EPOCH 1.




EARLY DISCOVERIES AND SETTLEMENTS.

[Illustration: BALBOA.]

GEOGRAPHICAL KNOWLEDGE IN THE FIFTEENTH CENTURY.--The people of
Europe had then never heard of America. About that time, a great
desire for geographical knowledge was awakened. The compass and the
astrolabe--an instrument for reckoning latitude--had been already
invented. Voyagers were no longer compelled to creep along the
shore, but began to strike out boldly into the open sea. The art of
printing had just come into use, and books of travel were eagerly
read.

[Footnote: _Questions on the Geography of the First Epoch_.--In the
accompanying map there are no divisions of the continent, as none
existed at that time. When they are called for in the following
questions, the object is to test the pupil's geographical knowledge.

Locate the West Indies. San Salvador (now called Guanahani,
gwah-nah-hah'-ne, and Cat Island). Cuba. Hispaniola or Hayti
(he-te), name given to the island in 1803 by Dessalines. (See Lipp.
Gazetteer.) Newfoundland. Cape Breton. Roanoke Island. Manhattan
Island.