Trail and Camp-Fire 



^' 



The distinction of being the earliest discov- 

 ered and latest unknown portion of the Amer- 

 ican continent may be claimed for the Labrador 

 Peninsula. In 990 a. d. Biarne, the Norseman, 

 sailed from Greenland and skirted the shores 

 of Labrador on his voyage southward, probably 

 to Nova Scotia. He was followed by other 

 crews of these adventurers, whose latest voy- 

 age to America was in 1347. After a lapse of 

 one hundred and fifty years Labrador was re- 

 discovered by John Cabot in 1497, on a voyage 

 from Bristol in search of a passage westward 

 to Cathay. About the same time the fisheries 

 of Labrador and Newfoundland became known 

 to the Basque fishermen, and in 1 504 the town 

 of Brest was founded on the north side of the 

 Strait of Belle Isle. This town grew rapidly, 

 so that in 1 5 1 7 over fifty vessels called there ; 

 and at the height of its prosperity, about 1600, 

 Brest contained 200 houses, and a population 

 of about 1 ,000 persons. 



Mercator's map of 1569 shows the coasts of 

 Labrador and Ungava, or Hudson Bay, and, 

 as he derived his Information from Portuguese 

 sources, it is evident that the fishermen of that 

 country had previously penetrated Hudson 

 Strait. The search for a northwest passage 





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