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3nt)cntio ifortnnata.

ARCTIC FXPLORATION

WITH AN ACCOUNT OF

Nicholas of Cimn.

Read before the American Geographical Society, Chickcring Hall,

May i5ih, 1880.

Reprinted from the Bulletin of the Society.

By B. F DeCosta.

The Arc'r.c Institute

North America

NEW YORK.

1881.

A K c; T 1 C EX 1» L O U A T I ( ) X

TIIK Ki:v. 15. 1'. 1)K lOSTA.

At ail early periixl navii>ators dirccttMl tlioir eiitorpriso towanls
the iioitli. Encouragement to explore a reijion invested with mys-
tery and romance was found in the I'aet that great currents, both in
in the sea and the air, were ready to serve as guides and help tlieni
on their way. Nature appears partial towards the north, as the
equator of heat is l»y no means coincident with the e<piatorial line
In j>ortions of the Pacific the equator of heat indeed runs south of
the geographical e<piator, but elsewhere it sweeps ten degrees north
of the line, and from thence hot waves are thrown off towards the
pole. When 1>attling his way towards the high latitudes, man acts
in sympathy with the mightiest forces of nature. The magnetic
needle, p»^inting steadfastly towards the north, is the index of his
mind. This joint tendency of nature and man is})rophetic and tells
of a triumphant result.

When or under what circumstances the first arctic voyage was
nuide is not now known. At the dawn of history, the northern regions
were represented as the realm of perpetual night. There, upon the
border of a vast sea, the Cimmerians dwelt in the congenial gloom,
their habits forming the theme of grotesque fables. The earliest
mai)s, however, show the polar regions as occupied by a watery
waste, while there are few statements that come to us from that early
period which are more definite than that of Scymnus of Clio, who
flourished about 000 years B. C, and who says, in his Fragments,
" that at the extremity of the Celts is a boreal i»eak ; it is very high
and sends out a cape into a stormy sea."* Letronne thinks that
^Tt/hf is a i>oetical expression, indicating some mountain chain,
whose peak performed the same ottice in the north that w is filled by
Etna in the south, Caucasus in the east, and Atlas in the west.

* " Kragineiits ties jioeinos Ge )si'n|)liique.-j »lc Seyiunus tic Clio," &c. By M.
Letronae (p. G(5).

3486

wmm.

4 Arctic Eji'plorathni.

Tlic earliest voyage to the north is that claimed for Pytheus,
the distinguished Phenieian astronomer and geographer of Mar-
seilles, who tlourished Wli) B. C. His works were extant in the fifth
centin-y, but are no longer found. Pliny and P^ratosthencs gave
full credit to his narrations, though Strabo shows great hostility
to Pytheus, whose accounts he refused to receive, saying that he
made "use cf his ac(juaintance with astronomy and inathematics to
fabricate his false narrative."* Pliny, however, with more reason,
thought that he employed his knowledge in pi-actical exploration.
The latest editor of 8trabo does not share in his author's doubt.
According to Pliny and others, Pytheus sailed through the Straits of
Gibraltar, making his w^ay north to the IJritisli isles, whither it was
the custom of his countrymen to resort, and, after traveling over
England on foot, proceeded northward to a place called " Thule,"
six days' sail from the northern i»art of Britain.! Strabo points
out serious errors in his account of England, .but the errors in the
main may be attributed to transcribers ; by whom Timceus is made
to call Vectis, the Tsle of Wight, "Mictis,'' and put it at six days'
sail from Britain. In Pliny's time those regions Avere well known,
and he speaks (,f " writers who make mention of some other
islands — Scandia, namely, Diinna, Bergos and, greater than all, Neri-
gos, from which persons embark for Thule. Atone day's sail from

* HtialK), H. VIJ.c. 8, 1.

f Pliny, Nat. Hist., 15. 11., c. 7r, ; and B. 1\'., c. l:}, 30, 36. Stnilio says : " It is
true that Pytheus of Marseilles aflirins that the farthest country north of the liritisli
islands is Thule, for which liesa^s the sutnnier tropi(Mind the arctic circle is all one. Hut
he records no other i)articulars coiiccrnin;^ it, whether Thule is an island, or wliether
it continues haljitahle uj) to the point where the summer trojiic hecomcs one with the
arctic circle." (B. II., c. v., 8.) Strabo's editor says on this, that the summer tropic
heiiifr placed at 24 deforces from the eqiiator liy Strabo, and most jjrobably by P\ theus,
the latitude of Thule or Iceland would be fixed at (JO N., which corresjmnds with the
north of Iceland, where the two tro|)ics would join and become one To the forego-
ing may be added another criticism on Strabo, which bas an effect opposite to that
intended, .is the "marine ,-<ponge"is nothing but the soft ice which forms in the north.
"It is likewise he who describes Thule and other neighboring places where, accord-
ing to him, neither earth, water nor air exists separately, but a sort of concretion of
all these resend)ling marine sjwnge in which the earth, the sen, and all things were
suspended, thus forming as it were a link to unite the whole together. It can neither
he traveled over, uor sailed through." (Hook II., c. iv. , 1.)

Arrf/j Ewplorafinn. 5

Tlmle," he adds, " is tl.e frozen ooeun, which by some is ealled the
CroDian sea."*

There has been a division of opinion respectins^^ the locality of the
place forming the jx.int of departure forTlinle, or Iceland. By some
Scandia is identiHed with Scandinavia, I]er<ros with the modern
Bergen, an<l Nerigos as the northern part of Norway, thougli Gos-
selin IS of the opinion that Bergos refers to the Scottish island of
Baj-ra, and Nerigos, to one of the northern promontories called
"Nery." However this may be, it is evident that, in the time of
Pliny, and long before, there were those who knew of the island of
Iceland, which was readied either from the Orknevs or from the
c()ast of Norway. We incline strongly to the huter opinion, as
Bergen, in Norway, from time Immemorial, has been a point of de-
parture for Iceland.

While the classic geographer knew much about the north, it is also
reasonable to infer that the waters of the sea towards New Found-
land had been fiXMjuented by Europeans engaged in the fisheries, and
that, by degrees, they sailed to the (toasts of Greenland and America.
It is true that Iceland appears to have been generally unknown to
the Scandinavians until the year S(i4, but the peoi>le of Great Britain
were well acquainted with that lonely isle long before.

The earliest known movement northward from England was that
niaugu'-ated by King Arthur, about the year 505. The authority on
this subject is Geoffrey of Monmouth, who was bishop of Saint
Asaph in 1152, and who wrote the lUstoria Brltonvw, a work which
afforded a basis for the fables and romances of the "Knights of the
Round Table." Nevertheless, whoever inclines to turn fmin all the
statements of Geoffrey, for the reason that they contain much that
is untrue, should ponder the well-considered words of Hume,
who says of the Prince of Silures: " This is that Authur so much cele-
brated in the songs of Thaliossin and the other British bards, and
whose military achievements have been blended with so many fables
as even to give occasion for entertaining a doubt of his real existence.
But poets," he continues, " though they disfigure the most certain
history of their fictions, and use strange liberties with truth, where
they are the sole historians, as among the Britons, have commonly

Pliny, H. IV., c. 30.

Arctlr K.>'iih*rafhui.

some foundation for tlioir wildest exau^orations." * The Risliop of
Saint Asaph, who was not a poet, may be eredited, therefore, when
he states siieh simple faets as that, al)oiit the year ")<)'), Kiny; Arthnr,
after the eon({iiesl of Irelatid, received thcf siihmission of the
Orkneys and saih'(l to leehind, " whieh he also sulnlned ; '' at a sul>se-
(pient period overeomino- his foes in Norway.! I'he eompiest of
Ireland cost nMi<*h bloodshed, but that of [celand, if he went there,
must have been made without a strnt^gle, since at that period there
coidd not liave been men enough to make any great resistance.];

Ilakluyt, treating this matter, ((notes from (lalfridus Monume-
tensis, who says that, after subduing Treland, Arthur went to
Iceland, and " brought it ami the people thereof under his sabjee-
tion."j< The same author mentions "Maluasius" as "King" of
Iceland, and tells of soldiers that he furnished. || Tiie "King,"
however, may l)e redueod to a figure of speech, while there eonld
liave been no soldiers, unless, indeed, Arthur, as elsewhere stated,
transported people to the north. iTakluyt also (juotes Land)ord, to
the effect that Artliur made his way to ftreeidand ; •; but we ean
understand how tlui statement originated, since the map of Ptolemy
ma<le (Ireeidand a western extension of Norway, the jtosition of the
country being n\isnnderstood. It was very easy, therefore, for
modern (chroniclers to suppose that Arthur took Greenland on his
way in his expedition to Norway; lience this error.

Waurin, who wrote in the I4th century, before the influence of
Ptolemy's maps was generally felt, does not mention Greenland,
though he says that Arthur carried the war into Iceland and fought
with the Icelanders, whom lu^ bro\ight into subjection.**

Geoffrey of Monmoutii does not allude to (Treenland. Neverthe-
less, he is our authority for the statement that Arthnr went to

* Hume's Engliind, I., p. 88. lul. 1S33.

f GeotVrev's History, B. IX., c. 10.

X In the year !)70, voy!ijL;,ers from Iceland foinul money on an island at the wewt.
See " Pre-Columhian Discovery of America l»y the Xorthmen.' Munsell,
18(18, p. 14.

^ Navifiations, I., 1.

ma, T., 2.

IbkL

** In Chroni<iues, I., Lib. HI., c. xix., p. ^70, we rend; " Kt puis transporta le
Roy Artus sn l)atnlle en yrlande ou parevillement il se combaty et victorya les Islan-
dais et myst en sa subjection." ' '

>]\oy of
;, wluMi
\rthnr,
of tlu'
I s\il>s«'-
liu'st ol"
t then',
il tliertj

lonunu!-
vont to

iiiir '' ot
' iviuti,"
re could
V, stated,
ihord, to
t wi' <'an
Ptoloiuy

n ot" the
[fori', for

1 on l>is

Moiice of
ircoiiland,
Id fou<4ht

leverthe-
weut to

lit the west.

