e as Beestes.' From this description
(written in an old atlas of the time), it looks as if the Fernandez
expedition had turned north from the Great Banks and visited the coast
where the Eskimos were found, either in Labrador or Greenland. This
time Henry VII gave Fernandez and Gonzales a pension of ten pounds
each, and made them 'captains' of the New Found Land. A sum of twenty
pounds was given to the merchants of Bristol who had accompanied them.
We must remember that at this time the New Found Land was the general
name used for all the northern coast of America.

There is evidence that a further expedition went out from Bristol in
1503, and still another in 1504. Fernandez and Gonzales, with two
English associates, were again the leaders. They were to have a
monopoly of trade for forty years, but were cautioned not to interfere
with the territory of the king of Portugal. Of the fate of these
enterprises nothing is known.

By the time of Henry VIII, who began to reign in 1509, the annual
fishing fleet of the English which sailed to the American coast had
become important. As early as in 1522, a royal ship of war was sent to
the mouth of the English Channel to protect the 'coming home of the New
Found Island's fleet.' Henry VIII and his minister, Cardinal Wolsey,
were evidently anxious to go on with the work of the previous reign,
and especially to enlist the wealthy merchants and trade companies of
London in the cause of western exploration. In 1521 the cardinal
proposed to the Livery Companies of London--the name given to the trade
organizations of the merchants--that they should send out five ships on
a voyage into the New Found Land. When the merchants seemed disinclined
to make such a venture, the king 'spake sharply to the Mayor to see it
put in execution to the best of his power.' But, even with this
stimulus, several years passed before a London expedition was sent out.
At last, in 1527, two little ships called the Samson and the Mary of
Guildford set out from London with instructions to find their way to
Cathay and the Indies by means of the passage to the north. The two
ships left London on May 10, put into Plymouth, and finally sailed
therefrom on June 10, 1527. They followed Cabot's track, striking
westward from the coast of Ireland. For three weeks they kept together,
making good progress across the Atlantic. Then in a great storm that
arose the Samson was lost with all on board.

The Mary of Guildford p