CABOT SAILS TO NEWFOUNDLAND
It was no longer possible for the Old World to keep secret the wealth
of the New World. English eyes were already straining across the seas,
English hands were ready to grasp the treasure that had been Spain's
for the last fifty years. While Spain was sending Christopher Columbus
to and fro across the Atlantic to the West Indies, while Portugal was
rejoicing in the success of Vasco da Gama, John Cabot, in the service
of England, was making his way from Bristol to the New World. News
of the first voyage of Columbus had been received by the Cabots--John
and his son Sebastian--with infinite admiration. They believed with
the rest of the world that the coast of China had been reached by sailing
westward. Bristol was at this time the chief seaport in England, and
the centre of trade for the Iceland fisheries. The merchants of the
city had already ventured far on to the Atlantic, and various little
expeditions had been fitted out by the merchants for possible
discovery westward, but one after another failed, including the "most
scientific mariner in all England," who started forth to find the
island of Brazil to the west of Ireland, but, after nine miserable
weeks at sea, was driven back to Ireland again by foul weather.
Now Columbus had crossed the Atlantic, Cabot got leave from the English
King, Henry VII., "to sail to the east, west, or north, with five ships
carrying the English flag, to seek and discover all the islands,
countries, regions, or provinces of pagans in whatever part of the
world."
Further, the King was to have one-fifth of the profits, and at all
risks any conflict with Spain must be avoided. Nothing daunted, Cabot
started off to fulfil his lord's commands in a tiny ship with eighteen
men. We have the barest outlines of his proceedings. Practically all
is contained in this one paragraph. "In the year 1497 John Cabot, a
Venetian, and his son Sebastian discovered on the 24th of June, about
five in the morning, that land to which no person had before ventured
to sail, which they named Prima Vista or first seen, because, as I
believe, it was the first part seen by them from the sea. The
inhabitants use the skins and furs of wild beasts for garments, which
they hold in as high estimation as we do our finest clothes. The soil
yields no useful production, but it abounds in white bears and deer
much larger than ours. Its coasts produce vast quantities of large
fish--great seals, salmons, soles above a yard in length, and
prodigious quantities of cod."
[Illustration: PART OF NORTH AMERICA, SHOWING SEBASTIAN CABOT'S
VOYAGE TO NEWFOUNDLAND. From the Map of 1544, usually ascribed to Cabot.
The names in brackets are inserted in order to make this extract and
its reference to Cabot's discoveries clear.]
So much for the contemporary account of this historic voyage. A letter
from England to Italy describes the effect of the voyage on England.
"The Venetian, our countryman, who went with a ship from Bristol in
quest of new islands, is returned and says that seven hundred leagues
hence he discovered land, the territory of the Great Khan. He coasted
for three hundred leagues and landed; he saw no human beings, but he
has brought hither to the King certain snares which had been set to
catch game and a needle for making nets. He also found some felled
trees. Wherefore he supposed there were inhabitants, and returned to
his ships in alarm. He was there three months on the voyage, and on
his return he saw two islands to starboard, but would not land, time
being precious, as he was short of provisions. He says the tides are
slack and do not flow as they do here. The King of England is much
pleased with this intelligence. The King has promised that in the
spring our countryman shall have ten ships to his order, and at his
request has conceded to him all the prisoners to man his fleet. The
King has also given him money wherewith to amuse himself till then,
and he is now at Bristol with his wife and sons. His name is Cabot,
and he is styled the great Admiral. Vast honour is paid to him; he
dresses in silk, and the English run after him like mad people."
Yet another letter of the time tells how "Master John Cabot has won
a part of Asia without a stroke of the sword." This Master John, too,
"has the description of the world in a chart and also in a solid globe
which he has made, and he shows where he landed. And they say that
it is a good and temperate country, and they think that Brazil wood
and silks grow there, and they affirm that that sea is covered with
fishes."
But "Master John" had set his heart on something greater. Constantly
hugging the shore of America, he expected to find the island of Cipango
(Japan) in the equinoctial region, where he should find all the spices
of the world and any amount of precious stones.
But after all this great promise Master John disappears from the pages
of history and his son Sebastian continues to sail across the Atlantic,
not always in the service of England, though in 1502 we find him
bringing to the King of England three men taken in the Newfoundland,
clothed in beasts' skins and eating raw flesh, and speaking a language
which no man could understand. They must have been kindly dealt with
by the King, for two years later the poor savages are "clothed like
Englishmen."
Though England claimed the discovery of this Newfoundland, the
Portuguese declared that one of their countrymen, Cortereal--a
gentleman of the royal household--had already discovered the "land
of the cod-fish" in 1463. But then had not the Vikings already
discovered this country five hundred years before?