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L_
THE
Defences of Norumbega
AND
A REVIEW OF THE RECONNAISSANCES
OF
Col. T. W HIGGINSON, Professor HKNRY W. HAYNES, Dr. JUSTIN WINSOR,
Dr. FRANCIS PARKMAN, anu Rkv. Dr. EDMUND F. SLAFIER
A LETTER TO JUDGE DALY
f'resijent of tin Amtruan Geographical Soiitty
BY
EBEN NORTON HORSFORD
BOSTON- ANP NFW YORK
HOUlillTON, MIFFLIN AND LO.MI'ANV
QHlc Btter«i9t Prtn. Cambritst
l8<)i
Jons WlLM)X A5D SOS. CAXnRlDOl.
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
\
PAOK
I*R(IH1.KM OK THK XoltTIIMKN '
What tiik ('kith s aiimit ani> VViiat tiikv denv ^
ThK HaI TI.K-KIKI.n '®
CoMMrMiATIoSS KIliiM THE Cl'BTODIANS OK THK PrBSKRVK 1*2
LkIk's KxI'KMTION l-HOM (-JlSKKM-AND "»
\{V.\ . I>H. Sl.AKTKIt's I'l III.ISHKK V'lKWS 1*^
Tin: Cnv and Cm nikv ok N«ki:mbkoa -•!
ExTIST OK tiik ("oiNTItV '^•'
Dli. I'AliKMAN -"
Tin; Saii.ok, Davik Ingham '-^^
AMUtK.W I UK VET -'^
.Ikan Ai.i.ekoxsck 31
Was tiikuk a City ok NoKi'MiiK(iA ? •^-
LlST OK MaI-S '-^^
ThK KaIMIKSI NolMMIIKtiA ON THIS SeRIKS OK MaPS '■^^
ThK SlllMKICATION OK TIIK LaTITI:I)I:s •'*'
InENTITY OK CaI'E AnN WITH THE SOITHEHN CaI'K BrETOS OK AlI.KKONSIE . . 'M
What Ai.i.kkonsce raii> '*^
Tmk Wkuiht ok tiik Aithokity 41
EuKOItS IN KSTIMATIM. LoNlilTrDES AND DISTANCES AT SkA 43
The Uei.ation <>r Ai.i.ekonhck to the two Cape Hhetons 44
The Latitidk ok the Moith ok Nom miikoa Kivkk &'-
Anotheu Nantasket and another Couasset desckiiii;i) hy Champlain . . . ■'4
jy TAUI.K OK CONTKNTS.
rAoa
Cm'k Rrkton and Sr. Johan, — oiii VAvr Ann &'
l,cic.\i, Mai- ok ( aik Ams
TlIK MoiTll OK I'llAUI.KS l{lVKU V*i;iOl!Sl.Y INDIIATED "'O
59
I'l.YMOUTll llAlllKilt
CArK Ukkton, ti.k Cavo ok Ynoi.a Tkhua ov ("..ha. and thk Cai-k Ann ok
I'BINCI: I'llAUI.KS
Naiikativi:s ok 1'kksons who iiavk visitkd tiik Col NTiiv OR Cnv or NolirMllK..A G-J
Vkhkazano vimtkd tiik Hoston Ha« k IUv
Tiik Tkshmonv ok fiiAMPi.AiN to tiik Existbn( k ok tiik City of Nokimhkoa
on tuk ("uables
Tbansition I'bkioi) in kk(jaki> to Nokimiikga '^
HaKMYt's I)l800l-|!SK ON NVuSTEllN Tl-ANTINO -
Winthkok's Mak OK Hi:!4 '■*
What kkmainh dk tiik Wai,i,» ok Noiumheoa ''^
What has iiken kstahmsiied ... id
A KeSLMI^: KlIOM ANOTIIKI! I'oINT OK ViKW *^
A SuMMAKY ok TUK AlUilMKNT IN ANOTHER FoKM "^^
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS AND xMAPS.
PAor.
Mkmobiai, Towkk at Four NoRiMiiKiiA and thk iNacKirrioN on
TiiK Taih.kt Frontinpi'ce
Ka.MS, I)(m KS, ANIi WllAltVKH OK TIIK A.MIKNT CiTV OF NoKlMllKOA OS THE
ClIAIll.KS HiVKK AT WaTKKTOWN, IN M AS.SAfHlSETTS 2
I'l.A.N OK NolU MliKGA, \VHII I'lSHEItlKH ON StONY liltOoK 7
TkUI!A» Kit Ilu.l.-SIUE AND AllKA OK 15owl.I)KK8 AT THK iMoiTH OK Il'SWICH UlVKK . 7
Ampiiitiieati!K nkab BiHu's PoNi), Uelmont 9
AuTii IKS KoiNi) nkau Leif's La.ndixo-i'laok 13
Sui.is .Mai' ok iiik Kkoiok ok Vi.nki.ani) ani> the Colony ok Nokvega . . . 'Jii
Soi-is Mai- m N.iiiVKiiA in Eluopk (Norway) -••
I'aIIADISO, UliKliilO, ANCitlI.EMK, NulUMIlECA 'M
" UivEK Ki.owiNi} TiiuoL'iai A Lake INTO THE Sea" 31
Was theke a City ok NoiiiMHEOA in the Foutv-thii:!) I)i; Cai>e CoI) 49
EyLIVAI.ENTS OK THE lilVKK ClIAItI.ES 5'
Mat KitoM "VoYAOEs OK CnAMri.AiN." The Cohasskt and Naxtasket at the
MoiTH OK THE Saco ^"^
llEU.Eiio's Map. liVvJ, ha vino Canai. St. Jian (St. Julian) ok Oomkz . . . . .^7
iiLoKKSTEit IlAiMioii. Coast Suuvey Map hhowino the Canal uiscoveked
BY Gome/. 5^*
Cosa'8 Map, Umo <^>
TkaNSITION I'Eltlol) JN BEOAUD TO NOKUMBEOA ' *'
Hei.iotype Copy ok Winthkop's Ohhhnal Map ok lti34 '6
Daiphin Map (Uesielaki;) 1540 ^^
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DEFENCES OF NOKUMBEGA.
Jt'DUE Daly, Vrmdmt of the American Gmjraphical Society :
Dkau Siii, — You may n-call that in my Story of the Discovery of
tht! Silt- of tlie Ancient City of Norumboga, at the special meeting of
thf I'ri'siiionl and Council of the American Geographical Society liehl
at Watfitowii in November of 1881), I treated the chief results at which
1 iiad arrived as fulfdments of predictions which I had not hesitated to
malse. in the light of legitimate scientific deduction, from tht! Vim-huid
Sagas, auled i»y my study of the related literature and my researches
ill til." field.
In tiiis paper I shall give what will be seen to be contirmation of
the (•(tuvictioiis expressed in my earlier communication. It will consist
of materitds that are almost indepemlent of the course of argument
which I last year pursued. They will be largely maps and records,
wiiii li tell a story of themselves essentially coincident with that submitted
at Watertown.
It may not have escaped your recollection that in my letter to you
of .luiic. a year and a half ago. under the title of ••The Pkohlkm of
ruK NouTiiMKN." 1 was led to the exclamation. "Is Mas.sacliu.setts a
Preserve '.' " I tlnd myself obliged a second time to turn from the line
of my researche< to that of my personal defence ; and in so doing, the
phrase I have cited seems as suited to my present needs as it was to
my lirst I even see in it a twofold quality that had not earlier at-
tracted my attention. It has its humorous as well as its serious aspect.
nKFKNCF.S (»K NuurMlir.iiA.
"%
V V
Whv not look nt it from liotli si
1^
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DEFENCES OF NORUMBEGA.
»
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discovered historical verity can be established. A truth of recent advent,
tnat is to prevail, like an exotic in the plant world, as we all know,
finds its texture hardened and toughened by exposure successively to
winds from all riuarters. If its support be feeble, it may for the time
be crushed by the violence of the assault: but if it has genuine and
adequate foundation, it will finally assert itself. In this way the roots
of plants and of truths gain deep and lasting hold. Let us accept the
inevitable. The truth m'jst be fought for. There must needs be assault
and defence. The story of the Northmen can claim no exemption from
the general law.
The preliminaries have taken place in proper or'^^r.
A considerable number of gentlemen of recognized authority in the
early history of the Commonwealth have assumed what may be regarded
as the role of Custodians of the Preserve, and risen to proclaim, each from
his own standpoint, the inviolability of the ground I have invaded.
The language in which they refer to me, directly or indirectly, as the
aim of their communications, identifies me b jyond question. Of course,
I must play my part. I am reconciled to the unavoidable, and not without
a measure of content, — except, possibly, with the style of the weapons
used. I may try to be resigned even to this. To be sure, I have been
surprised. I had not believed such a kind of surprise profitable to the
critics ; but thoy doubtless know best.
It will be interesting — amusing — one of these days to look over a
record of the charges aganist me for having attempted, In my fortunate
leisure and opportunities, to widen the base of the glory of the State of
my adoption There are charges against me of " cartological perver-
sion :" ' assertions that my papers are .significant mainly in the "study
' I'ctortiiaii's Mittheiliing (contrilmled by KiiRe), Hi'fte !), 189(), echoes the arraijrmnont by
the iiiithor in thi "Narrative and riitical UlRtory of America." on the charpie of " oartolofrioal
(ail-) jwrversion " (In the letter of June, 188!). I assumed this " mrtnlor/iral " to be a misiirint for
rartoffrnphiral, whi ;h is a recognized Enf;lisli word.) Of the article fn the " N-ition '' of May 3,
188H, p ;l(5H, in t)u> cohiran of Book Notices, I have spoken in the " Problem of the Northmen "
Its source is obvious. Agno$co iiiilum.
'
I
DEFENCES OF NORUMPEGA.
of psychology ; " that those historians only find evidences of the presence
of the Northmen in Massachusetts "who are distinguished for exuber-
ance of imagination and redundance of thought;" that the idea of evi-
dence of any kind that Northmen ever came south of Davis' Strait is
•• abandoned except by a few enthusiastic advocates ; " that I am trying
by unworthy means to impose upon children (not to say grown men and
women) my views on the subject of the discovery of America by North-
men ; * that I rely upon evidence which at the best is only " insufficient and
trivial ; " that my authorities are untrustworthy, little known, or vague
and uncertain in statement, — and so on. And these sweeping charges
are made by gentlemen who conceive themselves entitled to claim that
their naked, adverse opinion shall be accepted as competent authority
in a matter of geography, while there are countless maps and charts,
and the testimony of discoverers and explorers, which, carefully examined,
iiuiif be found to hold as I do.
The fate tliut has attended my researches is not, however, Wituout
precedent. It might be considered improper in me to allude to instances
in the history of geographical discovery ; but there is, in another field of
research, an old and familiar illustration of the reluctance with which new
truth is generally received. — for example, in the fate of Ilarvey, who dis-
covered the circulation of the blood. lie conducted experimental researches,
and piibli.slied the results to which they led him. He was credited by
the critics of his time with adopting absurd views after trivial research.
But he was wi.«e enough to expect that the magnificent discovery he had
given to the world would not be accepted by his contemporaries, especially
by those piust middle age.
Harvey was a man of the rarest accomplishment as a scientific inquirer.
His learning and skill were recognized ; he was the cho.sen physician of
two sovereigns of England. When his grc.".t discovery was announced.
7«
?*'.
' " The little clique devotod to the Cult of the Norse Discovery of America, which they are »triv-
ing b_v every means, legitimiiU* or nilnrwisr, tn impose upon the risiiij; geueratioD, ' etc. - Hfniiy W.
Uavnes : P'orerilmijs of ihf MamachiuetU Hutorical Soritti/, ISiK), p. 339.
DEFENCES OF NORUMBEGA. 6
he was discredited, sneered at, persecuted, lampooned, pitied; copies of
Ilia elaborate papers were heaped in bonfires and burned ; he was virtually
driven from the profession. By whom, do you ask ? I answer, I3y many
of the most distinguished — yes, and learned — of the medical fraternity
of his age. How could this have been, one naturally inquires. The reply
is near at hand : They might have made the discovery themselves. As
they were competent, and did not, no one could. This was the legiti-
mate conclusion of hia critics. We explain it by saying that such con-
duct is consistent with what we know of human nature. It has been
said, with a hint not always deeply concealed, that the human nature
of the individual, like that of the race, changes slowly. In time, how-
ever, the world came to accept, and believe and profit in, the discovery
of the circulation of the blood.
Can any one who offers to show evidences of a birthday for the colo-
nization of the basin of the Charles enrlier by six hundred years than the
advent of the Puritans expect to escape the penalty appointed for his
audacity ?
One need not pursue the theme. It is a very old experience, and not
confint'd to any one country or time. Let me accept at once the re-
sponsibility of all with which I may fairly be charged, and brace myself
to the consequences. I need not refer to the discovery of the Landfall of
John Cabot in 1497, and the guess-work — not to say more — of Sebastian
hia son, nor of the clearing up of the truth of the narratives of Verrazano
and of Gomez, which in general terms I have more than once placed in
print. They belong to another field. I am now to consider only the
work in connection with the Northmen. Here is a general summary :
It is, I believe, true that I was the first to discover that the Land-
fall of Leif Erikson was on an island once at the north end of Cape
Cod, now joined to the mainland, but still existing at the time of
Cosa (1500), Riiysch (1507), Allefonsce (1542), and Gosnold (1602); the
first to trace Leif's sail thereafter across the mouth of Cape Cod Bay
DEFENCES OF KOKUMBEGA.
nnd along tlic coast from the Gurnet, pa«t Cohasset and Nantasket, to
Boston Harbor, where he grounded on an ebb tide, and later, with the
incoming floal, passed through the entrance to the Boston Back Bay, —
the Hop of Thoifinn, "a small land-locked bay, salt at Hood tide and
fresh at ebb," — the small lake three leagues around of Verrazano, " the
lake through which a river [the Charles] flowed from the land to the
sea," according to Leif, — to the site of his house at Gerry's Linding
in Cambridge; the first to recognize in the Sagas the exploni.ion of
Charles River by Thorwald ; the first to identify the Furdustrand pur-
sued by Thorfinn around the curve southward from Kjalarnes (Cape Cod)
to Nauset Harbor, and a few leagues beyond to a second bay ; the
first to identify the strait against Chatham as the Straumfjcird of Thorfinn ;
the first to identify the extension of the present Mononioy as the
Strauraii (Island of Currents) outside of the Straunifjiird of Thorfinn ; and
lastly, to show that his party did not go southward beyond the elbow of
Cape Cod. It was also my fortune to discover the great fisheries of
Stony Brook,' including the more than four acres of area, evenly paved
with closely and skilfully r.djusted massive bowlders, resting on the ex-
panse of deep vegetable mould at the bottom of the valley ; also to
find and explore the artificial canals strewn throughout the basin of the
Cliarles ; also to discover the site of the ancient city of Norund)ega, with
lis walled docks and wharves, dam, fishway, and miles of stone-walls
along the Charles below, still in remarkably good preservation, once
serving great Norse enterprises, and now more or less in use as under-
lying or otherwise connected with prominent industries of the historic
village of Watertown.
1 need not refer in this connection to the wealth, philological and
ethnological, that througn these researches has been brought to the
' From Biioh aocounU m I havi- rn.- and hoanl. I am porsimiiol that the pavements along
the shores at P.^iiiaqiiii! in Mnino, and Uip ma."8«'« of iinpiilar rocks and bowlders at the mouth
of Ipswich River, wliirh 1 have hai
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DEFENCES OV NORUMBEGA
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Student of Massachufletta history. I am afraid I should be thought ven-
turesome if I were to betray my estimate of the richness of the field
opened up to archajology — not of Massachusetts alone — by the discovery
of Norumbega, and the not unworthy pride the heirs of the Pilgrims and
Puritona will yet take in the possession of this gateway to treasure infi-
nitely transcending all the material wealth which Whittier's Norman Knicrht
believed to be in the " Barbaric City."
It is not, I know, altogether a light thing to carry back through so
many centuries the birthday of a realm. But as I should do no violence
to my own convictions if I were to intimate that I regard the deter-
minations I have made as additions to the early history of Massachu-
setts and of America, so I believe, that, having been led to give time
and effort to establish these convictions, I am in duty bound to stand
in their defence.
I need not go further. If at all, I am unquestionably a poacher of
degree.
If this be a sufficient acknowledgment of my offences, in view of
what has been directed against me personally, let me return to the more
serious phase of the —
Problem of the Northmen.
To dispute my views, there have appeared in the columns cf a leadintr
newspaper of Boston ' the communications to which I have referred. They
discredit the conclusions at which I have arrived in a field of geographical
research, after several years of uninterrupted investigation, with every co-
operation I could command.
Among the writers who have done me the honor to differ from me
nnd publicly to express their dissent, is the Rev Dr. Edmund F. Slafter,
the venerable editor of Beamish's Translation of certain of the Vineland
Sagas for the Prince Society's Publications; also of its edition of Cham-
plain's Voyages, to which he prefaced a carefully prepared memoir of
' The "Dostou Evening Traveller" of Dec. 28, ISSf).
• I!
' !
f 1
I
DEFENCES OF NURUMBEGA.
'■r^
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the great explorer ; also of the life of Alexander, Earl of Sterling, whose
possessions by royal gift once stretched away westward on either side of
the St. Lawrence and its tributary lakes, and beyond them to the Ver-
milion Sea, — the Gulf of California. In addition to these publications of
the Society of which Dr. Slafter was one of the original incorporators,
he is the author of r ..ch other most useful work. Among my critics and
censors also are Dr. Francis Parkman, Vice-President of the Massachusetts
Historical Society, the classic historian of the Pioneers of France in the New
World, and the author of many brilliant volumes in the same field that
have placed him in the front rank of men of letters; Dr. Justin Winsor,
the editor of the " Memorial History of Boston," and of the " Narra-
tive and Critical History of America ; " Prof. Henry W. Haynes, whose
contributions to Ethnology and Archaeology are well known, and to
whose earlier expressions of dissent and those tf Mr. Winsor I have
called attention in my letter of June, 1889, upon "The Problem of the
Northmen ; " and Col. Thomas Wentworth Higginson, whose great ser-
vices in various fields of literature are as familiar to the reading world
as is his gallantry in the late war, and his chivalry wherever truth or
right has appeared to him to be assailed.
WnAT THE Critics admit and What they dent.
Most of these writers do not seriously question that the Northmen
may have discovered the continent of America somewhere to the south-
west of Greenland, and may have remained in the neighborhood of their
Landfall for a few years. This they deem possible. Such an admis-
sion is conservative and safe. Such a frame of mind is consistent, of
course, witjj almost any measure of scepticism in regard to precision
of statement.
The proposition to which they have allied themselves is this: —
They hold that trustworthy evidence of the presence of the North-
men, such as the traces of human handiirork, or other archaeological testi-
mony, has not been found, and (by some of these gentlemen it is held)
I
t'M
I (</ioit.i of ii'hal has »oi hccn see)). The principal way in which
knowledge can be gained of the presence of still existing memorials of
the Northmen on our shores, as yet not recognized, is by looking where
the impressions may have been made, — w the JidtL There, if they exist,
we may hope to fnid. with thoughtful consideration of what can have
survived the incidents of time, the traces of material structures properly
to l)e ascril)ed to the Northmen. To be guided to the general field, one
might be expected in a question like this to take advantage of the
writings of the early Scandinavian explorers, who claim to have visited
Vineland, The thoughtful student would consult also the history of the
geographical terminology, in connection with the native languages, of
the region conceived to have been occupied by the Northmen. Besides
these, there is another branch of philological evidence connected with
cartography whicli will be opened up in the progress of this letter.
Not one of the.se lines of investigation seems to have attracted the sus-
tained and profitable attention of my critics.
Nevertheless, they have found what they are willing to put in print
in defence of the trust they have assumed, and I ask you to look
at the significance of it as a demonstration against the ancient city of
Norumbega.' You will see with what measure of care they have studied
what, in conunon with others, they have had opportunity to read.
> I ilo not pro]His(> in tliis jmper to ron-sider tlie I.andlall of Leif; tli.-it ami tlu' site of liis
house in Vinpland will soon follow. I siiall, howevpr. be com|iclU'd to borrow some of ks illus-
tnitioiis to nii'et my ]ireseiil needs. I roi>cati'illy introduce 'I'rtain maps, for re.isons that will be
siitriiiciitly nl.vidu.t. Tliey carry conviction, whore without them the best t«xt would bo ditEcult
U) iMiderslaiul.
^
10
PKFEXCKS or NOlUMlUCdA.
The Hattle-iiki.d.
The burden of tlio present letter is the iletermiiiation of tho identity
of the site of the histurie eity ot' Noniinbeoii with thut ol' Walertown. 1
have, in tho " I'rohleiii of tho Xorthnieii " and in vurioiis |.,ir;iirr,'i]rns in
other papers, pointed out wilii some dejiree of vah I have licen gratified. The world, or that small portion of it
interested in ijie Discovery of .\merica !y the N.uihmen. may now know
on what foimdation rests the scepticism of (•.■rtaiii of the learned men
who assume to he .lualilleil to pronounce an opinion mi this sui.jecl.
The city of Xnrunihega. as i have held, underlaid the modern Water-
town. T recall again the /////-.v ,/ shmr-walU who-^e eoustructinn may he
traciMl to th.. Northmen. They hegin just ahove the Cniled States Arse-
nal. In jiiaces tiny have l,een imdermineil or rem-.ved. In the main.
tluy are nearly continuous on .•i'!;er side of i],,. riv.'r — much hotter
preserved ^louhtless repaired, on tiie north side — for ahoiit a milo,
^1
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DEFEXCLS OF NOUUMUEGA.
