A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels, Vol. 6 | Page 3

himself
to King Henry, and had even procured the acceptance of his brothers
proposals, so much time had been lost that Isabella queen of Castille
had already entered into the views of his illustrious brother, who had
sailed on his second voyage to the West Indies, while Bartholomew
was on his journey through France to announce to him that Henry King
of England had agreed to his proposals.
The fame of the astonishing discovery made by Columbus in 1591,
soon spread throughout Europe; and only four years afterwards, or in
1595, a patent was granted by Henry VII. to John Cabot, or Giovani
Cabota, a Venetian citizen, then resident in England, and his three sons,
Lewis, Sebastian, and Sancius, and their heirs and deputies, to sail to all
parts countries and seas of the east west and north, at their own cost and
charges, with five ships; to seek out discover and find whatsoever
islands, countries, regions, or provinces belonging to the heathen and
infidels, were hitherto unknown to Christians, and to subdue, occupy,
and possess all such towns, cities, castles, and islands as they might be
able; setting up the royal banners and ensigns in the same, and to
command over them as vassals and lieutenants of the crown of England,
to which was reserved the rule, title, and jurisdiction of the same. In
this grant Cabot and his sons, with their heirs and deputies, were bound
to bring all the fruits, profits, gains, and commodities acquired in their
voyages to the port of Bristol; and, having deducted from the proceeds
all manner of necessary costs and charges by them expanded, to pay to
the king in wares or money the fifth part of the free gain so made, in
lieu of all customs of other dues; of importation on the same. By these
letters patent; dated at Westminster on the 5th of March in the eleventh
year of Henry VII. all the other subjects of England are prohibited from
visiting or frequenting any of the continents, islands, villages, towns,

castles, or places which might be discovered by John Cabot, his sons,
heirs, or deputies, under forfeiture of their ships and goods[1].
[Footnote 1: Hakluyt, III. 26.]
No journal or relation remains of the voyages of Cabot and his sons in
consequence of this grant, and we are reduced to a few scanty
memorials concerning them; contained in the third volume of
_Hakluyt's Collection of the Early Voyages, Travels, and Discoveries
of the English Nation_. We quote from the new edition, with additions,
published at London in 1810.
Two years after the before-mentioned letters patent, or on the 18th of
February 1497, a licence was granted by the same king of England,
Henry VII. to John Cabot, to take six English ships in any haven or
havens of England, being of 200 tons burden or under, with all
necessary furniture; and to take also into the said ships all such masters,
mariners, or other subjects of the king as might be willing to engage
with him.
It would appear that the patent of 1495 had never been acted upon; but
in consequence of this new licence, John Cabot and his son Sebastian
proceeded from the port of Bristol and discovered an island somewhere
on the coast of America to which they gave the name of Prima Vista,
probably the island of Newfoundland. The short account of this voyage
of discovery left to us by Hakluyt, is said to have been inserted in Latin
on a map constructed by Sebastian Cabot, concerning his discovery in
America, then called the West Indies; which map, engraved by Clement
Adams, was to be seen in the time of Hakluyt in the private gallery of
Queen Elizabeth at Westminster, and in the possession of many of the
principal merchants in London. This memorandum, translated into
English, is as follows[2].
[Footnote 2: Id. III. 27.]
SECTION I.
_Discovery of Newfoundland by John and Sebastian Cabot in 1497, in
the service of Henry VII. of England._
"In the year 1497, John Cabot a Venetian and his son Sebastian,
discovered on the 24th of June, about five in the morning, that land to
which no person had before ventured to sail, which they named _Prima
Vista_[3], or, _first-seen_, because as I believe it was the first part seen
by them from the sea. The island which is opposite[4] he named St

Johns Island, because discovered on the day of St John the Baptist. The
inhabitants of this island use the skins and furs of wild beasts for
garments, which they hold in as high estimation as we do our finest
clothes. In war they use bows and arrows, spears, darts, clubs, and
slings. The soil is sterile and yields no useful production; but it abounds
in white bears and