1875.} The Arctic Expedition. 509 
and a colony was forthwith founded. The colony was 
divided into East and West Bygd (Ice., byggia, to build) : the 
former ultimately contained go farms and 4 churches, and 
the latter 190 farms, a cathedral, and 11 churches. The 
colony was christianised towards the close of the tenth 
century, and sent tribute to Rome in the form of the tusks of 
the morse. Early in the fifteenth century the colony ceased 
to exist. It had undergone various misfortunes: a plague 
had broken out among the inhabitants; an irruption of the 
aborigines (Esquimaux) had disturbed the settlement ; and 
finally a hostile fleet laid waste the country. During the 
occupation of Southern Greenland by the Icelanders America 
was discovered. 
In 1492 Columbus discovered the West Indies, and in 
1498 Vasco di Gama doubled the “‘ Cape of Storms.” The 
English merchants were cut out from any share of the com- 
merce of the Indies, for the Pope had assigned the eastern 
route to the Portuguese, and the western to the Spaniards ; 
hence it was that the Merchant Venturers of Bristol deter- 
mined if possible to achieve a North-West Passage to the 
Pacific. In the reign of Edward IV. a Venetian mer- 
chant named Giovanni Gabotto had settled in Bristol, and 
according to Hakluyt his celebrated son Sebastian was born 
in that city in 1467. Letters patent were presented to John 
Gabot and his sons by Henry VII. permitting them to sail 
under the English flag, and to set up the flag in every newly 
discovered land. In 1497 John Gabot discovered Labrador 
and Newfoundland. He appears to have made two voyages 
in search of a north-west passage, and to have penetrated to 
the 58th degree of latitude. This was the first attempt of the 
English to make the North-West Passage. In 1527 one 
Robert Thorne presented an address to Henry VIII. praying 
that ships might be sent out tothe North in quest of newlands, 
since other nations had already made important discoveries 
in the direction of South, and West, and East. He argued 
that if the seas above Newfoundland be navigable it would 
be possible to sail due North, pass the Pole, and descend to 
the equino¢tial line near to the Spice Islands, and thus to 
outstrip the Spaniards and Portuguese. Two ships were 
equipped for this purpose by Henry VIII.; one was lost in 
a storm, the other got no further than Newfoundland. 
An attempt was made in the reign of Edward VI. to sail 
to India by a north-east passage, and a company of mer- 
chants (afterwards incorporated and styled “‘ The Fellow- 
ship of English Merchants for the Discovery of New 
Trades,” but now commonly known as ‘the “ Muscovy 
