Section IL, 1896. [ 33 ] Trans. R. S. C. 



11. — Death of Sir Humphrey Gilbert. 

 By Douglas Brymner, LL.D., Archivist. 



It was a time of unrest in the early days of Elizabeth's reign ; there 

 was peace, but it was of very doubtful duration. Scotland, France and 

 Spain were straining at the leash, only held back by considerations for 

 their own safety, that being dependent on their success in other quarters. 

 A desire for over-sea foreign trade was awakened, chiefly in the West of 

 England, the ownership of a greater part of the new world asserted by 

 Spain and which she maintained by the most forcible means, raised oppo- 

 sition which did not exist in the reigns previous to that of Elizabeth. 

 On the contrary, in the last year of the reign of Edward VI, (1553), 

 Sir Hugh Willoughby set out to discover a north-east passage to China, 

 to avoid trenching on what Spain maintained to be her sacred right, 

 namely, the exclusive navigation of the waters washing the shores of the 

 American continent and islands. Willoughby in this, followed the 

 attempts of previous navigators who had been looking for a north-west 

 passage, with the same object in view. Cortereal was the first in 1500, 

 succeeded by others, all equally unsuccessful. Willoughby was most 

 unfortunate in his search ; he perished miserably in Nova Zembla 

 according to some authorities, or according to others, including Hakluyt, 

 in Lapland, in one of which, the bodies of himself and crew were 

 found next spring by Eussian fishermen. 



Frobisher in 1576 began a eeries of voyages to find a north-west 

 passage, having made three attempts, buoyed up by the false hopes not 

 only of discovering the looked for passage, but also of bringing back 

 ship loads of gold, worthless pyrites being mistaken for the nobler 

 metal. Davis, who followed, also made three voyages, but as is well 

 known, all the explorers were equally unsuccessful, as have been those in 

 much later years, for it was long beîbi'e the hope of discovering a north- 

 west passage to China was abandoned, the search being persevered in 

 with the hope of finding a much shorter passage than the one then 

 used. 



Drake returned from his voyage round the world in 1580, bringing 

 back with him a lai'ge amount of plunder from the Spanish possessions, 

 by a process which can scarcely be desci'ibed by any other term than 

 than that of piratical. In all the voyages made by the English till that 

 period, no thought of colonizing was entertained, the possession of lands 

 fit for settlement held by the Spaniards and Portuguese, being evidently 

 regarded as a barrier to the carrying out of such an idea, which, if held 

 at all, was speedily abandoned. In 1578, however, two years before 



Sec. II., 1896. 3. 



