86
Naval Expeditions, &c. of the English,
" de portagio 200. doliorum, vel sufa-" tus, cum upparatu requisito, & quodt{ recipere possit in dictas Naves omnestales Magistros, Marinarios, & Sub-ditos Regis, qui cum eo exire volue-“ rint, &cc. That is,
" The King, upon the third Daytc of February, in the thirteenth Year" of his Reign, gave Licence to John" Cabot, to take six Englist Ships, in" any Haven or Havens of the Realm" of England, being of the Burden of" two Hundred Tuns or under, with" all necessary Furniture ; And to take" also into the said Ships, all such" Masters, Mariners and Subjects of" the King as might be willing to go" with him.
He then departed from Bristol , and(as it is related by Sir Humphrey Gilbertwho was employed afterwards by QueenElizabeth on the like Services) failedvery far Westward, with a Quarter ofthe North, on the North Side of ’Terrade Labrador, the eleventh of June, tillhe came into the North Latitude of six-ty-seven Degrees and a half, and findingthe Seas still open, might and would,as he affirmed, have gone to Cathay , ifhe had not been prevented by the Dis-sections between the Master, and theMariners, But this we find, by theDiscovery made in those Parts, sincethat Time, he could not have perform-ed. However, after this, he, or at leasthis Son Sebastian, made several Voyagesthat Way, during the Reign of KingHenry VII. and discovered the IslandThe Disco- of Baccalaos, now much better known°[ by the Name of Newfoundland, togetherlanX °and " c ^ e Kest of the North-east Part ofthe North- America, (where now we have so ma-Eaft Parts n y flourishing Colonies) as far as theof America. Oape of ; And, landing in seve-
ral Places, took Possession of them, inthe Name of the King of England.
The very Day they made the firstDiscovery of this New World is knownby a great Map which was in hisMajesty’s Privy Gallery, of which Se-bastian Cabot was therein called theAuthor, and where was to be seen hisPicture, with this Title : Effigies Seb.Caboti, Angli, Filii Jo. Caboti, Vene-tiani, Militis aurati, &c.' On thisMap there was likewise the follow-ing Account of the Discovery, the origi-
The Account nal of which was in Latin.
found in an In the Year of our Lord, 14 97 *
ASetostian 5 J 0 ^ Cabot, a Venetian, and his Son, Se-CabotV.
bastian (with an English Fleet) set outfrom Bristol, and discovered that Land,which no Man before had attempted.
This Discovery was made, on the fourand twentieth of June, about five of theClock in the Morning. This Land hecalled Prima Vista, (or First Seen) be-cause it was that Part of which they hadthe first Sight from the Sea. The I-fland, which lies out before the Land,he called the Island of St. John, proba-bly because it was discovered on theFestival of St. John Baptist. The In-h abitants of this Island wore Beasts-Skins,and esteemed them as the finest Gar-ments ; To which Purchas adds in theirWars they used Bows, Arrows, Pikes,
Darts, Clubs of Wood and Slings. Theyfound the Soil barren in some Places,and yielding little Fruit; But it wasfull of WhiteBears, and Stags, far largerthan those of Europe. It yielded Plentyof Fish, and those of the larger Kind,as Seals and Salmon. They found Solesthere above a Yard in Length, andgreat Abundance of that Kind of Filh,which the Savages called Baccalaos.
They also observed there Patridgesas likewise Hawks and Eagles; Butwhat was remarkable in them, theywere all as black as Ravens.
By what is said hitherto, it has theAppearance as if these Discoveries weremade by John Cabot, and his Son, Se-bastian, in Company : And it is certain,that the Commission was granted to both;
And the License to John Cabot alone.
But by a Piece which we find in Hack-luyt, it would seem as if the Voyagewas made by Sebastian alone, and as wehear no more of his Father, after thisTime, he may perhaps, haye died, be-tween the Interval of the granting ofthe Licence, and the Departure of hislittle Fleet; or have staid at Home, andsent his Son alone.
This Piece which we find in Hack-luyt, P.III. p. 6 . is entitled:
" A Discourse of Sebastian Cabot,
“ touching his Discovery of Part of the" West-Indies, out of England, in the" Time of King Henry VII. spoken to" Galeacius Butrigarius, the Pope^s Le-" gate in Spain. * .
When my Father, said Sebastian, A Distal" departed from Vendee, many Years C / Seb ff^
" since, to dwell in England and to ^g°pcpF“ follow the Business of a Merchant, Nuncio t!>" he took me with him, to the City of Spain-London, while I was very young ; yet" having some Knowledge of Letters of" Humanity, and of the Sphere. When' " Court