CHAPTER XIV

JOHN CABOT AND THE ENGLISH DISCOVERY OF NORTH AMERICA

[Sidenote: Awakening of geographical research]

Over the cloud-bridge of illusion lies the path of human progress. The

greatest achievements in history have been brought about more by the aid

of ideas than of truth. Religious illusions have ennobled the rude masses

and raised them to higher forms of society; in the domain of science

intuition and hypothesis have led to fresh victories, as also in

geographical exploration; there too illusions, like a fata Morgana, have

impelled men forward to great discoveries.

It is true that Columbus's plan was based on the correct idea that the

world was round; but if he had known the real distance of India--if he had

not been fettered by the ancient dogmas of the Greeks about the great

extension of the continent to the east, and their low estimate of the

earth's circumference, which made India appear so enticingly near--if he

had not believed in myths of lands in the west--he certainly would never

have been the discoverer of a new world.

The people of the Middle Ages lived, as we have seen, to a great extent

on remnants of the geographical knowledge and conceptions of the Greeks.

It was the age of superstition and speculation; with the exception of the

Norsemen and the Arabs, and in some degree also the Irish monks, there was

during the earlier part of this period no enterprise that broke through

the bounds of the known, except in the mythical world of fancy. It was not

until the Crusades that the horizon began to be widened. The eastern trade

of the Italian republics and the development of capable Italian seamen

were of great significance. At an early date they made discoveries along

the west coast of Africa. Of even greater importance was it that the

Portuguese learned seamanship from them, and no doubt from the Arabs as

well, and displayed great enterprise on the ocean along the shores of

Africa, finding groups of islands in the west, and finally the Azores in

1427; but these must have been discovered earlier, since similar islands

occur on Italian maps of the fourteenth century (cf. the Catalan Atlas of

1375).

When Ptolemy's work, and through it the geography of the Greeks, became

known in Western Europe at the beginning of the fifteenth century, it

created a greater stir in the learned world than even the discovery of

America did later; the circle of geographical ideas was greatly changed,

and the world was regarded with new eyes as a sphere. The doctrine of the

possibility of circumnavigating the earth was especially framed and

scientifically established by the celebrated astronomer Toscanelli of

Florence. But this was not a new doctrine; for the Greeks, Eratosthenes

and Posidonius, for example (cf. vol. i. pp. 77, 79), had already

announced it clearly enough, and even in the Middle Ages it was not

forgotten. We saw that Mandeville, the writer of fabulous narratives,

fully understood the possibility of sailing round the globe, and related

ancient tales about such a voyage (cf. p. 271). But at the close of the

fifteenth century the idea was seriously taken up by two men of action,

both Genoese. One of them was Columbus, the other Cabot. Whether the

latter had already conceived the idea before the first voyage of Columbus

we do not know for certain, but it is not improbable; the thought was

latent in the age, and many must have come near it. Another force

impelling men to the western voyage, and perhaps as powerful a one as

these scientific speculations, was the belief in the mythical world of

enticing islands that lay out in the ocean to the west of Europe and

Africa; the Isles of the Blest of the Greeks and the Atlantis of Plato,

conceptions, originally derived from the East, which were still alive,

though in other forms. There lay Antillia, the Isle of the Seven Cities,

mythical islands of the Arabs, and the Irish legendary world, Brandan's

isles and many others; some of them had had a part in creating the Norse

idea of Wineland and the White Men's Land; now they were given a fresh

lease of life, and power over the imagination of Western Europe. Possibly

in connection with echoes of tales of the Norsemen's discoveries--coming

from Iceland to Bristol, and thence to the continent--these mythical

islands helped to form a widespread belief in countries in the far west

across the ocean. The fact that the Portuguese, as has been said, really

found islands, the Azores, out in the Atlantic in 1427, also contributed

to establish this belief. From these islands many expeditions set out in

the course of the fifteenth century to search for new lands farther

west.[278]

[Sidenote: Connection of Bristol with Iceland]

From the beginning of the fifteenth century Bristol was in frequent

communication with Iceland, both for the fishery and for trade. As already

pointed out, this was certainly due in no small degree to the number of

Norwegians who had settled in the town. Sailors and merchants returning

from voyages to Iceland doubtless brought thence many tales of marvels and

of unknown islands and countries out in the ocean; legends of the

Icelanders' voyages to Greenland and Wineland may have served to entertain

the winter evenings in Bristol.[279] It was therefore surely not an

accident that attempts to find land in the west should originate

precisely in this enterprising sea-port.

[Sidenote: The Isle of Brazil]

On the maps of the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries there lay out in the

ocean to the west of Ireland the Isle of Brazil (cf. p. 228). It was the

Irish fortunate isle Hy Breasail, of which it is sung:

"On the ocean that hollows the rocks where ye dwell,

A shadowy land has appeared, as they tell;

Men thought it a region of sunshine and rest,

And they called it O'Brazil--the isle of the blest.

From year unto year, on the ocean's blue rim,

The beautiful spectre showed lovely and dim;

The golden clouds curtained the deep where it lay,

And it looked like an Eden, away, far away."

[Gerald Griffin.]

[Sidenote: Expedition to find Brazil, 1480]

We have seen that on certain maps this round fabled isle was brought into

connection with an "Insula verde," probably Greenland, and this conception

of the latter probably came from Iceland by way of England. We do not know

what myths were associated with Brazil at that time; but the belief in it

was so much alive that ships were sent out from Bristol to search for the

island. A contemporary account of such an attempt made in 1480 has come

down to us:[280]

"On the 15th of July [25th of July N.S.] ships ... [belonging to ?]

... and John Jay junior, of 80 tons burthen, sailed out of the port of

Bristol [to navigate] as far as the island of Brazil ["insulam de

Brasylle"] on the west side of Ireland, ploughing the seas by ... and

... Thlyde [Thomas Lyde or Lloyd ?] is the most expert seaman in the

whole of England, and on the 18th of September [27th of September

N.S.] the news reached Bristol that after having sailed the seas for

about 9 months they had not discovered the island, but on account of

storms had returned to the port ... in Ireland to allow the ships and

men to rest."

Parts of the MS. being illegible, it does not appear whether John Jay,

junior, was one of the leaders of the expedition or (as Harrisse thinks)

one of the owners of the ships, but in any case we must suppose that the

Thomas Lyde mentioned above was the actual leader or navigator. The "nine

months" ("9 menses") must either be a clerical error for two months or for

nine weeks, either of which would fit the dates given, while nine months

is meaningless. This must at any rate have been a serious attempt to find

lands in the west, twelve years before Columbus's discovery of the West

Indies; and this was not the last attempt made from Bristol to find this

happy land, for in 1497 Ayala, the Spanish Minister in London, writes:

"For the last seven years the Bristol people have equipped every year

two, three, or four caravels to go in search of the islands of Brazil

and of the Seven Cities,[281] following the imagination of this

Genoese."

[Sidenote: Giovanni Caboto]

"This Genoese" is Giovanni Caboto, or John Cabot, as he was called in

England. We find only a few casual statements about this man, who was to

give England the right of discovery to a new continent, and who, together

with his fellow townsman, Columbus, forms the great turning-point in the

history of discovery; for the most part an impenetrable obscurity rests

upon his life and activity.[282] As he is often called, e.g., in letters

from the contemporary Spanish Ambassadors in London, "this Genoese," or "a

Genoese like Columbus," we must suppose that he was born in Genoa; but

from existing State documents of the republic of Venice it appears that

Joanni Caboto obtained his freedom in Venice on March 28, 1476, after

having lived there fifteen years, which was the legal period necessary to

enable a foreigner to become a citizen of the republic.[283] From the

statements of contemporaries we must conclude that John Cabot was a

capable seaman and navigator, with a good knowledge of charts and

cartography; he also constructed a globe to illustrate his voyages. This

is no more than was to be expected of a Genoese, trained in the Venetian

school, which at that time was the foremost in seamanship. It may,

therefore, be regarded as probable that John Cabot was familiar with the

leading ideas of the geographical world of his time. Thus, while still

living at Venice, he may have heard of the idea of reaching Eastern Asia

by sailing to the west, which was put forward, notably by Toscanelli, as

early as 1474, and in this way it is possible that, independently of

Columbus, he may have thought of accomplishing this voyage to the fabulous

riches of the East by a shorter route than that which the Portuguese

sought to the south of Africa. In support of this it may be mentioned that

in 1497 he himself told the Minister of Milan in London, Raimondo di

Soncino, that

"he had once been at Mecca, whither spices were brought by caravans

from distant lands, and that those who brought them, when asked where

the said spices grew, answered that they did not know, but that other

caravans came to their home with this merchandise from more distant

lands, and these [other caravans] again say that it is brought to them

from other regions situated far away." Soncino adds that "Cabot

reasons thus--that if the eastern people tell those in the south that

these things come from places far distant from them, and so on from

hand to hand, then, granting the earth to be round, the last people

must obtain them in the north-west; and he says it in such a way that,

as it does not cost me more than it costs, I too believe it...."[284]

It is not improbable that Cabot may have thought that as, on account of

the spherical form of the earth, the circumference of the lines of

latitude decreases towards the north, the shortest way over the western

ocean to the east coast of Asia must lie along the northern latitudes (cf.

Posidonius, vol. i. p. 79). But we cannot lose sight of the fact that

Cabot did not advance this until long after the first voyage of Columbus,

and it is, therefore, uncertain whether the idea occurred to him before or

after that time. When this journey to Mecca took place we do not know.

