latitude by observing that Cabot, according to Willes, fixed the mouth of the Strait between 61° and 64°; and as to the Haven, the allusion is probably to Placentia Bay, or as it is written on the old maps of Newfoundland, Plasancius, a title which, as found in the mouths of seamen, might readily suggest to the ear the name of the youngest patentee.

There is one account that mentions John Cabot, but it was written subsequently to the publication, by Hakluyt, in 1582, of the patent containing the father's name, which would, of itself, suggest the association. It is the narrative, by Haies, of the Expedition of 1583 (see Hakluyt, vol. iii. p. 144), which we cite on the possibility that it may do no more than an act of justice, and because it serves to show how uniformly the claims of England in America have been rested on the discoveries in the time of Henry VII.

"The first discovery of these coasts (never heard of before), was well begun by John Cabot the father, and Sebastian his son, an Englishman born, &c. all which they brought and annexed unto the crown of England." "For not long after that Christopher Columbus had discovered the Islands and Continent of the West Indies for Spain, John and Sebastian Cabot made discovery also of the rest from Florida Northwards, to the behoof of England." "The French did but review that before discovered by the English Nation, usurping upon our right." "Then seeing the English nation only hath right unto these countries of America, from the Cape of Florida Northward, by the privilege of first discovery, unto which Cabot was authorised by regal authority, and set forth by the expense of our late famous King Henry VII., which right, also, seemeth strongly defended on our behalf by the bountiful hand of Almighty God, notwithstanding the enterprises of other nations, it may greatly encourage us upon so just ground as is our right," &c.

The fact that the father is named in the Patent does not furnish conclusive evidence that he embarked in either of the expeditions. The original grant conveys to him and his three sons, "and to the heirs of them and their Deputies," full power to proceed in search of regions before unknown, and the exclusive privilege of trading. Now it has never been supposed that all the sons engaged in the voyage, and yet the presumption is just as strong with regard to each of them as to the father, and even more so if we look to the appropriate season of life for perilous adventure. The truth seems to be this:-as it is probable that all the means of the family were

embarked in this enterprise, it was no unnatural precaution that the patent should be coextensive in its provisions. It created them a trading corporation with certain privileges, and it might as well be contended, for a similar reason, that the Marquis of Winchester, the Earl of Arundel, and the other patentees of the Muscovy Company (1 Hakluyt, p. 268) actually sailed in the north-eastern voyages. The second patent is to the father alone. If we seek a reason for this departure from the original arrangement, it may be conjectured that some of the sons chose to give a different direction to a parental advance and their personal exertions, and that the head of the family thought fit to retain, subject to his own discretionary disposal, the proposed investment of his remaining capital. It is said that one of the sons settled at Venice, and the other at Genoa. The recital of the discovery by the Father would, of course, be stated, under the circumstances, as the consideration of the second patent in his favour.

Another reason for the introduction of the father's name, concurrently at first with his son's, and afterwards exclusively, may perhaps be found in the very character of the King, whose own pecuniary interests were involved in the result. He might be anxious thus to secure the responsibility of the wealthy Venetian for the faithful execution of the terms of the patent, and finally think it better to have him solely named, rather than commit powers, on their face assignable, to young men who had no stake in the country, and who were not likely to make it even a fixed place of residence.

On the whole, there may at least be a doubt whether the father really accompanied the expedition. Unquestionably, the great argument derived from the pretended language of a contemporary annalist is not only withdrawn, but thrown into the opposite scale.

Supposing, however, John Cabot to have been on board,

Campbell's Lives of the Admirals, vol. i. p. 310, on the authority of MS. remarks on Hakluyt.

G

we must, in inquiring what were his functions, carefully put aside the thousand absurdities which have had their origin in misconception as to the person intended by Fabyan; and remember, that we have not a tittle of evidence as to his character or past pursuits, except, as has been remarked, that he came to London to follow the trade of merchandise." All that is said about his knowledge of the sphere-his perfect acquaintance with the sciences, &c., is merely an amplification of the remarks of Fabyan, as to Sebastian Cabot. If, then, he went at all, it was in all probability merely for the purpose of turning to account his mercantile skill and sagacity in the projected traffic which formed one of the objects of the expedition. There is nothing to control, in the slightest degree, the idea which presses on us from so many quarters, that the project had its origin with the son, and that its great object was to verify his simple, but bold proposition, that by pushing to the north a shorter route might be opened to the treasures of Cataya.

