work was brought to a disastrous ending ; but, says Thomson, thus closed the first great chapter in the history of the opening up of Inner Africa." This must be said of the great traveller, that he collected more facts as to the geography, manners, and customs of the countries he visited than all preceding travellers. In the Dictionary of National Biography a few words sum up Mungo Park's life-work. " Al- though Park was not spared to solve the problem which he had set himself, his discoveries and his observations enabled others to finish what he had begun ; he was the first European in modern times to strike the Niger River, and he drew a correct inference when he convinced himself (at last) that the Niger ' could flow nowhere but into the sea.' In his travels he proved himself of untiring perseverance and inflexible resolution. His heroic efforts served to stimulate the enthusiasm of travellers who during the next twenty years followed 256 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY in his footsteps, and they aroused a keen public interest in African discovery and development. After James Bruce, who, like himself, was a Scotsman, he was the second great African traveller of British origin." In 1830 Richard and John Lauder passed down the river from Yauri to the mouth of the Rio Nun, one of the Niger's deltas, and entered the Atlantic, thus solving the great Niger mystery. CHAPTER XX. PENETRATING THE AFRICAN CONTINENT. MUNGO PARK, as we have seen, was the great pioneer of exploration in that part of Western Africa which was watered by the Niger. Farther south of the region through which the Niger swept was the Congo, known in some degree to the Portuguese. The Jesuits who had accompanied the various voyagers who sailed south to explore the coast of Africa travelled into the interior from many points along the shores, and went up the Congo to establish mission stations as far as Manyanga. It is even suggested that they knew so much of the river, and penetrated so far in their religious zeal, as to be more or less acquainted with Mpumbu, or, as it is now known, Stanley Pool. They did not confine their endeavours to the western coast, for we find that they were equally as bold in ascending the Zambesi River on the eastern side of Africa, and from that point learnt so much of the interior that the only knowledge possessed by geographers up till 1798 was such as the Jesuits had provided. In 1798 Dr. Lacerda, the Portuguese Governor of Rios de Sena, was instructed to conduct an expedition across Africa to touch the western coast somewhere in Angola, and as 17 258 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY near as possible to the mouth of the Congo. The idea was to discover a reputed rich country over which Kazembe ruled. The expedition did nothing of import- ance, since the leader died on the way. A journey in an exactly opposite direction was achieved by Baptista and Amars Jose. These two half- caste Portuguese started from the Kwango River in Angola, and crossed to the Zambesi, taking nine years to do so, having started in 1802 and ending their travels in 1811. But " this journey . . . left geographers almost as much in the dark as to Inner African geography as if it had never been undertaken." They had plenty to say concerning what they saw, but they were not scientific observers. In 1831 Major Monteiro and Captain Gamitto undertook a journey from Tete to the Kazembe, but they also left no scientific record. Sir H. Johnston says that " what is noteworthy about all these Portuguese travellers of earlier days, and of Silva Porto, who succeeded them, and who journeyed for trading purposes over much of South Central Africa, is not what they discovered but what they missed. They picked their way among great lakes, and saw none of them. They lit on interesting rivers, and never followed them up in an intelligent manner, so as to arrive at some understanding of the hydrography of these countries, which remained an inexplicable enigma until the subsequent journeys of Livingstone, Cameron, Serpa Pinto, Capello, Ivens, Selous, and Arnot." All that the Portuguese did was to gather a number of " vague rumours of these lakes which pointed to their existence and site." PENETRATING THE AFRICAN CONTINENT 259 But no one denies the service rendered by the Portuguese in mapping out the coast. The Dutch came and appropriated a great deal of South Africa, colonising along the coast from the Elephant (Oliphant) River to the Great Fish River. The colonists boldly went inland as far as the second range of mountains, and did a great amount of exploration while looking out for desirable places to settle in, or, as Johnston suggests, desiring " to find the gold and copper mines reported to exist by the Hottentots, who backed up their reports by, at any rate, producing samples of the copper, if not of the gold." That took them near to the lower course of the Orange River. In 1761 an expedition, led by Captain Hop, " botanist, mineralogist, and surveyor," crossed the Orange River, while others at various times went into the Damara districts. The Dutch East India Company sent out various explorers, among them Captain Gordon, who examined a great portion of the Orange River, so called after the Dutch Stadtholder. Later stiU French explorers found their way into Kaffirland, with the idea of ousting the Dutch from Africa. Ultimately the English appro- priated Cape Colony, and after the confirmation of this as their possession in 1814, explorers began to be busy. " Campbell, a Scotch missionary, in 1812 laid down on the map, pretty accurately, the course of the Orange River, and discovered the sources of the Lim- popo ; Moffat and other missionaries extended our knowledge of Bechuanaland. Angas illustrated Zulu- land; Major Vardon explored the Limpopo; Lieutenant Farewell (in 1824) opened up what is now the colony of 26o THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY Natal ; and Captain Owen, who was the first to survey with any care the east and west coasts of Bantu Africa, made a careful examination of Delagoa Bay and its vicinity. The emigration of the dissatisfied Dutch farmers across the Orange and the Vaal Rivers, and their settlement in what are now the Transvaal and Orange River States, also added considerably to the area of explored South Africa." ^ But the centre of Africa was unknown until Livingstone pursued his explorations. Going to Africa as a missionary, he conceived the wish to explore the countries concerning which the map gave no information, and what knowledge was available was mixed up with gross exaggeration on the part of the natives with whom he frequently came in contact. Livingstone was at infinite pains to thoroughly pre- pare himself for his work as missionary and explorer, learning the languages of the natives, and wherever he travelled investigating the geology, the natural history, the ways and methods of the people, and the botany of the districts. In 1849 he started on a definite search for Lake Ngami, of which he had heard so much. His companions were two English sportsmen, Oswell and Murray. They crossed the South African or Kalarahi Desert, troubled greatly on the way from lack of water, discovered Lake Ngami, being the first Europeans to look at it, and also the River Zuga. The lake, when Livingstone saw it, was so large that he could not, even from a great height, see the opposite shores. Two years later, after many wanderings in Central ' Johnston, Livingstone and Central Africa. PENETRATING THE AFRICAN CONTINENT 261 Africa, Livingstone and Oswell discovered the Zambesi, approaching the famous river by travelling through the country of Sebituane, who was most friendly and rendered the explorers every assistance. On the other hand, the Boers were vindictive and troublesome, and during his absence on his travels destroyed Livingstone's house and his manuscripts, an inexcusable piece of vandalism. In his travels, therefore, he always gave the Boers as wide a berth as possible. In 1853 Livingstone returned to Sesheke, the point on the Zambesi at which he had first arrived and made his discovery. Sebituane's successor — Sekeletu — accom- panied him with a large force, encouraging and aiding the explorer in his scheme to ascend the Zambesi River, and find a way across Africa to the western coast. Livingstone's idea was that he could ascend the stream, known as the Liambai as weU as by the name of Zambesi, and, arriving at a certain point, strike across the country westward to reach the Kwanza River. He could then go down its stream to the coast of Angola. Sekeletu could not go the whole way with him, but he placed a band of twenty-seven men at Livingstone's disposal, and with these the explorer left Linyanti on the nth of November 1853. The journey was a hard one for Livingstone, who suffered greatly from fever in the Barotze Valley of the Upper Zambesi. Yet he never faUed to make up his diary, so that invaluable information was afforded concerning the country through which he passed. It was swarming with game, and consequently food was abundant. But he found difficulty on the way, owing to 262 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY the hostility of the natives in Lundi, who were suspicious as to his intentions. This hostility, however, was accounted for by the fact that the Makololo had been raiding the country, and the advent of Livingstone with his small force made the natives fear that a larger body was following. He succeeded, however, in con- vincing the chieftainesses — for the rulers in the country were nearly all such — of the friendliness of his mission, and received warning and support from them all in turn. Later in his journey Livingstone entered the great forest, "which is so characteristic of the greater part of the Congo Basin and of Western Equatorial Africa, and which, from Livingstone's account, would appear to extend over a portion of the extreme Upper Zambesi Valley." Johnston goes on to say that he found con- siderable pleasure, in spite of incessantly rainy weather, in this new scenery. The deep gloom of the dense forest contrasted strongly with his remembrance of the shadeless glare of Betshuanaland. The reason for this was the explorer's intense delight in his observations as a naturalist, so that personal discomfort did not count with one whose mission was to discover the unknown. He reached Shinte on the i6th of January 1854, " and found himself unmistakably in West Central Africa, denoted by banana groves, great trees, straight streets, and rectangular houses." But here he saw the Portuguese slave-traders with their long chains of slaves. Wherever Livingstone went he always pursued his missionary task, and at Shinte's Court and in the town he exhibited lantern views of the Bible story. " The use of the magic-lantern," says Johnston, " is one of the PENETRATING THE AFRICAN CONTINENT 263 most potent aids to friendship with savages that I know of." Livingstone would appear to be the pioneer of this method of winning over the natives, who in that part of Africa were addicted to drunkenness. They drank " mead " made by themselves, for as yet the traders had not introduced foreign drinks. Leaving Shinte, and proceeding northwards, the explorer and his party, having crossed the Liba, were detained owing to many of them being laid low with fever in the swamps about Lake Dilolo. But the delay led to the discovery that this swampy region was the watershed of the Congo and the Zambesi. When going through the country of the Kioko he found the people not only disagreeable but troublesome, since they did much to hinder his progress. It is said that " they seized every pretext for robbing him, fining him, or opposing his progress through their country." Consequently, by forced marches Livingstone passed out of their reach. He now left the forest region, and after marching through continuous rain, compelled to purchase food while on the way, he arrived at the Kwango, "a fine river of 150 yards in width, and very deep." The natives would not let him cross without giving up one of his followers as a slave by way of toU. This he refused to do, and walked along the banks until Cypriano de Abren, a Portuguese sergeant of militia, induced the natives to accept a money payment to ferry the explor- ing party across the stream. 1 The Portuguese were kind, and Livingstone, resting at their military station, recovered his health, as did his followers. Thence he took a five days' journey to 264 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY Kasanji, always receiving kindness from the Portuguese, treatment so greatly in contrast to that shown by the Va-Kioko, who even demanded some of Livingstone's clothes before they would furnish food. Thus they came to Angola, and travelling through the country arrived at Sao Paulo de Loanda on the 31st of May 1854. The journey convinced Livingstone that this route was not suitable as an outlet for the Makololo people. It was not only dangerous, but too unhealthy. Con-^ sequently, while English captains offered him a journey to England, he determined to return and see what the Zambesi would prove to be as a channel from Central Africa to the coast. Taking his men by sea to Bengo, he began his return journey, but was laid aside by sick- ness for many days when he came into the rainy country. It was a dangerous journey in many ways, alike from the fever and the natives. To this was added the dis- heartening news that the ship had gone down which bore his maps and manuscripts to England, so that he had to write them out again from memory. After a time they journeyed through the forest to Kabango, hurrying forward in order to discover the possibilities of the Zambesi, which he felt assured ran down to the eastern shores of Africa. In such a case it meant a projected journey right across Africa. His decision was attended with momentous possibilities. " Had he decided, and accompanied the Pombeiros to Mwata Yanvo's Court the results of Livingstone's ex- plorations might have been altogether different. He would probably have followed the Kasai down to its junction with the Congo, and to a great extent have LIVINGSTONE LECTURING ON HIS TRAVELS. {Portrait engraved in 1858.) PENETRATING THE AFRICAN CONTINENT 265 anticipated Stanley's discoveries. As it was, he collected a considerable amount of information about the Kasai, and the rivers which join it, which, in the fuller knowledge of to-day, is shown to be singularly correct. Numerous southern affluents of the Congo and some of the big lakes of Central Africa, besides important African tribes, whose real existence has only been quite recently ascertained, are mentioned by Livingstone in his resume of the information acquired by him from the Portuguese and Arabs of the geography of the Congo Basin." 1 Avoiding some of the most troublesome tribes, Living- stone eventually reached Shinte once more, and later still, arriving at Libonta, was in the Makololo country again. Before long the explorer began the descent of the Zambesi, having reached Sesheka. The letters that were awaiting his return gave him pleasure and dis- appointment ; for among them was one from Sir Roderick Murchison, President of the Royal Geographical Society, in which he set forth a theory he had formed as to the dish-like contour of the African continent. Livingstone wrote in his journal : "I had cherished the pleasing delusion that I should be the first to suggest the idea that the interior of Africa was a watery plateau of less elevation than the flanking hilly ranges." However, he pursued his plan, and commenced his journey down the Zambesi, and in doing so discovered the Victoria Falls, " which are one of the wonders of the world" — the "African Niagara," as some have called them. TheZambesihere plunges down a chasm 1900 yards ^ Johnston, Livingstone and Central Africa. 