1 2 3 CHAPTER I. CHAPTER II. CHAPTER III. CHAPTER IV. CHAPTER V. CHAPTER VI. CHAPTER VII. CHAPTER VIII. CHAPTER IX. CHAPTER X. CHAPTER XI. CHAPTER XII. CHAPTER XIII. CHAPTER XIV. CHAPTER XV. CHAPTER XVI. CHAPTER XVII. CHAPTER XVIII. CHAPTER XIX. CHAPTER XX. CHAPTER XXI. CHAPTER XXII. CHAPTER XXIII. CHAPTER XXIV. CHAPTER XXV. CHAPTER XXVI. CHAPTER XXVII. CHAPTER XXVIII. CHAPTER XXIX. CHAPTER XXX. CHAPTER XXXI. CHAPTER XXXII. CHAPTER XXXIII. CHAPTER XXXIV. CHAPTER XXXV. CHAPTER XXXVI. CHAPTER XXXVII CHAPTER XXXVIII. CHAPTER XXXIX. CHAPTER XI. CHAPTER XLI CHAPTER XLII. CHAPTER XLIII. CHAPTER XLIV. CHAPTER XLV. CHAPTER XLVI CHAPTER XLVII. CHAPTER XLVIII. CHAPTER XLIX. CHAPTER L. 4 CHAPTER IX CHAPTER LII. CHAPTER LIII. Heroes of Unknown Seas and Savage Lands By J. W. BUEL Author of "The Beautiful Story," "The Story of Man," "The Living World," "Russia and Siberia," etc. A RECORD OF THE FINDING OF ALL LANDS And Descriptions of the First Visits Made by Europeans to the Wild Races of the World; FOLLOWING THE FOOTSTEPS OF ADVANCING CIVILIZATION FROM THE CAVES OF BARBARISM AND THE CRUDE CORACLE TO THE CHRISTIANIZING OF THE GLOBE. DESCRIBING SUPERSTITIONS APPERTAINING TO THE SEA AND THE OBSTACLES WHICH STRANGE BELIEFS OPPOSED TO EXTENDED VOYAGES. COMPRISING ALSO AN AUTHENTIC HISTORY OF THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA By the Viking Sea-Rovers, and Its Settlement by the Scandinavians in the Ninth Century. SUPPLEMENTED WITH THRILLING NARRATIVES OF VOYAGES, DISCOVERIES, ADVENTURES, BATTLES, DARINGS AND SUFFERINGS OF THE HEROIC CHARACTERS, BOLD EXPLORERS AND DAUNTLESS SPIRITS WHO HAVE MADE OCEAN HISTORY AND ESTABLISHED CHRISTIAN SUPREMACY OVER THE MOST SAVAGE LANDS OF THE EARTH. RECITING ASTONISHING INCIDENTS AND PERILOUS UNDERTAKINGS AMONG WILD BEASTS AND SAVAGE PEOPLE IN HEROIC EFFORTS FOR A RECLAMATION OF ALL LANDS TO CIVILIZATION, AND RECORDING A DESCRIPTION OF THE RIOT OF MURDER, PILLAGE AND INHUMANITY WHICH CHARACTERIZED THE PIRATES, MAROONERS AND BUCCANEERS WHO RAVAGED THE SPANISH MAIN AND FOR CENTURIES BID DEFIANCE TO THE ARMED FLEETS OF ALL NATIONS. EMBELLISHED WITH MORE THAN THREE HUNDRED ORIGINAL ENGRAVINGS AND LARGE DOUBLE-PACE COLORED PLATES, DRAWN ESPECIALLY FOR THIS WORK BY AMERICA'S MOST FAMOUS ARTISTS. PUBLISHED AND MANUFACTURED BY HISTORICAL PUBLISHING COMPANY, PHILADELPHIA, PA. ST. LOUIS, MO. INTRODUCTION. ANCIENT HISTORY possesses a charm which modern annals cannot rival; there is a sun-tinted mist of romance enveloping the remote past which flatters, like a wondrous mirage, and conjures, like a genie of youthful imagination, our conceptions of glorious things long since departed. Like a beautiful dream, antiquity looms up before our vision with its walled cities, castellated battlements, glittering minarets, frowning donjons, ponderous draw-bridges and armored knights, while tilting tournaments and furious engagements, with lance and rushing horse, are re-enacted for some fair lady's hand before our enraptured retrospective view. Appreciating this loving memory of the olden days, of the golden and heroic past, of the chivalry which 5 may be dormant, but is ever present in the hearts of every one, ready to respond on the instant to patriotic call, I have herein attempted to gratify this affection and to rejuvenate an impulse which brings the world into more perfect rapport, by telling some of the stories that have never failed to quicken ambition, to excite emulation, to exalt daring energy, since their first narration. Novel reading has not yet done its worst, for, like a cancerous growth, it plants its deadly roots into the very soul, and the knife can therefore only check for a time its frightful ravages. The only remedy lies in a substitution of wholesome but no less attractive literature, or in a sanitation which will give immunity to those not yet affected by the taint, and reclaim such as may still be susceptible to more elevating influences. History is the only effective remedy that can be offered for this immeasurable evil, and I appeal to mothers and fathers, as well as to humanity in general, to give their example and efforts towards inducing an acceptance of this corrective, which, while serving to overcome pernicious habit, fills the mind with ineffaceable delights and ines-timable benefits. This book has been prepared with the hope that it may prove a blessing in many ways; that it may inspire in every reader an unappeasable love for history; that it may diffuse both pleasure and knowledge in the family circle; that it may be helpful in teaching the value of good books; and above all, that it may be an aid to the perpetuation of honors won by heroes of discovery who have planted the cross of civilization among all the wild