l899-'oo TRANSACTIONS 35 



readiness and skill as a colonizer of the waste places of the earth 



It has been said that the Russians are the best linguists of 

 Europe because every other language is so easy in comparison 

 with their own. Possibly the British have found it easier to 

 colonize the whole earth because their earlier efforts were 

 directed to the bleak parts ; after conquering these it was child's 

 play to conquer the rest. 



Frobisher took back to England the information that be- 

 tween 62° and 63" on the eastern side of North America a wide 

 entrance existed, navigable for hundreds of miles, and that a still 

 broader and more navigable entrance had been found between 

 60* and 62°. "This information was more than sufficient to 

 raise the most lively hopes of a through passage and the most 

 ardent aspirations towards its discovery, especially in an age that 

 may well be said to have given birth to the buoyancj^ and elas- 

 ticity of spirit by which the English nation has since become so 

 great."* 



Though Frobisher exerted himself to his utmost to secure 

 the means for a larger expedition ; though he was supported in 

 his efforts bj^ England's great seaman, Francis Drake, who 

 offered ^i ,000, when he could ill afford it ; and though the Earl of 

 I^eicester subscribed ^3,000, the enterprise came to naught ; and 

 thus passes out of our specially Canadian story, the man 

 Frobisher, who is justly regarded as one of England's great 

 naval heroes. 



He had the Yorkshireman's faculty for getting on in the 

 world. After he abandoned Arctic exploration he commanded a 

 ship in Sir Francis Drake's expedition to the West Indies and in 

 1588 he did such excellent work in the "Triumph" against the 

 Spanish Armada, that he was rewarded with the honour of 

 knighthood. In 1594 he took part in the seige of Crozan, near 

 Brest, received a wound, was taken to Plymouth, and there died. 



Frobisher's voyages are also "western sailings" in the 

 account of which we read our "title deeds" to the "Northern 

 Fringe" of our country. 



*G. M. Asher. 



