48 THE (JEOGKAPHICAL EVOLUTION OF LABRADOR. 



our Mercatoi's map,* 'they have reached the bay,' 

 Hudson's, or at least Ungava Bay. ' We can, there- 

 fore, state with the greatest certainty that Hudson's 

 Bay,' Hudson's Strait as far as Ungava Bay, . . . ' had 

 been discovered before the publication of Ortelius's at- 

 las, which took place in 1570,' or, better, before the pub- 

 lication of M creator's chart, which took place in 1569. 

 ' But we are not equally certain that the discovery falls 

 within the years 1558 to 1570,' or, better, 1569, 'because 

 we have only the negative evidence of Diego Homem's 

 chart to support the latter assertion. The fact itself is, 

 however, probable enough.' " 



To the English navigators of the i6th and 17th cen-,- 

 turies succeeding Cartier we owe the next step in our 

 knowledge of the geography of the Labrador peninsula. 



In 1577 Master Martin Frobisher sighted the coast 

 of Northern Labrador, which he called " Frisland,"" 

 using a word which frequently appears in the earl}' 

 charts. The point he first sighted was probably north 

 of 58°, for after coasting four days along the coast for 

 perhaps a distance of nearly two hundred miles, a voy- 

 age of eight days, between the 8th and i6th of July, 

 would carry him to Frobisher's Strait. Moreover his 

 description of the coast applies well to the northern ex- 

 tremity of Labrador beyond Hopedale and Okkak. 



The narrative reads thus : 



"The 4. of luly we came within the making of Fris- 

 land. From this shoare 10. or 12. leagues, we met 

 great Islands of yce, of halfe a mile, some more, some 



* Dr. Asher does not mention Mercator's map of 1569. He had before him-' 

 the map of Ortelius of 1570, who was only a follower and copyist of Mercator,. 

 but adopted his views.' 



