In 1492 Columbus left Spain on this great expedition. He sailed to the West and reached the Canary Island. These islands were, as people thought, the end of the world, so when he continued to sail beyond them and still further to the West, his men got more and more anxious.

Columbus did his best to calm their fears, but they said they were afraid to go any further.

In the end Columbus agreed that if they did not see land by the end of the three days, he would turn back towards Spain.

Fortunately, on the very next day they saw land! On landing on the beach, they were astonished to see strange natives with red skins, strange trees, plants, animals and insects, such as they had never seen before. Columbus gave the name of San Salvador to this island.

Then Columbus’s three ships sailed further and they next came to the large islands now called Haiti and Cuba. Columbus had no idea that he had discovered a new continent; he simply thought that he was in an unknown part of India.

The explorer came back to Spain in triumph. This was the happiest moment in his adventurous life.

Columbus made two more voyages in search of new lands, but they were not fortunate ones. Columbus died in poverty in 1506. He never knew that he had made the most remarkable voyage in the history of the world, and indeed, that he had been fortunate enough to discover a new world.

In the meantime, a man named Amerigo Vespucci explored the coast which Columbus had discovered, and found that it was not the coast of India. “It is a new world”, he said.

For a long time the land had no special name, it was called simply “The New World”, but at last it was decided to name it after the man who found that it was not India. It was named America after Amerigo, instead of after the man who found it. America was discovered by Columbus in 1492. It was not named America until 1506, the year in which Columbus died.

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Vocabulary

Spain  — Испания

The Canary Islands — Канарские острова

San Salvador — г.Сан-Сальвадор

Haiti — Гаити

Cuba — Куба

Amerigo Vespucci — Америго Веспуччи

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