In Northern Mists Volume Ii Part 22

[Sidenote: Cabot sighted America June 24, 1497]

According to the Bristol chronicle already quoted (Toby, 1565), and according to a legend on the map of 1544, which is ascribed to the collaboration of Sebastian Cabot, it was on St. John's Day (July 3, N.S.) that the first land was discovered. In spite of Harrisse's objections[300]

it does not appear to me unlikely that this may be correct. If he sailed on May 2 (11), he was fifty-three days at sea. Supposing that he landed at Cape Breton, the distance in a straight line on the course indicated is about 2200 nautical miles. Consequently he would have made an average of forty-two miles a day in the desired direction. This is doubtless not very fast sailing, but agrees with just what we should expect, since he often had to beat, and "wandered a good deal," in the words of Soncino.

[Sidenote: La Cosa's map represents Cabot's discoveries in 1497]

For determining the question, what part of North America it was that Cabot discovered, it appears to me there is no trustworthy doc.u.ment but La Cosa's map of the world of 1500.[301] The Basque cartographer, Juan de la Cosa, who owned and navigated Columbus's s.h.i.+p in 1492, and who was afterwards entrusted with many public undertakings, enjoyed a reputation in Spain as a map-maker and sailor. He was commissioned by the Spanish Crown to produce a map of the world, and we must suppose that for this work he was provided with all the maps and geographical information that were available in Spain. From a letter of July 25, 1498, to Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain, from Ayala, the Spanish Minister in London, we know that the latter had obtained a copy of "the chart or mapa mundi" that John Cabot had made in order to set forth his discoveries of 1497; and there can be no doubt that a copy of this was also sent to Spain, as Ayala says he believes their Majesties already had the map. It may, therefore, be regarded as a matter of course that La Cosa was in possession of this map when, less than two years later, he was about to make his own, and that it is from this source and no other that he derived his information about the English discoveries. We do not know of any other map being sent from England to Spain during these two years, and there is no ground whatever for a.s.suming that La Cosa's information may be derived from Cabot's voyage of 1498, which in any case must have been a failure.

[Ill.u.s.tration: North-western portion of Juan de la Cosa's map of 1500.

Only a few of the names are given; the network of compa.s.s-lines is omitted]

For the understanding of La Cosa's map it must be remarked first of all that it is a compa.s.s-chart, and that it takes no notice of the magnetic variation on the American coast. This explains the fact that, for instance, lines of coast which in reality run from west to south-west, are made to appear on the chart as running from west to east. Furthermore, the lat.i.tude of the coast of North America is made too northerly, through coasts which, for instance, lie magnetic west of Ireland, being placed on the chart true west of it. In this way Cape Breton (or Cape Race in Newfoundland ?) can be brought to about the same lat.i.tude as the south of Ireland, whereas in reality it lies nearly 5 farther south.

The coast marked with five English flags is, of course, the land discovered by Cabot. That La Cosa had a map of this district is further shown by the details, which distinguish it from his delineation of the remainder of the North American coast, but which give it a resemblance to that part of South America which is marked with Spanish flags and of which he had a map. Curiously enough only part of the English district has names; we must suppose that this is the coast that Cabot is said to have sailed along. La Cosa's representation of the rest of the North American coast is doubtless guesswork, although it has features which bear a remarkable resemblance to reality; but it is not altogether impossible that he may have had oral or written reports of later voyages (?), which are unknown to us.

La Cosa's map is in complete agreement with the statements in the letters of Pasqualigo, Soncino, and the two Spanish Amba.s.sadors. Soncino says that the country lies four hundred Italian leagues to the west of England, while both Puebla and Ayala say that they believe the distance to be no more than four hundred Spanish leagues. On the other hand, according to Pasqualigo, Cabot said that at a distance of seven hundred Italian leagues he had discovered the mainland of the kingdom of the Great Khan, and that he had sailed [i.e., after having sailed ?] three hundred leagues along the coast. It has been thought that there is here a disagreement between the four hundred leagues of the three first-named and the seven hundred of Pasqualigo, but if we interpret it, in what must be the most reasonable way, as meaning that the distance of seven hundred leagues does not refer to the nearest land, but to the most distant, where Cabot thought that he had at last come within the boundaries of the kingdom of the Great Khan (China) and did not venture to go farther, then we have complete agreement, since the three hundred leagues he must first have sailed along the coast must be deducted in order to get the distance from England to the nearest land. The length of a Venetian "lega," or a Spanish "legua,"

cannot be precisely determined. If we a.s.sume [cf. Kretschmer, 1909, pp.