11
oxpanding at Watertown into docks, wharves, a fishway, and a dam, at
the head of tide-water.
It may be claimed to have lieen ah-eady shown, in my earlier com-
munication, that the (/am of founded hou'ldcrs — field-stone — of '.vhich all
the other walls ore dependencies, was the work of these early colonis^ts
of Massachusetts, — the Northmen. The communication which I had the
honor in November a year ago to present, through you, to the American
Geographical Society, traced the origin of the dam to an industry of the
No. .-emeu, — or rather, before I hud seen them, deduced the dam and
seaport, with the docks and wharves, as indispensable requirements for
the conduct of a great Norse industry, of which glimpses are given in the
Vineland Sagas. The occasion and the time at my command did not per-
mit the evidence in adequate detail of the correctness of my position.
That I propose to submit in this connuunication.*
The time is not distant when all who have the needed leisure to in-
vestigate the subject will acquiesce in my domiustmtion — I give my as-
sent to nothing less — that Leif landed on Cape Cod in the year 1000.
and built his house on the Cliarles near the Cambridge City Hospital ;
and that his countrymen iind their descendants, for centuries, conducted
extensive industries in the basin of the Charles and elsewhere in New
England, of which Norumbega is one of the keys and the monument.'-
^li'
' To this t'nd, mainly, I have arraiitrcd on detached sheets suites of maps — holiotype copies —
constitiitinp absolute facsimiles of early authoritative worli-i. many of tlicni rare. Each sheet of
maps is desijfned to aid the student in unilerstandins; tlie line of investiiriition I have pursued,
in regard to one or two points only, liearinc; on the presence, many centuries ago, of a colony
of Northmen in the h.asin of the Charles It w.is inevitable that siiiyle maps and importiiiit
individual facts shtvuld he rej)eaii'd.
' Joshua Toulmain .Smith remarks that some of Thorfinn'a party remained in Vineland. (Jndrid.
si. Kohl divines, told the authorities at Home of the beautiful new country in the west, Vineland
the Good, — " Vinland det Goda." — and about the Christian settlements tnaile there by Soaiidi-
navians. .Sweyn II., KiiiK of Denmarls, tolnc'> had
lieen brou;;ht liini by trustworthy Panish subjects : " I'raetcrea unain adhuc insulam recitavit a
multis reperlam in illo Oceano, (juae dicitur Wiriland, eo quod ibi vites sponte nascuntur, viiuim
I 1
12
nKKr.NCrS ok NOUr.MUKGA.
I do not forirot that otlu>rs may not Ibul llu' Ibico of tlio ovidonco of
cartO'Taiiliv and of irt'OLiraiiliii'al noiiiLMicIaturc as 1 do. To thoni thoro
i" I » 111
will coino, in itropcr ^;^,'(lu^.'lu•^\ the narrativi's of piTsonal visitors to the
silo of Noruiubega in thi' sixtoi'iith ci'iitiirv. To those who eannot believe
that the >'orthini'n were in the valley of the (.'liarles nntil there he laid
before them the demonstration of the pneise latitude of the points in
question, there will he sup[ilied in the judirress of this paper the needed
conditions lor the removal of their last doulit.
Let nie indultre the hope that all who. with little or no careful investi-
gation, now so coMfidently assert their declarations ajrainst the presence
here if early Northiiu . may lure the satisfaction, in conunon with others
happily more free to • , new views, of seeiuL"" the time when it shall
be ditlicult to tind in .M;,,- 'i usetts a man who did not •• tihrni/s know Had
Xortliiiad fitl/uj snniri'-Ji,ri' iilnnti the InWii '>/ tlh' Charltx.''
CoMMrXICATlOXS Fi:OM THE CrbTODIANS OF TIIK PuF.SKUVE.'
The letttT of Colonel ni;_'L'inson LM\e< hi< views of the jnirpose which
the ancient ditches at the niouth of Stony IJniok may have subserved.
— some hydraulic experiments of the early colonists; speaks of tlu' rela-
tive interest he linmd in the photoLM'aphic illnstrations of ^ome of my
paper.-, as compared with the iiigraviiiu-s of the "Northern Anticjuaries "
of lifty year-i ago. and with some kindred criticism coiKdudes as follows :
" I'orsniiuUy. [ slioiilil iiki' iiii ;inli;i-nln_rir:il ilisc()\cry licttrr th;ui one wliich
sliiiuM plaeo tin- haunts df th,- Nni'tlniii ii anioiiLT tlirsc hills ami incadnws where
I |ila\v,l ill chiliih .M.l . Iiat I can sec no .•vidrucc for it. \V.> arc all indchtod
Dl'tinmm f'Tciitcs, N.iiii .t U'nz>'-< il'i ii.-ii s.'iniii:itii'< .il'uii.l.-in' ii.'- filnilnsn oi'luioiio. ?cil cert.l
l);ur.i:iiii ciiipcnaius ivhitioi,,..- Kxi^^.litinns In \-n.rl:iii.l ..t th.' l.rL'i:iiiim,' of th.' clev.Mith Cfiitiin-
an- «ai.l in 1\m- SiifT'is to li;iv 1ih,.,i ImiIIi •• prMtlCl.!,- and li..ii..,;.l.l.' " Nnnl-ii-kjoM, \\\i., h.is twic
Ni.-ife.l i;r....nl:ui.l. ami lia'ijriviMi IIS th.'Mii.|.o<,.,l «i|,. of tin' .Iw.-llini:; of Kirik Uaii.lo aii.l of L.'if liis
-III, at Hrat.t:il:;i.l. ^ay< (Ik No'll.m..i, w.r,. h.T,. -- j,, Vc,. laihl ^ for i,i,,r.. tliaii tiir-o luc.tr.'.l years.
lie wholly acinicsw? in Uie view tlial tlie Xortlimcu \w,-.\u\.' lo-'lv iii.'rL'e.l in tlie Imlian trilu'.-.
■i wliicli «.• have almu.laiit cvMeiioe in local names, aii.l in utii.r loruis wliieli I eaniiol enlaige
ii;M'Ii l.ero.
C
' In the "lioston l-Avnin. Travt-ller" of Dee
1--;.
ji
PI
a
S
t-?'»S.|S':
tmmfmmmm
i r
'*f
■:^
DEFENCES OF NORUMBEGA.
18
to him [Roraford] for calling attention to an interesting conundrum in local
;intii)uities, but 1 cannot see that lie has contributed anytliing towards its solution;
and ho was irrtainly led into a little unfainifgg in tlie titlepage of one of his
pamplilets, where he seemed to attribute to Mr. Winsor a sentence written by
Mr. (icorgc Bancroft, which Mr. Winsor had only quoted with approval."
Possibly. Ijet u.s look at the measure of the unfairness. I submit
first what Mr. Bancroft said (p. 312, vol. iii., 1840). It carries the mark
of the confident conviction of the venerable historian : ' —
" »SV(»;i(/(Hai"j(i«« may have reached the shores of Labrador; the soil of the United
States has not one vestige of their presence,"
' Even Iloinor was saiJ at times to nod. There is precedent for almost anything in tlie way
of niistalji.'s among the writings of our best men. There was even a "vinegar" Bible. The
habits of re.search which pcrmi.ted the statement found on p. 31:2, vol. iii., 18-10, and to which
Colonel lli;,',i,'inson and Dr. Winsor have refe-red, belong to a class not inaptly illustrated on
the next page but one to that referred to, of the "History of the United States" (p. 311).
Mr. liancroft there remarks : " It is a curious coincidence that among the Algonquins of the
Atlantic and of the Mississippi, alike among the Narragan.sett8 and the Illinois, the \i have reaehed the utiores if Labrador, the toil of the
United Sttites has not one veMit/e of their i>reKenee."
Mr. Winsor in his recent communication relieves Mr. Bancroft, Colonel
Iligginson, and himself in the following passage, which 1 quote from his
communication in the "Traveller": —
" There in nut a Himjle item of all the evidence advanced from time to time, which
eon be nail to eimneet bi/ areheen
earlier pointed nnt. Whiiti'vir tlie exjilaiiation may be or may have been, it is clear that Mr.
IJancroft's violent judgment on the Problem, however in keepiu); with the method of research of
tlu' times in which it vvc-us written, carri.s with it a clear intimation of the caution with which his
statements on this theme should be received.
m
''^M
As
DEFENCf:S OF NORUMUEOA. 15
"Pre-Columbian Explorations," which purports to have exhausted the
literature relating to the expeditions of the Northmen to Vineland, with
the result we have seen.
Thus, after the eight folio volumes of "Critical History of America"
have been written and published, we have this result announced at once
in the first volume of the series, and the last in point of time: —
'• There ii not a tnij/le item of . . . evidence . . . [of] the presence of the
Northmen on the soil of North America south of Davis' Strait."
To this conviction Mr, Winsor's method of geograjihical investigation
has conducted him.
Professor Ilaynes says : —
" There is the same sort of reason for believing in the existence of Leif Erikson
that there is for bolieving in the existence of Agamemnon : they are both traditions
nccei)t('d l)y the later writers. ... It is antecedently probable that the Norsemen
discovered America in the early part of the eleventh century ; but that discovery is
confirmed by the same sort of historical tradition, not strong enough to bo called
evidence, upon which our belief in many of the facts of history rests."
The likeness referred to has been recognized by Vigfusson between
the works of Homer and the great poems of the Heroic Age of Scan-
dinavia, — such as the Eddas, — but not before, so far as I know, between
the Iliad on the one hand and the logs of mei-chant-ships preserved in the
Vineland Sagas on the other.
That one may appreciate the weight of this argument of Professor
Haynes, compare the first two stanzas of Cowpor's Iliad with the open-
ing paragraphs of Leif's Expedition to Vineland, in the Saga of Eirik
Raude. They read as follows: —
ILIAD.
Sing, Muse, the deadly wrath of Peleua' son
Achilles, source of many thousand woes
To the Achaian host, which num'rous souls
Of heroes sent to Ades premature,
I'l
"^
16
DKKEXCES OF NOlUMIlKciA.
Ami left their liotlios to devouring dogs
And binis of lli'iiv'n (^so Jove his will j)erformM)
From thut drciid lioiir wlnii diHoonl first cnibroirj
Acliilles and At rides, King of Men.
AVho of the gods iniiieli'd tiieni to eonteiid .'
Latona's sou and Jove's. l''or he, ineens'd
Against the King, a foid contagion raised
In all the host, and multitudes destroy 'd,
For the alTront from Atre'us' son rei'eived
1>) his priest Cliryses. To the fleet of (Irecco
He came, with ]irceious ransom to redeem
His captive daughter, and Ajiollo's wreath
And golden scc|itre bearing in his hand.
LKIF'S EXPKIMTION FROM CHFF.NLAND.
They then fitted out their ship, and when tli-y were ready, sailed seaward.
Tliey now found that country first which njiirni had found last. There tlicy stood
in, cast anchor, and put out the boat, ami wtiit asiioic. but cuiiid s(m> no grass. Great
glaciers covered the hiirliliiuils, but it was iis one flat rock fnim the sea to the glaciers.
The country appeared to be utterly worthless.
Then said licif ; "The same thing luts not hapitened to us which did to Hjnrni, —
that we ha\e not sto]iiH.'d ashore; and now 1 shall give this country a name, and
cull it IIi:i.i.ri,.\sn."
They then went to the ship and jiut out to sea, and found another country. They
again .sailed to land, cast anclmr, put out a bu.at, and walked a.shore. That country was
level and wooded, and white sands in many places where tiiey went, and not steep
along tlie sea.
Tiicn .said Lcif ; "This country shall be named according to its (pialities. —
M.\RKI,.\N-1)."
Then goini: down atrain to the .ship as rpiickly as ixissible. thoy sailed seaward,
and for two days they sailed witli a northeasterly wind until they sighted land. They
sailed to the country, and nunc to an island whidi lay to the nortli of the mainland;
walked ashore, ami looked about in fine weaiher. They ii.,ticed that dew was on the
grass, and happening to touch it with their liands ami |,ut it into their mouths,
thought they ne.cr had tasted anything so sweet as that. They then went to their
■^
1
DKFKNt'KS OK N'OUrMIlK(i.\.
17
ship, iinil Hailed into that sound which hiy between the island and the ncR8 which
jutifil dut mirth of the mainland, and uteered wcHtward past the mss. There, great
shallowH extended at ei)l)-tide, and then their ship Htood aground, and then it ajK
pcared far from the vchscI to the sea. J5ut so eager were they to go ashore, that
they could not wait until the sea should return to tiieir shij), hut leaped ashore
where a river llowed out of a lake. Hut when the tide retm'm'd to their slii|i, then
tliey took the l)(mt and rowed to the ship, and it moved up into the river and then
into the lake. Thi'rc they cast anchor, and carried their leathern hammocks ashore
and made booths there. They then decided to dwell there during the winter, and
erected there a largo building. . . .
This is the story of Leif's voyage from Groenlaml to Vineland.
Dr. Winsor nncl Profes.'ior Ilaynes 8ub.stantially repeat the criticisms I
have printed in my letter on the " Prolilem of tlie Northmen," — and to
which 1 have replied, in the same publication.
Dr. Winsor now omits the .statement which 1 quoted from him last
year, that the report of the Committee, by it.s Chairman, to the Massachu-
setts Historical Society, on the discovery of America by tlie Xortiunen.
"/)(//'/ exprcs.sed the sense of the Society ... in langui'ge which seems to
be th«' result of the best historical criticism."
But it does not .seem to have occurred either to him or to the Chair-
man to state that one member of the Committee, the then first Vice-Presi-
dent of the Society, the late Dr. Charles Deane, did not acquiesce in the
report, and declined to sign it, — a circumstance, I may add, of which that
gentleman took occasion, after the report was printed, personally to iul'urm
me. It is obvious that the expressions chosen by tlie Corresponding Sec-
retary of the Historical Society must have a technical rather than the com-
monly accepted meaning, ina.smuch as Dr. Deane has been generally recog-
nized to be at the head of this department of resciirch, in Ne„ England.
and as such, entitled to personal recognition, when expressing dissent.
It is, perhaps, due that I should mention that I hail shown to Dr. Deane
evidences of the presence here of the Northmen which it had not been my
fortune to point out to my critics.
I I
i;l
I.J
r \
T^
^
18
DKFKXCKS OF X()lUMl»E(iA
Rev. Dr. Slafter'.s Puhmsiied Views.
Rev. Dr. Slafter remarked, in the course of hi.s public aMrvan before the
Bostoniuu Society.' on wliich occasion I iiiul the honor to be present : —
•' Hid the Northinfii loiivc on tliis continent luiy monunionta or rcinainH winch may
serve as memorials of their ahiMie hero in the early jiart of the eleventh century ?
Sources of evidence on this point uuist, lie looked for In the Surras or in the remains
which can be clearly traced to the Northmen. In tlie Sa^ras, we are compelled to
say. as much as we miiiht wish it otherwise, wc have looked in vain for any such tes-
timouv. Tlii'i/ cnitiiiii «.. eriili-nre ur intiiimt'f>n tlmt tlir y'irffimen comtruitxi nin/
muxonry h'r,-, or luiil cc' #^'n.■ upon nnothr. . . . ThiVf hive been tome JdMoriam
who have fomtd vii»tl;i iwre than 1 him' hem Me to Jineorer, hut thei/ helowf tn that
claxs 'if hintorions wh> are illstinjuinheil h,/ ejuhenniee of iiii(i;/iiia'ion and redundance
of thow/ht" '
In the communication presented to the public through the " Trnveller,"
he says subsUiiitially as follows : —
" riiiihnid, the ha If, the river, the inland* at the mouth, mail mean almogf any reifion,
bay, river, with i.-'landx at thr >n'aith,in Xew Eiii/land. X" evidenee ivhieh it better than
insnffieiint and trivial han hten bnnoiht forward to patitivelij locate them."
Dr. Slafter is thus emphatic in the expression of his convictions because they
are sincere, and based, as he felt, on adeipiaic research. One may ask how could
' As sHpplifd to the daily papers.
' The trilic ni.i\ ii.)t havi' met with tlie follnwing siiitonce in tlic aildrcos liefore the Royal Society
by the late Sir Hiiijainin Itrodie, and wliioh Tyiidal iiialics the text of one of his hrilliant chapters, —
"The Scientific I'-t'S of the Inwirinalion '' —
" Phvsical Investigation, tnon- 'inn tinytliinu vUi' liesides, helps to teach us the ocliial value and riiht
u«i' of tlie iina'iinalion, — of that wondrous faruliy wliich left to rainlili- uncontrolled leads ii» astray
inti' a ■vilderness of fHTplexities and ernirs, a land of mists and shadows. 1ml which pro|M'rly controlloj
hy experience and retleition liei-oines the nohlest atlrihule of man, the source of poetic penius, the inatru-
nient of discovery in science, without tlie aid of wliich N'lwicm would mver have invented tluxions, nor
Davy have decomposed the earths and alkalic^s, nor would Cohiinhus have found another continent."
It is a |)leasure to recall tlie memory of this old friind and classmate of nearly fif\y years 8R0. Sir
Henjaiuin lirndie was the eldest sim of the eminent surgeon of London. After his course under
the creat master Lichii;, he devoted many yi'ars, iis Professor of Cln'mistrv at Oxfonl, to the sue
ecssful ilevelopment of numerous subtle lawj of Chemistry, thus connntiiitr his naiue imperishab|y
with the progress of physical science.
•I
DKFKNC'KS OP N()UUMHK(;a.
n
1 !mvc iiiTivod at otiicrH ho unlike tlii-in ? It can only bo that from his mind hud
b(( 11 (Hmccalt'd thu evidence which brought conviction to mine.
Let mc crave indulgence for a word ubout myself. In the CirHt |iluce 1 have
liccn t'ortunate. The accident of my rcHidenco on the tide-water of the CluirloH,
and my leisure and opportunities, which jKirmitted uninterrupted study of the prob-
lem for Mix years, much of the time in tiie field, gave what could not have come
to me had 1 lived only so far away as J5o«tou from the theatre of study. With
this there was, I may perhaps add, the habit of testing problems by seicntilic
methods, — to which naturally fell the prol)lem of the Northmen; and this came
of a lifetime given to experimental research.
V)\vn with these fortuitous advantages, I am free to confess that but for a
eliildhood among the Indians, as the son of a missionary, I should not have had
what 1 regard as one of the chief (lualilications for the study of this problem, —
the habit of the oar readily to receive Indian utterances. This gave to the pho-
netic (lualities of their language their proper service in the study of tlie jiroblem.
The Northmen might have left traces of their language; but for my exceptional
experience, whatt'ver else of iiualilication for the study I may have had, I should
nut in all probability have fotmd Norway in Norumliega; or Nerigon, an earlier
form of Norway, in Narragan-sett and Norridge-wock ; nor the Iliiitra-manna-land
of the Sagas (White-man's-laiul) in Wapanni^Ke or Wampanakke,'— the home of
' Wamimiinkkc, Wiiinpnnaukc, Wnbnnakki (Raslca); Wapiinnehki (Cree),— White-man's-land,—
resolves itself into three AlRonqiiiii roots: iramp, an, and akke.
For the first syllable Koger Williams sniiiKtimos (jivfs wnm/)! fur "white" in the Xarragan-
sett (lialuct. In the Creo it is ini/). In l\w I,iMiiipe of tli" Delaware it is ifmij). It appears in —
ir.iw/iHHi, — "white beads;" also in U'ompnn (U. G.), — " money " (beads strung on strings
for ('(.rivnicnce). Wo have the root in W'lmp-w/'iil, — '' a white blanket"' (a covering), and in
Wtim/i-iniiil, — " white cloth."
DiMicko ^;ives II'..ii/)ii(7i-/i()(m, — " white broad." (I.enape.)
W'lxilHicliHiiii = W'ntp-iiHi-as.iiin, — " whitc-land-stone," " chalk."
W'irip-(iK, — "\\h\U> lieach."
It is r-'cognizi'd in tlie Mic-Mac. Ma.ssachiisptts, Narragansett. and Chippewa, the Schawanese.
Dolawari- (MinM). Choycnnc. Cree, Sank, and othtT AlRonqnin dialwts.
The second syll.ible an is an abbreviation fioin l.ini, or Anini. Delaware for "man." It
occurs in combination in the names of many Indian tribes. For II'(('/(i»i, (iWv. and an, see the
Algoinpiin I-enajie Saga " Walcm Omm." edited by Squier; also by Ihinton.
The tliird syllable,—
Mke, means "land" The sjiellini; varies, — as alike, auke, ackei/, okke, etc.
!
M
m
;
. (
< I
* ii
20
DEFENCES OF KOIU'XIREGA.
the Wampanoags of the riiritan chronidiTs (the trilM> of King Philip"), and the
W;i|H-noliis aiul Wapanoos of the Piitoh. Nor shoiiM 1 have found in Walmnakkc
( Wiiito-uianVhind) the home of the Abcnaltis (Wahanalvlios). It was in all tliis
region that the explorers under Ayllon (ir.20), and later "S'errazano (lo24), found
whit,- pcop',,', of whom, farther nortii, Jaeques Carticr heard in 15;i4-85, as also
Zeisberger the Moravian missionary, and whi» were ealled Schawanaks.
