.a^ Vl> IMAGE EVALUATION TEST TARGET (MT-3) 1.0 I.I 1.8 1.25 IIIIII.4 111111.6 v: ^ //, '^A 7 o / >«« o^ CIHM/ICMH Microfiche Series. CIHM/ICMH Collection de microfiches. Canadian Institute for Historical Microreproductions Institut Canadian de microreproductions historiques 1980 Technical Notes / Notes techniques The Institute has attempted to obtain the best original copy available for filming. Physical features of this copy which may alter any of the images in the reproduction are checked below. D D D n Coloured covers/ Couvertures de couleur Coloured maps/ Cartes g^ographiques en couleur Pages discoloured, stained or foxed/ Pages d^color^es, tachet^es ou piqu^es Tight binding (may cause shadows or distortion along interior margin)/ Reliure serr6 (peut causer de I'ombre ou de la distortion le long de la marge int^rieure) L'Institut a microfilm6 le meilleur exemplaire qu'il lui a 6t6 possible de se procurer. Certains ddfauts susceptibles de nuire d la quality de la reproduction sont not6s ci-dessous. n 2! D Coloured pages/ Pages de couleur Coloured plates/ Planches en couleur Show through/ Transparence Pages damaged/ Pages endommag6es The poss of th filmi The com or tl appi The film insti Ma( in o upp botl folU [^ Additional comments/ Commentaires suppl6mentaires Covers restored and laminated. Pages wholly or partially obscured by errata slips, tissues, etc., have been ref ilmed to ensure the best possible image. Bibliographic Notes / Notes btbliographiques D D D Only edition available/ Seule Edition disponible Bound with other material/ Relid avec d'autres documents Cover title missing/ Le titre de couverture manque D D D Pagination incorrect/ Erreurs de pagination Pages missing/ Des pages manquent Maps missing/ Des cartes gdographiques manquent D D Plates missing/ Des planches manquent Additional comments/ Commentaires suppl6mentaires The images appearing here are the best quality possible considering the condition and legibility of the original copy and in keeping with the filming contract specifications. Les images suivantes ont 6x6 reproduites avec le plus grand soin, compte tenu de la condition et de la nettet6 de I'exemplaire film6, et en conformity avec les conditions du contrat de filmage. The last recorded frame on each microfiche shall contain the symbol —►(meaning CONTINUED"), or the symbol V (meaning "END"), whichever applies. The original copy was borrowed from, and filmed with, the kind consent of the following institution: National Library of Canada Un des symboles suivants apparaitra sur la der- nidre image de cheque microfiche, selon le cas: le symbole — ► signifie "A SUIVRE", le symbole V signifie "FIN". L'exemplaire filmd fut reproduit grSce d la g6n6rosit6 de l'6tablissement pr§teur suivant : Bibliothdque nationale du Canada Maps or plates too large to be entirely included in one exposure are filmed beginning in the upper Ifift hand corner, left to right and top to bottom, as many frames as required. The following diagrams illustrate the method: Les cartes ou les planches trop grandes pour §tre reproduites en un seul clich6 sont filmdes d partir de Tangle supdrieure gauche, de gauche & droite et de haut en bas, en prenant le nombre d'images ndcessaire. Le diagramme suivant illustre la mdthode : 1 2 3 4 5 6 ROY/vL SOC. CAN VOL. II, sfiic. n. „-.^ TBI DISCOVERY OF AMERICA BY JOHN CABOT IN 1497 BEING EXTRACTS FROINI TIJL PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA RELATIVE- TO A CABOT CELEBRATION IN 1897 AND THE VOYAGES OF THE CABOTS A PAPER FROM Th'K TRANSACTIONS OF THE SOCIETY [x\^ 1S96 V\'1TH APPENDICES ON MNDRFD SUBJECTS Bv SAMUEL EDWARD DAWSON, Lit.D. (Laval) OTTAWA ?0R '-^ALE BY JAME.S HOPE AND .-,ONS 1896 THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA BY JOHN CABOT IN 1 49 7 m VVith the Author's ;TY of CANADA JN IN 1897 Compliments. . ; CABOTS A PAPER FROM THE TRANSACTIONS OF THE SOCIETY IN 1896 WITH APPENDICES ON KINDRED SUBJECTS f By SAMUEL EDWARD DAWSON, LitT). (Laval) OTTAWA FOR SALE BY JAMES HOPE AND SONS 1896 .'.J fcmM%, THE DISCOVERY OF AMERICA BY JOHN CABOT IN 1497 I BEING KXTRACTS FROM TllK PROCEEDINGS OF THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA RELATIXI': TO A CAHOT CHLICBRATION IN 1897 AND THE VOYAGES OF THE CABOTS A PAPER FRO^r THE TRANSACTIONS OF THE SOCIETY IN 1S96 WITH APPENDICES ON KINDRED SIBJECTS Bv SAMUEL EDWARD DAWSON, LirT). (Laval) OTTAWA FOR SALE BY JAMES HOPE AND SONS 1896 PREFACE. In order to place before the members a convenient summary of tlio present state of the projecced celebration of the fourth centenary of the discovery of America by Jolin Cabot, advantage has been taken of the detaclied publication of a pai)er on the Voyages of the Cabots, read at the meeting of the Society in ^Eay hist, to prefix such extracts from the Proceedings as have any bearing on the question. ( i t CONTEKTfS. I'AciK KXTRAOTS FlniM TIIK J^Kl'uici' t>V ('(MNTll.. Mav, IHOU VII Letter tVoin the Ilev. J)r. ()'l5ricn, Aiclil)isli()|) of Ilalit'jix vii IjCtti'i- from .Mr. (vk'nu'iits J{. Markhuin. F.IJ.S.. I'l-csidcnl of the Jioyjil (icoj^n-ajiliiciil Society \ii Letter from Dr. Justin >Viiisor \iii Letter fioiii tiie l{cv. Dr. Harvey ix Report t^\' the Committee on the Cabot Celebration xii Re.sohitions of the Societv xiv i I Transaqtions. The Vovaoks ok tiik Caisots in 14!»7 and 1498— A Sequel to a Paper in the •• Transactions " of 1S!»4 'y Samuel Edwai'd Daw >oi._ Tjii.D. (Laval) 'A Ai'PENiiix A.— The Atlantic Coast of Labrador 17 " 15. — Living Slime of the Arctic Current 20 •' C— Ca])e Xorth on the Map of 1544 21 " J>. — Juan (le La Cosa and Iiis Map 23 " Iv — Jacques Cartier 2(1 " F. — Tlie Lituigical ]\Iethod of traciui;- the Discovery of a Coast Lino 27 " G.— Table of tlie Dates of Arrival of the Cud on the Coasts of Labrador 28 Notes ;{() Illustrations : Ma]) of Juan do La Co.sa. A.D. 1500 2 Exterior Outline of Cape Breton Island 21 Outline facsimile of a i)ortion of the Map of 1544 22 Corresponding Outline of the Acadian Coast 23 View of Capo Eace from the Sea 2G !<:XTIIACT FROM TJIK RKPOllT OF COUNCIL. The Sooioty nil! be called upon at the present meetin^Mo decide hnally whether ,t will assemble at Ifalifax in 1897 from the 20th to the 2bth of rune, and commemorate the landin,i^- of the famous navi.ralor John (.abot, on some point on the Atlantic coast of the North Americ-in continent. The committee appointed last year to consider the subjc'ct wdl report to the Society th.-ough Dr. S. K. Dawso.., wlio has ,.iven to the famous voyages of 14!»7 and I4!)s most j.atient and thorouijh study Ihe proposed celebration has attracted the attention of historical' students everywhere, and, if the matter is pushed with cergy, there is no ack in time fbr the meeting of the Royal Society, and may not be in the way of semlin.. a note ac that time, I beg yon to accept this as my excuse for non-ap,.ear- ance. ^ ' "Regarding the report the sub-committee are expected to make re meeting at Halifax in 1897, 1 see no ditticulty in arranging suitably dur'in<. the course of next summer. If it should seem advisable to vou and the other members of the committee, we could easily arrange foi- an excur- sion to Sy^i^>;iHcance in the voyage of ( 'ahot. It was not the fi stErmshenterpnseof thekind; f..,- dunn, the previous seven yeans xped.t.ons had heen annually despatched from Bristol to discover lan.l to ti.e westward. Hut .t was the Hrst that was led hy a nrau j.ossessed of all the seen ihc knowledge of lus time, and the tirst that was successful John Cabot must, therefore, be considered to have been tlu> fbunde; of Bnfsh mant.me enterprise. It is unfortunate that nothin-. has heen preserved that can give us a clear idea of the n.an. of his .hantcter and h,s attainments. We can form a .judgment of Columbus from his writin.rs We know something of his heroisms and of his failings. He is a livin.^' man t.. us, and, therefore, he has attained world-wide celebrity and appeals to our sympathy and our reverence. John Cabot is little more than a name ; but it is a great name. The few certain facts we know concermng hun are immortal facts, ever to be had in remembrance. Ho made the th.rd voyage across the Atlantic- and returned. He discovere.l the mainland of America. Jle rai.sed the beacon which showed KnHish- uu>n the way to the new world. He was the tir.st to hoist the cross of St George on the western side of the Atlantic Ocean. His fate is unknown" Scarce y anything ,s known of his companions. But the names of three Knghshmen are preserved, who certainly titted out vessels, and j.robably wen unh abot in UOH. The names of Lancelot Thirkill.^Thoma^ Brad ey and John Carter, therefore, should also be had in remembrance. ■ Ihere are very solid reasons for a Cabot celebration : very complete JUS ihcations of the proposal of the Eoyal Society of Canada. 