in William Purchas time being Maior. These were clothed in beastes skinnes, and ate rawe fleshe,Rawe flesh. Beastes skins. and spake such speech that no man coulde vnderstand them, and in their demeanour like to bruite beastes, whom the king kept a time after. Of the which vpon two yeeres past after I saw two apparelled after the maner of Englishe men in Westminster pallace, which at that time I coulde not discerne from Englishe men, till I was learned what they were. But as for speech I heard none of them vtter one worde.
Iohn Baptista Ramusius in his Preface to the thirde volume of the nauigations, writeth thus of Sebastian Gabot.
IN the latter part of this volume are put certaine relations of John de Verarzana a Florentine, and of a great Captaine a Frenchman, and the two voyages of Jaques Cartier a Briton, who sailed vnto the lande set in fiftie degrees of latitude north, which is called New France: of the which landes hitherto it is not throughly knowne whether they doe ioyne with the firme lande of Florida andnoua Hispania, or whether they be separated & diuided all by the Sea as Ilands: and whether that by that way one may goe by Sea vnto the countrie of Cathaio: as many yeeres past it was written vnto me by Sebastian GabotoSebastian Gabots letters to Ramusius. our countrie man Venetian, a man of great experience & very rare in the art of Nauigation, and the knowledge of Cosmographie:Note. who sayled along and beyonde this land of Newe Fraunce at the charges of king Henrie the seuenth king of Englande: And hee tolde mee that hauing sayled a long time West and by North beyonde these IlandesHe calleth them Ilands. vnto the latitude of 67. degrees and an halfe vnder the North Pole, and at the 11. day of June finding still the open Sea without any maner of impediment, hee thought verily by that way to haue passed on still the way to Cathaio,Sebastian Gabot might haue sailed to Cathaio. which is in the East, and woulde haue done it, if the mutinie of theshipmaster
