Chapter I: Front Matter

A BOOK OF
AMERICAN EXPLORERS

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│ Punctuation has been standardized. │
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│ Characters in small caps have been replaced by all caps. │
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│ Non-printable characteristics have been given the following │
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│ Italic text: --> _text_ │
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│ This book was written in a period when many words had │
│ not become standardized in their spelling. Words may have │
│ multiple spelling variations or inconsistent hyphenation in │
│ the text. These have been left unchanged unless indicated │
│ with a Transcriber’s Note. │
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│ The symbol ‘‡’ indicates the description in parenthesis has │
│ been added to an illustration. This may be needed if there │
│ is no caption or if the caption does not describe the image │
│ adequately. │
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│ Index references have not been checked for accuracy. │
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│ Footnotes are identified in the text with a number in │
│ brackets [2] and have been accumulated in a single section │
│ at the end of the text. │
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│ Transcriber’s Notes are used when making corrections to the │
│ text or to provide additional information for the modern │
│ reader. These notes are not identified in the text, but have │
│ been accumulated in a single section at the end of the book. │
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Illustration: COLUMBUS AT THE MOUTH OF THE ORINOCO.

Young Folks’ Series.

A BOOK OF
AMERICAN EXPLORERS

BY
THOMAS WENTWORTH HIGGINSON
AUTHOR OF “YOUNG FOLKS’ HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES,” ETC.

BOSTON
LEE AND SHEPARD
1877

COPYRIGHT.
THOMAS WENTWORTH HIGGINSON.
1877.

_Electrotyped and Printed by
Rand, Avery, and Company,
117 Franklin Street,
Boston._

_DEDICATION._

TO
GEORGE BARRELL EMERSON,

WITHOUT WHOSE COUNSEL AND WHOSE EFFICIENT KINDNESS THIS
HISTORICAL SERIES WOULD NEVER HAVE BEEN UNDERTAKEN,

THIS VOLUME

IS RESPECTFULLY AND AFFECTIONATELY

INSCRIBED.