[ansiMM'tii le
III lea islan-

Arrffc fj.i'idin'othni. 7

Iceland. It is poHsihle that tlie liish'jp of St. Asaph inferi'td that
the northern island visited was Iceland, and it is also possilde that, in
such a case, he may have been in error ; hut this treatment of his
statemetit is not re((uired. That Arthur could have sailed to Iceland,
admits of no (h)ul)t ; nor is there any reason f(»r holdinuj that there
were no inhaltitants there in fjOr*. The fact that the Northmen found
only a few monks in Iceland in 804, (h)es not j)rove that the same
was true 2r)() years earlier. liedc, wlio died in 725, knew of
Iceland ; * and the Prologue of the L<nidintni<ihok speaks of both
Irish and English books found there when the Northmen arrived. f
Dicuil teaches that monks were in Iceland in 70r» ; for, writing in
S'25, he says that thirty years had passtid since some clerks {elerici),
who had dwelt in the island, told him certain things. He also says
that those who in their writings had <lescribed Iceland as sur-
rounded by a sea of ice were (juite wrong, and he proves the truth
of his own account by the testimony of "clerks who iiad voyaged to
this island." He admits, however, that in voyages to the north of
Iceland " they have found the sea frozen."]; Dicuil also testifies
that there are numerous islands two days and two nights to the
nortli of Britain, and that a " Religious, worthy of faith," told him
of a visit made by hini in a small boat to one of these islands,
which nearly a hundred years before was inhabited by Eremites, from
Scotland. Rut Dicuil says that these regions were al)an(h)ned on
account of the ravages of the northern ])irates, who were as
innumerable as " the birds of the sea." Thus it appears that
Iceland was well known to the people of the British isles long-
before it was inhabited by men from Norway, and we can readily
understand how the popidation that probably existed in Arthur's
time may have been reduced by piratical incursions, until, in
804, the Norwegians found only a few anchoretes dwelling there.
The narrative of Geoffrey of Monmouth is, therefore, perfectly
consistent with known facts, and the expedition of Arthur to
Iceland may be regarded as historic.

It is now apparent that, in the century before Dicuil dated his

* Antiquitateit Ameincamv, p. 202.

f Ibid., 205, De menstia OrMs Terrae, Letronne's Ed., p. 38.

X DM.

A rfffc A\i'pf<'ivff/(»i.

l»()((k, tlu' liritisli islaixis wort- in coiniiumicjitioii, :iiul cliictly tliidUf^h
the medium oT the mcjiiks, who, as is well known, were l)ol<l and
skillliil sailors, |)ushin<; i'ai- out to sea in boats of wicker or liide.
How lo:Jg this (;onimuni(ration was kept up by them ('ann(»l now be
dt'torniinod. It is probable that it was never suspended. The
An,u:]o-8axon inaj> ol' the tenth eentury shows that the sailors and
geographers of England were aecpiainted with the Northern sea.

i if' ■■'*•' "•'•"'llr

fctj

^Ei

ili-^

LiTW.tl>f

."■-ii

C^^,^ii- 4v::

E^m

TjI

^ -^ ^Wii'^JDi^^rv

^^ff<^>-^ii?^Nr^i^*fLy^

Tlif An^^lo Suxon Mup.

Beyond Iceland was the open sea, into which DicniTs informants,
the Religious, wliom he styles "clerks," had so boldly sailed, until
they i-eached the barrier of ice whicli bars the course of tlie ex[)lorer
to-day.

We bave already seen that Arthur did not visit Greenland, yet
that that part of the north was reached about the time of Arthur,
admits of little doubt. It is true that the discovery of Greenland
lias generally been assigned to the pei'iod of Eric the Ked, who went
to Greenland in 0'^.5, yet a Bull of Pope C4regory IV^., dated 770,
refers to (irreenLiiid. The genuineness of this Bull cannot l)e ques-
tioned, nor is there any reason to suppose that the reference to
. Greenland, was interpolated. The Bollandists may indeed think that
there is some mistake,* but the explanation is easy and natural.

* This is a matter of [H'ivate int'orniation, l)iit tlie autiior cannot learn that the

when wo take into POTisKlcrafi.ui tlic known activity of inaiitiTnc
ontcM-priso prior to Kii,- tlic R,.,l. In.l.-ci, the Fivlamlic clironidcs
distinctly say that, Iialf a century l)cCorc the voyaijc (.f Kric, a trrcat
country was known at the west, hcinjr caUcd " Ireland the (iivat."
Itwoidd seem that thisc(Mnitry was first reached l)y the Irish, whose
prior dis(rovery was conceded by the Icelanders.. The Irish had
described it, evidently, as aland of venhire, while the Sa-^a says that
Eric aj)f)lied the name of " Greenland " to the part he visited, not
fnmi ar.y fitness, I»nt from motives of policy, sayinir that " men
would he persuade*! t(. go t<. a land with so (rood a iiamc." It is no-
whore protended that the name •' Greenland " orisrinatc.I with Kric.
His (,wn account imlicates tliat Europeans had visited (Ireenland
before his time, which leads to the conclusion that the Irish had been
in the country, and that the reference to Greenland in the Jbdl of
770 is correct.*

In the year IIS7, (iiraldus Cambreir-is wrote liis T<^m<iraph'ia
Hihenih'H, and in this work he speaks of Iceland, which is described
as a great island three ihiys' sail northward from Ireland. The
people are re{)resented as of few words, but truthful. (iiraldus
shows that he uiulorstood sonu'thing of tlie nature of their govern-
ment, in saying that their i)riests were their kings.f

Ajjproaching the thirteenth century, the age appears to be one of
maritime activity. Necker, Abbott of Cirencester, who died in 1217,

Bollaiidists have \\\\\ actiiiiiiiitiiiico with the ^;encnil subject which won)., {rive
weight to <inv- opit.iou thev iiii^'lit cntcrtniii.

* Oil tliis |)i)iiit, see " Pre-Coluinliiaii Discovery of America \)\ the Xorthinen,"
f). 85, and " Aiiti(|iiitates Americana' '' on the Minor Narratives.

f " Est et \shinilia liorealinm insiihinim maxima; trinm dienim nntiiraliiim
nuviKationc in a(iuiloiiares piirtes ah Ilihernia rcmota. Gentem hu'c hrevilocinam el
V( ridicam hahet. Raro nauKiue i)revi(]iie t'nni^cns sermnno. juramento tion utitur ;
(juia mentiri non novit. Xiiiii enim magis (luam mendacium detestatur. Gens hac
eodem ititur rejro (luo sacenlote ; eodem prineipe (|tio pontilice. Penes enim ei)isc()pnm
tarn re(|ui ((nam sacerdotii jura consistunt. Ilicc terra girofaicones et accepitres
grandcs et generoses gigtiit e t niittit. Xun(|uam liic aut rarissime vel cornscant i'nlgara
• ' cndunt tonitrna. Sed hahent e contra ])estem aliani, et ionge mojoreni In anno
naiKpie seinel, vel hiennio, ])er ali([mmi insula' partem ignis emergens, in uioduni
turl)inis cum vtihementia s])ii-itus excurrens, (piic(]uid ohviam offendit fnnditus exu-
rit sed ignis iste unde causaliter vel infra vel liesuper ortuni hal)cat incertum hal>e-
tur." — Distinctio, I., c. xiii., p. 95.

A rctir E.vpl<)r<iti<ui.

was acijuainted with the use of the compass.* In the fourteenth
century, Bail)er said of the party accompanying Kinu: Robert of
Seothmd from Arran to Carrick, " thsy na nedil had na stane,"
showing that those things were familiar to niivigators. Here, there-
fore, it will he necessary to introduce Niciiolas of Lynn, who, in
1;I6(), made a voyage to the high north. l)ut before at tenipting the
particular consideration which seems to be re<juired, it will be neces-
sary to glance at the condition of northern maritime enterprise (lur-
ing the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries. In the fourteeiitii cen-
tury the Hsheries were commonly ]»ursued around Iceland, whose
people were in regular comnrniication with Ureenland. The Eng-
lish also must have knoww of Greenland at the tinu', though, in
common with the people of Iceland and Norway, they did not appre-
ciate t he importance of this knowledge. In the fourteenth century,
proof is found both in the Icelandic and English annals of the con-
nection between the two countries. The Icelandic contains indica-
tions of the arrival of English shi{)s, but it is clear that their coming
was so well knowi; as to gain only a casual allusion, the interest
standing connected with the news brought. The entries wer<? macb^
at the time, having since been extracted from the numerous writings
for the convenience of students, and set down in chronological older
in the hmguage of the original. Let us, therefore, notice tlu'se
entries.

In l.'U!\ news reached Iceland that in Englaiul the m<.italitv wa;^ vo
great, that 2(»(),(H>(» persons had died.f The next year the death of
EugMsh sailors at Bergen, in Norway, opposite Iceland, was reportt^d,
and recorded in the Sagas.]; This is all that we find at present
in connectioii with the fourteenth century in Iceland ; bu> the
reference of the Saga to the grcit mortalitv in Entrland is co'^*-' ,iicd
byStow's " AnnaL's," which state that the plague readied England
in 1348, touching the seaports first. TheTice, no <loubt, the news was
at once carried bv fishermen to Iceland. >J If the voyages of the

* liiilletin (le GcngiT.pliie 1858, p. 177. Are Frodc, in KHJH, speiikiiii; of the
visit jmid to Iceland hy Klokc Vii^erderson, says tiiat in thosc! times seanieu had
no loi.dstone in tlie northern eountries. The Bilde (nuot, 1150. speaks of the
loadstone as " un pierre Inidaet hrnmiere."

f "Islen/.kir Annular," Hafniu', 1847, p. 37(1. The lotlandie is as follows:
" Mannfnll ojiurlej^t a F.ni;!endi sva at tvo hnitdred thousand datt nidr.''

; IbiiL, ti7S. ^ ytovv's " Annales," p. 315, K.l. 1(131.

A rotic Krplorafiitih

Englisli to Iceland had possessed greater inte'-est, there would have
been some more definite notice in the Sagas. We are free, however,
to admit tiiat, early in this century, the merchant trade n.ay have
been small, as in i;{28 Edward III. does not mention Iceland 'in his
"/-•/•o MercuTorihm Krtran('t.^r Nor does he mention Denmark (,r
Norway, hut these are included in the general language, ''oMfruan
alhiriim. IVrnirn))! et locorum e.rfnmonffiV* Nevertlu-Iess, the
mandate of Edward 1)1., ({ated March ISth, i;?r)4, recognizes the fact
that the king maintained afieel for service in the "parts IJoreal,"
-John de lladdon being the A(hniral.f It was probably designed to
protect the fishermen and nierchants from pirates around the nortli
of Britain.

In the Icelaiulic annals of tlu' fifteenth century, tlu> first entry is
tliat of 1407, when news v/as received of the death of the Arch-
bishop of York.]: In 1412, it was recorded that five English sailors
had separated from their ship and wintered in the island. -;< In
1413, " thirty mor<! fishing vessels came horn England." Some of
them wore 'down to the northern part of Iceland, and possibly to
the (xreenland coast. ||

In 1415, six English sliips sailed to I'^eland, and made ihei.- port in
the Westmann Islands.^ In 14lfi, six ships anchored in Ilafnafiord,
in the southwest of Iceland.** In 1419, many English ships were
wrecked on tiie coast of Iceland, and a large number of lives were
lost.ff The amials, in the present compilation, end witli the year
14TT0, and these six entries are all that we find. If carefully con-
sidered, however, it will appear thatr these menticms really form
nieiiwnihUid. This will be seen by turning to the En<Hish annals
tor the correspouding period. The first reference to Iceland in th*^
Fddei'd is that of 1415, when Henry V., for the satisfaction of the
King of Denmark, ordered that during the year none of his sub-
jects should presume to visit ar>y of " the coasts of the islands be-
longing to Denmark and Norway, and especially to the island of
Iceland," for the purpose of fisldng or trading, " otherwise than
according to the ancient custom " {alitir qnani antitiuttus jwrl ron-

* Hyiiier's Fmieni, iv., JJfJl.

t lOkl., v., 778.

