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HEROES OF
AMERICAN HISTORY

THE CABOTS

SEBASTIAN CABOT
Picture formerly at Whitehall

;•' JC/HN AND SI;i3\S"; JAN ^J

'>r ^»AifcV:K AN HISTi-f': •

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HARVARD

UNIVERSITY

LIBRARY

AU ri£^ts reserved.
Published April, 190S.

CONTENTS

CHAP.
I.

Precursors op the Cabots .

PAGB
I

II.

The Saga op Thorpinn . .

III.

Intermediary Explorations .

. 40

IV.

First Voyage op the Cabots

■ 54

In the Good Ship Mathejv .

. 69

VI.

The Second Voyage . . .

VII.

That "First Seen" Land .

• 95

VIII.

John and Sebastian Cabot .

III

IX.

Some Facts about Sebastian

. 128

Sebastian Goes to Spain

. M7

XI.

Cabot as "Piloto Mayor" .

. 160

XII.

An Intrigue with Venice .

. 172

XIII.

A Real Voyage at Last . .

. 187

XIV.
XV.

Under Sealed Orders . . .
Mutiny apter the Shipwreck

201
"5

XVI.

Back to Spain in Disgrace . .

227

XVII.

In the Hands op His Enemies

243

XVIII
XIX.

In England Once Again . .
The Honored Counsellor .
INDEX

257
276

291

ILLUSTRATIONS

SEBASTIAN CABOT Frontispuce

FACSIMILE OF A PAGE FROM THE SAGA OF

EIREK THE RED Facing p. 6

A VIKING WAR-SHIP ENGRAVED ON ROCK IN

NORWAY ** l6

RUINS OF NORSE CHURCH AT KRAKORTOK,

SOUTH GREENLAND ....... " $8

ST. John's church, Bristol, showing gate-
way O.F the city A landmark CON-
TEMPORARY WITH CABOT's RESIDENCE ** 70

HENRY VII " 90

MAP BY SEBASTIAN CABOT " 1 34

CHARLES V. . . " 240

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

FOR

John and Sebastian Cabot

As the various authorities consulted in the prepara-
tion of this book appear in the footnotes and through-
out the text, it is deemed hardly necessary to refer to
them in detail. The so-called Flateyar-Bok, or Codex
Flateyensis, is reproduced in Reeve's Finding of Wine-
land the Goody and in Professor "RsSn^s . Antiqtiatates
AmericancB, the latter published at Copenhagen in
1837, in the original Icelandic, with Latin and Danish
translations. The first writer of recent times, it is
said, to call attention to the Icelandic voyages to
America, was Arnerim Jonsson, in his CrymogcBa
(Hamburg, 16 10); but the "first to bring the subject
prominently before European readers'* was Thormddus
Torfaeus, in two books, the Historia Vinlandiae
Antiques, and of GraenUinduB AntiqtuB (Copenhagen,
1705 and 1706).

Referring to the C^bots, the writers making first
mention of them were, in chronologic sequence: Peter
Martyr, in his Decades, 1524; Gomara, in the Historia
General de las Indias, 1552; Richard Eden, in his
reprint of the Decades, in 1555, said to be the first
account in English which has descended to the present
time; Haklu)^*s Divers Voyages Touching the Discovery
of America, 1582; amplified in his Principal Naviga-
tions and Discoveries of the English Nation, 1589;
Purchas, in his Pilgrimage, 1613, etc.

Modem works are ntimerous, but deserving of men-
tion are: Richard Biddle's Sebastian Cabot, 1831 — a
valuable and critical study of the subject, but with a
strong and unwarranted bias in favor of its hero;
Harrisse's /^an et Sebastien Cabot, 1882; Tarducci's
John and Sebastian Cabot, translated by H. E. Brown-
mg, Detroit, 1893 *» ^^ Discovery of North America, by
G. E. Weare, 1897; the last two most excellent works;
the former particularly full, fair, and exhaustive.

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN
CABOT

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

which has been declared by an accepted au-
thority to be, taken as a whole, **a sober,
straightforward, and eminently probable
story." The account of the so-called Vin-
land voyages is based upon two sagas, one
of which was probably written between 1305
and 1334, and the other about 1387. The
latter is contained in a famous compilation
known as the Flateyar Bok, because it once
belonged to a man who lived on Flat Island,
in one of Iceland's nimierous fiords. It was
probably copied from a more ancient manu-
script since lost, or, at least, not at present
known, but which may be concealed in some
dwelling that has been buried by volcanic
overflow.
Here follows

THE SAGA OF EIREK THE RED*

There was a man named Thorvald, of
goodly lineage. Thorvald and his son Eirek
[or Eric] surnamed the Red, were compelled
to fly from their home in Norway [983] on

* Mainly copied from Professor Eben Norton Hors-
ford's valuable work, The Landfall of Leif Erikson, but
without literally following the original, which has been
critically examined by other authorities.

PRECURSORS OF THE CABOTS

account of a honucide committed by them.
They settled in Iceland (which at that time
had been one hundred and nine years colo-
nized). The father soon died, but Eirek
seems to have inherited his quarrelsome
spirit, for he became involved with his
Icelandic neighbors, the result of which was
another homicide, though the last quarrel
appears to have originated in an injury tm-
justly inflicted upon him. He was, how-
ever, condemned by the court and outlawed,
so he determined to fit a vessel and set out in
search of the western land which Guimbiorn
had discovered, and where he had passed
the winter of 876.

He and his friends set sail from Snafeells-
jokul, a motmtain on the western coast of
Iceland, for the "rocks of Gunnbiom." At
length they foimd land, and called the place
Midjokul. Thence they coasted along the
shore in a southerly direction, in order to
learn whether it were habitable, and passed
the first winter at Eirek'soe, or Eirek's
island, the next spring fixing their residence
at the head of Eireksfiord, which is thought
to have been near the modem Julianeshaab.
The fiord was very deep and gloomy, hidden
within ice -covered headlands, but at its
S

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

head the hardy voyagers found a smooth
and grassy plain, where **may still be seen
the ruins of seventeen houses, built of rough
blocks of sandstone, their chinks calked up
with clay and gravel." These were the
habitations of Eirek and his followers, who
during the summer of the same year explored
the western part of the country, imposing
names on various places. Eirek passed the
following winter also in this land, but in the
third stimmer he returned to Iceland. He
called the land which he had thus discovered
*' Greenland,'' saying that men would be
induced to emigrate thither by a name so in-
viting; but which, as a learned author has
well said, is a ** flagrant misnomer," and was
at the time Eirek applied it.

These events happened fourteen or fifteen
years before the Christian religion was es-
tablished in Iceland, by King Olaf of Nor-
way, in the year looo, so that we may say
that the first colony in Greenland, and in
America, was founded about the year 985
or 986. In the latter year Eirek went back
to Iceland, and with twenty-five vessels set
out on his return voyage to Greenland, ar-
riving, however, with only fourteen, eleven
having foimdered, with all their crews and
6

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Of a^ f»^^t fvent tir^e ^cjdot

PRECURSORS OF THE CABOTS

passengers. Among the survivors was a
sturdy Icelander named Herjulf , kinsman to
Ingolf , the first settler of Iceland. Herjulf
had a wife named Thorgerd, and a son,
Biami, who was a youth of great promise.
This yotmg man was a great voyager, a
typical Viking, and passed the winters al-
ternately abroad and at home with his
father. He had recently fitted out a vessel
in which he sailed to Norway, and there pass-
ed the winter, and it was during his absence
that Herjulf passed over, with his entire
company or family, to Greenland with Eirek
the Red. In the same ship with him was a
Christian from the Hebrides. Herjulf fixed
his residence at Herjulf -ness, where he was a
man of great authority, while Eirek the Red
sat down at Brdttahlid. He was chief in
authority there, and all were subject to his
will. His sons were Leif, Thorvald, and
Thorstein, and he had also a daughter named
Freydis. She was married to one Thorvard,
who was weak-minded, and whom she is said
to have chosen for the sake of his money.

Now, some time in the summer succeed-
ing to the sailing of Eirek and Herjulf from
Iceland, the latter's son Biami reached the
port of Eyrar, from which his father had
7

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

recently departed for Greenland. When he
learned of what had taken place during his
absence he was unwilling to disembark, and
when asked what course he intended to
pursue, replied: "I shall do as I have been
accustomed, and spend the winter with my
father. Hence, if you, sailors, are willing
to accompany me thither, we will proceed
to Greenland together.** They professed
their willingness ; though, as Biami admitted,
their course seemed somewhat foolish and
hazardous, inasmuch as none of them had
ever crossed the Greenland ocean. Never-
theless, after they had refitted their vessel
they put to sea again, and soon were out of
sight of land. A thick fog fell about them,
and for many, many days they sped before
a strong northeasterly wind, they knew not
whither, seeing neither sun nor stars. At
length, the light of day being once more
visible, they were able to discern the face of
heaven, and sailing one day farther they
were gladdened by the sight of land. It
was not mountainous, but covered with
trees, and without glaciers or fiords, so
Biami knew it could not be Greenland. He
turned his ship's prow northward again and
sailed out to sea, though there was much
8

PRECURSORS OF THE CABOTS

clamor from the crew, on account of leaving
behind them such a fair and pleasant land.
But Biami would not tarry, even for wood
and water, of which they were in great need ;
but kept on for ten or twelve days, at the
end of which time he sighted the ice-covered
promontory on or near which Herjulf, his
father, dwelt. Then Biami betook himself
to his father's house, and having soon relin-
quished a seafaring life, he remained with
his father as long as he lived, and after his
death took possession of his estate.

It was during this cruise of Biami, when
the Icelander, driven out of his true course
by the winds, several times approached the
coast of a country far south of Greenland,
that, in all probability, continental America
was first sighted by white men, in or about
the year 986. The Northmen did not appre-
hend the true significance of their discovery,
nor indeed were they aware that they had
made one; for of cosmographical knowledge
they had very little, and respecting any
portion of the world outside Europe they
had no conception whatever. But Leif,
son of Eirek, had his curiosity aroused by
Biami Herjulfson's report of the strange
country, and bought his dragon-ship of him,
9

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

with a view to sailing thither. Years passed
away, however, before he undertook that
voyage southward, and in the year 999 we
find him at the court of King Olaf of Nor-
way, by whom he was converted to Chris-
tianity. He and his pagan crew were bap-
tized, and on their return to Greenland the
next year took with them Christian preach-
ers, who converted nearly all the people to
their faith — ^all except old Eirek the Red,
who remained a pagan to the end of his
days, then not far away.

Soon after Leif had reached Greenland
with his ship and crew, he projected the
expedition to the land which Biami had
seen, and requested his father to become
the leader. Old Eirek excused himself on
the score of his age, saying that he could ill
support the fatigues and dangers of a voy-
age; but finally yielded to his son's impor-
ttmities, and rode down from his house, on
horseback, to the shore, near which the
vessel lay. On the way down his horse
sttmibled, and Eirek was thrown, thereby
receiving an injury to one of his feet. This
he took as a bad omen, and said: "Fortune
will not permit me to discover more lands
than this which we inhabit. I will proceed
10

PRECURSORS OF THE CABOTS

no farther with you.'* So he returned to
the settlement, called Brattahlid, while Leif,
with thirty-five companions, went on board
their vessel. Among them, it was said, was
a man known as a Turk, from a south coun-
try, who was probably a German.

They set sail and made directly for the
country last seen by Biami, where they cast
anchor and put out a boat. It was a barren
land, and may have been the coast of Labra-
dor, for above them frowned frozen heights,
between which and the sea were great flat
rocks. Then said Leif: "We will not do as
Biami did, who never set foot on shore. I
will give a name to this land, and will call
it *Helluland' — ^the region of broad stones.*'
They put to sea again, and anon came to
another land, which was low, level, and well
covered with trees. On this account Leif
the son of Eirek named it "Markland'* —
land of woods; and then re-embarked and
sailed on again.

This last may have been either Newfound-
land or Nova Scotia, or a land yet farther
southward from their place of departure, as
Cape Ann or Cape Cod (now so called) ; but
after two days more of sailing, with a brisk
northeast wind, they touched upon an island
II

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

lying opposite to the northeasterly part of
the main. Here they landed and found the
air delightful, while the grass was so fra-
grant that the dew upon it was deliciously
sweet to the taste. They did not stop here,
but returning to the ship sailed through a
bay which lay between the island and a
promontory nmning towards the northeast,
which they passed, directing their course
westward. In this bay, when the tide was
low, there were shallows left of great extent,
and the water poured out as from a lake.
When the tide rose the men took their small
boat and rowed up the river and into the
lake, on the shore of which they disembark-
ed and erected temporary huts for habita-
tions.

Having subsequently determined to ^ re-
main here during the winter (of looo-iooi),
they put up buildings of a more permanent
character, and subsisted upon the salmon
they found in the lake and river, which were
abundant, and of greater size than any they
had seen before. So great was the goodness
of the land, they conceived that cattle would
be able to find provender all winter, as no
intense cold was experienced like that to
which they were accustomed in their own

PRECURSORS OF THE CABOTS

cotintry, the grass did not seem to wither
much, and during the shortest days of
winter the sun remained above the horizon
from half -past seven in the morning till half -
past four in the afternoon.

Various localities have been assigned as
the site of this first camp, or temporary-
settlement, in North America by white men,
but hardly any two agree; and in truth it
would be idle to speculate upon this sub-
ject, since no authentic remains have been
discovered by which it can be identified.
The length of their shortest winter day was
no criterion, since it might have applied to
almost any locality between Nova Scotia
and Massachusetts. Neither can any evi-
dence be derived from the seasonal char-
acteristics, for though the first winter the
Northmen experienced on the eastern coast
of North America was remarkably mild, the
next one, in or near the same locality, was
extremely severe.

Their dwellings completed, Leif said to
his companions: "I propose that our com-
pany be divided into two parties, for I
desire to explore the cotmtry ; ' each one of
these parties shall go exploring and remain
at home alternately; but let neither party
13

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

and look out at the same time. Tell me if
you see anything." All denied that they
saw anything of importance. Then said
Leif, "I am not sure whether it is a ship
or a rock which I see in the distance"; but
they all presently saw it and pronotmced it
a rock. Leif, however, had so much sharper
eyes than the others that he saw men upon
the rock, and said, " I am desirous of striv-
ing even against the wind, so that we may
reach those yonder; perchance they may
have need of our assistance." So they made
for the rock, furled their sails, cast anchor,
and put out the small boat which they car-
ried with them. When near to the rock
Tyrker demanded who was the captain of
the band of castaways, and one answered
that his name was Thorer, and that he was
by birth a Norwegian. He then asked,
"What is the name of your captain," and
Leif answered him. "Are you the son of
Eirek the Red, of Brattahlid?" Leif told
him that he was, and added, "I offer you
all a place in my ship, and I will also take
as much of your goods as my ship will
carry," and they gratefully accepted his
offer. The vessel then sailed up to Eireks-
fiord, until tbey reached Brattahlid, where
i6

<
2

•3

H
2:

>
<
H
O

PRECURSORS OF THE CABOTS

they disembarked. Then Leif offered to
Thorer, his wife, and three of his men, a
residence with him, and he showed hospi-
tality to all the others, as well the sailors of
Thorer as his own. There were fifteen per-
sons thus preserved by Leif, and from that
time forth he was known as "Leif the
Lucky."

This expedition contributed both to the
wealth and honor of Leif. In the following
winter a disease attacked the company of
Thorer, to which the man himself and many
of his companions fell victims. Eirek the
Red also died during that winter (which
was probably that of 1001-1002). . . . There
was much talk of Leif's expedition, and
Thorvald, his brother, considered that the
lands had been too little explored. Then
said Leif to Thorvald, "Go, brother, take
my ship to Vinland"; and Thorvald did so,
taking with him thirty companions. They
passed the winter (of 1002-1003) at Leifs-
booths, the name given by them to the
dwellings erected by Leif in Vinland, where,
their vessel being drawn ashore, they sup-
ported themselves by catching fish.

In the ensuing spring and summer Thor-
vald coasted the western shores, but found
17

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

no habitations of men, except in an island
far west, where was seen a single wooden
shed. The next stimmer, Thorvald, with a
portion of his company, coasted the eastern
shore, and passed aroimd the land to the
northward. They were then driven by a
storm against a neck of land, when the ship
was stranded and the keel damaged. They
remained here for some time to repair the
ship, and Thorvald said to his companions:
**Now let us fix up the keel on this neck of
land, and call the place 'Kialamess* " — ^keel
promontory. Having done this, they sailed
along the coast, leaving that neck to the
eastward, and entered the mouths of the
neighboring bays, until they came to a cer-
tain promontory which was covered with
wood. Here they cast anchor and went
ashore. Then said Thorvald, **This is a
pleasant place, and here should I like to fix
my habitation."

They afterwards, having returned to their
ship, perceived on the sandy shore of a bay
within the promontory thxee small boats
made of skins (that is, canoes) and under
each one were thr^e men. They seized all
of these except one, who escaped with his
canoe, and killed all those they captured.
i8

PRECURSORS OF THE CABOTS

Having returned to the promontory, they
looked around and saw in the inner bay
several elevations, which they considered to
be habitations. They were soon afterwards
overcome by such a heavy sleep that none
of them was able to keep watch ; but they
were aroused by a loud voice, which said:
"Awake, Thorvald, and all thy company, if
you wish to preserve your lives; embark at
once and make the best of your way from
the land!'*

Then an innumerable multitude of canoes
was seen coming from the inner bay, by
which Thorvald's party was immediately
attacked. Then said Thorvald: *'Let us
raise bulwarks above the sides of the ship,
and defend ourselves as well as we are able ;
though we can avail little against this multi-
tude. So it was done. The Skraelings* cast
their weapons at them for some time, then
precipitously retired. Thorvald inquired
what woimds his men had received. They
denied that any of them had been wound-

* The Skraelings were, of course, the red savages —
the first recorded as seen by white men in America.
Prom the accurate description given of tfiem, in the
succeeding saga, it is inferred that they were Algon-
quins.

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

ed; but Thorvald said: **I have received a
wound under my arm from an arrow, which,
flying between the ship's side and the edge
of my shield, fastened itself in my armpit.
Here is the arrow. It will cause my death!
Now it is my advice that you prepare to re-
turn home as quickly as possible ; but me you
shall carry to yonder promontory, which
seems to me a pleasant place to dwell in.
Perhaps the words which fell from my lips
shall prove true, and I shall indeed abide
there for a while. There bury me, and place
a cross at my head and another at my feet,
and call that place forever more Krossor-
ness ** — cross-promontory.

Then Thorvald expired. Eversrthing was
done according to his directions, and those
who had gone with him on this expedition,
having joined their companions at Leifs-
booths, informed them of all that had hap-
pened. They passed the following winter
[the third of their absence, 1003 -1004] at
this place and there prepared quantities of
grapes to carry home. Early the following
spring they set sail for Greenland, and ar-
rived safely at Eireksfiord, having much
melancholy intelligence to convey to Leif
Erikson.

THE SAGA OP THORPINN
IO06-IOIO

THE so-called Saga of Thorfinn, frag-
mentary as it is, and at times almost
incoherent, having been made up, probably,
from several narratives, in its salient features
is a continuation of the preceding relation.
Its value consists in bridging a space in our
history that would otherwise be left a blank,
as it takes up the thread of the narrative
soon after the return of Thorvald's men to
Eireksfiord. Old Eirek was dead, and his
third son, Thorstein, was married to Gudrid,
the widow of Thorer the Norwegian, whom
Leif the Lucky had taken from the rock in
the sea.

When the men who had sailed with Thor-
vald arrived with tidings of his death, Thor-
stein was for setting oflE at once in search of
his body, that it might be given a Christian
btirial. Animated by this fraternal senti-
21

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

ment, he raised a crew and departed, with his
bride, for the promontory of Krossaness; but
after sailing and drifting about all the sum-
mer, he was obliged to return without having
accomplished his purpose. It was so late in
the season that he could not even reach
Eireksfiord, but was compelled to winter at
the western settlement of Greenland, where
he and many of his men died of a pestilence.
The beautiful Grudrid, again left a widow,
returned to Eireksfiord, where she found a
home with the family of Leif the Lucky.
But she did not long remain a widow, for that
summer there came to the settlement a
wealthy Norwegian, who fell in love with and
quickly wedded her. Thorfinn Kalsef ni was
his name, and his marriage with the lovely
Gudrid was celebrated at Brattahlid early in
the winter of 1006- 1007, nine hundred years
ago.

The twice - widowed Gudrid retained a
lively recollection of the voyages she had
made with her previous husbands, and during
the long winter nights the conversation qtiite
naturally turned to the discovery of **Vin-
land the Good,'' to which, she thought, an
expedition might be made, with fair prospect
of gain. At length she so won upon Thorfinn
22

THE SAGA OF THORFINN

that he and another Greenlander, named
Snorri, began preparations for an expedition
to Vinland in the spring. When finally
fitted out it consisted of three ships, with
their equipment of small boats, and one htm-
dred and sixty souls, of whom, including
Gudrid, seven were women. Among the
company were Biami Grimolfson, Thorhall
Gamalson, and Thorvard the husband of
Freydis, only daughter of the late Eirek
the Red. They took with them a complete
equipment for a colony, including some live-
stock, as they designed to form a settlement.
Thorfinn asked Leif to give him the dwell-
ings which he had erected in Vinland, and
was told that he could make use of them as
much as he liked. After sailing several days
towards the south, land was seen which was
probably Labrador, as the explorers foimd
there vast flat stones, many of which were
twelve ells in breadth, and, like those before
them, they called it * * Helluland. * * They saw
no htmian beings there, but a great number
of foxes. Two days* sailing on a southerly
course took them to " Markland,** the wooded
country, where they found many wild animals
new to them, and on an island lying off the
coast southeasterly killed a bear.
23

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

Two or three days farther they sailed, still
in a southward direction, and arrived at a
ness, or promontory, where they found the
keel of a ship — ^in all probability the one that
Thorvald had left there, from which circum-
stance he had named the spot "Kialamess."
But they called the shores "Furdustrandir,"
because the coasting along them seemed so
tiresome. They afterwards came to a bay,
into which they directed their boats, and
landed.

King Olaf Tryggvason (it is said) had
given to Leif the Lucky, when he was in
Norway and became a Christian, two Scots
— a man named Haki, and a woman named
Hekia — who were swifter of foot than many
wild animals. These people Leif had loaned
to Thorfinn, and they were then in his ship.
When they landed in the bay, therefore, he
put these Scots ashore, directing them to nm
over the country towards the southwest for
three days, and then return. The ships lay
to during their absence, and at the end of
three days they returned, one of them bring-
ing a bunch of grapes, and the other an ear
of com, or maize. They were lightly clad
and were glad to get on board the ship.

Then the vessels proceeded on their course,
24

THE SAGA OF THORFINN

tintil the land was intersected by another
bay. Outward from this bay lay an island,
which, as there was a very swift current on
each side of it, they named "Straumey," or
Isle of Currents. Here they found so many
eider ducks, which bred there, that they
could hardly walk without stepping on their
eggs. Directing their course into this bay,
which they called "Straumfiord," they dis-
embarked and made preparations for re-
maining. They had taken with them several
cattle, for which they found here abundant
pasturage. The situation of this place was
very pleasant and apparently well suited for
a colony, so they erected huts and passed
much time in exploring.

Here they passed the winter of 1007-1008
which was very severe, and as they had no
great stores provided, provisions ran short,
for they could neither hunt nor fish. So
they passed over to an island, hoping there
to find means of subsistence; but scarcely
improved their condition, though their cattle
were somewhat better off. Then they prayed
to Grod that he would send them food;
which prayer was not answered as soon as
they desired. About this time Thorhall, the
pagan and a hxmter, was missing, and after

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

a search lasting three days, was found lying
on the top of a great rock. There he lay
stretched out, with eyes wide open, blowing
through his mouth and nose, and mumbling
to himself. When they asked him why he
had gone there, he answered that it was no
business of theirs ; that he was old enough to
care for himself. When they requested him
to return with them, he did so without pro-
test, but would give them no explanation of
his strange behavior.

A short time after a whale was cast ashore,
and they all ran down eagerly to cut it up;
but none knew what kind of a whale it was,
not even Thorfinn, who was well acquainted
with the denizens of the deep. The cooks
dressed the whale and they all ate of it, but
were taken ill immediately afterwards. Then
said Thorhall: "Now you see that Thor is
more ready to give aid than your Christ.
This food is the reward of a hymn which I
composed to Thor, my God, who has rarely
forsaken me." When they heard this, none
would eat any more, and so they threw away
the remainder of the flesh from the rocks,
commending themselves to God. After this
the air became milder, and they were again
able to go fishing. Nor from that time was
26

THE SAGA OF THORFINN

there any lack of provisions, for there were
abundance of wild animals to be hunted on
the main-land, of eggs taken on the island,
and of fish caught in the sea.

Thorhall was evidently in disfavor, as a
pagan — ^perhaps the only one in the company ;
but h^ did not seem to care, and one day, as
he was carrying water to his ship, he sang, in
a vein of bravado, the following verses :

** I left the shores of Eireksfiord
To seek, O cursed Vinland, thine;
Each warrior pledging there his word
That we should here qtiaff choicest wine.
Great Odin, Warrior God, see how
These water-pails I carry now;
No wine my lips have touched, but low
At humblest fotmtain I must bow."

Soon after they began to dispute where
they should go next, for Thorhall the himter
wished to go north, while Thorfinn desired
to coast the shore to the southwest, consider-
ing it probable that there would be a more
extensive country the farther south they
went. It was decided, therefore, that each
should explore separately, and Thorhall
made preparations on the island. His whole
company consisted of nine only, all the others
joining with Thorfinn; but still he was not
27

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

cast down, and when all was ready and they
were about to sail, he mockingly sang:

"Now home otir joyful coiirse we'll take.
Where friends untroubled winters lead;
Now let our vessel swiftly make
Her chamiel o'er the ocean's bed;
And let the battle-loving crew
Who here rejoice and praise the land —
Let them catch whales, and eat them, too.
And let them dwell in Purdustrand !"

Thorhall's party then sailed northward,
round Purdustrandir and Kialamess; but
when they desired to sail thence westward,
they were met by an adverse tempest and
driven off to the coast of Ireland, where they
were beaten and made slaves. And there,
as the merchants reported, died Thorhall the
pagan.

Thorfinn, with Snorri Thorbrandson, Biami
Grimolfson, and all the rest of the company,
sailed towards the southwest. They went
on for some time tmtil they came to a river
which, flowing from the land, passed through
a lake into the sea. They found sandy shoals
there, so that they could not pass up the
ri\'er except at high tide. Thorfinn and his
company sailed up as far as the mouth of the
river* and called the place Hop.

THE SAGA OF THORFINN

Having landed, they observed that where
the land was low the com grew wild, where
it was higher vines were foiind, and there
were self-sown fields of wheat [maize, or wild
rice?]. Every river was full of fish. They
dug pits in the sand where the tide rose high-
est, and at low tide there remained excellent
fish in these pits. In the forest there were
great numbers of wild beasts.

They passed half a month here careless-
ly, having brought their cattle with them.
One morning, as they looked arotmd, they
saw a great ntmiber of canoes approaching,
in which were poles, vibrating in the direction
of the Sim, and emitting a sotmd like reeds
shaken by winds.

Then said Thorfinn, **What do you think
this means?*' Snorri Thorbrandson answer-
ed: ** Perhaps it is a sign of peace; let us
take a white shield and hold it out towards
them." They did so, and then those in the
canoes paddled towards them, seeming to
wonder who they were, and landed. They
were swarthy in complexion, short in stat-
ure, and savage in appearance, with coarse
black hair, big eyes, and broad cheeks.
When they had stayed for some time, after
gazing at the strangers with astonishment,
3 "29

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

they departed peacefully, and retired beyond
the promontory to the southwest.

Thorfinn and his companions erected
dwellings at a Uttle distance from the lake,
and here they passed the winter comfort-
ably, as no snow fell, and all their cattle
lived unhoused. One morning in the fol-
lowing spring they saw again a great num-
ber of canoes approaching from beyond the
promontory at the southwest. They were
so numerous that the surface of the water
looked as if sprinkled with cinders. As be-
fore, tall poles were suspended in the canoes.
Thorfinn and his party held out shields,
after which a barter of goods commenced
between them. These people desired above
all things to obtain some red cloth, in ex-
change for which they oflEered various kinds
of skins. They were anxious also to pur-
chase swords and spears; but this Thorfinn
and Snorri forbade. For a narrow strip of
red cloth they gave a whole skin, and tied
the cloth about their heads. Thus they
went on, bartering for some time. When
the supply of cloth began to run short,
Thorfinn's people cut it into pieces so
small that they did not exceed a finger's
breadth, and yet the Sfcraelings gave for
30

THE SAGA OF THORFINN

them as much as, or even more than, be-
fore.

It happened that a bull, which Thorfinn
had brought with him, came rushing from
the woods, as this traffic was going on, and
bellowed lustily. The Skraelings were ter-
ribly alarmed at this, and, nmning quickly
down to their canoes, departed towards the
southwest, whence they had come. They
were not seen again for three weeks, but at
the end of that time a vast number of their
canoes came dancing over the water. They
were filled with Skraelings, who howled fear-
fully, and all their poles were turned oppo-
site to the sun. Thorfinn's party then raised
the red war-shield; the Skraelings landed,
and a fierce battle followed. There was a
galling discharge of missile weapons, for the
savages used slings, and suddenly they
raised on a long pole a large globe, not
tmlike a sheep's belly, and almost of a blue
color. They hurled this from the pole
towards the party of Thorfinn, and as it fell
it made a great noise. This excited great
alarm among the followers of Thorfinn, so
that they began immediately to fly along
the course of the river, for they imagined
themselves to be surrounded on all sides by
31

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

the Skraelings. They did not halt until
they reached some rocks, where they ttirned
about and fought desperately.

At this time Freydis, daughter of Eirek,
coming out of the dwellings and seeing the
followers of Thorfin flying, exclaimed: ** Why
do strong men like you run from such weak
wretches, whom you ought to destroy like
cattle? If I were armed, I believe I should
fight more bravely than any of you!" They
regarded not her words, but kept on nm-
ning. Freydis endeavored to keep up with
them, but was unable to do so, owing to
the state of her health; yet she followed
them as far as the neighboring wood, while
the Skraelings pursued her. There she saw
a man lying dead. This was Thorbrand,
the son qi Snorri, in whose head a sharp-
edged stone was sticking. His sword lay
naked at his side. This she seized and pre-
pared to defend herself. As the Skraelings
came up with her, she struck her breast with
the naked sword, which so astonished the sav-
ages that they fled back to their canoes and
rowed away as fast as possible. The followers
of Thorfinn, returning to her, extolled her
courage. Two of their company had fallen,
together with a vast number of the Skraelings.
32

THE SAGA OF THORFINN

Then the followers of Thorfinn, having
been so hard pressed by the mere ntimber
of the enemy, returned home and dressed
their wotinds. The Skraelings, in the course
of the battle, found a dead man, and a
battle-axe lying near him. One of them
took up the axe and cut wood with it, then,
one after the other, all did the same, think-
ing it an instrument of great value and very
sharp. Presently one of them took it and
struck it against a stone, so that the axe
broke. Then, finding that it would not cut
stone, they thought it useless and threw it
away.

Thorfinn and his companions now con-
sidered it obvious that although the quality
of the land was excellent, yet there would
always be danger to be apprehended from
the natives; they therefore prepared to
depart and to return to their native coun-
try. They first sailed around the land to
the northward, where they took captive
near the shore five Skraelings, clothed in
skins. They were sleeping, and had with
them small boxes full of marrow mixed with
blood. Thorfinn supposed them to have
been exiled from their tribe, or country.
He and his people killed them. They after-
33

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

wards came to a promontory abounding in
wild animals, as they judged from the foot-
prints in the sand.

They then went to Straumfiord, where
there were abundant supplies of all that they
needed. Some say that Biami and Gudrid
remained here, with one htmdred men, and
that they never went any farther; that
Thorfinn and Snorri went towards the south-
west with forty men, and that they remain-
ed no longer at H6p than barely two months,
returning the same summer. Afterwards
Thorfinn went with one ship to seek Thor-
hall the hunter, the rest remaining behind.
Sailing northward arotind Kialamess, they
went westward after passing that promon-
tory, the land lying to their left hand.
There they saw extensive forests, and when
they had sailed for some time they came to
a place where a river flowed from southeast
to northwest. Having entered its mouth,
they cast anchor on its southwestern bank.

One morning they saw in an open place in
the wood something at a distance which
glittered. When they all shouted it moved.
This thing was a uniped, who immediately
betook himself to the bank of the river
where the ship lay. Thorvald Eirekson was
34

THE SAGA OF THORFINN

sitting near the helm, and the uniped shot
an arrow at him. Thorvald, having ex-
tracted the arrow, said: "We have found a
rich land, but shall enjoy it little." After a
short time he died of the wotmd. The
uniped subsequently retired, and Thorfinn's
crew pursued him. They presently saw him
run into a near creek, and returning to their
ship they drew off towards the northward;
for, imagining that this was the land of the
unipeds, they were unwilling to expose them-
selves to danger any longer. They passed
the winter in Straumfiord. Snorri Thorfinn-
son had been bom during the first autumn,
and was in his third year when they left
Vinland.

Setting sail from Vinland [in the spring of
the year loio], with a southerly wind, they
touched at Markland, there finding five
Skraelings, a grown man, two women, and
two boys. Thorfinn's party seized the boys,
the others escaping and hiding in caves.
They took these two boys with them, taught
them their language, and baptized them.
The boys called their mother Vethilldi, and
their father Uvaege. They said that several
chiefs ruled over the Skraelings, of whom
one was Avalldania, the other Valldida;
35

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

that they had no houses, but Uved in cav-
erns and hollows of the rocks ; that beyond
their country was another, the inhabitants
of which were clothed in white, and carried
before them long poles with flags, and shout-
ed with a loud voice. . . . Thorfinn's party
afterwards reached in safety Eireksfiord in
Greenland.

The foregoing are the main features of
the famous sagas describing the colonizing
of Greenland and the temporary settlement
at Vinland. They bear internal evidence
of being veracious chronicles, within the
limitations of their writers, who belonged
to a rude and tinpolished age; though Ice-
land, at that time, was not without its
literature. For example, the productions
of the new coimtry are given as they were
fotind, and as they may be fotmd to-day:
the maize, wild grapes, the various animals,
the fierce and imcouth Skraelings and
their barbaric weapons. The Indian canoes
were the same as those seen by later voy-
agers in historic times; the rude utensils
and arms, the characteristic traits of the
savages, are vemciously portrayed. What
a touch of nature is that incident of the
savages with their new discovery, the iron
36

THE SAGA OF THORFINN

axe, which they imagined utterly worthless
because it could not be made to cut through
stone as well as wood and bone!

And that "large globe, not tmlike a
sheep's belly," borne on a pole, which was
hurled at Thorfinn's party, falling in their
midst with a tremendous noise, was the
aboriginal ballista — a great round stone,
wrapped in a hide, that shrank around it
when dry, and which, attached to a pole
and hurtled into a crowd of warriors, proved
a most formidable projectile.

It must be remembered that the North-
men were scarcely better armed than the
Skraelings. They had their sharp swords,
to be sure, but, like the savages themselves,
were unacquainted with the use of fire-arms.
Hence the timidity of these Vikings and de-
scendants of Vikings (whose very name had
caused the world to tremble, in the East
and in the West) when confronted with
overwhelming numbers; hence the short-
lived settlements of Vinland, surroimded
as they were by savages, and the constant
recurrence to Greenland, where the Skrae-
lings had never been seen.

The Norse chroniclers were very temperate,
it must be admitted, in their descriptions of
37

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

adventures and of animals encountered by
the Vikings of Vinland. They might have
filled their pages with mythical yet ferocious
dragons, with monsters of the deep and
flying beasts of the air, such as even the
fifteenth-century map-makers were prone, to
depict when they had a gap in the globe to
fill or a vast area of waters to span. But,
so far as we know, the only approach to a
mythical monster mentioned by the Norse-
men was that solitary uniped, which at-
tacked Thorfinn's party, and slew tmfort-
unate Thorvald — after he had been months
in his grave! But the tmiped, with its mix-
ing up of the Thorvald and the Thorfinn
expeditions, must be looked upon as an
interpolation by some scribe, who probably
considered the narrative too tame, and who
inserted the incident without having in-
formed himself as to preceding occurrences.

The colonization of Greenland by the
Northmen, in the tenth century, says a high
authority, "is as well established as any
event that occurred in the Middle Ages";
and, it might be added, so is the attempted
settlement of Vinland, at the very beginning
of the eleventh century. But, while no
authentic vestige of Vinland has been dis-
38

o
c

THE SAGA OF THORFINN

covered, the boreal colony battled with the
arctic snows for centuries, and when it
perished left behind, in fertile spots around
the heads of fiords, the ruins not only of
numerous farmsteads, but of churches and
a cathedral. The Brattahlid of Eirek the
Red and Leif the Lucky, of Thorvald, Frey-
dis, and Gudrid, may be identified to-day
by its ruins; but the same can hardly be
said of "Wineland the Good," it is feared.
Its site, indeed, is a matter of conjecture,
and has been variously located, in every
attractive bay between Newfoundland and
the southern coast of Massachusetts.

Ill

INTERMEDIARY EXPLORATIONS

MANY and pertinent are the questions
that arise in connection with an in-
quiry into the colonization of Cjreenland
and the attempted settlements at Vinland.
Why did the northern colony flourish four
htindred years, while the more southern,
with its temperate climate and manifold
advantages, exist for a short period only,
then sink into obscurity ?