tribes of the world. To this end, and to create a fresh interest in a subject of such extreme importance, I have introduced herein histories of the most fearless navigators, the most intrepid explorers, and the most valorous adventurers in virgin fields, of which the annals of two thousand years afford any account. And in so doing I have been careful to observe the advantage to humanity that each career has bequeathed, and left the lesson and moral easily to be learned therefrom. Thus I have aspired to an attempt to invest my subject with an interest that attaches to stories of extraordinary heroism, such as pictures the glories of a fadeless past to make the world emulous of proud examples. About books of this character there is an atmosphere at once inspirational and mind-invigorating, that kills the miasmatic influence which novels exhale, and which gives nourishment to laudable ambition towards the attainment of substantial, practical, and beneficent knowledge. If my efforts in this direction prove successful I shall have obtained a reward, for the time and energies devoted to the preparation of this book, far beyond that which financial profit can bestow, and my chief aim will be accordingly accomplished. 6 CHAPTER I. THE ROLLING STONE OF HISTORY. Of all the surprising revelations of history, the story which tells of the rise and fall, the creation and destruction, as it were, of commerce, institutions, cities, peoples, is most remarkable. As conclusive evidences are shown of great cities annihilated by volcanic throes, resistless waves and devastating war, leaving ruins of their splendor buried where only pick and shovel may reach; as nations that once flourished in power and magnificence have been swept out of existence by cataclysm, plague and vengeful invaders, leaving deserts of desolation in their place, so have inventions, ambitions, occupations, disappeared with scarcely a relic of their former existence. Not only are changes, violent, destructive, epochal, discerned in the works and institutions of man, but spasms of nature produce no less astounding results. Where are the great cities that once stood in unexampled splendor along the Nile, the Tigris, the Euphrates; where are the walled cities of ancient Canaan, the Jerusalem of 200,000 souls, the cities on Galilee's shore where our Lord preached and healed, which sent their 4000 ships to and fro upon its crystal waters; where are the ports of Tyre and Sidon of the Phoenicians that ruled the world, of Carthage that disputed with Rome, and the proud navies that bore their sails and shining oars on every sea? All have vanished so effectually that we can scarcely think of an epitaph, to place upon the grave-stones that mark their places of sepulture. And if so many cities and nations have perished within the brief period that historic annals measure, how many changes must have taken place in the life of the world since the foot of man was planted by God's fiat in the Garden of Paradise? Is it unreasonable to believe that, as mankind is now distributed over all the earth, the present must be one of many like distributions? If moving glaciers from the north once swept over all Europe and North America, and destroyed all forms of life in those regions, is it not within reason to suppose that some great cataclysm, or possibly a moving field of ice from the south, may have driven animal life towards the tropics? And may we not also infer from the united evidences of lofty mountains, deep valleys, high tablelands, islands of the deep, active volcanoes and all the corrugations that now appear on the face of nature, that where land now is the ocean was once spread, and where deep seas now roll in perpetual unrest a verdant plain or forest-covered country once invited the energies of man? RISE AND FALL OF NATIONS. In short, we must believe that what we call discovery is but reclamation; that every new shore approached is only re-discovery; that every fresh land which the explorer beholds is only one from which an earlier foot has retreated. History, like nations, has its periods of existence; as peoples disappear so do records, and a new cycle in human affairs begins. In the years to come maybe the steamship will disappear from the sea, the engine will cease its throbs, all inventions of man may be lost; then will another era in the world's life begin: from the ocean will arise other continents; out of a savage state man will emerge again, and the evolution towards a high civilization will be renewed, just as has been done in the measureless bygone ages, and just as in the endless ages of the future will be done again. As ruins of what were once great cities give indisputable evidence of their former existence, though