\. Anmilar, p. 382.

J^ Ibid. . !>. 380.

II Ibfd., p. 388.
•H Ibid., p. 300.
** Ibid., p. 393.
tf Ibid., p. 394.

^mmm

I ret/c Explorotlon.

stiei'-'t.'"* This notice was served upon the authorities of the
various seaports of Eughind, tlie mayor and bailiff of Lynn, Norfolk,
being notified witli tiie rest. Here, then, we learn, in connection with
1415, that in the ancient times voyages to Iceland liad become fre-
quent. It is clear from the complaint of the Danish king that the
old rules respecting traffic had l)ef^n broken habitually, and that they
were now to be observed, at least for one vear. 01 the exact nature
of the ancient law we cannot speak, but it would appear as though
tne prohibition related to the shore fisheries, wnich they were not
to intrude upon, and hence, when the English went to Iceland, in
1415, they harbored off the coast at the Westmann Islands. The
arrival of the sliips, under the circumstances, formed a noticeable
event, and for this reason it was recorded. Tlu^ Icelandic Annals
add, immediately after mentioning their arrival, that " the ships
brought letters from the King of Ei gland to the people and the
chief men of Iceland, to the effect that license should be accorded
to transact I)usiness, and especially that relating to the king's own
ship." The Annals state tliat the matter was duly arranged. It
will be noti(^ed, too, that one of tliese ships beh)nged to the King of
England. It was evidently a cruisei- of the royal navy.

There is, then, a complete agreement between the English and the
Icelandic Annals, both showing that an Englisli iieet visited Iceland
in 1415 — a circumstance which should go very far ;o estal)lislt the
general value and ( redibility of those records of a distant age.f

In 1410, the English were again in Iceland, but the Juidira does
not mention voyages until 14;{b, when Henry W. issued a license to
John, the Icelandic Bisho}) o<" Ilelem, then in London, authoi'izing
him to engage John May, with his ship "Catherine," for a voyage
to Iceland, where May, evidently an old voyager, was to act as his
attorney, and transact certain business for him, the Bisho}> himself
not wishing to undertake the voyage.| In 14.'5(), Ivichard Weston,
of London, a "stockfishmonger," was well known by the Icelanders.J^

* Foidera, ix., :322.

f Tliis agreeini'iit hc-tweeii the Eii{;lish ami kcliunlic niithorities r.pjJCiirs to ha
pointed out iio\> for tlie (ii>t time

X Fu'dera, x., 045 and 059. Kd. 187T.

5^ iWrf., X., 703. Tliese supplies were sent to the Bishop of Skalholt. who alone
was authorized by the Synod of Deninarl; to supply tlic eleiuents of the sacrameuts
to the churches. 8ee " Kircheii<:efclii(lite von Danenuirk und Norwe^an "
(MUnter), ill., 10.

of the
N^orlolk,
on witli
)\ne fre-
that the
lat they
t nature
, thougli
ere not
land, in
s. The
iticeable

Annals
le ships
and the
iccorded
iti's own
ujed. It
Kinu of

and the

leehnid

ilish the

'ira does
i cense to
horizing
voyage
lit as liis
> himself
\V eston,
landers.vj

ears to be

who alone
iucnuneuts

Arctic .E.i'ploratioii.

In 1440, Ilonry Y\. sent two ships to Iceland, with supplies to be
exchanged for such commodities as the inhabitants j)ossessed. It
was feared tliat without this aid from England, the sacraments even
wo(dd be omitted, there l)eing neither wine nor salt in the country,
and only milk and water (A/cr^ (O/tnnu.)*

Ih connection with the year 1445, another voyage is indicated by
the Admiralty Black Jiook, action having been taken agains,, Wd-
liam Byggensa.., and two men of Lynn, who visited Iceland in a
" dogger," called the " Trinity," and kidnapped a boy vhom they
brought to Swetesham and hehl in servitude, contrary to law. f

In 1450, a treaty was made between the Kings of Denmark and
England, which prohibited trading in Iceland ; but a special provi-
sion of l^irliainent exempted Thomas Canynges, Mayor of Bristol,
from the prohibition, in consideration of his great services to Iceland!
He was accordingly allowed to send two ships thither to load with
fish or other commodities. His traur, with Iceland was a matter of
general knowledge, and throws additional light upon a certain remark
by Columbus.

To avoid interrupting the course of the narrative respecting Ice-
land, allusion to the voyage of the Zeno Brothers was omitted in
its proper chronological place. 'V\\h voyage was made {o Green-
land, and a part of the Ameiican coast called Estotiland, and
Drogeo ; but it is not desirable to dwell upon such a familiar theme
here. It sufTices to say, whatever may be the obscurity of portions of
the narrative,t hat its authenticity never would have been questioned,
if it had been undersfood that at the time the voyage was made the
seas at the north and west were well known and frequented, of
which fact ample j»roof has now been given. The Zeno Map, pub-
lisluMl with the narrative in l5oS, shows that the Zeno family had a
knowledge of Greenland that could have been obtained only dur-
ing the pre-Columbian times. I

t " Item (juod Willeliiins Hv^^;,'enmne lie LSiietoshiiiu iniigister riijusdeni iiavis
vocata- le 'I'rinyt.', diotn' viilgariter dogger, Johannis Pigot ct Keiirid Sorysin de
lieiina Kpiscopi, circa festiiiii Kxiiltacionis Sanctiv Crncis anno 'licti regis vicesinio
tertio, cepit, umini piierain in partilius de I.siandia, et ipfurn diixit in dictii tiavi ad
ilmlctn usque Suete.sliarn, adsihi .scrvicnduni, contra statuta regiu in hoc parte facta."
—Monummta Juridica (Biacli Hook), I., 273.

X On Zeno, see "The Sailing Directions of Henry Hudson," p. .'5 ; "The North-

1 rdic K.i'ph>ri't'n>n,

\f, i

Si'

111 this eoniu'ctiuii tlio iiivostij^ator must not overlook the voyage
of Skolnus tlie Pole, whicli took place in 1476, Hakluyt says
that this voyage is mentioned by Gemma Frisius and Giiava.* It is
certainly referred to on an ancient globe of about 1540, jtreserved in
Pan and known as the IJouen Globe, whereon, near the northwest
coast of Greenland, is a legend declaring that Skolnus reached that
})t>int in 1470. 'J'his globe seems to antedate Goniara (155o), the
earliest author that the writer has been able to consult.

Next, attention should be directed to the voyage of Coliinilius, of
which the Genoese himself gives the following account:

" III the month of February, 1477, I sailed a huiKb'cd leagues be
yond the island of Tliyle, the southern part of which is distant from
the equinoxial 73 degrees, and not 0'}, as some wish it to be ; nor
does it lie u])0ii the line wliere Ptolemy's west begins, but much
more toward the west. And to this island, whicii is as large as
Kngland, the English come for traflic, and especially thost' of
Bristol. And at the time I >vas there the sea was not fro/en, but in
some ])laces the tide rose 26 fathoms [feet], and fell the same."f

men in Maine," y. iJO. Also a i'uil diseusslon of the suhject in tlie Hakluyt Sooietv'b
edition of the voyage, edited i)y Major.

* Hal<luyt makes liis reference in a {general way, giving,' neitlier rlniptcr no;-
)>nj;e. Frisius published "l)e Prineijiius Astronoinia' iS: Cosmoj^rapliiic," &o., in
ir);{0. The " ( osniographaia" of llieroniino Girava was i)rinted loOtt. Goniara
mentions vSkolnns in his " Historia," e. xxxvii., Kd. I.mJJ. See "Tlie Sailing
Direi'tions of Heiny Hudson," p. 3'?, in connection with WytHiet and ronianns.
For Hakluyt, see Maine Coll.. S. 3, Vol. 11., jt. W^.

f The Italian runs as follows : " To navigai I'anno 14T7. nel niese di Feinait* oltra
Tile isola cento leghe, la ciu parte Anstrale e lontana dall' Kipiinottiale sett^nitatrc
gradi, et non sessantntre, I'ome alcuni vogliono : ne gitce dentro dclla linen, chc, in-
clude lOccidentc di Toloineo, ma (■ inolto piu Occidentale. VX a (juest' isola, die c
tanto granile come I'lnghilterra, vanno glTngl -si con le loro mcrcatantie, special-
inente i|iie!li di Bristol. Et al teiii|X), die io vi aiidai, non era coiigelelate i! mare die
in aUnni luoglii ascendena ventesi hraccia, et discendena altro taiiti in altc/,/.r.." (His-
toria del S. ]). Fernando (.oloink). 1571, c. iv.) " Hraccia '' is evidently a clerical
error, as the original Spanish will doubtless show, if ever found. That Colimibus
was familiar with the map in the I'tolemy of 14Ht), showing the northern regions,
with Gieenlaud iis an extension of Eurojie, can hardly lie doubted. His remark re-
specting Thyle ap|)ears to lie intende<l almost as j: correction of this map. on which
the Orcades and Thyle are laid down north of Scotland, Thyle being in (W N.,
while it ajipears again further north as "Islandia.'' This double representation
of Iceland on the niaj) was a blunder, that island l>cing laid down first according

A rrtic Krjdomtloii .

It 1%

W .ocvor wrou. iho lif. of the Ad.niral, tl.ero is ,... ,,uostion
but tlut he made th. voyage. Finn Magnusncn has pointed out an
interestmir confirmation of the statement of Columb.is respectin-r
the m. d weather in 147V, where lie sliows, from the annals, the rc"
niarkable fact that in 1477 snow had not been seen at Evafiord in
the nortli of leehmd, as late as March, f

To this period belongs the voyage of Robert Aleock, of Il.dl,
who, in 1478, was commissioned l>y Edward IV. to send a ship of
240 tons to Iceland, which was " to reload with tish or other goo<ls."t
lie was licensed again in 14S;J.

Chaucer, in the i)roIogue to the Canterbury Tales, shows by his
"Shipman" something of the activity of the British sailor in the
time of Nicholas of Lynn. It is said that,

'■ Of niro conscience tuke lie no kepe,

But of Ills craft to recken wel liis tides,

His strenies and liis strandes Iiim he.sides,

His Heri)er\ve, his nione, and his lodcninn-e,

'J'''<5'' 'Viis non swiclie from Hull unto ("arta-re • "
wJule ° '

" He knew wel idle the ha\ens, as they were,
Fro Ciotland to the ('ape de Hnistere."