The last voyage to Vinland of which there
is any account was in or about the year
1 221; but the Cjreenland settlements were
occupied so late as the opening years of
that century in which Columbus made his
first voyage to what is now called America.
The northern Skraelings, or Eskimos, in-
vaded the southern shores of Cjreenland
in the first decade of the fifteenth century,
and swept the settlements into the sea.
They had been seen by Norse voyagers
40

INTERMEDIARY EXPLORATIONS

many years before, but evidently were not
feared, though it was on account of the
total absence of natives inimical to white
men that the inhospitable sites in Cjreen-
land had been occupied and retained even
after better had been discovered farther
south. That was one reason, but a second
and more powerful was, probably, Green-
land's proximity to the parent colony in
Iceland. The dreaded **Sea of Darkness"
was, between Iceland and Greenland, nar-
rowed to scarcely more than a strait, less
than three hundred miles in width; but
below it expanded increasingly, the Vikings
found, the farther south they ventured in
their frail craft.

It is less strange that the Northmen
should have abandoned Vinland and ceased
to voyage thither at all, than that all knowl-
edge of the country should have faded away,
in the course of centuries, and have become
but a tradition, tmtil it was revived by the
publication of the learned Torfaeus's book,
in 1706. Without allowing ourselves to be-
come involved in a mere labyrinth of ex-
planations, by which we should be diverted
from the high-road of our narrative, and
perhaps emerge without any information
41

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

worth the while, at least we should remem-
ber that the Northmen, though valiant,
were extremely ignorant and unobservant.
They had no conception of the globe as we
now know it, and were unaware of what
their voyages signified. Moreover, says a
critical historian: ** Nothing had been ac-
complished by these voyages which could
properly be called a contribution to geo-
graphical knowledge. . . . Except for Green-
land, which was supposed to be a part of
the European world, America remained as
much undiscovered after the eleventh cen-
tury as before. In the midstimnier of 1492,
it needed to be discovered as much as if
Leif Erikson, or the whole race of North-
men, had never existed!'* Suffice it that,
when it was finally rediscovered, towards
the end of the fifteenth centiuy. North
America was practically tuiknown, for the
record of Norse voyages had been lost, and
was not brought to light until two centuries
later.

The impulse for the actual discovery of
America was a ctraiulative force from the
East, from the shores of the Mediterranean.
Southern Africa, like North America, had
been discovered, it had even been circum-
42

INTERMEDIARY EXPLORATIONS

navigated — and forgotten. Prince Henry of
Portugal reopened the ancient waterways.
The equator was crossed, finally, but after his
death; the Cape of Good Hope was doubled,
by Bartholomew Dias, and the way opened
by which Vasco da Gama sailed to India.

While the Portuguese were creeping south-
wardly along the African coast, and while,
later, Christopher Columbus, for the Span-
iards, was thrusting his ships boldly into the
Atlantic, America remained unknown. But
there was a man with Bartholomew Dias,
when he doubled the Cape of Storms, in i486,
who was to assist in lifting the veil from
that virgin continent. This man was Bar-
tholomew Columbus, who, on his return from
the African voyage, was sent to England by
Christopher, his brother, to lay his schemes
before Henry VII. He was to visit, also,
the court of France; but his first objective
seems to have been the port of Bristol, in
England, where it is thought that, being a
seafaring man, Bartholomew had some old
shipmates or acquaintances. Both Christo-
pher Columbus and Bartholomew had been
on voyages to Iceland, it is declared on good
authority, and probably to Bristol, which
is a very ancient seaport, and during the
43

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CAB.OT

fifteenth century, at least, carried on a thriving
smuggling trade with the isolated Icelanders.
. The enterprising seamen of Bristol, many
of them, were not only smugglers but buc-
caneers, as venturesome and valiant as the
old Vikings themselves, though carr5dng on
their operations in the guise of traders.
Twelve years before Columbus accidentally
arrived at the outlying islands of the West
Indies (by which he gained the reputation
of having discovered America), or in the
year 1480, the Bristol men had sent out an
expedition in quest of the isle of Brazil,
known in Celtic traditions as O'Brasil, or
**Isle of the Blest.'' Like the blessed St.
Brandan's Isle, Atlantis, Antilla, Zipango,
and a score of others that took refuge in the
**Sea of Darkness" when pursued by the
cartographers, O'Brasil was a mythical land,
and has never been discovered. It was then
as real, however, as was America before it
was revealed, and not only Columbus, but
Vespucci, went in search of it. The name
became finally fixed to the country which
now bears it: Brazil, in South America; but
previously it wandered about like a veritable
ignis fatuus, pursued by voyagers of every
nationality and clime.
44

INTERMEDIARY EXPLORATIONS

An old chronicler gives this account: **In
1480, on July 15th [two ships] began a voy-
age from the port of Bristol ... in search of
the island of Brasylle, to the west of Ire-
land, Thylde, the most scientific mariner in
all England being the pilot. News came
to Bristol on the i8th September that the
ships cruised about the sea for nearly nine
months, without finding the island, but in
consequence of tempests they returned to a
port in Ireland, for the repose of the ships
and the mariners."

Eighteen years later, or in 1498, the Span-
ish ambassador in London wrote to his sov-
ereigns, Ferdinand and Isabella: "The peo-
ple of Bristol have, for the last seven years,
sent out every year two, three, or four car-
avels, in search of the island of Brasil and
the Seven Cities."

From this it would appear that Columbus
was not the only mariner who was bent upon
faring forth upon the vasty deep in search
of new lands and peoples ; for, even though
the Bristol voyage of 1480 be discredited,
there can be little doubt as to that of 1491,
the very year before America was discovered!
It wotdd seem that the great ventures and
discoveries of that age — perhaps also of every
4 45

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

age — ^were made, not by the enlightened aid
of the sovereigns, but in spite of them! How
many years, for example, did Colimibus im-
porttme the king of Portugal, and the king
and queen of Spain, before the last-named
finally sent him forth, so niggardly provided
that it was scarcely less than miraculous
that he and his motley crew safely accom-
plished the voyage ?

But, if the Spanish and Portuguese sover-
eigns were penurious and mean, still more
so was theii; royal brother in England, Henry
VII., who happened to be seated on the
throne when the stout-hearted Bristol men
were making their ventures on the unknown
ocean. Isabella and Ferdinand nearly lost
the services of Columbus by their procrastina-
tion; King John of Portugal stigmatized
himself as an unworthy successor to Prince
Henry the Navigator, when he rejected them;
Henry VII. of England joined his company
when he dallied over and finally refused the
proffer of Don Bartholomew. Christopher's
noble brother was at Henry's court in 1488,
as witness this entry in Haldujrt's History,
made about one hundred years later:

"The offer of the discovery of the West
Indies by Christopher Columbus to King
46

INTERMEDIARY EXPLORATIONS

Henry the seventh, in the yeare 1488, the
13 of February; with the king's acceptation
of the offer, and the cause whereupon hee
was depriued of the same; recorded in the
13th chapter of the history of Don Fernando
Columbus of the life and deeds of his father
Christopher Columbus. . . . Wherefore, after
that Bartholomew Columbus was departed
for England his lucke was to fall into the
hands of Pyrats, which spoyled him with
the rest of them that were in the ship which
he went in. Upon which occasion, and by
reason of his pouerty and sicknesse which
cruelly assaulted him, in a country so farre
distant from his friends, he deferred his
ambassage for a long while, until such time
as he had gotten somewhat handsome about
him with the making of sea cards [charts].
At length he began to deale with King Henry
the seventh, tmto whom he presented a
mappe of the world, wherein these verses
were written, which I fotmd among his papers ;
and I will here set them downe, rather for
their antiquity than for their goodnesse:

" Thou which desirest easily the coast of land to
know,
This comely mappe right learnedly the same to
thee will shew;

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

Which Strabo, Plinie, Ptolomey and Isodore main-

taine;
Yet for all that they do not all in one accord

remaine.
Here also is set downe the late discovered

burning zone
By Portingals, unto the world which wilom was

unknown,
Whereof the knowledge now at length thorow

all the world is blown."

This "mappe of the world" which Bar-
tholomew Columbus presented to the penuri-
ous king was probably a copy of that sent
by Toscanelli, the Florentine, to Christopher,
in 1474, and by which the last-named shaped
his course on the first voyage across the
Atlantic. As, it is believed, Amerigo Ves-
pucci (then twenty-two years of age, and a
Florentine) was in close touch with Toscanelli
at that time, he also saw this map, and thus
we have several great names closely linked
together by this transaction: Christopher
and Bartholomew Columbus, Vespucci, Tos-
canelli; to which will soon be added John
and Sebastian Cabot, who may have been
in England at the time.

It is not known that either of the Cabots
ever met Christopher Columbus, nor did the
48

INTERMEDIARY EXPLORATIONS

latter ever see Toscanelli, the learned doctor
who furnished him with the precious chart;
but Amerigo Vespucci was intimately ac-
quainted with the Genoese and the Floren-
tine, and was succeeded by Sebastian Cabot,
after his death, in the office of piloto mayor,
or chief pilot, of Spain. This little world
was smaller then than now — ^that is, the
known and habitable portion — ^while men of
real attainments were so few as to be con-
spicuous. As they were depended upon to
supply brains for kings with empty pates —
and these latter were relatively numerous —
they could always be found among the
hangers-on at royal courts.

King Henry listened, but not understand-
ingly, to the plans proposed by Christopher
Columbus through his brother Bartholomew.
He is said to have promised his assistance in
carrying them into execution; but, handi-
capped as he was by the delays which su-
pervened through poverty, caused by the
pirates, Don Bartholomew was compelled to
depart from England without accomplish-
ing anything at all.

If Christopher Columbus, instead of spend-
ing the best years of his life in servile at-
tendance at royal courts, had cast off all
49

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

dependence upon kings and courtiers, and
placed his business in the hands of such men
of affairs as the enterprising merchants of
British Bristol, or Spanish Seville and Cadiz,
he would have fared much better, and
America might have been discovered the
sooner. But he could not rid himself of the
fetish of royalty, and fawned upon it tmtil
finally there was grudgingly granted him as
a boon what he should have demanded as
a right. The Spanish sovereigns, in 1492,
after delaying their answer to his requests
nearly seven years, reluctantly yielded their
permission, with beggarly assistance, for a
voyage — and that accomplished, England's
opportunity was gone forever — ^for the New
World had been found.

Don Bartholomew made the best of his
way back to Spain, whence he was sent, in
command of some vessels, to the West Indies,
where he finally met his brother, at the newly
founded settlement of Isabella, on the north
coast of Hispaniola. There, says the old
English chronicler quaintly, *' Christopher
Columbus being returned from the dis-
covery of Cuba and Jamaica, found his
brother Bartholomew, who before had been
sent to intreat of an agreement with the king
SO

INTERMEDIARY EXPLORATIONS

of England for the discovery of the Indies —
as we sayd before/' But for the ignorance
of a paltering king, in truth, the English
might have had the glory of achieving this
discovery; though they were hardly worthy
that high honor, for they had not, says
Robertson, in his History of America, at that
period attained to such skill in navigation
as qualified them for carrying it into ex-
ecution.

'*From the inconsiderate ambition of its
monarchs, the nation had long wasted its
genius and activity in pernicious and in-
effectual efforts to conquer France. When
this ill-directed ardor began to abate, the
fatal contest between the houses of York
and Lancaster turned the arms of one-half
the kingdom against the other, and exhaust-
ed the vigor of both. During the -course of
two centuries, while industry and commerce
were making gradual progress both in the
south and north of Europe, the English con-
tinued so blind to the advantages of their
own situation that they hardly began to bend
their thoughts towards those objects and
pursuits to which they V{ere indebted for
their present opulence and power. While
the trading-vessels of Italy, Spain, and Port-
s'

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

ugal, as well as those of the Hans Towns,
visited the most remote ports of Europe, and
carried on an active intercourse with its
various nations, the English did little more
than creep along their own coasts in small
barks, which conveyed the productions of
one country to another. Their commerce
was almost wholly passive. Their wants
were supplied by strangers; and whatever
necessary or luxury of life their own country
did not yield was imported in foreign bot-
toms. The cross of St. George was seldom
displayed beyond the precincts of the narrow
seas. Hardly had any English ship traded
with Spain or Portugal before the beginning
of the fifteenth century; and half a century
more elapsed before the English mariners
became so adventurous as to enter the
Mediterranean.*'

*'In this infancy of navigation," continues
the historian, * * Henry could not commit the
conduct of an armament destined to explore
unknown regions to his own subjects. He
invested one Giovanni Gabotto, a Venetian
adventurer who had settled in Bristol, with
the chief command, and issued a commission
to him and his three sons, empowering them
to sail, under the banner of England, towards
52

INTERMEDIARY EXPLORATIONS

the east, north, or west, in order to discover
cotintries unoccupied by any other Christian
state ; to take possession of them in his name,
and to carry on an exclusive trade with the
inhabitants/'

FIRST VOYAGE OF THE CABOTS
1497

IS it still debatable, who discovered Amer-
ica? Shall we deny the Northmen credit
for the discovery merely because they did
not ** enter their claim," but let it lapse and
allowed it to be pre-empted by Columbus?

How strangely, almost inextricably, inter-
woven are the threads of tradition and his-
tory, which connect the earliest mention of
America with the men who dragged it forth
from obscurity and set it among the known
cotmtries of the world. Leaving out of the
question even the Northmen and their set-
tlements, still there are three claimants for
the honor of having been the first tq set foot
on continental America: Christopher Coltim-
bus, Amerigo Vespucci, and John Cabot. The
first -named, by his own account, voyaged
to Ultima Thule, or Iceland, long before he
set out for America, and when there may
54

FIRST VOYAGE OF THE CABOTS!

have obtained knowledge of the sagas, from
which we have quoted in preceding chapters.
Availing himself of that knowledge, he may
have made his great ''discovery'* merely by
crossing the Atlantic at a more southern
parallel of latitude — as he availed himself of
Toscanelli's chart in his first transatlantic
voyage.

Columbus, as we know, discovered only isl-
ands — ^those now known as the West Indies
— in his first two voyages, of 1492 and 149};
and it was not until 1498 that he had his
first glimpse of a continent, at the northeast
coast of South America. On July 31, 1498,
he sighted the great island Trinidad, and a
little later Paria, a projection of the con-
tinent (as, anciently, the geologists tell us,
was Trinidad itself). But if we may be-
lieve the narrative of Vespucci, he was on
that coast as early as Jime 10, 1497; which
date, again, is just two weeks earlier than
John Cabot first sighted the coast of North
America, off Newfoundland or Labrador.
Historian Richard Hakluyt has it thus:
**Anno Dom. 1497, John Cabot, a Venetian,
and his sonne Sebastian (with an English
fleet set out from Bristol), discovered that
land which no man before that time had
SS

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

attempted, on the 24th of June, about five
of the clocke, early in the morning. This
land he called Prima Vista, that is to say.
First Seene, because as I suppose it was that
part whereof they had the first sight from
the sea/'

Grave doubts attach to the so-called
*'i497 voyage" of Vespucci, which, it is
claimed with much reason, should have
been dated two years later, as he certainly
was on the coast of South America in the
year 1499. The question arises: Did he
purposely falsify the date of his first voyage
in order to deprive both Columbus and
Cabot of the honor of the achievement ? His
claim was not made tmtil seven years after
the alleged voyage had taken place; but
Columbus was then alive, and also Sebastian
Cabot, who always showed himself jealous
of his own, if not of his honored father's
fame.

** Whether, in the first sight of the main-
land,'* says one who writes with an air of
authority. . . . "Vespucci did not take prec-
edence of the Cabots and Columbus, has
been a disputed question for nearly [quite]
four hundred years; and it will probably
never be satisfactorily settled, should it con-
56

FIRST VOYAGE OF THE CABOTS

tinue in dispute for four hundred years
longer." That is, there will always be cham-
pions of the one and of the others, so long
as the matter is in doubt, which promises to
be forever.^

But again, leaving the question of prec-
edence in South America to be argued by
whomsoever will take the trouble, we shall
note that there is now no doubt as to the
date on which John Cabot made his landfall
on the coast of North America. That con-
tinent — ^speaking particularly of the north-
em land-mass of the western hemisphere —
belongs to him by right of discovery, and
no one has sought to take that honor from
him save his son Sebastian. In his old age,
and while residing in Seville, as pilot major
of Spain, Sebastian Cabot is said to have
discoursed as follows to the pope's legate at
the Spanish court: . . . "When my father
(John Cabot] departed from Venice many
yeeres since to dwell in England, to follow
the trade of marchandises, hee tooke mee
with him to the citie of London, while I was
very yong, yet hauing neuertheless some
knowledge of letters, of humanitie, and of the

* See The Life of Amerigo Vespucci, in Heroes of
American History — '* The Debatable Voyage."

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

Sphere. And when my father died, in that
time when newes were brought that Don
Christopher Colonus Grenuese [Columbus,
Genoese] had discouered the coasts of India,
whereof was great talke in all the court of
king Henry the VII., who then raigned,
insomuch that all men, with great admira-
tion, affirmed it to be a thing more diuine
than humane, to saile by the West into the
East where spices growe, by a way that was
neuer knowen before — ^by this fame and
report there increased in my heart a great
flame of desire to attempt some notable thing.
**And vnderstanding by reason of the
Sphere, that if I should saile by way of the
Northwest I should by a shorter tract come
into India, I thereupon caused the king to
be aduertised of my deuise, who immediately
caused two carauels to be furnished with all
things apperta3niing to the voyage, which
was, as farre as I remember, in the yeere
1496, in the beginning of sommer. I began
therefore to saile towards the Northwest, not
thinking to finde any other land than that
of Cathay, and from thence to tume towards
India; but after certaine dayes I fotmd that
the land ranne towards the North, which was
to mee a great displeasure. Neuertheless,
58

FIRST VOYAGE OF THE CABOTS

sayling along by the coast to see if I could
finde any gulfe that turned, I found the
lande still a continent to the 56 degree vnder
our Pole. And seeing that there the coast
turned towards the East, despairing to finde
the passage, I turned backe again and sailed
downe by the coast of that lande which is
nowe called Florida, where, my victuals
failing, I departed from thence and rettimed
into England, where I found great tumults
among the people, and preparation for warres
in Scotland ; by reason whereof there was no
more consideration had to this voyage."

If it were not that nearly all the "dis-
courses" of Sebastian Cabot (after he had
placed a goodly distance between himself
and the scenes of his alleged adventures) were
of this boastful tenor, we might infer that
the aforesaid "legate of the pope" had in-
correctly reported this narration; but, un-
fortunately, no such conclusion can be
reached. The statement is in direct con-
travention of the truth, for it was John Cabot,
and not Sebastian, his son, who directed the
first ships from England to North America.
This fact has been established, though
labored efforts have been made to show the
contrary. As Robertson, in the preceding
59

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

chapter, rather loosely says: The "commis-
sion for discovery was issued to John Cabot
and his three sons; but he held chief com-
mand."

How, then, could Sebastian lay claim to
the discovery without being open to the
charge that he, too, as well as Amerigo Ves-
pucci, had falsified the records? As al-
ready mentioned, no log was made of the
voyage by those most interested. Unlike
Colimibus and Vespucci, who both kept
journals of their voyages (the former con-
sistently advertising himself and his doings
from the beginning of the first voyage al-
most to the day of his death) . John Cabot
left not a line, so far as can be discovered,
at the time or later.* And it was not tmtil
long after that his son, impressed by the im-
portance of his father's achievement, which
loomed great by comparison with other
lauded discoveries, seems to have resolved
to gather the laurels which Cabot the senior
had failed to grasp!

* "In 1502 Columbtis caused several attested copies
of his letters patent and other privileges to be made
and distributed amongst different custodians," as the
governor of the bank of St. George, in Genoa, etc.
And, adds Winsor, "One wishes he could have had a
like solicitude for the exactness of his own statements."
60

FIRST VOYAGE OF THE CABOTS

That acute critic, Justin Winsor, truth-
fully says: ''Unlike the enterprises of
Columbus, Vespucci, and many other navi-
gators who wrote accoimts of their voyages
and discoveries, at the time of "their occur-
rence, which by the aid of the press were
published to the world, the exploits of the
Cabots were [contemporaneously] unchron-
icled. . . . Although the fact of their voyage
[as we shall later see] had been reported by
jealous and watchful liegers at the English
court to the principal cabinets of the con-
tinent, and the map of their discoveries had
been made known — and thus had its in-
fluence in leading other expeditions to the
northern shores of North America — the his-
torical literature relating to the discovery of
America, as preserved in print, is, for nearly
twenty years after the event took place,
silent as to the enterprises, and even the
names of the Cabots!

"Scarcely anything has come down to us
from these navigators themselves, and for
what we know we have hitherto been chiefly
indebted to the tmcertain reports, in foreign
languages, of conversations originally held
with Sebasti^an Cabot, many years after-
wards, and sometimes related at second and
5 6i

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

third hands. Even the year in which the
[first] voyage took place is misstated/' This
last line refers to the legend on a map at-
tributed to Sebastian Cabot in 1544, which
reads: *'This country [Newfotmdland] was
discovered by John Cabot, Venetian, and
Sebastian Cabot his son, in the year of our
Lord Jesus Christ, MCCCCXCIIII."; which
should have been given as MCCCCXCVII., by
joining the first two Is, and thus making a V.
Having cleared away the brushwood, as
it were, we proceed to consider next the
letters patent under which the first Cabo-
tian voyage was made, granted in 1496 by
King Henry Vllth, **vnto lohn Cabot and
his three sonnes, Lewis, Sebastian, and
Santius, for the discouerie of new and vn-
knowen lands." It is contained in Hak-
luyt's Principall Navigations, Voyages and
Discoveries of the English Nation, published
more than ninety years after the voyage
took place.

** Henry, by ike grace of God king of England and

France, and lord of Ireland, to all to whom these

presents shall come:

** Greeting. — Be it known that we haue giuen and

granted, and by these presents do giue and grant for

vs and our heires, to our well-beloued lohn Cabot,

FIRST VOYAGE OF THE CABOTS

citizen of Venice, to Lewis, Sebastian, and Santius,
sonnes of the sayd lohn, and to the heires of them
and euery of them, and their deputies, full and
free authority, leaue, and power, to saile to all
parts, cotmtreys, and seas of the East, of the
West, and of the North, vnder our banners and
ensigns, with fiue ships of what burthen or quan-
tity soeuer they be, and as many mariners or men
as they will haue with them in the sayd ships,
Vpon their own proper costs and charges, to seeke
out, discouer, and finde whatsoeuer isles, countreys,
regions, or prouinces of the heathen and infidels
whatsoeuer they be, and in what part of the world
whatsoeuer they be, which before this time haue
been vnknowen to all Christians: we haue granted
to them, and also to euery of them, the heires of
them, and euery of them, and their deputies, and
haue giuen them licence to set vp our banners and
ensigns in euery village, towne, castle, isle, or
maine land of them newly found.

"And that the aforesayd lohn and his sonnes,
or their heires and assignes may subdue, occupy,
and possesse all such townes, cities, castles, and
isles of them fotmd, which they can subdue, occupy,
and possess, as our vassals and lieutenants, get-
ting vnto vs the rule, title, and jurisdiction of the
same villages, townes, castles, & firme land so
found.

** Yet so that the aforesayd lohn, and his sonnes
and heires, and their deputies, be holden and
bounden of all the fruits, profits, gaines, and com-
modities growing out of such nauigation, for euery
their voyage, as often as they shall arriue at our

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

port of Bristol! (at the which port they shall be
boiind and holden onely to arriue) all maner of
necessary costs and charges by them made being
deducted, to pay vnto vs in wares or money the
fift part of the capitall gaine so gotten. We giuing
and granting vnto them, and to their heires and
deputies, that they shall be free from all paying of
customes of all and singuler such merchandize as
they shall bring with them from those places so
newly found.

"And moreouer, we haue giuen and granted to
them, their heires and deputies, that all the firme
lands, isles, villages, townes, castles, and places
whatsoeuer they be that they shall chance to finde,
may not of any other of our subjects be frequented
or visited without the licence of the aforesayd
lohn and his sonnes, and their deputies, vnder
paine of forfeiture — as well of their shippes as of
all and singuler goods of all of them that shall
presume to saile to those places so fotmd. Willing,
and most straightly commanding all and singuler
our subjects as well on land as on sea, to giue good
assistance to the aforesayd lohn and his sonnes
and deputies, and that as well in arming and
furnishing their shippes or vessels, as in prouision
of food, and in buying of victuals for their money,
and all other things by them to be prouided
necessary for the sayd nauigation, they do giue
them all their help and fauour. In witnesse
whereof we haue caused to be made these our
Letters patents. Witnesse our selfe at Westminis-
ter the fift day of March, in the eleuenth yeere of
our reigne."

FIRST VOYAGE OF THE CABOTS

The royal letters patent were issued in
response to a petition, received by the king
a short time previously, which has been
called by an English historian, G. E. Weare,
**so far as we know up to the present time,
the earliest docimient which in any way
relates to the discovery of North America
by John Cabot." It is without date, and
as follows:

**To the Kyng our souvereigne Lord:

** Please it your highnes, of your most noble
and haboundant grace, to graunt vnto lohn
Cabotto, Citizen of Venice, Lewes, Sebastyan, and
Sancto his sonnys, your gracious letters patentes
vnder your grete seale in due forme to be made
according to the tenour hereafter ensuying. And
they shall during their lyves pray to God for the
prosperous continuance of your most noble and
royall astate long to enduer.**

All the evidence goes to show that the
petition was promptly acted upon, for King
Henry was probably by this time convinced
that, if he desired to obtain any share of
the New World, then being apportioned be-
tween his royal brothers of Spain and Portu-
gal, he had no time to lose. By a bull of
May 4, 1493, less than four years previously,
Pope Alexander VI. had established the
65

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

dividing-line between the prospective posses-
sions of the Spanish and Portuguese in that
New World at one hundred leagues west of
the Azores, nmning from pole to pole. By
the treaty of Tordesillas, the next year, this
imaginary line was. shifted to a point three
hundred and seventy leagues westward of
the Cape Verde islands. East of that line
of demarcation, Portugal was to have and
to hold all she had fotuid, and might in
the future discover, while Spain was con-
firmed in equal privileges to the westward.
This edict was to go into effect on Jime 20,
1494; but the bull confirming it was not
issued until several years thereafter, or in
1506. This, however, did not matter to
the kings of Spain and Portugal, for the
sanction of the Holy Father was merely pro
forma. They had already agreed to divide
the world between them; but the pope's co-
operation was such a shameless transaction
that it aroused the wrath of other monarchs,
notably that of the king of France, who at
one time, when Spain had protested against
his invasion of the southern seas, demanded
indignantly to be shown the will of Father
Adam, by which the two sovereigns were to
be made sole heirs to the universe!
66

FIRST VOYAGE OF THE CABOTS

Whether Henry protested is not certainly
known; but at least he manifested a disre-
gard of the tripartite compact, when he
sent out his ships to explore. It will be
noticed, however, that he was careful to
stipulate that Cabot was to sail only to the
seas and cotmtries of the East, the West,
and the North, which before that time were
** unknown to all Christians/* By thus in-
structing his captain, though he showed a
tacit disregard of the papal bull of parti-
tion, he manifested a regard for the Spanish
and Portuguese discoveries, all of which had
been in the south.

King Henry's fears may have been aroused
by the Spanish ambassador to the English
cotirt, Ruy Gonzales de Puebla, who was
keenly watching the sovereign in the in-
terests of King Ferdinand, whom he had
evidently informed of Cabot's intended voy-
age, for under date of March 28, 1496, their
** Catholic Majesties" wrote him:

**You write that a person like Coltmibus
has come to England for the ptupose of
persuading the king into an tuidertaking
similar to that of the Indies, without preju-
dice to Spain and Portugal. He is quite at
liberty. But we believe that this under-
67

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

taking was thrown in the way of the King
of England by the King of France, with the
premeditated intention of distracting him
from his other business. Take care that
the King of England be not deceived. The
French will try hard to lead him into such
undertakings ; but they are very unpleasant,
and must not be gone into at present. Be-
sides, they cannot be executed without prej-
udice to us and to the King of Portugal,''

It was evidently intended that this letter,
or the purport of it, should be communicated
to King Henry; and that the wily ambassa-
dor, Puebla, found means for carrying out
the intention, is hardly to be doubted. We
shall see something of Puebla later; or,
rather, we shall have opporttmity to read
some of his letters, by which it will be seen
that he was ever alert, always watchful of
his sovereign's interests, and better inform-
ed as to King Henry's intentions than any
other man in the kingdom save the sover-
eign himself. It is to him, and to other
foreigners then residing in London, as mer-
chants and diplomatists, that we are solely
indebted for contemporary information of
John Cabot's voyage to North America.

IN THE GOOD SHIP MATHEW
1497

ONE morning in May, 1497, a diminu-
tive craft, the Mathew, sailed down the
Bristol channel, on its way to the sea. It
was commanded by the Venetian, Giovanni
Caboto, since known to history as John
Cabot, and he had with him only eighteen
men. Whether his three sons, Sebastian,
Lewis, and Santius, were with him, or
whether they had remained at home with
John's Venetian wife, as an ancient narra-
tion intimates, nobody to-day can tell. A
single small vessel, hardly large enough to
be called a **shippe," but more probably a
caravel, or brigantine, comprised the ** fleet
of fine ** which, in the grandiloquent language
of the letters patent, he was permitted to
take, and eighteen Bristol sailors his crew.
To these pitiful dimensions had his expedi-
tion shrunk, and as more than a year liad
69

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

passed since the royal sanction had been ob-
tained, it must be inferred that the public
response to his appeal had not been enthusi-
astic.

But little more than four years had passed
since the return of Columbus to Palos with
the tidings of his great discovery, but the
stolid Britons were evidently not greatly
moved thereby, even if they were fully in-
formed as to what thfe great discovery
meant. These sailors of old Bristol knew
only — if they knew aught, in truth, of what
the voyage imported — ^that Christopher Co-
lumbus had sailed from Spain and the
Canaries westerly, and kept on sailing, until
he had revealed islands never seen by men
of Europe before. This, they understood,
was what their commander, Messer Caboto,
intended to do, and as he had their sover-
eign's gracious permission to do so, and as
they were to receive their wages, without
doubt, and provend for the voyage, let it
be long or short, they were content to keep
on sailing into tmknown waters, like their
predecessors, the Northmen. Indeed, it is
stated by some that Captain Caboto first
laid his course for Iceland, home of the
ancient Norsemen, between which and Bris-
70

ST. JOHN S CHURCH, BRISTOL, SHOWING GATEWAY OF

THE CITY A LANDMARK CONTEMPORARY WITH

CAHOT's RESIDENCE

IN THE GOOD SHIP MATHEfV

tol there had been commercial intercourse
for centuries, in order to put the crew in
spirits for the voyage and get them accus-
tomed to sailing out of sight of land. But
it is more probable that Ireland was meant,
from the southern extremity of which, after
having obtained his ''bearings," he sailed
along a certain degree of latitude — after the
manner of the navigators of his time — ^until
he came to land. He probably followed
along that parallel as directly as possible
across the ocean, at the end making land in
about the latitude of the port from which
he originally sailed.

•This, however, is somewhat conjectural,
for, as already stated, no log-book was kept
on the voyage (or if kept was not preserved),
and no letters are in existence, or were ever
found, from Cabot to any of his contem-
poraries. They ** sailed happily,*' Sebastian
Cabot said afterwards, referring to the voy-
age he took to America; but he is equally
vague as to whether it was the first one or
the second. Any voyage that is not tem-
pestuous, or marred by accident, is likely
to be referred to by a sailor as a happy one,
so, it may well be believed, was this, which
began the first week in May, and ended in
71

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

the discovery of land on a transatlantic con-
tinent, June 24, 1497.

From the little that has been preserved
relative to that voyage, it must have been
one of the stupidest and least eventful, per
se, of any that ever took place. Poor Cap-
tain Caboto had no congenial spirits aboard,
or in company, as had his great prototype,
Columbus, in Martin Alonzo Pinzon, Juan
de la Cosa, and a score of others whose birth
and education had fitted them for elevated
society. In fact, the Spaniards of those days
seem to have been far in advance of the in-
sular Britons, whether we take cognizance
of royalty, of the aristocracy, or of the
commonalty.

Be that as it may — ^though this is not an
entirely gratuitous reflection — Captain John
Cabot, so far as we know, was in splendid
isolation on board the Mathew — ^imless he
had the companionship of his sons, which
is doubtful. The only basis for an inference
that they were with him is to be found in
the fact that they are mentioned in the
letters patent conjointly with himself. But
this may have been owing to a fond parent's
desire that they should share in his achieve-
ment, or at least benefit by the royal per-
72

IN THE GOOD SHIP MATHEIV

mission, perchance he himself might die.
They are not mentioned further in any
reference to that first voyage, until long
after it was accomplished, and then only
one is named: Sebastian, the second son,
who at that time was probably about twenty-
three years of age. His two brothers disap-
pear shortly after, and also (as we shall see
in another chapter) his father, whom several
biographers have endeavored to suppress
entirely as a factor in the discovery, in order
to bring forward more conspicuously the
figure of Sebastian.

Of the event '* which pre-empted North
America for the English-speaking race, and
probably settled for all time the question
whether the Anglo-Saxon or the Spaniard
should be the possessor of that continent" —
the actual discovery and landing on the
coast — no account was written at the time,
or, if written, has been found. **No record
has been left of what took place on board
when the magic moment arrived and the
vistas of the long-wished-for shores were
revealed. As yet more and more of the
littoral landscape gradually opened to their
view, as the little vessel silently closed in
the distance between her and the waters of
73

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

the coast, as further developments of the
natural scenery became more distinctly
visible to their anxious eyes, we are only
faintly able to conceive the impressions of
the beholders, and words can only feebly
translate their emotions.

*'Were their dreams of the pleasant west-
em lands satisfied by the realities which
they saw before them? Little is told of
what they did. They went ashore, and
realized that the land was inhabited, from
seeing certain snares which had been laid
to catch animals. Not fear, but prudence,
perhaps, caused their speedy return: a pru-
dent desire to make known the discovery in
Bristol. Whatever there was to be dis-
closed to view by an inland exploration was
left for the future. But, by the irony of
fate, generations were destined to elapse ere
the importance of the discovery was fully
comprehended, either in its substantial real-
ity or its fruitful possibility. It was not re-
alized imtil long afterwards that the plant-
ing of the flag of England upon that coast
was the event from which should be evolved
the whole future history of North America."

While we have no authentic statement
of the discovery by the chief participator
74

IN THE GOOD SHIP MATHBlV

therein, still, there have been discovered by
delvers in ancient archives, in times com-
paratively recent, letters from people who
saw and conversed with Captain Cabot
immediately after his return. Forttmately
for the historian, there were, as already
intimated, watchful foreigners in London,
who, jealous of England's initiative, reported
to their governments every movement made
by the king and his navigators. One of
these was a Venetian, Lorenzo Pasqualigo,
who has the honor of having written (so far
as we know) the first letter referring to
John Cabot's voyage. Under date of Au-
gust 23, 1497, he writes from London to his
brothers in Venice, whose names were Alvise
and Francesco, an interesting account of
the discovery.

'*Our Venetian," he says, ''who went
with a small ship from Bristol to find new
islands, has come back, and reports he has
discovered, seven htmdred leagues off, the
mainland of the cotmtry of the Gran Cam
[Grand Khan, for whom, also, Columbus was
ever searching], and that he coasted along
it for three htmdred leagues, and landed, but
did not see any person. But he has brought
here to the king certain snares spread to
75

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

take game, and a needle for making nets,
and he found some notched trees, from
which he judged that there were inhabitants.
Being in doubt, he came back to the ship.
He has been away three months on the
voyage, which is certain, and, in returning,
he saw two islands to the right; but he did
not wish to land lest he should lose time, for
he was in want of provisions. He says that
the tides are slack, and do not make cur-
rents as they do here.

**The king has been much pleased. He
has promised for another time ten armed
ships, as he desires, and has given him all
the prisoners, except such as are confined
for high treason, to go with him, as he has
requested; and has granted him money to
amuse himself till then. Meanwhile, he is
with his Venetian wife and his sons at
Bristol. His name is Zuam Calbot: he is
called the * admiral,' high honor being paid
him, and he goes dressed in silk. The Eng-
lish are ready to go with him, and so are our
rascals. The discoverer of these things has
planted a large cross in the ground, with a
banner of England, and one of St. Mark,
as he is a Venetian; so that our flag has been
hoisted very far afield."
76

IN THE GOOD SHIP MATHE1V

Here is confirmatory evidence, of a high
degree of credibility, that John Cabot did
discover land in North America, which was
about seven hundred leagues, or two thou-
sand miles, distant from his port of de-
parture. Another foreigner then in London,
Raimondo di Soncino, envoy of the Duke of
Milan, got the news about the same time,
for a day later, or on August 24th, he writes
from London: '* Some months ago his Majes-
ty [Henry VH.] sent out a Venetian, who
is a very good mariner, and has much skill,
and he has returned safe, and has found
two very large and fertile islands; having
likewise discovered the 'Seven Cities,' fotur
htmdrcd leagues from England, on the
western passage. This next spring his Maj-
esty means to send him back with fifteen or
twenty vessels."

Nearly four months later, after the first
furor had passed away, and the details of
the voyage had been learned, Soncino writes
to the duke (on December 18, 1497):

"Perhaps amidst so many occupations, your
Excellency will not be unwilling to be informed
how his Majesty [Henry VII.] has acquired a
part of Asia [which it was supposed to be then,
the intervening continent of America not having

6 77

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

been dreamed of, even] without a stroke of his
sword.

