Abstract:
Sailing for Francis I of France, Giovanni da Verrazano, an Italian, crossed the Atlantic in search of a passage to India. What he found was the Outer Banks and a body of water beyond he called the Oriental Sea. This would later be named the Pamlico Sound. Verrazano sailed as far north as Newfoundland before returning home. His \"discovery\" of an oriental sea kept explorers sailing west for many years seeking the elusive passage.