An indication more to our present purpose is found in the poem
on "the Pohcie of Keeping the Sea," which belongs to the middle
of the 15th century. At that time the northern region was so well
known that the author of the poem dis])oses of tlie'^subjcct briefly :
"Of Isla'id to write is little nede,
fSave (if stockHsh ; yet I'orthsooth, indeed,
Out of Hristowe, and coMex luani/ one,
Men have practiced l.y needle and stone

to I'tolemy, and then acc.rding to the prevailing ideas of the dav. This~^ir
nnty of the map entitles it to interest as a Coln.nl.ian map, thon^h the feature
referred to does not appear to have l)een remarked upon hitherto

7-,) '^!l^Vr" '"■"'"'"'' ^'■'"" ^^' Annals hy Finn Magnussen, in - JVorrlM
JuM-nftfov Olkyndiylu'dr Vol. II., p. 129. Ithasheen suggested, though without
reason, that the voyage of Columbus was nmde in 14G7. See Harrow's "Chrono-
bgieal H.Story," p. 20. Colu.nbus gives the wrong latitudes for (he places visited
Imt this may he the fa.ilt of the editor ; while Humboldt snvs that they were not
the result of his own observations during a rough wintry voyage. ^^^ Examci
UUique 11., 115, and V., 214, n.. In 1.550 a Bristol ship was lost at Iceland See
Harrett s Bristol.

X Fcedera, XII,, 94.

■■^

A rrtic E.i'plordtlon .

'I'liidcr wiinles witliiii ii little while
Within twelve yerc, nii<l without pci'iU
Got) and conic, as uienwerc loont of old
Of Scarl(orou<;h unto the costes cold."*

Thus, iit the tinic when the poet wrote, liristol had revived lier
old enterprise. The niai-itime enterprise of this period is greatly
underrated by Mr. Fronde.

The sketch tlius t^iven of maritime entorinuse towards the north,
and especially during the 14tii and 15tli centuries, is quite general. It
would be easy to swell the citations from \arions sources, among
which may be mentioned the voyages to tlie west of Ireland so well
known to Columbus, as his biogra|»hy proves. Yet enough has been
said to show the real character of the period in which Nicholas of
Lynn flourished. The times, both before and after the general
date assigned to his voyages, were marked by great activity, and
expeditions to the nortli were so common that neither the Knglish
nor the Icelanders took the trouble to mention them, except when
they stood connected with circumstances of particular interest.
The intercourse between Iceland and England w^as so frecpient that
sailors like John May, who served as the representative of the
Bishop of Holem, must have ac(piired a fair knowledge of the
language spoken in that distant isle. Indeed, at one time, under the
Normans, the Icelandic tongue gave a person the advantage at the
courts of both England and P^ ranee. f

But enough has been said to prove that the voyage of Nicholas
of Lynn, in 13G0, formed no novelty. It was the alleged circum-
stances attending his voyage that rescued his name from oblivion.
His actions take their place with entire naturalness in the annals
of Ins age, there being nothing in the nature of the voyage
towards the Pole to challenge belief. But it Avill be proper here
to speak of Nicholas himself.

Qua'Mt Andrew Fuller, in his Worthies of England, says tl)at no
county "doth carry a fajt and gallavt more higli" in maritime
affairs than Norfolk; and, in speaking of the seamen, bids "none be
offended if a friar be put in front of all the rest." The friar alluded
to was Nicholas of Lynn.];

* lliiMuvt. Vol. I., p. 201. Ed. jr)9i»-lfi00.

f l>aiiijj;'s IIeinisk»-inghi, Vol. I., chap, viii., p, (il.

\ After writing the greater portion of this paper we chanced to tind two other men

irr//<- I'J.,'j)/(„'(/f/'(,„^

- n. .s „IuaI was l,on, i„ Lynn, ^Jorlolk, at tl.c en.l of ,h. tlm-
ecnth ..nturv or at the be.nnnin.,. cf th. fuurteontl.. Of his ances-
tors noth.ng .s known, and hut few of the pa.-.ieuhus of his li^^
iK,w access.hU.. Richards, i,. hi, hi.toryof Lynn, has .nade o e

ho. u they may be ver.Hed. It is nevertheless certain that Nicll

d.r^ "ovf'r "u '" '^'"""^ '"'''^''^ ■''''' ''^-"^ '- --^-i '•-

•e H T ^' "''' ^^■^"" '^^'^'^^'" ''.V Chaucer, .vho, it. his

eat.se or, the Astrohihe, speaks of hin, as '' Frere X Lenne "
"reverent clerke."* Bale sivs th-.M.o ..v ii _" "'\\-^- ""f ""'S ^
«.,.,, . 1 '"*- "'^^^ '^"•^'^ '"tfexceUed ii: anlhmete, o-eom-

e Uy, uus.c and astrology ;f and it is a ^-urious fact that th N.Jh
o a. ot Chaucer's '^Miller's Tale'' is represented as ..ossc^L^Ue
a ne ac.uire.nents. Chaucer also makes him a stud nt at ()v]o |
-n.n^ hnu hende," o.. haudsofue Nicholas, and sur.-oundh., h m
u ith the implements of his profession :

" HLsalmagcstc [Ptolemy] „n.l h„k..s yirtc a.„] sn.alc
Ills ustrolaljie, l(.iioi„o for his m-f,
His aiiurini stoues, Inyen fairc aparte,
On shelves coticlieil at iiis I.eddes lied,
His press yeoverwi with a faldiu^r reil.
And all al)out tiieie juy a -ay sautrie
On wiucii made on iijohtes melodie.
«o sweetly that all the ehaml)ie roii;;- :
And ani;eliiH ad vir<;inem lie sony."

Tl.e ''Miller's Tale" also indicates the possession of certain nauti-
cal tastes on the part of the hero, and the device of the Tub may
.avebecm intended as a playful allnsion to sonte atten.pted navi..,,.
t.on by Nicholas oi Lynn. It is possible, therefore, thouo-h Cha.uler
speaks ol h.m with much respect in his work on the Astrolabe, that,

of the sa„.e name, though .neither .,f them appear to have atfae.ed the attention oi'
those V. ho have wntten on the anti,uities of Ly.m. First, '• Xieoias de Len," Ahhot

U.ro„Kp.e de Matthieu, I>aris,"T. IV., pp. ,S!)-t00. The seeond is Nieolaus Prior of
Lynn w„ entertaine.l John Aieo..k, Jiishop of Ely, upon the occasion of that preh>te's
us c to the phice. Il.s a.hninistration of the See of Ely ende.i in 1500; for which
tact he wnter >s^ m.lehted to the present Bishop <,f Ely, the Hi^^ht Hcv Dr
V\oodtord. See Libri I^tf/ri Scaccani, H., 4(i4.

* Chaucer's '• Astrolabe " (,he Ed. of the Chaucer Societv) p 'S

■\ "Scnptoruui,"cScc., p. 4G«.

o other men

■n

Arcfie Exploration.

in this talc, several versions of which have been broujjjht out by the
Chaucer Society, he makes an allusion to some adventure which hap-
pened while he was a student, and before he had ac([uired the char-
acter of a "reverent derke." It would appear that, like Chaucer
himself, Nicholas was in favor with tiie famous Duke of Lan-
caster,

lleilbronuer says that Nicholas flourished about the year IMSo, and
that he "ended life" a cenobite; but wliat portion of his life was
spent at sea does not appear. It is possible that he went to the north
with tlie Noi'folk fleet, and it Avould seem that he was a )>ractical
navigator. However lontj he niav have followed the sea, he at last
found grateful repose witliin tlie cloisters of his convent, devoting
his days to science and religion.

His voyage must have been made from the port of his native town
called 1 yim Regis. The town was one of great anti^iuity, having
received its flrst <-harterfrom King John, this being followed by no
less than eleven others, all of which, with their seals, are still carefully
preserved. At a very early period Lynn was an important seaport.
It contained vai'ious com cuts and churches. The latter, in connec-
tion with numerous crumbling antiquities, render Lynn a place of
very great interest. The thoughts of the peo])le, like the air of the
town itself, were full of the ocean bree/e, and even the monk in his
cell felt many of those sul)tle influences which pervade the maritime
provinces and in\ ite men to wander abroad. In the case of Nich-
olas, duty may have united with natural inclination in alluring him
away upon unknown seas. vVt all events, he became a sailor, and, as
Chaucer writes ; " With many a tempest hadde Ills herd be shake."
Thus he won his place as a mariner in the annals of his time.

Two works have been attributed to Nicholas of Lynn; the '" fnven-
tio ForttiiHitit,'''' a copy of which he presented to P^dward III., and
an astronomical Kalendar, aclaptcil luore or less to practical naviga-
tion. The latter is still preserved, and its ccmtents are indicated by
Bale. It treats of the length of the days, the oppositions and con-
junctions of planets, and gives a table of eclipses calculated for
75 years, together with a description of astronomical instruments.*

* '■ KiilciKliiriniii indicnns rornni locum Solis, qnnntitiitein (liernrn artifioialium et
viil ..iuui, oppositiones et conj unctions planetiiruiu, &c., cum tal)nlis Eclipsium ad 75
imnos et (lescrijitione (juorundam instrmcntorum astroncmicarum." A recent note

''-3

rjor

Ari'ff'e Krj)lo)'af/oii.

ihap-

eliar-

aucer

Tian-

5, and

:» was
north
ic'ti(!al
at last
voting

> town

Having
by no

rei'uUv

caport.

•onnec-

liice of

of the

in his

laritinie
Nieh-

11 g him
:iii<l,as
hake."

I., and
Inaviga-
lited by
Ind con-
ted for
lients.*

•iaUum et
jiuni 11(175
Icent note

The work by wliicjli Nirhohisof Lynn will longest he renieinl;ored
is not now to be found. It is possible that if a copy were diseovered
it would add little to ins fame. It may have api)eared in print at
the end of the fifteenth century, though no nientiou of its publica-
tion has been pointed out. Its disap])earanc'' und' '• any circum-
stances is not a. matter of sur))rise, since of many inijjoitant works
onc(' well known no copy reiuains to-(hay, while of otliers there ar(^
only one or two examples.

Unfortunately, we know almost as little about the voyages made
from Lynn by the fellow townsmen of Nicholas as about the hook
in (juestion. Many hardy mariners sailed Uom the port of Lynn,
hut of their enterprise at the north only the most scanty memorials
remain. It is nevertheless clear that their activity was appreciated
by Edward III., while their neighbors of Blakeney were several
times favored by that king on account of their su))erior merit.* But
while mention has been found of no particular northern voyage
from Lynn, we must not forget the fact already state*!, that in 141.")
the peojde of that place were ordered to make no voyage to Iceland
except in accordance with the rules observed in ancient times. Pos-
sibly, therefore, one of the five shii)s reported at tlu' north in 1415
was from Lynn.

