This book collects accounts of the explorations of North America by European and American voyagers from the 16th to the 19th century. The author, Thomas Wentworth Higginson, was a writer and abolitionist who also served as a colonel in the Union Army during the American Civil War. The book includes narratives by explorers such as Christopher Columbus, John Smith, and Lewis and Clark. Higginson's introduction provides context for the various accounts and discusses the motivations of the explorers. This book is an excellent introduction to the early history of North America. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.