ld, which contributed greatly to the revival of the
then dormant spirit of colonising in the new world. He sailed from
Falmouth in a small bark with thirty-two men; and steering nearly
west, reached the American continent, on the 11th of May, in about
forty-three degrees of north latitude.

Finding no good harbour at this place, Gosnald put to sea again and
stood southward. The next morning, he descried a promontory which he
called cape Cod, and, holding his course along the coast as it
stretched to the south-west, touched at two islands, the first of
which he named Martha's Vineyard, and the second, Elizabeth's Island.
Having passed some time at these places, examining the country, and
trading with the natives, he returned to England.[10]

[Footnote 10: Robertson. Chalmer. Stith.]

This voyage was completed in less than four months, and was attended
with important consequences. Gosnald had found a healthy climate, a
rich soil, good harbours, and a route which shortened considerably the
distance to the continent of North America. He had seen many of the
fruits known and prized in Europe, blooming in the woods; and had
planted European grain which grew rapidly. Encouraged by this
experiment, and delighted with the country, he formed the resolution
of transporting thither a colony, and of procuring the co-operation of
others by whom his plan might be supported. So unfortunate however had
been former attempts of this sort, that men of wealth and rank, though
strongly impressed by his report of the country, were slow in giving
full faith to his representations, and in entering completely into his
views. One vessel was fitted out by the merchants of Bristol, and
another by the earl of Southampton, and Lord Arundel of Wardour, in
order to learn whether Gosnald's account of the country was to be
considered as a just representation of its state, or as the
exaggerated description of a person fond of magnifying his own
discoveries. Both returned with a full confirmation of his veracity,
and with the addition of so many new circumstances in favour of the
country, as greatly increased the desire of settling it.

Richard Hackluyt, prebendary of Westminster, a man of distinguished
learning and intelligence, contributed more than any other by his
judicious exertions, to form an association sufficiently extensive,
powerful, and wealthy, to execute the often renewed, and often
disappointed project of establishing colonies in Am