On the spot where he landed Cabot planted a large cross and beside it flags of England and of St. Mark
The effect in England of Columbus' discovery
22. Cabot's Voyages. When the news of Columbus' great discovery reached England, the king was sorry, no doubt, that he had not helped him. The story is that Columbus had gone to Henry VII, King of England, for aid to make his voyage. But England had a brave sailor of her own, John Cabot, an Italian, born in Columbus' own town of Genoa, who also had learned his lessons in voyages on the Mediterranean. Cabot had gone to live in the old town of Venice. Afterward he made England his home and lived in the old seaport town of Bristol, the home of many English sailors.
JOHN CABOT AND HIS SON SEBASTIAN
From the statue modeled by John Cassidy, Manchester, England
He, too, believed the world to be round, and that India could be reached by sailing westward. King Henry VII gave Cabot permission to try, providing he would give the king one fifth of all the gold and silver which everybody believed he would find in India.
What John Cabot discovered
Accordingly, John Cabot, and it may be his son, Sebastian, set out on a voyage in May, 1497. After many weeks, Cabot discovered land, now supposed to be either a part of Labrador or of Cape Breton Island. He landed and planted the flag of England, and by its side set up that of Venice, which had been his early home.
Later, he probably saw parts of Newfoundland, but nowhere did he see a single inhabitant. He did, however, find signs that the country was inhabited, but he found no proof of rich cities or of gold and silver. In the seas all around Cabot saw such vast swarms of fish that he told the people of England they would not need to go any more to cold and snowy Iceland to catch fish.