<JXXf V ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 



such a voyage took place. We shall cite authorities to prove that under 

 Henry VII., and consequently in 1498, the Cabots went as far north as 

 «ither 66° 30' or 61° 30'. 



1. Jerome Eamusio, in preface to third volume of " Yiaggi," says 



Sebastian Cabot wrote him years ago that " at the expense of 

 Heniy VII. he had sailed as high as 67° 30'." 



2. Frobisher, quoted by Hakluyt, III., 38, says, " I find Cabota was 



the first in King Henry VII. 's days that discovered this frozen 

 land or seas from 67° towards the north, and from thence 

 towards the south, along the coast of America to 36|°." 

 Frobisher, before undertaking his own expedition to the polar 



regions, had studied all available literature on the subject. Hence his 



words are quite decisive. 



3. Francis Bacon, " The Historié of the Eaigne of King Henry the 



Seventh," pages 196 to 197, speaking of this voj^age, says, " He 

 (Cabot) sailed, as he affirmed at his return (and made a card 

 thereof), very far westward with a quarter of the north on the 

 north side of Terra de Labrador, until he came to the latitude 

 of sixty-seven degrees and a half" 



4. André Thevet in Gran Insulaire et Pilotage (MSS. quoted by 



Tarducci in " John and Sebastian Cabot," page 341), *' A Vene- 

 tian undertook this voyage by the authority of Henry VII., 

 King of England, and Avent as far as the sixty-seventh degree." 



5. In the preface to Blaeu's great work on cosmography, now so 



rare, we are told that " by command of Henry VII. of Eng- 

 land," a voyage to the north was undertaken by Sebastian 

 Cabot and that " after having discovered the country of Bacalos» 

 and having penetrated to the 67th degree of elevation, was 

 obliged to retrace his steps, owing to the icebergs that blocked 

 the narrow channels of the sea." These words mvist carry great 

 weight, and are not derived from the same soui'ce as the othera 

 quoted. 



6. Sir Humphrey Gilbert (A Discourse of a Discoverie for a New 



Passage to Cataia) has words similar to those of Bacon's. We 

 may add to these the testimony of Peter Martyr^ who had from 

 Sebastian Cabot an account of this voyage. Not being a nautical 

 man or a cosmographer he does not mention the degree attained, 

 but says he went so far north that he had " almost continual 

 light." This would require an altitude of sixty-six or sixty- 

 seven degi'ces.^ 



1 Loc. Cit. 



2 In latitude 66° N. on ;31st July there are 18 hrs. 10 min. from sunrise to sunset, 

 and the aurora begins almost as soon as the twilight has waned. 