63, ff.] that between 20 and 17-1/2 went to a degree of lat.i.tude, each league would correspond to between 3 and 3.43 geographical miles (minutes), or between 5.6 and 6.3 kilometres. According to the former estimate (three miles), four hundred leagues will be about equal to 1200 miles, and seven hundred leagues to about 2100 miles.[302] The first distance is, at any rate, a good deal too small, while the second is too great. This may easily be explained by Cabot, or his crew, having naturally wished to make the voyage to the newly discovered country appear as little deterrent as possible, and, therefore, having underestimated the distance, while, desiring to make the country itself as large as possible, they greatly over-estimated the length of their sail along the coast. That the voyagers really supposed the distance to the newly discovered land to be four hundred leagues from Ireland agrees also with Soncino's statement that the Bristol sailors thought the voyage would not occupy more than fifteen days from Ireland.

La Cosa's map is drawn as an equidistant compa.s.s-chart, and we can therefore make ourselves a scale of miles by using the distance between the Equator and the Tropic. In this way we find that the easternmost headland, "Cauo de Ynglaterra" (Cape England), on the coast discovered by Cabot lies four hundred leagues from Ireland, while the distance from it to the most western headland with a name, "Cauo descubierto" (the discovered cape), is about three hundred leagues.[303] Furthermore this coast lies on the map due west of Bristol and southern England, as it should according to Soncino's first letter.

[Sidenote: Cabot's discovery, according to La Cosa's map, is probably Nova Scotia]

There is thus full agreement between this map and all the contemporary information we have of the voyage, and there is no room for doubt that its names represent John Cabot's discoveries of 1497, which thus extended from Cauo de Ynglaterra on the east (with two islands, Y. verde and S. Grigor, to the east of it) to Cauo descubierto on the west. But it seems to me that this tract must be either the south coast of Newfoundland or the south-east coast of Nova Scotia, and Cauo de Ynglaterra must be either Cape Race or Cape Breton; the latter is more probable;[304] this also agrees best with all the doc.u.ments we possess and involves fewest difficulties. It might then seem probable that Cabot first arrived off the land at Cauo de Ynglaterra or Cape Breton,[305] and that he sailed westward (magnetic) from there to explore the newly discovered country.

The main direction of the coast of Nova Scotia is about W.S.W., and if we suppose that the compa.s.s error at Cape Breton was then about 28 W., which I have found in another way[306] (cf. above, p. 308; it is now 25 W.), this will mean that the coast extended a little to the north of west by compa.s.s, which exactly agrees with La Cosa's map. On account of contrary winds, and of the care necessary in sailing along an unknown coast, the voyage may have proceeded slowly, and Cabot greatly over-estimated his distances, which is not an uncommon thing with explorers in unknown waters, ever since the days of Pytheas. Finally, about three hundred miles on, Cabot came to the south-western point of Nova Scotia, which at first he must have taken for the end of the land. But as he certainly would be bent upon deciding this, he may have continued to sail across the mouth of the Bay of Fundy until he again sighted land, the fertile coast of smiling Maine, stretching westward as far as the eye could reach, and he would then have thought that he had surely arrived at the coast of the mainland of the vast kingdom of the Great Khan. Here it must have been that he landed, as related by Pasqualigo and Soncino,[307] and saw signs of inhabitants, but met with none. He may, of course, have landed earlier at Cape Breton or in Nova Scotia without finding trace of inhabitants, and said nothing about it; for he was not looking for an uninhabited country, but the wealthy Eastern Asia. It may also very well be the spot where he first found signs of men that is called Cauo descubierto; for it is striking that on La Cosa's map this name is not placed on any projecting headland of the coast, but in front of a comparatively deep gulf, which in that case might be the mouth of the Bay of Fundy. And it is in the sea to the west of this bay, across which Cabot sailed, that La Cosa has placed his "mar descubierta por jnglese" (sea discovered by the English). La Cosa's "mar" will then be probably the whole gulf between Cape Sable and Cape Cod.[308]

[Sidenote: Cabot's homeward voyage, 1497]

Cabot now thought he had found what he so eagerly sought. He was not provisioned for any long stay, and with his small crew he could not expose himself to possible attacks of the inhabitants of the country.