1 trust that he j.roposal will receive the support it de.serves, and I can assure you that this honour, done to the memory of the great navigator, has my very cordial sympathy ; and I am sure that it will have the sympathv of the Society over which I have the honour to preside. " Believe me, dear sir, to be ever '• Youi-s faithfully, "Clements R. Markham, Vv. J. (x. Bourinot, Secretary to the Koyal Society of Canada." Dr. .lustin Winsor, the librarian of Harvard University, and editor of the 'Narrative and Critical History of America," whose knowledge of cartograi.hy is not equalled by that of any other student in America, also writes to the society : "Core Hall, Camhhidoe, Mass., May 2nd, 189() " Dear Dr. Hourinot,— I think tlie Eoyal Society does well to com- memorate the Cabot voyages. Perhaps I can send a [laper in Juno. 1897. I shall be at that time on my way abroad for fifteen months' absence. PROCEEDINGS OF TTIE SOCIETY IX S. I "Could it not hv aiTiuio-ed (hat tlic iiKU'tiiiir of 18!tT a( IFalifax he ji joint meeting of the Roynl Society and the American Ilistorieul Associa- tion, with delegates from the state historical societies ? '* Very truly, "JUSTIV WiN'SiiR. Dr. Moses TTarvey, F.Pt.S.C., the well-known historical wi-iter of XewfoundlaiKl, also approves most warmly of the idea in the rollowing terms : •'St. John's. Xewfoundhmd. ^fay 5th, IStJd. '• J)E.\R Dr. Bouri.vot,— I am ghul to leani that at the ai.proaching meeting of the Royal Society of Canada a i.roi)osal will he submitted in favour of some suitahle celehrati(m of the discovery of the continent of North America l.y John Cabot. I am awaiv that a proposal of the same nature has been laid before the public of Canada, i.nd I believe also, to some small extent, before the people of the Unite.l States, and has met with a favourable res])onse. I have long taken a deep interest in this matter, and in a j.aper on -The Voyages and Discoveries of the Cabots,' read before the Jlistorical Society of Nova Scotia. November 14tli. \^'J3, and since printed in their 'Collections." I ventured to make a suggestion in favour of such a celebration as is now under discussion, in 1897, the fourth centenary of Cabot's great achievement. Subsequently 1 sent you a brief communication on the same subject whi«di you were good enoiigh to lay before the Koyal Society of Canada, where it met with a favoiTi-- able reception. Doubtless the same thought nuiy have presented itself to many other minds ; l>ut whether I was the tirst to give it expression in tangible .shape is of little moment. That it is now likely to be translated into fact and become an embodied reality is to jue a matter of profound satisfaction, as it will be the realization of a long-cherished hope. •• Indeed it seems to me that the ])roposal is one which will commend Itself, when duly expounded and considered, to most men of thought and intelligence. The whole civilized world lately united in celebrating the fourth ceutemiry of the discoveiy of America with unequalled pomp and splendour ami in heai)ing fresh laurels on the grave of Columbus. The Old World Httingly joined hands with the New, in expressing their sense of the greatness of an achievement which must stand alone in the record.s of time as having influenced the destinies of lunnanity more widely and permanently than any other single deed accomi)li.shed by the couriige and genius of num. Hut, while we would not for a moment detract from the gloiy wliich must for ever encircle the name of Columbus, should we for- get to honour the memory of the man who achieved a discovery which though not so brilliant and dazzling as that of Columbus, yet, judging it by its fiir-reaching results, was second only to his. Tlie real discoverer of North America was John Cabot; and his landing on its shores pro- ceded by nearly a year the date when Columbus first touched, without X THE voya(;es of the c a hots knowing it, the coast o/ South Aniericii. In virtue of Cabot's cliscovtM-ies Kni^liiiid ostahlislicd her claims to the sovoroigiity ^f a large portion of tliesi' northern hi. ids. Tin- fish-wealth of these northern seas, whieli Cahot was the tii-st to make known, speedily attraeteis hope. then, that this reproach will soon be wiped away and that arrangements will be made ere long for paying a, becoming tribute to one of the noblest names on the roll of Kngland's great exjjlorers. " There are strong reasoi' s why Canada should lead the way in such a celebration. It is perhaps impossible to decide with certainty as to the landfall of Cabot, or to reach unanimity of opinion on that point We must be guided by probabilities, as in many of the most important affairs lisc'overios portion of as, which men ; and wore tii-st. Lli.seoveiy. speaking , has been It h way to iiin Tuiglit ; Hnglish i tlie his- se of Col- watcrs of 'onod the arquctto, I by Sir li finally oc'cupa- s voj-ago i (IF NoKTH America nv John ("ahot. Viiiir (•(>nvniitt(H' i-cgrot that, in w proposed will not commit the Jioyal Society of Canada, as a whole, to the detinite acceptance of that theory. The alternative theory of a landfall on Labradoi' exchules any possibility of a commemoration there; because no locality on a coast extt'iiding over eight degrees of latitude has boon specially indicated, excepting ('ape ('hidley. which is un- approachable because of ici^ at the time of the lamlfall, and. if a lower latitude be assumed, the want of means of communication on the coast of Labrador renders it for such a purpose inaccessible. The event to bo commemorated is the discovery of the continent of America on the 24th of June, 14!>7 — an event of profound importance, the far-reaching conse- quences of which cannot bo over-estimated. Such an event the Royal Society of Canada cannot attbrd to ignore. Nevertheless, although the .society may not detinitely decide npon the locality of the landfall, it is litting that the commemoi-ation should take place npon the Atlantic coast of the Dominion; for, beyond all question, it was along that coast that Cabot saileil, and he di hold the and that 1 a nieet- d the ses- pjioint, at ts. That imittoe of m. That lake such I'KorEEDINGS Oi' THE .SOCIETY xill It nil! I,r n.nu-M.l.r,vd that the council of tl,c" Koval Society at the meot.ng in May last, suggested that a pern.ane.it nieniento of the -nv-it ueh.evement of Cahot sho.dd he erected upon some point of the Xovt Scotia coast. Vour committee would , -mark that no place on the whole Atlantic coast seems so suitable as Sydney. ( )„ the brow of the hill over- h.okmg the mouth of the harbour is an hleal spot for such a monument Standing there the spectator may look out ea.stwards upon a .stretch of ocean, unbroken and uninterrupted, until it wa.shes the western shore < I'at point was lighted upon after so long a voyage across an ocean of darkne,ss. Sydney would then, in their opinion, .seem to be sufliciently near the aiHlfall. if th. (ape Breton theory b. adopted, and yet the society will not be so ab.solutely bound to that theory as if they were to erect a nionumenton the Cape itself' The ( 'ape is a^ unfre.p.Jnted and ioigotten ,,lace No one now lands <,n a point which was the rendezvous the hslung fleets of three hun.lred years ago, and on^^ of two p,.u.ts iound on all the maps from 1504 down to the j,re.sent moment There are many very well informed men, even in the maritime provinces, who d, not know of a real Cape J^reton, which gives its nanie to tlu. Isle if a number of excellent pcop e no are discovering that the island is named after a cape, next to C. Ka e. the most ancient, and persistently known to marine... .ince tL veil of the western ocean was lifted. Sydney is the easternmost set " men of any inip<,rtance on the continent of America, and may. therefore i-ightly claim the monument to ("abot. " h u io,e, _ Your committee have impiired into the matter, and find that a SrSOO '^';;^,;;;^7^"\ "-""-''^ ^-'1<1 be erected at a cost of §L000 to 81..S00. AV thout 111 the least degree compromising the question or bind- |ng themselves still less the society, to even an opinion, they o fa ned society to decide upon what is required and as to the amount it is a'I>'-- f^eorgo Stowart,- That the Most Reverend the Archbishop of Halifax, the Honorary Sec rotary, and Messrs. Sandford Fleming and S. E. Dawson be appointed a committee to obtain designs for a monument to be erected at Sydney to commemorate the discovery of America by John Cabot-such monuinont not to cost less than $1000-and to submit tho designs to tho Council for a.loption, and that tho Council be hereby authorized to ap])rove and tinally to adopt a design and to give an order for its execution whenever It shall appear that funds will be available, from subscriptions or any otlier source, to pay for the work.'— Carried. Ottawa, meeting of May, 1806. . ! Minns, run- ito Htarting- r doHnito to tlioroui^hly ust bo doiio Stewart, — 1, and (hat •r to add (o It ill Nova d to mako^ iralifax."