"In this kingdom there is a Venetian named
Zoanne Caboto, of gentle breeding and great
ability as a navigator, who, seeing that the most
serene kings of Portugal and Spain had occupied
unknown islands, meditated a similar acquisition
for the said Majesty. Having obtained royal priv-
ileges securing to himself the use of the domin-
ions he might discover, the sovereignty being re-
served to the crown, he entrusted his fortune to a
small vessel with a crew of eighteen persons, and
set out from Bristol, a port in the western part of
this kingdom. Having passed Ibemia [Ireland],
which is still farther to the west, and then shaped
a northerly course, he began to navigate the
eastern part of the ocean. Leaving the north-star
on the right hand, and having wandered thus for
a long time, he at length hit upon land, where he
planted the royal banner, took possession for his
Highness, and having obtained various proofs of
his discovery, he returned.

"The said Messer Zoanne, being a foreigner and
poor, would not have been believed if the crew,
who are nearly all Englishmen and from Bristol,
had not testified that what he said was the truth.
This Messer Zoanne has the description of the
world on a chart, and also on a solid sphere which
he has constructed, and on which he shows where
he has been. And they say that the land is ex-
cellent, the climate temperate, suggesting that
Brazil [wood] and silk grow there. They also
affirm that the sea is full of fish, which are not only

IN THE GOOD SHIP MATHE1V

taken with a net, but also with a basket, a stone
being fastened to it in order to make it sink in the
water; and this I have heard stated by the said
Messer Zoanne.

"The aforesaid Englishmen, his partners, say
that they can bring so many fish that this king-
dom will no longer have need of Iceland. But
Messer Zoanne has set his mind on greater under-
takings, for he thinks that, when that place has
been occupied, he will keep on still farther towards
the East, until he is opposite to an island called
ZipangOy situated in the equinoctial region, where
he believes that all the spices of the world, as well
as the jewels, are fotmd. He further says that he
was once at Mecca, whither the spices are brought
by caravan from distant countries; and having
inquired of those carrying them whence they were
brought, and where they grow, they answered that
they did not know, but that such merchandise
was brought from remote countries by other cara-
vans to their homes, and that the same informa-
tion was repeated by those who brought the spices
in turn to them.

**Thus he adduced this argument: that if the
eastern people tell those in the south that these
things come from a far distance from them, pre-
supposing the rotundity of the earth, it must be
that the last turn would be by the north towards
the west; and it is said that the route would not
cost more than it costs now, and I also believe it.
And what is more, his Majesty, who is frugal and
not prodigal, reposes such trust in him, because
of what he has already achieved, that he gives

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

him a good maintenance, as Messer Zoanne has
himself told me. And it is said that before long
his Majesty will arm some ships for him, and will
give him aH the malefactors to go to that comitry
and form a colony, so that they hope to make of
London a greater place for spices than Alexan-
dria.

"The principal people in the enterprise belong
to Bristol. They are great seamen, and now that
they know where to go, they say that the voyage
thither will not occupy more than fifteen days, af-
ter leaving Ibemia. I have also spoken with a
Burgundian, who was a companion of Messer
Zoanne, who afiSrms all this, and who wishes to
return, because the admiral (for so Messer Zoanne
is entitled) has given him an island. And he has
given another to his barber, who is a Genoese, and
they both look upon themselves as counts; nor do
they look upon my lord the admiral as less than
a prince! I also believe that some poor Italian
friars are going on this voyage, who have all
had bishoprics promised them; and if I had but
made friends with the admiral when he was about
to sail, I should have got an archbishopric at
least; but I have thought that the benefits reserved
for me by your Excellency will be more sectire.
. . . Your Excellency's most humble servant,

"Raimundus."

Thtis we have positive proof, in these
letters cited, first, that there was a voyage
to America in the year 1497; second, that
80

IN THE GOOD SHIP MATHEIV

the ship in which it was made was com-
manded by John Cabot ; and third, that his
landfall was on our northeast coast, prob-
ably between Labrador and Nova Scotia.

THE SECOND VOYAGE
1498

THE home-coming of Captain Cabota
and his crew was a great event for
ancient Bristol, and made the most of by the
mariners; albeit the discovery was a barren
one, so far as substantial reminders of the
new region's products were concerned. No
inhabitants had been seen, nor specimens of
their handiwork, save a few paltry snares and
needles, such as might have been made by
men in the lowest stages of savagery. Yet
both the king and Cabot seemed to be satis-
fied, for the miserly monarch took from his
treasury the sum of ten pounds and gave it
to **hym that founde the new Isle," with the
injunction to go and amuse himself with it.
This mimificent gift, coming from one who
has been styled the "most imscrupulous
money-grabber" that ever sat a throne,
made a deep impression upon the discoverer,
82

THE SECOND VOYAGE

and, some think, ** went to his head," moving
him to bestow islands upon his sailors, and
indulge in reckless extravagances.

There is no direct evidence to show that
King Henry made any large contribution
towards the expenses of the voyage, either
in fitting out the vessel or paying the sea-
men's wages. But his subjects were accus-
tomed to his parsimony, for he had been
squeezing them many years, increasing the
store of gold in his treasury at their expense,
in order, as he expressed it, that they should
not be vain and proud on account of their
wealth.

The king may have possessed the per-
spicacity to see that, even if the new country
was barren, the seas contiguous, full of fish
as they were, might prove a source of profit
to the crown in the near future. Iceland
and Norway, at that time, are said to have
almost subsisted upon the trade they carried
on with England in their fish, without which,
indeed, they would have been reduced to
. sorry straits. By possessing a sea of his
own, so abundantly stocked — according to
the reports of the sailors — that vessels could
hardly force their way through the water,
King Henry would become independent of
83

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

the northern nations and be able to supply
others, perhaps, with a food product which his
people then imported in immense amounts.

Some mighty impulse must have moved
the peniuious king (though his subsequent
acts do not show that he appreciated the
potentialities of the great discovery) for in
December, 1497, he granted an annuity to
John Cabot of twenty pounds sterling per
annum. The document is dated December
13, 1497, i^ which this annuity is made in-
cumbent upon the port charges of Bristol,
and reads as follows:

** Henry, by the grace of Gkxi King of Eng-
land and of France, and Lord of Ireland — ^to
the most reverened father in Grod, John,
Cardinal Archbishop of Canterbury, pry-
mate of all England and of the apostolic see
legate, our chancellor, greeting: We late
you wite that for certaine consideracions us
specially mouing have giuen and granted
vnto Welbiloved lohn Calbot of the parties
of Venice an anuitie or anuel rent of twenty
pounds sterling.

To be had and yerely perceyiied from the

feast of the annunciation of our Lady last

past [March 25, 1497] dtiring our pleasur,

of our custumes and subsidies comying and

THE SECOND VOYAGE

growing in our poort of Bristowe, by the
hands of our custums ther for the tyme beyng,
at Michehnas and Easter, by even portions.
Wherfor, we will and charge you that vnder
our grete seal ye do make heruppon our
lettres patent in good and effectuall forme.

'' Giuen vnder our Pryue Seal at our Paloys
of Westminster, the xiijth day of Decembre,
the xiijth yere of our Reigne."

The popular superstition that the number
thirteen is an unlucky one would seem to
receive confirmation by the experience of
Messrs Cabota in collecting his pension, au-
thority for which was granted the ** xiijth of
December, in the xiijth year of our reign,"
since he had such trouble in doing so that
another warrant was issued, on February
2 2, 1498, on account of **the said lohn
Caboote, who is delaied of his payement."
It is doubtful if he received the full twenty
pounds sterling, by the king's document
granted him; but that he was paid half the
sum, or up to and inclusive of March 25,
1498, appears from the sworn report of the
Bristol collectors for that year, in which,
after giving the sum total of receipts, they
add: . . . **;£io paid by them to lohn Cal-
bot, a Venetian, late of the said town of
85

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

Bristol, for his annuity of £20 a year, granted
to him by the said lord the king, by his
letters patent, to be taken at two terms of
the year, out of the customs and subsidies
forthcoming and growing in the said port of
the town of Bristol, ... by an acquittance of
the said lohn, to be shown thereof upon this
view, and remaining in possession of the said
collectors."

Messer C^boto obtained a portion of his
pension, but it is believed that this payment
was the last, for soon after he slipped out of
sight, not only of the king, but of all men
who ever knew him. He was determined to
accomplish another voyage, and the month
previous, or in February, 1498, in response
to a petition similar to the first. King Henry
issued the second letters patent in his favor.
In it, as may be seen, no mention is made of
Cabot's sons, nor allusion to the previous
patent by which John, his sons, and their
deputies were authorized to discover and
explore.

"To all Men to whom theis Presentis shall come

send greeting:

"Knowe ye that we of our Grace especiall, and

for divers causes us mouing, We haue giuen and

graunten and by theis Presentis giue and graunte,

THE SECOND VOYAGE

to our well-beloved lohn Kabotto, Venician, suf-
ficiente auctorite and power, that he, by hym his
deputie or deputies sufficient, may talce at his
pleasure VI Englisshe shippes in any porte or
portes, or other place within this otir Realme of
England, and if the said shippes be of the bourdeyn
of CC tonnes or vnder, with their appareil requisite
and necessarie for the safe conduct of the said
shippes, and theym convey and lede tc^ the Lande
and lies of late founde by the seid lohn in oure
name and by oure commandemente, paying for
theym and every of theym as and if we shotdd do
in or for oure owen cause paye and noon other-
wise.

'*And that the seid lohn by hym his deputie or
deputies sufficiente maye take and receyve into
the seid shippes and every of theyme all suche
maisters, maryners, pages, and our subjects, as of
theyr owen free wille woll go and passe with hym
in the same shippes to the seid Lande or lies with-
oute any impedjrmente, lett, or perturbance of any
of officeis or ministres or subjectes whatsoever they
be by them to the seid subjectes or any of theyme
passing with the seid lohn in the seid shippes to
the seid Lande or lies to be doon or suffer to be
doon or attempted. Yeving in commaundement
to all and every our officers, ministres and subjectes
seyng or heryng their our lettres patents, without
anye ferther commaundemente by vs to theym or
any of theym to be gevyn, to perfourme and socour
the seid lohn, his deputie and all otir seid subjectes
to passynge with hjrm according to the tenotir of
this our lettres patentis. Any Statute, acte or

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

ordenaunce to the contrarye made or to be made
in any wise notwithstanding."

Is it at all strange that, with such a
"patent" for exploration, obsctire as to its
meaning, and involved as to its phraseology
— ^with such a paper only as their guide — the
biographers of the Cabots should have been
at odds as to the part taken by King Henry
in this enterprise ? Some have held that he
generously granted all that his subject asked,
furnished the ships, and paid all the bills;
but others, having in mind the king's penu-
riousness, deny this. A great English his-
torian has written of him: "Avarice was,
on the whole, his ruling passion; and he
remains an instance, almost singular, of a
man placed in high station, and possessed of
talents for great affairs, in whom passion pre-
dominated above ambition. ... By all these
arts of accumulation, joined to a rigid
frugality in his expense, he so filled his cof-
fers that he is said to have possessed in ready
money the sum of one million eight hundred
thousand pounds; a treasure almost incred-
ible, if we consider the scarcity of money in
those times."

"It may be well to recall here," says one
88

THE SECOND VOYAGE

of Cabot's biographers, Francesco Tarducci,
" that when John Cabot had roused the whole
people of England to enthusiasm by his dis-
covery, and was generally believed to have
opened to them a new era of incalculable
wealth, King Henry, in token of the royal
participation in the general rejoicing, and of
his mimificent recognition of so great an
event, sent him a present of ten pounds
sterling ! What wonder is it that this miserly
disposition, which on every grave occasion
had often induced him to forget all regard for
the majesty of his throne and his own per-
sonal decortim, should make him loath to
draw out of his securely locked coffers the
gold he had sought and guarded with such
industry and care, to venture it on an un-
certain tmdertaking like that which Cabot
was preparing for? It must also be borne
in mind that he was in constant necessity
of money for combating external and inter-
nal enemies who kept him in trouble more
or less during the whole of his long reign,
and obliged him to incur fresh expenses at
the very time when this expediton was fit-
ting out.

"Henry VII., hesitating between the ava-
rice and necessity which held him back, and
89

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

the advantage which tirged him on, did as
such characters usually do under such cir-
cumstances. He made a show of acting, and
urging others, turned the merit of their move-
ment in his favor, remaining meanwhile in
the comfort of his own repose."

Whether the expenses were borne by King
Henry VII., by the merchants of Bristol, or
by Cabot himself, in whole or in part, it is
beyond doubt that the voyage was made.
It is thought that five ships sailed in com-
pany, two alone comprising the expedition
proper, and three others furnished by Bris-
tol merchants. Hakluyt says: "The king,
vpon the third of February, in the 13th yeere
of his reigne, gaue licence to lohn Cabot to
take fiue English ships in any hauen or hauens
of the realme of England, being of the burden
of 200 ttmnes or vnder, with all necessary
furniture, and to take, also, into said ships
all such masters, mariners and subjects of
the king as willingly will go with him."

From an ancient chronicle which, in
Hakluyt's time, was " in the custodie of Mr.
lohn Stow, a diligent preseruer of antiqui-
ties*' this reference to the voyage is fotmd:
"In the 13. yeere of K. Henry the 7. (by
means of one lohn Cabot, a Venetian, which
90

IIKXRY VII

Picturr in Xational Portrait (lallcry

THE SECOND VOYAGE

made himself very expert and ctmning in
knowledge of the circuit of the world and
Hands of the same, as by a sea card and other
demonstrations reasonable he shewed) the
King caused to man and victuall a ship at
Bristow, to search for an Hand which he said
hee knew well was rich and replenished with
great commodities: Which ship thus manned
and victualled at the king's cost, diuers
marchants of London ventured in her small
stocks, being in her as chief patron the said
Venetian. And in the company of said ship
sailed also out of Bristow three or foure
small ships fraught with sleight and grosse
marchandizes, as course cloth, caps, laces,
points, and other trifles. And so departed
from Bristow in the beginning of May."

This accotmt might appear to refer to the
first, rather than to the second voyage, ex-
cept for the statement that it took place in
the thirteenth year of King Henry's reign,
which coincided with the year 1498. But
there are other witnesses yet to be sum-
moned. One of them is the same Spaniard,
Ruy Gonzales de Puebla, whom we have al-
ready quoted. On July 25, 1498, writing
to the court of Spain, he says: "The King
of England sent five armed ships, with aiP-
91

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

other Genoese like Columbus, to search for the
island of Brasil, and others near it. They
were victualled for a year, and are expected
back in September. By the direction they
take, the land they seek must be the posses-
sion of 5nDur Highnesses. The King has
sometimes spoken to me about it, and seems
to take a very great interest in it. I be-
lieve that the distance from here is not 400
leagues."

On the same date, in a long despatch to
the cotirt, Puebla's colleague, Don Pedro de
Ayala, also ambassador from Spain, con-
veyed the following information respecting
the sailing of Cabot's fleet:

"July 25, 1408.
**I well believe that your Highnesses have heard
how the King' of England has equipped a fleet to
discover certain islands and mainland that certain
persons who set out last year for the same have
testified to finding. I have seen the chart which
the discoverer has drawn, who is another Genoese
like Columbus, and has been in Seville and in
Lisbon, seeking to find those who wotdd help him
in this enterprise. It is seven years since those
of Bristol used to send out, every year, a fleet of
two, three, or four caravels, to go and seek for the
isle of Brasil and the seven cities, according to the
fancy of this Genoese. The king determined to
despatch an expedition, because he had the cer-
92

THE SECOND VOYAGE

tainty that they had found land last year. The
fleet consisted of five ships provisioned for one
year. News has come that one, on board of which
there was one friar Buil, has returned to Ireland
in great distress, having been driven back by a
great storm.

**The Genoese, however, went on his course.
I, having seen the course and distance he takes,
think that the land they have found or seek is that
which your Highnesses possess, for it is at the end
of that which belongs to your Highnesses by the
convention with Portugal. It is hoped that they
will return by September. . . . The King has spoken
to me about it several times, and I told him I
thought they were the islands discovered by your
Highnesses, and I even gave him a reason; but he
would not hear of it. As I believe that yotir
Highnesses now have intelligence of all, as well
as the chart or mappe-monde that this Genoese
has made, I do not send it now, though I have it
here; and to me it seems very false, to give out
that they are not the said islands."

This was a cotirtier's letter, as is apparent
on the face of it, written with the intent of
showing his sovereigns how very alert he was
to detect any infraction of their rights and
infringement of their territory. But, doubt-
less, the information was correct, for the
ambassador was very near the king, at
times, and, together with Puebla, used to
dine with him quite frequently. The chart,
7 93

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

however, which he says was made by Cabot
and exhibited in proof of his voyage having
been taken to an tmknown country, has never
been seen in modem times. Chart, log-book,
and journals (if there were any), have dis-
appeared, together with the maker of them,
from whom nothing was ever heard after he
sailed out of Bristol harbor, at the com-
mencement of his second voyage, in 1498.

VII

THAT "first-seen" LAND
1497-1498

THE land discovered by the Cabots (as-
stiming father and son to have sailed to-
gether, on one voyage or the other) is, and
has been for nearly four hundred years, as
dim and shadowy as their own personalities.
In attempting to fix the position, even ap-
proximately, of the "Prima Vista," or land
"First Seene," we shall be obliged to grope
our way carefully, as the first voyagers sailed
along the mist-hidden coasts of the newly
discovered country. We, too, must sail
through mists — of misinformation, feel our
way through fogs, and beware lest we strike
upon some rock — of prejudice.

Honestly desirous as we are of ascertaining
the truth, we can hardly claim to have de-
termined more than this: That a voyage
was made in 1497, which may have been
followed by another in 1498; that the vessel
95

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

in which it was made was commanded by one
John Cabot, a Venetian; that a safe return
was accompKshed, and a vague report ren-
dered which, in its barrenness of detail, would
have been considered discreditable, at the
present day, to the most ignorant sailor that
ever ploughed the main. A second voyage
was projected and actually begun; but
whither, or what became of the vessels en-
gaged, their crews and commander, remains
a mystery yet unsolved. ** From the date of
the sailing of that expedition, down to the
present time," says one patient investigator,
" the fate of John Cabot and his coadventurers
has been enshrouded in mystery. Even his
name does not appear as the discoverer of
North America tmtil quite a late period. It
is true that it is fotmd associated with that
of his son Sebastian in connection with that
discovery; but the accounts in the various
historical works have merely served the pur-
pose of glorif3ring the memory of the son.
John Cabot had a narrow escape from com-
plete suppression. It was the forttmate pres-
ervation of the Milanese, Spanish, and Vene-
tian correspondence [already cited] which has
given a firm basis to his reputation."
If the sttirdy navigator, John Cabot,
96

THAT "flftST-SEEN'* LAND

neglected to prepare a written report of his
voyage, with chart or map, he fully deserves
the immersion he received into the deeps of
oblivion; but it is believed, by those who
were good enough to rescue him, that he was
more thoughtful of posterity than on the sur-
face appears. Doubtless there were papers
prepared; and as to a chart, we have the
testimony of the Spanish ambassador, Don
Pedro de Ayala, that one was not only seen
by him, but in his possession. So, probably,
there were copies made ; and that at least one
was sent to Spain we have good reason for
assuming. Our reason is this: that in the
year 1500 Juan de la Cosa, that gallant mar-
iner who sailed with Coltmibus on his first
voyage, in 1492 (for he owned the flag-ship,
the Santa Maria, and was the foremost pilot
of his day), made a chart, on which the dis-
coveries of the Cabots were depicted. This
is the proper word — depicted — ^for it was a
gorgeous map, resplendent in colors of the
rainbow and spangled with gold. On this
map, which was drawn on an ox-hide (and
may be seen in the naval museum at Madrid,
for which it was bought at a cost of one
thousand dollars), the discoveries of Spain
were represented by the banner of CJastile,
97

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

and those of Inglaterra, or England, by the
flag of St. George. Honest La Cosa was
acctirate, so far as he went, and although it
must have been a distasteful task, to set
down a discovery by Englishmen on the coast
of a cotmtry claimed (by right of the Tor-
desillas treaty) for his royal master and mis-
tress. King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella
of Spain, yet he faithfully performed it.
He was rather vague, as the cartographers of
his time were prone to be, and his map would
hardly answer as a sailing-chart for the coast
of North America. But there is the evi-
dence: Cavo de Ynglaierra, or "England's
Cape," somewhere in the latitude of south-
em Newfoundland, with four English flags
adorning the coast, half-way from that point
to Florida.

The Florida of the fifteenth century was
a vaster region than it is to-day, extend-
ing up the Atlantic coast indefinitely, and
away westward as far as the imagination
could wander; so it was very strange that
La GDsa should have conceded to England
title to a cotmtry based on hearsay. He
probably had some secret source of informa-
tion, and perhaps the Spanish ambassadors
in London furnished it.
98

THAT "FIRST-SEEN" LAND

As to the English records: it would appear
that the second voyage was a bitter disap-
pointment, almost as barren in results as the
first; but many years after, when Sebastian
Cabot could view it in perspective, it blos-
somed into a wonderful thing indeed. Sebas-
tian, son of John, was then pilot-major of
Spain, with a large salary from the Spanish
crown, and enjoying a hfe of comparative
ease and luxury in Seville. He was a fre-
quent visitor at the house of the famous Peter
Martyr, none other than the great histori-
ographer of Spain — his intimate friend, in
fact — and to him he told the story. He told
it in English or Spanish, but it was ** writ-
ten in the Latin tounge by Peter Martyr
of Angleria, and translated into Englisshe
by Richard Eden, Anno 1555." Sebastian
Cabot was then living, and in England, so
that if there were errors in the original narra-
tive he may be supposed to have seen them,
as Eden was his friend also.

According to the sixth chapter of Martyr's
Decades of the New World, as rendered into
English by Eden: ** These North Seas haue
bene searched by one Sebastian Cabot, a
Venetian borne, whom being yet but in a
maner an infant, his parents carried with
99

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

them into England, hailing occasion to resort
thither for trade of marchandise, as is the
maner of the Venetians to leaue no part of
the world nnsearched to obtaine riches.

'* Hee therefore furnished two ships in Eng-
land, at his owne charge, and first with three
hundred men directed his course so farre to
the North Pole that, euen in the moneth of
luly, he found monstrous heapes of ice swim-
ming on the sea, and in a maner continuall
daylight, yet saw hee the land in that tract
free from ice, which had bene molten by the
heat of the stume. Thus seeing such heaps
of ice before him, hee was forced to tume his
sailes and follow the West, so coasting still
by the shore that hee was thereby brought
so farre into the South, by reason of the land
bending so much that way, that it was there
almost equal in latitude with the sea cauled
Fretum Herculeum [Straits of Gibraltar],
hauing the North Pole eleuate in maner in
the same degree. He sayled lykewise in this
tracte so farre towards the West, that hee had
the island of Cuba on his left hand, in maner
in the same degree of longitude.

**As he traueyled by the coastes of this
great land (which hee named Baccalaos), he
saith that hee found the like cotu'se of the wa-

100

THAT ''FIRST-SEEN" LAND

ters towards the West, but the same to ninne
more softly and gently than the swift waters
which the Spanyardes found in their natiiga-
tions southeward. Wherefore, it is not onely
more like to be trewe, but ought also of
necessitie to be concluded, that betweene
both the lands hitherto vnknowen, there
should bee certaine great open places where-
by the waters should thus continually passe
from the Easte vnto the West : which waters
I suppose to bee druyen about the globe of
the earth by the uncessant mouing and im-
pulsion of the heauens, and not to bee
swallowed vp and cast vp againe by the
breatheing of Demogorgon — as some haue
imagined, bycause they see the seas by in-
crease and decrease to flowe and reflowe.

** Sebastian Cabot himself e named those
lands Baccalaos [lands of codfish], bycause
that in the seas thereabout hee found so great
a multitude of certaine bigge fysshes, much
lyke vnto tunies (which the inhabitants call-
ed baccalaos), that they sometymes stayed
his shippes. He found also the people of
those regions couered with beastes skinnes;
yet not without the use of reason [on account
of the cold]. Hee also sayth there is great
plentie of Beares in those regions, which vse

lOI

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

to eat fysshe: for, pltingeing themselues in ye
water, where they perceiue a multitude of
these fysshes to lye, they fasten theyr clawes
in theyr scales, and so drawe them to lande
and eat them; so that (as he saith) the
Beares beinge thus satisfied with fysshe, are
not noysom to man. Hee declareth further,
that in many places of these regions hee
saw great plentie of copper among the in-
habitants.

" Cabot is my very friend, whom I vse
familiarly, and delight to haue him in my
owne house. For, being called out of
England, by the commaundement of the
Catholique King of Castile, after the death
of King Henry the seuenth of that name.
King of England, he was made one of our
cotmcil and assistants, as touching the af-
faires of the new Indies; looking for shipps
dayly to be furnished for him to discouer this
hid secret of Nature."

A more concise narration, but probably
quoted from Martyr also, is that of Gomara,
given in his History of the Indies, who says:
**He which brought the most certaine news
of the countrey & people of Baccalaos was
Sebastian Cabote, a Venetian, which rigged vp
two shipps at the cost of K. Henry the VII.

102

THAT ''FIRST-SEEN" LAND

of England, hauing great desire to traffique
for the spices, as the Portingals did. He
carried with him three hundred men, and
tooke the way towards Island [Iceland ?] from
beyond the Cape of Labrador, vntill he found
himselfe in fifty-eight degrees and better.
He made relation that in the moneth of luly
it was so cold and the ice was so great, thet
he durst not passe any further: that the
days were very long, in a maner without any
night, and for that short night that they had,
it was very cleare. Cabot, feeling the cold,
turned towards the West, refreshing himselfe
at Baccalaos ; and afterwards he sayled along
the coast vnto thirty-eight degrees, and from
thence he shaped his course to retume into
England.''

Before concluding these Cabotian chron-
icles in old English of the black-letter period,
in all fairness to the subject of them should
be mentioned the ** three Sauages, which
Cabot brought home and presented vnto the
king, in the 14th yeere of his reigne, as
f olloweth :

**This yeere also were brought vnto the

king three men taken in the Newfound Island

that before I spake of: These were clothed

in beasts* skins & did eat raw flesh, and spake

103

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

such speach that no man could vnderstand
them, and in their demeanour like to bruite
beastes, whom the king kept a time after.
Of the which vpon two yeeres after, I saw
these two appairelled after the maner of
Englishmen, in Westminster pallace, which
that time I could not disceme from English-
men, til I was learned what they were; but
as for speach, I heard none of them vtter one
word."

It will be remembered that Sebastian
Cabot, in the relation to the pope's legate,
stated that he sailed as far north as the fifty-
sixth degree ; thus there is a discrepancy of
eleven degrees in the two narratives. This
may mean either that his hearers mistmder-
stood him, or else his memory was at fault.
These two voyages, indeed, have been most
unaccountably mingled, as witness the fol-
lowing, " taken out of the map of Sebastian
Cabot, concerning his discouery of the West
Indies [which he did not discover], which is
to be seene in her Maiesties priuie gallerie at
Westminister, and in many other ancient
marchants* houses.

" In the yeere of our Lord 1497 lohn Cabot,
a Venetian, and his sonne Sebastian [as
already quoted, page 99] discouered that land
104

THAT "FIRST-SEEN" LAND

which no man before that time had attempt-
ed. .. . The inhabitants of this island vse
to weare beastes skinnes and haue them in
great estimation, as we haue our finest
garments. In their warres they vse bowes,
arrowes, pikes, darts, woodden clubbes and
slings. The soile is barren in some places,
& yeeldeth little fruit; but it is full of white
Beares, and stagges farre greater than ours.
It yeeldeth plenty of fysshe, and those very
great, as scales, and those which commonly
we call salmons ; there are also soles aboue a
yard in length ; but especially there is great
abundance of that kind of fysshe which the
Sauages call baccalaos. In the same island
also there breed haukes, but they are so
blacke that they are very like to rauens, as
also their partridges, and egles, which are
in like sort blacke."

Now we will revert to the question with
which this chapter opened: Where was, or
where is, that Prima Vista, so named by
John Cabot, or the " First-seen " Land, of
his voyage in 1497? The Scottish historian,
Robertson, who may be said to reflect, in his
History of America, the opinions of the time
in which he wrote, has this anent the dis-
coverer and his discovery: "As in that age
105

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

the most eminent navigators, formed by the
instructions of Coltmibus, or animated by
his example, were guided by his superior
knowledge and experience, Cabot had adopt-
ed the system of that great man, concerning
the probability of opening a new and shorter
passage to the East Indies, by holding a
western course. The opinion which Coltim-
btis had formed with respect to the islands
he had discovered was tmiversally received.
They were supposed to lie contiguous to the
great continent of India, and to constitute
a part of the vast countries comprehended
tmder that general name. Cabot accord-
ingly deemed it probable that, by steering
to the northwest, he might reach India by a
shorter course than that which Columbus
had taken, and hoped to fall in with the coast
of Cathay, or China, of whose fertility and
opulence the descriptions of Marco Polo had
excited high ideas.

** After sailing for some weeks due west,
and nearly on the parallel of the port from
which he took his departure, he discovered
a large island, which he called Prima Vista,
and his sailors Newfoundland; and in a few
days he descried a smaller isle, to which he
gave the name of St. John. He landed on
io6

THAT **FIRST-SEEN" LAND

both these, made some observations on their
soil and productions, and brought off three
of the natives. Continuing his course west-
ward, he soon reached the continent of
North America, and sailed along it from the
fifty -sixth to the thirty - eighth degree of
[north] latitude, or from the coast of Lab-
rador to that of Virginia. As his chief ob-
ject was to discover some inlet that might
open a passage to the west, it does not ap-
pear that he landed anjrwhere during this ex-
tensive rtm; and he returned to England,
without attempting either settlement or con-
quest in any part of that continent.*'

In this account, as the reader cannot fail
to remark, the eighteenth century historian
has combined the two voyages, of 1497 ^^^
1498, and accepted without question the
narrative in Peter Martyr's Decades, as given
in Eden's translation, and later by Haklu5rt.
Since his time several notable discoveries
have been made of valtiable manuscripts,
chiefly in the archives of Spain, Venice, and
Milan, which have enabled discerning histo-
rians to differentiate the two voyages, and
separate the achievements of the Cabots,
father and son. We have already perused
these documents, as transcribed and trans-
107

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

lated by indefatigable students, and have
also read the various state papers relating
to the inception and equipping of the expe-
ditions.

Still, with all the illuminating data afford-
ed by these various papers, it must be
admitted that the landfall of John Cabot,
in his first voyage of 1497, has not been
exactly determined. On the planisphere
ascribed to Sebastian Cabot, bearing date
1544, the Prima Vista is indicated as nearly
as can be at the island of Cape Breton ; but
the Canadian board appointed in 1895 to
investigate this matter in its relation to the
then forthcoming commemoration of 1897,
made this report: "While the committee
are of opinion that the greatly preponderat-
ing weight of evidence points to the eastern-
most cape of Cape Breton as the landfall of
John Cabot, in 1497, they would observe
that the commemoration now proposed will
not commit the Royal Society of Canada, as
a whole, to the definite acceptance of that
theory."

On the other hand, an eminent Canadian,

Dr. S. E. Dawson, who has exhaustively

investigated the subject, leans towards the

Cavo (or Cabo) Descuhierto (the " Discovered

108

THAT *'FIRST-SEBN" LAND

Cape") on La Cosa's map of 1500, as repre-
senting the landfall, or first land seen.
"There was," he says, "no other meaning
to the name than the * discovered cape';
and as this map of La Cosa's was, beyond
reasonable doubt, based on John Cabot's
own map, which Pedro de Ayala, the Span-
ish ambassador, had from him, and promised,
in July, 1498, to send to King Ferdinand,
we have here John Cabot indicating his own
landfall in a Spanish translation."

Further, he says : " The Cabo de Ynglaterra
[on the La Cosa map] cannot be taken for
any other than that characteristic headland
of northeast America, which for almost
[qtiite] f oiu' hundred years has appeared on
the maps imder one name in the various
forms of Cape Raz, Rase, Razzo, or Race —
a name derived from the Latin rasus, smooth,
shaven, or flat."

The citation above shows how easily one
may be led astray by a false or imperfect
premise, for, in the first place, the learned
author assumes that La Cosa actually did
see and use John Cabot's map — ^which has
never been proved; and in the second, that
the delineation is cartographically accurate —
which is far from the truth.
8 109

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

To the writer it seems, after scanning the
La Cosa map, that, while Cabo Descubierto
may possibly represent the landfall, and also
be identical with Cape Race, Cabo Yngla-
terra, which is set down much farther north,
may stand for the northern limit of English
voyaging at that time. As to the landfall
of the second voyage, there is little, if any,
doubt that it was somewhere on the coast of
Labrador. Neither landfall is a matter of
great import, so long as it can be shown that
there was one on a Jxme day in 1497, which
fact gave John Cabot priority over Christo-
pher Columbus, in his discovery of the con-
tinent, by nearly a year!

VIII

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT
1498

WHILE it has been established, we think
beyond doubt, that John Cabot dis-
covered North America, it is not known,
and probably never wilt be known, who
discovered John Cabot! He was doubtless
an entity; for some while he figured as a
personage of distinction ; but as to his
origin and his ending little, if an3rthing, is
absolutely known. Out of obscurity he
emerged, into obscurity he vanished, and
no one can tell whence he came or whither
he went. He is one of the most xmsatisfac-
tory personages that history has had to deal
with, as to his antecedents not only, but
his origin. He seems not to have had any
ancestors, nor even, so far as we are inform-
ed, any parents or other relatives, near or
distant — at least, there is no record of such
connections.

Ill

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

Even his contemporaries were in doubt
whether he was a Genoese or a Venetian.
The Spanish ambassadors in London (to
whom we have referred in previous pages),
Don Ruy Gkmzales de Puebla and Don Pedro
de Ayala, allude to him as *' another Genoese
like Colimibus"; but they may have been
speaking generally of any native of the
Italian states, without giving thought to
one in particular. Ayala's letter to King
Ferdinand, in which this allusion occurs,
was a duplicate of his colleague's, so there
is but one authority for this expression —
"another Genoese like Columbus.'* It was
copied, however, by historians of a later
period, and thus became fixed in the minds
of those who gave this subject any thought
whatever — ^and they were very few.

What mattered it, anyway, whether he
were Genoese or Venetian, so long as he
sailed in English ships and made his dis-
covery beneath the British flag ? It was no
concern of his contemporaries, save a few,
who would fain claim him as their country-
man, and thus add to the glory of their
nation. Animated by this purpose, doubt-
less, Lorenzo Pasqualigo wrote (as we have
already noted): **This Venetian of ours is

112

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

rettimed, . . . and has planted on the lands
he discovered a great cross, with an English
standard, and one of St. Mark, he being a
Venetian; so that our ensign has been car-
ried far."

Pasqualigo was a Venetian merchant then
residing in London, or Bristol, and was
writing to his brothers at home; but in the
official letter sent by Raimondo Soncino to
the Duke of Milan, *'Zoanne Caboto" is also
alluded to as a ** popular Venetian,** upon
whom the king and the people were lavish-
ing applause as discoverer of new islands.
In the petitions, also, made to King Henry
VII., Cabot calls himself a citizen of Venice,
as he is likewise styled in the letters patent
issued in consonance with those requests.
The only evidence entitled to confidence
seems to be in favor of his being a Venetian,
for it comes from the same foreigners resid-
ing in England at the time of his discovery
to whom we are indebted for the only in-
formation on that subject. English records
of the event are non-existent (according to
the best-informed writers), and, says one of
them: *'The English chroniclers of the first
half of the sixteenth century never mention
the name of Cabot, as neither, for that
113

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

matter, do they mention the name of Chris-
topher Coltmibus or Amerigo Vespucci!"
Not until more than half a century after
John Cabot had passed away was any men-
tion made in print, by Englishmen, of his
voyages, and then Sebastian seems to have
obtained the credit for them. This may
have been on account of his long residence
in England, as well as his reputation as a
maker of charts and one-time chief-pilot of
Spain. In the Epitome of Chronicles, pub-
lished in 1559, Sebastian is mentioned as
**an Englishman bom in Bristow, but a
Genoways sonne."

Allusion has been made already to an
English ** preserver of antiquities," one John
Stow, from whom the diligent Hakluyt
quoted, in his Divers Voyages touching the
Discouerie of America: *'This yeere [1498]
the King, by meanes of a Venitian, caused
to man and victuall a shippe," etc. Twenty
years later, Hakluyt amended the quotation
to read: *'By meanes of one lohn Caboto,
Venetian"; but it is averred that in Stow's
original it was ''One Sebastian Gavoto, a
Genoa's sonne, borne in Bristow." The
several discrepancies might seem inexplica-
ble, if we did not know that the erudite
114

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

Hakluyt was a student, and the antiquary,
Stow, a man of little education, who had a
mania for collecting, but no critical acu-
m.en. Hakluyt, with his ftill knowledge of
historical events, gained by perusal of all
that had up to his time been written and
published, in English, Latin, and Span-
ish, simply changed Stow's reference from
'* Genoa's'* to Venetian, in accordance with
the facts as he had ascertained them.

