considered Greenland at its southern point to be an outstanding
promontory of Asia, and he struggled hard to pass beyond it westward to
a more favoured region. But his path was blocked by 'enormous masses of
frozen snow floating on the sea, and moving under the influence of the
waves.' It is clear that he was met not merely by the field ice of the
Arctic ocean, but also by great icebergs moving slowly with the polar
current. The narrative tells how Corte-Real's crew obtained fresh water
from the icebergs. 'Owing to the heat of the sun, fresh and clear water
is melted on the summits, and, descending by small channels formed by
the water itself, it eats away the base where it falls. The boats were
sent in, and in that way as much was taken as was needed.'

Corte-Real made his way as far as a place (which was in latitude 60
degrees) where the sea about him seemed a flowing stream of snow, and
so he called it Rio Nevado, 'the river of snow.' Probably it was Hudson
Strait.

Late in the same season, Corte-Real was back in Lisbon. He had
discovered nothing of immediate profit to the crown of Portugal, but
his survey of the coast of North America from Newfoundland to Hudson
Strait seems to have strengthened the belief that the best route to
India lay in this direction. In any case, on May 15, 1501, he was sent
out again with three ships. This time the Portuguese discovered a
region, so they said, which no one had before visited. The description
indicates that they were on the coast of Nova Scotia and the adjacent
part of New England. The land was wooded with fine straight timber, fit
for the masts of ships, and 'when they landed they found delicious
fruits of various kinds, and trees and pines of marvellous height and
thickness.' They saw many natives, occupied in hunting and fishing.
Following the custom of the time, they seized fifty or sixty natives,
and crowded these unhappy captives into the holds of their ships, to
carry home as evidence of the reality of their discoveries, and to be
sold as slaves. These savages are described by those who saw them in
Portugal as of shapely form and gentle manner, though uncouth and even
dirty in person. They wore otter skins, and their faces were marked
with lines. The description would answer to any of the Algonquin tribes
of the eastern coast. Among the natives seen on the coast there was a
boy who had in his ears two silver rings of Venetian make. The
circumstance led the Portuguese