de his way northward,
closely inspecting the coast, landing here and there, and taking note
of the appearance, the resources, and the natives of the country. The
voyage was chiefly along the coast of what is now the United States,
and does not therefore immediately concern the present narrative.
Verrazano's account of his discoveries, as he afterwards wrote it down,
is full of picturesque interest, and may now be found translated into
English in Hakluyt's Voyages. He tells of the savages who flocked to
the low sandy shore to see the French ship riding at anchor. They wore
skins about their loins and light feathers in their hair, and they were
'of colour russet, and not much unlike the Saracens.' Verrazano said
that these Indians were of 'cheerful and steady look, not strong of
body, yet sharp-witted, nimble, and exceeding great runners.' As he
sailed northward he was struck with the wonderful vegetation of the
American coast, the beautiful forest of pine and cypress and other
trees, unknown to him, covered with tangled vines as prolific as the
vines of Lombardy. Verrazano's voyage and his landings can be traced
all the way from Carolina to the northern part of New England. He noted
the wonderful harbour at the mouth of the Hudson, skirted the coast
eastward from that point, and then followed northward along the shores
of Massachusetts and Maine. Beyond this Verrazano seems to have made no
landings, but he followed the coast of Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. He
sailed, so he says, as far as fifty degrees north, or almost to the
Strait of Belle Isle. Then he turned eastward, headed out into the
great ocean, and reached France in safety. Unfortunately, Verrazano did
not write a detailed account of that part of his voyage which related
to Canadian waters. But there is no doubt that his glowing descriptions
must have done much to stimulate the French to further effort.
Unhappily, at the moment of his return, his royal master was deeply
engaged in a disastrous invasion of Italy, where he shortly met the
crushing defeat at Pavia (1525) which left him a captive in the hands
of his Spanish rival. His absence crippled French enterprise, and
Verrazano's explorations were not followed up till a change of fortune
enabled Francis to send out the famous expedition of Jacques Cartier.

One other expedition to Canada deserves brief mention before we come to
Cartier's crowning discovery of the St Lawrence river. This is the
voyage of Step