Antiquary Stow was a self-made scholar,
who, though bom to poverty and early
apprenticed to a tailor, wrought a reputa-
tion for himself that has survived to the
present time. He was, as described by
Hakluyt, a diligent preserver of antiquities,
and to his self-sacrificing industry is due the
conserving of many invaluable facts of his-
tory. He lived to the age of eighty, and
when his years were half told, or at forty,
he abandoned his tailoring and devoted
himself to the collecting of old doctiments.
He was so poor that he had to travel on foot,
in this manner taking long journeys, search-
ing out material in monasteries and libraries
that had long been neglected, copying such
papers as he could not beg or borrow, com-
paring and annotating, until his collection
"5

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

became truly invaltiable. He gave himself
so imreservedly to his self-imposed task,
that when at last incapacitated from old age,
at the age of eighty, he was obliged to crave
of the king permission to wear the garb of a
beggar, and ask for alms at doors of churches.
He was not subjected to this ignominy long,
however, for a few months later he died —
died a beggar — this man who had rescued
from oblivion inestimable treasures of Eng-
lish history! Although an indefatigable col-
lector, poor Stow had not the means for
deciding points of controversy, nor the fac-
ulty of perception, perhaps, that would lead
him to discriminate between the elder Cabot
and his son ; and as the latter was his con-
temporary, whom, indeed, he may have met
and held converse with, he received the hon-
ors rightfully belonging to his father.

We may say, in the language of another:
** There are no authentic proofs extant, so
far as can be ascertained at present, as to
John Cabot's birthplace." Like that of his
great rival and immediate predecessor in
discovery, Christopher Coltmibus, it is in-
volved in doubt. But, as to his having been
a citizen of Venice, there is abundant proof.
On March 28, 1476, according to an entry
116

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

in the Venetian archives, the Senate con-
ferred upon John Caboto the privilege of
citizenship, '* within and without," in conse-
quence of a residence of fifteen years. In
explanation of these terms, ** within and
without" — de intus and de extra — it may be
said that they relate to privileges within and
without the dominions of the republic. A
citizen de extra was entitled to all the privi-
leges which the commercial rights of Venice
in foreign lands conveyed. This included
the privilege of sailing under the flag of St.
Mark, and hence we have found John Cabot
raising it beside that of England, his adop-
tive coimtry, on the occasion of the first
discovery. At least, it was claimed that he
did so, and, if true, this act would signify
that he still held his native land in tender
remembrance.

When John Cabot lived in Venice, her il-
lustrious voyagers, such as Marco Polo and
the Zeno brothers, were still revered, and the
republic had not entirely lost its prestige on
land and sea. It was a centre of commerce ;
its sails whitened the Mediterranean; its
commercial caravans traversed the deserts
to and from the Orient; and we have evi-
dence that Cabot himself was, at least once,
117

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

in Mecca. There he became inspired with
the desire, after conversing with the Eastern
merchants, to find a new route to the land
"where the spices grew.'* His famous cotm-
tryman, Marco Polo, had shown Europe the
way to the Orient by an eastern route, or,
rather, the way to Cathay and the farther
East; but John fell to speculating upon the
possibilities of reaching that region by way
of the west. Whether he thought of this
before Colimibus or after is not known;
nor are we positively informed if he had
ftill knowledge of the Coltmibian voyage to
America.

It was not long after Columbus became
confirmed in his belief that the voyage he
had in mind would be feasible that John
Cabot left Venice for England. The last pre-
vious information of this extremely vague
individual pertained to his combined sea and
caravan journey to Arabia, whence, with
great facility, he sped to England, the far-
thest west of coimtries then in commtmica-
tion with Venice. How he went, and why
he went, we know not. He probably went
by sea, and, according to his son Sebastian,
writing long after, he was then a merchant
adventurer. This seems probable, in view
ii8

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

of his journey to Arabia, for in his time there
was no travelling for pleasure, and one must
have been a soldier, a sailor, or a trader who
ventured far from native home and land.
Cabot was without doubt a sailor, and he
may have done a little "marchandising**
on his own account, in view of which his
voyage to the British isles seems reason-
able.

Foreign adventurers were flocking to vari-
ous coxmtries, some of them aimlessly, some
with commercial prospects in view, and they
chiefly wandered from the East towards
the West. At first it was Genoa that at-
tracted the floating poptdation of Europe,
then Venice, then Portugal, then Spain, and
last of all England, depending upon which
state or nation was foremost in exploration
or navigation. England had not then at-
tained to an advanced position, but its com-
merce was becoming valuable, and there was
a resident foreign poptdation of considerable
strength.

"Every year," writes a Venetian author,
"as soon as spring brought back the favor-
able season, an immense caravan of ships and
merchants, partly on state and partly on
private account, sailed from Venice to spread
119

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

over the east and the west, and everywhere
they foxind their own constds, privileges, and
warehouses, even in Siam and Cambodia.
On their arrival they found the wares and
products of other peoples and other lands
ready and waiting to be embarked on the
ships of the Venetians, with and by them to
be distributed among the nations. Thus
the commerce of every people passed through
the hands of Venice; she furnished all the
markets; to her flowed in the wealth of all
nations. . . .

** There was in England a flourishing colony
[of Venetians] governed in a republican form
by its own consuls and a council of mer-
chants, among whom were many patricians
of great houses; whence it often happens
that in reading Venetian doctmients we find
patricians designated 'as of London.* The
loading of ships was done at the city of
Bristol, then the first port of the island. In
this city we again find John Cabot, not as
a mere conmiercial navigator, presented to
history, but as the discoverer of new coun-
tries. He had settled in England, as his son
relates, bringing all his family with him from
Venice. In what year this was is unknown,
but from some dates in the life of his son

I20

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

Sebastian it may be settled that it was about

1477."*

We have no description of the outward
man John Cabot, nor testimony as to his
character, except of a negative kind. It cer-
tainly speaks well for the Venetian mariner
that no ill-word was said of him, and that
everybody rejoiced at his good-fortime when
he sailed into Bristol harbor with the news
of discovery. His generosity may be in-
ferred from the gifts he made of newly dis-
covered isles to his companions; though, of
course, it may be objected that these islands
cost him nothing, and that there is no evi-
dence that the sailors ever took possession —
tmless they were among the ''three htmdred "
who sailed on the second voyage, in 1498.
This expedition left Bristol in the spring of
1498, and, by the latest docimientary men-
tion of it, had not returned the succeeding
October. So far as the world knows (from
official sources) it never returned, with
John Cabot in command. "As for John
Cabot," says an authority, "Sebastian said
he died, which is one of the few undisputed
facts in the discussion'' ; but whether he died

* John and Sebastian Cabot, by P. Tarducci, trans-
lated by H. F. Browning. Detroit, 1893.
121

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

on land or at sea, and where his remains
were buried, no man knows.

That the son succeeded to the father in
command has been generally accepted as the
truth; but why he should have been chosen
in preference to his brothers, Lewis or
Santius, one of whoni was his senior, has
never been explained. The father and two
of the sons drop out of sight immediately
after the sailing of the second expedition,
and only Sebastian remains to represent the
family. Also his mother, who at one time
was reported as living with his father at
Bristol, disappears, without leaving a trace
of her existence, except that, long years
after, Sebastian filed a claim with the Vene-
tian Coxmcil of Ten for some property once
in her possession.

Respecting the birthplace of Sebastian, as
well as that of his father, there is a variety
of conflicting testimony. According to Rich-
ard Eden (to whom reference has been made
in previous chapters), he was bom an Eng-
lishman, for he wrote, in his translation of th^
Decades of Peter Martyr, as a marginal note:
"Sebastian Cabote totdd me that he was
borne in Bristowe [Bristol], and that at
III yeare ould he was carried with his father

122

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

to Venice, and so returned agayne into Eng-
land with his father after certayne yeares,
whereby he was thought to have been borne
in Venice."

Peter Martyr himself says that Sebastian
Cabot was by birth a Venetian, but taken to
England by his parents while scarcely more
than an infant; so here is a question of
veracity for those who came after these two
historians to settle. Shall we believe Eden,
who claims England as Sebastian's birth-
place, or Peter Martyr, who gives the honor
to Venice? As for Sebastian himself, he is
said to have told the Venetian ambassador,
Gaspare Contarini, who held a conversation
with him in 1522, that he was not English
bom. "Sir Ambassador," he was reported
by the Venetian to have said, "to tell you
the whole truth, I was bom in Venice, but
brought up in England."

These are the witnesses who testify that
they had the information from Sebastian's
own lips: one an Englishman of undoubted
veracity ; another, Peter Martjrr, Italian bom,
but then living in Spain, where he held a high
position under the government, and equally
to be credited ; the third an ambassador, who
was writing to the Coimcil of Ten, on Sebas-
"3

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

tian's accoiint, and who, presumably, would
scorn to tell a lie. That somebody told one
is qtiite evident, and others repeated it for
many years thereafter. Those who state
that Sebastian Cabot was born in Venice
are Bacon, Martyr, Contarini, Gomara, and
Ramtisio; those who held that he was bom
in England are Eden, Stow, Hakluyt, and
Herrera ; all men of reputation. Those who
professed to have had the statement from
his own lips, however, are but three in num-
ber — ^Martyr, Eden, and Contarini.

When Sebastian Cabot gave the informa-
tion respecting his birthplace to Martyr, he
was a guest in the latter's house, or at least
a frequent visitor. The historian was pre-
paring his great life-work and glad enough
to get such interesting information as Cabot
could give, at first hand. That he did not
possess full knowledge respecting the Cabo-
tian voyage is shown by the fact that he
knew of, or at least mentions, only one
voyage, and that voyage, Sebastian told him,
was made by himself. No mention is made
of his father; but the real discoverer, as
represented to Peter Martyr, the historiogra-
pher, is Sebastian Cabot, his informant. We
know this to be an tmtruth, for we know that
124

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

John Cabot was the ** organizer, eqtiipper, and
leader" of both voyages. Hence arises the
query: If Sebastian Cabot was capable of
suppressing the truth respecting his father's
acts, and not only of refraining from en-
lightening the historian as to John Cabot's
great discovery, but of putting himself in his
place, would he hesitate to convey misin-
formation regarding his birthplace?

This might seem a simple matter to him,
and were he an unknown individual it would
not matter to what country he belonged.
When he told Martyr and the ambassador
he was a Venetian, he was conversing with
men who desired to believe that he was, on
account of the lustre his name and deeds
would reflect upon their country — ^for both
were Italians. Moreover, he had every rea-
son for establishing his nativity at Venice,
because at that time he was in negotiation
with the Council respecting a matter which
will be alluded to further on. It appears,
indeed, that when with Englishmen he gave
out that he was bom in Bristol; when with
Venetians, that his native place was Venice.
He had his own reasons, at the time, as he
may have thought himself justified in claim-
ing the discovery his father really made ; but

9 I2S

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

the verdict of impartial history has been in
favor of the father rather than of the son.

'*The son had a gift of reticence concern-
ing others, including his father and brothers,
which in these latter days has been the cause
of much wearisome research to scholars,"
writes Dr. Dawson. '* During the whole of
the first voyage John Cabot was the com-
mander ; on the second he sailed in command ;
but who brought the expedition home, and
when it returned, are not recorded. It is
not known how or when John Cabot died, and
although the letters patent for the second
voyage were addressed to him alone, his son
Sebastian during forty -five years took the
whole credit, in every subsequent mention,
of the discovery of America. This antithesis
may throw light upon the suppression of his
father's name in all the statements attrib-
uted to, or made by, Sebastian Cabot.

**He was marvellously reticent about his
father. The only mention which occurs is
on the map seen by Hakluyt, and on one
supposed, somewhat rashly, to be a tran-
script of it. There the discovery is attributed
to John Cabot and to Sebastian his son, and
that has reference to the first voyage. . . .
He never once alluded to his two brothers,
126

JOHN AND SE^BASTIAN CABOT

who were associated in the first patent, and
the preceding slight notice of his father is all
that can be traced to him; although con-
temporary records of unquestionable author-
ity indicate John Cabot as the moving spirit,
and do not mention the son."

**If," says Tarducci, "the expedition of
1498 was led by the son, it was still un-
questionably prepared, set forward, and for
a time conducted by the father. Not then
in the second rank — still less lower — is the
place that belongs to John Cabot in the glo-
rious phalanx of discoverers; but he must
be hailed among the highest, very near the
supreme chief that led them all — Christopher
Columbus!"

SOME PACTS ABOUT SEBASTIAN
1512

THE first thirty -five or forty years of
Sebastian Cabot's life constitute a
period of obscurity scarce irradiated by a
gleam of light from contemporary sources.
The same cannot be said of the latter part of
his father's life, for we have the evidence of
several undoubted authorities that he was
not only in existence, but accomplished voy-
ages between Bristol and distant lands. This
we should not forget: That all the evidence
of Sebastian's alleged voyages in the fifteenth
century is ex post facto, unsustained by a
single authoritative statement made at the
time, so far as we can learn.

How can we explain this hiatus in his life-
history, except by the assumption that he
was so obscure that his deeds were not con-
sidered worthy of mention? Together with
his two brothers, Lewis and Santius, he is
128

SOME FACTS ABOUT SEBASTIAN

mentioned in the letters patent of 1496; then
the three disappear utterly for nearly a score
of years, when Sebastian alone emerges, and
declares himself the chief factor in the great
discovery. Even his father is relegated to
comparative obscurity, while the fame of the
second son, Sebastian, like the smoke-cloud
from the Afrite's jar, moimts to the skies and
overspreads the earth.

"So far as we have proceeded with the
narrative," says Mr. G. E. Weare, "the name
of Sebastian Cabot appears only in the first
grant of letters patent, in common with those
of his two brothers. It may be desirable to
repeat here, that if we are to assume that Se-
bastian sailed with his father in 1497, simply
because his name appears in the letters patent,
then we must assume that all three sons were
with their father in the voyage made by him
in the Mathew. And if the presence of their
names in the letters patent is to be accepted
as evidence of their presence in the first voy-
age, then, by parity of reasoning, the absence
of the names in the second letters patent must
be equally conclusive of their absence in the
second expedition. But surely, so far as the
evidence goes, the presence f/T n\jsfaiif:f:fjf any of
the sons must be treated as pure conjecture/'
129

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

And yet, writing upon the mere asstamp-
tion that the second son took the place of
his father in the second voyage, the author
of still another Life of Sebastian Cabot, Mr.
Hayward, says: '* Shortly after the date of
this patent, John Cabot died, and Sebastian
determined to prosecute alone the voyage,
of which he had ever, in reality, the direction.
Aside from his adventurous spirit, the heavy
expenses of the first voyage had been re-
quited only by his claims in the new country.
Neither was he ready to reUnquish what he
had so hardly won, now that public favor
was on his side. What the royal interest
was in this second expedition it is impossi-
ble to state; it extended, however, to one
or two ships and a considerable amount of
fimds. . . . But for the grossest neglect, we
might have learned the particulars of these
memorable voyages from Cabot himself. A
series of his papers, with suitable maps,
descriptive of these adventures, was left
nearly ready for publication. Carelessness,
however, suffered them to be mislaid, and
now time has hidden them forever. How de-
lightful as well as remarkable was the mod-
esty which made no boast of such achieve-
ments; committing merit to the keeping of
130

SOME FACTS ABOUT SEBASTIAN

a few hasty manuscripts and the gratitude
of posterity; that gratitude which has suf-
fered such a man to be forgotten, because he
forbore to proclaim his own praises!**

Had the foregoing been written of the
father, instead of the son, it might be con-
sidered peculiarly applicable; but the evi-
dence goes to show that Sebastian Cabot
has not suifered "because he forbore to
proclaim his own praises" — that is, he has
not suifered for lack of appreciation. On
the contrary, he neglected no opportunity
to tnmipet forth his deeds, when, years
after, he found himself far distant from the
lands in which they were alleged to have
happened, and all, or nearly all, those said
to have been concerned with him had passed
away.

The first, or foundation account, as it may
be called, of the ascription of Sebastian
Cabot as the discoverer of North America
was that by Peter Martjnr (Pietro Martire
d'Anghiera), author of the great historical
work, De Orbe Novo, He was bom in Milan
in I4SS, and died in Granada, Spain, 1526.
Ten or eleven years previous to his death,
in 151 5 or 1 516, Sebastian Cabot was in his
house as a guest, and from his own lips,
131

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

probably, he obtained the account to which
reference has already been made: "These
north seas have been searched by one
Sebastian Cabot, a Venetian bom," etc.
The account was substantially repeated by
Antonio Galvao, in 1550, and by Gromara,
in his Historia General de las Indias, pub-
lished in 1552. It was translated into Eng-
lish (as we have seen) by Eden, in 1555,
and used by Hakluyt in both editions of
his Principall Navigations, Voyages, and
Discoveries of the English Nation — 1589,
1598.

Peter Martyr appears to have given cre-
dence to Sebastian's story; but he also re-
cords (as by his allegiance to the Spanish
sovereigns he was bound to do) : " Some of
the Spaniards deny that Cabot was the first
finder of the land of Bacalaos [the Codfish
Country], and affirm that he went not so
far westward." If, however, the learned
historian had searched the Spanish archives
of the century previous, he might possibly
have discovered the letters sent to the court
by Ayala and Puebla, in 1496 and 1498,
which convincingly established the fact that
a Cabot had voyaged that far to the west-
ward — ^but John, and not Sebastian !
132

SOME FACTS ABOUT SEBASTIAN

Having in his company, however, one who
affirmed that he had made the voyage, and
was the real discoverer, Martjnr sets down
his statement for what it is worth, courte-
ously professing faith in his guest, without
seeldng to verify his statements by investi-
gating the records. Alluding to this claim
made by Sebastian Cabot, M. Harrisse, a
learned and persevering investigator, says:
"The belief rests exclusively upon state-
ments from his own lips, made at a time,
imder circumstances, in a form and with
details, which render them very suspicious."

In this connection we should not omit
more particular reference to the map of the
world, or planisphere, ascribed to Sebastian
Cabot, and which, if admitted to be genuine,
would prove a powerful corroborative of the
statement made by him to the learned Peter
Martyr. Hakluyt published an extract from
what purported to be a copy of this map,
which then "himg up in the privy gallery
at Whitehall," but which is not, "so far as
can be ascertained, at present in existence."
A similar map was discovered in Bavaria,
which was purchased in 1844 by the French
government, and is now preserved in the
national library at Paris. It bears date
133

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

1544, and is inscribed with various legends
in Spanish, one of which: '' Esta tierra fue
descubierto por loan Caboto, Veneciano y Se-
bastian Caboto, su hijo" — this land was dis-
covered by John Cabot, a Venetian, and Se-
bastian Cabot, his son, etc. — has already been
quoted, substantially, on a previous page.

In the year 1594 (according to a paper
communicated to the " Society of Antiqua-
ries " by Mr. R. H. Major, F.S.A.) a wander-
ing German named Kochhaff published a
work containing, amongst other historical
matter, several legends which he professed
to have copied from a map he saw at Oxford,
England. There were nineteen of these in-
scriptions, including the legend mentioned
above, one of which read : " Sebastian Cabot,
captain and pilot of his Sacred Imperial
Catholic Majesty the Emperor Charles, fifth
of that name and King of Spain, put upon
me the finishing hand and, projecting me
after this form, delineated me in a plane
figure, in the year of redemption and na-
tivity of our Lord Jesus Christ, 1549; who
has described me according to the latitude
and longitude of degrees, the position of the
winds, so learnedly and so faithfully in the
fashion of a sailing -chart — following the
134

>
z

SOME FACTS ABOUT SEBASTIAN

authority of the geographer Ptolemy and
the belief of the more skilled Portuguese,
and also from the experience and practice
of long sea-service of the most excellent John
Cabot, a Venetian by nation, and the author,
Sebastian, his son, the most learned of all
men in knowledge of the stars and the art
of navigation, who have discovered a cer-
tain part of the globe for a long time hidden
from our people. . . . Sebastian Cabot, sail-
ing into the western ocean, reached a certain
sea and region where the lily of the compass-
needle pointed due north, at one quarter
north-northeast. For which reasons, and by
the safest nautical experience, it is most
clearly evident that defects and variations
of the compass frequently occur with obser-
vation of the north.**

Two things particularly claim our atten-
tion herewith. One is that the date, 1549,
would infer a copy from some original un-
known, differing as it does from the date,
1544, on the Paris map; the other is that
the (inferential) discovery of the variation
of the compass is ostensibly claimed by
Cabot, when said variation, or declination,
was observed as long previous as the first
voyage of Columbus, in 1492. The question
135

John and Sebastian cabot

arises, however, whether or not Sebastian
Cabot was the real author of the maps
ascribed to him — the maps bearing date
1544 and 1549. Did he produce them, or
was somebody trading upon his reputation?
If he was the author of the map of 1549 and
its legends, then the remarks anent the
variation of the compass-needle were mis-
leading, to say the least. For he must have
known that this was no new discovery —
that Columbus reported the result of his own
observations respecting it upon his return
to Spain in 1493.

But in justice to Sebastian it should be
remarked that there is at present a general
disbelief among authorities in his authorship
of map or legends. Says that critical in-
vestigator, M. Harrisse: "Considered as a
graphic exposition of geographical positions
and forms, this planisphere must rank as
the most imperfect of all the Spanish maps
of the sixteenth century which have reached
us. . . . As regards the New World, we are
surprised to find how inferior its position
and outlines are, when compared with those
of the Weimar maps, for instance, although
these were constructed fifteen years previous.
Labrador and northern Canada, which, natu-
136

SOME FACTS ABOUT SEBASTIAN

rally, should be much more exact than in
the other charts of the time, are particularly
defective." This critic also might have
added that the map of Juan de la Cosa sur-
passed it in approximate accuracy, though
made forty or fifty years before — accepting
the dates of the Cabot map as genuine.

In another respect, also, Sebastian Cabot
(if this be his map) has sinned grievously —
for example, in introducing into regions he
should have known and delineated with care,
the figures of bears, pumas, and nondescript
animals, which conveniently hide large tracts
of coast and inland territory. This might
have been permissible in the map-makers of
pre-Columbian times, but not in those who
were presumed to have had the results of
numerous voyages and the testimony of
many explorers as to the relative positions
of the continents. **It would appear to be
incredible," says Dr. J. G. Kohl, ''that a
distinguished mariner and mathematician
like Cabot should not have been shocked
by this rough and stupid proceeding. . . .
This may suffice for the present in consider-
ing the question how far Sebastian Cabot
may be regarded as having made this map;
or, rather, it may serve to show how utterly
137

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

improbable it is that it was originally drawn
by him, or executed under his direction or
superintendence. . . . Whenever he is men-
tioned in the inscriptions, it is with some
pompous description Uke this: ' In the art of
navigation and astronomy the most expe-
rienced man'; or, . . . *0f all men the most
learned in astronomy and in the art of
navigation.* . . . Such also is the following
complimentary expression connected with
the above, which nms thus : * Therefore you
may use this hydrographical chart as the
most faithful and the most learned mistress,
in sailing to any part of the ocean 'wherever
you should have the mind to sail.' "

It is very certain that any mariner who
placed his trust in that planisphere as a
sailing-chart would have been sadly disap-
pointed, if, indeed, he would not have lost
his vessel. The learned doctor adds: ''I
cannot but concur in the opinion both of
Mr. Bancroft and Mr. Charles Deane, *that
Cabot himself evidently did not write these
inscriptions.**' That acctirate scholar. Dr.
Justin Winsor, says with reference to them :
"These inscriptions are further enigmas; for
while Sebastian Cabot must necessarily have
been the source from which some of the
138

SOME FACTS ABOUT SEBASTIAN

statements are drawn, there are parts of the
legends which it is impossible to believe
represent Such knowledge as he must be
supposed to have had.*'

**A11 the important questions which have
been raised with regard to the map," says
Mr. Weare, in his Discovery of North America,
*4ts authenticity, etc., etc., are stmmiarized
in the following :

'*i. It may or may not be Sebastian
Cabot's map; at present there exists no
authentic evidence to prove affirmatively
that it was ever issued with his authority;
he nevef (prestmiptively) said he was its
author; and it seems almost certain that
he never had a hand in its revision. There
is [then] no certainty that he ever saw the
planisphere of 1544.

**2. There is a probability, but no actual
proof, that some portion of the contents of
the map may have been originally derived
either from a map made by Sebastian, or
from information supplied by him.

**3. Until it is proved beyond doubt that
Sebastian Cabot was with his father in the
voyage of discovery in the year 1497, the
map appears to have no bearing on the
question at issue — that is, as to the com-
139

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

parative agency of John and Sebastian
Cabot.

'*4. Having regard to the many admitted
errors and absurdities which appear upon
the map, coupled with the absence of any
reliable evidence to prove the agency of
Sebastian therewith, it is suggested that it
would be unjust to conriect him with it, so
far as it purports to be a publication by
him, or one issued with his authority."

These citations of eminent authorities
show us how involved in obscurity, how com-
pletely obfuscated, are the deeds of Sebastian
Cabot, which are alleged to have been great
and meritorious, for it cannot be proved that
he ever made a voyage with independent
command before he went to Spain in 1512.
In view of this fact, and in view of the tes-
timony of a contemporary, Diego Garcia,
given in a court of law, that "this naviga-
tion Sebastian Cabot did not know enough
to make, with all his astronomy," the query
naturally arises: Did Sebastian Cabot ever
discover anything? Did he explore, in the
true sense of the word? Did he contribute
anything of importance to the then existing
knowledge of the world?

The answer must be, judging from the
140

SOME FACTS ABOUT SEBASTIAN

evidence, or rather the lack of it, that he
never held an independent command pre-
vious to his going to Spain; that he made no
discoveries of his own initiative; that the
world would have known just as much of
North America if he had never existed!

Then was he, in the language of M.
Harrisse, "only an unmitigated charlatan,
a mendacious and unfilial boaster"? We
will suspend judgment tintil we have ex-
amined further into his history, meanwhile
keeping in mind the fact that the world ap-
pears never to have heard of him, never dif-
ferentiated him from the other sons of John
Cabot, tintil after he was forty years of age.
As he was bom in or before the year 1474 —
but as to whether in Venice or Bristol, the
evidence from his own lips is conflicting — he
must have been about thirty -eight years
old when he left England and entered into
the service of Spain.

It would be rather ambiguous to say that
little was heard of him during the years be-
tween 1498 and 15 1 2, for he has scarcely, as
yet, established himself as a real personality.
He was bom; he arrived at the age of dis-
cretion, or of maturity, without attracting
attention at the time he is said to have been
xo 141

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

performing great deeds; and if he had sur-
vived but the ordinary span of man's exist-
ence, his fame would have been posthtmious
only. Perhaps it would not have been even
that, for it is to him we are indebted for the
only accounts that make him out a great dis-
coverer. Taking him at his face value, the
eulogists of Sebastian Cabot have bestowed
much sympathy upon his conjectural suf-
ferings when he returned to England from
his conjectural voyage. *'The news of the
bad result of the enterprise," says Tarducci,
''must have been most impleasant for the
English, and their dejection upon its rettim
equal to the enthusiasm on its departure the
year before [1498]. It was like passing sud-
denly from the brightness of the noonday
Sim to midnight darkness: What a load of
criticism, ridicule, and invective must have
been heaped on the yotmg Sebastian, who
had succeeded his father in the command of
the expedition. For, without doubt, those
who had promoted and aided the expedition
threw the blame of its want of success on the
too great want of age and experience on the
part of its leader. There must have been
great lament for the loss of John, whose
bravery and experience would, in their opin-
142

SOME FACTS ABOUT SEBASTIAN

ion, have secured a happy issue of the under-
taldng. From this general feeling the poor
young man must have received a blow that
caused him to disappear wholly from view,
and fourteen years passed before he reap-
pears openly shining in the light of day."

This is the language, such are the wholly
hypothetical arguments, used by most of
Sebastian Cabot's biographers in speaking
of that supposititious discoverer. The Eng-
lish, of course, **must have been" greatly ex-
ercised over the disasters attendant upon the
voyage, and there "must have been" great
lament over the loss of gallant seamen ; but,
in view of the fact that it is not known
whether John Cabot ever returned from that
voyage, or whether his son was in command
when the return was made — ^if there were a
return — the asstmiptions of the biographer
might seem purely gratuitous.

During those fourteen years, however, it
is thought that Sebastian must have done
something to distinguish himself; though
why it was necessary for him to do so, any
more than for his brothers, who are never
heard of more, does not appear. His most
ardent champion, Mr. Biddle, quotes from
an old Bristol almanac of 1499 t^® following
143

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

paragraph, to show that Sebastian was yet
"up and doing," and not qtiite crushed by
his defeat: "This yeare Sebastian Cabot,
borne in Bristol, proffered his service to
King Henry for discovering new cotintries;
which had noe great or favorable entertain-
ment of the king; but he with no extraor-
dinary preparation set forth from Bristol,
and made greate discoveries."

If he did so, Sebastian Cabot was strange-
ly neglectful of his future, for these " great
discoveries" are not recorded anywhere on
earth. "About this time," however, as the
almanacs say, it is supposed, by those who
wish to accoimt for his whereabouts, that he
was somewhere off the coast of South Amer-
ica. That hare-brained adventurer, Alonzo
de Ojeda, one-time companion of Coltmibus
and Vespucci, beneficiary and comrade of
Juan de la Cosa, reported that, in his voyage
of 1499, when off the coast of Venezuela, he
had discovered a vessel containing English-
men. It is not stated what he did to them,
or said to them; but it was not in the nature
of Alonzo de Ojeda to allow any invaders
of his sovereign's territory to pass tinchal-
lenged. In truth, they were forttinate to
escape with their lives, for the fiery Ojeda
144

SOME FACTS ABOUT SEBASTIAN

was not only well armed and equipped, with
a large force at his back, but he had the dis- •
position to promptly make way with all,
especially foreigners, who stood in his path.

There is no record that he did this, and noth-
ing more was ever heard of those mysterious,
perhaps mythical. Englishmen, who were said
to be the first to invade the Caribbean Sea.
Nothing more was heard of them, either there
or in England, hence, the enthusiastic Tar-
ducci argues: "They must have been led by
Sebastian Cabot ! This supposition, ' * he says,
" corresponds very well with what Navarrete
relates of Ojeda: *It is certain that on his
first voyage he foimd some Englishmen in
the vicinity of Coquibacoa [coast of Mara-
caibo].'"

Then the ardent Tarducci at once connects
these Englishmen with Cabot, by the fol-
lowing absurd chain of reasoning: ** Ojeda
sailed from Spain May 25, 1499, and was
absent only one year. Therefore, the dates
of Cabot's departure from Bristol [if he de-
parted then], and Ojeda 's from Spain, would
very well permit the meeting of the English
and the Spaniards! If Navarrete *s infor-
mation is correct, there is every probability
that these English were led by Sebastian
MS

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

Cabot, as the only man in England at that
. time who was capable of conducting such an
expedition. This is so true that when, two
years later, a new expedition was planned,
the Portuguese were called on to direct it."

Now, if it were true that Sebastian Cabot
was the '*only man in England capable of
conducting such an expedition," why was it
that, two years later, when another was pre-
pared, it was given to some Portuguese?
The truth is, that nothing definite is known
of Cabot's movements at that time; and,
moreover, nothing need have been known of
him, for, in common with his two brothers,
he was merely the "son of his father" — and
the father was dead. Another biographer in-
vents a voyage for 1508, in order to account
for the ** hopeless confusion, which, perhaps,
may be disentangled by applying certain of
these narrations to a venture of that date."
But does it not naturally suggest itself that
this ** hopeless confusion" would not have
occurred if Sebastian Cabot, disinclined to
bask in the radiance of his father's glory,
had not undertaken to appropriate that
glory for himself ?

SEBASTIAN GOES TO SPAIN
1512

WHAT doubts, what perplexities assail
the historian when he endeavors to
trace the wanderings (if he had any) of
Sebastian Cabot during the first decade of
the sixteenth century. He still refuses to
emerge from his cave of obscurity, except
that, like the mythical ** Flying Dutchman,"
he makes mysterious voyages hither and
yon; but voyages preserved only in post-,
humous chronicles. It was mentioned in
the previous chapter that he was deprived
of one venture by ambitious Portuguese, who
were John Gonzalvez, and two brothers named
Femandes, natives of the Azores. Associat-
ing themselves with three merchants of Bris-
tol, Thomas Ashurst, Richard Warde, and
John Thomas, they obtained a patent from
King Henry dated March 19,1501, and in all
probability sailing and rettiming that year,
147

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

On December 9, 1502, the same Portu-
guese gentlemen secured a patent in their
favor, in connection with Thomas Ashurst
and Hugh Elliot; while in 1503, 1504, and
1505 Henry made small gifts of a few
pounds to Bristol merchants who had been
engaged in similar adventures into the
northern ocean. These are quaintly set
forth as follows: "1502, Jan. 7, to men of
Bristoll that founde the isle; 1503, Sept. 30,
to the merchants of Bristoll that have been
in the Newfounde Lande; 1503, Nov. 17, to
one that brought hawkes from the New-
founded Island; 1504, April 8, to a preste
[priest] that goeth to the new Ilande." And
foially: "1505, Sept. 25, To portyngales
[Portuguese] that brought popyngais [popin-
jays] and catts of the motmtaigne [probably
wild-cats] with other Stuf, to the Kinges
grace."

Mention having been made of all these
ventures, why, then, was nothing said of
Sebastian Cabot, who was probably pining
for emplojnnent, and, according to his eulo-
gists, of all men the best fitted to navigate
and explore? No answer can be given to
this question; but, in order to find employ-
ment for energies so supereminent, some of
14S

SEBASTIAN GOES TO SPAIN

his biographers have made him sail on a
voyage in search of Cathay, in the year 1508.
He sailed, they say, into the north until his
progress was arrested by icebergs and field
ice, between 58 and 60 degrees north latitude,
and then was forced to turn back and keep
on westerly, until he reached a coast-line
which he followed southward a long distance.
This voyage, doubtless, is the one he, or
his father, made in 1498, for the description
of what he saw tallies with that. The
Venetian author, Giovanni Ramusio (1485-
1557), who corresponded with Cabot — ^but
whose information on the subject of his
voyages is considered unreliable — gives a
long description of his experiences, mainly
compiled from Martyr's Decades. Writing
in 1553, he says: **We are not yet sure
whether that land [New France, or Canada]
is joined on to the main-land of the province
of New Spain, or is all divided into islands.
And if by that way it were possible to go to
Cathay, as was written by Signor Sebastian
Cabot, our Venetian, a man of great expe-
rience and rare in the art of navigation and
science of cosmography — he had sailed above
this land of New France, at the expense of
King Henry VII. of England. And he told
149

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

me that having gone a long distance tow-
ards the west and a quarter to the north-
west behind these islands situated along the
said land, as far as sixty-seven and a half
degrees under our pole, he firmly believed
he could pass by that way towards eastern
Cathay, and would have done so if the malice
of the master and insurgent mariners had not
forced him to turn back."

This reference to a mutiny on the part of
Cabot's crew carries us forward to a voyage
that is said to have taken place in 1517,
during the reign of Henry VIII., instead of in
that of his father, Henry VII. It was tmder
the command of Sir Thomas Pert, "whose
faint heart," says Richard Eden, "was the
cause that the voyage took none effect."
Whatever happened, and whenever the voy-
age was made, Sebastian Cabot blamed Pert
for its failure, owing to his cowardice and
lack of energy. Whether Cabot the younger,
then or at a previous date, penetrated as far
north as latitude 67® or 68®, and discovered
Hudson Bay, in his search for a northwest
passage to Cathay, is still a moot question.
As has been remarked, if he had but kept a
journal of his voyages, or had communicated
some of his adventures and alleged dis-
150

SEBASTIAN GOES TO SPAIN

coveries to some one living at the time,
posterity might have been so much the
richer; whereas, for generations it has been
doubtful whether to accept or reject the
treasure which, in his old age, Sebastian
Cabot pretended to have garnered from his
earlier days.

In the year 1 5 1 2, however, Sebastian Cabot
stands forth revealed as one who, by sterling
worth or high emprise, must have won the
attention of his sovereign. He went to
Spain, that year, as a member of that famous
expedition sent by Henry VIII. to aid his
brother monarch, King Ferdinand, against
Louis XII. of France. Henry had then been
three years on the throne, and had shown
himself the direct opposite of his father, the
penurious Henry VII., whose hoarded treas-
ures he was already dissipating with a lavish
hand. Having entered into the Holy League
formed by Pope Julius II. and Ferdinand
against King Louis, he, by a treaty signed
November 7, 151 1, agre«i to furnish six
thousand troops, which were to be em-
barked in Spanish ships. Early the follow-
ing spring, the fleet, forty sail in all, arrived
at Southampton, and the soldiers sailed for
Port Pasage, near San Sebastian, where they

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

disembarked in Jtine. They proved faith-
less to the trust imposed in them, for they
mutinied before they had struck a single
effective blow, either for Henry or his ally
King Ferdinand.

This may not have been so very displeas-
ing to Henry, who, though he was a son-in-
law of Ferdinand (having married his brother
Arthur's widow, Catherine of Aragon), had
no great relish for the alliance. He would
like to be known as "Most Christian King,"
and doubtless his Spanish wife egged him
on to join with her father, dangling the
tempting bait before his eyes; but he was
ease -loving rather than valiant. By the
invasion of France the following year he
partially effaced the impression made upon
Europe by the disgraceful action of his
troops in Spain, but was glad enough to get
back to England again, where tidings of new
victories awaited him.

It is not, however, with Henry VIII. that
we have to do, but with his subject, Sebas-
tian Cabot, who, in the train of Lord Will-
oughby, one of the generals of the Spanish
expedition, went with him to that coimtry.
In what capacity we know not, but cer-
tainly not in that of a soldier; nor, so far as
152

SEBASTIAN GOES TO SPAIN

we know, was he engaged as a navigator on
this voyage, which was but a short one, and
over a route well known. There is nothing
to show that Henry VIII. held Cabot in
esteem; though as to that, even if he had
been worthy above all men, the base Henry
could not have appreciated him at his value.
If, as recorded. King Ferdinand sent for him.
desiring to avail of his knowledge as naviga-
tor and explorer, Henry's suspicions would
not thereby have been aroused, for his mind
was not great enough to grasp the full mean-
ing of that knowledge. He let him go with-
out demur, therefore, and thus King Ferdi-
nand acquired the services of one who had
the reputation of being muy sabh, or very
wise, as to matters of seafaring.