It may also be noticed that in the ancient manuscript records of
Lynn there is a reference to armour for tlu- use of the " North Fleet. "f

oil ltii<i;e r)9 of the MS, siiys : " Hoc Kuiendariuiii fet'it Nicholnus de I.ineii Onl. Ji.
Mariiv (le Monte Cnniu'li inter Leetores S. Tlieo!(i<ii;e Univ Oxon. 1IJ8(), ad pcti-
tionem et eomplacentiain illustcissimi Principis I). Joannis Dneis Lniicastriu', in-
cipiens iv fine Kalandarii Revemli Mafiistvi Walter! Klvendpii." (Catiilon'i Lil>orum
Manuscriptoruni Anj^lia' et Hilierniie," Oxford, 1(197, No. ()!I04 (oG), Woitley MSS.,
p. 213. John Hale gives the lietids of tlie IJl eliapters coiniiosini; tlie work, anioiif?
which is one on the Astrolabe. See " Seriptoriini iliustrin iiiaioris Brytannie," &e. ,
Male, 1557, p. 4(58. J. Bale is not to be eonfonnded with Hohert, the Car!^:ciite friar
of Norwieli, whohecanio n Protestant in the rei<:n of Kdwanl \'I. Heillironnei fol-
lows Hale in his "Hist. Matheseos Universa-," Leipsie, 1742, p. 490. According; to
Mr Si<eat (Chaueer's Astrolabe, p. 7'5), Tanner follows Hakluvt. Tyrwhitt, in liis
"Canterbury 'I'ales" (p. ()2(i), shows little discrimination in declaring that Ilakluyt's
iieeount is a mere falile. This is evident from the antliorities Haklnyt gives.
Leland's " l)e Seriptoribns," &('., may also be consulted, and Pctsiiis' unfinished
" Relationvm Historicum de Hebus Anf^licis," I., .TOS : Paris, the Cramoisy I'ress,
1619.

* Hakluyt, I., 120.

f Mr. Michael Mitchell, of tlieTown Clerk's oflice, Lynn, now known as"Kin^'a

Arctic KxpUn'dthm.

TluM'u is one curious tliiuijf to he uieutioued, uiiuR'Iy, tliut on certain
maps of llio Orcados, and notably on Jilack's Atlas, sonio nx^ks aro
laid down north of Ronaldsha as " Altars of Lina." In an old folio
on the Orcados, tlu-rc is the following: " Tho Altars of Linay reach
above (piarter of a mile from the shore, and are visible with low
spring tide,"* Thus far, iiowever, it has been impossible to discover
any tradition in eonin'ction with these rocks, though it may perhaps
be admissible to supjiosc that, in voyaging northward, Nicholas was
accustomed to stop at the Orcades, and tiiat in some way his name
became connected with these rocks, which formerly must have risen
high above the sea, presenting a marked appearance suggestive of
altars, f

Among the manuscripts of Sir Thomas Hare, at Stow Hall,
^s one which, under date of ManthlUth, 1;J.'37, mentit)ns a ship at
L^ -in, called " The Petre," Edmund Ferrers, of Wygendale, being

Lynn," writes : " As to Nicholas of Lynn, I liej; to inforni you that I do not tiiul
any iniMition of iiiin in tiic Lynn records, the earliest hook of entries of which is
the 'Red Ue;j;ister of Lynn ' — which is contemporary with Nicholas. There is, how-
ever, a short entry in this reyifter aliout ^>;'«m/i//(7 (irmoiir for the line of the ''North
Fleets which nniy proliahly refer to the ecjuipnient of one of Nicholas' expeditions.'
(Letter of Octoher I'Jtli, 1879.) I am also in<iei)te(l to this j^entleinan for a variety of
views of interostiny ohjects in the town. I am indehted to the Rev. C. 1{.
Mannint,', of Diss, who is secretary of tha Norfolk & SutVolk Archicological Society,
and the Rev. Edward I. Alvis, of Last Winch, for infornuition contaiued in Richard's
History of Lynn, Vol. L, p. -ISti, Ed. 1812. Richards says: " Like the f^reat Royer
Racon, who lived aliont half a century before him, Nicholas helonj^ed to the religious
order of Grey Friars, or Franciscans, otherwise called Cordeliers and Minor Rreth-
ren." He also thinks that he died at Lynn, thouy;h unahle to lix the year, and that
he was hurled in the dormitory of the flrey Friars ; and sujj;gcsts that " the (Jrey
Friars Tower "' in Lyini was used l»y him in makiny; ol)servations. It would appear,
however, that Nicholas was a Carmelite.

* "General Atlas," lviinhnrs,di, 1831, Sheet IX.

f Mr. Anderson, of the Society of Scoltish Antioifiries, well known for his
knowledge of all that relates to old nortiiern anti(iuities, writes, under date of Feh. (jth,
1880: " It occurs to me that the name nniy I.e accounted for without either history
or legend. The old Norse word Iflciii means a rock running out into the sea like a
pier— a natural pier or breakwater— and the verb Hlei)w, from which it is derived,
means to save or protect. Hence comes the name of the goddess Hlin (the wife of
Odin), tlie saviour or jiroteetress. Hence, also, I see no tiitliculty in the origin of a
mythological name for natural objects whose every-day mime was so like that of
Odin's wife. Se non cvrroe boi trov<ite.'" It should be added, however, that the sub-
ject of tlie monk of Lynn was not brought to the notice of the above learned writer,
a re(juest having been made simply for some explanation of the legend on the map.

work

corn]

den,

fails

upon

4 rrlir Ex})l oration .

master.* It would be useless i\> induljjje in any speeulatioiis eoncern-
iiitj^ the connect'ons tliat may have existed I)et\vee!i Nicholas and
John de Iladdon, Admiral of the Fleet for the " parts Uoreal.'"
The IJritish navy was founded by Alfred the Great, and in the
fourteenth eentury it was, in a sense, a recognized institution. In
i;]54 de Iladdon ajtpears to have used both Ilartlepdol and Xew-
eastle-upon-Tyne as naval stations ;f the latter beinu; r.ot far from
l.ynn, while the former, situated on the coast of Durham, aft'or-^ '•] a
most convenient base for operations towards Iceland, whither, as we
have seen, one of the king's ships went with a trading fleet in 1415.
In the fourteenth eentury Kanulfus Iligden wrote his well known
" Polychronicon," but, though a contemporary of Lynn, he niakes
no reference to his voyage. Iligden died about the year 1:^63, while
the voyage of Nicholas is set down for 13(50. The early part of the

Rannlfu? Hiprdon's Map, A.D. 13W).

work, where the reference to Nicholas would belong, was probably
composed some time before his death, and possil)ly prior to inOO. Ilig-
den, therefore, may have known of Lynn and his voyage, though he
fails to mention him. Iligden gives a description of Iceland, based
more or less or. Giraldua Cambrensis, and adds a map of the Avorld,
upon the northern part of which Iceland appears as " Tile."

* " Third Report of the Koyal Commission." (1872), p. 351.
t Fmhra, v., 778.

>>»

\ri'tl<- HxfdiU'dtiini.

'I'i

IC ('ill'

lit'sl allusions to the Int'nitlo Foi'tiinntti of Ijvim is found

ii|iuii the JiiiirLrJ!! of a niiip by John Ruyscli, vliidli appeared at
Rome ill the I'toh'iny of 150W. On this map is a h'<feiid somewhat,

to the lollowiiii; <'tVect

It is written in the Ilook of the For

tiinate Discovery that, iiikUt ilie Arctic Pole, there is a hii^h inag-

tif'tic rock ;{.'{ (4erman niih's in circiinifereiice.

'1^1

IIS issurroiiiK

h-d 1

»v

the fluid suirenuin sea, that as a \ase pours out water liy four mouths
from hclow. Around are ishinds, of which two are inhahitcd.
.Mountains vast and wide surround thesi- i>lands, 'J4 of whicii (h-ny

lia

hitat

ion to man.

'This woidd seem to indicate that the hook written by Nicholas

Lynn was known to the mapmaker, while, also, it may have been
known at liome. It is evidei't that tli'- polar reoion was drawn
more or less in accordance with some plan l»y Nicholas, which was

comhined with later material.

round tiie inajjjnetKt rock, iiiimedi

at"Iy under the |»ole, arc four islaiuls, "Aronphei,"" Insvia deserta,"
" llyperhorei Evroj»a" ami " Insvie Deserta." Outside of these
islands are smaller and mountainous islands, arranged in a semi-circle,
while the ix-niiisiila of " Pilapelaiiti," with its base rostini;' upon
Kuro|)e, pushes out into this druidic arrangement (jf islands, bearing
up what is intended to represent a church, with tlu; legend "Sacte

()<lu!H.

Eastward of this neninsiila is the" Provicia obsciira," and

'he '' MaiH- Svgeiivm.'" Westward of " Bergi uxtrema " anotln-r

•'■ <iila enters the group of islands, whicdi is pier(red by *■' planora

erga"atthe extreme west. The " Afare Svgenvm '^ also Hlls

.vest. South of " (Trvenlant '' is " Terra Xova," or New Foiind-

•aad. P^'om the " .>rare Svgenvm " the water flows northward

through the four oj)enings into the itolar basin. The arrangement

is curious, yet not wholly without resemblance to what is found in

nature; for what is called the polar basin is fed by several vast

streams pouring into it from the warm regions at the south. These

streams also create counter currents, which flow south.ward, bearin<''

* "Lcf^ere est t I^ihro dc hrtioiie fortvrmti, svl) polo arctico ky\>T' esse cxcelsa e.\
lapide iiiat^uete Ji8 iniliarvm geniianorvni aiiihitv. liaiic coplectitvr mare svgciivm
flvidvm instar vasi.s aqva deorsv |)er foramina einetettis, ciicv Isvlc svt & ecivihvs
im-olvtvr dve ariibivnt avtem has insvlas continvi montes vasti latiq dictis. 24
qt) iiej^at liominvm liahitatio " This is obscure and appears to have suffered in the
hands of the en|;raver. Our transhition may not j)rove very satisfactory.

t'olilid

L! Kor-
\\ tiiiin-
kUmI by
moiillis
al>iti'<l.
h deny

lolas oi
ve bi'iMi
< drawn
icli was
iiimedi-
t'surta,"
»r tlu'st'
»i-circlL',
o- u|)t)n
x'ai'iiig
"■ Sactc
•a, and
another
(lanora
ds(» Hlls
Foiiiid-
•thward

lUCCMU'llt

Diiiid ill

'r:tl vast

IMu'se

Itcariiii:;

cxcelsa ex
sv^ciivm

iV ('(ivil)vs
licr,is. 24

iicil in the

Avrtic ICi'iilnrtltinii ,

('iiornw.iis (iiiaiitltit's oF the lifavicst ice. NidK.las (d' Lynn doidit-
Ii'ss iind<'rsto()d soniclhiiii^or this fact, l»ii( if woidd a|.|.car fn.in tlic
use he made of (iirahliis Carnltri-nsis, wh-) wrote- in 1 \^1, that, unfor-
lunatcly, ho gave the anthor of Ti>piH/r<ip/i!<i Ilihc'iHrd the credit

\ Si'ctioii or llic Map (if Kiiy.sili, LVis.

of lteinL>i letter infoniierl than himself. 'I'he iriuidv of Lynn was
i-h'arly indebted to (iriialdns for the description of liu' streams. In
tiirji (xiraMus refers to " the )dnh)soi»ljers '' who <leseribe thejn.*

* '' Null profiil all insiiU'sex parte horealis, est minis (jiiii'daiii iiiinmdd voriipj. Ad
i|uuiii reiiidtes partibus omnes in<'"(|ues niurini lliictiis taiujiu'iii e\ 'ondicto coiifliuint

Arctic Kxplonitlon.

