men, among whom were probably included one or two of his sons.

Rounding Ireland, they first of all headed north and then west. After several weeks of variable winds they must finally have reached the region of fogs. This naturally cast a damper over their spirits, as it does to-day over those of any one who stands on the foredeck of a steamer and peers out over the dark waters which surround one on every side. They must indeed have felt that their small craft was but " a nutshell on the wide waste of waters.' 'They courageously kept on, however, and were finally rewarded with the glad cry of "land ahead" at five o'clock on Saturday morning, June 24. After being fifty-two days at sea they had reached the most westerly point of our Cape Breton island. The royal banner was unfurled, and when the ship's boat grounded her keel on the beach, perhaps of Mira Bay, John Cabot stepped ashore, and in solemn form took possession of the land in the name of King Henry VII. They saw no inhabitants, but found certain snares set for game and a needle for making nets. They also noticed that the trees thereabout were notched, so judged that the country was inhabited. The soil they found to be excellent and the climate a temperate one. They were therefore fully convinced they had reached that part of the extreme eastern coast of Asia whence came the Brazil wood and the silks Cabot had seen at Mecca. To our present Cape Breton they gave the name Cape Discovery," and on it, as was then the custom, they set up a large cross with both the arms. of England and also of Venice, Cabot's own country. As the day was the feast of St. John the Baptist, our Scatari Island, which lies off Cape Breton, was called "St. John's Island."

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How long Cabot spent there we do not know. No doubt a good supply of wood and of fresh water was taken

on board before any new move was made. During this operation the rise and fall of the tide on the coast was noticed to be very slight. They seem next to have set sail north along Cape Breton island, and on catching sight of our Cape Ray, which is most conspicuous, to have named it "Cape St. George." They doubtless took Cabot Strait simply for a deep bay, as it long continued to be represented.

Since their provisions were none too plentiful, should the return voyage take as long as the one coming out, they determined to forgo further discovery and to return. home as quickly as possible. Coasting along the southern shore of Newfoundland, they gave names to various capes and notable points that struck the eye. Our St. Pierre and Miquelon, which then formed with Langley three separate islands, were named “The Trinity" group, but they did not land, as time was precious. Somewhere about here they came upon immense schools of codfish, which were so crowded together that to catch them the sailors had merely to lower baskets overboard with a stone in each and haul them up again full of fish. Our present Cape St. Mary, off which they evidently arrived on Saturday, the first of July, they christened "Cape St. John," as that day was the octave 1 of John the Baptist's festival, and also of the saint after whom Cabot himself was named. Cape Race, which was the last land seen as they set sail for home, they named most appropriately England's Cape."

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The return voyage was performed without difficulty, since the prevailing winds in the North Atlantic are from the west, and on Sunday, the sixth of August, the Mathew dropped anchor once more in the harbour of Bristol. John Cabot hastened to Court, and on the following Thursday, August 10, received a grant of £10 from King Henry VII 1 Octave: the eighth day after the festival.

as a reward of having "founde the new Isle." According to Cabot's report he had discovered, 700 leagues from England, the eastern coast of Asia or the country of the Great Khan. Although silk and Brazil wood were to be found at that spot, it was his intention on his next voyage to proceed on down that coast until he came opposite Cipango or Japan, then placed in the equatorial regions, which in his opinion was the country whence came all the spices and precious stones he had seen at Mecca. Once he had opened commercial intercourse with those people, he would be able to make London a greater centre for the spice-trade than was then Alexandria itself.

King Henry VII was delighted, and promised to give Cabot in the following spring a fleet of ten ships in which to make his way to the spice region. Meanwhile Cabot received a pension of twenty pounds a year, which for those days was a large sum.

H. P. BIGGAR