tithis extraordinary class was not confined to "any one nationality. It almost seemed as iif éfiature had hidden the different Europeam ”peoples, regardless 'of racial differences, to bring forth men whom she could send fortlh to explore the unknown places of the artl’n, d make them known to civilized mam. 1They hailed from no single country. Porr- f-fixgal, Spain, the Italian coast cities, France, 3fEngland——all could boast of members of thiis 4, class whom they sent forth on their daring ‘ quest. ' _ For several of these navigators, besides Jacques Cartier, the credit of discovering Prince Edward Island has been claimed, butt , such claims do not seen to rest on a sub)- . 'stantial basis. The strongest of these bars ' been on behalf of John Cabot, and in the older histories and by the earlier writers he‘ is usually credited with the discovery. Dir. Stewart, in his article in the Encyclopedia . ’Britannica,’tells us that the claim was madle on behalf of Sebastian Cabot. He evidently confounds the son with the father. There are no grounds on which any claim of the former can be based, beyond the fact than he probably accompanied his father on his first voyage. The supposed discovery was ' by the father, John 'Cabot, a greater man “than the son. He sailed, on his first voyage, from Bristol, in May, 1497, on the “Mat:— - thew,” a small, unarmed vessel, with a crew 'Eof only eighteen men. It was really a pre» , ,Zliminary or preparatory expedition. The . objective point was Cathay, or China, or the land of the Great Khan. The method of these old navigators, in making their voyages »_ was, after leaving their home port, to sail L ' .northwardly until they reached a latitude F “judged sufficiently high for their purpose, wfiand then to steer a course due west by the ‘ Frianpass, and this is what Cabot did. He ” ‘ -< to have had very rough weather. He

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PRINCE EDWVARD ISLAND. . . 9

made land on the 24th of June, old style, which would be the first week in our July, so that his voyage must have occupied from six to eight weeks. There has been rnuch dispute as to what land this was which Cabot made. Sailing to the westward, it must have been the east coast of whatever land it was. It has been variously contended that it was the east coast of Newfoundland, the coast

, of Labrador, or the east coast of Cape Bre- '

ton. But the report of the voyagers' on their return to England was that the land was fer- tle, with a mild climate, as if silk might be grown there._ In other words, it looked like a semi-tropical land. This description effectually disposes of Newfoundland and Labrador, as by no stretch of the imagination could it be made' to apply to those storm- beaten and barren coasts. Now, in the be-

ginning of July, part of the east coast of-

Cape Breton is a land very fair to the eye. At that season it might well impress one, who saw and ‘heard of it for the first time, and whose wearied gaze had for weeks rested on nothing but a stormy waste of waters. Moreover, in A. D. 1500, La CoSa, a com- panion of Columbus, made a map of North America for the King of Spain, which is still extant. It was long lost, but was found in the middle of the last century. It is certainly based, so far as this part of Canada is concerned, upon information furnished by Cabot, or by some of his companions. It is

the oldest map of North America, and on its ,

face mentions the “Sea discovered by the English” and as John Cabot and his ship’s company were the only Englishmen who had yet been there, this can only refer to his discoveries. On the English section, it refers

’ to the Cape of Discovery, which coincides

with Cape Breton, the eastern point of Cape Breton Island, which would thus seem to be established as the land made by John Cabot.

.i.