> Newfoundland is an island! I understand that there may be an implicit assumption that they most likely had to touch the continent before getting there but thi

> Newfoundland is an island! I understand that there may be an implicit assumption that they most likely had to touch the continent before getting there but this isn't neither a fact (only a speculation) nor "much further into the continent". Then look to the Icelanders that made repeated trips over hundreds of years to the east coast of Canada (Labrador coast) for timber & trade with the locals. Newfoundland is interesting because it was a permanent settlement, however brief. But by that logic I suppose we should stop considering British history to be part of the European tradition.