— f Stewart, — lorary Soc- ppoiiitod a Sydney to monumont 'ouiicil for prove and whenever ns or any Dt -Jef i« . ■ ~\ Cauooe^ngta'tcrra i $.nicola.S T* /onou ^ ~ j: rt f 1 - - 1" i . *- / •/. - *" ?^ w ?f^^ i ~ ^ i i^ . 5 1 i~ . 71 ■ ^" .^ s rt .^ ■- — ■/. ^ u. •*» r^Ti^r'-ti-'-i' ~ yf ** S fe c ^ •*. .^ •l < cc V ^ *- /. 3 33 .S *-* St ■^r. 5^ .x:H f . ■/. 'r. ooJ'iw' c 7 71 C ~ .-' iri j^' •»• i.-' -c t- -/r: C Sec. II., mm. [3] Trans. li. S. C. r. s ^ —31^ 0' z' Q » G l.-7'A. T%«y., 0/ ^A. rohofs in L'/n and J/,OS-A sequel to a paper in the •• Transactions" of I.SV4. By SAMUEr. Kdward Dawson, Lit, I). (Laval.) (Ki-ad May l!», inm.) At th. suggestion of on., of its f.llow.s-tho [Jov. ^Fo.sos Hurvey-tl.e Cm„.c,l oi the ilny^l So.-iCy of Canada, in its ropoH puhiishod in th. roceedu.gs of May. 1804. cullod attention to the near approach of the earlSOT, and to the the, that i, nas the four hundredth ann^ersarv of tlu. .hscoyery of the .ontin..nt of Anu-riea hy John Cahot ; and in'the Transac-t.ons of that same year i.s a jmper discussing the landfalls of the Cahot voyages, together with other kindred que.stions. The ,.a,.er '.vas written at some length and with nmeh .letad. and was illustrale.1 hv taesimdes of early n,a,.s. A few copies wore puhlished separately and were sent to those (so far as their addn>ssos could be ascertained") who l>ad made a study of the subject. Various reviews and notices of this IKipc^r aj.peared from time to time, and letters, generally commendatory were received from scholars who had devoted years to the .solution <.f ^he question. One notice, however, may with propriety be reproduced, be- cause ,t IS by a fellow of this .society, and that one who had first drawn the att^mt.on of the society to the approaching anniversary-it is by the J.ev. Moses JIarvey_a scholar who has made a lifelong study of thi"s and of cognate subjects, whose works on the history of Newfoundland are of ingh authority, and who.sc writings upon the geography and natural his- tory of that island appear not only in many separate volumes but as con- tributions in many standard works of importance. Of the par or Dv Harvey said : ' 1 i • "This admirable monograph on The Voyages of the Cabots' is '• peculiarly timely, and will help to awaken attention to the projected " commemoration. It is incomparably the best thing ever written on '• the subject. It discovers great industry in research and rare skill in " the treatment of his materials. I have read and written a great deal '• on this subject, but we must all dortour caps to Dr. Dawson's exhaus- " tive monograph. It appears to me he has .settled the long disputed " question of Cabot's landfall. The weight of evidence he has accumu- " lated in favour of the Cape Breton theory will set aside all other claims " That in favour of Bonavista, Newfoundland, rests on vague tradition " and IS sustained by no substantial evidence whatever." ' This testimony comes with very great weight from a scholar of such authority on those questions, and a resident, moreover, of Newfoundland. 4 ROYAL SOCIKTY OK CANADA Till' iii"ii(i;ri-ui>li. liducvcr. all raitfcl vt'i\ lillli" iitlcntion al llic I'mho it WiiH n'ut ill lln' piiliiic iniiid. All tin- discussion of titty years, so prot'oiuidly iiitiTustiiii,' to llmiilioldt. Hiddii', Kohl, Ilarrissi', .lustiii Wiiisor, Krcts(di- incr. Kiiiistmaiiii, h'Avc/ac, l>raiii'. Ilciii-y Sti'veiis, Kis|y Lavi'i'dieiv ' and Ferland.'' hut they did not lU'Vole any special alton- tioii to it. Our liouorary secretary, in his ex' •lustive m()no out in advertising ])ami)hlets. AVhatever may be said about the landfall, this last theory mav be considered as etfectuallv disy)osed of. The landfall advocated in the monogra|)h has not passed without challenge and the present paix'r is inteiuled to consider such objections as have come under the writer's notice since its imblication. Xot such objections as are continually ai»pearing in the shape of letters to newspapers written by persons who would seem to have recently heard of the matter for the first time ; but objections made by scholars and students who recognize tlu' ditHcullies surrounding the inquiry ; who Know and can weigh the original authorities, who take a real interest in the subject, and who are prei»ared to give to it the time and the attention necessary in all matters of historical research. [fl. K. DAWSON] THE VOYAGES OF THE C.\nOT8 lotlVO ly U's-s :it was ilu-ovy l>liuul nolioii iiothcr, rojt out ill, thiti illiout tioiis iis t such 4»aiH!rt5 of the tudenta low iind subject, ■cessary III ihc lii'st rank (iftliut cliiss of cstiinaliK' scholars iiiiisl In- i-cckonod Mr. Justice I'rowso, \vhos«> valuahle and »'xhau->t ivc liistoi-y of Ncwfound- hind a|)|K'art'il in the year IS!*'), hi a imte at pai;!' IJOhc n-fors to tlie luonoi^rapli in ci)urteous terms and ijivi'-i tin- reasons wliy lie lidlds to the tiieory that Capo Hniiavista in Ne\vr.»iiiidlaiid was Cahot's landfall. The*.- ivasons are sot foi'tli ((inciscly in his text ai \riate place there, .ludye Frowst' is no doubt referrinii' to the reasons he urges ay'ainst other theories, but the abov<' are the reasons in favoui" of his own — the jiositivo and substantial reasons — in short, the only reasons. That the leariu'd Judge is u Newfoundlander is irrelevant as a reason. If indeed, it had any bearing upon the discu.>lishing so many original documents. I have had all the advantages of Mr Ilar- risse's learning and labour ; but the arinisler of Marine did not send sailing instructions to Capt. Gordon until June 22nd, and the steamship "Alert" did not leave JFalifax for Labrador until June 24th. He re- ported" that the season was unusually early, lie left Blanc Sablon, in the Strait of Belie Isle, on the U;;.h of June, and steamed along the coast. On the 3t)th he met large numbers of small icebergs; on July 1st he passed a number of large bergs, one being 170 feet high On July 2nd he got into tield-ice, and had to lie on the outer edge )f it until the weathei- ele:;'L'd. On that day \w saw many more bergs, some very clo.se to the shi[). He was then sixty miles south of Cape J\[ugford. north of which point .Mr, Harrisse places Cabot's landfall in 1497. Jle found there heavy tield-ice, which extended all along the coast to Cape Chidley, packed tight for tifteen miles olf the shore, Avith a '• bordage " of slack ice ten miles furtlu'r out. That was an early season, and ^t was July 2nd; but John Cabot told Raimondo di Soncino that "the land he found was excellent, " and the climate temperate, suggesting that brazil wood and silk grow '• there," and that on June 24th. .Mr. Harrisse has not distinguished suificiently between the two voy- ages," and makes 1497 to be the year of the long coasting v^oyage, but so little does he realize what t he coast of Labrador is, tliat in order to get Cabot back in London on the 10th of August (where he, in fact, was), he thinks tlie landfall must have been earlier. That is to say, this landfall, im])os- sible on the 2nd of July in an exceptionally early season, he thinks was made mu(h earlier than June 24th ; and if as he supposes, Cabot made in 1497 the long coasting voyage to Flor; .a, his landfall must indeed have been very much i-arlier than June 24th. because, beyond all cavil, he was j»resent in London on August 10th. 1497.'" Among the causes wliich Mr. Harrisse assigns as contributing to delay Cabot's prDgress is the supposed fact that "'in those days, particu- " larly when coasting in unknown regions, anchor Avas cast at sundown, " and sailing renewed again only with daylight the next morning." The impossibility of a vessel coasting along northern Labrador and anchoring out every night on a coast where tield-ice and enormous bergs are sweep- ing dt)wn with the Arctic current, is evident. No doubt vessels have to [S. E. daw-son] THE VOYA(>) breaks over islands thirty feet high. This formidable and rugged coast ice-encumbered and frequently lashed with the heaviest sea known to sailors, cannot, n. our view, be the land - with an excellent and tem].erate ■climate," where silk and dye-woods grow, as described bv Cabot ; but Mr. Ilarrissi^ dismis.ses the ditticulty bv quoting from the '' Encydo- pa>dia Britannica" the short but graphic phrase, "Jn Labrador summer • IS brief but lovely.