pon a little Indian boy,
whom they seized and carried off to their ship. The mother of the boy
came quickly from some bushes to rescue her son, and they would also
have stolen her, but she made so much noise that they were obliged
to run in order to escape from the rest of the tribe, who came to help
her. The Frenchmen reached their ship in safety with the poor little
Indian boy, and quickly set sail.

Verrazzano proceeded northward, following the shore, and at length
came to a very narrow neck of water, with rising land on both sides.
Through this strait Verrazzano sailed, and, to his surprise, came out
into a broad and beautiful bay which was surrounded on all sides by
forests, and was dotted here and there with the canoes of Indians who
were coming out from the land to meet him.

You have, of course, guessed that this strait was the Narrows, which
separates Staten Island from Long Island, and that the bay was the
beautiful New York Bay.

Verrazzano followed the shore of Long Island to a small island, which
was likely Block Island. From this island he sailed into a harbor on
the mainland, probably Newport, where he remained fifteen days. Here
the Indians received their pale-faced visitors with great dignity and
pomp. Two of the Indian chiefs, arrayed in painted deer skins and
raccoon and lynx skins, and decorated with copper ornaments, paid
Verrazzano a visit of state.

Soon after this Verrazzano sailed away, again northward. The climate
grew cooler and the country more rugged, and the vegetation changed.
Instead of the sweet-scented cypress and bay trees which the sailors
had admired along the Carolina coast, there were dark forests of
stately pines, which were grand but gloomy.

Great cliffs of rock extended along the shores, and from these heights
the natives looked down upon the lonely little ship in fear, anger,
and amazement. At length they consented to trade with the pale-faces;
but they lowered a cord from the rocks and drew up the knives, fishhooks,
and pieces of steel which they demanded in exchange for furs and skins.
Once Verrazzano and a few of his men tried to land. But the Indians
fiercely attacked them, and a shower of arrows and the sound of the
dreaded war whoop caused the Europeans to fly to their ship for safety.

So Verrazzano gave up the plan of landing among these fierce Indians,
and continued his voyage northward as far as Newfoundland. Here
provisions grew scarce, and Verrazzano decided