Newfoundland had natural advantages for colonization. Englishmen were in fact already living there at some seasons--fishermen comfortably occupying their well-lardered huts alongside their drying frames. Domination of the fishing banks would surely prove profitable, Gilbert thought. Naval stores were plenteous too, according to all reports. And everyone knew that Newfoundland was as rich in furs as Muscovy. Only a year or so earlier an English sea-captain, Richard Whitbourne, bound for the Gulf of St. Lawrence to kill whales, had put in at Trinity Harbor in Newfoundland. There he took so great a store of bears, beaver, otter and seal that after killing a few fish he returned forthwith to Southampton to sell his more profitable cargo. There were few of the difficulties in taking these furs that impeded trade with Russia. However, when Gilbert took possession of Newfoundland at St. John’s in 1583, he showed small interest in fish, naval stores or furs. Certainly, he was not much concerned with the potentials of the fur trade. That there were “foxes, which to the Northward a little further are black, whose furre is esteemed in some Countries of Europe very rich: Otters, bevers and marternes,” he seems to have acknowledged. And an American pine marten appears to have arrested his attention at least fleetingly. “The Generall had brought unto him a Sable alive, which he sent unto his brother Sir John Gilbert, knight of Devonshire.” But that was all. From the first hour of his arrival at Newfoundland, Humphrey Gilbert showed deep interest only in metals. He commanded his miners to be diligent, and they obediently discovered what he took to be copper and silver. Excitedly loading one of his ships with a treasure trove of this ore, Sir Humphrey postponed the planting of Newfoundland. He sailed to discover other mines to the south under his patent. But, unfortunately, he met with bad weather and his supply ship foundered. Even after changing his course for England, storms plagued his fleet. The “treasure” was lost, and Gilbert himself went down in the sea after having gallantly refused to abandon the men aboard his own leaking craft when he might have transferred to a safer consort ship. “We are as near to heaven by sea as by land!” he cried out above the tempest at the last. Sir Walter Raleigh took over his half-brother’s patent. Since there was no limit placed on the land to be explored and occupied, except that it should not be already occupied by another Christian prince, Raleigh had wide latitude in choosing a theatre for his operations. Newfoundland didn’t appeal to him. It wasn’t the most favorable site for what he had in mind.