Pedro de Ayala, the Spanish Minister in London, says in a letter to

Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, in 1498, that Cabot is "another Genoese

like Columbus, who has been in Seville and Lisbon, endeavouring to obtain

help for this discovery" [i.e., of land in the west]. The question is

whether this "who" refers to Columbus or Cabot. The latter appears more

likely, as it seems superfluous for the Minister to inform Ferdinand and

Isabella that Columbus had been in Seville. But here again we do not learn

when Cabot may have made this journey to Spain and Portugal, whether

before or after Columbus's voyage in 1492. In any case it may point to his

having been occupied for a long time with plans of this sort.

[Sidenote: John Cabot arrives in England, circa 1490 ?]

Nor do we know when John Cabot came to England; but perhaps it was about

1490 that he settled in Bristol. If he really came there with ideas of

making for Asia across the western ocean, he certainly found a favourable

soil for such plans in the port which had already sent out ships in 1480

to look for the island of Brazil. But it is also very possible that these

plans occurred to him after he had heard of this expedition, and had

become familiar at first hand with the ideas of western lands which

dominated the minds of the sailors of Western Europe (Englishmen and

Portuguese) of that time. With the many fresh arguments he brought with

him from Italy and the Mediterranean countries, it cannot have been

difficult for him to induce the merchants of Bristol to make fresh

attempts to find these countries in the west or north-west; and, to judge

from Ayala's letter of 1497 about the expeditions sent out annually for

the previous seven years, he seems to have been persistent.

We do not know whether Cabot himself took part in the attempts made after

1490. None of them seems to have met with any success before 1497, for

otherwise it would have been mentioned. But it was while the people of

Bristol were occupied with such enterprises that Cabot's great

fellow-countryman, Columbus, made his remarkable voyage across the ocean

farther to the south, in 1492, and found a new world, which he took to be

India. With that came the awakening with which the time was pregnant. The

news of the achievement, which fired all the adventurers of Europe, must

soon have reached Bristol, and put new life and a wider purpose into the

old plans.[285] That Cabot now became the soul of these plans is clear

enough from all the facts, and we see from existing public documents that

at the beginning of 1496 he was making special efforts to get an important

expedition sent out, and was applying to the King of England for

protection and letters patent to assure to himself and his three sons,

Lewis, Sebastian and Sancto, the profit of the discoveries he expected to

make on this expedition, which was to consist of five ships.

[Sidenote: Cabot's letters patent, 1496]

The letters patent were accorded on March 5 (14th N.S.), 1496,[286] and

give Cabot and his sons the right under the English flag

"to sail in all parts, regions and bays of the sea, in the east, west

and north, with five ships or vessels of whatever burthen or kind, and

with as many men as they wished to take with them, at their own

expense, and to find, discover and investigate whatever islands,

countries, regions or provinces belonging to heathens or infidels, in

whatsoever part of the world they might be, which before that time

were unknown to all Christians." They also had the right as vassals or

governors of the King of England, to take possession of whatsoever

towns, camps or islands they might discover and be in a position to

capture and occupy. They were to give the king a fifth part of all

merchandise, profits, etc., of this voyage or of each voyage, as often

as they came to Bristol, to which port alone they were bound to

return. They were exempted from all duty on goods they might bring

from newly discovered lands, and were given a monopoly of all trade

and traffic with them. Furthermore, all English subjects, both by land

and sea, were ordered to afford the said John, his sons, heirs and

assigns, good assistance, "both in fitting-out their ships or vessels,

and in supplying them with provisions which were paid for with their

own money."

As the south is not mentioned among the regions which might be explored,

and as the new countries might not be known to Christians, it is clear

that Cabot is here enjoined not to frequent those waters where the

Spaniards and Portuguese had just made their most important discoveries,

and thus run the risk of bringing England into conflict with the Spanish

or Portuguese Crown.

[Sidenote: Cabot's preparations and plans]

As the letters patent bear the same date (March 5) and are to some extent

couched in the same terms as Cabot's petition, they must have been granted

as the result of previous negotiation and agreement between Cabot and the

King, and must therefore contain Cabot's plans for the new voyage, which

were thus already formed in March 1496, when he had doubtless made at all

events some preparations for the expedition.

That Cabot's plans had been spoken of at the English Court as early as

January of that year appears from an existing letter from Ferdinand and

Isabella of Spain to the Spanish Ambassador in England, Dr. Ruy Gonzales

de Puebla. The letter is dated March 28 (April 6, N.S.), 1496, and is an

answer to a letter, now lost, of January 21 (30, N.S.) from the

Ambassador. The answer is as follows:

"You write that one like Columbus has come to propose to the King of

England another enterprise like that of the Indies, without prejudice

to Spain or Portugal. He has full liberty. But we believe that this

enterprise was put in the way of the King of England by the King of

France in order to divert him from other business. Take care that the

King of England be not deceived in this or any other matter. The

French will try as much as they can to lead him into such enterprises;

but they are very uncertain undertakings, and are not to be commenced

for the moment. Moreover they cannot be put into execution without

prejudice to us and to the King of Portugal."[287]

It will be understood from this that Cabot's plans had attracted attention

in London, and that great importance was attached to them; consequently

they must have been discussed for some time before the granting of letters

patent. For this reason also, we must suppose that Cabot was prepared for

his expedition in March 1496. It seems therefore unlikely that this was

the expedition which did not leave until the year following that in which

he applied for the letters patent, all the more so as the expedition of

1497 consisted of only one ship.[288] If we may interpret Ayala's words

of 1498 literally, that Bristol had sent out ships yearly for the seven

previous years to search for the island of Brazil, etc., then we must

suppose that Cabot actually set out in 1496 with the projected expedition

of five ships, but for some reason or other turned back without having

accomplished his object. After having been unfortunate in so large an

undertaking, Cabot may have found it less easy to enlist support for a

fresh attempt in 1497, and was thus obliged to content himself with one

small ship and a scanty crew (eighteen men).[289] It may also be supposed

that as the earlier expeditions consisting of several ships had failed to

find the land they were looking for, Cabot as a practical seaman wished to

make a pioneer expedition with a small swift-sailing craft and a picked

crew, before again embarking on a large and costly undertaking. He was

more independent, and could sail farther and more rapidly to the west,

than when he was tied by having to keep a fleet of several ships together.

[Sidenote: Sebastian Cabot's participation in 1497 doubtful]

Cabot's sons, who are mentioned in the letters patent, may have taken part

in the voyage of 1496; on the other hand, it is less probable that they

were among the eighteen men in 1497.[290] It is true that his son

Sebastian claimed to have been present as one of the leaders of the

expedition, but he also claimed to have made the voyage alone, so that no

weight can be attached to his words. In any case, he must have been very

young at that time, and he cannot have played any important part. Nor is

a word said about him in a single one of the letters from contemporary

foreign ambassadors in London, and in Pasqualigo's letter of August 23,

1497, we are told of John Cabot after his return that "in the meantime

[i.e., until his next voyage] he is staying with his Venetian wife and his

sons in Bristol." This does not seem to show that any of the sons had been

with him; and the protest of the Wardens of the Drapers' Company of London

(see later) against Sebastian as a navigator points in the same direction.

Not a line have we from Cabot's own hand either about this important

voyage of 1497 or any other. We hear that he made maps of his discoveries;

but these too have been lost, like so many other maps that must have been

drawn during this period before 1500.[291] We can, therefore, only draw

our conclusions from the statements of others, some contemporary and some

later.

The most important documents giving trustworthy information about John

Cabot's voyage in 1497 are the following:

[Sidenote: Most important authorities for the voyage of 1497]

(1) The three letters from his two compatriots in London: one from the

Venetian, Lorenzo Pasqualigo, to his two brothers in Venice, dated August

23 (September 1, N.S.), 1497; and two letters from the Milanese Minister,

Raimondo di Soncino, to the Duke of Milan, dated August 24 (September 2,

N.S.) and December 18 (27), 1497.

(2) An entry in the accounts of the King of England's privy purse, from

which we see that Cabot was back in London by August 10 (19, N.S.), 1497.

(3) The map of the world, drawn in 1500, by the well-known Spanish pilot,

Juan de la Cosa.

(4) A Bristol chronicle by Maurice Toby, written in 1565, but from older

sources.

Besides these may be mentioned a legend on the map of the world of 1544

which, according to what is written on it, was the work of Sebastian

Cabot. But even if this be correct, the legend is of no great value, as he

cannot be regarded as a trustworthy authority.[292]

[Sidenote: Pasqualigo's letter of Aug. 23, 1497]

Lorenzo Pasqualigo writes on August 23 (September 1, N.S.), 1497, to his

two brothers in Venice, amongst other things:

"Our Venetian, who set out with a little ship from Bristol to find new

islands, has returned, and says that he has discovered 700 leagues

[Italian nautical leagues] away the mainland of the kingdom of the

Great Khan ('Gran Cam') [China], and that he sailed 300 leagues along

its coast and landed, but saw no people; but he brought here to the

King some snares that were set up to catch game, and a needle for

making nets, and he found some trees with cuts in them, from which he

concluded that there were inhabitants. Being in doubt he returned to

the ship,[293] and was three months on the voyage, and this is

certain; and on the way back he saw two islands on the right hand, but

would not land so as not to lose time, as he was short of provisions.

He says that the tides are sluggish and do not run as here [i.e., in

England]. The King has promised him next time ten ships fitted out

according to his desires, and has given him as many prisoners to take

with him as he has asked, except those who are in prison for high

treason; and he has given him money to enjoy himself with in the

meantime, and now he is with his Venetian wife and his sons at

Bristol. His name is Zuam Talbot [sic, for Cabot], and he is called

the Grand Admiral and great honour is shown him, and he goes dressed

in silk and the Englishmen run after him like madmen, but he will have

nothing to do with any of them, and so [do] many of our vagabonds. The

discoverer of these things has planted on the soil he has found the

banner of England and that of St. Mark, as he is a Venetian; so that

our flag has been hoisted far away" [cf. Harrisse, 1882, p. 322].

