But the route was infinitely long
and arduous. The hope of a shorter passage by the north
beckoned the explorer. Of this north country nothing but
its coast was known as yet. Cabot and the fishermen had
found a land of great forests, swept by the cold and
leaden seas of the Arctic, and holding its secret clasped
in the iron grip of the northern ice. The Corte-Reals,
Verrazano, and Gomez had looked upon the endless panorama
of the Atlantic coast of North America--the glorious
forests draped with tangled vines extending to the sanded
beaches of the sea--the wide inlets round the mouths of
mighty rivers moving silent and mysterious from the heart
of the unknown continent. Here and there a painted savage
showed the bright feathers of his headgear as he lurked
in the trees of the forest or stood, in fearless curiosity,
gazing from the shore at the white-winged ships of the
strange visitants from the sky. But for the most part
all, save the sounds of nature, was silence and mystery.
The waves thundered upon the sanded beach of Carolina
and lashed in foam about the rocks of the iron coasts of
New England and the New Found Land.
Pages:
101
102
103
104
105
106
107
108
109
110
111
112
113
114
115
116
117
118