266 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY wide, twice the depth of Niagara, then swirls along for thirty miles a boiling, tumultuous, roaring mass of water. Bidding Sekeletu farewell at the falls, Livingstone went forward, doing the journey by land and not by canoe, and quitting the falls on the 2othof November 1855 . On the following 14th of January he reached the con- fluence of the Loangwa and the Zambesi, arriving at Zumbo on the following day. The men who accom- panied the explorer — 114 in number, supplied freely by Sekeletu — maintained themselves on the way by hunting. On the 3rd of March 1856 Livingstone, tired out, arrived at Tete, where Major Tito Sicard, the Portuguese commandant, treated him with the utmost kindness and would not allow him to proceed, since that was the unhealthy season in the coast land. The delay gave Livingstone an opportunity for writing up his journal and collecting specimens. It was the 22nd of May 1856 when, after a hazardous j ourney, the explorer reached Quilimane. He then found that he was only twelve miles from the sea, and that he had crossed Africa from shore to shore. He had dis- covered the Zambesi, and traced it mile by mile right away from its watershed down to its entrance into the sea, proving its basin to be " one of the richest districts in Africa, as regards the fertility of its soil " and " its amazing abundance of animal life." The district once opened, others have proved the value of its mineral deposits. Johnston says of the river, that it compares unfavourably with the Nile, the Niger, and the Congo for navigability ; and although not worse, it is certainly no better than the two last-named rivers in the unhealthiness of its climate. PENETRATING THE AFRICAN CONTINENT 267 Livingstone returned to England and received a magnificent reception ; but feeling that he could render greater service if free from the employment of the London Missionary Society, thus going forth as an explorer, and preaching wherever he went, rather than confining him- self to certain mission stations, he asked to be relieved, and was appointed " H.M. Consul at Quilimane for the East Coast of Africa to the south of the dominions of Zanzibar, and for the independent districts of the interior, as well as commander of an expedition to explore Eastern and Central Africa." He went out in March 1858, taking with him a steam- launch in sections, called the Ma-robert, the Bechuana name for Mrs. Livingstone, after Robert, her eldest son. This was put together when he reached Quilimane, and he steamed up the river to Tete, arriving there on the 8th of September. Making this his headquarters until the end of the year, he examined the Kebrabasa Rapids, and found that navigation above them was not possible without unloading and for a while pursuing a land route, but Livingstone came to the conclusion that with a thoroughly efficient steam-launch — which the Ma-robert was not — he might force his way up the turbulent passage. In the following year he made a very careful explora- tion of Lake Nyassa and the Shire River, ascending the highlands. David and Charles Livingstone, John Kirk and Edward Rae were the first white men known to have seen the waters of Lake Nyassa. ^ During the exploration of the lake the steam-launch was constantly breaking down, and so worthless was it that Livingstone asked 1 Dictionary of National Biography. 268 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY the English Government to send out a better one. It came in 1861, and was named the Pioneer. With it he proceeded up the Rovuma. The dry season, however, had set in, and with it the faUing of the river to such an extent that the launch could not go more than thirty miles up the stream. As several missionaries had come out with the Pioneer, Livingstone carefully examined the Shire highlands in order to find the best possible locality for establishing a station, but he and his party were attacked by slave raiders, on account of Living- stone's having liberated slaves whenever the opportunity offered. Having established a mission station at Magomero, Livingstone left the Pioneer, carried a gig across the country, and finally came to Nyassa, the western coast of which he explored, as weU as some of the country inland. Strangely enough, the party suffered greatly from lack of food, the district having been devastated by the Angoni-Zulus. Meanwhile the missionaries, under the guidance of Bishop Mackenzie, explored the country in the Shire highlands, but the bishop and Mr. Burrup died before long of dysentery, and worst of all for Livingstone, Mrs. Livingstone, who had just come out to her husband. She arrived from England at the mouth of the Zambesi on the 30th of January 1862, and died on the 27th of April at Shupanga. Eventually, after exploring Nyassa- land, the expedition was recalled, and on the 23rd of July 1864 Livingstone landed in England. With funds for a new expedition, Livingstone was at Lake Nyassa again in 1866, but many of his followers, full of fear on hearing of the approach of the dreaded PENETRATING THE AFRICAN CONTINENT 269 Angoni-Zulus, deserted him, and when they reached Zanzibar reported that Livingstone was dead. So far from this being true, he was busy in the country about Lake Nyassa, and in April 1867 was at Lake Tangan5dka. He discovered Lake Mweru in 1867, and in June 1868 found Lake Bangweolo. His diffi- culties were now sufficient to discourage the stoutest- hearted explorer who ever hved. He was again deserted, robbed, his buffaloes died through the bites of the dreaded tse-tse flies, and but for the kindness of the Arab traders he must have died. Again and again his health broke down, but he pushed on, eager to find the Lualaba River, of which he had heard so much. He reached its banks at Nyangwe on the ist of March 1871 ; then went on again to Ujiji. On the road, in the company of Arab traders, he narrowly escaped being killed by the Manyema, who attacked the caravan. Livingstone's name, however, disarmed the chief, who, when he found that the explorer was one of the party, accorded him his protection, and offered to make good his losses, which were great. They were his remaining cloth, his "telescope, an umbrella, and most of the Manyema curiosities which he had been carrying away from Nyangwe." " His route through this country, of such natural beauty, but so full of ghastly scenes of man's war on man, led him among some of the most thorough- going cannibals in the world." ^ This hardship which he endured, and his repeated misfortunes, broke him down utterly. When he reached Ujiji he was " scarcely more than a living skeleton." ^ Johnston, Livingstone and Central Africa. 270 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY Then, to add to his trouble, the goods which he expected to find there, which would have made some amends for his losses — the 3000 yards of calico and the beads and other stores, which almost meant life or death to him — were gone. The Arab chief there had sold them aU. But meanwhile England and America were distressed at the news which came of the explorer's death. The deserters had told a circumstantial story of a fight with the Zulus, and declared that they had seen Livingstone fall dead, felled by an axe. It led to the despatch of an expedition to Ujiji under Henry Moreton Stanley, equipped by the New York Herald proprietors ; and Livingstone had not long been in Ujiji when Stanley's caravan arrived, "loaded with all the elaborate para- phernalia of a well equipped European expedition, but with a man in front carrying high the flag of the United States of America." It was Stanley, come across the Dark Continent "to find Dr. Livingstone, living or dead." Stanley had not achieved this success without encountering tremendous difficulties. At some points of the journey to Ujiji, which began in Zanzibar, he had to fight his way through. Not only so, he was compelled to leave the straight path, " taking a circuitous southern route through trackless thorn forests ; and then, when at a safe distance from Mirambo," where there had been a tremendous fight between the friendly Arabs and Mirambo, the Nyamwezi chief, " turning his steps once more towards Ujiji." It was on the 28th of October 1871 that Stanley reached Tanganyika, and clasped hands with the worn-out explorer. Stanley brought with him letters from the Royal PENETRATING THE AFRICAN CONTINENT 271 Geographical Society, which suggested that Livingstone " might profitably explore the north end of Lake Tanganyika, to satisfy himself by ocular testimony that there was no outlet to the lake in that direction." Cheered by Stanley's presence, and enabled to travel by reason of the supplies which the new-comer brought with him, the two went by boat to the northern extremity of the lake. They discovered that " the Rusizi River, which enters the lake in a smaU delta at the north end, wasproved to be flowing into and not out of Tanganyika." The travellers returned to Unyanyembe, but Living- stone refused to go back to England with Stanley. As the author of British Central Africa says : " With Livingstone the idea of finding the ultimate sources of the Nile had become almost a monomania, and he was resolved not to return to Europe untU he had mapped the upper waters of the Chambezi and the Luapula, together with the River Lualaba, which took its rise in the highlands to the west." This was a task more fitted to a young man than to one who was worn out with sickness and hardship ; but he persisted. When the two men parted company, Livingstone left Unyany- embe. That was on the 25th of August 1872. He reached Tangan5dka, travelled south and west as far as the Kalongosi River, and pressing forward arrived at the marshy country which surrounds Lake Ban- gweolo, which is described as " intersected by innumerable streams, and is one vast sponge." But he arrived in the rainy season. " The land was an endless swamp, the inhabitants were scattered and suspicious from the remembrance of old Arab raids, starvation was constantly 272 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY menacing the expedition, chiefs promised canoes, but did not send them. So the dismal story runs. It tells of his crossing the Tshambezi River on the 4th of April 1873, of his exploration of the eastern side of Bangweolo, where every step was taken in " a vast swamp of shallow water overgrown with giant reeds," and where the water was often four to six feet deep ; where mosquitos swarmed by mOlions, where there were stinging ants and poisonous spiders.^ One marvels at the courage of the traveller — of his devotion to this purpose, of his resolution to triumph over difficulties which, however, proved to be insuper- able. There came a day when he could go no farther, and on the bank of the River Molilamo he laid down and died. The date of his death is supposed to be the 1st of May 1873. Johnston calls him " the greatest and best man who ever explored Africa." Livingstone's remarkable discoveries, and the enthusiasm aroused when his body was brought home and buried in Westminster Abbey, led other explorers to attempt the opening up of unknown Africa. Lieutenant Cameron was commissioned by the Royal Geographical Society " to foUow the footsteps of Livingstone in his present journey from the eastern side, entering the country by the ordinary trade route from Zanzibar towards the Tanganyika." On his way he met the native companions of Livingstone carrjdng their dead master's body to the coast. After arranging for its safe conduct, Cameron went forward to Ujiji, which he reached in February 1874. He teUs us in ' Johnston, Livingstone and Central Africa. 11. M. STANLEYS TRAVELii IX AFRICA, ANH HIS MEETING WITH LIVINGSTONE. PENETRATING THE AFRICAN CONTINENT 273 his book, Across Africa, what he observed. He solved many geographical problems connected with Lake Tanganyika, and then pursued his journey to the south- west, ending it on the western shore. He passed through country which no other European had seen. It is impossible even to name the many explorers of Central Africa. All that can be done is to single out the greatest of them all — Henry Moreton Stanley, who found Livingstone. A born traveller, he gladly under- took the command of the Anglo-American expedition arranged for by Sir Edward Lawson, the editor and proprietor of the Daily Telegraph, and Mr. Gordon Bennett, the proprietor of the New York Herald, in order to settle " a number of the more interesting problems which had puzzled geographers." Stanley has told the fascinating story of the journey in the book entitled Across the Dark Continent. The journey lasted from October 1874 to August 1877, and resulted in discoveries which gave Stanley the claim to be the world's greatest explorer. The summary of them is this : " The prin- cipal source of the Nile, the unity and area of Victoria Nyanza, the true length and area of the Tanganyika, and the whereabouts of its outlet, the extension of Albert Nyanza south of the equator, and the discovery of a new lake, and finally the connection of Livingstone's Lualaba with the Congo, are some of the discoveries which resulted." And, says the writer here quoted, " the last was by far the most important, as the voyage down the river, from the farthest point which Livingstone had reached to the Atlantic Ocean, had revealed a magni- ficent waterway right into the very heart of Africa." 18 CHAPTER XXI. THE QUEST OF THE NILE. THE romance of exploration is realised in its fulness when one considers the attempts that were made to find the true beginnings of that historic stream which fertilises the land of Egj^pt. In a sense the quest for the Nile had become one of the problems of the ages. It was a constant question among the ancients as to the place where the river began its course, and they were the more eager to know because, as Herodotus said, it was so different in nature from other rivers. He questioned the priests, because, as he asserts : "I was very desirous of learning from them why the Nile, beginning at the summer solstice, fills and overflows for a hundred days ; and when it has nearly completed this number of days, faUs short in its stream, and retires ; so that it continues low all the winter, until the return of the summer solstice." Herodotus ridiculed the ideas held by some Greeks, and especially one which accounted for the rise of the river by the melting of the snows. He goes on to say : " For by saying that the Nile flows from melted snow, it says nothing, for this river flows from Libya through THE QUEST OF THE NILE 275 the middle of Ethiopia, and discharges itself into Egypt ; how, therefore, since it runs from a very hot to a colder region, can it flow from snow ? " It is interesting to follow the argument of Hero- dotus. " Many reasons will readily occur to men of good understanding, to show the improbability of its flowing from snow. The first and chief proof is derived from the winds, which blow hot from those regions ; the second is, that the country, destitute of rain, is always free from ice ; but after snow has fallen it must of necessity rain within five days ; so that if snow fell it would also rain in those regions. In the third place, the inhabitants become black from the excessive heat ; kites and swallows continue there all the year ; and the cranes, to avoid the cold of Scythia, migrate to those parts as winter quarters. If, then, ever so little snow fell in this country through which the Nile flows, and from which it derives its source, none of these things would happen, as necessity proves." All that Herodotus found out was " that the origin of the Nile was unknown, but that the river might come from the far west, from the region where we now know Lake Chad to be ; that there was a civilised city of Ethiopians in the great bend of the Nile at Meroe (Merawi of to-day), and that beyond this nothing certain was known of the Nile course." ^ The information which Eratosthenes obtained was much fuller and accurate, for he sketched the course of the river as far as Khartoum, " and hinted at the lake sources." Greek 1 Sir H. Johnston, The Nile Quest. It was from the title of this book that I gave the present chapter its headline. 