history may not tell us how they were destroyed, we will now undertake to show that the new countries discovered by navigators in the past five centuries were formerly well known, though we cannot understand the cause that destroyed this knowledge and left them to be re-discovered. CAVE-DWELLERS WHO BECAME MASTERS OF THE WORLD. In the region of Arabia we find the earliest traces of man. On the Euphrates he is believed to have had his birth, and from Ararat Genesis tells us Noah stepped forth upon dry land after the flood had drowned all except his own family. It is, therefore, no strange thing that in this region, along the Red Sea, navigation should have had its beginning. We are told that in a very early period of antiquity, the age of which cannot be CHAPTER I. 7 set down, there existed on the shores of the Red Sea a race of people who dwelt chiefly in caves among the hills of the sea coast and subsisted by fishing; whatever attempts they made at erecting habitations were confined to the rudest possible structures, such as the laying of a few branches together that would scarce give protection either from sun or rain. They were known in the earliest times as Horites and Children of Anak, both of which designations have reference to their living in holes and caves. The Grecian name of Troglodytes, with which we are so familiar, is but a translation of the same name. But they were also called fish-eaters, locust-eaters, and wood-eaters, which is a manifest indication that they were separated from all, other tribes. Being thus isolated, and regarded as robbers or savages, and dependent upon the sea for their livelihood, they became inventive in applications for taking fish and undertaking voyages. Their earliest boats were made of reeds or papyrus, or other light material, cemented together with pitch. References are made to these people by Job and other very early writers. For some reason, which is not recorded in history, they finally emigrated from the shores of the Red Sea and settled in the land of Canaan. The father of these ancient peoples is known as Canaan, from which the word Canaanite is derived. Finding the country exceedingly fertile, they began pastoral pursuits, that portion of the country extending from the Mediterranean to Lake Gennesaret being given over to that occupation. A much larger portion occupied the Mediterranean shores, and, beginning their. pursuits of fishing, made larger boats than they had used on the Red Sea, and out of these evoluted the ships with which they made voyages to adjacent lands. They soon became known to the Greeks, whose country they visited, and by these were given the name Phoenicians, a designation derived from the Greek word for palms, great numbers of which grow in the Holy Land. BUILDING A STRONG NATION. The Phoenicians were a nation distinguished for their spirit of freedom and independence, by which they were alike actuated in Canaan and on the shores of the Red Sea; and being surrounded by hostile peoples, in the country to I which they had emigrated and prospered they built great walled cities and immense fortifications,-in which they found a perfect protection. Their commerce extending, they soon carried commodities to Egypt and to Greece, and to other nations occupying territory in the Levant. In the beginning of their navigation on the Mediterranean they made use of long ships, understanding the means of ballasting them so as to provide security in case of storms, and, becoming familiar with the other nations of the country, they were soon looked upon as the most advanced people in the old world. For about six hundred years after Noah, the navigation of the Sidonians, which is but another name for the Phoenicians, extended to every port of the Mediterranean. Thus, we find early mention of, Tarshish, and of ports in Spain, a country which they seem to have partially settled. Moses mentions them frequently at the time when he accompanied the Egyptian King Sesostris in his great expedition through Asia and Europe, or about 730 years after the deluge, as Forster says, though I have not been able to find any corroborative evidence that Moses was a part of any expedition sent out by Sesostris. While the best proofs that we are able to recover from history give the, Phoenicians the credit of being the earliest navigators, there are other peoples who lay claim to the honor, the Greeks, the Egyptians, the Indians, each asserting that they were the earliest navigators and offering more or less evidence in support of their pretensions. The people of India, or of China, set forth the claim that more than 2000 years before the time of Christ they had sailed along the entire coast of China, discovering the Islands