From the Port of Pasage, Sebastian went
to the city of Burgos, where, it is said, he
had a conference with the secretary of
**Juana Loca," Ferdinand's afflicted daugh-
ter, by whom he was introduced to the
bishop of Palencia, who was empowered
to arrange with him as to his service tmder
the king. Sebastian must have been reckon-
ed as of consequence, it would seem, for
shortly after Lord Willoughby had landed
on Spanish soil he was written to in the name
JS3

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

of the king, who requested that he come
to him at once. He wished to constilt with
him about some matters relating to his new
duties, and probably desired to ascertain
the exact amoimt of his knowledge respect-
ing the great coimtry lying northward from
his dominions, in North America. From
Burgos, therefore, Sebastian went by the
king's command to Castile, where he was
satisfactorily received by the sovereign and
obtained royal sanction to the agreement
already concluded with the bishop of Palen-
cia. He may have resided near the court
all that simmier, for, though King Ferdinand
had shown great celerity in drawing him
within his sphere of personal influence, it
was not imtil the next October that an
official decree was issued respecting the
Anglo-Venetian navigator.

By a decree of October 20, 1512, his
Catholic Majesty, King Ferdinand of Spain,
conferred upon Sebastian Caboto the rank
of a sea-captain in his service, with an
annual salary of fifty thousand maravedis.
This might seem an immense amount of
money; but as the maravedi was worth
abotit a quarter of a cent only, being the
smallest coin current in Spain, it will be
IS4

SEBASTIAN GOES TO SPAIN

seen that the salary was not so very large,
even for those times. Still, to a poor mari-
ner like Sebastian Cabot, who had for years,
in all probability, relied for his support upon
the making of charts that were not in high
esteem or great demand, it must have ap-
peared mimificent. His duties were not
arduous; in fact, merely nominal, for it ap-
pears that King Ferdinand cared more for
getting Sebastian into his service than for
any real labor he might perform. He had
noted, perhaps, that he possessed informa-
tion of value which his English son-in-law,
Henry VHL, might turn to accotmt in his
own employ, imless checked in time. There
were few eminent navigq,tors and cosmog-
raphers then living, for Columbus, Vespucci,
and La Cosa had passed away, and scarcely
any had arisen to take their places.

Soon after his arrival at Castile, Sebastian
foimd himself domiciled in Seville, where a
house was assigned him, in which he lived
at ease, in the enjoyment of his salary of
fifty thousand maravedis. This was paid
him promptly; and, in truth, it is only from
the records of these schedules of payments,
by the king's orders, that we can inform
ourselves as to his movements at this time.

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

By means of these records we are enabled
to account for him dtiring the years 1512
to 1 5 15, in which, according to the receipts
he signed, he received payments quarterly.
On March 6th, for instance, there was paid
to "Sebast. Caboto, Ingles [Englishman],
fifty ducats on accoimt of his salary, and
advanced him for going to court to consult
with His Majesty about the voyage of dis-
covery which he was about to tmdertake."
On the 26th of that month he received the
balance of the year's salary due "from the
time he had come [probably to Spain] up to
the present."

In April, 15 14, it is shown by the schedules
that he received an advance of 44,250 mara-
vedis from Don Luis Garros, ambassador at
London, for expenses incurred by a return
to England for the purpose of closing up
affairs and bringing away his wife. This is
the first intimation that Sebastian Cabot had
a wife, of whom, as in the case of his mother,
casual mention only is made. She was a
native of Spain, it is related, and her name
was Catharine Medrano; but nobody knows
whether Sebastian met and won her in Eng-
land or in Spain. It is most probable that
he met her while living in Seville, as his
156

SEBASTIAN GOES TO SPAIN

predecessor, Amerigo Vespucci, met the lady
who became his wife, and who, after his
death, received a pension from the Spanish
government, part of which was a charge
against Cabot's salary as chief pilot. Catha-
rine Medrano seems to have held no more
prominent position in the scheme of her
husband's life-work than the wife of Co-
limibus or of Vespucci; for, like them, she
merely makes her appearance once or twice,
courtesies to posterity, then disappears, never
to be seen or heard of again. Such was the
fate of great men's wives at the period of
which we are writing — to live in obscurity,
while their husbands were crowning them-
selves with imperishable glory. They shared
their trials, their poverty, their disappoint-
ments, but were denied participation in their
triumphs.

In the year 1515, relying upon the accotmt
kept by Dr. Sancho de Matrenzo, treasurer
of the Casa de Contratacion in Seville, the
pilots of his majesty on salary were: Sebas-
tian Cabot, Andres de San Martin, Juan
Vespucci, Juan Serrano, Andres Garcia de
Nino, Francisco Coto, Francisco de Torres,
and Vasco Gallego. Sebastian's name ap-
pears first in the list, and this is significant,
IS7

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN GABOT

when we reflect upon his situation in Spain,
surrounded by rivals in the race for promo-
tion to the high office of chief pilot. All
the rest, judging from their names, were
Spaniards; all save Juan Vespucci, the since-
famous Amerigo's favorite nephew, who was
by birth a Florentine.

We have already mentioned the disper-
sion of Italy's sons in search of employment
tmder foreign flags, and the great assistance
they rendered to Spain in exploration and
discovery. **It cannot but be remarked,"
says an historian, **how Italy, in Coltimbus,
Cabot, and Vespucius, not to name others,
led in opening the way to a new stage in
the world's progress, which, by making the
Atlantic the highway of a commerce that
had mainly nurtured Italy on the Medi-
terranean, conduced to start her republics
on that decline which the Turk, sweeping
through that inland sea, confirmed and ac-
celerated/'

Juan Vespucci was one of those who
abandoned his native land at the com-
mencement of her decline, and, in company
with his xmcle Amerigo, swept the seas in
search of new isles and continents for Spain.
He was trained under the eye of the man
IS8

SEBASTIAN GOES TO SPAIN

after whom America was named, and be-
came an expert cosmographer and pilot.
It is a matter of wonder that, when his
tmcle died, in 1512, he was not appointed
his successor in the office of chief pilot;
and it may not be considered strange if he
had some heart-burnings on account of this
oversight. Still, it does not appear that he
was other than friendly to Cabot, who had
already distanced him; but the same can-
not be said of some others, former com-
panions of Colimibus, who regarded the
Anglo - Venetian as a usurper, who had
gained his precedence unfairly. When, in
1 5 15, Sebastian was appointed a member
of a commission charged with revising and
correcting all the maps and charts used
in Spanish navigation, **a duty of the great-
est importance and delicacy, at a time when
the principal activity of Spain was directed
to navigation and discovery" — when this
came about, the Spanish pilots were greatly
incensed.

CABOT AS *'PILOTO MAYOR"
1518

THE office of Piloto Mayor, or Chief Pilot,
was not created for Sebastian Cabot, as
some have assumed, but was first filled by
that eminent Florentine, Amerigo Vespucci.
He died in 1512, leaving a widow, whose
pension was made a charge upon the office
he held, so that the magnificent simi of
one htmdred and twenty-five thousand mara-
vedis per year, attached to it as the salary
of its occupant, was somewhat reduced in
consequence. After Vespucci came the vent-
urous navigator Juan de Solis, who immor-
talized his name by the discovery of the Rio
de la Plata. He held the position about
three years, but in 15 15 set out on the
voyage which proved to be his last, for he
was killed by Indians while exploring the
river he had found.
Three years later, by a royal ordinance
160

CABOT AS **PILOTO MAYOR"

dated at Valladolid, February 5, 1518, Se-
bastian Cabot was made chief pilot, with-
out whose approval no navigator could sail
a vessel to the Indies. He was the third to
be thus honored by the king for his great
knowledge of navigation, and at the time
he took office ten years had elapsed since
it was first occupied by Vespucci. At the
time of its creation a letter describing the
duties of Piloto Mayor was written by order
of the king, which letter may be found in
the Life of Amerigo Vespucci, a volimie of
this series.

The chief pilot resided at Seville, near the
great West India House — ^the Casa de Con-
tratacion — which had oversight of all fleets
sailing to the new cotintries and, seas, and
which was presided over for so many years
by Bishop Fonseca, the one-time enemy of
Christopher Colimibus. Neither the street
nor the house in which Sebastian Cabot
lived at the time he was chief pilot is known
to-day, though Seville was for years his
place of residence. He never made a voy-
age to the Indies, but stayed at home and
attended to the duties of his office, which,
as he had several assistants, were hardly
more than nominal.

161

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

We can imagine him, surroimded by the
navigators newly arrived from the West
Indies and the coast of South America,
explaining to them the charts he had pre-
pared and which had been left him by his
predecessors, Solis and Vespucci. Never
having made a voyage by means of them
himself, it cannot be considered at all
strange if the pilots who were compelled
to go to him for instruction should murmur
at the injustice of their king in forcing them
to sit at the feet of this foreigner. Many
of them knew the seas better than he did,
many had made the voyage southward, to
the isles of the Antilles, without the aid of
the charts, and had returned in safety; and
why they should be thus humiliated passed
their comprehension. Still, they submitted,
as perforce they had to submit, for it was
by the king's orders, and no one could sail
to any point without Sebastian Cabot's per-
mission.

In treating of this period of his life we are
on secure grotmd, because of the official
papers confirming his appointment and au-
thorizing the payments on his salary. But
now and then the king's pilot disappears
from view, and at such times his biographers
162

CABOT AS "PILOTO MAYOR"

give out that he has sailed for England,
there to make another voyage in the service
of King Henry. Stich a trip (confinning
which, however, there is no direct evidence),
it is claimed by some, he took between the
years 1516 and 1518, allusion to which was
made in the last chapter. It was at a time
when Spanish affairs were in considerable
confusion, owing to the demise of Ferdinand
the Catholic, the succession of ** Crazy Jane"
and Philip her consort, and finally the
accession of Charles, their son.

Availing himself of the laxity prevailing
in public affairs, it is said, Sebastian slipped
off to England and made another attempt
to discover something, somewhere, on the
northeast coast of America. Why he did
not essay something for the only real patron
he ever had, hitherto, and make a voyage
into the waters and beyond, which were
within Spanish jurisdiction, constitutes one
of the numerous mysteries of his life. It
is not known that he went to England, but
asstimed, merely, in order to accoimt for
another hiatus in his life — or, rather, a pe-
riod of inactivity — ^when he does not appear
prominently enough to suit his ardent eu-
logists.

163

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

It is given out that he was constantly
seeking a northwest passage to Cathay, and
this was the will-o'-the-wisp that so often
allured him from the delights of his official
position of honor and emolument. But,
not long after he went to Spain, the neces-
sity for discovering a northwest passage
no longer existed, since Balboa had rendered
it unnecessary by finding a way across the
isthmus of Darien. Attention was then di-
rected to the southwest, instead, with the ul-
timate result that, in 1520, Magellan made
his memorable voyage through the strait
now named after him, and for the first time
crossed the Pacific.

It is possible that an expedition was
planned by King Ferdinand in consultation
with Cabot, and that his death in 15 16
upset all their calculations. **A11 prepara-
tions were checked," narrates a credulous
biographer; ** public well-wishers and ambi-
tious speculators were disappointed; but
Cabot had more cause than any other to
regret the loss of his patron. Charles V.,
who was to be his successor, had lately
been acknowledged emperor in the Nether-
lands, and remained some time in Brussels
before assimiing the Spanish crown-^a peri-
164

CABOT AS ''PILOTO MAYOR"

od of dissension and nniuch confusion among
the Spaniards, who, by means of his min-
ister, Chievres, employed every intriguing
art to find favor with the yoimg sovereign.

"Ferdinand's kindness to Sebastian had
incensed his jealous subjects, who were
indignant that the king should have raised
a foreigner to his confidence, and availed
themselves of his death to manifest their
resentment. They insinuated that the voy-
age of 1497 his-d accomplished nothing, that
Cabot was a foreign impostor, and that
under their new king affairs should take a
different turn. Cardinal Ximenes was too
aged to govern with severity during the
interregntmi, and when Charles had arrived
in Spain, at only sixteen years of age,
intriguers and misrepresenters had given an
imdue bias to his mind. Even Fonseca, the
notorious caltmmiator of Columbus, was in
office. Cabot could catch no glimmer of
hope in all this darkness, and, that he might
avoid imdeserved obloquy, he returned once
more to England.

"After a short residence in England, our
navigator succeeded in fitting out the expe-
dition which the death of Ferdinand "had
delayed. Henry VIII., probably not dis-
165

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

pleased at his return, 'ftimished certen
shippes/ says Richard Eden, with some
funds, and appointed one Sir Thomas Pert
first in command tmder Cabot, whose weak-
ness, as we shall see, rendered the affair a
failure. They sailed from England in 15 17.
Concerning their exact destination many
disputes have arisen. Several historians
say that they went on a trading voyage to
the West Indies; but these accotmts are
so confused that we find them at one time
off the coast of Labrador, and shortly after
that as far south as Florida. The point is
interesting, because, if Cabot really tmder-
took a trading voyage, he must have relin-
quished, in a moment of pique, his hopes
of discovering the northwest passage. The
trading voyage, which, by a confusion of
dates, is assigned to 1517, actually took
place ten years after, in 1527. So that
Cabot was neither so inconsistent, nor so
tmgrateful to the memory of his late patron,
as to interfere with a trade to which the
Spanish government laid an exclusive claim."
Neither was Sebastian Cabot so tmwise as
to attempt to trade, tmder Ei^glish colors,
with islands owned by Spain! The truth is,
probably, that he did not leave Spain for
166

CABOT AS "PILOTO MAYOR"

England at all, for many years after his
arrival there in 1512. The treatment he re-
ceived at the hands of the two Henrys (the
one penurious, the other a rake and a spend-
thrift of mean capacity) had not been such
as to encourage him to return. Neither had
given him permanent employment, as had
the king of Spain; neither had honored him
in any manner whatever ; so what had he to
gain by going to England ?

But the self -blinded biographer goes on to
say: *' Contemporary and subsequent ac-
counts represent Sir Thomas Pert as totally
unfit to be second in command in such an ex-
pedition. His cowardice was sufficient to
render his commander's energy ineffectual.
They penetrated to about the 67th degree of
north latitude and, entering Hudson's bay
[now so called], gave English names to various
places in the vicinity, when, as previously,
doubts of success arose among the crew.
The severity of the climate and many priva-
tions increased their eagerness to return,
while Pert, a man of high command and in-
fluence, favored their remonstrances. Under
such ciramistances, it was impossible to quell
the mutiny by force, and, the pilots [Why
'pilots,' when Cabot himself was there?]
167

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

being tinable to convince the understandings
of the crew, Cabot ttimed homeward. Al-
though he had confessedly failed, he must
have gained credit in England by his res-
olution, while Sir Thomas Pert seems to have
been recognized as the cause of the mis-
carriage."

Alas, poor Sir Thomas Pert! To be af-
flicted with such a name, and to have it
maligned, besides — ^passed down to posterity
with a stigma attached to it by Sebastian
Cabot! Proceeding in this apologetic vein
as relates to Cabot, the biographer says:
'* Neither the merchants interested in the late
unforttmate expedition, nor the king, who
was then engaged on the continent, were
disposed to renew an attempt to discover the
long-desired passage. Moreover, a frightful
disease known as the sweating-sickness pre-
vailed in England in 15 17, and prevented the
people from thinking of an expensive and im-
promising enterprise. Forttmately for Cabot
affairs in Spain were in a better condition.
Soon after his accession, Charles V., examin-
ing into the imsettled expedition of 1516
[which is purely conjectural, by - the - way],
was surprised at the sudden disappearance of
Cabot. He already knew something of his
168

CABOT AS "PILOTO MAYOR"

character, and the state records bore ample
testimony of Ferdinand's high regard for
him. These facts sufficiently exposed the
jealousy and intrigues of the Spaniards, and
Charles, anxious to atone for past injustice,
appointed Cabot to the honorable office of
pilot major of Spain.'*

It is related as a rumor (confirmed by
Sebastian Cabot) that the third year follow-
ing his appointment as chief pilot he might
have been found in England once more,
having been lured thither, he averred, by
Henry VIII. 's prime-minister. Cardinal Wol-
sey, who **made him great offers if he would
re-enter the service of England and make new
expeditions and discoveries for her." Such
is the statement of Cabot; but it is mani-
festly untrue, coming so soon after an alleged
expedition, which, as all admit, was so disas-
trous as to cool the ardor of both the king
and the people. One might be led to think,
from the frequency with which the Chief
Pilot of Spain is said to have laid aside the
cares of office and hied away to England, on
the most frivolous pretexts, that he had not
only little to do, but possessed the unlimited
confidence of a government which was not
prone to look upon such levity with in-
169

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

diligence. Spain was an exacting mistress,
and wotdd not have disr^arded these fre-
quent lapses of all^^iance in one standing so
high in official rank as Sebastian Cabot.

In the year 1521, two members of Henry
VIII. 's coimcil, Sir Wolston Brown and Sir
Robert Wynkfeld, tirged the merchants of
London to f timish five vessels for an expedi-
tion which was to be placed imder command of
" one man called, as understood, Sebastyan."
He had, apparently, convinced the king — ^this
man Sebastyan [Cabot] — that said expedi-
tion would result greatly to his advantage;
but the merchants' wardens, being cautious
men, and withal having knowledge of the
king's craftiness, demurred. They question-
ed whether the king and his coimcil were duly
informed as to the purposed expedition; and
further, why credible reports had not been
obtained of ** maisters and mariners naturally
bom within this realm of England." And
they add: ''We think it were too sore a
venture to jepord V shipps, with men and
goods, unto the said Island, upon the singular
trust of one man, called, as we understand,
'Sebastyan,' which Sebastyan, as we here
say, was never in that land hymself, all if
[although] he makes report of many things
170

CABOT AS "PILOTO MAYOR"

as he hath heard his father and other men
speke in tymes past,''

The hard-headed men of business, whose
money would have to pay for the venture,
were naturally against the proposition,
though the king, having nothing to lose,
might be in favor of it. But the merchants
of London were tmnecessarily exercised over
the prospect of losing their ships and their
capital, for, in all probability, Sebastian
Cabot had no serious thought of making a
voyage in the king of England's service.
In truth, how could he, being a subsidized
servant of Spain, and holding so conspicu-
ous a position that his dereliction would be
noticed at once ? It is beyond belief that the
haughty monarch, Charles V., would have
allowed his pilot major to sail on a voyage
for any other sovereign, in any capacity
whatever.

XII

AN INTRIGUE WITH VBNICB
1522

THE further doings of Sebastian Cabot
seem to throw light upon what would
otherwise appear to be an tinaccountable
transaction. It would appear, in fact, that
the pilot major of Spain was capable of
" playing" one government against the other,
in order to enhance his reputation with both.
Nothwithstanding that he had excused him-
self to Cardinal Wolsey on the ground that
he could not accept a commission under
English colors without the permission of
King Charles of Spain, he himself states that
he wrote to the king requesting his recall, as
great pressure was being brought to bear
upon him to re-enter England's service as
an explorer, etc.

He thus makes himself out the one great
navigator whose services two powerful na-
tions are very anxious to obtain; but even
172

AN INTRIGUE WITH VENICE

this does not satisfy his vanity, for the next
year he may be found intriguing with Venice,
to whose niling power, the " Council of Ten,'*
he represented himself as acqtiainted with a
northwest passage to the Indies. He in-
formed them that "Cardinal Wolsey had
made great efforts to induce him to take
command of an important expedition for the
discovery of new coimtries, having actually
provided 30,000 ducats for the furnishing
of a fleet."

His imagination, we may note, was kinder
to him than the merchants of London, who
had refused to advance the funds, upon the
groimd that the proposed commander, "one
Sebastyan," was a foreigner, and acquainted
with the islands to be sought only by hear-
say. But Venice did not know of this, and
his astoimding proposition, to sail in her
service, was respectfully entertained by the
Council of Ten. Its members were versed
in all the wiles of diplomacy, and maintained
spies in every capital of Europe; yet for a
time Sebastian Cabot succeeded in mystify-
ing them completely as to his motive, or
motives, in conducting an intrigue with
Venice, while holding a responsible and an
honorable position imder the government of

" 173

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

Spain. His cunning was eventually out-
matched, for he had no dull-witted Britons
to deal with now, but the keenest, subtlest
politicians that the land of Machiavelli could
boast.

On a day in 1522 the Venetian ambassador
Signor Caspar Contarini, a man of great and
varied accomplishments, who represented
his government at the Spanish court, re-
ceived a letter of which the following is the
substance :

''September 2yth.
** To our Orator near the C cesarean and Cath-
olic Majesty:

"Not long ago, one Don Hierolamo de
Marin de Bucignolo, a Ragusan, who came
into the presence of the chiefs of our Coimcil
of Ten, said that he was sent by one Sebastian
Cabotto, who declares that he belongs to this
our city, and now resides in Seville, where
he has the appointment from the Caesarean
and Catholic Majesty as his chief pilot for the
discovery and navigation of new regions.
And, in his name, he referred to an accom-
panying disposition as his credential, touch-
ing which, although we do not see that we can
place much trust in it, yet as it may be of
some importance, we have not thought fit to
174

AN INTRIGUE WITH VENICE

reject the olBFer of the said Sebastian to come
into our presence and say what he has in his
mind respecting this matter. . . . We there-
fore desire, and we, the said Heads of our
Coimcil of Ten, instruct you that, with all dili-
gence, but with due caution, you shall take
means to find out if the aforesaid Sebastian is
in the court, or about to come there shortly,
in which case you are to procure that he shall
come to you, and you are to deliver to him
a letter written by the said Hierolamo, which
we have arranged to send by another way to
yotir very faithful servant, that it may reach
you presently.

"You should endeavor to find out some-
thing of the matter in hand, in the event of his
being disposed to be open with you, in which
case we are well content to leave it to you to
ascertain his sentiments. When you see
him you should move him with sound reason-
ing and encourage him to come here; for we
are not only desirous, but anxious, that he
should come to us securely. If he should not
be at court, nor about to come, but returned
to Seville, take care to send all letters by a
safe channel, so that they may reach him.
Let him know by whom they are sent — that
they come from his own friends here, and
175

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

under any circumstances report everything
to the said Heads of the Council of Ten."

It seems that Sebastian had met and con-
tracted a close friendship with the Ragusan,
Hierolamo, to whom he had confided, under
a pledge of secrecy, his desire to communicate
with the Council of Ten, and inform them of
the knowledge he possessed as to a north-
western passage to the Indies. The Ragusan
soon after went to Venice and delivered his
message, with the result as shown above.
A letter purporting to have been written by
him was sent to the ambassador, informing
Sebastian that it would give the Council of
Ten great pleasure to receive him. The
ambassador was to pretend ignorance of its
contents, though he had already been in-
formed by the Council, but he was to have
an interview with Sebastian and try to draw
him out as to his schemes. The artful plan
succeeded perfectly, and perhaps it cannot
be better shown than by the letter written
by the ambassador on the last day of
December, 1522.

** Most serene Prince and most Excellent Lords:

"On the third vigil of the nativity, with
176

AN INTRIGUE WITH VENICE

due reverence, I received the letter from your
Lordships dated the 27th September, by
which is explained to me the proposal of
Hierolamo the Ragusan, in the name of Se-
bastian Caboto. In order to execute these in-
structions, I dexterously ascertained whether
he was at court, and this being so, I sent to
say that my secretary had to deliver a letter
sent by a friend of his, and that if he wished
to receive it he should come to my lodgings.

** He understood this from my servant who
went to him, and came on Christmas eve,
at the hour of dinner. I withdrew with him,
and gave him the letter, which he read, and
when he read turned pale. Having read it
he put it in his pocket without speaking,
and looked frightened and amazed. I then
said to him that, when he should desire to
answer that letter, he should tell me what he
wished, and I would write to those who had
sent it, for that I should be prompt in mak-
ing the business end well. Having been
reassured he spoke to me thus:

** * I had already spoken to the ambassador
of the most illustrious seigneury in Ei^gland,
owing to the affection I have for the father-
land, when those newly fotmd lands could
be made of such great utility to my country;
177

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

and now, as r^ards what has been written
to me, you ought to know all; but I pray you
that it may be kept secret, for it is a matter
on which my life depends.*

"I then told him that I knew about it
very well; but, as some gentlemen were
coming to dine with me, it was not convenient
to discuss the business matter further at
that time. It would be better if he would
return in the afternoon, when we might con-
fer more fully. He then went away and
returned at night, when I received him alone
in my room. He said to me: *My Lord
Ambassador, to tell you all, I was born in
Venice^ but was brought up in England, and
afterwards entered the service of Spain and
was made captain by King Ferdinand, with
a salary of 50,000 maravedis. I was then
made chief pilot by this king [Charles] with
another 50,000 maravedis, and to help my
expenses was given 25,000 more, making in
all 125,000 maravedis, which may be reck-
oned at nearly 300 ducats.

*' * Having returned to England three years
ago, that most reverend Cardinal wished that
I would imdertake the conmiand of a fleet of
his to discover new countries, which fleet was
nearly ready, he being prepared to expend
178

AN INTRIGUE WITH VENICE

upon it 30,000 ducats. I replied that, being
iu'the service of this Majesty^ I was not able
to undertake it without his permission. At
that time, conversing with a Venetian friar,
named Stragliano CoUona, with whom I had
a great friendship, he said to me: **Messer
Sebastian, you are very anxious to do great
things for foreigners, why do you not re-
member your own country? Is it not possible
that you might also be useful to it ?'*

" * I felt this in my heart at the time and
replied that I would think it over. On the
following day I said to him that I had a way
by which the city of Venice might participate
in these voyages, and I showed him a way
which would be of great utility. As by
serving the King of England I should not be
able to serve my country, I wrote to the
Ceesarean Majesty that he should not, on
any account, give me permission to serve the
King of England, because there would result
great injury to his service ; but that he should
recall me. Having returned to Seville, I
formed a great friendship with this Ragusan,
who now writes, telling me that I ought to
transfer my services to Venice. I have
opened myself to him, and charged him that
the affair should not be made known to any-
179

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

one but the Heads of the Ten, and he swore
this to me on the sacrament.'

''I answered him first by praising his af-
fection for his native land and then said that
the time was come for him to present him-
self before your most excellent chief lords,
and that he must therefore proceed to
Venice. He replied that it would first be
necessary to obtain permission from the
Emperor, on the plea that he wished to re-
cover the dowry of his mother, on which af-
fair he would speak to the Bishop of Burgos,
if I would write in his favor to your Serenity. "

In the encoimter between Sebastian Cabot
and the Venetians, the advantage was with
his opponents from the first. He had handi-
capped himself with false statements, and
they, knowing this, pressed him to the wall
with demands for a motive. They fell in
with his plan to obtain permission from the
Emperor for a visit to Venice, on the plea
that in no other way could he collect his
mother's dowry. There was no dowry, of
course, nor did the Council of Ten see any
possible way of utilizing Cabot's services, even
were he to separate from Spain and lay his
talents at their feet; but they wished to in-
i8o

AN INTRIGUE WITH VENICE

volve this servant of King Charles in a net
of his own weaving, and they were successful
in their endeavors.

** I answered," said the ambassador, "that,
as he wished to go to Venice, I commended
the way in which he proposed to obtain
leave. As I did not wish to expose his
scheme, however, I thought it well to say
this much: that in any deliberation he ought
to consider two things — one was, that the
proposal should be useful; and the other
that its utility should be secured. But with
regard to the possibility of such an issue"
— continues the ambassador in confidence to
his superiors — **I am doubtful, for I have
some slight knowledge of geography [he was,
in fact, very well read] and, considering the
position of Venice, I see no way whatever
by which she can undertake these voyages.
It would be necessary to sail in vessels built
at Venice, or else they must be built outside
the strait. If they are built at Venice, they
will have to pass the Straits of Gibraltar to
reach the ocean, which would not be possible
in face of the opposition of the kings of
Portugal and Spain. If they are not built
at Venice, they can only be built on the
shore of the western ocean, for they cannot
i8i

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

be constructed in the Red Sea without in-
finite trouble. First, it would be necessary
to make an agreement with the Turk; and
secondly, the scarcity of timber would make
it impossible. Even if they were built, the
forts and armed vessels of the Portuguese
would make it impossible to continue that
navigation. Nor can I see any possibility
of building ships on the western ocean, Grer-
many being subject to the Emperor [Charles
v.] ; so that I can perceive no way by which
merchandise could be brought to Venice
from those ships, or from the ships to Venice ;
but, he being an expert in these matters, I
merely made these observations, I said, in
deference to him.

*' He replied that there was much in what
I said, and that truly nothing cotdd be done
with vessels built at Venice or in the Red
Sea. But there was another way, which
was not only possible but easy, by which
ships might be btiilt, and merchandise car-
ried from the port of Venice, and from
Venice to the port, as well as gold and other
things. He added: *I know, because I
have navigated to all those coimtries, and
am familiar with them all. I told you I
would not imdertake the voyage for the
182

AN INTRIGUE WITH VENICE

King of England, because that enterprise
would in no way benefit Venice.'

"I shrugged my shoulders, and, although
the thing appeared to me impossible, I would
not dissuade him further, so as not to dis-
courage him from presenting himself to your
Highnesses ; and I considered that the possi-
bilities are much more ample than is often
believed, for the man has great renown.
We parted for the present, but on the even-
ing of St. John's Day he came to see me,
. . . and reasoning with him on the principal
business, I dexterously repeated my ob-
jections ; but he repeated that the way was
easy. * I will go to .Venice at my own ex-
pense,' he said; *they will hear me and be
pleased with the plan I have devised; I will
return at my own expense ' ; and he urged
me to keep the matter secret. Such is the
arrangement I have made. Your Serenity
shall hear, and yoiu- wisdom will decide on
what shall appear to be the best."

** Valladolid, Spain, December, ji, 1522.**
On March 7, 1523, the ambassador wrote,
somewhat contemptuously: "That Sebastian
Cabot, with whom your Excellencies instruct-
ed me to speak on the subject of the spice
183

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

cotuitries, and respecting whom I reported,
has been to me several times, always giving
me to tinderstand that his wish is to go to
Venice, and to work in the interests of your
Highnesses in that matter of the spiceries.
At length he sought me to say that he cotdd
not now seek permission to go, as he doubted
whether it might not be suspected that he
wished to go to England, and that he would
be absent three months. After that he would
throw himself at the feet of yoiu- most illus-
trious Lordships ; praying that meanwhile a
letter might be written in the form of the
other that was sent, asking him to come to
Venice to expedite his private affairs. Thus
leave could be more easily obtained. I write
to your Highnesses to report what this Se-
bastian has said, respecting which steps will
be taken as seems desirable."

In accordance with the ambassador's sug-
gestion, at Sebastian's request, a letter was
forged, with reference to the fictitious prop-
erty in Venice; and here it is, xmder date of
April 28, 1523:

** Respectable Master Sebastian:

**It is some months since I came to Venice, and
I wrote you an accotmt of what I had done to en-
quire where your goods are to be found, that I
184

AN INTRIGUE WITH VENICE

received good words on all hands, and was given
hope that I shotdd recover the dower of your
mother, so that I have no doubt that if you could
come, you would obtain all your desires. For the
love I bear you, and for your own welfare and
benefit, I exhort you not to be false to yourself, but
to come here to Venice, where, I doubt not, you
will obtain everything. So do not delay, for your
aunt is very old, and, failing her, there will be very
great trouble in recovering your property. Set
out as soon as possible ; so no more at present from,
** Yours always,

**HiERONiMO Marino."

And that precious document was the up-
shot of all this visiting, corresponding, in-
triguing, lying, for nothing more ever came
of it. The only outcome was that Sebas-
tian Cabot convicted himself of deceiving the
king of Spain, frustrating the plans of Eng-
land's cardinal — flying to both; of duplicity
in the matter of his birthplace, calling him-
self an Englishman in England, but a Ve-
netian when desirous of securing the con-
fidence of people of that nationality. He
also created distrust in the minds of the am-
bassador and the Cotuicil of Ten as to the
knowledge which he professed respecting the
northwest passage and navigation in general.

On the other hand, though the Venetians
J8s

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

had been deceived by him, it cannot be said
that they did not enjoy the game and had
not profited by their experience. Anything
that savored of mystery and duplicity they
relished most zestfully; and, again, they had
accumulated a body of evidence against the
grand pilot of Spain which might sometime
serve them well. He had sought to aggran-
dize himself (at least to amplify his pre-
tensions and consequence) by representing
himself possessed of information which, he
assumed, the Venetians might desire to ac-
quire; but throughout all the interviews
and correspondence they had held him in his
place, with many a slight to his dignity and
self-importance. He was outwitted, himiil-
iated, and forced to assimie the defensive,
with a possible threat hanging over his head
that sometime the king of Spain might be
informed of his outrageous perfidy.

XIII

A REAL VOYAGE AT LAST
1526

SEBASTIAN CABOT gained nothing by
his double-dealing, by his repeated at-
tempts to convince the world that he was a
greater man than his father — a greater than
any other since the days of Coltimbus. He
had fame of a certain sort, he had honor,
he had credit for possessing a knowledge
of navigation far in excess of his real acqtiire-
ments; yet he was not content. He gained
nothing by his duplicity, but, on the con-
trary, he lost prestige, especially with the
Council of Ten and in England.

We seek in vain an adequate reason for his
actions, though it has been suggested that
perhaps he was in pectmiary difficulties and
hoped by attracting the attention of rival
nations to secure a more remunerative posi-
tion. That vatmted salary of one htmdred
and twenty-five thousand maravedis could
187

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

hardly have sufficed for his maintenance in
the city of Seville, where, in all probability,
demands upon his purse must have been
many, coming from disappointed mariners
returning from the isles of the southern sea.
It may have been in the hope of receiving a
more liberal stipend that Sebastian persisted
in thrusting his great acquirements forth for
Spain's rivals to view. Still, he could not
have expected much from the already de-
crepit Venice, cut off as she was from the
Orient by the Turks, and from the Atlantic
by the Spanish and Portuguese. Contarini
had correctly stated the situation in his
letter to the Ten, making it clear that there
were obstacles insuperable; but, though Se-
bastian knew this, he pretended he could
overcome them all. He had a plan, he said,
by which the ** Queen of the Adriatic" might
become mistress of the ocean — ^but he never
divulged that plan. He did not go to
Venice, and it appears that he never in-
tended to go. After what had been divulged,
showing that the artful machinations of the
Venetians had enmeshed him, he did not
dare to go. Having no plan, in reality, by
which Venetian vessels could effect an
entrance into the Atlantic, and having no
i88

A REAL VOYAGE AT LAST

secret information relating to the northwest
passage, in very truth, he could not have
faced the Council of Ten without having the
mask stripped from his face.

The information acquired by Contarini
and the Cotmcil was probably carefully
pigeon-holed, for it was found several centu-
ries later, by a diligent investigator, through
whose intelligent endeavors we are enabled
to throw some light upon the murky char-
acter of Sebastian Cabot. The Venetians
evidently did not promulgate what they
had learned respecting the self-stultified
pilot, for the esteem in which he was held
in Spain does not seem to have abated.
In the year 1524, for example, he was ap-
pointed one of a council of geographers and
cosmographers called together by King
Charles to decide whether Spain or Portu-
gal should hold sovereignty over the Moluc-
cas. The committee met in April, but as
the Portuguese prolonged the discussion to
an tmwarrantable length, the Spanish dele-
gates cut it short by curtly declaring Spain's
right to the islands, together with their
reasons therefor, and adjourning forthwith.
The first signature on the paper to which
they set their names in affirmation was

13 189

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

that of Fernando, son of Christopher Co-
lumbus. The year previous, under date
of November i6, 1523, we find Sebastian
Cabot's name associated with that of an-
other discoverer in a peculiar way. It was
when, according to contract, 10,000 mara-
vedis were deducted from his salary as piloto
mayor J on accotmt of the pension paid to
Maria Cerezo, the widow of Amerigo Ves-
pucci. Thus he was painfully reminded of
his predecessor, whose fame as a navigator
excelled his own, but whose posthumous
glory was exaggerated far beyond his de-
serts.

The coimcil which Sebastian Cabot at-
tended, in the year 1524, was held at Badajos
and lasted a month. It was on May 31st
that the declaration was made that the
Moluccas fell within the Spanish limits by
at least twenty degrees, and, as the Portu-
guese delegates could not gainsay this, they
retired full of chagrin and muttering threats
of reprisal. These threats took shape the
following year, when the first of the expedi-
tions to follow in the great Magellan's wake
was fitted out. Ferdinand Magellan, Portu-
guese navigator, who, having vainly offered
to serve his sovereign in the highest capacity
190

A REAL VOYAGE AT LAST

as explorer, finally set out on that voyage
which carried the flag of Spain around the
world, probably met Sebastian Cabot when
he was outfitting his fleet, in 15 19. No
mention is made of the fact, but it is im-
possible that the pilot major of Spain and
the man who commanded the first expedi-
tion to find the secret strait and cross the
Pacific should not have had converse to-
gether. Magellan's pilots were compelled to
consult with Cabot as to their proficiency
in the use of the astrolabe, the quadrant,
and the theory of navigation reduced to
practice. Seville, in which Cabot resided,
was the resort of all who had to do with
voyages of discovery, the home city of the
great *' India House," and all expeditions
practically took their departure from there,
no matter from what port they finally sailed.
So it is quite impossible that Magellan and
Cabot should not have met, and, having
met, of course they held long and earnest
conversations on the topic in which both
were intensely interested. Magellan's fleet
departed from Spain September 20, 1519.
It consisted of five ships, containing 265
men ; but three years later only a single ves-
sel returned to Spain, with eighteen men on
191

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

board, after having made the first great voy-
age around the world.