-' (See Appendix A, Labrador.) Mr. Ilarrisse has read bo.dvs on Labrador bid the want of local knowledge still obscures his conclusions, lie tinds another proof of the Labrador landfall in the abundance of Hsh reported bv Cabot This leads him to remark that "however plentiful codtish mavbeon the banks ^'ot >vewloundland the quantity is surpas,sed near the entrance of • Hudson s Strait. Modern explorers re])ort that there cod and .salmon form in many places a living ma8«. a vast ocean of living slime which ^ accumulates on the banks of Xorthern Labrador and the sjiot noted for I it^s amazing quantity of lish is the vicinity of Cape Chidleigh, which as ' the above details an.l other reasons seem to indicate as the place visited " by John Cabot in 1497." This is a curious misconception. Mr. Ifarri.sse is doubtless alludin- to 1 rot. Hind as " the modern explorer." but neither Prof. Hind nor any one who borrows his graphic phrase applies theexpres.sion " living «li,ue'" to the salmon and cod, but to the infusoria and other minute oi'.anisms wdh which the Arctic current abounds, and which constitute the foo.l of the immense number of tish in those waters and the attraction which draws them there. (See Appendix B, Living Slime). The Arctic current there and off Newfoundland is the great feeding ground for whales and also tor the small tish upon which the cod feed. The fishermen are now pushing their operations further north on the Labrador coasts as the cod begin to be less ])lentiful in the bays of Newfoundland, an.l in a few year- may follow the tish as far as Cai)e Chidley, where the tishing season is very much later, but the cod tishing until recently was soie^ east and south of Newfoundland. Again, in dwelling upon the amazing quantity ot codtish as a crucial indication of the true landfall, Mr. Harri.sse has lO ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA concluHivcly disproved his main thesis ; I'or the codfish do not jirrivo al Ciipe Chidley. until August ir)th. five days alter John Cabot is known to have been m London. In fact, tiie eodtish d(» not aj)])roaeh any ])art of Northern Labi'ador before .Inly 20th. In Appendix (r is given a tsible of the movement of tlie fi.sh along the coast, extracted from Prof. Hind's evidence Ijcfore the Fishery Commission of the Treaty of Washington. This disposes of the whole of Labrador as a probable landfall. Such eri'ors as these are j)aii»able to most Canadians, but tiny mis- load other ]»eople : and even some of our own peojtle, reading in the cur- sory manner now in vogue, d<» not notice them, but accept Mr. Harrissc's conclusions without stopping to examine the foundations on which they are built. Li pointing them out, T have incidentally indicated the reasons which comjH'l me to reject Labrador as the landfall of 14!)7. As to Newfoundland and Bonavista, Mr. Ilarrisse does not even mention, still less discuss them, so far. in his opinion, are they out of the question ; and the sann; nuiy be said of ail the students, excepting .ludge Prowse and Bishop Jlowley, who sinci- Biddle have been examining tlie subject in any detailed way. I shall not again go over the ground of the monograph of lSt)4. Since thi'.t was written 1 have not found anythinij to shaki- the conclusions then adopted, and the positive arguments in favour of Cape lireton ari' therein fully set forth. Those conclusions were not to any considerable extent novel. Very little which is new could, at this late ]»eriod of the discus.sion, be atlded, steing tl at the subject has been the battlefield of fifty years of controversy. The voluminous references" indicated the nujterials upon which the conclusions were founded. In the -'Trans- actions" of this society Profes.sor Clanong'- had sliown that the large island in the ( Julf of St. Lawrence drawn on the old maps could not have been Prince Ivlward Island, and Mr. .Tosepli Pope, in his Jacques Cartiir (published 1890), hail tblloweil him. I)r. Patterson had published, in the same *• Transactions "' (1890), a valuable monograjdi upon the Portuguese discoveries on the northeast coast of America, antl Dr. Bourinot '' in 1892 had treated of the Cabot voyages in his monograph on Cape Breton. The European, as well as the American authorities who argueil for a landfall on the island of Cape Breton placed it at Cape North, excepting only Mr. Ilarris-se, who, in his first book, Jean et Sebastien Cabot, decided for Cape Percy ; antl, if Mr. Ilarrisse had adhered to that opinion, there would have been little practical difference between his conclusions and those of the writei', but in his later books he transfei'red the landfall to Labrador, and, lastly, to the absolutely impossible Cape Chidley. All the writers who have liitherto advocated the claims of Cape Breton have done so under the influence of the map of 1544 ; and those who have argued for Labrador appear to me to have been unduly influenced by statements concerning the voyages of 1498 found in Peter Martyr, Ramusio, Gomara and others who wrote long subsequently to the date of the discovery. [S. E. OAWSON] THE VOYAGES OF THE CABOTS 11 The contour of the ishiiul of Cape Breton on the jnap of 1544 is exceedingly inaccurate ; in fact it is not shown to be an island ; but the prima risfa marked on it is yet at its easternmost point as ^[r. Ilarrisse correctly noticed in his first book (see Appendix (', Cape North) The writer, in advocating ("ape Breton rather than Cape Percy, was guided by the fact that Tape Breton is not only the easternmost point, but is a name which ai>pears on all the old maps and is found in all the old writers from 1.>I4 down to the present day. Kxcepting Cape Race there is no name so persistent and. when it is considered how tenaciouslv names given in early ilays cling to localities, even under the changing corrup- tions of widely different languages. " it will a|.pear that the oldest and the only invariably persistent name on the coast is far more likely to be the landfall, seeing that it also conforms to all other conditions and that so many other circumstances point to it. The di.stance in a direct line between Cape Breton and Cape Percy is only fifteen miles, and, though cape Breton extends further to the east, there is not much to choose be- tween them, were it not tlK;t Cape Percy is a nvw and recent name and that the ancient name must indicate the ancient landmark. But the conclusive argument in the writer's mind was from actual observation, that in sailin- into the Gulf either the high land of Newfoundland will be seen .,n iC right or the high land of Cape Hiifumd on the left before Cape North will be seen at all. It is like sailing into an acute angle, either one side or the other will be seen before the apex. While pointing out a few of the writers from whom I have derived the most assistance I should esj-ecially repeat my obligations to .Mr. Clements E. ^larkhams introduction to the volume of theHakluyt Society for 1893, and, quite recently, an article by the same writer in the Journal of the Poyal Ceographical Society for 1892 has fallen into my hands These seem to me to be tlie most fruitful contributions to tlie elucidation of this vexed question. Mr. Markham concurs with M. D'Avezac in dwell- ing on the cardinal importance of the map of Juan de La Cosa in the con- troversy ; for in that most }irecious of all cartogra])hicai relics we have beyond reasonable doubt, as Markham observes, a transcript of John Cabot's own map. A reference to the monograph of 1894 will show how strongly my argument loans upon that contemporary au.hority. While thus again acknowledging some of the sources from Avhence my conclusions have mainly been gathered, I would also remark that all who have reviewed or noticed my monograph of 1894 have overlooked one or two points in it which I take the opportunity of again emphasizing, and I do so becau.se it is really in these wherein my method of investiga- tion differs from that of every predecessor. I did not, anil do not now, as some persons assume, build my conclusions on the so-called Cabot map of U 4. I arrived at my conclusions in a way which, strange though it be, was not in this question followed before. I adopted the principle, so Kl^mamfii 12 KOYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA fiinuliar in New Tostanient criticism, of first stu(lyiii<:^ the contemporary (locuiiH'iits solely, and apart from all comments and later documents and, in that way, what was hefore o »scure became clear. I then ioc/k the map of Jja Cosa (A])])endix D, L;v Cosa's map), and made it the pivot of my studies, and thus I hajipcned to notice first the hearing of tl»e name Caro descubierto. Having, therefore, huilt my foundation upon these contemporary documents, I was ready to accept fi-om any other quartc'r contiiiuatory evidence ; from the map of 1544 as well as from any other nu»p. I think it essential to point this out ; because, in my view, if there be any merit or any originality in the monograjih of 1894, it is in these parliculiirs chiefly that it must reside. Hefore closing my paper I would like to dwell for a moment upon a singular misconception which has arisen in the minds of some of our French fellow-countrymen, and which has found expression in news- pa])^^! under the heading of "Cartier versus Cabot"; as if these studies and conclusions in the least degree derogated from Cartier's fame as the discoverer