14 DISCOVERIES OF 1380. 



The extraordinary adventures of the two brothers 

 NicoLo and Antonio, in the northern seas, were 

 first pubhshed by Francesco MarcoHni, in 1558, 

 and afterwards in Ramusio's Collection of Voyages 

 and Travels.* They are stated to have been drawn 

 up from the letters sent by Antonio Zeno to his 

 eldest brother Carlo, and delivered to Marcolini for 

 publication by a descendant of the Zeno family, 

 who laments the imperfect state into which they 

 had fallen, by his ignorance of their importance at 

 a time when he was incapable of exercising a 

 judgment on their contents, and had carelessly 

 and thoughtlessly destroyed some of them ; that, 

 however, in more mature years, he had collected 

 together their scattered remains, and put them 

 into order, with the view of preserving the me- 

 mory of these early and interesting discoveries, 

 made by his two noble relations. 



From this circumstance, it is evident that great 

 allowances must be made for what may appear to 

 be inaccurate or mysterious ; but the relation, as 

 we have it in its mutilated state, contains so much 

 curious and correct description, and so many inte- 

 resting discoveries, that it must always maintain 

 its ground as one of the most important in the his- 

 tory of early navigation. From this relation, it 

 appears that Nicolo, being desirous of seeing 

 foreign countries, fitted out a ship at his own ex- 



* Dello Scoprimento del I'lsole Frislanda. 

 Ramusio, Navig. et Viaggi, vol. ii. p. 220. 