[Sidenote: Soncino's letter of Aug. 24, 1497]

The Minister, Raimondo di Soncino, writes on August 24 (September 2,

N.S.), 1497, to the Duke of Milan, amongst other things:

"Some months ago ('sono mesi passate') his majesty the King [of

England] sent out a Venetian who is a good sailor, and has much

ability in finding islands, and he has returned safely and has

discovered two very large and fertile islands, and found as it seems

the seven cities[294] 400 leagues to the west of the island of

England. His majesty the King here will on the first opportunity send

him with fifteen or twenty ships..." [cf. Harrisse, 1882, p. 323].

[Sidenote: Soncino's letter of Dec. 18, 1497]

On December 18 (27), 1497, Soncino again writes to the Duke more fully

about Cabot's voyage:

"Perhaps amongst Your Excellency's many occupations it may not be

unwelcome to hear how this Majesty has acquired a part of Asia without

drawing his sword. In this kingdom is a Venetian called Messer Zoanne

Caboto, of gentle bearing, very skilful in navigation, who, seeing

that the most serene Kings, first of Portugal and then of Spain, had

taken possession of unknown islands, proposed to himself to make a

similar acquisition for the said Majesty. After having obtained the

royal privilege, which assured to him the use of the dominions he

might discover, while the Crown retained the sovereignty over them, he

gave himself into the hands of fortune with a small ship and eighteen

men, and sailed from Bristol, a port on the west of this kingdom; and

after passing Ireland farther west, and then steering to the north, he

began to sail towards the eastern regions [i.e., westwards to the

lands of the Orient, thus making for the east coast of Asia], leaving

(after some days) the pole-star on his right hand; and after a good

deal of wandering ('havendo assai errato') he finally came to the land

('terra ferma'), where he raised the royal banner and took possession

of the country for this Highness, and after having taken some tokens

[of his discovery] he returned. As the said Messer Zoanne [John] is a

foreigner and poor, he would not be believed, if his crew, who are

nearly all English and belong to Bristol, had not confirmed the truth

of what he said. This Messer Zoanne has the description of the world

on a chart, and also on a solid sphere which he has made, showing on

it where he has been; and in travelling towards the East he went as

far as to the land of the Tanais [i.e., Asia], and they say that the

country there is excellent and temperate, and expect that brazil-wood

(il brasilio) and silk[295] grow there, and they declare that this sea

is full of fish which can be caught not only with the seine, but also

with a dip-net [or bow-net ?], to which is fastened a stone to sink it

in the water, and this I have heard related by the said Messer Zoanne.

And the said Englishmen, his companions, say that they took so many

fish that this kingdom will no longer have any need of Iceland, from

which country there is a very great trade in the fish they call

stockfish. But Messer Zoanne has set his mind on higher things, and

thinks of sailing from the place he has occupied, keeping along the

coast farther to the east, until he arrives opposite to an island

called Cipango [i.e., Japan], lying in the equinoctial region, where

he thinks that all the spices of the world, as well as jewels, are to

be found." Then follows the reference to his visit to Mecca, already

cited (p. 296). The letter continues: "And what is more, this Majesty,

who is prudent and not prodigal, has such confidence in him on account

of what he has accomplished, that he gives him a very good subsidy, as

Messer Zoanne himself tells me. And it is said that his Majesty will

shortly fit out some ships for him, and will give him all the

criminals to go out to this land and form a colony, so that they hope

to establish in London an even greater emporium of spices than that at

Alexandria. The principals in this enterprise belong to Bristol; they

are great sailors, and now that they know where to go, they say that

the voyage thither will not take more than fifteen days, if they have

a favourable wind on leaving Ireland. I have also spoken with a

Burgundian of Messer Zoanne's company, who confirms all this, and who

wishes to return thither, because the Admiral (for this is the title

they give Messer Zoanne) has given him an island; and he has given

another to his barber [surgeon ?] from Castione,[296] a Genoese, and

both consider themselves counts, nor do they reckon Monsignor the

Admiral for less than a prince. I believe some poor Italian monks who

have been promised bishoprics will also go on this voyage. And if I

had made friends with the Admiral when he was about to sail, I should

at least have got an archbishopric; but I thought the benefits that

Your Excellency has reserved for me were more certain..." [cf.

Harrisse, 1882, pp. 324, ff.].

As confirming and to some extent supplementing what is said in these

letters, we have various statements in the letters of the two Spanish

Ambassadors about the voyage in the following year (see later); they both

say that the newly discovered country lay not more than four hundred

Spanish leagues distant.

[Sidenote: Toby's chronicle]

In Maurice Toby's Bristol chronicle of 1565, we read of the year 1497:

"This year, on St. John the Baptist's day, the land of America was

found by the merchants of Bristowe in a shippe of Bristowe called the

'Mathew,' the which said shippe departed from the port of Bristowe the

second day of May, and came home again the 6th of August next

following."[297]

Of course this chronicle was written long after the voyage took place; but

it is extremely probable that it was taken from older sources; for it

agrees in every way (both as to the length of the voyage and the time of

the return) with the contemporary statements of the Italian Ministers,

with whose letters the author of the chronicle cannot possibly have been

acquainted. I can, therefore, see no reason why this statement should not

be correct. But the most important authorities are the letters referred

to.

[Sidenote: Cabot's western course in 1497]

If we compare all this we shall get a fairly complete idea of the voyage

of 1497. After sailing round the south of Ireland, probably in the middle

of May according to our calendar, Cabot would at first have held a

somewhat northerly course. If this is correct, he may have done so for

several reasons: unfavourable winds, which in May are prevalent from the

south-west; the idea that great-circle sailing would prove the shortest

way;[298] fear of encroaching on the waters of the Spaniards and

Portuguese to the south; finally, perhaps, an idea that the course to Asia

was shorter in northern latitudes (?). But we cannot tell what reasons

decided him, nor whether he steered very far to the north at all; for it

must be remembered that in speaking to a foreign Minister he may have had

good reason for making his course appear somewhat northerly, lest it might

be said that the lands he had arrived at were those discovered by the

Spaniards. In any case, it was not long before he made for the west as

rapidly as possible towards his goal, and we cannot, therefore, suppose

that he went very far north. And it is expressly stated in Soncino's first

letter that the lands lay to the west of England, and in the letters of

the Spanish Ambassadors in the following year we read that, after having

seen the direction taken by Cabot, they thought that the land he had found

was that belonging to Spain, or was "at the end of that land." This again

does not point to any northerly course.

Many writers have thought that from Soncino's statements about the courses

a conclusion might be drawn as to where on the American coast Cabot made

the land; but this is impossible. In the first place Soncino's words are

anything but definite; besides which, of course, Cabot could not steer in

a straight line across the Atlantic, but with the frequent contrary winds

of May and June was obliged to shape many courses, and often had to beat;

in fact, we are told as much in Soncino's words, "havendo assai errato."

Every one who has had experience of the navigation of sailing ships knows

how difficult it is under such conditions to make way in the precise

direction one wishes, however good one's reckoning may be; currents and

lee-way set one far out of the reckoned course, and on a voyage so long as

across the Atlantic the lee-way may be considerable. Whether Cabot was

able to correct his reckoning by the aid of astronomical observations

(with a Jacob's staff or an astrolabe) we do not know, but we hear nothing

of latitudes, so that it is not very probable (cf. also Columbus's gross

error in latitude). Especially during the first part of the voyage

currents and prevailing winds may have set Cabot to the north-east; but he

may also have encountered, particularly during the latter part of the

voyage in June, heavy north-westerly gales which set him still farther to

the south, and he may thus have had a southerly lee-way. In addition, as

Dawson has so strongly insisted, the error of the compass must have set

him to the south. Whether Cabot was aware of the error, and remarked its

variation during the westward voyage, we do not know; it is possible,

since we know that Columbus remarked this variation during his first

voyage; but in any case, Cabot doubtless paid as little attention to it as

Columbus in his navigation. Unfortunately we do not know the amount of the

error at that time, but by examining the relation between the true

direction of the coast-lines and those we find on the most trustworthy

compass-charts (especially the Cantino chart) of a little later than 1500

(which are drawn in ignorance of the error), I have attempted to

reconstruct the distribution of the error in the Atlantic Ocean at that

time (cf. chart below); of course, this is purely hypothetical. According

to this, during Cabot's voyage westwards the error would have varied from

about 6° east at Bristol to about 30° west off the coast of America. If we

suppose that he was able to follow a magnetic western course the whole way

from the south coast of Ireland, then he must have passed quite to the

south of Cape Race in Newfoundland. But we are told that he first held

somewhat to the north, though we do not know how much, and, on the other

hand, his lee-way may have set him at least as far to the south. The

assertion that the course mentioned by Soncino must have brought Cabot to

land in Labrador or Newfoundland is thus untenable. Nor does it agree with

Soncino's allusion to the country as excellent and temperate, and one

where dye-wood and silk might be expected to grow. If this be explained

away as due to the usual propensity of discoverers at that time to exhibit

the newly found countries in the most favourable light, which is very

possible, it is not so easy to explain why we do not hear a word about

their having encountered ice on the voyage. If on his western voyage Cabot

came to Labrador or the north-east coast of Newfoundland some time in

June, it is improbable that he should not have seen icebergs, and it is

equally unlikely that the Italian Ministers should not have mentioned

this, which to them would be a great curiosity, if they had heard of it;

we see, too, that later, in descriptions of Sebastian Cabot's alleged

voyage, the ice is mentioned above all else. Even if John Cabot might

have kept quiet about the ice, lest it should cool the hopes raised by

his narrative, it is not likely that his crew would have done so, if they

had met with it. But although other statements of the crew are reported,

we do not hear a single word about ice, nor even of icebergs, which are

common enough on the Newfoundland Banks at that time of the year, and

would be an entirely new experience even to Bristol sailors who were

accustomed to the voyage to Iceland. From this we must suppose that in the

course of his beating to the west Cabot was set so far to the south of the

Newfoundland Banks that he did not encounter icebergs, and that he first

made land somewhere farther west.[299]

[Illustration: Hypothetical chart of the variation of the compass in the

Atlantic, circa 1500]

[Sidenote: Cabot sighted America June 24, 1497]

According to the Bristol chronicle already quoted (Toby, 1565), and

according to a legend on the map of 1544, which is ascribed to the

collaboration of Sebastian Cabot, it was on St. John's Day (July 3, N.S.)

that the first land was discovered. In spite of Harrisse's objections[300]

it does not appear to me unlikely that this may be correct. If he sailed

on May 2 (11), he was fifty-three days at sea. Supposing that he landed at

Cape Breton, the distance in a straight line on the course indicated is

about 2200 nautical miles. Consequently he would have made an average of

forty-two miles a day in the desired direction. This is doubtless not very

fast sailing, but agrees with just what we should expect, since he often

had to beat, and "wandered a good deal," in the words of Soncino.