Tliis basin or w}url]»ool at the north, with the fotir entering streams,
appears to be a venerable institution. Yet it may after all be
founded upon what is observed to-day, in ( inection with the
Gulf Stream and the Kuro Ciro, and may be connected with the
observations of 'lU'h navigators as Pytheas, who went to the north.
The magnetic rocK under tlu; pole, on the m;i{) of Ruysch, or
-ather, we may p.erh.ips say, of Nicholas, deserves attt>ntion, as it
has been claimed that the monk had ajtplied his mind to one of the
most dlihcult of })roblems and that tlie magnetic mountaiti stands
for the solution thereof.

The attention of Humboldt does not appear to liave been drawn
to Nicholas, l)ut, iii treating the history of the rnagnet, the great
investitrator calls attention to the fact that " on the remarkable
chart of America appended to the edition of the Geogra))hy of
Ptolemy ]»ul)lished at Kome in 1508, we find the magnetic pole
marked as an insular mountain north of Grventla»it." In 15 "i,
]\[artin Cortez placed the magnetic pole further south, as did Sanuto
in 1588.* That Nicholas entertained fanciful notions is not at all
strange. Sanuto held that if men were ever so fortunate as to reach
the magnetic pole, they would experience some miraculous effect.
Columbus, likewise. Avas full of curious fancies, holding for instance,
that, west of the Azores, ships sailed Uj) hill towards the unapproach-
able T*ara(lise.+ It Avould have l)een a happy thing if the false
notions of Nicholas of Lyiui had not misled others. First, however,
it must be indicrited that the magnetic mountain of Lvnn was bor-
rowed from the early philosophers and geographers. Galen rej)orts
magnetic rocks on the coasts of tl)(> Indian ocean, and St. Ambrose
echoes the idea ; while the Arabic geographer Edrisi, of the
twelfth century, author of a Map of the World, of the year
1154, reported a magnetic mountain at the mouth of the RikI sea,
it being 12 miles long and surrounded by islands, acting upon

■ ^ — ^

et conrurrcnt : (ini iti secreta tmtiii;i> penetralia se il)i transfmlentes, (junsi in ahys-
snm vorantur. Si vero navein hoc forte rransirc eontiirerit tiuita rapilur et attraliitur
fliictuuin violentia ut earn stutini irrevoeahiliter vis vara'itatis ahs^orlicnt. Qiiatuor
hujiis modi oceani vora<.Mnes', qnntuor ajipositio mnndi paitil)us, pliilosophi descrih-
nnt. ITiide et tarn marines flnxos, <juarn etiam ;rlieos flatus eansaliter provonire non-
nnlli conjeetant."— 'I'op, Hii)ernica, e.xiv.

* Cosmos, II., 659 ; Examen Critique, III., 60.

f " Select Letters of Columbus," p. 183.

Arctic E.vjtlordthm. 25

the iron in ships and holdintc thorn fast.* In Kuysclfs Ptolemy of
1508 is foui!(l !i similar account, the island beino- in the possession
of anthropophatjfi, or Manioles. It is surronnded by ten other
islands. The magnetic attraction was so powerful there, that it was
necessary in building ships to use wooden nails.f In these accounts,
as in the map of Ruysch, the magnetic island stands in a circle of
islands.

KflrisiV Map. A. D. ll.M.

* " Life of Cohimhns," by Goodricli, j). 48. YA. New York, 1874.
f " Feruntur et liir iiliif insii'iccotiinu' esse nmiicro dfcc Mrstiiolji' Mi)|)ellal;<' i|hns
fliout navigiii (jiie davo;: t'eneos lint detinieri nc (|ii lapis herculeus (jui circa i|>.sa

a ^86

[rrtie Ki-plnr<(tl.O)}.

The map of Ruysch alone is the authority for ('oiM!',"'tiiig Lynn's
name with the magnetic mountain. The accounts preserved by
Mercator and Dr. Dee do not mention the magnetic rock, the ships
beinf driven by the currents or indraughts. Nicholas understood
something of }>olar magnetism, and su]>i)osed that it was to be ex-
plained by the aid of a magnetic island like that of Ptolemy, and
accordimjflv created one. It was partially suggested as hypothetical.
Of the extent of his actual knowledge in connection with polar mag-
netism it is iniposj.ible to sj)eak.

It will be necessary, however, to notice the blunder into which the
map of Ruysch led Humboldt, who, contrary to his usual custom,
hastily accepted a suggestion found in Biddle's Life of Cabot. Mr.
Biddle, in seeking to exalt his hero, dwells upon what Cabot ob-
served in connection with the variation of the compass, and says
that his earliest transatlantic voyage carried him " to the very quar-
ter where it is exhibited in a manner so sudden and striking that
modern navigators seem to concur in placing there one of the mag-
netic poles." As respects the locality of the voyage in question,
however, there is much doubt, the so-called map of Cal)ot being no
authority on the sui)ject.* Mr. Biddle nevertheless continues :
"There is a curious piece of evidence to show how early the north-
ern region discovered by Cabot was associated with the alarm which
this phenomenon [the variation] must, in the first instance, have
excited," adding: "On the great map of the world which accom-
panies the edition of Ptolemy ])ublished at Rome in l.")()S, is the fol-
lowing inscription," which he gives in ]^atin, but "hich is Englished
as follows : " Here the ship's compass loses its p' operty, and no ves-
sel with iron on board is able to get away."t On this, the author

gi<init ill't trahcret, oby hoc sup truhib eii i sicco finnaii assenit." (Riiysch's Ptolenn'
of IO08, Lib, VII., c. ii.) On iniiii xi.. I'. Kio, the ishmds are laid ilown, witli a
le^jcnd (■ontaiuiiif.'- tlie idea already (sx pressed. See also Hersieroii's " Voyaj;e.s tails
Idiiieipalement en Asie," Toine I., p. S.j ; and the I'toleniy of Jiusiolli, Venice,
1574, p. ;?28.

* See the -.nthor's article ir the "Conipte Ren('u " of the Anicricanistes, Brus-
sels, 1880.

f " A Memoir of Sebastian Cabot," p. 179, Ed. Vji2. The Latin is as foil as :
'■'■Hie ctnnpHSSitu naviv. no tenet nee naves cpie ferriun tenent revertere valet."' No
.Hidi absurd statement .■•oultl have come from either of the Cubots.

Arctie Ewplorution. 2 7

says that " it if? impossible to doubt that the reference is to the uell-
known effect produced there on the compass. Beneventus, who pre-
pared the supplemental matter for this edition of Ptolemy, professps
to have a knowledge of the discoveries made by Columbus by the
Portuguese, and by the English." He also refJrs to FnMrnier, who
says that Cal)ot marked exactly in various places the dipping of the
needle.* Humboldt, in noticing this, says that JJiddle " oliserves
witli justice, that a remark inscribed on the Mappemonde of Ptolemy''
" appears founded on the ideas of Cabot relative to the position and
proximity of the magnetic pole."t Nevertheless, a more careful ex-
amination of the general subject, in connection with Nicholas of
Lynn, would have shown Humboldt that there was no ivference
whatever in tlie legend to the discoveries of Cabot, but that tlie
reference was to the teaching contained iu the monk's Inmitlo
Fortmiati, itself an echo of Ptolemy and tlie ancients. Biddle says
that the inscription appears "far beyond terra nova," while Huin-
boldt loosely says, " before or neai- {^>ms') New Foundland." Both
are (luite wrong, as the legend stands north of Greenland and Ice-
land, at the entrance of the polar sea, evidently being placed there
for the reason that there was not suthcient room nearer the ma-netic
mountain. Humboldt, by the aid of Mr. Biddle, simply fell h.to a
blunder, confusing a monastic hypothesis with the su])posed record
of an actual ol)servation by Cubot. This error does not appear to
have been noticed hitherto.

The arrangement of the land ami water around the pole on Ruysch's
niaj) is conventional, and it may be questioned whether the great
peninsula called " Grvenlant " was a part of Lynn's plan. At all

'vents, he had ample opportunities of b(

(ireenland when making his voyage to the nortl

coming acquainted with

1, as in i;no the I

ce-

* " Memoir/" &c., p. 17!).

f "M. Riddlo, uuteur du suvant Mnnoir of Stbaxtian Qihot, ,jni a |mru ei. 1831
oLscrve avcc jiistesse (cliai.. 2(5, p. 177-180) <|u'iiue rcinar,,iie ir>sn-ite dai.sln Mappe-
inoiide de Ptok'mee ajoutee a I'edition ron.aine de \rm. re.naniue .lapres la.p.ell..
' |>n.s do Tcrrc Neuve et Tile .Ic Ha.alaiin.s, la l.ous.sole ne Rouvenie pas, lur naven
([nojerrum tencntrn-crUre volent,' parait fondi'e mu- Ics idt't-s de CaU.t relativcis A la
position etii la proxiniite du pole inaoneti.nie boreal."- (" Exainen Critidne " MI

;52.) ' ' '

Arctic Exploration.

landers were still well iiit'onrnd respecting that country.* rndeed,
there is good reason for supposing that the map of Ruysch shows
less knowledge of (4reenland than Nicholas possessed, as the
monk was a contemporary of tlie Zeni and Birdsen; for it was dur-
ing the lifetime of Lynn, 1340, that Ivar Burdsen went from Nor-
way to Greenland for the relief of tlie colonists there.f

Next we ])ass to the map of Orontiiis Fine, of the year 1 "i:?!, which

-';

f >

shows the influence of Nicholas, as exerted by Ruysch ; for there is
no evidence at hand ])roving that Fine liad seen the book called bi-
veiitio Fortunatti. J-'ine's ma)) represents the circum|»>)lar region
com|>lete, and retains the four iniuM- islands shown by Ruysch. The
outer circle of islands is broken, Av^'.ih' ''Grvenlant "" ap[)ears as an
island widely separated from Asia. Iceland and the Orcades appear
in their proj)er relativi' [>o^,itions ; " Baccalar," which included New
Foundland and Labrador, being a part of Asia, in accordance witli
the Columbian idea.

The next trace of Nid olas, the monk of Lynn, is found in the
work of Las Casas, written in l")52-6], where he speaks of floating
islands, and refers to those of Northern Italy, mentioned V)y Pliny,
and where he also mentions the tioating pummice-stone described by

* " Islenzkir AnnAlnr," p. JWO.

f Sec "The S:tilin(4 Directions ol' Henry Hudson, '" and Banlsen'.s Cor.nmission in
" Aroti\e liindes Giinile (icd^aiipliie,'" i>. 47.