If the youth of Sebastian Cabot be objected to, as rendering his employment by Henry improbable, we must remember that the project was suggested to the English monarch at a period peculiarly auspicious to its reception. He had just missed the opportunity of employing Columbus, and with it the treasures of the New World. Instead of cold and cheerless distrust, there was a reaction in the public mind, with a sanguine flow of confidence towards novel speculations and daring enterprises. When, therefore, one-fifth of the clear gain was secured to the king, by the engagement of the wealthy Venetian, Henry yielded a ready ear to the bold theory and sanguine promises of the accomplished and enthusiastic young navigator.

CHAP. VI.

FIRST POINT SEEN BY CABOT-NOT NEWFOUNDLAND.

THE part of America first seen and named by Cabot, is generally considered to have been the present Newfoundland. This, however, will be far from clear if we look closely into the subject.

The evidence usually referred to as establishing the fact consists of an "extract taken out of the map of Sebastian Cabot, cut by Clement Adams," quoted by Hakluyt and Purchas.

*

This would seem to have been a broad sheet, on which an attempt was made to exhibit the substance of Cabot's statement as to the country he had discovered. From the stress laid by Hakluyt and Purchas upon the Extract, hung up in the privy gallery at Whitehall, we may infer that they had never seen the original map. It would seem to have been executed after Cabot's death, and without any communication with him, for it offers conjectures as to his reasons for giving names to particular places which probably would not have been hazarded with the means so readily at hand, during his life, of attaining certainty on such points. The explanation was in Latin, and is thus given by Hakluyt, with a translation (vol. iii. p. 6)—

Anno Domini 1497, Joannes Cabotus Venetus, et Sebastianus illius filius eam terram fecerunt perviam, quam nullus prius adire ausus fuit, die 24 Junii, circiter horam quintam bene manè. Hanc autem appellavit Terram primum visam, credo quod ex mari in eam partem primum oculos injecerat. Namque ex adverso sita est insula, eam appellavit insulam Divi Joannis, hac opinor ratione,

The disappearance of this curious document may probably be referred, either to the sales which took place after the death of Charles I., or to the fire in the reign of William III.

quod aperta fuit eo qui die est sacer Diuo Joanni Baptista: Hujus incolæ pelles animalium exuviasque ferarum pro indumentis habent, easque tanti faciunt, quanti nos vestes preciosissimas. Cum bellum gerunt, utuntur arcu, sagittas, hastis, spiculis, clavis ligneis et fundis. Tellus sterilis est, neque ullos fructus affert, ex quo fit, ut ursus albo colore, et cervis inusitatæ apud nos magnitudinis referta sit: piscibus abundat, iisque sane magnis, quales sunt lupi marini et quos salmones vulgus appellat; soleæ autem reperiuntur tam longæ, ut ulnæ mensuram excedant. Imprimis autem magna est copia corum piscium, quos vulgari sermone vocant Bacallaos. Gignuntur in ea insula accipitres ita nigri, ut corvorum similitudinem mirum in modum exprimant, perdices autem et aquila sunt nigri coloris."

The same in English.

"In the year of our Lord 1497, John Cabot, a Venetian, and his sonne Sebastian (with an English fleet set out from Bristoll), discovered that land which no man before that time had attempted, on the 24th of June, about five of the clocke early in the morning. This land he called Prima vista, that is to say, first seene; because, as I suppose, it was that part whereof they had the first sight from sea. That island which lieth out before the land he called the Island of St John upon this occasion, as I thinke, because it was discovered upon the day of John the Baptist. The inhabitants of this island use to weare beasts' skinnes, and have them in as great estimation as we have our finest garments. In their warres they use bowes, arrowes, pikes, darts, woodden clubs, and slings. The soil is barren in some places, and yeeldeth little fruit, but it is full of white bears, and stagges far greater than ours. It yeeldeth plenty of fish, and those very great as seales, and those which we commonly call salmons; there are soles, also, above a yard in length, but especially there is great abundance of that kind of fish which the savages call baccalaos. In the same island also there breed hauks, but they are so black that they are very like to ravens, as also their partridges and eagles, which are in like sort blacke."

As usual, it is necessary here, in the first place, to notice the passages in which Hakluyt has acted unfaithfully to the text. He was under an impression that Cabot first visited Newfoundland, and in this same volume that region is spoken of in very flattering terms, and its colonization earnestly recommended. At p. 153, we hear of Newfoundland-"There is nothing which our East and Northerly countries of Europe do yield, but the like also may be made in them as plentifully by time and industry, namely, rosin, flax, hemp, corn, and many more, all which the countries will afford, and the soil is apt to yield." "The soil along the coast is not deep of earth, bringing forth abundantly peason, small, yet good feeding for cattle. Roses, passing sweet," &c. In the letter of Parmenius from Newfoundland (p. 162), the passage beginning