THE FIRST ENGLISH DISCOVERER OF GREENLAND.
Martin Frobisher had no “lineage” to boast of; he was of the people.
His parents, who had respectable connections, are supposed to have come
from North Wales to the neighbourhood of Normanton, Yorkshire, where
he was born about the year 1535. Frobisher seems to have taken to the
sea from natural inclination. He is said to have been bred to the sea,
but had reached the prime of life--about forty years of age--before he
came into public notice as a mariner. He must have been a man of mark,
and possessed of qualities that commanded confidence. His mother had a
brother in London, Sir John York, to whom young Frobisher was sent, and
by whom he was probably assisted.
In 1554 he sailed to Guinea in a small squadron of merchant ships under
the command of Captain John Lock, and in 1561 had worked his way up
to the command of a ship. In 1571 he was employed in superintending
the building of a ship at Plymouth, that was intended to be employed
against Ireland. For years he had been scheming, planning, and striving
to obtain means for an expedition in search of a North-West passage
from England to “far Cathay.” He was at last so far successful as to
get together an amusingly small squadron for such a daring project. He
was placed in command of the _Gabriel_ and the _Michael_, two small
barques of 20 tons each, and a pinnace of 10 tons, with crews of
thirty-five men all told, wherewith to encounter the unknown perils
of the Arctic seas. Captain Matthew Kindersley was associated with
him in the adventure. The expedition sailed from Gravesend on the 7th
June 1576, and proceeded northwards by way of the Shetland Islands.
The pinnace was lost on the voyage, and the other vessels narrowly
escaped wreck in the violent weather encountered off the coast of
Greenland, of which Frobisher was the first English discoverer. He
reached Labrador 28th July, and effected a landing on Hall’s Island, at
the mouth of the bay that bears Frobisher’s name. At Butcher’s Island,
where he afterwards landed, five of the crew were captured by the
natives, and were never again seen. The adventurers took on board
samples of earth,--with bright specks supposed to be gold. Compared
with subsequent Arctic expeditions, this was a small affair in length
of voyage and time occupied,--the mariners reaching home on the 9th
October.
[Illustration: SIR MARTIN FROBISHER.]
Practical mineralogy was in its infancy in those days, and the supposed
auriferous earth excited great expectations, but no attempt seems to
have been made to find out whether it was or was not what it seemed.
Pending analysis, the expedition was considered so far satisfactory and
successful, and a Cathay Company was straightway formed under a charter
from the Crown. Another expedition was determined upon; the queen lent
a ship of 200 tons, and subscribed £1000; Frobisher was appointed High
Admiral of all lands and seas he might discover, and was empowered to
sail in every direction except east. The squadron consisted of the
queen’s ship, the _Aid_, the _Gabriel_, and the _Michael_ of last
year’s voyage, with pinnaces and boats, and a crew of one hundred
and twenty men. The squadron sailed 28th May 1577, and arrived off
Greenland in July. More of the supposed precious earth was shipped, and
certain inhospitable shores were taken possession of in the queen’s
name, but no very notable discoveries were made. An unsuccessful search
was made after the five men lost in the previous expedition. The
_Aid_ arrived home at Milford Haven on 22nd August, and the others
later,--one at Yarmouth, and others at Bristol. Although no results had
been obtained from the “ore,” yet another and much larger expedition
was planned. Frobisher was honoured with the thanks of the queen, who
showed great interest in the expeditions. The new fleet consisted of
thirteen vessels of various kinds, including two queen’s ships of
400 and 200 tons, with one hundred and fifty men and one hundred and
twenty pioneers. For the other ships there was an aggregate crew of two
hundred and fifty men. The squadron sailed from Harwich on the 31st May
1578, and reached Greenland 19th June, and Frobisher Bay about a month
later. A considerable amount of hitherto unexplored area of land and
water was roughly surveyed in this voyage, including a sail of sixty
miles up Hudson’s Strait, and more would probably have been done, but
for dissensions and discontent among the crews. A vast quantity of the
golden (?) earth was shipped, and the expedition returned to England,
which was reached in October.
[Illustration: SIR MARTIN FROBISHER PASSING GREENWICH.]
Frobisher’s next public employment was of a different character.
In command of the _Primrose_, he accompanied Drake’s expedition to
the West Indies in 1585, and shared in the rich booty of which the
Spaniards were spoiled during that cruise. In 1588 Frobisher held a
high command, and with his ship, the _Triumph_, rendered distinguished
service in the actions with the Spanish Armada. The _Triumph_
was the largest ship in the English fleet, being of about 1000 tons
burthen, or the same as the floating wonder of Henry VIII., the
_Henry Grace à Dieu_,--but not so heavily armed. The _Henry_ carried
no fewer than one hundred and forty-one guns, whereas the _Triumph_
was armed with only sixty-eight guns. Frobisher proved well worthy
of his important command. For his skilful and courageous service, in
the series of actions against the Armada, he received the well-earned
honour of knighthood, at the hands of the lord high admiral. In 1591
he commanded a small fleet that cruised on the coast of Spain, with
hostile and plundering designs. He burned one rich galleon in the
course of this cruise, and captured and brought home another. Having
got the prize safely disposed of, the gallant old hero answered a
summons from the court of Cupid, and, after a short courtship, he
led the fair daughter of Lord Wentworth to the altar. The following
year, however, he was again afloat in command of a cruising fleet, as
successor to Sir Walter Raleigh, who had been recalled.
One of the most important and brilliant actions, among the many in
which Sir Martin had taken a leading part, was his next, and, alas!
his last,--the taking of Brest from the Spaniards. The place was
strong, well armed, and stubbornly defended, with obstinate valour.
Sir Martin first attacked from the sea, but, impetuous and impatient,
was dissatisfied with the result of his cannonade, and, landing his
blue-jackets, headed them in a desperate storming assault, which
compelled the surrender of the garrison. The surrender cost the
assailants a heavy price in the lives of many brave heroes, Sir Martin
Frobisher himself, their gallant leader, receiving a musket ball in his
side. His wound was unskilfully treated, and he died from its effects
at Plymouth two days after the action,--22nd November 1594. His body
was conveyed to London, and interred at St. Giles’s, Cripplegate.
Sir Martin Frobisher was a man of great and varied capabilities as a
navigator and commander; enthusiastic, enterprising, skilful, manly,
and of dauntless valour, but rather rough and despotic, and not
possessed of the polished manners, airs, and graces that adorn carpet
knights and make men shine in courts.
THOMAS CAVENDISH,
GENTLEMAN ADVENTURER.