of Japan, the East Indies, and directly after, making a passage through the Pacific Ocean, landed at Peril; and that they also crossed Brazil and set out in new ships for the Antilles to which they maintain themselves to be the first discoverers. There are some old records in China which seem to support these claims, and in which we read descriptions of the peoples of the New World, as the Chinese had found them; but they are so mixed with legend, and tradition, and myths, that little dependence can be' placed upon any of the statements contained in the record. DISCOVERIES OF THE ANCIENTS. Berosus says that in the year 143 after the flood, Tubal came by sea to Spain; but he neglects to give any particulars of the voyage, undoubtedly because there are no records from which to gain the information; but CHAPTER I. 8 his statement certainly rests upon some tradition which he had heard. Diodorus Siculus makes the assertion that, shortly after this time, Queen Semiramis made an expedition into India, and in the mouth of the river Indus gave battle to king Spabrobates and destroyed a thousand of his ships. We have another statement from Berosus that in 650 years after the flood, there was a king in Spain named Hesperus, who in his time made a voyage upon the ocean and discovered Cape Verde and the Island of St. Thomas; and Gonsalvo Hernandes, a chronicler of antiquities, affirms that in his time the Islands of the West Indies were discovered, and called after this king's name Hesperides, in proof of which statement we have the report that these islands were discovered in a forty day's sail from Cape Verde, in which time the passage might be easily made by the aid of favorable winds. More or less confusion necessarily arises out of the fact that there have been astonishing changes of the sea and islands in the past thousand years. The old geographers, as well as early navigators, located-a large number of islands and gave to them names with which we are no longer familiar. But that a great many islands were discovered which have since disappeared there can be no doubt. The fact, therefore, that we have mention of such islands as those of Hesperides, De Principe, Antilles, Fortunate Islands, and hundreds of others, leads us into many difficulties; because some of these islands are now known to exist, while evidence of others is wanting. These may have subsided under the effects of great cataclysms, such as is believed to have destroyed the vast strip of land which is supposed to have at one time connected Africa and South America. Pliny observes that it is recorded in history (which however he neglects to name) that near the Straits of Gibraltar there was formerly an island called Aphrodisias, thickly inhabited and planted with many orchards and gardens, and showing other evidences of. great prosperity and a high civilization. This island was known as Cadiz. But we have been unable to find any other mention made of it, and though it is said to have at one time joined with Spain, deep sea soundings now fail to show any such island or the probability of there having been one. The Islands of the Azores were also at one time said to join the mainland, and on which was a large town called Syntra. This has also disappeared. Eratosthenes states that Spain and Barbara were at one time connected, and that the Islands of Sardinia and Corsica were Joined by a considerable strip of land, as was also Sicily with Italy, and Negro Ponto with Greece; and accounts have been given of the finding of the hulls of ships and iron anchors upon the mountains of Switzerland, very far from land, though that the sea could have ever swept in and covered mountain peaks so lofty at a comparatively recent date is a matter impossible of belief. The land of Malabar, which is now a part of India and thickly settled, was at one time under the sea, while Cape Cormoran and the Island of Zealand were connected and composed one large body of land. Malacca and Sumatra were also joined, as is shown by Ptolemy's frequent references thereto. So also did Sumatra and Java unite to form one very long island, while Borneo was connected with the mainland. These changes in the face of the land and sea within the period of history will necessarily confuse the reader when references are repeatedly made to the islands by the names by which they were originally designated. THE COMMERCE OF TROY WITH INDIA. Troy is believed to have been founded 800 years after the flood, the people of which are said to have brought from India, by way of the Red Sea, spices, drugs, and other merchandise, and to have exchanged with the Indians purples, linens, and other manufactured articles. A city called Arsinoe was at that time located where