The Wilmington morning star., 1940-04-28
Pirate John Nerrazano, In 1924,
First 70 Discover The Cape Fear
py GLADYS BEST TRIP

,.r+hless pirate was the first
u.,,,ean to. discover the coast
North Carolina - perhaps a
b,.y Of the days when our
W. .hcrols waters would be a
a, IA so many of the blood
J",.,, clan. His name was John
,~gt., n1ano, or Giovanni di Vera
John Verrasanus, Jehan de
Nl FIorentin-so numerous were
ms aliases.
pn+ John was also a gentleman
mark and influence, an exper-
;anyod navigator, and the French
,,,s ~fayorite explorer. Such was
.. 1oh,ll-Hyde character of our
explore.
u, wrote in his journal that
.sa neople living where North
,.,roIina now is, were very dark,
.itt broad face and angular fea-
.,.>s His stay on North Carolina
r vas short for he had left the
,,;o in high seas for lack of a
.,;,ahle haroor.
"Mapamundi"
lr,v. is it known he was first to
,o,r our state? By the discovery
,hp N~errazano ~Plainsphere or
a,fapamundt' drawn up by his
thar Jerome in 1929 and I'M
l,oun until the last century. This
.vsasmuudi' is the earliest known
,raring Of the North American
.,as, from actual exploration.
,rrGfyist NJ. Thomassy found
IN, ,rajnsphere in the College di
pronaranda Eide on the Piazza di
snqrnt IN Rome, Measuring about
,oo by 81 inches, it consists of two
,.r.s SKINS pasted together and in
indies the complete world as known
-. orome V~errazano from data
supplied by John,
Jerome was the mapmaker of
,,e yenrazano family. John was
r.w about 1880, and in his youth
bs--erei spices. silks and other
,as.jaqs commodities in the Medi-
tcrranean ports,
firing of the life of a trader re
entered the service of Spain which
=, that lime was the most outstand-
inc European power in American
colonization. This was his opportuni-
~ to learn the sea paths followed by
her vessels for trade and commerce
with the West Indies.
But this life also became monot-
onous TO his. adventurous nature.
Great quantities of gold bullion,
pearls and sugar we're being sent to
the Spanish king from his colony IN
Mexico. In the service of Spain Yer
razano had no opportunity to pos.
sess any of these valuables.
RumorS of rich booty naturally
drew great numbers of pirates to lie
in wait for the ships-and soon
among them was John Verrazano,
or Juan Florin as his name becal e
famous for his bloody deed off tie
Southern coast of Spain. Juan cap
tured the treasure fleet of Cortes,
the biggest single exploit of his
career besides discovering. the Atla..-
tic coast.
Bullion Shipment 9
Another shipment of goM bullion
worth 5000 ducats from Hispaniola
fell into Juan Florentin's hands in
1921. He took all the prize he cap
tured from these ships headed for
Spain back to the French king. AT
Ter he had pillaged another ship
coming from the Island of St. Do
mingo, he returned very rich to
France with the ships cargo of 20
0Q0 pesos Of sold and a great quaint
lily Of pearls, sugar and OK hides (of
about equal value in that day).
Francis the First gleefully accept
ed the presents John brought him.
He said that because the Kings Of
Spain and Portugal had divided the
world without giving him a share,
1t was lawful and just for John to
rob their ships for France.
France also wanted to have the
glory Of filling up the gap of unex-
plored territory between ATTITUDES
81 and 43 degrees north on the Anne