Sebastian Cabot was in Seville when
Magellan took his departure; he was also
there (as may be proved by referring to the
Contarini correspondence) when the battered
Victoria sailed into the Gtiadalquivir with
her wonderful news. She had circumnavi-
gated the globe; but the losses had been
terrible, including the commander of the
fleet, Magellan, and all his men save the
eighteen survivors. Then Spain, as well as
Portugal, was on fire with a great desire to
follow after the pioneers in the Pacific and
reap the golden harvest that was promised
in the Islands of Spices. Preparations were
made for another fleet to the Moluccas, to
sail swiftly and clinch the hold that Spain
had obtained in the East. But Portugal,
through her king, sent remonstrances and
prayers, finally threats of vengeance deep,
in her efforts to stay the Spanish movement
towards the Orient by way of the strait.
Portugal, it will, of course, be recalled, had
possessed herself of the Oriental trade (for-
merly conducted by caravan and Arabian
ships) through the voyage of Vasco da
Gama, in 1497. She had been swift to take
192

A REAL VOYAGE At LASt

advantage of the rights bestowed upon her
by the treaty of Tordesillas, when, by papal
bull, she alone had the privilege of sailing
to the Indies by way of the Cape of Good
Hope. She had established a remunerative
trade between Lisbon and the Orient, which
promised to be a strict monopoly, until
Magellan discovered the southwest passage
through South America. Then all was
changed, for Portugal no longer had a
monopoly in the East — ^tinless she might be
able to thwart Spain in her endeavors to
establish a route to the Spice Islands via
the Strait of Magellan and the Pacific.

The first result of her futile efforts at
restraint of Spain's traffic was the Council
of Badajos, at which she lost her case, while
Spain won. This failure wrought the Portu-
guese to such a pitch of rage that they hesi-
tated at nothing short of open attack upon
Spain's fleets to prevent her from sending
an expedition to the Pacific. Secure in
possession of the route by way of southern
Africa, Portugal should have been content
to allow Spain to proceed by the South
American track; but no, she wished to con-
trol all highways to the Orient. The south-
west passage, however, was Spain's, and it
193

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

is about the time that the return of Magel-
lan's men in the Victoria informed Spain of
its existence that we find Sebastian Cabot
prating of a northwest passage to the Vene-
tian ambassador and the Council of Ten.
It is stated, on the authority of Cabot, that
he went to England with a proposition to
find the northwest passage as early as 1517,
and may well be doubted; but, as we have
seen, it is beyond all doubt that he did make
the proposition to Venice in the year 1522.
He and Magellan may have talked the sub-
ject over many times, as both were in Spain
together several years; but it is only when
the passage has been proved to exist that
Cabot begins to advocate another, in the
northwest, by which Cathay and the Indies
might be reached.

That passage was not achieved until more
than three himdred years after Sebastian
Cabot had passed away; but it did not lead
to Cathay, and, owing to its barriers of ice,
can never prove of practical utility. Sebas-
tian asstmied there ought to be a passage
in the northwest, because there had been
foimd a passage in the southwest; but of
his own knowledge he knew nothing respect-
ing either. He never essayed the northwest
194

A REAL VOYAGE AT LAST

passage, but in the year 1525 accepted the
command of an expedition that was to
penetrate the southwest strait discovered
by Magellan. He seems never to have dis-
covered anything whatever, of his own in-
itiative; but he was quick to appropriate
the results of other men's efforts as his own.
This trait appears in an account given by
the pope's legate, who, years later, "seeking
his acquaintance, found him a very gentle
person, who entertained him friendly, and
shewed him many things, and among others
a large mappe of the world, with certain
particular nauigations, as well of the Portu-
gals, as of the Spanyards, and that he spake
further vnto him, to this effect: . . . 'Where-
upon I went into Spain, to the Catholique
King and Queene Elizabeth, which adver-
tised what I had done, entertained me, and
at their charge furnished certain shippes,
wherewith they caused me to saile to dis-
couer the coastes of Brazil, where I fotuid
an exceeding great and large river, named
at this present the Rio de la Plata — that is,
the River of Silver — into the which I sayled.
. . . After this I made many other voyages,
which I now pretermit, and waxing olde I
giue myself e to rest from such travels, be-
195

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

cause there are nowe many yong and lustie
Pilots and Mariners of good experience, by
whose forwardnesse I doe rejoice in the
fruit of my labours, and rest with charge of
this office, as you see.' "

He was then, as he had been for many
years, "called Piloto Mayor — that is. Grand
Pilot, being an expert man in that science,
and one that coulde make cardes [charts]
for the sea with his owne hand." But he
was mistaken in saying that he had come
into Spain during the reign of Elizabeth
[Isabella], for she had been eight years in
her grave when he first entered the service
of Ferdinand, formerly her consort. Also,
he made a misstatement in his own favor,
when he said he was sent to discover the
coasts of Brazil, and found the Rio de la
Plata; for both the country and the river
were made known years before. It may be
truly said, even at the risk of reiteration,
that Sebastian Cabot never discovered any-
thing of value; that he never made a suc-
cessful voyage ; and, moreover, that he made
but one voyage of which there is a record
that cannot be impeached.

Notwithstanding the protests of the Port-
uguese, Spain made ready to gamer the
196

A REAL VOYAGE AT LAST

fruits of her discoveries in the Pacific, and
a commercial expedition was organized by
the merchants of Seville, the command of
which was offered to their respected pihto
mayor, Sebastian Cabot. He appeared well
pleased with the proffer, and, having secured
the consent of the India council, proceeded
to interest the king and the court. While
he may have been flattered by the appoint-
ment as commander of a commercial fleet,
he still desired to give to the enterprise a
wider .scope and strove to enlist the govern-
ment. In this he was quite successful, and
was promptly granted the use of three ships,
with the privilege of increasing the number
to six, if found desirable. The "capitula-
tion," or agreement with the government,
was signed on March 4, 1525, and its condi-
tions were somewhat as follows: He was to
sail by Magellan's Strait to the Moluccas
and other spice islands of the Orient. From
there he was to go in search of the islands of
Tarshish and Ophir (it is said) of Eastern
Cathay, and of Cipango, lading his ships at
each of these places, and others that he
might discover on his voyage, with all the
gold, silver, precious gems, pearls, etc., that
could be obtained by barter or in other
197

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

ways. On his return he was to sail along
the entire southern coast of the newly dis-
covered continent, America, and, entering the
Atlantic, reach Spain by the route he fol-
lowed on the outward voyage.

Few voyagers have had a greater oppor-
tunity than this for acquiring fame and
enriching themselves at the expense of
others; but the intention of the voyage
miscarried from the very beginning. In the
first place, the merchants were exceedingly
vexed at the turn by which the voyage was
to be converted into one of discovery, as
well as profit. The Moluccas, they knew,
contained a wealth of spices, while there
was good reason to expect to find vast
quantities of gold and gems. As they bore
the major portion of the expense, they
reasonably expected to be consulted in the
outfitting of the fleet, especially the man-
ning of it with men of their own selection,
whom they could trust to carry out their
views.

In the controversy that ensued between
the commander of the expedition and the
merchants of Seville, we obtain a glimpse
of the true Sebastian Cabot — ^and a further
revelation of his character. Hitherto, it
198

A REAL VOYAGE AT LAST

must be confessed, he has proved elusive,
resembling a creature of the imagination,
for whom we groped in the dark, and could
hardly force to reveal himself; but with
the preparations for that expedition to the
Moluccas he assumes substantial propor-
tions. He suddenly becomes invested with
some human attributes, and one trait he
strongly presents is that of obstinacy — a be-
lief in the infallibility of Sebastian Cabot.
He had selected as his lieutenant one Michael
de Rufis, because, as he said, he had con-
tributed a caravel to the expedition; but
the merchants desired him to give that posi-
tion of importance to Martin Mendez, one
of the few survivors of the Magellan voyage.
He had been commissary of subsistence on
that expedition, had borne himself with
credit, and was now honored and respected
as one of the eighteen siu^ivors who came
back in the Victoria.

Cabot stood by his man tmtil he was
commanded by the king himself to give
Mendez the position, and then he reluctantly
yielded, saying that to take as his lieutenant
a creature of his opponents, was like hang-
ing a stick between his legs to impede his
journey. Mendez himself, feeling that a
199

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOt

slight had been put upon him, carried the
matter to the Coimcil of the Indies; but he
was finally pacified and sailed with the ex-
pedition. In an accusation brought by his
mother, after the return of the fleet, it was
charged that Cabot's wife, Catharine Me-
drano, who possessed great influence over
her husband, had conceived a bitter hatred
for Martin Mendez, and hired a person to
assassinate him; but this was not proved —
to her credit we are botmd to say it.

XIV

UNDER SEALED ORDERS
1526

THERE was a very general opinion in
Seville that the Portuguese were at the
bottom of the troubles attending the expe-
dition fitted out in 1525 for the Moluccas.
They had fought Spain at every step of the
proceedings looking towards a voyage to
the Orient by way of the strait; they had
cried fraud at the decision respecting Span-
ish jurisdiction in the Spice Islands ; and they
had tried to excite an insurrection in Seville.
It was not unlikely that the discomfited
Portuguese, when they discovered Spain's
intention of sending, not one expedition,
merely, for conquest, but another for com-
mercial exploitation, should have endeavored
to stay the latter by resort to violence.

One thing is certain: the dissensions be-
tween the merchants and Sebastian Cabot
delayed the expedition until the following
201

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

year, and eventually brought it to an in-
glorious termination. It should have start-
ed in August, in order to avail of the best
weather prevailing in the tropics after cross-
ing the line, but was delayed until April,
1526, on the 3d of which month the fleet
sailed out of San Lucar de Barrameda.
Sebastian Cabot, who had for years been
fretting against the chains that held him to
the routine of office on dry land, was at last
afloat upon the sea which he had charted
for others but himself had never sailed.

He commanded the flag-ship of the fleet,
containing three vessels and two htmdred
men, with the title of captain-general. He
left Spain in the confidence of the govern-
ment, but at variance with the merchants,
who had supplied all the funds for commer-
cial piirposes, and had staked them upon a
successful voyage to the far-distant Moluc-
cas. Failing to make that voyage, the cap-
tain-general would cause those merchants
great losses, to some of them bring ruin
and disaster; and this fact may partially
account for their hostility to him at the
outset, for some of them held grave doubts
as to his ability to accomplish the tmder-
taking. Their animosity was intense, but
202

UNDER SEALED ORDERS

not greater than that of the various officers
serving under Cabot, who leagued themselves
together against him, it was said, before the
sailing of the fleet. According to testimony
taken after the expedition had returned,
Martin Mendez, Rojas, captain of the Trin-
idad (a ship of the fleet), and other chief offi-
cers, held a secret meeting in St. Paul's
church, Seville, where and when they botmd
themselves by solemn oaths to tmite on
every occasion "for the purpose of depriv-
ing Cabot of the command, and putting
Rojas in his place.** The removal of Cabot
was decided upon before the fleet left Spain ;
and as there was but one way to effect that
removal, when at sea, it was, doubtless,
mtirder that the conspirators intended.

As if to further the nefarious scheme, the
government had furnished each ship with
sealed orders, in triplicate, which were to
be opened after the fleet was at sea. They
must have been given without Cabot's
knowledge, for, as one of his admirers
remarks, "It would be difficult to imagine
a scheme better fitted to nurse disaffection.
. . . Cabot's death, or his retirement, for
whatever cause, from command of the
fleet, must ever stand as an attractive
203

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

prospect before the fancy of the privileged
persons whose names were inscribed on
that Ust.**

In case of Cabot's death, the chief com-
mand was to devolve upon one of eleven
persons named in the orders ; and in case of
their deaths, on the one chosen by a general
vote, provided that, on an equality of votes,
the candidate himself should cast lots. The
first person named in the list was Francisco
de Rojas, captain of the Trinidad ; the sec-
ond, Michael de Rodas, who was without
position, but had accompanied the fleet by
the king's orders ; and so on.

Taking together the internal evidence
afforded by this paper, and the secret meet-
ing at the church, a deep and dastardly
plot seems to have been concocted by the
enemies of Sebastian Cabot for his tmdoing.
Its promoters included, not only officers and
sailors of the fleet, but Spanish officials high
in authority. * If Cabot had received any
intimation of the manner in which he was
to be treated, he would have been justified
in resigning his position; but it is probable
that he had no inkling of it, and, having hag-
gled so long over the minor appointments un-
der him, was anxious to be away at any cost.
204

UNDER SEALED ORDERS

The route from Spain to South America
was open, and easy to sail, after Columbus,
Vespucci, Da Gama, and Pinzon had shown
the way. First the navigators shaped their
course for the Canaries, thence sailing to
the Cape de Verde, and from them stretch-
ing across the comparatively narrow neck
of the Atlantic that separates Africa and
South America. Any navigator of expe-
rience could sail the cotirse and make no
mistakes, the men of Cabot's fleet averred;
yet their commander showed a woful lack
of knowledge respecting the proper route,
and especially the conflicting currents. The
chief complaint, however, comes from one
who was charged with having been sent by
the Portuguese as a spy upon his move-
ments, and must be taken with a grain of
allowance. Speaking of the adverse ctir-
rents flowing from the Gulf of Guinea, he
says: "Sebastian Cabot did not know how
to take them, for he was not a sailor, and
did not know how to navigate,'' He also
charged him with sailing from Spain at the
wrong season. ** Every navigator and pilot,"
he says, "who wants to sail to these parts,
must know enough to sail at the time when
the stui makes summer there, . . . and

14 205

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

Sebastian Cabot, with all his astrology, did
not know enough for that."

But knowing, as we do, that the sailing
of his fleet was a matter beyond his control,
having been delayed by the controversy with
the merchants, we must acquit the unfortu-
nate Sebastian of blame, so far as that is
concerned. True it is, he should have known
sufficient of meteorological conditions — ^hav-
ing the observations of mariners during more
than thirty years to guide him — ^to make the
start at the right time, and have used his in-
fluence to that end.

We now know that Sebastian's nature was
stubborn, that he was opinionated, self-
conceited, and inflexible of purpose. He
started out with the intention of having his
way, and he had it, so far as he was able
to control things, to the last. He made no
pretence of conciliating the disaffected aboard
ship, and, long after he must have discovered
that the majority of officers and crew were
scheming to cause his overthrow, he held to
his course against Martin Mendez. He set
him aside altogether, as if he were not a
member of the company, neither giving him
orders nor asking his advice. When the fleet
was at Palmas, in the Canaries, Mendez pre-
206

UNDER SEALED ORDERS

pared a letter to the king, informing him of
the manner in which Cabot was conducting
the expedition; but this letter was inter-
cepted by the captain-general, and never
reached its destination. At Palmas, also,
the conspirators met openly, in the house
of one Santa Cruz, for the purpose of per-
fecting their scheme against the commander;
but, though he was probably aware that
something dire wa^ threatening, he took no
cognizance of the proceedings. Thus the
crews were emboldened by his apparent
carelessness, and as the coast of South
America was reached began to complain.
The captain-general had not laid in suffi-
cient stores at Palmas and the Cape, they
said, and most of the provisions were stored
in his own ship, an5rway, and reserved from
general distribution. Martin Mendez min-
gled with the crews, and made numerous
partisans for himself and the Rojas brothers,
who also were complaining that Cabot made
no effort to allay the ill-feeling which his
obstinacy had caused at Seville.

The embers of the Seville imbroglio were

smouldering all the way down the African

coast and across the Atlantic; by the time

Pemambuco was reached they were ready to

207

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

burst into flame. This port, at wliidi was
a Portuguese factory^ or tFading estaUish-
ment, was reached in June, and after fresh
supplies had been laid aboard an attempt
was made to proceed. But the winds were
contrary and drove the vessds back every
time they tried to gain open sea ag^in, so
that three monUis passed away before the
voyage was resumed. These three months
were very trying to aH e^iedally to the
commander, who was now thoioughly alive
to the perils surrounding him. The idle life
at Pemambuco, while they were confined
there by the winds, was conducive to in-
subordination, and the crews were with dif-
ficulty held in restraint.

Cabot, though generally careless in de-
meanor and gentle with his associates, had
kept his eye upon the ringleaders of the
mutinous movement, and one day he sud-
denly descended upon Mendez and Rojas,
imprisoned them both, and seized their papers
for inspection. While this proceeding may
have been warranted by well-grounded sus-
picions, it could not be, Cabot soon fotmd,
sustained by evidence collected from among
the crews; and after keeping the twain con-
fined for several days aboard his ship, he
208

UNDER SEALED ORDERS

released them with merely a reprimand. It
was a mistaken poUcy, he found, to deal
leniently with these offenders, for one of them
at least, Rojas, though restored to his com-
mand without loss of authority, blustered
and fumed, demanded that his detractors
should be ptmished, and at a later period
declared that Don Sebastian had hired two
men to mtirder him. If Cabot had thought
to placate the malcontents by kindness, after
showing them that he knew of their offences,
he soon fotmd out his error, and later prof-
ited by it.

After leaving Pemambuco, which was not
imtil the last week in September, the fleet
was struck by a gale and the flag-ship lost
her small-boat, which, after the storm had
abated, the commander sought to replace by
another to be constructed of timber cut on
the coast. A mountain loomed ahead of
them, covered with forest, and in front of it
was a deep bay, so that the place appeared
all that could be desired. But the entrance
to the bay was obstructed by islands and
the channel seemed shoal, so Cabot ordered
soundings to be taken. To this the pilot,
Michael Rodas, objected, and pledged his
own head for the safety of the ship.
209

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

"You may have my head, commander,"
said he, "if anything goes amiss with our
good ship." But he had hardly uttered the
words when the vessel grounded on a sub-
merged bank, with a terrible shock. It was
then of no avail for Pilot Rodas to tear his
hair and his beard, and to shout, as he did:
"Hang me, captain, hang me; here is my
head, for our good ship is lost forever!"

It was too true, alas, for the ship went
down, carrying with her most of the marine
stores, guns, ammunition, provisions, spare
sails, shrouds, anchors, etc., with which she
was laden. As she was the largest vessel of
the fleet, and carried the bulk of the stores
upon which the crews depended, as well as
the articles intended for trade with the
Moluccas, her loss was indeed irreparable.
It could not be repaired, and poor Cabot was
forced, by the terrible situation, to consider
whether it would be p06sA)le to continue the
voTTage to and through the Pacific. His first
efforts were directed towards saving what
portion of the cargo could be rescued, and
we have reason to believe that he exerted
himself: though Rojas subsequently testified
that Cabot escaped from the ship as soon as
she struck on the bank, thinking only of him-
aio

UNDER SEALED ORDERS

self. How he escaped, when the small-
boat was lost, does not appear; but he adds
that the ship could have been saved and
floated if the commander had but attended
to his duty.

In justice to Cabot, however, it should be
said that another eye-witness of the accident
declared that the ** merit of saving most of
the cargo was wholly due to his prompt
orders and activity." It was, of course, his
misfortune, and in a manner his fault, that
the ship was lost, and he could not but ex-
pect to be held accountable for it on his re-
turn to Spain.

Just previous to the shipwreck he had
named the bay in which the accident befell
him after his wife, St. Catharine, thus show-
ing that he held her in remembrance. It lies
in south latitude 27° 35', and though Sebas-
tian Cabot named it, he was not the first
white man to discover it, as he found seven-
teen Spaniards already living there with the
Indians. Fifteen of them had been left by
Loayasa, whose fleet had rendezvoused there
when it encountered a storm; and two,
Melchior Ramirez and Henry Montes, had
been with Solis when he discovered the Rio
de la Plata. These men, and the friendly
211

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

Indians with whom they resided, informed
Cabot that by ascending the Rio de la Plata,
or River of Silver, he would find great
treasures buried in the soil, for there was a
mountain ridge abounding in gold and silver
to such an extent that he might fill all his
vessels. When asked how it was they them-
selves had none of this treasure in their
possession, they replied that they had secured
a vast quantity, but when on the way with
it to the coast they were attacked by the
Guaranis, who not only took it all, but also
the slaves who were bearing it on their backs.
They had sent what little they had since
gathered to Spain, about fifty pounds in
weight, save a few pieces of gold, which had
been reserved as an offering to the Virgin
of Guadelupe.

Among other slanders which the traitor
Rojas circulated in Spain about Sebastian
Cabot was an accusation that the Portu-
guese at Pemambuco had told him of the
rich treasure to be found in the mountains
above La Plata, and that in consequence
the commander then formed the resolution
of tarrying there, instead of prosecuting his
voyage to the Moluccas. This is evidently
false, for it was not until, by the loss of his

212

UNDER SEALED ORDERS

flag-ship, with all its stores and ammtmi-
tion, he was incapacitated from pursuing
the voyage, that he decided to go no farther
until his losses had been repaired. When,
indeed, the Spaniards at St. Catharine
offered to pilot him to the region of gold
up the Plata, he informed them that his
road did not lie that way. He still intend-
ed to proceed on the voyage to the Spice
Islands, though he had already stiffered so
grievously; but when he came to take stock
of his equipment, and fotmd that he had
not provisions enough for half the distance,
let alone vessels and men to sail them, he
faltered. The climate of St. Catharine
was inimical to the Spaniards, for many fell
sick and died. Provisions became so scarce
that **when they wanted to ascertain the
fertility of the soil they could only collect,
from all the vessels, fifty-two grains of wheat
for sowing."

Unless a prompt departure was made from
St. Catharine, it seemed indeed that Cabot
would not have men enough left to work the
remaining vessels ; but he tarried long enough
to build a galiot, in which to carry the
salvage from the flag-ship, and then sailed
to the southward — though not for the
213

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

Moluccas. He had called a council of his
officers, and with their concurrence decided
to sail for the Plata, not far distant. In the
River of Silver they would make a temporary
stopping-place, and while exploring it, per-
chance, relief might reach them of sudi a
nature that the voyage could be prosecuted
to the Spice Islands, as originally intended.

MUTINY AFTER THE SHIPWRECK
1527

BY enlisting the services of the Indians,
who were devoted to Henry Montes,
one of the Solis survivors, Cabot succeeded
in constructing a gaUot large enough to con-
vey all the stores that had been saved, and
took his departure from St. Catharine on
February 15,1527. Nearly seven months had
been lost, owing to the detention at Per-
nambuco by contrary gales and the wreck
of the flag-ship. Many of the men had died,
while of the survivors very few were fit for
duty; yet at this critical jimcture the long-
smouldering mutiny broke out, and the com-
mander was called upon to act with sever-
ity and promptitude. This he did, too, and,
though his trials were by no means at an
end, he disposed of the mutiny and the mu-
tineers effectually.

It has been claimed that Sebastian Cabot

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

was extremely cruel in his treatment of the
mutineers ; but, in view of the circumstances,
this charge cannot be stistained. In short,
one day there were tmmistakable signs that
the ringleaders, Francis de Rojas, Martin
Mendez, and Michael de Rodas, had stirred
the whole fleet to the verge of an uprising.
Before they could act in concert, however,
Cabot swiftly descended upon them, as
before, and this time showed the scoimdrels
no mistaken lenity. He might, as he after-
wards deposed in Spain (when brought to
court to answer for this act), have hung them
without form of trial, but instead of inflict-
ing capital pimishment he merely marooned
them. He had them placed in one of the
small-boats, together with their wearing ap-
parel, provisions, two casks of wine, g^un-
powder, and firelocks, and then set them
adrift. He committed no violence, and was
even so regardful of their well-being that,
when they complained of the wine, a better
quaUty was furnished them. They begged
and implored to be taken back aboard ship;
but the commander was inexorable. Point-
ing to an island in St. Catharine's Bay, he
told them to seek succor with the Indians
dwelling there, and without further ado left
216

MUTINY AFTER THE SHIPWRECK

them to their fate. It is likely that he may-
have intended to return and rescue them,
provided they should change in their be-
havior; but they and their friends held that
the Indians were hostile, and, moreover, were
cannibals, like those who had devoured Solis
and his men twelve years before. The tm-
fortunate trio then gave way to despair; they
raved, they tore their hair and beards, they
shouted imprecations; but to all this the
commander was both blind and deaf. The
wind that bore their lamentations to his ship
also filled his sails, and the little fleet stood
straight out for the open sea.

The distance between St. Catharine and
the mouth of the Plata was covered in five
or six days, and the convalescents were re-
freshed by the brief sea voyage ; but so many
of the men died at the first island they landed
on that it was called San Lazaro, or Isle of
Lazarus. Here they foimd a survivor of
the ill-fated Solis expedition, one Francis
del Puerto, who told them of the terrible
stifferings he had endured as a slave to the
Indians.

Twelve years had elapsed since Solis sailed
into the great estuary of La Plata and be-
gan an exploration of its banks. He had
217

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

made a previotis voyage as far as the forti-
eth degree of south latitude, together with
Vicente Yanez Pinzon, who had captained
one of the vessels comprising the first fleet
of Columbus in 1492. He was not satisfied
with the scanty returns for their labors, but
returned for a more complete survey of the
coast southward of Cape St. Augustine in
Brazil. It was on this voyage that he dis-
covered the river named by him La Plata, or
The Silver, on account of the rumors that
reached him of its riches. Finding his prog-
ress impeded by shoals, Solis left his vessels
and proceeded up the river in a long-boat,
hugging the western bank.

He had not gone far when one of his men
pointed out a group of Indians standing on
shore and signalling them to land. Desir-
ing to secure some of these natives to take
home to Spain, Solis steered for the bank and
leaped ashore. He was armed only with his
sword, and he committed a second act of
imprudence by following the savages when
they retreated towards a forest in the vicinity.
His men were as eager as himself to capture
some of them, and had pressed forward after
him without any effective weapons in their
hands. They were ill - prepared, therefore,
218

MUTINY AFTER THE SHIPWRECK

for an assault when the wily redskins sud-
denly let fly a shower of arrows into their
midst. They turned to run, but another
discharge of arrows laid all of them prone
upon the groimd. Leaping from their am-
bush, the yelling savages first despatched
the wotmded, then stripped the slain, and,
building a great fire, roasted the limbs and
bodies, right in sight of the surviving Span-
iards in the boat. These were overcome with
horror, but finally made their escape to the
ships, where their doleful story spread ter-
ror throughout the fleet. Having lost their
captain, the gallant Solis, and some of
their best men, the rest determined to aban-
don further exploration and return to Spain
with all speed possible.

It was with the terrible fate of his pred-
ecessor in mind that Cabot entered the
great river, bent upon continuing the ex-
ploration interrupted so tragically twelve
years before. The Solis survivor, Francis del
Puerto, repeated the tales the others had
told respecting the vast riches of the upper
regions, and offered to act as guide. Taking
him aboard ship, on May 6, 1527, the fleet
left San Lazaro and proceeded up the river.
A long stay near the mouth of the Plata was
219

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

necessary to allow the sick to recuperate;
but when the final start was made, many
were left behind, dead, at San Lazaro.

Thirty miles up the Plata, and opposite
the present city of Buenos Ayres, lies the
island San Gabriel, which Cabot and his men
carried at the point of the sword, their
landing there was so stoutly contested by
the Indians. They were the same who had
slaughtered Solis and his men, and were
not only valiant, but possessed of grim
humor. One of them, on being asked why
they did not eat the two Spaniards slain in
the last assault, replied: **We had a taste
of Spaniards then, and did not. like their
flesh; but when we want it we can have
it," or words to that effect.

From some of them Cabot learned that
the motmtains of gold were located some-
where up the Parana, and opposite the con-
fluence of that stream with the Plata he
built a fort, which he called San Salvador.
There was a good natural harbor here, so
the vessels were brought up and left in
charge of an officer, while Cabot and a
strong company proceeded up the Parana
in a long-boat and caravel. They explored
it as far as its junction with the Paraguay,
220

MUTINY AFTER THE SHIPWRECK

meeting with much opposition from the
natives by the way, and occasionally fight-
ing them at close quarters. On January i,
1528, the Spaniards reached an island which
they called New Year's, from which Cabot
sent out his trusty lieutenant, Michael Rifos,
with thirty-five men, to ptmish or pacify a
tribe in the vicinity that threatened them
harm. Rifos chose to punish the savages,
finding them sullen and resentful, and re-
turned vaunting a great victory, with abim-
dance of booty.

Most of the people met by the Spaniards
were intelligent as well as valiant, says one
of the party who kept a journal. This dia-
rist's name was Ramusio, and his superior
industry, not to say intelligence, as con-
trasted with his commander, who seems
never to have written anything, is worthy
of commendation. It is from him we ob-
tain even the scant information that comes
down to us from that voyage, for Sebastian
Cabot left not a line referring to his doings,
and we might well be warranted in the sup-
position that he was mentally incapable
of serious effort in this direction. His good
and his bad traits came out strongly in this
expedition. He was determined, yet gentle
x5 221

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

in demeanor; he was in the main humane,
but severe in the punishments he inflicted
upon his men for disobedience. One of
them, named Francis de Lepe, because he
had incautiously spoken to a companion of
seizing a boat and going off where food was
more abundant, was given a brief trial and
ordered htmg to a tree. The half-starved
wretch addressed his half -starved com-
panions, as they were about to swing him
off, saying: **As I pay for all, my friends,
I wish you all a good voyage. Adios!"
There were few who pitied more than they
envied him, for they were in a terrible con-
dition. Their food had given out by the
time the Paraguay was reached, and when
Cabot turned into that river instead of
following the Parana (which ran easterly
and, he feared, might take him into Portu-
guese territory) they were reduced almost
to the last stages of starvation. *'They ate
the most unclean animals, they chewed the
wildest plants, and many called on God for
death, being no longer able to endure their
torments.''

Parties were sent out from the boats in
all directions, searching for food. Some
men and a boy went out one afternoon.

222

MUTINY AFTER THE SHIPWRECK

At nightfall all had returned except the
boy, who was lost in the dense forest or
had been devoured by wild animals. Great
fires were lighted, but the night passed
without his arrival. In the morning Cabot
sent out searchers, and, as they came back
at night without tidings of the boy, de-
spatched another band on the following
day, with the same result. He refused to
move on, slowly starving though the Span-
iards were in that wilderness, until after his
officers had urged him to consider their own
plight and not to sacrifice their lives in
the vain quest. Then, though most reluc-
tantly, the sympathetic commander gave
the order to proceed, and the boy was left
to his terrible fate.

Some Indian huts were foimd at last
that yielded a supply of coarse food, and
soon after the Spaniards came to a land
*'very fayre, and inhabited with infinite
people, who wore small plates of gold in
their ears and noses." These signs of the
precious metals they were so ardently seek-
ing gave great joy to Cabot and his men,
who, when told that they were abundant
in the land of the Chandules, who lived near
the mountains of gold, less than seventy
223

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

leagues up the river, wished to seek them
out at once.

If Cabot could but find that golden treas-
ure and lade his ships, he might make his
peace with the merchants of Seville and
the sovereign; otherwise he must suffer
condign punishment for his disobedience.
Now, as it seemed, he had the treasure al-
most within his grasp, and, despite himger
and heat, exposure to the sun by day and
the miasmatic mists by night, endless toil
and incessant fighting with the insect pests,
the Spaniards were heartened to push on.
They had scarcely come to this resolution,
however, when a presage of disaster occurred
in the slaughter of three of their men, who
left the galiot one morning to gather wild
fruits in the forest. The gallant Michael de
Rif OS was sent with a small troop to punish
the offenders, but was himself slain, together
with all his company. Thus perished Rifos,
Sebastian Cabot's favorite officer, who had
been the innocent cause of the dissension
with Mendez, and to the very last a loyal
adherent, upon whom the commander could
always depend.

Cabot himself, for perhaps the first time
in his life, became a military man, donned
224

MUTINY AFTER THE SHIPWRECK

armor, seized a sword* and at the head of
his company sallied forth to avenge poor
Rifos's death. He was met by a horde of
savages far outnumbering his own com-
mand, but he skilfully fought them, on their
own ground in the forest, and, by the aid
of superior weapons, finally defeated them.
The contest lasted the greater part of a
day, for the savages battled valiantly, but
were at last compelled to flee, leaving three
htmdred dead behind them. The Spanish
loss was only twenty-five, but Cabot could
ill afford this depletion of his force. The
original ntmiber of soldiers engaged in that
wild voyage up the Parana and Paraguay
was now reduced by more than half, for,
in addition to those killed in fights with the
natives, two had been hanged and many
died of fevers and dysentery ; some had been
left behind to garrison the fort of Sancta
Spiritu, some were in irons on accoimt of
having been implicated in the plot with the
luckless Lepe, and there were not men
enough to force the galiot and brigantine
up the river, even with the assistance of
such Indians as could be caught and im-
pressed for the purpose. In this strait the
captain-general ordered the manacles of the

22$

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

prisoners to be struck off ; but they, as well
as their companions, were too weak to
labor at the oars, and the time soon came
when the stout-hearted commander recog-
nized the futility of attempting further prog-
ress up the river.

He had borne up with wonderful fortitude,
had kept a serene cotmtenance, and, far
from complaining or mxirmuring, had al-
ways a word of encouragement on his lips
for the despairing. His anguish must have
been great when, at the last, it was borne
in upon him that the search for the golden
moimtains must be abandoned. They were
then not far away, and, perchance the im-
penetrable wall of forest enclosing the river
could have been overtopped, might have
been seen in the distance; but Sebastian
Cabot was never to view them. The treas-
tire they were said to contain might have
wrought his redemption; it was the only
means by which he hoped to avert the
wrath of his king; but he was compelled
to relinquish his quest for it and to issue
an order to return down the river.

XVI

BACK TO SPAIN IN DISGRACE
1530

HAVING so much at stake, with disgrace
staring him in the face on his return to
Spain, the intrepid Cabot might not have
given up the quest for the mysterious moun-
tain, so long as a single man stood by him,
but for a rumor which reached him at this
time that a Portuguese fleet had arrived
in the Plata and was advancing to take
him in the rear. A Nemesis was on his
track, indeed, but a Spaniard, not a Portu-
guese ; though the historian Charlevoix says
he had been sent by Spain's great rival,
Portugal, for the purpose of frustrating any
scheme Cabot might have entertained for
extending Spanish commerce in the Spice
Islands.

Cabot himself, however, as must have
been made apparent by this time, had frus-
trated his own plans and those of the king and
227

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

of the merchants of Seville. No Portuguese
marplot was needed to complete the ruin
he had already initiated, for his enemies, in
their wildest imaginings, could not have
supposed him so incapable as he proved
himself. He had sailed from one disaster
to another, always blimdering, always per-
sisting in his own opinion that what he was
doing would result in a benefit, but hope-
lessly losing himself in a maze of doubt and
perplexity.

That a fleet was coming up the river, his
good friend Yaguaron, the most powerful
chieftain in that region, assured him, for he
had it from his spies, who kept close watch
on the movements of the white men. Yagua-
ron, of course, could not distinguish Span-
iards from Portuguese; but he knew that
the new arrivals were Europeans, that they
were in great vessels with wings, and armed
with weapons similar to those carried by
Cabot and his companions, which had caused
such havoc in the ranks of the naked savages
that they held the strangers in great respect.
The commander of the fleet, as it later de-
veloped, was one Diego Garcia, a native of
Moguer, the town near Palos that produced
the gallant Pinzons, companions and rivals
228

BACK TO SPAIN IN DISGRACE

of Columbus. He was an utterly insignifi-
cant creature himself, one of a number of
free-lances in the field of exploration, whose
services were at the conMnand of merchants
desiring to trade in the newly discovered
coimtries. He had sailed from Spain with-
out any intention of dogging the movements
of Cabot, for, supposing that worthy well on
his way to the Moluccas, he had applied for
and obtained permission to explore the very
river into which misfortune had cast Sebas-
tian Cabot. As the Rio de la Plata had
been discovered on January i, 1516, and
twelve years had elapsed since imlucky
Solis had been killed and eaten on one of
its islands, the wonder is that it had not
been explored before. But, finally, it was
in a fair way to be opened to observation,
for some Spanish merchants associated them-
selves with Don Ferdinand de Andrada, and
secured a concession from the government
to explore, perhaps to colonize, the Plata,
or River de Solis, as it was called by some.
There was one condition only, and that was
that Garcia should go in search of a French
priest and a companion named Cartagena,
whom Ferdinand Magellan had abandoned in
the strait discovered by and called after him.
229

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

ians from their homes and shipping them
to Portugal as slaves. When Garcia arrived
he had accumtilated more than eig^t hundred
captives, a ftill cargo for a ship of goodly size,
but had no means of sending them to the Eu-
ropean market.

Now, Diego Garcia had just the ship he
wanted, in which he could transport his
eight himdred slaves, and it did not take the
two very long to make a bargain. Diego
sold the slaver his ship, and the man-stealer's
son-in-law sold him a brigantine suitable for
river navigation. In this brigantine and
another he started up the river with sixty
men, and when he arrived at Fort Sancta
Espiritu, which was merely a collection of
huts surroimded by a mud -wall, he com-
manded the officer in charge to surrender.
This officer was Captain Gr^orio Caro, one
of Cabot's most devoted friends, and he
replied to Garcia 's arrogant demand that
he held the place by order of his commander
and in the name of his majesty. That was
sufficient, he thought, to warrant him in
defending it to the last extremity, and it
was his intention to do so. This answer
cooled Garcia down a little, and soon friend-
ly relations were established, during which
232

BACK TO SPAIN IN DISGRACE

Caro told the new-comer there was a rumor
that Cabot had been defeated by the Ind-
ians. If such were the case, and if he
should meet his commander, he desired
that he would ransom him, if a prisoner, or
bring away his body if he were slain.

