As soon as the news of the Cabot voyages reached the King of Portugal he arranged to send an expedition of discovery to the far north-west, perhaps to find a northern sea route to Eastern Asia.

Early years
Born at Kennington Park south London he attended Stockwell grammar school and then King's College London followed by four years studying painting at the Royal Academy. Later years
In 1896 in recognition of this achievement he was appointed Knight Commander of the Order of the Bath (KCB) but afflicted by tropical fevers transferred to Tunis as consul-general. Consequently he was considered (by white settlers) as being unusually favourable towards the native peoples (for instance his administration was one of the first in British African colonies to train and employ Africans in the colonial service as clerks and skilled staff) and he had eventually fallen out with Cecil Rhodes as a result.

Sir Henry "Harry" Hamilton Johnston GCMG KCB (12 June 1858 - 31 July 1927) was a British explorer botanist linguist and colonial administrator one of the key players in the "Scramble for Africa" that occurred at the end of the 19th century.