GREEK EMIGRANTS OR COLONISTS

WHEN THE ATLANTIC WAS UNKNOWN. One of the most important things
done by the men of Ancient Times was to explore the coasts and lands of
Europe and to make settlements wherever they went. At first they knew
little of the western and northern parts of Europe. Herodotus, a Greek
whom we call the "Father of History," and who was a great traveler,
said, "Though I have taken vast pains, I have never been able to get an
assurance from any eye-witness that there is any sea on the further side
of Europe." By the "further side" he meant "western," and his remark
shows that he did not know of the Atlantic Ocean. He understood that tin
and amber came from the "Tin Islands," which he called the "ends of the
earth." As tin came from England, it is plain that he had heard a little
of that island.

[Illustration: MAP OF THE WORLD AS DESCRIBED BY THE GREEK
HISTORIAN HERODOTUS]

GREEK EMIGRANTS. Long before Athens became a great and beautiful
city the Greeks had begun to make settlements on distant shores. Those
who lived on the western coast of Asia Minor, as well as those who lived
where the kingdom of Greece is now, sent out colonists or emigrants. The
Greek colonies were very important, because by them the ancient
civilized world was made larger, just as by the settlement of America
the modern world was doubled in size. The colonists sailed away from
home for the same reasons which led our forefathers to leave England and
Europe for America. They either hoped to find it easier in a new land to
make a living and obtain property, or they did not like the way their