ARCTIC The Role of the Basque, Breton and Norman Cod Fishermen in the Discovery of North America from the XVIth to the End of the XVIIIth Century

North Europeans have known of the existence of Newfound-land, Labrador, and perhaps the islands of Saint-pierre and Miquelon since the beginning of the eleventh century. In 1001, the Icelander, BjQm, was driven off course on his way to Greenland by a violent tempest from the northeast and made landfall in a “country ” he named Markland. Most recent stu-dents of this question think the country was Labrador. During a second expedition in which he was accompanied by Leif, the son of Eric Rauda, who colonized Greenland, Bjorn found a more southerly island, certainly Newfoundland, which he circled. It is likely that he also saw the islands of Saint-Pierre and Miquelon (Figs. 1, 2), as it is almost impossible to sail around Newfoundland without seeing this group of islands. In 1497, almost five centuries later, John and Sebastian FIG. 2. Aerial view of Miquelon. Cabot, two Venetian mariners in the service of England, became the official discoverers of the Island of Newfoundland (Fig. 3). They also sighted Cape Breton Island during this voy-age but did not give it a name. It has been established that the French were not far behind in the discovery of Newfoundland and Labrador. The historian Charles de la Morandidre writes in the first volume of his work, Histoire de la Pêche Frunçuis