About the time of Henry's accession a new spirit of exploration sprang
up. The Portuguese had coasted along the western shores of Africa as
far as the Gulf of Guinea, and had established trading posts there.
Later, they reached and doubled the Cape of Good Hope (1487).
Stimulated by what they had done, Columbus, who believed the earth to
be round, determined to sail westward in the hope of reaching the
Indies. In 1492 he made his first voyage, and discovered a number of
the West India Islands.
Five years afterward John Cabot, a Venetian residing in Bristol,
England, with his son Sebastian, persuaded the King to aid them in a
similar undertaking. They sailed from that port. On a map drawn by
the father after his return we read the following lines: "In the year
of our Lord 1497, John Cabot and his son Sebastian discovered that
country which no one before his time had ventured to approach, on the
24th June, about 5 o'clock in the morning." That entry is supposed to
record the discovery of Cape Breton Island; a few days later they set
foot on the mainland. This made the Cabots the first discoverers of
the American CONTINENT.
As an offset to that record we have the following, taken from the
King's private account book: "10. Aug. 1497, To him that found the new
isle 10 pounds."
Such was the humble beginning of a series of explorations which gave
England possession of the largest part of North America.