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1613.

1614.

ber, they obtained a distinct charter, and sent a colony of ninety persons thither: their first governor was RICHARD MOOR.-Purchas.

The colony at Bermuda was enlarged by the addition of 400 persons.-Ibid.

SIR THOMAS DALE, governor of Virginia, hearing that the French had settled within the limits of the northern patent, sent Sir SAMUEL ARGALL with a sufficient force to dislodge them, which he did from Mount Mansel (Desert), St. Croix, and Port Royal, in the Bay of Fundy. These Frenchmen retired to Quebec and strengthened the settlement there. Smith.

Purchas.

Keith.

CAPT. JOHN SMITH, having quitted the colony of South Virginia, sailed for North Virginia on a fishing and whaling voyage; he ranged the coast from Penobscot to Cape Cod, and made a map of the country, which he first called NewEngland.-Smith.

1615. ROBERT BYLOT and WILLIAM BAFFIN sailed from England in search of a N.W. passage.

1616. They made another voyage, and discovered the great northern bay which bears BAFFIN'S name.-Purchas. Forster.

1617.

1619.

During this and the two preceding years, war, famine, and pestilence raged among the natives of New-England, by which great numbers were swept off, and the fur trade between them and the Europeans was interrupted.-Gorges.

THOMAS DERMER* sailed to New-England; found many places, before populous, al* See the Life of F. Gorges.

most desolate, and the few remaining inhabitants either sick or but scarcely recovered. In this voyage he sailed through the whole passage between the mainland and Long Island, and first determined its insular situation.-Gorges.

1620. A company of ENGLISH PURITANS,* who I had resided twelve years in Holland, began a colony in New-England, which they called NewPlymouth.-Morton.

IG KING JAMES I.† established at Plymouth, in Devonshire, a council for the planting, ruling, and ordering of New-England; and thus the business of colonization was formed into a system.

See Life of W. Bradford.

+ See Life of F. Gorges.

THE SUCCESSION OF SOVEREIGNS OF THE EUROPEAN NATIONS WHO HAVE HAD POSSESSIONS OR CONNEXIONS IN AMERICA.

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AMERICAN BIOGRAPHY.

I. BIRON.

THE ancient inhabitants of Norway and Denmark, collectively taken, were distinguished by the name of NORMANS. Their situation near the coast of the sea, and the advantages which that element presented to them beyond all which they could expect from a rough soil in a cold climate, led them at an early period to the science and practice of navigation. They built their vessels with the best of oak, and constructed them in such a manner as to encounter the storms and billows of the Northern Ocean. They covered them with decks, and furnished them with high forecastles and sterns. They made use of sails as well as oars, and had learned to trim their sails to the wind in almost any direction. In these arts of building ships and of navigation they were superior to the people bordering on the Mediterranean Sea, who

depended chiefly on their oars, and used sails only with a fair wind.

About the end of the eighth and beginning of the ninth century, the Normans made themselves famous by their predatory excursions. England, Scotland, Ireland, the Orkney and Shetland Islands, were objects of their depredations; and in one of their piratical expeditions (A.D. 861) they discovered an island, which, from its lofty mountains covered with ice and snow, obtained the name of Iceland. In a few years after they planted a colony there, which was continually augmented by migrations from the neighbouring countries. Within the space of thirty years (889) a new country, situate on the west, was discovered, and, from its verdure during the summer months, received the name of Greenland. This was deemed so important an acquisition, that, under the conduct of ERIC RAUDE, or REDHEAD, a Danish chief, it was soon peopled.

The emigrants to these new regions were still inflamed with the passion for adventure and discovery. An Icelander of the name HERIOLF and his son BIRON* made a voyage

* His name is spelled by different authors BIRON, BIORN, BIOERN, and BIAERN.

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