THE YOUTHS CABINET. 115

(iad
. 24

Ni

/ y FL
Be cageses/
A aS

 

Sebastian Cabot.

HIS distinguished individual was
born at Bristol, in England,
about the year 1447. He was
the son of John Cabot, a Vene-

tian pilot, who was much celebrated in

his time for his skill in navigation. Se-
bastian was instructed, early in life, in
such mathematical knowledge as is re-
quired by a seaman; and when he was
seventeen years of age, he had made
several voyages. In 1495, his father

obtained letters patent from Henry VII.

giving him and his three sons power to

discover unknown lands, and to conquer
and settle them. One of these sons was

 

Sebastian. In consequence of this per-

mission, the king supplied one ship, and
the merchants of London and Bristol a

July of T

    
    
  

few smalle®.c

- and in 1496, John and
Sebastian. ¢ ;

“tq@’the north-west. In
im@year, they discovered
Newfoundland, and ‘explored it as far
northward as to the sixty-seventh degree
of latitude. The particulars of this voy-
age, though exceedingly interesting on
account of the discoveries made, are not
very fully given. But it seems that ina
voyage which these navigators made
afterward, they sailed as far south as
Cape Florida, and that they were actu-
ally the first who saw the main Jand of
America. j !
In the reign of Henry VIII. Sebas-
tian procured another ship, and sailed
again on a voyage of discovery. This
time, he tried to find a southern passage