The mysterious ocean --
St. Brendan and the Irish A.D. 400-600 --
The Norsemen and Vinland c. 800-1400 --
Flyaway islands and the false voyages 1100-1492 --
English ships and seamen 1490-1600 --
John Cabot's voyages 1497-1498 --
Voyages to the Labrador and Newfoundland 1500-1536 --
The French maritime background 1453-1590 --
The voyages of Verrazzano 1524-1528 --
Gomez and Ayllón 1524-1530 --
Cartier's first voyage 1534 --
Cartier's second voyage 1535-1536 --
The search for Saguenay 1538-1536 --
England, France, and the northwest 1553-1600 --
Queen Elizabeth and her master mariners --
Frobisher's second and third voyages 1577-1578 --
Hakluyt and Gilbert 1578-1585 --
The northern voyages of John Davis 1585-1587 --
The first Virginia colony 1585-1586 --
The second Virginia colony 1587-?

This volume presents an account of the great age of European exploration, describing all known voyages across the North Atlantic to the New World prior to 1600, and of the intrepid mariners, and the adventurers who sent them forth. The roll call includes all the great explorers: Leif Ericsson, John Cabot, Verrazzano, Gomez, Jacques Cartier, Martin Frobisher, John Davis, Sir Walter Raleigh and his kinsmen Grenville and Gilbert, and a full gathering of their competitors. This work also offers a look at the imaginary lands reported by early travelers (such mythical places as Antilia and the Seven Cities, the glorious Kingdoms of Norumbega and Saguenay, and Hy-Brasil the Isle of the Blest) and examines the alleged discoverers of these lands.

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