In convoying this prize to France he had caught another galleon coming
from Hispaniola with a cargo of gold and pearls, and the two rich
trophies were now in the harbor of La Rochelle, where the audacious
captain was doubtless making ready for another piratical voyage.
Verrazzano made a second start a little later, but was driven back by a
Biscay storm. Finally, toward the end of the year 1523, he set out once
more with only one ship, the _Dauphine_, out of his original fleet of
four, and neither friend nor foe caught a glimpse of him during the
voyage. In March, 1524, having sailed midway between the usual course of
the West Indian galleons and the path of the fishers going to and from
the Banks of Newfoundland, he saw land which he felt sure had not been
discovered either by ancient or modern explorers.
It was a low shore on which the fine sand, some fifteen feet deep, lay
drifted into hillocks or dunes. Small creeks and inlets ran inland, but
there seemed to be no good harbor. Beyond the sand-dunes were forests of
cypress, palm, bay and other trees, and the wind bore the scent of
blossoming trees and vines far out to sea. For fifty leagues the
_Dauphine_ followed the coast southward, looking for a harbor, for
Verrazzano knew that pearl fisheries and spices were far more likely to
be found in southern than in northern waters.
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