276 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY travellers, for a long time after the days of Eratosthenes, searched for information and travelled up the Nile into the country south of Khartoum, and Roman explorers also scoured " the land of the naked Nile Negroes " ; but they brought back information which discouraged further search. Sir Harry Johnston, after pointing out the fact that a Greek merchant named Diogenes landed somewhere on the East African coast, and travelled inland for twenty-five days, discounts the claim that Diogenes saw " two great lakes and the snowy range of mountains whence the Nile draws its twin sources," by suggesting that he listened rather to what some Arab traders told him. Whether it were so or not, the information he gave to the world was this, that " twenty-five days' march in the interior began a series of great lakes, from two of which were derived the twin sources of the White Nile ; that farther to the south of the most western of these lakes was a range of mountains of great altitude, covered with snow and ice, and named for their brilliant appearance of white the Mountains of the Moon. The Nile, he was told, united its twin head-streams at a point to the north of these two great lakes, and then flowed through marshes until it joined the River of Abyssinia (the Blue Nile), and so reached the regions of the known." Crude as the geographical notions of the ancients were, they were astonishingly well near the mark in the matter of locating the Nile sources. Thus Ptolemy pointed to the twin lakes (Victoria and Albert) and the Mountains of the Moon (Ruwenzori) as the main origin THE QUEST OF THE NILE 277 of the White Nile. And yet, as Sir Harry Johnston says, Ptolemy had to wait something like 1740 years before Sir Henry M. Stanley, by his discovery of the Semliki, the Ruwenzori snow-range, and the last problems of the Nile sources, did justice to that remarkable fore- shadowing of the main features of the Nile system due to the genius of the Alexandrian geographer. Hundreds of years went by, and not a word was heard concerning the interior of Africa, and consequently nothing concerning the sources of the Nile, until it began to be known that the Abyssinians had for centuries traded with the interior. The inference is that since the traders went in so many other directions they went also to Victoria Nyanza, which was no greater a journey than elsewhere. But the Abyssinians became Christians, and " Christianity inspired a contempt for science, and the only ideas of geography which floated about the world were connected with the wanderings of propa- gandists or pilgrimages to the shrines of saints." ^ Consequently nothing was known, and no knowledge sought for, for centuries, concerning the Nile or any- thing in the interior. The early Christian monks simply accepted the fact, for instance, that the Nile flowed down into Egypt, and that it was a useful stream, but as to the " why and the wherefore " of its flowing— that was nothing to them. The Arabs, however, were traders, and they swept through the land — everywhere where men could go, taking their lives in their hands ; and naturally they brought back word as to the sort of country they had traversed while seeking to dispose ^ Johnston, The Nile Quest. 278 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY of their merchandise, and buy in the best markets the things that would sell at home. In the days of Prince Henry of Portugal the Portu- guese were ready to venture in all directions, and as time went on they seem to have entered Africa at many points. Among these intrusions we find them in Abyssinia in 1520. They acquired a great influence, and played a great part in the fights that took place between the Abyssinians and the Arabs. But nothing was done, so far as we know, towards discovering any- thing concerning the Nile, until Father Pedro Paez was taken to the source of the Blue Nile in 1615. It was at the mountain of Sakhala, and Father Lobo, who went there ten years later, describes it. " This spring, or rather these two springs, are two holes, each about two feet in diameter, a short distance from each other. One is about five feet and a half in depth. . . . The other, which is somewhat less, has no bottom. We were assured by the inhabitants that none had ever been found. It is believed here that these springs are the vents of a great subterranean lake, and they have this circumstance to favour their opinion : that the ground is always moist, so soft that the water boils up under foot as one walks upon it. This is more remarkable after rain, for then the ground yields and sinks so much that I believe it is chiefly supported by roots of trees that are interwoven one with another." Further, Lobo then shows, unintentionally, how far wrong Herodotus was about the absence of rain and snow, for he saw both, and, as Johnston says,he regarded the Nile floods to be due to the excessive rainfalls on THE QUEST OF THE NILE 279 the Abyssinian Mountains. He was right in this ; but, generally speaking, neither he nor the other Portu- guese formed as true an idea of the interior of Africa as the ancient Greeks did. Whether it was because the Abyssinians and the Arabs became jealous of them, and misled them by the information they gave, it is impossible to say ; but the consequence was that the maps they drew were altogether unreliable, and regard- less of distances. Johnston gives a case in point, wherein the map-makers have placed the source of the Blue Nile so far south as to actually appear in a district south of the equator, and in a spot where it would encroach on the basin of the Congo. There were always terrible risks to be encountered by those who ventured to cross the Dark Continent, but the Portuguese, in their eagerness for knowledge, accepted them, and died in the attempt ; so that the endeavours to find the Nile in that manner resulted in failure. The French likewise sought to extend their com- merce by opening out trade with Africa. Louis xiv. endeavoured to open up diplomatic relations with the Emperor of Abyssinia, who was a Christian, appointing Janus de Noir as his envoy. Unfortunately the envoy was murdered on the way. Joseph le Roux, Count of Desneval, shortly afterwards set out with the idea of solving the Nile problem, and penetrated into Nubia, but his reception was so hostile that he had to turn back in order to save his life. Others emulated him, and D'Anville succeeded in drawing a very fair map of the Nile basin, but full of blunders. 28o THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY The first English traveller of any note who seriously endeavoured to solve the Nile problem in the eighteenth century was Dr. Richard Pococke, who afterwards became Bishop of Meath, but he did not go higher up the river than the First Cataract. Sir Harry Johnston says that James Bruce was the first of the great group of notable British explorers who between them, in a century and a half, have laid bare to. the world nearly every notable feature in the geography of the Nile basin. Bruce was a Scotsman who, bent on African travel, began to learn Arabic so that he might the more readily find his way about the continent. His fixed purpose was to discover what could be known about the historic river, and in the middle of 1786 he landed at Alexandria, accompanied by an Italian artist named Balugano. Crossing to Arabia he stayed there a while, and then came to Africa again, and travelled to the Abyssinian capital — Gondar. The emperor welcomed him, and made it easy for Bruce to reach the course of the Blue Nile, which he " always held to be the main stream." Going up the Blue Nile as far as Khartoum, where the White Nile joined it, he went to Berber and then crossed the Nubian Desert to Korosko. It was a terrible journey, thirst, the great bane of the desert traveller, ending in the death of many belonging to the caravan. Beginning his journeys in 1770, he turned back to Alexandria, which he reached early in 1773, thinking himself the discoverer of the source of the Blue Nile. D'Anville mortified him by showing him a map which THE QUEST OF THE NILE 281 proved that some Jesuit priests — Lobe and Paez — had already done this. " Moreover, this geographer attempted to convince Bruce that the Blue Nile was not the main stream, and that the mystery of the Nile sources remained at least two-thirds unexplored." As we have seen, Bruce always believed that the Blue Nile was the main stream, so that he considered that his travels so far had ended in failure, and for seventeen years he did not venture to publish, the story of his search. When the book appeared, people were astonished at some of the things he said concerning the customs of the Abyssinians, that, for instance, of bleeding cattle and drinking their blood, and of cutting raw flesh off the living animal. But as Johnston intimates, he did not repeat what the Jesuits had declared long years before Bruce was born. Sir Harry Johnston says that he himself " noticed similar customs as regards blood- drinking on the part of the Masai and the Bantu races of Kilimanjaro and Kikuyu. The same writers (East African travellers) constantly make allusion to the love of raw flesh on the part of most of the East African pastoral races, many of whom are more or less related to the Galas in blood (the foundation of the Abyssinian population is Gala). The actual truth about the cutting of steaks from the living animal seems to be this. It was sometimes customary (even if the custom has wholly died out at the present day) to slaughter a beast by degrees. The great arteries and the vital parts were avoided, and the palpitating, hot flesh was cut off strip by strip and devoured. But in all probability the creature was not as a general rule expected to live long 282 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY after part of its flesh was removed. It was generally finished within two or three hours." ^ While Bruce was convinced that the Blue Nile was the main stream, there were others who disputed the assertion. Bruce said in the story of his travels that he was in rapture as he gazed upon the principal fountain from which the Nile sprang, and felt at the moment that he was " standing opposite the sources which had baffled the genius and courage of the most celebrated men of 3000 years." When William George Browne, of London, read Bruce's Travels he was eager to solve the question, and when he pursued his inquiries on the river itself he declared that the Bahr-el-Abiad was the true Nile. While on his journeys he saw much that was unknown to the people of his day, and underwent some startling experiences, especially in Darfur, where he was robbed and failed to obtain justice, although it was promised, from the Sultan. He had hoped to cross Darfur and pass through Abyssinia, but the sable monarch compelled him to turn back. His travels in Eg3rpt and Darfur began in 1791, and while he failed to throw much light on the subject, because of the hindrances put in his way, he did much to make that part of Africa better known. Many unsuccessful attempts were made, and among them one by Burckhardt, a Swiss, who started from Cairo in 1812, but unfortunately he did no more than follow the Nile to Korosko, and therefore did not add much towards solving the problem of the Nile's be- ginnings. Adolf Linant, a Belgian, actually ascended * Johnston, The Nile Quest. THE QUEST OF THE NILE 283 the White Nile in 1827 as far as 150 miles beyond Khartoum. Muhammad Ali, who ruled Egypt, " despatched the first important conquering and exploring expedition up the White Nile " in 1839. It went as far south as north latitude 6° 30', but the expedition which was sent in 1841 succeeded in reaching north latitude 4° 42'. Thanks to Muhammad's enterprise and the liberty he gave to explorers, the White Nile and the Bahr-al- Ghazal became familiar to traders in ivory. Petherick, who was British consular agent at Khartoum, collected a great amount of information respecting the slave-trade, and prosecuted the slave-traders. Sir Harry Johnston, referring to Petherick's book of travels, which was published in 1869, says that he did a great deal to increase our knowledge of the Nile basin and its re- markable fauna. The competition for the glory of tracing the course and sources of the Upper Nile now became keen. French- men were anxious to have the honour ; so were the Germans and Englishmen and Italians, and, according to the author of The Quest of the Nile, all that Europe knew of that river when this competition seriously began was this : The course of the Blue Nile had been mapped to some extent from its source in Lake Tsana. A great many blank spaces had been filled in the Abyssinian map, and the various affluents of the Nile — the Atbara, the Blue Nile, and the Sobat had been marked down. The Sobat, Johnston goes on to state, " had been explored for a hundred miles or so, as far as steamers could penetrate. The White Nile had been 284 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY surveyed from Khartoum to the junction of the Bahr-al- Ghazal. South of that point, under the name of the Mountain Nile, it and some of its branches, such as the Giraffe River, had also been explored, and the River of the Mountains, as the Upper White Nile is called by the Arabs, had been ascended to a little distance south of Gondokoro. The Bahr-al-Ghazal, the great western feeder of the Nile, and several of its more im- portant affluents, such as the Jur, had been made known, and the existence of the Nyam-nyam cannibal country ascertained. But the ultimate sources of the Nile stream were still undiscovered." CHAPTER XXII. THE END OF THE QUEST. MISSIONARIES have played their part in opening out the Dark Continent, and much praise is due to them for the information they have given with regard to the Nile country. Rebman and Krapf not only saw Kilimanjaro in 1848 and 1849 respectively, but " gathered up reports of Lake Nyassa, Tangan5dka, and the Victoria Nyanza." Their information was received with derision, but time was to show that it was worthy of the best consideration, and the explorers who did so much towards proving the critics to be in the wrong were Lieutenant Richard Francis Burton and Lieutenant John Hanning Speke. These officers obtained funds for an expedition they proposed to undertake, to see whether the report of the great inland lake was true. The Royal Geographical Society, which had contributed generously, approved of a new course— not to ascend the stream, but starting from the Zanzibar coast, penetrate inland and make straight for the reputed Lake of Nyassa. The start was made from Bagamoyo in 1857, ^^'^ reaching Unyamwezi, the explorers halted for the purpose of obtaining information. It was decided to march 285 286 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY to Ujiji, and arriving at that place, they ultimately discovered Lake Tanganyika. Then came a return to Unyamwezi, where Burton fell ill, as he had done on his first arrival. Speke gathered together a new caravan, and, starting in another direction when Burton was better, the explorers reached the Mwanza Creek, which really proved to be one of the southern gulfs of the vast Victoria Nyanza. This was on the 30th of July 1858. It was a grander achievement than either of them thought, for Sir Harry Johnston, telling of the first sight which Speke had of the open waters of the great lake with its many islands, great and small, says that the explorer " realised to the full the wonder of his discovery, and the obvious proba- bility that this mighty lake would prove to be the main headwaters of the White Nile. Even Speke, however, failed to appreciate them, or subsequently the fuU extent of the Nyanza's area. He only guessed its breadth at over 100 miles, and its length from north to south at under 200." It proved instead to be an inland sea nearly as large as Scotland, the area being 27,000 square miles. i I Unfortunately, when Speke returned to the place where it was agreed that he and Burton should meet by a certain day, the latter was jealous at the other having made this splendid discovery, and, as leader, resolved to return to Zanzibar without pursuing the exploration of the lake. Speke obtained a generous contribution from the Royal Geographical Society for a new expedition to enable him " to make good his discovery of the lake, and to prove to the satisfaction of the scientific world that this sheet of water was the ultimate source of the White Nile." THE END OF THE QUEST 287 Speke had for his second in command Captain James Augustus Grant, who was a zoologist and botanist as well as soldier, and together thej?