http://www.homefromthesea.ca/project/memorial-statue
http://www.historicportunion.com/en/ourhistory.html
A lone statue overlooking the cape and a distant ice berg stands silhouetted against the cloudy sunset. The plaque below reads "John Cabot - 1497" but I prefer to call him by his real name, Giovani Caboto, a Venetian explorer and captain. Sailing with letters from English King Henry VII to 'seek islands and countries of the heathen towards the west, east, and north' , The Mathew traversed the notorious weather and currents of the North Atlantic. Sanitation aboard ship was terrible and although they carried a doctor aboard, Scurvy and malnutrition remained a serious risk in the cramped and damp conditions below decks. After 50 days the crew of 19 made landfall around this site, Cape Bonavista. It was surely a welcome sight indeed after the conditions they endured to set foot in the new world.