Arctli- Hfploratioyi,

Seneca. Passing from those oases, he mentions " eortain ishinds
wh.chswHn on the water," saying " of this kind nu.st l.ave been
those, wh.eli are caUed Saint Brandon, in whose history, it is said
you may read of many islands that were seen in the sea surrounding'
the islands ot Cape Verde and the Azores, which are always in I
state oi conflagration, and which must be similar to those spoken of
above, adding, ^' of the same mention is made \n the book of In-
ventu) Iu>rtu/iata.''*

Nicholas of Lynn also appears upon the map of Mercator, 1569,
whereon the polar regions are delineated n.ore or less i,i aeconhmce
with the conceptions of the famous monastic voyager, while the map
shows that Mercator obtained his information throuoh Cnoyen f

1 lu .«, L,k ., . !),, .,. su • Natural Ilistoria,' .^ue luida la parte del Se,.ten,trion.
ocaha la ,nar alo-unas arboledas ,ie la tierra. .jue tienon tan ora.ules rai Js, que la
en. e,,„.o balsas sobre el a.„a .^ue de.ic lejos parogen islas. A,,ula a es;o lo que

.iK'e Seneca e„ el hb. III. .ie 'Los Naturaies.' ,,„e hav narura .le pie.h.s tar.

esponjosas y hv.anas, <p,o l.aeeu dellas en la India unas com., isias que van nadand,,

po. el agua, y .lesta n.anera debian de ser las ,,ue di.en 8ant Hran.lan, en cuva

Ca > Verde ode las A.ores, que sie.aprc ardian y debian de ser anno las que
u ba solmndadu,: ,le lo n.isn.o se l.ace n.enciuu en el libro Ihuuado lucenUo
joitanata. ihstonas.le las In.iias, i„ - Ducun.entos ine.iitos," Ton.. LXII p 9<)
^or tlie passage of Seneca, see " (Euvres Con.plOtes," Tun.. VIII., p. m)^^:,
PIn.y, Eohn'sed., p. Vi2. '

t y.cvator says; " TonH.in^- tl... description of the north partes, I have taken the
>^a...e out oi the voyage of Ia,.>es Cnoyen, of Hart/.euan ]Juske, which allen.^eth
;«'non^^ the rest, he learned of a certaine p.i.st, in the Kinj-- of Norwaves
J'ourt, „. the yee>e 1;J(J4. This priest was desce.uled f.on, then which Kin<r Arthur

md sent to ..habit those Islands, and he .eported that in the yeere l;j«0 a certain
i^>i;,l,sh l-r.e.-, a Fianciscan, a.,d a Mathematician of Oxford, came into those Islands
^^"«' Icavi... then,, .,nd passin- further by his MaoioiH Arte, desc.-ibed all those
places that he M.wc, "n.l touke the hci-ht of then, with his Astrolabe, acconjin- to the
'"nr.e that I, Gera.d Mercator, have set .lown in n.y ,„appe, an.! as I have tl.kcn it
•'Ut ot the aforesaid Cnoy.n. lU-e say.l that those fou.e lnd.-au;,d,ts were d.'awne into
""•"^VMnUulfoor whiricpoole, wM.M, Km.t ;i force, that the ships which once
fnte.-ed therein, ccrM by .,„ „aanes be .iriven back a-aine, and that there is never in

hose parts so n.uch win<le Ih.winj;, as n.ight be sufHcieut to drive a corn ...ill "
(Ihe "Principal Navigations,' by Hak!u\r, I,, 1:23.)

This O.xford friar referred to by Cnoyen, was none other tha.i Nicholas of

Arctic Exploration.

Another- roforence to tlie sulijoct is r(Miiid in the Life of tlie
\(lmiriil, horotofore generally attributed to Ferdinand Columbus,
The text runs as follows : " Juventius Fortijuitus relates that
there is an account of two islands towards the west, and a little
southward than the island of Cape Verde, which skim along upon
the water."* ^iow, if we are (a)rrect, the writer liere allu'les to the
[n>'e)it!o Fortnndtn of Nicholas of Lynn, thoui;h the editor of the
Life of the Admiral, whoever he may have been, makes the title of
the book itself the name of the author. It is indeed possible tiiat
such a person as ".Inventus Fortunatus " wrote on geographical
subjects and hence was ([noted, but the probabilities are against this
view. At all events, no such work now exists in the Colombina
Library at Seville, where we should expect to tind it, for the reason
that the library in question is none other than the library of Ferdi-
nand Columbus, the reputed author of the Tiife of the Admiral.
Noi- does this iil)rary contain the hivtntio Fortinmta of Nicholas ;
which constitutes another argument, such as it is, to prove that Fer-
dinand did not write the book attributed to him, or at least that he
did not comj)ose the work in its present form. The catalogue of tlie
Colombina has been searched diligently for some indication of such
work, but in vain.f An impury has also been nnide respecting the

i'l

Lvim, I'oiu'i'rniiijj; whose work soiiiethiii}; more will l)p known \vhe>> the t'ortnniite
iuiti(iuar3' driiws ont from its hidiiifx-place the l)ook of Cnoyeii, which Merciitor
says contained his vovaj^e " throniihout all Asia, Africa and the North," a liook
which " was let! t me in time pant, l)y a friend of mine at Antwerpe.'" He adds:
" After I had nsed it, I restored it afiaine; after many years I re([uired it apiin of
my friend, hut he had forgotten of whom he had horrowed it." (Principal Navij^a-
tions, "I., 44.5.)

* " Et Inventio Fortnnato narra, sarsi mentiono di <Uie altre /sole, volte all'
occidente, & pin Australi, ehe le Isolc de Capo verde ; le (luali vanno sopra Taccpia
iiutando." (Historie del S. D. Fernando Colomho,'' &c.. 1.571, c. viii.)

f The writer is under very ■ireat ohlifjations to Mr. Charles H. Kder, United
States Consular Af^ent at Seville, who, in Fehruary, 1879, carefully searched the
catalojjue of the ("lolomhina. Though some of the books that once belonged to this
valuaidc collection, which formed the library of Ferdinand Columbus, are missin"',
the Inventio Fortunat:; does not appear in the catalogue. Among the entries are the
following: "Inventus, Presbiier, Atlas de mano," now lost ; "Fortnnato fiol de
Passamonte en Toscano " ; "Fortnnato perisumus glilifl montes pietatis," (Sc ;
'•Fortunatus, Presbiter. Vita Sa Martini."

of the
ilunibiis.
tes that

a little
\g upon
3rt to the
r of the
i title of
ble that
graphical
linst this
►lomhina
e reason
)f Fcrdi-
rVdniiral.
icholas ;
hat Fer-

that he
ue of the

of sucli
ting the

fortunate

iMeroator

11 I took

Ho lulds:

iipiin of

|il Navijj;a-

Ivolti- air
a Tafiiua

United
K'heil the
|(l to this
missiiifr,
Ks are the
fiol lie
IS." &v. :

Arctic K.>'plnrat}(>)i,

book of Tvnoycn, through which the author of the Life of the
Adniira! niight have learned the story of Nicholas. This work is
also wanting in the Colombina catalogue. It is nevertheless clear
that Columbus maile a careful examination of the arctic (juestion.
In the course of his studies he might have seen the Inventio
Fortuuata, That he had examined the subject is evident from his
Memoir or Annotations upon the Five Zones, in which he sets forth
the theory found in the " Imago Mundi," holding tliat the north
was inhabitable, and proving it out of his own experience in 1477.*

In 1589, lilundeville expressed an opinion derogatory to Lynn,
holding that the voyage attributed to him could never have been
performed Avithout the aid of some " colde devil.'' \

We now pass to the celebrated Dr. John Dee, a large number of
whose invaluable manuscripts were destroyed by a mob at Mortlake
in 1583, who evidently knew the manuscript of Nicholas; and liak-
Itiyt, in 1599, gives an additional testimony from the Astrologer.
It runs as follows : " Ano 1800, (that is to wit, in the .'34 yeere of
the reigne of the triumphant King Edward the third), a frier
of Oxford, being a good astronomer, went in comj>anie with others
to the most Northern Islands of the world, and there leaving his com-

* The " Iiiiaj^o Mundi " was studied and annotated liy Coiunil)us. 'I'iic sixth
" Inference " of (Jhajiter VH. speaks of those who live un<Ier the ])ole. and of their
condition. Tiie writer has found no traee of the " Menioria " on tlie "< "iniiue Zone,"
mentioned l)v Ilnniholdt (Cosmos, II., 611), who appears to speak loosely in sayinfj;
that " it i"is now heconio extremely rare." See also " Examen Critique," 11. ,105 ;
and v., 213.

f The followini; is IJlundeville's account : " Moreouer, the north side of the
proniontorye Tahin hiitli TO de;irees of latitude, whic h place, whatsoeuer J'linio
saith thereof in his fourth liooke of Histories, yet I heloeve that no Homan c:ime
ever there to descrihe ye Promontory. Neither doe I heleeve that the Kryer of ().\-
lord. tiy virtue of his Art Mai^icke, oner came so ni^^h the Pole to measure with his
Astrolahe those cold parts to^^ether with the fonre floods, which ilercator & Bernar-
iliis do dcHcrii)e hothin the front, and also in the nether end of their maps, it milesse
lice had some colde devil out of the mid<llc He;,'ion of the aire to he his ^xuide, ami
therefore I take then> in nnme oi)inio to he meer tallies.'' (A IJriefe Description of
Vniversal ^[appes and Cardes. and of their vse: and also the vse of Ptholeiney hi.«
Tallies, hy Thomas Blumleviile, London, 1580, 4to, p. e 2.) The work of Bernardns
I'liteanus, of nru^res, 1579, does not appear to he known. See Voya;;es of John
l>uvis, p. Ixxxviii., 1880.

Ai'ffic fCi-ptorafHuf,

j);uiy together, Ihh' travailod iiloiio, iiiid purposely described all the
Nortlicni Islands, with the iiidrawiiig seas: and the record thereof ;
at his returiuf he delivered to the Kintf of England. The name of
which book is Iniientio Fortunata (aliter fortuiuu) qui liber incii)it
a gradu 54 vfque ad pohirn. Which frier for sundry purposes after
that did live several times passe from England thither, and home

agam

As late as IGoO, tlu' story <:)f Nicholas of Lynn was echoed by
geographers and cosmographers. Ileylin wrote about the great rock
at the pole, and the four indraughts or Euripi, which swallowed
uj> ships, and added the story of the pigmies, mentioned on Mer-
cator's map of ln4'J.f

Among the maps which give more or less exactly the ideas repre-
sented by Kuysch, tiiat made in 1572 for Munster, copies of which
are found in Belleforest of 1575. Linschoten's maj) of 1505 faintly
shows the Euripi. The Ortelius of 1599 also snows them faintly.