^ went to Cape Town, where they bought baggage mules, and engaged ten Hottentot mounted police. Going forward by gunboat to Zanzibar, they started for the interior in October i860, the expedition consisting of 220 men. Speke in his book. Discovery of the Source of the Nile, tells how he mapped the country, doing so by timing the rate of march with a watch, making compass bearings along the road, or any conspicuous marks. The boiling- point thermometer helped him to find the height above sea-level of every halting place. Captain Grant kept the thermometrical registers, and made botanical collections. Sickness among the Hottentots gave more trouble than the men were worth, and at odd times therewere vexatious incidents among the porters, but on the whole things went well until Grant fell sick, and later when they passed through a famine-stricken district in Ugogo. Their difficulties were increased owing to the unfriend- liness of the tribes. Unfortunately, too, some of the porters deserted just as the rainy season set in. Food ran scarce, but game was shot in sufficient quantity to ward off starvation. The loss account when Speke reached Unyamwezi was serious. " Six of his Hottentots were dead or had been sent back to the coast in charge of several free porters, . . . twenty-five of the Sultan of Zanzibar's slaves and ninety-eight of the original Wanyamwezi porters had deserted, all the mules and donkeys were dead, and half of his property had been stolen." 288 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY The Arabs of Unyamwezi told Speke of " a wonderful mountain to the northward of Karagwe, so high and steep that no one could ascend it " ; and spoke of a salt lake called Nyanza, altogether different from the lake he had discovered and was come out to explore. Some further information was to the effect that Tanganyika was drained by a river now known as the Rukuga. But while this was welcome news, Speke was dismayed when he heard of wars between the Arabs and the natives, and still more so when, later, the Arabs were seriously defeated and had to retreat. Speke had hoped for much assistance from them. There were other difficulties, but he persevered, and ultimately reached Usui, the south-west comer of the Victoria Nyanza. Here a messenger met them, inviting the Englishmen to visit King Rumanika, and, accepting the invitation, they marched through " beautiful and attractive scenery, in which rhinoceroses, both white and black, and herds of hartebeest mingled with the splendid long-horned cattle of the natives." And throughout the journey to the palace the expedition was fed at the king's expense. Speke seemed to be much more anxious to discover the point where the Nile left the Victoria Nyanza than to explore the lake itself, and consequently much was missing from his map which with some explorers would have received close attention. For instance, Johnston reminds us that he did not see " the large archipelago of the Sese Islands, which can be sighted from a distance of many miles," and therefore they are not on his map. THE END OF THE QUEST 289 Speke entered Uganda on the i6th of January 1862, and was the first European to see it. He says that " the whole land was a picture of quiescent beauty, with a boundless sea in the background." Speke described Uganda as a paradise, the rivers and lakes and marshes swarming with fish, goats, cattle, sheep, and fowls being abundant, and banana groves providing food without fail. Mtesa was the monarch, and although cruel, he was a capable ruler, and made Speke more than welcome in his capital. Burton coming later, they remained at court until the 7th of July, and then proceeded to the Ripon Falls, at which point the Victoria Nile leaves the Lake Nyanza. Speke arrived there on the 28th of Jvdy 1862, and what he saw fascinated him. He says : " It was a sight that attracted one to it for hours — the roar of the waters, the thousands of passenger- fish, leaping at the falls with all their might, the Basoga and Baganda fishermen coming out in boats and taking post on all the rocks with rod and hook, hippopotami and crocodiles lying sleepily on the water, the ferry at work above the walls, and cattle driven down to drink at the margin of the lake. The scene made in all, with the pretty nature of the country — small hills, grassy-topped, with trees in the folds, and gardens on the lower slopes — as interesting a picture as one could wish to see." It was unfortunate for Speke' s glory as an explorer that, having done so much, and having been the first white man to see the famous Nile waters rushing out with such a mighty roar, he took it for granted that 19 290 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY there was no need for further search. He should have gone to the north-east corner of the lake, and then no other explorer would have robbed him of the honour of solving the problem of the centuries. Instead of that he was eager to launch his canoe on the Nile and ride down the stream towards Egypt. The travellers reached Khartoum, and ultimately returned to England, arriving in the early part of 1863. By an unhappy accident, Speke, who had gone through so many dangers in the African wilds, was killed by the discharge of his gun while partridge shooting on the 21st of September 1864. Johnston calls Speke " one of the greatest of African explorers, the second greatest only, if Stanley is to be accounted the first." Although he did not actually find the source of the Nile, what he did " finally resulted in affording us the main solution of the Nile Quest. As the outcome of Speke' s journey the Victoria Nyanza was placed on the map with some approximate correct- ness as to shape and area ; the shape and size of Lake Albert Nyanza were guessed at with extraordinary accuracy, and the course of the White Mountain Nile was foreshadowed with the same amount of truth as in the case of the Albert Nyanza. The remarkable Hima aristocracy of equatorial Africa, and the barbaric court of Uganda were revealed to the world. Speke broke the back of the Nile mystery, just as Stanley did that of the Congo. It only remained henceforth to fill up the minor details of the map." 1 This is the summary of Speke' s work by one of the most capable and reliable of modern explorers. 1 Sir Harry Johnston, The Nile Quest. THE END OF THE QUEST 291 Mr. Samuel Baker met Speke and Grant on their way down the Nile, at Gondokoro, and hearing how much they had done, he and his wife proceeded up the river in order to solve the question of the great Albert Lake. The start, however, was not a happy one, for the slave-traders did their best to hinder Baker, and caused his men to mutiny. He, however, pressed forward, and ultimately arrived at the Karuma Falls on the Victoria Nile. He was then in Unyoro, but the slave-traders induced the natives to put all possible obstacles in his way. Again his persistence resulted in his arrival at Mbakovia, on the shores of the Albert Nyanza. This was a notable discovery, achieved on the 1 6th of March 1864 — the finding of the Albert Nyanza, a lake " with a boundless sea horizon." The Victoria Nile entered this lake at Magungo, and ascending the river in canoes, the Bakers found the Murchison Falls, which drop sheer down 120 feet, the edge of the basin below " literally swarming with croco- diles." From time to time the travellers were harassed by the desertion of their porters, and " for two months they were stranded" while endeavouring to reach the Karuma Falls, "almost at death's door, living with difficulty on wild herbs and mouldy flour, occasionally, but rarely, obtaining fowls from the natives." After some further trouble because of the slave-traders the explorers returned to Khartoum in May 1865. On reaching England, Baker was knighted. In pursuing this quest of the Nile we are compelled to pass by the achievements of many travellers, space permitting us only to record in the fewest possible 292 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY words the doings of those who cast the strongest light upon unknown lands through which the historic stream was found to take its way. But there is a German whose contribution to the exploration story must not be passed by — Dr. Schweinfurth, who spent three years in the Bahr-al-Ghazal regions. During his journeys, says Johnston, " he took no observation of latitude or longitude, but kept a most accurate dead reckoning. He laid down with astonishing accuracy much of the Bahr-al-Ghazal, of the courses of the Rol, the Roah and its affluents, the Dogoru and Tondi, the Jur, Nyenam, Ji, Biri, Kuru, and Dembo, tributaries of the Bahr-al- Ghazal, the upper waters of the Sue and Yabongo ; lastly, he crossed the Nile watershed and entered that of the Congo, thus discovering the upper waters of the Welle River and its many affluents." But this was not all. He " gave the first true and particular account of the Congo pygmies under the name of Akka, whom he found in the thickly forested region on the northern limits of the Congo watershed ; he drew our attention to those remarkable ' gallery ' forests, and to the existence in the Nile basin of the chimpanzee, the grey parrot, and other West African types. He discovered a slightly civilised race on this Congo-Nile water-parting — the Mangbettu — speaking a language which has no known relations, but leading a life singularly similar to that of the other semi-civilised negro states of Unyoro and Uganda." This and much more proved to be a valuable contribution to science, which gives Schweinfurth a high place among African explorers. THE END OF THE QUEST 293 Stanley's journey in 1875 had for its object the clearing up of many African problems. His travels have been briefly dealt with in a previous chapter, but this expedition bore so distinctly on the solution of the Nile question that it has special value here, since, as Johnston says, Stanley confirmed Speke in his con- tentions. We find Stanley on the waters of the Victoria Nyanza in February 1875. In March he was coasting in the Lady Alice, making observations. The result of his venturesome and dangerous voyage was the ascer- taining of " the approximate area and shape of the Victoria Nyanza," and the defining " with some approach to accuracy its principal islands and archipelagos. After his journey," says Johnston, " there was no longer any doubt as to Speke' s great discovery. The question was settled once and for ever." Stanley journeyed on, and discovered a portion of what proved later to be the great Lake Albert Edward, and going forward he came to Ujiji, which is on the north-east shore of Lake Tanganyika. " On this portion of the journey Stanley added a good deal to our infor- mation regarding the ultimate source of the Nile, the Kagera, though he was somewhat misled by native information, and perhaps by exaggerated swamps, into the creation of a non-existing lake, which he called the Alexandra Nyanza." In a later expedition Stanley, searching for Emin Pasha, discovered the real Mountains of the Moon, or Ruwenzori, " the complete course of the Semliki River, Lake Albert Edward, and the south-westernmost gulf of the Victoria Nyanza " ; but he also confirmed 294 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY ' Speke's discovery of the Kagera, and proved it to be the true source of the Nile — its extreme head-water. Of this stream the author of The Nile Quest says that the Kagera at the present day may be regarded as the extreme source of the Nile. It rises approximately under the fourth degree of south latitude, only a few miles from the mountainous shores of north-east Tan- ganyika. From that source until it reaches Rosetta, where the river enters the Mediterranean, the river is 2490 miles long as the crow flies, and the area of its basin is not less than 1,080,000 square miles. Such is the story of the famous quest, which Stanley ended so gloriously. Other explorers have since set forth many details unobserved or unrecorded by Stanley himself, thereby adding to our knowledge, but the quest ended when the starting-point of the Kagera was discovered. In telling this story of the search, I have followed closely a writer whose work is always fascinating and always valuable, and whose contri- butions to geography are so thoroughly trustworthy. I mean, of course. Sir Harry Johnston. CHAPTER XXIII. AMID THE NORTHERN ICE. EXPLORATION in the ice-bound regions of the north began, not with any idea of reaching the North Pole, but in order to discover a north-west passage to Cathay. The principal inducement to these expeditions was not any special desire for exploration for exploration's sake, but rather because of the spirit of commercial competition that was springing up among the nations during the Tudor period of English history. The Spaniards held the islands and the mainland of Central and Southern America, so that the English and others had left to them only the northern portions of the New World. These they searched out thoroughly in the hope of finding an open way to the Indies, where they might obtain some of the fabulous wealth the Asiatic nations were reputed to possess. This search for wealth in the far-off Indies produced a race of intrepid commanders and seamen, who experi- enced incredible hardships and dangers in the frozen seas to which their adventures led them, and was prob- ably the cause of the great advance the modern nations have made in all that belongs to navigation. The dangers and losses which were incurred in these voyages, 296 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY and the failure in which they necessarily ended, would probably have put a stop to further undertakings had it not happened that our merchant adventurers dis- covered that these ungenial regions were productive of valuable merchandise in oils, furs, and teeth, which repaid their outfit, and incited to still greater endeavour in the matter of discovery.^ Thus we have the thrilling stories of locked-up mariners amid the ice and snow, and of the daring of men like Frobisher, Davis, Baffin, and Hudson. It was also believed that there must be a passage to the north-east, running the length of the northern coasts of Europe and Asia. Sir Hugh ' Willoughby attempted the north-east passage, and sailed from London on the loth of May 1553. He discovered Nova Zembla and the White Sea, but the admiral and his crew were ice-locked on the Lapland coast, and were frozen or starved to death. The Dutch, too, made a similar attempt, but Barentz perished, while Hudson and Cherie, following the same course, determined to abandon the endeavour and attempt the north-west passage, which Martin Frobisher had failed to find in Elizabeth's days. While these daring seamen failed, they discovered a great deal amid the snow and ice, and the maps show the names of such navigators as Frobisher, Davis, Hudson, and Baffin, and indicate the districts they visited. Baffin returned from the northern seas in 1616, having accomplished much, but failing in his main purpose. In 1740 a reward of £20,000 was offered ' Annual Register. SIR JOHN FRANKLIN, AND THE EXPEDITION SENT OUT IX SEARCH OF HIS PARTY. AMID THE NORTHERN iCfi ^97 to anyone who should find the North-West Passage to India, and Scroggs, Dobbs, and Middleton sought to win it, but failed. So did the famous Captain Cook. At the end of the eighteenth century " small results were to be seen on the chart for such long and patient ton, suffering, and devotion to their duty as the majority of the men engaged in this service had exhibited." When it was known that a Russian expedition was to start under Kotzebue, Parry and Franklin determined to make the attempt rather than allow England to be robbed of the glory of the discovery as she had been in regard to America. Parry actually sailed west through an archipelago of islands half-way to Behring's Strait. But there were repeated failures on the part of Parry and Franklin to force the passage, supposing that it existed. M'Clure, however, actually traversed the North- West Passage in 1853. There were three motives prompting these dangerous expeditions. First, the commercial advantages of a shorter route to India ; secondly, an honest love of science and an anxiety to complete the unsatisfactory map of the north ; and thirdly, a jealousy of England's maritime glory. Sir John Barrow judged rightly, that " nowhere could the skill and energy of the British Navy be more honourably directed than to geographical dis- covery in the frozen zone." Marvellous to relate, no fatal catastrophe, says Captain Osborne, had overtaken any one of the many ships that had been employed on that service in those so-called modern days. But disaster came, as all the world knows, when Sir John Franklin got locked up amid the ice. Of all the 298 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY stories told of travel, none is more tragic or more typical of British hardihood. The two ships, provisioned for three years, and equipped with the best, according to the knowledge acquired in those days, set sail on the i8th of May 1845, but as the Erebus and Terror passed out of sight it was as if a curtain fell and hid them and their gallant crews from the world. For fourteen years no sign was given, no word was brought home. A number of relief and search expeditions went out — twenty-nine, at least, in all — but nothing was found save slight traces. " In 1850 Captain Ommanney discovered on Beechy Island the traces of the missing ships having there passed their first winter, and at the same time vast stacks of preserved meat canisters, which, there was only too much reason to believe, had been found to be filled with putrid abomination, and had been there condemned by survey, thus fatally diminishing the three years' pro- visions which were supposed to be on board." It cannot be said that Franklin was left to his fate unregarded by his countrymen. As time went on, and no news came, the utmost anxiety prevailed, and ex- pedition after expedition went north to search for the gallant admiral and his companions. One of these was under the command of Sir James Clark Ross, and money was spent freely in equipping two ships — the Enterprise and the Investigator. They were rendered as strong as wood and iron could make them, and fitted with every appliance that experience in Polar navigation could suggest, while each was provided with a launch, fitted with a steam engine and screw propeller.