The voyage of Verrazzano : $b a chapter in the early history of maritime discovery in AmericaMurphy, Henry Cruse
History
The voyage of Verrazzano : $b a chapter in the early history of maritime discovery in America
Murphy, Henry Cruse
America -- Discovery and exploration -- French; Verrazzano, Giovanni da, 1485-1528
The complexion of these people is black, not much different from
that of the Ethiopians; their hair is black and thick, and not very
long, it is worn tied back upon the head in the form of a little
tail. In person they are of good proportions, of middle stature, a
little above our own, broad across the breast, strong in the arms,
and well formed in the legs and other parts of the body; the only
exception, to their good looks is that have broad faces, but not
all, however, as we saw many that had sharp ones, with large black
eyes and a fixed expression. They are not very strong in body, but
acute in mind, active and swift of foot, as far as we could judge by
observation. In these last two particulars they resemble the people
of the east, especially those the most remote. We could not learn a
great many particulars of their usages on account of our short stay
among them and the distance of our ship from the shore.
We found not far from this people another whose mode of life we
judged to be similar. The whole shore is covered with fine sand,
about fifteen feet thick, rising in the form of little hills about
fifty paces broad. Ascending farther, we found several arms of the
sea which make in through inlets, washing the shores on both aides
as the coast runs. An outstretched country appears at a little
distance rising somewhat above the sandy shore in beautiful fields
and broad plains, covered with immense forests of trees, more or
less dense, too various in colours, and too delightful and charming
in appearance to be described, I do not believe that they are like
the Hercynian forest or the rough wilds of Scythia, and the northern
regions full of vines and common trees, but adorned with palms,
laurels, cypresses, and other varieties unknown in Europe, that send
forth the sweetest fragrance to a great distance, but which, we
could not examine more closely for the reasons before given, and not
on account of any difficulty in traversing the woods, which, on the
contrary, are easily penetrated.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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