[Sidenote: La Cosa's map represents Cabot's discoveries in 1497]

For determining the question, what part of North America it was that Cabot

discovered, it appears to me there is no trustworthy document but La

Cosa's map of the world of 1500.[301] The Basque cartographer, Juan de la

Cosa, who owned and navigated Columbus's ship in 1492, and who was

afterwards entrusted with many public undertakings, enjoyed a reputation

in Spain as a map-maker and sailor. He was commissioned by the Spanish

Crown to produce a map of the world, and we must suppose that for this

work he was provided with all the maps and geographical information that

were available in Spain. From a letter of July 25, 1498, to Ferdinand and

Isabella of Spain, from Ayala, the Spanish Minister in London, we know

that the latter had obtained a copy of "the chart or mapa mundi" that John

Cabot had made in order to set forth his discoveries of 1497; and there

can be no doubt that a copy of this was also sent to Spain, as Ayala says

he believes their Majesties already had the map. It may, therefore, be

regarded as a matter of course that La Cosa was in possession of this map

when, less than two years later, he was about to make his own, and that it

is from this source and no other that he derived his information about the

English discoveries. We do not know of any other map being sent from

England to Spain during these two years, and there is no ground whatever

for assuming that La Cosa's information may be derived from Cabot's voyage

of 1498, which in any case must have been a failure.

[Illustration: North-western portion of Juan de la Cosa's map of 1500.

Only a few of the names are given; the network of compass-lines is

omitted]

For the understanding of La Cosa's map it must be remarked first of all

that it is a compass-chart, and that it takes no notice of the magnetic

variation on the American coast. This explains the fact that, for

instance, lines of coast which in reality run from west to south-west, are

made to appear on the chart as running from west to east. Furthermore, the

latitude of the coast of North America is made too northerly, through

coasts which, for instance, lie magnetic west of Ireland, being placed on

the chart true west of it. In this way Cape Breton (or Cape Race in

Newfoundland ?) can be brought to about the same latitude as the south of

Ireland, whereas in reality it lies nearly 5° farther south.

The coast marked with five English flags is, of course, the land

discovered by Cabot. That La Cosa had a map of this district is further

shown by the details, which distinguish it from his delineation of the

remainder of the North American coast, but which give it a resemblance to

that part of South America which is marked with Spanish flags and of which

he had a map. Curiously enough only part of the English district has

names; we must suppose that this is the coast that Cabot is said to have

sailed along. La Cosa's representation of the rest of the North American

coast is doubtless guesswork, although it has features which bear a

remarkable resemblance to reality; but it is not altogether impossible

that he may have had oral or written reports of later voyages (?), which

are unknown to us.

La Cosa's map is in complete agreement with the statements in the letters

of Pasqualigo, Soncino, and the two Spanish Ambassadors. Soncino says that

the country lies four hundred Italian leagues to the west of England,

while both Puebla and Ayala say that they believe the distance to be no

more than four hundred Spanish leagues. On the other hand, according to

Pasqualigo, Cabot said that at a distance of seven hundred Italian leagues

he had discovered the mainland of the kingdom of the Great Khan, and that

he had sailed [i.e., after having sailed ?] three hundred leagues along

the coast. It has been thought that there is here a disagreement between

the four hundred leagues of the three first-named and the seven hundred of

Pasqualigo, but if we interpret it, in what must be the most reasonable

way, as meaning that the distance of seven hundred leagues does not refer

to the nearest land, but to the most distant, where Cabot thought that he

had at last come within the boundaries of the kingdom of the Great Khan

(China) and did not venture to go farther, then we have complete

agreement, since the three hundred leagues he must first have sailed along

the coast must be deducted in order to get the distance from England to

the nearest land. The length of a Venetian "lega," or a Spanish "legua,"

cannot be precisely determined. If we assume [cf. Kretschmer, 1909, pp.

63, ff.] that between 20 and 17-1/2 went to a degree of latitude, each

league would correspond to between 3 and 3.43 geographical miles

(minutes), or between 5.6 and 6.3 kilometres. According to the former

estimate (three miles), four hundred leagues will be about equal to 1200

miles, and seven hundred leagues to about 2100 miles.[302] The first

distance is, at any rate, a good deal too small, while the second is too

great. This may easily be explained by Cabot, or his crew, having

naturally wished to make the voyage to the newly discovered country appear

as little deterrent as possible, and, therefore, having underestimated the

distance, while, desiring to make the country itself as large as possible,

they greatly over-estimated the length of their sail along the coast. That

the voyagers really supposed the distance to the newly discovered land to

be four hundred leagues from Ireland agrees also with Soncino's statement

that the Bristol sailors thought the voyage would not occupy more than

fifteen days from Ireland.

La Cosa's map is drawn as an equidistant compass-chart, and we can

therefore make ourselves a scale of miles by using the distance between

the Equator and the Tropic. In this way we find that the easternmost

headland, "Cauo de Ynglaterra" (Cape England), on the coast discovered by

Cabot lies four hundred leagues from Ireland, while the distance from it

to the most western headland with a name, "Cauo descubierto" (the

discovered cape), is about three hundred leagues.[303] Furthermore this

coast lies on the map due west of Bristol and southern England, as it

should according to Soncino's first letter.

[Sidenote: Cabot's discovery, according to La Cosa's map, is probably Nova

Scotia]

There is thus full agreement between this map and all the contemporary

information we have of the voyage, and there is no room for doubt that its

names represent John Cabot's discoveries of 1497, which thus extended from

Cauo de Ynglaterra on the east (with two islands, Y. verde and S. Grigor,

to the east of it) to Cauo descubierto on the west. But it seems to me

that this tract must be either the south coast of Newfoundland or the

south-east coast of Nova Scotia, and Cauo de Ynglaterra must be either

Cape Race or Cape Breton; the latter is more probable;[304] this also

agrees best with all the documents we possess and involves fewest

difficulties. It might then seem probable that Cabot first arrived off the

land at Cauo de Ynglaterra or Cape Breton,[305] and that he sailed

westward (magnetic) from there to explore the newly discovered country.

The main direction of the coast of Nova Scotia is about W.S.W., and if we

suppose that the compass error at Cape Breton was then about 28° W., which

I have found in another way[306] (cf. above, p. 308; it is now 25° W.),

this will mean that the coast extended a little to the north of west by

compass, which exactly agrees with La Cosa's map. On account of contrary

winds, and of the care necessary in sailing along an unknown coast, the

voyage may have proceeded slowly, and Cabot greatly over-estimated his

distances, which is not an uncommon thing with explorers in unknown

waters, ever since the days of Pytheas. Finally, about three hundred miles

on, Cabot came to the south-western point of Nova Scotia, which at first

he must have taken for the end of the land. But as he certainly would be

bent upon deciding this, he may have continued to sail across the mouth of

the Bay of Fundy until he again sighted land, the fertile coast of smiling

Maine, stretching westward as far as the eye could reach, and he would

then have thought that he had surely arrived at the coast of the mainland

of the vast kingdom of the Great Khan. Here it must have been that he

landed, as related by Pasqualigo and Soncino,[307] and saw signs of

inhabitants, but met with none. He may, of course, have landed earlier at

Cape Breton or in Nova Scotia without finding trace of inhabitants, and

said nothing about it; for he was not looking for an uninhabited country,

but the wealthy Eastern Asia. It may also very well be the spot where he

first found signs of men that is called Cauo descubierto; for it is

striking that on La Cosa's map this name is not placed on any projecting

headland of the coast, but in front of a comparatively deep gulf, which in

that case might be the mouth of the Bay of Fundy. And it is in the sea to

the west of this bay, across which Cabot sailed, that La Cosa has placed

his "mar descubierta por jnglese" (sea discovered by the English). La

Cosa's "mar" will then be probably the whole gulf between Cape Sable and

Cape Cod.[308]

[Sidenote: Cabot's homeward voyage, 1497]

Cabot now thought he had found what he so eagerly sought. He was not

provisioned for any long stay, and with his small crew he could not expose

himself to possible attacks of the inhabitants of the country.

