ENGLISH, DUTCH, AND SWEDES ON THE SEABOARD %15.

The English Claim to the Seaboard.%--After the Spaniards had thus explored the coast of the Gulf of Mexico, and what is now Arizona, New Mexico, and Texas, the English attempted to take possession of the Atlantic coast.

The voyages of John and Sebastian Cabot in 1497 and 1498 were not followed up in the same way that Spain followed up those of Columbus, and for nearly eighty years the flag of England was not displayed in any of our waters.[1] At last, in 1576, Sir Martin Frobisher set out to find a northwest passage to Asia.

Of course he failed; but in that and two later voyages he cruised about the shores of our continent and gave his name to Frobisher's Bay.[2] Next came Sir Francis Drake, the greatest seaman of his age.

He left England in 1577, crossed the Atlantic, sailed down the South American coast, passed through the Strait of Magellan, and turning northward coasted along South America, Mexico, and California, in search of a northeast passage to the Atlantic.