Consequently he had good reason for turning back. To provide himself with the necessary water, and perhaps wood, for the homeward voyage would not take long. Food was a greater difficulty, and we are told that he was so short of it that on the way back he would not stop at new islands; it is true that we hear of abundance of fish, but this cannot have been sufficient. He then returned to Cauo de Ynglaterra, and thence homewards as quickly as possible.[309] The distance from Cape Breton past the southern point of Nova Scotia to the coast of Maine is 420 geographical miles. There and back, with a cruise in the open sea towards Cape Cod, it might be 1200 miles. If we suppose Cabot to have taken twenty days to do it, including the time occupied in going ash.o.r.e, this will be sixty miles a day, which may seem a good deal; but if on the way back he had a favourable wind and was able to sail a somewhat straight course, it is possible; and, in that case, he may have been back at Cape Breton or Cauo de Ynglaterra about July 14 (23), and then have laid his course for home east by compa.s.s out to sea. This course took him off Newfoundland, and he had the island of Grand Miquelon, with Burin Peninsula to the east of it ["S. Grigor" on La Cosa's map ?], in sight on his starboard bow, or on his right hand, as Pasqualigo says. As he was afraid of more land in that direction, which would be awkward to come near, especially when sailing at night, he bore off to the south-east, where he knew from the outward voyage that there was open water. After a time, thinking himself safe, he again set his course east by compa.s.s, but then had fresh land, Avalon Peninsula, ahead or on his starboard bow, and again had to bear off. He took this for another large island ["Y. verde"], but would not land, both on account of shortness of provisions, and because he wanted to be home as soon as possible with the news of his discovery, and to prepare a larger expedition to take possession of the new country.[310] To be quite sure of encountering no more land, Cabot may then have borne off well to the south-east, thus reaching the Newfoundland Banks on the south, and keeping quite clear of the icebergs which are found farther north. For his eastern voyage he was well served by the wind, since nearly all the winds in this part of the Atlantic are between south and west or north-west in July and the beginning of August. He was further helped by the current to some extent, and may, therefore, very easily have made the homeward voyage in twenty-three days, and sailed back into the port of Bristol about the 6th (15th) of August, 1497. That Cabot cannot have taken much more than twenty days on the return voyage also appears from the statement already quoted of the Bristol sailors, that they could make the voyage in fifteen days.[311]

[Sidenote: Legend on the map of 1544]

The view of John Cabot's voyage of 1497 set forth above agrees also with the map of the world of 1544, which is attributed to the collaboration of Sebastian Cabot, but which the latter in any case cannot have seen or corrected after it was engraved, probably in the Netherlands, and by an engraver who did not understand Spanish, the language of the map [cf.

Harrisse, 1892, 1896; Dawson, 1894]. Its delineation of the northern east coast of North America is for the most part borrowed from the representation on French maps of Cartier's discoveries in the Gulf of St.

Lawrence (cf. Deslien's map of 1541). Cape Breton is called "Prima tierra vista," and in the inscription referring to the northern part of the American coast,[312] the import of which must apparently be derived from Sebastian Cabot, we read:

"This land was discovered by Joan Caboto Veneciano and Sebastian Caboto his son in the year 1494 [sic] after the birth of our saviour Jesus Christ, the 24th of June in the morning; to which they gave the name 'Prima Tierra Vista,' and to a large island which is near the said land they gave the name of St. John, because it was discovered the same day" [i.e., St. John's Day].[313]

The remainder of this legend--that the natives wear the skins of animals, that the country is unfertile, that there are many white bears, vast quant.i.ties of fish, mostly called bacallaos, etc. etc.--cannot refer, as Harrisse appears to think, to this land (Cape Breton) which was first discovered, but to the northern regions of the new continent as a whole.

It is characteristic of this map, as of the earlier French ones, that Newfoundland is cut up into a number of small islands. If the view is correct that Y. Verde and S. Grigor on La Cosa's map are also parts of Newfoundland, it may explain the fact of Sebastian Cabot having no difficulty in bringing this map, or his father's, into agreement with the French ones, since he must have thought that a number of "islands,"

discovered later, had been added.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Northern portion of the map of the world of 1544, attributed to Sebastian Cabot]

[Sidenote: The island of St. John]

No island of St. John is to be found on La Cosa's map, but there is a Cauo S. Johan not far from Cauo de Ynglaterra and close to the island that is called Illa de la trinidat. That the name is attached to a cape instead of to an island may be due to a transposition in the course of repeated copyings. On the Portuguese map of Pedro Reinel, of the beginning of the sixteenth century (that is, only a few years after 1497), Cape Breton is marked without a name, but an island lies off it, called "Sam Joh" [St.