^ Not only ^ A nnual Register. ' AMID THE NORTHERN ICE 299 so ; the Admiralty offered a reward of £20,000 " to such ship or ships, or to any exploring party or parties of any country, as should render efficient assistance to Sir John Franklin, or to his crews," and Lady FrankUn added £3000 to this prize. None could have done the work more conscientiously than Ross, for as the ships threaded their way among the ice-floes, " every day papers were thrown overboard enclosed in casks, guns were fired in foggy weather, blue lights burned every night, and every precaution taken that they should not pass the missing men, if living, unnoticed." Not only so, when the ships were locked up in the ice, exploring parties were sent out, who placed depdts of provisions at all likely points, and a great number of white foxes were trapped and turned loose after metal coUars, having the position of the ships, etc. engraven upon them, had been fastened round their necks, in the hope that these animals might fall into the hands of some of Franklin's party.^ But the ex- pedition failed, for the cold was so intense that more than once the thermometer fell 63^^° below zero, and Ross was compelled to abandon his search lest he should share what everyone feared was Franklin's fate. Sir Leopold M'Clintock, in 1857, commanded an expedition equipped at Lady Franklin's expense, but it was not until 1859 that he found evidence of Franklin's presence anywhere. Then numerous relics were found — a boat, a few skeletons, chronometers, clothing, instru- ments, watches, plates, books ; and, at last, towards the end of May, a written paper, the contents of which ' Annual Register. 300 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY together with what was told by the Eskimos, or could be argued by induction, comprise the sum of all that can be known.^ Sir John Franklin had died, starved to death in those ice-bound regions ; so, too, had all who were with him, and not one of aU the 105 men was ever seen alive. Yet Franklin had practically discovered the North- West Passage ; for even if he had not fully travelled over it, " the strait separating King William's Land from Victoria Land, the strait which, if the ice would have permitted, would have led him into the known waters already explored by Dease and Simpson," he had at least seen it, so that his errand among the snows had not been marked by failure. The tragic feature of the expedition was this — that having achieved his purpose, he was unable to extricate himself from the ice-king's grip, owing to the shameful conduct of the food contractors who supplied his ships with bad provisions. These expeditions were failures in one sense ; but in another they were successful, in adding to our know- ledge of the ice-bound regions of the north, and the map of the Arctic lands began to assume shape and certainty. M'Clintock, for instance, explored, while pursuing his search for Franklin, no less than 800 miles of coastline, in what was known as King WiUiam Land, and, as Mr. Jacobs says in his Story of Geographical Discovery, the result of the various Franklin expeditions had been to map out the intricate network of islands dotted over the north of North America. None of these, however, reached much farther north than 75°. 1 Dictionary of National Biography. AMID THE NORTHERN ICE 301 Some of the members of the Nares expedition exceeded that record very considerably, for Lieutenant Pelham Aldrich, who served under Sir:,George Nares, went as far north as 82° 48'. While the North-West Passage had attracted so many navigators, it was left to Professor Nordenskjold to achieve the discovery of the North-East Passage. In 1878 he started on the dangerous voyage with two ships — the Vega and the Lena — taking with him also a large supply of coal in a collier — a little squadron of three ships in all. One cannot speak too highly in praise of the determination of Nordenskjold to achieve the most, so far as care and preparation could serve. He took with him an able scientific staff, and his ships were fitted with all the appliances and necessaries to combat the fierce cold of an Arctic winter. Passing along the northern coast of Siberia, he came at last to a spot where his progress was stopped, and was nipped in the ice for 264 days. His ships were released on the i8th of July 1879, and in a couple of days the Vega was in Behring's Strait, and the North-East Passage was an accomplished fact. It was said at the time that not the least of the results was the opening up of trading prospects between Japan and Siberia.^ Determined attempts were now made to reach the North Pole, and in thus doing discover many scientific facts of which the world was ignorant. Lieutenant Greely got within 450 miles of the Pole, reaching 83° 24', "up to that time the farthest north reached by any human being" ; and, as Mr. Jacobs says, " the Greely 1 Annual Register. 302 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY expedition also succeeded in showing that Greenland was not so much ice-capped as ice-surrounded." More than this, an organised endeavour was made by. the geographers of the day to establish " stations of scientific observation, intended to study the conditions of the Polar Ocean," and as many as ten of these were set down in different places by Englishmen, Norwegians, Russians, Swedes, and scientific men in the United States. In the same year, 1883, Nordenskjold began to ex- plore Greenland, supposed by all to be a waste of ice and snow and glacier. It was that traveller's theory that there were large tracts of land that were free from snow, but after immense trouble and danger he dis- covered that " the whole of the region traversed was a desert of ice, no open water ; not anything like an oasis to be met with, though his men penetrated farther inland than had ever previously been done." But Dr. Nansen comes second to none as an Arctic explorer. Lieutenant Peary competed with him keenly in his endeavour to investigate the interior of Greenland, and while both explorers succeeded in crossing that country, Peary, in 1892-95, travelled from one side to another at a much higher latitude. Nansen, however, undertook what has been called " one of the most daring Arctic expeditions ever planned." For nearly three years he was lost sight of, but when he reappeared in 1896 he was not only able to say that he had been absent so long without the loss of a single life, but also that he had gone farther north than any other explorer. Nansen had a theory which made him confident that he could approach very near to the North Pole, AMID THE NORTHERN ICE 303 if he did not actually reach it. It was as follows : " The finding on the coast of Greenland of driftwood from the Siberian rivers, and of relics of the Jeannette expedition, which was wrecked in 1884 near 160° east longitude, showed there was an ocean current setting across the polar region from east to west. This current could be utilised to carry a ship, if one could be built strong enough to resist the pressure of the ice, and if it were provisioned long enough to allow of sufficient time for this slow drifting to be completed." Nansen found it difficult to make geographers accept his theory, but he determined, personally, to put it to the test. The Fram was specially built and equipped and manned, and starting from Vardo in July 1893, Nansen sailed along the northern coasts of Siberia, discovering many islands not marked on the maps. On the 22nd of September 1893 the Fram was caught in the ice, and right on until July 1896 she was " drifted to and fro irregularly at the mercy of the winds and polar currents." Leaving the ship and taking one companion only, Nansen took three sledges and travelled north across the ice, and on the 17th of April 1895 he reached 86° 14' N. in longitude 95° E. Here he was compelled to stop, for the ice was not only too uneven, but the constant southward drift hindered Nansen from getting any farther north. One can scarcely imagine the loneliness of the journeys to and fro which these two men took among the ice and snow, coming to Franz Josef Land and remaining there for months with nothing to eat but walrus and bear flesh. In the spring of 1896 they started south, and 304 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY met Mr. Jackson, who was conducting the Jackson- Harmsworth expedition. Nansen received a great re- ception in England, and a special gold medal was given to him by the Royal Geographical Society, before which he laid the results of the expedition. What he discovered largely altered the existing ideas of polar geography. " The polar region appears to be almost entirely/ :e from land, and the ocean deepens till soundings of over 1600 fathoms were registered. Beneath the superficial layer of cold water is a layer of much warmer water, which is probably a prolongation of the Gulf Stream, and which rests on another colder layer below. The samples brought up from the bottom showed an absence of organic life. Numerous errors were noticed in the maps of the northern and western parts of Franz Josef Land. The temperatures experienced were frequently as much as 50° below zero, and only rarely exceeded the freezing-point even in summer." ^ Expeditions are constantly moving to the north, and, far as Nansen penetrated, the Duke of the Abruzzi has gone even farther north, reaching 86° 33' N., at about 56° E., being some twenty miles farther north than Nansen's farthest. The result of the Abruzzi journey was the discovery of the fact that the Petermann Land of Payer does not exist, and the same is believed to be the case with King Oscar Land.^ As yet the world knows nothing of the fate of Andree, who started in 1897 in a balloon for the North Pole, but the long absence without news or sign suggests that the explorer perished in his somewhat mad attempt. 1 Annual Register. " Sir Clements Markham. r>R. NAXSEN. Frji'! 'E Photograph taken at iJic hcadquarlcis o^ the Eng-Vish search party.') CHAPTER XXIV. TOWARDS THE SOUTHERN POLE. DR. HUGH R. MILL, when telling the story of The Siege of the South Pole, says that voyages towards that point commenced so long ago, and they have exercised an influence on the trend of ex- ploration so continuously, that a complete history of the search for the Antarctic would almost be a history of geographical discovery. There was a general belief among the ancients that a great South Land existed, just as among them there was much speculation concerning Atlantis to the far west, and it was marked in the maps as Terra Incognita — the Unknown Land. Indeed, the ancient Greeks held that " the earth is a globe," and the belief that " the southern hemisphere of that globe contained habitable land which could never be reached." But long centuries passed before any attempt was made to arrive at some positive proof. Not only among the ancients, but with the men of the Middle Ages, there were such strange notions concerning the unknown seas towards the equator that mariners were positively afraid to venture. It was declared by them that " south- ward, as the torrid zone was approached, the sea became 3o6 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY covered with darkness, the waves rose to mountain height, the wind dropped calm, the water itself evapor- ated into a saline mud, in which dwelt monsters of indescribable size and variety. Blackest horror of aU, the huge hand of the devil himself would be thrust up above the boiling sea, groping for wandering ships." ^ It was little to be wondered at, therefore, that men shrank from the undertaking of finding out definitely whether there was a great South Land or not. When the Portuguese sailed down the African coast they displayed a courage which we can scarcely estimate. Prince Henry of Portugal and his mariners deserve all the praise that was meted out to them for their exploring enterprise. But in course of time the intrepid Eliza- bethan sailors scoured the ocean ever5rwhere, yet even these did not touch the great unknown land to the south. The belief, however, in a southern continent grew rather than diminished, and Lozier Bouvet, a French naval officer, sailed south with the distinct purpose of discovering and annexing it in the year 1738. Dr. MiU says that Bouvet met floating icebergs on the way, and on New Year's Day, 1739, he saw " a high snow-clad land, thickly veiled in fog, but showing on its steely scarped coast a prominent headland, which was named, after the Church festival of the day, Cape Circumcision. It was impossible to make a landing, and although the two vessels remained in sight of the cape for twelve days the fog never completely lifted, and it could not be de- termined whether it was an island or part of a continent. The position assigned by Bouvet was between 54° 10' 1 Mill, The Siege of the South Pole, TOWARDS THE SOUTHERN POLE 307 and 54° 15' S., and between 27° and 28° East of Teneriffe.i The voyage, however, was pursued until, on the 20th of January, the ships were at 54° 40' S., and then they were unable to proceed because of an impenetrable ice-pack. Other voyagers attempted to follow up the quest thus begun by Bouvet, but nothing was achieved in the matter of solving the question as to the existence of a southern continent until Captain James Cook was appointed to the command of an expedition to the southern hemisphere in order to examine the transit of Venus, and report to the Royal Society as well as to the English Government. The transit was due in 1769, according to Halley. But while the astronomical observation was apparently the chief thing, Cook was instructed to proceed southward after the transit on a voyage of exploration. The result was that Cook sailed round New Zealand, " proving that it was no part of any Antarctic continent, charted the east coast of New Holland (now known as Australia), and sailed through the strait between it and New Guinea." This expedition was followed by another, in which Cook's commission was to do his utmost " to solve the problem of the southern continent finally." The two ships, provisioned for two years, left London on the 13th of July 1772. In December, Cook