Three htmdred miles above Sancta Espiri-
tu (a distance which, it was his boast, he
traversed in twenty-seven days, while Cabot
had taken five months to go over the same) ,
Garcia encountered the man who had in-
vaded his territory. Notwithstanding the
bad blood that is said to have existed be-
tween them, their meeting was friendly,
and it was even proposed to join fortimes
in continuing the exploration which, alone,
Cabot could not carry out. For some
reason, however, they soon after separated,
and though Garcia furnished Cabot with
a supply of provisions, the latter concluded
to return to the mouth of the river. They
were then in about south latitude 28^, at
the port of St. Ann, as Cabot called the
place, where he was afforded the protection
of his friend and ally, Chief Yaguaron.

It had ever been Sebastian's policy to
treat the aborigines with kindness, and he
once severely pimished a Biscayan in his
233

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

company for invading the hut of an Indian
and throwing him to the floor, afterwards
plimdering the hut of its contents. He
hanged him, in fact; and though his men
considered the penalty far too severe for the
offence, they refrained from maltreating
or plundering the natives wherever they
went. The Biscayan, after he had been
hoisted upon the gallows, fell to the grotmd,
owing to the breaking of the rope. "Mercy!
mercy!'' then he cried, and it was hoped
that the commander would allow him to
go free. But no, he merely sent for another
rope, and, seeing that it was affixed with
care, caused the wretch to be swung into
the air, and did not leave until assiu^ed he
was dead. Another soldier, who was caught
stealing provisions, upon which they all de-
pended for the maintenance of their lives,
suffered the loss of both ears, which Cabot
caused to be cut off, not only as a pimish-
ment, but as a warning to others.

His firmness and just dealing won him
the devotion of his soldiers, and also of the
Indians; but the latter were soon estranged
and embittered by the coming of Garcia,
who, with his men, acted atrociously. They
demanded supplies, they wantonly insulted
234

BACK TO SPAIN IN DISGRACE

the Indian females, and finally aroused in
the Guaranis a spirit of hatred and a desire
for revenge. Cabot, by this time, had set
out down the river, and was resting either
at Fort Sancta Espiritu or San Salvador.
Indiscriminate in their hatred, the Indians
secretly plotted the destruction of both
commands, and assembled in such numbers
that, when the storm burst, all the forts
were destroyed and many Spaniards massa-
cred. Neither Cabot nor Garcia cared to
remain in a cotmtry the inhabitants of
which were so relentlessly hostile, so both
withdrew the remnants of their forces from
the Parana and left the region tmoccupied
by Europeans.

Many had given their lives in this attempt
to explore the River of Solis, but nothing
material resulted from it, except that at a
later day, when Portugal put forth claims
to the territory south of Brazil, Spain brought
forward, in rebuttal, the names of many
tribes over whom, she asserted, Sebastian
Cabot had established sway, and on whose
territory he had built forts. Though his
exploration was a failiu^e, as to immediate
results, it was extensive in its aims and
comprehensive in its scheme. According
235

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

to Richard Eden, in his Decades, the chart
attributed to Sebastian Cabot showed that
from the mouth of the River of Solis, or
Plata, he ** sayled up the same into the lands
for the space of three htmdred and fiftie
leagues [or about a thousand miles], as
he writeth in his own Carde."

He saw much, suffered much, and made
a desperate attempt to find the golden
mountains; but all to no avail. He had
thought that, inasmuch as the Giiaranis,
whom he mentions, had invaded Peru and
returned, after devastating provinces and
acquiring plunder of silver and gold, it
might be possible for him to reach that rich
region from the Parana. About this time
he who became the conqueror of Peru was
in Spain, soliciting of the emperor permis-
sion to invade that country by the west
coast. That Pizarro succeeded in accom-
plishing his purpose, and that Cabot failed
in his, was known to the world centuries
ago ; but it was not because the latter lack-
ed in persistence that he failed, so much as
the misdirection of his aims. Between the
time of his departure from Spain and his
return foiu" years and four months elapsed,
yet for this waste of precious time he had
236

BACK TO SPAIN IN DISGRACE

absolutely nothing to show, except a little,
very little, gold, a few specimens of silver,
and a description of the country contiguous
to the river discovered by Solis twelve years
before. He made a chart, it is thought,
and wrote an exhaustive description of the
region; but, if so, no historian has seen them,
it is believed, since Herrera's time, say three
hundred years ago.

Soon after his arrival at Fort San Salvador,
after leaving Garcia, and before the massacre
took place, Cabot equipped a caravel and
sent in it to Spain two of his officers, Ferdi-
nand Calderon and George Barloque, who
were intrusted with a letter to the emperor.
In this letter the discomfited adventurer
told of his attempt to reach the gold region
of the interior, gave a full account of the
various peoples he had met, and asked for
**men and means for colonizing the terri-
tory." In support of his assertion that the
land was fit for colonizing, he says: "The
people, on reaching this land, wanted to
know if it was fertile and fitted for the
cultivation of grain. So, in the month of
September, they sowed fifty-two grains of
com, which was all they could find in the
vessels, and in the month of December they

i6 237

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

gathered from them 2250 grains; and the
same fertility was fotmd with other seeds."

The colonization scheme impressed the
emperor; but the merchants of Seville,
having been victimized by Cabot, whose
failiu"e to sail to the Moluccas had lost them
their ventures, refused utterly to have
anything more to do with him. They de-
notmced him as a base adventurer, whose
pretended skill and knowledge, by which he
had deceived the sovereign during many
years, vanished when subjected to the first
real test. Charles himself, however, still
professed faith in his pilot major and cap-
tain-general; but he was hampered by lack
of funds, and with three great armies in the
various fields of Italy, France, and Venice
clamoring for their pay, long in arrears, he
was imready to fit out more expeditions of
doubtftil utility. He was even compelled
to dispose of the Moluccas to Portugg^l,
such was the financial pressiu^e upon him
at the time; thus Cabot's failure to reach
them with his expedition was somewhat
mitigated, and to a certain extent lost sight
of in the public clamor over the disgraceful
affair.

The two officers sent by Cabot reached
238

BACK TO SPAIN IN DISGRACE

Spain towards the end of October, 1528,
and a year of anxious waiting ensued. On
October 6, 1529, finally despairing of receiv-
ing the hoped-for succor, the commander
held a cotmcil with his officers in the port of
San Salvador, at which it was resolved, in
view of their desperate situation, to abandon
the country altogether. This is shown in
the first of two memorials prepared by
Cabot; and in the second, dated October 12,
1529, he sets forth why, by whose fault, and
how the fort of Sancta Espiritu was lost.
He does not inform us, however, why, after
the forts had been levelled, or reduced to
ashes by the savages (with whom the cotm-
try was then swarming, in many hostile
bands), he left a small body of Spaniards in
the cotmtry. That he did so appears by
the evidence of a survivor; but that this
commander, generally so humane, could
abandon any of his men to the mercies of a
savage population aroused to revenge, does
not seem credible. It is probable that he
found it impossible to take them all home,
through having lost a vessel or from lack of
provisions; but the real reason is not known.
Then there were the mutineers, whom he
had left at St. Catharine's Bay, who had
239

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

contrived to let it be known in Spain,
through the Portuguese, how cruelly they
had been treated by their commander, and
had appealed to the emperor for redress.
Charles V. sent out an order for Cabot to
take up these men on his way home, pro-
vided they were still alive, and when arrived
at the bay he sent in Diego Garcia to sum-
mon them, in the king's name, aboard his
ship. Garcia, it seems, had left La Plata
about the time Cabot sailed, and had, in all
probability, suffered severely from the Ind-
ians' attack. He had been amply equipped
for a more extensive exploration than his
rival made; but his only boast was, in the
end, that he had ascended the river as far
as Cabot had, and had discovered as far as
Cabot discovered, in less than half the time
the latter consumed.

The mutineers were not at St. Catharine,
where, it was learned, the trio had been able
to secure the friendship of the Indians among
whom they were cast. One day, Francis de
Rojas, in a frenzy of rage, had stabbed a
companion when in the hut of some natives,
and turned their feelings against them.
Fearing his insensate wrath, * Mendez and
Rodas had seized an Indian canoe and at-
240

CHARLES V

BACK TO SF^AIN tN DlSGRACe

tempted to reach another island across the
bay, but were capsized and drowned. So
there was but one of the original mutineers
alive when Cabot and Garcia arrived, and
he had gone to Port Vicente. When they
reached this port, at Cabot's request, Garcia
again acted as an intermediary, and bore to
Rojas a stmimons to appear, within six days,
on board the flag -ship Santa Maria del
Espinar, "to be carried to Spain and de-
livered to his Majesty and to the Cotmcil
of the Indies, to accotmt for and answer
certain accusations that have been made
against you."

The mutineer's harsh experience had not
tamed his haughty spirit, for he refused to
acknowledge Cabot as his commander, and
instead of complying with the stmimons,
demanded that he be given crew and equip-
ment for a brigantine, in which he desired
to sail for the rescue of those Christians
abandoned at Cape Santa Maria, on the
coast east of the river La Plata. Also, he de-
manded an accotmting for four yotmg Ind-
ians, taken from their homes by Cabot,
'*and by whose capture the whole island is
ttuTied upside down." At the same time
he insisted that Cabot should take two of his
341

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

own Indian slaves aboard his ship and de-
liver them safely to his relatives in Spain.

The charge of kidnapping was true, as
Rojas knew; but, though in direct contra-
vention of the sovereign's orders, Cabot
escaped censure on the plea that he needed
these men to assist at working his ship, for
when the disgraced commander arrived in
Spain it was f otmd that he had but twenty
able seamen left. With but a single ship of
his fleet of four, and but twenty remaining
of his two hxmdred men — ^thus he returned,
after four years of peril and privation.

XVII

IN THB HANDS OF HIS ENEMIES
1530

IT is not necessary, in order to account
for the exceedingly hostile reception of
Sebastian Cabot when he returned to Spain,
to explain that he was a foreigner, and as
such had excited the jealousy of Spaniards,
for, whether he were foreigner or native, his
own acts had been such as to call down upon
his head the severest condemnation. He
had broken faith with the emperor and with
the merchants who had fitted out his fleet;
he had hung two of his crew, both Spaniards,
and had mutilated others, for committing
comparatively trivial offences. And he had
abandoned three men with mutinous tenden-
cies to the tender mercies of Indians reputed
to be cannibals.

As soon as he arrived in Spain, says
Tarducci, **his enemies fell upon him with
the fury and unanimity of a pack of city
243

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

curs on a lean cxmntry dog trembling with
fear and hunger. So great was the burst
of accusations and rumors, that the Cotmcil
of the Indies decided to have him arrested
at once. In the fury of this attack, this
snapping and biting, some of his own ofl5-
cers were pre-eminent for their hatred and
rage; so much so that one witnjess testified
that it was said and believed among the
members of the expedition that it was they
who had caused his arrest." So far as the
evidence goes, it was more the clamor of
his own officers and crew against him than
the malice of the merchants, while as for
the king, nothing seemed to move him
against his former pilot major so much as
the implied ignorance of one who had held
a high position in his government. How-
ever instigated, **a regular trial was opened
at his charge on the accusations preferred
against him."

The Spanish historians have ignored Cab-
ot's arrival at port on his return voyage,
and but for a letter written by a certain
Dr. Affonso Simao, then residing in Seville,
to his sovereign, the king of Portugal, we
should have no record of it whatever. Writ-
ing imder date of August 2, 1530, he says,
244

IN THE HANDS OF HIS ENEMIES

after the customary formalities used in
addressing royalty: "... This week there
arrived here a pilot and captain who was
sent to discover land. His name is Gaboto,
he is the chief pilot of these kingdoms, and
is the same person that sent the ship which
touched at Lisbon two years ago and
brought news of land discovered on the
river Pereuai, which they said abounded in
gold and silver. [This reference is probably
to the caravel containing the two oflficers
sent home by Cabot for orders from the
king.]

**I find him very wretched and poor, for
they say that he brought no gold or silver,
nor anything of profit to those who fitted
out the vessels; and of two hundred men
that he took with him, he brings back less
than twenty. They say all the rest were
left there dead, some from fatigue and hun-
ger, others killed in war: for they say the
arrow-wotmds killed many of them, and the
wooden fort they built was destroyed; so
that they are very ill-satisfied; and the
pilot is a prisoner; and the talk is that they
will send him to court, to see what shall be
ordered done with him.

** What I could learn, and what is said here
245

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

publicly, though in a low voice, is that in the
land they say they discovered they left no
guard but their dead and deserters. But
notwithstanding this, these men tell me they
saw that the land possessed much gold and
silver, and the reason why they brought
none is, as they say, because the captain
would not allow them to bargain for it, and
also because the natives deceived and re-
belled against them. Your Highness will
believe what you think best of this; but it
is certain that the land is abandoned. The
river, they say, is very long and deep, and
very wide at its mouth. If your Highness
shall find it for your interest to send there
now, you could do so, for these people fly
from a place where they see no money for
themselves."

This letter to the king of Portugal, the
Spanish sovereign's rival in the race for
supremacy in South America, affords us an
insight of affairs at the time mentioned.
Particular emphasis, it will be noticed, is
placed upon the fact that the Spaniards
were said to have left nobody on guard in
the country, as thereby their rivals would
have a clear field for invasion. But Cabot
did leave some men there, to hold possession
246

IN THE HANDS OF HIS ENEMIES

of what he had found, and in doing so he
deprived himself of their much-needed as-
sistance on the return voyage, and went
home short-handed. This would give us
reason to infer that he fully appreciated the
situation in its larger aspects, and sacrificed
his personal interests to what he considered
to be his duty to king and country.

Not much time was lost in bringing Se-
bastian Cabot to trial, for Spanish justice,
though proverbially slow, was spurred to ac-
tion by the clamors of his enemies. The
king and the merchants held aloof, their
resentment having died away in the four
years that had elapsed since they committed
themselves to the unfortunate adventure.
They seemed to hold that it was, at best,
an error of judgment merely, in having
appointed to supreme command one who
was wholly unfitted for the station. Fifty-
two months he had taken to accomplish —
nothing. Out of his fleet of four, the most
important ship was stmk, with a vast quan-
tity of provisions and equipment; one was
left at La Plata; the third, a caravel, or
small craft, had been sent home with the
two officers ; and but one, the flag-ship, had
returned intact. But the greatest losses
247

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

were represented in men, for of the two
hundred who had gone out with Sebastian
Cabot, all of three-fourths had perished.
And this, the Spaniards indignantly ex-
claimed, "that an unknown foreigner, whose
birthplace even is a matter of doubt, should
be exalted over us, and supported by the
king in a position of honor and emolument!"
Their temper is indicated in the interroga-
tory propounded by Rojas' attorney at the
trial which occurred three months after
Cabot's return. "Do you not know," he
said, addressing some of the witnesses, " that
my client is an hidalgo's son of known worth,
while Sebastian Cabot is a foreigner — ^nobody
knows who he is?"

This stranger, this foreigner, was arrested
at the request (says the report of the Coun-
cil of the Indies) " of relatives of persons of
whose death he is accused ; as also of hav-
ing abandoned others on the land; and at
the request of the Exchequer, which charges
him with neglecting to follow the instruc-
tions he had received." The complaints
were made as soon as he had landed ; he was
promptly arrested and was lodged in jail.
His prospects must have appeared very
dark at that time, and doubtless he was
248

IN THE HANDS OF HIS ENEMIES

filled with apprehension as to the outcome
of the trial then forthcoming. Through it
all, however, he seems to have maintained
a calm demeanor, as though conscious of
rectitude; but among his enemies "what a
chorus of imprecations was there. What
cries for vengeance. . . . Even the Exchequer
turned upon him, and — ^all that it could do
— charged him with not having followed
instructions."

Cabot was a foreigner, but he was not
quite alone. He had a wife and a daughter,
who stood by him nobly. Catharine Me-
drano, his wife, appears but a few times in
the history of his life, but she is always an
interesting figure, strong and self-poised.
She is more, in truth, for witnesses averred
that she was prone to give advice to her
husband, which he ever heeded, knowing her
good sense. She was charged with having
a deadly enmity for Martin Mendez, whom
she hired an assassin to stab in the back;
but this charge was not sustained. It came,
it is said, from the mother of Mendez, Cath-
arine Vasquez, who was the first of those
relatives of murdered men to bring suit
against Sebastian Cabot. Catharine Vas-
quez had good cause, she thought, to loathe
^49

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

if they came to grief it was because of the
wickedness of Francis de Rojas, who killed
Genoese Michael, and then threatened Rodas
and Mendez, who fled across the bay and
were drowned. Much of the enmity against
Cabot was attributed by him to John de
Junco, treasurer of the expedition, because
he had often reproved him for ill-treating
the sailors, and one time when he found
Junco threatening to kill a smith, he, Cabot,
said that if he did he would soon kill him!
Hence, as soon as they had arrived in Spain,
Junco talked with the oflficers of the Con-
tratacion, and Cabot was arrested immedi-
ately afterwards.

One Alonzo Bueno was Cabot's enemy
because he had often had him punished
for gaming, blaspheming, and selling articles
to the sailors at exorbitant prices. Another,
Gasmirez, was his enemy because he pun-
ished him for speaking ill of the emperor,
etc. Nine witnesses confirmed the fact of
a sailor's ears having been cut off by Cab-
ot's orders for stealing; nine also testified
that the commander always treated the
Indians well, and would not suffer them to
be harmed. All were agreed that they suf-
fered terribly from himger, that in conse-
252

IN THE HANDS OF HIS ENEMIES

quence of weakness and sickness they were
obliged to abandon two anchors in the
Plata, and that many died of fever in vari-
ous places. Finally, ten of the eleven
witnesses affirmed that the two men they
found at St. Catharine's Bay, who had been
with Solis when he discovered the Plata,
asserted that one of their companions had
gone there and brought away great quan-
tities of gold; also, that Cabot was urged
by his officers to go there, and further that
he did nothing of importance without con-
sulting with said officers.

Francis de Rojas, former captain of the
Trinidad (and who appears to have been a
deep-dyed villain, notwithstanding his boast
of belonging to the hidalguia, or nobility),
reached Spain a few months after Cabot,
and on November 2, 1530, submitted an
artfully contrived list of interrogatories, in
the form of leading questions, which insin-
uated that "The witnesses knew that Rojas
was of noble family and worth, and Cabot
a foreigner, an unknown person, unfit for
the command of a fleet, or any other office ;
those who fitted out the fleet discovered
Cabot's incompetency, wanted to appoint
Rojas, and this was the cause of Cabot's

'» aS3

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

hatred of him; the main object of the expe-
dition was to reach the islands of Ophir, Tar-
shish, etc. ; but, when in the latitude of the
Cape Verde islands Cabot changed his course
so that they were carried to Pemambuco»
where the Portuguese who were there, in
order to divert him from the voyage to
the Moluccas, told him wonders about the
wealth to be found on the Plata, trusting
to which tales, he decided to alter the pur-
pose of the voyage, and stop at that river;
in consequence of the opposition of Rojas,
he was arrested and kept some days a
prisoner; despite his protests, Cabot stopped
in at the island of Patos, to take off some
Christians who were there, and get from
them information of the Plata ; as a conse-
quence he lost his vessel, which, on its
stranding, he basely abandoned, though he,
Francis de Rojas, came forward and used
every means to save crew and stores; as a
further consequence of this zeal, Cabot,
through envy, became the more hostile
towards him; out of this envy he imprison-
ed him, with two others, on an island, the
inhabitants of which ate human flesh, and
had already killed and eaten several Chris-
tians; Rojas was given as a slave to the
254

IN THE HANDS OF HIS ENEMIES

chief of the island, doubtless for the purpose
of being eaten, and underwent great peril
and suffering; by continuing the voyage, the
expedition would have proctired for the em-
peror a profit of not less than two millions,
even if they had brought back only a cargo
of spices; Rojas himself would have gained
ten thousand crowns; and finally, all that
is herein set forth is public voice and rumor."
Presented by Francis de Rojas, November 2,

1530.

The outcome of the trial, so far as the
accusations of Rojas and Catharine Vasquez
are concerned, was what is popularly known,
at the present day, as a ** Scotch ver-
dict" of "not proven." It would seem to
indicate that the authorities haled him to
the bar of justice more for the purpose of
allaying public clamor than in expectation
of a conviction. He was set at liberty in
May, 1 531, but under bail, and with a sus-
spended sentence hanging over him, which
was not pronounced until February of the
following year. Then, on accoimt of the
disregard he had shown of the king's orders
and the merchants' welfare, as well as the
high-handed proceedings respecting his men,
he was sentenced to be banished from Spain

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

for the period of two years. The designated
place of his exile was Oran, on the north
coast of Africa; but there is no evidence in
existence — or at least hitherto discovered —
to show that he went there. Per contra, a
letter written by him froni Seville, in June,
1533, indicates his whereabouts at that time,
when the sentence would have been little
more than half served, and we are led to
conclude that it was either shortened, by
grace of the king, or remitted altogether.

XVIII

IN ENGLAND ONCE AGAIN
1548

DURING the term of his imprisonment,
whether in Seville or in exile at Oran,
Sebastian Cabot, in all probability, was sus-
' tained and comforted by his loyal, outspoken,
and high-spirited wife, Catharine Medrano.
Believing her husband to be the greatest
man of his profession in the world, she had
ardently and openly championed his cause,
making many enemies thereby. Perhaps
she had threatened those who were opposed
to him — ^at least, some of them, for she was
accused by Catharine Vasquez of meditating
the assassination of her son ; though no proof
was offered, and the accusation fell to the
groimd.

Although she completely dominated the

mild-mannered Sebastian in their home, he

yielded easily to her government, and that

he had a great affection for her was shown on

257

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

several occasions. By means of a document
dated October 25, 1525, we are informed that
he desired to convey to her for life, in case
of his death, on the then forthcoming ex-
pedition, a life annuity of 25,000 maravedis.
We have seen that he named after her the
bay on the coast of Brazil in which his great-
est misforttmes overtook him, and he seems
always to have had her in mind, though rare-
ly writing of or to her in the course of his
joumeyings. In the letter referred to in the
preceding chapter there is a pathetic allusion
to her illness at that time, and to the recent '
death of his daughter, supposed to have been
their only child. This reference comes in
quite casually, as though the writer would
not allow his private griefs to obtrude in
public affairs, but is none the less affecting.
The letter is addressed to Juan de Samano,
his Majesty's secretary in Madrid, and be-
gins:

** MuY Magnipico Senor, "To-day, on the feast
of Saint John, I received a letter from the gov-
ernor of the Canaries, from which it seems that
he still desires tmdertaking an expedition to the
Parana, tan caro me cuesta — which cost me so
dear — . . . Sefior, the chart which your Wor-
ship desired me to forward is already finished
258

IN ENGLAND ONCE AGAIN

and will be sent you by the contador of the Ind-
ian house. I entreat your Worship to pardon
me for not having finished and sent it sooner;
but, in truth, it was not possible, on accotmt
of the death of my daughter, and the illness of
my wife." [He proceeds to say, without further
mention of domestic calamities, that he has not
only sent that chart, but has prepared two maps,
one for the emperor, and another for the Coimcil
of the Indies. He requests the secretary to urge
upon the Council an advance of a third part of his
salary, in order that he may discharge his indebted-
ness to various persons in Seville, and after ex-
plaining some points of navigation, the variation
of the compass-needle, etc., he closes by repeatedly
"kissing the hands" of the secretary and his wife,
the Sefiora Dofia Juana, and signing himself,]
**Your very faithful servant,

"Sebastian Caboto."

With this letter to guide us, we can affirm
that at this time Cabot was in Seville, that
he had restmied the making of charts, which
were in request by persons highest in au-
thority in Spain, including the king himself.
That he was still chief pilot de jure may be
asstuned by his request for an advance on
his salary; that he soon became so de facto
is also evident a little later, when the gov-
ernment restored him to office. The au-
259

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

thorities seem to have reasoned that, what-
ever his faults, whatever his lapses, he was
too valuable a man to lose, and his services
were in constant demand. His expedition
was a failure, they admitted; but, as one of
the Spanish historians, Gomara, expressed
it, perhaps "not so much, as some say,
through his fault, as the fault of the men he
had with him." There was fault on both
sides, in fact, for it was Cabot's lack of firm-
ness at the outset that allowed the mutiny
to simmer through months of inaction, the
ship to be lost from lack of- navigating skill,
the crews to be decimated by disease and
wotmds, through lack of judgment. On the
other hand, it cannot be denied that the
personnel of Cabot's crews was bad, though
no worse than that of Columbus's and
Magellan's. The latter, amid dangers far
greater than Cabot encountered, quelled a
mutiny of more portentous proportions by
hanging the ring-leaders, and then compelling
the rest to continue with him on a voyage
without a parallel in history.

Cabot was at home in the office of chief
pilot, and he should never have been re-
moved to a sphere of wider activities, for he
was a theorist and impractical. He could
260

IN ENGLAND ONCE AGAIN

construct charts for others to sail by, but
was tinable to navigate a ship himself, as
seems to have been shown quite fully. Others
had no difficulty in sailing by the directions
on his sea-charts; or, at least, no protests
are recorded. If they had been notably de-
fective, doubtless complaints would have
flowed into the Casa de Contratacion in a
stream against the pretentious foreigner
who held the highest position in Spain's
mercantile marine; but that he held this
position for thirty years, and then left it
voltmtarily, speaks volumes for his efficiency.

The period that ensued after the tumult-
uous waters of hate and rivalry had calmed,
and in which, once more settled in Seville, Se-
bastian Cabot devoted himself exclusively to
the duties of his office, seems to have been
the most satisfactory of his life. A Venetian
contemporary who visited him between his
return from South America and his final de-
parture from Spain, in 1548, says of him,
"He is so valiant a man, and so well prac-
tised in all things pertaining to navigations
and the science of cosmographie, that at this
present he hath not his like in all Spaine."

What we should particularly admire in
Sebastian Cabot's character is his composure,
261

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

under trials so great that many a less reso-
lute mind than his would have been utterly
crushed. His cheerful serenity seems never
to have deserted him, even after the ac-
cumulated misforttmes of his voyage, of
his imprisonment and exile, culminated by
the advent of death into his family circle.
After the date of the letter to Secretary
Samano, we hear nothing more from his
family, and may infer, perhaps, that his wife
followed the daughter to the grave, for she
drops out of sight entirely. Still, his serenity
does not forsake him, and many years later
we hear him say to a friend, " I do rejoyce in
the fruit of my labors, and rest with the
charge of this office, as you see."

He was always courteous, gentle, soft
of speech, and insinuating of address. His
chief delight was to convey to others in-
formation of which he claimed to be ex-
clusively possessed, and to the end of his
days he was prone to "shoot with the long
bow.'' With the exception of Coltunbus, he
was wont to say, he had made more and
greater discoveries than any other man since
the New World was made known to the Old.
He was consistent in his wonderful nar-
ratives of adventures, which, perhaps, had
262

IN ENGLAND ONCE AGAIN

never taken place — at least no proof has been
forthcoming — and most tenacious of his the-
ories, such as the existence of a northwest
passage to Cathay, the presumption that his
native Venice would sustain him in an effort
to find that passage, and the delusion that he
was the original discoverer of the compass-
needle's declination.

In appearance he is said to have been tall
and of majestic presence, resembling Colum-
bus in stature and somewhat in features.
A portrait has come down to us ascribed to
Holbein, which once htmg in the royal gallery
at Whitehall, and which shows him costumed
in rich velvet, with a long, golden chain
arotmd his neck and upon his breast. His
features are benevolent, his whole asipect
venerable ; but his eyes, if correctly rendered,
are shifty and prevaricating, sustaining his
self -delineated character as set forth in this
history. Forttmate was it for the reputa-
tion of Sebastian Cabot that he lived to be
venerable, and became revered for his years
as well as for his supposed achievements.
Towards the last of his days he grew into the
reputation he had striven all his life to ac-
quire, but it was only after he had returned
from Spain to England, in or about the year
263

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

1548, that his labors brought him substantial
fame.

The last-known date of Cabot's residence
in Spain, says his biographer, Tarducci, is
1545, in which year he was associated with
three others in the examination of a work
called the Art of Navigation. The year
previotis he had issued his famotis plani-
sphere, which constitutes, with its inscrip-
tions, almost the sole record from his own
hand, at present existing, of his accomplish-
ments. Finally, it is thought, he grew tired
of the enforced inaction of the pilot's office
in Seville (though, accepting his own story,
he made several voyages] — but to what
points he does not state — after the return
from Parana) and allowed his longing for
England and renewed activities there to pre-
vail over his sense of duty to Spain.

He owed Spain nothing, however; for
what can repay a man for thirty-five years
taken out of his life? The empty honors of
his position were tmsatisfying, and the high-
sounding salary of 125,000 maravedis (a
maravedi being about a quarter of a cent),
when reduced to its equivalent in gold, was
not more than enough to satisfy his neces-
sities. So it happened, probably after a
264

IN ENGLAND ONCE AGAIN

secret correspondence had been carried on
with the English court, that in the first
year of yoting King Edward's reign a gener-
ous appropriation was made " for the trans-
porting of one Shabot [Cabot], a pilot, to
come out of Hispain [Spain], to serve and
inhabit in England." How it was accom-
plished, and exactly when, does not appear;
but Sebastian seems to have slipped out
of Spain with his accustomed facility, and
sometime in the autumn of 1548 he is dis-
covered in England. The next January,
probably in conformance with a promise
from the crown, he is granted an annuity for
life of one htmdred and sixty-six potmds
sterling, to date from the previous Septem-
ber. This may indicate the date of his
arrival in England, where he was wanted to
continue the desultory explorations that had
taken place since his departure, nearly forty
years before.

His stay in Spain almost coincided with
the stormy reign of Henry VIII., when all
minds were turned to other thoughts than
of navigation and discovery. "The dis-
orders of the government," says Tarducci,
"must have come to Cabot's ears, and
sounded worse than they actually were, as
265

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

Spain was directly injured by the king's
madness; for his reputed wife, Catherine of
Aragon, was of that nation, and aunt to
Charles V. ... It is, then, easy to imagine
what must have been said at the court and
throughout the kingdom of Spain concerning
so many wives married and divorced, so
many learned and holy men given into the
hangman's hands, and the scandals of every
nature which at that time afflicted England.
But in 1547 Henry VIII. died, and the new
reign of Edward VI. seemed from its com-
mencement to be the dawn of a new era for
the English marine. ' ' The English had never
given up the intention of pushing to the north-
west, by some way that might open a passage
to the eastern regions of Cathay, and had
made several attempts ; but all had resulted
in defeat. In 1527, for instance, two ships
sailed, well supplied, but were unable to
get beyond the fifty-third degree of north
latitude; and in 1536 another expedition
sailed for the northwest, but disappeared
without leaving a trace of its route or record
of its discoveries, if any were made.

"To give a strong impulse to the expedi-
tions which were projected (the bad results of
others having deterred English sailors from
266

IN ENGLAND ONCE AGAIN

again putting their skill and courage to the
proof), a man was needed who would be able
to restore that courage, and by confidence
in his own ability inspire confidence in the
hearts of others. This man for England
could be none other than Sebastian Cabot."

Edward VI. had just reached the British
throne, says the author of a Life of Sebastian
Cabot, Mr, Hayward, when our navigator
returned and fixed his residence in Bristol.
Public hopes had been much raised touching
the young king, for, having enjoyed an ex-
cellent education, and being naturally fond
of naval affairs, it was thought that his reign
would be most promising for the encouraging
of maritime excellence. These hopes were
disappointed by his early demise, but he
doubtless recognized the superior ability of
the navigator newly arrived from Spain, and,
in addition to the pension already entioned,
made him a present of two htmdred pounds.

The pension had been granted "in con-
sideration of the good and acceptable service
done, and to be done, unto us by our beloved
servant, Sebastian Cabota, of our special
grace, certain knowledge, meere motion, and
by the advice and coimsel of our most honor-
able imcle, Edward Duke of Somerset, gov-
267

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

emor of our person, and protector of our king-
domes, dominions and subjects." Purchas,
the historian, was led to believe, from an in-
scription on the portrait alluded to as hang-
ing in the royal palace at Whitehall, that
Cabot was honored by being knighted, and
in his Pilgrims occurs this line: "Hail, Sir
Sebastian! England's northern pole." This
title could not add to or detract from his
greatness and glory; but there is no evidence
entitled to credence that it was bestowed
upon him. He occupied a position in Eng-
land similar to that which he had vacated in
Spain, and that his opinion was deferred to
by the king, and any decision of his respect-
ing maritime affairs considered final, appears
from the complaint of one Captain Alday,
whose license to navigate had been with-
drawn, after it had been approved by his
majesty, on accotmt of Cabot's disapproval.
Much has been made of Sebastian Cabot's
explanation to the king of the magnetic
needle's variation, and Edward was, for-
sooth; greatly impressed thereby. **With
his usual ardor," says a misinformed biog-
rapher, **he insisted on a convocation of the
learned men [and they were not many] of
the kingdom, before whom the venerable sea-
268

IN ENGLAND ONCE AGAIN

man had the honor of explaining the phe-
nomenon to his young sovereign. He showed
the extent of the variation, and that it was
different in different latitudes. Unfortunate-
ly we are without the papers of Cabot him-
self, and are thus tmable to know precisely
the theory offered to the prince. Although
not the correct one, it attracted general at-
tention, and added to the esteem which our
navigator now enjoyed in his native land."
It was not the correct theory, nor, as we
have noted in preceding pages, was it Sebas-
tian Cabot's discovery; though, from the
general ignorance of such subjects in Eng-
land, he was readily given credit for what
really was an achievement of Christopher
Columbus. Owing to his wider range of
observation, however, having visited more
northern and also more southern regions
than Columbus, he may have been enabled
to present a more lucid explanation than his
predecessor, and to some extent was entitled
to credit. **He must be a great man, in-
deed, who knows so much more than we do,"
the simple people reasoned, and, following the
example of their equally ignorant king, they
placed Sebastian Cabot in tlie niche he had
hollowed for himself, and thenceforth his

z8 ri|k ^^9

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

fame was secure. It only needed the pro-
test from Spain, which arrived in November,
1549, against England's appropriating the
services of her chief pilot, to cause Cabot to
be regarded with respect approaching vene-
ration.

The Spanish monarch seemed surprised,
hurt, and indignant that '*this very neces-
sary man for the emperor, whose servant he
was, and had a pension of him,'* should have
vacated his kingdom without leave. A de-
mand was made for his return through the
English ambassador at Brussels, a belated
and cautious answer to which was returned
in April, 1550, as follows: **And as for
Sebastian Cabot, answere was first made to
the said ambassador that he was not de-
tained heere by us, but that he of himself re-
fused to go either into Spayne, or to the
Emperor, and that he, being of that mind,
and the King's subjecte, no reason or equitie
wolde that he shude be forced or compelled
to go against his will. Upon which answere
the said ambassador said that if this were
Cabot's answere, then he required that the
said Cabot, in the presence of some one whom
we coud appoint, might speke with the said
ambassador, and declare tmto him this to be
270

IN ENGLAND ONCE AGAIN

his mind and answere. Whereunto we con-
descended, and at last sent the said Cabot
with Richard Shelley to the ambassador,
that he was not minded to go, neither to
Spajme nor to the Emperor. Nevertheless,
having knowledge of certain things verie
necessarie for the Emperor's knowledge, he
was well contented, for the good will he
bore the Emperor, to write his minde tmto
him, or declare the same here to anie such
as shude be appointed to here him. Where-
unto, the said ambassador asked the said
Cabot, in case the king's Majestic, or we,
shude command him to go to the Emperor,
whether then he wold not do it; whereupon
Cabot made answere, as Shelley reporthe, that
if the King's Highnes, or we, did command
him so to do, then he knew well enough what
he had to do ! But it semets [seemeth] that
the ambassador tooke this answere of Cabot
to sound as though he had answered that,
being commanded by the King's Highnes, or
us, that then he wolde be contented to go to
the Emperor; wherein we rekon the said am-
bassador to be deceived, so that he was
fullie determined not to go there at all."

In sooth, Sebastian Cabot was averse to
going back to Spain, and fully determined
271

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

not to go, whatever his reasons may have
been. His answer, that if the king command-
ed him, "then he knew what he had to do,"
was crafty and equivocal. It is a fairly
good index of his character, which is con-
sistent in its duplicity, to the very end of
his life. It sufficed, however, to quiet the
Spanish sovereign for a while; but in 1553,
after King Edward had been succeeded on
the throne by his sister, the infamous
"Bloody Mary," another request was made
for the return of Cabot to Spain. The queen
was asked by the emperor to give permission
for Sebastian Cabot to come, " as he has need
to communicate with him concerning some
matters affecting the safety of the navigation
of the Spanish realms." Neither was this
request complied with, for, though the sus-
picions of the emperor were excited as to
the use his former chief pilot was making
of information he had gathered during his
long service in Spain, so were those of Cabot
himself. The ill-feeling aroused by his mis-
adventiure of more than twenty years before
still rankled in the breasts of many Spaniards,
and the Spanish historians scarcely veil their
animosity towards one who brought their
coimtry into disrepute. He had probably
272

IN ENGLAND ONCE AGAIN

become convinced, long since, that he could
never expect to receive what he considered
to be his just deserts while he resided in
Spain.

Although racially allied to the Spaniards
by birth, he seemed less an alien in England
than in Spain. He constantly recurred to
Venice, however, as the land of his parentage
and ancestors, though it had no claim what-
ever upon him save through the accident of
birth. By some strange process of reason-
ing, he had arrived at the conclusion that
Venice ought to benefit by his services, in-
stead of England or Spain, and in 1551,
nearly thirty years after he had first for-
mulated the proposition (given on page 173),
we find him again approaching a Venetian
ambassador to the same effect. It might
have been only yesterday, or the*year before,
that the first proposal was made, so similar
was it to the second, after the lapse of a
generation.