This early experience with the Indians has enabled me to recognize "Norum-
bega" in Arambee (see John Hut, l,):i7, in Purehas), in the (Jrande Laurent-I)ec
(Grouani's map, original parjlnnent of Hrevoort CoUectitm, ITla), t!ie I',>tit et
nrande Lorembec (VnugM,„|y, 174.)), and [.aureus, on French nu.ps in my poa-
session,-all which are mimes successively borne by the same locality, beginning
with Arambec, between the site of Louisburg, Cnpc .]reton, and the Island of Scu-
tari. This locality still l)ears on either side of the bay, for its headlands, Bi; then (". St. L
ui (1004-1(11:2): with Lesearl
earbot, C.
■ainet
Kuglish map (1010)
•ns witli Champlain (10;J-J). Another and earl
rives
uotie I-
reuel
yv tins point the May and CaiH' St. L
1 e.puvalent of Lonini; ami later, ".. d,.,,.!
ler
awrene the plio-
tiie name St. Lawivuce. the name uow Mp,,ii,.,l to both tl
evoi.\ says, LM-aduallv arose
The N
ii'uiibei-Lrue of V
le river and the undf.
in X
o.iimbeli
(Fat hi
V
de Liireme on tin- Seba.->"''"-■>' i's it was preceded by the form of IJaya
il)ot map of ]:,14. What Vet
riuniile heard
OesKles tliu nam
preserved by Champlain, that of N
orom-
S:iii I/-iri;iizo was
or ;i time iis a oorniivti.ni of tlii.s 1\.
-.irliia- ((ioin.ira, ir..Vi) ; ami |».ssibly St. L
11 may liave been rogardp.l
two ^VilaMi's of N.
rniii-ljt'ca.
1", Ui.stiiud of beuig i„ tlio liim uf derivatives from the fir.st
-a
If
DKFEXCES OF NOUT'MREGA.
21
Ijorirhia in tlie manuscript commission of Henry IV. to Marquis dc la Roche,
l.V.IH (parchment rescript signed by Genin, ItiOC)).
Tlic dialectic ecjuivalcnce in the Algonquin of I, h, and r was jTOintcd out i)y
Roger Williams as early us lt!43. To these there si'cm properly to lie added d
and t. (See Earle's " Philology of the English Tongue," Oxford, 1873.)
The habit of prefixing the sound of m or 71 to the utterance of />, — as in bih,
"water," which became m'lii/i, and njuh (its dialectic e(iuivalent), — was recognized
hv Zeisberger, ilcckewelder, Dencke, Duponceau, CJallatin, Hrinton, and others, and
is not i)ecidiar to the Aborigines of New Knghind or of America. The aue(piate
illustration with 6 is too familiar to rcciuire special illustration. 'I'lio Cassava bread
of .\iiti'.;iia of to-day was, earlier, Cdsmhi. Valhwi wa.s linlhm. The (\irii of the rortujjiieso was
the f'„ft„ of the .Spaiiiard. Our siU-er i.s the CiiTrnan .siVAtr ; our rai-iii„r is tin' Spanish cahallero.
M.irfil Head and Marhle II., id were once interehangealde. On the maps of the sixteenth and
seventi'eMth ocntiiries one meets alternately Xon-eijia and NDrhn/m in great frequency. Besides
tlie S.,nr,ja repeated on separate maps of Solis, and of Hotero, ltiO;i, Xorvvga occurs on Bernard
Sylvan (Leiewel), l.MI, and on Tal.uUi C'alalana (l:!75-l;t7«, Lelewel). VVol;,'emud and I'leuden-
wiiilT (U'.»;t) hive Norweira, — replacing the r with a u: The Zeid have Sorvcgia, Vm, and
.Y,w..,,,„ is on Kuysch of \M1 S.,n;.,i, is ou I'tolemy. of l.-iOl-I.'xU. Kafn, in the " Antiquitates
Am.rican.e," translat.'s the Xorse name into Latin .V.;rrf;;in. l.aronsse says " Nurv,-ge or Sonceye."
They are ;,-.' remnir derivatives from the ancient Norse. — A'-.i-.v/r and X,>nr;,r. Iloman, 1730,
has .\„n;;/!ar Tho present N„r«o^'i;in name is \„r^e, which was also the name in the sixth
century (see Wi'dell's Historical Athus). Careful study, with a regar.l for philol,igioal and dialectic
equivalents, will reve ,.! -n these early forms the source of all the varions modes of spellinK leading
,lawn to Snrumhe,,,,. These s,. varied names, it is to be remembered, are not examples of A-'-r-.-
spelling, a claim mistakenly .ascribed to mo by some most learned writers,- but tho results of
efforts l.v oihrr nationalities to express in letters the pRMiunciation a.s they heard or conceive.! it.
i
■: I'
DEFENCKS OF NOKUMIU'-GA.
"MI'S V\r OF Tnr. UFOION of VIXKI.ANI> and ink inlnw iiF .NDIIVFOA AfiAIXST
M \-- \< MI-I 1 I- lAV, IM 1.1 MM. TIIF ( ITY iiF M.|:II.,V ( M •!; 1 M llHi A) IN IIIE
Fi'Kiv-iiin;ii [in. 1:1.1 (ncu.M IllK iui.li.l 1 ms "t Ml:, lilti mkhu. )
,«
A
Ur.FENCES OF NOKUMBEGA.
23
-J^
H
! '
"h
!•
Mil.lrl MAI' 111 Ni)U\l.ti.\ IX KflliirK (MPItWAV), TlIK PAliKNT cmXTUY Dl
TIIK ((111 IN V (IN I UK CUAULKS HIVEU. (KHOM THE COLLECTION OK
Ml!. Ui;l.\(Hll(r )
24
DEFENCES OF NORlMREr.A.
(with its derivative Norumbcsa) is not ilirticult to trace in the New England
names of to-day, — as in Naiimbeak (Capt. John Smith), Naumiicug, and Amos-
Ivcag (see Colonel Gookiii). Es])cciall\' is this true when wo take into account
the Xorumbcga of Hakhiyt, Sir lIum|iliroy (!ill)ert, Champlain, and of the maps
of tiie sixteenth and early seventeenth centuries. 1 have found a large number of
early geographical names in New England which carry a Norse root.'
The familiar forms to-day of the ancient Norvega are, —
Norge, the name on Norwegian maps.
Norriiie, the name on .Swedish maps.
j^orveiie. i\\c niune on French nvj^s. ■
Xoriciijen, the name on Gernr maps. •
Noneay, the name on English maps.
From earlier and later maps — rejtresenting the time from the second century
before Christ, down — I have not less than forty forms of the name.
It will be a great, and I am sure a not unwelcome, surprise to my v.'ner-
able friend to find, as will presently appear, that liLs own labors have fur-
nished evidence of the pre.sence and the ,«ite of the very remains which he
deems indispensable to a belief that the valley of the Charles held the
early settlements of the Northmen, — " the stones luid one upon another.''
Let us now turn to —
The City axd CorxTnv of NoRrsinEGA,
as the theatre of the evidence which Dr. Slafter deems e.ssential to conviction.
The city was uniformly placed on the maps, down to Champlain, in
the country called Nova Francia. — the earliest New France.
There .>^eems to have Ijeen an early chart desi{.'ned to illustrate the
site of the country described in the Vineland Sagas, — a chart which was
repeatedly copied. At the mine point on three of the copies, — that of
Ortelius in 1570. of Solis in 1-V.)8, and Botero in l(i03, — we have the
> Amonc forms constantly recurring' are such as the f(]!lo\vii)K : -Vo, mi. twc, wiu, nolle. ,„Muni.
iinrri, w,n„„. h, ■in. hfck. han,,. >.,l. >.„■, ,„,;, ui.. nk, ,i„, n.j. ho „ln, U. anm, hus„. , AiV, yar, chiii, yolhe.
With Uiete aia many dialectic moililications ; but I may not pursui' the mattor here.
DEFENCES OF NORUMBEGA.
26
same name with dialectic variations. (See last three of the maps on one
sheet, page 32.)
Ortelius has Norvmbega where Solis has Nornega, and Botero Norvega,
They apply to the same locality. These three names are plainly all forms
of Korwa//, — 11, V, w, and l> being interchangeable. Solis's map has the
name with the character standing for a city, and also in larger print the
same name for a province, and in .still larger print the name Nova
Francia, — which also appears on both the others.
When the natives, on all the coast from Cape Cod to the St. Law-
rence, were asked the name of their country or province or people,
they answered, " Normhfga" which became '■^ Normnlnga" to the inquirer;
and as the vowels changed, the word took on other forms of spelling,
according to the nationalities of the questioners. Peter Martyr wrote
Aremhi; Verrazano, Anorohitgra ; 'RmcuWi, Nunimberg ;^ Mercaior, JVoromlrga ;
Allofonsoo, Nomnherguc ; William de Teste, Aiioragua, — but they were all
in Xc/r France. With the maps of Solis, Ortelius, and Botero, tjiken in
connection with Bancroft's remark that " the French diplomatists always
remembered that Boston was within the original limits of New France,"^
1 have elsewhere intimated that the elements for the solution of the
Problem of the Northmen, as presented in the Sagas, might be found.
Extent of the Country.
If we take the name as used by Champlain, we have the country
stretching over a vast area. Charlevoix, another authority as absolute
as Champlain, speaks of Pentagoi-t (the Penobscot) as running through the
midst of Norumboga, ''long /mown," he says, "as a Imtutiftd diul jmvcrfol
Province:' Allolbnsce, less known than Champlain for obvious reasons.
I Tliia reseiiiMmico to Xuremhur// is not witliout signification. It seems not impiobable, from
rese.irches I liave iiiii.lo. th.lt the nneient Ilaviiriiin town gave tlie name to Xoricum of Roman times,
conceived to bo the .listi ict from whi.h Austria arose, and was itself trac.able through various dialectic
chanu'es to Xorrjn of the second centnry before Christ (see WchlVs Atlas), so nearly re.sembliL^'
tho .V»r<.„r of the time of Leif, and not remote from the AV/-/.." of Pany a thousand years earlier.
- Ili-tory of the United States, 'Jd ed , vol. i. p. 21.
\l
2G
PKFKNCKS OF XOlUMmUiA.
but as a pilot enjoying the highest reputation, finds abundant evidence of
the extension of Noruniboga in southern New P^ngland. Thevet found the
country in the forty-tliird degree. Jolin Smith looked for it for many
years unsuceessfully, in \'irginia. Raniusio s and Parnientier's descripti(jns
of the pro(hictions of Norunibega inehided fruits tiiat nro found in tlie
Carohnas and Florida. Allefonsee seemed to have had a suspieion that
this ancient country reached to and included the same region, and he
looked for it about the latitude of Charleston. In the other direction,
the dialectic equivalent of the name is still preserved on the recent Ad-
miralty charts, as already mentioned, on the south side of the island of
Cape Breton, between the ancient Louisl)urg and the island of Scatari.
It applied also in Chainplain's time" to the pre-sent Cape North. .
This great extent of country was called Norumbega. Admiral De
Monts, says the record (Shifter's - Chaniplain "). sailed soni/i/'vr,/ from the
region of Frenchman's Bay along the coast of Norumbega. Champlain
left the name ou his maps— 1(112-1018 — at different points, and in hi-i
text it is found altogether some forty times. He heard the name far in
the interiiir as well as along the New England coast.
On page 218 of the second volume (Prince Society's Publications,
edited hy Dr. Slafter), Champlain has recorded bis testimony as to the
extent of the country of Norumbega as follows.
While on the lake which bears his name, Champlain was told bv the
Algonquins — whoso cause he lind espoused — of their enemies inhabiting
the region beyond a lake (Ldse (leorge), to reach which it was neces-
.sary to pass a fall, which he afterwards visited, "which lake was nine
or ten leagues long. Afterwanl, reaching tiie end of the lake, we .should
have to go." they said, '■ two leagues by land, and then pass through a
river flowing into the .«ea, on the coast of NorumI)ega, near that of
Florida,' whith.'r it took them only two days to go by canoe, a.s I
' This may hav« been the Flori,ia of Verrazano, - the region of Cipc Cn,\ ■ or possil.ly Chatn-
I.laiu might have Riven greater extont to Xorninlu-g.i. „,• t„ K!„ri,I,-,. ... Nvas given hv Allefonsee,
Ramusio, ami others.
DKFKNCE.S Of NOUUMBEGA.
27
have since ascertained from some prisoners we captured, who gave
me minute infonnution in regard to all they had personal knowledge
of, through Hoine Algonquin interpreters who understood the Iroquois
language."
It is quite obvious that Champlain, in common with the learned
men of the sixteenth century generally, believed in the existence of
Norumbega as a country. That he has unwittingly crowned the deinon-
stratioji that there was a city of Norumbega as well, we shall see later.
That he siiould have stricken every trace of the name from his map
of 1632, we shall also see was in keeping with his having failed to
find remains of the city on the Penobscot, and of his having implicitly
accepted the superi'icial reports of the Charles, and of its mistaken du-
plicate Rio du Gas, made by the men sent to explore the region, — if,
indeed, he himself were not personally of the exploring party. (See
Purcha.s, 1013, cited further on.)
Dr. Parkmax.
Of my critical friends who doubt the presence of Norsemen and
of Norumbega — city or country — in the neighborhood of the Charles,
and think it only probable that the Norsemen came to America at all.
Dr. Francis Parkman has given the following reasons why he docs not
accept my general conclusions. He says: —
"i think it ix prolnthle that the Xorsnncn c(Viii; to Amerira, hut I do not
coimdir the rriilfiirf to that fffi'ct which has in'mi hrou
.53
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OKI-KNCKS OF NOUUMHKCi.V.
20
iistronouiy, througli the axtronomcrH at the ()l)8crvfttoric,s of Ifiirvnid ntid
Conlobii. lie wuH nmny days in a vn.st and thick (iild of irmrine veyo-
fivtion that obstructed the pio^rress of his hliip (another marvel, for lie
hud not heard of the Sargiisso Sea) ; vlien he had croHsed it, he Hailed
away to Cabo <1e Haxos.' It is certain that no early writer has given
Hiieh nc.urate accounts of the region from Narriigansett iJiiy to, and
in.iuding. Cape Ann. Professor Ganong, than vhom on this qiiestion of
tnistworthinesH no one is more competent from research in this field to
give opinion, says Thevet is "certainly truthful." He is charged with
being credulou.s. So was Pliny; but what a magniliccnt defences of his
great accomplishments and services Cuvier has hit us! Shall I take
exception to the estimate of Champlain because his nuip of the coast of
New England, instead of being, as is claimed, the Jint nulhj Hvcnrotr ,.„p,
is grotesque in its duplication and misplacement of points, and because
it fails to recognize some of the most important features of the coast
along which he sailed at least four times, and because there is a want of
conformity between his text and his maps? Instead of depreciating his
work, I marvel at his having made ,so excellent and generally accurate a
map. His finding two C/t>iiiacnr/.i (Cohassets),— they were only descriptive
names applicable alike to two localities, — was what led to most of his
errors. That ho has twice given (map of 1012) the site of Xorumbega,
on two presentations of the Cliarle.s, is evidence that two exploring parties
were sent out, — or perhaps oidy that two reports were received.
In Dr. Parkman'rt estimate of the trustworthiness of Thevet as applied
to what he has said of Xorumbega he has the support of many distin-
guished men ; among them are Professor Shaler, the late Mr. George
Dexter, Rev. Dr. De Costa, Jean do Lery, the late Mr. Brevoort, Pro-
'i
' Catio lie nuxo9, Uie cnpo of tlio irry lin!f bay of Provincotown Harbor, is Aljonquiii, Biieca-es-cs
(l?a.xo!i) is one of tlie recesses of tin- bay of Cape CoJ ; liacea-o.s (liaxe) i.s tlie lesser bay —Cape Coil
Hay — a.s emnpared with the greater Ma.<9acluisett.s Ray. E.* is tiio Algoiuiuin (liinimitivo; M-e< i.s
a fnrm of emplia.sis. The i arose as in I'au-tuek-es-et = Pautuxet (Trumbull), liaecaes = Ilaxe.
Bacea-es-es = Mux es = Uaxos.
V
30
DKFENCKS OF NORI'MHKfJA.
lessor GalTarri'l, and others.' My critical frionils simply did not have the
necessary material for adequate investigation.
1 have intimated that 'I'lievet did not stand alone in niaintiiining that
Norumbega was in tlie forty- tl.'.ird de,i.Mee. against the opinion held by
some in his time that Norunibega wa> mi the latitude of Canivda in some
fifty -six degrees. lie mentions certain well-known jioin .< on tho coast of
Norumbega. They are between the Cape Sainct Jean (Double) of Thevet
our Cape Ann, and — as ho calls it — Aiayascon (Iroquoi.s for arm), our
Xantasliet (or X,. ,/. /„ /.•,.„„„. .,„,„„,„,„„ ,,,„f„,,, „,,f,,.,.„, ,_^ ^
tl>.u,,h,f>., ,.„„,.„.> „f Thevofs ol.nu.t«r, ,. wWl a. a s,„„,„a,v of tho on.iciM.s hv hi, on..„.i..,,
.,M V ,h>.e w.,o oo,.ia ,..„ ,..v.,,t as .ruo what .. • sa„! of nuany of ,ho wo,,,!,-, of ,ho N.nv
'""''• .'" ;'"■;"'" ''- '■'■"f"-""- '■^"^--' i-"'-^ -• 'l'.> i.np..rfe.t oarlv ednoafo,, of Thev.t,
- p..Mo„ f,„ ,,..n.,n,, h,s foil,!... his vanity; .„a a all fa„, ,.,„„.,>,y „: „,T,.,., ,he ac.uraov of
A > ah ,s .vo «a„,.,a. ,h. ,.Hrait , have ,.. ,.a. ,. ;. ,a,.,„.t..,y 1 t.,e roach !,f
'■ Haroaioo= liaocaUeu; by maatLeMs, Cabeljuu (Dutch) or Kab-ljau (Gern.an).
I H
' >' ,
U H
^.
RIVER FLOWING THROUGH A LAKE
INTO THE SEA'
VINLAND OP THE NORTHMEN
Copietl t'r^fler InsLi'inTtioij by
Geo. Davis, Civil Engiijecr.
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VINLAND OP THE NORTHMEN
CopieH C/'t^er Ipstriictioi? by
Geo. Davis, Civil Ei?^ii7cer.
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defi:n'cks of nokumbecja.
31
Allefonsce and many others, as will be seen), Thevet has given a most
(letaihjd uocount. The latitude of the entrance to the diaries was ob-
served with wonderful preciMion, and recorded in his •• Cosmography."
The more crucial test of his record of what was in the forty-second
and forty-third degrees will be seen on comparing it with that of
the foregoing sheets of charts of photographic fac-similes, which I have
prepared.
There is another consideration, — Thevet is not a new witness. He
has been proved. He said ' that on a river called Xornnibegue (also Rio
Grande), in the forty-third degree, at a distance of some ten or twelve
leagues from its mouth, there was a fort, surrounded by a ditch supplied
with water from a stream entering the river at this point. I went to the
place described, and found, six years ago, the remains of the ancient
fort and ditch. I also found the arm-shaped Nantaskot, with its Iroquois
name Aiayascon, and the Cape of the Islands, — Cohasset, — as described
liv him, and familiar to us all ; and more recently I discovered the city
as indicated in Thevet's text and on his map. It was Thevet who gave,
as already mentioned, the latitude of the mouth of the river Nonun-
begue (Nanta.sket Roads) substantially coincident with that of the Coast
Survey, — 42" 18'.
Jeax Allefoxsce.
Jean Allefonsce had sailed for many years in almost every ocean, and
was renowned as a most skilful pilot. He was a reserved, profoundly
conscientious man ; gave in his writings instructions for the use of astrono-
mical instruments; was chosen by the King of France to lie the pilot of
Hoberval, who led an exploring expedition to our coast in lo-l-i, and
superseded the wise, patient, and gallant Jacques Cartier,^ — the great
1 See John Cabot's ••Landfall," 14li". and Uie ".Site of Xorumbega," 1SS5, Cosmogiaphio, 15V5.
' Sec Margry. at length. Dr. Kohl .says : " Koberval, sent on a voyage of di.scovery to north-
1'a.stern America l)y the French Government," Fram-is I. " .sent also one of his mariners, a very
exiwrt pilot, named Alphonae de Saintonge, to search for a northwest pa.ssage north of Newfouud-
\-
^ ' I
o'2 Uri'lCXCES Oi' NOUlMliKCi.V.
captain, wlio much as he added of discovery along the Saint Lawrence,
had tailed to accomplish one of the chief objects of his exj)editions. to
find the passage tlirough to the Indies. It was while seeking this passage
under Koberval. that Allefunsce found his vessel of too deep drauglit to
ascend the Gulf of Barnstable at the bottoui of Cape Cod Bay, in the
forty-second degiee.' which bay he conjectured might lead through to
the Western Ocean; and it was [o the pursuit of this phantom. — born
of Columbus, and the passion of the century and a half following, — that
we owe Allefonsce's record of the Massachusetts coast. He placed the
river and the city of Norundiegue, as his record shows, between 4'J'' 0' and
\'2 3S.' — within a breadth of only ihirt>/-la'u luinutis of a degree.
Was TiiEKF. A City of NouuMnEGA ?