of Canada. The monogra])h of 1894 did the very reverse; for it set out to demonstrate the falsity of the theory that Cabot had entered the gnlf. Jt proved by the ma]is that, until ('artier sailed into the gulf, it was not known at all; and that the so-called Cabot map of 1544 em- bodied Cartier's" discoveries; and, moi-eover. that, whatever the fishermen may have known, previous to that time Newfoundland Avas supposed by the cartographers and geographers to be a part of the main continent. Thus it vindicated for Cartier what many other writers had been under- minini;, and it aimed to correct those false views of historv which, to tlio detriment of Cartier's fame, were insidiously creeping into the text-books. But while to Cartier must be awarded the discovery of the Gulf and River 8t. Lawrence, he did not discover any portion of the sea coast of America. No writer claims that for him. That Cabot discovered the northeast coast is as much be^'ond question as any historical fact can be. That is not open to dispute, though whether the landfall was at Cape Breton, Labrador or Newfoundland may be yet a fair ground for discus- sion. Cabot's discovery is not an English and French question ; for it is impossible for any writer to be more French than Champlain. Charle- voix, Ferland and Laverdi^re, They assign to Jolni Cabot the discovery of Labrador in 1497. Who can, in our community, be more French than D'Avezac — the learned and profound scholar of the Geographical Society of Paris' ? — yet he maintained that Cabofs Island of St. John was Prince Edward Island. Le Canada Franrais is surely a French pulilication — and Canadian as well,— and yet the Abbe Beaudoin, in October, 1888, maintained in much detail the thesis that Prince Edward Island was dis- covered by Cabot in 1497, and named St. John by him. If so, Cabot, and not Cartier, was the discoverer of the Gulf of St. Lawrence and of Canada in a sense that no member of this society has ever held. These [f, e. dawsox] THE voya(;es of the CABOTS 13 are all French authorities. We may tlispute their tlieses, hut not their nationality ; and I wish i)artieuhirly to insist on the fact tliat D'Avczac — a Frenchman to tlie innermost core — accepts in the fulk'st degree the authenticity of the so-called Cahot map of ir)44. which I, as well as many others who liave written upon the suhject, could not accept to the same extent. Again, Cartier did not discover Cape Breton, nor Newfoundland, nor Labrador. They were discovered thirty-tive years before he came on the coast. He came to a coast mapped and named. He first touched at ]}onavista and although he named a tew ))laces not (Ai)pendix K, .Iace of Cape Breton, named and in its right i)lacc. Then there was Estevan Gomez in 1525— beyond all doubt he sailed along the coast and saw Cape Breton and he followed along the coast of the island and saw Cape Fnfume, with its smoke like mists rising, as now, uj) the face of the cliffs, a sight never to be mistaken for anything else ; and he crossed the strait, supi)osing it to be a bay, from St. Paul to ('ape Bay, and sailed along the south shore of Newfoundland homewards. All these 14 \ ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA things and many more Cartior could not help knowing. J[c had probably been out on the coast before or he woidd not have been chosen as i'a|)tain. If then, any one, a member of this society or not, should claim Caj)e ]?reton as the landfall of John Cabot, let it not be thought to derogate I'rom the merit of Jac(|ue8 Cartier but rather to establish it. SUM.MAKY. As the eomnienuiration of John Cabot's achievement is a subject now present in the ]mblic mind and, inasmuch as the monogra])b to which this ]»aper is a sequel was |)ublishe(l two years ago and in the first or quarto series of Transactions of this Society, it may not be amiss to reca[)itulate shortly the various liiu's of reasoning which led the writer to advocate the Cape Breton lanilfall. These lines are convergent and are not dependent one upon another, so that the refutation of one will not involve a rejection of the result. Kach argument is good ^^/-o faw^J and when a number of independent lines of thought lead to oiu' result the correctness of that result attains to a very high degree of probability. The question is the landfall of the first of two voyages admitted to have been made in 1407 and 1498 ; and three localities have been put for- ward as entitled to the distinction of being the place where (putting aside the N'orthmen) Europeans first lauded on this continent. These are (1 ) some point on the Labrador coast, and specially Cape Chidley ; (2) J3oua- vista, on the coast of Newfoundland ; and (3) Ca[)e North, or Cape Breton, on ('ape Breton Island. It Avas shown that a separate study of the contemporary documents revealed the fact that the first voyage was on a western course and to a landfall in a pleasant and temperate climate; and a separate study of the later documents proved that they were concerned only with a voyage on a northern and northwestern coui-se, by way of Iceland, to a region of ice and continual daylight. The striking contrasts between the two voyages were set forth in detail, and it was shown that Labrador corresponded with the conditions of the second voj'age alone. The landfall of the first voyage had been described on December ISth, l49T,from the lips of John Cabot himself by a distinguished Italian envoy in a letter to his master, the Duke of Milan, as follows : "The}' say " that there the land is excellent and the clinuite temperate, suggesting " that brasil and silk grow there." This excluded Labrador (see Ap])en- dix A) from the question. Furthermore, u])on these representations a large expedition sailed in the following year, 1498, with a view to trade and settlement, and reached a region of frost and ice. It was argued that any one who had once seen the coast of Labrador would not have taken an expedition of 30(1 men there to settle and trade on the coast. liabrador being excluded. La Cosas map (see Ap])endix D) was taken and its easternmost named point was shown to be our Cape Eace. 1 [S. H. DAWSOn] THE VOYAGES OF THE CABOTS 15 Tlmt |)oiiit was shown tn Ik' tho koy of t lie question, and pains won- taken to maku it clear to anyone who has heen upon the coast, or who w >ul{i attentively stud}' a chart of the North Atlantic in connection with La Cosa's map. Tn that way it hecaine evident that the coast named and marked out l»y Knglish tla^s coui of Asia on whiidi Columhus had sailed ; for at that time America was not known save as the western coast of Asia and La Cosa's maji was a ttuipa mundi, or a representation of all the gc;^)graphical knowledge of the time. Jn this way Bonavista and the whole east coast of Xewfoundland was excluded as well as Laltrador. Dealing then with La Cosa's map as one of the south cojvst of New- foundland, the methods of tho old map-makers were inquired into, and in an appendix, a long extract from the works of Samuel do ('hann»hiin Avas given, sotting forth the whole suhject in detail and showing that tho old cartographers invariably drew their charts u])on a magnetic meridian. Chaniplain had illustrated his thesis by two maps of these very same regions ; one upon a true meridian, as we draw maps now, and one upon a magnetic meridian, as drawn then for the use of sailors. Sketches from these two maps were given, confined to the coast-line in question, and it was shown tha< the hearing of ('ape lireton from Cape Race was west, as on La Cosa's map, but west-southwost on nuips like ours, as in truth it is. Tho question of the magnetic variation was also considered, and the fact that it had been tii"st observed by Columbus, only five years before, when sailing on a parallel where the variation was slight. Attention was directed to the fact that in the latitudes of Cabot's course the vari- ation was very much greater and, at a ])oint in mid-ocean, increased rapidly, and also that a steady and strong currei t (the Arctic current) set to the south, with a high probability of thick weather ; all of which would ten' o) throw a sailor, feeliui; his wav over an unknown sea, to the south in an}' westerly course. Studying J ax Cosa's map, it was noticed that tho lino of names on the coast commenced with Cai)o Race (Cavo do Ynglatorra) and terminated with Cavo Descubiorto. The latter name itself, it was argued, indicated 16 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA the laiidt'iiU— it was the jiriiiui ticrni rif^ta — tliciv was no otlicr nu'aiiiiin to tin' immo tlmii fftf (lini'iircrcd cape ; and as this map of La ("osa's was, beyond reasoiiahlc doiilit, hascd on John Cahots own map whicli iVdif) de Ayahv the SjMuiish ami)assadoi' had from him and promised, in .Inly, 14!