PRINCE EDWARD ISLAND. this extraordinary class was not confined tto any one nationality. It almost seemed as iif nature had bidden the different Europeam peoples, regardless of racial differences, tto bring forth men whom she could send to explore the unknown places of the earth. and make them known to civilized mam. .4 They hailed from no single country. Poir- rtugal, Spain, the Italian coast cities, , England —all could boast of members of thiis 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 hats been on behalf of John Cabot , and in the older histories and by the earlier writers hie is usually credited with the discovery. Dr. Stewart , in his article in the Encyclopedia Britannica, tells us that the claim was made 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 thatt he probably accompanied his father on hie first voyage. The supposed discovery was by the father, John Cabot , a greater mam 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 ■of only eighteen men. It was really a pre¬ liminary or preparatory expedition. The objective point was Cathay, or China, or the land of the Great Khan. The method of these old navigators, jn making their voyages was, after leaving their home port, to satll .northwardly until they reached a latitude judged sufficiently high for their purpose, ^find then to steer a course due west by the |80tnpass, and this is what Cabot did. He to have had very rough weather. He 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 much 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 ¬ 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 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 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 Jhis part of Canada is concerned, upon information furnished by Cabot , or by some of his companions. It is the oldest map of , 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 , the eastern point of , which would thus seem to be established as the land made by John Cabot