Though our ordinary history books tell us nothing more
of English voyages until we come to the days of the great
Elizabethan navigators, Drake, Frobisher, Hawkins, and
to the planting of Virginia, as a matter of fact many
voyages were made under Henry VII and Henry VIII. Both
sovereigns seem to have been anxious to continue the
exploration of the western seas, but they had not the
good fortune again to secure such master-pilots as John
and Sebastian Cabot.
In the first place, it seems that the fishermen of England,
as well as those of the Breton coast, followed close in
the track of the Cabots. As soon as the Atlantic passage
to Newfoundland had been robbed of the terrors of the
unknown, it was not regarded as difficult. With strong
east winds a ship of the sixteenth century could make
the run from Bristol or St Malo to the Grand Banks in
less than twenty days. Once a ship was on the Banks, the
fish were found in an abundance utterly unknown in European
waters, and the ships usually returned home with great
cargoes. During the early years of the sixteenth century
English, French, and Portuguese fishermen went from Europe
to the Banks in great numbers.
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