(8, to send to Iviiii:; Ferdinand, we have hi-re John ("al>ot inilicntii:ii- Ids (»wn hmdfall in a Spanish translation. The so-ealled "Sehastian Cal)(»t map' of 1544 then lieeamo of inter- est, foi- it placed the iirinm firrr+• /<.,.,., /m .- ■■ . , ,'. r""^ *• low v/jji.11 vvait.1, aiKi uegan to make ^v•lv ivoc+ii-.. ,./) .ti Sec. ir., 18'J(J. 2. 18 nOYAL SOCIETY oK CANADA l''m'tlur down iho toast llu' .Moruvitiii Uri'tlirt-ii liave luid si'tllciiu'iits for 120 yojii'N. Tlioro are now Hve, iit intervals uloni; llic couHt. whero iht'V cany on missions to tlif l'!sltnig in " vain to tind a passage through it, first to Ilopedale. then to Nain, and " lastly to Okak, he found himself hy degrees eoni])letely enclosed Ity tho " ice." On August 30th of the same year •' the wh'jh' coast was entirely " chtdvcd up liy the ice." 'IMie following year the vessel got into the ice on .Inly 7th, and on .lul}- 14th they saw land sixty miles south of Hope- dale, hut could not jienetrate the pack, and had to make fast to an ice- field until the Isth, hut soon after had to nuike fast to another Held. Then a fearful storm came on, and they di'ifted heli)less in the ]iaek. They arrived on August Hth. In the year ISlU the •• Harmony " could not reaidi ( >kak until August, 20lh, -the coast was everywhere choked up with ice." In lS2(i the ico extended 400 miles from the land. In 1.SH2 tlu- vessi'l reached the ico on .July ()lh and got through to II()pe(lale on July 24th after some thrilling ex|»eriences. In 183t'> the '• Harmony " encountered the ice on June 24th, and it was August 4th when she reached Ilopedale, where the captain learned that the ico had movi-d away oidy two days before. These are a few of nuiny experiences reported, and it should ho rememhered that the vessels of the mission are built to encounter ice and manned by crews familiar with iee navigation. It is stated by ex})eri- enced pilots who, for thirty years have navigated that coast, that if a vi'ssi'l can get through the ice-|iack and I'eatdi "the inside track," as they call it, that is the open belt of water lietween the land and ico, it is ])Ossible on that part of the coast south of Cape Harrison to get along the shore about the 20th June. Beyond ('a]ie Harrison on northern Jjabratlor navigation is not ]iossible until July 2Uth. It is in crossing the drifting ico that the Moravian ships were ilelayed. and the same cause would have ])revcnted the little "AEatthew" from nuiking a land- fall at Labrador. Professor Paekard in his Ji)urnal of Two Sununcr Cruises to the, Lnhrr (''o(ist, relates that on July 4th they were blocked for days, ice- bound in Square Harbour, not far from the Strait of Jk-lle isle. He says, " we could easily walk ashon- over the floe-ice ; some of the tloeswere '• higher than our vessel's rail, it being next to im|)0ssible to force our l)oat '• through the too narrow leads between the cakes.'' They got out ot " t' )ir ice prison on July 15th. Sailing further up the coast in the inner track lu' says that the ici' belt was a few miles away •• thick enough to walk upon. ' The ice had been running down the coast from 22nd June to August 22nd to their personal knowledge, and it hegan earlier and con- tinued later, and from the hills behind JTo|)edale they could see the ice- belt ten miles out to sea but bergs were visible all along the coast. Tho ice-field was eighty-five miles wide. Dr. Grenfell of the Labrador Mission [g. B. I)A\V8<)N] THE VOYAGKS Oi .ilE CAMOTS 19 I, whoro • t'xperi- I arrival Mv often Ml rofU^i i^c-tioUlf*, O I'Xtl-lltl Mi>tnit? ill Sain, anil .'d l.y tlio rt entirely to tlu> n-M ol' llopo- to an ice- thor tifld. the i)iu'k. til Angus!, ^2tj the ie« 10(1 the ico itU-r some L'd the iee ilopedale, V two (lays shonUl ho iter ice and hy exjieri- ,t.' that il" a •k." as they ice, it is o-c't alont^ "iiovlhern u evossini:; the eanio iiu- a land- •)//S('.S to fill'. or (lavs, iee- Isle. IK^ 10 Hoes were ivee onr hoat >;ot i>nt ot in the inner iMxiun'h to 22nd .lune to ier and eon- see the iee- coast . The ■adov Mission (loscrihes the coast in his •' V'ikinu;s (d" Ttt-duy " us Ibllows. lly qtiotinj^ tho '• Kiicyclopa'dia Mrilaniiica ' he adopts the opinion i:;iven : "Sterile and f'orltiddinL; it li»'s anionic to;^s and icel»ergs, famous "only besides for dogs and cod. '(rod made this country last' says an " old navigator.'' •• As a pe' cnt ahode for civilized man. says the • PiUcyclopaMlia " nritannica.' La. ador is on the whole one of tho most uninviting spotM '•on the face of the earth. 'Plic Atlantic coast is the edge id' a vast '• solitude of rocky hills, split and hlasli'd hy frost and heaten hy waves. " Headlands grim and naked, tower over the waters — td'tcn fantastic and " jiicturcxjuc in shape while miles and miles of i-oeky |irecipices or tame " monotonous slopes alternate with stony valleys, winding away among " tht^ hlue hills of the interior.'' On .Inly l.'Uli Dr. (irei'fell crossed the Strait of Belle Isle. 1I(^ thus (h'serihes it : "As we rcking the straits." The following is from the '•Newfoundland and Fiabrador Pilot." published by the British Admiralty (Cape St. Lewis to Caj»e Uhidley), j)age 381 : ''The noi'theasl coast of Labrador is extremely barren and rug- '• ged. -'■ '•■ The hills fall steeply to the sea, (d'ti'U in clitfs with ragged, '•rocky points, the exception being the strand on each side of Capo '• l'orcui)ine, the only sandv beach of an\' extent on the whole coast as " lar as Nain." " The climate on the outer coast is rigorous in the extreme, so that '• vegetables are only raised with great ditliculty and rarely reach matur- " ity. Fi'ost may occur at any time of the year, and snow was experi- " enced in the neighbourhood of Lidian Harbour in July, August and " Seiitemlu'r of LS75. ''^ ''■ ^'' Larg(^ jiatcbes of snow, live or six feet " dee}), were lying in the valleys along the whole coast in the middle of " July, 1875, and some of them luul not disappeared when the Hrst large " fall of snow occurred in September." '• Field ice i-eniaius in the vicinity of (ireedy ILirbour uiUil about " the middle of July, soon after which the fishing fleet are enabled to sail "northward. •'■ '•' * Icebergs may be encountered all the year round, '• but are most numerous from June till August." The strength of this argument is not aft'ected by the fact that New- foundland and Dundee sealers go into the ice in s])ring after seals. They are titted for it and strengthened specially, and for man}' years have been propelled by steam. The seals are killed on the ice, and where there is no ice there are no .seals. Cabot know none of those things. Ho could Tiever have seen an iceberg or sailed among ice, and bis little vessel was unfitted for such work. If Labrador had been his landfall he would necessarily have made novel and startling ex]ici'iences and could not have failed to record them. Such experiences were encountered anu recorded on the .second voyage. It is .simply incredible that if John Cabot had ever seen the coast of Labrador he would have taken out an expedition 20 TIOYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA of three hundred Rouls ivnd steered to tlie north and nort Invest with them. It UU8 beeuuse he knew nothing of tlie Labrador iee-]»iielv that he steered to luake a northwest ]»a8sage. What they found tiien is reeorded in Peter Martyr and (ioniara. Tlie following description of the coast is from Mr. A. P. Low's report to the Director of the Geological Survey, 189(1 : " Along the Atlantic coast the land rises abrujttly inland, almost '' everywhere to altitudes varying from 1.000 feet to 1,500 feet, from the " Straits of Belle Isle to the vicinity of Xain. To the northward of Xain " the coast range is mucli higher, and in the neighbourhood of Xachvak " Bay, ranges t)f sharji, unglaciated mountains rise abruptly from the " sea, to heights varying from 2.500 feet to 4.000 feet ; while farther " north they are reporte. ;i84 : " I never saw anything more grand and wildly beautifid than the " tremendous swell which otten comes in without wintl, rolling slowly " but irresistibly in from the sea, as if moved by some unseen ))ower, '• rearing itself up like a wall of water as it approaches the scraggy sides " of the islands, moving on faster and faster as it nears the shore, until at " last it hursts with fury over islets thirty feet high, or sends u}) foam " and spray, sparkling in the sunbeams, tifty feet n\> the siiles of the jt.e- " cipices. 