* Ilakluyt, I., 132.

f " Under tlie Arctick Pole is said to l>e a Black Rock of wondrous liciuht,
about !)<} li'iijiues in cuniimss ; tlie Lan<l adjovnin^ beini;- torn by tlie sea into four
yreat iluuds. For theOueiin violently l)reakin^' tliorow it, and dis;4orj;ii)^ itself by 19
Channels, nniketh four Euripi, or tierce Whirlpools, by whitii the waters are finally
carried towards the North, and these swallowed into the Bowels of the Ivirth. 'J"hat
EuvpiuHOY Whirlpool which is ninde l)y tln^ Sct/fhic Ocean, hath live Inlets, and l>y
reason of his strait passa^^e, and violent course, is never frozen : the other on the back
of Orcenlauu, liein;; ;]? leagues Ion;;, hath three inlets, and remaineth frozen three
months yearly. Metween these two lieth an Island, on the Nortli of Liippia and
Biaoiiia, iidial)ited as they say i)y Pi/(jiiHCS, the tallest- of them not above four foot
hiyh. A c('rrain Scholer of O.vJ'ord roportetli, that these four Euripi aic
carried with such finious violence towards some OiilJ\ in which they are finally
swallowed u]), that no ship is able with never so stronj;- a Gale to dem the Current,
and yet there is never so strong' a wind asfto blow a windmill." (*' Cosnioj^raphie, "
B. IV., p. 191, K<l. l(!r)9)

On the next Jinge, Heylin adds : "But Bluiulcville our Country man is of
another o|)inion (as indeed who is not ?) neither belicvinjr that I'linic or any other of
the llo)uun Writers came hither to describe this ProiuDiitorji : or that the Oxford
Frier, without the assistance of some cold Devil of the middle region of the Aire
(and consequently al)le to endure all weathers) could ajiproach so near as to measure
these cold countries with his Astrolabe, or to take the liei>,^ht of this Black Rock
with his Jacob tStaf."

Arcfir J-J.t'pIorKtl'y)!.

;<:}

The Mcvcator of Ifoiitliiis, ItUiT, w.-iiits tlicin; l)ut tlic '' Fascicvlvs
(icoLjrapliicv.s," of Mattlit'w ilwud, iOos, shows tlic Euripi fully, as
(Iocs tlie Ilondius of l(il!», in wliicli thciv is an allusion to tlu' " fab-

ulous

uovcn

yci

{(]<> fdhiilcKx CiiKi-c.) In lo.T), Puivlias copied
the maj) of Ilojidius, wlio repeats the then current account of Lynn
(III., 024). Further on (p. S5;5) lie says that Mercator "■ was
abused Ity a map sent unto him, of foin-e Kuripi meetini; about
th(! North Pole."

In all these accounts tlun'c is, however, not hinjjj to impuy-ii the gen-
eral statement respectini^ tlie voyage of Nicholas i?ito the far North.
If correctly rei)orted, lie may have faiicie<l that he knew all about the
Polo and that he had solved the problem of the n agnet, by putting
oneof the old magnetic mountains in the north. If he was deceived,
it mav' be said that lu' was not the first navisxator who indiilLred ima<r-
illation at tlie expense of truth. lie is made to say that great tides
drew ships into a fatal gulf, but if this is used to])rovethat he never
saw the north, then the stories of the Norwegian sailors ri'specting the
Maelstrom, found until recently on many majts, would indicate that
after all they also never saw the sea. In the early times, what havoc
could not the cosmographer have made of the statement <»f Davis,
who saw tlie northern sea "fallinsx down into the u-ulf with a miijrhtv
over-fall"" V What is needed is the narrative of Nichobs, which he
|)resented toP]dward III. This may yet bedraAvn forth from some
musty and forgotten collection.

In (^losing we may |»ausv to in(juire how far north the ancient
navigators jtenetrated. The Icelandic colonists in Greenland may
have reached a very high latitude during the three hundred years
that they visited there, but tlie highest point indicated is that
near Cape York, in 72° N. ITpon an unptiblished Si»anish globe
in the National Library at Paris, of the date of about 1540, is an
jiidicjition which possibly may prove that some navigator had
pushed through Smith's sound and Koiteson channel. Many unre-
corded exj)editions were doubtless made into the north, and this
globe may contain the memorial of some French, Spanish or Portu-
siuese vovage not far from the vear looo. In 1500 and in 1501,
expeditions went north under Contereal, who also went in 1502,
never to return. On the east coast of Greeidand, so far as our
knowledge goes, exploration was not carried high up, though

Arctic EA'ploratioti.

Columbus, in going three IiuihIi'imI mik's boyontl Ict^land, must have
sailed close to the northern bonier of Greenland. If he had perne-
vered, he would have struck the New World in 1477. The early
navigators ap|»ear to have j>ushed northward to tlie pack ice, but
there is no indication of their having known either Jan IVfayen, or
PVanz Joseith's Land^ though they may have seen both. The map
of the Zeno Brothers, the result of the voyage of loSO, stood un-
equalled down to looS, no improvement iti the cartology of Green-
laiul being made until the voyage of John Davis, in 15S5, The
results of his observations in Greenland were indicated by Molynenx
on his globe of 1592 and on his mai> of KiOO, which was engraved
by Wright, being ]»rojected on the plan attributed to Mercator.
The map of lOOO apjx'ars to be the one referred to by Shakespeare
in Td'dftli Xl'jlit, as " the new map with thc^ augmentation of the
Indies."

Tn 1511, the Lenox Globe showed an open sea around the [>;.!e,
and in 1529 the Verra/ano Map left the sea still open, though in
the antaratic region a great continent was beginning to appear
south of Cape Horn. Herein was the ))artial representation of a
classic myth. On Mercator's map of 1509, the antarctic continent
exults in astounding jjvojtortions. Xotwithstanding the great bene-
fits conferred upon geogra}ihical science by Mercator, the know-
ledge of the globe in some respects was retarded in his hands, owing
to the weight of his reputation. The northern region also was in
time filled up, and ever since geographers have been struggling to
recover the original conception of a ))olar sea. Shall we succeed ?
Of speculation on this ))oint we have had enougli, and the question
remains to be decided by events. One thing, however, has become
clear, namely, that the prospect of sailing to the pole by the way of
Smith's Sound is far from encouraging. Manifestly, beyond a cer-
tain point, the route must l)e pursueil by sledging. On the other
hand, the route by l^ehring Straits is still to be fully tested. The
JeaneUe under Captain de Long, which last year ])assed within the
ice belt, sailing for Wrangell's J^and, is yet to be heard from. The
establishment of the proposed colony at Discovery Bay, in latitude
81^ 44' N., also awaits its accomplishment. When this is done, as pro-
bably it will be done in thesummer of IftHl, explorers will be prepared
to make fresh advances north of Smith's Sound, and thus enter seri-

jst have

\ {)01>l>-

lic early
ice, but
ayen, or
riu" map
tood un-
it" Green-
er,, 'fl.e
lolyiu'ux
jimraved
^levcator.
ikespeare
)ii of the

the {»;.le,
hough in
,o appear
,ioii of a
rontinent
cat bcne-
ic know-
Is, owing
o was in
gling to
succeed ?
question
s become
le way of
nd a cer-
the other
ed. The
ithin tlic
)ni. The
latitu(h'
le, as pro-
|) rep and
'uter seri-

At'ctlc Krp/ortifion.

ously upon the work of reaching the j)oh'. Captain Nares predicts
that this run never b('(h)no, as, in his judgment, tlic ice is too rouifh
for rapid sledging, wliile a powerful current is continually carry-
ing tile ice southward. The opinion of so brave and skilful an otlicer
is not to be treated lightly; yet tliere is no proof that the current
always acts as it did when Captain Markliam made his great
sledge journey to 83° 20' N., the highest point yet reached, nor that
the ice is always in the same rough condilioti tliat made his pro-
gn'ss so slow. These are points that remain to be decided by a
]»ermanent colony. In that sledge journey, Captain Afarkham's
party was prostrated by scurvy, the scourge of the north, thou<;h a
disease which a [troper supj>ly of provisions will obviate. Kvideutly,
too, the season passed in the north by the Nares expedition was one
of unusual severity. As it remained, Cajjtain iVIarkham reached a
point where the water had shoaled to 70 fathoms, indicating apjtroach-
ing land. They turned back when only MOO^ iniles fntm the pole. It
is not unreasonable to sup|)Ose that land actually exists a short dis-
tance north of this point. If so, that land may be gained and used
as a base of operations for the regions beyond. The <pu'stion of
reaching the pole is now being resolved into one of equipment,
while in this department something is yet to be learned. The first
thing to be achieved is the establishment of the permanent colony
at Discovery Bay, after which must follow the use of every appli-
ance tliat science and ingenuity can devise. In this respect the
Xares expedition was not altogether perfect. Indeed, no temporary
expedition can meet all the conditions. Permanence in operation
must characterise any successful plan to reach the pole. The ex-
lil(»rer must be made independent of ships; he must have adetpiate
means of resisting the cold, and antiscorbutics that will insura
health. These things are certainly possible, and when secured the
!!"ctic adventurer can bide liis time and await the favorable season;
in the meanwhile spending his time in those general observations
that w'ill prove of such incalculable scientific advantage. Haste
will form no part in that great campaign whicli must conduct the
explorer to the pole. The work will require time, and the highest
courage and perseverance. The <»\p!orer will have no assistance
from the natives beyond what he gains from those who live south
of Discovery Bay. That he will find, as he pushes into the far

Arctic 1^,1' pi oration.

north, liiiy " Anitic Hii^hlniidcr," livltij; in seclusion with licnls of
itiiisk ox and leindcMT, is a more eliirncrii.* KIlHnu'ic Land, far
south of Discovery Hay, ajjpcars to he the northern limit of the
Kskitno. Wherever man jjfocH in that liij.^h nortliern region, he must
carry the hulk of his supplies with iiim, as it will \n\ found im|)ossil»le
to sultsist l>y those means emjil(»yed by liieutenant Schwatka in the
i«outhward regions while engagi'<l in the Franklin search. Every-
thing depends upon those calculations which wdl enable the ex-
j)l()rer to gauge his strength with exactness and maintain his con-
nection with the base of those supplies which annual relief expedi-
tions, independently organized an<l maintained, will furnish in un-
failing abundance.

With a proper e(juipment, the dangers of arctic ex])l()rations are
reduced to tlu' average of the ordinary seafaring life, and experi-
ence proves that such work in the north can no longer be objected
to on the ground of its risk. Indeetl, arctic exploration may now
be considered as an accepted branch of study, and as a wise exten-
sion of the Signal Service into the realm of perpetual cold. This
being granted, the ultimate results will take care of themselves; for,
witli prudence, courage and })erseverance, the dream of the middle
ages will be n'ali/.ed, and the American flag will be planted at the
Pole.

* The portion of our paper which covered this point, nnd showing that the
Eskimo were a litoral people driven northward i:( ni the Middle Atlantic coast, has
heen expanded and piddished in the Popula :• deuce Monthly, November, 1880,
under the title of *' The Glacial Man in Americi.."

'm.

v\^

.\<b

N^'

<0>

\^=

.<^^

is^'

Morcator'n Map of the World, A

fator> Map of thu Work), A. D. 1569.