Bi'fore further proceeding to vindicate the authorities discredited by
Dr. l*arknia!). let us pause to glan(>e lor a moment at one branch of the
evidence of the existence of a city ol Norundjega which is furnished in
the ancii'Ut cartography of the New England coast. Here (p. o2) are
maps from IVter .Martyr (resting on the pilot Miruelo, ; 520) down to the
m\\Y< at tlie cml oi' the .•sixteenth century, which connect jV'inniifir'/it irith
a f'-onncc <•/ X"rf'r/. ifiih lie- ri;/i(iii of ]'i,iihiii(J, /rjtii lli, .•«,r(rcii/ii/// of yranci',
irilh till iiiialihnrhon.l uf linshui / >huiy (if tliese maps bear against the name
a special mark iuflicatiuix the sitt; of \\\v citv of X()rund)e il.' .^^ainlonL'o wxs n vitv dislinu'iiislicl Fruneli i-initain, who forip'-rly ImJ
iravivlr.l to Ilrazil, in Frrm b as will as r()rtn;:iics.> fiailin'.'-vps,scls. Hakliivt 'vol. iii. p. 'X.Vt .-rv]
romrr.miiMti"? txi-illi-nt sailing dircnions tor tlic (iulf an.l Hivi-r St. L.iwrenoc, ni.adu l,v thi.s navi-
pilor [Alphonse !,• .Saintni|..,'o]." Kolil furtli.-r refers to Alplions*' thus: " St-e more of him in a
note rjf M. I/Av.-zae. in Kulletiii . p. 417 ,»■<;., Annee l>-.'>7."
M.ir-ry. in ■• Na\ i^Mti. nes l-"raiu;aiscs,"' dr.w atteniinn to tlie i.assa;:e (iilro given by Ilakluyt)
in which !..■ liMinelly avers that he hail entered a hay in lal. tJ . (Hrevoort's Verrazano, p. 15J.)
'lliis was the Hiv at Marnstal.Ie, whirh Alphunse 6n!.mested should he explored with a smaller vessel,
.IS le.idinf; po,s>ih!y ihroiidi to the raeifn', — a northwest pas^aiji
' .My attention was fir.sl drnvn to this pi^iit hy the la'.- .1. C.irson li.-evoort.
DEFENCES OF NOUUMllEGA.
88
List of Mais
sliiiwiuR the sito of Norumhoga and its concomitant geographical features and their
suiiesnidii, in answer to the question, —
Was tiif.uk a (_'ity ok Nokimhkoa in tiik Fokty-tiiikd DvAinr.r.?
Airnil'i ol I'eter Martyr, — Aiiiudie of Meruilo, 1520.
>,'iirul>fr^,'.v — useril)ed to Mercator— has the eharaeter indicating a city.
Nuronilie^'a (Wytfiiet) , — eity.
Anoralia,i,'r:i, I)au|ihin iiki]. (Deseeliers), 1540, — arcliiiiekgo, river, and turretod gate-
wav. whii-h with the name Anorobagra jioint to the eity.
N(Udnilierg\ie, Allffunsee, ir.-l.'i. — river and (hy rehition) eity, in forty-third degree.
Noronilii'ga, Mcieator (.Fmiiard, 1. ")(')', I), — fort and eity.
Noruinlu",'a, Tlievct (from relation in ('osiuograjiliy), 1575, — fort and eity. Nan-
tisket Kiads in latitude" 11.'° It'. ol)served by Tlievet.
Norimltega. Thevet Cosmograiihy (1575, an obviously imperfect copy of Mercator,
15f,0), — fort and eity.
N(.ronibf-a, [.ok, 15S1.'. No I'ljiher, but name against the locality.
Niironibega, dohn Dee. l.")S(i, — loit. river Camas ((inmcz).
Norambegii, .huhieis. — river called R. Grandi-, or (.iuiuas. At entrance to bay is
('. lie St. Maria ( I'l'J'A).
N.>rondiega. I'laneie. 1501. — city and Trovinec in Nova Franeia.
NonuMbeg;;, Mdlyneaux Globe, l.V.)l'. — site (d' eity on liiu (Irandc in Nova Franeia.
Norondie'^'a, De I'.ry. 1.T,h;, — tort in Nova Franeia iit junction of two streams.
Nornmbega, Wyttlict, 15!»7, — fort on Uio CramU' and jirovinee of Norumbega in
Novae Franciae I'ars, with Cape de las Islas, at mouth of river.
1 liave numerous other maps iioiuting to the site of the eity, uiuler various moililica-
tious of the name.
Noniega, Solis, 1.5<.)S, — eity in Noeua Franeia, with Norvega and Suedia on the
Fairopeau portiiui of the map. (See map, ]iage I.'.'!.)
■fliis map and the three foUowini,' couple tlie Norumbega of Nova Franeia (New
France) with the Norway of Euroi>e. 'fhe three later are obvious copies of a common
oriu'inal based on tlie Saga story of the early Norse voyages and the recognition of the
h'cality of N'ineland.
Norumbega, Ortelius, l.".7(». — site of city in Nova Frani'ia.
Norue-a, Solis, l.V.lS, — city on the Ilio (Irande. in the province of N'a as a country is
given. In a few cases it is marked as a river as well as a city. In
most cases the name refers to a city on the left iuink of a river, called
Rio Grande as well as NorumI»e>,'a. At the bottom of the sheet is tlie
map of Solis (l")t)S) and the copii's of the same original by Ortelius and
Botero. which connect Vineland with New France and the Charles. A
sec()iid sheet of maps to be later presented will carry forward the evi-
dences of an ancient city of Norumbega at Watertown, down to the date
of its recent discovery.
Lescarbot. 1010 ; Douay. ICOT ; and Wytlliet (Angmentnm Ptolo-
maca'li. 1597. — all alike carry the st.Uemeiit that "A) //ir norllt (f Viri,s a hraullfnl rlf// a,uJ a gn'al ritrr," which
in most particulars hud before in sub^ance been related by Allefonsce.
Thevet, and Ingram.
Tin; I'aHI.IKST NnKCMIlKUA 0\ Tins SkIUKS ok >fAI'S.
Among th.' i.iovimvs ov.-r wliich Aj!l,)n \v;i,s niu.l.' A.l.ilaiitado (Lrnwriior), with a
I'luirtfr coiiti'iniihitin- possi'ssioiis .■xti-iidiii)' eight Imn.in'd leagu.'s n..i'tliw,inl, ,iii,l with
w!nrh th,' pilot .Miniolo h;i,l Wnmw ur.pmintwl .„i an ..x[,...iiti..n „f (iiscovry u.irtl.-
w.ml tn.m the l!;,i.:uii;is in 1,-,L'(), w;is Aivual,,.. Tli.- luunv „ii tiir t.K.p of I'K.T Mar-
tyr, .,nimtat..i l,y Ihil-luyt (\->A7). is A,v,„l.i. It is ^iv.'!! In a l,„.al,ty ■■,-,,r..s,.nt.Ml on
th,' ropy nf I'.-tri- Martvi'-s ma], of 1,-.;M. ,„ th,. I.,n,,x I.ihrary. It is on th.^ h'io many oth.'i
> I- s«.n„ not i>ni«,.,l,le that the oc^st of \..w Kn.dand wrvs vi>i„.d .,v .\cran,„nt.>, cn„,„d.s.,iun..,l
by terdnmud and Queen .Ju:u,a of Ca,sfie under tl.e ^-u,da, ,f ll,vl.',u jMiuts. :« early a,s 1.->11.
15ut tl.e reenid, if one was made, ha.s not heen idenlitied. .Se,. Itrevoorfs Verra/.ano, p 0!)
\ i-
.. '■f!vf-j'
. f(ti "■
/ A.,. ^ '^ f
O i
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^ ■■'.
'H'
1^
4^
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-c->
'urur
'/ sV
y
■■ ffar.
/ ''<^.^
/
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'n.
r-
/
5r
La
' 4f.^''v • ~^^--^^^'^"-~ > MORS t.
■'/'■n '://mP*^ !S1 y' ■-^•" ';-■ ^ ' ./ iv I ^>' ^'^ '>■
• ,.V, W/ >,•.,„.•■ '3. -?.«>
•\ •>^^•^ *
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tfL
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-JS.
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DEFKNC ES OK N(miMnKctio modiHcutioiiH of Indian nanifs still preHcrvcd oil
thi' Ni'W Kiinlaiid cda.^t. I'ctiT Martyr concfivcil this ri'^ioii to join to ISaccalaos, wiiicli at
tht' clati' of his wntuiK', iw Hhown on KiU'ro's map, lay ht'twfcn New riiiiirc ami I/ihrador
(then Nova St-otia). fSw IVtcr Marty r'H " Dfcadf.s," VII. idiai). ii., and Navanttf'.s "Collec-
tion of Voyages and Discoveries," Vol. III. p. (;!»-7I; also Hcrrcra's "Decades," Hook viii.
I add a full list, italiei/iiiK tlie names which I htdieve to he still jireserveih —
Snuf/ii; Chlciini, Xapira, 'I'atancal, .Iniidtlyi', Cocayo, Cinacayo, Xoxi, Sona, J'(iauhare, "on the opposite side uf a
hay from Chicora," and Cluadalpe, Xapeda, llitha, Xnuiunumhe, Tihc, Uuacaia, (Juohathe,
Tanzacca, and I'ahor.
I add also a list of certain of the Spanish names with what seem to me to be
corresponding Indian nann'S. The litTcrenees hetween tliesc and the efpiivalcnt Sjanish
are not n^eater than hetween the nj 'iCi' given to the siiiue locality in the dialects of
neighhorini.' tr'/cs. For example: —
Spanihh,
Sftuche
( 'hii'ora
Anieatiye
I'asipii
Arambe
Ai.ociNyriN,
Saco
t'hicoma
Jjatiscdtcc,
Now railed Anticosti
Pasipie
Nornndie;,';!. on the R.
(Jamas ((iumez), the
Charlea
Maino
Maine
Gulf of St. Lawrence.
Jlouth of lUuzard's Hay.
Massachusetts.
Xamunamhe
Some eomponnd, of which
Aramlie — that is, Nornm-
hc'na — formed a part.
Huag Q"n-iP
Duhare Du Haute (?)
yuohathe
Cohasset
Lon.u' Tslnnd [N. V.] South Shore.
See dohn Smith's map off the
mouth of the rcnobscot.
Massachusetts Hay.
Without now going into detail, one may ask, Were these maiwnaker.s
and liistoriotrraphers, repre.senting difforcnt and sometimes rival nationalities,
united for .seventy years in a oouspiiacy to impose on their sovereigns, the
worl.l ul geography, an.l themselve.s ? Is such a conspiracy conceivable?
30
UKFENCr.S OF XOllUMliKlJA.
Jf there could not have been i*iich a conspiracy, there iinis/ have been a
eitv of Norunibega. It will I'o seen tliat it coukl only have been on
the Charles.
The Signifratuin ov the Latiti-de--^.
Dr. Parkinan discredits Allelbnsce and Thevet. but credits Chainplain
with having niudc the first correct map oi' the ^■ew England coast.
Let us see hoir much this involves. These three navigators — Alle-
fonsce, Tiievet, and Chaniplain — alike [tlace the shores of a great bay in
the ibrty-third degree, where the Coast Survey places Ma.s,sacluisetts Hay ;
that is, they place Cape Ann and Capo Cod and the region between.
whicl> includes the mouth of Charles Kiver, — all three, — in the forty-third
degree.
Let us carefully ct)nsider these three points. The 42d degree reaches
tON\ilhin a few minutes of the summit of the peninsula of Capo Cod.
Capo Ann, the mor.,' nortlnTU salient of the bay, is in 42 oS'. The
moutli of Charles River at Nantasket is, according to Thevet, in 12' 14' +■
Boston, according to the Coast Survey, is in 42' 21.'' See how narrow the
belt is, what is in it, and what authorities are imited on its latitude!
Within the compass of le.-is than forty miles in the forty-third degree
are the three points. — Cape .Vnn. th.' mouth of Charles liiv.'r, and Cape
Cod. — in which the Coast Survey, Cha'::plain, Thevet, and AUefon.sce all
are agreed !
Within the same limits of latitndi , I hold, wa.s the ancient city of
Xorumhega. Th.' proofs are maiiiiold, but let us take a single one,
resting primarily on AUefon.sce.
■ strictly spoikiiii,', the St;iti> H.nis.- is in 1^° 2F L'7".0.
•■ I'urchas (I'll:; I pl.icfs .V.)ruiiil«'-.-\ 1„iw,-,.m il,e Ki>iiiirlH-c un.l (;.,[„. Co.!; OlmIIiv (nTl) plmvs
11 in tliP r..L'i..n of llio forty-tliinl .Ifijrw. .Vantaskct an.i 0.1ia.M.s,.t iiiv „n th.' iii:i|.s of \Vintl,-o,.,
< li.iiiililiiiii. 1.,'s, ivbni. ati.l the Coiwt .Survc)-. L'liJer otLu
m:iny othi-r iii;ip*.
.1 ii.iiufs llii' siimi; |Kjiiits are imliiatoii
DKKKNCKS OK N()Kt"MI!E(iA.
m
; ,
Identity of Cape A\x with the soutueun Cape Breton of
Al.LEKONbCE I\ THE K> )UTY-TIIIi;i) l)E(iKKi;.
Aside from the irn'sintilili' loiric wl' tlio latitude of the mouth of the
Chiirlcs, observed and reeoided l»y Thevet, it has already been hinted '
that the arch upon which confident convietion may rest contains. Ibr one
of its elements, Allelbn.-i e's identiliouiioii ol Cape Viui with a certain
ancient cape called Cape Breton. Allerons<-e was the first to make
absolutely clear that there were /•■•<> di/n' Iir,li,)is, somewhat less than
eiirhty leagues apart, one m!" which was in the Ibrty-third degree, and
i« no longer known by that name, but as Cape Ann. The other Ciipe
Breton was the one with wliicli we are all familiar as the island in forty-
live to forty-eigiit deirr(^s. separated from Newfoundland by a considerable
strait leading from the Atlantic imto the (iiill" of St. Lawrence, — now
called ('al)ot Straits on the Admiralty Chan, followimr the tuigge.stion
of Mr. Urevoort. — and from the continent. l)y the Cut of Cunso.
In Alleibnsce's time th' re w:is what was called the Sea of Canada (Mer
(In Canada I, which inihided the waters we-^t of New I'oiaulland : and
thei'' was another and great. -r sea to the south and east, called la Mer
Oceauf This is so stated ;.i Allefimsce's niamiscripts. olitained from the
archive^ of the BiMiotheque Nationale. of whici. I have before me a ]Mlioto-
graiihic alt-solute fac-siniile. He thus presents in the French of his tiuio
the great laet of the r,' Capr linhiiis. Allefoti.sce says : —
" H. iiiurnant ,ai C • de Haf/, i|ui 'v-t cii la Mrr Ocoaiic . . . jc ditz quo cc Cap Riitz
ct !• «'a|Mk' l!rrt<>u n j.liis dc [utrts ^■n hi Mr (h'l'inu-. t\\\\ est inn' isle appolli' aiissi
.>^. .J''liaii. .■■■ mv co'iTnunii'ation on the " Disoovi'ry of fho Aiicipiit City of N'ormiilics;;!.''
i
■r^
3«
l)i;l"F,N( r.s (IK NdKlMHKf.A.
Manv ot' tiicse places still bfur tlif iianu's \Uvy horo in tlio middle of
llu' sixtLHiilli eririirv. Tin' Si. .lohii of that tune ami latitude, liowever,
liecaiiie I'riiU'e Ivlwaiiis l^iaiul. Uuv si i'- of tiie island ui Cape Breton
fai-e-- ilie Cuil: of St. Lawmu'e (the Mi i ;hi Canada the otiier ^ide looks
out on the MiM- Occant '
In th" sea of ( inada is tlie islam) of St. dolin. on Sebastian Cabot's
map. In ilie sawn' sea \va.- another Cape Rutv. (onr Cape liayi'. on the
west coast <'* New Ibniidinnd. aero-< the Calif' Miaits ol' the recent Adnii-
rahv charts aiil mnlhcist of C;ipe Nm'th. tlie earlier Cape liOrain i. Be-
sides tlii> was the iitluT Capr Kave lalso called Cajie liat/. Ii_v AUefonsce)
ai the >oiithea-i'rii e.\trei! rv of Newtbnndland mnr Ca]ie li^ire i. whieh
was in the Mei' (»ri;n! Beside.- this island ol' St. John, in the Cniii
if St. Law r nee. th w.is that in the pirty-third degree referred to by
Alletbnsce.-
Thei. are twu .n-criyr ..ris ref' '^ng t»» the i„imlfall of .Ttdm Cabot
in I t'.'T. on the n::"; mt l- 1. — '■ /' iiiKi ri.^a," anil " I'l'/uin Icrra li^d."
Ill my paper on :bf Lunrll'ail ol' .Mm ('abot. ISSo. 1 sngirested that
the la: d fust seen Btti^t fcuiviC- hcen 3ft. Aipninen.MMis. somewhat inland
and to the northw—- of < rjiv^ Ann. JL feieiid — Bev. I)r TIiomki- !lill.
formerly BresitleTttr o: Har\;urd t'niv>-'t'»ity — has calculate!! the liori/.on
final the sunuiiii of -Lie inoitntaiUi. w '!i 'ff-* known height and latitude*
' On .-niiip iif my mn\<- On" \(ir dii ('^unu^a! ••mbru't's N'ewfniinillaii I, ami t^itiMnl'. to the .ouih
ward fvon lieyond llii' iMtitiid.- of ('ii|>f >i! i>-
' Thi.'< little i.-land. ^i .1 .liu. i- nfiTrH 'o m tin- ImJihwiiii: piira'^mili frotn IIiik';ii>t Om. of the
li'i;;!'!!!!" on llii' t':il«it iiiap (•' .\.i luis " cfliiw . dt" ls^l,a» tian.'ilnl.-.l hy llaklnvi aii'l 'iti-il l.y the l.iic
J)r. t'liarli'r^ Di'aiu' (Wiiisor. vul. iii. p ■{'• ri-^x : —
"In tin- yi'ar cif mir I,..|(| \\U\. .lolin Citxit. a V, ni-tian, and hi.< w>m Si'li««tiin ;witli an l".iiyli«li
fleet siiit nut frnm liti-tnh. cli^invi r.d tlia.t land wli . li mi m.iii liefiirc rliat liad attwnpti'd. "ii the J4th
of .Iiuif, al)u\ii fiv.' (j'.IiK-k (if ill.- lar'iy nmnv.nj. Tlii- land lii' calNd I'liiiri Ve' i. lliit Ik to nay
Fir^l .S. rn. — liiraii-i'. !i« I -iipj.n^i'. if mn* thai |iart wliiTiMif tliey lial iIm- lirst «ii;lif from tlio ma
That i-land whl.l, lyth (iiit l.,-f,.-.. ih- land In- calVd !h.' i-l,ind "f S' .lohn. ii|"iii this occidion.
a.' I think. lirc'aii
vt'ssel coinin,u,- in Iroin sea. The island of Si. John of the forty-thinl
il.'.rree nuist, then, have later come into view. It was tlie island m.v/ of the
Aimi.stiuani River. — the canal St. Julian (Johan) of Clomez, — outsiilo of
which island of St, -I'jhp. arL- the Thne Turks' Heads of John Smith (the
small islands near the sliore of St. Jolm's), — Strait's Mouth, 'J'hatcher's,
an i Milk islands. See BoUem's map, l-JOl, having Canal. S. Juan.'
The St. John of Sel)aslian Cabot's m:ip of 1-"J4 seems to have been
re«x)<.^ni/ed liy .VUefonsco as a name applied to an island in the southwest-
ein i)Mi! (jf the Gulf of St. Lawrence. The island of St. John, of John
Cabot, — his Iiandfall on his birthda}, June 21. IH'T. — was separated from
the mainlanil by the Annis(inani River, which was the original Gut ( f
Canso. as I pointed out in 1S85, in my '• Landfall of Cabot." The cluster
of isl.inds north on Sebastian Cabot's map (1-")14), on the Dauphin
1 Desccliers. loHiK Gastaldi. Ruscelli, Solis, Merriam. and a crowd of other
maps, are the islm/i/s of thr Mu'iir cms/. s<)ii//i of FirHchinan's Ba;/. Th'
I'cwihsrnt is roiifiiiiiiilid ii'ilh Ihr SI. L'ifirncc. I>ut it is impossible to stop
h"re to consider the matter of the confu.sion between the two now-found-
lauds, which I have discussed nt length in connection with the map of
Sebastian Cabot, in a paper ncaily ready for the press. These hints are,
howevt'r, sullirient to euali'e the student to clear away the mists witli
whicii the sul)jecf has been envelo]H>d.
The name St. John, though applied first and limiteil to the island cast
of the Ainiis(piam River and Bay, includes on some maps llie mauiland for
a considerable distance, — as we see on Cosa, Gastaldi, and Ku.soelli. It was
thf prevailing iDtion down to the time of Allefonsce. — indeed, down to
til, it oi Ramusio. — that the whole region was made up of islands, \ or-
razano's maps have only recently bei-n brought to light. Ril>ero's ni:!]),
ld',i'J, also .seems iu)t to have been seen cither by Allefon.sce or Ramusio,
1 This pliiiiiii.'l i,'< iii.licnte.l on thf map of fait Cyprian Southack. from ,«urv>.'y.s m.ulo h.'K.re
I'illl, {l'h(>tcf;raphuil for mo by the liiited .States I'oant Survey Otiiee.l
^gm
40
DKFENtKS Ol'" NuUL.MliKiiA.
What Ai.i.ki-onsck said.
