114 THE CALL OF THE SEA 



The Benefits of Navig^ation ^Qy <::i^ 



(From Three Voyages) 



/^NE of the excellentest artes that ever hath bin 



devised is the arte of navigation, which in 



times past was so raw and unknowen, that no man 



durst travel by sea, saving only alongst the shore : 



and if by wind, currant, or tempest, he were driven 



against his will so far from the land that he lost 



the sight thereof, he made no other accompte but 



to be cast away, his vessell was so rude and his 



skill so little. 



M. Frobisher. 



(From Three Voyages to Ike Arctic Regions ; Hakluyt 

 Soc. , trans.) 



T T is a most certaine and an assured assertion, 

 that nothing doth more benefit and further the 

 common-wealth (specially these countries ^) then 

 the art and knowledge of nauigation, in regard 

 that such countries and nations as are strong and 

 mightie at sea, haue the meanes and ready way to 

 draw, fetch, and bring vnto them for their main- 

 tenaunce, all the principalest commodities and 

 fruites of the earth, for that thereby they are in- 

 abled to bring all necessary things for the nourish- 

 ment and sustentation of man from the vttermost 



^ Namely, the United Provinces of the Netherlands. 



