CABOT'S LANDFALL.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 151, 27 June 1936, Page 8 (Supplement)

CABOT'S LANDFALL.

CLAIMS OF GRATES COVE. INSCRIPTION ON ROCK. ) ,j HARBOUR GRACE, Newfoundland. When 011 c of John Cabot's crew of IjlS, peering through the mists at 5 a.m. • 011 Saturday, June 24, 1407, joyfully shouted, Land, ho,' what land was he • looking at? That the North American continent was at that moment being f discovered historians generally But there lias been learned disagreement 011 whether Cabot's ship, the Mathew. ; was putting in at the northern tip of I Capo Breton Island or somewhere in Newfoundland or Labrador. Professor Loo E. F. English, recently ■ inspector of the Roman Catholic schools here, has now placed arguments before the Newfoundland Historical Society ' which, ho says, indicate that Grates Cove : was the disputed landfall. < Professor English claims to have found a large rock 011 the foreshore of this harbour on which are letters, undecipherable now with the naked eye. When a photograph of the letters was placed under a. microscope, however, he said the letters found to be: 10 CABOTO RIC Professor English contends the Italian Cabot placed his Venetian name, Giovanni C'aboto, on this rock. He explains that the RIG is no doubt part of the name Henricus, or Henry VII., the Tudor king of England under whose patronage Cabot put out from Bristol, England, May 2, 1407, "to seeke out, d iscover, and finde whatsoever isles, countries, regions, or provinces of the heathen and infidels which before this time have been unknown to all Christians." The purpose, of course, was to find an ocean way to the rich Asiatic stores of spices, perfumes, silks and precious stones. English argues that "on this voyage Cabot first sailed around Ireland, "then toward the north, and finally steered west, and that the mouth of Trinity Bay, therefore, would be the logical 1 place near which to look for Cabot's landfall. Grates Point, which forms, the I harbour of Grates Cove, is at the. mouth of Trinity Bay, and lies between Trinity and Conception Bays. English sees further substantiation of his theory in a reference to Cabot in a ! letter written to the Duke of Milan 011 December 18, 1497, by the Milanese Ambassador in London. It says: "He came to firm land, where he planted the Royal banners, took possession for His Highness, made certain marks, and returned." / In 1522 W. E. Connick, a traveller who was the first man to traverse the interior of Newfoundland, mentioned in his notes that there was an inscribed rock 011 the bcach at Grates Cove. Professor English's diseovery of the inscription is not expected to end the jousting of historians over Cabot's landing place, or to end delving into dusty records on the matter. But it is anticipated that the news will bring swarms of sightseers to Grates Cove during the motoring season to view what is now referred to as the Grates Cove Rock. , (Tlie Encyclopedia Brltannica, 1010 edition, states categorically of Cabot and his crew: "Tliey reached the northern extremity of Cape Breton Island." Other historical books indicate the scene of the landfall is disputed.)