Consequently he had good reason for turning back. To provide himself with

the necessary water, and perhaps wood, for the homeward voyage would not

take long. Food was a greater difficulty, and we are told that he was so

short of it that on the way back he would not stop at new islands; it is

true that we hear of abundance of fish, but this cannot have been

sufficient. He then returned to Cauo de Ynglaterra, and thence homewards

as quickly as possible.[309] The distance from Cape Breton past the

southern point of Nova Scotia to the coast of Maine is 420 geographical

miles. There and back, with a cruise in the open sea towards Cape Cod, it

might be 1200 miles. If we suppose Cabot to have taken twenty days to do

it, including the time occupied in going ashore, this will be sixty miles

a day, which may seem a good deal; but if on the way back he had a

favourable wind and was able to sail a somewhat straight course, it is

possible; and, in that case, he may have been back at Cape Breton or Cauo

de Ynglaterra about July 14 (23), and then have laid his course for home

east by compass out to sea. This course took him off Newfoundland, and he

had the island of Grand Miquelon, with Burin Peninsula to the east of it

["S. Grigor" on La Cosa's map ?], in sight on his starboard bow, or on his

right hand, as Pasqualigo says. As he was afraid of more land in that

direction, which would be awkward to come near, especially when sailing at

night, he bore off to the south-east, where he knew from the outward

voyage that there was open water. After a time, thinking himself safe, he

again set his course east by compass, but then had fresh land, Avalon

Peninsula, ahead or on his starboard bow, and again had to bear off. He

took this for another large island ["Y. verde"], but would not land, both

on account of shortness of provisions, and because he wanted to be home as

soon as possible with the news of his discovery, and to prepare a larger

expedition to take possession of the new country.[310] To be quite sure of

encountering no more land, Cabot may then have borne off well to the

south-east, thus reaching the Newfoundland Banks on the south, and keeping

quite clear of the icebergs which are found farther north. For his eastern

voyage he was well served by the wind, since nearly all the winds in this

part of the Atlantic are between south and west or north-west in July and

the beginning of August. He was further helped by the current to some

extent, and may, therefore, very easily have made the homeward voyage in

twenty-three days, and sailed back into the port of Bristol about the 6th

(15th) of August, 1497. That Cabot cannot have taken much more than twenty

days on the return voyage also appears from the statement already quoted

of the Bristol sailors, that they could make the voyage in fifteen

days.[311]

[Sidenote: Legend on the map of 1544]

The view of John Cabot's voyage of 1497 set forth above agrees also with

the map of the world of 1544, which is attributed to the collaboration of

Sebastian Cabot, but which the latter in any case cannot have seen or

corrected after it was engraved, probably in the Netherlands, and by an

engraver who did not understand Spanish, the language of the map [cf.

Harrisse, 1892, 1896; Dawson, 1894]. Its delineation of the northern east

coast of North America is for the most part borrowed from the

representation on French maps of Cartier's discoveries in the Gulf of St.

Lawrence (cf. Deslien's map of 1541). Cape Breton is called "Prima tierra

vista," and in the inscription referring to the northern part of the

American coast,[312] the import of which must apparently be derived from

Sebastian Cabot, we read:

"This land was discovered by Joan Caboto Veneciano and Sebastian

Caboto his son in the year 1494 [sic] after the birth of our saviour

Jesus Christ, the 24th of June in the morning; to which they gave the

name 'Prima Tierra Vista,' and to a large island which is near the

said land they gave the name of St. John, because it was discovered

the same day" [i.e., St. John's Day].[313]

The remainder of this legend--that the natives wear the skins of animals,

that the country is unfertile, that there are many white bears, vast

quantities of fish, mostly called bacallaos, etc. etc.--cannot refer, as

Harrisse appears to think, to this land (Cape Breton) which was first

discovered, but to the northern regions of the new continent as a whole.

It is characteristic of this map, as of the earlier French ones, that

Newfoundland is cut up into a number of small islands. If the view is

correct that Y. Verde and S. Grigor on La Cosa's map are also parts of

Newfoundland, it may explain the fact of Sebastian Cabot having no

difficulty in bringing this map, or his father's, into agreement with the

French ones, since he must have thought that a number of "islands,"

discovered later, had been added.

[Illustration: Northern portion of the map of the world of 1544,

attributed to Sebastian Cabot]

[Sidenote: The island of St. John]

No island of St. John is to be found on La Cosa's map, but there is a Cauo

S. Johan not far from Cauo de Ynglaterra and close to the island that is

called Illa de la trinidat. That the name is attached to a cape instead of

to an island may be due to a transposition in the course of repeated

copyings. On the Portuguese map of Pedro Reinel, of the beginning of the

sixteenth century (that is, only a few years after 1497), Cape Breton is

marked without a name, but an island lies off it, called "Sam Johã" [St.

John]; on Maggiolo's map of 1527 there is "C. de bertonz," with an island,

"Ja de S. Ioan," in the same place; and on Michael Lok's map, in Hakluyt's

"Divers Voyages," 1582, we have "C. Breton" with the island of "S. Johan,"

lying off it, and on Cape Breton Island (or Nova Scotia), called

Norombega, is written "J. Cabot, 1497" (see p. 323). There seems thus to

have been a definite tradition that it was here that John Cabot made the

land, and St. John may then be the little Scatari Island which lies on the

outside of Cape Breton Island [cf. Dawson, 1897, pp. 210, ff.]. That the

"I. de S. Juan" on the map of 1544 lies on the inside of "Prima tierra

vista" and answers to the Magdalen Islands is of minor importance; we do

not even know whether Sebastian Cabot can be made responsible for it, as

it may be due to a confusion on the part of the draughtsman. More

importance must be attached on this point to the agreement between the

earlier maps of 1500, 1527, and that of Reinel (compared with Lok's map in

Hakluyt), than to the map of 1544.[314]

[Illustration: Portion of Pedro Reinel's map, beginning of the sixteenth

century]

[Sidenote: Cabot's return]

John Cabot returned to Bristol at the beginning of August, probably about

the 6th (15th, N.S.). He naturally hastened to London to tell the King of

his discovery, and we know that he must have been there on the 10th (20th)

August, for there is an entry in the accounts of the King's privy purse:

"10 August, 1497. To hym that found the new isle, £10."

This cannot be called an exaggerated regal payment for discovering a new

continent, even though £10 in the money of that time corresponds to about

£120 now. Later in the same autumn Cabot was granted a pension from the

King of £20 a year.

Meanwhile, as the letters already quoted show, his discovery attracted

much attention in England, and gave rise to great expectations.

[Illustration: Portion of Michael Lok's map, London, 1582]

What Cabot accomplished by his voyage of 1497 was in the first place to

prove the existence of a great country beyond the ocean to the west of

Ireland, which country he himself assumed to belong to Asia and to be part

of China. Besides this he discovered great quantities of fish off the

newly discovered coast; a discovery which was soon to create a great

fishery, carried on by several nations, off Newfoundland, and one which

surpassed the Iceland fishery, hitherto the most important. But John Cabot

evidently had little idea of the importance of this last discovery. He

had, as Soncino says, "set his mind on higher things," for he thought that

by following the coast of the mainland farther to the west he would be

able to reach the wealthy Cipango (Japan) and the Spice Islands in the

equatorial regions.

[Sidenote: Cabot's voyage of 1498]

Here we have in brief the plan of his next voyage. Cabot himself had

great expectations and saw a brilliant future before him, when he would

rule as a prince over newly conquered kingdoms which he would make subject

to the English Crown. And, as we have seen, he was liberal in distributing

islands to his barber, to a Burgundian, etc.

At the beginning of 1498 Cabot obtained new letters patent, dated February

3, in the thirteenth year of Henry VII.'s reign.[315] These letters are in

John Cabot's name alone (his sons are not mentioned this time).

They give him the right of taking at his pleasure six English ships in

any English port, of 200 tons or under, with their necessary

equipment, "and theym convey and lede to the Londe and Iles of late

founde by the seid John in oure name and by oure commaundemente, payng

for theym and every of theym as and if we should in or for our owen

cause paye and noon otherwise." And the said John might further "take

and receyve into the seid shippes and every of theym all suche

maisters maryners pages and our subjects, as of their owen free wille

woll goo and passe with hym in the same shippes to the seid Londe or

Iles," etc. etc.

It thus seems as if this not very prodigal king had on second thoughts

considerably reduced his first plan of sending a fleet of ten, fifteen or

twenty ships with all the prisoners of the realm.

[Sidenote: Authorities for the voyage of 1498]

The most important documents on this voyage are:

(1) Two contemporary letters, written before the return of the expedition,

by the older Spanish Ambassador in London, Ruy Gonzales de Puebla, and the

younger contemporary Spanish Minister in London, Pedro de Ayala, to

Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. The latter's is dated July 23 (August 3,

N.S.), 1498; the former's is undated, but of about the same time.

(2) A narrative in the so-called "Cottonian Chronicle"[316] (the contents

of which are the same as in Robert Fabyan's Chronicle) undoubtedly refers

to this voyage of 1498 and not, as many have assumed, to the voyage of

1497. It appears to be a contemporary notice of 1498, written before the

return of the expedition.

These documents contain all that we know with certainty about John Cabot's

voyage of 1498.

[Sidenote: Puebla's letter of July 1498]

The Spanish Ambassador, Ruy Gonzales de Puebla, writes in 1498 to

Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain (probably in July):

"The King of England sent five armed ships with another Genoese like

Columbus to search for the island of Brasil and others near it,[317]

and they were provisioned for a year. It is said that they will return

in September. Seeing the route they take to reach it, it is what Your

Highnesses possess. The King has spoken to me at various times about

it, he hopes to derive great advantage from it. I believe that it is

not more than 400 leagues distant from here" [cf. Harrisse, 1882, p.

328].

[Sidenote: Ayala's letter of July 25, 1498]

Pedro de Ayala writes, July 25, 1498:

"I believe Your Highnesses have heard how the King of England has

fitted out a fleet to discover certain islands and mainland that

certain persons, who sailed out of Bristol last year, have assured him

they have found. I have seen the chart that the discoverer has drawn,

who is another Genoese like Columbus, who has been in Seville and

Lisbon to try to find some one to help him in this enterprise. The

people of Bristol have sent out yearly for the last seven years a

fleet of two, three or four caravels to search for the island of

Brasil and the Seven Cities, following the fancy of this Genoese. The

King has determined to send out an expedition because he is certain

that they found land last year. One of the ships, on which a certain

Fray Buil sailed, recently came into port in Ireland with great

difficulty, the ship being wrecked.