was among the icebergs, not far from Bouvet's Cape Circumcision. Eventually he found himself 300 miles farther south than that, and his conclusion was that Cape Circum- cision was after all not a part of the continent, but merely a floating island of ice. ' Siege of South Pole. 3o8 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY " January 17th, 1773," says Dr. Mill, " was an epoch in the world's history, for just before noon on that day the Antarctic circle was first crossed by human beings. . . . Cook had now outdistanced all his prede- cessors ; but the attempt to push southward was made impossible by the increasing thickness of the crowd of bergs, and at 6 p.m. on the same day a vast expanse of solid ice appeared, rising only about eighteen feet above the sea, but stretching with a perfectly uniform surface, as far as the eye could reach from the top of the mast. It was the signal for retreat." That point was 67° 15' S., and 39° 35' E., due south of the Mozambique Channel. Again and again after that Cook was hindered by the ice, so that eventually he made for New Zealand. After an extended interval Cook sailed south once more in the Resolution, but progress was stopped in 71" 10' S. and 106° 54' W. — " the farthest south of the cruise and of the century." Cook says that he returned to New Zealand because it was impossible to proceed one inch farther to the south, but Dr. Mill suggests that the abominable food was a great factor in the decision. Even now Cook was ready for a third voyage, and when he came in sight of land, on the 14th of January 1775, he had made " the first discovery of a typical Antarctic land." He tells of the savage and horrible land as he looked upon it. " The wild rocks raised their lofty summits till they were lost in the clouds, and the valleys lay covered with everlasting snow. Not a tree was to be seen, nor a shrub even big enough to make a tooth- pick. The only vegetation we met with was a coarse, long-bladed grass growing in tufts, wild burnet, and a TOWARDS THE SOUTHERN POLE 309 plant like moss, which sprung from the rocks." Yet there was life in abundance, for the shores swarmed with seals and penguins. Cook, however, came to the conclusion that this was not a part of the continent — supposing one to exist — but an island ; and whereas he had thought that Cape Circumcision had only been floating ice, he now admitted the probability of its being an island also. Mr. Jacobs says of Cook, that " in whatever direction he advanced he failed to find any trace of extensive land corresponding to the supposed Antarctic continent, which he thus definitely proved to be non-existent." The seal fisheries took the American sealers into southern waters a great deal in the early part of the nineteenth century, but exploration does not seem to have been their chief concern, so that nothing of any consequence can be recorded, with the exception of the discovery and survey of the South Shetlands and South Orkneys ; but the first to discover the former group was Captain WOliam Smith, a British seaman, who saw the land on the 15th of October 1819, and landing, ran up the Union Jack and made it British territory. WeddeU, a Scotsman, claimed the credit of discovering the South Orkneys. In 1823 he surveyed them, then went farther south. His aim, however, was not to find the South Pole, but to catch seals, so that it may be said that discovery was an incident in what was chiefly a trading voyage. But while WeddeU was in the Antarctic seas he determined to obtain as much information as possible when searcTiing for seals that seemed to be rare that 310 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY season. When he returned to England, in May 1824, he was able to report that he had sailed as far south as 74° 15' S. Dr. Mill says of this sea captain, that " it is impossible to admire this man too much for the way in which he spared neither pains nor expense to keep an accurate account of his route, and to fix every position he visited. He shunned no danger in his slender little ships, and not only served the interests of his co-owners as a merchant, but also advanced the knowledge of the least-known part of the globe as only one who was at heart a man of science could." In 1830 it was argued bj^ Captain Horsburgh that the presence of icebergs in the far south warranted the supposition of land " somewhere within the Antarctic region between the meridian of Greenwich and 20° E., capable of giving rise to huge icebergs." The Enderby Brothers, a firm of whaling merchants, told Captain Biscoe to look into the matter, and see what Horsburgh's argument was worth. This capable commander did his utmost to follow out his instructions, with the result that he reached 69° S. in 10° 43' E. on the 28th of January 183 1. Further progress was impossible because of the huge ice-floes, which rendered Biscoe's position one of extreme peril. From the observations he made he came to the conclusion that land was not necessary for the formation of icebergs. He thought, judging from the unsullied purity of the icebergs which floated past him, and judging also from the rapidity with which he saw ice form when no land was near, that these mighty islands of floating ice must be " the product of the perpetual freezing of a tranquil sea, accumulating TOWARDS THE SOUTHERN POLE 311 with time." ^ A barrier of solid ice, " rising like a wall 100 feet or so above the sea," prevented any advance towards the south beyond the point reached on the 28th of January. When he returned he was convinced that the presence of ice was no argument at all for the existence of Antarctic land. As a matter of fact, however, he saw land in latitude 66° 25' S., and in longitude 49° 18' E., " black mountain summits, standing up from a considerable extent of land. The land, however, appeared very far off, and was closely beset with field-ice and icebergs." He called this Cape Ann, but the land is now called Enderby Land, after the owners of the ship. Even the most terrible privations did not deter Biscoe from making a second attempt to discover more land. In 67" S. and 72° W. he found it on the 14th of February 1832, and it received the name of Graham's Land on the charts. From the trading point the voyage was a failure, but the owners were " highly gratified at the magnificent feat of sailing for 160° of longitude south of 60° S., and for almost 50" within the Antarctic circle itself, as well as the discoveries of land. They gave Biscoe vessels for another voyage without delay, and made elaborate arrangements for combining geographical dis- covery with commercial seal-hunting." Unfortunately, the voyage was a failure owing to the severe weather and the unusual amount of ice. Lieutenant Brinstead, R.N., in 1833, discovered land in 70° S., between 10° and 20° W., but it had been I Sie^e of the South Pok, 312 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY previously seen by some Russians. After him Captain Balleny was sent out by the enterprising Enderbys on a sealing voyage, with instructions " to push as far to the south as possible, in the hope of discovering land in a high latitude." That was in the midsummer of 1838. The smaller ship — the Sabrina — was lost, but Balleny returned with the Eliza Scott, reporting dis- coveries which, as Dr. Mill shows, " proved for the first time the existence of land within the Antarctic circle, south of New Zealand, and by means of it the firm of Enderby forged still more links in the strong chain of evidence that either the edge of an extensive continent or a long series of islands lay to the south of the Indian Ocean just within or on the Antarctic circle, portions of which appeared in the Balleny Islands on the east, Enderby Land on the west, and at Kemp Land and possibly Sabrina Land between the two." At the commencement of the Viptorian era keen competition sprang up between English and American scientists, but the Americans were the first to start an expedition " with Antarctic research as a large part of its programme." As a matter of fact, a French ex- pedition was in Antarctic waters in 1837-38, and again in 1839-40 ; the American expedition in 1838-39, and 1839-40 ; Balleny's private voyage took place in 1838- 39 ; and the British expedition spent the three southern summers 1840-41, 1841-42, 1842-43 in active polar work.i The French expedition was under the command of Dumont D'Urville, who set out with two corvettes, the 1 Siege of the South Pole, HEMMED IN BY THE ICE. TOWARDS THE SOUTHERN POLE 313 Astrolabe and the Zelee, in September 1837. I* was D'UrviUe's ambition to secure for France " the glory of getting nearer to the South Pole than Weddell had done." When he got among the ice he was beset with it so seriously that progress seemed to be impossible, but he repeated his endeavours in 1840. During this second attempt D'Urville was disturbed in mind by meeting the American expedition under Wilkes, and feared for the honour of France in the matter of achieving the greatest discoveries. Pressing south he was confronted by a solid wall of ice, from 120 to 130 feet high. Later, however, this ice cliff was lost sight of, and ice-pack was met with. After great hardships the expedition retired. In The Siege of the South Pole the author says that D'UrviUe's discoveries of land were of but little account, and as for any results they were practically nil. " Per- haps," says the author, " the best part of the work of the Astrolabe and the Zelee in the Far South is the vivid and fascinating description of Antarctic scenery, and the splendid illustrations which accompanied the volumes describing the expedition." But otherwise the dash of the French for the South Pole ended in failiue, and science was not benefited to any great degree. The American expedition, under the command of Lieutenant Charles Wilkes, consisted of four vessels, which had crews numbering 345 men. It started on the 25th of February 1839. Unfortunately, Wilkes was hedged in by official instructions, and his ships were not adequately equipped, so that when he set sail he was anxious as to the outcome of his task. Wilkes says that when he reached Sydney some Americans came on board and 314 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY put numberless questions : " They inquired whether we had compartments in our ships to prevent us from sinking ? How we intended to keep ourselves warm ? What kind of antiscorbutic we were to use ? And where were our great ice-saws ? To all of these questions I was obliged to answer, to their great apparent surprise, that we had none, and to agree with them that we were unwise to attempt such service in ordinary cruising vessels ; but we had been ordered to go, and that was enough ! and go we should." It was an unwarrantable demand on the part of the American Government, but Wilkes and his men were ready, for the honour of their country, to make the best of a badly equipped expedition. The result was seen before long, for the ships, once among the ice, were badly knocked about, and were in perpetual peril that might have been easily avoided. Fine seamanship and courage, however, did much to enable the ships to come out of their dangers. Fogs, icebergs, snowstorms, and gales added to the difficulties, and many of the men were nearly frozen to death while on duty. An increasing sick list made matters worse. At one time they were met by immense ice cliffs, 150 feet high, beyond which they could see land, " the Cdte Claree of D'Urville." No openings could be found, so that the ships might slip in and touch land, but they eventually landed on the Antarctic continent, and re- plenished their fresh water supply. " Animal life was now exuberant, whales abounded, including ' right whales,' it is stated, and there were seals and penguins in abundance, though no mention is made of these being TOWARDS THE SOUTHERN POLE 315 used for food. Enormous numbers of shrimps were seen swimming around the icebergs." The great trouble experienced by antarctic voyagers has been the difficulty of determining whether apparent land was real land or only floating ice. Wilkes in this expedition, for instance, entered on his chart what he supposed was land, and called it Termination Land ; but it was afterwards proved not to be where the chart said it was. The bay " abounded in finner whales of extraordinary size, puffing like locomotives, and coming much nearer the ship in their total ignorance of the ways of man than was at all agreeable to those on board. The most brilliant aurora was seen at night, and the crew, when not at work, lay flat on their backs on deck, gazing at the magniflcent coruscations darting from the zenith to the horizon in all directions, with rays of every colour." Dr. Mill, who has here been quoted, sums up the results of the expedition by saying that, " considering the state of the ships which made this attack on the south polar seas, the length of time they were able to pursue their object was remarkable, and in the highest degree creditable to the commanding officers. Ex- perience has shown, however, that so large a squadron so heavily manned is not the best instrument of explora- tion in polar seas. A couple of small stout ships, of the Arctic whaler type, would undoubtedly have done far more with far less risk than the two French and four American vessels which cruised for two months in those inhospitable waters. " Still, a very substantial increase in the knowledge 3i6 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY of the Antarctic was made. The Balleny Islands, Sabrina Land, and Biscoe's Enderby Land were shown to be connected by patches of high land, which was sighted at so many points as to make it certain that it forms a range of islands, if not a continuous continent." Later in his book Dr. Mill points out the fact that Wilkes was too ready to report land without proving its existence, and Scott's track in 1904 to the south of all the land on Wilkes's chart, east of the meridian of 155° E., somewhat reduces the length of coast line claimed by the American expedition. The same writer considers that when a commander was chosen for the British expedition " there was no other man, not only in the British Navy, but in the British Empire, probably in the whole world, who was so thoroughly fitted to take command of a great polar expedition," as James Clark Ross, who at thejtime was a captain in the Royal Navy. The ships with which he started on the 8th of April 1839 were the Erebus and the Terror. They were strong ships, not too large — small, as a matter of fact, being only 370 and 340 tons respectively — and capable of standing a great deal of knocking about from the ice. They were well provisioned ; and " a remarkable feature for that time was the large supply of fresh tinned meats and soups and the enormous quantity of vegetables — there being nearly five tons of carrots alone, and over four tons of pickles. Warm clothing, of the best quality pro- curable, was supplied for gratuitous issue to the crews, who were all volunteers, and in receipt of double pay from the time of sailing." TOWARDS THE SOUTHERNjPOLE 317 Ross's commission was not merely to pursue a voyage of Antarctic discovery, but to make scientific observations " on terrestrial magnetism, geodesy, tides, meteorology, oceanic depths and temperature, astronomical pheno- mena, geology, zoology, and botany," — a task which would leave little spare time for the leading men of the expedition. The voyage was fuU of adventure, and at the same time not without interest. Deep-sea soundings, for instance, revealed the fact that the bottom in some places was not struck in less than 1560 fathoms, while the first evidence of Antarctic land proved to be rock of volcanic origin. It was found on a mighty iceberg. The sun, too, " took ly^ minutes to sink from sight as it skimmed along the southern horizon, and commenced to rise again immediately afterwards." When the ships at last ran into the ice-pack they proved their fitness for the undertaking, being able to stand the pounding and thumping. Ross went forward resolutely, deter- mined not to retreat whUe progress was possible, and at last he came into clear and open sea. " It was an epoch in the history of discovery," says Dr. Mill ; " the magic wall from