CHAPTER II.

EHE Island of Newfoundland lies right across the entrance

of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. Its most eastern projection is but two thousand miles from the western coast of Ireland. It thus forms, as it were, a stepping stone between the Old World

and the New.

We notice that as soon as the abundance of fish in New- foundland waters became known, French fishermen from Brittany and Normandy soon availed themselves of the discovery. These bold mariners ventured out in little cockle-shells of vessels, such as no one would now dream of using in crossing the Atlantic. They reached the Island of Cape Breton, and gave it the name it now bears, after their home in Bretagne. They were soon followed by the fishermen of the Basque Pro- inces of Spain, who were scarcely less daring at sea.

For this land in 1583, Sir Humphrey Gilbert sailed with four vessels to found a colony. He reached St. Johns, hoisted the banner of England, and took possession of the island on behalf of his royal mistress, Queen Elizabeth. Soon sickness broke Ont, his largest ship was wrecked, and winter being at hand, he deemed it wise to return to England. A storm overtook them near the Azores. His ship, the little Squirrel, of but ten tons, Was swallowed up by the angry waves, and Sir Humphrey Gilbert and his men sank amid the dark billows of the Atlantic, and the first attempt to colonize Newfoundland failed.

Though the voyage of Sir Humphrey Gilbert ended so dis- astrously to himself and others, it was far from being fruitless.