The Matthew

This ship (free of charge to visit!) is a full-size replica of the one that John Cabot used on his voyage to Newfoundland in 1497. It was able to carry 50 tuns (casks of wine). Eighty years later, the explorer Martin Frobisher returned to Bristol from his voyage to the same general area. With him, he brought three Inuit captives: a man called Kalicho, a woman called Arnaq, and a child known as Nutaaq. As you explore inside the Matthew, you can get a general idea of what ships in this period looked like, although Frobisher's vessel was almost four times bigger - it was capable of carrying 200 tuns.