"The Genoese continued his voyage. After having seen the course he has

taken and the length of the route, I find that the land they have

found or are looking for is that which Your Highnesses possess,

because it is at the end of that which belongs to Your Highnesses

according to the convention with Portugal. It is hoped that they will

return in September. I will let Your Highnesses know of it. The King

of England has spoken to me at various times about it; he hopes[318]

to derive great advantage from it. I believe the distance is not more

than 400 leagues. I told him I believed the lands that had been found

belonged to Your Highnesses, and I have given him a reason for it, but

he would not hear of it. As I believe Your Highnesses are now

acquainted with everything, as well as with the chart or mapa mundi

that he [i.e., this Genoese] has drawn, I do not send it yet, though

I have it here, and it seems to me very false to give out that it is

not the islands in question."

[Sidenote: Cottonian Chronicle]

According to the Cottonian Chronicle, the King

"at the besy request and supplicacion of a Straunger venisian [i.e.,

John Cabot], ... caused to manne a ship ... for to seche an Iland

wheryn the said Straunger surmysed to be grete commodities,"[319] and

it was accompanied by three or four other ships of Bristol, "the said

Straunger" [i.e., Cabot] being leader of this "Flete, wheryn dyuers

merchauntes as well of London as Bristowe aventured goodes and sleight

merchaundises, which departed from the West Cuntrey in the begynnyng

of Somer, but to this present moneth came nevir Knowlege of their

exployt."[320]

[Sidenote: Fabyan's account]

Hakluyt, in "Divers Voyages" (1582) [cf. Hakluyt, 1850, p. 23], has a

rather fuller version of this account, quoted from Robert Fabyan, where we

read that the ships from Bristol were

"fraught with sleight and grosse merchandizes as course cloth, Caps,

laces, points, and other trifles, and so departed from Bristowe in the

beginning of May: of whom in this Maior's time returned no

tidings."[321]

"This Mayor" would be William Purchas, who was Lord Mayor of London until

October 28 (November 6, N.S.), 1498. Thus, if this is correct, the

expedition had not yet returned in the late autumn.

[Sidenote: John Cabot probably never returned from the voyage of 1498]

The information contained in Ayala's letter, that one of Cabot's ships had

put in to Ireland, is the last certain intelligence we have of this

expedition, which was looked forward to with such great hopes. John Cabot

now disappears completely and unaccountably from history, and his

discovery, which the year before had attracted so much attention, seems to

have been more or less forgotten in the succeeding years, and is never

referred to in the later letters of the Spanish Ambassadors in London. It

may, therefore, seem reasonable to suppose that the expedition disappeared

without leaving a trace. The probability of this is confirmed by the fact

that two years and a half later, in March 1501, Henry VII. again granted

letters patent, for the discovery of lands, to three merchants of Bristol

and three Portuguese, without mentioning Cabot; it is merely stated that

all former privileges of a similar kind were cancelled. But according to

some old account books from Bristol, found at Westminster Abbey, John

Cabot's royal pension of £20 a year was paid as late as the administrative

year beginning September 29, 1498. This, as Harrisse and others think,

shows that Cabot returned from the voyage and was still alive in that

year. But this seems to be uncertain evidence. The money need not have

been paid to him personally; it may have been paid to his wife or his sons

or other representatives during his absence on the voyage, and we cannot

conclude anything certain from it. As the pension is not entered in the

following years, it seems rather to show that Cabot was really lost, and

the money was only paid during the first year of his absence.

It has been supposed that the following is another proof of the

participators in the voyage of 1498 having returned: the accounts of Henry

VII.'s privy purse for 1498 show that on March 22 and April 1 the King

advanced money (sums of £20, £3, and 40s. 5d., in all about £650 in the

money of the present day) to Launcelot Thirkill (who seems to have had a

ship of his own), Thomas Bradley and John Carter, who were all going to

"the new Isle." Probably these men may have fitted out their own ships to

accompany Cabot's expedition; but we do not know whether they sailed. This

is probably the same Launcelot Thirkill who, according to an old

document, was in London on June 6, 1501, when he and three others whose

names are given (perhaps his sureties) were "bounden in ij obligations to

pay" £20 to the King before next Whitsuntide. Possibly it was this loan

received from the King for the voyage, which he then had to repay. If he

really started, it may be supposed that his ship was the one that put back

to Ireland; and this document is therefore no certain proof of any of the

other four ships having ever returned. For that matter they may all have

been lost in the same gale. But in the year 1501 the ship that returned

from Gaspar Corte-Real's expedition is reported to have brought back to

Lisbon a broken gilt sword of Italian workmanship from the east coast of

North America; and it is also stated that two Venetian silver rings had

been seen on a native boy from that country. It has been assumed that

these objects may have belonged to some of the participators in John

Cabot's expedition of 1498, which in that case must have reached America,

and there met with some disaster.

It is difficult to say more of this voyage. That John Cabot should have

returned after having reached America, and after having sailed a greater

or less distance along the coast without finding the riches he was in

search of, appears to me unlikely. Such an assumption would provide no

explanation of the complete silence about him. As the foreign Ministers

had followed this expedition with so much attention, we might surely

expect them to say something about its having disappointed the great

expectations that were formed of it; and in any case it was unlikely that

the whole should be buried in complete silence, which, on the other hand,

is easily comprehensible if nothing more was heard of the expedition,

since it may all have been forgotten for other things which claimed

attention. Thus the story of Giovanni Caboto, the discoverer of the North

American continent, ends, as it began, in obscurity. He was too early with

his discovery. England had not yet developed her trade and navigation

sufficiently to be able to follow it up and avail herself of it; this was

not to come until about eighty years later.

[Sidenote: Sebastian Cabot's voyages doubtful]

But John Cabot's discovery was not altogether unheeded in the years that

followed; it was considered of sufficient importance for his son,

Sebastian Cabot, by appropriating the honour of it, to acquire much fame

and reputation in his day as a great discoverer and geographer. But

whether he ever made discoveries on the east coast of North America is

very doubtful; indeed, it is not even certain that he ever undertook a

voyage to these regions. There can be no doubt that he himself asserted he

had done so repeatedly and to different men, though his various

utterances, so far as we know them, agree imperfectly. We see, too, that

as early as 1512 he had the reputation of being acquainted with

north-western waters, since he obtained an appointment in the service of

King Ferdinand of Aragon on account of the remarkable knowledge he claimed

to possess of "la navigacion á los Bacallaos" (the voyage to Newfoundland)

[cf. Harrisse, 1892, p. 20]. But Sebastian Cabot seems, on the whole, to

have been one of those men who are more efficient in words than deeds. It

was the habit of the time to be not too scrupulous about the truth, if one

had any advantage to gain from the contrary, and Sebastian was evidently

no better than his age. If his utterances are correctly reported, he

endeavoured, when his father had long been dead and forgotten, to claim

for himself the honour of his voyages, in which he succeeded so well that

for many centuries he, and not his father, was regarded as the discoverer

of the continent of America. In the legend on the map of the world of

1544, it is true, he was modest enough to share the honour with his

father, and this legend is at the same time the only evidence which might

point to Sebastian as having been present on that occasion; but, as we

have already seen, no great importance can be attached to it, and it is

not confirmed by contemporary statements about the voyage. His assertion

that he had been in north-western waters is in direct conflict with

statements in the protest made on March 11, 1521, by the Wardens of the

Drapers' Company of London against King Henry VIII.'s attempt to obtain

contributions towards an expedition to "the newe found Iland" (the coast

of North America) in 1521 under the command of Sebastian Cabot. The

protest says:

"... And we thynk it were to sore aventʳ to joperd V shipps wᵗ men and

goods vnto the said Iland vppon the singuler trust of one man callyd

as we vnderstond Sebastyan, whiche Sebastyan as we here say was neuʳ

in that land hym self, all if he maks reports of many things as he

hath hard his Father and other men speke in tymes past," etc.

This statement is clear enough, and, coming as it does from men who were

acquainted with his father's services, it cannot be disregarded. It is

also confirmed by a remarkable statement in Peter Martyr's narrative (in

1515) of an alleged voyage of Sebastian Cabot (see later), which

concludes:

"Some of the Spaniards deny that Cabot [i.e., Sebastian] was the first

discoverer of the land of Bacallaos, and assert that he had not sailed

so far to the west."

This might point to his really having made a voyage, but, in the opinion

of the Spaniards, never having reached the coast of North America.

[Sidenote: Beginning of the Newfoundland fishery]

The immediate consequence of John Cabot's discovery of the continent of

North America was probably that the practical merchants of Bristol, who

were accustomed to fishing ventures in Iceland, at once sent out vessels

to take advantage of the great abundance of fish that John Cabot had found

in 1497 and that had evidently made so deep an impression on his crew that

they told every one about it. But the English fishermen were soon

followed, and, indeed, outstripped, by Portuguese, Basque and French

(chiefly Breton) fishermen, and thus arose the famous Newfoundland

fisheries. The cause of the fishermen of Portugal and other countries

having followed so soon was doubtless the discovery of Newfoundland by the

Portuguese Corte-Real on his voyages of 1500 and 1501 (see next chapter).

But of the development of this fishery we hear little or nothing in

literature; just as in the Icelandic literature of earlier times these

fishing expeditions of ordinary seamen are passed over; in the first

place, they were not "notable" travellers, and in the second, men of that

class in all ages have preferred to avoid advertising their discoveries

for fear of competition.

