CH. X] 
Sir Martin Frobisher 
85 
forgetting that "all that glisters is not gold." He took 
it to the Assay Master of the Tower who pronounced it to 
be iron pyrites. Then he went to another assayer named 
Wheeler, who made the same report. Next he appealed 
to an Italian named Aquello, who was more complaisant. 
He produced a little gold dust. When he was asked 
how he had found gold where the other assayers declared 
there was none, his cynical reply was " Bisogno super e 
adulare la natura." 
Lock then spread the report that there were rich 
gold mines in Frobisher Strait. There was great excite- 
ment. A gold-mining company was formed called the 
" Cathay Company/' and a charter was granted on the 
17th March, 1577. The Queen took shares to the amount 
of £1000, and lent one of her ships, the Aid of 200 tons. 
She named the newly discovered land li Meta Incognita." 
The subscriptions came in rather slowly, but Lock 
guaranteed the balance, and became Governor of the 
Company. 
Frobisher took command of the second expedition 
on May 25th, 1577. It consisted of three vessels. The 
Aid, the Queen's vessel, was Frobisher's flag-ship, with 
George Best as his lieutenant, Christopher Hall as master, 
and 30 gentlemen volunteers and soldiers. The Gabriel 
of 20 tons was commanded by Edward Fenton and had a 
crew of 18 men, with William Smyth as master. Gilbert 
Yorke, possibly a cousin of Frobisher, had the Michael of 
about 25 tons, with a crew of 16 men. They sailed from 
Blackwall on the 26th May, and next day the Vicar of 
Gravesend came on board the A id and administered the 
Sacrament to officers and men. 
On July 7th land, which was believed to be the 
Frieslanda of Zeno, was sighted, and an attempt was 
made to cross or get through the ice and land, but it 
proved impracticable. This was of course Greenland. 
Sailing onwards the Michael lost her topmasts in a gale 
but succeeded in regaining her consorts, and a few days 
afterwards the land discovered during the first voyage 
was reached. The object of the expedition was to load 
the ships with the black micaceous stones which were 
supposed to be gold ore, and had nothing to do with 
Arctic discovery. The gallant admiral, however, thought 