before which every previous explorer had to turn back in despair had fallen into fragments at the first determined effort to break through it. . . . The expedition seemed to be a success from its very start," and the British seamen eagerly anticipated an early arrival at the magnetic pole. Land was sighted on the nth of January 1841. " Its lofty peaks rose higher and higher as the ships steered straight for the culminating summit, to which Ross gave 3i8 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY the name of Mount Sabine." Later on two great ranges of mountains came into view, their heights ranging from 7000 to 10,000 feet above the sea level. The first object with Ross at that time was to get as near as possible to the spot where he would be at the magnetic pole, which was 500 miles away ; and he decided to follow the land southward from Cape Adare, which was marked by him on the chart at 71^ S. As he forced his way onward, Ross saw yet higher lands, rising to a height of 12,000 to 14,000 feet, " one sweep of spotless snow from sea to sky." When at 74° S. on the 2 1st of January, " a mountain higher than any previously seen was sighted," and it was named Mount Melbourne, in honour of the Prime Minister. But the most important fact of all was this, that the expedition had reached a point farther south than any other, for on the 27th of January they were in latitude 76° 8' S. A day later the ships came within sight of two mighty volcanoes, now named Mount Erebus and Mount Terror, and rising 12,400 feet and 10,900 feet respectively above the sea. But they also saw a great barrier of ice which no ship could penetrate. There was no alternative but to beat along its edge until an opening could be found, into which the ships might enter and make a dash for their objective — the magnetic pole. At the farthest it could not be very distant. As they passed on slowly they saw huge masses of ice break away and pass into the open sea, some so large " that the whole of London might float away on one of them." For 250 miles they followed these cliffs of ice, which ran sheer upwards for 160 feet and more. TOWARDS THE SOUTHERN POLE 319 But the coming on of winter compelled Ross to retreat to Hobart in Van Dieman's Land, arriving there on the 6th of April 1841, " with his ships in as good condition as when they started, with every man who sailed with him still on board, and all in perfect health." Another voyage south began on the 23rd of November 1841, but the difficulties were so many and the ice- floes so numerous that progress seemed impossible. At one time, also, the two ships nearly destroyed each other by coming into collision during a gale ; but fortunately they were each so stoutly built that no serious damage was done but what willing and eager hands could repair. In some ways the second voyage must be considered a failure, so far as results were concerned. The third voyage made amends for the failure of its predecessor, for, as Ross says, " within ten days after leaving the Falkland Islands we have discovered not only new land," called Darwin Islet, " but a valuable whale fishery well worthy the attention of our enter- prising merchants, less than 600 miles from one of our own possessions." But when they got into the ice- pack, which was drifting north, they were driven back to a more northern point than that where they entered, although they attempted to beat southward most per- sistently for a whole week. Dogged perseverance, however, brought them to 71" 30' S., where the ice barriers blocked the way. Again they had to turn back and emerge from the Antarctic regions. There was a considerable interval of time after the return of Ross and the starting of a new expedition. 320 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY Itis true that H.M.S. Challenger went forth, on the 2ist of December 1872, but she was not so much bent on the discovery of new lands as on the exploration of the greatest depths of the ocean. One of the most notable scientific expeditions of history resulted in this assur- ance, " that there is undoubtedly a continent within the Antarctic circle covered for the most part with an immensely thick coating of ice. Sir John Murray, taking account of every indication, drew a hypothetical outUne of that continent which subsequent discovery has not as yet materially modified. More than this, the study of the Challenger's meteorological investiga- tions indicated . . . that an area of permanently high atmospheric pressure lies over the ice-bound continent around the South Pole." ^ South Sea whalers did much to awaken a flagging interest in Antarctic exploration, and Kristensen especi- ally penetrated as far south as 74° S., coming back with the assurance that while whales were so few as not to repay the trouble, " the open sea found by Ross south of the pack was not a temporary incident, but the normal feature of an ordinary year." When the Sixth International Geographical Congress was held in London in 1895 a resolution was passed to the effect that " the exploration of the Antarctic regions is the greatest piece of geographical exploration stUl to be undertaken." The first to respond was Lieutenant de Gerlache, of the Belgian Navy. In 1897 he left Antwerp in command of the Belgica, and under- took a voyage which did not result in the discovery of * Siege of the South Pole. THROUGH THE DRIFT-ICE. TOWARDS THE SOUTHERN POLE 321 new land south of the Antarctic circle, but " was of unprecedented importance from the duration and regularity of the routine scientific observations in the Far South, the completeness and the zeal and courage of the cosmopolitan scientific staff." Borchgrevink, in 1898, started from London in the Southern Cross, only to encounter a terribly severe winter. The commander followed the coast which Ross had marked on the chart, passed Mount Erebus, which was smoking, and then got farther south than any had ever gone, in latitude 78° 21' S. Interesting as a dashing piece of pioneer work, says Dr. Mill, and useful in training men for later service, the voyage of the Southern Cross was the last effort of the nine- teenth century, the century which had solved all problems of geographical discovery except that of the Poles. Sir George Newnes, who bore the expenses of this free-lance expedition, deserves great credit for the enterprise he displayed in the interests of science. The time had now come when there should be a British National Expedition, and Sir Clements Markham, the President of the Royal Geographical Society, secured a joint committee of that society with the Royal Society, with the result that an appeal was made to the Govern- ment. The appeal failed until Mr. L. W. Longstaff gave £25,000 towards the expenses, and Sir Alfred Harmsworth added £5000. Then the Government promised £45,000, and " the Admiralty agreed to allow leave to such officers and men as might be selected from the Royal Navy. Commander R. F. Scott was appointed leader, and the Discovery, specially built. 322 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY set sail on the 6th of August 1901, with a company of fifty chosen men on board." The shipwas among the ice on the ist of January 1902, pressed south, and within a week had forced her way through the pack into the open sea in 70° 25' S„ 173° 44' E. The great ice barrier was met, Mount Terror was examined, soundings were taken, and eventually land was seen, which Scott named King Edward vii. Land. A captive balloon was sent up to obtain a view of distant land, which enabled Mr. Armitage to undertake a sledge journey " across the undulating surface of the barrier to 78° 50' S." Many of Ross's chart drawings were proved to be correct, but in one or two instances where. that explorer marked down high mountains the Discovery sailed over the same spot in deep water. It was terribly cold, 40° below zero being recorded in April. " No one before this date had ever wintered so far south by nearly 500 miles." From the story told, the long winter passed pleasantly, the South Polar Times coming from the ship's press regularly, the contributors being the members of the expedition. Naturally, no news ever came from the outside world, but the paper never suffered from dulness, and copies of it display the artistic power of some of its contri- butors. Sledge journeys began in all directions, and ultim- ately Scott, Shackleton, and Wilson began a journey over the ice, starting with nineteen dogs on the 2nd of November 1902. Dr. Mill tells the story briefly. " The winter quarters were in 77" 49' S., 166° E., and the route lay until due south the parallel of 80° was crossed on the TOWARDS THE SOUTHERN POLE 323 27th of November, and then the course was altered for a time to south-west. Depdts were laid down at intervals, and provisions left to be picked up on the return journey, but goingwas difficult and progress very slow, for the whole load could not be carried at once, and every mile made to the southward entailed three miles of heavy marching." The journey was pursued for fifty-nine days, and there came then the moment when all the food they carried, save that which had been left at the dep6ts on the way, was nearly gone, and every dog dead or ex- hausted. They had traversed on sea-ice a distance of 380 miles from the ship, equal to three times as many miles by reason of the constant returns for stores. There was no alternative but to return, and that return journey is spoken of as a heroic achievement. " The dogs were useless, and the weather very bad. The first depot was approached in a fog, with nothing to guide the travellers, and only two days' provisions were left when it was found. Laden with the supplies left there, Scott and Wilson had to pull the sledges alone, for Shackleton had broken down, and only his indomitable will made it possible for him to walk along without burdening his companions further." After ninety-three days' absence the ship was reached — on the 3rd of February 1903. The relief ship. Morning, started on -gth July 1902, and Lieutenant Colbeck sighted the Discovery ten miles away on the 25th of January 1903. He stayed until the 3rd of March, carrying relief stores across the ice, and bringing back Lieutenant Shackleton, left Lieutenant Mulock in place of the sick oificer. The Discovery was locked up in the ice, and remained there for a whole year, 324 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY during which time sledge parties went hither and thither. But the cold was intense. The thermometer registered 50° below zero, and once it dropped 68° below. On the 26th of October the main journey began, Scott leading. No dogs were taken, so that every mile of the way the sledges were dragged over the ice by the members of the party. The way led up glacier tracks until the great plateau was reached, 9000 feet above the sea. Then some of the men broke down, and Shackleton had to take them back to the ship, leaving Scott and two others to go forward. They went as far as 300 miles from the Discovery, halting at 77° 59' S. and 146° 33' E. That was on the 30th of November 1903, and it was Scott's farthest point. Ten mUes a day was the average rate of travelling during the time the absence lasted, and there was nothing to break the terrible monotony. " After passing the glacier vaUey and the mountain border there was nothing to map, nothing to see but snow and sky, no sound of life, no gleam of colour ; the visible scene, always bounded by the narrow horizon that a man's height commands, was more uniform than the sea. From the nature of the surface Captain Scott concluded that on this lofty continental plateau the evaporation from the frozen surface equalled if it did not exceed the fall of snow." In December seventeen miles of ice separated the Discovery from the open water, and the average thick- ness of it was seven feet. First of all Scott tried blasting and sawing, but this was so slow as to be adjudged an almost impossible method of escape. On the 5th of January 1904 the Morning was seen again at the ice-edge. TOWARDS THE SOUTHERN POLE 325 vShe came with " peremptory orders from home " to leave the Discovery and return. The news filled everyone on board with gloom at the thought of having to desert " the finest polar ship ever built, in perfect condition, and sure of ultimate release." Obedience to orders was imperative, and steps were taken at once to desert the vessel. But " all the instruments, registers, collec- tions, and valuable books" were carried away to the Morning, and her companion relief ship Terra Nova. Strangely enough, the ice began to break up at once, and on the 3rd of February the Discovery was only seven miles from the open sea. A splendid and united effort was made to extricate her, and after blasting and boring, the Discovery was set free on the i6th of February. In September 1904 she was in English waters. With her return came the assurance that " there were grounds for believing the great Southern Barrier to be the edge of an immense field of ice which in some previous period had filled the Antarctic Sea, but was now so far reduced in thickness as to be afloat. The great glaciers descending from the high plateau of Victoria Land were also found to have shrunk greatly." A mass of valuable information was also collected on " magnetism, meteorology, oceanography, geology, and biology." A German expedition had been organised at the same time, and the Gauss, under the leadership of Professor von Drygalski, set forth on the nth of August 1901. The expenses were all met by the German Government. The ship seemed to be almost immediately locked-up in the ice when she had got within the Antarctic circle. 326 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY but observations were taken by the various scientific men on board, when the weather, which was bad, would allow. Eventually she got out, and returned to Cape Town, rich with specimens and observations. Numerous other expeditions could be named ; that under Dr. Otto Nordenskjold in the Antarctic, which unfortunately sank when she was released from the ice in which she was long imprisoned ; another under Mr. W. S. Bruce in the Scotia, which reached 74° i' S. as her farthest southern point and 22° W. A third was led by Dr. Jean Charcot, the Frangais, ultimately returning after most startling experiences. Charcot's first idea was to relieve Nordenskjold, but hearing that he was safe he entered the Antarctic seas, and explored coasts which he was able to mark down with great accuracy on the chart in the years 1904-05. It is remarkable that these successes of the early years of the twentieth century have not been followed up. The scientific world seems to rest content with the knowledge already won, and none appear to be disposed to take further steps to wrest the secret of the unknown land in the Far South. The northern ice still serves as an obstacle to the progress of those who desire to reach the pole at that extremity of the globe ; yet there is a glamour about the enterprise which seems to attract the public mind. But as for the Terra Incognita of the South, the world is apparently indifferent. Now and again the learned societies express their concern at the thought that so much of that quarter of the globe remains unknown, but beyond that expression, formul- ated by well-framed resolutions, there is nothing done TOWARDS THE SOUTHERN POLE 327 definitely. So much is left to private enterprise, or Governments are so slow to grant much-needed money, that the mysteries of the South still remain unravelled, and the great problems involved yet require a solution. Yet, as Dr. Mill says : " We believe that the price of a battleship would conquer all the secrets of the South ; not without risk, but still with far less risk than would be met without a thought in a naval engagement, or in, say, ten years of football." And the outcome would be the rendering of a splendid service to the cause of science. CHAPTER XXV. THE world's unknown CORNERS. " /"^'NK by one," said a leading morning daily, when V_^ news came that the British expedition had reached the gates of Lhasa, " the secret places of the earth are yielding up their mystery, and the turn of that forbidden city upon the remote uplands of Central Asia has come at last." That