Till' passage alroady liuil truiu Alluluiisoo may be translated thus : —
•' 11,; I, mi III (■' C.ij" li>it;, irhlrh !.■< ■■// 'lit -/i./j »r'i [our Vii\K' Uacc at tin' Sdutlieast
ooriHT of NowfoundUma). /■•<,,// that tin (-'■■fr Hit- [on tlu' ono liana] a,ol thr Cij;
of Bn/'Oi ,111:1 <'tli,r /"-rts in tlu- '-jnu .".w. ifl,l,-h /.» "/.■") <•.(//.'■/ -/.hait [on the <.tlu'r],
,)/../(,/ !>„• ,,ist-ii.,rtln'ixt ,111,1 tr,>'t-.^;i(:lii,;.-'t [aicj ",i the ,;nir^,' ,i;/lit,/ 1,',i,/u,'k.^ TIi,
i,ai,l t'.ij,,' liirtoii „/ till ,'i'ni xm [our Tain' AimJ i» tlirou,/li [that is, next to and
altuvo^ /■■rt,/-tiv,j ./..'//•'..■' -;'' >i',i-th latltioU."
Later occurs tlie followiiiLT : —
" Tuinini >■' tit,' isl,ui,l n/ St. .h lutn, u-hi-h i» ciUfl thf I ',tpr '],■ />/■. ^'» [Caiic Ann],
ami til,' iiiiim p,'rts in thf M, r ii.;iin,\ irlii,'li in ,tl-'i',- (hirt u-nin,- h, '■■jht
pf tin- X-'rtii r^'l,' [tln' i-i>L'ion I'mui ih.' I »ila\v:u-c to ("apt.' Coil], / J"/;/ th,it th,- Cipr
S'tinii ■fih^iH. r,iU,,l ('■ij''' 'I, Hi-,' ,,. iiii'I th. t',1/, il, !■! F/;! )ir!s,%i ,0 .((•(' nirtlitiiKt an, I
foiitldrrxl. aii'l ti; nlin;i ,1 '/iiiii-tir /mil '■ixl t- u; »t. th, n ar,' ^n th, i;,iite a hitioln,!
aiul forty l,ii;iui\-<, ,in,l tlwrc nuih' a Cijn ctill,,l Cip, dc .\"f,'mh,;iu,\"
The Ca]u' ilo la Franci^caue i- on .\lletont' ('ii|ii' Cod; the Cape Ni)rMmlii'i.nu' in liis text seems to be
applieil to till- wliolo peninsula of Cape ('("1 and Long Island, and ex-
teiiiN. ]iiTliaps. to iho entrance tn Delaware Bay.
Alh.abnscc continui-s: —
■•Tlu' saia Cajro is in alinut foiiy-on'' iIilm-i'i's of latitiiac.'^ Tlio coast i.« tlirouL'h-
out sandy ainl low. with no iriMimiains. aiul aloirj tin' coast tlirrc arc nianv islands
of sand, and a roa.st danjoroiis fiom lianks and roi'k> [from llariinjat to Cohassi't
rocks]. . . . Iirvond [liiat is. to ih.' nuith of] tho Cap tic NorouiliiL'Uf [railed ou
llis map. at the sununit 'if the Cape. Cap do la i'laneiscane] descends the river
called Nor iiulicLiuc, aliout f weni\ -liv li'aunes from lie Cipe. Thi' said river is
larixe : it is in more than [that is. in iii'_dicr latitude, thaii] forty dcL'ro s of lati-
tude, and maintains its lari^'incss .-(.ni'' thirlv- o,' forts lea'.oie^, and is salt [Al'.e-
' It is iii'MitieiM'.l that tli>' l.Mi;iiiM wiTe Fr>Micli li-ii(J!ues, iilioul li. 12 ^'.llf,'li.^ll iiiiles
" Frniii till' uu.iiiiti.in it ,ii'|K';ir- Uiat Allffon-si'L- corirKivfil Ui<' ciMinlrv of Noonnli'^'UP t" '-x
ti'nd >'vr'ii i.irtlii'r tliaii |ii-lawaii' Hiy Iiv laivjuai,'" i- -■riii •■> liat cuiifuscd, ah.l .I'-fiuo to iliile
■'ate po^-ii!' ixleiiMuu as far at ii;am as LLarlcstoii. Smlli Carolina.
DKI'KNCKS OK NORIMIIKGA.
41
fonsco says he was so told, — svloti Ic dirt des (jom h la I'/^/c] , and is all full of
IhIcs, \vlii(di extend some ten or twelve leagues into the sea' [the Brewsters, the
(iravcs, the Uourintr Hull, tiie Lizard, ete.], and it is dangerous fnim rocks and
swasliiii-rs. . . . The said river is lieyond I'orty-onc dcirrtcs of latitude. Within
till' said river fifteen leagues there is a city which is called NorDniliciiuc, ami there
is in it a fine |iei)|)le, and they have (luautilics of skins (if all aniiuals. The I'l'oiile
wear cloaks of niaiteii skins. . . . The land of Norombegue is high and good."
Allofonscc makes the coiist southward from Cape tie la Franciscaiio
(Cap Noruiubogiie, — the Peninsula of Cape Cod) including Long island
and the Jersey roast to Didawarci Bay. low and sandy. He makes the
entrance to the river Xoroiuhegue (between Naiiant and Cohasset) full
of islands and rocks, and for these reasous, with its tide.s, currents, and
the winds, dillirult of navigation.
Ailcfdusce's description makes identification easy to one famihar with
maps of the Coast Survey of the region Irom .'J'J' to 45°.
TlIK Wl-.ICIIT OF THE AuTMOunv.
I have said Allefonsce has never been doubted He was distinguishes
lor liis probity, character, accomplislnm'nts, and trustworthiness as ?. maiHi
ami a pilot. Whoever cai'os to (jui'stion this may h.-ive iiis atteutiu.;
ilirected to Margry (at girat length), and to the ••Cosmography" and
'• Singularilc/, " of Thevet. I iiavc already referred to what Bievoort.
Hakluyt. Kohl. D'Avezac,^ have said, and to the record ot' long serxfc
as professional pilot on botli sides of the equator in the Atlaultv\ awl
' Tliorfiiiir.s S.'iirti ~r>vs, " fief 're the riivr mrr ij'rat isUimh."
« fi;ifF;iri-l mii-l li:\v.' si'fil tlii' tii:iii\l'!rripfs. wliii'li, ticiii;,' in Olil Fri'iicli scrip!, were, as 1 '^W)-.
c.ivp, .lilli.Milt t.i vcail. iir.d iicl liki'ly in \u:\Vv .i fuvnralilo iiiipri-smM An I'Xport, al %h>, tB^N,>«
tlicpii'. for inv IIS" vcrtcil lli.' an innt iul.. ni.Mlcrii Frcnrli characters, an.l this c-py came
with the pholiiu'raphic copy nl' Ih.' ori;;inal. Th.'v were translated for me by, the lVnfe«s,vr tii
Kren.-h at Welh.vslry CdUeKe. Otliers h.ave copii,! ami printc.l iio.'usional po.-tjous ol' tlic Taftnit.
scripts. as Itcv. Dr De Costa ami the lat" Mr Murphy. It is m.t to ho womlcivd: at Miat (*K OK NOKl'MMKCA.
also in tlio Inilian Occaii ami Soutlicni Pacifio. Tho host nnswoi. po^
sihlv, to piTsoiial tritii'ism ol' Allolonsci' is this: Of all the sca-capuiiii-
of France he was choson hy the King to he the pilot ot" Koherval'H ex-
ploring' expedition. — virtually undertaken to supersede tho gifted Cartior.
at a time when the passage through to the I'acilie wiia tlie uiosl important
geographieal prohlem before the world.
Whv was this? Had l.irlier failed to fnul the ''Northwest Passage"
tor lark of a competent ]Mlot '.' .\t all events, a rlnnge was made
Thr KiuL' wanted the '- >/ ]iilot ot' the realm to aeeompauy anew admiral
The oecasion in his opinion justified it.
.\< 1 have intimated, the •• t'osmography " of Allefonseo is not clegan:
Fri'iuli Then' i« in the eoinposition an air of its having l)een dictated
ami the phrases taken down rir/m/iin. This may liave heen done hy
Secalart. wlic.i' name appears with that of Allefonsce, nlthough the
titl.iVige of tiie manuscript is wanting. Be that as it may. never fnr
a line is the sen-e of personal responsihility for what lie is saying — the
pride o! the pilot — wanting. His relation was written at a time whin
Americ.i wa< still supposed to he made up of i.slands, — as indicated on
Co.sa's map. on (iastaldi's, on Ruseelli's, and speciiically in the text of
Ramu-io.' He susjx'cted. as others did. the connection of Stony IJro' k
will] the St. Liiwrence. as inilicatrd on maps in !iiy possession, and the
oHier lii'.inrli of the Cliarles with liiizzard's Hay. or Xarragaiisett ; and
Thevet seems u> \\u\v had the latter notion. There are many majis ot'
the peri>'d'- indicatiiiL' this idi'a.
*'■• From tliH rfi>..rls(>t ( .irtier, wo %rc ant i.'ar xs yd whothor N.^w Kram-,. is cunlimious witli
the Ttrra Firmn -if tli>' Provinces i>( Firm )« miH Nbw Spiiui. or wln-ih. r it is nil .-lu up iiao isl.in.i.s.
and whethw ♦r-.uifh tlu'SP pw^' one ran i; u ^iie Provinci' of Catiii. ;t» ^va^ wriltiMi nn; niiiny yars
ai»o liy ■*<(iii«tltin Oibot, nnr Wnelwu " (•^^ Kolil'.n •• Disiovi^rv of Anu'rica," [i. oso )
2 VcrriiwMio^ map tMaioIIo's), iri2t-I-">J7, ami RiIntm'* 1."i1.'7-1."c'!I, .win to li.iv' Ik'.'U ainont;
til.' first, si O) • Ui-? vi-ri sriil. lu j.i'-out ,t ..r •■.l |.i. ,i ui tin.' ci'i.l.iaiil\ of tlio conaL
I)i:i'i:nci;s of noklmuega. 43
Erkoks in estimati.vo Longitudes and Distances at Sea.
How NKAU Ali,i:ko\sce came.
Distances are estiniiUed in leagues and latitudes; but in a virion of
ocean ciiirents, lii\e tliat iVoni tlie north along our coast southward as
Jar as llattcras, these coulil only l)e approximate. iJesides the Arctic
curnnt, there are, as we know, the gre.it tidal oscillations which ni.ike
strong currents near the shore in alternate directions, twice daily, in the
region of Cape Ann and Ca|)e Cod. Still, the latitudes of 1;")I2, when
Allefon.sce w.is here, were in the main trnstwortln', cert.iinly within a
degree. \'erra/.ano obtained (at anchor), in the h.arhor, precisely the lati-
tude of Newport in 1-VJI ; hut he states in a communication to the King
his dilliciilly in making ol).-;ervations wlii-n at sea. Allefousce's record and
paragraphs cited at length in Margry recognize something of the same
dilliculty. Thevet gave latitudes at a later day, as already noted, with
great precision. There can ln' no doidjt as to the general trustworthiness of
Allefonsce's latitudes. We .shall ,see, further on, that other geographers
aiul ex[ H)rers sustain him.
Allefonsce's Okioinai, Ciiakts, and those of Others who iikt.d as
He did.
The photograpliio copies of tlie two .sketches in the manu.-'cripts of
Allefon.-ce in the llihliotheciue N. lionalo, to which 1 have ri'ferred. lead
the column. One is of the isl.ind of Cape Breton at the mouth of the St.
Lawrence, in latitude of ','< to IS ; and the oilier includes the inlands
olT the Maine coast ami the niiou inunediati'ly south of the Cape
Lrrton ill the fortv-thinl degi«c. iVom the Raya de IJockas of lliiyx'h
,|.",(I7) — tlie hav .•iL'aiti-' the Hrverly. M.iuclu'ster. and ( llouce-ter shore-
— .•southward, iurlinliiig the rollh r ('•ijn Ihrl'ni. — "also called an island," — also
••called St. .lolui.'" whieh is in the forty-third degree. This capo anti
inland no longrr bear either of the several designations recognized liy
Allefon.-ice.
The second cape is now called Cape x\nn. and is not recognized a-<
an island. It is, with Gloiu'e^ii-r. -separated from the maiidand by a canal
and the Annisquam liivei'. observed by (ioiiiez in 15"J5. and called, as
already mentioned, eanal St. Julian — St Johan. — the former a misread-
ing, so 1 (oneeive. of the maniiseii]it reeord eonimunieated to Ilarrisse.
Tills IS THE (ii;i(;i\\i, island ok .buiN Caiiot's Lavdkam. i.v llUT,
and bears tlie name and ilate mi Lok'-^ map.
Thh-il. There is the /»'//. Cape IJieioii and St. Johan. in the forty-
third deirri'e.
iJKKKNCr.S OI" NOUUMIll'.dA.
46
Allkfonsck in nE(iAnD to the two Capr Riiktons, and thio Twin Name of
THE Cape in the KoiiTY-Tiiii:i> I)E(iur;K.
List of Mil) is: —
1. Ilt'stoiiiliiiii liy Rev. Dr. I>f Costa of the lii'st sketch made by Allefonscc of
the island of Capf iSiotoii at the mouth of the St. Lawrence.
2. Rostoratioii hy Mr. Miir|iiiy of the 8ci;ond siiotuh, in the forty-third dcirroe,
liy .Ult'fonsec, showing llio Nui'unibega.
;i. lMi()to|.xi'ai)ii cojiy of tlie |)i'n-and-inii siictcli hy Ailefonsee of the royion of
till' Island of Cape Breton, lietween the parallels of forty-hve and forty-eight
degrees of latitude.
4. I'lmtograiihie copy of a jien-and-ink sketeli ly Ailefonsee, cniliraeing the
forty-lirsi, forty-second, forty-third, and forty-fourtli de^-rees of latitude, according
to his relation; also Cape Hreton and St. JdIkui < Ca|ie Ann), Cap dc la Fran-
ciscane (Cape Cod), and, of course, llio Xorumlterguc, whicli lies between, being
in the forty-third degree.
5. To the left, Thevct, from relations, including the forty-first, forty-second,
and forty-third degrees. (See Cosmograjihy, loTo.)
6. To the right, Thevet's map in his " Cdsmogniphy."
This is an obvious cojiy of Mercator's q1')I)!I), which is given on the sheet
(piiii-e '■'<-) entitled, " Was there a City "f Xorumbega ? " It shows the site of
iMirt Norumliega and of the city of Norumiiega, on a river between C. des IJertocns
C. de Arenes. In his relation Tlievet gives the latitude, as already noted, of the
mouth of the Norombeirue Rivei- {is 4"2' 14.
7. Luk's map (or tracing), l"iH-J, incorporating and indorsing tlie site of the
Landfall ot John Caiiot in 14'.tT. presenting the month of the Charles and the
supposed (Verra/.ano) isthmus separating the Atlantic from the racilic — the J//rt'
l,ofi;,,„ and Mar,' Vn-m;ian,t, — wwr Barnstable. A photographic fac-simile is
given on the sheet of maps (page '-VIk
8. Cosa, loOt). ConctMved to lie a free-hand sketch (by a sailor under Cabot,
who afterwards shipped with Cosa) of the coast alonir which .lolin Cabot sailed
,„ Ip.iT, — lifter his Lamlfall. It presents Cavo de Vn-la Terra, and Cavo dc St.
Johan, — the enuivalents of Cajie Breton and St. .lojian. on Lok"s niaiL— the mouth
of the Cliarles, with its rocks am
1 islands, and the ancient islands (now joined
to the main
Shifter.
laud) at the terniin
us northward of Cai
Cod, identilicd bv Ilev. Dr
40
HKIKNlKS or NOUl'.MllMIA.
;•. F.ins.liot (:ilso vMvd ll;iklii\t .MMit,vf|. It (Miiitaiiis rape Hritton ( f.^r
l!;'t.'t(iii) Mini I. S. Jdhn,
10. MmLiiii '.M\rs ('. HiTloii mill S. .Ii'liaii at t\\v tmrlli. and I'. {I'miiiiiiitdi-iuni)
^•,,;,i-,.|ii,s — ami its (iiol ii'COLnii/.i'il) ri|ui\ali 111. tlir ili.i.licatc ('. tli' las ArciiaH — at
thr SiUltll.
U. .loMiani L'ivi'H r. [iictoii ami i. ilr >. .'olia at Oir ncutli t iiaiiii' (if the ChailuH.
lli. I'll".''" llmni 111, l.'i.")M. i;..>iiai Ilail">r. uitli the ("api- uf Many Islanils
(Cdliassi'l ). hrtui'cn Cap dr Al'riias (Cape Cucl) ami ('. drs IJcrlni'iiH (^('apc
Hivtoll ) and lull. I'll dr .-•. .Inliail [tlir Cllliil i'l tlic coiiijua liciisuni
id' all the ancient maps ol the New KiiLilaml eoast. Tiiis slieet ol' maps
carries r,ii"iiiilu ami lo'i'^lnr the two names. — ('ape JJfetoii ami St.
.lulian. — applicil to the islami in thi' luriy-tliiril dt L'ree.
The i>lami is indicated cm many maps. I5i;t nn that ol' l,(ik it is
;iier;.red ill a laiier island ; ami the canal and Annis(|iiain Jliser aiv not
indicated.
' I liiive \<-\i :i -trfii'.; ^iisj.ii-i..n tli;it in lii.- I).iii)hi;i iii;ip cf l.'))!; ( |>'.\\('/.u' and Kcilil inakr
Itn ciiliiri clati'; liul it i~ now a~iritii'4 to !)■ ■.!•. li'TS, u illi tin' ilali'nf IM'I ). ami that cM' S('!ia>tian
I'almt (l.")ll), tlii'i'i' wa.'i an t'lT-rt. ni.idi' \>\ tin' in ii.-mi.iK'T-. In iiri'smt tin- rival claims of tin' two
.'•cn'rt.'ii.'ns cif Kranri- an.l llngliiinl U> tliu Xfw Kn^'land const. They wcio ih;iUeii;;cil by the SjiuiiL^li
iiiaii i>l Ilil'ci.i . f 1."..'7 -'a.
.loi.ii I i!..a l.iiil the foiiinlatiun of tli" Ifiiti^h claim in I IflT ; Vcrrazano. tlml (f the F' reach
in l."'.'l.— if He •xcIiuIb that based on the preMMice in this latitude if tlie Unions at lea>t
half
a ceninrv cai uer.
in C'alii't ? time (Coiuinlmss time) it wa.*. a.s we k
n'>'.\. ili.> prevail
not:. ill that the whole
lieuci' we liavi'
Western World was a cluster of islands. - the exti'ii-ion of the Kast In.lii
Cahofs Lan.if.ill on an inland. It is b.tli'r hIiowo (ni da-t.iMi ii.d Kiiscelli. lint the real
isl.iiid, which was t'abots .^l. dih
,n. \va- the |.:ir1 cnt oti by the .\
i.i.i'i|nam
Uiver, till
St. Johan. leadiii,' to .\nnis,|u.iin li.n (-
:ip, jMije an. .mil Coast Su;m, 'f (ape Ai
pa-c
■), The harbor of (;
iiiccster was the M d.l.ir- of dolu, Hut, -- the S| .I,,l
laii asso' n
ated liv Allcfousc- with Cap.' li
:ipe liretoii ill tl,. forty-third di-^'ive, in ll,,- passage. ■• the Cape of lireton
rhirj,
■■llliil S. .I;l„l„. ,„„/
Vl'Uni It!!,' r l>i
;li, M.r (I.
Ih. Infill-
■lliinl ill
'ir'".'' The contiijuilv of the coa-t tie- f i -t of a coiiiincnt —
■m« to have been wl
loiiv acre
■ted
by V,
in l-'.'l. Ilib,
ip api . ,irs to hasc re»t'-d mainly on Spani-li diart.s. Nine
DKl'KNCKS or NOUlMliKdA.
47
Lot thi' rciidcr lonk for tlm nimics ('apo Brcloii and St. Julian as
riiiti/iiniiiiii!'.
•I nil I
Next, look I'oi- (,'ariMiiis (Capo Cotl) on Lok's map a.s ansocialcil with
tlu'sc compiniions. ami always at tin; south.
'riirn look lor the river hi'twccii tlii'se two points, — earliest known
as the l!io (irandf on Kuvscii's map, now as llie (,'harli's on the last nmp
of the sfiics, — llu- ('oast .Survey of Ma.ssacluisetts Hay. — on which the
outline of the coast in thtj forty-third degree is presented.
The tcstiuiony of Chainplain, tak n in connection with the site of
the City of Norunihe^'ii, will be further considered hereafter.
liei us now return to Thevet.
First of all, in his text Ik; ]ilaces N()rond)e,Lnio a.s a ronntn/ in the
fortv-thinl .leo-ree. where Allefonsce places the al/i of Xoruinhegno. He
gives for the latitude of the mouth of the Charles River (Nantasket
Itoiuls), as already cited. 12 1 1'. This can vary but a few minutes,
whether we take Nantasket Koads as the mouth, or the East Boston
Ferry, or the Charles Hiver where it enters the Back Bay at Brook-
line Brldg.". from about tli'lin'.' — the accepted latitude of Boston.
