IN NORTHERN MISTS 



he was afraid of more land in that direction, which would be 

 awkward to come near, especially when sailing at night, 

 he bore off to the south-east, where he knew from the outward 

 voyage that there was open water. After a time, thinking 

 himself safe, he again set his course east by compass, but then 

 had fresh land, Avalon Peninsula, ahead or on his starboard 

 bow, and again had to bear off. He took this for another 

 large island (Y. Verde), but would not land, both on 

 account of shortness of provisions, and because he wanted 

 to be home as soon as possible with the news of his discovery, 

 and to prepare a larger expedition to take possession of the 

 new country.^ To be quite sure of encountering no more 

 land, Cabot may then have borne off well to the south-east, 

 thus reaching the Newfoundland Banks on the south, and 

 keeping quite clear of the icebergs which are found farther 

 north. For his eastern voyage he was well served by the 

 wind, since nearly all the winds in this part of the Atlantic 

 are between south and west or north-west in July and the 

 beginning of August. He was further helped by the current 

 to some extent, and may, therefore, very easily have made 

 the homeward voyage in twenty-three days, and sailed back 

 into the port of Bristol about the 6th (15th, N.S.) of August, 1497. 

 That Cabot cannot have taken much more than twenty days on 

 the return voyage also appears from the statement already quoted 



1 That the distance between these islands and Cauo de Ynglaterra is less 

 than half what it ought to be on La Cosa's map cannot be considered of de- 

 cisive importance, since, as we have seen, the distances on this map are in gen- 

 eral not to be relied on. The name, S. Grigor, must certainly be due to the 

 Englishmen, while Y. Verde may be due to Cabot or to La Cosa, and may 

 be the same name as is found on compass-charts of the fifteenth century (cf. 

 above, p. 279). La Cosa or Cabot may have taken these two islands to be the 

 same as Ilia verde and Ilia brazil on these older charts, and while one of the 

 islands has been given a new name (perhaps because there were other islands 

 with the name of Brazil (?), or because this island was nameless on some of 

 the compass-charts) (see above, p. 281), the other has been allowed to retain 

 the old name, which was originally a translation of " Greenland." This old 

 land of the Norsemen is here brought far to the south, and reduced to a very 

 modest size, being confused with peninsulas of Newfoundland. 



318 