sentence suggests the question as to how much of the world in these inquiring days remains to be ex- plored, and so made known. The world's unknown corners must yet be many, but, as Sir Henry M. Stanley observed a few years ago, geographical novelties have already become scarce, even from Darkest Africa. " Societies devoted to the science of geography still hold their s/ances," said that distinguished explorer, " but their halls are no longer crowded with breathless audiences, thrilled with the stories of startling discoveries, and applauding the newest thing from the heart of mysterious Africa. It is now the period of railways and telegraphs and steamers. The Congo's broad waters are disturbed by hundreds of steamers ; the Nyassa is rapidly becoming like a Swiss lake, with its many steam ferries ; the Tanganyika and Victoria 328 THE WORLD'S UNKNOWN CORNERS 329 Nyanza have already seen the pioneers of the steam fleets which are to follow. The Congo and Uganda railway, the trans-continental telegraph line from the Cape to Cairo, which is hourly advancing towards the north, with Lord Kitchener's railway from Cairo to Khartoum — lately opened for traf&c — make mystery and novelty impossible, and greatly narrow the field of the pioneer explorer." Such words are suggestive of the amount that has been done, and at first one would be disposed to think that the map of the world is now complete, or nearly so ; that it is not what it was when men now living were at school — full of blank spaces, which suggested unlimited roaming room for wild animals, and hunting grounds for unknown tribes, who were supposed to be blood- thirsty Ishmaels, their hands being against every man. Yet, as Stanley said, the first decades of the twentieth century may still reveal to us astonishing things from Africa which are little suspected now. I recall a shaded map, which appeared in one of the leading magazines,^ which was dated a.d. 1900. It was a map of the world on Mercator's Projection. It had intensely black portions, which indicated the parts where the explorer had been busy, and had left little to be discovered with an idea to alteration. Other portions were lightly shaded. These indicated that the traveller had not done much, that the knowledge of the land was not intimate, and at certain points the shaded parts lightened off considerably until there was no shade at all, but the simple white paper. There the explorer 1 The Windsor Magazine. 330 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY had not been, and there, at all events, were several unknown corners with great possibilities in the way of discovery. Lhasa, in Tibet, was such a corner until recently, when Colonel Younghusband, backed up admirably by General Macdonald and his Indian troops, rode through the gates of the SaCred City, whether welcome or other- wise. The map to which reference has been made shows what has been accomplished up to date, and suggests future fields for explorers. All round the coasts are the dark-as-ink marks, some of them little more than thin lines, which suggest that there has not been much enter- prise in the way of penetration into the interior ; but elsewhere are great patches stretching inland for hundreds of miles. Take away Canada from the North American part of the map, and the remaining portions are blackened, these representing lands that are thoroughly well known. Every hill, or river, or lake, every forest, and almost every creek is known. But as for Canada, it is still " the Great Unknown." Roughly speaking, there are immense areas in the Dominion of which nothing is known save to the solitary trapper, who does not trouble to make observations unless they help him to secure his game, and certainly would not set down any scientific data, for the simple reason that he would not know how to do so. The stolid Indian, too, never worries about rendering service to science. He will wave his hand to the west, and tell you that far away is limitless prairie or forest, where the buffalo and bear are found, and where beasts are trapped for the sake of their skins. THE WORLD'S UNKNOWN CORNERS 331 and where other tribes of red men are wandering. But that is all. The Saxon has gone forward steadily, building cities and towns, working gold mines, cutting down and burning forests, and using up the fisheries ; but, all told, he has made little or no impression on the prairies and forests in the west, and none on the great sweeps of snow-covered land away to the north. Dr. Mill, who was recently the librarian of the Royal Geo- graphical Society, in his book on New Lands, shows in detail how the mineral resources, too, are generally supposed to be inexhaustible ; that in a general way the richest iron ores are known of, but that they have only been tested in isolated places. The outcome of the examination as to what we know, and what is awaiting the scrutiny of explorers, is that imlhons of acres are absolutely unknown. As for the northern coasts, they are locked in ice, and the lines, firmly drawn or dotted on the maps of the Arctic regions, are nearly all conjectural. Often what was thought to be solid land proved in the short, hot summer to be ice only, for it melted and floated away, forming huge icebergs. In the southern half of the New World there are immense areas unknown to the geographer. In Brazil, for instance, and all through the basin of the mighty Amazon, the knowledge we have of the country is of the most meagre character. Even the natives themselves can only speak of it vaguely. Some parts of the coast, strange to say, caU for closer examination, and were a strict survey taken the map would undergo very con- siderable alteration. The Government of the Brazilian 332 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY Empire is short-sighted in allowing such marvellous natural resources to remain untested, especially when we read that geologically the ancient sedimentary and Archaean rocks predominate, and these, of course, contain great supplies of mineral wealth in the shape of gold, silver, copper, and iron ores. As yet these are only beginning to be utilised, and only in some regions ; indeed, it is estimated by one authority that not more than a fiftieth part of Brazil is being exploited for the purposes of commerce. What lies in the midst of the great forests and among the tangled river-ways no one has yet discovered, for they can hardly be penetrated even with the help of fire and the hatchet. The great Congo forest, which Stanley cut his way through for days and weeks together, may be compared with them in the matter of difficulty, so that one knows not what to expect in these imknown districts ; whether, for instance, they will disclose the remains of some ancient human race that has gone through its day, fought its battles, won or lost in the struggle for supremacy, and then vanished. Argentina, too, has great scope for the explorer. It is in the narrowing southern end of South America, and covers an area of nearly 1,800,000 square miles. A large part of the country remains unexplored, and, as Dr. Mill states, although preliminary geological and railway surveys have been made in most of the provinces, there is nothing as yet in the nature of an exact survey of the whole republic, and accurate large-scale maps cannot be constructed. At least an area equal to that of England, Scotland, and Ireland awaits exploration. THE WORLD'S UNKNOWN CORNERS 333 so that there is an immense addition possible here to the land which will some day be available for the world's surplus population, seeing that the country has not at the present time more than two persons to the square mile. Much as the emigrant has done in the matter of finding a way into the interior, great districts in Australia are unknown. As elsewhere, the coast has been dealt with, especially on the east of the island-continent. To the west of New South Wales there is, it is declared, probably no part of the world where such extensive areas are " occupied" profitably by so small a popula- tion. Away in the interior, occupying a vast circular area in the very centre of Australia, is an arid plain in which intense heat and want of water make exploitation of any kind exceptionally difficult. Few spots are marked in the map with any certainty, and for this reason tales can be told with impunity of marvellous adventure in the island-continent. Romancing pure and simple, because of our ignorance of the interior, affords scope for the man with a rich imagination and inventive genius. All that seems to be known of a great Australian area of thousands upon thousands of square miles is, that it is desert, a flat and undulating plateau of pala;ozoic rocks with an elevation exceeding 1000 feet above sea level, dotted with great lakes, which are beds of salt-encrusted mud for most of the year and very shallow sheets of water for a month or two. Isolated mountains and lines of hills diversify this desert country. This we are told by those who speak authoritatively ; 334 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY but Dr. Mill ^ says that there are also plains of immense area, made up of drifting sand, heaped into dunes, and bearing only scanty clumps of shrubs about the water-holes. The exploration up to date tells little more than that, but it may be that magnificent oases may be found that will prove a splendid outlet for the surplus poplilation of England, provided the space across the desert is bridged by rail. Tibet and Siberia have immense areas awaiting the advent of the explorer, in spite of what Sven Hedin has done in the first-named territory. Stanley suggested that Tibet has much that is awaiting exploitation. It is somewhat interesting to mark critically how little the compilers of geographies teU us, and what a number of words they expend in slurring over the lacking information. But the explorer is fairly on the alert, encouraged by the Royal Geographical Society, to fill up the empty spaces in the maps. Some of the boldest of all seem to be those who have ventured on the high lands of Tibet, until recently the jealously locked-up dominion of the Dalai Lama. One says that " Tibet has long withstood the attempts of travellers to pene- trate it for a systematic survey. Our knowledge of the country, though on the whole considerable, has been gained furtively, and by snatches or short rushes, and resembles somewhat the manner by which Europeans during the early part of last century endeavoured to reach the interior of Africa. Malaria and savage men opposed them everywhere, just as the jealousy of the Chinese and superstitious ignorance of the Tibetans ^ Dr. Mill, New Lands. THE WORLD'S UNKNOWN CORNERS 335 oppose modern travellers." For many a year to come, even should the Dalai Lama become friendly, there is work to be done in the way of opening out some of the hidden corners of Tibet, and letting in the light of civilisation. Siberia means to us an enormous tract of unknown territory, and one may well accept the suggestion made recently, that the Great Siberian Railway will afford many a starting-place for explorations to the south, to say nothing of an attempt northward among the ice and snow. A full fifth of the Asiatic continent is, practically speaking, unknown. Stanley is the authority for what is unknown area in Africa, and he has dealt with the subject of future exploration and exploitation very freely. I have already quoted him in this chapter, and must needs quote him again, to show how, in spite of his having said that geographical novelties are already scarce, even from Darkest Africa, he declares that in its recesses are to be found many and many a secret yet. He says that the continent remains, for most practical purposes, as unknown to us as when the Victoria Nyanza and the Congo were undiscovered. He points out that the map is well filled ; the late white blank has become black with the names of mountains, towns, villages, settlements, and tribes. But what of that ? There were places found one after another, and the map grew darker and darker, and people in England thought that Africa was no longer an unknown continent. We knew its great streams, its lakes, and mountain ranges ; but what did we know of the details ? 336 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY We come at last to the conclusion that this was true to the letter. Travellers did not know " what lay underneath their steps, or lay hidden in the forests and woods they passed through " ; these things remained unnoticed until accident revealed them. Hence Stanley proceeds to say : " English travellers and settlers in South Africa passed over the diamond fields and occupied farmsteads over the treasures of the gold mines for scores of years, without once suspecting the immeasur- able wealth beneath. Thus several travellers, whose business it was to explore, came within viewing distance of Rewenzori without once suspecting that its snowy crown might have been seen three miles above their heads. Consequently it may be inferred that, though the map of Africa has been darkened with names, the investigators of the future may make brilliant discoveries, little dreamed of by the pioneer surveyor." I have necessarily dealt with this question very briefly, and merely with a desire to interest those who, having read this book, will naturally ask what fraction of the earth's surface still remains unexplored. The answer given to-day differs very much from what would have been given ten years ago, for geography is a progressive science. Every year, with its discoveries and novelties, also brings forth a large number of corrections, and information which modifies preconceived theories and opinions. Consequently it is not easy to fix even an approximate estimate as to the work still to be done in this direction. Going through the list again very quickly, summarising the facts, very little is known of the polar regions, north or south — so little, indeed, DK. SVEN I[ELlIX, EXPLORER OF WESTERN ASIA. THE WORLD'S UNKNOWN CORNERS 337 that we may safely set down 4,800,000 square miles as unexplored, in spite of Nansen's splendid efforts in Arctic lands and seas, and the recent doings about the Southern Pole. Africa comes next as the great field for explorers. But for the countries round the coast, and the journeys across the Dark Continent by Stanley, Cameron, Sir Harry Johnston, and the wanderings of Livingstone and other notable travellers who have already been named, Africa has still a vast area unexplored. One would be bold enough to accept the estimate as being between four or five million square miles. At the best the work done in the interior is little more than a re- connaisance. There is, as we have seen, a wide field still for explora- tion in the heart of the Asiatic continent. The northern half of the Tibetan plateau, much of the Kuen Lun range of mountains, the valleys in the Sulimani range, and the sources of most of the great rivers of Asia are unknown, together with the very extensive tracts in Arabia which no traveller has ever explored. The unknown parts are estimated to cover an area of at least 1,200,000 square miles. It has been shown that much exploring work remains to be done in South America, especially in Argentina, Patagonia, Columbia, and the enormous basin of the Amazon. It would be below the mark to say that two and a half million square miles of country are not yet known in that portion of the world. The interiors of New Guinea and many other islands in the Eastern Seas are almost entirely unexplored by Europeans. 338 THE WORLD'S EXPLORATION STORY The area here remaining to be examined is thought to be half a miUion square miles, to say nothing of the unknown lands in Australia. It is estimated that the unexplored areas of the world amount to not less than 14,000,000 square miles, and all this land is unmapped. Ravenstein calculates the total area of the earth's land at 51,000,000 square miles. That would give the fraction as \^ ; or, not |:o fix it at too high a value, about one-fourth of the world's land surface remains unknown. There is therefore abundance of room for explorers to move about in, and the trade of map-making is not likely to be on the decline for a long time to come. Printed by Morrison & Gibb Limited, Edinburgh