to England by his parents, who, after the manner of the Venetians, left no part of the world unsearched to obtain riches. Having fitted out two ships in England at his own expence, with three hundred men, he first directed his course so near the north pole, that on the 11th of July he found monstrous heaps of ice swimming in the sea, and a continual day, so that the land was free from ice, having been thawed by the perpetual influence of the sun. By reason of this ice he was compelled to turn southwards along the western land, till he came unto the latitude of the Straits of Gibraltar[10]. In the course of this north-west voyage he got so far to the west as to have the island of Cuba on his left hand, having reached to the same longitude[11]. While sailing along the coast of this great land, which he called Baccalaos[12], he found a similar current of the sea towards the west[13] as had been observed by the Spaniards in their more southerly navigations, but more softly and gently than had been experienced by the Spaniards. Hence it may be certainly concluded that in both places, though hitherto unknown, there must be certain great open spaces by which the waters thus continually pass from the east to the west; which waters I suppose to be continually driven round the globe by the constant motion and impulse of the heavens, and not to be alternately swallowed and cast up again by the breathing of Demogorgon, as some have imagined on purpose to explain the ebb and flow of the sea. Sebastian Cabot himself named these lands Baccalaos, because he found in the seas thereabout such multitudes of certain large fishes like tunnies, called baccalaos by the natives, that they sometimes stayed his ships. He found also the people of these regions clothed in the skins of beasts, yet not without the use of reason. He says also that there are great numbers of bears in those countries, which feed on fish, and catch them by diving into the water; and being thus satisfied with abundance of fish, are not noisome to man. He says likewise that he saw large quantities of copper among the inhabitants of these regions. Cabot is my dear and familiar friend, whom I delight to have sometimes in my house. Being called out of England by the Catholic king of Castille, on the death of Henry VII. of England, he was made one of the assistants of our council respecting the affairs of the new found Indies, and waits in daily expectation of being furnished with ships in which to discover these hidden secrets of nature.

[Footnote 9: Hakluyt, III. 29. quoting P. Martyr, Dec. III. Ch. vi.]

[Footnote 10: The Straits of Gibraltar are in lat. 36° N. which would bring the discovery of the eastern coast of North America by Cabot, all the way from 67-1/2° N. beyond Hudsons Bay, to Albemarle Sound on the coast of North Carolina--E.]

[Footnote 11: The middle of the island of Cuba is in long. 80° W. from Greenwich, which would have carried Cabot into the interior of Hudsons Bay, to which there is no appearance of his having penetrated, in the slight notices remaining of his exploratory voyage.--E.]

[Footnote 12: We have before seen that he named the country which he discovered, the island of St John, and that he gave the name in this part of the text, baccalaos, to the fish most abundant in those seas, which we name cod.--E.]

[Footnote 13: It is probable this applies to the tide of flood setting into the Gulf of St Lawrence or Hudsons Bay or both; which led Cabot to expect a passage through the land to the west--E.]

SECTION V.

Testimony of Francisco Lopez de Gomara, concerning the discoveries of Sebastian Cabota[14].

Sebastian Cabota, who came out of England into Spain, brought most certain information of the country and people of Baccalaos. Having a great desire to traffic for spices, like the Portuguese, he fitted out two ships with 300 men, at the cost of Henry VII. of England, and took the way towards Iceland from beyond the Cape of Labradore, until he reached the lat. of 58° N. and better. Even in the month of July, the weather was so cold and the ice in such quantities, that he durst not proceed any farther. The days were so long as to have hardly any night, and what little there was, was very clear. Being unable to proceed farther on account of the cold, he turned south; and, having refreshed at Baccalaos, he sailed southwards along the coast to the 38° of latitude[15], from whence he returned into England.

[Footnote 14: Hakluyt, III. 30. quoting Gomara, Gen. Hist. of the W. Indies, Book II. Ch. iv.]

[Footnote 15: By this account the progress of Cabot to the south along the eastern coast of North America, reached no farther than coast of Maryland.--E.]

SECTION VI.

Note respecting the discoveries of Sebastian Cabot; from the latter part of Fabians Chronicle[16].

[Footnote 16: Hakluyt, III. 30. quoting from a MS. in possession of Mr John Stow, whom he characterizes as a diligent collector of antiquities.]

In the 13th year of Henry VII. by means of John Cabot, Venetian, who was very expert in cosmography and the construction of sea-charts, that king caused to man and victual a ship at Bristol, to search for an island which Cabot said he well knew to be rich and replenished with valuable commodities. In which ship, manned and victualled at the kings expence, divers merchants of London adventured small stocks of goods under the charge of the said Venetian. Along with that ship there went three or four small vessels from Bristol, laden with slight and coarse goods, such as coarse cloth, caps, laces, points, and other trifles. These vessels departed from Bristol in the beginning of May; but no tidings of them had been received at the time of writing this portion of the chronicle of Fabian.

In the 14th year of the king however, three men were brought from the New-found-Island, who were clothed in the skins of beasts, did eat raw flesh, and spoke a language which no man could understand, their demeanour being more like brute beasts than men. They were kept by the king for some considerable time; and I saw two of them about two years afterward in the palace of Westminster, habited like Englishmen, and not to be distinguished from natives of England, till I was told who they were; but as for their speech, I did not hear either of them utter a word.

SECTION VII.

Brief notice of the discovery of Newfoundland, by Mr Robert Thorne.[17]

[Footnote 17: Hakluyt, III. 31. quoting a book by Mr Robert Thorne, addressed to Doctor Leigh.]

As some diseases are hereditary, so have I inherited an inclination of discovery from my father, who, with another merchant of Bristol named Hugh Eliot, were the discoveries of the Newfoundlands. And, if the mariners had followed the directions of their pilot, there can be no doubt that the lands of the West Indies, whence all the gold cometh, had now been ours; as it appears by the chart that all is one coast.

SECTION VIII. Grant by Edward VI. of a Pension, and the Office of Grand Pilot of England to Sebastian Cabot[18]

[Footnote 18: Hakluyt, id. ib. Supposing Sebastian to have been sixteen years of age in 1495, when he appears to have come to England with his father, he must have attained to seventy years of age at the period of this grant--E.]

Edward the Sixth, by the Grace of God king of England, France, and Ireland, to all believers in Christ to whom these presents may come, wisheth health. Know ye, that in consideration of the good and acceptable service, done and to be done to us by our well-beloved servant Sebastian Cabot, we of our special grace, certain knowledge and goodwill, and by the councel and advice of our most illustrious uncle Edward Duke, of Somerset,