long generations of seamen and lovers of the sea. They could not
have been great but for the nation which gave them birth, and
imbued them with their worth and spirit. The great sailors, for
instance, could not have originated in a nation of mere landsmen.

They simply took the lead in a country whose coasts were fringed
with sailors. Their greatness was but the result of an
excellence in seamanship which prevailed widely around them.

The age of English maritime adventure only began in the reign of
Elizabeth. England had then no colonies--no foreign possessions
whatever. The first of her extensive colonial possessions was
established in this reign. "Ships, colonies, and commerce "began
to be the national motto--not that colonies make ships and
commerce, but that ships and commerce make colonies. Yet what
cockle-shells of ships our pioneer navigators first sailed in!

Although John Cabot or Gabota, of Bristol, originally a citizen
of Venice, had discovered the continent of North America in 1496,
in the reign of Henry VII., he made no settlement there, but
returned to Bristol with his four small ships. Columbus did not
see the continent of America until two years later, in 1498, his
first discoveries being the islands of the West Indies.

It was not until the year 1553 that an attempt was made to
discover a North-west passage to Cathaya or China. Sir Hugh
Willonghby was put in command of the expedition, which consisted
of three ships,--the Bona Esperanza, the Bona Ventura (Captain
Chancellor), and the Bona Confidentia (Captain Durforth),--most
probably ships built by Venetians. Sir Hugh reached 72 degrees