The Venetian ambassador to England for-
warded his proposal — to make an expedition
under the flag of St. Mark — as had the
Venetian ambassador to Spain, in 1522.
All who were previously concerned — ^all save
Cabot — had probably passed away; but the
273

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

** Council of Ten" manifested the same as-
tuteness in dealing with the matter as its
wily predecessors. The difficulty arising as
to the getting of Cabot to Venice, while in
the service of England, he suggested, as
before, that, to allay any possible suspicions
of his employers, the plea be advanced that
he wished to collect some old debts due him,
and recover certain properties once belong-
ing to his mother. This was done, and ** the
English government, in compliance with his
request, wrote its ambassador in Venice to
appear before the Council of Ten and make
the recommendation. . . . The Council an-
swered the ambassador that they were very
glad to learn in what esteem and confidence
a subject of their Republic was held in Eng-
land, and that they would be eager to satisfy
the wishes of Cabot and the English minis-
ters." But their suspicions were excited, and
they finally wrote their ambassador in London
to tell Cabot that his offer was most welcome,
informing him, however, that ** Cabot not
being known to any one here, it will be neces-
sary for him to come himself, to prove his
identity and give his reasons, the matter he
speaks of being very old ; and we have given
the same answer to his Excellency, the am-
274

IN ENGLAND ONCE AGAIN

bassador of his Majesty. . . . You will con-
tinue, in the mean time, to endeavor to learn
from him more in detail the plan of that
navigation, giving particular infonnation
of the whole to the chiefs of the Cotmcil of
Ten."

But Cabot the septuagenarian was still
Sebastian the tinready. The pretended se-
cret which he had carried locked in his breast
for more than forty years he was still un-
willing to divulge, save on certain condi-
tions impossible of fulfilment. Whether it re-
lated to a northwest passage or a northeast
passage, or whether there were really any
secret at all, nobody knows, and probably
nobody ever will know. Meanwhile, during
all these years, the map of the worid had
changed. Comparing, says a writer of note,
the map of the worid made by Martin Behaim
in 1492, with the planisphere made by
Sebastian Cabot in 1544, *'we shall see at a
glance what wonderful progress geographical
science had made in the relatively short space
of time that separates those dates"; yet
Cabot himself was continually harking back
to a period when it was believed that Cathay
could be reached by merely crossing the
ocean.

27s

XIX

THE HONORED COUNSELLOR
1551-1557

IN view of his repeated proposals to Venice,
in 1522, 1523, and issi» Sebastian Cabot
has been accused of treachery and bad faith
to Spain and England both; but, while he
undoubtedly allowed his ambition to over-
shoot the mark, and evidently erred, he
withdrew in time to save his reputation,
and perhaps his life. The negotiations with
Venice were dropped abruptly, in both
instances, as soon as Sebastian found the
Coimcil of Ten taking him seriously. He
had made his point, which was to remind
his fellow-countrymen that he was achieving
greatly for a foreign power; but their cov-
eted recognition and reward were not forth-
coming. He abandoned, then, his tentative
inquiry in this direction, and, with the same
composure that he endured rebuff of every
sort, settled down to his duties in England.
276

THE HONORED COUNSELLOR

His recall to that country was, doubtless,
premature, for the three or four years ensu-
ing constituted a period of storm and stress
in English politics, and nothing was done
to avail of his services. It is absurd to
imagine that the young Edward, only eleven
years of age at the time Cabot returned to
England, could have appreciated the old
navigator at his full worth, and it was doubt-
less his uncle, the Duke of Somerset, who,
as regent, was instrumental in depriving
King Charles of his grand pilot. During
those years of inaction, between 1548 and
1553, Cabot witnessed great and distressing
changes in the governing body of England.
In 1549 the king's uncle, Thomas Seymour,
was beheaded on the scaffold, and in 1552
the regent himself, the Duke of Somerset,
met the same unhappy fate.

In view of the disturbed condition of
affairs, Cabot may have felt justified in con-
cluding that no expedition such as he de-
sired to carry out would be promoted by
the English government, and hence offered
his services to Venice. However this may
have been, before the death of Edward,
which occurred in 1553, a movement was set
on foot that looked towards the consum-
277

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

mation of his long-deferred purpose. Eng-
lish foreign commerce had become almost
extinct, but about this time " certaine grave
citizens of London, and the men of great
wisdome and carefulle for the good of their
cotmtrey, began to thinke with themselves
how this mischief might be remedied. . . .
And whereas at the same time one Sebastian
Cabota, a man in those days very renowned,
happened to be in London, they began first
of all to deale and consult diligently with
him."

By his advice a company of merchants,
national in character, was formed for the
purpose of seeking by sea new markets in
the north, and three ships were "prepared
and furnished for the search and discovery
of the northern part of the world." They
were fitted out in the spring of 1553, and on
May 20th of that year set sail. They were
called the Bona Esperanza, the Edward Bona-
Ventura, and the Bona Confidencia, all names
significant of the hopes their owners and
masters had in their success. As they sailed
down the Thames to Greenwich, the old
chronicler says, "presently the courtiers
came running out, and the common folk
flocked together, standing very thick upon
278

THE HONORED COUNSELLOR

the shoare. The privie council, they looked
out at the windows of the court, and the
rest ranne up to the toppes of the towers.
The shippes thereupon discharged their
ordinance and shot off their pieces, after the
manner of warre, insomuch that the toppes
of the hills sotmded therewith, the valleys
and the waters gave an echo, and the mar-
iners, they shouted in such sort that the side
rang again with the noise thereof."

In recognition of his high standing, and
as the proposer of this scheme to seek new
regions for trade in the northeast, Sebastian
Cabot was elected governor of these "Mer-
chant Adventurers of England, for the Dis-
covery of Dominions, Islands, and other
Places unknown," and, together with nearly
all the shareholders in the enterprise, was
at the river-bank to see the sailors off.
King Edward himself had intended to be
there, for he had taken a deep interest in
the scheme, but at that time was stretched
upon his death-bed.

The expedition sailed into the unknown
northeast, coasted the shores of Norway,
and then was heard of no more for many
months. Two years later a single ship of
the fleet returned, battered and worn, with
279

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

the tidings that the vessel commanded by
Sir Hugh Willoughby had been lost sight of
early in the voyage. It was later ascertained
that it had been frozen in on the Lapland
coast and all its crew had perished. Will-
oughby's journal was found by his side, be-
ginning, "The voyage intended for the dis-
coverie of Cathay and divers other regions
unknown, set forth by the right worshipful
master Sebastian Cabota"; and ending:
" September. — ^We sent out three men south-
southwest, to search if they could find
people, who went three days' journey, but
could find none; after that we sent other
three men westward, which returned like-
wise. Then sent we three men southeast
three dayes journey, who in sort returned
without finding of people, or any similitude
of habitations."

"Here endeth," says Hakluyt, "Sir Hugh
Willoughby his note, which was written
with his owne hand." The pathetic accotint
of his last doings was found near his frozen
body, from which his spirit had departed
soon after writing those lines. Together
with all his men, he had perished of the
cold.

The surviving commander, Richard Chan-
280

THE HONORED COUNSELLOR

cellor, had rounded the great North Cape,
sailed into the Arctic Ocean, and finally
reached Archangel, whence he went over-
land to Moscow. He was received with
courtesy by the Tsar, Ivan Basilivich, who
gladly embraced the opportunity for open-
ing trade with England, and thus was laid
the foundation of a permanent and exten-
sive commerce between the two great coun-
tries. It was the genius of Sebastian Cabot
that conceived this project of making towards
the northeast in search of a passage to
Cathay, and in recognition of this fact he
was confirmed in his position of governor of
the company for life. It was his genius,
but perhaps inspired by the ancient geog-
raphers, that pointed out the "northeast
passage." Chancellor's ship was probably
the first to penetrate the Arctic Ocean from
this direction ; but the complete voyage from
the Atlantic to the Pacific, along the northern
coasts of Europe and Asia, was not accom-
plished until more than three hundred years
had passed away — ^by Nordenskjold, in 1879.
Sebastian Cabot's persistence in pointing,
like the compass - needle, ever towards the
pole, had at last been rewarded by success;
but it was not imtil he had nearly attained
281

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

his eightieth year and he was on the verge
of the grave. Throughout his long life, amid
trials, vicissitudes, failures — under drcuin-
stances the most adverse — ^he had kept his
eyes fixed upon the northern star. He had
voyaged forty degrees beyond the equator,
south, and nearly fifty north — assuming
him to have been with his father in 1497.
No man then living probably knew so much
as he knew of the world, either from actual
experience or from scanning the works of
others. His was a constructive genitis of the
highest order, though he failed in practice.

Under his direction and supervision the
Russian trade became of great importance,
for he guided every movement. His old
age, says one of his biographers, instead of
gliding away in debility or sloth, was occu-
pied by the inntmierable cares arising from
his connection with the adventurers. The
whale fisheries of Spitzbergen and the since-
famous fisheries of Newfoundland were im-
proved, if not established, by him at this
period. "With strict justice," observes an-
other, "it may be said of Sebastian Cabot
that he was the author of the English
marine, and opened the way to those im-
provements which have made the nation
282

THE HONORED COUNSELLOR

SO great, so eminent, and so flotirishing a
people." He had shown his perspicacity
in pointing out the route to Russia, and also
in successfully combating the pretensions
of that iron-bound corporation, the "Steel-
yard Company," which had fastened itself
upon England so firmly and cltmg so tena-
ciously that it required the combined ener-
gies of the king and the merchants to break
its hold. This foreign monopoly of British
trade with other lands had held its own in
England for many years, but was finally
overcome by the union of the merchants,
with the king as their head and Sebastian
Cabot as their guide.

Notwithstanding the ill -fortune of the
Bona Esperanza, Sir Hugh Willoughby's
ship, the general advantage of the trade
opened by Chancellor was so great that
the company fitted out a second fleet of
three good ships, which sailed the following
year, 1556. One of the ships was com-
manded by Stephen Burroughs, who had
been in the first expedition, and who left a
journal commencing with the following refer-
ence to the festivities as his vessel lay at
Gravesend on the eve of sailing: "The
27 th April being Munday, the right worship-
283

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

fill Sebastian Cabota came aboard our
pinnesse at Gravesende, accompanied with
divers Gentlemen and Gentlewomen, who,
after they had viewed ottr vessel, and tasted
of such cheere as we could make them
aboord, they went on shore, giving to our
mariners right liberal rewardes; and the
good old Gentleman, Master Cabota, gave
to the poor most liberal almes, wishing them
to pray for the good f ortime and prosperous
success of the SearctUhrift, our pinnesse.
And then, at the signe of the 'Christopher,'
hee and his friends banketed [banqueted],
and made me, and them that were in com-
pany, greet cheere; and for very joy that
he had to see the towardness of our intended
discovery, he entered into the dance himselfe,
among the rest of the yong and lusty com-
pany; which being ended, hee and his
friends departed, most gently commending
us to the governance of Almighty God."

He was then in his eighty-second year,
not wholly free from the pressure of poverty
(never having acquired a hoard of wealth
for his old age), and looked upon with dark-
ening suspicion by the stem and gloomy
queen who had succeeded Edward on the
throne. "Bloody Mary'' was no friend to
284

THE HONORED COUNSELLOR

Sebastian Cabot on account of his discoveries,
and was less inclined to aid him when she
learned that he was once in the service of
her husband's father in Spain. In May,
1557, a few days after Spanish Philip's
arrival in London, on a visit to his consort,
Cabot's pension was divided, and one - half
of it bestowed upon an assistant, William
Worthington. At the same time, it is be-
lieved, he was compelled to turn over to
this man all his 4naps, charts, and papers
of every sort; which fact would explain
satisfactorily why so few of his literary
remains have been found. Historian Hak-
luyt, in 1592, or thirty-five years after this
shameful event, says, in a dedication of his
book to Sir Philip Sidney: "All Sebastian
Cabot's own mappes and discotirses, drawne
and written by himselfe, are in the custodie
of the worshipful master William Worthing-
ton, one of her Majesty's pensioners, who (be-
cause so worthy monuments should not be
buried in perpetual oblivion) is very willing
to suffer them to be overseene and published
in as good order as maybe, to the encourage-
ment and benefite of our countrymen."

The most patient search, however, has
failed to reveal these treasures, and it has

19 285

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

been thought by some that they were seized
by Philip of Spain, on the occasion erf some
one cl his visits, because they contained so
much of value to his nation. This, erf course,
would preclude the possibility of liieir be-
ing in Worthington's possession in 1592, four
years after the destruction erf the great
armada; but as Halduyt gives his informa-
tion merely on hearsay, and no one seems
to have seen those treasures since, he was
probably mistaken.

Shortly after Bloody Mary and her fanat-
ical spouse had deprived Sebastian of half
his pension, and compelled him to share his
office and his honors with a nonentity, he
disappears entirely from public view. That
despicable action, falling upon one of his
years, who, though always hopeful and
buoyant, could not but have felt the insult
keenly, may have proved a mortal blow.
Sometime in the year 1557 he was borne to
bed by the weight of his calamities, and there
we are afforded a fleeting glimpse of the
venerable navigator, through his friend Eden,
who was with him when he breathed his last.
" The good old man," he says> " had not, even
in the article of death, shaken off all worldly
vanitie," for, with a feeble voice, he "spake
286

THE HONORED COUNSELLOR

of a divine revelation made to him of a new
and infallible method of finding longitude,
but which he might disclose to no living
mortal."

Strong in death, indeed, was his passion for
mystery, for deception, for maintaining the
prestige of his earlier years. And thus he
died; but when or where we know not, nor
the hallowed spot which at the last claimed
his remains, for no monument was raised
above it, no inscription marks it.

In forming an estimate of Sebastian Cab-
ot's character, especially as revealed in his
latter years, with their ripened fruits of ex-
perience, we shall receive great assistance
from the "ordinances, instructions and ad-
vertisements " which he wrote for the guid-
ance of sailors on the Willoughby expedi-
tion into the northeast, in 1553. There are
thirty -three long paragraphs, or "items,"
and we can make excerpts only here and
there; but throughout is shown a mind ma-
tured by long dwelling upon the results
of intelligent observation. In his seventh
"item," recommending that "the marchants
and other persons skilful in writing shall
daily write, describe, and put in memorie
the navigation of every day and night, with
287

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

the points and observations of the landes,
tides, elements, altitude of the sunne, course
of the moon and starres, and the same so
noted by the master of every shippe," we
have, it has been said, the origin of the
nautical log-book.

"Every nation," he continues, "is to be
considered advisedly, and not to be provoked
by any disdaine, contempt, or such like. No
blaspheming of God, or detestable swearing,
shall be used in any shippe, nor communi-
cation of ribaldrie, filthy tales, or ungodly
talke to be suffered; neither dicing, card-
ing, nor any other divelish games, whereby
ensueth not only povertie to the players, but
also strife, brawling, and ofttimes miuther,
to the utter destruction of the parties, and
provoking of God's most just wrath and
sworde of vengeance "

These suggestions must have emanated
from a nature most devout, for all Cabot's
acts on board ship, so far as we have seen,
were in accord with them. Another page
from his experience is presented when he
says: "Item, if you shall be invited into
any lords or rulers house, to dinner or to
other parliance, goe in such order of strength
that you may be stronger than they, and be
288

THE HONORED COUNSELLOR

wary of woods and ambushes, and that your
weapons be not out of yotir possession. If
you shall see the salvages wearing lyons
or beares skinnes, having long bowes and
arrowes, be not afraid of that sight; for such
be worn ofttimes more to feare strangers,
than for any other cause.

" Item, that morning and evening prayer,
with other common services appointed by
the King's Majestic and laws of this realme,
to be read and said in every shippe daily,
and the Bible or paraphrases to be read,
devoutly and Christianly, to God's honotir."
Finally, he adjures the explorers: "All ye
seek is most likely to be attained and brought
to good effect, if every one in his vocation
shall endeavor according to his charge and
most botmden dutie, pra3dng the living God
to give you his grace, to accomplish your
charge to his glorie, whose merciful hand
shall prosper your voyage, and preserve you
from all dangers."

INDEX

Aprica, Southern, when
circumnavigated, 42.

Alexander Vr, Pope, par-
titions the world, 6j, 66.

Amerigo Vespucci^ Life of,
referred to, 161.

Andrada, Don Ferdinand
de, 22p.

Antilla, island, 44.

Ashurst, Thomas, of Bris-
tol, England, 147, 148.

Atlantis, Island of, 44.

Avalldania, Skraeling
chief, 35.

Ayala, Don Pedro de,
Spanish ambassador in
Ix)ndon, 92 ; letter from,
to his sovereigns on John
Cabot's voyage, 92, 93.

Baccalaos (or Codfish

Country)f loit 105.

Badajos, Council of, 190.

Ballista, the aboriginal, 37.

Barloque, George, witli
Sebastian Cabot, 237.

Basilivich, Tsar Ivan, 281.

Behaim, Martin, map made
by, 275.

Biami the Viking, 7; voy-
age of, 89.

Biami Grimolfson, 23, 28.

Blest, Isles of the, 44*

••Bloody Mary." of Eng-
land, 272; oppresses Se-
bastian Cabot, 284, 286.

Bona Esperanto, Edward
Bonaventura, and Bona
Confidencia, ships (1553)
of the Merchant Advent-
urers, 278, 283.

Brattahlid (in (jreenland),
7, 11; wedding at, 22;
site of, 99.

Brazil, Isle of, 44; the
quest for, 45.

Bristol, Englimd, ancient
seaport, 43; seamen of,
44; voyages from, 45;
sailors with John Cabot,
69, 70; almanac pub-
lished in (i499)t men-
tions Cabot's voyage,
144.

Brown, Sir Wolston, and
Sebastian Cabot, 17.

Bucignolo, Don Hierolamo,
174, 177. 185.

Bueno, Alonzo, Sebastian
Cabot's enemy, 252.

Buenos A3rres, site of, visit-
ed by Sebastian Cabot,
220.

Bull of Pope Alexander VI.,

291

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

partitioning the world,

65.
Burroughs, Stephen, mari-
ner, portrays (1556) Se-
bastian Cabot, 284.

Cabo Dbscubibrto (Dis-
covered Cape) on La Cosa
map (ijoo), 108, no.

Cabo de Ynglaterra (a cape
on La Cosa map) ,[98, 109,
no.

Cabot, John, a rival of
Columbus and Vespucci,
54; first sights the North
American coast, ^5 ; voy-
age of, described by ms
son, Sebastian, 50, 60;
on board the maihew,
J2; voyage of, described
fcy contemporary histo-
rians, 75, 80; first Amer-
ican landfall of, 81;
letters patent granted
to, for a second voyage,
86, 88; mentioned by
Hakluyt, historian, 90,
91; second voyage of,
subject of letter (July,
1498), b]^ Spanish am-
bassador in England, 92,
93; further mention by
contemporaries, 104, 105 ;
is callcKl a "Genoese,"
112; but by another con-
temporary styled a "Ve-
netian," 113, 114; was a
citizen of Venice, n6,
117; and a merchant ad-
venturer, 118, 119; set-
tled in England, 120;
uncertainty as to fate
of, 94, 96, 121, 126;

claim of to immortal
fame, i2;r.

Cabot, Lewis, son of John»
62, 69.

Cabot, Santius (or Sanc-
tius), son of John, 63 »
69.

Cabot, Sebastian, son of
John, describes his fa-
ther's voyrage, 57-60; a
map attributed to, 6a,
67, 69, 108; associated
with John in first voy-
a«e, 96; a guest of Peter
Martyr, 131; who nar-
rated his adventures,
09-103; mentioned by
Gomara, historian, 103,
103; testimony as to
birthplace of, 114, 122—
1 25 ; planisphere ascribed

to. 133. 134, 135. 139.
275; not an origmal dis-
coverer, 1 28-131; claims
of in this respect not
substantiated, 145, 146;
hypothetical voyages of,
149, 150; takes service
in Spain (1512), 151; re-
ceived by King Ferdi-
nand, and given position,
154; salary of, 154; wife
of, 156; succeeds Ves-
pucci, 157; Chief Pilot,
160-162; resides in Se-
ville, 161; disappears
from view, 163 - i7o;
characterized by British
merchants, 170, 171; in-
trigues with Venice, 17a;
declares Venice his birth-
place, 178; is humiliated
by Venetians, 186; gains

292

INDEX

honors in Spain, 187; in
royal favor, 180; shares
pension with Vespucci's
widow, 190; appointed
to the Badajos Council,
190; is consulted by
Magellan (1519). 191;

Elans expedition to the
[oluccas, 197; sails on
expedition, ao2 ; under
sealed orders, 203; in
midst of enemies, 203,
204; accused of inefiS-
ciency, 205; threatened
by conspirators, 207 ;
whom he arrests, 208;
loses flag-ship on a reef,
210; and many of his
men, 213; confronts a
mutiny, and sets the
mutineers adrift, 216;
arrives at River La
Plata, 217; hears of
golden mountains, 220;
hangs Francis de Lepe,
222; leads his men in
battle with Indians, 224,
225; on verge of star-
vation, 223; encounters
a rival, 233 ; hangs a Bis-
cayan, and cuts off a
soldier's ears. 234; sends
to Spain for aid, 237;
abandons the voyage,
239; and rettuns to
Spain, 242; arrested,
244; brought to trial,
247; charged with mur-
der and mutilation, 250,
252; convicted on
charges and exiled to
Africa, but sentence sus-
pended, 355; comforted

by his wife, 249. ^57;
loses his only daughter
by death, 259; is restored
to office, 259; as he then
appeared to a contem-
porary, 261; character
and portrait of, 262, 263 ;
rettuns to England and
is pensioned, 265; in-
timacy with King Ed-
ward VI., 267, 268; re-
called to Spam, but re*
fuses to comply, 270,
271; makes proposition
to Venice, 273, 274; ac-
cused of treachery, 276;
made governor of the
Merchant Adventtu*ers,
279; persistence reward-
ed, 282; appearance of,
in his eighty - second
year, 284; oppressed by
••Bloody Mary,"284,286;
on his death-bed, 286;
estimate of character of,
287; good advice of, to
sailors, 288, 289.

Cabota (Cabot), Sebas-
tian, 278, 280.

Caboto, Giovanni (John
C^abot), 69.

Caboto, Zoanne (John Cab-
ot), 78, 79, 80.

C^bots, the, preceded to
America by others, i;
personalities of, indis-
tinct, 2; never met Co-
lumbus, 48 ; left no " log "
or journals, 60, 61; let-
ters patent granted to,
62, 64, 86-88; land first
seen by, 95, 105, 106,
no.

293

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

Calbot, Zuam (John Cabot),

Calderon, Ferdinand, with
Sebastian Cabot, 237.

Cape Race, derivation of
name, 109.

Caro, Captain Gregorio,
Sebastian Cabot's ad-
herent, 232.

Carros, Dr. Louis, Spanish
ambassador in London,
156.

Casa de CofUrcUacion, Se-
ville, 157, 161, 191.

Catherine of Aragon, 266.

Cerezo, Maria, Vespucci's
widow, 190.

Chancellor, Richard, sent
to Russia by Sebastian
Cabot, 281, 283.

Charles V. of Spain and
Sebastian Cabot, 163,
164, 165, 168, 171, 238.

Charlevoix, historian,
quoted, 227.

Colimibus, Bartholomew,
in England, 43, 46, 47 1
48; returns to Spain, 50.

Colimibus, Christopher, al-
lusion to, 40, 43, 44, 45,
46, 50; discoveries of , 55;
a careful chronicler, 60.

Contarini, Gaspare, Vene-
tian ambassador in Eng-
land, 1 23 ; letter from re-
specting Sebastian Cab-
ot, 174, i75» 176-180,
183, 184.

Cosa, Juan de la, map
made by (1500), 97, 98,
109.

Coto, Francisco (Spain),
157.

(Council of Ten (Venetian),
the, correspondence with
Sebastian Cabot, 173-
185. 274.

Dawson, Dr. S. E., C^ana-
dian writer, quoted, 109,
126.

Debatable Voyage, the* of
Amerigo Vespuooi, 56,

57.

Decades of the New World,
Peter Martyr's, quoted,
99, 107, 236, etc.

Dias, Bartholomew, voy-
age of, around Africa, 43.

Eden, Richard, English
historian, 99; translated
Martyr's Vecades, etc.,
99, 236; at Sebastian
Cabot^ death-bed, 286.

Edward VI. of England
and Sebastian C^bot,
366, 367, 368; death of,
277.

Eirek the Red, Saga of,
4, et seq.; firat voyage,
of, 5. 6.

Eireksfiord, 5.

Eireksoe, 5.

Elliot, Hugh, Bristol, Eng-
land, 148.

Epitome of Chronicles, the,
quoted, 114.

Ejrrar, port of, 7.

Ferdinand, King of Spain,
151, 152; sends for Se-
bastian Cabot, 153, 154;
demise of, 164.

"First -seen" land, that,
95.

294

INDEX

Flateyar Bok, the, 4, and
in Sources of Information.

Fonseca, Bishop, and Se-
bastian Cabot, 161, 165.

Freydis, Eirek's daughter,

Purdustrandir, 24, a8.

Gaboto (Cabot), 245.
Gabotto, Giovanni (John

Cabot), 52.
Gall^o, Vasco, 157.
Galvao, Antonio, 132.
Garcia, Andres de Niflo,

157-

(Garcia, Di^o, denies Se-
bastian Cabot's claims,
140; a native of Moeuer
in Spain, 228; fo&ws
Cabot to South Ameri-
ca, 229, 230; meets him
on the Plata River, 233 ;
accompanies him back
to Spam, 240, 241.

Gavota (Cabot), Sebastian,
114.

C^omara, Spanish historian,
mentions Sebastian Cab-
ot in his History of the
Indies^ 102, 132.

Gonzalvez, John, and
brothers, of Bristol, Eng-
land, and Cabots, 147,
148.

(^rajeda, Antonio, captain
tmder Sebastian Cabot,
230.

Greenland, discovery of,
3, 4; settlement of, 40.

Gudrid, widow of Thorer,
21 ; married to Thorfinn,

23 •
Gunnbiom, Norse Viking, 3 .

Haki, a wild Scot, with
Thorfinn the Viking, 24.

Hakluyt, Richard, English
historian, 46; describes
John Cabot's first voy-
age, 55; in his Priftn
ctpatl Navigations
(quoted), 62; and in his
Divers Voyages (quoted),
114; calls Cabot a Ve-
netian, 114; narrates Sir
Hugh Willoughby's voy-
age, 280; refers to Se-
bastian Cabot's maps
and papers, 285.

Harrisse, M., quoted, 133,
136; denounces Sebas-
tian C^bot, 141.

Hekia, a wild Scotswoman
with Thorfinn, 24.

Helluland (probably Lab-
brador), 11, 23.

Henry VII., King of Eng-
land, sees Bartholomew
Columbus, 46, 47, 49;
grants letters patent to
John Cabot, 62, 64, 86,
87; has little interest in
the voyage, 83; grants
annuitv to Jonn Cabot,
84; character of, 88,
89.

Henry VIII., King of Eng-
land, expedition sent
by, to Spain, 151, 152;
reign of, 265; death of,
266.

Herjulf of Iceland, 7.

Herjtdfness, 7.

Heroes of American His-
tory, referred to, 2.

H6p, Norse landing-place
in America, 28, 34.

apS

JOHN AND SBBAStlAN CABOT

Horsford, Professor £. N.,
quoted, 4.

Indians (called Skrael-
ings), seen by the Norse-
men, 19, 29. 33» 37- ^

Indians taken to England
by the Cabots, 103, 104.

Ingolf of Iceland, 7.

JuNCO, John de, treasurer
of Sebastian Cabot's ex-
pedition, 252.

KiALARNESS (keel promon-
tory), 18, 24, 28, 34.

Kochhaff map, the so-
called, 134.

Kohl, Dr. J. G., on the
Cabot planisphere, 137.

Krossaness (cross promon-
tory), 20.

Labrador discovered, 11.

Landfall of Leif Erikson,
The, quoted, 4.

Landfall of John Cabot's
first voyage, 8.

Leif Erikson (Eirekson,
"son of Eirek the Red"),
7; voyage of to Green-
land and Vinland, 10-

17-
"Leif the Lucky," 17.
Lepe, Francis de, hanged

by Sebastian (^bot, 222.
Loayasa, the fleet of, 211.

Magellan, Ferdinand,
and Sebastian Cabot,
190, 191, 192.

Major, R. H., on the Cabot
planisphere, 134.

Manuscripts relating to the
CJabot's discoveries, 107.

Map ascribed to Sebastian
(3abot, 104, 133. 134.
140, 275.

Map, the La Cosa, 97, 98,
109.

Marldand, the, of Leif
Erikson, 11, 23, 3 c.

Martyr, Peter, where bom,
131; entertains ' Sebas-
tian C^bot, 131, and re-
lates his story, in his
Decades, of the New
World, 99, 102.

MatheWy tne good ship,
69, et seq.

Matrenzo, Dr. Sancho de
(Seville, Spain), 157.

Medrano, C^thaiine, Se-
bastian Cabot's wife,
iS6» i57f 200; defends
her husband, 249, 257.

Mendez, Martin, Sebastian
CJabot's lieutenant, 199;
plots against his com-
mander, 203, 207; is
imprisoned by (Jabot,
208; marooned, 216;
drowned while in exile,
240; defended in court
by his mother, 249, 250.

Merchant Adventurers of
England, the, 279.

Moluccas, the, 189; council
resi)ecting the, 190; ex-
pedition to, 1 92-1 97, 201 .

Montes, Henry, a sailor
with Solis in South
America, 211, 215.

New Year's Island, 221.
Newfoundland, discovered

296

INDEX

by John Cabot, 62 ; called
hy him Prima Vista, 106.

Nordenskjdld's great voy-
age, 281.

Norse Vikings, the, 3 ; voy-
ages, 2.

Norsemen, the, i, et seq.

North America, discovery
of, I.

Northmen, voyages of the,
2.

Northwest passage, dis-
cussed by Sebastian Cab-
ot, 194.

O'Brazil, Isle of, 44.

Ojeda, Alonzo, repents Eng-
lish on coast of Vene-
zuela, 144.

Olaf, Eong.of Norway, 6,
ID, 24.

Oran, north coast of Africa,
designated as place of
exile for Sebastian Cabot,
256.

Palbncia, Bishop of

(Spain), meets Sebastian

Cabot, 153.
Paraguay River, Sebastian

Cabot on the, 222.
Parana River, Sebastian

Cabot on the, 220.
Pasqualigo, Lorenzo, letter

from, referring to John

Cabot's voyage, 75-77;

calls the discoverer a

Venetian, 112.
Pemambuco, Sebastian

Cabot at, 207, 208, 209.
Pert, Sir Thomas, 1^0;

blamed by Sebastian

Cabot, 167, 168.

Piloto Mayor (chief pilot,)
office of, held by Sebas-
tian Cabot, 160, 161,
196, 197.

Pinzon, Vicente Yaflez, in
South America, 218.

Pizarro, Francisco, out-
strips Sebastian Cabot,
236.

Planisphere ascribed to
Sebastian Cabot, 108,
i33» 136, 140, 275.

Plata, Rio de la, and Se-
bastian Cabot, 195, 212,
217, 218, 229.

Portuguese combat Spain's
clamis to the Moluccas,
192, i93t 201.

Port5mg^es (Portuguese)
of Bristol, England, 148.

Prima Vista (" First-seen "
land), 56, 95, 105. 106,
108.

Puebla, Ruy Gonzalez de,
Spanish ambassador in
L<)ndon,letter written by,
01; calls John Cabot a
Gr^oese, 112.

Puerto, Ftands del, sur-
vivor of the Solis ex-
pedition, 217, 219.

Fmchas'aPilgrims, quoted,
268.

Ramirez, Mblchior, a
sailor with Solis, 211.

Ramusio, Giovanni, on the
second Cabot voyage,

149-
Rifos. See Rufis.
River of Silver (Rio de la

Plata), 195, 212, 217, 218.
River of Sous (La Plata),

397

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

discovered by Soils, ai8,
229, 236.

Robertson's History of
America, quoted, 51, 52,
105, 107.

Rodas, Michael, pilot, 209;
wrecks Sebastian Cabot s
flag -ship, 210; is ma-
rooned, 216; drowned,
240.

Rojas, Captain Francisco
de, plots against Sebas-
tian Cabot, 203, 204; ar-
rested, 208; mutinies and
is marooned, 216; stabs
a companion, 240; defiles
Cabot, 241 ; whom, after
returning to Spain, he
attacks in court, 253,

ass-
Runs (or Rifos), Michael de,
199; Sebastian Cabot's
loyal lieutenant , 221;
slain by Indians, 224.

Saga op Eirek the Red,

the, 4, et seq.
Saga of Thorfinn, the, 1 1 .
Sagas, the Vinland, 36.
Samano, Juan de, 258.
San Gabrielle, island of,

220.
San Lazaro, island of, 217,

219.
San Lucar de Barrameda,

202.
San Martin, Andres de, 1 5 7.
San Salvador, fort built by

SebastiaaCabot, 220, 237,

239-
Sancta Espiritu, fort, 232,
233; destroyed by Ind-
ians, 23s, 239.

Santa Maria, Cape, 241.

Santa Maria del Espinar,
Sebastian Cabot's fisLg-
ship, 241.

Savages taken by the Cab-
ots on the first voyage,
103, 104.

Serrano, Juan (Spain), 157.

Seven Cities, the, 44, 77.

Se3maour, Thomas, behead-
ed, 277.

Shelley, Richard, friend of
Sebastian Cabot, 971.

Simao, Dr. AfiEonso, im-
portant letter by, 244,
246.

Skraelings, the, seen by
Norsemen in America,
i9» 29, 3a, 37; invade
southern Greenland, 40.

Snorri Thorbrandson, Vik-
ing, 28, 29; killed by
Sloaelings, 32.

Snorri Thorfinnson, Vik-
ing. 35-

Solis, Juan de, navigator,
160, 162, 211, 217; at-
tacked and kiUea by
Indians, 218, 219.

Solis, river of, 218, 229,
236.

Somerset, Duke of , 2 67, 2 7 7 .

Soncino, Raimondo de,
Milanese envoy in Lon-
don, 77; letter from, de-
scribing the first Cabot
voyage, 77-80; refers
to John Cabot as a Ve-
netian, 1 1 J.

St. Brandon s Isle, 44.

St. Catharine Bay, named
by Sebastian Cabot, an,
213.

INDEX

Stow, English antiquary,
quoted, 114; life and
great services, 115, 116.

Straumey, Isle of Cturents,

25-
Straumfiord, 25, 34, 35.

Tarducci, F., quoted, 120,

127, 142, i43» 145-
Thomas, John, of Bristol,

England, 147.
Thorer the Norwegian, 16.
Thorfinn, the Saga of, 11.
Thorfinn Kalsefni, married

to Gudrid, 22; sails for

Vinland, 23.
Thorgerd, Herjulf's wife, 7.
Thorhall, the pagan, 23,

25, 28.

Thorstein, son of Eirek the
Red, dies in Greenland,
22.

Thorvald, son of Eirek the
Red, voyages to Vin-
land, 17-19; killed by
Skraelings, 20.

Thorvard, a Norseman, 7.

Torfaeus's book, 41.

Torres, Francisco de, 157.

Toscanelli, a map by, 38,

Trinidad, a ship of Seba
tian Cabot's neet, 203.

Tyrker, a Turk, or Grer-
man, with Leif Erikson,
14-

Ultima Thule, or Ice-
land, visited by Colum-
bus, 54.

Uniped, the, seen by Norse-
men, 34. 35» 38-

Uvaege, a Skraeling name,

35.

Valldida, Skraeling chief,

Vasquez, Cathanne, appears
against Sebastian Cabot
in cotirt, 249, 2}o.

Venetian Cotmcil of Ten,
corresponds with Sebas-
tian Cabot, 173, 185.

Venetians in London, six-
teenth centtiry, 120.

Venice, iUustnous voy-
agers of, 117; former
commerce of, 119, 120.

Vespucci, Amerigo, and
the Cabots, 48, 49; de-
batable voyage of, 56, 57.

Vespucci, Juan, in opam,

157. 158-
Vethilldi, a Skraeling name,

35-

Victoria, the, Magellan's
famous ship, first to cir-
cumnavigate the globe,
192, 194.

Vikings, the Norse, $,etse(f

Vinland, discovered by Leif
Erikson, 15-35; voyage
to, 40.

Vinland voyages, the, 4.

Warde, Richard, of Bris-
tol, England, 147.

Weare, G. E., quoted, 65;
with reference to map
ascribed to Sebastian
Cabot, 139, 140.

Weimar map, the, 136.

West India House, the
{Casa de CotUratacion),
157, 161, 191.

Willoughby, Lord, 151,153.
-" " rji,

Willot«hby, Sir Hugh
deatfi of (i5S5)» 280.

299

JOHN AND SEBASTIAN CABOT

Wineland the Good, 39.

Winsor, Justin, quoted, 60,
61; on mao ascribed to
Sebastian Cabot, 138.

Wolsey, Cardinal, and Se-
bastian Cabot, 169, 17a,

173-
Worthington, William, Se-
bastian Cabot's assistant,
285, 286.

XiMBNBS, Cardinal, ref-
erence to, 165.

Yagubron, Indian friend
of Sebastian Cabot, 228,

233-
Ynglaterra, Cabo de (on
La Cosa's map), 98, 109,
no.

ZiPANGO, land of, 44,

79-

Zoanne, Messer (John Cab-
ot), 78, 79, 80.

Zuam Calbert Gohn Cabot) ,
76.

THE END

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