Siyar al-mutaʾakhkhirin 42.4.2

42.4.2

and a very sensible Chief amongst them, having obtained access to a woman of the Royal race, he, by her assistance, fitted three or four ships, and having attached to his undertaking some of the ablest men amongst those that had seen the new land, he made a voyage thither and stayed a long time in it, on purpose to examine its productions, and even to gain some of its inhabitants, with whom he contracted a friendship first, by signs, and then, by acquiring some knowledge of their language. He even ventured, under their guidance, to advance some miles from the shore. In his stay in that country, he took the latitude and longitude of those shores, as well as their situation with regard to the elevation of the pole, so as to form something like a chart. He also examined the passes and defiles, and likewise the rising and setting of the sun. After providing himself with all this stock of knowledge, he returned home. The next year he came back with a number of ships full of warlike stores, and all the necessaries for making a settlement ; and he made one accordingly, in which he settled himself with a small number of the principal men he had brought with him. The year following, another swarm of men, hearing of his successes, came and settled in his neighbourhood. It was sometime after, that the English, who hearing of this discovery, and being an enterprising nation, conceived the design of visiting that new land ; and they repaired thither in crowds.