[Sidenote: Expeditions from Bristol in 1501 and following years]

From various documents and statements we may conclude that fresh

expeditions were sent out from Bristol in 1501 and the following years;

but these were Anglo-Portuguese undertakings and may have been occasioned,

at any rate in part, by the discoveries of the Portuguese, although, of

course, the knowledge of Cabot's voyage may have had some

significance.[322]

On March 19 (28), 1501, Henry VII. issued letters patent to Richard Warde,

Thomas Ashehurst and John Thomas, merchants of Bristol, who were in

partnership in the enterprise with three Portuguese from the Azores, John

and Francis Fernandus [i.e., João and Francisco Fernandez] and John

Gunsolus [João Gonzales ?].[323] They were given the right for ten years

"to explore all Islands, Countries, Regions, and Provinces whatever, in

the Eastern, Western, Southern, and Northern Seas, heretofore unknown to

Christians," and all former privileges of this kind, granted to "any

foreigner or foreigners," were expressly cancelled. This last provision

must refer to the letters patent granted to Cabot in 1496 and 1498.

[Sidenote: Expedition in 1502]

That this new expedition from Bristol really took place and returned

before January 1502, seems to result from the accounts of Henry VII.'s

privy purse, where on January 7, 1502, there is an entry: "To men of

Bristoll that found Thisle £5."[324] In 1502 there was possibly a new

expedition, as in the same accounts there is an entry of September [24],

1502: "To the merchants of Bristoll that have bene in the Newfounde Lande,

£20."[324] According to a document of December 6, 1503, Henry VII. further

granted on September 26, 1502, to the two Portuguese, ffranceys ffernandus

[Francisco Fernandez] and John Guidisalvus [Gonzales ?] a yearly pension

of ten pounds each, for the service they had done to the King's "singler

pleasur as capitaignes unto the new founde lande."

Hakluyt states (1582) in "Divers Voyages" [1850, p. 23], after Robert

Fabyan's Chronicle, that in the seventeenth year of the reign of Henry

VII. [i.e., August 22, 1501, to August 21, 1502][325]

"were brought unto the king three men, taken in the new founde Iland,

that before I [i.e., Fabyan ?] spake of in William Purchas time, being

Maior.[326] These were clothed in beastes skinnes, and ate rawe

fleshe, and spake such speech that no man coulde understand them, and

in their demeanour like to bruite beastes, whom the king kept a time

after. Of the which vpon two yeeres past after I [i.e., Fabyan] saw

two apparelled after the maner of Englishmen, in Westminster pallace,

which at that time I coulde not discerne from Englishemen, till I was

learned what they were. But as for speech, I heard none of them vtter

one worde."[327]

These natives must have been brought back from the expedition of 1501 or

from that of 1502 (if the latter returned before August 21 ?). They were

most likely Eskimo, since Indians with their darker skin could scarcely

have looked like Englishmen. It might even be supposed that they came from

Greenland, and were descendants of the Norsemen there, in which case their

resemblance to Englishmen is most naturally explained.

[Illustration: North-western portion of Robert Thorne's map, of 1527 (copy

of a Spanish map of the world)]

[Sidenote: English voyage in 1503]

On December 9 (18), 1502, Henry VII. again granted letters patent to

Thomas Ashehurst, Joam Gonzales, Francisco Fernandes and Hugh Elliott for

a voyage of discovery to parts not hitherto found by English subjects.

That this projected expedition took place in 1503 is possibly shown by an

entry in the accounts of the King's privy purse: "1503, Nov. 17. To one

that brought hawkes from the Newfounded Island. 1.L." [cf. Harrisse, 1882,

p. 270].

It seems that it must be the same voyage to the north-west that is

mentioned by Robert Thorne of Bristol in his letter of 1527 to Henry

VIII.'s Ambassador in Spain. Thorne was then living in Seville, and was

interested in Indian enterprises. He tries to induce Henry VIII. to send

an expedition to the Indies by way of the Polar Sea, and sends with his

project a rough copy he has had made of a Spanish mappamundi. He says that

he has inherited the "inclination or desire of this discoverie" from his

"father, which with another marchant of Bristow named Hugh Eliot, were

the discoverers of the New found lands, of the which there is no

doubt, (as nowe plainely appeareth) if the mariners would then have

bene ruled, and followed their Pilots minde, the lands of the West

Indies (from whence all the gold commeth) had bene ours. For all is

one coast, as by the Carde appeareth, and is aforesayd."

On the map the northern east coast of America extends uninterruptedly to

the north (see the reproduction), and upon it is written: "the new land

called laboratorum," and along the coast there is: "the land that was

first discovered by the English." It might appear as though it was really

the present Labrador that was then discovered; but this is hardly the

case; what we see on the map is probably Greenland,[328] which is here

moved over to America as on other Spanish maps, and the east coast of

which is given a northerly direction as on Ruysch's map of 1508.

It is possible that another expedition set out in 1504; for in the

accounts of the King's privy purse we find an entry on April 8, 1504, of

£2 "to a preste that goeth to the new Islande." We see thus that there is

a probability of many expeditions having left England for the west and

north-west at this time, and that thus Greenland, Newfoundland, and

doubtless also Labrador had been reached by the English; and this would

explain their being recorded on Spanish maps as discoverers of the

northern part of the east coast of America. But we have no further

information about these voyages.

Just as we have seen that the note on Robert Thorne's map of 1527 (that

the English had discovered the northern part of the east coast of America)

must probably refer to the expedition of 1501 or to one in the following

year, so it is doubtless discoveries of the same voyages that are alluded

to on Maggiolo's compass-chart of 1511 (see reproduction, p. 359), where a

peninsula to the north of Labrador is marked as "Terra de los Ingres" [the

land of the English]. On later maps, such as Verrazano's of 1529, Ribero's

of 1529 (see reproduction, p. 357), the Wolfenbüttel map of 1530, and

others, Labrador is marked as having been discovered by the English,

sometimes, indeed, with the addition that they came from Bristol. As

already mentioned, no hint is to be found in trustworthy documents of

Sebastian Cabot's having taken part in these expeditions or having been in

any way connected with them, and there is therefore no ground for assuming

this. And the remarkable thing is that even his father's name is not

mentioned in connection with them, though it was so few years since he had

sailed from the same port.

[Sidenote: Accounts of a voyage of Sebastian Cabot in 1508-1509]

We find, however, in various works of the sixteenth century records of

voyages to northern or north-western waters, supposed to have been made by

Sebastian Cabot; which may be due, directly or indirectly, to himself.

Formerly there was a tendency to connect these statements with John

Cabot's voyages of 1497 and 1498 [cf. Harrisse], but this assumption seems

to have little probability. G. P. Winship [1899, pp. 204, ff.], on the

other hand, has pointed out with good reason that according to Sebastian

Cabot's own words the voyage was undertaken by himself in the years

1508-9; but even this appears to me uncertain; in any case I doubt that he

reached America.

We hear of a voyage to the north-west said to have been undertaken by

Sebastian Cabot from Peter Martyr (in his Decades, 1516), from the

Venetian Minister to Spain, Contarini, especially in a report to the

Venetian Senate in 1536, from Ramusio (1550-1554 and 1556), from Gomara

(1553), and from Antonio Galvano (1563).[329]

We may expect the most trustworthy of these authorities to be Peter

Martyr, who was the oldest, and who knew Sebastian Cabot personally; but

certain main features of the voyage are to some extent common to all the

accounts. If we compare these, the voyage is said to have taken place

somewhat in the following manner: the expedition, consisting of two ships

with three hundred men,[330] was according to Peter Martyr fitted out at

Sebastian's own cost, but according to Ramusio it was sent out by the

King. They sailed so far to the north (according to Gomara, even in the

direction of Iceland) that in the month of July they found enormous masses

of ice floating on the sea; daylight was almost continuous, and the land

was in places free of ice which had melted away. According to the various

accounts Cabot is said to have reached 55°, 56°, 58°, or 60°.[331]

According to Galvano they first "sighted land in 45° N. lat. and then

sailed straight to the north until they came to 60° N. lat., where the

day is eighteen hours long [sic], and the night is very clear and

light. There they found the air cold and great islands of ice

[icebergs ?] but no bottom with soundings of seventy, eighty, or one

hundred fathoms,[332] but they found much ice which terrified them."

When, according to Peter Martyr, their hopes of making their way to the

west in these northern latitudes were thus annihilated by the ice, they

sailed back to the south and south-west along the North American coast, as

far as the latitude of Gibraltar, 36° (according to Peter Martyr), or to

38° (according to Gomara and Galvano), while according to Ramusio's

anonymous informant they sailed as far as Florida.[333] From thence the

expedition returned to England.

With regard to the date of this voyage, we are told in the continuation of

Peter Martyr's Decades [Dec. vii], written in 1524 (published 1530), that

"Bacchalaos [i.e., Newfoundland, or the northern east coast of America]

was discovered from England by Cabot sixteen years ago." According to

this the voyage took place in 1508. In Contarini's report of 1536 [cf.

Winship, 1900, p. 36] it is said of Sebastian Cabot's voyage that on his

return he "found the King dead, and his son cared little for such an

enterprise." As Henry VII. died on April 21, 1509, it would be during the

autumn of that year that Cabot returned; but then he must have sailed

before April, which is unlikely, at any rate if it is a question of a

voyage up into the ice to the north or north-west, such as is described.

That he should have sailed in the previous year and not returned until

after the King's death is still more improbable.

These accounts contain so many improbabilities, and to some extent

impossibilities, that it is on the whole extremely doubtful whether

Sebastian Cabot ever made such a voyage to the north-west. That he did so

is contradicted in the first place by the already quoted protest against

Sebastian of the Wardens of the Drapers' Company, which was issued in the

name of the various Livery Companies of London, and which is of great

significance, as it was written so soon after the events are supposed to

have taken place that they must have been in the memory of most people;

and it must have been easy for the King to inquire into the justification

of the protest (cf. above, p. 330).

