PORTUGUESE DISCOVERIES 



north of the Arctic Circle of the map to past Cape Farewell 

 (without landing, according to what the legend says), and its 

 direction on the map is explained by a variation of about 14° 

 west. The remarkably good representation of Greenland with 

 the characteristic form of the west coast cannot possibly be 

 derived from the Clavus maps, where Greenland is a narrow 

 tongue of land with its east and west coasts running very 

 nearly parallel. The west coast has been given a form approxi- 

 mately as though it were laid down from courses sailed with a 

 variation increasing towards the north-west from 20° to nearly 

 30° (cf. p. 371). It is also characteristic that while the east coast 

 is without islands, a belt of skerries is shown on the north along 

 the west coast. It may seem a bold assumption to attribute this 

 to pure chance and the caprice of the draughtsman, even though 

 it may be pointed out that he has given the west coast of Nor- 

 way a similar curved form with a belt of slferries outside, 

 (as on the Oliveriana map, p. 375). If the cartographer 

 was acquainted with the representation of Greenland on the 

 Clavus maps, the probability becomes still greater that he had 

 definite authority for his west coast, since it differs from that of 

 the Clavus maps. It is true that the Portuguese flags on the 

 map and the statement in the legend that the Portuguese did not 

 land on the coast do not seem to point to their having sailed any 

 considerable distance to the north along the west coast, for other- 

 wise there would doubtless be mention of this; but there may 

 have been lost authorities for the Cantino map, which were 

 based upon voyages unknown to us, as well as to the car- 

 tographer.^ 



1 Since I contended, in a preliminary sketch of this chapter, which Dr. A. A. 

 Bjornbo read, that the representation of Greenland on the Cantino map was 

 most probably based on a voyage along the west coast as well as the east. Dr. 

 Bjornbo [1910, pp. 313 f.; igio, pp. 176 f.] has examined the delineation of 

 Greenland on the Oliveriana map, and found that it represents discoveries 

 made during a cruise, not only along the east coast, but also along a part of the 

 south-west coast, and he sees in this a partial confirmation of my contention. 

 He thinks it was during Cortereal's voyage of 1500 that this cruise was made, 

 and even supposes that the prototype of the Oliveriana map was Cortereal's 



369 



