Section II, 1888. [ 21 ] Trans. Eoy. Soc. Canada. 



III. — The Basques in North America. 



By John Reade. 



(Read May 25, 1888.) 



To the dwellers on this side of the Atlantic, the Basques are a people of exceptional 

 interest, as well from certain features of their language, as from their geographical situation 

 and their early A^oyages to the shores of the New World. M. Paul GrafFarel of Dijon is 

 inclined to believe that there is some groundwork of truth in the tradition, which credits 

 the Basque sailors and fishermen with a knowledge of America long before the close of 

 the fifteenth century. 



It is well known that the Basques were for centuries engaged in the whale fisheries 

 of their own seas. Some years ago, Mr. Clements R. Markham visited the seaports of the 

 Basque provinces for the express purpose of gathering information concerning that ancient 

 industry. In the report on the result of his inquiries which he subsequently presented 

 to the Zoological Society, he said that he had set foot in every important town on the 

 coast from the French frontier to Cabo de Pefias, comprising the provinces of Guipuzcoa, 

 Vizcayo, Sautander and Asturias. He fovmd that the Biscayan whale fishery was a 

 well established trade in the twelfth century and that it had probably been in existence 

 for two centuries earlier. Such adepts, indeed, did the Basques become in that arduous 

 and somewhat hazardous pursuit that, as soon as the English and Dutch entered upon 

 the Arctic whale fishery, their services were in great requisition and were highly prized. 



In 1612, James I of England wrote to the king of Spain asking for permission to 

 engage for English vessels Basc^ue seamen skilled in the use of the harpoon. In the course 

 of time the English learned to wield that powerful weapon themseh'^es, but it was to the 

 Basques that they owed their primary instruction. In the middle of the seventeenth cen- 

 tury the whales of the Biscayan waters became A^ery scarce, and the Basques had to extend 

 their voyages to alien seas in order to make them profitable. Even at a much earlier 

 period, they had been wont occasionally to push their quest to a considerable distance 

 northward and westward. Growing more and more adventurous, they were borne by 

 favorable winds from island to island, till finally, we are told, they reached the shores of 

 the opposite continent. The honour of the discovery is assigned by some to Jean de 

 Echaide, by others to Matias de Echeveste. According to M. Paul GafFarel, an island 

 called Scorafisca or Stokafisca, is marked on the seventh sheet of Andrea Bianco's atlas, 

 which dates as far back as 1436. The island in question is situated considerably west- 

 ward in the Atlantic, not far from where Newfoundland might be looked for. The earliest 

 editor or publisher of that atlas, Formaleoni, suggested that the name might be a corrup- 

 tion of " Stockfish," and indicate a knowledge of the Newfoundland cod fishery. 



Mr. Justin Winsor, states that a pilot's chart of the year 1400, had inscribed the 



