On the contrary, they
carefully warmed him, and were trying to dry his clothes, when,
recovering from his bewilderment, he betrayed a strong desire to escape
to his friends; whereupon, "with great love, clapping him fast about,
with many embracings," they led him to the shore, and stood watching
till he had reached the boat.
It only remained to requite this kindness, and an opportunity soon
occurred; for, coasting the shores of Virginia or Maryland, a party went
on shore and found an old woman, a young girl, and several children,
hiding with great terror in the grass. Having, by various blandishments,
gained their confidence, they carried off one of the children as a
curiosity, and, since the girl was comely, would fain have taken her
also, but desisted by reason of her continual screaming.
Verrazzano's next resting-place was the Bay of New York. Rowing up in
his boat through the Narrows, under the steep heights of Staten Island,
he saw the harbor within dotted with canoes of the feathered natives,
coming from the shore to welcome him. But what most engaged the eyes of
the white men were the fancied signs of mineral wealth in the
neighboring hills.
Following the shores of Long Island, they came to an island, which may
have been Block Island, and thence to a harbor, which was probably that
of Newport.
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