the modern Suez stands, and this place was a great port of entry for vessels passing out of the Mediterranean and Red Seas on the voyage to India. From this city also started caravans overland from northern Africa to cross Arabia; so that, though small mention is made of the place in history, these facts are sufficient to lend plausibility to the statement that it was a city of considerable commercial importance. Sesostris, king of Egypt, 900 years after the flood and some time before the destruction of Troy, caused a canal to be cut between the Red Sea and an arm of the Nile entering the river where the city of Heroum then stood. The building of this canal was conclusive evidence that a very large number of ships sailed constantly to and from India and the, ports of the Mediterranean. CHAPTER I. 9 By Strabo we also learn that King Menelaus, after the destruction of Troy, sailed out of the Straits of Gibraltar, coasted Guinea and Africa, and proceeded thence eastward to India, this being the first account we have of any circumnavigation of Africa. Neco, king of Egypt, sent an expedition to discover a passage through the Red Sea about the time that Menelaus dispatched an expedition by way of the west around Africa. The vessels of Neco passed out of the Mediterranean into the Red Sea, and sailing down the coast of Africa, continued until they had doubled the cape, passing up the westward coast, and again entered the Mediterranean at Gibraltar. Thus was Africa circumnavigated by two fleets, sailing in opposite directions, at nearly the same time. SOLOMON'S NAVY. Thirteen hundred years after, the flood, as the Bible tells us, Solomon built a very large ,navy on the Red Sea at a haven called Ezion Geber, from which a voyage was made to the islands of Tharsis and Ophir. This fleet was absent three years on its voyage, and returning each vessel brought a rich cargo of gold, silver, and precious wood. Many historians maintain that this fleet sailed to Peru where the riches brought back by them were obtained, while equally creditable writers believe that the voyage was to the kingdom of Sofala on the East Africa coast, and ruled over by the Ethiopic queen Sabea, or Sheba. Aristotle tells us that in the year 590 before Christ, the Carthaginians sent out a fleet of several vessels, which sailed westward until they discovered the West Indies and New Spain. Whether they sailed along the coast of Brazil or entered upon an exploration of the Antilles, we are not told. Unfortunately, the records in all these cases are exceedingly brief, being no more than a bare mention of facts. Xerxes, king of Persia, 485 years before Christ, sent his nephew, Sataspis, on a voyage in a search of a route to India. The nephew sailed out of the straits and proceeded southward along the coast as far as Guinea. But his superstitious fears being excited on account of a wind which prevailed several days in a favorable direction, which he feared would carry him over the edge of the world, he turned back, and forfeited his life to the irate king in consequence. HAMILCAR'S VOYAGE TO THE NORTH SEAS. Himilco, or Hamilcar, and Hanno his brother, 443 years before Christ, both Carthaginian generals, but at the time residing in a portion of Spain now called Andalusia, set out on two voyages. Himilco sailed towards the north, and discovered the northern coast of Spain, France, England, Holland and Germany. It is also believed that he proceeded as far north as Iceland. He was absent two years, and attained a latitude where the cold was so severe that he came near perishing with his crew. He certainly discovered some island in the extreme north to which has since been given the name of Purgatory of St. Patrick, because he found people thereon who received him with signs of hostility, which they manifested by cries and groans. He states that the island had three volcanoes which continually belched forth fire, but that, strange enough, the fire which emanated from one of these would not burn, while that from another would consume even earth itself. He also relates that he discovered there two fountains, one of which was like melted wax and always boiling, and anything thrown therein would be almost immediately turned into stone. He noticed on the island also such animals as bears, foxes, hares, crows, falcons, and other birds and quadrupeds, and also cattle, while the grass grew so rapidly that it yielded several harvests each year and was so succulent, that the cattle browsing thereon had to be forcibly taken from their repasts to prevent them from bursting. He describes also having seen most remarkable fish, not only mis-shapen, but of such enormous size that from their bones and ribs a church had been built, and that a sight of one of these monstrous fish frightened his mariners into a condition of panic. ASTOUNDING ADVENTURES OF HANNO. Hanno, the other brother, sailed along the African coast southward and discovered the Fortunate Islands, which might be the Canaries, and others, such as Dorcades, Hesperides, and the Gordades, which are now CHAPTER I. 10 [...]