Plate II.

The French Sail to the River of May

Re-embarking, the French sailed on further. As they came in to land they were greeted by another tribe of Indians, some of whom waded in the water up to their shoulders offering up little baskets of maize full of red and white mulberries, while others offered to help them come ashore. Having landed, the Frenchmen saw the Indian chief, who was accompanied by his two sons and a company of his men armed with bows and quivers of arrows. After exchanging greetings our men proceeded into the forest hoping to discover many wonderful things. But they saw nothing except for some trees bearing red and white mulberries whose tops were covered with innumerable silk worms. The French named this river the May, because they sighted it on the first day of that month.

The digital copies of the de Bry engravings (N2012-6) included here are made possible by a donation from the Michael W. and Dr. Linda Fisher Collection.

All translations are taken from Discovering the New World, Based on the Works of Theodore de Bry, edited by Michael Alexander (New York: Harper & Row, 1976).