IN NORTHERN MISTS 



allusions to Scolvus seem to be derived from Portugal may be 

 explained. 



Possible Portuguese enterprises in the western regions were 

 barred by the claim of the Spanish crown to the dominion over 

 all lands to the west of a certain boundary, and in the final 

 treaty of Tordesilhas, June 7, 1494, between Portugal and 

 Spain, this boundary was fixed by the Pope at 370 leagues (about 

 1200 geographical miles) to the west of the Cape Verde Islands, 

 and it was to follow the meridian from pole to pole. All that 

 lay to the west of this meridian was to belong to Spain, while 

 Portugal had the right to take advantage of all lands to the 

 east. Thereby the Portuguese were debarred from the search 

 for India and China to the west. These enterprising sea- 

 farers must, therefore, have had every reason to find out whether 

 there were any countries on their side of the boundary line, 

 and it may be supposed that their attention would naturally 

 be drawn in the direction of the north-western lands (Greenland) 

 of which they had already heard. 



And, in fact, such voyages were undertaken from Portugal 

 (and the Azores?) about 1500; but the accounts of them 

 are meager and casual, and have been interpreted in very dif- 

 ferent ways. 



In order to enable one to form as unbiased a view as possi- 

 ble of these voyages, it will be necessary to begin by reviewing 

 the most important contemporary documents which may contain 

 statements of value; and afterwards to summarize what may be 

 concluded from these documents. 



On October 28, 1499, King Manuel of Portugal issued at Lis- 

 bon to Joao Fernandez letters patent (preserved in the Portu- 

 guese State archives, Torre do Tombo) for discoveries, evidently 

 in the north-west, in which it is said : 



"We [the King] make known to all who may see this our letter, that 

 Joham Fernamdez [now written Joao Fernandez] domiciled in our island of 

 Terceira [Azores] has told us that he, in God's and our service, will work and 

 travel and try to discover certain islands of [for?] our conquest at his own 

 cost, and we seeing his good will and purpose, promise him and hereby give 

 him de facto— in addition to taking him into our service— the mark of our 



