Driven round the
globe by the constant motion and impulse of the heavens, and not to be
alternately swallowed and cast up again by the breathing of Demogorgon,
as some have imagined on purpose to explain the ebb and flow of the sea.
Sebastian Cabot himself named these lands Baccalaos, because he found
in the seas thereabout such multitudes of certain large fishes like
tunnies, called baccalaos by the natives, that they sometimes stayed
his ships. He found also the people of these regions clothed in the
skins of beasts, yet not without the use of reason. He says also that
there are great numbers of bears in those countries, which feed on fish,
and catch them by diving into the water; and being thus satisfied with
abundance of fish, are not noisome to man. He says likewise that he saw
large quantities of copper among the inhabitants of these regions. Cabot
is my dear and familiar friend, whom I delight to have sometimes in my
house. Being called out of England by the Catholic king of Castille, on
the death of Henry VII. of England, he was made one of the assistants of
our council respecting the affairs of the new found Indies, and waits in
daily expectation of being furnished with ships in which to discover
these hidden secrets of nature.
[Footnote 9: Hakluyt, III. 29. quoting P. Martyr, Dec. III. Ch. vi.]
[Footnote 10: The Straits of Gibraltar are in lat. 36 deg. N. which would
bring the discovery of the eastern coast of North America by Cabot, all
the way from 67-1/2 deg. N. beyond Hudsons Bay, to Albemarle Sound on the
coast of North Carolina - E.]
[Footnote 11: The middle of the island of Cuba is in long. 80 deg. W. from
Greenwich, which would have carried Cabot into the interior of Hudsons
Bay, to which there is no appearance of his having penetrated, in the
slight notices remaining of his exploratory voyage. - E.]
[Footnote 12: We have before seen that he named the country which he
discovered, the island of St John, and that he gave the name in this
part of the text, baccalaos, to the fish most abundant in those seas,
which we name cod. - E.]
[Footnote 13: It is probable this applies to the tide of flood setting
into the Gulf of St Lawrence or Hudsons Bay or both; which led Cabot to
expect a passage through the land to the west - E.]
SECTION V.
Testimony of Francisco Lopez de Gomara, concerning the discoveries of
Sebastian Cabota[14].
Sebastian Cabota, who came out of England into Spain, brought most
certain information of the country and people of Baccalaos. Having a
great desire to traffic for spices, like the Portuguese, he fitted out
two ships with 300 men, at the cost of Henry VII.
