128 : The Atlantic 



voyages. They added a last litde touch to the greater work that Cham- 

 plain and Hudson and Verrazano and other early voyagers, including 

 the Norse, had undertaken, completing such survey of the north and 

 east coast of America as could be made by ships at sea. The Norse dis- 

 covered the New World that they called Vineland and that we call 

 North America; the other voyagers mentioned in this chapter in one 

 way or another helped to give it form. In defining the land they also 

 defined vast tracts of our Atlantic Ocean. They discovered the north- 

 ern islands and also the sweep of the ocean where there were no 

 islands. Over hundreds of years and by many voyages they proved 

 the northern sea routes navigable and useful. By discovering the 

 whaling grounds and the fisheries of the North Atlantic they added 

 incalculably to the wealth and welfare of the world. There has been 

 much talk of the wealth and treasure of the Indies, of Mexico and of 

 Peru. It was great but it was soon exhausted. The value of the annual 

 catch sent from the banks to England greatly exceeded the value of 

 all the Indian gold ever shipped in galleons to Spain.* The gold has 

 disappeared but the fishing banks are still helping to feed a hungry 

 world. 



Our voyagers too laid the foundations for a great nation; even this 

 brief record shows the background that made it natural for the 

 French and English to meet in Canada for the exploration and devel- 

 opment of that country. 



In order to secure a sense of connection and chronology, com- 

 ments on the characteristics of particular ships have been omitted in 

 the foregoing portion. Yet a knowledge of the ships the men sailed in 

 adds interest to their story. 



Many centuries intervened between the time when the Vikings 

 started westward across the Atlantic until the English sailors were 

 cruising in Hudson Bay. Naturally, over so long a period there were 

 a number of changes in the design and construction of ships. The 

 ships in which the English, French and Dutch sailors explored the 

 American coast were quite different in character from the Viking 

 type of ship in which Eric and Lief had sailed. In the years between 

 1000 and 1500 a.d. there had been a considerable development of ship 

 design in all the ports of Europe. The Norse vessel, though it reached 

 a considerable size and was capable of carrying horses and other ani- 

 mals as well as men and their goods, was essentially an open type ves- 



• See page 122, Unrolling the Map. 



