32 NEW ENGLAND FISHERIES 



He gave to Cape Cod its present name on account of the 

 multitude of fish that he took near it. Continuing his way 

 southward he built a storehouse and fort on Elizabeth Is- 

 land, intending to establish a permanent settlement there. 

 But when the time came for his ship to return, the in- 

 tended colonists to a man embarked aboard the vessel and 

 returned with Gosnold to England. Gosnold spread most 

 favorable reports of the new country, declaring among 

 other things that the fishing was superior to that on the 

 banks of Newfoundland. 



Several merchants of Bristol became interested in such 

 enterprises and sent out Martin Pring in 1603 with two 

 vessels. Pring reached the coast of Maine near Penobscot 

 Bay, discovered and named Fox Island from several silver- 

 gray foxes that he saw there, and coasted as far south as 

 Martha's Vineyard. He entered Plymouth Harbor where 

 he remained six weeks, exploring the region, becoming ac- 

 quainted with the natives, gathering cargoes of sassafras, 

 and even planting seeds to test the soil. He gave the name 

 of Saint John's Harbor to the place, and, after loading 

 his vessels, sailed for England. He confirmed Gosnold 's 

 statement that the fisheries of New England were superior 

 to those of Newfoundland. ' ' Thus two years before Cham- 

 plain explored Plymouth Harbor, naming it Port of Cape 

 Saint Louis, ten years before the Dutch visited the place, 

 calling it Crane Bay, and seventeen years before the ar- 

 rival of the Leyden Pilgrims, Englishmen became familiar 

 with the whole region, and loaded their ships with the 

 fragrant products of the neighboring woods. ' ' l 



In 1605, George Waymouth, under the patronage of 

 several Englishmen of rank, came to the Maine coast in the 

 vicinity of Penobscot Bay. Waymouth, like Gosnold and 

 Pring, considered the fishing prospects of the coast of 

 Maine greater than those of Newfoundland. An account of 



i Winsor, III, p. 174. 