1 can com])are the roar of the surf in a calm night to njthing " less than the falls of Niagara.'" Summer is indeed, as -Mr. Harrisse says, '' brief but lovely "" — lovely, Avhen the tield ice is gone, with the deep jturple of the sea and with the rose and violet sheen of the stately beigs and with the black beetling precipices and the foam of the breakers combing over the rocky islets — a stern and sokiun loveliness, yet tender at rare moments in its delicate tints of colour ; but John Cabot was a practical person, not in search of pictorial ert'ects. He .said the soil was good and the climate tenrierate, and gave promise of the growth of silk and brazil-wood. APPENDIX B. "Living Slime.' Tt is ])robably Professor Hind who originated this f.omewhat dis- agreeabl}' graphic phrase. It has been taken up by succeeding writers to exjiress the teeming microscopic life of the Arctic current, and Mr. iiar- risse has trijtpcd over it. He can hardly he blamed, for the nieta|)hor is a little strong. The following passage from " Ilatton and Harvey's New- foundland'' explains it thoroughly (p. 352) : " The icy current flowing from the Arctic seas is in many places 'a " ' living mass, a vast ocean of living slime,' and this slime, which accom- " ]ianies the icebergs and floes, accumulates on the banks of northern " Labrador, and renders the existence possible there of all those forms of " marine life — from the diatom to the minute crustacean, from the min- :ii"'l [S. B. DAWSON] TIIK VOYAGES OF THE CABOTS 21 them, toerctl led in rejtort almost )m llio if Nuin ichvak )m tho farther ,v miles north- side of, lescri])- >s taken uvn tlie ; slowly power, •(TV sides until ut up foam the p.e- ivjthin.i,' --lovely, .vilh the beetling Y islets — , delieato search of m wrato, •\vhat dis- writers to [ Mr. llar- etaphor is rey's Ncw- : places ' a ich accom- f northern se forms of m the min- " ute crustacean to the prawn and crab, toi^ether with the molluscous " animals and startisli in vast profusion wliich contribute to the support " of the great schools of cod which also tind their homo there. The same " current which brinies the slime and multitudes of minute crustaceans " also carries on its bosom innumerable cod ova, and distributes them far " and wide." There is no need to go to Cape ( "hidley for al)undance of cod, for the fishermen of Labratlor have not yet extended their opei-ations so far north. The Arctic current sweeps down along the east coast of New- foundland and along the coasts of Nova Scotia and New England. Tiie Americans have fished out tiieir waters, anil the Jiiyriads of tish which swarm into every bav round Newfoundland show siicns of diminution, but the old writers speak of the cod on the.se coasts as being so numer- ous as almost to stop the vessels. For three hundred years the cod-tishery on the banks of Newfoundland has been the annual resort of the tishei*- men not oidy of the colonies but of western Kurope, and no .signs of exhaustion are yet a])parent. The simple fact is that the ^ .^brador fish- eries are newer ground, and the Newfoundlanders are c. ig up the coast, and have got at ])rc'sent as far as Xain. Moreover ^nd this is conclusive — the cod do not reach Cape Chidley until August. APPENDIX C. Cape North on teie Map of 1544. An inspection of the 1544 map will show how correctly Mr. Ilarrisse read the meaning of the Prima Vist(( in his first book ; for tli two points at the north cannot be Cape 8t. Lawrence and Cape North on a map so small in scale, but are Cape North and Cape Jireton. The real fact is that Cape S Lawrence and Cape Noi-th ai-e only seven geograph'ca) miles apart, and the indentation which separates them is not more than two and a half miles deep, so that they were long taken as one headland. The whole question is exhaustively discussed by Dr. Bourinot in Appen- dix YII. of his monograph on Cape Breton. It is one of great ditficulty, and it WHHild Introduce new subject matter to go over ground wdiich Bourinot, tianong, Po]ie and Bishop Ilowley have discussed at length. It is sufUclent here to say that the Cap Loraine of Cartier must be the Cap Loran of Champlain's map of 1G12 and Cap 8t. Laurens of his map of 1632, and al.so the Cap de Nort of Denys in 1672. The whole islaml of Ca})e Breton was called the island of ' Sainct Laurens" before and up to Champlain's time, although the name of the long known Ca])e Breton was then being extended ovei the island. Cham- plain says the island is in the "sha])e of a tri- angle:" that is, one point to the north — Cape St. Lawrence, one to the northeast — Cape Bre- ton, and one to the southwest at the Strait of Canso. Denys's map is given in Dr. Bourinot 's " Cape Breton," and he, like Champlain, makes one headland at the north, but calls it " Le Cap de Nort.^' The annexed tracing, reduced from a re- cent map, will show the triangular shape of the island. Exterior outline of Cape Breton Island. 22 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA Thevct is not a writer to be trusted imi>licitly, hut lie throws some light uper, as well as in the monograph to wliieh it forms a sequel, to the map of La Cosa that it is desirable to collect the chief notices of the map and its author and present them in a condensed form. .ruan de La Cosa was born about the year l-lfiO, at Santona (I'uerto de Santa Maria) a seaport in the north of Sj)ain. eighteen miles east of the better known Santander. and neai- to the bordei" of the Basque provinces — a part of Sjtain noted for its hardy and daring sailors and, at that time, the centre of the whaling Heet then extending their voyages farther and farther into the hidden n\ysteries of the western ocean. The natural career of a Si>aniard born on that coast at that period was upon the ocean, and La Cosa made voyages along the west coast of Africa in the tracks of the Portuguese discoverers, as well as to Flanders and the north of Europe. In this way he became the captain and owner of a good vessel, the '-Santa Maria.'' of 100 tons burden. When Columbus was preparing his ex})edition for the diid, at Palos, the vessel of La Cosa and chartered it, hoisting upon it his own flag as admiral, for it wasthe largest of his three ships, and engaging its owner to go with him as master. The shi|) was lost on the island of Hispaniola and Columbus in his private Journal throws blame on La Cosa Imt. as the ship was T^a Cosa's property, he can scarcely have had any oiiject in wrecking it and the admiral was, beyond doiibt, a little Jealous of tho.se who might be su[iposed to share the credit of his achievements. Dr. Justin Win.sor, in his life of Columbus, may be consulted on this point, and it is not necessary here to enter into the minor defects of a man so great as Columbus. It is sufficient to say that, whatever he wrote in his private diary, he made no public complaint and that the Spanish sovei'cigns reimbursed La ('osa for the vessel he had lost and if any blame bail attached to him that certainly would not have been done. On the contrary, so highly was his skill as a navigator rated that Columbus urgetl him to go with him in 1494 on his second voyage 24 KOYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA and gave him commuiul ot" the "Nina, " witli thi' additional rank of mas- ter chart-niakor. It is very n'niarkaljk^ tliat Columhus adliored until his death to the opinion that Cuba was a promontory of Asia, hut La •Cosa on his map portrayed it as an island. On this seeond voya,;';e La Cosa with the other masters and pilots of the expedition was com])elled 'by Columbus to sign a solemn notarial declaration that Cuba was part of the main continent, an unusual proceeding and one suggestive of the existence of doubt. La Cosa returned to Spain in 14!tt), and for a short time resumed his former life as a sailor and s.'upowner. In 149!>, Alonzo Ojeda obtained permission to tit out an expedition of di.seover}-, and he at once secured La Cosa as chiel pilot. Amerigo Ves])uc(i was on this expedition as chief cosmographer and Ilerrera claims tor La Cosa the honour of being, rather than Vespucci, the true discoverer of the maiidand of America, which discovery he says was really made on this expedition, although it is now known that the admiral discovered the coast of Venc. lela in August, 1498, on his third voyage. Uy a giim irony of fate the new world has received its name not i'rom Columbus, nor from Cabot, nor from La Cosa, nor even from any i)rofessional sailor or veritable discoverer, but from Amerigo Ves])ucci. a Florentine merchant and contractoi-, who became an amateur sailor in middle life under the stimulus of the achievements of the great navigators whom he associated with during his residence in Seville. The ex[)edition of OJeda returned to ,S])ain in I'jOO, and in the autumn of that year La Cosa made, for their Catholic .Majesties of Castile and Aragon, the map now so celebrated. In the following year (1501) he sailed again to America with a trading expedition, having been engaged, as Ilerrera saj-s. as -'being the best pilot in existence for "those seas, and one who had been trained by the admiral." On the return voyage many sbips of the tleet were lost, but he escaped ship- wreck. In ] 504 lie sailed as captain-general of four ships sent by royal orders to America, and, after many adventures, returned to Spain in 150H, wdiere the government emjiloyed him in matters of geography and navigation, and in 1507 Fei'dinand summoned him to court at Burgos, together with Juan J)iez Soils, Yincente Pinzon and Amerigo Vespucci, to a council, at which new expeditions were decided on. Pinzon and Solis sailed rirst, and, later on. in 1507, La Cosa sailed; but before sailing he made what was called the padron, or stanersons who felt called upon to rush to the defence of .Iac([ues Cartier. about whom nobody was thinking, did not stop to consider the logical ri'sult of their inconsitlerate zeal. For if it be true, as Humboldt and his followers maintain, that Cabot struck the coast of Labradi»r and followed it down in the way they think indicated by La Cosa's map — if it I [h, e. tuwson] THE VOYAGES OF THE CAROTS 27 Ik' Inic lliat the iiainod coastline on lliat ma]) is tlio 8oiit horn coast of Lalivadt)!'