John]; on Maggiolo's map of 1527 there is "C. de bertonz," with an island, "Ja de S. Ioan," in the same place; and on Michael Lok's map, in Hakluyt's "Divers Voyages," 1582, we have "C. Breton" with the island of "S. Johan,"

lying off it, and on Cape Breton Island (or Nova Scotia), called Norombega, is written "J. Cabot, 1497" (see p. 323). There seems thus to have been a definite tradition that it was here that John Cabot made the land, and St. John may then be the little Scatari Island which lies on the outside of Cape Breton Island [cf. Dawson, 1897, pp. 210, ff.]. That the "I. de S. Juan" on the map of 1544 lies on the inside of "Prima tierra vista" and answers to the Magdalen Islands is of minor importance; we do not even know whether Sebastian Cabot can be made responsible for it, as it may be due to a confusion on the part of the draughtsman. More importance must be attached on this point to the agreement between the earlier maps of 1500, 1527, and that of Reinel (compared with Lok's map in Hakluyt), than to the map of 1544.[314]

[Ill.u.s.tration: Portion of Pedro Reinel's map, beginning of the sixteenth century]

[Sidenote: Cabot's return]

John Cabot returned to Bristol at the beginning of August, probably about the 6th (15th, N.S.). He naturally hastened to London to tell the King of his discovery, and we know that he must have been there on the 10th (20th) August, for there is an entry in the accounts of the King's privy purse:

"10 August, 1497. To hym that found the new isle, 10."

This cannot be called an exaggerated regal payment for discovering a new continent, even though 10 in the money of that time corresponds to about 120 now. Later in the same autumn Cabot was granted a pension from the King of 20 a year.

Meanwhile, as the letters already quoted show, his discovery attracted much attention in England, and gave rise to great expectations.

[Ill.u.s.tration: Portion of Michael Lok's map, London, 1582]

What Cabot accomplished by his voyage of 1497 was in the first place to prove the existence of a great country beyond the ocean to the west of Ireland, which country he himself a.s.sumed to belong to Asia and to be part of China. Besides this he discovered great quant.i.ties of fish off the newly discovered coast; a discovery which was soon to create a great fishery, carried on by several nations, off Newfoundland, and one which surpa.s.sed the Iceland fishery, hitherto the most important. But John Cabot evidently had little idea of the importance of this last discovery. He had, as Soncino says, "set his mind on higher things," for he thought that by following the coast of the mainland farther to the west he would be able to reach the wealthy c.i.p.ango (j.a.pan) and the Spice Islands in the equatorial regions.

[Sidenote: Cabot's voyage of 1498]

Here we have in brief the plan of his next voyage. Cabot himself had great expectations and saw a brilliant future before him, when he would rule as a prince over newly conquered kingdoms which he would make subject to the English Crown. And, as we have seen, he was liberal in distributing islands to his barber, to a Burgundian, etc.

At the beginning of 1498 Cabot obtained new letters patent, dated February 3, in the thirteenth year of Henry VII.'s reign.[315] These letters are in John Cabot's name alone (his sons are not mentioned this time).

They give him the right of taking at his pleasure six English s.h.i.+ps in any English port, of 200 tons or under, with their necessary equipment, "and theym convey and lede to the Londe and Iles of late founde by the seid John in oure name and by oure commaundemente, payng for theym and every of theym as and if we should in or for our owen cause paye and noon otherwise." And the said John might further "take and receyve into the seid s.h.i.+ppes and every of theym all suche maisters maryners pages and our subjects, as of their owen free wille woll goo and pa.s.se with hym in the same s.h.i.+ppes to the seid Londe or Iles," etc. etc.

It thus seems as if this not very prodigal king had on second thoughts considerably reduced his first plan of sending a fleet of ten, fifteen or twenty s.h.i.+ps with all the prisoners of the realm.

[Sidenote: Authorities for the voyage of 1498]

The most important doc.u.ments on this voyage are:

(1) Two contemporary letters, written before the return of the expedition, by the older Spanish Amba.s.sador in London, Ruy Gonzales de Puebla, and the younger contemporary Spanish Minister in London, Pedro de Ayala, to Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain. The latter's is dated July 23 (August 3, N.S.), 1498; the former's is undated, but of about the same time.

(2) A narrative in the so-called "Cottonian Chronicle"[316] (the contents of which are the same as in Robert Fabyan's Chronicle) undoubtedly refers to this voyage of 1498 and not, as many have a.s.sumed, to the voyage of 1497. It appears to be a contemporary notice of 1498, written before the return of the expedition.

These doc.u.ments contain all that we know with certainty about John Cabot's voyage of 1498.

[Sidenote: Puebla's letter of July 1498]

The Spanish Amba.s.sador, Ruy Gonzales de Puebla, writes in 1498 to Ferdinand and Isabella of Spain (probably in July):

"The King of England sent five armed s.h.i.+ps with another Genoese like Columbus to search for the island of Brasil and others near it,[317]

and they were provisioned for a year. It is said that they will return in September. Seeing the route they take to reach it, it is what Your Highnesses possess. The King has spoken to me at various times about it, he hopes to derive great advantage from it. I believe that it is not more than 400 leagues distant from here" [cf. Harrisse, 1882, p.

328].

[Sidenote: Ayala's letter of July 25, 1498]

Pedro de Ayala writes, July 25, 1498: