As this strange and marvellous story was confirmed by the testimony of the sailors he had brought along with him, it gained full credit; and accordingly Zichmni determined to send me, Antonio Zeno, with a fleet into these parts; and so great was the desire among the people to embark in this expedition, that our fleet was well manned and equipped without expence to the public. I accordingly set sail with a great number of ships and men, but not commander in chief as I expected, for Zichmni went in person on the expedition. Our great preparation for the voyage to Estoitland began in an unlucky hour as, three days before our departure, the fisherman died who was to have been our guide; yet Zichmni would not give up the enterprise, but took for, his guides several of the sailors who had returned with the fisherman from Estoitland. Shaping our course to the westwards, we passed several islands subject to Frisland, and arrived at Ledovo, or the Lewis, where we staid a week to refresh ourselves, and to provide the fleet with necessaries. Departing thence, we arrived on the first of July off the island of Ilofe, or Islay; and the wind being favourable, did not stop there but stood on our voyage. Not long afterwards, being in the main sea, we were overtaken by a dreadful tempest, which tossed us to and fro, at the mercy of the winds and waves for eight days, so that we knew not whereabouts we were. By the violence of this tempest, we lost many of our vessels, but after the return of good weather, we collected the remains of our shattered fleet, and having a fair wind, we stood on to the westwards, and at length descried the coast of Estoitland, and arrived in a good and safe harbour. Here we saw an infinite number of armed men running furiously towards the shore, apparently for the purpose of defending the island. Upon this, Zichmni commanded signs of peace to be made, and the islanders sent ten men to us who could speak ten different languages; but we could understand none of these, excepting one man who happened to be an Icelander. This man was brought to our prince, and gave the following account of the country; and people.

The land was called Icarta, and all its kings were named Icarus, after the name, of its first king, who was the son of Daedalus king of Scotland. This Daedalus had discovered and conquered the island, and after instituting the body of laws by which they are still governed, had left them his son to be their king. After this, Daedalus616 sailed in quest of farther discoveries, but was overtaken by a violent storm and drowned. In memory of which, they named their island Icaria, the sea surrounding it the Icarian sea, and all their successive kings Icarus. He stated, moreover, that they were perfectly contented with the state in which they had been placed by Providence, and not choosing to make the smallest change in their manners and customs, would admit no strangers into their land; and therefore requested the prince not to attempt violating the laws of their king, of glorious memory, as any such attempt would turn to his manifest destruction, since they were resolved to sacrifice their lives in defence of their laws. They were willing, however, to receive one of our men, who should be advanced to the rank of a chief, on purpose to learn our language; having already received ten different men with that view from ten different nations.

Upon this Zichmni sailed from the harbour, as if meaning to go away from the island; but being in want of wood and water, he skirted along the coast at some distance, and put into another harbour on the eastern side of the island with all his fleet. Here the mariners went on shore, and procured the necessary supplies with all possible speed, lest they might be attacked by the natives. This precaution was by no means unnecessary, for the inhabitants near this harbour made signals by fire and smoke to the rest of the country; and taking to their arms, were soon joined by others, and came down upon our men with bows and arrows, and other weapons, and in the conflict, many of them were killed, and others dangerously wounded617. We were therefore obliged to depart, and made a large circuit round the island, always accompanied on the shore and on the hills by a vast number of armed men to oppose our landing. Seeing that nothing could be done here, Zichmni set sail to the eastwards with a fair wind; and after six days sail, we came in sight of land, which we found to be a very good country, with an excellent harbour. We descried a mountain at a considerable distance, which emitted smoke, and Zichmni sent an hundred soldiers to explore the country, and to inquire if it were inhabited. In the meantime, we took in wood and water, and caught vast quantities of fish and sea-fowl, and procured immense numbers of eggs; so that our people, before almost famished, had now more provisions than they could eat. To this harbour, we gave the name of port Trin, and the point that stretched out into the sea was named Cape Trin. The soldiers who had been sent out to examine the country, returned at the end of eight days, and reported they had been all through the island, quite to the smoking mountain, and that the smoke we saw proceeded from a fire at its bottom, where there was a spring of liquid pitch which ran into the sea. They said likewise, that the interior of the island was inhabited by a wild people, who were very short in stature, and timid, and hid themselves in, caves.

On receiving this piece of intelligence, and considering that the island was blest with a pure and wholesome air, good soil, fine rivers, and many other advantages, Ziehmni resolved to people it and to build a town at Port Trin, and took, great pains to discover the whole of it, and to explore the seas on both sides of Engroveland, or Greenland. But many of his people began to murmur, being quite wearied with so tedious a voyage, alleging, that as the winter was fast approaching, they should not be able to return home before the ensuing summer, if they made any longer delay. On this account, retaining only the row-boats, and as many men as were willing to stay with him. Zichmni sent away all the rest of the people with the ships, giving the command to me, Antonio Zeno, much against my will. Taking therefore our departure, we sailed twenty days to the eastwards, without seeing any land; on which we shifted our course to the south-east, and after five days, we came in sight of the island of Neome618, so that we passed Iceland without seeing it. We here procured refreshments from the inhabitants, who were subject to Zichmni, and sailed thence in three days to Frisland, where we were received with great joy, as the people thought, in consequence of our long absence, that their prince and the whole armament had been lost.

As to the particulars concerning the people and their customs, the animate, and the productions of these countries, I have written all these in a separate book, in which I have described the country, and the wonderful fishes of Frisland, Estland, Norway, Estoitland, Drogio, Icaria, and Engroveland, on both its sides. I have composed likewise, the life of my brother Nicolo Zeno, with an account of his discoveries; and a history of the life and acts of Zichmni, a prince as worthy of immortal fame as any that ever lived, having been famous for his valour, enterprising spirit, and humanity.