the Great Admiral was
to have dominion, they saw no trace. Reluctantly the expedition turned
again towards Europe, and with its turning ends our knowledge of what
happened on the voyage.

That the ships came home either as a fleet, or at least in part, we
have certain proof. We know that John Cabot returned to Bristol, for
the ancient accounts of the port show that he lived to draw at least
one or two instalments of his pension. But the sunlight of royal favour
no longer illumined his path. In the annals of English history the name
of John Cabot is never found again.

The son Sebastian survived to continue a life of maritime adventure, to
be counted one of the great sea-captains of the day, and to enjoy an
honourable old age. In the year 1512 we hear of him in the service of
Ferdinand of Spain. He seems to have won great renown as a maker of
maps and charts. He still cherished the idea of reaching Asia by way of
the northern seas of America. A north-west expedition with Sebastian in
command had been decided upon, it is said, by Ferdinand, when the death
of that illustrious sovereign prevented the realization of the project.
After Ferdinand's death, Cabot fell out with the grandees of the
Spanish court, left Madrid, and returned for some time to England. Some
have it that he made a new voyage in the service of Henry VIII, and
sailed through Hudson Strait, but this is probably only a confused
reminiscence, handed down by hearsay, of the earlier voyages. Cabot
served Spain again under Charles V, and made a voyage to Brazil and the
La Plata river. He reappears later in England, and was made Inspector
of the King's Ships by Edward VI. He was a leading spirit of the
Merchant Adventurers who, in Edward's reign, first opened up trade by
sea with Russia.

The voyages of the Bristol traders and the enterprise of England by no
means ended with the exploits of the Cabots. Though our ordinary
history books tell us nothing more of English voyages until we come to
the days of the great Elizabethan navigators, Drake, Frobisher,
Hawkins, and to the planting of Virginia, as a matter of fact many
voyages were made under Henry VII and Henry VIII. Both sovereigns seem
to have been anxious to continue the exploration of the western seas,
but they had not the good fortune again to secure such master-pilots as
John and Sebastian Cabot.

In the first place, it seems that the fishermen of England, as well as
those of the Breton coast, follo