Thevet calls Cajjc Cod. as we have seen. Cape Arencs (strictly
Cdaremsi; Champlain called it Cap Blanc; the Dauphin map, Capo
Sabhms (Cdes sabh.ns); the Dutch, Witto Ilocck. — all so calling it
beeause of the presence or //■/«/-//,« of its sand. Cape Aren-s difTers but
liule tVom the Cape do Aren-^s (Cape of the Sands) of Mercator. and is
very near in sound to the ( IVomontoriunO Coaranes (of Merriam?). the
ncarc'st equivalent in pronunciation to the Icelandic name Kjolrnes. of which
Kjidm-iirs of Thorwald is the genitive, as given by native Icelandor.s, —
the inherited ('arenas of Lok. and. probably, of the time of John Cabot,
of il ,.;uue ,l,mUU.ss tl>n,uf;l, .Vyllnu ^lud .I.. p.L.l Miru-l.. of a voya,'. .,.;..!,. in l.VJO. _ oiglit Imn-
d.va leagues .u.rthwara of the lialuM.as. ;S,.o 1", t-r M.irtvr, •• Hocdos," vii .hap. .i ) It ".ay have
r.vmvea nmterial from the l>o,tu-.u..so C'ortoreal, \m, and the geogral^he, Uuysch, l..n,. (^ee
list of Ma|w. Jiaije .')-'.)
' Strictly 1-' -1' L'T.ii ' applies to the .State lluiist!.
!. Ni
IMAGE EVALUATION
TEST TARGET (MT-3)
|gr
<>.*^i^
%^
11.25
Ui|21 125
US 122 12.2
S Hi ■"
£f ■:& 12.0
14 IJ4
ff!k
^
Photographic
Sciences
Corporation
a>^
<>
33 WIST MAIN STRUT
WIUTIR.N.Y. I'»M
(7l«)t72-4S03
^^ <«^\. ^r\\
m
DEFKXCKS OK X0ULM11E(;A.
I submit a table of Buccetwive or alternate names
of the three most imiiortant iH)int.'< in the Ibrt^'-third
Catk Ann.
Ciijic TiaL'!il)i.::zanda '
Cn\t lU's IsU's^
Ca|)c Breton
llivr.K t'lIAIlI.K.g.
Mt'8«-iulchii-Ki't' ' (Miwsachusetts)
Mishaiim (ItiK I''*'- Inihan)
R. du (iimHt (('liain|ilaiii)
borne on tlie maps
degree ; namely, —
Capk Cod.
Wittc Hoeck
Cajte Jaint-a *
Cap Hlanc
R. das (^('hiiiiiiilaiii ; alHo Do Ltct
R. XoniiiilM'fruc (Nuruiubofja)
H. fiamas — (Jomos*
Aiijuiilomo (French for Kil)
Kio (iraiido
Hit) dl'illlo'
)
Capo Cod '
Cap des SablonH
Cabo dc Baxos
C. dc Aronos
C. do Arena
C. do Arenas
r. Coaranes
('arenas
Kjillrnes
Kjuhirnts
Capo nrytaiiio
Cape IJrytoii
Ca|ic liretton
Capo ISrittmi
CajK' Hrotan
Cape nritciniiin
Capo ik-rton
Cape Bertam
Capo Borto
Cape Brittain
Cavo do YiiL'lu torra*
Cavo do Brittoni
Capo Britain*
Island of "^t. .fohan
Cape St. Julian
Cape St. Joan
Tlicvet ealls Cape Ann Cap Suinct Jean ; Allofon.'^cc called it St. Jehan.
Capt. John Kilt ( Io27) called the Harbor of tJloiicester St. John's;"* [..ok
also gives S. Julian, and Co.sa give.x ("avt» St. Johan." Gomez gives the
Caiiu/ !it. Julian (St. Johan); Hnineni. the liinr St. Jcthan.
« Jolin Siiiitli ■ Hiv^les. • Ciiamplani • Charl.-s I. > C.hiioI.I. • fJomei.
■ Iliiv«ch ■ Casn. • J.ihii Calxit
"> Cai.t .luliM Hill (l.V.'V) funnel St .Join, - i (;i(.nc.'»t«r) -».'<• Puri-hiw, vol. iii p WIO n harbor
full (if (iHliiiiji-vess.ls. twenty (ivc l..;iu'ii...s m.uiIi of Cii..* d,' Bun aiiil Cajie ^l>>y 7":
F/^'H^BIIinTI 112
-^
KKFENCKS OF NOlU MUKCIA.
4'J
Thevet'H /««/* (Morcntor'N of 15C9) has Capo Breton where in his text
is given Saiiict Junii ; so tliat in t\m — the association of the pair of
na,ne8 — Thovet and Allcfonsce n<,'rce.
Tlievet (liHtinguinhi'd in his text, as AUefonsce did, between the more
yinrtliirn Cape Breton (assoi^iatinj: with it Isle Oiseaux, Isle Brion, Isle St.
.lean, etc.), at the mouth of the rivtr of Canada (the St. Lawrenp«>) in
45°-48'', and the southern Capo Breton in the forty- third degree, having
also the name Sainot Joan (St. Johan). This Cape Breton in the forty-
third degree, called also St. Johan, was —
THE LOST ISLAND OF ST. JOHN, of John Cabot on Lok's
Map, L082.'
I have prepared anothtr group of maps designed to present the
equivalent names on ciioh of the points between Cape Ann and Cape Cod,
and to some extent farther north and .«outli. The sheet includes Cosa,
Maiollo's Vorra/ano, Riboro, Huth, Agiieso, Vallard, Wytlliet, Sebastian
Cabot (1544), (lastaldi, Champlain (lO.'i'Ji. and John Smith (1614). The
reader will remark the invariable order of succession of the names.
On Com'g Map.
Cavo (ic Yiitrla terra and Cava .S .Ii'liaii (C'a|)o Ann).
11a do la Triniilad (Claiulia and IJukcr's Islaiul). and apainst tliom Salem Ilarlior.
C. ac liizart'.'. (Nahaiit : was it Li'zorif fn.m its sIiuik' ?)
Rocks uikI I.slaiuls at the mouth of tlic Charles,
(i'ort aux Isles of Champlain ; Coh:.8s.l of Ltscail)ot, Champlain, Winthrop, and
Coast .^urvcy.)
Flag at the Ciurnct.
Two Islands at the end of Capo Co.l. — one behind Provincetown ; the other opi'O
site; hoth now continuous with the niiiiulin.l.
I'ortu-uoso for tho oriu'iiuil nixm^ "( Rrit.in (Kn-- Aiisrlo] Un.I). Tlii^* Briton (Rritonum of Ptolcmv
with U.M li.U-r «,lve..t or reooi,M.il inn of Ih.- prcsonro of the liroton-Froiu-h in this l.ititw.lo, hcoiun.'
IlivU.t.. T.Tra lo8 Hretones, an.l Terra dua Bn'toties, b.-sirlos takinc: on uthor forms. Ilakhiyt si^-aks
.,f iho' fn.-i of Si. Matoe of Brytaint (Breton). This is made rliiui ou looking at the scries ot>naps
on pace I'l.
I S«e I'n.fossor (Janong. Cartography of C.ulf of St I,a«r.f,.(.. .■(.• S.r. II. ISSii. \\ 45.
w
' n
1^
r I
;;!.
r'
•ji.)
DKFKNl i;s OK XOlil MUK(;A
On M:ii:'ll'>i I'l rniziino.
Cii\n.' nii'tuii (Cii|H' Ami), rarutliso, IJoliiLricp, luul Flora, Sinilriim rurintoriuz
(Sak'iii mill Mailililiiiul .').
Anniiilt'iiu' {^t'liai'lr.s Uiwr ainl mouth, Ilostoii iiiiicr liaiUii, — ISack IJay un (('ape Ann).
T' rra elie Pescohriip, Stevan (>ome/ (New France).
('. il. Miii'has Islas ( ("oliassel ).
(". St. Maria ((.'ape Cod).
On \',Uar,i\
C. i'reton (('api' .\un ).
U. lie fianias ((ionnv. Cliarlcs).
Cape lie Ic Croix ( .\anta.sket ).
Southern Cape de Croix (The (lurmti
C. fie Arena (^Cape Cod ).
Oh W'/ffi;,t'».
Kiu (Irande (Charlies).
C. de las Islaa (Cohassel
(hi X/,.,..ti,in L'.ih.,r» (ViW).
I'rinia visa i .\It. Aiiani. iili.u> ).
Prima tierra vi>ta (C;ipi. Ann).
C. de Muelias Is (mouth of Charli's). — Cohasset.
Haya de > .\I:iria (Dost.in Ilarhoi).
^
u
ih
>.
•'iy^«
5<<
y"^
J!^\^
'^<)
^.
y
s
>-'
w
$r
c>*
~>v,n'^
V.
'^
jL
[■
•wg
m
• /f^o/V ^, „
«v«^»
^-vw-vi"^^
'f.
"'X
Z
>
r.
6
r
J
^?
X
V
M 4/
^'.
' r* J"
' /
00
O
•43
l Boston Harbor).
Tort St. Louis (1 My mouth).
Cap Ulanc (Cape Cod).
On Jnlni Smith's (lfi14).
Cap Trajrahisizanda ; also called Cape Anna (Capo Ann).
Hristow (SaU'in).
Cary Isles (Cohassct).
Point (Jeorire (^The < iurnot).
Cape .lames (^Cai)C Cod).
I have placed on a separate sheet the various names that have been
lonferred on —
Till. RiVKK ClI.\KI.F.S.
On Uuvsch, l.')OT, — Rio (Jrado ( Rio (irande, Charles).
On Maiollo-s Verra/a.m. 1,^-1--JT. - An-uilemc (French) = Mishaum (I.idian).
Peter Martyr, l."):U (i".». — Rio (irande.
^[
52
DKKENCES OF NORUMUKGA.
Wytflict, l')07. — R. Grande.
John Pec, 1 r)80, — R. de (Jnmns.
.lolui Dee, l.")80, — with added names, R. dc Oamaa.
Solis. liV.'*<, R. (trande.
Molineaiix (Jlohe, \i>92, — Rio (Jrandc.
Merriiun, — Ri. de (nnuez.
Champlain, liilJ, — River witli settlement and flarhor aj:!;ainst Chouacoct
CCohasset). Also, farther south, a diiplicato culled R. du Gas, with lake at the end,
and the name Vrocois. In the text R. (Juast. In I)e Laet, R. du Gas.
Winthrop, 1034, — Charles.
Let us now turn to the mouth of the river between the two gre.i*
capes. — Ciipe Breton = St. Johan (Cape Ann), and Cape de Arenes
(Capo Cod).
Thevet .-^ays : —
'•As for the Hay . de Arenes [Carcnas, Cape
Cod], . . . they are in thrc luindred and seven deirrees longitude and thirty-
eiL'lit dcLMcrs of latitude;' . . . they are thirty-live leairues apart. . . . Sailinsj
out of said river, and steerini: towards .'^pain or France, you leave the Cape
of the Isles [CiihasseiJ, wliicli you see some ei^rht leairues out into the sea; then
il a rounh sea or storm should oviwlake you, you can anchor in the river of
\oronil)ei,nie in . . . 42 14' latitude."
FOKTY-TWO DkcREKS FoI'HTKKN MlvrTKS, — THE Latitl'de of
THE Morxii OK Noi;rMHE(;.v Kivek!
Consider for a moment what this means.
On a north and .south coast, all that is necessary to determine the site or
locality is its latitude.
' Possil.ly il l.lmi.L'r in rnpyinif. whirl, i. l,nwpv,.r oornvtod ,n the next sentcnon by tli-
mention of the ob.wrve.1 latitii.l- of N„,t.-kf Rio Grande on .Morca-
tor s anil many other maps in tho country (liscmon d by tho Poiluf^tioso (Cortoroilv as inoiitionol
by .Mlefon.sco. Tho strikinjjly accurate outline of coast from ('a|M' .\nn to th'- !!'• .ith of N'arraL^an.sett
Haibor, givoM aa a part of .\si:i, was in kopping with the pcoj^rrapliy of tho times
' I visited Coha.sset and Situate Ueach, and had uo dilliculty in v.Tifying llio truth of Thovet's
oli.servations.
I ■ i
h.
I .I'llp
}•}
DKKKNCKS OK NOKIM.BKC A.
ill circumfcrenro, inhabited only by some fiMlicrmcii and liirds of dilTorcnt sortB,
whii-li tiny call Aiiiyiiscoii [NaniitiiHkct ::^ Naut;iskc'f] ' bfcaimo it has tlic form ot
a man's unii, whioh tlu'v call so. ItH greatest length is from North to South."
It needs no apolou'V for dwelling on this peculiar promontory, pre-
served by Thevet and Chainplain. This salient, like a bent human arm,
appears on ClutiiipUiins map (1012) near Chouacoet, as well as on Winlhropn
map (U)31) near and within Coneyha.sset, and t)n WooiVx anil the Coast
6'iinr>/ near Cohas.xet, b"sides in T/tcnt's text, ai'ul on my tracing from
local maps of the '• river flowing through a lake to the sea." Chouiu^oet
appears on Lisrarlxif'n map of IGOU, but Nantasket is not defined. But
besides the arm, and the cape Cuhimet, there is the indication of the
archipelago as Cape of Many Islands, Cap de Liigus Islas, C. de Muchas
Isla.s, and the river and settlement on the Charles.
Altogether are there not here too many elements of coincidence to
permit any doubt as to the identity of the ancient river Norunibega with
the Charles?
Let us pass on to explain the confusion in Charaplain'a ma, i, cleared
up by hi.s text.
There is AxoraER Naxtasket Axn also another Cohasset described
AXD FKiUKEI) BY ClIAMPLAIN.
At the mouth of the Saco. just south of Cape Elizabeth, there is
an Elbow, ami also a chain of rocks (an Algoniiuin Chouacoit), — corre-
sponding in .so far with our Ninita.sket (the bent arm, — the Aiayascon
of Thevet) and our chain of rocks, still called Cohasset Kocks. The
name Ciiouacoet is given on Champlain's smaller map of the region
of the Saco and Cape Eli/abetli. as recognized by Dr. Shifter, and is
given as upplitd to the river in Champlain's text, although it does not
appear on the large maps of llil'i, 1013, or 1032
' N.iiilucki't is sotnetiincs written on early mapH Nanatucket Sa by itoelf means "divide."
S'ltta, Saua, Trumbull su^'ffe.st.s, nicaii.i " Uith sides." a.s of a rivi-r or of a strait, — land divided
by w.iter ; a feature of the south slicirr. of jiarallel inlets now closed by suid banks.
DKKENCES OF NORL'MBErJA.
65
1 insert the map of Snco Bay, with the arm and the chain of
rocks, with its long housen and stockade enclosure.* The " Capo of
the Isles " of Champluin (our Capo Ann) is between the two Choua-
coet8. Between that of Saco Bay and that ut the mouth of the Charles
.J <1 1 ^.ol ^ t^
it
FROM " VOYAOE-l OF Til AMPI.AIX," EIlITKn IIY HI!. SI.AKTKR.
River there is Imt onr ca/x: and that is near the Beauport of Champlain,
which Dr. Slafter reco;rnizes as Oloucoster. Champlain, confused in his
memory because of the two Ohonacoets, placed on his map of 1032
' They are such in form and purpose as Tliorfiiin set up in Vinelund in 1007 to protect Gudrid
and her child Snorre during the absence of the husband and father at Straumfjord, as mentioned
in thi- 8:i(;a3
ti
i
t I
!■•
wtm
5Ci
PKFKXC KS OK NOKIMUKCA.
i.
. i
' !
(twenty-eight years after his first cyplonitioii) the Cape des Isles (Capo
Ann) and lleaiiport (Clouoester), l.oih of them mUh of the Charlea.
This hrin.L's them nearer to Port St. Ixmis ( I'lvinoutii). leaving the coin-
pressi'il eontour of Cape Ann witliout the name Cajt >Ick /s/*.s. which
i.'O l;as given in liis text. But altiiongh he fails to give any name
to this cape (Ca))e Ann) on iiis maps, he gives on the map of 1012
the indentations eorrespondiiig to Aniiis(piam harbor on the north, and
(iloueester (liis Heani)ort of the text) on the south, of the cape; also
the duplicated river Cliarles, — the iiorllu'rly one, with the archipelago
and Nantasket at its mouth, and the cluster of eiil)ins on its left hank ;
and the southerly on.', issuing from a lake having several settlements ami
the niinie IV/cz/.v on its l)iinks.
The explanation of Champlain's confusion is simple and ol)vions.
There were then, as there are now. two sets of localities, — each havinj?
two striking features; each included a Nantasket and a Chouacoct, —
an arm and a cluster of rocks. One .set was at the mouth of the Saco,
nort/i of Cape Ann; the otlier was at the moutli of the (Miailos, soii/h of
Cape Ann. Champlain jx-rsonally visited only the northern one. To see
tills clearlv. one must look first at the coast outline on any detailed
modern inij) Ironi Cape Cod to Portland; then at the maps of Chain-
pl;iin of li'i lU, ItJl.;. and IG'i-. and at the smaller one of Chouacoet.'
1 ••l'o)i;i<«et" is :iii ;ilitiri'\ i.itioii. Tlio .Mi.'iiicniin word as a wlmle i.s Quimno-linfsun ft. The
Q'l^zK ill Kennebec, fur wliicli wo have f V, in ('li"ii.u'"it. ;iiul fin CiMinooticnt (Tniinlnill) Qwinun
ni'aiis Moinj;" huffin mc.iiis ".stone; " fl ine,in< "at " or " near.' Winllirop givis nii nlilircviatetl
furni, «i:tii;,' tiie niinie :i.s he IhmhI it, - Cmeyiiasset. What (iKiinj'laiii hc.inl — Chouacnet, or
C'h'>nainit — wxs very nearly wliat we write, — ('cili;i.sset. It i.t, as we .see, lil the soiitlie.islwunl of the
entrance to 15i.ftun IIarl>or. Tliu name inijiil he liMiki'il for wlierevcr tlie natural features of
rocks li.-iiiij; from water weru nearly tho same as at eitlier Cliouacoct. Cliainplain upplie.s it to
the riv<'r .'^aco.
This particnl.irity ami repetition are nec3. The same cxtenuati'u may he urced for olli3 sati-f.i.'' >!y text.
DEFENCK8 OF NOULAlUJiGA.
57
Cape Buetov and St. Johav, — ouu Cape Ann.
Let us glance at tlio history of our Cape Ann, — the earlier Capt-
Breton, and St. Jolian, — that lies between tlio two CohassetH.
Its present name was given it by Prince Charles, in honor of the
Queen his moliier (Anne), — as ho also gave, or recognized as having
been given, the name Biistow (Salem) to the point to which John Ca'oot
came in 1197, lat. of 42^ 31' I'J".* Bristow appears at the same point
on Montana's map and He Laet's, as well as on numerous French, and
on other German and Hutch maps.
John Smith had earlier given to Cape Ann the name Tragabigzanda,
in memory of a friend during his captivity in Turkey.'' Before John
Sn)ith's time, the cape had long been called, especially by the early
French, Cape Breton ; and the region about was called the " F^and of
the Bretons" (Terra los Breton es), and also "Muchas gentes," — a hint of
nignificance, as will later become apparent. The French were here from
' liiistol, in its vicissitudes as a fjeo^fiaiiliiiMl name, iM'caiiin Biistow, Visto, and Hriso. Briso,
re'^ardiil as Fruncli, became Brisa, and was applied to very siiki'I nicjjy islets, wliioli Anglieizid
liecainn " breaki'is ; " iirid "breakfis" at lar-
.tii/>r,f,i near ("ape Hivton on .I.Toin.' \'crra/ano's tiiap, l-VJT." These are
ii^sociated wilii tlie canal St. .Inlian (St. .lohan) of donie/,'' (confounded
ill eiiijicr tiiiif^ witli the Ciut of Caiiso),* leadinir thmiiiih to Squain River
and Aniii-S.iuam Hnrt.or. niakiiij,' the island of St. . lohan of Cabot, ."o long
confounded with tiie i-land of Cape Uretoii at the mouth of the St. Liw-
iLMicv !See CiMstaldi'^: and uiauy others of the maps herewith submitted.)
It will lie M'en that (llouec^tcr Marlior is the Heauport of Chainplain. as
w'll as the S!. John's ot'.Inhn l!iit '' .iiid the (N)oranliega of Verrazano.
1 ii„| i, li,,. I'l-.Mu'h wore in tin- lia.-.in df tli" C'li.ii l.'i when .Ihu Siuitli c;iiiic (l<')14), ami later
(]•'.. ;ii) «liiMi Wihilir.-,. ;iriiMMl >.■,• tli.- (Jii.'..t, l:,-ci'iif.s l.-tttT t-) tli" Fii'iicli iniiiLsUir at tlie
SiKiM'.sh OMirt. (;;ilT,iivr.< •• l,if.> (.( Tli.'Vft. ' !■ -V''.' c.liM.n, ,.f IsTS. I'mis
' I hiive foiiiid trri'-s <>f families b.-ariiii; tln' iiaiin' .\..riii:iii un.l Nimiaii (a WainianoaR) in tlw
liistory nf F.ai
of s:ni|ih> ni"tatliesi:( from Cawxis, a plnril fo'tn in >ise (or the Indian word rann. f-'ul posBihly
is from '7'/-;. a tron:;h or. relatively, a ch.inm-l with pjirallel sid^s
'' S.^" •' Ilisoov'^'v if A!n."ir.» hv lie' Northmen "
■ II I ■■III ^j^g-—~-^~.,^ - ^ ■- ---.^ -T". '
/\
/\ A. A.
• s
* ! !
