e of Gibraltar; and that he was west of the longitude of Cuba.
In other words, he struck land far in the north, and from that point he
sailed south along the coast as far as Cape Hatteras. That Labrador was
the landfall seems clear; for he met large masses of ice in the month of
July. These were not merely the bergs of the western ocean, but masses of
field-ice, which compelled him to change his course from north to west,
and finally to turn southward. The same writer states that Cabot himself
named a portion of the great land he coasted "Baccalaos," because of the
quantity of fish, which was so great that they hindered the sailing of
his ships, and that these fishes were called baccalaos by the natives.
This statement has given rise to much dispute. As to the quantity
of fish, all succeeding writers concur that it was immense beyond
conception; and probably the swarming of the salmon up the rivers of our
Pacific coast may afford a parallel; but that Cabot did not so name the
country is abundantly clear. A very exhaustive note on the word will be
found at page 131 of Dr. Bourinot's _Cape Breton_.

Bearing in mind the preceding considerations, the study of the early
maps will become profitable, and I would now direct attention to them to
ascertain what light they may throw upon the landfall of John Cabot and
the island of St. John opposite to it. It must be remembered that John
Cabot took the time to go on shore at his landfall, and planted the
banners of England and St. Mark there. At that time of year and in that
latitude it was light at half-past three, but it was five when he saw
land, and he had to reach it and perform the ceremonies appropriate for
such occasions; so the island opposite could not be far away. The island,
then, will be useful to identify the landfall if we find it occurring
frequently on the succeeding maps.

Don Pedro de Ayala, joint Spanish ambassador at London, wrote, on July
25, 1498, to his sovereigns that he had procured and would send a copy of
John Cabot's chart of his first voyage. This map of Juan de la Cosa is
evidence that Ayala fulfilled his promise. It is a manuscript map made at
the end of the year 1500, by the eminent Biscayan pilot, who, if not the
equal of Columbus in nautical and cosmographical knowledge, was easily
the second to him. Upon it there is a continuous coast line from Labrador
to Florida, showing that the claim made by Sebastian Cabot of having
coasted from a region of