The Hudson Bay Explorers and the British Conquest of all Canada In a general way the discovery of the main features of the vast Canadian Dominion may be thus apportioned amongst the different European nations.

First came the British, led by an Italian pilot.
They discovered Cape Breton Island, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland.
Then came the Portuguese, who discovered the north-east of Newfoundland and the coast of Labrador, while a French expedition under an Italian captain reached to Nova Scotia and southern Newfoundland.

A Spanish expedition under a Portuguese leader shortly afterwards reached the coast of New Brunswick.

After that the French from Brittany, Normandy, and the west coast of France laid bare the _west_ coast of Newfoundland, the Gulf of St.Lawrence, the River St.
Lawrence, and the Great Lakes.
Sir Francis Drake led the way in the exploration of the north-west coast of North America.

He reached, in 1579, as far north on that side as the country of Oregon, which he christened New Albion.