•I
^
GLOUCESTER H
MASSACHUSETTS
DKKKNCES OK XOKIMBKOA.
69
The Mouth of Charles River Variously Indicated.
We have, as may be seen, on the whole series of maps of the different
sheets, names which associate the mouth of the Charles with a cliistL-r of
islands, — sometimt'S at the entrancse to its mouth, to which Champlain gave
the name Port aux Isles, and sometimes within it, as the archipelago ol
Uomez. Then follow virtual equivalents, — as Cape de Lagus Islas, Cape
do las Islas, Cape de Muchas Islas; and then sketches indicating the islands
at tiie entrance to the bay and within it; then equivalent names of the
river. The occurrence of islands at the mouth is mentioned by Thorfinn
in his Saga describing the approach to Viueland, — " T^fore the mouth of
the river are great Islands." That, and "the small landlocked bay, salt at
flood-tide and fresh at ebb," — the Hop (the Boston Back Bay),— and the
" river flowing from the land through a lake to the sea," in the Vinelaiid
Sagas, were the chief guides to Leifs houses. (See maps, pages 51-52.)
Plymouth IIakbor
Many of these charts,' it will be observed, hold the Bay of St. Chris-
topher (Plymouth Ilarbor),^ San Antonio Bay and River (Jones River), the
Blue Hills of Milton (Montana verde ; also Monto: Johannis), Terra Nova,
the "New founde lande," of Henry Vll. (see second patent to John
Cabot),' one or more of them in various languages. They are all in or
1 Some of the inapa am inexpressibly iiinqiin and valuaWe, the solo copies 1 hrive seen. All are
photograpliic copies. They are from various sources, i.iohuliug tlio collections of Mr. lirevoort, Gen-
eral Harlow, Rev. Dr. De Co.sta, Jon.ar.l, Kuustn.ann, Drake, Winsor's America, an,l of various p.iWic
an.l private lil.raries at lio„,o an.l abroad, -to whicl. I Lave ad.le,! somewhat (ron> the works of
tlio engineer an.l .IranKhtsn.a.,, Mr. (ieorso Davis, of the Water Works of the city of (^unbrulge.
■' I have el80«h. re (See " Discovery of America by Northmen " ) l-inled out that the ori^-m of the
„,>me miKht be .-.scribed to the Church, - the Ion,', narrow harbor of I'lymouth and the ai.ein.te ns,.
and fall of Uie tide Rui;gestiii(,' the story of Saint Cliristopher.
' The Henry VIL charier .speaks of -New founde lande nn,! i.•' Winsor's " Ami'iica") wi! Iiaru "The Xew/iwIe-Lmih Quhar men q.^iih
a jisi-liatii.
' 5(i<-(M = 1. ly ; '"1 = fooil lia.v.il,... — rodlish. Baoalao— Biio.\laos, was lonij Mipposed to be
the n.'vmeof a oountiy, and is fiHiiici with v.irioiis siw-lUnu from Point .Iiilanatrr, a name (Finis-terre) given to the extiemo north-
west corner of France (Little Brctagnc). and also to the northwest C.ii)e of Spain. The name
" Fa,stauatre," or " Fastanaire," indicates tlie salient character of tlie »\vA. The addilinn l>y Thevet
to Cape St. .lean of the desiRnation •• noiil)le." tluis recognizing the twin capes, is a fact, as already
noted, of sirikins descriptive significance. It is ayiin.st the •'Three Turks' Heads" of John Smitli,
the Straiglitsinoulh. Thatcher's, and Milk Islands of modern nomenclatiae.
I ;
* =
"1— '^-SipiMW
62
DEFKXCKS OF NOlU'Mltl'.C.A.
in 1 197. The Island St. Johan at the mouth of the St. Lawrence, became
later, and is still known \>\ the name of. IVince Kdward's I.sland.
The two names cDiipled by Allelbnsce. — Cape Breton and St.
Johan, — signilicant becaii.se of their appearing in r.viii.s in latitudes
three degrees apart, have added to tiieir companionshi|) in the forty-
third degree the Hiver Charles and Carenas (Cape Cod), — iiv<> iidiitis
•illvpcther wantiiKj nt f/ic wrf/i. The added cartographical relationship of
this new couple, as we have seen, is preserved through a long .series
of maps. Ik'sides appearing on the maps given on the sheets at page
14, there max Ix- mentioiu'd vaz Poiiardo, Tliomas Hood, and generally
the maps of the New England coast of the si.\teeiith century.
The Cii/'r C'oil seen liy Dr. Slafter in ihe coast outline of Ma.ssachu-
setts, on Cosa's map. finds on Lok's map its corresponding Curmas.
This recognition carries with it. of course, that of the Kiver Charles,
with the rocks and islands at its iiioutii, ami also Cape Ann with its
equivalent names.
It will be reiiiaiki'd that Dr. Slafter, in recognizing the true character
of Cosa's map in an essential particular, unites with Lok, Stephanius.
Kuiitsinann. and mysL'lf in the interpretation of one i..iportant piece of
geographical literature, hearing on the site of the Landfulls of Leif and
Caljot, and on the site of Norumbega.
Nai;u.\tives UK PKiisoNs WHO iiavk visitf.d tiik Counthy or City
OF N(»1!IMHKG.\.
We now come to a branch ol" evidence which will appeal more directly
to the general reader. It is the record of jiersonal experience, and may
be subjected to a kind of critical anjilysis in which individual consciousness
can play its legitimate part. WlirihiT one feels in its full force or does
not appreciate the conclusiveness of the evidence touching the latitude of
Norumliega. and that of the place in a .series, always at the .same point, in
the order of succe.ssion ; whether he is moved l)y the constancy of the
position indicated by geographical names, though in diflerent languages.
DKKEN'CES OK NOlUMnF.fiA.
63
still Imviiij,- ol'tc'ii the same descriptive significiif ion, — whether either or ail
of these will crave and secure the attention to which fhcy are entitled,
one may not le personal equation, so to speak, of the relator may be estimated.
Verrazano visited the Hoston Back Bat
The earliest description, after the Vineiand Sagas, of Boston Harbor and
Baclt Bay is found in Verrazano's letter to tlie King. Verrazano made his
landfall in the early spring of 1524 on Cape Cod, and for several months
roasted alternately up and down, at least as far southward as to the
entrance to Delaware Bay. On one occasion as he coasted northward,
he says : —
" At the ond of one hundred leagues wo discovered a very delightful place among
some 8m;dl hills, eminences between which ran a very great river to the ocean,' which
was deep within to its mouth; and from the sea to the enlargement of the bay the
tide was cn/ht feet, n\u\ through it any heavy ship eau pass." [The tide fixes the
point as north of Cape Cod. The tide rises in Boston Hurler from eight to ten feet,
or more. Tides to tiu- south of Cape Cod— as in (iardiner's Bay — arc about three
I'eet. Ho continues :] " As in good duty we did not wish to run the risk of penctrat-
inir the coast without knowledge of tlic mouth of the river, wc took the boat and
entered the river witliin the country, where we found it to lie fhicklj/ inhahiud, ami
liir people resembling the olhi'rs we had .seen [more or less fair; that is. of light com-
plexion], adorned with birds" tVathers of dilTerent colors, coming toward us with
evident delight, uttering very loud erics of admiration, indicating, if wc had to laiul
with the boat, where it was most safe. We entered the said river within the countrv
about half a league, when' we saw it formed a most beautiful lake [Boston Back
Bay] about three leagiirs in eon>pass, upon which we saw boats, thirty in number,
moving from one part to another with innumerable people, who pa.S8ed from shoi'c
to shore to see us."
' The only rivpr in tin' forty-third , Nonimboga immnUulthf at the southwest,
a (piarter west, of Cape Breton ((.'ape Ann).
In 1512 Ai.i.EFON.scE was in the forty-third degree. He it was who
distingiiisJK'd between the tim C'lpe Hreton.s. He was seeking a strait
through to the Pacific, and gives the latitude of Cape Ann, and with it
the place of the river and city of Norumbcgue ; he mentions the liii-j
people there, and the variety and abimdance of peltry.
Tiievet was on our coa.st in 1550, and describes in his Cosmography
(my copy is of 1575i* in much detail the geography of Cape Breton and
Cape Johan (Cape Ann), and of Cap de Arenes (Cape Cod), — called also,
as ho mentions, Francoys (Allefonsce's name was Cap de la Franciscane) ;
determines by observation tlu latitude of Nanta.^kef Roads at the mouth
of Charles River, an.', gives in his text the river and the city of Norum-
bega on its banks, and Fort NorMiubega at the jiuiction of Stony Brook
with the Cliarles. All are presented oji his map or in his text, or in
Injlii ; and from his de.'^cription I went directly to the Fort in 1885.
' May nnt this luirrow. str.iiglit raiml Ikivp ijiveii risf> to tlic (lutt.i ('aiioas, — " cnnoo irutti^r," —
lator traii'foriiieil, aiiil liy cIlipsiH and ini'tatlii-sis lieooiiie the
66 DKKKNCI'S OK NOUIMIIKCA.
Sir [Iiiiiiphroy Gilhcrt hitii^^flf imdiTtnok liis voyiifjc for flio discovorv'
ol" Nonmilii'jjii lying to tlio .•"Oiitliwi'st cil' CajM' Ifriioii (Hrotoii), in ].',s.'J.
(Clivrko ; Hakluyt.)
("ii|)tiiiii .Iknynuks. and his mafo Smituk of flio ship "Tohv." iii-
foriiu'd llal luyt of SjMiiii'irtl^ who had hi'oii driven on tho coast of
N'oninihi'na, and '• hglitod o\\ a townc on ii ryvi r's .side which thcv
alliruKMl to he aliovc a i|iiarli'r of a mile in K'ngtlic."
Stkpiikn Hi:i.i.i.\(iKi!. of l.'om'n.a •• faniihar friend" of Ilakhiyt, was at
Norimihc^'a in the year l")>.'I. and pnrehased a j;reat variety of niendiai'
di.-e. mainly peltry, which Ilakhiyt personally saw; he fonnd a city, and
estimated tin- numher of houses at ei^Mitx. Ilakluyt says: —
'•Tills cimsli' (if .\iiruinl)0(:a, finiii ('m|m' llntoii [tiie iioitlicrii] CC ['2001
Ica'.'uos fi) till' s()iitli«r,.li plirii |!(lliiiL;tr. of Kdim [|{(iiicii], the last vcrc, l")H;j
wli'K' f()iiiiil>' a tu\Mi.' (it lom-x'Dic I MIS, lovcrcd wiiji the harkes of trees.
uii.iii I! ii\ii's sidi. iiIkmiI C li'Miriiis ' Ir.ini the aforesaid Cape liieton. lie re-
piirtcd tint tlie (-(Mintiic is of tlir t.'iii|i. raliiro of tjic roaste of (iascoi^rnj and
(Juyafl. Ho liniUL'iit honic a kind.' of inincrall matter siipiioseij to liolde silver,
wiicreof lie L'ave ine smiii' ; a kind of niuskc (■all('(I castor; divers lieaslcs skinnes.
ns hovers, otters, niniiernes, laccrnes, scales. Iiafls. dere-skyiines, all dressed, and
|iaiiited on tlie inner side with divers excilent ci. lours, as redd, tawnye, yellow
and vermiliyon.-^— ^i// ,rh,.-l, ihi,,,,.., / fil.kjuytj .„„..• and divers other nierehan-
dizo lie liath wlii.li 1 saw not. Ilm he told nio that ho had ('('("(" and xl
rrown(?s for that in Koan. wh,!,. i,, (ri(|,..s l,es(..wed upon the Savages, stood
iiim not in foiti. eio^n.s. . . . The nature and (lualitie of tliother parte of
Amorica from (ape Jiiitm ihe uoitlii nil. I„ in- in It! deir.ves unto the latitude
of -y-l for iij C lea-aes wiilmi tho lan.le. even to Iloohelaira, is n(jtal.ly desorihed
in tho twoo voyadjres of lae(|uos f'artior."'^
' Th.>o-» \mudvf.\ l..:.,M,..s i, n(-arprtt„.,i,tual .'(.tanc- fmia oar /.,/,„„/ of ('»,,« Breton to tl...
mouth of tl.... (I,„l,.., Th.. , iHuidrcd leu;,,,-, d ,u!.tl. s refers t., tho whole extent of hi. s«,l-
ms; and discovery. It u,. .t ih.. Lest ,.m eMi.ni.to i„ th-; liKht of little ex[K.Mie on our co.-i.,!, in
«hich -tioiitj tides and tiie arctic current prevail
■' HtifTalu rolie. in cmimenv fifty years a,-,., from the \V,.,t. wore painted «:-!, these colors.
• .'siima(iuoddy]. where the next port, after yon are past the river
of i^t. .fohn. is Saint Croix, wliri-e they errcted n fort iind wintered. Threescore
leagues west from thence is the river Kinilieki, and from thence the land turiietli
north and south to .Malaiiiirri" [part of the east face of Ca[ie Cod].
"Authors piiicc in that former extension of land hetwixt east and west « a
IT ,11 maniirr iial iicillar:
It Wiis. uct'or
iliiii; to l*unlia> .iinl gi'iicial ua'o^riipliiral liti'ratui'c, lutfcen
!//.• Krnn>!"'' (hi'l <'",' f ■<' '''■" ''"' .^■'*''" '"^^" "'' ^'"|■l"'ll•l•,^M lay
•rom i!ii~ rt'iMinl ul
'iiii'ha- it srriiis.
till' map I
)l l.cMa
rlidi ol h
Will as iVdiu till- ti'xf and
iii'.i, anil tli.it (>!' Cliamplaiii of ItilJ, that
SOI
lu' of Di' Moiu's fxiiloiiiii: partH
liati
on till' If.ioiiM'i
i)t m till- iirrv;ous \rai-. o
lu'cii ailvisi'd. atUT their t'liliu'i"
f I he lookfil lor loi'alitv on lli
II irh's.
ami iiaii
VlSlIod till- >ltl' Ol .Noruilllli';
a. iK- Mont's oIliciTs ami
nil'!! loiimi rflati\i.'l}
i'fw :l\vflliiiL;s at the plai'o to which they w
I'VV
i-iiii'
li. till' M'tili'iiiciil -onif tiiiif liclori' luuini:. cxrcpt at the -I'aMiu
i| lislilll^'. ciMsta
1 tn 1m' 111' -pi'lial ii'Mirt. It hail ilwimili'il with the ill
iii-
tma ol III'' .Nor>i IiIihkI
Thf i[\\ thr |uartrr- of a iiiil' Ioiili' to liiun-aiii in lo(V.'. to Sti-phni
11 1 Vs.'! was loiiiiil ;o ha\i' li.'roiii(> a town of only fonrscon-
lirilmL'iT 1
hiiUSi'S. riucl'r
liki" till' ■•rali;m-
if ('])
miinain, ••/'■/
7/ /»^■/,■ v "/■ //■
The hn.i.-i's wi iv ot iii'ri~halili' mai.'rial. ami wi'ii' fewiT at thi' tinif ol
'fori*. 'I'lii'v wi'ii'
r»t' Mont's I'xju'iliiion than
-I) ic\s that ilu'V ilid no' In
the i''ivm'liiiii'ii. 'i"lii'\' lia'l ^ou-lit tl
l|i'\- W err 1 Wiil' \ -OIU' \i'afs In
Itil the 11.'^ ,K n\'
the inllameil imaginations nl
t ithe I'emta-
li' e|l \ on t 111' I enoh-i'ii
'Dl't i. w
hifh aee.inlin- to rhamiilain //'",./ i>ii the I'. nilihr'il. nor hail the
iliii'_rs tlnTe lieiMi ealh'il. li\ the nati\es. Nonimliee'a.
XeVerlhele--. ( lianiplaill hail e.iine to the ei illel il.-ion that lliil! Illii'-t ill'
I'lver 111' reinains nl iiw a
Uie river
w!i)i ii the eil\ 111' the same name wol
ihl he found. It was
Oil inaiiV oarlv maps tin- cuiinl'-v l"a«i'i'ii I.aki! Cli.iini'laiii ai
till' rna'it > f Maisai'lni'-'IN is
••pri'si'iiti'il IS vi'ry unnow, umt uii >■ iin- \i,- l.ik'' is comiicti'il willi tin' uci-aii liflwi'Oii tape Aim iiil
Cai..' ('...I.
iplii^
DKl'ENCKS OF NOUl'MUEGA.
69
the only one having an ndciiwilc ihvinngfi baxin to furnish water for a
large river. IJut they did not find a city on its banks. Still inquiring
for an ancient town, they were conducted by natives up the Charles.
Somewhere below the inllow of a branch from the south (the Cheesecake?)
and another from the north (Beaver Brook?), and above the head of
the Bay, according to the niap, they found a region of scattered '• cabans "
(wigwams), which was pointed out to them (so on<> reads between the
lines) as tiie site for whidi they were looking. These " cabans " figured
on both Champlain's and Lescarbot's mtips are the imperishable record of
what was at Watertown at the opening of the seventeenth century.'
Could men with pictures of Paris and Parisian civilization in their
brains have been more astounded ?
It is conceivable that like Roger Clapp, twenty -six years later, they had
attempted the ascent of the river with a boat of too deep draught, or at ebb-
tide. They therefore took to the laud, and approached the site of the dam
and walls at Watertown from the north. They found the site largely over-
grown with wood, and remains only of the perishable architecture of the
Indinn.s. It was too much! Bellinger, twenty-one years before, had coimted
eighty houses. Some of them had doubtless fallen to decay; but all of
them would have seemed few to the Frenchmen, and were, relatively, few.
Thirteen years earlier. Ingram, estimating the length sonu'where proba-
bly from the bowlder d.iiii. down along the walled river, with tlie terraces
aI)Ove (against the ancient Ilunnewell gardens), found remains of what
ho railed a city, three quarters of a mile long. The Daiqihin map of
1540 luire the figure of a fortified gatewny to a city above the arm
of the sea, and an armed enemy near to indicate the character of the
locality and in some degree the e.xtent of the city.
' Attciitiiiii 1ms alri'aily tn'on drawn tn tin' Isvo oxploriiicr parties, and to the exliiliition of two
rivers On one, issuiiii; from a lake (the In ii'i). aijaiiist tin' mniitli of Stony lirook, tlie nam'' YriH-nis
occurs. This hears the name /.'. ilit (jd.i. At the mouth of the other is the elbow of Xaiitasket and
the name ('luxiiicmt (('oha,sset).
There may of course have been two very unlike charts by ililTerent members of one parly, thus
contribulini; to the confusion which led to the obscurity at this point on the map of Iti^i-'.
ro
ni;FK\('i:s ok noimmiu^ca.
Was this the great city, with walls ami gates and towers? What
wore all the remains the^- I'ouiid, to Kreiu-hnien who knew of cities ot'
the 01(1 World'.' The >toiT iinisl l)e a iiislii! The city had never heen !
• 'riuj.^e wlio desorilied have never seen it." said Chainplain ; and in
mingled vexation and Ibrgetl'nhu'ss he struck out all mention of tlie
city and country of Noruinbega from his map of Itj.'ili.
The shei't of maps which follows, entitled '•Transition period in regard
to Xoruuilicga in the seventeenth ceiitiu'v." attaches itself naturally to
that
en
titled '■ Was there a city of NoruiiilieL''a
It si
lows the confusion
that grew, in part at least, out of Chauiplaiii's re|iort. It perhaps also
shows how >kilfii tlie site of the seaport of Norumbega had been chosen.
It was (piite inla'.
icci'ssilile iVoiu the sea oidv at hiirli
tidi
At tl
le moutli 111
i fic
Charles we have o
)f tl
(,''it (lieti'a\iiiLr
confused niemmy of I'
1 t<
)n one ol tlie maps a river
mil a crowd of
•mtai'oet
other nauies with little regani to actual geography
Th
e student wi
11
recogui/e the etloit of the cartographers to adjust the statements ol
( 'haiii|ilain witii wliat had previou-ly been accepted as true. In tlie
to Chaiuplain's authority, we have positions
struirirle to do liomaLTe
re\erse(
1 and naiiie< given as alternate'.!. Tlu're are also other phase;
the contusion into w
luch
rtographi rs were thrown hy (Jiam|
by Ch
iilam.
(,'hamplaiu (through detailed oil
irers. 1
f not per.son.illy present) was at tii
site 01
Watertowu. and saw wliat the nali\(
iiiew as the remains of tli
.h.
mcieiit city ol .Nnru::.r)ega. .\ud we lia\'e on oilier maps Carinas and
Cat
Bret
on loll
g after (losuold iiad given (/ajie Cod to one. and Pri
nee
Charles Cape Aim to the other.
Tii.vxMTiox PKFiion IN i;i:(.A!tn to Nokumhega. Sevexteentu
Ckntiuv.
This series of maps presents, first. Lescarbot ( Itldlh. //•/'//( a lolkctinn "f
rdJf'iis 1,11 '■!■ /inir t/ir .V('A <'/' ]Vii/'r/'iW)i. on the river (Charles), at the mouth
oi' which is an archipelago and a cape called (Jhouacoet (Cohasset).
♦ .
it*'
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JH'IFKNCES OK NOIU'MUKd.V.
ri
Following this is the mnp of Clininplaiii of 1012, having on it Naran-
bergiie, which he suppri'SMoil on the map of 1032. On both niaj-s lie
leaves the evidence of a visit made to Watertown, on the Charles lliver.
