Henry, who had barely missed the opportunity to sponsor Columbus's trip, jumped at the chance, provided Cabot could find some financial backing. In exchange for promises of an import monopoly from the Crown, a group of Bristol merchants underwrote Cabot's voyage, and the King issued a letter of patent authorizingCabot to claim any lands he found for England. What none knew was that Cabot had made the same error as Columbus; he believed what he read, and his reading said that the world was actually only 17,000 miles (27,359 km) around, not the 24,000 miles (38,624 km) we now know it to be. Between England and Asia lay not only one ocean, but two, and a continent as well.
Cabot set sail for Asia in the spring of 1497, making landfall on June 24 of that year. The exact place of his landing is not known; convincing cases have been put forth for virtually every reasonable location between Maine and Labrador. What is known for certain is that he realized he had discovered a new continent, that he was the first European to land in North America since the Vikings, and that he claimed the territories he found for England.
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