. tlirn it is also ti'uc that, in tlu- stricti'st sense of the words. John Cahot was the discovori'r of Canada, and ("artier followed along a coast where the Enu^lish Hai;' had been planted thirty-seven j'ears liefore. The coast of southern fjahrador was an inte^'ral part of old French Canada; it was claimed uj) to latitude 5')° N.. and concessions were made hy the (rovernini-nt at (^Miehec and were occupied and worked, hcj'ond the Strait of i^elle Isle, as tishiuii' stations, undei" licenses froni the French Crown and. to the present day, the coast of Lahi'ador as far east as Blanc Sahlon forms part of the province of Quebec. To a simple student of history the landfall is a matter of indirt'ei-ence. savinii' Ji^ Ji l-'t't^ to be ascertainotl, but those who have imported national feelinii; into the matter and who, without due consideration, are defendini!; the n'nown of .lacfpies (^artier, which no oni' has inipui;Mied. are. in ])ressini;- their ari:;umcnts for L:ibrador, unconsciously betrayiui,^ the very cause they fancy themselves to be sup|torting. The Transactions of this society contain man}- orig-inal and very valuable papers upon .lacfiues Cartier's voyages. In relation to the present discussion it has only to be noted that Cartier did not commence to give names to the places he visited until he had passed Brest ; a port in the Strait of Belle Isle well kno'vn to tishermen. He left his shijis there for awhile and explored 1 art her westward in his boats and it was then he met the shi]i I'rom liochelle. JFe says: '• Estans en ce tlenve nous atlvisasmos une grande Nave qui estoit de '• la Eochelle, laquelle avoit la nuict ])recedante passd outre le port de '' lirest. oil ils pensoycnl aller pour peselier. mais les mariniers en sravoy- " ent oil estait le lieu. Nous nous accostames deux, et nous mismes " ensemble en un autre port, qui est plus vers Ouest." * * '■'• -'■ * It should be observed here that Brest was undoubtedly within the present limits of the province of Quebec, and yet it was a place freipient- ed by Eret eh tisliernien ; from that point Caitier's discoveries commence ; all farther A'est was new. In like manner when, on his second voyage, he returned home south of Newfoundland he speaks of Ca])e Lorraiiu', the north point of Capo Breton. He remained for some claj's at St. Pierre ^liquelon where he found some French tishing vessels. Cartier's simple and unassuming luirrativo convinces evei'v reader that all the countrj' inside, from Ksqui- maux Bay on the Canadian Labrador round to Cape North in Cape lireton, was explored tirst by him, and all the coast outside of these two points, that is outside the (riilf of St. Lawrence, was well known before him. APPENDIX E. Liturgical ^[ethod ok Tracing Discoveries along a Coast. This ingenious inothod. suggosteil tirst by Mr. Harrisse, will not work out satisfactorily in practice. Beyond question, when a discovery was made on any important festival it was frequently named in commemo- ration of the day ; but, although usually religious men, these early explorers were sailors and not ecclesiastics with the Breviary constantly in their hands. They had s\veethearts and wives, like the sailors of our day, and remembered them in the same human way. Thus Cartier 28 ROYAL SOCIETY OF CANADA 1 r.r i^.o Islands ho found in tlu' Strait of Belle Isle, St. Katluv r^^Th t w^^;:^;t^7tlfrMay ; l>ut April 30 i. thj; a.vy . .f St . ^ , , ..f su.na ... N..o.n..r .5 ^^:^^^!^z::;j!:-\i^i ^ rh!'^l^:7("^r er wa hi kh 5 i»s wilo Kuthorin. dos Granges, who ::!^^,;S.v*nr.r:?t:r the ^morsaint and •-l^y^.t^ Al.xan ju. - St. Katlu'iine of Siena was not canoni/ed until Ui.l. She had not in tne north the veneration sbo had in Italy. (<.,»>nt< ihinWs lud.n' Prowse, in reviewin.ir my monoi^vaph ..n tie Cabot^, thinks that ■ lis itm-i,^i.-al test upsets my theory that ( 'ahot sailed, as shown hy T^^^; CosVs map from west to east along the coast ot Newfoundh ml. Jlo s^: vs ' Ihe hor ii^niores the fact that the old pilots in naming he eoas ' bllowel the ea endar. The position of ("ape St. Jorge (April 2.^) and 4' S Lm^a r)ec^^^^ of «t. Nicholas (December.,) show u^i^uSvely tliallhe navigator whose voyage La Cosa's map records " "'i^v^uil^e'S^Mn^'tJuit the veiy dates Judge Prowse ,uot.. ex,>lodo conclusi\T hc^vhole liturgical thc^>r^^^ th ve- r 1500 neither on December 6, or December 13, in the dep h ot whulr Old tlJre have been any vessels on that ^o.^:^^;^^ --Y v\ Hsel be likelv to have been there as early in the spring as Api il IS , and, a.'a any iKwigator along the coast wotild have made a 0 Cape St. John to Par. Point 49-30 51- White Bay Cape Rouge Harbour 51 '30 Cape Bauld to Cape Onion Over four degrees of latitude. 1st June. 10th " 20th " 20bh " 10th " I } 10th " 20th " [8. E. DAWSOn] THE VOYAGES OF THE CAHOTS 29 lo- st. iii. re- ho , as the iks i>y Jlo >iist iind lOW odo foro I of liny md; \ to 3ssor hory DKTH- TaHMO SIIf)\VIN(i THi: AI'l'KOXIMATi; MKAN DaTK OF ARUIVAL OP CoD IN XOHTH- KASTKHN NkWFOUNDI.ANI), SoUTilKRN AND NORTHERN LaHRADOR.— Cc»n/(»Wf"f/. Lat. O 520 Si -24 54 26 54-56 LOCAMTY. Southern Labrador. Chftteau Bay. . . . Batteaux Iiuliaii Harbour. Cape Harrison . . . Over tliree degrees of latitude. NOHTHKHN LaHUADOR. 55 14 54-57 55-27 55-30 55-52 56-33 57-30 58-30 58-46 Ailiiii. Kypol{ol< Hopedale Double Island Harbour I'kkasiksalik Nain Mean Date of Arrival. 20th 12th loth 18th June. July. Okak. Hebron . . Lainpson . Over three and a lialf degree.s of latitude. 20th July. 20th it 20th (t 22nd «( 28th " 28th t( 28th (( 15th August. Inth Cape Chidley i.s still further north— in lat. 00° HO'. It is not included in the tal)le, beini; too far north to have any practical bearing on the questi(jn before the Commissioners. lte of AI.. 30 KOYAL SOCIKTY OK CANADA NOT MS. I. ('oiimiimU'iitiori to Hit' Montreal (ift~elli\ .luly Ititth, 181)5. •J. Ill lii> notes to the (ulininible edition of (;ii;uii|)lain's Voyii^es, publislied in guclu'c. (i vols., ltd. 1870. :{. Ili.sloiiv (111 CaiiiKiii. 2vol.s.,Hvo. (Jucbec, 18(il. 4. Trans. Hoy. Soc. of Canada. Vol. for IHlll. ■"). Sei' Haklnyt, American N'oya^es panKim, and later tlirouKliout all the im'^o tiationsof the ITtli anci IStli centiirles. This point has eeascd to lie of any practieal value now, ami is often oxfriooked. (1. The early maps show Ihislicyond all cavil. The Cantlno map, ir)(il. the ('.■inerio map of the same dale, the Kiiifi ma]), l.")02M, the map of Salvat de Palest riiia, l.")IIH-t, the I'ortnjiiiesc port >laiios of 1.")(I2(, and, above all. Heinel's map, l.'iO."), and all the later majis, prove this. It ean scarcely be seriously disputed, for the names still clinj? to the coast dis;;uisfd under Kn>;lish distortions. 7. .Folin ('al)ot, the Discoverer of North America, and Sebastian, his Son. London, 1S!H). H. Gordon. Kejiort on Hudson's Hay Expedition of issti. Ottawa. y. See ]Monop;rai)h Trans. Hoy. Soc. Canada, ISlll, where this coiifiisidii between the two voyaj^es is unravelled and exjilained, 1(1. That Ci'bot was in London by Au^^. lllth, 1 1!)7, is proved by an entrj in the Kind's Pnvy Purse accounts, showinj^ that a f^iatuity of £!(» was given to the man •vlio first sijihted land. Cabot landed at Bristol on his return, and in that a/e some days must be allowed for the news t" travel to London. II. Some tritics coini)lained that these references \. not put at the foot of each page. The object of the plan adopted then and now is to enable the hasty reader to grasp the argument ((uickly, without disti'acting his attention by the more detailed information re(|uired by those interested in the study of these ((Uestions. 12. Trans. Hoy. .Soc. Canada, ^'ol. vii., for ISS!). l:!. Dr. Hourinot's monograiih was also published separately, but in a limited edition, and is now out of print. It. Villi- Patterson on Portuguese discoveries, cited iittlr. Frey Luis, now Cape Freels : Cabo d'Ksiicra, now Cape Spear ; Haya l-'ondo, now Hay of Fundy ; Calx) Hazo, now Cajie Pace, and others ; to which list may be a