The map of 1544, which is attributed to the collaboration of Sebastian

Cabot, may also point to his having never sailed along the northern part

of the coast of America, since, according to the custom of that time, the

coast of Labrador is made to run to the east and north-east. This agrees

with the statement of Ramusio's anonymous informant, that Sebastian had to

turn back because in 56° N. lat. he found the land turning eastward

(Galvano says the same). This is evidently derived from the study of maps.

As such a delineation of the coast had not yet occurred on maps of Peter

Martyr's time, it is natural that this reason for turning back is also

absent from his account.

In addition to all this, there are in the various accounts several

statements which we must suppose to be really derived from Sebastian

Cabot, but which are evidently untruthful. Thus Ramusio's anonymous guest

attributes to Sebastian the words that his father was dead when the news

of the discovery of Columbus reached England, and that it was then

Sebastian conceived the plan of his voyage which he submitted to the King.

That, as stated by Peter Martyr, he should have fitted out two ships with

crews of three hundred men at his own expense, is extremely improbable. He

is also reported to have told Peter Martyr that he

"called these countries Baccallaos, because in the seas about there he

found such great quantities of certain large fish--which might be

compared to tunny [in size], and were thus called by the

inhabitants--that sometimes they stopped his ships."

These are nothing but impossibilities. In the first place, _he_ never gave

the name of Bacallaos; in the second, the inhabitants cannot have called

the fish so, if by inhabitants is meant the native savages. These

statements are, therefore, of the same kind as that of the masses of fish

stopping the ships. Peter Martyr further relates that he said of these

regions that

"he also found people in these parts, clad in skins of animals, yet

not without the use of reason." He says also that "there are a great

number of bears in these parts, which are in the habit of eating fish;

for, plunging into the water where they see quantities of these fish,

they fasten their claws into their scales, and thus draw them to land

and eat them, so that (as he says) the bears are not troublesome to

men, when they have eaten their fill of fish. He declares also that in

many places of these regions he saw great quantities of copper among

the inhabitants."

The statement about the bears may come from older literary sources, and

resembles a similar statement in the Geographia Universalis (see above, p.

191). That the inhabitants have copper and are clad in skins may be

derived from reports of the various voyages.

From what we have been able to conclude as to Sebastian Cabot's character,

it seems reasonable to suppose that, in consequence of his position as

Pilot Major in Spain, he was acquainted with the various maps and

accounts of voyages in western and north-western waters, and that from

this knowledge he constructed the whole story of his alleged voyage; he

was then incautious enough to magnify his exploits to such an extent that

he made the whole story improbable; for his claim was nothing less than

that he had first discovered land as far north as between 55° and 60°,

that is to say, to about Hudson Strait, and then sailed along and

discovered the whole coast of North America to about 36° N. lat., that is,

to Cape Hatteras or Florida; in other words, a voyage of discovery to

which we have no parallel in history, and it is truly remarkable that we

should have had no certain information about it, while we have so much

about other expeditions which step by step discovered the various parts of

this same extent of coast.

[Sidenote: Another doubtful voyage of Sebastian Cabot in 1516 or 1517 ?]

Sebastian Cabot seems to have laid claim to having made yet another voyage

in north-western waters, unless, indeed, it is the same one again with

variations. In the third volume of his "Navigationi et Viaggi," etc.,

published at Venice 1556, Ramusio says (writing in Venice, June 1553) that

"Sebastian Gabotto, our Venetian, a man of great experience, etc.,

wrote to me many years ago." Sebastian is said to have sailed "along

and beyond the land of New France, at the charges of Henry VII., King

of England. He told me that after having sailed a long time west by

north [ponente e quarta di Maestro] beyond these islands, lying along

the said land, as far as to sixty-seven and a half degrees under our

pole [i.e., the North Pole], and on June 11th [20th] finding the sea

still open and without any kind of impediment, he thought surely by

that way to be able to sail at once to Cataio Orientale [China], if

the mutiny [malignità] of the master and mariners had not compelled

him to return."[334]

As will be seen, this statement is altogether different from those

previously mentioned; but such assertions as that Cabot had got so far to

the north-west by June 11, and found the sea free of ice in 67-1/2° N.

lat., are not of a kind to strengthen our confidence. It might seem to be

the same voyage that is referred to in a statement of Richard Eden, which

he may have had from Sebastian Cabot himself. In the dedication (written

in June 1553) of Eden's translation of the fifth part of Sebastian

Munster's "Cosmographia" we read that

"Kinge Henry the viij. about the same yere [i.e., the eighth year] of

his raygne, furnished and sent forth certen shippes vnder the

gouernaunce of Sebastian Cabot yet liuing, and one Syr Thomas Perte,

whose faynt heart was the cause that that viage toke none effect; yf

(I say) such manly courage whereof we haue spoken, had not at that

tyme bene wanting, it myghte happelye haue comen to passe, that that

riche treasurye called Perularia, (which is now in Spayne in the citie

of Ciuile, and so named, for that in it is kepte the infinite ryches

brought thither from the newe found land of Peru) myght longe since

haue bene in the town of London."[335]

As Peru is mentioned, it might doubtless appear as though a voyage to

South America were in question; but we often see that the western

countries beyond the sea were spoken of as a continuous possession (cf.

Robert Thorne's letter, above, p. 334), and it may therefore refer to the

same alleged expedition as is spoken of by Ramusio; for both Ramusio and

Eden have evidently the same statements from Sebastian Cabot, and the

latter can hardly have spoken of two expeditions which were both

unsuccessful merely because his companions failed him.

If this is correct, the voyage took place in the eighth year of Henry

VIII.'s reign, i.e., April 16, 1516, to April 15, 1517[336]; but, as

Harrisse contends, it is very doubtful whether the voyage was made at all.

It is true that a poem of Henry VIII.'s time also speaks of an English

expedition which may have taken place at this time, and which failed on

account of the cowardice of the crew. Robert Thorne, too, as we have seen

(p. 335), tells of a voyage made by his father and Hugh Eliot, on which

the sailors would not "follow their pilot's mind." It may, indeed, have

occurred on several voyages that the crews refused to proceed farther, and

for that matter these statements need not refer to the same voyage; but at

the same time it is by no means incredible that Sebastian Cabot may have

heard of such an expedition, and, when it was more appropriate than the

ice, used it as an explanation of his not having discovered the north-west

passage to China. We know that Sebastian Cabot was in the service of Spain

(and appointed "Pilot Major") in 1515, and that he was occupied with plans

of a voyage to the north-west for the King of Spain; for Peter Martyr

writes of him in that year that he was impatiently looking forward to

March 1516, when he had been promised a fleet with which to complete his

discoveries [cf. Winship, 1900, p. 71]. As Ferdinand of Aragon died on

January 23, 1516, nothing came of this voyage, and as we hear nothing of

Sebastian Cabot before February 5, 1518, when he was appointed Pilot Major

by Charles V., it is not impossible that in the meantime he may have been

in England, and have taken part in an English expedition; but no record of

his having come to England is extant, and it would hardly agree with the

protest against him of the Drapers' Company a few years later.

[Sidenote: Henry VIII.'s attempted expedition in 1521]

There may yet be mentioned the attempts made by Henry VIII. in 1521 to

prepare an expedition to north-western waters under the command of

Sebastian Cabot, chiefly at the expense of the merchants of London, which,

however, evoked a powerful protest against Sebastian on the part of these

merchants (see above, p. 330). It is true that, upon pressure from the

King, they afterwards declared themselves willing to give a smaller sum,

but the expedition never came to anything. Sebastian Cabot was at that

time, as he had been since 1512, in the service of Spain, and he remained

so until in 1547 he again took up his abode in England and entered the

service of the English King. In December 1522 Sebastian Cabot informed the

Venetian Minister in Spain, Contarini, that he had been in England three

years before [i.e., in 1519], and that the Cardinal there [i.e., Wolsey,

who was trying on behalf of Henry VIII. to get together the expedition of

1521] had endeavoured to persuade him to undertake the command of a fleet

which was almost ready [sic!], for the discovery of new lands; but he had

replied that, as he was in the service of Spain, he must first obtain the

permission of the Emperor; and that he had then written to the Emperor,

requesting him not to grant such permission, but to recall him. This

Sebastian asserted that he had done on account of his desire of serving

his own city of Venice; for in 1522 and later he was carrying on

treacherous intrigues with Contarini to enter the Venetian service,

presumably with the hope of a high salary. Thus, wherever we are able to

check Sebastian Cabot's utterances, they prove to be extremely

untrustworthy.

[Sidenote: Cabot's discovery before its time]

Even, if, therefore, there was no lack of attempts after 1500 to follow up

John Cabot's great and important discoveries in the west, it is

nevertheless surprising how little persistence seems to have been shown.

The love of discovery and adventure which had been so prominent a feature

of the Northern Viking nature had not yet awakened in earnest among the

English people. England's mercantile marine was at that time still

comparatively unimportant, it had not the strength for such great

enterprises or for colonisation. The earliest voyages were mainly the work

of a foreigner, an Italian, and the later ones were in part undertaken by

Portuguese; they did not grow naturally from the English people

themselves. Cabot's plan was like an exotic flower springing up in

immature soil, and more than half a century before its time. Another

factor was doubtless the disappointment of the King and of the merchants;

they had ventured their money in fitting out ships in the hope of

immediate profit. What they were looking for was the way to the rich East

of Asia, where mountains of spices lay ready to hand, and gold and

precious stones in heaps, only waiting to be picked up. What they found

was nothing but new, unknown countries on the ocean, inhabited by

wandering tribes of hunters, countries the opening up of which demanded

much time and labour. All this had scarcely more than a geographical

interest for the time being, and for that they cared little.

[Illustration]