second, the attempting of anything prejudicial to her majesty's title was declared treason, according to the laws of England. By the third, the uttering of words to the dishonour of her majesty was to be punished with the loss of ears and the confiscation of property.

The proclamation being finished, assent and obedience were signified by loud acclamations. A pillar was erected, bearing a plate of lead, on which the queen's arms were engraven; and several of the merchants took grants of land, in fee farm, on which they might cure their fish, as they had done before.

A tax of provision, by her majesty's authority, was levied on all the ships. This tax was readily paid; besides which, the admiral received presents of wine, fruits, and other refreshments, chiefly from the Portuguese.

This formal possession, taken by Sir Humphrey Gilbert in consequence of the discov ery of the Cabots, is the foundation of the right and title of the crown of England to the territory of Newfoundland and to the fishery on its banks.

As far as the time would permit, a survey was made of the country, one principal object of which was the discovery of mines and minerals. The mineralogist was a Saxon,

who is characterized as "honest and religious." This man brought to the admiral first a specimen of iron, then a kind of ore, which, on the peril of his life, he protested to be silver. The admiral enjoined secrecy, and sent it on board, intending to have it assayed when they should get to sea.

The company being dispersed abroad, some were taken sick and died; some hid themselves in the woods, with an intention to go home by the first opportunity; and others cut one of the vessels out of the harbour and carried her off.

On the twentieth of August, the admiral, having collected as many of his men as could be found, and ordered one of his vessels to stay and take off the sick, set sail with three ships, the Delight, the Hind, and the Squirrel. He coasted along the southern part of the island, with a view to make Cape Breton and the Isle of Sable, on which last he had heard that cattle and swine had been landed by the Portuguese thirty years before.

Being entangled among shoals and involved in fogs, the Delight struck on a sandbank and was lost.* Fourteen men only

* [There is somewhat of sad romance in the narrative of this "The evening was faire and pleasant, yet not without

event.

saved themselves in a boat; the loss of the Saxon refiner was particularly noted,* and nothing farther was heard of the silver ore. This misfortune determined the admiral to return to England without attempting to make any farther discoveries, or to take possession of any other part of America. On his passage he met with bad weather. The Squirrel frigate, in which Sir Humphrey sailed, was overloaded on her deck; but he persisted in taking his passage in her, notwithstanding the remonstrances of his friends in the Hind, who would have persuaded him to sail with them.† token of storme to ensue, and most part of this, Wednesday, night, like the swanne that singeth before her death, they in the Admiral, or Delight, continued in sounding of trumpets, with drummes and fifes; also winding the cornets, haughtboyes; and in the end of their jolitie, left with the battel and ringing of dolefull knels." "Thursday, the 29th of August," they perished.-Hakluyt, iii., 156.—H.]

* [A greater loss was that of Stephen Parmenius, a native of Buda, in Hungary, "who, of pietie and zeale to good attempts, adventured in this action, minding to record in the Latine tongue the gests and things worthy of remembrance happening in this discoverie to the honour of our nation, the same being adorned with the eloquent stile of this orator and rare poet of our time."-Hakluyt, iii., 156. He addressed to Gilbert a poem on this voyage, in Latin hexameters, which is preserved. -Ib., 138-143.-H.]

[The Squirrel was of only ten tons burden, and Sir Humphrey had taken passage in her as "being most convenient to discover upon the coast, and to search in every harbour or

From the circumstance of his returning from his first voyage without accomplishing its object, it had been reported that he was afraid of the sea; had he yielded to the solicitation of his friends, the stigma might have been indelible.

When the wind abated and the vessels were near enough, the admiral was seen constantly sitting in the stern with a book in his hand. On the ninth of September he was seen for the last time, and was heard by the people in the Hind to say, "We are as near heaven by sea as by land."* In the following night the lights of his ship suddenly disappeared.† The people in the other vessel kept a good look-out for him during the remainder of the voyage. On the twenty-second of September they arrived, through much tempest and peril, at Falmouth. But nothing more was seen or heard of the admiral.‡

creeke, which a great ship could not doe."-Hakluyt, iii., 154, -H.]

* [A speech, says Captain Hayes, "well becoming a soldier resolute in Jesus Christ, as I can testify he was."-H.]

+["About the same time was swallowed up by the ocean Sir Humphrey Gilbert, knight, a quick and lively-spirited man, famous for his knowledge in matters relating both to war and peace."-Camden, Eliz., 287.-H.]

‡ [Sir Humphrey Gilbert had two brothers, John and Adrian, both knighted, and both connected with schemes of maritime

While his zeal for the interest of the crown and the settlements of its American dominions has been largely commended, he has been blamed for his temerity in lavishing his own and other men's fortunes in the prosecution of his designs. This is not the only instance of a waste of property in consequence of sanguine expectations, which, though ruinous to the first adventurers, has produced solid advantages to their successors.

Dr. Forster has a remark on one of the incidents of this voyage which is worthy of repetition and remembrance. "It is very clear," says he, "in the instance of the Portuguese having stocked the Isle of Sable with domestic animals, that the discoverers of the New World were men of humanity, desirous of providing for such unfortunate people as

discovery and foreign plantation. Of Sir John some account is given by Belknap in the Life of Gorges. Adrian obtained a patent from Queen Elizabeth, dated February 6, 1583, granting him privileges in respect to a discovery of a passage to China by the north, northwest, or northeast. In this instrument he is described as "Adrian Gylbert, of Sandridge, in the county of Devon, gentleman," and the company associated with him (Raleigh and Sanderson) were styled "the colleagues of the fellowship for the discovery of the Northwest Passage." Voyages were made by Davis and others under the patronage of this company. Sir Walter Raleigh, in a letter to his wife in 1603, mentions Sir Adrian as owing him £600.-H.]