fore the council which managed
Indian affairs. That court decided in favor of Diego's claim; and as he
soon greatly improved his social position by marrying the niece of the
Duke of Alva, a high nobleman, Diego received the appointment of
governor (not viceroy), and went to Hayti, attended by his brother and
uncles, as well as his wife and a large retinue. There Diego Columbus
and his family lived, "with a splendor hitherto unknown in the New
World."

II.--Henry VII of England, after repenting that he had not secured the
services of Columbus, commissioned John Cabot to sail from Bristol
across the Atlantic in a northwesterly direction, with the hope of
finding some passage there-abouts to India. In June, 1497, a new coast
was sighted (probably Labrador or Newfoundland), and named _Prima
Vista_. They coasted the continent southward, "ever with intent to find
the passage to India," till they reached the peninsula now called
Florida. On this important voyage was based the claim which the English
kings afterward made for the possession of all the Atlantic coast of
North America. King Henry wished colonists to settle in the new land,
_tam viri quam feminae_, but since, in his usual miserly character, he
refused to give a single "testoon," or "groat" toward the enterprise, no
colonies were formed till the days of Walter Raleigh, more than a
century later.

Sebastian Cabot, born in Bristol, 1477, was more renowned as a navigator
than his father, John, and almost ranks with Columbus. After discovering
Labrador or Newfoundland with his father, he sailed a second time with
300 men to form colonies, passing apparently into Hudson Bay. He wished
to discover a channel leading to Hindustan, but the difficulties of
icebergs and cold weather so frightened his crews that he was compelled
to retrace his course. In another attempt at the northwest passage to
Asia, he reached latitude 67-1/2 deg. north, and "gave English names to
sundry places in Hudson Bay." In 1526, when commanding a Spanish
expedition from Seville, he sailed to Brazil, which had already been
annexed to Portugal by Cabrera, explored the River La Plata and ascended
part of the Paraguay, returning to Spain in 1531. After his return to
England, King Edward VI had some interviews with Cabot, one topic being
the "variation of the compass." He received a royal pension of 250
marks, and did special work in relation to trade and navigation. The
great honor of Cabot is that he