VOYAGES OF THK CABOTS IN 1497 AND 1498. 67 



Clement Adams, wliicli iudieatcil the landfall of the first voj-age. Haklnyt has preserved 

 the inscription but the map lias disappeared with all other papers and maps from Cahot's 

 hand. The inscrijition preserved l)y Haklnyt is found, in substance, upon the world map of 

 1544 (see appendix PI) as well as elsewhere, hut, at present, I have to do with the ma^i 

 Haklnyt saw. Ko doubt there were upon this lost map other inscriptions (as on the map 

 of 1544) ot the nature of notes giving information as to the different i)arts of the world 

 portrayed upon it. That one i)ertaining to the subject, translated from the original Latin, 

 is as follows : 



" In the year of our Lord 1497 John Cabot a Venetian and Sebastiaia his son opened 

 " up this country which no one had previously attempted to go to, ujion the 24tli day of 

 " June, early in the morning about five o'clock. 



" Moreover he called this land — lerram prhiidia ci^<uii — I believe, because he first from 

 " sea-wards had set eyes upon that region. 



"And, as there is an island situated opposite, he called it the island of St. John, I 

 " think, for the reason that it was discovered upon St. John the Baptist's day." 



The inscription on the map was in Latin and the above is a close translatidu. Haklnyt 

 gives an English translation ("Principal Navigations") but he has inserted explanatory 

 glosses. (See appendix II.) 



Then follows a description, not certainly of the island, but ot the whole region, Labrador 

 included. There is a colon and the next word, Hujas, commences with a capital letter. 

 Hujus must refer to the country generally ; for, if not, there would be no description of the 

 country, but only of that one island, and it would liavc been irrational for the writer to 

 have branched oft" into a dissertation upon an accessory point ; as absurd as it would be to 

 commence to describe Canada and confine the description to Anticosti. This view is 

 confirmed by the corresponding Latin inscription on the Paris map of 1544, where it is given 

 Hujus Icrrœ uirolœ, &c. Then follows immediately a description of the inhabitants, their 

 dress and mode of living and of making war, a description of the soil, of the animals on 

 land and the fishes in the sea. It has however been shown, in a previous part of this paper, 

 that on the first voyage Cabot saw no man. The description therefore is a general one 

 applicable to all that region as explored afterwards by successive voyagers up to the date of 

 the map. It is therefore unnecessary to inquire whether white l)ears ever existed in Ca[)e 

 Breton or Prince Edward island ; they existed in Labrador Avhich is sufficient. ISTor is it 

 necessary to allocate the great abundance of fishes at any one spot. The description is 

 applicable to the whole region — to Ifewfoundland and Labrador as well as to Cape Breton. 

 Only the prima vista is indicated specially, and opposite to it, so near that it was discovered 

 the same day, was an island. The Paris map of 1544 says a large island but Clement 

 Adams's map merely says it was an island, and he adds that on the island were hawks as 

 black as crows, black eagles and partridges. I think this inscription has been misunder- 

 stood to apply strictly to the landfall and the island at the time of discovery. 



Nevertheless the landfall was marked by an island opposite, which was named St. John's 

 island. By opposite — ex adrerso — cannot be meant an island 100 miles off. Some idea 

 of adjacency must be intended. My task therefore will be to examine all the extant maps 

 and see if they bear any evidence of a probable landfall identified by an island called St. 

 John. The maps however are in many cases strangely distorted and before taking them up 

 some preliminary inquiries are requisite. 



