Under these circumstances Hakluyt's Discourse of Western Planting was
written, and may be considered as a digest of many plans without much
originality and a consolidation of many interests. Hakluyt and Raleigh
were at Oxford together, but we find no particular evidence of their
intimacy before the Spring of 1584, when Hakluyt had returned to London
from Paris with his Discourse, or perhaps it was partly written in
England. It is pretty certain that it was not shown to the Queen before
the date of the Patent, the 25th of March, as Hakluyt speaks of her
seeing it in the summer. It was probably intended principally for the
promotion of the interests of the Patent in Parliament.

At all events with his investigations in France Hakluyt's Discourse
became thoroughly English in its tone and tenor, and from this time he
labored zealously in the interests of Raleigh. A main point of inquiry
in Paris was to avail himself of the many opportunities at the Spanish
and Portuguese embassies, and with the French merchants and sailors of
Paris, Rouen, Havre and Dieppe, to pick up the particulars of the West
India trade of the Spaniards, and the nature of the French dealings in
Cape Breton and Canada. This led him to set forth the advantages of
direct English western trade independent of France and Spain, and of
French and Spanish routes.

The fisheries of Newfoundland and the Banks were extensive, and by
repeated treaties neutral, but gave no exclusive rights on the adjoining
territory to any one of the fishing nations; though in all cases the
English by common consent exercised leadership in the Newfoundland
harbors among the fishing ships, of which there were now some six or
eight hundred a year, notwithstanding the English still fished also at
Iceland.