... Of the several mythical islands which had a prominent place in early beliefs, a few only of the 35,000 which Ptolemy assigned to the Atlantic may be mentioned There were the Eternal Islands, island of the Two Sorcerers, island of Bimini, on which was the fountain of youth, Saxonburg, where the fates lured sailors to shipwreck, the islands of Happiness, and Fortunate islands Then there was the "Island... Italy and France, other bold spirits had set out on the high seas, encouraged by their victories over the French in England, and sailed in quest of new lands They soon also distributed themselves in colonies on the islands that were then known as the Faroes, Hebrides, Orkneys, and Shetland Islands, and directly became the most adventurous as well as accomplished sailors of the age They discovered Iceland... shores of that country were characterized by high mountain peaks, and rugged and bleak scenery, while the land before them was level, verdant, and inviting But instead of landing, so eager were they to join the other vessels, which had in the meantime reached Greenland, that the commander, whose name was Bjarue, continued sail, and on his return passed the coast of Newfoundland and Labrador, and at... desire of her husband to visit Vinland and there set up a colony Thorstein accordingly fitted out a vessel, taking with him twenty-five select men and his wife, and set out to sea on a visit to the new land But through the whole sail they were tossed by tempestuous winds and waves, and after a voyage of more than three months were driven again onto the shore of Greenland, where Thorstein and several of. .. answers so well to the description of that upon which Zichmni is said to have landed as Labrador, and certainly in no wise answers to CHAPTER III 23 that of Greenland It seems to have been characteristic of the pre-Columbian voyagers to call all new lands islands, and every stream of water, however small, was to them a river In Labrador there are several rivers, and three of considerable size, while the... permanently possess, and in the latter the real honor lies After the Celebrated voyage of Columbus, discovery went on apace, the ocean became the center of attraction for hundreds of bold spirits, the ambitions of whom were fostered by Spain, Portugal, England, Holland and France, each of which entered upon a race to reach new lands for purposes of acquisition and enrichment at the expense of the poor natives... would be a thousand, perhaps ten thousand, years in advance of what it is At every knock at the door of knowledge, early man heard the growl of superstition, and though the bold heart of investigation dispelled the monster, yet courage is not always infectious, and thus has every step in advance been disputed and retarded by evil creations of our timid minds If exploration of unknown lands has been prevented... him with the greatest courtesy, and persuaded him to act as pilot to an expedition which he was upon the point of sending to other islands, with the purpose of taking possession of them also The fleet set sail in due season, and the ambitions of Zichmni were fully realized, but what islands he thus overcame is not a matter of record In the following year, upon receipt of a letter from Nicolo, his brother... huts and get up a tower Its base is covered by Runic inscriptions and Roman characters, in which is a printed record of the fact that here landed a company of 151 Norsemen, the account of the company being given in Thorfinn's name In the lower left hand corner of the inscription on the rock is also a figure of a woman and child, and also the letter S, which Prof Rafn declares signifies the birth of a... battered and scattered fleet as well as possible, and sailed on under a prosperous wind, at last discovering land on the west The storm had so driven him out of his course that instead of sailing westward, as he had supposed^ he had made the northerly coast, and struck land at Ireland which he called Icarie, supposing it to have been an unknown island There they were attacked by the savage islanders, . islands of Happiness, and Fortunate islands. Then there was the "Island of the Hand of Satan," mentioned by Formaleoni and also by Humboldt, and. ocean and discovered Cape Verde and the Island of St. Thomas; and Gonsalvo Hernandes, a chronicler of antiquities, affirms that in his time the Islands of