On the river ((Jharles), at the entrance to the month of which Champlain
gives the illmw near Chouacoet, — given also, less distinctly, by Lescarbot;
described in its name Aia};iscon {(iriii), with its latitude 42 14', by Thevet ;
given also l)y Winthrop (lOlil) as C'oncyhasset, and by Wood, and on all
early local maps, and on the Coast Survey, as Cohasset, — on this river,
at /hr .si/r «/ Wutcrloim {//tut it<, uliove llif intrrwr bii//), C/iaiii/i/aiu Jifjurcs a
cliixier of idbiiis, Ihc cvidmceH nf omtpunci/. At this point are fnuitd to-ditij the
vallx, docka, irhariw, and fjaxiius irhich art- amribcd bij mc to the ancient citif of
Noniiiilieijit.
The three following French maps, from the collection of the late General
Barlow, of New York, show the perplexity that followed Champlain's dis-
«'()verv of Norumbegu on the Penobscot, or rather the failure of Champlain
to recognize it anywhere. On the hrst of the three the cartographer maki's
Qiiinnobequin (Kennebec) and Pemtagoet (IVnubscot) d'ipliciite names of
the same streiim. This was evidently produced after the building of Fort
Casline at the mouth of the Penobscot.
This map also presents Vingaert's Eylan (Vineland), south of tlie
Quinnibe(|ui and against the name Cambridi/e, — the very site of Leii.s
houses.
The second of the French maps restores the conditions of relative
position.
The third places the Kennebec north of the Pemtagoet, and gives Fort
Pemtagoet. or Norumbegue, as an alternative, on a river, with branches
connecting hikes and ponds, corresponding more fairly with the features of
the (.'Iiarles than witli those of the Penob.scot.
Ne.xt are two maps. — Solis and Merriam. — on which impatient and
confoundetl ciirtographers have placed every name of the Charles they could
lind. IJoth *)f them, however, are loyal to Cape Breton n^-d Carenas, and
to Norumbega as a province in Nova Francia.
n
KKIKM l> Ol NOlUMIIKliA.
M 1
I* ' 'K
Nixt is 11 map (imonyuious) for which I iim iixh'lXod to my friciil
Profi'ssor MaiToii. on which is a rcinarkahly correct outline of tho const, -
l.rtt.r thMii Chaiiipliiin's an.l than sonic otlu-rs alter Champhiin's timi-.
but rctaiuin- tlu' earlier name of Cape .le las Aronns.
On the next map.— Winthrop (lO;;!). — is the stono dam. built of
roun.le.l boNvMcrs, as existing at an.l before the mlvent of the Knglinh.
the site of which Winthrop has indicated iu the name "rip." It was
fben as now at the head of tide water, and at ebb tide marked the com-
,„..„cenient of ripples. -a gentle fall. Here were fisheries, with a weir, -
authorized by Winthrop lil.U-lC'VJ, and indicating a recognized fall which
the fish .'ouM not easily pass im their way to spawning ground.
On Winthrop's map is Coneyhasset (Cohasset), Nanlasket (the elbow),
the 15a.k r.ay, — shown on S(dis. l-'.I'S, and describe«l in the Vineland
SaL'a.s. and by Verra/ano. — and the Charles, including the site of the
citv of Noniniliega, at the lino separating salt water from fresh.
Wliat ha< gone before may he regarded ns having estahlished that —
1. There was a city of Normubega.
•J. That its latitude was about I'J -<>'.
,". Thai the riwr on which it stooil bore a name with numerous
c(iuivaleuts. which was one of a series in the forty-third degree, >i/>ru>/s
npfKonwi ai the Nuiie point in the order of succession ; and its name was
the Chaki.ks.
We have thus transferred to tho siijiport of the discovery of Noriim-
l)fL'a the testimony nf Chainplain and Ijcscarbot.
IIaki.cyt's DiscofiisK OS Wkstkhn I'l.vntino.
Repeated qiiotatinns have been made from tliis v.dume. I^t us glance
(It, the >urrouinling-i and tiie times of tho authority.
In I'.s'J Micliael Lok dedicated to his friend Sir Philip Sidney his ninp
of North America, embodying the early chart of .John Cabot's discovery of
DKKKNCKS OK NOliLMltKliA.
1497 an 11. inul iissunu'd tlie chaiiniioiuship of
the Catholic fuilh. Spauisli galleons wcio lilliiig his colTfis with gold and
silver from his Aniencaii posse.s.sions. His iiuipose to suppress Protes-
Ku-'IivikI had been divined. 'I'lu' loval men alitmt the throne of
Kli/.aheth, led l>y IJahi.udi. eoneeived the idea of e.stahli.shing in the New
World an ear
tanlism in
liur 15eriiiu«la,— a colony ostensibly for the usual ends of
commercial enterprise, hut iiuhidiiig a fortified seaport, from which ves-
sels might issue under the En-lish flag to prey upon the Spanish treasure-
laden \X'.s,«eK This would, it was urged, compel IM.ilip to keep a strong
naval force in American wa
fruit of her con(|uests. in
ters to convoy the ships freighted with the
ilustries, and s])oliati(iiis, and so jirovent the
threatened attack of th.' luviucil.le Armad
To further this end. mainly
i
at Kul.'igh's iiistanc(. Uichard Ilakluyt, a young .scholar of great promise,
kilfuUy written arguuieut, showing the advan-
liate colonization of Noruinbega. — a country
was employed to prepare
Uiges to England of the in
iliiei
of uiideteriniiH
d boumlaries. extending
ilintr far to the north and south, and
t. oil the wes
having a chief city and seapoi
entitled '' Western Planting," w
t side of the Atlantic. Tlie
letter.
manuscript. Its date wi
Lok's map. had ]ire(
hich he prepared, was pieserv
eil m
ir.S.-.. llakliivfs '-Divers Voyages." containing
I'ded it bv tliree years.
Within rilatively a few yeai
the ■•Western Plauthig" lias been brought
to light through the eflbrts o
i the late Hev. Dr. Leonard Woods, of
IJow-
doin College
Edited bv Dr. \\
„|s and the late Dr. Charles Deane, it
was
pill
ilished bv tlie Maine Historical Society. ISTT
From
tl
us vo
iliiine
I have «
drawn accounts of ])ersonal visits to Noruui-
beira iHdbre i:.Sl, to crown the geog
laphical argument resting mai
on charts,
the absolute demons
itratioii afforded by tlie
ilitude
!S and rt
inly
4a.
74
UKFENCKS OK NOKl'MBEr.A.
tions of Allofonsce and Thcvet, and. as has been pointed out, the unin-
tended conlinnation of (Miaiiiplain and Loscarl)ot.
Elizabeth had not seen her way elear to aiding from the royal treasury
the plan of Hahigh and his friends to estai)lish a eolony earlier, by alnioM
fifty years, than Winthrop'a. f^ir Humphrey Gilbert had been lost in his
attempt to reach Norumbega.
Then- was jirovided no place of security for a British fleet in Anierican
waters, from which corsairs might have issued to pester the Spanish gal-
leons, and so prevent tiie sailing of a war lleet to attack England.
It was deemed wiser, after the birth of .Tames VI., to extinguish nil
rivalry between tiie crowns of Scotland and England by the tragedy of
Feb. S. 1")87, at Fotheringay Castle.
In I088 the Armada appeared. It was happily scattered.
It is not without its interest to students of Massachusetts history that
the ancient city of Norumbega, at Watcrtown on the Charles, might earlier,
by threi" hundred years, have been recognized as the first city in Americit
norlli of the Spani.-ih pos.se.ssious.
WixxnROp's Map ov IG.34.
Wi\oever has followeil tliis discussion will look with interest upon
the map jtroduccil !)y Winthrop in ir.34' from data collected, some of
it, .foon after his arrival in in.iO. Or 'lis map the .shaded ,sdt water is
indicated on the Ciiarles up to the heail of tide-water, and there sweet
water begins on his map as it diu's (o-day. Tlie point which separates
the sea water from ti fresh, is marked by two bars across the river.
On the Merrimack Winthrop marks the falls, and writes " Falls " against
•lie mark. He marks a -Wecr" on the Saugus. If he witnessed or
knew of the building of a dam across tlu Charles at Watertown. \n>
' I liave iiitrodiircd a |iart of tliis map ilincovori'd l.v Mr. Henry Wati-rs, tlie eminent
genealogist, MwtuM t' ■ iikui i^ ipts ol tlw Sloan coUoetion m tlie Hriti.sli Mu.^eiim
fe.-,e-.^jtjiMaaB«Wi8WiBgWrlWa!IM6Wt T
«
4
of
an<
r
I
Ht:iJ01YPE COPY OF WINTHI-iOPS
KOtJN'L) HY Ml-;. I1I;.N1;Y WAll.
• i ' % » >y- ' ' ?v-^ f.i--'
K WINTHliOPS OI-MGINAL MAP Oh' l(.;'.'i.
■llv lltNlJV WATLl-iS IN LNill.ANL).
iff<
I 'I
DEFKXt'KS OF XOKLMUEOA.
75
map would liavo borne at this point the name •• Dam," Instead of this
it bears the name '■Kip."'
What remains of the Walls of Norumbega.
Do we wonder that so little of ancient Norumbega remains? What
right have we to ask for more? What remains of the city of the
Pliaraolis of the Exodus; of Nineveh; of Troy; of Baalbec? What liave
we of Di Iphi ; of IMinMiicia; of Etruria? What remains of the Rome
of the Ca'sars? What of tlie York or tiie Chester of the Romans, and
of the London wliich William oi" Normandy saw? More, perhaps; hut
relatively I'ow nnirh nioic, than still exists of Norumbega? I doulit if
any one can point to as much stone-wall of the Boston of a hun-
dred years ago as the resident of Watertown may still claim to exist
of the Norumbega of the times before the Bretons first went up the
Charles.
1 add a photograph of a portion — perhaps a large third — of the wall
on tlie north side of Charles River below Watertown, which doubtless,
with much repair by the proprietors, fulfds to-day. as eight to nine hun-
dred years ago it did, the oHice of deepening the water at high tide
immediately below the Nt)rumbega dam.
What has heen Established.
At the outset of this communication it was stated that the battlefield
of the Northmen was at Watertown. Let us .-^ce what has been established
as the citadel of Norumbega. We may take the evidence in reverse.
1 Rip mea.m a Mi.ldon break in the (l.'scnt from .still w.itcr. It w;!. called " falls " In- Wood,
.loscelyn, and Oiinton The dam now t.eais a llnsl.-l.oard, which risos a foot or more abov.. the crc^t
of stone,' -Riving a total fall at the llourini; mill, less than a quarter of a mile helow. .^f al.out fon-
and a half feet. Viewed from the north Lank, where Winlhroi> saw it. Ilie -entle oasoade may not
have Leon seen, as the inlands (wharves p.netrafd l>y doek-) were wooded, and the ,xm.t of view
was to the west of the line of the dam.
76
ni:i r.Nc'Ks ok nokimhkcja.
1. Winthrop found in tlit> Ibrty-tliinl dcgrco flu> falls nt the bowlder dnni
ncross th<' ("ImrK's. of which the various walls of Norunihega. as a eonuner-
cial siMport, are Imt the seqiienees. (Sec " Discovery of Norunihega." 18811.)
•2. Twentv-six years hrl'ore (1(101). in the same latitude, Chaniplain
was ooiiiliietc'l to the soatteri'd remains (ealiins covered with kirk of /nrs
and skins I of what was recognized liy the natives of the neighhorhood as
Norunihega. Ciiainplain and his a.ssociates are recorded in 1()1,3 (Purchiis.
p. t)l2Si as denying tliat these scattered dwellings were the remains of
tlie Noiuinhega descrilied in the literature of geography, as lying between
the Kennel K'C and ("aiie Cod.
3. Twenty-one years earlier (l-jS.*?) Bellinger (Ilakluyt's friend) visited
the citv of Norumliega. found it still to contain eighty houses covered
with ^'iirk "/ //•.(',>. and carrying on an extensive and varied commerce.
4. Three years earlier (1-")S(M John Walker, sent by Sir Humphrey
fiilliert, \ iio (IV")()) describes Niu-umbe^-a with great precision, as a citv J
and co'intrv. and wi-ote oi its people and products.
8. Thi'vet was on our Ciiast in l")"i((. determined the latitude of the
mouth of the Charles River to lie 42" 14'. an), and Lescarbot on
his map (ICU'J), between the Kennebec and Cape Cod (Malebarre), a cluster
of houses, and described it as consisting only of scattered bark-covered
cabins, upon the bank of a river emptying into an archipelago.
14. At the outer entrance to the archipelago from the sea was the arm-
shaped cape (Nantasket, — Point Allerton), without which was a rocky cape
called by Cliamplain and Lescarbot — as by Wintlirop, the Coast Survey,
and local maps — Co/iami, Allefonsce and Thevot noted the rocks and
^washings and little islets off Cohasset. the Cape of Many Islands.
15. Above the arcliipclago the river flowed through a lake, landlocked,
salt at llood-tide and frosli at ebl). figured between Carenas and Cape Breton,
on the maps of Ortelius ( ir)70), Solis (159S). and Botero (1G0.3). On these
maps at the same point above the lake (and on Solis's map, with the cipher
indicating a city), on the Kio Grande (the Charles), are the names, respec-
tively, Norumbega. Noruega, and Norvega.' — all dialectic eijuivalents of
Norway. All these are placeil in the original New France, which held the
.site of Boston. Verra/ano found the lake three leagues around, the tide
at its mouth eight feet (the minimum measiu'e to-day), and the shores
thickly populated, as Tlievet did, by a hospitable people, Thorfiim found
the entrance of the river into the lake (below our present Brookline
bridge) too shallow for navigation at low tide. The depth at this point
at low tide is, to-day. three and a half feet. Thorfinn gave to this lake,
through which according to Lcif a river flowed to the .sea. its Icelandic
luime of IIuj), — " a small land-locked bay, salt at flood tide, and fresh at
« TliL- iiaiiv^ .V.rivva given hy liot.'i-o, tdii:!, to the ve-ioii of Xoniiul.esii. w.is the same as that
4iv,-M to Norway in Euroi-e by Solis (of Seville), l.-i!»v by lio.uunl Sylvani, l.-.ll; and ou Tabula
Caliilana, l:!:.J-l;!7S.
UKKKNCLS (»!• MtlU MHi;rved the fall lan ahrnpt break from still water to
rapiil>i. It was ueci-ioned by a dam. — an artificial structinv composed of
ma.s«i\c lleldbowlders. It was there when lie came. It had been built by
a people wIm) iiad cuine and lmuc. Be-^ides the dam, there were ilocks,
wharves, a ti>h\\av. and a L'reat extetit of stone-wall on either side of the
river
ImI,
WlUi
li. IVoni its -^irikinudv smooth face on the river side and
its •■ I'rubl.'til of tlic .Ncrll.l
;*«r
'EP^ DC CANCERi
■i \
vNCEK
^'AUl
■c<>
l)KFEN(i:s OK nouumi»K(;a.
8J
pomctirnos to a river, l)ut unifonnly to a city, and accompanied by a
cyplicr indicMtiu^ its place on t.iie left bank of the river. This river
finds its month i)etween Cape IJreton and Cape Arenas. The river and
the capes liave each several names.
The detached sheet at page bij has at its head the sketches of Alle-
fonsce, siiowing his discovery that there were l/fo Ca/ic Brelunx, of whit'h
the more southern, according to his relation, was in the forty-third degree.
These sketches and the photographic fac-similcs — from the mann^^'cript
originals in the 15il)liothe(|iie Nationale — wiiich follow, and the .. vt.on
iha^ accompanies them, connect this Ca]ie Bii'ton with the Norumbcg;!
Rive, and the city of the same name on its banks, all in the I'orty-tiiird
degree.
The relation of Thevet. from vhich tlio sketch at the left is made,
gives the latitude of the mouth of this river of Norunibegiie — which.
as the course* of the river is eiist and west, is also very nearly the
latitude of the city on its lianks — as 42° 11'. His oI).servati()n was made
at the cl!)ow of Nantasket and Hull. — the outer mouth of the Cliarles. —
wliich, according to the ('oast Survey nuip. is in 4- IS', and within the
Cape of 'he Mi'S, described by himself, Allefonsce, Chamjilaiu, Thoriinn,
and nK)ny others.
To this cape ('hami)lain gives on his map. H'il2 (it is also a river
on the .sheet on pag" ri;"),. the Indian name lie found. — ('liouaioet. Les-
carbot's map of Ifid'.' giv s th(> 'Kime name. It is the modern Coliasset.
Chainplain also gives on his map the striking ligure of the elbow at N'au-
tasket and Hull. Thevet describes it at length, and give< it the Iroquois
nanto /Iwawvj.v, — a human arm.
Heyoiid Ixtstou I'.ay at the head ul' tide water, on Champiaiu's iiiaj) a-
we can see jdiove. is a noted angle in the Charles. Aiiove liiis, at the
site of the present Watertown. ('haniplain givc^ a cluster of houses.—
the indication of a settlement.
The maps that follow show the confusion in carlograi>liy that attendei]
the announcement of Chauiplain 'and his companion historiographers, under
i»<
S2
nEKKN( KS OK NOUrMIJEGA.
Do Mdiits. (hat Norumbega wius not on tlio Charles, but if anywhere oti
the Pi'iioliscot.
The iiii-a that prevailod lufore Champhvin's timo. ns held by Thevet
was tli.it Xoniinht'ga was hotweon the Kennebec and Cape Cod or
.Mailobar. Clinriiplain and Lfsearbot, and their associates, scouted the
idea that tlie place to which they were conducted as the site of the
ancient city of Xoninihega could be the true one, and stoutly held
that the city was on the I'onobscot.'
One of the map-iuaUers. as we have seen, to meet the exigency.
conceived the name of Keinieliec and the Peintagoet (the Penobscot) to
be (lii])licate names of the same river. Another placed the Kennebec
//"//// of the Penobscot.— which would give Pemtagoet. — the place of the
river .Norunibc>ruc. — between the Keintebec and Mallebar (Cape Cod).
Ch.impliiin in W.V1, nnable to reconcile his text with what he had
tonnil. struck Xorunibega. city and country, from his map altogether.
AVinthmp'-^ m;ip of it;,]! gives roneyha.s.^et, — the Cliouacoet of Cham-
plain and Lescarhot. — niid within it Nant.asket. the e!l)ow of Champlain
iml '1 never. He jrives th.. outer and inner harbor, and at the head
of tide water the dam and fall.
The outline fmni the skeleton Coast Survey chart, with .some selected
and some addeil name- indicating the results of discovery, closes the
series.
Tins map embraces the reirion of the original New Friinco of Ver-
i.i/ano. This New France api ear^^ on the maps at the bottom of the first
series, page ,18, in which wa^^ one., a Province of Norway, and in that
Province the city oi Norundieira.
I am not only keeidy alive t.. the fact that there are those who doubt
the presence in early times of a colony of Northm.'U in New England.
but I am well aware also, t'.ja. whatever proof may be pre.sented, there
' Kr. P. Fiiar.l wrofp Iv.fnre MM that hr lia,! sought in v;ui. for t\y, ,itv, (Soo [.Wlere. Mait,.'
Ilistorica! Soriftv i
DEKKNCE.s OF N(»ui;mui;ga.
88
will continue to be men of this stamp. While my own assent to the
proposition was long ago coinpk'te, it has consumed not a little time to
array the evidence, which was satisfactory to nivsolf. in such potential
form as might meet the demands of critical examination on the i)art of
others. Sucii arrnngement is an essential condition to the study of the
question, and may fairly be demanded. 1 have, as I conceive, obeyed
the recjuirement. 1 feel that I have demonstrated the identity of the
site of the ancient city of Xorimibega with that of Watertown, on tite
river Charles, in tlie State of Massachusetts.
That the Nortlnnen, as soon as Lcif and his immediate successors
had pointed out the way and re]K)rted on the fruitfulness of the land,
should have come from inliospitable, ice-clad Greenland to " Vineland the
Good," abounding in corn and wine, was most natural. That most who
came to Vineland remained, and ultimately became merged in the nntive
race, might naturally have been expected. Tluit this emigration of North-
men (an estimated one of ten thousand) couliniied, to the itltimate de-
population of Greenland, — a hitherto misolvcd prol)lem, — suggests itself
as not improbable. As evidences of it, there are found, it is believed,
traces of Norse life, habits, ethnological features, and language among the
Indian tribes once liere at tlie East, as well as among those now at the
West, and not less at the South and North. What a lield for anti-
quarian research is opened up to one who loolis out from Norumbega!
Perlinps I ought distinctly to apologize for the numerous repetitions
which 1 iiave bi'eii unabU- to escape in my etVort dearly to present the
evidence that has fallen to me. It has seemed desirable to summarize
and present it from • M-e than one point of view. 1 can see that iu
this wav my paper i. marred. However, in part justification I have
oidy to say that my paper is intemlei] to be simply an attempt at a
convincing arranirement of evidence called for by the nature of the prob-
lem, and by the critics who hold that there is little or no substantial
evidence that the Northmen ever even set foot upon, much less that
84
DEKKNCKS OF NOIUMBKGA
thoy loft any arohivological traces in, — such as ''one stone piled upon
another," — or colonized, any portion of the soil of the United States.
My next paper will serve to connect the foregoing paper with the
•• Landfall of Leif and the Site of his Houses," as told in the Vinrland
.bugas.
I am very truly yours.
rAMr:;Mii;i, April, ISIl
Eben Noktox Horsford,
imv:^
upon
es.
1 the
.'liiiid
ORD.