An Historical Account of the Rise and Progress of the Colonies of South Carolina and Georgia, vol 1 | Page 6

John and Sebastian Cabot,
all that right and title to this extensive region, founded on prior
discovery, must be vested in the crown of England.
[Sidenote] 1498. The discovery of Americus Vespuccius.
In the year following, Americus Vespuccius, a native of Florence,
having procured a commission, together with the charts of the
celebrated Columbus, sailed to the southern division of the western
continent. In this voyage he discovered a large country, and drew a
kind of map of those parts of it he visited. He also kept a journal,
making several useful remarks on the coast and inhabitants; which, on
his return to Europe, were published for general instruction. By this
means he had the good fortune to perpetuate his name, by giving it to
the whole western world. Posterior writers naturally following the same
tract, and using the same names found in the first performance,
America by accident became the denomination by which the western

continent was distinguished, and probably will be so through all
succeeding ages.
[Sidenote] A.D. 1500. The discovery of Cabral.
Not long after this, Don Pedro Alvarez Cabral, admiral of the
Portuguese fleet, bound for the East Indies, was driven by a storm on
the coast of that country now called Brazil. There he found fine land,
inhabited by savages, of which he took possession in name of his king.
This discovery he deemed of great consequence, and therefore having
put a native or two of the new-found land on board, he sent Gasper
Lamidas back to Portugal with the news. He reported, at the same time,
the gentle treatment he received from the natives of the country, the
excellent soil and beautiful prospects it exhibited; and, upon his report,
a settlement was soon after made, which advanced by rapid degrees in
riches and population, and soon became the most valuable of the
Portuguese possessions.
[Sidenote] America inhabited.
This vast territory of America being now discovered by different
nations, in every place they found it inhabited by human creatures; but
from what country they derived their origin, or by what means they
were conveyed to this distant region, has been the subject of much
speculation and inquiry, not only in that, but also in every future period.
History claims not the province of peremptorily determining inquires,
which can have no better foundation than the probable opinions and
uncertain conjectures of ingenious men, and therefore must leave every
man to adopt such accounts as appear to him least absurd or liable to
exception. Yet, as the subject is curious, it may be amusing to some
readers to present them with the different conjectures respecting it,
especially such as are supported by late observations and discoveries.
[Sidenote] Various conjectures about the first population of America.
One person fancies that this country was peopled from Britain, and has
recourse to a romantic story of a Welsh historian in support of his wild
conjecture. This author gives an account of a discovery made in the
year 1170, by Maddock, a younger son of Owen Guineth, prince of
Wales. That prince, observing his brethren engaged in civil war about
the succession to his father's throne, formed a resolution to abandon his
country. Having procured a ship, with plenty of necessaries for a long
voyage, he embarked, and sailed far to the westward of Ireland, where

he discovered a rich and fertile country, in which he resolved to
establish a settlement. With this view he returned to Wales, prepared
ten sail of ships, and transported a number of both sexes to this western
territory. Some men, who have been rather too zealous for proofs in
confirmation of this conjecture, have industriously traced, and flattered
themselves with having found a striking resemblance between several
words in the native language of some Indian nations and the old Welsh
tongue.
Other authors are of opinion, that the American tribes are the
descendants of the ancient Phenicians and Carthaginians, who early
formed settlements on the coast of Barbary and the Canary islands. The
Tyrians and Carthaginians, beyond doubt, were a commercial people,
and the first who distinguished themselves by their knowledge in
navigation. They built ships which carried vast numbers of people. To
plant a colony on the west of Africa, Hanno, a Carthaginian captain,
embarked in a fleet of sixty ships, containing no fewer than thirty
thousand persons, with implements necessary for building and
cultivation. While he sailed along the stormy coast of Africa, it is not
improbable that some of his ships might be driven out of sight of the
land. In this case, the mariners finding the trade winds blowing
constantly against them, might necessarily be obliged to bear away
before them, and so be wafted over to America. The complexion of the
inhabitants of the African islands resembled those Columbus found in
the